Charlotte whipped around, hand flying to the weapons pouch on her bag— she was unnerved and jumpy.
She observed the man coming towards her, watching him come closer. "I suppose so."
Then, turning around, she pointed fiercely to the man she'd just talked to. "Educate yourself, sir. Think about how it went down."
She walked down the few steps towards the stranger, expression wary.
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He beckoned her closer, glancing over his shoulder at the man she'd just been arguing with. "Sorry to bother you, but I saw you and your friend in the tavern and when I looked again, you were gone. My name's Albert Charles. I have to ask….are you two from the Southern clans?"
(…are we? Sorry, I'm blanking)
(Rick is, but you ain't XD)
(Okay thanks ^^)
"One of us is. Why?" she told him coolly, still ready to knock the man out at the first sign of trouble.
The man brightened excitedly, then quickly dropped his voice to a whisper. "Listen, I need to ask you guys for a favor. It's actually really important and I think the fate of the village might be at stake, but I don't want anyone to know yet. They'll probably get all riled up and just make things worse…..is it you or your friend? I'll pay you back, I promise."
Charlotte narrowed her eyes, mind racing. Was this legitimate? "My friend," she said finally. "I'll take you to him."
(brb)
"Thank-you," Albert said, seeming quite relieved. "I figured it was him, what with the accent and the tattoos and all, but I couldn't be too sure. Where is he?"
Charlotte didn't answer but started walking down the row of houses towards the town center, keeping her head up but her gaze straight ahead.
It wasn't hard to spot Rick coming down the road towards them, considering he was a head taller than everyone else. He caught sight of Charlotte and waved cheerily. "Hey, there. How's it goin'? Who's your pal?"
She smiled back, then stepped aside for the stranger to step forward. "Name's Albert Charles. He wants a favour."
"Oh, really? What's up?"
Albert glanced around to make sure no one was around. "Okay, so…..I want to keep this hush-hush, but the other day I found out that there's a Deorn trying to settle down next to my farmland, by the river."
Rick raised his eyebrows. "A Deorn?"
"It's totally out of season," Albert continued quietly. "Nobody's prepared to deal with a Deorn right now. It's an ice Deorn, and they usually come by in the fall, but this one's way early and we're all busy with the crops, and our livestock, and I'm worried that if this one's acting weird then that means it's extra dangerous. I've only seen it a couple times, but it already stole a lamb and it's only a matter of time before it takes one of us." he was practically wringing his hands by now. "Can you help? I know it's not your specialty, but there's no way to get in touch with the Deorn Hunters and I'm kind of desperate."
Rick frowned, then glanced at Charlotte. "It depends. My employer here is running on a tight schedule–I may not be able to keep her waiting that long."
Charlotte considered this, biting her lip. "Can you give us a second, Albert?"
"Of course." Albert backed away, giving them plenty of space.
"Well, what do you think?" Rick muttered once he was gone. "I can't take on another job without your permission. If it's just one Deorn like he says, I estimate it could take up to twenty-four hours to deal with–depending on how I decide to do it. If that's too much time, I can tell this guy he's outta luck and we can keep goin'."
"What did you find out, first of all? Any concrete leads?" Charlotte asked.
"Well, maybe. I met a…..outgoing young lady who told me she used to work with a group that was involved with the Deorn Hunter somehow. She said she heard that some of them were workin' for your guy Alex now. She also mentioned they were transporting a little girl somewhere, but wouldn't give me any more details. What about you?"
"Some nutjob hating on Deorns, all agreeing that there aren't many around here. Nothing of too much importance. Sounds we have one main lead, which is your woman. Do you have any idea where to find this group?" Charlotte asked tiredly.
"Can't say as I do. I'm a little foggy on the details of what she told me. If you want, we could go back and question her some more….?"
Charlotte waved him off. "We've got a lead but now idea where to go to follow it. We were making very good time. I say we humour this guy, cover more ground and maybe find this little girl."
However dim, the hope that the girl was Jessie or Tessa had ignited.
Rick nodded. "Okay, you're the boss." Turning, he addressed Albert. "Okay, we'll help you, and afterwards we'll discuss compensation. Can you take us there?"
"Right this way," Albert said gratefully, hurrying down the northern road. "It's just out of town, on the river."
"Good, not too far then," Charlotte muttered. "Rick, you know how we're going to deal with this one?"
"Well….." Rick rubbed the back of his neck. On the rare occasions that he was asked to get rid of a Deorn, his strategy was usually "shoot the thing and collect the payment, no messing around". But having picked up some signals that Charlotte wouldn't be fond of that idea, he decided on another approach. "I reckon the best thing to do is convince it that this is a bad place to settle. The way we do that depends on some things…." He called out to Albert. "Hey Albert, are we dealin' with a male or a female here?"
"Male," Albert replied. "Saw him in human form once. Looks like he's maybe fifteen or sixteen."
"Alright. Welp, males are a little more stubborn, but we'll make do. I'd like to scout out the situation a bit more before we make any plans."
(I'd apologize but I warned the forums I was going to be slow on rps. I do feel bad though)
She could tell he was compromising and was surprised he was perceptive enough to consider her in this. She opened her mouth to thank him, but something stopped her.
She fell silent, nodding, merely quietly saying "Sure, that sounds like enough of a plan. I'll scout the lands around."
(no worries dude! I didn't catch your warning but I totally get it, glad to have you back ^^)
Albert came to a set of fields and pointed to the east. "It's probably gonna be somewhere that way, along the bank. Might be out hunting though."
"Be careful," Rick said to Charlotte quietly. "Come back soon and we can make us a plan. I'll grill this guy for more details."