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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:21:26 GMT -6
Quest #28 You see a tiny, handwritten note on the quest board, in stark difference from the more professional letters around it. The scrawl on it is messy but still recognizable. Apparently, it’s from a small child who, when visiting “Daddy”, lost her favorite doll. Her mother refuses to retrieve it because she has “much nicer dolls at home” and now she’s asking for you to go get it instead. Apparently, she left it behind at… the local cemetery. Go figure. You have no clue what the reward for something like this would be, but if it hasn’t been taken off the quest board then there must be something, right? The Quest Search for and find the missing doll in the cemetery. Post Requirement: 20 Prizes First Completion: 3 QP and a dolly of your own 2-3 Completions: another dolly 4+ Completions: no prize **FIRST COMPLETION FOR SKYLOS**  Unnamed for this thread, lv 3, no attachment |
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:28:25 GMT -6
When your spider twins come in from a night's hunting and doing spider things crowing JACKPOT, and don't even understand what that word means, something weird is up.
Half awake, wrested from his catnap, the cat man growls a greeting to his kennel roommates on 8 legs... and sees that one has something held between two front legs, squirming. The thing is whining too.
Confused, he asks the spiders in a yawning hiss what they found that is so interesting.
Live meat! The one who has attitude but does not communicate in his head makes excited clicky spider sounds. Their catch is ...now catching his curiosity.
Brushing his sleepiness away, Skylos stumbles out of his cat-made nest and tears at the thick silk.
Beneath it... big brown eyes stare at him in fear. Ah, its still alive?!
bark! bark bark! Whine... More tearing at silk.
WHat are you doing, it will get away! the green twin hisses angrily.
What are YOU doing with a puppy for breakfast? all sorts of worried amounts of information is knocking at his sleepy mindset. Where did it come from. Out of all the different 'outside' animals that could be caught, why had the twins captured a puppy?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:33:38 GMT -6
Getting the story out of the spider twins isn't hard, because between them, the green twin, likes to brag a bit on their catches.
Just minding their own spidery business, out to catch bugs and mice and stuff, ((and he totally didn't believe them because those eight eyes are not looking in his direction at all)), and they were hunting near the cold magic house near the outside of big human city, and found puppy. Puppy not moving and still warm, fresh meat! Bring home to web, leave for several days, and good eats. Much bigger catch will feed the green twin for much longer, as they like to hold onto their food much longer then their twin.
'Its too early for this...' the cat groans at their lack of understanding of what has been done. Someone's animal had been kidnapped by his own spiders and now would be looking for their pet. He frees the puppy from the silken prison and picks them out of the 'sack', the way the spider had carried them home. Long hair, kinda like his. Longer then Kitri and Kouta together, who have short hair.
Where do you go to tell someone of a lost pet?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:37:33 GMT -6
It, she, smells female to his sense of smell, so he drags back to the nest, and plops the puppy down alongside him. Just for tonight/until morning.
The puppy is more then a bit confused, and doesn't have the ability to explain herself, like his spiders 'don't', but she isn't about to turn down the offer of not being eaten by lotsa legs and fangs thingy. She doesn't know the smell of cat yet, but a warm place to rest and hide from lotsa legs and fangs thingy isn't turned down. Squirming a bit, she hunkers down onto her belly to rest, and leans a bit into the cat's side. He smells male, and is WARM. Lotsa hair. Aaah... it doesn't take her long to stop moving and make snuffly little snores.
He can hear the echo of the purple twin making fun of his behavior, and ignores it, because it is too damn early to be roused and he is going back to sleep. When he wakes up, he'll have to go to the 'lost and found' board to see if anyone has lost their dog overnight. Because he'll not be part of a kidnapping plot by weaver, thank you much.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:44:04 GMT -6
The pup doesn't rouse him when the sun finally graciously makes his nest too warm to sleep in, even in the weak winter months. Human make technology for heating is really quite something, now that he has had a place to sleep that isn't under a bridge. Metal make box or not, its warm enough if you put in the right things. Stretching launguidly, Skylos shakes himself out before checking on his nestmate. The puppy is resting soundly, breathing in the tune of sleep. She'll likely sleep a bit longer... but he needs to take her along and start asking around for someone who has lost their dog. A pair of annoyed 'feelings' prickle his mind as he gathers the sleeping animal into a basket and takes her along with him. How dare he steal their fresh found meat.
'I'll make it up to you with fresh meat, so please don't go hunting live food.'
The board he reached was the quest board. Lets see... where was a lost dog poster....
Wait, a 'favorite doll'? Could that be kid speak for a puppy?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:48:09 GMT -6
It..doesn't quite translate out for his knowledge of common, so he takes the note's tearoff about the favorite doll in the cemetery and goes to the inquisitor who he'd been with just a bit ago with Kitri.
They're a bit impatient, but the gist of the request is the dolly is in the cemetery and to go get it and bring it back to the kid. Feels like the time someone had asked another, a child no doubt by the annoyed tone, to do something. This is a quest board, not the kid's request board. Has there been any filings for questing for a lost pet? NO, get lost.
Hm. This... well, he might as well pursue the lead. Where even is the local cemetery. Live in the west end all his life and Skylos never actually found the boneyard. That's how west-enders call the cemetery. Bone yard. Which is a true statement. Why would a puppy be lost in there?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:54:41 GMT -6
There's a town map posted around the same area, with several pins attached for the people who are new to the city, are recluses, have a hard time with directions, or just a handy reference for refreshing 'where stuff is'. Lets see... Ah. Calsten Ct. He knows where that is... roughly. There's also an address on the request on where to return the lost doll. Lets start with taking the puppy to the home and asking about the lost item.
KITTY!
The child's loud and happy cry when she peeks behind her mother's legs when the cat knocks at the door hurts his ears. Calm down. Just a kid, ask about the lost pet.
"Did you post this?" he hands her mother the slip of paper.
Its a discussion between him and the mother of 'she has much nicer dolls' here at home but she insists repeatedly that this one is her favorite and needs it back.
"What kind of doll?" She tells him that its a baby's doll, of course.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 6:58:03 GMT -6
"Not a puppy doll?" He opens his basket and shows the pair the sleeping longhaired pup. The mother coos a bit, but the kid screeches PUPPY! and tries to grab at the basket, and starts begging her mother, but gets a firm NO.
She tells him its NOT a puppy doll, no. Well crafted doll though, almost looks real. If he finds the doll, just ring the bell and have a Good day.
She's not happy at having to deal with a crying child now who is begging to see the puppy. Briefly forgotten on the favorite doll part.
This isn't the puppy's owner then. Skylos figures she'd have a hand in the puppy's raising if giving a pet to such a small child. Granted, he had purchased his own animal eggs from the lodge when he was younger and on a very tight budget. And only one had hatched, the swimmy bug in water.
Whatever the swimmy bug thing was...amphadron. Yes? He sighs, and starts heading for the cemetery.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 7:02:48 GMT -6
This is a bit awkward, as he still has the lost puppy, and there's no presently posted place to check. Would the local watch know anything about a lost pet?
Wasn't there a branch on Calsten?
That box-like place? Might as well check, its on the way, as the cemetery is a far ways down the street.
Nope, the watcher says. No reports to the local watch over a lost or stolen houluh puppy. Is that was she was?
By his surprised expression, the watcher tells him he should be pretty lucky. Someone might've just left their gate open when their dogs had pups and there was an escapee. Only three are born per litter and longhairs are not born commonly, so consider himself lucky, again.
The door shuts on him before he can explain that is a mistake, he isn't looking for a puppy right now... both of his canine animals are grown adults who have HAD puppies together.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 7:07:52 GMT -6
Should probably consider himself lucky, the cat figures as he puts the basket down next to an alleyway and stretches out his limbs and back. It is kind of heavy to haul a basket along all day.
A nagging to him would be to leave the puppy in the basket in an alleyway. Someone is bound to find her and take her home. But that would likely just not get the puppy home, right? Lost pets aren't something to laugh at. He's seen strays, lived alongside them.
The basket kicks a bit as she moves around in a dream, likely chasing something. Cat? Wouldn't surprise him. His canines have not 'tried' to chase him but he's also about their size. Not Kitri though, he can barely touch her shoulder on his toepads.
The dream is about flight, actually. She found that fences are tall and wanted to jump. Jumped up, over, and went much farther then fence. Excitement! Running! Look what I can do?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 7:12:51 GMT -6
Question remains; the puppy doesn't belong to the requester or her family, so who DOES this fluffy hairball of a puppy belong to? Lets... just get the doll, return it home to the kid, and check around the other places a note for a lost pet might be posted.
The boneyard itself is attached to someplace where you could buy gravestones, per the map in the questing hub area. But he's not concerned with that. Why would a kid lose her favorite doll in the cemetery, why were they there in the first place.
"Visiting Daddy"... the words mull about in his head as the cat hefts his basket again and carries it up the street to the empty boneyard. Could mean any number of things... but ....oh. His ears flatten to his head in embarrassment. How'd he miss that. They were visiting a grave. The child parent, "daddy", was here in the boneyard. Oohhh. Awkward...
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 10:46:42 GMT -6
Above his head as he steps off the road onto the cobble bitten path that winds into the boneyard's grounds, a crow screeches. CAW... CAW... Ugh, don't they ever migrate? Ears pinned to his skull, Skylos glowered at the bird, hissing at it. His tail fluffs behind him, but his clothes restrict his fur spoofing out much. The bird cackles and flies off. Stupid birds. He's no fan of birds. A brief lingering on the flightless black chicken bird that he'd found in the mansion... nope, still stupid and overly affectionate. Doesn't like that.
Even at midday, the boneyard is pretty cold. Beneath his paperboy clothing, he wishes he grew more of a winter coat during the seasons. Because unlike other cats, he doesn't shed nearly as much as one would think a person sized longhair would shed.
Lingering his thoughts on the puppy snoozing in his basket... did she shed much? The fur looks awfully airy and thin. Very light.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 10:51:26 GMT -6
There's stones of all shapes and sizes and designs around him as he approaches the first crossroad. Which one in particular would be 'daddy' from the request? Could be anything. Anyone, and Labs folk, even foreign-born ones, have very strange names. He's aware of the irony of his own name and getting laughed at for it, but he doesn't care about that right now. Should he be checking behind every stone, around every stone... and there are MANY. Some stones are bigger then others, and if he's not imagining a fog vision, there's a large marble box in the distance.
Lost?
The cat turns, and finds a crow...no, a person, leaning on a headstone not five feet from here.
You don't look here to visit the dead.
He describes the request of the small child with black curls that are punctuated by blue bows. He's looking for the stone that she described as "Daddy".
The basket kicks in the pup's sleep, making it rock in his arm.
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 10:56:37 GMT -6
Here within three days?
The person, who has a very birdish appearance, including all-over-the-place black spikes for hair. Those sharp clever button eyes snap back to him. Ergh, they doesn't like this cat's eyes. They creep them out.
Second furthest row to the left, and look for a headstone that's clean with new flowers and small footprints around it.
The figure vanishes as soon as his eyes are off of them. Creepy much?
'At least I have a direction now.' ...except for one problem. Which way is left?
There's an old human riddle of how to tell the direction of left with your hands. Unlike a human though, he has more a dew thumb than a full thumb.
Setting the basket of puppy at his feet, Skylos regards his paw-hands, pads up. The hand that forms a common L will be your left. L has a left point on the arm. Uh... left paw?
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Post by Skylos on Jan 29, 2023 13:39:59 GMT -6
He feels a little foolish for needing a human's trick to figure out which way was left, but that's what is resorted to when you need it. Seriously need a compass or something to figure out 'left'. Or just a pointer. Something.
'That person must be laughing his feathers off at me' he considers, the prickly feeling he gets around the mansion that makes his eye ache is happening. Not that its an uncommon thing; he's trying to fit into a world where beastfolk are both welcomed and foreign.
because if he flips his paws over to pads down, the thumbs L reverses to his other paw. So which is it?
You know... I heard that its knuckles up when looking for left or for right... a bored sounding voice sounds beside him.
Posture stiffened, the cat's eyes dart sideways. there's a human there, in the most boring array of grays he's seen in his short life. He holds the pup's basket close, in case they're hostile.
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