Shadowwalker - Under Review For Now

23. Agreements

After several more hours of lengthy discussion, it was settled that Amber would not be moving onto the ship just  yet- instead, the Raiders would be paying the bill for her stay at The Dirty Rag, and at night she would scout a variety of areas, and other 'quests' and missions whenever necessary. She would also be joining in with any and all Raids that occurred. Besides that, she was to join any and all mandatory training sessions of the Raiders as to familiarise herself with them, their styles and their ways. She quite liked the idea of that, and found herself feeling rather curious. Amber looked forward to it, and so did Raven.

The Raiders would be paying seven silver, three bronze and fifteen copper coins to Lodell a month, and pay her fourteen golden coins a month. Seeing as 20 copper coins make a bronze, 12 bronze is roughly a silver and 6 silver is a gold, that was a more than satisfying sum for her. She refrained from telling them that she had all the wealth she desired. Now that she no longer needed to worry about her living quarters anymore, since the Raiders did a full sweep for bugs and spies at The Dirty Rag, she was extremely satisfied. Not, of course, that she would tell them that.

To be honest, Raven didn't like it- she rather enjoyed being her own boss, and disliked being left in the dark- she'd have had an easier time pulling out a lion's tooth  then getting either of the two leaders who stood before her to go into details about that those "missions" might include.

And what they knew about her.

She grimaced mentally, and then yawned.
"I think we've done enough talking for now, Wolf, she looks utterly shattered," Pixie muttered. She too yawned. Wolf rolled his eyes, and stood up, stretching. Raven tried not to stare. She failed miserably.

"The sun will be up in the next hour or so, we should get going." Pixie stood up before she could finish speaking. She opened her wings, and gave them an experimental flap.

Raven stretched like a cat, and Wolf narrowed his eyes at her before shaking his head.

"Get some rest," he said, his voice husky from lack of sleep. "You'll need all the sleep you can get. In the meantime, keep an eye out for DuPont. We have strong reasons to believe that, even if he's not directly connected to, he probably has some information about the Nobility. And remember," he paused, looking at Pixie. "Keep your eye to the sky, your ear to the ground..."
"And if you can't hide, their corpses stay unfound," she finished, grinning.

Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Should I be scared or impressed?" she asked Wolf.
"Neither, it's what we always say at the end of meetings; it's out motto."

Suddenly, Amber was overcome with exhaustion, and she felt Raven slipping away inside of her. She closed her eyes, trying to make sure her eyes remained violet, her hair silver, her person Raven. She could not, would not, should not show her transformation to others.

Amber grabbed onto Raven, holding her in place in their mind, and Raven mentally gave her a weak, thankful smile.

And opened her eyes.

Pixie was openly staring at her, a quizzical look on her face. Wolf looked thoughtful for a moment, but then declared: "I apologise; it is clear that we've kept you up for too long. The exhaustion is obviously getting to you. I suggest we all retire at once. Venarius will be arriving any moment now. Once he gets here, he is to escort you back to your quarters."

Pixie swayed for a moment, then, suddenly, she started shrinking, until she was just a small fairy, around the size of the average mouse. She yawned before sitting down on top of Wolf's shoulder. She whispered something into his ear, and giggled. She seemed less human and more Fey: cheekier, haugtier, and, quite frankly, less emotionally stable.

Wolf raised his eyebrow, a favoured expression that night, and guffawed.

"Alright.... well Venarius, you might have escaped my currently human senses, but Pixie noticed you about ten minutes ago. Come out of your hiding place, you sneaky bastard."

The trees around them rustled, and Venarius jumped down from one of them, landing near the edge of the clearing. "Well done, Pix- next time though, I'll best you."

Pixie giggled, then yawned, before promptly falling asleep. Wolf carefully picked her up off his shoulder, gently placing her in a hiding pocket inside his cloak.  

"Well... that was that then," Venarius commented nervously. Wolf's eyes burned a hole into his.

"I'll... uhm... see you later then?" he stuttered. He grabbed Raven's arm and dragged her with him, leaving a grinning Wolf behind. Glancing back, Raven saw him smirk at her. Annoyed, she shook herself free as she watched him. 

Wolf vanished into the woods, the dark trees swallowing him whole.