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Post by Tinypaw on May 19, 2018 23:08:57 GMT -7
Tinypaw rode the bear and Cherry walked beside until they had returned to the hamlet and the real fun was to begin. His new friend stood with a flourish and shouted forth like a town crier or the announcer that introduces nobles at a ball, and grandly stated that they had calmed the bear and everyone needed to come out of their homes. In a truly Cherry fashion she stated that somebody here owed her an apology, and then she looked at him and winked and told her to follow his lead. He cocked his head quizzically but his question was answered a moment later when she threatened to unleash dangerous Fairy Magic if the villagers didn't comply with their demands. Tinypaw murmured to the bear and she let out a billowing roar as punctuation to Cherry's proclamation, and thankfully it seemed they had gotten everyone's attention.
Slowly, doors began to open and people emerged from their houses, most looking various levels of terrified and a few looking almost angry. Before anyone could speak Tinypaw hopped back onto his sparrow who he called to his side and flew up to address the growing crowd. "I was sent here to save this town from a rampaging bear, but I have discovered now that it is the bear who I must save from rampaging humans! One among you has committed a great sin, and murdered her cubs in the dead of night, a truly heinous and cowardly act! If you have not committed this crime you need not fear - only the guilty shall be punished. Now stay where you are, and the bear will find the culprit. Be warned - running now will only make your punishment worse."
Tinypaw wasn't usually particularly serious, but when he needed to be even he as a tiny mouseling fairy could sound quite intimidating. It definitely helped, though, that there was a giant bear to punctuate his points with her growls. Once he spoke the people began to chatter amongst themselves in hushed voices, likely speculating who the culprit was or questioning the validity of this so-called fairy justice, and though a few people looked skittish none actually bolted. A wise decision, because he really wasn't joking about runners getting worse punishment.
Now he motioned to the bear - the rest was up to her.
The bear scuffled over to the nearest villager and snuffed at her for a moment before moving on to the next, and the next, and the next. As she continued to no avail Tinypaw realized why no one had run away - the true culprit wasn't even out here! They must not have left their house to begin with, knowing that they had been the one to commit the crime. Or maybe they weren't here - how much did the skin of a young cub go for at the market? A black market maybe? If they had skinned the cubs and were looking to sell the fur they might have already left to go to a bigger city where there would be buyers for such a thing. His suspicions were proven correct when the bear sniffed the last person and still hadn't found the criminal, but had seemed to get a scent and was following it towards one of the houses on the edge of the hamlet. "Everyone is free to go," he shouted at the crowd, then motioned to Cherry and with a little tug on the reins Sparrow followed after the bear.
The scent trail led to the house and then around the back of it, where it became obvious what had happened as they spotted wheel-marks from a cart of some sort. It looked small, a one-horse kind of setup, and the marks in the dirt were clear enough to get a guage of which direction it had headed. "Well Miss Cherry it looks like our thief has already made a break for it. Are you up to hunting him down?"
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Post by Cherry Milerand on May 31, 2018 19:33:06 GMT -7
[googlefont="Englebert"] This Has Become Quite the Adventure
Cherry watched as the bear made her way through the procession, sniffing at each villager in turn. Several of them seemed spooked, but no one was sitting on the edge of terror or anything. They seemed to trust that the bear was, in fact, pacified, and under control by the "two" fairies before them. And just as Tinypaw would conclude aloud moments later, Cherry began to suspect that their culprit simply wasn't among the gathering. That monster had already skipped town, it seemed!
The hypothesis was proven true as Tinypaw dismissed the villagers and followed the bear's snuffling to some wagon tracks. Well well well, the thick thickened...
She looked at Tinypaw thoughtfully as he asked her if she'd like to come with him. Cherry found herself wondering if prolonged exposure to Tinypaw had resulted in her gradually getting over his cuteness factor. Granted he was still incredibly adorable and holy shit did she still want to make him a little outfit! But she also wasn't immediately jumping just at the thought of continuing to be helpful to him. Did she want to go with him? Hmmm... It technically wasn't what she had come here for. She'd come here for inspiration... But then again, Tinypaw had given her that in spades already.
So what the heck?
"I'm down!" she replied. "Any chance to help bring some scumbag to justice, and also keep hanging out with you and this darling mama," she cooed, giving the bear another firm rub on her cheeks. "But lemme see if I can grease this path for us a little bit!"
With that, Cherry swiftly spun on her heel and went marching back around the house, once again in view of the chatting villagers.
"Excuuuuuse me," she called, smiling sweetly and pressing her palms together. "Could someone please be a doll and tell me who lived in that house, and where they took their wagon to? Come forward and I'll offer you a fairy blessing!"
There were a few shared looks of apprehension, but after only a moment, the same old woman they had spoken to earlier ended up stepping out of the crowd. "Why that's Alfred Uliel's home. He's a trader, goes into town about once every week to sell his wares... You don't think he's the one...? Oh, but dear me, I suppose he was complaining lately that his usual goods weren't selling so well... Oh Alfred..."
Cherry stepped up to the lady and took her withered old hands into her own, clasping them and beaming at her. "Thank you for sharing. I think Alfred made the wrong decision, so that's why we've gotta set him straight."
The lady nodded back at Cherry, her eyes downcast as though thinking about how much of a shame it was that Alfred had done such a thing. "He trades over in Lype. We're pretty far from any big cities, you see, and Lype is closer to any of them than we are... I'm sure you'll find him there."
"Thank you," Cherry said again. "And as promised, I offer you the blessing of good fortune in wealth! Keep a weather eye out, for within the next few days..." Cherry gasped dramatically at this, standing stock straight. "I predict great fortune will come to this hamlet! Be sure to share it, everyone!"
This news had many of the residents smiling, including the old woman, and Cherry could only imagine why. The place looked pretty ramshackle, and if one of the villagers here had resorted to killing bear cubs just for trade profits... well, they could probably use a pick me up. Cherry would be sure to deliver.
She returned to Tinypaw a moment later, hands proudly on her hips. "Don't know if you heard all that, but our next destination is Lype!"
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