The Seven of Swords (Closed to Kandy and Cerock)

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent found himself deep in his studies. A lot had happened recently that he had to swallow. Two months ago in Beinost whilst recruiting the Five of Swords, Cerock the Drakari. The lizard man had been squatting in a rundown home out the outskirts of the ghost town. They had spoken briefly and Vincent had convinced him to sign up for the Tarot Hierarchy. The two had journeyed back to the House of Cards and the smith had moved in to his room with the scarce amount of possessions he had.

Vincent had continued life as normal, studying whatever texts he could get his hands on in the library, occasionally pausing to cook food for himself and any others who popped their heads into the mess hall while he was in there. He would occasionally see Cerock, or signs of him at least. A flash of amber in the corner of his eyes, seeing the man's tail as he rounded a corner, dishes left out from meals he had eaten. Subtle signs of the man, but he rarely outright saw the recruit, let alone exchanged words with him.

The scholar had managed to get a lot of work done, translating old Raiaerain texts to common and then making notes of its meanings before sending the notes off to be published to the world of academia under his pen name. He had accrued a small fortune of gold to spend on his travels for the Hierarchy. “Victor Cain” had grown quite popular in the academic circles recently and often found himself having to decline invites to scholarly luncheons in order to protect his hidden identity.

Whilst he was in the middle of writing a polite letter declining an invitation to an Alerian scholars society meeting he heard the library door open, and in strode Leona Stevvains. The seer had been busy recently, constantly either meditating or harassing one of her poor cards to go do a task for her. Based on the strictly business look she had going, it was going to be the former and not the latter. She paused, standing amongst the stacks of books, and then began to speak.

“Another card has appeared, you and Cerock need to meet me in the war room.” She turned without another word and left Vincent to stare at her perfect ass in the shorts she was wearing. “Vincent stop staring.” She called over her shoulder.

Finding Cerock was easy, he was lying in his bed with his turtle friend playing on his stomach. “Leona needs us.” Vincent said as he opened the door.

“Leona?” The Drakari asked sitting up, grabbing his rock turtle as it slid off his stomach and pocketing the creature in his front shirt pocket. The little stone creature poked its head out and stuck it’s tongue out with a cute little “Pttth” before ducking back into the pocket.

The two entered the war room to find Leona sitting down “Sit down,” she said motioning to the two pre prepared rooms. “You two are heading to Etheria port.” She began as they say. She flicked her wrist and two pouched plopped down on the table before them. “Compensation, you both need some new clothes.”

[Cerock]

“You get the new recruit, and you can go and get yourselves some clothes and whatever else you’ll need for your stay here. I’m sure your room is a bit barren no?” Leona had said to Cerock. The words echoed through his head as he had looked upon the waves. They had been sailing for a couple of days now and were already nearing their destination. Despite being from across the sea the drake wasn’t very comfortable with sea travel. It was wobbly and it made him uneasy.

“How much longer Vincent!?” He called out to his still new companion. The sun was setting and it wouldn’t be long until another day had passed. The scholar limped up the stairs from beneath the deck, muttering to himself along the way. He replied to the drake simply, saying they’d be there by the morning. Un-satisfied he sighed and went to go lay down in his bunk. “Then I’ll sleep off the rest of the time” he stated matter of fact.

“Wakey wakey lizard breathe” Vincent teased momentarily as he walked by the sleeping drake. “We’ve arrived at the port. I’ll be on the shore chatting a bit while I wait for you” he stated giving Cerock no chance to reply. He sighed sitting up and looking into his pocket checking on his friend quickly, assuring himself that he was well before getting up and out of bed. He yawned, leaving a slight echo as his deep voice reverberated through the belly of the ship. He was a bit surprised himself at how loud he could be.

“Damn scholar, barely says two words before leaving me alone. He still barely knows me and already trusts me alone with this ship? Not that’d I’d do anything mind you…” he muttered half to himself and half to Petram. The little rock familiar slept still, un-awakened by the wyrm’s grumbling. He stood tall, stretching a bit before heading out onto the deck. The sun shined harsh on his dark adjusted eyes and he surveyed his surroundings. A smile crept across his face as the smell of fish and other goods such as spices filled his nostrils. It had been a long time since he had smelled such wonderful scents and they were a welcome return, bringing back old memories of his childhood. Cerock walked excitedly to the shore, ready to get off that damned boat and quickly found Vincent chatting with a few merchants.

“What’s the plan Vincent? Get our supplies and clothes first and then find the newbie? How will we even find the guy?” he grumbled un-happy to be there. He had only agreed to go alone with the promise that he would get new clothing and at the chance to return to the coastline for a while. He turned to Vincent awaiting his reply, hoping that the new recruit would be as simple as himself to get to join their company…

[KitKatCandy]

The sun rose, shining a warm, orange glow over the cat’s light blue coat. The small feline’s amber eyes blinked open before suddenly growing in size, the light blue coat dissipating into soft, fair skin. The paws elongating into phalanges and appendages until finally, Candy’s human body finally coming to form as he completes his transformation. The enigmatic creature stood up onto his two legs, shaking his head and running a hand through his soft, sleek hair as his ears twitched. He licked the back of his wrist and began rubbing it along one of his ears. He suddenly stopped for a moment, realizing his action.

“Stop it, Candy. That’s a weird habit.” He thought to himself as he adjusted his snowy-white cloak, checking his thighs to make sure his vials and weapons were still attached. The catboy slid his hood over his bright blue hair and took one look up at the sun with his soft, amber eyes before taking a look at his surroundings. He had taken refuge in a nearby storage building, hidden amongst a pile of unoccupied boxes. Outside was the port, lively and inhabited by merchants and adventurers. So many full pockets that could be stolen from, in fact, two characters seemed to have stuck out and caught Candy’s light yellow gaze.

Two men from the same boat? These guys must be well off, more than enough to give Candy a bite to eat for the day. His eyes glowed for a moment, staring at the mismatched companions before creeping outside of the building and surveying the situation.

“Seems that there are too many people at the port today… I suppose I’ll just have to wait for them to find a nice, quiet place to rob them.” The slender frame sped through the crowd, making his way to a nearby, conveniently placed pile of crates, hopping up each one and climbing up to the roof, keeping himself hidden from his targets, but comfortable enough for a morning snack! Candy reached into his back satchel, pulling out a half a loaf of stale bread and container of water. Despite the grotesque meal, the petite boy ate elegantly, as if he were royalty. Taking small nibbles off of the bread, complemented by a swig of water to wash it down.

After eating enough to fill himself up to a point of satisfaction, he returned his gaze to the two strangers, eyeing them carefully and closely, brushing the light blue mane out of his face, keeping sure that he was unable to be spotted by his two prey. His agitated tail swished back and forth under his cloak. Candy didn’t know why, but he was absolutely excited, the thought of stealing from innocent people, especially if he had the chance to gut them, the feline boy longed for that rush, so he kept his eyes locked, ready to strike when the prey had least expected it.

[Cards of Fate]

Vincent took a deep breath as he took in the scent of the sea breeze. People all around them seemed eager to start the day as fishmongers peddled their fresh wares and pickpockets lurked about waiting to steal from their targets. “I’ve done a lot of recruiting my friend, and every time I come here looking for someone I always find them in the same tavern.” Vincent replied turning to the Drakari. “Let’s go get rooms and then shop, fate is on our side.”

The two walked through the crowded streets until they arrived at a large inn with a complex sign illustrating a dancing otter with a top hat and monocle reading “The Jolly Otter.” Vincent paused for a moment at the door glancing at the sign, “That’s new.” He comented as they entered.

“How many times have you stayed here?” Cerock asked glancing around at the large bar they had just entered. Several tables filled the room, with a grand staircase that led up to the second floor in the middle of the room. It was packed with sailors and the like as they took their morning meals.

“I’d say six or so times at this point.” Vincent replied guiding them to the bar. They both sat down and an ale was placed immediately in front of the Hierophant. “Thanks Harold.” The scholar muttered flicking a coin to the bartender.

“No problem Vinnie.” The man said grinning as he turned to Cerock. “Don’t see very many Drakari in these parts.” He stated raising his eyebrows. “What can I get for ye.” The lizard paused for a moment and simply grunts.

“I’ll take what Vincent’s having.” The wyrm replies turning to the scholar. “So what you’re telling me is we’re going to run our side errands and expect this recruit to fall into our laps?” He says eyeing Vincent incredulously.

“That is exactly what I’m saying.” Vincent replied grinning as he took a sip of his ale.

[Cerock]

Cerock sighed drinking his ale and quickly checking on his little friend again. He often got worried about his familiar when they were out in public or in the middle of large groups of people. The drake looked around the bar; there was an abundance of sailors who seemed as though they hadn't a care in the world, and to his surprise quite a few pretty women too. Vincent took notice of wyrm's passing glances at the different women and elbowed him lightly. Cerock shook his head as if to reply "No way". He didn't have any experience talking with women, or approaching people in general; besides that, he couldn't tell a whore from a princess in these kinds of towns.

Cerock stood downing the rest of the ale and setting it on the desk. "Come on, lets go shop then, and hope this little target of ours 'falls into our laps' as you're expecting" he stated, air quoting the human's hopes. After Vincent had finished his drink the two men went out into the town to start shopping. Cerock wasn't hardly comfortable with the idea of buying clothes with another man, but he had to accept it for now as Vincent carried all the money Leona had given them. The oddly paired duo explored the town, looking at the different stalls. The drake wasn't particularly interested in very much; he only wanted a few changes of clothes so he wasn't stuck wearing the same dirty clothes every day.

After about an hour of shopping, a long cool mauve colored scarf hung in a shop a few meters off from where Vincent was checking out some canes. The drake, a bit embarrassed by his intrigue in the scarf, sneaked off to go inspect it. "How much for this...?" The wyrm muttered to the woman who had been looking around for customers. The Drakari held the scarf in his hands, the material soft as he ran his fingers along the material.

"Oh I didn't see you walk in!" the vendor stated walking over quickly. She hesitated for a moment as she got closer, a bit surprised by the dragon who stood before her, but soon put a smile back on her face as she approached him. "An interest in fashion...?" she asked getting closer to inspect the scarf she had forgotten about. The drake blushed lightly from the sudden proximity of the woman and quickly composed himself. He replied letting her know that he normally didn't but it had caught it his eye. "Oh I see!" she exclaimed continuing "Well I can probably give it to you for this much..." she stated showing him a slip of paper she had used to keep track of her prices.

"...Hey Vincent...?" Cerock called out to his companion, hesitant to ask for him for money. "Can you come here for a second?" He trailed off embarrassed. The woman eyed him suspiciously, questioning why he needed to call out for someone else.