Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya glanced over at Richard as Mel plunked a hat on his head. She still had to deliberately suppress a shiver all the way down her spine when she looked at the Undead baboon, but she had to admit the hat suited him nicely.

More importantly, though, the little stoat was now faced with a particularly cruel dilemma. She'd found a dress made of clingy, sheer turquoise-blue material that nicely complimented her fur colour, and another decorated with frilly panels, that closely matched the colour of her eyes. Both of them seemed to be a good fit for her, but her funds were limited, and much as it pained her, Kerya would have to decide which one to buy.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel replaced the hat on Richard's head. "I would really rather the group's mission not fail because any single member lacks necessary items. Particularly when I have means." Without waiting for further protestations she began pulling items from racks and displays.

[Stygian]

Not about to comment on what Mel was on about, Stygian looked around a bit, browsing the store's selection without too obvious interest. The dragon was so filthily rich that she could probably keep them traveling well for a couple of hundred years all on her own. Not that he would ever ask her to pay for them out of her own pockets though. Money wasn't an issue to him, normally. And clothes weren't really either, which explained his apparent disconcern.
   'Tell me, do you sell anything else than clothes?' he said, with mild disinterest, sliding up behind the clerk and fingering a silk shirt.
   'Um... this is a clothes store. But yes, we have a modest selection of shoes as well, if you would be interested...?' the cat replied, turning to the bat, who did not respond in kind.
   'That's not really what I was thinking about...' Stygian mumbled. 'I was thinking more along the lines of... well, tailored items, perhaps. Or rarer things. Like...' He turned and gave the clerk an innocent, questioning look. Yet his tone turned a little suggestive. 'Furs?'

[Cogidubnus]

 As Cog watched the clerk sort through his things, the wolf suddenly stopped him, and grabbed a few garments from the piles he was sorted. "Ah, just a moment. You have a fitting room, yes, of course you do, I'll just be a moment..." he said, heading towards the clearly marked rooms with several red-colored garments in two. The clerk blinked.

A few minutes passed before the wolf emerged, carrying his black clothes in one hand, and looking nearly completely different than he had before, and yet somehow still similar. He'd brought two items with him - a large, wide-brimmed red hat, and a large red coat that draped down past his knees. He'd concealed his sword in one side of the coat, keeping it vertical rather than it's usual horizontal, and it also served to conceal the rest of his clothing. The only thing's he'd changed seemed to be his hat and jacket.

"Excellent. You should have told me you had a greatcoat." he said, plopping down his old hat and coat on the counter. "I'm not made of money. Speaking of, I'd be obliged if you could hold onto these for me." he said, indicating his old garments.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya wasn't really paying attention with more than half an ear to what the others were saying. She propped her staff and shopping bag against a display stand and held up the two dresses, one in each hand. Both of them seductively whispered "buy me" to the little stoat. She was keenly aware, though, of the weight of one of the pouches hanging from the belt hidden under her robe. It held what remained of her money, and none of it was local; she'd spent the last of that back at the railway station. The gold and silver coins were more valuable — in Haszal, anyway — than she'd been expecting, but when they were all gone... And she still needed to get supplies and equipment to replace what she'd had to leave behind in Haszal.

Ears and tail twitching, her gaze switching from one dress to the other, Kerya seemed to be lost in thought for a few minutes. Finally she sighed heavily and put the embroidered dress back on the rack. Draping the other dress over her arm, she retrieved her staff and bag, returned to the counter and caught the clerk's attention. "I shall take this one," she said, then fished in her hidden pouch and held up an oddly shaped coin, gold in colour and shaped like a slightly twisted wedge. "Can I pay with these? I have not yet had time to visit a changing-house."

[Stygian]

Looking either confused or stumped for words at Stygian's question, the clerk did not even notice Kerya's question at first. Then, as he turned toward her, he looked right horizontally at first, missing her by a couple of feet, until he had the presence of mind again to look down. The moment he caught sight of the golden glint in Kerya's hand, his eyebrows immediately flew up a notch. Taking the little curve of metal and pinching it between his fingers, he studied it closely, scraping it with a claw, and blinking.
   'Yes, I... I can safely say that this should be satisfactory. How many of those will you be needing?' he said, looking down at the piece of cloth in the stoat's hands.
   Meanwhile, Stygian had turned away, and walked over toward one of the walls. 'Wow. Creative, Cog', was the bat's sarcastic remark to the wolf's choice of clothes. Meanwhile, he slipped off his white jacket, straightening it out and brushing it off. 'I guess I'll go right the other way. Do you have something green? With a vest, maybe?' he asked, not addressing anyone in particular, really, while browsing the shelves. He enjoyed suits and vests. They could be surprisingly silent and easy to hide things in, if made properly. He'd have to get a coat instead of a jacket though. It was easier to blend in with one, surprisingly.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

In addition to the hat Richard soon found himself holding a dark suit, brilliantly yellow shirt, and a black tie that Mel had rapidly procured from a variety of displays. "That's a good start." As she stood debating whether adding a coat would be a good disguise for an undead who couldn't feel cold she heard Ignatz request furs. Was that an indication they were going somewhere with, to her, more pleasant temperatures?  She was distracted from that thought when Kerya pulled a piece of metal from amongst the folds of her outfit. Even though she wasn't in her true form the dragon could smell high karat gold. Hopefully the clerk would give a reasonable exchange rate.

[Boog]

Richard was piled under further clothes before he could so much as voice a "no plaid!" Fortunately, Mel didn't have bad taste in clothing. Unfortunately, good taste wasn't necesarily Richard's style. The best disguise was one that nobody WANTED to look at, this was going to draw attention.
But damn was it suave looking...
Giving in to the inevitable he simply leaned against a convenient wall and let himself be piled down with things. If things got out of hand he'd put his foot down.

[Gareeku]

Watching the others drift into the clothes store, Gareeku thought about the fact that they were wanted individuals, and that a disguise for everyone was probably needed, including himself.
"I guess we had better get ourselves a change of clothes as well." the wolf said to Aisha from under his hood, before walking into the clothes store.

Once inside, Gareeku looked around at the different clothing the store had to offer, and there was a lot, too. The wolf knew that he would need clothes that would not made him particularly stand out, so that made choosing his new outfit slightly easier. Browsing the shelves and racks, he picked out the clothes that he felt would be best and most comfortable, before heading to the changing rooms and disappearing for a few minutes. Before long, Gareeku re-emerged, now dressed in his new outfit. Sporting a pair of blue denim jeans, complete with a leather belt, and a pair of black shoes, the wolf was also wearing a black long sleeved t-shirt underneath a red jacket, as well as a pair of black fingerless gloves on his hands.

After checking that he had all the things he would need, Gareeku then approached the shop attendants at the paying desk. Dumping his old outfit on the counter beside Cog, the wolf looked at the attendant in front of him, who seemed to be slightly wary of his demonic-looking eye.
"I wish to pay for the clothes that I am now wearing, If I may." Gareeku said as he pulled out the pouch that he kept his money in from one of the jeans' pockets. "I would also be very grateful if you could keep hold of my old clothing items for the time being as well. It would be very much appreciated."

[Stygian]

Nodding slightly and watching the wolf out of the corner of his eye, Stygian hummed approval. Gareeku had the right idea. He was just about done picking together items of his own as well, going on quick measurements and fabric rather than trying things out. It was a pain finding a shirt that would fit his long arms without tailoring, but he managed to find one, and entered the booth rather assured that his own choice would fit.
   'I don't think that you should store your wear here. We won't really be coming back in a while', he commented as he passed the wolf by, before entering the booth and pulling the draperies. 'I think perhaps we should pick up some bags.' He thought a bit. Since the clerk evidently hadn't understood what he had meant, he thought that it was best they move on.
   The bat emerged from the booth, wearing a dark green 'ribbed' vest, black shirt, greenish-black coat and matching trousers, and new shoes. His former clothes over his arm, he produced a black leather pocketbook, and walked up to the clerk.
   'Put it all on me. For convenience', he said, facing any pointed looks. They had to pick up pace.

[Aisha deCabre]

As she waited outside of the shop for a bit, and as the others made their way inside, Aisha stood in thought for a moment.  Was her cape really enough of a disguise?  It was hard to keep cloaked forever, even in several changing colors, and perhaps her bravado would be too much for the situation at hand.  They were all wanted, if most of them were indirectly involved.  Their faces were worth a bit if they were seen, perhaps.  Being a bounty hunter...now she was having to think from the prey's perspective.  It annoyed her, but at the same time it was a challenge.  Like the fox outrunning the hounds.

She glanced to Gareeku upon hearing his voice, and watched him walk into the shop.  There was a second pause, before she decided to follow after.  Sí, it's a good point.  Heh, something casual to wear while on a running vacation.  I'll keep my battle clothes in case though.

The others were already starting to don themselves in rather stylish implements, especially with help from Mel, which came as no surprise.  But this time, she helped herself to a few things of interest and went towards the dressing rooms.  Admittedly, even Aisha could get used to shopping...so long as it wasn't always formal.

When she came out, a hum of thought preceding, one could still tell that Aisha wanted to keep to her dark colors.  She had on a pair of dark blue jeans with faint gray streaks of color, with the bottom edges ripped, and a matching sleeved vest.  The shirt she wore under it was red and camouflage-patterned, and came down at the level of her ribcage, exposing her midriff.  To top off the outfit, she had found a pair of sunglasses; perfect for hiding the tell-tale color of her eyes.  They lay further down the bridge of her nose as she looked herself over.  The only thing she still had left of her former outfit was the emerald tail ring, which she never afforded to go without.

Yeah, good enough.

Pushing the sunglasses back up to her eyes, Aisha had come out with her other clothes folded as tightly as possible with the rest in the pack.  The cape hung over her arm, back to its original crimson, with her weapons hiding underneath it.  It was just as the bat was talking to the clerk about it being all on him that she came within sight.  "Nice of you, muchacho," she smirked.  "Add one more."

While she leaned against the wall and waited, the panthress took the moment to look over the others in their new outfits, many of which were admittedly neat, although there seemed to still be indecision around Richard and Kerya.  Gareeku's especially, she found pretty darned suitable for him.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel shrugged and put down the coat she was looking at when Ignatz gave indications of impatience. Richard was now slightly overdressed, but unless he refused the outfit he was rather stuck at this point. Since she had been amusing herself with the shopping it didn't seem fair to put it onto the bat's account. She walked over to the counter and dropped an appropriate amount of coin onto it.

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya's ears barely had time to perk up at the clerk's intriguing reaction to a single River City-States gold claw when Sebastian made his generous offer to pay everyone's bills. The little stoat's eyes lit up, a toothy, predatory grin appeared on her muzzle, then pausing just long enough to make a "back in a moment" gesture to the clerk, she dashed around the shop in a russet-and-grey blur, going directly for a handful of items that had caught her eye earlier. Within seconds she returned to the counter, plopped her finds on top of the green dress, then dashed off to the changing rooms with another bundle folded over her arm.

When she came out again, holding her grey robes in a neat bundle wrapped up in her cloak, Kerya looked rather more colourful. She wore a loose bloused shirt with intricate embroidering and lace cuffs, in a very dark silk that might have been blue or green, and a sturdy-looking red skirt, full-length (although possibly not on someone with longer legs), with her dagger hanging from the decorative belt knot. She wore shoes now, deep purple with long curled-up toes, and over everything she'd chosen a long green hooded cloak with gold knotwork embroidered around the hems.

"This shall suffice... for now," she said, with a luxuriously contented tone in her voice that was almost a purr, flicking a claw at a possibly imaginary speck of dust on her sleeve.

[Cogidubnus]

"I imagine we wouldn't be, yes. But then, I'd hate to see this hat go in the dumpster. It's served me for some time." Cog said, putting his silver back in his pockets. "And quite kind of you. If it's alright then, I'll sit here, then."

The tailoring shop held a good sized selection of shoes and footwear, and had one of those little benches where one could sit and try the various footwear on. He sat down, somehow still hiding the sword withing the depths of his new coat, and waited for the others to get ready. He shook his head slightly at Stygian's ensemble, and vowed not to walk near the man, lest someone suspect them of being some sort of festive, holiday act.

Kerya came out of the changing booth looking rather ornate, and he thought he could see Richard under a pile of clothes somewhere. It was a good thing he beat the girls here, or else he might be suffocating too.

[Stygian]

His eye twitched weirdly when Kerya flew into action, but Stygian did not criticize her on her purchases. Rather, he just shook his head, walked up to the counter, and called the clerk over to complete the purchase. He only spoke up once he noticed the veritable mountain of clothes that Richard was laden with.
   'No, we're done here', he said, a bit of a snarl entering his voice and a sharp look angling toward Kerya. 'This isn't a pleasure trip. Everybody out of the store.' Walking over to the door, he swung it open and stepped halfway out, before looking over his shoulder. 'Right away!'
   It was a bit of a sign of his irritation, and his thinking that perhaps he shouldn't have given people so much space to dawdle, when Stygian practically knocked his head into Keaton's when he went out into the street.

[Sunblink]

...Deirdre:

Unlike Keaton, Deirdre followed the group inside the store, but pointedly and consciously continued her efforts to isolate herself from the rest in the men's section. She scanned busily through the various clothing articles displayed in the racks, sometimes sweeping away the jackets and examining them in more detail, admiring the silken texture of the fabric. For a while, Deirdre fantasized about purchasing some of the more favorable apparel, as she knew she couldn't live off of Mel's charity for the remainder of... however long she was to stay with the party (not too long, she hoped), but most of the clothing was far outside of her price range. Sighing, Deirdre replaced the striped jacket she was assessing in her hands back on its original place and started to follow Stygian outside of the store.

---

...Keaton:

Keaton, meanwhile, decided to remain outside. She didn't like clothes stores. She preferred to design her own clothing through metamorphosis, since it saved money. Drumming her index finger to her temple, Keaton sighed and canted her head to the side. She was starting to consider finding a steady job, rather than thriving on temporarily impersonating unfortunate Being victims of her crimes and selling whatever came her way. Maybe a bounty hunter or an Adventurer slayer. She could really get into that last job; there was a red fellow in the SAI Academy who became an acclaimed Adventurer slayer...

Around that time, Keaton noticed the door was about to open, and glanced up, temporarily unaware of her current position. Stygian exited the door the same time she was about to instinctively move, and the two collided, Keaton squeaking loudly, effeminately, and jerking backwards with the impact. She lost her balance, her heavy boots supplementing the sudden weight disadvantaging her upended balance, and then fell over in a heap on the ground after a spectacular struggle consisting, mainly, of her flailing her arms wildly to try and regain her footing. From where she was on the ground, Keaton blinked wearily and cocked her brow, looking at Stygian's feet. A pair of feet quite similar to Deirdre's stopped behind him, the owner issuing a low choking noise which sounded like she was trying not to laugh, but was stopping his or herself only out of courtesy.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[SpottedKitty]

Kerya looked up from stuffing her purchases into her now bulging shopping bag just in time to see Keaton fail spectacularly to get out of the way when Sebastian rushed out of the shop and shoved the door open with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Behind him, Dierdre stifled a laugh at the sight of the jackal sprawled on her tail on the ground.

The little stoat snorted quietly, giving a slight flick of her whiskers, ears and tail. Hopefully Keaton and Dierdre would be able to hold their truce, and their tempers, at least for a little longer. She'd only seen a little of their fight outside the club last night: she had a pretty good idea that, if Sebastian hadn't intervened, not all of the mayhem and destruction would have been caused by the monster attack shortly afterwards. The last thing they needed now was to cause a memorable incident when they were trying to shake their pursuers from their tails.

With everything finally packed away, Kerya picked up her staff and the bulging shopping bag, and headed for the door herself. "Where now, Sebastian?" she asked, "I tried to get directions to another merchant earlier, but the choleric fool I asked only vexed me."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

With Ignatz rushing them out Mel finished the transaction for the clothing and followed. Richard's passivity regarding her shopping had dulled her own interest. As she exited the shop she donned her own change of wardrobe. A petite snow leopard in grey exited the shop but a tall black swan in the traditional robes of an ancient mage school entered the street. Inner robes of a dark rusty red were covered by a deep indigo outer robe, heavily embroidered in magical designs the eye couldn't quite stay on. Unfortunately Ignatz and Deidre had stopped short and she couldn't see why.

[Stygian]

Blinking, Stygian looked down at Keaton, then cocked an eyebrow over his glasses at Deirdre. Ignoring Kerya for a short moment, he bent down, and reached out a hand to the jackal succubus to help her up.
   'I'm thinking that if things keep up like this, we ought to get a car or some bikes instead', the bat offered back over his shoulder, together with a pointed look. Never mind going undercover and finding out what is actually going on... 'Can I help you, my dear?'

[Cogidubnus]

 Still quite silent, and his former hat and coat disappeared somewhere, Cog was leaned up against the wall and shaking his head at Keaton's inadvertent collision with Stygian. He pushed himself off the wall, smiling to himself, and waited for the rest of the group to collect themselves before exiting.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha had to stifle a snicker while leaning against the wall, looking at the clothing pile that Richard was buried under...really, if there was anything to make an undead actually look presentable, it was figured that this place was sure to have it.  Kerya finally also managed to find something for herself.  There was quite a mix between spiffy and casual, one wondered if the group was going to get eyed anyway.

Of course though, any moment of amusement was cut off by the bat's rather stern insistence to leave.  "Geez, don't twist your head off waiting for us..." Aisha growled and picked up her pack and cape, with her weapons hidden underneath, ready to follow the others out.  The panthress never did like to be ordered around, but if it got them to a safe place to figure out what would happen next, it was tolerable.

But she did snort when he pretty much ran into Keaton.  "We're never going to leave, are we?" she wondered aloud.

[Stygian]

Aiding Keaton in getting to her feet, and then stepping close and brushing her off in a careful and concerned manner, incidentally in a way that allowed Deirdre a good view, Stygian didn't give off any hint that he was trying to make the gryphon jealous or indignant that someone showed the succubus that sort of care and familiarity. Nor that by this gesture, he hoped to tack up a point or two with the jackal herself. Instead, he just looked over his shoulder at Aisha, with an expressionless gaze.
   'We'll move. Before that though, is there anything that you would need in particular, each and everyone of you?', he asked. Taking his hands off Keaton's shoulders, he turned to the others. 'Personally, I need little. But the regular kit is always good to have. Other than that, I don't know precisely where we should go. I have a... safehouse nearby where we could get some rest, and supplies. And perhaps transport.'

[Sunblink]

...Keaton:

In her disoriented state, Keaton didn't notice Deirdre's chortling, and remained in her upended position, clearly dumbstruck (determined by the hilariously discombobulated expression slapped on her features) until the moment Stygian proffered his hand. Blinking owlishly at the blurry, white appendage hovering in her vision, Keaton shakily extended her own hand and grasped Stygian's, allowing herself to be hefted to her feet. Keaton swayed and pivoted dangerously on her ankles, only for Stygian's strong hands on her shoulders to steady and anchor herself in place. Looking slightly dizzy, Keaton glanced up at the bat, her ears perking.

Eventually, the bat relinquished her shoulders around the same time she regained some orientation. Keaton rubbed her head, grateful for the restoration of her proper balance, and glanced back up at Stygian. Out of the backdrop of Keaton's peripheral vision, Deirdre eyed the bat apprehensively for a moment, all mirth evaporated from her features, and then, after a sigh of resignation, stepped to the side.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[SpottedKitty]

If Kerya had blinked at the wrong instant, she might have missed it. She'd heard and recognised Mel's footsteps behind her, then the sound altered oddly in mid-step. At the same moment, the little stoat felt a very faint surge of an odd kind of magic: if she'd been any further away, she might not have noticed even that. By the time she'd turned her head to look, Mel the snow leopard was gone. In her place was a tall, elegant-looking black birdlike creature, although completely different from Dierdre. She wore what looked like mage robes of an unfamiliar design. "This will take a little getting used to," she murmured quietly to herself.

Sebastian caught her attention with his statement as he helped Keaton back to her feet and dusted her down. "A small pack of some kind would be useful," she said musingly, holding up her now very full shopping bag. "Normal packs do not fit me very well, and this will not bear much more." Kerya shrugged, showing her unusual body shape's almost complete lack of shoulders.

[Stygian]

Cocking an eyebrow, Stygian regarded Kerya for a moment, and then smirked lightly. 'Maybe you shouldn't have bought more than you can carry then', he said, a bit pointedly, but humorously. 'If you get too tired with those little legs though, I'll let you ride on my shoulders. If you ask nicely.'

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel shook her head in the negative when Ignatz asked if anyone had any special shopping needs. "I am tremendously over packed, as always. Anything I am not already carrying would be so oddball that it would be impossible for me to guess that it would be needed." She cradled the gem tipped staff she was now carrying in the crease of her elbow and tucked her hands into the full sleeves of her outer robe as she waited for the stragglers. "Unless you have some specific defenses we should be erecting."

[Gareeku]

No sooner had he just spoken, Gareeku heard Ignatz speak of the fact that they most likely weren't coming back for at least a while, and so leaving possessions, including clothing, at the store was not a very good idea. Nodding his head in understanding, the wolf knew that the bat was right, and so draped his normal outfit over one arm, while using the black belt worn on his normal outfit to fasten his sword to his back.
"Thank you, it is very much appreciated." Gareeku commented to Ignatz as the bat offered to pay for everyone's items.

Turning to start towards the front door of the shop, the wolf then noticed Aisha emerge in her new outfit, nodding his head in approval, as not only was it good for blending in with the crowd, but it was also pretty stylish, too.

Standing behind the others, Gareeku exited the shop, emerging back out onto the street. Pretty soon he would have to find some sort of backpack to keep his possessions in. Normally he was used to having the bare minimum, save for his sword, outfit and currency, but now he had a whole set of clothes to worry about, and keeping them draped over his shoulder was not wise in the long run.

Choosing not to comment on Ignatz's and Keaton's collision, Gareeku pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket and put them on, looking round at the crowded street while the others made sure they had everything they needed.

[Cogidubnus]

"I'd be betting on fire, personally." The red-clad wolf said, walking up behind the swan dressed in mages robes and touching the brim of his hat. Although he couldn't have seen the white leopard change into the sable-colored avian, he spoke to the swan with familiarity.
"This is still Mel, yes?" he said, halfway grinned. He tapped his nose. "The smell."

[Stygian]

'No, nothing specific, except the usual. Just focus on your own talents, and it will be each our job to put them to use where it counts...' the bat said, a bit distraughtly, adjusting his own glasses. 'Let's move on, shall we?' Slipping a package of cigarettes out, and thumbing one out, taking it between his teeth, the bat flicked out Keaton's lighter again, and lit up, strolling away and taking the lead before anyone else could say anything more.
   Their route went on out to a two-level promenade where stores lay back-to-back with offices and workshops, buildings stacked on each other and ancient walls like a giant, haphazard beehive. Walking on in that determined manner, Stygian swiveled his head back and forth, glancing between the shops.
   'We'll need transportation, supplies... weapons...' he said, with a voice that still mourned the loss of his motorcycle. 'And something to take notes and keep our things in. Backpacks or bags.' Reaching into his coat and thumbing through his pocketbook, he took out some slightly rumpled bills, turning to Cogidubnus and proffering them to the wolf. 'You do that, while I go to a bookstore. And then we find something to drink and eat. Hey, does anyone have any cell phones?' He wasn't sure about coverage further out in the country, but around Jann's Cliff the reception was excellent.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel smiled and nodded at Cog, "Depending on your point of view this is as much or as little Mel as previously. Your new look is particularly dapper." As they traveled out of the more affluent tourist district into more and more squalid areas her robes became almost imperceptibly but progressively less prosperous looking. She didn't respond when he asked about cell phones. Since he had called her on hers less than 48 hours before he knew the answer. She waited politely for the others to respond and for the various tasks to be divvied up.