[Mkguild] The Harvest Festival (12/20)

[Hallan Mirayas]

-------

 =


    Even though
everyone in his family was sleeping, the festival continued into the night.
Kendrick had no trouble entering the Killing Fields where the merchant had =
his
booth, but he did have trouble steering clear of several people who knew hi=
m by
sight. It was hard to miss his shape. Being a pangolin meant that nobody kn=
ew
quite what he was, and those that knew him would recognize him instantly.

 =


   But there were two
things working in his favor. First, he was small and that made it easier for
him to move about without being noticed. Second, most of the revelers still=
 up
at this hour were enjoying libations both fine and poor. If they weren't
already drunk they would be soon. Either way, Kendrick knew he could slip p=
ast
most of them with little danger.

 =


   The trick would be
remembering where the stall was! The festival grounds changed character
completely from day to night. Stalls that had once been barren were now bri=
ght
and full of laughing faces, while others that had been lively by day were n=
ow
dark and abandoned. He took several wrong turns, and had to duck into an al=
ley
between the booths to catch his breath while he tried to recall where
everything had been.

 =


   Not once did he
contemplate asking directions. He was smarter than that! But he should have
been clever enough to remember where the wine merchant had been.

 =


   After leaving the
alley, he took every cross street until he found Gregor's booth. It was clo=
sed
down, but the scent of baked bread was unmistakable. He backtracked along t=
he
path he remembered them taking that morning, but quickly became lost again.=
 It
was an accident that led him to stumble on the toy shop where he'd met the
rats. The tent had been closed for the night, but to avoid being seen by on=
e of
Rodrick's old friends, he'd ducked between the tent flaps and almost hit his
head on one of the tables.

 =


   Kendrick had just
enough light to see where he was, and that was all he needed. He crawled
beneath the flap on the other side, and took the next street across. Though=
 all
of them were closed, he recognized the vendors with the impossible to win
games. Wooden shutters covered the front of the wine merchant's stall, and a
lock taunted all thieves who saw it.

 =


   Kendrick glanced
down the street, but saw no one nearby. He crossed to the stall, took a sma=
ll
metal pin from his tool pouch, and poked at the lock. It was a solid iron l=
ock
and didn't see to have any magic about it. He took an extra moment to poke =
all
around the stall, at the wood covering the shelf and the wood paneling plac=
ed
over the bottom. Nothing unusual. When the merchant returned in the morning=
, he'd
unlock the panels and fold them around back. He could even see the hinges.

 =


   Kendrick consider
undoing the hinges along one side, but decided it was probably more effort =
than
it was worth. He'd have to pound them back in, and that might attract the
attention of the Watch.

 =


   The lock was also a
waste of time. He knew he could pick it, but the Watch would surely see tha=
t!

 =


   Instead, Kendrick
squeezed between the booth and its neighbor. The paneling wrapped around the
back, where the booth became a carriage. When the festival ended, a few str=
ong
men would lever the booth up onto the carriage, and they'd ride out of town=
 as
comfortably as any. But that could give Kendrick what he needed.

 =


   He crouched low to
the ground and poked his claws under the paneling. He felt supports beneath=
 the
paneling, but as he'd guessed, no floor. His father had once owned several
carriage booths like this, and he remembered playing in them with Rodrick w=
hen
they were young. He grinned and squeezed further back, putting himself enti=
rely
in darkness. The Watch would have to be looking closely to see him now.

 =


   He removed his tool
pouch from his belt and set it against the wall. He then concentrated on his
body and shifted into his animal form. He shrank out of his clothes, and
crawled through his shirt. Gingerly pushing his clothes up against the back=
 of
the carriage so that they couldn't be seen, he then spent a moment listenin=
g.
In the distance he heard the laughs and cheers of the Keepers reveling, but
nothing more.

 =


   Kendrick took a
deep breath, and then began carefully digging into the soil next to the boo=
th.
He made sure that the dirt didn't land on his clothes, nor that it went very
far. He kept it instead in a neat pile, low to the ground where it wouldn't=
 be
seen.

 =


   As small as he was,
and with claws built for digging, it didn't take him long to burrow beneath=
 the
supports and into the booth. He climbed back out, opened his tool pouch, and
wrapped his tongue around a small bit of stone. This he placed gently inside
the booth, tapping the activation sequence on one end with the tip of his
tongue. The stone began to glow faintly. It would be enough for him to see =
to
work.

 =


   He crawled into the
booth and took a quick look around before shifting back into his normal sha=
pe.
The chest was right where he'd felt it earlier that day. It too had a lock,=
 but
he'd seen the type before. He reached one hand through the hole and pulled =
his
tool pouch inside.

 =


   Kendrick used his
magic detecting pin first and tapped across the chest, but he found no spel=
l.
He set that aside and took out one of his picks. It took him a few minutes,=
 but
he did manage to open the chest. He set his pick aside, took the glowing st=
one
in one paw, and peered inside. His jaw opened slightly in surprise.  He cou=
ldn't believe how much the merchant had
made! The entire thing was filled with gold suns and silver moons atop a be=
d of
foreign bronze pieces. Kendrick could easily take twice what Elliot had sai=
d.
That would more than cover what his father's shop had lost yesterday becaus=
e of
the other foreign merchants.

 =


   But Kendrick well
remembered one of the guild rules: a greedy thief is a dead thief. He count=
ed
out ten suns, put them in his pouch, and closed the chest. He reset the lock
after another minute's fiddling, and then shoved his pouch back outside the
booth. He left the stone inside while he changed, then wrapped that in his
tongue and crawled back outside.

 =


   He shook the dirt off,
and tossed the stone in his pouch too. Glancing around, he neither saw nor
heard anyone coming down the street. Quickly, he shoved the dirt back into =
the
hole, packing it as firmly as possible. The ground had already been dug up =
by
hundreds of wagon wheels, so he doubted the merchant would notice where he'd
dug, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

 =


   When he finished,
he returned to his normal shape, gave the ground a few more pats to make su=
re,
and then brushed as much of the dirt off his body as he could. His paws wer=
e a
wreck, but he'd be able to wash them soon. And he went barefoot anyway, so
nobody would question why he had dirt under his claws.

 =


   Just as he grabbed
his shirt to pull it over his head, he heard booted steps coming down the s=
treet.
He shrank back into animal form and squished himself as far back into the a=
lley
as he could. He pushed his clothes to one side, and the pouch he kept behind
him. Then he curled into a ball, tail covering the back of his head.

 =


   He waited. The footsteps
grew closer. Kendrick opened one eye and stared at the narrow slit of light
between the booths. Whoever it was took four to five steps, stopped for a
moment, and then continued on. The Watch. Kendrick shivered in fright, and =
then
stilled himself. The guard would be in front of him any moment now.

 =


   And then the guard
was there. Definitely one of the Watch, but he was lucky that she was human.
Kendrick squinted as he watched her turn her head to the left and the right.
For a moment, he thought she'd spotted him. She looked straight at him for =
at
least two seconds, and then kept walking down the street.

 =


   He waited until she'd
gone another ten steps before taking a breath. He waited for her to take
another twenty before he uncurled from his ball and grew into his usual sha=
pe.
By the time he'd slipped on his clothes and put his tool pouch on his belt
again- heavier now with the ten suns- he couldn't hear her at all.

 =


   He wasted no time
in darting back out into the streets, eyes ever on the walls of Metamor. It=
 was
time to go to the Guild.

 =


-------

 =


   Wolfram had a mug
of beer in one hand and a large piece of pastry in the other, covered with
sticky syrup that was dripping everywhere. A blue object flashed suddenly p=
ast
and when it was gone, so was Wolfram's pastry.

 =


   "Hey! Who took
my food?" the ram exclaimed as he stared at his empty hand.

 =


   "What was
that?" Drift asked, looking around. "And where did it go?"

 =


   Alexis laughed and
pointed upwards.

 =


   All eyes followed
the bat's hand.  A little, blue dragon no
larger then a house cat sat high overhead on a ceiling beam, munching happi=
ly
on the purloined pastry.

 =


   "What is that?"
Wolfram exclaimed, staring up at the little reptile.

 =


   The dragonette
waved a claw that was covered with sticky syrup. Suddenly the image of a la=
rge
storehouse filled with corn flashed into their minds.

 =


   Caroline laughed. "That's
Gornul. He doesn't speak, so he communicates by projecting images into your
thoughts."

 =


   "Stay away
from my food!" Wolfram shouted up to the dragonette, shaking a fist. "Blast=
ed
flying thief," he grumbled quietly, turning away and taking a gulp of his
beer.

 =


   Gornul stuck out
his tongue at the ram and something sticky dropped onto Wolfram's head.

 =


   The ram froze, his
eyes narrowing dangerously as one ear laid flat to the side. "That had
better be syrup! If not, Drift's fianc=E9e is getting a blue scaled purse a=
s an
early wedding present."

 =


-------

 =


   The fox and otter
quickly recognized the female human entering the hall. She had long, spiky
black hair that didn't quite suit a lady and like many gender morphs, she
preferred a suit to a flowing dress.

 =


   "Hello Alex!"
Misha said cheerfully. "Welcome to the party!"

 =


   "Thank you,
Misha!" she said warmly. "It's great to see you folks again."

 =


   "It's great to
see you too," the otter replied and hugged the woman tight, followed by a
small peck on the forehead.

 =


   "It's good to
see you again! All the cute girls are welcome!" Misha joked, quoting an
old reassurance he'd made some months prior.

 =


   Alex narrowed her
gaze and gave Misha a malicious grin. "Must kill the fox=85" She
reached for the scout.

 =


   "Ack!"
Misha laughed and hid behind Caroline who bapped him on the head.

 =


   "Don't mind
him. Misha is feeling exceptionally silly tonight," the otter explained.

 =


   "I'd be
worried if he wasn't." The gender morph winked. "Thank you for
inviting me."

 =


   "Thank you for
coming, please enjoy yourself!" Caroline said pleasantly, and then turned
to her love. "As for you=85"

 =


-------

 =


    "Where did you
learn to dance so well?" Caroline asked.

 =


   The music was fast
and light, and the dance floor was filled with many people dancing. Misha,
Caroline, Drift, and Alexis were standing off to one side.

 =


   Drift pointed to
Alexis. "What, you thought we spent every night at taverns and
restaurants?"

 =


   "Well,"
Misha commented. "Yes."

 =


   Drift just scowled
at the fox.

 =


   "Your dress
looks lovely tonight, Alexis," Caroline said looking over the bats
clothing. "How do you get it to keep from coming open at the sides?"

 =


   "Tiny
lodestones sewn into the hem," Alexis explained.

 =


   "Isn't that
rather=85 accident prone?" Misha asked.

 =


   She shook her head.
"Not if you buy the lodestones from the right merchant."

 =


   "She means
Pascal," Drift explained, interrupting them.

 =


   Alexis swatted the
dog on the arm. "Drift! Never give away your sources. It's bad for
business."

 =


   "Then it's a
good thing this is a party and not a business, isn't it?" Drift countered.

 =


   Alexis went up on
her toes and, when that wasn't enough to bring her height level with his, s=
he
put a finger on the bridge of his muzzle and tipped it down so she could go
nose to nose with him. "For that, snowpup," she said, her lips pursed
in deliberately overabundant seriousness, "you owe me two dances."

 =


   Drift wagged his
tail, his eyes laughing. "Only two? A bargain at twice the price! Done."

 =


   "What are you
two talking about?" Caroline asked in a puzzled tone.

 =


   "Just a game
we came up with for the evening," Alexis said as she pulled on Drifts sleev=
e.
"Sorry, no time to explain!" And with those words she pulled the dog
back onto the dance floor.

 =


   Misha looked at
Caroline and shook his head. "I don't want to know. I REALLY do not want
to know what they are talking about."






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