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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 10, 2008 19:25:08 GMT -5
Jasmine pulled her cloak tighter. It wasn't because the squirrel was cold; it was a warm, sunny day which was exaggerated by the heat reflecting from the cobblestones. She wished she could shake of the consuming paranoia, but instead all she could do was carefully tuck in any fur poking out.
She lazily perused the homemade signs, and occasionally bent to sniff a basket of herbs, but there wasn't anything new. Not that she'd expected there to be. She'd lived in this village for a few seasons now, and she suspected it was running out of new knowledge to give her. She briefly stopped at a small, outside stall and picked up a curious-looking jar.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 10, 2008 20:16:39 GMT -5
It was seldom that Linx actually explored the more temporary sections of the marketplace. The fact of the matter was that with a house with 10 beasts in it, a business to maintain and a position high up in the fort to hold, he just didn't have time for such potentially fruitless ventures. If a beast saw the muscular mouse walking along the street wearing just a pair of black cloth sandals, dark gray pair of shorts and sky blue vest, they would have probably had a few questions about his identity.
That applied to mice who weren't Linx Exotic. He got a pretty wide berth just walking, even though he was obviously unarmed and not in a mood to fight; otherwise, he'd be somewhere besides the marketplace. The warrior-turned-magnate glanced from stall to stall idly, looking for something that would catch his eye, and then eventually found it in the paw of another beast.
The jar interested him more even than whoever it was that was holding it at the time. He was about to ask for the price of the item, but decided to be a bit more considerate than that and greet who was currently examining it. "Hey..."
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 10, 2008 20:37:44 GMT -5
A pair of green eyes flashed up in suprise. Seeing a sturdy mouse eyeing-off the jar she still held in her paw, Jasmine pulled a terse smile and replied "Hey, yourself."
The jar, itself of high quality and stoppered with a piece of red cork, appeared to contain some kind of pale pink liquid. An elixir, Jasmine thought hopefully, perhaps a distillate from a rare mountain flower. She sniffed it delicately, hoping to gain some kind of insight from any small traces around the cork. Immersed in her thoughts, she forgot the mouse entirely.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 10, 2008 20:45:33 GMT -5
Linx approached to a distance where he could easily converse with Jasmine but wasn't quite in her face; he was just close enough to remind her of his presence. Since he wasn't a botanical tyro, he did nothing but look at the jar for a few seconds, then headed off to find whoever was running the stall. The whole thing seemed ramshackle to him. Since he had a store of his own and it was far more permanent an establishment, he found it onerous to at all relate to this obviously different life.
Failing to find anyone actually running the seemingly desolate shop, the mouse returned out to the front where the jar was still not being left alone. Considering the fact that the structure seemed to lack a front door, he found this to be somewhat disconcerting. "I don't see anyone running this place."
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 10, 2008 20:54:07 GMT -5
Disturbed from her thoughts, Jasmine looked up startled. Seeing it was the mouse again, she decided she should probably make more of an effort to be polite. Maybe he might know more about the mystery jar than she did.
"No...I've been to this stall before. The hedgehog who owns it is usually napping around the back. He gets his wares from a cousin or something outside Otter's Fort, and usually doesn't know much about the things he gets in unless his cousin's warned him it's particularly valuable."
She said these last two words quite casually. However, for all she knew she could be holding the key to a miracle cure.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 11, 2008 21:08:40 GMT -5
"Well, it doesn't quite matter what he knows, he isn't really... Here." Linx wasn't about to go wake up some hedgehog he didn't know nor really care about for the sake of some pink solution that could have been blood and milk mixed together, for all he knew. It was something he might send to the sickbay for analysis if he had to but the mouse had seen so many odd chemicals in his time, most of which being completely useless, that this one looked less valuable to him than the distinctive red cork that held it in place.
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 11, 2008 21:17:18 GMT -5
Jasmine fixed her gaze on the mouse intently. The fact that he was still in the shop, and still speaking to her, bothered her somewhat. She'd never met him before, and thus far he didn't seem particularly interested in meeting her. She clenched her paw a little tighter around the bottle. There was no way she was going to relinquish her hold on this, whatever it was. Any chance to...well, any chance was good enough.
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 11, 2008 21:23:41 GMT -5
"OK, whatever." With that, Linx started to walk off. Obviously, Jasmine didn't know who he was, and that was all the worse for her. If she did, she'd probably have a lot of questions, because being face-to-face with the most powerful beast in the fort was a rarity for the common villager. He was getting the wide berth from the crowd again, which told him that they were either paying barely any attention to him, or scrutinizing his every move.
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 11, 2008 22:19:49 GMT -5
Jasmine watched the mouse turn to leave. Obviously, if this was some rare substance that could be useful to her research, she didn't want to share it was just anybody. However, this mouse seemed as though he had his paw in several honey-pots. Also, she noticed how the crowd in the market-place was paying quite close attention to him. He might be someone important. Jasmine thought swiftly; if he was a mouse of high means, and this was a valuable bottle, they might be able to come to some kind of arrangment. Also, he might have the kind of access to stores of information that she'd never get on her own. However, this meant that she would need to be careful not to cross swords, figuratively she hoped, with him.
"Wait!" Jasmine called out. "I can go wake up the hedgehog and see if he knows more...I come here pretty often. He's sure to tell me anything he knows"
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 11, 2008 22:21:47 GMT -5
Linx stopped slowly, and turned equally so to look at Jasmine incredulously. She seemed desperate to strike some sort of deal with him. He walked back with the air of a mouse who had far more control than it seemed at the time, and smiled at the thought as well. "OK, I'll listen. Not like I have anything better to do in this... Place... Show me what you have for me and we can actually talk."
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 11, 2008 22:34:43 GMT -5
Jasmine decided that now was the time to stop playing games. She squared herself confidently before the mouse and let her cloak fall open, exposing a white tunic and the muted gold colour of her coat.
"I think that we both agree that this bottle," here she indicated by lifting it up into the air between them "is of significant interest. I want it, you want it. I think we should speak to the hedgehog, find out (if we can) what it is and how valuable it is, and then come to some kind of arrangement to split it in a way that is satisfactory to both of us."
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 11, 2008 22:37:44 GMT -5
"You know, it's just a bottle," Linx shrugged. "So... Whatever. Go find that hedgehog." He couldn't expose more of himself, already baring a formidable warrior's musculature and utilitarian clothing which did nothing to get in the way of the fighter beneath. His own jovial air wasn't at all deterred by Jasmine's 'stand', as he had enough financial power to buy the entire stall if he wanted to. However, he was there to have some fun, and if it involved an odd pink jar, that was that.
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 11, 2008 22:54:42 GMT -5
Jasmine turned, flicking her cloak behind her, and negotiated the random array of boxes and tables covered in dusty objects to a curtain at the rear of the stall and peered tentatively behind it. Suddenly, she'd jumped back in alarm as a spiky scowl began yelling in her face.
" 'n wot d'yer fink yer doin', missy? Eh? Eh? Disturbin' my sleep? Pokin' around where you ain't wanted?"
Jasmine glanced back at the front of the shop where she could still see the, rather arrogant now she thought of it, mouse waiting.
"It's just me, Burrbrow. I wanted to ask you about something I've found. Can you tell me what it is?"
Burrbrow squinted through his dishevelled head-spikes, and exclaimed "Well, bless me spikes, it's Jasmine. How are ye, darlin'? And wot's this ye've got?" He carefully scrutinised the bottle, sniffing it like she had. "Ah, this'un. Me cousin told me about this. It comes from up norf, like. Some otters found the carcass of a mighty whale aground on a beach. Some whales grow this thing inside them...wot's it called again? An api...ami...ambergis...that's it! Very rare, used for perfumes, like. Anyway, these otters were really lucky and found it and sold it to a mate o' me cousin's who deals with perfumes, and the like. This un's been distilled already and infused with flower extract...Hmm...should probably've been more careful with it, actually."
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Post by Linx Exotic on Jun 12, 2008 6:25:42 GMT -5
When Linx heard the hedgehog starting abruptly to yell at Jasmine, he had to suppress a laugh. It just made sense that that would happen to her, regardless of past relations with the ostensibly unknown shop owner. He took a look at the bottle in Burrbrow's paw as he spoke, slowly walking up to peer directly over Jasmine's shoulder at it while looking for an opportunity to speak.
It didn't actually happen that quickly. Once he got a chance, he decided to speak his mind; if Burrbrow didn't like it, that was all the worse for him, and if Jasmine didn't, she had a problem because she'd be facing off with a mouse who could effectively erase her existence if needed. "You have ambergris in that bottle... Pink, transparent fluid is derived from ambergris now, that's nice. In any case, that'd fetch a good, what, six coins by itself? It's a pretty large bottle... I dunno how smart it is to have it out in the front of the stall, actually..."
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Post by Hyacinth on Jun 12, 2008 6:51:41 GMT -5
Burrbrow peered into Linx's face as he spoke, then laughed a deep belly-laugh.
"Aye, the precious oil from it is distilled fer monfs fer optimum purity. This perfume is made from infusin' this rare oil wiv' the scent of flowers that bloom only in one part of a forest far east. Six coins...aye, I'm lucky ye brought it in to me, missy. I shan't ferget it again!"
The hedgehog scrutinised the mouse, and his eyes shot wide open.
"Well, bless me spikes! It's Mr Linx! Here sir, ye may be well interested after all. Have a sniff, like!"
Burrbrow carefully opened the cork and waved his paw over the top of the bottle, allowing the fumes to waft gently towards the other two. An incredible scent, comprised not only of the sweet intensity of tiny flowers, but of a deeper, more sensual musk, crept its way to the nostrils of the two potential customers.
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