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+--- Thread: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) (/showthread.php?tid=9011)
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Gegenji - 11-22-2014
Oblivious to the fact that the shouting behind him was his doing, little Gran pranced his way up the stairs towards the elevator. Another small crowd had formed at it and the doors had slid open once more to allow them entry. Two Hyur - both Midlanders - and Miqo'te started filing in gruffly, all seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere. The baby behemoth didn't know anything about the wheres and whys of their hurried steps, but he did know an opportunity when he saw one.
Within that box lay the secret of where the last group of people went, and Gran was going to get to the bottom of it. So, the little piglet fell in line behind the Miqo'te and marched proudly behind her into the elevator car. The attendant, apparently quite bored out of his wits at his turn at the helm, just stared boredly ahead and missed the tiny behemoth completely. He only made the smallest of glances over his shoulder to the lightly occupied car before drumming out an indifferent, overly practiced speech.
"Wellhead Lift, headin' down to the Royal Prominade, then the Airship Landing." He turned his gaze back towards the ambling crowds before continuing in an equally un-enthused voice. "Please board now or wait until the next car. Thank you."
He looked as if he'd wait little more than half a beat before shutting the door.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - MikoBehnen - 11-22-2014
Miko had only ever seen pictures of behemoths in her books so the sight of a baby one making a mad dash towards the closest elevator was a golden chance for some interesting observations.
She quickly joined the crowd in the lift and pushed her way to the back corner, waiting for the small creature to join and hoping she had not misjudged its destination. She grinned as her assumption proved correct and the creature squeezed in at their feet. The lift operator called for last board while Miko pressed further into her corner and thanked the twelve she had some training on how to stay hidden. She had thought the little thing was on his own but glancing up towards a distressed shout, she saw the imposing figure of a Roegadyn in pursuit, and she was being quickly followed by a very tired looking Huyr.
Miko grinned. This was shaping up to be quite the ride and the doors hadn’t even closed yet.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Steel Wolf - 11-23-2014
Steel had come to a full run now, and even the distracted of Ul'dah knew to get out of the way of a rumbling juggernaut of a Roegadyn when one was at full charge. It was one of the very few benefits of her size.
She grit her teeth as she heard the belabored cries of the Hyur named Avis behind her. The woman was determined, Steel gave her that, but it was another loosening thread in an already unraveling ruse. At that moment her mind was made up--the little bastard was going back to the Quicksand in an attempt to find its owner.
Or roasted on a spit, if things kept up as they were.
Choosing to continue the deception, she called out over her shoulder at Avis. "Aye, th'thought had crossed my bloody mind!" She looked back down the street towards the lift, seeing the usual shuffle of people file in...and one purple, proud porker prance its way like it had won a game of cards.
Steel unslung her axe from her baldric, hoping to relieve its weight from her run as she tried to redouble her efforts, not taking in to account how threatening she may have appeared as she charged at the elevator.
"Hold th'lift! HOLD TH'BLOODY LIFT!!"
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Gegenji - 11-24-2014
Maybe a bell ago, the attendant had silently bemoaned his turn at the wheel. He glanced about at the general hustle and bustle of the city's streets while he was stuck manning the elevator for whatever patronage would deign to come his way. He remembered vaguely wishing that something interesting happen to add a little color to his shift. Maybe an upset Highlander getting into a shouting match with a Lalafell - those were always good for a laugh.
What he hadn't wanted was an imposing Roegadyn woman rushing his station at full tilt bearing an axe. He had just started closing the gate when she came barreling out of the crowds, roaring towards at him like a starving peiste. He panicked, he numbly poked at the switches available to him, he glanced back and forth from the slow-to-respond elevator doors and the angry, oncoming woman. Ultimately, he found himself actually reaching out to grab the gates himself to keep them from closing. Luckily, one of the Midlanders and the Miqo'te were equally willing to help hold the door for Steel Wolf - as they were equally quite frightened by the alternatives.
Gran, in the meantime, happily snorted around the car itself, sniffing lightly at the bipeds that were in there with him. Every once in a while, he'd glance up to see if the doors had closed yet. The baby behemoth idly wondered how long this was going to take, his tail whipping about curiously and possibly tickling many a bare leg.
Oh hey, there was the nice tall lady from before!
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Elysia - 11-25-2014
(OOC: everything's happening in slow-mo. 8D)
Avis's mouth fell open as the Roegadyn woman pulled the great axe from her baldric while charging for the elevator. Now this was something one didn't see everyday, even by Ul'dah standards, and considering the fact that a purple roly-poly was currently running amok in the city... the lift attendants were rarely harassed in such a manner. Avis stopped her pathetic semblance of a run and put a hand over her mouth to stifle yet another laugh - the attendant's face was truly one to behold.Â
What an eventful day this was turning out to be.Â
The lift was looking terribly crowded as its occupants aided the attendant in holding the lift door open, their survival instincts having kicked in nicely. Avis held back, unsure of whether there would be space for her, and wondering if half a minute of fresh air deprivation would be beneficial for her at all in her current state. Steel's water skin still swung lamely in her hand.
Ah, well. She could always sell some loot and buy the Roegadyn a drink later. The lady wouldn't be difficult to find.Â
Staying rooted just behind Steel, Avis wasn't sure if Pig heard her over the din in the confines of the elevator, but she raised her voice for the creature anyway. "Hey, scholar, people upstairs are GREEDIER and more likely to have YOU for LUNCH than I ever will!" She had given a more dedicated emphasis to that taboo word that had caused Pig to become overly excitable, hoping (against hope) that her words would be taken as a friendly warning that would turn it from whatever mission it intended to carry out. Or perhaps it'd be frightened back into its owner's very strong and willing arms... And if it didn't understand... well, at least she would have a more accurate grasp of its linguistic faculties.
Then, resting a hand on her hip, she calmly drained what remained in Steel's water skin.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Steel Wolf - 11-25-2014
Steel doubled over in front of the open lift doors, the points of her axe clinking against the stone as she gasped for breath. Running in the midday sun was never smart. Running in the midday sun laden with full armor after a hyper piggy? Less smart.
She tried to offer her best smile to the lift attendant, getting out a breathless word of thanks before turning to the confused--and likely getting annoyed--group of people standing in the lift. Her manner was as professional as possible. Her delivery was interspersed with gasps for oxygen to steady her hammering heart rate.
"Pardon th'commotion, folks. I'm just...huugh...I'm lookin' for...for a baby piggy. A...a purple...bloody hell...a purple behemoth. I think 'e boarded....this lift...huh..."
As she spoke, Steel lowered her axe to the ground and sunk to all fours. It was the most untoward sight to anyone who wasn't directly engaged with the situation, a seven fulm tall woman, kowtowing to the lift in apparent praise, backside in the air and face near the ground as she tried to pick out purple among the feet and shins of the elevator's boarders.
"Has...is he in there? Anyone see 'im? C'mere, little guy! C'mere, it's yer...uh....it's yer momma!"
Steel winced in mental pain as the display she was putting on just struck her. Ah well....maybe a suitor would take notice of her form and buy her a drink later. She'd need several by day's end.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Gegenji - 11-25-2014
Was it always supposed to take this long? Gran snuffled around curiously, wondering when the excitement was supposed to happen. There was a lot of shouting and stuttering and panicking, which got him a bit nervous, but it seemed to be directed at something outside the elevator rather than at him. Thus, while a bit worrisome, it wasn't much of a concern.
The attendant, on the other hand, now that he was being faced with a breathless woman rather than a juggernaut of rage, had his fear quickly change into irritation and anger. Not only had this Roe wench - a term he only barely kept internally lest she have enough energy reserves to heft that axe back up and lop his bleeding head off - scared the living daylights out of him, but had also held up his work for... what? A behemoth?
"You a little sun-touched there, lady?" he queried, his tone both venomous and yet restrained, since he was still talking to a seven-fulm Roegadyn - out of breath or not. "You're looking for a behemoth? In Ul'dah? I mean, there's a lot of stuff for sale here, but I'm pretty sure there's no big beastie like that around here."
Steel Wolf had dropped to all fours by this point, garnering quite the number of odd looks from the denizens of the elevator car. Many of them were starting to second-guess their catching of the doors, even if they had done it almost entirely on instinct. One of the Midlanders, touting a nice set of subligar, unconsciously tried to pull down the hem of his jerkin to keep the crazy lady from sneaking a peek.
"Definitely sun-touched," the attendant muttered quietly to himself before continuing. "Look, lady, if magically some behemoth managed to sneak itself aboard this elevator car, I'm pretty sure I would've noticed."
It was around that point that little Gran moved to the front of the car to greet his new friend, snuffling at her face with his little snout. Considering his gaze was down in that direction, it would've been pretty hard for the gentleman - if he could even be called that - manning the machine to not notice the purple porker. Same for those folks in the car.
"Oh. Uh. Hey. Well whaddaya know," the attendant murmured dumbly. "Little behemoth."
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - MikoBehnen - 11-25-2014
After the sudden dash to keep the door open in order preserve her chance of observation, and the momentary fear of losing her head to the Roegadyn’s ax, Miko leaned back against the lift’s frame and laughed as the large woman dropped to her hands and started looking for what Miko assumed was the same creature she herself had followed into the elevator. She had not even stopped to consider he might be someone’s pet. The Roegadyn began calling to the pig and Miko saw the faces of the other passengers tense with discomfort and she couldn’t help but laugh again. Could they not see the glory of this moment? A woman, easily a full foot taller than most, crawling on the floor like a child, looking for a creature that was rarely seen even in the wild! It was like a gift.
The lift operator was protesting the existence of the thing when the cause of the confusion trotted out from the tangle of legs he had been hiding in and hurried to his owner as if he had done nothing wrong. Miko knelt down to become level with the crawling woman’s head and grinned at them both.
“Well that was exciting, wasn’t it!â€
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Steel Wolf - 11-25-2014
Steel's eyes were more full than if she had entered one of Ul'dah's brothels. First she saw what was very obviously a gentleman who managed to stuff himself into what seemed like a lady's subligar...then it was the snuffling snout of her prize...and the smiling face of a Miqo'te woman speaking to her.
"Well that was exciting, wasn't it!"
Steel shook her head, scooping up the snorty purple bundle in her arms and bringing herself up to her feet. She let out a combined sigh of relief and chuckle at the statement. Steel dug in to her coinpurse and flipped a pair of gil at the attendant's head, smirking. "For your trouble, if not yer mouth." She then turned to the elevator's occupants, grinning broadly "Sorry for the trouble, folks. For what its worth, yer shoes look great."
Steel then strode off proudly, pig and axe in tow, looking pleased with herself despite how completely nonsensical she may have looked with a purple pig and an axe in her hand. As she slung the weapon back in to its baldric, she looked down at the creature, shaking her head. "You, y'little purple terror, are goin' back to the Quicksand and in to safety. You've had enough sunshine for a few lifetimes...and frankly so have I."
She looked over her shoulder, seeing if her new entourage was following her. "You lot are welcome t'come along. Never know what this little squirmin' monster will try next."
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - MikoBehnen - 11-25-2014
Miko clapped with glee and darted out of the elevator at the Roegadyn's invitation.Â
"Oh thank you! I have so many questions." She ran to keep up and immediately began addressing the pig, now at eye level, snuggled in the taller woman's arms "Where did you come from? What's your name? What are you doing here? Do you like cheese? What's you favorite color?" she stopped herself when she realized her questions were coming out so quickly they had become very much like babbling. "I'm sorry little sir, this must be very confusing for you. Let me begin again," she was starting to run out of breath trying to keep up with the woman's much larger stride. "my name is Miko and I have never met a behemoth before." She stuck out her hand in greeting.
Miko frowned at the tall woman's confused look. Perhaps she was not doing this right. She looked up to address the pig's carrier and added "I'm sorry, that's wrong isn't it. I should be addressing you?"
At the woman's amused nod Miko's face broke into a smile again, "Oh, then I am very sorry ma'am. I was simply excited. Where ever did you find such a lovely pet?"
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Gegenji - 11-25-2014
The attendant, already wide-awake now thanks to the recent happenings, jerked a little in alarm at Steel Wolf's movement. What came at his head, though, was not fist nor blade but coin. His delayed reflexes allowed him to catch one of the coins post-collision, but the other slipped through his fingers and rolled out onto the street. A foot hid it from view for a second and then it was gone, either fallen through the cracks in the stone or - more likely here in Ul'dah - filched by a passerby with a sharp eye.
"Oh, uh. Yes'm," the attendant managed as the Roegadyn walked away. He eyed the one coin he had managed to save and gave it a quick bite to ensure its authenticity before squirreling it into a belt pouch. It certainly wasn't enough to buy his silence, but he wasn't about to go bragging about how a tower of a woman scared the everliving daylights out of him in pursuit of a purple piglet he had somehow missed slipping onto his elevator car. Thus it just as Steel Wolf had begin with - simple recompense for what he had just gone through. He turned his attentions back to the denizens of the car and attempted to return to a semblance of normality with a simple: "Wellhead Lift, headin' down to the Royal Prominade, then the Airship Landing."
Whatever opinions the other participants in this strange event had - those people still in the elevator car - were, perhaps wisely, held until they had a closed gate and possible a several vertical yalms between them and the axe-wielding woman. As for the Midlander in the subligar, he quickly let go of his jerkin's hem and folded his arms over his chest with a fluster. Perhaps he felt a bit emasculated by the ordeal and thus was trying to mask that with manly indifference in front of this group of strangers. Most of them either didn't notice or didn't quite care, especially not the attendant as he turned to address the passing crowds.
"Please board now or wait until the next car. Thank you."
Gran pawed sadly towards the elevator doors at is slid shut, the truth to the grand mystery slipping through his little clawed fingertips. The Roegadyn's grip was more firm this time, as to prevent another wild flight of fancy on the baby behemoth's part, so he made do with a pathetic little needy whine. He didn't get to bemoan his loss for long, however, for he was quickly inundated with a series of babbling noises from a new face. Even if his knowledge of the common tongue wasn't next to nonexistent, the speed at which Miko had presented her questions still would have confused him. So, when she stuck out her hand to him in greeting, he just gave it a curious, snortling sniff.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Elysia - 11-25-2014
At a safe distance from the jumpy pig-of-sorts, Avis watched the ensuing scene with relish. Ah, the ordeal was over - for both the lift's passengers and Steel herself. Still, there was something about the creature's attitude to Steel that did not seem congruent with what one would expect from an ambivalent mother-child - well, mother-pet relationship. Clearly Pig had not been panicking because he was lost, and if he or she were playing the role of the recalcitrant youth, such diving gladness into "Momma's" arms seemed somewhat out-of-character.Â
Still, she nodded and smiled warmly at Steel in response to her invitation - they were finally headed to the Quicksand, where shade and sustenance awaited. "I'll take you up on that," she said. "I owe you a drink once we get to the Quicksand, but a tiny errand beckons - I'll catch up in a while."Â
Turning, Avis headed directly for the importer she knew positioned himself in a small nest of urns nearby in a corner of the marketplace, hoping Steel did not harbour any intentions to feast on Pig while she busied herself for the moment with filling out her money pouch. Roarich's tone was brusque as always, and indeed his impatience only thickened when he recognized a fatigued and long-lost Avis draped over one of his urns.Â
"Come, come, leave that face alone and relieve me of these animal hides. I owe that Roegadyn with the big axe my life, and her purple devil my sanity."Â
Gil changed hands, much to the sour importer's reluctance, and Avis left him with an only slightly heavier pouch (today had robbed her of an airship ticket, really) and a heightened consciousness of how badly her hands were shaking again. She was some feet away from the very unlikely crew of martial Roegadyn, purple pig, and frolicsome Miqo'te, and the sun seemed stupendously, overwhelmingly bright. Avis prayed she would not faint before they reached the steps of the Quicksand, and that her wits would remain intact for the interview she knew was to come. She had an interesting proposition for the Miqo'te, who, from the looks of it, would likely not require much persuasion to become enthusiastic for her cause.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Steel Wolf - 11-26-2014
Steel idly watched the exchange take place, not bothering to pay rapt attention or ask questions of her new companion. She'd seen similar trades happen along the walls and alleys of the city before and knew to keep her head dead straight forward. It was none of her business.
They were just outside of the Quicksand doors now when Avis had rejoined them. Steel nodded once in acknowledgement as she turned her gaze down to the purple source of the day's adventures.
Time to come clean.
"Well, actually..." she said to the Miqo'te woman, answering at least one of her myriad questions. "This lil demon isnae mine. I saw it prancing about in the streets and thought to follow it, figurin' it was maybe lost and probably owned by somebody. Not often y'see somethin' like this, even in Ul'dah."
She ran her hand over the behemoth's spikey black hair a few times in adoration. Despite the stress this little thing had brought her, she was starting to get a little attached to the hammie. She smiled into its beady little black eyes, coddling it as the child she never had the chance to birth.
"So we're headin' back into th'Quicksand and see if mayhap we can't track down 'is owner. At least he'll be safe. Won'tcha little one?"
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - Gegenji - 11-26-2014
Gran wasn't too sure what Steel Wolf was saying, though the recognized that comforting word - "safe" - on the tail end of it. However, what he did know was that she was giving him the nicest pets and that made it all just ducky to the little behemoth. He responded to her query with a contented little snort before settling further into her arms. This had turned into quite the nice little outing, that chaos before notwithstanding, he noted from his comfortable perch. He would need to go out like this more often.
The Quicksand was heavily populated this day, which was not altogether that much of a surprise. No matter the day, no matter the weather, there were those that wanted to add a bit of drink and conversation to their schedule. It was here that the juiciest rumors could be plucked ripe from the grapevine, it was here that the seeds of still more could be planted. Within these walls folks gathered to forget the cutthroat way of Ul'dahn life, and it was in these very same walls that deals were forged that could make or break a citizen's livelihood. It all mixed and melded into a murky quagmire here in the Quicksand, a microcosm of the Jewel as a whole.
It, and the Hourglass to which it was attached at the hip, had served as the home for both Gran and his owner since they had first crossed paths. While it could be at times just as chaotic as the city outside - and sometimes more-so - there was a familiarity to it. And while it had been that sameness that had inspired the baby behemoth to go on his journey, it was that same feeling that made him feel comfortable once inundated with its familiar smells and sounds.
And it reminded Gran of how hungry he was. Perhaps it had been his ordeals beyond the Quicksand's doors or maybe it was just about that time, but the little purple porker was primed to pursue some sustenance. His little belly growled, and his black eyes scanned the room for both master and food; for the former almost always led to the latter. Again, he was glad for the improved vantage-point of the Roegadyn's arms, giving him a much better view of his surroundings.
He just needed to shift back and forth a bit in her grasp to get a good, solid look-see.
RE: Running of the Piglets (OPEN) - MikoBehnen - 11-26-2014
Miko frowned and stomped her foot in frustration at the discovery that the woman would not be able to tell her anything about her current subject of interest. The behemoth seemed to be quite happy in her arms though, so Miko was unsure if the statement denying ownership was the truth or simply a means of shutting her up. The pig seemed to enjoy being pet so perhaps he was similar to a cat? Miko leaned in to examine him closer, forgetting the fact that the Roegadyn likely had a larger circle of personal space than Miko did.
"So," she blinked against the puff of air the small animal snorted into her face and looked up, "does that mean I can pet him?"