[Flashback] Shedding skin

[Iskessah]

Iskessah wasn't sure at first why he was laughing, which was good, because if she had realize sooner, she may not have been able to take it. By the time she realized that he was mocking the Dhani's ssuperior sspeech, he had almost finished speaking. Her eyes narrowed, but she retained control by distracting herself with the bit of fruit he was eating. Look at this arrogant fool. He thinks himself better than me and yet he eats the food of prey. He is beneath me. His words are beneath me, and I shall not hear them. Her breathing had almost returned to normal when he began speaking again. She sat up with greater interest; it appeared he was actually going to speak useful words this time. She listened patiently to his account of her likely fate should she not obtain his help. The picture he painted did seem rather unpleasant. She thought at first that she could simply leave Ravok, but she had been out of the world for so long. Perhaps things had changed. Did she even remember how to survive out there? The more she thought about it, the more sense Shannon's plan was beginning to make. She did not care for Shannon suggesting what sort of future she should make for herself, but he did not sound like he was trying to force a particular goal. The task he suggested did not seem overly difficult, and it would give her a chance to learn the city, hone her skills and find out what she was capable of. She had no attachment to anyone in the city, and did not particularly care what effect her spying had on them. If she ever met another Dhani, well, she could omit certain details from her reports when the time came. However, his wildly shifting demeanor was beginning to confuse her; first he seemed like he hated her race, but then he acted as if he wanted to help. She could not reconcile his conflicting attitudes, and decided that she would have to be careful this one, until she could more fully understand his motives. What was the purpose of painting the bright possibilities of her future? Had he not already shown that she had no better options? Did he think that he could blind her with visions of riches and her dreams come true? No, she could not trust him. Everything he had offered so far seemed reasonable, but he could be trying to soften her, to make her more gullible the next time he wanted something from her. She would agree to his terms today, but she would remain on guard against him henceforth. When he had finished speaking, she smirked lightly. "Yess, that is quite plain, thank you. Wass that sso hard?" it would do Shannon good if he learned to speak plainly more often. He could conclude his business much more swiftly (and perhaps stop confusing her so much). "Assssuming I agree, how ssoon can we begin?" She was not trying to hide her ss's at the moment; Shannon's mocking had irked her. Logically, she understood his point about needing to blend in, but at least for now, he already knew her secret, and she would not hide her accent as if it were something to be ashamed of.

[Verilian]

Shannon ignored the 'was that so hard' comment, not wanting to show that her words had irked him. This woman, this snake, continued to play a dangerous game with him and he would not lend her the upper hand. She wanted to know when she could begin, and Shannon was growing tired of dealing with her. As much as she fascinated him, he did have other things to do. "We can begin right away. I will have papers drawn up for you and the records changed, and you'll be contacted for deliveries soon enough. But I do still require your loyalty." Her ss's were even more pronounced now, and Shannon realized that her pride wouldn't let her do anything else. She had better learn soon, however, or she wouldn't last long in Ravok. Pride was only a luxury available to those who already had what they wanted. Shannon could be proud. His family could be proud. Iskessah could not. Something about the entire ordeal still filled him with uncertainty. How had she gotten here? What were Mattieu's plans with her? They were questions he intended to find the answers to, but he didn't need to find them out right away. Shannon could wait, he could bide his time. For now what was important was that she submit, that she accept his offer without any mocking tones or veiled threats. "So what shall it be? Will I walk out that door and leave you to your undoubtedly grisly fate, or do we do business? The choice is yours."

[Iskessah]

Iskessah had assumed that she had already agreed to his terms, though looking back, she had not said so explicitly. She went over the terms again one last time in her mind. Loyalty to one man and a task of delivering goods and messages, in exchange for free rein of the city and a small income? Not a bad deal. She had already decided that loyalty to him would do her no real harm. "I agree to your termss," she said finally. It almost sounded to her like this was all that would be required of her today, which came as a relief. Iskessah was by no means used to visitors, and she would be glad when she could have this space to herself again. She waited for him to conclude the meeting, but realized a moment later that he might not consider that sufficient, so she added, "You have my loyalty." The words felt awkward coming from her throat, but as least they did not sound insincere. She wondered idly how long it would be before it would be safe for her to leave this apartment. Eh, she could worry about that problem tomorrow. Or the next day. There was no hurry to leave, as far as she could see. She would not admit to herself that she might possibly be afraid of leaving, after this room had been her life for six decades. No, certainly not afraid. Just... it was more comfortable here. With the warm fire chasing away the chill breeze. Yes, that was it.

[Verilian]

"Excellent," Shannon exlaimed with a sense of satisfaction when Iskessah finally agreed. "I will have the papers drawn up, and someone should deliver them later today." He was glad to be moving on with things. The dhani was interesting, but he could only stand her so much. Something about cold blooded and warm blooded things trying to get along just didn't work out to well, they were just too different. But now he had a new set of eyes and ears, and a forked tongue, patrolling the streets, which added to his base of power. Yes, things were going quite well for him. Without wasting any more time, Shannon bid Iskessah farewell and exited through the door. Several bells later she would hear another knock, and it would be a young boy delivering a wooden scrollcase. Rolled up inside were the falsified documents stating she was human, and the niece of Mattieu Kosun.

Iskessah Kosun +2 Subterfuge +1 Observation +2 Rhetoric +1 Interrogation +1 Negotiation You Question My Logic? : If you have any questions about the reward, feel free to ask. Lores: Contact: Shannon Valdinox, Trying to Hide your Ssss, Becoming Mattieu's Niece Loot: Falsified Citizenship Papers Notes: Sorry I took so long to get this done. But, you have your papers now. Yay! Notice As per the request of the Founders, threads cannot be graded unless your CS is up to date. This means you need to add threads to your thread list when you make new threads, keep your skills up to date, ledger, living expenses, ect. If you aren't up to date, you'll get a PM from me before i grade your thread. If you are up to date, disregard this notice.