A Cat's Tale

[Shukuen]

Leets ignored the propagandist attitude for the moment. "Can you describe this... scent?" he prodded, "Was it something familiar? Like what you can find around this area?"

[Olvelsper]

"He means that it could've been some kind of drug. Did the people that came to visit look or use anything advanced looking?"

[Dracos]

"Sort of a sweet scent," The man answered, considering.  "Drug?  I don't think so... people?" He sounded like he wasn't quite sure what Jan was getting to it.

Dracos

[Shukuen]

Leets mentally sighed at the needless complications. "It's kind of like... well, in this case, it's like when you breath in too much smoke. It makes you disoriented and sometimes sleepy," he tried explaining with his own limited knowledge.

[Dracos]

"I suppose, we didn't find anything we could track.  Well except for some crushed sections of the field towards where the food was stolen, heading out of the village.

Dracos

[Shukuen]

"Crushed..." Leets immediately pounced, feeling like the cat that finally cornered the mouse. "Can you show that to us?"

[Dracos]

"Sure," And so the guardsman did.  The party was lead to a section towards the edge where the plants looked notably abused.  Portions were stripped clean and in fact, certain parts looked crushed as if a large crew or big animal had come through.

Dracos

[Olvelsper]

"Well, at any rate, it looks like we'll need to hide ourselves away and suppliment your guard duty. Do they come every night? Any specific time of the last attack? Lastly, is there anything else strange going on in local affairs you can educate us about that might relate to this?"

[Dracos]

"We've had stuff missing every night...but some nights just a bit," The man answered, the hour starting to get late. "We need to get back to guard duty.  You can stay if you'd like to help,"

Dracos

[Olvelsper]

"Yeah, we'll help you out. We have a measure of interest invested in this mess. Don't freak out later on, though. My powers force me to change if I use them to fight." Jan warned the two guards as he wandered off. "Everyone, scatter to different sides of the field, if you see anything, give a shout."

[Shukuen]

[17:08] Dracos: And so darkness came, the crew hanging out, spread liberally among the crops so that they'd be able to catch whenever a thief, big or small, approached.
[17:11] Dracos: The moon rose above them as the night moved on, the guards a bit uncomfortable, but one admitting they were glad to have the extra eyes.
[17:12] Dracos: It was a bit past midnight, when they were starting to think that nothing was going to happen, that Leets spotted a young boy hurrying off from the fields, a freshly picked section nearby.
[17:15] Leets: His brows furrowed as he watched the suspicious boy flee. Odd, but having heard the guard's testimony, he shouldn't be too surprised if they left something out. He glanced towards the field the boy fled from, wondering if there was something there he should know about.
[17:16] Dracos: It looked like every other crop field.  The boy was making his way into the desert.  A few more minutes  and he'd be gone.  He probably slipped in with the guards earlier, given Leets didn't notice anyone coming to the fields.
[17:20] Leets: It was a lead, though not what they were expecting. Leets gestured to Jan to follow, before tracking down the escaping boy.
[17:21] Jan: Jan, barely spotting Leet's gesture, began to follow after. Seemed they had managed to catch the thief.
[17:22] Dracos: The kid was hurrying off, away from the village to the north, across the less grassy plains.  He didn't have much cover, but it was night anyway.
[17:24] Leets: Leets kept an easy pace with the other boy. Being a thief himself, there was no way he was going to let himself live it down by losing track of this kid.
[17:24] Dracos: Continuing to follow, they eventually came to a bit of a hillside, the kid moving around it cautiously, glancing back for a moment to see if he was being followed!
[17:26] Jan: Jan wasn't that bad of a hand at trailing people, but the kid's sudden movement caught him offguard, causing him to quickly scurry behind cover with more noise than was needed.
[17:27] Leets ducked out of sight, focusing on that trace of oddness that marked his ability. Nothing here, look away.
[17:29] Dracos: The kid was evidently not an expert as he didn't notice either of them, continuing down along into a sort of hidden valley behind the hillside...  a couple of voices faintly hearable there  from this distance.
[17:31] Leets: Too far to hear. Leets snuck closer, half focusing on the voices, half focusing on not being seen or heard.
[17:34] Dracos: Another sort of young kids voice, a bit deeper was talking, "ooh, more corn!" Crunching could be heard as well.
[17:38] Jan: "It's not polite to steal food from others, you know." Jan stepped out of his hiding spot to face the kids.
[17:39] Leets groaned. Too late to stop this now. He remained in hiding though, counting off heads and seeing if they coincided with how much food was stolen.
[17:41] Dracos: Stepping out he got a good view of them.  One a kid, clearly from one of the villages looking aghast as he turned around to face Jan.  The other well...  the large creature beside the kid was the kind of thing you didn't see every day, about as tall as jan was at the shoulder, the reptilian villian blinked bright purple eyes as the moonlight glittered along it's multicolored irridiscient scales.  "Hey, this is my dinner!"  The 'other
[17:41] Dracos: voice called back.
[17:41] Dracos: Jan was facing off against what looked to be a midsized dragon.
[17:45] Dracos: The two were standing outside what looked to be a small cave carved into the hillside.
[17:45] * Leets blinked. Then blinked again, mentally trying to match up crushed fields with the dragon.
[17:49] Dracos: Well, the animal was sort of big enough.  He could've done some of it.
[17:51] Leets: Might as well get it out. Stepping from hiding (and appearing as harmless as possible in case the dragon could breath fire), he asked as politely as he could, "Have you ever been in the village, Li... Dragon?"
[17:52] Dracos: "Hey, stay away from Barney."  The kid leapt in front of the dragon defensively.
[17:52] Dracos: "The food fields?  a few times."
[17:52] Jan: "You guys are causing a lot of chaos. The two villages are nearly at each others throats over this, y'know." Jan reasonably stated.
[17:53] Leets: ...Barney? Well, he was certainly colorful enough. Still... One last puzzle piece needed. Leets experimentally sniffed.
[17:55] Dracos: The boy looked a bit contrite, "I..know, but what can I do..."  "huh?" The dragon seemed a bit more naive. sniffing, a bit of colored fumes leaving his nostrils. "Someone else is there."
[17:55] Dracos: He smelled something odd...it wasn't quite sweet though.  He wasn't close enough to really get a good waff of whatever the dragon was snorting though.
[17:57] Jan: "If this keeps up, lots of innocent people could die. Besides, it's not good to be dishonest with your own people."
[17:59] Leets: Not quite as overpowering as he thought. Either the guards had more sensitive noses, or this was something else all together. "Relax, Jan. It doesn't look as bad as we thought it was. Nothing an apology probably won't fix anyway."
[18:01] Jan: "Where did you come from anyway?" Jan questioned the dragon, even as he dismissively answered as well. "My friend likes being invisible."
[18:02] Dracos: "Hum?  I was born here... I see," The dragon settled down. "This is my place." He said straightforwardly.
[18:04] Jan: "Are you the one that's been eating from the fields as well? Or is there any other dragons around?" Something didn't really click yet. If the boy was the one that came to get things, why was there damage in the field?
[18:07] Jan: "Will you come down with us to let the people know it wasn't their neighbors eating up the fields?"
[18:09] Dracos: "No, it's dangerous,' The kid worriedly pet Barney, not so sure.
[18:09] Dracos: "Huh?  Neighbors?'
[18:09] Leets: "He's probably right, Jan," Leets mumbled, recalling the villagers' personality. "They might not react well if they meet him."
[18:10] Jan: "Well, he certainly can't keep eating the food the villagers are growing. It'll likely incite even more problems between the villagers at this rate."
[18:13] Dracos: "Huh, hey, stop talking like I'm not here,' The clearly young dragon pouted.
[18:13] Leets: "I'm only saying there has to be another solution then having him offer himself as a new rug for the village elder."
[18:14] Jan: "Okay, well..." Jan half turned so he could face both sides. "You know you can't eat their food, right?" He asked the dragon.
[18:18] Dracos: "Why not?"
[18:18] Dracos: The dragon asked back, a bit confused at him.
[18:18] Jan: "Nothing in life is free. If you want food, you have to do your own fair share to get some."
[18:20] Leets was silent, as any lecture he could offer would be entirely hypocritical.
[18:23] Dracos: "Why?  It's there isn't it?"
[18:25] Jan: "But it isn't yours. You haven't done any work in planting it, or tending it so it grows, or harvesting it. It isn't fair to just take things that other people have spent their blood, sweat, and tears making for yourself." He waved an arm to encompass the desert out towards the horizon. "This world is harsh enough as it is, and things are so scarce as they already are. You have your own unique powers and talents, use them to help."
[18:28] Dracos: "What do you mean?"  The young dragon listened interestedly. "Help?"
[18:28] Dracos: He seemed like he was sort of getting it, but that it was a new concept to him.
[18:30] Dracos: "Um, like...well... do some work, Barney," The kid pitched  in.
[18:30] Jan: "The world is rough. Lots of monsters rampage out in the desert around these towns. You're powerful, so you could protect them."
[18:32] Dracos: "Like where?" The young dragon seemed interested.
[18:41] Jan: "I'm not sure where you can protect. I'll need to talk to the leaders of the villages, but I'll try my best so you two can stay together, okay?"
[18:43] Dracos: "Really?" The young boy looked pleased at this outcome, Barney waving his tail a bit happily as well.
[18:44] Jan: "Just try to not steal anymore food for a bit, okay?"
[18:46] Dracos: "I'm sorry," He bowed his head.
[18:47] Jan: "Don't worry about it. You seem like a good sort, so it shouldn't be that hard to placate the elders."

[Dracos]

So the mottled party, having discovered the odd source of the missing farm goods made their way back to the lower village as the sun was rising over the plains.

Dracos

[Olvelsper]

It was a good thing that they had decided to leave the dragon behind at the mountain. The last thing they needed was to induce mass hysteria in the catpeople by introducing the creature to them. Well, either hysteria or everyone would probably attack it.

Reconnecting with Felix and Mary, Jan and Leets told them about what had happened, before the quartet went to see the elder of the town to let him know that they had solved the mystery.

Once they were inside, Jan began. "It wasn't your neighbors who were raiding the fields like you thought. Evidence on the scene showed a creature much too large for it to be them. We followed the trail and managed to track down the thieves and got them to promise to never do it again."

[Dracos]

OOC: Sorry for delays
IC:

"Hmph...  only a promise?" The chief's pride was obviously  a bit rumbled, both by being wrong and having thieves openly having paraded around his village.

Dracos

[Shukuen]

"They are just kids. The only thing they can offer other then a promise is to try to make up for their crimes."