Aspect watched silently as the ghost sailor worked on the lock for her cell. He seemed rather discontent with her answer and his voice only reassured her suspicions. She tilted her head when she heard the sharp ringing of keys. She listened to him speak and shook her head, her dark red hair flying wildly. She pressed her face against the bars and glared at him. "I am no coward," she stated flatly, slightly annoyed at his skepticism and doubt.

With a loud clang, the door opened and she stepped out. Now free from the magical boundaries that had restricted her transformative abilities, she took the liberty to shift her present form into that of a lanky house cat. The dark red tabby stretched and flicked her tail back and forth, before turning back to the sailor. Egjora. She'd never heard of it, but her ears perked forward in interest, especially after a large portal gate opened nearby.

She walked up to it slowly, walking lightly on her clawed paws. The dark purple light emitting from the portal made the entire cell glow and snuffed out the torches that were glowing on the walls. She sniffed it hesitantly and observed the sailor step into it safely. She paused for a moment before hopping into the portal and allowing the purple light to consume her body. She landed on an old gravel road, very different from the rock in the dungeon. She turned and watched the portal disappear behind her. Well, I'm stuck here now, she thought to herself. 

She walked slowly towards a large building, catching a few glances from the customers outside, but they left her alone. Several of the occupants were soldiers or guardsmen and she gave the sailor next to her a dirty look. She had no desire to return to the dark dungeon, and yet here she was, walking among the peers of those that had originally thrown her in the cage. Such irony and she still didn't know why she was brought here, of all places.

[OOC: Sorry for the delay. I've also switched to first person on Natsumi, so think of my posts as being narrated by her.]
 
Aspect's bravado did little to impress me when it came. I had heard the same before in this world and beyond, and, often, the words she spoke were simply tools of self-reassurance. Those who felt the need to proclaim their lack of fear were often the most fearful; even Aspect did not fit the stereotypical profile of these people.
 
"That's what they all say," I responded with this in mind. The Bellamonte disguise was still holding up well by this point, and about to get stronger when the two of us arrived in Egjora. It wasn't easy to fool another shapeshifter, especially when my divinity was limited in Parvpora. Thus far, I had succeeded, and moving to Canelux would only strengthen my power.  That, however, was only a secondary concern when Aspect and I reached the tavern.
 
Upon my companion's arrival, I turned to her feline presence and addressed her while motioning further down the alley. "This way, please," I said with a slight bow. I led the way afterwards, recalling the password just as we reached the dead end, stone wall up ahead.
 
The code to enter the hidden speakeasy from this point on was two fold: both physical and verbal. First, I tapped out an arbitrary pattern on the stone bricks near the base of the wall itself. It would seem nonsensical to most who saw it, and that's because it was. There was no particular symbolism in this pattern simply because symbolism was easier to identify and crack when used as a lock. The bouncer who guarded the hidden door was always listening for the particular sound that a steady hand might make on those bricks, and, sure enough, he heard my call. A small slit of stone at eye level was quickly revealed to be fake, sliding back to allow a pair of eyes to stare down at the sailor and cat. The man behind the gaze stared silently, awaiting my next words.  "Tryslfix."
 
Satisfied with my answer, the pub guard closed the slit. A door opened in its place, no doubt powered by some simple magic. Beyond was a giant of a man: bald, unwelcoming and burly. He motioned for Aspect and I to go down the stairs, and I did so while expecting the cat to follow. There, at the bottom of the stairwell, we came across the speakeasy: a tavern within a tavern. The place was relatively quiet compared to upstairs, but the sizes were equal with just as many patrons. Many were sitting and whispering to each other in private conversations, paying no mind to the new arrivals. That made things easier for all parties. No prying eyes and all that.

"Welcome to the underground, m'dear," I said to Aspect while taking a seat at the nearest, empty table. "The guardsmen use the upper tavern as a meet-up; never the wiser that they have a secret establishment for the people they hunt right underneath their noses. It works out well for our kind." There were a few bar wenches around, and one was on her way to my table already. I wasn't very hungry or thirsty at the moment, but I was sure Aspect was. "Order anything you like from her. Just try not to clean out the house, since people here get grumpy when you do."

Aspect followed the sailor down the dark street. She leaped lightly over each stone as they made there way to the back of a nearby tavern. They stopped in front of one of its large stone walls. There was nothing unique or strange about it. A very bland looking part of the building with a meager covering of gray slate. She sat down and stared at, rather bored. She watched attentively as the sailor bent down and tapped a random pattern of stones. She didn't think it would do much good and was rather intrigued when she saw a small stone move.

She stood upright and perked her ears forward as she noticed the pair of eyes looking down at them from the opening. She cocked her head to the side and flicked her tail before taking a few steps closer. She heard the sailor speak a word she had never heard before. It was strange and likely foreign. The stone was replaced and a door opened around it. She squinted her eyes at the large man that stood baring the door. He was very big and looked unwilling to move aside to let them pass. It was with obvious reluctance that he stepped over and let the sailor in.

She glared at him for a second before running inside and following the sailor down a step of wooden steps. As they got closer to the bottom she could hear voices from various people and the tinkling of glass. She looked at the various individuals sitting inside the underground tavern. They didn't seem especially strange or different than the normal patrons in the upstairs bar. It wasn't as loud as she was used to and she could feel the eyes of several people staring at them. She cast them all a vile look and they turned away. 

She listened as the sailor spoke to her as he sat at a table close to the entrance. She gracefully leaped onto the table top and sat still, except for a slight flickering of her tail tip. She stared at the sailor when he finished talking. "Our kind?" She said quietly. "Are you a shapeshifter as well?" She stopped talking as one of the waitresses walked over to them. The sailor didn't ask for anything. She asked for a small side of meat and a few biscuits. The waitress acted like this wasn't unusual and went off to the kitchen.

Once my feline friend and I were situated in the bowels of the nameless speakeasy, I began to sense something amiss in the city of Egjora. Circumstances had changed, according to my realm, but in a way I had not foreseen. The prize I sought had gone missing from its original spot: something that hadn't happened in centuries. This turn of events induced a sense of urgency, and so I wasted no time in continuing my ongoing conversation in order to hurry ahead for the more important details.
 
"Not precisely," I began after paying the bar wench for the speaking cat's meal. "I more so meant thieves and ne'erdowells. But enough of that, it's time I told you what I'm hiring you for." As if on cue, the table nearest us broke out into conversation before I could finish my current thought. Two, relatively loud drunks – which is to say normal speaking and not volume challenged like the rest of the speakeasy's patrons – were mouthing off about gossip they had heard around the city when they suddenly turned their topic to an ongoing transportation.
 
"Have you heard," one began? "They're finally taking it out of storage tonight."
 
"Can't believe the Duke is taking that dusty old relic out just to donate it to a museum."
 
"Not just that, but a jewel collection as well. They're putting them on display under heavy guard. Rather peculiar, if ya ask me. I figured crown jewels would be with the royal ass; not on display for visiting rich bastards."
 
"Nobility always were a bit screwy in the head."
 
Admittedly, the snippets were slightly enigmatic at best. In fact, only I knew what artifact these men were talking about in that room, and their gossip confirmed what my divinity had already been telling me. The prize I sought had been moved, and the terms of my engagement with Aspect would have to change with it.
 
My voice broke down into a whisper beyond this point, one shielded in encryption that only the shapeshifter could break. She would be able to understand my seemingly foreign language, even if she didn't know why.
 
"Seems our quarry has changed locations and become much easier to acquire," I continued in this strange voice while surveying the city with my unseen eyes. "But that also brings into question the necessity of this facade. Perhaps a reintroduction is in order?"
 
With but a simple thought, the disguise of the sailor vanished from me. My mask manifested before my true face was revealed, and it wasn't long before the haunting vision of secrets was laid bare for Aspect. No one other than her would notice the change, especially given that I had constructed barriers in order to project the image of a sailor to everyone else. From any angle but hers, Barthollomew was still in the room, rather than being replaced by the reclusive deity who was rarely seen in public.
 
"I am not an employee of Secrets nor a dead sailor," I said to the cat with my normal tone once my transformation was complete. "I AM Secrets, and there is something on that cart that I need. Originally I was going to hire you because I prefer to remain as anonymous as possible in my own private affairs, but things change. I will still offer you the crown jewels, because that was what I was going to pay you with anyway. All I ask is that you take them for yourself, rather than depend on me to deliver them to you. I will create a distraction that should make the job easy, so long as you are ready to pounce when the moment is right." Pausing, I transmitted another telepathic map to Aspect's mind, and then disappeared from my seat in a puff of magical smoke. My voice trailed off one last time before my essence disappeared entirely: one final instruction before I prepared my ambush. "Wait at this intersection until a carriage passes by. I shall open the door to your prize in the opportune moment."
 

---

 
One hour later at the corner of Qendressa and Leon, an inconspicuous carriage could be seen travelling under light guard. Four horses pulled the vehicle forth, and two guardsmen on horseback ran the flank. There were several more of their kind in the alleyways surrounding the carriage's route, but they kept out of sight to avoid unwanted attention.  They knew something was about to happen, but not what.
 
Standing on a distant rooftop, however, I lay far beyond their senses, working my divine magics in order to ensure the caravan's vulnerability. It was the time I spoke of to Aspect, after all, and so I began the promised distraction without regard for her presence. The bolts on the carriage came undone by the first rule, as did the minds of the horses. Arcane barriers simultaneously sealed the additional guardsmen inside their hiding places, leaving them unable to do anything but watch as the stallions went mad and ran chaotically through the streets. The beasts of burden were freed from their dementia before any harm could come to them, but the guardsmen who had been riding around the carriage were long bucked off by that point.
 

With so much disruption, and reinforcements cut off, taking the jewels from the curator inside the ruined carriage would be easy pickings. I already had my prize safely wrapped in blanket under my arm just in case Aspect didn't show up, but the jewels were still there for the taking. For my own amusement, I decided to wait and see if my little shapeshifter had the humility to take them even if they were overtly easy prey.    

Aspect sat on the table and stared silently at the ghostly sailor. She caught the scent of cooked meat and looked up at the waitress who was carrying a small plate of food over to her. She set on the table and the ghostly sailor paid. She didn't change when she decided to eat and was content chewing on the burnt slab. It was the first real food she'd had in a while. She turned her ears upward as she listened to the sailor. He only spoke for a brief time before being interrupted by a rowdy party a few tables away. 

She stopped eating and glared at the two men. The sailor seemed to recognize them, or at least the topic of their conversation. She cocked an ear in their general direction, trying not to make it too obvious that she was listening to what they were saying. The sailor changed his voice and Aspect had to strain to hear her. He was now speaking in a foreign tongue and yet she could understand the words which were spoken. She resumed eating while focusing intensely on the sailor.

She watched in partial amazement as the sailor's body disappeared and was replaced by the body of a young girl in a dark mask. She was a strange sight, unlike any the shapeshifter had seen before. She seemed to be a combination of fox, human, and something unknown. She understood why the cover of the sailor had been used instead, it was not nearly as peculiar as her natural form. The other patrons of the bar didn't seem to notice a difference when she changed her form.

The girl spoke differently than the sailor, in a way that was both drawing and uninviting simultaneously. Power emitted from this being in waves and she stopped eating to duck down lower to the table, in a mixture of fear and respect to this mighty being. She turned both ears toward her when she started to speak. When she finished, Aspect nodded. She saw a map flash before her eyes from the telepathic connection she shared with the woman. As soon as the map was finished being transmitted to her, the woman vanished in a cloud of smoke.

For several seconds, she sat there, unsure of what to do and still trying to understand what had just happened before her eyes. She was jogged into motion by the voice of disappearing girl. A carriage. She stood up and flicked her tail before taking a biscuit in her jaws and leaping off the table. She hurried up the nearby steps and raced through the upstairs bar. She heard the loud ringing of a frying pan or other pot being thrown at her, as well as several yells from the dining patrons. She stopped a short distance away from the tavern and changing forms. Human. She stood up on her legs and took the biscuit in her hands. She raised the collar of her jacket slightly as she walked casually down the street. She ate the biscuit slowly, keeping an eyes out on the surrounding area.

She walked up to the corner the girl had instructed and found her self a dark corner in which to hide. She shifted quietly back into her cat form and laid down next to a gathering of trash. She tucked her limbs under her belly and waited for the coming carriage to arrive, as promised by the girl in the tavern. After what felt like a very long time, she heard the faint rustle of hoof beats on the hard road. This was strange for such a late hour and she looked up to watch the proceedings. It was a fairly normal looking carriage, except for the guards posted in the fore and rear of the transport. 

She heard a horse snort in a nearby alley and could only assume that more guards were stationed there and in the other alleys along the street. She tucked in and watched. The girl said she would make it easy pickings to get inside the carriage. She was looking forward to what her intervention would be. It was only a few moments after she saw the carriage that she picked up on the rear horses acting slightly off. They pinned their ears and started throwing in small bucks that gradually became more violent. The same was true to the horses tethered to the carriage. It took her a second to notice, but she realized the horses were moving forward, while the carriage was not.

The carriage had been unhooked from the horses, that were quickly becoming out of control. The carriage horses burst forward, yanking the driver from his seat and dragging him swiftly through the dirt. The mounted guards were bucked off or likewise dragged across the ground. She found it odd that the soldiers hiding in the alleyways were not coming out to assist their peers. She realized that a barrier, either physical or mental, was blocking their access. So this is what help she got. Very well, she could make do with this.

There was a handful of guards still on the carriage, but they wouldn't pose much difficulty for her. She slipped out from her hiding place, transforming into a dark horse that bucked and spun like the guard's mounts. The men didn't seem to care or notice her approach. Only when she got closer did she start to change breeds. She swiftly became a large heavy draft horse instead of a moderate riding mount. She turned and charged the side of the carriage, the guards yelling at her. She watched a few of them jump off the side before she smashed her chest into the wooden door. 

She felt the weight shift inside and the wheels creaked as it teetered onto its side with a might crash. She heard a scream, but paid no mind to it. She changed into a large dog and jumped onto the door of the carriage. She smashed through the glass and landed onto the still body of the inside guard. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't awake either. She took a moment to look around the dark interior of the carriage before finding the strong box. She cracked it open and admired the shimmering jewels within it. 

She grabbed the leather box with her teeth and jumped out of the carriage. She was about to run when she heard shrieking and sobbing from the back of the carriage. Slightly curious, she walked around to the side to discover one of the guards was pinned by his legs under the collapsed carriage. He screamed and she saw his bloodshot eyes as he stared at her in shock. Another soldier was next to him, trying to help. She felt something pull at her chest and was drawn toward them. She kept the box in her jaws as she shifted once more into the shape of a large steer. 

She dropped her head and dug her horns underneath the edge of the carriage. She strained her muscles and felt the wooden frame lift up off the ground. She lifted it just high enough for the soldier to pull his companion out from underneath and then set it back down. She gave them a passing glance as she turned and changed back into a horse. She bolted down the road, the box of jewels still firmly in her grasp.

[OOC: Thanks for the expeditious posting. :)]
 
Fear had always been a natural response to my presence during my time as a Revaliir deity, even if I did not desire it. Aspect's initial reaction wasn't very surprising, as a result, though her willingness to work with me was. I had expected her to run away, simply because I was accustomed to mortals trying to defy the gods. This thought process was obviously a side effect of my Parvporan upbringing during my time in Revaliir, but one I strived to overcome.
 
I waited for the shapeshifter as I promised myself I would, and was not disappointed to find her amidst the chaos. Although she was in the shape of a horse, she couldn't hide the secret of her identity from me. In fact, I was quite amused by her chosen forms, enough that I remained throughout the entirety of the skit to see how it ended. End, it did, but not in the way I had foreseen.
 
~Surprising,~ I remarked to the female from my distant rooftop when I saw her rescue of the pinned guardsman.  ~A thief with mercy is a rare thing, but not necessarily a bad one. I hope you never lose that spark. It's a difficult thing to keep sight of in the face of greed, and everyone has something they want.~ Turning away from the scene, I opened a portal to escape the city, and finally released my spells from the guardsmen before saying my final farewell to the shapeshifter. ~We will not meet again, and you may not even remember me soon enough. Even so, I wish you luck, Aspect. Enjoy your jewels and the fortune they bring you.~
 

And with that, I disappeared from Egjora for the last time.