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[Horizon's Key] Job 01: Shakedown (Chapter 1)

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Mud, as well as the other members of the welcoming party turned to their guests with strained, uneasy smiles. Mud however, quickly let hers turn more genuine at Eliot's question. She tried to reach out her enormous hands to grab the male by placing them on his cheeks.

"Silly little man. Food all over! You not see? You no smell?" she turned and pointed to the side of the corridor lined with white clothed tables covered in siver platters with clear lids over them. Some had condensation, showing that the food within was warmed, while others just were clear, showing the food within.

There were hot skewers of meat, mushrooms, and onions. There were deserts that looked decadent enough to put a person into hyperglycemic shock with a single bite. Fruits and veggies, fresh as they could be, were filling a bowl. Some were recognizable as apples, or oranges, but there were others, like a fruit the size of a softball with knobby little protrusions all over it, that were entirely foreign.

"Is Swampapple!" Mud announced, picking up the knobby fruit and biting into it, sending purple juice spurting everywhere, and drooled a little bit of it out the side of her muzzle. "Recommend peel first, but taste so good, make Guaeko cry. Very addictive, one bite, make eat lots!" She giggled dumbly and began to wander off, thinking everyone would just follow. That was, until the tigress growled something at her, and Mud stopped with a sheepish grin and just leaned against one of the walls eating her treat.

"Please, excuse her. She went in for training to be a warrior, and took a warhammer to the side of the head. It's like talking to a freaking newborn at times..." Autumn's Blizzard mentioned softly, tapping the side of her head with a single black claw.

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. And if you would like to explore the station, that is fine as well, but I do request you take at least one of us with you, so that we might answer any questions you may have, as well as keep you out of danger. You see, there are those aboard the station who are a little more primal in their natures. For instance, we have a blacksmith onboard, with a working forge. He is the most skilled weaponsmith you will find when it comes to melee weaponry, but he has NO people skills, and speaks no language any but Spring here," she motioned to the fox. "Can speak."
 
Gem stiffened at Night's initial rebuttal to her question...which had been rather innocent, she had thought. It was just not common for her to find someone who asked favors to strangers. Usually there was at least a common link -- a person, a company, a mission -- shared between strangers when that sort of request was posed...this was like asking someone who was wandering door to door if they would go on a grocery run for you. How would you know that the person just wouldn't take off with your money?

Or maybe I've been workin' wi' Neps too long, she thought as Nicolai stepped in. The ID-SOL was right: Nepleslians made strangers work for their trust. She preferred to look for the good in people she met, but Gem had learned to be cautious all the same. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the wrong way to approach this situation. She glanced over at Nicolai as he spoke, but her expression was unreadable.

Her attention returned to Night Watches Over and she listened as he replied to Nicolai's statements. "Sit'uation?" she repeated after the elder jackal had left. "Didn' 'ear of one on th' way over." At least that explained the expectation of old Night that the Key was there to help. So that's all it was: just a simple misunderstanding.

Simple misunderstandin'...yeah, but don' brush it off, Gem. They can be jus' as dang'rous as any oth'r misunderstandin'. Keep flyin' level, 'kay?

Gem took a breath and looked up at Nicolai. "Thanks for th' assist," she said, giving him a brief smile before her face turned serious again. "This's either tricker'n I thought or I'm makin' it harder than it needs be. Whate'r it is, looks like if we do this for them, they migh' be open to doin' business after." She glanced around at Eliot and Kassi. Eliot seemed to be getting along pretty well with the mare...had Night called her "Mud"?...but Kassiopea was being very quiet.

"Whadda ya think o' this, Nicolai?"
 
"Hey, it's no problem." Eliot said, smiling slightly as he addressed Autumn's Blizzard. "I remember back on Pisces Station, first day in my cargo managing position my crew had a guy in it- Crazy Jack, they called him. He took a crate to the head two years before I came on as cargo manager. Cracked his skull behind the ear and messed his brain up pretty good. Nice guy, but I wouldn't trust him with my shoes, let alone the loading crane.

"The way I see it, there's things that happen here and there that you just have to work around. I just happen to do that easier than others."

Having finished his address to the tigress, Eliot turned to the food and grabbed an apple from the dish. By the marbling on the skin, he recognized it as a Gala, his favorite breed. Smirking, he took a chair and bit into the apple, eating with a grin of satisfaction slowly pulling at his face.

After a brief few minutes of eating the apple, he turned back to Autumn's Blizzard and made a two-point shot into a trash recepticle on the far wall of the room before making his address.

"So, your race is all a permutation of a different type of animal? Like a puma, or a mongoose, or a swallow?"
 
Blizzard watched Eliot with a smile. She was starting to like this male, he was funny, and didn't seem too worried about keeping up appearances to the new race he was meeting. She moved to lean against the table near him and smiled.

"You don't have to worry about Mud taking your shoes...A bit odd you would value them so much, but she is more interested in shiney things. Watches, coins, bolts and screws...If the light glints off it, or through it, she just has to have it." She grinned, showing off the predatory fangs that lined her maw.

"And as for the rest of your question, you could say that. Though I know of no tribes that are creations of avians. If they exist, they would have to live on the northern continent. As for the other tribes, there are the Guaeko, or as you call them Dogs, I am from the Nagual tribe, cats as you call them. There are two other tribes, the Tikbalang like Mud, and then the other tribe we don't know much about, so we just call them Sha'Nai, or "those who live in shadow". The Sha'Nai are assassins and theives, you don't find them, they find you..." she shrugged and picked up what looked like a turkey sandwich with spicey cheese on it, and began to eat as she looked around to the others, who were talking in hushed tones amongst themselves until the Key's crew needed anything, then their attention would quickly be drawn back to them.
 
Eliot grinned as he reached towards a bottle of wine and a crystal glass. He uncorked the bottle using the corkscrew on his keychain and poured a glass for himself, then took a swig of the wine.

"I didn't mean literally 'trust someone with my shoes'," he said, "It's just a metaphor some of us use on Nepleslia. But I'll keep the shiny thing in mind, I have a pretty expensive watch and a knife I would like to keep on me.

"So, continuing forward, you say that your peoples are divided into different clans, of sort? Would that mean your government is a sort of feudal system, or am I just rambling?"
 
The large ID-SOL's shoulders slumped a little as he shut his eyes and forced himself to relax. Damn Mel, you's right....I need to relax more. After counting silently to ten the ID-SOL took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Cap'n if it's okay with you?" Nicholai asked as he gestured toward the table as well as the other Kohanians near it.
 
"Ah...yea. Sorry 'bout that." Nicholai stammered. Truthfully the ID-SOL had only payed half attention when Gem had first spoke, but now he silently resolved to listen intently when she spoke again. "They mean well." Nicholai said before elaborating. "Aside from what Yamatai's dun to them they seem innocent, kinda naive...probably to their benefit. I say we help them if we can, but you're the cap'n not me. I dun think I would'a done it like that though. I mean for chrissakes we ain't diplomats...but I guess when you need supplies you'll try anything. An' this was better than the alternative." The ID-SOL rubbed his shoulder with his hand as he spoke. "Give 'em a chance is all I'm saying."
 
Gem nodded. Nicolai was confirming what she had first thought of the large guy, that he was level-headed and thought things through. He also showed experience that would help make good decisions.

However..."I don' much think they're naive...jus' a bi' inexper'enced w' workin' w' offworlders. They're tryin' t' be cautious, b' they don' know how, maybe?" Gem shrugged. "Whate're it is they wan'ned, they got us. I s'pose we make it t' their benefit, eh?"

Leaving Nicolai, Gem approached Autumn's Blizzard. The tigress was intimidating, but only when Gem thought about what those claws were capable of, while she herself carried no weapon. And I thought they were naive, she realized, a bit chagrined. But she diverted from that train of thought and focused on the issue at hand. "Ah've though' it over an' think we migh' be able t' think o' an arrangement, if th' r'quest still stands," she said confidently.
 
Nicholai watched as Gem walked off to talk with Autums Blizzard. She'll be fine. the ID-SOL told himself before he looked back toward the table and the ladies near it. Might as well introduce myself. he thought as he approached the (female?) he believed was called 'Flaming Sky'. "Sorry fer bein' so rude jus' a secon' ago." Nicholai started, "This whole thing is kinda new to me, I'd kinda like to start again on the right foot, if you know what I mean." Nicholai smiled genuinely as he spoke, trying to throw off the tension that had both been building in his muscles as well as the tension that showed on the smile that Flaming Sky wore.
 
Blizzard was just finishing her sandwich when Gem made her way over. The tigress canted her head at the odd, almost unintelligible way that the femme talked. She got the general idea though, and reached behind herself to pull a pen and some parchment from a round container just above her tail.

Laying the implements on the table, she spoke to Gem. "Feel free to write your offer down on the parchment, and I will deliver it to the Administrator. I don't think he would trust verbal messages, so just write it out and he will look it over and write up a response for you shortly."

===~~~===

As Nicholai approached the tall, muscular mare turned her head, fluttering her ears a few times as she listened to the ID-SOL speak. When he finished, she nodded and shifted her weight on large dinnerplate sized hooves.

"S'Alright. We don' know much about you furless ones, so I understand." For someone who had only been studying the language for a few weeks, it seemed that the Kohanian female was picking it up quickly, perhaps why Night had chosen her to be part of the welcoming committee. Of course, it was also possible that the warhammer strapped to her back, with it's head of black obsidian the size of a man's torso, might have had something to do with it as well.

"No worries. We all learn as we walk the path of Life."

Smiling, she would watch Nicholai who stood just shorter than the bottom of her equine muzzle, with a playful grin. She kinda liked this male, he didn't look as fragile as some of the smaller furless creatures who wandered the station.
 
"Well then." Eliot said, putting down the glass of wine and standing up a bit slowly, although he didn't look inebriated at all- practice, apparently.

"It has been nice conversing with you, miss Blizzard, but I would like to do a bit of exporing aboard the station." Then he took another apple and one of the swamp-apples Mud had mentioned and made his way to the door.
 
It wasn't often that the ID-SOL felt dwarfed, however Nicholai did his best to hide his anxiety. Not only was Flaming Sky immensly tall and muscular, she had a hammer strapped to her back that would not be pleasant to get hit with. "Mm." Nicholai acknowledged before glancing back at the table. "M'names Nicholai Vandherson, Nice to meet you." As Nicholai spoke he extended his hand to shake it with the Kohanian.
 
The tall, muscular mare slowly turned her head to look down at the hand that was offered to her. After a moment of this, her own large appendage was brought up to grasp his. Not in the normal handshake way, however, but instead the base of her palm was against his, while her fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist. After satisfying herself there was not a hidden weapon there, she would reach for the other to do the same thing.

Once this was all done, she stepped back and reached into the ice filled bowl and pulled out a clear bottle filled nearly to the top with a yellowy liquid. Taking it between her hands, she would actually break the top off of it, tossing the broken, still sealed, top into a trash bin, before pouring half of the contents into one finely crafted porcellin mug, and the other half into a flask she produced from a pouch on her studded leather belt. Laughing, she put the mug into his hand, as she took a deep draught from her flash.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nicholai Vandherson, and to celebrate, let us drink to our health." The mare laughed, and just seemed to be waiting expectantly to see how her new companion enjoyed Kohanian liquor. The one she offered was the equivalent of Kohanian Vodka, a drink powerful enough that it was actually outlawed from mass consumption by the Four Riders.

Drink up, Nicholai Vandherson, enjoy the fruits of the Kohanian vine!" She teasingly encouraged.
 
Nicholai wasn't sure what he was about to drink, but the flask and the way that the Kohanian said 'the fruits of the vine' sounded pretty good to Nicholai. The ID-SOL raised the mug to his lips and took a deep drink.
 
Taking the parchment and implement, Gem wrote the following:

"To avoid any other misunderstandings, I will keep this short.

"Before accepting your request, if it still on the table, I would like to know a few more details about what my crew and I are being asked to do for you. If it's a cargo pick-up, I would also like a manifest so I can determine if we have the room on board.

"I would like to offer my apologies for the misstep earlier, but I hope you realize that these misunderstandings will happen, even now that we recognize the differences in our cultures.

"Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Commander Keira Tabier."
 
The tigress stood back a little bit to give Gem room to write out her message. When she had finished, the messenger stepped forward, looked over the message, and then rolled the parchment to put it back in the small pouch perpendicular to her tail. She nodded with somewhat of a smile, and then went jogging off, careful to avoid her breasts to get free of her top. As she disappeared around the corner, the other members of the welcoming party began to mingle with the crew, offering sandwiches made with meat from the surface, or offering a glass of Kohanian wine, or just the juice from the different fruits and berries. Some the crew would know, others would be new to them.

===~~~===

The tall black mare stood and watched Nicholai tip his mug back, nodding in satisfaction. He wasn't gasping and sputtering for air from the potency of the stuff, which was good. He also was not keeling over dead from it either, which was better.

Taking a deep breath, she too would toss her head back, downing most of the contents of her flask before slipping it into a specially created place on her belt for it.

"You can drink like a To'Yaree, Nicholai, I can see that my initial reaction to you furless ones was wrong, which is very good. I thought you would be weak and frail, but instead, I find a male able to drink even the strongest poison without batting an eyelash." She grinned, gave him a thumb's up, and then slammed her enormous palm against the back of his left shoulder.

"Come, let us walk and I will answer all of your questions. If it is alright with your war leader?" She turned from seeming to try and lead Nicholai off, and watched Gem. "Unless you all would like to leave the safety of your boarding corridor and join us all for a grand tour? It is just easiest for us to work one to one on these things, as questions do not fall through the spaces, as you are fond of saying, I believe." She smiled genuinely and then moved to stand by Mud, who happened to be, at the moment, gnawing on the broken bottle top, trying to get the bottle cap off with little success.
 
War leader? Nicholai thought as he felt the the drink reach his stomach. "This stuff's pretty good, we should get some back on Nepleslia." The ID-SOL was feeling a little buzzed as he spoke, "Gem's the captain of the Key, though I'd hardly call 'er the war leader. We ain't here for war, after all. All the same though, I think she'd like to know where I'm gonna be." Nicholai said before walking over to Gem. "Cap'n do ya mind if I go on a bit o' a tour?" Nicholai asked.
 
Gem watched the tigress go, hoping this message was not going to make things worse. Then she turned to Nicolai with a partial smile.

"Sure. Take notes, a'righ'? I'mna stay 'ere 'til we get somethin' 'ammered out."
 
"You got it boss." Nicholai said with a chuckle before he turned back to Flaming Sky. Nicholai wasn't sure why, perhaps the drink was helping a bit, it never hurt to have a bit o' liquid courage after all, but he felt safe here. "'War Leader' Tabier says it's fine." Nicholai said jokingly as he approached Flaming Sky and Mud, I'll have to remember this for later. the Nepleslian thought with a grin.
 
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