@Fraust
"Could you point us towards them, sir?" Cas asked quietly, staying near to Nick. He had a plan for what he'd say if someone asked who they were and why they were together, but he wasn't sure it was a good one.
"Could you point us towards them, sir?" Cas asked quietly, staying near to Nick. He had a plan for what he'd say if someone asked who they were and why they were together, but he wasn't sure it was a good one.
The man pointed a knobby finger in the direction of a squat building. “The man typically hangs out in there.” He gestured to a woman at a booth across the street. “The woman’s booth is there. Good luck to you two.”
Nick glanced at Cas. “Should we go for the man or woman?” he whispered.
"The man. He's allegedly been talking about the sea." Cas took his hand and walked towards the building they'd been pointed to.
Nick went as well, opening the door and looking inside. The atmosphere was strange, caught somewhere between a quaint restaurant and bawdy tavern. In the corner sat an old man by himself, whereas nearly everyone else there was significantly younger and had at least one or two people with them. “Think that’s him?” Nick whispered.
"Based on my logic skills, I'd reckon so." Cas tugged on his hood a bit to keep it up. He approached the man with Nick by his side and greeted him politely.
“Eh? Who’re you?” the man demanded in a raspy voice. Nick glanced at Cas. He was a horrible liar.
"Oh! My apologies, sir." Cas bowed politely. "I'm Nathan, of Ristallica, and this is my friend Jerome. We're traveling, you see, and we heard wind of pirates nearby. We just wanted to make sure it would be safe for us to travel the seas on our way home."
“Pirates, ay?” the man repeated. “It really would be safer for you lads to avoid them. There is a gang of pirates nearby, no good rascals. They always did give me the willies.”
“Did you ever cross paths with one?” Nick inquired, and the man’s brows furrowed together.
“Ay, a few years ago. They’re a right nasty bunch.”
Cas nodded and exchanged glances with Nick. "Well, thank you very much for the information, sir. We'll leave you be now." He bowed again and walked off.
Nick followed his lead and left the man where he was. "That wasn't extremely helpful," he said once they were out of earshot of the man. "But at least we know there probably are pirates nearby."
"Yeah…" Cas looked around. "Should we try the woman now?"
Nick nodded. "Yeah, let's ask her. Which booth is hers again?"
"Um…" Cas thought for a moment, recalling the details of the conversation. "Candles. Do you see her?"
"I think so…" Nick replied, inclining his head to a woman with olive skin and sleek black hair who was standing at a booth displaying many different candles. "Let's go and see."
Cas nodded and followed him over to the booth. "Why don't you try to take the lead this time?"
“Okay.” He approached the woman. “Um, excuse me, my name is Clarence Hynes and this is my cousin, Henry Von Tussle. We’ve heard rumors of pirates in this region and we want to be safe on our journey home to Ylksvana. Do you have any information that could help?”
“Pirates?” the woman asked, with a laugh. “Nonsense. There are no pirates in this area.”
"Are you sure, ma'am?" Cas asked, looking up at her. "We need to be sure… our boats may not be able to stand up to pirates."
The woman glared at Cas head on, her eyes betraying her even as she spoke. "There are no pirates in this area. I'd do well to not mention it again if I were you," she replied icily. Nick glanced at Cas, wondering if he had a plan.
Cas surveyed her expression, keeping his hood up and being careful to not let any wisps of ginger hair show. "You're lying."
The woman glared at Cas, stubbornly refusing to speak until Nick pulled a gold coin out of his pocket and held it up, quirking an eyebrow. "Alright, yes, there are pirates here," she admitted, eyes locked on the money.
"And?" Nick inquired slowly.
"And? I know a bit about them. There's a man who walks up and down the docks every day at twilight who has a scar on his nose. He is a pirate, but that's all I know, I swear."
"Thank you, ma'am. Come along, Clarence." Cas nodded a bit, walking away once Nick had given the coin to the woman.
Nick followed. "I think that information was useful. We just need to wait until twilight now and then we can look for the man."
Cas nodded again. "What do you want to do until then? We've got a pretty decent amount of time."
"I dunno. I feel like I've picked everything that we've done so far, and I don't know what would be helpful," he said, thinking. "Why don't you pick?"
"Um…" Cas thought for a bit. "I mean, we could just wander around the market? See what's in stock?"
"Okay, that could be interesting," Nick agreed, glancing around. "There's quite a few booths that look like they could be cool."
"Let's go, then." Cas walked into the crowd, staying near to Nick so he wouldn't get lost.
Nick admired all of the food, clothing, and trinkets on display. He liked exploring what there was, and he pointed out a few things excitedly to Cas, but he wasn't interested in any one thing more than the others.
Cas wasn't too intrigued by anything, but material things rarely piqued his interest anyways. The only thing that really caught his eye was a cat in the bracelet booth.
Nick followed Cas's gaze. "You really like cats, don't you?"
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