Raiders of the Lost Egg: Part 6
----- In One Basket -----
(Note: This is a co-authored story with Bampot/Six)
Tressa opened giant yellow glowing eyes to find Barrox standing over her. At once, a dagger came to his throat.
"Woah, woah there, plant-lady. I just came to wake ya up, not become a diced charr!"
No attempt was made to remove her threatening dagger. Tressa wanted to get the point across. It wasn't the first time Barrox had awoken the woman in this manner, and despite almost breaking his neck once, he continued to do so.
"Look, sorry to wake you from your cat nap, but… Well, before you even say it, you were right. It looks like we're going to need you in there after all." He stood upright, slowly backing away from Tressa's blade.
The Black Rose sat up, rubbing what would be her temples - a habit she'd no doubt picked up from observation of non-plant races. While most sylvari did their best to emulate human and norn behaviors, Tressa cared only enough to blend in and not draw attention to herself (a necessity in her line of work). Yet, the more she observed potential marks and routines of guards, the more she innately found herself copying their mannerisms. And, while the thought had occurred to her that sylvari makeup may have such mimicking tendencies encoded within, it reminded her too much of the Pale Tree's unwelcomed omniscient influence in her sapling-hood.
She shook her head, dismissing her musings. It always seemed such philosophical thoughts came upon waking. She sighed, ran a thorny hand through her top fern, and sat upright. "Precisely why did you uproot my sleep? Did the girl already fail?"
Barrox huffed. "No; not really. Not yet. I mean, I don't know if she'll be able to pull this off. And… the egg!" He stammered.
Tressa was already up and getting dressed. The black leather she wore stretched as tightly over her form as it could, allowing for least resistance and as much stealth as possible, but it was always a bit of a struggle to put on over various brambles on her skin. Again, this was an attempt to look inconspicuous, as it would have been much easier to simply grow her own outer coverings.
Barrox averted his eyes. "It's just… I mean, it's the egg! We can't just put all our eggs in one basket!" He paused, then chuckled at his own inadvertent pun.
"So, I'm the next branch on the tree? You send me in as backup?" Tressa said, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
"Well, yeah… Sort of. Ploxx agrees; he says it's more likely we'll succeed if you're both in there. And, the egg is too damned important to…"
Tressa looked skeptical. "Ploxx said this?" The asura said less than Tressa spoke most of the time, and she spoke only when necessary.
"Well…" Barrox scratched his mane. "Not in those words… Not really. I mean, it makes sense, right? You two have a better chance pulling this off if you work together. For the egg!"
""Fine," Tressa interjected so the old charr wouldn't launch into his explanation of how great the egg was (again). "But I am not her partner in this. I go in and get the job done. She better not get in my way!" She took two pistols from the small armory closet.
"You ain't planning on goin' in there guns blazing, are you?"
The Black Rose grinned and without a word, left.
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While the smoke-filled air was unpleasant, at least Tressa found the darkness of the Emporium to her liking. The neon lights and atmosphere blended itself well to the woman's dark form, and she quickly established herself in a booth away from passersby. It also provided amble coverage for the her to conceal the daggers she'd managed to sneak past the guards; the confiscated pistols worked as a distraction, as she'd planned.
Tressa's eyes dimmed as she sat back in the booth, quietly observing patrons and their activities. In many more ways than she'd care to admit, the woman was a student of human nature. Often patterns would reveal themselves to a vine attached to a wall, and when the flesh races went about their business without noticing her, they would unwittingly reveal things: valuables, safe vaults, secrets, nefarious deeds, and unsavory affairs which could be used against them. Tressa used these as tools; the least they paid attention to the Black Rose, the more likely wind up in her fly-trap.
Taking her away from casing the rest of the Emporium, the lights lowered down and a silent stillness and hush came over the crowd. An announcer exclaimed with a magically amplified voice, "Ladies, gentlemen, asura and norn and charr! Whatever your pleasure, she'll be sure to satisfy! Straight from the deserts of Elona, please welcome to the stage: Fantasia!" A cloud of purple smoke exploded onto the stage, as a voluptuous, auburn-haired bombshell walked through it. She wore materials made of sink and lace as she moved her hips rhythmically to an Elonian melody. Bracers on her arms clinked together as did chains affixed to her outfit. Her abs under the veil twitched and gyrated as she glided across the stage belly-dancing and let out an Elonian chant of excitement, "Opa!"
Tressa was the only one in the Emporium without eyes glued to the woman's show. Instead, she was already up, slinking her way to what appeared to be the owner's office overlooking the establishment. 'Fantasia' was the perfect distraction, and Tressa may have actually gotten to her goal, had Kimura not rounded the corner holding a serving tray and dressed in a tiny outfit the Black Rose couldn't help but stop and smirk at.
[To be Continued...]
