Wrong way down(open)

[Basil]

Laurentius sat on a small rock that appeared to have fallen from a high ledge and embedded itself at the base of the mountain. He was, of course, accomplishing nothing while he sat there staring at it but that hadn't stopped him at any point during the two hours he had been sitting and staring. From what he had heard, there were interesting things in a castle way up top and best of all, it was empty. Seeing as how nearly nobody ever made it to the top, it would be a safe place to hide out from anyone still hunting him or one of his identities down. Laurentius had begun his general habit of muttering to himself while alone.

"What about the dragons?" He continued, interrupting his entirely uneventful monologue about what he would do about any griffins. "I could pretend to be a dragon." He reached into his satchel and pulled out a cigarette then lights it. He took a long drag and blew a few smoke rings. slipping a small mirror from his pocket he looked at himself as he did it again. "That's not gonna work, is it?" He frowned and put the mirror back into his pocket. He leaned back on the rock and kept smoking. "Maybe I could dress like something shiny. The dragon might carry me up to the top." He tilted his head to the side while he thought of it. "Yeah that will be bad." He grabbed the cigarette and ground it against the rock. "I can't trick them into helping me, and I can't make them think I'm one of them either. I wonder if dragon's like the taste of demons." Laurentius slipped the cigarette behind his ear. "Or do they hate elves more. I know they like humans." He crossed his legs, pulled his satchel onto his lap, and began digging through it.

He set a few things aside, a box of assorted trinkets, a case of makeup, another collection of dyes, and even a thick leatherbound book, until he finally came to his goal. It was a small bag that let loose a small cloud of chalk as he tossed it from hand to hand. He grinned and put the other things back into his satchel. The chalk would help him climb and apart from his complete lack of planning he was ready to set up the mountain. So he uncrossed his legs and lied down on the rock to stare at the towering monstrosity some more. He was in no hurry after all.

[Kenyon]

A large fox scaled the lower edge of the Cliffs of Heaven, seemingly undaunted by the massive heights. The beast was about the size of a German shepherd, deep orange with a white underbelly and black legs, ears, and tail.
It trotted up finding footholds that would be far more difficult for a humanoid creature to do. A small, flat stone jutted out from the cliff, bathed in sunlight, a perfect resting spot.
He shifted, melding into a tall, muscular man with overlong, dark auburn hair, sun-tanned skin, and warm golden brown eyes. His face held a cheery grin, almost out of habit, revealing long pointed canines. His hair was untidily cut, threaded through with beads and thread, with bangs that fell into his eyes.
Kenyon opened the small pouch that hung from around his neck and pulled out a pair of comfortably loose shorts made of Fae fabric and slipped them on. Then he pulled out a green strip of cloth, which was tied around his forehead to hold his bangs in place.
Kenyon Boe sprawled out on the rock and lounged for a short while, sitting up as he heard a man's voice. He clearly heard him muttering to himself about dragons and climbing. The shifter carefully rolled over to peer over the edge of a cliff and saw a man about nine feet down and slightly to the left.
"Hello?" he called down in a light, cheery voice. He sat up and crossed his legs, resting both arms on his knees, "Having trouble getting up or something?"

[Basil]

Lauren looked away from the hidden peak of the mountain and toward the calling voice. He tilted his head to the side and sat up. "Not me, but I assume you are having trouble getting down." He stood and pulled out the cigarette from behind his ear. with a quick movement he had the lighter in his hand and had the cigarette burning. Who is this shifter? He thought to himself. The organization wouldn't be lowering themselves down to work with shifters. Of course shifters were the last race I stayed with. I wonder if he's working for them. He smiled nonchalantly and took a few puffs on his cigarette and blew out a long stream of smoke.

"I look like a dragon to you, guy?" Laurem asked with a lopsided grin and stuck the cigarette back into his mouth. He didn't attack from the shadows so he probably isn't an enemy. His inner dialogue continued. And no shifters cracked my disguise so that's got nothing to do with it. Hell, I don't think anybody has seen me this undressed since the organization.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon laughed and scooted forward to let his legs dangle over the side, into view of the smoking man. "I'm not coming down, I'm going up. Seeing if the legends are true and all."
The shifter wrinkled his nose at the smell of the cigarette but said nothing, "What brings you here?" he paused, searching the sky for any dragons, "Hunting? Animals, treasure, or otherwise?" Kenyon shrugged. "I'm mostly just bored, always wanted to climb the Cliffs of Heaven though."
The man appeared to be human. Not beautiful enough for Fae, remarkable enough for Daemon, nor as wild as a Shifter. But he seemed cunning. Possessed an air of intelligence that was unusual for a Human.
Maybe he was looking for the castle as well? It was very hard to do if you didn't have wings, but for a fox it was marginally easier. But a human? There was a reason nobody had ever made it to the top.
Of course the dragons didn't really help much either.
At that Kenyon brightened. Maybe he would be able to obtain some kind of pet or companion. Cigarette smoke wafted by again, reminding the shifter of the company down below. He shrugged to himself and studied the man, waiting for an answer.

[Auspice]

Flying was one of the true luxuries of being a pigeon. Oh sure, other shifters could cut a man down without a second glance with their claws, could growl at people, could actually bite people with teeth during a full moon... None of them could fly. Okay, maybe a dragon shifter, if there was such a thing, but Auspice didn't know any of those, and he wasn't out to put bets on meeting one.
He had a strange fascination with cliffs. Vertical surfaces in general- Auspice couldn't help but climb up and down the sides of buildings when he was bored, and he didn't have any trouble making excuses to visit the cliffs. He could sit in a hole in the cliff side for hours, frankly.
He'd never tried to reach the top, because reaching the top didn't really mean much of anything. He wasn't interested in risking life or limb for riches, he just wanted to flit around on the rocks for a while.

He'd just hit a nice thermal and was enjoying the ride when he noticed something out of place. People. They didn't look like the sort of people who would be out of place on adventures or anything, but the fact was that Auspice wasn't used to running into people during his little outings. He made a lazy turn and spiraled down to land on a ledge right next to the smoking one. To keep up appearances, he started preening. Also- his feathers were a little out of place and that always bothered him, even if he wouldn't admit it. But he was keeping up appearances mostly, because he wasn't interested in dealing with a couple of cutthroats while butt naked on the top of a mountain. Might as well collect some information first.

[Basil]

Lauren kept up the smile and took a few more light puffs on his cigarette while the shifter spoke. He hung on every word though he kept his eyes on the mountain. "Well I've never fallen from a great height and I suppose the chance to do so would be exhilarating. At the moment I am simply following the least painful way up so I can enjoy every moment." He ground out the cigarette again, confident that his scent was mostly hidden behind the strong smell of smoke. "And in any case, if you are going up as opposed to down it would seem you are having a great deal of trouble in doing so. After all, you are looking down at me from above which means your facing the wrong way if you want to make progress." He flashed a smile to make himself look a bit more witless to go with the rather nonsensical speech.

His eyes caught the fluttering pigeon landing up above but he hardly payed it a second glance. In his mind though, the gears were turning. Strange choice to look me over. Pigeon's a city bird, certainly not a mountain one with all these predators about. Maybe they've underestimated me. I wonder how many of them there are. Certainly more than two if they had the smallest idea of who they are dealing with. The cigarette was slipped back behind his ear. In any case I assumed they would be better than sending a pigeon out. Whoever it is must be a good fighter behind the fat feathery exterior.

[Xaviere Arana]

"Find me an Imperial dragon egg, he says. It'll be easy for someone like you, he says. A little bit of flying and you'll stumble across one no sweat, he says. Common as pigeons, he says." A steady stream of grumbling cut through the thin air of the cliffs, the voice of the complainer husky and distinctly female. Seemed said female had a certain mission. A mission that had proved a little more difficult than her employer had alluded to, perhaps. And one that she had been drastically underpaid for, if her irritation was anything to go by.

The employee hadn't exactly given up, although she was beginning to formulate ways in which to extort more gold from the lying scoundrel who'd hired her. However her pondering was interrupted when, to her immense surprise, she spotted a pigeon.

That was about as unlikely as, well, an Imperial Dragon, around these parts.
And whats more, said pigeon seemed to be hanging onto the habits of ordinary city-dwelling pigeons and chilling around a couple of Humans...or, perhaps, a Human and a Shifter? These things could be hard to tell.

The observer of the trio had paused when they came into view, her grumbling stopping at once, to appraise them with cold grey-blue eyes. She was slender, petite and strikingly pretty - pale skin, pure white hair and a sensuous, curvaceous figure covered only in a scant spider-silk outfit. At least, that was how she thought she looked, more or less. Her glamour hid her wings and pointed Fae ears, confusing her race, but the details of what people saw varied from person to person. And like most forest dwellers she was perfectly comfortable in her skin. Modesty was a human invention.

Well, too late to turn around now. The moment she'd caught sight of the three, physics dictated that they be able to see her too. So the traveller smiled, leaping lightly from one ledge to the next, slowly closer to the company.
"Excuse me for interrupting," the fairy stopped and crouched on a outcrop of rock, peering curiously at the two humanoids and the pigeon. She appeared merely curious, fairly chirpy, although an underlying intelligence and cunning might be found by the observant.
"I'm looking for an Imperial Dragon egg. Any sign of said creature around these parts?"
[/font]

[Kenyon]

Kenyon chuckled at the human's strange little speech. "I'm only taking a break, it's a nice day and I have all the time I need." But the arrival of a pigeon made him blink confusedly. There weren't supposed to be pigeons in the Cliffs. A shifter probably. Real birds knew better than to come to a place like this, they would get eaten within minutes. "Hey Mr. Pigeon, why the eavesdropping?" he asked, tossing a small rock down at the bird.
Right after, a scantily clad Fae woman more or less dropped from the sky. Kenyon looked up, frowning before answering, "You won't find an Imperial around here. They almost never come out of their caves. And if the do, run like hell, because it can and will eat you on sight." He smiled ruefully. "Sorry though miss.
She seemed curious and simple, but her eyes gleamed with intelligence and her voice held a cunning edge. She was obviously more than met the eye. But what he saw was very nice too.
She was pretty.

[Basil]

Obviously it isn't a pick up if they aren't at all hiding themselves. Lauren thought to himself as his eyes darted between the pigeon and the other shifter. Still just two hardly seem like what I would send out to retrieve someone no matter how good they were. His thoughts were interrupted by a new arrival. Lauren couldn't quite tell what she was though, so he assumed it was either a fae or a magically incline shifter. Two shifters and a magic shifter would certainly be a rather good retrieval team by most standards, however it could be a fae judging by the complete lack of clothes. Maybe they've teamed up like I always planned for. If so then the other humans are going to have a problem. Whoever they are though, they must be together, after all, shifters, fae, and a human all sitting around and nobody's drawn a weapon. All we need now is a demon, though I could play that part well enough. Still Lauren kept on smiling. He lit the cigarette for the third time since he had begun talking to this strange group and took a few more puffs.

"Well I haven't seen any dragons yet, still sitting down here at the bottom as you can see. Though I'm trying my damnedest to look like one with this here cigarette."

[Auspice]

Auspice was startled off of his ledge by Kenyon's rock in the middle of picking some dirt out of his toes. Why did everyone assume that he was a Shifter? Didn't they know anything about pigeons? Oh sure, maybe these particular cliffs were a little hostile, but it wasn't out of place to see pigeons roosting in cliffs!

He flapped around to get his balance back and landed on a larger ledge about midway between the rock-thrower and the smoker. There didn't seem to be much of a point in hiding himself, so he shifted and sat cross-legged looking up at the idiot who'd tried to kill him. It was a bit cold without his feathers, and his annoyingly curly hair was already getting tangled from the wind. "Pigeons live in cliffs, you know. I could have been a perfectly normal bird for all you knew. Imagine how bad you would have felt if you'd brained a perfectly normal bird with that rock." Oh sure, he'd ended up being a Shifter, but that was just luck.

At this point he noticed the woman in the spider-silk. He instantly regretted shifting, considering his lack of clothing. Pretty, and probably rather offended at the sight of a naked pigeon-man. He scooted his way back into the rocks and decided to make a desperate little appeal for help. "Nobody happens to have an extra pair of trousers, right?" Oh the perils of being a bird; You just couldn't carry clothes around with you on flights.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon smirked at the Pigeon man, "Pigeons avoid this place. Besides, compared to a real bird you fly about as gracefully as a rock," Kenyon tapped his ears, "It's easy to hear the difference."
He glanced at the woman and back down at the shifter. Poor bastard couldn't carry clothes, too small in his other form. Being a giant fox had it's advantages. He reached into the bag around his neck and pulled out a second pair of tightly folded shorts. He tossed them to the pigeon-man with a smile. "Thank the gods for Fae fabric. It can fold into almost nothing to fit in this bag."
Kenyon frowned slightly. "They'll probably be to big for you, but at least they have a drawsting." the shifter shrugged, "So whats your name Mr. Pigeon? I'm quite sure you don't want me to continue calling you that." he glanced around at the small company, "I'd rather have names to use than Miss, Mr. Pigeon, and the Smoker at the bottom of the cliff. I'm Kenyon."

[Auspice]

Auspice caught the shorts and looked at them for a moment. Damn, they really were too big. That wasn't fair. Where did this guy get off on being a freaking giant? He pulled them on, grumbling, and ended up making gratuitous use of the drawstring. He sat back down when he was done, feeling a little more comfortable about the situation, and noticed that his toenails were getting a bit too long. They could easily start causing trouble on a climb like this...

"You know, I'd rather like to know why you've got a second pair of pants. It just seems a little too convenient. Who'd you steal them from?"
He had started chewing his toenails, which involved a lot of stretching and a severe lack of tact. Honestly, it was just a side-effect of spending half your life as a pigeon. Freakish grooming habits were normal.

"Auspice, though. I'm Auspice." He spit out a particularly big bit of toenail as he said it, and craned his neck to look at the two above him. "Just Auspice, mind. None of those pigeon jokes." Auspigeon was the worst, which was why he wouldn't be telling them about that.

"So what brings the rest of you to the cliffs? You're not honestly going to go around risking life and limb for a few shiny baubles, are you? It's much easier to earn money in the city if that's what you're after."

[Kenyon]

Kenyon raised an eyebrow. That Auspice was one strange character. "I didn't steal them, I keep all my clothes in here. Which consists of a couple pairs of pants and shirts." Kenyon shrugged, "I'm a wanderer, I keep my supplies with me."
The shifter stretched around to point a little farther up the mountain, "The only reason I don't have a weapon in because it doesn't fit in this bag. But I have a blade stored up there so I'll be okay."
Kenyon shrugged, pretending not to notice just how big the shorts were. From up on the rocks Auspice hadn't seemed to be all that smaller than himself. Guess he was wrong.
"I'm going up to explore, curious about whats up there. It'll be difficult and probably really dangerous, but I can hold my own in a fight and I love a good challenge." It wasn't a good idea to say just how good he was with a sword. In reality the shifter had been trained in swordplay almost since he could walk. But who knew what skills the others had.
Only a fool would come to the Cliffs of Heaven without proper skill to do so. An none of the people on the mountains seemed like fools. That was another thing. Why were there so many people here today? Usually the place was deserted, and if others were on the mountain the chances of coming face-to-face with them was small.
Kenyon didn't believe in luck. Everything had some kind of reason in his experience. Even a meeting as simple as this.
"So it seems we're all going up, but why are you guys going up? The lady is looking for a dragon, to fufill a contract I believe," he looked over at the Fae woman for confirmation, "I'm going up because I have nothing better to do, but what about you two?" Kenyon glanced down at Auspice and the smoker, a politely curious expression on his face.

[Basil]

"I'm simply enjoying my wanderings as Lauren, who I am. And being Lauren I would like to learn how to fall. But past experience has proven, falling hurts, so I have decided that falling up the mountain would be much preferable to falling down." The cigarette had finally run out of play, so Lauren ground it into the rock for the final time. They may not be together. I suppose they could be trying to trick me but it seems far too awkward. Secretly Lauren was quite pleased at not being forced to give up one of his pairs of pants for Auspice the pigeon.

"In any case, your shifter friend is right Auspice. Pigeons may normally be dimwitted scavengers, but they do know when danger is far too much for their delicate feathers." Lauren finally stood up and stretched. "Out of curiosity miss," he began, directing his attention to the possible fae. "what sort of thing are you, the magic you have up sort of obscures the details."

[Xaviere Arana]

Xaviere had watched the exchange with first impassive, mild interest, leaning casually against the cliff because, frankly, this lot were far too interesting to leave without finding out a little bit more. It wasn't as though she was any nearer to her goal, anyway. Bloody employer had failed to mention that Imperial's dwelt almost exclusively in caves - meaning flying was almost useless as only climbing would allow one to stumble across the hidden openings.

Her mild interest turned swiftly to amusement and Xaviere had to suppress a chuckle at the Shifter's discomfort. Not that it bothered her - the Fairy only bothered with clothing at all for two reasons. The first was that the spider silk outfit had been a gift from a close friend and nicely defined her personality and quirks. The second was that she frequented cities far more often than the average Fae, and Humans had an odd problem with nudity. Modesty was not the point of her clothing so she found no problem with Auspice lacking any, but of course with her glamour on she could be mistaken for an easily-offended Human. Fortunately the other Shifter seemed better prepared for possible encounters, otherwise she was sure her presence would do nothing but make Auspice uncomfortable.

Sharp guy, that Shifter. Xaviere certainly had no interest in an Imperial Dragon egg herself, and was indeed looking to fulfill a contract. Seemed the Human was sharper than average too; her glamour was not fooling them all too convincingly. At any rate she had established they weren't an immediate threat and there was no point wasting her energy. The Fairy let the glamour shimmer and fade. Her pointed ears, elegant angular features and startling wings were visible once more.

"Sharper than I thought," Xaviere grinned, strangely lacking the whimsical, flighty nature of most Fae. This woman seemed practical, down-to-earth, intelligent and cunning.
"I'm a Fairy, as you can see, although one with a difference. The name is Xaviere and you would be right, I am going upwards and looking to fulfill an entirely ridiculous contract."[/font]

[Kenyon]

Kenyon watched with interest as the glamour faded. The unsure details of her face had been nagging at the back of his mind, but it made sense now.
He rather liked the Fairy girl, she had spark. Most Fae were rather spaced out and unfocused. Changed their mind in a moments notice and all. But Xaviere seemed to be rather down to earth, but still hard to read. It reminded him a a certain pretty shifter back in Spirit.
The thought of Duci almost made him blush, as any thoughts of her usually did. He wondered how she was doing. With his usual smile fading a bit he shook his head.
"And it's not that easy to tell why you were looking for the dragon actually. But most people would never look for one themselves, but send another in their stead." The shifter shrugged, "I just heard you talking to yourself. Good hearing." Kenyon tapped his ear as he spoke, before letting his arm drop into his lap.
"Soo," he began, looking around at Xaviere, Auspice, and Lauren, "We're all going up the cliffs right? We might as well go together. Maybe help miss Xaviere find herself a dragon egg. I mean, we have nothing better to do right?" Kenyon shrugged to himself, "Dragons are pretty dangerous, but I've always wanted to see one up close, as stupid as it sounds. And I'd guess by the look of him that that one over there," Kenyon gestured to Auspice, "Would do just about anything for money." The shifter laughed, his smile returning.
He turned to Xaviere, "So what to you think? Would you mind me and whomever else to tag along?"

[Xaviere Arana]

Hmm, so she had been right. Kenyon didn't look like a Daemon, and Humans could rarely rely on their senses to such an extent. Shifter it was, then. Two Shifters, a Human and a Fae, brought together under unusual circumstances. Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not.
Either way, Xaviere certainly wasn't opposed to company.

The Fairy was an odd type, although these details she neglected to inform the group of. There was a very good reason that Fae assassins were extremely rare - the act of assassinating someone in return for goods or services not essential to life directly contradicted Fae laws. And disrespecting the sacred balance led to dire punishment - although it was not something Xaviere told just anyone, she was permanently banished from the Mound. Also her wings had not always been like they were now; bare bones, strung with the unusual and strong thread of a rare Dream Land spider. No, her original wings had been almost fatally stripped of the Fairy by the Fae gods upon her accepting payment for the killing of another.

Perhaps this explained why she lacked the underlying nature of most of her kith.

However when not playing hitman, like now (she was between jobs, and had thus accepted the task of sourcing a dragon egg) she was fond of company; good humoured, sharp, sarcastic, playful, sensuous.
"Company would be most welcome, of course, although I would not ask any of you to stay should we actually find an adult dragon. Until then though, good conversation and a little bit of interest to liven the mundane task of searching is something I would appreciate." The Fairy grinned.[/font]

[Basil]

"Well that sounds like a barrel of fun, falling is always harder when you've got people around to grab the rope for you and I've always loved a challenge." Lauren smiled at the others. So it was a faerie after all. I guess I haven't lost my touch. If we all went together it would probably be easier to get to the top, or at least to a respectable height. And with a group so diverse there is a chance the dragons will find someone they don't enjoy eating and pass us on. Of course we need a demon to fill it out since humans are so tasty. I'll have to take that role tomorrow if it takes us more than a day to get to the top. I assume it will. The thoughts flowed fast and he just kept smiling as he stepped up to the base and quickly climbed up to the same level as Kenyon.

"So, if we're going to pick up a dragon egg," He nodded at Xaviere, "pick a fight with something large," he nodded at Kenyon, "find some shiny things," a nod toward Auspice, "or learn how to fall against gravity," at which point he smiled broadly, "we should probably get going. Who wants to lead?"

[Auspice]

"Shiny things are good. You can use shiny things to buy other things. Dragons keep their shiny things where they keep their eggs. It's the same task, really." Auspice wasn't exactly excited about climbing the cliff by hand, but he figured he'd try if it meant keeping an eye on his new pair of pants. So he started looking at the wall, picked a likely looking path, and started scrambling in exactly the way a professional wouldn't. It worked, though, and that's what matters. At least until he realized just how tiring his method was.
"Gravity... you don't... defy it... so much as... listen to the... call of... the other... forces. ...Heat... air pressure... wind... it's all the same... once you've... started flying."
He got to Kenyon's ledge and decided it was as good a time as any to stop climbing. Honestly, he was already half exhausted and didn't want to try to climb the whole mountain if he didn't have to. "Here, I'll need this later." He was quick about pulling the pair of pants off, throwing them at him, and flying off into the open air to watch the rest of them toil their way up the steep cliff face. Why should they complain about it? They had no right to complain about his ability to fly as long as they kept up with mocking his fat pigeon ass.

[Kenyon]

Kenyon watched Auspice go with slight amusement. How could such a thin man make such a fat pigeon? He gave a mental shrug and decided his half form would be his best bet to make it up the cliffs. Light, manuverable, better traction, and it would keep the sun away. Keeping his pants was just a bonus.

Kenyon started to shift as quick as he could, ending in as an upright fox. He was slightly thinner in this form, so he had to use the drawstring a bit, but all-in-all this form was at least more comfortable than his human one.

Kenyon's half-form was rather new, and still somewhat difficult to get used to. He looked just like his normal fox form, only the same height and humanoid in body structure. His fur was pale orange, quite a few shades lighter than his hair, with black tipped ears, paws, tail tip, and a stripe under each eye. The bottom of his chin and his stomach were covered in creamy white fur and an unruly tuft stubbornly stuck up on his forhead, giving him the appearance of hair. His hands, though paw-like, remained hands and his eyes stayed the same color.

It was a very helpful form though, letting him turn into a fox without actually turning into an animal. Kenyon looked to the others before starting up after Auspice. "Come on," he called, pausing in his ascent, "We can't let this fat pigeon beat us up!"