The path to Le Pomme D'Eve was long and winding through the streets of Paris. Danior and the others probably got there by now. Esmeralda turned a corner and started to pass by a nearby alley, when she saw light and heard voices. Djahli stopped beside her, and refused to go further. Something didn't feel right.
Esmeralda carefully glanced down the alley and saw...a rider, non-Parisian, and likely from a land in a faraway place, based on his clothes. He spoke to a tall, thin figure she couldn't quite make out from this end of the alley. Beside the tall figure, she noticed...another horse? One with three strange heads, all of them laughing.
"Stay here, Djahli," Esmeralda whispered.
Djahli gave a brief nod, and stayed put as his mistress investigated. Upon a second glance, Esmeralda realized the second being was not a strange, three-headed creature, but three children sitting inside...some sort of large tub. And must have heard a really funny joke based on how hard they were laughing. She stepped closer to get a better look.
"So, King of Thieves, what's your business here in Paris? Looking for some rare cheeses to pilfer, maybe? I wouldn't blame you, some of the kinds are just delicious!"
A thief, then? One of her own? It wasn't uncommon for thieves, cutpurses, and others of ill-repute to come to Paris to find the Court of Miracles, though those traits weren't required for those of Roma descent. She stood behind the King of Thieves, and from here, saw the darker pallor of his hand. It admittedly eased her.
"My companion and I are merely travelling for fun, oh lord of All Hallow's Eve. If we happen to discover some treasure along the way, well then who could blame us if we indulge?" he added with a wink. "Though it sounds as though the circumstances that led you here are the telltale markings of an adventure all their own."
All Hallow's Eve...? But that wasn't until the fall.
Esmeralda was now close enough to pick out the taller figure. She covered her mouth in a gasp, not because she now recognized the creature as a skeleton - the Court was littered with skulls and bones, being part of the old catacombs - but because of how he stood up and moved on his own, with no indication it was merely a costume.
Her gasp didn't go unnoticed.
From the other end of the alley, Djahli bleated in warning. The children saw her first.
Before Mulan got the chance to say anything in return to Phoebus, a not so happy Mushu interjected into the conversation as he so often did. ”Who you calling a Lizard you golden bucket?!” the irate guardian, ”I am the great and terrible Dragon Guardian Mushu!” As if attempting to accentuate his words, Mushu then proceeded to breath what could only be viewed as a pitiful amount of fire from his small maw. This action, of course, caused Mulan to place her face in a hand and shake her head, a groan escaping the armored woman.
”Don’t mind him,” she said to the Guard Captain, ”He’s all bark and very little bite.” Of course, the she hadn’t really seen Mushu bite very many people, and the one time that came to mind made her smile briefly. Though, the memory that that was tied to instantly wiped the smile off of her face, replaced by a look of pain. No, those memories, while some of her favorite, were too painful to think of at the immediate moment. She missed her friends like crazy, but there was one among those memories she missed even more, one who’s fate she was still unsure of as she grasped onto the hope that he was still ok.
”If it would be possible, when morning breaks I would appreciate it if someone could show me where I may exchange some of my coinage for your people’s,” she finally said, getting her thoughts and emotions back under control, ”I much rather make purchasing things here easier for myself for the time that I am here.”
Merida goes pale at the mention of money, having not brought any with her on her hunting trip, before shrugging to herself knowing she took after her brothers and could "borrow" a thing or two when needed. She shakes her head to snap back to the conversation, lowering her bow seeing that the party has calmed down with the arrival of the dragon girl.
Angus whinnies playfully at the other horse, not fully sure how he feels but is impressed that he gets to sit on other people and does it well evidently. Also making note that Achilles is obedient, or enough at least.
"Well, shall we go into town instead of standing out here all night? It will be morning by the time you lot work out what you want to do." She adds with a joking tone in her voice to make sure there was no added tension.
Oh boy, he talked back to his superior. He shouldn't have done that. And, yep, there it went. The horse sat on him. Ahaha... Kuzco did quash his smile after a moment, considering that... well, he wasn't hurt, so that was fine. But hey, they were getting clothes! Neat.
'Uh, can we make that two more of each?' he called to the soldiers as they left. 'I have a chef, and another guy... he's not here right now, but he'll be back.' Yeah, Kronk would need some clothes. The whole vest dealie was cool, but his arms weren't covered. Everyone else here had completely covered arms and legs, and he didn't quite know what their problem with uncovered arms and legs was, but... where was Kronk, anyway? And...
...did- did Phoebus only notice the talking lizard now? Dragon, actually, as he made very clear. Heh, dang it, he was just so small and funny! And, of course, it was tragic, even more so that he'd apparently convinced himself he'd always been a dragon... buuut there were worse things he could be. Like a llama, or a bunny. Heuegueh.
Speaking of things that actually mattered, both Merry-da and Mulan made good points. If the lady in armour's money was no good, then neither would Kuzco's, and if they stood around all night, those clothes would probably get back before- oh hey, the clothes came back! In like half a minute.
'Huh. Fast workers,' he mused, gesturing for his guards to start taking some clothes, and grabbing a pair of hose for himself to... well, he'd put those on shortly, when there were a bunch of strangers watching him. 'But yeah, I could do with some of that, uhh, coin exchange,' he admitted. 'You know, just in case I run out of, uhm, supplies.' Not that he was in danger of that, not at all! Though he really wasn't used to living rough like this. Sure, he'd been out of his palace a bit in the past couple of years, but that wasn't rough rough. Sitting in a palaquin, being carried along by alpacas? That was living rough. Oh, were there jungle hermits? Gosh, he could only imagine how gross that would be. An image of a talking fly being violently devoured by a spider entered his mind, and he shuddered violently. Nope, not going back to that memory.
Meanwhile, the alpacas took long, bored looks at the three large creatures that seemed to mimic their shapes somewhat. What dull fur textures they had, however, at least one of them probably thought. They looked stubbly, and there was nothing to pull on at all, except the long smooth hair on their neck and in place of their tails, loose things with no structure to them, not at all like the alpaca's own luxuriously soft curls that covered their frames so totally. And they had bipeds on their backs. How pathetic those large creatures were. Then they went right back to eating grass, because they were hungry and really didn't care to express their opinions too much to strange beasts.
"Well, I certainly don't mind if you two tag along with us on our little adventure. The more the merrier, and with your reputation, I guess you could say 'the more the scarier'!" Jack let out a hearty laugh before he heard an unfamiliar gasp coming from a different part of the same general area. He turned towards it, and he heard the blood-curdling bathtub-creeps speak up.
"What do--"
"--We--"
"--Have here?"
Somebody was listening into the conversation. Who it was, exactly, wasn't a thing that Jack knew of or had heard about at the time. Maybe it was someone from an outfit similar to his or Cassim's, or maybe it was someone who'd foil the adventure early on. There was certainly a way to figure which it would be, and Jack was the one to start finding that out. "Hello? We're not going to hurt you, unless you try to hurt us first! Come out and we can just talk!"
Cassim shrugged his head to the side in an amused gesture as not only the three little children expressed some measure of joy to having two new traveling companions, but the skeleton did as well. In fact this Jack character seemed to be overjoyed at the prospect of hanging around the King of Thieves! He wouldn't want to disappoint, would he? Iago had other thoughts on the matter.
"Cassim, you really think following around literal monsters is a good idea?" he criticized, not caring that the "monsters" in question could easily hear him.
"What is life without a little risk, my friend?" Cassim asked back, smile beaming. Iago flumped on the man's shoulder in clear disappointment.
"A lot longer," he sighed.
That's when something else caught Cassim's attention. He could hear footsteps coming from behind, very light against the cobblestone road. Someone was sneaking up on them, someone with decent skills. Cassim would have been content to ignore them in order to live and let live, but unfortunately their self-control was lacking, and they gasped in the unmistakable voice of a woman. Cassim turned round to spy a dark skinned woman of exotic garb, unquestionably one of the Romani people he had only just recently described to Iago. The children looked over the woman with curiosity, but Jack was quick to go on the defensive in an attempt to control the damage.
"Yes, nothing to be afraid of. Merely a thief and his talking bird having a conversation with an abnormally tall skeleton, his ghostly hound, and three children in a bathing tub in the middle of a dark alleyway." He understood the utter absurdity of the situation and simply had to voice it out loud. Both to fully remind himself of the circumstances he found himself in and to use as a bargaining chip. "An utterly unbelievable situation, so you know that if you sought help nobody would come to your aid. Instead, why not join the conversation?"
"Raaaawk! Conversation!" Iago mimicked in his natural parrot-voice, intent on pretending he was a normal animal in this insanity.
Esmeralda took a step back, but otherwise forced herself to stand tall as the skeleton addressed her. At the very least, he seemed polite and friendly, as she picked up from his jovial tone from talking with the thief, and it helped to allay her initial shock.
"I didn't mean to intrude," she said, though her heart was still finding its normal beat again. "It's not often anyone's on the streets after dark."
"Yes, nothing to be afraid of. Merely a thief and his talking bird having a conversation with an abnormally tall skeleton, his ghostly hound, and three children in a bathing tub in the middle of a dark alleyway. An utterly unbelievable situation, so you know that if you sought help nobody would come to your aid. Instead, why not join the conversation?"
"Raaaawk! Conversation!"
Esmeralda gave a glance to each person as the thief mentioned them. She already saw the skeleton and the children, but the little ghost dog had been out of her line of sight from behind the tub. Better prepared now after taking in the skeleton, Esmeralda smiled upon seeing the ghost, then glanced to the children, who initially spotted her first. This close, she took in their pale skin, dark eyes, and strange clothes - and that was before she spotted the sharp weapons sticking out of their "bathing tub," as the thief called it. Esmeralda briefly wondered if they or the skeleton unsettled her more.
She then turned back to the thief upon mention of this unbelievable situation. Discomfort knotted at her gut, eased only with the offer to join in. The thief was right; who would believe this if she told?
"I...see," she said.
From behind her, Djahli trotted up, intent on keeping his mistress from any trouble. Of the group, the little goat hardly gave a passing glance to the thief, as he was used to the type. He warily looked over the skeleton, then bleated with fear and surprise at his ghostly companion. Djahli ducked behind Esmeralda's skirt for a moment, only to carefully approach the ghost dog after the initial scare, as the skeleton's pet seemed more playful than scary. But of the group, Djahli very clearly liked the three strange children the least, giving them a scoff and a glare, to which they looked amused. Esmeralda took note of it, but chose not to bring it up. At the very least, with the weapons in their bathing tub, combined with their creepy stares and Djahli's instincts, she knew to keep an eye on them.
She turned to the children to answer their question, though she spoke to the group as a whole.
"I am Esmeralda," she said, then gestured to her goat, "and this is Djahli. We were simply making our way to a tavern when we spotted your torchlight."
She turned to the thief in particular.
"You look like you've come from afar," she said. "I can promise a good drink and some good company. Madam Serpente makes an excellent mead."
Esmeralda glanced back at the monsters. She wasn't about to try to break up their group, but they also couldn't blend in as well. Perhaps she could give the skeleton her cloak once they got closer. The children, however, were another matter entirely. It wasn't unusual for an occasional child to be at the tavern, particularly when the upstairs served as an inn and then some, but the children who came looked, well, living.
"I think I overheard something about an adventure and strange circumstances bringing you here?" she asked.
The three children nodded in unison.
"We're shadow-hunting!" the smaller boy said. "It took Sally--"
"--So we're looking for her," the girl added.
She perked, then added:
"She's a little shorter than you--"
"--With long red hair," the boy in red chimed in, "blue skin--"
"--And she's a doll!" the smaller boy exclaimed.
They spoke together as they asked:
"Have you seen her?"
Esmeralda found herself glancing from child to child as they spoke. They were completely in-sync with each other, which made her wonder if they could actually read each other's minds, or if they were very practiced improv artists. Nevertheless, she shook her head.
"I haven't seen anyone like that," she said. "I'm sorry."
"Rats!" the girl exclaimed.
"But perhaps one of my friends has," Esmeralda said, once more looking over the group. "We work all over the city, then gather at the tavern. You can join me if you wish, but you'll have to be careful. We're not used to seeing...beings like you."
The children looked at each other, then brought up masks to cover their faces.
"Is--"
"--This--"
"--Better?"
"...A little," Esmeralda said.
Perhaps she could brush it off as a game they were playing. At the very least, their creepy faces were hidden.
Phoebus stared at the little red creature. It looked like no dragon he'd ever read about, but demons were said to have the ability to shapeshift in order to ensnare unwitting souls, and pitiful as the burst itself had been, to conjur up hellfire at all did require a certain amount of infernal power... The knight gripped the pommel of his sword, calculating how dangerous this strange warrior and her protective spirit might be--
A flash of movement in his peripheral almost made him draw his weapon by reflex, but he quickly caught himself. No good to start a scuffle when things had finally started to calm down. Phoebus raised an eyebrow at the soldiers, who came running back with a load of clothes almost before everyone had had a chance to take another turn speaking.
One of the squad leaders shrugged. "There was a man selling his clothes at the gate. Said he felt a call to be priest and wouldn't need them."
Another smirked, thinking of how much exercise they'd just avoided by not having to run all over the city, on either errands or morning laps. And also something else... "Almost as if Our Lady set up a small miracle, just for our benefit. Sir," he added quickly.
The captain nodded and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "So it would seem. Very well, you are all dismissed. Oh, and you'll all be happy to know that Poilu DeGénie has graciously volunteered to do your laundry this evening, so aside from your standard quarters maintenance, you are duty free for the rest of the evening."
Only one soldier had the good graces to feel enough pity for DeGénie to let it be seen on his face. As the others excitedly saluted and turned to leave, Phoebus called out, "One more thing." They all stopped and turned slowly back to him. None of them wanted to point out they'd already been dismissed. "As I understand it, priests and nuns give their worldly possessions to the poor, rather than selling them. So I should think I won't be needing to reimburse you for the cost of the clothing, after all."
Several soldiers immediately looked dejected, but they all saluted him one last time before leaving.
Phoebus glanced back at the... dragon, and made the executive decision to ignore it for the moment. He was not yet drunk enough to handle that. Plus, everyone else here seemed not to have too much of a problem, and none of them really struck him as devil-worshipping heathens. Well, heathens, maybe, but that didn't necessarily mean they were evil.
He cleared his throat. "Most of the official and... more reputable, establishments have closed for the night. I can cover your cost to stay at the... inn, and help you find what you need in the morning."
He glanced at Kuzco's guard, some of whom were already attempting to wrestle their way into their hose, while others just stared at the clothing in much the same way Phoebus had been staring at... whatever it had said its name was.
"We may need to rent out all the rooms, and everything therein," he continued. "You can repay me when your coins have been exchanged. Or... You can repay me in other ways." He grinned in a way that was either meant to be endearing, or charming, or displaying jest. Possibly all three.
The road stretched long behind, and, neared its termination ahead. Phillip had been riding, taking his time, from the Western edge of his father's lands all the way into the Frankish lands. The trip itself had had been undertaken for a number of reasons. The most pressing at first was to head the grand city of Paris itself and see just what was transpiring there. He had heard many strange rumors about the clergy there being involved in witch hunting, corruption, and, even destruction of church property. All of that would have normally warranted a trip with his retinue of minor Ritter. However, the second reason, and now, perhaps the more important of them, was to merely escape the cloying and choking walls and lands of his home.
Wanderlust occasionally gripped the prince's heart. This had been satisfied with wandering his own lands and speaking with and seeing the people there. However, recently, things had started to stagnate. He had been nearly everywhere worth visiting around his home and longed for another adventure like his last. That fateful adventure to find the family of his betrothed and which ended in him vanquishing the terrible Fae Lady Maleficent. The rumors of evil and witchcraft gave more than enough justification for his journey, and, he had been insistent to travel on his own. Perhaps it was dangerous, but, he feared no brigand on the road. None would be a match for his arm, and, if in numbers of worrying proportion, none would match the pace of his steed. Last of all, Rose had become somewhat Choleric of late due to the early stages of her pregnancy. It was all in all, a good time to depart. He would see about this situation in Paris, and, then return to his home to find a wife more aglow with child and a refreshed mind.
As he neared the walls of the city, he spied an odd assortment of folk standing just before the gate itself. Most of them seemed to be of the gentry. Two men in armor, a man adorned with the trappings of nobility, and, a small red haired girl in finery. There were also three horses there of stunning breed. Two of them even seemed to be proper horses of war. Seeing this collection of nobility outside of the gate with little escort gave Phillip some pause. Were the gates shut due to the problems with witches? A smile crept across his face as the promise of adventure and intrigue grow more plausible.
"Let's not keep them waiting, Samson." he whispered down to his mount and spurred him on to a canter.
Phillip pulled up on his reigns a respectable distance from the group and hailed with in French, removing his pointed red cap and sweeping it low across his waist. He dismounted in a quick and practiced single move and turned to face them all, stepping forward, inclining his head to each of them, starting withe girl, then to the regally dressed man, and, finally to the men who looked like armsmen. "Greetings," he began, sweeping his hat to to the side gracefully and placing it back atop his head, "I am Prince Phillip, Dragonslayer of Rhineland. Son of Valter, of the line of Karl der Grosse," he gave each of them a flash of his smile and then his eyes suddenly feel on the odd serpent that sat atop the strange man-at-arm's shoulder. His eyes narrowed slightly at it. He had never seen anything quite so strange. More so, he also noted that the beasts pulling the nobly dressed man's cart were more sheep than horse. He hesitated for a moment, but, kept his noble composure, "I see by your chattel you must traveled quite far as well." he glanced over to Samson, his only real companion throughout his journey, trying to make sure he wasn't standing face to face with the cause of the rumor he had come to investigate. Samson didn't seem to be unnerved, so, Phillip kept his hand off the hilt of the blade resting on his hip. All the worse, if he did need to defend himself, the Shield of Virtue was comfortably sitting strapped to the saddle and would take far too long to bring to bear should it be needed.
Mulan’s eyes narrowed at the last thing Phobeus had said to the group, clearly no nearly as amused as he probably hoped she would be. If anything, she was tempted to do the very thing to him that Merida had threatened at one point or another to someone else. Of course, she wasn’t nearly as impulsive as she used to be but -
“Are you really going to let him get away with that?” demanded Mushu, who had found his way back onto Mulan’s shoulder just before the new arrival had appeared and was now whispering in her ear, “You know Shang wouldn’t have let him say such a thing.”
That name shot a twinge of pain through the young woman’s chest, she had yet to see her Husband since the shadows began to engulf her home. While she held onto hope that he had made it out of there alive and well, there was still that sense of foreboding dread that clung to the depths of her heart. Of course, her mind was quickly distracted by the arrival of someone new, a strangely dressed man by the name of Phillip. His lingering gaze of Mushu did not go amiss, but since he had not said anything about the small guardian, she felt no need to do it either.
“It looks like our band grows larger still,” she said, turning her head away from Phillip for a moment to look back at Phobeus, “By the sounds of this Inn, it isn’t very reputable is it? Do I need to worry about people attempting to steal my things? Because if that is the case I rather sleep in the stables with Khan. I may be a light sleeper, but I doubt anyone here would be welcoming of a sword at their neck should they make the mistake of wandering into my room.”
As she waited for that response, she turned her attention back to the newcomer, ”Well met stranger, I am Fa Mulan and these are Mushu, Cri-Kee and Khan,” she said, gesturing to each of her road companions in turn, feeling it best that the others introduce themselves.
Merida had been watching the newcomer since they had appeared on the horizon. She had managed to phase out of the conversation the others were having, having already worked out how she would get by, missing Pheobus' last comment. She watches like a hawk as they approach, giving Angus a playful nudge as the horse comes into better view, Angus making a slightly perturbed noise in return.
Once Mulan finishes addressing the newcomer, Merida speaks up. "I am Merida, Princess of DunBroch and this is Angus, my noble companion," she says welcomingly, or as much as she can with a Scottish accent. "Welcome to our humble... resting area, right next to a city," she adds with a slight hint of annoyance in her tone, "feel free to join us if you see fit."
"That's their disguise figured out." Jack smiled as he spoke, though he did frown slightly when he realized that he was lacking in the disguise department. "Alas, I'm afraid I won't be able to enter the tavern with you all. I have no mask that'd let my identity be concealed, unlike Lock, Shock, and Barrel here." Jack returned to his smiling facade as he lifted Zero up and placed the dog on his shoulder, the spectral canine lapping at his skull.
"I'll climb up to the roof. In case anyone comes for you all and tries to do anything to hurt you, I'm fairly sure I can scare them away from doing it." He was confident in that regard. Being scary was his schtick. His number one claim to fame. If he wasn't able to scare the pants off of some n'er-do-wells, then what good would he be able to do. "Regardless of anything, though, we should get a move on. The sooner we find Sally, the better."
Le Pomme D'Eve tended to be lively on any given evening, with song, dance, and drink. A popular spot for the Romani and Parisians alike, it was one of the few places in Paris where both freely mingled while Claude Frollo was in power, and remained the most popular even after a few more have cropped up since. The tall, busty Madame Serpente accepted coin from any who came through the door, and allowed all sorts of rambunctious fun so long as her tankards and furniture weren't broken, and fights were taken outside.
And they would be taken outside, because the Madame herself could lift the most hardy of men and toss them to the street if crossed. The only thing she'd ever said about the matter was, "I don't need door men. I've hauled logs up mountains; don't go thinking I can't handle your fat bum."
The tavern was more alive than usual, due to a boisterous newcomer who had come in for a drink and was staying for a good time. He'd only payed for about half of what had gone down his gullet, thanks to the various women who hoped to bed him, the various men who hoped to befriend him, and the other men who enjoyed the challenge of trying to drink him under the table (only some of whom had already passed out and been lugged outside to sleep it off in the gutter). Between regaling the crowd with tales of his feats of combat in battle and on the hunt, he had introduced them to a song that was apparently quite popular in his home town.
"When I was a lad, I ate four dozen eggs every morning to help me get large!"
The stranger flexed and posed to emphasize his perfect physique.
"But now that I'm grown, I eat five dozen eggs--"
He spotted a bench where about four women sat, and used both hands to lift it up over his head. Two of them gasped, one cried out in shock, and the fourth giggled from drink.
"--I'm roughly the size of a baaarge!"
He grinned as he placed one hand on his hip and held the bench - and four women - up in the air. Excitement and nervousness wafted from the bench as the four women shifted to maintain a proper balance. Several of the tavern's patrons stared in awe and cheered at the feat of sheer strength. The stranger laughed as he took the bench in both hands again and set it down.
Pierre held up his own drink as another round of the chorus started up.
"Who has the vitality and stalwartness of equine-- No, wait, that doesn't work. Whose fortitudinous robustness-- No! Gaah, curse the dimunitiveness of this simplistic tune! Who is lusty and brawn as--"
Suddenly Pierre noticed the rest of the crowd had finished their verses, and quickly started up the last simple word two beats behind them:
"GASTOOOOOOOOOONNNNN!"
Gaston let out a long, hearty laugh and downed another tankard of mead.
~~~
Esmeralda glanced to the children as the skeleton said their names.
Lock. Shock. Barrel.
Peculiar names, and she briefly wondered which was which. They gave no indication at the moment. She smiled as the skeleton took his ghostly companion to his shoulders.
"I was going to offer my cloak," Esmeralda said, "but if there is something strange going on in Paris, that would be a good idea."
Without wasting another moment, she turned to lead the group toward the tavern.
"Come. This way."
As they walked, Esmeralda noticed how Lock, Shock, and Barrel's bathing tub, while not completely silent, moved a lot more quietly than the thief's horse. A quick glance showed its clawed feet carefully picking its way over the cobblestones. Djahli trotted beside her, just far enough from the bathing tub that he could look up and keep the children in sight.
Esmeralda then turned back to the thief, and in particular, the red bird.
"And where did you say you and your bird were from, friend?" Esmeralda asked.
They heard the singing, laughter, and rowdy dancing before they even saw the building: a large, spacious establishment with two floors, a barely tended-to courtyard, and a well. In the back would be the stables, though there was a trough upfront being watched by a stable hand for guests not intending to stay the night.
"This is it," Esmeralda said as they rounded the corner, "and by the sound of things, the festivities came a little earlier tonight."
She made sure to stop far enough that the stable hand and any going in or out wouldn't see them just yet. Esmeralda turned to the skeleton and pointed to a part of the building still hidden in shadow.
"Some of the stones over there are more jagged," she said, "so it should be easier to climb up without being seen."
She then turned to the children.
"Lock. Shock. Barrel."
Esmeralda watched them for reactions to the names. In order, the red boy, the girl, and the smaller boy perked up.
"You can't bring your bathing tub inside," she said, "but we can probably hide it in the stable."
She pondered a moment.
"You seem to have some valuable equipment. Will it be safe?"
The children nodded in agreement.
"If anyone tries to steal from us--" Lock said.
"--They'll have to catch it first," Barrel finished with a giggle.
"That's if it doesn't run them over," Shock said with a wicked edge to her voice.
The three of them cackled, then quickly dug through their equipment for what they could fit in their pockets. Just from the sounds coming from the tavern, they sensed plenty of opportunity for trouble.
[OOC: GM approval was given for me to give Kuzco a reasonable excuse to bow-out]
Phoebus cocked a sideways grin. "Depending on your definition, it has either a very bad reputation, or a very good one. Regardless, your possessions and your person are perfectly safe there. No one will touch you or your things -- without your express invitation, of course." He winked playfully, then sobered and gave a half-bow. "Myself included. I enjoy a good bit of fun, but not at the expense of those who didn't sign up for it."
He raised an eyebrow at Merida's tone and comment to Philip. "At no point did I say or indicate that you needed to stay here while I dealt with the needs of His Majesty's entourage. They required examination and assistance; you did not. That you are still near the city rather inside is the result of your own choice."
He quickly bowed to the new prince, fully desensitized to the entrance of yet more royalty, by this point. "Captain Phoebus deMartan, at your service."
While the conversation had been going, Kuzco had been quietly discussing something with a few of said entourage. The Emperor cleared his throat and thanked Phoebus for the clothes and information, but announced that he and his people would be camping outside the city overnight, anyway. They would enter Paris in the morning, when the various officials would be available to approach.
The knight nodded. "Of course, that's perfectly fine. I will inform the other guards that you are not a threat. You shouldn't be bothered again, so long as the laws of civility are followed. The rest of you can follow me to Le Pomme D'Eve, if you like. I'll get you taken care of."
He quickly mounted Achilles -- who stopped flirting at Khan and slipped into the horse equivalent of Soldier Mode -- and trotted back into the city. A few quick hand signals to the guards manning the gate communicated the basic situation, and then it was only about a quarter mile to the inn.
Le Pomme D'Eve was more bustling than usual, with loud music and periodic cheers being heard in the large building even from the street. Phoebus dismounted and handed his reins to a stable hand, flipping the boy a coin as he did. Suddenly, he noticed someone else approaching the entrance.
"Esmeralda!" he exclaimed dramatically. "My love, my darling, my moonlight on the Seine!" He rushed forward to sweep her off her feet.
Esmeralda smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, my sunshine..." she replied silkily.
Phoebus expertly redirected his momentum to narrowly dodge a cuff to the ear, which was followed by a casual swipe between his legs. He managed to get behind her and hug her around the stomach. He then kissed her cheek and let her go.
"I can't wait until we're properly married," the captain laughed heartily.
Cassim and Iago followed the lovely Esmeralda to the tavern of which she had spoken, the Le Pomme D'Eve, trotting along not too far behind on the thief's horse. Well, not technically his horse, but the animal wasn't well trained enough to recognize that fact when he took it from the Agrabah royal stables. So it was definitely his now! Regardless, Cassim detoured from following the gypsy woman inside in order to tether his horse outside, ensuring that it was near a trough of water. The good boy deserved a drink as much as they did after all.
"Hoo boy, a whole tavern full of drunken morons with more cents than sense!" Iago rubbed his wings together as a schemer would rub the palms of his hands. "What'd'ya say Cassim? Ready to make out like a bandit tonight?"
Cassim smiled in a sly grin, giving the tether a final tug to ensure the knot was tight enough. "We shall see, my little friend. Let's not ruin the prospects of our new friendships too quickly." Iago returned the grin. Cassim had his reservations, sure, but the crimson bird knew that with a little extra pushing the man would succumb to his peer pressure and they'd make off as richer men. Oh he was such a bad influence! How grand.
The two entered the tavern to a large amount of hustle, bustle, and singing as a rather burly man stole the center of attention. The peoples of Paris seemed enamored with this red-tunic wearing hunter boasting about how many eggs he could eat and his feats of strength. Cassim had to admit that these boasts were indeed quite impressive... If they were true. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but either way it was none of his business that this Gaston (for who couldn't have known his name by the second verse?) felt such a crippling need for validation that he'd turn an entire tavern into his personal cheerleader brigade. No, not even how they showered him with gifts and coin was enough to draw his attentio-wait, that was a good amount of money being tossed around! No, no, control yourself Cassim. You're here to meet with the people and get information on the whereabouts of this Sally from Halloween Town. Adventure, now that was the real treasure!
Iago, annoyed at the racket, desperately tried to plug his ears but to no avail. Instead he opted to focus on something else, anything else, to ignore the sort of self-aggrandizing he couldn't stand unless he was doing it himself. He looked over at the tavern owner but her burly mannish figure was startling. He focused on Esmeralda, who had reunited with some golden boy soldier man and they were making kissy googoo eyes (blech!). He focused on all the coin getting tossed around, but it was all being used to pay for more drinks and food for that Gaston jerk! Oh no, it was back in his head! AAAAHHH!
"No one needs to blow it out their ear like Gaston! For the love of Allah, shut! It!" Iago, in his very noticeable natural voice, cried out over the crowd. Cassim facepalmed as assuredly eyes would fall upon him. Immediately Iago recognized his mistake and took to acting as the dumb bird he was supposed to be. "Shut it, rawwwk!" He added a standard parrot whistle.
"Why do I let you get me into these messes?" Cassim muttered behind his hand, just loudly enough for only Iago to hear.
Upon entry of the Tavern, and completely ignoring the fact that the Captain was in fact engaged, yet being suggestively lewd, Mulan was not at all amused by the fact that there seemed to be a musical number going on in the building. In fact, the musical number itself was rather harsh on her ears and the voice of most of those singing made her wish she could smack a few with the flat of her blade. Instead, she opted to bring the one whom was clearly so full of himself down a peg or five. Spotting a tankard with only a bit of liquid left, the chinese woman lifted it up and hurled it as hard as she could at the guy wearing a red tunic.
”Stop that horrible racket,” the guardian snapped, clearly irate by the singing going on, ”I thought we were going to an inn, not a Karaoke hall.”
There was the resounding chirp from Cri-Kee as if in agreement while Mulan tried her best not to snicker and hide the fact that she was the one who had sent ale flying at the one who was clearly far too full of himself. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time she had started an all out brawl, but it was certainly the first time she would have done so on purpose. Last time it was just Mushu mouthing off, this time it was her annoyance that someone would be so full of themselves that they would have someone sing on their behalf about how ‘wonderful’ and ‘handsome’ they were. In her opinion, the man was probably about as handsome as a rock.
”I’d like a room please,” she said calmly, as if she had no idea who had flung the tankard, or that it had happened at all.
Merida follows the party into the city, attending to Angus herself as they reach the stables, not trusting the kid to properly look after Angus after the weird day they had had. Once Angus is fully taken care of she steps inside the pub, taking note she should probably find food to give to Angus later. She walks in with a smirk on her face, while she had no money she knew how she could get free drinks.
A loud roar of excitement comes from a corner of the bar, Merida walked over to see that some drunk had just won something... "I told you, lad, you never had a chance, now pay up." She watched the younger kid hand over a bag of coin looking rather depressed that he'd just lost his money. The crowd around the tables starts to laugh, amused with the kid's attempt, making remarks like "Easy money boss" and "That kid never stood a chance against someone like you."
Merida walked over and took the kids spot, stating loudly "I challenge you to a drinking contest, you're clearly a man with a high alcohol tolerance and I love a good challenge," her accent very prevalent as she talks.
"Lass go home, you don't stand a chance against the Boss," one of the many men that were crowded around the table. The others chorused the first man's comment or just bellowed out laughing at her statement.
"I said I challenge you to a drinking contest," she says loudly, slamming a small dagger into the table. The men go silent and the boss eyes her down.
"What makes you so confident you could beat me and what's in it for me when I win?" He stresses the 'when' and the men chuckle.
"I am a Scot, we can outdrink anyone and if you win, you can have my finest steed and all the equipment need to ride him," She says both proudly and confidently.
"A Scot?" He asks confused before shaking his head. "Fine if you're so confident, I will give you all of my winnings from tonight," he says piling a few bags of coins on the table. His entourage goes silent, looking at each other worried.
Jack sat in the shadows atop the tavern's roof, listening to the merry music down below underneath him with a little glee. Before he knew it, he found himself humming along to the tune softly while awaiting the news from the others. He would've departed with a merry farewell as they went in, but he figured that if anyone saw him that'd be a quick ticket to getting arrested, which is certainly something that Jack didn't need to happen, as he'd probably give some people a heart attack before he went in.
So, he waited, looking up at the moon to gaze upon the luster he saw. Despite him not being in Halloween Town, he swore it was almost like he never left the place. The moon was the same wherever you saw it, whether it was here or in Halloween Town, so seeing something strikingly familiar to him was a nice change of pace, even if it wouldn't be for long.
He hoped he could find Sally soon so they didn't have to worry much longer about her.
Busty, red-haired Madame Serpente made her rounds with a few other barmaids, serving drinks, picking up empty plates and tankards, and collecting coin. She kept her sharp, hawk-like eyes and bat-like ears out for any sign of trouble beyond tolerable means.
This Gaston fellow was a spectacle, but he hadn't broken anything, hadn't gotten into any fights beyond arm-wrestling, and her chairs and tables were still standing, so for now, she allowed his boorish displays and rowdy songs as her other guests were entertained, paying up (and handsomely, thus far), and making merry. She'd already had to throw out a few patrons who'd had too much, or drag them to their rooms if they'd paid for them. In fact, she had to leave the main floor for a moment to bring one such guest up to his room - at the very end of the hall, much to her chagrin - to unceremoniously throw him inside and lock the door with her spare key. Let his drunken ass figure out the bed if he didn't pass out on the floor right then and there. She trusted her barmaids to handle things in the meantime.
While Cassim reigned in his horse, Esmeralda escorted Lock, Shock, and Barrel to the tavern, with a quick promise to the skeleton - whom she learned was Jack on the way over - to keep an eye on them, now that their guardian had taken to the roof. The trio promised to behave...and made sure their backs were to the tavern wall as they crossed their fingers.
Phoebus's greeting and literal sweeping Esmeralda off her feet gave the three little terrors the perfect opportunity to slip away. Djahli bleated in alarm as he trotted after the three, trying to keep at least one in sight. While Phoebus twirled her, Esmeralda only caught sight of Shock's tall hat disappearing between two patrons, and a flash of red - was that a tail? - slipping under a nearby table. She saw no sign of Barrel, but with how quickly the three scampered, she doubted any of them would be where she last saw them for very long.
"Neither can I," Esmeralda said, once she pulled herself from Phoebus's arms, "and now you can practice handling any little ones we may have."
She waited for the inevitable confused look, before explaining.
"There were three children with me - two boys and a girl. They should be easy to identify; they're all wearing masks and costumes."
Esmeralda did a quick glance around the room to try to locate even one of them.
"And while I'm trying to help them find someone, it seems their main priority is getting into trouble."
She noticed Cassim had since caught up to her. Esmeralda excused herself to talk to Cassim, and was about to ask him if his bird could possibly spot the tricksters from above, when--
"No one needs to blow it out their ear like Gaston! For the love of Allah, shut! It!"
"Stop that horrible racket. I thought we were going to an inn, not a Karaoke hall.”
The entire tavern went quiet for a moment. Gaston was in the middle of yet another show of strength: two giddy women sat in his hands and enjoyed the view from over his head, though their giggles quickly became gasps.
"Shut it, rawwwk!" *whistle*
Gaston turned to see who had interrupted the merriment...only to be beaned in the chest by a nearly empty tankard. He set down the women, who quickly made themselves scarce.
"Who did that?" he demanded. "No one throws tankards at Gaston!"
Many patrons pointed toward the tall, hooded stranger in the blue cloak, with the red bird on his shoulder. A few pointed to the soldier in strange black and green armor, though Gaston noticed the cloaked stranger first, so he was the one he strolled up to.
He grabbed the front of the stranger's cloak and easily lifted him to eye level. He gave a sharp glare and gritted his teeth.
"And we were all having such a good time."
Esmeralda quickly tried to step in.
"He didn't do anything!"
A barmaid was about to try to de-escalate the situation, when the strangely-armored soldier requested a room. The barmaid glanced to - him? her? - and held up a hand. Strange; wasn't the soldier's voice different just a moment ago? And what was a "karaoke"?
"Just a moment, er, good soldier," she said, more concerned with stopping a potential brawl than worrying about the soldier's change in voice.
But it turned out the barmaid's assistance was temporarily unneeded as Gaston took in Esmeralda, and not-so-subtlely eyed her from head to toe.
"Well, hello," Gaston said, his anger quickly melding into dashing charm.
He kept his grip on the stranger's cloak, lifted him higher and struck a pose. Gaston placed his free hand on his hip and suggestively cocked it to the side. While it was apparent he was trying to impress, several of the tavern patrons looked on in amusement as they picked up on what caught Gaston's attention. Esmeralda had once taken out ten of Frollo's men on just wit and the occasional assistance of her fellow Roma entertainers.
And her fiance, Captain Phoebus - a formidable man in his own right - was right there beside her.
A few whispers went through the tavern as small piles of coin were placed for bets.
Esmeralda crossed her arms and glared, obviously not impressed with Gaston's boorish display. The children never left her mind, and she occasionally stole a glance to try to find one of them, but right now, Cassim was in immediate danger.
"Put him down," she said. "He's done nothing to you."
Esmeralda caught movement by the fireplace in one of her glances and saw the red boy - Lock. She watched him in the corner of her eye, though she kept a lookout for the other two.
Unbeknownst to her, Barrel managed to sneak into the kitchen and was already stealing food off of trays and plates to eat. Shock was surprisingly difficult to spot, even with her tall hat. Accustomed to accounting for it, she picked the largest patrons to hide behind as she scouted the room for the best place to start causing trouble. The silence bought her a moment to calculate how to get someplace not many would expect her to be...and with most of the room focused on Gaston, she had a clear shot to get where she wanted.
Madame Serpente came back down to an oddly quiet tavern, when she spotted a wild-haired, finely-dressed redhead making her way over to the drinking game corner. She did a quick survey of the room for the source of the trouble, and would have happily ignored the redhead had she not heard the distinct sound of a blade smashing through wood.
With the potential brawl in a current standstill, Madame Serpente made a quick detour to the group, where the girl made her drinking challenge. If the drunken entourage was silent before, their silence was even more palpable in the presence of the Madame. One or two even shrunk back in fear. The middle-aged woman loomed over the younger redhead, and leaned down until her sharp gaze met hers.
"That was a solid piece of fine oak," Madame Serpente said, her tone calm, but fierce. "Strong enough that even that buffoon--" she pointed to Gaston "--could dance upon it with all his might, and it'd hold strong."
She looked the redhead over for even the smallest sign of weakness.
"So you'd better drink up," she continued, "because I'll either be taking the repair costs for that table out of your winnings, or a week as my scullery maid."
Madame Serpente motioned for a nearby barmaid and made a few quick hand signs, before she started to push herself through the crowd towards Gaston and the other newcomers. The barmaid went to the bar, got two tankards of her strongest mead, and set them on the table.
"First round's on the house," she said coldly. "Madame's orders."
The challenger grinned as he grabbed his tankard.
"Hope you've got coin, girly," he said, "because a sip of this can weaken the hardiest men."
~~~
From the rooftop, and especially from the contrasting light of the moon, Jack would be able to pick out something: namely, dark things were shifting and moving in the alleyways and over some rooftops in the distance, picked out only by eyes - or eye sockets - trained to see in the dark. Yet as they moved and gathered together, even an untrained mortal eye would notice how parts of Paris seemed to disappear in shadow from this height.
More than that, something scampered over the rooftops in the distance, practically heralding the shadows gathering like a small storm cloud behind it. Some sort of cloth billowed behind the forefront creature. Sometimes, it would disappear behind taller buildings and reappear again, but one thing was clear:
Phoebus narrowed his gaze at Esmeralda. “Practice? ...Did you rent a baby to make me change its diaper, again?” He looked around pseudo-suspiciously.
Esmeralda shook her head.
“Not this time.”
She glanced back at the crowd.
"There were three children with me - two boys and a girl. They should be easy to identify; they're all wearing masks and costumes. And while I'm trying to help them find someone, it seems their main priority is getting into trouble."
The knight looked around the room more closely, now. “They’ll probably stick out, then, even with their smaller size. I doubt I could get the crowd to point them out to us, though. They’re more preoccupied than usual...”
Meanwhile, after having been dragged off a table for the third time, Pierre had given up his attempts at singing aloud and was attempting to write out a play about a man with the strength of ten bulls who struggled to find a woman who could see past his physical prowess and love his truest self. On his strumpet’s chest. With a broth-wetted finger. Actually, she may not have even been the strumpet he initially hired; he was honestly too drunk to notice or care. But drunkenness does tend to drive back one’s self-critical nature, and the poet found himself gripped by a frenzy of muses he was certain were granting him the greatest work he would ever produce -- nay, the greatest work that would ever be produced! The propitiousness of Gaston’s arrival should not be understated, and Pierre made a note to himself on the woman’s cheek to include an assertion after the denouement giving credit to the inspiration gleaned in this wondrous moment.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small purple and green blur duck under a table, soon followed by another blur that was a paler grey and much hairier. He sighed wistfully.
“Ah, but to be a child again, guileless and incontemplative, running unfettered through pandemonium, without cares but of playing with one’s--” A glint of gold at one floppy ear regained his attention, and called forth recognition through his stupor.
Pierre let out a truly manly squeal, and threw himself out of his chair to catch Djahli at the last possible moment and drag the poor goat backward out from the table. Once he had him out, the philosopher held the animal to his chest and began babbling happily about “his pretty”. Djahli, for his part, kicked and squirmed in Pierre’s arms, desperately craning his neck to try and see in the direction the little girl had crawled off.
Suddenly, two loud and distinct voices rang out against the singing, and a tankard flew at the subject of the song from off Phoebus’s side. The volume immediately dropped. The captain looked to see who threw it, and recognized the I totally didn’t do that, I’m gonna go over here -posture the foreign soldier was displaying as he asked for a room. Phoebus wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or disappointed not to be that man’s -- woman’s? He couldn’t quite be sure with far easterners -- commanding officer. Luckily, neither of them were on duty, anyway. Maybe he -- she? -- would be up for some mischief, later. That might be fun…
The knight was simultaneously distracted from this line of thinking by an annoyed, frantic bleating breaking out amidst the silence, and the eponymous Gaston hollering in rage and storming over to a man standing on Esmeralda’s other side, just inside the door. He picked the stranger up by his clothing.
"And we were all having such a good time."
Phoebus put a hand on his sword, but Esmeralda beat him to the punch. "He didn't do anything!"
When Gaston switched to flirting at her, Phoebus relaxed slightly and cocked a slight sideways grin. He left one hand on the pommel of his sword, but did a small bow and waved a hand, welcoming her to deal with the muscle-bound buffoon herself. Seeing the formidable Madame was already on her way over, he decided his assistance would likely not be needed, and headed in the direction the goat noises had been heard from.
