House Hunting

[The Legion]

(OOC: This takes place some time between Midwinter and Furlizard in Flight.  Anyone is welcome to have the Legion stumble into their workplace on this quest for information, or overhear the quest and drop in with advice.  :3 )

Enough was enough.  When the cats had accepted Ophyra's offer of a safe place to stay in her hut, none of them had known that either @ophyra or the cats would end up bonding to a myriad of creatures - most of the larger than the original residents of the hut!  So far no permanent harm had been done to the hut itself, but there had been one too many close calls for Alabaster's comfort.  Ruining your host's home was Not Done, and so he declared his intent to find the cats and their bonds a new home.

The Weyrd had a truly amazing variety of residences, both within its caldera (ranging from freestanding structure in the bowl to cavern-based dwellings and even the odd treehouse or spaceship) and on the outer slopes of Mount Gnerq.  With the population of the Weyrd in a constant state of flux, just about anything imaginable was available, if one had the right resources.  The cats were rather lacking in any form of money, but they had a few skills they could barter with in pursuit of a new home: pest hunting, teaching others to understand Cat, modeling for art projects and feline garments (who knew the sight of cats in knitwear would start a new line of business?).  They just had to find someone who was willing to give value for their services, and someone who would accept that value as sufficient for property.  Unless, of course, they could find an unclaimed area and stake it out for themselves.  That was Alabaster's preference; he had a hard time reconciling the idea of cats and formal jobs, for such was not the way of his home world.

So when the weather cleared a bit and a day dawned that was not entirely frigid, the cats set out to hunt down a new house, and quite possibly a job to pay for it.  Along came half of their shinies: the three Arathlial ready to fly them up to higher structures and possibly pursue work in transportation; and the two Whers, with gauzy blindfolds against the bright sunlight, ready to check the ground and walls of any caves for soundness.  Khaliizi remained at the hut with Bell and Rudolph, tending to Tinker's opalescent egg.  The cats headed first to poke among the shops in the Weyrd proper, looking to see who might know about available properties, work opportunities, or just general advice on the whole house hunting process.

It was going to be a long day.

(Egg 13/20)

[Deleted]

Tiberius was worn out. It had been a long night -- the dropping temperatures was not something he was quite used to. And, on top of that, it seemed to mean that there were shinies out there that needed rescuing. Because unlike anything with common sense, more babies seemed to be showing up, looking for homes. And, okay, so there were groups of adults, too, which probably had more common sense than Tiberius wanted to admit to. But they were ones that were noping out of the cold weather, after all, and maybe he couldn't blame them too much.

But it had meant that he and Aurora had been scouting all night, looking for those that needed help contacting George. And with the more frail, it meant hanging around until people seeking bonds showed up to court a certain group. So by the time morning arrived, and Tiberius and the Chinook were heading back to the Weyrd to collect the mail for the morning, they were both a little tired and a lot frozen and just happy too see the sun up.

They were certainly having a break first, however. Aurora wanted out of the saddle, and Tiberius wanted coffee and food. Part of him wanted to swing by home and check to see if the mysterious egg had done anything over night, but that was just...not going to be a thing right now. Food first. And the mail probably wouldn't take long to deliver, once they got to it.

It was about that time, while sitting on a bench in the sun, that he overheard some....cats?...talking to other people. Tiberius was almost concerned he was seeing things for a moment, but...no, no, those were cats. Okay. Probably wasn't any of his business, but it was kind of impossible not to overhear what was going on. And he knew how much of a bitch home hunting could be, although he had basically crash landed right where he was living.

With a frankly ridiculously large and sweet cup of hot coffee in hand, Tiberius got up and wandered over to the group. Because unlike other somewhat humanoid looking creatures, cats weren't nearly as intimidating. "Hey there." He greeted, a little awkwardly. He was talking to cats, after all. "I don't know much about the Weyrd in general, but I live out near one of the smaller mountains, in the wilds. I don't know if you're looking to settle down here or you want more privacy, but I know of some unclaimed areas. Cave sites and places to build houses and stuff..."

He was talking to cats about building houses. The teen wasn't sure how this was going to turn out

Aurora, however, was highly amused from where she was sunning herself, out of everyone's way. Clearly, it was worth stopping for a break.


(Egg 11/20)

[The Legion]

With Alabaster involved in a conversation with a strange avian creature, and Mumford chasing snowflakes, it was Tinker who noticed Tiberius approaching and moved to intercept him when it became clear that he was headed for them and not just down the path between the shops.  The orange tabby paused in front of the teen, peering up at him curiously, and waited for him to speak.  When he did, she bobbed her head politely, replying, Hello.  She paused, conferring privately with her mind-siblings, then continued, We would prefer to not be too far from the Weyrd - as you might imagine, being so small we cannot travel long distances quickly without help.  But for the right space, we will make the journey.  Which way is it?

Alabaster finished his conversation with the avian, then turned toward Tinker and drawled to her, You've forgotten your manners again, as he approached.  He, too, nodded to Tiberius, addressing him, Thank you, that is very kind.  I am Alabaster.  Your interlocutor is Tinker.  The idiot puffball over there is Mumford.  Said idiotic puffball ignored them all, continuing to chase drifting snowflakes, weaving in and out of traffic as only a cat will do.  For now, the cat did not bother with introducing the shinies - the Arathlial were scattered at the moment, up and down the lane of shops, poking about for inspiration, and the Whers were laid out under an awning, hiding from the bright morning light while waiting to be called to work. Are you free to show us around?  If not, a map would be fine, even if it is vague.  Just something to get us pointed in the right direction.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated.