[Intro] Becoming a Peddler of Goods

There had been many a things that Perry had learned after he became rich again. Like how careful he still needed to be and how much he enjoyed teasing people. There was one thing missing, though. A thing that seemed almost ironic. That thing in question was home. Or rather, a place where he could always safely return to. For many years he ignored that quiet voice in his head, but after he met Nova, something inside of him snapped. Perhaps it was because of how Nova was practically without a home or simply because he secretly hoped for a home himself. The reason did not matter. There was only one issue... the simple fact that he was a thief. He was no ambassador of justice or protector of the realm. No. He was a thief who made a living out of that career path. Perry wasn't about to limit himself just to join a group of mages. Thus he had to make a careful choice.

After picking up morning newspapers and chatting with Nova for a while, Perry chatted up some of the locals of Neutral Grounds. Maybe the magic wasn't allowed there, but it didn't mean that they ignored everything happening around them. The young thief made sure to keep Nova hidden. He was the so called terror of the back alleyways, after all. It didn't take him much time to squeeze a number of various details out of people and started making his plans. There was one Guild of sorts that caught Perry's attention. West Fiore Trading Company. It sounded like a place that Perry himself could benefit and a place that could benefit Perry in return, aswell. The cogs of idea crafting started to turn in his head as he thought about his upcoming steps.

A few days later he found himself aboard a ship, whose destination was the island where the Trading Company was located. The voyage was a smooth sailing that. Most of his time he spent on the top of the deck, overseeing the vast seas. Nova seemed to enjoy the change of scenery that eventually became the island itself. The ship arrived at a port and Perry jumped down from its side, earning some questionable looks. The mage paid them no mind and started to look around for any clues that would point him in the right direction. Thankfully, everything seemed to be marked quite well, so he had little to no trouble finding his way around.

As the young man and an otherworldly being made their way along the road to where Perry presumed was the building of the Trading Company, Nova's voice echoed in his head. "You know, I wouldn't have pegged you as a 'let's settle down' kinda guy." Perry would chuckle. "Technically speaking, me neither. I still aim to be mostly travelling." He would reply to Nova's concerns. "And stealing in between your travels as a merchant? I see how it is." Nova cackled and Perry laughed himself. It made him seem as a bit of a psycho, considering that Nova talked to him exclusively via telepathy, rather than spoken words, but he cared very little.

The duo would slowly come up to the great white building, topped with a giant lacrima crystal. If he wasn't aiming to join them, he perhaps would've considered stealing something. With a little smile on his lips they would reach the great carved doors. Perry adjusted his hat and cleared his throat, before swinging them open. The mage and his companion were met with a sizeable reception area. Perry most likely should've expected that at that point, but there he was, being slightly surprised.

There was a number of different desks with a number of people lined up. They usually held some sort of letters or boxes, presumably something to have traded or shipped over. That was not Perry's objective, though. Nova decided to just stay very close to Perry, in case anybody felt like picking on him. He didn't want to get Perry in trouble because he did something wrong by mistake. The young man would come up to the center reception desk. He resisted the urge to flirt a little bit with the receptionist and got straight to the point. "Good day, miss. I was hoping that I could perhaps find some sort of employment within the Company." He would request, albeit beating around the bush a little bit, contrary to what he had thought he would do mere seconds ago. Among the excitemet he kind of forgot that he was not quite on board with yelling out his own name.

The receptionist assured Perry that his request would be taken care of and called for someone to swing by. Somebody from high up in the hierarchy of the Company. "Thank you very much for your assistance, miss." The young man would thank the kind lady and tip his hat, backing up a few steps away from the desk, leaving space for anyone who wanted access to the receptionist. Nova mimicked the motion, but his head kept on swinging around, taking in the area around them. He felt wary of the new surroundings, but that was nothing new to him.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long and before they knew it, a man clad in a black and white uniform approached the desk. The receptionist introduced the man as Sol Detholusin, a vice president of the Company. Perry certainly didn't expect somebody from that portion of the hierarchy to fetch him. Who knew, maybe he was the only one available. Regardless, somebody came by and that all that mattered. Though that pin on his uniform looked like a nice trinket that he could snatch along the wa-.. No, no. He couldn't be thinking along those lines about his potentially new employer. That being said, his thieving urges were becoming restless and it worried him.

After Sol spoke up, he gave Perry a bit of space to introduce himself. "Perry. The pleasure is mine. And this is Nova." He would shorten the introductions as he pointed at his otherworldly companion. Nova only grinned at the vice president and waved as a greeting. Perry also didn't want to just yell out his full name, hoping that just his first would suffice for the time being. After introducing himself and Nova, Sol confirmed that the Company was indeed looking for people to join, as long as they were worthy. He motioned for the young man to follow him and he obliged.

Perry had no idea where he was being taken, but he didn't question it, as he was not exactly in the position to do so. Eventually the vice president stopped and turned around, asking about the reason behind Perry wanting to join the Company. Well, he most certainly couldn't say that he was pretty good at acquiring items to sell or trade via not strictly legal means. "Well, I find that I have hardly any problems talking to other people, which could prove beneficial for striking favourable trading deals. I should be also able to defend cargo, if there's need for it." Perry would share some of his qualities for starters, since Sol mentioned only those who are able are allowed to join. "The reason why I wish to join is that I would like to put my qualities to better use, other than just wildly jumping around from place to place." He would lay out the reasoning behind his decision. It most likely seemed sort of half-assed, but Perry was being honest with those statements.

The possible future employer seemed to have noticed a glimpse of idea of thievery going through Perry's head. He wanted to reply that he would not steal from him as he saw it as being probably below his skill level, but he bit his tongue, instead. He was a charmer, not a rude douchebag. After the thief shared... some of his talents, Sol made a point of him needed further training before he would be put on any mission regarding trading deals or cargo defense. Which was fair enough. Perry may have had talents that he was confident in, he used them in different ways than to what the Trading Company might need.

Sol seemed to be satisfied enough with Perry's reasoning behind wanting to join the Company, as he inquired about the magic type that he used. Simple enough. "I draw my powers from darkness, shadows and void." He would begin with the essential information about his magic. "I can mould it into various shapes and purposes or imbuing myself with it, depending on what I need." He would continue his explanation. "Though I mostly fight with the intent of outwitting my opponents, I am capable of a more brute approach, if need be." The thief would share his thinking behind the strategies that he would be utilising in battles.

With all that said and done, Perry would leave his cat form as a little ace in his sleeve. It could be used to fool others or infiltrate various areas. This shifting ability was honestly Perry's favourite. It was the sole reason why he gave himself the name of Black Cat, after all. Not to mention that he absolutely loved freaking out the superstitious portion of Fiore's population. "Now I imagine that you would wish to see me in action? You did mention a 'test' of sorts." The young man would ask about the next steps of action, though he thought that he had a pretty good hunch as to where they were headed.

Perry was glad to see that he was not alone with the ideology of putting more emphasis on outwitting opponents, rather than just overwhelming them with raw strength. The young man followed the other man out of the building, to what seemed to be grounds for possibly training or other rigorous physical activities. Sol turned around and Perry, along with Nova, stopped in their tracks. The man proclaimed that he wished to see Perry in action, to determine his future. Which was what he was expecting that would be happening next.

Sol then was briefly covered by shadows and as soon as they cleared up, he was dressed in what seemed to be a more casual or regular attire. It was probably something that he would wear when he didn't have to the formal outfit on. Perhaps Perry could invest into a spell like that. He reckoned that something as practical as that would come in handy every now and then. However, that was not the time to be distracted by the endless possibilities of the future. The test was there and then.

The vice president then explained how he would be testing Perry's capabilities and the mage would nod in return. In reality, Perry's magical strength was questionable and he was aware that he had ways to go. "Very well. A little showcase, then." He would say and start slowly walking to the side. Nova would step back to make room for him, but he knew that the test was not aimed at him. At least at the time being. The mage would conjure and throw a ball of shadowfire in Sol's direction. It was not directly aimed at him, but Perry was sure that he would've dodged it, anyway. The young man would then conjure a ball of void in front of him that he overloaded to make it explode. So he presented both close ranged and long ranged spells. He wanted to use his shadowfire spike, but he quickly realised that that spell in particular had much better use indoors, rather than outdoors. Unless he was surrounded by a lot objects that could be used as anchors, but that didn't happen too many times.

The void explosion wasn't big enough to cause any damages. Perry reckoned that causing collateral damage wouldn't turn out well for him. The mage was prepared for whatever else had Sol readied for him. He was hoping not to disappoint, because his true talents didn't lie directly in his magic he wielded.

The ball of shadowy fire that Perry had let loose was not meant to hit Sol, but the thief did not expect him to eat it. That was cool. Perry kind of wished that he could do the same. Though he wasn't sure about the spiciness? Was that a compliment? The young man would take it as a compliment, even though Sol said that he had 'tasted better'. The void blast that Perry had let loose actually managed to affect the other man, although he didn't seem too fazed by it. However, it was Sol's turn.

The other man was enveloped by an intense aura, the aura itself almost felt palpabale. As if there was insivible pressure, threatening to push him down. The feeling was overwhelming, but it was a test and Perry would do the best he could with the abilities he had at his disposal. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement to the side and he took a quick glance. It wouldn't hurt, right? He saw a girl bowing and kneeling near the entrance to the grounds, possibly looking for some entertainment or waiting for them to finish up. Whatever the case was, the young man would quickly lift his hat and nod towards the girl as he put the hat back down. Nova would wave at the girl as a greeting of his own, as he continued to watch the show unfolding before him.

He knew that he was rather pressed for time. With a swift motion of his hand Perry conjured a piece of void that he shaped into a small stick-like object and tossed it, so that it landed right in front of Sol. It was his shadowfire spike, that the thief hoped would obscure the other man's vision as soon as the spike transformed into a continuous stream of shadowfire. Hoping that Sol's view would be sufficiently obscured, so that he wouldn't notice Perry jumping backwards and disappearing in a puff of smoke. If the plan was successful, the thief would quietly navigate towards Sol's side, praying that the small diversion would make the invisibility worth it, since he was quite confident in saying that the other mage would be more than capable to discern Perry's position by observing a moving source of magic.

It seemed that Perry was not the only one with the ability to disappear from sight. Though he felt that his version was far inferior, since the moment that Sol vanished, so did most of his magical signature. The whole sparring session was a bit of a snooze fest for a certain strange creature, but he knew that as soon as Sol performed his move the things were getting interesting. For a change.

The thief was still taking a few steps to the side, stopping for a moment to decide on his next step. However, as soon as he did that, he knew that it was a mistake. That very moment, Perry felt a rush towards him. Great. Perry felt the Vice President's fist connect with his chin, rather painfully. At least he knew that his invisibility was useless against Sol, if nothing else. The mage tasted blood in his mouth, as he swiftly shifted into his cat form, revealing himself while dimming his own magical signature. He did it out of reflex in a feeble attempt to minimize the damage. Maybe if he was faster or better at predicting an outcome in a fight, he wouldn't have a bleeding mouth as a result.

The shift from Perry's human form into his cat one revealed him, as he sat on the ground, looking up at Sol. Even though he changed forms, the wound persisted and the mage quietly hissed out of pain as his head rang a bit. "Ooooh! Never seen you actually turn into a cat! You're so adorable, even from over here!" Nova's voice laughed in Perry's mind and the cat turned around to give him a good glare. But the young man had to admit. Being a cat was the way to get free stuff. And fish for information or get out of sticky situations, although it really didn't work out for him this time. The thief was fine with calling the spar as his defeat for the time being and meowed up at Sol. He hoped the few skills he demonstrated were good enough that the Company was willing to employ him.