[Event] Tricks and Harvest

The air was getting colder, trees were changing colours, the days were becoming shorter and night longer. The season was swinging into autumn and Perry was glad. Summer had just too much sun for his liking. However, much like in summer, there were festivals in autumn. Most prominent were harvest festivals for this time of year, as well as the event of equinox. A lot of people gave these events and happenings great importance. So did Perry, but for different reasons. There were always so many people at these festivals, it made it painfully easy to pickpocket them and then slink away into the crowd.

One could call him heartless for stealing from people on such joyous occasions, but for the thief they were simply paydays, when he got to line his own pockets. Thankfully he didn't have to resort to that anymore, so Perry could actually enjoy these festivities for what they were. And somehow it felt different since he had joined the West Fiore Trading Company. As if he had an image to uphold and not give the Company a bad name, so he had little to no incentive to steal. Which was kind of counter productive, but he would find a way to make things work.

Last time Perry attended a festival, he was surprisingly occupied by dealing with summer-loving fanatics. He also met a colleague from the Company and together they put those fiery mages and sprites in their place. Eternal summer? No thank you. Perry didn't know that many people from the Company he belonged to, so it seemed like a good idea to perhaps try and get to know those he already knew a little bit better. That was the reason behind the invitation he extended to Haraka. Well, that and because he wanted to know the land where the Company was situated in.

There was indeed an autumn festival being held in Tolgalen and Perry wasn't going to miss it. The young man dressed himself in his usual attire, but the white, uniform version, plus his original hat that wasn't white. The festival wasn't what Perry would call exactly "being on Company business", but he was hoping that he would maybe get some freebies. Thankfully the dressing up part didn't take that long, so Nova didn't have enough time to complain. The unlikely duo left the main Company building and headed down to the festival grounds.

The air was beautifully crisp as the wind messed with Perry's cape. The thief held the rim of his hat, to ensure that he wouldn't be chasing it around Tolgalen instead of enjoying a festival."We don't really have seasons back home." Nova's voice would echo in Perry's head as they neared the festivities. Just like a lot of other people, it seemed. Which was perfectly natural. "You don't? So is it just like summer all the time?" The young man would ask his friend. "Well, I wouldn't call it summer, but just a singular season, yeah." As strange as it sounded to Perry, he reckoned that he did travel a fair bit. Thus he had experienced plenty of different sceneries.

The wind wasn't letting up as the thief and an extraterrestrial being stopped in front of the festival. It didn't have a clear cut boundary, but one could tell what officially belonged to the festival and who was just doing their own thing. The young man smiled as he smelled various food scents wafting through the air, making him slightly hungry, even though he ate fairly recently. "I hope that Haraka will accept the invitation." Perry would murmur under his breath as he turned around to face the arriving people, keeping an eye out for his colleague.

The wind continued to ruffle Perry's company cape and continued to attempt to steal his hat from him. The young man held his hat in place, as he spotted a familiar face in the crowd. The face that he had been waiting for. He was very much glad that his invitation was accepted. Haraka was waving at him and he wasn't alone. Beside him was a child that Perry couldn't quite remember.

The thief's colleague made a little remark about the last and coincidentally first time they've met and Perry gave him a half smile back. It was surely a festival that would remain in his memory for a long time to come. The young man would wave back, as Haraka introduced the child that was there with him. William, William... Ah, yes, he had heard that name before. So that kid was him? The demonic clam, as Haraka called him? He would ask questions another time. The kid seemed to be rather shy. He was most likely overwhelmed by the amount of people present at the festival.

The mage would smile back at Haraka and William. "I'm glad you made it. Pleasure to meet you, William. I am Perry and this is Nova." He would gesture towards himself and his friend, who grinned, but probably looked more menacing than happy. "Shall we go, then?" Perry would ask as he turned around on his heel, joining the other people entering the festival and Nova would follow.

"Join the festival games and collect trophies as rewards!" A female voice would shout nearby. Perry's head immediately turned to pinpoint the origin, finding a rather breathtaking woman shouting things and events that would be happening or were happening at the festival. "Don't forget to buy yourselves some little trinkets from our shops, as you will not be able to get them anywhere else!" The young man would wink at the lady, but she was utterly oblivious and probably also used to such behaviour from men. "Keep your eyes on the road, yeah?" Nova's voice would snicker at Perry in his head, earning a glare from the thief. The young man would shake his head as he noticed the many stalls littered around the festival grounds. The mage would stop, with a question. "I actually never asked what you guys want to do. The lady said something about collecting trophies from games? That sounds interesting enough." He would suggest an activity, but he wasn't sure what the others wanted to do.

The little kid struggled a bit to confirm that they had met during the summer event. Perry couldn't really complain, though, as he himself could change shapes, so that wasn't new to him. Although he was not able to use his magic while in it. It could earn him some easy pats on the head, though. But a poison spitting clam? That was certainly a talent. Still, the young man was glad that the duo that had appeared was up for the suggested festivities.

Haraka even took matters into his hands and decided to join the cooking competition. Although Perry wasn't entirely sure if the organisers would let a contestant cook for others, it was worth a shot. And if Haraka gained the first place for a point, that would be even better. "I'm sorry, but I won't be entering." The mage would shrug. "I'm really not that good at cooking." He would say, apologetically. "Yeah, you're a damn disaster in a kitchen. Saw it first hand." Nova chuckled in Perry's head who only gave an exasperated sigh. "You don't have to remind me." He would murmur as Haraka asked about his food preference. "I think I'll leave it up to the head chef this time. Surprise me." The young man would smirk at his colleague, wondering what would come out of that decision.

Even though Perry wasn't exactly keen on joining the cooking competition, his eyes already spotted an activity that seemed like it was made just for him. "I'll tell you what." The young man would call out to Haraka. "You take that cooking competition and I will take care of that smug blacksmith over yonder." Perry would point towards the blacksmith who was standing near a stall with a banner that said "Puzzle Challenge" with a bunch of metal contraptions. "Whoever is finished first can cheer on the other!" He would say as he slowly made his way towards his chosen challenge and waving temporary goodbye to his colleague and child.

Nova followed Perry, but he was looking around for things that he could be part of. "Come one and all and challenge your brains with my creations! Solve all five puzzles and earn yourselves a precious trophy point!" The blacksmith's voice boomed over the crowd and the few unlucky people who seemed to be stuck on the puzzles. "I shall be undertaking your puzzle challenge." The young man would declare as he approached the blacksmith. The man laughed at Perry's boldness and pointed at the puzzles. They were all numbered from 1 through 5. "Very well then, young man! Solve all five puzzles and the prize is yours!" The thief would only smile. Solving problems and getting out of tight situations were some of the things he excelled at. "Well, somebody is enjoying himself." Nova commented as Perry hungrily eyed the contraptions.

The mage would set down his hat in a safe place by having Nova hold onto it. His short hair was now being ruffled by the wind. He would take the first puzzle into his hands - metal rings over some metal sticks, his mind already starting to enter a state of focus. Within a minute, the thief's swift movements solved the mess of metal. The blacksmith hummed to himself. It probably took regular folk some time to figure out the solution. The second puzzle proved as little challenge as the first one and he was starting to earn some side glances from others. He seemed as either someone who knew the solution or was using some sort of unfair trick or cheat, but that wouldn't stop him from starting to work on the third one.

Nova was holding Perry's hat in one of his head appendages as he observed the thief being hard at work. It was a side of the young man that he hadn't seen before. Nova knew about Perry's true profession, but he had never seen him actually perform it. It took a few minutes for the thief to crack the third puzzle. Perhaps they were going to get at least a tiny bit harder, for the first two needed barely any thinking from the young man to solve them. More people were giving him side glances, including the blacksmith himself, this time.

Perry was working on the fourth metal puzzle when Haraka with William had arrived. He heard some voices from behind his back, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. His mind was too focused on unravelling the mystery in his hands. Nova turned his head around to face the fresh arrivals, only to see a pie being distributed. He wasn't sure what it was, but he most certainly wanted a piece of it. "Hey, Haraka is back. You want some pie or whatever it is?" His voice rang in Perry's head, who only barely noticed it. "Yeah yeah, after I'm done." He would reply absentmindedly. He may have come across as slightly rude, but Perry was absorbed in the challenge. Maybe just a little bit too much.

Having done three puzzles already was slightly dulling his problem solving skills. The thief had to make a mental reset of sorts. Esentially allowing himself to start from scratch, trying not to think of the previous attempts too much. Nova would only give a shrug of sorts and sit in front of Haraka, ready for his piece of pie. That he totally deserved for his hard work of keeping an eye out for Perry's hat.

That was when the inspiration struck the young man and he finally solved the fourth puzzle. It was one of those moments when one makes that fated move and everything just solves one after another. Perry was glad that his brain was getting some much needed workout. He wasn't comfortable enough to start on his old profession after he joined the Company, so this activity was proving rather useful. Not to mention that he was surprisingly enjoying himself and so was the blacksmith. When the young man grabbed the last puzzle, a sort of imprisoned spiky ball, some of the attendees decided to give up and leave. However, Perry was in his own world, barely taking notice of what was happening around him.

The point of the last puzzle was simple. Get the ball out. The thief was not quite sure how to accomplish that just yet, but he was certain that it would have to do with the angle of the ball. Perry fiddled with it for a few moments, before he got the ball out. He was surprised to say the least. Was he just that lucky to guess the right angle that fast? "Well I'll be! Congratulations young man! I haven't seen anybody that focused on these puzzles for a while!" The blacksmith's loud voice boomed as soon as he noticed Perry with the solved puzzle in his hands, looking slightly dumbfounded.

The young man would shrug and get up from the ground. He didn't even notice himself doing that and there was most likely a stain on his pants after that. Perry would dust himself off, as he handed the solved fifth puzzle to the blacksmith. "I honestly didn't expect to solve the last one that fast." The thief would comment and the older man nodded. "I've found that people either solve this last one really quickly or they take a really long time. Never in between!" The man laughed. "I hereby award you with a trophy point!" The blacksmith declared as he started to put the puzzles back into their unsolved versions. The mage would stretch himself as he turned around to see Haraka and company. "Well, this was actually pretty cool, if I do say so myself." He would grin. "So... what about that victory pie I've heard about?" Perry would ask mischievously as the wind played with his hair and cape.

After Haraka served a piece of the pie upon a plate and placed it down, Nova would take it with his hand, as well as attempt to keep it together with the icecream and just shove the whole thing in his toothy mouth. The pie disappeared about as fast as it appeared. It almost didn't seem that Nova chewed at all, it was as if he had just swallowed it whole. The creature would grin and give Haraka a thumbs up in approval. "This' the stuff you guys eat? Tastes kinda weird to me, but it's pretty good." Nova could get behind that.

Perry's colleague explained how he wanted to make more variety, but felt like it would not fare well with the other contestants. He served an another plate, this one for Perry. The young man would smile and take the presented plate, as Haraka commented how Perry seemed to be having fun with the puzzle. "If there is one thing that I'm good at, it's solving problems. At least I like to think so." The young man would reply, not mentioning his background as a thief. He would take a bite out of the pie, nodding to himself. "This is pretty great. No wonder you won." Perry would comment on the pie, as he got down the current bite. "Hey, can you bake that pie for me sometime?" The Khigmax turned to his friend, who promptly shook his head, his blonde locks mimicking the movement. "No way. If you want more, you will have to ask Haraka." Perry would point Nova to his colleague and take an another bite of the really tasty pie.

The extraterrestrial creature would shrug a little and focus his telepathy towards the other Company member. "Hey, if you ever have any leftovers, drop 'em by Perry's room. Much appreciated." A slightly distorted voice would echo in Haraka's head, essentially asking for food.

Nova discreetly licked his teeth, wondering about the various foods and treats that Haraka could whip up. He felt sad, when he realised that Perry was useless in the kitchen and he wouldn't cook anything. When Haraka mentioned that he used to cook food to get by in his earlier assignments, Perry wondered. He could've gotten through his life effortlessly, thanks to the wealth of his family. He could've used money and connections to get by and just walk over those who wouldn't dare oppose him or his wallet. Perry was slightly stumped, when Haraka asked him about what he used to do, before he joined the Company.

The thief needed a moment to think on the reply and took a bite of the delicious pie to mask it. There was no way that he was going to be forward. It was in the past, as Haraka had mentioned, sure, but it did not cleanse him of his crimes. There was a good reason why the Black Cat kept to the shadows. The thief also reckoned that the Company Presidents wouldn't be exactly happy if they knew they were housing an active criminal. A criminal craving for action, if he had to be absolutely correct. Perry got the rest of the pie down. "I didn't do the best of things, in the past. Let's just keep it at that." He would reply, evidently not keen on discussing his past further. "To be fair, not even I know your story, Perry. I just know you steal things. What happened to you?" Nova would ask his friend, who only shook his head, refusing to answer. Cat got his tongue, so to speak.

However, Haraka did agree to bring over food to share. "Sweet." Nova's voice echoed in Perry's head. "Now now. You don't need to go to such lengths, Haraka. Leftovers are just fine. You really don't need to go ahead and cook just because somebody wants you to." Perry's body would slightly tilt towards Nova, to show about whom he was talking. "But don't worry. There's no giant crowds of angry people in my room." The young man would continue. It seemed that Haraka possibly had some bad experiences with jealousy in the past. Perry would return the now empty plate that he was given. "Thanks again, for the pie." He thanked his colleague.

There was still a lot of the festival left to see and or experience, depending on one's preferences."So what are you going to do now?" The young man would cross his arms on his chest, as he asked. "There's a maze, that maybe William would really appreciate or perhaps we could wait for the bonfire to be lit?" He would propose a few ideas. Perry didn't really mind either of those options and he would most likely agree to almost anything else. As long as it didn't require rigorous brain activity. Nova was excited to see what they would be doing next. He hoped for something fun.