"I can't believe you pulled me out of the lecture for
this drivel," Kauvara complained, rolling her eyes at the silver-haired
Techo as they stood in the hotel lobby. Behind the closed door of the convention
room, the lecture on appearances and cleanliness for customer safety that the
doctor had retrieved her out of a moment ago droned on.
"Look, I just want to know what this stuff is,
that's all," Dr. Death told her, holding out the shirt. "And then you can
get back to your brainwashing."
"It's not 'my' brainwashing," the starry
Kau snorted. "And come to think of it, aren't YOU supposed to be in attendance
as well?"
"Whether I'm jumping through Fyora's hoops or
not is not the issue here," the pound director snapped. "Just tell me what
this is."
"Hah! You're in no position to give orders,"
Kauvara replied smugly. "YOU came to ME for help and unless I start seeing a
little respect, you can just forget it." The young sorceress was, by nature,
a gentle creature, but was known to annoy very easily and was not fond of pushy
people. The only thing she was less fond of, in fact, was being bossed around
by people who were near-strangers to her. She had seen Dr. Death in passing
a few times, but had never spoken to him before today and she was already fairly
sure, given the Techo's bitter attitude, that she'd never want to do so again.
"I don't have time for this...." the yellow
Techo snarled.
"That heavy feeling in your belly might be whatever
you ate for breakfast, or it might be the barrel I've got you over..." the sorceress
smirked, pretending to look at the glossy surface of her hoof in idle admiration.
Dr. Death quaked with frustration a moment and then sighed raggedly.
"All right....I'm sorry..." he said stiffly.
"Well, it's a start." Kauvara nodded, relenting
as she took the shirt from him and examined the blue-green splotch on it. "And
where did you say this came from?"
"I don't know...I can tell you WHO it came from,
but not where," the Techo muttered. Kauvara looked confused a moment, and
then returned to examining the stain. She took an experimental whiff and her
eyes crossed.
"Nnghh....potent..." she remarked, holding the
shirt away from herself. "Well, I can tell you right off the bat that ONE ingredient
to this was voidberry juice...but probably just so the scent would cover up
the other things in it. And, really, the only thing that comes to mind with
this kind of knock-out power is bagguss pollen, or a lab-created equivalent."
"Is it poisonous?" Dr. Death asked.
"Not to my knowledge..." she shrugged. "It will
definitely put someone's lights out for a few hours though. You went to school,
you should know that," she scoffed.
"I majored in animal husbandry. Not botany,"
he snorted. "Anyway, thanks..." he added, taking the shirt back from her and
moving to leave.
"Well don't keep me in suspense..." Kauvara
said sharply, making him stop and look over his shoulder. "What's going on?"
"Nothing you want to get involved in. I promise,"
the Techo assured her.
"Hmph, if there's an assassin wandering around
in this lodge, I have every right to know," she shot back, narrowing her
eyes.
"Not an assassin, but definitely someone to
steer clear of," he sighed. "I don't know what's going on myself, but he's knocked
my co-worker clear out for some reason."
"Oh....oh dear. The pink Uni? Is she hurt?"
Kauvara asked, her expression softening.
"She doesn't look like she is, but I think he
meant to come back and get her later...cart her off somewhere from the sound
of it..." he explained, feeling his resentment at Zhani flare itself again.
The starry Kau's eyes suddenly clouded as though something had clicked for her.
"Are there two of them?" she asked suspiciously.
"Two of what?" Dr. Death asked, puzzled.
"Two of them. A Pteri and a Uni. Is that who
it was?" the sorceress asked, a resentful tone creeping into her voice.
"There's only one as far as I know...and yes,
he's a Uni, but--" the doctor began.
"Figures...he's probably got that little rat
with wings stashed in a room somewhere," Kauvara muttered. The Techo looked
at her oddly, clearly very lost. "Sorry..." she sighed. "Those two cretins came
sniffing around the Haunted Woods about a month ago and ended up spiriting away
my apprentice at the time."
"If it wasn't that Magus idiot promising her
treasures and adventure, it was that Zhani character trying to win her over
with sweet-talk and flattery." She shuddered to punctuate her disgust. "And
then one night the three of them just disappeared. No note, no two weeks' notice,
just gone. Had to shut down my potion brewing hut because I didn't have anyone
to help me manage it."
"Why...? Where did they take her?" the Techo
asked numbly, feeling as though the bottom had just dropped out of his stomach.
"How should I know??" the Kau demanded, sounding
enraged. "But lord only knows whatever happened to her wasn't good...especially
if they've resurfaced again so soon and are pulling the same thing."
"Well, like I said, there's only one that I've
seen and I'm not even sure that--"
"Where did you leave your co-worker?" she interrupted.
"In the room..." he answered.
"And you had the brains to lock the door, I
hope?"
"Of course I did!" he snapped, outraged. "What
kind of idiot do you think I a---"
"Good. Give me your key," she told him.
The Techo looked at her uncertainly. "Come on..." she urged, holding out a hoof.
Dr. Death reluctantly fished the plastic keycard out of his pocket and handed
it over. She looked at it momentarily and nodded once. "Good," she said
again. "I'll handle it."
"Just like that, huh?" the Techo scowled sceptically.
"And what am I going to do?"
"You're going to go and sit in on the rest of
that lecture," Kauvara informed him haughtily. "I've got a bone to pick
with those two and I don't need an amateur getting in the way."
"But what if--"
"Do you want my help or not?" Kauvara asked
impatiently, stamping a hoof to silence his further objections. Dr. Death glared
at the sorceress and sighed in defeat.
"All right...just..." He rubbed at the back
of his neck. "...make sure they don't hurt her," he said lamely.
"I wouldn't worry." Kauvara nodded once before
trotting out of the lobby, rounding a corner and disappearing from his sight.
He waited a moment more, almost inclined to follow after her anyway though she
had told him not to before forcing himself to turn back to the closed door of
the convention room. He paused at a trash can, depositing the shirt inside of
it before approaching the door and easing it open as quietly as he was able.
"--furthermore wrinkled clothes are NOT permissible
at any job-site no matter how casual of a working environment it is!" a green
Kyrii was ranting at the front of the room to his silent and captive audience
of employees. "If one is to show up looking like they just rolled out from under
a bridge, then they'll be *treated* as if they---" he trailed off, squinting
at the back of the room. "Who are you?" he demanded. "My lecture started twenty
minutes ago and I'm NOT repeating anything I've said."
"Sorry..." the Techo muttered, slipping into
a vacant seat in the back of the room, ignoring the scattered stares from people.
The Kyrii glared at him a moment more and then picked up on his lecture again,
acting as though nothing had happened and leaving Dr. Death alone for the moment.
"Hope you know what you're doing, Kauvara..."
the doctor thought miserably.
To be continued... | 
