Sly as a Snake (Guard Guild)|Haven, Ilyamen

[Kender Bard]

Pandora approached the guard guild, stopping just out of sight of the place. Kneeling, she let Ven slither out of her clothing and to the ground, stroking his head. ~Now, Ven, you know what to do. I'll keep them distracted and you find out where that thief's diary is.~

Ven gave his assent and Pandora gave him another pat, then stood up and approached the guard guild, trying look her most clueless and innocent. She'd selected some of her jewelry so she might be mistake as an upperclass citizen. "Ven!" she called out, looking around and wandering a bit aimless. "Oh Ven..!" She sniffled, loudly, and wondered how long until some guards showed up.

[kiyukit]

One of the guards, having just paid his dues, was walking out of the hall when he heard the young woman.

"Mam? Are you lost? Or looking for someone?"

[Kender Bard]

"Oh," she sighed and shifted from foot to foot, looking about in concern. "I've lost my poor sweet pet. My Ven." She burst into tears, on cue; just enough to make her eyes glisten but the sobs and shuddering shoulders were certainly dramatic.

[kiyukit]

"It'll be all right Mam! We'll it. Now, what does this Ven look like? I can send out a message for everyone to be on the look out."

The guard was groming increasingly concerned, this poor girl had not only lost her pet, but was apperently quite attached to it.

[Kender Bard]

Pandora rubbed her eyes and shifted her position just slightly; taking this as a cue, Ven slithered towards the station, looking for a place he could sneak inside and start searching.

"Well," she murmured. "He's a snake." She sniffled and described Ven as best as she could; no point in having him get killed if some fool guard caught him.

[kiyukit]

"A...a... a snake?" stuttered the guard, going pale and shivering.

[Kender Bard]

"Why yes," she remarked, trying to look surprised. She smiled a little, revealing her own fangs. "He's near and dear to my heart, my Ven. I've had him since he was a hatchling and I was a babe."

Meanwhile, Ven had found a way into the guild and was now slithering from shadow to shadow, trying to be discreet and unnoticeable, mostly by avoiding hallways and rooms with people in them. He slithers into a room with, what he hoped, held the object his Mistress wanted.

[kiyukit]

The guard twitched slightly "Um... ah... So... ah... what does this snake look like?" he stuttered, obviously uncomfortable.

A young private, only newly joined the guards, was sitting perched on a table top in the room containing the diary. "Sent to guard a stupid book. Didn't the reqruiter say this was going to be an exciting life?" She muttered to herself, kicking the chair in front of her.

[Kender Bard]

Ven marked carefully the room that the book was in and the fact that there was actually someone guarding it. Noting this, he started heading back outside by the same route he came in.

Pandora described Ven; the color of his scales and the pattern they made.

Ven spotted Pandora and slithered so the sun would glint off his scales a little. Pandora took the hint and gasped, pointing. "There he is!" she squealed. Ven darted back inside. "Ven!" She chased after, pretended she didn't realize she wouldn't be able to get through the cracks he had (they used the momentary closeness to exchange information), then made a dash for the front door.

[kiyukit]

The guard, who was still trying to recover for his snake scare managed to call in a small voice "Ah, miss? You're not supposed to go in there..."

Inside the guild hall, several young guard folk startled as they saw Pandora.

[Kender Bard]

Pandora was acutely glad she had gone with the 'silly young woman' facade for this particular escapade. She pretended not to have heard the words of the guard as she chased her partner around. Ven, for his part, did a very good job of only showing a flash of scale here, the end of his tail there. Together they dashed and dodged their way deeper and deeper. Ven slipped into the room with the diary, and she followed after. "You naughty snake!"

[kiyukit]

The young woman, who's duty it was to guard the diary stood up as Pandora entered the room. "Miss, you're going to have to leave. This is a restricted area." With those words, delivered in a stong clear voice, that none the less had the air of being practiced in the mirror, the guard gestured to the door.

[Kender Bard]

Pandora looked at her, puzzled a moment, then made a sharp motion. Ven slithered over, curling affectionately around her leg. She made a great display of cooing and fussing over him before picking him up and letting her eyes 'casually' grace the diary. She gasped, "So that's where that went!"