A New Adventure Friend

Standing at the entrance to the Cave of Shadows, Love let out a long whistle at the sight before him. Dressed in his normal traveling attire, he'd be glad for the long orange scarf in a damp cave. Pulling the back up to cover his dark hair and horns, he wrapped the extra length a few more times around his neck to keep warm.

He had worked out a deal with the local village for a trade; he'd give the local cave a good monster sweep, they'd hand one of their recent prisoners over to him. It was a fun game of chain questing as he worked to gain a reputation in the thieves guild, but he hadn't expected someone to get here before him. A pair of monsters littering the entrance, he examined the work briefly before deciding to continue inside.

If whatever wandered in first was dangerous, he was confident enough in his skills to get away, and if not, he'd need to find out their goal to make sure it wouldn't interfere with his own work. Thankfully he didn't need a light source himself to navigate through the cave's shadows to find his quarry.

The musty smell as the soft dripping noises from water leaking in the cave left the dark colored male just watching as his sword was in hand. He had been traveling through the area with his companions, an owl-like bear and a long multi-limbed reptile, when he had been asked if he could help with a small... overgrowth of monsters. He saw no point in saying no, even if the rewards weren't of interest to him. His traveling buddies were interested though, mainly for the idea of eating the monsters they found.

"I hut hunuter!" The reptile called, crunching loudly down on a limp creature as the warpa's tall ears twitched and moved. He returned his sword to its hilt, knowing he'd have to clean it later.

"I am proud of you, don't make too much of a mess or you too will need to bathe." His blue colored eyes were scanning for the other, curious where the owl creature was off to. It was quite dark so who knew what crevice they were exploring.

Hearing a loud THUD followed by a growl and rise in aggression from the missing companion though, the twitching ears were suddenly straight up as his pawed feet headed to the noise. His hands were on the hilt of his sword, drawing as he came round to see his previous owl panda bear growling at someone with a dagger out. "Heed your actions if you want to leave with your life, they nor I will harm you if you drop your weapon." He called, his voice echoing off the walls as he pointed the sword at the red headed male. "Juniper, why did you tackle them, were they causing harm?"

"No..." The owl creature said softly, withdrawing their large foot from pinning the other down and backed down, seeming to know they were in the wrong for this one.

"I am quite disappointed in you, you have been trained better than so." Sad hooting noises were heard as Juniper retreated, rubbing against the anthro footed male as they came back. "I must apologize, my companions get excited by moving creatures." Speaking of companions, the reptile was now missing, but he had a good guess where they were off to. Putting his sword away though, he held out his hand to help the other up.

Following along the path of murder was fairly easy, the darker stains of blood in the darkness standing out to his dark vision. It was concerning that there were pieces and sometimes whole bodies missing from the pools so he was on guard. More so expecting a hoard of small things rather than a large one given the area he was in, Love got taken by surprise at a hulking shadow covering more area than his feet could get him out of.

Taking the creature as an invasive monster, rather than cry for help, the infernal noble's first instinct had him reaching for his daggers right away. Pulling one, he was set to shove it into the thing's paw when a voice bounced between them, causing pause. While he wasn't keen on dropping his weapon in a monster infested cave, there was always another dagger to be pulled when it came to rogues.

Tossing it aside, Love made a show of relief as he sat up and crossed his legs on the floor. Dirty, but he wasn't the most high strung noble to say the least. "I'd say it's no problem, but what a scare! I doubt my poor legs could even carry me right now, how tragic." Looking them over, the speech itself made it obvious he wasn't dealing with a normal adventurer. Needing a short minute to go through what he considered files of knowledge from his younger studies, there was one honorable rabbit noble he could place that would come to such a backwater place. Taking the offered hand, he accepted the help up, gesturing to the knife left behind. "You'll let me rearm myself in such a dangerous place as this though won't you? I'm only here for the monsters."

"You may retrieve your weapon, indeed." Juniper seemed to be staying behind him now, giving the saddest look a owl and bear hybrid could give until he rubbed on them. "You should seek forgiveness from the one you tackled, not me." He told the creature softly, ears starting to twitch again as his eyes focused on the ground and saw the slight wobble that was well hidden in the unlit cave. "It shouldn't be much in the form of danger currently, we have gone through thus far. Just keep your ear open and eyes sharp."

Hearing a small rock move, his head turned as he saw the dark colored creature covered in rock like growths starting to run towards them. Though ready to attack, the bird-like creature backed down as the warpa stepped forward. With the just met person behind him, a burning sensation formed in his mouth as a large blast of fire came out. The monster burning where it stood as the smell of the burning flesh left the rabbit like warpa crinkling his nose.

"Crispy monster!" Juniper said happily, watching with sparkling eyes as the fire eventually died down and they were off to crunch down on this delectable treat.

"With that set aside, what brings yourself here? Has the town sent more to clear out more of the vermin?"

Scooping up the dagger with his tail, Love sheathed it back against his side, preferring to draw his weapons on an on-needed basis. Sometimes, his trusted rapier being a better fit for a fight, though he loathed to get it bloody.

Content enough to let the rabbit stand between him and danger, he was able to see a rather interesting sight, a gouge of fire coming out unexpectedly from them. He knew ferals could use magic, but a fire breathing rabbit was still entertaining enough to peak his interest. At least, he was assuming it was just part of their own magic. "How hilariously vile," Love commented, shrugging after. "I guess so. Maybe different employers as well, I've been sent to this town by the thieves guild. Didn't say nothing about someone else in the cave during my chat with the guard house though." With plenty of odder things seen in his home city alone, the sight wasn't about to make him flinch away. Instead, he half bowed to the known noble, feigning ignorance. "Call me Love. If you're here for a sweet as well, why don't we work together?"

Watching for a moment as Juniper chowed down, the crunching noises had the other's ears twitching in displeased ways but no words were said. It was a strange sight, but one he was becoming used to as his traveling companions desired to eat and taste the world as they went from land to land. Their taste was... exotic to say the least, but he wasn't one to judge if they were happy with their foods.

"They are still young and in search of what they have a taste for, their palate is still a growing one." Pausing, he moved his bare feet and looked down, placing his hands behind his back as he stared into the darkness. "Are you not going to be joining, Kutsa? Once we leave this area you are bound to the table rules once more." The shadows under his feet bubbled, moving to the burned enemy and eventually a head popped out as the reptilian beast ate with Juniper. It amused him so much. "I am Anselik, Juniper is the one that 'greeted' you, we shall say, and Kutsa is endearing in their own way. I was asked by one of the guards when we first came upon the town, so different employers are without a doubt an option. We are almost finished here, so you seemed to be roped into an easy job. My offering was free boarding and meals for my stay, you are welcome to join me and enjoy my keepings if desired." Anselik offered, letting his creatures sniff a bit more, but he turned his attention to the 'guest' as he was taught to do. "Love is quite an interesting name I must say, is it short for anything?" Now with the other closer, he could look them over. There weren't any features that screamed 'important' to him, but that was just at glance in less than optimal lighting conditions. Who knew if something may reveal itself as they stepped out. "You are welcome to cooked monsters as well, their smell reminds me of cooked snakes if that is your thing."

"It is, unfortunately I don't have any companions to introduce to you, but at least now I'll be able to introduce you to someone else~" he replied simply, moving on smoothly. Love waved a dismissive hand in front of him and gave a lopsided smirk, "I'll have to decline the cooked monsters, but will gladly take you up on the lodge. I came in such a hurry to help out, I didn't think of getting a room first." Not exactly a lie, but not the truth either considering he wasn't even planning to stay in town for the night.

How could he possibly pass up a free opportunity to observe such an interesting group however? He knew a little about the royal, but just that he had a kind, upstanding character. The only downside, to most warpas, being that they were feral blood. Traveling with a small pack of monsters that could talk was new, but not strange enough to garner much attention compared to most collectors.

Most of the wild creatures seemed to be of the rocky, crunch-like variety, with tails and claws. As long as they couldn't back him into a corner, Love figured his dagger would do him well enough. "My own reward can wait for tomorrow, I'm more excited to help you enjoy yours; hopefully with a warm bath~"

"A true shame, but rest assured that Juniper and Kutsa aren't heartbroken about your decisions." Taking a glance to watch them go run off to chase some smaller versions of the monsters, they more then likely would be found very deep within, but Ansel didn't see them coming out any time soon. What more, once he blocked off the area with the help of Juniper. They would breed once more with what dwindling numbers they had, and then they would be a pest once more, but until then, his job would be done.

"We found more!" A distant Juniper called, watching as a bleeding monster ran by with one claws arm missing and its long reptilian tail chomped off as well.

"That is wonderful, let us finish up here so we can be back by dinner." Dropping his more regal pose, Anselik still carried himself tall but now he went towards the calls of his companions, ready to finish up so they could retire from their side quest.