Open The Market The Mysterious Vixen. Witch, Fortune-Teller, or Fraud?

[Silvertongue and Greeneye]

Greeneye greedily reached for the gilders, but Silvertongue smacked his paw away, his face red with embarrassment.

"Very well... seeing as how you have bested us in the game- it seems have no choice but to recuperate our debts through other means. I can perform. Out on the streets or wherever you'd like me to." Silvertongue motioned, taking his lute into his paw. "To be honest- I enjoy it. So it won't burden me to perform without making any money."

Greeneye was still a bit drunk, and offered no advice on how best he may be used to pay off his own debt, which was exponentially larger than Silvertongue's due to all the food and drink he ordered.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna spoke up from behind the pair, her voice firm. "I'll forgive a hundred gilders of your debt if you go have a conversation with your godmother," she declared, having quietly approached the table as the game concluded.

Falun started at the offer. "Anna!" he whined, his tone petulant.

"They still owe plenty," the vixen pointed out. "I'm sure you'll have work for them both to do. As the family accountant, I'm invoking my prerogative on how to resolve this debt, as it touches on my business interests."

Falun sighed, sitting back and crossing his arms. "Fine. One hundred in debt, struck. Greeneye, with 'at hook a' yers, how're yeh at rollin' an liftin' barrels? I know a warehouse with a supply of ale that needs liberatin'."

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue turned to Marianna in shock. "My godmother- Madame Lorelei, she's here?" He looked past her, seeing the old vixen approaching, leaning on her cane.

"Madame-!" Silvertongue exclaimed, overjoyed, hurrying over to embrace her.

Madame Lorelei smiled sweetly as Silvertongue approached, before lifting up her cane and swiftly smacking him over the head.

Silvertongue yelped in pain, clutching his forehead. "OWW- What on earth was that for?!"

"That's what you get for abandoning your sweet godmother all those years ago- after everything I have done for you and your father both!" She chided him, prodding at him with her cane.

"Agh, Madame-!" Silvertongue protested. "I had no choice but to run- Father was killed by that horrible badger, and I barely escaped with my life. I knew that I was going to be killed next if Ironpaw had his way-"

"So, leave a little old lady to die, is that it?"

"Ironpaw would not be so foolish as to kill a seer. That is bad karma, even he knows that. I knew you would be okay..." Silvertongue rubbed his head.

Madame Lorelei sighed, looking away. "Well... all is forgiven, I suppose. It's good to see you, Silvertongue."

Silvertongue smiled and he stepped forward, hugging Madame Lorelei. "It's good to see you, too, Madame."

 

[Greeneye]

Meanwhile, Greeneye perked up at the mention of ale. "An' when youse says 'liberatin'... ye mean 'stealin', don't ye?" He asked, grinning widely. "Just point me in der right direction, then."

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

Falun got to his footpaws, carefully collecting his winnings and passing them off to Lilly to deliver to Marianna's desk. Falun liked coin well enough, but he hated numbers. That was his sister's domain. The only counting he cared about was the number of blows it took to fell a beast. "Liberatin' is stealin', yes," he confirmed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes the way his sister always did when he spoke. This was going to be difficult, but he really needed to try to get on Greeneye's good side. The closer a friend he was to the rat, the easier it would be to drive a wedge between him and his silver-tongued partner. That meant protecting the fool as well. If Greeneye got arrested, killed, or even wounded, it would only draw more doting attention from Silvertongue, and likely the blame would be ascribed to Falun. No, what he needed was to keep Greeneye encouraged to indulge himself, and therefore indebted to Falun as he ran up his tab gambling, drinking, and smoking at Furotazzi-run establishments. Then, when Silvertongue had finally tired of the rat, Falun would cut the loathsome beast free. He'd be on the outside, a wreck and a wastrel, and Falun could step into Silvertongue's life playing the compassionate friend.

Falun approached the small gaggle of foxes, straightening his jacket and checking the bandages on his paws. His knuckles were still split from his last collection job, but they at least didn't hurt too badly, and the bandages had not yet reached the point of unsanitary. "C'mon," he remarked, "I'm gonna need a lookout an' a distraction. Anna, you'll do for lookout."

"Excuse me," the vixen snapped at him. "My business partner is having a moment with her godson."

"Yeah, well, bring 'er along then. She can 'elp roll barrels."

Anna rolled her eyes at that, then turned her head to give an apologetic glance to Lorelei. "Would you mind indulging my brother by perhaps distracting the guards in this venture?" she requested. "I'll make sure you get your cut, and he-" she shot back "-will repay you in full by moving each and every one of your treasured items with all the care in the world."

"Yeah, yeah," Falun grumbled, at least not disagreeing with her.

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"Of course, dearie! Madame Lorelei would be more than happy to help!" Madame Lorelei pulled herself away from Silvertongue and hobbled over to Falun. "Marianna, this must be your dear brother. And what a fine specimen he is!" Madame Lorelei pinched and tugged Falun's cheek in a playful manner. "Such a handsome young todd." She slipped a wrapped caramel candy into Faluns' paw before turning to Silvertongue. "You know, Silvertongue, I think a beast like this would be a fitting partner for you!"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"Madame!" Silvertongue exclaimed, blushing heavily. "I'm- well, you know I am with Greenie right now."

Meanwhile, Greeneye stood up, wobbling a bit as he was still a bit drunk, before falling onto his rear, breaking the chair under him.

Silvertongue groaned, hanging his head in embarrassment.

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

Falun felt himself start to scowl as the older vixen pinched his cheek, and he'd been just about to slap her paw away when she'd commented about him making for a fitting partner for Silvertongue.

Huh. Maybe this old broad ain't so bad after all.

He tried to keep his expression neutral as Greeneye proved himself to be quite literally drunk off his tail, much to Silvertongue's distress. Good; the more resentment that could be built between them, the easier it would be to pry Silvertongue free of the rat, and for Falun to claim him for himself.

Marianna seemed nearly as exasperated with Greeneye's performance as Silvertongue was. "Greeneye, was it?" she directed to the rat, approaching him and offering him a paw up. "Are you honestly in any fit state to be engaging in a heist? I'm quite certain my brother can wait for you to sober up before sending you into danger." She glared at Falun to make her point understood.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Greeneye pulled himself up, letting out a belch. "Err, ye might be right there." He swayed back and forth. "I'm.... alllll boozed up. Urp!" He shook his head. "It's fine, though... I-I can get into a scrap just fine."

Silvertongue shook his head. "Well, Greeneye, this is supposed to be a sneaky sort of mission... you certainly have never been one for stealth before. I certainly wouldn't expect you to be any better at it now."

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna straightened up and glared at her brother. Falun, for his part, waved a paw dismissively. "Fine, he can stay. Silvertongue, it looks like you're with me then. Marianna, you want to help so bad, you can come too - if you don't think you're going to break a claw doing real work for a change."

Marianna bit down on her tongue to keep herself from saying what else she could do with her claws. Vito had always been very clear with Adriel about keeping their disagreements behind closed doors, away from the ears of the rank and file. Falun, it seemed, had not picked upon on that lesson. Instead she stated, "I'm sure Silvertongue and I can manage between us. Lorelei will run a distraction, and Greeneye," she glanced to the rat, "will stay here and sober up. If you want, there's a cot in the back room where you can sleep it off. Does that sound acceptable to everyone?"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Greeneye nodded and he wandered off into the back.

Silvertongue turned to Marianna and Falun. "I haven't done things like this before."

Madame Lorelei scoffed. "You lived on a pirate ship for your whole life."

Silvertongue laughed a bit nervously. "I know- but like I said- I never participated in any, well... piracy."

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

"Don' worry," Falun assured Silvertongue, patting him on the back. "It's simple as anything. All we need t' do is keep quiet an' discretely roll a few barrels while yer old lady 'ere keeps the guards distracted."

"Godmother," Marianna corrected, "but, in essence, he's correct. The main purpose of this exercise is to buy time for us to roll the barrels outside, to a staging area. Falun, I take it you've picked a place?"

"Had it scouted last week," he confirmed. "We get the barrels there, load 'em into a cart, then pay a tranter t' move 'em to our warehouse. Allus a few hangin' about near the docks."

"Right," Marianna confirmed. "We either resell the liquor here or to another tavern, and we wind up with pure profit. All that you need to do, Silvertongue, is follow our example and not panic. Can you do that?"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue sighed. "Alright... but this is the only sort of thievery I'm going to participate in. After this, I'd rather repay my debt with performing."

With that, Silvertongue and Madame Lorelei seemed to ready for the scheme to play out.

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

"This," Marianna hissed at Falun a half hour later, "is a stupid plan."

The quartet of foxes were huddled behind a set of barrels, looking out at the warehouse in question. There were two guards outside of the warehouse doors, a small table and a game of cards set up between them. The doors were open wide, showing rows and rows of barrels inside. "It's not so bad," Falun argued. "The old lady-"

"Lorelei."

"Gesundheit. She'll go distract the guards, do her thing, an' th' three of us will sneak our way right in. There's a back door that's chained up; we'll gather our barrels first, get them all ready to go, an' then smash the lock. 'Opefully the guards won't hear, they'll be too distracted to notice, but if they do, at least we can get out with three barrels."

"And how are we supposed to outrun armed guards while pushing barrels?" Marianna rebuked him. "This is idiocy, I'm putting my paw down."

"C'mon," Falun glanced to Silvertongue. "You're down for it, righ'? We pull this off, that's scratchin' off debt for yer friend."

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"I-I don't know..." Silvertongue faltered. "I'm worried for- MADAME LORELEI?!" He let out a whisper-yell.

Madame Lorelei had already walked out into the open, leaning heavily on her cane. "Hello, my dearies!" She called out cheerfully to them. "Coud you two gentlebeasts help an eldery vixen? You see, I was on my way to the market- and I believe I've gotten terribly lost. My memory isn't what it used to be, not to mention my eyesight."

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

"Oh no," Marianna groaned, starting to get up to go after the older vixen, but Falun grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"No," he hissed. "She's doin' fine, leave 'er be. Let's get movin', alrigh'?" He gestured in a direction, then started creeping around the corner, taking a circuitous route to bring them up along the side of the warehouse, taking advantage of the blind spots provided by the nearest corner.

The guards, for their part, looked up from their game. One, a stoat, grunted in disgruntlement, waving in a vague direction. "Go 'at way 'til ya hit the sea," he remarked, "'en turn right."

"Boris, that ain't no way t' talk to an' old lady," his partner rebuked. The fox stood up, approaching Lorelei with a more helpful air about him. "Here, grandmother," he offered, "I can guide you a little of the way, get you back on the path. Which market were you heading for? There's the market square, the fish market, the black market, the stock market..."

 

[Madame Lorelei]

"Oh, such a gentlebeast." Madame Lorelei smiled warmly, hooking an arm around the fox. "Have a candy, won't you dearie?" She slipped a wrapped caramel candy into his paw. "If you could just guide me to the black market, dear. I have to purchase some... illicit herbs for my fortune telling business." She giggled. "Perhaps I could give you and your friend a reading, hmm?"

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

"She's a natural..." Silvertongue muttered, following after Falun. He stayed low to the ground, peering over at the eldery vixen as she conned the guards.

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

The stoat guard perked up at the mention of the black market. "'Ey," he objected, "if yer headin' off t' th' black market, I want in!"

"What if someone comes by the warehouse an' needs t' get in?" the fox pointed out. "If we ain' there to open it-"

"Eh, I'll jus' shut th' door an' jimmy th' latch a bit," the stoat dismissed his concerns. "It'll look locked t' anyone, but they can get in jus' fine. C'mon, I wanna pick up a bottle a' Alkamarian whiskey. It's been a long week, I deserve a treat."

After adjusting the latch on the door so that it would appear locked at a cursory inspection, the pair of guards moved away with Lorelei. Falun waited until they turned the corner, then bolted for the door. A few seconds' fumbling with the latch and he was sliding the warehouse door open on its track. Rows of barrels and crates, stacked either on thick shelves or piled high atop each other in pyramids, filled the interior. His eyes lit up, and he waved his sister and Silvertongue inside. "Look fer anythin' expensive first," he instructed. "Anythin' foreign is gonna be worth a pretty penny. You find a crate with small bottles innit, 'at's probably fancy liquor, worth a lot." He moved to a stack of barrels and, perhaps a bit unwisely, started working to try to pull one off the top of the stack.

 

[Silvertongue Songfox]

Silvertongue liked to think he was an educated beast. Well informed and such. But, when it came to spirits... the liquid kind, that is, he was woefully out of his league. He had swore to never drink even a single drop of the devil's nectar, and intended to keep that promise to himself. As such, he had never bothered to learn anything about alcohol- and that was coming back to bite him.

He stood and he looked around, like some slack jawed yokel, at the truly gluttonous amount of liquor stored in this warehouse. So many barrels and crates. There had to be hundreds, maybe thousands of gallons of the stuff. He couldn't even begin to comprehend where to start.