Looking for Mara

[Alain d'Caldaera]

From the library, Alain ventured out once more that morning into the cool winter breeze to find the tracker that was called Mara. He went from street to street, searching for the one that was titled Redfur Road. He saw a house that appeared to be the white one on the corner, noting that the garden was indeed quite overgrown. He headed towards this building, studying the outside as well as what he could make or not make of the interior of this building and its surroundings on his way towards it.

[Aesha]

The house was just where Mairin had said it would be, and looked exactly as she had described it, too. It was right on the corner of Redfur Road, painted white, with the overgrown garden that seemed quite typically associated with the houses of Abestat lately. However, the path up to the house through the grass was still visible, so it wasn't one of the worst examples of an unkempt garden in the city.

Once window was set in the house on either side of the heavy wood door, bordered by shutters. Someone had painted them all a pretty blue colour. Other than that though, the glass panels could have done with a bit of a clean, leaving vision through them smoky and unclear.

It was hard to tell if anyone was home or not, but there was really only one way to tell...

[Alain d'Caldaera]

He pocketed the directions he had written down, and made his way across the street to the home. Slowly making his way through the path and up to the door, Alain paused. Leaning to either side of the door to try to look in, he shook his head and realized too that there was only one way. Stepping a few more feet ahead, he knocked on the door and crossed his arms, waiting for what would happen next.

[Aesha]

Nothing happened for a moment or two after Alain knocked on the front door of the white house. Not unusual though, time had to be allowed for the person on the inside of the house to react to the noise, get up, walk to the door... and so on. After a small amount of waiting the door opened inward, accompanied by the slight squeak of the hinges as they protested against the light layer of rust that had unfortunately set upon them.

Once the door was fully open, Alain could see a female Katta standing in front of him. She appeared to be of the Tigron persuation, dark black stripes of fur contrasting greatly with the bright orange colour of the rest of her coat. Her eyes were a nice bright green colour, and seemed to glow slightly when the light of the suns hit the slightly darker interior of her house. She blinked at Alain, wondering what had brought the human to her door.

"Yes, serale? Can I help you?"

[Alain d'Caldaera]

The young man shifted about in an almost uneasy manner for a bit as he waited for the being within to make its way to the front door and open it. However, when the katta, the first one Alain had ever seen opened the door, he perked right up to a nice and confident stance, a smile on his face as he met yet another person in this town. His gaze met her own respectfully, and he replied to her greeting.

"Yes, Serale! I hope I'm not bothering you or anything, but I was referred to a woman named Mara by Mairin at the Library. Mairin told me she was a skilled tracker. The house fits the description, so I'm assuming you're the one I'm looking for?" He canted his head a little bit as he waited for her reply, folding his hands together and looking at her a bit more. The house fit the bill perfectly, and it made sense that this katta was indeed the tracker Alain was referred to.

[Aesha]

The katta flicked an ear slightly as Alain explained what he was doing standing on her doorstep, as more of a subconcious twitch rather than anything deliberate. A glint of recognition entered her feline eyes when the word Mairin tumbled from Alain's lips.

"Ooooooh. Yep, I'm Mara! And I know Mairin too. Since she's the reason why you're here... I bet she dug up some mystery! Right? I'm right, aren't I?"

Mara seemed excited at the prospect, though her curiousity on the matter did not cloud her sense of business. She casually inspected her claws and addressed Alain concerning her fees.

"Of course, I don't come free, ya know. But since Mairin's involved I'll give ya a discount. How does 50 crowns a day grab ya?"

[Alain d'Caldaera]

A smile came to Alain's lips as he noticed the katta perk up somewhat upon hearing his business and the fact that Mairin was involved. That smile turned into more of a grin as she figured out just what was going on exactly without him deliberating. He produced the notes he had taken on the subject before he replied, and handed them to her. "A pleasure to meet you, Mara. I'm Alain." He nodded a little bit after she had surely taken the notes of parchment from him.

"She sure has. I've made any notes you might need to help me out on the subject on these pieces of parchment. About the fee, I obviously didn't expect you to waste your time for me for no charge. I'll pay whatever you'de like to help me get to the bottem of this."

[Aesha]

Mara nodded, pleased the Alain so readily agreed to the cost. Plenty of her clients had tried to haggle with her in the past, not realising that her fee was a take-it-or-leave-it kind of arrangement. Her ears perked once more as the man on her doorstep said he had a few notes from Mairin to help with whatever they were going to be searching for. She was though, suddenly aware that he was still standing on the doorstep of her house, and she immediately stepped aside, leaving Alain room to squeeze past the Katta and enter the home in order to talk about the details in more comfort.

"Oooooh. Sorry. Come in, come in, you can tell me more about the job."

Once Alain was inside, he could see that Mara lived in a fairly standard house, like most of those found in the domicile. The Tigron led him into a small sitting area and gestured to a comfy looking armchair, whilst she herself closed the front door behind her and then flopped into it's twin on the opposite side of the room.

"Well then, what is it we're exactly looking for? And why? And where? And... well, I suppose that'll do for now."

[Alain d'Caldaera]

Alain stretched himself out comfortably in that chair, looking about his surroundings as the katta gave him a few questions that obviously needed to be answered before they could begin. He looked at her, and proceeded to give her his answers to the best of his ability. Well, I'm not certain just what exactly it is we are looking for. The riddle you hold in your hand is the only clue I have as to where whatever it is that my relative has left behind is hidden - which brings me to your other question. A relative of mine by the name of Ramon d'Caldaera lived in Abestat and disappeared some time before his death, at the same time the gem store he worked at was robbed. Of course, the blame was put on him, and he left nothing behind but these letters and notes. All of which eventually found the archives in the library."

[Aesha]

Mara turned her attention to the notes that Alain had given her as he explained the situation. She scratched behind her ear with a claw as she did so. The Tigron 'hmmmed' a bit as she mulled the information over, and then looked quite excited about the story behind it.

"Ooooooh, a jewel thief! Sounds interesting! This Ramon... a relative of yours, I guess? Or not, I suppose, plenty of people are willing to dig for possible buried treasure. [/i]Anyway[/i], did Mairin have any idea how old these documents are or what relation he was too you? It'll just give me a better idea of what to look for."

[Alain d'Caldaera]

Alain smiled as he watched the woman opposite him grow excited as she read the story behind it. He too was quite excited about the whole ordeal himself. "Yes ma'am, Ramon is a relative of mine. I'm assuming directly, though way on down the line. He wasn't anybody I've ever met, and I only heard his name once or twice at the most as a child. I'm going to guess at least five generations back, if that helps at all."

[Aesha]

Mara nodded slowly as Alain informed her that Ramon was probably quite a way back in the family tree. She scratched behind a pointed ear a little, as she considered the mission.

"Oooookay. Obviously, the longer it's been buried the harder it'll be to find. So while I probably can't tell where the stuff is supposedly buried, I can definitely tell you the best spots for burying stuff. You know the land around Abestat is quite marshy, right? There's only so many places that have good, solid ground for buryin' stuff in."

Swinging her striped legs a little she nodded.

"The riddle points to the river mouth, right?" She chuckled. "Spend any amount of time around Mairin and you can solve riddles easily enough, as long as they're simple. Anyway... it's not likely that Ramon would have buried anything on this side of the Abe. The docks of the city are there, not much spare land and in any case, someone might 'ave accidently dug it up whilst building a new warehouse or something. We'll need to take a boat over to the other side, since the bridge is too far away."

She gave Alain a very cat-like stare.

"Is tomorrow a good day for you to set off? I'll need to gather some equipment, and arrange a boat... I 'spect you'll need to get some stuff ready? Never can tell what's lurking out beyond the cities anymore..."

[Alain d'Caldaera]

Alain leaned forward a bit in his chair, folding his hands a bit as he studied the katta seated opposite him. He was growing more excited by the minute about this whole little expedition. He listened to her experienced words and nodded in agreement. "Of course. The riddle does indeed point to the mouth of the Abe." He said, throwing in his small amount of knowledge. He looked up to note the feline stare, and he dared to match it for a short while with a smile. He gave her a nod that might've made her think he actually had some things to gather, when in fact, he certainly had nothing but the clothes on his back. "Of course. Tomorrow morning, bright and early then?"

[Aesha]

Mara gave a toothy grin at Alain's acceptance of her starting date, which crinkled her catty, pinkish nose slightly.

"Great! Tomorrow morning it is. It'll be best if we meet here again, then we can head to the docks and see about getting a boat."

The Tigron got out of her chair in a lazy fashion, indicating the meeting between herself and Alain was over until the morrow. She gave a small gesture towards the front door, though she looked a little apologetic about throwing the man out of her house so soon.

"Urm, sorry to be a bad hostess and all, but I've got lots to see to. I mean, you could always stick around but I won't be here sooooo..."

She padded over to the door and held it open, giving Alain a smile.

"As I said, need to get some supplies. But it was... nice to meet you Alain. You're story is interesting. Can't wait until we can follow it up!"

[Alain d'Caldaera]

Alain smiled as their meeting was quick and to the point. When he noticed the katta rising from the chair, he too pulled himself up and followed her to the door, nodding at her words understandingly. "Of course. See you tomorrow, Mara!" He gave a little wave, and he was off.