Invasion of a quiet maid

     Plant Hwyden is being invaded! Okay not really, there is someone there intent on visiting and doing THINGS!!! But really she's uh. She's just awkwardly standing outside of the gate to Plant Hwyden HQ, staring in silently. Yep. There is a small maid ninja at your gates, and she doesn't seem like she's going to stab anyone at the very least!

     Actually it looks mostly like she's trying to work up the courage to enter, fidgeting and mumbling a bit to herself as she stands there. EVENTUALLY! She reaches to start working on opening the gate so she can go inside, but she definitely gave more than enough time for someone to notice her, even if it was unintentional.

Ever Vigilant is the crew of Plant Hwyden. How Lofty Their Walls! How grand their estate! How threathening their.. guard bird? Sleeping guard bird in fact. There is a Peko Peko sleeping in the tall and unruly grass of the estate grounds. A small bubble expands and contracts as it snoozes, intermittantly giving little kicks and wing twitches from it's curled up state.

The bubble pops and the bird opens one eye sleepily, looking in Pela's direction.

"..Pweh?"

Feathers still ruffled with sleep, the big bird stretches their neck out but seeing as they were too far away to get skritches, the bird closes their eyes and goes back to sleep.

The timid woman works on entering the HQ, and in the meantime someone approaches the unfamiliar person from behing. They're not being particularly stealthy, just garbed in a hooded heavy cloak and traveller's clothing.

She pulls up behind Pela and watches her mumbling and working on opening the gate. "Are you all right?" Proteus asks her. "It's a latch. It's not even locked. The HQ isn't much to look at for the moment but we're not exactly private last I checked."

She looks over to the Peko, and then back to Pela. "Unless you're afraid of the Peko?" She asks.

     A... pekopeko?! ???? Just sitting there. That actually gives Pela pause, as she stares at it quietly while it looks at her. What. Why is that there? Shouldn't it be in a stable or something??? "...Interesting. I knew that they were gathering Peko but..." Pela seems to muse on that. And then there is someone behind her, commenting on the situation.

"A-ah!" She skitters forward through the gate, turning quickly towards the source of the voice and shifting down into a slight defensive stance. Even though she's in town. Where it's forbidden to fight. "...I'mfine. U...uhm... interested... information... possible trade..." She mumbles, looking towards Proteus, then the ground, never seeming to directly look at them. In spite of coming to the base. On her own. Wanting to get information. "...Peko not scary." She adds to the last question.

The Peko sleepily raises their head at the familiar voice, making another curious 'Pweh' noise which turns into a garbled 'eeeeeeeeeeeh' with a big yawn of their large beak. The beak clicks twice and the Peko Peko raises themselves sleepily to their feet.

The Peko Peko, whom Nureha has come to call 'Trouble' for some obvious reasons, immediately violates all notions of personal space and approaches Pela, wings fluffed out and looking for skritches.

Proteus watches the skittish, nervous catgirl ninja maid pop inside with a quick movement. There is just a slow, languid shrug, the movements of someone who believes they are completely in control of the situation as they slowly glide in and close the gate behind them.

The latch closes with an ominous squeeeeeeak-clank. Proteus then turns back to the woman and smiles, her grin sharp as a knife under the shadow of the hood. "You want to trade in /information, do you?" She asks, the Imp's tail flicking about lazily, like a cat detecting something fun to play with. "Mmm, I think we could certainly do such a thing. That would, of course, depend on the value of the information you have to offer. Please, come inside. Pay no attention to Trouble, they're a dear." Proteus reaches out as the Peko Peko immediately begins violating personal space, and gives the birdcreature some long preening pets.

     And now the Peko was approaching Pela too! She, actually... seems much less nervous about this, as the Peko approaches, wings fluffed out and intent on scritches. She seems actually somewhat familiar with this and reaches absentmindedly towards the Peko to apply such scritches, which... does seem to calm her slightly? At least her demeanor seems much less guarded. Anxiety Support Peko is best peko. "...You are used to people, I see."

    She even SMILES a little at the peko! But her attention is pulled back to the other adventurer, and it seems like a switch is flipped and she's back to awkwardness, like maybe she'd forgotten them for a moment in her distraction with the Pekopeko. "...T...trade for information. Interested, veggies, herbs, discovered during invention of soup. ...Uninterested in soup recipe. Just plants."

The demeanor of Proteus is ... unsurprising. One tha Pela had seen many times, and her head lowers a bit as she moves to follow after Proteus. Her own information, she's not quite sure is a good matchup, but she has skills she could possibly offer! Or something. "...Trouble, no intent. Working on own project." She adds, just to be sure.

"Chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur" goes the Peko Peko, a garbled warbled as they lean into the petting.

Pela used Pet! It's SUper Effective!

Trouble paces back and forth, curiously eying Pela and shuffling from foot to foot as they examine her.. first with one eye and then with the other. They settle down in their little nest near the gate, wings fluffed up as they gives Pela a friendly 'chirp'.

A languid shadow moves at the entrance to the grand estate, a figure moving across a window making the tattered curtains rustle. Nureha exits the estate, walking down the few cracked steps to the lawn. She passes Trouble, skritching them in passing and letting them nibble on her fingers before coming to a stop in front of Pela.

She stands there for a moment.. almost an uncomfortably long moment, before looking away from Pela and crouching down, skritching Trouble. She addresses the Cait Sith without directly looking at her. "Hello there. You've come quite aways. I hear you've come to trade, but first.. what is it that YOU want? How can we help you?"

"Nureha has taken a liking to this Peko." She smiles. "I suppose I could see why. They're quite fluffy and warm."

She turns back to Pela and tilts her head. "Veggies and herbs? Are these ones we didn't know about before, or is this something else. I'm not sure what you mean exactly." Now that they're moving on to business, Proteus doesn't bother continuing to maintain the ominous demeanor, simply letting it fall away in favor of something more efficient. Maybe she was just messing with Pela a bit...

Still, Proteus is being pleasant enough at the moment, simply drawing her along towards the entryroom when Nureha herself appears. Proteus stops and steps aside, bowing her head in greetings and respect to the guildmistress-slash-den mom. "There are a lot of projects to be had." She asides to Pela. "Maybe we can help each other." She shrugs a little and moves aside, though. Nureha is much better at this than Proteus is. There's a reason why the Imp is usually out in the wilderness.

*Another* peko peko enters the area.

"Hey," calls Kaleido, running across the square towards Plant Hwayden's front lawn.

"Everything alright? I wasn't paying attention. Something about a feral ninja maid?"

     Examined by the Pekopeko, Pela is ... pretty weathered, but not in an unpleasant way. Someone who's obviously out in the wilds a lot from her scent and bits of undergrowth still stuck to her clothing from exploration. Also she's been around wild peko, which is likely why she just reached out to scritch this questionably wild one without hesitation. She even mimics the chirp back at Trouble, in that way you might mimic a cat's meow affectionately.

     Aaaand then Nureha appears. A stealthy person, even though Pela had been paying a bit more attention to not be snuck up on again. "....Found warabi." She states simply towards Nureha. "...Want to make Warabimochi. Secrecy, uninterested. Hoping you know vanilla and rice locations. Other spices for general cooking, too." She nods a bit. Her voice is quiet this whole time, her demeanor still a bit shy and anxious, especially since there were now TWO people. But she seems to have calmed enough to at least talk without stuttering much this time.

     Proteus asks about veggies and herbs and Pela taps her chin as if thinking. "...Seeking information of locations for foraging from you. Sources of veggies and herbs from soup. Not interested in replicating soup, thievery is boring. Want to make new things." The mention of a lot of projects to be had gets a simple nod from Pela as she thinks on that. "...Maid profession class. Your HQ, obviously dirty. Assist cleaning and maintenance, perhaps."

And then Kaleido comes running up towards the group! She actually huffs, her cheeks puffing up in mild annoyance. "Not feral. Wildcat Cait Sith. Black-footed cat. Solo player." She states simply. Wait, isn't that basically what a feral ninja maid would be...? "...Not here to cause problems." And then, as if realizing what she's looking at, she pauses, staring at Kaleido for a few moments. A talking Pekopeko??? She actually looks intensely curiously at them. Wearing clothes? Oh. Probably a werefang. But still! Interesting~. "...oh, right. Name, Pela Clarpuff." She adds. She IS somewhat known from the games before the Apocalypse from rumors on the BBS, but really she's just known as a quiet and shy solo player.

Nureha continues to keep her eyes on Trouble rather than directly at Pela, remaining crouched with the staff next to her on the grass.

"Warabimochi, you say? Ah.. but that brings back pleasant memories." She stares into the middle distance for a moment before preening a particularly matted feather out from under Trouble's wing. She runs it between her fingers as Trouble tries and fails to nibble on her hair, the fox-woman simply moving her head to one side, then to the other. "Are you any good with animals, Miss Clarpuff?" she asks with curiosity.

"Or perhaps you know someone who is? I'd be happy to further discuss the matter, especially since Ikegai was made so that new things could be created."

Proteus does seem to have some kind of positive disposition to the weathered appearance. It's not like Pela is a cat who sticks around inside the house. There is a little chuckle at the mimicked Peko chirp. She tilts her head as Pela outlines exactly what she wants. Warabimochi? "Well well. That's direct. And admirable." Proteus says... And she nods when Pela makes it more clear what she wants. "Ahhhhh." She looks to Nureha, and then over to Pela, and then to the Peko-Person who arrives as well, being Kaleido.

"Hey Kaleido." Proteus says, giving the flamboyant birdperson a wave. "Here to meet the maid too? I'd say there's a lot of potential here." She looks back over to Pela. "Solo player, hmm?" She thinks for a bit, tilting her head as that little smile becomes more mysterious. "Ahhh. Self-reliant too. Are you sure that's something you want to continue pursuing now, though? Still..." She looks to Nureha for a moment, as if searching for a sign of something... And then she nods.

"I can provide you with a list of what information we have about local herbs and spices." She says to Pela. "I had been doing some searching in the area for related issues. If you are willing to wait, I can provide a map of what information I have."

"I'll leave it to you two to work out the details."

Nureha gets up and Trouble gets up as well, making another try for her hair, which she neatly avoids. "Nice try." she murmurs, ruffling their feathers. She glances over to Proteus, giving a warm smile. "Thank you for your help, Proteus. And thank you.. Miss Pela, for speaking up. It's sometimes difficult to be heard when you are out there on your own. But do be willing to share at least a little."

She smiles. "We need more instances of better tasting food. Every one we can get." She walks back to the estate, giving a lazy wave as she slips back inside.

     "...Somewhat familiar with animals. But does not handle them much. ... Enjoy observing. ... Maybe capturing." Pela pauses. "...Unsure, minimal acquaintances. Slowly expanding." The short wildcat nods, shifting a bit from foot to foot as she seems to muse on things.

    "Could ask. Different alliances. But willingness, possible. No promises, minimal pull." She really seems to have somewhat low esteem of her position, even if it's the truth, but doesn't seem too bothered by it at the same time. "Have possible useful information, though." She adds, her eyes gleaming just a moment. Maybe she has some skill at trading?

     Direct and admirable! She got called direct and admirable! Does Pela seem slightly happy about that? Yes. Just a little, though it passes pretty quickly, "...Solo playing, less possible. Level, too low. Teamwork, more often." She gives a small exhale. "Difficulty." She mumbles. "...Plan to continue pursuing as much as possible, stealth skill, good for exploration without party. Avoiding monsters, etc." A thoughtful look passes the wildcat's face as she thinks on that. "That would be nice! Will share some findings. Keep personal projects personal, though." She nods simply.

     And then Nureha offers her thanks and speaking out, and suggest that, yes, there should be more tasty food around. She actually gives a legitimate, not super small smile in return. "Yes, truth. Good food, very good. In case of Warabimochi, will share recipe once discovered. Usefulness, mostly towards summertime."

Proteus nods as Pela outlines her issues since the Black Wave. "I can... empathize with that." She says, quiet. "I used to mostly work alone myself. Since then, I had little choice in the matter. Especially with how slow levelling is now." A pause. "... And avoiding monsters is very handy." She sighs. "I wish that it was as easy as it used to be. Regardless, if you will wait a while, I will get you that information."

    A pause, then. "We'll figure out something for you to help with in exchange. Though... Since you have to work with people anyway, feel free to consider us if you want more assistance with things. You help us, we help you. We have to make this world work with us, not against us, don't you think?"

She leaves Pela to ponder that and maybe formulate an answer as she sweeps into the HQ. A few minutes later, she returns, a rolled scroll presented to the ninja maid. "Here you are. It's not everything on the island but it's everything you can get to within a reasonable distance."

     "...Yes. Much more difficult." Pela agrees with Proteus. She seems to pause a bit. "Uhm. Yes, will keep in mind. Though, note, is with New World Alliance, Silver Sword. Do not want do accidental subterfuge." Pela states, looking almost as if she were reminded of doing so by a little voice in her head. And then the wait! Pela does such, giving Trouble some attention while she waits.

     "Will help willingly where I can. Something for nothing, unfair, trade and balance, best." She nods. And then the roll is presented. She begins to unroll and look over it, seemingly deep in thought. She points at a spot in the forest, "Here. Saw uncommon, seasonal item. Soteka fruit. Is very tasty." She points to an area of the forest closer to water. "Here, passive wooden monsters spawn, mushrooms grow on back, edible." And finally she points to a third part of the map, towards the edge of the forest and grasslands. "Warabi found, here." Finally, she points to a more wet flatlands area. "Purple mushrooms here, do not eat. Bad status effects." Finally, she points to one last part of the forest. "Giant hornet hive. They are very angry. Took a lot of damage exploring this area. Barely escaped."