[Holly Hock]

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[attr="class","RDcontainer"] [attr="class","RDcontent"] Time to do crime! All right, that wasn’t a fair summary of what is about to go down, and it is good to get the story straight if the police searches Holly’s duffle bag. Within the black bag were several plastic packets filled with a variety of leaves, seeds, and other pieces of herbs. All parts extracted from the Gardenin Club's new collection of plants, and identified by the master of long-winded speeches Qui'li. Well, long-winded in duration more than the actual contents. Regardless of the boredom it brought to Holly, it had given her the necessary knowledge to set the next step. [break] [break] Finding a buyer in Mistral through the CCT. [break] [break] It was an experience. Holly had spent two days searching through a variety of online marketplaces, with a downward spiral of legality of the contents. Holly was savvy enough to know that on a site that you don’t sell seeds with hallucinating properties on the same page that sells baby toys. Unless you want addicted babies, perhaps, but Holly had some standards as an aspiring entrepreneur. So, she needed to find a marketplace that wouldn’t ask questions about how a 19-year-old student got her hands on all this prime vegetation. It took some time and research that most likely got Holly on a watchlist in Atlas, but she had a winner; [break] [break] The Secret Hoard. [break] [break] It was the perfect mix of 'hush-hush' and accessibility. You could freely offer a firearm without someone batting an eye, but you couldn’t offer someone’s stolen kidney or something of that nature. Holly decided to start big and simply offer a full plethora of what she could provide instead of trying to sell individual parts. It took three days before she got a DM, and Holly almost decided to try and sell things separately. [break] [break] She had a buyer. Paendeo Medicine. [break] [break] Holly and Argent, both with a bag of ‘the produce’, were standing in front of an old-style apothecary in one of the ground district’s many alleys. The sign on the front of the small buildings was a panda smoking an old wooden pipe. Honestly, it was within the top 10 store signs that Holly had witnessed during her time in the capital. It was in the 'better part of the worst part' of town, so there weren’t any drunks or shady people twirling daggers around in dark corners. As a matter of fact, the two students were the only people standing in the decently sized street. Still, it was still the ground district, and because Holly wasn’t a 100% sure about the fact that she wouldn’t get screwed out of her money, she asked Kishka for help. Kishka pushed forward Argent as muscle. He was a scary enough looking Faunus, so it was a good suggestion. Not saying that every Faunus is scary, but of all the possible animals…snakes were kind of scary. Maybe spiders? Technically bears are scary with how strong they are, but Bear Faunus would most likely just get fluffy ears and then be done with it. Regardless of Faunus-scariness factor, Holly had taken her weapon with her just in case. [break] [break] The girl let out a sign, seeming to be somewhat reluctant to enter the store. She was wearing her normal tattered white dress, as she didn’t want to buyer to know that she was a student at Haven. This fear was grounded in the fact that Holly still wasn’t sure if she would get into trouble by doing this. It didn’t seem like a crime, but sometimes that is how life is. Nobody told Holly that she may not take unlimited free samples, but apparently it is a thing that gets you thrown out of a store. Even if this was legal, what if this turned out to be a bust? What if this buyer didn’t give the money, or if they gave less than they promised? After puffing her cheeks, she looked at Argent before voicing her current mood. She voiced it as dull as she normally would, but it was the subject that mattered. “Finally, here. thanks for the help so far. If it is going to be a fraud, I trust you to tell me to make it an un-fraud. You ready to enter the den of the…” Holly looked at the sign again. “…The Panda-Den?”

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[attr="class","RDwortag"] Words: 718, Thread Total: 718	[attr="class","RDwortag"] Aura: 100%
[attr="class","RDnotes"] Semblance: E, Slicer: F, Survival: F, Gardening: F, Martial Arts: F, Healing: F, Acrobatics: F.

[attr="class","trinCredits"]TABLE BY TRINITY @ ADOXOGRAPHY

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[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

Looking up at the panda engaging in its preferred vice displayed boldly atop the sign that was mounted on the building above the entrance, the snake Faunus couldn't help but think that he was the wrong person for this job in particular.

Not to say that he wasn't confident in his own ability to keep the human girl safe. That much he was certain of, at the very least. While he was no Sanctum graduate, and he was certainly not as adept in combat as some of his peers, Argent had enough confidence in his own martial ability to keep Holly from getting hurt - or, failing that, to get her away from the danger zone quickly enough that she would survive the encounter. No, what he was worried about at the moment was something entirely different.

Mistral had never been the most tolerant of big cities with regards to the Faunus, and the lower you went the more blatant that intolerance got. At the ground district, it was more likely than not that someone like him would be regarded with wariness on sight. Knowing that, and with Holly trying to make a sale of... whatever she was peddling - she hadn't said, and he hadn't asked - perhaps it would have been wiser to find someone who was human along, or even a Faunus whose traits weren't as obvious or were more socially accepted than his were. The common types like dogs and cats were easier to accept for humans, given their familiarity with the animals those traits had originated from, as well as other non threatening types - cows, rabbits, deer, and other herbivores were treated with more disdain, but could still move around without too much trouble bar the occasional bout of rowdy drunks. But for him, the scales that marked his face and arms weren't so easy to hide, nor as easily accepted by most humans - barring most of the students at Haven, of course.

Still, the die had been cast. The only thing to do now was to let it fall as it would.

"I'll keep you safe," Argent nodded to her in response, glancing up at the panda again. From this angle, it looked slightly squashed, like someone had sat on it. The bag slung over his left shoulder was shifted to his right, the better to hold it steady and keep the stress of the weight evenly distributed.

Also, he drew knives faster with his left hand than his right, but that was just a precaution.

"Can't say anything about being able to make the sale, though. Do you want me to go in first or to hang back?"

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK F]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK E]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK E]

@ ● 442 words ● 442 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Holly Hock]

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[attr="class","RDcontainer"] [attr="class","RDcontent"] Does Argent shed his scales? It was a weird thought that Holly had in her mind when she looked up at the Faunus after he spoke. The girls stared just a moment too long as she tried to look at the Faunus’s scales for a while. Holly doesn’t believe that she ever saw his face up close like this. She could believe that she once heard Kishka talk about it, but did she say that Argent shed? Sheded? Sheed? It doesn’t matter. It is gross anyway. Snakes are yucky. Scary and yucky.[break] [break] It made him perfect for this kind of work! Cute little old me being the face of the operation, while a scary Faunus who could swallow eggs whole stood menacingly next to her. It was like one of those trailers she once watched for those crime movies. Didn’t help with the gnawing feeling that somehow what the two students were doing was the kind of work that could get them in trouble if they were not careful. And Holly was the most adapt at speaking with strangers, so she would be fine! Most people are not too keen on starting conversations with whoever they felt like. Holly did never have this flaw. She could talk with whoever! This random shady store with its most likely shady owners? Bam, easy to talk to! [break] [break] All while the girl’s mind was already on another subject, the girl was still staring at Argent. For a few solid seconds now. She remembered that he needed a response, so she simply nodded before speaking. “I will do the talking and enter first! You just do what you always do and we will be fine, my business partner!” [break] [break] The girl left it awfully vague what she meant by Argent’s normal behaviour before she opened the door and entered. [break] [break] Ring ring[break] [break] A pleasant little bell could be heard as Holly stepped inside the store. The person who designed the layout of the store tried to have make the most of the very limited interior space. The store seemed bigger on the outside if the building it was housed in was to be believed. Maybe they had a lot of storage? The store was about 2 meters wide and 4 meters long. The interior composed almost entirely out of wooden cabinets with windows on both sides, with an unoccupied counter at the (not so far) end of the store. There was a cash registry on the counter, as well as some generic last-minutes articles that people might buy like mints and what seemed to be gum. Behind the counter stood an empty chair, as well as a door leading to what most likely was some sort of backroom. Behind the glass of the wall cabinets were a variety of items one would expect in an herbal pharmacy like this. Fluid in bottles for a variety of illnesses, mixtures of herbs to ease ails and aches, and what seemed to be a variety of objects one could smoke or ingest for multiple reasons. While the open door gave plenty of light at the moment, if it would be closed there would only be a solitary light-bulb in the middle of the store as the only source of genuine light. [break] [break] Holly simply walked forward, seeming to be not perturbed by the lack of a person to greet them. She waited in the middle of the store for a few seconds, but nobody came. “Maybe they are in the back?” she asked to Argent. She gave a final look to Argent before she just simply walked up to the counter and placed her duffle bag on top of it. Maybe the storeowner was in the back taking inventory, she thought, or maybe he had a toilet there and taking a poop? Regardless, the girl announced her arrival in case the little bell wasn’t loud enough. Well, she yelled her arrival. “PandasRcute? This is Herbgirl06! I have brought the stuff! Are you back there? Have you fallen and can’t you get up anymore? I believe I got something in my bag for that!”[break] [break] The next few moments nobody answered.[break] [break] Holly started to fear that she might have been stood up, or had the wrong address.[break] [break] What a bother.[break] [break]

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[attr="class","RDwortag"] Words: 718, Thread Total: 1425	[attr="class","RDwortag"] Aura: 100%
[attr="class","RDnotes"] Semblance: E, Slicer: F, Survival: F, Gardening: F, Martial Arts: F, Healing: F, Acrobatics: F.

[attr="class","trinCredits"]TABLE BY TRINITY @ ADOXOGRAPHY

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[Argent Steele]

I know you got hate in you. Most do.
Trick is to use it, 'stead of it usin' you.

But you know this. Vengeance is a motivator, not the motive.
Don't hunt 'em 'cause you been wronged.
Hunt 'em 'cause what they did was wrong.
There's a world of difference there, kid.
One makes you selfish. The other makes you a hero.

And I see a hero in you.

❝

Argent briefly wondered what she had meant by what he always did, but simply nodded and remained alert as they stepped through the door, eyes flickering to every nook and cranny as the two Haven Academy students started to make their presence known. He hadn't brought his bow for this, figuring it might garner the wrong kind of attention, but the knives that were strapped to his thighs were within easy reach, and it was quite tempting to grab one of them so that he could react to anything untoward happening just that little bit quicker. But the snake Faunus stayed his hand, forcing his fingers that were itching for the comforting weight of a projectile in his hand to relax as he circled around a shelf full of bottles resting against the wall that also held the door they'd just come through. It was small in here, and that could be used against them if this was an ambush. Though there was no presence of anyone else but the two of them in the room, Argent remained cautious even when his redheaded companion announced their presence loudly, shouting for someone to respond as she pushed further in.

The snake Faunus was uneasy about the whole affair, but it wasn't the uneasiness that came with being stalked by Grimm or bandits, which was a plus. It was far less present, for one, and nowhere near as focused, so his intuition wasn't flaring up. He could have been mistaken, but it was unlikely that anyone with enough skill to mask their presence like that without making him feel like something was off would have any interest in going after two Haven Academy students.

"Seems like nobody's here," he stated, moments before he was proven wrong and the sound of grunting footsteps echoed out from the backroom. A wizened old man who couldn't have been a day under sixty lumbered out the door, leaning heavily on a knobbly walking stick. Said old man proceeded to glance at the two of them and lurched into a tirade of how he didn't like the company Holly was associating herself with before following up with a demand to see the goods. Argent's lips pressed into a thin line, but he stepped back to let Holly do her thing.

He hadn't formed many opinions about her, as in the short time they'd been together, the human hadn't done anything to make herself particularly outstanding one way or the other. He'd caught her staring earlier, but it hadn't seemed important enough to confront her over. Most people tended to stare at the scales at least once, and given that the two rarely interacted outside of class, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that it was curiosity and not disgust in her eyes when she looked away. And yet, the way she had handled the situation and the way she spoke painted a picture of some amount of naivete, which was unexpected given the nature of their choice of education - but hardly unexpected. Surely every kid had dreamed of being a Huntsman or Huntress at some time or other. And with the Fall so recent, perhaps Haven's standards might not be as stringent as they had once been.

...He honestly didn't know what Kishka saw in her.

WHISPER OF THE WYRM (SEMBLANCE): [RANK D]

SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: SPEED OF THE SCYLLA (SPEED) [RANK E]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: DANCE OF THE DRAGON (AGILITY) [RANK C]
SERPENT'S BENEDICTION: GLARE OF THE GORGON (MARKSMANSHIP) [RANK E]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: WINGS OF THE WYVERN (ACROBATICS) [RANK F]
SERPENT’S BENEDICTION: TALONS OF THE TARASQUE (MARTIAL ARTS)[RANK F]

OUROBOROS (WEAPON): [RANK E]

@ ● 554 words ● 996 total words

MADE BY MIZO

[Jay]

XP Distribution:

Holly Hock: 14 XP
327 + 14 = 344

Argent Steele: 10 XP
19 + 10 = 29