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Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 5-3, What's In a Name?

Roaring-Flood was not stupid, but Gift-of-the Earth had always been smarter; the big black Bear's mind was not slow, but Gift-of-the-Earth'_s had always been faster; the large elder brother had managed to learn a little of the Stone Tribe's language, but his younger brother had learned it better. _Roaring-Flood had never lacked for confidence but, the longer he spent in the enormous Stone Tribe village he was beginning to gain an even clearer understanding of numerous shortcomings he had never fully acknowledged within himself.

The hunting party had been talking rapidly in the Stone Tribe language ever since Sanmer had found the leaf of parchment. While the discussion continued faster than the large Bear could follow he did manage to catch a few pieces of information. Sanmer wanted the group to go somewhere and Theo agreed with him... but Nicholas did not. Based on tone alone it sounded as if Metal-Eyes was during his duty as a Shaman and carefully mediating the different viewpoints while Gift-of-the-Earth was staying out of the argument. Roaring-Flood took advantage of that, speaking aside to his brother, "What are they saying?"

The smaller Brown bear looked to him, "The Dragon we are looking for left a message saying where he would be. Sanmer and Theo trust the message but Nicholas does not."

Roaring-Flood narrowed his eyebrows in thought, considering what Gift-of-the-Earth had told him, "Why does he not trust the words?"

His brother shook his head, "I do not know. He has not explained beyond saying that he thinks it seems too convenient."

Despite not liking the idea of associating with Dragons, Roaring-Flood shrugged, "Other than it being a Dragon, why does he think the Dragon wants to hurt us?"

By that point Gift-of-the-Earth was back to listening to the still-too-fast-to-follow conversation, and let the question go unanswered. The group began walking, and the conversation slowed enough that Roaring-Flood was able to pick up some of it. Nicholas was very pointed in his objection, making his words that much easier to understand, "I still don't think this is a good idea."

When nobody responded the big black Bear took the opportunity himself, "Why?"

The looks he got from the hunting party were mixes of shame once they remembered that Roaring-Flood did not know their language well and surprise that he had caught enough of the conversation to ask a question; it was simultaneously gratifying and frustrating, but he let the personal slight go in favor of keeping things calm-- the last time he had cuffed a Stone Tribe for insulting him the man had to be cared for by a healer for a week. When nobody bothered to answer the question he asked it again, "Why is it not good?"

Metal-Eyes provided the answer in The People's tongue, "Nicholas thinks that the words left for us may be false."

Roaring-Flood nodded, "And Sanmer does not?"

The Shaman held a paw out to the Fox and spoke too quickly in the Stone-Tribe tongue for the black Bear to follow. Sanmer obligingly handed Metal-Eyes the leaf of paper and the Shaman held it up for Roaring-Flood to see, "This mark is from the Dragon... it is like a family symbol drawn outside a tent-- it identifies him."

The big black Bear nodded, "Sanmer and the white Weasel--"

Gift-of-the-Earth interrupted him with a simple Stone Tribe word, "Ermine."

"What?"

The brown Bear elaborated, "He is called an Ermine, not a Weasel."

Roaring-Flood snorted, "Sanmer and the white Weasel--"

His brother interrupted again. "Theo."

The black Bear stopped in his tracks, "An Urh-Mine-Theo?"

Gift-of-the-Earth, who had also stopped shook his head, "His name is Theo."

Metal-Eyes stepped between the brothers, looking to the brown Bear. "Thank you for making it clearer, Gift-of-the-Earth."

The Shaman then looked to Roaring-Flood, "Sanmer and Theo believe Crook left the symbol."

Roaring-Flood nodded, "But Nicholas does not?"

Gift-of-the-Earth shrugged, "Stone Tribe marks are harder to copy but he says it can be done and is worried someone did."

Both brothers started walking again once Metal-Eyes led the way. Although Roaring-Flood felt he was much more updated on the events, he didn't feel much better about being in the Stone Tribe village. Everything about the Stone Tribe was more complicated-- they had furred, furless, scaled, and feathered peoples instead of just one kind; their buildings had many levels instead of just one; their clothing had many layers and complex fasteners; their-- he was pulled out of his musings when everyone came to a stop. The Bear frowned, looking to Metal-Eyes, "What now? Why did we stop?"

The Shaman smiled patiently, "We are here."

Sanmer stood at the entrance to a large Stone-Tribe building; it was easily as wide as two Valley Tribe tents put side to side and, if the openings in the walls Gift-of-the-Earth had called 'wind-does' was any indication, it was at least three tents tall. The Fox struck the knuckles of his balled paw several times on the wood door and called out confidently, "Hey! Weisen! It's me! I'm here so open up!"

There was silence for many seconds and, when Roaring-Flood finally DID hear movement it wasn't from the door. Turning around, the large Bear watched as several men dressed in metal clothes came into sight from different hiding places. He spoke aside quietly to Gift-of-the-Earth, "Unless Crook has many friends Nicholas may have been right."

Only once the rest of the group noticed the hunting party approaching them did the door open, and a reddish-brown furred Weasel come to stand in the entrance. He spoke confidently, like the leader of a war band, but a moment of confusion crossed his features when his eyes fell on Nicholas. The Human likewise paused, "We saw you in the Princess' palace."

Roaring-Flood tried to think back but was unable to remember specific faces from the visit with the wolf woman named Noriene. He turned aside and spoke quietly with his brother, "Who is the Weasel?"

Gift-of-the-Earth replied, "Marten."

The black Bear was surprised at the direct, almost familiar response, "His name is Marten? How do you know him?"

His brother shook his head, "No, he is a Marten... Nicholas thinks he saw him at the Princess' home."

Their conversation could have continued considering the many questions Roaring-Flood had, but they were interrupted. Laughing, the reddish-brown furred man waved a paw at the severe-looking war band surrounding the group and they immediately relaxed. Roaring-Flood continued to miss the words that were spoken far too quickly to follow.

As the conversation continued, the Bear finally gathered based on a hasty series of introductions that the Weasel's name was Marcelle and, more importantly, that he wasn't actually a Weasel... which simply went over Roaring-Flood's head. Theo the Weasel and Marcelle the Weasel were both apparently not Weasels... and weren't even the same type of not-Weasels. Whether the Stone Tribe did things just to be difficult or actually had some strange reason behind their complexity, Roaring-Flood simply settled on the fact that humility was indeed a very sour drink. Sadly, he realized, his cup was still far from being empty.

* * * * * *

Julius had encountered the Order of Blades several times in his career at the University. The Professor had very little regard for anyone who sold their loyalty for money but, as far as sell swords went, they had an exemplary reputation for reliability and efficiency... once you took into account that they were mercenaries, of course. In the end, if the Bear had to deal with a necessary evil, the Order of the Blades were probably the first on his list to choose-- fortunate considering that was precisely what he was doing.

Walking ahead of the group beside Marcelle, the Bear and Marten compared notes. Marcelle was not only the leader of the squad that was following up on the Crook lead involving Sanmer's apartment, but he was, in fact, the Commander of the Order's chapter that had been hired by none other than Princess Noriene herself. It was convenient that they had both followed up on the same lead and, thankfully, it was not precisely a dead end. If nothing else, it gave them time to compare notes they had both acquired. One thing however was still on Julius' mind. "How did you manage to replicate Crook's Templar Seal?"

Marcelle smiled. Reaching into a hip pouch, the Marten pulled out a small wooden stamp and handed it over, "Some of my men fought Crook at the Fox's home. The Dragon eventually set fire to everything, but he dropped his seal when he fled and one of my men was able to collect it. We had thought to follow-up on the lead if ever the owner returned. We left the missive you found and replaced it every day in the hopes it would provide us with one of Crook's contacts... and it led us back to you."

Sanmer, who had only been following a few steps behind spoke up, "It took awhile for me to realize that Crook and the Dragon I knew as Weisen were the same person... but what I CAN'T figure out is why you chose to go after him with swords. I thought Princess Noriene wanted him alive... and, more importantly, why you don't have me in chains since he's a friend of mine. I mean... if you're after him, I might just run off and try to warn him."

The Marten laughed, "Well... first: we don't mean him harm-- HE attacked MY men. Crook, or Weisen, as you know him, has been on the run for some time from the Church and I have no doubt that he believes that they may have hired us to retrieve him."

The Fox flicked an ear, "Uh-huh... and second?"

Marcelle smiled wryly, "You almost sound as if you wanted to be in chains."

Sanmer grinned, "Maybe I do."

"If you knew where he was you probably would have gone there first, and not to the tannery apartment."

The Fox chuckled, "Well, I can't argue with that logi--OOOOOHHHH!" The discussion was interrupted when two large Black paws grabbed the rogue by his mid-section and hefted him up off the ground and into the air.

Professor Blackburn considered Sanmer's part of the discussion complete when he was set down on Roaring-Flood's shoulders. Turning back to the Order of Blades' commander, the older Bear provided the follow-up question he'd planned before they were interrupted, "So what other leads do you have? He knows Sanmer, which means when we show up with him it should give us long enough to explain you're not with the Church and that the Mechanists don't mean him any harm."

Marcelle shook his head, "We do not reveal for whom we work, but you are correct-- it should be enough to prove to him that we are not with the Church. We desire Crook alive and well and, from what I understand, you need his aid in restoring one of his creations to working order... but, on another matter, are you familiar with the name 'Alarice'?"

The Bear paused for a moment, rubbing his chin, then nodded, "An arms trader, if I recall. What of her?"

"She and a collection of men from the University were also encountered with him at the tannery... we have reason to believe that your compatriots at the UPU may be trying to aid him in escaping the Church... thus the fight ensued."

Something about the matter-of-fact tone with which the Marten explained the situation seemed slightly disingenuine, Julius couldn't overlook the fact that he could simply have been exact in his explanation because of the embarrassment that he doubtlessly felt. After all, his his retrieval squad had been soundly beaten by a bunch of scholars and an arms dealer. In the end, however, the Professor simply nodded, "Then our best opportunity is to leverage contacts."

The Marten raised an eyebrow, "Did you have something particular in mind?"

Julius nodded, "We stopped by the University yesterday with information... I think perhaps it's time for us to stop by with something a little more... tangible."

Theo, who had been a few steps behind ran to catch up, "Professor... are you saying that we should bring--"

The Bear cut him off, "That is precisely what I'm saying."

Marcelle lowered his eyebrow, immediately all business, "I assume that you have a very interesting resource you have not yet tapped?"

The Professor chuckled, "Let us simply say that I believe we have a way to resolve all of our problems-- the University will see that Crook gets away from the Church; you will be able to present him to the Princess; and we will find help for our friend."

With little more to be said, Professor Blackburn led the party back to the hotel. Marcelle ordered most of his men to wait in the entryway while only two followed him up the stairs; he posted them in the hall. Julius pulled the key out of his hip pouch and unlocked the door. Stepping into the room the simplicity of the situation suddenly became that much more complicated: the window was open and Kesst was gone.