By: thrownawaz092
“So how long has she been like this?” Asked Nanuk, clearly not impressed at being woken up so early.
“Well, I saw her walking around when I first started my shift” Unkai replied. “I didn’t think anything of it, she seemed fine, but when I came back down and found her like this, I thought I should bring it to your attention.” Nanuk nodded at that, taking a moment to consider the situation. They really couldn’t catch a break, between Dakota’s return from the capital and everything going on with Hystel and Direva, it seemed there would be at least a moment of respite before getting back to work, but now this happens. “Well, there’s not much we can do for now. If Tom’s experience is anything to go by, this should hopefully be over in a day or so.”
Sapphire woke to the sound of wingbeats as people started to go about their day. As memories of last night came back, she started searching her room for something she hoped was only misplaced. ‘Oh no’, surely not. She told herself, but already knew she would have found it by now. Her room was a bit of a mess after last night but there were only so many places for it to be. This was not a good morning so far. She had slept in, she was still drunk from last night and the only person who could have taken it was the last person who should have it. Well, maybe except Tom. Or Tink, now that he was here? No, this was definitely worse. Saph frantically ran around the room, checking every possible hiding place while getting ready for the day at the same time. After checking every corner at least three times, Saph took a second to calm herself and not run down the hall as soon as she opened her door.
As Saph entered the main hall she heard Fengi ask “Do we have any idea why she’s like this?” “Who’s like what?” Sapphire asked. Fengi, Esmeralda and Nanuk had been talking is exasperated tones before they turned to look at her, and she barely managed to keep the fact that she knew exactly who off her face. Nanuk answered by pointing to a corner where Jackolope was sitting on the floor, muttering to herself and staring intently at the crates Archeon had brought full of supplies for Tom. “She’s been there all night as far as we can tell. Luckily she hasn’t tried to actually do anything. To answer your question Fengi,, look at what she’s holding.” The Huntresses did so, and to her dismay, Saph saw Jackolope now empty bottle of Wildbrew.
Fengi let out an annoyed sound. “Isn’t that what Tom had over at Direva? It was bad enough trying to deal with him, and that was when he was sick and injured! If Jacky is drunk on that…” She trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air. “I just hope Shiva is willing to use another chair of it comes down to it.” Esmeralda responded, not liking the idea of having to wrestle a high Jackolope one bit. “What I want to know is how she even got her claws on Wildbrew! It’s not like Vulzan would have it in stock, and he wouldn’t give it to Jackolope if he did, that’s for sure!” Nanuk, who was not at all happy with the situation said. “Where did it come from?”
Soon after the bitch’s execution, Sapphire, Dakota and Balethorn had been en route to Tink’s workshop when something caught Sapphires eye. Two dragonettes were carrying a small crate of bottles, not particularly interesting in a city, but they were labeled as Wildbrew. That was what Tom had had over in Deriva, wasn’t it? she didn’t know much about it but that was expensive wasn’t it? not what you’d expect to just come across in the street like a basket of bread. Something like that must be quite the treat. Sapphire found herself pondering what it must have been like for Tom, minus the whole being poisoned part, to have a whole bottle of the stuff. It sounded like it did more than get you drunk and it apparently lasted a while. “Um, can I help you?” Asked one of the dragonettes and Sapphire realized she had been staring. “Oh! Um sorry, I just didn’t expect to see Wildbrew in the market, I thought it would be sold in a proper winehouse in another district.” The other dragonette nodded. “Normally yes, but we actually make it in a distillery here, these bottles didn’t seal properly however, so we need to dispose of them.” The first dragonette to speak to Sapphire gave a considering look before speaking up again. “You know, these bottles are still good, even if not up to company standard, they just won’t keep for more than a week or two. So if you wanted to ‘help’ dispose of a bottle…”
Sapphire somehow managed to smuggle the bottle all the way home without Balethorn or Dakota noticing. She had a mix of excitement and apprehension for days after buying the wildbrew. This stuff would usually cost months or years worth of gold, and she got it for a few silver! How should she enjoy this? You really can’t just keep the bottle for yourself, drinking on your own really wasn’t fun. Dakota and Esmeralda were immediately out, the older Huntresses would definitely rat her out if they so much as saw the bottle. It would be great to actually see Tom getting high, but he was still going slow with alcohol following his recovery, not to mention how busy he was. By the time he might be up for it the wildbrew might spoil. Maybe Ray? No, she’s new to the keep, and doing something embarrassing while drunk definitely wouldn’t help her break out of her shell. Fengi would probably be alright, but she would also probably let it slip if asked. She didn’t really know Bo and Pho yet, so that only left Jacky… Yeah, it had been a long time since just the two of them had hung out. Maybe they could have a girl’s night when Tom was spending the night with the kids.
As the memories of the exact answers Nanuk was searching for swam around Sapphire’s head, she stood silently, regretting everything. Sure she had known it was a bad idea, but come on! How often does an opportunity like that come up? She had gotten a bottle of fine wine for a fraction of its usual price, and only days after Tom had the same stuff. That was too much of a coincidence, it had to have been fate! And after everything Jackolope and Fengi get away with, the one time she tries something it blows up like this? It wasn’t fair!
Unaware of Sapphire’s reaction, the other huntresses continued the conversation. “Does it really matter where she got it? We need to get her to bed! We can ask her about it later.” Fengi said. “Yes, I suppose you’re right, but how are we going to move her? You saw the mess Tom made when we set him off, I don’t even want to imagine what Jacky could manage!” Esmeralda responded. “Well, we really can’t leave her here if she’s really been here all night. Between the cold, lack of sleep and wildbrew she will probably be bedridden for a week after all this.” Noted Nanuk. “All these squares make a circle. All these squares make a circle. All these squares make a circle.” came from Jacky. “Why don’t we bring everything here? That way we don’t have to move her.” Fengi offered. “Yes, that would probably be for the best. Sapphire!”
“Yes ma’am!” Sapphire snapped back into focus at the tone in Nanuk’s voice. “You stay here and keep an eye on Jackolope. Fengi, bring some food for her, but don’t try to force her to eat.” “On it!” Fengi called as she ran to do as instructed. “Esmeralda, go get some bedding to help warm her up. I need to speak with Tom and Apuma and put some things together.” Sapphire nodded and turned to Jackolope. Or where Jackolope was. Worry started setting in as she looked around and couldn’t find her friend. “Um, did either of you see where she-” was all Sapphire could get out before a loud crash came from the kitchen followed by Balethorn shouting “OW! Jacky what the -oomph!” The three huntresses exchanged a glance before Nanuk quickly ordered “Go!” Before peeling off to presumably get Tom. Saph and Esmeralda ran into the kitchen and were confronted with the results of Jackolope being unsupervised for 10 seconds. There was a clear path of tables, boxes and other things Jacky had shoved through, the pantry was emptied onto the floor, the dirty dishes were stacked rather neatly in the open cupboards and Balethorn was knocked against a wall with a pot on his head and one of Fengi’s cancakes sticking out of his mouth. It was almost impressive. Looking around Jacky was nowhere to be seen, but footsteps could be heard coming from the next room over. As Saph and Esmeralda gave chase Jackolope’s warpath was just as apparent in each room. Even going as fast as they could, the most they could see of the high dragonette was her tail whipping around corners and through doors. “How is she doing this!?” Asked Esmeralda, and Sapphire couldn’t help but agree. Sure Jacky was the fastest flier in a straight line, but where was she getting the time to knock over every chair she came across? Turning the corner to the hanger, Sapphire suddenly came face to face with Jackolope standing stock still staring at her.
So here he was. Jackolope finally found Tom all the way out here. As he started talking Jacky couldn’t help but notice how much like Saph he looked like. If you just got past his red scales it was clear they had a similar snout and horns, and look, he was even silvered! The first green dragonette to be a silver huntress, why hadn’t they noticed before? As Jacky started talking to him she noticed that he didn’t have hair, when had it fallen out? Was it when he turned purple? Or was that the sky? Jacky snapped back to the one sided conversation Tom was having with her, realizing she was listening in English and so didn’t understand a word of his draconic. As she switched languages Tom turned blue, clearly getting too cold without his hair. Wait, no. Tom has hair, it should be right there on the top of his head. Jacky reached out to play with it, just to confirm it was still there.
Sapphire wasn’t sure what to do when they caught up to Jackolope, she was just standing there with her mouth agape staring into her soul. That was bad enough, but the way her irises kept dialating and contracting like they were breathing was more than a little creepy. They both stood unmoving like that for almost a minute before Sapphire broke the silence “Uhm, Essy? What do we do now?” “Just stay right there, I’m… Circling around.” Came the reply. As Esmeralda did so, Saph kept her eyes on Jackolope and tried to keep her attention off Esmeralda. “Hey Jacky, you doing ok?” Jackolope didn’t seem to acknowledge her saying anything. Esmeralda had gotten behind her now and was looking unsure of what to do next. She took a tentative step forward right as Jackolope sprung forward, tackling Sapphire. “Gah! – ow Jacky, get… Hey!” As they tumbled onto the ground Jacky clung to Sapphire, gabbing at her face while the sober huntress did her best to not get pinned. Esmeralda moved to help pull Jacky off, but was smacked in the face by her tail with enough force to knock her down as well. “Ow! Jacky! Just stop already!” She let out as she reoriented herself. Esmeralda moved to try again, but there was only one dragonette on the ground. “I think she ran back in. That stupid girl.” Sapphire moaned out, still clutching her snout. “Got you! -hey! Could I get some help over here!?” Dakota’s voice rang out and the two Huntresses ran over to the source of the shouting. They entered the hall to see Dakota holding the side of her head. “Ooh she is going to be doing dishes for a month for that one…” “Dakota! Are you ok? Which way did she go!?” Esmeralda asked as Sapphire moved to help their leader. “I’m fine, she just clipped me in the head before running down that way.” She said as she pointed down the hall. This was rapidly becoming more than a two dragonette job.
After a few minutes they had regrouped with Nanuk, the guards and the rest of the Huntresses and were back on the hunt. By now Jackolope had made a mess of a good portion of the keep and simply following the destruction was no longer a viable strategy, but the sound of a crazy dragonette was easy enough to pinpoint. Each time they reached her though, Jackolope managed to work her way out and the chase would start again. Several hours of this had them slowing and panting. Even with half the keep giving chase though, Jacky still managed to keep ahead, seeming as tireless as Tom. “This… This isn’t fair…” Sapphire let out between laboured breaths. “Just… Keep… Moving.” Esmeralda responded. After what seemed like forever, the clatter coming from Jackolope suddenly disappeared, allowing a serene quiet to take place. Entering the room, they found Tom was in front of Jacky, playing with a bit of blue cloth that he kept just out of reach, leading her along. “Yes, it’s right here, come on!” Tom gave gentle encouragement as Jackolope, clearly mesmerized, followed along. He turned to the others, and with a serious voice said “get rope, I’m bringing her to bed.” Before turning back to Jackolope.
A few minutes later, and with insultingly little effort, Jackolope was sleeping, tied to her bed. As everyone let out a collective breath, Nanuk asked what was on everyone’s minds. “Now, does anyone knowhow she got her hands on wildbrew?” With a deceptively calm tone. Sapphire stayed silent, but she was burning on the inside, it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. When nobody answered, Dakota spoke up. “If nobody is going to confess, we just need to wait for Jackolope to sober up so we can ask her.” “That may not work, there’s a lot I don’t remember from my time on it.” Tom countered, and Saph clung to the hope that this could somehow blow over. As questions and accusations were thrown around, she realized she might have an actual chance if she just kept quiet. Nobody was suspecting her, after all. After a few minutes of getting nowhere everyone seemed to give up, and it was decided to just wait for Jackolope. Some time later, Jackolope stirred and everyone quieted down. Tom, Nanuk and Shiva were all standing over the bed with a few others gathered around. “Good morning sleepyhead, Did you enjoy your little trip?” Asked Tom. Shiva shot him an annoyed look while Jackolope started moving a little. “Hush you two! Jackolope, are you up”? Nanuk asked. “Rmmrrph” was the response as Jacky raised a hand to her face she slowly opened her eyes and looked around at all the faces surrounding her, until her eyes locked on Sapphire. “By the gods Saph, what did you give me?” She asked, and every head turned to her.
Gods damn it, Jacky! Sapphire thought.
Hunter or Huntress 
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