Information Gathering: Part 1 (Private Job)

Zinnia hadn't exactly been planning on taking this job, but she needed the money. After all, she was the first of her kind, that she knew of, that had actually learned to speak the human language and communicate on level terms with them. She had even barginned with them. But, try as she might, she could never fully understand her abilities, which were the real reason she had come to learn from the humans of this land. While she was able to control her mysterious abilities, she still didn't understand them, and hoped that through the mysterious ninjas of this land, along with the other beasts that dwelled here, she would be able to find answers. Not that she was expecting a whole lot. After all, considering all she had learned about power here, this mission didn't exactly offer much intell on her current situation. After all, it was just some crazy ol- no, Zinnia knew her boundries. She was a different species then these creatures. Of course they'd act different. She didn't desire to judge, but all the same, she still had her dignity, and didn't desire to resort so low. Nonetheless, she needed to do this in order to get a better understanding of human civilization. Or, whatever creatures dwelled in these mysterious lands. Of course, Zinnia had ventured Fiore. Once. And it had been on a deal much like this, but for an even humbler purpose of selling goods, such as fleece and wheat. Oh, that had been intriguing, she had thought at the time. Humans and other bipedal creatures resembling humans, seemed to have such interesting ways of negotiating. Oh, and the stories some of them could tell! Quite extraordinary. Not something you'd see at the average pack meeting, that's for certain.

As she approached the doors of the house, she glanced up, examining it. Such a beautiful variety of woods, from birch to ceder! There was even some oak shingles! Such beautiful craftsmanship, she thought to herself with a smirk. Surely, if the architecture is this magnificent, they must have a glorious library. Oh, but what was this silly wolf thinking? Thought Zinnia with a shake of her head. The only reason she believed this to be gorgeous was because she had lived in the woods for her entire life. Such a building was probably pretty average in these lands, thought the she-wolf with a sigh, as she casually knocked on the door, her highly trained ears picking up the sounds of someone moving within. She sighed, thinking about all the magnificent sights she had seen. She was actually a little excited about being able to do a mission, as, not only did it give her the chance to search for history on her strange abilities, gave her some training in human humility, and allowed her to experience how one should act in human society. Her tail even started to twitch happily as she heard the man's footsteps approaching the door. It was barely enough to even notice, and impossible to tell if it was a happy swoosh or bored swoosh, unless, of course, you were a wolf.

As the man opened the door, Zinnia instantly classified him worthy of his name. He looked just like a Mundo. With his white, curly hair, glasses, small, white beard, and white trenchcoat, it was no surprise she had thought he was a crazy old man. Zinnia knew that scientists usually dressed up like this during their experimental studies, but honestly, this all seemed very cliche to Zinnia. But, nonetheless, the universe had an odd way of doing things, and the wolfess wasn't about to question its motives.

At first, the man looked a bit confused to see a wolf by his door. As anyone would be. But as she dipped her head, giving his a curious stare, and her scarf becoming more visible, a light of realization began to aflame in his eyes, and he soon realized who she was. "Ah, you must be that Zinnia fellow I heard was coming, come in, come in!" the man said, gesturing for her to follow him inside. She blinked, but said nothing as she followed him in, her tail held low, her body tense, as it usually was. 'Twas the wolf way of staying alert. As they were lead into the living room, once again, the man gestured for her to sit down, "Oh, please, my dear, take a seat! We have much to discuss! I must say, I wasn't expecting you to be quite this.... feral." he said, trying to sound as unoffensive as possible. Zinnia merely flicked her tail, unfazed, but remained standing, though she did politely turn down is offer. Now was a time of business, not to be getting comfortable. Then again, this mission wasn't too serious, so she decided to sit down, watching Mundo through her scarf, a serous look on her face.

When Zinnia tipped her head, she flicked her tail, and a serious glance, giving him a clear sign that she was all business, and that she desired to get a move on as quickly as possible, if that were at all plausible. Mundo seemed to realize this, and scratched his head. "Oh, yes, right, the mission I called you for. Well, you weren't given the exact details, but basically, I have been studying monsters in the local area. You know, the paranormal? Well, we WERE going to study this together, but.... I appear to have lost my monster-identifications book. I would like to search for it myself, but If I leave my work for even a second, I might miss some crutial detail! So, that's where you come in. The mission is simple. I need you to find my book. It has a brown cover, with red and gold words saying "Dr. Mundo's Guide to Fighting Monsters." I would be elated if you could help me!" he finished, looking at the wolf, waiting for her reply.

All Zinnia did was merely nod her head in approval. She did not need to talk to get her message through, so why waste her breath, she thought. She'd save her tongue for when she needed to persuade or trick. Mundo seemed relieved at her gesture, and gave her some brief details about where he had lost the book, or where he thought he had lost the book. Zinnia merely listened, tapping her metal claws casually against the floor. Not entirely from impatience, but rather because it helped soothe her when she was stressed. Not that she was. This was hardly a stressful job. But rather, she always felt stressed about something. Her tail flicked casually, and her ears twitched as she listened. The man sure loved to talk. When he was finally finished, the wolf nodded in understanding, giving him a sign that she had understood all the quick-paced words he had rambled on about. Her feathers ruffled in her hair, caused by her fur on end, and ready to get moving. She quickly stood up, her body just as tense as before. Her claws rattled against the hard, wood floor as she made her way to the exit, eager to head to the place he had described. He said he might have left it at the library, on the list of all the other places he might have left it, so she decided she would go search for it there, first. After all, if she searched for it there, she would also be given the opportunity of searching for a book on her abilities, and that was the main reason she had traveled all this way, after all. That, and because she wanted to know more about human culture, and how they handled missions. And as Zinnia left the house, she could feel the soft, pitter-patter of rain drops on her fur, and hurried quickly to the library, her claws scratching against the stone walkway.

The rain poured down upon Zinnia, like a torrent of tiny pebbles, pelting her down, and using the wind to push her to her knees, forcing her to use her calf muscles to really press onward. Zinnia really didn't like the rain. It felt pressuring, annoying, wet, cold, and a variety of other things Zinnia couldn't list right now if she tried. She wasn't sure why she disliked the rain, or water in general. I mean, she liked to drink it, as it was refreshing and gave her strength, but she didn't like the rain, or swimming, which was odd, considering that her race, the wolves, generally enjoyed swimming, and found it to be a relieving exercise, and a magnificent way to start the day. But not Zinnia. She found it annoying, oddly. But, then again, maybe it was because of her abilities. She hadn't really been exposed to many serious fights before, but once, when she had been wandering about the woods, she had ran into a lion. The lion had attacked her, and she had impulsively triggered her gas cloud. However, the cloud wasn't able to actually take effect soon enough, and the lion pushed her into a ditch, which lead to a river. Luckily, she survived, but she was soaking wet, cold, and thoroughly pissed off after that experience. Oddly enough, the gas had seemingly disappeared when she had fallen into the water. Therefore, she believed that her abilities were limited in the water, which might be why she hated it so much. Another reason she hated it was because of her weapon. Her metal claws became very easily rusted when introduced to water. They were already becoming worn out, and the she-wolf really didn't want to go through the trouble of forging another pair. So, the sooner she got out of the rain, and into a nice, warm house, the better.

With a swift pace, she continued, running through the streets at a quick job, following the directions Dr. Mundo had given her. It was just, human directions were so hard to follow. Wolves were used to just having to go directions via body signals, or the way they smelled, or eye gestures, or things like that. Humans gave directions entirely through vocal exercises, which, although Zinnia found it odd, that was just how humans communicated. Luckily, Zinnia didn't have to run far, as she found the library pretty quickly, nearly skidding past it entirely. She came to a quick halt, practically skidding across the wet pavement, before she spun around, and leaped into the artificial canopy of the library, her soaking wet fur clinging to her body annoyingly. She let out an annoyed growl, shaking her entire body. Water splashed everywhere, getting the tile wet. Sitting back on her haunches, she grabbed her scarf with her paws, twisting it as best she could, so as to drain the water out. Water splashed to the floor, soaking her already wet paws and claws. She sighed. This wasn't exactly something that could be helped. It wasn't like her claws could be hidden, like that of a cat's. She didn't have retractable metal claws. The best she could do for them was shake them out, hoping that they would dry off faster this way.

As Zinnia finished drying off, getting weird glances from people entering and leaving the library, she finally dried herself as well as she could, considering the current circumstances. Now was time to explores the sanctuary of knowledge. Wrapping her scarf around her neck, she trotted over to the doors of the building, gently pressing against them. The building wasn't as impressive as she would have thought, and she sighed in disappointment. But, 'twas not her mission to pout. With a new reformed vigor, she trotted over to the front desk. The woman at the front desk seemed very surprised to see the sudden appearance of a wolf wearing a scarf and metal claws, but Zinnia quickly spoke up, so as not to let the woman have time to call the cops, or worse. That had happened only once before, and she wasn't about to let it happen again.

"Ma'am, before you do anything drastic, let me assure you, I don't bite," said Zinnia with a flick of her paw. The woman looked surprised, at first, but she seemed to slowly get over it, and nodded at the wolf, settling down. Zinnia then asked a few questions to the woman, such as if she knew Mundo, and if she, by any chance, had seen the book she was searching for anywhere. The woman replied by saying that she didn't know where the book was, but she did know where Mundo usually liked to study. So Zinnia asked where this was through body movement as, again, she was wet, and didn't see a need to speak. The woman explained where it was, and Zinnia was off again. She marveled at how many books she saw, as she ran towards the location. True, it wasn't very magnificent as many of the grand libraries she had heard about in legend, but it was still huge, compared to Zinnia's experience with humans. And no, Zinnia wasn't running because she considered this quest important. Rather, she was running because galloping helped her warm up. It definitely got the blood pumping, and soon enough her body actually began to feel good.

And despite her best hopes, when Zinnia reached her destination, to her dismay, no such book with the golden letters was discovered. She looked everywhere in the area that the woman had described as "His favorite reading place," but found nothing. She did find a few books about monsters, lying fresh on the table, symbolizing that either A) he had been here recently, or B ) the library didn't do a very good job of putting their books away. Either way, no such book was here. This caused her to let out a sigh. Well, while she was here, she could at least look around. After all, what was the harm in a little harmless study?

Zinnia trotted over to a bookshelf, and studied it over. She found nothing that could be of remote importance to her. This caused her to growl in frustration, once again, and she put the books back into order. Well, she supposed now would be a good time to leave. She still had another two sites to search at. The first was a graveyard, and the second was a trail, near the old geaser's house. Sighing, the wolf ran back over to the entrance, looking outside. The rain seemed to be letting up, but it was still coming down, nonetheless. She groaned. Maybe if she ran quickly, she would be able to stay warm. Her paws already ached from the heavy strain of the claws. Shaking her head, she pushed the door open, and headed out on her way, bearing through the worst of the storm. Well, that was a total waste of time, she thought with slight annoyance, keeping her head down, and letting her scarf take most of the blow from the rain.

Zinnia raced towards the graveyard, her paws making loud scratching sounds against the hard concrete as she tried to get a grip on it. Her metal claws clanked against the hard surface, also trying to get a grip. She didn't exactly want to be out in the midst of a rainstorm with a cold scarf, and painful pair of claws. But, as she continued to speed across the obnoxious, wet floor, the rain started to let up, which was a relief. If the rain lit up, then that meant she could stop running. Not that she didn't enjoy running. She loved it. It just wasn't a very good idea with wet claws... well, that was mainly an excuse. Then again, the quicker she completed this, perhaps she would get a better prize. As a wolf, she hadn't exactly been trying to make money before, so she was kind of broke at the moment. True, she could just hunt for her food, and drink her water from a stream, but she enjoyed being more civilized then that. Living life as she would if she were, say, a human. But she also wanted to stop running because it put a strain on her claws. Every second she wore them was another count towards them breaking. She had made them when she was still a novice blacksmith. In fact, she still was. And to be perfectly honest, she had asked for some help in making them, so they weren't of the best craftsmanship. Chances were they'd need to be replaced in, at the very least, another year. She hoped that she would be able to keep them in good condition. But that was very unlikely, considering how much traveling she desired to do, along with all the fighting she was expecting to do in the future. With a chuckle, she glanced up at the sky, happy that it was finally clearing up. But, nonetheless, Zinnia was a serious wolf. She considered herself one of many talents, despite not having entirely mastered her poison abilities. She was a sly one, you could give her that, and she considered herself a master of persuasion. Though, she had been practicing this asset for only about three years. As of right now, Zinnia preferred to be silent, speaking in a beautiful tone, so as to appear more mysterious. Not that she did this entirely to be mysterious, more like she didn't like speaking in the human tongue. Nonetheless, we are getting off topic. Zinnia shook her head clear of thoughts, and slowed her pace down to a jog.

As Zinnia walked along the boardwalk, she saw many intriguing, yet common things. Once again, as stated many times before, Zinnia was a wolf, and therefore, was still not used to being a common peasant within the society. True, she had come to speak with humans many times when she was younger, but those were quick visits. The things now didn't seem very strange or foreign, compared to when she had come to a place like this, say, six years ago. Back then would be another story. She passed a small stand selling fresh meats, and her nose twitched. She found these degrading. Why buy something to eat when you could just hunt it yourself? It would make a lot of money if she were to sell the meats she caught, but she would never buy meat herself. She simply walked past this stall, and continued. Hopefully, she could find her way to the graveyard. Not that she was worried about not finding it. After all, she was following the smell of death and decay. Unpleasant, for sure, but still. It helped.

She soon reached the graveyard, her body soaking wet, and her claws feeling uncomfortably heavy. But at least the rain had finally stopped. Luckily for her, the wolf didn't need to walk in the muddy parts of the graveyard. All she really had to do was look around. She searched under rocks, and in crevices, but found no sign of any book. She sighed, shaking her fur, and sitting back on her haunches, using her wet claws to, once again, twist the cloth and dry it out. Once done, she wrapped it back around her neck, and headed back off, towards the final location that the book might be in.

The ride was quick and smooth. Zinnia arrived at the destination in no time at all. Although it hadn't been as easy as the graveyard, since there wasn't any distinguishing smell to point it out, the directions Mundo had given her had actually been helpful. And so, she decided to begin searching. And, like before, of course, she found nothing. She looked under the fence by the walkway, making sure to scan anything that looked remotely like a book. She looked at the walkway itself, scanning it carefully. She even looked in a few ditches, to see if it was in there. And every time was a no show. With a groan, she flicked her tail. This was beginning to become annoying. Nonetheless, twas a simple task. Too bad the book didn't have a certain scent. She would have found it ages ago. Sighing, she turned around. Maybe the book was somewhere near Mundo's house. So with a relatively bored expression, she ran back to the old man's house.

And so Zinnia started to walk back, her scarf dangling down by her feet. She didn't desire to uncoil it from around her, as it was still pretty cool outside from the rain. It kept her warm, and that was all that really mattered. However, as she walked along the pathway that lead to town, she noticed that she was beginning to feel hungry. Curious, she blinked her eyes several times, and glanced over at the field. There were probably plenty of rabbits out in that field. But she had a job to do. She wanted to at least finish said job before she went out and got a meal. So she continued onward, entering the town with a bored expression on her face, heading in the direction of Mundo's house.

Soon, she arrived, glancing around. She raised her head, and started sniffing around the old man's yard, glancing around to spot the book. And, obviously, it was in the most obvious place. At least, she thought it was. It was half hidden under a blueberry bush, and didn't even appear to be very lost. She sighed. Next time, she'd look in the most obvious place first.

Picking up the book in her jaws, she walked back over to Mundo's front door, knocking on it with her iron claws. Soon enough, Mundo answered, and he smiled when he saw her with the book. "Splendid, splendid!" said Mundo, applauding her, though she gave him a serious glare. He sweated, and wiped the sweat from his brow, taking the book from Zinnia. "Oh, thank you for finding this! Here's your reward!" he said, handing the wolfess her reward with a smile.

(Mission is le complete!)

The member 'Fetus' has done the following action : Dices roll

'D Class Reward Dice' :