[Mari]

What was Arle even saving all those super bells for? On closer inspection, there was also a small elephant toy elephant, a magical dictionary of some sorts... A jar of curry spice. Was that a shopping list? It wasn't very long. It seemed like she just sort of threw everything in there.

"You're pretty strong." Arle remarked. Of course, Rider wasn't actually strong by normal people's standards, but Little Arle barely had any strength in her little arms. Of course she'd seem strong to her. "Nice and comfy. Your ears are soft." Arle went on to remark. She'd honestly expected those large ears to be a bit stiffer than they'd turned out to be.

Little Arle then pointed to the Magical Timepiece, which was a distinct item from the Magical Pocketwatch which is not in fact inside Arle's bag at the moment. "That's'a magic watch. It'll make me even younger." Arle explained, unaware of its ability to temporarily age her up as well. It was probably for the best however, as the false and temporary solution would only derail the mission.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider blushed a small bit as Arle complimented her on her strength...well, there's something to be proud of today. "E-ehe...thank you~..." she said. She wanted to cover her blushing face, however she was holding Arle, so one was free to see Rider's reddened face, which accentuated when the ears compliment came around.

"U-umm...I...uh...hehee~" She stammered.

Rulue glanced at the Magical Timepiece and pondered for a while. Well, it was kind of useless for now. They needed to find a way for her to control her age so she could grow her back, wasn't it? What use would they have for something that would make her even younger? The answer was none.

"This isn't going anywhere! We should seek out more information."

[TartoonHand94]

"Just as I suspected." Zelda squinted at the timepiece.

"Right you are Rulue. Without the rest of the pocket watch this must belong to, the time manipulative properties of this time piece are chaotic and dangerous.” Zelda went on to explain. "We had better keep this in a safe place… May I please hold onto it Arle?” Zelda politely asked Arle, kneeling down to her level and gesturing to which pocket she would put it into. "You know, before we accidentally turn Groose into a bigger baby than he already is." She playfully winked.

Groose could only roll his eyes in a pouting huff, not appreciating yet another joke at his expense.

[Mari]

Arle giggled with Rider at Groose's expense, watching her observantly from over her shoulder. She enjoyed Groose's indignation, probably because he looked ever so goofy to her and she was just looking for entertainment. "Okay..." Arle relented, allowing Zelda to hold onto the precious item. After a long moment of the older ladies discussing their plans however, an overtly sketchy individual wearing a black cloak that hid most of their body approached them. They appeared to be a man judging by what could be seen of their face, however the lower half of their face was all that could be seen by the adults. Rider could feel Arle's grip on her tense slightly. "He has mean eyes..." Arle whispered to Rider, thinking out loud it seemed. Rider could see the man's eyes as well. His gaze was hard and focused. Yet, after a moment his gaze seemed to shift to Rider and Arle, as if aware that they were looking at him.

"Greetings. I couldn't help but observe you're in a bit of a pickle..." the man began, though his words were not for the two younglings. "The little one is plagued by a curse. I know someone who can help you with this." he went on to state. Could they trust this inconveniently shady gentleman?

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Both Rider and Rulue looked suspicious at the new figure that made their way towards the group. In response to Arle's grip growing tense, Rider's grip intensified a bit. While the bab was already adopting a defensive stance, Rulue appeared in front of Rider and put her hand in front of the two smols, either as in 'Don't worry, I got this' or 'He's not touching you'. It was hard to tell.

"Now, hold on for one moment. Before you can even suggest something to help our friend here, we need to know who you are and how do you know about this." Rulue said, poking the stranger. "Right now."


"Y-yeah...!" Rider tried to add. "P-please show your face too...that cloak is creepy..."

[TartoonHand94]

"Thank you Arle." Zelda smiled sweetly as she carefully slipped the time piece into her pouch for safe keeping like she said she would.

Groose’s rolling eyes rolled onto an overtly sketchy individual obscured by their black cloack approached. He came along on this mission as Zelda’s self-appointed body guard, and by extention, Rulue, Rider and Little Arle fell under his jurisdiction as soon as Zelda joined them.
Groose could sense the intimidating effect his gaze had on Little Arle and Rider.
He wasn’t going to stand for that, so he stood up to the stranger, not intimidated in the slightest. Any two bit thug can look all dark and mysterious with the right wardrobe.

"Maybe we are in a pickle, maybe we’re not. What’s it to you?" Groose huffed, the enigmatic man, standing as a guarding barrier between him and the ladies.
Rulue had already beaten him to the cloaked figures chest, so he stood, arms folded, behind Rulue, as fortified back up. Groose didn’t need to hide his face to look big and tough.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to trust you if we can’t even see who we’re trusting?” Groose asked, a little annoyed at the edginess of this guy’s appearance. He stepped in front of Rulue and looked the stranger in his obscured dagger eyes.
"Here, allow me.” Almost in a dominant display of sheer indifference to the dark vibes he was giving, Groose started to unmask the enigmatic man by lifting the hat off of his head to reveal his face.

[Mari]

Arle seemed to relax a bit in response to Rider's grasp. It turned out that holding the bab securely bestowed feelings of security. Who would've guessed? It helped that her sightlines on the man were cut off by Rulue and then Groose, however. It was rather comical, watching Groose squuuueeeze himself in between the warrior queen and the dark man. There wasn't exactly a lot of room for the big lug.

The spooky stranger was not wearing a hat, but rather his hood was simply up. The hood was pulled away and the man turned his head in response, scowling at Groose from the corner of his eyes. "...How about you take me out for a drink first, tough guy?" the man remarked rather venomously, taking a step back. He didn't look much better without his hood, his messy brown hair and pale skin seeming to suggest that he wore it often. Judging by the untamed stubble on his face, hygiene wasn't one of his primary concerns. He didn't look like he had much muscle on him, at least judging by his head and neck.

"Now, I didn't ask you to trust me, I offered you information. What you plan on doing with it is your own business." the man scolded, his eyes trailing past Groose with purpose. A moment passed. "...And for the record, you're quite audible. This is, after all, a public space. the man went on to lecture, adjusting his cloak slightly.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Well, excuse me for how suspicious you look. Rulue thought to herself, struggling to vocally voice this thought to avoid any prying ears. She huffed a bit before turning around and getting down on Rider's and Little Arle's level and then she began talking to the carrier girl.

"What do you think? Should we hear what he has to say?" Rulue asked quietly to one of the smol girls.
"I-I'm not sure...what if he's trying to trick us?" Rider asked back with the same volume.
"That's exactly what I was thinking. He looks exceedingly sketchy."
"What should we do...?"
"I don't know. Maybe he actually has the one lead we're trying to get, but..."
"...Take it with a grain of salt."
"...Right."

With that conversation done, Rulue turned back to the cloaked man.

"...I suppose at this time, a lead is better than none. You may share your information."


I hope this isn't false info... Rider thought to herself.

[TartoonHand94]

Groose did a double take at the man’s face and lowered the hood back right down with a blank resigned expression of his own.

Rulue and Rider were decidedly willing to hear the fellow out. Zelda felt compelled to trust their judgement.
“We are all ears, sir.” Zelda agreed with the rest to hear him out. She stood particularly close to Rider and Arle, discreetly eyeing Groose not to let his guard down. Zelda would always do her best to see the best in people, this stranger was no exception to that, but she would also much rather them be safe than sorry.

“And don’t you try to pull nothing funny either.” Groose warned, cracking his knuckles.
Zelda listen closely to what he had to say, scanning his voice and behavior for any signs of dishonesty.

(wamzGOT0p_1d20+5 Zelda’s lie detecting gaze)
1d20+5

[Mari]

Little Arle quietly let the older girls discuss what to do. She seemed to trust their judgment as well, or maybe she was simply too content to worry. Either way, she watched the man carefully as he proceeded to put his hood back on. It seemed he didn't like his face being seen for whatever reason. Sketchy indeed. "No worries. I'm certain you'll be funny enough for the both of us." the man remarked, his once again invisible gaze trailing to Groose for a moment before moving to settle on Rulue. He wasn't sure which one of these people was actually the girl's parents. They all had odd hair colors, aside from the littlest one herself. ...He quickly gave up trying to answer this question.

"...There is a very experienced and elderly dark mage in the black market area named Bridget. She's well past the days where she can leave the sphere to fight, but her knowledge with the dark arts has landed her a stable job helping people break all sorts of nasty curses and hexes. You need look only for a small shop named "The Vulnerary" to find her. If she can't break the curse herself, she can probably point you in the right direction."

Little Arle snapped to attention, speaking up in a somewhat quiet tone. She was trying not to hurt Rider's ears, seeing as they were probably sensitive and she was right nxt to them. "...Why's her shop in the black market?" she asked, voicing some of her own skepticism. Why didn't she just work at the hospital, or set up shop in the market district like everyone else? The black market wasn't the safest place in the life sphere...

However, the man didn't seem to notice Little Arle's small voice amongst the murmuring of the lobby patrons. In fact, everyone who wasn't Rider might just miss it. She could make a choice to voice Arle's concerns herself, if she pleased.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue listened to the information given. An elderly dark mage at the Black Market? The Fighting Queen wasn't exactly knowledgeable of that area on Li, because she heard from word of mouth to avoid that place due to how suspicious it was. Well, it was bound to be suspicious with a name like that.

"Bridget at 'The Vulnerary', hm? We'll take a look."

That being said, Rulue took Rider's little advice and kept herself suspicious of the piece of information given. He didn't get any trust points so far and probably won't get any. It did seem Arle's question went flying through her head...

...Hadn't been for an interference of the other smol girl. Thankfully for the 5-year-old, Rider had superb hearing (not that it was needed at that particular point,mind) and decided to voice the question once again...however louder.

"Ms.--I mean, Arle wants to know why she lives in the black market...do you have any idea, good sir?"

[TartoonHand94]

Groose threw a squint back at the hooded figure as if to say Touche. did a double take at the man’s face and lowered the hood back right down with a blank resigned expression of his own.

Zelda barely stifled a gasp upon hearing this person was in the Black Market. That was nowhere to bring such young little girls. But before either Zelda nor Groose could ask anything in protest, it was Little Arle herself who asked the important question.
They both locked eyes on the mysterious stranger, stalking his answer.

[Mari]

The man considered Rider's question for a moment. He seemed to hesitate to respond, but after a moment he shook his head in dismissal of whatever had been on his mind. "She follows her customers." he stated rather simply. One had to suppose it made sense that curses might be more prevalent in the shadier parts of town. However, this also implied that people were casting curses in or around the black market. Perhaps that was something to be worried about? ...Did it have anything to do with Arle's current form?

Little Arle seemed to accept this, looking towards Zelda and Rulue for a moment almost expectantly. She then turned her attention on Rider. "...You know, I never noticed you had horns." she remarked rather casually. Apparently, she hadn't paid much attention to Rider's hair buns or had more than likely mistaken the little-exposed horns for something else.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"...I suppose it makes sense." Rulue ended up saying in regards to what the man said. The Black Market was known for being shady (again, according to word of mouth), so someone around that had the tools and knowledge on how to break hexes and curses would be appreciated on that area. Then again, the guy was still shady as all heck, so she kept herself wary.

"So...what do you think? Shall we get going to that shop?"

Meanwhile, Rider just kinda let out a soft whine when Little Arle discovered she had horns. It looked like she was still a bit miffed she had them, apparently.

"Y-yeah...p-please don't mention them anymore, okay...?"

[TartoonHand94]

The thought of Beedle’s Air Shop following him around like the Black Market Mage annoyed Groose.
“At this point, this lead is the best we have.” Zelda contemplated.
“We have to try.” “I wish there was another way than bringing a little girl to the Black Market of all places though…” she sighed reluctantly.

“Ah you got nothing to worry about, Groose’ll be there to protect you ladies from any hocus jumbo any cranky old lady has stewing in her pot.” Groose reminded Zelda with an oh-so necessary flex of his pecs. Zelda blinked bemusedly as she was fully aware bare fists and muscles weren’t to do much against Black Market style weaponized sorcery besides Look intimidating.
“Sure you will Groose.” Zelda lolled her head, mercifully sparing his self confidence.

“Thank you for the advice, um sir.” She thanked the mysterious man as politely as she could, given the circumstances.
“To the Vulnerary, I suppose.”