...
'She needs to be red Mr.[XXXXXX], and a little brown. My wife wants a sort of -- playful, colour. Something that inspires a little creativity for her - the appaloosa skin was just .. well eh, dull.' The client just sighed helplessly and handed the artifact over to Albrecht who was awaiting payment. On that note, Albrecht had nothing to say about the delivery of his past item, just that he wanted what was projected to him when the final numbers were agreed upon.
A plain black sack was exchanged between the two, from the looks of it something heavy must have been on board Albrecht's back between two prepped and ready wings. His client's eyes wandered for too long on Albrecht to be anything else but fro personal interest. The tall dark horse didn't bother to notice, he found the shorter creature to be completely revolting. His wife too, she was a beast when he learned that all she wanted the girls for was their skins. What a waste. Such shame. But neither his client or the wife felt the same way.
'What is your wife's favorite colour, Luther?' Albrecht asked casually while checking all his belts and buckles to make sure everything was secure for flight. The shorter, fat morgan's ears perked up, Albrecht could see in the other's eyes he was so happy to be called by name he nearly wet himself.
'B-b-blue, she likes blue. W-why?' Luther stammered out pathetically, by now the Sand Horse was already turning his back to him, wings out for flight. Something, something-else about how he liked the way Albrecht's tail looked, that the braid was nice or whatever .. he stopped listening when Luther mentioned blue.
'I'll bring her back a sapphire, then. For double.' One gold-clad ear tipped back towards his client before his handsome face glanced back at him over the fur-feathered ruff of his massive shoulder. The dumpy little brown horse shook his head eagerly at him. 'Double it is,' he said, agreeing to the terms.
'Blue it is', then Albrecht launched himself into the night quickly, quietly, and without much effort. The massive span of his wings filled a entire horizon. They slashed clouds in half and nearly cut the moon right out of the sky. What gold that glittered upon his figure was then gone.
***
Arma was coldest at the edges of night before dawn warned at the dark. The matting of feathers over his shoulders were spiked with frost from maintaining such high altitude for so long. Ice gathered in drips and hangs off of him, plastered his wild black curls against his steaming black snake's skin. Hours and hours of travel had left him chilled to the core and he thought only to drop down into the Pass to catch the first moments of sunrise to absorb heat and to shake the early winter from his body.
Certainly no one was awake at this hour - not in the pass. Denoctians were usually going to sleep at this hour, not waking up (or so he thought). The goliath touched down with practiced ease, the hoof with the only golden stripe was the last to come down before he looked up and saw someone not too far ahead of him. His client's order was in the back of his mind, he was not thinking of it when he saw her there. All he was thinking was how strange it might be for her to see someone drop in unannounced like this.
Then again, he had made previous arrangments to meet up with his Vendor in Denocte at this time.
Was this them?
The frosted stranger lifted his head up and focused two brilliant golden eyes on her, he wasn't sure if this was the connection he was supposed to be meeting with at this time. She seemed to be preoccupied with a task of her own, bone-picking and ash-eating, not exactly waiting for some holy roller to show up with a bag of expensive statuary. The man's lip twitched, what if it was? Not exactly who he would have chose if it was, she seemed a little soggy to him. Albrecht only waited a few seconds to ask what he wanted, no introductions made and no inclination to do so either.
"I suppose you haven't seen anyone else waiting around here, have you?"
ALBRECHT
this is what you came for. this is what you get
