"Hylian?"

Saber chuckled a bit, fingering his ears. "No, no, I'm not a Hylian. See my ears. They may be long, but they aren't pointed. Doesn't every Hylian have pointed ears?"

Of course, he was merely using a physical...was it a deformity?...to aid their mission, but he couldn't help but consider this statement for himself.

It wasn't that Shigure didn't want to get involved in the conversation. It was more or less that the Gerudo women were taking care of the dialog rather well. Diplomacy wasn't exactly something Shigure was known for. [i]I can't believe how desperate these thieves are getting. It has gotten down right ridiculous by now[/i]. The Goron behemoth stepped forward, and glared at the men after Aria had finished reading the note. "I'll warn you once, little ones." Shigure's deep voice finally broke the sound waves. "Any attempts at thievery here tonight, will result in crippling injuries, or death."

Shigure paused, and reached up towards his chest. He wrapped his giant fingers around one of the chains running across his massive body. Gripping it tightly, he continued. "By the way... I'm not talking about [i]us.[/i]" If there were to be a fight here, Shigure wanted the two women to feel like they had a reliable ally to watch their backs. Furthermore, he'd hoped he'd have intimidated the thieves. If they were still deluded enough to think they had a shot- then they had another thing coming.

[b][Leadership L1= Agility][/b]

[quote]"You know, I think it's unfair for you to treat us so badly. We're here ready to trust you when we have no reason to, but you can't do the same? I don't know about my partners, but I am hurt. Can't we all just get along, and get down to business...?"[/quote]
"You admit to coming here to steal our tobacco, and you expect us to trust you?" Katharina asked incredously. "You're lucky we haven't really hurt you by now! If you want to do business with us, then come back with a trade caravan who has the decency to visit us during the day."

[quote]"I can understand not trusting this Deku, but what has the Nomad over there done to offend you? Or myself?"[/quote]
Aria finally pulled out the letter she had been given. "We have received intelligence about a group of three people, a human, a Hylian, and a Deku, would be coming to our settlement to steal our tobacco," she replied. "You have offended us by getting involved with this shopkeeper who hired you. I'll not tell you our method, but cultivating tobacco out here in the desert is difficult work, and our prices are fair.

"I'll admit that you look like a decent fellow at least. The Hylian as well, though I don't know what would possess him to think that we would support slavery. Would you really descend to this level to earn a living?"

OOC: Sorry, Orph, but Man Saber and KP said some things I just had to reply to straight away. I'll try to be more considerate in the future.

He was going to murder the Deku. But later, now Thealter had more to worry about. Still, that damn fool was trying to hint that he was ...that... kind of slave. Least he covered it up semi-well. Yet, he kept saying stupid things. Perhaps this time was the charm. He nodded lightly with the Deku's statement. "Yeah, we don't have anybody to vouch for us," stated Thealter, adding his own charm and cunning. "However, do we really need it. Can't we get to business? I can understand not trusting this Deku, but what has the Nomad over there done to offend you? Or myself?" he asked.

OOC: Also, please stop with the one-on-one posting KP and HnS, other people joined this topic too. I would have loved to respond to the majority of both of your posts since my last, but I'm only getting one once a day now, if I'm lucky, while on vacation.

OOC: Bahhh.

IC: He was beginning to become annoyed at the pace of these "business proceedings." Fingering his dagger, the Deku thought about how quickly this could have been over... but it looked like he would have to continue resorting to persuasion. So he smirked.

"Well, you'd be surprised how often packs of liars are vouched for... Which is to say, no, we have no one to vouch for us. We have no need for vouching, right now, we're not ready to trade yet... We're just here to scope out your product for the buyer, and nothing more."

And now the Deku donned a hurtful look, looking up at the women sadly with his beady little eyes in a way that would make most people say, "D'awwwww."

"You know, I think it's unfair for you to treat us so badly. We're here ready to trust you when we have no reason to, but you can't do the same? I don't know about my partners, but I am hurt. Can't we all just get along, and get down to business...?"

Aria and Katharina were getting tired of this. Although, they did have to give it to them for trying to talk their way out of the situation; they had been expecting violent thieves, and it was nice to see that they weren't. Well, as nice as it could be without them always ending up insulting them with their ignorant words.

Their ignorance was indeed showing through again; the Gerudos only did business with trustworthy merchants, and they were suspicious of new traders when they first came to bargain for goods.

"And can someone vouch for you?" the younger woman inquired.

"Would someone vouch for a pack of liars?" Aria included.

OOC: Me mean? You're the the one trying to put horrible images of Dekus in my head.

Well now the Deku looked downright dejected. He lowered his eyes as he spoke.

"That's not very flattering, you know. Anyways, we were just kidding. Actually..."

He glanced back at his companions, giving them a look that said, "Follow my lead," then redirected his attention toward the Gerudos.

"... we're just representatives, here to inspect your tobacco for purchase. Our boss is the one interested in... trading... some lucrative supplies for the tobacco. You can basically name your price, as long as the tobacco checks out. So..."

He tried a charming smile again, just in case.

"... would you be so kind as to show us to your stash?"

OOC: Jeez HNS. Way to be mean D:

Both Aria and Katharina looked completely horrified at the idea that the Deku was hinting at. The two of them nearly dropped their weapons in their shock.

"There are two things so horribly, horribly wrong with that," Katharina said, the disgust in her tone obvious. "Please, leave this desert before I decide to light you on fire."

"Oh, goddess, I'm going to be have nightmares for weeks," Aria moaned; she wanted to close her eyes at the horrendous idea, but the Gerudo knew better.

OK that was uncalled for. The Deku fumed silently at Saber's words, turning his dagger eagerly behind his back but not reacting. As it was, they were starting to lose their marks. Looks like it was time to go with the flow. Time to pull out the big... bows.

"Oh, er... well... who ever said I was the kind of slave who did [i]that[/i] kind of work?"

He said this as smoothly as he could, putting all his thief charm into the sentence. As he did, the Deku slid closer to the two Gerudo guards, batting his eyelids at the ladies and smiling. This better work; after all, who needed... that... more than the Gerudos?

Thealter, at least, was on the right track. Both Gerudos had a mind to let them turn around right then after giving them the price they knew they didn't have (cloth and food products such as pork and cheese). However, the Hylian mercenary screwed things up again.

"We do our own work," Aria replied, the anger in her voice quite obvious. "Even if we thought forcing people to work against their will was right, we would have no need for them. Now turn around and go back whence you came if you don't want to find yourself with several new holes in your body."

"We are, actually, carrying everything we need to trade." Saber blurted out, the edges of his mouth twitching as he thought of the possible ramifications of his statement.

"We're trading the Deku."

With a beaming, sand-filled smile, the mercenary bowed to the watch. "He's really quite easily trained, and surprisingly strong for his size. Not to mention adorable! Really, you can't do without a Deku Slave."

Thealter gazed at their opponents. Two well-trained Gerudos and a Goron. This could be difficult. He smiled at the younger of the two Gerudos, or rather, smiled with her in mind, no doubt probably disgracing her being in his mind. He definitely didn't have the charity and chivalry of his old friend, Simon Grendel. However, that would stop him from acting outwardly nice. Actually, he was a pretty chivalrous guy, but a different tale was spun in his own mind.

However, his chance to work his charm was blown when the Deku practically blew their cover. He smiled on the outside again, but secretly wanted to strangle the Deku. Luckily, the thief was able to cover it up semi-well. However, he would all have to claim to be traders. "What price are you looking for?" called out Thealter, removing the bird mask, and letting it hand by the strings around his neck. He gazed at the younger one, thinking she would answer first.

"And as for my associate, please forgive him; he knows his money more than he knows his history. Don't take us all for fools. I would never make the mistake of calling your majestic race a gang of thieves," Thealter added, trying his best to smooth over the harshness of the situation.

Katharina began to twirl her twin scimitars by her side in a menacing manner, while Aria let her naginata's blade drop to the Deku's level. "When you are in our desert, your business is ours to know," she stated.

"How dare you call us thieves," Katharina growled. "Ganondorf's foul reign was ages ago; you have no right to judge us based on that horrible part of history."

"And if you are thieves, then we will have no choice but to bring you three in," the older of the two women continued. "If you are traders, then you are ill supplied, especially if you wish to trade us for our tobacco. We do not trade it cheaply."

Oh.

His smile faltered upon sighting the watch. For some reason he thought it would be easy, this mission. Since when are Gerudos so particular about being stolen from? The Deku had been under the impression that they were thieves themselves, and that they would be out thieving in the night tonight. OK well, this problem was easily remedied with some classic avoidance of the truth. He prepared by hiding his dagger behind his back.

"Our business? Well, it's... not yours to know!"

The Deku hopped a few times with excitement, before continuing.

"Haha! You thought we would reveal our plot to steal your tobacco so easily? As fellow thieves, I would have thought you Gerudos would expect more from us. Thieves. Likes yourselves. Except here to steal what is yours. Err..."

[i]"Dammit dammit dammit dammit"[/i]

The Deku hopped a few times with agitation, before continuing.

"Ah, I mean... we're here to trade! Yes. Trade."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shigure," Katharina said; Aria merely nodded, intent on keeping an eye out for the upcoming thieves. Thieves who had now entered her field of vision; at least, they fit the description they were given. The older of the two Gerudo woman stood up and yanked her naginata out of the sand. The second woman drew her scimitars.

Thealter's Awareness Check passed with flying colors; even in the fading light, two Gerudic woman not trying to hide and a Goron are easy to see.

"We should make sure these are our marks," Katharina muttered in Gerudic.

"I'm not an idiot," Aria replied in the same tongue. In Common, and loud enough for the approaching three people to hear, she said, "What business do you have in Parapa?"