Scowling at the sudden rise in the bid, the snow fox looked over at the hooded figure and was unable to get any real information. Cloaked in a large black overcoat and a pair of dark leather gloves, their figure was hard to discern and only their voice from earlier may have indicated a female beastkin at best.
A raucous laugh rang out as the bear duo from earlier grinned. "So much for your attempts to woo the crowd huh Snow Witch?"
Narrowing her eyes, the snow fox said nothing in reply as she was more interested in seeing if anyone else would bid for her. She had only brought enough coin for her stay and had already spent a large portion of it on an earlier artifact.
Unfortunately, while there were many who wanted to woo the charming snow fox, they could not offer more gold than they had available or risk being thrown out of the auction entirely. And no semi-sane beastkin would dare risk the humiliation of such a thing.
Just as the mantle was about to be given to the hooded figure, another bid came out from another one of the viewing rooms.
"Six thousand gold scale coins."
The hooded figure turned abruptly and stared at the location where the bid had come from. Happening to be next to the viewing room from where the bid came from, Noxtis saw the face of the figure peek out slightly from the hood and her eyes shook him.
Unlike other beastkin that had been beaten in bids before and been frustrated or annoyed, the mysterious female beastkin's eyes showed a mix of sorrow and defeat. Curious as to why she would give off such an expression, Noxtis debated on buying the item for her.
In the end, Noxtis didn't actually know the beastkin. And while he felt bad for her losing the bid on something she clearly longed for, it wasn't his responsibility to help out anyone he lightly felt bad for and had no idea the greater story behind it.
"Buy it Noxtis, I can tell that you want to." Ember, who hadn't spoken since the start of the auction, finally said something.
As he was about to say the reason he was thinking of, Ember just gave Noxtis a knowing look and he ended up just sighing while smiling inside. "I can't win against you can I?"
"Sure you can, but sometimes being true to your heart isn't always a bad thing. Besides, it's not like we are in need of the coin anyway. While we could participate in the second half of the auction, for artifacts at that level you need more than just coin to get those kinds of items. Plus I'm here to support you should anything go wrong."
Noxtis just chuckled and gently rubbed the fiery redhead's hair. "I bid seven thousand gold scale coins."
Thankfully Noxtis had put in his bid just before Praline was about to deliver it to the other VIP, glad to see the last general artifact gain that much more worth.
Looking over to the other viewing deck, Noxtis waited to see if they would raise the price again. After being silent till after Praline closed the bidding, Noxtis was curious to see why they would bid for it at all.
Calling over the attendant, Noxtis handed her a couple of gold. "Can you get that hooded beastkin to talk to me? The one who bid five thousand gold scale coins. I would like to talk to them."
"Certainly, I shall be right back." Bowing, the attendant pocketed the tip and quickly left the room.
Seeing that Praline was giving a speech to announce the break, Noxtis asked the sleepy dragon who had already closed her eyes again. "So what do you suggest we go do? I don't know if we should attend the second half of the auction since I don't have anything worth trading and already got a few items as it is."
*yawn* "Let's go spar for a bit, I want to try out a new move I've been thinking of recently. We can eat after. Aunt Vel? Uncle Wurino? What are you going to do?"
Pondering their own stance for a moment, they looked at one another for a moment and answered together. "We're going to see the second half of the auction and see what is on offer. If we see anything that would be nice for you two, we will try and get it. We don't know when we will be back so you might have to go eat somewhere else. Have fun sparing!"
Getting up refreshed, Ember stretched her muscles with a couple of loud pops and got ready to leave.
Preparing himself as well, Noxtis got up and got the blood flowing through his legs.
With impeccable timing, the attendant knocked on their door. The attendant entered the room and bowed their party.
"Hello, I apologize for my tardiness. I have brought the items you have purchased from the auction as well as informed the previous bidder of your desire to meet.
While they were initially quite hesitant, they agreed after being guaranteed their anonymity and safety through our meeting room.
As for your items Miss Velnarra and Mister Wurino, they will be delivered by a different attendant.
Now if you wouldn't mind following me please."
Waving goodbye to Vel and Wurino, Noxtis and Ember followed the attendant who led them to the elevator once more and toward one of the lower floors.
Exiting the elevator, they quickly made their way to another room which was much smaller than their previous lavish auction room.
After paying for the items, the attendant gave them the items which Noxtis stored away. "So how will the meeting go? I don't see anyone else here."
With a swift wack to the head, Noxtis rubbed his head as Ember hit him while shaking her head. "Shut up and let the lady explain."
Nodding and rubbing his wounded pride, he stayed quiet as the attendant couldn't help but giggle. She had never seen such a carefree pair of beastkin, especially those of the stature that could be brought into the auction viewing rooms they had.
"The guest you requested to meet is in the next room and after I activate the inscription on this wall here, you will be able to talk to one another while keeping your privacy. You can choose to hide your appearance as well as your voice if you so choose."
"Ahhh, alright then. I don't really mind showing my appearance and voice so no need for that. Unless you want to keep them secret Ember."
"Most already know of me anyway, so I don't mind. Hurry up though, I'm getting hungry."
"But aren't you always hungry?"
"Not all the time, sometimes I'm sleepy AND hungry."
Noxtis rolled his eyes again while knowing that Ember was entirely serious
Holding back another giggle, the attendant brought out a special instrument and interacted with the right wall then exited the room. Soon after leaving, the wall became much more transparent and the same cloaked figure appeared.
However, unlike before when Noxtis had caught a glimpse of her features when she faced the other viewing room, she was entirely shrouded by a weird dark mist covering her face.
Taking the initiative to explain what was going on, Noxtis introduced himself.
"Hello, I'm sorry for reaching out to you like this. My name is Noxtis and my lovely partner here is Embervesent. I wanted to say firstly that I did not intend to steal the Mantle from you, I do not know who was in the other viewing room, but I saw how much you wanted the item so Embervesent thought it a good idea to buy it."
A filtered voice replied while bowing slightly from her own room. "Thank you. That mantle is the most important memory of mine...it belonged to my mother."
Noxtis couldn't help but blurt out. "Your...mother? To be sold off at an auction...what happened?"
"It..." Composing herself and tensing her shoulders, the mysterious female beastkin didn't say anymore.
After a few moments, she spoke up again. "It is nothing you need to be concerned about. It happened in the past and I am just looking to collect the mantle to keep it safe."
Feeling a poke from his side, Noxtis looked over at Ember to see her gesture her hand toward him. "Give me the Mantle.
Finding the mantle inside his spatial ring, Noxtis handed it to Ember without any hesitation.
"Thank you, dear." Kissing him on the cheek, Ember pulled a palm-sized crimson medal out of her own spatial ring and bundled it with the mantle. Walking to the door, Ember handed the bundle to the attendant and whispered a few words.
Nodding, the attendant took the bundle and walked into the other door after verifying the items were safe.
After receiving the bundle, the female beastkin hugged the mantle close to herself and then quickly stored it away. As she was about to speak up, Ember held up her hand.
"Just so you know, I don't know what your situation is and honestly don't care much. You clearly don't want to talk about it and honestly, I can't say I understand what you're going through. But Noxtis here saw you in pain and wanted to do something about it.
As big as his heart is, he understands that this world isn't fair. Those with strength make the rules and break them however they like. Not everyone can be saved, but being able to help others when you can is something that I felt from his soul. If you ever need something, you can use that medal to contact the Crimson Scale Clan and get ahold of me or Tribe Leader Flint.
Of course, I hope you're not stupid enough to try anything towards my tribe or the two of us. But in the end, I hope you find the solace that you're looking for."
Gripping the medal tight in her palm, the female beastkin nodded. "Thank you...both of you. But this is something I have to handle with my own two hands."
Thanking them one last time, the female beastkin took her leave without saying anything more.
Ember sighed deeply, feeling much more exhausted from the entire encounter despite not having done much of anything.
"Let's go, Noxtis. I want to try out that new move still and then take a long sleep after eating. This day has been more eventful than I could've imagined."
"Agree with you there, but at least we got a few things that will be useful for when we eventually travel outside the city. Although I do wonder if we will meet her again."
Ember shrugged as she led them to her personal training grounds in the Crimson Scale Tribe area. "Who knows."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A knock at the door sounded out and inside walked a white armored beastkin came in and reported. "I'm sorry Tribe Leader, we lost track of her after she exited the auction house and have yet to find any trace of her in the city. We suspect that she is being protected or has a hiding place outside the city."
*Tsskk* "Damn rodent, to think that we would have to lure her out with the mantle only to lose her anyway. Did you get any information about the buyer for the mantle?"
Bowing low to the floor, the armored beastkin shook his head. "No Tribe Leader, all we know is that another high-profile beastkin won the mantle but the Red Drake staff barred us from learning anything else."
"Whatever, the mantle was of no use to me anyway. That rodent will have to stay around for the tourney anyway. She won't be able to ignore the other bait, we'll just have to expend a bit more effort in capturing her later. Make sure you all don't let her slip through our fingers again, or you all know the consequences."
"Yes, Tribe Leader." Touching his head to the floor again, the white armored beastkin left the room.
Tapping his claws against his chair, a breath of icy air passed through the canine teeth of the beastkin. "To think I would have to go through all this trouble..."