Private Tales Cat and Dog

[Ōjo Akane]

"Excellent. Keep working on it while we take a break." Acteon said as he stoppered his full waterline.

The Allirian found a place to sit down. He waited until he had Akane's attention then patted next to him. A little invitation for her to sit next to him and a way to give her some affection so she did not complain of having a neglectful master.

She nodded and did just that, returning to her work. She saw him out of the corner of her eye, and when she looked up, he patted the grass next to him. With a smile she stood up and walked over to him. She sat next to him, gave him a loving nuzzle, then went back to her work. By this point the first code had been almost completely cracked, and she'd commit to memory how it was put together. Now the second code. They had no cypher for this, so it would take a lot longer... unless...

She followed this train of thought and figured it was worth a shot, so she followed the same steps as the first cypher in reverse order, filling in what she'd deduced to be the proper steps from the first code, and sure enough one of the character groups resulted in a letter. It could be a coincidence, or a happy accident, she'd have to repeat the process and see if a word came out, then she'd know for sure.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon let Akane work. She had nuzzle him when she sat down to join him as well. A good sign surely as he could not imagine how it could be bad. Silently he just let her do her work as he thought over what they would do if the heir proved incompetent.

After awhile Acteon looked over at what the girl had gotten done. From her behavior be guessed she made progress. Good. Perhaps it was time to find out and then continue on.

"What did you learn kitten?"

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

After awhile Acteon looked over at what the girl had gotten done. From her behavior be guessed she made progress. Good. Perhaps it was time to find out and then continue on.

"What did you learn kitten?"

"I might have cracked it." She said to him. "I'm not completely certain but I'm pretty sure. Tell me, why would you send a message with only one cypher if there were two codes to crack? Either the recipient has the second cypher already, or, the cypher works for both of them. I tried doing the same process twice and got nowhere, so I simply reversed the order and I got a legible letter."

She showed him what she meant, it was mostly demonstrating with her hands or pointing to specific characters on the sheet since she had no writing implements to work with. "If this turns out to be correct, then we'll know what the letter says."

 

[Acteon Cass]

Impressive. As Acteon listened he was impressed with what the girl could do. She had a rare talent it seemed for this kind of work. That might be possibly why she was trained as a spy and infultrator. It did bring up the question of why her father would allow such an asset to roam free so far from his lands where he would need her however. An oversight?

At her question he did have an answer. It was one he was use to as a sellsword.

"The second code was not for the dead man. It was for who he was reporting to." Acteon said as he looked over the paper she held. "He was likely not trusted enough for such information but still needed to know certain things. So two codes instead of one. If we follow the trail the first provides we could likely discover the second cipher and his handler."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"The second code was not for the dead man. It was for who he was reporting to." Acteon said as he looked over the paper she held. "He was likely not trusted enough for such information but still needed to know certain things. So two codes instead of one. If we follow the trail the first provides we could likely discover the second cipher and his handler."

She thought to herself with a hmm. It was possible, it was also possible that the same code had several messages hidden in it. She came across a few of them back home, where one code had several layers, and however many layers there were, that was the number of messages hidden in the code itself, that way the same encryption could be sent to different people, telling them to do different things. It was quite ingenious really. Could that be what had happened here. "That sounds about right."

She leaned into him, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

 

[Acteon Cass]

The girl agreed with him after some time. Better that way as it meant they were of the same mind on the issue. He doubted there would be more than two messages to these codes though. These lands were less war torn and had less need of keeping their messages secret. This situation was more of an exception to the rules here.

Her head came to rest on his shoulder. Acteon did not frown at it but he wanted to. A rather familiar and intimate action. It was not something he shared the same feelings about with her it seemed. Yes she was his now and he was going to indulge in her body and skills as often as he could, but this sort of thing felt more in line with what lovers would be doing.

Ultimately he decided to permit it. Her feeling affection towards him was not a problem. It was more the goal. Letting her have these little moments would be fine.

So he placed a hand on her head and scratched behind her ears. She was doing good so far. A reward would only get her to continue to work hard for him.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

Her head came to rest on his shoulder. Acteon did not frown at it but he wanted to. A rather familiar and intimate action. It was not something he shared the same feelings about with her it seemed. Yes she was his now and he was going to indulge in her body and skills as often as he could, but this sort of thing felt more in line with what lovers would be doing.

Ultimately he decided to permit it. Her feeling affection towards him was not a problem. It was more the goal. Letting her have these little moments would be fine.

So he placed a hand on her head and scratched behind her ears. She was doing good so far. A reward would only get her to continue to work hard for him.

She could sense slight displeasure from him when she rested her head on him. It saddened her a little. But ultimately she couldn't say anything. She had a man who'd take care of her, and she had skills to offer him. So really, she couldn't possibly ask for more. She had been about to move her head when the ear scratches came, and she relaxed noticeably, a purring sound coming from her lower throat as she pressed into the scratches. He certainly knew how to make her happy.

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon continued to scratch her ear for a couple of minutes. If it was distracting her he would stop and if it was not then he would keep on. The whole action and her getting to sit close was all a reward for her work on decoding the message after all. If it was keeping her from her task then it could wait till she was no longer on it anymore.

The Allirian gave the group nearly an hour to eat, drink, and rest. Plenty of time to recover and it bought them more time this way as it would be harder for her to decode while they were moving. But the hour was up and it was time to get moving again.

Acteon got up and gathered his things. He turned to the girl's guard who was currently their escort and said, "Take us to the heir. No more stops unless we have to." He paused and was about to go when he remembered something. "Oh and inform us about what we should expect when we arrive. Seemed there was something going on before but I was never informed of what it was. Hopefully nothing important."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

His scratching was light enough to keep focus, so she continued her work. The cypher worked. She'd still need time to fully translate the code, which she'd probably need paper for anyway, but ultimately they'd get the message soon. And it's secrets would be theirs.

The guard nodded and continued along their way. "When we got there a group of mercenaries had found him. My fellow samurai are still guarding him, he was injured in the fight though. I don't know how serious it is, but he won't be able to hold a sword for a little while."

 

[Acteon Cass]

After listening to what the guard had to say Acteon raised a questioning brow at him. So this information could not be shared with him sooner? It would have helped in swaying people back in the town to side with the heir if they knew the usurper was sending mercenaries instead of the local people. Would have been good propaganda to convince them more people were siding with the heir than they currently were aware of.

"Understood. Hopefully the injury does not fester or become more permanent." Acteon ultimately said in response. "What are your fellow kinsmen doing? Standing by and keeping watch or joined as extra hands for this reclamation?"

Hopefully they had not done more and overcommited. Last thing they needed was to piss off this heir if he proved incompetent by leaving his camp in the night to kill the usurper themselves. It would already be bad enough if they denied the killing from him but it would be even worse to also make betray the man before doing so.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Understood. Hopefully the injury does not fester or become more permanent." Acteon ultimately said in response. "What are your fellow kinsmen doing? Standing by and keeping watch or joined as extra hands for this reclamation?"

"Currently they are simply keeping him alive. Nothing more. I imagine a few more mercenaries will have died by now." The guard told Acteon. The samurai may not be the highest in the nobility, but they weren't stupid, far from it. "They are awaiting Lady Akane's arrival before doing anything more than that."

It could have been good propaganda, but if said outright what validation did they have? Really, they'd need it to be a rumor spread among the people with as little involvement with them as possible, and keep it a rumor, since they couldn't exactly provide evidence to support this claim. Really, it wasn't useful as it might have been, at least not on it's own.

 

[Acteon Cass]

The news was just a bit disappointing. These guards of the girl's clearly did not understand how wasteful it was to kill off mercenaries. They could be flipped or bribed (the good ones anyways) and reveal more secrets than their employers realized they knew. He would know because he had been one of them at many points in his history. Loyalty should never be tied to coin after all. Why sell your life so cheaply?

But what was done was done. They were keeping the heir alive and waiting for their frisky lady to return. Seemed they had not realized she was a simple pet yet. Another shame. She was a very good pet to have. So many uses. His eyes drifted over to her a moment as they walked. Was she aware of what she was now? After the way she acted last night it seemed so.

"Any closer to answers kitten? Did you figure out their secret?" Acteon asked as his eyes drifted back to the road. "We will arrive at the heir's location soon than you realize."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Any closer to answers kitten? Did you figure out their secret?" Acteon asked as his eyes drifted back to the road. "We will arrive at the heir's location soon than you realize."

"I think I have it cracked." She told him. "It'll be slow reading but now we just need to translate it from code to it's legible format."

So she worked on doing, that, taking time to translate each word before saying it. (Go ahead and control what she says if you had anything particular in mind for the message.)

 

[Acteon Cass]

"Excellent." Acteon said as his lips curved into a predatory grin. His eyes took on the same look as a beast did when it finally spotted it's prey. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small sliver of charcoal and a scrap of paper. He handed them both over to Akane as they walked.

"Use these. Do not want to share your discovery with the heir until we know its true value." Acteon said as he looked at her.

The messages she decoded starting with the first layer stated:
<Your funds and additional supplies are in the same cave you used before. Show these documents to the toothy man there to prove your identity.>
<Help the carrier of this letter in his work. If he proves to be a problem or gets too annoying kill him. Take over his job if you do.>

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

She read to him the words of the letter. Her tone a little quieter than normal to avoid any overhearing, save from her guard, who's hearing was just as good as hers. She was a little disturbed by this, it didn't tell them much, only that the supplies were located in a cave and that it had to be within a certain distance of the town, far enough away to not be accidentally discovered, and close enough to not break one's back going to and from it.

She grimaced, nowhere near as helpful as she'd hoped it'd be. She sighed and folded the pieces of paper together neatly. "Any ideas? I'm out of them at the moment."

 

[Acteon Cass]

Frowned slightly as he listened to what the girl had to say. The message made it clear the now dead man was expendable and that they were lucky she could figure out that second code. No one would support a tyrant to whole heartedly if they knew how little their dedication meant. But that was no longer a concern for the man. What was a concern was if this cave would even be worth their time finding.

Akane's question caught Acteon's attention. His gaze trailed over to her. "Yes. Find this cave, kill the watcher, and take what is there. But that will have to wait until after we meet the heir. This information could be worth more than any coins in that cave."

Acteon thought it over a bit. He could likely track the cave if he took a look at his maps, asked around, and tracked the scent of the dead man. But that last bit would reveal too much about him. She might be his but that did not mean she was or even could be trusted with secrets.

After a moment he said, "Can your kind track scents like a hunting hound or are you more inclined to listening?"

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

Akane's question caught Acteon's attention. His gaze trailed over to her. "Yes. Find this cave, kill the watcher, and take what is there. But that will have to wait until after we meet the heir. This information could be worth more than any coins in that cave."

She nodded her understanding. "Only problem is locating it. There are a lot of caves, and no telling how deep into this particular cave we'll need to go to actually find this watcher. On top of that there could be decoys, without any hints as to the cave's location, finding it is almost inconceivable."

Acteon thought it over a bit. He could likely track the cave if he took a look at his maps, asked around, and tracked the scent of the dead man. But that last bit would reveal too much about him. She might be his but that did not mean she was or even could be trusted with secrets.

After a moment he said, "Can your kind track scents like a hunting hound or are you more inclined to listening?"

"Our noses are attuned sure, not as much as that of dogs but only slightly less. We're far more inclined to listen, but following scents is nothing new to us."

 

[Acteon Cass]

Acteon noted what Akane had to say concerning her people’s senses. Could be useful in the future if he really did end up keeping the girl. Certainly he did own her right now but they might change their minds at some point.

"Good. For now no word of this to the heir. He needs to prove his worth first. Oh and hide the cipher somewhere. Again, wait till he proves his worth." Acteon said to her with a serious business like tone.

The Allirian looked over at the girl and suddenly smirked. "I would suggest you put it between your breasts but we both know how much room is actually there."

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Good. For now no word of this to the heir. He needs to prove his worth first. Oh and hide the cipher somewhere. Again, wait till he proves his worth." Acteon said to her with a serious business like tone

She did just as she was told. She put it in her wide cloth belt, which worked very well for hiding small pockets. And both the letter and the newly constructed cypher were hidden there. She didn't even respond with words, there was no need to.

The Allirian looked over at the girl and suddenly smirked. "I would suggest you put it between your breasts but we both know how much room is actually there."

She blushed and looked at him. "My breasts are perfectly fine! Aren't they?"

She was genuinely worried by this, worried that she wasn't enough. She had no real reason to worry, if she wasn't enough he wouldn't have claimed her, but even so it was every womans, from her homeland at least, greatest fear to not be enough for their "husbands". Polygamous marriages tended to be very, very competitive between women, so each one vied for their husband's affection and almost warred with the others over this. So any hint that they might be insufficient frequently made them panic. Akane was no different.

 

[Acteon Cass]

A chuckle escaped from Acteon when the girl actually blushed and got flustered over his comment. She had hidden the cipher already as requested, but the fact she was concerned over mentioning something about her figure was refreshing. Until now she was very self assured about how she looked and was built.

"For our activities with them they are. For hiding a trinket from view not so much. I fear the heir might see it poking out when his eyes naturally fall upon them."

Acteon looked over at her and made sure to be as obvious as possible with his staring at her chest. He was certainly enjoying teasing the girl now after how much she had squirmed while he was kidnapping her. A bit of retribution for swinging her hips around in his face in a rather unpleasant fashion.

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"For our activities with them they are. For hiding a trinket from view not so much. I fear the heir might see it poking out when his eyes naturally fall upon them."

Acteon looked over at her and made sure to be as obvious as possible with his staring at her chest. He was certainly enjoying teasing the girl now after how much she had squirmed while he was kidnapping her. A bit of retribution for swinging her hips around in his face in a rather unpleasant fashion.

She smiled at him, she was adequate. "Oh I'll keep them well hidden from him. They're only for you to play with~"

She walked ahead of him just a little, a slightly exaggerated sway in her hips as she walked. Two could play the teasing game, and if she remembered correctly, he was rather fond of spanking her, not something she could complain about. But before fifteen minutes had passed she needed to stop her antics, they'd arrived.

It was what appeared to be an old bandit-built fort that had been renovated into a proper one. It was still made of wood, but the walls had proper battlements, and the people inside were properly equipped, outside there was a large pile of bodies, bandits it seemed, three quarters of the dead men had their heads cut off. Samurai work.

Their guide brought them inside, where the other samurai stood guarding the damaged gate. It was time to meet the heir.

(Shall I RP him or do you want to?)

 

[Acteon Cass]

"A shame for you then kitten. No one to play with you if I am not around."

The playful swaying of her hips did not go unnoticed, but nothing was going to come from it. Acteon was still feeling sated from the previous night and more importantly there was a job to be done. Indulging in anything now would be wasteful and distract them from their goals. There would be time later for such activities once they were finished with this place.

The fort they found themselves at had been quickly gotten back into working order. How good of working order was unknown but good enough to handle the current attacks upon it. The pile of corpses and piked heads around the place were testament to that fact. He stopped by them to examine what they were dealing with. Despite how mismatched their equipment was, it was in good shape and looked somewhat new. A sign had been erected near the line of piked heads. It read: ALL BANDITS KEEP AWAY OR ELSE!

One of the heads caught Acteon's attention and got a raised brow from him. A slight smile formed on his face.

"Interesting." Acteon said before following the guide into the keep past the girl's guards.

Ōjo Akane

(Sure go ahead.)

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"A shame for you then kitten. No one to play with you if I am not around."

"It would be worth the wait." She says simply. "especially with what you're capable of."

The samurai guiding them couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was amusing sure, but most unbecoming for someone of such noble birth. But who was he to say anything. So he simply continued to guide them to the fort.

One of the heads caught Acteon's attention and got a raised brow from him. A slight smile formed on his face.

"Interesting." Acteon said before following the guide into the keep past the girl's guards

Akane noticed his look and asked, "Someone you know?"

 

[Acteon Cass]

"Someone we both know kitten." Acteon responded to her.

There was no time for Acteon to explain what he meant however as the keep was a rather active place. Merchants turned quartermasters were in a dispute with some soldiers under a tent about something. The way they kept showing their ledgers to the soldiers and slapping certain sections clearly meant it was about a shortage of some kind not being respected. Perhaps coin or a war material like beer or blankets.

New recruits were being shown the basics of spear and shield combat by making a group of awkwardly lined up farmers and laborers poke logs buried partially into the ground with dulled training weapons. The emphasis seemed to be on the group dynamic of the combat, but the recruits were having a hard time with the group part of it. Rather common sight for a bunch of unblooded recruits.

As they came closer to the doors of the keep, it became clear how the internal sections were not as rebuilt as the walls. Plenty of the buildings still lacked roofs and even some entire floors. Blankets and planks were being used to keep the weather out in the places workers weren't trying to turn a pile of debris into a half proper warehouse.

Acteon looked over at Akane. "And what do you think so far? Notice anything about the place?"

Ōjo Akane

 

[Ōjo Akane]

"Someone we both know kitten." Acteon responded to her.

There was no time for Acteon to explain what he meant however as the keep was a rather active place. Merchants turned quartermasters were in a dispute with some soldiers under a tent about something. The way they kept showing their ledgers to the soldiers and slapping certain sections clearly meant it was about a shortage of some kind not being respected. Perhaps coin or a war material like beer or blankets.

New recruits were being shown the basics of spear and shield combat by making a group of awkwardly lined up farmers and laborers poke logs buried partially into the ground with dulled training weapons. The emphasis seemed to be on the group dynamic of the combat, but the recruits were having a hard time with the group part of it. Rather common sight for a bunch of unblooded recruits.

As they came closer to the doors of the keep, it became clear how the internal sections were not as rebuilt as the walls. Plenty of the buildings still lacked roofs and even some entire floors. Blankets and planks were being used to keep the weather out in the places workers weren't trying to turn a pile of debris into a half proper warehouse.

Acteon looked over at Akane. "And what do you think so far? Notice anything about the place?"

Ōjo Akane

"It looks run down, but functional. Low on resources but getting on their feet. It looks like they're in a rough spot but not so much of one as to be hopeless. In fact they seem to be doing quite well all things considered." She mused, looking around at the quaint little setup.

"Not quite as well as we'd like." A man's voice said from behind them.

A man, a young one, maybe twenty three or four, walked up to them, clad in mostly gambeson armor with plate armor on his shoulders and arms, along with his hands which were clad in plate gauntlets. A longsword at his hip.

"I assume you two are the foreigners." He says. "My name is Arthur. May I ask yours?"

Akane bowed in polite greeting. "I am Akane. It's a pleasure."