[Hardkandy]

Hardkandy scooted in front of Ottis, blocking him from the view of the Bruisers. "There's the Salty Sailor," she said, pointing down. "I think the innkeep sells patches, if you're serious." She flashed Mockrabbit a quick smile. "The open market's in that long building -- odd to have an open market in a solid building, don't you think? Anyway, that's our first stop." She patted the bundle of skins. "If we're lucky, we won't have to dicker too much. Skins are always in demand, and the herbs I've got are good for the upcoming fever season."

She led them down to the lower end of Booty Bay, indicating prime fishing spots and the scattering of smaller bars. "They're always changing," she said. "Most don't last very long. "

[Mockrabbit]

Mock took note of the places as they passed the store fronts and bars. Ottis was still a few yards ahead of them and still scrounging. A bruiser with an eye patch stood outside one of the small bars. Ottis stopped and waited as Mockrabbti and Hardkandy reached him.
"That one looks nice, why don't you ask him for his patch?"
Hardkandy snickered, and a few others walking by them stared.
Mock moved over to Ottis, knelt down, and patted him on the head. The bruiser didn't hear Ottis.
"Maybe I can find a nice parrot 'ere. One t'at doesn't talk as much".
"They tend to stop talking when they're being eaten".
Mockrabbit rose again. Hardkandy had stopped in front of the two quibbling curiosities. It was entertaining to watch the two take jabs at each other. A smirk formed on her face. "Oh, you don't need a parrot. Maybe he just needs some training".
Mockrabbit let out a gravelly chuckle, his jaw rising and falling loosely. Not having lips made him look more of a child eater than entertained. The small crowd that had started gathering around them took a short step back at this sight. Some where looking to see if the rabbit was talking or if the Forsaken talking to it was a ventriloquist. Others simply stopped to find out what was going on. A few quickly moved on after spotting, or smelling, the corpse. The bruiser with the eye patch was among the crowd, stone faced but taking in the show. A Goblin looked on attentively, keeping her eyes on the rabbit and the undead.
"I've tried but he refuses to roll over and can only just barely play dead".
Laughter rose from the small crowd, Hardkandy laughed along with them, attempting to muffle the outburst with her hand, her skins shook on her shoulder. If Mockrabbit could smile he would have right then, instead he closed his mouth to form his skeletal grin and crossed his arms. He looked down at Ottis who was looking over the crowd, his ears up and nose twitching.
"Well, now t'at ya have an audience maybe I should make ya disappear". Mock said with a false tone of seriousness in his voice. "Or maybe I sell ya to t'a highest bidd'r an' go buy t'at parrot" he said as he raised what was left of an eyebrow. Hardkandy jumped up and down, raising her hand in the air excitedly "OH! Five gold, I bid five gold!". Ottis lowered his ears a bit and glared at the Blood Elf, "Five gold? FIVE GOLD?! you clearly cannot spot a priceless masterpiece when it is right under your nose. I reject your pittance!". Ottis turned his back to his companions, turned up his nose and took a couple of short steps towards the crowd that was now laughing quite heartily at the scene. Ottis was eating it up. Hardkandy was enjoying the performance just as much as the audience, if not more.
Mock lowered himself to his right knee, resting his hands on it. He looked up at Hardkandy who was still grinning ear to ear, " I guess I'm stuck wi't him t'en. Maybe I can 'teach' him to be quiet. T'at, or a muzzle". Hardkandy looked down at Mock and raised her hand to her chin " A muzzle might mean the end of your fingers". Hardkandy knelt down and reached into on of the pouches on her belt, a small piece of jerky was produced which she extended towards Ottis who was still ignoring the pair until he caught wind of the dried meat. He quickly ran over to Hardkandy and snatched the scrap from her hand, swallowing it quickly. " With enough food I think you can keep him quiet, and happy. You can call it 'training' ".
Ottis smacked his lips, " No one trains the Furry Vengeance! You'd have better luck teaching that bag of bones to stand on his head".
Hardkandy jumped up to her feet and in the blink of an eye was standing on her hands and walking backwards in a circle around the pair. " Not hard at all!" she exclaimed before using her arms to propel herself back onto her feet. Ottis looked up at Mockrabbit, " She learns quick, what's your problem?".
Mockrabbit crossed his arms again and rubbed the rabbit's head.

[Hardkandy]

Hardkandy straightened the bundle of skins back into place. "I think he needs to limber up," she said, giving Mockrabbit a quick grin.

"I dunno," someone called back from the crowd, "them Forsaken can be mighty quick!"

Her grin faltered. Forsaken. Venomspite..

No. She wouldn't think about that now.

"No more acrobatis until I'm rid of these." She patted the skins, and, trotting through their impromtpu audience, ducked inside the marketplace. A goblin with a coil of nets across her shoulder hopped out of Hardkandy's way, shooting the blood elf an angry scowl. Hardkandy waggled her fingers in apology and made her way to the hide dealer's booth.

He was in a mood to dicker. Hardkandy didn't notice when Mockrobbit and Ottis joined her, Ottis keeping up a sotto voce commentary on the market's customer base. Just as they had reached the point of hard silver, the hide dealer decided he wanted her herbs as well. Nonplussed but willing to oblige, Hardkandy settled on her skins and began a new round of bargaining.

"Awful lot of guards here all of a sudden."

Ottis' comment made the hair on the back of Hardkandy's neck stand on end. She slid the herb pouch across the counter. "That's good for today," she said, and held out her hand. The hide dealer counted out the price a little too slowly. Hardkandy pocketed the coins and turned to Mockrabbit.

"That's that. We can get some fishing in now." She started for the exit, Mockrabbit and Ottis falling in behind her. She didn't look at the Bruisers milling through the aisles. "I know just the cove."

The exit was there, only feet away. She stepped through it. Mockrabbit craned his neck, looking up and down the walkway. Ottis raised on his back paws. "Something stinks and it's not fish."

"Hey, good deal you got back there..." A Bruiser showed his teeth. "... Dejia."

[Mockrabbit]

Mockrabbit stopped beside Hardkandy, who was briefly startled at the appearance of the Bruiser stepping in front of them.
"..Vu?" Ottis could be heard saying aloud. The guards that had surrounded them looked at the three with a little confusion. Hardkandy took a quick step back. "Deija?" Mockrabbit replied, "I t'ink yir mistak'n. No Deija 'ere". He had said it with a tone of respect in his voice, there was no point in escalating a situation of mistaken identity. "No, not mistaken corpse", the Bruiser kept his eyes on Hardkandy in his reply to the Forsaken. Hardkandy shifted a little uncomfortably and placed her hands behind her back. The Bruisers had tightened around the three. "This is the elf I'm looking for".
Ottis moved out in front of Hardkandy and coiled up on his hind legs. "You are mistak'n I'm afraid", there was forcefulness in this reply. He took a step towards the still smiling Bruiser, " T'is is Ha'dkandy, a skin an' herb trad'r. You can call me Mock, a sold'r o' t'a Firsak'n". Ottis rose up to his hind legs and pushed his front paws onto Mockrabbit's leg, his claws scratching his the plated boot. "Yeah, yeah. T'is be Ottis". Ottis looked over at the guard, his ears lay back.
Hardkandy stood straight up again, her hands still placed just out of sight of the goblin. She nodded, "I'm just here to fill an order", She was trying to sound convincing in her statement."Thought I'd take my friends here to do some fishing, they've never been to the bay you know", She was talking a little faster now, "But maybe it's best we be on our way, sorry about the confusion". Hardkandy flashed a smile.

[Hardkandy]

They weren't buying it.

Years of watching and studying guards had gifted Hardkandy with certain insight into the meanings of a shift of a stance, the tilt of a head, the twitch of a hand. She wasn't sure exactly how Booty Bay's Bruisers had twigged to her, but they had.

How, how? Hardkandy shushed the tiny, panicky voice in the back of her mind. Things could be sorted out later.

The confused smile still on her lips, Hardkandy said to Mockrabbit and Ottis in accented Gutterspeak, "Jump."

Then she did, right into the crystalline waters of Booty Bay.

[Mockrabbit]

The bruiser that had stopped them quickly tried to reach out and grab Hardkandy but the elf was too quick.
"What the hell is going on?" Ottis said looking up at Mockrabbit.
" Looks like we're goign fir a swim" Mock replied. Ottis tried to back away from Mock as he reached down and scooped him up. The brusiers had circled around the two, a few others keeping watch on the water trying to track Hardkandy.
The brusier had a scowl on his face, "You are staying with us until your friend comes back for you".
Mockrabbit shock his head, "Sorry big guy, we 'ave a date wi't t'a fishes, apparently."
The bruisers closed in to grab Mockrabbit. He raised Ottis over his head and threw the fur-ball into the bay. "No,no,no,NO!" Ottis yelled as Mock released him into the air, "I hate fishing!".
A couple of the brusiers grabbed Mock, on had a hold of his right arm, the other struggling to grasp him around the waist. A quick spin forced the one around his belt to fall and release. The brusier on his arm tripped over the fallen one. A quick blast from Mock's elbow made sure he fell. The corpse ran to the edge of the dock and stepped into the water, brusiers right behind him narrowly missed grabbing him.
"The corpse sank like a stone, trying to swim with plated armor on. He won't last long", one of the brusiers exclaimed. A fist quickly struck the side of the Goblin's face, "He doesn't need to come up idiot! he's already dead!"

[Hardkandy]

The impact nearly stunned Hardkandy into making the fatal mistake of opening her mouth. She saw nothing but a curtain of vivid blue and bubbles. She wasn't sure which direction was up, which was down. Blinking, lungs burning, she kicked and swung her arms in what she thought was down.

A pillar, washed-out brown and barnacle laden, rose like a tree in front of her -- one of the boardwalk's supports. Near what should be its top, dancinggolden gleams. She moved toward it frantically, clawing up the softened wood until her head broke water. She drew in deep, shuddering breaths, treading water.

She heard shouting and feet racing above her, both muted somewhat by the daily business of Booty Bay's docks. This support was on the outside of the boardwalk, visible to anyone who cared to look across the port. The inside supports were in the shadows. She gulped in more air in case she had to dive underwater and dog-padlded to the support just across from her.

Hardkandy clung to this support like a baby monkey to its mother. The bank rose up at her back, sand and rocks and jungle plants considered not worth the effort of clearing away. Her attention swung between the ruckus up above for any verbal indication of search parties, and the water in front of her for Ottis and Mockrabbit. Mockrabbit was a Forsaken -- he didn't need to worry about breathing -- and Ottis was... Ottis. But it was so easy to get disoriented in the water. They could walk out of the Bay and get eaten by something big. She hoped either would spot her soon.

[Mockrabbit]

It was tough moving at the bottom of the bay, his plated boots sunk at least a foot into the mud with every step. Sometimes more. Looking up Mock could still see the silhouette of the dock behind him. He had only managed to move about ten feet away from it so far. It looked like a few bruisers were still trying to track him, but were quickly leaving one by one out of view. " Doesn't look like t'ey want to drag t'a bay" Mock thought to himself.

He picked another heavy foot up from out of the thick silt trying to keep him in it's depth. One step back towards the dock. A large crab scurried towards him, emerging from some kelp next to the dock post that jutted out of the semi-clear water.

Another heavy step forward, his foot sinking deeper this time, up to his knee. Mock fell forward. His arm moved out to break his fall, only to sink in the muck up to his shoulder.
The crab moved closer. Mock pulled one of his maces from his back with his free hand and sunk it into the mud. Bracing against the mace he pulled himself back up, but was still knee deep in this temporary prison. The crab raised it's pincers.

Mock struggled but pulled the mace from the mud and raised it over his head with both hands, and then brought it down...completely missing the bottom feeder. The impact of the mace in the mud was enough to cause the crab to move away and continue looking for a meal somewhere else. "T'at's w'at I t'ought".

Slowly, painfully, he shuffled one leg forward through the thick mud; then another. Getting back to the dock was going to take a little time, asuming he didn't find a hole and sink into the mud completely.

He wasn't too worried about guards that would be swarming piers at this point. They wanted Hardkandy, although Mock wasn't sure why. Looking up at the surface of the water under the dock Mock could see a small creature flailing, trying to stay a float and keep itself moving. "He's tak'in to t'a wat'r well. He need'd a bath anyway". Mock chuckled to himself as he kept moving forward through the muck.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hope a shark finds him!", Ottis was struggling to swim to shallower water near the shore. He thought he could see someone bobbing up and down in the water next to a post. He started splashing in that direction, some of the waves crashing over his head and submerging him for a few seconds every so often.

[Hardkandy]

Something moved toward her. Something small.

Hardkandy shielded her eyes with one hand, trying to make out what it was. She kept her other arm wrapped around the post, delaying her slow slide into the water. A wave crested, a tiny head bobbed up, the head and the body to which it was attached coasting forward in the wave's wake.

"Ottis?" Hardkandy whispered. She dropped her hand from her eyes, held it out. The something lurched forward -- it was Ottis -- and scrambled up her arm to perch on her shoulder. Hardkandy reached up and petted one soggy ear.

"So happy you escaped! Where's Mock?"

[Mockrabbit]

With each rise and fall in the water Ottis was forced to scramble to stay on, or at least attached to Hardkandy's shoulder. Ottis used his front right paw to tap Hardkandy's cheek when there was a small break in the waves. He then looked off into the water, a short distance away from where Mockrabbit had thrown him into the bay, before jumping in himself.

Hardkandy looked at the drenched, grappling, rabbit and then to where it's gaze directed. She couldn't see anything below the water from where she was. Ottis didn't seem panicked though, more than anything annoyed with his present situation. If Ottis didn't seem worried than Mock must be doing alright'.

A small wave broke against the pier, the spray hitting Ottis in the face and knocking him back off of Hardkandy's shoulder. Hardkandy reached out and grasped the 'drowning rat' by his back and puled him back to her. Once again he hurried back up onto her shoulder. He stared at Hardkandy; she nodded in return. "I know, but we need to wait a little longer before going to shore", she looked back up at the dock floor above them. Foots steps could still be heard, although not as many. Off at a smaller dock she could see bruisers clamoring into row boats. "Maybe not to long...". She looked around. They needed a way out the water, or better place to hide.

Another wave swept up, Ottis slid off of his perch again, and under the water this time. Hardkandy scooped up her flailing friend quickly.

Ottis shook his head sending droplets flying in a spray in all directions. He looked back over to where Mock had entered the water. There was a shadow from atop the pier cast down on the water. Too small to be a bruiser, but not moving from it's spot. Someone was watching the corpse.