The Sentinel had heard of the Tailor. He had yet to meet them--but now, it seemed, was the best time.
Hunter's price had been more than fair, and he wished to fulfill both offered costs: hair dye, and a leather jacket. But The Sentinel knew absolutely nothing about making... well, jackets. His options were to search the cave, undoubtedly fruitlessly, for a piece of biological material in exactly Hunter's size that had somehow survived millennia; to ask the Collector, whose objects were supposedly often questionable at best; or to ask the Tailor who was right here in Cepheus and who made these things as a profession.
He picked his way carefully through the palace, armor clinking softly, blue eyes searching the shadows. Now and then it seemed to plunge into darkness--at one point, a fighter threw another in a spray of blood past him and into an open doorway. He could not be sure if it was real--and even if it were, though his hand tightened on the haft of his halberd, it wasn't his business.
He pressed on.
Then they were sliding off the way they'd come, confident and cheerful, leaving the Sentinel to follow--or not.
The Sentinel stared, nonplussed. The other creature was obviously fearless but moreso, had little sense, it seemed, of personal space. Not that he particularly cared--it offered a service that apparently required proximity, and so he allowed it without complaint. But-
Several times he opened his jaws, only to find that the Tailor was babbling happily on.
When the Tailor entered a room, he followed, though he paused at the doorway--first assessing any potential threat within.
Still-... leather jacket should be easy enough. Spikes-... maybe not so much.
"Either way, I can tell you what I need. A good bit of leather--gemless cave deer is generally best for that. Anything smaller is too small. Or if you want to go ugly-fashionable, something with scales," but, perhaps given their somewhat serpentine nature, the Tailor didn't seem so enthusiastic about that option. "Some scrap metal, whatever color you want the spikes to be. I can manage that, but preferably in smaller pieces. And-... well, whatever dye you want! -What color did you want the jacket to be?" they asked.
The Sentinel blinked at this new barrage of words.
Ahh-... and, colors?
Thinking back, he could not remember if Hunter had actually specified. But the Sentinel made an executive decision after only a moment's hesitation.
He did not clarify if the purple was meant to replace the black, or be 'in addition to.' Perhaps it didn't matter.
They beamed brightly. "I'll wait here, in the meantime, but--what do you think?" they asked.
The Sentinel thought this over, for a moment--and then went over the list one more time, aloud.
He'd try to find Hunter--and let him choose the details. In the meantime, he hesitated once more.
"Anyway-! I wish you luck. And hopefully, I will see you soon. I'll make some preparations!" they added, clapping their hands together and beaming.
The few Lesser birds that had gathered at their shoulders lifted off as they turned away, escorting them into the room, where reams of colorful cloth, lace, beads and more lay waiting on mannequins and tables.
He dipped his head.
A perhaps overly fanciful way of saying "I'll be back soon with the leather," but so be it.
The Sentinel turned, pacing back out, going over the things in his mind as if they were on some bizarre shopping list:
- Gemless deers' skins
- Something black (berries, feathers or gem)
- Something purple (berries, feathers or gem)
- Small silver metal piece or pieces
- Something gray (berries, feathers or gem)
- Someone who could cast a rainbow spell..?
With this repeating in his head, he headed out of the palace, eyes already scanning the voidlit gardens for his prizes. And for Hunter, too--for "measurements."
temporary exit
He returned later that day, delivering black berries carried in an amethyst geode that served as a small bowl, along with gray berries, and the hides of a blue and a red Kooru.
Once the Tailor had created the gray dye--and given it to him in the bottle--he'd departed again in search of someone who could 'create rainbows.'
He'd found that someone, eventually, two days later in Cetus, and then gone to Draco, if briefly, to cut away a segment of his baubled Tinsel--a gift from Naskital.
Now, at last--a full two and a half days later--he was here.
He wound his way to the tailor's room, the dye and baubled item in hand. Hopefully, by now, the leather jacket was mostly complete; it was just the starshot dye that needed finishing.