dated to just after this thread

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.

"Tailor..." he called, voice rasping. "Tailor..? It seeks-... clothing."

A little ways ahead, a serpentine face popped out from a doorway, eyes wide and peering. They took one look at the Sentinel, and tutted, slithering out in a flurry of white feathers and sparkling cloth. "And I can see why! What is this," they said, their tone one of sympathy, as they reached out to pluck at the armor. "Black on black on black?! Is this for battle or your funeral? Seems to me, if you wear this into a fight you've already decided the outcome! It's like a gemless dog made this," they added, and then winked, patting the Sentinel on the shoulder. "(They can't see color, I'm told)--oh. My name is Mimosa! And yes, I'm THE tailor! The best in all the caves! ALL the caves, if you'll believe that... Right this way, let's get you measured."

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.

"It is... not for me," he finally managed to interject, only after they'd turned away. But he followed, plodding along with slow clanking sounds as he went. And he explained. "It is for... another. It requires a jacket, of beast-leather. With--spikes," he added, remembering.

When the Tailor entered a room, he followed, though he paused at the doorway--first assessing any potential threat within.

Mimosa paused, peering over their shoulder with a quizzical look. "Oh! ...Er, do you have their measurements?" they asked.

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.

"Measurements," he echoed, empty, and then hesitated. He lifted his hands, and began an approximation of how wide and tall Hunter was. It wasn't very good in terms of actual tailor measurements. He did not know to give an idea of the torso's length and width, nor the arm size, but it was... close enough, if a tad large. "This... tall. This... wide. Is that correct..?"

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. "Black. And... silver." He paused. "Purple. Like stars." -Like Orion, he meant. He did not know Hunter well, but somehow, these colors... seemed to fit him, in the Sentinel's mind.

He did not clarify if the purple was meant to replace the black, or be 'in addition to.' Perhaps it didn't matter.

Mimosa blinked, hands slowly sliding away from the loom they'd initially been reaching for. "Hmm-... okaaaay," they offered. These 'measurements' would not be enough to go by. "Is it possible you could send the future jacket-owner here to be measured? And for the dye, in the meantime, I will also need something black--or purple, whatever you wish. Or both! Handfuls of berries, charcoal for black, colored feathers or gemstones--any of that will do. And if you want... stars, well. You could find some baubled stones, and I can crush them in for a swirling star effect!"

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.

"I will see if the Hunter of Beasts wishes to be... measured. And I will find... skins of beasts. Something black. Something purple. Something... baubled. And silver metal. In small pieces," he added.

He'd try to find Hunter--and let him choose the details. In the meantime, he hesitated once more.

"The Hunter wished also for... a coloring for his hair. In rainbow colors. Does the tailor know... where such a thing might be found."

They tapped one finger to their jaw, thinking. "We-e-ell, there's a few ways. You can find something gray and infuse it with true rainbow--but you'd need the spell to produce rainbows, for that! Grind up the gray, stick a rainbow through it and bam. It becomes rainbow! ...If it takes. It usually does," they added.

"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. "It will return, then, when it has found the things it must seek."

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.

"The Sentinel has found... rainbows," he informed them, stepping fully into the room.