While Parvaen was off in the less-shady part of the settlement to find some silken threads, the others of the troupe were busy walking around dark corners, off looking to either buy or sell. Tandkota, being the biggest, had been given the task of selling the pelt of Gauvir, a hefty sum surely to arrive in turn. Few would dare challenge the man, and as such, he spent very little time ducking into corners, which, obviously, he probably couldn't have done anyway.

With the strap carefully woven around his body, the bag remained in front of him, clutched securely within one of his arms, as he poked into different shops, asking if they were interested in buying. With the new regulations, however, he needed to find something else as a code for what he was truly interested in selling. He'd gone through 'blanket', 'tapestry', and even 'imported goods of the bestial variety', but to no avail.

Stepping out of another shop, unsold, the tauren grunted lowly under his breath as he turned to continue on, finding Shadowmoon walking in his direction, her own satchel strapped around her waist, her face contorting confusedly as she spoke up, "No takers?"

Tandlota shrugged, "No. But I figured I needed to be careful, what with these ordinances. I know Poore isn't above setting up fake shops."

Shadowmoon turned to the shop he'd just left, the sign above the door having just been recently stripped of its original carving and replaced with something that resembled an alchemic nature, "This used to be the place to sell our pelts."

The tauren groaned, "That's what I thought."

"Well, what did you say to them?"

Tandkota shrugged, "I asked if they were interested in buying some goat giblets. I was sure to wink and emphasize the 'giblets' part, of course."

Pithily enough, Shadowmoon stared at her friend, begrudgingly replying, "Tandkota, have you ever seen a tauren wink before?"

He paused, slowly, before answering, "No, I guess not."

Shadowmoon sighed, carefully taking the bag off his shoulders before ducking into the shop herself, the bell above the door clanging violently as she stepped along, eying the distracted man behind the counter. She grabbed the bag and threw it down onto the counter just before approaching it herself and leaning over it, fiercely.

"Hey asshole, how much?!" she shouted, "My friend was looking to hook you up; what gives?!"

The man watched her without raising his head, his eyes full of worry, which Shadowmoon only barely caught as she turned toward the back room, a dark specter of a man leaning out into the room, eyeing her with sinister intent, a large bolt pierced through his nose simply dangling in front of his face, hiding his grin.

"Thank you sir," Shadowmoon muttered, grappling at her bag, "You made a sublime point, and I'll be on my way. Sorry to bother-"

Before she could finish, she darted out the store, rounding around to the other aide of Tandkota, who curiously followed her with his eyes as she spoke up, "Well, now we know why he wasn't playing ball. He was being to bed by some bandits."

"What?" Tandkota sighed, enotionlessly.

Shadowmoon pulled him forward, "And we're next on the menu if we don't get out of here. Just move along; we'll find someplace else."

The tauren's strides were lengthy enough that easily kept pace, his annoyance not breaking through his calm demeanor, "Your ability to act before asking questions astounds me oftentimes."

Shadowmoon groaned, shaking her head, "I wouldn't keep doing it if it wasn't advantageous more often than not. I happen to come from a long line of impulsion, I'll have you know."

"Last month, you had come from a lineage of patient monks," Tandkota noted, plainly, forcing his companion to cringe.

Shadowmoon scratched her cheek, "Well, you know, it's been a very long line."

Tandkota gave the mildest of grins, choosing to change the subject rather than point out how few generations night elves actually had, "My apologies, by the way, for putting you out."

Shadowmoon shook her head, "Hey, I'm on rope and lure duty; it's not at all being put out. I'm not going to leave my tauren out in the rain, especially when he's often given the difficult tasks."

Huffing a light breath through his nose, Tandkota's form of a sigh, he went on, "What was the nature on your point of tauren's winking, anyway?"

She laughed under her breath, looking up at her friend and pointing a thumb up to his eyes, "Between that massive snout and all that hair, how anybody supposed to tell your eyes from anything else you've got up there?"

The large man turned his head, embarrassingly, causing a playfully shocked gasp from Shadowmoon, "Did I make the mighty Tandkota blush?!"

Proud of his stoic demeanor, this was, indeed, a large slight as far as Tandkota was concerned, though he quickly returned to normal, keeping his eyes closed so as to not see Shadowmoon's painfully obvious grin toward him. Still, the two went on, hunting down another dealer of their sort of merchandise, Shadowmoon pulling her large woolen coat higher over her shoulders as the stares continued at them from the shady dealers that lined the street.

Suddenly, Shadowmoon spun around, grasping the wrist of a rather decrepit man who had managed to approach them from behind. Tandkota remained walking, his eyes still closed, but he sauntered around as soon as the man's cries rose into the air as Shadowmoon twisted his arm.

"The last person who tried touching me like that had an arm ripped out from his socket," Shadowmoon seethed, pulling the man close, "You're desperately close to completing the set."

Tandkota walked over, the scraggly man's eyes turning to him in shock as he tried to pull away, though it only caused Shadowmoon's grip to tighten. The tauren patted Shadowmoon's shoulder, shaking his head as he muttered to her.

"Best not to upset the wrong people," his deep voice carried, "Same goes to you, too, human."

The man nodded hurriedly in agreement, still attempting to rip his arm free. Shadowmoon gazed at him angrily, pulling his arm toward her and around so that he spun backwards, her leg reaching up to violently kick him in the back, knocking him to the ground. He hurriedly scurried away, desperately reaching for his ill-fitting trousers so that they wouldn't fall down as he ran.

"Hope for you yet, young one," Tandkota smiled.

Shadowmoon groaned, "I'm impulsive, not a moron. One day I'll tell you about the time I grasped ahold of my smarts long enough to figure my way out of a spider's nest."

Tandkota nodded as the two continued along, pulling his shoulder around in a circle to reorient the bags strap higher onto his frame, "Perhaps I cast judgement too soon. You are certainly invaluable to our small group."

"Aww, Kota!" Shadowmoon mused in mock sincerity, smirking up at him as she playfully hit his arm, "In all seriousness, I do appreciate it."

The tauren turned down to her, "You said before that you didn't have a place of your own. I can't speak for the others, but I hope I've done what I can to accommodate you."

"Nuh uh," Shadowmoon quipped, "I don't want to be treated any different. You seem to do that; that alone makes me feel at ease."

Tandkota nodded once again, smiling mildly underneath his massive snout as Shadowmoon finished, "But to answer your thought, yes, I do feel like I have a place with you all. Not to sound all mushy and shit; you're he only one I could say this to- you're all sort of like the family I never had."

Her friend chuckled lightly, though it still jolted the ground beneath them, "Were it in my nature, I would tease you before accepting and/or reciprocating the sentiment."

Shadowmoon sighed, "Luckily, there's enough in mine to cover both of us."

Tandkota grumbled in agreement, pulling out his list to reexamine his tasks, "Hmm, mackerel for bait. That's unfortunate; I hate the smell."

Absently, Shadowmoon muttered back as she stealthily pulled her own slip of paper out from her pocket, "I guess we aren't catching you with it, then."

She eyed it about as skeptically as she'd done the first time she'd laid her eyes on it. Inscribed within were just a simple two words- so uncharacteristic of the dark, cocksure man who had written them down for her. Her task was a simple one.

"Help me."

The tick-tock of a gigantic, wooden grandfather clock reverberated throughout the sizable office where Ulric sat, sitting politely in a considerably shaky chair, considering the other or are furniture that sat around him. In front of him was an equally ornate desk; one that probably was meant to intimidate visitors simply by its size, though Ulric had seen it before and knew, as well, its owner.

Sitting still, his eyes blinked tirelessly while he remained focused on the patternous trails upon the wooden desk. He'd been here enough to understand was going on; the first visit here, he had nearly been entranced by the hypnotic ticking and tocking behind him.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

Tick.

The door quietly opened up to his side, Ulric's head swinging ever so slightly to see a man appearing- a man known simply as "Dwyer". The short man appeared twice his size simply due to his large muscles, honed in the brutal fist-fights though would occur underneath the shallow docks. He had made a reputation of himself on his quiet demeanor that hid the specter of a ruthless murderer. A perfect man to run an undercover gang.

"Ah," the man's dry voice began as he closed the door, "An old… Well, 'acquaintance', was it?"

Ulric nodded with an unenthused face, "That is correct."

Dwyer shrugged as he lankily walked over to his desk, admiring the tapestry that hung behind him, "You know, that was woven by Pandaren monks. First thing that was imported from that place."

He hopped into his chair, whirling around like a child, "Yeah, the curator cried when I stole it from him. He should have had more than eight bodyguards."

He stared off into space in deep thought, picking a sunflower seed from his open hand and tossing it into his mouth to chew, "Oh well. Ulric…acquaintance."

Dwyer leaned onto his desk, carefully dumping the seeds in a delicate pile on his desk before bringing his hand together, a crooked smile upon his dark face, "What is it that forces you to grace my presence?"

"Poore."

Dwyer groaned, throwing his arms into the air as if clearing his hands of Ulric's words, "That rat bastard, eh? What, 'd the old fool steal your lunch money?"

"No," Ulric answered, bringing a hand to his face, feverishly scratching his hairy chin with a single finger.

He sighed, reluctantly beginning again, "I know how stupid this is, but for me to continue what I'm doing, I'm more or less forced into it. Apparently, Poore is in bed with D.H.E.T.A., which is bad for my business and lifestyle."

Dwyer smirked evilly, "So, what, you're seriously asking me to launder your shit in and out of here?"

Ulric's eyes peered out the window absently, "Essentially."

"I hope you have more of a sales pitch…" Dwyer spoke monotonously.

Sighing, Ulric leaned forward, his hands articulating as he spoke, "I mean, you'd get a cut of course. All I really need is enough for myself and my guys to live off of. Of course, you'll get the satisfaction of showing up Deegan and D.H.E.T.A; I know that means more to you than gold."

"True. Very true," Dwyer chuckled amusedly as he leaned back in his chair, bringing his hands up behind his head, "When was it we were running with the Laskeshire boys? A few decades ago, now, right?"

Ulric's head sunk into his hand annoyingly, "Jesus christ…"

"No, no! Hear me out!" Dwyer insisted, reaching his arms out dramatically, "Remember, we were trying to sneak stuff through Three Corners. Gerald had it done, solid; then I got through. Then you moseyed on through and fucked it up."

Ulric shook his head, "I can't believe I'm telling you this, still. None of us knew the Marshall would show up when he did. Whomever went last was going to be the scape-"

Dwyer held out an open hand, silencing the guest as he grumbled under his breath, "I never could forgive you for that. I never did get my brother's watch back. Spent ten years huntin' it down."

Ulric sat there, uncomfortably so, as Dwyer shook his head, grabbing at a single sunflower seed and plucking it into his mouth, "And now, here we are. You, asking me for help. That's rich."

Watching him carefully, Ulric began sliding his hands off of the chair's arm rests, though it was too late. In a matter of a second, a dark hand had appeared from behind him, wrestling with his hand to keep it against the thin wood of the chair, a pair of handcuffs quickly snapping shut across his wrist as well as around the chair.

Ulric angrily grappled with the roguish presence, but the ghostly entity had just managed to evaporate back into the darkness, leaving Ulric to desperately grab ahold of the cuffs, yanking at them furiously.

"The chair's bolted to the ground, by the way," Dwyer addressed, blankly, his feet up on his desk as he picked seeds from his open hand above his stomach, "It's the least I can do for a- …well, an acquaintance."

Ulric snarled at the man, "What's your game, Dwyer?"

He shrugged, "You fucked me over bad, Ulric. Real bad. You were lucky your family died while you were young. You have no idea what it's like to have a brother who spends his entire life looking out for you. Protecting you on the streets. Beating the fucking shit out of Daniel Parthidge because he had the audacity to hit me with a brick. You have NO idea what it's like for that same person, who you worshipped like a GOD, to die so brutally at the hands of something you couldn't even understand, much less stop."

Dwyer gritted his teeth angrily, "You have no idea what it's like for that person to leave you with nothing but a watch. A watch some fucking ingrate you picked off the streets managed to lose."

Ulric had lowered his head, hiding a grin, though he lifted himself up to show off his expression, earning a stare of pure ire from his host, "You have no idea what makes me. If you knew what I'm made of, you'd kill your brother ten times over just to surrender those horrors."

His face turned to brace itself from the mass of sunflowers that had been flung at him as Dwyer stood up, stomping toward Ulric and grasping a handful of hair, lifting a fist as he angrily snarled down at him, his breaths heated as his body contracted mercilessly as his lungs sped up. Ulric smirked at him, attempting to entice his punch, but it never came.

Dwyer sighed deeply, shaking his head as he released Ulric's thick hair, "No. I'm better than this."

He rubbed his hands against each other before shoving them in his pockets, leaning back against his desk, "You know, you made quite the ruckus with that stunt you pulled to get in here."

Ulric eyed him curiously as he shrugged, smiling devilishly, "Assaulting a guard. Well, "threatening" one, but I mean, with Deegan, it might as well be the same. It would be a shame if, you know…"

A slight pause arose as Dwyer lifted his head as though waiting for a noise to emerge from somewhere. Indeed, his grin twisted into a cruel smirk as a loud set of banging nearly shook the entire building from below, leaving Ulric to look at the ground, confused.

"Oh! The cavalry's here!" Dwyer mused gleefully, hopping up to his feet as he clenched his hands together as he backed up toward the door, "Oh! I almost forgot. This is your place, and Deegan will be finding your collection of contraband in the basement. I doubt they'll care about your imprisonment. or any of your words for that matter."

Another collection of, considerably louder, knocking forced Dwyer to speed his taunting up as he twisted the handle, waving back to Ulric as he stepped out, his happy demeanor suddenly becoming sadistic, "See ya, fucker."

With a salute, Dwyer slammed the door behind him, leaving Ulric alone to stare at the door before dropping his head, eyes closed in focus. Not much time passed before the knocking turned violent, probably due to either a kick or battering ram- both meant for the same purpose. Ulric's ears perked as the sound of a marble dropping to the floor rang out ever so slightly, his head turning to the window to find a fur-clocked figure there, tinkering gingerly with the lock.

Another pang of lock being picked and the window opened just before the deafening crash of wooden door being caved inward and a rapid legion of footsteps began rattling the building.

"It may be an understatement to say I appreciate this," Ulric muttered helplessly as Shadowmoon knelt beside him, working on the lock of his handcuffs.

Shadowmoon shrugged as she peered at the cuff through a single open eye, "Giving me your entire share would be an understatement if they get up here before we get out."

Ulric grinned, "I'd say that's totally up to you at this point."

She eyed him sarcastically, "I could just leave you here, you know."

"You guys wouldn't know what to do with yourselves," Ulric muttered humorously as the clattering of boots ran up the flight of stairs, the unmistakable clanging of metallic boots leading the charge.

Shadowmoon eyed the door quickly, her fingers running her two pins hurriedly into the keyhole, Ulric's breath remaining steady as she worked. As the footsteps rang closer, she grabbed her dagger as threw it as hard as she could against the door, landing it perfectly across the door and its frame, holding the two pieces together as she continued lockpicking.

*BANG*

Ulric turned to the door, hearing the growl of Deegan Poore himself on the other side, "Son of a- Get the…"

He trailed off, but suddenly, an even louder BANG came slamming into the door, returning with another BANG as the Magistrate attempted to tear through the door with his foot. As the loud thuds melted the air, Shadowmoon's eye narrowed until, finally, a click sounded out before the next thud, accompanied by the crash of tearing wood.

Instantly, Ulric was standing, the two dashing toward the window, with Shadowmoon carefully sliding the glass pane shut before following Ulric off the rooftop. With all his manpower focused within the small building, the two easily slipped away into the darkness, clocked underneath the ever-extending shadows cast upon the large port by the moon above.

Shadowmoon took a breath in relief as she slouched her shoulders, hanging her head in exhaustion as she and her leader trudged along the dune just outside of Valiance Keep. Ulric, however, remained steady, as he always did. His gait remained at his normal pace, and his posture was as rigid, true to his style.

"Good call on my assignment," Shadowmoon complimented, pulling her large furred pelt off of her body to relish in the night air.

Ulric nodded, "Thank you."

"Really, don't," Kyra mused lightly, "I found time to make sure our goods were sold first."

Grinning, Ulric turned his head toward her, "Money before companions, eh?"

Shadowmoon smirked with a shrug, though she turned serious quickly enough, "If I had any doubt that you could handle much of anything by yourself, I'd have arrived sooner. Granted, you couldn't, but it's whatever."

Ulric eyed her, still with a cocksure grin, "We both know I could have gotten away."

"Oh, sure," Shadowmoon sighed sarcastically, "If you weren't handing me my money, I might be forced to disagree."

Ulric let out a light chuckle as he shook his head, pulling out his pocketbook, "How much did we make from ol' Gauvir anyway?"

"Enough," Shadowmoon answered, easily.

Shooting her an unamused stare, Ulric groaned, "Must we do this every t-"

"Twenty-five."

Ulric's eyes glazed over a bit as her words rolled around in his head, "Twenty-five hund-"

Shadowmoon shook her head with a grin, causing Ulric to slow to a stop in his speech, stuffing his pocketbook back where it came, "Well; we won't be needing that for a while, now will we?"

He laughed as he thought of the prospect of such a mass of money, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked upward into the sky. Shadowmoon watched his gaze, following his sight up into the heavens as well.

The stars above them were different this far north. As a child, Shadowmoon had spent many nights just staring into the sky, memorizing the stars above her. Feeling so lonely, each star could have been another wisp, longingly seeking the same sort of interaction Shadowmoon had sought.

Here, however, where she had companions, Shadowmoon saw them for the celestial bodies that they were- counting them aimlessly. She had no need, here, for them to be memorized. Instead, she memorized Remnaar's tricks, Tandkota's so subtle facial expressions, and Parvaen's sophisticated diction. She looked back down toward Ulric, wondering what it was about him she had chosen to memorize, though now that she thought about it, there hadn't ever been much to memorize.

"Well," Ulric mumbled aloud, "Guess we're both up the creek. Rendezvous was, surely, an hour or so ago. I'm the leader though; I guess I can skirt the rules."

He looked at Shadowmoon, who stared back, shrugging a single shoulder up to her face, "You're gonna let me escape to another band of hunters?"

"Not a chance," he chided with a smirk, "You're absolved; after all, you rescued me."

"I thought you could have handled it yourself."

Turning away, Ulric hid a sincere smile, "Maybe that was all bullshit."

"That's it!" Shadowmoon exclaimed, "That's what I keep tabs on with you- how much crap you feed us!"

"Ha ha!" Ulric laughed, "You think it seriously happens enough to constitute a counter?"

Shadowmoon's eyes caught him with a knowing glance, "All. The. Damn. Time."

All he could do was shrug, but he grinned in good faith anyway, "I hope you know it's all in good fun. I haven't ever lied to any of you. Well, maybe with Remnaar I split hairs, but you'd agree that it would have been for the best."

He returned to her challenging stare, her hand motioning for him to come at her, "C'mon. Show me what you got."

Ulric's head fell backward as he groaned lightly, turning to watch her from the corners of his unturned eyes, "You really need to take that pelt off more often around camp. We could use some feminine wiles."

"Bullshit!" Shadowmoon cried out, playfully, hitting his arm with a rather hard fist, "That's another one."

Shrugging, it was all Ulric could do to hold back a laugh, "Look, you were the one who told me to-"

"Shit!" Shadowmoon shouted out, Ulric turning to see her wildly running her hands up and down her person, "I left my dagger."

Ulric nodded, sarcastically replying, "Well, yeah; that was sort of the point, correct?"

"No," Shadowmoon answered, heavily, "My dagger. It's got my name on it. I meant to throw Little Kris."

As her hands worked around just to make sure, Ulric groaned slightly, "Well, I didn't want to break it to you until we had returned…but I don't think we'll be coming back to Valiance any time soon."

Shadowmoon watched him curiously as he went on, dejectedly, "You rescued me from an old, old acquaintance, who was sort of our last chance at continuing our little operation, at least here. It didn't work out, though."

"Yeah, no shit," Shadowmoon shot back sarcastically, forcing another smirk from Ulric.

He went on anyway, "We'll have to all sit and figure out where to go from here. Head eastward, perhaps, though I'm not fond of the Vrykul. Plus, that's Ursoc's territory. I'd rather take on Lathorius and Deegan at once before getting tangled up with that beast."

He sighed at the idea of impending changes, shaking his head before finishing, "Don't worry, we'll get you another dagger somewhere. Maybe in Dalaran- we're not exactly short on funds, are we?"

Shadowmoon groaned, shrugging, "It's fine. If we're not returning, anyway. Not like anybody with my name will ever show up there again."