A/N: Spyro and I share a birth year lol. Yes, I spelt Œuf as Ouef on purpose.
Edit: changes Skelos to Scorch because I figured it'd fit better.
Hunter favored the same opinion as Elora, when it came to Moneybags.
Unlike her, though, he was much, much more laidback and passive with his opinion.
Of course Hunter noticed the shady behavior; he also knew a little bit about the behind the scenes dealings that the bear had. Hunter may be a bit of an air head, but he wasn't an idiot.
Plus, people felt comfortable around him. They talked. After all, how would dense ol' Hunter understand the severity of the things they talked about?
(Spoiler: he understood all too well. He could give a list of at least three people in every Realm of Avalar that had either bought or sold less-than-legally with Moneybags.)
But he had never felt the need to act over it. While The Professor was highly respected (Avalar didn't have any singular government; each Realm had their own leader, and the Home Worlds were considered Neutral territory - though the Professor was considered something of a Judge, or High Status in the Home Worlds. Not that the daft little mole would notice it, Hunter thought fondly.) he didn't wield any official authority. Nor was there anyone else able to truly wrangle the lawbreakers.
Even if Ripto somehow seized the Home Worlds, Hunter had a feeling that he would be tolerant of this sort of behavior.
Hunter stepped onto a portal, transporting with a blink to Autumn Plains.
-and right into rain.
"Yech!" He growled. Shaking a fist to the sky, "Stupid rain! You got me this time, but next time I'll- I'll remember a rain coat!"
"Hunter?"
Blinking owlishly, Hunter turned and, registering who it was, grinned widely. "Elora! Hey, I was just looking for you!" He swiped the headfur hanging in his face away.
Elora couldn't help but twitch a grin; Hunter was one of her good friends, if not best friend.
Her own hair hung limply in her face, obscuring her vision. "Let's get to the Professor's lab and out of this rain."
"Seconded," Hunter agreed, glaring at the sky mutinously.
It was a bit of a walk, but once they stepped within the castle walls it was well worth it. It took a few turns, and then through a turnable wall, but there was the portal to the Professor's lab.
Well, one of them anyways.
By time they went through, falling forwards with a tilt as though tripping through a doorway, the warm sun was already drying them off and they could hear the cry of seabirds.
"So, what brings you here anyways?" Elora asked, ringing out the last of the moisture from her own mane. "You don't go through Autumn Plains very often - unless you were looking for me - in which case, either you're bored, or you lost your running shoes again."
"Hey!" Hunter cried. "I resent that! I can have perfectly valid reasons to look for you besides being bored or needing to get out of trouble. Plus, I don't need the shoes anyways," he muttered.
She gave him a deadpan look. "First off, yes, you do. Remember last week? You hunted me down to go Ice Fishing is Crystal Glacier? What about two days ago, huh? When you got your tail stuck in-"
"Geez! Okay, okay, I get it! But I swear, this times different."
"-and besides, those are special running shoes that a pediatrist insistes you wear so that you don't tear your paw pads to shreds, you dolt. So yeah, wear them." she poked him in the chest for emphasis, then turned to walk away.
Hunter rubbed his chest morosely. "Okay, I get your point. Even though shoes are stupid," he murmured. Then, louder, "But I did want to discuss something important!" He jogged to catch up next to her, biting his lip pensively. "So, here's the thing; word in the grapevine is that MB has something real valuable. Like, serious big bucks."
"So?" Elora snorted. "Nothing we can do about it, whatever it is."
Hunter jumps in front of her, walking backwards and talking. "But, here's the thing; I hear this kinda stuff all the time. It's usually trinkets or junk that he swindles for. Not something that he's been hiding from his buyers for almost two weeks."
Elora rolls her eyes. "And where did you hear this from if he's so keen on hiding it?"
Hunter grinned. "The Guild."
She stopped short, face falling. "You've been talking with the Egg Theives?!" She grabbed him by his tank top, shaking him, "Are you insane?! Do you know how many people go missing because of them?!"
He gently pried her paws off. "Hey, hey! Cool it, Elora! I haven't been messing with them if that's what you mean! It's ol' Uff, you remember Uff, right? Always hanging around that Tavern in Scorch? I stopped by and he just started talking - wouldn't stop, actually."
Her paws still held, she slumped forwards, groaning, "His name is Ouef, you idiot. But," she sighed, then looked up, "you're right. That's not so bad, and he's usually so out of it it's not like he can snitch on you for knowing too much. Anyways, how do you know his information is reliable."
Hunter's Classic grin came back. "Because he didn't know any details. He always tells the truth if it's straight forward and unfiltered. If he starts adding specifics, then you know he's lying; he's backwards like that."
Elora skipped around him with a kick of her hooves. "Okay, so let's say that he's right; Moneybags is hiding something big - big enough for him that he's not ready to market it yet, or he's wanting to go about it carefully. This brings us back to the original point: what does it have to do with us, and what would we even do about it?"
Elora noticed Hunter wasn't besides her; turning, she saw he was still, looking down at the sand. Conflicted.
"The thing is, Elora. . .whatever Moneybags is hiding. I think-" he looks away suddenly, uncomfortably. Sucking in a sharp breath, he looks at her with resolve and finally says, "I think whatever he has is alive."
He sees how the shock drains her. Draws forth a quiet, "oh."
Hunter nods. "Yeah. So let's go talk to the Professor."
"Yeah. Let's go talk to the Professor."