Following a Crook

Spying was not Ilda's forte, nor was it something she liked the idea of. In fact, she considered spying fairly low on the totem pole of priorities or things to take part in, as she seemed to feel spying was a form of cheating. However, the please of a desperate mother who was losing money to a fellow using equally suspicious and dirty tactics? She'd happily give up one moral to uphold another in a case like this. But she knew she couldn't do it alone.

While it was true Ilda loved helping people, she loved to fight just as much. Even if she would never truly be alone with her pet always by her side, Vanna could do little more than be an ear to rely on or give words of wisdom to the woman while she was out and about. It was actually the very fox that offered Ilda's help in the first place, wanting Ilda to learn a difference in good and bad than what she knew- and that all things had shades of gray involved.

Even Ilda knew that Vanna wouldn't be enough. She walked the streets at the center of town not too early from the time the man was expected to arrive. Surely, she wouldn't do this alone! She took cautious steps towards what appeared to be a woman not far away. The woman had white hair in a ponytail, just to the side of her head. For some reason, Vanna was sniffing her quite inquisitively.

"Pardon my friend there. Vanna, what is it? You think she can help us?" The fox nodded, speaking its thoughts. Ilda took over from there. "My name is Ilda, and this fox is my pet, Vanna. We're in the middle of starting a job, but I was telling her I could use some help... Mind joining me? A young woman asked me for help catching a thief. We just need to keep an eye to see what he does. Think of it as a private investigation gig."

When she took another look at the appeared woman, Ilda noticed something fake about her front- but, not all women were born with notable busts, so it was entirely likely they'd try to hide that. She opted to ignore her senses, instead focusing on Vanna and the stranger- now known as Veleno- and their slight reprimand.

"Sorry 'bout that. Vanna has a knack for finding people that can help, and I'm not exactly good at stealth missions. We figured finding a double would make it easier not to stand out. I mean I could just cover by talking to Vanna, but we'd look more like actors I think." And Ilda was far from a good actor.

Holding a hand out, she kept scanning the crowd for the stranger in all black. You'd think in the colorful crowd, someone would know not to dress so conspicuously. "Nice to meet you, Veleno. Let's do our best together." She stood with her hand continually stretched forward until it was taken to shake. Once done, she'd put it back to her side, followed by an appeared eye roll.

"To your six." She mused, spotting the man in black. "Fits the description. How do we do this? I figured we make it look like we're a couple of girls on an innocent walk, but what do you think? Will it work?"

Ilda and Vanna exchanged glances. Why had a woman not meant for stealth chosen a mission like this? It was a good question, and Ilda liked the directness- but it also seemed to ignore other parts of the mission in her mind. "I may not like hiding, but I don't like what he's doing even more. When someone asks for help with a person using trickery and deceit, I can't help wanting to stop them."

"Yes, except you like to stop them by making them temporarily stop breathing." The fox mumbled.

Surprisingly, their voices were fairly quiet. Ilda wasn't exactly excited over the mission contents, but she wasn't horrible at keeping a low radar. In fact, keeping herself inconspicuous was common for Ilda when she wasn't in a fighting mood, as the less people noticed you the less likely they were to touch you without thinking.

Soon, Ilda was taking the lead and walking in the same direction as the man in black. She kept her head turned towards Veleno every so often, making a ruse of a conversation. The man surprisingly bought her bad acting, continuing on with his deceptively normal day. "So far he seems pretty simple. I would've guessed she wasn't the only target he had, but... Have you seen him do anything suspicious? Am I missing something?"

It was at that moment something suspicious did happen. He went into an alley instead of staying on the roads. An alley wasn't going to be good for them to follow him, so Ilda passed the alley at first and stopped a few feet away from it's entrance. "This area looks like the kind of place you'd find a ghost story, don't you think?" Ilda could only pray the 'ghost story' comment made it clear their perp was nearby. "I bet knowing about this place will help our contractor come up with some ideas for a story to tell, if nothing else." A story to the authorities about the suspicious man, anyway.

Veleno soon mentioned making a report, giving ideas as to what the stranger could be doing in such a suspicious meeting place. Dealing drugs, assassination- they were normal things. It was also possible in Ilda's mind that the man was stealing because of gambling debts, or any other of various possibilities. Whatever the case was, it wasn't like they could up and ask him. "You're right. Let's return and make our report."

Without a thought, Ilda began to lead the way back to where she'd agreed to meet their contractor to deliver the findings. Her long red hair swayed in a gentle breeze as her feet pitter-pattered against the walkway. There was endless chatter amongst the crowds, but Ilda managed to pay no heed to them.

Once they'd arrived at their destination, she spotted the young mother from earlier on and waltzed over. "Miss, we've returned with our findings. Veleno, would you like to do the honors?"