Achoo! 

Astrid rubs her nose after she sneezes. It's been a while since she's had a cold, and she hates the feeling of a stuffy nose, red and warmed from irritation. With the winter months, she's definitely keeping her owl onesie and cape on, hoods up, to preserve her warmth. She and Blue Raspberry trekked home after their thief delivery to the Red Rogue hideout in Sol City resulted in an attack that left both of them with injuries, luckily all healed by magical means.

While on the ship, Astrid repaired the holes in her onesie and puzzled over how to repair the burned ends of Blue Raspberry's onesie. She ended up hemming the sleeves of their onesie to the best of her ability. It took a lot of effort to get the blood stains out, and they never quite did clear up from the white sections of the onesies. What's Cantio going to think? They can't hide this from him forever...

When they reach Sky Peak, the place Astrid once wandered the streets homeless, they make their way home to one of the biggest houses in the village. It's definitely odd to come here as a resident with a home still. It's been a couple of months and it still hasn't quite set in. But she always looks forward to it. She gets to see Cantio when he's home, and she gets to give shopkeeps smug looks when she slaps her own hard-earned money on the counter. She's come a long way in a short time, and with Winter's Crown, she wanted to give back to people. 

But all they walked away with were the things Astrid kept for Cantio to give to him for sentimental reasons. But Blue Raspberry had their own idea. They could still give back to Cantio! Surprise him with all these things they stole from his parents apparently. She loves the idea, but that involves sneaking into their own house. As hard as she's thought about what a plan could be, she doesn't have a good one. Her brain is quite foggy from being sick. 

Another sneeze sends her off balance, stumbling along the path. She sniffles, rubbing her nose. They finally reach the house, and she looks at the front facade. "Um... Maybe we should make a plan first."

---

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Become the thief!
Chapter: Three
Description:
The night has come, the eve of the Winters Crown, the longest night in Charon. People all across Charon are going to be dressing up as the Red Rogue and attempting to deliver stolen goods to poor families. We need you to help us, by becoming one of the Red Rogues and delivering the stolen goods to a family in need. But watch out, there is likely to be someone out there trying to stop you, or even harm you!

Requirements:
- Requires exactly two people (you and one other, can be doing opposing quest)
- You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words
- Once you complete this mission you have completed this quest chain and may now purchase items from below.

Blue Raspberry handed Astrid a handkerchief to blow her nose. The ooze had never been sick before, probably couldn't catch human diseases at all, really, but Astrid didn't look good. It was obvious there was something wrong. She was stumbling and sneezing and much less good at thinking than usual. They took the used handkerchief back and shoved it back into their stomach without a thought, hardly noticing all the snot in it. Blue might have to take the lead on this mission, thinking of the plans and leading the way. A scary thought.

"Right! A plan!" Blue Raspberry folded folded their arms in front of their chest and closed their eyes. The newly hemmed sleeves were much shorter, but still just as oversized, the fabric bunching up in front of them. They had thought the sleeves looked cooler with the burnt edges, but Astrid was worried they would upset Cantio and they didn't want to upset Cantio, so they let her hem them and fix the hole in the sleeve from one of Ceena's bolts. Thankfully their blue onesie wasn't too stained by their blue blood, or whatever leaked from them when they were injured anyways. 

Astrid wasn't feeling good, they needed to take the lead. They could do this! Think of a plan... A plan... A plan... Think of a plan... Yes! Perfect! They thought of the perfect plan!

"We sneak in!" Blue said confidently, one hand on their hip and the other held skyward in front of them, a big toothy grin on their face. "Climb aboard!" Blue said as they crouched down to let Astrid climb onto their back. They held her legs to make sure she wouldn't fall off and started walking around the side of the house to the back door leading to Astrid's workshop. They'd probably have a much better chance of sneaking in through there than the front door. Of course, both Blue and Astrid had a key to the front door, but where was the fun in using that?

Once they reached the back door, their hands were already occupied giving Sickstrid a piggyback ride, but that was easily solved by simply growing a second pair of arms! They tried to open the door, but it was locked. Oh, right, the trick! They reached over to the wall next to the doorknob and a bit of electricity sparked between their fingers against the brick until the door clicked open. They crept in and closed the door behind them as quietly as they could.

---

Extra Arms

After the long trek up here, Astrid didn't expect the last leg to be as a passenger on Blue Raspberry's back, but as fatigued as she feels, she doesn't argue. In fact, she really appreciates her friend's thoughtfulness. But, to sneak into their own house? She ponders that while Blue makes their way through the yard to the back entrance, and Charles clomps along behind them. Charles will be a problem, so Astrid turns around and schlorps him into the magical pocket dimension before he can argue. Spicy Pawsage will at least behave and won't offer unhelpful comments. 

Luckily, Astrid keeps the door separating the rest of the house and the stairs down to the workshop closed. She whispers, "Sneak in? To our own house?" A cough tries to force itself out of her lungs, and she covers her mouth to stifle it. It feels bad, and she muffles a sniffle, rubbing her puffy nose again.

"Alright, well we've done that. What d'ya s'pose we do now? Ya wanna plant alla the stuff then come back later? If Cantio's home, he's gonna see us and know we're the ones who put it all there." If he's not home, there's at least a foyer partially blocking the view to the kitchen and living room area. If he is home, they'll have to be really quiet. She hoped they'd have come up with a plan before entering the house, but being inside feels like a warm, welcoming embrace compared to the mountains' biting winter winds.

---

Pet Pocket

Plant it? They thought they were supposed to leave all the stuff for Cantio to find. When did plants get involved in this whole situation? Oh well, she is kind of loopy from being sick. They just decided to pretend Astrid didn't say that.

"We'll put the stuff places, real sneaky-like, and then sneak right back out, no problem! We're super stealthy! He won't see us at all!" Blue whispered excitedly as they walked through the workshop with Astrid on their back. They bumped into a worktable and nearly sent a tool falling to the ground, but they managed to catch it and keep it from clattering against the floor. Incredibly stealthy!

At the stairs up to the rest of the house, Blue stopped and readjusted slightly, changing the arms holding Astrid's legs to be their lower pair and hefting her a bit higher up on their back so she could see over their shoulder. Didn't want her sliding off while they were on the stairs. They started climbing slowly, doing their best to be as quiet as possible as they approached the door.

If Cantio was in the house, this would be where things got difficult. They turned the doorhandle and cracked it open as quietly as possible, just enough to peek through and look for any sign of the red man anywhere. Not seeing him through the door, they crept into the foyer, still keeping an eye out for him, and closed the door behind them.

So far, so good.

"Well, we shouldn't just plant 'em anywhere," Astrid says. Her voice is quite nasally with how stuffed and red her nose is. "The Rogues wanted us ta put 'em under a tree or near the hearth. Not sure why, figured it's just a Winter's Crown thin', ya know?" Why does she expect them to know? There's not a good explanation, especially since she also doesn't really know. 

There still doesn't really seem to be a plan, but who is Astrid to know the inner machination of an ooze's mind? They have an idea, and at this point, she's satisfied to let them play through their plan. She's too exhausted to really argue. They're home, and she could totally sleep in her bed... but Cantio would know they left all this stuff and ask them questions about where they got it. Maybe that's oka.... Astrid nearly dozes off against Blue Raspberry's back. 

At first, the house is quiet. Just as Blue Raspberry is about to step out, a door down the hall opens followed by footsteps and the sound of airy humming from one Cantio von Lumen. Without much noticing the ooze man, Cantio walks past the foyer into the kitchen wearing a shimmering silk negligee of deep crimson with black fuzz on the hemmed edges. On his feet are extremely fluffy black slippers that shuffle across the floor silently. He goes into the kitchen and sets a pot on the stove and turns to get something from the ice box.

---

Note: One can see the living room from the kitchen, though it is partially obscured by a wall. 

Blue Raspberry didn't understand why they were supposed to leave the stuff such weird places either, but they nodded along. They'd do it just like they were supposed to. They could handle it. Why people put trees in their houses, they didn't understand at all though. Well, at least they could eat it later. Astrid had said the tree wouldn't last forever and they'd get rid of it after Winter's Crown was over, so the ooze could have it then. They couldn't wait! But, that wasn't what they should be thinking about now! They had to put this stuff under the tree!

They started to sneak through the door when they suddenly froze, trying to stay as still as possible. Cantio walked by, not seeing them. Good thing a Tiefling's vision is based on movement! Maybe. Well, in any case, they hadn't been spotted, so the mission was going great! Now they just needed to stay unspotted. That might be a little difficult with Cantio in the kitchen though, since he could see into the living room where both the hearth and the tree were. Dang.

As they were trying to come up with a plan to stealthily stealth over to the tree, Blue felt Astrid's head rest against their back and her breathing grow a little heavier. Did she just fall asleep? Okay... They thought for a moment. New plan! A side mission! This is fine! They should just put Astrid in her bed. Easy. Easier than sneaking into the living room right now at least. Cantio shouldn't see them in the hallway, right?

Blue crept out of the foyer while Cantio's back was turned and hurried as quickly but quietly as they could into the hallway and out of Cantio's view. They walked down to Astrid's door, but before they could turn it thought of something. Wait, would Astrid be fine with the ooze entering her room without permission? She did tell them not to... She was currently on their back, but still. They hadn't been given permission! They weren't supposed to go into other people's rooms without their permission!

They crept a little farther down the hall to the door to their own room, opened the door quietly, and slipped inside. They had a bed. Apparently everyone was supposed to have a bed in their bedroom, so they had one, even though they didn't use it that much. They made their way through the neatly organized, but very filled with random junk room, and over to the bed in the corner. They picked up a bunch of things they had piled up on their bed, shoving them into their stomach quickly. They could put them back later. Right now they just needed to be quick and quiet, so moving it all around and off the bed would be too much trouble. Once the bed was cleared off, they turned around and lowered Astrid onto it. They pulled the blanket up over her.

"Don't worry, just sleep tight until I come back! I'll put the stuff under the hearth, no problem!" Blue whispered, crouching down next to the bed. They gave a big smile that might have either been very reassuring or very worrying to Astrid if she could see it and started off for the door.

When Blue reaches the end of the hall, Cantio still hasn't noticed any of the movement throughout the house. It gives Blue a perfect opportunity to slip into the living room and stay out of sight while the tiefling cooks away at something on the stove, humming to himself all the while. 

Then there's a loud sneeze from down the hall, from Blue Raspberry's room. Cantio nearly loses the entire pan of what he's cooking with how high he jumps. There isn't supposed to be anyone else in the house right now! Unless Astrid and Blue Raspberry just didn't let him know they're home. But that's unlike them! No, someone else must be here. Veliky did say assassins were after them... could this be..?

One hand pressed over his beating heart, Cantio shifts his pan from the heat of the stove and cautiously reaches for a rolling pin. His hand trembles, rattling the whole pin as he cautiously steps from the kitchen, peering down the hall. The doors are all closed. Where did the sneeze come from? It was high-pitched. Maybe that was Astrid? But what if it wasn't Astrid?

The whole time Cantio is too distracted going through scenarios in his head, his attention is completely pulled away from the living room.

Meanwhile, Astrid, who just sneezed herself awake, blearily looks around the dark room. Luckily her eyes adjust quickly, and she realizes she's in some kind of storage room. She recognizes a couple of pieces, specifically the ship's figurehead mounted on the wall. Oh, she's in Blue's room... But why? Did she blackout? She sits up slowly, rubbing her nose. How long has she been asleep? If she's in here, did they get caught? But... the surprise...

Feeling disappointed, defeated, and delirious, Astrid slowly stands up and shuffles to the door. When she opens it, Cantio hears the doorknob and rushes over, rolling pin held aloft like a bat, ready to attack the intruder. He tries to sound braver than he feels. 

"Whoever you are, what are you doing in my ho-"

"-Astrid??"

Astrid slowly realizes that Cantio is brandishing a kitchen utensil at her. Her eyes blink slowly, one after another, before her head tilts with tired confusion. "Da..?" she says before another sneeze nearly knocks her off balance. 

The rolling pin clatters to the ground as Cantio's fresh fatherly instincts kick in. It nearly falls on his tail. This goes unnoticed as he fusses over the girl in the hall. "O-Oh, oh, dear. Astrid! W-What's happened? How did you get in there? I didn't hear you come in!" His hand brushes across her forehead, feeling the feverish heat on her face. "Oh dear, you're so sick! I- Hold on. Let's get you some soup or cocoa. You can tell me later." 

With one arm across Astrid's shoulders, he carefully escorts her back down the hall. 

Blue Raspberry snuck into the living room as Cantio was still cooking, his focus entirely on the food being prepared in front of him. It smelled pretty good. What was he making? It would probably taste good, Cantio was a much better cook than Blue or Astrid. No! They needed to focus!

Blue crept through the living room and slunked behind the tree, hoping Cantio would remain as preoccupied with food as the ooze usually was. But, suddenly a sound of a sneeze came from the hall. Blue froze and watched Cantio in fear. Oh crap, he heard! Cantio was grabbing a rolling pin and making his way down the hall. No, this was fine! He shouldn't find Astrid as long as she stayed in Blue's room. Cantio never went in Blue's room! He hates going in there for some reason! This was a perfect opportunity for Blue to drop off all the stuff and then go get Astrid from their room and sneak back out of the house!

They quickly began to pull all of the stolen treasures from their stomach and carefully place them under the tree. Cantio's violin, his sketchbooks, the painting of him, his ravenbear stuffy, a whole pile of costumes and clothing, and some other knickknacks and things they'd found in his childhood bedroom.

With the payload delivered, Blue Raspberry crept over to the foyer and leaked down the hallway to see how things were going on Astrid's end. To their dismay, Astrid had been compromised! She'd been found by Cantio and now they were both headed down the hall! Blue retreated back into the living room in a panic and looked around for somewhere to hide. The only place they could think to go was up.

With blue goo coating their hands and feet, they quickly climbed up the wall and clung to the ceiling, hoping not to be spotted.

---

Space Pocket
Slimy Hands

Astrid rubs her nose, embarrassed about being caught, but maybe she gave Blue Raspberry enough time to leave everything by the tree. As long as Cantio doesn't ask what she was doing in Blue Raspberry's-

"Um, Astrid, is there a reason you were in Blue Raspberry's room?"

Of course, he'd ask. She doesn't know. What does she say? Her foggy brain struggles to come up with a good excuse. Usually, this would be second nature for her. Why did Blue leave her in their room? She's got her own room! Maybe they misunderstood something. Or maybe they took something else too literally...

"I dunno... maybe I wandered in there on accident," is the only excuse she manages to come up with. It's a poor one, but it'll have to do.

As she and Cantio breach the hall into the living space, her eyes catch the movement of the blue wolf onesie scurrying up the wall. She can't help just watching in stunned silence, her slow-moving mind trying to process what's going on. Cantio notices and starts to follow her line of sight, but a sneeze suddenly rattles Astrid, and her tiefling father is quickly distracted again. 

"Oh, dear. Oh, Solaria," he fusses, a worried expression on his face. "Come on, you should sit down." He helps her to the table in the breakfast nook and looks at her with eyes full of concern. The poor girl looks so pitiful, and she barely manages to stay sitting up. Cantio's tail wafts back and forth anxiously, and he places a hand on top of her head gently. "I was just making some cocoa. I'll make you some. I think that will help. Yes! Cocoa always helps!"

When Cantio turns back to the stove, Astrid lets herself slump against the table, rubbing her nose again, her eyes threatening to close. He glances back at her over his shoulder. "Perhaps I should have taken you back to bed... Are you going to be alright?"

"Aye," she manages. "I'll be alright..." At least he hasn't noticed the state of her onesie. With Cantio distracted, Astrid drags her face against the table to look into the living room where Blue Raspberry is hanging out on the vaulted ceiling. Well, that's certainly not a bad hiding spot right now. And Cantio hasn't noticed the stuff under the tree. Maybe they'll get away with this after all, especially if Cantio takes her to bed. 

"Where is Blue Raspberry, anyway?" Cantio asks, watching the pot on the stove come to a boil. In his hand, he fidgets with a whisk. He's so anxious. "You two went off together for some... special event or whatnot, right? Did you get separated?"

"Um... yeah, ya could say that..."

"Well, after you drink this cocoa, I'll take you right to bed. Extra blankets tonight. You need rest." Unfortunately, the bard doesn't possess the level of healing needed to cure sickness and disease. 

The pot begins to boil, so he starts to mix in sugar and cocoa powder. "I worry about you two, you know. Out there, just go, go, going. Don't forget you're still a growing girl, you need your rest." 

"Aye, I know, da..."

With the hot cocoa finished, Cantio turns to pour it into a mug for Astrid. Will he notice the ooze?

Blue Raspberry clung to the ceiling, staying as still and quiet as possible in the hopes of avoiding being seen. If they had breath to hold, they would have been holding it ever since Cantio and Astrid had walked into the kitchen. Everything was fine. Cantio hadn't seen them. He hadn't seen the stuff under the tree. Now they just needed it to stay that way, and him to leave to go put Astrid to bed, and it would be-

Cantio looked directly at Blue Raspberry, even locking eyes with the ooze who was looking over their shoulder. A silent pause hung in the air for a moment as Blue panicked internally and Cantio tried to piece together why a four-armed man in a blue wolf onesie was sticking to the ceiling. The tension broke as Blue Raspberry did their best to resolve the whole situation.

"Oh, heyyyyyyy Cantio! You uh, come here often?" they said in as casual a manner as they could. Yup, just act natural, and this should all be fine. Nothing strange going on here. "This is a really nice ceiling! Very... high. And smooth!" they added, patting the ceiling with one hand.

The blue goo on their hands and feet retracted and they dropped down to the ground, landing on their back with a loud thud. THey stood up immediately and gave a thumbs up.

"I'm fine! So uh, how are you doing?"

They walked up to the table and sat down as if nothing was different than usual at all. Nailed it.

---

Cat's Grace

Cantio blinks, watching the ooze man hanging from the ceiling with silly excuses for why. "B-Blue Raspberry? Wha? What were you-" Cantio sputters, surprised. "Do- Do I come here often? Blue Raspberry, I live here..." The two of them have only known each other a short time, and Cantio hasn't quite gotten used to the ooze's line of thinking. When Blue Raspberry drops to the ground, Cantio does everything in his power not to flinch and jump like a cat lest he spill the cocoa he's prepared for Astrid.

The tiefling gets a good look at the extra arms protruding from the ooze's form. "O-Oh goodness, could you always do that? Deary me, I'll never get used to all of this. You certainly keep me on my toes." His tail's back-and-forth movement is the biggest indicator of the anxiety welling up within his chest. First Astrid startles him and worries him with her sneezing, now Blue Raspberry has dropped from the ceiling like a large spider person.

If Astrid weren't so exhausted, she'd look extremely stressed or unimpressed. Instead, she just takes the mug of cocoa from Cantio and makes herself look small while she holds it between her hands. 

"I-I suppose I'm doing well. But you two... goodness, why were you on the ceiling?" Cantio's eyes dart up to the ceiling above, wondering if there's something he should privy to. Seeing nothing of note, he murmurs as he sits at the table, "It can't be that interesting, can it..?" In the negligee, he certainly looks like an exhausted housewife. 

"Thanks fer the cocoa, da," Astrid says quietly, sipping on the warm drink and trying not to sniffle and worry him more. 

Cantio sits more upright, collecting himself in some attempt to appear more well-put together than he feels at the moment. "Of course, Astrid! Still..." He brushes a stray hair out of her face, feeling the warmth of her forehead. It's not like Astrid to get sick, or at least it doesn't seem like she would be sick of a cold. She's a hearty girl normally not thrown off kilter by anything in her path. Seeing her like this is certainly concerning, but despite that, Cantio offers a comforting smile.

"Let's focus on making sure you get better, then you two can tell me all about your grand adventures. How does that sound?" He looks between both Astrid and Blue Raspberry with the same fatherly smile. 

"Aye, that sounds good," Astrid says, trying to smile in return, her face inclining to lean into Cantio's palm just slightly. He makes sure she drinks the whole mug of cocoa and even makes a mug for Blue Raspberry before he leads them both off to bed. Blue Raspberry doesn't really sleep the same way that Astrid does, but he offers to tuck them in the same nonetheless. 

One gentle forehead kiss sends Astrid off into a cozy, restful sleep on this Winter's Crown eve.