Yoguri looked at Shorette with pure confusion, then eyed the woman in confusion. This was Yoguri's fight to take, and all of a sudden, someone that she practically took hostage of wanted to help. But why? This had nothing to do with her. "At what cost, though? This has nothing to do with you. This is my home, these fuckers took over it, and have the one thing that holds Nifara's identity. You're just an outsider who practically loots in the name of 'knowledge and history'. For all I know, you could try to steal Ittar's Vision for yourself." She explained, her tone turned cold and dethatched just as it felt as if Yoguri was about to somewhat open up a little.

"...Damn, you really had to get all descriptive and demeaning, didn't you?" Shorette asked, almost annoyed at the accusation and the assumption of her.

"Yes. I had to. 'cause it's true." Yoguri reassured.

Shorette, as offended as she could be, couldn't blame her. It made sense for her to get defensive. Shorette was nothing more than a stranger, and after informing her as her profession of being a treasure hunter, it was no surprise that Yoguri didn't have complete trust in her. Shorette would've done the same, no doubt about it. Though, there was something that Yoguri had yet to realize: whether she wanted to admit it or not, whether she truly preferred to work alone than with someone else who could be written off as a liability, it all fell to one thing: she needed help and she could gain an ally from it.

"Listen... I get it. You think I'm some filthy treasure hunter who steals and sells," Shorette already cleared up that she collects artifacts and trades them off more monetary and knowledgeable gain as an archaeologist, but what she just said wouldn't really be far from the truth. It may as well be just a glorified version of what she really does. "But this filthy treasure hunter knows her way around danger. The bottom line is, you can't do this alone no matter how good you think you are. You're going to need an extra set of eyes to watch your back. There's a shit load of them, and only one of you. The odds may not be in your favor even if one other person join, but you won't be the only one thinking on their feet. Not to mention it's not my first time handling situations like this, either. Better be with someone that's prepared." She explained.

The last part was a bit of a lit, but Yoguri didn't need to know that. Usually Shorette likes to freestyle and think off the top of her head whenever she encounters danger well beyond her control or something she can't back down from. Such a method hasn't failed her yet, so who's to say it'd fail her now? "Call it a trade off for my cost; you get Ittar's Vision, I get to finish what my father started in regards to researching Nifara." She said. They've both had something to benefit from, which was exactly why Shorette made her offer. Just so she could gain some trust from Yoguri, but as of now that trust was yet to be established.

Yoguri scoffed and rolled her eyes, almost unimpressed with Shorette's answer. Tough crowd, Shorette wouldn't thought. "Of course your type wouldn't do something out of the kindness of their own heart. There just has to be some sort of little reward dangling right in front of your nose to even consider helping out." She ridiculed with an empty laugh.

As expected, Yoguri had her doubts. Shorette responded back with her true thoughts, an unpleasant truth that may catch the former soldier off guard. "Because we both know I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that I felt bad for you and wanted to stand by you for what's right. Because honestly? I don't. I barely know you. What you've went through is very unfortunate and none of us can go back in time and prevent any of this from happening, but you're a stranger to me and I'm a stranger to you. And you're right. This is your battle. I don't know this group like you, so I'm very much willing to walk away. I know my limits. Instead, I'm trying to reach an agreement between the both of us, an agreement we both can benefit from."

Yoguri only stared back at Shorette after her comeback. Though, Shorette wasted no time in getting one more word in before she let the soldier decide whether or not she'd let the woman help her. "If it only benefitted me, trust me when I say I think I have enough kindness in me to back out if there was no good to come out of all of this on your end as opposed to mine." Deep down, what was said was meant seriously. It was true, if Shorette didn't benefit from the situation, she would've walked away. She even went as far as to do the same if Yoguri didn't benefit from it either. She very well could've went through while leaving the soldier all on her own to fend for herself. But she wouldn't. Why?

It wasn't how she operated. It was one thing to leave someone behind if they're a complete liability, but Shorette was never one to double cross. At least... not anymore. She made sure of it.

For the first time since their encounter, emotion flickered on Yoguri's face, as if taken back by what Shorette said and... possibly guilt for the initial assumption she made of the woman. What felt like a few minutes of silence that lingered between the two, Yoguri's face went from flabbergasted to resolve. "Fine. You can tag along, but in two conditions. First, I take back Ittar's Vision and you only focus on collecting notes on Nifara. Second, I call shots in controlling this operation." She announced.

With a slow, firm nod, Shorette had no choice but to accept. At best, she'll only jump in if Yoguri didn't have control over whatever they were about to jump into. "That's all I ask for." She said. "Now that said... how do you plan to take out over 100 soldiers infesting the area?" She asked.

The soldier shook her head as she started getting ready. "We won't. Usually around this time, most of their guards move over to another post to look after as Tofoo likes to have them patrol the area and cover ground, scouting for any other potential area to claim as their own. That means we'll be dealing with less of his kind, making our job 10 time easier in hunting down Ittar's Vision and you collecting notes." Yoguri explained.

"Convenient. I like it" Shorette said.

"By the way, how good are you with guns?" Yoguri asked.

Shorette took a moment to respond. How good was she? She was someone that relied on using her body as a weapon, but she worked around firearms long enough to be comfortable with them. "Good enough, I'd say." She replied.

Nodding, Yoguri pulled out a pistol from her side band with a silencer and an assault rifle from her back. "Then take these. We'll only use them if we need to take some soldiers out quietly from afar or if shit goes down the drain and we have to light this place up." She explained.

"Duly noted." Shorette accepted the pistol and rifle, placing the pistol in one of the belt's slots and wore the rifle's strap, having the firearm safely hanging on her back. It felt as if it were a while since she held a gun. She wasn't afraid of using them and knew her way around using it if absolutely necessary, but it still felt weird.

"Alright. Let's go." Yoguri turned around and exited the area as Shorette followed suit. The woman wasn't sure what Yoguri had up her sleeves, but she had enough experience to know when things would go down the drain and when to jump in and take the reigns, whether she liked it or not.

---

WC: 1,365
OOC Notes:
- Current PL: 24,595 (Suppressed to 6,149)
- 2x Event
- Super Weighted Clothing +75%