Closed Yukmen, Yuk!

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

82nd of Fall, 514.

The squirrels mount wouldn't be needed today. The dog had earned a day off, and the crimson Akalak said nothing on the matter. It just meant that the squirrel wouldn't need to worry about keeping up after all. He sat on his own patrons shoulder, one foot planted firmly on the dulled plate-mail and one forearm resting lazily on the knee. If there were any remarks made by the few passers-by they saw on their way towards the main gates, they were whispered and never spoken aloud. The sheer size of the man made the squirrel seem all that much smaller, but he didn't really mind. Being five inches tall had its perks, not that any of them would know about them. Ser Iros came close. The man had seen the squirrel in action, and knew just what to expect. It didn't make him any better when it came to actually finding a solution to the problem, but at least he understood.

"So, remind me what we're doing again." In the recent days, the squirrel had become more lazy when it came to the little things. He could afford to be, though. The life of a squire was becoming a thing of the past, and he was preparing to take up his mantle as a Knight. Until that time, he would accept the little duties that the knights often set him, but that didn't make them any less tedious given that they were still the same tasks given to any squire. He could punch through them with little difficulty.

"Correction. What you're going to be doing. I'm not helping you." That was unexpected, to say the least. The only reason the squirrel had been dragged out of bed at all was for the fact that he was apparently going out on patrol with his patron, as orders of the Knights. Suddenly, it seemed as though the entire thing was a devise of his patron, just to get the squirrel into doing anything. It was too late to turn around and go back to the Dorms now, as well, and Ser Iros knew it perfectly well. "You're going to be working with a few other squires and you're going to be patrolling a small space of the forest. Since you think you're so damn high and mighty, I thought I'd give you a bit of a challenge to see if you're ready to walk the walk." Oh, there was smug amusement in his tone, that was for certain.

"Oh? So what, I'm just supposed to be guiding them around or something..." The moment the words came out of his mouth, he knew that it was exactly what he was supposed to be doing. The Akalak was nodding silently, grinning all the wider as he kicked his destrier into a slightly faster trot. Great.. he didn't even know which squires he'd be set up with, or really where they'd be going at all. Although he wasn't really looking forward to working with several other creatures.. goodness knew if they were all human or not.. at the same time, it was rather exciting. "Alright then. Guess I can give it a shot. Won't be very long before I'm a knight, guiding around my own squires and whatnot anyway, I suppose." Goodness, even if the Akalak was rather hot-headed and stubborn at times, he was still damn intelligent when it came to planning out something and carrying it through.

"I'm expecting good things from you. This is quite a bit of faith, putting the lives of other squires in your ha-- paws. It will be your paws, too. You're the more experienced." A bit of work to run through all these squires and find those willing, indeed. "I've discussed with most of their patrons, and if anything petches up, it'll be on your hands." Oh great. The one downside - he'd be responsible for the idiots as well as the intellectuals. "Ahh, we're almost there."

[Aventis]

Aventis clumsily followed his patron knight, not quite used to riding on horseback. The knight kept a calm and controlled pace, whereas Aventis struggled with directing his horse in one way or another. They had just recently exited the Syliran gates but a moment ago, Aventis awkwardly following his knight along the beginnings of the Kabrin Road. The horse whinnied, squirming beneath the squire, as he desperately tried to direct it.

"You should probably find someone to teach you what the petch you're doing." The knight called out to him, without turning his head.

The knight was a good seven feet away from the squire, but he could almost feel the sarcastic smile on his face. The squire sighed, finally figuring out how to make the horse walk just a bit faster. In but a moment, the squire was side by side with his knight, quietly keeping his eyes on the road that surrounded him. The knight, dressed, as always, in his plate armor, sat heavily upon his mount, his eyes, unlike that of his squire's, were glued to the road ahead, instead of watching the path as it happened currently. "Suppose you wonder where I'll be taking you today, huh?" The knight said, just loud enough for Aventis to hear, his eyes never leaving the horizon.

The squire, taking a moment to raise his head off of the road and look at the knight, nodded. "Yes, ser." he said.

"Thought as much." The knight said, clearing his throat. "I won't be teaching you today, kiddo'." The knight said, turning his head and looking at Aventis for a moment. "I'm doing a favor for a comrade. Ser Iros' squire will be a knight soon. To his knight, he's not ready. At all. So this is your job,[b]" the knight said, licking his lips and turning to Aventis once more. "[b]Ser Iros doesn't know this. His squire doesn't know this. But I want you to be the biggest pain in the ass you can possibly be. If you have to run, you throw up. If you have to swim, you pretend to sink. If you have to fight, make the other squire do it. I want you to show him hell. Just how annoying, how irritating, how internally torturous any given squire can be." He said, a smile upon his face. "No offence."

The squire nodded, doing his best to understand. He smiled at his knight's humor, and pleased that the knight could take the practice lightheartedly, but Aventis had a sense of trepidation. The whole ordeal was likely to cause Aventis a great deal of anxiety, as well as the chance of a bad name with the knights, which was undesirable...

"Got it, squire?"

"Yes... Yes, ser." Aventis responded.

"Good. We've nearly arrived." The knight said, turning his attention back to the horizon.

Aventis

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Aventis wasn't the only squire that'd been drawn in, though he was the first one that caught the squirrels eyes as they approached the meeting point. He was the only one with a patron. The other two had already arrived at the meeting point just shy of the main gates. Cameron was busy leaning back against the edge of the wall, smirking confidently at the Drykas girl Oriana. Even from a distance, it was pretty obvious that the girl was pretty nervous and keeping her distance from the other squire, no matter how much he tried to draw her out. "I've never actually been to the Sea of Grass, no.. but I'm sure, sometime, I could go there with you." She looked very uncertain, and the very moment she caught sight of the Akalak, visibly sighed in relief and pushed herself away from Cameron in favor of taking a place near the man.

"Come on, gather here." The Akalak turned his horse and gestured to a small space before him, where the other two squires were already collecting in a semi-circle. They were just waiting for Aventis. "Come on, get over here. You all know why you're here and what you'll be doing. This is Squire Archailist. He'll be guiding you. You'll be heading down and along the run of the Avitar River, along to the Sukina Geysers, and back again. There's another group that'll be running counter and in the opposite stretch, up to Pavi Lake and around to the Lykonav Mines before they turn back. Together, you'll be covering the entire Bronze Woods. We're expecting good things from you." That was quite a distance. It'd take the larger group at least half a day to circle around half of the Bronze Woods and scout out the area for any danger.

That was running on the fact that they wouldn't find any, too. The season was coming to a close, but it wasn't over yet. There were still threats looming in the woods, from wolves to other hungry creatures looking for whatever meal they could make before the snow settled and their food supplies went from scarce to non-existent. Arch tried not to let his anxiety show, but it was most certainly there. "That's all I'm going to say. Arch, I'll meet you at the gates later today. Don't disappoint."He didn't even wait for the squirrel to dismount from the shoulder, he just turned on the spot and set his destrier to a light trot back to the city. It took a few ticks for the squirrel to register and actually hop down to the floor.

"Right.. well, you heard him. Let's get going." At least he was in a group that had some basic bearings. Oriana almost immediately returned to her horse, hopped atop, and kicked it into motion. Cameron was next, and the squirrel took up camp just behind Cameron on the human squires horse. "Quicker we get through this, quicker we get to go back home and go to bed." He knew that there was going to be a similar consensus, and there was; murmers of approval rang out from the two other squires.

[Aventis]

Aventis had begun falling behind his knight again, and could swear that the horse was becoming even more frustrated with the current situation than the squire was. Aventis fell behind his knight, who now paid no mind to his less than impressive squire. Aventis, not meaning to, swerved his horse off of the beaten path. The group of squires was now clearly visible to Ser Utis, who stopped his horse, allowing his squire to make his slow way up to the knight. The squire, swerving clumsily on his horse, was stopped by his knight, who had grasped his shoulder as to stop the horse from moving. The knight sighed, as he so often did, and Aventis awkwardly avoided his gaze. "Remember what I told you earlier, kid?" the knight asked.

"... Yes, ser. I do." Aventis replied sheepishly.

"Just keep doing what you're doing." He said, patting his squire roughly on the back before riding calmly up to the group.

Aventis did his best to follow, intimidated beyond wit's end by the group of squires ahead of him. They looked so strong, so accomplished... There was a large man, obviously an Akalak, that wore armor much like Utis'. That was most likely the knight. If not, then he was the leader of the group that Ser Utis had spoken about. The other two were a little more obvious of position; one leaned against the wall, a lean male with a somewhat weaselly feel about him, yet he carried a strong and dutiful aura about him. He relaxed, nonchalantly smirking at the second squire, a girl of stockier build and obvious strength. Lastly, there was a rodent of some sort perched on the large man's shoulder as if some obedient pet. Utis reached the group first, dismounting and speaking to the group. He said something Aventis could not hear, looking back at his squire with an inquisitive gaze. Aventis took this as a queue to dismount early, wrapping his cloak tight around his torso with his inside arms. He took a deep breath, walking towards the group. The rodent, now identified as a squirrel, seemed to watch him approach. He eyed the creature warily as he approached the group, taking his place behind his knight, standing at attention. He had arrived late to the group, only catching enough to hear the last part of the route they would be walking. He figured it would be easier to simply follow the leader of the two other squires through the route.

"That's all I'm going to say. Arch, I'll meet you at the gates later today. Don't disappoint." The knight said, turning his back on the group, and walking away. Ser Utis, following by example, patted Aventis on the back.

"Don't worry about the hike. Won’t be too long." The old knight told him. "Oh... Don't be too surprised. It's rude." The knight told him, walking away with the Akalak.

Aventis had little time to ponder what he meant before he had encountered most likely the strangest thing he had seen yet. The squirrel, which had jumped off the Akalak's shoulder, moved its lips. "Right, well... You heard him. Let's get going." it said in a deep voice.

Aventis' eyes bulged, his hand gripped his chest. He didn't know what to say, what to do. It was terrifying. Was this the squire? The squirrel? What Utis had told him made perfect sense… But… What? That’s… It’s a squirrel. A petching squirrel. And that’s going to be a knght? A squirrel knight. I… I… It just… What the hell?

The squire made almost no effort to hide his expression, much less his surprise when the two other squires seemed not to care. He bit his tongue, exemplifying his patience by not screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs. “Quicker we get through this, quicker we get to go back home and go to bed.” It yelled out to the group. The girl nodded, climbing up on her horse, the other squire doing the same. Aventis took a moment, backing up slowly and climbing atop his mount. With his cloak wrapped tight around his torso, he turned to the girl, unafraid of consequences seeing as there were more immediate matters at hand, and silently nodded towards the animal, doing his best not to arouse suspicion, with an inquisitive glare. The intent was obvious, or so he hoped. As they started along the trail, Aventis could not help but feel uneasy. The situation was intimidating enough prior to the discovery of the squirrel.

I’m going to kill Utis… He thought to himself. Perhaps not earnest in his silent declaration, he knew that it would be a long day regardless.

A very long day.

Aventis

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Unfortunately, the squirrel was all too used to the same behavior that Aventis displayed straight off the bat. The other two didn't seem that surprised at all - perhaps they'd already met with Pycons, or had been well-informed by their patrons about what they'd be facing today. They went to work and if either of them had any complaints or concerns, they kept all of them to themselves. That didn't mean that he was going to ignore any if they did come up - as was obvious with their latest addition. Sat on the back end of a horse, with nothing but the backside of a particularly large and armoured squire to look at from the front, he turned around and sat backwards on the horse, straight at Aventis.

"Something caught you by surprise, hmm?" He didn't know any names, unfortunately. They likely all knew his, but with everything pretty last-minute for the squirrel, he hardly had the opportunity to ask. Now or never. "Don't worry about staring, I get it a lot. Name's Archailist, in case you didn't already know, and I'm a Pycon, which you likely didn't know by the look on your face..." He didn't want to end up sounding too formal, but it always happened when he was nervous. Less like he was trying to make friends, more like he was trying to talk with Loren Dyres himself and he didn't know whether he was supposed to formally bow or take a knee.

"You're just like that other one, aren't cha'," the boy suddenly asked from ahead without looking back. "The one always punchin' people. Can't remember the name..." It wasn't that much of a surprise to know that there were a fair few that knew about Ball. He'd been a squire for much longer than the squirrel, despite the fact that the squirrel was so much older... possibly more experienced, although he couldn't say with certainty. He'd only seen the other clay squire a handful of times, and even then, he'd never paid much attention.

"Ahh, yes. Ball. There are others as well, like Nivel. Mage-squire." Surprising that nobody knew of her either. Not like it was particularly difficult to miss Pycons when they walked past.. sure, they were small, but humans and other races always found them very interesting. Imagine their surprise when they saw one of them performing magic. Their jaws would likely hit the floor, if their jaws could even reach such lengths. Pycons could, he wasn't sure about the larger races. "Any of these ringing any bells for you?" He turned back to the man at the back of the line, raising a clay ridge of an eyebrow. Maybe he'd heard of Pycons, but just never seen any... or he really had never even known of their race before.

[Aventis]

”Something caught you by surprise, hmm?” It said, turning on the back of the thinner squire’s horse to face Aventis.

The squire was all but used to the happenings that he found. He couldn’t say that he expected anything from the patrol, much less anything that could be characterized as normal, but this seemed a bit excessive. The squirrel took an authoritative tone with Aventis, and he knew then that he had done exactly what Utis had warned him of. The squirrel seemed to pick up on his anxiety, his confusion, whether he’d do anything with it was yet to be seen. As for the question posed, Aventis didn’t much know what to say. To not answer truthfully is to disobey, to answer truthfully is a potential insult. But then Aventis realized something. A complete exodus of misconception.

Aventis had no respect for the squirrel.

He realized that his respect, although insignificant in the eyes of a superior, was earned. Utis had earned it through instruction. This squirrel earned it how? Simple. He hadn’t. Not yet. And in the variable middle ground between earning his respect and not earning it, Aventis could do whatever he damned well pleased within orders. And his orders were to give the squirrel hell. Give hell subtly. Give hell he would do. So that the little animal would assume Aventis to be a simple dunce, all the while testing him.

Perfect. He thought to himself, a minute grin stretching at the corner of his mouth, nearly undetectable. He decided then. He would not be himself. He would be a jester.

“Yes, ser.” He said to the squirrel. “Your occupation has surprised me, ser. I did not know that animals were allowed into the knighthood, ser. Much less one as… Small. You’re fairly small, ser.”

He did his best to keep a dull, humorless expression, hiding his intent, as to keep his orders unknown to the peculiar little animal.

“Don’t worry about staring. I get it a lot.” The squirrel responded, keeping good humor. He seemed like a decent fellow. Aventis almost felt bad. Almost. “Name’s Archailist, in case you didn’t know, and I’m a Pycon, which you probably didn’t already know from the look on your face…”

“Indeed not, ser squirrel. You are a very realistic rodent. I suppose that’s your own doing, Ser Archailist. I must say that you are adept at arts and crafts.”

Aventis had successfully mastered the skill of passive unseeming insults.

“You’re just like that other one, aren’t cha’?” The male squire informed the squirrel. “The one that’s always punchin’ people. Can’t remember his name…”

“Ah, yes. Ball.” The squirrel responded. Upon hearing the name, Aventis felt his face blush, and he reached down to his leg, rubbing the spot where the other clay man had hit him, which still ached a bit. “There are others as well, like Nivel. The mage squire.” The squirrel continued. “Any of those ring bells for you?”

“No, ser. But I do have a question.” Aventis immediately interjected. “If Ball is the strong squire… And Nivel is the mage squire… What are you?” He asked, ignoring how much of an imbecile he sounded like, and the fact that he even pretended to perceive the notion that one person requires a role to play. But, once again, Aventis realized something.

This was fun.

As he joked with the hopefully unknowing Pycon, other troubles seemed to disappear. His horse was steady and walked in a somewhat straight line, which was nice, and his anxieties pertaining to the patrol and the impression he made on his fellow squires no longer troubled him, seeing as he knew already what he would be. It was a shame that the other two squires had to be subjected as well, but what had to be done had to be done.

So be it.

Aventis

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

If there was anything running through the mans head as he assessed the squirrels words, Arch didn't pick up on any of it. All he could really focus on was the fact that he was being called Ser. Admittedly, he'd have to get used to it eventually.. only, he hadn't completed the knighting quest just yet. If he was honest, being called Ser felt simply strange and wrong coming from someone that was, for all the respect they gave to one-another, at the same stage as him. "No need to call me Ser, haha.. I'm not a knight, not yet, and even then, I'm only here to make sure that everything runs smoothly." True, he might have to do a little bit of bossing around, but it wasn't like he was Loren Dyres taken a new body.

He didn't need to tell any of them that, either. It was pretty damn obvious. "Well, your powers of observation exceed even mine. Although, height has nothing to do with spirit," he tossed back in rebound. "Large or small, thick or thin, there is no discrimination in the Order of Peace and Civilization." What lies he spoke. He'd faced plenty of it. Never anything outright, of course; he'd been allowed into the Order, and he'd received the same opportunities as fellow squires. That didn't mean that he felt much acceptance from fellow squires and knights, though. He did now, from most of those that he knew by name, but only because he had the strength to back up those opinions. Even his own patron had nearly been insulted that he would have to teach a Pycon the ways of the knights.

Perhaps it was the fact that the man was just being a little too polite, like sucking up with compliments. Maybe the squirrel was simply growing uncomfortable telling these lies to the man to make it seem like he was seen as actually capable. Either way, the smile that'd once graced his face eased off just a little. "No need for flattery.. I've had six years finding a comfortable space that I like being in, and it just happens to be a squirrel. Fits what I am, who I am. I could change my body the same way you'd change your personality." It was a pretty apt description of it, really. If there really was any insult, the squirrel didn't see it and didn't react for it. He just kept up the conversation, same as normal. "You know, you don't have to treat me like I'm a knight. I'm a squire! Just like you, all of you." Was it just him that thought they were being a little bit odd?

Not just Aventis, but the other two ahead. They'd remained mostly silent through the little conversation, interjecting only for one or two questions but never really putting any effort in. Before, it'd seemed fine.. now they were just eerie. He stopped, still listening to Aventis as he glanced around Cameron's side to look at Oriana. She, too, was utterly silent and apparently complacent as she kicked her mount into a slightly faster trot. Cameron mimicked it wordlessly. "Either of you two got anything you want to ask? Seems only one of us is really putting anything into this." He was only met with two shakes of heads. Well, not exactly what I was hoping for.

Eventually he turned back to Aventis again. Well, what do you think I am? Haha, I'm the squirrel squire." It didn't really need much explanation, although he could go into more detail. In his mind, he was the elder.. true enough that Ball had seen some strange things, and learned much, but the squirrel had as well. He'd spent almost his entire life up until his return to Syliras about a season or two ago exploring the entire region, learning what he could. It still made him nothing more than a squire, unfortunately, but that didn't mean that he didn't have anything over the other two Pycon squires.. or his patron. "If I'm the squirrel squire, though, what does that make you?"

[Aventis]

Date

OOCHey, mate. If you were hinting at me playing the two NPCs last post, I don’t think I can. I’m terribly sorry, but I’m not comfortable playing them quite yet. Hope you understand c:

”Well. The new guy.” Aventis responded, taken a bit off guard by the Pycon’s friendly demeanor. It seemed as if he were a generally friendly guy, which was a bit saddening. Decency seemed to be in short supply, though, of course, Aventis didn’t spend much time looking for it, and it wasn’t much missed seeing as the squire hadn’t much experienced it. Perhaps the squirrel deserved a little decency in return…

For a little while.

“Not much to me, ser.” Aventis continued, ignoring the previous statement about the Pycon’s position which, while delivered in an earnest and fairly respectable manner, Aventis found moronic. They were there to follow his lead. He was soon to be a knight. It was a title, not a weight to be carried. “I’m just the new one.”

He was doing his honest best to keep his notoriety low. He wanted to be the weak link. He did not want to be the weak squire. What he was doing was most likely the sneakiest thing he had done in years, strategically placing his statements in just the perfect places to make himself appear exactly as he wanted to. Ignorant. New. Inexperienced. Granted, he was most likely all of these things without the negative charade, but the extent of his ignorance, his inexperience, his burden-like qualities were not enough to do his knight’s bidding, which was a bit uplifting. A bit.

The group hadn’t travelled far by now, and Aventis didn’t expect them to finish their patrol before nightfall, seeing as he would get restless and impatient if he did not. Aventis had successfully moved his horse in a straight line for more than five chimes, which was a sizeable accomplishment considering the squire’s skill in the craft, but it was difficult to do so without keeping his attentively on the ground around and ahead of him, and he could feel himself struggle whenever he lifted his head to scan his environment or glance at the squirrel, which was an attention succubus for sure.

His lower left hand, concealed neatly under his cloak, rested gently on the hilt of his rapier, nervously playing with the handle, which was a tad obvious to those paying specific attention to the blade of the sword which poked out of the cloak and down to the horse’s stomach, as it moved slightly, but in a way that being jostled by the trot of the horse or a gust of wind couldn’t cause, but the squire paid no mind to it. Instead, after a cold breeze blew past his face, he reached back with his left hand, keeping his dominant hand steadily on the reins, and pulled his hood over his head.

“Do you expect we’ll encounter anything, Ser Archailist?” Aventis asked, only to be that much more of a nuisance. “Anything… Dangerous?” he inquired further, mimicking the cautious manner of a child, bulging his eyes and doing his best to appear insignificant.

Which he might as well be.

Aventis

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

The squirrel was friendly, not stupid. It became obvious quite fast that the man simply wasn't going to play ball. "New one, eh'? Guess it's better now than never to make a name for yourself and make yourself something more. First impressions count, after all." Most of the friendly tone slowly dripped out of his voice, but he turned away and became silent after some time. The other two squires barely raised their voices or heads as they worked their way steadily deeper into the Bronze Woods. It wouldn't be long before they reached their intended target, although it'd been countless bells already since they'd left off. In truth, it wasn't that long at all - however, with little to no conversation in the group (that was worth mentioning) the chimes ticked along like bells.

"Hmm? Dangerous?" It took a while before he registered the question. They'd moved on quite a while, and were busy pushing through a crowded little spot practically filled with trees and low branches that brushed at all angles. "Doubtful. This is just a standard patrol. Doesn't mean we can let our guard down, but dangerous isn't the priority here." Their mission was pretty simple. Check out the area. Report back anything that looked suspicious or dangerous, make a mental note of the place and make sure everything was clean and secure. If there was anything known to be dangerous in the area, they certainly wouldn't have sent a group of inexperienced and unescorted squires out on their rounds directly into its path.

His thoughts were cut thin by a call from Cameron up ahead. "Hello?" The squirrels brow furrowed as he turned and leaned over the edge of the girl-squires side to try and see what the boy was up to. The thick armour was still blocking his view. When he finally crawled up to her shoulder, he found Cameron had stopped, and Oriana soon followed.

A man was slowly walking over the path before them. He looked rather dirty and his head hung low on his shoulders, slumped over forwards and with rather large hands occasionally brushing down the naked skin of his chest or sides. What in the Hai... It wasn't something one saw every day. Naked men weren't common walking casually through the Bronze Woods. Never mind dirty, unarmed, alone men. "Hello there, sir? Sir?" The man remained unresponsive, and kept on the same path as Cameron slowly pushed his mount forwards to approach the man. Wait... There was more than just dirt on him. There were numerous small stones pushed into the flesh, twisting around with every move. Even his skin didn't really seem to be covered in soil, but soil was being pushed out of the cracks in his skin.

The closer he got, the more anxious he became, until his worst fears were confirmed; the man turned around and a high-pitched, piercing shriek ran out across the Woods as he suddenly twisted and charged the squire. He didn't even have a weapon drawn, and could only pull and tug at the reins with all his might to pull away from the screeching Yukman. Its mouth was wide open, brandishing thin but rather sharp grey rocks in the place where one would usually have teeth. This is bad. "Get BACK! GET BACK!"

[Aventis]

Date

”Hello?” The male squire called out, throwing his voice out to the Bronze Woods beyond.

Aventis’ head shot up from the ground it watched, his horse stopping in its tracks, nearly as confused and wary as Aventis was. Despited his joking and the squirrel’s continued assurance that there is no danger, he knew what the Bronze Woods were infamous for, and he knew the various stories and reports of danger and, in many cases, the deaths of careless travelers. The tall trees created a nearly undeniable sense of cover high above the man’s head, and the shafts of light that shone upon the forest floor had a simplistic beauty that in any other setting would be splendous to the senses, but every piece of potential appeal was hopelessly overshadowed by the practically ever-existent danger that lurked behind every tree trunk, every shadow that danced pointlessly in the shining rays of the sun hid a pugnacious contempt for everything around it. This is what caused offput with the tall squire and his horse alike, and Aventis’ fellow squire’s call awoke a primal sense within him, and in the drop of a coin he was ready to either draw his weapons and fight tooth and nail for survival or run, leaving the chance of injury or pain far in the dust, escaping to the safe walls of the city. His hands, hidden under his cloak, gripped his weapons with white knuckles, anticipating the worst possible outcome.

Aventis squinted, trying to get a better picture of the strange occurrence. His efforts were met with a man, naked in all senses of the word, stumbling towards the group of squires. He, and he was definitely a he, could have been anything, a threat the least likely of which. A hunter or hermit, a vagabond or vagrant, he could have been anything. The entire environment seemed to stiffen, the group of squires specifically, as he approached. “Hello there, sir?” the man called out again, and Aventis’ top hands gripped the reins tighter than before as the silence the stranger responded with seemed to be louder than the rustle of leaves in the wind or the call of the squire.

“Sir?” He called out again.

Silence. Absolute silence.

The stranger approached further and Aventis attempted and failed to swallow his seemingly unwarranted fear as he noticed the details previously veiled by distance. His skin was dirty, as if he had rolled in mud and let it bake on his skin, painting it an earthly shade. This was not the strangest factor of his ubiquitous pugnacious potential. On closer inspection, he seemed to have shards of rock and stone poking from his skin, twisting and turning with the movement of muscle. Aventis glanced at Archailist, who was nearly as tense as Aventis was. He seemed suspicious, and no matter how little Aventis currently respected the peculiar little Pycon, he had to respect that the little animal knew far more than Aventis could possibly hope to understand at the moment, and his intuition was most likely trustworthy. He didn’t seem particularly thrilled. The squire that had called out to the man had moved a bit closer, close enough to stab if he had decided to draw a sword on the stranger. The next few moments transpired at the speed of rolling molasses, the ticks moving by like bells, chimes like days. The stranger picked up its disgustingly dirty head. It dropped its jaw, lined with gray stones in the place of teeth, crooked and inhuman. At the sight of the abomination, Aventis forgot all his previous anxieties, his lower arms flying out of the flaps of his cloak, his lower left holding his shortsword and his lower right wielding his rapier. The stranger, now known not to be any form of man rather to some type of monster, let out a shriek from its detached and slacked jaw, the silence that previously veiled intentions and intuitions alike shattered quickly and violently.

“Get back! GET BACK!” he screamed, the noise the Pycon emitted barely reaching Aventis’ ears. But by then it was late.

Aventis was rushing towards the thing that plagued the Bronze Woods with its very presence, pulling on the reins and stopping the horse between the squire and the monster, his right side facing it. He yelled above the caterwaul, slashing at its face with his rapier. “Back! BACK! BACK!” he yelled, still at a safe distance from the beast, stabbing at its eyes and mouth with his rapier, hoping to injure and deter it from getting any closer to his squire comrades. He had decided in the split second it took for him to leave the Pycon’s side and put himself between the monster that being a knight demands more than dedication to the cause. It demands something much more.

It deserves proof.

And he was about to prove his dedication. But it was more than that.

He looked back back at the squire with the solemnest of expressions. “Get to Archailist.” he said, immediately turning back to the beast and thrusting his sword to its right eye, hoping to Sylir that he could keep the beast at bay until Archailist could help him. Aventis was never a particularly religious man but now he needed gods more than ever before.

Aventis