Closed Big Problems, Little Squire (Archailist)

[Katelyn Marks]

89th, Fall, 514 AV

Sebastian's hooves crunched loudly on the frosted leaves beneath them. His nostrils flared as they forged their way uphill, white breath streaming from his nostrils like a pennant in the wind. Kat shivered lightly in her saddle and pulled her heavy winter cloak more tightly around her shoulders. She'd put her warm weather clothes away for the season and donned her heavier, thicker garments. The fur lining of her boots and cloak was soft and shielded her from the bite in the air. It made her look even larger atop her pony's back, like a small bear perched atop the saddle ready to attack.

A very light dusting of the year's first snowfall clung stubbornly to the trees and forest floor around them. Remnants of the paltry amount they'd received just a few nights ago. Winter was knocking on their doors, blowing down from the frozen lands in the north and wrapping them all in its chilly embrace. Syliras tended to have very manageable winters though, and for that they were lucky.

She found her mind wandering as Sebastian plodded along, head bobbing as they climbed and searched. Kat saw no signs of what they were hunting--a small heifer that had gone missing from her herd. Apparently a prized beast, for the fuss the farmer had made when he told her the tale. She was up to be bred it seemed with his friend's fine bull, and the calf would bring him an even finer price to the right rancher.

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"She was here this morning," the old man rambled angrily. "I came out early just to check on the lot of'em, and then went back in for some brandy to warm my belly. I came back out and she was gone!"

"I'll see what I can do. She can't have gotten too far. I'll look around here and see if I can find any hints of her direction."

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Now here she was, riding up into the wilds in search of a missing cow that was stupid enough to come out here in the first place. When she'd found what looked like her escape route, she'd told the farmer chances were the cow was gone forever. He couldn't accept that. So he made her an offer she couldn't refuse. Return the cow and receive 30 gold-rimmed mizas. It almost made her angry, but only because it was too tempting to pass up. So she rode off in search of the foolish beast, hoping for a stroke of dumb luck. Her brothers were the trackers, not her. Kat would be more than a little surprised if she found even a hint of its whereabouts.

Of course as it was, not far ahead she found a not-so-promising sign. A stream gurgled quietly down mossy rocks, leading back downhill in the general direction they'd come. A thin layer of crusted snow and frost blanketed the area, but it had been violently disturbed. Katelyn swung down from the saddle, dropped her reins across Sebastian's neck, and went to investigate.

She was no tracker--not even close, but she knew what a cow's hoof prints looked like--and a horse's too for that matter. Deep scores in the damp, cold earth had been left by both. The tracks were erratic and she had no idea how many horses there were, but she assumed more than one. There were far too many overlapping marks to be just a single rider. The heifer must have been drinking when someone found it and startled to skittish beast.

Kat stood from her prone position over the mess and looked around. She circled the area a few times, looking for a possible route, but saw nothing to give any real indication. The redhead regretted not going out with her brothers more now. They could have taught her a thing or two that would be immensely helpful right now.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Maybe it was the cold that invaded every inch of the castle, no matter where the squirrel sought comfort. Maybe the challenge of trying to keep his purchase in the freezing temperatures, among the bare branches and ice. The squirrel couldn't really draw on one particular reason he'd decided to come to the security of the Bronze Woods. Most of the natural squirrels were already burying themselves along with their nuts to hide from the cold. The squires patron had even given up, and spared both of them the brutality of training high on the tiers above the Dyres District in the sleet and ice in favor of taking up the odd jobs that he needed to take care of as a knight - the little messages that needed running within the castle, the small jobs that his Sergeant had set for them all. Arch had two options; either lie about in the Dorms for the rest of the day and do little else, or try his luck with something interesting and new. He was a Pycon, not a snail, so it was pretty obvious what he was going to do.

All the branches felt ready to snap under his immense weight. That didn't stop him from trying them, though. Indeed, it was the only way to outrun Narick. "Haha, I told you, there's not a chance!" he shouted behind him, watching another arrow fly off at an angle and slam into the trunk of the tree he was busy climbing before he turned, grabbed onto the thicker end of one of the closer branches and used it to swing himself up, before planting both feet firmly on the base and catapulting himself across a small ledge towards the next tree. He lost a lot of height in the grip and it faltered for a moment as bark crunched underneath his claws and fell away like snowflakes, leaving nothing but smooth wood to grapple desperately to.

"Hah, you think you're so fast, huh squirrel? Let's see if you can outrun an arrow!" Surprisingly, Arch wasn't the only one either brave or foolish enough to try the Bronze Woods at such a time. He'd met the mounted squire on his way through the gates and they'd decided to raise a bet of about twenty Gold Miza's between themselves. The lad being as headstrong and cocky as a Sergeant, had boasted about his competence in a bow and the fact that he could nail a squirrel between the eyes if he really wanted to. Archailist, being Archailist, had of course challenged this claim. Now they ran together through the forest, playing a dangerous game of tag with the pointy ends of arrows. So far, though, the boy had proved himself exceptional in his way around a short-bow. The squirrel, however, had proved himself a little better.

"Like I need to outrun your arrows! They're so wide, I can watch them sail straight past me!" That earned another heavy thump as an arrow slammed into the branch the squirrel was currently squatting upon, with the boy cursing loudly atop the back of his thin-legged mount. He couldn't really remember how long they'd been going at it - the last thing he remembered was laughing loudly as the boy had the unfortunate grace to nearly topple straight into a stream on their way across it. They'd startled a small group of hunters on their way around, who'd been following some odd-looking tracks, but soon passed and disappeared through the thicker underbrush. Strange - with so many animals hibernating or simply indistinguishable under the thin blankets of ice and snow, one would wonder what a group of four or five hunters would even be able to find in such conditions.

[Katelyn Marks]

Sebastian heard the pair long before she did. His head rose high, ears shoved forward, and he rumbled a curious warning. They'd started off again in pursuit of the cow. She couldn't be sure if the old farmer had sent anyone else after the young heifer, or if these were strangers to be wary of. Kat would have no way of knowing until she found them, if it were even possible. Who know how far they'd all gone now? They could be a few miles in any direction. Still, she'd followed her instincts and a hunch and decided to ride along the stream.

When her pony became alert, she sat straighter in the saddle and eyed the trees around them. His ears were focused on one direction though, and he didn't necessarily seem afraid. It spurred her confidence enough that she reined him in that direction and urged him into a quick trot. They crunched across old leaves, fallen branches, frost, and crusty snow. Kat ducked under low limbs hanging overhead, bare of leaves and reaching toward her like old crooked fingers. They snagged at the mantle of fur atop her shoulders, pulling bits of hair on her head, and scraped her face.

Soon she heard them as well. Frolicking shouts and jeers--two male voices, and the thumping of a horse's hooves through the underbrush. Sebastian nickered loudly when he caught the scent of horse, startling her. She spun him in a circle, hissing for him to be silent.

"You're going to get me killed, you old goof!" Kat chastised quietly, hunched prone in the saddle, listening to the group in the trees ahead.

She caught a glimpse of a horse and rider, but no one else. Was that a bow in his hands? When he appeared between the trees in the distance again, she tried to focus. He was obviously after something up in the branches. Hunting? Sebastian whinnied again, louder this time.

"For the love of the Gods!" she exclaimed loudly in exasperation, giving up entirely on trying to be quiet.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

It seemed almost impossible, but even over the shouting and adrenaline of the chase, the shout from behind the trees was even louder and nearly knocked the squirrel off-balance. Nearly. Another arrow flew his way and he struggled to catch himself after practically diving off the branch in order to avoid being skewered on its tip. Before he could even stop their game, another arrow was aimed. "Hah, don't think that I won't get you, squirrel! You can't keep this up forever!" He held out a paw to stop the man, but it was already in the air and he had to think fast - using his tail and the unholy weight stashed inside by a mass of clay to swing himself to the side of the arrow, causing it to nearly cut into his left side. He'll be the damn near end of me, for sure. Though it wasn't going to be today.

"Quiet! I heard something!" He wanted to make it a hushed whisper, because he certainly didn't want the person knowing that he knew about them, but it came out more of a yell considering the distance they were apart. It worked though. The arrow that was about to be released was suddenly turned towards the trees nearby, with the boys eyes narrowed as they scanned through the trees in the hopes of finding whatever it was. It gave the squirrel time to at least recompose himself and climb back up onto the branch that he'd been precariously hanging from mere moments ago. "I'll scout ahead in the direction. You follow, slowly. Keep your arrow ready just in case." Who knew what could be there. It could be a harmless passer-by, or it could be a thief or worse looking for some more victims.

"Don't loose it until you're sure who they are." With that he hopped ahead to the next branch along - from there, to the next, and so on. It wasn't difficult, although it wasn't exactly quiet either. He often had to rely on the fact that he was very similarly shaped to a squirrel, but when people knew to look for a squirrel, it suddenly became pretty damn terrible. He couldn't even tell where the noise had come from, although he was certain he'd heard something. The further he pushed across the trees overhead though, the more he began to doubt himself. No, there's nothing here.. must have been my imagination or something, surely. Not like there's going to be any hunters running about at these times.

[Katelyn Marks]

There was no point in hiding now. She heard the rider approaching through the trees, his horse's hooves crunching on the dry, cold leaves blanketing the forest floor. Kat fixed a scowl on her face and readied Sebastian for retreat. She balled the reins up taut in a vice grip, glaring into the trees. Her pony tossed his head and snorted, a great white cloud streaming from his flared nostrils. He pawed the leaves and gouged the cold dirt underneath, feeling and in turn mirroring her unease.

"Friend or foe?" she called loudly, voice echoing through the bare trees and cutting the cold air like a knife.

Sebastian spooked and skittered to the side at the sudden sound of her voice, and she spun him in a tight circle until he relented and stood still once more. Kat backed him up a few quick paces for good measure, and he threw back his head in protest, holding it high and fighting the bit. Again he stamped the earth with his hooves, chomping the bit and shaking his head.

OOCSorry for the length of this one!

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Just about the same moment as she shouted, the squirrel dropped down onto a branch just above her head and to her right. It really hadn't been hard to find the girl, especially with most of the foliage already lying at their feet instead of above their heads. "Friends to civilians, and foes to criminals." He was guessing that she was the former - mostly for the fact that she was traveling alone, and he couldn't see any weapons on her. No bow or arrows in sight, unlike Narick, who soon followed the squirrel and emerged from the right with his bow already stashed away again, along with the arrows in the thick leather quiver strapped over the shoulder of his borrowed boiled leather. "What're you doing out here, unescorted, without a weapon, may I ask?"

He was more concerned for the girls safety than his own or his companions. Archailist may have been a Pycon, and only a squire, but that didn't mean that he had no obligation to aid those peoples that needed his help, and preserve their safety as much as he could. His fellow squire didn't seem to hold the same views. "Eh, I think she knows what she's doing.. otherwise she wouldn't be out here." Despite it was nothing more than his personal opinion, there was an obvious eagerness in the boy to get back to their little game. Goodness, they're so old.. and yet so young. It was almost exasperating how childish some of these people could be, when it came to the serious decisions. Then again, that was why they were squires, and not knights. Not yet.

His manners returned to him quickly after those thoughts came. "Sorry, if I'm intruding, but.. riding out through the Bronze Woods with no weapon, alone, in the cold of Fall. Little suspicious." Narick looked like he was ready to interrupt again, but he stopped himself when he actually looked at what the squirrel was saying, and then looked at the girl. Then, concerningly, he began to reach for his bow. Oh, give me a break. He hoped whatever patron had the good will and patience to take the boy in would curb these stupid thoughts from his head before he took the Knighting Quest, otherwise all of Syliras would be paying for his social ineptitude. "Narick, don't bother. You don't draw a weapon on someone in the middle of a conversation."

[Katelyn Marks]

When the branches overhead rattled, snapped and shook, Sebastian gave a great frightened whinny and tried to bolt. Kat cursed loudly in surprise and grabbed the thick mane in front of her, else topple backwards over his coup and fall to the dirt. When she caught her balance the redhead pulled hard on the reins, yanking the pony's head low and bringing his nose around toward her knee. He stumbled and slowed, prancing in a tight circle and snorting in fear, chest heaving a nostrils flaring. Katelyn glared up at the trees, searching for what had spooked her pony, then stopping short when she saw the Pycon perched up in the bare, crooked branches.

Sebastian finally stopped and she gave him his head, absently stroking the side of his thick neck. He tossed his head violently and smacked his lips, irritated, but she wasn't paying attention.

"I am... uhm...," she began, but the words fell short and she just stared stupidly at the large, slightly misshapen squirrel peering down at her.

At least she assumed it was looking at her. What else would those blank eyes be focused on. As the other stranger appeared through the trees, she glanced at him. His arrival seemed to bring some sense to her, and she looked back up at the talking creature who had originally questioned her.

"Suspicious?" she asked, more than a little defensive.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other one, the young man, reach for his bow. Her fingers automatically closed around the hilt of the dagger hidden under the heavy folds of her winter cloak. She ripped it out of its scabbard with a loud scrape of steel against hard leather, a little clumsy from the cold.

"I'm not unarmed," she snapped at the both of them. "Now if you plan on robbing or killing me, I'll put up a fight. You call me suspicious? I'm out here working. You two are the suspicious lot! I mean, what in the Gods' names are you?" she seethed, pointing at the statue-like creature clinging to the branches above.

"Are you some kind of unholy experiment? Or a monster?"

She whirled on the young man accompanying the creature.

"And you? Perhaps a wizard or maybe just a brigand?"

Katelyn leered at the two of them, too proud and maybe too stupid to run. She knew what Pycons were, but she didn't put two and two together. She'd never seen one before, let alone one that looked like an animal, and the woman had no way of knowing the two of them were squires.

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

He recoiled as though he'd just been slapped in the face, then sighed as he looked down on the little dagger in her hand. "That thing is about as useful as a spoon when it comes to fighting off anyone or anything in these woods," he answered while jerking a thumb in the direction of the little dagger she held - probably the same size as the squirrel, maybe a little larger. Honestly, what did humans gain from carrying around such small weapons, when they were such large creatures? It might be understandable if it made them faster, but heck.. they were still slow whether they held a dagger of a great-axe. "Be glad we're not interested in stealing you and making you a slave, because I can tell you now that a dagger isn't going to stop anyone." He turned back to Narick, but the boy had already taken out his bow, arrow notched, aimed straight for the girls head. Well, I did say that we don't draw weapons in the middle of a conversation.. and she did. No point complaining about it any more.

Obviously, the girl was distressed. Saying things that were.. inappropriate. It was the first time he'd really been called some strange monster or experiment, surprisingly. Everyone either assumed he was the servant of some alchemist, or that he was a Pycon, and then they never payed much attention to him, no matter what he did. Although his face hardened a little at the grievous insult, he took a deep breath and pushed it aside. "Sorry, allow me to introduce myself. I am squire Archailist, and this is my friend, squire Narick. We're out on a bit of a patrol, if you could call it that." That wasn't a lie, entirely. "And no, I'm not an unholy experiment. Though if you call me that again, I'll knock you off that horse faster than you can scream." Whoops. Probably the wrong thing to say, but.. he let it slip.

"Now, how about we try this again. Why are you out here. What work can you possibly be doing, that would need you to go out of the range of the city, unescorted, with nothing but a dagger?" There was no point trying to tell Narick to lower the bow again, but he shot a glare nonetheless that was met with a mild shrug. She'd asked for it, after all. Suppose neither of us know what else she could be hiding away. He'd never moved from the low-hanging branch on the tree, although he soon braced himself and made a small leap to a slightly-higher one. Partially because he didn't want to end up on the receiving end of anything that she might have up her sleeve, whoever she was.. and partially because if anything did tumble down into violence, he wanted the best angle to jump down from above.

"You know, we should probably be escorting her back to Syliras already, if she's drawing weapons on squires." Oh boy, he really couldn't give it up, could he. He had to bite back the observation that it was he that had drawn first weapon and aimed it straight for her, but he doubted that even that would stem his bull-headedness. He had to settle for another cold glare, this time met with a look of exasperation. If there was going to be a trial for murder after today, it was more likely going to be between the two squires than anything involving the girl.

[Katelyn Marks]

She could feel her confidence wane as the squirrel insulted her weapon, calling her bluff easily and putting her right in her place. Who was she kidding? Katelyn could barely use the damnable blade, making it almost useless. Her eyes followed the squirrel as he turned his head toward his companion, and when the redhead caught sight of the arrow pointed in her direction, she felt the cold fist of fear tighten in her stomach. Sebastian could feel her mounting unease and grew more agitated himself. He snorted uncertainly and pawed the cold earth, eyes rolling nervously until the whites shown.

Reluctantly she looked back at the squirrel perched above when he continued to speak, and was more than a little surprised by what she heard.

"Squires?" she asked, incredulous.

Her eyes moved between the two of them, brows knitted in confused surprise. She was too startled to even react to the squirrel's threatening warning.

"You're not acting much like any squire I've ever met," Katelyn observed acidly.

While the one with the bow could be a squire for all she knew, that still left the squirrel, so she asked the obvious.

"What are you then? You say you're a squire, but what are you?"

She offered a glare to the one named Narick when he chose to open his mouth.

"You drew your weapon on me. To most that is considered a threat," she spat angrily. "I'm out here searching for a lost cow. She ran off from the Outpost and I was asked to try and retrieve her if possible. Downstream I found some tracks--hers and then some horses'," she explained, eyeing the "squire's" mount suspiciously. She didn't necessarily believe their tale.

"You haven't happened to have seen her, have you?"

[Archailist]

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Evidently, he was going to have to take this slow. Not an easy feat, when his companion was busy eyeing her up from the opposite end of an arrow. Tensions like these, it was a miracle that he managed to remain solid at all. "Yes, well, we can't all be alike, can we. A talking squirrel made out of clay is never going to be the same as any other squire you've seen so far, is he?" A silly question really, but he asked it anyway. "As for what I am, we're known as Pycons. Small, made out of clay, all that nonsense. I would change shape, but.. I don't feel like it. Squirrel suits me."

Enough about him, though. He wasn't important here - she was, though. "There was no telling who you were and what you were doing out here until we approached. You could have been a murderer, could have been a thief, could have been anything. Forgive us if we were a little cautious." Well, at least he was trying to be courteous. He was apologizing, trying his best to remain civil regardless of the insults that she was throwing out at him, all of it. He knew of plenty of squires and knights who wouldn't have hesitated to act if she called them a mutant experiment or what have you. Ball being one of them.

When the final answer came, he had a double-take. "Hold on.. you came out here in search of a cow? Do you understand how dangerous this place is, and you came out here.. for a cow?" His voice was growing more incredulous by the moment, but at least Narick had dropped the bow and arrow to his side in favor of snickering quietly. "It could have been eaten by wolves! Balicani! Kriital! Probably has been already, in fact. Winter's approaching, scarce food around. If you came across any of them, what were you going to do, huh? Kill them off with that lousy dagger of yours?" On the back of a damn horse, no less. Sometimes he had to wonder why he was even trying to protect people like this. Perhaps he'd already warned her enough, and it'd be better just to turn around and leave her. Leave nature to do its job, and Dira to those that would unwittingly embrace her.

On the other hand, he just couldn't stop ranting by now. His voice was practically raised into a shout - enough that Naricks snickers soon died away to be replaced by grim silence as he listened to the squirrel rattling on. "Tell me, what would you have done if it was stolen by thieves? Hoof prints beside the prints of the cow, you say. Well, doesn't that just beat all. What did you plan to do, when faced with a thief, or several thieves? What would you have done if they were armed, just like we were? At the end of a bow, what would you do with that little dagger of yours? Would they murder you, enslave you, goodness forbid what they'd end up doing AFTER that."

"That's enough, Arch." The boy had been jumpy before - he was still young, after all. Now though, his face had turned completely gray and hard as stone as his gaze pierced Katelyn. In ticks, lines had appeared on his face that made him seem so much older than he truly was - like an old man's soul trapped in the body of a child. "Let's go." He had to stop the boy with a touch on the shoulder before turning back to Katelyn again.

"That means you're coming as well. Goodness forbid that I end up being held responsible for not letting you wander out into a forest and get yourself killed or worse. We're taking you back to Syliras. Should have reported missing animals to the Knights, not run off like a vigilante to try and reclaim it again."