The monster surveyor – Chapter 3

Eyren’s stay in Bisakho-Shivot is being prolonged somewhat further, and it would seem that the task at hand may be both lucrative and eventful, whilst not necessarily straying into combat. Having to make preparations, Imtoryat had petitioned Eyren to linger in the house, and the ex-knight therefore agreed to spend the night. Given that this is a reasonably sizable construction, they wouldn’t have to rest in the same quarters anyhow, even if Eyren wouldn’t complain, but having her own room did sound surprisingly luxurious for her. She didn’t decline and alternately took this chance to de-stress and set up the arrangement of what to go with for the trip in her mind.

When they arise in the morning, Eyren gets dressed, has breakfast from the larder that she was conveyed to yesterday and then heads out. Abiding for Imtoryat to join her, Eyren traces the wolf-adorned lady from the entrance only half an hour after, and she’s fairly dissimilar from her presence the day prior. Being clad in a fancier set of clothing, with a fine cobalt-blue coat, tighter grey pants and red sash, this does expose more of her rather neat figure, which Eyren doesn’t mind viewing whatsoever. Her bearing, on the other hand, isn’t terribly self-assured and its awkwardness does tie fittingly with the lady’s general character.

Once Imtoryat skirts up to her, Eyren offers a smile and bobs her head in approval.
“My lady, you’ve altered your outfit, I see.”

“Hm?”, goes the scholar and for some reason scans down at herself momentarily. “…oh, y…yes. I um, surmised it would be wise to have a…traveler’s attire.”

“Hah, well, quite a fancy quality, but it’ll do. You do look great, though.”

This comment, as one would suspect, encourages a blush on Imtoryat’s cheeks, whilst her tail initiates a wagging.
“…thank you”, she mumbles, the reddening of her cheeks getting more visible when the wind blows her long hair off for a spell.

“Don’t really have a huge amount of available options myself. Just some extra stuff I keep in my bags.”

Imtoryat thereafter clears her throat.
“Th…that is reasonable. I…did not pick out these vestments personally. It…was my sister who had it tailored and bought for me.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes, she…p-prefers that I dress neatly whilst in public, even though I…find it a tad awkward…”

Eyren chuckles gently.
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed by that, my lady. Not with your tremendous figure.”

And as predicted before, Imtoryat’s tail wags again, alongside her increasingly darkening cheeks, albeit in this occasion she blows out a breath whilst holding the former still.
“…preshab…”

“Is that a problem for you, my lady?”

“Huh?”

Eyren motions with a hand towards a set region of Imtoryat’s body.
“Sounds to me like your tail is troublesome at times?”

“O…oh…”, Imtoryat stutters again, but she dwells on it for a spell, to let her tail settle down. “It’s just…a personal tic. Always acts this way, and I…I hate it.”

“Heh, is it that bad?”

“It simply…unduly exposes me and my emotions. It has been like this since I was small…”

“Well, I hope you don’t mind it when I tell you that it is pretty cute.”

Firstly opening her mouth, the scholar has to attempt shrouding her expression with her hair once more, but on purpose, as she is endlessly flustered by Eyren’s flattery.
“N-now…you’re plainly teasing me…”

Eyren lets out a faint chuckle.
“Maybe just a speck. To see your reaction, though, don’t you feel it’s fair?”

Imtoryat hangs her shoulders in defeat and shakes her head.
“…y…you are frightfully charming, m-miss Eyren. Plausibly too charming…”

With another laugh emanating, Eyren shrugs her own shoulders.
“Eh, I try. Doesn’t deliver every time, though.”

In the meantime that they’re lounging on this spot, the northerner can furthermore mark how there is minute shuffling along one of the districts of this yard, where the guards are still posted. There’s three of them and without so much as having to scrutinize it to any greater degrees, Eyren decodes that they’re eyeballing this direction and wherever she treads, assumably mistrustful of this outlander who’s charming their lady. Well, it’s not fair of her to judge them for it, given how she literally got here the day before, and she’s not been sufficiently labelled to any one of them. She anticipates she’ll have to prove herself, if she happens to remain for a drawn-out term, but hopefully that won’t take place.

A minute subsequently, Eyren flags onwards with her hand.
“Follow me, I’d like you to meet someone, my lady.”

Imtoryat blinks her eyes, albeit does observe the appeal.
“…someone?”

Heading to another section of the field, Eyren conducts Imtoryat up to where Razz has been tarrying throughout this call to the estate, out around the grass but not immediately inside the garden. She’s standing by a minor fence and her body is bent over, to nip at something on the ground. To Eyren’s mind, it would appear to be slabs of meat which the raptor is snacking on avidly, even if she does keep a pretty sluggish pace, noting no impulse for gobbling this up rapidly. Nevertheless, the sight does confound Eyren to a degree.
“Huh? You got yourself a meal?” Reacting to the sound and to Eyren’s adjacency, Razz lifts her noggin and her tail takes up a faint swishing, in spite of that she doesn’t divert from where the meal is deposited. “Did you catch that somewhere? No, that doesn’t look like a fresh trophy.” Razz chirps back at her. Eyren thereby knits her brow with discomfort. “Don’t tell me you stole that from somewhere…” Razz pitches her head sideways in a curious capacity, but naturally doesn’t strictly apprehend what her friend is relaying to her.

“Oh, I…doubt it was swiped from anyone”, Imtoryat clears up. “It was presumably my guards.”

Eyren draws her aim back at the scholar.
“You reckon? Razz rarely has the fortune of getting fed by strangers, I have to admit.”

“Yes, I…am quite sure. It isn’t unusual among our neighborhood.” She sweeps a hand to another flank of the estate. “You may have spotted some of the other animals stationed on the counter end of the yard. They um, were brought by my guards. The people of Bisakho-Shivot are quite accustomed to mounts, particularly raptors, and those who sojourn in my sister’s complexes generally come and go with their steeds. Raptors are furthermore…erm, quite well-liked in Saraspoyor. It is supposed that they initially emigrated to this continent from the west, thousands of years prior, so…they are viewed as one of traditional companions to its denizens.”

“Oh, right. I have heard it’s a common western mount, yeah. In the north, it’s more ordinary that people keep direwolves or bighorns as solo or battle steeds.”

“Mm, that…is true. Anyhow, my guards…must’ve fed your companion.”

Eyren smiles and shakes her head amusedly, anterior to heading up to Razz and petting her head, making the raptor nudge against her and release a purr-like sound.
“So, nabbing free dinners now, are ya? Getting spoiled, I think…” Saying this, Eyren begins teasing her a smidgen, making the raptor nip at her playfully. However, in the same breath, Imtoryat has not padded closer to the two and is maintaining her earlier footing, possibly out of respect. “Would you like to come here, my lady? I’d like to introduce you to my companion. This is Razz. She’s been with me for years.”

Imtoryat coughs and scratches her neck.
“I um…”

“And if you’re nervous, that’s fine. Razz is the best girl there is. She would never bite someone out of nowhere.”

Razz is studying the wolf-eared lady now from afar, her tail swaying anticipatingly. Imtoryat does look unsure, albeit not scared per se.
“I…am not averse to raptors individually…but I am not great with animals overall.”

“Oh? You don’t like them?”

“No, it’s…” Imtoryat pauses and appears to forage for a proper reasoning. “…my sister often tells me I am not used to them any more than people, really. ‘Books are your greatest companion, Otabili’.”

“…uh, Otabili?”

“Hm? Oh, um…sorry. It means ‘swallow’ in Berautl. As in…the bird. And it’s…erm, the nickname my mother and sister have for me. Because I am…’delicate and swift to flee from loud noises’…”

“Ahh, haha. Suppose I can dig that, in a way. No offense, of course.”

Imtoryat shivers her head.
“It’s fine…I am used to the marker by now. And it is…not spoken with offense.”

“That’s understandable. Anyway, you don’t have to stress over Razz, my lady. She’s the gentlest girl there is. Very frisky, can’t deny, but she’d never hurt anyone who she recognizes as friendly.”

Lowering her head in recognition, Imtoryat opts to trust in Eyren’s message and slowly advances, concurrently with the knight whispering to her companion that she should be lenient. Razz retains her position until the scholar is straight ahead of her, which is when she saunters a little farther up and her bulky nose commences a sniffing along Imtoryat’s head and shoulders. When her assessment is finalized, the raptor nudges her snout against Imtoryat’s cheek as well as her neck, making the wolfy girl giggle; a terribly lovely sound.
“That tickles…”

Eyren offers a sated smile in the middle of patting her companion’s tail.
“Razz has always loved people, or the good ones anyway. If she responds in this way, it’s a sign of how nice you are, my lady.”

With her own face moderately shining, Imtoryat soothingly strokes her fingers through Razz’s body feathers and grazes her own nose against the raptor’s.
“She…seems like a great companion.”

“Yeah, she absolutely is. Been raising her since she was a chick, so she’s taken after me, I suppose.” When she feels they’re done with this section, Eyren gives a couple of telltale taps on the raptor’s back. “Alright, Razz, you can continue with your snack.” The raptor chirps cheerily and enthusiastically returns to munching on the meat on the ground. “Oh, I have another tidbit for your research, my lady. Might be fascinating to hear that Razz is actually immune to the Woerdinn’s influence too.”

Imtoryat swivels towards Eyren and her eyes widen.
“A…are you certain?”

“Yep, almost 100%. Admittedly, I don’t really know the cause of it, but she’s never showcased a jot of corruption or mutation, and this is despite that she keeps engaging with me in combat against those monsters. Including biting and clawing constantly.”

Folding her arms below her chest, Imtoryat’s tail sways from side to side in a pensive style.
“Hmm…I have read that it’s viable for animals to…erm, adopt traits matching their owners or partners, if they spend sufficient time in one another’s company. Wasn’t aware it would transfer over to Fateworn, though…”

“Yeah, I can’t really explain it better either, but I’m quite certain of what I’ve seen.”

“P…perhaps I can examine her a touch closer later on…”

Settled for another minute and running what priming they’ve done through in her mind, Eyren then wheels at Imtoryat again.
“My lady, it would likely be wise to pack a bit of food and other necessities. The space we’re bound for is a few days’ ride out.”

Imtoryat inclines her head with awareness.
“I see. Is it a…fair range outside of Bisakho-Shivot, then?”

“Well, not super lengthy, in truth, but it will take us beyond the conveniences of this hold, yes. I noticed a minor flock of bypassing Herdbrand to the east of here when we were cutting across the province, but I chose to temporarily ignore them. Sometimes they just pack up elsewhere and don’t harm anyone, so it didn’t seem urgent. If they have stuck to the general vicinity of that section, it would be feasible for you to witness them firsthand.”

Imtoryat bobs her head with a portion of delight.
“Mm, I would love for that to occur. I shall, erm…let you guide us there. Nonetheless, I…will have to hold a conversation with my guards to begin with. They uh…might harbor a number of complaints…”

“Ah, that checks out. They have to certify your safety, after all.”

“Indeed. Um, but…I will simply have to prevail on them that my sister would support me in this matter.”

“Would she?”

“Hmm…with a suitable guardian at my side…I should believe so. A-And you are highly experienced in the subject of Herdbrand, miss Eyren.”

Eyren folds her arms and gives off a thoughtful aspect.
“Your sister, is that…the ‘lady Shayuri’ that was touched on before?”

“Yes, that is my older sister. She is…erm, the one who presides over the family holdings and lands as of now, the ‘Lady of Bisakho-Shivot’, this region. She does have a more erm…’official’ title, though, but…anyhow, she resides in the main town and not in this remote cabin.”

“Heh, ‘cabin’, huh? Hmm. Not interested in being nosy, but…is it alright for me to point out that Shayuri sounds like a regional name?”

“Yes, of course, it’s Saraspoyori.”

“Well…I sat and wondered yesterday about your accent. It doesn’t come off as if you’re from here? My apologies if that’s…uh, unseemly.”

Her eyelids fluttering a mite, the lady merely rocks her head in disagreement.
“No no, that’s…that’s completely fine. I do not mind. You are on-target in your assumption, for I-I wasn’t born in Saraspoyor. I…am in fact not even originally from this family.”

“Oh, really?”

Imtoryat clears her throat.
“I would conjecture that you are not informed of this but…do you recall the guard articulating my name? Imtoryat Kohja namek Zawósk – the ‘namek’ part can approximately be reworded into ‘drawn to’ in Berautl. It…it implies that someone is…adopted.”

“Oooh, right. My bad, I don’t really comprehend your tongue.”

“That is okay. Anyhow…I-I was born in Tsabchuur.”

“Untrein. Honestly? Wow, I couldn’t hear that whatsoever. I’m from a village some miles north of Urmesan, right by the border.”

The scholar contemplatively strokes her chin.
“Ah, this is…the city by the northwestern edge of Tsabchuur, no? I…was born in the eastern sectors of the province, numerous miles from Steorshlag.”

“Okay, yes, that would hold up. Heh, kinda intriguing, however. Didn’t figure I’d be catching another northerner over here, even if you’re admittedly not extremely distant into the north.”

“Mm, I…lived some years there, but I made it to Saraspoyor as a teenager, so I have still lived a third of my life here. Truthfully, I haven’t give much thought to Tsabchuur in a long while either. I…was adopted for…various reasons.”

“I see. Well, I won’t pry any further, my lady. We’ve only just met, after all, and I’m not inclined to inconvenience you.”

Thankfully, Imtoryat does not look to be inconvenienced, and her face once more brightens, her tail flickering cheerfully.
“I can assure you that you’re not, miss Eyren. You are…delightful company.”