Cheep!? 171

Niko and the rest of the Wyldwalkers stopped eating when Crowe and Camille walked in, Niko greeted them with a trilling note. Both looked, for lack of a better word, weary in their steps, though he could hardly blame them. They’d been the go-between for Riizen and Greenleaf for weeks now, and as a result had made many repeat trips back and forth. It wasn’t as if there weren’t others as well, but few could go with the speed that the two of them could.

“Hey, everybody,” Camille spoke with a casual air and a broad grin, “Sorry to interrupt lunch.”

“Nonsense,” Riizen rumbled heartily, “You’re more than welcome, come, join us! Take a break and get some food in you.”

“We will gladly oblige, thank you,” Crowe gave a slight nod, his posture and decorum still intact in spite of his obvious fatigue.

The two joined in at the tables, with Astold rapidly dipping back in and taking their orders. Niko hadn’t noticed before recently, but Camille rarely ate a large amount of food from others. Niko briefly deliberated between whether he should ask Camille about that or not, before ultimately deciding that it could just be a personal quirk. That, or most other food just wasn’t quite up to her standards, but she ate a little to not be rude.

The current chef being the exception, of course, which Astold seemed to take no small delight in.

“How are my folks down there?” Ronald asked, before quickly adding, “Y’know, just if you happen to know.”

Crowe gave him a knowing smile, a bit of the tiredness fading from his features, “They are doing quite well, all told. Gram has had a few more guard stations built, and a fully functional barracks constructed.”

“Barracks and guard stations, he says,” Camille huffed a chuckle and shook her head, “He’s had a few small forts constructed across the city and one big one near the center, opposite the side of the city with the new guild hall. Everything’s getting rebuilt bigger and stronger.”

Ronald nodded wistfully, at that, but stayed silent. The other Wyldwalkers that hailed from Greenleaf and knew it well couldn’t help but feel a little torn up about not seeing it and being a part of the rebuilding process, though they were glad to hear it was going well.

“On to other topics,” Crowe continued whilst studying the group, “I am told you all are going to Ar’Klaadi?”

“Yup,” Mithel nodded, “Part of our promise with the Eye. I actually came to Greenleaf through there, since it’s a major inroad to the underkingdoms. I didn’t really stay that long, though. Anything in particular we should be worried about?”

Niko blinked at the information that Mithel came through there, and by extension from below the earth. For some reason, he hadn’t made the connection that she’d literally grown up underground. That must have been… strange given that she was once a human like him.

Camille took a drink from her waterskin before saying, “Ar’Klaadi is one of the safest cities I’ve ever been in.” She seemed to study the group's reaction to her statement, “…on the inside, at least.”

Niko and the others sat up a little more at that.

Camille continued with a smirk, “The city has some minor crime and such, but nothing on a level to be worried about. The only thing you should probably know that isn’t exactly common knowledge is that the Mayor isn’t the actual power of the city. There’s an old man that’s ridiculously strong that pretty much makes any major decisions, but usually leaves everything else well enough alone. Aside from that, you’ve got the Church of Knowledge there worshiping Saratasha, but they’re only a boon from what I hear.”

“The real danger,” Crowe cut in, “Comes from without. Ar’Klaadi is set within a nexus-way between many underground routes. As such, it comes with just as many denizens from the dark ways in the earth, as well as the many creatures from the Elderwood that roam the outskirts. The Steel Soul Corps—that is the private military of Ar’Klaadi—take up much of the responsibility of keeping the area clear, but there is a significant population of adventurers as well.”

“That’s where we stayed for… several years actually.” Camille added, “We tiered up from three to four there. Good times. Great place. Amaaaazing food.”

Niko eyed Camille as several plates of food were set upon the table before her, attention immediately dragged to the dishes arrayed. ‘Yup… Definitely just a food quality thing.’

“More helpfully,” Crowe didn’t quite roll his eyes at his sister, but Niko felt like he got pretty close, “There is much to be done around the city to assist them. You may wish to seek additional lessons regarding trade skills and combat from the Steel Soul Corps, just don’t agree to anything long term.”

“Why? Are they suspicious?” Dachna asked even as he was cracking open some kind of shelled thing and eating the perfectly seasoned, buttery flesh beneath.

“Only insofar as to enlist your help in clearing harder areas,” Chagrined, Crowe shook his head, “We helped clear out pests for days, with almost no downtime. The Corps are good, but they have no compunction about squeezing you for every drop of effort you can provide them.”

“I liked it, was great exercise,” Camille shrugged, “We got a lot of essence, too.”

Crowe inclined his head at that in silent agreement but didn’t voice anything further.

“They plan on leaving today,” Anya sighed while looking at her daughter and then to Camille and Crowe, “How do they treat beasts, there?”

At that, Camille slowed her eating, before contemplating the topic. “Well… It’s been some time, but the last we were there, there was no shortage of tames and beast companions. The two get the lines between them blurred somewhat, but there’s no functional change in how people act in general. Might have a few instances of someone thinking you’re not capable of talking to them. There’s plenty of beasts out there that can only really communicate with their bond mate. Given that you lot are all sapient and able to communicate…” She paused, eyes on Charlotte who seemed not to notice, “Well, I think there might be some moments where someone talks to the person next to you and not you, but that’s because of assumptions more than anything.”

“Luckily, we’re not in the empire, so no one is going to assume you’re a belonging of someone’s or anything like that.” Camille then added seriously, “Even so, considering that shifty business in Greenleaf, it’d be a good idea to always travel with a buddy in the city. Ar’Klaadi should be totally safe, but there’s no reason to risk anything.”

The mood turned somber after that, with everyone absorbing and thinking over what she’d said. Niko had honestly forgotten about some of the risks that this form had after the situation with the Massacre Hornets and then with having been in the Riizen area since. The Kingdom overall was very open and pro-tamer in general, which led to most beasts being treated with respect often, but that didn’t mean there weren’t bad actors in their midst. He doubted that they would run into any major threats in Ar’Klaadi, but Niko was far from arrogant enough to believe that he had nothing to worry about. In fact, each of the four of them, Niko, Sasha, Thokk, and Charlotte, could be very valuable to tamers, were it not for the fact that they were autonomous sapients themselves.

‘Though, I at least have Skye as my ‘translator’,’ Niko thought amusedly. That amusement soured as he looked over at the other three. “Will it be an issue that the others don’t have a bond like I do with Skye?”

Crowe regarded them for a few seconds before shaking his head, “It should be enough that they can communicate on their own. Yours was a special case, given that you were an aberrant ostensibly from the wilderness. For the rest of you, it would be a simple matter of holding identification to show that you are from Riizen. While it has been some time since any of the beast tribes have opened up to regular travel, there have been a few rarities moving about. I also suspect that Greenleaf and Riizen’s current arrangement will be known throughout much of the kingdom by now.”

“That should be just as well, then?” Sasha pondered, “We already wear badges of identification. That should be enough to indicate that we are at least not ‘wild’ beasts.”

None of the beasts present seemed bothered in the least by the inference that wild beasts were fair game. But, then again, they were fair game, even to sapient beasts. While Niko doubted Sasha would ever hunt her unawoken kin, he didn’t think she’d have a problem with hunting other varieties of unawoken beasts, like a large bird for example. To be frank, Niko wasn’t sure if he really cared even about the first part—he’d eaten plenty of birds already, after all.

The rest of the meal was taken up by more commonplace topics, like what the weather would look like as the summer waned into fall. Niko was shocked to realize that it’d been more than five months since he’d come to this world. In that span of time he’d already risen to tier three, his progress was explosive all things considered. This wasn’t uncommon for those on pilgrimage, however. The real test began at tier three, where many would struggle to rise into the next tier, and then the requirements grew even harsher to rise up to tier five.

Before Niko knew it, they were making their prepearations to leave, with Riizen, Anya, Crowe, and Camille seeing them off from the manor.

“Remember, you are all welcome here in this city.” Riizen said, “Be sure to take care of yourselves. Above all, your lives should come first.”

The sentiment warmed Niko, and Sasha smeared her head across his flank, “I know, dad. We’ll be as safe as we can be.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Riizen leaned down, hugging Sasha with his head hanging over her own.

Anya did the same, while fussing over her with questions like, “Do you have everything you need packed? Waterskins, sigilstones, equipment?”

Niko stifled laughter at the repeated, ‘Yes, mom’ mantra that Sasha said to Anya. Distantly, he was reminded of a time when he had such a thing, with his own parents and his sister.

He breathed out then, feeling his mood dip. That was something he hadn’t had to think of for some time. Niko knew that they were, supposedly, somewhere in this world, but he wasn’t certain he wanted to find them anymore.

He almost startled when he felt Skye put a hand on his side, “You okay?”

“Yeah… Well, mostly. Guess I’m feeling nostalgic,” Niko looked at the fussing group, and then noticed that a much larger version of Thokk with shock white fur was coming towards the sloth bear. Thokk was obviously surprised at the arrival of the other bear, and Niko was alarmed when the bigger bear wrapped Thokk up into an immense hug.

Considering how cold Niko felt from here, he could only imagine how cold that bear was up close.

“Yeah, family is nice to have.” Skye smiled, and he felt a warm sense come from their connection as she hopped up onto his back, “But you’re not alone.”

Niko twisted his head around to look at her, mood improved. “Yeah, that’s true. I couldn’t get rid of you even if I wanted to.”

“Hah!” Skye slapped his neck playfully, “Nope, I’m a briar dug in deep.”

With a chuckle, he fluffed up his feathers, “Thanks, Skye.”

The half-elf leaned into his neck and gave him a one-armed hug, whilst enjoying the fluffiness of his feathers, “Anytime.”