Hunter Or Huntress

“Awww yeah, look at this. Maybe the dude wasn’t so bad after all!” Jacky went excitedly as she rubbed away on the big skull. Saph was helping out with the final cleaning. The ants had done a brilliant job, but even so, a final clean and a bit of polish was needed.

They were down in the workshop. The sun was nearly down, so it was only really Shiva, Tink, and Edita who were still working.

“Oh yeah. This is gonna look sweet up on the wall in the Grand hall. It’s going in the Grand hall, right?” Saph questioned as she rubbed a bit more wax on her cloth. “It’s gonna shine.”

“Damn right. It won’t fit in the bedroom. I checked. Tom would hit his head on it in the morning.”

“Aww, poor guy.”

“You know it… gods he was fucked this morning. But hey, maybe this will cheer him up. Look look, that’s where I stuck the shotgun in. I blew a hole at the base there.”

Saph craned her head over to have a look, and there was indeed a hole with a bit of cracking in the bone around it, leading into the braincase. “Oh yeaaah. Gods he had a shit day.”

“Same with my gun. Tom wants to fix it. I wanna mount it below the skull as part of the trophy: the second time a gun has tried to take my hand off.” She chuckled as she stuck a finger in the hole, feeling around a little with a reminiscing smile on her face.

“Not gonna lie, it would look pretty badass. But those guns are a bit too valuable to just hang on a wall you know.”

“I know, I know! But it’s a damn dragon! That’s gotta be worth it.”

“We’ll see… it is bloody cool though. We wanna shine the horns too?”

“Pfff, of course,” Jacky replied, getting up and going to the shelves to start looking through the various pots and jars.

“I do have some metal polish if that would work?” Edita questioned as she looked up from her work at the filing bench. “Though I have not tried it on horn or bone before.”

“I think we’ll just stick to what we know works,” Saph replied with a gentle nod. “But thank you.”

“Of course,” came the reply as the artificer once more engrossed herself in her work. Saph didn’t even know what she was making, but it was probably some sort of tool or something. It sure looked too fancy to be for the warehouse.

With a bit more work, the whole skull shone. The backplate would have to come later, but for now it was looking fantastic.

“Right, let’s go show it off before they get called down for dinner,” Jacky went, throwing a glance out the window, the red shimmer on the horizon betraying they were about to run out of light.

“Oh yeah, dinner. I need to get this done,” Edita spoke up, fiddling with her goggles, a bright white light coming on and illuminating her work. “I will be here if anyone asks.”

“Don’t miss the bell this time,” Saph joked as she got up to help Jacky carry the skull. It was a rather ungainly thing after all.

“I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces,” Jacky joked as she opened the door with a foot, using her tail to steady herself.

“Or all the traders and travelers. You get to spin a story now.”

“That too, that too.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

“And you think that’s real? That actually happened?” Tom questioned as Apuma finished reciting enthusiastically as ever. He had only just finished the day’s lessons with the kids, handing them over to Essy for some flying practice before dinner time, but the old man did not seem tired in the slightest.

“Well, it is hard to say of course, but someone did bother to write it down.”

“Riiight,” Tom replied, not feeling overly convinced. ‘And Wikipedia is pure gospel.’

“What’s the matter? Do you doubt wild creatures can show kindness?” the old loremaster questioned, seemingly not taking Tom’s side in this discussion. Apuma did have a tendency to regard his books quite highly.

“No, I just doubt that a pack of wild predators would bother returning a child-shaped snack to a place they probably don’t know it came from. Seems a bit much doesn’t it?”

“A Nauliker is quite intelligent. I remember another tale of a keep who used them to guard their prisoners, of course it ended in tragedy when a child elected to play with the beast. I believe it is supposed to be a cautionary tale for any place that keeps such creatures. But in the tale, it could even do tricks. Quite amusing if I say so myself.”

“I suppose so,” Tom replied, looking at the crude drawing which didn’t look anything like what was in the draconic sorcery book. The two were clearly completely separate calibers of work. The color was about right, and there was something at least resembling scales on the things back, like an armored back protector someone might expect for a motorcyclist. But over all Apuma’s book reminded him more of one of those medieval paintings they sometimes ran at pop quiz nights. The ones where you had to guess what the medieval monk had tried to portray. It was often very hard indeed.

“Oh don’t get hung up on the depictions. It is… uhm… charming,” Apuma mused, looking upon the pages. “I am sure the artist did their best.”

“Either that or they were high as a kite while drawing it,” Linkosta added with a huff. “It is shoddy workmanship.”

Then the sound of the double doors opening had them all turning to look, Investigator Paulin waltzing in, Glazz steadfast at her side as per usual.

Tom's shoulder sagged a touch at the sight. ‘You know I had almost forgotten you were here for a moment.’

“I see someone is engrossed in reading. Things are coming along well outside. How goes things in here?” Paulin started in the entirely unnatural, friendly tone that she had adopted quite frequently ever since Joelina’s departure. Her expression did dull a little as she laid eyes on the book they were reading, likely expecting it to be her book which had them all so interested.

“Indeed, we thought it prudent to try and fill some of Tom’s many holes in regard to his knowledge and understanding of our world,” Apuma responded with only the slightest hint of distaste showing through in his voice.

The investigator walked up to have a peek at said book, Glazz remaining at an almost comfortable distance. “Hmmm… interesting choice I must say. But either way, I bring news of all sorts.”

“Oh tell,” the old man inquired, turning on the bench to face her a little better. Linkosta also piqued up, her ears betraying her interest.

“We have received word that the next door is soon to be openable. A few days at most. They have successfully managed to bypass the enchantments upon it without permanently damaging the precious vault… unlike some,” she for some reason elected to give Tom a rather hard stare at that one. He had only supplied the explosives. Sapphire had set them off. And Twitch had helped make the stuff, so he was hardly responsible for that slightly singed door.

“That is very good. I would not mind being there to witness the opening. I must admit I had hoped the process would be faster.”

“We are of a similar mind in that vein, loremaster, but the preservation of the vaults outweighs the cost in time.”

“Of course… are we to make any preparations for departing, or…?”

“Not quite yet, but I do believe we want you all three there for it. Now I have also spoken with Glira. I understand Linkosta was not able to persuade either Fengi to change her mind or Sapphire to assist in the matter?”

“What matter?” Tom questioned, glancing between Lin and Apuma. Both looked a touch uncomfortable.”

“Fengi has elected that Yldril is allowed to say no to partaking in your keep’s studies of draconic magics. I must admit that was not something I foresaw, but as has been made quite clear, it is an internal matter to the keep. Nunuk was quite assertive in that.”

“You talked with mother too?” Linkosta questioned, sounding conflicted on what she thought of that.

“Of course, Fengi is one of her subjects. Normally I would instruct her to comply for the good of all. But alas, I cannot do so here it seems. No matter, there is a solution. Glira is more than willing to do her part to serve. With some incentives,” Paulin continued, sounding like the last part had been a considerable concession on her part.

“Give her some time to rest following a hard day’s work, and I am sure she will be able to satisfy your requirements once Yldril is fit to fly the logs for Jarix to saw. Or vice versa, we shall see.”

“Oh splendid. That way we don’t need to upset Fengi,” Apuma broke out, seemingly finding it a perfect solution. “Oh I am ever so excited.”

Tom took a moment to mull over just what sort of incentive the inquisition could give Glira that she actually wanted. There was money of course… Hopefully it had just been money.

“Indeed. Perhaps you would like to witness their workings out. If you are so inclined towards studying of magic?”

“Sounds good,” Tom blurted out, having been caught mid-thought.

“Excellent… though I am curious, are you not needed elsewhere at the moment?”

“With construction back underway, I’m sure they have plenty to work on… and I would rather not touch Tink and Twitch's personal project… in fact on that note.”

“Yeees.”

“Might be a good idea to build a shed somewhere a little aways from everything for that sort of work. You know. In case they mess it up.”

“I see… I suppose that shall be added to the construction plans. If the weather holds, perhaps we can even manage it before winter hits,” Paulin replied, not seeming dismissive of the idea. Tom knew as well as her that things might end up right on that front though. But if it came to it that it was too cold, he could maybe even cobble something together himself.

Then the door opened once more, the whole group of now five people turning to see Jacky and Saph come waltzing in carrying a massive skull, big smiles on their faces. Those lasted until the saw who was present aside from Linkosta, Tom, and Apuma, the two of them coming to an abrupt stop. Jacky gave a chin-up nod to Glazz. “Sup.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a good day's work. All the holes were dug, there were beams in them, and the bottom ends had been charred and everything. So they had taken a little midday break. It was hard work, that was for sure, and they had earned it. Just an hour or so to get back on their feet. Fengi had decided that they should instead use that hour to make a little something for Yldril, or at least present the idea.

“Right okay, you have done a very good job today, minimal swearing… okay, not minimal, but you have done good. All the beams are up, now it’s just planks and the floor.”

“Digging and walking in circles, wonderful,” Yldril grumbled in return, though the dragon did seem at least a slight touch more respectful than normal. Likely sensing there was a possible reward on the table.

Saph didn’t know if she agreed that the dragon had earned anything, but Fengi did have a point. They needed to both look nice, and have something to take away. Maiko had learned that Yldril wasn’t exactly a fan of the cold wet grass outside. Hardly surprising, but he had promised he would sing a little tune to Fengi about working out something better. All they had to do was play along.

“Don’t forget flying. Quinlin said you’re all good to go. So starting tomorrow we are going to have another go at those logs. Apparently, Glira has promised to help with something else. But we thought… remember the tarps we sorta… ruined with our little logging expedition?” Fengi carried on cautiously, like she was unsure how to word all this.

“How could I forget?” the dragon responded in a decidedly unimpressed tone, but Saph could tell she was at least a little curious where this was going.

“Well we thought if we span that out from the wood barn, where we dry it all you know, it would maybe make a decent awning to sleep under. Even if you would have to duck.”

“And don’t knock the woodbarn down,” Sapphire added

“That too.”

The old black looked at the two of them, eye narrowing. “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”

“Why no?” Fengi replied, taking a step back. “Why- why do you say that?” Saph knew she was telling the truth.

“Why would a dry place to sleep get you in trouble?”

“Because if I shift in my sleep or wake with a start, I will at best rip the roof off that barn.”

“Oh… right. I suppose it isn’t that tall,” Fengi admitted, looking to the small single story barn. It was honestly one of the nicer buildings they had. But still, she could see the problem.

“Do you not have any rock anchors?”

“A what now?” Saph questioned. She didn’t think she had ever heard of those before.

“For climbing equipment. I know you lot can all fly, but sometimes you need something heavy up high and you don’t have a dragon around. Don’t you have any climbing kit?”

“Tom does,” Fengi responded truthfully. “What do they look like?”

“You gonna nick them off Tom?” Saph broke out. That had not been the plan. They were just using random bits and pieces no one would miss and a bit of work, which Saph had agreed to help with.

“No no, I would just ask him. I don’t think he’s gonna need those again any time soon, right? And I don’t think we need to use any of his fancy rope.”

“What, the super light soft stuff that could supposedly carry tonnes worth? No, I guess that would be overkill,” Saph responded with a nod, Yldril just huffed, likely not believing it.

“I’ll go ask him, just… wait here or something. Or go get the tarp,” Fengi said, gesturing them both away as she turned around, wings spreading wide. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

Progress was good on the warehouse. The limit now was how quickly they could saw out planks. The beams were up, as were a lot of the roof frames. Turns out, having two dragons on hand to hoist up the wood and hold it there made erecting what was essentially a glorified barn very swift indeed.

Fengi had asked for some climbing anchors for some reason, Tom guessed it was to do with the construction. Maybe they wanted to make a hoist or something. Gods knew the old hoist on the keep was in disrepair, so they couldn’t ransack that for supplies. He didn’t see a problem with it so he let her have free run of his box of climbing supplies. After a quick explanation of what everything was of course, and a stern reminder not to dangle anyone from it lest he had seen what they had done first.

He didn’t doubt their knot-tying skills for a moment, but she had picked out a pair of rock anchors, and those could be a little tricky to get in right.

But with the roof frames nearly done they would be waiting on planks for coverings and shingles. Tom couldn’t do much to help with that. They hadn’t even needed the quad to power the saw. The fuel they had distilled for the quad wouldn’t be good for much longer though, else it would need to be redistilled, or at least have the settling water separated off. And so, he had elected to go fishing. He had a bucket, some different kinds of bait ranging from fragrant to repulsive, one homemade fishing rod, and one Jacky.

He had set up by the big lake. It was a bit further away, but it was prettier, and more importantly, it might hold some actually decent-sized fish. He had promised he would catch and cook one. With a little luck, today was the day.

The hook was baited, the line cast, and with a sigh Tom leaned back on the tree root belonging to the old gnarled oak they had set up next to. The trunk even worked as a backrest. Wonderful.

“Soo… do we just sit here?” Jacky questioned, looking out over the quiet calm lake from astride the quad. It was the calmest weather they had seen yet since the storm, with nary a jostle in the branches.

“Pretty much, yeah. It’s quite relaxing actually. If the bobber goes down, we’ve caught something,” Tom replied, pointing out to the little red cork. It had come from some bottle, he didn’t know. Kiran had found it and helped dip it in the red tail paint. It was remarkable how good claws were for paint dunking. They hardly stained at all, even if a polish might be needed to get rid of the red scratches.

Silence reigned as Tom looked out over the water. So calm, so tranquil. He could feel himself relaxing. It had been ages since he had gone fishing. Normally it wasn’t his sort of thing. Too boring. Right now though, he could do with a little boring. Well, some boring that wasn’t being stuck in bed, even if the company was very good.

The tranquility lasted for some time, but it was not the cork bobbing in the shining silver water that broke the silence, or a songbird. It was Jacky.

“...It’s cold,” she complained, shifting a bit on the quad as she laid herself over the handlebars. “The engine isn’t warm anymore. Not really.”

“It is autumn, yeah… You could start a fire?” Tom tried, hoping this wasn’t about to be tonesetting for the little trip. He didn’t want to be alone out here, not if he could help it. Sure, he could see the keep. That didn’t mean they could help him if there truly was something nasty in the water.

“It’s wet…” Jacky countered mopingly. “I thought I would have to save you from a lake monster or something. But nothing.”

“It’s only been five minutes. Maybe ten. Why don’t you try a fire, we got plenty of lighting fluid.”

“I didn’t bring any oil?” Jacky questioned, seemingly not quite understanding.

“The quad jacky. There are liters worth of Ethanol and gasoline in there.”

“Oh… I’ll get some wood,” she quickly declared, hopping off the machine gracefully and setting to work creating a pile.

Tom just chuckled a little and turned his attention back to the lake. The cork was still bobbing merrily, but he thought he saw rings further out. Something had breached the surface. ‘I wonder if they have carp here?’

As he waited, he saw another few plops here and there out over the lake, the odd fly or mosquito coming a bit too close to the water for its own good. ‘There are definitely fish out there. Come on, don’t you want a little sausage? Here fishy fishy.’

Jacky came back a few times, plonking down stacks of sticks and scratching a fire circle around them with her feet. Tom doubted it was needed, but she seemed to be running on autopilot as she whittled away at a small stick to carve thin strips into the end of it—a fire-lighting stick.

Tom watched her work with a smile. She didn’t even seem to pay him mind until she was done assembling the fire.

“How do we get fuel back out of it?” Jacky questioned as she plonked down next to him.

“I’ll handle that. You keep an eye on the cork?” Tom questioned as he got up, bringing the rod along.

“It’s still there,” Jacky replied jokingly, peering out over the lake before taking the rod with a smile as Tom handed it over. He let out a reluctant chuckle as she walked up to the farming quad. He grabbed the jerry can, lashed to the rear rack. He’d never bothered to take it off since it might come in handy on the one day he forgot to top up before heading out. On the front rack they had a pair of baskets with picnic stuff. It might take awhile after all.

With Jacky watching the line, he splashed a bit of petrol on the wood pile and stepped well back. The frayed stick was dunked in the petrol and the cap went back on. He looked to Jacky to confirm that she wasn’t looking yet, which she wasn’t. She seemed engrossed by the calm lake for now.

Then with a flick of the thumb the lighter caught and the burning stick was flung into the campfire.

whooosh

“What the fuck!” Jacky let out in alarm, turning to see the brief fireball and Tom laughing his ass off.

“Oh that ought to have scared the fishes.”

“You bastard!” Jacky laughed out, looking down at herself. “You better not have singed my tail.”

“Nope, still white… though I think your arse is starting to look a bit like a crème brûlée.”

“That better be something which looks delicious.”

“Oh definitely… it’s a right old snack.”

Jacky just sighed and shook her head, glancing to the fire. “Well I suppose that is that sorted. Not much luck with this though,” she said, giving a bit of a tug on the line.

“Yeah. Let’s reel it in and see if maybe the bait fell off.”

Winding the line back in was quite the hassle without a wheel, and even with Jacky helping it turned into a mess anyway. And once the hook emerged from the water there was indeed nothing left on it.

“Oh god dammit.”

“I think you are feeding fish rather than catching them.”

“Shut up you. I’m getting the stinky stuff.”

“Stinky stuff?” Jacky questioned, looking after him as he returned to the quad, fire snapping away happily, though it was throwing off quite a bit of smoke.

“Yes, the potted beef.”

“The stuff that had like liquid at the bottom and mold on top?”

“Yup. Let’s see if these things like it with a stink.”

“I ain’t eating anything that willingly eats that.”

“I bet you a boar would eat this. You like boar, right?”

“It’s alright… I suppose,” she countered half-heartedly. He knew damn well she loved the stuff.

“Jesus fuck. It really does stink,” Tom went as he took off the impromptu lid. Jacky wrinkled her nose and held her head away as he set about getting it on the hook. It stuck like sludge, so at least it likely wouldn’t fall off. Even if it might wash off instead, and with the procedure complete he went to wash his fingers in the lake water.

“Oi! Take your fishy stick, get that stuff away from me!” Jacky demanded, holding the pole at arm’s length, head stretched as far in the other direction as it would go.

“Since when did you grow squeamish?” Tom laughed, shaking his hands dry as he went back to take the fishing rod.

“Since I had to share a room with a human. You guys are the king of stink.”

“Hey, I don’t smell like rotten beef god dammit.”

“Gods dammit. Plural.”

“Yeah yeah… Linkosta,” Tom replied, which put quite a sour face on Jacky as he walked back to the water's edge, laying out the line. “And one… and two… three” and back out the hook went, dragging the line behind it.

“What, just cause she went to the academy she’s all smart and stuff?”

“Jacky, you know she’s smart. Book smart. Ain’t gonna ask her to tie a knot to save my life, now am I?” Tom replied, looking back to the pouting Jacky now that the line was cast. “Wait, you ain’t jealous, are you?”

“Noo… but she better not start getting any ideas.”

“Relaaax Jacky, think back. Just what you have done for me in the last what… gods how long has it been? A month? I can’t even tell anymore. Do you know how rare it is to find someone willing to both fight the world and sit with you night after night?”

“That’s what you are supposed to do, isn’t it? A couple sticks together.”

“There is a world of difference between supposed to and reality,” Tom went, lodging the rod in its little resting spot and walking back over with his arms spread wide.

Jacky let out a little huff, though she did crack a smile as Tom embraced the far larger woman. “For the record… those were some tough nights. Really tough.”

“I know they were. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she let out happily, nuzzling him close. “...Fuck, Tom, the thingy!”

“The what?” Tom questioned, looking up at her confused.

“The cork is gone!”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck.” He let go of Jacky, leaving her standing there as he hurried up to the rod as he watched the line run out through the metal eyes. He snatched it up and held on tight just as the line ran out. “Right, got i-”

Whatever sort of fish it was yanked him clean off his footing, sending him sailing through the air into the shallow water. He landed with a splash as the line went slack for a moment, and he heard Jacky shout behind him as he fumbled to get up, not wanting to let go of the rod.

“Oh you idiot, what are you doing?!” he could hear her feet splashing in the water as he finally got up.

“Well I can’t just let it go. What sorta fish is that?” he called out as he started backpedaling, this time ready for a yank.

“Why are you asking me?”

Jacky wrapped her arms around him and held on tight as the line went taut again, though this time they were ready. They gave a little reluctant ground before starting to backpedal once more, soon getting back up onto shore and fighting with the creature all the while. To be honest, all Tom did was hold on to the rod as Jacky lifted him off the ground to get back up onto the shore.

“Well, anything big enough to do that is definitely gonna make dinner.”

“If it’s edible. What if it’s just like a giant worm or leech or something?”

“I’m sure it will be just a big fish or something. Go to the tree, let’s just brace the rod. I’m surprised the hook hasn’t come out yet.”

“I’m impressed by that line,” Jacky replied as she tried to walk with her arms still wrapped around him. The fish pulled once more and they both tumbled as their legs intertwined. “Right. This is awkward.”

Tom still just held onto his rod as Jacky found her footing once more and got them both back upright.

“Could you be any more difficult to help?” she complained, though she did make it to the tree, Tom bracing the rod against it.

“I try my best… so… what now?” Tom chuckled, looking down at himself dripping wet.

“Why do you keep asking me?” she replied, joining in the chuckling. “This whole thing was your idea.”