A hundred silver a piece for every one of them captured seemed a fair price for the effort required to get the job done, much less the crops saved from every successful hunt. Little experience in the matter, however, meant that they'd spent a week having barely slept and half of that stretching out whatever rations they'd had in store. They needed this and as in anything, there were hunters who couldn't be bothered with any of that, falsifying the contents of their kills and in those instances the worst case scenario was no reward at all, incomprehensible in their circumstances so imagine his expression when staring over a charred corpse splayed across the ground; It's feathers were gone, a naked body that'd shrunk quite a bit in size as he turned back to her, eyes too preoccupied on the ring around her finger.
"We'll be fine," She answered before the question was asked, feeling his gaze from afar, "I hear they have spells that do all the work for them if they can't find it out themselves"
"That doesn't cost anything?" She frowned in thought and miraculously broke her gaze from the item to meet him, "It can?"
"Mages charge for their skills, just like we do"
"We do the charging?"
He coughed, "Well, we complete the tasks we choose to do and are compensated for it"
"Right…mildly the same thing" She mumbled, approaching the charred corpse if only to assess their odds for herself, and abysmal odds those were. It hadn't clicked whilst she was desperately trying to subdue the thing, dead or alive, that maybe a little more caution in the ways of completing the task was necessary when in all honesty she was in no danger of getting hurt. 'Crisis' she mumbled to herself, scratching the back of her head with a wry grin, "This was the farmers issues anyway, they'd be able to assess this, right?"
He thought on that too, "That's a little wishful…"
"I trust those that tend to the land, Gohlm" He snorted at that, stepping forward to lift the charred thing and carry it across his back, dragging it more than anything whilst she stepped away from him. There were some things that, no matter how many times you'd seen them, that first sense of wonder still remained, hard to get rid off; there was no need to anyway. Basking in the surreality of that, he stared on as in her human form, the saddle sat against her back like a backpack that ironically went well enough with what she'd deigned an outfit for herself, black bandages wrapped around her chest in a top held together by a golden ring behind her back, she wore opera gloves that barely covered her fingers and wore pants of similarly void colours. Her bare feet glinted as the light caught sight of her ankle bracelets shimmering with every step, of course they were gold.
Bronze skin seemed to glow with the flicker of amber flames spreading along her body and engulfing it soon after in an explosion of heat; a towering blaze of flames that seared the human flesh and everything else that came with it. Beyond the blaze, noticing that something had changed was difficult, though the growing silhouette of something larger was hard to miss, in no time at all however the heat dissipated, the flames and the towering pillar in a rushing gust of wind slightly pushing him back. Before he knew it the sunset coloured amber's of unfurled wings blotted his view from above with a low growl, the sight had never ceased to amaze and he doubted it ever would, the scarlet's of her fur bellowed against the winds and where any draconic features began, her scales too contrasted them in bright copper undertones as autumn slits stared at him from above until she lowered lowered herself enough to provide easier access aboard.
Taking their kill up in hand, he grunted a he saddled up, placing the charred thing in front of him atop the saddle, getting a little comfortable in the process and not meeting the sly glance from ahead when he'd thought himself snug enough, {Hold tight this time} She teased.
Crouching once with a roaring rush of wind gusting forth at her first flap forward, bending the trees back a bit with the second and then the third, before long gaining the momentum to take flight and soaring forth in a towering cloud of kicked up dust with a roar like screeching flames echoing across the woodlands. Perhaps a primal force of habit.
𖤓
Freedom could be described in many ways, at least the feeling, what anyone thought it felt like anyway. The general idea was weightlessness, a state so unburdened by anything that it couldn't be described anyway else. Perhaps that was why they connected flight to it so much, there was no other feeling like it after all. She pulled upwards again, a small jolt in movement before they were gliding again. It was quieter up here, save for the winds but that was negligible, blending into the background like white noise. With all that said though, it was harder to make out anything from this high up, safer from airships too but that'd only happened once.
Leaning back a bit, he stretched his arms for a moment until a sharp pain told him he'd overstepped the fact that his body was still injured. "Haaa…" He groaned, he'd probably need to get that checked out but that could be another dash in their earnings, Val was putting it harshly but there really was anything better than the so called food the guild handed out so brazenly. A true miracle not a single adventurer had died from the damn things..
He sighed, silence permeating between himself and the bare skies before a bout of boredom drew his yes over to his sword, staring at it for a moment too long until Val's earlier comments nestled in, knitting his brows into a half amused frown, "If I'd only bought a sword manual back then, I'd be a little more competent" right now he was going off of the basic components of what he assumed was bladed combat, it had a sharp edge so swing and use it, it's flat side was good enough for anything defensive and that was it. No technique, no finesse. He brought too much of his usual self into it.
Bemused at his silent musing's, Val's attention turned back, {You're serious about this?} Lifting his gaze to find her glancing back at him, he rested a hand on its pommel, nodding rather coolly at the thought, "As serious as ever,"
Her voice seemed to hold a genuine twinge of concern when she asked, {And in a real fight?} he chuckled, "I've been meaning to improve upon a few things" quite a few, a sword was better fit for tasks like this, at least he thought so and he couldn't be sure when they'd next get anything much more their style anyway. Adventurers were adaptable, so adapt he will. Saying that, she flapped once to keep them in flight before a long silence festered between the quaint whistles of the wind. Requests, dangers, survive and adapt. An exhilarating life, it was their way of life and one she'd come to grow accustomed to. Glancing to the side where the suns rays blinded the world to the east, partially obstructed by clouds lined with a shimmering hue of gold and her eyes narrowed, just as Gohlm's voice resonated from behind, "We're near!"
Reeling herself in from those thoughts, she nodded inwardly, tilting sideways as a warning and veering left as she felt his grip tighten, holding on as tight as he could before they dived. If before the winds were subtle, subtle enough to be of no issue then now they were howling, rushing forward and pressing against him like a wall of thickening resistance. He Leaned forward and bent his body low as her wings folded in close as they accelerated, the ground drawing nearer and the evergreens growing a lot more clearer than green swaths from down below but worry didn't register, his heart couldn't have leapt up his throat because this was unsurprisingly commonplace.
Meters above the ground, her wings sprung out like released springs, catching the winds and pulling them upwards with a force that jolted him back as they glided over the open fields a little faster than intended. Working against the wind, she slowed their descent even further, lowering at every minute till she made contact with the ground and carried whatever leftover momentum in a half sprint, the speed of which declined with every second until finally they came to a stop a minute or two after making landfall and not a moment too soon either; it was never anything comfortable. Lowering slightly, he slid off the saddle moments later with their kill in hand as a flickering haze of amber flames engulfed her draconic form altogether; a burst of rushing heat following before she stood in front of him again, charred grass. and a begrudging look scanning over the empty landscape.
Taking a moment to grumble at the subtle pains from his back, he pointed ahead of them, beyond the cresting hillsides over the horizons where town was supposed to be. Her frown only deepening as she followed him, moaning at the distance now left on foot, "A little further wouldn't have hurt"
"Caution never harmed anyone either" She sighed at that, cursing under her breath as he slung the charred corpse over one shoulder and started walking again, ignoring her continued bargaining till she begrudgingly fell into step, dragging each bare foot like weighted shackles pulled them back which was truly beyond him since only one person here proactively felt such a thing like exhaustion so easily.
It was two hours until they'd finally caught sight of anyone on their way to town, taking every few minutes to catch their breaths when they could, or at least he did. Half ruing the idea that settlements like this had to plop themselves atop ant hills for even the slightest semblance of safety. Not like, of course, that the empire hadn't conquered every piece of land that so much as existed. Outside of the country itself, the rest of the world was untouched, dangerous, and what better defense against the unknown than higher ground? It was another thirty minutes until they'd made it back, the sounds of running water and splashing movement resonating around them like a soothing cacophony of morning birds; it was civilization. Nordebrook was one of many farmlands on the outskirts of the Empire's outer borders, a single farmstead under the supervision of a noble Janette Eila Nordebrook, they called it a town because it operated as one, a landmass so large that apart from its agricultural duties, it acted no different from one; they'd heard they'd started allowing businesses here too.
Grumbling to himself under the weight, his body screamed at him from the back down. Ignore it as much as he might, this would likely become an issue if he let it fester any longer after this. Distracted by those thoughts, it took little effort for Val's hand to quickly pick the corpse from him faster this time than he could argue about it. Complain as much as she wanted about the walk, his festering injuries hadn't slipped past her thoughts, once they got back it'd probably be in good conscious to pester the idea of some kind od checkup, there was a stubbornly persistent aversion he had to his problems. He sighed at the action, stretching his shoulder with a glance, "You're carrying all our stuff, I could be a little helpful"
"It's pretty weightless"
"Nobody knows that—!" Midway through the conversation, a sudden shout interrupted them from across the bustling compound. Turning to quickly meet the voice, there was little to no time to react before a pair of wide arms wrapped themselves around her waist, "Valera!!" the voice exclaimed. Nordebrook wasn't unused to the appearance of adventurers, few were although it wasn't difficult to assume so. As far as famous regions went, no one found the place very interesting and even less so, appealing. Hunters avoided them like the plague, the pests weren't man-eaters so why even bother for no substantial pay? Knowing this, it didn't come as much of a surprise when a little bit of interest sparked amongst its residents. They were quite the outstanding pair, well, all adventurers were anyway.
Staring below herself, she was startled until their eyes lifted too meet hers, a huff slipping past her lips before ruffling the boys hair. "If it isn't the little sprout, missed us huh?" the boy grinned, stepping back from her if only to give them a better view of himself. Messy jet-black hair above a dull pair of oak coloured eyes, the freckles over his face were a tad-bit harder to catch over his tan skin. His shirt was a browned white and his arms were bent inwards for a flex, beaming at them as he spoke, "Been followin' what you said, my arms are all sore but I'm startin' to see it!!"
Val nodded, similarly at their interest, it wasn't uncommon for a sense of curiosity to spread its way among the youth. Not like they'd really done much to advertise themselves but perhaps from an outsiders perspective, adventuring seemed like quite the profession. They fought, protected, completed the requests of those in need and even had nicknames to boot. They sounded a lot like the Empire's exalted sentinels, their loyal knights although perhaps, a lot more accessible. No wonder the boy had asked for help on how to become one, there was no job quite like it. "You're doing well"
"You think?!" The boy exclaimed, eyes practically sparkling whilst turning to Gohlm, "Sir Gohlm, is that true?"
He placed a hand on the chin of his helmet, barely mulling it over but he'd rather give the impression that he was, the enthusiasm was a little contagious. "Impressive, most never begin so early" that was true at least, it'd been fifteen years since he'd started and by then he'd been twenty; just like most of them were when they did. Interesting as the job was, there were far safer options of employment. Pushing the past aside, he planted a hand on the boys shoulder, firm although lax in his tone, "But remember, Mathew, persistence separates the few from the rest. Not a day, not a week or a month but every waking moment. Prepare yourself for anything, always the worst and train until even that no longer frightens you…this is the conviction of an adventurer!"
Silence permeated between them as Mathew's eyes fixated on him, glued there in reverie, "Conviction…of an adventurer?" He muttered to himself, he'd engrave that into his psyche from now on, he'd—
"That said, where is your father?"
Blinking for a moment, it took a couple of seconds to snap out of it and a couple more before his question so much as registered. Remembering where they'd been earlier, it didn't take long to understand why, more so now noting what Val was carrying. "Ah, he's probably been waiting for ages" beaming, he turned around and gestured for them to follow. Three days they'd been here, three days had gone by and they couldn't be bothered on what was where—except for the food at least; they could finally afford that now.
The elimination request had been ordered by the town's mayor, direct subordinate under the Nordebrooke estate. He wasn't noble although he wasn't anywhere near the parameters of common folk, an honest middle ground it seemed. Weaving through oncoming carriages pulling produce carts along paved road, she kept her sights half glued ahead, barely noticing the running children dashing over the roads before bumping into one. The impact wasn't hard but the congested streets made it easy to cascade into someone else and end up falling anyway, she caught them before they could, "Careful" she said, pulling them back up to their feet as they turned to her apologetically before running off behind the rest of their friends in a fit of laughter, empty buckets in hand whilst weaving through the bustling foot traffic before disappearing beyond the crowd.
"Father says when I'm older, I can apply for an adventurers license" Mathew commented, bringing her back into step.
"Really?" he turned to her, "Yeah, says I'll get proper training by then!"
The bounce in his step told enough of how exciting that was to him, a small chuckle blending with the reassuring hand that shook him by the shoulder, "Then you've got your work cut out, instructors are the worst. I almost hated mine"
"You had an instructor?!" Mathew ogled, an amused shrug being her only answer before he focused forward again, "If it means being like Ms Velgra and Sir Gohlm, I'm sure I can handle it!"
Her eyes widened just as his attention turned to Gohlm himself, lost in thought that he hadn't even heard what the conversation had been about, "Hm?" before he could question however, Mathew's finger pointed ahead as he slipped past Val's grasp and towards the emerging building behind a running fountain situated in the middle of the converging road-walk of town square. "C'mon, father should be in by now" jogging ahead of them as Gohlm followed, the thought of their charred badge of service fresher in his mind than it had been already, as he chanted a silent prayer in his head. 'Anything but our rations!!'