The daystar was just starting to lick the edges of the horizon as it settled into night as Akon quietly made her way back to the farm lands. There Veldrin was, still within his pen, and beautiful as ever. Akon walked to the edge of the pen, eyeing the wild beast within, reaching out with gentle tongue. "Good evening, Veldrin." She spoke quietly, walking around the pen calmly. She then finally settled again next to his pen against a tree, and sat down quietly, simply watching him.
Akon seemed to have not noticed Cail, and sat for a long while just watching Veldrin in his pen. She finally got up and approached him, speaking softly. "Rumor has it...that you, good sir, are rather fond of..." And she dug into her pouch she had brought with her, producing a delicious round morsel. "Apples." She smiled slightly to herself, and walked close to the pen's edge, dangling the red snack in her hand. "Not much of a fan of them myself, though I do like the red ones." She stated, and held it out to him flat palmed.
At the sight of the apple in her hand Cail's stomach gave an involuntary gurgling sound. Acutally, it was very loud and sounded like a tree was being bent by the wind. The great creaking noise was nowhere near quiet or sublte and Cail tried his best to quiet it, but surely everyone in Jastrey had heard.
Cail froze as her words reached his ears and if Treant's could blush, Cail's face would've been bright red. Stumbling through his words he said, "I... I, uh..." Before he could say anything further he transformed into his familiar Owl shape and landed in the branch of a nearby tree. As his talons hit the bark, his stomach let out another gurgle, albeit smaller and normal sounding this time.
"I suppose... I should eat something," he said with a shameful tone and hanging his avian head.
Off a little ways, a rather short and vividly colorful individual was making her way up the path. It'd be a long while since Thimble had ventured else where besides the mines, she had found her first shinny and had taken her many long mornings to dinner times to pick it from the rock. In celebration, she treated herself to a day of walking, which was coming to a near end, and although she had been to most places, she had not been to the farm. Humming a little tune and a little skip to her stride, she approached the opening to the great field that was home to many crops.
Upon entering the clearing, she looked about, giving way to a sigh. "Hmm.. So pleasant here.." She smiled and then spun around on her feet 180 to go back down the path, but stopped about 90, spying Akon, feeding some beastly creature, and talking to a tree..? "It's Akon!" She squeed excitedly, walking over to her and the creature, and now seeing the tree turn into an owl, she assumed it was Cail, seeing him once before as an owl with twigs coming from his feathers and hurting when she attempted to pull them out, a large smile on her face that caused her cheeks to become more exaggerated. "Good evening Akon, Cail." She turned to Akon after greeting them both. "How have you been feeling?" She asked with genuine concern.
Akon glanced to Thimble, offering the slightest hint of a smile in greating. "Evening, Thimble. And I am more rested. Thank you for asking." After watching the mustang a little longer, she knelt and placed the apple inside the pen, and backed away. She then made her way over towards the treeline where Cail was. "I have more apples you know." She smirked, pulling out another, and sitting under one of the trees near Cail. "Eat it, Cail." She said, placing it beside her in the grass.
As Akon sat down at the base of the tree and placed the apple on the ground, he sighed to himself and shrunk to a smaller size. He then glided down to a few feet in front of her and stepped the rest of the way. Turning the apple over with his talons he brushed a loose blade of grass from it's shiny surface with his wing. Then, leaning over, he nipped a small piece of the fruit and began to eat.
After a moment he looked up to Akon and said quietly, "Thank you."
Thimble smilied happily at Akon's news. She remained quiet and mostly watched Akon give Cail an apple and sit back down, until she was asked what she was doing out late. "Oh well I've been in the mines a lot the past few days and figured I'd spend my day wandering. Though now that it's late I should get back..." Her words faded as she was looking over at the horse beast nudge around his apple. "He's pretty, what's his name? Unless its a girl then what's her name?" She quickly said, not wanting to be gender biased.
Zwey crashes through the treeline, coming out near the stockade where the horse is being kept. Zwey's eyes show heavy bags, and his goatee and hair are even more out of sort, even for an angori. Noticing the stallion, Zwey calmly walks over the fencing, and studies the beast. While keeping gaze on the animal, Zwey slowly walks over to where the others have gathered. Zwey's trademark emblem is emlazended on his face in bright red paint, which contrasts with the dark circles under his eyes, making the overweight angori look almost skeletal. Looking to Akon. "This should be much faster than Javor. Where would our town warlock need to get in such a hurry?"
Thimble had dazed off in the direction of the horse and wasn't until a few moments after that she realized Zwey was now in their company. She shuck her head a few times and looked up at the towering angori. "Zwey!" She smiled, but after studying him for a moment, a line of concern crossed her face. "I agree with Akon, you look like a goblin spit in your porridge, and only just found out."
As Zwey crashed through the edge of the woods, Cail spun on his claws and grew to 3 times his previous size in case it was something... else. But, seeing that it was just Zwey Cail shrunk back down again to resume eating his half finished apple. "Zwey..." he said in greeting with a mouthful of fruit.
Zwey waves his hand in the air dismissive, "Oh its nothing, speaking to the ancestors about blood magic, how it works, why its used. I'm fine, thank you all for the concern. But! This stallion! Give me some details Maestro." Zwey's mood and appearance improves slightly, the bags become less apparent, and he attempts to slouch less.
"The usual suspects, Syra being the most well known. I had hoped that bringing her and her crew into the Gallimaufry would allow me to guide her away from that lifestyle. But instead me and mine were almost trapped in the past, and we watched her kill the lot of us over for a pointless piece of enchanted steel." Zwey rummages around in his pack for a small pouch, which he then throws to Cail, "Blackberries, picked those this morning." Zwey then sets his pack down, and bends over backwards suprisingly far for a fat man, his spine popping as he does so. "I've been in the woods far to long, but Akon, a horse?"
"I'm going home. Need to get away for a while." Akon said simply. "After all that's happened of late, I want a bit of time to clear my head I guess." Akon's features were fairly stoic, as often, though there was a hint of sadness which leaked through her gaze as she looked back towards the stallion.
"To the Shadelands? Correct me if I am wrong, but arnt those overrun with Urodeq hating dwarves?" Zwey chuckles as he hikes his pack back up onto his shoulders, "That does not sound like a restful vacation in the slightest!. You should go and visit my home is what you should do. Fine liquors, punget herbs, and fine, dancing dervishes!" Zwey stops to ponder, "Perhaps I should head home for the winter, I'm sure the spirits there would have much to say to me. But, the Fury of my mother is a thing to consider...."
Cail turned his head away from Akon and looked at the pouch of berries held under his talons. As he listened to them speak, the feathers on the back of his neck stood up slowly just like a wolf's fur when it was aggitated or ready to attack. He stood like that for a long time, just starting down.
Cail, with heavy, lumbering steps, neared the edge of the forest that surrounded the fields of the farm and before taking the last step out into the open, he spotted Akon in the distance sitting under a tree. He stopped in his tracks and became as still as stone hoping that he hadn't been noticed. Slowly and carefully he slid back into the already darkening shadows of his... brethren and continued to stand vigil.