Chapter 195: Foreboding
Janette flipped through her notes, hunched over the table with numerous pages scattered across. Vardare stood perched atop the windowsill, digging his beak under his white-brown feathery wings momentarily. A drawn-out sigh escaped from the studious woman's lips as she sank back in her chair, catching the owl's attention.
"Don't overexert yourself, Janette. Too much literature can prove rather strenuous. Pace yourself and take breaks, your mind will thank you for it."
Janette leaned back in her chair, rotating her head to him with an annoyed look. "I don't suppose you ever took breaks when you were neck deep in your books?"
"Well... no, but I'm not suggesting you follow my example, only my advice." The feathered scholar clarified, wiggling his beak while keeping his large yellow eyes fixated on the mess of novels and pages displayed. "Perhaps a moment to rest our eyes may be in order. You've been at this for a number of hours now after all."
"Reminding me does little for my motivation." She grumbled in response, clasping a hand across her eyes as she tilted her chair back, resting her feet over the table.
The curtain to her hut yanked open as Syri stepped in with a cheery smile. "Hi Jay!"
"Shit!" Startled, Janette lost her balance as her chair slipped under and her back crashed onto the hard wooden floor. Her feet flew off the table edge, sending several pages drifting in the air before landing over her tired face.
"Oh, good heavens." Vardare exclaimed, flapping his wings briefly.
"EEEP!" Syri swooped in, brushing the pages aside and helping her friend sit up. "Sorry-sorry!"
"It's fiiiiine~" Janette whined, one eye closed as she rubbed the back of her head. "You had me aghast."
"Mew?"
"Uh appalled." She added, looking up to see the blank expression on the Nekomata's face. "Petrified, panicked, scared."
Her face lit up as did her cat ears. "Oh, I get it! Cuz petrified rhymes with terrified."
"That's... yea that's not far off actually." Janette sat up, collecting the spare pages around her.
Syri helped her back up before waving at Vardare. "Hi Vardy! You two have been cooped up in here all morning, don't you guys want to get out of here and stretch? Reta is starting a new exercise game. I was wondering if you two would like to come down for it?"
Vardare shuffled nervously with his talons. "Ah well, not too fond of fluttering around surrounded by cat girls."
"Vardy! You know better, none of us would harm you! Besides, the kittens love having you around."
"Yes, for pouncing practice." He muttered, flying down onto the table. "They seem to misunderstand my shrieking for laughter."
"Ah, that's why they've been asking for you. Sorry." Syri giggled, glossing over the notes. "What are these drawings? This one looks like a wol-"
"SHH-CH-CH!" Janette hushed, abruptly covering her mouth and checking the front entrance anxiously. "Keep it down. I don't want her to catch on."
Syri's ears initially shot up in alarm when she was silenced, slowly calming down when Janette let her go.
"What's go you bothered, hun? Are you in trouble?"
Janette shook her head, stacking the pages and scrolls together. "I've been reading up on the notes Alphonse passed onto Reta. They're about the werewolf curse."
Syri's eyes darted back and forth between Vardare and Janette. "You did ask her for these, right?"
"Sssssssure, I borrowed it." She answered, biting her tongue before sweeping the scrolls into the leather bag.
Syri leaned in, resting her chin against Janette's shoulder while her paws caressed her waist. "Borrowing without permission? Rather naughty of you, Mom would call that stealing. Is my humie a thief?" She teased, tracing her tails along Janette's thighs.
She shuddered and hung her head, gently flustered from the intimate touch. In her response, she leaned back pressing against the cat girl, cooing as Syri slipped in a kiss across her neck.
"Mmmm~ " She giggled, reaching back and meeting her with a kiss.
"Feeling better?" Syri purred, holding her hands as her tails coiled around Janette's waist.
"A bit," She admitted through her smile, staring intimately into her eyes. "I might feel more anxious later tonight."
"I think I can help with that." Syri giggled back, reaching in as their lips met once more, only to pull away once a certain owl reminded them of his presence.
"Do excuse me for intruding," Vardare stated through a muffled voice, tucking his head beneath his wing, "I suppose this means I won't be free from the book tonight. Oh, you suggested stepping out to observe Reta's new exercise routine? Perhaps you two can enjoy yourselves then whilst I round my head around this issue."
"You sure?"
The owl shrugged. "I don't see why not. It feels nice to feel useful once again."
"Hey you contribute plenty-" She paused as he raised his wing.
"No need to correct me now. Go-go, have your fun!" He insisted, flapping his wings around.
Syri smiled and dragged her towards the door. "You heard the birdie, let's go!"
"Ack!" Janette yelped, helplessly yanked out of their hut and struggling to keep up to pace with her. "Fine, I'm going!"
Syri beamed, locking arms with her as they strolled side by side. "How do you think the others are faring?"
Janette gave it some thought. "Hm. Knowing Felix, he'll play it safe."
"Think so?"
"Know so. He's timid, hesitant, and tends to keep to himself. He's not a risk-taker."
"Not like my sister. What did she see in him?"
"Oh, I like to think they filled a hole that the other was missing."
"Well, he was rather brave going out and attacking that fort they went in. Even rescuing some of my friends."
"Yea, but that was extremely risky. Life or death. He'll play it safe today, that's for sure." She smirked. "Trust me, I know him quite well."
Felix ushered the two centaurs inside, accompanied by the band of guards that laughed at him. They were snickering and sneaking glances at his direction, making it rather obvious they were mocking him. He did his best to ignore them, stepping inside the wagon and helping them unload a crate of meats onto the wagon.
Unbeknownst to them, Nukka laid below the wagon with her head tucked under her paws. Sauza made sure to feed the horses as a diversion so that they wouldn't panic seeing a large bear girl hiding nearby. The ranger found himself tucked into an empty barrel near the entrance with a worn-out wool draped over the top.
Outside of the storage room, Spi'Reto and his friends snuck their way into the neighboring building and crawled in through the open window. Sans was the first to slip inside, inspecting around the room and finding a portly man snoring away on a hammock. Waving the others inside, Spi'Reto placed a rag over the man's eyes before checking the table and closet for valuables.
"Nothing but scraps and wood shavings." He muttered, looking back at the others. "Any luck?"
"Found this." Sans tossed over a half-eaten apple stem, much to the elf's disgust.
"Ugh."
No'Vak popped his head around the corner, whispering to them. "Hey, found something worth our while."
The two snuck over to his position, finding a used bed with the blankets tossed to the corner.
Spi'Reto glared at him. "This is not the time for humor."
"No not the bed, out the window. See?" He pointed to the building across, spotting a few metal caps and rusted chest plates piled up within view of its window.
The young elf nodded and patted his friend on the shoulder, inspected around the outside and hurried toward the opposite building. He slid his back against the wall just under the windowsill, eavesdropping on the blacksmith inside whistling a tune to himself.
The smith had just finished wiping the latest metal cap clean when a guard propped the door open.
"Oi prick, foods just arrived."
"Bout fuckin' time." The sweaty man tossed the rag over his shoulder, waddling out the door in pursuit for some grub.
Spi'Reto sighed in relief, raised his head in the sky and mouthed the words 'thank you.' His friends kept a watch for him as he climbed inside before signaling for them to follow. No'Vak was the last one in, closing the window shut while Spi'Reto locked the door from inside. Once they were in the clear, the rangers spun around to find themselves in the fort's armory room. Weapons were displayed along tables and hung on the walls, with armor pieces stacked atop shelves and tossed into rusty worn piles. Sans picked up a defective crossbow where the string had snapped, inspecting it and measuring its weight in her hand.
Spi'Reto signaled No'Vak for assistance prying off the top of a crate, tossing it aside and reveling at the sealed leather bags inside. They removed the knot to check inside, pausing and scratching their heads with puzzled expressions.
No'Vak reached in, retrieving a block of charcoal and rotating it as the black dust stained his fingers.
"Is this the stuff your mother wanted?"
Spi'Reto eyed it suspiciously, even taking a sniff of the substance before pulling away. "Not sure, I didn't expect it to resemble rock."
Sans rolled her eyes and strolled in between them, tossing the block of charcoal back inside. "The colors are similar enough. What else is there?"
"This yellow mist." No'Vak answered, inspecting a smaller leather pouch. "It says sulfur written on it."
"Just grab all of this, we'll make do with what we can." Spi'Reto ordered, fetching the small sulfur bags and tying them around his belt. "Hurry now."
The other two nodded in agreement, sticking their hands in and grabbing a pouch for themselves.
"That's the last one." Felix commented, wiping his hands clean. "What next?"
The guards fastened the last crate atop the wagon, waving the centaurs to get going. "Lunch, that's what. Ye hungry?"
"Me? Oh um, I should make haste and be on my way soon."
"Now? So soon?" Asked one of the men, fanning himself with his leather cap. "Won't you stick around for a pint or two?"
Felix caught on to the glance given to him by Inui. "What will you be doing with the centaurs?"
The guards turned around to the horse girls before giving him a funny look. "What's it to ye?"
He shrugged. "If you need help taking them back..."
The guard stepped in close, eyeing him as they were inches apart. Felix swallowed but kept eye contact, refusing to back down despite the man's stench of sweat and ale wafting around him. He broke out into a wide grin, revealing his yellowed crooked teeth, laughing and slapping his arm.
"It's the tits, ain't it? They sure love showing them around. Don't try to cup a feel though, or you'll end up like poor Willie."
Felix stammered back. "What? No, not that. Just... just asking is all."
"Look at him, boy just wants another eyeful before taking off. Leave him to it boss, least he can get. Maybe let him pop one off before hitting the road." Another of the guards taunted him before joining his friend's laughter.
Felix remained quiet, garnering pity from the guard in charge. "Sure then, knock yourself out. Don't stand behind 'em, they got a mean kick that'll put you to sleep."
He turned around, leading the centaurs out of storage with Felix following along. He was walking beside Yalei as she gave him a cautious glance, hoping that he had a plan in mind. The walk was brief as they arrived near the gate where a crowd of men whistled upon spotting the topless centaurs. The girls didn't seem bothered, accustomed to their gazes and keeping their heads high before dragging the cart beside the kitchen. The workers hurried up passing the crates around as hordes of men swarmed the tables, fighting and shouting for morsels and bites. Some didn't bother grabbing plates and dug in with their bare hands, munching, chewing, and humming in delight.
It was a primal sight, one that Felix was unprepared for as he was caught staring.
"Oi!" One of the guards snapped him out of his trance with a slap to his arm. "All done chap, git going."
"Ye sure you don't need help with them mules?" Another guard asked.
Felix nodded back. "I'll take it from here, thanks."
"Very well then. Safe travels." He waved him off, dismissing him before joining the feast amidst the group.
Felix grabbed the centaurs' leashes, escorting them back around as Inui leaned in.
"I hope you know what you're doing." She whispered, eyeing the front gate. "We've been trying for months to get out. That gate is the only route."
"I know. Stay calm and focused, I'm thinking of something." He responded.
The trio froze as the men lingering at the walls leaned down. "Oi! They've just arrived, unlatch the gate you mongrels!"
"Ay!" A pair of guards nodded back, rushing in to remove the drawbar.
Inui, Valei and Felix stood frozen as the front gates were pulled open by several men heaving in unison, revealing the forts newest arrival. A foul stench expanded through the fort, causing Felix to choke briefly and cover his nose. Inui and Valei shared the same disgusting expression, pinching their noses and stepping back.
"Gods, it's her." Inui hissed.
Felix raised his head as a hulking figure stepped in through large forearms dragging through the dirt, imitating the walking patterns of a gorilla. Its surface was coated in a gooey gray texture that resembled dry mud and puddy. Leaves and branches protruded from its chest and stubby legs, and the 'head' resembled a large crown expanding like a shell that spread out as clumps of sap and goo drooled from its orifice.
Sat atop its shoulder was a young blonde woman with curly hair and a tidy uniform complete with a short skirt. She was accompanied by a man of similar youthful age riding on horseback, keeping some distance from her as the gates closed behind them.
"Hi everyone!" Mesa beamed, waving her had around.