"The currently Unmounted-Captain Henipiotch is up in his office. With Founding-Lord Brewbrt." she answers, her hand unable to decide where it likes to be. On a pommel, or in the air. Her eyes, however, so easily mistaken for a dull blue rather than a jealous green, lock on me.

"Take me there, then. Please." I request, snapping Neeameth's attention away from the flower girl entirely. She blinks and quickly thinks my question over, her thoughts ending in firm shakes. I gently nudge Rose-sweerui out of my way and she returns to my side.

"Listen, much as I love the assertiveness. Heart-killing combination, I must emphasise. But I can't just take you up to that meeting. I will be interrupting not only my commander, the one who owns and runs this building. I'll be getting in the way of the matters of the man -who owns- this town and its immediate countryside." she explains, only to be caught off guard as I take a step forward.

"It's a good thing I am meant to be there, then." I say, taking another step closer to her. She steps back slightly and I meet her move with an inverted copy.

"Could have just said so from the start..." she gulps, my height and size different settling in, in a more impactful manner. She takes further steps away and sweeps a guiding arm out. Nodding, I follow after her and ascend the stairs. Rose-sweerui's first point rings out loudly.

Turning to face and shaking myself loose of her, I raise a palm, "Doesn't look like the stairs here lead anywhere but a single room. It's probably better for you to stay down here."

"My love?" she questions, her posture stiffening up as she resists looking back towards the crowd of valley-riders. One of her hands touches the other arm, lingering on the warmth I probably passed onto her.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. I just need to speak to them." I tell her, offering her a quick set of claws to rest her cheek on. It's gone too soon if her following whimper means anything. Her expression quickly scowls at what is probably an out of sight smirk from Neeameth.

"But why can I not accompany you?" Rose-sweerui asks, her body trying to pull her in.

"So you don't get any bright ideas from the meeting. Ones you can use to try and follow me." I explain with as firm a tone as I can manage.

"Do you trust me so little...?" she huffs, and I am left uncertain. It sounds like there is genuine hurt within her tone, but it's muddied by how she's brushing my words off with humour.

Still... Just in case, "I trust you very much, Rose-sweerui. Just not your need to show-off and cheer for me."

"I can't help it if you're so worth showing off, my precious love," she giggles, worming up to me with seductive slithers. She pecks the end of my mask, leaving it probably glossy. Nodding a final time at her, I turn around and Neeameth's eyes catch on something. I guess that does indeed confirm that Rose-sweerui put something on earlier.

Neeameth remains quiet and I follow her up and around the blocky turns of the stairs. Though much of this place is fancy, these stairs are nothing special. As if simple metal stairs were a sacrifice needed for a more impressive thing. Which, I suppose, is what this room is.

Reaching the door, I withhold myself from opening it. I look over the edge and down to Rose-sweerui as she continues to ponder a place to sit. Feeling a bit bad for how I left her, though, I click my tongue. Well, better to keep her on my good side.

"Make sure to look after -my- ivy-mother petal well!" I holler out to the entire building and I most certainly hear Rose-sweerui's points dance. That's definitely elated giggling down below in the interrupted great hall. Opening the door, I step in without a word to my guide and close it.

Two pairs of eyes meet me, both with a withheld laugh on their smiling lips. One is an old man I am growing increasingly familiar with, which might be bad. The other is that man from the day we arrived. Guess it was a good idea even more so to keep Rose-sweerui out of here.

Walking into the lavish room further, I glance out the glass wall and towards the vast display arranged above the entrance. An observation deck of sorts, I think. One certainly equipped to handle all manner of guests. Particularly those of the 'Captain's' opposing sex.

"Oh, I am so disappointed. You do not bring in with you the delicate rose? Woes upon you," the young man whose name has slipped me says. He stands up with a bottle and an empty glass, filling it on the way. He offers the freshly filled crystal my way, and I shake my head at the offer. I can't be accepting anything like this, not while I am what I am...

Even more so when I consider why I am here.

"Don't bother, Mounted-Captain. Nin here is too scared to eat before a crowd of more than himself." Brewbrt jokes, my habits at mealtime give him plenty of material. Bit like my plates before I leave to eat, I love to pack them well. Strangely, the food at his place is filling, somehow. Like how Motrtha's tart was.

"Well, if he wants it, it will be here for when he has the desire. Try it, please. It's very good stuff, ran down one of the longest peaks in all the country. Thrurstradtur-Suhurlodst's very dual-government keeps a supply for special occasions, I hear." the Mounted-Captain tells me, his elaborations drawing out some kind of reaction from Brewbrt. He's doing the usual 'nah, nah!' routine, but I really cannot tell if it's sincere or purely joking.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A coaster thuds with its new glass load and I find myself a seat to sit on. There's a bit of a problem, though... Most of these are very fine, cushioned chairs with plenty of space to recline on. Trying to visibly brush it off as me not wanting to get them dirty, I find a stool instead. What my cloak can't hide, I can use the wooden frame instead for.

"Not very used to comforts, are you?" the Mounted-Captain somehow picks up on. I mean, he's technically right, but not in this context.

"I don't follow?" I ask anyway, curious as to how he's picked up on this. Nothing I've said or done explicitly says this to be the case, so, what?

"You tread with the caution of a man intimidated by wealth," he elaborates, his hand gesturing out to the glass and beyond, "We were watching you come in, your eyes found a lot to see."

"I was being stared at by everyone." I answer and he smiles.

"Naturally." he goes, sipping his drink and eyeing me up further. Hiding myself some more, I try to keep my focus. For now, I need to avoid spending so long before a gaze as trained as his. Brewbrt is one thing, but he's old. This Mounted-Captain, however, he's clearly in his fighting prime from what I can tell. Not so young as to be ignorant of the tricks, but not so old as to be aching at the joints.

I've no doubt he'd spot a scurrying insect within a pile of mossy stones.

"I admit, though, I once spent a lot of my life working to have a home like this. Recently, however, I've been, I guess, blessed with not having to worry about it. Too much travelling." I say, keeping my mind off of the impending silence.

"Well, good luck in your efforts to get comforts like this in your life. But, for now, your experience in the rough and harsh is more valuable. Not to me alone, either." the Mounted-Captain points out and Brewbrt nods along.

"Yes, Nin, as you are already aware. We've picked up on the trail made by the osibindah." Brewbrt adds.

"Yeah, you mentioned. We were heading out today, weren't we?" I ask, looking between the pair for any sign of a nod.

"We, as in, you and Mounted-Captain Henipiotch. Along with the rest of the Enkererin Ordoar Tryhstahlen, yes." Brewbrt corrects.

"Oh, Founding-Lord Brewbrt, where ever did your former life go?" Henipiotch questions, a slight nudge in the corner of his lips as he sips again.

Brewbrt ignores the remark with a straight face, "Any more information you might be able to pass on with the recent scouts having come back?"

"We seem to have found a small group. It might be worth following them and seeing if we come across a larger one," Henipiotch explains, a map on the centre table receiving a quick gesture.

"Caution. Caution if that is how you wish to go about it. Keep yourself as loose as possible. An earth shaman will decimate you if you are too tight in your formation," Brewbrt warns as he traces what seems to be a narrow path. I blink at how the contents of the map move about. I'll never get used to that. I miss when they were static pieces of parchment.

"Naturally, Founding-Lord Brewbrt. But that is why our masked friend is coming, yes?" the rider points out, bringing their attention to my shuffling self.

"It is, and I hope he keeps the courage stoked in him by his dearest." Brewbrt says, nodding at me and I emulate the motion. Though much slower. My mind weighs heavily on me, the echoes of my companion filling out the space.

"He will, a real man fighting on behalf of his woman always stays true," the Mounted-Captain lets out, rising to his spur-accented feet. He finishes the contents of his drink and slams it down. Almost as if he wants to roar, he lets out the feeling brought on by the seemingly strong liquor. With sharp jingle jangles about his boots, he heads over to a framed gun.

One right over a right tattered suit of armour.

Murmuring out some noises, I try to focus on the bugs, "What happens if the earth shaman is not what I know? Do we have a way to single them out if they're there?"

I can barely fight and I am not trained in magic well. I am no Vapooliar, not a Valkinvar. There's no sword or weapon to fill out my grip. No blade that I can use to end the fight swiftly.

If the earth shaman is able to cast anything spell-like, we're... Well, we're dead.

"We do. Me and my fellow valley-riders are trained in magical detection. As part of our basic duties. And, as long as you keep your distance, we should be able to pick them up and send you on your way," Henipiotch explains, and I frown at this. I need to keep my distance...? Isn't that a bit contradictory to why I am here?

"Would I be in the way?" I ask, tilting my head as a bird might.

Brewbrt chuckles softly, "Yes, yes, you would. You are powerful, Young Man, especially out here. But you are blatantly untrained and your power is raw with an obvious lack of refinement. You have no control over your aura or the way your external-magic flows. I've had a few folk complain about how you hurt to be near."

"Yes, if you were being hunted, we'd find you no problem. And, we'd try to bring you down with special munitions as such information warns freely. But you are not being hunted. You are on our side. And, as such, you are a most ironic camouflage to our enemy," the Mounted-Captain explains, and I try to ponder their words for whatever they're worth.

"I understand, I guess. How far back are you going to want me?" I ask, not really sure how far my unseen problem is.

"How far can you jump?" Henipiotch asks, his eyes following the length of his weapon's sights towards the map.

"Jump?" I repeat.

"Yes, I want to have an idea of how far back I can have you. In the event I need you to respond to a sudden threat that requires much more magic indulgent muscle."

"I could probably jump from a defensive wall to about... Half the way into town?" I answer, my mind coming to life with all manner of contradiction and second guessings. A claw scratches the bottom of my mask. I've never measured how far I can jump since the changes happened... I've sort of taken it for instinctual granted.

"Standing or running?" the armed man asks, his eyes looking up as his head tilts. I guess he's thinking over some of the math like I am.

"Sta... Running. Yeah, running is probably the safest bet." I tell him, my eyes blinking without end. All the memories I can conjure about my jumps are vague and faded, not really enough to be used empirically. Not even an average distance is really coming to mind. I jump and I go far.

"Now, how about your riding skills?" Henipiotch asks, his feathered hat returning to his head. He tilts it into order in front of a mirror and blows a kiss to the reflection. The smug glass answers so perfectly, like what he probably thinks of himself. Well, his ego clashing with Rose-sweerui's would certainly be interesting.

"Riding what?" I repeat, to get my mind back on track. While also being unsure how to take the question.

"A juperse, obviously. You surely must have seen them on the way to this fine building. With how much you were eyeing the building and all, I'm sure you saw our order's standard as well? That which stands as a testament to our history and focus."

My head shakes vigorously even without the considerations my new strength might bring.

"Oh... In which case, the answer is none. None at all." is all I have to say and the pair of men smirk with shaking heads. I guess that settles what I am doing soon, then. I'm getting riding lessons.