Sylvia POV

Sipping at some stew, Sylvia found herself sitting in a small circle of some of the women in the community. Primarily, it was a few of the other mothers and Miriam, the lot of them chatting about nothing in particular as they discussed the day. Sylvia was barely paying attention at first, that is, until she heard Aug being mentioned. Zoning back into the conversation, she wiped her lips with her thumb before listening to what was being said.

"She still doesn't talk all too much, but she has been rather spritely as of late. Especially around that little dungeon boy, Grimm." Harriet mentioned with a cheerful smile, she was the dogkin woman who had been in charge of the general education of the kids, as well as one of three adults who kept track of the children throughout the day while everyone else worked. "Don't you think so?" She asked as she looked over to Sylvia, her fluffy ears wiggling with delight before taking a bite of some flatbread.

Sylvia had to consider that, and she ultimately had to agree. Aug had always been a reserved little girl, but ever since they ended up in these woods, she's been gradually coming out of her shell. "She certainly has; I think the adversity of what we all have gone through in these last several weeks has tempered her and allowed her to start properly developing in a way she was unable to back in the city." She explained with a small smile.

The women nodded in agreement, mentioning things about their own children before Harriet piped up again. "Now that I think about it, Aug seems to have a great affinity with quite a few mana beasts, as well as Grimm in particular." She considered as she took up her bowl of stew, sipping at it and sighing with delight before continuing with her thought. "I mean the cubs, spitter wolves, and birds get along with everyone and seem to tolerate the children and their mischief, but they all really seem to like Aug. Perhaps she has a talent for interacting with animals?" She smiled as she looked at Sylvia and the other women.

Sylvia had to reflect on that; it was something she noticed but hadn't really put any thought into until it was brought up. "Perhaps... She's always loved animals, and I did notice a considerable amount of strays on our street." She mentioned now that she thinks about it. Some things were lining up that didn't make sense before.

At that, a rabbitkin woman spoke up; it was Cinco's wife, Farah. "Perhaps she should get an apprenticeship with Cin? She may be a little too young for the hunting aspect, but he was a Ranger back in the capital; working in nature came easy for him; he's already training Mishill though, so we'll have to see if he's even willing." She offered as one of her lop ears wiggled while she spoke.

Sylvia flashed a bit of a smile. "I appreciate the offer, I'll have to ask and see what she wants, but for now, I think it might be better to wait and see how things are after the winter. I heard from Zasutir that we're expecting a lot of people in the near future, so our group's dynamics will surely change quite a bit." She mentioned, causing several ears to perk. Sylvia smirked a bit, feeling rather pleased to be able to lead the conversation some more. "He mentioned that those Drakewardens have entered into Vitmori's service, and Vitmori is allowing them to build their keep on his land." She explained before taking up a mug and sipping at some water.

Farah considered what she knew before pitching in. "Cin mentioned he knew of the Drakewardens. Supposedly, they're an international guild of some kind, real hush-hush secretive types that work in all sorts of places." She explained, speaking in an almost whisper as she glanced around. "He once told me how he watched two of them run down and take out a trio of rock trolls with their drakes. It was an intense battle." She explained with no small amount of awe in her voice.

"They're actually trying to recruit Isaak into their order." She mentioned, glancing over at Miriam, who looked surprised by that little tidbit of info. "They even said he had the makings of a drakerider." This caused the women to murmur excitedly, a few of them tossing glances at Miriam as they seemed to know something that she didn't.

After a couple of moments, Miriam spoke up, concern plain in her voice. "S-so when does he leave? Well, I mean, did he say yes?" She then considered what she asked before shaking her head. "What am I saying? Of course, he said yes. That sounds like the dream." She admitted almost wistfully.

The women glance between Sylvia and Miriam, eagerly awaiting the scoop as Sylvia milks the moment for a few more seconds before continuing her story. "Well, he nearly turned them down, but when they said that they'll be moving their order here, he decided to accept their offer." She mentioned with a grin.

"Really? That's great to hear." Miriam exclaimed cheerfully, though her cheeks flushed as she realized how loud she was just now, clearing her throat before speaking up. "I mean, I'm glad to hear that he's getting the chance; it's not every day someone gets scouted like that."

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The women all share amused glances before Harriet speaks up. "Does anyone know how winter preparations are coming along? I've been so busy with the children that I haven't really been following along." She mentioned, sounding vaguely apologetic as she sipped at the stew broth before taking another bite of the flatbread.

Sylvia considered the question as she spoke up. "Well, Zasutir previously mentioned that between the hunting Cinco and the others were doing, the gathering field trips with Virtisa, Woody, and the kids, we are doing pretty good on food in the short term." She considered before leaning into the table on her elbows. "With that said, we are really just waiting on Woody to finish perfecting the smokers for food preservations. However, with the drakewardens setting up shop here, we might not have to worry as much; with a group as big as theirs, they'll no doubt be able to procure far more food than we ever could, either with manpower or money. I'm sure we can come up with a means to trade for food if it comes down to it. That's not to say we should quit with our preparations; we're not about to start mooching off our new neighbors, now are we?" She stated as she looked to the others with a quirked brow. The other women hummed or nodded in agreement.

The talk turned to other things as the night went on, though something caught her attention as she spotted movement outside. Three spitter wolves carrying large cloth bundles in their teeth were being led in by the massive spitter wolf, Legosi, soon crossing through the clearing and approaching the longhouse where everyone had been dining. This, of course, caught the attention of almost everyone, though the Empress spoke up first from the other end of the dining hall. "Hiya Legosi, what's up, fluffy boy?" She enthused warmly as she stood at her seat and waved at the massive spitter wolf.

Legosi's ears drooped with a flash of anxiety as he realized everyone was staring at him, though his tail wagged slowly as Historietta called out to him. "H-hello there." He said quietly before speaking up as he sat back, the other three spitter wolves following suit as Legosi looked among the group. "If the leatherworker, carpenter, and tailor could come forward. Vitmori apologizes, but he does not know your names." He explains as he looks expectantly at the group.

After a pregnant pause, Sylvia stands, glancing over at Miriam and encouraging her to follow; Woody gets up from his place beside his son and some of the other men as the trio comes up to Legosi. "What's going on?" Sylvia asked as she checked out the sheath she made for the wolf, nodding intently to herself as it seemed to be fitting well on Legosi.

Legosi wagged his tail slowly as he looked among them before offering a wolfish smile. "Vitmori wishes to offer his thanks for the work the tailor and leatherworker have performed for his people. However, while he does have some of this world's money, he wasn't sure how to pay you. He also mentioned that money might be useless at this time since you probably have nowhere to spend it." Legosi explained as he looked among them.

Sylvia couldn't help but agree, though she was vaguely amused as she listened to Legosi explain Vitmori's thought process.

Legosi continued as he lifted his paw and gestured for his wolves to set down the bundles; one bundle was much bigger than the rest, though the two smaller bundles sounded significantly heavier as the sound of clunking metal rang out. "Instead, he decided to offer these tools and supplies to the three of you specifically, as they will benefit the group as a whole and make your winter preparations easier." He then looked among the three people in front of him and before lowering his ears and sighing a bit. "I'm sorry, but which one of you is the tailor?" He asked, sounding genuinely apologetic that he didn't know who was who. Miriam offered a kind smile and raised her hand. At that, Legosi smiled and looked over at her. "Vitmori has a commission for you and intends on compensating you for your time."

"O-oh? Okay, sure, I'm interested." Miriam replied with a considerable amount of surprise at that, though she didn't look too troubled so far.

Legosi bobbed his head in response before continuing. "With how many people will be coming into his territory in the near future, he asks that you prepare bandanas for all of his birds, wolves, cubs, and any future beasts that may come into his service; that way they can be more easily identified as being in his service, rather than being mistaken for a wild animal. He also requests for you to make an outfit for Tactician Oururu as he recently gained the ability to become a beastkin and currently has no proper clothes to dress himself with." He explains, his tail starting to wag more actively as he relaxes despite all the gazes on him. "In exchange, he will owe you two favors and will compensate you with either small gems, rare metals, or coin if you prefer it."

Miriam looked clearly taken aback by the scale of the order, as well as some of the information that was just laid out. "W-wow, sure, I'll be glad to help. It might take a while, though, with my current setup." She admitted apologetically.

Legosi bobbed his head once more as he tapped one of the bundles with his paws. "That brings me to what Vitmori has arranged for you all. In these bundles, you will find tools for felling trees and woodworking, leatherworking, and tailoring. He also included several sets of scissors, a large variety of brushes, nail clippers, filers, and a few other things for something called 'hygiene.'" He explained as he looked among them.

Before he could continue, Farah had jumped up in excitement. "Finally!" She immediately looked embarrassed as she sat down again and anxiously sipped some water.

This earned a confused head tilt from Legosi before looking back to the trio. "With that said, Vitmori hopes you will be able to more thoroughly prepare for winter while also freeing Trisha to work on his requests and allowing her not to feel too worried over completing the group's requests." He explained cheerfully regarding Trisha, as he knew who she was. Trisha, for her part, seemed to look mildly embarrassed at being unintentionally called out at that, her cheeks flushing under the gazes of a few people as she suddenly became very interested in her stew. Legosi then looked back over to the trio and stood. "I hope you all have a good rest of your night, and sorry to interrupt." He expressed sincerely before leaving, the trio of spitter wolves padding after him.

There's a buzz of excitement in the air as a few people get up to go gawk as Sylvia, Woody, and Miriam open up the bundles of equipment and tools, Farah getting her hands on the combs, brushes, and scissors, her cottontail wiggling audibly as she hops in place. "Ah! I can finally cut hair again." She gushed cheerfully before pointing at some of the others and smirking mischievously. "And some of you really need it, don't even think about hiding from me tomorrow." She mused as she rushed over to Cinco to show off the tools.

Though as they were looking everything over, something was nagging at the back of Sylvia's mind as she glanced over to where Legosi made his exit. "Did that wolf just say that the giant snake just became a person?"