Travlack approached the northern gate, and from where he approached he could see two figures already waiting. As he got closer he recognized it to be Nathaniel Bosh and Cooper. The two men looked to be discussing something. They didn't notice Travlack until he walked towards the mounts for this part of the expedition.
"-and you're sure we can't get anyone else?" said Nathanial. "Surely we can- hey Travlack - anyone else but Jay?"
"For the last time, Bosh, stop asking. Feldon is qualified. That is the end of it", retorted Cooper.
Travlack stepped to the side in order to inspect the capastra. Standing in a row were a hearty bunch of capastra. Their short tails darted back and forth in the air as they worked on the patches of grass in front of them.
As always.
He approached one from the side and began to evaluate it.
Robust legs - dependable ligaments that would have no problem traversing hundreds of miles.
Working eyes - Travlack had better senses, but having help is always a good idea.
Strong horns - if the camp needed additional defense, maybe they could rely on it.
Good teeth - it wouldn't have a problem foraging anywhere.
Travlack gave a nod of approval before patting its bent neck. The capastra rose to meet his eyes, and Travlack found himself to be shorter than the mount.
As always.
The capastra swallowed and sniffed his forehead. With an exhale it licked Travlack and went back to eating.
Good temperament - at least they would offer no resistance to their riders.
He inspected the rest of the capastra after wiping the spot the first licked. Then it was time for the beast of burden - the sido-noko.
Travlack stood at mouth level with the noko and once again began the inspection.
Strong legs - from underneath its fur the scales poked out at the base of the hooves.
Working eyes - reptilian eyes that focused on Travlack as he slowly moved around it.
Strong horns - in addition to the horns as a bison, smaller prickly ones adorned the ridge of the eyebrow, the sides of the nose, and the underside of its cheek.
Good teeth -
Travlack moved his foot just in time. He noticed three drops of spittle escaping from the mouth of the noko. The ground fizzled and smoked as each drop hit the dirt.
He looked back up to the beast and attuned his ears. Over Nathaniel and Cooper still bickering he could barely hear the rhythmic breath of the noko.
Si-do-no-
Si-do-no-
Si-do-no-
The last note was missing. Travlack turned to speak before someone else chimed in.
Squeak!
He turned to see Neville, who was on the back of Chrissy.
"Xalua, Travlack! Did you already pick a mount?"
"No, and-"
"That means I have first dibs! I want that one! The brown and white one!"
He followed her finger. All of the capastra were brown and white. He turned back towards her and nodded.
"Chrissy, the noko is leaking."
"Means it's full. Nokos can anticipate a long journey, you know. They gotta fill the poison sacs ahead of time. Did it sound like-"
Chrissy's mimicry could only be described as abuse to Travlack's sensitive ears. She wretched her voice in an attempt to match the pitch of a noko's breathing.
"Siiiii-dooooo-noooooo-
Siiiii-dooooo-noooooo-
Siiii-doooooo-noooo-"
"Yes", Travlack groaned. "Stop."
Travlack rubbed the base of his ears as he eyed Chrissy.
"Agopi, Travlack. My herrera impression is way better than my noko one. Regardless, the noko is just fine."
She walked on before interrupting Cooper and Nathaniel with the same flair. With Ava not here, he decided he had time for one more weapon inspection. He dislodged the shield from his back and set it on the ground. He then took his PRAC from the holster and held it to the sky.
It shone brilliantly. The resonance ignition chamber was clear of any smudges on its glass. The barrel was impeccably shined, and its grip remained maintained.
He holstered the PRAC and took out his blade from his sheath. A curved sword made custom for Igosi operatives. Though some would have compared the length to a dagger, this was the perfect size for Travlack. He ran his finger along the edge. No chips, he had fixed them already.
As always.
He sheathed his sword and brought out his favorite: the mace. A custom mace head with the perfect weight made for him. A benefit of working for the DLF. He ran his hand on the head of the mace searching for cracks and dents. A perfect ball end, he had sanded and polished the end already.
As always.
There remained one more cylinder on his belt he had not touched. A new addition to his belt. An extender for his mace and blade.
Travlack had not used these before.
He took the cylinder and twisted it on the pole end of his mace. With a click, the pole extended into more sections. What was made for one hand was now made for two. His ears stood at attention.
This was new.
He took a moment to feel where his hands should be and gave a slow swing. He could tell he was displacing much more wind with a swing like this.
More power.
More range.
"…useful."
He clicked again and the staff returned to its one handed size plus the cylinder. He unlatched it and secured it back into his belt before doing the same with the mace.
Travlack picked up his shield and searched for any imperfections. The light blue outline had been touched up by the Department. All of the dents and chips that had been there were gone now. Travlack knocked on the shield a few times to test for sturdiness. The shield gave no ground.
As always.
Travlack opted to slide the shield onto his left hand instead of returning it to his back. With everything secured, inspected, and checked, he was finally satisfied.
"All prepared, Inspector?"
He turned an ear.
Then he turned around.
It was Ava. Draped around her neck was her serpifeli, Vae.
"Yes", he responded. "All prepared."
"Excellent. I leave my protection in your hands, Inspector."
Travlack noticed her body shiver as the last word left her mouth.
He flicked his ears together. Three times in one day.
This had never happened before.
"Now if you'll excuse me - Mr. Falkner! Could I have you do the thing please?"
Ava strutted off behind the view of the gate with her escort. They returned only seconds later to talk to Cooper. Travlack could see as Mr. Falkner attempted to quietly dispose of a brown paper bag behind a nearby tree. Travlack marched towards the rest of the group. From the northern gate they had a view of the path leading to the next city, as well as the rolling hills in the distance.
"Perfect! Everyone is here", said Cooper. "Now we just need to wait for the guide to get here. I told him to meet us here. I can't imagine what's keeping him."
"Very qualified indeed", sniped Nathaniel. "He's everything a guide should be. Minus punctuality."
Cooper cleared his throat as he glared at Nathaniel. Nathaniel adjusted his glasses as he met the stare. Travlack raised his eyebrows as he looked between the two men. He set his eyes back onto the view as a wide wobbling figure came into view.
It was a giant capridae.
"See? There he is!", Chrissy beamed. "That's JJ! That means he's nearby."
"That's unusually large for a capridae", Nathaniel commented. "Has anyone else seen one that size before? Ava? Travlack?"
Travlack shook his head as his eyes widened. The beast kept growing in size as it stomped towards them. He could see that he would be no taller than where its mouth was.
Nathaniel continued, "What an overweight capridae. Surely that can't be healthy."
"Woah, Bosh-man, JJ prefers the term: 'Joyful'"
The entire group whipped around to see where the voice came from. Travlack craned his neck to see the underside of a black afro on pale pink skin. He was adorned in blackwork tattoos of the Peak. Thick black rectangles came crawling from over his shoulder, and two bold lines that adorned each bicep. Travlack saw no enlarged forearms.
Not Durib Dulim.
From the afro popped two curly horns that held a muted reflection of the sun. Travlack needed another moment to identify what he was looking at.
"What are we all staring at? Is there something on my face? My chest? Something interesting behind me?"
The man patted his bare chest before turning around whimsically.
The entirety of his back was covered in coarse brown fur. Travlack noted he had no exposed spine ridges.
Not Urano Dulim. He had to be of Pivva.
Ava broke the silence.
"Where is his shirt?"
The man with the afro spun around to address her.
"Who needs shirts? Capridaes are nudists! I'm only wearing shorts because Cooper made me. So much for respecting my culture, Cooper!"
The pink man laughed heartily before the large capridae shook the earth. It was laying down a couple of feet away. Its coarse brown fur and webbed feet matched the pink man's arms and legs. Patches of the same brown fur adorned the center of his chest, forearms, and calves. His bare feet revealed minor webbing, and the horns protruded elegantly from their heads. JJ's eyes were on either side of his head. Travlack noticed that they blinked separately.
"Expedition team", Cooper started, "this is Jay Feldon. The capridae Therian who will be your guide for the central region."
"And that's JJ!"Jay gestured to the beast. "He's awesome."
JJ grunted back.
Jay shook his head, "No, you're awesome!"
JJ grunted once more.
Jay shook his head again. "No YOU'RE-"
Nathaniel cleared his throat loudly. Travlack could see growing veins just right under Nathaniel's hat.
"Mr. Feldon-", said Nathaniel, extending a hand.
"Oh - call me Jay, Boshy. No need to be formal."
Travlack spied another vein.
"Just Bosh will do. And we need to go over the route-"
"Route? No, dude. We're going to follow the plains and see what they give us."
This marked a third vein. Travlack's ears slowly pointed up. He could hear the blood pressure actively rising.
"No, we're not going to just 'see what they give us' the route here says we need to-"
JJ ate the map from Nathaniel's hands. As his face went into shock, Travlack could hear the sputters of rage begin from Nathaniel.
"Looks like JJ agrees. Nature doesn't care about routes, Boshy."
Travlack went around and tugged the back of Nathaniel's shirt and pulled him away, taking the space once occupied by him as a buffer.
"Woah! An Igosi! What's up little dude? You must be Travvy."
"Travlack", he corrected.
"Nice. Plainswalker? Also, I love the ears. It's a joy to share this journey with you, Travvy."
"Travlack", he corrected once more.
JJ grunted as he polished off the last of Nathaniel's map.
"You're right, JJ. Way too much ink. Bold of Boshy to assume nature will listen to us mere beings."
Travlack looked at Nathaniel. This marked vein number six. Nathaniel took out another map from his pack as Chrissy spoke.
"Xalua, Jay! I haven't seen you in ages! How's the wife? The kid?"
"Xalua, Chrissy! I would have practiced my Kutaxia if I knew you'd be the ranger! They're all good! We'll actually visit them on the way back - gotta show these guys how a capridae gets down!"
"Absolutely!" chimed Chrissy. "Because there's no day-"
"LIKE A CAPRIDAE!", both of them cheered.
JJ grunted in response as Neville squeaked his own.
Cooper and Nathaniel looked at each other. Travlack could tell that, for the first time, they both felt the same annoyance.
"Now", continued Jay, "The prize winner. I assume that's Miss Ava here?"
"Miss Sinclair", snapped Cooper. "And you will address her as-"
Ava held a hand up.
"Ava is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Feldon."
"Oh - the pleasure is mine!" Jay dropped to a knee with a flourish and bowed his head. "JJ, you gotta bow!"
The beast extended its front legs and nodded its head. Travlack realized just how big its head was now that he could see the top of it.
Ava chuckled poshly as they both arose.
"Coop, I can take it from here. How many days do I have with them again?"
"Twenty five days. You may come back earlier or later at your discretion provided you are actually doing something other than standing in a river."
"Cool. I'll make sure to get that out of the way early then. Mount up, everyone!"
Travlack checked the saddle on his capastra.
All secure.
He mounted and waited for everyone else to get on.
Jay rallied everyone as he simply jumped onto JJ with a grunt.
"Alright! I'm the line leader. Ava will be beside me. Chrissy will come after, then Boshy. Your noko should do just fine in the middle, and I figure Trav heads up the rear since he's dedicated muscle! Let's head out!"
"And where is it we're going?" Nathaniel said, moving the noko into position. "Your mount ate my annotated map. I have to start over!"
"Can't you see it, Boshy? We're going this way. Ava, if you would."
Travlack watched as Ava clutched imaginary pearls as she looked around the party. She straightened her posture and clasped her hands together.
"Right - yes. Caravan, move out!"
"That's the way to do it!" Jay said, clapping. "You heard her! Let's get this going!"
The caravan began to move away from the northern gate. Travlack gave one more glance to the view of Strohl as it became smaller and smaller.
"Now for some travel tunes. Tell me if you know this one!"
Jay reached into his pack and pulled out a piccolo. The melody was quite soothing to Travlack's ears. He did know this one. It was a common traveller's tune that everyone learns on the road.
Travlack looked to Nathaniel, who was humming the tune against his will. He had pulled out another map and began to work as his capastra kept pace. Travlack decided to zone out and assess for threats.
Minutes turned into hours. Travlack had been scanning the treelines and blindspots all the while. Every rustle of brush or wildlife call had kept his ears pivoting dutifully. For the last hour he kept noticing trees that left a subtle creak when they passed. The same creak every time.
Too heavy for a person.
The bushes at his eyeline would sometimes shake with wildlife before ceasing. Travlack would observe Nathaniel or Chrissy checking the disturbance before opting to ignore it.
Must not be a threat.
He noticed his capastra side stepping sizzling patches of dirt. The noko was leaking as every disturbance triggered its defense response. The size of these patches had been increasing in the past minutes. It was not until he saw a patch bigger than his hand that Travlack said something.
"Nathaniel. The noko. Is it alright?"
Nathaniel took on his hat to scratch his head before responding to him.
"Seems to be a little on edge", he said. "Feldon! Can you talk to nokos?"
Jay howled in laughter.
"No, dude. I talk to capridaes. I'm the capridae guy."
Nathaniel scoffed. "I know that - but you're a Therian. Can't you at least parse something through?"
"Parse something through-!" Jay slapped his knee as he laughed. "Oh you're a riot! That's like asking someone to speak Ragnaband because they visited the mountain once. No, but what's going on with the noko?"
Jay herded JJ to stand sideways to the rest of the caravan, bringing them to a halt. Jay dismounted and walked over to the noko, where Travlack and Nathaniel were already standing.
"Leaking", stated Travlack. "Acid marks give away our position."
"I see. Why are you so nervous, man. It's just a walk. Chrissy? Is Neville picking up anything?"
"Nothing", responded Chrissy. "Nothing but nearby fruit."
Neville squeaked in agreement.
Travlack looked beyond Jay as he continued his assessment of the noko. The serpifeli hanging around Ava's neck had its eyes focused on one section of the treeline. As Ava dismounted, Vae's eyes remained locked on that portion of the treeline.
Travlack slowly reached for his shield and tried to match where Vae was staring.
"You know", started Jay, "Maybe this beast of burden just needs to be uplifted with a nice melody. I know a tune."
He reached for his piccolo to the protest of Bosh.
"How about you actually assess the problem?"
Travlack tuned them out as he turned back to Vae. She was mewing every other second. Ava took her from the spot on her neck and soothed her, but Vae remained fixated.
Her tail froze. Her eyes widened.
Travlack moved.
He stepped in front of Vae with his shield raised, deflecting a shot of raw resonance into the air.
The party went silent.
Travlack kept his shield raised as he drew his PRAC.
"DLF. Surrender yourself."
His command was met with silence.
Then, a small quail popped into view from the bushes.
Nathaniel spoke first.
"A stray Shot Quail? It's quite far from where we should have encountered it."
Then two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Twenty.
Suddenly there were too many to count. The bushes, the trees, and the branches on the elevation they faced had swarmed with shot quails.
Travlack was outgunned.
As always.
___
Language Translation
Kutaxia:
Xalua = Hello