to treasure a thousand words, a thousand years

Blake rolled over and stretched, then sat up. Ninlil had knocked on the door again but she got up and got ready, then met the woman outside. "I, uh, forgot to tell you today that I'm going out of town. I'll be meeting my escort on the edge of town." Her ears flattened a bit. She'd been so caught up in everything with Weiss she hadn't thought to tell Ninlil about their trip. She hoped that wasn't going to be a problem. She had only been working there less than a week. Hopefully the old woman would understand... "You should've told me sooner. But go on, I suppose. I don't think you would've made something so last minute unless it was important. Can you at least tell me what you're doing?" "I'm getting my magic." That was all she'd leave it. Well. She had told the old woman her intention to do magic related to the soul; she just hadn't told herwhenshe'd do that. Though she was starting to feel a little bit exposed. She had never traveled without her Weapons before. She wasn't really trusting Weiss yet, so she had no idea if the other girl had any ill intents. Honestly, she hadn't stopped to think at all. For all she knew, Weiss planned on isolating and killing her or something equally terrible. She hoped that wasn't the case. She really,reallydidn't. She had agreed to this on a whim. She seemed to trust Weiss so inherently despite the fact she was human... Why,whydid she not stop and think whenever Weiss was involved? It made absolutely no sense. "Ah, well then, I'll see about getting you set up with an apprenticeship with the local teibas and jewelry maker then. I suppose I'll see you sometime in the evening." Blake nodded, still a bit shocked just how easily Ninlil was letting her go. It felt like some bizarre otherworld. The woman had come across as so strict and unreasonable at first, but here she was... Blake didn't understand her at all. She didn't necessarily want to though... As long as Ninlil was permissive, she wouldn't argue. Blake headed over to the stables and saddled up her horse, then headed out to the edge of town. She saw Weiss sitting on a bay mare, her white hair glistening in the faint remaining moonlight. "Morning, Blake. How are things?" Weiss smiled a bit, not seeming to mind any of this at all. Blake was glad. She...did enjoy spending her time around Weiss despite the fact she was a human. Why was that so? So many things she couldn't explain. She just didn't understand how she could be so accepting of a human when humans were nothing but the most terrible of creatures. "Pretty good, I guess..." She frowned. "What about eating?" "There'll be a town we'll hit in a couple hours. I figured we could hit up a restaurant there. Unless you wanted to eat now for some reason? I'll admit, I'm not the most knowledgeable about foraging in this area... I know my home well, but not Sodocroa." "I'm not terribly learned in foraging either." She had learned about prey, but that was about it. She didn't spend excessive amounts of time out in nature. She was mostly holed up in the castle, learning how to control the weather and other such things. She really didn't know how to survive outside of the castle. She wished she did. There was nowhere open for breakfast yet... She was pretty used to eating close after she woke up, but even waiting for the family to cook would've taken too long. "I guess we'll just have to wait to eat." Blake sighed, ears drooping. She hated this. She was already pretty hungry. She didn't want to wait hours to eat. "Let's go then." Weiss clucked her mare around and they started off at a trot, falling into a companionable silence as the town disappeared behind them and the sun started to rise. Blake had been out on hunting expeditions before, but she'd honestly never really taken the chance to reallylookat and examine nature. Honestly...it was beautiful. Sodocroa was a gorgeous place and she hoped it would never change. Though with the march of industrialisation, she wasn't sure what would happen to her beloved nation... The thoughts fell to the wayside as her horse kept pace with Weiss', the pair not really sure what to say to each other. Blake's mind turned over and over, wanting to talk to Weiss, but she wasn't sure what all to ask. Or if the questions would be welcome or not. They were supposed to be getting to know each other, but they were locked in a dance of not giving out too much. Granted, it wasn't like they'd known each other very long... So it did make sense that they wouldn't be making much progress with how little they knew each other. She heard Weiss sigh. "I can read your emotions all the way over here." Blake felt her cheeks heat up. She was normally better at hiding herself from others than this. She was usually pretty rock solid in her shielding. But she had to have dropped it to some degree for Weiss to sense it. "But I suppose you are right. We should get to know each other a bit better. We have literally all day today to talk. What do you want to know?" "Um. That's a good question." She wasn't sure what all she wanted to know. That was a really good question. There was a lot she wanted to know. She wasn't sure where to start honestly. They had been in such a careful dance of not really opening up to each other and just letting their relationship flow naturally. But that wasn't efficient especially with them only having three months in order to choose if they wanted to get married or not. Time was of the essence. To make such a massive decision in such a short amount of time... Blake wasn't sure if she was ready for that sort of commitment. "Well, just lob whatever question you want to my way, but I reserve the right to say no to answering anything. Does that sound fine to you?" Blake nodded a bit. "And same for me if you want to ask any questions..." Might as well just give her the option to do that. Things would be more open now, but they would still both have the right to protect themselves. It seemed like they were both incredibly tentative about getting to know the other. "So where are you from?" A nice, easy, basic question. If something like that was off limits, then they wouldn't get very far at all. "Are you familiar with the most up-to-date maps and atlases?" "I honestly don't spend much time on geography in my lessons. I haven't learned weather control yet, so it's not seen as an important part of my education." She learned some basics around Sodocroa's geography, but that was about it. She was pretty sure she was never intended to leave Sodocroa unless she was married off to some other wealthy aristocrat for the sake of political maneuvering. She was a nobody as far as the royal family went. She would never really learn anything about the world at large unless she chose to leave. Which...she would never do that. She didn't even know any other languages besides Sodocroan. Functioning outside of the nation would be incredibly difficult. She had no idea if she would ever do that. Plus...why go somewhere she wouldn't be respected or treated well? Too many nations were racist against Faunus... Weiss sighed. "Well, that's hard then. But my grandfather discovered a new continent about fifty years ago. It's a colony of the nation Whela. The colony's name is Vobron. It's a tropical rainforest for where we're inhabited, but it seems like the majority of the continent is a desert." Interesting. That implied averylarge Order Fountain... To Blake's knowledge, nobody had yet found the Order Origin Fountain... Maybe this new continent would offer the location of the Order Origin Fountain? "So I see... How interesting. I've never been anywhere tropical before. What's it like? And...how do you handle it with all the layers we wear?" Blake tilted her head. She hadn't had much geography before, but she knew that tropical areas were incredibly hot. And tropical rainforests were hot and humid at the same time. Weiss was in a full-blown suit. How did she deal with that? Weiss shrugged. "When you're used to something, you're used to it. If I struggle with anything, it's the cold. It's already a bit nippier here in Sodocroa than I'm used to and it's only going to keep getting colder... Not to mention the days getting shorter." Weiss sighed. Blake couldn't help but feel bad for her. How hard must it be to go from constant heat and sunshine to the cold, dreary fall of Sodocroa? It had to be hard. Not that Blake would know... She'd never been outside of Sodocroa for her entire life. "What exactly is your job?" Weiss had described it a little bit, but Blake still wasn't sure she entirely grasped it or not. Something about being the eyes people brought in when their own resources had failed... She didn't really get it. "Ah, we're for-hire historians, archeologists, and so on. I'm also a linguist too. We're the people you call in when you want someone to look at something your own people are struggling with. We can often find new things that nobody else would notice on their own with their own training. We're neutral parties, so we don't really hold any allegiance to anybody but ourselves. We want to uncover the truth more than pay attention to anything else. Though, sometimes, we do have to lie or squeak past people if they don't want the whole truth." Weiss sighed, raising her hands in the air. "People don't always like hearing the truth." "Yeah... Very true." She'd run into more than one occasion where her family didn't want to hear a truth that she'd uncovered. She was good at getting to the bottom of things especially in the archives. She was sort of like Weiss in that regard; she knew the more ancient forms of Sodocroan and often went deep into the archives and found out things that nobody wanted to hear. She'd found people completely struck out of the line of succession and their genealogy records. She hadn't even known some of these people existed... They had done something so heinous the family didn't want to acknowledge they existed. Often it was accompanied with exile. Sodocroa really had a problem with monarchs ruling through fear... Blake knew that all too well due to Queen Maryam and her heavy hand in keeping the kingdom and its subjects in line. "We do what we need to in order to keep our heads even if it doesn't agree with what we find. We hate compromising the integrity of our work, but I think our own safety and wellbeing comes before truth." Weiss shook her head. Yeah, that did seem to take precedent over the truth unfortunately. A lot of monarchies did rule through fear and heavy-handed policies. Sodocroa was really no different in that regard. "I'm still surprised Queen Maryam called you in the first place, considering the fact you're a human." Blake felt Weiss' soul churn in annoyance but hse said nothing. "I'm surprised too. My mother has done work with the Donati family before. I was here about nine years ago with her on that particular job. But it wasn't directly for the queen. So the fact that the queen called me in on my own... It's weird to think that she would do that of her own volition... But I won't complain. It let me meet you, after all." Weiss smiled at Blake and Blake felt her cheeks heat up just a little bit. She wasn't entirely sure what to say to that, but...she was grateful that the queen had allowed them to meet. Blake wouldn't have chosen to get married most likely... She just had little to no interest in romance. But Weiss...might very well be her wife one day. Or partner. She didn't know if that would come to pass or not, though. "All of this is so strange..." She couldn't help but turn her attention to the strange nature of their relationship again. How did they have errant soul bonds with each other? Nobody could be born with them. Yet...they had been. They hadn't meant until about a week ago. Yet they had been aware of each other since Weiss had been twelve and Blake had been ten... She really had no real idea how any of this had come about in the slightest. Hopefully Celaecyal would be able to shed some light on their situation. "It really is, but hopefully we'll get some answers today... If anybody would know what's going on between us, it'd be Celaecyal. Though she's known to be evasive..." Weiss pointed out. "She is?" Blake didn't know that. Then again, she was quickly finding out there were a lot of things she didn't know about. Like she technically knew people had to work for money, but she hadn't known she'd actually have to do it herself in order to be out on her Peregrination. She was just glad that Ninlil wasn't quite as unreasonable as she thought she'd be. Allowing her to go out like this... It was nice. And encouraging her to get her magic. Yeah. She really was glad. She knew the queen would be furious when she returned with magic that wasn't prescribed, but she couldn't be punished for anything that happened on her Peregrination. Even if she got pregnant out of wedlock, nothing could be done about it. Not that she planned on having sex or anything... The only person that came close to anything like that for her was Weiss but... There were issues with that. Weiss nodded. "Yeah, she can definitely be obtuse at the best of times. Normally she's helpful, but when it comes to answers like this, she often doesn't help. She'll answer questions about magic and stuff, but not so much about history unless it benefits her somehow." She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. What a mess it sounded like they were walking into then... She hoped they'd be able to find some sort of answers to their questions. Everything they experienced ran counter to what should be natural. Nobody ought to have errant soul bonds like this. It conflicted with everything that they knew about how souls worked. "By the way, Weiss... Do you have another errant soul bond? One that seems to move around a lot?" While they were on the topic, she might as well ask about that. She wasn't sure if it'd sound stupid or not. Then again, everyone insisted she was wrong when she said she had errant soul bonds in the first place. But the proof sat right in front of her. Shehadthe errant soul bond with Weiss. Shehadit and nothing could deny that. Weiss blinked and tilted her head but nodded. "Yeah, I do. I notice it moves around quite a bit. It seems to be hanging around the dig site some ways away. It's definitely pretty nearby... I'm not sure who it could be, though. Then again, I didn't know my soul bond with you was with a member of the royal family. I thought it might be a servant, not someone in the line of succession." Blake's ears flattened for a moment at that but she let it pass. Well, that did make some sense, she supposed. Why would a human have any connection to the Sodocroan royal family? It really did make no sense. Butnothingabout this madeanysense at all really. How were they supposed to understand what was going on when they were so clueless themselves? They were trying their best, but they were simply stumped. "Whoever it is definitely moves around quite a bit. I've been able to tell how far and how near it is... It doesn't come into Sodocroa very often, though..." Yeah, the person definitely avoided Sodocroa like a disease. "Maybe they're another human?" That seemed like a reasonable response... Humans tended to avoid Sodocroa to her knowledge. They were lesser. They didn't deserve to live the full lives that Faunus did. They did nothing but destroy and enslave things on sight. Faunus were inherently better than humans because they weren't so prone to war and aggression. She didn't understand the nations where humans and Faunus lived in peace and harmony. It made literally no sense... Why didn't the Faunus just use their superior skills to make the humans below them like Sodocroa had? She knew there were nations with human slavery with Faunus ruling. Why didn't they rise up and take the humans out? It was what made the most sense in her mind... Same with men... Men were so much worse than women. "That might well be. They move around a lot, though. Just... It's crazy how much they move around. They rarely stay in one place for too long. They're a nomad, that's for certain." Blake could agree with that. Nomads like that were pretty rare to her knowledge. How could anybody live life like that? She knew there were some areas where tribes lived over on another continent, but that was as far as her knowledge went. How did anybody survive without permanent shelter and a sedentary life? It was all she knew. She couldn't fathom spending her whole life traveling. She'd honestly barely left the capitol before this, save falconry trips. So all of this was very, very new to her. She was trying her absolute best, but she really didn't like any of it. She hated all of it. She hated having to work, but she just didn't like tailoring... The sewing machine was an absolute nightmare to work with but it was so much faster. "True. I simply cannot fathom having to travel that much though. Do you have as much as this strange, errant bond we both have?" Weiss shook her head. "I do travel quite a bit, but I'm usually in one place for months at a time. I actually have traveled with tribal nomads. They fly golden eagles like you guys do. It's a way of life for them. It's not just sport; it's how they get food. So I've lived that lifestyle before. Definitely not for me, though, especially with my birds." She looked at the two birds sitting on her shoulders. One was white with beady black eyes; the other was black with speckling that looked like the night sky and a vibrant red tail. "I can't leave for more than four hours or else Avram will start flock calling me." "Flock call?" She had never heard that term before. It was quite strange. She had Naliaka, but the raven was usually silent. She was quiet unless spoken to. Weiss nodded. "Basically it's a loud, piercing noise that a bird makes to know when it loses sight of its flockmates. It's pretty common in parrots, I've observed. Avram will do it quite often if I leave his sight for too long. And cockatoos canreallyscreech and scream if you let them." She shook her head and sighed. That had to be annoying. Why couldn't she leave the birds behind? Why would he do that? It wasn't conducive to anything. Could they eventually scream themselves hoarse...? She had no idea. Parrots were a mystery to her. All she knew were ravens and eagles. "That sounds like a headache and a half." That was all she could really comment. "It is. It severely limits my jobs and such. I'm an anthropologist and the tribes in the tribal territories don't often trust easily. There's little study on hunter-gatherer groups, but I can't go out like I once did with Avram." She raised her hand and the white bird lowered its head. She gently scratched his head then put her hands back on the reins. "It's frustrating, but I have to listen to my birds. And they'll be with me for life. Cockatoos, like most large parrots, are pretty long lived. We're not sure how long lived since we're only on the third generation in Vobron, but there are some people that came there at the time of my grandfather that still have their birds. So probably close to a century they can live." Yeesh. Weiss was so young and she couldn't do what she wanted to. Whoever became her partner was going to have to deal with the birds. Screaming, screeching birds. She wasn't sure if she could handle that or not... They really only had three months to decide if they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. No pressure. None. At. All. "Well, that's definitely something... Not even golden eagles or our ravens are that long lived. About forty years for both of them, assuming some accident doesn't befall them." Blake had only known her first raven. She wasn't looking forward to when the bird died, be it in a blaze of glory to protect her or from natural causes. Goldies often went after the birds due to aggression between the species. Thankfully, the royal ravens and golden eagles could tolerate each other fairly well. Not to say squabbles didn't happen, but basically, as long as they stayed out of each other's ways, nothing was going to happen. It was hard to fight instincts, though… "I'll probably have Avram and Lillias most of my life. Lillas was about four when she came to me and Avram was about ten. So they definitely still haveplentyof time with me unless something happens." Weiss seemed a little disquieted on the issue. Even though she was complaining...Blake could understand. The birds could be incredibly annoying at times, but they were still valued companions and treasured friends. She would never want to be without her eagle or her raven... There would come a time when both would die and nobody could be sure when that would be. She just... She didn't want to think about it. She preferred to think that she had plenty of time with both of them. Especially her raven. She really didn't want to think about being without her raven… "I get that." Blake glanced over her shoulder and saw her raven soaring overhead, keeping a lookout for any threats. They were traveling through mostly open fields with some scraggly patches of forest throughout. Yeah, the raven could easily see anything coming from miles away at that distance and height. She was worried about wild golden eagles though... They could pose a serious threat if something were to happen... Ravens were tough, but they couldn't withstand a golden eagle attack very easily. Or a great-horned owl attack. Thankfully, they weren't traveling at night at the moment, so that was less of a worry. They fell silent for the next few hours and into a silence which Blake personally found a bit uncomfortable. She rarely traveled far, only going out for falconry expeditions, but on the occasion she did travel down into the city, she was often with her family and they almost always talked. Her siblings and parents were more than willing to talk with her and it was nice to do so. Granted, companionable silence did happen in their quarters, but even so… They skirted past a town and traveled another hour or so until they came to a large thicket of trees. It wasn't quite a forest, but it was densely planted with vegetation and underbrush. It was definitely untamed land. But Blake could still see some shrines and such as they maneuvered through the underbrush. Her mare seemed disquieted, but she patted the horse's neck. "It's fine, girl. You don't have to worry." The magic felt thick in the air, tingling through all of the plant life around them. She could practically breathe it in with how thick it was. After another 45 minutes of maneuvering, they came to a large clearing which looked manicured and beautiful. A small spring sat in the middle of the clearing, tall grasses swaying gently in a non-existent breeze. Wildflowers bloomed despite it being late in the season. They had reached the Fountain. They dismounted and approached the small spring. A young woman appeared out of nothingness and she smiled at them. "Good afternoon, you two. What can I do for you today?" Her eyes sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight. Blake stepped forward and bowed her head a bit. "H-Hello. I'm Blake. I was wondering if you could give me some magic..." She described what she wanted. She knew she'd have to apprentice under somebody that would know what they were doing, but even so, she wanted the magic. She shouldn't have gotten it until she was even higher in the Echelons, but this was her only chance. It really was. Once she returned from her Peregrination, she would have to take on the weather magic that the Donati family was known for. She didn't want that. She didn't want that at all... She hated all of this. She wished she could just be free of the family, but she obviously wouldn't survive on her own out in the world. She barely knew how to use money let alone earn it or hold down a job, how to pay for a house, how to do any of that… "Oh, that'll be simple. Please, come over." Blake nodded a bit and approached Celaecyal. The woman took her hands and she felt a rush of warmth in her. Celaecyal smiled. "There you go. Just make sure to study under somebody that understands the intricacies of this type of magic. I gave you Order because, while you're primed and ready for Chaos magic, I don't think this type of magic really needs Chaos." Blake nodded a bit. "That's fine." She saw no reason to really argue with it. Only someone that had been through all the Escheleons really needed Chaos magic. Most didn't need it to be frank. It was so dangerous to have, so most people went with Order magic. She would only be using small amounts at a time, so Order fit her perfectly well. "Though I do have some questions for you if you wouldn't mind answering them," Weiss put in. Celaecyal just gave an unreadable smile. "We'll see. What are your questions?" Weiss outlined the entire errant soul bonds issue and how it was possible. Calecyal's smile didn't vanish. "You'll have to wait and see for yourself. That's all I'll say on the matter." Blake could sense the sheer frustration in Weiss' soul but the other girl gave a defeated sigh. "That's about what I expected, unfortunately... Though I know I should probably get magic... I know a lot of historians have psychometry. That...just doesn't feel right for me to get for some reason." Weiss frowned. "There's agoodreason for that, but I won't tell you." Celaecyal just continued to smile brightly, obviously having a lot of fun with this. Weiss' expression flattened. Well, Blake couldn't blame her for being frustrated in the slightest. This had been a decently long ride and nothing had come out of it. Especially for someone that sought truth. The truth was obviously right in front of them, but they couldn't do anything to obtain it. Blake was more concerned with her magic right now, though… "Let's go, Blake." Weiss mounted her horse again and they left the Fountain, trudging through the dense undergrowth for another 45 minutes. After they left, Weiss spoke again. "We might want to consider getting something to eat in that town. We've been riding basically all day and still have a long way ahead of us." Blake nodded. "I am famished... Let's go then." They adjusted their position and started toward the direction of the town. Once again, the uneasy silence came over them. Eventually, though, Blake did break the silence. "Can I ask you a question? It might be a bit personal though..." Weiss looked a little warily at Blake. "You can ask, but I won't guarantee I'll answer." They barely knew each other so...that was entirely fair she supposed. "I was just wondering what your gender identity was. You wear men's clothes, yet you respond to she/her... Why is that?" In Sodocroa, people were enforced to stick to their identity's respective clothing. Men to men, women to women, gendervoid to gendervoid. Children decided on their gender at the age of about twelve or thirteen. Women could have penises and men could have vaginas. Gendervoid could have either. But they had to stick to their appropriate gender identity's clothing or else fines could be incurred. "Oh, that. That's fine. I technically fall under 'gendervoid' in Sodocroan terms, but not everywhere is as strict on gender roles and clothing as it is. I hate being told what to wear. If I want to wear a dress, I'll wear a dress. If I want to wear a suit, I'll wear a suit. I stick to suits in Sodocroa simply to spite the culture." Weiss shrugged. That was pretty bold especially considering she was workingforQueen Maryam right now. Had the queen really not done anything to try to stop her from wearing her clothes like she did? Or was it not worth the fuss and jailing a foreigner? Granted, she was queen... It wasn't like things could've gone to trial or needed to. She could've just fined or even jailed Weiss immediately on sight. But she hadn't... It was strange. "I see... It's strange to think that there are people like that." The way people wore their veils told exactly how they identified. It was a visible symbol of their identity and alignment with the gods. It was so utterly strange to her to think that someone wouldn't wear the clothes of their identifying gender all the time. She'd personally worn dresses almost her whole life. The exception was if she was riding or out on a falconry expedition. Those were some of the few times she was allowed to wear pants. She did like them, but she couldn't risk fines or jail time even as a member of the royal family. "I suppose it is strange to you." Weiss' tone was a little flat and Blake's ears flicked backward. She wasn't trying to upset Weiss. It just... She had a hard time wrapping her mind around things that conflicted with her understanding of the world. She was trying to understand things as they came, but it was hard when she'd only been out of the castle for a week or so. She couldn't imagine how Weiss handled jumping from culture to culture so often. And she spoke so many languages too. It was really mind boggling how someone handled the world like Weiss did. "Sorry." She just... How was she supposed to handle any of this? She wanted to be friendly to Weiss, though it was hard when she was a human. Humans were nothing but bad news. She felt so conflicted over everything regarding Weiss... She felt so drawn to her, but if it got out that she was with a human and back to the royal family, she could only imagine how Queen Maryam would react. Nothing worked well for her. Her life had turned completely upside down in the short time since she'd met Weiss. She was trying her best, but what else could she do? They approached the town and Naliaka landed on her. She kissed the raven's head and petted it. "You'll have to sit outside while we eat." "I'm so frustrated over having to be so far away from you. I'm your guard, but I'm being treated like a common bird. You don't even let me in the house!"She grunted and Blake sighed. "Sorry... We can't have people learning my identity. Only Dark Father knows what would happen if people discovered that. I've heard the stories of people finding out a Donati is out on Peregrination and of terrible things happening..." She shook her head, her ears flat. She felt horrible. The bird was always supposed to be by her side and her last line of defense against people hurting her. But she had to keep both of her birds at an arm's length in order to protect her identity. It was so frustrating, but it was what had to be done in order to make sure nobody hurt her. Even letting Weiss know felt like a gamble, but considering the queen had called on her... She had to be trustworthy to some degree, right? The queen wouldn't call on ahumanto do work in their country that was obviously sensitive to a large degree. The vault was a massive magical anomaly and it needed to be solved. Naliaka sighed and settled into Blake's lap as they started looking around for a restaurant. Though they definitely did get more than a couple strange looks as they passed by people. Weiss got most of all, though, considering she was a human and not wearing a veil of any sort. To Blake's knowledge,it was usual to wear a veil even if one didn't believe just to be polite. She hadn't seen anybody without one so far. Except for Weiss. She was definitely incredibly flagrant about being a foreigner... She did have quite the heavy accent, but she spoke very well. They found a restaurant and Blake told Weiss to wait. She went in and asked if they had rations for Seraphic users. They would just have to order multiple portions. Annoying but they could deal with it. Weiss was getting paid a decent amount for this, no doubt. The queen wouldn't just bring someone in and not pay them well even if they were human. She was really glad Weiss had money... Blake did have quite a bit of savings but even so... She told Weiss what the waiter told her and she sighed. "What an annoyance..." "Yeah, I agree, but it's what they told me." There must not have been a lot of Seraphic users around here if they didn't have portions specifically for them. Maybe a couple, but that was it. A lot of places didn't have Seraphic users to her knowledge... Magic was largely reserved for those that could afford the upkeep costs and the education. Education wascriticalto magic since it followed one's knowledge. Weiss dismounted and they walked inside, then sat down. Weiss sighed. "No meat either, huh?" "Sorry." Meat was banned by most mainstream branches of different faiths due to how sacred land and life were to them. Since most people followed mainstream branches, the dietary restrictions were common. If Weiss was used to meat, she shouldn't have come to Sodocroa... It was lucky that the restaurant they had chosen allowed meat, though those dishes werewaymore expensive than the non-meat ones. Hunting was pretty strictly banned aside from falconry and, even then, falconry was mostly for the royal family and not many else. Some other nobles, sure, but it was sport hunting and only for the birds. Though she had heard that some members of the royal family ate what their birds caught. "I knew what I was in for when I came here, but it doesn't mean it's any less frustrating," Weiss said. "I'm used to what's called bush meat--meat collected from wild animals, not domestic stock. We have quite a bit of wildlife we can eat, so yeah." "I don't think I'd like it there." Blake frowned. She was used to seeing Kalena kill things, but seeing a human or Faunus killing something for them to eat? It sounded like it'd give her nightmares personally. She didn't know how Weiss dealt with that day in and day out. How could she eat meat in good conscience? She was taking lives. Plants also had lives, sure, but most of the time, they could easily be replaced. Animals required so much more to be produced... Even birds took a long time to hatch and become self-sufficient. She couldn't eat any animal in good faith. It felt so wrong to take any sort of animal life especially when she had cat ears herself... "It is what it is. If you're used to it, you're used to it. And I'm used to it. I have to hunt, skin, and break down the animals myself a lot of the time. We have the general store, but even so... It's just easiest for me to do it myself." Weiss' words felt so callous that it made Blake's stomach churn. She hadn't even broken down the animals that Kalena killed. That was the royal falconer's job. But if she wanted to hunt, she would need to do it. And, well, that was where Weiss would come in. To help her get used to it. She really didn't want the animals to suffer, so she'd need to at least learn to kill them. She wasn't sure how to do that with the Seraphic. "I-I see... Well, you are willing to help me with the falconry stuff still, right?" Weiss nodded. "On the occasion I get to come out, I can help you with it. Though you should just...do it yourself. I'm only going to be around for a couple of months and most of the time will be me working. I don't want to get on the queen's bad side by seeming to slack off. Even me coming out like this might reflect negatively on me." Blake frowned at that. She hadn't wanted Weiss to get in trouble by any means. She had no idea where she was going or anything like that. She needed help to figure out where exactly the Fountain was and such... "Do you think you could show me on a lure?" She at least knew how to handle a lure and theirs looked very similar to jackrabbits. An animal like Kalena didn't really need it at this point, but it was the best way to help keep her fit and reinforce previous falconry seasons. Weiss nodded. "Yeah, sure, I can do that after we finish up here." That was a relief. She needed to go out hawking with Weiss at some point, but that felt less and less likely each day that passed. She hoped that she wouldn't get her in trouble with Queen Maryam... The woman was absolutely terrifying and could destroy Weiss' reputation from the sound of it. As long as she didn't stray too far, it hopefully wouldn't be a big deal... Granted, she knew that straying even a little bit in the royal family was more than enough to earn a black mark and be seen as the black sheep of the family. She was already seen as a black sheep due to not wanting weather magic... And now that shehad it,she was definitely gonna get a stern talking to by Queen Maryam once she got back. She couldn't be punished, but she could definitely get a talking to. "All right then." With that, Blake fell quiet and looked at the menu. They ordered and ate, then paid and left. They had been talking a decent part of the day, so they didn't have a whole lot to say over dinner. They left the town and the sun was well past its zenith at this point. They would probably get back to town with just a bit of daylight left if nothing else. It had been a long day and Blake was tired. She felt bad for not flying Kalena, but the eagle would be fine for one day. The rest of the ride back was relatively quiet, though they did stop outside of the town a bit. "Do you have your falconry bag and lure on you?" Weiss asked. Blake shook her head. "Let me go get it." They were only about twenty minutes from town, but still... That left them with very little daylight. She urged her horse into a gallop for as long as she could, then took her down to a trot, begging her as much as she could. She skittered into the small room she stayed in at night, then skittered out of the house, heading back to Weiss as quickly as she could. Weiss looked bored, petting her birds as she waited. About forty-five minutes had elapsed. "Okay, now let me show you what to do..." Weiss got off her horse and Blake dismounted as well, Weiss showing Blake what to do if Kalena had a jackrabbit on the ground and how to take it out. Even on the lure, it was relatively grizzly. She had her hunting knife but still... She shuddered a little internally as she thought about the blood that would be spilled when she had to take down a rabbit if Kalena hadn't managed to take it down. "And I would suggeststayingon jackrabbits. Wolves and foxes are much,muchmore powerful animals. Plus, wolves have packs to back them up." Blake shook her head. "Those animals are left to the royal falconer. We fly our eagles, but he always takes things down which is why I had to ask you for this. Hopefully soon we can go out hawking together." "Hopefully, but I'll need a few days at least. So that way it doesn't look like I'm slacking." That she could understand. Queen Maryam... She knew she'd be on the woman's bad side for getting magic that wasn't family approved. But she just... She really didn't want to deal with the weather. It bored her to absolutely no end. None. She was bored to tears whenever she had to study it, which was at least an hour a day. "Anyway, I should get back to the dig site. I need to put Avram and Lilias to bed." "All right. See you tomorrow for dinner?" Blake asked. Weiss nodded and went back to her horse. Blake mounted and headed back into town, swinging by a restaurant to grab a bite for dinner. After that, she returned to the little room. It was dark and she was tired. She changed into her pajamas and quickly fell asleep.