Private Tales More Then Thine Self

[Erwin Geschwind]

“It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.”
-Dalai Lama
"What a bloody pain..." Corporal Erwin Geschwind, a Strojland huntsman, muttered to himself as he rubbed his neck. It was a fine crisp morning, might have been somthing the man would have enjoyed, if not fro the fact that he was up for a rather grim purpose: Hunting another beasts that had decided to permeate into the borders of Strojland. Being a huntsman, this was one of the duties he specialized in; Tracking and gutting whatever was terrorizing the local populace. Best of all, he was considered a domestic force, which meant they got to pay him less then any monster hunter.

Not that he was suppose to mind...duty to the people

It would have been nice if his Huntscaptain didn't just send him and his canine companion, but apparently there were bigger priorities in the realm and well...it was just more cost efficient to send him instead of an entire brigade.

It would have been flattering if the danger hadn't been so pressing.

Man and his companion, moving through the forest with a mission. To track down the beast that was trying to install itself within the region. Would have been harder, especially one man doing the job of a battalion. But he had one advantage that most trained forces didn't have; the four legged canine companion next to him...​

 

[Ace]

Nose to the ground, trying to find a scent to lock onto. Ace was his name, the monster dog companion to the huntsman following close behind. The two were out for a monster, another one to add to the pile, but it all started with an initial investigation. While monsters inspired myth, there was a cold hard science behind them, weather it be tracking or fighting them. Right now, the two were trying to track for the location of the beast's last attack, they would start the serious tracking there, trying to piece together clues with what little info they had at the moment...before finding and bringing the beast down.

It was affecting the local populace, and being a member of the local armed forces meant that it was among Ace and Erwin's duty to protect these nice people. At least, Ace hope they were nice. Most people liked having him around, it generally put them at ease compared to those who caused them to be sad or hurt...

It was in his sensing did he pick up on...another scent. This one was certainly not what he was sniffing for, he had been smelling for blood, specifically fresh blood, but this was....living, human in fact...and magic, he could smell the scent of his magical aura in the wind.

Pausing for a moment and lifting his head, the canine tried a getting a better read of that smell...perhaps it was someone passing by...might be useful, who knew?...Regardless, the canine broke into a bit of a jog, running forth into the bush with his huntsman companion trailing behind....ruffling through the bushes and leaping around the corner....
James Lanvarok

 

[James Lanvarok]

The trees birthed the first rays of the morning sun, it's rays dotted with specks of light. Standing in a clearing in the middle of the forest, a young mage from the college of Elbion practiced his air magic. News from the area confirmed the presence of monsters, and James had been sent to investigate, then report his finding back to the college. He didn't mind the odd quests they sent him on here and there. They were more exciting than sitting in a classroom and memorizing runes.

Thrusting out his hand, he drew the air to him and twisted it, casting a small hurricane in the middle of the clearing. He coiled his hands, turning it and sucking up grass, until he started to grow dizzy and could hold the spell no longer.

The small hurricane faded and died, spewing out the grass it had sucked up.

"Shit," James cursed beneath his breath. His Professor was going to skin him alive if he didn't perfect this technique before his next class.

A spellbook lay open on a log beside him, but he didn't find it very useful. He preferred to learn magic through practice and error, not through memorization. Grumbling to himself, he plonked himself down on the log and picked up the magic book. He flipped it open to the page which contained the spell he was trying to learn. He grumbled, scratched his head and squinted at the runes, which were different to the ones he had learned in Vel Anir.

James' crossbow lay by his side. He had taken it with him just in case he did stumble across a monster, or thieves who wanted to take advantage of an overweight, unimposing young mage.

He heard the trees rustle, then looked up, to see a man approaching, with a...

"DOGGO!" James blurted out without thinking.

The man had a scruffy looking canine by his side, much to James' delight. He had always wanted a dog, but hadn't been able to have one at the dreadlord academy, and the Elbion college was no different either. Eyes wide, he sprung up from his log and threw down his spellbook. He ran over to the dog and exclaimed happily, then knelt down and patted him on the head.

"Hey boy!" James cried happily. "Heya!" He patted the dog and scratched it behind the ears, then looked up to face the man.

"What's his name?" He asked.

The man carried a bow and arrow, and appeared to be a hunter. James wondered if he was out here hunting the monster the townspeople were speaking off. Kneeling in the grass, James patted the dog, overjoyed, while looking up at the man.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

 

[Ace]

Ace came to an abrupt halt when the stranger came onto him.

It was hard to really surprise a beast such as Ace, with such a vigilant sense of smell that was sensitive to even the slightest change of odor in the area. That said, it wasn't always easy to predict how someone would have react to a startling intrusion. Usually in such situation, one would be hyper alert to any changes of the environment, maybe even be ready to draw in the face of danger....

This one...seemed less concerned with that...the canine could of been feral for all he knew...not that Ace was going to ripe his neck out...not yet at least...

The stranger continue to fawn over the canine, patting and cooing over him. Ace might have tried to get away, but his excitement only caused the canine to let out a sighing breath, closing an eye as the stranger's hand smoothed over his head.

All in all, Ace was quite surprised by the human's reaction in this context. Now normally, he wouldn't be too against a good pat or ear scratch, but this might have been the last thing on his mind at the moment. Erwin and him were on the clock, on the hunt, nose to the ground and arrows at the ready. They were in the middle of a mission, and this was felt out of place to what they were doing.

Plus he was being too rough with his pats...

 

[Erwin Geschwind]

"What am I doing here!?" Erwin exclaimed, an arrow drawn, the pointy end directed stright at the mage's head. If the lad had made one wrong move, he would've had to spend the next ten minutes trying to remove an arrow from his face. "Kid, do you not know what the hell is roaming these woods right now?"

Erwin had been told that they had sent a message to the locals to keep out of the woods as much as possible until the huntsman had given the all clear. It was already dangerous enough on the main roads for people to be wandering around, as this beast had apparently become basy enough to strike far from it's lair. But with the cover of the forest? No telling the amount of harm this thing could do...espically if the reports was right...this wasn't it's natural habitat...

"Who am I kidding? Of course you don't...else we wouldn't be having this conversation..." The huntsman muttered, allowed himself to loosen his draw on his bow, placing the arrow back into the quiver on his hip. To say that Erwin was annoyed was an understatement, but he knew yelling about it probably was going to get them no where fast. A hard lesson about civilians that Erwin had to learn when he was younger. "...never mind what I said... just pack your bags and get out of here...there's a monster roaming around these parts and the last thing I'm in the mood for is digging....so, place's off limits until I say otherwise..."

 

[James Lanvarok]

The dog seemed to recoil and sigh, letting James know that he was being too rough. He didn't notice, until the man drew an arrow and aimed it at his face. Eyes ablaze, James immediately withdrew his hand from the dog and jumped back, drawing the air to his hands. He combusted the air, igniting sparks above his palms and threw a hand forward.

"I know what's in the woods! That's why the college sent me here, dumbass!" He shouted.

"Now put that away before I set you on fire," he threatened.

A hand outstretched, James drew more air to him, fueling the fire above his palms. The man loosened his bow and lowered his arrow, and James waved his hands, putting the flames out. The man thought he was a civilian who didn't know any better. How insulting. Curling his balls into fists, James clenched his teeth and stared him down, his eyes wide and terrifying.

"Look bud, I'm not a civilian, I'm here on official duty on behalf of the college of Elbion," he slurred.

Brow creased, James turned around and walked over to the log where he had been sitting. He attached his spellbook to his belt and picked up his crossbow. He loaded it with arrow, wound it and walked up to the man and the dog.

"I'm not leaving until I see that monster for myself," he stated, and started walking ahead of the man.

"Asshole," he grumbled as he walked past.

 

[Erwin Geschwind]

"Cute trick...You try that on me, this "doggo" you like so much will be ripping your neck out...and unlike me, he's not as easily flammable..." The huntsman growled back, far from undeterred by what he considered be an upstart kid. In the process of placing his arrow back into his quiver, the huntsman brushed aside his satchel, revealing the Strojland coat of arms; a symbol worn by those serving. "...not that i'd recommend it either way, kid...you attack me here, then your attacking a member of the Strojland standing army...and I don't think the college would be too happy to hear that one of it's prospects is going around attacking the authorities...especially when I get to file my report..."

Indeed, the most potent weapon at Strojland's disposal was not necessarily it's knightly or it's standing army, but rather the amount of scalding paperwork that gets levied against any individual.

The huntsman kept an eye on the mage, watching him load his weapon. A consideration to note, but not necessarily somthing he was intimidated by. It was a two to one fight if it came to it, Erwin was ready to put two arrows dead in the center of his face...that is, if Ace didn't get to him first...

"Listen, I don't know if you realize but your a long ways from Elbion...this ain't the cities, kid, you're playing on it's turf...and why the hell would the College of Magic care about some random bea..." A thought drifted into the huntsman's head, as his eyes widened a bit, before narrowing in suspicion, before a hand flew to his foehead. "...oh no, don't tell me you hockus pokus egg heads are behind this entire monster ordeal...gods be damned, that would actually explain a lot..."

While the huntsman pondered on that, the mage started to walk away, causing the huntsman to look over to his canine companion. "Ace, which way is the site of attack?"

 

[Ace]

The moment the fire came into light, Ace had gone into his battle stance. His cute exterior gave way to somthing that combined it with a rather ferocious appearance, as his growl became vocal and his fangs brought to bear. Anyone trying to hurt his friend was going to have to go through him first!

Ace's eyes never left James for a moment, watching him...but importantly, tracking him with his nose. Ace could tell from mere smell when he was about to attack. It was akin to a build up of a potent, ashy smell...at least for what he had put forth.

When the stranger relinquish his flame, Ace didn't relax. If anything, the canine tensed up watching the magic user load his crossbow, preparing to shoot forward if he tried anything. Another growl escaped his throat when the mage approached...but then he turned and left...only when the stranger's back was turned, did Ace even raise his posture.

Then Erwin spoke, asking about the direction. The canine could only infer that he meant about the monsters. Raising his noise, Ace took a sniff at the situation, before looking towards a certain direction, opposite of where the stranger was going.

The blood smell the two of them had been tracking was important to find it, Ace knew that much for certain. It would been valuable, as it might lead to some further clues of the beast itself...though, he wasn't too sure where the stranger was going...

 

[James Lanvarok]

The man was full of himself, and made it clear to James that he looked down on him. As he lowered his bow, James growled, veins bulging out of his temples. Teeth clenched, he threw his hand down, waving away that flame that had been hovering above it. He hadn't realized the man was a member of the Strojland army, and it wouldn't do to attack a member of the authorities the college had sent him to work with, much to James' chagrin.

The dog growled, and James realized he had overstepped his mark.

Still, the man couldn't have been that much older than him, and he was talking to him like he was a child. Fuck, why did people do this? Talk down to him because of how he looked. James hated it, and would blow that damn monster up to show this smug piece of shit that he wasn't useless.

"Hey, you're not even that much older than me, so quit talking to me like I'm ten!" James shouted.

The man continued to talk down to him, assuming that he wasn't used to life outside of Elbion, when in fact, he had spent the past several years of his life running through the wilderness with dreadlords on his tail. James rolled his eyes and scoffed as he walked past him, crossbow loaded and ready to fire "I've only been at the college for a few weeks," he said, eyelids lowering with resentment. "I've spent the past several years in the wild, that's why they sent me to do this job."

"And believe me, they're all a bunch of hokus pokus fucks," he spat. James was a former dreadlord apprentice. His magic was more combative than that taught at Elbion, which he expressed to the man. Already, he was beginning to feel like he didn't fit in there, and was hoping Ezra would help him settle in more comfortably.

A breeze blew through the trees, unsteady by the hand which carried it. Leaves, sucked of all life, rolled across the grass, clinging to James' hair as he stared the man down. When the man asked if it was the college that was responsible for the monster in the first place, James smirked. With a roll of his eyes, he nodded, confirming his suspicions.

"Yes, some batshit insane Professor created the monster and it got loose, so they sent me to go and kill it," James said, his tone audibly annoyed. "I'm just as pissed off about this as you are." A shrug, and he shook his head.

 

[Erwin Geschwind]

"I see..." Erwin watched as the mage stormed on, before looking over at Ace with a raised eyebrow, before looking back. "Welp...if the college sent you, how bad can you really be?...There's just a who-knows-what monster roaming around, and all we have is you, me, and Ace...but, I suppose if your as 'experienced with the wild' or how ever you put it, then we really have nothing to lose with you along for the ride...now do we?"

Was really a bad idea from an operational stand point. This was just another potential liability/collateral, and those were general ugly enough to sort out. Especially if it was with the College of Magic, just meant more paper work if they came sniffing about.

"I've only one condition for you to tag along; I get to put you down as a combative in my report instead of as a civilian...you know, in case you get eaten and all." He was being serious about the remark. Doing that would have made sorting things out much easier, plus the huntsman probably get into less trouble if the mage really did get eaten.

"Welcome aboard...I guess...seems like I'll be deputizing you for this particular operation..." Erwin technically did have the authority for that, especially given this case...if not just to get the kid to cooperate or not go running off into who knows. "Corporal Erwin Geschwind, at your service, formalities, yada yada...and this is my partner Ace..."

Erwin tilted his head towards Ace, a rather indifferent expression still on his face. "...for the record, use his name...he doesn't take too kindly to "doggo" or "pet"..."

*Growl*

"Right, anyways...you got any useful intel on this thing, or are we going to have to go find it for ourselves?"

 

[Ace]

Ace watched as the two men talked. Rather strange of his companion to be willing to "deputize" this particular stranger. They never usually ran with other people unless they were paid or this person was proven. Karl was one such example, they'd run together a number of times and often did fine in terms of coordination. They didn't really know this one...and judging by his particular words, this fellow didn't really seem the discipline type. Least not cooperatively, not as a unit or a pack.

But then again, Erwin thought it was prudent enough, so there might have been a good reason to bring him along.

Ace barked upon the mention of his name, watching as Erwin introduced the canine. But when Erwin mentioned "pet", Ace began to growl loudly and flashed his fangs. He hated that term, especially if it was applied to himself. In some sense, Erwin raised him with the identity that he was his own being. Anything less then that sounded demeaning...and the canine was not having any of that....

 

[James Lanvarok]

James knew the hunter was more experienced than himself, but still didn't appreciate being talked down to. Crossbow in hand, he cocked his head to the side insolently and turned up his top lip. While the man had years of experience tracking monsters, James simply had to improvise when he ran away from Vel Anir. What he knew of living in the wild simply came down to adapting, but his instinct to survive was razor sharp.

As the man spoke, James nodded. He had nothing more to say on the matter.

The man then asked if he could put him down as a combative in his report, rather than a civilian, to which James nodded with a smirk.

"Fine by me, but don't expect much getting eaten on my part," he grumbled as he turned around.

Looking over his shoulder, James walked in the opposite direction from where the man had come and stepped over the log. He prowled the undergrowth, the hems of his trench coat billowing as he walked.

The man said that he would be speaking on behalf of James for their operation, and James gave a dismissive shrug. He had no problem being bossed around, provided the person doing the bossing was respectful. This man clearly had a high standing in the local military, which James could respect. He gave him his name, as well as the name of the dog, and James continued to walk forward, without so much as passing him a glance.

"Whatever, you know the area, so lead on," James mumbled with a shrug. "James Lanvarok."

When Erwin said that Ace didn't like being referred to as a pet or a dog, James creased his brow. He turned around to look at Ace, his expression softening.

"Sorry, bud." A slight smile crept across his features.

As they walked into the woods, Erwin asked James if he had any information surrounding the monster. He had a little, but mostly just what mages from the college had told him. Facing ahead, he blew a raspberry to blast a lock of matted, curly hair out of his face and sniffed.

"According to the nerds in Elbion, it assumes the form of a young woman during the day and during that state, lures people back to it's lair where it eats them from the inside out." His eyebrows bumped and up and down as he described the monster. Nasty shit. For a bunch of eggheads, the Elbion mages sure knew how to create some twisted stuff.

"Nobody knows what it looks like at night, but that's when it eats it's victims." Jame nodded. "It lures them into submission by singing, so like a harpy or siren of sorts." A shrug, and he turned around and continued into the forest. Resisting the singing would be their first challenge in combating the monster, but James could use empathy to expel external influences and turn them against the source.

"I'm an empath, so the singing won't be a problem for me, but if you hear anything, well..." His words trailed off with a raise of his eyebrow.

 

[Erwin Geschwind]

"Please, stay alive...it would be much less inconvenient for me...." The huntsman grunted, as he drew an arrow from his quiver and nooked it. "...so try to stay alive....*whistle* Ace, lead on if you will."

The canine would do just that, as he began moving forward into the woods. Erwin followed after Ace, keeping some distance between he and his companion, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, such as tracks or markings.

"You say it like it's a problem, there's these things called beewax that do wonders at canceling out the noise...and if that won't work, her music won't do jack to Ace over there...so I've more ways to skin this thing then just my bow...but now that you mention it, the reports have people come up missing...plus the entire mystical song thing doesn't naturally happen around these parts...." Erwin looked off for a moment, taking in his surroundings as if he was looking for somthing particular. "...the dossier I got detailed something you would expect of a minatour...damn thing torn up wagons and eat horses whole...granted, during the middle of the night, but still...I don't think the college of magic would create anything as "simple" as a siren...least if they wanted to be groundbreaking...sirens are pretty common if you know where to look."

More or less satisfied with his observation, the huntsman pushed on after Ace, whom paused momentarily for the humans to catch up.

"Whatever it is, I feel like it ain't going to be as easy as it sounds....Which is precisely why we are going to the site of it's last attack; I wanna get a good look at what this thing could do before we engage...see what this thing can do."

 

[Ace]

Ace huffed at James, turning away even as he apologized. Wasn't much for him to really express. Erwin was allowing him to come along, and that was just business. Faster they get done with it the fast they can do somthing else.

There would be no pleasantries on this particular assignment, or so Ace thought. Business and professionalism, as Erwin indicated for the canine to take the lead.

And so he did, nose to the ground and doing what he did best; sniffing out the objective and tracking...leading on into the forest and following the scent from before.

Blood, blood....blood was what he was sniffing for, particularly human bug. The stranger had mentioned somthing about a siren, so Ace began to remember...what did sirens smell like? Depending on what kind of siren they were, they often had a bit of a sweet scent...but for Ace, with his sensitive nose, there was also usually a fishy undertone to their smell. Quite literally in this case.

If anything of the sort came up, he'd be the first to smell...and hear it...