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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:22:34 GMT -6
“Nah, Anon!” Alma spat, and the wiurn yanked his head back to stare at her. “No flying. Not until ya’got a bit more training, alright? Not risking losing you in the sky somewhere.” Alma paused as the wiurn bumped it’s head against her arm, and she rubbed at the scales hidden underneath the bandaged jaw. “Would say I’d never see yah again, but, well, you know.” Alma snorted, rapping a hand against his headplate. “Never seen you before in the first place.” He hissed as her fingers found some particular spot where his jaw met his neck, the wiurn pressing against her hand. Stumbling back a few feet, she gave him a quick, “Nah!” and ceased scratching him. He was like a kitten estharne when it came to petting, never realizing that his gentlest was still more powerful than anything Alma could manage. “Save some of that for the dragons. Gotta be ready if any break in to the place, alrighty?” [6]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:22:52 GMT -6
Anonymous, perhaps picking up on her tone, hissed. Even knowing that a hiss from a wiurn was nothing like one from an estharne, Alma smiled back at him. “That’s right. You keep me an’ this,” Alma held up the nearly empty sack as she spoke, one that would hopefully be full of goodies to catalogue and display in a few hours, “safe, and I’ll see you it that you get an extra serving of your favorite bits.” Which happened to be mammal hearts of all shapes and sizes, but she was in a good mood that day and she refused to let the knowledge of where his favorite bits came from ruin it. She had not let the earlier encounter ruin it either, not after she decided to push it from her mind and head straight over to the mansion with something even a dragon would hesitate to attack this time. [7]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:23:15 GMT -6
With the encounter held away from her main thoughts, she thumped Anonymous on the shoulder with a fist, telling him to follow her as she did so. He did so, crawling across the ground in the freakish walk all wiurn had as she opened the gate to the mansion. Getting the get open wide enough to admit his massive size took a few more seconds, only for her to look up and see that he was still standing on the threshold, apparently thinking that following her exactly was what he was supposed to do. Which is what the command was for, but, as she stood there with the gate held in her hands, it felt like he should have followed the spirit of the command instead. “Get in ‘ere! C’mon, you bloody stupid dragon, get inside!”
Anonymous, his tail slowly waving side to side, tilted his head as Alma shouted a few words that meant much less to him than the people scurrying past behind him. [8]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:23:44 GMT -6
“Right. Okay, you are dumb. They put all your smarts into yer muscles, and you got the same amount of brains as you do looks.” Alma kept her tone lower, eyes darting to look for anyone else who might be wandering by. Her face already had enough red in it that she felt she might catch on fire if she so much as made eye contact with one more person, something that the woman who had scurried behind Anonymous looked as though would have been the perfect outcome. Luckily, the woman and the person with her seemed to have been the only ones on the street, and Alma took a moment to take a deep breath. “Lesse. You’ve got a couple of things, like yer name and some basics, but nothing that tells yah to go on.”
Which was the problem. The gate was not particularly heavy, and her gloves protected her fingers from losing circulation. [9]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:23:56 GMT -6
Spending her entire free time waiting for Anonymous to get bored of the outside world and wander in however was not viable. What loot would the mansion give to her for spending hours at the threshold? A note that stated how bad it felt that her not-dragon was being uncooperative and a plastic replica of some treasure as a booby prize?
Well, that would be pretty neat actually. Something that was a completely unique gift from the mansion or its imaginary owner for her being the only one to ever have come over and spend the entire time on the very edge of the property. Even if it was some piece of trash, or just a note, that would be something special indeed.
Alma shook her head. No, she had come for a share of the magical little beasts and tablets she had heard of others carrying out this month. And that meant she was going to get Anonymous onto the property one way or another. [10]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:24:21 GMT -6
And there was only one way that was going to work. With a sigh, Alma turned so the gate rested against her back, thrusting one hand into the sack. After a moment of rummaging with her gloved hand, she pulled out a small wrapped parcel. “Anonymous,” she called to the wiurn, the beast turning from where he had been watching some butterflies flutter past. She unwrapped it carefully as the wiurn watched, snapping a quick “Stay!” at him when he took a step forward. Soon the sandwich was presented to the world, and Alma watched as the wiurn stretched his head as far as he could towards her, the bandages around his face bunching up as she smelled his less than pleasant breath. “Gonna need to get you some toothpaste or somethin’” she told him as his neck reached its limit, his head less than a few inches away from her. [11]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:24:35 GMT -6
It was funny in a way. With her balgor, great big lion-dogs that they were, she could barely bring herself to even consider going into a cage with them. With Anonymous, a wiurn that was likely taller than the pair if the balgor were stacked on top of each other, she merely twisted away with a quick “Nah” to keep the sandwich from him.
Still, she had no intentions of testing him now. Alma tore off a piece of sliced meat from the sandwich, dropping it on the ground beside her as she rewrapped the sandwich, dropping it back into the sack a second later. With the nearly empty sack once more hanging at her belt, she picked up the piece of meat. It would have barely been a bite or two for her had she not been hungry. For Anonymous, she doubted he would even taste it before it was down his throat and in his stomach. [12]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:24:46 GMT -6
Alma waved the meat around in the air, watching as the bandages around Anonymous’s head followed it. “Want a treat? Big old wiurn want some tasty, overpriced sliced meat?” The memory of how many credits had to go to more palatable foods for people like herself rather than those who only ate what front eh same stock they fed their beasts made her tighten her grip. A damned wate of a luxury this was, but at least she could enjoy the bit left in the sandwich once they were in. And, the next time she had to bring something that knew how to follow but not go where she pointed, she would remember to bring something to send them in that direction.
When she was absolutely certain the wiurn was watching the treat and not just swaying his head for the fun of it, and when she had managed to convince herself that she would have enough credits to splurge next month on a selection of tasty foods if she found enough loot that day, Alma threw the meat towards the mansion. [13]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:24:56 GMT -6
It did not so much soar through the air as spin through it, the flat piece of meat tumbling through the air to land one the clean lawn of the property with only the slightest crinkling of the grass. It had gone a decent enough length onto the property to Alma’s eye, enough that all of Anonymous, beyond his tail perhaps, would need to be on the property for him to get it.
The issue was that he had made no move to go get it.
Oh, he had snapped at the air as she had thrown it, the loud clack of his jaws snapping shut audible behind her as the meat had begun its short flight, but nothing had run past her to get it. No, the mass of bandages in the form of a wiurn was still standing at the entrance, tail outstretched behind it as its head stretched as far as it could towards the meat, snapping at thin air. [14]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:25:20 GMT -6
‘What. What are you doing? Why are you still standing there?” Alma asked the wiurn, eyes darting back towards the meat lying meters away and the wiurn chewing the air. “That’s good food right there! Nothing like that tasteless free crap the kennels can generate. It’s smoked and fancy-like. And it costs more than a few credits to pick up, even if yah just buy a sandwich.” Alma tilted her head to the side as she listened to Anonymous grunt and snap one last time in the direction of the treat. “You a snob now? Only like the gross bits? None of yah have ever been that picky.” Alma pressed her knuckles against forehead as she tried to review his past behaviors. Was he sick? No, he had eaten his earlier meal before coming out to the mansion with the same speed as always, and he wasn’t stumbling around or doing anything that might stain the bandages. [15]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:25:35 GMT -6
“Should be alright,” she muttered under her breath as she stared at the wiurn, his bandaged head pointing in the direction of the treat without wavering. He had tried to get it from her quickly enough when she had been taking it out of the sandwich, so why was he just staying-
“Oh! I told yah to stay, dinni?” she asked the wiurn, ANonymous’s attention never wavering from the treat. “That’s a good boy! Sorry ‘bout that. C’mere and go get it.” He took two steps with his wing feet, the strides long enough that he could now stand a little closer to Alma and the gate than he had before. A quick, “Good boy,” and a point of the finger at the sad, floppy piece of marbled meat sent him practically scampering towards it, head dipped low to snag it and any unfortunate grass that happened to be nearby. [16]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:25:51 GMT -6
Alma had a moment of silence for the meat Anonymous gulped down without a single chew, though it was somewhat ruined by his hiss as he sniffed and searched the perfectly meatless lawn for any sign he had missed a piece. She stepped in as his tail swung away from the gate, pulling it closed behind her. There, now they were on the mansion property, and she could finally start looking for whatever treats it happened to put out from the dragon’s binding god.
“Dreamed up an interesting one, didn’t they, Anon?” Alma snorted at that as the wirun continued to inspect the grass as though it hid meat just out of his sight. “Get it? Dreamed? Cause of the holiday?” Anon showed no signs of getting it, nor did he get any more treats.
“Well, the day is young, or it was when we got here. Besides the hours it took getting yer ass in,” she said cheerfully. [17]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:26:10 GMT -6
“We should still ‘ave plenty of time to get all sorts of shiny bits and rare bobs to fill up the cases, yeah?” The wiurn snorted noncommittally, long tail held out behind him for balance as he sniffed the grass. “Well, you find anything not flesh ‘n bone, lemme know. And try not to eat anything that is. Heard the little critters that spawn here this month are cute and pretty, an’ I’s like tah take more than one of them home.” Alma walked to stand next to the wiurn, away from the tail he was swinging for balance. She patted her stomach and smiled at him. “An’ naht just in yer tum. Hard to admire them there, harder still when they come back out.”
She took the time he spent looking for nonexistent treats to look over the mansion. True to what she had seen standing outside, and the notes left there, it looked normal. [18]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:26:25 GMT -6
As normal as a fancy mansion in the city could be at least, her grin twitching into a more neutral expression. There were normal-looking windows without any sort of beast looking out through them, though the sunlight glinting off of them made it nearly impossible to make out what hid behind them. The paint was nice and even, the wood polished and looking less worn than she would expect for a place so popular as the mansion, and the grassy lawn and plants that filled the courtyard Anon was snuffling his way through like a truffle bwee lacked any sort of oddity that should raise the hairs on the back of her neck. Of course, as usual it was nearly silent, with not a single beast nor bee buzzing around beside her and her wiurn, but that was usually a good sign. When the mansion decided to send something bigger after you, especially for the holidays of certain gods, that is when you knew it was time to leave. [19]
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Post by Alma on May 31, 2021 19:26:42 GMT -6
But it was quiet for now, she had her nearly empty sack that contained little beyond her, slightly lighter now, lunch, and she had a wiurn to deal with the worst that the mansion might send at her. “Mortavos hells, it might even be happier that I brought a dragony thing like you,” she told the wiurn, a smile working back over her features. “It’s the dragon holiday, so yah can be mah good luck charm for the day. And if not, well,” Alma shrugged, “better luck to have a wiurn on mah side anyhoo.”
She let the wiurn take the lead, though she never dared to walk behind him. That tail of his could kill her much quicker than it would take down a wiurn’s preferred prey, and, in the grounds of the mansion, there was little chance someone would find her and bring her body up to the Temple for a revival. [20]
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