|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:13:52 GMT -6
Rhys wiggled his little ears and twitched his wings. {I don’t know if she wanted to eat it or if she just wanted to pick it up, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.}
At those words, both of Noa's brows arched up toward his hairline. “You’re a telepath,” Noa said incredulously. “How do you not know whether she wanted to eat it or not?”
{Well, if they don’t know, then I don’t know either,} Rhys pointed out. That was… surprisingly reasonable. Noa supposed that even telepathy had limits, though apparently the idiocy that young Houluh puppies could get into didn’t, necessarily. Or the floor of it was a lot further down than he had thought. Either or.
“What a promising young talent from the next generation,” Noa said blandly. But it was good that she wasn’t causing much trouble, at least. Better than the alternative of her raising hell wherever she went. A hell-raiser wasn’t necessarily always a bad thing, but it definitely wasn’t a quality that Noa looked for in a small companion creature. If he was going to deal with that level of off the rails aggression, he would only be willing to cope with it in the form of something that could actually do some damage – Sarane size or bigger. In a small companion creature of no significant strength like a Houluh, it was only ever going to be annoying, never useful in any way.
16
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:14:06 GMT -6
Normally it was the opposite: a smaller creature’s aggression would be easier to cope with, and a lot of people didn’t want to even imagine a larger creature like a Wiurn rampaging through their homes. But in Noa’s mind, the amount of nonsense he was willing to put up with from a creature was directly proportional to the amount of use he could get out of it. And the smaller and more non-magical a creature was, the less useful it was to Noa’s endeavors. If a Houluh turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, he had no issues with giving it up – be it to Briar, who would probably take even a bad Houluh, or to the adoption center, which as far as he understood took anything anyone chose to give up, so long as it was in fact a Houluh pup.
The pup in question was currently digging in a patch of dirt. What she expected to find was anyone’s guess, and she wasn’t actually particularly good at it. Noa had seen the digging of other, more determined canines, and he knew that they could really shift the dirt when they put their minds to it. But these paltry scratchings of a little pup who didn’t know what she was doing was a far cry from that, to say the least.
And yet, despite that, she seemed to be accumulating a truly prodigious amount of dirt on her fur.
17
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:14:23 GMT -6
And this matter was no small issue considering that all of Nana’s pups had come out with much shaggier coats than she or the male had had. Something about a blessing, to do with that trinket that they had used when they bred the pair… Noa wasn’t all too clear on the specifics, not that he had made a concentrated effort to do any research in that direction either. Houluh were, as projects went, only ever mildly interesting, and so he never made a concentrated effort to look into the specifics about them either.
But if she needed to be cleaned, then it would be an issue for when they got back to the estate anyway. For now, if it kept her busy and out of any worse trouble, then Noa was fine with that.
The little feathered creature seemed to have calmed down considerably, and so Noa thought it was probably time to resume trying to dig out the stone that Rhys had detected all the way when they had started this trip. It was starting to look as if this one would also be almost fruitless, though less for a lack of effort and more because of the interference from the young companions that Noa had elected to bring along. Maybe it hadn’t been his best and brightest idea to bring them at all, but they were here now and he was stuck with the consequences of his decision until they went home this time.
18
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:14:53 GMT -6
Maybe he wouldn’t bring them again, or at least not together… But then, it wasn’t as if he could bring any of his usual companions, like Azalea or Avander or anything. They were all of them too big to comfortably fit in the caverns, even if there were grown black Sarane living down here. And in the case of Avander and Nightshade, at least, they were used to more open spaces, and still felt a certain sense of unease from being underground in a restrictive space, unable to stretch their wings as they pleased.
And so his choice of companions was limited to smaller creatures… And the only small creatures he tended to spend a lot of time with were babies, or creatures he hadn’t worked with very much yet, since he didn’t usually put a lot of effort into creatures that weren’t going to be fighters in some way.
Rhys was the exception to this, of course, but Rhys had a wide range of other useful talents. Rhys could also take direction, and was magically bound to Noa, so Rhys was the exception for more reasons than just his size.
Noa walked back over to the spot that he had been working at before he had been so rudely interrupted, and picked up his tools once again. He cast a glance at the little feathered creature to see if it would raise a ruckus yet again, but thus far it seemed to have recovered its calm.
19
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:15:41 GMT -6
Or maybe it was better to call it the creature’s good humor instead of its calm? Well, whatever it was, the creature was only making the occasional soft noise. So far, so good. And the fact that it was still awake boded well for Noa’s efforts, though maybe he didn’t want to count all his chickens before they hatched. There was still no telling for sure how it would react once he actually started trying to chip away at the rock again.
Still, there was no delaying the inevitable, and so Noa set the chisel against the rock and began hammering away. He did make an effort to start with small strikes, in the hopes that if he upped the intensity gradually, it wouldn’t be so much of a shock to the little creature. To his relief – and what a thought, that he should be relieved that such a small thing had decided to behave itself, but that was a conversation for another time – the feathered creature kept its peace. And so with its blessing, so to speak, Noa began working away in earnest at unearthing the rock – or rocks – that Rhys had sensed.
The work of it wasn’t much fun, even if there were no more obstacles to Noa’s accomplishing it anymore. In fact, the fact that he had no more excuses to take little breaks almost made it worse. He was aware that he may not have time to get in those rests.
20
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:15:54 GMT -6
If he stopped, the feathered creature might fall asleep again, and then he would be stuck with another period of waiting out its bad mood upon waking before he could work again. And so there was a sense of urgency that his mining endeavors generally lacked, which kept him at the task long after he would have otherwise taken a break.
The other issue was that despite the fact that the feathered creature wasn’t currently fussing about, Noa didn’t feel like its temper was quite up to the prospect of Noa using the pick. And now that he had been going at it for so long with the hammer and chisel, he was beginning to suspect that the pick would have been a better choice. He didn’t see any signs of the stone yet, and he had already been digging for a while. As loud and heavy as it was, at least the pick was good at clearing a lot of rock in a hurry. The hammer and chisel were more meant for finer, detailed work, such as when you already had a rough idea of where the stone in question was.
Noa had thought the stone wouldn’t be all that deep under the rock, but apparently he was wrong on that front. And now he was paying for it by the soreness in his arms. But he had to keep going, or else they might really come out of this mining trip completely empty handed.
21
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:16:11 GMT -6
Eventually it had taken so long that Rhys had wandered over to Noa to see what was up. Actually, it probably wasn’t the amount of time, but the amount of constant work that Noa had kept up during this time. That wasn’t at all like him, and Rhys knew it, so that, more than anything, had drawn the Faeron to check on Noa.
{Is everything okay?} Rhys asked. There was genuine concern in the tone of his voice, and Noa could sense, a little, the genuine worry radiating off him.
Noa didn’t stop, but he didn’t need to to fill Rhys in on what his ordeal was. “If I stop,” he said, “that little bugger could fall asleep. And if he falls asleep and wakes up again, he’s going to start screaming again. And then I’ll have to wait until he stops, and that will waste time; and so I’ve been digging this whole time and I still haven’t found the stone you said would be there.” Perhaps he could have phrased it in a less accusing manner, but Noa wasn’t exactly in the best of humors himself at the moment.
Rhys took it in stride, having had years’ worth of practice in dealing with Noa’s moods. {I think you’re really close!} Rhys said. {Just a little more and I think you’ll have it!}
“I’d better,” Noa said grimly. He chiseled a little more, gritting his teeth…
22
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:16:54 GMT -6
And then his efforts were finally rewarded, as he saw the glimmer of a different color beneath the stone. Sighing in relief, he began the more concentrated work of digging around it, to make sure he managed to get the stone out without damaging it or worse, cleaving it in half due to a misplaced application of the chisel. Gods forbid, after all that.
This was, if anything, even slower than the work he had been doing before, but at least now the end was within sight for Noa, which made it a little more bearable. The Houluh pup wandered over to see what all the fuss was about, since Rhys had gone over to rejoin Noa. She got underfoot a little bit before Rhys intervened and flew around, giving her something to chase, but she didn’t cause enough trouble to interfere too badly with what Noa was doing.
After much more work than Noa thought a single stone had any right to give him, he finally did manage to work it out… Only to find another stone nestled next to it, a little of its surface color showing through the surrounding rock. He sighed, but having put in this much work, he supposed it was technically a good thing that he had found multiple stones. He knew at some future point he would be glad that he had taken the time to dig it out, even if right now all he wanted to do was just stop and go home.
23
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:17:09 GMT -6
At length he managed to dig out the second stone, and felt more relieved to see that there was not, somehow, a third waiting for him. No, it was far past time for him to go home. He was tired, he’d gotten some shiny rocks, and he had even done a little desensitizing with the Houluh pup that he had brought with him. That was more than enough productivity for a single mining trip as far as Noa was concerned.
He packed away his findings and his tools into the buggy, then stretched with a long sigh. “Gods. That was awful,” he said. He wanted nothing more than to sprawl across the ground, but that would get his clothes dirty and, more importantly, in a rocky cavern like this, it wasn’t going to be very comfortable. It was going to actually be less comfortable than remaining standing, and if that was how it was going to be, then there was no point in collapsing dramatically at all. And with the luck that he was having today, doing so would invite the Houluh pup to start trying to lick his face, which would be not at all appealing or helpful in any way. Heck, it might even upset the small feathered creature, and set it squalling again, which would have been just the absolute worst.
“Let’s go,” he said to Rhys. “I’m done. We’ll come back with the gargoyle next time, and he can dig for me.”
24
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 12, 2021 19:18:59 GMT -6
{If it was dirt, I could have helped, but it wasn’t…} Rhys did sound sorry that he couldn’t have been of more assistance, and because it was Rhys, Noa believed it. Rhys didn’t necessarily enjoy being made to do all of Noa’s chores, but as the one who had to keep tabs on Noa’s health, it was generally preferable to having Noa run his body into the ground in pursuit of his goals – which still sometimes happened anyway, despite Rhys’s best efforts. Noa didn’t like wreaking havoc on his own physical state either, but there were some things beyond Rhys’s ability to help him with. Some things Noa did have to do himself.
But mining certainly wasn’t one of them, and next time, it wasn't going to be. But first they did have to get home.
The pup was happy to be led anywhere now that she wasn't actively being frightened of something, and the feathered creature was still reasonably content in Noa's pocket. Apparently it liked the conditions there well enough to stay put. With his things packed up, Noa and Rhys went with the buggy back to the entrance of the cavern. They really hadn't gotten in very far... These trips felt like they were getting shorter all the time. But maybe that was for the best on this occasion, with all the little hiccups that they had run into.
Maybe they would have some better luck next time.
25 (exit) (end of Glimmer's Boon)
|
|
|
Post by Nadia on May 13, 2021 3:05:27 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 19, 2021 19:05:30 GMT -6
Another day, another trip to the mines. Noa was starting to feel as if he lived down here, though he knew it wasn't true. He had even gone out of his way to take some fishing trips instead, where he had gotten some training done with some of his larger creatures. They had needed it too, the poor things. Hopefully the next time Noa sent them up against some monstrosity on their level in the Pit, they would fare a little better. He knew that they would be good once he put a little more work in with them. If Avander didn't have all the training that he did, he wouldn't have done as well either. But it was a long road to get any creature to Avander's level of training, and these kinds of things could only be rushed so much. Bringing up two at once only added to the amount of time he needed to spend, and while their skill sets were complementary, they weren't the same. So he had to teach them separately for a good deal of it - what use would it be for Azalea to pay attention when he taught Nightshade how to fly? - which only added to the time. Eventually he might start roping Avander into it too, just so the three of them could work together properly. Hells, he had some new Wiurns coming in from one of those shady labs that had cropped up in the wake of the slowdown of the main laboratories here, these last few years. 1
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 19, 2021 19:06:22 GMT -6
Strange-looking beasts, but promising, with interesting abilities that he wanted to capitalize on. That place certainly didn't hold back on the experimental features. Noa wondered if he could convince the lot of them to work together. They weren't averse to the company of their own kind, not the way that Azalea was, so it was definitely some food for thought.
Noa ruminated on his training plans, and wondered how much time he would have left. But the concerns of big creatures weren't at the forefront of a mining trip; they never were. The big beasties never did do well in the caverns, their size interfering with their ability to move around comfortably beneath the ground, and the Wiurns especially didn't seem to like it, being denizens of the air. No, on this occasion, as with most of his mining trips, Noa was accompanied by smaller creatures: the gargoyle, who had come on this particular trip, and the little feathered creature, and the Houluh pup that Noa had been raising as of late. Rhys had other errands to run at Noa's request, so the Faeron was elsewhere attending to that. And the mining equipment, of course, which had to be lugged around by Noa himself now that Rhys wasn't around to play chauffeur.
Times like this, he really did miss the convenience of having Rhys around. The Faeron was such a constant presence that he forgot about it sometimes, just how much Rhys helped him in his day to day functioning.
2
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 19, 2021 19:06:37 GMT -6
There was the obvious stuff, of course, like the fact that Rhys helped Noa manage his physical condition. Moving around, being free of pain, that sort of thing – that felt like a given. But it was also so convenient to have someone around all the time who could carry stuff for you, or do small errand like things from afar, the way that Rhys always could with his telekinesis. That psychic injection he had had been a really good investment in a lot of ways.
Not that Noa was utterly useless by himself, of course. He managed even without Rhys’s assistance, sometimes because he had to, and at other times because even Noa recognized that he couldn’t eternally rely on Rhys as a crutch through every aspect of his life. Still, knowing that Rhys was simply a spell away was also a part of the realities of having a familiar, so Noa never felt as if he was without options.
Still, he was pretty sure he would be fine for today. Inconvenienced, but fine. At least the gargoyle had a lot of autonomy, and was the one responsible, in fact, for most of the mining that actually happened on their trips. It didn’t say a lot of great things about Noa that that was the case, but it was what it was. And as for the other two creatures… Well, they were a bit young, but if Noa kept an eye on them, he was pretty sure he could manage them.
3
|
|
|
Post by Noa on May 19, 2021 19:06:53 GMT -6
He’d managed trios of Sarane whelps, so what was one little almost bird thing, and one Houluh pup? It didn’t even hurt as much if the pup were to bite him. Which wasn’t to say that this was an outcome that Noa hoped for, but it was certainly one that he could live through, even if it would be pretty unpleasant.
They were ostensibly here to mine, so Noa picked the first likely looking cave, making sure first that it was big enough for himself, before leading his companions in. The gargoyle didn’t protest, recognizing perhaps that Noa had earned this right after the last trip the two of them had taken together. Noa hadn’t meant to make him feel guilty over it – okay, well, maybe a little – but he wouldn’t say no to the prospect either, if it got him what he wanted. After all, what Noa cared about in general was outcomes, and not the general trajectories one took to reach those outcomes.
Some would have called him callous for that. And maybe they were right. But what did it matter in the end, if he had what he wanted? The sorts of scruples valued by the people who complained about him like that were for those who found value in them. Noa would rather have things over with, settled, and the results in hand. What there is to weigh on someone’s conscience can be a weight on someone else’s.
4
|
|