Molting Season
Xian Du was always lively and full of activity with the citizens, tourists, and animals of the beast tamers. The sun beating down from above kept it considerably warmer than the Mon Highlands on the outskirts of the town, though there was still a natural chill in the air. It was also full of odd inconveniences; at least two animals made attempts to attack Wingul's hair and he found himself followed by peepits more than once. The latest follower gave up when they walked down the stairs to the coliseum gondola.
The attack on Xian Du promised to be a challenging one. The ruling tribe's defenses were legendary, as they had to be strong enough to deal with the coliseum beasts as well as participants. Kind Merad always granted them with both freedom and power, which gave them no desire to turn against the hand that fed them.
They were both dressed plainly in commoner's clothes, though Gaius also wore a hooded cloak as an additional precaution. Though some years had passed since his tournament days, it was still better not to take an added risk. The last thing they needed was for him to be recognized.
"We'll need to have some forces enter by boat, preferably by infiltrating the routine gondola schedules," Wingul said quietly when they were alone on the stairs. "Once our forces have entered a city, a significant amount of theirs will stem from this location and the surrounding facilities. Having troops on the inside will make it easier to overcome their resistance."
"You aren't going to get many volunteers for that mission," Gaius said.
"I'll lead it myself."
He has no issue with taking the lead, but he fell silent as they reached the dock. The gondolas were moored at the stone bulkhead with faded and slightly fraying ropes. Though their appearances were not amazing, they were still sturdy enough to keep the small vessels in place. There were only a few tourists lingering around, but even people with no political importance still had ears.
"Don't say anything suspicious when the gondolier is in earshot," Wingul said warningly.
"I don't need reminding," Gaius replied.
It was simple enough to look like an interested tourist while examining all of the buildings along the river that cut through the heart of Xian Du. In reality, he was taking mental note of the locations of guard posts and docking areas, but examining the architecture seemed quite ordinary in such a unique city.
"Have you been in Xian Du before?" Gaius asked.
"I accompanied my relatives when they came for the tournament," he replied. "The Long Dau always had eager participants."
The boat was small and had poor balance. Wingul stepped on boat fist and frowned as he sat down on one of the boat's two small, wooden benches. He glanced down at the floor of the vessel and kicked a half-eaten crab husk away from his shoes. The gondolier hadn't bothered to clean the things the seagulls dropped on the planks.
At least no one would expect the leader of Taurus to be traveling in a boat like this.
It probably hasn't been cleaned since the last tournament.
He was interrupted from his thoughts when a determined, vengeful bird swooped down in the direction of the gondola. He only glanced at it, guessing that it must have spotted a fish. However, it summoned his attention when it became clear that it was swooping toward his feathered collar. He moved to the left quickly to avoid the crazed animal, causing the gondola to tilt slightly.
"You're certainly popular with the birds," Gaius remarked.
Wingul didn't grace the comment with a response. If it was an attempt at ordinary conversation, he didn't like it. He flipped through the small booklet he was filling with notes on the city, scrawling down a few bits of information on the guard posts.
"You're being rather quiet," Gaius said.
Wingul closed his eyes for a moment, frowning as he slapped his pencil between the pages of the book. He snapped it closed as he glared at Gaius, who regarded him with one of his usual completely blank expressions.
Then again, being completely silent could have seemed suspicious to their gondolier as well. That was, however, assuming that the old man's sense of hearing was even keen enough to understand a word that they were saying.
"I suppose I'm use awed by the scenery," he said, every word dripping with sarcasm.
"I should have known," Gaius replied, tone unchanging. "By the way, there's something I've been meaning to say."
"What?" he asked, regarding him skeptically.
Generally, when the leader of Taurus joked, he did so with such a blank expression and flat tone that no one was truly certain whether or not he was serious. Subsequently, there would always be a notable amount of confusion and awkwardness when people wondered if their leader actually meant whatever strange comment that could have possibly sounded entertaining if it was said a little more lightly. If only because he ended up spending a considerable amount of time with Gaius due to his role as Taurus' main tactician, he had learned to pick up on when the rather deadpan lines were actually meant jokingly.
It didn't make him any more eager to be on the receiving end of jokes.
"You've been molting recently," Gaius said monotonously.
"Excuse me?"
Gaius pointed at the admittedly thinner layer of feathers at the collar of his cloak. "You leave those feathers behind everywhere."
"My clothes losing a few feathers is hardly molting," he said.
"The results are the same," he said dismissively. "Look, there's one on the boat's deck already."
"That came from the crow," Wingul retorted.
Gaius shook his head slightly, clearly doubtful of the claim. Wingul stood up as soon as the boat reached the coliseum dock, which prompted the gondolier to yell at him for being too quick. He glared at the man as he sat back down, sending three more feathers falling from his collar and fluttering to the floor. Gaius looked down at the deck and Wingul followed his gaze.
"What?" Wingul asked, scowling.
As the gondolier finally fastened the ropes to hold the boat in place at the dock, Gaius stood up and motioned to the floor of the boat. He glanced down to see the significantly increased amount of feathers left behind in the boat, effectively nullifying his previous claim.
"Does being irritated hasten molting?" he questioned.
"This is hardly normal, unsuspicious conversation," Wingul said pointedly.
Regardless, Wingul followed him off the boat and toward the coliseum, just as he always did. Gaius led the way while Wingul kept pace beside him, taking mental note of the defenses. Though he wouldn't admit it, when he glanced back and noticed another feather fluttering to the ground, it did seem like his cloak was molting.
Author's Note:
There was a fun tidbit of information in Gaius' backstory that while he does have a sense of humor, his expression varies so little that no one realizes when he's joking.
Finished this when I had four hours of sleep. This was one of the quote request fics, with the quote being "there's something I've been meaning to say."
It could have been serious or sentimental but of course the first thing I post for these two ended up being silly.
Hopefully this wasn't too bad! I'm working on something longer for these two as well.
I'm currently doing AU fic requests over on Tumblr. :D My URL is SexuallyFrustratedOrca, anons are fine if you don't have a Tumblr account.