The schedule is now back on track. I'm sorry for the prior inconvenience. Two weeks from today the next chapter will be out. Cheers.

I'd like to thank the people who have followed Her Guard Dog first today, so thank you 7Artemis7, 7266aa, Allycat826, Brooke Vengeance, ChimaTigon, Cpt. Lynx, CrowingCrow, Darkerpaths, GuiltyLancaster, KyranKandosa, MarkAntimony, Metal Vile, Pearl Darkness, Raven Bishop, Stormy Trix, The Dude Strikes Back, anarchopunk, cinderhasfallen, claraowl, fanaticalParadox, idleIdiot, iliketacoslikealot, and sterling visions. Thank you for putting it on your favorite's list 7266aa, Brooke Vengeance, ChimaTigon, CrowingCrow, GuiltyLancaster, Pearl Darkness, Shade 1727, Stormy Trix, XxClearNoizxX cinderhasfallen, claraowl, fanaticalParadox, and idleIdiot. And for one of the most meaningful gestures, thank you fanaticalParadox, DarkerPaths, claraowl, cinderhasfallen, Gravenimage, Guest: Andrew for reviewing. I also am thanking every person who has read this that does not name themselves.

Chapter 13: Scurry Right and Scurry Left.

What would have made him go to a Bullhead pilot as a career? He could have gone into construction just as well. Things must be different in Vaccou. Ebony always managed to give off a vibe that you could walk all over him but only if you caught him. That must be why he and Emerald got along so well. She's always pissed when Cinder sends me as back up, and I find her within ten minutes.

Cinder caught Emerald in a honey filled trap. We caught Ebony in a trap of "I'll help you so you'll help me". The only difference between the two of them is that it doesn't look like she's ever going to get out. This is just a job with sweet perks for me. Emerald's in love with our boss, even an idiot like Roman Torchwick would be able to see that. Neo once sent me a Snapchat of a particularly funny filter on. I don't think Emerald's likely to wear a dildo, now Cinder though.

Ugh. That is not a good image now that I think of it. I noticed Emerald in my peripheral vision. Toast for breakfast, and the look of Emerald in one of her modified tops for dessert. One of the few things that Cinder did herself was modify Emerald's clothes for the competition. Since you can't make cloth out of nothing I get to check out Emerald even easier now.

Emerald looked at me strangely before giving me breakfast. She hopped onto the Bullhead while I took a break to eat. She looked at me really judgmentally, doing the pose where all of her weight is on one foot and she's pretending that I don't know that it translates to "I think you're an idiot, and you should know why."

"What? I found a compartment to store more stuff in," I said defensively in between bites. The food was gone too soon.

Emerald started the engine, and I got a face full of soot. This is the exhaust chamber. This is the exhaust chamber of Bullhead that's been from Vale to Vaccuo to where the person in Vaccuo stole it from. This is just one of those days when the universe decides that hey, let's pick on this asshole. Sure he's got a metal leg, but he deserves to have soot in his face just for existing.

"You might want to wash your face. I'll take care off selling the last of the supplies. If you could get information about who has the best crops I'll let this slide. Farm boy." Emerald had a shit eating grin on her face. I returned the favor by tripping her up as she exited the Bullhead. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself, yadda yadda, with great power comes great responsibility, yadda yadda, more inspirational shit that I don't give two fucks about. It was just funny to see her sprawling on the ground. End of story.

Mercury's an idiot. How did he not recognize the exhaust chamber when he saw it? That's the most basic part of an engine anyone can recognize. It was pretty fun to see his face match his name. Good thing he ate the toast before hand, or it would have gotten sooty and ruined. I'm really glad I'm not facing him right now. I don't think I could stop myself from laughing.

He has metal legs and can't tell an exhaust chamber from a compartment on a Bullhead. Every thief in Mistral knows the parts of a Bullhead in case it's worth scraping. The exhaust chamber is definitely not on that list. It's filled with soot and the occasional unstable non-cartridge Burnt Dust. I know he lived in the mountains but still.

Either way I thought that was punishment enough for leaving the be-window open. It's late fall. I could have caught a cold and then where would we be? No one wants to buy from a sick person. He didn't seem to think so and proceeded to trip when I got off of the Bullhead. I hope that it never comes off. Either way the rest of the supplies were bought by the old butler Mercury and I saw in Ms. Parker's house. I helped him load up the boxes onto his cart. Apparently his family lives on the edge of town. Dangerous. He's employed at the Mayor's residence though, so he can't be completely helpless.

He kind of reminded me of that Dust shop owner in Vale whose pocket I picked. Maybe it's just because they're both old. He also said that he was a former carpenter and now his son-in-law has taken over the business. Vale seems to be an easy going place. Even a little village like this can keep itself going until it has old people move there. It might just have been the power of the Fall Maiden keeping it mostly at bay, superstitious as it is.

My mind can't seem to get away from her lately. At least, the title of the Fall Maiden has been bugging me. Cinder never gave me enough time to think about all of the little things that the Maidens might do. I guess there's a trace of fear and awe to it. Being in Forever Fall while knowing why it's that way. Hundreds of miles that draw off of and boost the power of their Maiden. Without knowing what Cinder's going to do next.

I know what she's capable of. I never thought that I'd ever be a part of the masses again. It's always the masses of people that get slaughtered. Pit a single person alone against a swarm of Grimm, and they'll fight to the death. If it's more than ten without training, it's a lost cause. I know Cinder controls what I think is a large part of it know. Knowing that it's Cinder makes it more on the edge of scary than I would have ever thought.

Thanks a million for everything Ebony. I really could not be happier that I met you. Really, you've changed my life. You've made me go from guy with prosthetic legs to a guy with prosthetic legs that doesn't know anything about machines. I don't want to show this face to the innkeeper. I walked a half a mile to the river and washed my face in it.

Then I ran into the old man that cleans the Mayor's house. His cart's loaded up with what looks to be the last of the stuff we brought from Fence. He slows his horses to talk to me. It's mostly just making conversation about the weather, but I got in a little knowledge of the crops too. The Leitsch Family runs an orchard and have just finished picking the last of the apples. So far their apple sauce, cider, and juice is going like crazy. They can't make jelly to save their farm though.

A quick walk around town after double checking that my face was clean proved to be a good idea. Three farms grew wheat, and while all of them had their own windmills to get flour from, the one closest to the river had partially flooded, making them desperate to sell. The sugar cane harvest was weak this year, the grapes did decent, and the random growers that pretty much were just subsistence had done pretty well with carrots and onions. Potatoes were grown in bulk on one farm in particular, and cabbages and turnips are on two other smaller farms.

Lots of kale in pretty much every garden though. Even as a last resort to preserve the soil, it seems like a waste. If you're going to try to sell something that tastes like grass, just eat grass. Speaking of eating it's almost lunchtime. I made her pay last time, so I guess that it's only common courtesy that she does so again. After all when I pay she eats well, but when she pays I get toast? It's not fair at all.

Another thing is that the routine winter slaughter won't happen until about ten days from now. They want salt to keep it fresh. Turns out that it's better to have less animals in the winter thanks to the lacking hay harvest. That and everyone wants meat at the solstice celebration. The prices rise and everyone involved gets what they want. Unless you're like how Emerald and I were where no one gave enough of a shit to make sure the solstice meant anything.

I gave Emerald the information, and we braked for lunch after striking a deal or two with some of the larger farms first. By the time that dinner rolled around Emerald and I were dead on our feet. So many people's lives you have to pretend to be interested in. All while keeping a fake smile on your face. Exhausted is an understatement. This was not in my training or original job description.

Either way meat for dinner was a nice change from the vegi soup lunch. I know that people with more of a conscious want to do things like not kill animals or harvest their wool, honey, or whatever. My two cents on the subject is this: I don't give a fuck. I kill people and monsters for a living. I'm not going to become a hypocrite and say that it's wrong to kill. It's not like the animals are treated badly. You don't see cows with metal legs after all.

Animals aren't sentient creatures like humans or Fanus. Life and death isn't that big a deal for them. Cats will eat their owners. Owners can use their pets however they like when they're alive. Kill rats, hunt game, track fugitives, be cute, it doesn't matter. Everyone's still potential food or competition until the moment that they prove useful. It's just how the world works.

I finished dinner and headed upstairs with Emerald. When I open the door she darted in and collapsed on the bed. She took the only pillow as well. I walked in, closed the door and stared down at her disapprovingly.

"Emerald, we can share the pillow. We did it last night. What's the big deal?" I asked annoyed.

"You tripped me up. I deserve the pillow to myself."

"You got my face covered in soot!"

"You left the window open! That means I could have caught a cold and then where would we be?"

"Fine, let's say I go with that logic for a little bit. What the hell am I supposed to sleep on?"

"I don't know."

"You're the one who decided sleeping arrangements."

"Let's not talk about this anymore."

"No, you're the one deciding sleeping arrangements."

"Ugh. Mercury, I'm tired, just come to bed and shut up."

"No. I want access to a pillow."

She grabbed my arm, pulled me down toward her and the next thing I knew.

Boobs.

Scurry right and scurry left,

The mice worked to make sure their lives were kept.