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Eldritch Poison

The Hamlet had been buzzing again. The HHB duo and their two unfortunate companions were off to slay one of the Hags from the coven that lurked in the woods. "Now let us celebrate and anticipate the victory, and the further cleansing of the Hamlet!" The Heir addressed the crowd, indicating the team who was to obtain 'glory'. The Holy Bastard and Bitch hadn't so much as twitched in protest. There had been flickers of fear in their eyes and slight flinching as the Heir had walked in front of them. There had been no visible signs of any punishment on the two for their disobedience earlier, but it was clear something had been done, and it had been very effective. Vesli watched the town celebrate, wondering if they would do this for every time a party was sent off to kill a particularly dark and tentacled manifestation of the unknown. Nonetheless, he felt the slightest stirring of pity for the team that was already packing supplies to head into the Weald. He hoped that they didn't run into one of the Voodoo Fungus Mothers at the very least. There was a jingle to his left. "Feel sorry for them. Debate on if HHB one or two deserve it," Bird's mask was fixed on watching the other Plague Doctor load a sack with nothing but Antivenom. She didn't seem to notice or care that Creature was draped about her neck like a fuzzy scarf.

"Perhaps not. Still, I suppose that would make us both monsters if we felt nothing," Vesli looked down at her. In Vesli's mind, Rir snorted at the prey-things and their insistence on complicating things. The prey things going into the sick trees would survive or they wouldn't. If they didn't, Rir would decide then if he felt like mourning their loss. Until their hunt was completed, Rir was not going to bother expending energy on those who were not-pack. "Sometimes I forget how callous an animalistic mindset can be," the man grumbled to himself.

"Rir say something rude?" The lenses of the leather mask were now focused on his face.

"In a sense."

"Behave," the flat of Bird's blade met Vesli's nose in a movement fast enough that he jumped and nearly got a nice chunk sliced off for his efforts. Creature gave a protesting mew at his comfortable spot moving too much for his liking.

"It wasn't my doing!"

"Was not meant for you. Meant for Rir." Bird move to inspect his face closely, ensuring that she hadn't managed to do any damage. She gave him an apologetic pat on the bridge of his nose. Vesli rubbed the offended organ and gave an internal glare to the snickering beast he shared his mind with.

"Might I suggest coming up with an alternative punishment? I'm afraid I'm rather in the way for that one to be effective," he finally drawled.

"Will think on it," Bird's finger tapping the chin of her mask was not a comforting gesture.

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Vesli had just started towards the training grounds, both to spar and to mention Bird requesting an introduction, when the neighs of horses caught his ears. The Stage Coach was here, bringing with it more fools and corpses for the Heir's campaign. The Heir never hired all of the hopefuls, sometimes going weeks without allowing a new addition. Still, he absently turned to watch from a distance. Wonder if anyone would join this merry band of misfits today? The Heir was already there, waiting for the candidates to disembark. The Heir inspected each one like they were cattle at an auction, sending the unwanted back into the Stage Coach's open doors. Vesli wasn't entirely interested. Not until he vaguely saw the outline of chains on one of the disembarking shapes. No. It couldn't be. Could it? Rir perked up in his mind. Couldn't just transform in the middle of town. But how Vesli longed to use the beast's superior senses to tell if he was hallucinating or not. He'd find out soon enough it seemed. The Heir had circled the impossible silhouette a few times and had finally directed it to stand with another vague shape that might have been a Bounty Hunter.

Vesli was sorely tempted to find out the truth this very moment. But Face was a stickler for time. If he was late or didn't show up the old veteran would have his hide as a beast-skin rug. So, Vesli headed for the training grounds, glancing repeatedly over his shoulder at the shadow in the distance.

The Man-At-Arms was not gentle with his pupil that insisted on being lost in thought. "Yer 'stracted, whelp," Face's belt knife was at Vesli's throat after only a few moments of sparring.

"I know. I apologize," Vesli could only hold his hands up in surrender.

"Tha enemies won' be listenin' ta yer 'pologies, whelp," Face sighed, lowering his weapon.

"I saw the Stage Coach pull in today," Vesli blurted as he stood.

"An'?"

"I... I think there was another Abomination. The Heir hired them, Face. I thought I was the only one," the man was shaking, unable to full mask his emotions to the extent he would've preferred.

"'Nother fuzzy whelp? Tha's interestin'," the older man seemed thoughtful, "'M guessin' yer goin' ta meet them?"

"Hopefully as soon as possible. If it's another one… I don't know what I should think about it, but it's… It's important," Vesli nodded.

"Don' be forgettin' what kind o' place this is, whelp. Don' be getting yer hopes too high 'fore ya know all tha facts," Face warned.

The other sighed. "Yes, I know. You're right. Oh… Bird wants to meet you."

"So I get ta meet yer puz'le at last. This'll be interestin'. Did ya ever give her tha thing Brix gave ya? I know that piece o' glass wasna fer you."

"… maybe."

"By tha everlastin' Light, whelp. One o' these days yer goin' ta haf ta repay me fer bein' yer therapist an' matchmaker. Light knows I didna sign up fer this shit when I started trainin' ya."

"… sorry." The answer was simply a long exasperated groan.

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Sitting in the tavern, Vesli let the sounds and smells of the boisterous hall wash over him and drown out all else. Rolling the mug of ale between his hands as he contemplated his blurred reflection in the liquid, he was somewhat surprised to hear the sound of the chair in front of him groaning as someone sat down in it. Looking up, expecting to see Bird or one of the other 'pack' members, Vesli was startled to see another scarred man draped in chains with the letter A burned into his face. By the fucking Light, it hadn't been a hallucination. This other male had a ratty olive green cloak about his shoulders and his gaunt facial features looked vaguely similar to Vesli's. Vesli could only guess with a mental snarl that THEY had chosen people with similar ancestry. For what purpose he didn't know, though he did guess THEY had wanted some specific result and sought to increase the chances of getting it with a form of variable control. Those bastards.

"Thought I smelled another one," the figure grunted, downing half of a mug of ale in a single gulp and Vesli wondered how it was that this other male had the control to do so, especially in a crowd like this, "Thought I might have been going crazy at first."

"I thought much the same when I first saw the chained silhouette getting off the carriage," Vesli replied, mentally chastising Rir as the Abomination's hackles raised at the new presence. He had thought the beast in his mind would be happy to see another. It was likely Rir was simply jealous or territorial.

"I'm Somneri," the other watched him. Vesli ignored how Rir bristled further.

"Vesli."

"So," the other Abomination asked while tearing at a leg of mutton, "How long ago they make you?"

"I don't truly know. I didn't keep track of the years. At least a decade" Vesli said, his voice showing a hint of strain while the newcomer seemed to study every detail of every movement Vesli made. Vesli had never liked being stared at. It made both him and Rir uneasy. But he could forgive it in this instance. After all, he wasn't entirely sure he believed his eyes either.

"Huh," his fellow beast-walker grunted, sounding somehow intrigued and disinterested, "Sounds like you might have been the last one those bastards made." Ignoring the fact that his fellow abomination was speaking with his mouth full, despite the flecks of Mutton that had hit him in the face, Vesli nodded.

"Rather hard to make more when most of their 'scientists' are dead." His tone was cold at the memories. In response his, somewhat temporary, drinking partner let out a bellowing laugh while standing up.

"I'll see you around Runt," the other Abomination chortled, Somneri Vesli reminded himself, as Somneri was still tearing at the mutton and ale. It was only after he had left that a part of Vesli, perhaps from Rir, noted that everything about the other Abomination seemed a little too controlled. He shook his head. The other man had done nothing wrong per say. It was likely just a bad first impression of someone who seemed more similar to Aela's… brashness. And Rir's continued snarling in Vesli's mind hadn't helped matters. Perhaps he'd simply put too many expectations for the other male to share a similar personality? Yes, that was probably it. Vesli would simply have to get used to the rougher edges Somneri possessed that was all. He'd done it with Aela, who still insisted on propositioning the team every chance she got. If Vesli could get used to that and even grow to see Aela as a friend, then he could do it again in this instance. He was sure of it.

Still… Vesli swirled his untouched drink, watching the lights and colors of the room dance and blur within the liquid. He supposed it wouldn't kill him to continue being cautious. It would be foolish to trust the other so easily. Even if they shared a history most of the Hamlet could only imagine in tentacle infested nightmares. Yes, that made him feel better. It went against Vesli's nature to be an open book to someone he'd just met. That time spent to assess Somneri would allow Rir to get his temperamental nature sorted out. It was likely just until the beast figured out exactly how to react to having another of its kind nearby. There was no need for jealousy or being territorial as Vesli saw it, and he made sure Rir knew it. The Hamlet was more than large enough for the two of them to coexist peacefully, perhaps even as friends given time and the right conditions.

Rir was not convinced, still grumbling from the shadows of Vesli's thoughts. Vesli ignored the beast.