A/N: Officially done with school! Now for the joys of job hunting. Hopefully more reasonably timed updates to come. Maybe.


A Keen Eye

Vesli searched for Caillot. If the Houndmaster wasn't with the Occultist, then Caillot would surely know where to find him. Because Vesli needed assistance in getting himself out of this hole he'd dug, and Darcy would be the most invested in helping him with Face. Only both men were proving to be elusive bastards. Where in the Hamlet could they have vanished to? Vesli grumbled as he checked location after location off a mental list. "Duck!" Vesli reflexively obeyed as something went whizzing over his head. He looked up as it met a wall to see he'd evaded a knife, which had instead embedded itself into some mutant and gigantic mosquito, it's legs still twitching as it attempted to cling to life. There was a disturbing amount of blood coming from the creature. Nope Vesli was not thinking about it. Vesli was however disturbed that he'd gotten so used to the insectoid whine in the Hamlet he'd not noticed this intruder. "Sorry about that, dearie. I have a large distaste for bugs. And you wouldn't want to be bitten, yeah?" A blonde Grave Robber made herself known, hopping down from her perch in a tree. She thankfully only glanced at his throat as she passed by him, wisely deciding it was better not to ask.

"My thanks," Vesli dipped his head before wincing at the reminder that he really shouldn't be moving his neck too much.

"'Course. Besides, one less to worry about," she retrieved her blade, whipping the excessive blood dripping from the honed edge.

"Well, nice to meet you, name's Vesli," he introduced himself.

"I'm Raleigh, resident bug killer, adventurer, rogue, and plunderer of tombs, not necessarily in that order," she spun the blade and, like he'd been struck by the Light itself, Vesli saw his opportunity.

"You're good with that blade. Would you like to get even better?" Vesli watched as she cleaned it.

"Oh?" An interested tone, not insulted. Good. Vesli kept a careful eye on the blade in her hand.

"I know someone. He's an asshole, but he's a damn good teacher," Vesli watched Raleigh's face. But by the Light, this Grave Robber would absolutely murder everyone in poker.

"Hmm," a noncommittal noise, no clues as to her thoughts as she spun her weapon.

"But… I need a little help getting him back to his old self," now here was the hard sell. "You see, if he sees me training someone incorrectly, there's a high chance he'd get back to normal by correcting me, and whomever I was training. This would only be for a short time, and if there was no response I'd teach the best I could."

"You don't look like a blade man, dearie" was her response.

"No, but I do know two women who could kick my ass to the Dungeon and back that happen to be very good with blades. And I do know a good bit of close quarters combat," Vesli admitted.

"So, let me get this straight, I agree to be trained incorrectly for a certain amount of time. In return, I either get this teacher of your or you plus two other blade using women?"

"Yes. I know I have nothing to vouch for anyone involved's skill in combat outside of my word." Vesli was by now regretting his over-eagerness.

"Well, dovie, I happen to be both bored and curious, but you're going to need to be more convincing than that. I would be helping you after all. What do I get out of this? I mean, you admitted you've nothing to show for this but your word, and there's no promise I'd find any of these people to be acceptable teachers," the Grave Robber was twirling her blade again.

"Well, you can easily check my team's mission record, if you wish. Plus, I and the other students of this teacher may be willing to aid you on your own missions if this works," Vesli found the knife spinning to be very uncomfortable.

"Well, I suppose I could give it a go. I reserve the right to walk away at any time and reveal that it was all a farce if I'm dissatisfied," she finally sheathed her blade.

"Of course," Vesli wasn't going to argue against his good luck or acknowledge that she had him by the figurative balls.

"Then I'll see you and this teacher of yours at the training grounds," with that the Graverobber walked away whistling. Vesli just sighed in relief. At least that had gone over well. Even it had involved an overly large mosquito.

Restless, adrenaline still high from the encounter with Raleigh and the insect, but unsure what to do with his still mending self, Vesli had taken a seat to people watch. Creature sat purring on his lap. "I bet that one has killed mostly skeletons," he informed the cat, "And that one has a secret stash of candy." The feline in his lap yawned, unimpressed by either Vesli's skills of perception or the guessing game the man had started. Possibly both. "I feel judged." Vesli sighed returning to watching the Hamlet. He found that he was… lonely. He'd gotten so used to one of his companions being somewhere where he could go to them if he wished, that now with Bird and Aela still in the Sanitarium and Caillot off somewhere with Darcy Vesli was left feeling almost isolated. He gave a short huff of amusement. "They really have softened us up, huh?" Rir snorted at him in his mind. The pack may have softened weak prey-thing up, but Rir was still Rir! Fierce! Ferocious! Untamed! "You keep telling yourself that," Vesli chuckled. Rir huffed, and Vesli pretended not to feel the beast sulking.

*/*/*

Two haggard and wounded 'adventurers' dragged themselves back in from the blood-soaked Courtyard. Their group of four had left unremarked and this return had been similar. No one would notice this loss but the survivors. The Caretaker snickered to himself, before heading to report to the Heir. "They succeeded this time around," he all but crooned the words, having to force down a wheezing giggle.

"Then I suspect it's only a matter of time before those insipid vermin are buzzing about everywhere," the Heir twirled a letter opener, the glint of metal drawing the Caretaker's eyes to the dark red stains on the blade.

"There are already rumors one of the bugs was spotted and squished in the Hamlet itself," the Caretaker watched for signs of his demise at this piece of information, legs tensed in case he needed to dodge or add to the red stains on the letter opener.

"The Hamlet must at least appear to be a sanctuary. Ensure that it does not happen again." No death this time then. Good. Mad though he might be, the Caretaker would prefer to continue without the taste of his imminent demise on his tongue.

"I have already taken the liberty of applying some of the old master's tonic about the Hamlet border. Before the original Hag became what she is, they did devise quite an effective repellent for the bloodsuckers."

"Well done. Watch over our little 'heroes', will you? I'm curious to see how my hired underlings react to this new adversary."

"Consider it done." He nodded, his tongue darting out to lick his dry lips as he forced himself to continue "Would you be acceptable to me…experimenting with some of the tonic?" he hoped he didn't sound too eager.

The heir paused and considered that, the tapping of the letter opener on the table sending chills down his spine "Experiment outside the Hamlet." They eventually decided "And ensure there is more than enough of the original tonic for the hamlet proper. I will wish to see reports on all of your results or I will be most…displeased." That one word from the heir never failed to terrify him as he nodded and left quickly before he somehow drew their ire.

*/*/*

Omake – Creature

Vesli would swear that the fuzzy beast was far more intelligent than it let on. If the not-kitten wasn't acting as his scarf, it could be found in a select number of places. The people could say what they would about cats and dogs, but Alis never seemed to notice or care when creature sat on her back as if the hound were a horse. Darcy always found it amusing. Then there were the times, Face would limp up to Vesli on occasion and with a growl shove Creature in his face growling about the 'righ' nuisance ya need ta keep control'd'. The not-kitten had gotten treats after the first time Vesli discovered it joining the efforts to snap Face back to being himself. Caillot looked like some sort of evil mastermind whenever Creature sat in the Occultist's lap to receive absent minded pets. Vesli couldn't help the reflexive worry for Creature's ability to breathe whenever Aela smothered the not-kitten with cuddles. Thankfully, Creature never seemed to mind. And then there was Bird. If the mask was on, the tip of the beak was to be swat at. And if the mask was off. Well Vesli was still too stunned by this to really notice what Creature was doing, until the not-kitten demanded to be pet with a loud meow from next to his hand. Vesli usually obliged.