Weiss looked around her room in the early morning light. She held onto one of the stuffed animals she'd chosen. As loathe as she was to admit it, Blake had been right. They had brought her comfort and helped her sleep better. It still hadn't been the best sleep of her life, but it had been better than not being a able to sleep by herself. She was especially comforted by the really big dog she'd gotten. The size was like having a person next to her. She really was glad she'd gotten it…

A soft knock came on her door and she answered. A young woman with a fluffy tail stood there. "Is there something I can help you with?" Who was this and why was she here? From her manner of dress, she was most likely a servant. No self-respecting noble or upper-class woman would dress like that.

The woman bowed deeply. "Mrs. Belladonna put me in charge of helping you with your clothes. May I come in?"

Weiss gave a small nod and let the woman bypass her to let her into the room. She went straight to the closet.

She settled back on her bed, not sure what to do now. It was less than a quarter until seven. She wouldn't be going to breakfast for another three hours or so… What was she supposed to do herself until then? Normally, she busied herself by studying her duest notes and books. But she didn't have those… She did have that set of books on Valian culture, though… Maybe she ought to start there? Those books were pretty thick and would take her time to work through. Maybe she ought to start with the GRSM one. That felt like the best place to start maybe… It would offer her insight into the dutchesses that she wasn't likely to get otherwise.

She picked the book off her shelf and started reading until the woman approached again. "I've sorted your layers from lowest to highest except the topmost one. You can choose which top layer you like best.

"I'll also be here to sort your clothes once a week about this time whether your awake or not. I was given the directive from Mrs. Belladonna herself."

Weiss nodded a bit. "Very well." Having maids come into her room without her knowing was common enough. She had to sort laundry, hang clothes to wear, clean, and more. It was normal life for her. Having somebody come in once a week to tell her what clothes to wear was only another one to add to the usual servants.

The woman bowed again and left Weiss alone. She slipped into her closet and found a section with labeled hangers. She frowned a bit, though. They were labeled with fae days and dates. Was there anything like a wall or desk calendar? She really needed something that could help her convert days between here and Remnant. SHe really had no idea on how she was supposed to learn about the fae calendar.

She did go out and grab her planner, beginning to count the days back. It was currently July 11th, a Tuesday. It was a workday week for her. Blake had said it was the weekend for the fae, though. How frustrating. She couldn't make heads or tails of the fae calendar with so little information. Yesterday could have been working day for all she knew. It could be the first or second day of the weekend. Hopefully Blake could help her get some sort of conversion calendar rather than this.

She put the planner aside and returned to the closet. Orir, Lerir, Serir, Borir, Enir, Lilir, and Narir. Well, there were still at least seven days in the weeks so that much remained the same. Or at least so she assumed. The serving had said that she would be have once a week to do her clothes.

Now the main problem was which day was it.

She frowned.

She went to Sayaka's perch and the bird woke up. "What need?"

"What day is it if you know?" She felt so helpless. She didn't even know what day of the week it was. How was she supposed to function in polite society if she couldn't even figure out what day it was?! This was so frustrating and demoralising. She would learn the calendar shortly. She would not look like a fool in front of others if she could help it!

"Orir. Last day of week. Why?" Sayaka fluttered onto Weiss' shoulder. She took her into the closet and motioned to the hangers. She was trying her hardest to make heads or tails of this. It was so frustrating to not ahve any idea of what was going on. She was trying so hard but it felt like she came up short.

"First or second day of the weekend?" She looked down at her planner. If she knew that, she could map the days of the week onto Atlas' calendar. Atlas' calendar started on Tuesday since that was their holy day. She could remember passing comments from her instructors about the other kingdoms: Monday for Vale and Mistral, Sunday for Vacuo. Because they were weird like that. She didn't know much about Vacuo outside of they had a strange culture. They retained a constitutional monarch though "king" was an elected position that could go to anybody.

"Second weekend day." So the equivalent to Sunday then… But it was Tuesday, so that meant Sunday was in the middle of the week. This was a mess. She went to her desk and found a pencil inside, then scratched the equivalent days in. Then she backdated the days as far as she knew.

This was weird. The month overlapped with June and July. The 11th of the month was on the 1st of July. How bizarre. She wasn't sure what to make of it yet. Hopefully Blake would be able to help her make sense of this bizarre concoction of a calendar the fae had. But she was starting to get some sort of ground so it was better than nothing.

She sat her planner to the side while Sayaka returned to her perch. She changed as quickly as she could, though the layers slowed her down. Why did they bother with so many?! It wasn't like they were in the middle of the arctic like Atlas was. There was really no need for so many layers! She was already sick of them and it was only her second time wearing fae clothes!

Another knock came on the door and she blinked. "Just a minute!" she yelled. She pulled the top most layer on and went to the door. There was nobody there. However, a small basket with a bread and some butter sat in front of the door. Oh the cook lady had remembered.. She took the basket inside and sat it on her nightstand. She buttered some bread and smiled. Still warm. She really did enjoy this bread and looked forward to it. It was honestly taking a lot of self-control to not down the entire loaf right there. She doubted a loaf of bread would fill up an aura user.

But she stopped after a couple pieces. Best to still save her appetite for breakfast even though that was a little less than three hours away. What should she do in the meanwhile? She had those books, but for once in her life, she didn't feel like sitting around and reading. She usually loved to slip entire days and night away doing that, but she didn't want to do that. She felt restless and she wanted to do something.

"Sayaka, would Lilyana be awake?" She wasn't sure if the woman would be or not. If she was going to learn falconry, she needed to get used to a lot of things. If she could help with something, maybe she could spend her early mornings doing that. It was better than sitting around and twiddling her thumbs.

The little bird fluttered over to her. "I think. Don't know for sure." Sayaka was using her mimicry voice, not her aura breed language.

"You can use your natural language. I can understand you just fine."

Sayaka nodded. "Okay. But yes, I'm not sure if she's awake or not. The starling keeper is a different person than the family falconer. We can go pay her a visit." With that said, Sayaka led Weiss back out to the falconry center on the property.

The rows of mews greeted them and she saw Lilyana tossing things into them. It looked like a mass of feathers. She blinked when she saw Weiss, though. "Oh, good morning! It wasn't expecting to see you out here so early. Can I help you with something?" She picked up a bucket which made Weiss grimace. It was wooden and she could see blood dripping out of the bottom. What a grizzly scene. And she would have to get used to this…

"Good morning. I was wondering if I could help you with anything. Breakfast isn't for a little while, so I wanted to do something until then." She probably should've stayed quiet and read her books. She didn't like the blood dripping from the bucket. It was really disgusting. Her stomach churned and she felt a little faint. But if she wanted to learn falconry, she needed to learn to deal with blood and death. It was just going to be hard when she'd never even touched them cut that humans cooked with. How did fae deal with it when they didn't eat meat?

"You sure can! I'm getting the morning crew breakfast right now. If you want, I do three feedings a day: once around sunrise for the morning crew, once around noon for the afternoon and evening crew, and one at sunset for the night crew. I could definitely use some help with the night feeding since we have more owls than caracaras. You'll have to learn to butcher quail, but if you're okay with that, it'll be no problem." Weiss grimaced again but nodded. This would probably decide if she could handle falconry or not. She grew up very soft (even she knew it) so this sort of thing was so outside of her comfort zone.

"About what time should I come out?" She was so interested in working with the birds. But could she truly handle the worst part of it? Would she truly be able to dispatch another living creature? She knew that meat came from animals. But it was so divorced from her life that she had only seen cattle in books. The closest she got to livestock was Neige. She didn't consider him livestock though… She loved him so much.

"Sunset's about eight thirtyish, so maybe about seven thirty? It takes a while to get all the quail butchered. For now, though, help me toss these into the mews." Lilyana motioned to the bucket. Weiss felt bile rise in the back of her throat, but she nodded. She walked over and picked up one of the quail. It felt…so beyond strange to hold a limp body in her hands. This animal should have been running around happily, without a care in the world. But it was in her hands, dead and limp.

She tossed it into one of the mews and looked at Lilyana. "If it's not rude to ask, how do you deal with butchering and killing animals?" She wanted to wretch merely holding a quail carcass. She wasn't sure how how she would deal with having to take the life of another living being. She was so soft that everyone had said she was lucky to survive as long as she had in Atlassian society. She was barely able to handle not being taken advantage of…

Lilyana shrugged. "It really does depend on your temperament. The softer your personality is and the more empathetic you are, the harder it is to be able to kill." Weiss looked down. She wasn't sure about empathy, but she was definitely sensitive. She felt like she wasn't a good candidate for this. If she was having this much trouble already with dead animals, how could she hope to handle seeing the light fade from an animal's eyes and have its heartbeat stop in her hands? It didn't feel like she'd be able to do this…

"It's not easy at first. I was pretty young when I started—only about eighty. I felt pretty queasy when I started, so it wouldn't be unusual if you do. But since I"m guessing you grew up a noble, it'll be hard for you to adapt. It'll be fine if you can't. Most people especially nobles don't have the constitution for this sort of work. Young Valerie does." Weiss nodded as she listened. She wanted to work with the birds, but she probably didn't have the constitution for it. She was sensitive and easily hounded away from things. Aside from dust, this was the first time she'd ever been able to pursue something that interested her. But she probably wouldn't be able to do it…

She gave a small nod. "I was raised a lot like the Belladonnas are… I never touched meat. i was never in a kitchen until the other night." This was so hard for her. If fae ate meat, she could've worked her way up that way. She could've started with parts separated from the animal already. But since they didn't, she would have to start with the bodies of whole animals… She felt so faint.

"It might be pretty hard for you then. I'll give you a good chance. But if you can't handle it, it's fine." Lilyana turned to her and smiled. Weiss didn't want to disappoint the woman. She seemed legitimately enthused to have an apprentice. Plus, she wanted to work with the birds so badly. "Actually, I might have a better idea than to start you off with full butchering. My birds are currently fat, but we have some retired night crew that you could work with.

"In falconry, we do something called tidbitting. It's basically breaking the meal up into small bits that are given when a bird successfully flies to the fist. It'll just be small bits of meat to handle. The night crew won't be used to it, but I can probably find a couple owls to agree to work with you. How does that sound?"

Weiss gave a small nod. "I might be able to handle that." She felt like she might faint if she had to butcher a quail right now. She sitll didn't like the idea of touching carcasses, but she had to get over it. She wanted to give this the best chance possible. She hoped the owls wouldn't be too upset with her. She was doing what Lilyana told her to do…

"All right. Well, I can talk to the retired night crew and see who'll be willing to work with you. I at least have a few in mind. We'll start off with a barn owl then work our way up to the eagle owls." Weiss nodded again. The eagle owls were massive and intimidating, so she definitely didn't want to start there. It was really intimidating to work with these animals, but she was legitimately trying.

With that, they fell silent and eventually finished with the feeding. "By the way, I'll probably be starting you on my red tail and Harris."

Weiss frowned. "I would rather start on the micros if possible." She remembered what Valerie said, but she was intimidated by the larger birds. She wanted to work with the kestrels and aplomados. It felt like she was less likely to get hurt that way. She really did not want to start with the larger birds. But, then again, the wols were much larger than the micros and that was where she'd be starting…

"It isn't impossible for an apprentice to start with micros, but it's not really ideal. They're incredibly easy to kill. I killed a couple micros on accident when I started hunting with them and I'd had a couple decades under my belt at that point. It's a lot safer to start you on larger birds first. But, for now, we'll focus on getting you comfortable with their food, okay? We have about two and a half months until hunting season starts."

"Okay." That was probably the best way to handle things… If she couldn't handle the food, there was no way she'd be able to handle anything else. It was so hard to go one step at a time. She was always expected to go three or four at any given time. Plus, she would rather not kill any birds. Lilyana would know best unfortunately. Her own wants were secondary to those of the birds.

She followed Lilyana to small house where more rows of mews greeted them. "This is my house and where the retired crews leave. Bring the bucket over and I'll introduce you to who I think will work well with you." Lilyana led her to a large, garage-like building where a giant fridge or freeze sat. Scales sat on a workbench and she saw reams of leather. She sat the bucket near a washing station. Lilyana motioned her over to one of the workbenches.

"Here; let me get your hand measurements for a glove. I'll have it done by tomorrow."

"Okay." Weis held her hand up and Lilyana made numerous measurements. It tickled a little but she made no moves to stop the woman. It would be an essential part of her gear if she could become a falconer. The birds would sit on it, so she really needed one.

"Also, until you're more adapted to handling the birds, I'll start teaching you leather working. Even if you end up not being able to hunt, you can make hoods, anklets, jesses, gloves, and such for others to buy. A lot of family falconers outsource their furniture making." That…might not be an alternative if this didn't work out. She would still work for the birds, albeit indirectly… That felt like a viable alternative.

"That sounds fine." She wanted to work with the birds somehow. Even if it was indirectly, she could settle for that. Though her hands had never known a day of hard labor in her life. Would she be able to handle the though leather and tools that came with it? She would probably end up with hard, cracked hands if she pursued leather working. But it might be all right if she enjoyed it.

They headed back outside to the mews and Lilyana led her to one in particular. A barn owl had its head tucked under its wing. Well, at least Lilyana let out a soft whistle. The bird lifted its head and blinked slowly before coming to land on Lilyana's fist. "Sorry to bother you, Varuna, but I have a request. I have a possible apprentice here. Like the Belladonnas, she's never handled actual meat before. Would you be willing to fly to her fist so she could tidbit you? I know you haven't done that since your first year but…"

The owl's beak stretched wide in a yawn, then its head turned to Weiss. Its head bobbed a fair bit while it examined her. What was it doing? Would it be okay with her? She really didn't know what was happening. "Yeah, sure. She looks soft, though. Are you sure about taking her on as an apprentice? If she can't handle meat…" Weiss looked down. She knew she was soft, but she was trying her best. She had managed to make it through feeding without retching her stomach up! That had to count for something, right?

"Thanks, Varuna. I know it'll be boring, but she's bright and eager to learn. If I don't give her a fair chance, what else can I do?" Lilyana smiled and returned the owl to its perch. She was glad Lilyana was giving her a fair chance. She might not have deserved it, but she was glad she was tilling to at least try.

They talked to eight owls in total: two barns, two barreds, two great greys, and two eagle owls. Even the barn owls were a little intimidating. These were powerful predators that could harm her so easily if they wanted to. She could imagine them punch their talons through her hands and the nasty wounds that would leave behind. The golden eagle Valerie had would easily be able to do that.

She did glance at her pocketwatch and saw it was about quarter after nine. "I should probably head back to the main manor. It's close to breakfast." She didn't want to reflect negatively on the Belladonnas. They were being so kind to her. She'd be back out with the birds around sunset.

"All right. See you about seven thirty." Lilyana smiled and Weiss hurried back to the manor with skirts in hand. Hopefully she wouldn't be late for breakfast…