The next couple of days pass by without much incident, other than decently long chats with Anna, she's thankfully taken lead of most of the the topics for talking, I don't exactly have enough memories to bring up anything, at least I can make her laugh and enjoy the discussion. I feel like she knows I have holes shot in my memory, I'm glad she hasn't pressed for it too hard, I've also managed not to destroy the axe Annas gifted me to use over repeated use, just required some practise in aiming and controlling my strength. The axe itself just being being a regular hatchet, its wooden handle heavily worn from use even before I used it, I wonder who used it before me? Thankfully I've been able to wash myself whenever I finish using it in a nearby river. I've learned a little bit more of Anna herself too, she's actually a lot older than I expected, being 56. In all honesty I thought she was more around her early 40's, saying that to her only really have her fuel for the fire when it came to ribbing me with flirting, I know she only means it as a joke, but it still feels strangely awkward, I'll get over it though. She taught me more about the world as well as the local society niches and dialect, turns out human writing and speaking is the same from back home so there's no difference, Keidrans and Basitins speak and write in an entirely different language, so I'll have to have someone decipher the journal I have. I did learn the uh, result of Keidran-Human violent reactions.
"So Keidrans are just, used as slaves? There's no issues with that and no one bats a damn eye?" My face contorts into a snarl, my fingers drumming against the table. I've very rarely experienced genuine distaste towards anything really, slavery is definitely one of them. Anna herself doesn't turn away from the meal shes cooking, smells like meat, god I love meat. I wanted to use my own rations to save her the hassle of cooking for me, but she was very adamant about cooking and me saving my resources for when I inevitably left, according to her the meat itself was a long life alternative, I expect it to taste very beef jerky-like though, definitely looks like it.
"Mhm, it's been in place for a very long time, so much so that not even I can recall when it first began. Some tend to be used for physical labour, others for breeding purposes. Although there weren't truly much force from the Templars to control a stern law upon slaving, that has changed recently.." She trails off, losing herself in thought. I blanch at the breeding topic though, do they mean for more slaves or for other things? Such a disgusting blight on humanity, I know it'll be something that'd take a long time to change, and given how archaic the area is I shouldn't entirely be surprised, it still rubs me the wrong way. I do wonder, though, what of my humanity? Do I still technically have my humanity, although Ive been thrown into bloody Basitins body? I still feel human, though I can still feel a pull and tug at my mind whenever certain things are pulled up, like flirting, and when I dip into the river to wash myself I feel my paranoia peak, I can't seem to relax, just in case someones watching or prepared to jump me.
..I swear I'm not normally so paranoid, I do have bouts of it back home but this is just a bit much. I continue to tap tap tap away at the table with my claws, waiting for Anna to finish the meal and letting out a soft sigh
"I can't exactly say that I like that around here, not at all, it just seems morally wrong, but I suppose its just how it works around here ." I struggle to maintain a neutral tone about it, my nails digging into the table, but I swallow down my anger and close my eyes, one, two, three, open them again, it'll be fine Zeke. Anna does'nt speak up again, choosing to focus on the food, its aroma wafting throughout the room, at least that smell brings a smile on my maw. It's still early, id say just before mid day, so there's no sun coming in from the windows, the house nice and cool surprisingly. I did ask Anna about how she cooked things, turns out it was mostly a magic fire igniting logs, though a lot hotter than regular fire, and in specific metal area, kind of similar to an almost stove-camp fire hybrid. My absolutely brilliant idea of putting my hand in there to 'test' the fires heat singed my hairs a bit too well for my tastes, but thankfully there was no harm done.
Anna hums and plops the meat soup (god bless this woman) into pre-prepared bowls, I once tried to help her with that and turns out she wasn't very appreciative of that, so I've been edging away from it. She places the bowl, as well as a spoon in front of me, although I wish I could just throw this down my throat (god im hungry), I instead politely pick up the spoon and gulp down whatever I could, chewing what meaty aspects of it I could. I've always been a quick eater and apparently that doesnt change per-body, so its still gone almost immediately despite my efforts.
"Er, sorry still Anna, you do make some good food!" I say sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of my neck. She giggles and sips at her soup, eyes closed and a small smile on her face.
"I'll take it as a compliment, dear Zeke" She continues to eat up at her soup, I take my own bowl to the sink (kind of sink, its close enough to one) to save her the time to take mine. "Oh, Zeke? May I ask a favour of you?" This perks my ears up as I turn around to face her, oh hoh? This is new.
"Of course Anna, what do ya need?" I reply, smiling wide. I'm actually super happy to help her with something beyond smacking logs with a hatchet. She chuckles and leave the table for a moment, her back cracking as she stretches (her only actual indication of her being an elder), waltzing over to a desktop, grabbing a pouch and gently tossing it to me. I catch it in both hands, nice and safely, the insides jingling and jangling, they sound like coins.
"I need to go to town to purchase some food, it's a routine I do every few weeks. Just say to an old man named Gerome that you're buying food for me, he'll understand, probably anyways" She explains, and I raise an eyebrow, many people has she sent to actually get her groceries? I guess its better than nothing at least.
"Er, sure? I don't see why not, where am I going, is there anything I need to worry about before I get there?" I ask, I don't exactly wanna get lost, and who knows if people would react well to a Basitin, if they mistake me for a Keidran, oh boy
"Head up the path, first left, you can't exactly miss the sign, it's a small enough town so you'll at least not rile up too much attention, hopefully anyways." She waves away the issue, instead opting to pass me another pouch, which shes pulled from, somewhere, I don't really wanna know. I catch pouch number 2 with my other hand, the contents themselves feeling like miniature rocks. "And that right there is magic crystals, also a gift to Gerome, don't go touching that too much or try to cast anything, it'll mush your brain"
Hm, so that's what happens to Basitins huh? I never actually asked her what exactly would happen, I do wonder why it breaks a Basitins mind. I don't exactly know how to use these mana crystals so that bit of warnings kind of meaningless. Hey wait a second-
"Hey, does that mean you could've broken my brain a little bit when you were casting spells on me?" I question, I'm mildly concerned over that honestly. Again though, she just waves me off, turning around and kneeling, rummaging through her chest for something or other.
"Don't worry bout it Zeke, it only affects Basitins if they use it themselves, you not touching them is just a pre-caution, just in case. You could have an interesting reaction to them, who knows. I kinda wanna push for some more information, but I might as well get to it. I head into my room, stuffing the pouches (they seemed tight enough to be carried without spillage) into the bag and hoisting it over my shoulder, fitting snuggly. The bag itself being a what i believe to be called a messenger bag, suitable for the task at least, and easy to use. I whistle a small tune as I stretch, cracking my neck and fingers because god that feels amazing and heading out, though I poke my head through the door.
"Hey Anna, where exactly should I be looking for Gerome? Wheres his shop?" I pipe up quickly, my ears pointing upwards
"He'll find you before you find him, just look around and check out the town." She replies, sounding muffled, her head deep in the chest doing whatever shes doing. Well that wasn't very helpful at all, thanks Anna! I roll my eyes and walk up the dirt path and take a left, heading towards, wherever she wants me to go, its a dirt path with trees on either side. Its rather soothing and calming, it feels like its been a long time since I've walked near nature, I only remember very industrial areas from home, high rise buildings and cars, constant noise and smoke. Comparing what I remember to this, its a very stark difference. Very little happens during the walk, it feels like I've only been walking for a few minutes, but its surprising how spry I feel, like my paws just bounce off of the dirt, that and the wraps around my ankles bring a nice comfort. Ambient forest noises like bird screaming is the only real noises I hear though, its a very quiet walk, better than pure deafening silence I suppose.
After another few minutes of walking, I do see the sign that Anna spoke of before, its old and wooden, the name of it almost unreadable due to rot and the natural passage of time. I can at least read out a few choice letters, the ones being a 'W' and a 'D', so it basically means nothing. Someone really should replace this sign, I'd do it if i knew how to craft things that was actually useful, signs are not one of them. I follow the path near the sign and into the town, and its, exactly what I was expecting, large and small wooden houses litter the sides of pre-established equally dirt paths. Despite it being midday, its rather quiet as I enter, I wonder where everyone is? I wander the streets some more, and finally I hear some sort of noise, murmurings that make my ears flicker, some streets over. I follow the noise and into a rather open courtyard, stalls litter the area in a uniform fashion, plenty of other humans wandering to and from shops, looking and talking to merchants, trying to talk them down into selling items at a cheaper price ("There's other stalls that sell this meat at a much cheaper price, you know" why don't they buy it from them instead?), I think that's just haggling? Regardless, I'm looking for a specific dude who I don't know, which could look like anyone, which could be anyone, thanks Anna.
I sigh and trudge along, I guess I better get asking, at least I know he's old, I guess hes better than nothing. Then again what is old here? Anna's old as hell and she still looks moderately young, should I just auto assume that Gerome looks like some sort of insanely old rugged bloke? As I walk around and glance at the shop keepers, i get a surprisingly muted to positive reaction from the general populace, some friendly hellos and a wave to general disinterest. I do get some side eyes from some, eyes squinting, I assume they don't trust me due to, you know, not being human, it could be worse though. I wander some more and realise that I'm not exactly getting anywhere, so I begrudgingly have to actually ask people where the hell this old fart is.
"Excuse me sir, do you know where a man named Gerome is? I'm here on beha-" I start off polite at least, the merchant I turn to facing me and sneering, face contorting into an ugly expression.
"Geromes up the back, near the fountain, now sod off before you sully my products you beastly thing" He continues to sneer before turning away, his sour face turning into a faux mask of pleasantry for his customers, who continue to haggle. Jesus christ, this man needs to calm down.
"Okay okay, Jesus, I'll go then." I mutter and turn away and up towards the fountain, ears flipping down, whats up with him? I try to shrug it off though, guess he doesn't like furred things, Basitin or otherwise. Eventually after a minute of waltzing (I like browsing some wares I guess) I eventually react the fountain, and I look around. I see few people selling, maybe this is a more prestigious part of the market? The few I see are very tight knit with their clothing, masks or hoods covering their face as they look around suspiciously, oh I really hope this isn't the black market equivalency of the town. The singular merchant that isn't super defensive about how they appear, though, is a very old, very large fellow. His head is large, and a smile plastered on his taut and wrinkled face with a large grin, black but greying hair swept backwards, small but attentive eyes sweeping the area, and upon him laying his eyes on me, he reaches up with a hand, large and wrinkly as expected of a man like him, grin not wavering in the slightest.
"Oy there, Basitin man! You are one who Anna found, yes?" He calls out, his voice is deep and rough, a parallel to his warm attitude and tone, I cant help but feel a type of warm acquaintanceship from him. I match his smile with my own as I bound up to him, a pep in my step, its surprising how warm a man can be to a stranger, bless this man. Surprisingly enough, he still has to look up to me, although barely, arent Basitins meant to be tiny? Regardless, I offer my hand as he reaches in, giving eachother a very friendly and firm handshake.
"Hey! You're Gerome, I assume? Anna told me to find you and give you some things, did she tell you about me?" I ask him, already slinging off my bag to grab the pouches, each of them between my fingers and yoinking them out.
"Oh ho ho! Who do you think carried Basitin body to Annas? Gerome is not that old." His smile is still wide as his opens his hands, clenching around the pouches as I drop them onto it. He whistles an unfamiliar tune as he turns around and plants them on top the counter of his stall, walking around and picking up a nondescript package, then another one, as well as a scabbard, a hilt sticking out the top, all very plain but well made.
"Your actions belie your wrinkles, Gerome, thanks are in order for you too!" I smile and stuff the packages into my bag, thankfully I left the contents of it (other than my journal) so it wouldn't be squashed, I didn't expect multiple, but its good that I prepared for it regardless. Gerome himself lets out another bellowing laugh, grin still reaching his eyes, I wonder if his cheekbones hurt from it?
"Was an odd job from Anna, but she is old friend, very sad if she bite dust helping odd thing like you. Gerome is not old, just mature, and has no worry with helping said friend, don't forget your sword!" He says in a still jovial tone, oh the swords for me? I didn't figure that for whatever reason. I raise an eyebrow as I pick the sword up by its sheath, I dunno if I have enough space for this, so I guess I'll just carry it around. Gerome speaks very oddly, I cant say i know his accent from anywhere.
"If you say so, Gerome, where are you from though? You do have an interesting accent, not like one I've heard of before" I question, its nice to have something to chat and bond about, and he seems kind enough. I end up sliding the sword in-between my back and my back, honestly a poor way to hold it, but I cant be bothered walking around with it in hand, seems odd given how I'm in public.
"Oh hoh, you want to know, da? Gerome is from north, very cold, used to be sellsword for money, for momma, though moved down here, much warmer and calmer for old mother." Though he still says it all with a smile, he does look down forlornly, a thumb rubbing against a necklace on his chest. Ah, I get him, must be tough losing someone like that.
"I'm sure your old mother is very happy with who you are, Gerome, as is Anna, god bless the both of them" Geromes natural smile returns as he brings himself back to attention, both hands resting on his bench.
"You've many thankings, strange Basitin, now go, I have more selling to do." And with that I wave him away, walking back onto the dirt path and saying goodbye, he himself waving along before returning his attention to his stall. What a nice fellow, if i'm ever in town again Ill be sure to catch up with him. Back onto the road, though
While walking on the road to Annas, though, I do examine the sword after pulling out its sheath, of which is made out of a cool to the touch but stiff leather. The sword itself is made out of steel, not sure what I expected, but it is of a very well make, seemingly brand new with no stress on the steel itself, I wonder who made it? It's shaped very oddly, though, almost like more of a double edged cleaver rather than a traditional sword from a medieval era, I'm surprised its double edged honestly, now I'm very curious to as who made it. I place the sword back into its sheath and continue travelling at a steady pace, although other sounds has joined the mix of bird noises, like crickets.
I walk, and walk and walk, though something seems wrong, a chill goes up my spine as my grip on the sword only increases, hurrying slightly faster, my ears darting around and picking up whatever sound it can, the birds are still chirping, and there's no other immediate difference, why do I feel like I'm being watched? The split in the dirt path comes up quickly, darting right and jogging down the path and the cottage in view, i don't stop until I reach the door, already unlocked and letting myself in, whatevers watching my ass can toss off. I let out a sigh of relief as the door shuts behind me, flipping a latch and locking it, Anna herself sipping on some more tea as she looks at me, a smile appearing on her lips
"Soooo? How'd it go?" She questions with an eyebrow raised, I place the sword onto the table, taking a seat on the opposite side of her and digging through it to put her packages onto it.
"Surprisingly enough, Gerome did not find me first, so thanks for that. Most people didn't mind me, there were others that didn't appreciate me so much, but nothing came of it, it really is a small town other than the needlessly massive courtyard, I've never seen so many merchants in one place! Gerome himself is a very nice fellow, too, odd but nice, and I thanked him for dragging my sorry rump here." I splurge out all my thoughts to her, it really was nice to get out and talk to people, even if it was only for a short period of time. The sun dipping into the room was a nice touch too, an afternoon glow throughout the room, still nice and cool for the most part. Anna herself giggles again and places her cup down, pointing her hands at the sword and the secondary package.
"You might want to try those on tonight, they're gifts for you, the last ones just other things for me you, which you needn't worry about." She explains, I tilt my head, gifts for me? What for? I ask as such ("Why the gifts?") and she shrugs. "It's been a rather long time since I've had another here, and its been pleasant, so I want to thank you for it. There's no debt you have to fulfil, just take it."
I blink, shes very stern about that, but I take my bag, the package and the sword anyways, awkwardly giving her a nod and a smile before dipping into my room. I plant both the sword and bag onto the bed, not much I can do with either, and tear into the package, it feels odd to be getting a gift, but Ill take it. Inside the package itself is dark green cloth, wrapped in a bundle, picking it up and folding it out revealing a cloak, large but I assume this is meant to fit me, as well as a belt, made of leather similar to the sword itself. I assume I'm meant to put this on, then? I throw the cloak onto myself, throwing the hood of it back, feels comfortable, but surprisingly thick, maybe it has something weaved into it? Green isn't my favourite colour, that I can tell, but it still looks and feels nice, like a protective blanket. There's a nice enough opening for my arms, too, so I'm not struggling to move them around, whether in or out of it. The back of it feels strangely thicker though. The belt itself was easy to put on, fitting well, and I latch the sword sheath onto it. Overall, it looks and feels nice, but I really hope i don't cut myself open with this sword on accident.
I waltz out of the room, partially feeling like a fashion model on a runway and opening my arms out, showing off to Anna, who claps wildly.
"I knew I choose a good tailor, I always do, how does it feel? You probably know how to use that sword already, you're a Basitin after all." I shrug and tug at the collar of the cloak, shes putting a lot of trust in me with this, and the sword too.
"The cloak is very comfortable, Anna, and the sword looks good too, I just don't feel very well about taking a gift when you've both put so much effort into me already." She waves her hands in the air, as if I'm speaking plain blasphemy as I reply to her.
"Stop stop stop! We've given you these because we want to help you, Gerome included as he supplied the sword. You're an interesting man, Zeke, and we want you to do well, wherever you wander." She continues, its actually a bit much to handle as I look at myself, the cloak reaching down just below my knees, a sad smile on my face. I don't reply, though, instead I walk into her and hold her softly, squeezing lightly and uttering a "thank you" anyways. She returns the hug, patting me on the back.
"You were hurt, very very bad Zeke, its a miracle that you lived, you really should've died there you beastly thing, burned all around and barely breathing, however you lived is a sign from the Gods that you're meant to do something, potentially great things, Templars, other humans and whoever else be damned if they try to stop you." Despite, you know, being called a beast, she says it in such a sincere tone, maybe its a way she deals with being worried, I was that burned and damaged, huh? Thanks for keeping me alive, Death, so I could live once more. I only hold her tighter, resting my head on hers. She really is very motherly, god bless her soul. As she finally lets go, turns out shes cooking food, I walk back into my room and lay my cloak and sword down before returning to the table, awaiting for her to finish up. I'll have to cut up some more logs after this late lunch almost dinner thing, but this, this has been a nice day. My heart and chest feels full and with a smile on my face, this feels... really good, thank you Anna, and Gerome, and whoever else helped me.
Authors note: Some more character development and other worldly things, I was thinking of doing a character profile for Zeke and others, akin to what Tom did in his character page, could help solidify who's who and whatnot, I'll most likely put them in the authors note part of a chapter, as well as in my (rather barren) profile page. Thank you for reading, leave a review if you wish, thank you all who has reviewed and followed, it feels rather nice. Until next time. ALSO IVE JUST REALISED AFTER 4 CHAPTERS AND A FEWS DAYS THAT IVE BEEN SPELLING BASITIN WRONG
WHOOPS
HAS BEEN FIXED NOW HOPEFULLY