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Post by Beistmild on Jul 14, 2023 1:18:41 GMT -5
Beist listened as Ak'ka went on about what she remembered of the process and her own experience of it. It saddened him to hear she went through all that at only twelve years old. He knew getting tattoos was a painful experience, so he couldn't imagine a child having to go through that. And that wasn't even mentioning she needed to purposefully go get struck by lightning! Who does that!? At twelve years old!? Why would they make her do that!? To be chosen by a god? Why would a child need to be chosen by a god for anything?
From the sounds of it, her tribe also wasn't around anymore. "The information died with them" wasn't something you said about people who were still alive, after all. He had no idea what might have lead to their deaths, but it made him feel a twinge of guilt at asking Ak'ka if he could meet them. He didn't think it would be a good idea to ask how they died. She didn't seem very emotional speaking about it so far, but he still didn't want to possibly bring up any bad memories. Honestly, Beist was getting more emotional than she was at the thought of what she might have gone through.
He sniffled and wiped his eyes on a handkerchief.
"Let's finish finding these goats." Beist sobbed between sniffles and then blew his nose on his handkerchief. He would have hugged her if this wasn't the first time they'd met and thought she might have been uncomfortable with it. From the looks of her unbothered expression, she also probably would have had no idea why he was hugging her. Beist made due by giving the giant goat already with them some pats on the side. It also seemed unbothered by the whole situation.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jul 14, 2023 12:26:40 GMT -5
Beist went silent, not speakin’ for a long time. Had Ak’ka said something wrong? Maybe she hadn’t answered properly or didn’t give enough information on tattoos or some shit, but then he brought out a handkerchief and started snifflin’ into it. Oh gods, she’d upset him somehow. Ak’ka wasn’t sure what had bothered him, but the big guy seemed real weepy and emotional all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he was sad he couldn’t get tattoos or some shit cus he had all this fur? As he sniffed, patting the big old goat and urging her on, Ak’ka gave him a friendly clap on the back that would send any regular guy to the ground.
“Aw, don’t worry about it dude.” She offered him a risked grin that had a better chance of makin’ him run away screaming in terror than feeling better. She was still getting the hang of the smiling thing. For friends. “I bet if you want some markings and shit I could help give you some. I still kinda remember how to do it. And you’d just have to shave a bit of your fur. Point is, if you want some magic ink it’s doable.” This probably wasn’t comforting either considering Ak’ka was probably the last person someone wanted holding a needle.
“But yeah - let’s go wrangle up some more goats.”
They found a few more goats hiding around crevices and near caves, which was real easy with Beist’s help. To be honest Ak’ka didn’t even have to do much at all aside from walk around to make sure nothing went wrong or that there were no threats.
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Post by Beistmild on Jul 16, 2023 17:39:09 GMT -5
Beist chuckled nervously at Ak'ka's offer to give him a tattoo. He didn't think badly of her, but he wasn't sure he'd want to trust just anyone to stab him with a needle repeatedly. No, he'd much rather leave that to a reputed professional. The unexpected offer did at least pull his mind away from the sad thoughts of her childhood. It seemed despite the hardships, she was happy and kind.
"I'll keep your offer in mind." He answered with a smile and put his used handkerchief away.
Finding the rest of goats wasn't difficult with Awd leading the way, and getting them to follow along wasn't difficult either with Beist just asking them to. They weren't trying to run away from home or anything. They'd just been scared when the ground started shaking and acted on instinct. They were happy to go back home where they were well taken care of.
Soon, all of the goats had been rounded up from where they'd scattered across the mountain and they were headed back toward the farm with a small giant herd behind them. His services no longer needed, Awd climbed back into Beist's shirt to nap.
"Do you think Billy makes any cheese out of all the goat milk? I love cheese. I've never had goat cheese before, but I heard it's very good. I wonder if he'd share some as a little extra reward..." Beist wondered aloud as they walked, making idle chit chat. The job had gone a lot easier than he'd expected. He'd heard these mountains had some dangerous creatures, so he was glad the goats hadn't encountered any of them. Honestly though, with their size, he wouldn't be surprised if the goats could defend themselves from most of the threats around here.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jul 17, 2023 14:00:18 GMT -5
Didn’t take long for the two to round up all the goats, which Ak’ka was grateful for. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Ak’ka wasn’t the type of gal to get nervous or uneasy by silence - she was strong enough to go with the punches life threw at her - but she’d grown up in these mountains. It wasn’t right that they ain’t run into any monsters yet.
She shoved her hands in her pockets, kickin’ at a couple rocks at her feet while Beist filled the silence with small talk.
“Goat cheese is pretty good.” ‘Round here it was too cold to raise cows and livestock not used to the frozen environment, so they made due. She figured Beist was from somewhere warmer, but it was still funny watching him get excited about something mundane to her. “We could probably ask him to barter for some. If he’s a farmer he probably ain’t got much money… I’m not really in it for the coin so I don’t mind bartering my labor for cheese for ya.” She flashed him a toothy grin.
The sound of somethin’ snapping in the distance caught her attention. Ak’ka immediately went on guard, raising her cloth-wrapped fists in a protective stance. Wasn’t no question that she was a fighter, born and raised. Ready to react in an instant. “Hold on there, bud. I heard somethin’.” She warned, holding out her hand to stop Beist from gettin’ too far away.
As they stopped, Ak’ka moved slowly, scooping up a chunk of ice from her feet, clutching it between two hands, she pitched it in the distance, loud enough to disturb the snow with a shattering noice that echoed through the white-capped silence. It might’ve seemed like an odd thing to do, but it turned out to be the right thing - a few seconds later, movement darted out from behind a big snowbank in the distance, attacking the ground where the ice hit like it would prey. If one of the goats or Beist had been there, they would’a been torn to shreds by that beak and talon. Ak’ka swore under her breath in orcish as the big fuckoff cockatrice pulled itself to its full height, putting herself between the bird and the animals.
“Protect the goats!” She barked. “Can’t let them get eaten!”
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Post by Beistmild on Jul 26, 2023 16:44:11 GMT -5
Beist moved between the goats and the cockatrice behind Ak'ka, pulling a small stick from his pocket that quickly grew into a long staff that looked more like a walking stick in the giant's hands. He held it in front of him defensively. He moved quickly to get himself into a protective position, but it was clear from his facial expression and the droopiness of his tail and ears that he was afraid. He wasn't good at fighting! He just hoped Ak'ka could handle this mostly by herself. She definitely looked like much more of a warrior than he did.
"Be careful! Don't let it strike you with its beak or you'll turn to stone." He called to Ak'ka, recognizing the cockatrice and just how dangerous it could be. He didn't have anything with him at the moment to undo petrification, so he really hoped she could avoid it. He could at least offer advice and support in this fight as much as possible. He could heal her if she was injured.
He also had the goats to worry about though. They were large and pretty capable of defending themselves from most dangerous creatures they might have encountered, but a cockatrice was obviously something they feared. Beist had his hands pretty full just trying to keep them calm and stop them from all running off again and undoing all their work gathering them up. He really hoped Ak'ka could handle the cockatrice herself.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jul 26, 2023 19:20:49 GMT -5
Ak’ka nodded, barely hearing Beist’s words but understandin’ what he was tryin to warn her about all the same. She knew a bit about cockatrices - they were common around these parts, and in the off chance that they wandered close enough to the old villages it was the clan leader’s job to send folks to take care of ‘em. She hadn’t fought one on her own before, but there was a first time for everything.
Besides, she was a hell of a lot stronger than she’d been when she was still a Mortak.
At least Beist stayed back, protectin’ the animals from harm. With his animal charming abilities and magic, he was better suited to holdin’ the back line. And Ak’ka? She was better at smashing shit. She stomped her feet on the ground, ice crawling up her boots to enhance her speed, one of the tattoos on her back faintly cracklin’ with electricity.[1,2] As the cockatrice opened its mouth in a screech, beating its wings hard enough to kick up wind and stone around it, Ak’ka darted forward with the speed of a crossbow bolt and twice the force, barely an invisible blur. She tilted her body, throwin’ her entire weight into a shoulder check that knocked the cockatrice off balance.
The bird reared its head back - the petrifying beak.
Beist’s warning was probably the only thing that saved her life. Ak’ka let out a roar, the sheer force from her yell displacing the very air around her.[3] Hard enough that it knocked the cockatrice ten feet back in the air before its beak could glance skin.
“Ain’t gonna get me that easy.” Ak’ka grunted, raising her cloth-covered fists - all four of them.
The cockatrice took to the sky, bearing its talons down on her. Ak’ka raised her skeletal, ice-covered arm to guard her face from injury, scratches tearing up her ice-arm. Ak’ka grunted, raising up her second set of hands to grab the bastard’s talons. She yanked, whipping the cockatrice to the side and slamming it on the ground with a loud THUD.[4] The cockatrice screamed, an ear-splitting sound, until Ak’ka raised her boot and put it against its windpipe. It lay prone underneath her, writhing and struggling ‘til she grabbed one of its wings and snapped the bone. Effectively crippling it.
Now Beist would understand why folks called her the Bonegrinder. 1. Frozen Feet 2. Tail Winds 3. Undying Fervor 4. Bull's Strength
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Post by Beistmild on Jul 29, 2023 5:04:16 GMT -5
Beist had expected Ak'ka to be a capable warrior, but what he just witness was, quite frankly, a bit scary. He flinched and looked away, but still heard the sounds of bones snapping. The cockatrice couldn't even let out a scream of pain with her foot on its windpipe, choking it and pinning it to the ground.
He would have been impressed if he wasn't so unnerved by the gruesome display. She already looked very strong, but she demonstrated that she was even stronger than she looked. She could also apparently use a bit of ice magic. Beist was learning, in more ways than one, just what Ak'ka was capable of.
"Good job. Please, would you put it out of its misery?" Beist asked, trying not to sound afraid, and nodding down at the struggling cockatrice.
He normally didn't advocate killing innocent creatures in the wild, but a cockatrice this close to people was too dangerous to leave alive. The creature was also horribly crippled now thanks to its wing being snapped. It would just prolong its suffering to let it go as it was, and Beist wasn't about to heal it and let it possibly turn him or Ak'ka to stone.
And besides. Cockatrice parts were invaluable to a knowledgeable alchemist like himself. He'd like to take the corpse back with them once it was dead.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jul 30, 2023 16:42:34 GMT -5
Even though she didn’t really care about the opinions of others, which usually weren’t that great, Ak’ka was still usually good at understanding them. She knew what fear looked like, a sour kinda grim look like folks were afraid she’d pop their head off if they looked at her the wrong way. Or snide remarks from people that were jealous of her strength. Or the kinda half-disgusted look from polite folks like Beist who realized that Ak’ka really was a brute.
Oh, he was still bein’ nice and polite about it, but you weren’t as big and terrifying as her without knowin’ what fear sounded like. She was good at inspiring it. Unfortunately, she was good at inspiring it in people that would be friends otherwise, too.
She looked down at the chicken struggling in her grip, the fight leaving her body. “Right.” She didn’t look really all that sad that Beist wasn’t really her biggest fan right now. There was a reason she didn’t have many friends since leaving her snow prison and her destroyed clan in the mountains, and that was just fine with her. She waved her hand at Beist, still pinning down the struggling bird with her other arms. “Ya might wanna look away, then. I’ll make it quick.”
She waited ‘til Beist wasn’t staring at her anymore to reach down and snap the creature’s neck.
“Sorry ‘bout this.” Now she was talking to the bird, not Beist, her voice as quiet and soft as someone as gruff as her could be. “You were just doing what you were born to do. Unfortunately for ya, I was better at it. May you find glorious battle in the forever sky.”
When she was finished, she picked up the carcass and slung it over her shoulder. No point in leaving it here to rot when the feathers and bones and whatever could be re-purposed. Back when she still lived in the tribe, no parts of the monster would go to waste. ‘Sides, Beist was an alchemist, right? He could probably strip this thing for parts, too.
With the nasty business done and not a goat lost, Ak’ka wiped at her mouth and turned back to Beist. “We should get back to the farm now. That poor guy’s probably worried sick ‘bout his livestock.”
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Post by Beistmild on Aug 23, 2023 9:16:27 GMT -5
"Ah, right." Beist muttered as he turned his head away. He still flinched when he heard the neck snapping. "My apologies. I'm a bit squeamish. I've never been good with violence."
Beist had hated violence since a young age. As a young Werebear, he'd sometimes wake up with blood on his hands. Literally. And no memory of what poor creature whose life he might have taken that night, or worse, was still out there suffering and dying a slow death. He'd grown up with violence as much as some warriors, though he'd never wished to commit any of it.
He listened to Ak'ka's speech for the cockatrice and silently agreed. The cockatrice had just been trying to survive, like any animal. It had just been unfortunate enough in doing that to become a danger to them and others and left them with no choice but to take it down. But they wouldn't waste its death. They'd make good use of its materials and be thankful for their safety with it gone. It was all they could do.
Beist nodded and instructed the goats to continue following along down the trail once Ak'ka had hefted the corpse over he shoulder. It was an awkward atmosphere. He started to feel guilty for showing such fear and wondered if she'd noticed it. Maybe he should break the tension with some conversation.
"You know, cockatrice blood is a valuable alchemical ingredient. It's used in making cures for petrification. Thankfully you aren't in need of that though, eh? You're quite good at fighting. I've also heard cockatrice meat is surprisingly good, though I've never tasted it myself. Once these goats are safely home, maybe I could whip up a nice meal to share before we part ways."
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Aug 23, 2023 19:55:34 GMT -5
“Ah. No worries. Most people ain’t.” Ak’ka seemed pretty nonplussed about Beist’s reaction after the first gut reaction of hurt. Wasn’t nothing personal. Either they stuck around or they didn’t, and it was no skin off her bones if they didn’t. She felt a tiny pang of guilt at scaring the poor gentle guy, but that was just life up here in the mountains. Shit was violent up here. “That’s fine with me. I don’t mind bein’ the one to be more violent so other folks don’t have to be. That’s what I’m good for.”
She turned to look at him with a look that felt older than her actual age. Seemed like she put a lot on her own shoulders, and not just in the literal sense. Even if she wasn’t a leader anymore she still carried herself like one. She didn’t mind that he was a bit afraid of her ‘cus it meant she’d done her job to keep him ‘n the goats safe. She shifted the cockatrice so it fit better on her shoulder and the group began again.
Gods, she hated tense silence.
Ak’ka opened her mouth, then closed it. How was she ‘sposed to bridge this kinda gap? Usually whenever folks were scared of her, they were smaller than her. And they sure as hell weren’t worth carin’ about. But Beist was sweet, and shit, part of her did feel bad for giving him a fright. Before she could say anything, though, he spoke up first.
“Really?” She smiled, eyes wide like a kid at learning new information. Alchemy wasn’t her thing - but that didn’t mean it wasn’t useful, ‘specially when it came to monster hunts. Besides, she kinda understood this one! “Kinda like how, when ya get a cold or a plague, you’re immune to it ‘cus you’ve got it in your blood!”
Kind of a crude understanding, but she was tryin’ to relate.
“Thanks. You’re really good at alchemy. Really smart.” She returned the complement awkwardly. “I ain’t ever had cockatrice before, either. Let’s return these big guys and figure out how to cook this guy, yeah? I’m not great at it but I might be able to help ya harvest some of this guy’s blood and flay him.” She patted the side of the winged corpse.
They were cresting another rise in the mountainscape, bringing them closer to the nearest village. Where they’d accepted the job from the farmer. Didn’t take long for them to herd the goats into the fence, which was almost as tall as Ak’ka to keep these guys from getting out. The farmer’d already finished repairing the hole in the fence that the goats had escaped from, too.
Looked like a job well done, and Ak’ka hadn’t even needed to kill much! She had to admit it was pretty fun gettin’ the opportunity to help folks without fighting someone or goin’ to battle. It was… peaceful. It was nice.
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Post by Beistmild on Aug 26, 2023 7:29:09 GMT -5
"Oh, well, thank you. That sounds lovely." Beist said with a sheepish nod. He wasn't good at receiving compliments, so Ak'ka suddenly calling him smart made him blush. His tail betrayed his emotions though, swaying happily behind him. He needed to change the subject, and what subject was better than the basilisk that Ak'ka was already talking about?
"Yes, something like that. Instead of developing the immunity after exposure though, they inherit it from their parents. If they weren't born immune to being petrified, they'd probably all be turned to stone before they even left the mother's nest. Could you imagine risking ending your life every time you scratched yourself? That'd be awful. There's a bit of a debate on whether petrification should be considered a curse or a kind of disease, similar to the debate on Lycanthropy. Since immunity to it can be inherited, it makes me lean more toward a type of very fast-acting disease. That, and that it can be cured through medicine. It can also be cured with powerful enough magic though, but that's also true of many diseases. The same can be said for Lycanthropy. It is inherited, and once you have it, you can't be infected with it again, which makes me think it is a disease, but there isn't actually a cure for it other than magic yet. I hope I can change that some day. It's strange, a disease turning someone to stone. It definitely sounds more like magic, doesn't it? Some theorize that they aren't actually truly turning to stone, but their flesh is just hardening to the point it appears to be stone. It can be reversed, so there must be something still making them a person in there. Pouring a petrification cure on a regular rock doesn't turn it into a hunk of meat, after all. There's a distinct difference between stone that is a petrified creature and regular stone! I'd like to study that difference, but it's so hard to tell the difference without actually watching the subject be petrified. Someone selling petrified creatures could just be lying and selling stone sculptures. But, I could never actually watch something be petrified. I don't have the heart to do that to some poor animal, and it'd be very dangerous. I have a lot of companions, but even I would hesitate to welcome a cockatrice or basilisk into my house, you know. Though, they are fascinating creatures..."
Beist rambled on as they walked, going on tangents and then redirecting the one-sided conversation back to the topic of petrification and basilisks like a hiker that always managed to find their way back onto the trail, if only barely. Awd fell asleep quickly and was snoring from within Beist's shirt. He finally stopped talking only when one of the goats behind him let out a loud bleat and derailed his train of thought.
"Oh, we've arrived! Well, everyone, go on in. And don't go running off again. It's dangerous out there."
The goats all filtered in through the open gate, back into the large field they called home. With their job complete, the farmer handed them their pay and waved them goodbye. He even included a little goat cheese on top as thanks for taking care of the basilisk.
"I wonder if basilisk meat will pair well with goat cheese..." Beist thought out loud. He looked embarrassed and placed a hand on his gut when his stomach suddenly rumbled incredibly loudly. Neither of them had eaten the entire time they'd been busy gathering the goats and he was ready for a late lunch.
"I should return to my companions. They must be hungry too, waiting for me in our wagon. Come along, I'll introduce you to them and we can cook this basilisk. I have some pots and pans in my wagon as well."
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Aug 31, 2023 8:35:54 GMT -5
Aww, his tail was swishin’. That was pretty damn cute. How could anyone look at this big ol’ teddy bear and see anything but a really sweet and gentle old guy who just wanted to share his knowledge and his fuzzy little pets with others? ‘Sides, seemed like he was calming down a little, especially when it came to talkin’ about the alchemy and monster stuff involved with the big ol’ birds.
And Ak’ka tried to listen.
Really, she did.
But all this stuff about medicine really flew in one ear and out the other like smart things did. She got what he was sayin’ about rocks not being rocks really… but then what did that make them?
“What if it’s like, they get trapped in a stone case kinda like a prison or somethin’? So, like, yer’ all normal and squishy still on the inside, and yer’ not a real rock.” She guessed. “I’ve seen someone get petrified before - Gank. Real wimpy guy. He talked big talk but when I was a kid we went on a cockatrice fight and the dumb motherfucker challenged the bird when he wasn’t fast enough to get away. We just kinda left him there…”
She shrugged. She didn’t seem to be really bothered by some of the grim things about her childhood. They were just parts of life.
“It’d be cool if you could turn stone into meat, though. Imagine if you could just take a big ol’ hunk of rock and turn it into free food!”
Even if she didn’t really get all of it she was really impressed by Beist’s knowledge. Pretty cool to learn somethin’ new. Not to mention the information about cockatrices was really useful to hold onto for later. She listened to him the best she could ‘til they made their way to the farmer’s plot. Finishing up business was quick and easy, and they even got that cheese they were hoping for. Ak’ka tucked the solars in the pouch on her bag, grinning from ear to ear while Beist mentioned his wagon. That was way better than what she’d been about to suggest; Ak’ka was used to travelin’ on foot, and hunkering down in caverns and caves.
“Oh, hell yeah! We’re gonna eat like the king of Sol City himself today!” She cheered, unaware of the fact that his Royal pompous asshole would definitely not consider a meal of cockatrice and cheese decadent, following Beist to his wagon, excited for food and the chance to meet more lil’ fuzzy guys. All things considered, this was a damn job well done.
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Post by Beistmild on Aug 31, 2023 21:12:54 GMT -5
Beist shook his head. "No, I've seen petrified creatures that were broken into pieces before. They were solid stone all the way through. Which is odd, considering there should be empty spaces inside the body, such inside the lungs and stomach. It's as if the air and anything else within them, like whatever they'd eaten recently, was also turned to stone. Truly mysterious."
Beist stopped talking for a moment as he processed Ak'ka's story about Gank. They... they just left him there? As a statue? Well, he supposed if they had no way of turning him back, there was nothing they could do, but still. They just left him there?? No, it wasn't his place to question her tribe's... customs? It sounded like that Gank fellow had brought it upon himself. He just let it go and went back to rambling, taking his mind off the fate of Gank with more talk of how basilisks and petrification worked.
"Hm, well, turning stone into meat isn't entirely impossible. Plants are grown out of water and soil, so, with a little magic, growing something similar to meat isn't hard. I've actually done it myself. Comes in very handy when you have a lot of mouths to feed, especially very large mouths. Still, I've never found it as satisfying as actual meat. I think I just can't get the texture right. At least it provides protein." Beist said with a shrug before continuing his ramble about the differences between curses and diseases.
Beist just chuckled. Ak'ka seemed so excited about the upcoming meal, he didn't want to spoil the mood by pointing out that the king probably eats much nicer meals than this. He just lead the way back to his wagon with a smile. The wagon wasn't too far away. He'd parked it close to the farm, just a little off the path. It was a very large wagon, suited for someone Beist's size. As they got closer, it became apparent that there was no animal hooked up to the front to pull it though.
Beist lifted a hand up to his horns and tapped on the charms hanging from them. Instantly, a large griffon taller than Ak'ka at the head, a huge green woolful, and a tiny fox with purple and yellow fur appeared. He also tapped one more thing that was hanging from his horn, a little black bat, which flew off and into the small front window of the wagon. Awd climbed off of Beist and into the same window, yawning as he walked over.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Sept 6, 2023 14:57:59 GMT -5
“Really? Even their air?” Ak’ka looked stunned almost as still as the petrified monsters they were talkin’ about. She stopped, scratched her head. She just couldn’t wrap her brain around it. “Huh. It don’t make any sense to me. How do you make air solid?” Solid turning into a different solid was one thing, but air was air! And now Beist was saying that you could actually turn stone into meat if you tried hard enough?
Ak’ka scratched at her head before shaking it. “I don’t get it and I don’t think I’ll get it… sorry, Teach.” The sudden nickname mighta sounded out of place, but to Ak’ka it made perfect sense. Where she came from, people got titles for what they were best at. That was how she gave others affectionate names. Beist was really smart, and a nice and understanding teacher, and really passionate ‘bout what he was saying. He was a great teacher. It was just too damn bad Ak’ka wasn’t a good student. The stuff he was sayin’ was probably super fascinating, if she could even understand it.
“There’s one protein I do understand, though.” She patted the side of the cockatrice with gusto. They were getting closer to Beist’s wagon, a big beast for a big guy. Ak’ka didn’t really have her own place, not even a cloth-covered wagon, because most places didn’t make things for gals her size. But Beist’s place seemed pretty comfortable. Cozy. Soft just like the big guy himself. Made sense he had a place as kind as a fellow like him. But where was his beast of burden?
Ak’ka turned to ask, when her question died in her throat as Beist suddenly pulled a metric fuckton of animals from the middle of nowhere. Including an entire griffon. Now where in the world had he been hiding those? It took all her strength not to gape at the magnificent creature. Sky-beasts were rare ‘round here, but that didn’t mean they weren’t sacred - or as sacred as orcs could manage. They weren’t really the kinda folks to worship aside from leader’s rituals and tattoos and battlesong, but she knew that this animal deserved respect.
Ak’ka bowed her head at the griffon, silent for a moment. For Beist to have an ally in such an intelligent and powerful thing… hell, he must’a been stronger than he looked. Which was a big feat, ‘cus he looked pretty damn strong!
“Man, your friends are awesome.” Ak’ka managed after a moment. She almost wished she had treats for them or somethin’. While the animals made themselves comfortable, Ak’ka set the cockatrice down on the ground, dusting dirt and partially-dried blood off on her pelt. “Right. So, uh, you want help with these monster parts? Watcha need from this big guy before I start breaking it down?” She was more than happy to take care of the nasty stuff so Beist didn’t have to get squeamish again.
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The most powerful dadbod in Charon
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Post by Beistmild on Sept 11, 2023 10:32:23 GMT -5
Beist blushed and paused his rambling for a moment at being called "Teach". He'd never been called that before. Not even by Leni when he was teaching her how to read and write. He hadn't expected it now, when he didn't even feel like he was teaching anything. He'd just been rambling, lost in thought. But, if Ak'ka was learning from what he was saying, he didn't mind at all. He was actually happy to hear it. As he continued rambling on, his tail swayed behind him.
Beist chuckled at how impressed Ak'ka was with his companions. He never thought much of it, but many of them were quite a sight to behold. He was just so used to having them around now, and even before then, he'd mostly just found them all adorable.
"Thank you, but don't let Dora hear you say that. It'll go straight to her head." Beist joked, making no attempt to hide his voice from Dora. The griffon let out a screech and then reared up to bite onto Beist's horn with her beak, her front legs resting on his shoulders. Beist just laughed and started to rub the griffon's sides. Despite her fearsome size, Dora was smaller than Beist and he easily supported her weight now. She chewed on his horn playfully, just pretending to be upset by his teasing. She was happy to see him even if she pretended she was angry.
"Ah, if you could- hang it to drain- the blood." Beist tried to speak between being smothered in griffon feathers. "Down Dora, we have work to do. We need to cook!" He pleaded and the griffon relented with a screech. "Yes, yes. I've certainly had my punishment." Beist chuckled, but he knew Dora was just hungry and wanted him to start cooking.
As Beist was playing with Dora, the green woolful stared straight at Ak'ka. Beist noticed once Dora had gotten off him and leaned over to Ak'ka to whisper. "Would you please just let him hit you? He'll heal you right after. This is just how he greets people. He likes to act tough."
The woolful lowered his head and charged toward Ak'ka. With her height, his curly ram horns lined up right with her thighs.
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