Private - Setting Up Shop

"No! Tianma! Those aren't for you! Horses don't need chairs!"

It was just a normal day in the outskirts of Astorea. The sky was blue and beautiful with barely any traces of fluffy white clouds, the sun shone through the reddening leaves in a gorgeous display of natural color, birds sang to one another in the branches, and a girl was struggling with her horse and cart on the side of the road leading towards Dormont.

...Well, maybe that last part wasn't so normal.

Ashiore grimaced as her horse continued to ignore her and merrily continued sniffing at the cargo that she was trying to reattach. Ash had finally gotten around to paying for a building in a bit of land that she had been granted in Astorea, but it was just a shell of a shop at the moment. She needed to fill it up with things: furniture, appliances, decorations, even basic things like windows and doors.

Which was why she had managed to buy some nice furniture at a shop in Stokbon. Simple, lightweight, had a really nice wood grain pattern and shiny finish. Now the problem was with transporting it all the way to Astorea. The trade route situation was apparently a bit iffy, but not knowing any specifics, Ashiore just decided to make her own way. What's the worst that could happen?

So, with that decision made, she went ahead and rented a cart to transport her newly bought furnishings all the way to her little plot of land. No need for horse rental, she had thought, as she had one of her own.

Unfortunately for her, she had utterly forgotten that Tianma was an overly curious horse who wouldn't rest until she had investigated every single thing that could possibly be investigated. Possibly by chewing on it a little. You know, just a tad.

Ashiore resisted the urge to throw her hands in the air. Tianma just continued licking at a bundle of table legs, cheerfully and pointedly not making her way down the path towards Dormont. Ohh, what was she going to do now, stuck by the side of the road with a playful horse and a lion who was just lazing on the ground looking smug and doing absolutely nothing to help?

 

There was a familiar face along the road as Solaria was on her way back from claiming some supplies. Though it wasn't unusual to see a horse-drawn cart, it was much more unusual to see a lion with it- and, for that matter, the cart seemed rather...Stuck.

"Hey there! Need any help?"

Smiling softly, she packed away her herbs and pranced a bit closer, finally able to put a name to the face she could recognize earlier, now that it was closer and clearer. "Looks like you've got quite a haul, Ash. Building a house or something?"

She took a gander at the goods in the cart, but only before she took double-take towards the two animals in her line of sight. That really was a lion, wasn't it? A lazy lion, but a lion. And what was that horse doing? Was it...Tasting the wood? Was that even safe for a horse to do? It'd be bad if it got splinters.

She dug into her inventory and took out a small bottle of some sort of solution. To be quite honest, it was an unusual mixture- one she hadn't a true idea of what it did, but she rather liked the scent. Opening the vial of purple, she took note of the sweet scent before holding it just between her and the animals. "It shouldn't be harmful to them, but hopefully it'll get their attention. I won't let them eat it though. Now, if it distracts them just enough...We won't have to worry about any scrapes on your steed. Right?"

 

Just as Ashiore was contemplating doing something a bit drastic--though what 'drastic' meant in this situation, she wasn't exactly sure--a familiar voice reached her ears. Perking up, Ash spun around to see @Solaria making her way towards her.

"Oh! Hey, Sola!" Ash smiled, pleased to see someone that she knew. "Ah, yeah." With a glance back towards the cart loaded with furniture, she explained, "I just started setting up my shop in the capital. I'm trying to get everything ready so I can open it, hence all the tables and chairs. I thought I wouldn't have any trouble moving them over if I rented a cart, but..."

No words were really needed to further elaborate on the situation, as a brief wave over at Tianma's curious exploration of her purchases was probably enough to adequately explain what problems she was having.

When Solaria pulled out the purple vial, Ash watched in amazement as Tianma looked up from her perusal of the furniture to stare at the source of the floral scent. Even Naixi lifted her head up to look. Ash gave a grateful look to Solaria. "Oh my god, thank you so much. I have no idea how I was going to get her to stop. Where'd you get that? I probably need a whole barrel of that stuff with how often they get distracted."

Though it now presented another problem in that Tianma was very fixated on the new guest. Trotting over, she huffed at both Solaria and the bottle in curiosity. Naixi had gotten up as well and was eyeing Solaria with interest. "Oh, I should probably introduce you. This is Naixi," she said, giving the lion a scratch between the ears, "and that's Tianma."

As she looked up to give a similar pat to her horse, her eyes widened in alarm at what she saw her horse was about to do. "Hey, Tianma! No! No eating people's hair!"

Did her horse just confuse Solaria's green hair for grass? Oh nooo.

 

Aerana had been feeling nostalgic recently. Her time in Brisshal was excellent, but she made it customary to visit to her the village she had grown up in every so often. Things always seemed to stay the same there, even if she didn't really know anyone that well at all. She never stayed for long, there was something right about sitting down and taking the scenery. Just watching time pass, and people new and old going about their business. She didn't really know why she did it honestly, it didn't really maker her any happier. She still did it anyways, it was just one of the things you didn't question. Like how you managed to almost burn down the village when you first started your Alchemy training.

Travelling down the well worn road, she spied something curious. There were two woman who appeared to be in a dispute of sorts, with a horse oddly enough. Did the chicken rebellion in Brisshal start to make waves to other farm animals as well? Would they target the cows next, to have a solid backbone for an army? Actually, on closer inspection the horse didn't seem to be very violent. Maybe it was just tired? No, that couldn't be it. It looked to be very lively and playful. Ah, that was the issue, it was too busy horsing around to actually be a horse and do its intended purpose. Had people long ago unknowingly doomed themselves to a world of uncooperative farm animals by poor naming of a word? She didn't know, and doubted that anyone would. Oh, there was a lion in the mix too but it seemed to be very... disinterested about everything. Doing her best not to spook the horse, she walked up as quietly as possible behind the pair of women before speaking in a soft voice,

"Hello."

 

Thankfully, whatever disaster that was about to happen was averted by the very timely appearance of someone else. Not very thankfully, the new arrival scared the daylights out of her by sneaking up behind Ashiore before speaking. "Aah!" Jumping a little and spinning about, she stared wide-eyed at the newcomer.

"Oh, uh, hello. What are you doing here?" While Tianma was distracted, Ashiore also took the chance to grab onto the horse's reins to stop her from going after either Solaria's hair, the furniture again, or those roses on the side of the new girl's hood.

"My name's Ashiore. I'm actually going to Dormont right now to get my new furniture over. If you're headed in the same way, maybe we could all go together?" She turned to look at Solaria. "And you too, if you want? I heard that there was some trouble with the trade routes so that's why I have to go and bring these over myself. If there's any danger, maybe we could all be safer if we're sticking together."

Well, regardless of if they were coming along or not, Ashiore really ought to get going soon. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to reach Dormont, unload all her furniture, and then get back. If all went well, she'd be back in Stokbon with the cart by nightfall, and wouldn't have to pay the extra rental fee for another day.

@Solaria @Aerana

 

Smiling to @Ashiore Evretto when she asked about her special salve, the alchemist couldn't help feeling a bit of pride. That she'd helped someone was always a wonder, but that she was being praised for her craftsmanship? That was a doubly nice thing. "I made it myself, actually. I haven't got any clue what to call this stuff, so I just call it a mystery potion. I only recently noticed how it attracts animals by the smell...Any ideas?"

Grinning, she listened to Ash explain her situation. A fellow craftsman in Astorea setting up a shop? This was always great news, and as she'd recently set up one herself, she knew how much work this news could create!

"What kind of shop is it you're opening?" Her curiosity had brought up the question, but she was soon stopped from getting an answer by her hair being tugged somewhat. What had Ash just said? The horse was...eating it? "They sure are energetic, your buddies here. At least that's a relief. Though...I really do think my hair is unhealthy for them."

That was when another woman had wandered down the road, greeting them gently as if she were a mouse, all too quiet compared to her boisterous attitude. "Oh, hey there." In attempt at a more courteous greeting, the alchemist offered a friendly hand. Ashiore had already introduced herself to @Aerana. Hopefully, she'd make a good impression too. "I'm Solaria. I agree with Ash! There's safety in numbers, so why don't we all go together if we're headed the same way? It's a lot more fun with friends anyway, after all."

 

The Hunting Hounds

​

As the young ladies speak under the sun above, a noise breaks through the air. A torrent of howls pours from deep beyond the treeline and a few moments later the sounds of thundering paws and harried panting join the frenzied calls.

A host of hounds, a medley of breeds and coat colors, charges from the cover of the trees. Their jaws drip with drool, some frothing from their exertion, and all have wild eyes as the excitement of the chase draws them onwards. However, the pack appears to be anything but aggressive as they grow near. Their powerful noses sway from sniffing the grass to wind before all seem to settle on their target like a hivemind. It would seem that @Solaria's potion to lure Tianma along has lured a hunter's dogs astray!

Whatever their original prey may have been and whoever their master left behind in their wake was, the canines all seem perfectly pleased to circle the small group with curious whines. A few glance at Naixi, but decide she's just a weird looking dog. Poor thing.

Drive off the dogs, find their owner, help them on their hunt, or simply submit yourselves to the ultimate cuddle pile. The choice is yours.​

 

What a cruel world. In an attempt to not spook the horse, she had inadvertently gave the brown haired woman a scare. Would it have turned out better if she had yelled from far away instead? But she guessed that would have given the horse quite the shock instead. What was more important, the mental health of an animal, or its hopefully more resilient owner? Today was shaping up to be a very turbulent day, a lot of hard questions were being asked and she would need to draw her line in the sand. Well, enough about that for now, first impressions were important and while she thought she had bungled that up, both of the women seemed to be fine. Which was good, she would feel awful if one of them came to harm as a result of her actions.

Both of them introduced themselves to her, they seemed very nice and cheery and when the one called Solaria offered her hand, Aerana gave it a quick shake in return. She gave a slight frown when Ashiore mentioned troubles with trade routes, so both the roads and animals were rebelling? That would truly be the end of society. However, a quick glance at the ground revealed that the path was still quite firmly in place and not malicious in any way that she could discern. Maybe it was the other paths then? It must be hard to stand alone against your own kind, but she respected the road for not giving in to peer pressure.

She was about to respond to their inquiries and offers about travel when a sudden barrage of dog howls sounded. That was out of the ordinary, had they attracted a pack of wolves? A bit apprehensive about fighting off wild animals and not in any good terrain to lose them in a chase, she was turned to the source of the sounds. Instead of a pack of vicious wolves as she expected, she instead saw a cannonade of canines all eager to play as they bounded towards the group. Suddenly surrounded, Aerana looked right at a particularly bold dog who had stepped out from the group. It gave her a little whine and a small head tilt for good measure. Still unsure of the situation, she gave the dog a quick pet on the head. The effect was instantaneous, the dog came closer to rub itself against her leg and wagged its tail in delight. Well, this one seemed friendly. She turned to see how the other two ladies were faring but in doing so, left herself wide open. Some of the dogs were discontent, why was Oscar the only one getting petted? To counteract this injustice, some of the hounds took it in into their own paws and devised a cunning plan: To throw themselves at the one who was doing the petting. Aerana never saw it coming.

 

Whew! Good thing that they agreed to come with her. No offense to her lovely animals, but it felt nice to actually have people along who could talk and respond to you when you talked to them. “Great! So I guess we should set off now, since-”

Oh wow. That sure was a lot of barking coming their way. Instantly on her guard, since you never know what kind of dangers and aggressive beasts could lurk in the forest, Ashiore spun around, eyes scanning the nearby trees. Wolves? Giant rabid coyotes? Odd people who were really good at imitating barking dogs in order to intimidate people? You had to be ready for everything.

There! Rustling in the bushes as the barking grew louder and louder-!

...Oh. A trail of actual dogs running up to the group was all the danger that was. Now she felt a bit silly for getting so worked up over a bunch of puppies. They didn’t look aggressive, though overly active, and as they pattered over sniffing this way and that, she let out a little laugh. “Awww, hello!”

She crouched down to try and pet a few of them, wondering what they all were doing here. A little bit of observing their sniffing around made her think that @Solaria’s potion maybe worked a bit too well. Wow, that was a potent concoction! For another matter, these were too properly groomed to be strays. So they must belong to someone, or a whole lot of someones judging by just how many dogs there were. Where were their owners, though?

“Oh!” As @Aerana gave one a scratch between the ears, the dogs apparently decided that they would lump all their affections on her. The girl disappeared in a pile of furry bodies as they all surged towards her for more scratches.

 

The excess barking made even the girl more accustomed to noise at a disadvantage, her perked ears finding it hard to handle the high decibel sounds. But, as the dogs got closer and began to pile upon @Aerana for her affectionate actions towards the first, that sound started to nullify. Though, there were other sounds that worried her...Such as the silence from Aerana, or so she felt she heard.

Running to the pile, Solaria moved to pick up one of the dogs- though, the one she picked was a bit big for her to easily hold. When it tried to growl in distaste for her actions, she pulled it away from the group and nuzzled her nose into its fur, calming it carefully. As it got used to her, it seemed to perk at the familiar smell that caught their attention in the first place.

Worried about Aerana's breathing in such a heavy pile of adorable pups, Solaria pulled back out her mysterious potion and held it in the air- only this time, she turned towards @Ashiore Evretto with a small idea. "Say, do you have any snacks on hand? Maybe they'll calm down a bit more if we give 'em some treats. We can play with them without worrying about being smothered if they're a bit more distracted, right? Plus...Aren't they just adorable? It's hard not to want to spoil them. I bet their worried master wants to also!"

 

The world was a warm, fluffy and very gentle place for Aerana. Well, not really gentle but it nice to be so appreciated. The gentle part of her description was coming from the fact that she was starting to lose feeling in her legs, she was pretty sure that wasn't a good thing but people did say that ignorance was bliss so she chose to ignore that fact. The warm and fluffy part of the whole situation was definitely nice though so she chose to revel in that fact. It was a new experience for her, and she would make the best of it. As she lay, sounds getting quieter and quieter, her hands never stopped scratching and petting.

All good things must come to an end however, and the pile of dogs seemed to get lighter. She also felt like she could breath better, which was probably for the better. Compromise was not a foreign concept but when it was between breathing and a bigger pile of hounds... She had a little moral dilemma honestly. In the end, the decision was made for her and she could see sunlight. What a wondrous thing it was, illuminating all that stood within it- where had those thoughts come from. Indeed, perhaps it would be wise to avoid being part of a dog pile, especially the bottom. Eventually, she managed to squirm from under the heap and stood up, brushing bits of fur off as she went. Wow, she would need to find somewhere to really clean off all this hair. She felt mostly fine but something was off... Ah, she gently readjusted the rose on the side of her hood which had gotten ever so slightly tilted off center. Much better. She turned to see what had been the cause of the dog exodus, it must have been something good with how enthusiastic they were.

 

“Good idea,” Ashiore said to @Solaria. She didn’t really have much in the way of meat on her since Naixi usually did all their hunting as necessary, but she had a few morsels. Bringing along dried meat was always helpful when wildlife was scarce or unsafe to eat, like in Crystallized Zalra. “Hey!” she called to the dogs. “Down! No jumping on people!” She held out her strips of dried meat, waving them in the air to get the dogs’ attention. “Get off of her, or you won’t get any of this!”

Luckily, it worked. Combined with Solaria’s potion, the dogs all started following after the treats en masse to reveal a thoroughly squashed @Aerana beneath. If it was possible to be drenched in something that wasn’t a liquid, Aerana was absolutely drenched in dog fur when they finally extracted her from the pile. Now they had an entire horde of dogs, a horse who was happily whinnying away at all the potential new friends, and a rather perturbed lion who was watching very carefully to ensure that she wouldn’t be dragged into this zoological mess.

Ashiore felt a bit bad for laughing, but it looked like Aerana was fine. After she and Solaria made sure the girl was alright, Ash took stock of their situation again. The dogs were now sniffing at the ground for any little crumbs left, and they weren’t attempting to swarm anyone. It looked like they all had the same collar on, which made it likely that they all belonged to the same person. Naixi was glowering at the dogs, probably for ‘stealing’ her meat.

“On that note, we should probably try to find their master,” she said, giving the nearest dog a quick pat. “I know I would be worried sick if I lost my pets.”

Uh, how to start, though? She didn’t think just asking the dogs would work…

 

What had helped the plan succeed was far less her potion and far more @Ashiore Evretto's commanding voice when offering food. Seeing as the third of the women was drowned in dog fur (a state she never thought she'd see in her lifetime, but had often questioned possibility of), Solaria opted to let Ash take care of the dogs for a bit while she took on helping @Aerana out of any stupor the doggy-pile might have left her in.

"I do love dogs, but I have to say...That old saying of 'too much of a good thing' might count here. That didn't look comfortable at all." Laughing nervously, the Yladian let her ears droop as she spoke, apparently reacting to the discomfort of the very imagination of the sensation she assumed Aerana felt. "Ash is right that we should find the owner but...How is more than a good question. It's the ultimate puzzle."

Moving over to one of the dogs that was distracted idly by a snack, she crouched and pet it behind it's ears, smiling gently. "Well, we do know the general direction they came from. Perhaps if we lead them that way, we'll find the owner en route? But it's the opposite way of where we were headed...There must be a better way, right?"

 

Upon seeing the concern Solaria held for her, Aerana was confused. She felt fine, especially after she had crawled out of the pile. As far as she was concerned, all was right in the world. Unfortunately, the second part of Solaria's statement brought her back down to earth. No doubt, the owner of the dogs would need to be found eventually, she took a quick look around, seeing nobody else aside from the group. Could that mean the dogs were runaways? After all, having a whole horde of dogs run away and not chasing after them was a pretty good sign that you didn't know that they were gone in the first place. The sheer enthusiasm and energy of the dogs left Aerana with no doubts that they would be able to break down any sort of enfencement that their owners put up.

"I am fine. I am quite sure that we will need to look for some sort of settlement."

She was pretty sure that the village she had visited recently didn't have a great number of dogs nor a hunter. Perhaps somewhere in the woods would be a hunting lodge and a dozen or so bewildered owners. Herding the dogs shouldn't be a big problem if Ashiore and Solaria still had ample amounts of their bait. On the other hand, if the dogs caught wind of something even more enticing, that would be a huge misfortune on their quest to fetch the dog's owners. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that however and they would just trot through the green forest in search of wherever the dogs came from. Getting off the road would be fortunate as well, as they were bound to reach the rebellious parts eventually if they traveled along the path. She turned to both of the women before saying,

"Shall we set off?"

 

Oh! Actually, she had an idea! She still wasn’t great with her possession spell, but she wouldn’t be able to improve without practice.

Turning to @Solaria and @Aerana, Ashiore quickly opened up her spell menu. “Hold on, I think I might be able to figure out where they’re from. Or, at least, sort of. Let me try this…”

She let the game take over her body and felt her mouth form the incantation, reciting the odd language as energy drained from her body. She focused on the nearest dog, a large skinny hound with gray fur, and projected her consciousness into the canine body.

In her new dog body, the sound of her human form limply falling to the ground was magnified greatly. Ohhh, yeah, she probably should’ve warned Solaria and Aerana that her body would collapse without her mind in it. Oops. Well, not really much she could do about it now. Hopefully the two of them wouldn’t panic too much.

Turning around to the rest of the pack, she yipped cheerfully. Hopefully, this translated into something along the lines of, “Hey guys! How about we go home?” It was hard to tell, however. Dogs in general were pretty excitable, and all animal communication while in this form was pretty fuzzy at best.

She got some barks in return, some of them vaguely agreeing, others more on the dismissive side. Hmmph. Well, this would be tough. How to convince them to-

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee

Her pointed ears couldn’t help but perk up at the high-pitched whistle. That’s a dog whistle, the part of her mind that was still human thought. Unfortunately, she was running on 80% dog instinct at the moment, and this dog definitely recognized its master’s whistle. Without any chance to stop what this body was doing, she got up and bolted in the direction of the whistle along with the rest of the pack.