Guess Who

Overlord: Momento Mori

"Yes, things seem to be going fine so far." As if completely forgetting about the possibly hostile presence nearby, Kath would become excited and begin a very long winded reply to Graft. "Ah, I actually just so happen to have been taking notes on the various flora and fauna that me and Ashara have seen while making our trek here," she began, taking the large book out from under arm and opening it to the first page. "Since you specifically asked for fauna though, I'll just skip over the entries on plantlife that I made note of. The first animal I spotted was a small rabbit which crossed our path on the mountain. It looked to be about two and half pounds or one point thirteen kilograms. Lengthwise, it appeared to be about fifteen inches or thirty eight point one centimeters long. It's fur was red-brown in color, with a white underside. Just like the rabbits of our world, it had the typical large hind feet, long ears, and short, fluffy white tail we would expect to see. Once we were spotted, it took off at what I would estimate to be a eighteen mile per hour sprint or twenty-nine kilometers an hour."

This in-depth description would continue for quite some time before she moved on to the next animal she had spotted: yet another rabbit. Next would be a description of a goat she had spotted, standing upon the edge of a far off cliff. Thanks to its distance, her report was far less detailed, though she made sure to still include what she could see. When Graft inevitably told her he had heard enough, she would happily offer to lend him her book to read for himself once she had returned, so he could skim through the unimportant details and also see the sketches she had made.

That would be when Kath's ever protective, and evidently very necessary, traveling companion would return to her. "Ah yes, Sir Graft's Open Line caused our little stalker's presence to slip my mind. They've definitely been keeping an eye on me, though they haven't made any attempt at an assault on my person yet," she told Ashara, both explaining away her strange whispering and easing her mind to the hostile presence's unhostile action taken so far.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Sorry for such a long wait. Got sick while on vacation and still remained sick even after finally getting back home. Really sapped me of the energy I needed to post. To be honest, I'm still not completely better, but I hated keeping you all waiting for so long.

Overlord: Momento Mori

"It's very nice to meet you, Mars," Kath replied, keeping up her polite, yet not completely formal facade. Once the adventurer had taken his leave and left the two girls to their own devices, the dragonoid would take her own leave of Ashara to perform her own bit of research. Unless the kitsune enjoyed pouring over near illegible books with her, there wouldn't be much for her to contribute with, so she was happy to hear her suggestion to separate momentarily and reconvene later.

Unable to read any of the signs that may have directed her to a library, Kath would use a combination of poking her head into stores to see if any had a large supply of books and asking for directions to find herself inside the local general store. There, the owner would be kind enough to let the girl have a look at his collection of literature and give her the chance to reveal what the purpose of the second large book she brought was. Having suspected that the difference in language would come up, she had brought a lexicon of all the various languages she had translated back in the old world of YGGDRASIL, in the hopes that she might find one similar to this region's primary language. It was no Rosetta Stone, but it was far better than starting her research from scratch.

---

Time would pass. Much more time than Kath would think if anyone had asked her how long she had been at her research, but even she knew it was time for a break. Significant progress had been made though, and she knew that when she left the general store finally and had a basic understanding of what the buildings around her were for based solely on the sign posts outside them. She wouldn't be writing any academic papers in this language, but she could help any possible spies Lord Rodias might send into towns and villages in passing off as any normal citizen.

Speaking of spies though, Kath couldn't shake the feeling that one was on her tail at that very moment. In the corner of her eye, she had seen them, staring at her from across the street just before someone had passed between them and allowed her pursuer to fade out of sight. Just because she couldn't see them though, didn't mean she didn't still feel their aura lingering in the area. It was quite a powerful aura as well. Possibly even as powerful as herself. If not for the safety that Ashara's presence provided, Kath would be feeling extremely cornered at the moment.

And then a voice in her head caused her to jump. She had been so focused on her surroundings, Graft's message had taken her completely by surprise. "Er, yes Graft? I don't have access to my library, but if I cannot answer your question myself, I should be able to direct you to the text you might need," Kath would reply. While she kept her polite tone, her draconic eyes would continue to search for that small, cloaked figure she had spotted earlier.

Overlord: Momento Mori

totally gonna pretend I haven't had a full rp with the APPLY tag up for a week. def not.

@The Irish Tree

Overlord: Momento Mori

@Xaltwind I'm actually out of the country at the moment. I can still post and I do plan to hopefully do so at least once before I get back home on the 11th, but finding a time we can all hop online to work on a collab together might be a little difficult to do.

Overlord: Momento Mori

For my family, Christmas Eve is for one side of the family and Christmas is for for the other side.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Since us swedes for some arbitrary reason have it in our heads that you celebbrathe Xlatmas on the 24th, rather than the 25th like every other country in the world, I'll be going shortly to my old man's house. Stuff my face with food, prtend to make pleasant small-talk with his girlfriend, hand out some Xaltmas presents and get a T-shirt in return, then come back home in the afternoon.

Not that I think my absence will be much noted, but just in case you're wondering why I'm not here for 14 hours straight today - that's why.

Regardless, Merry Xaltmas all you lovely pagans! I'll see you in a few hours again~

Oh, and @Guess WhoI liked that post thar, Kath so cute. :3

@Xaltwind

Thank you. And Merry Christmas to you too.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Kath couldn't help but blush at Ashara's kind words. She had never received such kind words before in her life, other than the occasional comment by a guest of the Chateau on how cute she was. Her words were not only a compliment to her intelligence and manners though. There was more. This wasn't an offhand remark on her appearance, this was a promise. A pledge to be her shelter for any trying times the two may face on this mission for Lord Rodias. Perhaps it was naive to believe that this vulpine woman could protect her from any danger, but when it was declared with such determination she couldn't help but believe that Ashara really could defeat any attacker and save her from any danger that came to her person. She probably read one too many adventure stories.

With a determined nod of her head, Kath replied back, "Alright. I'll do my best to support you as well. If anything comes our why, we'll face it side-by-side." Just to emphasize this promise, the dragonoid closed her eyes and took a step forward, finally crossing the threshold into this new world. For the first time ever, she had left Chateau Gothika and the world felt ever so bigger for it. "I can do it," she whispered to herself as her eyes opened again, taking in the scenery with a new perspective. With a smile toward her traveling companion, she said, "Let begin our trek," and began to walk toward the sleepy village that sat so quietly beneath their home.

As the two walked through the mountain, Kath would remain equally alert as Ashara, though for different reasons. Where the kitsune was on the look out for danger, the dragon was on the look out for information. Every moment she did not spend watching her step, she would be writing and drawing inside one of the two large tomes she had brought with her. Evidently, that book had been mostly blank and was now in use as a journal to record all of the various flora and fauna the twosome passed. She may have even asked Ashara to stop several moments to make sure her quick sketches and descriptions remained as accurate as possible, if not for the fact that they had a mission assigned to them and taking frequent stops would significantly slow their progress.

Her interest would divert back to Ashara when she made her transformation to a more human form though. Kath couldn't help but continue being the nosy explorer as watched, wondering to herself if everyone appeared that way when changing themselves in such a way. It wasn't often she had seen her fellow Chateau-residents make such a alteration to their person, and while she herself had the similar ability of multiple forms, she had never been in the mood to look upon a mirror as it happened.

The village was nice and peaceful, almost exactly how Kath had imagined the home of many heroes looked like before they began their journey. She almost had to fight off the ability to skip through town and enjoy its tranquil aura. It was probably a good thing she was successful as well, as the man that confronted them may have been even more hostile to their presence if she did something that would draw so much attention to the pair.

"My ap-" Kath would begin, before stopping to clear her throat. As Ashara had said, they were soldiers of fortune, people not exactly well known for their manners if the stories she read were true. Speaking formally would possibly gain them suspicion. "Sorry if..." 'Previous encounters.' That's what she wanted to say, but again she had to pause to remind herself to drop her usual demeanor to keep up the act given to them by her lord. "Some run in you had with one of my kind went sour for you, sir. I hope you'll find me and my partner here more pleasant to deal with than other Dragonscarred," she began. She liked that word, 'Dragonscarred.' It rolled off the tongue well.

"As she said, we are mercenaries, though we've only taken up the profession rather recently. We were hoping to find someplace for work while we made our way North. It doesn't have to be anything violent of course. We're not above doing some chores if it'll give us enough to pay for a bed and food later on," Kath said, interested in seeing what these people used for currency. Coinage could tell you a lot about a nation. They were covered in symbols and people that the citizens most likely valued. If these people didn't have coin and worked on a barter system instead, it would tell them that they were probably on the fringes of the nation they called home. Maybe even independent with no ruler, though that seemed unlikely with such a man as this acting as the village's guardian.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Kath better come up with some clever things to tell that grumpy-pants villager, you know, explain why two smokin' hotties who look nothing alike suddenly roll up on a dismal, backwater mining town out of the blue... Ashara isn't exactly the greatest con-artist or bamboozler around, despite being a tricksy fox-demon. xD

@Xaltwind

She'll certainly do her best.

Overlord: Momento Mori

@Guess WhoOi, you! Ashara didn't insult Light's weight, she merely warned her that eating everything and anything that everyone else left behind might cause her to grow fat! D:

Whine, whine, whine

On an unrelated note, I chipped my tooth at work yesterday and had to shell out close to $330 bucks in order to get ir repaired. Since the injury happaned at work, their nsurance is supposed to cover the cost and spot me for what I paid. Naturally you have to fill out a form for all this, because beaurocracy, right? Anyway, So, I told my boss today that I would appreciate if he could help me fill out the form.
This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: He, do you have some time later to help me fill out the paperwork for compensating me for my injury?"
Boss: Mmm, not really. Got a lot to do today, how about next week?
Me: ... Tomorrow's my last day before I go on vacation...
Boss: Oh yeah, I forgot. For how long?`
Me: Three weeks.
Boss: Oh... ... ... ... Well, don't you have someone at home who can help you fill it out?
Me: Uuuh, no? Nobody at home would know how to fill out a form like that.
Boss: Oh, it's super-easy. YOu just go to this website and follow the instructions.
Me: I mean, if you can't do it I guess I have to find someone else.
Boss: Oh, good! *goes back to work*

So, I asked one of the lower-ranking bosses, namely the one in charge of the delicatessery and meat/cheese if she could help me. Luckily, she could - and straight after lunch we sat down to fill out said form.

... Not only did I need several numbers and pieces of information about the company I worked for - information I would never have been able to access at home - but some of the nfields needed to be filled out were or required specifically for the highest-ranking manager to sign and fill out. Basically, there was no way I could have filled this out at home by myself.

So, my co-worker calls the chief on his workphone and asks if he can come in and spare 5 minutes to just fill out the sections he's needed for. His reply was:

Co-Worker: Hello, what you up to?
Boss: Working! Stocking some shelves and getting rid off this and that, yadd-yaadda.
Co-Worker: Alright, well, me and [MyRealNameHere] have been filling out that form to recompensate him for the work-related injury to his tooth. You mind dropping by the officer for like, 5 minutes to help fill out the last bits?
Boss: ........... What? He came to YOU? I TOLD him I didn't have time today!
Co-Worker: Uhm, yeah but... He's going on vacation next week, so...
Boss: *Barrage of excuses and for why he cannot possibly spare any time today*
CO-Worker: Uhuh, I see... Well, can we just leave what we've filled in and have you look it over tomorrow then?
Boss: *SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH* ... Yeah, okay, sure! *Hangs up*

Now, I get it. The holidays are stressful and there's a lot that needs to be done and taken care off in the store during this time. Heck, there's a lot of things that needa be taken care of even it's not holidays, but stilll... You'd think the guy could spare a few minutes for an employee, who got hurt in his store and had to pay for medical treatment with their own personal money could at least spare a little time to make sure that the person who suffered the injury got their money back at least before Christmas...

Iunno, maybe I'm just selfish and petty. I'm sure stocking chocolate bars and rearraging bottles of shampoo and soap are way more important than the fact that I had to pay about 1/3 of my remaining salary on fixing an injury I suffered at my workplace.

... ... ...

Then again, this is the same boss who yelled and berated a co-worker for being sloppy and unfocused and making a mess for everyone else, when said co-worker's mother had died about a week ago from cancer...

@Xaltwind

Ah sorry. The "'Careful, Miss Light. If you eat too muhch you might grow fat.' Ashara warned," And "in truth, it wasn't like Ashara disliked Light, she just found her presence uncomfortable and her personality... Well, in need of improvement, shall we say?" Sentences made it seem like the first one was supposed to be sarcastic. I'll try and edit it later today to fix that. Sorry again for misreading it.

And I'm sorry to hear about work mistreating you. Sounds like a pretty terrible boss to work for.