FE-Fates: 003

Reaching Nyx had, frankly, been the culmination of multiple unwise decisions. Not least of which were the wyverns.

Riding Wyverns were noble and proud beasts, quite intelligent and entirely capable of recognizing individuals and holding both life-long loyalty... and life-long grudges. Potentially several lifetimes, as properly reared and fed a Wyvern was more than capable of serving as a war mount for a noble family through multiple centuries before age began to take its toll. A Wyvern would, in the normal course of things, only allow itself to be ridden by an individual who had earned its sincere respect and loyalty... with the exception of the offspring of that person, who had a leg up on the matter.

They were not as picky as Pegasi, who in many cases would only allow women to sit astride their backs, but they did demand respect in return from their rider, and would scorn and potentially slay any such prospective master if they flinched or hesitated in the face of snapping jaws, mightily beating wings, their sharp talons, or the rarity of fiery breath from these lesser dragons.

A Wyvern that was not tended to in a stable, by the boldest of servants that were introduced to them over the course of days by their rider? That was a dangerous creature indeed. They lived in mountain peaks, nesting in the calderas of active volcanoes when they could be found, where they hatched alone and lived varyingly social lives depending on how plentiful the nearby prey was, and how difficult it was to catch.

They were not sold, not at any price. But they were considered the property of whatever noble family happened to own the peaks they nested upon, tamed or not, in the same way that a noble family might claim exclusive rights to hunt in this or that stretch of forest, and all the rest declared poaching. What a man paid for was the right to test their luck, and most likely be torn apart and devoured, in approaching a wild Wyvern. Or, if they had rather more coin or much better family connections, to be introduced to a young hatchling in the stable that could eventually acknowledge them as a rider. Sometimes from an egg that had been laid there, and sometimes from one that had been stolen from the peaks by an excessively bold thief. Never mind the simplicity of game mechanics that allowed a soldier to re-class and pick up the right mount for free, training a creature for riding took time... Time that they couldn't count on having.

Astolfo had pulled the pair of Wyverns that he and Shin now rode astride from the sky with Vulcano Caligorante, his magically transformed and transforming sword. The Fortuitous Abduction Net had snatched them down and dashed them against the ground, leaving them dazed for the pair to approach.

Technically speaking, that made the two of them poachers. A problem for later.

A much bigger problem was that neither of the Wyverns were trained or accustomed to humans, making the whole enterprise... very dangerous, to say the least.

Astolfo, naturally, had A-rank Riding and that nullified the vast majority of all potential issues. The slightly smaller Wyvern that he chose to seat himself upon was quickly dubbed Zaffiro, for the deep blue of his scales with occasional paler, even nearly-white speckling.

The one Shin rode was larger, a shade of green nearly verging upon black where there were no lighter marks of scarring from battles, and the kindest thing he had been able to think of to call her was 'Bitch'. She was a surly, vicious wyvern that had nearly taken his arms off with the first snap, and which had not responded particularly well to missing and Shin punching her in the eye in retaliation. It was so very kind of Astolfo to grant him the more experienced and powerful steed, as the leader of their new mercenary troupe... though if Shin were forced to admit it he didn't see how things would be going better if he sat astride the blue one.

Shin Lee had the Wild Talent. What he did not have was Creature Defense. Without that, Wild Talent... was broader in scope, covering more things, but was not exactly the tool for the job that A-rank Riding was. It technically worked, in that Wyverns were a local mount that people were accustomed to being ridden upon, but... It specified mundane mounts like horses and similar 'appropriate available beasts', and the big green bitch was a far cry from a wild mustang, to say the least.

Every flight was a reminder that she could throw him off and send him a long way to the ground, and Shin was deeply grateful to his level of Stress Defense allowing him to resist the thought of it given that showing weakness or fear was what made that sort of thing happen.

What they had done, striking down wild Wyverns from the sky and immediately pushing to mount them and fly away... it was possible. In theory, it was possible, though in practice it was probably considered a form of suicide to attempt. That narrow, slim vestige of possibility was what the Riding skill and to a significantly lesser degree Shin's own Wild Talent were hooking onto, to make it work. But it was like riding a bicycle made of razorblades and barbed wire, that would likely as not cut deep enough to leave a man bleeding out before the ride had finished if anything at all went wrong. It wasn't working fantastically, but honestly, Shin wasn't sure why it was even working this well to begin with.

Shin gave it even odds that the big bitch of a Wyvern was going to try to kill and eat him in the night at some point. But that was what Astolfo and command seals were for. ... That and ordering Astolfo to orgasm on demand. With how the seals recovered once per twenty four hours, Shin could definitely spare one on occasion.

However, that didn't matter if Nyx killed him before the Wyvern had a chance to.

It was a damn struggle for him to duck the firebolt without demonstrating the sort of weakness or surprise that would have the Wyvern toss him off and take a shot at stomping him into a shallow grave before Astolfo could intervene, but he managed it.

He was off the flying reptile's side in response, and only then noticed the source of her ire.

"I see that I have spoiled your breakfast. My apologies. Allow me to replace it." Shin said, waving to Astolfo and quietly hoping that the unfounded picture of confidence he was presenting would prevent the bitch Wyvern from snapping at him from behind before his Servant had secured the creature. "No strings attached. I should not wish for you to go hungry on account of my misjudgement of landing position."

The latter was true, at least, though it left out the fact that Shin had not had very much choice in the matter of where the Wyvern decided to land. He had been aiming for a clear patch of ground just outside the camp, where he could dismount and approach more casually... he supposed that he was lucky the bitch reptile hadn't landed directly on the tent itself.

As for there being no strings attached? That was only technically true. Shin was offering the food freely, in exchange for having ruined hers, and wasn't attaching any requests or promises to the meal... but a Faerie Feast had never needed such a thing to have hooks hidden within.

Nyx stood, with her arms irritably crossed, shifting into vague confusion as Shin seemingly walked into a tree to gather ingredients from his Home. Her head was tilted to one side in bemusement as he stepped out long enough to toss smoked hams to Astolfo, to feed the Wyverns, and then returned for just long enough to collect ingredients.

Flour. Milk. Sugar. Blueberries. A touch of cinnamon. Everything that was required to mix up pancake batter, and a small pan and plates.

By the end of it, Nyx was left staring in quiet bewilderment at the tall and fluffy breakfast, topped with a spoonful of strawberry jam.

She took the plate in one hand but didn't eat from it immediately, instead holding it as she moved to the tree, where she gingerly tapped at and then stroked along the bark before heaving a sigh and moving back to a position where she could sit down.

"I suppose I have already seen too much to be allowed to live, should I refuse your requests?" Nyx asked dryly, carefully setting a fork and knife to the pancake, plate balanced on her knees.

"There is no call for that. Who would you tell that might believe you, for a start, and what could they do if they did?" Shin asked in turn.

Nyx grunted quietly in consideration of that, lifting a thick and fluffy slice of pancake to her mouth. Strangely, she grimaced at the first taste of it, pausing before she continued, eating at a steady and measured pace.

"So, what was that?" she asked after a moment.

"That was a magic door to the private getaway home I own. I can allow others in, but there are restrictions on who it will accept. I take Astolfo there to bathe and have sex." Shin replied, speaking a blunt truth after considering a couple other potential responses and discarding them.

"Hello!" Astolfo called over, waving cheerily.

Nyx heaved a mighty sigh.

"As for saving the world, I'm quite serious about that." Shin continued. "But I can't actually tell you the details of it right now. There's a curse that will kill anyone who speaks of a certain location, and I'm not sure if it covers details of the being living in it. I could explain how I know, but it's a fantastical story that I doubt you will believe."

"Try me." Nyx replied.

"I was reincarnated into this world by the actions of a greater power. In my previous life, I was passingly aware of events here that are yet to come." Shin answered obligingly. "In a manner akin to watching a play written in three different ways, by three different authors, who wished the story to go in three different ways."

"You're right. I don't believe you at all." Nyx said. "That aside, I am somewhat defended against curses."

"Do those defenses, by chance, hold up to something on a level akin to being backed by the malice of an ancient dragon that has gone insane after failing to ascend to a spiritual form and which seeks to take out its maddened spite and bile on the human race in general? Just as an example." Shin said. "A purely theoretical matter, that you shouldn't think too deeply on."

Nyx quietly stared Shin down. A few long minutes passed, during which neither of them budged, as though she intended to wait him out or force Shin to declare something less extreme in terms of explanations.

He did not. In the end, Nyx sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"You realize this is unbelievable?" she asked.

"Yes. But I can't explain the details outside of the cursed location or my magic house, so all I can offer is the vague outlines of the problem." Shin replied with a shrug. "And there are issues with getting to both. The passage to one will most likely kill you if the door at the end isn't open at the time, and for the other... Only I, my lovers, and things I own can enter my house, after all. For now, I am Shin Lee, and we should discuss joining my mercenary band."

Nyx's headache seemed to be growing larger.

"What is the pay like?" she asked after a moment.

"That depends. Who do you want to cook?"

Nyx stared at Shin for a long moment. Then, almost hesitantly, she looked down at the crumbs left scattered across the plate on her knees.