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✦ Step 1: Capture. ✦

No matter how often he visited, Lithian always adjusted to Eowyn’s heat slowly it seemed. The first ferry ride over — with Araceli travelling beside him — was largely pleasant until they neared the shore of the desert continent, and the burn of its weather hit him afresh. Despite all his eagerness to escape — yes, escape — the Celestial Plane after the ‘complications’ there, with his family and otherwise, it felt as though it had been an eternity between the present hour and the last time he’d set foot on Eowyn’s sands. He made immediate contact with Casseth, of course, once he landed, and spent time with Ara in her search to find more permanent lodgings off the Plane.

Lithian almost envied her, but knew he wasn’t ready yet. Despite nearing his eighteenth cycle he felt unprepared in ways he couldn’t pinpoint. The more he saw of the world, the less he felt prepared for it, and the concept of moving fully out from under his parents’ metaphorical wing intimidated him to a degree he would be embarrassed to admit to. So, he continued to rent space, and spend his parents’ coin. One day, naturally, he would seek further independance but not yet.

It was several days later, perhaps a full week — Lithian often lost track of the days when he was outside of the rigid schedules that his family took to when he was on the Plane — when Casseth re-broached the subject of taming a baowi. Lithian remembered in full their first attempt at capturing such a creature and, as such, was a little miffed, but Cas seemed determined, and Lithian supposed he did take for granted his own hastar. Casseth did not even have a mount of his own and so he supposed the desire for something upon which to travel with reliably was understandable. Detraeus, too, had apparently returned — a good bit later than expected — and Casseth insisted that surely, between the group of them, there would be little danger at the very least, and at best, it would increase their chances of managing to snag one.

So, of course, Lithian caved, and sometime in the mid-evening of the next day, he rode with Ara at his side to the edge of the Terra Expanse where Casseth had suggested they begin their search. Upon spotting Detraeus, already at Casseth’s side and perched at the edge of the rocks, Lithian felt himself tense a fraction, and frowned. He wasn’t precisely sure what it was about Detraeus that set him on edge, only that something about the man unnerved him. He was too quiet, and not in a peaceful way, and perpetually bitter seeming to an extent that made Lithian wonder constantly why Casseth bothered to share his company.

Perhaps it was his dedication to combat. Or their shared love of situations that might potentially result in death.

Lithian sighed and shoved the thought aside, working the frown out of his expression before they actually arrived. He had no business actively disliking Detraeus. As of yet, the man had done nothing wrong, per se, and certainly done Casseth no harm. If he was Casseth’s friend, then it was reason enough for him to make do. So, by the time he approached the waiting pair, he had a smile on his face which spread to a grin as he focussed on Cas, and he dismounted easily.

“Well,” he said, dusting his hands, “at least between the four of us we shouldn’t die. Perhaps the strength in numbers will grant us a bit of luck as well.”

Something changed during Detraeus’ time spent on Soudul, and not just the addition of wings or tail. The crack growing on his forehead made his previous ‘style’ choice to cover it — and the markings there — with a bandana an irritating and uncomfortable maneuver. No matter how he tried to work the cloth, it scratched and felt strange, eventually forcing him to abandon it. With that gone, however, he had to deal with the concept of having his markings bared on some level, a thought which — surprisingly enough — was at least less terrifying than previously. On Soudul, he dealt with Malta seeing him near nude, however little he’d liked it, and then fighting shirtless on a second occasion. It was freeing, to an extent. Especially with the added complications of his new limbs.

Despite buying several new tunics designed to work with his wings as well as attempting to cut holes in what he already owned, the process was bothersome and restricting. Not to mention — as it always had been — Eowyn’s desert was blisteringly hot, encouraging him to do away with the bother of a top altogether other than the leather straps and armory necessary to hold his weapons in place and keep his most basic necessities guarded. So it was that he found himself, a day or so after his arrival, attempting to rub ink, then grit, then mud over the glowing etchings on his chest in an effort to blot them out. Unfortunately, whatever foul magic cursed him with them was stubborn beyond respite, and glowed through virtually any immediate covering. He abandoned the cause before moving to his right side and left it half-marred and unfinished in his frustration.

Perhaps scarring would remove the spellwork, but if his only options were to cut away his skin in an effort to remove the markings permanently or deal with the visible results as they were, he was of a mind to ignore the stares and move on with his life. He would earn enough scars from beasts alone and needed no extras caused by his own hand. Fate dealt him too many poor shuffles for him to be adding on to their number personally.

And thus, that was the state in which he approached Casseth and their agreed upon meeting site. Cas, true to his general character, looked briefly surprised at his unprecedented change in wardrobe, but had the tact to not comment, and moved the conversation smoothly on in his own directions, mostly expressing pleasure that he had simply shown up and then detailing the ‘plan’ for their attempted capture of the creature he wanted as a mount. Detraeus listened, perching on a large boulder near the edge of the Expanse where they waited for the remaining two members of their party, and happily letting Casseth fill the blank air with most of his talking.

Then, Lithian and Araceli approached. Both mounted. And both with two new sets of wings, though Detraeus’ focus was, admittedly, immediately pinned on Araceli, and he felt his body tense, unwarranted. Skin. What variety of outfit was that anyway? And how could that possibly be effective for battle? Or anything else for that matte—

Araceli dismounted, and Detraeus’ gaze instinctively darted to follow the rise, fall, and rebound of her various — shapes. He shut his eyes, pursing his lips and distracting his attention. Breasts. They were simply breasts, and there was absolutely nothing innately fascinating about—

“Welcome back.”

Detraeus’ lids flit open, attention briefly darting everywhere. Stomach — ‘Where did that piercing come from?’ Sides — she was so pale. Scales — how had he managed never to notice many of those before? And—

“Ah.” Detraeus’ tail coiled side to side behind him, almost curving towards her before he jerked it back with a frown and forced it behind him, his face heating. “Yes, that…you.” His brow pinched, cheeks warming further. Frustrated, among other things. “And you,” he corrected. “You look…” ‘Skin. Lots of skin.’ “…mm.” He nodded and stood without ever properly finishing that statement, wings and tail twitching as he forced his focus over to Casseth. “Are we hunting now?”

Detraeus wasn’t precisely sure what he expected. Casseth had spoken in passing of wanting a baowi mount in the past — it seemed to have been a thing on his mind for quite some time after witnessing some up and coming ‘adventurer’ pass through the town sometime in his youth — but it had never come to him actively participating in a hunt for the creatures for one reason or another. Now, however, seemed to be an ‘ideal’ opportunity, at least in Casseth’s mind, given that they were all back on Eowyn together and it gave them some excuse to gather together. Detraeus had known Lithian would would be tagging along — a frequent follower of Casseth’s — but was unprepared for Araceli’s presence leading up to the moment he spotted her approaching on her hastar.

He took full advantage of the opening to march forward as soon as Casseth gave the go-ahead, cursing silently to himself about his stupidity. During his time on Soudul, he had grappled with his convoluted attitudes towards the dovaa girl and concluded as he always had: he had no business with her. Attachment, if what he felt could even be labeled as that, of any sort was not a benefit to him. Connections held him back and distracted him from larger goals. Not to mention, as he had emphasized to himself multiple times in his hours of solitude, even if he did attempt to forge any form of companionship with her: a.) she would never return his interest, and b.) he was not capable of satisfying her in areas she would inevitably want in the impossible case that they progressed that far.

He was far better at killing wild animals. So, he focussed on that. Or, so he anticipated. Unfortunately, it seemed he was more distracted than he anticipated, and minutes after stalking ahead of the group, their prey found him first.

The resounding crack of a nearby limb was the only warning his inattentive hunter’s senses gave him before a follow up roar sent him sweeping around. He buried three arrows in the beast’s head, felling it where it stood, before it occurred to him that the general intention of their outing was to capture one, not drag home its corpse. He frowned. This, he thought as he stepped forward to retrieve his arrows, might wind up being more complicated than he anticipated.

Not to mention it seemed a terrible waste of meat and fur to just leave the beast there.

“You do know the point was to catch a beast,” Lithian said, “not use it for target practice?”

“Don’t need target practice on things I could’ve killed blind a half-decade ago,” Detraeus grit out, moving away from the kill. “Just don’t like surprises.”

Lithian arched his eyebrows, attention following Detra. “And if it was so simple for you, so below your current ‘expertise’ as a hunter, why would you let it startle you in the first—”

Detraeus shoved his shoulder against Lithian’s as he passed, none too gently, and continued on without a word, re-holstering his bow and starting off towards the cave as he wiped his bloodied arrowtips on his leggings. As Casseth and Ara had observed, however, the cave — while once clearly occupied — looked abandoned for a week or more. s**t dried and crumpling into the earth. Old carcasses of previous prey picked dry and left with nothing but brittle, baking bones. Tufts of fur that hadn’t quite been blown away by the wind, caught in niches of rock.

After climbing about the rocks and inspecting the cave in full, Detraeus shook his head. “A week or two ago, maybe. Not now.” He squinted, stooping and investigating old tracks. Too small, for a baowi. Probably the leavings of whatever was taking up temporary residence in the cave after their abandonment. “Deeper into the mountains, maybe.”

When food was scarce, many beasts native to the Terra Expanse moved deeper inward, away from the ragged, barren desert edges and in, towards the seaside edge on the west end of the continent, out of the rain shadow, where the climate was far more lush and forgiving. The only other option, if more immediate, was to move out into the desert itself in desperation and hunt from the scattered Magescian farms, towns and villages. That, though, was a far riskier business for any beast.

“So…perhaps we will look another day?” Lith suggested. “We’re sure to find another pack if we look for it. It isn’t as if Eowyn is short on baowi.”

With departure decided upon, the group of four headed out, but not without gathering the baowi up for sale on the market back in Taliuma. Without a hastar of his own, Detraeus wondered initially how best to even accomplish the feat, but Araceli offered hers almost quicker than he could consider it. Lacking a better option, he accepted, though he was still largely confused as to why the girl insisted on continuing to spare him kindnesses he didn’t ask for. He wasn’t about to complain.

They made it back just before sundown, though not before Lithian managed to suggest that they ought to meet again as a group sometime under circumstances that didn’t involve teeth, fangs, or dead animals. Detraeus kept his mouth shut and made a point not to stare at the soft glint of Araceli’s scales or the swish of her hair over her—

—back as they all parted ways.