Birds Of A Feather 8 (1/2)

“Really? Now?” Keira asked with a cocked eyebrow. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but aren’t you a little young to be thinking about retirement?”

“I just look damn fine for my age, is all,” Opia replied with a wry smile. “But yeah, I am actually getting on in years so I want to quit while I’m ahead, as it were.”

The elf and the beastkin were currently seated inside the latter’s room in the port town of Oar’s Rest. Opia had popped in out of the blue, requesting she have a chat with Keira. Being the sort of decent person that she was supposed to be, the catgirl naturally offered to hear her out over a cup of tea. Boxxy wasn’t sure why this woman started talking about retirement though, nor why she approached its Facade with this information in the first place. Then again, she did bring that shiny snake mimic with her, so it decided to at least humor her for now.

It then realized that this was as good an opportunity as any to tie up a potential loose end.

“What about your business partner?” Keira asked. “I know it’s been a few days since she and Fizzy left on that Quest, but shouldn’t you check with her first?”

“There’s no need for that. Before she left, Jen told me that we’d never meet again, regardless of whether she succeeded or not,” the elf revealed with a frown. “She’s been telling me she had grown bored of Velos for months now, so I guess she decided to move on after wrapping up whatever it is she’s doing.”

This was actually welcome news to Boxxy. The newest addition to its ranks had not made any demands or put forth any conditions, but she did request that Opia be spared if at all possible. Something about ‘owing her a debt of gratitude’ or some similarly banal excuse. The shapeshifter would have preferred to just gut the elf and be done with her, but that didn’t seem to be necessary. Though Opia and Jen naturally had a bond of some sort, it didn’t seem to be all that strong if a few words was all it took to break it off. Unless they were so close that a few words was all it took, but Boxxy sincerely doubted that weird Monk had the social skills to forge anything resembling a meaningful friendship.

Either way, Opia seemed content not to chase after Jen and vice-versa, which was ultimately for the best. The elf was something of a specialist in the field of toxins and diseases, and such learned people were useful to keep around should their expertise ever become necessary. Not to mention that, even if it was just a little, killing her right after she met with the Hero of Chaos might raise suspicions. Simply put, Boxxy determined that leaving Opia alive would have more benefits than drawbacks.

That did not, however, answer the question of why she was even here to begin with.

“Okay, but why are you telling me all this? We’re not exactly close,” Keira bluntly stated.

“Truth be told, I actually wanted to speak with your betrothed, but I didn’t want to be seen as going around your back. No offense, but I heard from a human merc you had a habit of being, uh, overly protective of her.”

“Human merc? Wait, do you mean that creep who tried to hit on her before we boarded the ships? Black hair, tattooed, shirtless?”

“That’s the one, alright. Can you believe he actually walked up to me with this cocky attitude, thinking he’s the Gods’ gift to women or something? What a jackass. And those tattoos, don’t even get me started! You should’ve seen his face when Spittles showed up and hissed at him from six different angles. I’m pretty sure he shat his pants right then and-”

“Opia. You’re rambling.”

This was an unfortunate side effect of having a high Charisma (CHR) Attribute. Being able to more easily convince others to open up to Keira and coax extra information out of them was definitely handy, but there was such a thing as ‘too much information.’

“Right, sorry. Here’s the thing - though it only lasted two years, my partnership with Jen was superbly profitable. Combined with the savings I already had, I now have enough of a nest egg to give up on adventuring and try my hand at being a business owner.”

“Ah, I think I see where this is going. You’ve decided to go into the potion business and wanted to see if you can maximize your profits by working out some sort of supply contract with the Slyth family.”

“Woah,” Opia exclaimed with eyes wide open. “How’d you guess?”

The elf was in the process of buying out a local potion brewery. She was personally never very good at the whole mixology thing, but she had a good eye for people and a decent number of connections, so she had confidence she’d make a great boss. She had much to learn, of course, which was why she was starting off with a safe investment. Alchemists on Velos were always in high demand, so the only way her new business could go bankrupt was through mismanagement on her own part.

Later on she’d probably start some sort of ranch or reservation where she’d keep various amphibians, serpents and lizards as pets. Not hydras though, she kinda had her hands full keeping Spittles in line as it was. The whole thing would be more of a hobby than a business, but she’d still make some money off of it once she started selling their venom and toxins as alchemical ingredients. The Eight Tribes’ government also seemed to be surprisingly lenient when it came to certain… recreational substances, so she was looking forward to letting the good times roll. Perhaps even getting her employees to mix some extra-special blends.

But for any of that to work, she first needed the financial stability of a profitable business, which was what brought her to Keira’s doorstep this evening.

“You’re not the first one to approach Rowie or myself with this sort of thing in mind,” the feline beastkin said matter-of-factly. “Won’t be the last, either.”

“Oh… Well, now I feel like a scumbag.”

“It’s fine, I completely understand. Here’s the thing though - you’re barking up the wrong tree. Heh, barking,” the redhead chuckled. “Anyway, Rowie’s here in a personal capacity, not a professional one. Truth be told, she doesn’t want to get involved with her parents’ business dealings at all if she can avoid it.”

“Damn. I guess I shouldn’t have assumed things just because I found out she was part of the Slyth household. Sorry about that, hahaha…” Opia added with a nervous laugh.

“You can still visit her big brother Elias, though. He came to Velos with the sole intention of securing long-term trade deals, so I’m sure he’d be happy to hear you out at the very least.”

“That’s great news! So long as I’m not imposing, I mean.”

“Don’t worry about it. Truth be told, I kind of have to send you his way. Otherwise he’d be mad at me for making him miss out on a ‘potentially gainful agreement,’ as he called it.”

That elf’s thirst for profit was quite remarkable, to the point where he would’ve earned Boxxy’s approval if not for his unwillingness to get his hands dirty.

“I’m still thankful for the hookup,” the elf said politely. “So where can I find him?”

“You know that old lighthouse by the docks?”

While the two women continued making conversation at the table, there was another, far more heated discussion taking place atop the queen-sized bed on the other side of the room.

“Yip?”

“Snek. Snek snek snek, ssssnekek?”

“Yip! Yip! Yip!”

“Snek? Sneksnek, snek.”

“Yap. Yiapyapyap-yap!”

“Snek. Snek?”

“Yeeep…”

The topic of this particular debate was impossible for even Boxxy to decipher since it had no idea what these two were saying, or how they understood each other in the first place. Information was definitely being transmitted, however, as their discussion clearly had a flow and rhythm to it. The gold-plated serpent seemed to arrive at some sort of conclusion after a few more minutes of this and leapt off of the bed and onto the floor. It skillfully slithered over to the table the two women were sitting at and poked at Opia’s leg with its cold metal snout.

“Eeek!” she let out a startled shriek. “Snek! How many times do I have to tell you to warn me when you do that!?”

“Snek! Snek!”

She sighed, then reached down and let the house mimic transfer itself from her leg to her hand, after which she brought it up to the table where both her and Keira could see it.

“Alright, what is it?”

“Snek. Snek, snek. Snek,” it said firmly.

“What, just like that?”

“Snek. Snek snek, ssssnek.”

“I can’t believe this. Jen I can understand, but you?!”

“Snek.”

“You tiny little ingrate. Is this all the thanks I get for looking after your scrawny ass all this time?”

“Snek! Snek, snek! Snek!”

“Get real! What’s this hussy got that I haven’t got?!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

Keira’s objection was completely ignored, however, as Opia and Snek were too caught up in their argument.

“Snek! Snekek! Snnnnek!”

“My wrists are not clammy! It’s just the goddamn heat, it makes people sweat! Even a double-crossing fashion statement like you should know that!”

“Sneksneksnek! Snek!”

“And? Is that supposed to impress me?!”

“Sssssssss!”

“Don’t you hiss at me, you little shit! Wait, I get it! This entire thing is because of that tiny square retard, isn’t it?!”

*THUD*

A mithril knife was stabbed into the wooden table with enough force to make the cheap tea set on it rattle loudly and spill out a few drops of its contents. This put an abrupt end to Opia and Snek’s heated exchange, drawing their attention back to their clearly peeved host.

“Listen here, lady,” Keira spoke coldly. “I don’t understand what you two are going on about, but if either of you think I’ll sit idly by while you disrespect me and my pet, you have another thing coming. A very sharp, pointy, and painful thing. Do I make myself clear?”

“… Yes, ma’am.”

“Snek, snek.”

“Good. Now. What’s this all about.”

“Snek here says it wants to abandon me so it can stay with you, completely disregarding my opinion on the matter,” Opia explained.

“Is that how it is?”

Keira stared into the beady ruby eyes of the golden serpent, but it neither flinched away nor cowered. This was because it had decided to ally itself with the strongest being it had ever encountered purely as a means of self preservation. Opia and Jen had been excellent caretakers, but with the latter gone and the former retiring to a life of obscurity, it wanted to reevaluate its options. That was why it spent so long talking with Minic on the subject of how well it was cared for. Granted, even Snek had trouble understanding everything that box-shaped moron said, but it was quite clear that its sibling was living a life of leisure and luxury.

And being the cunning and selfish creature that Snek truly was, it wanted in on that action.

“Haaah,” the beastkin sighed. “Alright, how much?”

“How much what?”

“How much money do I need to give you to leave the mimic behind and get out of my room?”

The elf opened her mouth as if she was about to protest or object, but immediately gave up on wasting a Hero’s time and gave that offer some serious consideration. Though her feelings were hurt when Snek suddenly told her it was going to leave her, it wasn’t as if she could just force it to stay against its will. On the other hand, she’d feel a bit better about the whole thing if she thought of this opportunity as selling off an old piece of gear she no longer needed. Which was more or less the case now that she thought about it. She certainly wasn’t going to complain about adding some extra weight to her retirement fund, either.

“A thousand,” she finally said. “One thousand GP and Snek is yours.”

She gambled a bit and stated a slightly outrageous price by commoner standards, but Keira Morgana was anything but ‘common.’ Opia’s hunch proved to be on the money when the beastkin wordlessly stood up and went over to the strongbox that came with the inn’s room. She opened it and rummaged inside for a bit before tossing a small satchel made out of hard leather at the elf. The big-bottomed woman gingerly caught it with one hand, making the container clack with the familiar sound of gold coins. She opened it and quickly verified the amount before she stood up, thanked Keira for everything, then promptly excused herself and left.

After wrapping things up with the self-proclaimed ‘Venom Dealer,’ Keira took Snek and went to introduce Rowana to the newest member of their household. The elf wasn’t present at the inn because she was busy studying the local alchemical reagents and recipes. She was being tutored by members of the Rockjaw tribe, which had a reputation for being full of skilled artisans. This was all taking place within a small potion shop that specialized in body fortification elixirs made from both local and imported ingredients.

The platinum-blonde elf was understandably a bit cross when she found out that Keira had ‘adopted’ another house mimic without consulting her. Unlike Minic, however, Snek both understood and listened to her words, which quickly made Rowana change her tune. It was bizarre, but she could almost swear she likewise understood the creature’s one syllable sounds. The shiny serpent warmed up to her quite rapidly as well. Not because she could be a fierce protector or anything, but because it enjoyed wrapping itself around her wrist. It could now somewhat understand what its rectangular sibling meant when it kept going on about ‘the white one’s softies.’

After a while Keira gave her wife-to-be some made up excuse about taking her new acquisition for a test run while she wrapped up a nocturnal Quest and left the confines of Oar’s Rest with Snek in tow. She stepped through a Gate Spell the instant she was outside of the walls, putting dozens of kilometers between herself and the settlement in question.

“Alright, here’s the deal,” Boxxy spoke to the serpent once they had left civilization behind. “I own you now. That means you no longer have a choice in where you go or what you do. Do I make myself clear?”

Snek looked up at the monstrous catgirl while partially coiled around her left wrist and nodded firmly. If giving up a bit of freedom was the price it had to pay for security and luxury, then it would gladly take that deal.

“You are also to not even attempt to warn people of my true nature. They wouldn’t believe you anyway.”

That was also something the house mimic had no objections to after thinking back on how their first meeting went. The fact that Opia trusted a total stranger over her companion’s warnings was all the proof it needed that it was hopelessly outmatched when it came to powers of persuasion.

“Good,” Keira declared when she saw Snek’s affirmative head movement. “Now, I think it’s time I showed you a hint of what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

The shapeshifter let a devious smirk float onto its face as it fell into its own Storage portal, dragging Snek along with it. An average-sized Sandman-esque figure emerged moments later, leaving the golden serpent thoroughly confused as to what just happened.

“S… nek?”

“Long story short, I’m a shapeshifter,” Boxxy stated bluntly in a much deeper, more masculine tone. “This is merely one of the faces I wear.”

The only reason it dared to utter those words out loud was because Claws had already swept the area clean of potential eavesdroppers just before her Master teleported to it.

“Snek… Snek.”

“Hmm? Say that again?”

“Snek? Snek, snek.”

“Ahhh… Alright, I think I see what’s going on. You have Thought Whisper, don’t you?”

“Snek?! Snek! Snek! Snek!”

Though surprised, the golden serpent rapidly nodded its head in excited confirmation.

“I see. So that’s why people seem to understand you so well.”

House mimics were created by an unknown method that fused doppelganger flesh with demonic essence. This was something Boxxy had already deduced after seeing Minic’s Status years ago. However, there was no guarantee that all of Tol-Saroth’s pets would be innocent idiots whose only asset was reality-warping luck. If some of them could achieve a high enough Level in their Mimic or Doppelganger Job, then they’d surely gain access to a related Skill.

Which was precisely what Snek had done, and one of its chosen abilities was Thought Whisper. It was a Level 5 Doppelganger Skill that made use of the species’ considerable psychic potential. It allowed its wielder to add a subliminal message to their spoken words, like a whisper that would embed itself in the back of the listener’s mind. A skilled doppelganger could use this to convey notions and ideas that were never spoken aloud, making it seem like the other party had come up with them on their own. It was the Skill Boxxy would’ve gotten at Level 10 if it wasn’t for Pheromone Control’s ability to make an entire room more compliant in an instant, which it judged to be of higher importance.

As for Snek, it was currently using Thought Whisper solely to facilitate communication with other beings, be they its current owner or a mentally challenged sibling. It was still unclear to Boxxy how it understood Minic, but now that the doppelganger was aware of Snek’s Skill, it could actually talk to the latest addition to its collection of shinies. The larger monster’s near-legendary MNT had made it subconsciously block off Thought Whisper’s effects, and it wasn’t until it was completely alone with Snek that it realized what was going on. Once it did, it was a simple matter of allowing the living bracelet’s second voice to sink in.

“Snek? Snekek?”

“Indeed. Hylt creeper, technically.”

Boxxy waved its other hand at a nearby shrub, bending its leaves into a super-sized depiction of Snek as if to prove its mastery of Phytokinesis.

“Snek. Snek, snek. Snek, snek snek snek?”

“I refuse. That just seems like a massive waste of my time and energy.”

“Snek. Snek, snek. Sneksnek, sssnek. Snekekekekek.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Snek, snek. Snek.”

“Yes, that does change things. Alright, I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not making any promises.”

“Snek snek snek, snek,” the serpent graciously bowed its head.

“Save your thanks for later. I also trust you’re not suicidal enough to lie about that, yes?”

“Snek! Snek snek snek!” the shiny mimic frantically reassured it.

“Good, now hang on tight, we’re going on a little trip.”

The cloaked figure shifted rapidly, sprouting a pair of massive raven-like wings from the back of its waist, giving Boxxy a wingspan of roughly five meters. A black miasma began seeping out of its feathers, covering its newly grown body parts in a thick cloud of darkness. A powerful flap later and the monster flew off silently and smoothly, like a shadow moving across the dusky sky.

The thing that made this mode of transportation possible was something Boxxy had acquired from a species of nocturnal birds of prey called yogarasu. They had the appearance of horse-sized four-eyed crows with serrated beaks and lived in the desert regions of Atica. Unlike griffins or harpies that relied on wind, a yogarasu augmented its flight by using a mix of the highly compatible dark and gravity elements. One to almost completely eliminate their weight, and the other to propel them forward by using the shadows as a form of thrust.

This innate form of magic manifested itself as the Darkflight Skill, something the shapeshifter had stolen from the yogarasu via Cadaver Absorption along with Darkness Affinity. The magic-assisted flying ability was by no means ideal, however. While it did allow the monster to reach speeds and altitudes surpassing those of the Flight Spell regardless of how heavy it was or what the weather was like, it could not be used during the day. Light was a yogarasu’s Bane, which was probably why their signature Skill could not be used when it was bright out, even if the sun was hidden behind heavy storm clouds.

This limitation was a part of the ability itself, which was why Boxxy had to abide by it even though it most definitely did not have a weakness to light. Still, it personally liked this Skill despite its limitation. Truthfully speaking, it could theoretically manage to fly under its own power, but the sheer amount of effort involved was not to its liking. Not to mention the wingspan necessary to achieve any sort of meaningful altitude without magical assistance was unacceptable. Not impossible - the shapeshifter had enough Biomass to make it work - just impractical since it turned the creature into a massive easy-to-spot target. That was why Boxxy was unwilling to risk using pure shapeshifting to fly unless it was under the cover of night, which was where Darkflight came in. After all, nothing said ‘stealthy night flight’ like a yogarasu.

Incidentally, all of this definitely wasn’t the monster rationalizing its Skill acquisition decision because it didn’t know about its light-based limitations until after the fact.

Environmental conditions aside, using the ability felt great. It required a lot less focus and energy than maintaining the Flight Spell, and Boxxy didn’t even need to flap its wings to maintain altitude. This lack of effort allowed it to fully bask in the unparalleled feeling of freedom that flight offered. Teleportation was faster and arguably more convenient when covering long distances, but was nowhere near as tasty.

The sky had turned completely dark by the time Boxxy reached its destination. Upon entering the dungeon beneath the Rancid Summit, the shapeshifter couldn’t help but notice the place was a mess. Entire chunks of stone were gouged out of the walls, dust and debris littered the ground and there were dozens of scorch marks all over the place. The only part of the central chamber that wasn’t a complete mess was Fizzy’s temporary workshop, with the golem in question hammering away at her ongoing project as per usual.

The radiant Paladin stopped what she was doing and looked towards the shapeshifter with a beaming smile when she realized it was there.

“Hey, Boxxy! Had a nice trip?”

“Very.”

“And you brought someone with you?”

“Indeed. Allow me to introduce Snek, it’ll be joining our little club from now on.”

The cloaked figure lifted its left arm, showing off the golden serpent around its wrist. The house mimic shifted its position up to the doppelganger’s fingertips and greeted the mithril golem with a firm voice.

“Snek.”

“Huh, that the thing you were telling me about earlier, right? Whatsherface’s living alarm system?”

Fizzy stepped up to the creature on Boxxy’s hand and stared at it so hard that it made Snek feel strangely uncomfortable.

“Can I take it apart to see how it works?”