039

–TheirWorld–

Struggling out from the grasp of the old man, Liorax floated up to the cat’s eye level with a grin. “How quaint,” the fox cooed. “The old man has a familiar.”

“A powerful one at that!” The cat answered haughtily. Hoth stared at the cat on his shoulder blankly and shrugged it off. Shaking as it landed on all four feet, it grinned back at Liorax.

“Is that so?” Liorax drawled, landing next to the cat and sniffing it. It scratched at his nose, but Liorax pranced away.

Guin looked between the animals and Hoth, but determined her cloak to be more important than the bickering spirits. Hoth, himself, was looking over her fur with squinted eyes.

“What is it?” Guin asked him.

The cat jumped back up on the man’s shoulder and looked at her. “There’s a lot of magic in that pelt of yours,” it told her. “It came from a powerful beast,” it’s eyes narrowed. “Where did you get it from?”

“It was a gift,” Guin explained.

“Was it?” The cat didn’t seem to believe her. “Or are you, perhaps, the cause of the corruption in the forest?”

She shook her head. “I’m not. Or at least, I don’t think I am?” Guin looked at Liorax for support.

“A ridiculous notion,” Liorax purred. “The pelt was entrusted to the half-Che. The corruption rots your forest due to your own ignorance.”

Unimpressed, the cat shrugged. “One can never be sure.” Hoth looked at Guin up and down, and nodded his head for her to return to the cottage. As he went inside, the cat turned and looked at her, saying, “Follow, girl. The master cannot stand your disrespect.”

“D-Disrespect?” Guin asked, stepping back inside. Hoth had left Amikavi’s pelt back on the marble slab that she had been working on before. The orange and black cat pawed at it as Hoth stared at her. “What?”

“He wants to know if this was what you wanted to use the house for,” the cat went, sitting at attention. “He wants to know how you planned on desecrating it further.”

Hoth looked down at the cat, his eye twitching, but merely looked back up at her.

Biting her lip, Guin reached into her bag and pulled out Liorax’s blue hued pelt.

“This is Liorax’s — my spirit fox friend here — his pelt,” Guin explained. “I don’t want to do any such thing as desecrate the pelts. I am supposed to sew these two pelts together for my cloak…”

Running his hand over Amikavi and Liorax’s pelt, Hoth squinted at it.

Liorax settled in on Guin’s head again. “I think he’s afraid that you’ll manage to butcher my skin if you do it on your own,” he said. “He a kind individual. You’ve worked hard, little Tatterskin, but this is the tricky part. If you were to damage our furs, you should remain as weak as ever, half-Che. How could any of us be loyal to you then?”

“And with so much on the line, let me guess, the mockery would continue? Wouldn’t you rather help?”

“Where would the fun in that be?” he asked, bemused.

“If you aren’t going to help, then go… Elsewhere,” Guin scowled.

“Go elsewhere? While you, the old man, and the foul cat butcher mine and the great lady’s skins?” he asked feigning offense. “Why, let the mockery continue!”

Sighing Guin watched as Hoth continued inspecting the skin. The cat watched her carefully. “What are you called?” Guin asked it.

“I am Bo,” the cat said. “You are a Tatterskin? Of course. That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

Bo put his paw on Amikavi’s skin. “This fur came from no ordinary beast. This fur is filled with magic; it should be treated with as much respect as the honor and power it’s owner bore.”

Hoth went over to a wood closet and pulled out a beautiful grey wolf cloak, similar to her own, already with what looked like the furs of several different animals. He spread it out over the counter and waved her over.

“This is…,” Guin went in amazement as she looked the cloak over. It was similar to how she imagined the construction of her own cloak would be; different pelts, quilted together. He took Guin by the wrist and spread out her hand so she could run it over, feeling the seams that she could barely see. Flipping the cloak over, she saw that it was lined with another skin, a single, supple piece that was a light tan color, and velvety to the touch. The lining skin had a pattern etched within it that she barely felt, but it was dyed so that it was burnt auburn.

“Are you a Tatterskin too?” Guin asked, looking up at him in shock. Hoth shrugged.

Bo shook its head. “Not him,” it said. “His brother. Many years ago, now. Hoth was always the one who worked on the cloak, though.”

Guin looked over at the old man as he turned the cloak inside out from the bottom, revealing to her the seams of each piece, and designs that were painted on the inside.

“What are these?” she asked as she looked them over.

Liorax floated down. “Yes,” he went thoughtfully. “I thought so.”

“Some of these look like the ones on the other leather works,” Guin noted, looking around the room. “Hidden like this, they must have some kind of meaning to them. Could they be…”

“Enchantments,” Liorax confirmed, landing. “Crafting enchantments. Some improve stability, some add armor and resistance, some add power to spells and abilities. This man may not speak much, but he has talent.” Squinting up at him. “The question remaining is, why is this man with the hunters, when his capacity for magic is such that it is.”

Bo shrugged again as Hoth started rummaging through his drawers. “We spent some time in a mage's tower,” it said. “It didn’t stick. We came here to live with his brother — and so the tale of Hoth and Bo ends. It’s been a quiet life — one he and I are much more suited to.”

Seeming to have found what he was looking for, Hoth came over and placed some bits of paper, some ink, and an inkwell in front of her. From a bookshelf next to them, he pulled out a thick book and started flipping through the pages. Finding his page he placed the book in front of her and pointed to the design, and then the paper.

Guin spent several minutes copying the design, earning the [Enchanting] skill.

“This is a stability enhancement,” Bo told her. “It protects the durability of an item during crafting, and increases the overall durability of a finished item.”

As she copied that one, and several others, Hoth watched over as she worked, and when he approved, he changed the paper out for scraps of leather, helping to teach her how to imprint the patterns. The first took her three tries to get right, but finally Hoth gave her his approval. The next couple of ones were more complex, but they didn’t take as much time once she was used to the process.

With that finished, the old man looked over Amikavi and Liorax’s pelts, and fit them together for her, showing her the best edges where they met together. With a couple of pieces of scrap he had, he took an awl and made several holes, starting to sew the two pieces together with a thin, tightly braided leather cord. After showing her how to to to do it, he handed her the tools and cords and motioned for her to start her work.

So, after practicing, she did. First, she put the pattern on each of the seams, and then, biting her lip, she took the tools in her hand and began the next step towards her new and improved cloak.

And surprisingly, the result wasn’t all that bad considering it was her first real attempt.

The cloak was now uneven because one side was longer than the other thanks to the addition of Liorax’s pelt, but she was actually rather proud of herself.

Even Liorax seemed impressed as he sniffed at it. “Oh!” he went as she finished. “That’s not bad! You learned well, half-Che! Even the Lady Amikavi should be impressed. Maybe you shall make it as a successful Tatterskin after all!”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” Guin mumbled and pushed his nose.

While Hoth didn’t seem particularly thrilled with the job she did, he didn’t seem upset, either. Bo had fallen asleep, curled up on the table while she had been doing her work. Once she finished, the old man showed her a few more enchantment patterns for her to paint onto the skin’s themselves; an armor enchantment and a resistance enchantment, respectively. With that finished, he looked over her remaining skins and took out a good quality, dark grey Cat-Fox skin — which was quite large — and had her turn it into a liner, etched with the armor enchantment and dyed to give it an antique feel.

Holding it up, she was happy. Hoth nodded with satisfaction and stroked Bo on the head.

The cat yawned and stretched and sleepy jumped up onto his master’s shoulders without so much as an acknowledgment of Guin and Liorax’s presence. Hoth put his hand on her shoulder, gave her a firm nod, and left her on her own again. Grinning foolishly, Guin checked the tooltip after she put it back on her head.

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<<[ Guise of the Two Tailed]>>

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<< A cloak made from the skin of powerful fox spirits.

This cloak contains the skin of the Lady Amikavi, who once ruled over the White Fox Forest. Legend portrays her as a great trickster, and fierce protector of the Veil. Hers is a skin filled with powerful magic to summon storms, ride the wind, and beguile creatures great and small.

This cloak contains the skin of Liorax, Harbinger of Death. A fox from the Darklands, his is skin filled with mystery and darkness. Death, not destruction, is his power, and it comes on gentle breezes as often as it does on great storms; on sunny days, as much as in the deep darkness of night.

This item can be upgraded.

This is a class item. See [Tatterskin Settings].>>

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Excited, she pulled up her class window to see if she could change anything yet, but, unsurprisingly, it seemed like it was locked up by the quest.

“I guess I’ll just have to go back to the catacombs now!” she said to Liorax.

“Yes!” the blue-grey fox said, nudging her face. “I am sure she will be pleased.”

“Let’s head into town first so I can sell all of the extra things I have. Orle should be happy at the number of wolf heads I’ve collected.”

“And milk!” Liorax said excitedly.

“I still don’t know if foxes like milk…”

Liorax rose his head up proudly. “Then I am a special fox!”

Guin laughed as they left the cottage and headed back towards the city.