Mayiamaru's Closed Threads

On busy days like this one, going out into the village was a bother... Mayia preferred to spend her time in her home, outside the village where she raised livestock and trained the animals of those who wished to hire her services. She didn't like being where it was crowded, in the market with many people. She couldn't bring her animals with her out here, but she had to get supplies. Her own home garden wasn't enough to help sustain her life and the lives of all the beasts. So against her will, she entered the bustling little village of humans and kept her head low, a tan cloak wrapped tightly around her lithe body. Maybe, just maybe, if she pulled tight enough, it would allow her to disappear from sight.

This village wasn't especially accepting of magic or any extraordinary thing. They wanted their lives to be normal, and exiled or punished that which was different... It made living here hard. To be a bit strange was fine, but to be anything but animal or human was a thing that they saw to be unclean. Mayia had suffered once under their judgement. She would not allow herself to suffer like that again.

It was while picking up some ropes to help with taming that there was a commotion happening in the village, the main road soon packed with people. As far as she knew, nothing special was supposed to be happening today... BUt she decided not to pay it any mind, her eyes fixed on the goods that she was to pick up.

Whatever was happening, it was none of her concern.

And that was how it would always be. With that she was content, and it was with that in mind that she went about her business, her head staying low and her shoulders slumped forward into a little slouch.

It was a nice day.
Rather, it was a nice day for anyone else than me, who was certainly not enjoying being assailed by peasants all the time.

I also didn't enjoy the heat, if it comes to that. Oh, sure, sure, it was a summer day! Yay! Flowers and petals and singing schizophrenic bir- wait, that was spring.* On the other hand, I had been in this land for two months, and not once it had had an actual storm. It seemed to suffer from chronic good weather. Ghastly.

But even so, it was a nice day.

I finally approached the town's fields two hours after the sun's rise, my steed and my clothes evenly matching my supposed title.

The stallion was an Andal Courser, an enormous magnificent thing, nearly taller than a standing man. She neighed nervously as peasants got into my way, talking and gravelling about how it was a great honor to receive a Noble of Moront there, blah blah blah, that they were so incredibly honored, that they were asking for favours, blah blah blah. I resisted the fierce urge to run them over.

Frankly, I wouldn't have even needed to change into the Baron's son. If the king lived right next door, they wouldn't recognize the daft sod.

I was wearing a white linen shirt, whose collar extended upwards toward the neck, and a rich crimson jerkin spotted with a symbol of the Barons of Moront, a brown bear wrangling a green snake on a purple background. I was also wearing crimson trousers - hoses, as the natives called them- , to match the occasion, and a richly decorated black cloak, embroidered with golden strings and purple arrows.

Slightly horrifying, isn't it?

I smiled as I entered the village shadowed by the famous mountains, raising a gloved hand and waving it slightly, but inwardly feeling the prickling sensation of being in a form for too long.

I did notice something odd in the air, but I ignored it. For now.

*If this world even had spring. Or summer. Changed sun cycles and all.

Just do the chores that needed to be done. That was all... That was all she needed to do, and yet something always seemed to get in her way whenever she tried to be what these people deemed as normal.

And yet that had to be so difficult, the pale girl being pushed and pulled while the crowd rushed by her to see whatever was on the main road. She was able to avoid getting rushed by the crowd for a little while, but soon, all of the stores seemed to be too packed with people for her to get any service. What was worse was that there were so many people that she was starting to feel overloaded, her back tingling and her chest feeling tight.

There was no way that she could keep her mind in tact this way for much longer, and so she decided that now was the time to be trying to make her leave. However, it wasn't going to be that easy as she would have liked. The thumping of heavy boots and ladies shoes easy to hear as they tapped against the stone roads, dust from the trails between the stalls kicking up with all these people. She could already feel her head slipping, and before she was the wiser, she found herself by the main road just to get out of the crowd.

A noble? Why was a noble in this town? Mayia was confused, but considering that this place was a major site for trade, maybe it wasn't that unusual. But it seemed that everyone was rather happy. Of course, until she came too close to the front of the crowd.

"It's that weird girl from the forest."

"The animal trainer?"

"She's always with some strange creature. Maybe she's a witch?"

"But she's too clumsy to be a mage of any sort."

Mayia didn't have a very good reputation, her head lowering between her shoulders as she tried to sift through the crowd when suddenly, with the rocking of the crowd, she was knocked off her feet, pushed into the road where the feet of horses tread. Her head was too clouded for her to react, and no one was going to risk their necks for a girl who avoided looking anyone in the eyes. Besides, she was the animal trainer. No one expected anyone but a man to hurt her. But they were wrong to think that she was friend to all beasts, her head swimming in that clouded pain from all of their energies being syphoned into her against her will. It didn't seem that she even realized that she was kneeling in the road, one of her small hands pressed against her forehead while the long curtain of pale brown hair hid her face from the people around her, protecting her from their unwanted glances. Her eyes, blue as the sky, were just as empty. She really just wanted to go home now.

I regretted the decision of choosing (well, fine, stealing...) an Andal Charger as soon as the pale skinned girl was thrown out of the crowd and into the dust and stone road. She* neighed nervously (not for the first time, as some might have noticed...) and took a step foward, with me at the reins.

It was obvious she was pushed, or, well, elbowed. It was also obvious she was not particularly normal, considering the low whispers of the peasants and the way nobody risked their...temporary peaceful state of mind? to help her up.
Well, that and the fact that my sixth sense was giving me a metaphorical huge arrow in neon letters saying WACKO ALERT!

I eyed the peaseants, who had grown to be rather quiet and still, eyes off the girl. Nice villagers.

I knew what was coming, of course. I had to play the hero part now. Helping the girl into the horse, taking her away from the village, and then ask her to help me in my "oh so wonderful" quest, while gathering other adventurers around my humble person.

Well, sod that. No noble I knew would do any of the things above. They'd run her over. Or, if really nice, help her up and then run her over.

I got into a middle term here, and dropped from the mare, pointing at a random scruffy human.

"Do you have a stable here, man? Get my horse to it, now! And do be careful. " I ordered with my upper class accent and upper class chin. Then I turned towards the girl, lowering a gloved hand to help her and smiling a brilliant, teethy smile.

"My lady. Are you injured?" I asked, perfectly mimicking the common hero in the way that made me want to vomit. She could very well stand up by herself, and she would, if I hadn't got any self control.

*The horse. Not the girl. Obviously.
I had grown very fond of horses over the last months. These Andals cooked them rather well. Besides, when you're a shapeshifter, you get a certain respect for animals.

Thinking about how the villagers saw her hurt her, but Mayia didn't allow herself to take it to heart. She had to worry more about herself right now, trying to gently shake the painful migraine. She could hear the clip clop of horse hooves along the stone of the street, and she knew that if it was urged on, it would hit her. She gathered whatever supplies she had and held it close, her hands clutching her bag tight just as she heard the sound of cloth flapping in the wind. Whoever was on that horse was coming closer... And the energy around her was getting more tense...

The power in his voice was hard not to tremble from... This kind of thing just wasn't normal, and she greatly feared that someone, anyone, would think her more strange than they already thought. A peaceful life was the only thing she really yearned for. Why was it so hard to just be normal?

She swallowed pretty hard while just trying to think. She had lifted her head to look at the man adorn in noble colours, but the air around him didn't match his tone of voice. It matched that of the people, like it was collecting them in a void... "N-No... I-I mean yes. I'm fine." She said quickly, shaking her head as she cringed away from his hand. This wasn't good. She needed to calm down, quick as she stumbled back to her feet. "I'm so sorry for getting in your way, sir." She said very quickly, her eyes focusing on the floor just past her toes, head bowed in humility in hopes that she wouldn't be punished.

Oh, her head was swimming... It was making her dizzy, and she could feel the cold sweat starting to bead against her forehead. But at least now she had something more specific to focus on, and that alone helped to calm her down just a bit despite her trembling.

"Come on now, girl, you know lying is a bad thing to do." I declared, still showing a smile that seemed to be from those cheesy Colgate adds*. Even so, I lowered my hand.

"What is your name, pray?" I inquired, each word carefully pronounced in the upperclass western accent of the Moront nobility, each syllable with its due chivralry and grace.

I did not, however, give her time to reply, and turned around, swishing my embrodoired cloak as I eyed the rest of the villagers. I raised both of my gloved hands, speaking loudly, above the considerable dim.

"I carry a message. A message from the Lord my father, Defender of the Lands, Guardian of the West, Carrier of the King's Justice and Third Ruler of the Andals."

Yeah, right.

*Meaning, it was really, really, shiny.
Ridiculous, I know, considering that wondrously good dental healthcare that existed in this lands. But you've got to make the best of what you get: humans do enjoy their little traditions and thoughts. As rare as the later might be...

Being caught in her lies wasn't uncommon, but she couldn't help it. She was just... nervous. She almost felt like she was being backed into a corner, and she could feel her little friend squirming at the bottom of her bag now. She was quiet about it, though, cradling her bag as she looked up at the strange man adorn in reds, purples, and blacks. She only stood just barely about five feet tall, so she felt trapped within this crowd that gathered round.

He had asked her for her name, but Mayia didn't even get the chance to shake her head before he turned completely around and started yelling to the crowd, only drawing them in closer. She shivered at that, having turned her back on the nobleman as she tried to move away from the crowd, only inching closer towards him. Having the choice between getting stuck in a crowd of one compared to getting stuck in a crowd of a couple hundred, she would much sooner have herself stuck with the single man who loomed over her like a ghost.

She couldn't even bring herself to speak to these people, ask them to move or something so that she could just go home. The closer they got, the more intense was all this energy, and being anywhere near this man didn't make it any better. He was like a vacuum, drawing it all in. What was more, he seemed to just intensify it. The headache was getting worse, and her knees were almost audible as they knocked together, the small pale girl hiding further under her hair as she held her bag close to her chest, her little friend having wriggled his way up to the surface, just barely staying out of the sight of the public as he seemed to be trying to comfort his jittery humanoid friend. She wasn't so easily consoled, though, her eyes shut while listening for the bored murmur of voices she was more comfortable hearing.

"The forest you have known all your lives pose a threat to the kingdom. The forests you have known all your lives pose a threat to you." I declared, hearing the hushered murmurs of the peaseants, and inwardly smiling. You've nearly got them...

"There are dangers in the forest. There are terrors in the forest. THERE ARE WITCHES IN THE FOREST!" I yelled, swishing my cape again for extra drama.

The murmurs now came with cries of protest. Some of them glanced at the girl beside me, which was fascinating. So much for small town communities. The woman didn't worry me.

I wasn't hunting witches.
Not at all.

"In a few days, a hunter will come here. Provide food. Provide drink. Provide a place to sleep. Any man who assists the Moronts in this venture will get our most eventual gratitude. And gold. "

I smiled.

The theatrics of the man were grand and drew in the crowd like any good noble could do. He scared her, but not as much as the villagers were. The forest, dangerous and threatening the village, and witches. Who would've been the first suspect other than the girl who lives in the forest with both wild and domestic animals, already rumoured to be some kind of magic user. She could feel the stares of the villagers get intense, the energy more hostile. Her trembling was more visible now as she tried to back away from the crowd, but they were surrounded, and she was helpless to do anything.

If the man hadn't been just two feet away from her, then she was sure that she would have been attacked by now. Running through them and trying to just go home wasn't an option, and using any of her power to get away would only seal her fate, exiling her from this village.

"She really is a witch?"

"The crimes she must have committed..."

"Maybe she's a spy."

"The witch's spy! That must be it! And those animals of hers, familiars! No human could tame such beasts!"

Mayia's neck was consumed by her shoulders, her arms clutching her bag close. Even though they weren't coming any closer, she felt like they were closing in on her, making it hard to breath as she panicked, her eyes shut tight as if to wait to be locked away again, unable to move, forced to face the ridicule and psychological abuse. "Y-You're wrong. I-I-I'm not..." Mayia said softly, but she was too scared to speak her mind or defend herself. Something inside of her told her that resisting would be useless. She didn't want to hurt anyone... Why couldn't she be normal?

The hushed murmurs only lasted a few seconds. The second that Mayia stepped back, the mention of gold and prestige added to the offer to help with the hunt, the crowd was in an uproar.

"She's a witch! A spy! That girl lives in the forest! Get her! Her and her beasts!"

Some known hunters of the village ran out from the crowd to restrain Mayia. The fear on her face was very clear, and immediately, she had crouched to the floor, arms protecting her bag and her hair completely covering her face from sight. You're wrong. Please, don't come any closer. Stay away... Her head was pounding hard as that hostile energy intensified. Would this be the end for her?

As I eyed the woman, and heard the whispers -now more like shouts- an idea struck my mind.

"Wait!" I ordered, raising my shin a fraction higher and resting my hand on the pommel of my sword. Finally, add a fraction of distaste, a spoonful of disdain...

"I haven't finished yet, you dimwitted curs, and you would do well to listen to me! I speak not of the light of the outward forest, I speak not of this ...woman. I speak of the innards of the forest, of the places where the branches reach high and the roots reach low, the lands that even the wolves fear to tread. The witches live in the Taarmach, in the deep and in the dark. "

Put it in the oven...

I admit it, I was enjoying myself.

"The forest that you know is enormous. Dreadfully so. The Hunter will arrive in three days. If she," And I pointed a gloved hand at the fallen woman "Is ...inhuman, as you say...she can take my servant there. If not, she can still take him there. If she lives in the forest, she'll know the forest. Do not harm her much. A witch doesn't need spies, I'm afraid."

I then marched back towards my mare, jumping on it quickly and turning towards the villagers one last time.

And serve.

I got to the main purpose of my little theatre.

"One last thing, peasants. Pass the message to other towns, other men, other women: anyone who enters five miles into the forest will have his or her pretty head on a spike. Remember this."

I put my heels into my horse and broke into a gallop, and I figurated as a Moront for the last time.

Mayia had braced herself, just waiting for her inevitable demise when suddenly, the man spoke up again. She raised her head, not coming out from her curtain of hair and listened, still trembling violently under the watch of the villagers, her head spinning, eyes finding it hard to focus. It seemed that his speech was enough to stop the villagers from attacking her, but not enough for them to drop their suspicions. She didn't say a word while he spoke, though, staying on her place crouched to the floor.

She was cautious, but not very relaxed hearing him tell then not to harm her much. She didn't want to be hit with stones or pushed down while trying to shop... Considering the circumstances, then she probably wouldn't be coming back into the village for some time.

It was after the man mounted his steed that she slowly brought herself up to her feet again, her neck still incredibly tense, but she brushed her hair aside just enough to allow one of her eyes to be seen, still jittery and timid. She avoided looking at any of the villagers, eyes down as she walked forward. She was planning on just running back home from here, but before that, she stopped by the nobleman and his horse, taking an apple from her bag and feeding it to the mare before they left. "Um... T-Thank you..." She whispered, focused more on the lovely mare even though she was addressing the man upon her.

She didn't stay for long, hugging her bag again just as her little weasel friend climbed up to wrap himself around her neck and rest along her shoulders. She ran off along the road to get herself away from this place, eyes down, head low, and not once did she lift her eyes to look at anyone's face, scared that word would travel fast and that she would end up a target somehow...

The whole "witch" debacle was rather stressful, she had to admit. She lived inside of the forest, not quite as far as the limit that the noble set, but far enough inside that she couldn't see the village from the top of her own tree house. Mostly horses and dogs lived with her for breeding and training for the village, but there were a large array of other creatures. Rabbits, a few kinds of imps, cats both wild and domestic, and the pride of her little enclosure, the impressive leones that she had been ordered to breed and train for the guards of the city to the north. The leones were a strange breed of canine, smaller than the horses, but more powerful in combat if trained to be loyal. Their eyes seemed more feline than canine, ears pointed, jaws wide and strong. With a long, thin tail that had a tuft of fur at the end, they were build for power, speed, and balance, and Mayia had two families of them. One of the pups seemed to take to her better than the rest, and it was he who sat at her side as she tended to the wounds of her wolf partner.

No, she was not a normal girl. She wore her cloak even in her home, but under that cloak, her exposed back had two slits under her shoulder blades, pink and covered with fine, almost transparent hairs. It was with these that allowed energy to flow in and out of her body in the way that it did. Such a minor difference to a human's appearance, but one that kept her from being like everyone else.

She hated that...

But while she was different, she could communicate with animals in a meaningful way, and that was good enough for her, her eyes feeling with a calm and happiness that was absent while she was surrounded by people. She had the head of a large, silver wolf in her lap, and a gold-pelted leone wrapped around her as she relaxed in the garden. She had taken care of her chores, so this was all she really wanted to do until it was time to prepare dinner.

The clearing was mostly green, a garden out back to sustain her, three fenced enclosures to keep animals in, and a large, wide trunked tree. It lived despite being hallowed out partially, and that was where she lived, the inside incredibly simple, and most of the space inhabited by other woodland creatures.

The raven flew over the clearing. It flew over it twice.
The raven started to fly over it for a third time before dropping towards the ground, wings and claws outstretched.*

The next moment there was a well-dressed young man with golden horn-rimmed spectacles standing on the edge of the clearing. I gave a little cough and straightened my hair, closing my human's eyes and methodically examining the hollowed tree-trunk through each of the planes.

Well, at least that cheered me up. No defenses. No magical turrets. No giant trolls of doom.

I opened my form's eyes and took a better look around the clearing. The hollowed tree trunk doubled as her house, which did have some style, if you're into Mother Gaia, Bambi, and bad sewerage.

I walked towards the door, and promptly knocked on it.

*It wasn't to make a scene, mind. That's below me. It was because I'd spotted a falcon up above, and I really wasn't in the mood for getting attacked by an arguably unninteligent lifeform whose daily thoughts consisted in "Prey. Predator. Trees.".

Her hands were now dirtied from the blood of her canine friend, but his wounds were patched up and he seemed to be doing okay now, sleeping on the floor in that curled up position animals liked to sleep in. He looked so comfortable, so at peace, and that made Mayia feel much better than she had earlier today. She just reached out a hand to stroke the fine wolf's massive head when suddenly, there was a knocking at the door that made her blood run cold. Her little leone friend was up on his feet, growling and backing away from the door, a sigh passing Mayia's lips as she lifted herself up to her feet very cautiously. If those were the villagers... She needed to protect the animals outside.

"Garret, stay close, okay." She said quietly before hesitantly approaching the door. It took her a ridiculous amount of time to travel across four meters of space just to open a door, but what was she to do? She was terrified at the prospect of being trapped in a room in the dark again, her shoulders tense against her neck as she pulled the door open just a bit.

"... H-Hello?..." Mayia uttered quietly under her breath, just peaking out from under her curtain of pale brown hair, blue eyes peering cautiously up at the imposing figure.

He wasn't familiar, not looking like any off the villagers. Maybe someone from the capital come to check on the mounts?... It was around the time that their representatives were supposed to be coming around. Though, she didn't want to jump to conclusions, trapping herself into a new impossibly stressful situation again.

"Did... Did you need something, s-sir?"

I grinned lightly but nervously, running a hand over my ginger hair and adjusting my horn-rimmed spectacles.
"Well, a drink would go well at this time of the day, miss, er, May-ia, is it not?" I pronounced the words slowly, as if not used to the accentuation, and rubbed my hands together.

As I said all this, I took a peek inside. The house looked, well, cosy, if you consider living in a tree alongside grubby animals in the middle of the forest cozy. Nice fireplace, though. There was also a chair in the livingroom -or what could be considered a living room- with some thread, needle and cloths nearby. Presumably, it was for the stitched up mutt that was with her.

I took a second look around of the Planes*, but nothing of interest showed up. Fantastic. Well, nothing of interest showed up except for the girl slightly glowing on the fourth plane, like before. Nothing of new there.

I waited for her reply, still lingering on the house's borders. The mutt growled something offensive. I resisted the urge to growl back.


*The eight planes of existance to which I have access to, coexisting and overlaping like a stacked vienneta. Humans generally can only see the first one. Augmented ones, and mages, can see up to three or four. I had my current form up and going in all eight.

"I-It's... It's My-a actually..." Mayia corrected him cautiously, but should he apologize or not, she shook her head to herself to dismiss it. He could call her whatever he wanted. It didn't really matter... She slowly opened up the door and kept her head low, eyes down as she would always do in the presence of anyone considered higher ranking than her, something strange about this... Absense of presence. She paid it no mind, though. This would be over soon, she hoped.

"Garret, stay with Hunter. I'll be right back." She whispered to her companion before shutting the door behind the man and scurrying off into the back room, seperated from the main room by nothing but a linen curtain. A drink... But what is it he wanted to drink? Tea would take time to make, the safe bet would be water... But what if he wanted something more? Stressed and nervous, she jut got two wooden cups out and filled them with water, one to leave in the kitchen in case he wanted a quick refil, and one to bring out to the man.

Letting him in seemed like the polite thing to do, but it dawned on her that she had just let a stranger into her home. He had access to almost everything that was important to her... So she needed to be careful. Bringing the cup of water out, Mayia set it on the table in front of the man and took a seat on the rather cheap leather bench where her wolf was resting. The room wasn't incredibly large. A simple coffee table, a leather armchair, and this bench. The fire pit dug out into the dirt and lined with stones was more for warmth on winter nights rather than anything else. Maybe the occassional stew pot. But while it was still warm, some animals took to sleeping there sometimes, not that she minded. However, the thought of someone accented with gold wanting to come here at all was cause for suspicion. She didn't initiate conversation, though, merely waiting forthe man to state his business so she coukd guage just how nervous she should be, her shoulders never relaxing from their tense position.

I was preparing to mutter something polite about the dogs' names before they started to growl and approah.
I blinked.

"Right." I said slowly, taking a step backwards and glaring at them. Dogs which, if we must be honest, were very good at being glared at. They had all these little notches and scribbles that made me wonder, in a truly philosofical way, how long it would take to throw them the nearest volcano.

"Right." I repeated again, as one lied down in front of me and placed a head on top of my shoe, still growling. *

The woman arrived quickly, bringing in water in a small cup.
Water.
Well, I could hardly expect she'd bring some Chateau Margaux, now could I? Even so, I'd expected something more than water.

I headed towards the table, carefully removing my shoe from under the mutt's head, and sat down in the bench. I arranged my hornrimmed glasses again, licking my lips nervously,

"I'm terribly sorry, I'm new in this particular area, really. Not very used to this whole, ahem, supernatural, dillema. Would you mind if I-"
Still in the form of the nervous young gent, I took out a blank parchment from my cloak's pocket and placed it over the table.

"I have some questions, Mya."

*Oh, I like animals. Really. I just hate familiars and the like, which I was fast suspecting this ones were.

The pronunciation of her name was the lest of her worries. She pulled Garret into her lap and held him to keep him from biting their guest. The lion-like canine wasn't exactly very friendly with anyone other than her... so had to be careful. Mayia didn't want to accidentally offend someone important. If she lost this place, then she didn't know what she could do, where she could go.

She couldn't stop fiddling with her hands, petting Garret more to keep herself calm than to calm him down, and there was no chance of that while she was so... unsettled. Company was never really welcome here, but they couldn't simply turn them away. While the garden was still new, and supplies had to be bought to sustain this makeshift ranch of sorts, company was required, business with humans and the like were necessary. "Q-Questions about what?..." She asked in response, bringing Garret just a little closer to her chest just as her lupine companion opened his icy blue eyes, watching the newcomer from his relaxed, semi-sleepy position.

Hunter didn't seem to be distressed by the presence of the newcomer. He rarely ever was, but he watched him with indifference. There was an unnatural intelligence about the creature, like he could open his maw and speak, but Hunter had no such power, even if he was a little more powerful than the average forest wolf.

"Oh, you know, let's start simple. How long have you lived, ah, in this lovely cottage, Mya?" I took out a feather and inkpot and waited for her answer, smiling in the midly nervous way of someone in an awkward position.

What a time waster this woman was. Questions about what indeed...she might not have a calendar, but it is quite easy to count three days. Three days since the knight left. Three days spent raising my magical defenses. Three days sharpening my metaphorical knives.

There was a sharp cry, far above the tree. Probably a bird or so. Maybe it was that bleedin' eagle that I spotted, minutes. I gave a nervous, high-pitched, laugh, something to match my current body. "You don't keep a large number of avians around here, do you?"

"... Three... Maybe four years... I-Is this... going anywhere?" Mayia asked, unhappy with the prospect of having to sit here and just answer a bunch of questions about herself... If he really wanted to know about her, couldn't he just go to the local medic? The apothecary lady knew everyone in town, so... wouldn't it make more sense to go there for this kind of thing?

She sighed, lowering her head further between her shoulders before she could hear the eagle from above. She didn't know that Schala came back. The flock was usually out hunting at this time, but she didn't really think anything of it until the man asked her about avians... Avians?... It took her some time to understand the word, but considering the noise and the timing of the question, it wasn't hard to realize what he meant.

"You mean birds right?... Yeah, I take care of some. Um... Crows, eagles, hawks... Some of these strange little dragony birds... There are a lot of animals here." Mayia said, head tilted curiously as to why he was even here... At least talking about her animals helped to calm her down a bit, and in response, Garret stopped growling, watching the well dressed man with a critical glare.