To err is human; To Purr is Feline

[Jeremy Casing]

37th Fall, 512AV

If you want to learn about animals and the like, you need to visit Pirambas, on the Surya Plaza. Fai will happily teach you.

It was this promise that had driven Jeremy to drop by Lhavit's pet store. At first, he had been reserved, simply assuming that a pet shop would breed and raise animals as quickly as possible in order to make a profit. Thankfully, he was soon proven wrong. The people of Lhavit seemed to be incredibly impressed with the young woman, who had only recently taken over the shop from her father.

And Jeremy was impressed too; from the moment he walked through the entrance door into the pet shop. It was clean, fresh smelling and not at all as crowded as he had expected. The owner, however, appeared to be absent and so Jeremy began to wander throughout the wire pens that displayed a variety of animals for sale. He came to a stop at a cage containing a single cat, with a flat-faced and a rather displeased-looking expression. The animal wearily raised its head to him in a casual greeting. Their eyes met and Jeremy was instantly overwhelmed with the desire to sleep, eat and nap again -- in that order. With a minute flick of its tail, the cat glanced from Jeremy's face to a little yapping dog caged in the corner of the shop. The Kelvic did not need his gnosis to know that the feline was growing particularly aggravated with the pup's constant noise.

"A Squash Cat. They're actually very sweet, if a little sad looking."

Her voice was quiet, soft. Immediately Jeremy could imagine her crooning to her animals, relaxing them with her gentle words. Her appearance was also demure: copper hair, green eyes, a round face, and petite body.

"Yes. Although I think she's getting frustrated with that dog barking. She wants to sleep."

Amusement, followed closely by confusion, flickered on the woman's face. Her brows knotted together briefly, but then a curious smile spread over her full lips. "Oh. Did she tell you that herself?"

Jeremy missed the sarcasm and nodded, shrugging his shoulders, "for lack of a better word, yes. I'm still not sure of the correct terminology. I don't think you necessarily speak Nura, more just feel it. But I'm still very new at this."

"Oh!" A hand went to the girl's mouth as she realised that Jeremy was not just some madman who believed he communicated with animals. She regarded him again, green eyes lifting up and down his body to drink in that bird-like appearance. "You are blessed by Caiyha?"

"Yes." His milky skin flushed pink slightly on his cheeks. Jeremy allowed a somewhat awkward silence to hang over the two of them, but then he stepped forwards and extended his left hand, the gnosis mark peeking out from underneath his shirtsleeve, "I'm Jeremy Casing. I'm not here to buy a pet, actually, but for an altogether different reason."

"Fai Piramba." There was that good-natured smile again, pulling at the woman's round cheeks and wrinkling her eyes, "right. So may I ask why you're here?"

Jeremy licked his lips, suddenly quite aware of the nervousness that was eating away at his gut. Absently, he rested a hand on the top of the Squash Cat's cage. The feline slinked over to him, reaching up to touch his fingertip with her cold nose. She was hungry. "I hope to develop a career as a veterinarian," Jeremy began, slowly moving his hand away from the cage to empty his mind of the cat's desires, "but as of right now, I know very little about keeping, caring, or healing animals. I need to learn, so I wanted to ask if you would mind showing me the ropes?"

Fai considered this proposal for a long chime. She was no professional teacher, having learnt everything she knew on the job or by watching her father. The idea of sharing this precious knowledge with a complete stranger was uncomfortable. But then again, Caiyha - creator of flora and fauna - had blessed this young man. That was a hard thing to deny. "I see." She said eventually, lips pursed and eyes cast away from Jeremy.

"I understand that this is an odd request." Jeremy offered, stepping forwards and trying to sound as earnest as possible, "but I really do want to do my best, and to do that, I need as much help as possible. You're the best in Lhavit, so I've heard."

With a sigh, Fai slowly nodded. "I can't promise you I'll be an excellent teacher, but perhaps you can come here every other evening to watch me, to help out. I can't offer you payment though--"

"That's perfect!" Jeremy nodded enthusiastically, grinning now, "that's all I want, honestly. I wouldn't expect any payment, other than answers to all my questions."

"That's fine. I'll do my best, if you promise to do the same." She paused to allow Jeremy to nod, to silently sign this verbal contract between them. And then Fai gave him a breathy smile and gestured for him to follow her through the back door of the shop. "You may as well follow me, then. I'll show you around."

[Jeremy Casing]

The room that Fai led Jeremy into contained more pens with animals in, young puppies and kittens that tumbled over each other and mewed excitedly when they noticed their mistress had entered the room. With a sweeping gesture, the woman explained to Jeremy: "This is where we keep more animals that are for sale. Most of these have been bred here, though a few have been left here by their previous owners." She came to a stop by one large pen in particular, housing a tri-coloured long haired dog that bounded up to the front of the pen, thick tail wagging excitedly. "This is Bobo. He's a Mountain Dog whose owner sadly passed away. The owner's daughter bought him here last season."

"He's... big." Jeremy said, a little flummoxed at the sheer size of the animal standing before him.

"They're used by merchants to pull carts. But to be honest, they're fantastic family dogs. They're loving, placid, and affectionate. If it weren't for their size, I thnk every household would have one." Fai unlatched the door to the dog's pen to allow Bobo to exit the cage. The dog squirmed out, his entire huge body quivering with delight and excitement. After rubbing himself around Fai's legs, Bobo turned to Jeremy and gave the Kelvic a thorough sniffing. As Jeremy buried his hands into that thick fur, he felt Bobo's delught at being touched and stroked. Underneath his joy, however, was the shadow of sadness and mourning.

"He misses his family." Jeremy muttered, dropping down into a crouch position so he became face-to-face with the dog. Bobo whined apologetically, brushing his head into Jeremy's chest.

Fai nodded sadly, her eyes becoming wide with regret and grief for the animal. "I thought as much. During his first few days here, he barely slept. Just spent the night whining and howling."

There was nothing Jeremy could say to comfort himself, Fai, or even Bobo over the dog's loss. Of course Bobo would be heartbroken: his deceased owner had been his best friend, his one true companion. The two had been inseparable, even when the old man became frail and weak. Bobo had been with him when he passed, and had cried just as whole heartedly as the rest of the old man's family. "His owner used to have a sheep-skin blanket," Jeremy said as the dog's memories flooded into his own mind, "When Bobo was a puppy, he use to sleep on it. Is there a way we could get the family to donate the blanket? It might ease some of Bobo's grief"

Fai stared at Jeremy, surprised and frankly quite amazed. "You... know that? Just from touching him?" Envy burrowed itself deeply in the back of her mind, and Fai just couldn't shift it.

The Kelvic nodded slowly. "Yes, in a way. I could also see the blanket, could feel it." He passed a hand over Bobo's giant head and massaged the dog's ears gently, "it's hard to explain."

"I can imagine." Fai murmured, trying impossibly hard to keep her voice even. Again she watched Jeremy, trying to work out this stranger who stood in her shop. His gift was incredible, as was the way animals just seemed drawn to him. "Let's move on. Bobo can come with us, for the company." This seemed to please both Kelvic and dog, so the trio moved to the next pen.

[Jeremy Casing]

It was impossible for Jeremy to stop his voice breaking with excitement as he stared down in the next cage. "Kittens!"

Fai nodded, smiling widely. "Yep. Bobcat kittens. See how their tails are short?" There were three in the cage altogether, though at the moment they seemed to form just one large blob of fur and stumpy tails and ears. "They're pretty solitary when they're grown, so it's important to socialise them with other animals when they're young. We tend to keep them with their littermates for as long as possible."

Jeremy and Bobo leaned forward, both peering into the cage with keen interest. "You bred them here?"

"Yes. We'll see their mother upstairs in a bit. These are currently sixty days old, and were separated from their mother four days ago. Bobcat kittens can be separated from their mother earlier than most other species because they are so independent by nature. They're doing incredibly well fending for themselves."

Jeremy wished he had bought a notebook to jot down all these crucial slices of information. "So they're eating solid food now?"

Again Fai nodded, pointing to three small half-empty bowls of food tucked into the corner of the pen. "We feed them a mixture of stewed and dried meat, to get them familiar with a more adult diet." She paused, gathering her thoughts and ensuring she had covered all the important parts. "Oh! And the dried meat is smoke-dried. Never, ever salted. Too much salt would kill them."

The severity of this consequence startled Jeremy. Even Bobo whined and tilted in his head in apparent surprise. Fai smiled mildly and explained further: "We never feed our animals salted meat. It's too risky. Smoked and sundried meat is more expensive, but worth it. If you learn anything today, I'd suggest it's that fact."

Fai continued to lead Jeremy and Bobo through the rear of her store, pausing at each cage and briefly giving a description of the animal contained within it. In total, there were two cages with dogs (excluding Bobo), and three with cats or kittens in. Jeremy was elated, but already felt that he was drowning in amongst all this new knowledge.

"Shall we move to the aviary?"

Somewhat overwhelmed, Jeremy nodded dumbly.

[Jeremy Casing]

The aviary was one huge structure made of wood and strong wire, but upon approaching it, Jeremy realised that in fact it was separated into several sections. Fai led him to the front of the aviary, where they could see into every section. Each part was tailored to the individual needs of the bird species inside it; some were larger, some were dense with tree branches and greenery. Fai indicated into one part of the aviary that featured a complicated-looing structure of rock. "Horned Larks." She declared before leaning against the wire front and searching inside the aviary for the bird in question. "Relatively hard to spot, despite having a yellow head." Suddenly she gasped and pointed, "there! See?"

It took Jeremy several moments, but eventually he caught sight of a small, feathered little bundle taking shelter within a nook of a rock. "Oh I see it." He flashed Fai a grin before looking back at the bird. He frowned. "Why is it's head shaped like that?"

"That's a male. They grow feathers on top of their heads that look like horns in the summer - hence the name. Seeing as it's only early fall, he hasn't quite finished impressive the ladies just yet."

"You breed them here?"

Fai nodded. "Yes. We currently have four breeding pairs in this enclosure. The fledglings are usually sold pretty quickly, but those that aren't go into the back of the aviary and are either paired up with an unrelated mate, or released into the wild."

Jeremy had not expected the pet shop to make such an effort for conservation. He was immediately impressed -- and relieved. Though he knew dogs and cats made good domesticated pets, he was undecided about birds. He couldn't imagine any large bird of prey preferring the inside of an aviary to the great outside world, where they could fly and glide and hunt freely.

As if on cue:

"And here we have our two Golden Eagles."

They were majestic birds, with great beaks and wicked talons. Jeremy found himself wanting to bow, or courtesy, out of pure respect for his fellow avian.

His silence did not go unmissed by Fai. "Speechless? They're magnificent, aren't they?"

"Yes." He replied breathlessly. "I haven't met a Golden Eagle before."

One of the birds, the male, hopped across the tree branches in the enclosure to make his way to the front of the aviary. The eagle stared at Jeremy unblinkingly, identifying the male as Kelvic, and a fellow bird at that. There was some unspoken respect between the two, a bond that even Fai might not understand.

Only she did. Watching Jeremy with a critical gaze, she said, "you're Kelvic, aren't you? I can tell by how the birds react to you. Your other form must be a bird, right?"

"A Gyrafalcon." His reply was bland and empty, as if Jeremy was speaking under hypnosis. The spell broke when the Golden Eagle dipped his head and returned back into the depths of the enclosure. Blinking, he turned to Fai and explained in more detail: "You're right. I understand birds even better than other animals. And they understand me better, as well. I can... read them. And vice versa, of course."

"A Kelvic Phylonurist." Fai muttered, more to herself than to Jeremy. She clicked her tongue against her teeth in thought before turning suddenly onto him. "So I imagine you can tell me what you're feathered brethren would eat?"

"Rabbits, stoats, weasels, other birds. Any other smaller animal, I'd imagine." He frowned slightly, "do the eagles here hunt, or are they just fed?"

Fai's reply was a little defensive. "They're allowed to hunt. They're not caged all the time. We make sure they're trained before being sold, and part of that training is to return to the same place at all times."

[Jeremy Casing]

They moved on from the aviary and returned to the rear room of the shop. There, Bobo went back into his pen, but was significantly happier than before. "I'll show you the rooms upstairs, then maybe it's best to call it a day for now." Fai's voice was as quiet as ever, but now her tone seemed distant, cold.

Jeremy felt a pang of guilt. He had spoken out of turn to the one person who could help him learn about caring for animals. It was quite evident that Fai cared for her charges, and did whatever she could by them. And Jeremy had swanned in, gifted by Caiyha and judging the woman for keeping Eagles in an aviary. Why was it that whenever Jeremy finally did speak to someone, more often than not it was some kind of thinly concealed insult that he never truly meant? Aggravated with himself, the Kelvic tried to make amends: "Fai, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. The eagles look well cared and happy, they really do."

"It's fine." She replied, in a way that suggested it certainly was not fine. They began to trudge upstairs, but Fai paused half way and briefly turned to face Jeremy. With a sigh, she said, "it's not ideal, I know. But space and resources are limited. I really do try to look after them."

"I know you do. They do, too. You're doing the best you can." Then Jeremy did an unexpected thing: he reached forwards and placed a hand on Fai's arm, trying his best to do one of those kindly reassuring gestures that his mother excelled at. Fai's skin was warm to the touch, pleasant to feel under Jeremy's fingertips.

They shared a small smile before continuing on their ascent to the top floor. Again this room was filled with pens, but smaller than those downstairs. When Jeremy looked inside, he saw nursing female cats and dogs, each in their own pen and surrounded by squirming little blind blobs that mewed and whined. "This is where we breed our animals, apart from the birds, obviously. They breed outside. But--" Fai glided quickly across the length of the room, Jeremy following in suit. She led him to a smaller room, which looked as if its original purpose was for storage. Now, though, several small wooden boxes stood on the low-level shelves that lined the walls. "We keep the bird boxes in here when it's not breeding season. Removes the chance of males fighting over a female who isn't even... in the mood, so to say. But twenty days ago, I noticed this fellow..."

She gently removed the lid off one of the larger boxes, and was greeted by a ferocious hissing noise. When she tilted the box towards Jeremy, he saw an unexpected sight.

"A chick?" The baby bird glared up at Jeremy with narrowed, dark eyes. The beginnings of brown pinfeathers were starting to sprout out of the chick's fluffy down.

"A Nothern Harrier chick. The parents outside had another chick earlier this year, but with autumn coming in, I didn't fancy this little guy's chances out there." She returned the lid to the nest box and placed it back on the shelf. Slowly, the chick's hissing died down and silence resumed. "It happens sometimes, and we need to hand raise the chick ourselves. It's a little demanding, but now he's a bit bigger, and he can be fed bits of meat."

They moved on, and Fai began to open drawers and cupboards to show Jeremy the medicinal goods she kept in store. Pirambas was Lhavit's veterinarian service as well as its pet shop, and soon Jeremy's mind was swamped with bandages, splints, herbs and medicines. A little overwhelmed with it all, he bid Fai goodbye and organised to visit her again in two days time.

"I'm sure you'll learn plenty during your time here, Jeremy." She promised him as they shook hands.

Oh no doubt, Jeremy thought with a wry smile. It's the remembering part that might cause some issue.

[Brandon Blackwing]

JEREMY CASING

XP:

• Rhetoric +1
• Observation +4
• Socialization +4
• Persuasion +1
• Animal husbandry +2

Lore:

• Lhavit: Piramba's Pet Shop
• Fai Piramba: Owner of Piramba's Pet Shop
• Bobo: Mourning mountain dog
• Mountain dogs: Fantastic family dogs
• Bobcats: have a solitary nature
• Bobcats: can be separated from their mother at a younger age than other species
• Salted food is risky for animals too eat
• Horned Larks: males grow hornlike feathers on their head

Notes:
Great thread; it had a nice flow, and great dialogue as well as description. I really enjoyed reading this, keep up the good work.

So I think I gave you all I could; I would have given you more Animal Husbandry if not for your skill level. Other than that, I don't think there was much else to give that I haven't already. As for lores, if there was one you were aiming for and didn't get awarded, don't hesitate to point it out. I haven't been grading much lately, and I might have lost my edge

Please remove or edit your post in the request thread.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM.

credit goes to Adelaide Sitai