17th of Summer, 514.
Arch had been drilled to understand that as a knight, it would be his duty to protect the city. And he wouldn't be able to protect the city if he didn't spend some time walking around it, getting to know the various shops inside of it, and around it. He wouldn't be able to solve disputes if he didn't have the occasional talk here and there with the various commoners scattered about the place, and the merchants and whatnot. However, contrary to the advice that Ser Iros had given the squirrel, he wasn't going to do it on the back of his riding-dog. It seemed like it would only give rise to more humiliation - and the last thing that the squirrel needed, out of everything he'd gone through so far, was to be laughed at by the very people he was supposed to be protecting. Which was why he wouldn't wear armour - the stuff just made him look bulky and strange - and why he wouldn't wear his dog, or carry weapons with him on his patrols. No no no. The squirrel hopped between the rooftops of the various buildings, and stopped to negotiate occasionally with the few knights that spotted him from the high walls cresting most of the districts. There were scarce few areas that the knights couldn't see, after all, but from their high places above, there was little they could do if things got serious but shout down at them. The squirrel had the advantage.
After all, he had spent so long traversing the many great red stone buildings of Nyka that he knew all the different ways to travel between rooftops. It would still take some getting used to, these streets and these rooftops. But he had a long, long time to figure all of that mess out before he had to really make it a factor of his life. For now, he was free to roam around one of the best districts for patrolling. The Nettle District, just outside the front gates and home to the majority of shops that had opened up in the past few seasons, and some spanning much, much older. Various commoners were wandering about the place at this time of day, not wanting to get cooped up in their houses - or just setting up their own shops. He could remember most of them from his childhood, when he could spend countless bells simply running around the store fronts, looking inside. Wondering what it would be like one day, when he got his own suit of armour and led the Syliran Knights into great battles for heroic conquest over the various creatures of the deep that would threaten the land.
Of course, now he saw them all in different lights. The Rearing Stallion would just be another source of drunken violence on the later nights, and where the various odd smells that flowed out of Sensual Smells had once left the squirrel drunk and giddy, they now only clouded his mind and made him cough from the alien, and in some cases simply foul odors. It'd been a while since he'd walked down these streets. Everything fell so much different from the last seasons - or maybe it was just the squirrel himself that had changed on his journey. No matter - he'd get back to his old self, soon enough.
One thing that definitely caught his eye though, was a shop he could not remember from before. The more he stared at it, the less he understood. Until he knew that he had to investigate the place. A quick hop was all it took and the squirrel turned on the balls of his feet and jumped off the side of the roof of the Wildwood Music shop; of course his paws kept a firm grip on the ledge, so that he didn't simply drop down to his death. Rather, his lower body and hips continued right over the squirrels own head, while his upper body remained firmly attached to the roof. When he finally let go, his feet were beneath him, rather than above - so when they touched the hard cobblestone streets, all he needed to do was roll quickly to break the momentum and stop his body from splattering like a big, clay pancake and he was fine. Goodness knew how he'd ever survived the streets before he'd learned Acrobatics. After he'd made his way down to street-level, all he needed to do was make a short sprint right across the street, while evading the few commoners and merchants on their daily walks through the city on the rather blistering Summer's day, before pushing open the heavy door to Shane's Auristic Services.
Arch had been drilled to understand that as a knight, it would be his duty to protect the city. And he wouldn't be able to protect the city if he didn't spend some time walking around it, getting to know the various shops inside of it, and around it. He wouldn't be able to solve disputes if he didn't have the occasional talk here and there with the various commoners scattered about the place, and the merchants and whatnot. However, contrary to the advice that Ser Iros had given the squirrel, he wasn't going to do it on the back of his riding-dog. It seemed like it would only give rise to more humiliation - and the last thing that the squirrel needed, out of everything he'd gone through so far, was to be laughed at by the very people he was supposed to be protecting. Which was why he wouldn't wear armour - the stuff just made him look bulky and strange - and why he wouldn't wear his dog, or carry weapons with him on his patrols. No no no. The squirrel hopped between the rooftops of the various buildings, and stopped to negotiate occasionally with the few knights that spotted him from the high walls cresting most of the districts. There were scarce few areas that the knights couldn't see, after all, but from their high places above, there was little they could do if things got serious but shout down at them. The squirrel had the advantage.
After all, he had spent so long traversing the many great red stone buildings of Nyka that he knew all the different ways to travel between rooftops. It would still take some getting used to, these streets and these rooftops. But he had a long, long time to figure all of that mess out before he had to really make it a factor of his life. For now, he was free to roam around one of the best districts for patrolling. The Nettle District, just outside the front gates and home to the majority of shops that had opened up in the past few seasons, and some spanning much, much older. Various commoners were wandering about the place at this time of day, not wanting to get cooped up in their houses - or just setting up their own shops. He could remember most of them from his childhood, when he could spend countless bells simply running around the store fronts, looking inside. Wondering what it would be like one day, when he got his own suit of armour and led the Syliran Knights into great battles for heroic conquest over the various creatures of the deep that would threaten the land.
Of course, now he saw them all in different lights. The Rearing Stallion would just be another source of drunken violence on the later nights, and where the various odd smells that flowed out of Sensual Smells had once left the squirrel drunk and giddy, they now only clouded his mind and made him cough from the alien, and in some cases simply foul odors. It'd been a while since he'd walked down these streets. Everything fell so much different from the last seasons - or maybe it was just the squirrel himself that had changed on his journey. No matter - he'd get back to his old self, soon enough.
One thing that definitely caught his eye though, was a shop he could not remember from before. The more he stared at it, the less he understood. Until he knew that he had to investigate the place. A quick hop was all it took and the squirrel turned on the balls of his feet and jumped off the side of the roof of the Wildwood Music shop; of course his paws kept a firm grip on the ledge, so that he didn't simply drop down to his death. Rather, his lower body and hips continued right over the squirrels own head, while his upper body remained firmly attached to the roof. When he finally let go, his feet were beneath him, rather than above - so when they touched the hard cobblestone streets, all he needed to do was roll quickly to break the momentum and stop his body from splattering like a big, clay pancake and he was fine. Goodness knew how he'd ever survived the streets before he'd learned Acrobatics. After he'd made his way down to street-level, all he needed to do was make a short sprint right across the street, while evading the few commoners and merchants on their daily walks through the city on the rather blistering Summer's day, before pushing open the heavy door to Shane's Auristic Services.
