Deep in the forest, a rabbit was busy eating food for the coming winter. Some distance behind it, there was an Deacon which was a bit closer to the town than they usually wonder. It let off a hum, higher pitched than before, though the rabbit didn't take notice. Unknown to the rabbit, Etrius had it in its sights. Taking aim, Etrius let its arrow fly, and as intended, it struck true. Unable to even twitch, the rabbit lay dead with blood flowing from its neck.

 

"Nice one me." Etrius bragged to itself oh so humbly.

 

Lowering its bow, Etrius tried to walk to its kill only to be interrupted by a sound from behind it. Turning, it saw two pairs of antlers approaching. Pushing its way through the bushes, a familiar antlered crowned wolf with a deer in its jaws. Dropping it in front of it, the wolf sat as tall as Etrius, seemingly pleased with herself.

 

"Show off." Etrius said, patting the wolf.

 

Closing her eyes she wagged her tail and lightly tapped her front paw. Lowering herself, she pushed her head into Etrius' chest, which Etrius took as a sign to scratch behind her ears. This too however was interrupted by a growl from behind. Turning, Etrius saw another wolf, smaller though not by much, growling at the fresh kill. Looking closer, a fox could be seen frozen in its sight. From the looks of it, this little fox was bold enough to try and steal the rabbit right from under Etrius' nose.

 

"Hey now, no need to be rude." Etrius said walking over.

 

The wolf and fox however remained, with the wolf ready to lunge and the fox frozen in fear. Walking over, Etrius picked up the fox by the scruff of its neck. Aside from shivering, it made no move to try and escape. Looking at it, its fur was dull and its ribs could be seen.

 

"Bold or desperate?" Etrius asked it. "You could have just asked if you're hungry."

"…" Despite being held by Etrius, the fox couldn't help but keep its eyes on the wolf.

"Midir, Nadia, I'll take care of this little fellow." Etrius said. "You two can go back to the rest. And good job on the hunt."

 

The two wolves nodded and Midir, the larger of the two, picked up the deer. After a moment, they faded out of sight. Once they were gone the fox, only now realizing its situation, struggled to free itself.

 

"Calm down little one." Etrius said. "If you ran into anyone else you would be on your way to becoming a belt."

"Arr!" The fox barked.

"You're coming with me. We'll find some place where you won't cause trouble." Etrius said.

"…" Seemingly resigned to its fate, the fox stopped struggling.

 

Putting the fox on the ground, Etrius put away its bow, collected its arrow, and began cleaning the rabbit. The fox, for its part, stayed put, eyeing the rabbit enviously. After draining the blood and organs from the creature, Etrius let the fox have its pickings of what it wasn't going to use. As it was eating, Etrius put the rabbit in its bag, which already had two others. Once it was done eating, Etrius picked up the fox, none to respectfully, and walked back to its house. After dropping off its spoils, bow, and arrows, it headed into town.

Walking through the streets, many people who previously avoided it no longer did so. Likely due to the robes that it now wore. Though much like before, Etrius kept its hood up. Many of the shadows seemed to like it there. A few people gave it some odd looks, but none questioned it. The fox for its part remained silent and made itself as small as possible.

Moving down the road, Etrius came across a familiar boy. The delivery boy Michal. Seeing it, Michal turned from his current path to come up to Etrius.

 

"Sir Washington!" Michal said. "Sorry about before."

"Think nothing of it, and don't call me sir." Etrius said. "I'm no knight."

"Thank you sir!" He said.

"Right." Etrius said.

"Um, I have a delivery for you!" He said pulling out an envelope with a standard seal.

"Thank you." Etrius said, taking it.

 

Reading it, Etrius saw the familiar handwriting and name of the sender, 'Adriana'. This Adriana, was none other than Torie, who often wrote it under this name. Putting the envelope in one of the pockets inside its robe, Etrius saved it for later.

 

"There anything else?" Etrius asked.

"No Miss!" Michal said.

"Okay, then I'll be going." It said.

"Um, sir?" He asked.

"What is it?"

"What's that?"

"It's a fox."

"Um… What are you doing with it?"

"I'm going to see if anyone wants him."

"For like a belt or something?"

"!?" The fox looked alarmed.

"No, I'm seeing if anyone needs him for pest control." It said.

"Oh I see!" He said.

"Do you need him?" Etrius asked.

"No. I'm good." He said.

"Then I'll keep looking." It said.

"Maybe you could try the grain houses?" He suggested. "They're always looking for ways to keep mice away."

"Thanks. I'll see if they can make use of him." It nodded.

"Good luck Miss!" He said.

 

Waving him off, Etrius continued on its way, now towards the closest storehouses. Crasmere had many of them, though for strategic reasons no more than two were kept in one place. In total, the town had seven sites, mostly filled with grain and preserved meats. As one would expect, they are regularly checked up on them for pests, but even more regularly, there were signs of pests. One fox alone wouldn't solve the problem, but it certainly would help.

Soon enough, Etrius arrived at one of the storehouse sites. Already there was Captain Bloom and two other members of the town guard on patrol. Seeing it, Captain Bloom waved and the other two saluted by placing their left fists over their hearts. Instead of responding in kind, Etrius lifted the fox to chest level.

 

"Do you have a pest problem?" Etrius asked.

"Don't we always?" Captain Bloom asked. "Who's the little guy?"

"This is Decker. I thought he might be useful here." Etrius said.

"…" The fox, unaware it had a name, tried and failed to look at Etrius.

"Is he trained?" Captain Bloom asked.

"He's a fox." Etrius said. "Hunting small animals is in his nature."

"How did you find him?" The Captain asked.

"He was trying to steal a rabbit I hunted. I told him stealing was illegal and now is looking for honest work." It said.

"Did you actually tell it that…?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yep, and this guy is sorry." Etrius lied. "You can tell by how he looks."

"Certainly is a sorry sight." The Captain nodded.

"So, how about it?" Etrius asked.

"Can you be sure that he won't cause any problems?" He asked.

"I guarantee it." It said.

"Alright." He shrugged.

"You're serious?" The soldier from before asked.

"Why not?" He asked. "No fox I ever heard of eats flour, and he doesn't look like he can break into the creates."

"I suppose not." The soldier said.

"Hear that bud?" Etrius turned Decker to face it. "You got yourself a job. Eat all the mice and rats you want, and try not to leave a mess."

"…" Decker wasn't sure how to respond.

 

Putting him down on the steps of the store house, Decker was hesitant to do anything. Looking between the four outside and the inside of the storehouse, he suddenly stood at attention and focused his ears on something inside. The four, intrigued, watched his actions. After a moment, he ran inside and behind one of the crates. Moments later, he returned with a fat looking mouse in his jaws.

 

"Well I'll be damned." Captain Bloom said.

"It actually did it…" The soldier from before muttered.

"Huh…" The other soldier said.

"See." Etrius said. "He's already paying for rent. Good job bud."

 

Decker, looking less nervous, began eating the mouse, no longer caring for those watching him.

 

"Thanks for the help I suppose." Captain Bloom said.

"No problem." Etrius said.

"If you come across any others, feel free to bring them over." He said.

"Will do." It said. "Well, I'm off. You behave yourself Decker."

"Arr!" Decker barked, before turning back to his mouse.

 

With that task done, Etrius headed back home to disassemble the rabbits it caught and fetch its cart to pick up the last bits of furniture it ordered. After all, it didn't want the rabbit to spoil or delay its orders indefinitely. On its way home, it saw an interesting sight. Just exiting a store was the familiar figure of Torie in a black and white dress. At her side was her maid Zen, or was it her secretary? Given how she was dressed, probably a maid. With them were two plain clothed guards, who made it obvious that they were guards by carrying swords.

Possibly on a routine visit to town, Etrius didn't wish to bother them. Torie, on the other hand, managed to spot Etrius and directed her group accordingly. Etrius thought about crossing the street, but from the smile that Torie had, Etrius knew that she wouldn't so easily let it go. Not at all nervous, Etrius wondered if the smell of Decker and the rabbits was still on it. Not knowing of its worries, they approached nonetheless.

 

"Ranger Washington." Torie called out. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Lord Haywood." Etrius greeted. "On a town inspection?"

"You could call it that." She said. "In truth, I rather like visiting the town. It's a nice change from all the paperwork."

"Is that so? I hope you're having fun then." It said.

"I am." She smiled. "As for you, what business do you have here?"

"Nothing much, just trying to familiarize myself with the town." It said.

"I see." She nodded, and looked at it closely. "Might you be wearing the ranger uniform?"

"I wouldn’t exactly say that." It said. "Officially I won’t be working as a ranger until the new year."

"Oh, is that so?" She asked.

"It is." It said.

"Well, how are you adapting to life here?" Torie asked. "Do you have everything you need?"

"There's still a few more things that I need to get, and I'll have to hurry if I'm to beat tomorrow's rain." Etrius said, remembering the Deacon's high pitched hums.

"Oh, it's to rain tomorrow?" She asked. "I suppose I'll need to put off tomorrow's plans."

"Are you sure about that?" The red haired guard asked. "There's hardly a cloud in the sky."

"Positive." It said. "No, if you'll excuse me I have some business to do."

"Yes, sorry to bother you." Torie said. "Take care now."

"Yeah… you too." Etrius hesitated.

 

Watching it go, Torie let out a small sigh.

 

"Zen, If we hurry, do you think we can finish all of our business in town before tomorrow?" Torie asked.

"Aside from the courtesy visits, all of our urgent work has already been done." Zen asked. "As for the usual deliveries for the manner, there's nothing we can do about them."

"I see…" She said. "For such short notice, there's only so much we can do."

"Are you sure it's going to rain?" Ethan, her red haired guard asked.

"He is a ranger." She said. "If he says it's to rain, we best believe him."

"Her job is the outdoors, so I don't see why we shouldn't." Reindl, the second black haired guard, said.

"I suppose so." Ethan said. "And if he's wrong, I suppose that's all he amounted to."

"I'm sure he's worth much more than simply telling the weather." Torie said sharply.

"I see…" Ethan said, glancing at Torie. "In that case, I have high hopes for him."

"Lady Haywood, if we hurry, we may be able to perform most of our visits before the day is over." Zen said.

"I hope that's the case." She said. "Where to first?"