Blade for Hire

Chapter 3

Vivendel smiled to himself as he watched his group around the fire. Bryn polishing her sword, Willow talking and fluttering excitedly to Sage, who smiles warmly. 

Sam is laying on his back, looking up at stars. Enoli was looking lost in thought. Vivendel watched him, maybe trying to guess what he was thinking. Enoli sighs and walks toward the tent behind him. 

"Enoli seems...quiet." Bryn says, watching after him. the others quiet down and look at her, then Vivendel. 

"Ven, why did you bring him? Bryn has us covered with sword attacks, ya'know?" Sam says, lifting himself up to his elbows to look at Vivendel. 

Bryn puffs her chest a bit, pleased with the sort of compliment. Sage sits down on the log net to Sam's legs. "He seems nice, if not a bit shy." they say softly. 

Willow snorts, "He did not come across shy, more like guarded." 

"Hey now, Enoli is a member of the team now. be nice" Bryn scolds. Willow blushes and looks down at her hands, twisting a thumb ring around. 

"You're right. I look forward to fighting with him! he seems like he knows what he's doing!" Sam said, plopping back down into the damp dirt. 

Sage nods along, not one to say much. Willow smiles and flutters her wings, "oh! are we gonna train tomorrow! id love to see him fight!" She lifts herself a foot off the ground and stretches' her whole body. "I'm wiped, its bedtime for me! Good night all!" with that she spins a darts into her shared tent.

Vivendel chuckles, standing. "I concur, bedtime for me. I'm glad you all made it. Night"

a chorus of goodnights follow after Vivendel and he makes his way to the tent. Pulling the flap open and squinting at the sudden brightness, it takes him a moment to understand what he sees.

A shocked Enoli, standing shirtless at the far right bed, stared wide eyed at him. Enoli is a unique sight to behold with his fox-kin features. His ears are pointed and positioned on the top of his head, covered in soft black fur with white tips. The fur on his tail matches that of his ears and is long and bushy, twitching nervously. His body is slender and agile, and he has a sharp, cunning look in his eyes. His arms and legs have patches of thick, soft fur, and his hands resemble paws with pads on each finger tip and sharp claws that can retract. His feet are completely foxlike with long toes and paw pads for better grip and stealth, and sharp claws that sparkle in the lamp light. His legs are foxlike up to his mid-thighs, where the fur thins out to reveal his human-like skin, pale and scattered with scars. Overall, Enoli's fox-kin features are both striking and fascinating to look at.

Vivendel had never meet a fox-kin in person, only heard stories about them. He cannot help but to let out a soft, "Amazing," as he takes in Enoli's appearance. 

The still surprised Enoli quickly pulls his night shirt over his head, covering his body and tail. he shuffles on his feet, anxious, wanting to bolt. Vivendel snaps out of his trance and walks quickly over to Enoli, grabbing onto one of his hands. Habit causes Enoli to bare his teeth in warning, flashing sharp fangs. Vivendel didn't even flinch, but looks closely and intently at Enoli's hand.

The hand-paw itself is covered in soft, thick fur that is predominantly black with white accents. The fur extends all the way up his forearm, blending in seamlessly with the white fur on his arm and forming a sort of natural sleeve. His hand-paw features five digits, each tipped with sharp, curved claws that are perfect for defending himself in a fight. The claws are retractable, allowing Enoli to keep them safely sheathed when not in use. Enoli's hand-paw is highly dexterous, allowing him to manipulate objects with surprising precision and control. Despite its seemingly primitive appearance, it functions much like a human hand, with flexible joints and a range of motion that allows him to perform intricate tasks with ease.

"Remarkable." Vivendel says, causing Enoli to blush slightly. He clears his throat, getting Vivendel's attention, who blushes bright red and lets go of Enoli's hand.

"S-Sorry, uh, its just- " Vivendel stammers.

"You've never seen one, right?" Enoli said with a slight sneer. 

Shocked at the malice in his voice, Vivendel shakes his head. "No, I have - kinda- Its believed that a fox-kin paw has magic stored inside. I was also wanted to make sure Sage didn't give be booze again."  He chuckled slightly.

Enoli's ear flicked in awkwardness as he reached for his night pants laid out of the bed in front of him. Vivendel blushed again, just now realizing he saw Enoli changing. 

"Ah! I'm so very sorry! I'll give you privacy. " Vivendel turns and all but sprints out of the tent. Enoli sighs, putting his pants on then sitting on his bed. 

Great, he thinks, he'll tell the others and they suddenly start hiding all of their things or become super cautious around me. The first thing that goes missing will be my fault somehow and they'll kick me out. Damn! I really need the money.

He sighs again before climbing into his bed, getting under the covers, with his back to the rest of the tent. Clutching a small dagger of course. 

Vivendel paces in front of the tent, blushing that he embarrassed himself and Enoli so soundly. He hopes this won't affect their deal, Vivendel really needed a spy. He pauses suddendly, Enoli had kept his nature a secret from them from the start. Granted that was only barley a day, but still. Why did he not want the others to know? Vivendel decided he would not say a word about this, unless Enoli says something first. 

Nodding to himself he peeks in the tent to see Enoli already in bed, with a sigh of relief, Vivendel enters. He moves to his own bed, changed into sleep cloths and crawls in.