Chapter Seventy Four - We ride upon Baku
Leon would not be aware of this, but the journey took almost twice as long as it would have done should a single rider make the same journey upon a lone Baku. However, this was not due to the silver grey Baku carrying two riders; Tor in front, while Leon held his slender waist from behind. It was actually due to the slower, more stout Baku, huffing along beside them, with its prettier and lighter load.
Pale pink furred Baku were quite rare, like an albino of the kind and Maimai's was a gift from her doting dad. Although it was rare, it was still just a Baku, so his first wife allowed him to gift the animal to this favoured concubine's daughter without fuss. Miss Merylin was gifted a pure-blooded white Equine (what Leon had mistaken as a horse) instead. Maimai did not have any jealousy that her sister was given the more expensive mount, she loved her 'Piku' more than anything and spoiled the beast outrageously. Hence the beast was much rounder in figure than other Baku and as Maimai rode it for pleasure, it never exercised and strengthened its muscles greatly either.
Tor said nothing, though he felt the irritation of the silver mount beneath him. The Baku, who belonged to the school and was used mostly as a pack animal, had wanted to stretch its legs and bound through the decent stretch of mountainous forest, but was unable to do so. Tor decided he would make it up to the beast later.
Leon was blissfully unaware and just took in what he could see around him. It was not much, mostly trees and foliage, he could not see much in front of him as Tor was a fair bit taller. However, as the trees were by far taller still, it was not hard to know when they fell back to reveal the open sky as they reached the side of the mountain, where the ridge dropped harshly into a chasm. Leon recalled this place from when he travelled upon the griffin to the martial arts school. Of course the view from upon the ground was vastly different.
The sound of the paw-beats upon the ground changed from mostly soft thuds (from the silver beast anyway) to slightly noisier ones as the claws within each toe touched the wooden surface of the grand bridge that would lead them to the plateau with split roads. The martial arts school was to the northwest. It turned out that the beast taming school was to the northeast. The Baku took them over a second, much smaller bridge before the ground sloped a little and they were taken along a path with little foliage either side, mostly grey and jagged rock. The Baku took a sharp right turn and the descent became more obvious as the beasts carried their riders down a narrow slope into a large, basin within the mountain rock. Leon watched briefly as a wall of stone seemed to grow to one side of him, even as the mist covered tree tops came into view on the other side.
The trees here were no less majestic than those surrounding his own hut and home and therefore their descent took quite sometime, but soon the sky was coated in a ceiling of green, the density of trees and foliage much greater than what he was used to.
He felt the Baku shudder beneath him and pick up speed. He couldn't be sure, but Leon felt like the beast was happy to be here.
"Slow down!" Maimai called out to them. Tor instructed the Baku to do so, to which the beast snorted and glanced back at the pink Baku following and offered a low growl. Leon watched Tor pat the beast's silver mane gently, as if to calm it.
Eventually, the wild greenery and thick trees parted to reveal a glade nestled within them. The two Baku slowed and Leon glanced to the side of Tor to see more of the view in front. Two large buildings came into view. One was three stories high with small windows, but otherwise resembled a slightly curved block. It had a flat roof and twin doors, but otherwise there was nothing more interesting about it. The other building, close by, was a single storied one and from the scents wafting toward them upon the wind, it was the Food Hall of this school. Scattered about the circumference of the glade were other, small single or dual story dwellings and a large stable with Baku, horses and Mesmyr, amongst others.
Maimai and Tor lead the Baku here first.
A young man, possibly a year or two older than Leon and Tor greeted them. "Hey there, Tor," he said jovially. "Long time no see!" The man had blue-black hair that was shoulder length and hung loose about his neck. He was about a half-head taller than Tor so a full head taller than Leon and Maimai. His sleeveless leather vest revealed two muscular arms, but they were not of the thickness of individuals such as Pike, but were olive toned.
"Cetus," Tor greeted in return. "I and this fellow have pills as per requests from your school." Tor indicated Leon as he dismounted. Leon waved, then attempted to copy Tor, but only managed to fail by getting his foot caught by the stirrup and falling face first into the mud. The man named Cetus attempted not to laugh, puffing his cheeks like a squirrel and sealing his lips.
After a moment, he regained his composure and coughed. "And this young Miss?" Maimai was currently praising her tired Baku and nuzzling her face against its furry trunk.
"A tag along," Tor replied with a slight eye roll.
Cetus raised one eyebrow, before shaking away any questions. "Come on, I'll take you to Teacher Volun. He's been seeing a lot of alchemist students these days."
"What do you mean?" Tor asked.
"Well," the man glanced about him and then murmured almost conspiringly, "I've heard a lot of Beast Calming Pills have been ordered of late. I thought it was for the first years, to hopefully help bond with their first beasts. But they keep coming in small batches."
"How strange," Tor replied, but then shrugged away the man's words. It was enough for him to have been able to come here again.
Leon, who had dusted himself off and approached the pair with Maimai, had a strange feeling come over him. Beast Calming pills... the request he had filled asked for those too. Why did that bother him... but before he could dwell on it, he noticed something far more interesting.