Chapter 48: Back to their comfort zone

At first light, the day after they were healed, the duo descended the mountain. As it stood they would not make it much further up and they wouldn't have their Big Sis for protection or for healing for the next two weeks.

'And I also promised results. What those results are going to be though, I really don't know.' Ciaran thought as they went down.

In the heat of the moment, and because the memory of that Hawk ripping the flesh of Ariadne was still fresh in his memory his mouth spoke before he could think.

Now, however, with more sober thoughts he could determine that what he promised was nothing short of madness. Worse even, unachievable madness.

'At least going back down is simpler.' Thanks to the durability of Ariadne's web they could just rappel down. Without the need to keep their distance from predators, it only took them five hours to get back to the forest.

They might have been beaten back down, but Ciaran had a plan. If might didn't work, stealth was too hard to pull off, and, at least for now, magic wasn't an option for them, then the only thing he could rely on was science.

"Who could have predicted that the enforced four hours of study from Liza would be coming in handy?" He asked his spider, who rubbed his head in answer.

"I did not Ari, I just missed my alchemy lessons with the maid." He said. Ariadne loved and supported him, but she just couldn't point out his failures. To her, all he ever achieved was great, and all he didn't was just delayed. To her, he simply could never be wrong.

"Remember girl, I can be wrong just like anyone else, if you think there is something I am not seeing, not always in a literal sense Ari, my lack of eyes has nothing to do with this, just tell me. My God, who thought you to the mouth of like that?" He tried, once again to tell her he wasn't perfect.

"Oh shut up you." He said as he gently tapped on her forehead.

He enjoyed their little banters, at least he could tell that the climb had only hurt her physically and that she had no trauma needing his attention. They were connected by their very souls, nighter he nor she could lie in this relationship. It was one of the reasons they got along so well because the boy was simply forced to show himself to her, for all that he was.

" Now, we can make the preparations on our own, but I suggest we ask the Ravens for help. Don't worry Ari, I am not replacing you, I don't want another familiar, I need more hands, and wings(?) to help me gather stuff from this place. They simply fit the bill."The boy said, and they moved in the direction of their nests.

They couldn't move too fast in the forest now, the week they were away was enough for the inhabitants to clear away all the webs they had prepared. It took them half a day to get to their targets.

The birds watched as they came closer, and gestured with their eyes that the duo could enter their nests. The Ravens tended to hold a grudge but they also remembered their friends. Provided the two creatures in front of them were nothing short of monsters, and a week in the higher planes of the mountain had just made their aura even more unpleasant, but at the very least they were never hostile to them.

"I need you to help me gather some supplies. Do so, and I will rid you of the snakes that are eating your eggs. I don't mean I will kill one or two. All of them, complete extermination." The boy laid out his offer.

The Ravens were tempted. With the webs some of them got as payment before, many featherlings were kept safe, and now this tiny creature was promising to rid them of the cause of one of their most serious problems, not just the symptoms.

The leader of the nests all flew next to the duo. Sadly, their Ranks were all One, too low for them to mimic human speech, but Ciaran could tell what they were asking.

"Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, hemlock, and deadly nightshade, to start with. Also all the poisonous mushrooms you can find. Point me in the direction of any poisonous insects as well, we will deal with those." He named the things he needed.

"There are a few more things, but those I will handle myself. I need tools for the pesky birds up there. They almost killed my partner here. Blood for blood." He said, and for a second they could hear the wind screaming murder around them.

The oldest of the Ravens had seen some animals achieve similar things, but they had gone much higher up. The prey here just couldn't satisfy them anymore.

The ravens cawed in agreement, and the boy smiled. He couldn't shake their hand, but he believed in their verbal promise a lot more than he would a formal one from any human.

'Beasts are a lot more pleasant than my kind. Or at least half my kind, I guess.' He still didn't really see himself as a fish. His sister left the illusion spell on him indefinitely, and as such all his scales were hidden.

The boy lost himself in thought for a few minutes, and none of the birds disturbed him. The details of their deal were mostly established, and they were no strangers to creatures zoning out when they were not in danger.

Ariadne, however, knew there was more the boy wanted so she waked him on the head to snap him out of it.

"I also need to establish camp near your nests, close enough so you can watch over the supplies while we hunt." He said, pretending his partner didn't just jump-start his brain.

The Ravens agreed by pointing to a nearby tree. Big enough for his needs.

"Finally, I will need some help with the snakes. Not yours, I know you will suffer losses if you participate. I need your partners. I don't need you to convince them for me, just set up a meeting and tell them to be civil. They could expect the same from me."

This, the Ravens didn't take well. They wanted to help the boy out, but involving the Pack was dangerous. The two species had a tactical agreement, they provide the wolves with scouting and the wolves leave a portion of the hunt for the birds.

The Pack was one of the reasons Ciaran opted out of messing with the Ravens, to begin with. The wolves were strong, fast, and had high perception. Worst of all they acted like a group of trained soldiers. Scare tactics were a no-go. Picking them up one by one was also not on the table. And a battle was never an option.

"I can give them what they want, just make them come to have a talk. Worst case scenario I just have to compensate them for the loss of time." He pushed, and after some more convincing the birds agreed.

Tomorrow he would talk with the Alpha of the group. He had very little time to come up with something that the wolves would want.

'Ok, so I bluffed my way to a negotiation, now what?'

After a few hours of debate, boy and spider finally came to the conclusion that there was most definitely nothing they could offer.

'They rule this place and have no chance of ever climbing up. What can we even give them? Protection, they don't need. Scouting they have covered. Revenge? Who would even be dumb enough to pick a fight with them? Those that could, have long since gone up.' The boy had the large to repeatedly smack his head into a wall, but he couldn't let the Ravens know he was bullshiting them.

In the end, the boy just went to sleep, tomorrow's problems were meant for future Ciaran to deal with, all he could do now was provide him with enough sleep so at least he would be fresh for when he would probably have to run away from the angry wolves.

And so came morning. The meeting with the Pack was in the afternoon after the second hunt and before the third. Surprisingly, the wolves believed in three meals a day schedule.

Ciaran himself liked to eat at least five meals if he could afford it, but that was just a personal choice.

He and Ariadne hunted a deer and roasted it on a fire of his making.

'I will let them know that if nothing else I can at least serve as their cook. 'He said to the spider via mind communication. It was the first time he saw her roll her eyes at him. It was sent as a mental image, but he still counted it as the first time she showed him some sass.

"I think I am starting to rub off on you." He said, not knowing how right he was.