David
*"It was a pain at first, but I made a deal with some people. He stays in a large stable on the outside of town. It helps I'm so crafty with words."*

She turned away from the Dragon now and faced Sonja again. A nod was given about her home, stating, *"I'd love to sell to you some day. My parents expanded a bit from general goods to food goods as well, so we should have fish. For awhile we only sold things like tools, weapons, spices, and what not. I worked out some deals with local fishers though, and also a butcher. Business has never been better! But enough about me, what have you and the others been up to - if you know. I think about you all often."*
Cynthia
"I see..." Sonja nodded slowly. It must have been quite a deal indeed. She suspected most wouldn't be too keen on the idea of such a large and potentially dangerous beast lurking on the outskirts of their town. Carlyn's silver tongue had clearly worked wonders, so far as Sonja was concerned.

"You've been working hard." The Ursinoid observed. Between getting the dragon at place to stay and expanding her parent's business, things seemed quite busy for the dog.

Now faced with recounting her own adventures over the past few months, Sonja paused for a moment and rubbed her chin. "Not sure about the others. I found some simple jobs to pass the time..." There wasn't anything particularly interesting, up until recently. She was hesitant to reveal all the details though, acutely aware that Carlyn's good nature might disapprove. "Presently though, I'm headed to Kadhok."

Sonja glanced warily towards the dragon, perhaps not entirely convinced it was safe.
David
*"Aye, okay!"* Carlyn gave a nod, turning her head over her shoulder and telling the dragon a handful of what were apparently commands, because as soon as she lifted her hand the beast gave a disapproving hmph and flexed its wings. It looked like it was about to fly... And then...!

It started walking off in a random direction - more than likely to wherever Carlyn had told it to go to. Still, it seemed quite lethargic and didn't exactly want to exert itself. Goofy ass dragon. More like a cat than anything.

In any case, Carlyn looked back and gave a confirming nod, stating, *"I'll head back with you. I've been out in the field all day - today was my day off. Starting to lose light though, or well... I will be in a few hours. Might as well head back, I can show you my house and what not. You could stay for dinner with us, too. We've always got extra food for company - we usually expect someone to show up. Friends, family, other merchants, so on and so forth."*
Cynthia
Sonja flinched, perhaps under the impression she was about to be swept away by a great gust of wind. However, much to her surprise, this did not occur. Instead the large creature just lumbered off. Despite a fearsome appearance, in many ways it seemed to behave more like an overgrown house pet. That made it... A little less terrifying.

"Company would be nice..." The Ursinoid reluctantly admitted, turning her gaze back to Carlyn. Her trip thus far had been ventured alone. Although not wanting to impose on Carlyn's family with this sudden appearance, it sounded like such a thing was a regular occurrence. So the Beastkin nodded slowly.

"And warm food, too." It went without saying that good meals were hard to come by while on the trail. "Your hospitality is appreciated, Carlyn." Sonja then turned to go, unsure whether they were walking back together, or... Well that dragon had had a saddle on it.
David
The beast had seemed to depart in almost the opposite direction to them. Must've been quite the ways away, and for good reason too that Carlyn would've picked it. Housing La'Vera is a stables closer to town would've net her quite a bit of trouble with both the authorities and the locals. Besides that, though, Carlyn accompanied Sonja off towards Kadho.

*"I have to agree. As much as I love La'Vera's company, it's not quite the same as someone who I can actually... Talk to. I can't share all my deepest secrets with people like I can the Wyvern, but at least we can hold a conversation, y'know?"* She replied back cheerily. A few steps were taken towards where they had been sleeping and she lifted that mighty spear she always carried. Bailaen. It had been awhile since Sonja laid eyes on it, and sure enough, much like the shortspear before it and the saddle of La'Vera, the wooden handle had been etched into with a seet of specialized tools. All sorts of cute little designs and words here and there, though unlike the Shortspear there seemed to be a better sense of art to it. She had said she owned her shortspear as a kid, so it's not a surprise she's improved with age.

*"Don't mention it, y'know? We're friends, it's what we do for each other that matters. I'd be glad to have you anytime, and my parents and sister would too."*
Gilbert
*As the two were talking to each other in a forest it was no surprise for there to be the sounds of nature. Birds chirping, wind rustling through the trees, and the occasional odd sound of movement from some wild animal. The movement of a wild animal is what could now be heard not too far from the the two. A twig snapping under hoof and the strained breathing of something having just stopped running. Not too far off a wild deer had come from the other side of the forest. It was a fairly average specimen of the species, the only oddity of it being the presence of emerald green eyes (though such detail can probably not be seen at this distance).*
Cynthia
It seemed the dragon would not be their primary mode of transportation. That was fine by Sonja, who always felt more confident traveling on her own two feet. She kept pace with Carlyn as they headed towards town.

"Makes sense..." Sonja agreed with a nod. Of course, this was not a circumstance the Ursinoid had ever found herself in, but the logic used to get there seemed reasonable enough. The friendly invitation to Carlyn's home was one she wished she could have reciprocated, but that would have required Sonja to still have one of those. "Yes. It would be an honor to fight along side you again sometime, Carlyn."

Noticing the carefully etched wooden hand of that large, Sonja paused a moment. "Still have your spear, I see... Matches the saddle. You carved them yourself? What do they say?" She assumed the words held some importance, but the Ursinoid couldn't speak or read Carlyn's native tongue.

Hearing a disturbance not far off, Sonja glanced towards it, sniffing the air. A deer. But something seemed odd about its scent. The Ursinoid couldn't quite place a finger on it, but she motioned slowly towards the dear, as if to draw Carlyn's attention to the bit of nature that had graced them on their journey. It was a good thing the dog had offered her dinner, otherwise the large Ursinoid might have unslung her giant crossbow.
David
*"Well, fighting or not, I'd love to rejoin the company again soon. I've been waiting till we get called back to action, but... You know, I don't think I care anymore about that. I just want to be back with my friends."*
Of course, Carlyn had always been in her best element when with others, so it's not a big surprise she had been silently suffering away for so long - even if she were with her family. Truthbetold, she loves them, but it's hard to really talk to them. A lot of their ideas conflict and it shows - hell, the whole reason why she took up mercenary work in the first place was due to a disagreement about working.

Gently, she looked at the spear in her hand as she picked it up, stating, *"Of course not. Why would I get rid of it? This thing has gone through hell and back,"* For a moment she brandished it to show Sonja. The writings on it were in all sorts of languages. Mostly in Mentian, but there were a few words here and there in Silnarian and Hasaapian she could track of. Things like *March On!*, *Where are the Birds?*, but what might've stood out importantly was *Never Forget Those Who Fight Further,* Along with the date that their company had initially met. It was certainly a flex of her lexical diary - had she recognized them, she caught traces of Kirigic and Prasi as well. So, that totalled the six languages. Silnarian, Menti, Runrant, Hasaapian, Kirigic, and Prasi. Christ almighty this damned dog knew a lot of languages.
Besides a lot of words, there were plenty of small doodles as well. Just... Random stuff. Of little dragons, foxes, swords, shroompeople, and she even saw a little Sivne on there. Cute.

Carlyn caught wind of the sounds and smell of the deer a bit after Sonja did, and she stopped in her footsteps. It wasn't until it was pointed out to her that she saw where it was, and she quietly gave a nod and... Ah... *Lifted her spear.*
Funny enough, the usually passive and friendly Carlyn seemed more intent on hunting the deer than the Bear did. It wasn't like they were at a deficit of food at home, it just... That's just who she was. See a deer, it means meat. Meat means food. Food means money. Money means MONEY! So, she's prepping up very slowly without even speaking a word.
Gilbert
*The creature had begun to graze almost passively. Common behaviour to be seen but what stood out from this grazing was the occasional glance upwards, strangely the deer was every few moments looking up at the cue of birds chirping. Almost as if bird watching was a hobby for it.*

*With Carlyn approaching and coming closer more details could be seen of the deer. Small for its size but not quite small enough to be a muntjac. The horns are long and pointed, sharp even, a unique prize for a hunter perhaps or just a valuable sale to a merchant seeing as that's whats on the dog's mind today. Though like all animals in the world, one knew to avoid predators. Stopping its grazing and raising its ears, disturbed not by sound or sight but by the strange smell of bear and dog permeating the area. Paranoid eyes scanned around for a second before calming down. Maybe if Carlyn was silent she could get close enough but the deer seems aware now it's not alone in the forest.*

*Internally Shaw had debated whether to move on from this forest. Mentally sighing from tiredness and frustration, knowing it'd be easier to navigate in his Silnari form but slower. Maybe one day he'll finally pay for a horse so he no longer needs to traverse the country slowly on his own two feet or as an animal. Oh well, time to enjoy more grass on this lovely and peaceful day were nothing could go wrong. Nothing at all*
Cynthia
"There is plenty of action to be had. We should summon the others to continue our adventures in the near future." The Ursinoid concluded with a small nod. Not only was it nice to have traveling companions, they could accomplish more together, and made decent money at it too. Not that Sonja was particularly low on coin at the moment.

Hearing Carlyn's remark about the spear, the Beastkin nodded and chuckled softly to herself. "Yes, yes of course... I meant, I'm surprised it's survived in such good condition." Of course, Sonja was a 6'7" Super bear. It seemed likely that regular melee weapons, even ones that were well made, wouldn't survive all that long in her hands unless specially designed for larger combatants to wield.

As the weapon was brandished, Sonja was able to get a better look. Now that she was up close, she could make out some of the words! There were plenty she didn't understand though. Clearly there were multiple languages on the weapons, though the bear had no idea about the ones she didn't know. The date their company formed, she did note with a small smile and nod of approval. "...I think you could make a living just by engraving things."

Sonja hadn't meant to point out the deer with the intention of hunting it. Frankly, she was surprised that the typically kindhearted Carlyn planned to hunt it despite not needing it for food. This seemed rather wasteful to the Ursinoid. She silently waved her hand, in a subtle attempt to use her nature speech magic to telepathically warn the deer. While it would have worked on an actual dear, how it affected a shapeshifter was unclear...
David
Carlyn gentled lowered her spear when the hand was placed before her, and she looked up at Sonja for a moment. It took her a moment, but she had remembered that the bear could speak fluently with the flora; a language that she was unfortunately not gifted in.
*"Is it saying anything?"* She asked to Sonja, though even as she spoke, her eyes were still locked on the little animal across the way. Clearly she had wanted some weird-ass deer meat.

Regardless, she was more than willing to oblige. So idly she went again, just watching for the moment.