Oh a very good morning to you, my dear reader.
Do say, what is it that you think of friendship?
... (Huh?)
Oh, never you mind...
Why, 'tis a simple question that finds itself oh-so important to the very chapter we just so happen to have before us now.
Even so, do say...
Given how this very thing is oh-so important to the tale...
Do say...
What do you think of friendship?
... (Huh? I guess... it's a necessary... it's alright.)
Of course, of course...
Yes.
Many a human would agree...
Many a human would indeed.
Even so, do ask yourself this...
What do you believe is the very limit of friendship?
... (Huh?)
Oh, do forgive me for this.
Ahem.
A very good morning unto you, my dear reader...
Do say, how is your day?
... (What?)
Oh, never mind.
Why, I was simply trying to ask something of you.
A question that shall become most important through the very history of this tale.
Indeed.
... (Ok. You should've just started with that.)
Yes, yes...
I did in fact, but that remains unnecessary.
All the same, do I ask this of you, my dear reader...
What is the very limit of friendship?
... (Huh?)
Well, I suppose a bit of elaboration is required.
Ahem.
Do say, my dear reader...
What constitutes a friendship?
... (I... dunno...)
Hmmm...
Well that does make things complicated, doesn't it?
... (I dunno?)
Well, I do suppose that something ever so abstract could find itself to be so...
Difficult to explain.
Do say, my dear reader...
Do you have any friends?
Or even so, have you before had any by your side?
... (This is starting to sound like some kinda long-winded insult.)
Oh, bother...
Do fail to take it so harshly and simply answer the question, I say.
... (Ok, ok. I do. There.)
Very good then.
Now, do tell me this much, my dear reader...
What do you believe is the very limit of your friendship?
... (Wha...?)
Hmmm...
Perhaps, yet a bit too complicated...
Very well then.
Do say, my dear reader...
How different should two people be...
For the very friendship between them...
To cease to be possible?
... (I... I dunno...)
Hmmm...
Yes...
It is a difficult question, is it not?
The very limits of friendship in the human world, I should say.
Why, 'tis a daunting thought really...
... (Really.)
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Even so, why...
Must I summarise it all to simply ask of you, do you believe that a man and a beast can be friends?
... (Huh?)
'Tis most important to the tale, I would say...
... (I... I guess...)
Hmmm...
Well, I was hoping for a more certain answer...
However, very good then.
I shall continue.
Ahem.
Do say, my dear reader...
How is your morning I do ask you once more?
... (Very good then, if you please.)
Oh you and your odd chit-chatter.
Very well then.
As long as all is well, have I nothing to bother about.
Why, 'tis even so splendid that you no longer complain about the cold.
'Tis a good thing, I say.
All the same, do keep warm.
And thereof, do I say...
Shall I finally get on and along with it.
And of that, my dear reader...
You must ask yourself this...
How does a predator hunt its prey?
... (Huh? With... teeth and claws and... magic fire?)
Hmmm?
Oh, ho, ho...
No, no, no.
Not quite.
Perhaps I ought to be more specific.
Do ask yourself, my dear reader...
Should a, say, pack of flying Bastions, from the distance, take note of something...
Say, a herd of Iceman's buffalo, do say...
How would the Bastions go about finding this very beast's flesh upon their mouths?
... (Uh... Flames?)
Hmmm...
No, no, no...
'Twould seem that I missed a few things here and there.
Alright then.
Very good.
All the same, should I attempt this...
Hmmm...
Indeed.
Do ask yourself this, my dear reader...
As the Bastions hunt their prey, what do they do?
... (Uhhh... fly up to it and burn it?)
Precisely, my dear reader...
Precisely.
... (Uh huh...)
Bastions fly up to their prey and burn it.
Indeed.
All the same, do they also target that very prey...
And burn it thereof.
... (Huh?)
Perhaps another example would suffice.
Do say, my dear reader...
Should a pack of bastions, far removed from any Iceman's buffalo seek to hunt one down, what would they do?
... (Look for one?)
Indeed.
To hunt, I say, my dear reader.
To hunt.
And thereof, I do ask you, my dear reader...
What is necessary for a hunt?
... (Uhhh... huh... I guess... Stuff to look for the monster and stuff to kill it with?)
Precisely, my dear reader...
Precisely.
The very beast shall make use of both.
... (I still don't get it.)
Oh, it is so simple, I say...
Well, I suppose I should give you the time to figure this all out.
... (Ok...)
Do consider this, my dear reader...
In order to hunt one such as those that go by that name in the human tongue...
The very Bastion must first...
... (Find them?)
Yes, yes, very good.
However, before that, the Bastion must also...
... (Prepare to hunt them down? I guess...)
Hmmm...
No, no.
Not that.
Do consider this, my dear reader...
What and how would a Bastion find its prey?
... (What and how? By... smelling it?)
Yes, yes...
A very good example.
Why, hearing and the many other things would have sufficed as well.
Even so, why...
Does the very beast require yet one more important thing before it does begin its hunt. For, dare I say...
To hunt for a beast is fully useless, unless, the very hunter knows...
... (Huh?)
Oh, come now, it can't be that hard.
... (Knows what the beast is like?)
Very close and also very good, I say.
Indeed.
A good thing I say...
Why, the very hunter must in fact know the very beast it chooses to hunt.
... (Uh huh... You know how sometimes some people say, I could have told you that?)
Oh, bother...
Do consider the many things of the beast I say.
Its very smell, its very mannerisms...
Well, I suppose I shall leave that to you to ponder upon.
Alright then.
We do finally get started.
Ahem.
'Twas as the very young lad was on his way, up and about, searching for yet another beast to slay...
That an odd scent did reach his nostrils.
Odd, yet familiar I should say.
Why, dear reader...
Do you remember that very thing that did occur several chapters ago?
The very time that Madam Hathaway sought for a way to make little of the young lad's efforts and ethics?
... (Yeah. What is her problem, by the way?)
A later date, my dear reader.
A later date.
All the same, do you recall...
... (Wait. That monster's back?)
Oh, yes.
Very good then, my dear reader.
Very good, I say.
All the same, indeed.
The very beast did indeed also carry with it a scent.
And of that scent, I say, why...
Did the very beast seem to be several a distance from the young lad.
However, even and so as the very young lad could smell it all that distance away...
Did the very unnerving hit his person.
Hmmm...
No, not mere unnerving...
But even so, the very question.
... (Huh?)
'Tis simple, I should say.
... (How it ended up all the way here?)
Yes.
Very good, my dear reader...
Very good indeed.
For, even and so, as the young lad could smell it a great distance away...
Did he even so ponder...
As to how exactly it had followed them there.
Why, the carriage had travelled no meagre distance...
And even so, I should say...
That the very beast was yet far from both the young lad and also the very carriage.
Indeed.
Why, the very beast was at oh-so great a distance, that the young lad found no reason to worry over an attack from the very beast...
However, to say that he was unbothered would be fully deceitful of me, I'm afraid.
Why, the very beast simply seemed to eventually want to come to attack, one could argue.
Even so, was it a strange one.
Yes.
One the likes of which the young lad had never before taken a sniff of.
Even still, it was likely just another of the same kind. Yes...
... (Different monsters of the same species have the... No, wait. They have different scents?)
Why, naturally, I should say.
The very thing is of the many things of scent.
Why, different humans all look different to you, do they not?
... (True.)
Very good then.
And even so, the same follows for the young lad.
However, he found himself to be at a great enough distance that he himself could not fully judge as to whether it was the same or a different one.
And even so, he faced yet another conundrum.
... (Huh?)
Consider the very dead grave-tail now hanging from his shoulder and being dragged across the forest floor...
Should he decide to hunt this beast...
Shall the very corpse not merely slow him down...
But also, protecting his kill while all the same hunting a beast as such would be most troublesome, I should say.
Why, even still, did the young lad consider and decide that simply keeping himself from it...
Why...
That that would be the very most effective course of action.
... (Fair.)
Yes, 'tis of the many things of monster hunters, I should say.
To always know better when hunting a beast.
All the same, did the young lad sniff the air once more so as to judge.
... (Huh?)
'Tis the very same with a man with eyes, I should say.
To look around the area, and even so, given what you see, to guess what should happen next.
... (Ok? So what does Jake see?)
Of the young lad's...
... (Wait, I meant smell.)
Oh, not to worry...
I did understand you there, my dear reader.
All the same, did the young lad indeed smell something.
Yes.
A wild beast headed towards him...
Not very quickly, and all the same, quick enough that it would be upon him before long.
Fail to assume, my dear reader...
That any beast chasing after the young lad is going to surprise him oh-so easily.
Why, the very young lad could even tell what was around his general area.
Yes.
He could smell the dire wolves in the surrounding area...
Even so, hear one howl.
All the same, the very grave-tails...
Why, could the young lad also smell the very fact that the dire wolves were not too far from his very unknown travelling subject.
Yes...
Even so, did the young lad...
Oh dear.
Time is up, I say.
... (I'm really not liking these new times.)
Well, I do suppose that it should be quite a bother for you.
All the same, do I say...
That it remains necessary.
... (Mmmm...)
Well, I shall leave you to that.
Do take care, my dear reader...
And even so, do take the time to spend time with family.
Why, 'tis said...
That nothing happens without reason.
... (Uh... what?)
Very good then.
A good day to you, my dear reader.
A good day indeed.
