Jyleth woke early the next morning, anxious to check her account to see if the 50,000 gil had truly been deposited. She also was making a mental list of items she would need for the undertaking. She pulled on thick, fur-lined trousers and a matching coat over her thin thermal clothing then left her small house and swiftly walked into town. The snowstorm had ended late last night, leaving the landscape in sparkling white perfection. Sparkling white *cold* perfection, Jyleth amended mentally, pulling her cloak tighter.
She arrived in town no longer shivering, the fast pace she had set on her walk had quickly warmed her. She stopped first at the bank, and was somewhat surprised to find that the gil Sephiroth had promised was indeed now credited to her account. Next, the item shop. Jyleth mused over what she would need, wondering what Sephiroth would have on his person. Because of the heavy snows, tents were out of the question - they would collapse under a snowstorm in less than an hour. Instead, Jyleth opted for the more expensive yet infinitely better snow-shelter materia. It created a small warming field that preventing snow from accumulating on sleeping travelers. Unfortunately, it was not powerful enough to make a field large enough for a tent. Jyleth had never owned one, having borrowed the one she had used from a good friend. That friend was no longer around, and, in any case, she had been wanting to own one for some time, and since she was not footing the bill...she took two, since she did not know what Sephiroth had and, as the guide, she had to be prepared for anything.
Food was also going to be a problem. Game in winter was scarce, and Jyleth suspected that Sephiroth would not be willing to take the time necessary for hunting down was little game their was to supplement their food. So that meant carrying they would have to carry all of their food from the beginning of the trek. After she calculated the weight of the travel rations required to supply them for three months, Jyleth decided that on the way back, it would be warmer and game would be easier to catch; therefore, they could supplement somewhat on the way back. So she took rations of travel bread, dried fruit, and jerked beef, still wincing at the weight it amounted to.
Jyleth now turned her mind to clothing. Her own personal wardrobe was vast enough to accommodate her needs sufficiently, however, she again lacked knowledge of Sephiroth’s needs. Surely he had acquired the proper clothing merely to come here? Or did the legendary Sephiroth not feel cold as the rest of the world did? What he had been wearing the night before had definitely not been appropriate for the winter season - Jyleth could not help wondering what he had worn in his trip to her remote village. Perhaps he really did not feel the cold like everyone else. Even if that were the case, Jyleth was unsettled at the idea of anyone striding around without proper clothing under her care, so she picked out a heavy, warm cloak for him. As she picked the cloak off the rack, Jyleth paused a moment, studying it. It had been bleached to an ivory white, as all winter cloaks were, so that the wearer would not stand out against the snow to the eyes predators or ambushers. She worried that the black-clad Sephiroth might object to wearing such a color. Shaking her head, she decided he would wear it whether he liked it or not; she would not fight every banshee and wolf along the way because of Sephiroth’s preference of the color he wore.
Another surprise awaited her when she brought her selections to the counter. When she had dug out her gil pouch, the shopkeeper stopped her with a quick wave.
"No need for that, Miss Jyleth," he said with an unfamiliar formality, "He - Lord Sephiroth - stopped off earlier and let us know to charge your purchases to his - Shinra’s - account. No need for your gil for this."
"Since when have I been Miss, Gryg?" Jyleth asked, trying not to act surprised at Sephiroth’s accommodations for her. She had expected to have to present a bill to him to be later recompensed for her purchases.
"Since you became employed by the Lord Sephiroth, Miss," Gryg informed her warily.
"He *told* you to treat me like this?" Jyleth was outraged that Sephiroth would cause this trouble with people she had known all of her life.
"No, no, Miss," Gryg corrected quickly. "I’m sorry M—Jyleth. Folks, you know, talk."
"About what?" Jyleth could feel the anger mounting inside her and quickly suppressed it. What ever folks were talking about, it was not Gryg’s fault.
"That, well," Gryg seemed clearly uncomfortable, obvious by his glances over to the doorway. Jyleth sighed and leaned forward over the counter, giving Gryg a hug. "Now," she whispered to his hear, holding him close, "people will just think I am giving you a good-bye hug. You can tell me without worrying about them."
"They say that you might be his ears," Gryg whispered back to her, clearly happy to remove the barrier between himself and his friend.
"What?" Jyleth nearly shouted, pulling away quickly. At Gryg’s anxious look, she calmed down and continued. "They think I will tell on them?" Gryg shrugged, then suddenly started putting her purchases into two linen bags.
"Will that be all for you today, Miss Jyleth?" Gryg asked, looking as if they had not just discussed the town’s distrust for Jyleth. Jyleth looked over her shoulder to see that the tanner’s wife, Lliana, had walked in. Gryg was not going to take a chance of people thinking he might not be their side, for it was their purchases that kept him fed and warm.
"Yes, thank you," Jyleth replied, gathering her bags and leaving the store, deeply troubled by what her latest commission had cost her in trust. After stopping by the bank to deposit the gil she had on her – it was all she had on hand. She had decided not to leave any gil in her home, due to the time she would be gone. Simply too much of a temptation to the younger, more desperate members of the town. Or the odd stranger that might stumble across her humble abode.
Heading home, Jyleth planned out the rest of her day, putting aside the matter of town trust until a time when it would matter. She would need to plan the packing of the travel packs, making sure that she conserved space and equally distributed the supplies. Jyleth always kept spare packs for her customers, for they rarely had the proper kind for the harsh environment of her land. Another pause in her thoughts. Would Sephiroth carry a pack? Surely he did not think himself too far above the rest of the world to think that carrying a pack was not something he needed to do. Jyleth dismissed the idea; Sephiroth was a SOLDIER, they were trained to the utmost peak of their capabilities (and beyond, or so the rumors said), so carrying a pack would be nothing to him.
Jyleth arrived at her home, and small one room dwelling that looked little more than a hut. However, looks can be deceiving, for Jyleth’s house was well insulated against winter’s cold touch. She stepped inside and wondered how much she would miss the place. True, she had been gone longer than this journey should take, but never had any of those undertakings been so dangerous. The thought that she might never again see her home chilled Jyleth more than the bitter wind could. She cast the thought aside quickly, however, for there was work to be done and thinking about what might happen accomplished little other than wasting time. She set to arranging the packs.
The last order of business for Jyleth was inventory of her weapons. She prided herself in mastery of several different types of weapons, and for this journey, she felt the need to take all of them with her. First were her knives. She had two sets of throwing knives, one set that strapped onto her wrists and one that she inserted into her boots. Next, a fine pair of daggers, each half as long as her arm. They were double edged and honed nicely to a razor sharp edge. These she wore on her belt. Next was her prize – a set of twin swords, known as Kusamé. Single edged, they were incredible weapons that she had mastered only with years and years of practice. She would never admit where she had acquired them, for they were forged with mythril, something she should not have been able to afford. She carried them in crossing sheathes strapped across her back underneath her pack. They each had four materia slots, but these slots were currently filled with pseudo-materia – stones that were the same size, shape, and weight as materia. All weapons had pseudo-materia until the user acquired materia to fill the slots with, for it was necessary for the slots to be filled to maintain the proper balance in a weapon. Jyleth completed her weaponry with a simple, smooth staff – it was actually a walking staff, but she had found it worked just as well for the bashing of unwanted visitors. It was also handy for detecting snow depths in one’s path without having to find the difference one’s feet. After lying out the packs and weapons, Jyleth banked her fire and went to sleep for the last time in her home.