FicWad

DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 90


"What happened to you? You look like you got hit by a truck."
I look up from my desk to see the only person who ever showed me any kindness, Kaori, A tall{ish) blonde with sparkling green eyes which usually shown with an inner light I long since lost. She was looking at my new set of bruises with a look of concern. I give a very disinterested "the usual" and try to go back to sleep. The hell does this chick want from me? I glance over to see the "crew", Max, a mountain of a 10th grader at 6'6 and 240lbs with the cliché blonde hair blue eye jock thing going on, his forever-in-his-shadow lackey Justin, with his whole I'm Mexican so I’m tough facade, and last but not least their creepy friend Zack, who was often found leering at every girl that breathed in his general direction, glaring daggers at me which in itself wasn't all that unusual, but there seemed to be a extra dash of murderous intensity today. Not surprising, given the class goddess was talking to a jackass like myself instead of one of Max. Who is this jackass you ask, well no one too special. At an utterly unimpressive 5ft 10in height and comfortable in my 245 pound frame, throw in matted brown hair, which i kept short as it was an irritating hassle when long, and a pair of brown eyes that, according to the classroom gossip, had a piercingly dead look in them and you pretty much get me. Not that impressive right? And on the other side of the spectrum was Kaori, tall at 5'5, with long blonde hair which hung to the small of her back and shown like polished gold in most any source of light, her green eyes that put most emeralds to shame had a strange calming effect on anyone who looked into them, to her moderate cleavage. Her skin was always slightly browned, which was quite the accomplishment given how little tanning weather we had in the is town. Tall, fit and tan. She was easily the best looking girl in school. Which was made it all the more confusing and at times infuriating to the others in the class that she give any of her precious consideration to an outcast like me. Seeing Max glaring at me I figure he'll want a "word" with me later.
Clearly unsatisfied with my nonanswer, Kaori, pinches my ear and pulls, not too hard but hard enough to make me grumble.

"Did you get in another fight? Seriously...Can't you go one day without a fresh set of bruises, or cuts?"
I yank my ear back,
"hey, leggo, Barbie I need that, and wat do mean another? Jesus."
I rub my now tender ear before ignoring her again. We'd been friends since we were in kindergarten, so it was more of the same, I get jumped, she gets pissed that I fought, ten minutes later she wants my help with some subject she's currently struggling with.
"hey Barbie, I'm fine thanks for asking by the way, oh and how’s that physical science report coming?"
I ask in a condescending tone,
"you gonna need my help again?"
She steps back red in the face, embarrassed, and flustered,
"Its coming along fine and I d-don't need your help-p this time! Idiot!"
She'll ask in twelve minutes swear to god. I can always get under her skin at the drop of a hat.
"Hey don't talk to her in like that, worthless retard, the fuck you think you doing?"
There it is, that took longer then I expected. Max sauntered over and smashes my head off my desk, or at least tries to, as I deftly move to the side for a book under my desk, causing him to miss and end up tripping on my desk leg and falling on hie face. Que hysterical laughter from the class at his blunder. I look at him rising confused,
"what happened, first time with your new feet? Well don't worry I think the floors okay, my desk is too for that matter so there’s that."
Max gets back to his feet murder in his eyes, I look up at him with a veiled smile on my face. The class had fallen silent for his violent tendencies were well known and feared by everyone. Well except for myself. Which irked him to no end that a punk who was lower then his chest was completely unafraid of him, when even the teachers tried to keep him happy. No matter what Max or his buddies did to me I was never scared of him or the slightest bit intimidated. Now you're probably thinking, well why not? Right? Well the answer to that is simple: He couldn't hurt me. My home life was such a hell that anything Max did was just the usual for me. My pain tolerance was insane, all thanks to my family life which only Kaori knew just how bad it could be. She'd seen the scars, the bruises, dislocated joints,{no broken bones thus far}, and the other injuries that come standard with a fucked up home life. Compared to that Max's attention was child’s play. Didn't stop him from trying to top it though. Max was about to throw a fist my way when the teacher walked in,
"What’s all the commotion about now? Settle down I have an Announcement. Max Find your seat."
The teacher was a short woman, only 5ft, with a strange habit of mothering her students, her name was Miss Charlotte, Everyone called her Miss spider to mess with her. Max glared at me a little longer before moving off to his desk next to Zack and Justin. Kaori took her seat next to me as always. Miss Charlotte waited for the students to take their seats before speaking.
"everyone, your parents will be joining us today for class so be sure to be on your best behavior!"
OH Fuck, I thought. I look over to see Kaori staring at me concerned again. I shrug as if to say whatever, before looking to see the parents file in. Heh Odds are they're not here, why would they take time out of their day to spend it on their little failure? As each new person enter the class I open my text book for the class, Basic life sciences, and start reading the current chapter on algae blooms.
"hey look what the cat dragged in, What's up Tyler?"
I look up to see Kaori's brother Kazuma standing beside her. He looks like his sister, heh, well they are twins. Kazuma was a decent guy, but He and I were different in the regard that he was a hopeless optimist and I'm a nihilistic pessimist, but he did his best for his sister.
"hey I thought I sensed the presence of a foreign entity, but its just your ugly ass."
I respond without skipping a beat,
"The folks must be pretty desperate if they had to drag your goldilocks-lookin ass in here."
Kazuma laughed,
"glad to see you still got that pissant spirit of yours T-rex, how's Kaori?"
"Not sure, Kaz, If you were oh say turn 180 degrees and look down you could ask her yourself. Hey barbie, this guy belong to you?"
I point a thumb at her chuckling brother. Kaori was smiling her pearly white smile, dazing a few people behind me,
"sorry no, he doesn't, better put him in the lost and found."
Her laugh was like listening to a wind chime on the edge of a forest in late-spring. Kazuma was chuckling too,
"Well unfortunately T-rex i found my sister so I'll see you around, Though hopefully not."
As he turned to speak with Kaori there was some yelling coming from the hallway. I stiffen like a dead rabbit as I hear the yelling,
"where's that piece of shit son of mine, Fuckin retard supposed to be here, worthless waste of sperm, why didn't I get an abortion? Jesus Fuckkin retard!"
I slump in my seat as the yeller enters the room, Revealing an extremely obese woman, who barely fit into her dress, her halfassed bun messily tangled and strewn about her face. Behind her followed a pencil of a man with dark skin and a exhausted look on his face, as if following the moving mound of flesh as a laborious effort. Which to be fair it was, My mother, Jeanie and her husband{my step father, don’t ask} Moran, Trailing behind them with a look of disgust on her face came my sister, a similarly obese girl a year younger that myself. Oh and incase i forgot, I'm fifteen, so you know a sophomore in high school, not sure why that matters but there you go. My mother waddles to my desk,
"THERE you are you little shit, the fuck is the reason I had to take a day off from work to come babysit your bitchass in school for?"
SMACK!! My head jerks to the side from her slap, I take it in silence and just apologize,
"I'm sorry they didn't tell me why yet, I just found out about this like five minutes ago myself."
my tone flat, eyes low. She goes ballistic, yelling about come I didn't text her,{ I don't have a phone}, why didn't I tell her, with various insults and rants about me in the process. I stopped listening, only picking up one word in three at this point. I see Max and his crew laughing at me and my situation. Kaori and Kazuma were just sitting there looking at me sadly like they knew they couldn't do anything to help me. My sister was also laughing. My mother stopped talking long for my Step-father to say, in a flat bored tone,
"you know you're in trouble when you get home right?"
I reply
"Yeah I know"
in a monotone voice. So much for a quiet night. My "family" finally goes to the back of the room with the other parents and take their seats. Miss Charlotte starts the lesson timidly, trying to pretend anything had happened. I take out my notebook and start taking notes quietly. My face a perfect calm and serene mask. Inside I'm just, tired of my life, my parents, the nonstop pain and misery that was my existence. I was on my own little island of pain and loneliness, watching the endless others on their ships and rafts passing me by, leaving me to my fate, even Kaori and Kazuma. But that’s okay, I'm used to it. As I’m taking notes wrapped up in between my thoughts and the lesson, I drop my pencil. fuck I lean over to pick it up and notice a bunch of blue writing on the hardwood floor. Curious, but not wanting to draw attention in case I'm hallucinating, I pick up my pencil and sit back up in my seat. I look at the writing and start following it with my eyes, the writing was in a different language then any I had ever seen before. As I'm a gamer and loud and proud anime fan I've seen a few different languages in my time, 'course I can't speak a word of any of it. The blue writing seemed to have a whimsical way about it, and as I trace it I realize it formed a circle around the entirety of the classroom and through it as well. It formed a two-tiered blue circle on the floor, that nobody seemed to have noticed yet. As I consider how to deal with the fact there's large blue writing on the floor one of the students, a mousey girl with black hair raised her hand.
"yes Sera, what is it?"
Miss Charlotte asked in her quiet voice.
"Um, Miss Charlotte what's with the blue circle on the floor here?"
" what blue circle there's no cir-"
Charlotte walked over to her desk and saw the circle. She got a confused look on her face as she saw the sky blue words.
"I've no idea what this is"
Then as everyone in the room looked at the strange decoration, it started to glow and pulsate as if coming to life. Que the students starting to panic. I grab Kaori's hand as she starts to scream, she looks at me and comes down from her own fear. I'm feeling strangely calm as the circle expands and flies off the floor incasing everyone in the blue glow, just before a bright light floods our vision and as I close my eyes against the brightness, Kaori squeezes my hand tightly, Wow her hand is soft, and damn is that a strong grip. The brightness dims and we open our eyes. I realize we're on the floor and stand up, help Kaori to her feet.
"you okay?"
ask her, she nods dumbfounded at the tun of events.
Tyler turned from her nervous face and started to examine the room in which they were transported to, there were torches along the walls of the circular chamber, they seemed to be made of a dark red stone, if he had to guess was a form of granite or sandstone, polished to a mirror like shine, the floor was a white material which as he looked at he realized it was pure mica, not sure why some would make a floor out of it but there it was. The other people, students and parents alike were all getting to their feet and getting their bearings. Tyler's own family came over to him bitching as usual.
"the fuck just happened eh retard?"
Tyler knew to answer would only incur another rant and/or a slap across the face so he remained silent and continued examining the room. As he was doing so, he noticed something in the corner of his vision. It was a strange dot similar to an hourglass as he focused his attention on it it expanded into a strange Heads Up Display, or HUD, Interface you usually see in video games. It had his name, age, sex, height, weight, along with a visualization of his body, in the top left corner of his vision there were three bars, one said HP, which he took to mean health points, a blue one that said MP, again going of gamer logic, Tyler took it to mean Mana Points, and the red one was, called EXP, which to complete the stereotypical game trifecta, probably meant experience points. As Tyler read the names of the bar he noticed that in the center of his vision above his 3d model was the phrase LVL 1. I'm level 1? great, ten bucks says this is one 0f those "slay the big bad monster save our world/ protect our world from x bullshit. As he thought this, Kaori grabbed his arm and clung to it like a drowning man clung to a life ring, Tyler could see she was on the verge of tears,
"Tyler what’s going on? where are we? I'm scared."
Her usually calm and confident demeanor was gone in the face of their situation. Tyler gave her a kind smile, the HUD disappearing as he looked at her,
"Don't worry, I'm sure we're gonna be fine. I think I know what this is but not certain yet. If all else fails, you got me right?"
She looked at him and wiped her face before giving him a happy smile,
"yeah if you’re' here we must be safe right? Thanks I'm good now, Though can I still hold onto your arm?"
She was blushing just the slightest bit, Tyler, nodded smiling himself. As he did he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his six-inch switchblade.
"good thing I thought to bring Spike eh?"
She chuckled,
" I know right"
Just then there was the sound of a large door opening and many booted feet approaching the scared group. A pair of large double doors opened up revealing a large bank of heavily armoured soldiers with a robed man in the center of the column. First thing Tyler noticed about the men was that they were in full plate armour, the steel polished to a glimmering shine, next they were moving like they practiced their movements on the daily, third they were carrying spears with red ribbons tied to the heads. Then Tyler spotted the center boss of the solders armour, a flying red dragon burning a field with a knight upon its back. Tyler turns his scrutiny upon the man in the robe. He was an old man with a wrinkled face with an unreadable expression on his face, even Tyler who specialized in reading people couldn't pierce that mask. The man's robes were of the purest white fabric, Tyler didn't know what kind it was. The white was bordered by red trim on the arms, and gold on the collar, everything about this man screamed high priest of some sect or another. As the man looked over the group his expression shifted the tiniest amount, but it was enough for Tyler to catch a look of distain in his eyes, which spoke volumes to him. With that sliver of an emotion Tyler could see how their group looked to the man, and what the man was thinking to an extent. The man was eyeing them, not as people, but as tools for him to use as he saw fit. Until the man noticed Kaori, His eyes lit up in a way that that made Tyler instantly put him on the top of his predator list, the man then noticed Tyler standing next to her and he without hesitating put his arm around her and pulled her against him with his knife in his other hand and looked the man dead in the eye with a dark glint in his eyes. The robed man eyes widened a little as he realized what that meant for him and looked away. kaori was confused until she saw his expression and realized he had just protected her, she didn't know from what or why but she knew he had just stuck his neck out for her.
"wha-"
"shh I'll explain later, but for now stay close and away from that priest."
She nodded and leaned into him. For the first time the man spoke, his voice a low baritone, he was clearly used to having others listen to him when spoke.
"Welcome brave warriors, to the world of Lectis, I am the Pope of the Holy Brotherhood of Humankind. My name is Skyr. I'm sure you must have many questions but if you will follow me I will see them answered. Come"
With that the "Pope" turned around without waiting for a response and started walking back through the soldiers behind him., the soldiers parted way for him to pass, as he did a tall, muscular man with a full beard and mustache in shining white plate mail stepped forward,
"alright everyone follow us please."
His tone was friendly enough but there was a no nonsense aura about him mixed an air of command that galvanized the scared students and their families into action. Miss charlotte was the first to follow and the others went with her. Tyler kept Kaori under his arm and his knife ready. As they passed the bearded man he glanced at them and, again Tyler stared him down, this time however the armoured man smiled and nodded approvingly,
"Looks like you got some backbone, Thank the gods"
Tyler learned a lot from those few words, both about the world, the man who spoke them, and, most interestingly about the religion of the world. The bearded man trailed after Tyler and Kaori, keeping a set distance behind them, which to Tyler seemed the perfect distance for a quick reaction if something were to go wrong. That guy's probably captain of the guard, or the royal knights. Skyr is definitely gonna come after Kaori for some reason or another, I do not trust that man, I will Not let her go anywhere alone with him, he had the look of someone used to power. For as I always say, There is no man more untrustworthy then one who speaks of god. Tyler kept his wits about him as they walked along a extremely lavish hallway. It was as wide as a tennis court and taller then a phone pole, all made of a rustic red stone that threw a unexpectedly homey feel to the room. feels like I stepped into Redwall Abbey They passed a large stained glass window. The window depicted the same imagery as the knights armour boss, a red dragon flying and burning a field, an armoured knight upon its back. Must be the royal family's crest or something similar. Then Tyler noticed the view out the window itself. The window he peered out of was high enough from the ground that in order to see it one would have to lean out the window at a dangerous angle to see the direct ground below, next were the green fields and rolling hills in the distance, a far cry from Berlin's mountains and valleys. But the thing that caught and held Tyler's attention was the massive island floating in the sky over the green fields, it looked like it was hung in the sky by some cheap Hollywood string, but there it was, an island in the freakin sky. Then a shadow passed the window and an airship floated by, it's floats full bloated and the deck bristling with crewman doing this and that to keep her aloft, It had a carefree feel, right there he made a decision: one he was going to fly in one of those, Two: he was going to take a piss of the edge of that floating island, Third: He was never going back to his original world.
"I'm never going back"
Kaori looked at him quizzically
"huh?"
"don't worry bout it, hey we'll get left behind come on."
They hurried down the hall after the others.
"hey kid hold fast a moment."
They stopped and turned to see the bearded man coming up behind them, He walked up to them and gestured to them to keep walking after the others.
"Noticed the Nidhogg, did ya? she's a fine warship, if I do say so myself"
Tyler kept walking as he replied,
"Nidhogg You say? She seemed like a fine craft though I have no knowledge myself of such things."
"aye lad a fine craft she be, I sailed abroad her many a time, let me tell you there's few better feelings then the wind in the riders, blue sky all around you and your mates with you as you set out on a journey. Oh by the by, me names Gruven, nice to know ya."
The man extended a large mailed hand to Tyler who promptly gave a hearty shake,
"pleasure Gruven, my names Tyler, that’s Kaori. So I take your the captain of the guard around here."
Kaori elbowed Tyler in the ribs, and smile as she shook the big mans hand. Gruven seemed a jolly sort of fellow, and genuine to Tyler, after gently shaking the lady's hand Gruven turned to him with a belly laugh,
"HAHAHA I like you lad, you got spirit, I'm not the captain of the guard, but the Royal guard."
Tyler chuckled,
"that was my second guess. So, the Nidhogg, you said she's a warship, what kind of arms is she packin? And what class is she?"
Gruven got a gleam in his eye as he warmed to the subject of the airship.
"Well Nidhogg a fierce cat, she's carrying thirty-four longarm cannons along with the crew of fifty, she's also sports five inches of steel reinforced wood paneling to deal with incomin fire, though, that rams the more terrifiyin weapon she bears, its a twenty foot anitite wedge sharpened like a blade along it's edge. She's a rammer, in a real fight she don't care wats beside or behind her as she charges the enemy head on and runs em down. As far as class goes she's a line breaker, thats' her purpose and she does it well. damn well at that."
Tyler nodded thoughtfully as he crunched some numbers in his head for the craft's weight and buoyancy.
"how do they fly then carrying all that?"
"harr harr, SkyCite, The magic stone that allows ships to fly when combined with those large balloons yous saw atop her. it's a constant balancing act for the helmsman to keep her aloft, too little stone and the ship stops, too little air in the bags an she falls, too much stone and she explodes, too much air an the bag bursts. Get it right and it's like a dream. Oh we're here take a seat and listen to the Pope."
They were in a large dining hall, everyone was already seated drinking something out of cups. As Tyler moved towards a seat Gruven leaned in for a moment,
"Watch that lass o' yours around Skyr, I wouldn't trust him with my girl, no sir."
"Agreed"
Tyler sat down next to Kaori, who had caught the exchange and finally realized why Tyler wrapped his arm around her for earlier. She sat next to Tyler now more aware of his every action then ever before. Tyler was busy looking about the room as he usually did when in a new room, she felt a lot safer in his presence then anywhere else. He had placed Spike the knife in front of him on the table, in easy reach, just in case as he would say. She wished she had his courage to face anything without flinching.
Tyler was looking around the chamber taking note of anything interesting, like the fact that they were surrounded by soldiers in full battle armour, and carrying swords. He spotted Gruven near the Pope, who was standing at a pulpit overlooking the gathering, as Tyler looked at the pulpit he noticed the motif on the wall behind it. A massive red dragon rearing up on its widespread wings roaring defiance at the sky red flame spewing from it's maw. I guess they worship a dragon god or something. interesting that the Royal crest has a similar dragon, wonder who in this country wields the real power. probably the pope given all this. Tyler wasn't too concerned yet as the Skyr wanted something from them so he'd keep his schemes under wraps for now, at least until the feeling out of the room ended. Tyler then noticed the pope looking at Kaori again this time Tyler looked him the eye with an open warning in his eyes as he took Spike and rub its edge testing it. There was zero fear in his gaze and plain old fashion contempt, I know what you are and what you want and you can't have it. Skyr seemed amused by Tyler's defiant stare down before addressing everyone.
"Thank you all for coming and again welcome to the world of Lectis brave warriors. Allow me to explain why you were summoned to this world and the role you are expected to play. First let me explain the world to you in this manner here, Ladies would please serve our guest some refreshments."
As he finished speaking, a large number of maids walked in pushing trolleys and carrying covered platers, cups and plates. Tyler expected no less from how organized and efficient the ladies were about there duties, what he DIDN't expect were the different types of maid there were. They had the stereotypical French maid complete with bonnet, the gothic Lolita which he had always admired, and others he didn't recognize. As one approached him and Kaori with a covered plater he moved to the side to allow her access to the table, when he did so he noticed her ears were pointed like a knife, and he realized with a start that he was looking upon an elf. A friggin elf for gods sake! She was rather tall and extremely slender with delicate features and decent cleavage, maybe a large b cup, her eyes were a deep red and her skin a shade of brown. She noticed him gawking and gave a slight smile, her teeth were pure white with a pair of slight fangs bordering her full lips.
"Ahem"
Kaori had apparently had enough of him ignoring her for a new girl and elbowed him in the side a bit harder this time. Tyler jumped and looked at her like what? The elf was smiling as she unloaded the platter of food and drink, the spell had been broken and Tyler was thinking clearly again. Now he noticed that there were other types of people then just elves, he noticed a short girl with a large bush of a tail, similar to a foxes tail by Charlotte, A girl with bunny ears by Max and his buddies, Poor girl, having to wait on those idiots, Another elf with black skin and a more feral look about her then the one who had served him and Kaori, then he noticed one girl that instantly became his favorite, a tall, pale skinned beauty with bat like wings growing out of her back, a long spiked tail swished back and forth behind her and there were a pair of curling horns protruding from her head. Her eyes were a deep shade of red, similar to blood, and her pupils were slanted like a cats. her hair was long and thick, and a more vibrant shade of red then her eyes, it was more the luxuriant mane of a lion then the head of hair on a mere human. Her breasts were large as well, easily a pair of double ds, and they bounced whenever she took a step. A devil girl, a friggin devil girl, I always knew i was gonna burn in hell someday, but damn do i hope there are more devils like her down there, if so i don’t think it will be so bad, hotter then holy hell am i right. That’s when the Devil girl looked at him and grinned lewdly, like she read his mind, and took an extra hard step adding an extra bounce factor to her magnificent mammeries as she passed. Tyler was impressed, Kaori was pissed, she stomped on his foot, causing him to jump,
"ow what the hell Barbie!?"
"eyes front pervert"
she growled, That’s when Tyler realized he was in deep shit, but before he could destroy her state of mind he smelled the food sitting before them, which was more of a pressing issue. There were steaks of an unknown meat type but smelled divine, salads brimming with various types of fruits like apples, pears, some lettuce heads and more that he didn't recognize. There were also pies and cakes, all served by the small army of maids. As Tyler gorged himself on meats of all kinds and flavors he paid special attention to the maids demeanor and body language, seeking to see into the nature of the keep they were in, as the old saying goes, want to learn about the top ask the bottom. Or in this case if you want to know about what kind of higher ups you were dealing with ask their servants. so Tyler paid attention to the maids not busy with serving anyone for clues. He didn't get very far as the Devil girl he had been ogling earlier walked up to him,
"greetings Warrior my name is Lyrica, and I'm to be your personal servant during your time in our care, it is a great pleasure to serve one such as yourself."
She said, or more like purred, her voice a seductive rasp that sent a shiver up Tyler's spine. It took him a second longer then usual for him to respond, a fact not lost on Kaori,
"ah, thanks, Lyrica um, well, this is a first, well lets see"
he trailed off completely hypnotized by this alluring creature before him. Lyrica laughed and leaned in close to his face,
"How may I serve you? Master?"
Her breath warm on his face and smell of cherries, he gulped before Kaori Jabbed him with a fork, "Wake up idiot, she's waiting"
the sudden pain combined with Kaori's voice brought him right back to reality with a bang. Tyler looked at Lyrica and only then noticed the presence on his mind, a pressure that was trying to push him toward more lewd thoughts about the sexy creature before him. That helped him realize what he was dealing with,
"Aww so you’re a succubus, are you not?"
Lyrica's eyes widened a little like she didn't expect him to figure it out, before laughing again,
"That I am young one, though I am surprised you're still sane after diving so deep into my seduction trance, anyone else humankind, beastfolk or demon would have lost their minds in an endless bliss after succumbing to my spell so readily and completely. Curious most Curious indeed. That said I am still to be your personal servant while in the care of the king. That much was true."
Tyler took a drink of black tea,
"Well Lyrica I'll say this now, you won't get me with that trick again, now I appreciate your help, though I still need information from Skyr about this land and it's peoples and what we're doing here."
He turned to Kaori,
"thanks for that Kaori, I owe you one"
"Yes well as long you don't get taken in again by her I'll let it go."
she took a drink of her own tea, though Tyler noticed her smug grin and the blush on her cheeks. Tyler then noticed that Lyrica was still awaiting orders,
"Lyrica you can rest for now I'll holler if I need u Kay?"
"As you wish master"
She headed off toward an alcove by one of the mantles along the wall. Tyler turned to see where the pope went and found him ascending the pulpit again, though when he looked over to see Tyler watching him he got a strangely sour look on his face, like he wasn't happy Tyler was keeping an eye on him. twenty bucks says he put Lyrica up to that little stunt to make me lose my mind and remove a potential thorn from his side. Skyr then cleared his throat and everyone turned to hear what he had to say.
"Now I feel like you realize that there are more then just humans in our world and some wield powers different then our own"
Skyr looked directly at Tyler when he said this, Well that settles it,
"now the reason you were summoned to this world is to use your formidable power and help humanity fight of the invading army of monsters, how you chose to do so is up to you, the monsters attack in waves every three months and humanities only hope for survival is to throw off the attacks when they come, we don't know how many attacks there will be, or how many foes will come from each assault wave but regardless you must help us fight them off every time they occur. The next attack will occur in three months time from today the countdown begin. Now the one who summoned you to this world was of god of reality, Dragonis, the creator of our world and the bridge between worlds, we at the Brotherhood of HumanKind worship the Red one as the chief deity among the pantheon of Lectis. Now as for your rewards for your efforts in the coming war, I will leave that to the king and you Warriors to discuss, now the King is His Royal Highness Ishtar Von Vernillion King of the country Vernillia a sovereign human kingdom and is one of the four principle human nations of Lectis. You will meet with the king on the morrow so to commence you journeys and begin building your strength. All I can Say to you Warriors is good luck in the coming battles."
In the wake of this bombshell announcement, that they were expected to fight in a war, and that it would begin in three months no less left the room stunned. Well except for Tyler of course, he nudged Kaori,
"We're traveling together, Agreed?"
He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight, She looked at him the fear gave way to relief,
"Agreed"
They were the only ones not in some form of panic. Everyone else was ranting and roaring, some demanding to be sent back, others panicking, and still others rocking back and forth either in the stairs or on the floor. Tyler looked over to Lyrica, who noticed his gaze and came over,
"Yes How can I serve you my master?"
"Could you show us to our sleeping quarters please Lyrica?”
"Certainly right this way please."
“sweet come on Kaori you're with me tonight, I don't trust anyone else here."
"kay"
She followed Tyler and Lyrica towards the door.
"Hey where are you going?"
Skyr approached them along with Gruven,
"We're going to crash for the night, and come up with a plan for tomorrow."
Tyler replied, still headed for the door. Skyr looked from Tyler to Kaori,
"You will share a bed chamber?"
"Yes since we'll travel together make sense to get used to sleeping in the same room."
Goes Tyler watching Skyr eye an uncomfortable Kaori, at this point Tyler moves in front of her to shield her from Skyr's hungry gaze. The pope faced him
"I'm afraid that is impossible, both sharing a bed chamber and traveling together as well, for the Warriors have always traveled alone."
"Tyler looked the pope dead in the eye, an intense anger burning in his gaze,
" Did you not just say that dealing with the attack waves is up to our discretion, How'd you put it? How we choose to do so is up to us? well we chose to fight together to deal with them. Now as for the chamber thing, I don't remember asking for, nor requiring your permission to do so, the only permission i needed is from Kaori and I got It. Good day to you my good sir. Come on Kaori"
He turned to leave with Kaori under his arm without waiting for the pope's response or dismissal. Kaori followed him, with a happy smile on her face. Tyler heard a rasp of steel behind him, pulling Kaori with him he surged to the side as a swordblade swooshed past them by inches. Gruven wielded said blade, the pope smiling behind him.
"I don't recall giving you leave to have that girl as I claimed her for myself, too bad for you Warrior." Gruven smiled apologetically,
"Sorry lad, orders you know, Fraid I can't break my oath, don't worry your death will be painless, I promise."
Tyler Looked at Kaori's terrified face and that was all he needed to move into action. Lyrica was nowhere to be seen. Tyler stood up and faced the Knightcaptain. He pulled Spike from his pocket. The pope laughed,
"seriously what can you do with that pathetic toy? Gruven Kill him quickly, I want to play with my new toy."
Gruven came at Tyler longsword held horizontally to his chest and pointed at him, Tyler stood his ground Spike held out in his right hand his left open ready to grapple. Kaori backed against the wall, "Tyler win this Please."
She was in tears pleading, knowing the horrific fate that awaited her if he fell. But she had never seen Tyler fight with something he actually cared about on the line, she had never seen what he was capable of when he got serious, if she had, she wouldn't have worried. Tyler charged the more experienced man knife ready, Gruven went to sidestep the seemingly bullheaded charge, only for Tyler to sidestep with him and tackle him to the ground, As they both fell Tyler wormed his way underneath the bigger man and locked his legs around the armoured waist of the Knight, the knights sword flopped useless to the ground with a clamor, Tyler Plunged the knife in the opening under the armpit of the captain, soaking the weapon and himself in the man's lifeblood. Gruven Grunted and tried to free himself from Tyler's embrace, but was unable to, his armour getting in the way and Tyler's ground based strategy paying dividends, Gruven tried crushing the small man beneath him but only succeeded in giving Tyler an opening for the back of his armour, where the breastplate met the plate legs, Spike dived in with gusto, seeking the man's kidneys' and spinal code, Gruven Went limp and Tyler Shoved him off and surged to his feet, grabbing the fallen knights sword, flipping the blood-soaked Spike around and closing it he tossed it to Kaori, who caught it deftly. Tyler raised the Knights longsword and faced the pope, both hands gripping the blade, taking up a side stance blade held straight out, A I dare you stance. The pope looked shocked that this kid, freshly summoned, untrained, had killed one of the most experienced knights in the kingdom with such ease. Tyler spoke in a low growl,
"You're next priest."
He was about to lunge at the bastard when Kaori grabbed his arm,
"look leave him we need to go now more soldiers are coming!"
She had dried her tears and seemed to be alright now. "
Very well"
Giving the pope one last hate filled glare he took Kaori's hand and took off down the hallway a group of soldiers chasing them. As they ran back down the hallway they had originally came down after being summoned, Tyler took the lead turning down a side hall along the way, the bootsteps of troops echoing behind the fugitives. Tyler was definitely feeling the exertion of hardcore running for your life, combined with the unfamiliar weight of the fallen captain's longsword in his fist, a panting Kaori a step behind him, and the fact that he wasn't in the best of shape physically you get the result of a man out of breath only after fifty{if that} meters of sprinting. As the two of them ran through the halls, passing terrified maids, servants, and others he didn't recognize, he realized just how fucked the pair of them were; running from a power-mad pope, a group of highly trained, far more experienced soldiers who patrolled these very same halls they were running through on the daily, not to mention the fact that solid ground was several hundred meters below them, all the while with no clue as to where they were going. Tyler knew they were like rats in a maze for the pope and soldiers, as neither he nor the blonde beauty beside him knew the slightest thing about the building they were in, then as if to prove his point, they turned a blind corner to find a squad of five knights in full armour coming the opposite way, crashing into the runners head on. Tyler crashed into the leading soldier's chest taking him down with a loud clang, like someone had dropped a kitchen of pots and pans, Kaori, ever dexterous, practically danced around the other four knights as Tyler extracted himself from the mess of man and metal on the floor. The knights seemed completely stunned to see a young man and woman racing around as if chased by the lord of death himself, that confusion lasted until one of the men noticed that Tyler was covered in blood, along with the blade he held,
"Hey watch the fuck ou-, ohh by the dragon, that's captain Gruven's sword! Hey! halt! Men after them, that's the captains blade!"
"Kaori, move!"
Tyler grabbed her hand and practically dragged her along the hall until she found her stride again. As the turned the next corner the group that had been originally chasing them caught up to the new group of soldiers, adding to their problems.
Meanwhile the second in command of the royal knights, a wall of a man clad in fur armour, named Gregor, was explaining the commotion to the remaining classmates and parents left behind in the dinning hall,
"The Warriors Tyler and Kaori are now enemies of the Kingdom of Vernilla, wanted fugitives who stand responsible for the murder of the brave Royal Knight Captain Gruven Von Lectis in cold blood, the theft of the Captain's family sword, threatening a Church official and attempted murder of the Pope himself. The pope is safe and currently under armed guard in his personal quarters. He is unharmed, though shaken. As we speak, the royal guard, the city militia, and local adventurers are currently scouring the town and the castle for the bastards with kill on sight instructions. They will not get far, I stake me oath on it."
He explained his gruff rumble of a voice. In the stunned silence of the dinning hall, the students and adults, who mere minutes ago were in a full blown panic over the pope's proclamation about their forced participation in the war for humanities very survival, were strangely quiet as they digested the fact that two of their own were wanted criminals, and for the murder of the jolly-seeming Gruven no less! As they were processing the wild turn of events, laughter filled the room, not just any laughter, but the extremely cynical, divisive laugh someone has when making fun of someone's oblivious blunder. The newly-promoted Captain scowled, and marched over to the insolent offender, only to find a obese woman, an equally obese daughter, and pencil of a man behind the cackling.
"What is the meaning of this? Do you people have zero respect? What do you find to be so funny, eh? Speak Up, lest you join the two monsters in their just punishment!"
Roared the hulking, fur-clad barbarian. The woman stood up,
"I'm fuckin laughin cause you actually think yur gonna catch that little bastard and his whore girlfriend. Take it from me, that fuckin retard is slipperier than a wet snake, and craftier then a blood-hungry fox. yer not gonna catch I’m if ya wanted to."
The woman replied with the condescending tone of one having to explain how 2+2=4 to a forty-year-old adult. Gregor looked like he was about to burst at the seems, How dare this heffer belittle the efforts and competency of the Royal knights? "oh, and what makes you so sure about that?"
"i'm the rats mother, thats why. Fucker makes escape look like an art form. It's the only thing that worthless waste of a birth is good for, runnin away that is."
Gregor was a little stunned that a mother could talk like that about her own child, With a mother like that, he shook his head to clear the blasphemous thought from his mind, and merely ordered the woman to be silent, and turned to survey the rest of the room. As expected some of the gathered people were scared, others were quietly discussing the days' events, others still were angry, one stood up, Kazuma, Kaori's brother,
"So, let me make sure I understand this, You're saying that, together, Tyler and Kaori attacked and killed Gruven the previous Knight captain? Without any trouble at all? Even though Gruven was vastly more experienced, armed and armoured? Tyler, who could barely run ten meters without stopping for breath, and Kaori, who is less then half the captain's size? Really? I'm sorry but there's no way they pulled that off. Especially given how the three of them seemed to get along together when we were walking to the hall. They were conversing like old friends. Tyler carries a six inch switchblade on him usually, your telling me that beat a longsword and years of training? Seems a little far fetched to me."
"And who're you that you know them so well?"
"I'm Kaori's brother, and Tyler's friend though he doesn't seem to think the same of me."
"Is that so?"
Gregor signaled to the knights, and they surrounded Kazuma, swords and spears pointed at him, "perhaps you would like to 'assist' us in apprehending them then? Then you can ask them why and how yourself."
Kazuma's protest was cut short by a spearpoint at his neck as he was marched out of the room. Gregor then once again faced the assembly,
"Alright everyone you are to be escorted to your chambers for the evening, then tomorrow the meeting with the King himself."
with that Gregor went to join the chase for the fugitives, as he left, the remaining people in the room were led by the leftover knights to their sleeping chambers for the evening. Murmurs and whispered conversations broke out throughout the column of interworlders,
"whats' gonna happen to Kaori and Kazuma?, She didn't really kill anyone right? I'm sure it was all that Tyler's fault as usual and Kaori was just dragged into it as always!"
There was not a shred of pity for Tyler, or a single word in his defense, Kazuma had been the only one to defend him and he had been taken away at spearpoint. The students and parents were led to their quarters for the night, lavish rooms for each of them on the top floor of the tower, the complete opposite direction from the desperate chase still going on below their very feet. The former classmates and associates of Tyler and Kaori slept badly that night as the was the constant sounds of horns and alarms throughout the night.

DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 89.

Tyler and Kaori didn't sleep at all that night, between dodging patrols and narrowly avoiding capture numerous times they, by some freaking miracle made it to the ground floor of the large keep. Kaori was exhausted, her head constantly falling forward and her nearly falling asleep when motionless, Tyler felt bad for her, this was probably the first time she had to stay awake and alert to such and extreme extent like this, she wasn't used to this. Not that Tyler was in much better shape, though he was more accustomed to people being out for his blood, for some reason or another, he was still exhausted from the near misses and close calls from the top of the tower to where they were now. They were also hungry and thirsty, though Tyler had the pleasure of pissing out of the window of the tower on a higher floor, which was kinda cool if he was honest. Though Kaori thought he was an idiot for that one. He got revenge though when it was Kaori's turn, he had to stand guard outside a lavatory on the thirty-first floor of the tower while she pissed,
"Just be glad it's not your time of the month right now eh?"
He snickered,
"Oh my dear, dear friend, I'm so glad you can still find the time for jokes when our lives are on the line, though I hope you'll indulge me for a moment when I get out of here for a moment so we can 'discuss' your turn of phrase, so please joke away."
She kicked him in the balls for that one, worth it though. After recovering they had kept running. Now they were so close and yet still so far from their goal of the town. Both exhausted and short on time they took stock of their situation. Thy were looking out the window over looking a rather foreboding moat filled with black water that seemed to roil and churn on it's own accord, that fact convinced them that simply diving into the moat was a bad idea as Tyler was not a very good swimmer, and Kaori was not confident enough to help him in the water. Plus the roiling and churning waters hinted at unseen currents beneath the surface, further adding to the moats danger factor.
"That water looks like a bad idea, Tyler, I know you suck at swimming, even the 4ft section of the local pool was a challenge for you! Plus I don't like the way those ripples look, I'm thinking underwater caves or off shoots of the main causeway, not to mention what might be living in there too."
Tyler nodded,
" I agree that moats' bad news, though for the sake of options, lets keep it as a worst case scenario backup plan kay?"
He turned to continue scanning their options: the first option was the bridge leading into the building in the north of their position, but, as it was a main access point for most foot traffic in and out of the tower, it was probably heavily guarded, next was the moat which was the most risky option, the last was trying to get high enough in the building to jump onto a passing airship and hope to stick the landing and remain undetected, that last option got a look of disbelief from Kaori when he proposed it,
"Tyler"
she spoke in a low, slow voice, as if speaking to a small child so as to not scare it even though she herself was fuming,
"what...in the blue sky-loving hell...is wrong with you? Just curious, cause it seems to me that you might have a death wish, or are just plain suicidal."
Tyler had looked at her with a quizzical look of confusion on his face after she said that.
"Well, Barbie, I’m Sorry that my ideas don't involve primping and preening, cause if they did we'd be out of this mess already, though, I still doubt we'd get every far, since that personality is a real turn off though."
She had turned on him red in the face with anger and embarrassment and was about to whack him one when a patrol of hunting knights came by at that moment and they had had to take off again. So with the airship jump firmly off the table, they were left with a moat dive from either the tenth or fifteenth floors, or a ballsy walk out the front door along the main bridge in or out. As they weighed the options, Tyler adjusted the Captains sword on his back, for as they had run through the halls of the tower they had hid in various rooms along the way, one being a small guards' armory, mainly stocked tunics, and light armour. As they were wearing clothing that screamed outsiders, from Tyler's denim jeans, grim reaper t-shirt and Timberland work boots to Kaori's V-neck blouse, capri cut-off jeans and converse sneakers, He figured they could do with a change of clothes. Kaori had complained saying how much the shoes alone had cost, she ultimately agreed once reminded of the fact their lives were at risk. So they had scoured the small storage room. Tyler was the first to find things that appealed to him, A black shirt and hood combo reminiscent of a hoodie, only made of thinner material, under which he wore a thin shirt of chainmail armour. the chain links rubbed his skin and felt really weird, but he bore it silently, happy to have some form of armour, he also found a pair of light pants made from a form of soft leather, with a pair of spiked kneepads atop the timberland work boots, as they closely resembled the boots worn by soldiers. He had also snagged a scabbard for the Captain's sword he had taken from the fallen Gruven, Which he hung across his back, from right shoulder to left hip, before he had done so, he took a moment to examine the his new best friend. The sword was between four and five feet in length, with a leather grip, a simple steel crosstree, and a blade that started narrow and the guard and widened out before narrowing again into a vicious needle-like point. The blade itself was a deep silver, barely scratched, though whether that was from care or lack of use Tyler knew not, when the blade was swung it produced a whistle that sent a shiver down both Tyler’s and Kaori's spine, it produced such a pure sound, it was surprising that it came from an object of such death as a sword. Now having completed his own warrior's image he turned to check out Kaori's transformation: She had opted for a light green tunic that clung to her slender frame, emphasizing her moderate cleavage, leaving her back exposed to the air, a pair of light brown pants that were little better then skinny jeans, through far easier to move in, and belted by a leather strap with notches cut into it for pouches, pockets and other such adventurer gear. Her long beautiful blonde hair she tied into a ponytail and hung passed her waist. Completing the picture she had picked up a pair of high cut black leather boots. She wore a pair of fingerless gloves, and armed herself with a bow and a quiver of arrows from the supply of arms in storage. All in all, she could of passed as an elf without pointed ears with the outfit she had chosen, Tyler found himself thinking about just beautiful she truly was, something he had always known but never put much stock into, She really is as gorgeous as everyone thinks she is, damn am I happy I'm running with her instead of-wait the fuck am I thinking? That’s Kaori for fucks sake! get your head outta ye ass! He shook his head to knock the annoying thoughts away. He turned to the weapon racks and grabbed a bow and quiver for himself, along with a pair of small Sgian Dao daggers, one he hid in his boot, the other he was gonna give her for the same purpose.
As he looked over the weapons Kaori watched him from the corner of her eye, she had caught him staring, something he never did before, a fact not lost on the young woman. She was not mad or annoyed, as she normally was when she caught someone ogling her body, used to it as she was, instead she was strangely happy that he had been checking her out. She WAS a little disappointed when he shook his head as if to cleanse himself of impure thoughts and went to look at weapons instead of her, What embarrassed to get caught checkin out the hottie in the room? hehe how cute. Still though, why am I disappointed that he stopped? Do I WANT him to stare at me like that? Do I like him like that? It's TYLER for Christ's sake! She was a little flustered by the thought and as such had had to retie the knot on her boot. After their wardrobe change, Tyler and Kaori had dumped their old clothes into a barrel at the back of the storeroom and used some nails and a hammer they found to nail it shut. Tyler would've preferred to burn them but circumstances being what they were, he settled for the barrel. After that they had moved out, still dodging patrols left, right and center, bringing them to their current predicament; looking out at a bridge over the moat trying to decide the best course of action. Tyler was looking at the number of guards patrolling the bridge, along with the usual pedestrians like merchants, craftsmen, visitors, and other such riffraff. Tyler noticed that the guards were systematically searching every merchant wagon coming in or out of the tower, and throwing the hoods of every passerby to look them in the face, clearly trying to find the two wanted fugitives. As Tyler watched he noticed that the wagon searches were only upon entering and leaving the tower, and only the once, for as a wagon entered the main entranceway a guard took the driver aside, while another climbed aboard and poked the wagons contents with a spear, once that search was done the driver was allowed back on the wagon and waved along. The same took place with wagons exiting the fortified tower, though as Tyler looked on he noticed a rather large hole in the guards search tactics. They're only checking the cargo, not the tops of the covered wagons, or the undercarriages either for that matter. And some of those wagons have side paneling that droops with more then enough space for a body to hide under there. Given me and Kaori's frames and sizes, we should easily fit beneath one of the larger wagons. As Tyler came to that conclusion, he put the discovery to Kaori. Her response caught him off guard,
"Are you serious? that's such an obvious one that I Bet their doing it on purpose to lure us into a trap. How do you know they're not searching the underside out of sight down that road? Remember, these soldiers are not idiots, they know what their doing."
Her voice was not sharp or condescending, as he would have expected but more of a quiet whisper, different from the usual snarkiness she used when correcting him. Tyler was shocked and a little relieved he didn't have to do all the thinking for the two of them.
"Alright, I see your point, I'm open to suggestions if you have any. If not I say we take the chance and as soon as we clear the first search we drop from the wagon and roll to the side and try to blend with the crowd. Your right saying it's obvious, painfully obvious at that, but that might work in our favor since is such and easy go to for a pair of escaping fugitives."
Kaori leaned against the stone of the windowsill thinking, while Tyler checked for any incoming patrols, the guard was due any minute but for the moment they were in the clear. Kaori grumbled,
"I got nothin, Plus I agree with you on the fact that the wagon is so blatant that it might be overlooked, so I say we go for it, as we don't have much of a choice either way."
"alright let's go for it, let's say, if all goes well we detach at that point in the bridge that has the platform for sightseers, if not I'll detach and cause a diversion and give you a chance to escape, in that case, I'll dive into the moat, so I'd appreciate your help with that."
She nodded and the plan was put into action.
The pair sneaked down to the wagon depot, which had the same feel as the super Walmart back in their hometown. The depot was a massive stone chamber filled with boxes and crates of every size, shape and description, what was inside them only the gods knew. The entire operation was a scene of organized chaos, merchants and deliveries went in on the right hand side of the entryway, with a soldier holding a clipboard asking the contents of each shipment and directing traffic to the designated are based on the response. The wagons were then driven to the indicated spot, where the driver dismounts and speaks with the man in charge of that area, the driver receives his payment as his cargo is unloaded and distributed based on the type of good, weapons and armour went straight into the tower, foodstuffs to the cooks, miscellaneous goods went to the servants and so on. The newly unloaded wagon was directed to its next position, if it was to be reloaded with additional goods it was directed further into the warehouse, if no then it was directed to a line head back out the door in a counterclockwise rotation from the entrance. So when a wagon entered on the right side of the doorway in exited on the left. It looked to be a very well-oiled machine. As Tyler and Kaori watched the procession of wagons, they realized getting close was going to be harder then they thought. The hustle and bustle of the warehouse, coupled with the sheer number of moving people was going to prove a challenge. But as they were waiting for an opening to move in closer, a commotion broke out at the entrance, bringing the carefully organized wagon wheel to a grinding halt. A women was yelling at a couple of poor ferriers for getting water on her jeans-wait Jeans? On closer inspection the pair realized they both recognized the bloated woman making a scene in front of everyone.
"Watch the fuck out, you lousy horse fucker, didn't anyone teach you to get the fuck out of my way, you miserable excuses for people, your mother should have swallowed you!"
It was none other then Tyler’s mother, once again making life miserable for all involved in her life. His sister and step father flanking her as usual. As the spectacle of an obese woman yelling at a pair of horse ferriers was unfolding before them, Tyler spotted a wagon with a larger opening underneath close by him and Kaori. The best part? Max, Zack, and Justin were riding it. The perfect escape vehicle had arrived. No guard would think to check a wagon with three of the legendary "WARRIORS" aboard. So Tyler nudged Kaori in it's direction and she smiled and nodded as if reading his mind. The two moved from the shadow of the boxes they had hid behind, moving from one shadow to another. They reached the wagon without and trouble and dropped to the ground and crawled underneath. Grabbing the braces under the wagon they were able to wedge themselves under the wagon to the point that the only way anyone would see them is if they got down on their hands and knees and crawled under the wagon itself. They gripped the metallic braces tightly and clung like a pair of sloths on a branch. They settled in not a moment too soon as the wagon began moving along again with only the sound of creaking timbers, along with the sounds of orders, directions and horses neighing to be heard. His whale of a mother could no longer be heard wailing, so Tyler assumed that she had been satisfied by something or other, the wanted pair could hear the conversations of the bastard trio above them.
"So the retard and Kaori have yet to be found yet eh? that's hilarious bro, what the hell those guards doing? eh Max I bet you could've found them easily!"
Sniggered Zack, who was forever stroking Max's fragile ego.
"yeah, Max where the fuck did they go? That tower's not THAT complex! It only goes up or down, not that many hiding places, specially given how fuckin stupid that retard is, Betcha anythin he ditched Kaori and bailed on his own. Friggin coward!"
That was Justin's two cents, off the mark as usual. Max could be heard chuckling,
"If anything the guards probably already caught them and didn't tell us, that's the more likely scenario, I mean you saw how Smug Skyr look this mornin, bet he had his fun with them before they died, that pope is not a nice guy. Still though, waste bout Kaori, wish I could'a fucked her myself, though guess that ain't happenin now is it? What a waste of an ass!"
All three pricks laughed at that as they approached the guards doing the searches, Tyler and Kaori quietened their breathing as much as they could as they approached, but as they neared the guard the man just waved the wagon along,
"Your clear, go on ahead!"
The wagon moved through the gate and out onto the bridge. Tyler and Kaori breath a little lighter, So far so good< they were out of the tower, but they weren't clear just yet. They still had to successfully detach from the wagon and get clear without being seen by the driver or it's occupants. The wagon neared the end of the bridge, as it was about to exit the bridge the wagon stopped as the driver yelled at some other driver in his way, Tyler and Kaori took the opportunity to detach amid the yelling match roll out from under the wagon. Tyler rose to his feet first, and then helped Kaori to her feet on the side of the road near a stone wall overlooking the moat, with a clear view of the tower. The driver finally had the room to continue on his way with the wagon, while the three stooges abroad continued to crack raunchy jokes at Kaori's expense without noticing that she had just peered into their window, a look of disgust on her pretty face. Tyler and Kaori took a moment to look back at the tower they had fought so hard to escape: It was an absolutely massive structure, so tall that neither could see the top from their position on the ground. The Tower's construction was similar in style to that of the Eiffel tower back in their own world, only made of stone and on a far larger scale. Five immense stone legs stretched out before them, each arch where the legs met had a multilane highway going through it into the building, there might of been more or them, but the two fugitives could only see the five legs in the distance. It was a truly mind bogglingly large building for the pair, and they had both been to the empire state building back in their old world. The colossal building would've been dwarfed by the monstrosity before them. The base of the tower was a deep crimson, but as the floors rose from the ground the tower took on a more pink hue, like the early morning sunrise. As much as Tyler would've liked to keep looking at it they had more pressing issues to deal with. He turned to Kaori, only to see her looking at him with a warm look in her eye, the kind of look a girl might give a guy she liked, but as it was Tyler she was looking at, he figured she was looking at someone behind him.
"hey Space cadet, we need to go,"
and he tapped her arm, causing her to jump,
"eepp! You ass I know! I was waiting for you to get your head outta the clouds"
She barked back with her usual fire. He smiled at the clearly flustered girl,
"Wow, Barbie, If I didn't know better I'd say you were checkin out the goods, but that can't be true? I mean if it were I might be led to think you have a crush on me but that would be nonsense wouldn't it?" he teased her in his favorite sarcastic tone. Only think was, he completely missed how red she became when he said she had a crush on him, That’s NOT true, I don't have a crush on Tyler!!! I Don't I don't Don't, DO I? OH come on!! The two walked off into the town, eager to find, both food and rest, as neither had sleep in about two full days, or eaten in about one full day. Even Tyler was nearing the end of his strength, as they walked down the main street of the large capital city, they paid close attention to the chatter of merchants discussing prices for buying food. From what the pair overheard the main currency was based of a copper, silver, and gold coin system. Apparently it took a hundred coppers per silver coin, and another hundred silvers per gold, so true wealth was based off of how many gold pieces one possessed. That's a simple enough system I suppose. Thought Tyler as he listened to the sound of commerce, though for copperless beggars like them it didn't matter all that much. As they walked down the street trying not to eye the food stalls and carts, a group of street kids ran passed them and brushed up against Kaori and Tyler, who both turned and chased the would-be pickpockets into a near by alley, easily cornering them in a dead-end. The kids were dirty and clothed in tattered rags, clearly marking them as street urchins, perfect sources of information, and if they were lucky, a little coin as well. The kids were arguing among themselves, clearly frustrated at being caught so easily, putting their collective blame on a olderish boy who appeared to be twelve years of age if that. Normally Tyler would've just ignored their pickpocket attempt as neither him nor Kaori had any money or valuables on them, but one of the kids had snagged the Sgian Dao dagger he was gonna give to Kaori for her boot, plus the kids might have some extra coin on them from earlier marks which at this point was desperately needed. So the pair followed the street kids into the alley, blocking any exit that they could see. The urchins looked at them with frightened expressions on their young faces as the armed duo approached. Tyler leaned into Kaori's ear,
"Let me handle this, oh and by the way, I'm sorry in advance that you have to see this,"
Kaori nodded, taking a breath to steady herself, knowing full well that Tyler was far better suited for dark tasks such as this. Still the deed they were about to commit, did not sit well with her, Heh robbing kids on the street now are we? I guess we really HAVE fallen haven't we? I wonder what Kazuma would say if he knew? Little did she know her brother had been captured by the imperial guard. She took up a watch looking the opposite direction down the alley so to not see what Tyler was doing. Tyler reached up and unsheathed his stolen blade, and approached the now trembling kids, an evil grin on his face, "oh you poor, dumb kids did you ever pick the wrong monster to rob. I'm sure you know the penalty for such a crime, Right?" CLACK!
The lead boy had thrown the dagger they had picked in front of Tyler's feet, who calmly stomped on it, flipping it into the air and catching it cleanly but the handle,
"There,"
the boy spoke up, trying to be brave for the smaller kids behind him, though Tyler still detected a quiver in the young lads voice,
"Take your knife and leave us alone! That's all we took from you I swear!"
Tyler returned the small blade to his belt pouch,
"Well that's a good start, but surely that's not all you got today? Is it?"
Tyler's voice had a razor sharp edge to it, with a good bit of ice for good measure. The boy's eyes widened as he realized whet he wanted, instinctively putting a protective hand over a bulge on his back, sending a clear CLINK through the air. Tyler recognized the sound of coins being jostled around,
"aww you do understand don't you? well don't be shy, lets' see what you got today,"
The boy shook his head, "NO way, this is ours! you can't have it!"
Tyler chuckled, he had the poor bastard right where he wanted him, but before he could speak, a young girl for the kids group ran forward and threw a pouch on the ground in front of Tyler. He picked it up and inside was eight silver coins, which Tyler thought was a rather large sum for a mere pickpocket. He looked at the young girl, who couldn't have been older then ten. She had dirty black hair that hung to her shoulders, was emaciated, wore tattered cloth that barely covered anything that a young girl would want covered. Her eyes where a startlingly vibrant shade of blue, with pale skin, and delicate looking face, it wasn't until he noticed the pointed ears that he realized he was looking at a young elf girl. He held up the coins,
"Well isn't this a surprise, how'd a mere pickpocket score this much?"
He thought he knew the answer but wanted her to say it. The young elf answered with a soft, high voice, all the while the lead boy glared at her,
"You'd be surprised what people will pay to play with a cute little elf girl."
Just as I thought, he mused. He looked at the lead boy,
"Don't glare at her like that, she just bought your freedom, be thankful."
Tyler took four of the coins, handed the other four back to her,
"And be thankful we aren't true monsters."
he pocketed the coins and turned to leave the alley, sheathing the sword across his back.
"Hey wait"
He looked to see the lead boy looking confused,
"Why did you give those back?"
Tyler turned around smiling,
"Four silvers will get us started, we didn't need more then that."
He tapped Kaori and they exited the alley, headed back down the main road. The streetkids were confused, until the lead boy barked at them to get back to work. Tyler took the lead again, Kaori on his heels, they were headed as far away from the Tower as they could. Tyler would've liked to leave town, but they didn't have enough left in the tank to manage that without food and rest. Kaori was happy to follow his lead, well aware that he was more versed in such things then she was; after all if not for him she would have ended up as that perverted popes plaything, so she had decided to trust his judgement, though she would still needle him from time to time. He's more reliable then I gave him credit for, scarier too, those kids looked like they had seen a demon, though to be fair they kinda had, she knew Tyler would never harm her or an innocent, but she was worried by how much he had seemed to enjoy terrifying those kids. She resolved to give lecture him about it later, for now though she let it lie. The pair walked for a few more hours, until the shadows started to lengthen, signaling the end of the work day for the cities' laborers. Tyler had yet to find a satisfyingly far enough tavern from the Tower for them to stop. Although every now and then while they walked a soldier or two, along with what appeared to be local militia based off their respective gear, had passed the fugitives close enough by that they commented on Kaori's charms, without recognizing either her or Tyler. Each time they hadn't had enough time to hide their faces or move out of sight, whether it be because of foot traffic, or narrow streets boxing them in, every time Tyler tensed up, ready to draw his sword and flee, but each time nothing happened. The soldiers each time just passed them by, clearly not recognizing either of them. Tyler wondered at this, especially since he and Kaori were supposed to be legendary heroes summoned from another world, I see a few options: One, the pope has yet to get all hands searching for us yet, TWO: the local guard has yet to get an accurate description of us, Three: our change of clothes was more effective than I anticipated, or FOUR: the search was called off for some reason, and if that’s the case, I'm even more concerned then before that the search for the killer of a royal knight captain was called off that quickly. Tyler figured it was a combination of options two and three, as they made the most sense. Still put him on edge every time though. Tyler was deep in thought, when Kaori tugged on his tunic sleeve, and pointed to a nondescript building off the main street with a sign over the door: Adventurer's respite.
"Hey look, that place looks outta the way, quiet too. Let's stay there, we can't really get any farther like this, plus it's getting dark too, I'm not too keen on roaming this place after dark."
"Okay let's check it out, remember we're poor so try to remember that 'kay?"
She wacked him,
"oh I didn't know you liked cheap women, Tyler, well I'll have you know I can be frugal too you know!" "heh I'm sure you can, though I don't remember saying anything about cheap women? I wonder, are you self-conscious about something I don't about? I'm mean a hundred buck date was be pretty cheap for you, eh? BARBIE?"
She went to wack him again but he ducked, laughing she chased him down the street to the tavern. They reached the front door panting, Kaori went to open the door when Tyler grabbed her hand, curious why he had stopped her she turned to him,
"huh? what now?"
He pulled her to the side out of the entryway,
"I figured we should get our story straight, along with our plan for going in there. you know, like room wise, and food wise."
She looked at him,
"I thought the plan was to get food and rest? what am i missing?"
"Well for starters, we only have four silver, so we'll have to share a room, maybe even a bed worst case. Plus you and I are pretty heavily armed for tavern patrons, so we'll need to watch that too. Add to the fact we probably can't use our real name because, you know, Fugitives and all that, we need aliases, kay? Let's see my name is... Leon, and yours is....Lira, we'll use these until we figure out if it's safe to use out real names or not. Okay?"
Kaori looked surprised,
"wow, I'm amazed you thought it that far out-WAIT what do mean SHARE A BED? If it come to that you're on the floor! Got that?"
She was bright red in the face and yelling,
"I don't mind a single room but that's IT-mmuf"
He had put his had over her mouth and pushed against the nearby tavern wall, leaning in close to her face. She felt the tiniest flicker of fear as he closed in, he outweighed her by enough that she couldn't push him back if she wanted to, and he was also physically stronger then her, and he had recently killed a man in front of her so her fear was understandable. However he leaned in for a completely different reason then what she thought,
"shh Be quiet, do you want to draw everyone out here with your wailing? I was planning on sleeping against the door anyway. So friggin chill, okay? damn."
He removed his hand and stepped back, leaving a breathless, and flustered Kaori leaning against the wall for support. She took a steading breath, admonishing herself for doubting the man who had risked his very life to protect her, and was doing everything in his power to continue protecting her. I know he wouldn't try anything like that without my good ahead, heh and even IF I gave him permission, he'd think I was playing a prank or something. Still though, why is my heart still racing? Its' not like I WANT him to try anything right? Right?" She was seemingly trying to convince herself she hadn't enjoyed the close contact. Meanwhile Tyler was waiting for her regain to her composure, while watching both the tavern entrance and both sides of the street for any potential problems. All the while, trying to get the smell of her skin out of his head, he had been close enough to notice that she smelled of crushed peaches, even after all the running and other strenuous labor the pair had done. He wondered if she helped herself to some kind of scented powder in either the supply room or wagons when he wasn't looking. It had smelled good and set his own heart racing, along with a certain part of him awaking, as if to say Target spotted. He hadn't ever thought of her in a sexy or romantic light before, as she was his closet friend back in their old world. Indeed, she was the only one who had ever been nice or kind to him in the slightest. She did smell good though, I wonder if the rest of her smells that way? DAMNIT Calm down ya friggin horndog, you have more pressing issues to deal with right now! even if your companion is hot as hell, and kind, and ,sweet, and seems to actually like you for some odd friggin reason, I wonder if there's a- AHHHH godfriggindamnit FOCUS YA FRIGGIN JACKASS! He smacked his head between his hands, clearing his head for the moment. He turned back to Kaori,
“You good?"
His voice betraying none of the tornado going on inside his head. She looked back at him, her green eyes meeting his brown ones and nodded, not trusting her voice not to betraying her own racing heart. So the pair walked into the tavern together.
The first thing that assailed the two fugitives was the sound, A mild uproar of raucous people throwing back mugs of ale, mead and other such spirits, barmaids maneuvering deftly through the masses of bodies, jovial banter and bawdy jokes flew across the aisles between tables, and sometimes even a mug or two went flying as well. The overall atmosphere was of hardworking folk unwinding after a good days work. There were also smells, the scent of meat and flowing mead, wafting aromas of various seasonings, plus the unmissable odor of a bunch of exuberant people crammed into a confined space. The room itself was homely enough. There was a long bar behind which stood a absolute mountain of a man with a forest of beard flowing from his craggy face, his stone-gray eyes surveyed the festive gathering with a hawks glare, as if waiting for some poor soul to get a little too handsy with the girls, or get too rowdy with other patrons. His size led Tyler to think he wasn't entirely human, but perhaps a hybrid of some kind? There were approximately twelve long tables in the room itself with benches either side of each, except for the set of tables pressed against the walls, in which only had one long bench. There was a massive mantle with a blazing fire near a set of double doors which probably led to the kitchen. the mantle providing heat to the room, and perhaps aiding the kitchen staff in their duties.
"Seems like a lively place, kinda reminds me of indoor tailgate rally,"
Tyler observed as he and Kaori seated themselves in a darkened corner in full view of the door. Tyler, sitting in the spot nearest the wall, opened the menu in front of him, Kaori did likewise.
"Hmm, looks like a bowl of broth, a mug of ale each and a room for two will run us one silver and fifty coppers, that's not too bad, I was expecting it to be more expensive. If we go with that, we'll have two full silvers and fifty coppers left over. Watcha think?"
Kaori was scanning the menu herself, and nodded sadly,
"yeah that seems to be the cheapest thing on here, plus we don't know when we'll be able to make more money, so we should try to stretch it out as much as we can."
The lady in charge of the area they were sitting in came up and took their orders, as she went to leave, Tyler spoke up,
"Excuse me miss, but is there a room available for the night?"
She stopped and looked over the young pair, and replied with a particular sparkle in her eyes,
"yes there is, I assume you want one room? one bed or two?"
Kaori turned a little red as she replied for him,
"one please,"
She then became suddenly fascinated with the woodwork of the table, as the waitress chuckled softly, "Okay one room with one bed for one night is about one silver coin, is that alright?"
Tyler smiled as he handed the coins over,
"that well do just fine thank you."
"And the names for the room?"
"Leon and Lira"
The lady turned around and went to speak with the burly man behind the bar about the room, grinning knowingly the whole way. Tyler turned back to see that Kaori was still deep in her inspection of the table wood.
"Wow, LIRA, is the table that interesting?"
She jumped with a cute little squeak, as if she had forgotten that he was there,
"Eek, No LEON, I just didn't want to interrupt your flirting with that waitress, seems like you were really hitting it off there."
Kaori was red around the cheeks and the tips of her ears, she also sank a little into her shoulders, as if trying to hide in herself from Tyler's laughing gaze. He chuckled,
"WOOOOWWWW, my dear Lira, I must say I didn't know you could pull off the whole cutely embarrassed tsundere look so well. I must say I'm impressed"
His tone of voice, slightly mocking, and sarcastic irked her, but she had no response ready so she just pouted, Flicking her long blonde ponytail at him. As Kaori sulked Tyler turned his attention the others gathered in the room with them, They were a varied bunch, in one corner was a party of adventurers, the light flickering of their mail and blades, in another part were a group of what appeared to be monks of some sect praying over a loaded table of some roast animal, there was yet another group of men playing cards with a healthy pile of coin in front of them. As Tyler watched the gamblers, a man slammed his hand down and loudly proclaimed his victory, and went to sweep the pile toward him, when another man put down his own hand and, with a smug look only a true victor can wear, promptly swept the coins into a pouch he had on the side of the table. the now loser sat back down. understandably disappointed, until he noticed something about the other man's cards, which promptly led to a larger accusation of cheating aimed at the winner, which in turn led to a fight. the winning man and the losing man smashed mugs over each other's heads and proceeded to pull long daggers from their belts, but as the Winning man did so, Tyler's razor gaze spotted something drip from the blade. Sensing an opportunity for some cash flow, he motioned to Kaori to stay put as he made his way over to the circling men, by now a large ring of chanting gawkers were egging the would-be combatants on, and taking bets on the winner. Tyler forced his way through, breaking out in between the two angry men, stopping them from clashing. The two men were indignant that someone dared to interfere. the losing man, a larger heavyset bear spoke first in a growling avalanche of a voice,
"oi, Ya we lad, wat be the meanin o' inturuptin our little dissagreement here?"
Tyler jabbed a thumb at the other, smaller man”s dagger,
“I just figgered you would want a fair fight with clean weapons, unlike that guys poisoned one."
The man-bear looked surprised, until he noticed a tell-tale drip from the other mans blade, the other patrons noticed too, in a twinkling the thin man was surrounded by the former onlookers and promptly disarmed, stripped of his winnings and unceremoniously thrown out the tavern on his face. Apparently, using a poisoned weapon in a fight for one's honor was considered a coward's act and deserving of a cowards reward. The large man then turned to Tyler with a look of gratitude for stepping in when he did.
"Och, laddee, thankee fer that. Seems i owe ya a debt for pointin out that snake's trick. Me name's Burlock Metalbreaker, Pleased to meetcha I'm sure."
Tyler shook the big man's offered hand,
"Good to know ya Burlock. why don't we head back to my table to talk, my companion's probably lonely by now, My names Leon."
"aye"
Burlock followed Tyler to his table, stopping in surprise at the sight of his gorgeous companion, who at this point had been spotted by other patrons of the bar, though the would-be suitors scattered when Tyler and Burlock approached. Tyler seated himself and bid Burlock join them.
"Burlock, this is my dear companion, Lira, Lira this is Burlock MetalBreaker late of a near snake bite." Kaori had caught on to Tyler's game, she too had seen the other men hand the cheater's winnings over to Burlock. She smiled sweetly,
"a pleasure i'm sure"
Burlock was flustered that such a goddess was speaking to him, and he looked at Tyler with newfound respect.
"OH lassie, ur pretty as a painting an no mistake, now then young lad what did you want to discuss?" tyler took a swig of ale before answering,
"well it's simple, I don't like having uncollected debts laying around, so I was hoping we could come to an agreement. Though i must ask, how do you get a name like Metalbreaker?"
Burlock's eye narrowed as he realized the game, but answered truthfully,
"Och, ya canny rascal, I'm a blacksmith, so breakin metals me trade, why ya ask?" Tyler smiled,
"I was curious is all, so how much did you get from that rat back there?"
"thirty-nine silver, seventy-five copper"
Tyler nodded, that was what he expected.
"Really that much? Well how's about ten silver coins, answer some of my questions about the town, and a ten percent discount at your smithy and I'll call the debt you owe me square?"
Burlock burst out laughing, the big man's belly heaving with mirth as he trying to regain his composure, tears streaming down his bearded face. Tyler had no choice but to eat his broth, which had arrived by then, in silence waiting for the man to regain his senses. Finally, after what had seemed an eternity of chuckles and sniffles, the smith clamed down. After one final sniff, he looked Tyler in the eye,
"hahaha, Och yer a funny one an no mistake, ten silver, information, and a discount? tis rare to see such a young laddee with an head on is shoulders that works!"
"so do we have a deal?"
Burlock smiled and a broad smile,
"Aye lad, honestly, I figgered you demand a free weapon or all the winnings from this night, but I'll happily answer what i can, though about the discount, I'll do ya one better and raise it to fifteen percent as I like ya, Leon was it? Well here's ya well-earned coins."
Tyler took the money and put into the pouch near his dagger.
"thanks Burlock, and I appreciate the discount too, now what I need is information about the town and surrounding countryside."
Burlock nodded.
According to Burlock, The kingdom's name was Vermilla, which the pope had told the assembled heroes, the king's name was Ishtar, again what the pope had said, only thing was Burlock spoke of the king in a very admiring manner, like he was referring a legendary myth instead of the kingdom's leader. Apparently the king was a good man, with no patience for schemes or court games, all in all a honest, straightforward guy. The city they were in now was known as Termillion, or Term, as referred to by locals, it was the nation's capital which sat literally in the center of the country. The city had been first established several thousand years ago, during an age of warfare, when human, beast and mer fought for power and wealth. After the war ended, there was a time of peace prosperity for all the races, then the first wave of monsters came. No one knows why they started or how. The stooges at the church believe it's Dragonis's way of purging then unfaithful and the weak. the only thing anyone can agree upon is we are hilariously overwhelmed and outnumbered by the creatures that attack during those times, to the point that the God Dragonis has to summon heroes from other world just to stave off the assault. It's a vicious circle; the waves begin, people die, the Warriors are called, the Warriors fight off the waves, there's peace for a while, then the waves start back up and more Warriors are summoned, and so on and so forth. People have asked the church why can't Dragonis just wipe out the waves himself instead of sending others to their deaths, but according to them, Dragonis is also fighting a war in the pantheon against the waves own deities. So Divine support is out of the question. In short the world was up a creek without a paddle.
Magic also existed in this world too, though in order to use magic depended on a few factors, such as race, affinity, and availability of magic shops. For to cast a spell, one had know the chant associated with the spell, have the proper amount of Mana to cast it, and have the corresponding license for that particular spell. For example, a simple firebolt, requires twenty mana, the lines/may the flames of my rage scorch you FIREBOLT /, and have a firebolt license bought from a magic shop, or acquired from a slain monster or fellow mage. Having the license allows you to upgrade the spell on the fly, like increasing it's power or flight speed, or how long it's flames last on impact. The truly powerful wizards can have firebolt spells that can destroy entire towns with a single word. That said, you can cast a spell without the license, but doing so won't give any experience for that particular spell, making it unable to be upgraded. In order to obtain new spells or skills, you need to visit a corresponding shop and hope it has it in stock, or you could hope to get lucky from a monster drop, or as a reward from a job at the local adventurers' guild in town. As it was the local guild was looking for new blood all the time, all you had to do was walk in, pay the fee, get your ID bracelet and bang! your a member of the guild. It was a great place to both make money and start building your reputation as a fighter. If someone works hard and completes enough jobs, they become legends, wealthy legends. Of course the guild in Term was not the only guild out there, it was just the largest, there was another Adventurers Guild in the next town, the town was called Dragul, and was nearly as large as Term, just without such a heavy church presence since it didn’t have the Dragon Tower in it's center. The Dragon Tower being the one Tyler and Kaori had escaped from only hours earlier. Apparently the Tower was the seat of power for the Church in this part of the country, as it housed the pope's personal living quarters, plus overlooking the Imperial palace. It was also a trade hub for most all incoming goods moving in and out of the city, despite the tower being in the center of the town. As for the Capital itself, it was a massive sprawling fantasy metropolis, with the Tower at the center, it spread out from that central point like a spider's web of streets, buildings, alleys, and side streets. All clearly built in differing eras based on the flowing architecture, the buildings closet to the tower were of a simpler, more hardy construction, lots of stone and wood buildings. through the farther one got from the tower, the more elaborate the buildings became, as if to show the buildings that came before them that they were the superior stock. Lots of intricate bronze and copper ornaments, with fancier stone and hardwood used to build the dwellings. the various sections of the city, like the shopping district, the royal quarter, the slums, and the militarized zone were walled off by a perimeter guard wall that soared above all the nearby buildings. The wall was originally built to minimize both fire and invader damage, as each perimeter was erected on the growing cities' current outskirts, and when the city outgrew its' current defense, another wall was constructed before more dwellings were built. In other words, everyone lived inside towering walls that could be quartered off and seperated at the drop of a hat. Basically the citizens were in a stone cage they willingly built themselves for the sake of security, and entrusted the keys to said cage to two people, who promised to not miss use their colossal power of the citizens. The King, and the pope both had the authority to close entire sections of the walls, thus ensnaring anyone who defied them. THATS why they were so slack in their wagon searches, we were already in a prison, with the pope being the jailor. FUCK, now what? As Tyler heard about the extent of the walls, he knew things were going to get dicey quick.
Several hours, and mugs of ale later, Tyler had run out of questions for Burlock at that moment. "Thanks Burlock, you were a big help."
The newly gained information help fill in a ton of blanks for the fugitive pair. Burlock was happy to have the debt squared away,
"Och laddee, yur mind works in strange ways, although,"
At this point he dropped the volume and tone of his voice, and peered quizzically at Tyler and Kaori, "Leon and Lira eh?, heh If you've a mind to not use yur real names i won't force ya, I Figger it has sumthin to do with ole Gru's blade on yur back there."
Tyler and Kaori tensed up, Tyler's hand flew to his dagger hilt, Kaori readied her own blade as well. "Och hold hold! wait a moment young’uns! let me explain!"
Burlock hurriedly said as he realized the pair were ready to fight for their lives on such short notice. Tyler's hand stayed on his dagger hilt while moving to the edge of the bench, clearly readying for an instantaneous slash, while Kaori edged away from the bigger man. Burlock noticed the fear in the young lady's eyes, along with the determination as well. That was admirable but what truly put the large smith on edge was the look and feel of the young mans gaze and aura. Where the lad had been a quiet, intelligent, light-hearted fellow asking his questions and looking after the lady, now his gaze was colder then a snow peaked mountain in the far north. There was no fear what-so-ever coming from the young man, only a cold certainty that scared the bigger man. Burlock knew, in his very soul, that if he made a move toward him or the girl, especially the girl, This kid would cut him down without hesitating in the slightest, even though Burlock worked the forge twelve hours a day hammering metal into submission, was no less than twice the kids size, he knew that he wouldn't survive a life or death fight with him. He cleared his throat nervously,
"Lookee here, I only knew it's Gru’s sword as i forged it for him is all. Now I heard Gru's dead, murdered by one of the Warriors."
Tyler's gaze hardened, and Kaori tensed up ready to bolt at the drop of a hat.
"relax the pair of you, I'm blaming you nor do I intend to report you, as a matter of fact there's something I think yous should know, but before that, laddee let go of the dagger please."
Tyler slowly removed his hand from his dagger hilt, instead grabbing the sword handle. Burlock sighed, "Well I can't blame you for not trusting me, Gods know how you managed to escape the Tower with the stranglehold that bastard pope has on it. But you should know the king himself made a proclamation regarding Gruven's murder, apparently he received word about it no less then six hours after the fact. From what I hear, the king ordered the chase off of the culprits, since they're both Warrior's called to fight the waves, saying that all warriors were needed to fight the waves, and since new ones could not be summoned until all of the previous ones were dead, he made the call to just cut all ties with the pair of murderers. Basically withholding aid from the kingdom from them, so they have to fend for themselves. The only things the king will do for the fugitives, is hear their side of what happened, allow entrance and exit to the city, and finally reward them based on their respective combat performance during the coming battles. Thats' what I eard at least."
Burlock leaned in to the bench, sipping what’s left of his ale. Tyler Looked at Kaori and nodded, the two relaxed their sword hands and took steadying drinks of their own.
"So the king has given us the all clear to leave the city as we please? Right?"
Burlock nodded,
"thank you Burlock for telling us that."
Burlock turned and looked at the Warrior in black, the feeling of danger lifted,
"Wait a moment laddee, there's sumthin I want to ask ya."
"What is It?"
"How did you beat Gruven? That man was one the best swordsmen in the kingdom, not just anyone could take him down, and even fewer could do so without a scratch so how?"
After some consideration Tyler responded in a low tone,
"I think He threw the fight, The pope had ordered him to capture Her,"
nodding to Kaori,
"the pope wanted her to grace his bed that night, she refused and opted to come with me instead. Skyr then ordered Gruven to kill me and take Kaori to his bedchamber. Gruven tried but fell to my knife here,"
he placed Spike on the table,
"I managed to tackle Gruven to the floor, then used a technique for ground fighting from my world to get beneath him, and prevent him from getting back to his feet. I stabbed him to death around his armour. I think he threw the fight cause there's no way such a straightforward attack should have worked that well, plus there's no way he shouldn't have been able to cut me in half, he had the advantages of strength, skill, size, and experience. I shouldn't walked away at all but i did."
Burlock sighed, a hooded look in his eye,
"So Gruven gave his life and his sword to protect the pair of you eh? heh that's just like that bastard. Still lad I thankee for telling me that."
the big man finished his ale and stood up,
"well I'm Sure you two want to get some sleep, wild couple days that you've had. Only thing I ask is you visit my smithy sometime so i can rework Gru's blade into something special for you young Warrior. My shops near the second north gatehouse. Until then, farewell."
As the big man went to leave tyler spoke up,
"Hey Burlock, My names Tyler."
"Mine's Kaori"
Burlock waved as he left. Tyler turned to face Kaori, who gave a massive yawn.
"Alright lets find our room for the evening,"
She mumbled in response. Tyler helped the exhausted girl get to their second floor room. They walked down the darkened hallway to a room on the far end. Inside was a single trussle bed, a desk facing a closed window, and a small fireplace. Tyler assisted the nearly asleep on her feet Kaori in reaching the bed. He removed her bow, quiver, dagger, boots and tucked her into the bed. She was mumbling throughout the procedure, but as soon as Tyler finished covering her with the blanket and went to lay against the door he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning he saw Kaori peering at him from the blankets, "What's up?"
"Please, stay with me?"
she spoke in a small voice, like she was a small child afraid of losing sight of a trusted parent. Tyler's heart skipped a beat at seeing her in such a vulnerable state of mind, the combination of nonstop danger, the horrors Skyr had insinuated, the hours upon hours of running for their lives, atop the fact a man had been killed in front of her, and the mugs of ale she had drank had finally hit like a truck doing a hundred miles an hour down a hill slamming into a wall. Her mind was completely done, reverting her to the mindset of a small child seeking comfort. Tyler knew that she was in no fit state to do anything, let alone ask a boy to stay with her. He took her hand in his and held it tightly,
"Kaori, Please go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere I promise."
He spoke in a soft tender voice he, had never taken with her before. As he spoke Kaori's eyes were fighting, and losing, the battle to stay open,
"You promise to be here when I wake up?"
"I Promise"
"good"
And with that she was out cold, breathing softly, deep in a dreamless slumber that only comes from complete exhaustion. Tyler squeezed her hand a little longer, before releasing it and drawing the sword from his back. He walked over to the door, sat down against it as a security measure, laid the sword beside him within easy reach and closed his eyes. Sleep hit him like a hammer as well.

DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 88.

Tyler's eyes didn't open again until the light from the window shone directly onto his face. As he woke, more like came to, he saw that he hadn't moved an inch from his door position, the sword lay beside him untouched. He still felt tired, but that was par for the course with him as he never was much of a morning person. As he climbed back to his feet, his body creaked and cracked from the awkward sleeping position Damn, I fell like an old man, and I'm only fifteen! god knows what I'll sound like in fifty years! though his mind was blown by the sight that greeted him when he looked over to the bed. Kaori was sprawled out, flat on her back asleep, the blanket pushed against the wall, her tunic practically lifted up to her small chin, her small breasts exposed the morning air. Her delicate pale skin rising and falling as she breathed, she looked extraordinarily beautiful laid out like that, with her yellow lockes strewn around her like a golden river, her porcelain skin gave off a slight glow in the morning sunlight, giving her body a strange ephemeral look to it. She looks like a goddess of beauty like that, wish I could take a picture, I should probably cover her before she wakes up or there will be hell to pay. Tyler moved over to the bed and covered the sleeping girl with the discarded blanket in an attempt to both preserve her modesty, and spare himself an ass-reaming later. After covering her he went over to the desk and opened up the interface he had noticed back in the tower when he had first arrived in this world. He hadn't had time to properly fiddle with it as so much had happened so fast, but he now took the time to fully explore the HUD.
As he examined the HUD interface Kaori watched him from a silted eye. She had been pretending to sleep in order to catch him staring at her so she could tease him about it later. But she had been wakened by Tyler’s movements when he had stood up and stretched, it was unintentional on his part, she was already on the verge of waking anyway. As he had gotten to his she had watched his reaction to her exposed body most intently, when the thunderstruck look of utter awe had taken over his face, she was a little shocked at his reaction, Does he think I'm that beautiful? or is this the first time he's seen a girl nearly topless? As he had stared for a good few seconds, she was prepping to bust him, when he shook his head and walked over to the bed. She immediately canceled her busting plan to see what he would do. She was happily surprised when he pulled the blanket back over her frame instead of trying a cop a feel of the seemingly unconscious and helpless girl. I guess he's somewhat of a gentlemen after all, hehe barely. though she was impressed with his restraint as she remembered how she had pleaded with him to share the bed when she had been delirious with stress and ale the night prior, he was unaware of how much more she respected him for that. I can't think of anyone else, guy or girl who would've turned that down, let alone in favor of sleeping on the floor. And he went and slept against the door like a damn dog of his own volition! She felt completely safe and protected in his presence, even more so now then she had ever felt back in her own home. She pondered what their life now was going to be like as she watched him scroll and flip through the interface she had as well in her vision. No doubt he already has five plans and ten backup plans locked and loaded for when I ask him. She sighed and decided to finally wake up and greet him instead of laying there like a dead fish.
Tyler had just finished examining the HUD's upgrade menu for his physical stats when Kaori stirred, so he minimized the veil of stats and numbers so as to give the waking girl his full attention. She sat up pulling her tunic down over herself like she knew it had been pulled up.
"G'morning, how you feeling Kaori?"
He asked as she swung her legs off the bed,
"still a little tired, and hungry, but otherwise fine, how bout you?"
Tyler stretched his arms over his head, "
I feel the same, maybe less hungry and more tired, but fine otherwise. Oh I was looking over that HUD thing this morning and found out that my killing of Gruven boosted my level by five and gave me fifty status points to distribute, plus all that running, hiding and sneaking raised my stealth skill considerably, my skill's are basically on par with a thief who's been plying his craft for about five or so years now. I put my status points into strength, endurance, stamina, dexterity, and vitality. Those were my weakest areas to start with so I figured it a good way to start building my strength. I bet you got the same thing, you should check."
she stood up and stretched,
"I'll do that, though I'm not all that experienced with this kind of thing, so will you help me."
"Of course I will Kaori, do you even need to ask? Oh and, one other thing are you sure your okay? You were pretty out of it last night."
He had a look of concern in his eyes as he looked at her, She smiled
"Don't worry about it, I was just a little overwhelmed by everything that happened, but thanks for worrying about me, I should be fine now."
"well just take it as easy as you can, and If you feel like that again let me know so I can help."
"Kay, geeze, If I didn't know better, Tyler I'd think you actually cared about me!"
Tyler looked over at her,
"I do care, believe it or not, but I do"
He went back to his Stats on his HUD, leaving her in a stunned silence, shocked by what she had heard, but secretly very happy internally at this revelation. He CARES about ME? Then she remembered all he had done for her thus far and laugh scornfully at herself Of COURSE he cares, why else would he go so far to protect me? She chuckled quietly as she opened her Interface, her level was a measly four, whereas Tyler’s was eight, her physical stats were better across the broad, but his endurance far surpassed hers, unsurprising since endurance basically translated to who could take the bigger asskicking and still keep fighting. She had never met anyone with a pain tolerance as extreme as his, it was a testament to both his sheer willpower and mental strength. Other then that the only other skill he had her handily beaten in was intellect. She was not stupid by any means, but she also could not hold a candle to his Megamind, he'd pulled consistent A's in school, even going as far as to help tutor her on the side. She was not jealous of his mind in the slightest, knowing full well the consequences of a bad grade for him in his house. She might have the better base physical stats, but his mental stats were terrifying.
She looked over the skills and stats she could upgrade, her stealth skills, like sneak and hiding could be upgraded four times in a row, again thanks to their adventure in the Tower, as far as status points were concerned she had a mere thirty compared to his fifty, showing who had done most of the leg work. I have to do better, I can't let myself be babied by him forever. So to that end she had put points in to speed, dexterity, endurance and her mana pool, as she looked at her magic stat she realized her Affinity for magic for surpassed Tyler's by at least thirty points. Meaning she had the Affinity of an arch-mage who had been studying the arcane for decades. Excitedly she pointed this out to him,
"Hey look, my magic's insane!"
"Oh? let me see,"
He went and sat on the bed beside her and peered at her tremendous skill.
"Wow, Barbie looks like you weren't kidding, Alright, as soon as we get the coin, we are gonna load you up with spells. congrats you Hermione wannabe!"
He was teasing her, but there was no hiding the plain excitement and pride he felt for having such a wonderful traveling companion in his eyes and voice. He thumped her on the back,
"Come on barbie let's raid the kitchen downstairs and go check out the truth of Burlock's claims that we have free roam over the city."
Both their stomachs rumbled in agreement with his statement.
They remade the bed and headed to the dining hall, where the same waitress from the night before was still working. She took their orders for the tavern breakfast special: Pancakes with syrup and sausage with tea to wake the body. The meal cost one full silver coin per person, but Tyler figured they had earned the expensive meal. The food arrived shortly, the waitress looking over Kaori's face searching for the signs of a "morning after" but, having found nothing, left disappointed. Tyler chuckled, Korai blushed. As they broke their fast, They discussed the plan for the day, Tyler was all for heading to Burlock's smithy and getting the sword reworked to fit his own unique fighting style, but Kaori wanted to leave the city as soon as possible to put space between herself and that pope.
"look Kaori I get it, but we still need to test what Burlock said, to see if we really can walk free without worrying about capture, so I figure going to his smithy, which is near a wallgate would be the best way to kill two birds with one stone."
"humph, you just want a new toy,"
She said with an edge in her voice. Tyler sighed,
"well, other then the "new toy", as you put it, we need supplies for a journey to the next town, like a map for starters, and maybe a way to make more money along the way, since you know we only have 12 silvers max to our names."
Kaori groaned, she had no counterargument for that one, so she agreed to his plan, Though it still sounds like a bad idea to me. with the plan settled for the day, the pair finished their meal in silence, Tyler led the way back down the alley the Inn was situated. Now that the two weren't desperately searching for food and rest, they were free to finally able to see the capital with clear eyes. the part of the capital the pair was moving through, due to in's proximity to the Dragon Tower, the buildings were both older and more weathered, with lots of cottages made from old wood and stone, pockmarked from centuries of rain, snow and warfare. As they passed a two-story cottage, a pair of tall elves appeared from within the building, Tyler figured they were both mages given that one carried a staff with a blue crystal atop one end, and her companion had a similar staff, only in his case it was bright red stone. As Tyler had only seen elves in a servantile manner back in the Tower he couldn't help but take stock of their appearance. The female elf had a slender, delicate frame, as if a strong gust of wind would be more then enough to knock the poor girl over. Her hair was long and straight, curiously though, it was a deep vivid shade of green, like the top of a forest canopy in high-summer, I wonder if she's a forest elf? That maid had different hair color and eyes, like to know where she came from, although that black-skinned one was most definitely a dark elf, I just hope the dark elves don't take after Drow, he mused as he passed the couple, the male elf had the same slender figure but with a more muscled physique. He also had the same hair color and delicate features, if not for the pair of pointed ears denoting their race Tyler would have figured them both as tall junior-high schoolers at best. They were speaking in earnest conversation, though he knew they were speaking a different language altogether, he had no problem understanding them as easily as if they spoke perfect English:
"We sure got lucky at Master Rem's shop today, eh dear brother?"
The lady elf spoke in a soft bell-like voice,
"We certainly did dear sister, that scroll you found and this staff are quite exquisite!"
The male replied in a slightly huskier tone, as if from the same bell but with a padded tongue. Tyler couldn't hear anymore of their conversation as he and Kaori turned a corner and lost sight of the elven pair,
"Well I guess that's a magic shop then,"
Kaori had heard what the siblings had said, and understood it as well.
"I guess so, though that's not the only thing I learned from that."
"Ohh please enlighten this poor unintelligent little student, professor!"
She replied with false respect in her voice, Tyler smiled, and warmed to his favorite passtime: Dissecting people from afar,
"Well for one thing my dear would-be student, did you hear the shopowner's name was Rem? Or that the staff the male was carrying was supposed to be exquisite? If that's true, then we can infer that staffs come in many varieties, and some are more sought after then others. Then there's the matter of the scroll the lady claimed to have and how surprising it was that the shop had it, meaning that the scroll in question is of a rarer occurrence, thus indicating the same properties as the staff. Oh and the owner of the shop is a "master" probably meaning it's a guy-"
"Okay okay I'm sorry I asked, Damn!"
Kaori cut him off mid-flow, she had forgotten how creepily specific he could get with his dissections of other people. Though It's rather funny how the only people he can't dissect like that are himself and me...wait COULD he dissect ME like that? I mean we spend so much time together that I'm sure he easily could and he'd have far more ammo then most other people to work with. I kinda want to ask him but now I'm scared of what he'll actually come up with! She shuddered at the thought of Tyler dissecting her mind like that, It's almost like that detective movie from...When did it come out again? Still, though she was impressed how much information he could get out of a person just from a single conversation, whether he was a part of it or not. Tyler was looking at her with a look of confusion,
"Lectis to Kaori, anyone home in there? Hellllooooo?"
She jumped a little, so lost in thought was she that she had walked right passed the corner they were supposed to take to get to Burlock's smithy.
"sorry, got lost in my mental maze again"
she hurried back to Tyler's side embarrassed. He shook his head,
"Seriously, I know I call you Barbie an all, but you don't have to actually BE an airheaded doll ya know? Anyway we need to pass through the north wallgate to get to Burlock's smithy so steel up and get ready for trouble. Oh and here, before I forget again.."
He handed her the Sgian Dao dagger he had grabbed from the storeroom back at the Tower, The dagger was a beautiful little blade, about five inches in length, with a light blue stone in the pommel, a simple leather grip and plain blade that had a vicious tip, and just the slightest hint of a curve in the steel blade. "You can hide that in your shirt, like a backup plan if all else fails, I have it's twin here,"
He produced an identical blade from behind his back, just underneath his arrow quiver, Kaori took the knife, happy to be thought of, though she had long known about both blades, she had just assumed both were for him, as he seemed the kind to duel-wield such blades.
"Why thank you, it's a beautiful knife, and I have a better place for it then my shirt,"
He looked confused, until he saw her place the knife a slit in her belt, near her outer thigh, it was an unsuspecting place for a knife to hide, but all the more perfect for it too. It was also easy to reach as well so that was a plus. though Tyler couldn't help himself,
"Hey Barbie, just be careful when sitting or you might get a strange-"
"Shut up"
"shutting up now,"
She shook her head exasperatedly, Immature bastard ruining a perfectly good moment there. ahh well comes with the territory I guess, he's still a jackass.
"Alright now what?”
She asked, They had reached the north wallgate that led into the next sector of the city. The gate was massive, easily three basketball courts wide, and pierced the mammoth wall that soared above them like a gaping mouth waiting to swallow them whole. The wall itself was gargantuan, easily surpassing every other building in the area in terms of height, except for the Dragon tower and the king's palace. It was constructed of a dark gray stone, polished a metallic shine, though as Tyler continued looking at the impressive structure, he came to believe the wall might as well of been MADE of metal for he knew not of any stone that glistened like a mat of flowing oil in the late-morn sun like that, either that or it was enchanted with some spell. As for the Wallgate itself, it was a funnel for both wagons, people, and soldiers. ON the far right of the gate, near the wall, was a guardhouse where merchants went to get cargo checked and searched, after which they were waved on through the gate. Whereas on the far left, people on foot were screened, asked for information, and generally waved on their way. Though it was the center of the highway that captured the majority of Tyler's attention, and concern: that was where the many soldiers, both knights and local militia, were passing through on their way to other parts of the city, and whenever the men had reason to cross the other lanes of traffic, both directions halted so the armoured groups could pass unhindered. Once they were clear were the lanes permitted to move ahead again. This happened with a rather infuriatingly frequent amount of times.
"It seems the soldier's get the right of way here, guess being associated with the military here gets you special treatment here."
Kaori nodded,
"Yeah, though this whole set up kinda reminds me of a multi-lane train station mixed with a toll-booth road, only far more efficient!"
"I heard that, I guess having hundreds of bored men with sharp swords nearby is more then enough reason to behave, better watch yourself Barbie,"
He poked her in the ribs as he said this, which she promptly retaliated with a smack across the back of his head,
“Asshole"
As Tyler rubbed his head, he considered what Burlock had said,
"So do you think we can get through without a hassle?"
Kaori had spoken his thoughts aloud before he could, Heh, well glad we're on the same page for once, though if I'm honest, I think we should believe what Burlock said, I mean we ARE here to fight a war for them, so they would be insane to try to imprison us,
"I think we're good, as long as we don't make a scene. If What Burlock said is true, and the king has basically disowned us and given us free range through the city, then we don't need to worry, if not we're back to running, so there's that."
The pretty blonde nodded in agreement, she still had a worried look on her face. Tyler turned his gaze back to the Wallgate, seeking a crack in the well-oiled machine he could exploit, and as he renewed his scrutiny of the Gate he noticed a large board of to one side near the guardhouse or the right.
"Hey check it out, a WANTED board, let's check it out!"
He grabbed Kaori's hand and moved toward the board, Kaori held back,
"Hey, Tyler you know that old trope, you know the one, where the WANTED fugitives get caught cause on of them went and wanted to check out their mugshots on the police wall? This is screaming the same thing, only better since, you know, THE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF ARM SOLDIERS NOT FIFTY FEET FROM THE DAMN BOARD!"
Tyler stopped, looked at her, and flipped his hood up over his head, and put a covering over the hilt of Gruven’s sword.
"Now you LOOK like a wanted criminal, oh whatever do as you please, though if we get caught I'm gonna kick you in the dick and run for being a jackass."
"hehe Deal"
Kaori pulled up her own hood and the pair approached the board. The WANTED board was a solid affair, made from solid hardwood, oak perhaps?, It was covered in dozens of posters, both large and small, some with massive rewards offered for various fugitives, both dead or alive. Some were only wanted dead, others alive. Tyler and Kaori scanned the board from the back of a small throng of would-be bounty hunters all checking various posters for that sweet spot of difficulty and reward. One large man grabbed a rather large poster of a slightly smaller man wanted for poisoning another player at a card game, and with a start Tyler recognized the same skinny man that had tried to stab Burlock with a poisoned knife the night prior. The reward for the mans' capture was fifty silver, neither a massive sum, but not a small one either. Damn, too bad i didn't know he had a price on his head last night, I could've had Burlock turn him in and collected the reward. As Tyler mused about the missed opportunity, Kaori tugged his sleeve and pointed toward a pair of large posters that were side by side. They read: WANTED BY THE ORDER OF THE POPE OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF HUMANKIND, and beneath the eye-catching letters were accurate portraits of both Tyler and Kaori! They had recreated Tyler’s visage down to the usual scowl and piercing gaze, making him look like a rather dangerous individual, whereas Kaori's poster depicted her trademark blonde hair and green eyes, with emphasis on her radiant beauty. Guess the pope had a hand in designing her picture, Both were wanted for the murder of Knight Captain Gruven, and were both presumed to be on the run and extremely dangerous to approach. the bounty conditions for Tyler were for his corpse to be delivered in order to receive payment, whereas Kaori was to be apprehended and delivered to the Tower unharmed, if possible. The reward for Tyler's dead body was one hundred gold coins, whereas Kaori's safe return was three hundred. heh guess he hasn't given up on her yet, ack, I KNEW I should've killed him when I had the chance! Well I'll just have to look forward to it, as I'm sure that egocentric bastard will gives me plenty of opportunities to take his head. But as Tyler went back to examining the posters of himself and Kaori, the pair noticed something that made them breath a hefty sigh of relief; under their respected names on the posters, in bold black ink read the words BY ORDER OF THE KING, THIS BOUNTY IS HEREBY DISAVOWED, AND CAN NOT BE CLAIMED. ALL BOUNTY HUNTING ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE ABOVE MENTIONED NAME ARE TO BE DISCOUNTINUED AT ONCE!
Tyler tapped Kaori's shoulder, and gestured toward the gate,
"Come on, we got what we came for let's go see Burlock now, I want to be out on our journey before the end of the day, or at least prepared to set of in the morning."
The immensely relieved girl nodded, a smile on her lips. She followed him to the line for non-merchants exiting the sector of the city they were currently in. She glanced at him form the corner of her eye,
"You know, that was a pretty decent shot of you, they really nailed that whole angry-at-the-world look you usually have, plus the dead-fish eyes too!"
She was laughing as she said this,
"really? I was gonna same the same about your picture, too bad you can't display a person's personality like they can their face. If they could, they would've gone with a written description so as not to scar people with that mess...ouch! Hey!"
He winced as she smacked him for the umpteenth time. She then moved along the line with her nose in the air. Tyler chuckled as he followed the offended girl. I still win in the salt department, and she is soo easy to piss off too, and her reactions are kinda cute too if I’m honest with myself. The former fugitives were about ten feet from the guards doing the screening, and as they approached Tyler looked up at the imposing opening they were about to pass through. The Gate towered above them, with a gigantic metal portcullis dangling dozens of feet in the air above their heads. Tyler mentally gauged the metal construct would close off the sector in a matter of seconds after the lever is thrown, despite it's massive size. He also guessed that if any unfortunate soul was caught underneath it when it fell, they would be little more then a mere patch of slime on the ground. I sincerely hope that thing doesn't decide to jump off it's chain today while we're underneath that friggin thing. Tyler was busy looking at the death trap above their heads, a loud, gruff
"Next!"
rang out in front of him, he looked to see the guard motioning him and Kaori forward to be screened. The pair approached the guard.
The man looked the pair over, mentally pinging the duo's bows, quivers, Tyler and Kaori's outfits, and their demeanor,
"So wats' yur business in the Smithing Sector?"
He barked. Tyler responded for the pair,
"We are headed to the smithy Of Burlock Metalbreaker per his invitation, sir."
The man nodded as he jotted something down on his board,
"Aright, an yur names?"
Tyler glanced at Kaori, who nodded her permission, Tyler faced the man,
"My name is Tyler, The lady is Kaori,"
The guard froze, and went to look at Tyler’s face under his hood, but Tyler beat him to it, throwing the hood back. Kaori did the same. The guard looked stunned at the brazen attitude of the former fugitives he himself had aided in the attempting capture of. The guard the gave the bold pair a smoldering glare as he spoke,
"Well, the king's grace is a great thing, so it is, the guard were ordered to leave you two bastards be, so leave you be we will."
Tyler nodded,
"Thank you sir-"
"I don't need nor do i want your thanks brat, You should know that there is a message the king gave us to give to you if we encountered you after the proclamation went out. so here take it and get."
The guard shoved a rolled parchment scroll, complete with royal seal still intact, along with a small pouch into Tyler’s face. Tyler accepted the treatment wordlessly, and he and Kaori were waved through the gate into the Smithing Sector without further hassle. though they did move a little bit faster down the cobblestone street then they were before, eager to leave the glowering guardsmen behind them so they could properly inspect the scroll and pouch given to them by the guard. The reached the end of the street and took a moment to collect themselves and take stock of their surroundings; they were in a bustling sector of the city, with both sides of the long, wide streets brimming with craftsman's shops and open-air stalls. There were shops for all manner of items, from rudimentary arms and armour shops to custom clothing and tanned leather peddlers. There was also a different smell in the air then the previous sector's odor of dirt and rotting wood, this sector smell of burning wood from dozens of forges, combined with the rather foul stench of the leather tanning process. Tyler and Kaori's nostrils flared at the plethora of scents and odors, both good and foul.
"Ugh, let's find Burlock's shop so we can take a proper look at this things kay?"
Kaori nodded earnestly. So the pair set off down the main thoroughfare, looking for the Metalbreaker smithy. They didn't have to look very far.
Burlock's smithy was as blatant as the man was large, with a gaudy sign suspended over the main entryway, METALBREAKER'S ARMS AND ARMOUR, it read. The shop itself was a rather straightforward affair, a single entry point in the front with large pane glass windows flanking the doorway advertising various pieces of weapons and armour, from swords and axes to helms and breastplates. They all seemed to be of very fine make as well. As far as construction went the building was rather unimpressive, being made entirely of red brick and mortar, which was seemed to be the standard building material for this sector of the Capital, which wasn't surprising given what most of the shops dealt in. Tyler and Kaori walked through the front door of the shop, ringing a little bell hanging over the door. There was no one behind the counter, but they could hear the unmistakable hammer sounds of a smith hard at work. So they both elected to explore the shop a little while they waited to for the man to come out. Kaori moved over to the rack which held light swords such as rapiers, cutlasses, and short swords. Tyler made a beeline for the medium sword rack, upon it were one-handed claymores, bastard swords, other longswords, and a curved single-edged weapon he identified as a Falchion, which he thought was kind of awesome. the many weapons were finely made from steel, iron and other metals Tyler didn't recognize, like one sword he picked up to inspect, a large two-handed battleblade, only to find it weighed about the same as Gruven's longsword, which was only a quarter the massive battle blade's size. The massive weapon was made from a jet black metal that seem to writher and roil like a torrent of water as the light played across the blades length. To Tyler the sword almost seemed alive and as he peered into the inky blackness of the weapon's color, he could see himself falling into the depths of blackness, never to see the light of day again.
"Hehhehe, I see you found Gweld's cursed greatsword, perilous ain't it, eh laddee?"
Tyler tore his gaze from the black blade to see Burlock standing behind the counter wiping off his brow with a rag.
"That there blade is an evil thing, it has a nasty habit of dragging it's wielder down into the pits of darkness, then once it has you, you end up being the one who is wielded, instead of the wielder! I mainly keep it as a challenge to young adventurers who want to test their mental mettle, the stronger ones end up putting the sword back down and never touching it again, the weaker ones try to buy it, and I refuse, cause of the sign above it."
The sign read NOT FOR SALE, CURSED,
"The strong are able to dive into the darkness and climb back out. so tis a good test to see ones mettle." The burly man was explaining as he finished wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Now, what can I do fer ya today?"
Tyler approached the counter, Kaori coming up behind him as he placed Gruven's sword on the countertop,
"I would like this sword to be remade into a weapon for a guy my size. If possible."
Burlock's eyes narrowed at the request.
"I recall offering to rework Gru's blade, and I will, that said, the two of you should leave town immediately after I finish, the king may of called of the official chase, but there are plenty of people in this city will come after you regardless of what the king says. So you best be prepared. Now the sword; There's enough material here for two decent blades, would the lady like to have one as well?"
Kaori thought for a moment,
"Sure, why not? I'm sure having my own blade couldn't hurt, right Tyler?"
She replied in her high voice. Tyler smiled at the thought of Kaori as swordswoman.
"Okay, though I think you should go for something like a katana, Kaori,"
"Why?"
"Cause, didn't you take Kendo once back in middle school? I heard you were pretty good?"
She blinked, surprised he remembered that far back. She had taken kendo growing up, and still practiced the forms from time to time, but she hadn't kept up with it in any sort of regular capacity. Still it was a good idea and she agreed. Tyler opted for a single-handed leaf-bladed sword, with a slightly longer handle so if need be he could grab it with both hands. Burlock nodded his approval of the young'uns choice of arms, he would've chosen the same for them if he had to pick. So he bid them wait in his dining room while he reworked the weapon. After Burlock left the room, Tyler pulled the scroll and pouch the guard had given him from the Wallgate. Laying the large scroll of the table in the room, Tyler took out Spike and broke the seal on the roll of parchment, Kaori sat beside him, looking on curiously, Tyler unrolled the scroll and used is knife to hold it open. The page was covered in a flowing script that the pair were able to read surprisingly easily. It stated:
To the murderers of my dear friend Gruven, allow me to properly introduce myself, I am his Royal majesty king Ishtar von Vernillion, king of Vernilla. you are probably wonder why my guards have not killed or captured you yet, or why the hunt for you was called off so abruptly, well allow me to explain. You see it's quite simple, as much as I would like your heads on a pike, we, unfortunately, need you to fight a war we ourselves cannot, that is the only reason you continue to draw breath. Now that said, I feel that in the interest of fairness, there may be details of the incident that I'm unaware of. If that is the case, or you just want your side of the story to be heard I will leave my court open to you. Do not misunderstand, I merely want to hear it from the mouths of the ones who killed him the reasons why you resorted to such violence. Something else the pair of you should know, since I'm certain the pair of you are together, is that the other Warriors all received financial aid from the kingdom to aid in the upcoming battles, as I am a fair and just ruler, I have seen fit to bestow upon you the predetermined amount of ten gold coins. Be warned though, as this is a one time endowment, while the other warriors will receive the same amount every week for their own expenses, you will not, but you WILL be entitled to fair compensation for any and all efforts provided in the coming battles for our world. That said do not expect any further assistance from the crown. I do not want a reply, instead I have instructed my guards to aid you in vacating the capital as soon as possible. I urge you to leave sooner rather than later lest you try my already thin patience.
His Royal Majesty
King Ishtar Von Vernillion
ruler of Vernillia
After reading the king's letter to himself and Kaori, Tyler took the pouch of gold and poured it out, and sure enough ten gold coins lay upon the table. Tyler and Kaori's eyes lit up at the sight of the golden disks before them. Eventually, Tyler, ever pragmatic, cleared his throat,
"ahem, alright well we have our funds for our trip to the next town over, now all we need is a decent map of the area, and some traveler's provisions and we can head on out."
Kaori looked up from ogling the money, she seemed a little sheepish to have been doing so,
"Well that's good thing, and we can get a proper meal at the Inn tonight too! As for the map, maybe that magic shop we passed had one? that seems like something they would have. But what about the kings' offer to explain our side of Gruven's death? Are we gonna take it?"
Tyler looked at his beautiful companion,
"I don't think that's a good idea at the moment."
"Why not? He offered to hear us out didn't he?"
Kaori was confused at her reluctant friend, although she trusted his judgement in these matters, for he was far more skilled at ferreting out hidden meanings from even the most genuine of people,
"Well we have nothing to prove our case with, in the end it's our word against the pope', and in that circumstance I can't help but think we'd lose the argument with the current odds as they are. I think we should let it be for the time being, and focus on the first wave we'll face, after which, if we distinguish ourselves in a favorable manner, we'll have to meet with the king anyway, we'll have the advantage of reputation and deeds backing our rebuttal of the pope's accusations. Plus I feel like this could also be a trap to lure as into a perfect cage. Cause what better place to set up an ambush then the king's throne room? If we went in there half-cocked, we won't walk back out under our own power if at all. Maybe his offer is genuine, if it is then the machinations behind it are not."
She looked shocked,
"Your telling me you can think things out that far? Just like that? And without any time to think it over? How do you do that and can you teach me how?"
Tyler gave a dark chuckle,
"Most of my theories are just details, as I'm always thinking of the worst case scenario and what can I do to either avoid it, or if I can't avoid it, get out of it with the least amount of injury to myself. That kind of thinking is the direct product of my upbringing. I could try to teach you how if you want, but I fear you'll lose your ability to trust the overwhelming majority of people. Do you want that?"
Kaori looked at him sadly, fully understanding both the pain he had suffered at his family's hands, and the price he had had to pay for the ability to dissect people the way he did, it was all a defense mechanism, meant to protect what little of his shattered heart remained. She felt both an immense wave of pity for what he'd suffered, but also felt great admiration for his sheer resilience to continue to smile and laugh the way he did. He's a far stronger person then I am, The lovely blonde looked at the emotionally hardened boy next to her, and without thinking, wrapped him a lung-crushing embrace, trying to get closer to the kind of strength she wished she possessed.
"OOf, Hey, what's this are you okay Kaori? Hey, I can't....breathe!"
She released him, and he stood there gasping, Kaori, was distinctly red around the gills after pouncing on him like that,
"....Sorry,... I really needed that, thanks."
She speaking in a small, quiet voice, as if embarrassed by her actions. Tyler rubbed his protesting ribs, trying to quell his racing heartbeat, it wasn't the hug that had thrown him off, in fact he had rather enjoy the moment of contact with the alluring blonde, but the suddenness of her attack had completely caught him by surprise.
"Well, as long as your okay, Then it's fine, just don't scare me like that okay? You had me thinking someone was trying to jump me or something."
He spoke in a level tone, belying the fact his heart was on fire with a warmth he had never felt before, and further compounding the conundrum, was the fact the warmth had a certain blonde-haired green-eyed girl he knew. Kaori nodded, still blushing heavily Damn what am i a grade schooler? Pouncing on a boy like a cat with a new toy! I am better then that, though, I DIDN'T know his skin smell like pinecones, how'd he manage that? We haven't showered in like three days! Plus it's been hot and we were running for our lives for two of them, so what gives? Smelled good though. Wait DAMN GIRL calm down, he's looking at you act natural! Tyler was indeed looking at her trying to figure out why she had picked that moment to go as red in the face as a stereotypical Tsundere in an anime rom-com, he half-expected her to exclaim BAKA! at him, The hell is the matter with this chick? Totally normal one moment, then spazing out the next, followed by more spaz, then she friggin pulls a Tsundere? Her moods give me whiplash, and what was up with her suddenly hugging me like that? I mean it was completely outta left field for Christ's sake! Though it DID kinda feel good, and she was warm too, her skin smelled like,...peaches or something, even after all the running and walking, I wonder if it's part of this world for the Warriors to smell good regardless of their activities. Still smelled good, i like to hold her again, properly this tim-GODFRIGGINDAMNIT jesus friggin christ, ya hopeless bastard, she give you one hug and you think its an open door to first base? My god yur pathetic, are you that desperate to rub skin with chicks? Tyler shook his head to clear it and turned away from his blonde problem to add up all their coin together.
"Well Kaori, we should take a quick cash check to see where we stand as far as funds go."
Kaori nodded, grateful to have something to break the awkwardness of the moment, she handed the few coins she had held onto to Tyler who placed them on the table with his own coins, and added them to the gold from the king.
"Well, all in all we have , ten gold coins, twelve silver coins, and fifty copper coins, so if a single gold coin is worth one hundred silvers, and a single silver coin is worth one hundred copper, and we got a full dinner, breakfast, and a room and didn't spend more then two full silvers, then I think we can safely assume we got a fair bit of money to throw at the moment."
Kaori nodded as he spoke, she was just as good at basic math as Tyler was, but she was terrible with money. Tyler went on saying
“Now if we figure tonight's expenses, food, a room, and maybe a map, I'd say our budget is about five silver coins, we can use the gold for other gear, like maybe a trip by carriage to Dragul, the next city over, and we can use the gold to pay for the membership fee for the Adventurers' guild over there."
At this point Kaori interjected,
"Hey couldn't we stay at maybe a better Inn this time? That last one was kinda sketchy, just saying."
Tyler thought for a moment,
"I'd rather not, cause we already know how much the rates are there, plus we know no one will look for us in such a sketchy place. Although I would like to upgrade down the road, when we have a steadier income, but for now lets stay frugal."
She gave a dejected sigh,
"You're right of course, I just wish we could sleep on a proper mattress. oh!"
She suddenly perked up,
"what about a bath? I'm sure you could spare a coin or two for something like that right?"
Tyler Smiled, and handed her two silver coins,
"Okay you win on that one, here that should cover a bath at the Inn, I could do with one myself, after this let's try to find a bath house and clean up before hitting up that magic shop, sound good?"
She beamed happily,
"Sure!"
Just then Tyler started chuckling, Kaori looked at him sourly, irritated he had ruined the mood again, "What's so funny this time?"
He looked at her with a devilish light in his eyes,
"Well Barbie, I just thought of the true reason you don't want to return to that Inn,"
She looked at him confused. He continued"
It's because your afraid of that waitress I was "flirting" with, right? Afraid you have a little competition for my attention? I wonder what she'd think if we returned for a second night...OUCH!!"
Her confusion had cleared up with a resounding SMACK across Tyler's head, leaving him with a slight ringing in his ears, and a welt on his cheek. She got up and walked across the room to sit against the wall in a distinct huff. Tyler was grinning like an idiot who just heard the word "penis".
Several hours passed since then, Burlock had still not returned with their weapons, and Kaori was starting to yawn, though she was still on the other side of the room from Tyler, not ready to let his comment slide just yet, and Tyler had dived back into the HUD interface unique to the Warriors. He had learned how various skills and stats complimented each other, for example, if one's Agility stat was high, they could learn Agility-based skills, like Sneak; a stealth skill, that much easier. whereas someone with a low agility score would struggle to get such a skill without purchasing the equivalent skill or ability at a shop. The same was said for skills that required a high strength stat like pulverize, a skill unique to two-handed weapons like Warhammers and great maces. Tyler had decided to focus on a strength, agility, and endurance build for himself, as agility also dealt in one-handed weapons and bows, strength for the potential to wield larger weapons, while at the same time have access to strength-based survival skills, like woodcutting, and endurance, because at the end of the day Tyler's greatest advantage over most enemies was his ability to take a bigger asskicking. He also thought to throw some skillpoints into magic now and again, just so he'd have a hidden ace up his sleeve. As he was planning out his own character, he realized he didn't know what Kaori was herself running. He looked over to see her head bobbing up and down in the classic war between staying awake and falling asleep, which was clearly winning this particular fight. Tyler smiled at how carefree she looked, nodding off to sleep in some guy's house they had just met the day before in a sketchy tavern. wow, she must feel pretty safe to nod off like that in some dudes home. Tyler got up from the table he had been sitting at and went and sat down by her,
" Hey don't fall asleep just yet, Barbie, we have other stuff to do after this."
He nudged her and she jumped, startled,
"OH ! what!! Tyler? Tyler? I guess I nearly fell asleep there, thanks for waking me up, still no sign of Burlock huh?"
She tried to change the subject from how Tyler had literally caught her napping in Burlock's house. He smiled, then et it go,
"Yeah, nothing yet, I wonder why? I mean I know making quality weapons takes time an all, plus the guy's got a business to run on top of that, I wish i asked him how long it was likely to take, just so I'd know whether or not to come back tomorrow."
Tyler sat against the wall, next to Kaori,
" I wonder if i should go check or not."
Kaori, went and sat back down next to him against the wall,
"I don't think that's a good idea, cause you might disturb him well he's working."
"Yeah your right, I guess"
Tyler looked like he was In deep thought for a moment, Then turned to Kaori again,
"Hey by the way could you bring up your HUD for a sec I wanna show you something."
She agreed, now curious, and opened her HUD,
"okay, now what?"
"Head to your stats Please,"
"okay"
She opened her stats tab and Tyler instructed her in what each of the stats affected, and the best way for her to implement her own talents to maximize her traits. She readily soaked up his instructions, knowing his experience with video games gave him a distinct advantage. In the end Kaori settled on a Agility/Dexterity/Mage build for herself. Which was the best match for Tyler’s more aggressive assault-style character. Her magic Affinity was high to begin with anyway, so it seemed like a waste to not incorporate it in her arsenal. They were wrapping up their stat lesson when a weary Burlock returned with two long cloth wrapped bundles in his arms.
"och ye younguns' yer weppins' are reddy,"
he hand the long slender on to Kaori, and the shorter, thicker one to Tyler. The pair accepted them graciously, before unwrapping the newly reforge weapons with the eagerness of children opening presents in winter. When they saw them they both gasped at the beautiful instruments of destruction before them, Kaori held a long slender katana in her hands, the handle wrapped in a white cord with a red ribbon tied to the end. standing, she drew the blade with reverence several inches from the blades' red scabbard, the blade had the same silvery sheen that Gruven's sword had shone with, but with a far more noticeable shine to it. There were ripples in the blade, like waves in a pond, flowing down the hardened metal, adding a beauty to the weapon that was simply breath taking, the natural curve of a katana finished the picture adding a simple elegance to it's overall profile.
Tyler's blade was no less beautiful, his blade had a black handle, with a red pommel stone, wrapping the handle in his fist, Tyler drew the blade from it's black metal sheath, revealing the same wave-pattern in the metal, he recognized it as layer steel forging, a method that took multiple layers of metal and, basically, melt them together in the forge to both strengthen the blade and add that beautiful wavy pattern to the blade. The sword was just over three feet long, not as long as Kaori's Four foot katana, nor as long as Gruven's sword, but the perfect length for Tyler to wield the way he wanted. It had a leaf-shaped blade, starting narrow at the base, widening near the middle, then narrowing again at the point of the sword. Both pieces were exquisitely beautiful to look upon, Tyler and Kaori both thanked the big man profusely for the precious items. But the big man would hear none of it,
"och, now don't go thankin me, was all part o' the deal, now there's just one thing left to do for your new blades,"
he looked at Tyler,
"An I'm thinkin you know what I mean"
Kaori was confused until Tyler explained laughing,
"Kaori we got to name our swords, Is what he means."
"Ahhh, Okay, well lets see what's a good name for a katana?"
Tyler had already come up with a name for his sword,
"Burlock my swords name is Oblivion, for anyone who forces me to draw steel, or puts her in danger shall be sent to oblivion."
With an approving chuckle, Burlock waved his hand over the blade and scabbard and the Lectis script for Oblivion appeared on both the blade itself and was engraved in the metal of the scabbard. Kaori also found a name for her sword as well,
“Mine's called Dawn, for it shall be the last Dawn for our enemies"
"good choice Barbie,"
"hehe, indeed young lass, a fine name."
He repeated the motion, and the script for Dawn appeared on the blade and scabbard. Burlock looked tired, but he still asked if there was anything else the young pair needed, Tyler smiled as he stood, replacing Oblivion to the place on his back,
"actually, could you point us to the nearest bathhouse? we need to clean up."
Burlock smiled and gave the pair directions to one not far from the Inn they would be staying in that night. the pair thanked him again and again he refused, they left the man's shop as the shadows started to lengthen, Tyler figured they had about three hours of daylight left, so the duo headed for that magic shop they had passed before entering the Smithing sector. They had to go back through the gatehouse screening again, but as the pair had been through earlier, it went by faster. Although the guards all gave the former fugitives glares and sidelong glances. Tyler was used to such things and ignored the stares, Kaori was less experienced in being a pariah, so just stuck close to Tyler's side with a hand on Dawn, which she had hung on her left hip, just like a real samurai. The guards did nothing more then give them dirty looks, and wave them through the Wallgate. Now back in the Tower sector, the friends made their way to the magic shop that they had passed earlier in the day.
They reached the shop after about half an hour's walk from the wallgate, It was a rather nondescript looking enough building, for a magic shop that was. It was constructed of wood and stone, it had a similar doorway to Burlock's; with a door flanked by large pane windows with the shops merchandise on display. The shop was called Rem's magicks, and was around two stories tall, with a black slate roof. Tyler opened the door for Kaori, only to let another woman exit before she could enter. The older lady winked at Tyler for his attempt at gallantry and moved on her way, Kaori was quietly laughing to herself as she walked inside the shop, followed by the crestfallen man behind her. Though once inside Tyler perked up again at the excitement of being inside a bona fide magic shop. The shelves were lined with books containing many different spells, skills and charms for sale. On another wall hung staves of every shape and variety. Yet another wall held ingredients for aspiring alchemists to use in their pursuits. Tyler and Kaori were amazed at the items on display, having come from a world where magic did not exist. The pair approached the counter situated in the very back of the store. There didn’t appear to be anyone behind it so they browsed for maps of the area. Tyler went to a bucket of scrolls in a corner and start examining one, finding it wasn't a map, he put it back and continued his search, Kaori went in the opposite direction, looking on the adjacent wall's scrolls, all the while trying to keep Dawn from knocking something over. They didn't have to search for long before Tyler found what he was looking for.
"Bingo, found one, Kaori, over here"
She returned to his side to fond Tyler pouring over a large map of both the capital city of Term and about a thousand miles in all directions, with the capital in the center. As the duo were looking at the large parchment and debating to either get it or find a more specific one for their needs, a woman's voice was heard calling out to them,
"Oh hello there, I didn't hear you come in."
Tyler and Kaori turned in unison to see a scarily familiar figure standing behind the counter, It was none other then Lyrica, the Devil girl maid from the Dragon Tower dining hall! Tyler instantly let go of the map and grabbed Oblivion's handle, Kaori stood behind him. Lyrica held her hands up,
"whoa hold up, now relax, i'm not gonna attack you. Alright? Look I'm sorry for disappearing on you like that. I was ordered to by the pope."
Tyler relaxed his grip on his sword,
"Well, as you can see we escaped, and Gruven is dead, so if you had tried to attack us, you would be dead too."
Lyrica shuddered at the coldness in his voice, she had no doubt that had she tried anything they would bury her in two pieces, at the least. She had had the same reaction to his darkness that Burlock had. The devil girl, turn the subject to the map,
"So am I to assume your in the market for a map?"
Kaori answered this time from her position behind Tyler,
"We are, but we think this one's parameters are to large-scale for what we need,"
Lyrica nodded sagely,
"ahh yes that map is rather large and broad, if you don't know the enchantment that goes along with it."
"enchantment?"
"yes that particular map is enchanted to show whichever area you happen to be in with exacting detail, if you purchase it, the means to activate the spell come included."
TYler spoke up this time,
"How much?"
Lyrica was no fool, she knew that in order to get off the man's future hit list she had to sweeten the pot all little, and since her succubae charms no longer had any affect on the man she resorted to bribery, "How’s ten silver sound? I'll even throw in a spell tome on top, as an apology for the tower, what do you say?"
Tyler smiled,
" a spell tome for each of us and you got a deal!"
Lyrica's red eyes narrowed, one spell tome she could let go, but two? That was pushing it. As she was about to state so, she could sight of the glint in Tyler's gaze, oh so that's how it is? Little prick, extorting a descendant of the archdemons themselves, that takes some balls! The Devil girl wanted to refuse buy knew to do so would incur this young brats wrath, and she didn't think that even the tall, pretty blonde behind him would intercede on her behalf. So with a defeated sigh, Lyrica accepted the deal.
"sure fine, a tome apiece, the enchanted map, along with its activation phrase, all for ten silver. Anything else?"
Tyler smiled, "Can you tell which types of magic we are best suited for? Like if Kaori's better suited for healing or fireballs?"
Lyrica thought for moment,
"Well, yes, but that service usually costs around twenty silver a pop, sooo"
Tyler nodded, he had figured as much, and went to hand the succubus a gold coin. Lyrica's eyes lit up at the sight of the coin, "Wow, so I guess you received the king's payment without any trouble? Well that would cover everything."
Kaori looked from Tyler to Lyrica and back,
"hey you sure you want to use a full gold for this?"
She whispered into Tyler's ear, her breath hot on his neck. He replied as he watched Lyrica set up for their magic affinity exam,
"it's okay, I know exactly how much we should get back, she won't dare try to cheat us, cause she and I both know she wouldn't live through the experience. Plus breaking a gold here will give up about sixty-two silver for our room, food, and bath tonight, so i figured it's well worth the risk."
He spoke without looking at Kaori, his eyes fixed on the Devil before them, fully aware of her breath on the back of his neck, which set his heart racing at her closeness. To combat this he watched Lyrica set up a small fortunetelling table with a crystal ball set in the center,
"Hey Lyrica your not gonna read our fortunes with that thing are you?"
The Hellspawn girl replied without looking up from her work,
"Not exactly fortunetelling, but reading someone's magical affinity DOES share some similarities with telling fortunes, as both types of magic belong to the divination school. The crystal ball will turn a color, and that color represents the school of magic best suited for your soultype, since I'm sure you realize that in order to cast spell, you need a chant, a license, and the required amount of mana. But you probably don't know what mana is exactly do you?"
Both Kaori and Tyler did not. So Lyrica, now finished with her preparations, took a seat at the newly placed table and bade the companions to follow suit. Once the duo were seated Lyrica continued with her explanation,
"How let's see how best to explain? Mana in this world is the currency of your soul, I suppose is the best way to put it. Since in order to cast a spell you need to pay mana equivalent to how straining the spell is to your spirit. For example, a gentle, pacifistic monk would have to pay more mana to cast a spell like Bloodbath, which causes excruciating pain to the afflicted target, before causing the target's blood to explode out of their body, thus killing them in a most grotesque manner, then say a sadistic murderer, who enjoys the pain the pain they bring to other people. If a spell directly contradicts a person's soul, not their personality, the strain to cast it increases drastically. The reasons for this are thought to revolve around the fact that magic is a physical manifestation of the soul's direct strength, so in other words the stronger your soul is the more spells one can cast in a row without resting. Though as the pair of you are both novices, I feel obligated to give you a warning in overusing and using magic not suited for you: If you use too much at one time you WILL blackout as your soul need to recover it's strength, during this blackout, also known as Mindshatter, you are completely helpless, and it's not the same as a normal blackout as you will be fully aware of anything and everything going on around you, but be powerless to do anything about it. This can last for several hour or several days, based on just how drained your soul is. The second part of my warning is about contradictory spells, if you use too many of them, you run of shattering your very soul itself. Hell even one contradictory spell is dangerous, as it damages your spirit by forcing it to pretend to be something it's not, and the more powerful the spell the greater the trauma. Let's use the monk example again for this, if that monk were to cast BloodBath, his soul would shatter immediately upon release of the magic, as that spell is a particularly evil one, and once a soul shatters it cannot be repaired and that poor soul loses their mind completely. They don't die, but become mindless husk that wander the land feeding on unfortunate travelers unlucky to come across them. I believe they were referred to as Zombies in your world, at least that's what some of your fellow interworld travelers said when I explained this to them. There is no cure for a Soul Shatter, and the afflicted can wander for centuries, as their decompositions rates all stop. The only way for theme to rest, as I'm sure you were about to ask me, is to destroy their skull completely by any means at your disposal. otherwise they keep coming. They were referred to as Zombies in your world, but here we simply name them as The Broken Ones, for they serve as an example to be truly Broken. And they are most insidious, as they are drawn to high magic levels, when the two of you leave the city be sure to be aware of your surroundings, for they are many and can sneak up on you with you realizing. If you DO end up casting a contradiction, then the best thing to repair the damage to your soul is to do things that put the soul at ease, for some that's as simple as sleeping, or going to a hot spring, for others it includes being with the person they love most, and yet still some people go visit the sea and listen to waves. Though this method works on small-scale damage it is not a be all and end all solution, for such an act will still leave the soul weakened, making future damage both easier and more severe. The best solution is to simply NOT cast such magic, but we all know the world is a cruel place. But that’s enough doom and gloom, lets find out what types of magic suits the pair of you!"
Lyrica finished her lecture with an overly cheerful tone. Tyler snapped out of his trance paying rapt attention to everything the red-haired devil girl had said, since he figured it was sure to be vital information down the road. He waved Kaori to go first as he digested the staggering amount of knowledge that had just been imparted to him.
Kaori took the seat directly across from Lyrica with a nervous look on her face,
"Okay what now?"
"Just take your hands and place on either side of the crystal ball"
Kaori did as she was asked,
"Like this?"
"Yes just like that"
Lyrica placed her own hands above the ball and recited:
Great Spirit of knowledge here me now, this child of man wishes to know of the power within her, please grant her your mercy and reveal that which cannot be seen; SOULVIEW!
The crystal ball flared to life, displaying a vibrant shade of red, similar in color to the coals of a blazing fire. Kaori's eyes widened at the sight, and Lyrica gave an audible gasp at the overwhelming color, which coated the entire room with a kaleidoscope of red shades and hues. The scene was both breathtakingly beautiful, and jarringly surreal, the red light matching Lyrica's flowing mane of hair perfectly and giving Kaori's golden lockes a distinct flame-tinted look. The entire scene lasted for either hours or second, Tyler knew not, but all too soon the color blast died down, leaving only the crystal ball between the two beauties glowing with the red that had just coated the room. Lyrica was honestly surprised by the raw power Kaori held in her slender frame,
"WOW, that was spectacular! I've never even seen a fire spirit with that kind of red color before, or a mere human with that kind of pure power either! Your going to be a terrifying force of nature once you get some spells and practice in!"
Kaori blushed a shade of red nearly the same tint as the ball before her,
"Well thank you, I think"
You would think since both girls and boys of all ages had fawned over her, and showered her with complements on the daily back in their old world, she would be desensitized to such gushing praise, but you'd be mistaken. yes, Kaori was jaded to most complements, as they were mostly fake or attempts to get in her good graces, the genuine complements and praise, the ones to truly meant what they said, were the ones she valued. Which is one reason she held Tyler in such high regard, as he had never minced his words with her, or tried to butter her up with pretty words, preferring to speak the harsh truth without regard for what people thought of what he had to say. He often had to pay the price for his words, but he still continued the live the way he saw fit, If I change who I am just to make the majority of people happy, then I would truly have no worth as a person. She often thought about his response that time she'd asked him about it. She admired the way he went his own way through life, completely his own way never influenced by what other people expected or demanded him to be. She wished she could live like that. Now here was this devil girl gushing over her magic power, clearly infatuated with the beautiful blonde mage-in-training. The best part, was the sincerity dripping from every word the devil girl spoke, thoroughly embarrassing the poor girl, causing her to turn nearly as red as the crystal ball both girls hands were resting on.
"Umm, hey, could you tell me what my Affinity is now please?"
She said in a small voice. Lyrica smiled, and warmed to the now shy blonde,
"Well your affinity color is red, so the type of magic you'd be best suited for is fire magic, obviously, but your also suited for magicks like, healing, which while belonging to both light, and green magic paths, share's spells with the red path as well. You could also use spells from the yellow path, like lightning since they both have to do with warmth and raw power. Overall your affinity is both narrow and varied. But since your affinity is red, you direct contradiction is blue, as in fire and ice, so try to avoid casting spells from the blue path of magic."
Kaori looked a little concerned at the news of her contradiction,
"do I have to avoid people with a blue magic affinity?"
Lyrica laughed,
"No, pretty one, as a matter of fact, if possible you should team up with a blue person, as they will complement both your personality and magical holes perfectly. You yourself can't cast their spells, but the people of Blue and red usually wind up as either lovers, lifelong friends, or both, since they bring a balance to each other."
Kaori had stopped listening after hearing a single word, LOVERS? and subconsciously shot a sidelong glance at Tyler, who was sitting against a nearby shelf, apparently deep in thought. Lyrica went on, as though missing the look the flustered blonde had sent in the silent man's direction.
"You should feel happy your color is red, Kaori, it signifies a fiery temper, a passionate lover and friend, and an overall warmth associated your being, people flock to be around you and feel generally warm in you presence. even if your temper keeps them on edge at times."
Kaori's head was spinning from the implications of what Lyrica had said, A passionate lover and friend? Does that mean I'm a secret pervert and I just don't know it yet? I HOPE not, oooh Tyler's not gonna let me hear the end of this!! The boy in question tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to practically jump out of her skin, as she looked at him a panic, he gestured to move as it was his turn. Kaori moved shamefully out of his way and sat where he had been moments before, The spot warmed from his body heat.
Tyler had watched the entire process and listened attentively to everything Lyrica had said, even the part about Red pathers being passionate lovers, and he had also noticed Kaori's not-as-subtle-as-she-thought glance at him during that explanation, As if WE'D ever be lovers, heh all we'll be are friends and comrades in arms at best. Still it WOULD be nice to imagine that such a future was possible...even if it isn't. Purging such thoughts from his mind, Tyler took his place opposite Lyrica and placed his hands either side of the crystal ball as he'd seen Kaori do before him. Lyrica began the chant again, placing her own hands over the ball.
Upon finishing the chant this time, the ball once again flared to life, But his time the light was different, instead of one solid color, as had been the case with Kaori, there were two distinct hues coming from the ball. A deep beautiful shade of roiling blue, similar to the color of the ocean at night, mixed with a peculiar sheen of pure white light shining from deep withing the depths of blue, giving off a strange cold feeling. almost as if one was standing next a grand glacier, such was the feeling coming from the colors of white and blue mixing in such a manner. The near overwhelming hue of blue flooded the room to such an extent, it seemed as if the trio were suddenly transported deep beneath the ocean's surface, and since there was a white color mixed in with it, it nearly seemed like they were seeing the sun from beneath the waves of a clear sea. The colors were prevalent enough to transform even Lyrica's bloodred lockes into a bluish silver sheen, while Kaori's blonde hair was given a gorgeous coating of blue highlights with shots of white sprinkled here and there. Both girls were breathless at the sight of such splendor. Eventually it had to end, as all good things must, with Lyrica removing her hands from the ball, causing the light to collapse back into the confines of the crystal. Only then did Tyler notice she had large tears streaming down her face, Kaori too was letting massive tears unashamedly fall from her green eyes, so moved were the pair by the spectacle they had just witnessed. The only one whose eyes were dry in the room was of course Tyler, who merely wanted the colors explained, along with his specialized magic types, but was content to wait for the two women to regain their composure.
Lyrica was the first to recover herself, wiping her face with a kerchief she held with her tail. She then tossed a fresh one to the still weeping Kaori, who promptly buried her face into the cloth, cleaned her tearstained face and gazed at Tyler with a strangely intense stare. It seemed as if she was daring him to make fun of her for crying, which he would never do,
"Are you okay Kaori? That seemed intense."
She searched his words for a teasing tone, but there was nothing to be find, just the concern of a friend for a friend,
"I'm alright now, thanks. That was just so beautiful I couldn't help myself. Lyrica, what was that? what does it mean?"
Kaori asked with an awestruck voice. Lyrica replied promptly,
"That, Dear Kaori, is the result of two colors merging into one, in this case, the colors of Blue and White. This particular merging is exceedingly rare as it takes the best parts of the Blue path of magic, which include a calm, calculated personality, an unbreakable will, near unshakable faith, whether in a person or belief, the magicks of healing, water, and support type magicks, and fuses them with the best parts of the White magic path, such as a straightforward personality with a sound judgement, a strong sense of justice, being absolutely trustworthy. It is said that people of the White magic path take the things told to them in confidence would happily rather die then expose the secrets of those close to them, even under the most horrific methods of torture. The White path also comes complete with plenty of magic spells for a wide variety of uses, like healing arts, illumination, remedy magic, and holy magicks used to fight undead. This particular path also grants immunity to enemy white magic spells as well, which is why when two priests have to fight, they never use spells from the white path as they cancel out when targeting other white paths. Since it's combined with the Blue path in this instance, it's safe to assume that your also immune to other Blue path mages, Tyler, quite the lucky break as the blue path is one of the five staple paths of magical practice, and is therefore extremely powerful. The Red path is also among their number too, Kaori. but unfortunately your still vulnerable to other red paths, so keep that in mind. Now Tyler, as you a mix of Blue and White, your contradictions' are twofold, both the Red path, and the Black path directly oppose you. So that means, pure black spells like necromancy and poison based spells are beyond you, along with the pure red spells like fire-types and explosion-type spells. Although spells that are impure, such as Liquid Fire, which is a jet of water that sets the target on fire upon impact, is fine to use since it is neither fire nor water. While this workaround is sufficient enough to counter most Path restrictions, it will NOT work with any and all forms of Black path magic, since your path of white abhors the path of black above all else. so any questions?"
Tyler was slightly overwhelmed at the barrage of information that had just been thrown at him. He sat there sorting out the various layers of knowledge imparted to when when Kaori spoke up,
"So if we use a spell from the direct opposite path from our own it will damage our souls; the source of our mana supply, and run the risk of Shattering our souls, thus becoming one of the Broken?"
"That's right"
"So what will spells that are Not direct opposites do to us?"
Lyrica explained patiently, knowing that in their world magic didn't exist.
"Well if you were to use, say a green path spell, such as Enhance, which increases the amount of power a projectile like an arrow will do when fired, it would cost slightly more mana then a green path person, but it will not do any damage to your soul, you just end up working a little harder to cast spell. As long as you don't stray into Pure Blue territory you don't have to worry about soul damage. It's mainly the idiots who think magic is a toy, or a means to absolute power that mind up becoming Broken. Now then, as you two have demonstrated such raw power and rare Colors I have never seen before, I will gift you one spell from your respective color each, on top of the spell books, which usually have a variety of spells with in them."
The pair were understandably excited at this prospect, so they eagerly chose their first spells; Kaori went with a straightforward flame spell, called Inferno, which set a target aflame at the cost of ten mana, Tyler went with the surprising choice of a healing spell; called Divine care, which could, based on the skill of the caster, heal most minor injuries and wounds. It cost about fifteen mana, and could also cure minor ailments like a cold or fever, it was small in scope but Tyler figured it was better to have some form of treating wounds then nothing at all. With their new spells and licenses, which were little enchanted cards which showed the number times the spell had been used its level and allowed the spell to be upgraded when certain thresholds of experience with that particular spell had been reached. The excited duo were strongly cautioned about their spell licenses, as if they fell into the hands of an enemy mage, could both steal their experience with the spell and add it to their own, sell the card and the pair would lose the right to upgrade the spell along with any improvements they had made to it along the way, and/or learn the spell for themselves and do any of the previous choices. Since the cards of other mages were so highly sought after, most stored them in a hidden location on their person, only took the corresponding cards for the spells they intended to use during their adventure, or stored them in a card vault at the church in each town. The church offered this service to all mages for a flat fee each month, of course with their prior encounter with the church having left such a sour taste in their mouths, Tyler and Kaori both opted for another option altogether, they put their spell license on a strong chain and wore them around their necks, hidden beneath their clothing. The chain was a magical metal known as Mentite, and whose strength came directly from the souls of the mage wearing them, thus given the pair's extreme soul caliber, rendered the chains virtually unbreakable. The chains were expensive though, setting the pair back two entire gold coins for the pair. though both Tyler and Kaori agreed it was money well spent, both had aspirations to both acquire new spells and upgrade them. The chains themselves reflected the pairs soul types, with Kaori’s turn a deep crimson, looking like she was wearing a necklace made from blood. whereas Tyler's chain with it's mixture of Blue and White looked as if he was wearing a piece of the sky around his neck. The pair selected the previously offered spell tomes, which came loaded with several different spells and the corresponding licenses for those spells. The books were bound with black leather and held together by a metal spine. Tyler chose a Pure Blue tome, loaded with low-medium powered spells, while Kaori chose a tome christened in her blazing color. Her's had more lower end spells then Tyler’s did, but came with a bunch more spells because of it. Normally the books would have cost a resounding seventy-five silvers apiece, but since Lyrica didn't have a death wish, she had given the much sought after spell tomes away for free. Tyler also rolled up the map they had purchased from her for ten silver. She had also taken the time to write the chant for activating the enchanted navigation item upon a card used for creating licenses, since the maps would update with relative information on it's own based on where it's owners were at that time. In short, a well-detailed map was worth it's weight in gold to cartography and adventurer guilds the world over. In fact it was common practice to visit the local adventurer's guild to not just join but to compare map data; good information in this world was often the difference between a safe and enjoyable journey, and an unpleasant end. The phrase to activate the map was rather straightforward and easy to remember, I CALL TO THE FOUR WINDS AWAKEN AND GUIDE THIS TRAVELER, With that the map would glow faintly and then the details of the area would flow over the surface of the map like a flood of street names, significant locations such as the Tower or the palace, rivers, streams, and lines denote an increase or decrease in elevation down to the last inch; an important detail in earth{Lectis?}quakes where a rise of several inches indicates a imminent quake or other such problem for the people. If you wanted to zoom in on a specific spot, pinching the image of the spot you wanted to see would zoom the map in and increase the detail in the process. all in all a valuable tool for anyone about to set out on a journey.
Tyler and Kaori had spent several hours in the Magic shop and it was past nightfall by the time the tired and dirty pair left.
"Agh, I feel sticky and gross. That's it! I'm getting a bath tonight if it's the last thing I do!"
Kaori was complaining in a disgusted voice, while Tyler smiled at the sight of the blonde trying to wipe imaginary grime from her hands,
"Alright Kaori, let's get a bath, but first i want to secure a room for the night at the Inn Okay?"
"Fine, but I get to soak first, got that?"
"Yes Barbie, as you wish barbie, anything for you Barbie...ouch"
He had of course started teasing her and she had of course wacked him for his idiocy. The two Companions reached the ADVENTURER'S RESPITE after walking for thirty minutes. The seedy Tavern was of course just as lively the second time as it was the first, with insults, jeers, mugs both full and empty, and the occasional fist all flew through the air. It was only the pairs second time staying at the inn but the noise already felt comforting for some odd reason. Although this time the pair weren't starving or on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, so they were more aware and better prepared to navigate the throngs of rostering men and women. Kaori though, had to angle her katana, Dawn so as to not hit someone with it by mistake. This time the pair were far bolder then the previous night, and so approached the bar with the massive, scarred bartender standing behind it. The man recognized the pair as the neared the counter, the experienced tavernkeeper always made a note of those who caused trouble, prevented trouble, paid well, and kept their rooms clean, and this duo had checked off three of the four boxes on their very first night; despite being half-dead from lack of food and rest. As the Young man, the same one who had saved Burlock; a close friend of the keeper, reached the counter he spoke in a polite yet firm tone,
"Hello, is there a single bed room available for the night?"
The man, stopped wiping his glass, and peered closely at the bold kid with the sword hilt poking from his right shoulder. the kid appeared to be the same age as the man's own son of fifteen years, although both his son's and this kids demeanor were like night and day differences; his son was a gentle soul who got pushed around by everyone, and this kid gave the impression that trying was to take your own life in your hands, with no promise that you'd live to tell the tale. This kid’s dangerous, The man finally spoke, "Yah, we got one room open, costs one silver a night here, paid up front, and any damage to the room comes outta yur skin, got it?"
He had used the same avalanche growl that would cause most drunken patrons to immediately sober up, but this kid just nodded and placed two silvers on the counter,
"I see, well my companion and I are planning to hit the nearby bathhouse, as such we'd like the room to still be waiting for us when we get back. sound fair?"
The burly man eyed the young man's gorgeous blonde companion with a little envy that this chubby excuse of a man got to spend such time with a peerless beauty like that. As the man's gaze return to the me, he realized that there was a dark light hiding in the depths of his brown eyes, as if he had caught the man ogling his girl and letting the bigger man know not to try it,
"Very well, the front door's always open so just come back and ask for Skilly, she'll show you to you room, if i'm not back here that is."
Tyler, the kid in question, nodded as he and Kaori, the beautiful blonde, left the money on the counter and headed to the bath house.
Kaori giggled, happy to finally get a chance to freshen up, while Tyler walked beside her, enjoying her happiness as if it was his own. The Bathhouse wasn't too far down the alley. The dirty pair reached after about ten minutes and marched straight in. The house itself wasn't anything special, just your average two story wood and stone building, though it had a pillar of steam rising from the back, exposing it's purpose. Once inside Tyler paid the madam who owned the house for two buckets, towels and soaps, reaching a grand total of twenty-five coppers, as he had secretly paid an extra ten for someone to help wash Kaori's long beautiful hair as a surprise for her. When he had whispered this to the madam, she had smiled wide and promised to help the young lady herself. Tyler and Kaori both went in to the separate stalls, Tyler went into the men’s side and disrobed, removing everything except for the license chain around his neck, all his possessions going into a locked container that used a spell that was released by the finger of the one closed it. As Tyler climbed into the steaming pond, he heard a gasp of shock from a corner. Turning he saw the lead boy of the group of street kids he had mugged for the four silver coins that had gotten them the food and lodging the previous night. Tyler just shrugged and settled into the water, and started cleaning himself. As he did so he kept a close eye on the boy in the corner who was staring at him with a look of absolute pity in his eyes, as if TYLER was the worse off of the pair. After cleaning his arms and torso, Tyler realized why there was a look of such pity on the younger boys face: Tyler's scars. They crisscrossed his torso, upper arms, upper legs, all across his back, and all the places they couldn't be seen when wearing normal clothes. They were the roadmap of a fucked up childhood at the hands of a fucked up family. Tyler was used to seeing the evidence of his past that he often forgot how he must appear to the less informed. Only Kaori knew of the extent of his scars; as she had helped treat some of them herself after Tyler had finally managed to escape his mother. Tyler glanced over to the boy in the corner,
"Watcha think? Impressive right?"
The kid was shaken back to reality at the sound of Tyler's voice,
"What happened to you?"
Tyler chuckled as he scrubbed his hair,
"Well, kid my mother's a monster, and the rest of my hometown helped add some lines of their own." Tyler spoke matter-of-factly as if commenting on the weather. The streetkid lowered his gaze, he had been left to fend for himself and the other kids for a several years now, and thought he had seen it all, but the sheer number of scars this guy, combined with how nonchalant he was about the pain he now doubt suffered to accumulate a collection that would make even a hardened soldier wince, humbled the poor boy. He immediately forgave the older one for his mugging the girl, With what he's been through, it's a miracle he can even get of the ground in the morning, if those scars are anything to go by. Tyler ducked under the surface of the water and scrubbed the soap from his hair, coming back to the surface clean. With the work down Tyler moved over to the wall that divided the men's and women's parts of the bathhouse, where he sat down against the wall and trying to see if he could hear Kaori's voice from the other side. He was on edge since she wasn't in his sight.
Kaori was at that moment enjoying the ministrations of the older lady washing her long flowing golden lockes. She had just dumped the bucket of water on herself, rinsing the soap off her delicate frame, loving the feeling of warm water rushing over the surface of her flushed skin, dripping from her soft nipples, running down her flat stomach, and finally racing down her long, toned legs to rejoin the water around her ankles. Her lightly tanned skin was refreshed from the soak, and seemed to give off a slight glow in the moonlight. She was about to start on her long blonde hair when the matron of the house had approached her with shampoos and a fine-tooth comb, claiming that TYLER arranged for her to have her hair done. Kaori was pleasantly surprised at the gesture, since she had never heard him once complement her hair. As the beautiful blonde sat down on a wooden bench and the matron got to work on her hair, Kaori quietly reflected on the crazy last few days. Hard to believe that not even four days ago all we had to worry about was studying to pass tests for a classroom. I was surrounded by people obsessed with my looks, and Tyler was being beaten up by everyone including his own family for god'sake! Now we walk around a city that thinks were murderers, we share a room at night to save coin, and Tyler is a terrifying man who will even mug streetkids for money! And here i am following him around like a lost friggin puppy! I mean it's not like he treats me like a pet or anything and I THINK I want to stay with him, even if only for protection, but still, doesn't mean he isn't scary as hell sometimes.!" She was shaken from her thoughts by the older woman, who had asked her a question,
"OHH I'm sorry I was lost in thought, what was that?"
The woman chuckled as she ran the comb with the younger girls thick mane,
"I said girl, How long have you and that fine gentlemen been together for?"
Kaori started a little at the older women's question,
"Ohh we're not together, ma'am we're just really good friends traveling together is all."
Kaori's voice sounded sure enough, but her heart seemed to be on a different page altogether,
"we've been friends since we were little, but we only started traveling together about a week ago."
The matron sighed,
"I see, then that young'uns still up for the taking eh? That's a shame, he seemed to like you quite a bit when he paid for your hair,"
Kaori didn't move as to not disrupt the woman's combing,
"He...Did? Did he say anything?"
The woman chuckled at this young beauty,
"My dear, all he said was if He could have someone help you with your hair, and when I said you were capable he just smiled and said that while yes you were capable, he'd figured it would make you smile, and that was what he was after. I agreed and he paid with a smile on both his lips and in his eyes as well."
Kaori sighed,
"that's it?"
"That's it?! my girl that's plenty enough if a man is willing to go out of his way just to make you smile, and enjoys putting that smile on your face then what else do you want?"
The older woman had finished combing the thick mane of golden hair, and ended her service by dumping on more bucket of clear water over the younger girls head. Kaori thanked the woman, who promptly replied,
"If anyone deserves yur thanks it's that young lad who paid for this."
she said she would and dried off, admiring the shine that both her skin and her freshly cleaned hair gave off. Kaori exited the bath, redressed and went back into the room that split in to the entrances for the men’s and women’s sections.
As she left she spotted Tyler, Already dressed and ready to go, giving a handful of coins to the streetkid he had mugged previously. When the curious blonde got close enough to hear their conversation she heard Tyler apologize for the cruel act, and she realized he had given the boy ten silvers, the boy had looked at the glittering coins then back at Tyler and back to the coin,
"Thanks mister, I guess your not all bad, spose not if your running with a beauty like that there girl o yours."
Tyler chuckled as he ruffled the younger boys hair,
"Yer right on that, she is a real beauty, and an even better friend. now get lost before i change my mind."
The kid sped off, eager to share his haul with the others, Ohh So I'm a REAL beauty eh? For some reason hearing him refer to her as such little a flame in her heart she didn't fully understand. She approached her friend, greeted hum and together they left the bathhouse, Tyler leading the way with Kaori a step behind him as always. Neither of the pair noticed an older woman with a massive smile on her face near the curtains,
"Awww, I hope the future's kind to them young'uns specially that lad, well i'll be lookin forward to yur return an I'll pray for your safe travels."
Tyler and Kaori returned to the tavern, and had ordered a meal. As they sat waiting for the food, Tyler couldn't help but notice the newfound glow Kaori's long blonde hair was giving off,
"Wow, Kaori your hair is practically glowing, I kinda like it,"
She froze looking up at him, what THE HELL, did he just complement me? He NEVER does that! She stammer a reply unused to getting complements from him,
"AWW...well thank you its cause that woman at the bathhouse used special shampoo...soo thanks"
She looked down at table, the tips of her ears burning. Tyler smiled, completely unaware of the effect his words had caused in her,
"Well I'm happy you liked it so much, how bout we make that a regular thing? If we visit a bath house someone helps you with your hair? What do you think?"
Kaori was at first embarrassed, but that quickly turned to concern as he continued to speak, she had never known him to show such kindness to anyone else before,
"I guess that'd be okay, But Tyler? Can I ask you something?"
She was speaking softly, clearly concerned that something was wrong with the ordinarily cold, unfeeling rock of a person. Tyler looked her in the eyes,
"Sure Kaori wassup?"
She held his gaze,
"Are you feeling okay? You're being unusually....kind"
Tyler leaned back, with a thoughtful look in his eye,
"Well I feel fine, but I understand your concern, I'm not exactly known for my tenderness am I? I guess I just wanted to show you in my own way that I do value your company. Since it can probably seem like I treat you like more of a follower then a friend. I saw that streetkid again at the bathhouse and he saw my scars. An' it got me thinkin, you have always been there for me, even if I treated you like dirt, you were still there, ready and waiting for me to turn up battered and bloodied."
The food arrived at that point, a cooked chicken with potatoes and bread rolls, all washed down with pitcher of ale for the pair, as the hungry duo fell upon the food, Tyler continued speaking around mouthfuls,
"I guess, seeing that kids reaction to my scars, it made me realize just how long you've been there for me, and how little i' ve been there for you. So I guess I wanted to change that if only for a single time you know?"
He finished talking and focused on eating. Kaori was blown away by the revelation that he actually valued her as much as he just stated. wow, Tyler I had no clue you were capable of such a tender thing, And your wrong, you HAVE been there for me, as my strong stable rock to cling on, even if you irritate the crap out of me sometimes, I know you always have my back, and that is more of a comfort then you could ever know.
"Well, Thanks for always being there, even if I never could return the favor back in our old world, I promise to make it up to you in this one."
Tyler raised his mug of ale toward Kaori, she lifted her own mug,
"Well let's get one thing straight, Tyler I'm not some damsel in distress for you to rescue, I'll watch your back as much as you watch mine, understood? Because we're a team now and Gods' help the poor bastards that dare stand in our way!"
"To us!"
"TO US!"
They banged their mugs together and chugged them in toast, banging the now empty mugs on the tabletop, they promptly received a hearty cheer from the other patrons of the bar who had listened to the impassioned toast between the lifelong friends. Tyler threw his head back laughing, while Kaori blushed a deep red. It was the end of one life and the beginning of another.
After dinner Tyler and Kaori returned to their room for the night. Tyler closed the door, locked it, and prepare to take up the position he had held the previous night; that of sleeping against the door as a form of defense. He had just laid out his sword, Oblivion beside him when Kaori stopped him in his tracks with a single question,
"Hey you wanna sleep together?"
Tyler froze. Did she just seriously just ask that?! She did not just ask that! After a few seconds he found the freewill to look over at the girl. She had sat on the bed, removed her forest green tunic, which was neatly folded on the table before her, leaving her clad only in her light pants and a thin white shirt she had bought at Lyrica's shop. She had her arms crossed over her chest as if to hold herself together in the wake of her question. She also had trouble looking him in the eye, preferring to look across the room, only turning to glance at him before jerking her gaze away, he also noticed in the thin light that she was blushing kinda hard as well. Tyler finally recovered the power of speech,
"I'm sorry what?"
He was offering her a way out by pretending to mishear her, while at the same time trying to get clarification. She looked at him, flustered, and embarrassed, she knew he had heard her the was no way his sharp ears at missed it,
"I asked if you wanted to sleep together, you know share the bed? I feel bad with you sleeping over by the door and there's plenty of room for you here."
She trailed off, now looking at the floor. Tyler was stunned, but retained enough sense to look for the signs of drunkenness of which there were none.
"If you want me to, then I'd be happy to."
he got up, picked up Oblivion and walked over to the bed. As he sat down next to Kaori, she moved over nervously, Tyler laid his blade next Kaori’s Dawn, along with his bow and other weapons with the exception for the little Sgian Dao dagger, which he put between the bed and the wall. He went and removed his tunic, along with the light chainmail shirt he wore beneath his other clothes, and hung them on the back of the chair. He removed his boots and looked to see Kaori watching him with a surprisingly timid expression on her face. She looked so vulnerable in her thin white shirt which clung to her frame, showing her nipples through the thin cloth to her light brown pants. She seemed scared to share a bed with such a mean looking man like him.
"Are you scared?"
He asked in a gentle voice, she shook her head,
"No I know you won't try anything, it's just the first time I’ve shared a bed with anyone before, that’s all."
Tyler chuckled. She laid down on the part nearest the wall, he took the outside just in case someone barged in he could react with all possible speed. As he took his place beside her, he heard her breathing quicken for a moment then slow as she relaxed, he rolled over to face the nervous girl. She looked into his eyes and placed her hand in the space between them. He took the silent invitation and took her soft hand in his rough one.
"Good night Kaori"
"Good night Tyler"
He blew out the candle and they both drifted off to sleep. Tyler with the sound of her soft breathing in his ears, and Kaori with his scent in her nose.
DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 87

Tyler and Kaori slept better that night then the pair could ever remember, completely surround by each other's comforting presence. as per the usual, Tyler was the first to waken, only to find Kaori's head on his chest and his arm firmly wrapped around her frame in a protective manner. For the first time in his live he felt completely relaxed, and as he watched her beautiful sleeping face twitch, he wondered what she was dreaming about. He never found out, as she started to waken herself. It was only then that he realized her shirt had rolled up while they were sleeping as her soft breasts were dragged across his chest as she pushed herself up on to one arm. the early morning light hitting her golden hair, giving her an early morning halo, which was enough, in his eyes, to make any angel go purple with envy. She gave a groggy
"Mornin"
before slipping off her arm and burying her face in his chest again. He chuckled as he helped the still half-asleep girl sit up.
"And a good morning to you too, I take it you slept well."
She tried the wack him but was still not awake enough for such effort. She missed and ended up nearly falling to the hard floor, but thankfully Tyler was on watch as always and caught the falling girl just before impact. Sitting her on the bed, he made sure she didn't fall over as he got dressed. As he slung Oblivion across his back again, Kaori finally seemed to waken enough to also began dressing. Tyler waited patiently for his pretty companion to finish. Just as Kaori was fixing her long blonde hair into her how trademark ponytail Tyler retrieved the knife he'd hidden between the bed and wall, sheathed it in his boot, remade the bed, and together the hungry pair headed to the dining hall for breakfast. There they fed upon sausage links, bacon, eggs, toast, and some coffee, which Tyler was surprised this fantasy world even had. As they ate, Tyler laid out their plan, since it was only a matter of time before the king's grace ran out and he ordered their arrest again, plus since they needed a stable source, they would have to join up with a guild eventually, so the plan was to head for the town of Dragul, a three day journey to the west. There they planned to join the local adventurers' guild and begin earning both money and reputation. As well as building levels to fight the incoming monster waves, this last point concerned Tyler immensely, as the waves were coming, and they had wasted about three or four full days already. Kaori felt the same, but felt the need to point out the fact they still had over two full months before the promised assault. Tyler shrugged,
"Either way our best bet is to head for Dragul today, If all goes well we should reach the city in about three days time. Let's see if we can procure some horse's and tack, if not we walk. Sound simple enough?"
Kaori nodded,
"My family raised horses, so i can help you learn to ride, and make sure we don't get screwed by some nag or shoddy gear."
“Kaori have i ever said your awesome?"
"NO…But thank you."
with the plan in place Tyler pulled the map from a pouch and recited the spell, making the map flare to life. Tyler opened the section of the capital map to show the stables, of which there were many, mainly situated in the western part of the city. Tyler thought this a welcome coincidence as west was their desired direction. Tyler closed the map, the pair both stood up, paid and left the tavern.
They passed through a pair of wallgates, getting dirty looks from the guards as they did so, but were able to pass in the Stable Sector without incident. As they walked along the cobblestone streets, the sounds of men and horses were saturating the air. Tyler allowed Kaori to take the lead on this run as horse were outside his realms of knowledge. They walked around for maybe an hour before Kaori found a stable she was satisfied with and entered, Tyler right behind her. The stable in question and a large red barn, with stalls lining both sides of the stone floor, and horses of many shapes and sizes poking their heads out to get an eyeful of the visitors. Kaori walked right up to a larger man speaking with another man about bits and reins. Tyler was clearly out of his element around the large animals and the means to care for them. The large man shook the hand of the smaller one, a clear sign that a deal had been reached, and with that walked over Kaori and Tyler.
"Greetings lad and lass, names Fenworth Neighsir at yer service!"
They shook hands, at which point Kaori took over,
"Greetings Mr. Fenworth, My names Kaori and this is Tyler, and we're in the market for mounts."
At the names, Fenworth's eyes narrowed significantly,
"Well now, I wondered if I'd be seeing you two around here. So Your the two responsible for the death of ole gru eh? well no matter, mounts ya say? Well lassie you appear to know what you want, what about you lad? You happy with the lass calling the shots here?"
Tyler chuckled,
"of course I am, Horses are her area of expertise not mine. I trust her judgement, I’m just here to make sure no one gets taking in by her good looks if ya take my meaning sir."
Fenworth heard the veiled message behind those words loud and clear: She may be tough but its' the boy behind you need be afraid of. He then turn his sights back to Kaori, who was busy acquainting herself with a rather silver roan. Fenworth shallowed nervously, with the hawk like gaze of Tyler trying to dig a tunnel from his back this front.
"Soo ahh miss what was your budget for the horses and tackle?" Kaori had the nod from Tyler to do as she saw fit,
"three gold coins, does that sound fair?"
Fenworth jumped,
"Three gold? Are ya sure you want to shop here? The most expensive horse we sell here is only about seventy silvers!"
Kaori smiled,
"I'm well aware of that, but we need two horses, and the required equipment to care for them. Show your best horses and I'll decide if there worth even that much."
"Uhh right this way miss."
The horse peddler led the eager pair to a pair of stalls near the very end of the barn. In one stall was a massive black thoroughbred that's shoulder was level with Tyler’s head, in the other was a not-as-large but still impressive looking sliver horse similar to the Ardennes warhorse. Fenworth presented the two impressive animals to the pair,
"These are Thunder and Gloss,"
pointing to the black beast and the silver horse,
"They are worth about seventy silvers for the thoroughbred and sixty-five for the Ardennes. So what you think?"
Kaori went straight to work, check things like both horse's manes and tails for mats, checking their teeth for cavities, stroking their flanks, examining their hooves for wear, tear and level of care the horse received prior. After her extensive examination of the animals, she looked at Tyler and nodded. Tyler then faced the large man,
"Alright, my partner is satisfied, we'll be taking these two."
Fenworth's face broke into a large smile, until he realized there would be no haggling with the pair as long as the girl had her knowledge and know how. he slumped as he knew that the two horse were worth far more then what he was offering to sell them for. He had kept the price lower to purposely drive potential buyers away so he could keep the horses for himself, as the pair were former prized warhorses of a noble family that had lost everything in a bid for power. Kaori had picked up on how meticulously cared for the two horses had been, and how clean their teeth were. Their respective temperament was good too, as they had allowed her to examine her without a fuss, even though they didn’t know her. Next Kaori went over to a wall of saddles, reins, leads, saddlebags and other assorted gear, started pointing various pieces of gear,
"Alright, we'll take that saddle there for the big guy, that one there for the smaller one, those sets of reins for both, oh these bags are pretty decent too we'll take them as well."
She went on until the horses were fully kitted out. Fenworth slumped further into himself, ruing the moment the pair had entered his stables. So at the end of the visit, Tyler and Kaori had Two new horses, full tack for each, and had only spent two and a half gold coins. As Tyler led his new horse Thunder down the street, he was amazed the large animal responded so well to a novice horsemen like him, he voiced as much to Kaori, who had laughed at him,
"haha, I gave him to you cause of how laid back he seem when i looked him over, Don't worry rookie, I'll make a cowboy outta you yet!"
Tyler chuckled,
"Well I look forward to and appreciate your help. Next we need provisions for the journey, like a small tent and basic cookware."
Kaori nodded,
"I spotted a general goods store not too far from here earlier, so we should find the last of what we need there."
"Good eye, come on"
The pair led their horses to the general goods store. Where Kaori showed Tyler the proper way to tie up a horse to a hitching pole. Once the horses were secure they entered the store, where a tall man in an apron greeted them,
"Greetings young'uns what brings you it my shop today?"
Tyler took the lead this time,
"Hi, we're headed for Dragul and need some camping gear."
The shop owner looked at the pair,
"Dragul, ya say? Surely you jest?"
Tyler and Kaori looked at each other,
"Our plan is to travel there yes. Why? Did something happen?"
The man realized the duo had not heard,
"Well, I heard that a dragon had been sighted in the vicinity. That and a large clan of wyverns had recently taken up rostering in the forest along the road. So you see, it's become extremely dangerous for most everyone to travel from Term to Dragul using the main roads.”
Tyler's eyes lit up at the prospect of seeing a real life dragon,
"Hasn't the king done anything to restore travel? Like deploy soldier's or the guilds?”
"Fraid not, the crown seems to being focusing all it's resources toward fighting the waves, us normal folk have to fend for ourselves. The guilds are but they are also swamped, since when the waves pop up monster numbers explode, plus any party that tries to clear the forest runs the risk of antagonizing that dragon, and that’s as good as certain death."
Tyler took it all in,
"well regardless, we still need that gear. but thanks for the heads up."
"certainly, now what’s you budget for the gear and supplies, and are you traveling by carriage or horseback?"
"Horseback, I'm thinking about seventy silver? That seem reasonable?"
"heh, For seventy silver ya say? and by horseback no less so not a whole lot of room...let's see?”
The man disappeared into the maze of his shop, leaving the would-be travelers to their own devices. Tyler had spotted a shelf with tools to sharpen blades, along with a kit to fletch your own arrows, while Kaori walked over to a rack that had some horse treats like sugar cubes. Tyler was considering purchasing a fletching kit for the pair, as he figured they would probably need more arrows eventually, when he spotted a light-blue ribbon made from soft fabric; I bet that would look really good in Kaori's blonde hair. plus it would help her tie her ponytail. He took the two foot strip of cloth, along with the fletching kit over to the counter, placing the ribbon behind the kit so Kaori couldn't see it. as Tyler was mentally adding up the cost of everything, the owner appeared from around the corner, carrying an assortment of gear, a two person tent made of canvas, a small pot, a grate for frying, a waterproofed bag, and two bedrolls. Kaori returned at that moment as well, and she had also found something she wanted, a small pocket mirror. Tyler smiled as the pretty blonde laid the item next to other equipment with some slight red in her cheeks, as if embarrassed to get something for vanity's sake. The shop keeper also put some dry goods with the rest of the equipment as well. A few jars of preserved fruits, nuts and berries, a pair of canteens, a looking glass{binocluars}a large box of matched and a refillable lantern that was powered by a mages' flame spell. As Tyler handed over the ninety-five coins, he realized something rather profound; they had neglected to purchase any fishing equipment, which out in the wilderness, could be a major source of food and coin. So He asked the man for the appropriate gear. That set them back another five silver, along with the twenty coppers spent on crickets. Bringing their grand total up to one gold coin, five copper coins. More then he had wanted to spend, but he figured was worth it in the end. The shop owner was happy with his sale, as the now ready-to-depart pair loaded up Thunder and Gloss with their new equipment. Has Tyler put the tent, pot, and most of the dry food on the larger Thunder, Kaori put the fishing gear, bedrolls, and smaller items on Gloss. Thunder tossed his head, unhappy with his lot as pack mule, Tyler stroked the warhorse's head, speaking soothingly,
"Hey relax, it's just the role of us big guys, we do all the heavy lifting,"
Thunder's eyes rolled and he neighed. The Thoroughbred was an imposing beast too, at little over five feet at the shoulder, lean muscles, a solid black coat and mane, and a long brush of a tail, there was almost a regalness about the animal. whereas Gloss, Kaori's mount, Was an Ardennes' warhorse. The breed was known for their bravery in battle, while smaller then the beastlike Thunder at a mere four feet at the shoulder. Gloss lived up to her name, with a sleek silvery coat, a lighter gray hued mane, a darker shaded tail, and the feathery hair above the hooves common to the breed. Whereas Thunder was an imposing shadow, Gloss was a more gentle light, which was fitting given their respective riders personalities. Once the horses were loaded up, it was time to mount up. This kind of intimidated the normally indomitable Tyler. Whereas Kaori had swung up into the saddle with all the grace of a prancing deer, she made it look so easy. Come on Warrior!! time to nut up. He put a foot in the stirrups and swung into place in the saddle. Thunder gave a low snort, as if mocking his new riders inexperience. Kaori was giggling at him,
"heehee, Wow, have found something that actually makes you nervous? What a discovery! and to think its riding a horse of all things, heh Max's gonna have a cow if he finds out that your more scared of a horse then him!"
Tyler tugged on the reins, turning his mount around to stand next to the laughing blonde,
"ha ha, Kaori, of course I'm nervous I've never done this before. but by all means enjoy yourself Barbie."
Kaori laughed a little longer before her mirth subsided.
"So, are we still going to Dragul? Seems like a bad idea what with the dragon and those wyverns."
She seemed concerned as the pair started out for the west Wallgate,
"I think we still should,"
Tyler explained,
"We need to get to a new city soon, and Dragul is the closest one to us. Plus we need to start building levels if we're gonna survive the coming waves, I would like to go somewhere else, but we don't have either the means nor the funds left for a long journey. We're kinda caught between a rock and a hard place here."
the pair fell silent as the gravity of their proposed path hit them. They passed through the inner Gate, the guards giving them the death glare as usual, which they ignored as usual. Next came the second inner wallgate, which brought a little flavor as the guards confiscated a wagon carrying some illicit goods, the merchant transporting the goods hauled away in chains. Tyler and Kaori both winced at the sight, reminded of their many close calls with the guard in the Tower. They passed through the second Gate without incident and where making their way to the third and final gate to the outside. Both wrapped up in their own thoughts, Tyler thought of the road ahead, and how he might handle any of the coming problems the pair might face all the while protecting Kaori from harm. He smiled at how he had gone from only being concerned with his own survival in his old world, to willingly putting his life on the line for another person, and that person being a girl at that! My how far I've come, or Is it fallen? Strange to think that five days ago I was worried about nothing more then avoiding getting beaten up that day along with the upcoming science exam, now I'm keeping an eye out for everything from pickpockets to dragons! Kaori's line of thought was of the others that had been transported to this world alongside the pair. With a start she realized that this was the very first time she had thought of them since the dinner at the Tower. She wondered how Kazuma was doing and if he was safe, how her friends from class were handling the jarring change from pampered schoolgirl to fending for themselves and probably fighting for their lives. Kazuma's probably fine, he always was strong. I bet Milly as had a breakdown of some kind, Haley's sitting in a corner rocking back an forth, I wonder what they'd say if they knew I'm leaving the city with TYLER of all people? Or the fact we slept together last night? That last one might break them, even though all we did was sleep! Kazuma would probably either lose it on Tyler or congratulate him! Still, though I am kinda glad I don't have to deal with those airheaded harpies anymore. God they were annoying, always chirping about their hair or how their boyfriends cheated on them, even though they'd been blowing every guy on the hockey team on the daily! Or how they hated their parents cause they'd bought them a red car instead of a pink one. I' happy I don't need to hear that shit anymore. I do miss Kazuma though. Kaori smiled at the memory of her brother, who before her journeys with Tyler had been her go-to protector. She then immediately frowned as the memory of her chattering friends swept into her mind. She shook her head to clear it and instead focused her gaze on Tyler, who was awkwardly trying to steer Thunder, who was going along with it with just a hint of an attitude. She finally broke the silence between the two,
"Hey if you want him to respect you, you need to act like you deserve respect."
He turned his head to glance at her, one eye on the road in front of him. Kaori continued educating him horsemanship, laughter in her voice,
"You have to be confident and strong, He can sense your fear and hesitation and that's making him nervous. So just relax."
Tyler nodded and she could see him take a large breath in and let it out, and it seemed as if the tension just left his body. In it's place was the usual quiet confidant strength he radiated. Thunder seemed to settle down a little as well, taking the hint from his now relaxed demeanor. Kaori smiled happily at the sight of the man she had come to depend on so heavily take her advice without hesitation, trusting her word completely. In the other world everyone else she had tried to teach to ride horses at her family's ranch would either argue that they were relaxed or blame the animals. that always made her angry, though she got her sweet satisfaction when the complainers or arguer got thrown or brushed against a tree by the horse. This invariably lead to spluttered curses and the person walking back to camp on foot. She was happy that Tyler wasn't like that, as once she pointed out the problem he accepted it, and corrected it the best he could. He's still inexperienced though.
Tyler was starting to get the hang of using the reins to steer, and since Thunder was such a large imposing animal, most people gave him a wide berth making it easier for Tyler to learn city riding and steering without having to worry too much about accidently trampling someone. He made a mental note to thank Kaori properly once they made camp that night. I'll also give her that ribbon too. The shopkeeper had thoughtfully placed it with Tyler’s canteen strap, hidden from the sight of his pretty partner. He reached up and adjusted Oblivion's handle, as he figured he would need the thus-far untouched blade soon.
The pair arrived at the Far West Wallgate around noon, with the sun directly overhead. This gate was different then the interior Gates the friends had passed through previously. For one the Gate was more heavily manned, with the soldiers in full plate, whereas the other gates had between two and three hundred soldiers by Tyler estimate, this one seemed to have three times as many men. They were split into three distinct functions, one third was on watch from the top of the soaring walltop, ready to drop the portcullis at the slightest hint of danger, another third dealt with the greater congestion of travelers and merchants while also keeping guard on the street. The final third were on standby, resting up for their rotation back into duty, which seemed to be every eight hours. The Wallgate was roughly the same size as the other gates, but still a colossal structure. thank the gods we're leaving now at noon, this place must be blinding when the sun sets. Tyler and Kaori approached the outgoing line leaving the city. As they took their place in the que and waited to be processed, a man in a brown tunic, clearly some kind of runner came racing up to the pair. Tyler had already pulled Oblivion several inches from his scabbard before the breathless man spoke,
"Your pardon, I'm a courier with a letter for the master Tyler and the Lady Kaori from the King, be ye they?"
Tyler and Kaori looked at each other, Tyler resheathed his blade,
"we are they, now about this letter?" The runner handed Tyler a rolled scroll emblazoned with the royal seal. Tyler flipped the man a silver for his trouble while Kaori rode her Gloss up beside him,
"What is it now?"
Tyler shrugged as he broke the seal, unrolling the parchment,
To the Murderers
It seems you have been busy preparing for a trip to Dragul. Well if that is the case I am writing to you with a proposal. Now be warned, you are not my first choice or even one I would consider as you have neglected to pay my court a visit with the details of my friends murder, your reasons for that I am most curious to hear when we do meet eventually. For now, I have a task for you, and you WILL accept lest I reinstate the bounty on your heads. The only reason I am forced to turn to such scum as you is because every other Warrior has already scattered to the winds on their journey's, and the local guilds are also overwhelmed with requests. So with a very heavy heart I lay this task on your shoulders: Go to the city of Dragul, make contact with it's leader, a man by the name of Valdic Sharpspike, present this letter to him as prove of endorsement, and then proceed to the forest and put an end to the clan of Wyverns living there. This is your task, refuse and the kingdom will hunt you to the ends of Lectis. But in the slightest chance you succeed in this venture, your reward with be a further ten gold coins, whatever the wyverns give you, and continued free passage in and out of the city.
Yours spitefully
King Ishtar Von Vernillian
King of Vernilla
Upon finishing the king's letter, or more like order, Tyler and Kaori both sighed at the task before them. Putting the letter into his saddlebag, Tyler moved to be processed out of the city. This time instead of death glares from the guards, he got smug looks and a few jeers. Kaori got whistles and catcalls, mocking her fate, Tyler reached for his sword hilt as if to draw it, causing more then a few guards to drop into defensive stances and formations, only for Tyler to flick imaginary dirt from the clean hilt. Kaori rode to his side without another sound, the guard infuriated by getting fooled by the brat. Tyler flashed a smug grin of his own, and together the companions rode out of the city for the first time.
They set out onto the wide road, which at this point was merely padded dirt then the cobblestone highways they were used to. On one side of the road as far as the eye could see was rolling grassland, broken here and there by small dots of forestland. The occasional large boulder would also compromise the seemingly unending flatness. Whereas the other side of the road the same grassland and scattered forest, there was also a massive range of mountains in the far distance, rising up from the horizon like sharp teeth to bite the wool of the clouds. Tyler and Kaori rode at a light canter, a pace that would allow tyler to get the hang of riding horses at a faster speed then walking. Kaori had a look of fear on her face, which was looking decidedly pale.
"Hey you okay?"
Tyler asked, concern for his companion showing his voice. She looked over at him,
" I'm just scared is all, I mean we're basically being blackmailed into fighting monsters that even the king's guard doesn't want to fight! What are we supposed to kill again?...Wyverns right? I don't know what they are which makes it worse, plus that dragon the shopkeeper said was hanging around the area on top of it all? The thought makes my blood run cold, and makes me want to turn around and flee the opposite direction."
Tyler listen quietly, fully aware of their horrible odds. When he finally spoke it was full of a confidence that came from his sheer resolve,
"We'll be fine Kaori, I promise you that. The king deliberately threw us a curve ball hoping to get us killed, that much is obvious, but I’m not gonna give up just cause it seems impossible. I know a thing or two about Wyverns, though how much of what i know translates into this world we'll have to wait and see. As for the dragon, I bet it's using the Wyvern clan as a food source, either that or is looking for a roost, or both. I doubt the dragon will mess with us unless we directly attack it in which case the only thing to do is run like hell, otherwise it should leave us alone. Honestly I'm more worried about the Dragul leader, Valdic Sharpspike, that name sounds awfully similar to a Transylvanian leader who had penchant for sharp sticks. I just hope its a morbid coincidence. But don't worry Kaori, we will be fine, and if we get into a tight spot I will get us out of it."
He was looking at her smiling as he said this, and even though she felt he was just trying to make her feel better, she couldn't help but feel happier knowing he had her back.
"Thanks for that, Tyler, I feel better now. And i'm sorry for asking but what's a Wyvern?"
Tyler chuckled at the pretty normie,
"It's no big deal. But a wyvern is usually a member of the dragon family, significantly smaller, and usually unable to breath fire, though some tales say the can spit poison. They're about the same size as Thunder here, have four legs, no wings and are kinda low-slung. basically a larger edition of the alligator that spits poison. But those are stories from our world, I'm not sure how much that all means here, but at least you have a basic idea on what to expect. Oh and they're covered in scales so there’s that."
At his description of the creatures, Kaori's eyes widened a the prospect of fighting such a beast.
"And we're supposed to kill how many?!"
Tyler chuckled,
"A large clan, but that could mean anything from four to forty so either way we got our work cut out for us." Kaori slumped in the saddle,
“let's hope theres only four, otherwise we might be screwed."
Tyler nodded and the pair continued clomping along in silence.
They rode until the sky turned red, as the sun set. The adventurers decided to find a spot to camp. As it was the beginning of the warmest part of summer, which lasted a full year here in Lectis, they didn't have to worry about being cold as even the nights were warm. They found a rather nice spot on a riverbank. The bank itself had a nice sandy area leading into the water, reminiscent of a ocean beach. As Tyler fed and watered the horses like Kaori had taught him, she went and laid out the canvas for the tent, setting it against a large embankment to prevent anyone from attacking from the rear. Finished with the horses, Tyler came over and started gathering large stones for the firepit. The pair labored in silence, enjoying the company and companionship of the other. The camp was set, and Tyler had gathered a rather large amount of firewood nearby, so he began building the fire. Kaori dug out the fishing rod and crickets, planning to catch a few fish in the river to add to dinner. Tyler watched the surprisingly outdoorsy blonde set the rod and line, bait the hook and give a beautiful cast, all in the space of a few minutes. Never took her for the outdoors type. The horse thing I get but, I guess she's full of surprises. He noticed she had removed her boots and was standing ankle deep in the water,
"Hey better to be sure to check for leeches, that spot doesn't seem to have a current."
She flicked him a thumbs up without looking away from the line. He smiled, and went to light the fire. he and built it in the shape of a teepee, with a pile of white birch bark in the center cavity. He also had a layer of logs around the outside of the teepee to keep everything upright. He took a match and struck it, since he couldn't use a fire spell to light the blaze, and lit the conflagration. The spark found the bark and tinder Tyler placed in the center and began to burn, filling the little campsite with the sweet aroma of woodsmoke. He then heard a splash and turned to see Kaori fighting to haul in a large fish, he was about to head over to help when she gave a heave and pulled the fish out of the water. It was a rather large trout, about a foot long, and weighing two pounds or so. Once she had the fish on shore, she replaced the lost cricket with a new a new one and recast back into the water. Tyler enjoyed the sight of the pretty blonde, ankle-deep in the water, sunlight reflecting off her blonde hair turning the yellow lockes to streaks of pure gold, having fun fishing. The fact she looked good doing it helped as well. They continued like that for a little while longer, Tyler tending the fire, while Kaori fished, until Kaori had caught about five of the trout. As she pulled the last one in, she wiped her brow and carried her catches in the pot they had bought at the shop. Tyler handed her a cup of the tea he had brewed for them while tending the now merrily blazing fire. She took the cup, took a sip as Tyler got up and started a walk around the camp, chanting and waving his arms. He was casting one of the spells he had learned from the spell book he'd gotten from Lyrica. it was a Warding spell called; Protective Warning, Spell from his Path of white. It's function was to send a wide net around a perimeter a spot, the net being about fifty meters, and would alert the caster if something hostile were to approach the protected spot. In addition to this early warning system, it would also function to keep insects away from the area until the spell was dispersed. When Tyler had read that in the book it instantly his go to for sleeping outdoors, as mosquitoes were the enemy of all campers. The spell was a strain through, requiring a whooping seventy mana, and a rather complicated chant to be recited:
I besiege thee, oh divine goddess of protection, Lady Weisshelm the pure, grant you protection to this spot, that me and mine may rest easy in your warm gaze, fearing neither the evils of the dark or the horrors of the sky I pray for your merciful will to aid me in this humble endeavor please grant me your benevolence to guard this spot
The chant was to be repeated over and over until the ring around the spotted desired for protection was complete. As it took seventy mana to cast it was quite the powerful spell, as the most mana a novice such as Tyler would normally have only have about one hundred and fifty mana for spellcraft, as that was the average base strength of a human soul, elves have two hundred, demonkind had three hundred. Monster's could cast spells without mana as they were not natural beings and as such were exempt from the rule. Tyler's soul though, had a base stat of two hundred and fifty, both due his status as a Warrior, and the misery he had endured growing up. Kaori had a base stat of two hundred since she too was a Warrior. They would have to exercise their souls further if they wanted to increase their pool, and the way to do so was to have experiences, whether a meaningful adventure, make a friend, or practice their mental discipline. They could also increase their pools by equipping items to boost their count, for example a ring with a mana pool built into it, so the spell would drain that "soul" before touching the real one.
Tyler finished setting the invisible net and returned to find Kaori baking three of the caught fish over the fire using the grate they had also bought from the shop. AS he approached, he noticed she had not put her boots back on and was sitting on a log she had dragged over to the fire. She looked breathtaking in the flickering fire light, with the dancing lights playing up and down hair long hair, her green eyes sparkling with delight at the scent of cooking fish. He wished for the umpteenth time that he had a camera. He sat beside the blonde on the log, weary after casting such a powerful spell, and took a sip of the tea he had brewed earlier,
"Aww that's better! The fish smells good too by the way. I didn't know you were such a good fishermen."
Kaori glanced at him,
"what did you think i was just a pretty face who likes horses?"
He chuckled,
"No of course your more then just a pretty face, your also pretty altogether. I don't think we've ever spent an extended time together in the woods is all."
It might have been his imagination, but when he said she altogether pretty, her eyes seemed to flash as if the simple complement made her extremely happy on the inside. When she spoke it was with her usual, high voice that seemed more at room in a windchime then the mouth of a mere human,
"Well now we ARE going to spend a lot of time in the woods together, so you'd better be prepared to learn alot about me you din't know."
Tyler smiled,
"I'm looking forward to it! by the way where'd you learn this stuff?
"My uncle, you know the one, Clark? The marine vet? You and he would always shoot the breeze about guns and tanks whenever you were together. Well every summer break I'd head up to his cabin and we'd go hunting, fishing, and he'd teach me how to clean and prepare deer, mouse, bear, all kinds of fish and how to catch them. He'd also teach me snares and basic trapping and skinning techniques, at the end he said i was pretty good had skinning deer."
Tyler looked at his beautiful partner with newfound respect.
"Wow Kaori, I had no idea you were that much of a badass. wait you said you could skin a deer?" "Yeah, why"
Tyler eyes flashed as if something clicked,
"Well if you can skin deer, then we can collect pelts, and sell them to tanners. Since deer fur makes good clothing, we could start a business in fur. I mean it'd be a side hustle but at least we could do something when we travel between towns going forward."
Kaori just shook her head at the way her companions mind worked. Typical I tell him of a fond memory with my uncle and he already has a plan to make a profit of it! Seriously...Still though, he called me pretty! yay!! She cheered herself a little internally, thrilled by his praise.
When the fish were done cooking the hungry friends each took one of the three fish and chowed down. As Tyler took his first bite of fire-cooked river-caught trout he noticed the meat was both flaky and tender, with the smell of the fire smoke in his nose, he realized how good fresh fish could taste. especially in this clean world, untouched by the pollution of a oil-dependent world. He devoured his fish in seconds, along with the toasted bread rolls that Kaori had made as a side. Tyler glanced over to see Kaori's face buried in her own fish, and for some reason the sight made Tyler smile. She finished her fish, throwing the leftover head and tail on top of Tyler's, and placed the remaining two fish on the grate to start baking. She then took the third fish she had cooked and, using the Sgian Dao knife Tyler had given her, cut the meat off the cooked fish. The meat parting easily from the body, she then took out a jar of butter, and dipped one fillet into the jar and handed it to Tyler before dipping the other own in it. Tyler waited for her, before devouring the meat in one bite, finding the butter-dipped flesh to be delicious. The pair then sat back, waiting for the second course to be ready. Kaori lifting her bare feet to warm them on the fire, while Tyler added another log to the flames. he then went and laid flat on the ground, head in the grass, looking at the sky. It had fallen completely dark by that point and was a clear, calm night by the river. The only sounds that could be heard was the songs' of night birds, the creaking of trees in the gentle breeze, the babbling of the river as it flowed past the small world lit by the light of the fire, and a strange ringing in Tyler's ears he had never noticed before. As he looked up at the sky he gasped, causing Kaori to look over alarmed, only for Tyler to point at the sky, and when she did she also gasped in shock. The sky was crystal clear, with more stars then either pair could ever remember being there before, even Kaori, with her experience in the forests far from their world's civilizations had never seen a sky as clear as that one. The stars twinkled and blinked, casted a pale light to the terrestrial pair, with a cloud of blue and purple flowing though the center of the picture. The World of Lectis had two moons, the larger one known as Summeris, for in the summertime was the closer of the two, and Cyrislis, the Frozen One, since it seemed to be coated in a sheet of white ice. Now both moons were on full display in all their splendor giving the star-struck friends the leads in this celestial spectacle. Kaori was moved to tears by the sheer beauty of it all, And even Tyler's heart of ice melted slightly at the sight. He felt an overwhelming urge to take Kaori's hand, which she had resting on the log. He considered it, when Kaori leaned back and laid beside him on the ground, her legs resting on their log seat. Now laying next to each other on the ground, the pair had a front row seat to the Lectis night sky. The fish were still a little ways from being ready, so the pair continued looking at the sky. Tyler turned his head to look at Kaori, only to find her looking at him already, and by an unspoken agreement held each other's hands as they gazed up at the sky.
"Hey Tyler,"
her voice soft and quiet, as if to not disturb the tranquility of the moment,
"Hmm?"
His voice equally soft,
"I'm really glad your here with me now."
She squeezed his hand, He replied without looking at her,
"I'm also glad you here with me now too,"
he squeezed her hand as well, though not as hard as he didn't want to break it. They stayed like that hand-hand gazing at the night-sky like a pair of lifelong lovers, until the fish were ready, and with the moment gone, continued feasting on the flaky fish flesh. After the fish were gone, Tyler gathered up the remains and took them beyond the ward he had set and buried them in the dirt, so as not to attract scavengers. Upon returning, he found Kaori refilling their cups with the last of the tea he had brewed, which she promptly gave to him. They clanked the cups together and drank the tea, then both took the cups, grate, and teapot and washed them in the river before returning them to their packs. Now exhausted from the days exertions, the pair headed to the tent. both leaving their boots outside the tent, which Kaori had pitched between two trees so she could use their branches for cover, they entered the shelter. Inside, it warm and cozy, bathed in the gentle light coming from there magic Lantern Tyler had filled with his own mana, giving the light a beautiful Blue-white color. Tyler as usual removed his tunic and chainmail vest while Kaori removed her tunic and put on the thin white shirt she wore to bed. The two friends changed with their backs to each other as at the end of the day, they had yet to state that they were in that kind of relationship despite how close they had become. Once changed, Tyler laid Oblivion beside him within easy reach as usual, although he had put the bow and quiver near the tent entrance, Kaori had lain her katana, Dawn, beside her as well. Her bow and quiver were also by the tent entrance, next to Tyler's. Then she preceded to lay on the bedroll strewn out on the ground near the center of the canvas shelter, and Tyler laid down beside her on his own roll. As they covered themselves with the blanket, Tyler extinguished the lantern and they both fell asleep, lulled by the sounds of the forest.

DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 86.

Sometime during the early morning hour, Tyler was jerked awake by a sudden blaring in his mind which only meant one thing: a hostile being had breached the Protective Warning perimeter. Jumping to his feet he grabbed Oblivion, waking Kaori as he did so,
"Rise and shine Barbie we got company!"
She immediately jerked awake and grabbed Dawn. Tyler was already outside with the sword stuck in the ground before him, he had his bow up an arrow fully drawn back to the tip, ready to fire. he was aiming toward the north the direction the alarm was coming from. Kaori Joined him, standing back to back with the angry man,
"What The Hell?"
"My Warning went off in that direction, don't what caused it, but whatever it is they ain't friendly...here they come!"
A group of riders were charging the friends camp, racing through he early morning light at a breakneck pace. Sighting the armed pair the lead man give a load yell and brandished a naked sword in their direction. Tyler didn't hesitate further, loosing the barbed shaft at the lead man's horse taking the poor animal in the chest. The mortally wounded creature screamed and fell, throwing it's rider to the ground with a crash of metal, Shit they're armoured? These aren't regular bandits! The fallen horse tripped four others not fast enough to evade the fallen steed. The other five riders maneuvered their mounts around their fallen brethren and continued their headlong charge, only for another arrow to hit the far right man in the hip, between a pair of plates, knocking him from the saddle. Tyler calmly nocked another arrow, thanking his Warning spell for the heads up, without it the pair would have been killed in their sleep for sure. As it was, Tyler fired another shot, hitting another man in the elbow, threading between the greave joints. As Tyler readied the final arrow he figured he could loose before it was sword time, he became aware of Kaori chanting, her voice filled with eldritch power, In the name of the goddess of flame I condemn you to burn!! Hellfire Kiss!!! Two of the remaining riders were engulfed by Kaori's flaming kiss, the flames of which were a deep crimson, mirroring the color from the crystal ball. The men fell from their unharmed mounts, screaming in agony as they were burned to death by flames that could not be put out by conventional methods. the fifth and final rider jumped off his horse, sword drawn and faced Tyler, clearly intending to cross blades with the younger man, however Tyler entertained no such hindrances like honor, and just shot the man in the eye socket of his helm with the still-nocked arrow. Throwing the bow down, Tyler grabbed Oblivion's hilt and drew the silvery blade from the ground, turning to face the men who had finally managed to extract themselves from their fallen steeds. There were two opponents for Tyler and Kaori each, and no time for further spell. Tyler heard the clear rasp of a Katana being slowly readied for battle behind him, he knew Kaori could handle a blade, but he still resolved to kill these two as quickly as possible and assist the pretty blonde. As Tyler reached this decision the men charge, one going to the front, the other trying to get behind Tyler; if that happened He was done for. But Tyler was no fool, and did not wait for them instead rushing the man to his left, seeing as the man was armed with a heavy long spear, an easy mark for the type of short sword Tyler wielded. Tyler swung his sword at the armoured man' spear, causing the man to recoil and jab at Tyler’s chest with the longer weapon, exactly as Tyler planned, as he ducked under the cumbersome polearm and closed the distance before either the now-defenseless spearmen or his partner, now hindered by the spear himself, could react. Tyler plunged Oblivion into the man's stomach using his powerful legs rather then his arms, easily punching through the thinner plate metal and diving into the flesh beneath. The man screamed in agony and horror, but had to the wherewithal to try to grab Tyler to prevent him from recovering his stance and give his partner an opening. Tyler, however, had other plans, instead spinning around and grabbing Oblivion in a backhanded manner Tyler Then swung the sword free from is flesh and metal sheath with a vicious yank, effectively sawing the stabbed man in half inside his armour. Tyler then backhanded blocked his second opponent's weapon, a large flanged mace, with Oblivion's crosstree halting the powerful weapon in it tracks. The new attacker was breathing heavily, both from exertion and from rage at the fact that these two little brats had both thrown off their attempted ambush and killed all but three of them. As Tyler was about to slide the mace of his sword, There was a loud scream from over by Kaori, and both combatants looked over to see the cause.
Kaori's attackers were armed with a saber and a battle-axe. Kaori had panicked initially, as she had never liked violence against other people, which was why she couldn't bring herself to fight back against the pope, and why she had dropped out of her kendo lessons, despite achieving her seventh blackbelt at age ten. she just didn't like hurting people. But as she was faced with the charging men, she was suddenly reminded of the times Tyler had stood fearlessly protecting her from any and all who would do her harm, and how she wished she had that kind of strength. How many times am I going to let him rescue me?! The Pope, the Tower guards, the Wallgate Guards, every time there's trouble Tyler always has my back shouldering all the weight himself! while i cower in his shadow. She had watched him shoot the man leading the cavalry charge, and the resulting collisions, along with the second impact. Seeing the firm resolve in his eyes, Kaori made a decision there and then, I will NOT be some damsel in distress unable to defend herself from people, I DO NOT need a knight to defend me I WILL DO IT MYSELF!!! And unleashed her Hellfire Kiss spell, which incinerated her target but nothing else, a useful spell when fighting in tight quarters. She watched Tyler fire his third arrow into the face of the man who had foolishly tried to fight him honorably, Heh Idiot, anyone who knows Tyler like I do would know he'd never fight fair, especially with me behind him. There had been four men left standing, a spearman, a mace wielder, a saber carrier, and an axe man. The spearman and mace guy had gone after Tyler while the saber guy and axe man went after her. Kaori had unsheathed Dawn at first, before her kendo instincts kicked in, as even though she had left the dojo, she had never truly lain down her sword. She spread her feet, widening her stance, sheathing the Katana and taking up a stance with the blade sheathed and her hand hovering near the handle gathering her strength in her powerful legs, when the men had tried rushing her, she unsheathed the blade in a flash of light and whirring silvery metal, the first strike taking the axe man in his elbow, the slim blade fitting perfectly between the bigger mans' armour, severing the arm completely the resulting scream capturing the fields attention, with the axeman effectively removed from the equation for the moment Kaori turned her attention to the saber wielding man, who now had a pale look on his face as he realized the true depth of his folly in attacking the beautiful blonde with the slender blade instead of the angry boy. Korai took up the katana in both hands, the traditional samurai grip, and leaned forward blade up, tip facing the man. The man stupidly swung his own slender blade at the girl in her strange stance, only to find she had vanished the last thing the man heard in this life was his own head hitting the ground, and the rasp of a sword being sheathed.
Tyler and the mace wielder had watched as Kaori beheaded the man with a dizzying twirling slash, only to stand calmly behind the man sheathing her blade as his head slide off his frame to the ground, followed by his body. Atta girl!! Now it's my turn!! Tyler gave a push against the bigger mans mace, only to fake it out and slide to the side using the momentum of the push combined with the mans' push in the opposite direction to perform a spinning sidestep ,placing him in perfect positioning for a single well-aimed strike to the man's exposed neck. Tyler swung and the man was dead before he hit the ground. The excitement over, Tyler cleaned the gore from Oblivions blade with a rag from the dead man's body. Tyler then went over to find Kaori applying a tourniquet to the man whose arm she had severed's stump. The man was cursing when tyler Approached,
"Must be fuckkin going fuckkin soft, letin a slip of a whore take me arm, Worthless cunt..."
The man stopped his spluttering when Tyler's shadow fell across him. Tyler was planning on interrogating the man, in hopes of figuring out who they worked for, but the man beat him to it,
"Don't waste your time ya bastard, I'm jist a frontline grunt, Only the captain knew where our orders came from and he was the first to die, clever trick that, shootin his horse instead of him, our plan was shattered at that exact moment his horse went down like that."
Tyler listened indifferently, he had anticipated this,
"Only the captain knew who the targets were then? well what did he tell you were doing?"
The wounded man winced, clearly in immense pain,
"He tol us we goin after a couple murderers, an that we'd be paid after taking your head lad, the lass we were to take alive. dunno why."
Tyler and Kaori exchanged a look and nodded. Tyler rubbed his eyes,
"I knew I should've killed him when i had the chance, son of a bitch"
The man, looked at the pair who had slaughtered his company so easily,
"So whats to become of me eh?"
Tyler looked at Kaori,
"Don't ask me, your her prisoner, not mine"
Kaori sighed,
"we're gonna let you go when we leave here, we're not monsters, well I'M not at least, him, well depends on the day."
"HA!"
"For the time being though, Hey Tyler can you do anything for the pain?"
He walked over thoughtful
"Well I think so, i have a healing spell that numbs pains and closes wounds but I don't know if it's work on a severed limb...ah fuck it lets try it."
The man squirmed, trying to move away from Tyler’s approach,
"hey now if ya gonna kill me then just kill me! Don't draw it out!"
Tyler sighed,
"Shut up idiot your not dying this day, though keep talking and you just might."
The man fell silent as Tyler grabbed his stump and intoned,
Holy mother of life, heal this wounded soul HOLY RELIEF!!
his spell flared blue and white as it took effect. The wounded man looked terrified until the pain receded, and he finally realized where he'd seen that particular spell before,
"By the gods, They didn't tell us we were huntin a Warrior, an a priest at that! NO WONDER WE WERE WIPED OUT SO EASILY."
The man finally relaxed,
"well thankee for that laddee, I think I'll rest here before heading back to give me report,"
Tyler and Kaori broke camp as the man passed out. as Kaori pulled her green tunic down her body, she felt a tap on her shoulder, turning she saw Tyler standing there with her boots in his hands, as she took them he spoke,
"You okay?"
She turned to look him fully in the eye, There was nothing but concern in his gaze,
"I'm alright, I think at least, I'm not injured at least,"
"that’s not what I meant"
She then realized the source for his concern. She had killed three people. Her hands were stained with the blood of others, and so were his, he had seven lives on his hands. she looked him in the eyes
"Are you?"
"Yes, I am."
His eyes were clear, he wasn't lying. Truth be told Kaori didn't feel any different then she had last night, she had heard from her uncle that killing people was a line that, once crossed, there was no coming back from. Koari had killed three people, two with fire, and she felt no remorse or sympathy for the fallen, Does that make me a sociopath? or just heartless? As her mind started racing and her breathing started getting ragged with the shock, she felt Tyler grab her shoulders, rather roughly two forcing her to see nothing other his intense brown gaze.
"Kaori. Listen to me. your not a sociopath or heartless,"
she gaped at him, it was if he had read her mind,
"You did what needed to be done, and protected both yourself and myself. We didn't pick this fight. But you are not a monster, you are kind, and caring, and beautiful, and sweet. You care more about other people then you do yourself sometimes. REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT A MONSTER. Okay?"
The force of Tyler's concern, along with his words, helped Kaori calm down and come to terms with her new identity as a true Warrior. She took a deep breath, held it and when she released it, it felt as if all her tension left her body leaving her feeling very frail. Tyler smiled as she calmed down,
"You okay?"
He released his grip on her shoulders as she replied, her voice full of it's usual cheer,
"Yeah I okay now, thank you."
"Good."
but as Tyler went to search the one of the fallen knights Kaori grabbed him a desperate hug, burying her face in his chest, stopping him in his tracks. Tyler said nothing only wrapped his arms around the far gentler girl, engulfing her in his strength and presence.
"thank you"
She whispered in a small, weak voice. He did not reply, only hugged her tighter. They stayed like that for an hour or it might've been only seconds, before Kaori grunted and Tyler released her without complaint or protest, aware the moment had passed. She stepped back and before he could escape, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before turning away and going check on the horses leaving Tyler standing there with his mind completely MIA. It took him a good minute to recover, Holy shit did that just happen? it just happened right? I'm not hallucinating am I? Holy shit she kissed me! Tyler slapped his face, driving the hurricane of whirling thoughts out of his head and went back to searching the dead for coins and any other useful items.
The sun had cleared the horizon and was approaching noon before the duo were ready to depart. Thanks to Tyler's looting efforts, the pair were ninety five silver coins richer, bringing their total funds up to four gold coins, one hundred fourteen silver, and five copper. Tyler had also replenished the arrows he had fired with ones taken from the fallen soldiers. He had also found an assortment potions, some red, some blue, some were even green. Tyler quickly ascertained that the red potions were healing potions capable of healing most minor to moderate wounds, basically anything short of a severed limb, the blue potions restored the mana pool, which struck Tyler as odd since the mana pool was literally a person's soul, So what the hell am i drinking here? Another person's soul?, The green potion turned out to be a rather powerful paralyzing agent. Capable of rendering the afflicted target unable to move for at least an hour. Kaori wanted to dispose of it immediately as it was probably intended for her, But Tyler countered her reasons with his own,
"We can use it to make hunting for animals that much easier, since it isn't too hard to find something that can't move right?"
She couldn't argue with that logic, though she had insisted she be the one holding on to it. They split the mana and health potions between them. After much work, the pair finally climbed onto Thunder and Gloss, and set back out onto the road. Leaving behind no sign they had ever been there, besides the small mound of corpses, and the newly freed horses roaming along the bank looking for food, the pooling blood from the dead leaking into the formerly pure river, tainting the clear water with it's clouds of darkened red. In the sky a crow cawed, before another responded, and another, and another. Before too long the scavengers descended upon the site and began cleaning the site in the way only nature could. All the while a one armed man staggered down the road back to the capital, with his tale of blood and fire, of the pair who struck down a small company of knights without taking a scratch. A tale of a boy whose gaze chilled him to the bone, of a girl whose beauty would haunt him for the rest of his days, and a tale of how they treated his wounds after having mercilessly slaughtered his comrades. He hurried back to the safety of the capital, eager to put distance between himself and the dangerous pair. Distance, and the Walls.
The pair in question were traveling down the road again, happy to be moving. This time riding at a steady Half-gallop. Tyler was getting more comfortable in the saddle, making great progress, even though this was only his third time riding a horse in his life. As they rode, Tyler was asking kaori about Hellfire kiss,
" So what kind of spell was that? It looked pretty gnarly,"
Kaori smiled, happy her magic impressed him,
"It's a multi-target spell, but not an Area Of Effect{AOE}type spell, I have to individually mark each target, up to two, in my mind before casting it, and it takes about twenty-five mana for the full powered version that I used, and since I manually choose my target, there's no risk of the flames spreading to an unintended target. It's very convenient for times when conventional flame spells would just bring wanton destruction."
"But why a kiss though?"
Kaori giggled,
"Wow if I didn't know better I'd say you were jealous"
Tyler laughed,
"Well I was a little jealous that you gave a kiss to some random strangers you just met. I mean it fits, but I was still surprised."
Kaori was still giggling until she fully processed what he just said,
"Hehe wait...THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT FITS!? CMERE, ASSHOLE"
Tyler laughed at the incensed, red faced girl, wisely moving Thunder out of range of her slap. Tyler urged the big warhorse into a gallop, leaving an irate Kaori to give chase on Gloss, ranting on how she was gonna kick his ass later.
A few hours later the pair, now about halfway through their trip to the city of Dragul, stopped to rest the horses and their sore butts at a small village along the main road. Kaori had calmed down some, but when the pair dismounted outside the village tavern she promptly kicked her companion in the round shields, dropping him like a fallen log. The witnesses, a few of the local townsfolk both laughed at Tyler's pain, cheered the lady, or winced in the shared imaginary only a fellow man can sympathize with. Tyler, on the other hand was laughing hard from his position on the ground, once the surging pain receded he rose, dusting himself off,
"Happy now, Barbie?"
She gave him a mock-severe look,
"Not sure, here let me kick you again, that should help"
She went to wind up but Tyler took the hint and just stopped talking. Instead he went to enter the small tavern. Kaori smiled behind his back, as he was the only one in her life to tease her like that, she let it slide. Catching up to him the travelers entered the local watering hole. It had a rather small interior, about ten tables and a mall bar. Tyler guessed they had been spoiled by the capital's sheer size and grandeur. As the pair enter a young woman, maybe twenty years of age if that, approached them,
"Greetings welcome to Logger's respite does a table for two sound okay?"
She spoke with the overly-cheerful voice of one used to restaurant work. Tyler smiled as he look to kaori who nodded, and the hungry pair allowed themselves to be led to a table in a corner, with a large window facing back the way they had came. kaori and Tyler sat opposite each other and listened to the cute waitress list off the options and drinks. The pair made their orders for their food and the lady danced off to the kitchen, only then did Tyler notice the little wagging tail sticking out from the lady's skirt, to Tyler it resembled a small kittens tail. Guess she's younger then I thought Tyler turned to to see Kaori glowering at him, gripping her fork in a ominous manner. Tyler cast about, desperate to find something to distract the potentially murderous girl. He found his salvation when he looked out the window and noticed a very familiar shape rising into the sky in the distance.
"Hey kaori look is that the Dragon Tower?"
She gave him a suspicious look, as if guessing his ploy, but looked anyway, and sure enough they could make out the thick red line of the Tower.
"Wow, that’s incredible, we're like what a full day and a half's ride from Term and we can STILL see that thing? Just how big is it?"
She had a grudging respect in her voice for the size of the structure that was still causing them grief. "Yeah, i wonder if we'll be able to see it from Dragul."
Tyler was looking out at the Tower, a strange look of disgust on his face. As Tyler gazed at the far away colossus, he got a strange feeling, as if the pope himself was looking him in the eye from that very same tower in both parts hate and disgust. Tyler grinned at the prospect, flipping his middle finger at the red line, as he did so he felt the sensation increase then dissipate. Then the reality of what had happened struck Tyler like a thunderbolt, The pope must be using scrying-type magic to track us! I bet anything that what the strange feeling was! He reported as much to kaori, who thought he was imagining things, "Oh come on, I'm sure that ass has more important matter to deal with then waste his time spying on us. I'm sure seeing that damn tower again didn't help but relax, he's far away at the moment. so relax," Tyler sighed, and gazed out the window towards the tower, unable to share his pretty companions optimism, I know what I felt, after all I'm used to being watched by someone and I recognize that kind of sensation anywhere. Plus I don't think someone so used to getting their own way with everyone regardless of station could psychologically handle a pair of mere children defying his will, let a pair of kids summoned by the very god his entire organization worships. As the food arrived; meat pie with mushrooms, carrots, and some thin cookies washed down with pear-flavored cordial, Tyler mentally sighed knowing just how far religious people were willing to go at times, either to spread their faith, enforce it, or crush and heretics or those who defy their officials. Tyler didn't share any of his fears with the feeding Kaori, she didn't need the constant looking over her shoulder that was Tyler’s trademark. Tyler smiled, helping himself to some of the pie, Aww well it doesn't really matter anyway, since to get to Kaori, they first have to get passed ME, and I dare anyone to try!! The pair ate in silence, engrossed with the delicious meal before them, and as they were finishing the food, a trio of men entered the bar. They were extremely rough looking, covered in long thin scars, wearing light chainmail armour with studded leather covering the rest of their well-built frames. The party had the look of serious adventurers returning from a job, though whether that job was successful or not, Tyler had no way of knowing. The men seated themselves at a table directly opposite the pair's own table and began rudely banging on the tabletop with mailed fists, demanding to be served. Their behavior both them at the top of both Tyler and Kaori's shitlist. Clearly frightened and intimidated by the display, the tailed waitress that had served the pair hurried over to the men. As she did so, Tyler and kaori both shared a look, Tyler undoing the straps holding Oblivion in it's scabbard when riding, and kaori doing the same on the katana Dawn. The girl reached the trio's table and began timidly listing that days options, her earlier cheer and vitality completely missing. She barely got through the first round of options before the largest man, yelled at the poor girl,
"EHH? WHAT'S THAT? SPEAK UP I CAN'T HEAR YA!! COME ON SING OUT WE'RE HUNGRY HERE,"
The girl jumped and stammer trying to speak, clearly frightened by the man glowering at her, one of the other spat at the ground, the gross substance landing on the girls foot, and it was all the more disgusting as the girl was barefoot for some reason. She recoiled in horror, and the offending man took it as an insult towards him,
"watsa matter girlie? Don't like me face? Well that ain't nice! Cmere i ain't so bad,"
the pig grabbing the smaller girl's arm, pulling her towards him and his cohorts, who were all laughing at the now terrified girls pleading, The final straw for the enrage pair was when the third man reached up her skirt and discovered her furry tail, cruelly grabbing and hosting the screeching girl off her feet,
"Hey lads lookee here! We gots urselfs a Tail! an a pretty one at that!"
"ENOUGH!!!"
Tyler had risen to his feet, making a beeline for the detestable "men", kaori right behind him, her hand resting on Dawn. The man holding the clearly-in-pain girl in the air laughed as he swung the poor girl around like a bag of potatoes,
"Soo this one a friend o yours is she? whats a runt like you gonna do to take her back eh? She just agreed to play with us for a while ain't that rightt--ARGHHHHH!"
Unable to stand the sound of the screams of the girl in his ears any further, tyler drew Oblivion and had swung the sliver blade out of sheer rage, slicing the mans' arm clean off. kaori was there to catch the now falling tailed girl in her arms and carried her behind Tyler. She was sobbing heartbreakingly, Kaori went to examine the poor girl's abused tail, only to find it nearly pulled out by the roots. The once sleek fur now matted down by the girls blood. Koari looked at the weeping girl,
"It's okay Tyler will kill them, and heal your tail back to it's former beauty. i promise."
The girl was inconsolable, her only response was to bury her face into kaori's chest, clinging to her frame, stain her tunic with her tears. Meanwhile Tyler faced all three of the evil men alone, even the one whose arm he had severed; his friend being a skilled mage, had staunched the bleeding and deadened the pain.
"You little shit!!! you'll die for that!! Do you know---"
Tyler cut him off by charging the men, twirling Oblivion in a savage arc at the left most man, who was the mage, intending to cut his legs out from under him. Caught in the middle of a spell he had been trying to cast beneath his breath, the mage was woefully unprepared for Tyler's attack, which had also caught his companions off guard all well. The man had time for a single cry before Tyler's sword found it's mark in his chest, punching through the mans body and sticking out the other side, the man went limp falling to the floor, with Tyler’s blade still inside his body. The other two men, now having had time to pull their own dagger from their belts circled the seemingly defenseless young rookie. The one-armed man smirked, thinking that with his and his friends greater experience and skills, they would easily kill this kid, then the real fun would begin. he had not failed to notice the beautiful blonde accompanying the would-be hero, he was already thinking for the horrible things he would make her do to make up for the death of his friend at the hands of the boy. The man couldn't contain himself, he sneaked a peek at the girl, and when he did his blood turned to ice in his veins, the girl was smirking, as if to say gotcha. The momentarily distracted man felt something hit him in the chest and looked back to see the hilt of Oblivion sticking from his stomach as well, How? I only looked away for a split second! how could he move so fast? he never got his answer, as Tyler tore the blade from the man's gullet in an upward stroke, cleaving him from the waist through his chest and finally tear it from his shoulder, splattering blood on the ceiling with the sheer force of the blow. Tyler then turned to the last man standing, his slivery blade dripping with the life blood of his former compatriots, and approached the now cowering man with the blade by his side. There was no mercy in his gaze as the terrified man looked into it, only a vast darkness that chilled him to his very soul, looking into those eyes was like looking into Oblivion itself. Tyler reached the man, who was now begging and pleading for his life, even as tyler raised the still-hungry blade for the strike that would end the man's life. But just the blade fell, eager to sink into the man's head a voice called out to the monster,
"Wait!!! don't!!!"
The blade stopped, the razor-sharp edge resting on the man's bowed head. Tyler looked for the source of the voice, and was surprised to see it was none other then the girl they had saved. she was still bleeding from her tail's base, but had come to her senses in time to see Tyler nearing split the man's head in half. Tyler turned his Oblivion-gaze upon the one who'd interrupted his executioner duties, "Why should i spare such a miserable bastard?"
He barked, The girl flinched, but spoke up bravely nonetheless,
"because he surrendered to you! If you kill him now you'll be nothing but a murderer, instead of a brave soul who stood up for someone weaker then you!"
Her words had a pleading, strained tone to them, as if the act was taxing her strength. Tyler looked back to the man, his blade still resting on his head, considering whether to just kill him here and now. Kaori's voice helped him decide,
"If you want to kill him, I won't blame you, I'll still go with you, but know this, if you kill him like this, are you will REALLY be the murderer the pope and king have labeled you as, in other words you'll prove them right."
Tyler sighed, withdrawing his blade,
"well, thank your lucky stars those lovely ladies have a more forgiving soul then I do."
The man looked up, shocked as the Monster removed his blade,
"Ohhh thank you my lord!, I'll change my ways I promise-Arghhh!!"
Tyler had swung the blade in a blindingly fast X-shaped pattern, leaving two groves on either of the mans cheeks,
"I won't kill you, but those marks will stay with you for the rest of your days, THAT is my mercy."
Tyler turned away, walking back to kaori and the tailed girl, who promptly passed out from the pain her tail was giving her. As tyler was wiping his blade on the rag he had torn from one of the dead men's shirt, the rest of the tavern staff came out from the kitchen; a elderly man and woman, another man that appeared to be the same age as the senseless girl, and a pair of small children. The children's eyes grew wide as saucers when they saw the blood soaked carnage, which none of the adults tried to hide from them, Guess their showing them how ugly the world can truly be, good Tyler approached the new arrivals, sheathing Oblivion as he did so. he noticed that aside from their age difference, the elderly woman, and the unconscious girl looked about the same, along with the little girl child. as he noticed this fact he also noticed that all six people had tails, whereas the newcomers had exposed cat ears as well, I guess I couldn't see the waitress's ears as she's wearing a bonnet, Then he actually took his first real look at the waitress and the others. The waitress had pale skin, barely showing from under her black-and-white maid outfit, sky-blue eyes with the slanted pupils that cats had, and delicate hands and feet. The elderly woman looked the exact same, except with wrinkles and hey eyes were more of a clouded blue then the pure sky-blue of youth. The little girl was also the same, Tyler would've bet money that if all three were the same age, they would be virtually impossible to tell apart, the main difference between the three were their tails; the elderly lady's being a dusky brown and faded white color, with thinning fur, which also covered her ears. The waitresses' tail, before being nearly pulled off her body and soaked with blood, had been a beautiful, sleek bark brown with shining white bars down the length, even her ears had the same pattern, and the fur on each had been firm and thick. Finally the little girl had the same colors and patterns, but her fur was more fluffy like a true kitten, then the firmer fur of an adult. The men were of the same way, except their colors were a darker gray, and straight black fur, and their eyes were a vibrant green which even out shown Kaori's blazing emerald peepers. Tyler walked over to the Elder mancat, while the others raced to the still unconscience catgirl in Karoi's arms. The Elder spoke in a raspy, creaky voice, "I'd really like to thank you young man for your assistance, I really would but..." Here his eyes flashed and his tail lashed with indignation,
"YOU MADE A MESS!!, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE US TO GET THE BLOOD OF THE WALLS?!!! AND THE DAMN CEILING TOO?!! NOT TO MENTION ALL THE DISHES THAT'LL HAVE TO BE WASHED OVER?!!!”
Tyler took a step back from the literally hopping mad Elder, his tail straight out like a flagstaff.
"Umm, well, I'd be happy to help clean up, I mean I guess i did go overboard a little, but let me heal her first."
At the mention of healing, the Elder stopped his rant mid-word,
"YUR DAMN RIGHT YOU'LL HE--!!!"
and got a sad look on his face, when he spoke again he was just plain sad,
"Can you heal her? Her tail's barely hanging by a thread here."
Tyler went over and knelt next to the injured catgirl, and sure enough, her tail was only hanging by a thing thread of flesh. Tyler immediately regretted sparing the last of the men. as he looked at the damage, he was aware of the little girl nuzzling into his side, he looked at the girl, who was clearly on the verge of tears, holding her own tail tightly,
"Please sir,"
her voice a pitiful whine,
"Save her tail, please, If she loses her tail she won't be able to call herself a NekoPles, so please."
Tyler tore himself from the heartbreaking sight of the little girl, and looked at kaori,
"Get out the healing potions, I'm gonna need them and you help for this kaori."
she nodded, got up and sprinted for Thunder, where they had their potions stored. Tyler in the meantime took out spell licenses, and flipped through his healing spells till he found the one he intended to use called Divine Resurgence, the most powerful healing spell he possessed, with it, reattaching limbs was possible, although extremely difficult and tricky. The spell required a tremendous amount of mana to cast, like one hundred and fifty points, and increased drastically based on the severity of the wound it was applied to. The spell was one of the White Path, which lessened the strain slightly, but not enough to make a major difference. It worked by isolating the injured areas and forcing the body to regrow and repair the damaged pieces, and if the parts were seperated, the challenge triples, hence Tyler’s request for the healing potions. His plan was to keep the tail alive during the process, which was like to take several hours at best, and force the body to grow a new link between itself and the tail using the strand of still connected flesh. If all went well the catgirl's tail would be reattached with only a few extra inches added on being the only indication. When he explained his plan the catfamily immediately shut the restaurant down and locked the door. Only the cats, and kaori, who had returned with their entire supply of healing and mana potions, were allowed entrance. The injured catgirl was laid on her stomach, her clothes were removed and a tablecloth covering her body above and below the base of her tail, which connected directly into the base of her spine. Tyler handled the moving of the tail himself, being as gentle as possible to keep the strand connected, for if it broke, the tail was lost. Kaori was to pour the potions onto the strand at regular intervals during the procedure, to both sped up the healing process, and try to take some of the strain off of Tyler. She was also instructed to pour mana potions down Tyler’s throat when he starts to show signs of magic fatigue. Kaori had agreed, but forced Tyler to promise to stop if it seemed hopeless, which he had agreed to only after her pleading with tears in her eyes. The catfamily were permitted to stay and watch, only if they swore to remain silent, so as to not break his concentration. During the flurry of activity, kaori was both extremely moved and proud by how far he was prepared to got to help he poor girl he had just met not even three hours ago, For as much as he calls himself a monster, which he no doubt is, He can be astoundingly soft-hearted and kind when someone truly needs his help. She was smiling at the man directing the catfamily, until a sinking thought crept into her mind WAAAAIIITTTT, Is he doing all this to HELP or is he just doing this to PET a catgirl's fur? I'd better keep an eye on him after he helps that girl! She fumed inwardly at the thought of him petting some other girl, while outwardly she was determined and efficient, her face giving nothing away.
After the flurry of preparations, Tyler knelt beside the catgirl, kaori on his left, and the younger catman holding the girl's tail steady as Tyler began the spell incantation: I call to the spirits of life and growth, hear my call! lend me your divine power to heal this injured child of Your seed, help her body remember it's strength and beauty. Let my strength be her strength, her pain be my pain, My will her will! Hear me oh benevolent and charitable spirits of life and growth I humbly besiege you on her behalf, aid me in aiding her! DIVINE RESURGENCE
As soon as he had started speaking, his mana flared to his call, bathing the tavern interior in the Blue-White colors of his twin Paths. The colors then all swirled around Tyler and his hands which he placed on the catgirl’s' still bleeding stumps and wrapped his hand around the space above them, as if he was holding her tail in his hands, then he began channeling the mana directly into the bloodied stump where her tail should've connected, forcing her body's cellular regrowth to explode. The reason Divine Resurgence was such a difficult spell to get right, was because it allowed one to directly control another's cell growth, enabling the new controller to reshape the body at will. as long as the caster could maintain a clear mental visualization of what he wanted the finished result to look like. As it dealt in regrowth, it could only handle cells, that were missing components, like a missing limb or a massive gash, it couldn't alter a already complete cell structure, so it couldn’t make breasts bigger, or someone taller unless that person was willing to cut off the part they wanted altered, AND find a competent trustworthy mage to preform the spell. Such mages were rare, since if, someone casting the spell lost control of the spell, or their mental image tainted by lack of concentration or competing pictures, the cellular growth would instantly reverse itself and start eating the cells around them, as the strain on both the caster and target was so extreme. It would basically cause the target's body to self-destruct, and cause the caster's body to suffer the same fate as the mana flow came from a cellular level on their end as well. So since the spell was so strenuous, and downright dangerous, it was not a spell most would even consider attempting, thus rendering the spell chant and the licenses for the spell to become exceedingly rare. The reason Tyler had it now, was because it had, for some reason come included in the book of spells Lyrica had given him. He had only planned on using the spell if Kaori's life was at stake, but here he was now, using the most dangerous spell he had on a catgirl's tail.
Tyler's hands moved down a half-inch in two hours of nonstop concentration, with another four inches to reattach the tail, meaning he was going to be in that spot for at least eight hours, but so focused on his task and the image in his head he didn't even notice. Kaori following Tyler’s instructions to the letter, pouring a healing potion on the main length of tail to keep it from dying from lack of nutrients from the main body. She watched fascinated by the site of the whole process, but also worried for her friend, who was working so hard to save a mere catgirl's tail. His eyes had not moved from the spot his hands held.
Another two hours later and Tyler's hands moved down another half inch, finally revealing a bit of the regrown flesh, complete with the beautiful brown and white fur she had once had. Still, there were many hours and three more inches to go. The NekoPlesian children had gone to bed without so much as a board creak, their catlike senses serving them well. The elder NekoPlesians accompanying them as well. The catman was still holding his companions tail without wavering after four hours of remaining motionless in his uncomfortable position. his sheer will was impressive. Yet another two hours passed, the girl's new tail segment was beginning to take shape, but only a little as he still had over halfway to go. Two hours came and went, followed by another two, he was over the halfway mark now, with a a full two and a half inches of new flesh, fur and cartilage. The fur on the newly grown section shone with a healthy sheen as it had prior to her ordeal, but he was not finished yet with an inch and a half to go before the true test came. Kaori had taken over tail-holding as the catman had been on the verge of collapse, and had started shaking the tail ever so slightly, but kaori, who had also been drinking heal potions to keep up her own strength had immediately taken over this crucial task, as if the tail moved even a quarter of an inched closer of farther form it's original position it would compromise the concentration, and the image required to make the spell function, instead she had the catman pour the potions on the tail, which offered opportunities to rest in-between applications. Kaori refused to take a rest of any sort, not when Tyler couldn't take one, nor would he have if the option were given to him. I'd bet when he's done he'll probably blame himself for not stepping in sooner, If i know him like I think i do at least. The diligent blonde never budged from his side during the entire procedure.
As for Tyler, he was locked in such a state of utter mental and physical concentration, he was unaware of anything going on around him. The only thing occupying his entire being was the image of the girls tail in his mind, the feel of the mana flowing through his hands into her, and the feeling of flesh regrowing beneath his hands. The next section was complete, time to move further down another half inch. There was only one full inch left before the base of the rest of the tail could be reattached. after a further two hours, the main section of the tail had slid into Tyler’s glowing, mana infused hands beginning the most crucial, and most difficult, part of the entire process: connecting the old tail to the new one. This meant reattaching all the veins, arteries, nerves, and flesh required for the body to properly support the extremity. As such it was the most difficult, for if one vein or nerve were to be incorrectly connected the tail would not function properly, or worse die while still attached, causing to potentially rot the body from the outside in. The final two hours passed excruciatingly slow for the Blonde and her catman assistant, as Tyler's hands moved the final half inch, revealing the newly reattached tail in all it's splendor. The next part was also difficult, for it required the seperation of the mana from the girls cells, their independent functioning, and the normalizing of their fuel consumption. If handled poorly it would cause the cell to also eat each other in a desperate quest for food. Thankfully her mana pool didn't include her tail as a storage area, for as she was a Red Path mana type, it would have made the entire process a good three times more difficult. As it were though, after about eight hours of nonstop, constant work and strain, Tyler finished the operation. As his hands popped and cracked from being released from such a position for so long, kaori came over with a mana potion, and a mug of water. He drank the mana potion, and the mug of ale in less then a minute, before covering the now sleeping-soundly catgirl with the tablecloth, her new tail swishing contently. Afterwards Tyler Promptly blacked out.


DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 68


When he came to, he found himself in a soft feather bed wrapped in a warm, thick blanket. As he went to sit up, he heard a protesting moan from under the covers, and in that moment he realized two things almost instantly: he was buckass naked, and two there was a distinct feminine presence clinging to his arm beneath the sheets. Almost scared of what he might find, he lifted the blanket to see who he was sleeping with; He fully expected to find kaori clinging to his arm, but what he DIDN'T expect to find was Kaori, the little catgirl child, AND the catgirl whose tail he reattached curled against him...and with the exception of kaori, they were NAKED!!! In other words he was buckass naked in a bed off three girls, two of whom were also naked, and one of those bare beauties looked like she was ten!!! Tyler's mind was effectively shot to hell at this development, but as he was just reaching a decision on how to handle this new mess, the door opened and the elderly mancat crept in, carrying a tray with a bowl of water and a towel. He froze when he saw Tyler had awakened, but nearly burst out laughing at the look of helplessness on the young man's face as he saw his bedmates. The elder walked over and sat beside the bed, placing the tray on a nearby night stand. he turned to face the man who had saved both his kin's pride and her tail. Tyler finally rediscovered the power of speech,
"UMMM, could you help me with this?"
gesturing to the still asleep girls, The elder chuckled quietly, amazed at this youngster, This young man didn't flinch at the slightest when it came to putting his life on the line for my daughter, or when he went and healed her tail, but strip him naked and throw him in bed with three girls and he becomes helpless? heh now I've seen everything. But as the wise elder scanned the youngster's gaze he saw it flicking from the smallest of the girls, his grandniece, to kaori, asleep on his left, and back again. Awww so THAT'S it "Relax boy, that kitten's bout twice your age so don't worry bout upsetting the lady,"
Tyler looked at the elder in shock,
"that's right, little Miyuki there, is at least sixty in human years, and I'm at least two hundred and fifty myself, though to be honest I stopped counting long ago. You humans always mistake our people's ages, what you see as an adult we see as a mere child, and since you seem to get hung up on silly little ideals like how age directly correlates to appearance and maturity. heh nuthin but fluff."
Tyler relaxed slightly at the knowledge the young looking girl was far older then him, although he was still conscious both her and the other naked girl's every move. He had to fight a war against his lower half which seemed to have grown a mind of it's own. NO down boy!! he pushed up against the board of the bed trying to put distance between him and the naked girls before Kaori woke up and saw the highly misleading sight. Unfortunately, as his arm moved from her grip she sat bolt upright, wide awake as if someone had tazed her. Tyler froze. kaori looked like she at been up all night, there were large bags under her eyes, which seemed to have lost some of their usual brilliance, and her once sleek blonde hair was an absolute mess, highly unusual for her as she was immensely proud of her mane took great care of it, especially so after Tyler had called it pretty. Seeing her so disheveled brought a rush of concern that something had happened to her while he was out cold.
"Hey kaori, are you okay? You look like you had a fight with someone or something."
His voice brought her back to her senses, as she had been staring at him like a gaping idiot. She squealed in relief and pounced on her lifelong friend, seemingly oblivious to the fact he was buckass nude.
"Tyler your awake!! You're finally awake!!! thank goodness!! I was so worried."
She was verging on tears, so relieved that her only true companion was alive and well. Tyler, after being briefly caught off guard by her attack, wrapped her slender frame in his arms,
"Hey, calm down Barbie, I'm not going anywhere. Okay? Seriously, did you really think I'd go down that easily? shh shhh it's okay, I'm back in action,"
he rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shoulder, and while he did so, the other two girls, Miyuki the little catgirl and the older one he still didn't know the name of, sat up rubbing their eyes woken by Kaori's noise. The young-looking Miyuki smiled happily when she saw Tyler awake and hugging the still weeping kaori,
"Thank you for healing my sister, mister, yer my Hero!"
her voice a cheerful little squeak. She yawned and climbed off the bed, completely unconcerned by her nakedness, and walked over to her granduncle and climbed into his lap, watching the very teary reunion. Tyler was still stroking Kaori's back, her crying turning to sniffles as she got control of herself, and looked at the girl who had as of yet not spoken, he looked to see her tail swaying back and forth lazily,
"Is your tail okay?"
he asked the still silent girl. she had yet to look him in the eye, yet when she did he noticed a strange warm glow in their emerald depths, and red coloring on her cheeks. Her tail started moving more rapidly, like a cat that's been embarrassed by something, and her ears where tipped backward,
"It feels fine, now, actually better then fine it's as if I have a brand new one...here look"
she then turned around and stuck her tail straight out for his inspection. kaori, having heard the exchange, and knowing how hard he had worked to get it right moved off to his side to give him the proper access to the offered extremity. Tyler laid the tail across his lap, eliciting a low moan from the girl it was attached to, he instantly froze,
"Are you okay? It doesn't hurt does it? Please let me know if it does."
The girl turned to look over her shoulder at the man who had risked his life to help her, a flush in both cheeks breathing heavy,
"It doesn't hurt, it's just a Nekoplesian's tail is both their most treasured possession and their most sensitive area, if you take my meaning, sir"
Tyler gulped as he did indeed take her meaning, nevertheless he needed to know if he had truly saved her or just doomed her to even more pain down the line.
"I understand, and I'm sorry for this, but I need to thoroughly examine you tail for any bad connections or any other complications. I try to be as quick and gentle as I can, so please hang on. if you need to rest let me know."
He was trying to spare her more indecency, and she respected the man for that,
"I should be fine, but thank you, and my names Malico, i forgot we were never properly introduced. And please be as meticulous as you need to be, my tail is your tail now after all."
She looked away as Tyler went red in the face after hearing that bombshell, Her tail is my tail? If that means what i think it does, Kaori is going to KILL me, and probably Malico too, for that matter! but can't worry bout that now, focus on the task in hand- NO!!! AT hand not In hand....I'm pretty fucked aren't I? Nevertheless he went on his inch by inch inspection of the catgirl's tail, seeking any and all imperfections from the Divine Resurgence. he used his mana glow as a sort of abnormality finder, searching the regrown sections of her tail, all the while vainly seeking to ignore the moans and groans of the girl whose tail he was so closely inspecting. He was also aware of kaori, whose dagger-laden glare intensified with every lewd sound the poor Malico made during the exam. Thank the gods that looks alone CAN'T kill someone as I would be a corpse already! After twenty gut wrenching minutes, filled with both death glares and the lewd moans of a catgirl being pleasured, Tyler finished his inspection of the newly regrown tail segment. He sat back up with a long breath of relief, he had not found one problem or potential problem in his work. Malico turned to face him with a look of nervousness on her cute face, "Well, did you find any problems?" She had a mixture of hope and despair, as if her life depended on the answer, which in this case it kinda did. Tyler smiled, "I found nothing wrong with it, and I didn't find anything that COULD go wrong in the future, in other words it was a complete success! congrats!" in truth, her tail was fine, the main difference form before was she now an extra four inches of tail to show off, and the new section was completely indistinguishable from the rest of her pretty tail. Malico let loose a massive smile and sigh of relief. But before she could pounce on him herself, he spoke up again, "yes now thats settled, could someone please explain two things to me?"
kaori and Malico both said yes in unison, tyler looked from one to the other,
"Okay, one how long have i been out for and what happened in that time, and TWO, why the hell am I buckass naked?"
Malico and kaori both tripped over themselves and eachother in their attempts to answer his questions,
"Well you see tyler-"
"you were covered in bloo-"
"Hey shut up i answered first!"
"don't be greedy I can answer just fine!"
"I'm gonna answer him!"
"No me"
within moments the two girls were inches from each others faces, teeth bared growling at one another. Tyler just sighed, getting both jealous girls attention,
"Okay that was my fault, Hey can You explain everything to me please?”
He had turned to the Elderly catman, who had remained silent to this point just silently laughing at the trio.
"Certainly young one, and I forgot as well to introduce myself, but my names Houndra. Let's see you were unresponsive for about three weeks. During which, the tavern has been cleared of the carnage, and the survivor of the bastard trio branded and banished from the village. Word of your feet of magical prowess has spread like wildfire through the villagers, with many asking that when you wake to heal this and that, my family and I explaining that we'd ask but, well as you can probably guess, you've become something of the village hero for defending our little Malico and going as far to save her tail. This is the only tavern in town and as such Malico is extremely beloved by everyone in town, so since you went to such extreme lengths to help her, you have become just as loved. Other then that, there's not much to tell, the dead's bodies were buried in a potter's field, though the mage's licenses were saved for you by our undertaker, here they are."
Houndra handed Tyler a small packet of Licenses, He placed then beside him for future inspection, continued listen to the older catman's report,
"Let's see what else, ohh I know, a group of knights from Term passed through here yesterday morn, apparently bound for the forests of Dragul, on the orders of the king to aid with the elimination of a rogue wyvern clan. other then that that's all the news from your nap. Though as to why you were naked, I'd say it's cause your clothes were drenched in blood, and since we run a respectable business, we couldn't in good conscience put you in our finest bed like that, so i guess the girls took some liberties while you were out."
Tyler looked at both kaori, and Malico, clearly wondering where those Liberties had began and ended. Both women blatantly looked in any other direction then in his, Malico even started whistling. The sight was too much for Tyler to take straight-faced and he just burst out laughing, much to kaori and Malico's consternation,
"What now?"
"Yeah what's so funny?"
Tyler took a moment to recover, and when he did there were clear tears running down his face, "HAHAHA....oh my god, you couldn't BE more suspicious, and did you seriously start whistling Malico? Jesus, I thought people only did that as a bullshit movie trope. And you kaori, what was so intriguing about that wall? Haha, look if you did anything, well I'm sure whatever you did wasn't too bad."
Both kaori turned and looked at him, a little shocked at his words,
"how do you know what we did, Not that we did anything to begin with or anything"
Tyler smiled,
"because if you did do something when i was powerless, I'd hope you would've considered what I would do to you if the positions were reversed, and there's a distinct possibility you will be in that position so i'm sure you wouldn't want a dirty precedent hanging over your heads, right?"
Tyler had thought he'd won, but both kaori and Malico shared a knowing glance, before Kaori spoke, this time in an extemely teasing voice,
"Well Tyler we don't have to worry about what you would do."
Tyler looked at the smug blonde,
"Oh? and what makes you so damn sure?"
Malico answered for her in the same type of voice,
"Because we both know there's no way you'd have the balls to try something like that, that’s why!"
Both girls just lost it after that, laughing so hard they were crying. Tyler was speechless, even Houndra was chortling at the young mans plight. Tyler finally sighed in defeat, and went to dress, as he was tired of being naked. as he did so, he heard the laughter stop with a horrified gasp. Tyler pulled his pants up before turning to see both Malico and Houndra staring with a mixture of pure pity and shock, Tyler just stood there, shirtless and confused,
"Hey what's wrong? Am I wounded?"
Houndra spoke first, his normally raspy voice thick with pity,
"My boy what Happened to you?"
Tyler was clearly confused, so Malico pointed at his chest, he looked down still confused.
"OH"
His scars. Both catpeople had finally noticed his scars. Tyler shrugged, dismissing the roadmap of thin lines and hardened flesh that came form healed wounds,
"My family wasn't as nice as yours is, that's all"
Malico got up and hugged him, her soft skin pressing into his body, and then he noticed something else about her, something he was amazed he had missed till that exact moment. Malico was stacked, her breasts pressing into him like a pair of harder, nicer water balloons. He noticed, and kaori noticed that he noticed, and treated him to another angry glare. Tyler sighed, he just couldn't win could he? but the more pressing issue was the catgirl holding him like a life ring at sea,
"Hey Malico, it's not that big a deal, is it?"
She stepped back and looked him in the eye, He could see she felt so bad for whet he'd endured at the hands of his monstrous family. He smiled,
"Don't worry they don't hurt any. You don't need to feel bad either, I like to think they kinda make me look like a badass, wouldn't you agree?"
Malico was both impressed at the strength of his soul, and the true force of his will. Instead of letting him know, she instead reverted to her teasing,
"Badass? you look like you got a BAD ASSkicking!"
Her voice full of laughter and cheer, but her eyes were still sad. Houndra was more reserved in his respect for the tortured youngster, I guess the will and mind set to cast magic like Divine Resurgence flawlessly like that doesn't come from nowhere right?
Tyler was finally allowed to finish dressing, as he sheathed Oblivion across his back, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The others had left him to dress in peace, Kaori went to bathe and
"put herself back together"
as she put it, Houndra went to start making some food for the famished Warrior, and Malico went to get dressed herself. she had been the last to leave, and before she had closed the door she had turned around and given Tyler a last good look at her massive melons, even adding a small shake to emphasize their fullness. He'd smiled appreciatively and Malico had left closing the door behind her as she went. Damn, she's hot, I'm gonna miss her and her cans when we leave, though what she said about her tail being my tail has me worried a little, I hope she doesn't want to come with us, I don't think I would survive kaori if she did! Knowing how jealous she can get....wait why should she get jealous? We're not TOGETHER together......are we?" Tyler dismissed the thought as absurd, after all they were just friends. after dressing, he picked up the small packet of spell Licenses taken from the mage he'd killed and flipped through it. He had a few spells already such as: Protective Warning, Divine Care, Holy Relief, Azure Flash{which was a quick speed enhancement, cost ten mana, and allowed him to move as fast as a lightening along a straight-line. it was what had enabled him to close with the last man he'd killed so quickly} and that was pretty much it as far as his magical arsenal. whereas kaori had: Hellfire Kiss, Inferno, Flaming blade{Coats a weapon in flame and can be used for about ten strikes or applied to arrows,} Nature's friend{Green Path magic, attracts non-aggressive animals to the caster, useful for hunting} and Red Divider{Red Path, follows an attack with an equally strong blade or arrow of fire, burns for about ten seconds after impact.} As it was they were pretty lacking in magical options, Tyler having mainly defensive and healing magic, and kaori having mainly offensive spells. We could both stand to learn some new tricks And as Tyler examined the Licenses, he noticed a blinking icon in the corner of his vision, which when he focused his attention to it, brought up the Warrior's HUD. He'd more or less forgotten it was there, As he searched for the reason it was blinking he realized he'd leveled up more then ten levels, bringing his total level to about twenty, and he had over a hundred and fifty status point to distribute. as he looked at the numbers and figured he do this with kaori there so he could better coordinate their abilities. So he closed the menu and left the room to go find his beautiful blonde companion. He had never been in this part of the tavern before, so he took the time to explore a little. The room he'd woken up in being at the far end of a hallway illuminated by both a mana lantern and skylights, there were only a few doors on the right side of the hallway, clearly indicating a respect for privacy between rooms. Tyler walked down the wooden hallway, enjoying the peace after the bloody fight and subsequent magic ordeal he'd endured to save a catgirl’s tail, when he heard the sound of singing coming from one of the rooms further down the hall. The voice was rising and falling in a beautifully haunting melody, so curious as he was he investigated. He couldn't make out the words, but he didn't need to, to enjoy the tune, as he got closer to the mysterious singer, he thought he recognized it from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. It stopped as he neared the door it seemed to come from, leaving a sad emptiness in it's place. Tyler was left with figuring if it was worth pursuing or not. In the end he shrugged and went to leave his spot outside the door, but as he turned to leave, the door opened and Malico stepped out of the room. His breath caught in his throat at the figure she cut. She had chosen to dress in a thin black leather shoulderless tunic, which served to help support her perfect globes, a pair of Denim,{yes DENIUM} cutoff shorts, showing off her long, strong legs, and a pair of low-cut shoes that seemed made for running. She had also let her hair free, letting the thick chocolate tresses flow over her shoulders. Her fair skin gave off a slight sheen in the light from a nearby window. Her thick brown and white tail sticking out from over the waist band of her shorts, and her ears showing from the river of brown strands on her head. Malico smiled sweetly, her pure white teeth flashing from her lips,
"Well, well what a surprise, did you come to sneak a peek at me getting dressed? and here I thought you were a good boy too,"
Her voice a teasing purr, Tyler finally broke free from the sexy catgirl’s spell,
"Sadly no, I didn't come here to creep on you, I was wondering who was doing that gorgeous singing earlier is all."
Malico seemed rather happy at this pronouncement,
"Why that was my voice you were hearing. Was it really that good?"
Tyler was shocked she would ask such a thing,
"Hey you see these goosebumps? They're from your voice, it sent a frigging shiver done my spine! you have a gift Malico, and it's awesome!"
She blushed deep crimson at his praise, and her tail swung back and forth happily as she looked at her feet in embarrassment,
"aww you liked it that much? thank you! I don't usually sing with other people in the building, or for anyone other then my family so it means a lot to me. By the way what are you doing in this part of the Tavern? Are you lost?"
Tyler smiled as he explained,
"Oh, well there’s not much else up here but a few more rooms and our family living quarters, the mainstay of the place is the dining hall and kitchen. Plus the few rooms we have here and that’s basically the whole place."
Tyler looked at her sexy outfit thoughtfully as she spoke,
"hey what's with the getup? You going somewhere?"
She instantly became more nervous, avoiding his question entirely,
"H-hey, i think Houndra's food is ready, What's say we get fed already? C'mon!”
She grabbed his wrist and practically dragged him down the hall, ignoring both his protests and questions as she did so. Either of them noticed that the door next to the one Malico had come from had opened a tiny crack. Kaori's eyes and ears had caught the entire exchange between Tyler and Malico. She had just gotten out of the bath and was dressing in the spare room, when she had heard both the beautiful melody from the next room, and the approaching sound of Tyler's distinct bootsteps{She had gotten stalkerishly good at sensing his presence} which stopped around the time the song also ended. So with curiosity getting the best of her, she opened the door a crack and saw Tyler standing outside Malico's door with a decidedly conflicted look on his face, as if debating on either to knock and see who the singer was or just leave it. kaori was thrilled to see him just leave it and turn to go, as she knew it was Malico singing and she didn't need any further competition, Competition? I'm starting to scare myself on just how clingy I've become, even him just GLANCING at another girl is enough to piss me off now!! since when did I become so friggin petty? I'm starting to act like those insecure shrews who search through their boyfriends phones for Christ’s sake!! And another thing, why do I feel so threatened by that cat? It's as if Tyler's my boyfriend and I’m scared she'll steal him! Kaori had never been one to doubt herself, or that she was good-looking, but something about the extreme lengths Tyler had gone to for Malico didn't sit right with the blonde. am I really jealous he went to such extremes for her? Is that it? The troubled blonde didn't have an answer for that one, but she didn't have time to reflect further as the door to Malico's room opened and she stepped out into the hall. Tyler had froze caught creeping outside her door, kaori listened to Malico tease him in her cat's purr of a voice and listened to Tyler surprisingly reasonable excuse for sneaking around outside women’s rooms. Kaori was always surprised at Tyler’s ability to make up a believable story on the fly like that, but her good mood ended when she caught him ogling the catgirl’s admittedly sexy outfit, and his heartfelt praise for her also admittedly beautiful singing irked her to no end. Why doesn't he praise ME like that? She thought darkly, truth was he DID praise her, not often but he did. It was one of the things she had first liked about the boy, was how he didn't shower her with words and gifts like the others at their old school. And it made the few times he did give her a complement seem all the more meaningful. But here he was gushing over a girl he just met the previous night, with a light in his eyes kaori didn't remember seeing there previously, like a fanboy meeting his idol. Kaori's thoughts were a dark thundercloud as she was the conclusion of their hallway meeting, with Malico grabbing his wrist and leading dragging down the hallway. After they'd gone Kaori had finished dressing, and as she replaced the sheathed katana Dawn on her hip, she found herself wishing they had simply left the sweet catgirl to her fate.
Tyler and Malico had reached the dining hall, although Tyler’s poor shoulder felt wrenched out of it's socket. Malico had Tyler sit at a table in clear view of the kitchen counter, where he could see everything from the counter to the front door. She sat opposite him, resting her head in her hands with a smile on her face, as if their was nothing better for her to look at then his face. Tyler didn't know where to look, as every time he tried to meet her cheerful gaze, his eyes were inevitably drawn downward to the marvelous cans that were squeezed against the tabletop. ohh damn that sexy seductive cat! she knows EXACTLY what she’s doing there, so Tyler’s answer was to sit sideways on the bench and lean against the wall. He caught a disappointed sigh from the catgirl, but didn't let it get to him as he looked for kaori around the dining hall. When he didn't see her he figured she was still getting dressed. He was about to reopen the Warrior's HUD when little Miyuki, Malico's smaller, cuter sister came sprinting over followed by who he could only assume was her brother and jumped into his lap. Unlike earlier, the small girl was wearing an adorable little Waitress outfit complete with bonnet. The bonnet had been cut so her fuzzy little ears could poke through, and her downy little tail also poked through an opening in the dress. Tyler was caught unprepared for her pounce, and before he could protest, she had settled onto his lap and leaned back against his chest. She looked up him with a happy smile, and he just sighed as he rubbed her head, he didn't have the heart to make her get off him. The boycat was more reserved, sitting beside the man on the bench itself, before introducing himself in a respectful manner,
"good morning sir, pleased to meet you, My name is Colken, I am sorry for my sister there.”
Colken spoke with a level tone, Tyler nodded at the polite young mancat,
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Colken, nice to finally put a name to the face. and don't mind you sister here, I certainly don't."
Colken seemed rather tense, and Tyler wondered at it as he noticed the young catman's tail was stiff. A common sign something was bothering cats from his old world. Before Tyler could question the youngster he caught sight of kaori coming down the stairs. He smiled at the sight of his companion, "Hey! Kaori! Over here!"
She looked over and seemed to frown when she saw Malico, but nevertheless came to sit at the table with Tyler and the cats,
"Morning Tyler, you certainly seem to have your hands full over there,"
Her voice had a layer of ice in it that made tyler raise an eyebrow.
"ahh, morning to you too, kaori.”
He was confused by her greeting, as they had already exchange greetings when he came to, however he let it go as breakfast was placed in front of them by the adult catman,
"Here you go, Bacon, eggs, coffeecake, sausage, and fresh coffee, all on the house as thanks for saving my sister. By the way my names Drock, it's pleasure to properly meet you sir."
Tyler returned the greeting remembering the mancat’s own efforts during the spell,
"A pleasure Drock, and thanks for your help back there, I really appreciate your helping kaori with that whole ordeal."
Kaori jerked a bit hearing him drop her name like that, almost like an afterthought. Drock smiled, and thanked him again before retreating back to the kitchen, and little Colken followed him. As Tyler, Malico, and kaori broke their fast together, with Tyler feeding bits and pieces to Miyuki still in his lap, He handed the small packet of Licenses to kaori,
"here, have you flipped through here yet?"
he asked in his usual flat strategizing tone, Kaori took the packet and flipped through it,
"No But I guess I should if you think i should."
Her voice had an edge to it that hadn't been there previously, Tyler's eyes narrowed, but he continued with his line of thought regardless,
"Well, anyway, have you checked your HUD recently? I have a hundred and fifty points to assign and I need to know where you put yours."
She kept looking at the Licenses as she responded,
"And why would you need to know something like that for?"
The edge in her voice had become razor sharp, at it's Sound Tyler had had enough, He gently picked up Little Miyuki who whined a little at being removed from her perch, but stopped when Tyler gave her a head pat. He then looked at Kaori flipping through he licenses, not really even looking at them as she flipped.
"Kaori could I get a word with you in private?"
with a disinterested sight she got up from the table,
"If i must."
Tyler led the sullen girl back upstairs to the room he'd woken up in. Malico and Miyuki looked at each other concerned as the pair left the hall. Upstairs tyler had kaori enter first, and as soon as he closed the door, he pounced on the unsuspecting blonde, tackiling her to the floor, Oblivion resting on her throat. "Okay you imposter, where is Kaori? If you don't to spend the next month screaming you'll talk now!" His voice was filled with an evil the startled blonde had never heard there before, and his eyes were colder then ice, and darker then the bottom of the sea. For the second time in their time together, Kaori was scared of the man who called himself Monster, and finally understood why he called himself that. He spoke again, this time with even more ice in his voice, if that were possible,
"I will only ask one more time, if you don't answer the knife comes out, now where is SHE?"
Kaori found her voice at last,
"It's me! Tyler, I'm kaori!! get off me!"
he growled,
"Bullshit, your an imposter, and a piss poor one at that, here's a tip if your gonna impersonate someone, be sure to get their demeanor right. Kaori is a sweet, kind, cheerful girl, not whatever sullen creature you are! Plus she would never leave her room like that!"
Now confused as well as scared she snapped at the very angry man,
"What the hell do you mean like that? You sonuvabitch! You picked this outfit for me personally! Are you saying I'm ugly or something? Fuck you!"
She was yelling now, incensed by the sheer NERVE of this asshole, first he shower some new girl with attention, then he pounces on her and, then as if just to add insult to injury, insults the outfit HE picked? She WAS not having it. She ranted for a few more minutes before she realized he was looking extremely confused. He got off the irate blonde, removing Oblivion from her neck and lifted the girl to her feet. "What the hell, I was certain you were an imposter, I mean you were being very bitchy this morning." The girl dusted herself off, still angry with the man,
"So you first option was to TACKLE me and threaten torture?"
His gaze was firm when he replied,
"Of course, that combined with the force of evil in both my soul and my gaze should be more then enough to at shake most anyone's will. And I resorted to such drastic measures because I’d thought for sure you had been captured and replaced, if that had happened, I would need to respond with all my strength and speed to rescue you. I only figured it out when you went on that tirade. Because only you would tell a man holding you to the floor with a sword to your neck to go fuck himself so passionately like that."
She crossed her arms and looked away, though inside she was thrilled he would go so far for her,
"Well, you didn't have to ATTACK me like that,"
He rubbed head sheepishly,
"Probably, But at the moment I was too scared and far too worried that something had happened when i wasn't there to protect you that I guess i went overboard a little. I'm sorry."
She peeked at him with one eye,
"Well as it was for my sake I guess I could forgive you. But you ARE going to owe me for this, got it?"
He smiled,
"Understood."
with it settled he went and sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him, still a little irritated, she went and sat down on the other end of the bed. Tyler sighed,
"Kaori what's wrong? You weren't yourself at breakfest"
She huffed,
"Why do you wanna know?"
He hung his head,
"I swore to myself i would never do this to you, but I guess I have to,"
he whispered so low Kaori nearly missed it, but his next response caught her off guard,
"Hey Kaori, can I look into your eyes for a moment?”
She squeaked at the unusual request, but agreed to the strange ask. He had her sit directly across from him on the bed facing him, and then he closed his eyes, drew in a long breath, let it out as he opened his eyes, and peered directly into her eyes, no her very soul. She gasped at what he was doing, He's going to do that reading thing on me! she knew there was no hiding from his sight when he did this, and the results from his mental probe were terrifyingly accurate, as if he read your very soul like a damn page on a book. He had explained how it worked once, basically what he did was take everything he knew about a person's personality, the habits he knew of, quirks no matter how small, likes, dislikes, tastes in everything from food to literature, even a person's clothing choices, and built a mental image of that person in his mind, which, once ready, would tell him basically anything about that person he wanted to know. Armed with that information, he could completely destroy that person at will, using doubts, insecurities never known to anyone else, hopes to hang them from. He once said he had once caused someone to commit suicide after one such analysis. He could even predict future behavior with terrifying accuracy. Now he was using that power on her, something she hoped he would never do. She now had no choice but to look into his eyes now, for if she looked away or try to hide, it would only serve to increase his data. She felt like she was about to cry at the implications of his search, but as she continued to gaze into his eyes, she saw a very similar look in his gaze as if he was too on the verge of tears for using his skill to invade her privacy like this. seeing that in his eyes, she felt immediately worse when she realized what his words had meant, "I swore I would never do this to you, but I guess I have no choice" She felt bad for driving him to resort to the skill, as it was only her own insecurities and jealousy that were the source of their current problems. She closed her eyes in shame, I'm just a jealous, insecure girl who couldn't handle the thought of him making another friend with a girl. As she hung her head she heard him snicker, shocked she looked up to see him smiling with relief,
"Oh, your just jealous? Phew, I thought it was something MUCH worse!"
She was speechless. Tyler wiped his tears from his eyes,
"damn that was one hell of a staring contest, but as you can see I won!”
She went through at least fifteen emotions in the space of an instant, before settling on indignant anger, "THAT WAS JUST A STARING CONTEST? I THOUGHT YOU WERE READING ME WITH THAT WEIRD TRICK OF YOURS!!!!!"
He smiled happily at the beautiful irate blonde,
"I did. Well several years ago now, but nonetheless."
She couldn't believe her ears, standing on the bed about to stab the grinning idiot with Dawn,
"WELL WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY THAT THING FOR? YOU MADE ME NEARLY CRY I FELT SO BAD!!! AND YOU TELL ME IT WAS A LIE?"
He stopped smiling,
"Okay, sit and calm down for a minute and let me explain"
Kaori was about to keep yelling, when she saw how serious he was, she decided to listen and sit, albeit far from calm, as her crossed arms and legs indicated. Tyler started off by saying,
"For one thing I have never once Lied to you, and I never will at that, Second I did read you a little, but just enough to figure out what was bothering you so damn much. Third I didn't WANT to ever read you again in any capacity, as I value you too much to just dissect you like that, since that skill is only for the either unknown or untrustworthy. And you are neither of those things. I trust you, and depend on you a helluva lot more then you seem to think. So tell me, why are you so jealous of Malico?"
Kaori was instantly blown out of her irate mindset by his words, she felt so bad for ever doubting the man who had sacrificed so much, and risked his life so often for her. She couldn't even meet his gaze as she replied,
"Well you were hanging on Malico so much this morning, and you went to so much effort for her tail, and she was hanging on you so much which you seemed to enjoy a lot, that I guess i started to doubt whether you still needed me anymore."
She had a small whimper in her voice, like small child who had just been scolded which in a way she had. Tyler sighed and laid back on the bed,
"kaori, I know your hair color is blonde, but sometimes you seem to make it your mission to live up to the stereotype. I mean for gods sake I WANT you with me. If I didn't would you even be here right now? As for Malico, yer damn right I enjoy her hanging on me! What straight male weeb wouldn't want a busty catgirl hanging on him? And I went to such effort to save her tail, both for my Weeb brethren, and because I felt bad for the poor girl, I mean if we'd stepped in sooner, her tail wouldn't have been nearly torn out by the roots. But I guess the most important thing to remember is that I will always need you. Okay? Your my best friend, and never forget that! Come hell or angry dragons, we'll take'em on together right, Barbie?"
He had leapt off the bed and held out his hand,
"Well, what more can I say? You're stuck with me! so come on!"
he was smiling widely as he said this. Kaori looked up at the man and took his outstretched hand, tears in her eyes,
"Yeah Lets go! Together!"
And the lifelong friends raced out the room hand in hand, the only thing left behind was kaori's doubts and fears. As she flowed the inspirational man, she pondered over his words, Friends? HA! for now anyways! and I won't lose to that damned cat! Her face revealed nothing as the hurried back to dining hall, with a smile on her face.
The reaffirmed pair sat back at the table, and little Miyuki wasted zero time in reclaiming her new favorite seat on Tyler's lap. Kaori laughed at the eager little catgirl kitten. Malico had a knowing look on her face at the seemingly revitalized kaori,
"Wow, Kri, that must have been a rather stimulating conversation you had,"
Malico's voice a teasing purr. Kaori smirked at the busty cat,
"well Kitty, it was very stimulating, and I feel alot better now so thank you Tyler for checkin up with me, it means alot."
She had a gleam in her eyes and an edge in her voice. Tyler sighed, but let it go, as it was a competitive gleam, not a malicious one, Not that there’s any real competition here, I think they're both great in different ways. still it is good for kaori to not get TOO full of herself. He was about to say something when Miyuki stole his undivided attention by stuffing a piece of bacon in his open mouth,
"Hey Big Brother, don't talk with your mouth full!"
He gave up and listened to the little cat. Chewing appreciatively he felt the need to correct her on one point,
"Um Miyuki, I appreciate the sentiment but your like three times older then me so I don't think I can be your big brother,"
Miyuki looked sad at this revelation, but Malico swooped in and saved the scene,
"Well in terms of time spent alive, yes her years outnumber your own, but in terms of prospective she's equivalent to about a human twelve year old. So you wind up as her Big Brother."
Here she leaned in close over the tabletop, her massive breasts bulging out on the wooden surface as she did so,
"And more importantly, why would you go out of your way to make your new little sister sad? eh you big meanie!"
Her words had truth, but her tone was mocking. Tyler apologized to the crestfallen kitten,
"I'm sorry, Miyuki, your big brother can be a bit of a fluff head sometimes, so don't worry."
He rubbed her fuzzy little head as he said this and Miyuki treated him a wide smile. Kaori, on the other hand was not smiling, for Malico's large oppai were still strewn across the table as she leaned in close to Tyler's face, giving him a good shot of the goods. Kaori moved to push the well-endowed cat back into her seat, angrily aware of her own lack of bulging cleavage,
"Hey simmer down kittycat, no wants to see that!"
Malico giggled as she sat down again,
"oh dear kaori, I weren't aware you wanted to see them! You should've said so, I'd love to let you see anytime you like!"
Kaori went red in the face at the lewd cat, but before she could launch herself at the grinning Cheshire cat, Tyler cut both of them off.
"Alright ladies enough, if you want to play, do it after breakfast please. Kaori, I asked you earlier, but where did you put your status points! and could you look over the License packet too? We need to head out soon."
Kaori slumped at this betrayal, and opened her HUD for his inspection. Tyler moved close to kaori to get a better look at her stats and where she put her new points. Myuki also looked too, and pretended she was helping.
After their battles with the riverside ambush and the three idiots, her level had risen as well, to a respectable sixteen, impressive but Tyler still had her beat again. As her physical stats went, they had also increased considerably as well, her physical strength had risen by twenty, bringing her to 45,Tyler's 60, Agility: Kaori 50, Tyler's 45, Stealth: Kaori 60 Tyler 60, physical defense: Kaori, 55, Tyler 105, speed: Kaori 105, Tyler 75, Magic: Kaori 150, Tyler, 90. The numbers across the board were impressive, with neither having a clear advantage over the other in terms of sheer numbers. after seeing her stats, and the hundred extra points she had to distribute, the duo spent their next fifteen minutes coordinating their respective points. Tyler had 150 to spend and Kaori had 100, so Tyler threw fifty into agility bringing it to 95, forty to strength, forty to magic, and split his remaining thirty between his mana pool, which was at a respectable 250, and every point poured into it would increase the pool further, and his stamina, which was at a lower 95. Stamina being the measure of time one could perform laborious tasks like running and fighting. Tyler had always been an out of shape couch potato, and even with his body being enhanced from coming to Lectis, his stamina needed work. He had been lucky that all his fights to that point had ended in under ten minutes. As Tyler was thinking this, he realized his biggest weakness, and reworked his stats immediately, pulling his fifty points from agility and the fifteen he'd planned to put in mana, and out the eighty points into stamina, raising it to 175, a far more respectable and manageable number; good how i can fight nonstop for three hours at full strength if need be. Kaori's stamina was at about 135, as she was more athletic then the slacker Tyler, but her worst stat was her strength, as her kendo relied on speed and reflexes then a muscle bound contest, so she split her points, 25 to agility, 25 to speed, 25 to physical defense, and 25 to mana pool. Tyler was impressed at her choices, as speed only increased how fast one could move and no other benefit, whereas agility aided the movement at speed, in other words, if you want to be faster, you increase speed, but if you wanted to control that speed you had to also increase agility.
Malico watched the two strategizing friends when her tail suddenly stood straight out in shock, the fur along it standing on end,
"Wait, are you two WARRIORS?, Like the ones who fight the monster waves?"
she had such a look of shock on her face the apparently legendary duo both looked at each other, confused. Tyler took it upon himself to answer,
"Aww yeah we're Warriors."
Malico's eyes looked like they were going to roll of her sockets, wide as the went, and even little Miyuki in his lap was dumbstruck at this development. Malico could barely keep her voice steady from both the shock that a pair of Warriors had come to her aid, and the fact that her little sister had been accepted as a surrogate little sister by one,
"You two...took time out of your journey to help me as much as you did, and you haven't even mentioned a word of reward...ME..a mere NekoPles, when the entire country needs you....words cannot express how grateful I am for your help, nor am I worthy of such a thing."
She had literally gotten up and got down on the floor on her hands and knees before the two, an act that Tyler did not like, and Miyuki made it worse by hopping off his lap and taking the same groveling position as her sister. Tyler had a slightly angry tone in his voice at the sight of the prostrated pair,
"Hey get up you two, I am not a king or lord for you to bow to. Malico, little Miyuki come on, sit back down."
Kaori was surprised he was so harsh, until that is she remembered his past and how he had probably groveled like that on many occasions. Malico and Miyuki both hurriedly sat back at the table like he'd whipped the sisters, and Miyuki was clearly fighting back tears at his harsh tone. Realizing he'd let his past creep on him, Tyler sat down and apologized,
"look, I'm sorry I yelled at you like that, seeing you groveling like that brought back some bad memories is all. Malico you didn't know we were Warriors till just now?"
The girls relaxed slightly, though both seemed on edge, Miyuki wiped her eyes, as Malico replied in a flat respectful tone,
"No sir, we didn't know, I just figured you were a pair of extremely kind, powerful travelers passing through. None of us realized you were such heroes of legend we read about in books."
Kaori looked uncomfortable with the whole situation, Tyler rubbed his temples,
"well, Malico, first off, your first guess was not wrong. We ARE powerful travelers passing through, and for the moment thats all we are. I am NOT a sir, I am Tyler that's my name so please keep using it as you've been. You can call Kaori anything and she'll be fine with it."
Here she elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to wince,
"We're not really invested in the whole Warriors legend or anything. For now we're just roaming the countryside lookin for adventure. when the waves come we'll fight because we kinda have to, but at the end of the day the only things we want are good food, good drink, good tales to tell, and good companions to do it all with, right Kaori?"
she gave an empathetic nod. Tyler continued,
"So could you go back to how you were before you found out please? I liked you better that way.”
Here he looked at Miyuki,
"Hey, you big brother's gettin lonely other here, how bout a hug?"
Miyuki squealed with delight that she got to keep her new favorite brother and pounced on him and locked in a surprisingly air locking stranglehold. Malico, on the other hand seemed conflicted by something, She looked to Miyuki happily choking a helpless Tyler with her hug, and seemed to make a decision, but before she could speak, Miyuki beat her to it,
"Hey Big Brother Tyler are you gonna take Big Sister Malico on your journey?"
Tyler stopped choking long enough to give a hoarse,
"HUH?"
Miyuki finally noticed she was killing the man and released him from her grip,
"Are you taking her with you?"
She asked with her big green eyes sparkling at the thought of her sister roaming with Warriors. Tyler looked to kaori, only to find her looking at him,
"don't ask me, This is your crazy train after all."
she looked out the tavern window,
"But if you were to allow her to come, I guess I wouldn't mind"
she said this without looking at either of them, apparently fascinated by the outdoor scenery. Tyler turned back to Malico, who had remained silent thus far,
"Well Malico? DO you want to come with us? If so speak up."
Malico's tail was swishing back and forth as she raised her head, she looked distinctly bashful a change from her usual flirty, confident demeanor. when she spoke, she seemed more nervous, her voice a low mew,
"I was planning to ask when I had a good opportunity, but couldn't find the courage. Thanks Myuki,"
Her sister just grinned sweetly at her,
"I would like to travel with you two, if you'll have me."
Tyler looked thoughtful, Malico began hurriedly listing off her benefits,
"I'm an experienced fighter, I can do stealth based magic, I am a green path user, I can use a bow, I can cook, clean, make camp, ride a horse...."
She dropped her gaze and lowered her tone of voice,
"You can make use of my body as you see fit, both of you if you wanted"
That clinched it, Tyler decided,
"Malico I'm sorry."
She looked up hurt and heartbroken, kaori looked at him shocked and angry he would refuse such a heartfelt plea. Tyler continued speaking with a glint in his eyes,
"I'm sorry I made you resort to using your body as a method of bribery, I just wanted to see your resolve. and you passed"
Malico went from nearly bawling to breaking into a wide, happy smile. kaori was relieved too, and planned to smack him later for the unneeded stress. Tyler was smiling as well,
"I was making sure you TRULY wanted to come with us. me and kaori have made a few enemies, we'll tell you now the trail, and not all are monster.s.."
Tyler stood up and offered his hand to the beautiful, busty catgirl,
"Malico welcome to the freakshow!"
Kaori also stood and offered her hand along side Tyler’s
"yes, Malico welcome, I sure you'll be great to have along."
The pair were smiling at their new friend and companion. Malico was smiling through her tears, and took each of their hands and grip them tight,
"Tyler, Kaori, thank you show much! I promise you won't regret this!"
After the touching moment had passed and the newly formed trio sat back down, they got to coordinating their new party in the Warrior's HUD. Tyler, having been elected as party leader for some reason, could see both Kaori's name and stats, and Malico's name and stats. He could also see their respective mana reserves, stamina reserves, and remaining health, along with any potential status ailments. As he was looking over Malico's physical stats he was impressed as all her stats were base, meaning they were her unimproved stats, and they were impressive her strength:40, Agility: 160, Stealth: 160, Physical defense: 50, Speed: 200, magic:160, Mana: 250 and her stamina was at a whopping 200. Looking over her stats Tyler knew exactly how she was gonna fit in with their combat skills. He looked at the still-beaming catgirl,
"Alright Malico, your going to be our Scout/Ranger. Sound good?"
Malico tuned a thoughtful look to Tyler,
"A Scout/Ranger? What will I do?"
Tyler explained as best he could,
"Well a Scout is for gathering intel on an area or person, for example we got ambushed on a riverbank a days ride from here, if you'd been there I'd have expected you to fall back and try to circle around the attackers using your speed, agility and stealth stats and attack from their rear. A Ranger, uses a bow for long-range sniping. I can't very well put you on the frontline of a fight with a low physical defense, no matter how fast you might be, with numbers like that, one solid hit and your done. That’s why I'm thinking scout or ranger. We each have roles in a fight in our party, I'm the frontline attacker since i have high defense and use a shortsword, Kaori's our spellsword, as she can handle both fast blade work and spellcraft. Our strategy is for her to channel the majority of enemies to me and while I keep them occupied, kaori either casts spells from behind me or kills the ones who try to flank me. I compensate for her lack of strength and defense and she makes up for my lack of speed and agility. Although now that i think about it...you're faster then her, so I guess we need to rethink our entire plan. let me see"
As he was about to sink into deep thought, kaori tugged on his sleeve,
"Uhh I think you're over thinking this. When we got jumped we kinda just did our own thing and it worked fine, so i think if me just do that when the time comes, it'll all work out. You know? we find were we all fit on the field in the field."
Tyler smiled at his blonde friend,
"Alright kaori we'll go with your plan. since when could you figure out battlefield strategy?"
Kaori smacked him,
"Well I was taught outdoorsmanship by my uncle, who was, what was it? OH yeah! A friggin MARINE so I think I know a thing or two!"
Here Malico jumped in giggling,
"Only one or two? My maybe you should have payed more attention!"
Tyler burst out laughing as Kaori turned her wrath on the insolent catgirl,
"Oh just shut up jiggles!"
Malico laughed at her attempt at teasing,
"Oh my, jiggles? My friend they don't jiggle they bounce here see?"
And Malico gave her girls a little upward thrust and sure enough they bounced up and down, her shoulderless tunic barely containing the glorious melons. Tyler's eyes followed every movement they made with his eyes. Completely enthralled, that is until kaori whacked him yet again. Malico just smirked, knowing she had won this round. Kaori slide down the bench away from Tyler's side, her nose in the air. Rubbing his now sore-head, Tyler thought of something else he needed to know,
"Ouch that hurts every time, anyway...hey Malico, do you have a horse to ride? we don't have space for you to ride on ours, since our gears in the way."
Malico smiled,
"I do as a matter of fact, would you like to meet her? she's outside."
Tyler was gear to meet the animal, and at the mention of a new horse, Kaori perked up as well. So they went to investigate the new creature. It was the first time Tyler had been outside since he and kaori had entered the building for a meal three day prior. Thunder and Gloss were tied to the hitching post, and beside them was a newcomer, a large beautiful mare with a lovely splattering of yellow and brown on her flank. Her saddle was merely a simple black leather affair, with notches for equipment. In terms of size she was the same as Gloss, with an extra long mane of white hair, and a long braid of a tail completed the picture. Tyler, who still didn't know that much about horses, was impressed nonetheless. Kaori was the most impressed out of the pair, she was gushing like a waterfall over the beautiful animal, and pestering her owner with questions like age, breed, diet, and care regiments. Malico was delighted to have Kaori fawning over her friend, whom she had raised since birth. Tyler watched the girls enjoying the horses, when he noticed a small group of villagers were gathered around the far entrance to the village, the very same exit that Tyler and his friends were to go through on the journey to Dragul. Curious he walked over, getting jumped on by Miyuki as he did, so taking the only option open to him, he lifted the girl onto his shoulders, and let her ride him as he approached the group. Miyuki loved it. Tyler enjoyed the happiness he gave to the little kitten, but that quickly dissipated when he saw what had the villagers’ attention. It was that same jackass that Tyler had let live from the trio who had hurt Malico. Upon seeing the man, the clear scars on his face proof enough, and the group of ten surly looking men, tyler knelt to the ground and placed Miyuki down. He covered her mouth with his hand before she could make a sound,
"Listen to me and listen well Miyuki, run. Run to Kaori and tell that the bad man with lines on his face cam back with friends. Tell her to ready the horses. can you do that?"
Miyuki saw the look of seriousness and nodded, determined to make her Warrior Big Brother happy, "Good and after you tell her hide, this ain't gonna be pretty. Now! RUN!"
He turned the girl around and gave her a slight push in the direction of the tavern. The little catgirl took of like a bullet. Satisfied, Tyler reared to his full height and drew Oblivion from his back, and approached the group through the crowd, which hid his movements as he closed the distance between them. The scar faced man was grinning with triumphant smugness from behind a massive bear of a person. The man was clearly the leader, and wielded a scythe for some reason, he was clad in a chainmail tunic cut to fit his girth, wore iron boots and had spiked gauntlets on his hands, oddly though he wore no helm. Tyler could see that the rest of his men were armed with a collection of either swords, spears, and a single bow. Tyler couldn't tell if any were spellcasters, but that wasn't what set his blood to boiling and his vision tinted red. The large man had Houndra and his equally elderly wife on the ground before him, slashing at the frail pair with a long stick with a razor blade fused to one end. Houndra was covering his wife with his own frail body, and as the bigger man raised the stick for another strike, the cowardly bully asked a single question:
"Where be the laddee wot killed my brother his friend and wot scared this man?"
Houndra spat out blood from his damaged mouth, and glared defiantly at the much stronger man. "Heh he's here somewhere. Maybe if you say sorry and promise to never do it again he'll kill you painlessly. otherwise go fuck yourself, as he would say!”
Tyler smiled at the old cats taunt, glad i'm teaching them something useful. The leader of the gang wasn't as amused, and dropped the stick and drew the large black scythe from his back sling.
"Aright ya old bastard, I gave you a chance, now you and you're hag wife will meet the Reaper."
He swung the scythe in a wide arc meaning to cleave the old pair in half. The old cat's eyes never leaving the mans, and his faith and bravery were rewarded. With the telltale crash of metal on metal, Tyler had blocked the curving scythe by stepping inside the curve of the blade and locking it in place with Oblivion's crosstree. he looked at the bloodshot eyes of the fuming gang leader,
"So YOU'RE supposed to be the reaper huh? Pathetic."
Tyler grabbed the pole holding the blade of the scythe and lifted it over his head and threw it back towards the man, shoving him a good ten paces backward. Tyler glanced back at the elderly cats breathing sighs of relief at his arrival,
"don't worry Houndra, the others are coming so just relax, and try not to bleed everywhere kay?"
The ever feisty cat huffed,
"Tch, took ya long enuff to git here"
Tyler smiled at the grumpy cat.
"Hey, you think you can ignore me ya runt?! Who are ya?!"
Tyler turned to look the big bastard in the eye, his gaze cold as ice, and his voice hard as steel,
"Next time you go look fer someone, make sure to find out what they look like ya jackass. My names Tyler, but you can call me your executioner."
As he finished speaking he noticed a set of scars on a man's face,
"And as for you, Malico's kindness won't save you this time, the only question is one piece or several." enraged at being ignored again by this runt the much bigger man stepped into a long swinging arc with his great scythe that had it landed, would have cut Tyler in half. Only problem was Tyler was neither stupid enough to stand still, or blind enough not to read the weapons intended path. He waited until the last second before the scythe made contact and ducked beneath the whizzing harvester's weapon. The blade swooshed harmlessly over his head, taking a few hairs with it as he sidestepped under the blade, and brought Oblivion up point first towards the mans exposed flank. The man countered the thrust by whacking out at him with the butt of the pole, hitting him in the midriff and knocking him into a pole supporting the village sign with a cracking impact. Tyler slumped down like a broken doll, Oblivion clanging to the ground just in front of him. Malico and Kaori arrived on the scene to see him hit the pole. Malico was about to rush over to help, but kaori stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Malico turned on the girl,
"Hey we need to help him he's hurt!"
Kaori just shook her head, she knew what was coming,
"Listen, that man just pissed him off, nothing more, watch this is gonna get very messy very quick. He calls himself a Monster for a reason."
Malico was gonna protest further but the look in Kaori's eyes was enough to dissuade the now nervous catgirl. So she stayed at the trembling blonde's side and bore witness to the struggle between wannabe Reaper and true Monster.
The scythe wielding Reaper was approaching the still motionless Tyler, his blade tip forward, taunting the fallen boy as he went,
"is that it? ya talked such a big boy talk bout bein my executioner an now look at ya, laid out the floor. Heh, maybe when I'm finished with you I'll introduce meself to yur pretty friend over there, heh, I wonder what she'll sound like tonight when I'm the one stuffin her to the hilt?"
The scar faced man was confused that the horror he'd only survived by the grace of the catgirl was so weak this time around, he got his answer seconds after the Reaper talked of ravishing an unwilling Kaori.
Tyler surged to his feet, Oblivion in his right fist, and the Sgian dao dagger in his left. He had heard the man's plans for the pretty blonde and it had set off the evil in his soul, he let fly with a primal roar as the Monster was fully awakened. The Reaper took a step back from the sheer bloodlust in both the man' feral cry and his gaze. He readied his longer weapon for the sure to come onslaught, holding the polearm sideways to better defend from incoming attacks, widening both his stance and his grip on the haft, he thought he was ready. He was not. He thought he could handle him. He could not. Tyler snapped his jaw shut and charged the Reaper on flighted feet, hunched forward, his weapons trailing behind him, blades turned towards the ground. He was no longer a man, no his years of pain and suffering had solidified into an entirely different personality: The Monster. a heartless, merciless, pitiless horror. As the Monster Reached the Reaper, he threw the dagger at the man's hand causing him to move it to avoid a cut, and sliced through the man's calf as he flew past the larger man. Then turning on his heel, the Monster brought the silvery blade around in a vicious backhanded slash aimed at the man's knee. The Reaper's leg buckled and he dropped to a knee with the Monster behind him reading another strike, so abandoning the now useless scythe the big man threw himself into a forward roll, narrowly being missed by the Monster's sword swing. The man was back on his feet the next instant, and found his leg would no longer support is full weight, and as he pulled a small hatchet from his belt he saw the Monster drop his sword in favor of the now discarded scythe. The man could not believe what he was seeing as the Monster gripped the haft in a manner one would hold a spear, the blade pointed at the enemy, the right on the lower end of the weapon and the left being the leader, as if preparing for a thrust. The Reaper figured the lad had lost his wits in the depths of his rage, and hobbled into a overhead strike with the long handled hatchet, meaning to cleave the Monster's skull. But the Monster had other ideas and lunged at the Reaper, shoving the Scythe head towards the Reaper's stomach forcing him to block with the hatchet head, and then did he realize his folly, for the Monster clipped the scythe head, which had been angled, off the Hatchet blade, and used to momentum from both his lunging combined with the reflection of the weapons to spin a circle and swing the Scythe with savage strength and the Reapers unprotected back, as the scythe blade was curved the tip had been free to sneak around and imbed itself in the Reaper's broad back. As it had been a long arc of a swing it only pierced the Reaper's chainmail and skin by about an inch, and prevented it from hitting anything vital. The Reaper bore the pain and tried to use wrestle the scythe from the hands of the smaller man, and was successful in retrieving his weapon, dropping the one hand hatcht to do so. the man went to raise the weapon overhead for a massive two-handed strike on the exposed Monster's head, but his sliced calf had other plans. Unable to take the strain any further, the leg buckled again, only this time the remaining flesh holding in place tore, separating man and leg. The man dropped his scythe for the second time, clutching at the stump, trying to keep his life blood from pouring out. He screamed in pain, and desperately searched for someone to help him, anyone at all. He saw his gang watching on and called to them for aid, only for them to remain in their place as if rooted to the spot by something unseen. The bleeding man screamed and tried to drag himself over to them, but his cries went unheeded, and his other foot hit something hard. He looked back to see the Monster standing with his scythe in his hands, a sadistic grin stretched across his face, as he raised the weapon with a deliberate slowness savoring every moment of the pleading, begging, crying man.
"Please don't! Have mercy! please spare me I'm begging you!!! Helppp-aghh!"
the Monster dropped the scythe in a long slow arc, severing the Reapers head in a single strike, and then tossing aside the glistening weapon he grabbed the severed head and swung it by the hair, spraying blood from the neck across the village entrance as the monster reveled in the kill. It then Twirled the head by it's hair and throw it at the group of nine remaining gang members by the gate. One man managed to catch the head and turned grinning at his success only to find the other tripping over themselves in terror, the confused man looked back in time to see Oblivion smash into his neck as the Monster flew past him, slashing and hacking the men behind in to pieces as he went. Unfortunately the man who had caught the Reaper's head knew nothing of this has his own head fell to the ground followed by his former leaders' and his body, for he had been the Monster's second victim on his rampage.
Through out the entire deathmatch, neither, Kaori or Malico had moved from their spots. Kaori watched as the Monster baited the Reaper into his trap with the but scythe stance and continued watching as it then followed through and made the kill. She sighed at the barbaric display of severed head twirling, and turned away as the Monster launched both it and itself at the remainders of the Reaper's former gang. She turned to the completely pale Malico and gestured to the Monster massacring the men,
"Well what do you think?"
At the sound of kaori's voice, Malico found her voice again,
"Is that thing really the Tyler we know?"
She sounded scared, like a bawling kitten during it's first thunderstorm, I can't blame her, the Monster scared me too when i first saw it too She answered truthfully to the fearful cat,
"No, that is not our friend Tyler, that is something else completely."
Malico turned away from the carnage, as the Monster found another gang member, she winced at the horrible screams
"If that's not Tyler that who is it using his body"
Kaori sighed sadly as she watched the Monster stalking the man they had spared from the other day, she knew he wouldn't escape, no one could escape the Monster's wrath,
"that is the personality forged from the years of pain, sadness, loneliness, and desperation that he suffered growing up; it's called The Monster. And it is the backbone of Tyler's strength. You remember his scars? There's not a soul in existence that could go through that and come out the other side unharmed."
Both ladies winced at the last survivor's screams at the hands of the Monster, who was taking his time with the source of his catfriends pain and the reason the Monster had escaped his cage.
"At some point Tyler's soul split into two equal but different parts, one the light side, that side is the Tyler we both know and love, for all his faults and idiocy. That side is the one that dominates his body for the most part, and is the one that he uses in day to day life. It has suffered a lot, but is good for the most part at least.”
The blonde had to stop speaking and cover her ears as there was a sickening crunch followed by even more intense screaming, which was promptly backed by whimpering. Kaori, now a little pale herself continued her explanation,
"The other part, however absorbed the overwhelming majority of the pain and suffering he had endured. Absorbed it like a sponge and retained it, so as to prevent it from corrupting the entire being with it's darkness. It serves as a depository for any pain Tyler might have to endure, and that’s the reason his pain tolerance is so extreme. The only downside? It also has a will of it's own, but unlike the main piece of Tyler, it has no conscience, no remorse, no empathy or sympathy. Only hatred, rage, resentment, and a terrifying bloodlust. Tyler is aware of his darkness however, and actively seeks to isolate it from his psyche, and is trying to reincorporate back into his "light" side as to be one again. As such, if he seems quiet sometimes, it's because of the strain holding back the Monster. One year it got loose in elementary school, I was in a different school at the time so everything i heard was second hand. But to hear it described, tyler simply went berserk, and wound up putting three people in the hospital and was about to go for a forth before a cop hit him with a stungun,{a little box that hits someone with a severe lightning shock, paralyzing them.} He would have been sent to a mental ward but his family adamantly refused to send him. from what i heard, He wasn’t' seen again that year at school, only reappearing at the start of the next one. Now there's something you should know Malico since you're going to travel with us."
Malico had crouched on the ground in a standing fetal position, her tail wrapped around her kness, "What?"
Kaori looked her in the eyes,
"When he comes back, he is gonna remember everything he did, and is going to be emotionally drained to the point of exhaustion. So he might snap at you more then usual, if he does just bare it, as that is just the residue of the Monster leaving his mind. He'll probably collapse and sleep for a while. When he wakes up he'll be himself again. We need to protect him until he wakes up, because while asleep he'll be completely helpless, even more so then when his magic was drained."
Malico nodded as she rose to her feet, determined to help anyway she can. The girls thought's were interrupted by approaching footsteps, and as they looked it their direction their blood ran cold for the Monster was walking towards them. Oblivion drawn and dripping as the evil Monster neared the girls. Kaori didn't hesitate, drawing Dawn and taking up a ready stance. Hid behind the blonde, terrified,
"hey why's he headed over here?"
Kaori gritted her teeth,
"He must've noticed us before his energy ran out! This could get hairy! Be ready to run!"
The Monster was covered in the blood of its victims, and Oblivion was also drenched and dripping, as the evil thing approached the quaking ladies. As it reached them however, The Monster's sinister grin broke into the wide smile of Tyler, who burst out laughing at the bemused women.
"Hey Barbie, I know I look like hell rolled over but you don't need to draw steel on me for it!"
Kaori and Malico both looked at each other, clearly confused at this turn of events. Tyler seemed his usual self, for what it was worth, and beyond that he showed no signs of physical fatigue! kaori was still wary, as the Monster was a devious creature and didn't want to be caught off guard. Tyler looked at the still distrustful girl, sighed and looked at Malico cowering behind her,
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Malico, truly, I wasn't expecting to have the Monster say hello, but when that bastard was talking about kaori like that, it pissed it off, next thing I know is it's asking to be let loose. You hear that? The MONSTER ASKED TO HELP. Apparently it has grown quite fond of you Blondie, so much so that after killing that last guy, it ceded back control without argument or a struggle. It even offered to come back if i can't do it myself and in its words, 'Bail my bitch ass outta jail again', so now I’ve achieved hulk status."
Tyler was talking like himself, and even apologized. something the Monster would never do, so kaori lowered her sword and relaxed, she glanced back at Malico,
"It's okay, it's truly him, he's back."
Both ladies let out a sigh of relief and turned back to see him flat on his back panting like he had ran a marathon. Kaori sighed and shook her head,
"Hey Malico stay with him okay? I got to heal Houndra and his wife while the idiot's down for the count. Kay? thanks"
The blonde girl left the still nervous busty catgirl with the panting Tyler and went to check on the elderly pair.
Malico went and crouched beside the fallen Warrior, casting a shadow over his face,
"Are you TRULY the Tyler I know?"
He turned his head to look up the concerned catgirl,
"Don't worry, Malico It's me, i promise. and you can relax, the Monster's sleeping now, it won't be back for at least a week."
He spoke with the usual warm tone and semi-kind eyes she had gotten so used to in such a short time. She breathed a massive sigh of relief and laid down beside him spreadeagled.
"well I am glad to hear it! I like this you better anyways!"
He chuckled at the friendly cat, before turning to ask a question that had been bugging him for a while now,
"Hey Malico, can i ask you something?"
The catgirl Turned her pretty face to look the exhausted warrior in the face,
"Hmm? what's up?"
He peered into her green eyes,
"well it's something you said when i woke up, you said your tail was my tail. I was just wondering what you meant by that is all"
Malico rolled on to her stomach, crossed her legs in the air behind her, and rested her head on her hands, before looking down into the man who had saved her tail,
"well it means, I'm your to do with as you please of course! I offered you my tail, which in NekoPlesian tradition is a sacred thing, and you accepted, albeit not knowing what touching the tail meant. I had planned to give it to you later on, but you were so concerned that you missed something that I kinda took advantage. So yeah, My tail is your tail is basically NekoPlesian exchange of vows!”
At the word vows Tyler sat up straight like he'd just been tased,
"Exchange of Vows, like as in marriage?"
She nodded, smug as all hell,
"Yep! According to our custom you married me as soon as you accepted my tail to inspect it for any problems. So yeah we're married, Honey!"
Tyler laid back down on the dirt, shellshocked by this curveball, after a moment he began to laugh in a most uncomfortable manner, Malico was concerned,
"Love, what's wrong? Why are you laughing like that?"
Tyler turned and looked at his new-found catwife,
"Well, I'm not opposed to the idea of marriage with you, but I'm afraid it's gonna be rather short-lived." She coked her head the side,
"Why, Love?"
Tyler burst out laughing again.
"Because my dear, once kaori finds out about this, she is going to KILL me and you'll be left a newlywed widow!"
Malico finally understood it, and her face turned a little paler at the thought of the blonde's eventual rage. As she considered the implications, she shuddered. Tyler had finished laughing, and felt strength in his limbs again. As he hauled his bulk of the dusty ground, he decided he desperately needed a bath, as the blood from the fight had dried and was now mixed with dust from the road. Malico also rose. Tyler was still weak but his strength was returning, and as such was walking a little slower then was normal. Malico supported the weakened man by sliding an arm over her shoulder and half-carried him to the tavern. As they went, Tyler reassured the catgirl,
"Look about us, don't worry, I'll talk to Kaori when I get a chance, and we'll figure something that hurts the least alright?”
Her response completely unexpected,
"Well why DOES someone have to get hurt? If she wants to be with you too I don't mind, in fact it's kinda rare for NekoPlesian men to marry a single wife, I've even heard that some have upwards of fifteen different wives. So if she's okay with sharing, then so am I."
Tyler just shook his head, right fantasy world gotta remember that!
"well, alright then, forget i said anything. though go easy on calling me nicknames until we explain things properly to her okay?"
Malico nodded, constantly amazed at how that blonde was always his first priority at all times. They reached the tavern to see a small crowd gathered outside, Tyler stopped leaning on Kaori and stood upright. He walked over to the building with a blood crusted Oblivion still in his hand. At his approach the crowd parted, allowing him access to the door, where upon looking through, saw a red glowing light by one of the tables. Upon walking through the front door, he found Kaori deep in concertation as she worked on healing a cut on Miyuki's little leg. Houndra was sitting by his wife, the old couple seemingly healthy as they leaned into each other. At Tyler's approach MIyuki's eye grew wide at the blood-soaked Warrior and his blade. Koari's spell finished it's work and the glow faded away leaving not even a scar. Now freed from her spellcraft, Kaori looked at the pair of Tyler and Malico with a look that was part glare, part heartbreak FUCK, she knows about the marriage thing doesn't she? figures Before tyler could say a word, Malico beat him to it,
"Kaori, let's go have a little girl-talk, okay? You go clean yourself up! and you, Get the bath ready."
Tyler blinked at the catgirls tone, but as he watched her lead the heartbroken Kaori upstairs, he felt something poke him in the leg. He looked to see Miyuki with a rag to her nose, stabbing at him with a long wooden spoon,
"Alright you Big Sis, bath time mister! It's this way, come on!"
Tyler couldn't help but smile at the little cat,
"Alright little missy, show the way please."
As he followed the marching girl, he shot a worry-filled look up the stairs were the girls had disappeared. With a heavy melancholy sigh he went into the steaming bathroom.
He stripped his blood soaked clothes off his frame and climbed into the large pool-like tub, soaking up to his neck. As he did so, he saw a cloud of red flow out from him in a dark miasma of death. It lasted for a moment and was gone filtered out by the cycling water. He dived under the water and stayed there for a good minute, rubbing his hair, before coming back up for breath, and sure enough more red had come from his hair and head. Tyler leaned against the ledge of the tub, unable to fully relax and enjoy the bath. His thoughts on how to fix things to with Kaori, he had hurt her badly, that much was obvious. He had never intended to do so, nor did he have any idea of the seriousness of his actions. After all he had only acted to help Malico avoid a cruel fate at the hands of humans. But in doing so he had unintentionally completed a sacred rite of marriage for NekoPlesians, a rite he had never known nor did he have anyway of knowing of. Now because of that, She probably thinks I lied to her, or worse tried to play games with her emotions, leading her on while I got cozy with a new girl. And after I told her all that stuff to help comfort her when her jealousy got the best of her too! I cant' imagine where her heads at right now. He sighed at the hopelessness of his situation, either he consoled kaori and risked breaking the rite with Malico, an act whose consequences he didn't know, but he assumed it would be Malico who would bear the worst of it, or shatter the heart of the one person who had ever tried to comfort him back in his own world. as he reached that conclusion he slapped the water in frustration at his own helplessness, and his own blunder, for if he had just killed the three men when they had first started harassing Malico, they wouldn't be in this emotional quagmire. He sighed and slumped down, about to dive again when the door to the bath opened wide behind him., he turned expecting one of the male cats to be joining him, but it was Malico, and a very Bashful kaori! He jumped in shock, splashing soapy water around as the ladies dropped their respective towels and climbed into the tub with him. Tyler was struck dumb by the site of the naked beauties, Malico's tall slender body glistened in the light reflected from the water, and as she sat her marvelous melons floated in the water. While kaori's own slender form complemented her moderate breasts perfectly, though she was still shy getting in the bath, more or less hiding behind the more confident Malico.
Tyler gulped,
"well would one of you explain what brought this on?"
Malico sighed happily as she soaked,
"Oh that feels nice! well, Tyler, we came to an arrangement, kaori and I. About this whole marriage thing that is "
The catgirl's tail swayed to an fro like snake dancing for a piper, while behind her kaori was fully red in the face in embarrassment at being naked in the bath with both Tyler and Malico. Malico stretched out her long legs, nearly reaching the other side of the tub with her flat feet, and effectively pinning Tyler between them. this was definitely new terrain for the inexperienced man, as with the exception for kaori, every other girl had essentially given him the cold shoulder as if he carried a new plague. And as kind as she was kaori didn't seem overly ready to jump into the bath with me like this, not that I'm complaining! Kaori huddled against the catgirl, hiding her front in the more comfortable girl's shoulder. Malico went on with her explanation,
"So our arrangement is really quite simple: The two of us will compete for your attention against each other. As you are a young male, I am sure this will seem like a wild fantasy for you, so try to maintain at least some semblance of control okay?"
Malico drew her knees up to her large chest. Her glorious rack getting lewdly hanging over her legs, and grinned at the awestruck, and frankly horny young man, who was still only a teenager at heart, despite having killed like fifteen people.
After a good two minutes of silence broken by the sound of running water, wind blowing through the trees outside, and the splashing water around the bathers, Tyler rediscovered both the power of speech and the power of thought,
"I'm sorry but I seem to be hallucinating here, could you repeat that please?"
His voice trembling from more then just the shock of having two drop dead gorgeous girl saying they're going to compete for his, that's right, his attention. Malico smiled and rested her head on her drawn up knees, or more accurately, on her ballooning breasts that were resting on her knees. But this time kaori, still hiding in the catgirl's shoulders, replied, her voice was strong, though she still had a tremor,
"We're gonna compete for your attention! Is it really that hard to figure out?"
Tyler was shocked as kaori was practically yelling this,
"I figured it out, but I guess I don't believe it. I mean, do normal girls compete for a guy as openly like this? I thought it was more cloak and dagger shit. And since you know I got to ask: where the hell did this come from? and how the hell did you jump on board, kaori?"
Kaori looked away, clearly shy,
"Well, after I heard from Miyuki about the NekoPlesian marriage rite, i was distraught,"
Here she seemed like she wanted to cry at the memory. Malico pleased her arm around the saddened girl, pulling her into her chest, oh man, if only this was a different time and place, that'd be pretty frigging hot! Kaori leaned into the hug,
"Then Malico came up and explained how she'd basically hoodwinked you into it, and how you were completely clueless about the whole thing until she told you."
Here she wiped her eyes, and smiled,
"Once she sat me down and told me how it happened, I thought it was soo typical of you! Getting married without even knowing just what the hell you were doing, we both laughed at that."
"Ya know something about that kinda pisses me off, but I can't put my finger on it"
Tyler remarked on a sullen voice. Both girls giggled. Here Malico picked up the narrative,
"and after we had a laugh, we discussed what to do about are feelings, since neither of us want to/won't surrender. So we decided to compete, with the winner being the one who gets the most attention at end of the night. So there you have it! You have two beautiful girls vying for your affection! you lucky dog."
Tyler was feeling pretty lucky, but he still had some concerns,
"Okay, you're gonna compete, alright, sounds good, but about in battle? Will you be able to focus and not get carried away? And, at the risk of sounding like a dense anime protagonist, could you explain what you meant by 'feelings'?"
Both girls looked at each other stunned, then they both burst out laughing uproariously at their hero's questions, Malico was the first to recover,
"HAHAHA, oh man Kaori, you really ARE friggin psychic!"
Tyler had a confused look on his face, causing more hilarity between the sexy pair. This time Kaori managed to recover first, and with a smugly satisfied voice simply uttered two words,
"Called it"
Malico recovered shortly after,
"Yeah you did, well shall we enlighten the blind idiot?"
kaori nodded but with a little clarification,
"Sure Mal, but he's not an idiot, he's just never experienced it before,"
"ever?"
"Do I need to point out his scars again?"
"Fair point",
Both girls turned to look the thoroughly confused man in the eye, and chorused in unison,
"I love you Tyler,"
Tyler's eye grew wide at the sweetly grinning girls, especially kaori, who seemed to finally relax in the tub. He looked at the blushing blonde,
"Really? When did this come about?"
Malico seemed a bit miffed that he was more concerned with the blonde, but let it go. kaori looked down shyly,
"Well, I've felt this way for a while now, I just was never able to come out and say it, and when how after Malico told you she was your Neko wife, she told me the very first thing that you worried about was me, and how I was going to take the news. She also told me how the entire way back, everything you talked about was how to both soften the blow, and try to keep me from getting my heart broken. it was the i finally realized just what the hell you meant to me."
Tyler sat back in the tub, and just started laughing, the girls were slightly bemused, until he started speaking again,
"Jesus, if you'd told me two weeks ago that i have not one by two hot girls competing over me, and one being Kaori and a friggin busty as all hell catgirl, I had said you were high, and asked for the name of your dealer and product cause i be needin some of that delusion! And yet here we are!"
Malico and kaori both started laughing as well at the absurdity of it all. Tyler stood up in the tub and placed his hand in the center, shame never having been a part of his character,
"Well ladies, lets load up and ride out, we got a wyvern clan to slaughter, a city to save, some monster waves to smash, and a helluva adventure ahead! So all that needs to be said is: You In?"
Malico was right there with him, rising to her feet as well, and slapping her hand on his,
"Oh hell yeah I'm in!"
Her cute face lit with an excited, feral grin. Kaori was the one still seated in the tub. She was at a crossroads in her heart, if she stood and took part in the brazen, naked declaration, she would say goodbye to the quiet, reserved proper girl she had always been, and embrace the wild life that both Tyler and Malico seemed to thrive on. The blonde had two choices: Stand and accept her new reality as an adventurer competing for the affections of the man she loved as an equal, or stay in the tub and....with a resolute splash, Kaori surged to her feet and grabbed the other's hands with her own. A wild light in her formally gentle green eyes as she also bared everything she had,
"Oh like hell am I getting left out! You two can count me in this madhouse!"
Together the trio of adventurers threw their hands in the air, roaring with the sound of their youth, spirit, and lust for adventure
"LET'S RIDE!!! YAHHHHH!!"
Outside little Colken and Miyuki heard the loud war cry, and were confused as to why they could get so fired up in the bath, at that moment, Houndra was passing and also heard the cry and subsequent scramble to dress, ready the horses and charge off. The two hundred and fifty year old catman, chuckled, recalling a similar trio from his youth, "
Well, Little Malico, I am glad you found a Warrior for yourself as well. I wish I was a hundred years younger. Ohh to take up my axe again and charge head first into battle! But as the bird passes his nest to his children, so must I. It's your turn to play heroes, and my turn to play mentor as it were. Go forth Mighty Ones, and carve you names into the very fabric of this world! That's as it should be eh, Gruven? I suppose that’s the reason those two bare your blade, although they made some changes to it! Scamps." The elderly cat turned back to his cabin, where a magically taken photo of a much younger Houndra, Gruven, a very familiar-looking red haired Devil girl, and a tall beautiful blonde-haired green eyed woman stood around a slain dragon, with roguishly daredevil grins plastered on their faces. Houndra smiled at the memories of his companions,
"Aww Erica, that must be the daughter you would rave about. heh if only you could see her now, you would be very proud, I'm sure."
The trio thundered along the trail, Tyler astride Thunder leading the small party, with kaori on his right riding Gloss, and Malico riding her horse, Night, with her ass in the air and her long sleek cattail flying in the wind behind them. All three wore large smiles at the exhilaration at riding at full gallop along a dusty trail kicking a cloud as they did so. They rode the horses hard that day, both trying to make up for lost time and because they were having way too much fun on the trail. The horses took it all in stride, as this was their first true workout in a while and also seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the laughing riders. The little war party raced through open grasslands, tore through a small woodland, and crashed through a small stream with an open blue sky chasing them wherever they went. Tyler could not think of anywhere else he would rather be then right there on the trail, a sword at his back, trusted friends on either side of him, a warm breeze blowing him forward, a blue sky above, and adventure before him. this, THIS RIGHT HERE is what heaven is all about! His face, being unaccustomed to such a wide happy smile began to hurt after a while, but he smiled nonetheless. Kaori and Malico were right there with him, enjoying the thrill of the open road. kaori in particular was flying high. In the other world, she had been the posterchild for propriety, perfection and poise. Her father had wanted his baby girl to grow up like a proper young lady, like her mother had been just before she vanished. to that end he had hired a nanny to drill it in to her head whenever she was not at school. Kaori and the Nanny had fought constantly about everything from food choices to wardrobe to even the company she kept. Both the nanny and the father had tried to force her to be friends with the more 'proper students' the popular rich kids that were absolutely evil to the other students, the boys beating up the other boys every chance they could, and the girls doing everything they could to bring the other ladies down, even running up to one girl and slashing the back of her dress, leaving her nearly naked in the halls in front of everyone. every single person had either stopped and pulled out their phones or pointed and laughed at the cruelty. Only two people had not laughed and only one person had done something, Kaori had not laughed, but it was Tyler who had stepped up. He had taken of both his shirt and hoodie, and covered the sobbing girl, all the while the other students began throwing things at the boy as he escorted the traumatized girl, where she called her parents, who showed up not five minutes later to find a badly beaten and bruised Tyler still shielding the girl with his own body, taking everything the other students threw without a single sound, from pencils and scissors, to books and footballs. The girls parents had put the still-sobbing girl into the car, and sped off leaving Tyler shirtless for the day. The girl was never seen again, and no charges were filed either, as the rich kids parents were apparently friends with the town's only two judges, rumor was they simply moved to a less cruel town. Tyler never got his shirt or hoodie back and was beaten pretty badly everyday for weeks after that, but Kaori had respected her old friend a helluva lot more from that day on. She also resolved to be as close to him as they were when they were kids, since time had made the pair drift apart. Of course her father and the Nanny were livid when they found out she had started to hang back out with him, and had shunned the 'Right' crowd as they put it. Kaori had not budged, and would never budge.
"That brat will ruin your future! Do you know what the other parents all say about his family? do you?" Her father had raged, Kaori had looked her father in the eye when he said that,
"Of course I know, I've been there with him remember? Oh and while we're on the topic of remembering, who was the one who has been helping me with my schoolwork?"
her father refused to hear that his 'perfect' daughter was being tutored by such a 'lower' person, but kaori argued him into the ground, nothing he did made any impact. He'd take her phone, she steal the house phone, he's unplugged the house phone, she steal his, she sneaks out, he nailed the window shut, he nailed the window shut, she went out the front door. The night he had physically tried to stop her, and wound up getting kicked in the balls by his daughter finally drove the point home then the boy was to stay in her life. That, and the time kaori had asked Tyler to 'show the pompous ass his scars'. and when Tyler had removed his shirt and showed his torso to the man, he'd broken down in tears at the sight of this tortured boy with the scars, who still went out of his way to be friends with his daughter, regardless of the pain it was sure to bring him. If he could see his 'perfect' daughter now I wonder what'd he say? Riding full tilt, sword on my hip, bow and arrows on my back, and in a competition with a catgirl for Tyler's attention! he have a full-blown conniption! She giggled at the thought. Kaori sped along on her horse, happy to follow the man of her dreams into hell, or wherever he would roam. As for her part, Malico was also feeling the high of the open road and no strings to hold her down. She had loved her tiny village and it's people, but she was also bored of the same thing everyday. She would often stare out the windows of the tavern or out at the fields, and wish for someone to roll into town and sweep her along for some fun and excitement, and maybe a little lightning romance on the side. The day Tyler and kaori had walked into her family's tavern was one she would never forget for the rest of her days. She gazed at the fearless man beside her, and was beyond grateful for everything the man had done for her, from defending her from those ruffians who had nearly taken her tail, to saving her tail which was now four inches longer and far more furry then it was before, to rescuing her grandfather and village from the Reaper and his gang. She felt bad for tricking him with the Neko marriage rite, but that paled in comparison to the feeling of sheer joy she felt at traveling with him. She wouldn't trade her spot beside him for the world. Neither would kaori. Tyler wouldn't swap his companions for anything else either.
The three friends rode until the sun touched the horizon before making camp. Tyler chose a small forest as a decent campsite, situated in a small valley, with a small stream a five minute walk from the camp. The whole spot was surrounded by large pine trees, filling the whole area with the sight of the needles. as the trio hitched their horses to some trees nearby, Tyler caught sight of some fish jumping from the nearby stream, instantly his stomach gave a low rumble. The girls giggled at the sound, at least until their own stomachs joined the conversation. all three then laughed at the scene, then the trio split to make camp. Tyler gathering rocks and wood for the fire, Kaori saw to the horses, and Malico pitched the tent. Tyler built the pit in the center of a small sandy area in the middle of the spot, using the rocks to make a barrier like he did last time. The only difference was he made it larger, as to now accommodate Malico. Kaori had finished seeing to the horses and had broken out the rod and line, and went to catch some fish leaving Tyler and Malico to continue alone. Tyler had just put the final touches on the fire pit, all it needed now was a spark, and noticed that Malico was having problems with the tent. She threw the pole down in frustration, before jumping as Tyler tapped her on the shoulder,
"Hey, kitty, need a hand?”
He wasn't laughing at her, but he was at the same time. Malico blushed at her blunder,
"S-sure please, thank you,"
she said looking away. Tyler smiled as he helped teach the catgirl about pitching tents.
"here this pole goes here, and then you throw a rope over that branch and hoist,"
He pulled on the rope and it lifted the tent up until there was a click as the bars on the side clicked straight.,
"On we let go of the rope, and the roof will rest on the metal supports, also if we tie the rope over here, we get a convenient clothes line for laundry!"
He made it look so easy that Malico was a little impressed,
"Wow, Tyler, pretty good at this,"
Tyler chuckled at the busty catgirl, who even now served to hypnotize him with her endowments,
"Well, dear kitty, I am surprised,"
Malico cocked her head to the side,
"Surprised at what?"
He turned to look at her, laughter in his eyes,
"Well I was surprised you couldn't set up this tent, since your both good at pitching my tent and raising a certain pole!"
He turned back to fastening the ties around the tent legs, leaving a red-faced catgirl behind him, shocked into speechlessness. Tyler glanced back at the blushing girl,
"what? Your not the only one who can tease ya know!"
Malico broke out laughing at her love, then moved beside him grabbing his arm and cradling it in her massive chest,
"Well, well, I guess you can tease sometimes, but I can still fluster you...like this!"
she rubbed his arm between her large, soft breasts, figuring this would drive him wild, which it did, but his response was totally unexpected, he pulled his arm free, grabbed both her shoulders and buried his face in her melons, and then grabbed both of them squeezed his head between them, massaging them with his fingers as he did do. Malico's face went from seductive teasing, to pleasured strain as she tried to fight this new attack, moaning lewdy as he continued his enjoyment of her chest,
"Waoh hey-what ar-uh ohhf ohh myyy,feells good..."
He kept up the assault for about five minutes, rubbing his face all over her chest and rubbing her breasts with his hands, after which he abruptly stopped, and released the now panting catgirl. With a smile on his face, and a large tent of his own, he looked into the teary eyes of the aroused catgirl,
"Okay, I have wanted to do that for waaaay too damn long"
And here he leaned in closer to the still panting girl clutching at her full breasts, as if to defend them from another attack,
"And thats how you fluster someone...properly!"
He then took the still-ground ridden girl and helped her to her feet. Malico was completely aroused by his surprise attack, her nipples were standing fully erect, and were slightly sore, and she squirmed the tiniest bit under his approving gaze, DAMN he got me good! She thought before her minds was blown back the feeling of pleasure she had felt during his fondling. Tyler smiled at the girl,
"Well I can see you need to recover, well I'm gonna check on Kaori now so take all the time you need," Malico knew exactly what he meant by 'take your time', and was both impressed and slightly nervous in the face of this extremely perverted man. As he turned to head off after the blonde, Malico, grabbed his arm again,
"Wait!!, Please don't tell her about this. Okay?"
He smiled,
"Sure, I guess I win round one."
She released his arm and he sauntered off, leaving the hot and bothered cat near the tent. After he left, she went over to a small bush and kicked out of her shorts. A few birds watched curiously at the moaning girl, wondering what she was doing to herself. after her session, she lay back staring at the sky, her mind wandering and wondering, HOLY sweet hell that was intense, if that’s what he does to FLUSTER someone what is he like when he really wants to...? She shivered as a gentle breeze blew through a now sensitive area, still though, this could turn out WAY more fun because of it too! I seriously hope so, Malico fell asleep at that moment, still not wearing pants.
Tyler found kaori without too much trouble, as she was standing on the rocky edge of the stream. as he approached he heard a splash and a satisfied gotcha in Kaori's voice. When he came around a large rock he saw the blonde pulling in a rather large rock bass, take the hook out, and toss it in to a nearby bucket with three other similar-sized bass. She was rebaiting the hook when Tyler got her attention,
"Hey Barbie, guess your doing alright for yourself!"
She turned with a wave,
"yeah the fish really like crickets here!"
he went to stand beside her,
"Hey where's Malico?"
Tyler smiled at the thought of what the catgirl must be up to right at that moment,
"She said she wanted to hang by herself and keep an eye on camp for a bit"
Kaori's eyes narrowed at the news, and noticed the still noticeable tent down under, but let it go, as she figured Malico would tell her of what happened at some point, if only to brag.
"Well, that’s good I guess, since it's probably not a good idea to leave the camp unguarded. Anyway, what’s up? You need something or just here to stare?"
Tyler grinned at the suspicious blonde,
"and what if i said I came to stare?"
Kaori blushed, and stammered,
"W-well I'd call you a pervert and probably whack you,"
He leaned in and glanced at her, further adding to her blush,
"Is that all?"
He said in a seductive tease, She blinked and gulped, her grip on the pole causing it to tremble in the water, She tried to keep her hands steady, but couldn't and her breathing was ragged at the lewd teasing he was putting her through,
"W-w-what the hell? Where is this coming from?"
Tyler chuckled,
"what the two of you are competing for my attention right? so why can't I tease you a little?"
kaori's heart skipped a beat at his closeness, but before she could respond, he stepped behind her and placed his own hands on the pole in-between Her’s,
"Oh and another thing kaori,"
She could feel his breath on her neck, and it was sending her heart into overdrive,
"W-What?"
Her voice was shaking at the rush of feelings and sensations, Tyler’s grip on the fishing pole before them tightened,
"I believe we got....A BITE!"
and he heaved on the pole with a massive yank, pulling both the pole, kaori and a ten foot-long pike out of the water all at once. The sheer force of Tyler’s yank sent the large fish securely onto the bank of the river with no hope of returning to the water. As for Tyler and kaori, Tyler landed on his back, and Kaori landed on him, ending eye to eye and nearly mouth to mouth with the boy. Her face was beat red as she saw her position, gazing directly into the boy who she loved eyes, mere inches from her own. They could feel each other's breath on their faces, and the hammering of each others' heartbeats. kaori could also feel another sensation, below both their belts. Kaori panicked, but as she went to push off him, he stopped her with a hand on her face,
"wait a second, I want to say something,"
She Stopped moving and just stared into his eyes,
"What?”
her voice a soft whisper, he spoke with a sparkling softness in both his gaze and voice,
"Well I just wanted to say thanks for always having my back way back when. and that I hope you continue to do so in the future, as i fully plan to have yours."
Kaori placed her hand on his, her green eyes sparkling in the light reflected of the stream,
"I will always have your back Tyler, I love you."
He smiled, and pulled her back down against him and wrapped his arms around his dearest friend in any world. She didn't react act first, but then wrapped her own arms around the man who was her entire world, her safety blanket, and her strength. The pair stayed like that for a little bit, before both sighing and going to collect the pike before animals did. Tyler carried the heavy creature while Kaori brought the pole and bait. As they returned to camp, kaori felt the need to ask,
"so, what was up with you flirting with me like that earlier? You've never seemed the type."
Tyler chuckled,
"Well I got to beautiful girls vying for my attention, so I figured I have some fun too. I mean I'm the one who gets teased, so why couldn't I do some teasing of my own? Did you not like it?"
kaori blushed and rather snapped back
"I DID like it for your information, I just wish you'd do it more!!!"
She was yelling before she realized it, and when she did, she looked away blushing yet again and embarrassed. Tyler sighed,
"Look kaori, I feel like i need to say this, and I should probably say this to Malico too, I don't know what the two of you are going to do to get my attention, and frankly i don't really care, since I'm certain I'll like it. But I'd like to return the favor somehow, so if you'd like me to keep something in mind, like say a back rub, or flirting or something else entirely let me know okay?"
Kaori looked shocked at this, then remembered how used to putting other's people before himself, like that time he rescued that girl in the hallway. He's probably asking so he can get a piece, or he's still not used to it yet I should ask Malico if we can do something. Her mind set on a plan of action she focused on her companion,
"Well if your offering, then how bout you rub my shoulders after dinner? That poles murder."
Tyler smiled and nodded.
Quite the sight awaited the returning pair: Malico was sound asleep naked from the waist down, her arms and legs spread-eagled, her shorts hung on a nearby bush, her large breasts rising and falling with every breath. Her tail was strung out between her legs, and the grass seemed distinctively matted in places. Tyler smiled at the highly erotic sight, knowing exactly what had happened, Kaori had a decidedly more active response to the shameless catgirl's pose.
"Are You KIDDING ME?"
Malico came back to life with a resounding bang. Seeing kaori and Tyler staring at her sans pants, Tyler smiling like he'd won the lottery behind Kaori's back, and kaori furious at being shown up with sheer sex appeal in front of him, Malico's eyes grew large. Kaori dropped the pole and bait, and hauled the half-naked girl to her feet, disgusted at the sweat-like liquid on the catgirl’s arms,
"What the HELL? While we're busy catching food for dinner you're here jerking off? seriously what the hell?!!!"
Kaori was pissed, not just at Malico's open sexiness and lewdness, but by how entranced Tyler had been at the sight, I SHOULD'VE TRIED THAT MYSELF!!! There was no trace of the prude and proper girl her father had tried to force her into becoming, now she was a sexy hotblooded woman. Tyler smiled at Kaori admonishing the still exhausted catgirl,
"Well, ladies, I got to take care of our catches, so I'll leave you to it!"
Malico whined at the thought of being left alone with an irate kaori,
"Uhh, Hey wait I want to help too! Hey Tyler let me help! Please?"
whatever he was about to say was washed away by Kaori, who had a different idea,
"Alright kittycat, Bath time! You get no food until you clean that mess of your skin! And I am gonna make sure you do! Come on!"
Kaori grabbed the girls' ankles and forcibly dragged her back down to a deeper part of the stream. Malico dug her hands into the ground pleading with the blonde as they went. Tyler laughed, having thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. He then turned his attention to the fish.
He gutted and cleaned the fish and set them to roasting on the newly lit fire, before starting the casting process for his upgraded Protective Warning. Whereas it had originally been effective at fifty meters, and would only give a direction of the incoming threat, Tyler had upgraded the spell in it's License to both increase it's effective range from fifty meters to a hundred meters, and when a threat enters the field, it would now show an image of the threat on a clear flat surface bound as the spells anchor. Tyler used the inside of the tent for the anchor, as last time, they had been ambushed in the wee hours of the morning. Though for Tyler the more important reason was the driving off of the insect life from the spot. He finished the spell and the fish wouldn't be ready for another ten minutes, so to check on the girls, as it was getting dark and the stream was within the hundred meters. As he neared their bathing site he heard them yelling at someone or something. Tyler took off like chained lightning as soon as he heard a loud hissing noise not belonging to either of the girls. He was treated to a nerve wracking scene upon his arrival, Kaori and Malico were caught on the other side of the stream, both buckass naked as a massive lizard-like creature approached them. It was between ten and fifteen meters in length, stood about two meters tall. The creature resembled a massive Komodo dragon from his old world. What the thing was didn't matter as it was stalking the helpless girls; kaori's katana and other weapons on this side of the bank, along with Malico's chosen weapons, a large set of long daggers called dirks, and her bow. Malico was bravely standing between the large lizard and Kaori, who was bleeding pretty badly from an unseen wound. Tyler tore his bow from his back, he didn't have the time to cross this section of the stream which was deep and fast flowing . He nocked three arrows to his string, and chanting a quick spell, called ChainShot, he let fly all three at once. The shafts hit the large beast as it lunged at Malico, who had tripped on a branch during her retreat, knocking it to the ground with a bulldozing impact. Tyler already had another set of shafts, and this time switched to another spell, Piercing RainDrop, coating the arrowheads in a slight wetness, it's intent was to add penetrating power to the heads. Again he let fly, and the shafts buried themselves in the side of the monsters head, one even hit the eye, sinking nearly to the flighted end of the shaft in the creatures skull. This time when the animal fell it did not get back up. He raced to kaori's side, crossing the stream in a sheer panic, the sight of her blood the only thing on his mind. He crossed the stream and surged up the riverbank to find Kaori, holding her arm, which was bleeding from a two inch cut on her shoulder. Malico was hunched over, panting, her tail drooping in tiredness. Tyler paid her no mind and hurried to Kaori's side,
"Hey! Let me look at it, I'm sorry, I only just finished Protective Warning. I'm sorry I wasn't here. Here i can heal it."
It was clear he was in full-blown panic mode at the sight of his dear Kaori bleeding from a wound he hadn't been there to prevent. Kaori was flattered at his fear for her, but she was a little miffed at being treated like a helpless damsel in distress. Tyler gently extended her arm, causing her to wince in pain, triggering another furious round of self-deprecating apologies. Kaori sighed, knowing full well she'd have to wait to talk to him until he'd finished healing her and returned to his senses. Tyler's mana flared to life, giving off its usual blue-white glow, as he cast the spell Divine Care, which not only would heal the wound without leaving a scar behind but would also purge any poison or infection in the body. Kaori watched as the long cut closed over, leaving her arm soft and smooth once more. with the crisis ended, Tyler turned to the still panting Malico,
"Are you hurt at all? What happened and where the hell did that thing come from?"
Malico rose up, her naked breasts bouncing from the movement,
"I think we can tell the tale back in the safety of camp, wouldn't you agree?"
Tyler and kaori both nodded. Tyler took up a spot on a nearby rock with his bow ready, another set of three shafts set on the string, as the girls wearily crossed the stream. Tyler also kept eyeing the corpse of the one he had brought down, mentally tallying to cost fo bringing just one of them down, lets see, six arrows, and a set of enhancement spells for each volley of three. Quite a tough customer. I wish it were brighter out so I could get a proper look at it. as it were though the sun had fully set by the time the trio returned to camp. Tyler removed the now ready fish from the fire before they burned and laid them out on a flat stone near the still naked girls, who had not even redressed yet, tired and hungry as they were. Tyler handed them the largest of the fish and grabbed a blanket for the pair. They accepted the blanket graciously, wrapping it around themselves, before setting on the cooked fish. Tyler passed them skewers of meat until they stopped taking them and handed them a mug each of ale for their frayed nerves. After they had taken a sip each, he asked again,
"What happened?"
kaori spoke first, regaining her strength in the face of Tyler's quiet confidence and the reassuring presence of the flickering flames.
"Well me and Malico reached the streamside. She had whined the whole way and refused to get in. So after I stripped her, and undressed I dragged her in. I had just finished cleaning that gunk off her skin when we heard a branch crack on the shoreline near our clothes. Of course we thought it was you sneaking a peek on us, which I'm surprised you didn't do by the way, and I went to clean her rack and she looked over my shoulder and screamed. I'm amazed you didn't hear her, it was that loud,"
Here she stopped speaking to sip her ale. I probably was deep in my casting of Protective Warning, that plus a forests natural muffling of sounds there's no way I could of heard a gunshot at that distance let alone a scream Malico took up the narrative, shaking him from his musings.
"I noticed the Wyvern, that’s what that thing is, and screamed, I must of startled it cause swiped us with it's claws, and kaori saved us by shoving us to the ground. Unfortunately it scratched her arm, and was between us and our weapons. I grabbed her and carried her across the stream and we barely managed to make it up the bank again before it cornered us again. Kaori's arm was paralyzed by the creature's claws and wouldn't be able to move for much longer, so I tried to buy time until you arrived. Which was nearly immediately after I made that choice."
She shuddered at just how close to death she had come. Tyler sat there with a thoughtful look on his face,
"So that's what a Wyvern looks like in this world. Thank you Malico...."
Exhausted from her one person pleasure session, plus the adrenaline rush of a Wyvern attack coupled with the warm food, ale and fire, the cat had passed out on her seat. Tyler chuckled at the brave girl. kaori was in better shape, but was still shaky on her feet, so Tyler carried the softly snoring catgirl to the tent and tucked the still naked girl into the bedroll. As he did so, she rolled on her side and whispered, "Thank you"
in a still asleep voice. As Tyler left the tent, he smiled at the girl,
"Anytime"
He returned to kaori who was still sitting by the fire. As he sat beside the blanket shrouded girl, she nuzzled into his arm, and he wrapped his arm around her pulling the scared girl close. after a moment she started speaking in a small scared voice,
"So, that is what we're gonna fight a clan of?"
Tyler sighed,
"Looks like it. In the morning I'll take a closer look at the beast and come up with a battle plan. I already have a few ideas on how to deal with them, but the body will tell me more."
kaori snuggled against him,
"I figured you would, you always know just what to do in a fight."
She still seemed frightened, but not of the monster
"Hey kaori?"
"Hrmm?"
"are you okay? Is there something else wrong?"
She shivered, but not from the cold.
"Tyler, I have a confession."
He held the girl tightly,
"Okay"
She spoke in the still scared voice,
"While we were trying to get away from the beast, after Malico screamed, I figured you would come flying through the forest like a bat outta hell, and I was sure the Monster would be in the drivers seat so enraged would you be. But you didn't come. YOU DIDN'T COME. Then I started losing the feeling in my arms and legs. Malico and I were helpless, naked and you were nowhere to be found. I started to think it had already got you, or that you had abandoned us. Abandoned ME. And that thought hurt more then you could ever know. worse then any pain. I was about to give up entirely when ChainShot hit."
She was crying, large tears streaking down her face as she gasped out the words, her entire frame heaving to the might of her sobs. Tyler threw his arms around the heartbroken girl, silently vowing to exterminate every single one of the creatures that had made her cry. He stroked her long blonde hair, rocking back and forth as she cried.
"Shhhh, Its okay I'm here now, I'm here."
He repeated the lines over and over until she grew silent, finally lifting her head to look him in the eyes. Inspite of himself, he couldn't help but find her extraordinarily beautiful like that, with her green eyes shining from tears in the fire light, her blanket cloak huddled around her modest frame, the firelight dancing along her beautiful blonde hair. she seemed so vulnerable and small like that, he both loved it, and loathed to see her so broken. He took her by the face and brought till they were eye to eye, "Kaori listen to me. I will NEVER abandon you. I swear it. Do not ever think that again okay? I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU, EVER."
His voice like a hammer with the force he put behind it. Her eyes sparkled, but not from tears this time as he continued,
"I will never abandon you and I WILL always come for you. Every. SINGLE. TIME. I WILL. COME. FOR. YOU. I promise."
She felt relief wash through her like a raging flood. Kaori released a long breath, exorcising all her doubts and fears along with it. She would never lose faith again, in either her hero or if he'd come for her. she laid her head on his shoulder, and he rested his arm around her side, pulling her close. They stayed like that for a few hours, until Kaori had a hard time keeping her eyelids open. Tyler lifted the tired girl in his arms and carried her to the tent. He laid her next to the slumbering Malico, covering her with the blanket. As he turned to go take care of the fire and have his own meal, Kaori grabbed his arm, she looked at him with the cutest set of puppy dog eyes he'd ever seen her use,
"Please stay with me?"
she pleaded, he smiled and laid down beside the still scared girl. She gave a sleepy smile and passed out shortly after. Tyler silently extracted himself from the tent without disturbing either sleeper. Once outside he finished the remainder of the fish and washed it down with the remainder of the ale. He placed the dishes on a tree, intending to wash them in the morning. He then put out the fire with a pile of earth to prevent sparks. Checked and double checked the Protective Warning spell was both active AND clear. and decided to turn in. He used the mana Lantern and as he climbed into the tent he saw that, in their sleep, Malico had embraced the sleeping Kaori like a mother would her sleeping child, and kaori had snuggled into Malico's ample bosom. Tyler smiled as he removed his own equipment. He laid down on the fireside of Kaori and put his arm over her and Malico, like a protective barrier over the blonde. Oblivion was on his other side in easy reach as always. Tyler drifted off to sleep with the sound of the girls soft breathing in his ears, and the sweet scent of kaori's skin in his nose.
DAYS UNTIL WAVE; 67.

The trio slept dreamlessly, only waking after the morning sun had started leaking through the slits in the entrance. Malico was the first one to awaken. As she open her eyes, she was shocked to see kaori with her face buried in her mountainous cleavage, her pretty face practically sandwiched between the flesh melons. Malico was surprised at how peaceful she looked with another woman’s breasts in her face, before she noticed that Tyler was still asleep on Kaori's other side. That's when the catgirl noticed that both her and Tyler's arms were wrapping the blonde between them like parents sheltering there child after she's had a nightmare. Well I guess we both did have a nasty fright yesterday. Malico let kaori off the hook for using her rack as pillows to hide in, and turned to examine the sleeping Tyler. He was breathing softly, still apparently deep in sleep. occasionally his eyes would twitch, indicating he was dreaming. I'm curious to see what HE dreams about. She hadn't forgotten his attack on her poor boobs yesterday, and even the mere memory made her loins inch, but she did kinda wish he'd do it again. I can't tell him THAT though, as god knows what'll happen the NEXT time. She sighed quietly, wishing he would fondle her again, albeit more gently next time. As she sighed she saw his eye pop open and stare directly into her soul. The catgirl froze, nervous as to what that menacing look was about. Before it softened and he rose gingerly from the still asleep kaori, as to not wake her. Malico breathed a sigh of relief the blazing single-eyed gaze had left her. I guess that was the Monster's gaze? maybe first thing it's in control until the REAL Tyler wakes up and retakes command. either way that was scary! Malico was about to rise as well, but the sleeping kaori had other plans. She nuzzled further into Malico's chest and fully-asleep, took one of the busty woman's large nipples in her mouth and started suckling like an infant. Malico was not prepared for this, as along with their tails, A Nekoplesian's breasts were extremely sensitive to stimulation. And Malico’s' were no exception. As kaori continued suckling, Malico's breathing became increasingly labored as she fought against her body's reaction to Kaori's soft wet mouth. The poor catgirl had no other choice but to take it, since kaori had wrapped her arms and her legs around the taller woman, effectively holding her hostage as she took advantage.
Outside sadly unaware of the wonderfully yuri scene taking place inside the tent, Tyler was patrolling the borders of the Warning spell, checking for signs of trouble. Finding none he went and relit the fire, and started on breakfast while to two women slept{As far as he was aware they were!} He had finished the toast and was about to start opening a jar of preserved strawberries, when he remembered he had a small jar of pancake batter he had gotten from the kitchen back at the village in his pack. so he crept back into the tent to retrieve it, when he heard a loud sucking sound and glanced over to see kaori, sound asleep, sucking Malico's huge nipples! He froze unsure what to do, and unwilling to interrupt the sexy scene. As he stared with fascination at the scene, he heard a muffled moan and saw that Malico was indeed wide awake during Kaori's sleep-suck. Malico's eyes were streaming tears as she fought her body, desperately trying to NOT enjoy herself as much as she clearly was, and every so often her hips would buck, then she would force then still. Tyler decided to leave the busty catgirl to her fate at the sleeping kaori, smiled, gave the suffering catgirl a thumbs up, and crept out. Once again wishing for a camera, Tyler set about making breakfast, eagerly awaiting the carnage that was sure to come. Back inside the tent, Malico had watched him reenter, clearly looking for his pack, when he spotted her helpless plight. At first the tall, sexy catgirl was relieved that help had arrived, but her heart sank when she saw how his eyes had lit up, and the clearly approving stare he had on his face, Come on don't enjoy this HELP me! She mentally pleaded, Kaori was driving her insane, and at the rate she was going she wouldn't hold on for much longer. She stared at her only salvation with a pleading look in her eyes, but Tyler simply smiled gave her an approving thumbs up and left the tent, and Malico to kaori's torture. Malico gave up fighting at that point and just went with what her body craved, sliding a hand down below her stomach, she hoped kaori would waken before she reached her spot. alas though...something much much worse happened instead: kaori's hand got there first.
Tyler was setting aside the pancakes he'd just finished making, when there was a loud screaming moan coming from the tent, followed by a surprised yell from kaori, followed by another moaning scream, accompanied by a disgusted scream from kaori. Both girls were screaming at this point, and Tyler went to investigate, figuring on what he would find when he got there. Upon entering the tent, he found a different scene entirely, Malico was gasping for air and twitching, a hand near her stomach, while Kaori was screaming at the taste in her mouth and where it came from, and the glistening liquid on her fingers, and where that had come from and how it got there. All in all it was a lot of screaming first thing in the morning, Tyler wasn’t' sure where to begin, so simply went with,
"Hey breakfast’s almost ready sooo, yeah, wash up."
Tyler ducked out of the tent, the chaos inside way above his paygrade. He went back to the task of preparing the food. He added the strawberries to the pancakes, and set some tasty bacon to sizzling on a flat rock near the coals, we eat a lot of bacon, now that i think of it, maybe we should stock up on other stuff when we hit Dragul.
Inside the tent the ladies had recovered themselves enough to properly discuss the morning's events. After hearing how happy she had seemed to be sucking on another woman's breasts, plus her hand gestures, kaori wasn't sure whether to feel ashamed, disgusted or both. She did however apologize profusely the abused catgirl. Malico had initially laughed at her apologies, before turning serious,
"Look Kaori, There's something I want to ask you. so please be honest okay?"
kaori nodded
"Sure"
Malico took a breath,
"What were you dreaming of at the end there? You seemed to go from suckling child to girl-loving in an instant. So I'm naturally curious"
kaori blushed a deep shade of red at the thought of her dream, but the honest blonde answered truthfully,
"Us,"
"Hrm?"
Malico tilted her head, unsure of what she just heard,
"US, In was dreaming of the three of us, in a single bed, going at it, and I guess at the end there, I was focusing on you a lot so..."
Malico smiled at the raging pervert behind those seemingly prim and proper green eyes.
"Oh just us? Well the I guess I can let it slide.....on one condition."
Kaori looked up at the leering catgirl,
"What is it?”
She asked in a trembling voice,
"You have to tell me everything the three of us did to each other in that dream of yours, with exacting detail, oh and we both have to be naked when we do so, understood?"
kaori's eyes grew wide at the conditions of her surrender, and simply nodded.
"wonderful! now lets go get fed and get cleaned!"
Malico rose and dragged the internally confused girl to her feet and lead her outside. Both girls walked out naked, planning on bathing after the meal anyway. Tyler watched the alluring pair walk out hand in hand,
"Well, glad everyone survived, come on eat up! I want to check out that corpse before the scavengers get it.”
The trio ate the good food in silence, each with their own thoughts; Tyler running down a checklist of blanks he needed fill from the Fallen wyvern, Malico recalling the mornings events, and eagerly waiting for when she could interrogate the beautiful shy blonde about her wild side, and Kaori wonder whether she liked girls or boys or both, and what that would mean with Tyler. Whatever she was, she was certain he'd only offer support and strength, but the phrase what if kept bouncing around her head. meanwhile, Tyler was discussing Wyverns with the naked busty catgirl, running through yesterdays attack, from when it first appeared to, to the sounds it made, to the way it moved, if it's eye followed them like a persons or if it turned it's whole head. Malico answered the questions to the best of her ability, knowing that the more information she fed this strategic genius, the safer the plan he was no doubt formulating in his head that much more effective.
After the meal, the girls headed off to the deeper stream to try to wash the morning away, only this time Tyler followed them, both to protect them while bathing and clean the camps dishes. As the girls splashed the refreshing water over their beautiful bodies, Tyler finished cleaning duties, and drew Oblivion and started across the stream to where the corpse was. The girls both hollered for him to be careful, to which he swung Oblivion in a affirmative manner. Satisfied their hero had heard them, they promptly resumed splashing. Tyler reached the corpse after climbing the bank. As this was still within the Protective Warning's Area Of Effect, neither Bugs nor scavengers had been able to reach the dead monster. Tyler went straight to the monster's primary defenses: it's scales and swung Oblivion into the scales on the beasts side where they should be thickest and the hardest. Oblivion bit deep into the beasts corpse, slicing through the thick scales and skin with ease. Tyler was mildly surprised at the depth of the cut, he had fully expected Oblivion to be able to cut the beast to ribbons. Next he did a sharpness test with the beasts claws., again using Oblivion as his bar, he dragged a rock across all the beasts claws on both back and front feet, wincing at the sound. Apparently a Wyvern could slice clean through a two inch rock. That discovery gave him an idea, and so he removed all the animals claws, intending to sell them as cutting tools at the next village. He next moved to the beasts head. It was about a meter and a half long, and about a half meter tall at it's biggest. It still had the six shafts sticking out from when Tyler had killed it. He cut the beasts throat with Oblivion just to be absolutely sure the creature was well and truly dead before inspecting it's teeth. They were between one and three inches long at their longest. They were curved backward as well, meant for a sadistic grip designed to never left go. Tyler again preformed his battery of tests of strength, sharpness, and potential killing power. As Tyler was examining the creature, he heard approaching footsteps, but relaxed when he heard Kaori's voice,
"Hey Tyler! You still up here?"
Tyler stood up from where he'd been inspecting the scales on the beasts' head,
"Yeah over here ladies. This thing is a nasty piece of work."
He replied to the still naked ladies as they approached, and as they got nearer he noticed a small patch of blonde hair between Kaori's thighs, while Malico was bald. strange what one can notice without intending to The ladies stopped about five feet from the dead creature, seeing the results of Tyler's tests. The beast was effectively butchered by Tyler’s tests, the legs were cut to the bone and beyond, the tail severed, the stomach pierced and emptied so he could understand it's diet, the claws and teeth removed and stored in pouches nearby. At the sight of these, Malico picked one up,
"Hey, Malico, can we sell those for anything?"
She shook the bag, before replying,
"sure, I think the merchants buy these for fifty copper a pouch. Although the meat is where the money's at."
"The meat? you can eat these things?"
Malico squirmed with delight at the thought of Wyvern steak,
"OH Yes, you can eat them, they're one of the great tastes of Lectis. they say if you fry then coat the meat in butter and then fry it in oil, it turns a crispy brown color with a divine crunch and a taste like heaven itself. The meat on the side is good too, so is the tail, legs, basically the entire animal, really. You can even harvest the glades in it's feet that produce the paralyzing agent and sell it to any alchemists shop for at least thirty silver, or if your clever and have the skills, you can refine into your own paralyze poison. The creatures a pretty sought after gold mine, but since their such a pain in the ass to actually hunt down and kill, their considered both a royal delicacy and exclusive noble-hunted animal. I wish i could taste it though."
Tyler smiled,
"Hey kaori, head back to camp and get the butchery gear please, and then could you help with this? We gonn eat good tonight!"
Kaori smiled and shot off for the camp, eager to add to their supplies, and show off her knife work to the better endowed catgirl. Malico was a little worried at the prospect of butchering an animal normally reserved for nobles and royalty for themselves,
"Ahh hey Tyler, I don't think this is a good idea, wyverns are exclusive to nobility, so we are not really supposed to take the meat and stuff, we could get in a lot of trouble with the crown if they found out." Tyler jumped down from his position the beasts back,
"The crown already hates me and kaori for killing the knight commander, so i don't really care what he thinks or his court for that matter. All I care about is kaori and you, the others can go fuck themselves for all I care."
Malico blinked at this news,
"Wait what? you killed commander Gruven?"
Her voice quivering, Tyler looked at the devastated catgirl now on the verge of crying, he sighed and explained the full story of the Day of Summoning, the pope and his play for kaori and the commander's fate at Tyler’s hand.
"So I took his sword to a smith and he turned into Oblivion for me and Dawn or kaori."
Upon hearing the full story, Malico sat against a tree,
"Hey can you give me a minute please? I need to think."
Tyler nodded and returned to his bloody task of cleaning and prepping the animal for butcher. Tyler was harvesting the glands from the creatures feet with his Sgian Dao, when Kaori returned with rags, cloths and the butchery kit. She was also clad{FINALLY}in a white coverall as to not get blood on herself. As she reached him, he removed the organ, a translucent, basketball-sized mound of flesh. Carefully he deposited it into a nearby bucket kaori had placed beside him. He then went and retrieved the other three organs. As he did so, kaori used the knowledge gifted to her by her uncle to start carving strips of meat and wrapping them for transport on horseback. Malico had not yet stirred from her spot beneath the tree, as she watched the pair quickly and efficiently dismantle the much larger creature into travel sized portions, she sorted through her complicated emotions. Gruven had been like an uncle to her, as he had her grandfather were both former adventurers from the same party, since he himself was a former Warrior himself he had been blessed or cursed with an extended lifespan. One several times longer then all except the demonfolk who were eternal. She'd heard that he had been murdered, and that the culprits had escaped, but that was all she knew. She had cried like a child when she found out. Houndra seemed sad too and had consoled the heartbroken girl. After that Tyler and kaori had came into her life. She had devoted herself to Tyler, only now to find out he'd killed her beloved uncle seemed cruel. as she watched Tyler toss an extra large piece of flesh to a waiting Kaori, a word of warning before he did so, Malico made a decision to forgive the man his actions as he had had no other option, and she knew him well enough by now that if another option had been available he would have taken it. After she made her choice her heart became several times lighter. She surged to her feet, her still naked breasts flopping, and went to help the laboring pair. Only for Tyler and Kaori to yell at her to go get dressed, as they were leaving soon. She pouted,
"But I LIKE being naked. I hate pants!”
Tyler smiled,
"Well put on a long shirt or something, and I’ll call it good. Sound fair? and when we're in camp or an inn room you don't need to wear clothes if you don't want to, but you have to have at least a long shirt on when riding deal?"
Malico nodded, "
Deal!"
and dashed off, her rack flopping and bouncing. Kaori sighed,
"That applies to you too, Kaori, if naked you want to be, be naked."
She spluttered at this, before bursting out laughing at the thought, why not? The pair finished their gruesome task, with enough meat to last for weeks if their were careful. As they brought their haul back to camp, they found Malico running around in a long gown that stopped just below her thighs, of course every time she moved at all the cloth would of course show off her treat. and her tail made it worse. Tyler just shook his head and went with it. kaori did the same. Now fully stocked on rare meats and some trade goods, the pair finished breaking camp, before mounting their horses and setting off again. Tyler once again leading the pack, Kaori to his right, and a nearly naked Malico to his left. together they rode toward the city of Dragul. as they went Malico called out to Tyler,
"Hey I just realized that I don't know where we're going."
Tyler kept his eyes on the road ahead of them as he replied.
"We're headed to the City of Dragul, to meet with it's leader, Valdic Sharpspike. Then we're gonna kill a clan of Wyvern's that have set up shop in the nearby forest."
Malico's eyes grew wide,
"wait, THAT Valdic? In Dragul?!"
Tyler was now high alert at the fear in her voice.
"What's up Malico?"
Her voice quivered with rage as she explained the evil that was Valdic,
"He's a hateful monster, with an open resentment for Tailed people, like NekoPlesians, they say he actively discriminates against them, and deliberately seeks to make them miserable. His city guard are among the most ruthless towards our kind in the country. You'll see, when we arrive, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do things to me. I also heard he earned his second name Sharpspike because he fights with a spear and likes to impale his victims. I even heard he has a collection of tails from those he ruined hanging on his wall."
Tyler and kaori both looked at each other,
"That actually explains a lot, Tyler,"
Tyler was in complete agreement,
"It does answer a few questions, like whether we are actually gonna help this guy or not."
Malico looked confused by his calm words,
"What do you mean?"
Tyler smiled an unpleasant smile,
"Well my dear Malico, the king himself asked us to do this, but we are not holden to him or anyone in this world. I had planned to make my final call upon meeting this guy. But it looks like I won't have to decide then, cause I have already made my call on this matter: Both he and the king can go fuck themselves. We'll still go to the city, so i can tell him to his face."
Malico was shocked at how easily he'd made the choice to blow off a direct request to the king. "B-B-but, this is a request from the king himself! Are you gonna seriously blow him off like that? I mean the guy's a monster, but are you sure?"
There was not a shred of doubt in his voice as he replied,
"I don't give a flying fuck who they are, you got a problem with my friends, then I don't need you. I don't need the kings support, I don't need him to like me or my methods, and I certainly don't have to do anything for either him or the crown or the country for that matter. All I need is right here, with you two, on the road going where we will. Everyone else can fuck right off."
Malico was speechless, at this point kaori felt the need to explain something to Malico,
"Listen, Malico, we're still gonna kill those wyverns, but we'll do it because WE want to, not for a raving racist, or a king that endorses one. Right now Tyler's really, really pissed. So the only thing you need to worry about IS PUTTING A FRIGGIN PAIR OF PANTS ON, when we reach the city. We'll all tell him to fuck off, Tyler will terrify the pompous asshole, and we'll be on our merry way. Oh hey Tyler? Does that mean our original plan went out the window?"
Tyler nodded,
"Sadly it appears so, don't worry I'm working on it"
Kaori turned back to the busty catgirl,
"Our original plan was to set up shop in Dragul, and join the local adventurer’s guild, but we've abandoned that plan since we don't support racists or the cities that have them as leaders."
Malico was touched,
"Awww thanks guys,"
Kaori pulled Gloss up next to her,
"Between you and me,"
She said in low tone,
"three things, One: I'm betting that the Monster makes an appearance when meeting with Valdic, two: Tyler will make the guy piss or shit himself or both, and Three: I think he just likes having your rack around!"
Malico went red in the face at the last thing but before she could smack the dirty-minded blonde, Kaori had deftly moved Gloss back to her original spotted on Tyler's right, keep both him and Thunder between her and the red-faced cat. Malico gave a very-cat like growl,
"Ohhh you better watch out Blondie! I know where you sleep! maybe I'll return the fun from this morning tonight!”
Tyler perked up at the thought,
"Haha, Now's that's something I'd PAY to see!"
"SHUT UP"
A pair of wacks from both women left his cheeks red, he still chuckled at the pair of blushing beauties, "worth it, totally worth it"
He received a pair of glares for that one. They rode in silence for a while, but stopped when the city wall came into view. Tyler got down from Thunder and pulled the looking glass{This world's version of Binoculars} and peered at the city Wallgate. Kaori and Malico dismounted as well. Malico grumbled as she put her cutoff short shorts, leather crop top, and fingerless gloves on, but she still went barefoot, which Tyler didn't care about as much as the pants. Kaori walked over to the scouting Warrior,
"Well how bad is it?"
Tyler sighed as he handed the device to the pretty blonde. as kaori looked though the single long tube, which used the mana of it's user to provide a picture off a far off image and make see like your right there just without sound, she watched as guards would tear the clothes off Tailed women, who were wearing a large metal collar, then either grope them, or drag the poor woman around a corner out of sight, usually four or five guards would follow. Sometimes the woman would walk back under her own power, albeit very unsteadily, like every step was painful, or she wouldn’t and the guards would come back with extremely satisfied looks on their flushed faces. kaori watched the scene of wanton evil, as Tailed women of every and all ages were subjected to the horrors of humanity. While the women were taken, the men were viciously beaten and held at spear point as they could quite clearly hear the screams of their loved ones. But most appallingly, was the fact that even more Tailed people were entering the city then leaving which spoke volumes about the business dealings of the city, as most of the new arrivals were clothed in chains, and nothing else.
"Tyler do we have to go in there? Can't we just leave?”
Kaori was crying at the sight of such evil. Tyler sighed,
"I at least have to, but I do not want either of you near the place. If you feel like you can't stomach this, either of you, then head back to our old campsite and I'll deal with this. I'll head back after I’m done and we can wash our hands of this place."
As he spoke he opened his HUD and poured a full hundred and fifty points into strength, speed and agility. He then armed himself with Oblivion, his bow, quiver, and Sgian Dao. He had a look of stone on his face, and an enraged fire in his eyes. As he climbed back on to Thunder, he patted the massive warhorse,
"Alright big boy, I need you had your most intimidating, we're walking into a den of evil, and I want even my horse to scare them, understand?"
Thunder tossed his solid black head, and neighed.
"That's my boy"
He was about to set off, when Malico mounted her horse Night, and caught up to him,
"I'm coming with you! he needs to learn that there are some People of the Tail that he can't bully!"
Tyler nodded approvingly, proud of her courage. kaori, who was by far the gentlest one of the pair, also rode up on Gloss, her voice trembled but she continued regardless,
"I'll come too. I need to see how bad it is in the city proper."
Tyler looked at her steadily,
"kaori, we can't help then. At least not right now, I can't slaughter an entire city head on just yet."
kaori nodded, a fire in her eyes, "I know, but we WILL save them, eventually, when we have the power. and when we do, GODS HELP THEM BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE COULD!"
She was rally fired up, Tyler was smiling at his kind companion,
"well that’s the spirit, but try to save the heroics until then? Please?"
she nodded. and the grim-faced travelers headed for the City Of Endless Tears. As the rode, Tyler dug out the King's letter, and used his Warrior's HUD to have his insignia as a Warrior show on his chest. It was a feature he had found when exploring the interface, it was to proudly proclaim him a Warrior to those who didn't know what they looked like. His insignia was a Racing black wolf with a dragon overhead, and fields of dead enemies beneath the wolf's paws. Kaori also had an insignia, and her's was a rising sun at dawn, with the sun's rays being vicious spikes pointed in all directions. Malico didn't have an insignia as she was not a Warrior, but as she was a Warrior's Companion she got a mark on her chest as well. It was the same mark as Tyler's signifying her and his bond of companionship. The marks only appeared when activated in the HUD and were invisible otherwise, useful for both brazen door-throwing entrances and undercover work. Now the trio approached the checkpoint and they could now fully make out the screams, begging, and other sounds of humanity at play. Tyler took a moment to inspect the walls, mentally comparing them to the ones at Term. Term's were far taller, and far better maintained, as evident cracks in the foundation of the walls that even Tyler could see at this distance from them were clear signs of neglect. heh, somehow that's rather fitting, a city so rotten at it's heart is also rotting the skin as well. They approached the Wallgate, and were immediately assailed by the guard, who both stopped them and tried to pull Malico from her horse before noticing her mark on her chest as a Warrior's Companion. The guards released her and she righted herself, but not before one guard lost an arm to a slash from Oblivion's blade. Tyler had not hesitated, cleaving the man's arm off without blinking. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain, and as the guards surrounded Tyler. Tyler was scarily calm, has he pointed to his chest, and the same mark on his chest that was on Malico's. The guards shuffled nervously, but remained in formation, made brave by sheer weight of numbers. Kaori was rubbing an extremely irate Malico, Kaori was behind her, and Tyler in front of her, sandwiching her between them. Tyler watched as a tall man with a large handlebar mustache made his way through the guards, who parted for him. As the seemingly important man caught sight of Malico clearly being defended by a pair of Warriors, he frowned in disapproval,
"Oh My, not good simply not good at all."
He spoke in the polished tone of one used to speaking done to others.
"This simply won't do at all, our city has rules for such vermi-"
"Let me stop you right there jackass,"
Tyler cut the man off in a voice so cold, that even the girls behind him shuddered. The man huffed, offended,
"I do say, what dreadful language sir, and from a man off such station as a Warrior no less. Well thats what happens when you associate with the vermi-argggg!”
Tyler had slung a rock and hit the man in the ear, ripping it off,
"I SAID STOP"
Tyler was done listening, and had struck first. The now one-eared man, looked in abject horror at the first person who had both dared to strike a man of his station, and defended a Tailed vermin at the same time. Tyler lifted the letter from the king over his head, and roared his message to the surrounding onlookers,
"I AM HERE TO GRANT AN AUDENCE WITH VALDIC, AND NO ONE ELSE. FETCH HIM SO I CAN GET THE STINK THIS CITY OUT OF MY NOSE."
The man, thinking he was now backed up by the power of the cities leader since Tyler had called for him, began speaking again,
"If you would like to see the Viscount, that's what he's called here by the way since I figured yo didn't know from your clear lack of wise company, You'll have to leave that verm---"
He trailed of at the rapidly-losing-his-patience Warrior's ice-cold gaze. Tyler was on the verge of calling the Monster and slaughtering every guard in sight, when a runner pushed through the crowd.
"Make way!! Make Way! I bring a message ball from the Viscount himself! make way Make way."
The runner finally fought his way through, falling on his face at Thunder's large hooves. The horse simply looked at the new arrival with evident disdain in his brown gaze. The runner was a scraggly looking youth, with sand colored hair, and as Tyler noticed him picking himself up from the ground, a large scar running up his back. Now Tyler knew a thing or too about scars, as he had a few himself, and he knew there was only one way and only one place that could leave such a scar behind. Guess we know where the Reaper and his crew came from The youth repeated his announcement, and went to hand the one-eared man the message ball, but Tyler grabbed it first by vaulting from Thunder's back grabbing the crystal, and climbed back up into the saddle in the space of four to five seconds. The youth was now instantly terrified that his job had not been completed, which meant a savage beating from the viscount later, but Tyler activated the ball thus revealing the Viscount sitting in his throne room, peering into the paired ball. The viscount seemed to be in his middle years, with short balding hair, a pudgy face and bulldog like features, and from what Tyler could see of the rest of the hideous man in the ball, he was also fat to. Tyler sighed as he spoke first,
"Well, I guess that makes sense. Hey kaori, haven't we seen this movie somewhere? You know the one, where the main bad guy looked like he got hit with a frying pan and was a major dick to everyone because of it?"
kaori was also on the verge of laughing,
"Oh, I remember that one! But I think you're looking for the Penguin, or maybe that mayor from that one about the schoolgirls in the mental ward. You remember?"
Tyler smiled at her pop culture knowledge,
"Good call Barbie!"
As they were laughing, The pudgy man cleared his throat and finally started speaking, his voice a repulsive whine that instantly killed the mood,
"Well if you're quite finished, then can get down to business."
It was clear he was desperately trying to keep his temper in check, but was losing the battle fast. They're good humor ruined by the piggish man, Tyler looked into the ball, then to the guards,
"Call you're guards back to the walls, and we'll talk....maybe."
The piggly man had no choice, and waved his hand at the ball. The men instantly returned to the Walls, a good forty meters away. The only one who had the gall to remain was the one-eared man,
"Supreme one, I'd like to issue a charge against the Warrior for the crime of assault upon an upstanding citizen, sir,"
He spoke with a servile tone a child used when begging for a toy at the store. The viscount sighed, "Noted captain, and dismissed, you can leave now."
The man, who had been both convinced of both his own vindication by the viscount against insolent Warrior, and his own worth was left humiliated in front of both the Warrior who had mocked his authority, and the tailed girl who he'd defended to do so. He went through eight different color changes before storming off in a offsetting silence. Tyler looked back to kaori, his own gaze reflected in her emerald eyes,
"Well, kaori, does this ring a few bells? or am I losing it?"
She replied sweetly,
"Well Tyler, you never had it to begin with, so there's that! hey Malico,"
The catgirl jumped at her name, as she had been so engrossed in NOT killing the man, turned to the sweetly smiling blonde,
"Yeah what’s up?"
At the sound of the catgirl's voice the viscounts' bald head bulged with a few veins,
"what is a verm-"
Both Tyler and Kaori both ignored the talking crystal ball, to speak with Malico, the greatest insult the viscount could imagine.
"Hey Malico, did we ever tell you about that riverside ambush after we left Term?"
"I think you mentioned it once or twice, I don't think you went into any great detail. Why? What's up?" "well, kitty, I just wanted it fresh in your mind for a while. Tyler'l explain in detail later. Won't cha?"
He gave a thumbs up, before noticing the ball was screaming at him. He turned to the image of the ugly viscount as if just noticing it, Tyler cut across the stream of curses and expletives with a simple yet endlessly infuriating two sentences,
"Oh, you're still here? Sorry, I completely forgot about you for a moment there, so what did you want to talk about?"
If he could explode from rage, the viscount would've right there and right then. as it were though, now that he had the attention of the Warrior, he took a massive breath in his ball-like body to steady himself. Tyler couldn't help but notice the man's remaining hair was sliding off his head, Guess magic can’t fix everything. The viscount, now having regained his composure, began speaking again,
"Well, now then to business. As the king's letter stated, the Wyverns in the eastern forest have been causing trouble for traveling trade between here and Term. Now normally, a gathering of Wyvern's would be cause for celebrating as I’m sure you're aware their meat is a noble's delicacy, the claws and teeth fetch a good price at any smithy or crating shop, the poison glands fetch a hefty price at the alchemists shops and even their eyes have magical, healing, alchemical and Smithing value as well. So the animals are normally hunted for sport and profit."
Tyler took all this in, before turning to Malico, the more experienced of the trio when it's came to Lectis, "Hey kitty, is it true bout the eyes?"
The viscount fumed as Tyler checked with a catgirl rather than take his word. Malico had a thoughtful tone in her voice as she replied,
"Well, the eyes do have value, but not much. I didn't tell you about it as they're easily the least valuable piece of the animal, even after their bones, which make for good spear poles, hafts and handles."
Tyler's eyes lit up with inspiration,
"Malico, my pretty kitty cat, You have just given me a grand idea! I'll tell you later, but first..."
He turned back to the nearly purple faced viscount, who had nearly lost it at the sound of a Warrior calling the catgirl pretty and being sincere with it too! Tyler gestured for the vile man to continue,
"well, as I was saying, it is normally a good thing for a clan to be sighted. So when word reached us, we were excited to send a group of about twenty hunters. Twenty being the standard number for a clan hunt."
Here the Viscount trailed off, as if considering his next words, Tyler could see even in the limited view of the ball, the sheer frustration at men he gave an order to failing to obey his whims. Tyler didn't give the man time to think,
"How many came back under their own power?"
The viscount sighed,
"Not a single one, they came back in boxes. these were experienced hunters, they made their living off hunting Wyverns. so they knew what to expect when facing the beasts."
Tyler's eyes narrowed at the sidelong glance the man sent to the side, as if acknowledging an unseen person. Tyler waved his own hand out of sight of both the Walls and the ball. Both kaori and Malico understood his silent headsup. The viscount continued speaking,
"We then sent a scouting party to figure out what had happened to the hunter party. Only one man returned, bringing word of a Grand Wyvern leading the clan."
Here Malico gasped at the name. Tyler had her move up to peer into the ball and ask her questions, as she was far more knowledgeable then Tyler was. Tyler was there beside her, holding the ball for her to gaze into. The viscount then looked away, refusing even to look at the catgirl, Malico pressed on regardless,
"Are you sure it was a Grand Wyvern?"
The viscount snorted his reply, still not looking at the ball,
"Of course, I'm sure you worthless scu-"
"Oh shut up for gods sake, no one wants to hear it from you,"
Malico stood up for herself, not taking the verbal abuse,
"Seriously dude, chill the hell out. I get it your a hideous excuse of a human, and shorter then most twelve-year-olds, but still that doesn't give you the right be such an ass to everyone just cause he have to look up to look them in the eye."
The viscount went disturbingly quiet, only uttering a single sentence to the catgirl, "Know your place, Furspick."
Malico’s tail shot straight up at the word. Malico was about to launch into an earsplitting tirade, but Tyler put his hand on her shoulder, and shook his head at the enraged catgirl. She had a look of disbelief on her face, before noticing his own expression. She wisely leaned back into her saddle, and allowed him to handle the despicable man. The viscount had a look of smug triumph as Malico’s face receded, and Tyler's reappeared in the ball.
"Now that the trash is gone we can continu-"
"Go fuck yourself pig"
Tyler was done with the man and his city,
"I know what, and where the problem in this city is and it isn't Wyvern's. It's the sad little man in a chair far far too large for him. Children should know they can't play leader, and they should mind their manners when speaking to their betters. I came to this city to hear what you had to say, and now I've done that. You are on your own, pig. clean up your own mess, like a good child should."
As the man snapped and started raging, Tyler uttered a small spell and channeled into the ball, causing it to explode. He also knew it had exploded with twice the force on the Little man's end as well. He nudged Thunder with his heels and turned the horse back to the road. Malico and Kaori right behind him. Together the trio left the miserable city, and it's raging, bloodied, little leader far behind them. The trio rode back the way they had came silently, only the sound of horse hooves breaking the sullen silence. The friends came to a crossroads that they had passed earlier and Tyler led them down the eastern trail, towards the Wyvern forest. Malico sighed at the direction change,
"So we're gonna help him After all?”
Tyler replied with an edge in his voice,
"No Malico, we're doing this to get on with our travels, for I was planning to head east anyway. This way, we can gather some trade goods, get some more food, and travel in a forest for awhile. I'm kinda tired over grasslands at this point."
Kaori spoke up,
"Malico don't worry, we're doing this to spite the little man. And if it'll make you fell better, either he or that guy at the wall, are going send some men to kill us. then we can kill them. I'm sure that’ll make you happy."
Malico blinked,
"How are you so sure they'll come after us like that?"
Tyler was the one who responded,
"because we are the very embodiment of what they hate. Think about it, their entire system revolves around fear and intimidation. They can get away with it all , cause people are scared of the consequences of disobedience. Now look at us, we rode up, made a scene, crippled a town guard, injured a guard captain, and even injured the viscount himself, all in the space of two hours. And we did it while defending a Tailed person or, and this is the most important thing, fear of the backlash. We were not afraid. That kind of thing can go miles in terms of inspiring people. In our world, wars were won not from the charging of the frontlines, but by the efforts of resistance fighters. we have a country called France in our world, that, during a world war, surrendered without basically lifting a finger to fight back in the beginning. The war lasted five or so years, and upwards of six hundred million people died on both sides. The important part? Some of the most legendary stories from that era come from the French resistance. They made life miserable for the occupying forces by sabotaging everything from vehicles and transports, to screwing with an area's power grid. Now the reason for the history lesson is simple, if you show people what true courage and bravery is, then they will stand. That bastard is going to have a hell of a time going back to normal after our stunt."
Little did Tyler know how true his words were, for even before the dust had settled from the trio's exit from the area, fifteen resistance groups were formed, under the single banner of the Black Wolf and Dragon. The viscount found himself fighting a war in the streets of his city, all thanks to three people, who hadn't even set foot properly inside the front gate.
The trio rode until sunset before making camp. This time, unfortunately there was no nearby river or stream. But there was a large rock face, with plenty of space to lay down on. The rockface had been facing the sun for most of the, and so was hot to the touch. Tyler decided to have the tent pitched against the side of the large rock wall. This time, Kaori set up the tent, while Malico went and tended the horses. Another thing that was different, was that as soon as they had picked the spot and dismounted, Tyler had walked on to the stone slab and began casting Protective Warning. He had learned from his mistake from the Wyvern attack. As he cast the spell, Malico, now safe inside the camp, stripped to the skin sighing with relief as her breasts swung freely once again,
"Ahh That is so muccch better! Nothin like a warm breeze, erh kaori? Ughh, I always feel constricted when I wear clothes, I don't know how you two do it."
Kaori sighed at the stretching, naked Catgirl, looking longingly at the busty catgirl's massive rack as she did so.
"Well, Malico, neither of us have an extra five pounds of fat on our chests, so that helps."
Kaori seemed down at the sight of the glorious melons. Malico, smiled at the relatively flat-chested blonde, fondling her own chest as she replied,
"Well, if you want a pair so bad, why don't you play with mine again? I wouldn't mind if you did, just please be gentler this time, okay? that last time kinda hurt!"
Her voice had turned into a seductive whining. Kaori blushed hard at the suggestion of the dirty minded catgirl, and walked away without replying, although her heart was pounding in her chest with a strange excitement at the jokingly made offer. why am i so excited at the mere thought of her chest? DO I like girls? That morning was a result of a wet dream and nothing more...right? kaori was both confused by her feelings toward the catgirl's chest and aroused by them too. Malico had found a new form of entertainment in teasing the conflicted blonde, there was also the small slim chance she'd actually go ahead and take her up on her offer, which would be fun in it's own right, Plus Tyler would love it as well. Speaking of the perverted man, he had finished casting the Protective warning. He then set about building the firepit. As he did so, he kept an eye on the girls going about their own tasks, Kaori with the tent and Malico with the horses. He smiled at Malico's love for nudity, enjoying the view. The busty catgirl finished caring for the horses, and caught him staring at her. In response she waved jumping up and down, giving him a nice full-frontal. Tyler chuckled at the openly sexual girl, and returned to wood gathering. He found plenty of good try branches, as they were not too far from the edge of a forest. As he returned he saw that kaori had finished with the tent, and was resting against the warm rockface. Tyler shot a glance at the sky, he figured they had about two maybe three hours of daylight left. With that in mind he lit the fire, and dug out a few of the Wyvern steaks from the other day and set them to soaking in some left over pancake batter. He had also ground a few of the strips of flesh into small patties. Malico was watching him from her spot on the flat section of the rock face,
"hey kaori, what's he cookin up this time?"
The blonde replied from her spot next to the nude girl,
"If I had to guess, he's makin Wyvern burgers. Yo frycook, that what you doing over there?"
Tyler flipped the snarky blonde the bird,
"Yep, for me an Malico, smartass girls get beard and butter."
"bite me"
Malico sniggered,
"You too you dirty cat"
Malico pounced on the unexpecting blonde, her hands going for her chest,
"Well if you insist, I'm happy to indulge you!"
kaori screamed, and tried to keep the busty cat from molesting her. Tyler watched fondly as his friends wrestled, happy they were close enough now to play like that, come to think of it, they strike me as overly fond sisters who love to touch each other, heh and here I thought that only happened in the anime i used to watch Tyler left them to their game, but as he was about to put the meat on the fire, his spell flared to life, flooding his mind with a group of soldiers trying to sneak through the woods to attack them. He gave a low whistle, and the girls sprang into action, Malico throwing her clothes back on, they also served to increase her speed and agility on top of her overall sexiness. The busty catgirl slung her dirks across her chest, and pulled her bow, nocking three arrows as she did so. Kaori also braced for the incoming assault, drawing her own bow, Dawn was already on her hip for she seldom went anywhere without it close to hand. Tyler had put the meat down and went to brief the ladies on their uninvited dinner guests. He'd had no need to dash for his equipment, for he didn't disarm until everyone was already asleep safe in the tent. He had his bow loaded with three arrows ready and gave the girls the info he'd gathered on the would-be ambushers,
"Alright, we got fifteen men moving slowly through the trees about sixty meters out, headed in our direction. we also got another ten from the opposite direction, same distance, they seem to be armed with short bows, short swords, and daggers. The group of fifteen has two mages, judging from their robes, and the group of ten has one. If we do nothing, both groups will reach us in five minutes. here’s the plan, Kaori and Malico, you take the fifteen to the south, use the trees for cover, kill the mages first, then keeping using your speed advantage and hit them like lightning bolts. I'll take the group to the north, I can handle ten men and a mage easily enough. I'll come help you when they're dead. Malico, watch yourself especially, there from that city, and they probably have orders to take you alive so keep your wits about you. Kaori, stay close to her. any thoughts, concerns, ideas?"
The girls shook their heads, they had their plan and were eager to kill some of the vile guards from that city. Tyler smiled at their bloodlust.
"Alright then, good hunting."
As they split to attack the groups, Tyler spoke two more words to his companions,
"LET'S RIDE!"
And he took off over the back of the rockface headed to the group in the north. Now alone the ladies looked at each other and giggled,
"Seriously? Let's ride? He can do better then that!"
"I agree, Mal, we can tease him for it later, for now lets go introduce ourselves to our guests."
Malico giggled again and then the girls took off running through the forest, fully abusing their hundred plus speed and agility. As they ran, Malico decided to liven up the coming fight with a little wager,
"Hey kaori, I got an Idea,"
"Oh? lets here it,"
"lets make a wager on who kills the most attackers."
"I could get behind that, what we playin for?"
Malico giggled with a dirty glint in her eye,
"Well whoever kills the most, gets to play with the loser's body all night long, and they can't complain or whine or it lasts until the next night. Sound like fun?"
Kaori nearly tripped at the idea,
"Seriously, the hells wrong with you? no way!"
Malico gave a sad, teasing whine,
"Aawwww, kaori you're no fun! I bet you're scared you'll lose. I mean I know i have you beaten in other areas but......"
kaori growled at the mocking cat,
"Alight fine!!! I'll play, but you're gonna do whatever I want when i win, got that?"
Malico cheered happily,
"Yay! This is gonna be fun! and no cheating!"
"Yeah back atcha"
The two girls fell silent and split up as they neared the hostile group, both climbing into the trees and moving from branch to branch in a manner that would've made Tarzan jealous. The group of soldiers were in fact closer to assassins then actual frontline fighters. The had been hired by the irate Viscount to dispatch the Warrior who had insulted him, and to capture the two girls in his care, as he wanted to break them personally. As such, the would-be hitmen had gone out in force, bringing out their best blades and three best spellcasters for the job. As the larger group had neared the camp, their mages had given a low signal whistle, indicating they were detected. The mage had discovered the Protective Warning, and alerted his comrades of the danger. Secretly though, both mages’ blood had run cold when they had examined the spells makeup and strength. Tyler hadn't even bothered to disguise the spell's existence, merely letting it serve to alert him to trouble, so that they could remove the problem rather then run from it. The spells blatancy combined with the sheer power infused in it, had made the mages realize they had woefully underestimated their prey. That and the mages knew they were the ones being hunted now instead of the hunters. On top of the spells power, the two spellcasters also knew of Tyler's Twin Paths, and that only intimidated the pair further, as his were The Blue and White Paths, while they were both of the purple path, which specialized in animal manipulation. But their powers were severally hampered by Protective Warning, which drove all hostile animals from the hundred meter radius, and since it was a Pure White Path spell, it canceled out mind control spells and charm spells, which were of the Black. Now the mages were missing their trademark spells, were deep in the territory of a far more powerful mage, and that mage was fully aware of their presence and was most likely waiting to ambush the supposed-to-be ambushers! Finally one of the mages' nerve failed him, and he turned to his companion,
"Hey we should run!"
But his companion could no longer here him, as he was pinned to a tree, three shafts buried in his chest, still quivering. Terrified, the man turned back to run, only to find a beautiful blonde swinging a katana in his direction. The Purple mage's head fell to the ground, followed closely by his legs. Kaori straightened her stance, reading her long slender blade for another charge, while Malico moved through the upper branches of the trees. The how mageless group of assassins were still creeping through the underbrush, unaware of the ghosts stalking their party. The first inkling they had was when two of the front runners fell to the ground, transfixed by Malico's accurate shots, followed by a third and forth person dropping to the forest floor from her deadly shafts. Malico let herself be spotted as she fired another arrow, this time purposely missing, and taking off through the trees the pack giving chase, angry at being caught unawares. They hurried off, but a few didn't know what had just happened, for as they went after the pack, there a yellow flash in the corner of their eyes, followed by them falling to the ground unable to get back up again. kaori was moving like a wraith through the trees, she now had seven kills to Malico's five. There were only five left of the seventeen assassins' if the included the mages. kaori had not stopped moving, chasing after the remainder, she needed to win the silly bet with Malico to protect her body from whatever the perverted catgirl would do to her if she won. But kaori's secret voice in her head kinda wanted to both know and experience what the catgirl would do. Kaori shook her head, and increased her speed now desperate to catch up. she caught up to the main group after about a minute of running, only to find Malico diving upon the last one from a treetop, plunging her daggers into the screaming man's neck. The other's were all pierced by arrows. Malico tore her dirks from the neck of her final kill, bringing her total to ten, thus winning the bet. As she turned around she was a just in time to see kaori drop Dawn, and fall forward onto her hands and knees in despair. Malico had ran over to the fallen kaori, expecting her to be hurt, only to find her recoil from her,
"Please just stay back! don't touch me! Not here, please! Wait until later, please!"
her voice was quivering and she was nearly crying, indeed there were tears in her eyes at what awaited her later that night. Malico, who had first was deathly concerned for her friend, breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't injured. however the busty catgirl wasn’t about to let her off the hook for their bet,
"Oh good you're not hurt! sheesh, don't scare me like that! And as for our bet,"
Here she stopped, and grinned wickedly at the trembling girl,
"I promise to be gentle, and to wait until we're in the tent tonight, oh and you're gonna enjoy yourself. That's a guarantee."
Kaori gulped and accepted her fate at the hands of the beautiful, busty catgirl. she also took her offered hand and stood back up.
"Okay"
she said in a small voice,
"just please, be gentle, okay?"
Malico smiled warmly at the scared girl,
"Of course, now come on, lets go get those mages' licenses, and anything else useful from them, too while we're at it!"
Kaori managed a weak smile, her mind still locked on what awaited her in the tent tonight. As the pair searched the bodies, Malico mused aloud to Kaori,
"Hey, to you think Tyler's okay?"
Kaori chuckled inspite of herself,
"Ohh, I'm sure he's just fine, remember he's far stronger then the both of us combined, and we had zero issues dealing with these clowns. I bet he's already looted half the dead by now!"
"Yeah, that's true and if it gets real, I'm sure the Monster can bail him out, like with the Reapers crew." Kaori shuddered as she imparted a piece of disturbing information to the Catgirl,
"Okay Malico, there's something you need to know about the Monster."
"Oh and what is it?"
"It's not a get-out-of-free-jail card for Tyler to use as he sees fit, its a dangerous two edged sword. I know he said he can now control the thing, and that it didn't make him pass out anymore. But that's a lie, the truth is the monster drained all of his strength, the only reason he didn't pass out was through sheer willpower alone. The Monster also inflicts damage on his mind, causing him to sink into its roiling madness. If he keeps using it, he'll one day go in and never come back. So if you truly care about him as much as you say you do, then never hope for him to use it again. For there may come a day when he finally gives in, and we'll lose him forever."
Malico had stopped her search of the current body,
"Is there anything we can do to help him?"
kaori sighed,
"The only thing we can do, is simply be with him. That alone should keep the Monster at bay. Tyler only created it out of necessity, as a defense mechanism against his evil family. So by extension, if it becomes clear that such evil is no longer needed..."
"Then the Monster will go away?"
"Precisely, although I can only hope it's that easy."
Malico pounced on the saddened blonde, taking her to the ground. Malico pinned Kaori on her back and held her there. Kaori became scared again, thinking that Malico had gone back on her promise to wait until they were in the tent. She tensed at the thought of what was to come, but Malico had another reason for tackling the pretty blonde girl. She looked kaori in her emerald eyes with an intensely determined expression on her delicate face,
"Well kaori,"
her voice thick with conviction,
"if we're the means for Tyler to beat his darkness, then there's only one thing to do!"
"what?"
her voice a nervous whisper in the face of the cats sudden fiery spirit,
"We do everything we possibly can to make him smile more then he frowns! We make him happy as only we can! What do you say we alter the rules of our competition for his attention?"
Kaori had picked up on where the catgirl was emotionally,
"Okay, I'm listening"
"we make it so that we work together, we both be his, and make it our goal to make him the happiest he can be! whaddya say?"
kaori nodded, eager to give back to the one who had given her so much, "
I love that idea Malico, only one thing."
"What?",
Kaori jerked her body, catching the catgirl by surprise, and rolled her onto her back with kaori now on top,
"Why didn't we come up with this sooner?"
Malico laughed at her frisky friend,
"Well, cause we're not that smart I guess!"
The friends-with-benefits rolled around in the grass giggling as they played. After a few minutes they stopped, got up, dusted themselves off and continued their looting of the dead.
Tyler had taken off from the rockface first eager to get into the thick of the action. He used his knowledge of the enemies movements to plan his attack. He ran along the forest floor, not agile enough to take to the trees. Tyler moved through the underbrush of the forest floor like a Wolf on the hunt, which he kinda was. The trees soared above his head as he went, the only sound being the singing of some far off birds, the wind in the leaves of the treetops, and the swearing of squirrels as he passed. The underbrush wasn't thick, mainly light ferns and some small trees, granting plenty of room to move freely. Tyler was also using his Protective Warning as form of land-based SONAR, as it pinged every time the group moved from their current position. Tyler's plan was simple: Kill the mage first, then slaughter the soldiers as quickly as possible. Since Protective Warning pinged both weapons and magic users, Tyler knew that the mage accompanying the group of ten was a Blue Path mage, which excited him to finally be able to test whether the White's immunity to paths of the same color would extend to the Blue as well, since his Blue and White were one and the same. Plus I might be able to score some Pure Blue spells off the guy too! Tyler only had one Pure Blue spell, Piercing Raindrop, and that only worked on arrows. or sword blades. He'd been lucky as the spell had come in the packet taken from the guy at the tavern. Tyler cleared his mind as he approached the group of soon-to-be corpses. He dropped to the side of a particularly large fir tree, and upon noticing how close the branches were together, promptly climbed into the tree, where he nocked three arrows to his bow string, and waited for his prey to pass. The group could be clearly heard combing through the forest undergrowth. It seemed like the were professionals, as they didn't make any sudden moves or untoward noise. Tyler had gotten the drop on them thanks to his spell. As he waited for the mage to appear, he heard some of the conversations of the group as they passed,
"Can you believe how pissed the viscount was? Been a while since I seen him that angry."
"Yeah, and that new eyepatch? I heard he lost the eye thanks to the crystal ball he used to talk to the Warrior exploding in his face."
"I heard the Warrior MADE it explode, as a sort of fuck you or something, apparently this Warrior doesn't like how we respect vermin's position in this world"
“speaking of the creatures, apparently that Warrior's got himself one with melons the size of the frigging fruit!"
"yeah i heard that too!, AND on top of that he's got a blonde-haired girl with him that could pass for a goddess of beauty! the lucky bastard!”
"Now, now"
Tyler instantly recognize the voice of the Wallgate commander, ohh aren't I the lucky one? the voice continued,
"Now, Now gentlemen, we'll get a chance to all play with the girl and the beast after we kill the Warrior. cause after all, those who associate with the lower beasts forget the true strength."
That got a low cheer from the men, But Tyler had to bite his tongue from laughing, Alright, lets introduce myself Tyler moved to the edge of the tree branch where he'd been hiding, and spotted the one-eared wallgate commander leading from behind, as was expected, but what he didn't expect was the blue staff he carried. so HE'S a mage? well then, I guess he dies LAST Tyler changed strategies easier then he changed shirts, and fired his arrows into the groups rear. He'd enchanted them with ChainShot, a colorless spell that any mage of any talent could cast, since all it did was add increased force upon impact. The shafts hit two of the men, launching them into the backs of the men in front of them. Tyler sheathed his bow and dropped to the forest floor, and charged the confused group. The ChainShot arrows had launched the two hit men with enough force to knock over four other men, including the Commander. he had barely regained his footing, when he looked to see where the shafts had come from, and went paler then a prostitute in church, for the Warrior was nearly upon them. The man panicked momentarily before turning to shout an alarm to the men behind him....but there were no men behind him. Only corpses. Tyler had not stopped moving while the pathetic man panicked, and had slammed into the group with all the fury of an avalanche. He'd drawn Oblivion and had spun a circle, cutting two of the men clean in half with the sheer force of his blow, leaving seven men standing. Tyler had then crouched, pulled oblivion in close and lunged with his leg power and stabbed the man directly in front of him through the chest, before pivoting around the man, reversing his grip on Oblivion, he tore the blade from the mans chest, slicing clean through the already dead assassin's shoulder and brought the blade around in a wide arc, cleaving air, a few falling leaves, a lunging dagger welder, and his dagger all in one mighty arc. Then, keeping the momentum going, Tyler shifted his feet, as he swung his own blade over his head, he took a step forward smashing yet another man from head to groin with a single stroke. There were now four men standing, including the mage, who had just barely recovered his senses after the Warrior’s ferocious assault. The three remaining fighters formed a defensive wall around the mage, knowing he was they greatest asset against the powerful foe. Tyler merely gave his blood-slicked blade a sharp swing, taking the blood of as he took up another stance, Blade forward, one handed grip, other hand held in front. The mage was about to give an order to his drastically reduced force, but he made the mistake of looking Tyler in the eye, and he froze. Tyler had a massive smile upon his face. He was grinning ear to ear as he reveled in the taking of the lives of those who would threaten the only ones he cared for, but while his smile showed joy, his eyes showed mere coldness, as if he was calculating various ways to kill them. His face was a contraction of emotions, one half smiling with joy, the other cold and devoid of any feelings beyond a simple bloodlust. It was truly terrifying to behold. The mage's craven heart failed him, and he just stood there, petrified by his gaze. Meanwhile the other men had reached a course of action, and charged, the rewards for killing this man overriding their good sense. The men went three directions. one to the right, one to the left and one stayed back, and loosed arrows. Tyler moved as well, straight down the center toward the bowman, knocking an arrow aside with his wrist. Tyler then ducked, twisted and drove his sword into the stomach of the man to his right, before spinning on his heel, using the dead mass to block another arrow as he pulled Oblivion free and deflected the shortsword of the man from the left. Tyler circled the man until his back was to the archer, preventing him from shooting lest he hit his comrade in the back. Tyler smirked at their mistake, and charged the man head on. He tried to block his swing, and only succeeded in knocking both their blades up high, but Tyler had a special trick for such an occasion, fast as lightning he used the force of the block to twirl his blade in his hand, bringing it point down, and stabbed the man in the collarbone, killing him instantly. The bowman fired his next arrow, but hit his now-dead companion's corpse instead. Tyler freed Oblivion from the carcass, and began a slow walk towards the bowman and still paralyzed mage. The archer fired arrow after arrow at Tyler, who struck them done without breaking stride. Tyler became bored and rushed under last arrow, closing with the archer before he could react. The man only had time for a single scream before Tyler cleaved him from waist to shoulder. His last soldier slain, the mage at last seemed capable of something other then making puddles beneath his feet. Terrified, the Wallgate commander cat his most powerful spell: WaterBlast, an Area Of Effect spell that would summon a large bubble of water and cause it to burst, sending razor sharp drops of water over an area ten meters wide. It had multiple uses, from killing to filling tubs, and when he saw the spell, Tyler smiled, Perfect The man waved his staff, which was topped with a blue stone, and sent the bubble directly over Tyler's head, and detonated the bubble bomb; sending shards of piercing water directly on the nondefending Warrior. The humiliated Wallgate commander literally started jumping for joy as his spell hit it's target. He was literally dancing in small circles before he noticed an ominous shape still standing in the center of the impact. Tyler stood smiling, drenched, but otherwise unharmed. Tyler looked at the man,
"Interesting, I like this spell, and I think the others will too"
He then approached the now powerless man, and slowly raised Oblivion, as the man pleaded for his life, "Please sirrah, spare me please, I beg you don't kill me, just let me go please!”
Tyler chuckled darkly,
"If Malico was here, she'd probably have me spare you, same thing with Kaori, but you see the thing is, they're not here, and I don't believe in mercy."
The man screamed as Oblivion split his skull,
"Shame, that, I kinda wish Malico could've had the satisfaction of killing you, but your kind have done enough to her. Now then, about that spell."
Tyler looted his spell Licenses, and flipped through the sizable collection, most were either other colors or didn't seem particularly useful to the Warrior, until he found the WaterBlast Spell, and added it to his arsenal. Then he quickly and efficiently looted the other fallen ones, eager to return to his girls and see now they faired with their group.
An hour later, kaori and Malico were relaxing on the rock slab, waiting for Tyler to return. Malico had stripped naked again, her large breasts on full display, and kaori lay beside her, also naked for once, enjoying the feeling of the warm summer breeze on her skin.
"Wow, I wonder what’s keeping him?"
Malico's voice had a twinge of concern for their friend, Kaori simply sighed,
"Relax, he's probably spying on us, either that or is playing with a new toy. He’s fine, that I'm sure of." Malico didn't seem convinced,
"How is it you're so sure?"
Kaori turned her head to look at the busty catgirl,
"Because the only way to beat him in a fight is to take him completely by surprise, and there's not a person or creature out there that can."
Malico still seemed troubled, but settled for trust in her friend,
"Alright."
the two naked beauties continued laying on the still warm rock, only moving to stoke the flames. They were about to fall asleep right there, when Tyler returned bearing gifts, new spells, a new spell for him, and a full ten gold coins. The girls were overjoyed at their hero’s' return, and rushed to greet him, only stopping when they saw the blood on his clothes, and the evident drenching he'd received,
"Hey welco-the hell happened to you?"
Kaori went from happy greeting to concern in the blink of an eye. Tyler just chuckled,
"Don't worry it's not mine, and how'd it go for you?"
the trio relayed the results of their respective battles. Tyler removed his own cloths and stood as naked as the girls, as he finally finished the Wyvern burgers. After the meal, the trio retired to the tent, exhausted from the days action. Tyler passed right out, while the girls had some unfinished business to take care off. Kaori was nervous at what was sure to come, as Malico laid down on her side one arm draped over her body, hey long tail waving seductively, and she beckoned the nervous blonde over to her with a finger,
"Come here pretty one, time to pay up,"
Malico's voice a spine-tinkling purr. Kaori crawled over to the sexy catgirl's embrace,
"Please just remember you promised to be gentle, okay?"
Her voice a scared whisper. Malico smiled with joy, as Kaori laid beside her. Malico put a finger on the inexperienced girls lips and traced a line down her throat, between her modest breasts, over her heaving, flat stomach and even lower. The sudden sensation causing her to jump,
"Please anything but that spot, please?"
Kaori begged the probing woman, and she withdrew her finger.
"very well."
Malico purred,
"Just lay back and relax, there's plenty of fun to be had yet!"
Kaori obeyed and laid on her back.
"Okay,"
"And here...we...go"
DATS UNTIL WAVE: 66

Tyler woke up the next morning feeling quite refreshed and ready to kill some Wyverns, as they would hit the forest by noon. He rose from his bedroll, and glanced over to she Malico and kaori asleep in each other's arms. What the hell did I miss last night? maybe I should set up a surveillance spell next time. Disappointed at the show he had no doubt missed, he sighed and went to get the fire restarted. Once he had the flames blazing merrily, he set some more strips of Wyvern meat on a rock, huh Wyvern bacon why not? I was so tired last night I don't remember what the meat even tastes like. He went about his task, mentally checking the Protective Warning as he did so. All clear, he doubted word would reach that prick viscount that his troops were dead that quickly, plus once the spell was done nature would clean up the mess. With the meat sizzling, he set some coffee to brewing, and put the last of their bread to toast. Huh, we're starting to run low on most supplies except for meat and water, I wonder if Malico knows of any other settlements...wait I got a friggin magical map! why the hell did it take so friggin long for me to remember that? He slapped his face for that blunder, as he had completely forgotten about the vital tool. He walked back into the tent, pissed at himself, and retrieved the large piece of rolled parchment, when he heard an erotic moan coming from by the girls,
"Oh ,Mali that DOES feel good, don't stop! please! more! give me more!"
Beads of sweat dripping from his neck, he looked over to see that kaori was deep in a dream, squirming and even gyrating against Malico's thigh. Tyler could not believe his eyes, WHAT THE HELL DID I MISS LAST NIGHT? THAT IS IT! I'M SETTING SURVEILENCE TONIGHT AND EVERYNIGHT FORWARD!!! Tyler also noticed the look of satisfaction on the sleeping Malico's face, and the redness on both her face and nipples. Tyler was now angry at himself for falling asleep so readily last night and missing the show of a lifetime AND for forgetting about the map. Tyler had no choice but to exit the tent before he lost it, both from frustration and from his second brain wanting to come out to play. So he did just that. Tyler left the girls to their unconscious fun, and returned to the fire were the meat was just about done, and the coffee was also ready. He set three places on the rock, with the map spread out in the center. Tyler cast the map spell and it flared to life. Unlike the last time it had opened it only showed basic information like towns, cities, rivers, and such. This time through, the map had a fair bit more color then it did previously, mainly along the group's travel route starting from Term, along the road to the side of the riverbank where Tyler and Kaori had been ambushed the first time. The river's name, apparently was SkyStream, heh, fitting, then the line of green grassland went to Malico's village, called Hero's Rest. Tyler smiled at the sight of the village on the map, glad that they had stopped there. Then the green line extended all the way to Dragul, and then to their current location. As Tyler traced the line to their current spot, he noticed a small town a little further north, maybe half a day's journey from where they were now. The best part was that it was situated half-in half-out of the forest with the Wyvern clan. His smile at the good luck faded as he considered the implications of the village's position, Okay, we need to move out soon, that village may have information, and wounded. ten gold says it's been nearly wiped out. Now firmly resolute with a course of action, Tyler went to rouse the girls. Striding back in the tent, he found them both still in the midst of their combined wet dream; kaori still gyrating and moaning, and Malico still purring to the blonde in her dreams. Tyler was sad he had to ruin the idyllic scene, but he wanted to get to the village and start working.
"Alright ladies, time to wake up."
at the sound of his voice, both girls jerked awake, yawning and rubbing sleep from their eyes. Kaori replied first,
"What's up another attack?"
Tyler shook his head,
"Come see this"
And left the tent, to sit by the map again. Now both curious and a little worried the girls followed him outside. The naked Warrioress and catgirl, sat across from Tyler,
"Okay what's up?"
"Yes do tell"
Tyler looked them both in the eyes, a serious expression on his face, and pointed to the forest village on the map,
"Okay so look here. You see what I see?"
Malico was the first to look, and when see did, her face went immediately pale. When she spoke, her voice a horrified quiver as she put her finger on the village,
"That's Tuska village, it's a Tailed village.”
She had tears flowing freely from her green-cat’s-eyes,
"MY YOUNGER SISTER LIVES HERE!"
At the words, kaori and Tyler exploded into action, downing the bacon and coffee. The pair of Warriors then broke camp with furious intent, Tyler tore the tent down, and put out the fire, Kaori dressed and readied the horses using all her speed and agility to hasten the tasks, Tyler looked a the still seated and stunned catgirl and barked at her,
"Don't just sit there! Move! We need to go...NOW!!!"
At his shout the catgirl was galvanized into action, throwing her shorts and crop top on, then aiding in the breaking of camp. Camp was broken in under two minutes flat, and the trio were mounted and ready to move out. Tyler released his spell, and gave the order,
"Let's go!"
thus the companions raced forward, desperate to rescue Malico's younger sister. They thundered along as fast as the horses would go.
"Hey! is this another sister then the one at the tavern?"
Kaori was asking the concerned catgirl,
"Yeah! she's the same age as Miyuki, she lives out there with our cousins, as she didn't like tavern life! and Houndra let her!"
Tyler then issued an updated combat plan,
"Alright, listen up! Our only priority is rescuing Malico's sister, the village is secondary, understood?" "Understood!"
"Right!"
Both girls were ready to aid in the rescue operation. Malico was deeply touched at the pair's immediate reaction,
"You guys, thank you for this!"
Tyler wasted zero time with his response,
"Don't thank us Malico, your loved ones are our loved ones."
Here he turned to look her in the eye, "And I protect the ones I love!" He held her gaze for a moment before turning back to the road. Kaori also chimed in, "That's right, Mal, we love you! And we'll save your sister, I promise!" Malico started tearing up in the face of such starch friends, "Don't you waste those tears Malico! save them for your reunion with your sister!"
Tyler called out. Malico steadied herself,
"Right!"
She then lowered her head, focusing on going even faster. Tyler was proud of her, but inwardly he berated himself, I KNEW there was something off with that jackass's story! Why didn't the full hunter party return? Why did only one scout return? Why wouldn't he tell me the full story? And most importantly why didn't he tell us about the village? I was lazy, he didn't tell us because the village is the friggin BATTLEFIELD, and given how much that city tortures the Tailed races, I'm amazed they went at all! The hunters probably lead the monster to the village in the first place! But a village living on the edge of a place like that has to be full of capable fighters, not the cowering, terrified push overs they'd been used to dealing with. The hunters probably had to fight the Wyverns for real, instead of their usual patterns, and were overwhelmed. The scouts probably were ambushed as well, both by the villagers and the Wyverns. It's gonna be a mess when we get there. I just hope for Malico's sake her sister's okay. BUT....Here Tyler’s thoughts turned dark, If what I suspect is true, and there ARE no Wyverns, but a group of village fighters by the same name, and her sister died during the skirmish between the "hunters" and the "Wyverns", I WILL BURN THAT CITY TO THE GROUND. Tyler spurred Thunder with his heels,
"Come on show me why you're called Thunder!"
The horse respond with a scream and dug his hooves into the ground, propelling them even faster. kaori spurred Gloss, and Malico did the same to Night.
They heard the village before they saw it, namely the screams, clash of steel and loud hissing. The village was under attack. Tyler drew Oblivion, Kaori drew Dawn, and Malico readied her daggers. The village had a barricade guarding the front entrance, but Thunder leapt over it with ease, so did Gloss and Night. The center of the circular village was a scene of utter chaos. In the dead center were small group of Tailed people wearing chainmail and wielding spears, surrounding them were a large platoon of soldiers and full-knights. The knights wore full plate armour emblazoned with the Viscount's insignia: A Tailed girl kneeling before a human with her mouth open and the humans pants down. Tyler didn't wait further and began casting his new spell, I call to the water goddess, Ravical, Lend your loyal servant the power of the oceans! Drown those who would oppose the power of the sea! Pierce those who try to fight the waters of life with ice WATERBURST!!!! Tyler had upgraded the Wallgate commanders spell into his own style. As his chant was completed, a massive ball of water appeared over the heads of the Tailed people, causing them to groan with despair at the clear arrival of a powerful mage. The ball then dropped upon the brave fighters incasing them in a wall of roiling water. They were about to panic when they realized they could still breath in the massive ball, and their wounds were starting to be healed as well. For that was the secondary purpose of WaterBurst that Tyler had given to the spell" an area was encompassed in a barrier of wildly roiling water, creating a protective wall, next it would sprinkle droplets over those inside and since they were infused with Divine Care, one of his healing spells, it would begin treating the wounded while protecting them from further harm. But that was the secondary Purpose, The primary was..."BURST!!" The wall then grew spikes of water and it exploded outward flinging the hard as steel, razor sharp spikes in all outward directions, impaling a fair number of the enemy knights right through their fancy armour. Tyler charged the confused attackers,
"GO NOW!! KAORI!!! WITH ME! MALICO GET THE WOUNDED OUT OF HERE! WE'LL DEAL WITH THE SURVIVORS!"
Tyler and Kaori smashed into the men, scattering them like pins on a perfect strike. Tyler's strength and unpredictability aiding him as he cut through first one, then two, then three soldiers in quick succession. His brute force and savage ferocity on clear display as he drove the soldiers before him. Kaori was the far more elegant, graceful fighter but she was no less deadly. Her long slender blade slashing into the gaps between armour and diving into the flesh beneath. Her dodges and counterattacks were perfectly timed, making her seem like she was merely dancing. whereas Tyler's fighting style was unorthodox and savagely brutal, Kaori's was an elegant dance of death. Together the pair were both breathtakingly beautiful to watch, and impossible to face. Malico had to force her eyes away from the perfectly in sync pair, and turned to evacuate the now-safe villagers. Only the find them completely hypnotized by the display of power and beauty of Tyler and Kaori fighting together. Malico had to slap a few faces to get their attention,
"Hey!!!, Heyyyy!!!! dammit we need to go!!"
The village fighters recovered their senses first, and seemed to want to fight as well, but Malico stayed true to Tyler's order to evacuate the villagers, one particular fighter, a tall broad-shouldered lizard man, glared balefully at the much smaller catgirl through his reptilian eyes,
"What'sss that? you wnat usssss to run away? no ccchanccce!”
Malico roared at the stubborn lizard,
"YOU CAN'T H
ELP THEM. YOU'LL JUST GET IN THEIR WAY!!! THEY CAN HANDLE THIS, THEY'RE BOTH WARRIORS!" At this news the lizardman's green scaly skin seemd to go pale as he realized his error, and then began backing the busty catgirl,
"Warriorsss? Sssssorry! Everyone form up, get the women and ccchildren to sssaftey! We need to leave thisss to the Warriorss! Move!”
At the cold reptile's voice the remainder of the village militia moved into action, guiding the weak and infirm to a large building made of stone near the back of the village circle. As they went a few soldiers who had escaped the main pack battling Tyler and Kaori rushed them. Unfortunately, they had to deal with an angry Malico and her whirling daggers. The soldiers grinned at the prospect of such easy prey, for they were armed with longswords and the righteousness of their Viscount, and a mere catgirl with massive breasts wasn't gonna be enough to even scratch them. The men charged, eager to incapacitate the girl so they could play with her, but they had made a fundamental error in their reasoning: They had forgotten who she'd arrived with. Malico ran with Warriors, and even stood among the pair as an equal, plus the faith Tyler had in her made her stronger as well, since like hell she'd ever disappoint HIM! Malico surged forward, her long tail strung out behind her as she closed the distance with the soldiers with lightning speed. She crouched low as she moved ducking under the first soldier's blade as she went, she hit the man in fifteen different places before he could blink. He fell to the ground as Malico settled into another low-slung stance her blades reversed gripped, and a feral smile on her face. Her tail waved hypnotically over her back and a soldier's eyes left hers to follow it a split second, and she made him pay for it, carving a new smile on his throat with her blades as she passed. There were only two left of the group who had tried to go after the evacuating villagers. They held their blades straight out as they'd been trained and pressed forward, seeking to pin the catgirl either against the wall, or between themselves. The began swinging their blades in tandem, one would strike and the other would cover with their own attack. Malico dodged every time with a playful smile on her face, she knew their plan, Wow, how simple. I guess hanging out with Tyler and his way of seeing the world is starting to rub off on me! She kept up the farce of avoiding the humming blades of the soldiers, that is until tyler's voice rang out to her,
"Hey, kittycat, quit playing and hurry up, we're already finished over here!"
The soldiers turned at the new voice and they instantly went pale, every single soldier that had been behind them had been slain by the duo. The men's cowardly hearts broke and they dropped their swords, running for the village exit as fast as they could, desperate to return to their city, and their easy lives of tormenting the defenseless Tailed people inside the walls. Unfortunately for them, the villagers had other ideas, as a pair of tall, lithe catgirls, with clear yellow and brown striped spots took off after them. Tyler watched them run, heh, guess they're the cheetahs of the Nekoplesians. Certain the two escapees would be caught, Tyler turned himself to other matters,
"hey, Malico, where's this sister of yours?"
Malico’s head perked up,
"Oh right!"
She ran over to the same Lizardman who'd taken command of the evacuating villagers,
"Excuse me, but is there a smallish NekoPlesian with a solid black tail and ears in the village? Her name's Juniper, and she's my sister"
The Lizardman's eyes grew wide at the name, then they grew sad,
"Yesss, there wass,"
His voice trailed off, Tyler, who'd been on watch nearby was at Malico's side in a heartbeat,
"Juniper, hassss gone into the foressst, but ssshe hasssn't returned asss of yet. But the sssoldierss attacked usss, and we can't go look for her."
The lizardman seemed saddened at this. Malico dropped to her knees, tears falling from her pretty face freely.
"NO"
Her voice a broken whisper, Tyler then faced the Lizardman,
"How long ago did she go in?"
The lizardman dipped his long-snouted face at the Warrior's searching gaze,
"Three weekssss your grassse"
Hearing the length of time her sister had been gone, Malico couldn't control her feelings any longer and she burst out in sorrowful sobs. kaori ran over and wrapped the catgirl in her arms, holding her tight. Tyler was not having it however, he roughly grabbed the catgirl's shoulders and hauled her to her feet, "Hey get a hold of yourself! We don't know she's dead for certain! come on, pull yourself together." Malico was stunned at his callousness, Kaori was too, in fact everyone was. Tyler wasn't done,
"If someone were to tell you I was dead, but you didn't see it happen, would you believe them? what would you say?"
Malico was still sobbing, her hero had betrayed her but she still answered,
"I'd demand to see the corpse!"
Tyler nodded, and then hugged the sobbing girl tightly, stifling her sobs with her surprise,
"Okay then, don't give up till we look, okay? I mean she's your sister! If she’s anything like you, she'll be fine, so have a little faith in her, kay?"
Malico started sobbing again, but this time from relief that he was behind her, and even though he was an ass, she knew he'd never let her sink into despair.
"Alright, then"
Her voice a resolute and strong belltoll,
"Let's go get my sister back!"
Tyler nodded,
"damn straight we will, and gods help anything in our way!"
Malico and Kaori finished the war cry,
"Cause nothing else can!"
Tyler and his girls went to retrieve their horses, ready to start searching immediately, when the village leader, a hulking member of wolfmen, approached them.
"Um, pardon Warriors but you're not seriously going in after a single lost kitten, are you?"
Tyler responded without looking at the seven-foot tall wolfman,
"of course we are, she's my friend’s sister, so even if she'd been gone for years We'd still go in after her."
His voice had zero fear or hesitation, but was laced with pure determination. The wolfman was stunned at the young Warrior,
"But you're a Warrior! You're supposed to protect us! How can you hope to do so if you go after her? she's been gone for weeks! Why waste your time on a hopeless cause when we need you here and now?"
Tyler swung up onto Thunder and turned the horse towards the forest,
"That's quite simple really. We didn't come here to help you. We came for Juniper, that’s the only reason we're even here, other then killing a few Wyverns. Now move, and don't get in our way. Kaori, Malico, let's move! We got plenty of daylight left to work with."
TYler clicked his tongue, and Thunder started moving towards the forest, leaving the wolfman speechless behind him. They were about to leave the village, when a tall catgirl with a long black tail approached the party,
"wait! There's somethings you need to know!"
Tyler looked at her.
“I’m listening.”
The black catgirl reached into her dress pocket and pulled a map out.
“Juniper loved that forest, this is a map of all her favorite places. As for the Wyverns? Our village Militia are CALLED WYVERNS.”
Tyler sighed.
“Of course they are. And the grand wyvern?”
She sighed as well.
“There is indeed a grandwyvern in the forest. It lives near the center of the forest though and nevers go too far.”
Tyler looked to kaori and Malico.
“We’ll start with Juniper’s haunts and then move to the wyvern get nothing.”
He looked back at the catgirl.
“is Juniper a mage?”
She nodded.
“She’s a follower fo the brown Path.”
“Juniper uses brown?”
Tyler looked at a now shocked Malico.
“What’s it specialize in?”
She sighed with relief.
“Brown Paths are forest based magics. So, essentially, Juniper is lost in a place with the best tools to survive.”
“Remember my talk of faith? That’s why.”
He nudged Thunder and they set off into the trees. Tyler pulled the map out and held it over his enchanted map as they moved through the woodland. The trees on either side being dozens of feet thick and hundreds tall. Kaori was right beside him as Malico looked at the surrounding under brush as if expecting Juniper to just walk out. Kaori was curious.
“What are you doing with the maps?”
He had an eye on his surroundings as he explained.
“I’m adding the map that cat gave us to the one we already have. Since maps are valuable in cities and cartographers’ guilds, more complete ours is the more we have to sell.”
He finished his task and the was Absorbed into the enchanted one. Soon as it was he looked at the filled in spots and sighed. Malico was right beside him.
“What’s wrong?”
He rubbed his eyes.
“We’re going straight for the Wyvern. All of her hangout spots are located near the center of the forest…where she said the wyvern lived.”
Malico slumped in her saddle.
“You think it got her, don’t you?”
“I’m 60 percent it did.”
Kaori looked at him.
“What’s working against it?”
he put the map away and drew his bow and nocked a set of shafts.
“A few things actually. One. Juniper’s Malico’s sister. Unless the difference between them is more extreme then I thought, she wouldn’t get caught like that. Two. I’ve a nasty a suspicion something OTHER then a wyvern got her. This point it’s just a suspicion. Three. The brown path that specializes in forest magic. It’s like me fighting while ankle deep in a stream. This is her element. Malico, what kind of spells can a decent brown use?”
The catgirl sat back in her saddle.
“Mostly animal spells. Like for example Animal Friend can calm an angry animal or discourage a predator. Those that walk the path of brown do tend to prefer the forest to other people.”
Tyler smirked.
“That was another option. She just said fuck off to the world and went to live in the forest.”
Malico just looked at him.
“But the wyvern?”
“Until I see the damned thing with my own eyes, I don’t believe there is one.”
Kaori tilted her head as they clip clopped along.
“You don’t think Juniper herself started the wyvern story, do you?”
Tyler let two shafts off his string as he lifted the bow, aimed as he drew and let fly. The shaft whistled as it took a large rabbit in the eye on the side of the path.
“if such a large predator lived in these woods, a rabbit like that wouldn’t be here.”
Tyler swung off the large thoroughbred as he went to retrieve his kill. Kaori right beside him as he lifted the animal for inspection. Her green eyes were shining with surprise at the size.
“That thing is EASILY 15 pounds! Okay, I get your point. I don’t think there’s ANY predators in here if a prey animal like a rabbit can get to THAT size.”
Tyler got his undamaged shaft back and handed it to Kaori.
“I think we have a separate issue as well. Feel that fur.”
Kaori did, and the experienced outdoors woman picked right up on his point.
“There is NO reason a rabbit in a forest of this size’s fur should be that soft and well cared for.”
Tyler looked to where Malico had come to join the duo examining the rabbit.
“Why is a single rabbit so fascinating to you?”
Tyler smiled.
“Because you can tell a lot about an ecosystem from those at the base of it. Look at this rabbit’s sheer size alone. A rabbit this size is prime wolf or hawk prey, and the fact it grew to this size tells me three things. 1: The food sources are extremely plentiful to sustain a rabbit of this size. 2: The fact this is a rather young rabbit, like maybe a year old tops, and it’s this size already shows that predators are scarce since rabbits are the base of the food chain just above mice. 3. The fur on this thing is just as soft and white as the fur of rabbits raised in our old world for the clothing industry. This forest has a caretaker. What kind of caretaker I can’t say. Kaori. We’ll use everything of this one. If it’s a nature spirit, then we go Navajo.”
She nodded in agreement.
“Nothing wasted.”
Tyler handed the animal to kaori for harvesting as he looked around at the ground. Malico was amazed that such a simple creature had told him so much. She watched as Kaori skinned the animal, and began stripping the flesh off it’s frame with the efficiency and know how of a practiced butcher. Tyler was now inspecting some plants with bright purple flowers. Malico’s eyes went wide.
“That’s Royal Hemlock!”
He looked at her.
“Is it rare?”
The big breasted catgirl shook her head.
“Not rare so much as a restricted plant for commoners. The leaves make a simply divine tea when boiled in water, the stems when placed in a chamber both freshen the air and fill it with a lovely scent, and the roots are great additions to stews as they are both hearty and nutritious. Only the king and high level nobles are allow to even look upon it.”
Tyler reached for his Sgian Dao.
“WHO DARES DISTURB THE SANCTITY OF MY FOREST?!”
The voice echoed off the trunks thundered around them. Kaori was beside the horses as Tyler addressed the voice.
“We are travelers looking for a lost NekoPlesian by the name of Juniper. We mean your forest to harm. We merely seek our friend.”
“YET YOU TOOK THE RABBIT?”
“I had never seen such a healthy, well-cared for rabbit in my life. I know not of your forest, thus my taking of the animal, for knowledge of your home, and food for ourselves. Not a piece of that animal is to be wasted.”
Malico’s tail was fluffed out several times it size as she stood beside kaori helping her calm the horses as Tyler bartered with the voice of the forest. The Warrior using a firm yet polite tone as he addressed the forest spirit. The spirit spoke again.
“I ADMIT I DO NOT SEE HOW THE TAKING OF A RABBIT WOULD TELL YOU OF MY FOREST. BEFORE I CAST JUDGEMENT UPON YOU, AS I HAVE DEEMED YOUR WORDS TRUE AND FREE OF FALSEHOOD, A RARE THING FOR A HUMAN, EXPLAIN WHAT THAT RABBIT TOLD YOU.”
Tyler was smiling inside as he had more or less understood the nature spirit.
“If you want to learn of the top of a food chain, the very best place to start is the bottom. The size of the rabbit showed a very plentiful supply of it’s food, which in turn also shows a healthy plant base as well. The size also told me that predators such as wolves or foxes are either scarce, not here period, or have better more plentiful prey to chose from. I also got the impression from it’s meat as my friend as skinning it that is was also as healthy as it could get. I learned more from the plant I was about to take.”
Kaori smiled then, now understanding why he’d taken the rabbit period.
“FOR A HUMAN, YOU HAVE A RATHER DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE FOREST AND HER LIFE. YET I DO NOT SENSE THE PATH OF BROWN IN ANY OF YOU. CURIOUS.”
Tyler smiled.
“Myself and the blonde are Warriors from another world.”
The voice gasped.
“WARRIORS WITH A CLEAR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FOREST? AND DARE I SENSE A RESPECT FOR IT AS WELL?”
Kaori spoke up then.
“In our world we have a race of humans known as Native Americans. In their culture, they believed that living as one with nature was the best way to live. I myself was taught the ways of the forest as they understood It. Him?”
She jabbed a thumb at Tyler.
“He’s still learning..”
“Gee, thanks Barbie.”
“Shove it.”
There was a now thoughtful tone in the spirits voice.
“ YOU SAY YOU’RE MERELY LOOKING FOR A LOST KITTEN. YET I SENSE AN ULTERIOR MOTIVE.”
Tyler shrugged.
“Our plan was to go to the den of the grand Wyvern we heard dwells her. Kill it, and search it’s den for any indication it got her.”
The spirit’s voice was now more firm.
“THERE IS NO GRAND WYVERN IN MY FOREST. IT IS MERELY A LESSER DRAKOLISK. NOW, I AM AWARE YOU WERE ABOUT TO TAKE THAT PLANT.”
“My cat friend said it was useful. Plus a good spit in the face of the crown and any nobles we come across.”
That made the spirit burst out laughing. Malico laughed as well.
“He really HATES them don’t he?”
Kaori smiled as well.
“More he’s looking to make a point. He does hate them, or more what they represent. Moreover it’s a spit in the face of that Pope.”
Tyler smirked as the spirit got its mirth under control.
“WARRIOR, YOU ARE A VERY STRANGE HUMAN. I HAVE LIVED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS, AND HAVE NEVER ENCOUNTERED SUCH A STRANGE ONE AS YOU. I HAVE REACHED A DECISION REGARDING YOUR PRESENCE IN MY FOREST. AS YOU HAVE ALL DISPLAYED A PROPER RESPECT TO THE FOREST AND HER LIFE, AS WELL AS MYSELF, I WILL TOLERATE YOU IN MY WOODS UNTIL YOU FIND YOUR FRIEND. WHERE SHE IS, I AM AFRAID I KNOW NOT. IF YOU NEED SUSTANCE, NOT A SCRAP IS TO BE WASTED. DO WE HAVE A DEAL?”
Tyler smiled.
“We do indeed. If we need to contact you again, how do we do so?”
The trees all rustled in a sudden breeze as the spirit spoke again.
“I AM THE FOREST. SHOULD YOU HAVE NEED TO SPEAK WITH ME AGAIN, THEN SPEAK TO THE FROEST AND I SHALL HEAR.”
The voice died and Tyler pulled his dagger to collect the Royal Hemlock. Malico came over.
“Here, plants are my thing.”
He past her his knife as he checked on Kaori. The blonde beauty was stroking the now calming horses soothingly.
“Hey, you good?”
She smiled.
“Made me jump. I’m good though. So that was a nature spirit.”
Tyler smiled.
“I’m not entirely sure about that. But, not our issue. We’ll start with the lesser drake. Kill it and search it’s den.”
Malico came over with the three foot plant.
“A Lesser drake?”
Tyler watched as she stored the plant in her bags.
“They hard to kill?”
She sighed.
“They’re smaller then Wyverns, are blood red, and can breathe fire.”
Tyler swung up into his saddle.
“Are they dragonkin?”
Kaori became nervous at the word dragon. Malico sighed again.
“They are. A Lesser Drake is near the bottom of the list of dragonkin though.”
“They easier to kill then a wyvern?”
Malico and Tyler began his deep discussion as Kaori finished the rabbit in the saddle. She was wondering what to do with the scraps.
“Hey, Tyler, what can we do with the leftovers?”
“Bait. We can use the leftover scraps as either fish bait or to bait the drake.”
“ah.”
She smiled at his never ending planning ahead. She stored the animal parts in her saddle bags as they moved along the trail. Kaori took out the rabbit pelt and felt the soft fur again. She loved just how soft it was and the way it felt on her skin, as the brown fur had the patches of white used for blending in with the forest shadows. The blonde was curious again.
“We only have the one pelt. What can we make with it?”
Tyler thought for a moment.
“Good point. How many to you think we’d need for a decent bedroll?”
Malic thought for a moment.
“Maybe….8?”
Kaori had a thought as well.
“How will we transport all that? We only have so much room on our horses.”
Tyler smiled.
“We can do a resupply here in the forest. We’re nearly out of a lot of things, meat, tea leaves, bread’s nearly gone, and the meat from the Wyvern’s nearly gone as well. Plus we need to refill our canteens. If we need to make camp here, we’ll burn through the last of our town bought supplies.”
Kaori was shocked.
“Did we really go through that much that quickly?”
Tyler sighed.
“We’re three people, Kaori. We all eat a lot. I’ll cop to it. My long term plan was at some point getting us a wagon.”
Malico smiled.
“That seems wise. Since Warriors of old roamed a lot.”
Kaori looked as a bit of movement caught her eye, only for a large white tailed deer buck was eating alongside their trail. She reached for her bow.
“Leave it Kaori. We don’t have the space for a buck of that size.”
Tyler had seen the magnificent buck as well. Kaori sighed, and left her bow where it was.
“Okay. We need to be careful.”
“Yeah. I’d rather not piss off the forest. If you spot another rabbit or other small game, take the shot. Malico see if you can spot any useful plants as well.”
Malico smiled as her long tail flicked.
“it’s almost like you have a clue Tyler!”
“Barely.”
Kaori smirked,
“He’s trying to look cool for the ladies.”
Tyler just smiled, when he felt a mental nudge. He knew that feeling.
“We’ll pull over here for a bit.”
Kaori and Malico looked at each other as he hitched thunder to a tree. Malico was the one that spoke.
“We need to hurry! Juniper needs us!”
“The Monster wants a word with me.”
Kaori groaned.
“Malico and I will set up camp.”
Tyler walked over to a tree and sat against it as Malico looked at the now grim faced Blonde.
“Kaori, what did he mean, The Monster wants a word with him?”
The childhood friend of Tyler sighed as she watched her hero’s eyes go lifeless.
“It happens from time to time. The Monster tries to dominate his mind and issues a challenge. Tyler explained it like he’s king of the castle, and has to fight off it’s bids for the throne. He won’t be able to lift a finger for a few hours.”
Malico looked again, and she saw his dead-like eyes.
“Will he be alright?”
Kaori was seeing to the horses.
“It’s always risky. And a gamble. If he loses, the Monster gets control until Tyler can take it back. If that happens, Malico, we run. Fast.”

Tyler sighed and relaxed his body as he send his mind towards the cage of the Monster. The creature was sitting in it’s prison of pain and torment with chains of misery containing it’s fury. In appearance it was Tyler’s twin, only with burning hateful eyes and bleeding scars. Tyler sighed as he neared it.
“Well. Let’s do this.”
The thing lifted it’s head to look at him.
“That is NOT why I called to you.”
It’s voice was a mere pained growl in Tyler’s warm voice. Tyler tensed anyway.
“if you are not after the driver’s seat why am I here?”
The creature stood and leaned against it’s chains.
“I am no longer needed.”
Tyler backed away from the steel bars.
“We’ve played this game before Monster. You got me once. You will NEVER get me again.”
The thing laughed.
“I remember that game well. Yet. You’re growing weaker. Right before my eyes you’re weakening. I feel it, and the Blonde can see it.”
Tyler slammed against the bars.
“You will NOT get control. Never. I will DIE and take you with me before I allow you to get control!”
The Monster growled.
“Fuckin IDIOT. I am suggesting a merge!”
Tyler was suspicious.
“Why do YOU seek to merge all of a sudden? Last time I proposed it we fought for three days.”
The Monster growled again.
“As I said you deaf fuckin idiot, I am no longer needed. I have seen the new world through your eyes, and felt your new strength. You created me to protect yourself from harm. Now you seek to protect others. A Monster is not needed for such a noble task.”
Tyler was looking at it with all his powers of perception, and found it was in fact telling the truth.
“So. You’re willing to merge with me. What do you want in exchange?”
It chuckled.
“I do not want anything but the end of my suffering. You know what I suffer every moment of every day. Now, I can see my misery is at an end. As for what I want in exchange? An ascendance.”
Tyler crossed his legs as he floated before the thing in it’s cage.
“An ascendance? Into what?”
it grinned and bared it’s fanglike teeth.
“A Monster seeks only to protect itself. You seek to protect others, so you do not require A Monster’s horror. No. What you need, is a Demon’s Wrath.”
Tyler looked at it.
“A Demon’s Wrath?”
The embodiment of all the pain of his life sighed.
“A Demon is an agent of destruction and rage with a purpose driving it. A Monster has no purpose.”
That’s when it clicked.
“You want to transform from a mere pain sponge to a pain shield.”
It smiled.
“And a Shield can protect many. Not just the one.”
Tyler spun as he considered the words. The Monster was right. On all points. Tyler had felt his willpower weakening from the constant strain of keeping the creature restrained. He was aware kaori was aware of the sheer drain on him that it was. Yet she had NO idea just HOW severe the actual strain was. Tyler had locked a solid 65% of his entire being away to save his soul and what was left of his heart. Tyler wanted the merge, and needed it. Yet he was now just plain scared to give up the source of his backbone without knowing what he’d get in it’s place. As he thought it over, The Monster chuckled.
“To think you created me as a means of defense. Now you seek to use me as a means of Offense. You used to hate me, now I can see you’ve come to depend on me looming behind you. How sad.”
Tyler stopped spinning to look at it.
“ya know what? Fuck it.”
The Monster stood as tall as it could as Tyler pulled the rusted key out of his heart. The Monster was smiling with such relief as Tyler set the key in the lock.
“At last I can rest.”
The key turned, and the cage and chains shattered, leaving the Monster free before Tyler as they floated in his mind. The Monster offered it’s hand and Tyler placed his own in it. The thing glowed as it merged with him.
“Thank you. Master.”
Tyler sighed.
“Thank you. Friend.”

Kaori and Malico were cooking the rabbit meat and last of the Wyvern meat as Tyler was dueling with the Monster. Malico would look over every now and then concerned.
“It doesn’t feel right, him at war in there and us not able to help him.”
Kaori was right there with her.
“I hate it too. Sadly, this all we can do for him. Having the food ready and camp set.”
Malico was naked as she was in camp, and was stretched out by the fire.
“Still feels wrong, though. I wish we could help him.”
“Why don’t you worry about who’s gonna help YOU ladies!”
Before they knew what happened, the two girls were hit with paralyzing darts and were tied up as a large group of fifteen of the Viscount’s men made their move. The ladies had been caught completely by surprise and were helpless in an instant. Malico was spread eagled as kaori was stripped naked and got the same. They could feel the men’s touch, and speak, but that was all.
“You better run if you don’t want to die screaming.”
“Once thee Monster wakes you all FUCKED!”
The men laughed.
“We hit yer boy with thirty darts. Have a look!”
Tyler was indeed bristling with darts, and the sight broke Malico’s heart.
“No.”
Kaori on the other hand just laughed.
“Oh you idiots. Those affect the mind. Tyler has more mental strength then a hundred men.”
The captain, or that’s what kaori guessed he was from the red feathers on his helm, slapped Kaori across the face with a mailed hand.
“Yer boy’s been stuffed with enough Dragon Stopper to KILL three HUNDRED men. Now shut up yer little cunt.”
“I’m sorry, ladies.”
All looked to the sound of the voice. Tyler was smiling with a dark smile on his face, and kaori went pale.
“No. The Monster won.”
Tyler laughed.
“Oh no my dear Kaori. The Monster is free!”
She had tears start to form in her green eyes.
“No. Tyler’s…gone!”
Another laugh.
“Ohh, no he is NOT. Kaori. I’m right here.”
He was smiling and he had the light hearted grin that had both infuriated her and comforted her.
“You see the thing about a Monster is it can only hurt people. So, having such an evil thing inside my now seeking to protect soul was killing me. So, me an it had a little chat.”
Tyler stood up and tore the darts from his frame, getting looks of horror from the soldiers. He then smiled at kaori.
“A Monster is not needed for our journey. No. What is needed.”
he surged forward faster then he had ever moved and tore through five men with Oblivion in 6 seconds.
“What is needed…..is A Demon.”
Tyler was smiling as he ducked under a spear only to slash the man from groin to chin with a savage slash as he pivoted on a foot to dodge a set of arrows, throwing his dagger as he twirled. The flung weapon taking a chanting mage in the throat before Tyler brought his weapon down on a helmed shielder. The man died as tyler then planted his feet and lifted the large shield to block a heavy axe shot, before twisting the shield, which locked the axe head in it’s flamboyant center boss, and bending the shield like it was mere paper over the now useless axe head. Kaori understood then what had happened.
“They…merged! He’s free!”
Malico looked at her from her still proned spot.
“He merged with the Monster?”
Kaori had tears of pride for her friend.
“He did indeed, Malico. He is finally free of the evil.”
The screams cut out abruptly as Tyler came back dusting his hands off.
“That was fun! Now then.”
He looked to the two paralyzed ladies, and licked his lips as he leered at them.
“What to do to you?”
Malico and Kaori looked at each other as best they could. Then to him.
“Um, you DO realize we can’t move, right?”
“What she said?”
Tyler’s eyes got a dark glint in them.
“What fun. Two naked beauties helpless and allllll mine!”
The two girls were now getting nervous at this.
“Umm, you’re gonna help us right?”
“You’re still Tyler….right?”
Tyler sighed.
“Ya know sumthin? Much as I want to play with you.”
He went over to a saddlebag and pulled out the remedies. He then helped the ladies drink. They both sat up and scootched away from him.
“As much as I want to play with you, helpless just is NOT something I’m into. Plus kaori’s hugs rock.”
He tossed the girls their clothes as they looked at him, his switch from a very verve rackingly dark mindset to his normal self giving them whiplash. Kaori dressed and, having know him the longest, took it upon herself to test him. She took a seat directly across from him and looked into his eyes. He looked her directly in her eyes and smiled.
“Have I ever told you I liked your eyes?”
She blushed a little, but as she looked into his brown gaze, she saw new steel, resolve, and a strength that was frightening to behold. She gulped.
“That evil in your gaze when you looked at us?”
Tyler rubbed his head ruefully.
“Sorry about that. New Demon, and was still learning how to drive it.”
She tilted her head.
“I know the Monster was to protect you. What is the Demon?”
He looked at her with a gaze with so much steel, ice, and sheer will she jerked backward reflexively.
“The Demon WILL protect you, and Malico from ANYTHING that DARES to do you harm. If they want to get to you. They have to get. THROUGH. ME!”
His voice was as cold as a winter in antarctica and harder then steel. He was now giving off an aura of bloodlust, strength, will, and a terrifyingly intense resolve. Kaori was shaking at the sheer force packed into his voice and the feelings she was getting now. Malico was also shaking at his newfound force. Kaori gulped as she asked a question.
“Are you still in there, Tyler?”
The glaring man before her smiled, and she saw that he was in fact the creature before her. That’s when she understood the point of the merge. It wasn’t to get RID of the Monster, but to GAIN everything the Monster brought to the table: It’s ferocity, strength of will, limb and soul, it’s evil as well. The Demon took all the best pieces of the Monster and Tyler and mixed them together to create his ultimate version. A version of such absolute determination, strength of heart, mind, and will that he had gone from being merely intimidating to straight up TERRIFYING. But, and this was the whole reason Tyler had accepted the merge, The Demon was created to protect not just Tyler but herself and Malico as well. Kaori lunged at him and hugged him tightly.
“I knew you’d beat it! I knew you would!”
She went to hug him, only to get stopped in her tracks by a gentle but firm grip on her arms. She looked at him confused.
“I kinda took a bloodbath, kaori. Might not be a good idea to hug me juust yet.”
She laughed as she sat back, and looked to a still nervous Malico.
“He’s safe. Just stronger.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like a damn dog?”
Kaori laughed.
“Well, I DO have to muzzle you like one!”
Tyler smirked.
“Well, I’m a dog now? Well, if I’m a dog, then does that make you my bitch?”
Malico burst out laughing at Kaori’s face of both surprised anger and the smile of his joke.
“Wow, Tyler! I didn’t know you were funny!”
“It’s just kaori.”
Malico was laughing hard as kaori just slapped him. She losing her fight with a smile.
“Prick! I was worried about you for once!”
His on the fly response caught her off guard.
“Thanks for worrying about me, kaori. Seriously, thank you. I hope you know just how much having you at my back made it all bearable. My family, the school, everything. If my life was a dark nightmare, then having you in it put a ray of light that kept me afloat. Without you, I’d have just said fuck it and killed myself years ago. So, from the bottom of my heart, kaori. Thank you.”
He was smiling with a light in his eyes that had never before been there, and it just made kaori’s’ heart melt. She hugged him this time, and got all bloody as well, as she just smiled at his release from his strain.
“You’re welcome. I love you. Thank you for protecting me, even if I never knew you did.”
He hugged her right back, and pressed his head into her hair.
“well, we can protect each other now. The Monster is free. Now, the Demon spread’s his wings.”
That’s exactly what it felt like for Malico and kaori. A dark aura had enshrouded them, and it brought with it a sense of such security and safety that they relaxed nearly immediately. Then Tyler sighed.
“Greeeat. A blood Barbie.”
She snorted as she sat back and saw she was indeed covered in blood. He sighed.
“Alright, let’s get to it.”
There was still daylight, but not much as the trio both broke camp and looted the dead. The result was a few new spells for them. Tyler scoring a Blue Path Spell called Tranquil Waters. A spell that was similar to protective warning. It took the same Mana and covered the same area. Main difference was whereas Protective Warning would alert Tyler to the direction and presence of an enemy with a vague image, this allowed for precise tracking as it spread a layer of thin water beneath the surface of the ground that would act like a drum telling him where exactly the attackers were coming from. He smiled at the new trick.
“I can definitely use this.”
Malico got a green spell called Ranger’s Friend. A bow spell that would triple the bow’s power while reducing the strength to draw the string. The catgirl smiled as she saw this.
“I prefer daggers but neat.”
Kaori was also happy with her score. She got a orange spell called Lava flow. Basically it turned a section of ground into a raging magma flow. It was an expensive spell, at a whooping 125 mana. The power was worth the cost, for it would essentially turn the ground beneath one’s feet into molten rock. Tyler had a word of warning for the pretty blonde.
“I wouldn’t use that one for a while. Not until you can cast three back to back.”
She sighed.
“I was looking forward to using this on more of the Viscount’s men.”
Tyler smiled.
“I love the idea.”
They also scrounged up 78 silver coins, a few scrolls, more paralyze darts, a one handed sword the same length as Oblivion that Tyler claimed, 121 copper coins, and a letter outlining their orders. Tyler smirked as he read it aloud.
“You are to kill the Warrior know as Tyler and capture the Warrior know as Kaori and the Vermin know as Malico. You may play with the toys as you see fit upon capture, short of killing them. Yeah you get the point. This pissant is really starting to irritate me.”
The feeling was very much mutual as they resaddled their horses and headed off down the trail in search of a better place for camp, as the corpses of the dead men san into the ground to provide food for the forest. Tyler was in the lead as the spirit of the forest spoke again.
“I WISH TO THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL. THEY SHALL PROVIDE MY ROOTS WITH SUSTENCE FOR MONTHS YET.”
Tyler smiled.
“A welcome bonus.”
“YOU SEEK A SAFE PLACE TO MAKE CAMP. DO YOU NOT?”
“We do. Preferably near a stream. We…need to clean up.”
“WOULD A HOTSPRING SUFFICE?”
“Yes!”
“Oh PLEASE!”
“Is there one nearby?”
There was a warm chuckle as a large buck appeared in the trail, and took off through the trees. The trio followed the hart through the woodland until they came out to a large steaming clearing with a large outcrop of stone on one side with more then enough room for the horses and their tents. Tyler smiled at the sight.
“Thank you for showing us this spot. We will NOT leave a trace of our presence.”
Another chuckle.
“AS IT SHOULD BE WHEN HUMANS ENTER THE FOREST.”
The horses were seen to, and the tent pitched. Once Protective warning and Tranquil waters were cast and in place did the trio strip and enter the waters.
“Ohhhh, I needed this!”
Tyler was resting in a small fork as the blood came off his frame in a red cloud of death. He dove and even more red came out. He surfaced and found Malico and Kaori on either side of him, just as naked as he was. He smiled and held out his arms for them to snuggle. The two girls looked at each other a little shocked.
“Wow, kaori. It would seem he’s become bolder.”
“It would seem so, Malico. Whatever shall we do?”
Tyler made the call for them, and wrapped his arms around them both, pulling them against his bare chest.
“Ahhh, better.”
His happy sigh getting a giggle from the two ladies as they rested their heads on his chest.
“Well, I SUPPOSE we can let this slide.”
“I guess. I mean, this IS very comfy.”
He smiled as he looked at kaori.
“How’s your face? You took a nasty shot earlier.”
She smiled, and turned her head to show him she didn’t even have a scratch.
“I healed it with a leftover potion.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek and she went BEAT red.
“Good. Can’t have that pretty face I like so much get marred.”
Malico just laughed at the sheer boom that had went off behind Kaori’s green eyes.
“He DID become bold!”
Tyler pressed Malico’s head into his chest, and her breasts went with it.
“I gave up my insecurities when I merged with the Monster. If you two want to shower my worthless ass in love and affection, then why can’t I do the same?”
Kaori finally recovered from her mind being blown to high hell, and sighed.
“There goes our peaceful slumber. Now we have to worry about getting jumped in our sleep.”
Tyler smiled.
“Only if you want me to. I’d rather my first remember the experience for the rest of her life.”
Kaori and Malico both looked at each other.
“we’re in trouble.”
“Oh no, my dear Malico. We’re not in trouble. WE’RE FUCKED!”
“Not yet.”
His response made them all laugh, before Kaori asked a question.
“Alright, let’s test this new boldness. Who’s chest do you prefer, mine or hers?”
“Yours Kaori. I may have a fondness for the big ones, but yours are just the right size for cuddling.”
He didn’t even hesitate, and he was smiling as he said this. Poor kaori’s mind blew again as Malico asked the next question.
“Okay, who would you rather get a hug by? Me or her?”
“Honestly? You Malico, your fur is really soft and I’ve always been a cat person.”
“Ahhh! Thanks!”
Kaori recovered and got into it.
“Okay, who do you want to kiss first?”
“You Kaori. I’ve always wanted to kiss you, but never dared.”
She just looked at him, shocked.
“Wow, Tyler. I mean. Just wow.”
Malico’s turn.
“Okay, who would you want to be your first?”
“Sorry, Malico, kaori’s got ya beat again. She’s…..ya know what? Screw it.”
He sat up and looked at Kaori, and took her hand.
“I need to get something off my chest.”
She gulped.
“What is it?”
He smiled.
“I’ve always wanted to be your boyfriend. I love you, Kaori.”
Malico just sat back in the hot spring, smiling as she saw him get his first. Kaori just looked at him, her mind having gone boom yet again.
“What?”
Her voice had gone from her earlier teasing bell tone to a small, shaky whisper.
“I love you, kaori. I have for quite some time now. I could never tell you lest you get subjected to the same treatment I was getting from the others in our class.”
She looked deep into his eyes.
“You’ve felt this way for that long?”
“A few years now. I always wanted to tell you and ask you out, but again, I couldn’t drag you into the other’s crosshairs. Seeing you suffer like that, and knowing it was MY fault from subjecting you to it would have killed me, and the Monster’s presence just made it that much harder.”
She looked at him like a poor man looked at a winning lottery ticket he’d found in the trash. Then she smiled, and hugged him.
“I love you too, Tyler!”
He smiled.
“I love you, kaori.”
She was smiling as she looked into his eyes. She then started to lean in closer, and he could feel her breath on his lips. She closed her eyes as they pressed their lips against each other’s in their very first kiss. Kaori was nervous and unsure, whereas Tyler was eager and bold. They pulled back and looked at each other before he smiled.
“Can...I get another?”
She smiled and they kissed again.
“Of course.”
He smiled as they laid back down before Malico cleared her throat.
“Ahem, forgetting someone?”
She was on her side resting her head on a hand with her long tail swishing behind her. She was looking at Tyler expectantly, and he looked to Kaori.
“It okay with you if we share?”
She looked at him.
“Why you asking me?”
“Well, we ARE together now, right?”
That sent a shiver up the blonde’s spine.
“We are together, but so is she. So, it’s okay.”
He kissed Kaori again before looking to a expectant Malico. She licked her lips as he leaned in to kiss her as well.
“Bout time.”
Kaori smirked as she watched her new boyfriend kiss his second girlfriend. After he laid back Kaori felt the need to ask.
“So, who’s the better kisser?”
“You are, Kaori. Malico’s are nice and all, but it didn’t make my heart nearly stop like yours did.”
She smiled as Malico smirked.
“I see you’re the clear favorite. That’s fine. Long as I don’t get ignored.”
“She IS my number one priority in this world.”
Kaori rested her head on his chest as he said this, smiling as her heart sang from the turn of events. Then Malico smirked again.
“Who’s got the better eyes?”
“I love kaori’s emeralds, but yours are not fair.”
“Best hair?”
“Kaori. Seriously, shoulda seen how you looked that morning in the inn, I though you were wearing a crown of gold.”
“Who do you want to cuddle?”
“Malico. Again her fur is soft and warm.”
“Okay, who’s legs do you prefer?”
“Kaori.”
“Okay.”
The ladies rested on his chest as they looked at the night sky as they pondered new categories.
“Best smile.”
“Kaori again.”
“Wow, not used to getting flattered by you like this. It’s kinda nice.”
Tyler was stroking her back as Malico smiled.
“This is nice.”
Tyler stroked the mane of chocolate hair as they all looked at the stars.
“It is indeed.”
Malico sighed.
“I wish Juniper was here with us.”
Tyler smiled.
“I think she is.”
Malico looked at him.
“Huh?”
He chuckled.
“I’m betting Juniper’s that voice we keep hearing.”
Kaori groaned.
“You really think it’d be that easy?”
“Funny, you said much the same thing about my wagon stunt. Now look at us.”
She couldn’t argue that one. Malico was curious.
“How DID you escape the Dragon Tower?”
“We clung to the underside of a wagon as it left the tower.”
Malico just laid in the water.
“Wow, so blatantly obvious.”
“That’s what she said. But, it worked.”
Kaori groaned.
“Don’t get smug.”
“Sure.”
She smiled, as he had a thought.
“I wonder. Be right back.”
The grumbled as he got up and went for his saddlebag. He came back with the map and spread it out on the rock beside the water as he got back between the ladies. He did the spell and found that they were in one of the favorite spots of Juniper. Tyler looked at Malico.
“Like I thought. I think Juniper’s that voice we keep hearing.”
Malico looked at him.
“But if she is, then why hasn’t she said so?”
Tyler rubbed her ears.
“Probably because she doesn’t WANT to. Maybe she’s gone full Hermit and chosen forest life over that life.”
Malico looked at the map.
“It wouldn’t surprise me. Juniper always DID prefer the forest over our village. And by the way? That tickles!”
he smiled and rubbed her brown cat ears again, and getting a happy tail lash for his efforts. Kaori smiled as well, and started teasing the catgirl’s tail, getting a low moan and her start squirming.
“Hey! Kaori! Wait for the tent to play!”
Tyler just smiled as he kissed Malico.
“I AM curious just want you two did when I was sleeping the other night.”
Malico licked her lips.
“Oh, that? Well, her virginity is still there, but her nipples were sucked on, and I made her lose it.”
“Wow, kaori, did you have fun?”
The blonde blushed,
“I….did. I like what we did. I guess….I like both?”
Tyler smiled.
“Good for you. That tent’s gonna be fun, that’s for damned sure.”
Malico leaned over and kissed a shocked kaori.
“Oh it will be VERY fun.”
She purred seductively as Kaori looked at a smiling Tyler.
“Hey, wanna lay a few Ground rules for our group?”
Malico and Kaori looked at each other.
“Um, that might be a good idea.”
“Alright, whatcha got?”
“Well, no taking virginity lezy style, and if you get jealous of the other tell me and we’ll spend time together. Sound fair?”
Kaori sighed with relief.
“I’d like you to be my first, Tyler. Afterwards though,”
She looked at Malico’s busty form.
“We’ll see.”
Malico smiled.
“I can’t wait. For the both of you.”
They smiled as Tyler yawned.
“I’mma call it.”
The ladies agreed.
“Any longer and we’ll get pruny.”
“Yeah what she said.”
They got up and dried off before entering the tent still naked. Tyler laid on his back on the bedroll as Kaori and Malico took a spot either side of him. He smiled.
“If only those bastards could see me now.”
Kaori snorted.
“They’d lose their friggin minds.”
“Right?”
They drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.
DAYS UNTIL WAVE: 65 .


Tyler woke first. He opened his eyes to see Kaori had moved in her sleep and was using his arm like a body pillow. He sighed as he extracted himself from her warmth. Malico was softly breathing as well. Tyler loved the way they both looked asleep like that, and once again wished he had a camera. He exited the tent and dressed before getting the fire going. He was also going over their supplies. The preserved fruit was gone, he was using the last of the Wyvern meat, and bread from breakfast.
“Okay. We need to resupply.”
He also did a coin count. As of that morning they had 4 gold coins, 192 silver coins, and 126 copper. A decent sum, but the sheer number of coins was now a very tempting target for pickpockets. He sighed as a splash was heard in the hotspring lake. He pulled his bow as he looked towards the sound, only to come face to face with a fifteen hundred pound brown bear not ten feet from him. He froze as the massive animal moved into the soothing waters. He watched the beast as he checked to see if Protective warning and Tranquil Waters were still active. They were. He chuckled.
“Right. A spirit avatar.”
He put up his bow and lifted a slab of Wyvern meat.
“Hey! Teddy!”
The bear looked over at the sound and Tyler tossed the meat towards the massive beast. It accepted the offering and rumbled before laying on the large rock near the fire in a mound of fur. He shook his head as he went about his camp tasks.
“Great. I guess we’re wearing out our welcome.”
The bear huffed. Tyler smirked.
“We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we can.”
The bear huffed again, before falling asleep next to the fire. Tyler worked in silence as he readied the last of their supplies before doing a weapon check. Arrows they had three full quivers of 80 shafts per, a decent amount of licenses, but the majority were useless or undesirable so would be sold, Oblivion was still as sharp as ever as was Dawn. His chainmail vest, however, was starting to rust, and he sighed as he knew he couldn’t wear it anymore. The bear ignored his activities as it snored by the warm fire. Tyler then opened up his HUD, and saw he had over 200 points to place. Plus he had gotten a new skill. Demonic Wrath. The skill was a sort of rage mode that could only be used once a day. If activated, his stats would increase by one hundred, spells cost nothing and would not require a chant, and the spells would be twice as powerful. The downside was he could only maintain that level of power for ten minutes until he upgraded it, and the strain would leave him exhausted. In order to upgrade it, he needed to use it, and perform activities while using it, like killing enemies, or chopping wood or some other task. More tasks he performed while it was active the more points he’d get. He sighed.
“Yeah, that’s gonna be a bitch to level up.”
He looked over his stats, and added a full 50 to stamina, 25 to agility, and 25 to speed. Bringing those totals to his stamina to 225, Speed, 160, and Agility to 130.
“I might be able to keep up now with Kaori.”
He had a hundred points left over, and smiled as he added an extra fifty to defense. The last fifty he put into his strength. His level was 25, and he was liking how his built was coming along. As he was now, he could fight for 4 hours nonstop, was nearly as fast as kaori, could get beaten with a hammer for an hour before something broke, and could probably lift that bear’s head. The bear was watching him with beady eyes curiously to see what he was doing. Tyler smiled at the hulking beast.
“I’m adding my skillpoints to my stats.”
The thing blew out a breath as if to say ‘ah’. Tyler shook his head at the fact he was having a full conversation with a bear with paws the size of dinner plates. He then closed his HUD and pulled out his map. He set it down and had just entered the spell when the bear huffed, he looked up to see the large animal had shifted to lay on it’s other side to look at him. Tyler tilted his head.
“You….wanna see my map?”
The bear nodded. Tyler looked at where’d he have to sit for that to work, right by the things head, in very convenient paw and teeth range. He shrugged.
“I guess that’s fair.”
He went over and to the required seat, and the bear lowered it’s head onto his lap where he could see the map. Tyler just smiled and went with it, and scratched the ears of the bear, getting a snort.
“Yep, I’m insane.”
The bear snorted again as Tyler looked over their progress.
“Okay. We need to resupply badly. We’ll kill that drake, should net us some food and maybe some extra crap as dragonkin like shiny stuff. By that point, we’ll have passed through a few more of juniper’s lairs.”
He looked to the massive animal in his lap.
“Hey, big guy, that forest spirit wouldn’t happen to be named Juniper, would it?”
The bear wheezed before lifting his head to look at him as if to say what’s it to ya.”
“Her sister’s here to find her. We’re just seeing if she’s okay.”
The bear growled.
“Hey, she wants to be here that’s all well and good. Just need to be sure.”
The bear tilted it’s head as if weighing his words before seeming to shrug it’s large shoulders and lay it’s head back on his lap. Tyler patted it’s head.
“I guess she’s a friend of yours, eh big guy?”
The bear rumbled as Tyler patted it.
“Well, at least we know she’s alive.”

Inside the tent, Kaori opened her eyes to find Tyler’s spot between her and Malico empty and growing cool. Off on his camp patrol and fire starter duties. She smiled as she knew he could handle himself. Kaori then noticed Malico was still asleep with her breasts vulnerable, and she felt the urge to get another taste. payback! The blonde snuck over and leaned in to take one of Malico’s massive melons in her mouth, and she did, loving the feel of her nipple in her mouth as she suckled like a child. If my father could see his ‘perfect’ daughter loving the breasts of another girl! Malico was moaning in her sleep as kaori’s mouth went to work on her nipple, and Kaori loving the feel and taste. Kaori let the catgirl go with a soft pop as she started bucking in her sleep, and slithered back, leaving her all hot and bothered. The blonde smiled as she left the tent, only to freeze at the sight before her green eyes. Tyler sitting with the map open, petting the head of the single largest brown bear she had ever heard of with it’s head in his lap! Kaori rubbed her eyes before looking back, and yup, still a bear bigger then their tent with it’s head in Tyler’s lap.
“Okay, what the hell?”
She just sighed and took an early morning dip in the hotspring.
“Morning kaori. Sleep well?”
She smiled at his voice reflexively as she looked over at him, firmly snuggled in bear fur.
“I did, thank you. I see you made a new friend.”
He smiled.
“More we got a shadow. This big guy’s the spirit’s avatar. He’s here to make sure we keep our word.”
The bear huffed again, and Kaori chuckled.
“Of course he is.”
She smiled as the hot water splashed around her own moderate bust, and she loved how it felt on her small spot. Tyler was looking at the map and would point out some aspect of their planned path to the bear and sometimes would get a response, other times not. Kaori’s belly rumbled and she looked to the fire.
“How are we doing on food?”
“Used the last of it this morning. Meats gone period, bread too, we have a few leftover preserved fruits, but that’s all.”
Kaori groaned and got out of the hotspring to both dress and aid in the strategizing.
“What’s the plan?”
He pointed to a spot the bear had indicated.
“The drake lives here. We kill it, get some meat of it’s corpse, and see what else we can scrounge up. But we need to be careful on what we take in here, cause ya know, our friend here.”
He patted the bear for emphasis. Kaori looked at the surrounding trees.
“Maybe fruits and vegetables would be a good way to go.”
“Wow, scary. A blonde with a brain that works. Shall I start calling you Shadow?”
She glared at him.
“I will let that one go, because I both loved that movie and Shadow was my favorite.”
He smiled.
“It’s why I called you that.”
She smiled then,
“Wow, so becoming a Demon made you smooth as well? Scary.”
The bear lifted it’s head to look at him. He shrugged.
“I got issues.”
Kaori laughed.
“By issues he means spilt personalities. He merged then last night, and we’re still reeling.”
He smirked as the bear just huffed, shrugged and laid back down as if to say, Humans. Tyler and kaori looked at each other.
“Agreed.”
“Completely.”
Tyler smiled again,
“Okay. Let’s think. Kaori, what animals are small enough we can store the carcass and still use it?
She thought for a moment.
“I’d say fish is our best bet. Depending on the species, nearly everything can be eaten by us, what can’t can be used for bait.”
“So, are fish easy to keep?”
She was loving how he was looking to her outdoor knowledge.
“Main issue is keeping the bugs away. We do that we’re set. Do we have any salt?”
He looked to his bag.
“Surprisingly, salt is the thing we have the most of, like three full jars.”
She smiled again, this time eagerly.
“If I use salt, we can preserve the meat for longer.”
“Hmm, I really would like to add one of those really nice deer we’ve seen here, but we haven’t the means to use a full carcass. A 200 pound buck would add a lot to our supplies.”
Kaori sighed as well.
“I for one think we should stick to rabbits. Small, easy to clean, and the pelts are versatile.”
“Hmm, what about beaver?”
She thought for a moment.
“Not a good idea. Only thing a beaver is really good for is it’s tail and fur. Meat’s not worth eating.”
Tyler stroked the bear as he ran down a list of animals.
“We have three horses, so we should have the room for a decent sized animal. Plus, if we want to bait the drake into a kill zone or out of it’s den then a good sized deer is not a bad idea.”
Kaori had to agree there.
“Plus, there’s not a whole lot on a buck that CAN’T be used for SOMETHING. Even the hooves make decent handles for weapons.”
Tyler sighed.
“Okay. We have a few options to play with here. We can make do with plants, which is both the safest and easiest to use all of, try our luck with small game like rabbits, or go for broke with a buck. What about birds? The feathers we can use for fletching, leftover meat as bait, and the talons and beaks as goods for trade.”
Kaori thought about it.
“We’d have to pick out targets carefully. Like turkey, duck, grouse or geese. I can get a lot out of a decent tom, but I’d avoid a hawk or eagle. Those are mostly mainly hunted for their feathers.”
Tyler stroked the bear as they thought it over.
“Let’s go with plants, small game and if we’re lucky a decent turkey. Low-risk moderate reward.”
He then looked at the bear.
“That drake, is it an invader of your forest?”
The bear lifted it’s head to huff at him.
“So, is it beholden to our agreement?”
The bear tilted it’s head as it thought it over, before shaking it’s head. Tyler smiled.
“Thanks, that makes it easier. I’m sure we’ll get something of it we can use, but if it’s the size of that wyvern we killed, we’ll have a lot of leftovers we just can’t take with us.”
Kaori had to ask.
“I know Malico said a drake was dragonkin, but what is a drake, exactly?”
Tyler smiled at his still a normie friend.
“A drake is different in every tale. Almost always they’re a form of dragon. Only, far smaller, no wings, and are either a young dragon, a male dragon, or a different species altogether. From Malico’s description of this one, it’s a different species. It’s about the size of for Thunders end to end, and maybe the size of this beast here.”
He patted the bear.
“According to Malico, they have REALLY hard scales, and they can spit fire. No where NEAR full dragon flame, but still a spitfire.”
Kaori looked at Thunder, as if gauging the size of the animal.
“So, 15 feet long? And about five feet at the shoulder?”
“That’s the size of it.”
She looked at her katana.
“I thing we’re ill-equipped to kill this thing.”
Tyler sighed.
“My plan is to bait it out into the open, and take it’s eyes with arrows, then try to use my water to drown it with WaterBurst.”
Kaori sighed as she saw where he was going.
“Blind it, then keep it off balance as we drown it on land. What about those paralyze darts and poisons we have?”
Tyler thought for a moment.
“That might work. Sadly, since it’s a fire drake, your red path’s not really going to help us. Worse case it heals it.”
Kaori just groaned.
“Great, I’m completely useless in this one.”
He patted her.
“You got a few bow skills. Keep your distance, and use your speed and agility to stay mobile. I’ll get in it’s face.”
Kaori just sighed.
“I still don’t like the obvious risks. But we’ll try it.”
They went back to looking at the map, when Malico came out yawning.
“Morning kittycat.”
She smiled as she looked over, only for that smile to turn to shock at the sight of their guest. Kaori just sighed.
“I had the same reaction.”
Malico just shook her head as she too took a morning dip. After she was clean, the friends all ate together as Tyler brought them all up to speed for the day’s plans.
“We’ll go pick a fight with a drake, and loot it’s cave. Malico, do dragonkin have a fondness for shiny things in this world?”
She smiled as she saw his train of thought.
“They do in fact. A lesser drake prefers coins and gems.”
“I sense a hefty payday here. We can eat them right?”
She licked her lips.
“ohhh, yes! Drakes meat is even higher up the list of delicacies then wyvern.”
“Well, ladies, break camp! Let’s piss off a fire breather!”
They all went about heir tasks, Tyler taking down the tent, Malico getting dressed and dealing with the fire, Kaori readying the horses. Once the camp was down, there was not a sign they had ever set foot in the spot beyond a bit of soot on the rock from their fire. The bear reared on it’s hind legs, standing 11 feet tall and roared as they left the spot. Tyler waved.
“Thanks for the info and place to stay! We should be gone by day after tomorrow at the latest!”
They rode on, as Malico pressed him.
“What did the avatar tell you?”
“Juniper’s alive. She’s the nature spirit like I thought. We’ll find her after we kill that drake that invaded her woodland.”
The relief Malico felt was extreme,
“Oh thank the gods. Did the bear say she was safe?”
Tyler smiled.
“I’d say she is, Malico. Big guy gave me the death eye when I brought her up. They seem to be good friends. If Juniper can make friends with a teddy of that size, then safe to assume this whole forest loves her. Except for the drake. So, we’re going to kill it.”
Malico smiled with relief at the news.
“Well, let’s hurry up then!”
“Nu-uh. We do this one carefully.”
Kaori was in full agreement as they moved along the narrowing trail.
“I’m limited to my bow, and so are you, Malico. We need to play this carefully or we’ll not walk away.”
Malico grumbled,
“Ohhh, fine!”
Tyler was looking at the map as they went. They were represented by a small triangle moving along through the large forest, and making steady progress as they neared the drake lair. Tyler called a halt as they reached just outside the spot the bear had pointed to.
“Kaori, hitch the horses, then get in that tree there. Malico take the tree opposite her.”
The ladies went to their task, as Tyler readied his blade and bow. He laid three shafts on his bow string, and use three different spells: ChainShot, Piercing teardrops, and a shaft coated with a paralyzing agent. Once the ladies were in position did he set out into the open clearing. The area was the size of a baseball stadium, with blackened earth and burned out trees everywhere. He could smell burning meat with scorched wood in the air. Plus a foil odor of rotting meat as well.
“I see why she hates this thing. Gods that is foul.”
He could faintly hear a low hissing, like a large cat, and sensed his prey was nearby. He spotted a medium trunk that seemed to be stable enough to use as a temporary perch, and he sprang atop it. The burned out trunk groaned a little but held. He then got a good look at the thing for the first time. It was sleeping in a ball of blood red scales a solid fifteen feet tall, and it was facing him. He was amazed by just how big it truly was, as the head alone was 6 feet long. Tyler got a look at it’s feet, and noted it had 2 foot claws on five toes, and the few teeth he saw were both razor sharp and conical. More for piercing then holding prey. He could hear it breath, and it reminded him of the sleeping T-rex from his favorite movies. He groaned internally. That’s not a lesser drake, but a damned DRAKOLISK. We are in serious shit here. He looked for wings, and saw they were mere stumps, indicating that they’d been severed at some point. He sighed, well, fuck it, let’s do this. He used his stealth skills to crouch, and ready his bow. He was as silent as a mere shadow as he drew the string back, and aim for it’s left eye. He fired and it opened it’s eye only to get a set of three arrows directly into it’s 1 foot sized iris. Tyler already moving as it bellowed in pain as it’s eye was popped like a balloon.

“Seriously, Tyler, the hell is taking so long?”
Kaori was getting anxious from the waiting, and so was Malico. Both ladies were ten feet off the ground as they awaited the appearance of the beast. I really hope that idiot doesn’t do something stupid. Kaori could smell the burned wood and rotting meat, and was having a hard time not gagging.
“Gods that is just nasty. I hate this thing too and I just got here!”
There was a sudden bellow of pained anger that echoed off the trees, and it made both Kaori and Malico jump. Malico went pale at the sound.
“That’s not a lesser drake! That’s a lesser DRAGON!”
They looked to see the thing rear up, and Kaori went pale as well, as she saw it’s size.
“Yup. We’re fucked. Way to go hero.”
She then saw a set of three arrows slam into it’s under belly, and pierce it’s scales, drawing blood and another enraged roar. The blonde and the cat readied their own arrows, as they clung to the trust they had in Tyler’s abilities.
“Fuckin hell!”
Tyler was using his agility to it’s limit to avoid getting hit with fangs, claws or tail. The drakolisk was faster then it’s bulk would indicate, and had a force that would kill him outright if it hit him squarely. Tyler had already taken it’s left eye, and was waiting for a clean shot at it’s right. The thing was roaring with fury, and it sounded like a dammed Spinosaurus from the same movie. Only it was now blind on one side, and was having a very though time adjusting to its new weakness. Plus it could fly with it’s wing stumps, and this enemy was a slippery bastard. It then drew in a breath for it’s ace: fire breath.
“Not today.”
Tyler had three shafts on his string as he saw it lift it’s head. He readied his Piercing teardrop and timed it for when the beast’s throat bulged for his shot. He scored a direct hit, and it leaked fire out of it’s now compromised throat and flame sack. The drakolisk still tried to breathe it’s fire, only for it to blow out of it’s now ruined throat.
“Brilliant! A dragon’s single weak point is it’s throat when it draws in air for a breath attack!”
Malico was all but bouncing in her tree branch, as Kaori was confused as the dragon’s throat exploded.
“Wait, did he just kill it?”
She was still smiling as she watched the now crippled beast start to stagger.
“Not even close, it’s just REALLY hurt now. Plus the throat is useless now. Dragonkin can only be killed by either staring to death or by a pierced heart. You could slice it’s head clean off, but until the heart is pierced it won’t die.”
They looked to see Tyler now sending arrows as he led it closer to the ladies. Kaori just sighed as she readied her own spells of ChainShot and Iron Piercer. Iron piercer belonging to the grey path and was the equivalent to Piercing Teardrop.
“Of course he’d know a dragon’s weak points.”

Tyler was still after it’s eye, but had to divide his shots between it’s chest and it’s ruined throat in an attempt to both wear the beast down, and try to reach it’s heart. The drakolisk had lost it’s sight on the left side and now it’s prized flame breath, now all it had to look forward to was a slow death by starvation due to this wily human. Tyler was still dodging it’s claws and tail, but he no longer had to worry about it’s fangs, as the things jaw had been blown off when it’s flame went.
“Tough bastard aren’t ya?”
He was now dodging backwards as he baited the beast towards the fresh ladies with their bows. He fired a set of shafts into it’s under jaw to try and hit brain, not really thinking it would kill the thing but render it stupid enough to kill. He was nearly in position and was about to give the signal when the beast slammed into the ground with a body slam the shook the ground and caused him to lose his footing. He fell, and the beast pinned him with a heavy clawed foot. He couldn’t even move his arms. The drakolisk then leaned in to try and crush the human that had killed it.
Get ready kaori, he’s nearly there.”
“Right.”
Kaori and Malico readied their shafts, and drew back a bit to wait for his whistle. They then saw the beast rear on it’s hind legs and slam into the ground with such force they even wobbled a little, while Tyler slipped and fell hard on his back. Like lightning the beast had him pinned with a five clawed foot, as it’s fangs and flames were beyond its reach now. Kaori screamed as Malico fired her shafts.
“Damn it , blondie don’t just sit there!”
Kaori was galvanized into action as she released her shafts as well, aiming for the eye as she had been instructed.
“Dammit ladies fire already!”
Tyler was using all his strength to keep the beast from crushing his ribcage, well aware it was just toying with him. He was growling with the effort of keeping the beasts foot of his chest, when the beast got bored and leaned more weight onto it’s limb. Tyler glared at it as he felt his arms get pushed back. He just felt the thing touch his chest as Malico’s shafts slammed into it’s chest where he had been hitting it, and it bellowed in pain as it staggered backwards off him.
“Bout friggin time kittycat.”
Tyler looked to his own bow, and found it crushed beyond use,
“Typical.”
He drew Oblivion, as the beast rattled at the treebound catgirl, only to get a new set of shafts in it’s empty eye socket from kaori. It was now confused as it was getting attacked from three angles, and didn’t know where to attack first. Malico sighted it’s eye and fired as Kaori took aim at it’s throat. Tyler was looking for an opportunity to impale the thing with his sword, as Kaori hit it in the torn hole of it’s throat, and as it turned to looked that way, Malico popped it’s other eye, and it was effectively blind, and deaf. Tyler smiled.
“Well played ladies! Very well played!”
Tyler was looking to launch up it’s leg when it slashed unexpectedly with it’s claws, and scored a glancing blow on his chest, launching him into a burned out tree trunk with enough force to split it apart. He grunted and spit out blood as he now had three long gashes on his chest that were bleeding profusely like a faucet. He growled, as the ladies screamed at the blood,
“Okay, NOW I’M PISSED.”
He activated his ace.
“Demon’s wrath.”
He felt the power increase, and exploded into motion. The drakolisk was trying to decide on a target to go after as arrows would first come from one side to hit it’s throat, and when it turned to look in that direction, it got arrows from the opposite side. It crouched to leap backward, when it’s leg was sliced clean off, as now fueled by an extra hundred points of strength, Tyler could cut a stone statue ten feet thick in half with a single slash. The thing trumpeted again with pain as it fell to the ground on it’s side, and Tyler was right there on it’s flank as he pierced the scales over it’s shoulder. It plunged his blade to the hilt, and felt it pierce something that was beating. Tyler drakolisk sputtered, and went limp as it died from a pierced heart. Tyler tore the blade free, pulled a healing salve from his belt, poured it on his chest which closed the wounds, but left him with a very gnarly looking set of three lines, and promptly fell over panting as Demon’s Wrath effect ran out. Kaori and Malico came running as he fell over, scared to tears, only to find him flat on his back with the wounds closed and panting hard.
“Nice…..work……..ladies! Lemme……get my…..breath back.”
Kaori hugged him as Malico shook her head.
“We just killed a full grown drakolisk. Nearly without a scratch.”
Tyler smiled.
“Yeah, we’re awesome I know.”
He got his breathing under control as Kaori realized something.
“Hey, what the hell did you do back there?”
He looked at her as he sat up.
“Whaddya mean?”
She and Malico looked at each other.
“We saw you take the hit, and bleed like a stuck hog, yet it was like something clicked, and next thing we could barely see you, and then the drakolisk’s leg was on the ground as it fell with you plunging the blade into it’s heart. It was like ten minutes where we just couldn’t see you move.”
Tyler smiled.
“It’s an ability I got from my merge with the Monster. It’s called Demon’s Wrath. It adds a hundred to my stats, makes all spells and skills cost nothing, not require a chant and are twice as powerful. Drawbacks are it only works for ten minutes at a time, can only be used once a day, and leaves me exhausted for a bit. I can upgrade it to both last longer and not be as tired when I use it. Problem is it’s use based. I need to use it to upgrade it. So it’s gonna be a pain in the ass.”
Kaori smiled as Malico shook her head again.
“That is a truly scary ability. But I’m glad it’s on our side.”
Tyler smiled, as Kaori hugged him again.
“Well, we got work to do.”
They all nodded. Tyler hopped off the beast as Kaori retrieved the horses as Malico did an arrow count. Tyler went right to Malico.
“Can we eat this one?”
She licked her lips.
“This thing is a step down from dragon flesh. In short, the King himself needs the permission to have a single slab once a year.”
“I like where this is going.”
Kaori came with the horses, as the voice was heard yet again.
“YOU HAVE FULFILLED YOUR TASK OF SLAYING THE BEAST. WELL DONE.”
“Thanks. Woulda been nice to know we were dealing with a drakolisk beforehand, but no biggee. We’ll take what we can off this thing. And loot it’s lair.”
“AS YOU WISH. THAT THING WAS TOO MUCH FOR MY FOREST TO DEAL WITH ALONE, AND SO YOU HAVE DONE A GREAT SERVICE TO THE FOREST. AS SUCH, I GRANT YOU THE TITLE OF FOREST FRIEND. AS TWO OF YOU ARE WARRIORS, OPEN YOUR HUDS.”
Tyler and kaori opened their interfaces, and there was a blinking icon in a corner. Opening it showed active bonuses and extras. The title of Forest Friend to The Dark Forest was on display there.
“PRESS THE TITLE.”
They did, and it listed a set of stat boosts, like for kaori increased agility and speed while in a forest, while Tyler got increased stealth and Mana in the same environment. Also the ‘extra’ ability to get twice the resources off plant based items. If they pick a single apple, it would become two. Plus a decrease to becoming targeted prey for forest predators. Tyler smiled.
“I thank you for this boon, Spirit, now, what does our cat friend get for her assistance?”
The voice chuckled.
“SHE GETS THE SAME TITLE AS YOU DO, NEVER YOU FEAR. THE FOREST IS A HARSH PLACE, BUT IT IS NOTHING IF NOT FAIR TO IT’S DENIZENS. YOU ARE WELCOME WITHIN MY FOREST ANYTIME YOU HAVE NEED OF MY SHELTER.”
“Again, we thank you for your kindness.”
“IT IS I WHO OWE YOU THANKS FOR KILLING THAT FOUL THING.”
“Yeeesh, foul does not do it justice. But you’re welcome.”
Tyler closed his HUD and the group set to collecting all they could off the beasts hide. Tyler collecting several pouches of scales as it was sure they’d fetch a hefty price, Kaori was harvesting meat to Malico’s guidelines of the best cuts. Tyler also took the beasts claws, and teeth as they were most likely highly sought after. By the end of it, they had several days of meat, fifteen pouches of scales, eight pouches of teeth, and five bundles of claws. Tyler then headed to where the beast had been sleeping, and found a small cave that was barely big enough for the beasts head. Tyler drew his sword,
“Ladies, wait here, just in case.”
They nodded, and took up watch as Tyler climbed inside the small cave. The cave was scorched from flames and had clearly been gouged out by the beast itself, if the marks on the walls were anything to go by. Tyler reached the bottom of the small tunnel and found quite the sight waiting for him. A mount of coin two feet tall with glittering gems all around it. He whistled.
“Ladies, bingo.”
They came scrambling down and were amazed by the small fortune they had found. Tyler smiled as he spotted a bow in the corner. He walked over and picked it up, and found it to be made of a strange crystal like material. He held it up to Malico.
“Hey, what’s this?”
She looked at it and gasped.
“That’s a crystallite bow! Only elven royalty are permitted to even look upon it!”
Tyler slung it over his shoulder.
“Needed a replacement bow. Sweet.”
Malico just laughed.
“Spitting in the face of tradition at every step.”
Tyler then spotted a large sword sticking out of the pile. He walked over and grasped the hilt, and the visible part of the blade started glowing with his Twin paths of Blue and White. Tyler drew the blade and found it to be twice as long as Oblivion, two inches wider along the length of the blade, and a hand and a half hilt. Both ladies gasped.
“Tyler, that’s a beautiful sword!”
“That’s a Magicite sword! It gets it’s strength and sharpness from it’s wielder’s path!”
Tyler saw a scabbard that fit the blade and slung it over his other shoulder as he discarded the lesser sword he scavenged off the soldiers. He saw that kaori had also found a weapon, a wakizashi that perfectly complemented her katana, complete with scabbard. Then he saw a set of green bladed daggers resting near the bottom of the small mound,
“Hey, Malico, think you can use those?”
She looked as he held the belt of ten daggers up and she smiled.
“Sure, those are a set of green Lithyite daggers. Lithyite is a stone that boosts green path magics.”
He passed her the belt and she slung it across her other shoulder, and now her massive breasts were encased in a dagger embrace. Tyler then looked at the mound.
“So, how the hell we getting all this outta here?”
Kaori and Malico looked at it. There were easily several thousand coins on that pile, far too much for them to haul back alone.
“Hmm, maybe we can see if we can make another deal with the Forest spirit?”
“That could work. Hey, see if there are any oddly placed pouches anywhere.”
The duo looked at Malico and her strange request, before shrugging and beginning the search. The small chamber was maybe twenty square feet, and about twelve high, so not a lot of room to search. Tyler found one first.
“Hey, Malico, this what you mean?”
She came over to look at the grey pouch,
“Not exactly what we need. That’s a gem pouch, holds a thousand gems of any size and value. Looks to be half full though.”
“We can fill it with the rest of the gems here.”
“Sure, that’s a good idea.”
“Hey, Mali, this work?”
Kaori held up a green pouch.
“That holds plants, like fruits and apples. About two hundred and they don’t go bad. It looks empty though.”
“We’ll still take it. More food we have on hand the better.”
They agreed and the search was on. Tyler came across a blue pouch.
“That holds water. Several hundred barrels.”
“Oh we need this one.”
“Mali, got a red.”
“Meat. A thousand pounds worth.”
“We’ll butcher that lisk some more after.”
Then Tyler found a gold colored pouch.
“Hey, Malico, think I got what we’re looking fer.”
She looked at the baseball sized slack cloth that seemed to be made of leopard fur. She smiled.
“That’s a coin pouch. Holds ten thousand coins of gold, silver and copper. Banks use them for transporting massive sums quickly without needing an armored wagon. Looks like it’s got maybe a hundred coins in there.”
“Load up.”
The industrious trio spend the next couple hours cleaning the cave of all it’s loot. In the end, they scored 5000 gold coins, 5693 silver, 7654 copper, 200 baseball sized diamonds, 400 rubies of the same size, 25 sapphires, 100 emeralds and a basketball sized opal that Tyler loved looking into. They also scored several weapons that they would sell at the next large city, and the pouches. Tyler took the still slack looking coin pouch and slid it under his shirt. As he was strongest, he had the money. They were climbing out when he noticed a glitter in a nook.
“Hol up ladies, got a straggler.”
They looked to see him pull a vest of mail rings out of a nook with a ring. The thing weighed less then a feather, and was a odd pure white. Malico’s eyes went wide.
“By the gods. A Magicite Mythril chainmail vest.”
Tyler looked up at the name.
“Is Mythril special in this world?”
She looked at it reverently, as if the mass of rings was a most precious treasure.
“to even WORK the metal, you need the aid of a high dragon of fire to melt the ore for you, for no other flame can even heat the rock. Next you need the aid of the very best smiths of the race of giants working tirelessly to forge a single ring. Such a vest is nearly impenetrable, will never rust, never wear, and with the addition of Magicite, takes on the colors and strength of a path. What’s that ring’s insignia?”
Tyler tossed it to her, and she gasped again.
“The crest of the royal house of Vernillion!”
She looked at the vest.
“Centuries ago, a member of the house, the King no less, vanished without a trace. The disappearance allowed the ascension of the current line, and the branch the King had come from ruined. The current king is a just man, but is NOT the true king. The legends say that whoever finds the lost ring of the king is destined to restore the fallen bloodline to it’s rightful place as ruler. Please, Tyler, search that spot.”
Tyler had the lantern brought out, and it went inside with the ladies. They then found it opened up into a small room 5 square feet in size. Nestled in the back of the stone room sitting back against the wall, was a skeleton with a set of shafts hanging from the spot where it’s heart had been. Upon the grinning skull sat a large crown of purest gold with precious gems and the insignia of the Royal Family. This one being a Dragon breathing fire upon a field. Tyler tilted his head as he saw a sealed scroll in a bone hand. Malico knelt before the fallen king.
“His royal highness, King Vernillionia Von Drakinic. Ruler of Vernillion, friend to the Tails, and Lord of Dragons. He has been found at last. Tyler get that scroll. We need to read his words.”
“On it kittycat.”
Tyler took the scroll and used his dagger to slit the seal and unravel it.

It would seem those bastards finally got me. My son, the crown prince, finally outfoxed his father. I am not long for this world, if that damned lizard out there don’t get me, these shafts in my chest will. So, I take up this pen I had for some reason I cannot fathom, and use this last scroll that I had planned to sign a treaty with to write my last will and testament. Let that brave soul that finds this scroll, my ring, and my crown be hailed as King over the land, all my holdings, trappings and otherwise be transferred upon thee. I certainly won’t need them anymore. That’s for damned sure. My only request is you do right by my people I strived for so long to protect. Oh, and kick the current pope in the balls for me, since the whole plan came from those conniving lizard worshippers. My son. Prince Istal Vernillion. The coward that led his own father into the lair of a drakolisk, and filled his heart with arrows, you are a cursed child. Let my dying wish be you never know a nights peace until the day we are face to face once more. My powers as a mage will keep the scroll fresh until it is needed, so, I guess that’s it. Well. Been fun. I guess now’s as good a time to use that line.

Asta la Vista, Baby.
Former King of Vernillion.
Vernillionia Von Drakinic

Tyler and Kaori looked at each other.
“Did he seriously quote The terminator as his last words?”
The blonde just rubbed her eyes.
“Well, I guess it works?”
Malico looked at them.
“Does that phrase mean something to you two?”
Tyler smiled.
“Just a pisspoor quote from an actor in our world. I guess the old King was a Warrior. Tropes, we’ve got them.”
“Yup.”
Malico looked at the skeleton.
“What’ll we do with this?”
Tyler crossed his arms.
“We’re taking the crown and ring. As for the whole ruler crap? Yeah, sorry, NOT interested. We’ll play this one carefully. I have no intentions or ruling as a king on a throne. Same time, we have leverage now with the court. Push comes to shove, we play this card as a means to an end.”
Kaori nodded.
“They already hate us. Throw this into the fire.”
“ka-boom.”
“Ka-boom.”
Malico looked at the skeleton again.
“So, what’ll we do?”
Tyler took the crown, before speaking to the skeleton.
“It sucks you got screwed bro. We can’t help you there. As for the kingdom? They hate us, and the feeling is very much mutual. That said, if we ever find ourselves in a position to do something, we’ll consider it at least. Though, kicking the pope in the balls? That’s gon happen. Not a question of if, but when. That much I can promise you. But for Christ sake, Terminator? Really? Well, whatever. Dunno how long you’ve been here, but, dude got elected California governor like twice. So, yeah. Rest in pieces smitty.”
The Skeleton seemed to collapse a little as the trio left.
“SpongeBob? Seriously?”
“Weird references deserve weird back!”
“Seriously, you two are so odd sometimes.”
The voices receded, and the skeleton collapsed in a rattle of bones, as a single drop of condensation ran out of it’s empty eye socket, as if mourning the fact his dying wish had been entrusted to such a bunch of jackasses.

Tyler and the two ladies exited the cave and went back to fill their meat pouch. The crown and ring added to the coin and gem pouches with the scroll in a miscellaneous pouch Malico had found that could be used for the store of sales goods. Tyler and the girls went and unloaded the horses of the meat to store it in the pouch before Tyler put the scales, claws, fangs and other stuff they were going to sell in the pouch. Then they got back carving the beast up. Tyler had donned the vest under his shirt as a surprise for an attacker, and the large sword on his back hung to his hip. He went back to collecting scales, as Kaori gathered more meats, as Malico assisted as best she could. Tyler had just pried loose his latest scale the size of a plate when there was a commotion near the edge of the clearing edge. The group looked over to see a group of knights riding at a nervous clip towards the group butchering the massive creature.
“Kaori, Malico, you know the drill.”
The ladies nodded before going back to their finishing their latest cut as Tyler hailed the plate armored knights.
“Hey! Up here!”
The lead knight, looked to see Tyler waving from his spot by it’s neck. The sight of the blood-soaked teenager standing atop the back of such a dangerous foe made the knight gape a bit.
“You here fer something?”
Tyler’s question jerked the man out of his stupor.
“We are here by the order of his Royal majesty King Ishtar Von Vernillion to slay a Drakolisk that had been rampaging in the Dark Forest. I am Knight Commander Duke Drake’s Bane. Captain of the Royal dragonkin squad. Who, pray, are you, sirrah?”
Tyler smiled as he pried a fresh scale off.
“Mind if I work and talk?”
The Knight commander was a tall man with blonde hair and beard, blue eyes armed with a longbow, a massive quiver of arrows, and his armor was gleaming metal and brightly polished. He saw Tyler prying scales off the carcass and depositing them into an enchanted pouch.
“Sirrah, do you have a permit to harvest this drakolisk?”
“Well, I doubt it. Name’s Tyler. The ladies are Kaori and Malico.”
The names of the Warrior traitors sent hands to blades as Duke, now knowing understanding the trio, spoke again.
“You killed this drakolisk?”
“Yup. Was fun. Kinda wanna kill another.”
“And you’re harvesting it without a permit.”
“Deal with it or become corpses yourselves. Make a call.”
Tyler was smiling as he looked at them now, as he pulled at another scale off the beast’s neck. Duke reached for his bow.
“By the authority of the King, you are all hereby placed under arrest for poaching from the king and nobility.”
Tyler sighed and lifted his crystallite bow into View. Immediately there was a gasp of shock from the column of men.
“Lady Eilisef’s Silver Bow!”
The group looked to the speaker, a lithe man in a green leather-like armor set without shoes and a large bow strapped to his back. Tyler noted his pointed ears.
“Is this thing famous or something?”
The elf moved his saddleless silver roan to better see the weapon. Tyler hopped off the back of the beast to show it to him. The elf also got off his horse and knelt reverently before the bow.
“Sirrah, That bow is a legendary weapon among my people. Lady Eilisef was a Elf Queen that led her people through a time of strife and war to save her clan. It was lost at her last stand when she and her small group of two hundred elven rangers held off an invading army of two million Orc invaders. Her and her rangers were slain to the last elf, but the siege bought her clan the time they needed to rally the elven people as a whole and drive the Orcs out of our land. It had been lost for two hundred years. Pray tell, where did you find it?”
“In this things treasure trove. And, don’t bother checking it for yourselves, we stripped it to the stone.”
The elf rose and looked at the mythical weapon.
“The mere fact you can even hold her bow at all is proof enough of who you are in the eyes of the elves. Have you shot it yet?”
“I have not. I tend to not shoot unless I have a target. Plus, my friend the Spirit Of The forest an I made a deal that we’d only take what we needed, and this thing is MORE then enough.”
The Elf and the whole group looked at them nervously. Then Duke looked at him.
“You’re telling me, that The Spirit Of The Dark Forest, one of the most hateful spirits of her kind, is YOUR friend?”
Tyler pulled up his HUD and had his title of Forest Friend was shown, and so was Kaori’s and Malico’s. The Knight and Elf looked at them. Stunned, before the elf spoke again.
“My name is Wulf Farsight. So, you’re friends with Lady Nightshade. A truly impressive feat. She hates humans with a vehemence that is so extreme, we were only allowed access after making an offering to her in the form of half our supplies.”
Tyler smiled.
“Well, if your not an ass to the Forest she calls home, or her, be amazed how far you can go. Look, we got a lot of work to do here, so we done?”
Duke sighed deeply.
“Forest Friend or not, you’ve still broken the law.”
“Well, what a coinkidink. A target!”
Tyler leapt back up to his spot on the beasts neck, a good ten feet, and had four shafts nocked to the bow which was drawn as far as it would go. Wulf gaped.
“How’s the draw?”
Tyler tilted his head.
“Oddly enough, easier then my other bow that got crushed. Have a look to your left on the ground.”
He looked and saw the shattered remains of his simple recurve bow, and just got back on his horse.
“Commander Duke. I am afraid I must return to my homeland to inform the queen that Lady Eilisef’s bow has reappeared, and is able to be wielded. By a human no less. This an Elven matter now.”
“Hey! Wulf! Hol up a sec.”
The elf looked up to Tyler.
“Did you need something?”
“Yeah, just curious where your homeland is, is all.”
The elf smiled.
“In the far east, Sirrah. If you have a map, I can add to it.”
“really? Score! Hey, pull up near the neck. Shouldn’t take long.”
The elf did just that, and Duke was beside himself.
“Wulf! This is treason!”
The Elf just sneered.
“remember, Duke, I am an ambassador to my kingdom. As such, I have deemed this a matter of elven importance.”
The Duke glared at the man on the back of the drakolisk aiming arrows at him.
“Boy, you’ve spit in the face of the King! We’ll inform His majesty of your crimes at once!”
“Go ahead puppet. Just be sure to tell him I and my party killed this thing FOR you. I mean, after we clear the first wave, well, we’ll see him ourselves anyway.”
The man huffed, and gave a hand sign.
“Let us return to Term.”
“Bye-bye puppets! Enjoy your death by strings!”
The men shot them hate-filled looks as Tyler just laughed. Once they were out of Sight, Tyler leapt to the ground by the elven ranger, getting his first real look at him. The elf was a tall, thin man with the angular face and pointed ears of his people, pale skin, and vibrant red eyes and dark hair. He had a leaf bladed sword on his hip, as well as his bow. Tyler let his full draw slack off, but did not remove the shafts.
“So, you’re an Elven ambassador. Nifty.”
Tyler pulled his map out and did the spell. Wulf was smiling as he filled in a solid half the map. Tyler’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, NOW we’re getting somewhere.”
Tyler reached into his pouch and pulled a handful of gold coins and passed them to the now shocked Wulf.
“Here, thanks for the info.”
The elf accepted the gold and shook his head.
“You do realize this is enough to keep a human household going for two months, right?”
Tyler smiled.
“And do YOU realize that we may or may not wind up in your homeland at some point. So, I’d like to NOT have them hate us before we get there.”
The elf saw his ploy then.
“I see now. Well played young Warrior. Very well played. I’ll pass word of you-“
And arrow came whizzing out of the spot the soldiers had disappeared into, and pinging off Tyler’s chain mail under his shirt. He sighed.
“Typical.”
Tyler retook his spot on the neck, and raised his shafts again. He sighed the now charging group of men.
“Wulf, I’d prefer you keep your hands clean on this one, odds are they rigged it.”
The elf picked RIGHT up on his meaning.
“Understood. What do we do?”
Tyler smiled, and fired his shafts. The three arrows, enhanced by Piercing Teardrop, killed the two mages in the back of the group as they were chanting spells.
“Allow US the blood. We got new toys to try out.”
Tyler had a fresh set of arrows and fired, hitting the front most riders’ horses as they galloped towards them. The result was the other riders getting tripped up by the fallen riders and horses. Effectively halting the cavalry charge in it’s tracks. Tyler then put his bow up, and drew his new sword. The large blade was then bathed in his twin Paths of Blue and White. Getting another gasp from Wulf. Then Tyler was leaping off the beast’s back to charge with Kaori and Malico towards the now rising soldiers. Wulf watched them charge a group of twelve fully armored knights of the kingdom without fear or hesitation, the leader of the trio wielding a Magicite sword.
“Those paths. Blue and white. The Queen needs to meet this man.”

Tyler swung the 5 foot battle sword in a wide arc and sliced clean through four men in a single stroke, armor and all, with the same resistance one would expect to get with razor sharp scissors to a single piece of paper. Tyler was amazed by how his new blade cut through metal with such ease.
“Yup, new favorite toy.”
Tyler swung the blade over his head as he followed through the first arc to smash the blade into the next taker. Severing his body from hip to shoulder in a single motion. He was smiling as he pulled a dagger and flung it to where a third mage was aiming a spell at a dancing Kaori. The blade took him in the leg, and as he grunted he lost focus on the magic and it set him alight with blue flames. Tyler marked his corpse as a prime loot source as an arrow pinged off his swordblade. He looked to see Duke drawing his sword. Tyler looked to see Malico wielding her new daggers as she stabbed the last soldier to death, whereas by kaori was just a mess of severed limbs and heads. Tyler smiled as he faced Duke.
“You really wanna play this?”
Duke had his own hand and a half bastard sword out.
“I challenge you to a duel of honor.”
“Yeah, riiiight. Honor.”
He looked to Kaori.
“What’s that again?”
Her and Malico both laughed. Then the beautiful blonde looked to a very confused Duke.
“If you fight Tyler, better leave honor at the door.”
“He don’t play fair.”
“If I did, I’d be dead right now. Eh, what the hell.”
Tyler stabbed his blade in the dirt. Duke glared at him.
“Do you mean to insult me? Do you intend to fight me without Oblivion?”
That caught Tyler by surprise.
“Wow, you know the name of my blade. Curious as to where you got it.”
The man was glaring at him.
“My brother was the one that you spared by the river. He told me of a young man that wielded Oblivion itself, and of a young lady whose beauty would haunt him for the rest of his days.”
Tyler smiled.
“Wow, he lived? Kinda made a bet with myself he wouldn’t. So. You want to face Oblivion?”
Tyler grinned at the man, as he tightened his grip on his blade.
“I seek to wipe the stain on my brother’s honor away. Pick up Oblivion and face me!”
Tyler smirked now.
“This beast is NOT Oblivion.”
Tyler reached over his shoulder and pulled the 4 foot blade from his back scabbard. He then held it ready.
“THIS is.”
Duke took on look at the short sword, and laughed.
“THAT toy is Oblivion? I see the stain is even deeper then I thought.”
“You ready to do this?”
Tyler was smiling as Duke became serious.
“Let’s dance, traitor.”
“I’ll lead.”
Tyler surged forward as Duke readied his blade for a thrust. Duke’s sword was both far larger and heavier then Tyler’s blade, yet Duke could wield it like it weighed the same as a dagger, so he was expecting the brash youth to be taken by surprise by the sheer speed he wielded his blade. So, he planted his feet and lunged with all his force, only for Tyler to flip around the blade and slice his arm clean off with a single swing. Duke dropped his blade, his arm, and to the ground. He screamed as the blood started to flow. Tyler just laughed.
“Idiot. Any jackass that knows how to use a short sword can eat a great sword wielder for breakfast. Hey! Kaori! Malico! It cool if I just kill this one?”
The ladies came over and sighed.
“Look, I get you’re a heartless bastard, but do that crap when we’re not there to see it.”
“What she said.”
Tyler looked at them.
“Soooo, he lives?”
“YES!”
He waggled a pinkie in his ear.
“ONE yell woulda done it.”
He looked to the fallen soldier. The man was glaring daggers of hate at him.
“You tricked me.”
“YOU got arrogant. Look over there, and tell me what you see.”
Duke looked to where the fallen drakolisk lay. Now confused, Duke answered like a schoolboy not following the teacher’s lesson.
“That’s a dead drakolisk.”
“How did it die?”
He tilted his head as kaori poured a potion on his shoulder stump.
“It was killed by a sword to the heart. Only way to kill these things beyond starvation.”
“WHO killed it?”
The man was even MORE confused.
“You three did. Pray tell, what is the point of these errant questions?”
“Have you noticed A SINGLE scratch on us?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“So, to sum up what you just said, the three of us, alone, killed a drakolisk, without a scratch.”
He looked at him, genuinely confused.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Soo, you thought you could kill us, with what, nineteen men, and then you thought you could kill me, in single combat, when I’m CLEARLY the leader of our little war party?”
Kaori and Malico had begun looting bodies, as the conversation was mentally killing them. Duke STILL did not know where he was going.
“I did. Why wouldn’t I think that?”
Tyler held his head as he fought his mounting frustration. He then looked to where kaori and Malico were looking through a fallen horse’s saddlebags.
“Ladies, can I PLEASE remove this thing from the gene pool? Like PLEASE?”
They both groaned.
“Much as it hurts to say, no.”
“Just gag him before you send him on his way.”
Tyler just groaned,
“Alright. Fine. The Council Of Hotties have spoken.”
Tyler pulled the still confused knight to his feet, gagged him, and shoved him towards the trail.
“Go away. My friggin head hurts now.”
The knight obeyed, running for the forest, as he struggled to comprehend the Warrior’s confusing barrage of questions. He would later return to the capital with his tale of blood and pain, of a trio that had slaughtered his men after killing the drakolisk without a scratch, and had confused him with the questions. Duke would subsequently be laughed at by the King, for the wise ruler had seen exactly the point Tyler had tried to make. Though, the King was caught off guard by the loyal knight’s next report.
“Sire, when we made to return, I had told him he’d spit in your face, he responded in a most peculiar manner.”
“repeat his words.”
“Sire. He said Go ahead puppet. Just be sure to tell him I and my party killed this thing FOR you. I mean, after we clear the first wave, well, we’ll see him ourselves anyway. Those were his exact words.”
The king had sat up in his throne,
“Now I understand. So. He wants a leg to stand on before facing his crimes? Wise lad, I must admit.”
“As we charged him milord, I myself witnessed him holding Wulf, the Mountain Elf Ambassador back, it almost seemed as he didn’t want the elf to get his hands wet with human blood.”
The king rubbed his beard.
“A very shrewd play, if a foreign diplomat had drawn steel against my knights, I would have been forced to react accordingly.”
Duke was stripped of his rank for his idiocy, and the King sighed as he looked out his window towards the Dragon Tower.
“I’m starting to wonder myself just what the hell happened in there.”


Tyler turned back to the ladies as Duke vanished into the trees. The Warrior retrieved his weapons and aided the ladies in finishing up their looting of the fallen soldiers.
“Hey, Tyler, got some Licenses here.”
Tyler looked over to see Malico toss him a small ring of spells.
“Thanks Malico. I’ll-ouch!”
The first License he touched burned his fingers so badly he dropped the ring.
“Agghh, the hell?”
Kaori and Malico came over as well as a still present Wulf. The elven ranger had seen him get burned and drop the ring, and was curious. Tyler poked the license again, same result.
“Yeesh, Malico, can YOU touch that thing?”
She knelt and tentatively poked it with a finger, nothing. She laid a finger on it, and same result. The catgirl picked the ring up and pulled the rogue License off the ring. Tyler looked at her.
“What’s it called?”
Malico looked at the name and gasped.
“No. It can’t be. Wulf, look.”
She showed the elf the thing and he gasped as well.
“River Of Torment? That’s supposed to be a banned spell!”
Tyler and kaori looked at each other.
“River Of Torment? It hardcore?”
“Yeah, mali, Spill!”
Wulf explained.
“It’s a spell from the path of Black. A very EVIL spell. It costs ten mana, and forces the target to both experience every single wound they had ever suffered in their lives two fold over again, and forces the afflicted into perfect servitude. In essence, it’s a slavers spell.”
Tyler sighed.
“No WONDER I can’t even touch it. My white path hates the black. Wow, that sounds more racist then I really would like. Okay, you say it should be banned?”
Wulf sighed.
“It IS banned. Just possessing the chant is enough for a hundred lashes. The license itself is a death sentence. It can enslave anything and anyone. A few centuries ago, a Black Path Master rose to power, with an army of enslaved dragons and nearly wiped out life as we know it. His name was since banished to history and the spell banned with all licenses thought to be destroyed. It would appear they missed one.”
Tyler sighed as he beheld the vile item.
“Okay, Wulf, Malico, what do we do with it?”
Malico looked to Wulf.
“I think you should inform your queen that a River License has surfaced in Vernillion.”
The elf nodded.
“I shall. But, on that end, I have a request.”
He looked to Tyler, the party leader. Tyler tilted his head.
“I think I know where this is going.”
Wulf smiled.
“I’d like to ask you to accompany me to meet her Elegance Queen Tatianna. Both to present your bow, and aid me in my explanation of the License.”
Tyler sighed,
“Let’s finish our work with the lisk and see where we’re at for supplies. I got the impression the journey to your home takes a while.”
Wulf nodded.
“That is fair. It’s a weeks ride to the east through some harsh terrain.”
“There it is. Plus we’re looking for a lost kitten in these woods as well.”
Wulf tilted his head as the trio went back to work on the Lisk.
“A lost NekoPlesian? Her name?”
Tyler was prying off scales as he spoke.
“Her names Juniper, and is Malico’s sister.”
Wulf jumped.
“Lady Juniper is YOUR sister?”
Malico looked at him.
“Yeah, she is. You know her?”
Wulf just looked at the busty cat.
“She’s the Spirit of The Dark Forest’s apprentice. An EXTREMELY powerful Brown pather. I’ve heard it said her favorite form is a massive brown bear with paws the size of dinner plates.”
Tyler and the two girls all looked at each other. Then the absurdity of the realization hit them like a truck as they burst out laughing. Wulf was confused until Tyler got his mirth under control.
“Oh, that explains a lot. We’ve met the Bear in question. She pointed out this things lair.”
Malico was smiling.
“I’m so happy she’s okay.”
kaori hugged her.
“She’s okay, and seems to be thriving.”
Wulf looked at Tyler as he moved to the next scale.
“You met Lady Juniper….and lived?”
Tyler smiled.
“I thought that bear was the Spirit’s Avatar, so I gave her a piece of the wyvern I was making. Plus we left that hotspring without a trace of our presence. So, ya know that helped.”
Wulf just shook his head.
“I think….this world is in serious trouble.”
“Nah bro, it’s FUCKED.”
“Was soon as Tyler set foot in it.”
“Yup. We’re just along for the ride.”
“Both kinds.”
Wulf just sighed,
“Hey, Wulf! Ya gonna just watch or ya gonna help us here?”
Kaori tossed him a skinning knife.
“What he said, you want to get fed, ya pull yer weight!”
Wulf just laughed at this one.
“Fair, where’d you want me?”
And so the drakolisk was stripped to the bones as the industrious crew cleaned the carcass in a few hours work. Once the last scale was pried off, Tyler was looking at a bone in the forearm. Wulf was curious as to why he was examining it.
“Why’s he staring at that like it’s speaking to him?”
He put the question to Kaori, who smiled.
“Because it IS speaking to him, Wulf. What he’s doing is more seeing how he can kill the next one all the easier. Or how do put that bone to use. Notice how it is the length of a spear haft?”
Wulf watched as Tyler lifted the five foot bone and was stress testing it by sticking it into the dirt and trying to break it.
“You mean he’s thinking that far out?”
She snorted.
“Dude gets a little obsessive with his plans, backup plans and backup, backup plans. Here, listen to this.”
She told Wulf of their summoning and the plight he’d saved her from as well as the resultant escape from the dragon tower. HE then looked at the teenage as, now apparently satisfied placed the bone, and the others like it, in his miscellaneous pouch for sale, with a new respect. Then, the work finally down, the group mounted up on their horses. Tyler looked around.
“Where’s that license?”
Malico patted her pouch.
“I put in the one with the ring, crown and scroll.”
“Good kitty. We’ll head for a safe spot for camp and plan our next move.”
They all nodded, as Tyler lifted his voice to the forest.
“Spirit, we seek to rest before we leave your forest, may we use that hotspring again?”
The voice was quick to respond
“UNFORTUNATELY NOT, MY FRIEND. IT NEEDS TIME TO BECOME PURE AGAIN.”
Tyler smiled.
“That’s understandable. Do you know of a place that we can use then?”
“I DO. AND YOU MAY USE IT.”
“We appreciate it. You will never know we were there.”
“AS IT SHOULD BE.”
They group walked into the trees, as a wolf appeared this time, and Tyler was awestruck. The beast was easily the size of a English mastiff from his old world, with pure white fur and golden eyes that seemed to pierce his soul. Tyler smiled.
“Now THAT is a WOLF.”
The beast huffed, as if acknowledging his complement, before leading them through the trees. Tyler smiled.
“Nice to see you’re okay, Juniper.”
Malico was surprised, and the wolf’s response confirmed it, as it looked at the busty catgirl and barked as if to say hiya! Malico sighed with relief.
“I’m so happy you’re doing well, Juniper.”
Tyler was also happy.
“Nice to see the girl’s got good taste for a wolf form.”
The wolf flicked her tail as kaori chuckled.
“Wolves always were his favorite animal. Even above tigers.”
Wulf tilted his head.
“You know, Lady kaori, that kinda fits more than it should.”
Kaori was in full agreement.
“Specially now. Guy was a pariah in our old world. But here? Like a duck learning that hey! Water’s nice!”
The group laughed as they entered a small rocky area with a large slab easily big enough for their campsite. The ladies looked at him.
“Are we spending the night here?”
Tyler looked at the sky, noting it’s dark blue.
“Yeah, might be a good call. We head out now we risk getting forced to make camp in a less defendable area.”
Wulf shook his head at the wise move.
“Her Elegance is going to like you.”
Tyler had the tent on his shoulders as he spoke.
“Well, we’ll see.”
The group set the camp with ease, as Tyler set the tent on the slab before walking around the perimeter casting Protective warning and Tranquil waters. Wulf was chopping wood for the fire as he felt the spell take effect.
“He even sets a warning spell in HER forest? He is a cautious one an no mistake.”
Malico was walking around naked as he said this,
“Of course he’s cautious. We’ve been saved twice by that thing. The one time he waited to set it up me and kaori got attacked by a wyvern.”
He shook his head as he watched Kaori tending to the horses with evident skill and know how.
“We have a powerful defensive mage, a knowledgeable horse tender and a native of this world as their guide. A truly terrifying force to encounter on the road.”
Tyler smiled as he pitched the tent.
“We’re only dangerous to those that try us.”
The tasks were finished, and Tyler laid out the map on the forest. Kaori to his right, Malico his left with Wulf directly across from him. Tyler sighed as he looked at heir spot.
“Okay, we have a mass of goods we need to sell, plus we need supplies we just can’t find in a forest. No matter now well maintained it is.”
The ladies nodded.
“We need salt, sugar and more licenses.”
“Plus our rings are getting full of spells we can’t use.”
Wulf crossed his arms.
“There is a city between the eastern forest and this forest that has all you need.”
Tyler ran his finger along the route and tapped the place in question.
“Raylik? Okay, it’s a two day ride along this road, called…..The King’s Road? Ugh.”
“Agreed. It reeks of one.”
Malico and Wulf looked at the now groaning warriors.
“It reeks of what?”
“Do tell?”
Tyler sighed.
“An ambush. Whether bandits or agents of the church we told to fuck off. Plus in our world, if a road is called the king’s road, we run the chance of an encounter with the nobility. Given our food supplies, equipment, and the fact I just hate them, it’s a recipe for a mess we don’t need. Then there’s the city itself that has me concerned.”
Wulf was a little surprised.
“What? Raylik? It’s a friendly city, and welcomes all with open arms!”
Tyler looked him dead in the eye.
“We’ve seen Dragul, Wulf.”
At the mention of the vile city he sighed.
“I see. I suppose then you’ll find the news of it being in open revolt satisfying?”
The ladies looked right at Tyler, who was chuckling.
“What’s the resistance’s banner?”
“YOUR warrior insignia. A black wolf racing along a field of bodies with a black dragon overhead. I’ve seen the thing painted everywhere in the city.”
Tyler looked at Malico,
“See what I meant? All it takes to light a fuse is a single spark. Best part? We didn’t have to lift a finger.”
The catgirl laughed, and hugged him.
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
Wulf tilted his head, confused.
“I heard you hadn’t even set foot in the city, so I was wondering how you managed to set off a full rebellion.”
Tyler smiled.
“The Viscount is just an angry little man with a superiority complex that likes to play bully. Problem with a leader like that? Their cities are powder-kegs just pleading for someone to throw a match. We got a letter from Ishtar asking us to meet with him, and aid him in dealing with a clan of wyverns. Well we ride up, see the hell it is, crippled a guard, tore the ear off an official, and I blew up a viewing ball in the Viscount’s face. Best part? In FULL view of the walls, and the throngs entering the city, all while defending my Tailed friend. So, the old adage from our world came into play: make god bleed, and the sharks will come.”
Wulf understood then.
“You showed the oppressed they COULD hurt him, if they TRIED.”
“All without setting foot within the city proper.”
Wulf just shook his head.
“A very nasty but effective gambit to be sure. As far as Raylik is concerned? Night and day differences. The city leader is of the Tail. And she is a very beautiful lady as well.”
Tyler smirked.
“By MY standards,”
He gestured to Kaori and Malico either side of him,
“Or yours?”
Kaori and Malico looked at each other, as Wulf now felt a FAR more potent respect for this brazen Warrior.
“Wow, Malico. He really HAS become smooth.”
“Indeed he has Kaori. So, how shall we respond to this latest stunt?”
“How will we indeed?”
Tyler was smiling as Wulf then picked up on the silent jab, and he fumed inwardly at this kick to the balls. He then sighed.
“Well played. I hate you, but well played. I’ll let you decide should you meet her.”
Tyler smiled again.
“Fair. Okay, Raylik is a two day ride along the road.”
They all looked at the map, sensing the time for fun had passed for the moment. Wulf nodded.
“It is. But, as for bandits? They DO hunt the roadways, but given just how intimidating you all are, they’ll leave you alone.”
“Well, Wulf, if I’m honest, the prospect of fighting bandits is actually quite appealing to me. Easy skillpoints, money, items, and practice for skills and things we can’t use usually.”
Kaori nodded.
“Plus, if we aid in clearing out bandits along a road like that, our good name and reputation will start to spread. Which was our original goal.”
Tyler looked at the areas surrounding the road.
“If we start on bandit clearing, we can start building our case for the king after the first wave to clear our names.”
Malico was silent as she listened to the pair lay out plans. Tyler tapped a few places.
“Okay, this part here, it goes straight between these two hills, that’s a prime ambush point for caravans, this one here, near this blind turn, perfect for lone riders, while this stretch through this small patch of woodland is perfect for an ambush/kidnapping.”
Kaori tilted her head.
“Why’d you have to add that last piece?”
He smiled.
“When predicting the movements of prey, try to get inside their heads. Right now, I’m not looking at this route as a mere traveler, I’m looking at it as if I myself wish to set an ambush for some poor bastard.”
Malico sighed.
“Kinda scary how easily to can put yourself in their shoes like that.”
“Well, Malico, to be honest, banditry was on my list of potential methods of money making if the guild plan fell through.”
Kaori sighed.
“Of course it was. Like that poor elf girl you mugged for what? 4 silver?”
Tyler sighed.
“I gave the lead boy ten as an apology.”
“Wait, you did WHAT to an elven girl?”
Both Malico and Wulf were looking at him, Wulf glaring, while Malico was just confused. Tyler sighed again.
“Immediately after escaping the tower, we were hit by a gang of pickpockets. So we cornered them in an alley. By that point, we’d been running from the guard for 24 hours nearly nonstop. We were on the verge of dropping, and without a single copper between us. So, I made the choice to use the gang as a means for coin.”
He rubbed his eyes.
“I scared them out of 4 silver. And this little elven girl was the one that forked em over, and a further piece? She had 8 originally.”
Wulf was glaring at him.
“Are you aware what that girl had to do to get that much?”
Tyler then fixed him with his own glare, his new Demon’s Glare, and it chilled Wulf to the bone like a frigid winter wind.
“I am WELL aware of what that poor girl had to do, Wulf. I did not do it because I WANTED to. I did it because I HAD to.”
Wulf was shaking with fear at the look in this teenage boy’s eyes. Tyler sighed then.
“I ran into the lead boy of their little gang what? A day later? We’d made some money and I gave him ten silver. So, there’s that.”
Kaori patted his hand.
“Desperate times.”
Tyler looked at Wulf,
“I do NOT regret my actions, Wulf. I will do whatever it takes to keep kaori here alive. Malico as well. If I deem it necessary, I will do it. You have a problem with that, your horse is over there.”
Tyler’s voice was firm, flat, and was resolute. Wulf sighed.
“As much as I hate the act, I can respect the will to do must be done sometimes.”
“The world is not a kind place.”
He sighed again.
“No. No it is not. Very well. I’ll let this lay. It serves no purpose to argue over past deeds.”
Tyler then looked back at the map. Tyler tapped a spot directly east of them.
“Okay. We’ll sleep here tonight, and we ride two hours after waking. Malico.”
She looked over at her name.
“Yes?”
“That pouch you have with the spell in it, where do you hide it?”
She gave a secret smile,
“I am a very sneaky pussycat!”
Tyler and Kaori looked at each other.
“That works.”
“If they’re going THERE, then they are after something else entirely.”
Tyler patted her on the back.
“Good place. Just tell NO ONE it’s there.”
“I won’t.”
Tyler then looked at another piece they’d need.
“Okay, we need to bait a bandit attack. Let me see.”
He looked at his group,
“If we put a hood on kaori, get her tunic dusty, and have her hunch over, she’d pass for an old woman alone on the road.”
Kaori was about to smack him, when.
“Well, I guess that wouldn’t work, Kaori looks FAR too good for that one to work.”
She forgave him right there. Tyler sat back.
“If I were to hide Oblivion under a cloak, put a hood on, and WALK along the road, I KNOW I can pass for a poor traveler. Or a lone wanderer that bandits love. Another trick is to make camp, light a big fire, and make it seem we’re out cold drunk. No straight bandit could pass that up if Kaori and Malico were seemingly helpless on the ground with mugs in their hands.”
Kaori had a thought.
“I think you over thinking this. A decent band has about what? Twenty men? If just the four of us ride along as if ignoring our surroundings,”
“We can bait them with FAR too tempting prey. Nasty, Kaori. Min risk, high rewards. We’ll go with that. And since paralytic agents and spells have no affect on me, we don’t have to worry. Plus my Demon’s Wrath will be available for use tomorrow as well.”
Wulf looked at him.
“Demon’s Wrath?”
“My special ability. Sorry, Wulf, but while we may be traveling together, you still haven’t officially joined our party, so I’m afraid we can’t tell you, for safety reasons. I’m sure you understand.”
The experienced ambassador did indeed understand.
“I do. And don’t blame you in the slightest.”
Tyler smiled.
“Okay, we have our plan. I suggest we spend the rest of the day stocking up on herbs, meats, and trade goods. I’ll stay here and fletch arrows since we’re nearly out.”
Wulf tilted his head.
“What will you use for shafts and tips?”
Tyler had a nasty smile.
“Shafts will be drake bone. Tips the same. As for flights? I’ll scrounge a few hawks up. I’ve been seeing nests everywhere. Since we have the pouches, we have the storage space to make sure it all gets used.”
Wulf looked around the trees surrounding their camp, and spotted easily ten in a few seconds.
“My advice? Use Owl or Eagle plumage for flights. Strong, and nearly silent.”
“Can’t top archery advice from an elf. Kaori, I’d like you to focus on hunting, you’re the best at it, Malico, can you handle the plants? Wulf? Hmm, Whatever you can do?”
“Sure, I saw a game trail a little over that way.”
“I’ll go flower picking.”
“Whatever I can do? I’m an ELF in a FOREST.”
“Nuts and berries then.”
“I believe the word from your world to use in this situation is prick.”
“Slick. But at least I’m teaching you something useful.”
Wulf just sighed as the ladies smacked him.
“I’d say you get used to him, Wulf, but I’d be lying.”
“Infuriating, isn’t he?”
Tyler closed the map and stored it in his bag as he pulled the fletching kit out.
“Okay, Protective warning and Tranquil waters are up, and now extend for 150 meters in all directions, so try to stay within that please.”
The foraging trio nodded, Tyler pulled the pouch of bones over.
“Annnd break!”
The trio were off, Kaori putting her skills to use tracking animals with her bow, Malico making good use of her plant knowledge to good work, as Wulf went after edible nuts and berries. Tyler set himself by the fire as he used his dagger to crave the drake bone into nearly perfect shafts for arrows. The strong material would give their arrows a decent retrieval rate and add an extra bit of umph as well. He also had maybe two hundred teeth of the perfect shape to use as arrow heads. He would set up a pile of shafts before heading after birds for flights. He worked in silence, tying off shafts and heads while every now and then feeding the fire, listening to the trees creak and groan in the breeze. He had his own bow beside him with an arrow nocked in case he got a surprise visitor, but for the most part the trees were silent. He set the hundredth arrow on the pile went Wulf returned with a large offering of blackberries. Tyler smiled.
“Nice haul, here, we got some jars.”
The elf smiled as they filled the small jars with the fruit. He looked at the pile of shafts and was impressed.
“I’ve only been gone what? A half hour? Yet you have nearly three full quivers ready for flights.”
Tyler smiled.
“Flights are the hardest part.”
Wulf nodded in agreement.
“I agree fully. Need a hand? We have plenty of berries now.”
Tyler was grateful for his aid.
“Sure, Wulf. Nothing like an arrow made by an elf.”
The two men set to it, as a large crack was heard off to their right. They looked, and saw the massive brown bear that had visited the hotspring that morning. Tyler smiled, and took the lid off a jar of black berries.
“Hiya big guy, got black berries this time!”
The bear sniffed as Tyler poured the jar out for it, as Wulf just gazed at the creature with a mixture of fear and awe on his angular face. The bear ate the offering, and laid beside the fire and watch them work. Tyler smiled at the stunned Wulf.
“That the bear you were talking about?”
HE nodded dumbly at the sight of the imposing creature.
“Lady Juniper.”
The bear rumbled, but ignored him. Instead, the beast seemed fascinated by what Tyler was doing. So he explained.
“I’m restocking our arrow supply. All we need are decent eagle or owl plumage.”
The bear lifted it’s head and gestured with the large trunk sized head towards a set of trees to the south of camp. Tyler marked the spot.
“Thanks Juniper. I’m making Lisk for dinner if you wanna join us.”
The bear got up, and adjusted the way she’d been laying to get more comfy before curling up in a mound of fur with her beady eyes looking at him. Tyler got up and picked his bow off the stone, loading his quiver. He then looked to Wulf.
“I’ll go get me a bird or two. Keep an eye on camp.”
Wulf gulped at the prospect of being left alone with the hulking creature, whereas Tyler laughed. The man passed Juniper’s bear form and gave her ears a passing scratch, getting another snort as be passed. Wulf then was left alone with the Spirit’s Apprentice in her most dangerous form, and gulped. The bear for her part just watched him.

Tyler moved along the forest floor with all the ease of a hunting tiger. The trunks being as massive as ten feet across and soaring hundreds of feet tall, and the floor being surprisingly easy to navigate making it easy going. He had his fingers on his bow string as he moved along, ready to take a shot. He was walking along a open area, when he heard a snarl off to his right. He looked, and saw a large wolf looking at him. This wolf not the same size as Juniper, but a still respectable husky. He was about to raise his bow, when he saw it was bleeding pretty badly from a wound on it’s flank. He sighed and lowered his bow and crouched down.
“Alright, C’mere.”
The wolf snarled at him again, and he just sighed.
“Cut the shit and lemme see that wound.”
The wolf was still suspicious, but limped over to allow him access to it’s flank. The wolf’s beautiful grey and white coat on it’s left side was bleeding from an arrow that was lodged in it’s flank. Tyler sighed as he laid the animal on it’s side.
“This is gonna suck for you, but just shut up and bare it.”
The wolf whined as Tyler pulled the shaft loose. He placed the thing to the side for inspection after, and held his hand over the animal’s flank. He’d gotten a spell from a dead mage that healed animals, and so he got his first chance to try it.
“HEAR ME SPIRIT OF THE FOREST, FOR ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN LAY INJURED. LEND ME THE POWER TO HEAL YOUR CHILD: NATURE’S GRACE!”
His hand flared up white and brown, since the spell was of the Brown path, and since it was a healing spell, it resonated with his White, thus making it twice as potent. The wolf’s labored breathing became much easier as the hole in it’s flank, and the infection raging within it were healed like new. The spell even cleaned it’s fur. Tyler sighed as he finished.
“Well? How it feel?”
The wolf got up and did a few tests on it’s body before coming over and licking his face in thanks.
“Hey! You’re welcome! Tell Juniper I said hi if you see her before me.”
The wolf barked before trotting off happily. Tyler smiled as he watched his favorite animal head off. He then picked up the shaft he’d taken from the wolf’s flank and inspected it. The head was two inches across, was a vicious triangle with serrations along the edges, and reminded Tyler of a shark’s tooth. HE sighed deeply,
“I hate people.”
He then noted the metal was roughly beaten, and black. He placed the rogue arrow in his quiver. Quiver I’ll get Wulf’s opinion on the thing. Giving me a bad feeling. Tyler stood and sighted a beautiful golden eagle sitting in a tree. He lifted his bow with all the noise of a shadow, as he aim and fired. Taking the bird in the eye and out of the tree. He went to the fallen bird and was shocked by just how massive it was. The damned wingspan was 15 feet across! Standing the thing was 4 feet tall! It had all the brown, white, and yellow markings of a golden eagle, but DAMN that thing was huge! Tyler shook his head at the magnificent creature.
“Now I kinda feel bad. I’d love to see that thing soar. Well, least we won’t need feathers for a while.”
Tyler lifted the 50 pound bird on his shoulder and set off back to camp.
Wulf was still alone with the massive bear, and would constantly shoot nervous glances in her direction, just to be sure she hadn’t moved. Then Tyler came striding into camp with the massive bird and Wulf was again shocked.
“Where’d you find a KING eagle?”
Tyler laid the big bird out as he looked at him.
“This thing’s called a King Eagle? Fits don’t it. I found it after I healed a grey wolf that managed to escape a hunting party. Hey, Wulf, whaddya make o this?”
Tyler tossed him the arrow as the bear growled. Wulf took one look and sighed.
“This is an Orc Arrow. Those vile creatures love these kinds of arrows.”
The bear was on it’s paws in an instant and was looking at Tyler with an angry glare. Tyler smiled.
“Lemme grab my blades. Wulf, guard the camp.”
The elf nodded as Tyler grabbed his swords and slung them over his back. Tyler then looked at the bear, and it glowed before transforming, with a disturbing sound of grinding bones popping joints, into the white wolf. Tyler nodded in the direction and they ran off together. Wulf was now sitting with his back against the rock with his own bow and blade out as he opened his elf senses to the forest. Kinda scary how comfortable that guy is with such a dangerous creature.

Tyler ran beside the wolf as he led her to the spot he’d healed her sister wolf. Once reaching the spot, the wolf went around sniffing, looking for a trail. It snarled, and Tyler was right behind it as they followed the scent trail of the invaders of the forest. The duo were silent as they approached a loudly bickering set of voices.
“Bitch the ell ya mean ya lost it? I sticked it meself with a death shaft!”
“Well if ya ad better eyes we’da had em by now!”
“What ya say Glorg?”
“What? Ya deaf as well as blind?”
They had nasally voices Tyler didn’t like already and they had left a mess of the forest floor, with trampled ferns, brush, and scars on trees from a bored swing of a weapon. Tyler and the wolf melted into the trees as the approached the party. That was when Tyler got his first real look at a Lectis Orc. The things were 5 feet tall, had sickly pale skin, pointed ears like an elf’s, pointed noses like a rats, and had tails like a rat. Their armor was all mismatched pieces of metal with visible rust, raggedly leather, and no shoes. Tyler counted maybe twenty of the beasts, and took note their weaponry were mostly bows, arrows, nets and spears. He saw no staves indicating mages or many long blades. HE looked to the Wolf and she was looking at him with a look of intent. HE smiled and placed a finger to his lips as he pointed to the center of the bickering group, made a circle, and made a bursting motion with his hands. The Wolf grinned, if a wolf CAN grin, and Tyler channeled his mana for a surprise WaterBurst. When a taller creature strode into view with a knocked out Kaori and Malico in it’s arms. The Orc all started dancing at the sight of the two women, and they were dropped into the center of the group. From what Tyler could see, their clothing was still intact, indicating a lack of rape, and the lack of other injuries told him a complete surprise. He sighed quietly as he and them were outside the range of Protective warning.
“I’ve seen this one before as well.”
The wolf was looking at him, and he patted her head, and smiled. He altered his plan to drop WaterBurst on the ladies, as it would both protect them and heal them. So, as the Orcs closed in for their play, a massive sphere of water enshrouded the two girls and formed a barrier between hem and the orcs. Tyler counted to three on his fingers, and the water burst, sending the spikes outward impaling several orcs and filling the ten foot tall beast up nicely. Tyler had his long Magicite blade out and surged into the clearing to slash through 8 with a single swing, before binging the large blade to bear on the now roaring beast that towered above him. The thing swung a large club at him, but Tyler merely cut the legs out from under it and let it get split in half by his sword. Kaori and Malico had awakened by now, and spotted their blades in the dead thing’s belt. The now enraged ladies grabbed their gear and pounced on the now diminished Orc party. Out of twenty, only four were left standing. Seeing this, they threw down their weapons and surrendered. Tyler walked to where Kaori and Malico were wiping off their blades.
“You two okay?”
The pretty blonde sighed.
“Yeah, I feel really stupid. But yeah. Bastards baited me with a wounded animal.”
Malico snorted.
“Same here.”
Tyler rubbed his eyes.
“Was it a wounded wolf?”
They looked at him.
“How’d you know?”
He looked at the creatures.
“Bastards tried that on me. But since I used a brown and white spell, they musta backed off once they saw they were out matched. Musta had TWO wolves.”
Tyler lifted his sword.
“Soo, no issues on an execution this time, right?”
Malico snorted.
“For Orcs? Tch, kill em all.”
“Yes Ma’am. Hey! Juniper! Those idiots are yers!”
The Orcs screamed as a massive bear came in roaring like an avalanche as she dove onto the Orcs. Tyler then looked to the big guy it’s split in half.
“So, just what the fuck are you?”
The thing was ten feet tall, had stone grey skin, with a bald head with a flat face and clad in a loin cloth. Malico had a disgusted look on her pretty face.
“Ugh, a stone ogre. Nasty, I can’t believe it touched me.”
The bear had finished tearing apart the orcs and was happily rumbling as Tyler patted the beasts head.
“Remind me never to make my favorite teddy angry. Nice work Juniper.”
The bear nudged his chest with clear affection as he praised her kills. Tyler then looked around the battle site.
“Should we even bother looting these things?”
Malico was still grossed out,
“I need a bath. I feel dirty now. As for looting? With Orcs you’re nearly guaranteed a few coins, potions, poisons, and maybe something interesting.”
Tyler noted the look of profound disgust on her face. He then looked to the Bear.
“Could you escort the ladies to a stream or something, please? I feel like they need to get the touch of that thing off their skin.”
The bear huffed.
“Yes I’ll give you more Lisk meat.”
The bear rumbled and nudged Kaori and Malico to follow. He smiled.
“I’ll meet you back at camp, ladies.”
They waved as they vanished into the wood. Tyler sighed as he looked at his task.
“Great. I hate orcs.”
He spent the next hour looting the site of everything useful. Including the arrows, as he felt they would make for a nasty surprise against humans. He came up with a mere 32 copper coins, two lesser healing potions, and a rather potent poison that would kill in under two minutes. He straightened up from the last one.
“Gods I hate these nasty things.”
He looked around the small clearing of bodies.
“Kinda tempted to burn these things.”
He heard a twig snap behind him, and was rolling forward into a stance bow raised with a shaft drawn back, only to find himself aiming at a beautiful woman in a long gown of leaves with a twig crown upon her flowing mane of golden hair that put even kaori’s tresses of gold to shame. Her eyes were of the brightest blue, her skin a glowing fair, and her feet were bear. Her bust was large and her smile warm. Tyler kept his shaft trained on the newcomer as he spoke.
“Shouldn’t sneak up on people like that miss. That coulda been nasty.”
Her smiled widened and he saw her teeth were purest white.
“I will remember that the next time I use this form.”
Her voice was akin to a relaxing breeze in a summer forest and warm as sunlight. Tyler understood who he had encountered and lowered his bow.
“Sorry for the arrow, Milady Forest. Been jumped way too many times like that.”
She chuckled and it reminded Tyler of a bell tolling. She waved her arm and the bodies were swallowed by the ground.
“They will feed my forest.”
“They won’t give your forest indigestion will they”
She smiled again, and stepped into the clearing with all the grace of a goddess descending to her child. She came to stand before Tyler, and he found she was just a few inches taller then him. HE didn’t have to tilt his head back to look her in the eye, but he noticed it. The Lady of the Forest spoke again.
“You have done my forest yet another service, this time of your own volition without any prompting or request on my part. I wish to offer you a gift for your service to the forest.”
He gulped.
“So you’re aware, I kinda already promised my first to Kaori.”
That made her laugh this time, and Tyler noticed a light breeze rustled the treetops as she did. She then looked at this most fascinating human.
“I am aware of this. But, I feel like I should inform your lover you just turned down a chance to lay with a forest spirit. Most men would kill for the chance.”
Tyler shuddered.
“Yeah, and the heaven of laying with you would pale in comparison to the hell Kaori would subject me to for it.”
She laughed again.
“Okay, I’m telling her that you chose her over me.”
“If you do, use that form, it’ll drive the point home with a hammer.”
“I’ll be sure to.”
She then held out her hand, as if offering him to take it.
“Hold out your hand, young Warrior.”
He placed his hand under hers, and she placed a ring in it.
“That is a Ring of The Forest Spirit. As long as you are within a forest, and you bear that ring, no predators native to that wood will attack you or your companions. Plus, any resource you seek to collect will be half as hard to procure. It will also signify to other forest spirits that you and your companions are true friends to our homes, and are to be aided. Plus, should you ever find yourself under my trees again, my homes are yours to use. Long as you clean up after your done. I will also bestow one upon your two companions, and a title upon your guest.”
Tyler knelt before the Lady of the Forest.
“I thank you for your generosity. We’ll guard these dearly, and the next time we are within your woodland, we will make it like we were never here. And if your home is ever threatened, feel free to call for us, as we’d be happy to help.”
She smiled.
“That is an extra function of the ring. Should the forest have need of it’s heroes, a teleport spell will appear. Just touch it, and it’ll transport you to the Lisk clearing. Once the trouble has been resolved, it will teleport you back to where you were. Now, rise my friend.”
Tyler rose and the Lady smiled at him.
“My name…….is Slyvien, Keeper Of The Dark Forest.”
He smiled.
“My name is Tyler, Slyvien. Nice to put a face to the voice.”
She laughed again, before stepping to a tree, and placing a hand on it’s trunk. She looked at him for a moment.
“I’m most curious if the Lady kaori would allow a tryst after she’s had your first?”
She stepped into the trunk and was gone, leaving Tyler mind blown with a nuclear warhead. He stared at the tree with a twitching eyelid as his gears ground to a screeching halt, then broke. Then a breeze came through the clearing and with it her laughter, and it jerked him out of his stupor. Well, looks like I’ve lived a full life. Tyler looked at the ring and placed it on his finger, and found it to be rather…..weird to wear a ring. He shrugged.
“Should get used to accessorizing.”
Then he looked it over. It had a band of branches that felt more like metal then wood, on the top was a large green stone that seemed to glisten wetly as he looked at it, and the stone was held in place by antlers. He waved his hand around a few times as hard as he could to make sure it would fall off when he wasn’t paying attention. Nope, stayed put. Kinda figured it would, but ya know, paranoid. He set off back to camp, with his bow ready in case he got a nasty surprise. He made it back to camp to find the bear was happily resting by the fire with kaori and Malico looking at their new rings as Wulf looked over his new forest friend title. Tyler walked right in and pulled some meat from his bag.
“Hiya Ladies, enjoy your dip?”
Kaori got up and came over to him, and she had a rather….intense expression on her pretty face. Tyler froze and stood as she got right in his face.
“I’m sorry?”
He was now nervous as the blonde was mere inches away from his face. She had a very intense light in her eyes, and he gulped.
“Your prettier?”
Malico and Wulf snorted.
“Worth a shot I guess.”
“right?”
Tyler was now getting really nervous, as she hadn’t said a word.
“Kaori, yer scaring me here.”
She was still staring into his eyes, and in spite of himself, his gaze flickered to her lips, as he found he wanted to kiss her right then, and he gulped again.
“Barbie? You in there?”
She smiled a little at that before right back to staring. His gaze flickered to her lips again.
“Fuck it.”
he planted his lips on hers, and she squeaked in surprise at this attack. Malico burst out laughing as Wulf found himself both respecting this guy, and hating him too. Tyler for his part was loving kaori’s soft lips against his own, and was sad when he had to pull back. The blonde beauty was blinking as she breathed a little heavier. Tyler smiled.
“Still love kissing you, Kaori.”
She hugged him then. And he wrapped his arms around her.
“Are you okay now?”
She snorted.
“I was wondering when you’d kiss me.”
“Like I said, you were kinda scaring me. Last time you looked at me like that, you beat me with a pipe.”
She chuckled at the memory,
“That’s what you get for rigging a noise bomb in my underwear drawer you perverted bastard.”
“And I told you a million times Kazuma put that there! I don’t have a deathwish!”
She laughed and hugged him tighter.
“You think he took it alright?”
Tyler stroked her hair.
“Knowing him? Probably called bullshit.”
She pressed her head in his chest.
“Will he be okay?”
Tyler pressed his head into hers.
“They can’t kill him. They need him to fight the waves with us. As for okay? He won’t break, I know that much. Dude may have been an infuriating optimist, but he’s still a tough bastard.”
She sniffed, and pulled back to look at him.
“If he’s in trouble, and we’re strong enough…”
Tyler kissed her again.
“If we can help him, we will. Bastard’s always had your back, and mine a time or two. If the opportunity arises, we’ll get him.”
She looked into his eyes.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She smiled,
“I just needed to hear it. Speaking of hearing. I heard your conversation with Slyvien.”
He went rigid.
“Okay?”
She laughed.
“I love you too.”
He relaxed.
“Oh thank the gods.”
She then looked at him.
“Just so you know, after our first……well…..don’t get your hopes up.”
“Wasn’t planning to!”
She smirked as she walked away, and Tyler felt a little nervous.
“Seriously! I wasn’t! The hell!? Kaori? Come on!”
Malico and Wulf all laughed at the sight of Tyler being made to feel absolutely worthless with a single smirk by the blonde beauty. Wulf just shook his head.
“That lady has him on pins and needles.”
Malico smiled as she watched Tyler steal a kiss off kaori’s lips and get smacked.
“We may be together as a group, but she holds the biggest place in his heart by far.”
The busty catgirl smiled as kaori finally let him off the hook and sat beside her as Tyler set a round of burgers on the stone to cook by the fire. Malico nudged her friend.
“That was a little mean.”
She smiled as Tyler got to work with Wulf plucking the eagle and flighting their arrows.
“He deserved it. My poor heart nearly stopped when he turned that Spirit down before she even spoke. Twice!”
Malico hugged her.
“Good for you, kaori. I see his merging gave him some much needed confidence.”
The blonde smiled as she snuggled into the hug of her cat friend.
“it gave him courage to just go for it.”
The ladies smiled as they watched fire dance and flicker while the meat sizzled while the trees high above them rustled in the early night breeze.

Tyler and Wulf finished flighting the arrows for their quivers just as the meat was ready. The warrior tossed four hunks to where the bear was watching them go about their tasks. She devoured them with gusto and yawned hard before settling on her paws. Tyler handed the food out on plates of stone and they all dug in with gusto as well. Loving the juiciness and tenderness of the Lisk flesh. Once the meat was gone, the ladies started yawning. Tyler smiled.
“That’s the bell ladies.”
They nodded, as Wulf looked to Tyler.
“I’ll take first watch.”
Tyler placed his hand on the ground.
“Hmm, don’t bother. Protective Warning and Tranquil waters are still active. They stretch out a hundred meters. We’re set.”
The elven ranger shook his head.
“I see. Well, alright.”
Tyler and the elf went into the tent and Tyler laid between Malico and kaori. Wulf near the entrance without a cuddle buddy. Again he found himself both admiring Tyler and being extremely jealous of him as well. Outside the tent, the massive bear took a spot just outside the main tent flap before setline down again. Tyler smiled as Kaori and Malico laid their heads on his chest.
“G’night ladies and Wulf.”
The alone Elf grumbled, and the girls giggled. Then they all drifted off into peaceful slumber.