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Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC / Conditional Acceptance / PG-16]

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Link planted himself in front of Rohns and lashed out at a charging beaver, the one Adel had been seated on a moment before. His kick went wide but it was enough to make the beaver back off from the wolf pup cowering behind his leg. “Beavers are attacking. Get your pegasus and start ferrying people across as soon as you feel able. Start with Tsetseg.” Princess Catriona should have been among the first brought to safety on the other side of the river, but; a) he didn’t trust Adel to not fly off with her, and b) the eldest princess was much more capable in close quarters than the archer. 

The beaver facing him hissed. Link puffed up his chest and raised his shield and sword, trying to look as large as he possibly could. He wasn’t trying to waste quality iron and time slaying the rodent (which WAS the reason, and not that he would feel bad killing the beasts), so hopefully they got the message quickly and ran back to their den. 
 

Edited by Cheshire Toon
I said "pushed up his chest" instead of "puffed up". Gawk in awe at Link's cleavage, beavers.

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Edrick was still not having so much of a good time, but at least he was getting himself a little straighter. Though now he thought of it, Link was kinda hot. All the same, his vision was a little straighter, his sight a little clearer, and he was not having quite as severe an episode as he had been just a few moments prior. So he braced himself, took a deep breath, and raised his spear. Remembering that he had been instructed not to kill, and still disagreeing with it but all the same not in the best mental state to question it, he brought the blunt end of his spear down forcefully upon the head of the beaver. It was not rendered unconscious, that much was certain, but by how dazed it looked it would not be getting up any time soon. That was good. So he turned around swiftly, trying to find Link, and eventually looked at him.

"Hei!" He shouted, once more reverting to his native tongue, "Am luat-o pe asta, ce acum?" He did not seem to register that the Galtean would not understand him, not that he cared. He was a little preoccupied with the achievement.

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Sienna seemed to be on the verge of tears, she's been bashed on the head by an axe, shot at, slashed at by bandits, but it felt as if her hand would tear off if the beaver was pulled anymore. Thankfully, the rodent did eventually let go, leaving behind a bloody indention in her hand. There might as well be a hole in her hand, that bight hurt more than anything, well... Maybe not as much as an axe in the head, but still.

 

There wasn't a moment to relax though, as the beaver had changed its attention to Catriona. It had pounced on her, biting into the young leader's leg. Sienna was still wincing in pain from the bite wound on her hand, but she wasn't about to let her friend get mauled like she did. Transforming, using her normal firestone, Sienna bared her fangs and lunged at the beaver's neck. It seemed like she hit her mark, but she quickly slipped off the beaver's body, almost biting the leg of the person she was trying to help.

 

She stopped herself in time before she could though and stepped back. "U-uh, sorry!" she said quickly before turning towards the beaver, who had hopped off of Catriona's leg in the confusion. This beaver must have woken up on the wrong side of the dam, as it was already jumping towards Sienna for another attack. She dodged to the side, hoping the aggressive hellspawn of a beaver couldn't change its trajectory in the air.

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Catriona blinked as those giant jaws closed a hairsbreadth from her. Soon afterward, the beaver let go of her to pounce on the Protean once more, fearless in its maddened, bloody rage. The fox managed to dodge to the side in the last moment, but it did not dissuade the beaver any, turning around to attack once more. "Let us be done with this," the lord declared, her tone sharp with annoyance. Moving forward, she attempted to stab the beaver but missed once more, blade sinking into the mud. "Damned beasts," she swore. "I have not met an opponent so difficult in quite some time, and I have fought many." She turned her gaze up toward where the others were dealing with their own furry menaces.

Adelheid had finally recovered enough that she was able to stand upright without immediately falling back down. The pegasus knight still looked a little muddled, asking after the current state of affairs. Link quickly replied and soon after Edrick managed to hit the beaver that Tsetseg was holding down with the butt of his lance. The animal, while not knocked unconscious, looked as if it would not be fighting back anytime soon.

However, the beaver that Link was trying to scare off was unimpressed with his performance. Baring its long incisors, the animal moved forward, intent on attacking the green-garbed man. Just like the beaver had earlier with Catriona, this one latched onto his leg, and would not let go.

Further up the bank, Ciela's words seemed to get through to her mount. The horse slowed its pace somewhat, ears flicking back and forth from nervousness to attentiveness. Taking advantage of this decrease in speed, Licorice, still in beast form, bounded ahead of the steed and turned, black tail flicking back and forth behind her as she blocked the way forward. Remy skidded to a halt, starting to rear before stopping and slamming his front hooves back down on the ground. Whickering nervously, the horse tossed his head, eyes rolling back to look at Ciela.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Penelope had finally managed to touch the riverbed, though she would have to stand on the tips of her toes to actually walk on it unaided. Beside her, Shiro would have a much easier time of it. Up ahead, Alois succeeded where Gunther did not. His pantomime show seemed to do the trick at convincing the beaver in front of him not to attack. The animal stopped, but, unlike the two beavers near the knight, did not look nearly so calm at the prospect of prolonged close proximity to human beings, and, backing away, slipped into the forest.

The two beavers, on the other hand, had relaxed so much they appeared almost tame, making soft chirring sounds as one flopped on its belly, nuzzling up against the man's armored leg, while the other climbed up into his lap.

Spoiler

Turn 5

River.png

  • x1 beaver going for Sienna
  • x1 beaver dazed underneath Tsetseg
  • x1 beaver attacking Link
  • x2 beavers playing with Gunther
  • Ciela and Licorice are offscreen

 

Edited by Sethera

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Penelope smiled with relief as she reached the other side of the river. She was straining to keep her head above the water and her feet on the ground but so far so good. Her foot slipped near the end and she had to hang onto the rope to keep herself steadied. Even so she finally made it to the other end where she saw...

"Well this is a lovely dichotomy isn't it?" Penelope said as she approached. Standing next to Alois she put a hand on the boy's arm. "I think I prefer this side of things, don't you?"

She hadn't wanted to leave the others on the other side but she also knew that she wouldn't have been able to do much to help. Her goal was to get everyone on this side and that wouldn't be possible if she had been the one stuck in the back of the group.

Now she could only hope that the others would be able to make their way over as well. She approached Shiro and reached out towards him. "Need a hand?"


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Gunther's face lit up as he saw Alois trying to be friendly towards the beaver. "You won't have to resort to violence, trust me." He responded. "They're a good sort."

And it seemed that his belief was proven to be true. The beaver he had treated stood down and ran off. He was glad. It meant that the beaver had accepted them enough to let them pass through.

What happened next wasn't what he expected at all. It seemed that the other two beaver had taken a liking to him and crawled up towards him. His smile widened farther as he looked down at them. He reached out for the two and gently stroking the animal's fur. He chuckled softly. "Well, seems I'm not going to be moving anytime soon." He glanced up at Alois. "Do you want to take a seat?"

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It was strange how different the two sides of the river was. On one side, you had Gunther pacifying them, like they were a domesticated animal, but on the other side, it was complete and utter chaos. The thing that confused him the most was that they were just beavers. Why was this small group having more trouble with beavers than they did with the army of the undead? 

"Need a hand?" Penelope was offering her hand to Shiro, wanting to pull him onto land. Shiro looked at the hand for a second before shaking his head. 

"No," He answered. "I should help the others," He explained as he turned back and began to swim across the water. "Thank you though," That was really nice of her to think of him, at the very least. He swam quietly across the water, waiting for the others to finish playing with the beavers and start to cross again.

Edited by Saikazo May Cry

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Alois looked on in disbelief as the beaver seemed to get what he was saying, running away as it seemed to want no more part with them. As the princess had crossed over the sea, Alois could only let out a small sigh, looking over to see the other side of the river with everyone continually fighting against the rest of the beavers. It seemed to be nothing short of chaos. With an annoyed look across his face Alois merely answered the princess with, "I think we're going to have come up with new river crossing tactics." As the girl went back towards the river, the young fighter then looked towards his knight companion as he ushered him over. Walking over, Alois just sat down on the ground saying, "yep, still hate this place." 

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With the beaver successfully stunned, Tsetseg proud of herself for having successfully helped defeat the target, the archer half tossed it away from her, letting it go free for the time being. As she heard the green man start to shout out what they needed to do, the girl's face lit up as she nodded towards him. Starting to skitter across the ground before bounding up to her feet,  Tsetseg looked to Adel with clear excitement on her face. Moving to their pegasus, she said, "leeeeeet's gooooo!" 

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Link worked a muscle in his jaw when Edrick started shouting in Pontic. He’s just a kid. This isn’t a battle. He’s just a kid. He’s just a kid. He’s--

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“...just a kid!” The stench of death was thick in the air. The coppery smell of blood, so overpowering, threatened to gag him. 

Darius was stooped over the body of the soldier, a young boy who hadn’t seen more than fifteen harvests, that had stumbled out of the bushes and found the Wolves picking over what remained of his patrol. “This is a war Harkinian. Kids die. Think he would have ask how old you were before running you through with a spear?”

“But.. he was… we didn’t have to kill him. We could have taken him back to the 31st, or Lord Balfon,” Link didn’t even sound convincing to himself. 

“Don’t be stupid Harkinian. No one likes an idiot.” Darius found a small pouch of coins on the boy, shrugged and stuffed them into his pocket. “He saw us. He saw you fighting that patrol leader. We’re dressed up like a group of bandits, but we sure as hell don’t fight like them. Now get over and help me get this tunic off of him. Looks like it might fit you and it’s always good to have a Pontic uniform handy.”

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A searing pain brought him back to the world of the living. Link struggled to swallow a scream, biting down so hard he felt one of his teeth crack. “...” When he finally mastered the pain he blew air out of his nose, opened his eyes, and looked down to find a beaver attached to his calf. A wet red stain was spreading out from the wound and ruining his leggings, which in the long-term, was more annoying than all of his aches.

Fueled by anger and a residing panic from seconds before, he grabbed the beaver by the scruff of its neck and threw it across the clearing. “Make… make sure that one doesn’t come back,” he grunted in Edrick’s general direction. “Then see about Ciela. I’m gonna try to get Her Majesty and Sienna across.”

With a brief nod at Edrick, Link hobbled off toward Catriona, eager to get some distance from the boy.
 

Edited by Cheshire Toon

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Edrick had been about to intervene in the Beaver biting onto Link's neck, having registered the older man freeze in place at just the wrong time, when Link threw it across the clearing with seemingly little effort. Well that...certainly sorted that. It took him a moment to register what the soldier was saying, Galtean wasn't making a lot of sense to him in his addled state, but he eventually nodded and turned back towards the beaver. Which, sure enough, was coming back in for more. Well, he already had his spear turned the wrong way around. Might as well make the most of it. He started running to intercept.

A sharp, vicious "crack!" rang out as when the beaver came within his reach he swung the shaft around like a warhammer and struck it across the side of the head. The spear flexed, creaked in his hands, and eventually sprung back out straight as the world's grip on the creature was overcome. Torn from the loving embrace of gravity, the giant watery rat was sent flying back across the clearing and collided with a tree. It shook with a dull "thump," and the rodent was once more returned to the ground's embrace. A few mushrooms came loose from the trunk, and landed atop the stunned beaver. Edrick briefly considered the possibility of finishing it off to eat that evening, but remembered the steadily more nonsensical orders to not kill them. Why didn't Link want them dead anyways? Well it wasn't worth worrying about right now.

The beast dealt with, he turned and gave a thumbs-up to Adelheid before looking upstream in search of Ciela. He saw her a ways up there, almost out of sight around a bend in the river, with an enormous black...something near her. He couldn't clearly make it out, but it didn't seem hostile for now. Well, either way, better to get running now and actually get there some time soon...

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Sienna had managed to barely dodge the jaws of the ravenous beaver and stood at the ready, baring her teeth at the aquatic rodent. Though no amount of intimidation was going to work, as the beaver was already preparing to pounce on her again. However, the fox protean was ready this time, and she shot a fireball right at beaver. Her aim was true and the fireball slammed into the beaver, sending it careening into the river, emerging seconds later to float down the river's current.

Sienna couldn't tell if she had scorched it to death or simply knocked it out, but it was finally done, no more ravenous beaver... For her and Catriona anyway. She remained in her transformed state and looked over at the others to see how they were faring, only to see Link limping over to her and Cat, blood still dripping from his lower leg. The thought then struck her, looking down at her front paw, she had nearly forgotten about the injury to it. Realizing the pain was still there now that she was out of trouble, she lifted it up so as not to put pressure on it, blood dripped from the hole the beaver's teeth had left. If that beaver had bitten down any harder she might've lost the use of her hand.

Shaking back to her senses, she looked to Link and then back to Catriona. "Now what?" she said.

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Things seemed to have wrapped up nicely. The beavers had finally been taken care of, having either been tossed away, fled, or tamed by the various members of the group. With this, we should be able to cross the river, Catriona thought. Glancing at the other two nearby, Sienna who looked a little frazzled still from the recent battle, and Link, who was bleeding from a similar wound in his leg. It seems I wasn't the only one to be targeted that way. Drawing herself up, the woman lifted her head to speak, to command for them all to cross.

And then Rohns began to bark.

What now? Came the thought, but it was not another beaver, like she feared. Instead, the dog was barking at where one of the creatures had slammed into the trunk of a tree covered with mushrooms. She had not taken much notice of it earlier, only that it had been swaying a little unsteadily in the wind, but now she could not help but notice it.

Because it was falling with a loud creak of splitting timbers. Falling their way.

No, not exactly their way. It was falling...toward the river. Their only saving grace was that they had nobody in the river at all, nobody to be rescued that way. Edrick had followed Ciela, out of the line of fire, and Link was nearby, leaving only Tsetseg and Adelheid, as well as her pegasus, under the shadow of the falling tree. If they did not move, and fast, then, well, that was a scenario Catriona did not need to think too hard to contemplate or immediately dismiss as a viable option.

"Look out!" she cried, but even without her warning, the sharp crack of wood breaking would have been enough of an alert for the others. She ran forward, necessity quickening her steps. "You need to leave, now." She glanced at the tree, but there was no way to prevent it from falling. It was then that she noticed the form of the unconscious beaver, still squatting at its base. The animal looked like it would not wake up anytime soon, and nearby, there was another beaver, directly in the path of the falling tree. However, this beaver was still conscious, and started to crawl away, so there was not much to worry about on that quarter.

This was not good.

On the other side, the two beavers cuddling with Gunther straightened up, alert and glancing over to where the tree was falling, before slipping into the water, their sleek forms trailing a V shape behind them as they swam through the river.

Upstream, Licorice noticed Edrick approaching, though he was still fairly distant. The fox relaxed her stance, transforming back into her humanoid form while she was at it. Still, it didn't look like Remy would try to run through her, anyway. Her ears flicked just then, and the Protean turned, staring off toward where the village was, before turning back to the pair of horse and rider.

Spoiler

Battle is over but now there is something else to worry about.

River.png

Tree shadow might actually be longer than shown. Also, Ciela, Remy, Licorice, and now Edrick are offscreen.

Edited by Sethera

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Penelope smiled at Shiro as the Protean made his way to help the others. She looked back at the two boys who were now sitting on the ground. "He's a good guy isn't he? This is so exciting, traveling with two Proteans. Who would have thought?" She put her hands behind her back as she crossed over to stand by the two.

"I suppose so." Gunther said idly, mostly paying attention to the beavers. "Though I admit something about them makes me a bit uncomfortable." he hesitated. That sounded bad didn't it? But it was true. He couldn't explain it but he had started to notice he felt more nervous near them.

"I wonder what that might be...perhaps you're allergic!" Penelope said. "Did you know that there are some people who are allergic to air? They have to breath through a mask to survive."

Gunther looked up at her. "That sounds rather unpleasant." He said, sounding genuinely concerned for the poor air allergy sufferers in the world.

"It sure is. If they get too much air without the mask they pop. They never could ride a mount either. Too much air all at once."

While Gunther pondered the unsettling statement Penelope spoke towards Alois next. "You're from the upcoming town right? Is there anything we should know about it?" She put a finger to her lips and thought of something. "Why'd you have to leave anyway? Did you break some law?"

---

It wasn't long after this that the beavers ran off and they heard the tree falling.

Both Gunther and Penelope turned towards the noise, Gunther watching the beavers to make sure they didn't get too close to the danger area, and Penelope hurried over towards the edge of the water again. "Adelaide, get out of the way, hurry!" She called out. The large Pegasus would be difficult to get out of the way if it didn't move on its own.

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As Alois sat there with the others, raising a skeptical eyebrow towards the princess as she spoke to the knight, he simply sighed as she asked her next question. Looking annoyed and to the side he said, "yeah, I'm from Phar out of nowheresville." He briefly paused to wonder if that made any sense before continuing. Waving her off he said, "all you need to know is that it's a boring as shit town and no one there will like you. And no," he turned back to face Penelope, an unamused expression on his face. "I'm not some kind of great criminal that had to skip town. They just had a bunch of sticks up their asses and I don't like them. So I left. Sorry to ruin any of your fantasies princess."   

While Alois was clearly in a mood, he snapped back to attention alongside Gunther and Penelope as the sound of a tree falling was clearly able to be heard. Seeing that there were a few people still under it, Alois muttered an, "oh shit," before getting back to his feet. There was nothing any of them could do from this side and so the boy merely stood at the edge of the water near Penelope, waiting to see what happened. 

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As Tsetseg was all geared up to start going across the river via pegasus, her attention was turned to the sound of snapping from behind. Turning around and being able to see the splintering of the tree as it bent towards them, a bit a shadow beginning to be cast over the ground, Tsetseg knew that danger was coming. And quickly. At the speed of tree. "Oh. Come on, come on, Addle. We gotta move!" As she started pointing in several directions that weren't the path the tree was falling, Tsetseg was able to more clearly see that there was also an unconscious beaver in the path of the tree. 

Now that they weren't fighting, the girl had no real problem with the small furry river animals. And she likewise did not wish to see anyone die unnecessarily, and being crushed by a tree didn't gain anything for anyone. And so, without saying anything more to her companion, the girl took off, sprinting towards the tree. Crouching down, Tsetseg scooped up the beaver and attempted to roll out of the way of the falling wood to get both her and the beaver to safety. 

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Rohns barked. The trunk of the tree—the one he had been barking at the night before—splintered at the base without warning, the last bits of supporting ominously snapping and cracking as the trunk barreled down toward their Archer and Pegasus Knight. Princess Catriona screamed a warning. Princess Penelope shouted another. Tsetseg dove to grab the beaver at the foot of tree, wrapped her arms around it, then rolled away. Adelaide and her pegasus seemed frozen.

Before any of that, Link was already moving. His instincts took over when he heard the tree beginning to fall and he pushed himself off the balls of his feet, launching into a full-tilt sprint. He took off with such a sudden amount of force that his longcap was torn off his head and landed on Rohns’ heads, momentarily halting the wolf cub’s barking, as he tumbled backwards and pawed at his head to free himself. 

Still, even with his reaction speed and newly-returned athleticism, Link wasn’t sure he was going to make it in time. His leg injury was slowing him down, and getting worse because of the intense strain sprinting caused it. He buckled down and tried anyways. 

“Hyaa! Shoo!” he shouted, wildly gesturing at the pegasus. If he made it on time he would tackle Adelaide out of the way, but if he didn’t, at the very least he could hopefully scare her mount out of harm’s way.


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Shiro looked over as he swam across the river. It seemed that something was going on, like a tree was falling or something? He wasn't sure, but he say people moving, so it wasn't that big of a deal. He swam a little further up stream, stopping right by the rope. He'd be here when the group decided to stop playing with beavers and get a move on. He'd wait of course, but this was such a strange waste of time. They should get going before they lost too much of the day, right?

As he waited, he noticed a fly buzzing by. Swiftly, his tongue lashed out and snatched it out of the air. It wasn't much, but it was tasty and it passed the time.

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As the tree continued to fall, twigs snapping at its base, it began to gain momentum, and soon enough it was close enough to crash into the party. Fortunately, Tsetseg had managed to rescue both herself and the beaver, rolling just beyond the shadow. The pegasus, Tyltalis, was shooed away from the vicinity of the tree fairly easily. Though not human, she could tell what was going on and was smart enough not to want to stick around. Her owner, however...

Adelheid, perhaps because of the injury to her head earlier, was not moving quite fast enough. In fact, she was still putting the last of the salve on her face when the tree had started to fall.

Gritting her teeth, Catriona stepped forward to push her out of the way, anything to get her to move. However, somebody was faster than her.

Link, who was in front of her, had already been shouting at the pegasus, had finally reached the mount's owner, and, lowering his head, tackled her past the falling tree, the both of them landing heavily on the other side.

And the next moment, the tree crashed to the ground where everybody had been standing previously. The edge of its trunk lay barely a few centimeters from Tsetseg's outstretched foot, but the archer was unharmed, as was everybody else.

Catriona breathed out a sigh of relief, but didn't show any other tells to her feelings aside from that. Striding forward, she looked at the tree, and where it was situated. "It appears that our crossing will not be as difficult as before."

The tree was rather tall, and, having stood near the water's edge, was just long enough that it completely spanned the width of the river. While one would have to be careful walking on its rounded surface, it was wide enough that it could easily carry two people walking abreast, or a single horse.

The beavers that had been swimming toward the other side paused but continued to swim, finally reaching the shore. Surrounding Tsetseg, they made chirring noises of concern for the beaver in her arms before the creature woke up and slipped out of the archer's grasp. Joining its fellows, it looked back once at the archer and then disappeared into the brush with the others.

Farther upstream, Licorice approached Ciela. "We need to be getting back to the others," she spoke, glancing over at where Edrick was as well. However, whether it was the recent memory of her chasing him, or something else, at the Protean's approach, Remy reared up on his hind legs, and in that moment, something fell out of Ciela's bag.

A small bottle, filled with a pearlescent pink liquid.

Before Licorice could react, the bottle smashed open on her head, trailing down her hair and onto her face. The fox stared for a second before dunking her head in the river, but a little of the potion had already been absorbed into her skin. The fox could still smell the heady scent of honey, strawberries, and magic from the mixture.

"I..." she started speaking, pupils dilating. "I don't feel so well." She took a deep breath, seemed to regret it, and then continued, voice strained. "We need to go back."

--

After being healed of their wounds, the entire group managed to cross the river. The walk through the forest on the other side was rather damp, the air heavy still with moisture after the rainfall, the ground giving off a fresh, earthy scent. However, the group would notice immediately that the path on this side of the bridge was much more traveled in comparison, though still little more than a footpath.

Catriona glanced to the side where Licorice was. The fox looked a little strange. Or rather, it was her actions that were strange. She seemed to be going out of her way to avoid the others, but every so often cast glances over at certain members of the group, though Catriona couldn't guess for the life of her what those glances meant. The Protean would unconsciously step closer to where Penelope was, before shaking her head and lurching over to Ciela, and then backing up into Sienna, before dancing away into Tsetseg, and so on. It seemed...a little worrisome that somebody who had proved herself such an impressive fighter was having difficulties just walking right now. She must have gotten injured by the beavers sometime during their last scuffle.

And unfortunately, it seemed to get worse as time went by. It was obvious that her injuries were really getting to her, as the fox eventually growled before transforming into her beast form and running ahead.

"I did not realize Licorice was so badly injured," Catriona commented into the silence left behind. "Ciela, perhaps you should check on her once she returns?"

However, time passed by and Licorice did not return. Still, she was probably scouting, and she knew her way around the area better than the rest of them save for Alois, so Catriona was not particularly worried. As the group walked through the forest, the light filtering through the trees brightened, and once they entered a break in the trees, they could see the noonday sun shining overhead.

Finally, as noon turned to afternoon, the group would see what looked to be a wooden sign ahead, along with the barest outlines of buildings in the distance.

"It appears that Phar is not far ahead," Catriona said, glancing at the group. "Perhaps here, we will learn more on the whereabouts of the Great Dragon. Or at least a direction to go toward."

Soon afterward, the group would hear a strange roaring sound, coming from the direction of the village.

Spoiler

With that, everybody has finally received a trick or treat from the Halloween event! Ciela's trick was the broken aphrodisiac bottle, though she wasn't the only one to be affected by this.

Also we have finally reached the outskirts of Phar. You won't be able to enter the village this round but you can approach it, or the sign. Seems like there's something going on over there too.

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It seemed that maybe the humans weren't as smart as the other races claimed they were. Sure, they could build giant palaces made of stone, and towns were people thrived. They could tame many animals... but when a tree fell towards them, not all of them would move out of the way. It seemed the green one saved her though, so it turned out alright in the end. It even made a bridge for them all, so they could cross without Shiro's help. Wonderful. They soon made it all across, and continued to travel deep in the forest.

Deep in the Forest

As everyone else walked on the ground, Shiro took to the trees, carefully and quietly moving from branch to branch in human form. The forest trail was obviously well worn, but yet still isolated, making it ideal for sneak attacks. Shiro wouldn't let them be caught flat footed. Even if bandits managed to get the jump on them, he would be able to sneak attack at least one of them.

While looking for bandits, he also constantly kept an eye on Licorice. She was acting very strange, although he didn't know why. Was it some sort of fox trick? That was the problem with foxes, much like humans, it was hard to tell when one was being genuine or simply hiding their true motives. He supposed that made the two species very similar. Maybe that's why this group was able to befriend the daughter of the tribe's chieftain.

Eventually Licorice just ran off. Well, that was concerning. Not concerning enough for Shiro to check on her, no no, just concerning. He better be ready for some sort of prank or trap. Around noon, there was a break in the trees, so Shiro waited until everyone walked into the clearing and silent slipped into the back of the formation. That was were it was best to stay for now.

"It appears that Phar is not far ahead," Catriona said, when they found some sort of sign. "Perhaps here, we will learn more on the whereabouts of the Great Dragon. Or at least a direction to go toward." That might be helpful indeed. However, a roar was heard somewhere in the distance, and Shiro immediately transformed into his frog form. He was ready for a fight. 

Edited by Saikazo May Cry

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Penelope was more subdued than normal as they made their way through the forest. At first when Alois had snapped at her she had been rather upset. She had stopped herself from responding defensively, just barely, and thus had time to think about it. Something was bothering him that was for sure and from what he had said it was clearly the town they were headed to.

She didn't get a chance to ask, because Gunther nudged her and pointed out Licorice's odd actions.

The knight, for his part, was also rather cross with Alois. He could tell that Penelope was thinking over what he had said, however, so he decided to let her reach a conclusion before anything else. Though this caused his focus to drift around. And that's when he noticed how Licorice was acting. She seemed to be having some serious issues which was making him worry something had happened. Was it something from the beavers? He had heard of an illness that animals sometimes suffered from. He nudged Penelope to point it out before making his way towards Sienna. "Er, this might sound strange but...can your kind get...rabies?"

Meanwhile Penelope had mostly forgotten about the concern with Alois while watching Licorice. She tried to ask the fox what was wrong but, suddenly, Licorice took off. Penelope pondered it for a while. The actions seemed to be quite specific. And the reaction the girl had made it seem almost dangerous. But not dangerous enough to warn everyone off. Or perhaps something that she didn't want the others to know...It was then that she remembered Licorice had helped chase down Remy when the animal bolted and the dots began to connect. Something that Ciela had mentioned to her a while ago.

Penelope giggled. "Well that's certainly intriguing."

---

It wasn't until they were in sight of the village that Penelope remembered Alois's earlier reaction. She moved over to him. "Excuse me." She began softly. "I was thinking, we never really asked you how you felt about returning here. Will you be alright?"

The roar caught her off guard. It was an odd sound. Not entirely familiar. Her eyes widened a bit and she got Catriona's attention. "That noise, you don't think..."

Gunther was also caught off guard by the noise. But his reaction was much more resigned. He let out a sigh. "Don't tell me there's another unusual thing waiting for us."

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With a mighty crash, the large tree had fallen on the beaver battlefield. When the dust cleared, Sienna let out a breath of relief, nobody had been caught in the falling tree. Everybody seemed ok for the most part, save for a few bites and scratches from the beavers. Sienna transformed back into her human form and put her beaststone away before regrouping with everyone at the tree. "It appears that our crossing will not be as difficult as before." Catriona stated as she got up onto the tree, that had apparently cleared the gap for everyone to cross the river.

Once everyone was patched up, the group crossed the river and continued along their journey, eventually coming across a path that had signs of travel, a welcome sight as that meant civilization nearby. Along this path, Sienna noticed that her fellow fox was acting strange, especially when she bumped into her and stumbled around. "Hey... Are you ok?"

Unfortunately, Licorice didn't give an answer as she transformed and ran off. "Licorice..." she couldn't help but worry for her friend. "Er, this might sound strange but...can your kind get...rabies?"

Sienna gave Gunther a worried look and rushed ahead of the group before stopping at a signpost. She could see buildings in the distance but Licorice was nowhere to be seen. "Where did you go?" she mumbled to herself in a worried tone. Her ears shot up and her attention was taking away by a loud roar that came from the village further ahead. "What the..."

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Ciela Celestinia

As the events unfolded, Ciela spent most of her time clutching tightly to Remy. Remy himself was still visibly uneasy, but so far he was now under control once more. But Ciela's heart continued to beat rapidly. The way events unfolded so far had been bizarre even with the standard that this group usually operated with. She'd rather deal with the undeath more than having to see her group deal with a particularly pissed off colony of animals. But at least, she had things under control. Licorice had stopped Remy earlier, and even if she was in her beast form now, Remy didn't react too negatively at her now.

Well, Ciela felt like compared to Remy, it was actually herself that was scared of Licorice's large form next to them. Ciela clutched Remy tighter, at least until she noticed Edrick approaching her, which also seemed to be what made Licorice return to her humanoid form. Ciela breathed a sigh of relief.

"I guess I owe you a big one, Licorice."

But, before Ciela could relax for long, a commotion happened. She looked around, confused, until she noticed from her position that the the source was a large tree which seemed to be disturbed by the battle on the river just now, and it was falling right towards the river, threatening Tsetseg and the new pegasus rider along with her mount. It naturally took most of everyone's attention. Ciela was too far away to even yell at them, but it seemed that everyone else managed to sort it out.

Ciela let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that she wouldn't have to examine a corpse today.

Though, as her attention was on the commotion downstreams, she didn't notice when Licorice approached her and Remy. The suddenness of her approach seemed to surprise Remy, and he reared himself up on his hind legs.

"H-hey, calm down!"

Ciela at least managed to notice it almost immediately after to rein him, but that didn't stop one of her aphrodisiac bottles to fall off her bag...and ended up hitting Licorice on her head. The glass bottle broke, and the fragrant pink liquid on it fell on Licorice's hair and face. Ciela stared at the event with an expressionless face, unsure on how to react even as Licorice cleansed her head almost immediately after. Even after that though, she was visibly looking unwell. Ciela tried her best to not blush in shame in front of Licorice.

"We need to go back."

Ciela's only response was to nod. Licorice was looking unwell, but Ciela knew that it really wasn't sickness or anything like that. For her own and maybe Licorice's own sake, she decided to not tell her what actually was that liquid as the two of them regrouped with the rest, now ready to cross as the tree ended up being a functional bridge they could use.

----

Adelheid Sigdrvia

Adel's head was still hurting. She perhaps had underestimated the severity of her head injury, and as much as she was trying to get back into combat, she could barely grasp on what was happening. She could hear voices calling out her name, but she couldn't really grasp what they were calling her for as she treated her own injury. And so, the next thing that she realized, Link tackled her to the ground before a loud thud happened.

It was only then that she realized that she was almost getting flattened by a large tree.

"I ended up being quite a bother, am I? Thank you for that."

She gave Link a smile. With her head hurting as much as it was right now, that was the most that she could do for the moment. Tyltalis was definitely nearby, at least, but Adel wasn't sure that she could manage flying. So in the end, she decided to get herself checked by the group's resident healer.

---

The group continued after everyone had been healed from the wounds of the earlier battle, if it could be said as one. For the most part, everything seemed to be back to normal. With her head injury treated, Adel could clearly comprehend that the group was returning to its usual rhythm...except for one. Licorice, the older fox protean. She was acting very strange, moving around and looking very uneasy. It sure was a very familiar pattern of behavior, but Adel mostly wondered why would it happen in a time like this. Perhaps it couldn't be helped, mother nature decides its own rhythm. She watched over Licorice's behavior with amusement, and so, she was visibly disappointed when she ended up leaving the group in her beast form instead.

"She sure is quite a dutiful one..."

Well, Phar was getting close. It was for the best that such thing would be kept outside of it. As it seemed that scouting duty was not necessary aside from Shiro, Adel decided to sneak in some rest for the time being.

------

Ciela Celestinia

Throughout the continuation of the trip, Ciela's face reddened further and further. Licorice continued to act weirdly, approaching her and the others with an unsteady expression, Most of everyone seemed to be unsure on what was happening with the fox protean, but Ciela knew, and seeing Licorice like this actually made her feel guilty, more than her being irritated that she lost yet another bottle of the potion. She wondered what was going on her mind at the moment. Seeing someone usually so professional acting like a total drunk was so off, and it seemed quite obvious that Licorice didn't find her current situation to be any good for her, either. Which culminated into the point where Licorice decided to leave the group hastily.

"I did not realize Licorice was so badly injured," Catriona's comment only made Ciela's face redden further in shame. "Ciela, perhaps you should check on her once she returns?"

"E-err...sure, yeah. I'll be sure to check on her."

Saying that while trying her best not to keep eye contact with the princess was a struggle. And even after hours passing, Ciela couldn't really put the thought away. In fact, the fact that Licorice hadn't returned even after hours only made the feeling even worse. As noon turned into afternoon and Phar was on view, it really became a little too unbearable. Keeping a personal fuckup a secret was harder than expected.

"Cat...uh...before we go to Phar...I wanted to say something first. It's about Licorice earlier. So uh..."

However, before Ciela could finish, the sound of a roar cut her off, coming from the village's direction. It was a strange roar, and it cut off Ciela's focus. Losing her momentum, she turned her face away from Catriona to hide that she was getting red again. When she continued her sentence, what came out of her mouth ended up not being an admittance of guilt.

"I was thinking earlier, and I think I figured out what happened with Licorice. Err...so, may I go look for her now?"

It was a bad timing, but Ciela figured that better to say it now than later once they're tangled with whatever mess this place would have in store for the group. Maybe going around alone for a bit would help clear her mind somewhat too.

----

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As the situation had seemed to right itself, Alois breathed a sigh of relief as it had seemed that no one had gotten crushed the falling tree. With the adrenaline of the situation dying down as well, the boy felt himself remember where they were going next and simply soured once again. Waiting for everyone to get back, Alois stood around and begrudgingly followed them along as they made their way down the road. Alois himself didn't take much notice to Licorice's antics, though Tsetseg had seemed confused as she kept on the lookout for whatever it was that the fox woman was doing. 

Eventually, though, as they had gotten near his home village proper the younger of the two princesses had come up to him. As she asked her question, Alois shrugged and rolled his eyes at the question. "I'll be fine." Though his answer was short it clearly carried some form of reluctance and agitation in his tone. In spite of this, he didn't seem to slow down any nor did he comment any further on this as they made their way forward. It was then that the group heard of a strange noise coming from the direction of his home town, with the boy letting out a heavy sigh muttering, "of course something would be wrong here." Looking to Gunther he then commented, "there's only ever unusual things where we go." Maybe it would be some kind of giant monster this time and everyone would've been eaten. That'd be the dream. All the same, the boy started to pick up the pace. 

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The pegasus took to the sky with two huge flaps of his wing. Link was buffeted by wind from the take off but pressed on in spite of it. His pulse pounded in his ear like a Galtean marching drum, banging out such a desperate pace that his legs struggled to match it. She’s too far. I’m too slow. I’m not going to make it. I’m going to fail all over again, he thought. He was wrong.

Link was little more than a blur when he jumped, closing the last few feet between them, and tackled her to the ground. The tree hit the forest floor a second later. It was a near miss; Link felt the vibrations from the impact throughout his entire body, and he was sure Adel had as well. 

He let himself relax once the dust settled. With his adrenaline high fading, the entirety of his leg burned, but it was nothing a vulnerary wouldn’t take the edge off of. Adel on the other hand… “Are you alright?”  he asked. He was still adjusting to having his former strength magically restored. He missed one of those beavers because he had overshot his kick, plus the one he had thrown flew much further than intended, so it was probably safe to assume he had tackled the rather dainty Pegasus Knight with much more force than was necessary. 

“Could've been better, but at least I'm not a flatbread now,” she said. She was still breathing heavily, and the side of her face was still bright red and swollen. Link grimaced. His medical knowledge wasn’t all that extensive—basically nothing beyond first aid—and head wounds were far beyond his ability. "I ended up being quite a bother, huh? Thank you for that,” Adel’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. She still hadn’t managed to catch her breath, which was strange. 

“Right, er…” It suddenly dawned on him that she couldn’t catch her breath because he was still on top of her, probably crushing her lungs. He hastily scrambled to his feet. “Sorry.”

He was saved from any further awkwardness by Rohns. The wolf cub clawed his way over the fallen tree and ran over to Link, the soldier’s longcap clenched tight in his jaws. He dropped the hat and whimpered when he smelled the blood on Link’s leg, trying to lap at the wound, which caused the man to hiss softly and push him away.

To Rohns, this was a clear indicator that his two-legged companion was alright and wanted to play. The cub reared back on his haunches and growled, snatching Link’s hat up again when the man bent down to pick it up and then running off. 

Link bit his lip to suppress a smile and hobbled after Rohns, wondering how he was ever going to get the young wolf to listen to him. He was so much more spirited than Ilia’s old sheep dog—which wasn’t saying a whole lot. Ilia’s ‘sheep dog’ didn’t do anything but sleep and howl when he heard the wolves inside the forest.

At least Rohns was clever. 

 


 

They were finally past the river and back on track. Link had even caught Rohns (eventually), but by that point his hat was basically ruined. He used it and a vulnerary to create a makeshift bandage for the bite on his calf instead. Rohns tried to snatch it away just once, but when he got a bit of the vulnerary inside his mouth, he recoiled at the bitter taste and scampered off into the forest to paw at his face. It wasn’t a very eventful trip after that. Everyone was tired, so for the most part, no one talked. The princesses took point at the front of the party, Shiro took to the trees in a display of impressive agility, and Link settled in at the rear of the group. 

Eventually, when they cleared the trees, Shiro dropped back to the ground and slid into the back of the party. Link caught his eyes and nodded, acknowledging his presence. 

Rohns, in the meantime, was chasing around Licorice. The elder protean had been acting strange, restlessly moving from the front of the party and then to the back, notably avoiding all of the men. Lincoln wasn’t particularly bothered by her behavior but the wolf cub was fascinated. He relentlessly tailed her, incessantly sniffing her tail, occasionally tilting his head to the side in a way that Link had come to realize meant the pup was confused. 

When she suddenly transformed into her beastlier form, Rohns yelped and ran back to Link, who grabbed the hilt of his sword. It ultimately came to nothing, as all the protean did was run ahead of them without so much as a word, eventually fading from sight. 

Rohns clung to Link’s side for a few minutes until the shock wore off. When he was sure everything was safe again, he returned to his usual routine of peeing on every other plant or bug the group marched by. Link rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Dogs would be dogs, and he was rapidly learning that in some aspects, wolves weren’t any different. 

An earth-shaking roar brought the party to a standstill. Too loud to be anything small. Possibly a bear? He hadn’t ever heard a bear before, but his gut said that wasn’t right. His mind raced back to Licorice. The sound she made when she transformed had been similar. She had seemed rather agitated during their march… and Ciela was acting guilty. And doing a terrible job at hiding something. Weren’t nobles supposed to be good at lying?

Only one way to find out. Link tied his hair back into a ponytail in preparation for a potential battle; his hat usually restrained his hair, but he would have to make do for now. 

 


 

Sometimes Rohns wondered why his wolf pack was so strange. His life had been normal when Mama was still alive, from what little he could remember. Wake up and play with his brother and sister, drink tons of milk. Sometimes they would have to travel with the rest of the pack for a real long time. Then those ugly Two-Legs came and stole his brother and sister. They tried to take him too, but then Mama came back to stop them. 

They hurt her, bad enough that she went to sleep for a super long time. His stomach had started to hurt really bad and Mama wouldn’t respond. It was terrifying, until Green Wolf showed up. Or well… he was a Two-Leg, not a wolf, but he felt like a wolf. And he brought food. And water. 

But then he left. He went back to his Two-Leg camp and it was scary again. Plus, Rohns had followed him into the forest, so now he couldn’t find his way back to his Mama. But Green Wolf would sneak out a few times a day to bring him food, and one night, Green Wolf spent the night out in the forest with him. That was the night Green Wolf had started calling him “Rohns”. 
 
Rohns wasn’t sure what it meant, but Green Wolf protected him, so he thought it was alright to be a Rohns.

Green Wolf was taken by the Big Fox Village after that. Rohns lead Green Wolf’s pack to find him. He had no idea what to call them; they were all Two-Legs, like Green Wolf, except for one who was from the Big Frog Village. The female two-leg who was usually at the front of the group also kind of reminded him of a wolf, but not in the same way Green Wolf did. Green Wolf reminded him of the old wolf who always stuck toward the back of the pack; he was quiet, but his streaked muzzle was proof of his years and his wisdom. White Wolf (he decided to label her by the color of the pitiful amount of fur on her head) reminded him of the pack leader most of the time, because she barked and Green Wolf and everyone else took off running, but sometimes she also reminded him of the sick wolves. Usually when she coughed. The White She-Wolf always had a funny smell after she coughed. She smelled like his Mama did when she went to sleep after the Two-Legs hurt her. 

Rohns tried to get closer to sometimes, to smell her more, but Green Wolf always stopped him. But not this time. Green Wolf was busy messing with his head-fur, so Rohns crept over to the White She-Wolf, poking his nose against her ankle. 

Yeah. She smelled funny. Rohns wondered if she was gonna go to sleep like his Mama. 


 

Edited by Cheshire Toon

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The sound of a tree crashing to the ground had attracted Edrick's attention back towards the rest of the group, and just as he had finally remembered how to ask after how Ciela and Licorice were in Galtean as well. Fortunately he could tell even from a glance that the rest of the group was alright. That was good. This past week had been stressful enough without also dealing with friends dead from beavers and trees. He turned back towards the pair of women just in time to see a strange bottle of some pink liquid splash across the Proteans head, followed very swiftly by her dunking her head in the river. Any questions he had to ask about the state of things had to be stowed as he was told that they had to get back to the rest of them quickly. Well, if there wasn't time to actually get together and check on their situation then...that was that he supposed. He needed a little while to try and process the events of the past few days anyways...

He had passed much of the trek through the woods, off to a village that it seemed Alois had been from. While he had been silent thus far, he was at least looking a little better. The majority of the grime in his hair had been washed or brushed out by the river crossing and the assorted foliage as they walked along, but there was still enough in there that he was obviously filthy. Most of the group seemed to have been content to leave him be, for one reason or another, and that was fine by him. His thoughts meandered about from the beavers, to the trek through the rain up here, and ultimately back to the battle around the chapel with the Awakened. He still shuddered involuntarily when he thought about it, and reflexively clutched at the emblem of the Goddess around his neck. But...it didn't quite seem right anymore. The necklace, and more importantly who it represented. What the Abbot had told them about Inera had shaken him almost more than fighting the risen dead. The Goddess had changed in some way? What did any of this mean? How was he supposed to react to this?

Edrick had been staring down at the emblem when the sound of a strange roar broke the relative silence they had been traveling in, and he tore his eyes up. Immediately he looked to the skies with a profoundly hopeful expression on his face. Of course that fell away quickly, and his gaze fell back to normal eye level. Strange sounds usually meant danger in with this group, so he released his hold on the emblem, letting it bounce against his chest, and quietly brought his lance up. He had nothing to say, and where previously he had been excited at the prospect of combat all he could manage now was to grimly set his lips and wait.

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"E-err...sure, yeah. I'll be sure to check on her," Ciela replied, though something about the way she said it made Catriona blink in confusion. Did she have reservations about being alone with Licorice? That is understandable. The Protean hadn't been with them that long and had proved herself a deadly foe to their enemies. Still, as the only person in the group capable of healing, it made the most sense to send the troubadour. While the princess herself had extensive experience in first aid on the battlefield, it couldn't really compare to actual healing magic, much as it made her uncomfortable to admit.

As the village was just coming into view, Ciela turned to the white-haired woman. "Cat...uh...before we go to Phar...I wanted to say something first. It's about Licorice earlier. So uh..." However, before the troubadour could finish, the sound of a roar cut her off, coming from the village's direction. She paused before continuing. "I was thinking earlier, and I think I figured out what happened with Licorice. Err...so, may I go look for her now?"

That...was not what Catriona expected her to say. She had expected hesitation, or a denial. However, now she was volunteering to go by herself. "That would be fine. However, it might be dangerous to go alone. Perhaps I should send somebody to accompany you?"

Ciela shook her head. "E-ehhh, I'll go alone. Whatever happening in the village right now is probably super important and all. Don't worry, I'll manage...somehow."

Catriona wasn't sure if she was fine with that. While Remy was a good horse, by himself he was not adequate protection for a young woman on her own. However before she could say much more on that she was distracted by a cold...something, nudging against her ankle.

Glancing down, she saw it was that wolf cub of Link's, Rohns. She frowned despite herself at the memory the name evoked as she stared down at the animal, unsure what it wanted. While it had proven itself an intelligent creature in leading them to the fox village, that being the main reason she let it stay with the group at all, she wasn't used to dealing with animals in general. She had dealt with horses to an extent, enough she knew how to ride and care for her own horse, and she had accompanied her father on his hunts with the dogs, but she had never personally interacted with them. There was also the pair of white lions that her father owned, kept in the personal gardens of the royal family. However, they were in their hearts wild beasts, and, save for Reginald, few could approach them without expecting a hand to be bitten off. Gunther had managed, but they were still the king's animals through and through.

Perhaps it smells something? Catriona wondered, noticing that it seemed to be sniffing her ankle. She hadn't bathed in a while, not beyond soaking in the rain the day before, anyway. Still, she was used to it by now. Soldiers didn't always get to bathe, and sometimes it seemed pointless to do so when the next day would see one covered in blood and guts.

The white-haired woman blinked down at the cub, before remembering that she had kept one of Edrick's "travel cakes" from before. Perhaps that was what it was smelling? Was it hungry? Taking it from her bag, she dropped it down next to the wolf cub for it to eat before glancing back at the outlines of the village in the distance. "Let us see what awaits us there."

BGM

As the group moved forward, they noticed the foliage starting to thin, disappearing entirely into a clearing right as they reached the sign. It read "Phar" in blocky letters, the weathered wood making the words barely readable. To their left was a small stream that was probably somehow connected to that river from earlier, though this was much calmer, with a short, sturdy-looking wooden bridge spanning it. And in the middle of the clearing stood the village. Most of the houses were half-timbered with straw roofs, some even wattle and daub, a stark contrast to the elegant white marble structures of Ithome. However, there was one building that stood out. Made with stone and roofed with shingles, it looked similar in appearance to the abandoned shrine they had just left, with a steeple at the end. Following the road would bring them to a gate with a guard tower attached.

As the group approached the gate they saw that it appeared unmanned, bare of people. Up in the tower, a single hawk screeched at their arrival, but...nothing else. Catriona stopped at the entrance before turning to Alois if he were there. "Are there no guards here?" It seemed unusual that a place would go to the trouble of setting up a gate and tower but leave it empty.

However, another roar drew her attention further into the village. Perhaps that has something to do with the surprising lack of guards. Taking a breath, the woman stepped through the gate, and into the village proper.

Inside, the ground appeared to be a mixture of cobblestone and dirt. Catriona's expression grew warier the further they walked. While she could see signs of life--half-filled water buckets, footprints in the dirt, and the glow of fireplaces through the windows, there was not a single human figure in sight. The village was as silent as the grave, more a ghost town than an actual village. However, what she did notice were the animals.

They were everywhere, and included more than just the normal domesticated ones. Cats, dogs, livestock, and horses were in abundance, but she could also make out frogs, hedgehogs, mice, moles, rabbits, squirrels, and some of the bigger species such as badgers, beavers, deer, and foxes. And strangely enough, they did not shy away when the group approached, but rather stared at them with blank eyes. If Alois were there he would notice that many of them seemed to be looking at him in particular.

A group of beavers stepped forward then. Catriona's brow furrowed, because it couldn't be, but no, it was. She recognized some of the injuries they were sporting. These were the same beavers that the group had fought before. However, they did not seem hostile anymore, chittering at each other and the other creatures. And that seemed to be the catalyst for the other animals to step forward and approach the group, making excited noises. However, one did not. An old, grumpy-looking badger stood back from the rest, satisfied to just glare at them.

--

BGM

Ciela's journey, whether alone or accompanied, was hard going. The forest, while not that dense, was still thick enough to make things troublesome for a horse. Every step threatened to twist Remy's ankles, or turn a hoof, but the horse gamely kept going. However, following Licorice's trail was not that difficult, as the Protean, in her distraction had churned the ground with every step. Broken twigs littered the ground and every so often Ciela would see what looked like long, jagged marks scoring deep gouges in several tree trunks.

The farther they walked the more obvious the trail, and eventually they would be able to smell the faint trace of musk lingering in the air. Eventually, the trail ended at a large cave that seemed to be torchlit if the warm glow coming from within was any indication. It was here that Remy stopped, looking reluctant to enter. Just then, a couple of voices could be heard echoing from within, one of which sounded familiar.

"...hurts..."

"...course it does...aphro..."

"...not...expecting..."

"...wear off...soon..."

"...sorry..."

"...wait...outside..."

And then they stopped.

Spoiler

The group has finally reached Phar! However, there is something a little odd about this place. Also Ciela has separated from the group and is in the middle of the forest outside the village right now.

Edited by Sethera

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Penelope was glad to see that Alois was...fine. She knew he wasn't entirely okay with all this by his body language but she also figured it wasn't anything serious. Which was good as she had other matters to attend to it seemed.

"E-ehhh, I'll go alone. Whatever happening in the village right now is probably super important and all. Don't worry, I'll manage...somehow."

Penelope shook her head as she overheard this. "Now now, don't be like that. If you're worried about Licorice's...temperament at the moment then don't be. I will go with. I think I am capable of navigating such...issues very well."

She noticed both Catriona and Gunther's concerns but waved them off. "I have learned quite well how to avoid danger. I used to sneak off from the castle all the time after all. I promise that at the first sign of trouble I will be sure to come right back. I'm sure Remy wouldn't mind helping me retreat." She sounded rather convincing even though she wasn't being entirely truthful. She had no intention of running away if it meant leaving Licorice in a state of distress.

But it seemed that at least Gunther was calmed by her words.

To Alois, before following after Ciela, Penelope said with a sly smile "I suppose you'll have to show me your home sometime later after all."

---

As it turned out the two girls would have a third companion coming along with. Tsetseg had decided she wanted to go with to help track down Licorice. Though it turned out that wasn't entirely necessary.

The path they took was littered with tell-tale signs of a beast, likely Licorice, passing through. "Well now, that bottle sure did a number on her didn't it? It's a good thing you didn't use it on us, isn't it?" Penelope said to Ciela. Staying vague while Tsetseg was around. "Though it would have been amusing to see how my sister dealt with it, truth be told."

It wasn't long before they overheard some voices and Penelope raised a hand towards Ciela to make sure she stopped. She looked at the girl, and the horse, and realized the obvious problem. Even if they left now they wouldn't be able to sneak away with the large animal.

And by the sounds of it whoever was with Licorice knew that they were there. She whispered to her companion. "Ciela, be ready to flee if this goes bad. If I don't announce our presence whoever is there is bound to either sneak off or think we are trying to ambush them. Tsetseg...maybe you should take cover."

And then she stepped out in front of Remy. "Excuse me? We're looking for our friend. She's not feeling well, you see, and I think she came this way."


lcmI449.png?1

Gunther was still somewhat abashed after Sienna had blown off his question with a strange look. She must think him daft after all. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked that...In either case it seemed that Alois shared his sentiment, something that the Knight had noticed was happening more and more these days, whereas many of the others were prepared to fight again.

He didn't feel quite right about letting Ciela and Penelope go off but he trusted that Penelope could keep them both out of trouble.

And, walking beside Catriona, Gunther could tell the woman was also worried. It was oddly satisfying to see. The two sisters were too often at odds. "I'm sure she'll be fine." Gunther said, trying to calm her. "We're near the village and we haven't seen signs of enemies for a while yet. The worse they could encounter is wild animals and Remy is bound to be able to outrun them."

The lack of guards posted worried the Knight. "Perhaps they are so free of bandits they don't see a need for a constant guard?" Gunther suggested as they made their way farther in.

And...well, he couldn't say he expected this.

It seemed that it was they who would be encountering the creatures of the wild and not the younger princess.

Gunther smiled wide as he recognized the beavers from before. He cautiously made his way towards them. "Well, hello, we meet again it seems. I'm glad to see you are unharmed. And you've found yourself quite the community haven't you?" The young man knelt down and offered his hand towards the animals, waiting to see if any of them approached.

A trio of beavers make their way towards Gunther, though one of them, as it settles nearby, tosses its head to the side as though it were uninterested despite approaching. Gunther gently placed a hand on one of the beaver's fur and stroked it, muttering soothingly at them. He glanced over at the other animals. It was rather odd, seeing all of them in one place, especially with the looks they were giving. But as long as he showed he meant no harm he wasn't worried in the slightest.

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