By the time you reach the top of the stairs, the lights on the pillar have gone out, Ilica has stopped screaming, and you have an in depth knowledge on the nuances of building a spider web.
"But enough about my cool webs, who do you think that was?" Ariadne asks. "Who do I think who was?" You ask. "The skeleton!" She says. "It must have belonged to someone"
"Hmm... Maybe it was... you!" You say, trying to spook Ariadne. "Nice try, but my lower half has no bones" She says. "And if it did, then that skelly was about 6 legs short" "Dang..." You say. "I dunno. Someone that Malteris killed?"
"Could be" Ariadne says. "But then 'murder' didn't show up on the tablet where they were listing his crimes" You say. "Is it possible to be a bad guy without killing people?" "I bet that Inquisitor's never done anyone in himself, and he's a bad guy" Ariadne says.
"Good point" You reply. "You're wise for someone your age" "Tian says it's one of my good traits" Ariadne says. "She also says it's super annoying" "I can see why she would say that" You say.
Ariadne pouts. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asks. "Don't worry about it" You reply.
When you finally reach the cart, you see Hella and Emi comforting Ilica. Derrick and Tian are standing over by the web at the cave entrance...
>See if Ilica is alright
>Ask Derrick if the guards have passed
>Ask Hella if she's okay now
>Other
Joseph Phillips
>See if Ilica is alright
I mean it was already dead.
Justin Allen
>See if Ilica is alright then >Hella
Sebastian Hughes
>See if Ilica is alright It's ok she has a skeleton inside her >Ask Hella if she's okay now
Thomas Baker
I'm going to guess that she won't eat a fish, if she's that disturbed by bones.
Ian Murphy
>See if Ilica is alright >Ask Hella if she's okay now
Jose Howard
Yuu can probably bone fish with his mage blade/cutter. It'd be fun practice.
Who knows maybe her parents went the way of Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen.
Gavin Jenkins
Or maybe that's not just a skeleton.
Honestly, that's a strange response from someone like Ilica, there should be something fishy there.
Julian Gutierrez
>writing
Cooper Ortiz
I'm doubling down on the Aunt Beru/Uncle Owen theory.
Isaac Thompson
please don't be another catgirl genocide. That shit literally killed Papa-N's quest for me.
Nathan King
Puge kawaii cat filth.
Zachary Jackson
no.
Brody Young
You walk up to where Ilica, Hella, and Emi are. "Are you alright?" You ask Ilica. "Y-yeah... I'll be fine" She says. "Just a little spooked"
"It was just a skeleton" Ariadne says. "It was a human skeleton" Ilica says.
"So? Everyone's got one" Ariadne says. "'Cept for me, I got a spider skeleton"
"I just... I didn't like it, okay?" Ilica says.
>(Pick one)
>That's fine
>Why?
Brayden James
>>That's fine I want to believe that while we are dumb and naive, we aren't that dumb and naive. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to know why someone doesn't like human remains.
Dylan Edwards
>That's fine If your found dead people enjoyable instead i would be worried.
Owen Fisher
>Why?
Connor Lee
>That's fine
Should we tell her she's cute? Will that fix it?
Camden Powell
>that's fine >why? IT BEGINS
Ethan Gutierrez
Yuu's actually doing a lot better. He's more along the lines of simple, rather than stupid.
Grayson Torres
Why?
Alexander Morales
>writing
Jack Martin
>(Pick one)
Jackson Anderson
"That's fine" You say, putting a hand on her head between her ears. "Frankly I'd be more worried if you were excited by dead people"
"Th-... thanks?" Ilica says. "You're welcome" You reply.
You give her head a few scratches, and hear a bit of a rumbling coming from her throat. She smiles ever so slightly, and then shakes it off and swats your hand away.
"Stop that!" She says. "Sorry" You say. "I couldn't help it"
Ilica crosses her arms with a 'humph', and turns away from you. But she seems to be feeling better at least, which is good to see.
With Ilica in better spirits, you turn to Hella. "Are you alright now too?" You ask. "M-me? Yeah... I was just a little off from all the action" Hella says, giving her head a playful punch and sticking her tongue out. "Head's all caught up now, so I'll be fine"
"Sorry we dragged you into this" You say. Hella waves you off. "It's miles better than being dragged off by the inquisition" She says. "I'm fine. I just have to get a letter off to the hunters... they must be worried about me"
>Ask Derrick about the rest of the trip to Locke
>Talk to Emi about your language
>Ask Tian to show you the practice blades
>Other
Brandon Baker
>>Ask Derrick about the rest of the trip to Locke
Kayden Gray
>Talk to Emi about your language
Austin Murphy
>Ask Derrick about the rest of the trip to Locke Then >Blades
Ayden Nguyen
>>Ask Tian to show you the practice blades
Hunter Lewis
>writing
Jaxson Green
You leave the ladies to head over to where Derrick and Tian are standing.
"Have the guards passed back yet?" You ask. "A little while back, thankfully before the screaming" Tian says. "We'd be clear if we wanted to leave now, but-..."
"But we'd never make it to Locke before nightfall" Derrick says. "We're safer here than we would be on the road" "And come morning, they'd be out looking for us again" Tian says. "We leave now, we can get to Locke without ever having to watch behind us for the Inquisition"
"But we'd have to be watching every shadow" Derrick says. "I don't like the idea of something else getting the jump on us in the dark...
You get the feeling they've been arguing like this for a while... they could probably use a tiebreaker.
>We should leave now
>We should camp out here until morning
>Other
Michael Allen
>>We should camp out here until morning
Blake Smith
>Other
Flip a coin. Besides, we hardly have to watch every shadow, so long as our rabbitgirl freind stays awake we have pretty much the perfect anti-ambush system.
Liam Nguyen
>We should leave now
Daniel Garcia
Rolled 2 (1d2)
>Coin flip it is
>1 to stay >2 to go
>writing
Owen Garcia
"I think Tian is right" You say. "If we leave in the morning, we might have to deal with the Inquisition again. If we leave now... when will we reach Locke?"
"Around midnight" Tian says. You nod. "And then we don't have to worry" You say. "What about the dark? The Inquisition isn't the only thing out there" Derrick says.
"We have 2 people with us that have amazing hearing" You say, before adding in a whisper. "Right Ilica?"
"Very funny" Ilica calls back.
You turn to Derrick. "It'll be fine" You say. Derrick sighs. "Alright..." He says. "Yeah, we should go. The sooner we're in Locke, the better"
"I'll go make sure the others are ready, and get Ari to pull her web down" Tian says. "We can't pull it down ourselves?" You ask. "I've tried" Tian says. "Easier just to get her to do it"
"What if we burned it?" You ask. "The smoke might give us away" Derrick says. "Best to leave this place without a trace... I get the feeling we might have to come back at some point"
You look back down the cave, to where the pit is. He's probably right...
>Cont.
Jose Russell
While Ariadne pulls begrudgingly pulls her web down, you stand out on the road to make sure no one is coming. In the distance you can see the guards reaching Bell's Run on their horses, but the road seems pretty empty otherwise.
"Travelling isn't a popular option these days" Derrick says when you ask him why. "Not when the hunter's guild has to watch its back, and the Inquisition is ready to come up behind yours"
You nod. Hopefully this Altea lady can do something about that...
"Looks like we're packed up" Emi says. "You guys ready to go?" "Yeah" Derrick says. "How does it look in there?"
"It'll be a bit crowded... some of us will have to ride on top" Emi says. "Any takers?" Derrick asks. "Tian says she'll go up there, but between me and Ariadne there won't be much space in the passenger's compartment..." Emi says.
>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training)
>Stay below with Emi (For language stuff)
>Other
Benjamin Kelly
>>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training)
James Scott
>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training)
Blake Anderson
>>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training) GITGUD SCRUB
Sebastian Moore
>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training
We'll be ready to mageblade it up x 2, if we get chased.
Joseph Price
>>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training)
Nolan Reyes
>>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training) Our eyes would probably help up top as well.
Ayden Martinez
>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training We can be smart later
Jackson Russell
>>Offer to go up top with Tian (For mageblade training)
Jacob Lopez
...
Jacob Nguyen
>writing
Isaiah Morales
"I'll ride up on top with Tian" You say. "I wanna see what the practice blades she brought with her are" "Alright, I guess that leaves Ariadne, Hella and I with the inside" Emi says.
"Ummm..." Hella says. "I'd also like to be on top..." "You would?" Emi asks. ""If you guys want me to be keeping my ears out... wouldn't that be the best place to do it?" She asks.
"It'll be more dangerous up there" Derrick says. "But Yuu and Tian are there, so I'll be fine" She says. "Yeah, relax. I'd never let something bad happen to a cute rabbit" You say.
"C-cute?" Hella asks, as she puts her hands on her cheeks to cover her blush. You smile, and head back into the cave.
Ilica is sitting in the passenger's seat when you reach the cart. "You really shouldn't tease like that" She says as you hop onto the cart. "Who's teasing?" You ask. "Stella said to be honest when I think things are cute, so that's what I do"
Ilica chuckles. "You might be too oblivious for your own good" She says. "Why's that?" You ask, leaning over the front to see her. Ilica looks up at you, and smiles. "Nevermind. You do you, Yuu" She says, as she turns her attention back to the crossbow in her hands.
You sit back down on the roof, confused. You wonder what she meant by that...
>cont
Kevin Morris
Have we even called ilica cute yet?
Anthony Lopez
Nope.
Leo Anderson
Poor ilica, she never even had a shot in the yuubowl
James Barnes
She still has, we didn't lift any flag on her route yet.
Carson Collins
I blame her doing what cats do, being a cat.
Anthony Howard
>we've petted her several times >this is intimate shit to ilica >it means literally nothing to yuu A-Are we chad?
Hunter Green
What can I say? Bunny flags are soft, and ludicrously cuddly.
Michael Mitchell
Don't forget: she was high as a kite, when that happened.
Samuel Wilson
>we drugged and molested a girl >we didnt even call her cute after We're a monster, we should have stayed in mortifas
Robert Hall
Why call her cute? The inquisition clearly knows Cats should be locked up.
Bunnies are far superior. It's why they roam free.
Jason Kelly
Once everyone is on board, Derrick backs the cart out of the cave and back onto the road, and then you're moving agan.
"Here's hoping the frontlights on this thing work..." Derrick says. "We probably should've tried those before we left" Ilica replies.
...
"So what are training blades?" You ask Tian, once you're bored of listening to Derrick and Ilica talk about lights.
...
Which only took about 2 seconds. Is that bad? You think that might be bad.
Tian pops open the suitcase she brought, revealing a set of mageblade handles of varying shapes.
"These" Tian says, as she pulls one with a half-sphere where the emitter would be. "Each one is designed to make a certain aspect of using a mageblade ludicrously difficult. This one makes tightening the blade almost impossible. But if you can make a tight blade using this, then making a tight blade with a normal blade will be a cakewalk"
"Oh! Like what that horse lady was saying" You say. "About how swordsmen train with heavy things... or something" "Something like that" Tian says.
She then goes over the different types. There's one to make tightness nearly impossible, there's one that scatters the edges to make sharpening difficult, there's one that limits energy output to make lengthening difficult, and one that forces it to be straight to make bending hard...
You give each of them a try, and the results are... not good. You don't think you'll see any progress at all unless you focus on one for at least this entire trip. So you pick-
>Tightness
>Sharpness
>Shaping (Length)
>Shaping (Bending)
Hudson Nguyen
You know who else was locked up? Us. We should have stayed and got prison married to the cat
Cooper Cooper
>>Tightness
Sebastian Wilson
>Tightness there's a joke in there somewhere
Evan Jackson
Tightness
Ryan Morales
>>Tightness
Jace Kelly
>>Tightness
Jayden Mitchell
>Tightness
Connor Nelson
>Tightness
Blake Sanchez
>Tightness
Yuu is free now he doesn't have to be prison gay. He can choose bunnies, as is the right of all free men.
Brandon Hernandez
Have fun when she cucks yuu as we all know bunnies are giant whores
Alexander Jenkins
Cat's go into heat and fuck any and everything that moves.
Snakes fuck in giant breeding pits.
None of our animal companions are magnanimous creatures.
If we see a Wolf girl, Bald Eagle girl, or Skink girl we're solid.
Cooper Turner
Well we just need to find a wolfu then
Owen Russell
>writing
John Powell
So.. >Illica and yuu in a relationship >He steps out for a bit while she's in heat >Finds her fucking someone else in the street
>Stella/Hella and Yuu >Finds out they regularly fuck higher ups in the guild, after all dominant males have the right
>Yuu finds Emi in a massive orgy of snakes
Leo Cooper
If Derrick had fluffy ears and a fluffy tail and was effeminate I wouldn't say no.
Carter Bailey
Rolled 3 (1d100)
You pick up the one with the half sphere emitter again. You took some time to switch the crystals to channel chaos instead of mana before you tried these, so that you could use them. You figure that if you can get the blade to be tighter and more dense, it might make focusing on the other aspects easier.
Y'know, getting the basics before going for the more advanced stuff.
After getting a few tips from Tian, you try using it again.
Aaaand just about nothing happens. You can kind of see some red energy rippling across the surface of the half sphere, but you can't get it to do anything.
Tian must see your frustration, because she pats your back. "It takes patience" She says. "Y-yeah! Don't give up yet" Hella says.
"I'm not giving up... it's just difficult" You say. "Remember to focus" Tian says. "Don't worry about us, just put your head into your blade"
Right... it's only as sharp, or as flexible, or as strong as you are...
You breathe in, and out, and focus.
>Roll 1d100 with focus, focus being the more important part of this roll
Parker Allen
Way too skeptical. Calm down cuck master.
Easton Peterson
Rolled 27 (1d100)
Andrew Robinson
Rolled 71 (1d100)
woo
Logan Morris
...
Bentley Scott
Funny thing: Stella's a bit of an oddball, because she's not into "big, burly hunters", like the rest of her family.
Benjamin James
Rolled 1 (1d100)
Ryan Baker
You son of a bitch
Isaiah Long
does that count a a fail though?
Joshua Martin
Holy shit, the one time we wanted a one.
Isaac Green
Rolled 60 (1d100)
David Rodriguez
Well fuck you.
Justin Lopez
fucken hell, does this still count as getting the focus roll
Nolan Ward
Is this good or bad?
Jaxson Adams
kek
Ethan Rodriguez
Smiley hasn't done crit fail since ItA.
Tyler Evans
Rolled 10 (1d100)
we must counter.
Parker Clark
Yes
>writing
Ryder Baker
...
Camden Murphy
...
Christian Wright
I don't see why it would be bad, the focus range was in the critfail region anyways, so all we did was meet it handily
Elijah Harris
Or maybe we just fail in such a fashion that it crosses the line twice and does something awesome...
David Walker
You you close your eyes and let the outside world slip away from you.
You see the blade in your hand in your mind's eye, and in your head you work to focus it into one point.
Breathing in, you put more energy into it.
Breathing out, you gather the energy towards the center.
As you try to push it inward, it seems to evade you. Like trying to move water with your hands, it simply goes around. But there are remedies for that...
Rather than trying to force it in bit by bit, you focus it inward from all sides at once.
...
It moves... a little. It takes a lot out of you mentally to apply this kind of force. You quickly start to notice that you're sweating, your breathing speeds up...
And then you lose focus, but you don't open your eyes. You fall asleep.
Which is fine too, you suppose...
>Cont.
Upgrade achieved, new stats:
>Shaping-0
>Sharpness-1
>Density-3
Gavin Thompson
You know, tian isn't a very good teacher so far. She hasn't really given us any in depth instruction.
Lincoln Ortiz
She was probably going to, but then the 1
Josiah Jones
Shes clearly jelly of our natural ability and giving us shit tier teaching
Jose Moore
What do you expect? It a woman teaching a man. Men can't learn through anything but pain and or by being beaten upside the head with the answer constantly, and a woman can't stand the thought of someone learning to better then her.
