Sally yawned as she guided Cross back up the steep slope, holding his hand. The goblin had still been out of sorts ever since mashing his face on the amber that had been holding Kristov silent. Blessed amber. Perhaps the little zombie was also not a fan of the poetry the Bard had been espousing.

After a few minutes of letting the man catch up with Poppy, he agreed to joining their little group in taking out the Dungeons. He wielded a crossbow, which was great for two reasons. First, they had been sorely lacking in the ranged damage department. And second, it should put her as far away from him as possible in case he decided to open his mouth again.

She paused to see that Archie was somehow at the top of the hill already, waiting for her.

“Now that you have a full Party, I will take my leave. Call me should you need to, but otherwise we can both assume that everything is fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Sure. Everything is fine.”

The cat vanished with a swirl of energy, not wanting to continue the conversation. With a sigh, Sally turned and lent a hand to Claude, who was having an issue on the steep slope.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked, giving her a nod of thanks as she pulled him closer to the top.

“That’s not the context that phrasing is usually used for. I have a feeling something is up, but they aren’t telling me, so that I don't get distracted. It’s the smart play.”

“Otherwise you’d return to help them, and have to leave us until later?” Claude dusted himself down once they reached the precipice.

“Ehhh.” Sally looked down as the knight and bard helped each other up. “This isn’t really a back-and-forth thing. I’m here. I get one chance to do the job.”

“A wise decision not to tell you then.”

“Yeah.” Sally looked down at the dazed goblin. “I have a handful of people behind me with useful brains that help point my appetite in the right direction. Used to think my Player and zombie sides were different, but I guess I’m just unstable.”

Claude shook his head. “You’re competent at least… and don’t speak in rhymes.”

“Right?” She grinned and looked down at the pair, who had almost caught up. “What do we do now? We’ve kinda got lost amongst the weeds here.”

The healer looked around, narrowing his eyes. “Either we attempt to backtrack toward the Keep and start picking out Dungeons we can do, or start our progress from here anew.”

“Shit, you’re rhyming now too.” Sally stuck her tongue out of him.

Claude smiled. “A fate worse than death.”

With everyone back up the hill, they started off toward the closest Dungeon. Sally continued to hold the goblin’s hand, as otherwise Cross would just fall on his face. An attempt to give him a healing potion just felt like waterboarding gone wrong, and Claude insisted that the small zombie was as full health as he could be.

Now that they had some unknown threat coming for them, she tried to be more alert. Without seeing it… it was hard to take the supposed Monster seriously. In their fights in Sanctuary, the Outsiders had always been on the back foot. Trying to punch up at things greater than them. Her time here had felt more like the abandoned System world, just with some social life to it.

Not that she was inviting higher stakes to come kick sand in her eyes.

“I’m hungry,” she complained. “What’s nearby, Claude?”

“Boss challenge, but it’s Level Thirteen.”

She pulled a face. “We could take it, right? With being a full party now? What… level are you, Kristov?”

The man rubbed at his beard. “Hungry? When’s the last that you ate? I’m ashamed to inform you I am but Level Eight.”

That made some sense. Poppy and the others would have leveled up while he was trapped away. She had tried not to listen to his backstory as he had got the others up to date. Not that she didn’t care, but it was like nails on a chalkboard. With a sigh, she brought up her Chat windows. Empty, so she decided to annoy someone.

Her eyes ran down the list of Outsiders… who hadn’t she wound up recently? Lucius… or maybe Edward? A finger hovered over the options before the desire washed away. She missed home, she couldn’t deny it.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

[Sally: bet you’re close to going home already.]

[Theo: Won’t say. You?]

Her tongue ran against her sharp teeth.

[Sally: Won’t say.]

[Theo: We’ll be together soon, promise.]

[Theo: I’ll take you to that place you like to eat.]

[Sally: We’re banned there!]

[Theo: The zookeepers can’t stop us ;)]

[Sally: Oh, I have a msg from Dent.]

[Sally: smooches.]

Now if only the boys back home could rig up the STARs to use voice activation like a phone call, she could yap to the vampire all day long. Once again, he had put a little spring in her step.

[Dent: Hey Sally, spoken with Chuck about what you discussed with Archie.]

[Dent: It’ll be experimental… and imperfect - but he’s willing to try.]

[Sally: Perf. Whenever possible, do the thing.]

[Dent: Will give you two minutes warning.]

[Dent: and Sally?]

[Sally: Yeah?]

[Dent: You’re doing us proud, we miss you too.]

She pouted and closed the Chat down. Dent was one of the last people on the list that she’d expect some sap from. Things must be really bad there. Refocusing her eyes, she realized everyone had been waiting for her.

“Sorry, just talking to fangs and home base. There’s more than one way to skin an intangible cat.” Sally held up a finger as the bard opened his mouth. “Poppy can fill you in on all my backstory in private messages.”

Turning, she leveled that finger at Claude instead. “Let’s hit something a little easier first, and then break for lunch? It’s about that time, right?”

“Certainly. There’s a lower stakes Dungeon we past, about five minutes down. Humanoids…”

“Done deal.” She licked her lips. “Let’s walk and talk.”

The healer nodded, and the group set off. The knight and bard conversing through Chat, and Cross not keen on being on this plane of existence.

“You seem to have something planned, Sally?”

She waggled her eyebrows at Claude. “Of course. The thing with Systems is that they are just playgrounds with different rules… or like a dollhouse? You can do what they expect of you and have fun, but if you have the gumption, you can make it something that you like.”

“I see.” He tilted his head to the side. “So what rule are you planning to break?”

“Tch. I’ll not ruin the surprise. Originally, we were going to have one of my pals join the world once I was powerful enough, but since we have a full house, I gave Chuck something else to get his mind around.”

“And this friend of yours became the god of your System because of you breaking the rules?” Intrigue illuminated the healer’s eyes.

“Yes, and no. Whoever is the actual creator of these fake worlds has the real control, but until they show their face we can do the next best thing.” She screwed her face up at the scenery. “Certainly better than just making loads of Dungeons.”

Claude shook his head. “Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn’t have the strength to leave that paradise and struggle in a new world.”

“I have a hunger that not even the freshest brains can fill.” She grinned. “Something to do with my flawed existence. I have to go against the odds and chew my way to the top of the pile. With idle hands, I get up to all sorts of mischief.”

“I can’t imagine.”

The various Events and Theo had kept her busy enough. She had wanted this, so why was she so eager to go back home to the bland safety? Was it because she knew something had gone wrong back at Sanctuary? Not really - if it was dire, then they’d bring her back. It would be good for them to learn to look after themselves if she would be doing this regularly. Perhaps it was just having her friends and family around. They had kept her grounded, and the time spent without at least one of them around was few and far between.

For some reason, Cross was helping her sanity. She looked down at the little goofball at the end of her arm. Her new Party was nice enough, but it was the undead and the companionship with Uniques and others like her that made her feel contented. Even out of the humans she knew on Sanctuary, it was only Dent and Lana who were somewhat normal - and even then…

“You know how Virgil is doing?” she asked.

“Alive still.” Claude nodded. “Some periods of being awake, but he needs rest.”

They stopped in place, and Sally put her hand up to her brow to glare out at the Dungeon in front of them. The Guardian outside looked like a large ceramic pot, the Dungeon behind it a wooden shack that could be some manner of shop… quite small, unless it was a puzzle?

[Poppy: What do the runes say, Claude?]

“It is a Boss fighting Dungeon, albeit only Level Eight.”

“Seems simple enough.” Kristov shrugged. “No need to get too rough.”

Sally rolled her eyes. “On the contrary - does anybody else know what Monster we are facing?”

She was met with murmurs and shaken heads.

“Cross knows, don’t you, bub?” Sally let him go, and he fell into a prone position and gurgled into the grass. “Exactly! What we are up against is a Mimic.” Her sword spun around in her hand and she pointed it toward the innocent-looking shop. “Mr. Claude, delete this building.”

The healer shuffled awkwardly before holding his hand up. A short zap of radiant magic flew out across the gap between them, striking the side of the structure. Small shavings of wood splintered of the struck beam, to land in the grass below.

A couple of seconds of silence followed.

[Poppy:… I’m not sure that]

The message was sent prematurely as the Party tensed up at the shuddering movement ahead of them.

Two lanterns out front burst into bright amber flame, and the shop twisted and buckled. A horizontal crack ran from the front of the building all the way across to each side, splitting apart to reveal a mouth full of hundreds of sharp teeth. The two flaming eyes turned to regard the Party.

----------------------------------------

“You’re grinding your teeth again,” Dent noted, as he looked over to the Architect.

“Ah. Lots on my mind.” Chuck shook his head, the focus lost on the screens in front of him. “Just getting the final parts of Sally’s thing together.”

“Think it’ll delay Theo’s return more than we are already?”

Chuck was silent as his eyes ran over some information that was only visible to him. “Hmm? Oh, no - if it goes fine, then we should keep to our schedule.”

“Should I be worried that I haven’t been clued in on the plan with the kidnapper? I know you’re not just playing safe with the vampire.” His metal hand drummed on the desk. “I’m not usually left out of this kind of thing…”

“Dent…” Chuck rolled his eyes and looked over at the swordsman with a wry grin. “You’re smart enough to know what’s going on. Classic Outsiders plan.”

“Manic quips and eating people?”

“Gambling everything on a last-ditch bullshit maneuver.”