Sasaki stepped across the parts of the mutants and beastmen in the glade. In the moment of combat, Sasaki had moved without thinking, her blade unerringly seeking the gap between joints, the vulnerable places in the throat and neck, vital joins of essential tendons and ligaments. She eyed the corpse of a young man amongst the bodies. Had she done this? She knelt by his body and turned him over. An infant-sized arm dangled from the man's belly.
"I think this one is from the town, Katarina." Sasaki advised, stomach roiling. Katarina moved to Sasaki's side and nodded. "I think I remember this one." She replied, and then covered her face and cursed.
"Shit." She spat. "He was right in front of me and I didn't fucking notice." She cursed, and kicked the corpse bitterly.
"What? What did you see?" Sasaki asked. Katarina shook her head. "So stupid. That night everyone went to the baths." She described. "We had that conversation, and then Camille showed up." She prodded, and Sasaki nodded, remembering.
"Everyone uses the baths at the inn in places like this. He didn't. He ducked out the front door instead." Katarina explained tersely.
Sasaki pointed at the mutation growing out of the man's stomach. "Kinda hard to hide that in the baths." Katarina nodded and cursed again.
"You couldn't have known, Katarina." Sasaki replied easily. "Not with that little."
Katarina gestured at the glade. "This. The Church. That shit pastor. None of this." She shook her head. "None of this would have happened had I not been just a little bit more suspicious, a little bit more alert."
She kicked the corpse again.
Sasaki shook her head. "Let it go. You can't fill your head up with 'could haves' and 'should haves'. You need to learn from this and move forward." She advised, and then cursed. "Listen to me talking like I know what the fuck I'm talking about. I should take my own advice." She muttered, and then suddenly whirled, sword flickering out. Katarina lifted her head as the shattered remains of an arrow scattered at her feet.
"You cut an arrow out of the air?" Katarina asked stupidly, as she moved to stand by Sasaki's side, peering into the gloom.
"Yeah." She replied tersely. "I can do things like that." She added a little boastfully. "Your gun?" She asked, and Katarina glanced around and spotted it in the soggy grass to her left. "Two running steps." She advised, and Sasaki grimaced.
Once again they heard the leathery flap of mammoth wings, and the woman perched on the boulder Katarina had launched her initial attack from, still holding her mammoth bow. She casually nocked an arrow and trained it on Katarina.
"At this range I won't miss, Katarina Witch Hunter." The woman announced. Katarina squinted in the low light. She glanced over at her gun, laying in the grass. She still had a shot. If she could-
"Your... weapon... is wet, Witch Hunter." The woman remarked knowingly. "Even if you were to somehow reach your weapon, which would never happen," She added dangerously, "You would not be able to turn it against me. I have seen their like before; getting them wet robs them of their power."
The woman twisted a little. "I can kill two just as quickly as one." She remarked, and Sasaki froze.
Katarina rolled her eyes. "Are you going to kill me or talk me to death?" She demanded.
"Your mage girl here was the victim of unfortunate circumstance." The woman stated. "Captured, raped by that disgusting thing, and then to be sacrificed to a demon? You have done the right thing."
"And who was it that did the capturing?" Katarina demanded, gesturing at the thing's arrow at her feet. "I saw what you did to the pastor, beast. You cannot claim innocence. You set this farce into motion, and I will end you."
The winged woman glared at Katarina silently for a long moment before relaxing the draw on her bow.
"You have not made an enemy of the dragon clan, Katarina Witch Hunter; I will not kill you." She decided. "Karingdol wanted to summon a demon into this world, unbound and unfettered." She shook her head. "He could not be allowed to complete such a thing. Pray we do not meet again." She concluded and stretched her wings.
"Do you think I could simply stand here and allow such as you to do as you will? I will have your head, by the Goddess." Katarina said, and strode forward, sword raised.
The woman laughed. "Come then, as you will." She invited mockingly, and leapt into the air, wings beating. Katarina switched directions, diving for her gun. As she dove, there was a flurry of movement and a pained cry from the woman. Katarina captured her gun, raised it, and lowered it uncertainly. The woman was writhing on the ground, tail thrashing, arms, legs, wings, and tail flailing about.
"Sasaki-?" Katarina asked the air, and moved over to the flailing beast-woman.
The woman's struggles lessened slowly; it seemed she was unable to get to her feet or turn over.
In the uncertain light Katarina was able to discern why after a moment, a trio of long metal spikes stuck through the woman's chest. Katarina raised her gun, centering on the woman's head, and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion, but the gun only rewarded her with a dull click of metal on metal. She grit her teeth. Wet.
Katarina eyed Sasaki, who stood on the other side of the weakly thrashing monster, sword out and at the ready.
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"Was that you?" She asked, gesturing. Sasaki nodded.
Katarina turned back and picked up her sword.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but i did say that I would take your head." Katarina announced, and the beast woman cursed through clenched teeth.
Sasaki nodded as Katarina went to work.
Katarina and Sasaki didn't say much of anything as they trudged back to the village of Higgenfal.
"Up the wall again?" Sasaki asked quietly.
"Fuck." Katarina replied, and Sasaki snorted shortly. After a short moment, Katarina replied again. "Yeah. Over the wall again." Sasaki nodded her agreement.
"We'll take the stable door at the inn, too." Katarina suggested, and Sasaki nodded. "Good idea."
"A bath?" Sasaki asked, and Katarina nodded. "A bath." She agreed.
"I have some ointment that should work for those bruises." Sasaki added. Katarina nodded again.
"What will you tell the villagers?" Sasaki asked curiously.
"The truth." Katarina replied shortly. After a few more minutes of walking, she added, "They'll tell the Forest Wardens to scour the local area. If there are any more mutants or beastmen, they'll be found and rooted out."
Sasaki nodded, and pointed. "There's the wall. You sure you're okay to scale it?" She asked carefully. Katarina had been hammered brutally.
"Only one way to find out." she replied.
Katarina and Sasaki snuck quietly through the village, and just as quietly snuck into the inn, where they treated themselves to a bath, and Sasaki tended to Katarina's bruises. Sasaki had planned to sleep with Katarina, but changed her mind when she saw Camille was still sleeping in Katarina's narrow cot.
They sat together on the floor of Sasaki's room and attended to their weapons, Katarina her gun, and Sasaki her sword.
"I never actually saw how you draw that ridiculous thing." Katarina remarked, scrubbing the barrels of her gun vigorously with a cleaning rod.
Sasaki rolled her eyes ostentatiously, shrugging. "I pulled the sword from its sheath." she replied. "Isn't that enough?"
Katarina gestured indifferently with her cleaning rod. "I just wanted to see how it was done."
"When one wishes to become a warrior in Yamato, the first thing they're trained in is how to draw and sheathe the sword." Sasaki remarked primly. "Laying down, sitting up, standing, from horseback, in every posture you can imagine. Before you're even taught the techniques of swinging the sword, you must first learn how to draw it and make it ready."
"Ah, from horseback, is it?" Katarina chided gently, and Sasaki made a face at her.
Sasaki watched avidly as Katarina carefully reassembled her gun.
"So that's how it all comes together." She observed. "If but one piece were missing it would all come apart." Katarina nodded in agreement and pulled the first trigger to revolve the barrels. The barrels spun but with a gritty feeling. Katarina sighed, broke it down and cleaned it again.
The innkeeper was noticeably shocked when Katarina and Sasaki appeared at breakfast.
"What happened?" He asked, and after a moment of consideration, Katarina told him an abridged version of the truth: A witch had come and attacked the town, killing the pastor. They tracked the witch to a riverbank and slew them.
After breakfast, Katarina turned to Sasaki. "Want to come along with me?" Katarina asked challengingly.
Sasaki raised an eyebrow. "Where to, and why?" Sasaki asked. "I thought we were quitting this place."
Katarina nodded. "Just so. But there's just one thing left to address; we need to pay the mayor a visit."
Sasaki's eyes widened in shock and she raised a hand to cover her mouth. "I had forgotten."
Katarina nodded. "I didn't, and so I'll ask again: you want to come along?"
Sasaki nodded eagerly. "Yes. Absolutely yes. Let's go!"
As they approached the mayor's house, Sasaki produced a wide ribbon from her sleeve and tied her hair up in a tail. Katarina eyed this with no small amusement. Sasaki believed that there would be violence and was preparing herself. Katarina herself adjusted her gunbelt, checked that her sword was loose in the scabbard, and withdrew her holy symbol from her vest so that it was prominently displayed.
Katarina knocked on the front door; Harmony gave them a dazzling smile and directed them to go around back.
The back of the house had a small lawn and a garden and a large, screened-in porch. The mayor was seated at a small table, sipping a drink. When he saw the two women accompanied by Harmony, he rose to his feet and opened the door for them.
"Ladies, ladies!" he exclaimed with an expansive smile. He rose from his rocker, arms out to greet them, "A fine day, yes? I hear you're leaving soon. I'm sure we'll be sad to see you go." he greeted, and Katarina nodded.
"There's just one thing I wanted to address before I left your lovely town, Mayor." Katarina mentioned as they stood on his screened porch.
"Tony, if you would please." he encouraged again.
"Donaldo, it's not in your best interests to lie to the Church." She started off, and he froze, his face going pale, his smile growing stiff and gaunt; a corpse's rictus. Harmony gave the trio a puzzled frown.
"It's also unseemly to lie to the people you're responsible for." Katarina added.
Sasaki seemed taut and tense, an arrow eager to leave the bow. There was no obvious movement towards her sword, but remembering the riverbank, Katarina was certain she'd have her blade bared in an eyeblink if he did anything untoward.
He stammered, stepping backward. His hands shook, and his whole body quaked.
"How-how did you know?" he whispered, and Katarina adopted a pained expression.
"You can't hide from the church." She replied, folding her arms.
He tried to sit down, and dropped into his seat instead.
"What do you intend to do?" He whispered.
"Donaldo?" Harmony asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
Katarina sighed. "If you wish to make reparation, I'd encourage you to devote your energies and resources to repairing the Church." She replied.
"I- th-that's it?" he asked, confused. She nodded. "Any other Inquisitor or Witch Hunter might not, but I understand the necessity." She glanced away, and caught Harmony staring at them confusedly.
"They will not be as forgiving either, so let's let this be the last time that particular lie of yours passes your lips."
He nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Witch Hunter." he gushed in a voice that shook with relief. Katarina nodded at him, touched her hat, and motioned to Sasaki, who frowned at her with disappointment.
Katarina and Sasaki left straightaway, as Harmony began firing questions at Donaldo.
"That's it?" Sasaki complained. "I was expecting something more... violent."
Katarina chuckled. "If I were ten years younger I wouldn't have hesitated and I'd've shot him." She replied comfortably. "When you're younger you're allowed the luxury of draconian measures. I try to aim for discretion nowadays." She explained, and then added, "We're going to drop off a letter at Mother Swan's. Shouldn't take more than a minute."
Sasaki's mouth twisted. "If we must." Katarina nodded. "We must."
Sasaki nodded resignedly.
Katarina presented a letter to Mother Swan, who took it and eyed it dubiously.
"What's this?" She asked, and Katarina sighed. "Meaning no offense, but can you read?" Katarina asked, and Mother Swan scoffed. "I used to. My eyes ain't so good no more."
Katarina nodded. "All right. If you can supply the coin and Harmony can get there by the Month of Thunders, she can be enrolled in the Preux Academy, and she'll have an army of tutors to catch her up."
Mother Swan nodded. "I won't be forgettin' this kindness, Katarina." Katarina nodded and touched her hat. "Long days and pleasant nights." She said by way of parting and gestured at her horse. "I'll be on my way."