Rex had a strange dream. He was floating in a white void, his blood turning to ice. Anger and fear surged through him but were soon eroded away, consumed.
The wolf must have injured me more than I thought. I didn't notice when I was fighting it, but I was bleeding heavily... when I was fighting the...
...what had I been fighting again? ...It must have been...
The ice in his blood gave way to an overwhelming numbness.
...why I am trying so hard to remember?
This dream is strange, but I think I'll just take... a nice nap.... Rex resolved, and a dark apathy ate even that last thought.
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And then something pierced him.
An even greater cold spread into him, running from his arm to his shoulder then his chest and now into his heart. But this was not the same sleepy chill that had coiled around him before. Rather this was a burning freeze that brought with it sharp pain.
I still don't remember what I was fighting, but...
What I can remember...
What I can remember now... is her...
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Rex opened his eyes and a familiar hooded, dark haired girl appeared before him. Her face was close to expressionless, but was that just the slightest hint of a smile?
"Good morning Rex," Jin said.
Though he was lying down on the ground, the grass felt surprisingly supple and smooth. He squinted as he watched the clouds pass by, a great sense of peace drifting over him.
"Are you feeling okay?" Jin asked.
"I'm feeling great," Rex said. "As great as I can after having fought a battle to the death anyway."
Jin smiled. "Then, can you lift your head off my lap now? I'd like to look at the bandits' bags."
Rex's eyes widened, then he closed them again. "What if I want to stay like this?"
"Then I'll wait a little longer." The clouds kept rolling as Rex's face began to flush more and more. Though the sun was bright, it wasn't sunburn that was turning his face red. Finally, he stood, and brushed himself off.
"...I thought you would say something.'"
"Touch is good for the heart," said Jin. "And after last night you needed all the healing you could get."
She walked near the trees and began to shuffle through the bandit's belongings, flinging pots, pans, rags, coins, food, weapons into different piles.
"...healing?" Rex thought. "That's right, those claws...."
Rex felt gingerly at his chest, which was covered in dried blood. There was a small scrape where Rex thought was once a gaping wound. "No way," Rex said.
"Jin," Rex approached her. "Hey Jin, wait. Wasn't there a massive wound here?"
Jin looked up. "If so it must have healed fast. Maybe it was the lap pillow after all."
"No, that wound was definitely far too large!' Rex said. "But you can't be a white magician... did you give me some suspicious drugs?"
"Sometimes things in the moonlight don't always look the same in the sunlight," Jin said. "That's all."
Jin pointed at the bundle of rags. "There's a pile of shirts here if you want to take one." She turned her back to Rex and made a loud *clatter* as she dumped another bag.
Rex sifted through the pile for a shirt without suspicious holes or bloodstains. He found one of clean white cotton that was probably stolen from a merchant, for it looked like it had never been worn. As he ran his hand across it he enjoyed its softness. I don't really care about appearances, so I'd at least like to be comfortable.
As Rex put on his shirt, he noticed a mark on his arm. Two pinpricks, at the same spot where he had felt the cold spread into his body in the dream. "A bite mark...? But..."
Rex glanced back at the wolf corpse and its massive jaws. "Jin? Did any animals bite me?"
"Mmm, you were resting my lap for most of the night, so probably not." said Jin, throwing two pouch of herbs and a leather helmet over her shoulder. "That was the last bag. I like the medicine, the jerky, the coins too though there's not as much as I'd thought... Do you want any of the weapons? The sword you were using is still in the corpse."
Rex walked to the body and grabbed the hilt of the rapier. He shuddered as he slid it out the wolf's spine; flies were already gathering on the corpse.
Jin said a little prayer. "Don't be scared Rex. He's becoming one with nature again. Maybe the energy from this body will travel through the animals here and nourish another wolf."
"Another wolf to fight I suppose." Rex said.
"Not all wolves are like that." said Jin. She fidgeted with her cloak.
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"That aside Rex, I'd like to travel with you. Are you also going to Lorn?"
Rex shrugged. "The capital will be great for me to gather info for my quest, so yeah."
It was only after they walked off together that Rex noticed Jin's cuts and bruises had also faded away.
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4 miles to Lorn, said a sign with faded letters. The woods gave way to grasslands as the walled city emerged on the horizon, the palace peeking out from behind the gates.
"To tell you the truth," said Jin. "It's been a long time since I've been to Lorn. I live in the woods and the mountains in the south, so I don't know if things have changed since when I've last been here."
"But," Rex said. "If Lorn is where your family is, wouldn't you visit there more often?"
"My family usually lives in the woods too," said Jin. "My parents were summoned to the capital by King Erwin. Do you know what he's like?"
"I haven't heard of him before," said Rex. Enna would have scolded him for forgetting, after having pored over so many books. "On the second thought, I think I remember something about him, he's got a son named Ewan."
"...maybe. I'm asking because all I know about him right now is that he has a...." Jin gestured right underneath her nose. "What do you call it when someone has fur around here?"
"A mustache?"
"Yes. That mustached king summoned my mom and dad two years ago," Jin said. "And my parents told me to not come unless they sent for me. It's important to listen to family, but..."
"I would be worried too," said Rex. "Two years is a long time.""
"Mhmm," Jin said. "Especially because my parents were worried about the Demon Lord. So why are you travelling to Lorn?"
"I'm going to kill that Demon Lord."
Jin glanced at Rex's chest, right at the spot where he'd been injured. "...really?"
"I'm the chosen one. Someone wrote a prophecy saying that I have the potential to defeat the Demon Lord, so it's my duty to kill him. And besides killing a Demon Lord just sounds like a really cool thing to do."
"But what if there wasn't a prophecy?" said Jin. "What would you do?"
"Fuck a catgirl I guess," Rex said.
"Really???" said Jin. She glanced at her legs; around where Rex had been resting his head on her lap. "You don't really seem the type."
"I would! I really would!"
"Okay," said Jin. "Let's say you do like skinship. Wouldn't it still bother you? You're a human, and you'd be with a beastkin."
"And?" Rex shrugged. "Is there really a difference besides some ears and tail?"
There was a long pause.
"I think that makes me happy," said Jin. "I'm proud to have a companion who... how did you say it?"
"Say what?" Rex said.
Jin continued. "''I'm proud to have a companion who is okay with '''facting a catgirl."
2 miles to Lorn, a sign said, and they continued to walk.
"Why did you stop talking?" Jin asked.
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HANDLE SOMEONE LIKE THIS? Rex thought. What's supposed to be happening is...
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I say something weird.
Jin yells at me for saying something weird.
I laugh it off
We live happily ever after.
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But whenever I say something outrageous she just leans into it! I can't deal with this! I don't understand her!
"It's just," said Rex. "I don't have anything to say."
"We were talking about motivations," said Jin. "Do you want to talk more about why you are motivated to 'fact' catkin?"
"Arghhhhh!!!" said Rex. "You win, I can't do this anymore!
Rex ran off in tears, past another sign. You are now entering city limits.
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Leela and Phineas were having a very bad weekend.
First they had attacked a cloaked girl, and she had fought back unexpectedly fiercely. They managed to overpower her but she bit Phineas in the ear and then did she just spit at Leela? Gross!
Then a boy called out from deeper in the woods and while they searched for him, he crushed them by sawing off a tree-branch that collided with their heads and even worse pinned them in place.
But finally they had a stroke of luck when the morning afterwards a wandering girl managed to to extract them.
"Thank you so much for helping us!" Leela said, offering her hand.
"It was nothing," said Enna, taking it. "Just natural talent."
Phineas gagged and whispered to Leela. "She took three hours to move this branch. Every time she pulled on it one of the twigs would ravish my ear. She's a torturer! Not a savior!"
"I'm happy for another reason," Leela hissed back. "She's pale, and her hands are very soft. A rich, sheltered, creature that wandered her way into our woods. In other words..."
"A perfect victim!" They leaned away from one another, smiling.
"Have you seen a boy who looks kind of wimpy and plain?" said Enna. "He's about this tall." She raised her hand a few inches above her own head.
"I've seen him!" said Leela.
"Of course we've seen him!" said Phineas. "We'll pick up our weapons... and then we can take you to him."
"Well, where is he?" Enna said.
"Uhh.... the capital!" Phineas improvised, picking up his knife.
"Right, right!" Leela said, picking up her bow and gathering the scattered arrows. "We were wondering, if you went to the capital, would you have enough money to pay for room and board there?"
"I would," said Enna. "It wouldn't be at the finest inn, but based on what Mathilda told me I've brought enough to make do."
"Could you give the money to us?" said Leela, pointing her bow, arrows notched, right at Enna's heart.
"H-huh?" said Enna. "If you've fallen on hard times... I guess I can give you a silver piece?"
Enna reached into her bag and flicked a coin at Leela. It landed into mud.
"Not just a silver coin," said Leela. "All of it!" She waved the bow.
"A-all of it?" said Enna. "But I can't afford that... where would I stay..."
"Sleep on the streets." Leela said. "It'll build character."
"B-b-but the streets are dangerous at night." Enna said. "That's what Mathilda says."
"Hurry up and give us the money!"
"I-I'm sorry, but I have to say no."
Leela sighed and tilted her head towards Phineas.
"We're not asking for charity," Phineas explained patiently. "This is a robbery."
"A robbery?" Enna said.
"Yes," said Phineas. "We take money and valuables from unsuspecting travelers. If you give us what we want, everyone leaves happy. If you don't then Leela will shoot you with a bow."
He turned towards Leela. "Leela, do we really have to steal from this person? I feel like mentally, she's not all there."
"I am mentally here!" said Enna. "In fact, I'm insulted you don't think that I'm mentally there enough to steal from!"
"She says she wants us to steal from her," said Leela. "So, Enna, give us the rest of your silver. No sudden movements, sucker."
"Sucker? I'm... a sucker? said Enna. Phineas swore that he could almost hear a crackling. "I... I...!"
Enna glanced the bow. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Mad as thunder, cool as rain."
"What?"
"I said I'll give you what you want." said Enna. She took out a pouch from her pack and tossed it to Leela, and Leela caught it with a satisfying *clump.*
"Like stealing candy from a baby," said Leela. "Thanks for everything!" She took some coins from the bag and clicked two silvers together in a victory taunt. *click *click click* The two began to walk away.
*click* *click* *click*
"It's almost as if she wanted us to take the money." Phineas said. He took a coin and scrutinized its mint date. "These were all produced over two years ago too. There's more precious metal in these coins than a lot of the ones going around right now, so if we can melt these down we'll feast tonight."
"Where would you be without me?" said Leela. "Broke, that's for sure."
*click *click* *click*
*click *click* *click*
*click* *click* *CRACKLE* *CRACK*
The bandits whirled around.
"Did you know," Enna said. "That silver's a great conductor..."
Thunder was dancing in Enna's fingers. "Without you," muttered Phineas. "I probably wouldn't be in this situation right now."
Then Enna launched her first attack.