Our walk out into the frozen tundra began just as the storm from yesterday was calming down. We began making our way through the snowy tundra at a moderate pace and had walked for several miles now, however, there was just one problem, and that was Elt.
See, out of all of us, Elt is the only one really suffering from the bitter cold since I'm dressed somewhat well for it and Anastasia is a ghost of some kind, I think. I'm just making that assumption based on her ability to phase in and out of stuff, so I may be wrong. Elt is just not dressed well for this kind of climate. While we walked, Elt began to slow down further and further due to the weather, and even though he wasn't saying anything, it was clear to both me and Anastasia that the cold was getting to him.
"Hey, Elt, you doing okay?", I asked, anticipating him to tell me everything was fine.
"Hmm? O-Oh yeah, S-S-Six. Just f-fine.", he responded, shaking like a leaf.
"Are you sure about that?", Anastasia asked before adding,"We could stop somewhere for you to get warm, you know."
"D-Don't talk t-to me, m-m-monster.", he responded,"Y-your presence is m-more of a h-h-hindrance than any m-manner of c-c-cold." In response, she got a hurt look on her face before turning away to look ahead. I'd explained to them that my Pip-Boy has a built in compass, so we were now headed south in order to find a road, stream or settlement.
We kept walking a few more feet before I heard something bounding towards us from our left. I tried to react in time by bringing out Maria in an attempt to stop whatever was coming before it reached us, but I was too late. Before I had finished turning around to meet the thing heading towards us, they had already ran right into and tackled Elt into the snow several feet to what was our right.
"Ah!", Elt yelled as the attacker held him down. I quickly turned to see who it was and deal with them. They seemed to be a monster with tanned skin, white furred paws and feet. Long, bushy white hair and was wearing what looked like a two-piece swimsuit made out white fur as well as a blue scarf.
"Hold on, Elt!", I said as I ran over to get a clearer shot at the monster and not hit Elt by accident.
"Wait! She's a Yeti! She's only trying to help!", Anastasia called out to me. I briefly turned to her thinking she was insane before turning back and hearing what the monster was saying.
"Hey, are you okay? You don't look okay. You look cold. I can help! I'm warm! Let me help you get warm. Come with me, okay? I'll help you get nice and warm!", she cheerfully said in quick succession as she was now not so much trying to pin him down as she was trying to hug him. Walking over and putting the gun to her head, I began to speak in a loud and clear tone.
"You better explain who you are and what you want right now before I melt the snow with your blood.", I commanded her, causing her to freeze up. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye, no longer struggling to keep Elt down. We looked at each other for a few seconds before she did something that honestly surprised me.
She began to cry.
"Wah!', she bawled as she sat up, straddling Elt's hips, bringing her two paws away from Elt to rub her eyes as tears began to flow freely down them."I-I just wanted to help him! I don't wanna die!" I almost facepalmed as she continued crying. Really, another one? Should I just start a daycare at this point?
"Nice going, Six, you made another girl cry.", Anastasia said to me as the Yeti kept on crying. I went ahead and used my [AR Scanner Implant] as it can also determine someones disposition towards me. She came out as a moderate threat, and a friendly disposition. Sighing in exasperation, I dropped the gun from her head, but didn't digitize it. Kneeling down to her eye level, I began to speak to the Yeti.
"Look, calm down, I'm not going to kill you.", I explained."I just thought you wanted to hurt my friend with how quickly you tackled him."
"R-Really, you're not going to kill me?", she asked with a sniffle, her crying calmed down somewhat.
"No, I'm not going to kill y-", I tried to answer her, but she interrupted me.
"YIPPEE!", she yelled as she leaped for joy, crashing into me and tackling me into the snow and onto my back. She had laid on top of me as she began to rapid fire sentences again like a machine gun, almost completely forgetting that she had been crying a few seconds ago.
"Thank you so much! My name is Papi! I'm a Yeti! It's nice to meet you! What's your name? You seem warm already. What strange clothes! Your eyes are red. They're kinda scary!", she spoke the sentences one after the other with almost no pause.
"Slow down, slow down! You talk too damn fast!", I tried to tell her, pushing her off of me gently as we began to sit apart from each other. As I did, I could hear Anastasia giggling at me from behind, causing me to flip her off from behind my back, but that only made her giggle more.
"Wretched beast!", Elt yelled as he drew his sword and tried to swing at the Yeti girl. She wasn't able to see it coming in time, given that he was behind her, but I was able to spring into action quick enough to reach over and grab his sword arm, stopping it.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing, Elt?", I yelled at him.
"This abominable monster just a-a-attacked and tried to violate m-me!", he yelled."I won't let it get away w-with this!" I quickly disarmed him of his sword and buried the pommel into his stomach, making him double over as I held onto his sword.
"She wasn't trying to rape you, dumbass, she saw you were cold like we did and was trying to help you.", I explained to him.
"Yeah, well, I d-don't need any help, much less from a d-despicable, ugly, and sinful m-m-monster like her!", he yelled, recovering and standing to full height. At that, the Yeti began to sniffle again. Turning to face her, we could see that she was about to start crying again.
"Hey, hey, don't cry, Papi!", I tried to assuage her tears again by waving my hands in front of myself."Elt here didn't mean anything he just said, it was all just a bad joke! Isn't that right, Elt?" Elt tried to argue otherwise, but I quickly elbowed him in the side hard, making him cough a bit before agreeing with me.
"I mean, y-yeah, totally didn't m-mean that…", he forced through his teeth. At this point, Anastasia had floated behind Papi and was consoling her by patting her back and telling her everything was gonna be okay.
"Hey, Papi. Our friend may not know it, but we need your help, him especially.", Anastasia told Papi, causing Elt to begin getting angry."If you could show us to your abode so we can all get warm, that would be much appreciated."
"Okay, who are you guys?", she asked with another sniffle.
"I'm Anastasia. The scary one is Six, and the mean one is Elt.", I waved to Papi when I was pointed out, while Elt avoided eye contact.
"Okay, but I don't have any food right now. Is that okay?", she asked, to which we nodded. Wiping her tears away one more time, she cheered up again before speaking."Okay! Follow me!" With that, we began to follow Papi towards her cave for a break. I suppose it wasn't a bad idea. Elt was still almost a popsicle, and it was just passed noon. I suppose we can stop for some lunch.
Walking next to Elt, I digitized my handgun and handed his sword back to him. As he tried to take it, though, I whispered to him.
"You pull something that monumentally stupid again, and I'm taking this thing away.", I told him.
"W-What are you t-talking about? You threatened to k-k-kill her first!", he tried to argue.
"Yeah, when I thought she was trying to rape you. Even after we found out she wasn't, you still tried to kill her ignoring what we found out.", I told him."Is this about something else?" The second I asked that, he looked away from me and kept walking without a word. Great, so he has a grudge against monsters. I should've guessed, given that he was with the Order and the past few monster experiences have been pretty negative. Hopefully he'll move passed this.
As we walked for several minutes, I began to hear the telltale sound of hooves pattering in the snow not too far away with [Perception 9]. Looking over, I spied a deer attempting to eat something off of the ground where the snow was blocked by tree branches.
"Heads up.", I whispered."We've got lunch at 10 o'clock." In response, all their heads turned to me with confusion of my expression before following my gaze to see what I saw.
"A deer! Food!", Papi said excitedly. Before she could bound over and get it, which I don't doubt she could given how fast she was going when she tackled Elt, I went ahead and put my arm in front of her to stop her.
"No need, I got it.", I told her, materializing Christine's Silenced BOS Sniper Rifle and looking down the scope to the deer. Lining up the shot with the deer's head, I slowed my breathing to steady my aim as I began to take the shot.
"Hey, what are you doi-", Papi asked before she was interrupted by the suppressed .308 round firing out of the barrel and through the deer's head, causing the head to explode into a [Bloody Mess].
"Bingo, lunch is served.", I said as I digitized the sniper rifle and walked jogged over to the carcass, followed by everyone else. When we reached it, we could see just how messed up the head was.
"That's scary! We were so far away, but you killed it anyway! What did you do? I didn't see anything.", Papi began to rapid fire again, but was stopped by me heaving the deer over my shoulder with [Strength 8] and interrupting her.
"Sorry, but this thing is kinda heavy. You maybe wanna get back to directing us?", I asked her, to which she immediately switched gears, nodded her head and we began to head toward her cave again.
"Here we are! Home, sweet home!", Papi said cheerfully as she bounded into the lightly furnished cave. There was a makeshift wooden bed, a wooden table with a couple chairs and a few boxes and chests for storing things, and a fire pit with a pot over hit held up by a few sticks.
"You have a very nice home, Papi.", Anastasia complimented her as she sat down at the table. I went ahead and dropped the deer carcass on the ground next to the fire pit as I materialized Blood Nap.
"Thank you, Ani!", Papi said in gratitude, giving her a nickname in the process.
"Ani?", Anastasia asked before adding,"Is that some kind of nickname?"
"Yeah!", Papi said before explaining,"Your name is kinda long, so I shortened it!"
"I-I see…", Anastasia responded.
"Alright, well, Elt is still almost a popsicle, so what do you have in mind to help?", I asked Papi.
"That's easy! Papi helps people all the time! Best way to help is hugs! We hug on the bed and I share warmth that way.", Papi explained, causing Elt to go red in the face and Anastasia to adopt a smug grin.
"Oh, n-no way!", Elt began to protest."No way am I d-doing that!"
"Why not?", Papi asked in confusion.
"Why? You're a m-m-monster!", Elt said in response.
"Oh, come on.", I told Elt."You're about to get Hypothermia and this girl is trying to help you. Grow a pair and do it."
"I-grr, fine!", Elt relented, unbuckling his sword sheath and walking over to lay on the bed, to which Papi was ecstatic to see.
"Alright, I'll clean the carcass and cook lunch. You do your thing, Papi.", I said, to which Papi nodded and jumped into Elt again. They ended up laying down together in the bed under a blanket with Papi's arms and fluffy paws wrapped firmly around Elt's body, Elt not returning the hug. As I began to clean the carcass, I heard Anastasia speak up.
"Your weapons, I've never seen anything like them.", she said before adding,"In fact, no one in the Demon Realm I've spoken to has. Not even the Sabbath. What are they, and where did you get them?"
"Why would I tell you anything?", I asked, continuing to take meat off of the deer without looking at her."You plan on betraying me when we encounter the Demon Lord's forces again, don't you? Why would I give away free intel to the enemy?"
"I'm not your enemy, Six.", she tried to alleviate my worries.
"Oh, yeah? Then what will you do when we encounter them again?", I asked."They've gotta be still hunting us, so it's only a matter of time."
"I-I don't know.", she said, looking down.
"Hesitation like that can get someone killed in a war.", I told her before continuing,"Are you not confident in your ideals?", I asked.
"Of course I am.", she said.
"Then what is this about?", I asked.
"It's...well, it's just that the Demon Realm has started to do some things that I don't necessarily agree with.", she explained.
"Oh, yeah? Like what?", I asked, trying to press further for information.
"Why would I tell you anything?", she said, repeating me.
"Touche.", I responded, before finishing the cleaning process. Then, I went about starting the fire and putting the meat on a spit, replacing the pot with the spit I made.
"Here, how about this then.", she said with a sigh as she looked to me."I'll give you information if you give me information. How does that sound?"
"Why would we need to exchange info in the first place?", I asked, rotating the spit over the growing fire.
"We are going to be traveling together, are we not?", she asked before adding."I think it would be beneficial to know more about each other if we are going to work together efficiently."
"Ha! Yeah, right. Like you'd help us in a combat scenario.", I responded before asking."What would you do if we got into a fight with a group of monster bandits, huh? Would you help then?"
"I-I would help! I just wouldn't want to kill anyone!", she said before adding,"Make no mistake. Just because they are monsters doesn't mean the Demon Lord is alright with bandits. I won't let them hurt or take you away from me, and if I have to fight them to do that, then so be it."
"That's all well and good, but I'm still not convinced.", I said, causing her to adopt another one of her glares before I sighed and spoke up again with [Barter 100]."How about this. Three for the price of one. You answer three of my questions, and I'll answer one."
"Well, it's better than nothing.", she responded with a sigh. Before we could go any further, the meat looked nice and well-cooked, ready to eat.
"Hey, Papi! Lunch is ready.", I called out to her before asking."How's Elt?"
"He's feeling better! Much warmer. Now he won't freeze!", Papi responded before gently letting go of Elt and sitting up. After rubbing his eyes a bit, Elt sat up in bed with a face redder than a tomato. I almost burst out laughing right then and there, but held it back.
"Oh, you didn't try anything? That's disappointing.", Anastasia said nonchalantly.
"Why would I try anything? I just wanted to warm him up!", Papi said cheerfully."Besides, if I tried to mate with him without asking, he would have been upset with me! I don't wanna make him unhappy." As she said that, both Elt and Anastasia got surprised looks on their faces as everyone began to sit at the table. I went ahead and put the pieces meat onto the table before sitting down myself.
"But why not just do it?", Anastasia asked her."They'll like it eventually, so why not be true with your feelings upfront?"
"Ani, I don't think you understand how love works for humans.", Papi said innocently as she grabbed a piece of meat and began to dig in.
"I-I do too know how love works for humans! I was a human myself, after all, long ago.", Anastasia proclaimed as she gingerly took a piece of meat herself.
"Yeah, and many humans go their whole lives not knowing how love truly works.", I responded before adding."It's not something you can read about or observe to truly understand, you have to feel it yourself." As I said that, Elt began to eat some meat as well as I digitized my mask and took some meat for myself.
"Yeah! I may not experience it naturally myself, but through human love, we can adopt their way of thinking to help make them happy!", Papi added to my explanation.
"Did you ever have a husband, Papi?", I asked out of curiosity. For such a cheerful, innocent monster, she seems to know quite a bit about people.
"Yeah! I used to have one long ago, and I've saved many other humans in the past.", Papi explained. As she said that, though, she adopted a look I've only seen once or twice before. The look of the solemn acceptance of a loss, as if she has made peace with her demons.
"I see, I'm sure he must have been a good man.", I said.
"Yes, he was.", she said, in a rare moment of calm morose rather than cheerfulness from the Yeti. After a few seconds of silence, I looked over to see Anastasia deep in thought.
"Well, moving on, I believe we made a deal for information.", I said, bringing Anastasia back to reality.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. What do you want to know?", she asked.
"What kind of monster are you? I figured you were some kind of ghost, but I don't know too much about monsters to make a specific guess.
"I'm a Phantom.", she answered."A member of mamono nobility among the undead. I am ghost mamono of great power who not only has great powers of illusion, but also the ability to phase in and out of physicality."
"I see.", I said before asking another question."Then what are you good at in a fight?"
"Like I said, I specialize in illusion magic and confusing the enemy so that my other comrades can easily take the victory. I can also perform light healing magicks as well as attack people with my cane.", she answered before adding."One more."
"Right, then what would be my best source for more information on monsters?", I asked.
"Hmm...Well, your best bet would be the Monster Girl Encyclopedia-", she began, but was interrupted by Elt.
"What!? How dare you even mention that blasphemous tome, monster!", Elt yelled in anger.
"Woah, woah, calm down. What's so blasphemous about this book?", I asked.
"The Monster Girl Encyclopedia is, as the name implies, an encyclopedia containing every mamono in the world. It details almost everything about them: their mating habits, their looks, their abilities, their weaknesses, their likes and dislikes, so on and so on.", Anastasia explained with a sigh.
"Wait, it includes their weaknesses? Then why is Elt so mad about it over here? I'd think the Order would love that kind of thing.", I asked.
"Since it details many of the mamono's seductive features and mating habits, the Order is worried that it will cause many humans to actively seek mamono out, at least that is what most mamono think.", she explained further before adding."As a result, it has been outlawed in all Order territories and having it on your person is grounds for execution."
I was at a loss. I honestly could not believe the stupidity I was hearing. Really? You have this book that could literally help the Order win the war, and they go and outlaw it? Because it may result in some people being seduced? I looked at Elt to see that he was still upset.
"Elt, I know you have a major hard-on for the Order and all that, but that has got to be the most blatantly terrible decision I have ever heard.", I told him quite bluntly."If this book tells you how monsters act, you can use that to avoid and kill them more easily. Knowledge is power, after all. How is the Order this incompetent?"
"It's not about the war, Six, it's about being an affront to the Chief Go-", he began to explain before I interrupted him.
"Oh, fuck the Chief God!", I stopped him before he could go any further with his preaching."You say it's not about the war, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. You need to understand, Elt, that your little 'Come to Jesus' meetings and your praise of God isn't going to help you win a war. If your God really cared about you winning, you would have already won. But you haven't, because your useless God can't do shit besides churn out heroes on an assembly line to go and get corrupted without any battle plan besides 'God is on my side, so we're destined to win'. Fuck, no wonder the Order is getting their asses kicked."
After my little rant, all of the people present, including Papi, were looking at me with a mix of confusion and shock. I honestly don't know which was caused by what, and I don't care. Elt was giving me a much harder look than before, but couldn't say anything. Not surprised, it's about time he got a reality check when it came to his precious God.
"Well, while I agree, aren't you forgetting something, Six?", Anastasia asked before continuing."You need to answer my question now."
"Fine, lay it on me. I feel the need for a drink coming on.", I responded.
"Alright, your weapons.", she said,"What are they and where did you get them?"
"I thought I said three for the price of one.", I told her, to which she gave me a mean look again."Fine, it's not too much of a big deal anyways." With that, I materialized Maria again and explained my guns to everyone just as I had explained them to Elt before.
"So it's like a super scary, super efficient crossbow!", Papi exclaimed.
"Yeah, kind of.", I said before looking to see that everyone had finished eating."Well, I think that's enough break time." I said, standing up from the table.
"Ah, you will need to find clothes for Elt that better suit the cold!", Papi said before continuing."I don't have anything like that here, but you can get some at the East Whitehorn Station! It's not too far!"
"Thanks, do you think they can help us get back to civilization, too?", I asked.
"Yeah! I can point you towards the closest Whitehorn Road! Just walk along the road when you reach it, and a Whitehorn will find you and help you!", Papi explained.
"They won't try anything, right?", Elt asked.
"No, Whitehorns are very respectful mamono who want to help people, just like me!", Papi assured Elt. With that, we said our farewells to Papi and exited the cave back into the open snow. As we did, my Pip-Boy beeped signifying the start of a new quest.
Where the Whitehorns Run
}Find the Whitehorn road leading to the East Whitehorn Station.
"I'm guessing you wouldn't want to tell me what that thing is and why it's always making noises?", Anastasia asked, to which I nodded."Fine, can you at least answer one more question of mine?"
"Depends.", I responded."What is it?"
"There aren't other people out there with those kinds of weapons, right?", she asked, clearly nervous.
"As far as I'm aware, no. These are one of a kind, and I'd be surprised if you found any more anywhere.", I responded. With that, she let loose a sigh of relief as we continued South toward where my new compass marker was pointing.