Purrcy ran instinctively - again. She'd been doing that since she arrived in this world: running, using instinct as a tool. Her body in this world was made for it, and allowing it to move on instinct had kept her alive more times than she could count. She was running this time from what she had run from the very first time: other humans in beast form. It really wasn't her favorite and she'd spent a lot of time avoiding it.

Today was the day the luck went against her. Today, the small guild of wolf- and dog-men that called Akiba their territory and roamed the streets as a pack, had decided that she was their target. She'd avoided them long enough, teased them one too many times with her presence that appeared briefly then hid from them or found an unwitting guardian to protect her from them, and they were done.

She'd found them in her tree, not just under it this time, and they'd had a few in reserve to pen her in from behind. She'd barely managed to use her hidden Tracker skills in time to get out of the trap, then had just simply fled, running on all fours. Sadly, most of them had also learned they could also move faster on all fours, and she wasn't all that far in the lead.

She had the edge on speed. They had the edge on strength and stamina, although she'd been building that up as best she could. They had also gotten better at herding. Must be a few collies or sheepdogs in the mix, and they knew Akiba very well by now. She didn't, as she preferred staying outside the city until she absolutely had to come in.

By now Purrcy was so far from the metropolitan part of the city that she was, in effect, lost. Her sense of smell might get her back, but her instinct said that to turn from her chosen path would get her captured. She'd learned to never ignore that warning.

Up ahead, by smell first, was the hint of people - unexpected in this nearly desolate part of the ruined city. Then, by sight, she could see brief flickers of movement on a patio a few stories above the street. Her eyes kept moving up and her entire cat-sense was arrested by the sight of a glorious tree top sticking out from the roof of the building.

Of all things her cat instinct had taught her, it was that eight and a half times out of ten, a treetop meant safety. Human sense said that the person who was unknown was just about as often kind, or at least willing to be helpful. That percentage went up if the person was a hermit. They'd help you just to get rid of you faster.

The second skill she'd learned in this world, after running, was climbing. Her skill in that was so high now that she didn't slow down. The old crumbling buildings had just as much claw purchase as the trees did.

The dogs behind her were growling in frustration as she headed straight for that building. She hit it at her top speed and went straight up the side. Her sensitive ears heard them skid to a stop below her and begin to exclaim expletives of frustrated amazement.

"Gomen," Purrcy said as she passed the denizen on the patio, not slowing down, although the scent of the person surprised her. The two people on the roof surprised her even more, since she hadn't been expecting them.

She surprised them, too, given that the man jumped up out of his seat with a cry, but she was already past them and clawing up the tree to a branch high enough to not be reached from the rooftop. When she arrived, she immediately lay flat against it and panted hard.

The more she recovered, the more she shivered - and wished cats could cry. The best this body could do was droop the whiskers, tuck the tail in, and lay the ears flat against her skull. So they did.

When the other human that had been on the roof appeared on the branch in front of her, giving off the aura of someone with a higher enough differential of level that Purrcy knew she couldn't win in this kind of confrontation, she closed her eyes and gave up. This really just wasn't her lucky day. She hated Akiba.

-:-:-:-:-

"Sorry," said an unknown voice as a blur went past moving up the outside wall of the guild hall of Log Horizon. Chief Nyanta blinked, then looked up, but only saw a back paw and tail disappear over the roof edge. A cry let him know who or whatever it was had surprised Naotsugu from his restful pose on the roof.

Sounds were also coming from below so Nyanta deigned to look below as he called up the guild group chat. "Meowtsugu, what was it?" he asked as he counted the number of Adventurers below him staring up at the top of the building. Most were clustered in a group, but he could see a few still arriving and skittering to a stop a distance away to watch.

"A cat, like yourself," came Naotsugu's answer. "Akatsuki's gone up the tree to investigate."

"She's looking pretty miserable," came Akatsuki's follow up, "and won't answer me. Name shows as 'Purrcy'. Do you recognize it, Nyanta-san?"

Nyanta frowned. "Let her be for a bit. She's been treed by the Wolf Pack."

There was a growl from Naotsugu and Shiroe finally chimed in. "How many and will they leave on their own?"

"All of them, and it doesn't look like they want to," Nyanta answered.

They could hear Akatsuki say to their sudden forced guest, "It's okay Purrcy. You'll be safe here."

Nyanta looked down at the Wolf Pack guild. They'd been causing more trouble of late, and were on Shiroe's current watch and worry list. "Mew really should stop chasing felinoids, mew know?" he called down to them now. "It might be cliché on Earth, but here it's just rude, meow."

"Naw, we're not being rude," the guildmaster, who preferred to be called the pack leader, said lazily, "we were just bein' friendly and she ran first. It's kind of hard to not give chase when the game is offered." His tail was waving side to side just a little too lazily for Nyanta. He narrowed his eyes. This one was hunting, not playing a game.

His own ear flicked in distaste, a thing it normally didn't do. He clamped down on it to keep it still again. That made his tail twitch. He sighed at himself. Until recently, he'd been able to completely control all his body's reactions to emotions, a thing he felt was required.

For all he liked being a felinoid, he didn't like how expressive cat bodies were. Calm, cool control in posture meant a strong hidden interior and was one of the things he used to be most effective against enemies. He was having difficulty with the fact that his body in this world was beginning to betray him.

"If you'll just explain to her we want to be helpful, perhaps she could come back down and we could talk?" FireHound continued.

"Nooo," Nyanta said thoughtfully, "she doesn't seem too interested in that. Rather, since mew've treed her, I think the little 'game' needs to be over. Mew can all go back home now."

He heard a click as Shiroe entered the balcony below his. As an Enchanter, it was safest for Shiroe to be above, rather than in the street. Nyanta, as a Swashbuckler, should be in the street if battle was going to be joined. Now that the city no longer had the usual defenses against fights inside the city walls, it could very well come down to it.

"Let me know when you're in position Naotsugu," Shiroe's quiet voice came through on the chat line.

"Roger that," the friendly Guardian answered. Nyanta assumed he'd headed downstairs to ground level and would be at the front door soon.

"We're ready," came Touya's voice. Nyanta nodded. The younger half of the guild would have mobilized at the beginning of the chat, being home today, so would get into place quickly.

"Twins out front with Naotsugu, the rest of you head out the back door and swing around to the side," Shiroe gave the orders. "Stay protecting that access, though, they've spread out enough they may try entering that way to get to her. Akatsuki, stay there. If I remember right they've also got one or two Assassins they may try to get across from the building next door."

Nyanta went back to parlaying with the Wolf Pack, in a bored fashion. Since he was up where he couldn't be seen, he finally let his tail have its way. It switched lazily behind him, much like the pack leader's tail was. "Is there a reason mew're insistent on this one?" he asked. "Surely by now any that wanted meowr help would have already asked on their own."

"No, well you see, this one can't. We've been trying for a while now and we just figured it out a bit ago." FireHound grinned his wolfish grin, and Nyanta didn't like it one bit. His ears went back and his teeth bared, ever so slightly since he forced them not to do more.

"Oh? Do enlighten me," he requested.

"We've tried to talk to her before, you know, just friendly-like. She nods politely, then freezes up and runs to her home in embarrassment. It's really sad to watch, how alone she keeps to herself. We just want to help her learn that Akiba is really a friendly place. If she'd hang out with us, she'd find that out in no time."

"I'd say that's enough talking to say they do plan on taking her back, even with that being against Akiba law," Shiroe was calm, but the chill underneath his quiet words spoke to his anger. He'd set that law after all.

"I'm ready any time, Strategist," Naotsugu said, his quiet voice showing his own anger. His normal voice was louder and happy-go-lucky.

"I've got two just arriving on the next roof over," Akatsuki said, very quietly, which meant she'd gone into stealth mode, "...and Purrcy knows they've arrived. She's gone into full quiet alert as well."

Nyanta's ear and nose both twitched violently at that. He'd rather she stayed put and let them defend her, although if she'd fight with them that was fine as well. It was having her run again that would be bad. "Shiroe-ichi, I'll go up," he offered.

"Alright, Chief," Shiroe answered. "Find out what language she does know, if it isn't Japanese." Nyanta froze, all his whiskers standing on end. Intelligent Shiroe had already understood. "Likely they think she doesn't know the laws and is therefore an easy target."

Everyone's battle presence went into full at that. As Shiroe took over the parlay with the Wolf Pack, Nyanta silently slipped into the guild hall and up the four flights of stairs. Going up inside would give him some element of surprise. Go up outside and the Wolf Pack would let their compatriots on the roof know he was arriving. They might anyway, since he'd left, but it was better than not.

"Akatsuki-chan, please let me know when I can come out the door unseen. I'm in place," he said when he was. He got a single small cough in reply. She'd heard him, now it was wait.

"We've got reinforcements on the way to the Cathedral," Shiroe said quietly on the group chat. "Hold off on killing them for about three minutes."

No one said anything, but he knew he'd be obeyed. They'd trained enough together that they were seamless in knowing the capabilities of each other. This was their first time to defend their home, and at the need of someone not of their guild, no less, but it was their way, their guildmaster's way, and they were all proud to follow him.

"Here they come," Akatsuki said in a breathy whisper, followed shortly thereafter by, "She's fast."

"Where?" Nyanta asked immediately.

"Down to the patios," Akatsuki answered.

Nyanta turned around and let his nose and ears do their job. "She's headed to a back room on the fourth floor."

"She better stay put," Naotsugu complained in agreement with Nyanta's own sentiments.

"Go!" Akatsuki and Shiroe said simultaneously. Doors opened and the battle began in earnest.

-:-:-:-:-

"Daijobu, Purrcy-san. Anata go koko ni tsutsuganai." It was a female voice, trying to be consoling when the speaker wasn't very used to being consoling.

Purrcy wasn't sure she got the last word right and her ear slightly twitched at it, trying to recapture it, although it couldn't now. It was already past and gone. She got the first sentence though. She wasn't going to die or be scolded - yet. That was good.

Maybe she'd picked okay...maybe. It being "bad luck day" she wasn't going to hold out too much hope just yet. Her ears did release their tight hold on her head, though, relaxing just ever so slightly.

She could hear the parlay going on below. A light voice that was slightly mocking, slightly scolding, the way she would imagine a father in Japan might speak to a wayward subordinate.

Speaking back was the rougher, deeper voice she recognized well enough as the pack leader. She wrinkled her nose slightly at it, unhappy. They hadn't gone away. That wasn't good. They wanted her pretty badly today, and she wondered why. Normally they would leave well enough alone.

Come to think of it...they'd been trying hard from the beginning. Men could climb trees but it wasn't the favorite past-time of wolves and dogs. It made her shiver more, and when her companion in the tree disappeared it didn't make her feel any better at all.

Purrcy's ears came up and she listened carefully. Cat ears were oh-so-useful, once you learned when to filter sounds and when to listen closely. That had been her third skill to learn, although thank goodness it had started instinctively like the running and climbing.

The light click of the door closing on the next building over opened the eye closest to it, but otherwise she held very still. Moving meant being seen. She'd known that before she came to this world. Anyone or anything that could be prey knew that instinctively.

She waited with the patience she'd learned over the past two years and was rewarded to see the two who were headed stealthily across that roof towards this one. The woman who had just left her must be Assassin Class or Tracker sub-class. She'd arrived without disturbing the branch and left the same way. She also knew they were coming and had gone into hiding.

Well, Purrcy didn't mind being bait, but she also wasn't going to be captured by wolf-fangs. She set her escape route in mind right then so it would be the instinctive reaction when her body did move. She'd learned that if she gave her body its directions ahead of time, it would obey when it was time.

Her ears lightly flicked back behind her, in the direction of the porches, which was thankfully the opposite direction of the approaching Wolf Pack Assassins. A new voice had taken over parlay and she fell in love with it immediately. Calm as the first, but hard this time in it's undertones. This one wouldn't be gainsaid by the Wolf Pack. Almost surely the head of this building...which meant she'd run to a guild hall, instead of a hermit's hiding place.

She sighed. She might not be able to get inside then, but she'd still try. She wasn't known by the guild, and thus not likely by the guild hall. The closest patio might be enough, though, given that the one who'd been speaking from the patio before was now behind the door here at the roof. (Her ear had flicked forward again to catch the light sound of his voice.)

Purrcy settled into 'waiting as bait' mode. The Assassins finally moved, flickering out of sight then back into sight on the same roof she was on. Her body tensed and at just the right moment before they would reach her, she moved from her branch, down the tree, over the edge of the roof, down to the top patio, and to the door.

Her heart leaped when the door opened for her. She ran to the trunk of the tree growing up through the middle of the building, down two floors and to the opposite side of the building, headed for the room her nose smelled was musty, closed in, and dark. Her cat-eyes quickly adjusted to the windowless closet-like room as she headed under and behind things until she was curled up in the corner. She'd snagged a cloth on the way and flung it over her as she settled.

Four. At least four were in this building, or guild. The second man on the patio wasn't the man who'd been on the roof. It would be worse if all four were men. Having one woman meant they might be a little nice, since she was allowed to act on her own.

Purrcy finally realized she was leaving them all to fight while she hid - instinct had let up enough now. She sighed. There'd be some kind of price to pay. She curled up even more and put her arm over her head.

-:-:-:-:-

Surprisingly, she fell asleep. She didn't know it until she heard her name being called gently from not very far away...at about the door of the room. One of them knew how to find her by smell, then. She didn't leave tracks in this place that had no dust. They took good care of it, she'd noticed on the way in. Cat eyes and senses picked up all the details, even if they didn't register until later.

"Daijobu, Purrcy-chan. Ikimasho, kudesai." Her heart lurched or fell, she wasn't sure which. She didn't want to leave this safe corner, even though she needed to. Needed to face those she'd imposed upon.

Her ears twitched back and forth and her tail tip slapped her leg. Finally she worked up the courage to say, "Sumimasen. Gomennasai." It came out rather timidly, but that was all she had at the moment.

"Ie. Daijobu-nyan." Her ears came up at that. The smell and the sound finally clicked. The first person, on the patio when she'd run past, was a felinoid like her. "Nihongo o hanashimasuka?" Do you speak Japanese?

"Ie. Skoshe." No. Only a very little.

"Saa. Taihen." Harsh/hard.

"Hai." Yup. You'd think learning Japanese by playing on the Japan server and turning off the language translator would have been a useful move. Not this time.

The first command was given again, and this time it was an order not to refuse, or one would be considered very impolite. Purrcy did wonder how they'd figured out she couldn't understand it, though. It had seemed like the Wolf Pack had figured it out this time, too. Maybe that had come out in the conversation they'd had before she left the field, as it were.

She cautiously wormed her way out of her hiding place in the back corner under and behind things, until she was where she could see the felinoid male standing in the doorway. His light grey coloring with white on the chin, neck, and likely bib as well would have made him hard to see in this room if he didn't have light behind him.

He stood proudly on his 'feet', one forepaw resting casually on one of two rapiers on his side, a dapper vest over a shirt, pants that looked comfortable. Swashbuckler. His tail lightly flicked behind him. Interested; at rest. The battle must have ended well for the guild, or he had a lot of control and he was actually irritated. His ears said interested, too, though, pricked forward slightly. One kept wanting to turn out. Companions waiting.

Well, she'd been feeling better until that note. She really didn't want to face more than one at a time, but it probably couldn't be helped. Her own tail and ears flicked unhappily. His green eyes took her long pause in, likely also taking her in, then he bowed slightly and moved out of the doorway.

Purrcy rose to her own back paws now that he was farther back. She wasn't sure she'd come properly attired, or anything else. Her own shadow patterning would have made her hard for anyone else to see. Only cat eyes could see without lighting in this room. She'd been wearing clothing since she was in town, but it might have left when she ran. She took the time to make sure she had something the equivalent of proper modesty for humans on before she carefully made her way to the door.

She stopped when she could see out of it enough, about a step still away from the doorway. Two others had come with the felinoid. The woman who had been up on the branch with her, surprisingly short with long straight black hair, and standing protectively near the other man. Female ninja. Interesting.

The other man was a tall, thin young man (half-alv) with dark blue to almost black short hair and round glasses. Calm yet at the same time seeming a bit nervous in habit, his sharp eyes were searching the dimness for her until she moved one more time so the light could fall on her.

Purrcy allowed them to look her over and read the computer generated status, which shouldn't be a feature of a living world, but somehow was. She was returning the favor except the Japanese characters didn't give her much information. It was nice of them to keep it to just the three of them to begin with. They finished their review of her first and politely waited.

She took one more step to be just outside the doorway and bowed. "Arigato gozaimasu. Gomennasai." She hoped they'd let her off. They did seem nice enough...but payment was still owed. "Woodstock, onegai."

That got an eyebrow from the young man in glasses. "Grandale ka?"

"Hai." Woodstock was the guildmaster for Grandale guild and one of her few contacts in Akiba.

"Anata ga Grandale ka?"

"Ie," Purrcy shook her head. "Solo."

Eyes sharpened even more at that. "Englesh, desu ka?"

Purrcy paused, everything holding still. Reluctantly she answered, "Hai. Yes."

The guildmaster had a sharp look on his face. "Gretu Britain, America desu ka?"

Purrcy sighed and she felt her ears and tail droop with a little twist. "United States. Secret, please."

"Secretu desu ka?" he asked, a little surprised.

"Onegai," she pleaded. If she could have gotten away with not telling, she would have. If she could blush she would be. Her cat body expressed embarrassment quite well, even without it.

The three of them looked at her measuringly until the young guildmaster nodded once. Purrcy looked at him, measuring him, now. Most likely this guild followed him fairly precisely. She finally let an ear twitch in acceptance.

"Ikimasho," he turned. The others waited for Purrcy to follow him. She moved hesitantly, but smoothly, knowing she didn't have much choice.

As they walked to the stairs, he called up his chat function. Purrcy wasn't surprised he had Woodstock in his friend list. His was the voice she had fallen in love with. One that commanded without commanding, that was sure in its capabilities. Purrcy found it calming. Now if only she could actually talk with him. Then the rest of her might calm down, too.

-:-:-:-:-

"Sorry to interrupt, Woodstock." Shiroe's feet went automatically to the stairs, his objective his office-bedroom on the main floor.

"No worries, Shiroe. What can I do for you?" Woodstock's bass voice came across. Shiroe didn't call him often.

"A felinoid named Purrcy got treed in my guild hall tree by the Wolf Pack just a bit ago. She's suggested I contact you?"

"Purrcy?! Treed by that lot?!" Woodstock growled, angry. "She doesn't understand the language well enough, but she's a good kid. Good at what she does, and tries her best with the lot she's been given."

There was a pause, then his voice came across pleading. "Shiroe...if you could adopt her...you'd be doing every crafter hall and market guild a favor. And likely yourself as well."

Shiroe's eyebrow raised. "What does she provide?"

"High end goods that her level shouldn't be able to provide. She stays out treasure hunting for sometimes months on end, only comes back when her pockets are too full to hold them, then leaves as soon as Call for Home clears."

Shiroe frowned. "High end isn't your product."

"No it's not, but she's taken a liking to me, for some reason," Woodstock sounded embarrassed. "She lets me call Akaneya in, but doesn't want to do business with him directly. Given what she brings him, and that he's used to eccentrics, he gives me a small cut for my time, and for my translator."

"So you already know she's English-speaking?"

"Yes." He was as terse and close mouthed as she was on that topic. Shiroe left it alone.

"We sent the Wolf Pack to the Cathedral," Shiroe told Woodstock. "Do you know why they wouldn't leave her alone? Why treeing her wasn't enough?"

There was silence for a bit. "They've been after her for a while...but I think someone might have sold them information on her. She calls to let me know she's returning to the city now so I can send guards to get her. I made her start doing it about two of her visits ago now. The time before they'd cornered her and only one of Akaneya's who knew her and was passing by saved her that time."

"Why her and them?" Shiroe was rather confused.

He could almost see Woodstock shaking his head. "I don't know, Shiroe. Even with a translator there's too much that doesn't cross the language barrier. ...And she's very closed mouth. ...She might talk to you, though." Woodstock sounded both doubtful and hopeful at the same time. "Thanks for looking out for her this time. Did she know where to find you?"

"No. She was as surprised as we were, it looked like to us. We handled it anyway."

"She hasn't left, has she?" Woodstock was instantly worried.

Shiroe glanced back over his shoulder. "No. She's being good and coming along. Of course, she's practically under guard. Everyone wants to know what's going on."

Woodstock sighed in relief. "Well...if it would help, I could send my translator over."

Shiroe looked up at the ceiling. "No...I don't think that will be necessary."

"If you say so. I'll leave it up to you. If you don't want to keep her overnight, bring her back here and I'll give her a cot. She might stay this time."

"You've offered before." It was a statement.

"Yes. She'd fit in better over at Radio Market, but, as I said...," he trailed off, awkward again.

"I'll let you know," Shiroe said and politely ended the call. He sat at his desk, having arrived just now, and pulled out a middle-high grade sheet of paper, ink, and pen to match. When he was done writing, and satisfied with his new spell scroll, he looked up.

Purrcy was standing quietly at rest attention in front of his desk. Akatsuki was perched in her usual position on the chair between the desk and the door, primly on her knees, her fists on those.

Nyanta was standing behind and to the right of Purrcy, also between her and the door. His ear was twitching and his tail was waving, and his eyes were slightly narrowed and focused on the femfelinoid. Shiroe paused, somewhat surprised. This was the most agitated he'd seen Nyanta in some time. "Chief?"

Nyanta returned immediately to his usual calm self. "Yes, Shiroe-ichi?"

Shiroe raised an eyebrow. Nyanta looked at him calmly, then gave a slight embarrassed flick of his ear. Shiroe slowly turned his attention to Purrcy, deciding that perhaps right this moment was not the moment to hear what Nyanta had to say, since he hadn't offered.

He handed the scroll to Purrcy. She looked at it for a moment, then looked back at him. He pantomimed tearing it. He was pretty sure if she couldn't speak Japanese, she couldn't read it either, so he'd used a torn-scroll spell. It would be simplest.

Her eyes went wide and she looked back at the scroll again, then pantomimed tearing the scroll to see if she got it right. He nodded. She looked distressed, then took a deep breath and tore it carefully in half. A red-gold light surrounded her for a few seconds, then disappeared. The scroll did as well.

"Can you understand me now?" he asked her politely, his hands folded together in front of him on the desk.

"Yes, thank you very much," she answered in some surprise. "Is it a reverse translation as well?"

He nodded. "Yes, I understood that just fine."

"Oh." She paused and got the look of an Adventurer checking her status screen, then looked back at him and bowed. "Thank you, Shiroe-san. That's twice you have helped me in a great way without my asking. What can I repay you with? I take it you're a high level scribe, not just an Enchanter."

"Yes," he said, and was opening his mouth to answer the other, when three items appeared on his desk.

"These should more than replace the materials for the scroll. I'm sure it was efficient, but destruction of beautifully crafted items is sad to me. It was hard to tear." She had just a hint of rebuke in her voice.

Shiroe decided to ignore that, although he appreciated the compliment under the words. He was staring at the items on his desk. "Tell me, Purrcy, how does a level sixty-five come about having over-level-eighty-five items?" He looked back up at her.

Purrcy looked at Shiroe quietly for a moment, her tail making a wide sweep from one side to the other and back again, making it look in total like she was contemplative. "While I am grateful to you and your guild, I'm not willing to pay with that information. It's sufficient to say I come by them from my own honest effort. Please ask a different question."

Shiroe felt something within him lurch in excitement. "You trade in information as well?"

The whiskers on one side of her face moved up as she half-smiled. "I suppose you could say that."

Shiroe lifted his joined hands to his lips and leaned forward on his elbows. "Woodstock says you bring him high level treasures. Is your information at the same level?"

A slight lift of a shoulder. "I suppose that depends on what it is and who's asking."

Inside, Shiroe's lips lifted also. He kept his negotiator's face on the outside. "While I think about what information I'd like in payment, why don't you tell me what the Wolf Pack was doing chasing you all the way out here?"

The tip of Purrcy's tail twitched, as if she'd spotted the movement of small prey. He was pretty sure she'd taken the bait, willingly, to negotiate. "I rather wish I knew," she answered. "They were actually in my tree this time, not common for wolf-fangs.

"I suspect they finally learned what I trade in. So far until this time, they've only been interested in my gender and that keeps their feet on the ground. ...Of course, that's disconcerting enough. If they've learned what I trade in, they'll not let me alone from now on."

"How many know what you trade in?" he asked her, inside genuinely concerned.

"Woodstock, the translator, Akaneya." The list was that short.

"You trust the translator?" Shiroe asked.

Purrcy shrugged. "I have to. It's more likely that someone watched the products that came in and traced the frequency and where people went and followed them, then looked for the supplier to go in or come out. It isn't that hard if someone tries." Akatsuki nodded silently behind her. She could have done it, given enough time.

"Now that someone knows, will you stop?" Shiroe asked.

Purrcy shook her head. "It happens whether I will or not. If it becomes too troublesome, I'll find a middle man and not come into town at all. ...Or move."

Shiroe frowned at that. "Neither of the next closer Adventurer towns is safe, and the others are too far." Purrcy shrugged, but didn't say anything. "Is it enough to have the guards bring you in?" he tried a little harder.

"That helps me get the products in, but it doesn't keep me safe for the rest of the twenty-four hours I need before I head out again, if I'm the target."

"Why do you only stay that long?"

"Because I'm always a target." Purrcy's ear and tail twitched in irritation. "Mostly here, but even out to an eight hour run. I've had to use Call of Home more frequently in that radius than anywhere else outside, although I've finally got a few routes that I can get through on fairly reliably."

"You go that far out?" Shiroe asked surprised. "Alone?"

She gave him an impatient look. "Don't all soloists?"

"Ah...," well he did have to give her that. He dropped one hand and rubbed his head with the other. Her tail gave one last impatient twitch then went back to the slow sweep that paused briefly at each full set.

Purrcy was a rather beautiful tortoiseshell. Mostly black but with orange-gold swirls here and there and grey-white flecks throughout, as if she'd be right at home in the dappled shadows of a forest. She probably used it to good effect. Her hands were actually hands, although they seemed to be claw-tipped, what he'd seen of them. At the moment they were clasped together in front of her in a relaxed fashion. Her golden eyes matched the gold of her swirls.

Shiroe wondered briefly how old she was. She was definitely not fashion conscious. The skirt was rather conservative for Akiba, long to the mid-calf and flowy. The blouse was more comfortable than beautiful, and it hid what small chest she had, as if she'd opted for a more realistic cat form than the typical buxom female that Elder Tales initially assumed a player would want. It seemed an odd choice for a woman from the United States.

There was no other external item on her, as might be expected of any Adventurer. Given how much they could store in their item lists, though, she probably didn't feel the need to show much of anything else here. Relaxed and casual was okay. They all were, too, except that they'd just come from battle so keeping weapons nearby was comforting for them. Always a target, hmmm?

Shiroe looked at Nyanta and pushed his glasses up to see him better. His look wasn't one of opposition. If anything, it was one of support. "Should we call in Naotsugu?" he asked. Naotsugu was their best judge of character. Akatsuki disappeared. Shiroe blinked slightly. That meant she was also in support.

In only about a half of a minute, the door to the office opened and the larger man came walking in, poking his head in first to glance around. When he saw them, he came fully into the room, let Akatsuki in behind him, closed the door and walked to the side of Shiroe's desk and looked at Purrcy. "Are you alright, then?" he asked her.

Purrcy looked at him, one ear twitching back and forth. She tipped her head in a slight bow. "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry to startle you. I didn't know anyone but Nyanta-san was in the building when I was headed towards it."

"Do you know the Chief?" Naotsugu asked, surprised.

Purrcy's tail stopped momentarily. "Only by sight," she answered. Nyanta's tail twitched upright and he stiffened generally. "Ah," she answered his external reaction, "my tree is near the market. I've seen you shopping on occasion."

Nyanta blinked, then a look of remembrance came over him. "Mew're the one, several months ago, that I kept meeting at the various market stands while shopping?"

Purrcy nodded with an embarrassed twitch. "I'm sorry to have used you that day to escape. I tried not to be overly rude."

Nyanta blinked again. "I didn't notice it being so, just humorous at the time."

Purrcy's eyes narrowed. "Yes, you did. Thank you for being humored."

Nyanta was decidedly embarrassed and waved it off. Shiroe thought it was the first time he'd seen Nyanta at a loss for words. Purrcy looked at him a while longer, then relented and looked back at Naotsugu. He was looking between them. "Eh...Chief...this is your type?" Both felinoids blushed, if it was possible for felinoids.

"Just knee him in the face," Akatsuki said from behind them. "I find it quite effective. Shall I do it for you this time?" The last question came after the action had been performed.

"Shrimp!" Naotsugu roared at her. "It wasn't even directed at you. Stay out of it!"

"Rude Naotsugu," she retorted and returned to her seat as suddenly as she'd left it. Shiroe took his turn to be embarrassed, but Purrcy had a smile on her face, surprising him again. He stared at her. It was surprising that such a small expression on a cat made this one light up. He made his decision and looked at Naotsugu.

Naotsugu was looking at the smile as well and gave Shiroe a nod. "You look like you've been through a lot since the Catastrophe," he said to the femfelinoid.

She looked back at him soberly. "Yes, Naotsugu, but so have a lot of other Adventurers." That won points in the room. She turned to Shiroe. "...And the next set of them is going to find it getting harder even still."

Shiroe raised an eyebrow soberly at her. She tipped her head towards Nyanta. "Nyanta is finding it more difficult?" he asked. Nyanta froze again, giving the truth to it, but Shiroe didn't understand it.

Purrcy turned and looked at Nyanta sympathetically. "Him particularly. He's in conflict with his own body. Most aren't, since they're young enough not to care."

Nyanta stared at her as if willing her to be quiet, as if not wanting to hear any more, and his ears folded back on his head. His lips lifted briefly as if he wanted to snarl slightly but was restraining himself.

Purrcy turned back to Shiroe. "I will give you one piece of information I think you would want." He only looked at her waiting. "If for no other reason than because you've helped me as a guild, you need to know it for his sake." They all became alert at that. They would all help any one in the guild, but particularly Nyanta who was father and chef - two very important roles for the guild.

"I'll hear it," Shiroe said quietly.

"The beast-men and -women are having the same effects on them as what happened with the flavor text on weapons. They are becoming more beast and somewhat less human, although not completely. We have all been living as humans in costume until now. That has become impossible. The bodies are taking over some control. It will continue to get worse for a while."

Shiroe sat in stunned revelation. It answered so much. Why the Wolf Pack was getting worse, why so many of the beast related types - felinoid, wolf-fang, and foxtail - were getting more irritable, or staying out hunting longer, or like the Wolf Pack did today, falling into typical race behaviors of their animal halves without seeming to understand they were inappropriate. "How far will it go?" he asked.

Purrcy shook her head. "I've gone the farthest, but that's because I started out letting my body teach me how to survive in this world. I still have my mind, and my choice - most of the time - but I've had to learn when the body is going to react and prepare it to act in the way I want it to, or understand that it will just act and then do what I can to interrupt that action sufficiently so that the final outcome is acceptable to me.

"Those who don't understand it don't act wisely. Those who refuse it, but fight it, like Nyanta-san, have the hardest time since it will take over when they least expect it to and that is frightening."

Shiroe and Naotsugu both turned and looked at Nyanta. He was looking both surprised and then sheepish. "Is it something that can be trained, then?" Shiroe asked Purrcy.

"If they want to understand themselves, yes," she answered. "But they have to make the readjustment, and it's nearly the same adjustment as the transition of the Catastrophe - from Earthling to Theldesian. For this, it's from human to beast-man - a harder adjustment, I think, for most. Perhaps as difficult as from one gender to the opposing for those who picked wrong before being brought here. A fun diversion at the time, completely opposing what they truly desire now in the heart."

Eyes in the room went to Akatsuki who had lived through that very problem, and only had Shiroe's gender changing potion to thank. They also had one other guild member with that problem, and they couldn't help that one. Shiroe had only had one potion.

"Is there a solution?" Shiroe asked Purrcy.

Her tail twitched a few times. "It was very helpful to not be in town for some time. It's easier to become the beast when not under the eyes of those who don't understand. When control is finally mastered, then returning is easier. But...they have to want to learn to master it. It's easy to just let it become natural, to think that the way you have become is the way it is or even should be. Too many younglings who cannot mature can be...harmful."

Her pupils dilated and she was holding herself stiffly now, her pose becoming more imposing. "If that pack were sent out together to learn it, they would only learn to become more properly the pack, even though they are already learning that here. But here, they have the restraints of other humans who understand that what they are doing and becoming isn't right or normal."

Shiroe thought about that for a while. So did Nyanta, it looked like. "So, if they left the city to learn it, they should take others with them, like a training raid, or something like that?"

Purrcy's tail paused, then whipped around with a little swirl. "Perhaps... those who have the sub-skill 'animal trainer' could help? As long as it was a person the students respected enough to listen to, believe, and obey. ...What would you do with those who can't learn it or refuse?"

Shiroe thought longer on the issue. "Segregate them," Naotsugu answered flatly.

"Why?" Purrcy seemed to suddenly become a professor.

"Because that's what we do with those who can't live in human society. We put them in their own. Then we can relax and they can relax. In the game, there were several cities and villages of just the half-beasts where trading and interaction went on, but they had customs and traditions unique to them, and often 'off' to humans. Flavor text, if you get my meaning."

Purrcy looked back at Shiroe and he had the distinct impression again that she was a professor waiting for him, her student, to understand. He thought three thoughts at once, put them quickly into order, and addressed the first one. "If that became necessary, we could do that. In the game there were several within Eastal we could send delegations to, to see if we could send the Adventurers there, and perhaps discover if they can be trained to live at least to that level of social compatibility...if they'll take them." That was thought one - answer the question.

Now to thought two. "Purrcy, it seems to me that there would be another option to having you be safe while in Akiba." She tipped her head, listening with her ears pointing forward. "You've already run to us and seen we're willing to protect you without knowing you. Will you let us protect you from now on? ...I won't require you to stay when you're ready to leave the city."

Purrcy's ears twitched. "That is hard to repay...or are you, perhaps, asking...," she frowned. He nodded. She shook her head as if she'd suddenly had it splashed into water. "That's...sudden? Unexpected."

"No, not really," Naotsugu said mildly. "That's about how fast it usually goes, with Shiroe." Even Shiroe stared at Naotsugu for that blatant lie. It usually took the other person pushing him to get past his reticence and shyness.

"What?" Naotsugu defended himself. "It is. You just don't usually have the short amount of time to ask it in. She's going to walk out the door and you'll never see her again, right? Your only chance is to ask now. Protecting important things and people's your specialty after all." Shiroe blinked. He didn't have an answer for that.

Nyanta chuckled. "That's true, nyan. When mew've decided to purrotect a thing, mew don't hesitate to move when needed."

"My liege is very decisive when it benefits the most people possible." Akatsuki said proudly.

"A tender heart is hidden behind the glasses, is it?" Purrcy said, and Shiroe was startled to hear the kindly teasing note to it. "That is a rarity in this place...but having already been the recipient of it, how can I doubt it?" She considered Shiroe and he looked back at her openly, wondering what she was thinking.

"If you and yours will already agree to protect me, then I will of necessity repay you. Doing both within the contract of guild membership would be agreeable." Her demeanor was polite and her words thoughtfully slow.

She narrowed her golden eyes at him. "You've asked not just from the kindness of your heart, but also because you believe I have things that will help you with other goals. Write the details of the terms of the agreement and let me see them." She had already understood his third thought. This one was not a child but would be a worthy opponent or possibly strong support.

Shiroe collected another sheet of paper and ink pen. With a few brief strokes, he wrote a guild member contract and handed it to Purrcy. She reviewed it as if used to seeking the fine print in contracts. She asked for the pen, added one more line and showed it to him.

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. She signed it and gave both the paper and pen back. He signed it also and it disappeared, setting the proper settings from his office that everyone else in this part of this world had to perform at the Guild Hall itself.


Hello! Welcome to my walk through Akiba, Yamato, and Theldesia with the canon characters of Log Horizon and lots of new ones. Just a couple of notes on where we are going. This work is as much a study of the differences between Japanese and American (U.S.) culture as it is a story about a journey to find the way home and a struggle to live peaceably while traversing a world-sized dungeon. The pieces of the cultural differences already have reared there heads even here at the beginning.

The Japanese idolize the U.S. culture, but the people themselves are considered wild, rude, and immoral. There is a lot of bad press out there about the way the people of the United States behave. (The Japanese view the Brits, however, as being similar in refinement and societal hierarchy, if not temperament.) The U.S. people reciprocate with the idolization of Japanese culture; however, the Japanese people themselves are ruled by strict social politeness and hierarchical structures that are found extremely binding and sometimes unfathomable to those from the United States that are suddenly faced with it. Just because they are polite to your face, and seem very accommodating, ...all is not as it seems. Hidden darknesses on both sides of the fence will be revealed as the story progresses.

Our main OC is a quandary inside a puzzle inside a Pandora's box - a dungeon unto herself that Log Horizon must pass through to reach Shiroe's goals. Please have patience as each layer and level is traversed. Even for U.S. Americans she can be difficult...for good reason that really isn't her fault...(maybe). Enjoy! Ah, yes. I've taken creative license and given Nyanta paws, rather than hands as a minor plot point.

Note update 10/2019: I've received a few notices from people who "skim", read parts of, etc., this story. Please, if that is how you like to read, stop now. This story is written for Shiroe-type readers, who like to find the hidden clues, seek for the hidden meanings behind things that seem odd, and are even willing to go back and re-read once Shiroe openly speaks what he is learning about to see that, indeed, I the author did leave a trail of breadcrumbs to follow.

If it seems an odd occurrence (like Shiroe accepting Purrcy immediately as a guild member in this very chapter) then it is a *clue*, not an out-of-cannon thing to turn off those readers who are in love with the original. (I'm fairly careful to hold to subbed anime and light novel cannon as much as possible, for all I do take the usual creative license all authors take.) A number of chapters could be seen as offensive (or conversely completely acceptable to the opposing pov), but even they are clues as to what is coming up in the story, and have their proper place to the overall story.

I am disappointed to have received enough comments that I must ruin this odd but important beginning to what is a wonderful mystery novel that Strategists, detectives, and investigators alike will enjoy to no end. I have devoted many long hours of effort to this work. Please, go no further if you cannot devote the hour or less it will take per chapter for you to really read it to understand it. Please feel free to read it carefully and slowly. It *is* long - much longer than I originally anticipated. Going slowly will allow you to both savor the story and to unearth the gems, clues, and delights of this journey we take. If you are looking for a well-written story that you can have as a long-term friend, this is one of those.

Thank you for taking the time to visit, whether for a long time, or for only a short time. - R_n_O