The Next Quest

Shizuru was watching Natsuki sleep with a mildly amused expression. It wasn't every day that you got to watch a half-elf maiden sleeping soundly against the flank of a wolf the size of an elephant.

"That sleep spell hit her hard, huh?" Mai looked at her friend as she rested.

"It's kinda adorable, really," Nao mused, "She really does look peaceful when she's sleeping."

"It may be adorable, but it's not very productive," Haruka sighed, "How long is she going to be out?"

"Well," Shizuru put her finger to her lip, looking skyward as she did some mental calculations, "The spell was cast to knock out Duran. Natsuki just happened to be riding him at the time, so…"

"I've got it," Yukino did some quick calculations in the dirt with a stick, "She should be out of about four hours."

"There isn't a spell that can wake her up sooner?" Haruka asked.

"Aw, but look how cute and adorable she is, curled up with her pet," Nao grinned, "Why would you want to interrupt that?"

Shizuru cast a glance at Nao, "I don't know if I should commend you for your taste, or worry about what you're thinking of right now."

"Relax," Nao smirked, "I'm merely admiring the aesthetics. I would never try to take anything away from you. Well, aside from this…"

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Nao reached over and snagged a pepperoni that was sliding off of Shizuru's slice of pizza, popping it into her mouth with zeal.

"Okay, okay, you've all had your fun teasing me," Natsuki grimaced, "Now can someone cast a spell to wake me up?"

"Hang on," Akira was sitting on the sofa with Takumi, and she had just finished with a large sketch pad, "Is this what you all had in mind."

She held up a large pad to show soft pencil sketch of Natsuki with elven ears and garb, laying peacefully on the side of a large sleeping wolf.

"That's…Akira, how much would you ask for a colored version of that piece?" Shizuru asked her.

"Ordinarily for a piece this size, I'd charge ¥30,000. But since you're a friend, I can do it for ¥25,000 for a painting, or if you prefer the softer look, pastels for ¥20,000."

"¥20,000 it is, then," Shizuru said, "I like the softer look."

She dug into her purse and produced two ¥10,000 notes, "Paid in advance. I'll even double it if you can do one of Natsuki and I together."

"Sure," Akira nodded, "Um, by the way, are the only choices in movies American action films or lesbian romances?"

"I'm fairly sure I have a few period dramas in there as well," Shizuru said.

"You loaned them to Alyssa and Miyu," Natsuki reminded her, and then, without turning her head, "Mikoto, if you touch anything on my plate, I'm eating your share of the dessert."

"Mai! Natsuki's being stingy!"

"No, Mikoto. You need to learn to be satisfied with what you have."

"Hey, enough jawing!" Midori said, "You've got a game to play!"

"And no clue what we're doing, this time," Nao pointed out.

"You have to play the game to learn what's happening," Midori said, reasonably.

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"D'djya have a nice nap?" Nao smirked as Natsuki came to.

"I'm just fine," Natsuki sighed, "How about you, Duran?"

Natsuki got a gigantic slurp in response, and she laughed to herself a bit.

"Well," Shizuru approached them, "I have examined our fallen foes. Orcs. And laden with gold. The sorcerer who gave you your enchanted nap must have paid them for their services. "

"He hired Orcs to kill us?" Haruka scoffed, "Did he hear about us taking out the Lich King?"

"I don't think they were sent to kill us," Natsuki shook her head, "Our victory over the Lich King is well known. These Orcs were child's play until the Sorcerer cast that sleep spell on me. This was someone throwing down the gauntlet. They wanted our attention."

"I'm inclined to agree with Natsuki," Mai said, "The next question is…why?"

"Who cares?" Mikoto chirped, hefting her Great-Axe, "We'll just go and show him that we're strong, too."

"Hey, Shizuru," Yukino called her over, "I was looking at the gold that the Orcs were carrying…"

"Yukino, robbing the dead? I'm surprised at you!"

"No, Haruka, but I was looking at it. It's not common coin. It's gold from the Holy Kingdom. The Sorcerer who hit Natsuki with the Sleep Spell is…was…from the Holy Kingdom."

"Why is the Holy Kingdom picking a fight with us?" Haruka demanded, "WE'RE the good guys!"

"I can think of one reason," Shizuru sighed, patting Natsuki's arm affectionately, "This is a recruitment test."

Natsuki nodded, "He sends a threat our way to see if we can handle it, then offers us a quest that benefits the kingdom."

"So why'd he throw a Sleep Spell at you?" Nao mused.

"Not me. Duran. He was taking down Duran. He wanted to see how we worked, then make a quick, quiet exit. Duran was too large, too fast, for him to do that. I just happened to be riding Duran at the time."

"Why test us with a low level monster like Orcs, though?" Nao said, "We took down the Lich King, after all."

"It may simply be a matter of studying our tactics and seeing if we are up to the task they have in mind," Shizuru said, "In any event, we will have to ask them in person when we reach the Holy City."

"Hold on," Nao said, "Why should we go there?"

"Of course we're going there," Haruka crossed her arms, "I'm a Paladin! A Holy Knight!"

"And they sent one of theirs to sic Orcs on us instead of just asking us for a favor," Nao said evenly, "Now, I'm not as forgiving as Natsuki, and I'm not as given to intrigues as our dear Cleric. So, can someone give me a good reason WHY we should venture out to the Holy City and present ourselves to them like good little schoolchildren instead of just going about our business and making them come to us?"

Natsuki and Shizuru exchanged a look, then nodded.

"You're absolutely right, Nao," Natsuki said, "I think I can speak for everyone else here when I say that I'm not too fond of being bossed around by enigmatic weirdoes. I'm not going to dance to someone else's tune."

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"You guys sure know how to ruin a well planned campaign!" Midori groused.

"I can't help it if Nao's making a whole lot of sense," Natsuki shrugged.

"I do find that there is much wisdom in Yuuki-han's council," Shizuru nodded, "A magician, particularly one powerful enough to cast Sleep against a half-elf, isn't the sort of person we should blindly follow."

"Now that," they heard an unwelcome and familiar voice say, "Is just very unfortunate."

The room swam, and the shadows seemed to stretch and fill a corner of the room, and then, standing clear as day in that shadow, was Nagi Homura.

All of the HiMEs were on their feet in an instant. Natsuki snatched a knife from the wood block on the counter, holding it in the reverse grip style that many knife fighters favored.

"My goodness, you girls are jumpy!" Nagi chided, smiling, "And here I just wanted to check up on you all and were making sure you were adjusting."

"We're adjusting just fine, no thanks to you," Mai growled.

"Indeed," Shizuru nodded, "So, you are free to return to whence you came."

"Whence?" Natsuki looked at Shizuru, blinking.

"Nevermind that, now, dearest. Less chatter, more menacing of our foe."

"Oh, but I'm not your foe," Nagi grinned, "In fact, I've decided that I wanted to give you girls a gift. And it looked like you were all having so much fun, with this game. Why don't I give you the chance to experience it firsthand?"

"Nagi…" Natsuki growled.

"And a one and a two…" Nagi snapped his fingers.

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"Where….Where are we?" Haruka looked around.

"This is the Northern Woods," Midori groaned, and went to hold her face in her hands, only to realize that they were clad in armor.

"He didn't!" Mai slumped to the ground.

"He did," Natsuki confirmed, "Nagi put us IN the Realm of Dungeons and Dragons."

"Well, how do we go about getting out?" Nao asked.

"Well, we can either finish the quest that Midori laid out for us," Natsuki suggested, "OR we can see if we can get Nagi to show up and then throttle him."

"No good," Mikoto shook her head, "He knows we want to throttle him. He won't show up."

Shizuru sighed, "I suppose we make for the Holy City."

"Hey, wait, I thought you said I was right when I said we shouldn't go there."

"That was when all I had to do to leave the game was get up from my chair and visit the kitchen for a snack."

"No," Natsuki stood up, and mounted Duran, "Sorry, Shizuru, but I think Nao was right. If we go to the Holy City, we're doing just what we said we wouldn't do, follow the trail laid out for us by a smarmy mysterious twerp. I'm not doing that. Not again. Nagi may be making us play this game, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna play it his way."

Shizuru blinked, but then she smiled, "I see your point, Natsuki. However, we could be stuck here awhile."

Natsuki scoffed, but leaned down from her perch on Duran, kissing Shizuru, "If I'm with you, I'll manage."

"So, then," Midori looked around, "If we're not going to the Holy City, where are we going?"

"Well," Mai smirked, "The best way we can show Nagi that we're not going to do what he wants is to go the exact opposite direction.

"Mai," Natsuki smirked, "The exact opposite direction is this rather large lake, here, and we don't have a boat."

"Oh."

"It pays to study the maps."

"I was busy studying my Geometry."

"Well, the Holy City is that way," Natsuki pointed to the north, "So why don't we head West. I think there's a modest city with some good inns that way."

She brushed her hair over her ears. Shizuru blinked, then started giggling uncontrollably, "Ara, but it seems Nagi didn't just bring us into the game."

Nao saw it too, and started pointing and laughing, "Kuga, you look like a Vulcan."

Natsuki's eyes went wide, and she reached to the side of her head, feeling the pointed tips of her elven ears.

"Why that smarmy son of a…"

"Oh, so THAT'S what elven ears look like!" Akira whipped out her sketchbook and started making quick alterations to her sketch.