She felt her breath catch when she saw the symbol shining lightlessly by the misty doorway. Her ears quivered in anticipation as she bounded towards it, sparing only the briefest moment to check the area for foes before she was kneeling besides it.
She hesitated just short of touching it, torn between eagerness and hesitation. She forced herself to run through a quick mental checklist.
"Weapons, 'check'", she murmured, fingers tapping on the twin daggers at her hip. On a larger mammal, the weapons were too small to be of much use, but she had trouble handling anything heavier. Luckily, a deft hand and fast feet were decent substitute for a big sword, even if she sometimes wished she was a few feet taller.
"Spells, 'check'." One hand went to the staff on her back, the other to the pilfered holy symbol hanging around her neck. It was hard, trying to master both kinds of magic, but they were just too useful to do without, and Nick…
Well, he just didn't have the talent. Cunning could only get a mammal so far, in the end, and Nick had skipped the last half of high school. He didn't have the education for sorcery, and he was too cynical for miracles, so she'd just have to pick up the slack.
"Tools…" Throwing knives on her belt, bombs in padded pouches, a few clumps of moss in handy pockets... It was hard to tell what she'd need for a new boss, so she always ended up bringing a bit of everything, a fact that tended to make Nick laugh.
She fingered a large lump of amber speculatively, before letting it slide out of her grip; she'd have plenty of time to apply it later.
She was as ready as she'd ever be, so she leaned down and placed both paws on the complex and archaic script that was unmistakably him, his heart and soul written out in this impossible language. She took a deep breath, and felt the magic come to life.
The pointed ears appeared first as the shade rose from the glowing script, his fur and armor bleached to a uniform white, his body left a little translucent, and blurry at the edges. It was hard to see his face beneath the custom helmet he was wearing, but the eager grin that spread across his face was as familiar as looking into the mirror. His bushy tail wagged happily as he locked eyes with her, one paw smoothing back his ears with that silly suaveness that was as much a part of him as his sarcasm.
His fangs flashed in the dimness, lips parting around a name she couldn't hear him say.
"Nick," she breathed, reaching out to take his paw. It was like touching a puff of fog, her hand meeting only the lightest resistance as her fur touched his. It was enough, barely. She wanted to charge over and give him a hug, embracing his warmth, his strength, his scent...but feeling the brush of her fur against his was enough.
It would have to be.
She took a deep breath, and let it hiss through her teeth. "Are you ready, partner?"
His ears perked up, though she knew her voice was as silent to him as his was to hers. She saw his lips move, but could only hear the sound of her own breathing; that, and the memory of his smooth voice, his quiet confidence as he said the words.
'Ready when you are, carrots,' he would say, and she ached so desperately to hear them for real, but she was stuck with only the sound of her own thoughts. It would have to be enough.
She felt his fur brush against her shoulder, and opened her eyes to look up into his, seeing only blank white where there should have been a verdant green. His mouth moved without a sound, but she already knew the words.
'You know I love you, right?'
Her chuckle was weak and sad, but it was so much better than staying silent. "Do i know that?" she whispered back, letting her head rest gingerly against his wispy chest. "Yes, yes I do."