-CLICK!-
-est-test-test~... There we go.
Hello, all~! Noelle Holiday speaking, back with everyone else~! I.. hope you don't mind... But I'm gonna get right to it. Introductions aren't really that necessary at this point. And.. well, I'm running on a schedule. So, pardon my brevity~.
... Let me see... What is a good starting point...
*Well. If you recall, our troubles didn't start within the ruined city itself. They started...*
... Ah! Right. Thank you, Ral~.
*Of course!*
Right, then.
Our wandering had led us along the forest floor for a while. The trees all around us looked bigger than usual. I couldn't even spot the tops beyond the trunks and shrouds of un-pierced leaves overhead. Just the tree branches full of orange hanging further down on the trunks.
But that wasn't the only plant life around that made us feel like ants. There were plenty of bushes in the immediate area that were like trees themselves, only the home-size variety. However, unlike trees, bushes grow limbs from ANYWHERE on their bodies, making for some very fat trees indeed filled with orange foliage formed a lot like moss.
There was even one mushroom that seemed large and thick enough to be a house... It's top spores looked like wide eyes, which freaked me out...
Oversized autumn leaves crushed beneath our paws, boots and hooves. The air, cold and soft, I'd started to get alarmingly used to.
Even when it slithered passed my legs, I wasn't that cold anymore. Even still, I kept shifting my eyes from one side to the other, expecting another random fight.
...Ah. About that... We- or well, mostly Ralsei and Susie- had gotten fairly used to how hostile the animals there were and... I was coping. Monster or not, anything that wandered had a habit of attacking us. And it came as confirmation more and more to me each time it happened that Baht's claims on their oddly hostile behavior were true.
... You've heard this all before, but I was thinking of it a bit more deeply... To me it made very little sense. Even when spooked, in the Light World animals would avoid human and monster kinds on basic instinct... Or, at least that's what I figured. There aren't really any big animals of territory around our town and we tended to not go near places that were well known for those sorts.
And so, cases like that were insane. Every one of the animals there with sparse exception wanted to either eat or kill us. Usually, it was the latter. It was like they were possessed by the very spirit of violence, made to attack whatever ventured too near because something was driving them to do it... That's the only way it made sense to me...
... As for why Ralsei and Susie did most of the fighting... I-I... -sigh- My only worth-while attack was to summon down Comet...
I was extremely afraid of what might happen if he saw Susie and Ralsei. He could of mistaken them for my enemies and made a meal out of them WITH whatever else was around!
Everything else I knew- which was limited to the basics and what few things I got out of the gift from the Vale- had been defensive apart from spells I already knew that couldn't do anything very big. So, defense's where I came in moreso-than-not. If it looked like Sue or Ral were about to take a big hit, I had at least learned that I could will a wind and leaf barrier over them for extra protection by waving my staff and wanting it. Valuable in times when I wasn't being hounded myself, though not much could overpower Susie.
She seemed to draw them in more often than not. And in the same way, I could at least protect myself if need be. That last part was easier. I seemed to be able to uhm... do it on instinct... by getting afraid...
*Which turned out to-*
Ralsei~.
*Right. Sorry...*
So, we had a good composition, in the common RPG sense of things. Susie was our tank, Ralsei our healer and uhm... Well, I could buff us!
/So, Synergist.\
Y-yeah! Synergist!
A-and if all else failed, it hurt when I hit something with my staff's head. So, I had that, too!
Which wasn't much, I admit, but... it was better than the small time offensive spells I DID have from home and safer for the party than hoping Comet would understand the difference between a friend and a foe~.
Still, a lot of what we found didn't go quietly and... sometimes it was them or us. Ralsei's Pacify spell did a lot to lessen those sorts of things, but it was just something only one of us could do.
... I really wished that I knew how to Tame things like I had with Comet, back then. It might have helped us to further avoid dust and bloodshed...
But I know. The past is the past. I can't change that.
... Getting back to the then-present moment, we continued on and on. I held my staff close to my character and walked close to Susie and Ralsei as they led on. Our goal had been the Castletown producing the beam of "light" that I had been calling a Black Geyser and Dark Fountain with no true favorite. Both were new to me.
And that little bit was all I knew we had to do and all I was under the impression we would be doing. But our path took as many twists and turn-arounds as a bee did when communicating.
And at this point, we couldn't see the beam of the Fountain... We could easily have gotten ourselves lost, but Ralsei continued ahead like a slow, methodical bloodhound.
If he stopped and turned, we did too. If he took a route through a creepy chapel, well... I didn't like that place, but since Susie was following him without a second thought, the least I could do was stay glued to her non-existent tail.
But after a while, it was sheer forest in every direction with no indication of any well tread paths. We were effectively blind beyond a mental compass carried by our navigator.
We ended up having to veer around an extra large tree trunk the size of a silo. Next to it, we were practically insects walking the grass and scaling over it's giant roots.
My hooves are not the best at climbing, awkward and round as they are.. You can about imagine how careful I had to be not to fall on my face. And after that was over, the hunger from before reared it's ugly head, causing me to groan softly and hold my stomach with an uncomfortable grimace. Still, I shook it off and sighed, electing to let hunger turn into drive as I walked it up behind the goat.
... Eventually, Ralsei stopped with a gasp and nearly caused Susie to clamor over him before she stumbled back and into me, causing a yelp to come out of my mouth as I went falling over on my back! "God damn, Ralsei! Get a grip-!"
"Shh!"
I was still groaning against the ground when our goat boy shushed Susie. By the time I was picking myself up, Susie had cursed to herself and gripped tight on my arm, dragging me messily up onto my hooves with my squeaking surprise and wide eyes!
"Come on!" She took my hand and borderline dragged my stumbling self with her as she and Ralsei moved to hide behind a second huge tree's giant root some yards further ahead. At some point, I caught my balance, only for Susie to yank me along with my grunting against the back of the root!
My wide eyes stared up at her as she borderline pinned me there with her arm, my brain firing on all cylinders! Susie was staring at something over the top of our cover. Upon looking his way, I realized that Ralsei's cloaked eyes were as well. And they looked to match the narrow on Susie's face.
With a gulping frown and a turn from my eyes back to Susie, I stuttered out, "Wh-why are we-" And then came a shush from the purple monster as my whole frame shuddered and my lips went flat in silence.
... I could hear something when silence and soft wind reigned. Distant voices and the crush of leaves. And my heart sank... I realized that these voices were engaged in conversation. And as far as I could know, there was only one tribe in the forest that would give us a reason to hide from them. The Kytsaters.
I had gotten away by some miracle born of divine intervention only to wind right back up in another situation wherein they were very capable of capturing us... or, more directly, executing us on the spot. I didn't know which it would be if they really managed it, but I didn't want to know, either.
... Still. I had to know what the other two saw. So, I tapped at Susie's arm, trying to catch her attention. She looked down and I rapidly gestured for her to remove her arm.
With some unease, she did just that and let me move from my spot against the wood of the root. So, lifting myself off, I turned around and sidled out from under her, getting between the dino and goat, who looked at me for a split second, taken out of focus mode for a second, before returning his eyes forward and ducking a bit further down on his portion of root to think... I think. He was staring at the ground, after all. Still~. I'm glad he's shorter than me, otherwise it might not have been enough with me crowding closer like that.
There wasn't really a way for me to both mind my antlers and peer out. There's not a very good way to forget about those when you've had them your whole life. Regardless, I just took a deep breath... and poked my head up high enough to get my sight just above the root, a hand to the wood and another clenching tight around the branch of my staff.
I wasn't surprised by what I saw. They were everywhere and it was only natural to expect.
It was a camp- no wait, I guess that it's not really if it's that big... A village owned and operated by Kytsaters. The architecture of these ground based homes was almost nothing like what I saw in Lacat design, but they WERE still using all natural elements. Materials such as branches strung up tightly and held together by dirt like log cabins were. The bindings were vines. And for more decorative flare- as there is no way these things were necessary to make them more sturdy- were bones incorporated into the walls and over doors. straight bones, skulls and teeth, mostly.
They were built up into tent shapes. Or teepees. Whichever you prefer. They also featured leather and fur tarp wrappings. The "lights" of the camp were orange fires found in small clearings between tents and torches situated at the entry ways.
And as for the number of Kytsaters... two dozen, that I could see. The village was a wide area situated directly before us amidst the colossal trees. An area at least as big as a football field. I don't need to elaborate further to make you guys understand that this wasn't a fighting situation...
I turned and dropped below the line of the root, staring at Susie with a frown. "W-...what are we supposed to do? Go a-around? We can't fight. Th-there are too many...!" I did my best to not go above a whisper. I still had no idea how good the ears of a kytsater was. And though we were a decent distance away, I know at least one monster here in Hometown who's ears can hear for half a mile.
But even though I asked that to Susie, earning her groan in the process, Ralsei was the one to say, "That is the sensible solution, yes." I turned to look at him and blinked nervously at his calm smile. He's always able to keep calm in these situations. I envy that ability...
With that, Ralsei bypassed me and stood straight in front of Susie as he egged her on with a smile that stole some of her confusion and a bit of sweat. "Let us find our way around then. It should not be TOO bothersome..."
And so, he walked back from the tree, back toward the way we came.
Susie followed after him after a moment and, left alone against the root, I was the last to lean off and-
A soft wind blew passed me as a voice echoed into my ears, causing me to freeze mid step with eyes wide and ears perked. "Art thou able to hear mine voice, Bright One?"
I turned every which way in shudder and silent gasp, clutching my staff tight to myself. It was her again. The Vale. "Y-you again...!"
Ralsei and Susie both snapped back toward me on alert, but when they saw me just standing there alone, staring up into the heavens, they were... confused or annoyed? I don't now. I could only see them out the corner of my eye, but I'd like to think confusion fits better. "Noelle." That had been Susie.
Ralsei had taken more to trying to trace my line of sight back up into the tree canopy for any signs of a spying party. Of course, formless as she was on the wind, there was no way he'd see The Vale or recognize her words.
Another wind blew passed us, this one more lingering than the last. And her voice reached my ears again. She obviously heard me, even if I didn't or couldn't grasp how. "Indeed. T'is I, Vale of this forest. I beseech thee listen well, child, 'fore the chance escapes thee and thyne... Thou final displaced companion layest very near to these parts. And with they, a guide of mine own dost this one travel. A convergence awaiteth thee."
It took me a moment to understand all she said, but when it clicked, I gasped aloud and almost said above whisper, "Kr-ris?! Th-they're around here?!"
Susie came up to me quickly after that and got in my line of sight as she narrowed venomously down into me while grabbing into my arms and leaning in to harshly whisper with her eyes glowing angrily, "Could you talk to the air some other time? And less loudly?! We still don't know how good those guys's ears are!"
I was a little shaken up by her and looked around in panicked confusion, remembering where I was.
And I remember seeing Ralsei looking at me with a slight suspicion in his softly narrowed eyes.
*If Susie was not so quick to anger, she may have realized that this same thing had happened twice now. The other time was with the Shepard and his troupe. All of them reacted to something that happened around us- a sudden shift in the wind... I was merely realizing the odd similarity. But I did not know exactly what was going on, of course...*
... Well, regardless of any of us, another wind blew through, ruffling our clothes and almost making Ralsei lose his hat before catching it in his hands. In this wind, her voice spoke over me again, my eyes growing wide as well as my body stiffening. "Turneth upon thy current west..."
... I wrenched out of Susie's hands, much to her taken-aback surprise, and did as I was instructed, blinking at... a less dense section in the current surrounding trees. Yet, as lesser as they got, higher did the number of brown bushes climb.
It was a crowded way, if it really was one. But then, those bushes were much bigger than any back home. They could be trees in their own right. We could use them as cover, if we really wanted to.
As I did this, another wind softly blew passed me. "Yes. Very good, child. Walk the path lain outstretched before you... and in but a small journey shalt thou happen upon thy fellow and mine own faithful..." Hope... I nearly smiled, but then the next sentence chilled me. "Beware the dangers do not pass." I frowned with a blow to my hope and stared furrowed at the ground. "Thou shant arrive untested. However, knowest thou shalt arrive to a civilization's fall They called by name of Sol Juno... There, with all strength combined, dost thy true struggle begin in earnest... Mine prayer upon thee and thine for the courage to surmount all trials, young one."
The last few sentences were gentle, yet I felt targeted. I huffed my anxiety and held my chest. Courage was... hah... I was not very brave at all... That may have been partly the reason why I made such a good runner in Cross Country. I learned to run like my life depended on it...
"Noelle!" The near spoken name in harsh tone from Susie got me to snap my head toward her...
I frowned at her anger. "I-I'm sorry.. but..."
She just rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, yanking me much to my alarm. "We're leaving. Now." And she started dragging me over to Ralsei, who stared in deep concern or confusion.
"W-wait, Susie-Egh!" She was much stronger than me. I had no chance, even as I was squirming. As I was dragged, I kept my eyes trained on that path in panic! She didn't know! "I protested a bit louder. "Susie, please-! The way we need to go-!"
"Is over HERE, dumbass!" Her whisper was harsh and practically dripping... The emotion in it startled me into silence and shudder for a moment... I didn't know anything about what she felt before coming there. Not really.
I was scared before, remember? Confused and scared... When she nearly punched me before, I didn't really understand why she wanted to hurt me... I just knew that I was being threatened with a potential fist to the face and that if it was from her, it was going to hurt a lot. But I never knew why...
Now, here it was again, her glaring at me with her sharp teeth baring and her eyes lit... I felt my stomach sink and my face break out in sweat, furrow in my brows and ears limp.. and froze...
She sunk in close to me and narrowed those "glowing" orbs, hand *really* squeezing into my arm and causing me real pain as I grunt and squint an eye shut.. and.. leaked tears... as embarrassing as that is to admit...
But she didn't care for my sorry display, even when I was going weak in the knees. Her whisper was more of a growl... "WALK. OR I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A REAL REASON TO CRY."
Her threat chilled me to the core as my heart hammered. But what had I done? I didn't do anything at all, as far as I could think just then other than attempt to advise her we needed to go a specific direction!
I didn't know a thing about her disapproval of the way Kris was attempting to look out for me. I didn't even know that's what they were doing.
/[... ... ...]\
"Susie..." Ralsei was the one who said her name... And in a stern manner. She growled as she tightened on my arm again with her grip, causing me to grunt at the painful crush. It felt like she was bruising right down to the muscle. My eyes were jammed shut and I was whimpering for it to stop... And she let up for some reason, causing me to open my eyes and breathe in, not realizing I had stopped... My eyes opened to greet the scene before me... Susie was glaring at Ralsei, teeth saved up. Ralsei, who was narrowed right back, had his hand raised up to her with a blue sparkling energy dancing his fingers. He looked serious as he told her, "Let her go... I will cast the spell if you don't. You hate that spell."
The purple monster was sweating, eyes wider but no less sharp. She shook her head. "You too...? Are you serious?"
He nodded. There was no fear... I had never seen Ralsei like that before... I don't think she had either. As soft as his voice was, his next words were powerful. "If you do not calm down, right here and now, I will put you to sleep. It will likely be for a long enough time that those kytsaters will find us. I am willing to take that risk. Acting as you are now is just as likely to get us caught by the ones so near us, after all..."
Susie spent a long moment just glaring him down, even inching her face closer to his, only for him to inch his hand closer to her face, which stopped any further advance. His face got more critical... "Let her go. Now."
... ... ... After a long stare down, she immediately released my arm as I grunt and fell over onto my side...
I rubbed the band where she had squeezed while just... sitting there... I played back what Kris told me about Susie in my head again with an empty frown.
{"She's nice. Weird that she eat's chalk, though~. But everyone has their weird foods, right?"}
My head was silent for everything except what they said to me. I didn't even realize Ralsei was there before he started healing my arm, a cool, refreshing sensation like a compress washing my arm over. "Here. This should help your arm, Noelle." I stared at him to see this pleading smile on his face. "And please... I am sure in time that all will be well. But perhaps you two should find a moment to talk with one another. Clear the bad air..." And true to his words, I could feel the pain ebb, but it hadn't been the first time. I wasn't surprised, but I was relieved.. until...
"Or maybe I don't like little babies that need other people to kiss their boo boos~." I looked over to Susie... She had her back to us and her arms were folded, head sunk, shoulders hunched.
Her words hurt... But I could only frown and lower my head. They forced me to think about how I had been acting. Not just that day... But since... long.. long ago...
... Telling that story now.. wouldn't be right... I will tell it, but this isn't the moment...
All I know is that I replayed Kris's words in my head. {She's nice.} If that was the case, it was not showing...
I frowned at her back and drifted eyes to the ground soon after... But I quickly reminded myself that she was swell enough in the hall before and shook my head, hair following suit. I didn't need to stoop to any lows. I just needed to point out what was obviously going to change her tune.
I got up from Ralsei before the healing had been totally complete, causing him to urk and reach for me, saying, "A-ah, Noelle? I am not done!"
Without addressing him, I turned to the bushy path and pointed toward it while saying, "Kris is this way." That made Ralsei look at me with a blink, taken aback as he turned to look at the bush path. It was a little ways off now, but the path through was still pretty visible from our angle.
"What are you talking about," blurt Susie a bit loudly. She came over and stared at me... but I kept pointing until she looked to where I was pointing. And when she did, I looked at her, seeing she was squinting. She turned to stare at me with annoyance, clearly told by the visibility of her eyes. "Seriously. What are you even talking about? Nothing over there looks like anything! Did Kris take up bush growing back home or something? Or are you trying to pass off some dumbass chosen one powers?" She glared at me with a shaking head. "This ain't one of your nerdy games, Princess."
"Actually, I think we should listen to her."
Susie bulged at the eyes before snapping her head toward Ralsei with a hunch... and gesturing to him in outrage. "Seriously? Is this some fucking dumbass way of getting back at me for-"
"Her suggestion avoids the camp, just as mine does," Ralsei interjected while blinking at her with a calmer expression. "And since Noelle seems particularly certain, I am suspicious there has to be a reason. A reason well-founded. If she is certain of where we must go, it is certainly better than my way of things, which might take more time than necessary. We are still far too close to an enemy camp."
The "dragon" stood there squinting at him with an open maw... only to growl and look at me, causing me to furrow as she pointed at me and said, "Fine, go ahead and lead the way, Priss. But if you're wrong...?" Her glare was surprisingly dark for the fact that it was a muted yellow glow in this shineless world. "You're going to see just how NICE I really am..."
... I bowed my head and sighed, shaking it while I turned to the path. "... Sure. Whatever, Susie." And then I just started walking, keeping my eyes from ever meeting hers or Ralsei's the while I led.
... Ahem. Ralsei?
*Hm? Oh! What is it, Noelle?*
Was there anything you or Susie talked about behind me? I was obviously not paying attention given... everything...
*... Er... No.*
[... -sigh- You two were too pissed off at me to look my way. So, yeah. That's pretty obvious. And... Well, at the time, I didn't really care... I was sooo sure that all of this was just another "pity pat" for "Lil' Miss Christmas." Which... Yeah... I'll admit, this was an abysmal moment on my part. But... Seriously? I didn't know you. I didn't know SHIT! The-]
Susie!
[Wh-what!?]
-Bomm-Bommmm!- ...
[A-ah, shit. Uh, right. The mic...]
I know how you feel and it's all water under the bridge. But let them hear it naturally... Also, we really need to stop doing this. If it happened in any other part, I'm sure it would feel like a break in the flow...
[I... It's.. hard not to want to say something about this stuff. Okay? I'm obviously not proud listening to you go on about stuff I regret... As for the other stuff, It's just hard not to say anything. Period.]
I and we understand, but the audience probably doesn't.
[Right... Okay. I'll try to be better... Y'hear that, past me?! Be BETTER!]
-Giggling- I don't think the past can hear you, Sue~! And if you're begging me to make you sound better, well... I'mmm pretty sure that I shouldn't.
/Oh, not a chance. You're telling everyone exactly how it went down. Curses, temper tantrums and all. No offense.\
[You can be a real shit about these sessions, you know that...~?]
/Yup.\
Anyway~.
... So, the walk.
It was.. long for me. Long in general... But awkward for myself... And quiet...
Susie was right in ways and wrong in so many others, but... how was I supposed to tell her? What reason did she have to believe anything I had to say? I knew I was a coward and that people had a habit of being soft with, protective of, or cautious with me... I didn't ask for that, but I was too... passive to say anything about it naturally...
At the same time... that was what she initially accepted, regardless... I had to wonder why. Had it all been for Kris? Was she putting up with me only because Kris was my friend, too? ... It wasn't something that I needed to ask, based solely on how she had been toward me in the Dark World as opposed to the Light. The answer was obvious and hurt... That's what I thought at first...
However, I soon frowned as we got under the cover of the bushes and really thought about things. Susie had made it clear she didn't like "wusses" and I was the picture example of one ever since falling into that place. I had near immediate confirmation of that fact when Shorn first discovered me, directly after getting extraordinarily lucky in finding one of my powers by accident with Comet. I should have died right there in that moment. That was the realistic truth. And my cowardly acts nearly killed me again not long after.
And again, I was saved when The Vale herself gave me the means to escape certain capture. It was an irony to have what happened back in my world happen even there in the Dark World. Getting protected time and again by whoever...
So, it was ironic yet again as I was thinking back on all of this... that I felt fear turn into frustration. I had no one to blame other than myself for what was happening. That was the ultimate truth, to me... But to be fair, it wasn't like that was far off... And the frustrations didn't end there. Being hungry was not helping me or her... They say hunger opens the way to frustration and desperation... I guess they're right.
I furrowed.. or narrowed in rue of it all. {This is just what I get... But... maybe I can try a bit harder. I... I have to.}
... I turned my head back up, eyes forward and started to walk faster. The giant bush trees over head showed me I was going the right way still, so at least being in my head for a while hadn't caused me to get lost.
She just told me to keep walking straight. That's all I had to do. Walk on and keep a trained line ahead.
"Hah. And now she starts walking like she means it. About time~..." It was Susie, of course, who jeered me. And in return... I said nothing. I did nothing. I ignored her.
That's it. No Ralsei or follow-up.
-Shi-shi...!-
The rustling of leaves from the bushes overhead...
A shiver ran up my spine and caused me to stop.
"What was that," I heard Ralsei quickly question out of alert...
I took in a breath and sighed... It had been way too long a walk since encountering our last fight... Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
Furrowing and looking up, I readied my staff... I could see a figure above us... Several. A group of three, I thought before really knowing.
I shuddered with a furrow... They had to have already spotted us, but I had been the only one to look up and see them. "They're above us!"
"Shit," I heard Susie curse as the sound of her axe ringing the air was audible.
"Sharp senses, girl." The unfamiliar male voice caused me to step back in caution.
That was about when the now-clearly-three figures spiraled down from the giant bush's branches and landed before us! They were in a triangle formation, all baring weapons except the one.
"Kytsaters," Ralsei realized correctly.
They all looked fairly similar, right up until their tails were the object of examination. Each was quite large, but the tendrils were all different lengths and held about them in differing ways, always on the move. It wasn't their only identifiable difference, however. Each bore a wooden mask of differing shape. One looked to be a sparrow's face. Another, a hawk's. The last appeared to be a hideous, long-beak'd heron's. That one messed with me the most for how bizarre it was...
The sparrow wielded a spear made of that white and black magic.
The hawk, a set of real Sickles formed by elongated wooden handles, shorter than the spear yet no less deadly for their sharp, metal, curved blades.
And the Heron... had no weapon drawn. It didn't look like he'd be using one. Instead, his arms were folded over his poncho-sporting chest. "Still, you're all no more than children. Outsiders, indeed, though I doubt it stops there... The scent on you is too different for it to be so simple..." His head tilted Susie's way while I was too busy trying to figure out what to do. "A single-sided Axe..." His head came back around to centering us all in his line of sight, but I feel like he was mostly staring me down "Thus, you must be the "Delta Warriors" our Shepard deemed us capture..." With a sigh permeating his mask, he clenched his hands into fists, each knuckle cracking merely upon the act. "...Very well." That was about when he leaned into a combative stance. "His will be done..."
The way that last bit came off felt laden in confidence, sending a shiver all the way through me... I had no choice but to shake it off and take a breath as Susie and Ralsei both rushed to get in front of me, much to my surprise...
"You sound pretty sure of your ass," retorted Susie, positioning her axe on her shoulder. I could feel the easy smirk on her face, even if I couldn't really see it. "Come at me then, birdy. I'm the best of the three here, if you're feeling confident."
"I suppose that a fight is not avoidable, then..." Ralsei sized up the other two with his eyes, looking from one to the other as they both flared their weapons with twirls. Obviously, they were daring him to try something, fairly confident it would be useless.
As for me... I felt as useless as reason. I had no good attack spells and I still didn't want to summon down Comet with Susie and Ralsei, who still didn't know he even answered to me in a way. Barring that, there was, admittedly, a second reason pretty obvious... I didn't want to kill anyone in the first place and Comet was pretty lethal in his approach, in my experience. So to be perfectly honest, he just wasn't an option in my head. We needed to do this ourselves... All I had was my Nature Barrier and some maybe spells I had practically used. No good... I narrowed at the ground and gripped my staff tighter.
But before I knew what was going on or even how to respond, Susie ran off ahead toward the Heron in a howl, much to my alert!
The heron met her half way, blasting forward off of one paw and the two collided shoulders as Susie was sent skidding back a small ways, off her balance and stumbling with a grunt! It was obvious that the heron got the better tackle in. He looked ready for more by his inviting stance.
Susie re-balanced herself forward and looked at him with a crocodile's smile, swiping her axe to the ready beside her. "ALRIGHT THEN."
She raced off toward the awaiting kytsater with her axe dragging the ground behind her...
But that was where I had to stop watching her, because... "NOELLE, LOOK OUT!"
It was Ralsei who called. I gasped out of my trance and looked around just in time to see and raise up my staff to block the twin sickles from piercing my shoulders, much to my yelping fright.
Although, the arms bearing down on me were much stronger than I was anticipating, causing me to shudder, only to feel a swift blunt object collide with my ribs, causing me to cough as I was near instantly knocked aside into a tumbling heap! I was only barely able to keep my staff in my grasp for how tight I was holding it before!
My opponent had just kicked me... As I thought before, getting kicked by those legs really did hurt... A lot... It may have only winded me, but I could tell that was a "soft" kick. He'd stopped it short of shattering something, but definitely caused a lot of bruising...
It took me several seconds to work up enough strength, coughing all the while as I orientated myself again.
"Frail..."
That one word caused me to shake and turn in panic as I was suddenly covered by a cold sweat. And there, above me, was the man with the sickles, twirling them before he raised them high. He was actually going to kill me!
I rolled aside, working on instinct alone to avoid harm as the sickles pierced deep into the dirt in tandem! Then, as I ended up rolled over on my back, I watched as he easily freed each and swiftly went for another pair of strikes!
With a yelp, I quickly put my staff up in defense as the gemstone lit. It caused swift wind and leaves to spiral around me in defense, blocking the strikes and bouncing them away with more force than I thought I was capable of and even disarming the man of one of his sickles! That part was much to his annoyance.
He settled into standing over my barrier in wariness, his remaining sickle 's handle in both hands, now. "That power...! You dare call upon that which is not rightfully yours to wield?!"
I was so confused and afraid that all of what he was saying was only making me more afraid than anything. He just sounded so... angry!
"The Vale may bless you all she like. I'll render unto you death all the same!" And with that, he took a mighty swing down upon my barrier with the sickle's blade! And even though it didn't pierce through, it BENT into the barrier with considerable force as he refused to let it bounce and began inching it in!
My face was the picture of panic and strain as I choked and gripped even tighter around my staff! The power behind his arms was enormous and I was only barely strong enough to maintain the barrier!
I grunt and pushed back with my barrier, only for the man to redouble his effort with his weight forcing down into the weapon, a hand choking up behind the blade's side of the handle and pushing down!
I felt the strain hit my arms and rock my core! The barrier bent as much as it could, but the blade was beginning to wiggle passed it little by little! He was going to stab me...!
I snapped around at Ralsei and Susie...
Blow for blow, in an intense dance like two furies, Susie was struggling arm to arm with the Heron. A swing of the axe was kicked away by a powerful leg's paw. A swing of the axe was punched away with the back of the hand.
Frustrated and seething a growl, Susie began to lose patience as her axe again embossed an edge into the ground. And so, in a knee-jerk reaction, she went in for a quick knee into the man's face with a hop. That proved worthless as he stepped aside as easily as breathing. No retaliation on his end. Only an invitation while he backed up from her in quick steps. "You promised strength... Where is it?"
That set her off, clear by the full glow of her eyes and the stressed grit of her teeth. "OH, YOU WANT STRENGTH?!" She pulled axe from the ground swiped it up high as a dark flame began to well up on the head of her weapon!
That prompted the man to cool-headedly sink into an open, yet ready stance. Arms out as if ready for the holsters. Legs bent as if ready to jump. I could practically see them ripple with muscles.
Susie's arm pulled her axe back, it's blade's dark flame flaring up and dying the area a little in this... purple-ish hue. I'm sure if I weren't cased by a barrier of whipping wind, I'd be able to hear the high kindling crackle.
The kytsater... was unafraid.
And in a growl followed by roar, she ripped her blade down in a lash, drawing a tangeable current with the flames that immediately launched forward with a buzzing hum... and then, she whipped around in the same movement to unleash another swipe of energy, then another as her axe planted the ground, blasting the final wave of violet ripping violently through the earth as a line of disturbed earth was left in it's wake! Rapidly, they flew toward her taunting opponent!
... The man could have easily just sidestepped it all. Cool as that attack looked, it was not very hard to dodge... But instead, he played into it, running headllong toward all three! The heron whirled around the first's groundward side, tail and tendrils lashing behind him like oversized streamers. Then, he deftly leapt the second in a cartwheel at it's top side- an easy feat, being he was already on the ideal side for it. After that, in a dance toward Susie with his paws, he spun himself- tail and tendrils still whipping behind him- off to the side of the earth-ripping third blade of fire, even looking it in the face seemingly as it passed his masked one by. He was never touched... Not even a fur had been clipped from his tail...
After that, he effortlessly oriented himself back toward Susie as he fell immediately back into his dash toward her!
Annoyed and surprised, Susie pulled her axe free of the dirt and- while he was nearing her- flipped it's blade around and swathed it upward at him ! He simply took a low sweep with an arm's fist, having probably seen this coming a mile away, and pounded the blade off course,sending it sideways and upwards while in full swing. Immediately during this act, he took a hop from the ground with one leg and swiftly after used the other as it swept up and struck for her head!
In a moment of spontaneous reaction, she wasted no time on surprise, throwing her other arm's clench-fisted wrist outward to beat back the kick in the opposite direction while opening up the heron's middle to attack while he was still in the air!
Her other arm yanked that axe back down and went in for another attempt on the man, this time for his abdomen. But like her, he was sharp- or sharper- and instead caught the axe's pole in a hand, high in it's swing at an angle above his shoulder, pushing and keeping it held up while also pushing himself back down to the ground.
He went in for a swift punch to her face with his free hand clenched into a fist soon after, only for her to catch that fist smacking hard into her larger hand's palm and gripping down on it! At that point, she bared down on her opponent in a full grapple.
He ended up having to plant and struggle against her as she gave him the demon eyes... But something looked off about the struggle... I know Susie's arms aren't a match for a Kytsater's legs- no offense.
[Ugh... You know, you say no offense, but that still hurts.]
S-sorry~... But either way, it was obvious. His arms might have been shaking, but not his legs. That man was toying with her. Letting her believe. And in retrospect, it's fairly suspect that he wasn't using any magic at all.
In snapping my head toward him in my struggles against the Hawk, I saw Ralsei was having his own problems.
His opponent, the sparrow, flurried stabs at him with his magic spear, but Ralsei was smaller and nimbler than the man, meaning he was hard to spear. It still looked pretty surreal to watch Ralsei essentially jump, bob and weave and even roll out of the way of stab after stab. That was when the sparrow got fed up, pulling back in growl as he spun around with the sweep of a leg!
The goat boy gasped and jumped the leg, only to realize a bit late that this was a bait with wide eyes turning to spot the follow-up: the man rounding back on him with the pole of the spear! He put his arms up in guard and braced, before the spear could properly hit, but regardless of that, it still bat him aside, grunting as he was sent bouncing onto his rear end and over himself once before falling flat on his stomach.
He shook his head and turned his head up, regardless of how he was probably reeling from that one and gasped when he saw his opponent wasted no time in going for a familiar tactic: a stab down on him, He rolled sideways, hand on his hat so he wouldn't lose it to the spear as it shanked itself into the ground, deep. Then, Ralsei popped up off the ground from a pushing hand and came to land down on his paws. I could only see so much of Ralsei behind the man he faced, but it wasn't like I needed to.
The sparrow growled at him, a fist thrown down in frustration as he abandoned his weapon instead of freeing it. "Oh, you're a dodgy brat, aren't you!?" Snapping his other hand's fingers, the spear stuck in the ground shattered like glass into black and white pieces. Then, they recollected themselves at the man's side with incredible speed before reforming the crudely shaped weapon for him to grab.
By this point, Ralsei had an arm extended out with two of it's hand's fingers held together and sparkling while he got ready for another bout. Still, he begged, "Please, just stop! Call off the others and leave, we-"
"SILENCE," was his answer as he swung his spear in a sideways arc for the boy, only for Ralsei to spring backward and take aim with his fingers! In a motion like the kicking of a pistol, Ralsei's arm popped back from recoil as a -Kak!- rang out and a light blue pellet of medium size whizzed at an angle and contacted the man's pushing foot, exploding out along it into ice and sticking him to the ground, much to his stumbled frustrations!
Ralsei turned and gasped as he spotted me in the bind that I was in, my eyes wide on him and giving him a frantic, terrified grimace if I had to guess while that blade pushing in on my barrier more as I strained an eye shut tight, forcing more effort out. My reserves were burning away fast.
"Noelle, hold on!" Ralsei was about to bolt over, but just then, the man broke the iced paw free and growled out a roar as he threw the still-icy paw out into Ralsei, much to the goat's surprise and then to his pain as it bashed him across the ribs, bouncing him out and away like a hacky sack!
"RALSEI?!" I just blurt it out in my fright, feeling my hair stand on end! But then came another powerful push down toward me with that stabbing instrument! Grunting through grit teeth as I held a breath to force out more power, I found myself choked again. It was too much and the blade was only inching closer and closer!
"Grrrah! GIVE.. IN... AND DIE!" The hawk roared at me and gave even more push down upon the already bursting bubble of leaves and winds, carving and wiggling it down toward me!
Whining in the welling burning pain in my chest and the overwhelming fear of the impending end, I writhed against the force and kept trying to hold the failing barrier together! It would all end with me if it did... I was on my own. I realized that the blade slid closer to my chest. and caused me to gasp and shudder with a fear very real as sweat poured me over further. Intent was there with the weapon and regardless of that, the weapon was enough. It wasn't made manifest by magic. It was a solid object. If it stabbed me the wrong way, regardless of the kytsater's overwhelming intent to harm, I was dust...!
I pumped my barrier stronger and bigger by slight, pushing him back a bit as I grit my teeth and squint up at him through the gusts and the forming tears! The barrier rippled and blimp-ed up a bit, shuddering still under the force of his straining weapon! Some part of his hands got caught in the bloated barrier and the leaves even ripped and slit his fingers, but that only made him growl low in some minor pain... and then again in rage as he renewed his pressure!
I only fueled his frustration with me.
I felt completely alone as I stared wide in fear up at him, laying even flatter to the forest floor, if it was possible. "S-stop...!"
He didn't listen. Instead, he pushed in on me again! He was probably mere centimeters away from my stomach with the sickle's tip, causing me to whine and groan as my very core began to painfully ache. I could just feel the burning inside of me, my magic strained and my body draining.
At that point, it was well and truly too late to try calling Comet. He couldn't make it. Not this time. Not with literally seconds. I didn't even know where in the forest he was!
And it was thinking about that which got me to I realize then that the only way that man would stop is if I myself could stop him... I didn't know that I could...
Burning torture within my chest choked me. I had to hold my breath or I'd lose it. Regardless, It would happen any second, then. My barrier would fail and the blade would pierce me. I'd die from the weapon owner's intent and my own pain shock... Even if I were human, an abdomen wound was just about as mortal as it got.
... I was afraid... I was so afraid... and then... I was.. angry... I was sick of fear. Sick of anxiety. Sick of being shamed and blamed. So sick of feeling lost! And at that point... I felt this raw emotion... It could have been rage or it could have been desperation. I know it felt red hot...
My eyes shut tight as sweat trailed my face with my tears, teeth grinding and... I think in that moment, I hit a surge. Ralsei explained it before, when I wasn't around, but I already knew what those were. It was covered in class once and I had read about them... The pressure became numb and my core no longer hurt. Instead, pain turned into fiery strength billowing up like a tapped well. My eyes shot open with a great glare formed of emotion and strain. I suddenly found the strength to push back both physically with my staff- who's head lit up brighter and brighter with the power coming out of me- and magically with my barrier, quickly inching the blade away from my chest and back outside the bubble of red leaves and wind which began to spin more furiously around me.
That surprised my aggressor while he found himself on the backfoot, grunting for strength. But this time, he wouldn't get the inch he was looking for as I sat up, only one hand on my staff while I felt my ears stand up on my head and shudder from my current emotions storming out of control.
And then, I roared out. "GET AWAY!" I shot my staff up and expanded the barrier to twice it's size all around me, deflecting his sickle out from his hands as it was sent spinning away behind him while also bouncing HIM off balance on a single paw as he strained to find footing on his other paw, only to further stumble back!
When next my eyes opened from not realizing I had closed them again, I saw the only chance I was going to get. Desperation still driving me, I... did something I didn't know would work at all. I wasn't trying to attack, really. I was just so flustered...
I was just swinging my staff forward when it hit the ground while I shrieked, "NO MORE!" That turned out to burst my barrier as the leaves, growing thick yellow outlines, flew outward like jagged knives from the winds, becoming razors darting through the air!
I heard the sounds all around me of their whistling through the air, mistaking it for being attacked myself and shot my eyes open to jerk around in start!
At first, they flew wildly in all directions like angry birds...
"I won't allow YOU TO USE THAT!"
My eyes shot forward to the hawk suddenly gripping a sickle again and running up on me, much to my paling fright!
I screamed and guarded myself by curling away, but my eyes stayed on him and... I think that was enough. It had to be. I can't think of another way this next part could have happened.
The leaves around me suddenly changed course in swooping motions, targeting the hawk-masked Kytsater from several angles. Too many to count.
They converged and rained down upon him with deadly accuracy, tearing gashes and slicing and ripping, leaving the man screaming in distressed pain and falling to the ground as he writhed and grunt, mask popping off as it exposed a pained, fox-like face screwed tight, eyes shut! "Agh, damnit! A-ah!"
I... felt a terrible sense of guilt was over me in that moment, face pale and sweating. My eyes had to be huge and my free hand had gone straight to my mouth while I stumbled back.
He... H-he was bleeding from everywhere...! There were so many wet, red gashes all over him! Writhing and hugging himself as he screamed, It was all unintelligible shouts... In my horror at seeing this all, my mind never.. realized a very... very obvious thing about all of this blood... But you all.. probably know what I'm talking about, without me confirming it...
I looked around, suddenly feeling eyes all around me.
I found Ralsei panting on the ground, sat up on an arm with a finger gun smoking with chilled air. He looked beaten up, but not badly like I thought he might. He was, regardless, staring at me in shock. His opponent was not much better off. The sparrow had taken a knee, several parts of him bitten by frost or wetness darkening the color of his fur. Ralsei hadn't hurt him, but he had undoubtedly worn him out considerably. Either way, he came to turn his head to look my way and grunt, shaken. There was no face to see beyond that mask, but plainly he was just as shocked.
Ralsei looked back and forth between me and the screaming man on the ground, taken aback and worried.
Susie and the Heron were locked in a grapple over her axe, butting heads while she made a near feral scowl into the eye holes of the mask covering the man's face with a growling... Her glowing pupils spared me and the crippled "hawk" a glance, before they were on the heron again. I think she smiled in a taunting way through her gnarly jaws before she asked in gutteral tone, "GONNA LET 'EM BLEED OUT?"
... There was an uncomfortable time where it felt like that pause between her words and his answer sustained itself... But he eventually scoffed before... I-I don't know what to call it. He was so fast that I thought he left an after image when he pulled away and rounded passed her toward me, causing a surprised Susie to stumble forward as she threw a startled glance back at me. "SHIT!"
I gasped and started back-pedaling as I held my staff up, only for him to bolt at me with a kick that beat the staff from my fingers with my yelp and then follow it up with a hand's open claws flexed, ready to rip into me! I shut my eyes and held my hands up, trying to make myself as nonthreatening as possible- it was all I could think to do, okay?
But when the claws were only an inch from my chest... he instead formed a palm. It landed a blow into my upper chest that felt more like a punch than it should have with how deeply I felt it, throwing me back in the force.
I landed on my back some yards away and slid through the grass and dirt with a groan, just barely able to crane my neck so my head wouldn't hit. I came to a stop a second or so later.
My chest stung... almost like it was shocked... I couldn't stop myself from coughing. It felt like he'd rattled my lungs...! For my first few breaths, it felt like I was breathing dust even if I knew there was none.
Soon, even though I knew it was worthless, I was rolling over and taking an elbow. Then, my head turned up, I saw the heron picking the shivering hawk off of the ground. His head angled down on him, he gave it a shake. "Foolishness..." ... And then, he turned his head up to me. "... You are all children, two of the Light and one of the Dark. You, specifically, fell here by pitiable happenstance. Young... yet strong, it seems."
I shuddered to hear him essentially identify me, eyes wide and body shivering...
"In this forest, children are sacred... They are promise incarnate. Thus you may understand my reservations for killing you all... However, I stand loyal to The Shepard. This hour you live, but come our next meeting... I will do as I must for my people."
While he was monologuing, Susie had rushed up behind him and brought her axe high, swinging it down at full force with a grunt! But... Of course...
The man took one jump and suddenly she was swatting the air and then clefting the ground a new line. She unstuck it quickly enough, but in that time, the man had landed on a branch in the tree-bush above us, head down. "My name is Faust. The next time will be very different. You'd do well to grow stronger..." Tilting his head, he went on to finish with, "I will accept no surrender or mercy. My cause is set. I shall never stand down, long as my Shepard beckons me FIGHT." With that, he bolted powerfully off of the branch and into the trees above.
The man before Ralsei straightened up enough to shake his head and bounce from the ground himself, much to Ral's gasping. He jumped from the giant bush's branch to the giant tree branches above, where his brother awaited, before they both turned to beat a retreat made of mighty leaps through the trees!
And so the two with the third in arm leapt across the massive line, further and further away and then... out of sight within seconds...
... Sat there on the cold dirt, I felt the sweat run down my body and my wide-eyed face... You can say we survived, but that was a lost battle. We were woefully inadequate against them. I only found the strength to defeat my enemy as I was about to die... But I know. I should be dead...
Ralsei was beaten outright, only just holding his opponent off long enough to be lucky.
Susie may not have suffered any damage, but right about then... she was realizing with shock that she would have lost her fight if the heron came at her for real...
If that was how strong most or all Kytsaters were, we would meet similar results... The thought alone is frightening to revisit...
Susie stared at me, however, once the shock wore off and sighed under a glare...
With a furrowing frown on my face, I turned away, unable to speak or meet her eyes... She was probably angry with me for showing a power I never used before and somehow "winning" my fight while it appeared she wasn't even being taken seriously.
But instead of worrying about that, I got up and made my way over to the downed goat.
Ralsei was still picking himself up off the ground and casting a heal on his hurting frame, scuffed and bruised all over. He'd avoided cuts, from the looks of things
I got over to him and knelt down on my knees by his side, which didn't go unnoticed. He turned to smile at me, despite the obvious furrow. "I-I am alright~. Merely a wound of pride..."
I furrowed and shook my head. "... You're bruises say otherwise. Is anything broken?"
But the goat shook his head as he brought his arm up and started healing a bruise along his jaw, the swelling going down slowly. "Nothing so major, thankfully."
The sound of rustling foot steps behind me made my head turn and I almost immediately turned it back away as I frowned from Susie... who spoke to Ralsei. "Got your shit rocked it looks to me, fluffy boy."
"A-ahah- ow..."
... I couldn't help but look back toward them and observe with a frown how they acted with each other. That was when I chanced to see a soft expression in Susie's lit eyes and a smile on her face... before she looked my way and then scoffed with a glare that caused me to shuddered my eyes from hers, "What?"
Ralsei frowned at this with his head lowered. "Susie..."
"Nah, shut up," She said as she tightened her glare on me. "I don't wanna give someone the wrong impression like Princess, here."
... I bowed my head wearily as she went on.
"I don't know where the hell you pulled that attack from and I don't care. I saw how you reacted when that guy charged you. You curled up and let him hit you. That coulda been it! You could have DIED, Noelle!"
I turned my eyes up to her's as she gave me a nasty glare to push down on me. "Either you fight or you die! No one here cares if you don't want to be here- you're here now!~ Hello~!?"
... At that point, I closed my eyes and got up. "You're right. No one cares if I don't want to be here. But that was never news to me..."
"You sure ab-"
My then narrowing eyes snapped open and I sniped in aggressively, "Do you think I can just turn myself off?!" My words struck her surprisingly hard to me, given she stopped talking and melted her expression into surprise.
I balled my fists and shuddered, angry and frustrated and fed up with taking and taking... All the while, I kept telling myself in that moment to shut up and repress. Just repress like always... But it just leaked out under my shuddering voice. "I-I am not.. just going to magically be wh-whatever you want! I can't turn myself off! I can't just stop being.. afraid!"
I took a shuddering breath into my nervous lungs while Susie just stared at me, not sure what to make of my display. But I went on before she could word anything. "Don't... Don't sit there and judge me...! You don't know why I'm like this! You don't know a thing about me... OR my problems!" I openly scowled at her square in the eyes, tense with stress, burning under my fur and skin. "For the.. longest time..." I couldn't stop the frown from crossing my face, cracking through anger. "... I just wanted to be friends with you..." turning my eyes and head away, I furrowed... "But you've made it very clear that you never wanted anything to do with me until Kris pretty much made you talk to me..."
... I left her speechless, as it seemed... It left her staring at me, uncertain and sweating... until she looked away in a narrow...
Ralsei had a worried frown on his face directed squarely upon me. He was still hovering a hand over his mouth, at that, his healing long since done with but his mind obviously more focused on worrying.
... I walked away from her and Ralsei, going over to my staff and picking it up as I brought it close... rubbing the gemstone... In it reflected my sorry state... I blinked my eyes and sighed. "Maybe that's just what I get... Maybe wishful thinking was a mistake and... maybe Mom was right..."
... Despite living through a frank enough death sentence, everything else was... not great... That new power I found almost killed a person. And this isn't a game where you feel proud for overcoming antagonists... These are just people with different opinions... I hated Fighting. I couldn't live with killing someone... And then, the one person I was hoping against hope to see was turning out to be everything I didn't need in that moment. On top of obvious facts being thrown at me, my all-too-present fear, the weight of guilt over... let's just say.. a lot... and anger boiling out of my frustration with it all... I suddenly felt smothered...
The people beside me didn't make up the difference... Ralsei was sweet and he was genuine. I could sense a true friend in him... But everything else, Susie included... was an over-weighing force... And the worst part was that the person directly pushing my buttons was not truly the person at fault. Nor was there any one factor. It just turns out that then was when I broke. When I couldn't take it anymore and HAD to do something to push it back...
I didn't need a person throwing the pasta that I'd been picking at in my face, right then...
It doesn't make my blow up excusable. All it was in retrospect was childish. I lost my patience and my temper got the better of me. I knew that... But bottling it up wasn't working. I guess you could say releasing that little bit sprayed enough out of the bottle for me to re-seal the cork down it's neck... for a time...
...
After that ventilation... I became convinced that I needed to find Kris before I did a thing otherwise. I already had some things to say to them when we reunited. There had been things I just forgot to bring up after the fiasco that day and right then really cursing myself for it. But seeing them, even after the apparent lies, was something I had to do. For one reason more than the other... They were my oldest and maybe even closest friend... That is what they were supposed to be... I had to confirm something bugging me since that yesterday and again, that today... Something to do with that look in their eyes...
Regardless, I felt no urge to explain myself to Susie. She didn't appear to care. And I was still pretty new with Ralsei. I felt he wouldn't understand...
I walked back and passed her at a steady pace.
She rose to her booted feet and gave me a look that was hard to say was either irritated or confused.
Ralsei, still not one-hundred percent healed yet well enough off, stood up and dusted his messy attire off before frowning at me... then at Susie. "I think you should apologize..."
She barely had time to turn to Ralsei before I sternly stated, "No." And then, her eyes hit me with surprise and something else as she was in the middle of saving her axe up in her pocket.
My expression was solemn, if not dark. "You don't need to apologize for anything. It's not your fault, after all..." And then I turned to the bush... then about 90 degrees right. And just like that, we were back on the path. I began walking as I said, "I'll find Kris, like I promised."
Susie and Ralsei both stared at me, one in confusion and frustration, the other in worry, respectively. Then, they began to walk, following behind me at a distance in total silence as we traveled the unmarked path.
We had no choice, regardless of me. Our fight had been loud enough to draw attention from all corners of the surrounding forest, but we were lucky to be seemingly left alone.
It wouldn't be long, regardless, if we had just sat there... Kytsaters were fast. Faust and his group would reach the encampment that ways back in a small fraction of the time it took for us to get so far away from it. And then, the camp would likely send a serach party or four after us. I felt generous. After all, we were their biggest worry, it seemed.
... My attitude toward the current stress was not exactly what Susie wanted, but it wasn't going to be easy to just let things go, the situation as it was... That's what I felt, anyway...
Looking back, I was being selfish and impulsive. For me, it wasn't hard to be fed up with everything. All of this within a 24 hour period... I felt like a punching bag. And everyone was getting a hit in.
... I'm sure there are many out there that listen to me and think I'm yet another entitled rich kid. Whiney. Naive... Life for the rich is more comfortable as opposed to the maybe-life of the middle and poor classes. Each day, I am at no risk of starving.
But I am not making this about my status. I AM lucky to have been born into money. I at default have more opportunities than many. And those opportunities... do not make your life a guaranteed happy one... or a free one... You and your family still live on the same planet as everyone else. And thus, you are vulnerable to what you can't avoid...
It's just life... Life happens to everyone...
... Let's continue...
[... ... ... God, I was so-]
Susie...
[I know. It's all in the past. Just...]
... -sigh- Okay... Actually, let's pause. Susie? Let's talk... ... Is it okay if I turn off the microphone... Kris? I'm probably not going to hold back.
/... Yeah. In fact, let's all just pal this out.\
Thanks...
-CLICK!-
...
-CLICK!-
Hey everyone. It's just Kris here... Uh. FUTURE Kris, I mean.
This is kinda impromptu, but I'm gonna cut here.
There is substantially more to this recording, but I think it best to uh... place the remainder of this rec behind a part I have in mind for before it.
Trust me. It's better this way.
See ya next Friday~.
-CLICK!-
... ... ...
Has anyone here ever sequence broke a level-balanced game before? ... Boy, if only that was a real thing, huh? Needless to say... I think everyone can see that these guys are... NOT Level 10's~.
Buuut maybe this is the wrong kind of game to worry about levels~. It IS a game where you don't need to gain a single level, after all... and in fact are rewarded for not doing so. Hmm.
But eh. You can't even be sure that's how Deltarune calcs Levels in the first place. It's LIKE Undertale. It is not that game ITSELF. Quite the quandry...
... Well! Anyways, I hope everyone has learned that Kytsaters are no joke, because kytsaters are no joke.
And I think this because I'm under the belief that a person that has had to survive successfully in the wild, tribe or no, is going to naturally be far stronger than a person who's lived their life as we do. With military-trained sorts being a fifty/fifty for contenders with this belief, that only seems right. They're pretty much superior to you in physical strength. Magic is debatable as that is a totally different brick in the wall, what with it being mental and spiritually influenced. But what if you give that savage might speed and mind reading powers? Does magic still matter?
... Well. With that food for thought, I think I'll let you all stew on that.
No silly questions today~. Been a bit of a tiresome few weeks where I had hoped it would be less so. So, I'll just leave things here and go 'da bed... xux Eugh...
Feel free to tell me straight up if I made any errors as always~. Staring at words, one often gets lost in the sea~...
G'night~.