>>9819,
>>9822,
>>9863
After enjoying the end of the festivities and taking a looong rest, Matreo and Johann reconvene the next morning to deliberate on a destination. You agree to split up, covering more ground. The girls are impressed by this, taking it as a sign of confidence, but Vito is less enthusiastic. Rummaging through an old sea chest, he produces two scrolls and two pearls, handing a pair to both of you.
>"Boys, it's good to be bold, but the line between bold and foolhardy is thin. These're a gift from m'last captain, a magic of sending bound to them. Hold the pearl in the center of the rune circle and speak a message, as the scroll crumbles its dust'll fly to its partner, carrying your words fast as the southern wind."
That settles, Matreo handles the further trade. The games are a hit with the younger catgirls and you secure not just paints and provisions, but critical supplies that come up during discussion.
>First, cloaks of the runthr, whose dark leathery hide has a thin layer of fur to hold heat in the mountain cold
>Second, a grappling hook and a pair of spike-stirrups for each of you, who lack claws for climbing
>Last, since Iri was fascinated by Johann's gun demonstration, she gets you each one of her latest masterpieces, a blindstick. It uses burnable tree sap to keep a strip of flaremetal dry. A few seconds after lighting the metal ignites like a miniature sun before vanishing, particularly painful to dark elves. Johann gets an extra one
>Matreo, however, gets a sealed wine vase to either use or keep as a trade good with the harpies, who favor it
Trade concluded, you separately head off.
<End of joint section
Matreo makes good time with Kara, who proceeds with efficient caution, winding though the overgrowth on light feed, halting to avoid scuttling centipedes and probing for quicksand with her spear. Her ears rarely rest either, flicking to focus on each new sound, and you find the whole performance intriguing enough that you're content to follow in silence. Only when she stops to skewer a handful of fish for dinner, scattering the others so you can safely wade across the stream, do you have a chance to really talk. Your intuition that these survival skills are her catnip proves correct. She'd interested in your own repertoire of traps and hunting tricks in particular, explaining her view that every risk can be turned to advantage. Quicksand, once known, is a fatal trap for a large beast chasing you, while the piranha fish she caught are deadly to the unsuspecting, but delicious if you nab them safely from land. Seeing her guard lower you decide to probe a little more.
>"And what about the advantages of that ruined shrine you wanted to visit?"
"That's...personal."
>"Try me. Because it seems like there are plenty of risks."
[Silver Tongue] + natural 20!! For a moment she looks conflicted, but then, looking as if to confirm that you to are alone, she confesses. "You heard that I'm the daughter of the last prophet. I even have the white fur that marks our line! But no matter how I tried, I've never been able to hear the voice of the Goddess. Our way is to speak to her in our dreams, but instead when I can see anything, it's nightmares, a horrible, twisted forest that devours us one by one like mice. But that's not a solution! If I tell the tribe all it will do is sow fear. So I thought-"
>"Don't. Thinking like that just leads to blame for things you can't control. But, if you stick with me, me and my partner are angling to visit the Goddess in her main temple, part of why we need help from the Harpies."
She eats the rest of her meal in silence, thinking, but as the two of you clean up to leave she says "Thank you."
The trek continues, and woods turn to hills turn to mountains before the day is done. The gear you traded for pays itself off within hours, allowing you purchase on steep inclines that would otherwise make the trail a risky proposition. Its twists and turns take you through dusk and into the night before opening up into a small rocky plateau perfect for resting, the overhang that offers shelter also the only obstruction to vision. As you finish a quick meal Kara still seems troubled.
>"Get some rest. I'll take the first watch," you offer. She smiles gratefully and curls up in the corner, using her tail to cover her face.
Late in your shift the moon is high, but you can't shake a sense of unease. You see firsthand what Kara was talking about, her sleep wracked by fits of rapid movement. At first they're short and mild, with long periods of rest in between, but now they're worse and frequent. Worse, it feels like you too are being watched. When she begins to make a pained expression you finally go over and shake her. She surprisingly doesn't wake, but it calms her down. You'd congratulate yourself, except then a small rock falls to the ground beside you.
>"Shit! Above!"
You roll to face the threat, but too late - a volley of barbs flies by, one lodging in your flank. From the darkness above a creature dives, claws scratching the ground where you just were. Kara is up in an instant, only to be knocked down again as the thing clubs her with its tail. You react on instinct, deflecting its next swing with your sword and then kicking when is recoils. You back away even as it stumbles, trying to get some distance to arm your pistol. Kara leaps with a roar onto the thing's back, a blur of claws and fur until the two tumble to the ground in front of you. You're ready to fire, only to freeze as you face what your lizard brain sees as two Karas. The one manages to crush the other against the rockface and you realize your mistake: the monster has the wings and tail of a demon, not a cat. Unfortunately it noticed
you earlier, and knocks the gun from your hand with its tail, lodging another barb in your arm.
"Leave us, beast! We have no need of your kind!" Kara hisses, struggling mightily to no avail.
<"Leave?" the creature asks in an alto voice reverberating with power, "You were the one who invited me!"
Seeing you recover, Kara calls, "The flaremetal!"
[Handyana Jones] You immediately understand and light the device with your flint and throw it.
>"Over here, bitch!"
The creature turns just as the flaremetal ignites, and even shielding your eyes the flash of light is dazzling. Screaming, the beast covers its eyes and steps back, flailing its tail in all directions. You slash it with your blade and then step back, leaving Kara to give it a one-two slash and then tackle it. For a brief second you're impressed, until you realize the thing is still just as strong as before and clever enough to send its tail your way when you move to help. This you dodge, but not fast enough to get caught in the melee too close for swordplay. Instead you pistol whip when you can and mostly try to keep it between you and Kara so there's no friendly fire. It's an ugly fight, but you notice despite everything the creature isn't using its claws when it easily could, instead opting to bludgeon you and Kara into submission. Deciding there might be more to this and needing a solution to that tail regardless, you expertly loop your rope and grapple around it and pull, giving just enough edge for Kara to elbow its face back into the bedrock for a knockout. She's ready to finish the job when you see the same sigil as at the ruins tattooed on the creature's lower back, and with it already stirring again maybe you can get some answers. Kara agrees.
You step back, panting, sweaty, and with a strange hazy sensation. To your left lies the creature, and taking a good look only confirms your first impression: without its back half it has the same dark skin, white fur, and feline features as Kara. Though perhaps you should say 'she' rather than 'it', as her face is just as human and looking lower she's noticeably more buxom. On your right Kara's worse for wear much like you, her top torn and barbs lodged in her arm and thigh. You'd look away in the name of modesty except you somehow feel
this is the most enticing look she's ever shown you. Wait, what? You shake your head to clear it, only for the feeling to get worse. You're hard, you realize, and you're having a hard time concentrating on anything besides the two women before you. Your assailant, awake again, shoots you a lecherous grin. You can feel your will weakening as the seconds slip by, and when Kara strips off her lungi it threatens to break. You...
<Fuck the catgirl
<Fuck the catgirl
<Fuck the catgirl
<Fuck the DEMONIC catgirl
<No, don't give in!!
Plus what do you want to do
after?