As much as she wanted to eat the stupid creature, there was something she was supposed to be doing. If only she could remember what it was. Between her hunger, exhaustion, and a foggy head, all she could remember was that God had sent her on a hunt. The thought that the tiny being approaching her might be her intended prey was laughable, so what could be the real target?
Letting out a low growl of irritation at the creature's attempt to touch her and her own inability to recall what was so important, Cattleya pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the pile of items with her sent on them. Whatever was going on, she wouldn't find answers as she was.
The discomfort of her fur receding, muscles shrinking, and bones realigning was worth it when her muddled thoughts became clearer. She was hunting a pair of fake gods for her Lord, Hircine. Why had that been so hard to remember? Why were her memories of the last few minutes a haze? Other than a vague feeling of victory, she wasn't sure what had happened to the giant crab.
Everything ached as she reached down for the bundle of clothes at her feet and her stomach was growling incessantly. Wasn't she going to eat something a minute ago?
"Erm... I'm still here." A voice said from behind her, making her grab her wand and spin around. Peter was standing a few feet away, looking delicious... or rather, embarrassed.
Breathing a sigh of relief that it was just an him that saw her in the nude, she lowered her wand and resumed getting dressed. Ignoring him for now, she settled for just pants and boots in favor of filling her empty belly. Tearing open her pack, the pinkette stuffed her face with half of the dried fish from the market. It would be absolutely mortifying if somebody was around to see, but that was the benefit of being in the wilderness; no people to witness when you ignore etiquette.
"Are you even hearing a thing I'm saying? We need to leave, NOW!" The rude little faunus shouted at her. Dragging her attention from her food to raise a brow toward him, she wasn't so crude as to speak with her mouth full even toward an animal, he threw up his hands and started to gather the rest of her things. "Hydra, dangerous, move!"
Before she protest, or even swallow in preparation to do so, the copper haired faunus caught her arm in an iron grip and dragged her toward the mountains. Just as they made it into the dense brush, a trio of roars came from below the cliff.
------------------
After a long day of worried searching and asking around for signs of her wayward employer, Patypata Perse reluctantly returned to the lodge for the night. Pushing her way through the door, a gasp reached her ears as Will whispered something to one of an identical pair of raven haired women at the bar, earning him a coquettish grin.
Upon noticing her entrance, the... unusual host's smile fell, replaced with a carefully neutral expression. "Oh, you're back. Room for two again?"
"No... I-I'm sorry for what my friend said this morning, she's kind of socially oblivious."
"You don't have to apologize for her, sweetie." He sighed, gesturing for her to take a seat. "You look worn out, did the two of you have a fight?"
Biting her lip, Paty shook her head. "Not really. She left me behind... I wasn't supposed to follow her here and I can't really defend myself, so it's not like I don't understand, but-"
"But you're worried." One of the women sitting nearby finished for her.
"Yeah."
Slapping her on the back, the black haired woman laughed, "Well don't let it get to ya, next thing you know, you'll start blaming yourself and that's no way to live. Besides, I'm sure she's doing just fine, right sis?"
"Mhmm!" The second agreed, not pulling her lips away from a quickly draining pitcher. Slamming it down for a refill once it was empty, she looked to the upset sheep-girl and added warmly, "Sometimes you just gotta have faith. Cattleya's a big girl, she can take care of herself."
Flabbergasted, Paty stared at the two of them and wondered aloud, "I never said her name, how do you know who I was talking about?"
"Sandra-""Guinevere-" The twins introduced themselves in sequence, finishing together with matching smiles, "Consider us friends of a friend."
--------------------------------
Sitting alone in a magically created earthen dome, abandoned by the copper haired faunus who'd insulted her intelligence before leaving, Cattleya looked down at the book she'd purchased from Blake's mother. The Grimm Menace, it was called. According to both Kali and the rude faunus, as well as the book itself, the author was a world renowned professional Huntsman. With such high praise, this 'Peter Port' certainly sounded like a trustworthy source of information.
Too exhausted to continue her journey even if it wasn't growing dark, Cattleya settled in to do some reading before going to sleep. Flipping the book open to the section on coastal threats, she skimmed halfway down the summary page for the beast she'd encountered earlier that day.
'Karkinos: Crabs, the beach-goer's foe! All jokes aside, the Karkinos is no laughing matter. When most people see the tiny white-shelled creatures on the shoreline, they either see an ordinary crab or a Grimm so weak that it seems harmless. Well, I tell you now, that that's not the case. While small, young Karkinos have been known to overwhelm unsuspecting travelers through sheer numbers. Adolescents of the species grow as large as a house and their armor only grows stronger with age. At this stage, the crustaceans tend to wait on the sea floor until alerted to the presence of humans or faunus by their lesser brethren. If that wasn't enough, the lack of means to hunt them below the waves occasionally leads to individuals that rival an Atlesian battleship. Worse still, the creatures seem to have some sort of symbiotic relationship with Hydra-type Grimm much like the partnership between Manticore and Sphinx, as the serpents are never far behind the arrival of the larger examples of the Karkinos. Despite all this, some Huntsmen are known to seek them out for their eyes, the organs being extremely durable and worth quite a lot of Lien for the fact that they do not dissipate like most Grimm Tissues. Continued on page 87.'
Realizing that the source of the roaring she'd heard was probably a Hydra, she quickly found it as well.
'Hydra: Native to the shallow waters around Anima, the Hydra is believed to be an aquatic evolution of the King Taijitu. Sporting three or more heads depending on age, this creature of Grimm uses its size and multitude of snake-like heads to destroy anything within reach by attacking from several angles at once. Every third head is unarmored and would seem to present a weak point, but as any veteran Huntsman such as I will tell you, this beast is wily. Knowing its vulnerability, the Hydra will offer up its unarmored heads as bait to lure the unwary within range of its others. Many young Huntsmen and Huntresses have fallen for this ruse and it is for this reason, as well as the other more obvious ones of course, that any mission to slay a hydra should be undertaken with a team. Continued on Page 139.'
That... It was probably for the best that she hadn't fallen asleep on the cliff. With how tired she was, she probably would have died. Reading through the chapter devoted to the beast proved useless though, being a series of anecdotes about the author's experiences fighting Hydras. Sure it explained how he'd killed them, but she wasn't a Huntress and couldn't do the things he did.
Unable to keep her eyes open much longer, she put the book aside and tried not to think about the screaming monsters that were probably lurking just up the mountain. She would need her sleep or else the next day was going to be even more dangerous than it already looked to be.
Status: Healthy
Magicka: (3000/3000)
Choose:
[] Continue along the shoreline.
[] Cut across the mountains
-[] Fly.
-[] Create a Golem to ride.
[] Write in.
