Minor Miscommunication

Here's a follow-up to the previous caption. It's even longer than that one, so I tried widening the image a bit to keep it from being ultra-tall and narrow; hopefully that works better for readability. Let me know, especially if this is actually worse. (EDIT: I made it a bit thinner and touched things up a bit, including a larger text size; hopefully this is better.)

Also, the working title for this was "little cute wolf".

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Further edit: Okay, maybe this was a totally failed experiment. I'm tired of fiddling with the image, though, so below is just a "story version" of this.

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Kane's life had improved significantly of late. Granted, things had been pretty alright before, but over the last couple of months things had really taken off. And it was all thanks to just one person..or what some pedants might call two.

He was a tall, buff werewolf with deep brown hair and fur (aside from a cream-colored underside in forms that had fur there), and bright red eyes. He had a gig as a trainer at a local gym that paid pretty well and let him show off those looks, although he mostly just liked looking and being looked back at. Or at least that was what he thought, until one of his friends suddenly turned into a smoking hot catgirl.

Well, okay—it was more complicated than that, with his pet cat having been a cat spirit and they somehow managed to accidentally combine into a single person, now calling herself Zona. But to Kane, the precise reasons and details weren't as important as the fact that the guy who he'd been good friends with one day had suddenly become a snowy-white-furred bombshell of a woman the next.

Zona had most of Oz's mannerisms, and favored tight pants or short shorts as bottoms and either tight t-shirts or tank tops or, semi-frequently, some of the shirts that had fit her as a guy which now fell very loose across her figure. Everything looked great on her, of course, and perhaps the loose-fitting shirts were the sexiest of all in Kane's eyes. And while she absolutely was a woman, blushing and giggling receptively in response to the stares of most of her male friends, she was also quite a tomboy, not acting much more feminine than before. The biggest contribution one could easily see from the "cat side" of her—that is, the originally female one—was instead a newfound tendency to express herself in feline noises and sometimes casually show off the ridiculous acrobatic skill and flexibility her body now had with impressive stretches, leaps, cartwheels, flips or the like. It was hard to tell—and inconceivable to ask—whether these movements occasionally exposing a bit more skin than whatever she was wearing normally would was deliberate or accidental.

And Kane knew from the day he saw her like that that he had to be the one who claimed her. That's not to say that he thought he owned her or anything, especially right then; rather, Kane intended to pursue her as hard as he could, and hope that either she chose him or it became clear to both that they weren't romantically compatible. Fortunately, it was the former; his initial flirting was eagerly returned, and within a couple of weeks they were officially dating. As he got to know her better, they really clicked, becoming far closer friends than before, too. Around a month after the transformation, Zona was officially the werewolf's girlfriend, and they would get together fairly regularly just by themselves. Her body felt amazing holding on to his in an embrace; her fur was soft in his hands, and her hands knew just how to pet his ears; her tail quickly developed a habit of teasingly brushing against his whenever they stood or sat close to each other; certain kinds of sexy looks from her were enough to practically paralyze his brain function for a moment; and when they kissed...right from the very first time, there was passion and heat for both to enjoy, with the consistent end result of each one panting heavily, still holding on tight.

And now, a little over two months since the change, and nearly as long into their budding relationship, they were on their way out from hanging with the rest of their friends (and putting up with the usual jokes about cats and dogs getting along) when she came up next to him, lowering her ears and grinning up at him. "Hey," she said, knowing full well that this expression mostly broke his ability to focus. "You, wanna come to my place tonight? I'm, getting pretty confident with using my magic now, and..I wanna try something out with you."

"Uh..s-sure." Kane's tail wagged rapidly, his own ears low in an equally friendly expression. He kind of missed the part about her magic until he'd already agreed to come along, but it was difficult for him to imagine this invitation leading to anything he wouldn't enjoy. So he drove to her apartment and followed her up the stairs, watching her hips swing and tail whip around excitedly the whole time.

She glanced back at him as he came into the doorway. "Oh, it's a little chilly, so you might wanna keep that sweater on," she said. Kane was wearing a red sweater with 'Big Bad Wolf' written across the chest; someone had bought it for him as a joke last winter, but he'd worn it regularly from then on anyway, deciding to own it. "Come to the couch with me?"

"Um, sure..." He shut the door, and briefly looked around as he came to sit next to her. Even when they'd both been male, Kane hadn't come by here before; it was a bit too small for a bunch of guests, after all. He thought to himself, if they stayed together to the point of marrying, he'd offer for them to either move into his place, which was way bigger, or even a new place altogether. Nonetheless, it was pretty nice for its size.

She patted the seat next to her on the couch, and when he sat down she quickly scooted up next to him, pulling an arm up around his waist. "You wanna kiss first?" she asked casually.

"Y..yes." She giggled and then pulled herself over him, pushing her face onto his lips-to-lips and treating him to one of the deepest, most intense kisses they'd ever had together. In the process they both got to petting each other, her tail swiping across his when it could catch it—busy as it was whipping back and forth in a happy wag. After about the halfway point, she started maneuvering him around until he was lying on his back underneath her. Only once both of them desperately needed to come up for air did they stop, Zona pulling her lips off of his with a loud smack.

"Hff..yeah, you're amazing," she said, high and breathless.

"You—ffh—too—fhh—cutie," he answered between rapid panting, thinking to himself that this was a real test of his physical stamina.

"Aa~aahnn, I feel so good, with you. I wanna...let you know, how you make me feel," she said, running a hand through his hair. "Okay?"

"Uh..sure..?" Kane didn't understand what she meant by this at all. In his defense, both when she'd mentioned her magic and now were times when most of his mental facilities were mostly occupied with..appreciating her beauty.

"Okay, mrrh," she purred happily. "Just stay there and enjoy~."

The catgirl lifted herself off of him enough to look very clearly down at his chest—or more specifically the text on his sweater. She drew an index finger sideways along the text (which he also felt across his chest), murmuring "Big bad wolf..." It made him shudder slightly as he felt a curious tingling spread out from the area of contact, racing up and down and all along his body. Then she drew closer again, her hands rubbing his ears and her tail curling closely around his. "Oh~, what soft, fluffy fur you have," she said, her high, warm voice seeming to mesmerize him alongside the tender touching of his fur. He felt his ears and tail tingling much more sharply than his skin had, and could actually feel it changing too: The fur of his ears growing thicker and softer, and his tail's fur fluffing out suddenly much bigger and shaggier. "And what long, silky hair you've got," she added, running one hand through his hair while the other continued working on his ears. Kane's scalp tingled sharply too, and he had the curious sensation that her hand was "pulling" or perhaps "lifting" more and more hair out, teasing it down along his back and across his shoulders until he could feel some loose, wild, soft locks touching his forehead and cheeks, shoulders and running all the way down to nearly his waist in the back.

"Mrr, rrfh, rr~rufh..!" Kane was barking softly and affectionately; part of him wanted to lean up and nuzzle her, but somehow he felt like he shouldn't or couldn't..just yet, maybe? He was still too hypnotized by her touch and her melodious voice to really contemplate what was happening to his body, as she now drew both of her hands down through the longer hair to gently massage his shoulders. "What a small, slender frame you have, oh bi~ig ba~ad wolf," she murmured in a deep, sexy voice, and he felt his body melt in a way it never had before from her touch: A warm pressure spreading from his shoulders down through his whole torso, making it compress inward. His broad shoulders shrank narrower, his waist slimmed and flattened, and his height slid down, down, down...Soon he could feel her hips, once up at his waist, down across his own, her legs on his legs. He felt so small all of a sudden, with not just his sweater but all the rest of his clothes having become awfully loose on him, and even though some alarm bells went off in his head that this was strange and unexpected, he was also enjoying it—and enjoying her touch—too much to even worry, much less complain.

"And what a small, round, cute face you have," she continued, moving a hand up to run across his cheek.

"Mrr~rrrfh!" the soft bark that came out as his eyes fluttered closed was higher than all the ones before, and the pitch of his voice shifted in the middle of it too. The way her hand traced along the skin of his face made him realize that all of its hair was simply gone now, replaced by soft, smooth skin, and the warm pressure that had changed his body so much just a moment ago now spread along his face, changing it in a way he couldn't see but felt was making it smaller, rounder, and cuter—just like she was saying.

"Rr~rr, rrfh! Y-yip!" A surprisingly high yip came from his mouth when her hands returned to his ears and went back to work petting them. His face had never really cooled down from the kiss, but now it was warming up to a blazingly hot blush, as he began to notice a peculiar tugging, slipping, tingly sensation down between his legs. With how hot it was making him, he had to stop vocalizing to pant, mouth open.

"Oo~oh, looks like you're huffing and puffing, big bad wolf," Zona teased. "What's going on with your little boy, hmm~mn?"

If anything could've snapped Kane out of it, it was her calling this out particularly. He did register mentally that his manhood was, in fact, shrinking all the faster now that she'd pointed it out, but it just felt so..good as it did so that he still couldn't bring himself to protest. "H-hfhh, rr~rrfh...!" Instead, he gasped for air and barked a few more times, hearing his voice take on a deep, womanly alto tone when it wasn't coming out in high, adorable yips. And soon enough, the werewolf could feel his manhood melting away completely, drawing an extremely feminine "Ooo~oooOOohh..!" as his sex completely changed and she was immediately barraged with an intense, fuzzy feeling down there—a girl's pleasure presenting itself to her in full.

"Aa~ah, y-yip, a~aahnn..!" She squirmed and thrashed in the catgirl's arms, still holding on tight to her.

"Mrr~rh," Zona purred, "Thaat's it. Oh, r-right: What wide hips and long, shapely legs you have," she said, her voice going back into that mesmerizing tone again. This, of course, prompted such a change in the werewolf girl, making her lower body spread out: Thick hips and thighs, and a big, round bottom pressing into the couch beneath her.

"Rr~rrfhh! Y-yip!" Kane now found her hands reaching up to pet the catgirl's ears and run through her hair, gently tugging her head down not to force, but to physically beg her to come down into nuzzling range.

"Mm~mnh..and what huge, round breasts you have.." the catgirl murmured as she gave in to this request, her face sinking down onto the wolf-girl's.

The effect was immediate: As the werewolf began vigorously nuzzling Zona's cheeks and the catgirl returned the gesture eagerly, she could feel her chest tingling and pressing forward, suddenly-sensitive skin rubbing across the material of her shirt and soon pressing into the catgirl's own impressive bust. And Zona..seemed to have slipped her bra off when Kane wasn't looking, too. "A~ah, aa~aahhnn..! Rrfh, rRrrro~oowfh!" This bombarded Kane with wave after wave of girlish pleasure, drawing panting gasps and girlish sounds of pleasure and barks and yips out of her one after another. She could feel her new breasts getting bigger and bigger, and both enjoyed the sensation and encouraged the growth—feeling and hearing the intensity of Zona's enjoyment of what she was feeling from this too, besides just her own.

"Rr—rrfh, yip," the wolf-girl let out, and then with one final, hard push and deeply intense pulse of pleasure, she howled, a wolfish "AAA~AOOOOOO~OOWWHhh!" that might've echoed throughout the apartment complex if the walls of the apartment hadn't already been magically soundproofed. The end result was a deeply curvy, fluffy-furred werewolf girl lying under the catgirl, her enormous breasts squished close under Zona's own. Both of them held on tight, petting, nuzzling, and enjoying each other's touch, for at least as long as the transformation itself had lasted—until, finally, Kane's mind began to return to her out of the part-hypnotic, part-physical-pleasure, part-instinct-driven haze it had been in since just before her transformation began.

"Rrrffh..ffh, ha~ahff..w-whaa.."

"Mrrowh?" the catgirl gently pulled her head up, mewing questioningly.

"Z-Zona, what..? G-get, hff, getoff, lemmeup!" she demanded suddenly.

"Oh! Uh, okay."

She disengaged and got up, quickly taking a few steps back as it registered that something was wrong. This let Kane jump to her feet, looking around and down at herself in a sort of half-panic. "Whaa...w-w-what..?" Her pants slipped off, falling audibly around her feet; her wide hips kept the boxers just barely on. Her sweater seemed to have changed its size enough to fit her slim frame, but it was too long both for her arms and her torso, hanging down so far as to hide her hands and hug most of her hips respectively. The t-shirt beneath seemed to have not changed at all, which would've left it quite loose and overlong if it wasn't squeezed inside of the sweater at the moment.

"What did you..?" She lifted her right hand up enough for the sleeve to slide off of it, observing a small, delicate hand with long, manicured, red-painted nails: A very, very girly hand, overall. "H-how even..?"

"You made me a girl!?" she finally yelled, mortified, at the catgirl—who was now no more than an inch or two shorter than her, reflecting an extremely drastic loss of height for the little werewolf. "WHY!?" She frowned deeply, feeling some tears well up in her eyes and start to make their way down her still-blushing cheeks.

"Uh, um, I-I uh.." Zona was no less distressed than the wolf-girl, holding up her hands and lowering her ears apologetically. "Icanchangeyouback!" she said quickly. "I'm sorry! I thought you, and I'd uh...I..."

As upset as Kane was right now, seeing her girlfriend get steadily more heartbroken as she stumbled through the apology compelled her to take a deep sniff of breath and calm down some herself, for the sole purpose of hopefully consoling her. "U-uhm, change me back? So, you weren't planning on m-making me stuck this way?" she said.

"Y-yeah!" Zona seized on this quickly. "I um..I just...you make me feel really good, when we're together, and I..wanted to share that with you? Like, literally let you feel the kinda thing I do...but, I guess I really didn't explain that too well, did I?"

"Y-you.." The werewolf sniffed again. "H-heheh, no, you didn't explain that at all, silly! The words 'I want to use my weird cat magic to turn you into a girl' did not leave your lips! Neither did 'temporary' or 'turn back' until I was already crying!" Even though she was yelling this, anything resembling anger was completely absent. Rather, she was speaking between increasingly loud giggling.

"Yeah uh..heheh...ooh man, I'm really sorry," Zona said as the giggle fit calmed down. The wolf-girl had some new tears on her face from that, and now wiped all of it off with a sleeve. "Are you, okay? D'you, want me to turn you back now?"

"I uhm.." Kane tugged at her sleeves, pulling them up to the wrists to free her hands, and ran one through her hair—finding herself suddenly curious about long hair like this. There were...plenty of things about being female that she found herself curious about now, or perhaps had been before but the opportunity hadn't so boldly presented itself. "Well—h-how long were you planning to keep me like this?"

"Um, j-just till morning, maybe?" the catgirl said. "Or, if you asked to turn back sooner, then..."

"That's um...that's, fine.

"So you just..wanted me to know what it's like?" she said, folding her hands across each other over her belly. "Feeling uh, good, as a girl?"

"Y-yeah. Well I mean um, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious how you'd look as a girl, too, which uh—wow. " Zona admitted, blushing and folding her ears down again. "You're really pretty..."

Kane smiled, feeling her cheeks warm and her tail start to swish back and forth behind her. Now that she was no longer upset, the wolf-girl found it strangely natural to act more and more feminine herself; being called 'pretty' and especially getting blushed at like that felt very much like a compliment. "Awwh, that's..actually really sweet." It was starting to show in the way she worded things—and her body language, too, now clasping her hands happily together, along with her tail, of course, wagging eagerly back and forth behind her again. But it didn't worry her; she was kind of enjoying it—besides the fact that Zona visibly thought it was super cute! "And, a little pervy, but—I really can't judge you for that..." She leaned forward enough to rub the other girl's ears, drawing a soft purr from her and letting her know without words that all was forgiven.

The catgirl took a few steps closer. "Y-yeah, I mean, kinda 'more than half of me' was a guy for..a long time, so I don't think I'm over a certain obsession with pretty faces and big boobs," she said, prodding the wolf-girl's chest gently with a finger and making her yip softly.

"O-oh, is that all?" Kane grabbed the hem of her sweater in her hands and boldly pulled it up and off, tossing it away to one side. She had the feeling that it was soon going to be a little too warm to wear something so thick for long—and badly wanted to tease Zona with the sight of her shirt being tugged halfway up her torso by the motion, followed by the sight of her in just the loose, ill-fitting t-shirt and boxers.

This more or less had the intended effect, making the catgirl blush and let out a soft, high "Waa~aahh." Then she said, "Oh, w-wow, you've got girl abs! And, you still look really strong too, now that I'm really looking..."

"Heheh, thanks. So you like your girls strong~?" Kane said, letting her voice go deep and sexy, as she grabbed Zona, picking her up into a close, tight hug, and making her mew helplessly in assent.

"Moow~wrrhh!"

"Mm-hm! Rrfh!" That tail was already busy curling around the werewolf's again, but she controlled herself enough to start walking; the way the other girl was clinging on to her now made it easier to do this while still carrying her. "You mind if we go to your bed? The couch is nice, but it's not great for lying down for a long time."

"N-no, that's fine! Heheh!"

Zona's giggling proved infectious, and Kane kept giggling and laughing along with her even as she set the white-furred catgirl on the bed, first sitting down, then guided backwards far enough for the werewolf to be kneeling and hugging her with her knees on the bed straddling a leg, and then finally pushing her down onto her back with her head against a pillow. In no time at all they were in something of a reverse of their previous position—that is, petting and nuzzling each other breathlessly, but with the wolf-girl on top this time. Both of them quite vocally enjoyed this for a long while, before finally coming up for a bit of air, Kane loosening her grip on the smaller girl and pulling herself up just enough to give the space to breathe between their faces.

"Mrr~rrh...eheh..." Zona was gently brushing a hand down through Kane's long, dark locks, making her shiver slightly. Maybe..her base, male form could use some longer hair, she thought, half-imagining the sensation this gesture would give 'him' then. "Y-you know, I'm a little relieved you didn't wanna turn straight back. I-I mean uh, of course I could, b-but, Mina wasn't a very powerful cat spirit...I think doing two changes that big one right after the other would've strained my magic some."

"Rrfh..soo, a night's rest is enough, though?"

"Mm-hm! Pretty sure, mr~rowh. A-anyway, it'll get better with more practice. I mean...if you're okay with being a girl again sometimes?"

"Okay!?" Kane stroked the other girl's cheek, making her purr. "You're being silly again, little kitten~. Maybe sometime, you could be a boy again and lemme know what a kiss feels like from this end?"

"Oh..m-mrr~rRRRrh...a-absolutely!"

"Good..rrfh.."

The werewolf dropped her head back down again, pressing her nose into the catgirl's cheek again and nuzzling it. While this gesture was returned, along with some generous mutual petting to follow, and both of them did blush and let out some girlish and animal sounds of enjoyment in response, this was much calmer than either of the previous times. Zona's stamina was obviously a bit drained at this point—possibly from both the transformation and what had come after—and Kane had to admit she was getting kind of sleepy, too. She helped the catgirl's body relax and calm down enough to sleep, and then let out a quiet, low "Aww~wh" when she heard Zona making breathy, high mews in her sleep before giving that soft cheek one last gentle nuzzle and drifting off herself.

It was nothing like what he'd imagined from the invitation, but on the balance...the experience had been even better than anything he could've! In the end, it was the first of many nights that wound up that way for them—that is, as two girls lying in bed together petting each other—and Kane eventually came to mark that night as when their relationship began to really get serious.

Midnight Merger

This one turned out kind of long for being a caption, but I was determined to actually, properly put out a caption, so here it is anyway. If it proves annoying to read, let me know; I can edit in a "story" version later if it's needed.

EDIT: If you saw this right when it was posted, you might not have been able to reach the image; google has once again screwed things up even worse, this time with how it generates an image link within a blog post. I think I've got it fixed now.

Battle Vixens! - 96

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Episode 96: The Midnight Summit

"Another world lost?"
"Indeed," the Watcher nodded. "Their most powerful would not accept my help, and now it is devouring them, one by one. While the world has not yet been entirely consumed, the dominoes are falling quickly. As per the terms of our agreement, I have offered the survivors a way out and am temporarily housing those who take it."

Her host groaned. "I'll find somewhere to put them—but, you should know that I'm really disappointed. It's been forever since you visited me without bringing horrible news!"
The Watcher smiled. "Your reaction to bad news is always much more entertaining."

Her host did something of a double take. "...Watcher?"
"Hmn?"

"Are you...crying?"
"Well. This body has tear ducts, unlike yours."

"Indeed. But. I've never seen you use them before."

"Is that so?" She smiled again. "Well then, have your fill. You may never see it again."
"Aannd it's, too much to hope that I'd ever learn their origin, I suppose."

She paused, sniffed gracefully, wiped her face on a sleeve, and the tears stopped. Then she seemed to change the subject instead of answering: "The people of that world gave me a name with the meaning 'Peaceful'.

"...Do you ever hate what you are now?"
"Hmmn." Her host thought about it for a moment. "Fairly often, yeah, early on. It was more that I hated what I couldn't yet do, that was always so easy back when I was human."

"I despise peace, you know. Tranquility is so very tedious and dull, compared to conflict."

"Huh. In some respects, I agree I guess—to be alive is to struggle and fight to stay that way. If the day comes when there's nowhere left to run, when the Beast devours the last universe, and there is nothing left but you and it—that's when there will be eternal 'peace'."

"And it will be very, very boring. That thing has no imagination, so even its best efforts at torment will turn repetitive swiftly.

"I'd like to commission something from you—a device with a particular purpose. You're far better with technology than I, after all."
"That's only 'cause you always brute force everything with magic! You've had several times my expected lifespan to learn already."
The Watcher shrugged. "It's one of the few things I can do resembling force, and so I savor it. All the same..."
"Well, okay—I like to tinker anyway, so if it'll help a world survive, I'll give it a shot. What do you need?"

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When they were both through eating, Amory and Blake changed to their vixen forms, and she helped Light relax some more with the less logical means of some petting. This resulted in the white-haired fox-girl taking on her softer, curvier appearance, which obviously had to be undone before they went to bed, but there was still some time until then. She stood up, stretched, and thanked the small, cute vixen before heading back to her room to "play a game, or read, or..something," to take her mind off of things for a while. Amory herself didn't change back at any point between then and going to bed.

She awoke in the dream-space, and once she had hopped down out of bed she found her clothes rather unlike usual. Instead of something fit for sleep, it was a somewhat flashy, kimono-inspired dress in a bright color scheme. After briefly picking at it and wondering just how this place 'decided' what anyone was wearing in the first place, she went to the door and knocked on it gently, deciding to get Rowan 'up' first. After a moment it opened; the blue-haired vixen was also not in bedclothes, instead appearing in a dark blue evening dress. She was barefoot, but Amp could spot some very high heels in the bedroom behind her that looked like they'd just been kicked away.

"Well, uh, hey."
"Evening." Her expression was largely neutral with a hint of serious. "I spent the past two hours or so memorizing a number of things, including the list of everyone 'invited'. Hopefully I don't forget anyone important."

Amp nodded. "I guess I'll get Light now?" Rowan nodded back, and they went to a newly-appeared door to do that. Light answered the door in black dress slacks with a slightly loose, sleeveless white shirt tucked into them.

"Hi again," Amp said slightly cheerfully. "You ready?"
"As much as I can be." She tugged at the shirt, looking between the two of them. "You know what's going on with our clothes?"
Amp shrugged. "I guess this is better than everyone meeting you in just a t-shirt, though."

"Maybe."

Rowan cut in to this conversation: "Before we start bringing everyone in, we need to discuss venue. It would be ideal for everyone to fit in a single room, but this one is the largest available, and it is unlikely to fit the full population. At the bare minimum, everyone should be capable of hearing a single person speak."
"Hmmn, yeah. There's not exactly much seating here either, is there?" Amp put a finger to her chin and tilted her head, thinking. "Well—we haven't had anything but bedrooms before 'cause it's just been one to, like, five people meeting at a time. And, we've all been in super informal clothes 'cause we were just meeting people we already sorta knew, again in small groups. So maybeeee..." She went over to a third door out of her bedroom, trying the knob. It turned and opened into something that was not a bedroom.

The three of them walked into a giant conference room of sorts. It was decorated about as garishly as the bedrooms usually were, and it had a towering ceiling lined with massive chandeliers. The majority of its floor space was taken up by an impossibly long, unbroken rectangular wooden table lined with ornate chairs, including four along each short end. There were also numerous doors along the walls of the room, ready and waiting to be 'linked' to the invitees' own rooms.

After they glanced around the room briefly, Amp put her hands together, grinning: "There we go!" This'll work great, right?"

"It should," Rowan said. "It also appears to possess favorable acoustics for being heard across the room without the aid of microphones and speakers."
Light crossed her arms. "This is unnaturally convenient. Did this place always 'exist', waiting for us, or did you 'make it' because we 'needed' it?"

Amp shrugged. "I dunno if there's a difference here. I mean—don't forget we're literally in a dream. Either way, it does what we need it to do."

Rowan nodded her agreement to this, then said: "We have a large number of 'guests' to bring here. Amp's presence is necessary, as is my knowledge of who the delegates are, but there is no reason for you to walk around endlessly along with us. You could take up a chair and wait here, if you like."
"Yeah...I'm not opposed to hiding in a corner for a while," Light admitted.
"I will be certain to introduce any interested parties to you directly," Rowan said, then proceeded to the nearest door not already in use. Light went to get one of the chairs next to the table and bring it to the corner opposite the door they'd come from.

"We'll begin with Tenpo and Shuriken, since they are already familiar with you and this place. It is a shame that it's too late to introduce you by another name that doesn't suggest the true nature of your powers," she commented.
"It technically isn't, but I don't really mind," Amp. "I don't think I'd come up with anything good on the spot, just 'the Dreamer' or something."

Rowan looked over at her for a moment. "...That would work. You didn't actually give your name to anyone you woke the other day, did you?"
"Err, I don't think so? But we told Tenpo and Shuriken I was 'Amp'."
"They can be sufficiently discreet."

After a bit, the two of them came back with the Japanese vixens in tow. Rowan followed them as they came Light's way, while Amp went back to another door to get someone else. Light stood up. "Miss Light," Tenpo grinned eerily wide as she put out a hand to shake. "We haven't actually met before. Shadow-play seems to think much of you."

"Sha..oh. Is she, doing okay?" Light took the offered hand, shaking it gently, and then gave the other vixen the same.
"Some small pieces of her memory are returning," Shuriken replied. "It is slow, but recovery seems to be in reach."

Amp had been sent to get one of the vixens she'd woken up—who in turn knew the actual delegate from the UK. She opened the door before too long. "Aah, it really is you!"
"Eheh, yeah." 'Phase' had a powerset that let her freely move through solid (nonliving) matter, which had been enough of a problem when a monster ate her—much less the risk of the Puppeteer or someone equally murder-prone getting access to something like that.

"Oh, ooh! Is Light here too?" She leaned sideways to try and see through the doorway, being one of relatively few vixens shorter than Amp was.

"Yeah, but, we need to get Lumberjack first. If you don't mind?"
"Oh, no, not at all. What do I need to do?"

Rowan would, obviously, profess to anyone who asked that she selected the order to bring people in more or less as she remembered them—more or less randomly, in other words. In actuality she took some consideration to begin with the ones whose ties to the VI were essentially rock-solid, in hopes of them helping to project an image to the more tenuously committed members of the coalition that everyone else was unified. This had the side effect that the first delegates brought in included a number of generally friendly people who fell into the two camps of "not at all to only slightly interested in meeting Light" or "huge fans of hers". As it turned out, Light didn't have much difficulty dealing with members of either group, and slowly one small crowd gathered around her while all the others split off into smaller groups around the room.

"How'd you track down Ning with only light powers? Are you an expert tracker in real life or something?"

"I think I can sorta show you. Close your eyes for a sec..."

"...Well, it's not really teleportation. I'm just, turning into light briefly and moving around as light."
"Hm. I suppose I can see why that'd be taxing. I can, like, turn my skin into steel briefly to block attacks, but it's..."

"Can you teach me to go Super Saiyan like you did on that big Shiva thing?"
"Uh, trust me, you don't wanna have that happen..."

"Hey, how come Gemma's not here too? Can I meet her some time?"
"She's—nervous around crowds. Me too, honestly, but uh...a-anyway, probably. We'll have to ask, uh, Dreamer to help arrange it some other night..."

"Can you sign my scarf?!"
"Uh, I don't have a pen and, I don't think stuff here 'carries over' into the real world..."
"Awwh, too bad. It'd sell for hundreds online."

"There are thousands of fakes out already. How would you even prove it's authentic?"

"Uh, wait, people are faking my signature? I've never even signed anything—I mean, not as 'Light', anyway."

"I know, right?!"

Amp stopped near the next door, turning to watch the flow of conversation around Light. She seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the attention, of course, but still relieved—maybe even happy. For the most part, people were staying away from questions she couldn't answer, and a surprising number of them apparently just wanted tactical advice for fighting mist monsters, or her suggestions on creative ways to use their own powers. A lot of the crowd around Light weren't actual delegates, come to think of it, but instead some of their 'go-betweens' who were supposed to be ushered out of the room when it came time for the 'actual' meeting. Amp thought, maybe she could find them all a side room to continue the conversation in, and hang out with all of them there herself.

Rowan came out of the door next to her, bringing with her a couple of vixens from Italy. They left after a brief conversation, and she turned to Amp.

"So, how many do we have left?"
"We're over halfway through the list." The blue-haired vixen sighed. "At this point, we must invite Espadas."

"'Kay," she nodded, not particularly questioning this.

"We arranged a reliable sequence of go-betweens after my last call to you today." Rowan went off to one side of the room, waving to one of the other South American vixens who'd apparently been standing by, and now walked up to knock on the door. They went through a chain of five or six others, the last of which knocked on what would become their target's door before stepping cautiously back.

The person who Amory had shown Blake a picture of that afternoon opened the door not long afterward, wearing something fairly resembling a formal military dress uniform, complete with a hat, but with the contradictory inclusion of a short skirt and stockings. She was around Amp's height, and looked around briefly after opening the door, nodding briefly toward Rowan before addressing the blond-haired vixen. "So it seems that you are real," she said; there was enough of a Spanish accent to her voice to make it clear she was actually speaking English, and was apparently pretty fluent with it. "You're cuter than on television."
"Eh, thanks? I'm 'the Dreamer'," she said. "My power mostly consists of doing, uh, this."
"And you are not the Giver herself?"
"No."
"Las Espadas," she said, offering her a handshake, but giving it perfunctorily when it was accepted. Then she briskly swept by Amp to get to Rowan.

"Not many in here, but I hear quite a few voices around. We won't have to hold the meeting in a maze of rooms, will we?"

"Something more convenient showed up," Rowan said. "I'll take you there."
As they left, Amp decided to follow a short ways behind them. "I trust you were able to persuade Light to attend?" Espadas said.

"I was. I'll introduce you," Rowan replied.

After a few twists and turns, they came out to the conference room and began moving through it. At first things seemed normal enough, but Amp noticed some heads turning Espadas' way a few times. Around half of the way to Light, one of the Italian vixens angrily stepped directly in front of them.

"And who invited this butcher here!?" she gesticulated angrily. "Is all of Mexico not enough for you to terrorize?"

Espadas stopped, appearing completely calm. "If you want to make me leave, you are free to try," she said, a number of her 'light-swords' appearing in the air around the one who'd challenged her, all with their tips pointed down at her. "I would be happy to test whether this place truly prevents violence, if you provoke me to self-defense."
The Italian vixen growled and didn't respond otherwise, but stood her ground.
"..Too bad." She waved her hand, dismissing the swords. "But if you must know, I was invited by the VI personally. Is that not right?" she turned her head Rowan's way.

The blue-haired vixen took a small step forward. "Las Espadas is officially recognized as the representative of Mexico's empowered population, by the Mexican government," she stated. "Even if she were not, she has not killed anyone since the attacks began. And the VI's goal is to keep our world from being destroyed, not punish murders over which the US would have no jurisdiction in the first place."

"..None that you know of," she retorted, but moved aside.

After they had moved away from the site of the confrontation, Rowan glanced the dark-haired vixen's way. "I am not disappointed, nor even surprised," she said in response to this glance. "You don't need to worry—I have no unrealistic expectations of a warm welcome here."

The crowd around Light parted as they came to it, all of them having gone silent after hearing the yelling and seeing what it was about. Several of them were giving Espadas mostly fearful looks, obviously not keen to test her earlier threat. Eventually she stopped in front of Light, who..was trying her best at a neutral expression, but going by her ears and tail, she was more nervous than anything else.

"Light." The short vixen offered her a hand, and she took it, shaking.
"Las Espadas..."

She gave what appeared to be a very warm, genuine smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Uh, likewise, I guess."

"...Heheh," she chuckled. "There is no need to be so tense! I only want to talk for a moment."
"O-kay..." Light crossed her arms, apparently unconsciously. "Thenn, let's talk. What about?"

"Some congratulations are in order, to begin with. You and your friends did good work, killing that insect Tobias. It is a shame her moment of death was not recorded for all to see."
"You think so?" Light's ears folded back slightly. "The one who actually killed her wouldn't agree."

Espadas didn't seem particularly bothered by the increasingly hostile body language. "Do you think he was wrong to slay her? After she had murdered so many in cold blood, and his wife last of all?"

"No. We didn't have a choice. But that didn't make him feel any better about it."

"...I admire you, you know—as do many others, no doubt," she said, gesturing vaguely to the surrounding crowd. "But I knew you wouldn't approve of what I have done."
Light made a visible effort to pull herself back to a more netural expression. "No, I..can't see how I ever could."

Las Espadas nodded. "The world needs heroes like you to look up to: Idealists and 'dreamers' with unbreakable moral principles."
The attempt became unsustainable at this point. "And, what, you think it needs people like you, too?" she all but snapped.
"Maybe not forever. But someone must be willing to hunt down those monsters wearing human skin before they do so much harm that someone like has 'no choice' but to slay them. I am willing to bear the world's hatred if I can still make it a better place."
Light's fists were clenched at this point. "You've killed innocent people."
The short vixen put out her arms. "I can't deny that without arguing over who really is 'innocent'—and I know we won't agree on this. But then, I have only done so to survive."
"...You can stop someone from killing you without killing them, you know."
She tilted her head slightly. "Maybe so. I imagine that you have some experience with this."

Instead of responding to this verbally, Light took some deep breaths through her nose, managing to calm down again. Espadas seemed to take this silence as a sign that she didn't want to say anything more on this particular topic, and seemingly changed the subject instead: "Do you know what I wanted, when all of this began? I wanted revenge. To drive a sword through the heart of the man who killed my family, years ago. To watch the light go out of his eyes, just as I had seen in my mother and father after he shot them down in cold blood. But when I had received this power, and went looking—" She chuckled again; it sounded the same as before, but there was still something distinctly bitter about it this time. "He was already dead.

"I should have felt happy, or angry, or at least disappointed, perhaps—but instead I felt only empty. For a moment, I thought that everything was pointless. But then I realized that I was far from alone. What I did after that, was avenge other families lost and lives ruined by their kind. My goal is to stop such atrocities from being committed, ever again—ah, but now who's talking like an idealist?"

They were both quiet again for a moment, and Light's expression slowly changed again. By the end of it, she didn't look angry exactly, but Amory thought she'd only seen this expression once or twice before—and always when she was obviously thinking about the Watcher. It was a cold, distant stare, communicating something beyond hatred and closer to disgust. If Espadas could feel the chill from that, she kept herself standing firm and confident anyway.

"...Did you count them?" she asked (way too) calmly.
"Hmn?" The short vixen tilted her head slightly, the antecedent of 'them' not being immediately obvious to her.

Light took a small step forward. "How many people you killed? How many families you might've torn apart, or lives you ruined?" Her voice grew steadily louder and less calm as she continued, and at this point she took a slightly larger step toward Espadas. "Did you even care what you were doing enough to keep track of how many people you stabbed, or cut down, or tore apart!?" The shorter vixen flinched slightly, but didn't summon her swords or move to a tenser posture. Light seemed to respond to seeing her flinch by drawing herself back to her original position and taking another deep breath to calm down. Then, at a more conversational volume, she said: "Anyone can change, while they're still alive—but if you kill someone, then that's it—they don't get a second chance."

The pause before Espadas' reply suggested to Amp that she hadn't expected the conversation to go exactly this way—but it still didn't look like it had particularly bothered her. "...I suppose you are right; I admit I don't know that number at all. Perhaps you, or someone like you, will see that I pay for them with my own life someday," she said with a hint of solemnity. "But for now, if nothing else, at least we can agree to work together against those monsters which do nothing to hide their nature?"
"..The black mist things? That's..a given, really. But—" Light exhaled slowly. "It's more likely to be someone like you."

The short vixen was briefly confused before she understood what this was in reference to, then chuckled in a warm, friendly sort of way again. "I suppose so. It has been a pleasure, Light." She smiled, then turned and left, striding away just as confidently as she had walked up.

Once she was gone off toward the other side of the room, Light sighed. "You know, I..wasn't really sure how I felt about antiheroes. Guess everyone knows, now," she half-mumbled, seemingly mostly to herself. Then she looked at Rowan. "Sorry for, kinda blowing up at her," she said.
"She did not appear offended by it at all," Rowan said. "If anything, I would guess you lived up to, or else surpassed, whatever her original expectations were. And, you said nothing I disagree with." Then she turned to leave, gesturing for Amp to do the same—they had more people to bring into the meeting, after all. As they headed out, the crowd around Light erupted into various exclamations of how cool she'd been, and/or how terrifying Espadas was, before settling back into a similar flow of conversation to before.

After they had brought out another several delegates into the main room, Amp paused in front of a door leading to a now-empty bedroom. "Hey, you mind if I check something real quick?"
Rowan shrugged. "Go ahead." So she went in and shut the door, then opened it again and waved for the blue-haired vixen to come in with her and did so again. The noise of the crowd from the meeting room immediately vanished, as if it wasn't on the other side of the door at all.
"You're gonna need somewhere to put everyone who's not actually a representative, right?" she said. "I bet I could summon a 'lounge' or something to stick us all in, and we won't even hear any secret stuff this way."
"That seems..sensible," Rowan nodded. "Worst case, one of the larger chains of bedrooms like this would suffice."
"Mm-hm!" the blonde vixen nodded cutely, then opened the door again.

No sooner had the last of the delegates arrived to the main room than everyone heard a familiar voice from above them: "Good evening, my blessed ones." It didn't sound like it was particularly loud, but it somehow carried a presence of overwhelming power which almost immediately silenced the room and turned all eyes to the source: A semicircular balcony in the upper part of the center of one of the long walls of the room, with a tall, throne-like chair on it and no apparent means to get on to or off of it (if one couldn't fly or climb walls, at least). Obviously, the person sitting on that throne was the same many tailed-woman responsible for giving everyone present their powers in the first place. None of this had been there before, of course.

"Do pardon the interruption," she said, "But I just couldn't resist, with so many of you here at once, and finally beginning to take advantage of the potential of this place. Someday, it will no longer be mine at all, and belong the Dreamer instead—but even before then, you may consider it an extra gift of mine, to all of you." She grinned widely. "After all you've certainly been far from boring thus far.

"Now, make the best of the night, for the enemy awaits you tomorrow," she continued. "Like many intelligent species, you bear the contradictory natures of cooperation and competition. The conflict between the two in a crisis is always something to behold, and it matters not to me which one allows you to survive. Just remember: I will be watching you." She smiled wide, showing off her razor-sharp teeth, and then vanished in an imitation of the Cheshire cat, leaving only her teeth behind—then having those disappear last of all. The balcony and the throne set upon it remained, apparently as a reminder of her invisible presence in the room.

"...Since the Giver was kind enough to quiet the room," Rowan said, speaking with enough volume that all could hear her, and without a hint of audible sarcasm, "this is a good time to ask that we convene the meeting which we were all brought here for in the first place. Would those of you who are not designated representatives of the VI's allies please follow the Dreamer into an adjacent room? If you wish to leave, she should also be able to wake you on an individual basis upon request." Amp nodded, confirming this, and waved people to come to where she was standing, next to one of the room's many doors.

---

"Here we are." The Watcher's host presented her with a device resembling a big cylindrical shell of metal with an antenna rising out of the top and large openings on the sides. Inside was a somewhat cushy, immobile chair—like a resaonably nice computer chair with the legs cut off—and a sort of domed, metallic hat attached to a hinged metal arm hanging above it; other than that it was mostly full of electronics and wires all just barely tucked out of the chair's legroom. "Fun to pull this old thing out to work on again. I hardly touched it since I first prototyped the psionic interface system."

"Back when you were human?"
"Mm-hm. Anyway," her host walked closer and patted the side of the strange machine a couple of times with a hand. "It's self-powered like I said, and should now have no problem hooking up with their internet wirelessly and acting as a secondary server if needed. You got somewhere you can hide it picked out already, I assume?"
The Watcher nodded.

"Heheh. It's a little funny to imagine how you'll use this. I can't say I ever thought of spamming DM's back on my homeworld.

"...I admit, I was surprised to see you actually take those masks."
"Well—" The Watcher produced the items in question from one of her sleeves, fanning them out like a hand of cards and pointing to each in turn with the other hand: "These two were terribly broken—so I save them the trouble of repairs—and I simply couldn't resist this other one when I saw it..."

"Hm." Her host leaned in to examine them closer. "That...really looks a lot more like a cat than a fox to me."
"Exactly! I don't imagine they'd want such an inferior product anyway."

"Guess you already know who's gonna get them, too?"
"Likely. I've left some room for improvisation, as always." She folded the masks back into a single stack and tucked them into a flowing sleeve, where they seemed to disappear again.

"So..." The Watcher's host crossed her arms. "You think they're gonna make it?"

"I hope so."
"Really?" She tilted her head. "Someone once told me, 'the only thing the Watcher hopes for, is a good show.'"
"Perhaps that person was right. But it would be unsatisfyingly pathetic for them to fall now."

"Maybe I don't need to tell you this, but—they have quite the audience now. At first it was just a few concerned parties—and those who thought the whole 'game' would result in a disaster and wanted something to laugh at. But since the attack began in earnest, word's been spreading. If you wanted to appeal for more help from our stingier acquaintances, they might be more receptive than usual—at least, so long as it went to that particular Earth."

The Watcher shook her head gently. "That wouldn't be fair, would it? Besides, deus ex machina is even less enjoyable than tragedy."

"I'm just reminding you, the option's on the table if things get desperate."

"Desperation is where they shine their brightest. It would truly be a shame to hinder that."

---

Phew, this one was tough to write. The first issue is, obviously, that this episode very much breaks my rule of keeping a tight focus and not going out into the larger world too much, which means inventing a lot of people very fast and dealing with all of the logistics for this whole meeting thing. The second was getting Espadas' personality/behavior just right, as well as Light's reaction to her. Overall I had kind of a basic plan for this, but needed to work a bit to fit all the ideas together just right. And now, with this part done, I should be able to get back to a relatively tight focus for a bit, so hopefully the next few episodes won't be so difficult for me (nor, consequently, take so long to finish!).

Also, in case it isn't clear, the first part of this is an expanded version of the scene at the very end of Episode 80.

The "Best" RPG Ever-117

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---

"How familiar are you all with beastfolk, in general?"

"Not much, really, sire. Seen 'em around, but don't know any personally before now.."
"I had a few in my neighborhood back home..."
"When I was a lad, we had a nice couple a' Vulpin neighbors, though not all was nice to 'em..."

The prince had called a meeting with the soldiers he'd brought with him, and invited the adventurers to go on to their tents—and insisted that none of them take the first watch tonight. He did this while mentally acknowledging to Katherine that of course three out of the five of them would easily hear the conversation; it was more just that he wanted to make it clear he was addressing the soldiers specifically. And—if it didn't occur to them that the animal-eared girls could hear the conversation, they would still have the impression that the talk was in private.

"And those among our escort—what do think from seeing their behavior toward each other?"

"Errh, tell the truth, it's surprisin' to see 'em act so distant from each other. But then I don't know if that were just how the ones I knew were?"

"Right," Peregrine nodded. "It obviously will differ from one person to another, but it is nonetheless very common for them to express affection physically, among family or even just friends—apart from avians, of course. It is reasonable to assume that they're avoiding such displays in public out of consideration for our sensibilities, knowing that Kyzerath is a largely human kingdom. However, it may not be the same in private. I'm mentioning this just to warn you that if you go to wake one for her watch, you shouldn't be too startled to see them physically close to each other..."

The psion had taken up the same tent as Zack, for fairly obvious reasons. "I hate this body." He was busy taking his armor off, while she'd already used telekinesis to make a quick change into some pajamas.

Even though there wasn't anything to see, and even though she couldn't actually avoid picking up Zack's sensory information the whole time anyway, Katherine stayed looking out the open flap of the tent instead of at him until he was through. "You haven't thought anything like that in a while," she said.

"You know how I like to deal with my problems." I haven't thought about it at all.

"Well, clearly something's made you think about it today. Or should I say someone?"

Zack growled; he was finished now, so Katherine turned around to face him, sitting on the ground with her legs out to one side. "Zack. You know I'm not bringing this up to tease you or screw with you, right? I like to joke around, but I don't poke a topic I know is sensitive unless it's becoming a problem."

He seemed to want to get even angrier at first, but took a deep breath to calm down instead. "In what way. Is this a problem?"

"You're acting moody and grouchy—way more than usual, I mean—and by now, pretty much everyone's noticed? The guy we're meant to be escorting is worrying he's offended you somehow, but it's pretty hard to explain to him what you're really feeling without letting certain felines out of the sack."

"I just don't. Like him. Okay?"
"Okay, well, why not?"

The wolf-girl crossed her arms and glared off to one side, into the tent wall, for a moment. "Come on, I'm serious," the catgirl said, "I can't read his mind—mental defenses, which I don't want to offend him by attempting to pierce—and you're generally pretty good at reading other people's personalities and motivations. Is this something we should all be worried about, like he might betray us at some point?"
"No, it's nothing like that!" Zack snapped. He took another deep breath, realizing he'd come dangerously close to raising his voice, and switched to mental conversation as he went to sit down too, cross-legged. He's constantly worried about how to make everybody like him as much as possible. He tries to treat everyone not just equally, but ridiculously well, to the point of bending over backwards to apologize if he gets the vague idea he's done something wrong. But he wants to be honest at the same time, too, so he's made himself an expert at saying whatever opinion he has in an ultra polite way so it won't offend anyone.

So what do you not like, then?
It's annoying! This would've been a yell if it were speaking instead of thinking. He's so busy being 'perfect' that he doesn't act real! And this stupid body keeps reacting to it in weird ways, and when I try to push it down, I just get angry.

Well, then—who are you angry at? You, him, that witch, or whoever else is ultimately responsible for that body?
I don't know! It's not like I have a careful think who I'm gonna get mad at when I don't even know why I feel that way in the first place!

Are you angry at the prince? she asked more directly.

Zack growled softly, then sighed. No. Not really. It's not like he's trying to annoy me. Just like with everyone else, he just wants me to like him and feel good being around him.

It would do us all some good if you'd tell him that. Not the whole thing—just that you aren't mad at him specifically, and whatever explanation you think will convince him of that the best, Katherine suggested.

...I can try that, I guess. He was thinking about how to word it already, if only briefly.

Good enough, the psion said.

..It's not just that, you know. Have you noticed—even this voice, the 'mental' one? It sounds exactly the same as my real voice now.

Katherine tilted her head, thinking back a bit. When they'd first met...his thoughts had 'sounded' like a guy talking.

I can only sort of remember what I sounded like before. I didn't even think it was something that could change, but I'm so used to hearing this out of my mouth that it's all I can imagine now when I think of myself talking. It's like this stupid curse will take anything I'm not actively fighting it on.

She was about to say something in response to this, but Zack shook his head. I know—it could just be 'natural', and blaming it on the curse is dumb. But it still wouldn't be happening if I wasn't stuck this way!

She gave him a concerned look; he really hadn't been this upset in a while. Even the terrible thoughts that starfish demon's magic had dredged up hadn't hit him so hard, at least not after he used Aria's thoughts to break it. Zack...you know it isn't hopeless, right? Mira's been studying curses partially to figure out how to break yours, and even if she has to overpower it to do it, she'll definitely be able to before too long. Rayna might have a way to do something about it soon too, if she levels up that 'reality bending' stuff far enough. And any one of us would gladly give you a way to be rid of the curse if it was available.

He took a deep breath, knowing she was worrying about him and wanting to make that stop more than he wanted to help himself. I know, you're right. Maybe it'll be gone in a day or two and I'll only have been stuck for a couple of weeks, or a few months if you count in this world's time. It just...

For a while, I felt like I was fighting this curse to a standstill, keeping it from doing anything else I didn't want it to. Today I feel like I just suddenly noticed it's been pushing me back step by step without me even realizing. By the time it can be broken, will I even want to go back, and stay that way? Do I even want that now? I just, don't feel like I know anymore...

Katherine leaned forward onto all fours and crawled slowly toward him. Look: If we get rid of the curse, then it won't affect your mind anymore—if it's even affecting it much right now, which I'm really not sure it is. And once you're not stuck that way, you can make whatever decision makes you happier, right? I don't think there's any reason to be afraid of your own opinion changing, because it's still you, and your experiences—and not the curse or anything else—doing that. She pulled herself upright enough to offer the wolf-girl a hug, and Zack accepted it, hugging her back. You're not alone, you know? We're all here for you.

...Thanks. He leaned his head over her shoulder for a bit. The gesture was sincere, and he was no longer on the verge of tears; he ran a hand through her hair briefly.

Both of them knew, even if it was just some overpowered instincts hijacking his brain, this was something that made him happy. They moved over into their bedroll before pulling close and mutually petting and nuzzling once again to both relax. Lynn had offered to let Katherine try and use her dreams as a 'host' for everyone to meet up in, and Zack briefly made a request to join them before drifting off to sleep.

---

"I know, I know..what Weavers do is fundamentally different from how any normal mage casts a spell. But, hear me out here—so is what witches do, kinda? I mean, it's more that I work with something off to one side of regular magic, while what you do is 'intertwined' with it in a different way. But I think it should still be possible for you to affect ambient magic, at least enough to push out the chaotic junk." Once the witch finished making supper, everyone came to eat—and, since this was what was on her mind, it became their first topic of conversation.

"I cannot 'sense' chaotic magic at all, however," Nora said. "We've established before that it is fundamentally different from the natural elements."
"Hey, can you sense demonic magic?" Aria asked. "You've been around me and the sword for a while, not to mention Mira; anything stick out in particular?"
"..No," she shook her head. "Even when Mira uses demonic magic that has the same apparent properties as an element, such as fire or ice, my 'sixth sense' can only indirectly detect the change in heat surrounding the magic effect itself. I believe I can only affect what that sense detects, at least directly. But, I admit, I have never attempted to affect something indirectly before. I wouldn't even know where to begin..."

"Maybe you know someone who would know where to begin, though?" Rose suggested. "I mean, uh—whatsisname?"

"Fazren?" Nora guessed she meant.

"Yeah! He's been using that stuff for a long time, and he's old and maybe wise or whatever? Sooo, like, he might have a clue about how to do something like that?"
"It may be worth a try," she nodded. "I don't want to give you the impression that I wouldn't like to be able to do this. As you said, it seems like Ezra believes we will need as many ways of dealing with chaotic magic as possible in the near future. I'm only expressing my ignorance in terms of how to go about it..."

A few hours later, as Nora was getting ready for bed, Lupa knocked on the door to the bathroom between their bedrooms. "One moment, please...yes?" She opened it.
"Uuuhhm. This one is lonely in the room without Master," she said. "Could, sleep with Nora like Master or Kat sometimes do?"
Nora hesitated for a moment before deciding. "...I suppose you could stay with me tonight. Perhaps, not in exactly the same way, but if it'll help you sleep.."

"Yaaay!" Lupa ran back to get her pillow and cam charging for Nora's bed; the fox-eared elf placed a hand in front of her forehead, stopping her.

"Lupa. No jumping on my bed, okay? I don't want it getting broken."
"Oh..uhhm, fragile?"
"To an extent. Just, come with me, all right?" She picked up the small girl and took her to the bed, gently setting her onto it, lying down next to her and pulling the covers over them both shortly after. "There. This better?"
"Yes!" Lupa smiled happily and wagged her tail a bit before closing her eyes and seeming to instantly drop off to sleep.

---

These ruins again...

Rayna was standing in front of the collapsed section of the ruins. As in her mind's eye since looking into that crystal Thing, even after Tsaron had wiped the dangerous information out of her mind, there was blood coming out from under the giant pile of dirt and broken stone. It wasn't dry like before; instead it seemed to be fresh, slowly leaking out from underneath. And...on closer inspection, she wasn't quite able to identify why it was she felt so certain it was blood.

"Control..."

A man's voice echoed briefly through her mind; not a voice she recognized, but something about the word still felt familiar. The 'blood' was glowing...or, was that even the right word for it? It wasn't so much acting as a light source, as it was giving off the impression of vivid color independent of how much light was reflecting off of it. Which color? All of them. None of them.

"It is not that I think this won't work..." The words sounded familiar. They weren't really in English (or Common, or whatever)—it was just that something seemed to be translating them from another language 'for' her. "...the very thing which Chaos Magic abhors most."

It was like her eyes, or her mind, couldn't focus on any one color long enough to perceive which one it was before it shifted to something else. It was dizzying and threatened nausea if she stared for too long. The only way to look was up, away from the floor and lower walls, toward the higher part of the pile of rubble. It felt like she could almost see through it: Two silhouettes walking through the doorway that would be there if the space were still intact.

"Need I remind you what's at stake here?" A woman's voice: Slightly familiar for some reason; speaking the same language as the man's had been. "We are so close to having real results! Come now, I know that the rest of you are not cowards like—" (Rayna's mind didn't grasp the next word, but it was a name) "—If you won't do it, I will handle everything myself!" She sounded exhausted, but energized, with an edge of panic. It didn't sound like the ideal mood for someone to be in before some kind of dangerous experiment.
"No, no; that would be even worse..."
"You don't think I can do it alone?!"

He stopped, raising a hand to place on her shoulder. He said, "No—" (Name (hers?)), "—I'm worried because I know you can. I'm worried about what happens after. At least this way we have contingencies, if something goes wrong..."

Their voices echoed incoherently, and the vision of the two of them through the pile of rubble faded.

Rayna's dream shifted over to her memory of when she first encountered this area, visions of Mira and Nora appearing nearby. The witch was busy saying, "Well...I think something bad definitely happened."

The fox-girl stopped in place, just staring as the two of them continued forward. This was supposed to be her line, she knew, but she just kept quiet instead until Nora moved on to hers: "I-I don't know...th-that feeling of dread is back after seeing it, though."

After this, she felt the distinct sort of mental 'pull' from Katherine bringing people into a single dream. Most of the environment shifted to an open field, but the collapsed part of the ruins remained, the loose rubble and dirt keeping itself impossibly suspended in the air instead of falling out to either side onto the grass.

"...Theeere we go. Weird, there wasn't any resistance with anyone else..." Rayna turned to find Katherine, Lynn, and Zack all there, the psion floating slightly off the ground in her pajamas. "Hi, welcome to Lynn's dream!" Their host waved, and Katherine paused, finally noticing Rayna's expression. "Uh, are you okay?"

She exhaled slightly. "Think so. Can you read back what I just experienced?"
"Sure..?" The catgirl tilted her head, going through the contents of the brief dream in an instant. "Oh. Wow, what's..that about?"
"Those ruins I explored with Mira and Nora," she said. "Something bad happened there. And they were studying chaotic magic."
"Right—that spell Jacob's working on is based on the journal you brought back from there..."

"I need to go back," Rayna said abruptly. "I think that's what it is. I need to go back, and really Look at that collapsed area. It might be..important, whatever happened there. I feel like the problem is that I couldn't get a clear enough view before with all that dirt and rubble in the way."

"..And that you didn't even seriously 'Look' at all back, right?" the psion added. "You were a little busy worrying about the armor things. Not to mention, the 'blood' wasn't even there at the time..."
"Uhh, you two mind filling us in?" Lynn asked, coming up to them.
The illusionist shook her head. "I think I just got a dream from...whoever usually gives us 'special' dreams. Maybe blocked Katherine from bringing me in here until I'd seen what I was 'supposed to'. It was...I'm not really sure I can put everything into words. You mind just getting the memory direct?"
"Mmn, sure, why not?"

After the dream's contents had been shared with the others, and a few further clarifications made, Lynn said, "I guess there's no problem with some of us going out that way after we get back to town. But..you want us to clear all that rubble out?" she gestured to the pile still left over from Rayna's dream. "I'm not sure even Nora or Rose could do that much."
"No need to bother them," Rayna said. "After all, we've met an extremely high-level earth mage since then!"

---

"Well...here we are again, buddy." Aria gestured to the demon in the distance. It didn't reply particularly, but she was being sarcastic anyway. Even with everybody gone, the oppressiveness of the environment just wasn't anywhere near as extreme as it had been at first. Maybe she'd gotten used to the constant thought of blood, the sound of it pumping around her; maybe this place had become somewhere comfortable and relaxing because she'd been here with her friends so many times since then; maybe it was just the skill points she'd put into suppressing the demon's urges, or even just the fact that she'd been feeding it pretty regularly lately, including today. Whatever the reason, it was nice not to feel at risk of sanity slippage just from being asleep.

She turned around to the wall of static, then concentrated on it. She'd felt Katherine do this several times, and her dreamspace seemed amicable to the idea of reshaping that wall into a habitable environment, like her mind itself was used to 'stretching' in this particular way. For tonight, since she was alone, she formed a piece of her apartment from back on Earth—particularly focusing on the living room with the comfy chair she did most of her streaming from. It did require some concentration at first, and a bit of adjustment to keep the walls from being covered in pulsating veins, but she got it to work without too much difficulty, and went to sit down.

A controller appeared in her hand without needing to go get it, and the TV turned on. They'd managed to partially 'recreate' a few games from their memories over the past few nights, and since it had all been inside Aria's dream, it seemed to have left enough of a 'mental impression' for her to recall them and re-experience them. It wasn't exactly the same as actually playing the real things; the mere fact of being in a dream seemed to distort the behavior of the game and the functionality of the TV, and the demon's influence still crept in to make the games a bit...bloodier than usual, but that didn't particularly bother her. It was enough that she could more or less relax. In a way, this was her own form of meditation, and much easier to achieve than the 'traditional' method she'd learned from Tsaron from before. It just required more components that she hadn't had access to at the time. With this, it seemed to take no time at all for morning to arrive again.