The "Best" RPG Ever-59

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---

Rose made a swift dive at the end of the impromptu race course, crash-landing into a long roll across the ground for several feet past the "finish line". Mira swooped down herself just after, bringing her broom along to a nice steady stop before stepping off. "Hey, are you okay? That looked pretty rough..."
The dragon-girl just laughed, popping back up onto her feet. "I won!"

"That you did...only by a second or two, though," she nodded. "You really don't fly like someone who just grew big enough wings a couple days ago, so I guess it was just something you forgot and remembered again."
"Mm-hm!" She nodded. "I'm sure of it now, yep. I wonder.." She hesitated for a second, her expression turning slightly more serious. "Uh, I wonder what else I forgot, but at the same time I'm really not totally sure I wanna know all of it."

"Not every memory is happy, sure," Mira nodded; Katherine had shared the Captain's story about the nice nature dragon with everyone else. "But even the sad ones can help you out sometimes, you know? At least, you might have other 'powers' like the flying that you forgot you could do."
"Yeah..." She agreed halfheartedly, sounding slightly wistful; it made the witch want to cheer her up somehow.

"Oh, speaking of powers! I figured out a trick you might like to see."
"Hmn?"
Mira chanted softly in the tongue of dark magic, and her form glowed faintly with a purplish light. She shrank downward and inward, her clothes shifting along with her to continue to fit, and before long she looked as she had just after entering this world. "Ta-dah!" she said, waving a hand to the air. Her voice was back to the "Mika" one, too. "So, I can actually 'revert' to old appearances whenever I want. I know you liked this one, right?"
"Yeah, it's super cute~," Rose said, grinning brightly. She reached over and patted the smaller Mira on the head a couple of times.
"I agree. It's also kind of nice being in this 'lighter' form, to be honest. I have to turn back to the bigger one to use my 'full power', though." This came with a stat shift; she didn't go back to her original weak stats in this form but traded around some stats, particularly strength and constitution down and agility and intelligence up. Spells over a certain level were locked off, but this form seemed likely to have its uses. And if she gained a third form that would mean even more options.

"I haven't actually told the others about this, I thought it might be a nice surprise later," she said. With a shorter incantation, Mira grew back into her 'taller' appearance. "Tonight I'm planning to summon a new demon to eat. It'll be tougher than any of the ones we beat before, but with all eight of us, I'm sure we'll be more than able to handle it."
"Um..." The dragon-girl headtilted slightly. "Do you, want me to help?"
Mira crossed her arms. "I don't want to give you the impression that you have to. But if you want to then I'm sure everyone would appreciate it."

"I'll help, then!" Rose said, her tail whipping back and forth like a happy dog's. "I was planning to stay around here today, anyway, after spending all of yesterday back in my forest. Awwh, and I meant to ask about the plans to make a big tree for the town to use as a landmark! I totally forgot, maybe I can track down the Captain again later."

"Hmm..." Mira remembered the mysterious extra door their house was provided with.

"Hmm?" Her head tilted a bit.
"Uh, nothing." It was probably a good idea—no, a great one, and almost certainly what Captain Ezra intended by putting that into the plans, but it was still best offered after talking to the others about it. "You want to go for another round?"

"Sure! I'll leave you in the dust as many times as you want!"

---

"Well, I should try and get some sort of lodgings arranged," Loren said, finally standing up. Aria stood up too, waited only a second for the tiniest bit of dizziness to clear, and came closer to him.

"Hey, I don't know if I've emphasized this enough: I am really happy to see you—to see you again. Whatever," she said, leaning over to wrap her arms around him.
"I uh..yeah." He loosely returned the hug, clearly embarrassed but at least agreeing with the sentiment. "M-me too." She pulled back out, looking up at him. Loren was tall, she realized. Aria herself was pretty tall; most of the girls were shorter than her, except for Nora of course. But it was a little odd looking up at him for some other reason, regardless.

"Thanks for coming out here to see me. And uh, not giving up too soon."
"I'm glad I didn't," he admitted. They stood there for a second or two, then she nodded and waved at the door, and he nodded back before heading out. "See you again soon."
"You sure will!"

As soon as he got to the door, it opened up thanks to the cat- and fox-girl coming through from the other side with a sheep. "...Is this gonna be a habit?" said Katherine, her ears down on one side with mild bemusement.

"I certainly hope not." He began to go around them. "I'm just going to assume that I don't want to know what that sheep is for."
"Good assumption!" Rayna nodded. "See you later!"
"Uh, yeah, sure." He awkwardly shuffled out the door after that, and shut it behind him.

"Well, I'm going back upstairs until lunch," Aria announced, and began toward the stairwell. "Unless you need me for something?"
"No, we're all good here," said Rayna.
"Wait—where's the dragon?" the catgirl asked.
"Out flying with Mira, last I checked."
"Okay good."

Once she got up there, Aria made her way to Nora's room and knocked on the door. She hadn't missed the elf fleeing upstairs with her book. After a moment's hesitation her voice came from inside: "Y-yes?"
"We need to talk clothing for a second, if you don't mind," said the shifter.
"Oh, um...okay?" After another pause for her to get up and come to the door, she opened it.

Aria crossed her arms. "Level with me please. Is that really the same clothes you started out in, like a week ago?"
"Um..y-yes?"
"Isn't it totally gross by now? Do you have no spare outfits at all?"

"Um, w-well, I bought some other clothes i-in case these get damaged..."

"And then didn't change into them when those got dirty?"

"I c-can just lift the d-dirt out of them," she said. "It's j-just earth, so..."

"Okay, that is both really cool as a stain-removal tool and totally disgusting as far as 'cleaning' goes. If you handle our laundry at some point promise me you will actually wash mine and not do that." Nora nodded nervously to that. "And you should clean those, actually clean them, and wear something else sometimes! Also, a much more important point: Loren recognized that outfit as one that a 'priestess of Haestra' would wear. We have established that you 'ran away from home' and there are people looking for you. We're gaining a reputation in this town, people are starting to recognize us, and the more that happens the more risk there is that someone recognizes your outfit and a rumor spreads that there is a priestess of Haestra in this town. Maybe it's already happened! And that rumor can get out to people you or we in general do not want coming after you!"
"Uh, um..." Nora fidgeted with her fingers nervously, and Aria realized after a second that she'd ranted a little more excitedly than she'd meant to. At some point she'd started gesturing loudly with her entire arms, and they were still up in the air now!
"Sorry, uh..that came out way louder and harsher than I meant it to," she said, lowering her arms back to the side.
"I-it's okay," she said, and nodded slowly. "Y-you're just concerned for me. I understand. A-and you're right. Both reasons...I j-just haven't been thinking about it. It's like..um, i-it feels like I've already been wearing th-these forever, a-and changing into something else felt..strange. B-but you're right, that's not normal, or h-healthy. I'll uh..ch-change clothes now. Thank you..."

"You'rrre, welcome, I guess?" Talk about mild-mannered, she thought. Getting angry back was a more normal reaction, even though this one wasn't particularly unwelcome. The elf waited for her to start walking away toward her own room before shutting the door.

On the way there, she paused, hearing Lynn's door open. The human stepped out wearing a nice dress, looking ever so slightly taller so probably in some heels? Remembering once again that she would not be present during lunch today and also why, Aria rushed closer to her. "Hey! Looking good," she said.
"Uh, thanks." She fidgeted with it. "Even though this feels 'normal' in some ways, I still have some nagging reservations about a big dress like this..."

"I think it looks good, at least. I don't doubt Rast will have better compliments than that," she nodded. "Buuut speaking of, there's something I just found out that I should tell you before you go?"
"What's that?"

Aria relayed first that Loren had shown up, and secondly the gist of what he'd said about beastfolk instincts.

"Soo, I mean every person's an individual so I'm not saying you should make any assumptions, but, you shouldn't be surprised if at some point Rast leans in like he wants you to pet his ears."
Lynn crossed her arms. "Well...to be honest I sort of expected that, uh, eventually, maybe...it sure explains how Rayna was acting recently, at least."
"You aren't too weirded out by it, are you? After what you said last night, I wasn't sure if you'd rather be left in the dark but I was already gonna announce it to everyone else anyway, sooo..."
She shook her head lightly. "No no, it's just—it's weird coming from her, from someone I've known for a long time and, you know, never uh..well, never had ask me to pet him or, her before. I guess one way or another I'm still struggling with the dichotomy of us all being from/not from this world," she said. "But it wouldn't feel so weird from someone I'm just getting to know, entirely from here, and...especially who I like—I mean, you know...like."

"Uh-huh..well, best of luck!" she said, grabbing Lynn's hand for a brief encouraging shake before heading the rest of the way to her room.

---

When Nora came down to help with lunch, she was finally wearing something different: A pair of jean-shorts and a sleeveless white crop top cut very close to the top of the stomach. She periodically tugged at the top, just feeling not used to 'normal' clothes somehow, but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. Aria seemed to make a point to tell her it looked good on her when she arrived. The dragon-girl wasn't hungry yet; when the topic of food came up she said she'd had a huge boar for breakfast and was still stuffed, so she'd head off into town to try and find the Captain again.

A little later, the shifter made a sweeping gesture (that almost knocked over her cup) to get everyone's attention. "Listen up! I have good news and weird news. What do you want first?"

"..Let's go with 'good'," said Katherine.

"Well, I sat up on the bed, stood up, and walked all the way downstairs without any dizziness at all. So I think I must be fully recovered now!"
Zack pointed at the cane she'd set against the wall behind her chair.

"Wha—oh, that?" she said, after turning half around to see it. "I've already built up a habit of carrying it around, so..I did. I don't think I need it anymore is the point."
"I still have not cleared you," said Clera.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure you will," she said. "Okay: Weird news! Loren, who remember is actually from this world, told me something kinda pertinent that you probably wouldn't be able to find out from any books..."

---

After lunch, Zack helped with the dishes and looked at Katherine for a second or two afterward.
"...Oh yeah, that's right. Let's go," she said aloud, nodding as if he had reminded her of something they planned on doing before starting off toward the door to town. He followed her out there and down the street a short ways before they stopped next to an empty bench, in a nearly deserted side street.

The catgirl crossed her arms, looking up at him. "Well?"

"Don't 'well' me. You already know, right? As soon as Aria started talking I could tell Nora was thinking about it, which made me think about it..."

"Look, just because I can read people's minds doesn't mean I want every conversation to turn into 'you know what I'm going to say already so I'm not gonna say it,'" she said.

"..Fine. You know about what happened last night, right?"

"Yeah. And?"
"And you're. I mean, can you not tell anyone about it? Please?"

"You don't even have to ask me that!" she said, putting one hand up in the air. "Look, I learned a long time ago not to spread people's secrets around for no good reason. Being a mind reader only reinforces the need to protect them since it's like twelve times easier to learn secrets that people aren't intentionally telling me." And she dropped the hand again, to her side. "Anyway, what do I care about what you do to relax?"

Zack knew he could be thick, but the tone of her voice with that last question, as well as the fact that she was looking away with her ears down, suggested the very opposite of apathy toward the subject. "Wait, are you—?"
"I'm not jealous," she snapped, anticipating the last word before he could actually say it. "No! Not of any of, that." Then, more slowly and seriously: "I'm not, really. I just..urrgh. I really shouldn't be upset, at all, about this, but."

"But what?" Zack gave her a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"Just..it's not fair for me to be upset," she said. "I can't get mad at someone for some stupid thought that passes through their head they don't really even mean to think, or for some negative opinion of me that they have no intention of ever saying aloud."

"Look, it's fine. You can be mad at me, I don't mind," he said. "What did I, think exactly?"

"You, it's, not a specific thought," she said. "It's just—whenever you mentally list the people who respect you and your, situation, and who you trust to deal with anything awkward or strange that comes from it—I'm not even on the list. You don't even think I could use my powers to help wash the back of your tail from a distance without making it weird," she said.
"Kath..but I...I don't.."
"I know you don't mean it, too! I know as well as you do that we've trusted each other with our lives. And that thing, after that night with the demon—I know, I know. But I can't help the way I feel about it, no matter how much I tell myself it's wrong to feel that way."

The catgirl looked like she was on the verge of tears; Zack had never seen or even imagined her like this. She was usually confident, calm, totally in control of things...this was terrible to see. He didn't know what to do about it mentally, but after a moment's hesitation he just let his body do what it wanted, stepping closer to pull her into hug. She returned it, burying her head into his shoulder and sniffing a couple of times.

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly, "I never meant to.."
I know, yeah, she replied through his mind, since her face was currently a little hard to talk with. This is why I really, really didn't want to bring it up at all. You're the kind of person who doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, much less feel like you did the hurting. You shouldn't feel bad, really, this is just me being stupid for no good reason...

"It's alright," he nearly whispered, running a hand from the top of her head down to the back of it.

A second or two later, both of them realized he'd done that, and they carefully took a mutual step back away from each other. "Uh—sorry."
"I-i-it's fine," she said, "You're just, um. Instinct, whatever." Both of them were blushing slightly, even though it didn't seem like anyone around had taken special notice of the gesture. "A-anyway, I feel better after letting it out. Sorry for, 'yelling' at you."

"It's okay. I know what it's like to just, feel something that doesn't make any sense," he said.

Katherine took a deep breath, let it out, and wiped her eyes on a sleeve. After that, she gave her usual, confident grin again. "We should probably find some errand to actually do in case someone asks," she said. "Maybe I can help you come up with a plausible way for Nora to 'learn' those skills while we're at it. You two don't seem to have much actual experience with roleplaying, after all."
"...Thanks."

---

Clera put her hand on Aria's forehead, letting her powers 'feel' for any lingering damage. Her palm glowed faintly blue; somehow it felt good to use magic again, like stretching a limb that had been asleep for a full twenty-four hours.

"Well, what do you say? Am I cleared for takeoff?"
"...You have no business trying to fly," she said, fully deadpan. "There is a trace of that healing spell's side-effects still present, but I am reasonably confident you will make a full recovery by tonight." The winged girl dropped her hand and crossed her arms. "Keep using the cane until then."

"Will do." Aria reached over and ruffled Clera's hair without warning. "Thanks, doc."
"Gah! D-don't do that," she said, taking a big step backwards away from her.
"Sorry...I thought you were starting to like it, after the last two or three times," she said.

"I was merely, tolerating it," she said, her face a little warm. "At the very least you shouldn't, just do it out of the blue like that."

"Awwh, did I startle you? I promise I'll move my hand a little slower next time, okay?" Aria said teasingly.
"I-I just said not to do it at all!" Clear protested, but at the same time realized she was sending mixed messages. The shifter just giggled and wandered off toward the library.

Did she actually like it..? It was just a small affectionate gesture, after all. It didn't hurt or anything. Did one part of her like it and the other one find it irritating? And if so, which one was which...?
"Hey, are you gonna make rounds again?" said Rayna on her way into the living room. Clera jumped slightly at the sudden sound of her voice, but recovered quickly enough that it didn't seem to be noticed.
"I was planning to wait until near sunset," she said. "There was nothing for a great distance away this morning, and we should do all we can to avoid being interrupted while confronting the demon."

"Alright. I just thought I should let you know I leashed the sheep to one of the training dummies so it wouldn't be too hard to find. It was off on the opposite end of the fence when I went out there just now. Uh, did you see where Katherine went?"

"She left with Zack on some sort of errand," Clera reported. "Mira left to look for Rose, if you are wondering about her."
"Aaand Nora's prolly back upstairs with her book, I bet," said the fox-girl. "That's about the whole roll call until Lynn gets back."

The winged girl fixed her with a look. "You are resisting an urge to go spy on her date again, aren't you?"

"Hahah..yep."

"You could look for a more productive use of this time. I believe you mentioned wanting to exercise at some point?"
"Err..who told you that? But uh, yeah...I mean, a little more endurance wouldn't hurt when I literally need to run around and stuff."

"Perhaps you could go for a short jog outside," Clera suggested. "I do not know whether the 'stats' respect natural growth from exercise, but it only seems natural that they would. If you make a regular habit of exercise then you should build up the endurance you want."

"Heheh, you've got me there too. Uh.." Rayna paused for a second, lifting an arm up to examine the sleeve on it. "I don't know if this is the best outfit to go running in. I'll, change clothes first."
"You fight monsters in similar outfits," the winged girl pointed out. "I suspect your real problem with exercise comes down to procrastination and excuse-making."

"Wow, harsh..." The fox-girl's ears drooped, and she bent over slightly, defeated. "Totally true, though; always has been, even back on Earth. I guess this won't fall off of me from a slow jog."

"That's the spirit," Clera said, giving an encouraging nod while Rayna started toward the front yard.