Jarvan's, Kital's and Morsel's Crazy Happenings (Monster Contract)

"Hey!" Kital objected, laughing, as she received a face full of water from her nguruvilu friend. She ducked her face under the surface of the lake for a moment, and shook it from side to side before resurfacing to add, "At least I've never gotten caught in a bag!"

Her objections grew more serious as the man turned his attention towards her. The matsuba thrashed her fins against the water angrily, a clearly displeased expression crossing her face. "Absolutely not!" She declared. "Who does he think he is, talking like that after I beat him? There's absolutely no way I'm apologising for trying to help you!" She punctuated the point by sticking her nose in the air, pointedly looking away from him with her eyes closed.

But only for a moment.

"Although... I guess he was trying to help you, too..." She admitted, reluctantly, opening one eye to peek back at the man and her friend. The matsuba seemed to slowly deflate, lowering her head back into the water. She mumbled something under her breath, but through the water it sounded just like bubbles even to those who could understand her. "Fine!" She declared at last. "Fine, I'll do it!"

She swam slowly over to the shoreline, and looked up to the human with almost sullen eyes. "'m sorry," She muttered, lowering her head and bumping it against the shore near his feet as an expression of contrition.
 
There we go. A chipper personality, but prideful by the looks of it. Hiding his smugness underneath a more neutral expression, Jarvan looked on as the Matsuba thrashed around, her face quite angry as she turned away her nose to him. That last gesture was so weird to see on a koi-like being that Jarvan almost lost him composure. Almost. Even if this would cost him the chance to contract these two, he couldn't help himself. Plus, it did provide some decent insights into the personality of the Matsuba.

Now imagine his surprise when the Lillim actually turned back a moment later, the arrogance slowly leaving the little creature. Her head sank back into the water and Jarvan's face took on a more genuinely impressed and interested expression, his eyes widened when the fish slowly swam to shore and looked up at him, bubbling something and bumping her head softly against the shore.
Even though he didn't speak bubble or fish, the meaning was clear. Damn... She actually apologised. Jarvan was taken aback for a moment. He didn't actually anticipate a Lillim to apologize to a human. The merc was very impressed.

He smiled down at the Matsuba, lowering his head too to show his acceptance. "Apology accepted. And truth be told, your rescue attempt was a valiant one, even if it was a bit impulsive. I can respect those that try hard to save their friends. I tip my hat to you."

Jarvan looked at the Nguruvilu, motioning to both her and her fishy friend.
"Alright, you're both accepted as far as I'm concerned. I'd be more than happy to write up a contract for the both of you! Gather around and we can get started."
 
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The little fox-snake flicked her tongue out at her matsuba friend.
“Don’t make me eat you,” she said simply, “You’ll know what being stuck in a bag is like then.”
She was joking. Probably. Almost definitely.

Her ear twitching was her only reply to the merc’s request for an apology. That was unlikely. She peered over his hand at her friend. As the Matsuba began her protests, she tilted her head back to the human. I could have told you this would happen.
Maybe, she thought, Kital and this human were a good match for each other; they were both rather proud.
She was surprised when she heard Kital actually apologize. She wound her self around Jarvan’s finger once and leaned over it to look down at Kital.
Her tongue flicked again. “Maybe you’re better suited to being a pet than I thought,” she teased, “Think he’ll teach you tricks next? I hear he’s fond of belly rubs.”

“He’s right, though,” she yipped more gently, “It was brave of you to risk your life for me. I’m grateful for that.”

The snake-fox turned curiously toward the human and slithered carefully up his arm to rest on his shoulder. She looked down at the tome, trying to understand how something so unimportant-looking could give them power.
 
Kital briefly considered firing a jet of water back at her friend, just to make a point, but she couldn't quite see how to manage that without soaking the man whose hand she was perched upon. That'd doubtless lead to another round of demands and apologies, and the Matsuba couldn't stomach the thought of having to do that a second time. She settled for just screwing up her nose and wiggling her face back at her friend's taunting.

As the teasing turned more towards praise and gratitude, however, Kital's expression became uncharacteristically bashful. She glanced away from the pair for a moment, before loudly proclaiming, "Well, of course! I wasn't just going to let some weird human carry you off!"

She didn't say anything else, but she did turn her attention towards the man's tome once she looked back. Like her friend, she was quite curious to see what he had planned. While she vaguely understood what contracts entailed, in truth she didn't really know anything about the actual process, and was eager to see how it worked.
 
With amused flickering lights dancing in his eyes, he watched at the little fox-snake on his hand yipped and barked at the brightly coloured fish, the latter screwing up her nose and wiggling her face at her buddy. Hehehe, guess the two of them liked to tease one another. The Matsuba did seem rather prideful, but she did take the teasing in stride, which somewhat impressed Jarvan even more. There were some humans he knew that had less self-control than this little lady.

The Nguruvilu was a whole different sort of girl though. She already had wound herself around his finger, the symbolic irony of which didn't escape Jarvan and was getting rather comfortable already. Jarvan guessed she was either a good judge of character, or a tad bit naive. Maybe both. Either way, he didn't mind. He already started to like the two Lillim in front of him, the little quirks on display making them that much more likeable. Guess his luck had turned for the better.

With the Nguruvilu slithering up his arm, he did look at her for a moment, surprised she was being this brave and smiled reassuringly at her. He didn't really mind. Throwing off his shoes and socks, he carefully stepped into the water and lowered himself a bit so the Matsuba could also see everything, Tome in one hand and a pen in the other. He didn't really pay his wet pair of trousers any mind. This was more important and the weather was getting warmer anyway. The morning might've been cold, but the spring sun was already shining its warm rays across the village.

"Alright, let's get this over with." He said, choosing two pages in front of the book and scribbling the word 'Nguruvilu' on top of one page and 'Matsuba' on the other. As he was taught, he scribed two circles on the pages with practised motions, strange sigils lining the sides. Needless to say, he ommited the sigils that allowed for a non-voluntary binding of Lillim. Fuck that noise, that wasn't the way he rolled.
Nodding, he stowed away the pen, smiling down at his two new companions.
"I need you two to touch the page and concentrate on the circle. Matsuba on the right..." He nodded to the fish in the water. "... and Nguruvilu on the left." He carefully caressed the side of the fox-snake's head.
"Picture what you want out of this bond and it should react. If you really agree, the sigils should start glowing. Say the words 'I hereby sanction this bond' out loud and it should be done. Doesn't matter what language you say the words in, it should be reacting to your intent."
 
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The little fox snake blinked slowly at her fish friend’s declaration, the closest the creature came to smiling, “Looks like we’ll both be carried off now.”

She was surprised too that the human didn’t stop her advance up his arm. She expected he might be skittish. Maybe he didn’t realize the danger in it. She mentally noted she should remember that: her master-to-be left his neck exposed. She might have to keep the poor fool alive if he was going to take them anywhere. Then again, if something bad were to happen and he was the cause, she could exploit it.

Admittedly, she did space out a little, the movement of his pen on paper putting her in a bit of a trance. She didn’t watch human crafting very often, but it was bewildering to her. Kital seemed to be able to make sense of it, but she couldn’t understand why humans drew so many things. Kital had said some of the pictures had names or something, but the fox-snake didn’t really know why. They all just looked like curves and lines to her, like what a hen scratched into the dirt. But there was something about watching as humans did it that seemed very unlike chicken marks. The human drawings seemed deliberate, even though they made no sense to look at. They didn’t look like anything real, but humans seemed to know exactly what the chaos should look like before they made it. She jerked, giving a small hiss of surprise, as the human touched her face.

It looked like the human was going to be very touchy, despite his assurances that the belly rubs were a joke. It wasn’t that she disliked physical affection per se, but she wasn’t used to being touched by humans at all. It still felt like danger. Still, she slithered over carefully and extended her little paw slowly to carefully stroke his cheek. Was this proper human culture? Was this what she needed to do to care for her new human?

The nguruvilu then slithered down his opposite arm to sit on his book. She tilted her head at the circle. What would this contract be like? What did she want? She gave a glance to Kital before pressing her paws to the sigil. She wanted to stay with her friend, for one, and to be stronger. She wanted to be respected and cared for. And eggs, lots and lots of eggs.
“I hereby sanction this bond,“ she yipped quietly.
 
Curious. Kital understood the word 'Matsuba', as she peeked up at the page as best she could from the water. She'd never seen it written down, before, but she was able to piece it together. That meant that the other, longer, complicated word must be 'Nguruvilu'. The rest of the symbols, though, were totally new to her. This was no ordinary human drawing. It could've just been her imagination, but she could almost feel the magic forming in the air around them. Her fins quivered with excitement as she watched the sigil take shape.

When the man had finished his work, and had lowered the tome to within Kital's reach, she didn't hesitate for a moment. She stretched out, bumping her face against the page, and the sigil lit up almost immediately. She knew what she wanted. They were going to be inseparable, the three of them. They were going to see the world.

"I hereby sanction this bond."
 
Truth be told, he did look at the little fox-snake on his shoulder with a big of suspicion, rather aware that he'd lay himself open to attack. He'd acted on impulse, with the logic that getting trust required showing trust. Plus he had saved the little critter. Still... This was... somewhat interesting. Just in case, he let some magic flow to enhance the muscles of his throat, just a tiny bit.
Even though the Nguruvilu hissed and recoiled as he touched her, it appeared that scratching her a little bit did have the wanted effect. The Nguruvilu returned the little gesture with one of her own, Jarvan smiling gently at the creature. Good. Good. Appeared they were both good souls. He was very very glad about that.

As the Matsuba and Nguruvilu readied themselves to finalize the bond, Jarvan began to hold his breath. This was a crucial stage. If they'd do something strange now, it'd be ruined. And those Tomes were bloody expensive to boot.
The next few seconds seemed to tick by as the fish seemed to be teeming with enthusiasm and immediately stretched out, the Nguruvilu stretching out her paw to the sigil.
Almost at the same time, the two sigils flared up, the symbols shining in a golden light as a soft hum bound the two Lillim to the book and to him by extension. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then the two Lillim dissolved into a rainbow of magic energy, rushing into their respective sigils. A small picture of both Lillim appeared inside of their sigils, seemingly inked in on the page.

Jarvan couldn't believe it. He'd done it. In one fell swoop, he'd managed to get not one, but two Lillim! Damn!
"YES!" He cheered holding up the book and doing a little dance. Still sniggering, he walked a few steps onto the land. If his information was correct, the Matsuba should be able to float now, held up by the magic of the Tome. So there was no reason to keep them inside the book.
And besides, why would you keep your friends locked up? That wasn't the way to go.

Activating the book, Jarvan quickly released the two Lillim out of their respective sigils, the Matsuba now floating a few feet off the ground. The merc gave them both a big smile, saluting in front of the both of them.
"It's done! I look forward working with the both of you! Watch my back, and I'll watch yours. And give you plenty of nice things... and eggs to boot." He gave a small wink to the Nguruvilu. "And don't worry, I'm be avoiding recalling you into the book. Only when it's absolutely necessary. It was necessary to get the bond active, but now you'll be out as long as you want. Although I would advise against going near the locals here though, might cause a bit of a ruckus."
 
The brilliant burst of light sent a shiver down her body, the soft thrumming of energy causing her ears and whiskers to twitch like mad. Well, that was an experience. She turned to look at her master inquisitively, but as soon as she caught sight of his face, everything faded away to a white nothingness.

It wasn’t warm or cold, wasn’t big or small. She was just suspended in a limbo where she wasn’t quite anything but she wasn’t nothing either. She didn’t understand. Did the contract backfire? Had the human tricked them? She didn’t have much time to think about it.

She was suddenly back at the outskirts of town, near the water but no longer in it. All of her hair stood on end, making her look a bit like a giant caterpillar in the grass. She lay there for awhile, eyes wide and unmoving. When she finally did move she coiled tightly on herself and ducked her head into her coils, trembling slightly.

She heard the human speaking, but he sounded far away. They had been in the book? He hadn’t mentioned that before. What else would come of this contract? This bond? All Kital had said was that the contract would make them stronger. Overwhelmed, the nguruvilu felt as though that silence had pierced into her brain. That absolute silence, that magic white nothingness that wasn’t quite nothing. She wasn’t having any thoughts in particular at all, her mind empty with shock.
 
"Well, that was... weird."

The Matsuba blinked a few times as the world reassembled itself around her, trying to process what had just happened and failing to come up with a better word than that. She'd expected the magic of the contract to have some kind of effect on her - they could hardly travel together if she remained water-bound, after all - but she still hadn't quite been prepared for the world to simply dissolve around her. The man was doing something weird with his hand and giving some kind of explanation, but she ignored him in favour of looking over herself and wiggling her fins experimentally. Everything seemed to still be there...

It took her a moment to realise she was airborne. The moment she did, she let out a surprised, delighted burst of laughter.

"Ha! Oh, now this is something! Are you seeing this? Do you see me?"

She glanced down towards her friend, eager to see her reaction, but upon seeing her friend's state Kital's joyful cries died on her lips. She slipped quickly through the air, moving through it as naturally as she did the water, to be by her friend's side. The Matsuba nudged gently against the Nguruvilu, trying to offer some comfort from her physical presence, and muttered soothingly, "It's ok. I'm here with you."
 
Jarvan's voice died down bit by bite while he spoke, looking at the shocked Nguruvilu with a increasingly worried frown on his face. Truth be told, he'd forgotten that the two of them would be sucked in immediately, or rather expected that to be only necessary when taking Lillim by force. He felt rather guilty now, as he could understand that being sucked into a book all of a sudden was a harrowing experience at best.

Scooting over, Jarvan opted to just stay close. Touching her like her friend did didn't seem like the best option for him at this time, but maybe he could settle her down a bit. With a small thud, he closed the book and stowed it away out of sight.
In his bag, there were still a couple of eggs left. Maybe that would calm her down a bit. Probably not entirely, but she did seem to love to eat them.

"It's alright. Don't worry, you're fine. I'm sorry for this, really am." His voice was genuinely concerned and soft. By ways of apology, he put two eggs in front of her, sitting back a bit, patiently taking his time until the fox-snake would have recovered a bit.
 
Kital’s voice sounded far away too, but it helped to shake the silence loose. Her nose pressed through her coils to snuffle at her friend. Her tongue flicked, then again, and again. She tried to focus on Kital’s smell, tried to pull herself back into the world.

Gradually, the hair on her back started to flatten, but she remained in her coils. She heard the human approach and his soft apology. Maybe he didn’t mean for it to happen. Maybe he did. But he had let them out again. She shuddered at the thought that they could stay in the tome indefinitely.

“I don’t like the tome,” she whimpered softly, “I hope there aren’t any more surprises.”
 
The matsuba hesitated for a moment, flooded with guilt, at the sound of her friend's voice. She'd been so eager to take this deal, to go on an adventure, but she hadn't really stopped to think what that'd mean for her friend. Her friend valued safety, security. She hated to be surprised; didn't crave excitement, or adventure. They weren't alike in that way. Kital had pushed without thinking, leapt like she always did, and now her friend was bound to a fate that, in truth, she perhaps would never have asked for. Kital wasn't sure what she'd do if her friend was hurt because of that decision.

She took a slow breath. She was second-guessing herself, and she hated that feeling. It wasn't like her. Her friend needed her to be sure.

"There... probably will be." She admitted. She couldn't lie to her friend about that. "But... some of them will probably be good surprises! And, either way, we'll face them together. The two of us, like always."

Her eyes flicked to the human for a moment.

"Well, the three of us, I guess."
 
A tinge of guilt shot through Jarvan as the Matsuba's gaze flickered at him. Did he do the right thing? Should he offer to let them go?
Blinking, he realized something. He didn't know how to release a Lillim. And should he if he did?

Jarvan was VERY much aware of the effects that higher evolved Lillim had on humans. His friends and his comrades were the victim of such a group, after all. Who knew how these two would end up after they grew further without anyone else to bond to. Stealing life-stock and growing bitter after being stopped by humans or almost getting killed by those humans.
If a bitter and angry Lillim reached the Queen stage, who knew what kind of devastation they might wreak.

Well, fuck. Guess he partially played himself too with this.
Sighing, he looked at the pair, nodding slightly when he locked eyes with the Matsuba. The fish did seem to calm down the fox-snake quite effectively though, so that was good. Just a shame he couldn't understand the bubbling and whimpering. Damn, that would make it so much easier. Getting them to a Rook stage asap would probably be best to all their sanity. Communication was key, after all.
With a grateful smile, he nodded to his new Matsuba companion, patiently waiting for the Nguruvilu to snap out of her fear.
 
She heard her friend’s hesitation. In her view, the two of them were now flopping on the human’s chest. Stuck with no real plan, but they couldn’t return to the water now. They might never be able to return to the water. She hadn’t thought about that. Pets were well tended to, sure, but that was in exchange for their freedom. She might never be able to just swim again, to play with the fish and explore. She whimpered quietly.
The fox-snake’s muzzle wiggled as she pushed out of her coils a little more, enough that she could peek out them, though her ears and neck were still hidden.

“Do you think he’s strong enough?” she whined softly “Do you think we’re strong enough?”
She tilted her head slightly to look in the direction of the human, though she couldn’t quite see him, “We’ll never come back, will we?”
 
For a moment, Kital found her eyes locked with the human's as he met her gaze. He looked kind of pensive; was he suddenly having second thoughts, as well? The matsuba smiled at that thought. Maybe she wasn't the only impulsive one here.

He seemed to be smart enough to leave this to her, at least. That was a good sign. The matsuba slowly lowered her head, returning his nod, then turned back down to her friend.

"We're definitely strong enough," She said, confidently. It wasn't just reassurance; she was sure that was the case. Who was stronger than them, after all? "The human, well..." The matsuba paused for a moment, thinking about that pensive look, and then grinned cheekily. "If he's not, we'll just have to work him to the bone until is. He's going to regret making that contract if he can't keep up!"

She nudged her friend playfully, then joined her in looking back towards the human. She didn't stay focused on him long, however. Her attention quickly drifted towards the trees behind him, then towards the lake. She took a slow breath, listening to the soft sounds of water flowing against the shoreline.

"We'll be back." She nodded, mostly to herself. "Not for a long time... but one day, when we're older, and stronger, and we've seen the world, we'll come back here together. We'll play in the lake, and we'll eat some eggs, and we'll remember how things used to be. I'll steal another fishing pole, just because. I got another one today, actually."

The matsuba smirked for a moment, glancing to her friend, before turning back to the lake again. "Life'll never be like it is," she admitted. "But maybe it'll be better."
 
Hhhmm. The Matsuba seemed to be rather forward, bubbling and nudging her fox-snake buddy playfully and looking back at him. The moment she took a slow breath and seemed to calm down for a moment though didn't sail past his head though. Heh... They would miss this place. Not too odd if you thought about the fact that this had been their home until now.
And the things that were ahead of them weren't really known to any of them too. Not those two small Lillim, and not him.

Nodding, Jarvan patiently waited a bit longer, looking at the reactions of both the Nguruvilu and the Matsuba. They were bubbling and whispering with each other, making Jarvan feel quite a bit left out. His eyes began to wander off, looking at the shoreline. Damn it, he should get the two of them to Rook level as soon as he could. They could talk to him then. That'd be much more pleasant that sitting it out like this.

The merc stood up, dusting himself off as he began looked around, realising that a random fisherman stumbling upon this might throw a wrench in this plan. Keeping an eye out, he glanced towards the two, raising one eyebrow.
"As soon as you two are done, we can leave. Got a lot of places to show you, after all. Plus, I'm really keen on getting to know you two."
 
The nguruvilu took a deep breath in and sighed. Then another and sighed again. There was no changing what had been done. And in the end, the two of them were leaving together. Maybe this place wasn’t home. Maybe Kital was. And even if this place was home, maybe home was something okay to leave. At least for awhile. The fox-snake nuzzled her friend back and slipped her head out of her coils to follow the matsuba’s gaze, taking in one last glimpse of the only place they’d ever known. How much world was out there, anyway? Could it really be much bigger than this?

She looked over at her friend, watching her as she watched the lake. Slowly, she tensed her body and sprung, wrapping her friend in her coils and giving a chittering laugh, “Maybe it will be better. And maybe when we’re back, you’ll be strong enough to avoid my traps.” She rubbed her cheeks against her friends side and gently bopped a paw against her fishy forehead before releasing her.

She slithered off quickly to the waterside, partly to avoid her friend’s wrath and to get one last glimpse into the water. She dipped a paw in it, watching the water ripple out. Then ducked her head into it, dreaming of diving in, and pulled it back out. After a few minutes she slithered back, feeling renewed, and waited at their new master’s feet.
 
"T-that's not fair!" Kital wailed as she found herself suddenly ensnared within her friend's coils. She struggled rather fruitlessly, wriggling her head and tail from side to side, until her friend decided to release her. Freed, she dropped to the ground, and fired a pointed jet of water at her friend's retreating back. It missed.

"Maybe I just don't want to avoid you, silly," the matsuba muttered quietly under her breath, pouting for a moment as she lay in the dirt, before she remembered that the human's eyes were still on her. She quickly pushed off with her fins, hovering slightly above the ground again, and shook off as much of the dirt as she could.

"Alright, then," She said, turning to face the human. She slowly drifted higher, coming to a stop as she reached eye level, and then slowly looked him up and down with a critical gaze. She'd been right; he did have nice eyes. That didn't get him off the hook, though. "You make sure you don't pull anything like that on her again, got it? Otherwise you'll answer to me."

He wouldn't understand her words, of course - humans were a bit slow like that - but she did her best to deliver the message through the look in her eyes. That done, she nodded to herself, then darted forward to swim past his head and loop around to come to rest by his side. "Ok, let's get going! Farewell, lake! Farewell, fishes!"
 
Still keeping a watchful eye, Jarvan couldn't resist to laugh, his deep voice echoing merrily through the area. It did him well to see that the two of them were seemingly already this relaxed in his presence. Having the two of them with him would prove quite handy, he imaged. Would make the whole transfer to a more travel focused lifestyle a bit easier. And of course the more dangerous side of things. Then again, the Nguruvilu did almost get herself killed already, so it wasn't like she could be in a lot MORE danger than that. A stash of eggs might be a good idea in the future to dissuade her from falling into any more traps...

He watched at the Nguruvilu dipped her paw in the water, the Matsuba firing a jet of water at her but missing. His eyes began to twinkle as he looked on with a grin, the Matsuba now drifting up, the creature looking him up and down critically. Oh? Checking him out and judging, were we? Jarvan leaned in a bit closer, his eyes slightly narrowed in a critical glare himself.
She then practically bubbled in his face, widening his grin. You had to love body language. The little thing was actually threatening him.
In a relaxed manner, he laughed, retreating his head and looking at the floating fish with an amused expression. "Oh? Is that an 'or else' threat there? Don't worry, I'll keep you two safe. I know the Tome isn't very nice, so I'll only use it when I absolutely need to. I don't like using it myself either. You don't keep friends and comrades prisoner, after all."

His grin shrank to a smile, looking at the Matsuba now floating by his head and then down towards the Nguruvilu. "Well then, let's go. I think we have quite a bit of work ahead of us. Us getting to know each other a bit better would be nice, no?"
Crouching, he offered the fox-snake a hand and arm to crawl onto. Regardless of what the fox-snake would choose, he stood up and started to make his way towards the outskirts of the village once again.
"The village doesn't really seen like a good fit though, so I think I'll take you two to Rustic town. Got a nice house there too where you can relax. Lots of water too, if you know where to look. I'm sure you two are going to love it there. Lots of other Lillim too to socialize with."
 
The nguruvilu gave another little chittering laugh as her friend’s stream of water missed its mark. “You’ve always been a sore loser, Kital,” she teased.

Looking back at her friend, it was hard to believe that she had nearly died today. Hard to believe they were leaving. She was grateful. She wouldn’t take it for granted again. In one day, so much was already changing. And it was likely going to change much more every day after. She looked up at the human, the strange creature that saved her life for no apparent reason other than to have her company. Something swelled in her little heart, something a bit more than just affection. These two were precious and had to be protected, she knew that. Maybe more clearly than she ever had before. Life was easy to lose, even for Lilim. Probably for a human too. She felt a shiver run through her. That wouldn’t happen, she decided, not for a long time. Not because it couldn’t, but because she wouldn’t allow it.

As she slithered over to her master’s feet, she looked up at him as he offered his arm and immediately slithered onto it, winding her way back onto his shoulders. She looked over at him, a bubbling curiosity in her eyes. She didn’t know what the road would bring, she wasn’t even rightly sure of what a road was, but she felt sure she could trust him. Besides, if she couldn’t, there would be Hell to pay. Now he was under her charge.
She gave a little yip to catch his attention and gently pressed a paw to his face, giving his cheek a little stroke as he seemed fond of doing. Then she turned to look at the path ahead of them, ears attentive and tail swaying slightly in anticipation.
 
Rustic town, huh? Kital had no idea where that was, but she liked the sound of it already. The Matsuba glanced up at her friend, perched up on their new companion's shoulders, and gave her a small nod, then fell in dutifully behind him. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she glanced this way and that, taking in the sights of her first real journey inland.

There was a whole new world out there to explore, and Kital couldn't wait to see more of it. She didn't look back.

---

The Road to Rustic Town
A Short Time Later
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"Please. We don't have any money. We barely even have enough food for ourselves. We're of no interest to you. Please, I beg you. Let us go."

The older man did his best to stay calm, but he couldn't keep his voice from wavering as he made his pleas. The young woman standing behind him shook slightly, her knuckles white as she clutched at the hem of her home-spun tunic. Their belongings lay scattered across the road, their cart overturned, one wheel spinning uselessly in the air. The man before them was unmoved by his words; he waved a lazy hand in the air, and let out a carefree chuckle.

"You're lucky we're all you ran into, old man. There's a lot worse than us out here, you know." The man paced casually back and forth as he spoke, a predatory grin on his face that called to mind some kind of hunting dog or hyena. He came to a stop by the floating, winged eyeball that was watching over the terrified pair, and let his arm rest atop its bulk. The eye's gaze flicked up towards him for a moment, then back to its prisoners. "Seriously. What kind of idiots travel without any protection these days?"

The man's other hand rested on a leather-bound tome, strapped to his side. He was one of three attackers, each dressed in ragged-looking leathery hides and wearing a single, sharp tooth on a cord string as a necklace. The second attacker was a sharp eyed woman with short, dark hair, armed with a bow and standing watch a few meters down the road. The third was a bulkier man, holding a long, nasty-looking knife in one hand while he picked through the scattered belongings.

"I think he's telling the truth, Jed," he called out, a frown on his face. "Nothing much here worth a damn. Oh! Wait, what's this?"

The man sheathed his knife at his side - where a second, similar weapon was already in place - and bent for a moment to shift a heavy fur blanket. When he stood, he held spread in his hands a lacy, white dress. "Hey, Keral," he called back down the road to their female companion, and waved with the arm of the dress. "You lookin' to get married any time soon?"

The archer's only response was a rude gesture, but the exchange drew a cry from the shaking young woman. "Please, be careful with that!" She regretted it almost immediately, as her words drew the man's attention. He tossed the dress carelessly to one side, and took a few threatening steps in her direction.

"What about her?" He asked, glancing for a moment to Jed, the man with the tome. "She looks valuable, right? Or at least like she'd be a bit of fun."

A lecherous grin replaced his frown, and the older man grew pale. The young woman let out a sharp scream. The sound startled a nearby flock of birds into flight, and echoed, down the road, to reach the ears of a mercenary and his two new companions.

"Idiot." The archer, Keral, turned her back on the road and rejoined her companions with a few quick strides. She slapped the bulky man in the shoulder with the back of her hand, then jerked her head back down the road. "You miss the boss' attention that much already? Go stand watch; you keep scaring her like that, and who knows what she'll bring down on us."
 
The nguruvilu looked around in awe as they walked down the dirt path. The trees were so tall, taller than the water was deep at their old home shore. She had seen them from far off, but she hadn’t bothered to venture into them before. For the first time, she felt quite small. The fur on her spine bristled, though she tried to hide it, lest Kital tease her for it.

She listened and heard many strange things, the sounds of little creatures she didn’t quite know. But then from far off, she heard very faintly the voices of humans. She pushed herself forward on Jarvan’s shoulder, supporting herself on her little paws. Her ears flicked slightly with interest. She couldn’t make out words, just voices. There was a quite a few humans up ahead. Then came the scream. The fox-snake hissed, bearing her fangs. Danger. She was sure the human must have heard it, the terror cry of his own kind, but she didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes fixed ahead, keeping watch for any hostiles.
 
While Jarvan walked with his new companions, he enjoyed their small little tells. The fact that the little fox-snake was both intimidated and interested by her new environment, or that the flying fish was writhe with wonder and excitement. Appears that he'd gotten himself two quite capable and fun companions. He was glad for it.
The road to Rustic Town normally was quite the quiet one, relatively safe for how wild it actually was. Today though, it appeared that this road's safety was somewhat compromised.
Even before he heard the scream, the fox's ears flicked, alerting him to the bandit's presence.

He cursed and dove into the undergrowth when the young woman screamed, his tactical mind already overclocking to think of a plan. From his hiding spot, he just barely make out the bandits, the wheel of the overturned cart visible.
Jarvan's eyes narrowed. He really hated bandits. Discount mercs, he likened them. Lazy parasites that just had to be squashed. Fortunately for Jarvan, he found a couple of swatters just a little while back.
His scowl changed into a grin as a plan started forming in his head, motioning both Kital and Morsel closer.

"Alright, guess we've got our first fight ahead of us. This will be a warm-up. Those bandits are distracted, and thus make easy pickings. So, miss Fox..." He motioned to Morsel. "Your job is to blast the everliving hell out of that archer, the one with the bow. See if you can snap it with an attack. If not, that's fine too, but keep her occupied and use the brush and your speed to confuse the heck out of her."

He turned to Kital. "Miss Fish, your job is to take out the floating eye with a sneak attack. The man with the tome will need a couple of seconds to react to that if you can take out his Lillim. I'll ambush the big guy, buffing myself up a bit and making sure he'll wake up with the largest headache known to the world. Any objections? Just nod or shake your head. If you have any suggestions, try drawing it in the sand what you mean."
 
As it so happened, Kital did have an objection.

"My name is not Miss Fish, 'Mister Human'," She muttered huffily, pursing her fishy lips and wiggling her tail in displeasure - though, of course, there was very little to indicate to Jarvan exactly which part she was unhappy with. Kital had chosen her name for herself, and was quite proud of it; the fact that Jarvan had no way of knowing that was hardly a consideration. She'd have to do something about that later.

The actual plan, however, was something she was quite on board with. Jarvan had clearly given her the most important role: taking out the opposing Lillim, obviously the most dangerous of their four opponents, before they'd have a chance to harm either of her companions. The matsuba glanced over at the floating eyeball through the undergrowth, sizing them up for a moment, then looked back to Jarvan and nodded her head. Her frown slipped away, replaced by a cheeky grin. They weren't going to know what hit them.

The bandits, for their part, didn't seem to be at all aware they were being watched. The big one had reluctantly followed the archer's orders, and taken her place standing watch over the road. He was looking for anything coming down the road - not an ambush from the undergrowth. The archer, meanwhile, was looking over their captives. Abruptly, the archer's eyes narrowed. She reached suddenly to draw an arrow from her quiver, and extended it swiftly towards the young woman's throat. The woman inhaled sharply and drew back, but the arrow didn't touch her; instead, the archer hooked it just under a chain she'd spotted peeking out under the woman's tunic, and lifted it to drag a sparkling necklace into view.

"Well, this looks more valuable," the archer muttered, as the woman trembled.
 
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