048

--TheirWorld--

Darkness meant very little in her [Coat of the Moon] form. Eyes and ears sharper than even her standard gumiho appearance, the world was almost painfully vivid as she ran through the halls at breakneck speed. After a few minutes of it though, her senses adjusted and following the little fox was easier than ever.

Before long, they saw a group of players battling a swarm of rats and mice. Without so much as looking back to see if Guin was still following it, it shot up and began running along the wall, using it as if it were no different than the pathway.

“Show off,” Guin muttered under her breath — but wondered if she could do the same with her new stats and abilities.

She couldn’t, she found; or at least, she couldn’t yet. But putting in the effort to try had been worth making, as she found herself able to at least use the walls as a springboard, similar to the way she did in her fox form.

As they ran through the dark and dusty halls of the catacombs, the little fox pulled several more little tricks to get ahead of her, but Guin laughed, casting [Shadow Step] when her feet failed her. It wasn’t long before she had mastered the mental cast system for that ability.

Every now and again, too, the fox in front of her would yelp, and dozens of rats would appear. Guin would take out her dagger and tear through them with [Wind Blade], getting much more familiar with that ability than she had been before. She discovered that, with the mental cast system, she was not only able to control the shape and direction of the ability, but she was also able to throw its point of origin to an area within five feet of where she was standing. It was very hard to control, though, and she didn’t trust herself to use it very often.

Guin still had several quests to take care of in the Catacombs, but if everyone was actually waiting for her after all this time, she didn’t want to tie them up any further. Separated from the group for a good three hours, a tinge of guilt made her pull up her friends window — though while running, it felt a bit like being on a phone while driving. Still, she opened up a window with Stella to get her up to date.

Unsurprising to Guin, her conversation with Stella was short and sweet; she had predictably found out about Silver Hound’s presence in the city, and had been trolling the forums to find out where his next location was. Though she had half a mind to tell the obsessive girl off, Guin considered the fact that she could easily busy herself for the next couple of hours and let it slide. No matter how much she said to Stella, Stella wasn’t like to cooperate anyway with Silver Hound in the picture.

Next, she brought up a window with Drakov, who had been scouting around looking for clues about the corruption. He told her that he was free if she needed him, but he had found a side quest connected to his Servant class while he had been investigating, and told her he would like to see it through. Guin told him that that suited her perfectly fine and closed the windows.

When she looked at BronzePaw’s name on her friends list, however, she hesitated. Her finger lingered, just a moment over the image of the bronze scaled garule woman — just long enough that she was annoyed with herself — before she finally pushed the button. The screen came up almost immediately.

It looked like BronzePaw was taking her time someplace in the woods.

“Guin?” the garule woman tilted her head, not making an effort to hide the surprise and confusion in her eyes. “Is everyone gathering again?”

Shaking her head, Guin said “Not yet. I just finished my class quest, but the others seem busy at the moment. Since I’ve taken so long, I figure we can meet up again tomorrow to tackle most of the corruption quest. I wanted to check in and make sure you were alright with that.”

“Ah,” BronzePaw said, nodding reasonably. “I see. Yes, that would be fine.”

“Do you have anything that you are working on?” Guin asked, turning a corner a bit sharper than she had meant to.

“Not anything pressing,” the garule woman shrugged and furrowed her brow. “Are you running?”

“I’m in the Catacombs still,” Guin answered, shadow stepping into the shadow of a torch to catch up with the fox. Being in a chat while running was definitely slowing her down. “If you are free, I still have some quests down here,” she said offhandedly, focusing on the fox in front of her as it disappeared behind a corner. “You would be welcome to join me.”

“Oh?” BronzePaw went. Guin saw her eyes brighten at the prospect and smiled — but then had to use a wall to help her turn properly. “That looks dangerous,” the garule woman frowned, but then said, “I’m free to help, if you’ll have me. Should I meet you somewhere?”

The part of Guin that was telling her to be wary in Dassah’s meek voice was present, but quieted by the urgency of movement and purpose, and for a moment, any tension and reservations she had about working with BronzePaw dissipated into nothing.

“Do you know where the Cathedral of the Lady is?” she asked. “It should be marked on your city map. It’s in the North side, with a large plot of land behind it? There is a dungeon marker there labeled ‘The Catacombs’. Do you see it?”

“One moment…” BronzePaw murmured, pulling up her map. “Ah! I see it. I should meet you there?”

Nodding, Guin said, “I’ll meet you there in a few!” and signed off, stepping a little faster now that all her attention could be once again be focused on the fox in front of her.

The fox guide the brought her to the large chamber with the doors on each side. And there it stopped in the center of the room, and sat, its ever serene expression facing her with affectionate pink eyes. Guin bowed to the little creature, and like a puff of smoke, it burst into mist and air, leaving only the scent of lilies behind.

Pausing, Guin stared at the door made of bones.

Though she felt more confident in herself now than she had before, there was still some part of her that worried about her interactions with BronzePaw. It wasn’t like with Ibraxis and Tea and Miko. BronzePaw was Bahena, and Bahena was her boss in real life; a person that she saw everyday. Thinking back on the last conversation she had with either of their identities, Guin tried to think of a few talking points she could use to ease them out of the awkwardness that was almost certainly going to present itself. She also tried to think of things that she had spoken to other garuli about — but quickly realized that, with few exceptions, most of their conversations were quite… normal, as normal could be. Guin chewed her fingers as she waited, attacking some hangnails as she contemplated her own regrettable behaviors and mannerisms.

A few groups of players passed her as she stood in the waiting area, asking if she was looking for a group, but Guin declined. Whispers began echoing in her ears. Looking up, a few people were pointing at her ears and tail. Instantly, Guin regretted coming still in her [Coat of the Moon] form, but it was too late.

Luckily, BronzePaw sauntered into the Catacomb’s waiting room, with a confident an air as ever.

“Over here!” Guin called out to her, waving.

The garule walked over, a toothy grin on her face. “This place is interesting! Thank you for inviting me!”

“No,” Guin shook her head. “Thanks for coming to give me a hand!”

“And look at you!” BronzePaw looked her over curiously. “Tail, ears, claws… Are they permanent then?”

Guin shrugged. “Maybe? Probably,” she said, then pointed to the Catacombs door. “I have three quests that I need to finish. I think I can share at least one of them; the other two I’ll just give you the information for…”

———————-

[The Rodents Below]

[Mice Slain] - 100 of 100

[Rats Slain] - 3 of 100

[Gremlins Slain] - 0 of 10

[Lost Key] - 1 of 1

This quest is optional. It can be skipped. (Difficulty: C)>>

———————-

———————-

[The Glowing Carvings]

This quest is optional. It can be skipped. (Difficulty: C)>>

———————-

[Dust and Essence]

[Bone Dust] - 50 of 100

[Spectral Essence] - 0 of 100

[Death Moss] - 0 of 100>

This quest is optional. It can be skipped. (Difficulty: C)>>

———————-

Guin had gotten most of the quests so long ago, she had to read them closely to remind herself of what there was left to do.

“It didn’t let me take the carvings one, but it let me accept the other quests,” BronzePaw told her. “What are gremlins and spectral essence?”

“Cool,” Guin said. “We should find everything in the Catacombs. I don’t know yet where to find some of the things, but I haven’t gone too deep into it. I got a bit… off track with my group last time. But, there is a good chance I’ll have to take care of those, since you don’t have Veil Sight.”

“Ahh,” BronzePaw nodded. “Is that the door over there? Shall we descend?”

Guin nodded, and cast her [Spirit Shield] and [Chilling Aura]. “Do you have any buffs to cast?” she asked as they headed to the door.

BronzePaw stopped in her tracks and laughed. “You know what, I do,” she said. “Thanks to your advice, I picked up a few shields. I almost forgot about them! Let’s see…” BronzePaw fumbled with her quick cast bar, casting a couple of spells that made her skin glow gold. “Alright! Ready to go!”

“Let’s go then!” Guin said, and opened the door to once again descend into the Catacombs.