• 090 HP
• 075 EN

-10 HP for Falling Debris
-10 EN for Single Target Buff

As soon as Maddison’s caustic words met the slender cat ears atop Lycia’s head, they plastered back against her head and she averted her eyes. She hated confirmation, melted when people yelled at her or accused her of doing stuff she didn’t do and would go through as many ways as possible to not be in the forefront of drama. This…this…other girl was full of drama! And Lycia wanted none of it.

Instead of responding or even looking at the Plague Witch, she swallowed and took a small step back, hoping that by removing herself from the immediate situation, she would be forgotten. She couldn’t help the wince that crossed her features when those acidic words were turned on her sister. Though her tail twitched in annoyance and her eyes glared at the ground nearest Maddison’s boot, she said nothing. She did nothing, even as the room around them began to semi-collapse and people started fighting the massive rat that suddenly appeared.

I don’t think I’m having fun anymore, Lycia whispered into Milah’s ear, quiet enough that no one else could hear. Perhaps there were a few lip readers in the group, she wasn’t certain, but she also didn’t care. The quicker this was over, the quicker they could be away from this area and away from that…mean girl!

Here, kill it quick, the kitten Felis told her sibling, the tiny cymbals on index and thump meeting once more. Another chime sounded from them, the energy from the note wrapping itself around Milah and giving her the ability to hyper-focus on her target to hopefully deliver the killing blow.

Single Target Buff @Milah for...
07 (Roll) + 09 (Mastery Mod) = 16
Tracker . Roll​

 

• 90 HP
• 70 EN

-10 HP for falling debris
-20 EN for Attack

Milah barely registered the nipping at her heels, the sharp and piercing pain dulled out as she concentrated on a single thing: Madison.

As the plague seeped into her system the Felis quickly shifted to tunnel vision, barely registering anything else around except for her new target. She felt the weight of something impact her shoulders and roll off her back, but that too was ignored as Milah reached for another arrow. Soon enough it was nocked into her bowstring, feeling the familiar tension and resistance from her weapon as Milah readied her shot.

Madison’s shouts continued, her words crystal clear as if spoken directly into Milah’s mind instead of the actual distance between them. The tension continued to spread through every muscle, a predator poised and ready to lash out towards their prey. This was an adult that was choosing to act like a child of all things—the sole irony of it all, now combined with the effects of the plague pulsing through her blood, more than enough to make the Felis vision turn red.

Healing? Milah could help but snort, her tail sipping about in irritation behind the teen even as the fur stood on end. She didn’t need any healing, Milah knew exactly what she needed to do—stick an arrow right into this woman before her and shut her up for good.

She was barely able to register the quieter words of her sister as a result of the unfolding events, or what would have otherwise been a familiar feeling as the blonde Felis buffed Milah again. Lycia… sweet Lycia who had wanted nothing more than to just have fun, meet new people and help others in need—and yet this bitch had the audacity to try and make her sister feel as if she had somehow been wrong to try and buff the attack of others. As if her sister would ever do anything to willingly inconvenience someone else.

The Felis was definitely not in a very forgiving mood at the moment, and still the woman continued to rile her up further.

It only took a moment, seconds really, but as @Haru moved in closer with the intent of aiding the Felis has already allowed her arrow to fly towards her mark—his hands landing on Milah just a heartbeat after as the dispel magic begun pulsating through her body. It spread quickly through her system, honing into the plague and attacking it with equal viciousness as the one Milah currently felt for the older woman. It was enough to make her head feel like it was splitting in half, and with a loud cry and a hiss Milah soon dropped her bow as her hands tightly clutched the hair around her ears and temples.

Slowly but surely the effects of the plague were countered and lifted by the dispel magic… but even then those hazel eyes held nothing but dislike and anger towards the other player.

Reckless Attack — @Madison Freebird
Tracker
Roll Null since Milah’s attacking another player :’D

@Shibs​

 

• 90 HP
• 90 EN

-10 HP from falling debris​

All Yukisa could do was pout as the girls continue to argue, regardless of his attempts to reason with them. With the rats gone, it appeared that the adventurers shifted their bloodlust to each other. Fortunately, their attention wouldn’t be on murdering one another for much longer, as loud rumbles shook the basement and the sound of a rat’s shriek, amplified times ten, resonated through the tunnel.

Soon following the noises came the Rat King. Yuki stared at the thing with eyes wide, unsure whether to be scared or amazed. Truly, this game was frighteningly realistic. Between the V and the R, the emphasis was definitely on “reality”.

Of course, everyone knew what to do at that point: fight or get mauled by a massive rodent. The battle was swift, and the group had more than enough merit to exterminate the rats at the mansion once and for all, including their king. Hopefully, going through that would stop whatever tension had rise-

“Stop!” the boy shouted as he saw Milah nock an arrow into her bow, pulling it back and aiming directly for Madison. He wasn’t entirely what had gotten into her. When they were talking before, she seemed like such a nice, innocent girl… now she was planning on murdering someone.

The male, as heroic as he tried to be, couldn’t intervene in time despite his efforts. All he could do was rush over to Madison’s side as the arrow had lodged into her flesh.

“I know this seems bad, and you probably want to kill her…” he muttered, putting himself between Maddy and Milah just in case, hopefully blocking their view of one another. “But please, fighting won’t do us any good, especially now that you’re injured. Just calm down and I’ll take care of your wounds, ok?” he practically pleaded, his eyes begging even more than his tone.

Should she still not be convinced, Yuki would then turn to his final resort… hugging her.

Without giving her much time to react, he quickly reached his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. He was doing it purely as an attempt to comfort the woman, however what he didn’t realize is that he was also preventing her and Milah from fighting unless they’d want to cut through him (fairly likely, actually, but oh well). Hopefully he wasn’t hurting Madison too much, though, by squeezing her while she’s injured.

Comfort hugging @Madison Freebird
Tracker / ---​

 

Grievous wounds or not, Madison would always find the strength to resist a hug.

"Fuckin' let me go," the plague witch shrieked as @Yukisa wrapped his warm arms around her. Madison struggled with her remaining might, eventually breaking free of the boy's vice-like grip. Before he could wrap his arms around her once more, she produced a card from her sleeve and shoved it in front of his face. It crackled with Zeus's electric energy as she poured mana into it, ready to melt the flesh off his bones if he so much as touched her again

The woman remained frozen, a snarl on her face, her breath ragged, a dire warning etched in her fiery gaze as she looked at everyone huddled around her in the basement.

A long, tense moment passed before she shuffled the card back into her deck and shoved past everyone. "This is bullshit," she venomously seethed as she hobbled up the stairs that led topside.

Useless bunch of paste-eaters, standing around looking like they were struck dumb while she was attacked unprovoked by one of their own. She could have died down there! Killed by a scrub, her coffin a pile of rotting, infested rat corpses! What a legacy the great Madison Freebird would have!

Madison spent a long while on the front steps of the manor while the rest of them milled about, exploring the place and talking to one another as if nothing happened. Six cards were spread at her feet, while leafy vines wrapped around her arms and chest. Energy from the earth washed over her in waves, knitting her flesh back together and calming her down.

In her hands, she played with a small vial. It was something she picked up as she was ransacking looking through the laboratory, making sure nothing valuable was broken by the swarm of furry blighters.

"Lucky Brew," she muttered, the words bitter as they left her lips. If only the label were actually correct--maybe she would have left the place with more. But now that the chaos had died down and the vermin were exterminated, she had no cause or chance to go back inside for some extra loot.

Madison looked up as footsteps thundered by her on the wood. There was @Lycia, holding something that looked like a--

The witch's eyes widened and her jaw hung loose. That little furry bitch took a plague rat for herself! What the actual fuck?! Any of the ones Madison tried salvaging were either too decayed, too mutilated, or too drowned to be of any value to her research! And here was one, perfectly preserved by a magical mist and sealed away in a jar!

By the hairy boobs of any of the gods she hadn't studied yet in Terrasphere that would have them was this little asswipe going to do with one?! She couldn't even work as a team and buff people properly!

Maddy's first thought was to elbow her in the back of the head and take it for herself. Instead, the plague witch decided a more peaceful route was probably wise, especially as she hadn't fully healed yet.

"Hey," she called out to the young felis, her body still wrapped up in vines. The words that would follow stung bitterly as they spilled out.

"Look, uh, sorry for snapping at you earlier. Can I talk to you about something?"

 

With the last breath drawn from the rat king their mission was, for the most part, completed at last. Milah watched as @Yukisa intervened between her and Madison, enveloping the older woman in a hug to keep the situation from escalating. A dismissive scoff was given, the Felis flicking her tail in the direction of the other woman, before she turned back towards her sister to make sure none of the rats had bitten her.

A nod was given on the way to @Haru for his assistance, now that a few moments had passed Milah could truly understand how much of her earlier thoughts and actions had been motivated by whatever plague had been infecting the rats.

“Thanks for that thing… whatever it was that you did.”

She was still unsure about the terminology for many things in this game, not used to these types at all, but she could recognize it had been something helpful—although different from Lycia’s buffs. Unlike some horrible team players around here at least he has worked in favor of the team as a whole, and that deserved proper thanks as a result.

Soon enough Ralin had guided them back upstairs, giving them their rewards and a little something extra here and there. Overall Milah was more than happy for the chance to work on her skills some more, little by little she was continuing to enjoy this game a lot more than what originally expected.

”Woah, is that one of the rats Lycia? That’s super cool!”

Her tail twitched in excitement, ears flickering as Milah peered in closer to the perfect specimen… before a “familiar” voice chimed in as they walked down the stairs. She waited long enough to ensure that @Lycia wasn’t looking at her face, a shit eating Cheshire grin quickly spreading across her lips as she locked eyes with @Madison Freebird.

”We should definitely keep it sister, it’s our first quest trophy after all! There was a sing-song note to her words now. ”I bet our clan would be suuuper impressed and happy to see it, after all it’s proof of what their princesses can do~”

OOC: Keeping my 75MP, and attempting to make sure that Ms. Freebird doesn’t get a plague rat. :’D​

 

Haru felt a powerful sigh escape through his lips as he saw the arrow fly, and it just kept going as it sunk into @Madison Freebird 's flesh. Dammit. Politely returning Milah's thanks he walks straight past her without a second thought to stride over to Madison. In his hand he held a paper charm. In the tens of seconds it had taken to finally approach her after waiting for her and the catlady to exchange pleasantries and... not so pleasantries. In this time he had taken to looking at Madison's soul- with purpose of course! He had to attune the charm to her.

After approaching an arms' length away Haru sat down on his knees and spoke loudly for the room to hear, "Here. This charm is attuned to the blueprint of how your body should look like. Use it if you wish- it would assist your healing." He offers the charm in front of her without activating it. He'd already seen how Madison felt about people forcing spells onto her and so realized it would be best to give the choice to her. Now that this was done, Haru continues with the real reason he came over to talk.

Haru leans in and continues in a much quieter voice to be only heard by the two, "There are three live rats in the armory among the slew of corpses. I... pacified... their souls with the intent of having test subjects, and they are bound immobile by vines. Take them at your leisure before the groundskeeper comes to sweep the bodies away, but I'd appreciate it if you'd leave one for me. It has come to my attention that we have similar pursuits. But," He pauses for a moment, and the frown on his face adopts a displeased tone to it. He continues soon enough, "I would have appreciated it if you had asked for something along those lines before turning to people. The study of diseases began ages past to help prevent the needless suffering of people. Ok? Cool. See you later." Standing back up, Haru leaves the charm by Madison's side, still charged with magic unspent.

He finally raises his voice to a tone above a whisper again. "Yo, @Vincent Cain ! I'm going to go check up on a loose end in the mansion before I go. See you!" The call out to his friend was the only notification Haru gave before trodding back up the stairs to look for Ralin. Regardless of how long he took he would not stop until he had found the other man and approached him with a query. "Hey. I came to ask about the young man under your care. Could you find it in you to allow me a look at him? I fear that he may have caught infection from his would, and want to check him as soon as possible if you would allow me to help."
@Shibs

 

Vincent cracked his neck and sighed. The fight was something almost too easy. He had truly unleashed the power of Unlimited Blade works, as he couldn't believe how powerfully his phantasms had ripped that big ass rat a new one. Watching a quarter of its hp drain with one single reckless attack had sent a shiver down his spine. This game didn't have levels, just ways in which he could exert his will. He would have to remember that.

As for loot well...Slapchop 2.0 had turned out to be some sort of weird safe with money in it. Not a lot, mind you, but a decent amount. Between all of his earnings he would have to invest in some actual gear. Maybe he could get Ray to tinker something up for him? Either way, he looked up from his musings when Haru had addressed him, and then watched him and Madison both excuse themselves. Pacified, but oddly disturbed, Vince chose to simply wait to the side. He wasn't feeling talkative, all he could do was try to revisit that power he'd unleashed.

To mimic the sensation.

Vince, you're nothing but a cheap imitation. How can you outhero Haru like this? Just fighting rats?

 

It actually looks pretty gross, Lycia said in reply to @Milah ’s statement, her face scrunched up at the jar that held the rat within. It was a skinny thing, with long fangs and claws. The fur used to be brown, from what she could tell, but it had fallen off in clumps and there were spots along its form where there was nothing but scabs. Other sections, like near the base of its tail, were covered in pulsing pus bubbles.

Plague rat indeed.

What in the world am I gonna do with this? Lycia said, more to herself than her sister. Her ears pressed back against her head and her tail hung limply behind her. Milah had gotten something cool and useful. Her reward was more a slap in the face than anything she wanted.

The Kitten Felis practically turned to stone upon hearing @Madison Freebird ‘s voice behind them. Hesitantly, she peeked over her shoulder at the older woman, the vines that wrapped around her body seemed cool and impressive to the newbie player. She idly wondered if that was from another mastery she hadn’t bothered to look at because of crazy hard pronunciation…or last of an attention span.

Lavender eyes whispered from the Plague Witch to her sister and back again. She didn’t necessarily want to talk to Madison, and especially not alone. Being yelled at once was more than enough for her. She probably wouldn’t be able to stop herself from crying if she was berated again. However, Milah also had a point; this was their very first trophy from a completed group quest. It was something to be proud of and not traded away willy-nilly.

Still…they were princesses…

She hooked her arm through Milah’s and kept the Plague Rat in a Jar in her other hand while standing up straighter and looking Madison in the eye…well, more like the tip of her nose really. Lycia didn’t have enough balls to look her square in the eye.

I’m sorry about my grubby buff, Lycia said in a rush, her ears flicking in mild annoyance. She totally hadn’t meant to say that. She wanted to sound tough and cool and nonchalant. Why the hell was she apologizing?!

…But anything you need to talk to me about can be said in front of my sister. She’s my royal council after all! And Princesses share everything.​

 

Oh, so they're sisters. Maddy's eyes flickered between the two felis girls as they stood there, arm in arm. @Lycia still holding the plague rat tight, @Milah holding her grudge against the witch even tighter as if it were her own reward for the extermination job.

She would have waved her hand dismissively at Lycia if it weren't bound and held in place by vines. "No, it's okay. I, uh, appreciate the effort. I was just not ready for it, is all."

Madison cracked a forlorn smile. "I startle pretty easily," she lied.

Her gaze shifted down towards the jar containing the rat. "Look, kid, I really am sorry for the trouble I caused you--the both of you," she said as she shrugged her shoulder towards Milah. Boy, were the lies flowing like water today.

The cursemage looked Lycia in the eyes. "I wanted to make an offer to you before the two of you took off. I managed to find this luck potion while clearing out the laboratory."

Madison's vines unwrapped themselves from her right arm as she held the small glass vial full of liquid in her outstretched hand. "I'm willing to trade it to you for that dead rat you picked up. I study diseases for a living in Dunnstads. I came here because I wanted to collect some samples to take back to the university I work at. Wanted to see if it was a new strain of plague, and what can be done to stop it from being spread."

"We let a lot of rats go free after we scared them out of the house," she reminded the two felis girls. "With it, I might be able to divise a cure or treatment before the other dirty little beasts can spread it."

She waved the luck potion around in the air. "And with this little thing--I don't believe in luck, but maybe it will help you out on your next quest?"

And it might help your dumbass sister survive if I ever catch her in a dark alley, she left unsaid.

 

Milah’s tail twitched in frustration as @Lycia actually apologized towards Madison, eyes never leaving the face of the older woman as if to make up for her twin. After all they were a pair and, just like Lycia helped cover for some of Milah’s weak spots, it was also Milah’s job to ensure she covered for her sister when needed.

It was clear Milah wasn’t intimidated by Madison by now, even if she was an older player the woman had already shown her true colors—of which the Felis did not approve at all. Perhaps then it was no surprise that her face showed the clear disdain for the other player, or who the brunette did nothing to try and hide her eye rolling as Madison continued to speak.

A snake in the grass, that’s what Milah’s gut feeling pinned the other woman for, and the Felis would be damned if she ever trusted a single word coming from those lips.

”Stop it from spreading, huh? Such a noble cause that you’ve decided to take on…” Yeah right, if Milah were to bet on it she’d sooner believe Madison would figure out how to make a Plague potion to spread the disease instead of a cure. ”Though, if we consider your actions from just a little while ago, it certainly sounds quite ironic really.”

Ears were folded back even as Milah crossed her arms across her chest, she was not shy about letting Madison know exactly how she felt about her at all. Still the item the older woman mentioned sounded intriguing, and Milah wasn’t blind to how unimpressed and almost disappointed her sister had looked upon receiving her “prize” from the groundskeeper.

In the end it was up to Lycia if she wanted to trade or not, Milah waiting only just long enough for a decision to finally be made and agreed upon before grabbing her sister’s hand and pulling her away from Madison and back into the mansion.

”Come on, I hear there was a menagerie just full of exotic animals inside. Let’s take a look at them before we leave since Ralin agreed to let us roam about for a bit longer~”

Her voice was sweet, almost a little sing-song too, as she lead Lycia away—though not before casting one last glare in the direction of @Madison Freebird.

 

Where Milah had guts and intuition, Lycia took people at their word and trusted mostly whatever she was told. Madison said that she startled easy? Lycia would remember to try and announce her buffs or attacks next time. Madison was going to use the rat to help clear a plague that was on the verge of taking over the Kingdom? Then Lycia would do her part and help in any way she could. And it just so happened that giving her a specimen that was infected with the plague would help her studies along.

The young Felis only gave pause because of her sister’s tone. She had heard it before. Their daddy had said that Milah could sometimes be a smartass, whatever that meant, and that little girls like her shouldn’t know about sarcasm yet. She couldn’t remember her sister’s reply to that, but she did know that Milah had to stay a whole hour in her room because of it. Lycia had thought it funny. Their parents hadn’t.

Well, okay, Lycia said slowly, the words sticking to the roof of her mouth. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get rid of the plague rat, she certainly did, but she didn’t know what a luck potion actually did. She didn’t know if she was making the right choice, either, and she’d absolutely hate it if this came back to bite her in the butt.

But what, honestly, could she do with a plague rat anyway?

Her hand holding her “prize” thrust forward and toward Madison. She waited for the girl to take it before Lycia grabbed for the potion, her dexterous hand swirling the bottle and watching the contents of it slosh back and forth. She could’ve sworn that there were little flecks of something sparkly in there!

Before she could take a much longer look, Milah was dragging her away, talking about seeing the menagerie before they left for good. That sounded like a good idea to her so, hand in hand, she scampered off with Milah without giving Madison another backwards glance. ​

 

Well, the adventure was over... the Rat King was slain, and began to shrink and shrink into a smaller and smaller husk, until naught but a red bead remained. Nikephoros stared at it blankly as Ralin walked up and collected it. Something suspicious about that, most certainly... but it wasn't the time to go digging about for answers, and the party was too wiped to confront the man. Besides. They hadn't gotten paid yet.

Of course the elven man hardly wanted to stick around for the gold. Leaving the underground, he made his way towards the exit, pausing as he spotted @Haru standing about holding a pool cue which looked like it might function as a small spear. Silly how this game worked at times... but who was he to complain? Approaching the younger man, the elf pulled out a pouch of coins and shoved it into the kid's chest, snatching the pool cue with a his other hand to inspect it carefully.
"Recompense for the trinket," he muttered as the coins clinked against the youth, already having forgotten that Haru was even around. Quite lovely workmanship... The deer, bounding across its finely polished wooden form. The tell tale dusting of red chalk at its tip showing the great care given to it. He made a few practice thrusts with the thing. Yes, it would function as a weapon in a tight spot... but such a fine thing should not be used to take a life. Rather, it appeared more suited to helping one enjoy it, in a billiards hall.

He glanced at Haru to see if the boy intended to challenge him for the small spear, then walked off to find a case to keep it in. After all, such a fine tool needed something protective to stay in, even if it would be sitting in his inventory, unattended and free from weathering or fading. It was just the sort of man he was; to care for those things of his which were truly unique and pleasing to his eye. As he prepared to leave the estate, he spotted some suits of armor decorating the wall nearby, resting on stands. He approached, looked the suits over, and decided it would be too loud and noisome to shove a whole thing in his inventory. But, quietly and quickly, he did grab up a helmet and put it away. It and the pool cue were the only payments he'd be receiving for this job; he didn't want anybody to be able to prove he'd taken payment from Ralin. Not when he didn't trust the caretaker.
Satisfied now with his lucre, the elven man turned to look over the party members which went about their business. No need for goodbyes... Goodbye.

 

After the Rat King had fallen, Alkaid watched Ralin with intense interest, as if reappraising the man. Although given their brief encounter, whether that was exactly a good or bad thing may have been in question at first, but regardless of the fact that the man had essentially sent them along their way, she stuck around a bit longer, approaching the man with hesistant sigh, "Before we head out, I just want to say I'm sorry about earlier. You could call it simply magic or intuition, but something just felt...off about things down here. It's a good thing you did what you did, though, all things considered."

"Especially now that I see you seem to have magic of your own. Just good for cleaning up messes?" she asked jokingly, as glad to have that earlier bit off her chest, before quickly continuing, "Although we never really did track where those rats came from. If you or your master would like I can see if a couple hunters I know would be willing to give it a try, just in case. I don't know if it might save you the trouble of cleaning up again or not after today."

With her offer on the table and bad air cleared, the woman eventually made her way outside. Just in time to catch the tail end of another, perhaps, tense exchange. She stepped aside to let the cat sisters on further in, pausing only ever so briefly to consider further exploration herself. That was, up until she noticed a familiar bald head walking away.

The woman put her fingers to her lips, then let out a loud whistle in attempt to get @Nikephoros' attention.

She gave the man a wide wave as goodbye, taking in the refreshing scenery for awhile before heading back inside. Idly, she had wondered when she might cross paths again with any of her party members, who seemed well on their way to splitting up for the time being, as well as if the master of the house would mind if she browsed his collection of books, not knowing what she would later find...