---

It was a bright and sunny day! Mostly clear skies, with only a few, small popcorn-like white clouds lazily drifting about above. Birds were chirping, cicadas were chirping, frogs were croaking and other ambient noises that denote peacefulness could be heard far and wide. This was especially true for the sleepy little village of Litroot, located in the southern-ish central heartlands of the continent, in a country (currently) controlled by several noble houses of centaurs. Ironically, Litroot didn't have too many native centaur-residents, but instead had a wide variety of other races and monsters make it most of its population. Well, it was a bit of a backwater-town out in the midst of nowhere, so it wasn't that strange that travellers and foreigners would end up here and settling down, rather than move further into the nation, where the rather serious and strict centaurs practiced their disciplined and rigid lifestyle and traditions.

Still! Litroot wasn't just a speck on the proverbial map. It did have a road leading to and from it, albeit an unpaved dirt road, but a road nontheless! The houses of the village wer emostly made out of small stone bricks, with golden hay-covered roofs giving the place a cozy and homely atmosphere. A few small fields for growing various grains and vegetables were located a bit outside the village proper, and few small pens and coups for things like rabbits and chickens were located next to some of the buildings. The place was no farming community though, not by a long-shot. Most likely, the place made a living by foraging, hunting and mayhaps some fishing in the not-too-distant river. The ample forests and woodlands all around lent itself well to woodcutting and woodworking as well. Given its small size though, this place was n't really an industrial powerhouse, and it was more likely that the villagers worked just to supply and survive themselves, rather than export any meaningful quantities of goods elsewhere for trade or what have you.

But enpugh about the outside and mercantile nature of the place, time to go inside the village proper!

Litroot's roads and paths inside the village were mostly made up out of trampled, hard-packed dirt, but closer to the town center there were a bit of brickwork and stone tiling on the ground. This central area was also where the local market stalls were located, as well as a cooky-looking fountain in the shape of a flexing fish-headed man, spitting a stream of water out of his fishy-mouth, was located. Said fountain was a favorite place for the local kids to play in and around, and subsequently get chased off by angry elders with waving canes, shouting stuff about disrespecting their hometown and what have you. In addition, the town center was also where the village chief's house was located, the only two-storey building (with a tiled roof!) in the entire settlement. It was also where the local G.O.R.E Hall was situated, resting lazily on the west side of the fountain and marketplace.

It wasn't much to look at really, a square-ish structure with the same hay roof as the rest of the village dwellings. A weatherworn plaque hung outretched on a short metal fjust above the main entrance, with the guild's logo displayed. Not much business seemed to be taking place, as there were only a modest, handful of times that the door to the hall opened and closed during an entire day's worth of hours. Most of the time, it wasn't even potential employers who went in and out, but rather the local receptionist and hall mistress, busying themselves with sweeping the ground outside and around their guild hall, wiping off the windows and chekcing the rather depressingly empty mailbox just outside.

The interior wasn't much different from the exterior either. Inside you'd find a few benches along the walls, a billboard with only a few scraps of postings upon it, the reception desk, a few small curtained windows and, of course, a door leading back to the area where the hall mistress had her private office (and/or bedroom). Really, there wasn't much to see or look at, not even a potted plant or painting. The rather pretty tanuki-receptionist looked a bit out of place, with her sharp and fancy-looking business suit and well-crafted glasses - rather clear she wasn't a local. Still, despite the overwhelmingly apparent lack of business and actual work to do, the young lady maintained a pleasant, friendly and professional smile regardless of time of day!

Apart from her, a handful of local, or neighbouring village, Renta-Experts were also present. They didn't seem too concerned with the jobs posted on the board though, instead busying themselves with idle gossip and chatter among themselves, giggling and having a pleasant time doing nothing.

That is, until it happened!

KA-SCHLAM~!

With force enough to make the poor door to the guild hall quiver with undue stress, all heads inside turned to the now open entrance. At first, only a hooved foot, attached to a leg with beige-white fur could be seen, but soon a shadowy silhouette stepped forth, dramatically obsucred by the backlight of the outside. The girls inside covered their mouths cutely with their hands, letting out 'Aah!' and 'Ooohh!' sounds, as if expecting a muscular, manly protagonist who would sweep them off their feet to come barging in, with devillishly good looks and a bad boy-attitude that could only ever mean he was actually a good guy!

... Unfortunately, as the shadowy figure entered the building proper, faces of awe, excitement and anticpation turned to confusion, raised eyebrows and a synchronized chorus of 'Huh?'-noises. For you see! The figure did not belong to a handsome, strikingly fashionable and enigmatic young bachelor, but rather, it belonged to a short-ish statured satyr-girl, dressed in a way that warranted a lot of questioning. Her skirt was too short, her top was too open and her bra seemed too small. She had a huge smile on her face and both hands on her hips, as if she was somehow proud about having just kicked the door in. Healthy tanned skinned, short hair as beige-white as the fur on her legs and forearms, as well as her tiny tail, the young girl strode forth into the locale, with rolling, swaying hips taking her swiftly across the floor and up to the receptionist's desk. The tanuki-lady smiled at the new arrival, albeit her eyebrow somewhat twitched and one could clearly see a vein having formed on the side of one of her temples.

"Why, hello there, miss. May I suggest that you try opening doors with your hands in the future?" The receptionist said, very professionally and calmly.
"Maa-ha-ha~! Sorry about that, I just like kicking things." The young, tanned satyress replied, clearly missing out on the obvious implication of the words.
"Haah... Well, what can I help you with?" The receptionist continued, her business-like facade not buckling an inch!
"Oh yeah! Well, y'see, I wanna sign up and be a GORE-gal!" The girl on the other side of the desk half-shouted, slamming both hands down on the wooden tabletop before her and leaning forward excitedly, which caused her skirt to rise, which in turn caused the other occupants to avert their eyes, with blushing cheeks. Her tail wagged excitedly.
"Oh, I-I see... Well then, I'll need to ask you some questions and you'll have to fill out an application form b-"
"Eeehhhh~? I can't just start straight away?" More leaning forward, more ginormous bewbs and cleavage inching closer to the receptionist's face.
"No, I'm afraid you'll need to go through our screening-process before we can let you take on any guild-work. It's the same for everyone, miss."
"Oh fiiiiiiiine..." The satyress relented, pouting somewhat and returning to simply stand on the other enf of the desk, which caused the tanuki-office lady to let out a breath and sigh of relief.

The skilled and obviously over-qualified receptionist then began to rummage around in her drawers of the workspace and soon produced a sheet of paper, with a bunch of scribblings and script on it. The satyress tilted her head and looked a bit confused, poking at the slip of paper as if it were some kind of alien technology. The receptionist re-adjusted her glasses before proceeding.

"Well then, miss. Please write down your name, age, species and any particularly noteworthy or otherwise mentionable skills you may possess." Tanuki-lady said, gently tapping at the piece of paper.
"Uh... Write... down...?" The satyress replied, looking like she had never even heard of the term before.
"Uhm... Miss, are you perhaps illiterate?"
"Whassat?"
"It means you can't read or write."
"Oh, duh! Of course I can! Mama and Big Sis taught me when I was 'totes tiny. See?" She began to scribble something, using a provided pen.
"Uuhhh... Miss, your handwriting... I... I can't read it..."
"Eh?"
"Also.... I'm not sure, but it looks like you're trying to write in old minotaur runes... The guild needs you to write down your information in the basic common language."
"Bay-sick... come... on?"

Chirping cicadas.

"Ahem! ... Would you like it if I read the form to you, and you just answered verbally?"
"Jeez, stop using those fancy words!"
"I asked if you wanted me to read the questions to you, so you could just answer them and have me write down what you say."
"Well why didn't you say so from the start! Let's do it!" Her ecitement and tension could be cut with a knife.
"Yes... Well, first of all, what's your name, miss?"

The girl let out a 'Hmm-hmm~!'-sound, as if she was about to reveal something truly amazing. With a dramatic twirl and then a sudden, extending and now-pointing-at-the-receptionist hand, the girl showed off her pearly whites and announced in a loud, boisterous tone that was far too over-the-top for the simple question that was asked.

"I'm Brandy Vanillarin! Soon-to-be the adventuring queen!"

More cicadas...

"I... See... Well, how old are you then, Miss Vanillarin?"
"Just turned sweet seventeen!" The girl said, striking a pose with one leg stretched out, arms behind her head and a wink to one eye.
"Uh-huh... And you're a .... Baphomet? Pan?"
"I'm a mino- .... I mean, I'm a satyr!"
"Really? That's quite rare. You don't see many female satyrs."
"Tell me about it! But I guess if a buncha hotties like me were running around, all the other girls wouldn't be able to catch a single boyfriend~" Many annoyed glares from the other girls in the room were now directed at the confident young satyr.
"Eheh... S-sure... Now, do you have any particular skills or talents that you'd like to mention?"
"Mmhm~" She giggled. "Well, obviously I'm a total babe." the receptionist seemed unsure how to respond to this, and as such remained quiet. "But let's see... I'm 'totes used to working out in the fields and junk. I'm super-fast and don't run outta breath, no matter what I'm doing~" She gave a sultry, playful smile with half-closed eyes. Again, the receptionist said nothing. "I do know how to play almost any instrument, and those I dunno how, I can learn in a snap! I can also shake my hips like nobody's business. Oh, and I'm good at getting up high! Like, climbing's been my thing ever since I wasn't wearing diapers any more."
"... That's... an interesting set of skills you have there, Miss Vanillarin." The tanuki-lady's smile was beginning to look a bit strained now. "Unfortunately, I don't think there are too many requests at this guild hall that require those kinds of... talents."
"Aww, really? Well boo." The satyr said in a mock upset tone. "Well whatever, I can do anything, really. So it's no hassle. So, am I in now?"
"... Ah, yes... Well, all we need is for you to read the guild charter and agree to the terms of employment, then put your seal on your documents an-"
"Say what-now?"

Tanuki office-lady sighed, straightened her posture, pulled out a piece of paper and began to read a long, wordy piece of official documentation. The article in question was about the GORE, and how it didn't take responsability for loss of private property, injuries sustained, illnesses contracted or death suffered during the accomplishment of tasks and jobs provided by the guild. It also included things about how payment worked and how free-lancing and taking unofficial requests could and would lead to one getting kicked out of the guild. Basically, a bunch of legal and tehcnical stuff, most of which seemed to fly straight over the young satyress pretty little head.

"And that's it, do you agree to these terms?"
"... Y-Yes?"
"Wonderful. Now please just put your seal on this form and you'll be good."
"My... Seal?"
"Your personal signature, or mark. A stamp to confirm everything we've just written down."
"Oh, okay. So, I just... Like this?" The girl scribbled a small horned smiley-face on one of the corners.
"Uhm... No... We need you to prick a finger and put a bit of blood on it."
"Wai-what!? You want me to cut one of my delicate fingers!?"
"Well, we need some form of proof that you've signed the document, Miss Vanillarin. A blood seal is the most common type of signature."*
"Can't I like, spit at it? Or chew on it? Heck, I could even pe-"
"No! No. No. And no! Don't worry, I'll get you a bandage to put on your finger afterwards. Now here, use this." The receptionist put down a small letter opener on the table between them. The satyr stared at the sharp little tool for a good, long while.
"F-Fine! I just needa do it! Like THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"

Slice. Splurt!

"Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!"
"Aiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!"

It would appear that the satyr was a bit too careless and a bit too forceful, having made a cut that was slightly too deep and slightly too long, causing a large splotch of blood to land on the paper below.... And the desk... And the floor... And the receptionist's previously immaculate suit... Both the girls at the desk were now in a bit of a frenzied panic, with the satyress holding her hand and finger, jittery and wildly turning about while howling somehting about her beauty being diminished, whereas the tanuki receptionist was panicking and trying to look for something to wrap around the self-inflicted injury, while also trying to protect her other paperwork from being soiled by more blood.

It was, in simple terms, quite a mess.

Off in a little corner of the G.O.R.E. building sat a rather inconspicuous individual reading by herself, a bushy tail wagging slowly behind her, to and fro. She seemed at peace despite the numerous leaves seemingly stuck fast in the fur of her tail, unnoticed tag-alongs from her time spent in the woods finding a lost cat and nearly getting her eyes gouged out by it. Any scratches were now healed, and the girl's hands were occupied with reading over a set of thin sheets of paper before the door KER-SLAMMED open. Her canine ears reflexively fell flat against her head at the sudden loud noise, eyes wide as she stared at who it could be, only to see a goat-lady walk in, wearing the kinds of clothes that her dad said "Set the wrong kind of example for fellas". Wow! She was setting all kinds of wrong examples!

It wasn't in her nature to eavesdrop, but having ears about x100 better than a human's kind of meant that you just...eavesdropped everywhere. It seemed the girl was to be a fresh G.O.R.E. Girl, intent on defending the peace and probably saving a bunch of cats, just like her! Wow, that's great!

Then, she started bleeding everywhere! Wow, that's NOT great!

Rising from her seat the werewolf would adjust her skirt and pat it back into place before approaching the girl who was bleeding everywhere, making a mess for the receptionists and generally causing a ton of panic. With a flick of her wrist and a swift uncorking, the girl suddenly had a glass vial to the satyr's lips and poured in a about half of the vial's liquid that faintly tasted of a mix of tea leaves and sweet berries, before the girl's wound miraculously closed...and it probably made her breathe smell really, really nice.

Smiling warmly, the wolf girl's ears bounced up and down in tandem with her tail, turning her entire body to the receptionists. "I can make you a detergent that washes blood out of clothes, if you need it! I don't have anything to get blood out of paper...buuuut, I could help you remake the papers!" the girl said, seeming eager to make herself useful, all the while her bushy tail was brushing against the satyr's stomach, indirectly tickling her.

"Myaa-huughgaglrlhlrlglrlhgrl!?"

Such was the noise a panicking satyr made when it was approached from behind, firmly grasped in the paws of a predator and then forced to choke a concoction if unknown origihn. Brandy's arms flailed wildly and her hooved legs tried to kick at anything nearby, which didn't amount to anything, since you can't kick backwards. Still, as soon as she'd been forced to chug the strangely sweet-tasting swill, and let down, the horned goat-girl let out a series of quick breaths, before looking over at the culprit.

"Hey! Don't just go groping people form behind and making 'em drink your _{admittedly tasty} weird liquids!" The girl protested, before looking down at her finger, which was now no longer bleeding or suffering from a cut.

The stayress' tail went upright and stiff, and her mouth went agape with shock and surprised. Bending her hand at multiple angles and spreading her figners to make sure it wasn't an illusion or trick of (the lack of) light, her eyes went wide as saucers and sparkled with childlike wonder.

"Oh. My. Udders. This is totes incredible! I was like, totally bleeding all over the place, but now my finger's as smooth and flawless as the winky of newborn baby-boy." She exlaimed, excitedly, while laughing happily.

Meanwhile, the receptionist was busying herself with having moved all of the sensitive papers from her bloodstained esk to a more secure location, namely her own chair. When the werewolf approached and spoke, offering a means to wash the red lifejuice out of her clothes, as well as other assistance, the tanuki let out a slight sigh. She readjusted her specatcles and gave Alice a small smile.

"Thank you, Miss Keller, but it'll be fine. I've got spare suits at home, and no vital documents were damage." She said, before shooting the satyress, who was busy admiring her own, undamaged fingers, a rather disapporving glance. "However, I'd like you, Miss Vanillarin, to try and excersise more caution in the future." At the mention of her name, the satyr briefly ceased amiring her own digits and turned to look at the tanuki with a quizzical expression.
"But you told me to get my blood on that paper-thingy."
"... Yes, by pricking your finger! Not slicing it!"
"Well how I would know what you mean? I don't even get half the stuff you say, granny."
"G-G-G-G-Gra-!?" The poor office lady-tanuki's voice caught in her throat as she tried to reiterate the word just used to describe her. However, she seemed to be failing.
"Anyway! Potion-gir-ppffffffffftttttt...! Maa-haa-haa-haa-haa-haa~!" Apparently, the satyr had been too preoccupied with herself to notice until now, but the sensation of being contineously brushed, and tickled, by a bristly-furred tail finally managed to make itself known... And it had the expected effect - causing the young satyr to laugh uncontrollably as her eyes watered.

Meanwhile, the receptionist was standing silent and with a face pale as a ghost and eyes that'd shrunk from shock, muttering something inaudible under her breath. It was, at this time, that the door behind the reception desk creaked open, and a voice from beyond the murky, now open, doorway spoke in a dry, deadpan manner.

"Good grief, it sure is noisy out here today." Although it was monotone and void of any emotion, the voice still sounded as if belonged to a plenty young girl. At the sound of said voice, the tanuki somehow regained their senses and spun around, letting out a gasp.
"L-Lady Hall Mistress! I'm terribly sorry, there was a bit of an accident an-"
"Yes... So I heard... Some moron tried to mutilate themselves with your letter opener in order to sign their application form, that about sum it up?"
"W- No! Well, yes. But!"
"It's fine, Karin. You can leave the rest to me. Just, go home and get changed... You look like you tried to eat a tomato and used your suit as a bib."
"Ahah... I see... Well then, I'll just run home and change quickly. Please hold down the fort until I get back, ma'am."
"Yes, yes, off with you now, dear. Nothing's going to change regardless if you're here or not."

The receptionist, named Karin, gave an apologetic farewell to Alice, before quickly jogging out of the building. At this point, most of the other Renta-Experts had vacated the premises as well, either out of fear, confusion or sheer annoyance at the antics that had ensued. The owner of the monotonous voice though, finally stepped from within the murky confines of their office, entering into the building proper.

And, it was a little girl. Well, she looked like a little girl at least.- A little witch-girl, to be exact, complete with cape and a large, wide-brimmed hat. She could've passed for looking precious, were it not for the fact that her face was completely expressionless, her eyes looked blank and dead and she had this creepy, unsettling aura about her. It didn't help that, while standing fully straight, the munchkin only reached up to about the underside of Brandy's bustline. Regardless, the tiny one approached where the newcomer and helpful rookie were standing, not so much as blinking once while approaching.

"So, I take it you're the one who just applied, hm?" The pint-sized withc said, finally stopping next to the two girls and looking at Brandy with those blank, souless eyes... At this point, the satyr had finally managed to seperate herself from the tail and was calming down. At the question though, her ears and tail perked up, she raised her head and gave a confused tilt of the head in response to the person who had just arrived.
"Who're you, lil' girl?"
"I'm your new boss."
"... Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"But you're like... Ten."
"I had my coming-of-age ceremony decades ago, I'll have you know."
"... Seriously?"
"Seriously."

Cicadas.

"Well, uh... Nice to meeth'cha, boss, I guess? I did the whole signing papers and stuff. So, am I member now?" Brandy straightened up her posture and brandished a big, sunny smile. The witch did not seem impressed.
"Oh, yeah. Totally. I love hiring new employees who show up out of the blue, kick down my front door and bleed all over my furniture and staff. "
"For real!? You crazy, girl!"
"I was being facetious."
"Whassat?"
"I see the only parts of you that got any nutrients were your mammaries and butt."
"Ehehe~ Yeah, I know right? No worries though, boss, I'm sure you'll grow some nice peaches when you get a biit older!"
"... I see this won't go anywhere." The witch sighed, deadpan-ly, which was quite a feat to be honest. "Listen up, you. This is a place of business, not a playground. If you're gonna start a ruckus and make a mess, do it outside. For now, you can make your first job cleaning up all of this mess you made."
"Say whaaat? C'mon, don't you have like... A maid, or something?"
"I'm looking at her right now."
"She behind me!?" Quick head-turn to look behind herself.
"No."
"Huh...? Oh. Ohhhh... Ohhhh, boss~ You're such a kidder~ Maa-ha-ha-ha!"
"It wasn't a joke."
"... Seriously?"
"Seriously. Bucket and rags are under the desk, go draw some water from the village well, then get back here and clean up. If you do it before Karin returns, I might not make you sweep and dust off my office as well." The girl turned her eyes away from the outraged satyr, and instead looked to the werewolf next. "And you, rookie. Do you really have time to be lounging around here? I see a billboard with some requests still clinging to it, over there." She pointed toward the large, almost empty wooden surface on the wall behind them all.
"Bu- But, chief! I joined to do those kinds of things too!"
"Clean. Your. Mess." Somehow, with each word said, the witch managed to get closer to the satyress, without actually walking.. Like, she just somehow popped into place, shortening the distance each time.
"Boo! This stinks..." The busty gal said, before walking behind the desk where Karin had been seated previously.

Bending down, she began to search around under the table, the sound of shuffling and clunking being heard. The little witch observed for a moment, before turning her face back to Alice, staring her down with empty, blank eyes as deep as a bottomless pit.

"Since you were so eager to help earlier, why don't you lend a hand, rookie?" The Hall Mistress said, in a not-so-much-a-request-as-a-commanding way.

"That was a restoration potion! I only let you have a little, but it was plenty to help up that cut," the werewolf girl said in response to the satyr's enthusiasm to being healed. She'd simply nod at the receptionist not needing anything to clean up the goat blood everywhere on her suit. She had no place in the conversation as the hall's leader emerged, the werewolf giving the most military-proper salute and posture ever, holding it for as long as necessary.

Up until she was addressed, Alice was holding her breathe, used to the strict hierarchy of the Alchemist's guild. At the suggestion of the billboard, she jumped over. Literally. She jumped like, ten feet vertically and hurriedly looked over the requests. Before she could even find one though the hall leader's eyes felt like they were boring into the back of her skull, causing her to turn around and shakily look her in the eyes. "MA'AM YES MA'AM PLEASE DON'T KILL ME MA'AM!" she said before rushing past the leader so fast that it might have made her hat spin as she got to work cleaning up, all the while making the saddest puppy noises like, ever. Spooky dead eyes scared her. Eyes weren't supposed to be like that! Not even fish-eyes!

"Good, I do so like obedient children." The Hall Mistress aid, before apparently feeling like all that needed to be said and done had been said and done. Turning on her tiny heels, she slowly made her way back into the murky dim dark of her office, closing the door behind her without actually even touching it... Was it automated? Magic? The wind? Who could say.

Having managed to fish out a decently sized bucket, with a few rough cloth rags in it, Brandy finally stood back up straight - no longer exposing both rump, tail and underwear to anyone (un)fortunate enough to walk in and see her from behind. She did so at a most opportune time, as the frantic werewolf had just rushed over and joined her side. The tanned goat-girl gave the alchemist a good once-over, examening her from ear-tip to tail-tip, before saying something.

"So, uhm, you know where the well is? I just rolled into town today, so i don't really know my way around yet. Went straight here to get signed up, y'know." She stated rather unabashedly. "Oh, name's Brandy. Nice to meet'cha, girlfriend. That potion-thingy you made me swallow sure was somehtin'." She added, before smiling and beginnijng to walk on over to the front door, fully intent on having the puppy follow and show her the way to the local water-drawing pit.

"I'm Alice," the werewolf said, following quickly after Brandy. "The watering hole is just this way, down the street...aaaand we're here!" the werewolf would say as she guided Brandy down the very short path to the well, lowering the bucket on a rope, and gathering just enough water for some good 'ol fashioned elbow-grease work. "Also, I'm glad you think the potion was tasty. I tried all kinds of flavors, like bone marrow, cucumber, and even cheese, but for some reason the only one that really works is the Berry Tea taste my mom used to make. The tea, I mean. Not the potion," Alice over-explained.

"Soooo...why do you want to be an adventurer Brandy? Got a motivating backstory? I've been told a lot of adventurers have 'sob stories' just like mine according to Ms. Bavaloure, so I just kinda figure that most have some sort of novel-worthy motivation. Like, maybe a boyfriend got stolen, maybe a dragon ate your dog...stuff like that," Alice said, tail swishing as she talked and walked, heading back to the guild hall with bucket in hand, and eager to clean. So eager in fact that Brandy would notice the wolf girl was doing a majority of the work without even being asked to just on account of how fast she was moving.

After getting an earful of details about the various flavors of the potions, and it finally culmniating with an overly explanatory explanation of tea, where it was from and the potion's flavor, Bradny could do little else but snicker. This wolf-girl was all over the place and seemed so excited. She was just the kind of person that the little satyress had been hoping to run into. Sure, she loved her calm and docile family with all her heart, but they were just so... Stiff, and boring, at times. After having been led to the well, drawn some water and returned to the scene-of-the-crime, Brandy listened further as the pooch asked about her reasons for joining the Guild, while sitting mostly back, one leg crossed over the other, and watching the werewolf go to town on cleaning-duty.

"Weeeeell, it's nothing sappy or super-cheesy like avenging my murdered lover or being a run-a-way princess seeking to prove herself. Though I 'spose you could be forgiven for thinking that." She gave herself a once-over before going on. "In my case, I just wanted to see more of the world, and not spend my entire life plowing fields and being peeped on in the bath by my older brother." She stated, not realizing that what she'd just said may have caused some people to raise an eyebrow at the way it was worded."Don't get me wrong, I love the farm I grew up on and everything, it was really peaceful and nice, but it was sooooooo boriiiiiiiiing... Just chores, chores and more chores... Do this, do that, don't do that, don't do this, stop wearing that, stop leading the neighbour's son on, stop leading the neighbour's younger son on, yadda-yadda. Y'know? That kinda stuff. I just wanted to be able to go places, see people, try stuff out that didn't involve a hoe or seed. " She elaborated, while leaning back on a bench and putting both arms behind her head, staring with a daydreamy-kind-of-face into the ceiling for a bit.

Eventually though, she got off her fetching rump and, towards the end of it all, lent a hand with the cleaning. Between the two girls' efforts, the bloodstains were mostly removed and the reception retuyrned to a ... Presentable... state of existence. The rags were a bit discolored now and the water in their bucket looked less than sanitary, but the job had been dine and it had been ... Passably well! Huzzah!

"Well, that takes care of that. SO like, what do you do now? That tiny chick said something about there being stuff on a board...? I saw you run over to that slab o' wall over there, the one with the little paper-strips on it. That where ya pick up work here?" The satyr asked, tilting her head while pointing daintily at the quest billboard over by the front door. "So, how do you get started? Just pick something and do what the note tells ya?" She asked in addition.

Of course, there was a bit more beaurocracy involved than that. Having already finished a task herself, Alice would know the proper procedure of bringing the quest one wished to do up and over to the reception, having the receptionist verify who and how many were taking on the job and finally recording all the details in a registry, before one could finally set off on their quest. Of course, with Karin currently out an d missing, the only thing one could do with the billboard right now was give it a good stare-down and choose between the modestly meagre selection of available jobs...

... Whcih mostly invovled things like 'Clean my chimney', 'Go to the mill and get flour for our bakery', 'Walk my dog', 'Take this letter to Nutbrook' and, of course; 'Kill that infernal horned rabbit that keeps eating my vegetable patch'. So many glorious options to choose from! ... Naturally, Brandy couldn't read any of them, since her parents only taught her how tor ead and write in old minotaur script, which was only used in a very limited region of the world nowadaysw...

"There's never a bad reason to go on adventures! I guess maybe if you were like, running out on a kid or something then maybe...but, yeah, no, I totally get wanting to leave home for adventure. I love my pawpaw, but I wanted to practice my trade on the road. More sights to see, and more things to stick in bottles," The werewolf girl said as she continued cleaning, thankful that eventually Brandy helped out. It was a good enough job that it wouldn't distract people at least.

When Brandy asked her how she'd get started on adventuring, Alice would head over to the board and say: "Usually yeah, its as simple as that...but with the receptionists out, all we can do right now is look them over and see what jobs are good to take. ...You seemed to be having trouble reading Common, so I'll read some of them off to you! Let's see..."Clean my Chimney", "Mail Delivery to Nutbrook", "Get Flour from Silverstone Mill", "Walk my Dog", and "Kill Snifflepatch, Errant Rabbit of Wonton Destruction". These are the only jobs new join-ees like us are allowed to take until we get further up," Alice said, tail wagging as she looked over the jobs. "We won't get much pay, but you can take on more than one in a day if you get them done fast enough. The rabbit one is probably the hardest."

"Hmmmm~" The little satyress let out an overly drawn out sound, making her way over to the board where Alice stood. Standing next to the werewolf, she looked at the pieces of paper with scribbles on them. Just as the pooch had implied, the goat-girl couldn't read any of it, it might as well have been a child's playful scribbles to her eyes. Not that she'd ever admit to it - she could read just fine! Just not this... come-on that everyone kept going on about.

"Well, since I don't feel like deliverin' letters just yet, I just got to this town after all." She started. "And cleanin' chimneys... Eh... I don't wanna risk ruining my outfit, yeah?" Not that there was of an outfit to ruin though. "Walkin' a dog, huh? I like pups, they're 'toes adorbs~" She said, smiling brightly with twinkling eyes. "Dunno where that mill's supoposed to be, and hauling sacks of flour... I hauled sacks o' grain back on the farm, so no thanks." She dimissively waved her hand. "Killing a rabbit though...? Really? Like, a little bunny-rabbit? How hard could that possibly be! We caught those lil' rascals all the time back home when they tried eatin' our crops. Dad used to send 'em flying with one heckova throw." She laughed slightly in reminiscing. "But, yeah, I'd like to get to look around this place and get a feel for things, yeah? So I'm-a thinkin' I wanna take on that puppy-walking job. Which one is it?" Brandy asked, tilting her head, swaying back and forth, looking at the various notes.

At that point, the front door opened and in came a familiar face. The glasses-wearing tanuki receptionist had returned, and in a clean, immaculate and stylish suit no less! She inspected the desk and nodded approvingly at the decent-enough job that the girls had done. Not that she knew it was them, but she had an inkling. Sitting herself down, her large, plump tail flopped onto the floorboards with a soft thud and she began to sift through and shuffle papers around once again.

Apparently, the job for walking a dog, as Alice would notice, had been requested by a certain Elma Elmswood, noted to be living in the outer parts of the village. The reward was, as expected, a laughable pittance in terms of money and there was no specifciations of what type of dog was to be walked. Furthemore, there were specific instructions written down such as: Don't feed the dog, don't get the dog's fur dirty, don't let the dog go swimming, and a bunch of other nit-picky and demanding terms that seemed to elevate this pupper to the status of some championship-pedigree... Which was odd, considering they were in the middle of the sticks and boonies...

Karin looked up from her papers, after having stacked a neat pile next to herself, raising an eyebrow.

"Found anything interesting, you two?"

Alice would pick the dog-walking job up from the bulletin board, reading it over in full to give Brandy all the details. "Let's see...do not feed the dog, do not let the dog get its fur dirty, don't let it swim, don't let it get its derriere sniffed by a mutt...whoever this Elma Elmswood is, they sure must love their dog." With those read aloud, Alice would wave hello to Karin as she returned. "Welcome back Ms. Mofumofu! Brandy wanted to take this job to get used to walking around the town. Would you mind if I went with her, just to make sure everything goes smoothly? I'd hate for her to get yelled at when she can't read the instructions," Alice said, reasoning that if Brandy was illiterate, she could read for her.

Having Alice along on a dog-walk might make it go much easier too, considering she was a werewolf. Wolf, dog...same difference, really!

"Hey!" Brandy let out a plaintive objection at the werewolf's mention of the satyress' inability to read, but was quickly silenced as the receptionist proceeded to answer Alice's question with a smile.
"Why yes, there's no problem with you going along and helping her. Although, if you don't register that both of you are actually doing the quest, only Miss Vanillarin would get any pay for completing this job."
"What the what!? Hold on, sister! You tellin' me that she won't get paid, even if she shows me around and helps out, just 'cuz she didn't scribble her name on some... paper?"
"That's right. After all, the guild can't pay who aren't contracted to complete a job."
"Fine! Then sign her up for the dog-walkin' too!"
"Umm... Miss Vanillarin, the sum of money this job is paying isn't ver-"
"Sign! Her! Up! We're goin' splitsies on this and that's that, alright?" It seemed Brandy was adamant and unwilling to yield on this point, which made Karin both sigh and smile at the same time.
"Fine, fine... I'll put both of you down for this job then. Please head over to the Elmswood residence, okay?"
"Gotcha! Let's go, girl!" Brandy exclaimed, excitedly, while latching onto Alice's arm and pulling her along vigorously, not at all seeming to notice the werewolf's arm pressing against her ample, and rather exposed, chest as she did so.

Litroot wasn't exactly a big village, but it wasn't necessarily small either. The more central houses were a bit smaller and more tightly packed, while the further out you got, the bigger and more spacious the buildings got. Navigating the roads were easy for ALice, since she'd been here awhile, but Brandy on the other hand stopped frequently and peeked into alleys, over fences, into peoples' backyards and even stuck her head in through an open window once, or thrice... Resulting in a very upset housewife yelling at the two girls for obvious reasons...

Brandy would also frequently leap onto barrels, carts and even stacks of hay, looking around with a big old grin on her face, going 'Oooh!' and 'Aaahh!', as if exploring some foreign, alien land that had never been seen before. Though once she felt finished doing so, she bounded off wherever she stood and bounced right on back to Alice's side, latching onto the werewolf's arm again... Either because she wanted to be physically close to, or not get seperated from, the other girl.

"So, like, what's this Elmswood-person like? You've been here for a bit, yeah? What's their pooch like? You two buddies or something? Thanks for coming along too! I mean, I coulda 'totes handled it on my own, but doing stuff together is more fun, yeah?" She was very excited it would seem, as she beamed with energy and her eyes sparkled with sunny vibrance.

Alice didn't even have time to object and say that she'd help for free before Brandy went ahead and signed her on for the quest to split the miniscule pay for walking a dog. She just hoped they'd have time for a second job, otherwise she may wind up having to bunk with the spunky Satyr, a prospect that didn't necessarily sound bad. At least until she started realizing that Brandy may have the IQ of a peanut. Or...maybe a chestnut, given how busty she was? Alice didn't know. All she did know was that this girl really, really, really liked randomly investigating things. She was just kinda dragged along at Brandy's pace, all the while wondering if this arm-locking thing was something that friends did. Suddenly, her tail wagged.

WERE THEY FRIENDS!?

With the thought of making her first real friend on her mind, Alice resolved herself to be as useful as possible, even willing to ignore getting hit with a broom by a housewife for Brandy's peeking. With Brandy latched on, Alice quickly cleared her throat and said: "Miss Elma Elmwood is a woman with reddish hair and glasses. I've never spoken to her personally or seen her dog, but she seems like a quiet type of person. When we go talk to her, maybe I should do the talking. A-And uh, no problem! I like helping!" Alice said, tail going ballistic. Friendship was weird!

"Hm? Whyssat? There somethin' wrong with the way I talk?" Brandy asked, raising an eyebrow and cocking her head sideways inquisitvely. It didn't seem she was offended by the remark, more just curious about why. Her attention was soon diverted away though, as her head turned to look behind the pair, and she spotted Alice's wagging tail. A merry laguh leapt out of her mouth and she squeeze Alice's arm tighter to herself. "Maa-haa-haa~ That's 'totes adorbs!"

It didn't take too long to navigate through the outer parts of the town. Soon enough, the girls found themselves walking up a neat and tidy small brick-laiden walkway, leading up to one of the larger, and rarer, two-storey buildings in the village. Unlike many of the other structures around, this one actually sported both a tiled roof and proper glass windows. In fact, the whole place looked a bit too swanky to be part of this rural hamlet, but here it was nontheless.

There was a low fence surrounding the home, clearly sectioning off the property as to ward of unwanted trespassers, or those careless enough to trample onto someone else's yard. Several small bushes and carefully arranged flowerbeds adorned the property, along with a small, private well and a ceramic bird-bath. There was no gate to bar entry though, so getting up to the front door was hassle-free. Once they were a few feet away, Brandy let go off Alice's arm and bounded up to the door, easily ascending the small wooden staircase infront of it and then, with an unceremoniously loud series of bangs, pounded on the door with her fist.

"Hey! Elm-lady! We're here to walk yer pupper!" The satyress half-shouted.

It didn't take too long before the door opened slowly, and a rather wrinkled, rather glasses-sporting and rather annoyed-looking older madame stepped out of it. Matte, reddish-brown hair and a scowl that looked like it'd been permanently carved into her face, she wore a simple, but nontheless decently fashionable, dress in a maroon color. She eyed the two girls. First the busty, half-naked satyr who was swaying back and forth on her hooved feet, then at the werewolf. She didn't say anything for a bit. A rather long bit actually.

Then she went back inside.

And closed the door.

...

...

...

"Uhm... Did she go back in to get her dog or what?" Brandy asked, looking quite cluelessly at Alice.

Well, that was odd. Alice wasn't sure why the lady Elmwood would shut her door so readily...buuut maybe it was because Brandy lacked tact. And modesty. And clothes. And brains. Either way, Alice would gingerly tap on Brandy's shoulder. "Let's wait a few minutes. Maybe she's just making sure we'd have everything we'd need to take care of the dog on its walk. Also, she was really particular about what the dog's allowed to do, so...maybe she just wants to make sure we're not slackers that'll run off as soon as we're kept waiting."

In truth, Alice kind of suspected that the woman wasn't answering the door unless they knocked again. ...Buuut, being proved wrong was always nice.

"Whaaaa~? People actually give instructions on how to walk their mutts? Hah! That's a new one! Next you'll tell me there're people who bathe their cats! Maa-haa-haa~!" Brandy replied, jovially, to Alice's comment about the old lady and her, potential, reasons for shutting the door in their face. Having grown up on a farm, Brandy wasn't unfamiliar with taking care of both dogs and cats, and other animals, but she wasn't exactly caring for pedigree, blue ribbon animals back then... "Well, if you say so, Allie. Let's just wait for the old bat to realize how awesome we are." The goat-girl said with a big smile, with each hand on her side, puffing out her her - rather prominent - chest and acting quite arrogant for someone who was just indirectly told to shove off...

Of course, standing still and waiting for the old woman to come around wasn't part of Brandy's MO, so instead the young satyress proceeded to wander off onto the Elmwood household's yard, inspecting and poking about. She looked at the little flower garden, then at the little vegetable garden, then at the little doggy house out behind the house, then at the little bird-bath, and finally she pressed her face and torso against one of the many large windows on the first storey, trying to peer inside into the gloomy, dim interior. As she stood there, trying to look inside, a loud sound came from inside, and the satyress suddenly toppled backwards when a bang struck the window she was pressing herself against. A series of barks followed, announcing that the dog inside had noticed the potential intruder and was now doing its due diligence in attempting to replling the unknown threat of glass-shattering lady-lumps.

"Waaah! The heck!? That scared the bra off of me!" The girl whined, while sitting on her tush on the ground... Despite the fact that she was fortunately still wearing her bra.

Regardless of this incident, it didn't seem that the old woman was anymore inclined to come outside or open the door back up...

Alice found herself nearly knocked on her back as Brandy peeked in, only for a series of barks to echo that had Alice wondering if maybe this was the kind of dog that wasn't worth the paltry pay they were being given to deal with it. Not to mention, the client was a lot less friendly than she'd expected...was it because Brandy didn't show her any respect when she addressed her?

Anyways, Alice had no choice but to continue onwards. After all, she was Brandy's senior! Her mentor! Her paisen or whatever they called it! And a paisen has to do what a paisen has to do. Clearing her throat, Alice would gently pat Brandy's shoulder. "Leave this one to me! I'm good with people. And also, don't say anything. Or insult her. Or like...anything, really. Your people skills need a bunch of work," she said, before going over to the door and giving a professional three light knocks, standing with her head held high, her tail firmly held aloft behind her back, and with just the tiniest twitches of her ears, really, really hoping that Ms. Elmwood actually answered the door.

If she answered the door, she'd find Alice absolutely radiating the aura of a professional...at least in some capacity as the werewolf would bow her head, saying: "Good afternoon Ma'am! We're here on behalf of G.O.R.E., and have taken the job to walk your dog."

...Of course, if she didn't answer, Alice would just...stand there. Awkwardly.

"Whaddya mean my people skills need work? I'lll have you know I was real popular back ho- Hey!" Brandy's complaints were summariyl ignored, as Alice moved over and knocked on the front door again. Despite her protests and arm-flailing, it didn't seem she was going to manage to get the werewolf's attention, so with a pouty 'hmph!', she instead moved to inspect the ornate bird bath once again.

Meanwhile, Alice would have to wait a good few minutes, before the door finally creaked open again. A still-scowling elderly Elmswood-woman peered out from the crack, eyeing the beastgirl with slight disdain. After hearing the wolf-girl's little spiel though, the old woman unlatched the chain-lock on her door and opened it more fully. She looked over the little alchemist's shoulder, over at where the goat-girl was busy poking and re-angling her head to get a good look at the yard-decor, before returning her gaze to Alice.

"Yes, I heard your friend the first time." The old buzzard said, with an unfriendly and somewhat condescending tone to her voice."I take it you've read my instructions regarding the request? I mean no offense-" except she clearly did, judging by the way she had her arms folded infront of her and was looking down on ALice as if she was some kind of filthy street-urching. "- but are you sure you two can manage this task? Francoise is a pure-blooded, pedigree Aulderian Royal Poodle, purchased from the Clavenstone Kennels in south-east Aulder." She began to drone on and on about the various merits and signifigance of her prized pooch... Eventually though, after about ten or so minutes of pompous self-blustering, she seemed to finally return to the realm of the present.

"Suffice to say, if you take on this task, you and your friend will both be personally responsible for any and everything that concerns Francoise's well-being and appearance while out. I trust this is abundantly clear, young miss?" The old bat half-asked, half-instructed, half-threatened(?) the werewolf-lass before her.

By this time, the aforementioned Francoise had appeared behind his owner. He was a king-size black poodle, with an almost comedically stereotypical poodle-cut, having puffs of fur on his rear, chest, top of the head, at the ends of the ears and around the ankles of each leg... But pretty much shaved everywhere else.... He had a certain snooty demeanor, standing with his nose held upwards towards the sky, and a stand-offish and arrogant air about him. This was a doggy who was just as full of himself as his owner was it would seem.

"And just so we're clear, you will not be using a leash. Such barbaric instruments could chafe and damage Francoise's neck after all, so make sure you keep a close watch on him. And do not let any of this village's rotten little children put their grubby mitts on him, or else you'll have to spend the rest of the evening bathing him. No feeding him strange or unfamiliar foods either, Francoise is on a strict and carefully regulated diet. And have him back before sundown, in the same condition as he is in now. Do I make myself clear, young missy?" The old battle axe laid on a few extra rules and then bent forward, staring daggers into Alice's eyes, that partly wrinkled and crow-feet-laiden face coming dangerously close to the beastgirl's own face.

... Elsewhere, Brandy had managed to spot a field mouse, and was now happily trying to stalk it while the little rodent stealthily made itws way towardds old lady Elmswood's vegetable garden... Showing no signs of attempting to scare or stop the little critter from whatever mischief it was up to...

Alice kept her smile throughout the barrage of the old lady's instructions and sweetly replied with: "We understand Ma'am. Francoise will come back without incident, even if I have to throw myself in harm's way. Though, if you don't want to use a leash, a harness might work better since it will only hold onto his chest. Just a thought for the future-" she said before cutting herself short, eyes narrowing as she sniffed once, smelling the mouse that was approaching. "Brandy! Don't play with mice!" she said, before very sternly staring down the field mouse, arms crossed. She needed to at least set the example that they could handle a small animal like a mouse...and a much larger animal like Brandy. Setting her eyes in an intense gaze, she would stare down the field mouse, raising her tail behind her.

"Don't you worry Ma'am, I'll protect Francoise from anything! Even things more threatening than that mouse. Like children. Or...children-sized mice."

Despite Alice's best attempts at a sale's-pitch, for assuring the old bat about her own and her companion's ability to handle the task at hand, the elderly lady seemed... Unimpressed. When Alice continued to suggest how the old woman should handle her prized pooch though, the werewolf got a very stern and very annoyed glare, the kind that bores a hole right through your soul and it close to having your neck strangled without it actually being physically choked... Apparently the lady Elmswood didn't appreciate others telling her what to do. Or at least not when it came to Francoise.

Unlike the old crone however, when the werewolf-girl gave the small intruder an oppressive aura of imminent carnivore-presence, the little creature squeaked in terror and fled as fast as its tiny little limbs could move it. Brandy, who had been so focused on said rodent, was also taken aback by the dark, looming vibes that her new friend was exuding, and so the goat-girl's ears flopped backwards and her tail hung doown, and she turned her face sideways to look away - while pouting.

"... I wasn't gonna let it get any of the veggies, jeez..." She mumbled, as if she had been scolded by her mom.

Once that whole business was dealt with, Elmswood told Francoise to go with the girls. The dog lazily looked at its owner, let out a discontent snort through its nostrils, then slowly padded over to Alice's side. AAt which point, the old bag shut the door and promptly locked it, with an audible 'click'-sound. As the terrifying harpy had gone back into her nest, Brandy perked back up, and skipped on over to the side of the two dogs. She looked all over, and from virtually every angle - even below - to inspect and get a good look at Francoise, who remained motionless and uninterested in the antics of the satyress.

"Wow, this mutt is like, 'totes blowing us off. First time I've ever seen such a snooty dog." Said satyress said, with a raised, judgemental eyebrow. "You know any place we can go with this guy?" She added and asked, while poking at one of Francoise's poofy-tipped ears.

Of course,t he area around the village was covered in mostly woodlands, and there were numerous small animal trails and paths, not to mention just raw, sparsely forested wilderness to meander about in. There was also the village proper to go and visit, which likely had less mud, muck and dirt that could get on the poodle. There was also the not-too-far-off brook, which was a common favorite place to play for the local kids and fishing-spot for the elderly. There was also the option of just hitting the road and wandering off into the as-of-not-yet-setting sun and see where their feet would take them.

Once they had the pooch, Alice relaxed a little, but still remained vigilant in how she basically kept herself between the dog and any potential...anything, really. "The village sounds good. The quest did say that we shouldn't let Francoise eat anything or be touched by anyone, so just make sure that nobody tries to...do anything to him, basically. Here's where adventurers are made or broken Brandy! After all, if we can't look after one precious wittle doggy, we can't rise up the ranks in GORE!" The werewolf girl looked excited, tail swishing to and fro as they took started their walk. ...Brandy might have the sneaking suspicion that she liked going for walkies herself, being a werewolf and all.

"Oh yeah, probably goes without saying, but I think Ms. Elmwood wouldn't like us touching Francoise either. Picking him up is a last resort in case of danger. And don't feed him anything. And also tell any kid that comes by that he bites. And also..." Alice seemed very persnickety, but that might also be because she didn't want to deal with Elmwood chewing them out and making them bathe a poodle for an entire evening. Either way, they had a job to do, a pittance of pay to earn, and the smuggest dog in the world to guard. Hop to it!