"Iunno, Al..." Brandy said, squatting down next to the aulderian royal poodle and looking it over. "You think that old bat could even tell if somebody scratched this mutt's belly or behind his ears? How'd she know, right?" The satyress asked, while smirking at the poodle, who in response turned his nose up and snorted, before turning his head in a different direction. "But ya got a point, old crone wanted us to something a certain way, so I guess we gotta do it like she wants, huh?" She added, before standing back up.

However, as soon as the two girls and their ward had walked out of sight of the old Elmswood house, Francoise, who had previously acted like a snooty, pampered and spoiled little brat, suddenly began to act strangely... His raised head lowered, his nostrils began to flare and soon, the dog was running around, bouncing and jumping, chasing after butterflies and diving headfirst into patches of tall grass, wild flowers and ... Unfortunately... A patch of mud...

Rather than being absolutely terrified and abhored by the sudden shift in personality, and the fact that the pooch they were supposed to keep from getting dirty and touched, who was now running amok and behaving like any old run-of-the-mill pup you would find anywhere, Brandy's entire body began to quiver... And then she let out the most jovial laugh you ever did hear, folding forward and wrapping her arms around her own stomach as she laughed so hard that tears were forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Maa-ha-ha-ha-ah-ha-ha~! Whaddya know? The lil' fella cuts loose as soon as he's outta sight of the old battle axe, huh? Maa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" She roared, with good spirits and humor, seemingly compoletely unphased by this rather disastrous turn of events.

In addtion, after having rolled around on his back in the muddy ditch for a bit, Francoise suddenly stood up, barked energetically and the set off towards the village proper, on his own, as fast as his legs could carry him... Kicking up a small trail of dust as he locomoted ahead like a panicked gazelle, leaving the two girls in the proverbial dust on the little trail. Brandy's laughter subsided, she wiped her eyes and suddenly had a dangerous glint in her eyes, as she also smiled mischievously.

"Oh-ho~? Trying to get a head-start, poochie? No way you're getting away that easily~ Come back here, ya lil' scamp~! Hooooaaaaaaaahh!" Brandy let out a challenging roar, as she dashed off as well, chasing after the runaway hound - leaving another trail of dust behind her as she charged after the dog, with remarkable speed and vigor, while her rather exposed chest bounced and swayed with each step she took - looking like it was about ready to burst out of that snug top of hers at any moment... The dog was heading for the town square it seemed, judging by the prints, and gloops of mud, left behind... Which was also the most busy and densely populated place in the village...!

Oh no~!

There was a very, very long pause as Alice processed many things. First was that Francoise was suddenly an energetic normal dog. Second was that Francoise was a normal dog and liked rolling in mud, barking, and being a generally agreeable dog. Which was great! EXCEPT FOR THE PART WHERE HIS OWNER WAS A TYRANT AND NOW THEY HAD TO WASH HIM!

Shaking in her boots as she watched him go, Alice turned to Brandy as she ran off, before dropping to all fours and dashing after. "If we don't have him clean before we get back, Ms. Elmwood is going to tan our hide! And maybe not even pay us!" she said, ears drooping as she ran her 50% canine self after the 100% canine, avoiding mud because...gross. Alice wasn't as fast as Brandy was, but she was able to keep the dog in her sights as they followed its tracks along. "Francoise, you are being a very bad dog!" she said, using the forbidden term among canines to try and stop him.

"It'll be fine! It'll be fine~!" Brandy replied to Alice's concern about the possibility of them not getting any payment. Although, judging from the fact that she was laughing while saying it did somewhat suggest that the satyress wasn't perhaps 100% concerned with getting paid in the first place. "We'll catch him, give him a soak and all's goo- Oh! Well... Muds..."

Brandy's later-most words were directed at the fact that Francoise had just taken a turn, run through a narrow alley and passed through the backyard of some of the local dwellings. Why was this bad? Well, some housewives had decided that the weather was nice and thus gone to hang out their laundry in the back... Which Francoise, a very large and very mmuddy poodle, had just decided to run past, at full speed... Brushing against said newly laundered linens... Leaving a grafitti tagging of his presence on most of then. What made this even worse was the fact that many of the laundering housewives were also out back, alongside their now frehsly stained formerly clean clothes, blankets and other textiles... And, they also saw the two girls who were chasing after the culprits.

Needless to ay, it did not take long for angry words to be fired off, followed by enraged shouting and, then to top it all off, some additional chasers - armed with rolling pins - now hurdling after the trio. It appeared that this very simple task had suddenly become unexpectedly complicated, and dangerous, in more ways than one. Brandy, although further ahead of the angered victims of the muddied laundry, was apparently too focused on Francoise to even make much note of their additional, new purusers. That is, until Francoise finally stopped...

... At the market. When he leapt into the stall of the local huntsman, and began chowing down on some of the fine, prime cuts of elk, deer and other wild game that had been put up for sale. Needless to say, the huntsman was as enraged and outraged as the laundry-women, and Brandy waas the first to get an earful when she eventually skidded to a halt infront of the crumpled tables and crates of the meat-stall.

"THE HECK IS THE MEANIN' OF THIS!?" A certain hunter cried out, spit flying from his mouth as froth formed at each edge of said orifice. "[b][i]WHY AIN'T YA KEEPIN' THIS MENACE ON A LEASH!?"/i][/b]
"Maa-ha-ha~ Well, it's not technically our dog, y'see..."
"ThEN WHY IN BLAZES ARE YA CHASIN' IT!?"
"Uhh... Well... We... were kinda.. taking him for... a ... uh.. walk... And he... sort of... Kinda... Maybe... ran off... on his own...?"
"THERE'S NOTHIN' 'SORTA', 'KINDA' OR 'MAYBE' ABOUT THIS! HE'S EATIN' MY MEATS!"
"Maa-ha..... Eatin' your meats... Err, I mean! Down, Francoise! Down! Bad boy! Come here, ya lil' rascal."

Brandy waded into the mess of collapsed furniture and spilled cuts of meat and ... More meat... Leaving poor Alice to catch up and, subsequently, deal with the half-a-dozen-or-so angry housewives, armed with aforementioned rolling pins, that were bringing up the rear. The satyr was now busy trying to wrestle and pull the dog out from his self-appointed smorgasbord buffet.

While she managed to keep up until the angry housewives, Alice quickly found herself belted by rolling pins, insulted for letting that "mangy mutt" run around, and more than once felt like she'd have to leave town for this. After all, even IF they were getting paid enough to cover the meats, there was no way they could keep Ms. Elmwood from hearing about this. She'd be lucky if they managed to get paid and skipped town but...all this for one dog!? Alice grit her teeth, bearing the pain of enraged housewives before suddenly pulling her extra special bone from her pack, and throwing it at Francoise's feet before he could bolt again. It was a succulent, premium, grand looking bone, the likes of which a fine hound like Francoise could tell was the kind that only top dogs had.

Alice was on the verge of tears, but...she had to prove to this newbie she had adventuring chops! Regardless, Alice would get to explaining that she'd handle washing all of the ruined laundry herself if they'd: "STOP HITTING ME!"

After sufficient pummeling, squawking and finger-wagging had been completed, Alice was eventually released from the angry dog-pile of upset housewives. That being said, despite them having stopped their immediate beatdown of the poor werewolf, many of them still remained at the knocked over stall, hands on their hips or crossed below their chests, raving on and on, lecturing and harshly reprimanding the poor girl. It was as if she hd a half dozen or so motthers, who were all scolding her at the same time.

Meanwhile, Brandy had managed to finally peel Francoise away from the cuts of meat on the ground, the large poodle licking itself happily around the mouth and wagging its tail in content. The huntsman was no less amused now than when the incident had occurred though, and as Brandy wiped her forehead off with the back of her arm, and let out a sigh of relief, the man approached the satyress with more verbal condemnation.

"Well, what're ya gonna do about this, huh?!"
"Do 'bout what?"
"MY MEATS! Yer damn dog just ate half o' it and knocked the other half to the ground! I can't sell any of this now!"
"... Wow, that sure stinks." Brandy replied, rubbing the back of her head and having a sheepish smile on her face.
"Ain't nothin' to smile 'bout, girlie! You and yer friend are gonna pay for every scrap o' meat that menace of yours ate!"
"Ma-ma-ma-mwhat!? Hey, ya old fart, this isn't our pooch, y'know? Why do we hafta pay for this mess!?"
"'Cuz he's with YOU, obviously! Who else is gonna cover my losses, huh!?"
"Iunno! His owner, maybe? That... What's-her-face... Ell... Elm... Ellen... Ellenweed...?"
"Wait... You sayin' this monstrosity belongs to that snooty old bag on the outskirts of town?"
"Yeah, yeah! That's the one! The wrinkly old lady, in the big house. We were just supposed to walk this little guy when he suddenly took off and caused all this."
"Hmm... Well, whatever! I'm cleanin' this up, then going over to that old bat and getting paid for the damages her mutt caused. Count on it! Now you three scram! Go on, get!"
"Jeez, don't get yer winky in a knot, we're goin', we're goin'~ C'mon boy, follow Brandy~"

It eappaeared Brandy had somehow managed to diffused the situation with the huntsman... By unintentionally selling out the identity of the true owner to Francoise... Which would likely cause some inquiries when the two girls eventually returned with the dog. However, all of those possible consequences seemed to fly straight over the satyr's head, as she pulled the black, not-so-stately-anymore poodle along by the scruff oh his neck. Not before she walked up to Alice's side though.

"You okay, Al?" She asked, looking at the tenderized werewolf before shooting an angry glare at the women standing in a semi-circle around the poor alchemist. "Hey! What's wrong with you aunties!? You don't just go 'round smackin' girls with rollin' pins!" She barked, apparently gentuinely angry at the women.
"Shut yer mouth, skank!" One of the women replied.
"That's right! Y'all caused this mess in the first place!" Another chimed in.
"Just 'cuz ya'll married ugly men who can't satisfy ya doesn't mean ya get to take it on my friend! Now shoo, ya ugly third-rate wenches! If ya got a complaint, go see that Elfenweed-woman or whatever."

A bit more insults and harsh words were said and hurled, before the women eventually grew weary of the satyress' apparently endless stream of rather severe and, somehow, sexually implicating come-backs. Once they dispersed - after having dumped the mud-riddled sheets and clothes ontop of Alice - the satyress let out an irritated snort, then turned to her friend again.

"Them's were some angry ladies, huh? I guess if I'd had a face as ugly as theirs, I'd be kinda pissy too. Still, no reason to take it on a pair of cuties like us, right?"

With her head left to be unbonked and her body covered in sheets, clothes, and mud, Alice would slowly rise from the pile, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She was apparently very frustrated, enough so that she was on the verge of crying. "...Why'd this go so wroooooooong!?" she asked, sinking to her knees and gathering the bundle of cloth, getting to work on her alchemical detergent recipe in her head. Plucking a hint of grass from a lawn, a few petals from a nearby blue flower, and carefully sifting through a bit of gravel by the roadside, Alice began pounding them into powder in her mortar until they were a fine mixture of a vaguely teal consistency, and then dunking them into her alchemical brewery pipe.

While that cooked, Alice would tearfully look up at Brandy and say: "I'm sorry that this all went so bad, Brandy...I wanted to help you, but I wound up needing your help way more. I'd have twice as many bumps behind my ears if your mouth wasn't so sharp...or...would it be blunt in this case...a-anyways, I'll take full responsibility for this..." The werewolf would hang her head, no doubt already imagining how mad Nim was going to be at her for failing what, on paper, was the simplest job in weeks. Eyeing the destructive dog that was responsible for all their misfortune, Alice pouted. "Why can't you just be a good dog? Or at least an average dog. Not such a...a..." Alice was about to commit the dog equivalent of the highest grade of insult. One unused unless in direst straits.

And these were some dire straits.

"BAD DOG!?"

Francoise, at the hearing of the most insulting and highest grade of scolding in the doggy-universe, lowered his head and his poofy ears began to droop. A low whine escaped the poodle's mouth and he seemed to be legit upset about having been called a bad dog by his remote cousin. Brandy merely looked on in a indifferent bemusement, beofre having a look down at her own clothes. Apparently something had caused her to do so, and when she saw the state in which her getup was in, a shrill, brief shriek escaped her lips.

"Aiiieee! Awww man!" She started. "This is like, 'totes no good! This is my favorite outfit, and it's all gross and muddy and stuff. Jeeeeeeez~ I knew I shoulda switched to my work overalls, but I wanted to be all fancy and look my best when I went to the guild for the first time, y'know?"

Apparently, Brandy was more concerned with her physical appearance than with what had actualy just transpired, or Alice's apology and comment about taking responsability... Either the satyress didn't hear, or she didn't care. Well, at least it seemed like that at first anyway. After letting out a sigh, she walked on up right infront of Alice, looked athe werewolf square in the eyes and then flicked the other girl's forehead, before putting both hands on her own hips and giving her senior a serious, upset look.

"Al, listen up. You didn't do nothing wrong, and I didn't do nothing wrong either. Frankie's the bad boy here. If you're gonna be all doom'n gloom about stuff that ain't your fault, I'm gonna hafta nibble your ears 'til you get over it, 'kay?" She said - straingely serious... Before smiling happily again. "'Sides, we're friends! So if you wanna apologize for this mutts bad 'tude, then I'll be right there with ya, apologizn' too! ... Not sure why we needa apologize, but if you wanna do it, then I'll do it too. Now let's go!"

She grabbed Alice's wrist suddenly and firmly, with a hint of forcefulness, but not hard or unpleasantly. She also grabbed hold of Francoise's neck-scruff and pulled him along too.

"I think someone said there was a river around these'n parts, yeah? Bet we could get all washed up there! Might help Frankie blow off some more steam too so he won't pull crap like this again before we get him back to that old raisin." Brandy said, laughing as she led the way ... In the completely wrong direction, not having been in town for even a day and not knowing the lay of the land...

Alice was surprised as her wrist was seized by her companion, and was somewhat surprised as well that Francoise seemed...guilty? Or at least, didn't like being called a Bad Dog. It was a surprising sort of day in general, and Alice had to admit...getting cheered up was a good change from the usual solo sulking. A warm smile spread across the werewolf girl's lips, saying: "No ear nibbling!" before she was dragged off towards the "river".

The "river" that Brandy was looking for would be found after Alice would pap her thighs with her tail and point in the right direction. With their butts now at the river, Alice would get to washing the sheets of the ladies that had beat her up, while also saying: "I can wash your clothes for you later if you want Brandy. This detergent is powerful stuff." Brandy would note that quite literally everything scrubbed by Alice was coming out looking better than it had been before Francoise's trampling, with the werewolf's hands deftly scrubbing sheet after sheet, and undergarment after - okay some of these old ladies were risque with their choices but yes, that did count as an undergarment. Alice would tenderly bathe Francoise, gentle with the dog in spite of his rampage. "I wonder if he acted like that because he never gets to go outside?"

Alice would find that Brandy, much as she had come across earlier, was completely void of both shame and reservations. Once the werewolf had started scrubbing the muddied sheets in the river, Brandy proceed to, quite litteraly, burst out of her clothes and performed a playful cannon ball-dive into the river. Francoise barked joyfully in approval and joined her - before being stopped by Alice, who was now scrubbing him. The poodle whined plaintively at first, but soon realized that he was being pampered. As such, his tail began to wag fervently and he turned around to be more accomodating and obediant towards Alice.

... At least until she was done.

At which point, the large poodle chomped down on Alice's collar and, with a mighty and surprise-tug, pulled the girl forward and into the river too. Once she emerged from under the water's edge, she would find that her face was being assaulted by a releentless amount of licking. Brandy, watching the whole scene - while buck nekkid - was laughing so hard she nearly forgot to keep swimming, and nearly swallowed some water in the process...

"Maa-haa-haa-haa-*glorp*-hah...! 'Atta boy, Frankie! If we're having a bath, so should Al." She laughed merrily. "Thanks for the offer though! I'd love to have my stuff scrubbed clean. That powdery stuff you got is 'totes amazin'! I bet you'd make a killing as a laundry-maid for some rich folks." The satyress added, which was a strangely mundane idea... Didn't seem quite so adventuruous to be a maid, but then again, it was already established that Brandy's head didn't quite work with all cylinders firing.

Swimming about for a bit in the significantly below actual bath-temperature river, the satyr did some breast strokes, some backstrokes, some diving and eventually doggy-paddled her way over to Francoise and Alice. She ruffled the poodle's head and, for whatever reason, tried to tickle Alice's side, all the while smiling and laughing in her friendly manner. It seemed she was really enjoying herself.

Her clothes, if you could call them that, had been left in an unceremonious heap on the bank of the river... Dangerously close to the water... If a strong breeze or sudden wave or slight flooding were to happen, she could kiss her shirt, bra, skirt and whatever string-like piece of underwear she had goodbye... Luckily, no such thing had happened. Yet.

"By the way, Al." Brandy said, amidst her tickling of the other girl. "How many of these adventurin' quests have ya been on? A lot? You like, a super-veteran adventurer? You know how'ta make yummy drinks and magic wash-powder, so you gotta be real experienced, right?" Brandy asked, apparently very excited about having a friendly chat. While in a river. While completely nude. And certain perky and soft bits of her body being very buoyant.

Alice wasn't exactly shy when it came to seeing other people, so Brandy stripping wasn't weird until she thought about the fact that this was also where the dog was bathing...and, in the midst of her thinking about that, Francoise would suddenly grab her by her own collar and dunk her in, the werewolf alchemist flailing as she weakly paddled, emulating a perfect doggy way of swimming as she shook her head. "Nn...now my clothes are all wet..." Alice bemoaned, before getting assaulted by licks that, much to her chagrin, had the girl giggling.

Getting tickled was a strange experience for Alice, who promptly let out a high-pitched almost hyena-like laugh as tears welled in her eyes. It seemed Brandy had found her greatest weakness. The laughter would continue all the way until Brandy asked her questions, at which point the werewolf would deftly splash some water in Brandy's face to distract her, before counter-tickling both her sides. "I just joined last week, to be honest. I learned how to make all this stuff at the alchemist guild. The detergent though is SUPER simple, how you make it is you take three parts #@!@*(*(@#(%*&^, six parts (>|"""{)*&@#^!!, grind them finely in a powder and slowly add in some alkaline, and then you have super-stain-fighting detergent!"

Brandy, god bless her soul, likely didn't have the IQ necessary to process the amount of syllables in those words, but it sure sounded like stuff that could cause an explosion. Upon noticing that Brandy's jubly bits were kinda just...there, and exposed, Alice looked over to where her pack and Brandy's stuff were only to see Brandy's lightweight clothing start to lift off. Hurriedly paddling over, Alice would move her alchemical oven over to rest atop Brandy's stuff and turned it off, the decently heavy weight making sure that nothing blew away. Now sitting on the river bank and relaxing a bit in the sun, Alice would wash away the mud and grime on the town's sheets like it was nothing at all, a feat that would make even Brandy realize she was pretty experienced with chores and cleaning.

Once that was settled and the sheets were hung to dry, Alice would wait for Brandy to get out, dried, and dressed. Then...it was time to face Mrs. Elmwood.

"Maa-haa-haa-haa~! You jerk, take this!"

It was clear Brandy was enjoying herself. After having been splashed in the face and tickled herself, she seemed to be in a very good mood indeed, playfully splashing small scoops of water back at the werewolf. Once the alchemist started talking though, the satyress - amazingly - listened intently and politely, without interrupting or trying to use the moment to take advantage of, and attack Alice. Instead, she just paddled about in the river, ears twitching and perking up as she took in what her companion was saying. When the werewolf was done, Brandy smiled brightly and her eyes twinkled with excitement.

"Wow! I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded 'totes amazing, Al!" Yup, she hadn't understoof a single thing. But at least her brain was capable to fathom that there was a lot of things and work that had gone into making the stain-cleaning powder, so at least she could appreciate just how smart Alice was... Seemingly.

Francoise eventually began to lose steam, and paddled his way back onto the edge pf the river. Clumbsily climbing out of the water, the pooch did the doggy-deed of shaking his entire body, sending droplets of water in every which direction. Once done, he barked happily and wagged his tail, before calmly padding over to where Alice was sitting, plopped his butt down next to her and just... Sat there... Perfectly content with just being a dog, sitting next to another half-dog. It was kinda cute, or so Brandy thought at least. After a bit more swimming on her own part, and failed attempts at catchign river-fish with her bare hands, Brandy eventually got up and out of the water too. Unabashed and uninhibited as always, the little satyr got up and out, and didn't show any signs of modesty or consideration, not being bothered at all to put her hands and arms in places to cover up any bits that might cause a cesnor-editor to drop his jaw and slap a big, fat 'R' or 'M' onto the work in question. Lying down on her back, spreading her arms out and letting out a peaceful, satisfied yawn, Brandy smiled as she stared at the clear blue sky above, while the sun lazily dried her glistening, curvy and supple body.

"So, Al. Whaddya wanna tell the old bat when we get back to her place?" Brandy asked, slowly turning her head to look at the other girl. "I'm not sure, but I think those mean bitches who bonked you mighta already gone and spilled the beans to that frowny-faced prune." She ask-said, while still smiling. "We could always just, y'know, leave Frankie on her porch, knock on the door and leg it... Maa-haa-haa~" Apparently, being responsible wasn't high on Brandy's list of priorities. "... Oh! Or maybe we could go back to the guild and get that glasses-raccoon to come with us? She seemed smart, so I'm sure she could smooth things over, yeah?" The satyr suggested, seemingly very pleased with her own brilliant plan...

Once dried off, Brandy slipped on her clothes, adjusting and brushing them off, then taking a bit of extra time to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be and that nothing was out of order. Finally content with her visage, she bounced over the Alice's saide and grabbed the other girl by the wrists.

"Welp! Let's go tell thecrone that she's raised a real ill-mannered mongrel!" Brandy exclaimed, excitedly, for whatever reason.

Francoise barked happily, wagged his tail and jogged on over to the two girls - completely oblivious to Brandy just having insulted him.

Alice felt good, thinking that she really did just perfectly explain chemistry to her mentally lacking friend. Also, Francoise was like...way too cute, once he was calm and relaxed. With gentle hands she would scritch his poofy hide, even if he was a turd, he was a very good dog once all his energy was used up. But, naturally, all good things had to come to an end as she was reminded that Mrs. Elmwood was going to probably beat them to death. So afraid was Alice of the consequences that she was visibly shaking, face pale. "Aaa-aah...yeah...we still have to...talk to her..." she said, clearly freaking out before she slapped her cheeks. "No no no no! No running! We're gonna go there, and we're gonna tell her that we're sorry, and that Francoise had a great time, and that he got a good bath! A-And honestly, I'm more scared of Ms. Bavaloure, so we'll deal with Elmwood."

Once she had risen and Brandy was no longer being obscured by conveniently shining vertical shafts of light, Alice would bring the pupper of sin to the doorstep of Elmwood, which was thankfully devoid of angry housewives and butchers. With lead feet and her stomach somewhere near her soles, the werewolf would knock on Elmwood's door.

Alice only needed to knock a single time on the wooden door of the large house. In an almost instant, the door - quite litteraly - flew open, and standing in the now gaping, looming, dark and somehow foreboding doorway, was none other than the wicked witch of the east old lady Elmwood, giving the pair a glare. A glare of the kind that made the camera shrink back and make the old woman look much bigger than she actually was, along with a dark shadow being cast over the top part of her head, and a disapproving scowl on her face that would make a baby soil itself by being in her mere presence.

Even Brandy, who was oblivious and unconcerned with most things, had her ears twitch and eyes blink a few times - looking rather perplexed by the arms-crossed, glaring-daggers old Elmwood-woman. Either she hadn't expected to see her in such a menacing state, or she wasn't quite sure why she was in such a state... Let it be known that Brandy certainly wasn't going to win any awards for coherent thought.

"... You..." Was the first thing to come out of the old crone's mouth. At this point, one could amost envison the elderly woman being accompanied by black, swirling clouds that unleashed ominous thunderbolts and a harsh, biting wind causing her clothes to billow dramatically. None of that was actually happening, mind you, but it certainly felt like it! "... What did you two do...?" Shge more demanded than asked, to be fair.

Francoise, who had resumed his rather snooty and arisocratic _{(aristodoggy?)} behavior, suddenly seemed perturbed by his master's behavior, and began to shrink back... Now hiding behind Alice and beginning to whimper somewhat pathetically.... For an Aulderian Royal poodle, he sure didn't seem all that brave when faced with the angry presence of his mistress.

"Uh... Hi, Mrs... Elkword!" Brandy said, shrugging off the imminent aura of doom and greeting the woman - with the wrong name - as if nothing was amiss in the world. "We brought ya yer pooch back! Safe and sound too!" She boasted, puffing out her (rather ginormous) chest with pride and giving it a soft bop with her closed fist, causing said chest to somewhat wobble and jiggle. "He got a little crazy at first, but we managed to-"

"IMBECILE GIRL, SHUT YOUR TRAP! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR YOUR PRATTLING!" Not surprisingly, it seemed Mrs. Elmwood was not in the mood to deal with the nonchalant satyress and her obliviousness. "Now. Tell me. What. Did. You. Two. Do?" She seemed to be seething with rage ad she was speaking through her teeth... Which were probably fake anyway, but still. "While you two were away, walking my Francoise, I was visited by a fair number of townspeople. And do you know what they said? They claimed that you two had chased my precious Francoise through the town, tearing down laundry and assaulting the local huntsman. Not onlt that, but you also stole his wares and fed it to Francoise." ... Either Mrs. Elmwood had been wrongfully informed, or she had somehow managed to either misunderstand, or misinterpret, the story and series of events... Regardless, it was clear that currently she was under the impression that Alice and Brandy were the root cause - and the main perpetrators - of today's eventful events...

Any kind of plan to placate the raging senior citizen faded once she started raging at Brandy. Like, wow. She was angry. Extremely so. When asked what they did, Alice was confused until she started hearing that it seemed that everyone, every single person in town had laid the blame upon them. Those damnable gossiping ladies that she'd done their laundry for and hung up, good as new...she'd think that they'd at least say it was the DOG that got the stuff dirty, and not mention the two girls trying to wrangle the thing without a-

That's right. Elmwood insisted that he needed no leash or harness.

"Ma'am, when we took the job to walk your dog, we were specifically told he needed no leash nor harness, but a literal MINUTE after we left your doorstep, Francoise started running amock."

"Don't go blaming my dog when you two can't even-

Alice continued unabated, suddenly seeming larger. "Your dog played in mud, scarfed down meat, and bathed in a river and seemed happy to do all of it," she said, while Francoise tried to snobbishly turn its head away in disgust, tail wagging at all the fun times he'd just had.

"Your job was to watch him! Not-"

"Ma'am. Our job was to walk a dog of unknown breed and not get it dirty. But when we aren't even given the tools to walk a dog, how is it our responsibility when he runs away, without anything stopping him but thoughts and prayers, that he behaves like a dog!?"

Alarmingly enough, Alice was gaining ground in the argument and Elmwood hated it.

"Francoise is a championship breed-"

"There are no dog shows held within 500 miles of this village. And for a championship breed, he sure enjoys being a normal dog. Right Francoise?" she asked, turning around and petting the dog who, unconsciously, yipped and wagged its tail before sinking its head, locking eyes with Elmwood.

Alice was good at arguing. As all retail workers who are so jaded that they leave it behind forever become. After she realized that Elmwood was just an elderly lady that didn't know her own dog, that was nothing compared to the werewolves that Alice was accustomed to.

"I'm fine if you don't want to pay us the rest of the contract fee, ma'am, but in the future...buy a leash or a harness." Right now, Alice looked large and in charge, chest puffed out as she stood her ground on the issue. She knew they weren't getting paid. Now it was just a principle matter.

Old lady Elmwood became increasingly more red across her entire face while listening and talking to Alice. Though it was more like a one-sided scolding from the little werewolf and the old human woman couldn't seem to gain any ground or make any worthwhile come-backs to the various questions and blatant facts that were thrown in her wrinkly, reddening face. Eventually, it seemd like she'd had enough as she clapped her cupped hands together loudly, twice in quick succession.

"Well, oh! I never! Is this how you speak to the people who pay you to do your job!? Rest assured, little girl, I will be filing a complaint to your superiors, good day! Francoise, come!"

At the calling of his master, Francoise confidently lifted his head and strutted past Alice, head held high and tail fully erect, as if he was some kind of champion or war hero, walking down a street during a parade. It was rather infuriating to watch the mischievous and indignant pooch act so snorky and pompous... But he was more than likely going to get an earful from his owner once they left, so Brandy didn't hold it too much against him for trying to put on a brave... face...?

As soon as the Royal Aulderian Poodle crossed the threshold into the house, the door slammed shut - causing the nearby windows to quiver slightly from the forceful impact. A cricket chirped as silence fell on the two girls standing outside the larger-than-average-house-which-would-be-considered-a-manor-in-a-tiny-village-like-this. A woodland dove cooed as well, further driving home just how quiet things had gotten after the discussion had ended so abruptly.

That is, until Brandy almost doubled over from laughter. Leaning forward, holding her arms over her stomach and laughing so hard that her already barely-covered breasts bounced and jiggled dangerously close to popping out of her top, the satyress seemed to be very, very amused.

"Maa-haa-haa-haa~!! Man, that was awesome! Al, you're so cool! You totes ripped that old harpy a new one! Maa-haa-haa! Maa-haa-haa! Did you see her face? It was as red as a tomato! Maa-haa-haa~!" It seemed at least the little satyr was very impressed by the werewolf's ability to overcome their client in this discussion.

Once she calmed down, an d wiped the tears of joy from the corner of her eyes, the beige-haired caramel cutie managed to straighten herself up and put on a sunny smile.

"So, like, we did the stuff and things, right? Do we just go back to the raccoon-lady and get our pay now?" She asked, excited about the prospect of finishing her first job with blatantly no concern for what Elmwood had said, or how their reception back at the Guild Hall would turn out.

There was a long, long silence as Alice walked back with Brandy, before Alice turned to look at her, dewy eyed and downtrodden as she was. "...We...are probably not getting paid after that, Brandy," she said, unsure if not getting paid was going to be the least of their worries after the guild got notice of them failing to walk a damn dog. Stopping before the guild hall's doors, Alice would slap herself twice and grip the door handles.

She'd messed up on one job before, accidentally making too strong of a poison for some ants that killed a good patch of someone's lawn but...that was at least fixable. Ms. Elmwood was a nightmare for someone like Alice, who'd grown up in a country entirely centered on working hard and not taking shit because if you worked, you were unionized. Guild workers didn't even have DENTAL! Gritting her teeth she would throw the guild doors open (softly) and stride in (ashamedly), and head over to the guild desk and hesitantly report what happened, ears and tail drooping the entire time.

"Hmm~? Whacha talkin'bout, Al? We did walk that pooch, and just like that old granny asked, we washed him after he got dirt 'S all good, girl!" Was Brandy's reply when Alice stated that they may not good paid. Apparently, the goat-girl was under the impression that they'd done a bang-up job for some reason.

As the door to the guild hall swung open, the two girls entered. The place was entirely void of people, save for the raccoon-receptionist, who was leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling with a content, half-dozed-off face on her... Until said door slammed open and she jolted back to an upright position, eyes blinking and quickly darting from one corner to the next in an attempt to figure out what'd just happened and to get her bearings. When she saw the two girls approach though, she let out a relieved sigh.

"Ah, it's you two. Welcome back, girls. How did your first quest go?" Karin asked with her practiced customer-service smile.
"Great!" Brandy exclaimed excitedly, leaning forward over the counter after having slammed both hands down on it, her blouse-bunnies somewhat jiggling and bouncing from the act. "We talked to that odl harpy, walked her pooch, cleaned some laundry, went simmin'... Oh! And washed the dog after he ate all the hunter's meats and-"
"Woah, woah, woah! Easy there, girl! There's a lot of things about what you just said that I'd like to have you explain in a bit more detail." Karin stopped the waterfall of words by raising both hands and making stop-signs. Brandy blinked in confusion, seemingly not realizing that her re-hashed version of today's events was somewhat jumbled and lacking in the finer aspects of story-telling.
"So, whaddya wanna ask about?" The satyress inquired, tail wagging and ears twitching excitedly, while an innocent, wide and sunny smile stretched across her face.
"I... Err... I think it might be best if your senior here explains it to me..." The clever receptionist said, looking over at and gesturing towards Alice.
"Fiiiiiine~ Al! You got this, right? I'm gonna 'toes check out that quest board-thingy and see if there's something awesome posted now that we're back!" Brandy stated, having clasped both of the werewolf's shoulders and looked at her partner with sparkling eyes... Before bounding over the uguild's still rather sparsely decorated quest board.

Karin let out a polite cough in a closed hand, corrected her glasses, straightned her posture and looked over at Alice. The raccoon-woman's face still smiled, but Alice could tell that her eyes weren't as happy as she may be trying to portray.

"ALright then, Ms. Keller. Mind telling me about today's quest and how things went? Stranegely enough, we had a few visitors come in during your time out, and they all had quite a lot to say. Sadly, most of it wasn't very positive. Luckily, the Guild Master was able to resolve things, but I'd like to hear your version nontheless." At east she wasn't chewing Alice out, or making a fuss about proper guild-etiquette and behavior. it seemed this tanuki really waasn't going to blow her top and instead wanted to hear her fellow guild mate's side of the story before making any comments.

... Or perhaps she'd just been ordered to do so by the little witch in the next room over...

Meanwhile, Brandy was oblivious and happily scanning the quest board up and down, side to side, while constantly swaying back and forth on her hooves. Unfortunately for her, the selection of available quests hadn't increased since their departure... In fact, it was quite the opposite. Take into account that Brandy was unable to read the common alphabet, and the entire thing was an excersise in futility... But that didn't seem to stop Brandy's enthusiasm.

Alice was somewhat relieved that Brandy wouldn't be there for Alice's chewing out session. She had to wonder what her punishment would be...forced to lick toilets clean? Garbage duty for a month? Dressing up in one of those cute (but admittedly not her style) guild dresses and being assigned desk duty? She'd gotten that last one before and was shockingly good at it...so much so that she had to fight tooth and nail to not get stuck as a guild girl forever. Now, she wasn't sure if this was the last straw.

Alice's ears were flattened against her hair, and despite wanting to cry a bit at how unfair the job was to begin with, Alice kept herself under control and calmly explained her side of the story. She didn't want to excuse herself as she did admittedly screw up, but made it very obvious to Karin that this job was doomed no matter who took it on. A dog like that had so much energy from being cooped up that taking it outside without a leash was just asking for trouble. But, then she did admit that she lost her cool at having basically the entire town and Ms. Elmwood turn against them. Bowing her head, Alice would finish by saying: "...I'm so sorry for all of this. Both the botched job, and causing trouble for the guild. Whatever it takes to make this up to you all, I'll do it. Just...B-Brandy's new to all this. Whatever her punishment is supposed to be too, I'll take care of it. ...I don't want her losing that adventurer's spirit. Sure she may be..."

Alice paused while looking for a really, really, really nice way to not just outright call Brandy the most innately un-smartest person she'd ever met.

"...Different. But, she has a good heart. I don't wanna have it be broken because I...messed up walking a dog."

Come hell or highwater, Alice wasn't willing to let Brandy get punished because Alice was the one that screwed up. ...Even if it meant the one-week-wonder guild girl had to permanently have desk duty. She supposed she could get used to the blouses and the heels. Maybe her and Karin could go out drinking too after hours. Maybe even Nim would smile at having a workaholic like Alice helping Karin out with the hall.

...Or maybe Nim would turn Alice into a frog. Who knew, really?

While listening to the werewolf-alchemist's entire spiel, Karin didn't show much of any hints as to what she might be thinking or feeling. Just that same, well-trained and pracitced polite smile on her lips during the entire thing. It was a bit unnerving how she managed to pull off that face without ever needing time to prepare or practice beforehand... But then again, she was a porfessional! Once Alice had finished up her explaining though, Karin's ears twittched a little and her plump tail lightly thumped the floor next to her own chair, before she finally spoke - while readjusting her glasses, of course.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Miss Keller." She started off. "The Guild isn't going to punish either of you. According to what we've been told by eye-witnesses, and by you yourselves, you've completed the quest as per its specifications." The receptionistt stated, matter-of-factly, before raising a sole index-finger as if to put emphasis on what she was saying. "Miss Elmwood merely stated in her request that members of our Organization were to walk her dog. Nothing more, nothing less. If she added criteria or specific conditions to you ladies, in person, then those were nothing more than her own preferences. Since she failed to state those in her quest-application form, the Guild - and by extension, you two - aren't accountable for anything besides failing to return her ddog. Which you did."

The tanuki leaned back in her seat, stretched both of her arms up over her head and did a loud, intense stretch, complete with "hmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnn"-sound, before returning her focus to the little werewolf on the other side of her desk.

"The Guild is very particular about our paperwork, as it serves as a means for our members to pick out jobs and tasks theyu're suited for. If clients fail to include important details or specific conditions, then our employees could end up getting hurt or worse. Because of this, we require all such information to be clearly written down and submitted when a person makes a request of the Guild." The bespectacled beauty said, leaning forward with both elbows on the surface of the reception desk now. Hands cupped under her chin while she rested her head in them. "So don't you worry. Miss Bavaloure is totally on your side in this case, and if Miss Elmwood has any issues, she can take it up with our hall's Mistress. I'm sure that won't happen though. Mmhmm~" Karin giggled at the end, implying that the members of the Litroot G.O.R.E. Hall weren't the only one who feared the petite witch.

After clearing this up, and thus alleviating any of Alice's fears for possible repercussions or punishments that may or may not have included a severe spanking, or wooden horse-torture, Karin proceeded to open one of her narybty drawers, and began rummaging around in it.

... And rummaging...

... ... And rummaging some more...

... ... ... And even more...

... ... ... ... Now she got up tolook inside of it, while her eyebrow twitched, though her pro-like smile remained...

Approximately 4.5 minutes later...

00a99d"Ahem! Yes, well! Anyway. Here's your pay, for your first joint quest. Congratulations, you two. I'll be sure to update your personal files later."[/color] The lazy, disorganized receptionnist congratulated, before putting a very paltry and unsatisfying number of coins onto the desk, sliding them over towards Alice. The total sum was about enough to buy a snack from one of the town's market stalls... A small one... For one person...

Bounce, bounce, bounce! CLOMP~!

"Hey, hey! You ttwo done yet!?" A very excited Brandy suddenly appeared, right next to Alice, a piece of paper in her hand. "What's this quest? It's got a super buff hunk on it! Do we like, get to go and hang with him? Search for a missin' piece of man-meat?" She was very excited. And had very sparkly eyes.

Karin took the note from Brandy's hand, gave it a look, and then gave Brandy a look. It was the look of someone who was trying to fathom how someone who looked like that could have the mental faculties ofa four-year-old..

"Miss Vanillarin..."
"Just call me Brandy, chief~!" Brandy gave a salute and stuck her tongue out. Karin was unplussed.
"... This is an advertisement for the village's yearly Strong-Man contest... Which was last month..."
"... Eh?"
"It's not a quest. It's an old ad that wasn't cleaned off the quest board."
".... Soooo... No hunks in trouble for a pair of hotties be all heroic-like and save?"
"No. None of that."
"... Boo."

Brandy looked more upset about not being allowed to go on a quest to save some muscly, burly, non-shirt-wearing men, rather than being embarrassed that she'd just gone and made it painfully apparent that she couldn't read, nor tell the difference between a colorfully and artistically drawn advertisement, and a piece of informative and plainly written quest-request. The little goat-girl's ears slouched and her tail dipped as she let out a 'Awwww' and slowly trotted back to the quest-board. Karin gave Alice a mixed expression.

"... I get that she's got enthusiasm but... Are you certain you want to be paired up with her? I'm sure there're other girls in the Hall who'd happily team up with you." The tanuki politely informed... Probably having Alice's best interests in mind, for the long-game at least...

Alice listened intently to her tanuki friend, and, surprisingly, she found that neither herself nor Brandy were at fault. Wow! The guild must really not want to pay insurance coverage for jobs like these, otherwise the wording of the contracts for jobs wouldn't be so specific! ...Seriously, was the guild run by devils? This sounded devil-y. Either way, they were off the hook!

Practically deflating, Alice would slump onto the desk, Alice would smile with her eyes closed. "PHEW! I was scared there..." she said, resting until she heard the clink of coin on the desk. Her ears perked up, seeing the miniscule coinage on display that would have to be split between the two of them. Alice had to admit, it turned her stomach getting paid such a puny amount but...it was walking a dog. It wasn't like they'd slayed a dragon or anything. Though at the rate Ms. Elmwood was going, Alice was scared she might turn into one...

The sound of hooves and hooters approached, and, turning to meet her partner in menial labor, Alice said: "We just got paid Brandy. Its...not much, but, it was just a small starter job. The next one we'll rake in more cash, and maybe even take on two at once!" Then, Brandy started talking about rescuing some hunk. And waving a flyer around. Well, Alice did like strong men, but an outdated ad for a contest for them wasn't catching her eye.

"A-Anyways, uh...yeah, she's enthusiastic! And...not too bright...kinda...kinda dim, actually...hehe...but, anyways, I don't want to abandon someone who stuck up for me. If it weren't for her, I doubt I'd have had the courage to talk to Ms. Elmwood the way I did after screwing up." Alice clenched her hands, eyes sparkling as she said: "Besides, I can teach her to be smart! I have a degree and all. How hard can it be to teach a Satyr to read?"