"Hmm, must be rough, huh? Havin' to deal with 'two tomes of the mont'? I feel for ya, Al- Yup." Brandy sage, while folding her arms under her chest and offering a sagacious nod to accompany her comment. Too bad it wasn't nearly as wise, or intelligent, an observation as the satyress seemed to think it was...

"... Uh... Iunno if ya know this. but I think you're def's 'spose to actually cook meat before ya start eatin' it." She added, in response to Alice's newfound butchness of just tearing raw meat, and fur, straight from the bone of an animal carcass. The scene made Brandy actually blink a few times, like she'd just seen a prim and proper librarian jump onto ther reception desk, torn off her top and screamed something like: I MAKE BABIES! or some other nonsense. Needless to say, she was a bit surprised to see her previousloy collected and calm companion turn into a crude carnivorous and directionally-challegend chump.

Still at the notion that Alice had lost her sense of direction, and was now relying on Brandy for geting them both back to Litroot, the satyr seemed to beam with a newfuund sense of pride. Thumping her - very considerable - chest with one hand, the little goat-girl let out a nasally snort before pointing in the opposite direction of where her werewolf-pal had walked towards.

"It's 'totes this way, ya goof!" She said, not seeming too phased by Alice's gruffer and more aggressive attitude... At least not yet. "Try not to scarf that whole bun-bun down before we get back to town though, yeah? Thinkin' you'd enjoy it more if'n we got someone to grill up for ya first, maa-haa-haa~!" She added, and laughed.

The two then set off, into the darkening night, back towards the village to report on their success.

5 Minutes Later.

"Yer money or yer lives!"

Well, that was totally expected.

While on the path back towards Litroot, the girls had at some point been waylaid by ruffians. The bandits had hidden in the forest and undergrowht, and then made themselves known by having their leader, a particularly unwashed human with a scruffy beard and unkempt hair, step out infront of the two ladies' path, flanked by two cronies. Behind the girls, two other thugs had emerged after they'd been stopped, properly catching the women in a puncer-move.

By the looks of it, these weren't any sort of particularly prominent bandits though. None of them wore armor and their weapons, mostly consisting of cudgels, clubs and knives, were hardly what you'd consider impressive gear. Most likely, these were just some roughnecks from the local region who'd just started out their careers as notorious highwaymen. That, or they were really terrible at robbery. Aside from the human leader though, there were two other human men, an orc and a hobgoblin.*

"What do you want fellas? We're tryin' to get back to the village and you're kinda in the way, sooo..."
"Didn't ye hear me, girlie? I says; Money or yer life!"
"Yeah, see, I'm not really gettin' what that's 'spose to mean..."
"Wha--?! Ya daft or somethin'!? Touched in the head? It means ya either fork o'er yer coins, or we kill ya, ya dumb bimbo!"
"Whaaaaat!?"
"Oi, sir! Don't be hasty now! Lookit them, part from them claws on the silver-haired ones, these be some fine lookin' pieces of tail they be! Maybe we dun hafta kill'em if'n we findin' some other use for'em, aye?" One of the other humans said.
"Hmm, now that ya mention it... Heh... Hehehe... Aye, they ain't half-bad to look at, now are they? Mmmm, yeeeaaah... I'm sure we could come to an arrangement, little ladies... Heeehh....." The leader of the bunch said, with a crooked toothy smirk and a very uncomfortable amount of heavy breathing. "Tells ya what, strip on down and let's have a lil' fun together, and we'll be on our way, aye... We'll be takin' yer coins 'swell, o'course, but ya dun needa worry 'bout yer lives... Hehe... As long as ye do as we says... Mhmhmhm.."

Brandy looked, unexpected, physically disgusted by these men and made a sudden, gag-like noise as if she were about to throw up.

"Gah... Ew, like, no. Just no. I wouldn't let some gross, pervy, low-life losers like you scumbags lay a finger on this bod' of mine! ... Or Al, for that matter!"
"Oi, c'mon now, lass. Dun be like 'at! I betcha ya'd be enjoyin' yerself right quick once we gots started. Ehehe~ I could even help'cha unlaoad some o' that milk ya gots stored in them their jugs o' yers!" The bandit who oriiginally suggested the new course of action said, wiggling his eyebrows and make creepy, suggestive movements with his hands and fingers. His comrades all cheered and roared with enthusiasm in response.
"I wanna pet this one's tails and ears... She's just my type, uhuhuhu~ Make ya my lil' puppy, uhuhuh~!" Said the orc, now making an unpleasant bee-line towards Alice while reaching his hand and arm out towards her, making patting-motions as he drew closer.

"Don't worry, Al! I'll protect ya!" Brandy bostfully claimed, with no real way of actually backing up said promise, as she had neither armor, shield or even a weapon to speak of on her person at this time.

This was a really unfortunate situation...

"...Strip...down...? You filthy scum..." Alice muttered, raising her head as the gargantuan orc man came over to try and pet her. ...Normally she'd appreciate the gesture and accept it, but this was 1: A fucking criminal trying to rob her, and 2: A fucking creep, given that this was likely sexual harassment. "I'm fine, Brandy," Alice said, taking a step forward towards the orc charging at her. He would continue making his patting motions, even as Alice gritted her teeth, aggressively growling before slamming her booted foot against his groin with such speed that he was still making the patting motions as he was sent to his knees, quivering in agony while Alice walked past him. "What's the matter? Don't want to pet the puppy anymore?" she asked, grinning as she grabbed the orc's club, miming a few swings with it as she looked towards the other robbers, shocked that the scrawny girl had the stones to do that.

"What the hell're you both standing there for? Gut that bitch!" the leader of the group would say, his two shocked henchmen that had been shielding their balls finally charging into action. The hobgoblin would charge at Alice who, now wielding their orc companion's club, would backstep a few times, dodging his lunges while his companion would move around to flank her. Alice looked somewhat bored as she was caught in a pincer manuever, surrounded by the two now. A third was coming as well, but would find that the hobgoblin had been dropped by another display of testicular violence, while his fellow human's hunting knife was caught clashing with the girl's claws, somehow capable of blocking steel.

"I have had an INSANELY shitty day, walking an ungrateful dog, getting yelled at by an old bitch of a woman, looked like an idiot in front of my new friend, waited in a bush for HOURS for a fucking JACKALOPE UNICORN..."

At that last exclamation the human with a dagger had closed in and stabbed Alice in the back. Smiling smugly, he twisted the knife inside the werewolf, only to find that there was virtually no blood. In fact, it was hard to even move his knife as the werewolf slowly turned her head towards him. "Do you MIND!?" she asked, reaching a hand down to grab his wrist, pull his dagger out like it was nothing, and throw him into a nearby tree. Brandy would also notice...Alice had no wound on her, save for a tear in her clothes. "You broke wannabe brigands can't even afford silver knifes," Alice taunted, grabbing the hunting knife of her opponent and snapping it in half, the pieces falling out of her hand, the wounds made that would be grevious on a human were vanishing in an instant as the metal fell away.

A gut punch would follow, sending the bang-less bandit reeling before Alice grabbed him by the back of his hair, and threw him against his fellow against the tree, launching into a dive kick perfectly centered on their family jewels, a foot for each that incapacitated them in an instant. Crouched over the two humans, Alice would creak her head to the side, neck snapping, and then again as she turned it the other way. "Y'know Brandy...I'm glad we took this job. I get to let out some steam..."

Alice would charge at the brigand boss, cackling like a madwoman as she dueled him, physical might brought to an inhuman level from her full moon state. The orc would finally give in to the agony of the ball breaker barrage as well, slumping over on the ground. "Hey Brandy, wanna smash their heads a little!? It'll be fuuuun~!" Alice asserted, having her adversary on the ropes. "I bet the guild'll LOVE IT if we haul in bandits too! Tie 'em up real good and I'll carry them ALL back!" she said, laughing madly once again. "Holy fuuuuuuuuck I needed this," Alice would say, standing over the bandit boss's form, a slash across his chest as she pinned him down with a foot, a bloodied hand running itself across her own face.

...Brandy's new best friend was kind of a psycho bitch this moon phase.

On that night a terrifying legend would circulate in that region, of the Ball-Buster Berserker that struck on full moons, making it one of the safest nights to travel.

Alice probably wouldn't remember any of this though unless Brandy told her. Or, one of the guild girls that would see Alice strolling in with a pile of bandits tied up together on her back, blood on her face, clothes full of slash holes, and looking like she just had the best night of her life.

Brandy readied herself, steeling her resolve and getting ready to charge head-first at the villains before her!

... And then Alice went bonkers.

The satyr could do little more than stand where was she was and look on, in total awe, as the mighty werewolf unleashed a day's worth of frustration on these poor, unwashed fools. It looked and felt so one-sided that you'd be forgiven fro thinking it was actually the two girls who were robbing the robbers, and not the other way around. Balls were kicked, bodies were thrown into trees, Alice was stabbed and didn't give two fudge-waffles... It was a dervish and level of ass-beating that the little satyress hadn't seen since the last time her adoptive family invited all the relatives, got drunk and had a good ol' fashioned rough-housing ho'down... But that'd invovled several fully grown minotaurs, this was just one werewolf alchemist who was kicking butt on the next level.

When the battle had been _resoundly won by the werewolf, and the girl was gleefully spouting out her plans and desires for what to do next, Brandy raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... Al... We... We 'totes didn't bring any rope, remember? And uh... Iunno how things with the guild work'n all that yet, but I don't think we'll get any money if we bring a buncha dirty, pervy, beat-up homeless guys along back." Brandy commented.

Not for not though, as the Guild was hardly a fort or sheriff's office. There wasn't anywhere to lock up criminals there, and it was more than likely there wasn't any place lik that back in Litroot at all, given the small size of the village. No, common sense dictated that if they were to bring these bandits back with them, they'd get complained at by the receptionist, and probably scolded by the guild mistress. It didn't seem like the best idea.

"Can't we just like, take their weapons so they can't hurt nobody more and then just leave'em here? Don't think any of 'em will be getting up anytime soon after the castration you served up, maa-haa-haa~" The satyress proposed, and laughed.

The bandits did not laugh. They were too busy lying on the ground, holding their junk with both hands, and groaning in unified misery.

Brandy proceeded to do what she'd suggested though, without waiting for Alice's reply. She gathered up the club, cudgel and knives, carrying them in both her arms, prssed against her squishy bosom. Returning to Alice's side, she smirked.

"Well, let's go! The town's this way, yeah?"

After which, she began to lead the way back to the village, leaving the now-robbed-robbers in the dirt, alone to wallow in regret and pain for the rest of the night. Unless Alice felt like kicking the shit outta people already on the ground, then they'd probably be feeling their bruises for the next couple of days instead.

There was a lengthy pause before Alice dropped her quarry and puffed her cheeks out, clapping her hands together. "Good point. I don't want their stink on me, Alice said, before unceremoniously tossing the bandit leader to his men. "He's not bleeding too bad. Patch him up once you morons can walk straight. And also!" Alice would say, adding another piece to her statement after kicking her leg up on a nearby tree, causing it to shake. "Try a stunt like this again, and I'll make sure you never walk straight again," she said, brandishing her claws. "Got it...?"

Alice would walk with her chest puffed out, returning now to the guild with Brandy. "...Um...thanks for that back there, Brandy," Alice said, tail wagging slightly. "I got so caught up in fighting them that I wasn't thinking straight. Or...at all, really. Daddy always said: 'Go for the balls', so...I kinda got a little too into breaking stuff. I might have wound up killing someone if you weren't here. So...Thanks."

Alice, even in her full moon state could smile, and smile she did, hands behind her back as she said: "You're an awesome partner."

The rest of the journey back would likely be fairly smooth, all the while Alice was drooling looking at her decapitated rabbit. She really, really wanted to eat it now...but she figured Brandy was right before about it tasting better cooked. They also had all the junk weapons from the bandits to sell off, but that could wait until the morning.

Brandy laughed, a mockingly valley girl-esque laugh, as Alice threatened th bandits with permanent castration should they ever try to do somehting like this again. Although, whetever they actually heard the threat or not, was a different matter entirely. After all, they were all lying on the ground, in fetal positions, both hands ontop of their respective junk, and making plaintive and whining noises... Which was completely understandable, given the circumstances.

As they began to walk, and Alice promptly thanked Brandy for her ... Whatever it was she had done... The satyress just laughed and gave the werewolf a few pats on the back in a friendly manner.

"Maa-haa! No biggie. I am pretty awesome though. And a smokin' hottie too. Maa-haa-haa~!" It seemed Brandy wasn't shy about accepting compliments, or tooting her own horn. "You're pretty cool too though, Al. I'm so glad I got to team up with ya." The little satyr added, flashing a happy, sunny smile at Alice as they walked back towards home.

The road back to Litroot was uneventful and unworthy of commentary beyond the incident with the bandits. Once the girls returned, they'd find that the Guild Hall, while still open, had no staff present. The tanuki receptionist had left a folded sign that read: 'Gone to bed! Please wait warmly. (HEart-Emoji)' on her desk. There were no light seeping out from under the Hall Mistress' room either, and no sound wa to be heard if one approached and place an ear on the door. It seemed that, apart from the sparsely populated quest board, there was nobody around.

Brandy pouted and complained about how her triumphant return from her first real quest was a total bust and how she'd make that glasses-wearing fat-tailed raccoon-woman pay for shirking her duties. She also made further comments about said tanuki's outdated dress-code and lack of yaddiyaddiyadda....... You kind of zoned out after the beginning, since most of the whining was irrelevant and/or completely misplaced.

Regardless, after she calmed down, Brandy sighed and told her companion that she'd return to the inn where she was staying. She was feeling a bit peckish and was going to see if she could rustle up some grub in the kitchen without the innkeep noticing... Or so she planned anyway. Of course, Brandy failed to specify which inn she was staying at, as Litroot - despite its size - actually had two locations for lodging. One was an inn of modest comfort and standards, while the other was a sleazy mix of both a tavern and inn, where those with less coin, or more inclination to drink, typically ended up staying.

Waving and telling her new friend good night, the satyress bounced off into the night, and returned to whichever locale she had left all her stuff in.

The night passed poeacefully.

Come monrning, the weather was a bit less favorable than yesterday. There were more clouds in the sky and a cheeky breeze. But regardless of that, the inhabitants of the little village still got up at the crack of dawn and began their daily routines. Once the sun had begun rising over the horizon, a sleepy-looking raccoon woman in a business suit could be seen, slowly walking towards the GORE Guild Hall, stretching her arms and letting out a seeries of exaggerated yawns... It seemed Kariin was on her way back to work, at a relatively early hour no less.

Alice had been given the kindly offer of shelter a few days ago by a local farmer, with the minor caveat of just helping a bit with the morning chores to repay him. She was a working girl at heart, and the least she could do was milk some cows and feed the chickens for him. After washing up and getting dressed in her alchemist's robe, Alice would depart for the guild. Last night was a little crazy, so she hoped that Brandy wouldn't suddenly be afraid of her after getting a night's sleep to think about how Alice had gone on a bandit ball-busting rampage.

"Good morning, Kariin," Alice would say as she took a seat by the guild's board, tail wagging as she browed over the usual dull jobs for the town. It was somewhat sleepy work, but she figured she could bear with doing it for a bit longer until Brandy was fully fledged. ...Thinking about that term, Alice wondered if she herself was even full-fledged, considering just yesterday she screwed up walking a dog, but...she could still fight! She bet if she got a big enough bottle, she could make a Dragonbreaker bomb no problem!

Reassuring herself that she wasn't already washed out as a novice, Alice was simply passing her time waiting for Brandy, peeking over what kind of requests were coming in today. Hopefully, some big money would roll in and let her order some premium ingredients for her experiments.

As the werewolf called out to her, the drwosy-looking raccoon-woman snapped to attention and cast a quick, sideways glance over her shoulder. When she realized who it was that was calling her out though, she relaxed considerably before replying.

"Ah, good morning to you too, Miss Keller. It seems you're doing well this morning. How'd the hunt for that horned rabbit go yesterday? And where's your friend?" She responded in a polite, but largely disinterested tone of voice.

The two would reach the guild hall swiftly, and Karin would proceed to slide onto the cushioned chair at the front desk, fiddling with some papers and documents, before lazily putting them aside on top of an old drawer... Which already had a stack of paper on top of it... And from the looks of it, nobody had organized or gone through any of them in a long, long while...

"If you're just waiting around, why not have a look at the board? Or brew me a cup of coffee." The receptionist said after having finished her little charade of morning routines, giving Alice a wink and winning smile... She must've really wanted that coffee.

The quest board was, as per usual, sparsely populated with only the most basic of basic jobs. There was a 'quest' to pull out weeds in someone's garden, help pick apples, finding mushrooms, picking medicinal herbs, locating a runaway cat and - amusingly - delivering a letter to the not-too-far-away town of Gnarlton. Apart from that though, the rest were either just ads for local establishments, fliers for events and festivities that had already passed, or childish scribbles and charicatures done by local brats as a prank.

Soon enough though, a voice called out for Karin. It came from the Guild Mistress' room. The tanuki-woman sighed, took off and polished her glasses with a small hankerchief, before excusing herself and walking over to the tiny witch's office. Going through the door after knockingly gently, she vanished into the black, looming dark that seemed an awful lot like void-space, before the door closed behind her. Luckily, there were not screams of agony or shrieks of unceremonious fear.

... For now at least.

Meanwhile, as the minutes ticked on, a few familiar faces began to appear. It was some of the other adventurers who frequwnted the hall - most of them locals. Most of them were also just adventurers in name, having joined the guild because they were either curious, bored or liked to brag about it. There were also those who had ulterior motives for joining, such as finding a suitable life-partner... Or just oggling adventurers in general... Regardless, they greeted Alice with hello's and hi's, engaging in brief conversations before looking at the guild's board and letting out disapproving, disappointed or exaspperated moans and sighs of a plaintive nature. One girl grumbled under her breath about how there was never any good jobs 'in this backwater village' as she left the hall in a foul mood.

Moments after her departure though, the door to the guild flung open and slammed into the wall, causing its hinges to complain loudly. A bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and extremely confident-looking little satyr strode into the building. Her white-beige short hair, brown-red eyes and healthy tan - not to mention those ridonkulous boobs - made it very apparent that this was none other than the legendary Brandy! ... or, at least that's probably how she was seeing things, given the swagger in her movements.

She was wearing a different outfit again today. this time, she wore a white, long-sleeved shirt that showed off her shoulders... And... Either she was wearing a very, very micro-skirt, or she wasn't wearing anything at all below her waist, aside from those black panties that had been clearly
vissible the first time she showed up at the hall in her really, really revealing outfit. No matter the glares, stares, murmurs or reactions of her peers though, as soon as the satyress spotted Alice, her smiling face lit up even more, with eyes dazzling like the sun.

"Al!"

With bouncing noise, and bouncing bounces, she bounced over to where her friend-of-two-whole-quests was standing. Grabbing the other girls hands (paws?) and excitedly bobbing up and down, as if she was raising and lowering herself on her tippy-toes... Even though she didn't have toes... Well, not toes-toes, just hoof-toes...

"What's up? Ya lookin' like yerself today, girl. None of that silver-highlights-stuff ya pulled last night. Gonna be hundred-percent with you, you 'totes rock this look waaaaaaay better, Al. So wha'cha up to? Wait, where's that fat-tailed-chick that's usually lazing over at the desk? She not here yet? Maa-haa-haa~! What a slacker!"

She was, as per usualy, full of energy today too.

"Sure thing," Alice said in response to Kariin's request for some coffee. Turning on her alchemical furnace and rummaging through the guild shelves quickly for their preferred beans. After all, it wasn't the first time an alchemist brewed coffee. A bit of hot water, some alchemical do-dads, and bam, a pot of coffee was being brewed while Alice peeked at the job board.

It looked like a lot of slim pickings for jobs, mostly just errands that people needed doing...and, that cat rescue was a no-go. It wasn't that Alice hated cats...it was that cats hated Alice. She'd probably only scare the cat more. Kariin would have to wait for her coffee it seemed as she was called into the guild office, and as such Alice would be left to greet Alice with her usual energy.

Alice didn't mind having her hands grabbed, not possessing paws...thankfully. That would make her work difficult. "Ehhh...yeah, that only happens during a full moon. And yeah, silver isn't my look. Was looking over the quests, and made some coffee. Was supposed to be Kariin's, but she'll have some when she gets back. Want some?"

As soon as Alice offered her coffee, the door of the guild would swing open, a figure entering that Alice hadn't seen before...nor anyone at the guild. Her garb was black as night, contrasting with the deathly pallor of her skin and hair. A single orange eye looked out at the guild, her other obscured behind her bangs. A sinister looking bow was hung across her back, a quiver at her hip possessing similarly edgy arrows. She...looked like the real deal. Like, an actual adventurer that did more than picking apples.

Approaching with confidence, the undead woman would stand before the guild desk and awkwardly stand there waiting, unmoving.

Alice blinked a few times. "...Think she's here to finish a quest? Her weapon looks awesome..."

"Nah, I'm good!" Brandy replied when she was offered coffe. "I dun really like coffee unless you put some good stuff in it, if'n ya catch my drift." The satyr explained, giving Alice a playful smirk and equally playfully nudging the werewolf in her ribs with her elbow.

Then the door to the guild hall flung open and Swanky McDeathpants entered the floor. Brandy stared. And stared. And stared some more. Alice's comment about the new arrival's weapon and appearance went completely in through one ear and out the other, as the satyr stood there with a gooft expression on her face... At least, for a few Then she squeed. Like, really, really squeed. Complete with the whole, hands pressed up against her cheek and her entire body doing that wobbly, side-to-side wiggling while her tail rotated like a ... Rotor... on a helicopter.... And her ears twitched repeatedly.

"S... S... S.. S... SO COOOOOOL!" She then errupted in a very fangirly fashion, before looking over at Alice with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes and heavy breathing. "Al! Look! Look! Her outfit's amazin'! It 'totes shows off her slammin' bod', but it's also stylish and has that whole dark hero-vibe going for it, yeah!? And her hai! She really nailed that do, with her eye color and that porcelain-skin, she's like some unobtainable ice queen! Well, I prefer a bit of color on the skin myself-" She looked down at her hands and legs before going on. "-but still! She someone you know, Al? She a regular? The town's pro? Legend? Prodigy!? We should 'totes chat her up! C'mon!"

Brandy, having no patience or understanding for the possiblity that some people were not inbto the whole being-approached-by-a-complete-stranger-deal, quickly bounced on over to the side of this dark, mysterious archer-woman. Once next to the new arrival, she spent a few good seconds looking up and down, and from side to side, and around and about, the other woman before finally meeting her eyes and face - with a face and eyes filled with sunshine on her own part.

"Hiya! Nice to meet'cha! I'm Brandy, and that's Al!" She greeted, before quickly pointing over to the werewolf. "So like, spill! Are you like a local legend 'round here or somethin'? Ya don't look anything like the other girls who've dropped by when I first came here." She announced, unabashed and completely seeming to have forgotten that she'd been to this guild hall for the whole, whopping entierty of one day so far. "Ya here to turn in a quest? Returning from some big adventure? Ooh, what's ytur name? And where'd you get that awesome outfit! I'm so jelly, I want an adventuring outfit like that too..." It seemed Brandy had no trouble what so ever in finding things to ask and talk about with this newcomer. She then seemed to remember something and turned back to Alice, waving at her companion. "Hey! C'mon, get over here, Al. Don't be shy! We're getting to know each other. We're all adventurers after all, right?" She called, with the biggest most sincerest smile you'd ever seen.

Alice was caught up once again in the whirlwind that was Brandy's excitement. hurriedly, she was trying to stop Brandy from bugging the lady, since judging from her intense aura and razor sharp presence, she was dangerous in her own way. W-What if she cut Brandy down for being a noob trying to talk to her!? "I-I don't know her, she might be on assignment form another branch. Brandy, wait!" Alice said, realizing how futile it was as Brandy approached the Revenant Ranger before them.

Her greeting didn't seem to stir the woman, beyond the most slight movement so that she could look Brandy in the eyes. If looks could kill, Brandy would be smited where she stood from that singular eye staring at her, the cold, hardened eyes of a killer taking her in...

...or at least, that's how the ranger saw herself. "...Okay, deep breath...no lung function, but deep breath. Just another fellow awesome adventurer at this guild. Just act natural, and everything will go just fine..." the Ranger's thoughts resounded in her own mind, before she leaned against the counter, flipping her bangs aloofly. "A pleasure to make your acquaintances, Brandy and Al. I hail from parts unknown, a whirlwind of chaos come to descend upon the land. Though I've only started my journey as an adventurer, know that someday my name shall ring across all lands as a herald of destruction!" she would say, raising a gauntlet covered hand to point directly at Brandy and Alice.

"I am the Duchess of Destruction, Sofia Lenkov~!" she proclaimed proudly, taking her free hand and poising it over her face, covering her already covered eye hidden by her bangs. "As for my raiments...crafted by none other than your's truly. I'd never trust another to handle my protectKCHION!" she would proclaim proudly, leaning back again before slipping and falling on her back, tripping over her own cape as she repositioned her feet. Staring blankly up at Brandy and Alice, she would blink after a moment, before hurriedly clearing her throat and poising her cheek in the palm of her own hand, leaning like a maiden awaiting a painting in her image. "I-I merely thought it best to...inspect the condition of the floor. Very sturdy. A fine floor, indeed."

"...Ohhhhh my god oh my GOD! THEY SAW ME JUST EAT SHIT! They saw me fall like a moron! Why does this always happen why why why why why why why why!?" Sofia's internal monologue continued, all the while a small amount of cold sweat started becoming visible on her face. She was beyond nervous.

Alice had seen everything, and walked over to offer her hand. "Well, if you're a fresh adventurer, you can count on me for advice. I'm Alice, and this is Brandy like she said. She started just yesterday, so..."

Sofia would hold Alice's hand with both of her's, visible eye shimmering as she said: "My profoundest thanks, fair lady Alice! I would be delighted to undertake your tutelage to...to...erm...adventure. Properly!"

"That's great! First though, we need to get some paperwork filled out. Buuut...since Kariin's not here, you might need to wait."

A quick motion, and Sofia was once again on her feet, standing before Alice and Brandy with a smile on her face. "Rest assured, I would not fail to be a most worthy ally to your adventures. No dragon shall match our fury, and no hell can contain our boiling blood!"

Alice clapped her hands together and smiled. "Great to hear...but...most of our jobs are like...missing pets and picking crops."

A long silence would fill the room as the revenant's enthusiasm waned at hearing that. "I-I see...but, the simple folk are always in need! It is only natural our duties begin at hearth and home!"

Brandy didn't seem phased by the stare of death which she was given by the ranger initially... That, or she didn't notice... Or the glare wasn't much of a glare to begin with. Once the undead woman started speaking though, the satyress listened intetly to every word she said, nodding at irregular intervals to signal that she'd been paying attention.

... Then the badass dark heroine tripped and fell...

If there was a sound-effect that would have signalled the mment, it'd been one of shattering glass. Brandy's eyebrow arched upward and a peculiarly amused smile formed on her lips... But she didn't say anything. Strange, given that it was Brandy we were talking about. Still, after Alice came over, helped the poor thing back up and gave her a run-down of... Stuff... Brandy finally chimed in.

"Yeah! So, I like, 'totes only understood 'bout half of wha'cha said there, but... If you're new to this stuff too, then you oughta join our party!" Brandy announced, invited and more or less sales-pitched to the new female before her. "We're legit! We've tackled runaway dogs, battled ferocious bun-buns and Al over here even kicked the snot outta some pervy bandits! She looks like one of those bookworm-types, but she's super-strong!" Brandy boasted and praised(?) her own group and partner's abilities... Leaving out any mention of deeds which she herself had achieved... Likely because there weren't any.

As the three girls chatted up a small storm though, the door to the Hall Mistress' office swung open, and a tired, slouched and somewhat slumped-over Karin emerged from the murky depths. There was an aura of fatigue and exertion on the bespectacled tanuki's face and she looked as if she'd just listned to someone read a dictionary aloud. In monotone. From start to finish.

Once spotted by the little bundle of satyr-boobies though, the raccoon-receptionist's sloow, zombie-like shuffle towards her desk was derailed. Almost flying over the counter, Brandy bounced her way over to the sharp suit-wearing woman and grabbed her hand, causing the woman's head to jerk and her body to stiffen in surprised.

"Wha-What!? Oh, Miss Vanillarin..."
"Heya, Kar! Listen, listen! Me'n Al got the job done! We smacked that horny rabbit good! Well, Al did anyway. I got kicked in the face... Maa-haa-haa, so embarrassing~!!" The way she said it didn't make it sound like she was very bothered about it though...
"I... Uh... Huh? Wait, horn-- Oh! The horned rabbit. Horn-Ed. Yes, I remember you two taking that quest yesterday. And you saud you finished it?"
"Yup, yup! It wasd like bam, wham, thank you ma'am! We got that douche-guy to sign and everythin'! Al even at the thing to gain its powers!"
"... Somehow I doubt that's why she ate it, but anyway, good job. Now, if you'll just let me get to my desk we can have your valiant friend fill out the proper paperwork." Karin said, with a polite business-like smile, while trying to brush Brandy aside.
"Whaaaa-!? Wha'bout me? Why can't I do it~?"
"Because you, my dear, cannot write in common, remember?"
"... Oh yeah! I forgot! Maa-haa-haa!"

Sighing, Karin walked over to her desk, sat down, fiddled with some paperwork which was lying spread out all over the place, lazily filed it all away in a non-organized fashion into her cabinet, then finally turned towards Sofia and Alice.

"Well then, congratulations on your second completed quest. If you'll just fill this out, and show me the writ of completion from the client, I'll hand over your pay." She said as professionally as usual. Then she noticed the new face, and she raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Ah, you must be a newcomer. I haven't seen you around the Litroot Guild Hall before. Welcome, I'm Karin, the receptionist here. Are you here to file a quest, or perhaps sign up to join? Or perhaps you're here from another Hall looking for work? Whatever the case, just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Ah, the coffee. Thank you~" She said, explained, and wrapped up, before taking a cup of joe that Alice had prepared earlier and took a big old clunk of it, lettinng out a content 'Pffaaaah!-noise afterwards.

"So, Kar? Why were you in the big lady's room? Didja do somethin' to get a spnaking? Hmm? Hmmmm!?" Brandy suddenly appeared to the left of Karin, inching closer and closer, her face invading Karin's personal space more and more. The raccoon-woman backstepped as if she was evading an attack, startled by the quiet and sudden appearane of the short miscreant yet again.

"Miss Vanillarin! Ahem! That matter was related to Guild administrative personnel only, it's nothing you need concern yourself with." She answered, pushing her glasses back onto their proper perch on her nose while striking a pose with one hand on her hip.
"'Kaaaaay~! So, Al! Whadda we doin' for stuff today? There any good jobs? I wanna go 'splore some ruins, or a dungeon, or maybe judge an eatin' contest?" Brandy's ears witched excitedly as she bounded over to Alice with a clippity-clop, tail wagging just as excitedly as if she were a puppy.

Alice was glad that Karin seemed to come alive at the coffee, but was confused on why she got so flustered at Brandy's suggestion. ...Were her and the guildmaster in something together? It wasn't her place to judge after all. Love is free and all. ...Or was this just Brandy being Brandy as usual...?

Regardless, Sofia would clear her throat, looking to Brandy. "I would be most happy to join hands with fine adventurers such as yourselves. Rejoice fair Karin," Sofia would say, with the last part being said after Sofia struck a pose that one can only assume looked cool in her head. "I have come to join this guild hall, and carve my name into history as a hero of legend! While Sofia made a fool of herself in the coolest way possible, Alice would go back over to the job board to look them over. "Let's see...pulling weeds, picking apples, finding mushrooms, picking medicinal herbs, ...finding a lost cat, and delivering a letter to Gnarlton..."

Alice would look to Brandy, saying: "No dungeons or judgin for eating contests here. But, the quest to deliver a letter to Gnarlton sounds easy, fun, and an easy way to see things along the road."

"Very well, will you please just fill out this form and we'll get you resigstered." The tanuki receptionist responded as the undead woman posed and verified her desire to join the adventuring guild of rentable expendables adventurers. While Karin buised herself with informing the new applicant that adding things like 'Destroyer of Chaos' and 'Master of Destruction' weren't necessary in the 'name:'-section of the form, Brandy's ears perked and twitched as Alice listed off the various available quests.

The pickings were.... Slim... To say the least. Still, when the mention of going to Gnarlton came up, Brandy's eyes sparkled a bit and her already present smile became even larger.

"Whaaaat? Shut. Up! We get to go to Gnarlton!? That's like, 'totes a big city, yeah? Papa-- err... I mean, my dad used to say he worked there back when he wasn't an old man. Said it was really big and bustlin' and full of people and stuff! So yeah, no duh are we gonna deliver the heck outta that letter, Al!" Apparently, even something as simple as being an errand girl was enough to excite the excitable satyress.

Hearing the two girls come to an agreement what to do, Karin turned her head towards them - leaving Sofia alone for just a moment.

"Hold on now, you two. Miss Keller still needs to fill out the form for your previous job. After taht, we'll set things up so the three of you can take that delivery job, alright?" The beaurocratic enforcer enforced.
"Bah! Can't we just fill them both out when we get back?" The satyr protested.
"No, you cannot. Delivery quests like this don't need you to return to where you got them, so long as there's a Guild Hall in the place you're going to. And Gnarlton just so happens to have a much larger and more lively guild hall than us here in Litroot. So, once you've delivered the letter, you can just go there and get your reward."
"Boo! Boo!" Brandy kept protesting.
"Shouldn't you go and get ready for the trip, Miss Vanillarin? It'll take you at least two full days on foot to get to Gnarlton, you know?" The raccoon, with a now twitching vein visible in hher temple, stated with a strained smile.
"Oh yeah! I needa get my things ready and put on some road-clothes! Al, Sofer! I'll see ya both at the road outta tooooooooooooooooown!" Brandy's elongated shout became more and more distant, as the race car-like noise made when she was running at full speed could be heard once more as she almost flew through the guild's door and out into the dirt paths of the village.

Karin sighed a sigh of relief and returned to helping her newest recruit fill out the last of the paperwork.

Also, Brandy had apparently decided what to call her new companion already. Without stopping to hear whether that it was acceptable or not. She was far too busy running back to wherever she had been spe staying in order to change into her Labor Clothes and get her backpack for the journey ahead.

Sofia would fill her paperwork out with style and grace, flourishing with some impressive handwriting on her signature. She had some nice handwriting, nice enough that it put Brandy's to shame. Well...not like Brandy wrote actual letters.

At the mention of going to Gnarlton, Sofia would strike a pose, one hand raised in the air behind her while she dramatically said: "Fame and fortune await!"

Alice would take care of the nitty gritty of the details of their job, mentioning the bandits on the road and how she and Brandy had managed to "escape" them, since she didn't want to explain the full-moon rage she entered, leading her to be a whispered legend among bandits as the "Ballistic Ball-Busting Bitch". She would then run off to get ready for the two-day trip, thanking the farmer for letting her stay the night in his barn.

Sofia would embark on a completely ordinary walk to go and get her small bags backed, carrying not much more than a change of clothes, some spare arrows, and her standard equipment. She didn't technically need to eat anything aside from the occasional sacrifice of meat, which was easy to get in the wild. And even then, the undead were pretty good at fasting. Its why her figure stayed so good, because every day you eat is cheat day if you eat once a month.

Alice and Sofia would be waiting, while Sofia would eagerly show off her rather...overly heroic outfit designs already sketched and prepared for Alice and Brandy. Somehow, Brandy's showed more and less skin, looking like a hide-armored barbarian's attire, while Alice was dressed in overly complicated robes. "I uh...I like my apron. Thanks."

After the fussing and scribbling of paperwork was done, Karin gave the werewolf-girl a surprised look.

"Bandits, really? And this close to Litroot? Hmm, that's a concern... I'll have to talk to the Guild Mistress about it." The raccoon-recrptionist said thoughtfully, while taking a big old sip from the coffee that Alice had made earlier. "I'm glad to hear you both managed to get away safely though. Please be careful on your trek to Gnarlton however. If there're bandits lurking about between here and the outlying farms, they might show up again." Karin cautioned, before taking another sip from her mug.

After Sofia was finished registering, and Karin had fiddled around a bit in her filing cabinets, the disorganized tanuki finally retrieved something. It was the letter that the group would be delivering. As far as letters go, it looked really run-of-the-mill. A white paper enveloped with a crudely drawn fashioned stamp and a unadorned wax seal. She handed the scrap of mail over to Alice and urged her tp deliver it to the Guild Hall over in Gnarlton, as well as reminding her not to go opening and reading the contents... Apparently such things happened occasionally and the recipient of such letters were, rightfully, a bit miffed about having their mail read by the delivery-service...

Meanwhile

"This and that and this and that. oh, that's mine too! And these! Gonna need those too... And can't forget about these! Oooh-hoooo~These lacey ones might be my favorite after all... They do kinda ride a bit high on my butt though... Ah well!"

Brandy was in full swing, packing her stuff up and shoving down into her large, charcoal-colored, geometrically-themed backpack. The thing was almost as big as the litte satyr herself, yet once it was fully loaded, the tanned bombshell hefted it onto her back and seemed to be just fine lugging it around. After a bit of swearing and tugging, she got through the doorway to her rented room - not having had the foresight to just push the pack out through the open door first and THEN puttting it on. Clomping down the stairs to the first floor, she scampered over to the dirty bar disk, where a balding, bearded fellow with bushy eyebrows and the thickest muttonchops this side of Gnarlton, was standing and lazily cleaning a mug with a... less-than-clean... rag. As the bouncing Brandy approached, the middle-aged fellow turned his head and gave her a once-over from top to toe.

"Hey, chief! I'm headin' out!"
"Leaving already are ya?
"Yeah! Me'n the girls took a job that'll get us over to Gnarlton! Y'know it? It's like, a 'totes big town and stuff! I'm so excited!" Brandy bobbed up and down where she was standing. The barkeep let out a sigh-
"Aye, I know it alright. Ain't that big of a town... Well, compared to Litroot, it's pretty big I guess." He mused. [color=lime]"Still, ya sure you wanna leave so soon? You've been a mighty fine waitress and you're good at drawing in the customers. Woulda really appreciated ya stayin'n working full-time, y'know?"[/colro]
"Aawww-haa~ Chief, that's so sweet! you gonna be lonely without little ol' me~?" Brandy teased, closing her eyes half-way and making a coy face. The barkeep snorted and turned his head away, cheeks slightly flushed.
"D-don't be silly, girl! You're way too much of a kid to be pullin' that kinda act! You were just good for business, that's all!" The stubborn fellow muttered. Brandy just laughed.
"Maa-haa-haa~! Don't you worry your shiny, shiny head. I'm sure we'll come back someday. I'll be sure to drop by and lend ya a hand when we do." The energetic satyress promised, leaning over the counter and giving the old fart a peck on his cheek, which caused said cheeks to become even more red... As did the rest of his face.
"W-w-why you little minx! Go on! Get outta here! And I'd better see you again someday, and you're gonna wear the shop's uniform at that time!" The man blustered. Brandy laughed again.
"Only if you make it cuter~! Bye for now, chief!"

The bundle of brightness bounced out of the dank and drab drinking-hole which was the sleazier and less reputable of two local locations of serviced spirits and sustenance. As the tanned girl made her way through the village, she waved and greeted those she passed by, a smile on her face all the while. And why wouldn't she be smiling? This was very exciting for her. The very first time she'd go and see an actual town, as she'd lived in a place much like Litroot her entire youth. A tiny place where everyone knew everyone. But now she was headed for a place with hundreds, maybe even thousands of different people! The mere thought made Brandy's heart race with anticipation.

Arriving at the north end of the village, Brandy quickly spotted the pair of companions and raced over to them with a 'vroom'. Skidding to a stop, and kicking up a small cloud of dust, she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey girls! I'm sooooo ready to get going! Ya both packed'n stuff? I'm all set myself, even changed into these threads just to be on the safe side!"

Brandy was dressed in her work-clothes. The ones she worn when she and Alice went to fight the horned rabbit. Though, calling them clothes was a bit of a stretch... More like, a jeans apron-slash-leotard would be more correct. Still, at least she'd had the capability of switching to clothes that would endure some wear and tear and not get ruined in case dirt and grime got on them. Though, it might just have been that Brandy had been told by her parents or sibiligs to wear that particular outfit while on the road, and she not having had the brainpower to figure that out on her own... it was plauislbe.

"Alright, let's go, go, go! Al, Sofers! Let's head for Gnarlton, yeeeaaah!" Brandy exclaimed, throwing a balled fist into the air and doing a little jump... Which seemed to last a bit longer than gravity would have normally allowed, but maybe it was a trick of the light...?

Regardless!

The trio's journey from Litroot would begin at the north end of the little village. They would need to travel along a dirt road that winded through a region of landscape that was mostly made up of woodlands, grassy plains and small rolling hills. The foresty and hilly bits would be more prevalent during the early stages of the journey, while the grassy plains would become more dominant the closer they'd get to Gnarlton. Still, it would be a long walk, taking two full days if they just stuck to the road and didn't take side-tours or get distracted by anything, anyone or otherwise...

It was still early in the morning though and they had the whole day ahead of them to travel. Sky was blue with only a handful of tiny, wispy clouds sailing about far above. Birds and bugs could be heard all around and the breeze was mellow and pleasant, bringing the smell of leaves and wildflowers along with it. In short, it was a great day to be out and about in nature! Brandy was in such a good mood that she was singing... And surprisingly, she was actually pretty good. Not on the level of a professional bard or anything, but with a bit of practice and proper instruction, she could've probably become one of those fancy songstresses who work at fancy establishments or sing on a big stage.

The Revenant and Werewolf would be awaiting Brandy, each eager in different ways to start off this journey. For Alice, it was the first step taken into the wider world of adventuring. For Sofia, it was the very beginning of her unforgettable adventures with her companions, who she had already designed intricate, complicated costumes for.

On the road, said costumes would be discussed in length with Brandy, with Sofia showing off a number of sketches she'd made in her time waiting for the two to be ready. "And so, this one would accentuate your lovely figure, while also giving off the impression of power..." Sofia would say, flipping through some of her rather well-drawn outfit concepts for Brandy.

Alice was glad she wasn't getting flogged with clothing ideas...she'd been dealing with that for a solid twenty minutes before Brandy showed up. As for the distractions of the road...while one wouldn't call Alice "focused", it wasn't as if she was picking every flower she came across for alchemical reason-

She was doing exactly that, zipping off to the side of the road every few minutes to gather some herbs, then return before the girls had time to slow their pace. "Your singing voice is quite lovely, Brandy," Sofia would say, adding: "Have you ever given thought to being a bard? I think you'd be good at it."

Alice would smile, turning around from the front of the party. "I'm gonna agree with Sofia here. You've got a real pretty voice."

Brandy was all too happy to have someone to talk fashion, clothes and accessories with. The satyr would excitedly review and comment on the various designs of her new, undead friend - as well as make suggestion or make proposals for alternative or brand new designs of her own. Needless to say, she was having a great time with Sofia, almost completely forgetting about Alice.

However, once the two other girls unifiedly agreed that her singing was pretty, Brandy's cheeks flushed red. But, unlike most people who would get shy or uncomfortable, Brandy's smile just got broader and her singing got louder. She puffed out her chest and started skipping as she walked, clearly very pleased that the other two appreciated her talent... Which might've been the only she ahd, to be fair...

Alice's running back and forth, gathering herbs and zipping to and fro while they walked caught the eye of the young satyress though. As she watched the overgrown puppy chase after flowers, grasses and plants, she let out a snicker and gave Sofia a playful nudge in the side with her elbow.

"Look, look. Al's like a frolicking lil' puppy! Maa-haa-haa~!" She stated, obviously amused by the alchemist's antics.

As it neared noon and the time to stop for a bit and make camp, as lunch-time was on the near horizon, the group would stop in a generally pleasant little meadow along the side of the road. To the east was a woodedland area and to the west some hilly, grass-covered hills. The smell of wildflowers covered the area and the sun's warmth was being nicely supplemented by a gentle breeze. It was a very pitroesque and serene scene indeed. Brandy began to unload her big ol' backpack from her... Well, back, and started rummaging through it try and find something, or somethings.

As she was head-first deep inside her pack, with her butt rhythmically wagging form side to side as she dug around inside, she wasn't privvy to the following events.

First, there was a flock of birds that started chirping and took flight in a panic. NExt, a mother doe and her little deerling came quickly jumping out of the woods on the east and made a beeline for the hills across the road. Finally, there was the noise of branches snapping, thin tree-trunks cracking, leaves rustling and low, rumbling noise that sounded very much like something between a gasless lawnmower and an earthquake...

Rustle, rustle. Crack! Pop! Creeeeeeaaaaaaaaak~!

Then, it emerged! From the woods, the asme place as the pair of deer, a new creature arrived on the scene. Alas, this one was far less adorable.

It stood over seven feet tall, had a very significant underbite, with a row of sharpish-looking long teeth to go with it. A large, bubly nose and a pair of deformed elf-like ears. Its eyes were beady and red, it had a slouched posture and it looked to be made of equal amounts of blubber and muscle. It also had a beer-gut. And it was bald. And it was a greenish grey color . did we mention it also was almost entirely naked? Aside form a small, ratty, moth-eaten piece of fabric hanging - thankfully - infront of and covering up its crotch.

Yet, the being's rather unpleasant appearance was nothing compared to its smell. Oh ye hods, the smell! Imagine a cramped elevator fillwed with a bunch of convention-goers who haven't showered since their con started, along with the smell of a week old, unflushed toilet-goop and a mouth that's never seen a toothbrush... That was an approximately passable comparison to how this thing smelled. Not that it seemed to mind or care itself, in fact, it probably enjoyed the stank.

Regardless!

As the trundling, lumbering minitaure-giant came out of the woods, it looked around with its smushed-in, pug and/or bulldog-like upper-bit face, scanning the area. When it spotted the trio of girls, it slowly turned its entire body towards them. Did we mention the club it was holding? The club, which was more akin to a log. Said club-log was flung up and onto one of its shoulders to rest, as it stared at the girls... It was a very discomfortable stare... Very hungry. As in the wanting food-variant, not the wanting-something-else variant.

"Hnnngh... Small... Hungy... Hnngh." The creature spoke, with a very barely understandable voice that sounded more like a low growling and snarling.

At this point, a certain satyr removed her head and upper body from inside her own pack and returned to a fully standing state. In her hands were a few wooden utensils, such as mugs and bowls.

"Alright, finally found these suckers. So, what're we haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-oooooooooooly crap! What the fudgenutters is that thing!?" Brandy, who had been preuccupied with finding her cutlery, had only just now noticed the new arrival. Her apparent shock at this caused her to drop the mugs, bowls and utensils on the grassy ground as she stood dumbfounded and with mouth agape at the sight of the horribleness before her. "That is one ugly fella!" She exclaimed, aloud, unabashed, unconcerned for her own well-being should the foul thing understand common.

Luckily for Brandy, the creature didn't seem to understand, or wasn't interested in conversing. Unfortunately for Brandy - and the other girls too - the creature did seem interested in murdering their faces. With a loud, gutteral belch-roar, the creature stomped its foot a few times on the ground, swung its club-log over its head in a threateningly wild fashion, and then set off running - with surprising speed - towards the girls. The noise of each footstep as its large, gross, unwashed feet struck the ground sound like loud thumps.

"Eeeek! That nasty thing's coming at us! Where's my... My... My... uh... My thing!" Brandy quikcly dove back at her pack, nearly tripping over herself. It was clear she was looking for something...

Perhaps it was the spiked club she had strapped to her hip on a small metal ring....

"GWOOOAAAAH! EAT YOU UP!"

Alice pouted rather adorably at being called a puppy, asserting herself by saying: "I am not a puppy!" Despite her protests however, Sofia was inclined to agree, giggling to herself behind the hand covering her mouth. It was a peaceful time, and as such the party would take a break from their continuing march. While Brandy was busy digging through her pack however, the twosome were more aware of what was going on around them.

At first, Sofia would aim her bow at the deer that was running past, but the thudding footsteps and continuing breaking of branches warranted her aim far more. The entire time the troll was approaching, she had been building up a well of negative energy on the tip of her arrow. She had intended to let it go away peacefully if it chose to, but with it growing closer, she would stand her ground and fire an arrow. Despite the troll's impressive speed, the arrow would land squarely in its chest, discharging a small burst of black electricity that caused its free arm to spasm, the troll bellowing in pain before renewing its charge. The arrow would soon fall out due to the troll's regeneration, leaving Sofia little choice but to begin fleeing.

Alice would grab Brandy and say: "We have to keep moving!" before reaching into her own belt and throwing a Flashpowder bomb right at the troll's feet. The small explosive wouldn't do much damage, but the elven ears of the troll would feel like they were being blown apart from the sharp, piercing sound made by the boom. Alice was also hurting from the loud noise, causing her voice to be a lot louder than she intended. "TROLLS REGENERATE TOO FAST FOR NORMAL WEAPONS! WE NEED FIRE!"

Sofia would knock another arrow, this one piercing the wrist holding the giant club. Some bizarre twist of fate would occur, where the club seemingly spun mid-fall to land with great force on the troll's foot, crushing it. The foul creature let out a terrifying roar of pain, before picking its club back up. "Back, beast! I won't hesitate to strike you down!"

"Wha-- Al! Wait! Don't pull me like that, you're gonna make me pop my top!" Brandy protested, as she was forcefully snagged out of her backpack and pulled along by her werewolf-friend. At the mention of their sudden immediate need for fire though, Brandy merely looked like a blank slate. "Whu? Why? We can't cook while that big fella's chasing us around, Al."

The feral troll, who had first been hit by one of Sofia's dark arrows, and then had his foot crushed by his own implement of bludgeoning, was in a far more vile mood now than he'd been in when first appearing. Snarling and sputtering with gooey saliva flying from his sharp-toothed mouth, the cretin seemed to just be getting angrier and more ferocious than anything else. While Sofia's arrow did seem to have a momentary effect on the foul creautre, it wasn't strong enough to leave any lasting harm, nor frightening or painful enough to deter the hungry brute from chasing the girls.

"GRAAAAAH! YOU GET IN BELLY!!"

In a fit of mindless rage, the troll gave his log-club a hefty swing, releasing it from his grip. Like a dangerously spinning oversized twig that had been flung by an angry child, the weapon now came zooming towards Alice and Brandy as they ran. The troll itself didn't seem too interested in Sofia, and is it closed the distance with her, it ignored any and all arrows or taunts the revenant might throw at it, instead giving her a dismissive backhand slap with its gigantic hand, which would promptly send the still-regular-human-sized-undead girl flying a good few feet sideways.

"Sofers!" Brandy exclaimed in horror and/or concern at the sight of her new ally being ragdolled to the side like unwanted rotten fruit. "Al! I hafta help her!" The satyress exclaimed, finally managing to pull her hand free from her friend.

Sliding to a stop on the grassy ground, Brandy leant forward - giving the camera-angle a perfect view of her cleavage - as she took up a pre-sprint-like pose facing towards the troll. At the same time, the giant club-log came crashing down a few feet infront of Alice, having fortunately missed both girls, but sending dirt and grass and bits of wooden splinters flying in all directions around it.

"Al! I'm gonna keep this big boy fixed on me, 'kay? You get that fire or whatever ya neeed, and go help Sofers, right?" Brandy explained the extent of her plan, of which there was not much.

Being a country-bumpkin who'd grown up on a farm, Brandy hardly knew the first thing about trolls, much less on how to fight them. After all, the worst things she had to deal with back home were pesky critters trying to eat their crops or bandits who were taught a caluable lesson by her mountain-of-an-adoptive-father when he proceeded to send them flying with his boulder-sized muscles. So, to Brandy, this was probably the first ever time she'd ever seen, and heard of, any troll.

"Alright, bring it on, tall, gross and ugly! This babe's gonna make you cry! for hurting her friends!" The satyress called out, to which the torll completely ignored her words and just kept thundering towards her position with arms outstretched like a loving father running to embrace his long-lost daughter... Though, in this case, said father would likely shove said long-lost daughter into his mouth and eat her, after having snapped her back with his embrace...

[color=darkgreen]"TASTY GOAT! EAT YOU! MRRRAAAGH! " The eloquent troll roared as it drew near.
"Bite me, Rot-breath!" Brandy taunted, as she took off with a sudden burst!

The little satyr was like a pro runner, having used her pose and the force from her legs to push off and gain a sudden forward acceleration. The torll, not having been prepared for someone to come running at him, and then past his side, skidded to a slow, stumbled over his own legs, fell face-first onto the ground with a loud 'ooof!?', then pushed himself back up, shook his head like a dog-out-of-water, turned to look over his shoulder at the running satyr and then, as troll do, roared in anger. Maybe it was the humiliating tumble, or maybe he just had a preference for demi-goat meats, but the large oaf got back up and started up his own running around, chasing after Brandy like a starving predator... In both senses of the word.

Of course, it wasn't just that Brandy had managed to surprise him which had been the cause of the little trip-up. Some part of it was alaso thanks to Sofia's passive, nearby influence.

Come get me, come get me! You'll never catch me~ Maa-haa-haa! Maa-haa-haa~!" Brandy shouted as she ran from the large feral dum-dum. And with the troll focusing on her shapely butt for now, Alice was freed from running and would have time to concoct some sort of plan or something... At least, that's what Brandy was hoping would happen... Just as long as she didn't do anything to draw the troll's aggro onto herself before she had something.

"Sofia!" Alice cried out, seeing their friend get swatted away like a fly and slamming into a tree, her neck turning at an odd angle...and a leg definitely didn't bend like that. ...Wait, she was undead, so...

An arm would extend upwards as Sofia let out a shaky groan of agony, frothing at the mouth as she struggled to stand back up. "Pray...do not worry...I am...deathless..." she said, using a tree to remain stable.

...Well, that was at least one death off Alice's mind. But as it stood right now, Brandy was likely to be beaten do death and swallowed by this troll, even if she was faster than it. Speed only meant anything as long as he didn't hit her. As such, Alice would hurriedly dig through her bag in order to find something that could be of use to them. Her sling was placed beside her feet, along with the most powerful thing she had in her possession...the Thundercracker. It was as big as Alice's head, and had enough firepower to blow a boulder to smithereens, let alone a troll. Hard to regenerate if you're ashes, and all. But she only had one...and as such, only had one shot at this.

Brandy's distraction gave Alice more than enough time to set herself up, the alchemist having her bomb ready. It would detonate from a strong impact, and the force of her sling would make that happen...but first, she had to make sure Brandy wasn't going to wind up as burnt mutton in the process. With her sling at her shoulder, Alice would have tied a pot with twine to a nearby branch, and was banging upon it with her fist.

The loud noise would draw the troll's attention. The wolf woman wasn't anywhere near as fast as Brandy, at least at a glance, and the troll's hunger demanded satiation. As such, he would let out another disgusting roar before charging forth. "DOG MEAT!" he would shout, while Alice ran back a bit. Now, he was at least far enough away from Brandy that Alice would begin spinning her sling. He was gaining on her fast, but an arrow nocked from Sofia would slam into his arm, giving him momentary pause to roar again.

That pause was all that Alice needed, her sling letting loose the spherical bomb that sailed gracefully through the air. With a turn of his head and a drooling mouth, the troll would be none the wiser as the bomb slammed into his mouth and slid gracefully down his throat to his gullet...before the loudest sound the three had ever experienced would erupt, a splattering of troll flesh and blood hitting the trees while the rest turned to ash, the severed flesh momentarily trying to regenerate, but, lacking any other cells to do so, shriveled and died.

Alice would be knocked flat on her back by the blast, literally every wild animal within a mile radius fleeing from the explosive sound that had not only slayed the troll, but leveled a large area around it, trees turned to splinters rocks to pebbles. Some of the bushes were even still smoking by the end of it. Not enough to start a fire though, since the bomb had also instantly incinerated all of the oxygen in the area of the troll's demise. It was more a "flash singe" of plant matter.

Either way, Sofia would hurriedly crawl back to her backpack and uncork a vial of green liquid and swallow it, her limbs gradually returning to normal positions. "That...was close..." she said, hurrying to Alice's side. "Lady Alice, please be alright! Lady Brandy, how do you fare?"

Alice looked to be unconscious, ears twitching. It was likely that her canine hearing had suffered greatly from the bomb, though Brandy might also have some ringing present in her ears.