ZEN - Part Two [COMPLETED] [#WATTYS2017]

Mo' Money Mo' People To Kill

"Hah? Why th' hell wouldn't you?"

"If we kill 'em, then they might claim us all criminals. But if we just knock 'em all out, then it looks like we were merciful."

"I'd just rather you murdered them."

"Y~eah, that's not gonna happen, Shadowcat."

"Whatever. Gods. Do whatever you bloody want. As long as none of our Sisters are harmed, then, yeah, go for it. In fact, build a jail or something. Deep underground, where no-one can hear them screamin'."

"Sure." Skyler pauses in twirling her weapon as she hears a slight rustle from the bed, then looks over to see Mrs. Shadowcat rising up from the mattress. "Firemane."

"Who's gettin' jailed?"

The small Fox-kin snorts out a breath of amusement at the sight of a giant cow-lick popping up from the gorgeous human's head. "Alyssa Brahm sent a message saying that the governing noble is threatening to seize all Beastkin's assets, and that Zen was going to be summoned for an audience."

"Which will not go well, and thus, I've gotta find an appropriate replacement for this bastard before I slaughter him."

"Right. I'm goin', too." Joanne simply shoves the leg and arms resting atop her body off to the sides, then neatly spins in place before hurrying towards a pack of her own. "Don' even try an' say 'no'."

"Fine. But we're goin' by foot. Be a full day's run all the way over to Balise."

"Without training-gear? Too easy."

"Need me to pull anything out of the armoury for you two?"

The small Cat-woman pauses in yanking on her boots, and briefly wonders if they shouldn't just bring along their massive hoard of coins. They'd left all the artworks behind in Kileah, since it was just too much of a hassle to truck them out here, but had only left a token amount of currency behind, since there were still years-worth of promisary certificiates to burn through, first. "Nah. We've both got a couple hundred white-gold on us, so we're good."

"So no training until you get back? Full lock-down for security?"

"Hm~... make everyone at least do some running and light duels. Keep them warmed up and ready." Zen stomps her second boot in place, then begins to strap her quartet of daggers to their proper positions on her body. "No-one goes out in less than a party of six. You an' Sare are in charge of scouting the roads, as well as the surroundings. Take a couple of agile Sisters apiece with you to run messages."

"Alright."

Joanne finishes with her gear first, since she only had her leathers and a single dagger, then shoulders her pack and moves over to place a soft kiss against one of the sweet Fox's fuzzy ears. "There's a food shipment coming tomorrow, but you might wanna get additional supplies from the Merchant Guild just in case they lay siege to the entire town."

"Alright, Firemane."

"And, when these two wake, tell them that they'll need to divvy up the girls into combat squads, and keep them well rested." The short scout snugs her pack tight against her frame, then swiftly passes the other Beastkin by, with each of them briefly trailing their fingertips through one-another's tails. "Love you, Sky."

"Mm. Love you both."

The red-headed healer leads the way out of Shiro and Kuro, and briefly looks to the colourful sky above, filled to the brim with pale pinks, soft oranges, and deep crimsons. "Good day for a run."