Some Would-Be Heroes

[Yukika Inoue]

The mask-wearing heroine gazed upon the giant castle carved into the stone of the mountain. It was like something out of a storybook fairytale, all to glorious to be ignored. The city surrounding it was enormous as well, though, that was less aweing than the castle itself considering where she came from. Enormous cities were common, with small patches of nature between one-another. The only way one could understand the standard of living within each was by their letter-classification. City-A was classified for better standards than City-C, and so on.

“Impressive,” the teenager muttered to herself in her deep tone, taking in the scenery. Her ears perked up when she heard a sly giggle come from her half-plant friend. She turned to look at Wisteria, but as soon as their eyes met the young hero-in-training stopped and turned away. “Was something I said funny?” She asked sincerely, not so threateningly.

“U-uh no! S-sorry, it’s nothing.” The girl turned away trying to hide her obvious blush. “I just thought of something funny.”

“Very well,” The heroine stated out loud and looked back over the browning-grassy fields. “You said your destination is the mountain castle?”

“Well, the city, yes.” The white-haired teenager replied. “As I said before, I just want to inventory and such. We should start walking, as you can see it’s a long trail ahead. The sooner we start, the sooner we get there.”

“You know the land better than us, so you should be the one to take lead. Go ahead.” Yukika followed behind Weiss with Wisteria at her side. The young heroine took in nature around her. It was a more enticing scene than the stone city in the distance. She had never seen so much greenery and forest all in one area. She had seen stuff like this on television but never had in person before. She hesitantly took her mask off and let it rest off the side of her head. Naturally, (for some reason she didn’t even notice it herself.) her tone of voice shifted back to its softer octave.

“This forest is beautiful.” She said, even though the season had shown some of the trees starting to lose their leaves. “I’ve never seen so much nature in one place. This new world is certainly interesting.

[Weiss Schnee]

Weiss looked at both the heroines around her with a small smile, noticing how they took in every aspect of the mountain castle. Was she like that when she got here?

The huntress shook her head at her own question. No. When she’d got here, she’d been busy coping with her own loss, and since then…

Weiss breathed in deeply, looking around with dead eyes. Her thoughts at this point centered squarely around a meal, a bed, and, hoping against hope, something close to a real bath! She’d been travelling from place to horrible place, covered in gore and mud and the other hallmarks of nature for what felt like months by now, and it was only due to her abilities as a prime that her Huntress outfit looked even remotely pristine.

She looked at the two new primes around her with faded eyes.


“Listen… I’ll make this clear before we get into the city. You need to… be careful.”

Yukika’s eyes perked up at that, while Wysteria jumped up with a small squeak. Weiss was still surprised at just how shy that girl was… it reminded her a bit of…

what doesn’t remind you of Ruby by now, Weiss? Get. Over. It. Weiss growled low to herself. Luckily, it at least didn’t seem like either of them caught the slip to Weiss. Taking a deep breath before she continued, she hoped her voice would come out normally after that little thought.

“What I mean is that a lot of bad things can happen to people here. Especially primes. We have the ability to do things other people can’t in this place, and… it can make us a target for people. Primes aren’t allowed to die, but that doesn’t mean terrible things can’t happen to you.” Weiss added, her hand brushing across the eerie mask clasped to her belt by invisible clasps. “People here… some of them are going to be envious. Some of them will want you to do things for them. Some will try to manipulate you into doing something or other.”

Weiss bit her lip, looking at the two confused girls. Wysteria blinked a couple times, before shrinking back, while she noticed the other girl had put on her mask. “It’s reflected by some primes - people like us, people omni talked to. A lot of people they group with us treat the rest of this place like their plaything, sometimes in response to being treated like that, so…”

Weiss managed a thin smile, before continuing “...But you’re both heroes, right? You have that dream to help people, for the sake of helping them?”
At the statement of hero, both Wysteria and Yukika stood up a little straighter by reflex. Yukika even gave a nod, speaking from behind the fox mask now.

“If this world has been stricken with injustice, I will be a symbol of Justice for it. Here or anywhere else, I am a hero.” Yukika answered.
Wysteria rubbed a tentacle against her shoulder as she looked down at the ground, avoiding Weiss’s eyes. “Um.. I know I’m… not quite a hero yet, but, um… I’d like to save people… still. Even if this isn’t the place I came from, I, uh, think that people deserve saving from bad people, you know? That is… I, uh...” the tentacled heroine’s cheeks turned dark green as she trailed off, closing her eyes.

Weiss’s smile grew a little broader before she looked back to the city. “I figured… you should know what you’re getting into. If you want to stop, there’s plenty of things you could do low-key around here, live a little more normally, but… If not, I think this place could use more heroes.”

Weiss looked up with surprise to see that they’d finally made it close to the city gates, with the Guards beckoning them to come speak with them. With how sore Weiss’s legs were, she had no problem with the idea of stopping to stand for a moment… or to sit. Or to lay down.

Weiss stifled a yawn. Just a little longer...

[Yukika Inoue]

Yukika paused as Weiss began to speak. The Megitsune was quiet as her snow-coloured-hair companion explained the dangers of being prime. The power that have can completely change the world around them. It was amazing, but at the same time, it all made sense. The three of them were beings of seemingless infinite power; they could change the entire world around them if they willed it. The long saying of heroes was -

“The measure of a man is not the power he wields, but the way the man wields that power.” Yukika said aloud lost in her own thought. She slowly removed her mask again, letting the piece of painted wood hang off the side of her head lazily. A soft sigh drifted across her lips.

“That’s… pretty wise for your age.” Weiss commented to herself, being to walk towards the city again. Her sluggish walking speed and poise showed that she was extremely tired. Yukika raised a hand.

“Wait, it’s obvious that you have been walking for much longer than the two of us. We should rest and allow you to regain your strength before we continue.” The heroine took a seat on the ground. Even her feet were beginning to hurt. It took one quite some time to get used to walking in geta and she was undoubtedly not used to it. “Besides, feet are feeling the same way.”

“If you so say so, but we shouldn’t linger for too long.” Weiss complied, much to the Megitsune’s pleasure. In her world, she had difficulty making friends. In this world, she had made two new friends in one day. It was a great change of pace. Though her thoughts still wandered to her father and how he must be worried. Was this world still a dream? Did the monster that knocked her out put her here? Some questions may never be answered, but that won’t stop Yukika from looking for them.

“I have not gotten the chance to formally introduce myself to you two, so I will do so now,” The heroine started before sitting up straight on her knees and leaning forward into a respectful bow. “Konnichiwa minna-san. Watashiwa Yukika Inouedesu. Yoroshiku onigaishimasu.” With that last bit of native tongue, she leaned back up.

The Ice Queen raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what the girl just said to her at all. Yukika could tell she was not of the same language as her with that cocked expression.

“Hello, my name is Yukika Inoue. Pleasure to meet you.” Her translation was welcomed by the confused teenager. Thankfully, Wisteria seemed to understand Japanese fairly well. “I grew up in a weird world. Monsters constantly battle with us for most no other reason than, ‘we are superior to humans so we will eradicate their existence.’” Yukika mocked what might have been certain monsters from her universe. Though she wore a smile, some slight pain could be seen in her eyes. “They took my mother away from me. Ever since then, I pledged to be a selfless hero that dedicated her life to protecting the people I could. A simple change in scenery won’t stop me from living my dream.”

“Th-That’s very noble of you, Inoue-san!” Wisteria commented. Yukika smiled in return.

“Yeah, I think it’s what my mother would have wanted from me. I didn’t get to know her, as I was in my infancy when she was taken from me, but I know she was a kind and gentle soul who didn’t deserve to have her life taken from her in her youth.” The Megitsune further explained. Both Weiss and Wisteria’s expressions grew grim. Yukika’s, on the other, continued its soft smile. She held a hand up, as if saying she would be fine. After that, her face drew hearty and strong. “I assure you, if this world is succumbed to some sort of malevolence, I will see to it personally that those forces fall. I may not be physically strong, but that won’t stop me from becoming the greatest hero of all time. I do it for the justice of those like myself; for those that have lost friends and family to hideous monsters and evil-doers.”

Yukika’s posture straightened with each sentence. Pride would one day be her undoing, but today was not that day. She has never been prouder in her life to say that she was a hero.

“That, my friends, is what it means to be a true hero.” Yukika said proudly. Her hand subconsciously itched at the back of her head somewhat nervously. A slight chuckle escaped her breath as she spoke, “Or, at least that’s what it means to me.”

[Wisteria Blossom]

Wisteria clapped her foretentacles together with wet slaps as Yukika finished her monologue. "How commendable!" she chirped, giggling, before trailing off as both pairs of eyes were now on her. The clapping stopped, and she blinked, before starting to color up, blushing. "M-me? O-oh, I'm nothing special, I wasn't even a full hero before I ended up here, I was going to school... Oh dear, oh no..."

The unexpected expectation made her swallow. She didn't have any kind of speech prepared! Why hadn't anyone told her about something like this? "W-well, I suppose ... I guess ... F-for me, a hero is s-someone th-that... u-uhm... S-sacrifices... S-someone that, uhm, does ... more than what you would e-expect from anyone. I-I guess." She became increasingly interested in the tips of her arm tentacles as two of them poked together like fingers. "F-for me, I wanted t-to become a Rescue Hero... I-I can grow and stretch my tentacles, and they're p-pretty sensitive, so, I thought... if someone needed to be found, like in a collapsed building, I can worm my tentacles into the cracks..."

Again, she trailed off. "Th-that was just my idea, anyway... Let's find a place to stay."

She whirled around and started sliding quickly towards the gate, tripping once and nearly landing on her face as she snagged herself on some of her own tentacles. Picking herself up, blushing even harder, she slithered over the ground, then came up short as the guards at the gate brandished their weapons.

"Beast!" one shouted.

"Foul creature!" another followed up.

"N-nooo, I'm not--!" Wisteria wailed, tears in her eyes. First one thing, then another...! "I swear...!"

After sorting out matters at the gate, with plenty of assurances from Weiss and Yukika that Wisteria wasn't, in fact, a beholder-childe - whatever that was - they were at last permitted entry into the first ring of the city. It smelled better than Wisteria imagined, leading her to think that, despite its medieval appearance, there were probably some modern amenities. She had once visited an ancient Sengoku age castle that had fully-functioning toilets, for example. Something like that. Did this mean that the city had been here for at least that long?

They took precious few detours, wending their way across the stone paths, the worn-smooth paving a welcome relief for her tentacles. Finally they arrived at the Resting Rock - one of the local inns that served as a respite for weary travelers. Heading inside, they were again accosted for their insistence on bringing a 'monster slave' along with them, and it seemed for a moment that Wisteria was about to be directed to sleep in the stables, when a sharp look and edged words from Weiss put an end to it.

By some heavenly blessing, it seemed that her suspicions were right. Ancient though the inn appeared, each room had been equipped with semi-modern amenities. The queen sized bed looked fluffy and welcoming, with a desk placed off to the side with an inkwell, quill, and blank piece of parchment. Off the foot of the bed, a few feet from it, was a wall and a door that led to an adjoining bath, where a brass tub left enough room for one person. Wisteria suspected she probably wouldn't fit - at least not comfortably.

Weiss visibly groaned at the sight - Yukika too, as they shed some of their traveling gear and weapons. "My legs are killing me," Weiss grumbled, wincing as she shifted weight on her feet.

Wisteria tilted her head. Yukika's pace had been flagging a bit, as had Weiss'... Come to think of it, she didn't actually know how long Weiss had been traveling before meeting them. The weariness of her movements said volumes, however, and a swell of pity rose up in Wisteria's chest. Lifting her arm, a tentacle extended from the tip of her arm petals, resting on the white-haired woman's shoulder. "Can I help?"

Weiss threw her a look, exasperated, as if anything other than getting off her feet was a distraction that could wait till later. "Help how?"

Directing the helpful prime to sit on the edge of the bed, Wisteria gently began to remove her boots. "I'm pretty good as massages - at least, my dad says I am. He gets sore muscles all the time because he's an Elastic Man, and he stretches more than he should," she babbled as she put the boots down. Her tentacles lifted, one coiling around the ankle and wending up the calf-

"Hey!" Weiss blurted, kicking her free leg and batting Wisteria's shoulder. "Don't get fresh!"

Wisteria squeaked, wincing. "I-I'm sorry, I promise I'm not...!" she whined. Why did everyone assume she was going to molest them?! Slowly, her tentacles squeezed, tips curling inward to probe the girl's muscles. They were firmer than she expected, but clearly too tight. Splitting her tentacles between Weiss' legs, she got to work. There was a soft moan from above her, then a sigh, as Weiss flopped backward onto the bed, arms spread.

"I'll take the first bath, then," Yukika mumbled, and Weiss made a vague gesture.

"If you're tired, I can give you one, too, Yukika-san," Wisteria offered, but the fox-masked girl seemed to roll her eyes before closing the door. "She's proud, huh...?"

Weiss made another indistinct sort of grunting groan, which sounded like agreement, before her legs swung a little, as if in reminder of what really needed attention, here.

"Yes, ma'am," Wisteria said. The poor girl sounded like she had been through a lot. Wisteria refocused, slowly rolling each muscle in her firm grip, kneading Weiss' legs until the muscles softened, the groans fading away. "Is that better, Weiss-san?" she asked. When she got no answer, she asked again. "Weiss...?"

The girl's breathing was slow and deep, her mouth hanging slightly open. She had fallen asleep. Wisteria blinked, then smiled. Her many tentacles gently slipped underneath the resting warrioress, adjusting her so that her head rested on the pillows. Then, with exaggerated care, she lifted the covers, pulling the top comforter over to tuck around her. "Sleep tight, Weiss-san," she whispered.

[Weiss Schnee]

The exhausted huntress woke up blearily, her senses giving off alarm bells. Darkness around her, a strange room, an unfamiliar warmth. Springing to her feet, the Huntress’s hands went to the familiar hilt of Myrtenaster at her belt. To her surprise, it was missing, as was her familiar mask…

Blinking, she realized she was standing in a bedroom. Her head jerked erratically in every direction, looking for some sight of Okor or Kuzuru. If either of them caught her this off-guard…

Clean air filled her lungs as she took a deep breath, and her lucidity slowly returned. Dimly, Weiss was aware she was hyperventilating.

Her eyes adapted to the natural darkness of the room, and she realized she was just in a hotel. Not some astral hellscape, the Camelot Coliseum, the Nebula space, or Saiko’s little torture chamber. Just a medieval style inn room with a kiddie pool in the corner where her tentacled friend was sleeping. Weiss wasn’t even sure where Yukika-

“Are you okay?” a softer voice asked her from behind, tapping her on the shoulder. A shudder whipped through Weiss’s spine as she pivoted on the spot, wide-eyed.

Weiss didn’t answer immediately, mouth slightly agape, as she absorbed who she was staring at. Yukika, lacking a mask and with eyes open with concern.

“Yukika. I’m-” Weiss stumbled, searching for the words as her jaw tried to lock. It took a moment for her to realize, but the lighting was different than when she first awoke. She’d been standing here a couple minutes.

“I just… I was startled.” Weiss managed to blurt out, hands resting against her arms. “I’m fine. I’ll just go back to sleep now.”

Yukika raised an eyebrow, and looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself, averting her gaze from Weiss.

Weiss took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The two stood in silence for a moment, Weiss’s shoulders slowly slumping. “If you’d like to go anywhere else in Camelot, let me know in the morning. There’s a lot to Minas Tirith.”

Weiss slowly slumped to her bed, her walk an uncharacteristic shuffle.

“...I’d recommend avoiding the coliseum, though.”

[Demetri Malius]

"Of course, here is my payment for the night. Yes, I am sure we haven't met before, perhaps I just have a familiar face."

Lisette bounced around the inn after paying for her room, her burgundy dress fluterring as she twirled and smiled. It had been a while since she had come to Minas Tirith, and all too often it was for work. She supposed she might be able to do her scouting her while she had some fun, but if not, at least there was still the fun.

Along with her burgundy dress, she wore a full corset and bronze bracers, playing off of a royal design. Her long blone hair was pulled back into a low braid, and she seemed all to happy to frolick about. She then approached the bar, requesting a small glass of wine. She waited patiently before feeling a tug on her skirt, yelping as a small dwarf came out from beneath her dress.

"No peekin from me miss, promise. Ye were in me way."

The dwarf gave a giggle and wandered off.

"Damned little pervert." Lisette straightened herself up and pulled on her dress, keeping it close as she sat down at the bar, her drink now ready.

"No class at all from the damned dwarfs. They act like they own the place." Lisette squirmed in her seat, flustered by the encounter.

"Once you get used to them, it ain't so bad." The bartender spoke up.

"So says you, I don't think I can ever come close to tolerating them around me."

Lisette turned in her seat, watching the stairs. While she was taking a moment to calm down, she might as well see who else spent the night here. It was the first inn visible when you entered the city, so it was a perfect spot to find adventurers and the like, or what Lisette liked to call, 'poor milksops'. Every so often you did get the occasional bad boy, and Lisette was always sure to work to her full extent to woo them. Those were the best challenges, but men were so easily swayed by even the slightest lift of her skirt, so typical. Even the baddest couldn't help but give in to their animal instincts. Plus, they tended to pack the best goods to take, in more ways than one.

In all of her thoughts, she hadn't realized that her drink was now empty, that is until she was staring at the bottom of it.

"Another dear 'tender. My thirst is not yet quenched."

[Yukika Inoue]

The heroine shifted her light framed weight onto her other foot. Her new friend, Weiss, was not okay. She could easily see she was a worthy fighter, but the girl was worse at lying than Yukika herself was. She didn’t need her mind-reading abilities to see that. The front Weiss was putting up was a cloak to hide something from her friends. Yukika knew this feeling before, but never had she seen it someone so unwilling to share her feelings. People that wear masks like her and Weiss are afraid to show their true self to the world. Hiding behind a piece of wood boasts their confidence. The Megitsune scowled. She wouldn’t let friend succumb to such a sad fate.

The heroine’s eyes shimmered brightly in the darkness of the night. Weiss had fallen back to sleep moments ago, so she would use her telepathic senses to see into her heart. She went into a trance, stunned by the images she was seeing. She saw a monster, covered in disturbingly mutated flesh and heavy armor. It looked like something that would crawl out of the sewers of City Y or Z. She watched this monster demolish Weiss in what she assumed was the colosseum she had mentioned before she returned to bed.

“I see.” The Megitsune mumbled to herself as she came back into focus with the real world. “You are not just lonely, you are scared.”

A moment of silence befell the room as Yukika sat there staring at Weiss. She didn’t know what she could do to help her. The teenager laid back in her bed, unable to drift into a snooze. Her mind continued on he white haired girl that laid in the opposite bed. Unable to fall asleep, the heroine rose from her bed and left the room. When she returned, she carried two glasses of milk. She was sure Weiss would wake up again, so she left the glass on the side table next to the bed. Underneath was a note, slightly swept in the sweat of the glass.

”I hope this helps you sleep better.” In the corner was a small, cute drawing of a fox’s head with a slight smile. If she did wake up, she would find Yukika passed out underneath the covers of the opposite bed.

[Wisteria Blossom]

Summoning something by Omnilium was certainly a trip. Wisteria stared in wonder as the image in her mind took shape, that multicolored caleidoscope of energy coalescing into ... An inflatable children's pool, its plastic surface adorned with pictures of orchids and other flowers. "That's amazing," she said, keeping her voice low so as not to wake up the slumbering Weiss. She then realized something unfortunate - she hadn't thought to create water.

But picturing water and keeping the image clear in her head was difficult. Instead, Wisteria settled on creating a bucket, and over the course of several minutes, trekked back and forth from the bathroom to the pool, slowly filling the inflated playpen until it was half full.

"What are you doing?" came the question from the mask-wearer - also quiet. Yukika hadn't yet fallen asleep. "It's a little late to be swimming."

"O-oh, no, this isn't-" Wisteria bumbled, caught off guard, and blushed sheepily. "This is where I usually sleep," she said.

Yukika raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she said after a pause.

"N-no, really," Wisteria waved her tentacles. "Wi-with my quirk, I'm always a bit wet - I-I mean, lubed- I mean-..!" she grew more and more embarrassed, then surrendered. "... I have slime. Some of my tentacles are really sensitive," she held one of her 'Feelers' in the crook of her arm, "s-so it helps avoid getting scratches on the sensitive parts... B-but it sort of makes wearing things and sleeping a little messy, and there's only two beds, s-so... I sleep... in the pool..."

Yukika stared at her. "That," she said after a pause, "was more information than I needed." And with that, Yukika turned her back and settled in to try and get to sleep.

Wisteria's cheeks burned hot. Oh my God, how big a dumbo can I be?! I'm so embarrassed...! All I had to do was keep my mouth shut, and I go and-...! Now they think I'm a real weirdo...! Stupid Wisty!.... Stupid stupid stupid...!

Feeling her cheeks burn, she undressed, removing the outer layer of clothes, then the water-resistant leotard - essentially a swimsuit that buckled at the shoulders - and setting them aside. Lowering into the shallow waters, she curled her tentacles up, and rested her head in the inflated edge of the pool, lounging across it. Maybe the next day she'd make a better impression.

~+~+~+~

When morning came, Wisteria emptied the pool, let out the air, and stowed the folded plastic away. Bidding good morning to her companions as they awoke, she dressed and made her way downstairs for breakfast. There were all kinds of things she wanted to see - the shops, the people - but if this were like a real fantasy place, there would no doubt be ADVENTURERS, and GUILDS. Who knows, some of them might even have information on people from her world, if anyone else had been sucked into his place.

She frowned as she wrapped a tentacle around a fork, stabbing a thick, fluffy bread drizzled in syrup - it reminded her of a pancake, but about twice as thick. Why didn't she feel more panicked? Moreover, why were the details of her memory so... inspecific? Shouldn't she be screaming right about now?

Maybe it was her companions. That was probably it. As long as she had them, she thought things would be alright. The tentacle girl hummed happily as she took another mouthful of what she decided to call 'bucketcake,' oblivious to the suspicious stares she was getting. "Mmm~, so fluffy~," she crooned.

[Weiss Schnee]

The tavern was relatively silent as the trio ate their breakfast. Weiss had gone for something a little closer to what she used to enjoy when she’d lived on Remnant - a cinnamon roll, eggs, ham, something she would’ve been able to smile about a few months ago.

Unfortunately, one of the things hollows didn’t seem to possess - at least in her case - were decent taste-buds. The tea tasted normal to her at least - Weiss didn’t really know the ‘why’ of that - but the food could’ve been paper for all she could tell. Still, she stubbornly stuck the fork in her mouth bite after bite, adding salt and pepper and marmalade and that red stuff she couldn’t really identify in ever increasing amounts after each forkful. She had no idea if there was a limit to this tastelessness, but she was determined to find out!

Yukika was looking at her with a small ‘O’ of utter shock as she kept adding stupid amounts of sauce and spice to each mouthful, but Weiss ignored the incredulous stare. She wasn’t exactly interested in explaining the problem in a camelot tavern - or at all, to be honest - and she didn’t exactly think day 2 of meeting someone is the time to mention you’re technically some soul-sucking demon. Wysteria, on the other hand, was too busy enjoying a few pieces of french toast to care, and the hollowfied huntress couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

Weiss breathed a long, hard shgh after she’d covered a slice of ham with a full layer of mustard, ketchup, Salt, pepper, and butter, and got exactly nothing from her tongue in response. With a frown on her face, she procured a small, silver pill from her belt pouch - her soul management pill - and swallowed it quickly. Chasing off the ashen after-taste of the foul little thing with the last of her tea, Weiss prepared to get up and wait for the others to finish their meal outside.

As she was standing up, though, something caught the attention of her senses:

The table behind them had been filled with whispered voices since Weiss had sat down, but she hadn’t really been paying attention to the content of their discussion, too wrapped up in her own thoughts. The feeling of their shortest standing up while holding a steak knife by the blade, however, pushed them into her awareness. It took her only an instant to turn around and see that the other two had done a good job arranging the table to conceal the identity of the knife holder leaving her only a small window to see the blade, and their eyes were very carefully situated away from the huntress as the kid took aim.

And it didn’t take long to realize that Wysteria was their target.

Weiss sort of had the gist of what they were doing: They’d only take credit for the attack if it was successful, but they’d set themselves up to create deniability if anyone intervened early by claiming to be the victims. She remembered Blake saying something similar happened with racist humans - or faunus - trying to make trouble in establishments like these.

Weiss held up two fingers, focusing as little spiritual energy as she could into the tips, before firing off a small, before pointing her finger over her shoulder. Firing the shot without looking their way, Weiss sagged her shoulders a little as the tiny bolt of spiritual energy smacked smacked one of the instigator’s knuckles just hard enough to cause a bruise and an unfortunately timed twitch of the fingers, and a cry of “Agh!” followed a twitching hand, a dropped knife and a red cut across the kid’s palm. The bar started to clamor as the kid clutched his bleeding hand, and her two new friends both got up with looks of concern to go check out the situation.

Weiss, for her part, just took another sip of her tea, before sitting up slowly and turning to face the commotion with a neutral expression, one eyebrow raising slowly.

The kid was holding his hand, but judging by the lack of blood spilling out, it didn’t seem like Weiss had given him more than a paper cut. That much was good, at least. His two co-conspirators were making jokes about the shorter kid managing to hurt himself during breakfast, and now that Weiss was properly looking at them she noticed that the teenager was rather innocent looking for what he was trying to do. Lightly tanned skin followed with spiky brown hair, big blue eyes, and a face still covered in a little baby fat. She smirked just a little at the image: It reminded her a bit of Ruby when they’d first met.
The smile faded when she remembered what he’d intended to do to Wysteria, though, and it was replaced with a desire to point a finger right now and punish him for his little attempt.

“Seriously, Dean, your mom’s going to kill you if that blood gets all over your shirt!” the fatter one added, slapping the kid on the back with a heavy hand.

Weiss sighed and prepared to walk past the jerk instead at the statement. It wasn’t really her issue to solve, and the danger had been handled. The group could at least get out of here-

“W-would this, umm, help?”

Weiss looked up in shock at the voice, and realized she hadn’t noticed Wysteria passing her by. The girl was holding up a box of band-aids with one tentacle, and holding a small bottle of sanitizer in the other.

Dean looked at the band-aids, then the sanitizer, as Wysteria slowly shrank.

“I, um, these are called band-aids in, um, my world. NOt that I think you wouldn’t know, it’s just that I’m from another world and, um, I didn’t know if you’d know but I’m a hero - or I mean, I’m a hero in training, and“ The plant-girl added, her face growing darker green with every word as a tentacle rubbed against her shoulder and she looked steadily further away from the injured teenager with each word. “...and I thought that maybe you could use a band-aid.”

The shame and shock on Dean’s face deepened just as gradually with every word Wysteria said.

His companions weren’t so interested.

“Hey, get away from the kid you tentacle-covered freak!” The fatter one added, beads of sweat falling down his balding head as he went red in the face.

“You goddamn non-humans!” The other one yelled, a brunette male with a long ponytail and a willow-thin figure.

Wysteria shrunk away immediately, and the bald man took that as his cue to attempt to draw out a small dagger hidden in his pocket.

Weiss put a hand over his just as he moved to draw it out of the hilt.

“Hey! Get your goddamn hands off me!” The rotund racist ranted, struggling against Weiss’s grip. Every muscle in the peasant’s thick arm bulged, and Weiss could see the blood vessels outlined by the strain. Weiss looked at him with an unchanging expression, her grip just as firm. It was difficult to hold back that much physical power, but compared to the numb bolts of lightning that shot through her hand every time she crossed blades with Okor, this was easy.

“Take your hand off the dagger, or I’ll break it.” Weiss responded with a casual frown. The long-haired gentlemen on the other side of the tablewent to reach into his vest, a look of anger on his face but his head was yanked back by a small hand with a firm grip on his ponytail.

“I suggest you don’t try to join in.” Yukika’s voice rang through her Kitsune mask, a fistful of messy hair in one hand, and a wakizashi in the other.

“Alright, that’s enough! A booming voice rang through the bar.

Weiss looked over to see the largest man he’d ever seen. Well-tanned skin blended in with a brown, short-sleeved tunic. Weiss hadn’t seen this muscled and huge of a man since she’d tangled with Alexander Anderson, and her body tensed as she got ready to explain herself.

The innkeeper wasn’t interested in them, though. Pointing at the three interlopers, the man raised a large mallet.

“Don’t think I wasn’t paying attention to what you was trying to do. This is the third time this month you’ve tried to make trouble with non-humans in my bar! If you wanna go ahead and get into that stupid political garbage, I couldn’t care less, but you’re gonna have to find somewhere else to tolerate it! I’m sick of losing customers because of your little stunts, so you three have earned a lifetime ban! And Dean, you’re out of a job! And you know what else? I’m telling your mom soon as I can exactly why!”

The teenager shrank back in horror as soon as he heard that, and Weiss had to resist a small chuckle. Wysteria just seemed to be on the verge of tears, and Yukika was stalwart as she continued to watch the two men.

“...You better not expect me to pay my tab then, Rick, you friggin’ asshole!” The Balding man stated, rubbing a hand across his shiny dome, but his grip on the dagger loosened. “Fine, fine, we’re gone!”

Yukika cautiously let go of the other guy’s ponytail, and the stringy man was quick to brush past her. “Don’t you ever touch me again or I’ll show you what a real knife looks like, kiddo!” he swore. That comment got the bartender up and moving, and as both of them looked up at Rick’s face and realized their mistake, they ran out of the bar.

“...I’m… I’m sorry, mister Riordan.” A small voice rang out. The blonde-haired teen shuffled out of the bar with a disappointed look, as he headed towards the door.

“...Just get outta here, Dean.” The burly man sighed.

Weiss took in a breath. “We should be going, too. Sorry for the trouble.”

Rick shook his head. “Don’t be. I’m just sorry you girls had to go through that much trouble in my shop. Listen… Next time you come through these parts, you get a free stay here, on me!”

Weiss gave a nervous smile in response. “I’ll keep that in mind.” she added. Wysteria tried to speak, but it looked like words were having difficulties coming out. Yukika clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get going.” She softly suggested.

Weiss nodded, threw a few orbs of omnilium on the table for the breakfast, and headed to the door.

-

They’d only taken a few steps from the door when a small voice came out.

“W-w-wait! Miss, um, tentacle-girl!”

The group of heroines turned around with a similar shocked expression on their faces, to see a familiar cluster of spiky brown hair.


The kid was kneeling down on one knee, holding both hands up, presenting an opened box of band-aids like he was showing her a wedding ring.

“I, uh, really appreciate that you, um, lent me these bandages, but, um… I don’t seem to need them all, and I, uh, thought I should give them back. Y-you know, since, um, I’ve already applied mine to the, uhh, wound…”

Weiss gave a small smile as the Kid in front of them sweated bullets. She guessed Wysteria wasn’t the only shy one here… though if she were to try giving medicine back to someone who she’d just recently tried to kill, she supposed she’d be pretty nervous too.

Weiss stayed silent, and waited to see what Yukika’s reaction might be.

[Yukika Inoue]

The pseudo-Kitsune leered through her wooden mask. Her arms crossed over the Obi-sash that held her kimono folded in place. Though no one could really see her face, they could tell she was holding every fiber of her being back to not smack him over the head. Wisteria stood there nervously ready to take the bandages back before the heroine pressed her hand to the first aid kit and pushing it back at him.

“Keep it.” She said in her deep, mysterious voice. Wisteria jumped back as her hand reached past her onto the clear box with the bandages. “We don’t need it, it could be much more helpful to you.”

“But, you three are travellers, aren’t you? This kind of stuff could save your life.” Dean mentioned, trying to offer the box back. “Take it.”

“I said, keep it.” The Megitsune implied in a much sterner voice. “Someone such as us has no need for something that we can create out of nothing,”

The boy in front of them grew quite and paralyzed for a moment. He looked at Wisteria, then back to the Ice Queen, then returned to the fox-girl. It all made too much sense to him now.

“You three are primes?” He asked, getting a simultaneous nod from the group of girls in response. He clutched the aid-kit in his hands and pulled it back to himself. “Fine, I’ll hold on to it. You three be careful.”

“Thank you, you too.” She said, as she waved him off. Wisteria turned to the other two, tears close to welling in her eyes.

“Th-Thank you guys for defending me. I appr-” The plant-girl hushed as the kitsune removed her mask and shushed her. The wooden mask hung lazily off the side of her head.

“Don’t thank us. It’s not necessary to thank a friend for something they should do. It’s not so much that we wanted to what we did, as it was that we had to, because you’re our friend Wisteria. You would have done the same for either of us.” The Kitsune explained. She turned and continued to walk, not exactly sure where she was going. “Let’s go find some work to do. Maybe if we do something heroic, people will stop picking on Wisteria around here.”

“And you think that dragon will descend upon this town and you’ll just kill it?” Weiss prodded at Yukika, mostly jokingly. The two bickered momentarily as they walked, leaving Wisteria in thought behind. IT wasn’t until the distant voices of her friends brought her back to reality.

“Hey! Wisteria, come on or we’ll leave you behind!” She called out. Wisteria jumped in surprised, stuttering as she attempted to catch back up.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m coming!” She called out and crawled across the ground as quickly as possible, trying to catch up. While she was still out of whispering earshot, she mumbled to herself with a smile forming on her face. “Thank you guys.”

Thirty minutes passed of idle conversation while the team looked for some place that could give them some kind of work to do. Yukika groaned at how long it took to find something to do.

“This is as difficult as finding work as an C-Rank hero! It’s always too damn quiet.” The angered voice came out annoyed. The kitsune felt a tendril lay across her shoulder.

“Please don’t get angry Yukika-san. I’m sure we’ll find something to do soon enough.” The plant girl mentioned. Her eyes gazed through the crowd of people, staring at the green girl that was close enough to mistake for a monster. They closed on a sign, too difficult to see without paying close enough attention. “Adventurer’s Guild - Work for mercenaries and heros.” She read aloud subconsciously. Yukika’s attitude changed instantly.

“Finally!” The kitsune headed towards the sign Wisteria pointed out. “Let’s show this town that looks don’t mean anything for a hero!”

[Wisteria Blossom]

A bell jangled as the door swung open, admitting them into the spacious interior. The guild's house was relatively narrow, but deep. The entire width of the interior floor was clad in worn, polished wood slats. Windows on the front and the sides gave view of the street outside and alleyways, respectively. The ceiling was two stories high, a wrought-iron brazier hanging from it, a long chain of rings spreading out to three points along its circumference. Candles burned along it, as well as in several wall sconces, casting a warm glow.

The entry was furnished, and seemed to serve as a sort of waiting room. Directly ten meters ahead was a counter where a heavyset man and small woman were pouring over a stack of papers. To either side of the counter were two halls, marked A and B by hanging signs, that stretched further back into the building. The halls were lined with doors, which appeared to have removable labels placed onto the front of each. 

Still further to the side, running up the side walls, were two large staircases, terminating one floor above, leading to what seemed to be a large hall that dominated the rest of the interior. Wisteria could hear muted talking and the occasional laugh, as someone strummed inexpertly on a mandolin.

The man and woman looked up as they approached. The man stared at Wisteria, then grunted. "Whatever it is you're selling, we're not buying," he gestured to the other two. "We don't have any live capture contracts out right now. Try the circus - they're always looking for more monsters."

Wisteria looked down. The other two looked at her, then Weiss sighed. "This is getting ridiculous," the white-haired maiden muttered. "She's not a - what did you call it - capture contract? She's with us." She strode up to the counter. "We're not looking to sell, we're looking for work."

The man and woman exchanged glances. "This is the adventurer's guild," Weiss prompted, putting her hands on her hips. "Right?"

"She's so good at that," Wisteria murmured aside to Yukika as Weiss continued. "It makes you think of a princess, doesn't it?"

"Mm."

Wisteria tilted her head. "Is something the matter?"

Yukika was looking at Weiss with an expression Wisteria didn't recognize. Was it ... Pity? Had something happened while she was asleep?

Yukika noticed her glance, and slowly pulled her mask over her face. "No," she said finally. "Nothing."

"- so believe me when I tell you that we're tougher than we look," Weiss continued as Wisteria's attention swiveled back to her. Her hand rested meaningfully on the hilt of the rapier at her waist.

"W-well," the woman finally broke in. She was younger than the man by about ten years, in her mid twenties, with a low-cut vest that exposed more real estate than was practical. Her blonde hair was drawn back messily into a bun, leaving two long, wavy bangs that hung to her shoulders. "I suppose, if you wanted to, we do have a few contracts for beginners."

"What kind of contracts?"

"Well, there's the Hanged Man's Fancy, the inn a few blocks over, that has a giant rat problem in its basement. Then there's, uhm," the woman looked around, snagging a paper that hung from a corkboard positioned above and behind the counter. "How about this one? The dairy is requesting someone go out and try and retrieve its prize yak. Just outside town! It's a little skittish, and the owner is old, so that's why they're asking for help..."

Yukika snorted, sound muffled behind her mask. "That's something a child could do!"

The man slammed his fist down on the counter. "And you're children! This is where everyone starts. You want to hunt dragons?" He slapped his other hand on the board behind him, where a picture of a hulking draconic figure loomed atop a mountain. The letter 'A' had been stamped in red ink across it. "You gotta start with the small stuff! Everyone here's done it!"

The sounds from above had stopped. Three figures came to the railing of the hall above, looking down curiously. A figure in full armor, visor down, a woman in what seemed to be a witch's robe and hat that might have come out of a Halloween store, and a young man with short blonde hair, idly picking at the strings of a mandolin as he leaned over. "Newbies, Mags?" the boy inquired, leaning far over to look down the shirt of the woman below.

"Yes," the woman - Maggie, by the tag that Wisteria now noticed on the left of her vest. "I mean, no? I-..." she sighed, then laid her hand on the man's wrist. "Look, we can see that you're not ... ordinary." Her eyes shot to Wisteria. Wisteria looked away, her cheeks burning. "So how about this? There's a caravan leaving tomorrow. They're heading the next town over, bringing supplies. The Underhill Company, it's called. They've had a few problems with bandits lately, so they've been asking for some more guards to make sure everything goes smoothly." She lifted her hand. "You won't be alone," she extended her index, "you probably won't have to do anything," she extended her middle, "and you won't be paid very well. But we're short on hands right now."

"Maggie, you can't just give them that!" The man scoffed. "They're... well, they're rude ...!"

It was Maggie's turn to put her hands on her hips. "Well, what are we supposed to do? We need more bodies, they want to prove themselves, and this is barely more than a milk run anyway." She waved one hand towards the trio above. "Besides, we've got these three on the job. It'll be fine."

The man grumbled, folding his arms and looking grumpy. The boy with the mandolin winked, smiling. The young witch wiggled her fingers with a grin. The hulking suit of armor grunted. "Fine," the man glowered, and bend over to rummage under the counter before coming out with a small mountain of papers. "These are your application forms, as well as a small test to make sure you aren't soft in the head and to waive our liability if you die. Make sure you fill out every entry. And write clearly, dammit! I like my records legible."

Weiss grunted as she retrieved the papers and quills from the counter, bringing them over to a dark-wood table surrounded by comfy sofas and chairs.

"Y-you handled that well, Weiss," Wisteria attempted to console her. She seemed annoyed.

"I didn't really do anything. They're just throwing us a bone," Weiss muttered, picking up the first roll of parchment as she flounced back into a couch. "This all looks pretty standard."

"This feels like a video game," Wisteria commented, smiling. "Doesn't it?"

Yukika leaned forward, squinted at the parchment, then leaned back, removing the mask. "I don't get why you didn't just tell them who we are," she said. "If you just said we're p-"

The feather of a quill pressed to Yukika's lips. Weiss glanced over her shoulder, then lowered it. "Because," she said, keeping her voice low, "a lot of people are afraid of ... them. Primes throw their weight around a lot of the time. And usually when people hear about them, it's for... Well. When something goes wrong."

"Is it really that bad...?" Wisteria whispered, frowning.

Weiss shrugged, flicking her long side ponytail over her shoulder as she started to write. "Well, I was overhearing that the big thing that everyone's interested in right now is a competition that's going on where Primes are trying to murder each other. So you tell me." A few scribbles, then she dipped her quill in the ink well. "Besides, you guys want to prove yourselves on your own merits, right? No special treatment. Well, beyond what they'd give anyone else."

Wisteria used one of her feelers to pink up a quill. The underside of her two feelers were coated with small, pink, tongue-like nubs, each extraordinarily sensitive to touch, as well as being able to taste and smell. They shifted, helping to delicately grasp and manipulate the quill as she started to fill out her own form, nodding.