Nibbles, NO! (Nibbles, YES!)

 The quartet found a spot to rest for a bit, Millie hopping off of Nibbles’ back and settling in to start carving. They were just outside of another forest, one on the northern border of the city. This one, Talia had told her and Nibbles upon arrival, was a bit more heavily populated than the one to the south. It was essentially Nightshade’s suburban area.

When she sat down to carve it, Talia settled beside her, pulling out another blood pouch. Millie was curious as to just how many of those she toted around.

“Hey, just outta curiosity,” she began. “How do vampires around here get their blood supply in the first place?”

“I can tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” Talia stated.

Upon seeing Millie’s arched eyebrow, she grinned. “Kidding, of course. But there’s this whole trade deal with the Fae Courts. Sometimes, a human will wander into their circles, enter the Fae Realm, eat some of their food, and not be able to head back to the human world. Once the Fae have control over what happens to them, sometimes they’ll have them sent here to serve as sources of blood. I know, I know, that does raise some ethical concerns...but the humans aren’t fully drained, they don’t need to pay rent anywhere, and they’re well-compensated for their sacrifice.”

Millie wasn’t quite sure what she thought of that, in all honesty, but she chose not to dwell on that right now. She may have been a little sorry she’d asked, and now a little paranoid about accidentally nicking herself as she carved. She took a breath, telling herself to stop thinking like that; just because Talia was a vampire, it didn’t mean she’d have a shark-like freakout when she smelled the slightest drop of blood.

“You’re not too unnerved by this, are you?” Talia asked, finishing off her last sip.

“Um...what happens when someone doesn’t take the deal?”

She tried to stop herself. She really did. It didn’t work out like that.

“I...don’t like to think about that. Can we drop the subject?”

Well, that wasn’t the most promising answer, but she nodded and continued her carving. Amaia, meanwhile, was tossing their head up and down a bit, eyes glancing at the vampire. They weren’t sure what to make of that, either. But that compensation angle did make it sound a bit better than some of the other stuff they’d seen happen with Fae-owned humans.

Meanwhile, Nibbles was getting hungry, and she could see that her human was busy, and nobody else seemed to have food she could steal (or beg for). She started into the woods, sniffing around. She’d make her way back to the others soon enough, knowing Millie’s scent quite well.

The werewolf didn’t walk for very long before something fluttered in front of her, getting her attention. It looked like a giant moth, which she promptly pounced on and began to chew, tail wiggling happily. But what else could she snack on, because that just wasn’t enough.

The vampire said it was a populated area, right? Something told her that whatever she found could either be an opportunity for food or pets, and she wasn’t opposed to either of those. She could go for a good belly rub, for that matter. Maybe when she got back to her human.

As she walked through the woods, she saw a huge web ahead. The smartest thing would have been to go back and inform them of what she saw. But Nibbles, being a five-year-old in werewolf form, had to explore.

Moving further, her ears perked up at the sound of skittering. She sniffed around for the source, head whipping around at more skittering. Which was when the strings of webbing slammed into the werewolf and pinned her to a tree, causing her to let out a very loud, very sharp yelp.

Back with Millie, she looked up at the distant sound of the yelp, dropping her carving as she looked for the wolf. She wasn’t armed yet, sure. And she wasn’t sure how to fight otherwise. But hearing her dog in any kind of pain caused something in her to snap, as she sprang upright and rushed into the woods to find her. Talia and Amaia both followed, each drawing their weapons along the way.

It didn’t take too long for them to locate the right spot, with Nibbles trying to chew herself free from the webbing, and the source of that webbing running a finger along her neck. The figure in question was fairly large, her lower half being that of a dark-gray spider. Her upper half was a humanoid woman, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and exposed fangs that she was planning to sink into the wolf’s flesh.

Millie could feel something burning within her, her vision turning a bright pink color, to the point where she could barely see in front of her. But she was pretty sure she was facing in the right direction.

“Get. The HELL. Away from my dog!” she roared.

She imagined vines pulling the spider-woman away from Nibbles, pushing her to the ground. The creepy forest around them bending to her will. And then another yelp (or three) brought her back to reality.

The pink faded, and her vision returned to normal.

What she’d imagined with the forest had become a reality, the vines having pulled the spider-woman away. They’d also managed to pin Talia to a tree, and snag Amaia around the waist. Millie blinked in confusion, before looking down at her hands.

“...Was that...did I…”

“We’ll unpack that later,” said Talia. “Mind grabbing Shade’s Fang and helping us out, dear?”

Millie, being the only one really equipped to do so right now, walked over to where the dagger lay on the forest floor, going to cut Amaia down first. The dullahan nearly fell onto their head (also on the forest floor), as the witch headed to Nibbles next. She cut the werewolf free, both of them going to help Talia out.

With them situated, the quartet approached Nibbles’ assailant. Millie’s eyes went cold as she stared her down.

“What do you think you were doing with my dog?” she asked, tone even, arms crossed.

“...Drider’s gotta eat,” she replied. “What the hell did you just do?”

“I dunno. Probably some magic stuff. Why my dog?”

The spider-woman attempted to shrug. “She was in the right place at the wrong time. But with her size, I probably wouldn’t have taken a lot of blood. Probably would’ve paralyzed her for a bit, though...I don’t get a lot of visitors around here.”

Millie kept glaring. “And why shouldn’t I kill you…”

Another attempted shrug. “What brings y’all out here, anyway?”

Millie explained the mission, the spider-woman blinking a bit.

“Would it be okay if I came with you?” she asked. “I’ve got, like, nothing else going on, and all.”

Millie wasn’t entirely sure about that. This lady had attacked her best friend. Her reason to keep going before they came here. Nibbles, on the other hand, sniffed her.

“You gonna give me pets and snacks?” she asked, head tilted.

The drider blinked again. “Not sure what all I can share with you, but with all these legs, I can probably give you lots of pets.”

“Welp, I’m not opposed!”

Talia tapped her chin. “I could see you being an asset to the group in a pinch…”

Amaia sighed. “Look, don’t try and drink from any of us, and it’s all good, got it?”

Millie still wasn’t quite sold on the idea, but nodded to Nibbles, who walked up and cut the drider free. She dropped to the forest floor, grinning.

“Name’s Sara, by the way,” she said, stretching.

The quartet (now quintet) headed back to their resting spot, Millie returning to her carving. Every so often, she glanced back up at the drider, unsure what to make of her. Attacking Nibbles, no matter how much it was for survival purposes, had immediately put Sara on her bad side.

“But seriously…” she began, looking to Talia. “Was that combat magic?”

To be honest, Talia wasn’t entirely certain. She was more accustomed to cosmetic spells than that. If anyone had to guess, that was an explosion of Concentrated Power Of Will. Millie also wondered if that was the case (though she’d always sort of figured that the color of will would be green, or that summoning that sort of will would require a lantern, a ring, and an oath).

After a while, she had the first half of the pencil carved, and had started making the channel for the graphite. Not that she had said graphite yet. She’d figure that out later, but she was halfway to having this part of the scythe done.

Amaia had stepped in to help with the other half, since Millie doing this on her own would take significantly longer than anyone would have hoped. But after a while, the main body of the scythe’s shaft was ready to go.