Beast with a temper

The noises were getting closer.

A shell breaking into pieces.

The splinter of trees and the splash they made upon collapsing.

Boulders crushed to dust.

I sneaked towards whatever was causing all this turbulence, my lantern at the dimmest setting as Rasbora followed close behind shuddering at every new turmoil.

Corpses entered our line of sight: mutilated, ripped apart, pounded to mush.

Then the ruckus stopped, and silence enveloped everything.

I stood quiet, alert and listening.

Rasbora shifted her weight behind me, then lost her balance and splashed in a puddle—the echo resounding in the empty night.

…

Wet splatters rushed in our direction.

A predator.

I conjured a wooden shield for my left arm and braced myself.

The shadow pounced. It shattered my defense and grabbed me by the neck, lifting off my feet with a grip stronger than a bear's.

Bloodshot orange eyes, half-closed, frowning at the light—but human. A short silhouette covered in guts and mud—but still a person.

A person we knew.

"So it's you." Betta dropped me on the mud and rubbed her eyes. "What are you two doing here?"

I coughed to clear the throat she'd almost crushed. Rasbora flopped on her knees and exhaled deeply.

"Never mind, I can guess," Betta said after another glance. "How many did you get?"

"Five," I said. Rasbora mumbled, but didn't say anything aloud.

"I'm at thirty-seven. The brats you spoke with said around forty, so I'm confident all the bugs must be food for the vultures by now." She brushed off some of the guts on her like mere dust.

"Betta, um…" Rasbora started, her eyes struggling to remain on the gore-covered woman. "T-thank ya."

"What for? I was just letting off some steam." She walked past us. "You have until the sun rises to take a shower and salvage what little sleep you can."

ᗢ⫘⫘⫘⫘𖦹⫘⫘⫘⫘♡

I rose from bed for the second time that day, although I hadn't gotten a single extra wink of sleep. As agreed, all three of us gathered our things and headed out intending to leave this town within the first rays of sunlight.

The two boys were waiting for us on the street.

Chub spoke first. "So you went on a night adventure, ey? Cool, cool."

How did you even—

"You have until I fetch the buffalos and get them on the boat," Betta said as she went ahead. "After that I'm leaving regardless of whether you're aboard or not."

Rasbora smiled and watched her go, then turned to the kids. "Ah'm happy for ya two. Now your sister will be able to go out."

"Yeah, she'll be thrilled to graze again," Cod said. Chub smacked him in the nape.

"So your sister is an animal."

Chub scoffed. "Hey, now, it ain't nice to call people's sisters animals."

"Was she even sick to begin with?"

His gaze drifted sideways. "We never said she was."

I exhaled.

We walked into this ourselves.

"It was still the correct thing to do, aye," Rasbora said.

"Yeah, it was," I replied, more in an attempt to convince myself than anyone else.

"Mister and Miss Paladin."

"What now?"

Both of them looked at us before talking at the same time. "Thank you."

My mouth opened but the sounds lagged. Nothing came out.

Their words—along with the expressions that accompanied them—floated in the air, growing in my direction. They washed over me, melting some of the coldest complaints my inner voice would use to hurt me.

Doubt and regret still lingered; those two remained solid like an iceberg.

But I felt lighter, if only a little.

"Ya two are welcome. We were just doing our duty as Paladins. Right, Corydorin?"

"Right…" A part of me tried to protest, to find ways to turn their gratitude into something sharp and hurtful, but its clipped claws barely scratched me this time.

"Ah'm curious, though. How did ya two figure out we were Paladins? I wouldn't expect Corydorin to tell just anyone."

"Oh, that… let's say we have our means," Chub winked.

"What do ya mean by means?"

"Let's say you should hold your valuables more tightly when walking around busy streets," Cod added. "Someone might steal your pouch, realize it's too full to belong to just anybody, stalk you for a while, sneak in the bathhouse to check your belongings and discover that, in fact, you're a Paladin."

Chub repeatedly slapped his own face, and Cod cleared his throat. "You know, just a hypopolitical."

"You mean hypothetical?" I added.

"Exactly." Chub replied. "Something that just might happen, but hasn't. Take care, now. Bye." The two of them ran away like startled tadpoles.

What a pair.

And so, we left Crystalpond's Floater a little over three weeks into our journey. We had quite a way to go, but at this pace we wouldn't even get half a dozen more town breaks before we began tracking the Cursed Princess herself.

Still, there was plenty of time left.

No reason to worry myself over the distant future.

ᗢ⫘⫘⫘⫘𖦹⫘⫘⫘⫘♡

There was no longer an easy and comfortable road to follow. We'd gotten far enough from the Capital where maintaining manmade paths was considered not worth the tax money. This meant that, from time to time, our buffalos would have to traverse short patches of water—some of them deep enough to reach our heels, but not Betta's.

And since her feet weren't getting soaked, she saw no issue in making us stop in the middle of a pond to allow a plump of geese to cross undisturbed.

Around the time the little ones were passing, Oscar appeared floating next to me. No words—we watched the chicks go for a few minutes until our own lead goose resumed the march.

Oscar's eyes then went from Betta to Rasbora to me, and there they settled—studying me, pressing down on me. A few questions followed. Questions about the prior night that I answered with my head.

"I see, I see." He nodded a few times. "I'm happy for you, Dori. You made the correct choice and now seem much merrier."

Just take it with a smile.

Don't question it.

Doubting my actions wouldn't accomplish anything at this point, so it was best to keep things lighthearted and move on.

"Hey, Dori, check Betta for a bit."

Odd request, but I had no reason to refuse.

Same old Betta. From behind, you saw more orange curly hair than girl. Her shoulder flexed a few times, but other than that, nothing unusual.

She rode her buffalo, Amanita. Taller than a person and mellow as a water lily. Back when I first met her all those years ago I feared she'd have Betta's temper, so I avoided getting close—until Betta herself encouraged me to do otherwise. She even urged me to try and feed the animal.

Good times.

Betta flexed her shoulder yet again.

I looked at Oscar, regretful that I understood what he meant.

"You know what to do, my friend." He breathed life and warmth into every word like he was the sun itself.

But what he proposed gave me a taste as sour as eating a lemon. I barely contained a myriad of complaints and excuses, holding back only because I couldn't bring myself to hurt such innocence.

Even if it meant I had to go and poke a beehive with my bare hands.