3.1 Joking About Consent

So this was how it felt to be on the receiving end of an ambush.

As the bandit trio lunged at the guards, Cérise picked Mish up, who yelped, then hurled her at them. Like bugs, both guards and brigands scurried off, though a second projectile (Two-Rabbit) slammed into two of the latter at once, sending them flying throughout the firmament. As for Cérise, he stumbled under the weight of... well, himself... but it was thanks to this that he dodged a third arrow, slicing a fourth in half with Luke's knife before it reached him.

"What the fuck?" Squeaked the archer at the roof. "Blanche, stay away from that monster!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Blanche the bandit tried, and failed, to run, but Cérise used himself as a projectile this time, instantly knocking her unconscious. The six guards were, to their credit, quick to apprehend the rest of them.

He'd snapped something when he'd lifted Two-Rabbit. His arm hurt. To put it lightly (no pun intended). The archer didn't strike again. Had he fled, or was he planning something? Either way, holding his wrist, Cérise rolled off Blanche the bandit. She, too, was seized. "There's at least eleven of them left," he told the guards. "We need. Reinforcements."

"Who are—"

"Bounty hungers."

"Why did—"

"The beastkin are beginners."

"W—"

"Just. Hurry."

"Take the prisoners back to the HQ," said the guard Cérise had been talking to, presumably the leader. As her minions stuffed the unconscious bandits into the carriage as though they were clothes inside a suitcase, she turned back to Cérise. "Hey, show me your arm. You dislocated it, right?"

"Mhm." She must've specialized in healing, too. Like mages, schooled medics tended to wear a badge to differentiate themselves from the ignorant masses. This one had none of that. "One of my, uh. The others was just paralyzed. Fix her."

Cerise's limb was snapped back in place (it also hurt, just less), Mish de-poisoned, and the guards sent back for reinforcements. It'd take an hour or so for them to return, at which point help might prove to be useless, but they would've been nuisances at best either way. Mish's...? Plan to get reinforcements hadn't been terrible, though. "I became a projectile against my consent," said Two-Rabbit, but he was ignored.

The archer had yet to make a move. Even when Cérise and the pair of meat sacks behind him took cover inside the yurt, nothing happened. Neither Mish nor Two-Rabbit alerted him of anything, either, like a second ambush, or a trap. "What can you hear?" He asked them.

Mish shut her eyes, placing her hands next to her ears. Since Two-Rabbit wasn't stupid, he simply replied, "There's fourteen of them left. I think. Four against... no, two against one, two against nine. Dunno where Akiha is. I'm still disturbed about being used as a javelin."

"...huh? Two against one?"

"Yup," said Mish. "The kidnappers are giving Kaz a hard time. Svart and... the girl?"

Not possible. Cérise's encounter with Svart had been brief, but he was nothing compared to Kaz, unless he had just been messing around. If so, why? It certainly hadn't seemed like it.

"By the way, I might have to boost us again. My spell's running out. But I can't do it forever, y'kno."

Having ten times his usual strength was good in the sense that Cérise could hurl Two-Rabbit if the situation so required, but it also meant potentially tearing his own body apart. Again. "How about the archer?"

Mish shrugged, and Two-Rabbit responded, "Dunno."

He'd probably concealed himself with an illusion spell, which meant two things: that to cast one for Two-Rabbit and Mish would be useless since those enchantments would cancel each other like waves on a lake, and that the archer had yet to call for reinforcements, based on the meat sacks' reports. If the archer were strong enough to conceal himself inside the yurt with Cérise and the rest, then he could've wiped the floor with them already, and since he hadn't...

"Eight against two," informed Two-Rabbit. "Seven and a half."

"What about Akiha?"

"Haven't heard him. What now?"

'Dunno'.

Theory:

Practice:

"What now?" Repeated Two-Rabbit.

If only Luke...

If...

"I don't know," Cérise mumbled. To whom? "Stay here, or... they'll be back in an hour."

"Who."

"The guards. I don't know."

"What."

Mish looked similarly confused. How to tell them that his ability to follow orders was inversely proportional to his ability to give them? By talking. With words. Words to order. To communicate. To... protect? Save? What a joke.

But he'd done that before, right? With Akiha? And it had worked...

Maybe he should've told Two-Rabbit to mediate with Svart and his minions. That way, Akiha might have

No.

Snail?

But at this rate, they'd die.

Kaz...

What would Kaz do?

Theory:

Practice: "You two should stay."

Two-Rabbit: "But they know we're here."

Mish: "Last time you went by yourself, things didn't end well, just saying."

Cérise:

Mish: "Though I get it, cuz Two-Rabbit can't fight."

Two-Rabbit.

Mish:

Mish: But you can, so...

Cérise: No.

Two-Rabbit and Mish: !?!?!?

"I don't. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what to do. Fight? But how? Who goes where? Who does what? How to successfully deploy... ugh."

He didn't even flinch when Two-Rabbit placed a paw on his back, mostly because Cérise had disconnected for a bit. This was happening way too often lately. Lately as in, since Snail showed up with the cult recruitment pamphlet. "I can't fight," said Two-Rabbit, "But you can use me as a javelin. I consent this time. That was a joke. I was joking about consent. Different cultures. Trying to be funny. Lighten the mood."

To that, all Cérise could respond was:

To that, all Mish could respond was: (She should respond that way more often.)

And yet Two-Rabbit was unflinching. "Instead of working with, you're working despite us. That's the problem, not that there is a problem. You know what to do, right?"

"No." But... "Thank you."

Two-Rabbit nodded. He spoke when he had to, because, despite, whatever. Like Cérise, he wasn't good at it. "Good." And then Two-Rabbit moved back.

And then Cérise spoke: "I don't think I could, uh, use you again, but Mish could. We're not sure about how strong Kaz's men are. Usually I, um, I kind of. I can be the bait."

"How about," said Mish, "You give us some sort of signal? And then I do the Two-Rabbit attack. Since I'm physically stronger than you, if I enhance my strength it'll be like a multiple and stuff." She cleared her throat. "And thus we'll compliment each other, for a team's strength relies in communication, not individual prowess."

"Uh-huh." But she had a point.

"I can also turn into a bat."

"A what."

"A bat. And a rat. And a gnat."

Was that also a joke? Hopefully not about consent.

Mish twirled, but nothing happened. She bit her lip. "Well, perhaps not today. But yeah. You go on the front lines. Two-Rabbit and I will be backup. We'll use the beastman javelin attack if we see you're on a pinch."

And now Mish was being sensible, too?

"To be honest, I was kinda having second doubts about this whole thing until I saw you take on three people at once. And if you could take on the southerner who's giving Kaz a hard time as we speak? It'll be fiiine."

Never mind. She was convincing herself.

But that, too, was fiiine.

"I'll be on the lookout for Akiha, too."

"Hearout," said Two-Rabbit. That was probably a joke. What a jester.

Mish extended a hand. When this caused no reaction, she said, "Put your hands above mine, come on. Like a team. Come on. Please. It's getting embarrassing. Please."

So Cérise did. So Two-Rabbit did.

Should he tell them?

"Let Operation: Rescue Snail commence!"

Best to not. It'd kill what little fragile optimism they'd built.

***

To summarize a long, grueling tale: it worked.

(Barely.)