New Revelations

Author: Zephilia_Wine Title: New Revelations : Chapters 36-40

This fan fiction is purely fan made (thus the name FAN fiction) and is in no way actually affiliated with the creators of the actual Slayers franchise. I do not own Slayers and no copyright infringement is intended, nor is any profit being made off of this work of fiction.

On another note, this story contains an original character... [To see a picture of her click here] (ducks the tomato's and balks at the boos and hisses) yes, yes i know. The character is based loosely on the concept of some of the works of the author R A Salvatore. Once again no copyright infringement is intended here. I merely borrowed the Do'Urden name for a while and a little fictional DNA here and there. (can sperm and eggs be copyrighted...?)

A warning to all who decide to continue to read this work... The story is fairly tame now, but will INEVITABLY contain scenes of graphic, descriptive violence, as well as sex. This will be a Yuri Fanfic as well so it will contain girl on girl sexual situations.

If you are offended by any of the things mentioned above or are NOT 18 years of age or older, TURN BACK NOW. You have been warned... now let the good times commence!

New Revelations

Chapter Selection

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30
31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40
41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50
51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60
61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 |  |  |  |

Chapter 36

Katibree awoke in the darkness from a decidedly……… ‘Disconcerting’ dream with a gasp as she was snapped back into reality. It hadn’t been so much a visual dream as it had been an abstract one, and a strangely erotic one at that.

“W-what the hell..?” That was…odd…I was floating naked with all of this magical energy twisting around and through my body…The ex-assassin forced herself to recall as the memory of the dream began to fade fleetingly. She dropped her head back down onto the mattress abruptly with an annoyed groan due to an insistent ache in her nether regions before gradually becoming aware of the weight of a sleeping Lina’s legs sprawled across her back.

I suppose that… kind of explains things…The half elf thought to herself with an irritated roll of her lavender colored eyes. Well shit, if I’m going to dream about getting it on…the least my mind could have done was give me a person to get it on with. Fucking magic. She griped to herself.

The ex-assassin looked over her shoulder at the sleeping redhead that was currently using her back as a leg rest. The sorceress hadn’t even bothered to put her Talismans away that she’d been working on and they laid strewn across the bed and tangled in the covers haphazardly.

Too funny. The mostly platinum haired warrior thought to herself with a fond laugh. I really can’t complain about being with Lina day in and day out honestly…I’ve never had so much fun in my life, but it would be nice to get a little ‘me time’ every once in a while. “….I haven’t been laid in forever!” She blurted audibly into the mattress while pressing her face into it in frustration and blushing profusely after realizing that she’d just said that out loud. Oh well, Lina sleeps like the dead anyway, so it’s not like she heard that…

Katibree faltered a moment as the implications of that last thought began to sink in. I could probably get away with doing it…She thought to herself sheepishly while stealing a wary glance back at the sleeping sorceress. But knowing my luck, she’d wake up right in the middle of it…If Lina has anything, it’s both good and terrible timing… Gods I could see it now… “Kat…?” “What are you- - What are doing under the covers over there…?!?” The sheer scope of mortification would be limitless…The ex-assassin thought to herself with an embarrassed giggle. Well even if I had the balls to try that… the layout of the bed is totally screwed up right now. How the hell did she end up falling asleep that way anyway? She pondered to herself, while absently going over a linier plan in her head of how to get Lina vertical and on her own side of the bed with the least amount of chance of waking her.

The half elf’s planning process was rudely interrupted by a loud *BOOM* followed by the ship shaking violently. This was soon followed by random shouting and commotion just outside of the cabin.

Katibree listened to the commotion a few moments before flipping onto her back and shaking one of a still sleeping Lina’s legs in an attempt to wake her. “We’ve got trouble, Red.”

“ZzzzzzzZZzzZzzzzzzz….”

“Red?”

“Mmmmmm, justa few more hours….ZZZzzzz….”

“Lina.” The mostly platinum haired warrior persisted one last time.

The redhead stretched her legs a bit in her sleep before beginning to snore quietly once more in response.

The ex-assassin laughed quietly at this before sliding out from underneath the sorceress’ legs and beginning to put on the few pieces of gear she’d bothered to remove before falling asleep. Whatever she stayed up doing must have really wiped her out. She’s a heavy sleeper, but she’s not normally this heavy of a sleeper…

After grabbing her weapons from underneath the mattress the half elf gave the slumbering sorcery genius one last glance before striding to the door of the room purposefully. Looks like I get to have all the fun to myself this time. She thought to herself with a smirk while opening the door and stepping out of the room before re-locking it and closing it quietly behind her.

Outside of their quarters was a scene of relative chaos. Sailors were running back and forth on the deck of the ship, shouting and going about executing the various orders being bellowed to them by the Captain.

Just then, Katibree spotted the source of the ruckus, a huge black and yellow three headed serpent was currently being engaged at the front end of the vessel. The sailors shouted and jabbed at it with their spears in a futile attempt to ward the sea creature off.

“Oh, that’s the one that everyone’s been so scared of I take it.” The ex-assassin mused to herself as she made her way to the front of the ship casually while going over the image of the wanted poster that she had seen in her mind. “It’s even bigger than the bounty on it’s head.” She added to herself with a laugh.

Just then, the serpant roared loudly before making it’s way to the side of the ship, rearing back with all three heads and ramming it with nearly enough force to capsize the ship.

Lina, who was still sound asleep until this time, was thrown from her bed from the violence of the impact, landing on the floor of the cabin in a tangled mess of blankets, limbs, and talismans.

“W-what the hell…?!” The redhead exclaimed, while standing and hurriedly detangling herself from the blankets. “Kat, are we under attack or something - -“ “Where the hell is Kat?” Where the heck do you think? She asked herself mentally while struggling to put on her mercenary gear as quickly as possible. “Right in the middle of whatever trouble she can find.” She muttered to herself audibly.

She could have at least woken me up before she left… She continued to gripe to herself while still struggling with the unfamiliar gear with a frustrated growl.

Outside Katibree contemplated her course of attack as she observed the serpent’s attack patterns. I could probably lop off one of it’s heads by throwing my blades at it… But we’re out to sea and if one of them gets deflected or if I miscalculate the angle of their returning arch as the boat is moving… there’s a very good chance that I’ll never see them again. Trying to retrieve them from the bottom of the ocean really doesn’t seem like very much fun…Oh well, in the words of the currently sleeping beauty… “I guess I’ll just wing It”. She thought to herself with a smile before sprinting to the side of the boat and vaulting herself off of the guardrail and directly at the sea creature. The serpent roared angrily as the ex-assassin dug into the neck of one of the flailing heads with both blades on impact, using them to dangle from the creature like a blue spider monkey.

Just then a very disheveled Lina Inverse came running up to the guardrail. “Hawh, that’s HUGE!” “I still don’t see Kat though… K-Kat??!” “What the hell do you think you’re doing??” She shouted to the half elf through cupped hands after gawking at the spectacle a few moments with the other sailors crowed around the guardrail.

The mostly platinum haired warrior dislodged herself from her former clinging spider monkey position just in time to avoid a bite from one of the three serpent heads, bounding and jettisoning from one writhing and curling coil to another, slashing the creature here and there as she went.

“Winging it!” She finally shouted back to the redhead before narrowly avoiding another enraged bite from one of the serpent heads with a back-flip.

“What are ya trying to do, annoy it to death?” The sorceress in disguise shouted back. Oh, I get what she’s doing…that thing’s neck is too thick for her to cut through with one hack because the blades on her weapons are so short… and she doesn’t want to risk throwing them out here on the open sea…So she’s bouncing back and forth in a pattern and hacking the same spots over and over again to cut deeper into one of the necks every time she make a pass…

The sailors now joined by the Captain stood crowed around the guardrail murmuring in astonishment and occasionally cheering at the display of athleticisim. Lina merely rolled her ruby colored eyes and folded her arms. She’s such a showoff… I could have already had this thing dead in no time flat if I could use my powers in front of these guys without compromising my disguise…She brooded to herself. But I do have to admit…the nickname she got from her Guild really is appropriate, she really does look like she’s dancing when she fights - - “OH, looks like she hit a main artery!” The redhead blurted gleefully in spite of herself.

Katibree began running up a scaled neck when she suddenly slipped on the virtual river of blood pouring down it, before catching herself by digging in with a blade and slinging herself back to her feet and vaulting herself at the gushing wound. One more pass should do it…She thought to herself grimly as she closed in on the wound and charged her blades before crossing her arms and swinging with all of her might. The middle head was severed with a hiss as the charged blades met serpent’s blood and it toppled into the ocean with a splash large enough to force a wave of bloody water up almost as high as the deck of the ship.

The entire ship’s crew cheered loudly at this, thrusting their fists into the air and brandishing their weapons.

(L) “Yeah, way to go Blade-dancer!” “Just four more heads to go - -“ “F-four more heads??” “It’s a HYDRA!!” Lina shouted through cupped hands while leaning over the guardrail precariously.

“And what was your first clue, Red??” The ex-assassin shouted back, her voice cracking to a slightly higher pitch as she ran and slid under the attack of one of the new heads and jumped up, leap froging over another head, stabbing at it’s eyes and partially blinding it as she passed over it. “Maybe it growing two fucking heads in the place of the one that I just took forever to cut off??” She added in exasperation. Now what do I do…?

“Could be!” Lina called back cheerfully.

Goddamned creatures of legend! Well, if I can’t kill it by cutting off it’s heads…I have to go for something else. I seriously doubt it could regenerate an internal organ like the heart…It can’t even regenerate it’s eyes unless the entire head is removed it looks like… But all I can do is really guess where it might be… and that part of the serpent is underwater anyway. Katibree thought to herself as she slid down one neck and bounded to the next one, systematically targeting the eyes of the multiple heads as she dodged their attacks. And even if I could get to it’s torso somehow, Gods know how many layers of muscle and bone I’d have to hack through to get to it…I suppose that only leaves me with one option…

The hoots and cheers of Lina and the rest of the ships crew fell into shocked silence as the half elf was snatched up and swallowed whole by a serpent head sporting one eye.

“H-Wha-ah!” “Katibree!” The sorceress shouted conflictedly. It-it fricking ate her! Now I can’t even blast it because I’ll get her too! “DAMN it!” She exclaimed while rustling her crimson mane. I don’t get it… she could have easily dodged that last attack- - S-she did it on purpose!! “…What the hell’d she go and do that for!?” The redhead exclaimed out loud while jumping up and down and gesturing on the deck angrily as the surrounding sailors stared at her in bemusement and confusion.

“Katibree, you IDIOT!!!” She shouted as the four headed sea serpent began roaring miserably and sinking beneath the blood painted surface of the ocean until it was completely out of view.

Lina leaned even further over the guardrail of the vessel gripping it with her hands while scanning the surface of the ocean franticly with her worried ruby colored eyes for a couple of minutes. Hooooowwwn… I have to do something, disguise be DAMNED! She exclaimed to herself while jumping up on the guardrail as she began to chant a wind-barrier spell.

Just then a sailor shouted. “Look, over there!” “Something’s resurfacing!” He cried.

At this the sorcery genius broke her concentration and ran along the guardrail in the direction that the man was pointing. Oh, please be Ok, please be Ok, please be OK…! She thought to herself desperately as she made it to the side that the sailor was and began scanning the surface of the water.

Moments later a waterlogged Katibree crested the surface of the crimson waves with a gasp, flipping her gore covered, not so mostly platinum right now colored hair back and out of her face before swimming toward the hull of the ship with one arm and toting something fairly large behind her with her other hand.

(C) “Throw her a line!” The Skipper bellowed cheerfully. “Good work, gal!”

(L) “Well, aren’t you quick to change your tune, you big jerk.” Lina thought to herself with a icy glare at the Captain before turning her attention back to the half elf currently being hauled up the side of the ship, holding the line with one hand and holding the biggest heart that the sorceress had even seen in her life in the other. She stayed down there all that extra time just to cut that out. She deadpanned to herself in disbelief. S-she had me worried sick for…some…some stupid bragging rights?? She added to herself angrily.

The ex-assassin swung the heart up onto the deck with a grunt before rolling the rest of the way onto it herself as the sailors around her cheered and congratulated her.

(L) “Outta my way!” The redhead exclaimed while shoving deckhand after deckhand out of her way rudely. After making her way to the gore covered, water logged half elf, she merely stood there and glared angrily with her intense ruby colored eyes for a long moment.

“W-what…?” “What’d I do?” Katibree asked in genuine confusion while sitting and removing her boots, dumping the concoction of saltwater, blood, and serpent gore out of first one and then the other. Wow does she look pissed…

“Don’t give me that!” “You went and got yourself eaten on purpose to try and kill that thing just now!” Lina virtually exploded.

“Well yes - -“

“That serpent could have had a breath-weapon or Gods know what else!” The seething redhead interrupted angrily. “And on top of that, you stayed inside of it after you’d killed it while it was sinking to the bottom of the Gods-know-how-deep ocean to cut out it’s heart as a trophy!” She continued to rant.

“Y-yes well, there’s a bounty for it, Red - -“ The flustered ex-assassin stammered before being interrupted once more by the irate sorceress.

“That was the - -“ Suddenly she spun around and glared at all of the crew members gawking in newly inspired fear at her. “This is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ conversation, so ‘C’ yourselves’ out!” She exclaimed at them.

The sailors shrugged at one another, while shuffling back and forth nervously and muttering amongst themselves unsurely.

(L) “That means get LOST!!” The sorceress shouted at them.

As the deck cleared in a matter of seconds, Lina turned back around without missing a beat and continued chewing out Katibree. “That was the stupidest and most reckless thing that you have ever done, what was I supposed to do if you never came back up??” “How was I supposed to go down there and get you if you ran out of air or something, Katibree?”

“Look Red, it’s not that big of a deal…” “You pull reckless stuff like that all of the time, so what’s the differ- -?” The ex-assassin attempted to joke, failing miserably.

“The difference is, that I’m not a support character!” The sorceress interrupted once more.

The half elf balked at this and looked at the redhead, her luminous lavender colored eyes clouded in confusion. “A-ah a support… w-what…?” She stammered.

Lina lowered her head while sighing deeply and rustling her crimson mane in a more calm manner. “…Never mind…” “I’m going back to bed, Kat.” She added before walking off without another word, leaving what was most possibly the most dumfounded half elf in the universe at that moment to her own thoughts.

What the fuck got into her?? Oh well… I’ll try and talk to her about it later, but for now I need to get my gear treated before it gets ruined by this salt water.

She’s definitely the mistress of guilt trips though, I’ll give her that. I feel like shit and I’m not even sure why really. Katibree continued to brood to herself while making her way toward the ships laundry and bathing area. How the hell else was I supposed to kill the damned thing?? And if I didn’t get some type of believable trophy from it, there’d be no way to collect the reward for slaying it…and as soon as Lina realized that, she would have bitched about that too! Damned if I do, damned if I don’t… “Perrrrrrrrrfect.” She sighed audibly.

The sailor on laundry watch looked up at the sound of the ex-assassin’s voice. “Ol’ gal givein’ ya a hard time eh?” He asked in a sympathetic and knowing tone of voice.

“Excuse me?” The half elf asked while walking behind a curtain before removing her cloak.

“I was talkin’ about the lil’ lover’s spat you two was havin’ out on the deck just now.” The laundry watch reiterated pleasantly.

Katibree blushed vividly at this statement. “Oh, it was nothing of the sort… we’re just traveling companions is all.” She managed embarrassedly before continuing to remove her gear, putting the pieces in the respective piles that they needed to be in.

“Right, my apologies.” “It’s just that after seein’ you going up against that sea monster the way ya did, just figured you’d be the kinda woman that don’t take shit from nobody less they was yer man or woman an ya really didn’t have much o’ a choice.” He laughed while rubbing his neck in embarrassment. “No offence.” The watch added nervously.

“None taken.” The ex-assassin said distractedly while tossing her boots in the pile of things to be cleaned and re-cured. “She and I just have a… ‘understanding’ she added quietly while grabbing two oversized clean shirts, putting one on right then and ruining it instantly and carrying the clean one with her to the showers along with her weapons and a towel. “I’d like to have my things back as quickly as possible please.” “And no funny business with my undergarments…” She added while giving the sailor a dangerous look.

“S-sure thing Miss.” He stammered, laughing nervously afterwards.

With that, Katibree was off to the showering area.

Chapter 37

Later on that night…)

Katibree opened the door to the cabin quietly and stepped through the door as not to disturb Lina, who she assumed was sleeping, although the gesture was more of a social grace than anything considering that the redhead could sleep through anything short of… well, a full fledged sea monster attack.

The ex-assassin was surprised to see that the sorceress was anything but asleep however.

(K) “I thought you said you were going back to bed.” The half elf said quietly as she closed the door to the room, locking it once more.

“Yeah well, I couldn’t get back to sleep for some reason…” The sorcery genius replied while closing the book that she’d been reading before looking over at Katibree. “You were walking around the ship in just that?” She added while eyeing the thin material of the oversized shirt that the mostly platinum haired warrior was wearing.

“Huh…?” “Well, yes I had to have all of my gear cleaned and cured so that it wouldn’t get ruined…” “There really wasn’t much of a choice of what else to wear at the time.” “Why do you ask?” Katibree asked as she made her way over to the bed and sat down.

Lina hesitated a moment before finally answering. “It’s just that... well, you seem to have a problem even changing clothes in front of me, and now you suddenly don’t have a problem with gallivanting around on a ship filled with all guys in nothing but a T-shirt that’s practically transparent?”

The half elf laughed at this before answering back. “It’s not like I was walking around strutting my stuff to the crew or anything, most of them are asleep right now..” “I just dropped off my gear, took a shower, and came back here.” “Besides, that’s… kind of a different matter.” She added evasively while reaching over and digging through a traveling pack for the kit that she used to treat, polish, and sharpen their weapons. I really don’t see why she’d be worried about something like that anyway… The ex-assassin thought to herself with some amusement. Either way, at least she seems to have calmed down from earlier.

“I really don’t see how that’s a different matter… but I doubt that you’d be willing to explain that one to me.” “Here, let me see one of those.” The redhead added while gesturing for one of Katibree’s blades.

The half elf merely lifted a mostly platinum colored eyebrow and stared at the sorceress inquisitively.

“I’ve watched you do it plenty of times.” “I know it’s different because your weapons aren’t the typical shape, but I’ve seen what you have to do differently plenty of times.” She explained while reaching into the kit for a whetstone and ointment. “Just hand one here.” She added with a laugh.

The ex-assassin finally shrugged and handed Lina a half moon shaped blade hilt first wordlessly, before retrieving a second whetstone for herself and beginning to sharpen her other blade herself.

The two tended to the weapons in silence for several minutes before the redhead spoke once more.

“Hey, Kat?”

The mostly platinum haired warrior looked over at the sorceress expectantly at this.

(L) “Uh well…” Lina began uneasily, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

(L) I feel really bad about the way I blew up at you earlier and I’m sorry…Just say It Lina. The redhead urged herself silently. “Well… it’s just that…” The sorcery genius trailed off what she was trying to say with a frustrated sigh before rustling her fiery mane and finally continuing with her ruby colored eyes downcast.

“I just…I was just wondering what exactly it is that you’re planning to do once we get to your side of the barrier she suddenly blurted.” Damn it, why do I always have so much trouble with apologizing? She exclaimed to herself in annoyance.

Katibree gave Lina a knowing smile before the humor in her lavender eyes began to rapidly fade as she considered the answer to the sorceress’s ‘detour’ question.

“Honestly, I’m not completely sure myself…” The ex-assassin began quietly. “All I really know is that I have to see The Guildhall and what transpired there with my own eyes.” “I owe them all that much at least.” She added even more quietly.

“Was there someone… ‘special’ to you there, Kat?” The redhead asked while applying more curing ointment to the blade she was sharpening.

“…Well, everyone there was pretty much the closest thing to family that I’d ever known… but, I never really allowed myself to get too close with any of them really.” “In that line of work, you could be allies one day and enemies the next.” The half elf replied while holding her blade up to a lantern and studying it.

“Yeah, I think I understand where you’re coming from there… but, that’s not exactly what I meant.” “I’d think that there had to have been someone there that you were closer to than all the others…” Lina reiterated while grabbing a tool from the kit and tightening the hilt of the blade to keep herself occupied. She knows I’m talking about a boyfriend and she’s playing dumb… it really doesn’t suit her… She thought to herself with some amusement.

Katibree sighed in resignation before wording her reply carefully. “If you’re speaking of… a ‘significant other’, then no, but outside of The Guild, I’ve had had a fling or two over the years.”

“A ‘fling’ or two huh…?” The redhead asked coyly while handing the ex-assassin’s blade back to her.

“Yeah, nothing serious…” The half elf replied as she took the blade from the sorceress and held it up to a lantern as well. “Hey, you didn’t do half bad, Red!” She added approvingly.

“Well, what did ya expect…? It is me after all.” The sorcery genius boasted with an exaggerated flip of her crimson locks, before giving her trademark Lina Inverse wink.

“Hah, and you say I have and ego!” The mostly platinum haired warrior said with a laugh. “Anyway, what about you Lina?” “Do you have anyone… waiting for you back on your side of the barrier?”

“Yeah, Gourry actually…” Lina said before trailing off with a strange expression on her face.

“The Swordsman of Light…?” “Or former Swordsman of Light until we get Gorunova back for him should I say?” (1.) Katibree asked as she stood to go place her blades out of the way as she didn’t have the leather sheaths for them at the moment.

“That’s right, I told him to wait for me in Sairaag until I’d finished with the whole business I had to take care of in Zephilia… but that was before the whole Monster deal came into play.” Lina replied while scooting back on the bed before lying back with her arms folded behind her head.

“So you and he are an item then…?” The ex-assassin asked while making her way back to the bed and laying lengthwise on her side of it, propping herself up with her elbows.

“Well, no actually…” She said with a blush while staring at the ceiling. “I mean… I-I’ve thought about it over and over again and…” She trailed off embarrassedly while taking a hand from behind her neck to ruffle her crimson colored bangs nervously, revealing her twin birthmarks momentarily. I can’t believe I’m actually even considering talking to her about this let alone actually doing it…I’ve even tried talking about this with Amelia and I just couldn’t do it for some reason…

The half elf merely waited intently for the sorceress to continue while reaching for a pillow and tucking it underneath her elbows before shifting her weight on the bed slightly to get more comfortable, never taking her lavender eyes off of the sorceress.

“…And well, we’ve been traveling together for so long that it seems like… it’s seems like the right thing to do…” “I mean, I definitely--” The sorceress broke the rest of this statement off with a frustrated sigh while covering her face with her free hand before finally continuing after a long moment. “I know that I have feelings for Gourry, and I’m pretty sure that he has feelings for me too…”

(K) “But, he hasn’t asked you out yet?” Katibree offered quietly.

“Well kind of… I mean… I always figured that Gourry would never ask me out on his own after I finally got it through my thick skull that he even liked me to begin with the help of everyone else’s’ hints…” “And after I’d figured that out I was pretty grateful of that, because it took allot of pressure off of me and gave me some time to think…”

After trailing off once more for several moments while attempting to sift through what she was feeling as she stared up at the ceiling through her fingers with her ruby colored gaze, Lina finally continued. “…It’s just that…well, he’s my best-friend and all… but, the longer it took me to work the nerve up to say something to him about it, the more and more that I tried to imagine a future with him… and every time that I tried to do that, everything just started to… become less and less clear.” She finally managed with some effort.

(K) “So you… started having doubts then?” The half elf asked.

“Yeah… I guess so…I mean, I’ve changed so much since we first met and… I-I love the guy to death but…Gourry has stayed almost exactly the same guy as he was when I first met him at the age of 14…” The redhead tried to explain conflictedly. “He’s still as charming, nice and gallant as he’s ever been, but at the same time…” “I don’t know… I just can’t help feeling that maybe we aren’t as compatible as I originally thought we were…”

“Well you just said that he was nice, charming, and gallant Red, what else could you possibly want?” “Don’t you think that you might be getting somewhat picky here?” “Gabriev sounds like a really great guy to me…” Katibree add while rolling onto her back and readjusting her pillow.

“Well he is but…I-I don’t know I just… I just think that I’d want more substance in a long-term relationship.” Lina finally replied with a sigh while removing her hand from her face and placing it back behind her head.

“The ex-assassin lifted a mostly platinum colored eyebrow at this statement while turning her head to look at the redhead once more. “More ‘substance’?” “Saving the world together on multiple occasions doesn’t count as that?” She asked with a smirk.

The sorceress couldn’t help but laugh at this a moment before becoming somber once more and continuing. “I’m not talking about adventures and all of that smartass…” “We can have all of those that we want without going out, but we won’t be able to do that forever.” She sighed.

“I’m not sure that I quite follow you, Lina.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” The sorcery genius trailed off in thought as she turned her head to look out the porthole of the cabin and sighed deeply while collecting her thoughts before finally continuing.

“Once I finally decide what exactly it is that I want to do with my life, and the days of danger and adventure inevitably come to an end- - Well, I’ve told you some of the stories about Gourry, like the ‘bamboo branch’ (2.) one right…?” The redhead asked in frustration.

The ex-assassin merely nodded at this with a small smile.

It-It’s just that I think that I’d want to do things with the guy that I decide to spend the rest of my life with that are… more substantial than… re-explaining things and arguing over the last piece of roast for example…” Lina finally managed.

That being said the sorceress turned her head to look at the half elf with a heartbreaking mixture of emotions evident in her ruby colored eyes. “You know what I mean?” She asked quietly. Please tell me you understand, no one else seems too…

Katibree averted her eyes from the sorceress’s close to pleading ruby colored gaze, shifting uneasily after a short moment before staring at the ceiling of the cabin with her lavender eyes herself. After a few moments of considering what Lina had just said, she finally spoke.

“Well, it sounds to me like you love him, but you don’t think that you’re in love with him, and as much as you’d like that to be the case because you don’t want to hurt his feelings…” “You just don’t think that the two of you were meant to be…”

Wow, she hit the nail right on the head... But, I guess that really shouldn’t surprise me anymore. The redhead thought to herself in bemusement. “Yeah…that’s pretty much it, Kat…” She replied. “I mean, if I’m going to be with someone for the rest of my life, once I’m old and grey and can’t do all the things that I used to be able to do, I’d at least want someone that I could study and research with or even philosophize with - -

*Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock*

Both girls looked at each other quizzically before looking at the door simultaneously.

(K) “Wonder what this is all about?” The half elf asked.

(L) “You and me both.” Lina replied. “Yeah, what is it?” She added more loudly.

“Madam, the Captain has sent a gift for your partner’s work in slaying the sea beast.” A muffled voice answered through the door.

(L) “How could he tell it was me talking to him?” The sorceress wondered to herself out loud as she stood to get the door.

(K) “Your voice is… pretty…….‘distinct’ sounding, Red.” Katibree teased with a wink.

“And just what’s that supposed to mean…?” The sorcery genius asked while shooting the ex-assassin a glare before turning back around to unlock and open the door.

“Oh, nothing…” The half elf said with a laugh.

“…Humph.” Was the redhead’s only reply as she opened the door.

A sailor stood outside holding a huge platter of various types of seafood. “Compliments of the Captain, Miss.” He said cheerfully.

Lina clasped her hands together with sparkles in her eyes at the sight of the heaping platter of seafood. “Ooooh, well I guess that maybe the Skipper isn’t such a bad guy after all!” She practically squealed before snatching the large dish and slamming the door in the sailor’s face, leaving him standing outside blinking bewilderedly at the door.

(K) “Thanks!” The ex-assassin half shouted half laughed to the sailor through the door as the sorceress made her way over to the bed and placed the platter on it, grabbing a lobster and cracking it open immediately.

“So Kat… what exactly did you mean about my voice just now…?” The redhead asked with a dangerous edge to her voice as she pulled some meat out of a lobster claw.

Gods does this girl ever let up on anything? Katibree wondered to herself while reaching for a shrimp. “All I’m saying is that your voice is easy to pick out from other people’s voices and because of the pitch that you speak at, it also has a tendency to carry.” She finally replied before popping the shrimp into her mouth nonchalantly.

The sorceress merely gave the half elf a dubious look.

“What…?” “I like your voice!” The mostly platinum haired warrior said with a laugh. “You should really stop being so defensive all the time, Red.” She teased.

“I’m not being - -“ Lina’s statement was rudely interrupted by a large piece of fried fish that was suddenly shoved into her open mouth by Katibree who only began laughing all the harder at the expression of surprise on Lina’s face.

“!....Mmmmf vif ifh prfify goov!” The sorcery genius attempted to say after a few chews. “Wahfs sfo…. funny?” She asked after finally taking a moment to shallow her bit of unexpected food while reaching for another piece of fried fish.

“Just about everything that you do!” The half elf finally replied after regaining her composure some what. “Whew, anyway what do you say we eat our fill and then try and get some sleep, Lina?” “We need to try and get back on a regular schedule after all that traveling at night and sleeping during the day that we were doing before.” She added while picking up a piece of fish herself and taking a small bite out of it.

“Yeah, that actually what I was trying to do before…” The redhead said before virtually inhaling another piece of fish while reaching for her half eaten lobster at the same time.

“Oh and Red…?”

“Yeah, Kat…?”

“I accept your apology, and I’m sorry for worrying you as well.” Katibree said while spearing a scallop with her fork with a wry smile on her face.

“I-Wha-ah…!” Lina sputtered before beginning to blush profusely. I hate it when she does THAT! “Ok, that’s it!” “Hand it over!” She exclaimed suddenly.

“Hand over what?” The ex-assassin asked with an amused expression on her face.

“Your mind reading device!” The redhead exclaimed flusteredly. “You have to have one and I want it!” She continued to rant while beginning to rummage through the travel packs, sending various supplies flying in one direction or another.

“Oh, come on Lina, we both know there’s no such thing…” The half elf said while laughing.

“There is and I’m gonna find where you’re hiding it!” Came the sorcery genius muffled reply from the travel pack that she was currently partially inside of as she continued her impromptu quest.
Author’s notes:

1. i just found out recently that Gourry actually gets a sword called the “Blast Blade” in the Manga after he loses Gorunova, but it’s so sharp that he’ll hardly use if for fear of killing someone… I thought that was pretty weak sounding so I’m not going to incorporate that into the fic.

2. The ‘bamboo branch’ incident / gag that Lina is referring takes place during the first season of Slayers the TV series when the gang is talking to Tarim and Damia about Halcyform.

Chapter 38

(K) “So are you ready to finally get back to some dry land, Lina?” Katibree asked as she leaned on the guardrail of the ship watching the sailors work at getting the ship moored.

“Since the day I stepped on this thing, Kat!” Lina laughed. “My history with ships hasn’t exactly been the greatest…” She added sheepishly.

“I’ll bet that has to be an interesting story…” The half elf said wryly.

“There’s a few actually.” The redhead replied while shielding her eyes with a hand and squinting out at the shoreline. “Anyway, what are we going to do about collecting the bounty on that hydra?” “We can’t cash in on it on this side of the barrier that I know of, and even if we could, I wouldn’t want to drag that huge, gross heart around with us everywhere that we went until we found a place offering a bounty for it.” She added while scrunching up her face in distaste at the thought.

“Oh, I already spoke to the Skipper about that.” The ex-assassin explained while hopping up on the guardrail, before sitting on it, swinging her legs back and forth over the side of the ship.

“Oh, what did you come up with then…?” The sorceress asked in interest.

“I told him that he could have a small percentage of the bounty if - -“

“You WHA- -??!” The sorcery genius exclaimed.

“Just hear me out!” The half elf laughed. “He’s not stupid enough to try and double cross us, so I gave him permission to cash in the bounty and take a small percentage of it for himself in payment for holding on to the rest of the reward for us until we make it back to your side of the barrier.” She finally explained.

“And what if he does turn out to be stupid enough to double cross us?” Lina asked. “That’s allot of money, Kat.” She added with an agitated rustle of her fiery mane.

“Then when we find him again, I’ll just kill him instead of thanking him for his services rendered.” Katibree replied lightly while giving the redhead that same careless shrug that she always did.

“It’s just that black and white to you huh?” The sorceress asked while rubbing the back of her neck and *sweat dropping*. Even after all this time, Katibree is still just as happy to slit most peoples throats as she is to shake their hands… It’s all just business to her. It’s so easy to just completely forget about that side of her… It really throws me off sometimes because there are so many other sides to her too…

The mostly platinum haired warrior turned and looked at the sorcery genius at this last statement. “Shouldn’t it be?” She asked inquisitively before faltering at the odd expression on Lina’s face. “Is…something wrong?” She asked. Was it something that I said? The ex-assassin wondered to herself.

“No… I guess not.” The sorceress said while forcing a smile. “Sometimes it’s just easy to forget is all…” She added with a more genuine smile.
“Forget wha - -?”

“It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it...” “Anyway, let get off of this floating lumber yard… What do ya say Kat?” Lina said with a laugh.
“Uh, sure… that sounds like a plan…” “Are you sure you’re OK though, Red?” Katibree asked again while spinning around and hopping back off of the guardrail. What was that look that she gave me just now - -?

“Yeah, I’m fine!” “Come on, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” The redhead exclaimed cheerfully, effectively interrupting the ex-assassin’s train of thought before running off in the direction of the boarding ramp.

“H-hey, hold up!” Katibree called before finally running after her.

The two girls were off of the ship and waving their farewells to the Captain and the other members of the crew within moments.

(L) “Ok Kat, where to now?” The sorceress asked while surveying the unfamiliar surroundings and making mental notes of specific landmarks that she saw in the area.

“All we need to do is start heading in the direction of that mountain range over there.” The ex-assassin replied while pointing in the direction that they needed to travel in.

The girls walked in silence for a long while, both caught up in their own thoughts. Lina had fallen back on what had practically become her new favorite pastimes, and that was trying to figure out why Katibree had given her the nickname ‘Red’.

Alright, let’s see… Like I said before it’s blatantly obvious that I’m a redhead… So that’s not the reason that she gave me the nickname… Maybe it’s because of my temper…? No… that doesn’t make any sense… I wasn’t even mad or anything when she gave it to me. But, she did think that I would be mad at her for some reason…

I still don’t understand what her logic was behind that though… The redhead’s thoughts were interrupted rudely by nature calling.

“Hey, Kat?”

“Um…?”

“I’ll be right back, I’ve gotta pee...” The sorceress explained while heading off into the bushes.

“Oh, alright then Red.” The half elf replied while walking over to a nearby tree and leaning up against it.

The sorcery genius made her way through the brush while looking for a suitable spot to drop throe as she continued to mull the reason for her nickname over in her head.

Well, she still won’t tell me to this day, so I’m assuming it’s something pretty embarrassing or something that she’d rather avoid talking about… But, for the life of me I just can’t figure out what she saw that day at the lake to just suddenly make her give me the nickname ‘Red’… She continued to brood to herself as she found a suitable place to squat and do her business.

I have a tendency to blush allot about certain things… but I don’t think that’s the reason that she gave me the nick name either - - suddenly in the middle of dropping her pants and squatting the redheads thoughts were abruptly cut off as she lost her balance, sprawling backwards, with her legs flailing in the air comically

“DAMN it!” “Stupid leather pants - -!” “Any other complains that Lina may have had at the moment where instantly forgotten as her attention was drawn to the shock of red hair between her legs, and her face immediately followed suit with that color as she put two and two together…

K-Kat is talking about the color of my hair when she calls me ‘Red’… J…Just not the hair on my head…! That’s what she saw that day back at the lake that gave her idea to call me that! “And THAT’S why she would never tell me what the nickname meant afterwards!” The sorceress finally deducted in mortification.

“S-she’s been calling me that all of this time in PUBLIC??!” The sorceress blurted audibly in a haggard and breaking voice as she shot back to her feet pulling up her pants hurriedly with all thoughts of needing to pee being forgotten. “Kat-I-BREEEEEEEEEEE!” She shouted flusteredly, startling the birds out of trees for miles around as her distinct voice echoed through the massive forest repeatedly.

Katibree looked up with a single mostly platinum eyebrow raised at this. What did I do this time…? After a moment of pondering this very important question calmly with a hand on her chin in thought, as the sounds of Lina storming back to her through the brush grew ever and ever closer, it finally dawned on the half elf what exactly Lina might be so angry about.

“Uh oh…” was all she managed while stifling a laugh. “Well, she was bound to figure it out sooner or later…” She added wryly.

The redhead virtually exploded from the bushes with her face as red as Katibree thought that she’d ever seen it. “I was bound to figure out what sooner or later anyway?” The sorceress exclaimed embarrassedly while stamping a foot and flailing her arms wildly. “What, the fact that the nickname that you’ve constantly been calling almost since the day we first met is in reference to the color of my - -!”

The mostly platinum haired warrior didn’t even wait for the ranting sorcery genius to finish what she was saying before flashing the smaller girl a brilliant smile and taking off down the path that the two were traveling in a run.

Katibree, get back here!” Lina shouted while jumping up and down before running after her. “I can’t believe that you’d give me a nickname like that!” She continued to rant as she ran after the ex-assassin.

“I honestly wasn’t sure why I did at first!” Katibree shouted over her shoulder with a laugh. “It didn’t even dawn on my why I’d called you that the first time to begin with until you asked me why!” she added while picking up speed as the sorceress began to gain on her. She’s pretty fast when she’s this mad! She’s not throwing every spell in the book at me though, surprisingly enough… The half elf thought to herself wistfully

“Then why didn’t you stop calling me it after you realized why you called me it to begin with??!” Lina fumed as she continued to sprint after the half elf.

“Because it’s catchy and I think it suits you!” The ex-assassin shouted back before abruptly slowing down and finally coming to a stop, any mirth that she may have been feeling draining away immediately as she caught the scent of death in the air.

“It’s not catchy, it’s EMBARASSING…!“ “…Katibree…?” The sorcery genius asked, picking up instantly on the half elf’s sudden change in mood as she finally caught up to her.

“Gods, I can already smell it from here…I didn’t want to believe it all, but it’s really true.” Was the half elf’s only quiet response.

The redhead couldn’t smell anything just yet, but the tone of the mostly platinum haired warrior voice was more than enough to give her goose bumps. “Are you sure that you want to go through with this Kat?” She asked gently.

“No, I know that I don’t…But, I’m going to do it anyway.” The ex-assassin replied before setting her jaw and striding forward once more with a grim expression on her face.

Lina sighed deeply at this before finally following behind the larger woman. I know that look all too well… she’s definitely not changing her mind on this one, but I kinda wish that she would…

After 30 minutes of them walking, the sorceress in disguise could clearly smell it too and her stomach began to turn as they neared the Guild Hall and the stench of death only grew stronger and more unbearable.

Soon enough the two of them had made their way to within 20 feet of the partially opened secret entrance to the Guild Hall. The mangled and mutilated bodies of men, women, and children laid strewn in every direction in the clearing to the entrance of it.

(L) “This is… awful…” Lina breathed while covering her mouth with a gloved hand in horror and disbelief.

“I don’t expect you to come any further Lina, you’ve already endured enough of this…” Katibree said quietly. “You can just wait here now.” She added before walking forward once more. There’s no need for her to see anymore… She probably still feels at least partially responsible for this massacre as it is… although there’s no reason for her too…

“A-alright…” The redhead managed through the hand still clasped over her mouth.

After staring after the ex-assassin until she’d made her way inside of the Hall, the sorceress made her way over to some bushes on the side of the clearing before quietly losing her lunch there.

The half elf walked through the blood caked halls in helpless silence, staring at the chaos all around her in a haze. So many, bodies… It would take months to give them all the proper burials that they deserve, and that’s time that I just don’t have right now… How am I going to deal with this… I can’t just… “I can’t just leave them this way…” She said to herself audibly, a forming lump in her throat partially hindering her speech. I didn’t think… that this would affect me the way that it is… She continued to herself while placing a hand against a wall smeared with dried blood before slowly sinking to the ground with a broken sob.

After choking back several pained sobs, the ex-assassin angrily steeled herself. I won’t let emotions get the best of me. She told herself several times forcefully.

Katibree stayed on the ground that way stubbornly struggling to regain her composure and forcing herself to think about the situation logically for several moments before finally getting back to her feet and making her way back out of the Hall, wiping her lavender colored eyes with the back of her hand as she walked.

The ex-assassin made her was back to where a slightly green in the face Lina stood with her arms folded.

(L) “So… did you see everything that you needed to see, Kat?’” The redhead asked somberly.

“I believe so, and I’m almost ready to go… But, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind doing me a favor first.” The half elf replied.

“What’s that Kat?” the sorcery genius asked.

“There are too many bodies here for me to actually take the time to bury properly with our schedule being as tight as it is.” “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking care of this for me in one shot after I get some distance between us.” The mostly platinum haired warrior finally finished.

“Oh yeah, no problem Kat…” Lina replied with more than a little surprise. She's actually asking me to use my powers for once… That’s definitely a new one…

The half elf gave the Guild Hall one last sad, lingering gaze before looking back at the redhead and giving her a grim nod as she began walking away.

The sorcery genius returned the nod as the mostly platinum haired warrior passed her before taking a deep breath. Well, here it goes…

“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows…”

Katibree continued walking until she’d given herself a good 20 ft radius of distance between herself and the sorceress before finally turning to watch the impromptu burial herself.

“Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows, I pledge myself to conquer, all the foes who stand, before the might gift bestowed in my unworthy hand, let the souls who lay before me find some peace, with the power you and I possess…” I never got to know any of you, but I truly am sorry that things had to turn out the way that they did… Rest in peace guys… Lina added to herself silently.

“Dragon Slave!” She exclaimed as a massive red and white beam shot from her hands, detonating as it made impact with the mountain concealing the Guild Hall and incinerating everything in it’s wake with a colossal red ball of destruction, leaving nothing but a crater in it’s wake.

The redhead stood near the edge of the crater as the smoke, ash, and soot cleared in silence a long moment before kneeling and reciting a prayer to help souls pass on that her shrine priestess friends Sylphiel and Amelia had taught her so many years ago.

Katibree, who had made her way back to the sorcery genius’s side after the spell had been fired off, stood next to her and bowed her head solemnly until the redhead was finished with the prayer before placing a hand on her shoulder after she got back to her feet.

“Thank you Lina… I really appreciated that…” The ex-assassin said quietly as she looked out over the crater that she used to call home.

“Yeah well… it’s the least that I could do…” The sorceress in disguise replied while absently placing her hand over the half elf’s own hand still resting on her shoulder guard.

The two girls stood side by side that way for a long moment before simultaneously looking over and realizing that they were practically holding hands and snatching them away from one another embarrassedly.

(L) “Ahem!” Lina managed while turning away hurriedly and clasping her hands behind her head and blushing profusely.

The mostly platinum haired warrior cleared her throat as well, hurriedly folding her arms while averting her lavender eyes from the redhead and flushing slightly before finally speaking after a few more moments of uncomfortable silence.

“So, are you ready to look for that device that will let you try and get in touch with Sirius to try and re-obtain Gorunova for Gabriev?” The half elf asked, her voice cracking to a slightly higher pitch much to her dismay.

The sorcery genius turned at this and gave Katibree an odd look for a much longer period of time than the ex-assassin would have liked.

“What…?!” The half elf finally exclaimed while looking everywhere but directly at Lina.

The redhead merely smiled at this. “Yeah, I’m ready…” She finally said with a giggle. “We’re headed to Alto first right?” She added.

“Yeah, that’s the closest place from here Red…” The mostly platinum haired warrior affirmed with a wry smile as she began to walk.

Lina blushed profusely at this, smacking a hand over her face. “Oh, Katibree… come on…” She practically whined before following after the half elf. She’s never going to let me live this down for as long as I live… She thought to herself in that broken and haggard tone that she so often complained in.

Chapter 39

“Ok Kat, it’s been over a week and we’ve been to Alto, Baritone, and everywhere else on this side of the barrier with no sign whatsoever of this ‘device’ that you were talking about…” Lina said crankily while dropping an armload of firewood that she had just collected by the fire pit which Katibree was currently digging out before sighing deeply and plopping down beside it. “I’d really like to get in touch with Sirius, but this whole thing is just starting to feel like one big, wild goose chase.” She added while picking up a piece of firewood absently, tossing it in the air before catching it.

“Well technically… we haven’t been ‘everywhere’ that has a good chance of actually having the device, there’s still one last place that we haven’t check yet…” Katibree replied while placing the makeshift stone shovel that the sorceress had made for her off to the side of the fire pit in progress before selecting some pieces of firewood to begin placing inside of it. I was actually hoping to not have to go there… She thought to herself with a roll of her lavender eyes.

“There’s a kingdom that we haven’t been to yet?” The redhead asked in surprise while scratching her head and going over the geography of her mental map that covered the current area in her head. If Kat is talking about a place any smaller than a kingdom, I really don’t see how the place would have the resources or connections to develop or even acquire an invention of the magnitude that we’re looking for here…

“Yes, it’s a very obscure and isolated place, but because of the… ‘nature’ of the King and the occupants of the island, as well as the reputation of the Kingdom, it has excellent access to obscure information and topnotch connections…” The half elf explained carefully.

“Well, if the credentials of this ‘Kingdom’ come so highly recommended, then why wasn’t it one of the first places that we - - Did you just say that it was on an island?” The redhead asked dejectedly.

“That it is, Lina.” The ex-assassin affirmed. “Did you want to get the fire started this time?” “The wood is still semi damp.” She added while tossing one last piece of timber on the pile.

“Is it within Ray Winging distance at least…?” The sorcery genius asked hopefully as she leaned forward, cupping her hands over the fire pit before casting a modified fireball spell and blowing at the tiny ball of flame now hovering in between her hands, igniting the timbers with what could only be described as a miniature flamethrower.

“I’m afraid not.” The mostly platinum haired warrior laughed as she set up the familiar makeshift grill. Not to mention the fact that I can’t fly…She added to herself wryly while beginning to place slab after slab of bear meat on the grate.

“Hooowwn, not another boat, Kat…” Lina complained while flopping backwards onto a travel pack in exasperation.

“Ship technically, but the accommodations on this one won’t be nearly as lavish as the last one that we were on, Red.” Katibree replied apologetically.

The redhead flushed slightly at the use of the half elf’s nickname for her and considered protesting before finally just letting it go. She’s going to keep calling me that no matter what I do or say anyway…At least she doesn’t call me it as much as she used to anymore. She thought to herself while averting her ruby colored eyes from the ex-assassin embarrassedly. “Fine, I guess it can’t be helped then…” “Is the food ready yet?” The sorceress added hopefully.

Katibree laughed once more at this. “Of course not Lina, I just put it on the grate, and besides these are really thick shanks of meat.” She finally replied good-naturedly.

The sorcery genius rolled onto her stomach at this, burying her face into the travel sack with a miserable moan. “But, I’m so hungry…”

The half elf glanced over at Lina with a quiet sigh. I already saw this coming, I’ve pretty much got Red’s eating patterns down to a science unless she really exerts herself physically or magically for some reason…But we’re completely out of rations, not to mention the fact that game is really scarce in this area and edible vegetation is pretty much nonexistent…It took me forever to find the bear that I did, and it’s going to take even longer to cook the damn thing…She mused to herself.

After a few minutes of tending the fire while listening to the redhead’s groans and her stomach’s growling, the ex-assassin finally spoke. “Instead of focusing on how hungry you are until the food is ready, which will be quite some time… why don’t you try concentrating on doing something else, Lina?” She offered.

“And just what else would you suggest that I try and ‘focus’ on, Kat…?” Came what could be heard of the redhead’s muffled reply as she continued to press her face into the pack she was currently laying on.

“Well, you still haven’t tried fighting with your new weapon yet…” The mostly platinum haired warrior said before hopping to her feet and giving herself some distance from the fire pit.

Lina looked up from the bag at this statement. “Yeah, so..?” She asked with a raise of one crimson colored eyebrow.

“So… then why don’t we finally see what ‘Lina the swordsman’s’ got?” Katibree said, placing one foot in front of the other while giving the sorceress a ‘bring it on’ gesture with one hand, a small smirk playing across her lips.

“Huh.” So she wants to spar...? That’s interesting. The redhead thought to herself while rolling off of the sack and up into a standing position before reaching off to the side with her right hand to draw her short sword while simultaneously reaching back with her left and drawing the scimitar. I always kinda wanted to test my swordsmanship against hers anyway… She thought to herself as she hefted the unfamiliar weapon in her grasp a moment. ”Well, are you gonna draw your weapons or not?” The smaller girl asked while assuming a fighting stance.

“Only if you make me.” The half elf replied simply while giving the sorceress a nonchalant shrug.

“What..?” Lina asked unsurely.

Katibree merely chuckled at this. “Just come on.” She added while smiling and folding her arms.

Of all the cocky- -! Calm down Lina, she’s just trying to get into your head; it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. The sorcery genius told herself with a deep breath.

“Alright, have it your way Katibree.” The redhead finally said before running forward and attacking with a diagonal slash of her short sword which the half elf easily ducked. Grunting at this, the sorceress quickly recovered from the missed attack, swinging her sword in the opposite direction and aiming for the ex-assassin’s mid-section with a horizontal slice, missing once again as Katibree took a step back and out of range of the attack, never bothering to even unfold her arms.

As the larger woman took a step back, Lina stepped in, jabbing her short sword before watching in dismay as the half elf easily sidestepped the attack, unfolding her arms and taking the time to tap one of her metal bracers against the still unused scimitar currently raised over the decidedly annoyed sorcery genius’s head.

(K) “No point in wielding two if you’re only going to use one, Red.” The ex-assassin said lightly before casually ducking and sidestepping another set of attacks from the now blushing sorceress, this time attacking with both weapons. “That’s more like it!” She added with a grin. She’s already got great form for never having fought with two weapons before, and that was a nice combo, now all she has to do is get used to chaining them together. The half elf thought to herself with approval as she ducked a backhand swing from the redhead’s scimitar before rolling out of the way of a aggravated downward cleave from Lina’s short sword.

(K) “Looking good Lina - - whoa!” Katibree exclaimed while once again ducking and dodging the redhead’s next flurry of attacks, before having no choice but to draw her blades to block the last furious swing from the sorceress with some serious effort.

(K) “That’s right, show me what you’ve got!” The half elf said while grinning as she locked blades with the sorcery genius before pushing off and away from the bladelock with a grunt.

Lina growled at this before charging Katibree again and swinging with a brutal combo that the ex-assassin parried with a surprised expression on her face. She’s actually getting mad… this was supposed to be in good fun…

“Hey, time out, time out, time out- -!” The mostly platinum haired warrior exclaimed while throwing up her hands in a gesture of surrender before ducking another enraged swing of the redhead’s scimitar. “Take it easy Red…!” “I didn’t mean to piss you off or anything, I apologize…!?” She said as she deflected yet another blow from the sorceress before dropping her weapons completely and falling to the ground in a submissive gesture, attempting to diffuse the sorceress’s fury.

Lina faltered at this before blinking and shaking her head as if she’d just been snapped out of a dream before looking at the half elf as if seeing her for the first time. “Oh… I’m so sorry Kat…” Was all the redhead managed before walking away without another word.

Was she just crying? “Lina…?” “Hey, wait up!” The ex-assassin exclaimed while jumping back to her feet and following after the sorcery genius. “What was that all about just then?” She asked gently after finally catching up to Lina and walking along side of her.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that you two are so much alike sometimes…” The redhead replied quietly, still averting her eyes from Katibree.

“We two who?” The mostly platinum haired warrior asked with a perplexed expression on her face.

The sorceress in disguise stopped and sat on a nearby stump with a sigh before finally replying back. “I’m talking about my sister Luna, fighting you was almost exactly like sparring against her when I was younger.” “It was like… no matter how hard I tried, she was always one step ahead of me.” “I always used to get so frustrated fighting with her, because no matter what I did or how hard I tried, I could never seem to get the upper hand…”

“She had a tendency to rub that in your face?” The mostly platinum haired warrior asked.

“Well no, at least not on purpose anyway…” “It’s just that everything she ever tried to do she just did perfectly with seemingly no effort at all.” She explained with a forlorn expression on her face.

“Yeah, that does sound pretty annoying…” Katibree agreed wistfully.

(L) “I’m mean, there’s Luna, the dashing representative of Cepheid that Mom and Dad are so proud of and then there’s me…” The sorcery genius held out her fingers and counted as she began to name off the many colorful titles she’d acquired over the years. “The abominable fiend, the bandit killer, the dragon spooker, the enemy of all who live, the beanpole that leaves wreckage and chaos in her wake - -

“Ok, ok, ok!” The ex-assassin laughed. “I get your point, but everyone is expected to do stupid and reckless things when they’re kids… it’s part of growing up...” The half elf said while sitting down on the ground in front of the redhead with her legs crossed before continuing.

“I mean… you happened to be an obnoxiously powerful kid to the point of it being sickening, but you were still a kid Lina.” The half elf explained while picking up a small stone and studying it as she talked.

“Most kids screw up by taking their parent’s carriage for a joyride without permission and wrecking it…Or breaking a neighbor’s window with one of these.” She added while tossing the stone she’d been holding to the sorcery genius who caught it and looked at it with a quizative expression on her face. “Your mistakes were just on a grander scale because you were so damned powerful and had so much more responsibility than the average kid did.” She finished with amusement.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right… but it just doesn’t seem like Luna ever made any mistakes like that… she was always the ‘golden child’ that could do no wrong. Lina explained quietly. “Even her birth was prophesized by the temple of Cepheid so people revered her before she was even born. She added while tossing the stone back to Katibree with a sigh.

“Sounds like quite the shadow to have to stand in.” The half elf mused.

“Oh, you have no idea Kat…” “I’ve even heard that the only reason that I have the huge magic capacity that I do is because of an after affect from Mom having Luna.”

The half elf rolled her lavender eyes at this before finally replying. “Whatever Red, your sister may have a piece of ‘a God’s soul’ residing in her, but you can call upon ‘The God’ who created everything, including Cepheid himself, whenever you please... And no one else in the world, your sister included, is able to do that.” “All things considered, I’d say that she’s standing in your shadow now.” Katibree added with a smirk before standing and offering Lina her hand.

“Eh heh… well when you put it that way…” The redhead said, trailing off her sentence with a small blush before taking the half elf’s hand and allowing herself to be helped up. She really does have a way with words…She thought to herself wryly.

(K) “Well now would probably be a good time to head back to camp…” “If I burn that meat on the grill, there’s no telling where we’d find more with pickings as slim as they have been lately.” The half elf laughed while rubbing the back of her neck.

“No kidding!” The sorcery genius exclaimed as the two made their way back to the campsite.

Chapter 40

(L) “This is the ship.” Lina deadpanned while staring at the rickety wooden vessel that they were about to board in dismay.

“Yup.” Katibree replied matter of factly.

“I thought you said that this place was a prosperous Kingdom, Kat.” The redhead deadpanned once more.

“Oh it’s a very prosperous Kingdom.” The mostly platinum haired warrior replied lightly as they boarded the vessel.

“Then what’s the deal with this ship…?” “It looks like it won’t even make it out of the bay before sinking…” The sorceress said while looking around at the decidedly ‘odd’ mixture of people already wandering around onboard the ship.

“Well, this ship isn’t really affiliated with the Kingdom, the crew just ferries people back and forth from the island for money.” The half elf explained.

“Well if that’s the case, then they really need to start charging people more…” Lina replied back. “So where are we staying on here - - Was that guy just now in a dress…?” She added while doing a double take at a burly, bald shaven man who had just walked by.

“I believe he was.” “And as far as staying somewhere on this ship goes, there really isn’t a place to go and lounge per say…” “Staying out here on the deck or going down to the rack that was assigned to us are pretty much our only options sadly.” The ex-assassin said while finding a ‘comfortable’ looking bulkhead and sitting down before leaning up against it.

“You didn’t think that it was strange that some guy just walked by in a dress just now?” The sorcery genius persisted while sitting down in front of the lounging half elf before giving in to her curiosity and stretching her neck to try and get another glimpse of the man.

“And you do…?” Katibree replied. “I thought you traveled with a few cross dressers yourself at one point in time…” She added coyly, opening a lavender eye as she said it, before closing it once more.

“Wha-ah, well yeah kind of…” “But it wasn’t… something they did willingly or that they enjoyed… “Well…I-I guess Xellos did seem to kinda of be enjoying it…” Lina stammered more to herself than the ex-assassin while scratching her head perplexedly and staring up at the sky. “Anyway, that guy just now wasn’t even trying to look like a girl… he’s just… walking around strutting his stuff…” The redhead added after catching another glimpse of the muscled man and watching him strut about the deck flamboyantly for a few more moments.

“Maybe he just really like the dress…” The half elf offered while stifling a giggle. How sheltered can she be?

“I-I guess so…” The sorceress in disguise replied unsurely.

“Anyway, you mine as well go ahead and get used to that sort of thing now, Red…There’s plenty more of that sort of thing where we’re headed.”

“Come on Kat, would you quit calling me that in public already...?” Lina hissed.

“So… you don’t mind if I call you ‘Red’ in private anymore then, Lina…?” Katibree couldn’t help but ask with a surly tone to her voice. She left herself so wide open for that one…She thought to herself wryly as the implications of what she’d just asked the sorcery genius began to sink in, the smaller girl’s face turning all the more red the longer that she thought about the meaning of that question.

“T-that’s not what I - - “Ah erm…” “Well - - I mean uhm…!” Lina stammered flusteredly while looking everywhere but directly at the very amused half elf.

Jeez, she looks like her head’s about to explode over there. The ex-assassin thought to herself while attempting to stifle a laugh for the sorcery genius’s benefit. “Relax Lina, don’t blow a gasket or anything… it’s just a nickname!”

“Y-yeah, but…y-you gave me the damn thing because of the color of the hair on my- -“

“Whoa, easy Lina!” “If you’re going to keep going on like that, then the meaning of your nickname really won’t be so much of a secret anymore.” Katibree said, interrupting the redhead with a coy wink.

Lina *face-faulted* at this statement. “Mmmphfmrphmmm…” She moaned miserably into the wooden deck.

“Come on, it’s not like anyone else is going to know what the true meaning of the name is besides the two of us unless you tell someone, because I’m certainly not dumb enough to” Katibree said cheerfully.

“Mummmm… Mmmphfmrphmmm…” Was the younger girl’s only response to this.

“It can be our… ‘dirty little secret’…” The mostly platinum haired warrior leaned over and purred suggestively into the redhead’s exposed ear.

Lina gasped at the feel of the larger girl’s breath on her ear before rolling away with a squeal. “L-lay off would ya…Kat?!” She finally laughed nervously.

“Ok, ok…” Katibree chuckled quietly. Maybe I am going just a little bit over board with teasing her… “Hey, are… you ok?” She added after noticing an odd expression on the sorcery genius’s face.

(L) The half elf’s inquiries fell on deaf ears as the sorceress found herself lost in thought as she so often did. Jeez it’s still tingling and she didn’t even touch it… Maybe human ears aren’t nearly as sensitive as half elf or elven ears are, but that’s more than sensitive enough for me…She thought to herself while sitting up and rubbing her ear in an attempt to get the sensation to subside.

“Uh…Lina - - Oh never mind…” Lina has left the building…Sometimes I could swear that she does more dreaming during the day than she does when she’s actually asleep… The ex-assassin thought to herself with a smirk while leaning back against the bulkhead and placing her hands behind her head before shutting her eyes.

(L) But, it… it didn’t really feel ticklish exactly…I-I’m not really sure how to describe the feeling, but that was definitely… different from ticklish, so I guess that’s what Kat was talking about… Lina continued to herself while stealing a quick glance over at the half elf. Well if…her ears are supposed to be so much more sensitive than mine, what effect would it have if I did the same thing to her that she just did to me…? Only one way to find out…! She deducted, flashing a single fang as she began to lean toward Katibree smiling vindictively. As the smaller girl neared the half elf’s ear, she took in a deep quiet breath and stopped a few inches from one of the larger girl’s pointed ears while holding her breath.

Feeling the sorceress’s presence moving closer, Katibree raised a mostly platinum colored eyebrow, but didn’t bother to open her eyes. “Red… what are you…?”

In response, Lina first breathed and then blew on the half elf’s ear, pursing her lips to aim the flow of the warm air directly across the very tip of it, causing what should have been a ‘doing?’ at the end of Katibree’s sentence to become a ‘dooOooOoing??’ as her lavender eyes shot open in surprise and she half fell, half scooted away from the redhead in surprise.

The flustered half elf merely watched a few moments as Lina rolled around laughing hysterically before finally regaining enough composure to pull herself off of the deck and return to a seated position.

“I guess those ears of yours really are as sensitive as I read they were!” The sorcery genius laughed.

“Alright, I suppose I had that coming…” Katibree finally said after regaining her own composure as well.

“Boy, did you ever!” The sorceress agreed cheerfully. “Anyway, how long is this boat ride supposed to be, Kat?” She added more solemnly.

“Well that depends on the weather actually.” The half elf replied while scanning the darkening clouds on the horizon with her luminous gaze. “It looks like we’ll be sailing into the storm so the travel time will be longer than usual, but no longer than 10 hours or so I’d say.”

“I guess that’s not too bad.” Lina mused as she followed Katibree’s gaze off into the distance. “But, what are we going to do until then?” “We can’t stay up here all night if it’s going to be raining.”

“Maybe that’s for the best, if we turn in now, we can get back on a normal schedule after all of that sleeping during the day and traveling at night we’ve been doing lately.” The ex-assassin said while standing and walking over to the guardrail of the ship. “And on top of that, it should make the trip seem allot faster seeing as we’ll probably be waking right around the time the ship arrives in Gheyahsayl.

“Yeah, that makes sense - - Ga-yas-wha…?” The redhead asked suddenly.

The ex-assassin cleared her throat and averted her eyes at this before finally answering. “Gheyahsayl, is the name of the Kingdom that we are headed to…”

“That’s a strange name for a kingdom… hell, that’s a strange name for anything.” The sorcery genius replied with a small rustle of her fiery mane.

Katibree merely gave her a strange smile. You have no idea Red. She thought to herself in amusement.

What’s that smile all about? Lina wondered to herself before deciding to just let it go. “…Either way, I’m actually pretty beat, we’ve been running around from kingdom to kingdom on this side of the barrier with hardly any down time at all as it is.” The redhead finally replied with a yawn. “So where are we assigned to sleep anyway?” She added sleepily.

“I’ll show you.” the half elf said while hefting their traveling pack over her shoulder.

As the mostly platinum haired warrior led the sorceress in disguise down deeper into the bowels of the ship, the air became noticeably colder, damp, and more dank.

(K) Oh, Lina is going to hate this set up so much…The ex-assassin thought to herself with a sigh as she lead the sorcery genius into a large dark room lined with what almost looked to Lina like coffins. “This is the area where the women sleep, Lina.” She said while gesturing at their rack.

The redhead merely stared at the rack while *sweat dropping* a long moment before finally speaking. “You’re telling me that this… turned over coffin looking thing is… where we were assigned to sleep.” She stated in disbelief.

“That would be correct, but the proper term for it would be a ‘rack’.” The mostly platinum haired warrior said with a chuckle.

At that Lina looked down at the floor, possibly hoping to sleep on it instead. Ew, is something leaking in here…? She thought to herself while bending down and looking into the rack below theirs that an older woman was currently resting in. “We’re supposed to just… sleep in here with all these random people around…?”

Katibree nodded grimly at this as she hung up their pack.

“And we’re both supposed to try and fit inside of this thing together?” She added while ducking her head into the rack and looking around. “I-I want my two silver pieces back…” The sorcery genius moaned dejectedly.

“It’s a little late for that Lina, but I’ve done this before and it’s not actually all that bad.” The half elf replied. Then again, I had the rack all to myself last time…She added to herself silently.

“If we weren’t sailing right into a storm I would have just stayed up top… this really looks like it’s gonna suck…” The sorceress in disguise mused as she began to remove her bulkier pieces of gear, before finally changing out her leather vest for a t-shirt. “Well how are we going to do this then…?” She asked as she reached up and deposited what she was taking off into the travel pack.

“Well, just like you said earlier… we’re pretty much surrounded by strangers here, so it would probably be smarter for me to be on the outside as a posed to the inside because it would be easier for me to detect if someone was up to no good…” The ex-assassin mused as she slipped into a more comfortable shirt to sleep in as well.

“Yeah not to mention that you can see as well in the dark as you can in the daytime if not better…” “I can barely see anything down here right now as dim as the light coming from the few lanterns is.” Lina added. I seriously doubt that I’d even be willing to try sleeping in a place this shady without Kat around unless I absolutely had too… “Ok, so I guess that means I’m getting in first.” She said before hopping up and into the opening of the rack and shimmying over to the far end of it and then faltering. “Uhm, there’s no way we’re both sleeping in this thing shoulder to shoulder, Kat…”

“Hum…?” “Oh, try turning over on your side, we should both fit that way…” “I’d keep my back to the wall though, just so that you don’t have to struggle to turn around if you need to get out of the rack quickly for some reason.” The ex-assassin said as she removed her boots. Awww…is something leaking in here…? She thought to herself in dismay. I don’t smell anything all that unusual in here…I suppose it’s just condensation. She added to herself.

“Sounds like you just found that puddle, Kat.” The redhead said wryly.

“Yes thank you soooo very much for the warning, Lina...” The half elf replied sarcastically.

Lina merely giggled at this before rolling onto her side and pressing her back up against the cool back wall of the rack while stifling a shiver.

After the sorceress had at least somewhat situated herself inside, the mostly platinum haired warrior placed a leg in the opening of the rack before easing herself into it on her side and scooting in back first as well.

“G’night, Kat…” Lina said.

“Night, Red.” Katibree replied as she reached out and slid the beaten up privacy curtain across the opening of their rack.

Lina rolled her ruby colored eyes in the darkness at this. There she goes again with the ‘Red’ business again, I swear I’ll die of embarrassment if we meet up with the rest of the gang and any of them start calling me that… honestly I don’t even know why I put up with it! She balked at this last thought with growing perplexity.

…Well, why do you put up with it then, Lina? She finally asked herself.

The sorceress mulled this question over in her mind a few minutes with a genuinely surprised expression on her face in the darkness. If Gourry or even Amelia started calling me that, and I found out the reason they gave me the nickname was the same reason that Katibree gave me it… I-I’d be so mad that I’d blast them into next week without a second thought… But…I didn’t do that to Kat when I first found out… I mean, I wasn’t even really mad… I was more embarrassed than anything now that I’m really thinking about it, but still…

Her thoughts trailed off as she shifted uncomfortably in the rack. But still, embarrassment of that caliber should have at least warranted a fireball, if not worse…So why didn’t I…? The only thing that…really makes any sense is…Lina began to turn an interesting shade of red in the darkness of the rack as the answer slowly came to her. I-I…I actually kind of like it when she calls me that…? Well, yeah… I guess now that I’m really thinking about it, the nickname really is a dirty little secret…but I’d never admit to her that I kind of like the idea of that… or anyone else for that matter.

Deciding to save that last decidedly confusing train of thought for later contemplation, Lina laid there motionless for a long time, just listening to the creaking of the ship, the faint background noises of the other passengers, and Katibree’s quiet breathing before finally beginning to doze off, but just as she had begun to finally fall asleep, her nose began to itch as it was tickled slightly by the larger girl’s mostly platinum colored mane.

The redhead squeaked at this and abruptly jerked a hand up to try and scratch it, wracking it against the top of the confining rack painfully. “Ow… damn it!” She exclaimed quietly before shifting her weight about in the rack uncomfortably once more.

“What was that..?” Katibree asked with a quiet laugh.

“That was your hair, not being all braided up for once, and being a complete pain in my ass!” The sorcery genius whispered back agitatedly while attempting to nurse her abused hand in the small space.

“Oh, sorry about that…” The half elf said with a smile before reaching back as well as she could manage and pulling her crimson streaked hair forward, draping as much of it as she could over her neck and out of Lina’s way. “Is that better?” She asked afterwards.

“Yeah, a little.” The redhead replied with a small sigh. I guess I really shouldn’t be complaining about being so close to Kat while trying to sleep on a ship as cold and damp as this one is… I’d be laying here freezing if I were by myself right now…She thought to herself while closing her ruby colored eyes, enjoying the feel of the heat radiating off of the half elf. That actually feels allot better tonight than it usually does for some reason…The sorceress added to herself nervously… I-I guess it’s because up until this point there was never a reason for us to really sleep this closely together…I didn’t realize that having that foot or so between us that we’re normally used to could make that much of a difference… She continued to herself while blushing slightly in the darkness.

Feeling decidedly guilty about this train of thought for some reason, Lina hurriedly went about preoccupying herself with the task of finding a place to put her left arm that wasn’t too horrendously uncomfortable to either her or Katibree.

After a few moments of listening to the redhead fidget in the tight confines of the rack, the mostly platinum haired warrior finally spoke. “Can’t get to sleep?” She asked while doing her best to crane her neck around to look at the younger girl.

“No, and I was pretty tired too…” The sorcery genius brooded. “I’m just starting to feel all… antsy all of the sudden…” She added.

“Antsy…?” The ex-assassin repeated while raising a mostly platinum colored eyebrow at the smaller girl.

“Yeah… that’s the only way that I can really think to describe it...” Lina said evasively. “And I can’t find a place to put my arm that doesn’t absolutely suck either… it’s really starting to get on my nerves…” She added in annoyance.

“Try slipping it underneath my neck then, that should work out Ok.” Katibree said before turning her head back to the front of the rack.

“Are you… are you sure you don’t mind?” The sorcery genius asked tentatively.

“What, are you worried about, invading my ‘personal space’ or something, Lina?” The half elf asked wryly. “I’d say it’s a little too late for either of us to really start having reservations about that anymore.” She added with a quiet laugh.

“Good point.” Lina replied with a giggle before maneuvering her arm to a decent angle until she could finally carefully slip it underneath the crook of Katibree’s neck. “Are you good with that?” She asked the larger girl after she was situated.

“Right as rain.” The ex-assassin replied. “What about you?” She asked.

“It feels… it feels allot better that way…” “A-allot better than trying to shove it underneath or in front of me and between us anyway…” The redhead stammered flusteredly as the feel of the half elf’s warm breath played across her forearm causing it to tingle, triggering her aforementioned ‘antsy’ feeling to intensify.”

(L) What the hell is wrong with me tonight…? I can’t seem to relax to save my life! The Lina thought to herself with some agitation as an even more pronounced blush colored her cheeks thanks to her steadily raising body temperature. Just take a deep breath, relax, and try and get some sleep or you’re going to feel like hammered crap in the morning Lina…She told herself angrily. Maybe I’m feeling so restless because it’s so confined in here…If I scoot up some so that my back isn’t pressed completely up against this wall… then I’d probably feel less cramped. She deducted before scooting forward with a grunt and freezing at the sensation of her chest grazing a certain half elf’s back. K, maybe that’s a little too close…The redhead thought to herself sheepishly.

Katibree, who’d been having quite the time attempting to fall asleep herself; froze as well, her breath catching in her throat at the sudden feel of the sorceress’s breasts against her back. Ok, this is very close quarters, and I was the one that made the joke about personal space pretty much being a moot point now… She rationalized to herself. This time it was her turn to shift in the rack uneasily.

This sudden movement from the half elf elicited an involuntary gasp from the sorceress as her nipples were lightly grazed through the thin material of her nightshirt, causing them to harden immediately, all the while sending another unexpected wash of unfamiliar sensations coursing through her body and causing her heart to race even more quickly. It just keeps getting hotter and hotter in here, and my heart’s in overdrive… I can actually feel it in my throat now, and it’s only getting worse... It’s like I’m losing total control of my body all of the sudden, what the hell is going on…? She wondered to herself feverishly while struggling to control her breathing. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t doing something, but I don’t know what that something is…And now there’s something weird going on down there too… The redhead continued to herself while struggling to make sense of what was going on with her body and failing miserably, the distracting feelings announcing themselves in her nether regions only serving to further add to her confusion and growing panic.

(K) What’s she up to back there…? Katibree wondered to herself before being blindsided with a potent whiff of Lina’s pheromones. Still reeling from that, she was hit with another scent which she found far more disconcerting coming from the redhead…fear. This immediately set off alarm bells in the ex-assassin’s head and she craned her neck around once again to try and get a good look at the younger girl. “Lina, are you alright back there…?” She asked, doing her best to keep at least some of the concern out of her voice.

“I-I’m not sure actually…” Lina replied in a barely audible voice. “Just started… shaking and stuff for no reason…” She added with a weak laugh.

“Little touch of claustrophobia maybe..?”

“I don’t know… maybe… but, I think that there’s something else going on too…” The redhead tried to explain before trailing off in embarrassment.

Yeah, I figured as much… really not the place or time for that though…“You Ok now?” the half elf asked quietly.

The sorceress let out a shaky breath much to her dismay, before finally replying. “…Yeah, I think so…”

Katibree merely reached back wordlessly with her right hand and found Lina’s own right hand, bringing them both back around to rest on her stomach with Lina’s hand underneath hers, before interlocking her fingers with the sorceress’s reassuringly. “Just try to relax and get some sleep and we’ll talk about it later on, alright Red?”

The feel of the larger girl’s hand over her own was unexpected and defiantly something that the sorcery genius wasn’t used to, but it was somehow… comforting.

“I ahh… alright...” She finally murmured back quietly. This is…kinda weird, but at the same time…it’s pretty nice too…Lina thought to herself as the panic that she’d just been assaulted with gradually began to melt away leaving her with a drained feeling accompanied by an undertone of those ‘distracting’ feelings that were still lingering but less noticeable now.

The sorcery genius laid that way for several minutes attempting to force herself to think logically about what had just happened, but every time she tried to focus her thoughts on the incident, her attention was only drawn back to the feel of the older girl’s hand over hers and the sensation of both of their hands raising and lowering with the half elf’s stomach as she breathed. I guess it really doesn’t matter anymore now that whatever was wrong is over with… I mean, I still feel something, but at least my body isn’t freaking out on me anymore. Either way, it’s blatantly obvious now that Kat was completely serious when she said that personal space is pretty much null and void tonight... If that’s the case then, I suppose I shouldn’t hold back on trying to get as comfortable as possible…Lina rationalized with herself. Just then the ship hit a sizeable wave, making it tilt momentarily in the water and causing the redhead to slide forward in the rack closing the last few inches between her and the half elf and pressing their bodies firmly together.

(K) “Looks like we’ve finally made our way into the storm.” Katibree murmured after a short time of apprehensive silence.

“…Yeah, looks that way.” The sorceress finally replied in a husky voice that she hardly recognized to be her own as something within her first contracted and then loosened, sending a wave of feelings similar to the ones from earlier coursing through her body and causing her to tense up. …I don’t even care anymore. She finally thought to herself with a deep sigh while forcing herself to relax once more and willing her heart rate to return to normal again. It’s not like it hurts or anything… it actually feels kind of - - well it’s weird that it’s coming from where it’s coming from, but I don’t think that I’m in any immediate danger… I’ll deal with it tomorrow, but for right now… all I want to do is get some sleep. The Lina finished to herself as she finally cast off her last bit of reservations about the entire situation and simply gave in to the urge to press her face to the back of Katibree’s neck, the silky feel of the hair draped over and flowing around it now decidedly more pleasant than annoying. If she doesn’t care… then why should I? She reasoned with herself groggily as the rocking of the ship accompanied with the familiar fragrance of the half elf’s hair lulled her to sleep, and a fairly short while afterwards, her companion followed suit as well.

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