Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lurolona village is a wonderful, peaceful place, where the sea breeze fills the air with the charming salty scent and the sun shines gently down upon the residents going about their busy days. Some of them peddle their wares in the market, some alternatively purchase what they and their families need or desire. Even more simply head out to gather food and supplies, or return from doing the same.

Then there is the pale girl sitting in the shade of a tree, weasel-like ears twitching as her short pink hair sways in the refreshing air. Her red eyes travel along the well-worn book on her lap, reading the well-memorized words about the Shield Hero that still bring a smile to her face.

A crowd of children passes by, all with features marking them as not completely human. One with more dog-like ears breaks from the pack and walks over to the girl, calling. "Hey! Rifana!"

The girl sitting by herself looks up, surprised at someone calling for her. "Oh? Hey, Keel!" She smiles and closes the book, tucking it under her arm as she stands. "Did you need something?"

"You wanna come play with us? We found this huge slab of bark and we were gonna slide down the hill with it!" The boy replies with a grin.

She tilts her head to the side, then nods. "Sure! Let me put my book up, first?" She says, hefting it slightly for emphasis.

"Sure, sure." He waves a hand casually. "Raphtalia knows where it is, so you know she'd wait for you."

"Alright!" She nods and hurries home, humming happily. The grass beneath her feet tickles at her ankles, and the breeze has a nice slight chill to it, contrasting nicely with the warmth of the sun. It's enough to distract her mind from the trip she remembers by instinct honed through the short number of years she's been alive. Even so, she almost bumps into the front door from her lack of attention. "Oops!" She laughs softly and opens the door. "I'm home!"

"Welcome home!" Comes a female voice from the living room.

She beams and hurries into the living room, hugging her book to her chest. "Momma! Keel invited me to play with him and the others!"

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" The older woman smiles as she's knitting a scarf for her. "Don't let me stop you, but try and be home for dinner, okay?"

"Okay!" She places her book on a desk, carefully pushing it into place among others, and gives her mom a quick embrace. "Love you!"

"I love you, too Rifana." She kisses her head.

Giggling brightly, she gives her mother one more squeeze before letting go to hurry off.

Keel is waiting not too far away, waving when he sees her.

She grins and hurries over, tail swaying behind her. "So where is the bark sled?" She asks, curious.

"Raphtalia has it, she said she found it and we're meeting just on the edge of the village at that hill with the good view tree." He lets her know, excitement clear.

She blinks, trying to figure out which tree that was, since she thought almost all of them had good views. "...um..."

"Just follow me." He smiles and motions for her.

Relief fills her little body, and she lets him see it by giving him a bright smile. "Right!" Just to make doubly sure she doesn't get lost, she takes hold of his hand.

He closes his eyes and grins at her before leading her on.

The two of them make their way around the edge of town, able to make out the bustle of the townsfolk. At one point she could swear that Lord Seaetto was chatting with the owner of the smithy, but it was too far away for her to hear. Besides, her mother said it was rude to eavesdrop.

Keel seems more focused on the times ahead, happily guiding her around and through everything.

The ones who saw the two of them smile, glad that the children can grow in such a nurturing environment, away from the judgmental humans of the country.

One adult, a well-built orca woman watches them with her own smile and thoughts, returning a wave Keel gives her as they pass.

Rifana turns to look, but a house has blocked the view by this point. Her red eyes instead wander the area around them, trying to figure out the exact area they are going to.

It seems to be more inland as opposed to the beach, though still a bit between thw two as they head uphill.

It appears to be halfway up the slope of the cliff, which surprises her as she thought they weren't allowed near there. Her questioning gaze turns to the boy leading her.

"It was the best close hill." He explains. "We're not gonna go off the cliff, that'd be dumb."

"...alright," she says, squeezing his hand gently. "I'm trusting you... and so is mommy."

He actually pauses at this. "We're just going to play but..." He raises his other fist. "I won't let you down!"

She giggles, taking that pause to give him a grateful hug. "Thank you, Keel."

"I- it's- no problem!" His tail swishes rapidly enough that she can see it on either side of him.

She pulls away with a grin and hurries up the slope. "Race you there!"

"You're on!" He quickly goes after her.

It was close, but Keel's longer legs take over Rifana's headstart and he is the winner of their impromptu race. She ends up panting quietly, leaning on his arm when she catches up to him a good second after he reaches the others.

A few of them wave as they see them, a racoon girl nearby the tree holding quite the sizable slab of wood.

She smiles and hurries over, clutching the makeshift sled. "Hey. So should we count this as Keel's win?"

Rifana slowly raises her hand. "One day I'll get first," she vows, legs still wobbly.

"It's not that big a deal..." Keel mutters.

"Sixteen losses, so far," she recalls, carefully trying to straighten herself.

"You'll get stronger, you'll see!" He says.

She narrows her eyes at him, a hand on her chin. "…are you just saying that just because I'm your friend?"

"Nope, cutting this off now." Raphtalia pushes the board into the pink-haired girl's arms. "You first!"

"Have you tried it already?" Keel asks.

"Nope!" She gives him a grin as she nudges their shared friend forward. "It's more fun when we're all here!"

He nods at that, looking to Rifana. "You ready?"

She eyes the slope, nodding once. "Looks safe to me. Here I go!" She holds the bark board before her, gravity pulling her down through the grass at a slowly increasing speed.

Cheers come from behind her as the other children watch.

She smiles, enjoying the nice, easy ride, the breeze that once more ruffled her hair. Even the cheers of her friends make this that much better.

Then she hits an unseen bump and goes flying into the woods by the cliff side.

Everything goes rapidly silent, though whether from astonishment or the deadening of sound by the forest it's hard to tell.

Rifana is not as quiet, shrieking and yelping with every close call and every bump that makes her jump into the air, clinging to the board like the lifeline it is. She can't even tell where she's going, left right right again up a mound down a divot-

She closes her eyes, starting to get dizzy from trying to remember her way back. Her board suddenly hits dirt and she braces so she doesn't fly off, feeling herself climbing up a much larger mound than any she had hit yet, grinding slowly to a halt with the board just tipping forward, landing with the crunch of twigs. No longer moving, no longer in danger, she slowly peeks open an eye.

The area she's in appears to be a serene clearing or den of some sort. In the center where she is seems to be a nest large enough to sit quite a few children in, and in the middle mostly buried is a large colorful shape.

She falls sideways off her board, limply landing on her side and staring off into the distance. Her red eyes slowly drift to the side, seeking the color that she saw before. She reaches a hand out, but finds that she falls short. Brow furrowing, she inches her way closer, seeking the comfort of the color.

Her palm gently brushes over the smooth surface.

It's not perfect, but the shape is firm and every so slightly warm.

She doesn't understand, she struggles to comprehend what she's feeling, why she's pulling away sticks and leaves to reveal more of it, seeking this more than even sitting up.

She reveals an oblong off-white shape just larger than her torso with a strange dark red symbol on the center of it.

She gingerly tugs it closer, unsure what to do but seek comfort and offer the poor thing warmth. Her fingers brush over the symbol, wondering what it means.

It appears to be four orbs swirling around some sort of plus-shaped blade. Even as she stares at this, she swears she can faintly feel a single movement inside.

Her heart goes out to the poor creature inside, and she curls around the shell protectively. "...don't worry," she whispers. "I'll make sure you aren't alone anymore..."

The weight inside shifts slowly, as if leaning against her.

She smiles softly and carefully sits up, cradling the egg to her body. "...now how do I get back?"

It's then her ears pick up the sound of rhythmic crunching of leaves nearby. The rounded triangles upon her head perk up, twisting from side to side as she holds the egg closer. She stays quiet, assuming that if they don't hear her, they'll leave.

Then she considers that it might be one of her friends, and accidentally lets out a, "Hello?"

A sound that's distinctly not one of her friends responds, almost like a sort of growl-yelp. The steps get more rapid. Quickly, she grabs the bark plank, pulling it up in front of the egg so she can better protect the little guy. The steps approach closer and closer until a pink form comes around the entrance to the den. It's a raptor-like lizard, standing on its hind legs and sniffing the air. It stands as tall as Rifana herself.

She quietly peeks around her makeshift shield, wondering if this is its nest. She firms her grip slightly, hoping that it can't see her from her higher ground.

The creature makes quick darting motions, sniffing the air as it approaches.

Her knuckles turn white as she clenches the bark, praying that it doesn't find them. Part of her worries the sound of her hammering heart might give them away.

The creature makes a few more noises and sounds as though it gets closer.

"…it's fine," she whispers to the egg she's holding. "It won't get you…" She knows she's trying to reassure herself more than the egg, but it feels better to say it to someone else.

The steps get closer and closer, until she can hear when they change from dirt and grass to twigs and leaves.

Her breath hitches, searching behind her for any possible way out of this situation. Unfortunately, it seems that the place she ended up has only the one way in and out. Rifana quietly tries to cover the egg with her body, hoping that might be enough to protect it.

It gets close enough that she can hear the breathing, finally she spots pink claws edging around the bark.

She slowly edges the egg away from those claws, being as quiet as possible. Then she notices that she can't see it past the bark shield. Which means it's smaller than it. In a second, she pushes against the wood, toppling it on the monster and using the weight of herself and the egg to pin it underneath. She grabs up rocks and starts stacking them up on the bark, hoping to weigh it down even further.

The creature instantly starts writhing and making a cacophony of noises, echoing around the chamber as it tries to free itself.

"Be quiet," she softly begs. "Please be quiet!"

The creature lets out one final cry before it's suddenly echoed by a multitude of other voices like its own.

Rifana freezes, still clutching onto the egg as she glances around frantically. "…oh no."

Shapes quickly make themselves known at the entrance to the rapid sound of feet. Three shapes exactly like the lizard she pinned, and two even larger one with thicker bodies. They all call out when they see her.

She quietly gulps, clinging onto the shell in her arms, turning to the side so the monsters don't try to go for it.

The monster quickly start surrounding her, noises increasing as they seem to work themselves into a frenzy.

She can feel the fur of her tail fluff up, fear starting to take a grip of her heart. Even so, she doesn't let go.

They begin to close in until one of them suddenly launches itself at her-

-only to find itself suddenly pinned to the ground by a spear.

Rifana jumps, startled and letting out a high-pitched yelp. She doesn't do much else, as, with wide eyes, she recognizes the spear that landed before her. "...that's..."

A form suddenly blocks the light before landing in front of her. She barely sees the familiar silhouette before they erupt into a flurry of slashes, sending all the monster into the walls of the den, not moving.

The small girl stares up at their savior, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes. "…you found us," she whispers, letting go with one arm so she can try to wipe her face clean.

"Us?" The orca woman turns to her with a small smile. "I was told only one of my little charges was lost."

"Sadeena!" She cries, reaching up for her with the egg on her lap.

The woman easily picks up both the girl and the egg, holding them to her with one arm. "What have you got there?"

"I don't know," she admits, hugging it gently. "But I couldn't leave him here… he would've been so lonely…"

"He, huh?" She looks at the egg curiously, touching the surface. "Oh? So you're still kicking in there. Well then," She adjusts them both to be more comfortable. "Why don't we get you and your friend here out of this forest little Rifana?"

The little weasel girl nods, glancing at the monsters. "…thank you," she says to the orca Demi human.

"Any time. I'll make sure nothing ever gets my little tykes." She gently boops Rifana's nose.

She giggles, wiggling in her arms.

The confidant woman strides out of the forest the little one found herself in with nary a beast or branch impeding her. What felt like an impossibly long trip to the girl melts away, and soon clear light shines on them once more.

Rifana blinks as she remembers something, and a soft whine escapes her throat. "I forgot the bark board," she laments.

"I'll go back and get it after this." Sadeena assures her. "First thing was getting you out."

She nods, glancing around the grasslands. "So… who asked you to save me?"

"I went to check on all of you and they were organizing a small search party for you. Keel and Raphtalia were the ringleaders I had to convince to let me do it."

Rifana lets out an affectionate sigh, glad for more proof that her friends cared so much about her.

"You know, I think I see some of them now." Sadeena says with a small laugh. "They must have been waiting. I can shoo them off if you're tired."

"No, I can speak with them!" She protests, squirming to escape so she can meet them.

"Alright, alright, careful there, don't want to drop your friend." She cautions her.

She immediately stops, whispering soft apologies to the egg in her arms.

Sadeena sets her down. "There you go. Don't go running too much while you have that."

The little girl nods, pink hair swaying as she starts to walk off.

Sadeena puts her hands on her hips and looks back towards the forest, thoughtful.

It doesn't take long for her to find her friends, sitting on a stump with the racoon girl's parents watching over them.

"Rifana!" Keel shouts as he sees her.

She smiles and nods, not wanting to drop the egg. "Hello."

Raphtalia walks over, gingerly taking the egg and handing it to Keel. Before the smaller girl can respond, she's enveloped in a squeezing hug. "I thought we lost you! I'm so sorry I made you go first!"

She smiles and pats her on the back. "It's fine, everything turned out fine. And it might've happened to you or Keel, if you went, instead."

The boy looks utterly baffled by the egg, looking between it and Rifana as though he's trying to draw connections.

Rifana turns to look at him, smiling sheepishly. "I… found him in the woods… can I have him back?"

"Oh! I thought you... nevermind." He clears his throat.

Her eyes only show confusion as she takes the egg back. "Thought I what?"

"Thought you... got hurt! I'm glad you didn't." He smiles.

She smiles, turning slightly so she can give him a hug without dropping the egg. "Thank you… for asking Sadeena to save me."

His tail wags as he hugs her back. "We wouldn't leave you in there. We gotta stick together!"

She nods, leaning a bit more against him. "Yep, we're best friends, after all!" She gives him a grin, then balks as the egg suddenly moves.

Keel backs up, eyes wide. "What's it doing?"

"What eggs are meant to do, I imagine," comes Sadeena's answer, having walked up and joined the parents.

Indeed, the large souvenir of their forest trip seems to have gained some pep inside it, rocking back and forth.

"Wait, what?" Rifana says, trying to keep her grip on the shell.

"Try putting it down!" Raphtalia says, panicking. "You don't want to hurt him!"

The parents glance at each other, unsure how to react, and move to stand slightly behind Sadeena, pulling their daughter with them.

The warrior seems unconcerned while most of the children maintain a healthy distance. Keel is the closest after Rifana, two or three steps further.

The pink-haired girl gently sets the egg down, blindly reaching back for her friend's hand as she stays nearby, worried for her new friend.

Keel grabs it as they all see the egg give a violent shake to a cracking sound. Once the first crack appears, many more start to spread from it as the shaking continues.

Rifana watches, wondering if she would need to help. "You can do it," she offers as whispered words of encouragement.

The shaking and cracking continues until finally with a snap, one piece comes loose from the rest as a dark red muzzle is briefly seen. They barely have time to register this before two more rapid strikes from inside cause the egg to burst open and reveal what lay inside:

A large red and cream colored puppy, shaking bits of eggshell off itself as it blinks and looks around.

The girl just stares for a second, stunned that this was inside that egg, but soon smiles and approaches, pulling Keel along for the ride. Her free hand reaches out to the puppy, palm up, so that he knows she means no harm.

"Puppies come from eggs?" She can hear the boy quietly say.

The creature notices them, tilting its head and staying still. When Rifana approaches, she can see its nose twitching. Finally, when her hand comes close, it leans forward and touches its head to her hand, closing its eyes.

"Well would you look at that..." Sadeena says, crossing her arms.

Rifana smiles, gingerly petting the puppy. "He's wonderful..." She looks back at Keel and nods him closer. "Come on, pet him. He's fluffy."

"Okay..." He reaches forward and starts petting. The puppy opens one eye to look at him, but doesn't seem to mind as it starts leaning against Rifana.

She gives a small smile, leaning down to touch noses with the pup briefly. "Good boy."

His tail starts to wag as he looks into her eyes, holding the stare steady.

Rifana matches the gaze for a bit before Raphtalia walks over, turning the puppy's head curiously.

The raccoon girl stares curiously at his eyes. "...is it just me, or do these look like Keel's eyes?"

"Wait what?" Keel shuffles closer. "How could it have my eyes?"

Indeed, the red puppy has his startling blue eyes, gazing back at them with black sclera.

Raphtalia's father glances back and forth between the newborn and the two kids, a playful smile forming on his lips as he slowly makes his way forward.

The puppy's ears twitch and his head flicks to look at the approaching adult. His young form shows no sign of fear.

"So!" He proclaims, placing a hand on the head of Rifana and Keel, ruffling their hair. "How should we celebrate your baby's birth?" He has the cheesiest grin one can imagine as he looks to them. "After all, a red puppy with blue eyes... sounds like a mix of you two!"

There's a few 'Ooo's' from some of the children, a hearty laugh from Sadeena, and a definitely red flush to Keel's face as he sputters. "I-we-but-it-egg!"

He's interrupted by a hug from the smiling girl. "Does this mean you can help me with him?" She asks innocently.

"I-yes?" He answers almost blindly.

Her smile grows. "Thank you, Keel. We'll be the best parents!" She turns and gently picks up the puppy. "He's so cute…" The puppy licks her face. She laughs delightedly, gently supporting him with both arms, which looks rather silly with him being about the size of her torso. "…we're going to need to learn how to feed him, aren't we?" She asks, looking at her friend.

"He doesn't just eat what we eat?" He asks.

"Sure, but can he eat solid food now or do we need softer stuff first?" She asks.

"I… don't know." He admits, looking to the adults for advice.

The mother tilts her head slightly. "Ask politely if you can see his teeth?" She suggests.

"Oh, umm..." He looks to the big red puppy, those eyes now staring into his. "C-can I see your teeth?"

The newborn simply looks at him and does a small sneeze.

"Can you please show us your teeth?" Rifana asks, trying to crane her neck to see.

He turns back to her, opening his mouth as he pants quietly.

"Also, bless you," Raphtalia says as Rifana takes a quick peek.

"Ooh, they're so pretty!" She pauses, blinking a bit. "And sharp."

"Maybe start with something that's soft, but not mush." Sadeena offers, unable to keep from smiling as she watches. "Maybe some tender meat or veggies."

The children think about it for a moment before the weasel girl perks up. "Oh, I know! Mom's stew!"

"Oh yeah! Your mom makes great stew!" Keel nods.

She looks up and thinks, gently rubbing her cheek against the puppy. "Do you think she can make it tonight?"

"I mean... it doesn't hurt to ask, but she can't just make stew every night right?"

She blinks, as if just realizing this. "…oh, yeah…"

"Maybe we'll just have to try stuff." He shrugs.

Rifana quietly nods. "Maybe."

"You could also ask around." Sadeena adds to help.

"Oh, that's right! Maybe someone else might have an idea!" The pink haired girl starts wandering off, the puppy's head on her shoulder.

"Can you carry him that far?" Keel asks, hand extended. "He's not small."

She pauses, looking back at him, then at her new puppy. "Can you walk well?" She asks.

His legs kick gently.

She sets him down, rubbing his cheeks with both hands. "Such a good boy."

The dog's long tail swishes behind him as he pants happily.

Keel watches with one ear flicking.

Raphtalia gives him a confused look. "...what's wrong?" She asks.

"Nothing!" He quickly says.

A hand gently pats the top of his head, Rifana moving to give him a reassuring smile. "There, there. Everything's alright."

He blushes red, his own tail swishing.

She stops and turns, nodding towards the nearest shop. "Let's start asking!"

"Huh? Oh! Right..."

The puppy walks up on slow but steady legs, making a curious sound.

She smiles, reaching down to pet him.

Raphtalia, on the other side of the canine, speaks up. "Hmm... are you asking to come with us, or for food?"

The red-eyed girl looks confused for a second before realization sets in. "Oh, right, he needs a name." She squats down, getting to eye level with the pup. She frowns in concentration, humming softly to herself as she looks him over. "…Fluffy."

Keel snickers a bit. "Is he going to stay like that?"

The dog for his part just tilts his head.

She pouts softly. "What kind of name would you give him, then?"

"Maybe something cool like... Blade!"

The dog sticks its tongue out.

Raphtalia laughs at the expression. "I don't think he likes it."

"Does he even know what we're saying? He just... got born, I guess." Keel crosses his arms.

"He's smart!" Rifana protests, hugging the puppy.

His tail wags as he leans against her.

"I'd say he looks like a Tramp," Raphtalia offers, shrugging a bit.

He snorts once and straightens up.

"Maybe something with his color?" Keel asks.

"Rusty?" The raccoon girl says, really hoping to give him a good name.

He tilts his head once more.

"Royal Red?" Keel tries.

The head tilts the other way.

"Does that mean we're close?" He asks the girls.

"Why did you add the Royal?" Rifana asks, her face screwed up in adorable confusion. "Why not just Red?"

"Because it… I dunno, it feels too plain. He's not just a color." Keel tries to defend.

"Let's ask him." She looks at the puppy with a smile. "Would you like the name Red? Maybe with a second d, like Redd?"

The puppy seems to almost be chewing on it.

"What was that word they used for those apples..." Keel thinks. "Something with ru-... rustle?"

"Maybe Sadeena has a suggestion?" Raphtalia says, pointing to the orca lady nearby. "Hey, where did mom and dad go?"

"Well, since there aren't any missing kids anymore, they went back to working." Sadeena explains as she walks over at the sound of her name.

"Oh. That makes sense," she whispers.

"Sadeena," Rifana says, looking up at her as she continues petting the newborn pup. "What do you think would be a good name for him?"

"Hmm..." She crouches down, eyeing the pup. She lifts up one of his paws, looks into his eyes, and rubs his fur.

The girls, at the very least, watch this all in mild confusion.

"I'm thinking maybe... Riku or Reo." She offers.

Rifana thinks for a moment before nodding once. "I like Riku better."

"It does sound cool." Keel says, looking to Raphtalia.

"Does he like it, though?" The brown-haired girl asks, looking at the puppy. "Do you want to be named Riku?"

He looks around at all of them before letting out a small bark and wagging his tail.

Laughter spills out of Rifana's mouth as she gives him another hug. "Riku it is! Welcome to our family, a circle of friends!"

Keel reaches over and pets the dog as well while the pup covers Rifana's face in licks.

As the girl giggles at the affection, Raphtalia just sighs in relief. "Glad that he has a name, now."

"Yeah, I didn't want to just keep calling him puppy." Keel nods.

"Alright!" Rifana says, standing up. "Let's go introduce Riku to mom and the village!"

The dog barks at her excitement, and they hurry off under the midday sun, unaware of the adventures and trouble they'd have in the future. They were simply kids enjoying their youth.

Chapter Text

"Riku!"

A taller Rifana leans out of the window of a cottage, the sea breeze gently blowing her short pink hair. She places a hand over her brow, shielding her red eyes from the mid-morning sun directly before her. "Riku, where are you? I thought we were going to play today!" The last few words come out as a whine, but she can't help it, as she had finally been able to convince Sadeena to join them in their fun. She absently expects Raphtalia and Keel to be on their way, barring unforeseen circumstances, but her puppy was outside somewhere after momma let him out.

Of course, with how he is growing, puppy is more a relative term. This is even evident as he appears in a blur streaking towards her house, steps confident instead of stumbling as he bounds towards the house.

She immediately brightens up when she sees him, hurrying out the front door to meet him despite her lack of shoes. "Good boy, Riku!" She holds her arms out for him as he draws near.

He slows down so that he gently bumps into her at the end, licking her face and leaning into her.

She quietly giggles, brushing his fur with her hands and burying her face in his neck's fluff. "Welcome home, Riku. Are you hungry?"

He makes a few noises at her as if he's talking.

"I'm taking that as a yes." She smiles and pulls back, rubbing his cheeks and luxuriating in his softness. "Mom made your favorite steak. Blue." Her brow furrows slightly. "I still don't know why really rare is called that…"

He makes a two note response as if agreeing even as he looks down at her.

Rifana trails her hands down and straightens the blue bandana there. "Oh, what have you been up to, Riku? Find any friends?"

He lets out a breath that almost sounds like a huff and rests his head on hers.

"No?" She gently hugs him, smoothing down his fur with tender strokes. "It's okay. We'll find you some friends eventually. For now, you have us!"

He woofs and wags his tail.

"There's my happy boy," she says, beaming at him. "Come on, we'll get you your food and then we'll go find our friends."

He licks her cheek as he stands, now longer than she is tall if you include the tail. Even so, she tries to pick him up, arms under his front legs as his front half is lifted. He rests his paws on her shoulders, knowing not to wiggle as he balances. His head rubs against hers as he leans in, tail swishing behind him.

The eight year old girl bends her legs as she reaches for his hind legs. She briefly tries to lift, but lets go after a second, pouting a bit. "Still not strong enough... I miss being able to carry you," she whispers to him.

He woofs and gets back down, leaning against her.

She gently rubs his head, letting out a little sigh. "Maybe next time," she says, rubbing her thighs.

He huffs and curls around her before grabbing the back of her shirt in his teeth and gently dragging her back inside.

"Riku!" She whines, stumbling to get her legs back underneath her. "I'm fine, I can walk!"

She sees his tail only swish more as he brings her in and plops her in front of her mom, sitting and looking proud of himself.

She huffs softly, reaching up to gently rub his head. "...you're still a good boy," she acquiesces.

Her mom giggles as she watches them. "I'll say. I know I can rely on him to keep you out of trouble and bring you back to me if I need him to."

She blushes a bit, hugging the dog and burying her face in his fluffy red fur.

His tail wags under him as he lays down so she can hug him easier.

She ends up following him to the ground, partially draped over his back as she holds him.

"So cute..." Her mom says, looking as though she's memorizing the scene.

"…does Raphtalia's parents embarrass her, too?" Rifana asks, peeking an eye at her mother.

"I think all parents do in their children's eyes." She laughs.

She giggles softly, pulling a bit more away from Riku. "Maybe. Any stories about them?"

"Well let's see... there was the time you and little Raphtalia first met..." She starts as she looks upward.

Rifana starts to get comfortable against her dog friend-slash-pillow, smiling up at her.

"It was a little while after they came to town-" She's interrupted by a rapid knock at the door, Riku's head snapping to look.

Rifana sits up, blinking in surprise. "Oh, are they here already?"

Raphtalia's voice comes through the door. "Rifana! Riku! Please come out! Keel made plans for today!"

Riku looks back at Rifana as her mother laughs. "Well, I don't think they want to wait."

She blushes a bit, slowly moving to stand. "Can we hear the story later, momma?"

"Of course." She hugs her and pets Riku. "You two have fun. Oh, and here," She gives the dog a small slab of meat, which he gobbles down. "So I know you had lunch."

She hugs her mother, smiling warmly. "Love you, momma."

"I love you, too, Rifana."

She waves as they hurry out the door to their friends.

Riku stays behind a moment and seems to almost nod to the parent before following.

Raphtalia is busy shaking Keel when they approach. "Tell me," she whines.

"Nope!" The dog boy says evasively. "You have to wait until it's time."

Rifana walks closer, her hands buried in her dog's fur. "What's going on?"

"Keel won't tell us what his plans for today are," the raccoon girl pouts, walking over to hug Riku.

The dog accepts this as Keel crosses his arms and smirks. "It's part of the surprise."

The weasel girl walks forward, taking Keel's hands. "Are we heading over now? Will it be something amazing?"

"Of course!" He nods rapidly, beaming at her.

She smiles, gently squeezing his hands. "Sounds fun! Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He says, starting to lead her.

"Hey, wait!" Raphtalia says, trying to pull Riku after them. "Don't forget us!"

The dog quickly stands and leads her now, overtaking her as it follows.

The girl just holds on as she's dragged along, not expecting that.

He does slow down when he gets to the others, Keel blinking. "Wow... he's getting strong."

Rifana smiles, reaching up to rub the red dog's head. "Yep! Our boy is so strong!"

Keel murmurs something, but shakes his head and smiles once more. "All the better for today."

"Really?" She looks at him, but her hand continues to move.

"You'll see!" He laughs.

"Riku?" Rifana asks, walking up to her big friend. "Do you think you're strong enough to carry someone, yet?"

He tilts his head to the side, silent before he lays down and looks up at her.

She blinks, then smiles, moving to carefully settle on his back, hands buried in his fur. Raphtalia hurries next to Keel, turning to watch with him.

Riku huffs and braces himself, standing steadily to his feet.

Rifana giggles, rubbing his neck encouragingly. "Good boy, Riku."

Hsi tail wags as he stands to his full height, looking proud as he raises his head.

"…how far can he carry you?" Raphtalia asks, curious.

"How fast can he carry you?" Keel adds.

"...to be fair, this is our first successful attempt," She demurs, burying her face in the dog's neck fur.

Riku woofs, standing tall but clearly not actually moving.

"It's alright, you can let me back down," she offers, patting his side. "We'll see if we can get you to walking, eventually."

He eases down to let her off gently, a small grumble coming from him.

She climbs off, turning and hugging him around the neck. "You're so strong, Riku, and you're only going to get stronger."

The grumble is quieter as he licks her cheek.

The pink-haired girl giggles, patting him on the nose before turning to Keel. "Let's go, please?"

The boy nods, perking back up. "Right!"

They quickly hurry after the young boy like lost puppies.

Keel leads them to the edge of town and behind a large barn as he looks back at them all. "Ready?"

Raphtalia looks fit to burst with her desire to know, while Rifana gives him a patient, encouraging smile.

He leads them through a gate before gesturing grandly with his arm. "Ta-da!"

Before them lies a trimmed and clear section of land with a few tables with various sticks at one end along with targets and dummies of all shapes and sizes dotted around them. Everything from actual stick figures to sacks with bucket heads.

The girls look around, leading Riku into the center of the area. "So...is this a training area?" Rifana asks. "Is Sadeena teaching you to fight?"

"Well, no, not yet, but I figured maybe we could get a head start!"

"Oh! So we can help her once we're older?" Raphtalia says, smiling brightly.

"Yeah!" He nods enthusiastically. "That way she won't have to be gone for so long, too."

"I think I get it," Rifana says, nodding a bit. "So all of us can train here?"

He nods. "Yep! Sadeena even said she might come check it out."

Raphtalia nods, looking up at Riku. "...so would he just be biting, or...?"

The dog barks and goes over to the sticks, almost like he's assessing them.

"I don't know," Rifana hums. "I was thinking he could... use some kind of blade," she muses.

"Do they make dog swords?" Keel asks.

She shrugs helplessly. "Momma wouldn't say."

"Wait, so she knew?" He tilts his head.

"I don't really know… but it seemed like she did?"

"Hmm... maybe it's one of those 'when we're older' things."

Raphtalia pics up a stick, eyeing it. "…so what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to practice?"

"I figured we use these like practice weapons and try different ways to use them." Keel explains, going to grab a stick but having it taken by Riku before he can get to it. The large dog holds it sideways in his mouth.

Rifana looks at him, tapping her chin thoughtfully. She gently tugs it so it's centered, then taps each side with a stick. "...maybe that's how he can..."

"Huh... yeah that could work. So no chance of just giving him a sword, huh?" He asks.

"A sword in that shape, maybe?" The raccoon girl suggests, tracing a half-circle in front of Riku's face.

The dog gives a muffled bark while Keel looks thoughtful. "I can try to find a stick like that…"

Rifana smiles and gives the dog boy a grateful hug. "Thank you."

They can spot his tail wagging as he tries to respond. "Well, yeah, you know... no problem."

Raphtalia watches with a confused expression as Rifana pulls away, looking at the sticks gathered. She blinks, picking up one with a hooked end. "...why'd you grab this one?"

"Why not? There's all kinds of weapons and I didn't know what we'd each like."

She shrugs, offering it to him. "Did you want this one?" She asks, holding the sickle-like stick by the curved section.

He takes it, giving it a few swings as he smiles. "Yeah, I think I'll start with this."

She smiles at him before turning back to Raphtalia and the straight stick in her hands. "…oh, did you already choose?"

She nods, looking at her practice weapon. "It seems… simple enough, I think."

"What are you gonna pick, Rifana?" Keel asks.

She looks around, inspecting the sticks and frowning a bit. "...I'm not sure. They... don't feel right to me?"

Keel looks back. "Did you want me to try to find bigger or smaller or something?"

She crosses her arms in concentration. "…do you have string?" She asks, thoughtful.

He looks down at his shirt, thoughtful.

She watches him with a raised eyebrow. "…what are you thinking, Keel?"

"I was thining if I could use a string from my shirt, but I don't think that would work."

She sighs, moving to browse through the sticks. She pulls out a branch that appears to have something on one end. "...not quite..." She searches further, going around the edges of the training field for anything that might feel right.

Riku makes a curious noise, setting down his stick and following her.

It takes her a minute of looking, but she nearly stumbles over her find. Reaching down, she picks up a large hammer, frowning in confusion. "Did someone lose this?" She turns this way and that, trying to figure out who would lose a tool about as long as her torso.

Riku woofs as though that might shed some insight, sniffing it.

She nods absently, giving it a few swings. "…I was hoping for a bow," she admits, "but this works, too, I think."

The dog tilts his head before suddenly running off into the trees.

Rifana blinks, looking after her friend in confusion. "Riku, where are you going?"

He is gone about thirty seconds before he comes running back with a thick vine dragging behind him. He barks as he gets closer, sitting in front of her.

Blinking in surprise, she tucks the hammer into her belt and gratefully takes the vine. "Thank you," she says, smiling and petting her friend. "This should help a lot."

He rubs his head on her side before leading her back to the others.

She waves at them and reaches for a good, bendy branch. Raphtalia watches curiously as she starts tying the vine to the branch. She turns to her friend for answers. "Keel? What's she doing?"

"I think she's making a bow of some kind." He answers, looking impressed. "I didn't know she knew how."

It is in the process of trying to bend the branch that it flies loose, nearly nailing the dog boy.

He yelps, hopping to the side with his ears standing straight up. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Rifana rushes over, quickly looking over and patting down his body to make sure it didn't hurt him. "Are you alright? Please tell me you're alright…"

"I'm fine I'm fine..." He tries to catch her hands as she pats him, resulting in it looking more like some kind of game.

Raphtalia can't help herself; she giggles from the sight and tries to cover her mouth.

"What?" He looks over to her even as he keeps trying to parry the other girl's hands.

"Nothing!" She gives him a cheeky smile as Rifana eventually stops and hugs him instead.

Riku woofs as he walks by with the vine, tied to only one side of the stick. He seems to be entertaining himself by flicking his neck and seeing how far the stick goes.

The racoon girl holds up her own stick, smiling at him. "You want to play? See if you can keep me from touching you?"

He barks and wags his tail, crouching down in front of her.

She smiles and stretches forward to tap his nose with the stick.

His mouth slowly opens.

She turns and flings the stick down the practice area, grinning. "Go fetch!"

He takes off, a bit of dirt flying in his wake as he zooms down the field, almost beating the stick to the spot it lands.

Rifana smiles and politely claps for her friends.

Riku zooms back with the stick in his mouth, putting on the brakes so that leaves scatter behind him as he parks right in front of Raphtalia, tail wagging.

The raccoon girl smiles and pets his head, reaching for the stick. "Good boy. Want to go again?"

He barks and stands up on his hind legs briefly, his ears higher than hers.

As the two play, Keel and Rifana busy themselves trying to work her bow into a usable condition. This rustle of activity eventually gathers a particular audience. A tall form almost silently walks up behind them all before they even know it's present.

"Well now, what's all this happening behind the barn here?" A smooth female voice announces herself.

Rifana yelps and jumps into Keel's arms, hugging him around the neck. Raphtalia fumbles her throw, the stick sailing straight up and almost landing square on the surprise guest's head.

Sadeena catches the stick calmly before it hits her, twirling it and setting it on the table. "Oh come on, am I that scary?"

"I wasn't expecting you!" The weasel girl whines, not relenting in her hold on her friend.

Sadeena laughs, smiling at them all including the slowly reddening face of Keel, though if that's from holding up Rifana or another reason she doesn't say. "Well, I saw a bit of movement over here, so I decided to check it out."

"Oh?" Raphtalia starts rubbing Riku's neck. "I thought we were well hidden…"

Sadeena taps next to her eyes. "You don't get to be a hunter without being able to spot anything out of the ordinary."

Rifana blinks, but before she can act on her current idea, her makeshift bow comes apart and smacks her on the bum, causing her to squeal in surprise.

Riku springs on the stick, biting it and shaking his head back and forth as he growls.

Keel scoots away from the scene a few steps with Rifana.

"…yeah, this probably isn't ordinary," Raphtalia admits, bowing her head.

Sadeena just laughs. "I didn't say it was bad! I just came to see what was happening."

The other girl drops down to free her hands, rubbing her sore rump. "Oh… what do you think, Miss Sadeena?"

"About which part?" She smiles slyly.

"This place," she says, gesturing around. "Keel says it can help us to help you!"

"D'aww... well aren't you all precious?" She rubs the pink girl's head. "You all want to become hunters and protectors?"

"Protectors," Rifana says, nodding once against the woman's hand.

"Yeah!" Keel cheers, puffing his chest out.

"...what's the difference?" Raphtalia asks, tilting her head, one ear folded. "Aren't hunters pre-protectors?"

"They're not mutually exclusive, it depends how you think of them." Sadeena looks at them all.

Rifana blinks her eyes a couple times, thoughtful.

"Both protect, one just more offensive and the other defensive." She elaborates.

"Oh." The weasel girl nods, looking at the stick and vine that would be her bow. "…I could be both then, I guess…"

"Exactly. Being flexible might be the better option because then you can be what's needed." The woman walks over to the 'bow' and examines it.

Raphtalia moves next to her friend, eyeing the splinters that Riku had left behind.

"But... I think we'd better get you some proper training weapons first." She looks at the array as Keel sinks. "A good attempt for just starting out." He perks back up.

Rifana blinks a few more times. "What do you mean? I thought these were fine training weapons…"

"Oh, the sticks are fine." She swings one experimentally. "The only difference between this and what I would give you would be texture. They'll start training your muscles in the right way. It's this little one here that needs something a bit more specific if you want to use it." She gestures to the bow.

She taps her fingers together. "What does it need?" She quietly asks.

"Well, for a bow you want something that'll bend, not break, and that tries to go back straight. You'll also need a firm bowstring." She explains. "Plus some proper arrows to use."

Raphtalia whines in confusion. "But isn't that what she has?" She eyes the broken stick for a moment. "...had, I mean?"

"It was definitely a good attempt, but I have a few training bows around. I'll grab you one and some blunted arrows. Don't worry." She rubs Raphtalia's head now. "Maybe I can even give you four some advice on where to start... unless you wanted to do it all yourself."

"No no! We'd love any advice you've got!" Keel quickly shakes his head.

"And possibly something for Riku," Rifana adds, rubbing the dog's chin.

"Oh-ho? Claws and teeth not enough for you?" She crouches down and rubs his ears. The dog makes what sounds like a grumbling noise as she laughs.

"We were worried about him getting hurt by the tougher monsters out there," the little girl says, hugging the friend they're discussing.

His tail thumps on the ground as the woman nods. "Good idea. There've been some odd ones appearing these last few years. Best to be prepared."

Raphtalia blinks, holding her own stick closer. "…odd monsters?" She nervously asks.

Sadeena nods. "Nothing I can't handle, but just things I haven't seen. Good news though: most of them taste good."

Rifana hums softly, thoughtful. "Do you think we might face them, eventually?"

"Once you're all older and trained, sure. There'll always be threats like that to keep away from the village. It'll be nice once I have some extra hands to make it easier." She smiles at them.

"We'd be happy to help!" The raccoon girl says, hugging Sadeena's waist. "You're our big sister!"

She rubs her head fondly. "Then I'm lucky to have so many siblings."

She nods in response, gesturing for her friends to join her. Keel does so happily, eyes sparkling as he looks up to the warrior. Rifana guides Riku over and hugs the dark-haired lady they all adore.

The sun sets and rises once more, now looking down at a different scene in that same spot. Sharp clacks echo around from nearby trees as taller and more determine-faced youths go at it.

Keel narrows his eyes before he strikes forward, holding the handle of an odd weapon that lays parallel with his arm. The blunt weapon smacks the wooden training dummy in front of him multiple times as he rattles out swift strikes.

The quiet hiss of released breath reaches his ears. He manages to dodge, whether by instinct or by rote, the arrows that land on the dummy's head and chest, dead center in the mass.

Rifana lets her bow lower, wiping her forehead of the sweat that would've fallen, as Raphtalia rushes forward to smack the target around once the blunt-tipped arrows fall out of the way. Though hesitant, she is slowly starting to get the forms down, even with a blade as big as her torso.

Riku jumps in at the end, a knife held sideways in his mouth as he slashes at the bottom of the dummy.

Once he finishes, Rifana walks over and gives him a hug. "Great job, Riku!"

The large dog lets out a small woof and is only given away by his tail wagging to show how much he enjoys the attention.

Raphtalia sighs softly, letting her practice sword drop. "H-how was that?" She asks, looking off to the side.

Sadeena watches with arms crossed, striding forward and examining the marks on the dummy. "Well, definitely don't go dropping a real sword, but I'm glad to see you all are taking my words to heart."

She blushes softly in embarrassment. "R-right. Thank you!" She quickly picks it back up.

The adult nods approvingly as she traces a cut. "We'll get you all into a working squad in no time. Maybe one day you'll even get strong enough to go solo like I do."

"That's still amazing," Rifana whispers, pausing where she's collecting arrows. "The thought of facing monsters worries me. How can you be so confident?"

"Experience. You start small, you learn more about yourself and them. Soon, you can almost predict what some will do, or you know what to prepare for that got you in trouble last time. It's a lifelong process." She explains.

The pink-haired girl nods, looking pensive. "…will we have to fight those featherless Filolials?" She asks, placing a hand on Riku's shoulder as she remembers the day she found him.

Sadeena laughs softly. "Hopefully no filolials hear you call them that. When you're ready, I can probably lead you to some of those pink ones. You might be surprised how well you can do against them after you've had training. You almost took down one on your own the first time after all."

"But that was mostly luck," she tries to protest, hugging her red dog. "And I don't know if I could've done that if I wasn't protecting Riku…"

"Luck and protecting are both good attributes to have." Sadeena points out, touching the girls nose. "Why do you think I fight so hard? I have a whole village to protect."

Rifana blushes, giving the tall woman a bashful smile. "Thank you for protecting us."

"Daww..." she hugs her. "Thanks, Rifana."

The smallest child squeezes her and Riku in turn, relaxing slightly.

The dog, now slightly taller than her, woofs and licks her face.

Rifana laughs happily, rubbing his fluffy cheeks.

"I imagine you two will be a pair at the smallest. I wouldn't feel right separating you two." Sadeena says as she watches.

"I couldn't imagine it either," she agrees, pulling away to straighten out his bandana.

Riku seems to air up straighter as she does so.

"Though we can still work with others, right?" She asks, glancing at Keel out of the corner of her eye.

"Of course! Often times it's better to." The more experienced hunter nods.

"Good!" She hurries over to hug the wolf boy. "Then we all should be on a team!" She declares, feeling proud of herself.

"Are we not already?" Keel asks.

"We're going to make it official," she insists, squeezing him a bit for emphasis.

His tail swishes. "O-oh! Okay then..."

She smiles at him, and Raphtalia watches, quietly wishing she could show this scene to their parents.

Sadeena stands and looks around. "Well, I think that'll do for today. Gotta give you time to still be kids after all."

Rifana blinks up at her. "What do you mean?"

Sadeena pats her head. "This isn't some army. You kids put in your work for today, so now you can play."

"Oh." She thinks for a bit. "...so it's story time?" She looks to Riku, blinking a bit. "Did you want to read together?"

The large canine opens its mouth in a slow quiet yawn before wagging his tail and looking at her.

"Great!" She smiles at him before looking at Keel. "Would you like to join us?"

"Yeah! I mean," he clears his throat and replies more smoothly, "sure, sounds nice."

Her smile stretches into a grin. "Perfect! We just got a new book today!"

Sadeena glances over to Raphtalia. "Think you'll be joining them?"

She just shrugs, playing with the hem of her shorts. "I was hoping we could play a game… but I don't want to interrupt their reading…"

"Hmm... well, I was going to go on a little beach patrol, care to join me?" The woman offers.

Raphtalia looks up at her with wide eyes, her expression slowly changing from open-mouthed surprise to a smile as bright as the sun. "Really? Can I?"

"Of course, and if I happen to stop to check an area more thoroughly and you get up to something a bit more fun like splashing or shell collecting, well, I think I could let it slide." She winks.

She grins, nodding and taking up her wooden sword. "Maybe I can dig for shells better with this!"

Sadeena laughs softly. "Sure, that could work."

Raphtalia smiles and waves to her friends, who are gathering under a tree. "I'll see you later!"

Rifana smiles and nods genially. "Have fun with big sis."

Keel looks a little torn, but waves her goodbye nonetheless as he stays by Rifana.

The pink-haired girl rubs his back to try and cheer him up.

He quickly beams at her.

She smiles back and pulls out a book about the Seven Star Heroes. "Did you want to read aloud first?"

"Sure, does this one have the heroes in it?"

"Yeah! And they're supposed to be heroes from our world!" She smiles brightly. "They're supposed to help the Cardinal Heroes protect the world!"

His eyes sparkle as well. "So they could even be us?"

"Sure!" She glances over at her bow, frowning a bit. "I might need a different weapon, though?"

"Do you? I mean, they have the fancy legendary weapons, why can't we just use what we want?"

"I dunno. I always thought they could only use the one weapon?" She admits.

"Huh... I guess big sis Sadeena mostly uses a spear..." He mumbles.

"Do you think she could secretly be the spear hero?" She quietly muses.

"That'd be so awesome!" He whispers back.

"Maybe we should ask when she gets back," she says, smiling brightly.

He quietly laughs as the two head away from the training grounds, Riku in tow.

"How strong would you say we are, now?" She asks him, eyeing the dog's bulk.

"Hmm… we're getting better, but I don't think even all four of us at once could lay a hand on big sis."

"We haven't even seen her come back with a scratch, before," she points out. "Who knows what kind of monsters she has come across out there?"

"I bet we could ask, she might tell us." He reasons.

"She might," she agrees, turning to look out at the woods. "…we won't run into any, will we?"

"Here? Nah, she's got this whole place protected, then when we're better, we help and she has more time to relax, right? Everyone wins."

"Right." She nods, smiling at him with her hand on Riku's side.

"It'll be great!" He pumps a fist. "No one will mess with us and the village will be perfectly safe!"

She beams, silently agreeing with him, and gestures to her favorite tree. "Can we read there?"

He nods. "Yeah, nice and shady."

Nodding, Rifana drags him and Riku over to the large tree. Keel sits against the trunk while Riku curls up naturally behind Rifana once she settles. She smiles and hugs them both briefly once more before they start to read.

Chapter Text

It had been a trying few months, where the trio were trying to get even better with their weapons of choice. Indeed, Raphtalia was learning stances for her sword and Rifana was practicing shots from Riku's back as he ran about.

Keel has been getting instruction slightly more personally from Sadeena. She deemed it necessary with his faster weapons that he knows how to identify windows of opportunity to strike, something she started impressing upon all of them shortly thereafter.

Rifana took these words to heart, as she currently finds herself and Riku spending time practicing with the steel arrows she found there one day.

After firing a few shots at the chest of the dummy, she walks over to carefully pry them out, not wanting to break them on accident.

Riku sits next to a small pile of her things for the day, ever dutiful. The dog is now larger than some people when he stands up on his hind legs. His tail thumps the ground once when she picks out the shot that was closest to the center.

"I think I'm getting better, don't you?" She asks, looking over to him with a smile and a hand full of arrows.

He lets out a single woof as he meets her eyes.

She blinks, running this through her mind for a second. "So… yes. Thank you!" She smiles brightly at his approval.

He wags his tail and goes over, taking the arrows from her in his mouth and putting them back in the quiver.

Once he is done, she hugs and pets his head, enjoying the familiar fluffiness.

He makes a rumbling sound that tickles as it vibrates through him and against her. His tongue flicks out briefly to lick her cheek while she's in range.

Rifana lets out a happy laugh, gently rubbing his ear as she pulls away. "Such a smart boy." She glances at the sky, thoughtful. "Do you think we should've joined our friends? Relaxing, I mean?"

He lets out a big yawn and lays down next to her, looking towards town.

"We can go over to the tree, if you'd like." She gently scratches behind his ear. "Raphtalia might be there, and she could have a treat for you again."

He wags his tail and pants, nudging her towards his back with his head.

"You want me to ride you again?" She smiles, brushing his coat as she heads along. "Thank you, I really enjoy the rides you give!"

He woofs proudly.

She gingerly climbs onto his lowered back, rubbing his neck and straddling just below his nape. Her hands find his fur, carefully gripping so that she does not cause her friend pain. "Are you good?"

In response, he rises and shakes his head as if getting ready. She sees his ears stand higher and feels his muscles tense.

"Ready," she whispers, eyes glittering with eager anticipation.

With a mighty starting leap, he begins bounding towards village proper, wind rushing over both of them as paws hit the dirt with rapidity.

She laughs brightly, enjoying the sensations coursing over her body with every stride he takes, short pink hair nonetheless flowing behind her in the breeze. She belatedly realizes she still has her bow and arrows, but decides that it doesn't matter. The other kids would not mess with the weapons, especially when Sadeena is around!

Oh, right, Sadeena is hunting in the ocean. Better keep them close, then.

She has to hold on as he takes a corner, claws digging into the dirt before he takes off once more, tree now in sight.

Rifana perks up, giving both of the shapes beneath the branches a bright grin. She can make out Raphtalia's brown hair and clothes, and Keel's arm waving at her, both of them just as excited to see her and Riku.

Riku comes to a stop right before them, panting lightly.

"Wow... we're never gonna be able to beat you anywhere now, huh?" Keel asks them.

"You beat us here, today," she points out with a smile.

"Yeah, but that's because you went the opposite way." He counters.

"But still!"

"Keel found us a spot to play at!" Raphtalia interrupts, holding up a ball. "It's at the top of the cliff, but mom and dad said they'd be there to watch us!"

The boy nods. "Yeah! It's super open and the grass is really soft from the wind always being there."

Rifana beams, opening her mouth to say just how great that sounds.

Then the sky breaks above their town.

Her voice catches in her throat, staring up at the sky with swirls of red and purple surrounding a green hole. If she stares hard enough, she can see small dots coming down from it, which sends a shiver down her spine.

"W-whats going on?" Raphtalia whispers, gripping the tree as she gawks at the sky.

"I dunno! Some weird weather maybe?!" Keel hopes.

Riku's hackles are raised as they all hear a low growl from him... just before the screams start.

Rifana turns towards the town, eyes wide in shock. "W-we have to help them!" She says, even as she trembles at the thought of what might be causing those screams.

"We need to find shelter we can lead them to!" Keel objects as his own ears flick to the distant sounds of chaos.

"Where would that be?" She asks, glancing around for anywhere that might help. "And where is Raphtalia!"

"Uh... I don't know!" He grabs a nearby stick just before they hear a loud growl, similar but different to Riku's.

Rifana sits straight on the large canine's back, notching and drawing back an arrow. She whirls to the right, past Keel, training it on some creatures coming out of the woods.

Large hulking canines emerge from the trees, glowing red eyes and bared teeth. They howl as they see the children.

Rifana lets go of her arrow, mouth agape in stunned silence. Why were dogs attacking them? She barely even notices that she shot in their direction due to nerveless fingers.

They start barking, Riku responding in kind as even more shapes start to emerge, these of walking bones.

The arrow hits one of the skeletons and makes it fall to pieces. Rifana doesn't care, reaching over to frantically pat her friend's side. "Keel. Keel, get on. Hurry."

The boy backs up with her away from the creatures, eyes darting around for an exit.

She quickly yanks him up with her, the byproduct of years of trying to lift the dog they're currently riding.

He grabs onto her as she hears him mumbling. "Really wish I had my weapons…"

"Should we get them?" She whispers back, hand still gripping her bow tightly as she stares at the monsters staring back at them.

"We can try, first thing is we need to get away from them." He eyes the oncoming foes warily.

"Okay, Riku," she reaches forward, gently patting the red fluffy neck, "time to show them who's the fastest."

He backs up away from them, his back rolling as he gets used to the new weight. Still, he gives them one bark before turning and bolting back into town.

Rifana holds tight, her bow sliding up her arm from the speed. Her breath catches in her throat as she stares ahead, not wanting to turn and make her friend think she doesn't trust his skill.

She can hear him panting more than he was before, but that is soon drowned out by the chaos around them. Yelling and howling come from all directions, and the red sky only adds tot he ominous setting.

"Everyone," she whispers, her voice lost in the wind whipping around them, "please hold on!"

Riku barks as they come across a group battering at a door, screams coming from inside.

Frowning, she grabs up a hammer from the blacksmith as they ride past. Using the momentum, she swings it into the skeletons, shattering them with the resultant force.

Keel blinks at this. "Wow..."

She sighs, resting it across the canine's back. "Thank you, but I still can't lift Riku…"

"I don't think anyone expected you to!" He responds over the sounds of battle.

"I do!" She swings at a few more skeletons they come across, drawing near to their practice field. "It's my dream to carry him again!"

"Well, it's a good strength goal!" He dives off as they get close, grabbing his own weapons and nodding securely.

She nods in agreement and grabs Raphtalia's wooden sword in case they run across their friend. "Let's go! Our first mission is to save as many villagers as we can!" She gestures forward, gripping the red dog's fur tight. "Lead the way, Riku!"

He lets out a loud howl of challenge and dives back into the fray that the town has become.

Rifana clutches her borrowed hammer, ready to fight and protect her home.

As they charge back into town, Riku mows down skeletons in leather armor by simply running them over. The weasel girl whacks those coming at him from behind, doing her best to protect him as they head into town.

Keel tries his best to use one tonfa to strike to the side as they pass, but his other hand is busy making sure he doesn't fall off.

When he stops her from falling after reaching too far, she gives him a grateful smile, then goes back to warding off the monsters.

They all get a small scare when they hear a loud bark from nearby, a large dark canine lunging at them from a bush.

Yelping, Rifana flings her hammer right at it, losing her grip at the sudden motion.

The hammer lodges in it's mouth, making it land and shake its head and it tries to dislodge it.

Rifana quickly gets out her bow and sticks an arrow up its nose.

It thrashes and runs off, crashing through some barrels.

"…well. I just lost my hammer," she says, put out.

"Here!" Keel quickly hands her a tonfa.

She catches it, eyes wide in surprise. "B-but I don't…"

"It's better than nothing even if you don't know how to use it!"

She nods and takes it, twirling it around the handle with a small blush. "Thank you."

He nods before adding, "Try not to let them fetch it!"

Rifana offers him a small smile. "I think I'll give it back once we're in town." She smacks a skeleton away somewhat awkwardly, sending vibrations up her arm.

This one seems slightly sturdier than others, raising a hand up just before Riku spins and snatches it off, tossing the limb away with a bark.

She blinks, rubbing her arm as she kicks it away. "Why didn't that one fall apart?"

"Maybe it was a tough one?" Keel guesses. "Shouldn't we have seen Raphtalia carving through them by now?"

"Did she have her sword?" She asks, glancing around before gesturing towards a crowd of monsters in front of town hall.

"Good point!" He braces himself.

The three of them charge in, paws and weapons swinging just to stop the monsters trying to break the doors down. When only the ones Riku strikes are falling, they start to realize they have a problem.

Keel pants as he tries to knock one in the knee. "Come… on!"

"Why isn't this working?" Rifana grunts as she tries to make another fall on its back at the very least.

She does get that accomplished, but sees her foe trying to rise back up far quicker than she'd liked.

The poor girl whines as she repeatedly strikes it head with her borrowed weapon. "No! Bad! Stay down!"

After a flurry from all three of them, they do manage to subdue one just before their ears prick to the nearby sound of growling.

Rifana freezes, slowly turning to look in the direction it came from. Her hand unconsciously moves to grip Keel's free hand, as if wanting him near so she can keep him safe.

Riku's ears prick back and he growls back as they see a more hulking hound approach. This one is almost double his size and isn't alone, another matching its form also arriving and starting to circle them.

The pink haired girl slowly presses the tonfa into Keel's hand, reaching back and pulling her bow free of her body. She quietly nocks an arrow, never taking her eyes off the monstrous dogs before her.

When one takes a step forward she swiftly pulls the arrow back and lets loose at its face.

Suddenly a massive dark-furred leg steps in frotn of the arrow, causing it to bounce off. They all look up to see a truly towering beast, canine like the others but with enormous teeth and three angry heads. As it growls, they feel it shake through their whole bodies.

The next arrow that Rifana had instinctively grabbed slips nervelessly out of her fingers, the edges of her vision darkening out of the sheer dread this beast causes to form in her chest.

She can barely see Keel shaking his head and repeating the same word over and over, though hearing him is another thing.

Riku backs up towards the door they had been defending and she can feel him growling beneath her. He snaps as one of the hulking dogs gets closer, only getting it to pause momentarily. The next few moments are a blur of movement, colors and sounds roaring around her before things slowly come back into focus.

The familiar rhythm of her dog's feet, faster, but the same. Hearts pounding in her head, not just her own. Lights flickering above her as leaves crunch beneath. How long this goes on, she can't tell.

What she does know is that Keel is there, shaking her back into lucidity, his kind face filling her returning vision.

"Hey, hey! Rifana!" The colors in her face switch as she suddenly gets half her face licked.

She splutters for a second before letting out a faint laugh, reaching out to hug them both. "So… so you guys saved me?" She whispers, her face buried in their shoulders, certain that the lack of growling meant they were out of danger for the moment.

"Well... it was mostly Riku here." Keel says quietly.

"I'm willing to bet you made sure I didn't fall off," she gently retorts, turning to give him a more personal hug, wanting him to smile.

He does manage a small one as he returns the hug.

"There we are." She smiles back when they pull away, glancing around. "…where are we?"

"I don't... know." Keel replies. "Riku just stopped after a while."

"Riku?" She asks, looking at her dog-shaped friend without releasing Keel. "Do you have any idea?"

He looks around before stopping with his head in a certain direction.

Rifana blinks, turning her head in that direction. "Is that the way back to town?" She asks.

He woofs once, ears pricked attentively. She can see almost a layer of forest debris in his coat from the run.

She finally lets go of Keel so she can brush Riku's coat clean with her fingers. "…do you think we made enough of a difference?"

Riku slumps to his side as Keel ponders this. "I hope so… maybe we bought time?"

"I hope so…" She shudders, stopping her grooming to rub her arms. "What was that? With the sky?"

"I don't know... it was crazy... I thought the world was ending." He admits.

Somehow, that strikes a chord with Rifana, causing her to think back on what she read about the four heroes. "…was… was that the wave of catastrophe?"

He blinks. "Like in the stories?"

"Yes," she says, leaning against the big red dog's side, "but where were the heroes? Aren't they supposed to save us?"

"Maybe they were surprised too?" Keel says quietly.

"But they're supposed to save us from the waves," she repeats, her voice barely audible. Her hands find his, gripping them tight, reminding her that he's still there, that they are alright.

"Maybe… maybe they got there after we left!" He quickly reasons.

The weasel girl blinks, some of her tension gone. "You really think so?" She asks, breathless. "Does that mean we can meet the Shield Hero?"

"Maybe!" He echoes, looking to Riku as Rifana looks to him.

"Then we should find him!" She declares. "He cares for us, he might be able to get the town back in shape!" She pauses briefly. "But first we find Raphtalia!"

"Right, yeah!" He looks at her now. "She was probably fighting too, so she should be fine."

"We should start by the cliffs!" Rifana says, nodding once. "That's where she went, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah…" the second utterance is quietly to himself, though a look from Riku has him slightly worried.

She glances between the two of them, frowning in concern. "…do you think she isn't there?"

"… she has to be." He seems to decide, nodding.

Now uncertain, she turns her attention back to Riku, frowning slightly as she tries to think. "…do you think you could find her? You have a good sense of smell, right?"

He woofs, wagging his tail.

She nods, relaxing a bit. "Can you take us to her?"

He looks up at the sky, silent before looking back down to her and tilting his head.

"Maybe he's worried about you?" Keel guesses.

"What, me? I'm fine!" She insists, flexing her arms. "I'm right here, and you guys can help keep me safe! I can support you from any range!"

Riku leans in and rubs his face on her.

She smiles and hugs his muzzle, enjoying the affectionate gesture.

After that bit of reassurance, he stands up, shaking himself before getting in position next to her.

She quietly climbs on, securing her bow and arrows just in case and holding out a hand to Keel.

He takes it and joins her, quiet as he gets situated.

Rifana quietly tugs him closer by the arms, seeking comfort by his physical contact. With him against her back, the bow between them, she whispers to Riku, "Let's find Raphtalia. You can chew on any bones you find."

He woofs before setting off, back the way they came, though only he would know the way.

They come across a few wandering skeletons, but the big red dog easily defeats them with a swipe of his paw. The sky has long since turned back to normal by the time they draw near town, and the monstrous dogs don't seem to be anywhere nearby.

As they approach, they can see a few forms moving throughout the now trashed town. Most are walking slowly and moving rubble that used to be houses.

Rifana sighs softly, seeing that they managed to help, even if only a little bit.

Riku goes nose to the ground, trying to find their friend as they go.

A few of the villagers wave as they pass, most of them absently, as a form of habit, but a couple smile as well, grateful that they helped protect those they could.

"Did they take down the big one?" Keel murmurs as they go.

"I don't know," she whispers back, quickly glancing around. "I don't see it anywhere, so… maybe?"

He nods even as they pass a noticeably large pawprint.

"…I see the town hall is still standing, at least," she says, pointing at the building in question.

"Huh... they were next to that so I thought for sure it'd be done."

"So did I," she admits, her voice so quiet that he could barely hear her.

Riku suddenly lets out a woof and gains speed.

Rifana quickly grips his fur, not wanting to fall off from the sudden acceleration.

He takes them over to a smaller but more familiar figure, stopping and licking this one's face.

Fluffy round ears twitch at the action, her unfocused brown eyes slowly raising from the ground to the dog's eyes. "Riku?"

"And others!" Keel adds from behind the dog's head.

"Keel?" Her eyes start to tear up, even more so when the other girl gets off the dog's back to kneel beside her. "Rifana!" She launches herself at the weasel girl, nearly knocking her over and hugging her tight.

Keel has a relieved smile as he dismounts, Riku sitting protectively close to all. "I'm glad we found you."

She pulls him into the hug as well, crying on both their shoulders as she seeks the comfort of her friends.

The group of sensitive ears can hear Keel sniffing a few times, but holding it together.

Rifana gently rubs her back, lending her shoulder to her friend so she can let out her emotions. "We're here. Don't worry."

A rumbling noise from Riku agrees.

Raphtalia shakes slightly, looking up at all three of her friends with a fragile smile. "…thank you…"

"Well get through this, we can help get stuff back how it was." Keel says with a forced but confident smile.

Raphtalia nods, rubbing her cheeks dry with one hand. "R-right. We… we can help with the houses! Get food for the town?"

Keel tilts his head at those suggestions, but nods quickly. "Yeah!"

"Right!" Rifana adds, nodding decisively as she pulls away from the group hug. "And we can find our parents!"

The raccoon girl freezes, her eyes wide and her grin going through rictus.

"... Raphtalia?" Keel asks.

Her eyes glisten with unshed tears, her shoulders hunching in as the weight of a recent memory presses on her. "Mom… dad…"

"Oh..." He looks down.

"Hey, no, stay with us," Rifana says, hurrying forward and pulling her back upright. "We are not leaving you alone. Say it."

The poor girl just stares blankly at her, forlorn.

The weasel girl gently shakes her. "Say it. Please."

Raphtalia blinks, a tear escaping. "...you are... not... leaving me... alone..."

"Good. Now give us a smile."

Those glistening eyes go distant for a moment before a frail smile forms on her lips.

Riku dips his head under the raccoon girl's hand.

She gently brushes his fur, taking a few deep breaths. "…right… we… we should help our town…"

"You can just... rest if you want to." Keel says.

"No!" She jumps from how loud her own voice was. "N-no, I… I need to help. Please."

"Okay okay!" He quickly says, ears down. "We can do that."

She nods, trying to force a smile as she walks towards town to get to work.

Chapter Text

Her two friends join her to support her how they can as they help the town. Clearing bits of rubble, assessing damage, or anything else they can think of. After a time, They realize that many of their food stores had collapsed, and many of the townsfolk were in no shape to hunt. Our pink rider and her faithful hound volunteer to get some meat for the survivors.

Rifana climbs onto Riku's back, rubbing his side. "If you find any skeletons, you can have them," she whispers.

He woofs, rolling his shoulders and pawing the ground.

"Let's go!" She calls, gesturing towards the forest. "Who knows what we'll find!"

He sets off with her back towards a different part of the woods than he fled in before, relatively near a path that leads further inland.

This time she tries something new, holding on to him with one arm while the other grips her bow, ready to use it if she finds and game.

They stick to a fair amount of small game, birds, squirrels, and rabbits alike. Soon the two have a nice bag of future meals hanging from one side of the hound, him having gotten a small snack he now licks off his lips.

She smiles, gently scratching behind his ear as she moves to properly secure the food. "This should be enough for a few days, right?"

He makes a few noises back at her, wagging his tail.

She hums thoughtfully. "You're right, we need more for you." She nods and pulls out her bow, ready to walk further into the woods to find more deer.

Then the sound of wooden rattling reaches her ears, making her pause mid-turn.

Riki's head swivels like a compass, pointing the way towards it as he ducks low.

Immediately catching on to his request, she lowers herself as well, staring at the direction she knows the road is. She silently gestures for them to move forward, carefully placing her steps so that she moves like a ghost across the forest floor. She sends out a silent thanks to Sadeena for her training.

With his natural padded feet and lower center of gravity, Riku quietly follows.

When the two draw near, the sound becomes more distinct, and they can recognize it for what it is - cart wheels. They eventually get to the thick underbrush bordering the road to the village, and Rifana peers out of the shrubbery.

The two of them spot armored soldiers chatting amongst themselves as they walk purposefully. One near the front even points directly towards the village itself.

Curious, she perks her ears forward, straining to hear what they're saying. It might explain what the cart with the bars on it is for.

"How much longer?" One of the younger ones whines.

"We get there when we get there," an older one growls.

"What are you going to do first?" A third one asks.

"I'm going to find a pretty one to have fun with," a fourth one says with a strange expression on his face. "The job can wait a bit."

Rifana pulls her head back, hopeful. This must mean the king is sending help in rebuilding! She climbs onto Riku's back, gesturing to town and not bothering to be quiet.

He focuses and pads off, staying to the forest since it's the most direct route.

They miss the armored man who peeks into the underbrush, his sword drawn to attack.

Riku gets her swiftly back to town, and both their news of food and reinforcements are well received. Some folks start to relax even after all that happened.

"Oh, and they also have bars on the carts they were bringing along!" She finally mentions, miming long lines with her hands.

"Cages? Maybe they hope to capture some of the beasts if there were any left." One person guesses.

"There were a lot of dog-like monsters," another points out, giving Riku an apologetic glance.

He makes a grumbling noise as Keel asks. "What does that matter?"

"They might want to catch them," she says, shrugging slightly in her embarrassment.

"Oh, good, as long as they don't think Riku's one." He nods.

"I think the bandana might be a good indicator," Rifana says, reaching up to straighten it. In the distance they can hear wheels approaching.

He nods, looking towards the sound.

The knights come into the rather dilapidated town, dragging the cages behind them. A few of them have drawn swords, while the one in front carries a large axe.

"…those cages look too flimsy for monsters," one adult mutters.

One of the soldiers looks around. "Yeah, still some usable ones, should be an easy job." He remarks to the others.

Rifana's smile slowly slides off her face at these words, her hand inching towards a sledgehammer on Riku's side. Something about that tone and the looks on their faces is making her uncomfortable, and she wants to hold something for comfort.

Raphtalia looks confused. "…what are they saying? There aren't any monsters here…"

There's a calamitous clanking of metal as another one calls, waving his sword in the air. "Let's get to work!" As the others start to spread, the next moment is almost surreal as the sword buries itself in the gut of a villager.

Rifana stares blankly for a moment, staring at the baker as he falls off the blade. Her eyes widen slightly, the fur on her ears and tail bristling in utter fury as she launches herself at the surprised soldier, bashing his face in with the very hammer she used in the wave. "Riku!" She cries out, the sheer rage in her voice leaving no question that she will fight to protect everyone she knows and that she expects his support.

The man on the ground shouts in pain and frustration. "We got some fighters, boys!" The is accompanied by roars and more weapons starting to clash with flesh and arms alike.

As a shadow looms over her, a snarl erupts from behind and she sees a red blur intercept. Riku grabs onto the armored leg with his jaws, spinning around and tossing the man into one of the others.

The next few minutes are a blur, Rifana slamming her hammer into knights until the shaft breaks from the force, then taking swords from the fallen to continue attacking. She barely recognizes some of the villagers fleeing, but focuses on fighting to distract and hopefully defeat those who would dare to harm those she holds dear.

Eventually they learn to keep a firm grip on their weapons, and she resorts to picking off the ones about to stab defenseless villagers with her bow, getting several arms and one soldier between the eyes, the first one she actually killed.

Keel is nearby trying to hold his own, but wooden training weapons against metal ones and armor prove to be difficult, not even counting their sheer numbers. For every one the fighters down, another takes his place, treating them more seriously. He winces as he sees some in the back taking out bows and shooting the running villagers now.

Rifana focuses on the archers, giving Riku one of the swords to see if it helps him. She starts getting injured because she fights the ones in the distance, avoiding crippling blows to get superficial cuts, instead.

As her hound runs around, cutting legs where he can, a strange sense comes to her, though it takes a moment to realize why it is so. The screams are changing, the ones of the villagers are getting less and less numerous, and the jeers and cries of the knights increase.

Her body shakes in both fear and anger, the latter driving her to attack even more ferociously. She needs to protect the town, needs everyone to be happy. They can't get away with harming her friends, her family!

She freezes, realizing that she hasn't seen her mother all day. Not among the fallen, not among those who had survived only to be torn down by these knights. Where is she?

Her moment of distraction costs her, as a massive man backhands her to the ground. He slams his axe into the ground, the blade digging in on either side of her throat. "Are you the leader? Such a tiny, pathetic thing."

He's tackled off her by her faithful hound, but he doesn't manage much more than pushing the large man a few feet away, being tossed after.

Rifana, her heart threatening to beat out of her rib cage, stabs him in the foot with an arrow when he gets close once more, hoping to at least save Riku. When he leans down in pain, she uses the weight of the axe to land a kick to his face, breaking his nose.

"Stubborn little-!" He pulls a dagger out of his boot and raises it high to plunge it down at her.

She can vaguely hear Riku fighting against other knights now, the steel flashing in the sun as it comes down towards her. Suddenly a tonfa slams into the hand holding it, changing the angle so it goes into the earth near her instead.

"Keel!" She gasps, struggling to lift the axe from the awkward angle she got pinned at.

Her friend dives at the man, gettign a few hits to his chest before he is simply grabbed by the throat and lifted to a growling voice. "Stubborn little sprogs. You may have spirit, but you'll break just like the rest."

Seeing red, Rifana grabs the knife he used and slings it at the man straight between his legs with as much force as possible, her only thought to get Keel free from that grip. She doesn't know how else to stop him from her position, and she couldn't live with herself if she lost her two closest friends.

It bounces off his armor, but does serve to distract him long enough for Keel to swing himself free and knock the axe over.

The weasel girl stands, grabbing the axe as she does so and glaring at the knight before her.

He grins at her. "Feisty eh? We can fix that." As he says 'we' she notices the others around all slowly closing in.

She frowns, lifting up the axe easily three times her size and bringing it down on his head. "Go away! You caused enough problems!"

There's a brief bit of silence as the other soldiers take in the now unmoving knight with the axe lodged in his skull. "Oh, you've done it now, girly!" The over a dozen and a half of them all advance with their swords.

Rifana, having acted in a fit of anger, now stares at everyone around her, tense with horror as she realizes that there were too many and she lost her only option for close combat.

Keel looks around, judging everything including Riku dealing with three soldiers outside the ring, He swallows before suddenly charging one of the approaching foes with such ferocity they pause. He gets them in the legs so they crouch and he tackles against them, yelling. "Riku, get her out of here! There's too many! I'd slow you down!"

The dog meets his eyes before he howls, feinting and managing to slip under a pair of armored legs. With a series of springs, he jumps off the back of one knight, onto another, and into the ring, grabbing Rifana by the back of her tunic and tossing her onto him. Keel struggles against two knights now, but keeps one low enough that Riku can jump over them, now running away from the group.

The pink haired girl turns, holding on for dear life but reaching out for her friend. When her hand misses him, she cries, her vision blurring out everything that wasn't his brave face. "I'll come back!" She calls out through the tears. "I'll save you!"

She briefly sees him give a brave smile before he's covered in armored bodies. As Riku continues bolting, similar scenes of horror greet her everywhere she looks in town, from bodies of townsfolk to what appears to be Raphtalia being wrangled into a cage, face streaked with tears.

"Raph!" Rifana calls, tears in her own eyes. "Don't worry! I'll come back for everyone!"

Her hound turns now, heading into the deepest parts of the forest as he spots a few soldiers nocking arrows or turning towards them.

She presses herself against Riku's back, making herself a smaller target. It has nothing to do with drying her eyes on his fur. Nothing at all.

Thunking arrows are soon replaced by rustling leaves and snapping twigs, eerily reminiscent of a day prior, and yet this time it's somehow worse.

For the rest of the day, all Rifana can do is mourn the loss of her friends and village. She barely has the presence of mind to eat some of the food tied to Riku before she passes out against her loyal friend.

Unknown to her, he doesn't sleep that whole night. The red hound stays up to watch out for them in the darkness, eyes occasionally looking up to the sky and then back to the sleeping girl beside him. He curls around her more securely, eyes and posture daring anything in this forest to try and take one more thing from her.

Thankfully, nothing rises to his challenge, even if a few smaller beasts eye the two of them in passing.

The night proceeds in silence, and the sun rises to a passed out girl and the big red dog, offering warmth and the hope of a better day.

The fatigue finally starts to get to Riku as the sun hits them, a few discolored patches of his fur bothering him. He licks a few of them to clean the injuries before he lays down his head, trying to keep his eyes open.

Chapter Text

Groggy groans escape Rifana as she wakes up, her stirring essentially having her flop over his legs. The two of them lay for a while, not quite ready to tackle the day. Eventually, her stomach growls in protest, begging her to satiate it. Grumbling quietly, the girl pushes herself up and reaches for the pouch, fumbling in her attempts to open it.

The movement draws a grumble from her companion, who opens one eye to look at her.

She pauses, looking at Riku with groggy eyes. A moment of silence passes between them before she pulls out a slice of deer for him. "Hungry?"

He gazes at her for a bit longer before shuffling closer and resting his head on her lap, eyes closed once more.

Rifana sighs, lowering the meat back into the bag. "…am I a bad person?" She whispers, gently rubbing his head. "For leaving them behind?"

His mouth opens to briefly catch her hand in his teeth. He doesn't pierce skin, simply holding her there a moment before letting go and licking the spot.

The pink-haired girl stares at him, mildly stunned by the action. He had never bitten her before, even while playing, and she couldn't even recall a time when he had growled at her with any amount of heat behind it. She lets him lick her hand as she tries to figure out what, exactly, this new action is trying to tell her.

After a bit more time of this, Riku stretches out his legs and yawns, looking up at her with those same eyes he always had. He licks a few of the scrapes she got in the battle, eyes glancing at her between each one.

She quietly sighs, giving him a small smile and gently scratching between his ears. "...thank you for saving me... but you know I'm going to save them, too, right?"

He woofs quietly, touching his head to hers.

"You'll be with me?" She whispers, bringing both hands up to rub his cheeks. "Such a brave boy. I'm so proud of you." She pulls away and gently kisses his nose. "But first, we need to eat. Have to keep our energy up, right?"

He woofs more enthusiastically this time, rising to his paws and giving himself a shake to wake up.

She slowly gets up as well, stretching her body by gripping on to the tree they were sleeping against. She glances around the forest, ears perked to make sure they are not about to be attacked.

All things seem calm, with only the normal forest ambience of birds, bugs, and wind to greet them.

Rifana blinks a couple times, frowning as she starts gathering twigs. "Did the knights scare away the monsters?" She asks Riku, the only one there she can talk to.

He looks around himself, ears twitching. His nose raises up as well to take a sniff. Riku gives a very slight head tilt, but just huffs.

"I guess it could have been the wave monsters," she continues, settling into a steady pace. "But then where would the wave monsters be?"

He gives a grumble at that one, picking up a stick and chewing it as he follows her.

"So we're getting the fire, we have food…" She carefully tucks the sticks into the satchel on his side. "What else did Miss Sadeena say we need?"

He barks once as he's under the shade of a tree.

"Right, shelter! Thanks, Riku!" She gives him a bright grin, only slightly forced. "Would a tree work?"

He looks around to the leaves on the ground, then up to the tree. Chewing contemplatively on his stick, he walks away from the tree.

"No?" She hums, following him. "What would you suggest, then?"

He sniffs the air once more before woofing and starting off at a walking pace. He looks back to make sure she's following.

Rifana quickly gathers the rocks she was going to use for the fire, stuffing them in her dress pocket before hurrying after him. "You found somewhere safe?"

He makes a two toned noise at her as they go, still sniffing away.

"Oh, you caught the scent of one." She smiles at him. "That's good enough for me!"

He leads her on a walk for the better part of an hour until finally they seem to be at their destination: a cave. It's not enormous, the entrance just a bit taller than the average person and about the same width with a moss carpet.

She looks between him and the opening, frowning slightly. "…well, at least you aren't too big for it, just yet." She gently pats his side and starts walking in, bow ready in case a random monster charges at them.

Riku follows, taking a moment to stretch once they hit enough shade that the air becomes more cool. Still the cave goes deeper.

She peers into the relative darkness, gazing past the shadows formed from the light at their backs. "This might be a good base… it goes far into the ground and has one entrance that we can easily protect…"

Riku makes a few noises before sniffing the air once more. He tilts his head, making a slow circle as he keeps his nose in the air. Eventually, he stops, facing further inward.

Rifana blinks, looking up at him. "What? Are you saying we should go further inside?"

He lets out a long grumble, pacing.

She tightens her grip on her weapon. "…something is further inside?" She quietly asks him.

He woofs, tail wagging once.

The pink haired girl nods, quietly pulling out an arrow and stalking forward, doing her best not to make a sound on the craggy cave floor.

The two slowly proceed deeper, gradual declines and turns forming a gentle winding path. What started as echoes is slowly overcome with a mild hissing, soon clearer to be recognized as the sound of running water.

While the sound is not as dangerous as she first thought, she refuses to lower her guard until she is sure they are safe. She had made that mistake once, never again.

As the cave goes darker and darker, she feels something brush her shoulder.

The weasel girl pauses, glancing around in hopes of figuring out what that was.

As she looks around, a faint glow comes from her shoulder, revealing the sensation to have been a sort of bioluminescent moss that now glows. Other clumps on the ceiling further on also seem to awaken and give the cavern a soft blue glow.

She stands in awe, mouth agape at the beauty of the natural rock formations, enhanced by the faint light of the foliage. As her eyes adjust to the new source, she slowly walks forward, gradually lowering her bow into a relaxed position all the while.

The glowing ceiling almost seems to guide her until she soon sees the source of the sound as well. A small stream of water, about ankle deep, flows from beneath a curtain of the glowing moss.

Rifana blinks, staring at this for a moment before smiling and putting her bow away. "At least we have water in here. Right, Riku?" She turns to give her big friend an equally large grin.

He woofs, quietly, but seems to be staring at the wall of glow.

Her smile falters, and she steps closer to him. "Is something wrong?"

He leans in without moving his paws, stretching himself closer to it. He just manages to break his nose through the curtain, sniffing.

Her eyes widen in surprise, moving closer and slowly pressing her bow into it. "…is there another room?"

The bow sinks into the flora curtain with little resistance.

Glancing over at Riku, Rifana cautiously steps through the glowing plants, pushing some to one side so she can see.

There beyond lies a small tunnel, small enough for her to go in if she crouches.

She purses her lips together, sizing up both the tunnel and her friend beside her. Her shoulders slump, and she tucks her bow back into place over her body. "Sorry… it seems too small for you…"

He tilts his head and crouches low, looking expectantly to her to see if this helps.

She leans close, inspecting his form closely, then the hole, and gives a half-shrug. "If you think it'll work, then we can try it."

He lays down on his belly and starts crawling in, soon finding out it's just narrow enough to prevent him from getting all the way in. the faithful hound backs out, hanging his head and huffing.

Rifana gently hugs his muzzle, rubbing a soothing hand over his head. "Thank you for trying, Riku. You know I would take you with me if I could."

He lets out a small whine and licks her cheek.

She kisses his cheek, carefully pulling the knife used for skinning animals from its sheath on his pack. "I promise I'll be careful, and back with you as soon as possible, alright?"

He sits and waits, ears pricked for danger.

With a parting smile, she turns and carefully begins to delve into the tunnel within the cave.

This tunnel only has a few turns, reminding her almost of an animal den but too precise. It soon opens up into a small chamber, just large enough for her to stand. Ahead of her lies something else glowing, but now with a barely perceptible hum.

It appears to be a small altar. The small stream parts above it, like curtains around a window to present what lies within. It's a small oval crystal, a little smaller than an adult's hand.

Mildly confused but overwhelmingly curious, she rolls her shoulders and rubs her slightly sore hands as she approaches. She carefully avoids the standing water so she can stand beside the crystal, examining it closely.

Now closer, she can tell it's not a solid crystal, but more a core of crystal set in a stone. Small etchings reminiscent of monster heads and wings surround the core, and as she leans closer, the humming increases.

Eyes widening, she slowly reaches out to trace the details of the head, wondering who could have been skilled enough to make such a design.

As she touches it, the stone glows brighter for a brief moment before turning warm.

Rifana blinks, mildly confused by the odd reaction. After waiting another few seconds without a response from it, she gingerly picks it up so she can show it to Riku.

The humming dies down and soon all she can hear is the water once more.

Shrugging at the curious nature of the object, she tucks it into the front pocket of her dress and starts crawling her way back out to Riku.

She can hear the light clicks of his claws pacing in the stone, even above everything else due to its familiarity.

Smiling softly, she climbs out of the hole and moves to give her friend a hug. "I told you I'd be back," she whispers into his fur.

He makes a happy woof and licks her cheek repeatedly, tail wagging.

Rifana giggles, letting go to show off their new treasure. "Look what I found inside there!"

He sniffs the rock, tilting his head one way and then the other.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is, either," she admits, looking down at it. "It's really pretty, though. Think it'll make a good necklace?"

He makes a two-toned noise of unknowing, looking around and putting his side against her.

She leans against him, humming softly and guessing at his meaning. "You don't think so?" She says, staring down at it for a moment before moving it over her right wrist. "May be a bit too big for a bracelet," she mutters, not noticing her friend's disquietude.

Riku watches her, thoughts his own as the sound of water echoes around them. Finally he dips his head and nudges into her back towards the entrance of the cave.

She blinks, giving him a curious look but letting him guide her back to the entrance.

Once they're back in the main larger cavern, he woofs at her, tail wagging as he makes a patrol around the walls.

She smiles and sits down, pulling out her bow and her remaining arrows. Inspecting them carefully, she gives a small sigh, shaking her head. "I think I may need more arrows... I wish Sadeena taught us how to make them..."

Riku doesn't have much to say on that, finsihing his inspection and checking out the front of the cave.

Rifana carefully scoops her arrows back into the quiver, eyeing her bow with a frown. "…do you think I could hunt to get us some money for more arrows?"

He grumbles noncommittally, coming over and licking her cheek again.

She laughs softly, reaching up and rubbing his cheek affectionately. "You're right, we should worry about now."

He woofs once and looks toward the entrance, ears twitching a few times but finding nothing of interest.

Rifana watches him for a moment before carefully setting down their food bag. "How about we use this as a base for a couple nights? At least until we get the hang of surviving?"

He paws at the ground before sitting and wagging his tail.

She stares at the ground, frowning a bit. "…yeah, I don't know what you mean by that… the ground is hard? We should make beds?"

He makes a grumbling sound and gets up scratching at the floor until he's cleared a spot of debris. He then gently grabs her dress and tugs her over, flopping down himself and looking expectantly.

She carefully sits down beside him, leaning into his side and letting out a soft sigh. "…did I ever tell you you make a lovely pillow?"

His tail thumps in response and he seems to almost smile.

She smiles back and snuggles into his fur. "…we still need supplies," she sleepily mutters.

He woofs, nudging into the pack he wears.

She blinks, looking at the bag and carefully digging into it.

He tilts his head at her.

She digs further into the clutter, barely getting a glance of something on her wrist before it blinds her with a flash of light. "Gah!" She tumbles back, hands covering her eyes as she lands on her shoulder.

Riku springs up, letting out a bark and rushing over to her. He noses her side repeatedly, whining.

She blindly fumbles for him, rubbing his head as she rises into a sitting position. "It's fine, I'm fine," she says, touching foreheads with him, "I'm sorry I scared you."

He licks her face a few times until she starts opening her eyes.

Once she does she definitely sees something that wasn't there before. It's some kind of box with a grid and symbols in it.

Rifana blinks a few times, staring straight ahead at the grid. Slowly turning her head, she finds that it follows her vision, and her brows furrow slightly. "…Riku, do you see… something in the air?"

He tilts his head at her, looking around.

"I'll take that as a no…" Mildly curious, she reaches out a hand in a bid to see if the grid can be felt.

She doesn't feel anything, but the meat-shaped symbol she aims at does light up. She also feels movement in her bag. Cautiously, she lowers her hand and opens her bag, slowly tilting her head to peer inside. There at the top of the pack, as if waiting for her, is a piece of uncooked deer.

"…huh." She picks it up and offers it to Riku, reaching up to touch the symbol once more, keeping her eyes on the bag.

The dog happily starts tearing into the snack. She notices another box appear next to the big one this one smaller and with numbers in it. she notices the number go down by one as another bit of meat moves to the top of her bag.

The weasel girl blinks, pulling out the second piece of meat curiously. "…how in the world…?" She lifts it up and tries pushing it against the boxes, as if that would make it go back inside:

Still feeling no resistance, the meat just swings through the air with her loyal hound eyeing it.

She huffs softly, letting the meat drop down in her lap. "Well that didn't work." She stares at the boxes, as if that would give her an answer.

As she stares, her mind slowly starts to draw connections between the more simplified pictures and the things she actually remembers packing. Notably it seems things she's wearing aren't listed.

Eyes narrowing, Rifana focuses on the squares, her other hand slowly moving the meat back into the pouch. She closes the flap, not daring to blink in case she misses it. She sees the smaller second box with the meat icon disappear. Slightly uncertain, she opens the flap of her bag, peering inside.

Everything seems to be in order... in fact it seems to be in the exact order it is in the box she can see.

She glances between her bag and the symbols, curiosity starting to win out as she reaches in to touch the handle of the sharp knife Sadeena gave her.

A small knife symbol lights up and the secondary box returns. This time she notices writing inside declaring it a 'hunting knife'.

She blinks, slowly moving her hand over to the coil of rope nearby.

When she touches it, another symbol lights up and brings the secondary box to light once more, simply stating: rope.

Rifana giggles lightly, finding the simple descriptor humorous. She glances over at Riku, then smiles and lunges at him, scratching at his side affectionately.

Having been watching her curiously, the dog jumps a bit at the sudden movement, but quickly shows his happiness as he leans into the touch, tail wagging rapidly.

She scratches him for a bit longer before flopping over his side he, hands firmly on him as she searches for the boxes past his back.

They seem to have disappeared for the moment as she paws at the air, soon joined by a casual red paw swiping near hers.

Rifana laughs softly, gently rubbing his head. "I think I got a new trick…"

He rubs his head back against her hand, accidentally bumping his head on the stone there and looking confused.

The pink-haired girl blinks, staring at her arm in surprise. She slowly turns her head, staring at the dragon design and the blue gem embedded therein, utterly confused. Without a word, she turns her arm over, wondering how the gem stuck to her limb. Defying her eyes and logic, the stone seems to be just sticking to her.

"…how…?" She looks up at Riku, frowning slightly. "You see this too, right?"

He raises his paw and bops it, it still doesn't come off, but it does glow briefly. At the side of her vision, she sees the symbol of a dog head appear as well as the word 'Riku' and a small green bar underneath both.

Rifana blinks, trying to stare at the name but slowly turning her head instead. "…wait, were those always there?" She mumbles.

Riku looks around behind her before meeting her eyes again.

"…you don't see our names?" She says, giving him a surprised stare, eyebrows raised.

He blinks at her, head slowly tilting.

"…guess not," she whispers, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Still, if I can see it, and those boxes mean something… then they must mean something too, right?" She turns to him out of habit, hoping for his input.

He sniffs before giving a simple woof of affirmation.

"Right!" She nods, standing up and holding up the stone on her arm. "Let's see what we can do!"

He jumps to his feet, tail and ears up in a ready position as he woofs two of them turn, ready to try out this new ability of hers on the next monster she saw.

Chapter Text

Riku tries his best to keep low as he follows next to Rifana, the two slowly making their way around obstacles towards their target. The wild hog appears none the wiser for the moment, digging its snout into the ground.

Beside him, Rifana carefully picks her way across the forest floor, remembering one of the lessons Sadeena taught her: Patience is worth its weight in gold. It is better to take your time than to rush and lose out. Her foot almost lands on a stick, but she gently places it beside it, avoiding the little noise maker.

She can see the tension in Riku's muscles as he creeps alongside her. His entire body is coiled like a spring ready to unleash.

She lets out a quiet huff of amusement, watching him briefly before turning her attention back to the hog.

It seems to have finished digging for the moment, now starting to walk.

She glances at Riku, then makes a gesture towards their prey with two fingers.

One of his ears flicks before he eases forward. He gets close enough that his nose barely starts to poke out of a bush before he jumps towards the boar.

The wild hog stiffens as soon as it hears the sudden movement. However instead of freezing completely like many prey, it instead barrels forward through the underbrush, regardless of what lay in front of it. Riku gives chase.

Surprised, Rifana tries to join, but quickly lags behind the two of them. It isn't long before she loses sight of the chase.

He walks back after a time, coat matted with twigs from trying to fit his larger frame through hog sized holes. He huffs, sitting down next to her with ears folded down.

She sighs, gently scratching the top of his head. "You did your best. We'll just get him next time, okay?"

He grumbles and huffs once more before his ears finally lift.

"There's my happy boy," she says, smiling warmly at him. "Come on, maybe we can have some of that meat from yesterday."

He licks her cheek and stands, tail wagging.

Rifana stands below a hive, smoke rising from the campfire nearby to envelop the bees and their honey within, a trick she saw one of the gatherers in town use once. She gently fans the flames, adding another stick every so often, keeping her focus solely on the nest that could become violent at any wrong move.

Riku slowly paces around the nearby trees, keeping an eye on and out for her and a respectful distance from the bees that didn't react well to his presence.

The weasel-girl hums softly, eyes narrowed as she sees one bee lazily land on the tree. "…I think it's working," she whispers.

Riku's tail wags as he looks at her before suddenly he stiffens and looks outward, nose twitching.

She doesn't quite notice, trying to make sure the hive is safe for them to gather from.

Her partner sniffs the air, stalking through a nearby bush.

Once more, she doesn't notice, watching the bees fall asleep until the buzzing stops. She grins and quietly cheers to herself. "Yes! Got it!"

She suddenly hears a commotion from the bush as Riku tumbles out, quickly righting himself and growling just before a large yellow ball bigger than his head barrels out and he has to dodge out of the way.

Rifana turns, blinking wide red eyes in surprise. "What is that?" She quickly pulls her bow off her body, nocking an arrow. "A yellow balloon?" She swiftly fires her arrow, hoping to help her friend, the honey forgotten for now.

The projectile clacks against the creature's shell with nary a nick of damage. Riku pounces on it, trying to bite and claw at it to much similar results, though he does manage to send it careening a different direction away from the girl.

Frowning, the pink-haired girl stares at her bow for a moment then looks for something else she can use. Surrounding her are sticks, trees, the nest, the spare rocks from when she was making the fire pit.

She stares at the last one for a moment longer before reaching out to grab the biggest one, about the size of her head, easily lifting it. "Maybe something heavier would work…?"

She's distracted by a sudden bark from Riku just before something impacts the back of her legs and sends her tumbling backwards. The stone soars upward and as she impacts the ground, she gets a good view of her improvised weapon landing on the yellow orb that had gotten her. It uncurls from the hefty impact, revealing itself to be a sort of armored insect, now scuttling around.

"Riku!" She calls out, grabbing other rocks and flinging them at the bug, hoping to nail it a second time.

Her hound darts over, barking and nipping at the bug as he tries to get a purchase. Their fearsome foe tries snapping back, not quite as long as Riku, but an odd flattened shape. Eventually it rears the front half of it's body up, waving large wide pincers around and revealing a significantly less armored underside.

She whips out her bow and fires in the same move, hoping that she was fast and accurate enough.

It lets out a squeak as the arrow pierces the underside, tossing it onto its back and it thrashes around. Riku takes the opportunity to dive on it, teeth digging in as he savages the little assailant.

Rifana lets out a quiet sigh, letting herself fall on her back. She stares up at the beehive, contemplating how her arrows would have been worthless without that lucky strike from the rock. "…I need another weapon."

A moment passes, then she calls to Riku, "Do you remember how to get honey without destroying the nest?"

He looks to her from where he's eating a chunk of the bug. He offers no words, simply licking his lips a few times.

She carefully approaches, poking at the hardest part of its shell. "…you know, this might actually be useful," she says, carefully applying pressure to see how far it might bend.

The carapace gives just slightly, but quickly has enough resistance to deny any further deformation.

She taps it with a finger, expression thoughtful. "Yeah, I could make something with this. Plates, shovels, maybe a shield..."

Riku makes a questioning sound at her, lifting his head to reveal his messy eating left a plate of chitin laying on his head.

She considers him for a moment. "…maybe some armor for you?" She suggests.

His tail wags and he gives her a bark. This has the side effect of making the chitin hop down over his eyes and him have to shake it off completely.

"Right, we'll either make you some or ask someone to make it," she says, picking up the plate and gathering the rest. A low buzzing slowly starts to fill the air, and her heart drops into her stomach. "…the fire went out, didn't it?"

Riku lets out a quiet whine and slowly backs up.

She slowly starts to approach him, overly conscious of the activity going on behind her. "...RIku," she quietly says, trying to avoid detection, "I'm going to ask that you RUN!" She jumps on his back, clinging tight to his fur.

He bolts off into the brush, easily outpacing some incensed buzzers behind them with his long strides.

"Good boy!" She cries out over the rushing wind. "Very good boy!"

It had appeared when Riku had nudged her hand, accidentally hitting the stone in the process. A new... thing appeared in her vision. It was like a pair of bars, or well a couple pairs of bars. Both sets were one green bar and one yellow, and one set was higher and larger.

Not entirely sure what to make of this, and knowing that Riku couldn't see it anyways, she decides not to mention it. Instead, she mixes the honey and the herb Sadeena told her about, grinding and mixing in the hopes that she is doing things properly.

He comes over and gives the concoction a sniff, slightly sneezing after. He quickly goes to patrolling a quick circle of their spot.

She smiles after him, putting her newly-made potion into a cone-wrapped leaf, due to a lack of proper container for it. "I can sell it and get proper containers for next time," she says to herself, nodding once.

Riku wanders into a nearby bush, sniffing.

"What should we try to make for dinner?" She calls out to him. "Do you want meat on the bone, or maybe we can try to find some rice?"

There's a brief pause before he barks in response and a sudden rustling. She spots the yellow bar under his green one dip briefly before refilling. There's then a brief yelp followed by growls and the green bar loses a chunk, not refilling.

Riku returns a moment later, depositing a squirrel in front of her before sitting proudly. She can spot something sticking out of his fur behind his head.

She looks at the critter before giving him a raised brow. "I've never cooked that before… but we can try." She smiles and reaches up, gently rubbing his head.

He leans down so she can pet him better and she spots a stinger about the size of her finger stuck into him.

Grimacing, she carefully circles her fingers around the item in her friend. "...this might hurt for a second," she whispers before quickly plucking it out. Her other hand brings up her newly-finished potion, gently touching it to his nose. "You remember this, right? Miss Sadeena's specialty potion?"

He sniffs it, not even flinching when she plucks out the stinger, though she does notice the absence of a small icon that had been near his bars she hadn't noticed before.

Slightly baffled, she brings the leaf closer to him. "Please drink it. I need to check something…"

Obediently, he starts licking up the solution, her seeing the green bar slowly fill as he does so.

Rifana quietly stares at the bar, jaw slack. "…not what I meant to check, but good to know?" She mumbles, rubbing his head and making sure he takes it all.

He does so, looking up and giving her a green lick on the cheek.

She giggles softly, petting his nose as she puts the leaf away. "Good boy. Why don't we find a nice deer for you?"

He woofs, wagging his tail once more.

She puts the stinger into her pouch, hoping it'll give her more information with the boxes, and climbs on his back. "So… I think I found a way to see how healthy you are?" She says, slightly uncertain.

He makes a curious noise and looks back at her.

"Yeah, there are these… lines, I guess? A green one that shows how healthy you are, and an orange one that… I still don't understand." She shrugs apologetically, making sure her bow is in place with her quiver before they set out.

He lets out a small sneeze and shakes his head, looking forward. After a moment he glances back at her once more and almost seems to smile.

She tilts her head, gently scratching behind his ears. "What are you happy about?" She asks, smiling warmly at her friend.

He just lets out a bark as he sets off, licking her hand once more before focusing on where they're going.

"Alright then, keep your secrets," she shakes her head, looking around as he lopes along.

That afternoon finds them with a deer and a small pink raptor that was trying to catch it. The former is on the ground, defeated by Rifana and Riku, and the latter is standing over it, having come in afterwards to take their prize.

The weasel girl groans, leaning against a tree away from its line of sight with her bow still out. "…do you think that caught attention?" She quietly asks, mildly concerned, her ears twitching to better hear their surroundings.

Riku's ears are alert, but he seems entirely focused on the kill stealer in front of them. He gives a growl at it.

It hisses lazily in his direction, already trying to rip the prey apart.

The sound sends a shiver of dread up Rifana's back, her knuckles turning white around her weapon. "It… it's just the one," she whispers, trying to calm her nerves. "It's by itself… it won't try to call others… t-they won't come swarming ag-gain…" She starts breathing heavily, dark spots swimming in her vision.

Riku glances back at her, unknowing of a status icon appearing unseen in her vision next to her own bars. Still, her companion doesn't need that as he glances forward once more, easing a few steps backward for Rifana. He curls himself around a tree, putting it between her and the enemy, but leaving his head and shoulders out so it knows he's still there.

It keeps staring at him, heedless of the girl panicking on his back, fists clutching patches of fur as she struggles to ground herself.

"...I wanted... t-to give you... that d-deer," she manages to mumble into his fur, finding some measure of solace in his familiar scent.

He woofs quietly at her, head turning and digging into one of the packs. He comes out with her hunting knife held blade first in his teeth. The hound gently bumps her side with the handle, eyes staring at hers.

She barely has the presence of mind to realize this, her heart rate slowly dropping back to normal the more she stares into his eyes. "...Riku?"

He makes a high pitched rumble at her, touching his nose to her cheek.

She gently hugs his muzzle, barely avoiding the knife in her bid for comfort. "...r-right... we can... we can do this."

He woofs more affirmatively.

She nods, clutching him a bit tighter. "We can do this. We can do this!" She whisper-yells, pulling away and grabbing her bow. "R-ready."

Seeing she's not going to take the knife, Riku twirls it in his mouth and catches the handle in his teeth, growling affirmatively.

She reaches back towards her quiver, her legs tightening around his body in a way familiar to them both by now as she gives him a nod.

Charging out, he beelines for the lizard foe. As it raises its claws to hiss, Riku ducks before rearing up and slashing up its chest with his knife, sending it tumbling backwards.

Before it can make a sound in retaliation, an arrow pierces the soft part of its jaw, penetrating clear out the nose and preventing it from opening its mouth at all.

It flips backwards and thrashes once more laying still. Riku gives a small woof of triumph, one paw on the deer as he sheathes the knife.

Rifana keeps staring at the pink creature, another arrow on her bow, her whole body tense.

As she keeps looking, it doesn't even twitch.

The girl slowly lowers her bow, brow furrowed at the unmoving monster. "…uh… is that it?"

Riku looks back at her questioningly.

"I just… that was so easy…" She stares at the creature, poking it with her bow. "I was scared of this?"

Suddenly her mount jumps backwards, just before a yellow blur impacts next to the deceased creature, followed by another. Finally, a third familiar yellow ball rolls on through following the others. Unlike last time, they don't even stop or redirect themselves, likely due to the large shadow that follows their trail a moment later. She doesn't get a good look, but whatever it was flew above the trees after the rolling insects.

She stares at the forms disappearing into the distance, eyes wide and shock dropping her jaw. "What in the world…"

Riku makes a contemplative noise, leaning down and biting the fallen raptor by the neck and dragging it over to the deer to add to their pile of kills.

"Worried about it taking our food too?" She tries to tease, even as she trembles at the sheer speed displayed.

He makes a few talkative growls as he pulls both under the shade of a tree.

"Right, we should try to get them back, regardless," she agrees, dropping down and trying to lift the raptor onto his back. Of course, she didn't quite guess the correct amount of force to use. "Woah!" Rifana shouts, face planting on the dead monster when her legs slip on a patch of the herb used for cleaning. The backs of her arms smack soundly into the deer, forcing her to come to a sudden halt.

Riku's ears stand up as a light comes from Rifana's wrist. The girl suddenly feels her back flop onto the grass as the deer disappears.

The weasel girl blinks, looking at the ground beneath her for a moment before looking around the clearing. "...where did the deer go?"

Riku makes a confused noise, sniffing where it was and ending up sniffing at the stone on her wrist.

She brings it up, looking at the gem. "Why are you sniffing there?" She asks him.

He woofs at it, pointing insistently at the stone with his nose.

Rifana glances between him and the stone for a moment, uncomprehending, before a candle lights in her mind. "Wait, are you saying it's in the gem?"

He wags his tail, licking her hand.

She stares at the jewel in wonder, her other hand reaching up to gently touch the smooth surface. "How did it get inside such a small thing?" Because that was the question. She would never even think Riku was lying, especially over something like this.

As she touches it, the stone glows brighter and now a grid similar to the one that her bag makes appears. This one has the word "Inventory" over it and shows a simple symbol of a deer along with the word "new" under it.

She blinks a few times, stunned at the sight of even more boxes. Her arm lowers, draping over Riku's muzzle as she stares. "...I have an... inventory?" She questions, tasting the new work on her tongue.

He makes a questioning whine at her, tilting his head.

She tenderly rubs his head before turning away, reaching out to press the deer icon, bracing herself if she needs to catch it.

She feels her companion tense as a light appears, but then relax as the deer appears lying on the grass with nary a sound.

Rifana slowly kneels down, running her hand over the body. "How strange… we should probably get these dressed and leave, right?" She glances up at Riku, her hand out to accept the hunting knife.

He reaches back and produces the knife still in the sheath, offering it to her.

She smiles and gingerly accepts it, fingers curling around the handle to make sure it doesn't hurt him. Once she's sure he's clear, she turns and sinks the blade into the back of the deer's neck.

The next thing she knows, the deer is gone and the shadows have changed. Blinking, she looks around, then back at her stone. "…what just happened?"

Riku makes a questioning noise, and she sees he's somehow acquired what looks to be one of the deer's femurs.

Rifana tilts her head, eyeing the bone he has. "How did you get that?"

He blinks at her before scooting over and licking her cheek.

She tilts her head, catching him with her hands to gently rub his cheeks in turn. "You got it from me? Are you sure?"

His tail thumps repeatedly on the ground behind him as he leans more against her.

"But how? I don't remember," she mumbles, looking for any sign of the deer besides the femur.

There's a fair amount of blood on the ground, but more of a pool instead of showing a struggle. Patches of grass also show signs of gore having been wiped on them. Finally, she spots a crow picking at a small pile of discarded meat that doesn't look too appetizing.

Frowning in thought, she taps her stone again, wanting to check something.

It opens the inventory once more, now displaying more icons that have symbols of meat, bones, antlers, and pelt.

"…did I do that?" She mumbles, eyes wide in surprise. "How do I not remember?" She eyes the pink monster with a frown, still holding onto the knife.

Riku looks between the two, tongue flicking out to lick a bit of marrow off his lips.

She slowly approaches the fallen beast, knife raised once more and plunging into the scales. She tries to keep her attention on the task before her.

Now that she's focused, she realizes that she can feel her muscles working on autopilot, flaying sinew, cleanly separating hide from muscles, even separating those wing-like parts of its ears. The whole thing strikes her as odd, since she's only ever seen this type of monster dead when Sadeena stabbed them in that clearing, so she's definitely never picked up how to field dress them. So how does she know how to do so?

She pulls her focus away from her cleaning of the body to see how Riku is doing, arms still going through the impossibly precise motions.

Her hound definitely seems to like the bone he gave her, carrying it around as he keeps an eye on both her and the surroundings. He looks back at her more than he normally does, probably because of her recent confusion among other things. After a full lap he moves and sits next to her, head gently against the side of her leg while he watches.

She tries to pet him, but apparently the force guiding her hands did not like that, as the knife slips from her fingers and lands blade-first inches from her knee. Her palm stops halfway to his head, a confused look on her face. "…so I shouldn't stop in the middle?" She muses.

He whines softly and leans up to meet her hand with his head.

She gently rubs his head, smiling at him and surprised at how clean her hands are. "So I may be doing that without thinking," she whispers, gesturing with her other hand to the half-dressed monster.

He leans against her side more, eyes looking up to meet hers.

She gently kisses his forehead. "Let me finish, and I'll get you something filling, okay?"

He huffs, settling his head on his paws to wait.

She gives him a piece of the monster meat for now before she continues carving the creature.

He gobbles it up with no hesitation, licking his lips after and seeming content.

She smiles at this, but her body goes back to moving on its own, finishing up the interrupted harvest and filing everything away in her stone.

It even finishes up by cleaning her tools for her. By the end, Riku is standing with anticipation of her finishing up.

She blinks, then tilts her head in thought. "...how do you feel about deer steak?"

He licks some of the marrow from his lips as his tail wags.

She smiles and pats him on the head, glancing at their stats. "…oh, it looks like we're close to leveling up," she says, smiling even as she pulls out their camping equipment.

He tilts his head at that, but doesn't pay it too much mind. Reaching into the supplies, he starts to set up things with her, mostly by dragging it all to where it goes and leaving a few of the finer motor skilled parts to her.

She pats him gratefully for his help, starting the fire after separating a circle of grass from the rest with rocks. The two of them get into a comfortable silence as they work, preparing their meal for the afternoon.

Chapter Text

Rifana quietly steps through the forest, hand on her bow and eyes narrowed in the gloom. Here, the trees grow denser, the canopy blocking out most sunlight and creating sparse undergrowth. The lack of cover means the two of them have to be more careful than normal to avoid detection, especially so due to her pink hair.

Riku stalks next to her, always somehow just a bit quieter even with double the amount of feet. Chittering insects almost overpower his entire presence, sounding out a chorus as though it were night.

She holds an arm out for him to pause, staring out into the darkness. Her red eyes search for any hint of the movement she thought she just saw.

From through the trees, she sees a faint movement, like shadows through flicking light.

She glances at Riku and silently gestures, heading towards the motion soon after with her free hand drawing an arrow.

The hound stalks forward, staying low. Whatever disturbs the light seems to move often, but in a sort of meandering pattern.

Mildly confused, Rifana continues forward, hoping to find the source without being discovered.

Then she steps on a twig. The two of them freeze in place as the dry snap echoes through the otherwise quiet woods.

The light seems to dim, as if whatever had cast it was snuffed, before it flares back up and starts to move towards them.

The poor weasel girl panics slightly, leaning back against a tree and shooting Riku an apologetic look. He moves over in front of her protectively, teeth bared, but still no sound coming from him. She gently places her hand on his back, ready to leap on in case it was another fast monster.

The light looms closer and closer before starting to scatter until finally tiny green specks start floating out from behind a tree. They wink from dim to bright, illuminating the area all of them are in. Instead of going for either creature, they all seem to gather around the snapped twig, alighting on and dancing near it.

Rifana blinks, staring at the glowing lights in awe. She quietly takes a step forward, her hand gliding along her friend's side, never losing contact in case it turns dangerous.

As she gets close, she can hear the faintest of buzzing, but it all harmonizes to an almost glittering sound.

"Beautiful," she whispers, forgetting herself for a second, bow held loosely in one hand.

They all slow down before gliding through the air towards her. Their light spreads as they do, slowly circling her. They don't even seem to mind when Riku snaps at one that gets too close to him but misses.

Rifana looks around at all of them. Seeing that they aren't going to hurt her, she slides her bow back over her body, holding her hand out with her palm up. "Hello, there."

The light swarm hovers around her hand, a few alighting on it and providing tiny gentle warmth as they pulse with green light.

She beams at this, her free hand gently scratching behind Riku's ear. "Aren't you a friendly bunch?"

One lands on Riku's nose and he sneezes, looking confused as the insects dance among themselves.

She looks between the insects and the stick she stepped on, remembering how they reacted earlier. "Say, have you seen a rabbit? We've been tracking it for a while and lost it…"

The swarm winks more rapidly and compresses itself.

The poor girl blinks and looks at Riku, wondering if she somehow upset them.

They decompress a moment later, now orbiting her like a loose glittering dust comet.

She watches them for a moment, head tilted in thought, before turning to Riku. "Do you think they might need to see something, first? Like hair, or a print?"

He paws at his nose and woofs.

"Scent?" She cups her chin, red eyes looking around the forest floor. "Did you pick it back up?"

He whines softly and scratches at the ground. The swarm comes over at the movement, hovering and even flying into the marks to illuminate them.

Rifana watches with wide eyes, turning around and searching for anything that could link to the rabbit. She stops when she notices a tuft of white fur stuck to the bark of a tree. "There," she says, pointing. "That has to be from the bunny. It was bright white."

At her point, Riku goes over and sniffs the fur. His attempt to regain the scent is interrupted by the swarm following and flying onto the fur, making him grumble. A few of them fly out from there, managing to find another cluster of fur a small distance away, lighting it as well.

She walks up next to him and gently rubs his neck. "We have a trail now. A glowing one from our new friends. Did you want to continue?"

Riku thinks before sniffing the fur again, followed by the air to double check the rabbit's trail. After he ends up pointing the same way as their new glowing guides, he nods.

"Great!" She smiles, giving him a brief scratch behind the ears before following their insect guides.

The insects continue pointing out traces from the rabbit, seeming to get more and more proficient the more they find and are complimented on it. They soon are having the other two darting to keep up with them.

Panting softly, Rifana is forced to stop by a tree, catching her breath on trembling legs. "How far… did… bunny… go?"

Riku stops dutifully by her, panting but still raring to go. He turns his head to their guides, seeing a larger swarm of them hovering just ahead.

Sucking in a fresh lungful of air, she tries to stand straight, arrow notched as she takes careful steps forward.

They make a slow circle above a hole in the ground, a smaller group above another.

She stares at the hole, her bow lowered slightly. "…how are we supposed to get it now?"

Riku looks a bit smug as he walks over to the other hole, crouching down and giving her a look.

Rifana watches him for a moment before brightening up, raising her bow at the other hole. "Right. Ready when you are."

Riku readies himself before he starts digging at the entrance and barking menacingly.

It isn't long before the rabbit springs from the other hole. In an instant, the weasel girl shoots her arrow, nailing it right in the heart such that it spins in the air and collapses on to the forest floor. She lets out a breath, smiling at Riku. "Good boy."

He wags his tail as their glowing friends do a small dance around the corpse, pointing it out.

"Thank you, too," she says to the cloud of friends, holding up a hand for them. "Would you like to join us? I'm sure Riku would love new friends, and he can relax more often!"

They make a dancing orb in her palm.

She grins, looking at Riku with a small laugh. "We have new friends! Isn't that wonderful?"

He licks her cheek with his typical doggy smile.

Rifana giggles, hugging him in playful retaliation. "Now we just need somewhere for them to sleep," she says out loud.

Riku leans against her and gives the bugs a side eye.

The little weasel smiles and gently hugs him with one arm, looking around the area. "…maybe we could… no, sticks can't be comfortable… then… hmm…" She trails off, considering for a moment.

Her eyes drift to the entrancing lights of the swarm. "...maybe we can make them a little home when we find a town?"

They land in her hair for the moment, making roaming spots of warmth on her scalp.

She giggles at the ticklish sensation, but makes no move to stop them.

Riku tilts his head at this, but makes no noise to comment as they start to deal with their latest prey.

Rifana dodges to the side, avoiding yet another rush from the boar - or, rather, Bullfango, as the words floating above it say - they were hunting. The creature, the size of herself, barrels through the space she was occupying, snorting in anger and with a few arrows in its side.

Riku lunges at one of its legs as it passes, trying to either cripple or herd it so it doesn't leave.

The poor girl is sweating heavily, shaking her head once more to get the liquid out of her eyes. She draws an arrow and lets it loose just as the boar tries to headbutt Riku, making it squeal as it strikes in the snout and makes it retreat a few steps.

Riku strafes around it so that he and Rifana pincer it, not wanting it to escape like last time.

Rifana nocks another arrow, eyes narrowed as she carefully gets her breathing under control. She watches the boar glance between the two of them, as if gauging which one was weaker. It almost immediately turns towards her and charges, the large tusks aimed to catch her between them.

A sudden rumble makes them all freeze. Not thunder, but something more, something they all feel go through them like a wave. There's a loud snap before a shadow looms over all three in the clearing, flashes of pink and grey before whatever noise the boar had started to make is cut off with finality as it is snapped into massive jaws. As though punctuating the point, a scaly three-toed foot slams down where it was as the creature keeps moving, the print it leaves easily able to fit both Rifana and Riku inside it.

The poor girl stares for just a moment before stomping her foot. "Hey! That was our supper!" She rushes over and clambers onto her friend's back, pointing in the direction of the monster. "Let's get our food back, Riku!"

Riku turns his head to give her a look, but is soon bounding off after the behemoth. It's only after they get going that his ears flick and he glances upward in time to see another strange shape, this one more human sized, but easily faster as it bound through the branches in the same direction.

Rifana glances over as well, frowning and rubbing his head reassuringly, letting him know she will keep an eye on the newcomer without making a sound. She readies her bow, setting an arrow on the string in case of any more sudden movements.

The way forward is quite clear for them from the huge creature's rampage, barring the occasional stump to leap over. Just as it seems it may outpace them, their ears suddenly fold back as a loud angry roar rattles the air.

The rider grips her weapon tight so she won't lose it, gritting her teeth in agitation. Once it passes, she tries to draw back her string to fire.

She notices, to her annoyance, a slight shake to her aim. A hand goes back down to rest on her companion's back, a steady presence to calm her nerves.

The pink-haired girl takes a deep breath just as the monster before them clears the treeline. Remembering the newcomer in the branches, she turns her gaze up.

She sees the darker shape pause before launching themselves out towards the lumbering bipedal lizard. Rifana gets glimpses of black fur and wolf ears just before they drag some sort of blade down the side of the large creature, making it roar once more.

Rifana huffs and lowers her bow, not trusting herself to strike the wrong target with how fast the black blur is moving.

Riku keeps them both within the tree line as the clash happens. There's no sign of the boar anymore, but as the lizard creature opens its maw to try and snap up its wolf-like assailant, it's not hard to imagine where it went.

The weasel girl sulks silently at their lost prey, unwilling to say anything to distract either of the two forces fighting before them.

As the snap misses, Riku sniffs, backing them up a little more.

The other demi-human gets another strike on the large muscular legs of the beast. This time instead of roaring, it snorts as notable smoke comes out of its nostrils.

Rifana tenses up, gripping Riku's fur as she leans forward, a warning on the tip of her tongue. She has no idea what is about to happen, but she doesn't want to see someone get burned.

They all watch as large fins expand from the back of the creature along with its nose expanding. This all pales in comparison to the sudden roar, not of sound, but of fire that streams from its mouth at its attacker.

The poor girl flinches back, covering her face with an arm as the heat washes over her, even with the distance between the monster and the treeline.

Riku crouches down to try and spare them both as best he can, both of them blinking as the fiery light fades. While they blink, they see the dark shape slash at the legs of the beast once more, it now falling to one knee. The creature roars and snaps at the shadowy figure with flames licking its teeth.

Her heart leaps into her throat, yet she can't help feeling awed by the fact that the mysterious fighter didn't appear to have a single scratch or burn, especially with how they didn't slow down in the slightest.

Finally as the creature makes another lunge, the stranger sidesteps and sinks a large bladed claw into its neck behind its skull. They grip and hold on as the large lizard thrashes before finally slumping to the ground, giving a final exhale.

Rifana sighs softly, putting her bow away and reaching down to pet Riku. "We should find another boar," she whispers to him.

Strangely, the hound still seems tense, eyes locked onto the strange figure as it finally stands straight.

Frowning a bit, she continues to pet him, her gaze slowly raising to meet the mysterious… person?

As they stand straight, they get a better look at her, as it is definitely a her. Long dark hair that almost blends into a matching tail below it. Fluffy wolf ears above a dark leather outfit all serve to make for an imposing presence.

Rifana quietly swallows, worried now about drawing the attention of such a strong person. She gently pokes her canid friend on the back of the neck twice, the first time they used their agreed upon code for retreat.

Riku silently begins walking backwards while the assailant starts taking out a large knife and sticking it into the neck of the creature. Suddenly they snap their head around and look in their direction, Riku freezing.

The poor girl freezes as well, her hands gripping Riku's scruff reflexively, those eyes boring into her very being. There is no way they can escape, she just knows it.

Neither of them knows how much time passes, not even breaths daring to come out. However, after an agonizing amount of time, the woman turns back to her quarry and continues cutting into it.

Rifana nearly collapses with relief, head pressed to the back of her large red dog's neck as she tries to regain her nerves. "…you okay, Riku?" She whispers to her canine companion, trying to keep an eye on the wolf demihuman before them.

She feels his chest rumble quietly with an affirmative sound, still eyes locked on the stranger. He starts padding backwards once more.

"Good," she murmurs, rubbing his side. "I don't think she'll hurt us… right?"

He offers no reply except to keep an eye on her until a good cluster of trees separate them from her.

She eventually relaxes, brushing his fur flat more out of nervousness than necessity. "She's really strong… I don't think we could've taken that monster down…"

He growls softly, whole body sagging more as he relaxes from that long bit of adrenaline.

Her hands reach up and gingerly smooth out his fur, smiling reassuringly at him all the while.

He licks her cheek gratefully, eyes going back to that trail thoughtfully. He lifts his nose to sniff, committing smells to memory.

"…do you think we can be that strong, some day?" Rifana whispers, her mind still on that mysterious woman.

Riku lets out a low rumbling noise before softly woofing and looking back at her with what seems to be a smile.

"…right." She nods, standing up and clenching her hands. "We are going to be that strong, someday. We know it can be done, so we will do it!"

His tail wags and he licks her face.

She laughs and lets him do so, more than happy to indulge him since they survived that harrowing encounter. It doesn't stop her stomach from growling at them.

Blushing softly, she starts pushing his muzzle away. "Think we still have time to find another boar?"

He woofs, and once more they take off into the woods.