Voyages Away from the Zeppelin

II. Pigging Out
Thank you to BP from Tenshadows Tavern for her assistance in this short tale.

The blasted tavern had been empty! Empty! How the Gods does one manage that?! Well she would just chalk it up to her bad luck. Wandering outside she began to head back the way she had come to find her cabin…and hopefully her crew. She forest seemed more…foreboding then before. Everything was a bit more, wet then she had remembered it, and the trees seemed to threaten her as she approached. Shaking it off as a silly notion, these trees didn’t have the obvious characteristics of the family of deadly trees. Nothing like whomping willows, or voracious tanglers, no sleeping woods, no man-eating grass…couldn’t be, not in this part of the country. Of course, looking around this didn’t look like the right part of the country they had been flying in only this morning. She filed that question away for later trying to figure out what the blazes was going on. Pulling her night goggles down, she tromped forward following her path back to her isolated room.
She walked forward through the trees mentally engrossed with the crash that had taken down her zeppelin and brought her to this area. She knew it couldn't be southern France, the surroundings were all wrong...it looked almost like somewhere in Germany! But that couldn't be that was way off course...what had happened? Sigurd never had problems with navigation; she was excellent at knowing where she was at all times? She had the uncanny ability to be able to tell a person where things or people were in relation to her body. But this was...the sound of something crunching interrupted her train of thought.
The sounds of snuffing and the crunching of heavy feet in the underbrush got louder, and there was strange movement off to one side, as if there was a large ripple moving through the trees and shrubs at a slow, ambling pace. The ripple promptly paused, and a large bush was abruptly uprooted and sent flying into the path ahead of her with a rattling crash of drying fall leaves and thin limbs. The ripple trotted after it, stepping out into the patch and only then becoming obvious. An enormous pig stood there, pushing the plant around by the root ball, licking up the grubs and bugs and even a couple snakes that had been hiding in its mass.
The size was about the most normal thing about this pig. It was obviously huge, the size of a large pony or small horse. A double set of tusks sprouted from its mouth in wicked spikes that reached a good 2 feet out above and below the top of its wrinkled snout, canines that had gone wickedly out of control. But the weirdest thing about this pig was it was sporting peculiar scales all along its sides and that formed into heavy plated ridges along its back. It was the scales that made it seem like a ripple from a distance, because they had a way of making the eye un-focus and get confused, so one wasn't sure if they were looking at the pig or whatever was near the beast. An attempt at invisibility gone wrong, apparently. The whole effect was unsettling, perhaps even dizzying to some.
Rachel had absolutely no idea what she was looking at; it looked like an old experiment she had tried back at the Academy before she realized she had a talent for other things outside of genetics. The thing was simply monstrous! It easily was taller than she was being only five feet tall. Watching the thing her mind began to click and work better than it had in the last few hours. If she could only capture the creature and dissect it! Then she could figure out how it ticked and learn from the other Doctors failures and make it better! Imagine the royal Calvary being invisible and riding giant invisible pigs! Britannia would be the Empire it once was! Now how to sneak up on it, so far the thing hadn’t seemed to notice her. She edged close to the nearest tree and began searching her pack for her gun; she never really was much of a fighter. The silly little girl hadn’t taken to wearing the holster that Captain Desdinova had custom made for her. Perhaps that was a mistake, perhaps not.
The pig had been rather unaware of her until she moved. Its eyesight was obviously poor; the tiny, beady little eyes were ridged with ragged scales that cut off its vision above it and to the back almost like blinders. Unfortunately, when Rachel stepped off the road she moved into its line of sight, and the pig jerked it's massive, ugly head up and toward her with a heavy grunting snort. The plating that ridged down its forehead made it look almost dragonish as it snuffled her way and took a hesitant step toward her.
”I wouldn't try to shoot that thing if I were you.” A rough, heavily feline-accented voice spoke softly only a few feet behind and to the side of Rachel as the panther came stalking up to stand beside her.
“It would probably only make it mad, and I doubt we can escape it as easily as climbing a tree. “ She'd seen the bush laying in the road, and thought it likely trees wouldn't fare much better
Rachel blinked looking back and saw a panther…and heard words coming from it. And not only that, intelligent words. Someone had obviously been very busy in the area making mutations of creatures, she wondered if it was a biological clank. Coming to her senses she realized the pig was heading her way, and that the feline was quite right…with those scales a gun would be useless…unless she had the snow globe! She couldn’t remember who had invented it, but if it was still in her pack perhaps she could manage to shake it over the creature and freeze the creature in its place. It would also be a great way to salvage the thing so that later when she did the autopsy everything was in good condition for studying! She switched her hand around feeling for the snow globe.
“Maybe not a gun little kitty clank, your quite right. How about a little bit of ice?”
The panther looked up at the woman in puzzled fashion at being called kitty clank. Ok, so this one was apparently used to strange animals, though she obviously hadn't been here very long.
“I have no idea if ice will stop that thing or not. It's a mage accident, so there's no telling what kind of defenses the beast has.” As if to prove her words, the pig snorted again as it got a good whiff of the pair, and its scales went red, though it was likely just a color change, for no heat was evident. It let out an angry squeal, painfully loud coming from such a big beast, and rattled it's scales like some giant reptile, the ridges along it's back standing up like spikes as it pawed at the ground a moment with it's snout nearly touching the earth. It sniffed at the dirt it'd gouged up, found no food, and seeming to be even more angered by this, it charged Rachel and BP at full gallop, it's fat belly wobbling from side to side in almost comical fashion and that wickedly tusked snout waving wildly around as if it were already ripping them to shreds
“Sticks & Stones!” She grasped the globe and trying to think quickly as she didn’t want to loose the specimen or the globe by just throwing it at the creature…that and she wasn’t sure how far out the freezing would go if the globe shattered and didn’t want to be frozen herself she looked a the panther.
“See if you can distract it long enough for me to scramble up this tree, I will jump on its back and see if the freezing process will work.” She gave Rachel a very quick glance of disbelief
“You don't even know how that thing will work? Oh great!” She lets out a rough laugh that resembled a cat's snarl and darted sideways away from Rachel across the path toward the woods on the other side. She wished there was a clearing to work in, since that would be far easier, but she knew there wasn't one anywhere nearby, unless one counted the cabin's yard down the road. She doubted this woman wanted to find out what the pig might do to her home.
The pig stopped short when its targets split apart, seeming confused for a moment as to which to go after. It snuffled again loudly, swinging its massive head back and forth to see them both, its tiny tail whipping back and forth behind it angrily as it stamped the ground with a heavy thud. The one that had just moved was smaller, and it smelled like danger. The other one was standing like easy prey, and smelled...faint memories of humans and food mixed in its tiny brain and made the pig snort hungrily. Yep, she smelled like food! Its scales turned brown and it charged toward her with a squeal, alarmingly quick for such a large thing.
“I’m not sure if it will work because I haven’t used it on a mutation experiment yet. Its design is meant to freeze anything that is under it when it is shaken. Call me silly but I don’t go around trying it out on giant pigs to see just how far down inside their innards it will freeze.” As the pig charged towards her instead of focusing on the cat, Rachel found herself cursing in a most unladylike manner. Rachel scrambled her small frame up the nearby tree while tossing her pack away into the woods hoping that it would stay safe. As she reached one of the tree limbs above the pig’s height, she watched its advance toward her. Swallowing hard she balanced herself on just her feet her arms out preparing to jump, the globe safely tucked inside the front of her jumpers. Praying to the Gods she held her breath and waited for the deciding moment to come.
The pig slammed into the tree with its snout and forehead with enough force to make the whole tree shake alarmingly. It turned its head and ripped at the trunk, its massive tusks gouging deep ruts through the heavy bark and into the pale wood beneath. It butted the tree again a little less forcefully and let out a frustrated squeal, then started snuffling around at Rachel's smell, trying to find out where she'd gone. It couldn't see her above it, but it would soon, because it started sniffing up the trunk where she'd climbed.
Panthress had let out a loud snarl when the pig chose Rachel over her to chase, but the noise hadn't diverted the beast. As it attacked the tree, she decided she needed to make herself a more obvious target. With a smooth motion she stood on her hind legs, her body becoming humanoid, though her features were still quite feline. Huge black feathered wings sprouted from her back and she let out another snarl then yelled at the beast as she snapped her wings open wide and fanned them, trying to catch the pig's attention.
“Hey ugly! Over here!” The monster stopped it's sniffing with Rachel just barely out of its sight and turned its huge head toward Panthress with a grunt. That female sounded humanish, but it didn't smell human, it smelled like danger. But...it was a lot bigger now! Could it be food? Confused, the pig stopped under the tree and stamped a foot angrily, its scale coloring rippling with camouflage, reds, browns, and yellows in odd streaks across its sides. It dropped its head like it was going to charge Panthress, champing its teeth with a horrific noise.
When the tree had shook violently she had to cling frightfully at the tree.“Aahhh!” She watched the pig’s attention turn to Panthress. While the pig was distracted Rachel jumped from the tree at the pigs back. Landing on the pigs back with her butt proved to be rather painful, the scales were hard on the soft tush. Crying out in pain she couldn’t focus enough to find a hand hold and stay on the back. Instead she slipped right of the side and was sitting on the ground looking up at the pig close enough to smell its foul body odor and to reach out and touch it after just landing on it. Things weren’t looking good.
Panthress let out a curse as she saw Rachel jump down at the pig. Who did she think she was? Some western TV hero? It made her wince to think how much that had to hurt, but she didn't have time to do more than that, because the pig had jumped a bit when landed on and now whipped around with an enraged squeal, it's tusks raking the air at where it thought it's rider should be. (It didn't realize she'd fallen off, thinking it'd throw her off and catch her on the way down.) Its lucky Rachel was sitting on her butt, because those tusks rushed through the air only inches from her head. It would have impaled her quite perfectly if she had been still on and fallen off when the pig thought she would. As it was, the pig squealed again and hopped, flipping its huge body around and smacking its hip into the tree she'd been in so hard it swayed and the ground under it bucked a little as its roots started to give way. She might notice its underbelly was not scaled, and seemed a fairly normal pig belly with pale skin and short, coarse, sparse hair.
Panthress jumped forward at that moment and slapped her wings against the air so hard they boomed, trying to startled the beast far enough away to let Rachel get up and out of range of those hooves and tusks.
“Get behind it! It can't see you if you're behind its shoulders.”
Rachel’s mind was racing. Looking at the pig’s underbelly she felt an idea spark to life in her mind. She dashed to her feet and darted to the pig’s blind spot.
“Its underbelly is exposed, to use the snow globe I need to have the beast belly up!” She managed to keep time with the pigs dance, staying in its blind spot for the time being.
“I’m positive that if we hit it where the scales aren’t it will affect him like it affects most living creatures by turning him into a Popsicle!”
Panthress clapped her wings again as the pig squealed at her and faked a charge, backing up and swinging its head viciously around as it tore up the ground with its hooves. Its tiny tail was almost comical as it whipped back and forth, slapping it's scaled rump with a little "whap" each time.
“You want me to flip it over?” She spared a glance at Rachel, actually laughing at the idea. “Are all mutations that strong where you come from?” But the idea seemed to amuse her for more reasons than one, and she threw her wings back and tucked them against her back, her arms coming out as if she intended to actually wrestle the beast right on over.
”I'd watch the hooves if I were you, it's not gonna like what I'm about to do.” She jumped straight at the pig's head, feinted to the right, dodged to the left when the animal reacted and swung its head in the direction it thought she was going. She slammed into its shoulder and neck, ducked enough to get under its heavy jowl, and got an arm down under its leg along its chest, the other up against its neck.
With a loud growl of her own as the pig squealed in dismay at the feel of her claws digging into its relatively tender armpit, she planted her feet and twisted with far more strength than anyone her size should have. The beast was flipped, its legs and snout flailing wildly in all directions, and landed with a heavy thud on its side and nearly rolling completely onto its back with the momentum of the throw. The whole action took barely more than the time one would take to cough
Rachel got in position to avoid the hooves and then blinked, missing it all. Next thing she knew, the beast was exposing its belly. She rushed over pulling the snow globe out of the front of her jumpers as she went. She turned it the right side down and shook what looked like a regular very Victorian plain snow globe. Only what came out of the bottom was a whirlwind of snowflakes. These poured down onto the pig’s belly. As the first one hit the stomach of the beast a large patch of frozen flesh appeared. The pig let out a mighty squeal in pain and struggled against its captor, before it could get free however more snowflakes rained down on it. Suddenly the beast was frozen solid, only for some reason the ice had an adverse reaction with the pig’s biological makeup and frosted him over so much that he soon crumbled into pieces before their very eyes.
“NOOOO! I wanted to study it!” She fell to her knees the snow globe now sitting harmlessly in her hands. “B-b-b-bu-bu-but!....” Her bottom lip trembled. “It’s not fair…I never get to advance my genetic permutations when I can’t study other scientists work.”
Panthress had been trying to keep the beast from getting back to its feet when the snow globe started pouring out its magic. She waited to what she thought was the last moment to break free, and paid for it dearly.
As the pig felt its belly freeze, it reacted by tucking its chin down hard in an attempt to get back to its feet. Unfortunately, Panthress was there against it's chest, and as a result one of the tusks caught her in the shoulder, pinning her for a moment longer than she'd intended to stay and shoving her downward a little...right into the snowflakes floating up along the pig's chest. With a pained and startled gasp, she was caught in the magic and frozen solid.
The difference was she didn't crumble like the pig did. when it was all done she was left kneeling on the ground, arms out as if she still held the pig down, a disgusted look on her face and the pig's frozen tusk still stuck in her shoulder blade where it'd broken free of the crumbled mass the rest of the pig had become.
Rachel frowned looking at her helper who was now stuck solid.
“Well crap, that’s what I get for messing with someone else’s invention. Don’t worry I’ve got something to counteract it. Had to make it after the incident with Lien-Hua trying to commandeer our ship. Anywho, lemme grab my pack.” She jumped up racing over to where she had thrown it. Lifting it up she begin searching the pack for the item that would defrost her companion.
“Ah-ha!” She whipped it out of her pack revealing it to be a hot water bottle huggie, it was quaintly in the image of a pig for kids to hug and cuddle when they were feeling bad with a tummy ache.
“Here we are.” Shouldering her pack she walked over lifting it, it was always nice and piping hot like it should be. The fluid inside sloshed happily as she walked over.
“Now how to make it so you can cuddle with it to thaw you out properly…”
The frozen Panthress didn't give her time to figure this out properly. Without warning her body began to glow with a faint reddish light, and in less than a minute she fell out of her pose into a huddled heap on the ground, shivering violently and gasping for air.
“b-b-b-brrrrr! Ahhh...ooh-oh-oh-oh..that s-s-s-stings!” She muttered as circulation started pushing its way through frozen veins again. She began rubbing her arms fiercely, her wings trembling over her, the ebony feathers still frosted where the heat from her flesh hadn't reached yet.
Rachel blinked.
“Well you are a well constructed clank after all. So….I’m figuring since I’m in Germany….Van Rjun creation?”
“V-v-v-van...w-w-what?” She was slowly recovering, and managed to sit up straight as she rubbed fiercely at her body. She winced as she moved her shoulder, then reached back and felt the tusk still stuck there.
“Ugh...” It took her only a moment to yank it out, then several seconds as she gasped against the pain as the fur around it mixed with her blood and created a hard, protective seal.
“G-germany? Hah hah...Y-you haven't t-talked to anyone around h-here yet, have you?” She looked up at the woman standing near her and chuckled through her chattering teeth. “And w-what is a c-clank?”
Rachel nearly choked.
“You aren’t a clank? A mechanized biological robot? What do you mean talk to anyone? You’re the first living thing I’ve encountered, save the pig.”
She laughed again, this time obviously feeling better, though she held her left arm carefully against her side so her shoulder wouldn't hurt more than necessary as it healed. “No, I'm not a robot of any sort. I was born and raised on another world, just like you apparently were. Are you from an Earth? Or does your world go by another name? A lot of humanoids have so little imagination in naming their homes, you know.” She was having a bit of gentle fun, now. She always loved finding newcomers first. Their reactions were often quite interesting.
“Wait…another world? I’ve broken the time-dimensional barrier!? You’re telling me I’m in another world, and you’re from another one?” Her mind started to turn inward at the implications. “Yes! YES! YESSSS! Mwhahhha! I will be revered for the rest of humanities existence!” She began to cackle… and found that she actually couldn’t get herself to stop. She had accomplished more in this one day, then she had in the last decade. She would never have to work again on those filthy little projects that didn’t warrant her attention, she would be able to work on whatever she wanted whenever she wanted too. All her dreams were coming true. Quite suddenly she was quite.
“How in the verse did I manage it? And sticks & stones how am I going to get back?!”
She nodded grinning a toothy grin at Rachel as she got to her feet, careful not to stumble over the still solid chunks of pig scattered around her feet.
“Yep...” And she stops and blinks in surprise at the woman's almost crazed reaction, one she hadn't really expected. Thus it made it all the better to her, and she started laughing, until Rachel asked how she would get back. Then she sobered and shook her head. This was the not so fun part.
”There are tons of theories as to how one manages to get here...probably nearly as many as people. Unfortunately, there are very few ways to return, and most people never manage. Chances are good if you didn't travel here deliberately, you won't find your way back, because you don't know where you'd be going. You might be from another dimension, another world in this one, or another world in another dimension...and there's no telling what time you came from.” She smirks and shakes her wings out, drops of water spraying out behind her from where the frost had melted.
“A friend of mine ended up on this planet nearly 2 centuries after I got here. I had only been gone for about 2 years from his point of view.”
“…..Son of a Slattern!” She threw the piggy hot water bottle down which proceeded to steam a little bit at the top.
“So I’m likely to be dust before someone from home figures it out as well? Well then I will just have to work on extending my life, the proverbial fountain of youth as it were.”
Panthress can't help but snicker, though she tries not to sound mean.
“Long life's easy. Just find one of the vamps running around here. I'm sure they'd be glad to turn ya. There are other, rarer options, too. I'd steer clear of the necromancers though. Their spells might keep you walking and talking, but no guarantees about your state of mind or body's health after a few years.” She was having fun watching the woman's reactions. She was obviously used to sciences, more advanced sciences than many worlds BP had visited, in fact, if they had biological robots and were far enough along that this woman thought she'd achieved dimensional travel. She didn't have the heart to tell Rachel she might have done nothing but walk into one of the many random worm holes that sucked people in once in a while.
“So…vampires are real, eh? I hadn’t found one yet…no surprise considering the pygmy zombies down in South Africa…” She sighed deeply. “Well this changes things drastically. Alright…data collection…I have to start if I’m going to figure this out.” She dug in her pack and pulled out a silver globe that had pretty Indian artwork carved into its surface, it looked to be made out of real silver.
“Your life story, miss panther?”
She blinks and stares at the woman as if she'd gone crazy when asked her life story. The idea was so hilarious to her she couldn't even laugh properly.
”Hah! Are you joking? No, of course you aren't. You don't know...Lady; I'm nearly 8,000 years old by my best guess. I don't think I could fit my life story into your lifetime, even the abridged version. Let's just say I've traveled...a lot. I've pissed a few gods and a lot of powerful people off and survived whether I wanted to or not. I've helped a lot of people and hurt a lot of people, and I'm not gonna try to count how many I've killed, or the means by which I've done so. This place is kind of a home for me, a place I come to for rest. Been visiting off and on for over 200 years now, this planet's time. I think it's actually about 600 now if you count my own time, since my travels are through time as well as space.” She eyes the silver globe as she speaks, but most of her attention is on Rachel. She was really glad she'd been in a good mood today and helped this woman. She hadn't had so much fun in a while.
“My name, by the way, is Panthress. Simple, but I was an original on my home world.”
“Yes, yes of course. My name is Rachel Trevethan, Witch Doctor of Luftshiffehalle 93. And actually I don’t need you to talk out loud, if you just touch this part up here-“ She motioned to a small circle carved in to what seemed to be the top. “- and if you just think about your life I will get all the information I need. But if talking helps go right ahead. Also if you could classify yourself that would be much appreciated.”
She raises a whiskered eyebrow and chuckles.
“I think you'd be better off researching data from other folk. Every storage device has a maximum capacity, and I wouldn't be surprised if I overloaded this one. Besides, it'd still take months, just thinking about it all. My memory, while crowded and not necessarily organized well, is perfect. The amount of data would be...extraordinary.” Panthress seemed to have a very good grasp of technology herself, though she obviously wasn't familiar with Rachel's own types.
“I really don't know what to classify myself as. I'm a combination of two different creatures. Originally I was a human and a panther. We were forced into a single body when my human side was about 18 years old and my panther side was about three. I didn't gain these wings until I was nearly 800 years old, through an interesting experience with my home planet's consciousness.” She pauses, thinks and smirks. “For simplicity's sake, I call myself a were-panther.”
Rachel laughed lightly.
“This isn’t powered by conventional means, trust me. And just light onto the major points of interest. Were-panther, eh? That is quite interesting. I will have to run some experimental tests to see how to make one.” She mentally ticked off some thoughts of just how to go about it, but her mind soon came back to the present.
“So tell me about the area.”
She frowned a little and refrained from touching the orb. She didn't really want to have any part of her life recorded by this woman, especially after she mentioned figuring out how to make a were-panther. Other comments she'd made struck home and she sighed.
“A scientist. You're one of those people that go around dissecting things to see how they tick. You see if you can make things without worrying about the consequences of your actions. That's why you wanted to freeze that pig, isn't it? So you could find out how to make another?” She stepped away and shook her head, flicking her wings one more time and folding them securely against her back. Every move was graceful and smooth, with no sign of trouble from her recent experiences. She turns around after a moment and sighs.
“This area is called Tenshadows forest. There's a tavern off that way.” She nods down the path. “The cabin you were heading toward is one the tavern's owner built for people who preferred solitude, or needed it for one reason or another.” The tone of her voice might make Rachel think of a hungry vampire, or some other less pleasant creature that wouldn't do well in a crowd.
“There are worm holes that draw people in from all over the universes and dump them in this area, so be wary. The next talking animal you meet might not be a shape shifter, or it might be a witch trying to draw you into her tower to have you for dinner or test potions on you. Curiosity is a very dangerous thing around here.” She grins as she turns to examine the gouges the boar's tusks had left in the tree
“Take it from someone who knows all too well.”
Rachel frowned deeply.
“I am not a scientist, I cater to the Gods for the people of the crew, I also handle spells & some inventions that involve magic combined with science. The inventions I make do not solely rely on science. I work for her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria. The information I am wanting from you specifically is to see if I can figure out how I crossed the dimensional divide. I didn’t want to make another pig like it I wanted to make something different to have steeds for the Calvary units. And the Tesla gun I have would not have made an effect on it much like you said. Even if I had dialed it all the way up, it would have just bounced off those scales. The freezing was the only thing I had in my pack that would have worked though normally I use it to chill drinks. And actually the place I was returning to was the piece of the airship that must have came with me, it was my bunk room and lab. If I don’t investigate I might as well lie down and die. Knowledge is power and currently I am the lowest thing on the food chain with how little knowledge I have, therefore I find things out and I improve my chances of survival in the long run. What does not end up killing me will only improve my ability to survive.”
She looks sidelong at Rachel for a long moment, considering her words then finally lets out a soft chuckle. Whether that was a good or bad thing, who could tell?
“My pardons. Since I'm not familiar with your world I didn't know you categorize science and magic separately, though you obviously combine the two in use. Words often hold very different meanings from world to world. Some worlds have no magic; some have no science, and some, like yours combine them to different degrees. Or have both but scoff at one and embrace only the other. “She reached down and picked up a hunk of frozen pig, a piece of bright red flesh that melted a little around her fingers to bloody her fur as she held it.
“I do have to commend you on use of that freezing orb; it made that task quite a bit easier than I'd expected it to be. As for knowledge, it is indeed power, but around here, having power can be a magnet for other powerful creatures that are out to prove they're strongest. If you do somehow manage to survive gathering your knowledge, I'd recommend keeping it hidden when you can. Otherwise someone like me might come along and decide to test you.” Her grin this time wasn't friendly. It was broad and showed every tooth the savage predator possessed in a way that indicated she was not always such an easy person to get along with.
“I've died a lot of times for my curiosity. I doubt you would return from death so easily. But...” Her entire manner changed abruptly, and she became cheerful and friendly once more as she started pacing around the pig, eyeing the pile of frozen rubble it had made as if planning something.
“...if you really do want to know more, join me for a drink and a bite at the tavern. There are plenty of folk there to learn from.” She drops the piece of flesh in her hands back into the pile, then steps back and focuses on a bare spot of ground nearby. There was a strange shiver of pure darkness, then a large, clean sack was laying open there.
“Oh, and you won't find out how to get back from me. I don't take myself; I just ride the back of a very powerful silver dragon. She decides where I go and when. I'm just along for the ride.” And she starts picking through the flesh, tossing chunks into the bag and licking her lips at the thought of the roasts she'd get out of this huge beast.
Rachel began to laugh lightly at all the exchange.
“I’m not a powder puff, just not much of a fighter I just don’t like to do it so I abstain from it. Doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself.” She sighed putting the orb away since she was just ignoring her.
“I don’t expect you to know how to get back, looking at recordings of the images of your memory I might notice something you didn’t realize was important as you were passing between them.” She sighed watching Panthress put the pig into the sack.
“I suppose after all this I could use a drink though."
She chuckles as she works quickly, and the huge sack was quickly full. She straightened and licked her fingers of the blood, then pulled the bag closed and hefted it with ease.
“I didn't say you were. Just giving you a friendly warning. I'm no kitten, but I get my butt kicked regularly around here. Thought you might like to have an idea of what you'll be dealing with. Not like you can really know till you're face to face with 'em.” She considered the woman, and the distance a moment, then snickered
“Think I'll take the shortcut, so this meat doesn't thaw. You know the way there, I bet. See ya there.” And without further warning, she steps forward, and her own shadow seems to swallow her up in the blink of an eye, leaving Rachel alone on the path with the leftovers of the frozen pig.