Our silent journey back into the caves bore an unexpected fruit, one that wasn't entirely sweet but definitely not the most bitter thing that could have happened to us; on our way towards the holding area of all of the citizens we came across some curious mercenary that decided to just... take a walk deeper into the caverns.
For whatever reason, they were not only this far out but also completely alone, and I made sure to look and listen for any signs of someone being nearby, so I was confident that she was alone... and that was what had me somewhat intrigued.
This was the perfect opportunity for Aethisia to properly pop her cherry what with it being a one versus two and the mercenary happening to be located all the way in the depths of the mines all on her lonesome.
I think she was here to search for some sort of valuable materials that she could harvest and keep for herself as a sort of bonus for this job, though her motives didn't really matter to me right now since I was more focused on further isolating her and ensuring a 'fair' fight could happen.
Aethisia seemed to know what I was aiming for here, and although there was a clear amount of reluctance to go forwards with this she really didn't have much of a choice, so she began to steel herself as we trailed the mercenary deeper into the caves.
I didn't want to waste too much time with this but I was wanting to get further away from the town, so I let this go on for a few minutes more before finally acting on what was available to us, trapping the mercenary in a tunnel with us and nudging Aethisia forwards.
"W-What?!"
Spinning around and waving the torch at us, the Dogkin reached to unsheathe her sword while looking at us warily, confusion etched onto her scarred face as she kept the space between us... though that was also thanks to Aethisia and I remaining where we were.
"Hello~! Would you like to answer some questions before you die, or shall we just cut to the chase?"
Leaning on my spear and staring at her with interest, I ignored her snarl and just kept my eyes trained on her to make sure she didn't do anything; that sword didn't look too threatening and her torch was all she had available as a secondary weapon, which Aethisia wasn't trained against...
"Go fuck yourself! Who even are you?!"
"Hmm... not nice language there, girl... Ah well, I tried; Aethisia, go on. She's all yours~!"
The Dogkin growled, her head whipping between Aethisia and I as she tried to understand what was happening, and upon seeing the white haired Deerkin stepping forwards she growled "Fine then! I'll gut you first then bash that prick's face in!" before lunging forwards.
~~~
Aethisia PoV
My focus was completely on the Dogkin now, with her words echoing in my skull as her raw anger, fear and more mixed with the adrenaline coursing through her veins to make her voice somewhat shrill.
Her fur was bristling, her eyes widened, and there was a slight tremor in her hands as she raised that sword against me; when she moved I felt the world around me slow down to a crawl, giving me the time to just... take this in.
The emotions she was showing me, the way the cold steel in her hands reflected the torchlight, the small amount of spit that flew from her lips as she let out a war cry... then there was the still warmth of the tunnel clinging to my skin, a small amount of dust tickling my nostrils...
My heart was pounding in my chest, creating a hectic drumbeat that began to overwhelm the rest of the noise around me; all I could hear was the hammering in my chest, followed by my breathing as I stared at the ever approaching Dogkin.
Her hands weren't the only ones trembling; my spear was unsteady, my arms seemingly weighed down like they were clad with lead, and my legs refused to move at all, rooted to the floor as I became some sort of plant.
The Dogkin got closer and closer, her pupils dilated like saucers as she thrust her sword towards me; I could feel her intentions like it was some physical force, my stomach crawling not just with nerves but also with a phantom feeling crossing my belly.
For what felt like an eternity I just stood there, but as she reached the halfway point between us I just... an image of Camara holding Melia flashed into my mind, the sudden realization that doing nothing would equate to losing both of them jolting me into action.
I was still... uncertain about this, still not wanting to make use of the heavy weapon in my hands, but there was no choice to be made here, was there?
She was coming for me with a clear intention to end my life, and although we could sit down and debate whether or not she needed to die or not I wasn't about to take that sort of risk, not when I had my mate waiting for me back home...
Not when I had a little girl that was going to need her Dama to come home and watch her grow up; this was a situation where it was me or this Dogkin, and while I'm sure she has friends or family potentially waiting for her, I also had family waiting for me... and I wasn't going to let them go.
After having nothing in my previous life, I was determined to keep a firm hold on my family in this one, so even with my reluctance and my morals acting against me I still made a move, stepping to the side and swinging my spear up to meet her sword.
The screech of metal against metal filled this enclosed tunnel, but I couldn't hear a thing over the thumping in my veins; I was fixated on what I saw and felt first and foremost, and that was currently a strong, desperate Dogkin with a deadly weapon.