"You are a little scary... Everyone is nervous about her. She's five hundred, and in seclusion for a century. But she's probably not actually murderous if she's in the group?"

"She's a bitch who has no chill about being disrespected by her juniors. She's also dangerously pretty - pretty enough to  distract straight women - and she's a practical joker too. And if that wasn't enough, it's like she steals luck from everyone around her. It's dangerous to be near her, though often also lucrative - if you can avoid the danger, you can profit from it. Needless to say, if you repeat any of this to her I'll make you regret it once she's done with me. Her favorite weapon is a whip of lightning, she's that kind of person. So long as you show respect and stay on your guard around her it can be worth it to follow her, and she's very loyal to the group - but she'll want to test you and the other new additions, and that could be... fun." She sighs. "I recommend biting the bullet and taking the bounty for acclimating her, she's going to come after you either way. At least you could get something out of it."

Gulp. That sounds tiresome and risky. But, what an opportunity, right?

And it's not at all that Ravenous Blade doesn't want to deal with that, huh?

"...I see. More likely than not I will at this point. I've been thinking about it, but I feel... Unprepared for adventure and it sounds like helping Senior Red would very much be an adventure."

"Just keep in mind that if it's not you it'll likely be Nix. The seniors will pull rank to get out of it if they have to."

"I don't know if Nix would also like to avoid this. Though- I might be better at it? I am a very serious person when I'm trying. Hmm."

"Talk to her when you get a chance, then. I'll see you around?"

"Right, don't let me keep you. Have a nice day!"

...She surveys her new outfits for a nice jacket or hoodie to keep the enchanted brass knuckles in. Then, she finishes breakfast and gets to working out. She'll be at it all day, with half hour breaks. If she runs through the exercises faster, even when it hurts a bit, she'll be able to manage three strands again, maybe even four, right?

Four strands it is. 

Towards the end, Cocoa comes down and joins in the training with her, not saying anything, just grinning.

"Nine," she says, lying on her back exhausted that afternoon. "God, that's a workout. Four today. Five tomorrow, one hopes. That's what I'm smiling about, what are you smiling about?"

"Saw Hannah leaving, figured that means you got a prize. She's a big old softy. Also Breath of the Wild is a good game and you're hot. I'm enjoying my vacation."

"Makes sense. Glad to contribute, I guess." (She has slightly more complicated feelings about it than that, but why bring that up, it wouldn't help.) "Yeah, she said she threw it together in one day, a set of brass knuckles. If we go sailing I'm keeping them in a pocket just in case."

"Have you checked the group today? Apparently some kind of dog monster's shown up in Cardiff and is causing trouble. Seems low-level. Eight Tails posted a bounty of a dozen fifth-stage armor seals if someone can stop it from causing trouble. We could go together, split the seals? It'd be a good way for you to get your feet wet."

"-Mmh. Yeah, makes sense. How does this sort of thing tend to go? Just, wander around a whole city looking for strange feelings, since we can sense qi?"

"The reports say it's in the harbor district, so we'd have a general area to search. And I have a perception ability from my first realm that should let us track it - apparently it smells of cigarette smoke from the eyewitness reports." 

She kip-ups into a crouch in one smooth motion with a grunt, then looks slightly surprised she managed to do that.

"Let me go grab my weapon. Can these things be negotiated with? Are they smart at all, typically?"

"They're people usually, though they're generally... bestial. Strong urges, strong instincts, not inclined to higher reasoning. We might have to put it down, or we might be able to talk it around. It depends on the monster."

Sharp nod. She has a lightning-quick shower and changes out of workout stuff.

Puts on a nice new leather jacket, grabs the brass knuckles, and googles canine body language on the way back down. Maybe it'll help. Maybe not.

Looks around for Cocoa.

Cocoa is doing one-fingered push-ups in the front hall. He gets up when he spots Trys and flashes that smile again. "Ready to go then?"

"-I know you're higher rank but geez. Yeah. I guess I'm the lookout and idea-bouncing wall? Since you're the muscle and tracking."

"Yeah. Watch my back and if need be use your knuckles. Should I call an Uber or something or do you want some agility training? It's getting late, probably won't be too many witnesses around."

"I do need more training, though I'm already kind of tired from training today... I don't like Uber anyway, though, so let's not."

"Agility training it is then. We'll use the phones for this - I'll go ahead and make sure the path is clear, then text you to let you know you can hop over. You can just home to my phone, there's an app we use."

After dealing with phone logistics, she follows Cocoa outside, trying to look as inconspicuous as she can in long sleeves and pants, hoodie and leather jacket, and with a dark blue face and white hair peeking out.

Cocoa darts off ahead into the evening.