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One-two-THREE one-two-THREE one-two-step-FOUR onetwothreefourFIVE...
To transcend your flaws, you must know your inner self
promise_paid
Whatever you need to tell yourself, buddy.
"Lead the way," he says again, and vanishes into thin air, trying to hold onto the feeling of being alive as he does.
death_of_a_king
A few more steps forward, still slowly, still making sure to be ready to fight at a moment's notice—
death_of_a_king
Her? She looks in the direction they've been walking towards and... yeah, actually. She can vaguely see a silhouette she could believe is a woman. ...girl? It's small. "That's the source of the disturbance. A ghost?" A really powerful one, if so.
promise_paid
"I think so." He doesn't vanish again, though, and starts walking towards it. His discomfort seems mostly forgotten, or ignored, in favour of getting to the ghost quickly.
death_of_a_king
This is really stupid. But he's her party member and she shouldn't abandon him, even if he's being really stupid.
promise_paid
He's not sprinting—his sprinting speed would require Annika to actually run to keep up—but he's walking at a brisk pace.
sung_princess
The silhouette does eventually resolve into a young teenage girl, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
...a teenage foxgirl sitting cross-legged on the ground.
She's holding a long wooden stick with a bell at the end, and the bell's jingles happen whenever she adjusts her sitting position. Her chin-length, golden hair hides the spot where ears would be on a human, but a furry pair of fox ears poking out of the top of her hair suggests there wouldn't be any. There are various patches of golden fur on her body, and her hands and feet are replaced by digitigrade paws (with opposable thumbs in the case of the hands). Her eyes are red and slitted and reflect light like a cat's.
She has nine fox tails, each about as long as her whole body.
death_of_a_king
...some kind of cross between a ninetails demon and a ghost? She really doesn't think they're prepared to take that on, and gets ready to teleport the both of them out at the first sign of trouble.
promise_paid
Taharqi seems to have, if anything, dropped his guard completely, seemingly completely ignoring that this might become a fight. He slows his steps, too, and extends his hands slightly out, palms forward. This of course doesn't make him any less dangerous, it takes a fraction of a blink of an eye for him to have his daggers in hand, but it's the thought that counts.
sung_princess
The girl is hugging her knees and staring off into the distance, rocking back and forth slowly and looking very distracted. The mounting pressure of unreality morphs into sharp spikes pushing against the skin of their souls, almost turning into physical pain in their hearts and lungs, making it feel like they can't breathe.
And then the girl notices them and spins around, dropping to all fours and baring her teeth. Her ears press flat against her head and her tails stick out back, taut. A high-pitched sound comes out of the back of her throat, a long continuous whine on the verge of becoming a scream.
death_of_a_king
Annika's metaphorical grip on her Skills tightens, but she won't initiate hostilities.
promise_paid
"Easy, easy," he says, in a low voice, not showing his teeth, and spreading his hands a bit farther away from his body. "We're not here to hurt you, we're not enemies." The previous tension he'd been showing has almost entirely evaporated, though he's still sweating. The feeling isn't gone, but he's focusing on something more important, now.
sung_princess
The whining sound she's making starts to fade out slowly as the two newcomers don't advance nor do anything else threatening, until she's completely silent—except for the nervous jingle of her bell, which is twitching slightly from her tense grip.
promise_paid
"I'm not going to get any closer if you don't want me to. I can just sit down right here. Would that be okay?"