I wake up in a tent and Thultu is there. He looks a lot cleaner like Lysara wiped him down getting a lot of the ash and blood off of his scales. He says, "Miss Ari is awake, Miss Lysara!" He is still kind of formal with us, so we are going to have to fix that. I ask Thultu while reaching out to hold his little hand before he runs to Lysara, "What do you think of possibly calling me Ari, momma or auntie?" His tail starts wagging, "Momma!" He says as he comes and hugs me adorably. I then say, "How about you call Lysara, Mummy then." He then runs out and brings back a giggling Lysara, "Mummy? I like it. Was that your idea, Ari?" I giggle, "Yea, we are family now so we can't have him call us so formally." Thultu's tail is wagging in Lysara's arms. I then say, "Speaking of, we probably need to do a contract with Thultu so I know where he is at all times and he can always find me." Thultu perks up, "You mean there is a way I can always know where you are?" His tail is wagging so fast right now.
Lysara puts him down, and I say, "Sure is, kiddo. Put your forehead on my forehead for a moment." He puts his adorable head on my head, and I pour my mana into my forehead, doing the contract magic. He asks with his eyes adorably big, "Is it done?" I then say, unable to contain my smile at his cuteness, "I think so, buddy. We can test it by seeing if I can hear your voice in your lizard form, or we can separate for a while, and if we can feel each other's presence at a distance, then it worked." Without missing a beat or any care, he starts taking off his clothes, and then he transforms into his lizard form, and asks, "Can you hear me, Momma?" I reply while petting him on the head, "I sure can, Thultu." He runs in circles in his lizard form in excitement.
He changes back, and Lysara helps him put his clothes back on. I ask her as she is helping him, "So, how did I get back here?" Lysara says, "Some locals stumbled upon you and figured you must have collapsed helping people and brought you back to me here." Lysara, when she is done dressing Thultu, she comes over to me and whispers in my ear while her tail flickers in a naughty manner, "You need to be punished for pushing yourself too hard." I smile a mischievous smile and whisper back, "Oh really?" I ask, and I bite my lip in anticipation of what is to come. Lysara says, reflecting my mischievous smile with one of her own, "Yes, really." I giggle and go to kiss her.
She is just so sexy.
How did I ever get so lucky to find someone who is the total package?
Lysara gets some rations and hands me some, "You haven't eaten anything in over 24 hours, haven't you. EAT." I take the rations from her and I eat. I say in between bites, "Is it me or does this taste better than usual?"
Lysara shakes her head, "It is the normal Chili-Mac ration. It is one of the best ones in my opinion. Everything tastes better when you are hungry, though. A dirt-covered rice ball is a delicacy to a starving man." I replied after swallowing my bite, "It is very good. I also really like the beef stew ration." Lysara agrees, "Yeah, that is a good one, also. I like the jalapeno cheese and crackers that come in that one on the side." I replied after taking another bite of food, "I don't know, I think I prefer it when there is peanut butter on the side. I would much rather have my jalapeno poppers, if I am being honest." Speaking of those, I miss them ALOT. I haven't had the time to make them or munch on them like I would like. Lysara replies, "Weirdo." Thultu chimes in, "I like the peanut butter, too." I giggle, "Team peanut butter for the win." I say as I lightly smack Thultu's hand in the air in celebration.
Lysara hisses, "Oh no! I am now outnumbered!" She says being intentionally overdramatic for Thultu's sake while doing theatrical motion, almost as if she got wounded and sits down clutching her chest. Thultu is giggling at his Mummy being silly. I smile and wink at Lysara, and she winks back and continues her overdramatization for Thultu's enjoyment while I continue eating. I enjoy seeing him temporarily escape from the terrors of yesterday with that adorable laugh of his. I do a happy wiggle as I see him being adorable while I eat. Lysara gasps excitedly and stops what she is doing, "Did you just do your happy/cute wiggle while eating? (shut the fuck up) This is the first time since I have known you that you dropped your guard like that while eating." She says with a smile and continues, "I want to see more of those cute wiggles, too. I think you are just the cutest thing when you do that." I blush, "I was just so overwhelmed by Thultu's cuteness, I had to wiggle to express how cute he was being." Lysara giggles, "I understand that one. He is just too precious." She says, smiling and patting him on the head.
Lysara looks at me and continues, "Boo, I have to go to the capital and inform my father of the human separatist invasion. Can I trust things here with you while I am gone?" I take her hand in mine as I remove the blanket they put on me and put my feet over the side of the mattress onto the ground. So now I am facing Lysara, and I say, "Leave it all to me. Also, I don't know if you heard, but it isn't just humans. Some separatist locals joined their cause as well." Lysara gasps, "No, I didn't hear that. I will let him know that as well." I nod and then ask her, "Can you do Dysis's whistle? If you can, can you summon her and tell her to return to my side immediately? We could use her strength in removing the rubble, and I could use a full meal as well."
Lysara then says nonchalantly, without need to think, "I could just make a giant magic circle for Dysis. It will take A LOT more magic to activate it, but we got that covered. We will teleport her a little ways out of town to not freak everybody out and to prevent her from spawning on top of some poor individual. I will do that first before informing my father, since relief efforts here are more important than informing him at the moment. Plus, I know he will be obsessed with my teleportation magic once he hears about how I perfected it. He might have me tied up a bit when I get there because of that, too." I had no idea there was such a possibility! I squeeze her hand affectionately as we do and say, "You constantly amaze me, boo. Can you have her signal me with three lightning strikes back to back as well when she arrives? Can't have her flying over town, causing debris to fly everywhere." I say as I kiss her, and she replies with a "Mmmhmm." and gives me another kiss.
I look into those passionate green eyes of hers that are full of many different emotions from the current state of affairs, and I say, "I love you so much, Lysara." She kisses me again and replies, "I love you so much as well, my Ari." She lets go of my hand and kisses Thultu on the head, "I love you so much as well, kiddo." She says as she bends down to kiss him on top of his adorable and scaly head. Thultu says, "I love you both!" with an adorably fast tail wag and those big, adorable eyes. Lysara gets up and turns and says, "Ok, I'll be off now. You should be seeing Dysis soon. Be safe." She blows us a kiss and leaves the tent, and I sense her presence disappear from my side and go far away.
I put my agility boots on and asked Thultu, "You want to ride on my back today?" Thultu spins with that excited energy of his, "Yes, please!" I giggle, and I lower myself so he can grab onto my back. Once he latches on, I grab a blanket and wrap it around my back in an 'X' fashion and tie it tight under my underarms so Thultu is very supported, so he doesn't have to hold on all day. His tiny body doesn't have that kind of stamina, and I want him to be as comfortable as possible. Once I get Thultu strapped in comfortably, I go out into the town square. The first thing that catches my eye is Keylira helping some locals with her one strong arm.
I approach her and wait until she is done helping, then ask, "Keylira, do you mind if we borrow you?" She wipes her now dusty and ashy hand off on her pants and replies, "Depends on what it is, but sure. I would love to help. What do you need?" I replied, pointing to the supply point that Lysara created, "I need someone I can trust to hand out supplies here in the square to civilians in need while I continue going out to rescue and heal people." Keylira replies, "I can do that. That will give me a break at the same time. I probably need to sit down a bit." I gently grab her stubby arm with a platonic affection, "Don't forget to eat. Feel free to eat rations if you get hungry, since they are also for you." Keylira responds with a smile, "A job with free food. Sign me up." I walk her over to the tents where the supplies are set up and get her acclimated to where everything is located and the warning about the space in the tent. She laughed a hearty laugh, "I don't think I can afford anything else being erased."
Once we get Keylira squared away, passing out gear, I look through the crowd, and I see the birdman herald. I go up to him and ask, "Hello there, are you hurt?" I am asking to be polite, but I can smell the blood from him, though it doesn't smell like a large quantity. He responds, grimacing, "Probably." I go up to him and cast a heal spell. He says while looking over his person, "Most definitely apparently. I feel a lot better, thank you, miss priestess." I replied, "You are welcome. I don't believe I ever caught your name, sir herald." He says with a smile, "Alerio. I already know you are the famous Saint Ari." I ask, "Can you spread the word that a friendly griffin will be arriving soon to help and not to be afraid?" I reach into my purse and grab him 2 silver coins, "Just because it is an emergency doesn't mean you don't get your money." Alerio giggles as he takes the silvers and says, "Thank you, miss priestess. So do you still squeak by chance?" I chuckle and shake my head, "That was only a temporary affliction that lasted only 9 days." He laughs too, "It was a funny curse and most definitely memorable. If I didn't have a job, I probably would have joined those children in touching your body."
He cringes at the sound of his words, "I just realized how that sounded, and I am going to leave now before it gets too awkward. Sorry, bye!" He shakes his feathers to get ash and soot out, and then he takes flight and starts his announcement about Dysis.
With Thultu in tow, I continue to see if anyone else needs help. I still haven't found Fawynn or any of the orphan kids yet. There is still a lot of chaos here at the moment. There are a lot of buildings that were here that have been reduced to a pile of rubble, or have bad fire damage, or large vines sticking through the building structures. I am surprised there weren't more deaths than there were, to be honest, but I am thankful that more people didn't die.I am so fucking thankful to the goddess. We continue going around helping people who are trapped, and there are several incubi and succubi who are flying around, pointing out people to me and helping me remove debris when we get to the trapped civilians. We have a pretty good system established when I hear Dysis's signal that she has arrived.
Upon reaching Dysis, I see she is already fitted with a sleigh to help remove debris from the wreckage. Lysara, you are fucking amazing. I know that was all her thinking ahead, saving us the trouble. I get up to Dysis, "How are you doing, Dysis?" Dysis takes a look around and says in an empathetic tone, "Better than these people." I ask, "Are you willing to help us clear the debris so they can rebuild more easily?" Dysis nods, "I was dying of boredom waiting for you anyway. Just show me where I am needed. Do you need some of my blood, Ari?" I replied, drooling heavily in automatic response to her offer, "I definitely could use a meal right now. Thank you so much, Dysis." Dysis then lies down so I can reach her easier and I drink my fill of her blood, then heal her.
I then take Dysis, and we work our way inward, creating a path. So we could continue healing people, I delegated some demons to work with Dysis so they could take the rubble out of town. Once they have a system in place and they find a way to communicate with Dysis nonverbally, like letting them know when she needs a break or where they need her sled. There is a cat child who is one of the workers' children who is transforming back and forth with nothing but a blanket, so they can keep transforming with modesty and efficiency, translating Dysis's words to those who couldn't understand her nonverbal cues.
I take Thultu and we continue rescuing and healing people with him secured to my back. Around midday, I stop and give him some rations, and I take this as a time to eat some too. I can feel Lysara somewhere nagging me right now to eat, so I grab a ration of my own as well. After eating, we continue our mission of rescuing and healing people. Not long after we resumed rescuing and healing people, we came across Fawynn and some children who were trapped and probably really hungry and thirsty, too. Approaching, I see the child's body through the gaps in the rubble, and I tell Thultu to close his eyes. Since it has been more than a day since the incident and the boy's death, the blood smells a bit stale. I start lifting the rubble, creating a path for them to escape.
Once we guide everyone out while we hold up the rubble, I put the rubble down, and I heal Fawynn and the others. Fawynn is devastated, and the other kids are all crying and mourning for their friend, "Neo, come back to us!" and saying similar things, crying. I tell them to go to the town square for a tent and rations for future meals, while I give everyone some of my stash of rations. Since I have been hoarding (obviously not too much) these supplies since the incident, I can pass them out as I rescue people. The longer we take to rescue people, the hungrier they will be. Fawynn asks with a very pained expression, "Can you help me recover Neo's body? I want to put him to rest." I nod, "Certainly. Can I get you to watch Thultu for me?"
She reaches out to take him, and I lift him out of my little pouch I made for him and pass him to her. I leave the blanket strapped to me since he will be returning to it after I do this. They are eating and mourning the loss of Neo while I do this recovery mission. I go to the building, lift the rubble, and go inside. There is a huge vine that caused the building to break apart, which blocked off the exits, and it was some of that rubble that killed Neo. I approach the piece of rubble that trapped Neo and use my super strength to lift it.
If I were still a human, I would not have been able to do this recovery mission at all. That is for sure.
The rubble isn't that stable, so I lift with one hand and slide his body out with the other. Once his body is out, I drop the rubble with my other hand delicately, and I pick Neo up and take him outside.
Everyone, including Thultu, is crying because of their friend who was lost. I continue to hold him and sit while they finish eating. Fawynn takes a little longer to finish since she was eating with one hand while holding Thultu with the other. When she is done, she puts Thultu back in my pouch and we all walk to the town square together so I can put Neo with the rest of the dead and so they can get a few tents for themselves, rations, and a few light magic torches. On the way, I tell them about Dysis so they won't be afraid if they see her.
We get to the town square and I place Neo down gently, and I point Fawynn to Keylira, where she is still handing out supplies so they can get theirs and go ahead and set up their tent. I take Thultu and we continue our mission until sundown, then I check on Dysis. She is covered in sweat on her fur, and there is a massive pile of rubble outside of town from the cleanup. I look at her work in awe, "Wow, someone was busy today. Here, let me help take that harness off of you so you can breathe a little bit." I say as I hop up on Dysis's back. She lowers her head to allow me to remove the harness easier, and once I pull it off and get off her, she shakes, and some of the sweat shakes off of her, and she says, "Thank you. That feels much better." I ask, "How are you feeling? Did you get enough breaks? You are probably starving and desiring to bathe, aren't you?"
Dysis giggles at my barrage of questions and coos, "I am fine. I took breaks when I needed to." I pet her while feeling relieved and say, "Go get you some food and get some rest. We will be busy these next few days. I will try to take my own advice, but I also want to help as many people as I can while I can. There are still people trapped." Dysis says in a comforting yet slightly nagging tone, "Don't push yourself too hard." I pet her, "I will try my best. I remembered to eat today, so that is a plus." I say with a smile. Dysis giggles, "Good, I will snitch to one of these beastkin and have them snitch to Lysara if you don't take care of yourself." I put my hands up, "Now, now. There is no need to snitch on me. I will try to behave. Take care, friend." I pat her again, and she walks out of town before taking flight.
I'll just leave the harness here so they can pick up where they left off in the morning. It isn't like anybody else has a griffin here that could use a harness, and nobody would want to take something that is actively being used to help this terrible situation. It should be fine. If push comes to shove, I will buy another harness/sled in the worst-case scenario of someone stealing it. There are more important things to worry about in this situation. I take Thultu back to the square where we set up our tents and place him on the mattress I was sleeping on. I refill Sky's water bowl and get him some more food. I have a stash of crackers from my rations that I have been hoarding just for him. He starts scarfing them down. I ask him while he is eating, "Hey, Sky, can you stay here with Thultu for me? I want to go back out there again tonight." I want to keep going as long as I can while there are still people to save. Sky nods his head and swallows, "Go ahead and go, I will stay with him." I pet him while he continues to eat his crackers, and I go back out.
Lysara still appears to be gone. I am guessing that her father is asking all kinds of questions about her teleportation research, more than he is interested in these people's lives. He is probably able to relax knowing that we are handling the situation. He gave me a good king vibe when I met him, so I say those things from that kind of place. I honestly don't know what is going on in that man's head. I still don't know how that man can't even muster up showing the slightest bit of fatherly compassion for his daughter. I was lucky to have Father Xavier, but Lysara didn't have him. I wonder if she had someone like I did? I will ask her about it sometime. I spend almost all night out rescuing people, and before I get too exhausted like last night, I head back to the tent and rest for a few hours.