In a campsite off the road between the imperial capital and Beacon, a catgirl and a noble adventuress were facing off over their dinner. The human noble, rexed and sipping on her stew, contempted the animal girl, while the cat regarded the knightly adventurer with suspicion. Cd in worn and simple clothing, the catkin found herself a little envious of the other woman’s armor. It was half pte and half chain, with a breastpte, heavy gauntlets, and heavy greaves to give her defensive flexibility while reducing its overall weight using chainmail underneath.“What…” Started the catgirl, drawing the dy's attention, “what’s your name?”“Hilda Galea DuSonde”, said Hilda, “and yours?”“Sheryl,” said Sheryl.They sat in silence for a few more minutes, grazing on the stew Hilda had made for both of them.Sheryl spoke up again, “Why did you help me kill him?”One eyebrow raised, Hilda smiled gently at the nekomimi, saying “I’m not a fan of svers.”Sheryl's countenance grew more suspicious, “You gave me all of his money and his sword.”“I doubt you have many possessions, and I’m hardly wanting for wealth.”“And the rations?”“There is no joy for me in seeing others go hungry.”Sheryl rexed a bit, “...thanks, then.”“You’re welcome.” Hilda brushed a stray lock of hair out of the way, rexing, “I can give you some extra coin to get back on your feet when we get to Beacon.”The cat became suspicious again, “For what?”Scratching her head, Hilda gave a pensive admission, “Well, maybe this is presumptuous of me, but I thought you might want to return to your homend.”“I was born in the empire,” said Sheryl, shrugging.Rubbing her face in mild embarrassment, Hilda replied, “See? Presumptuous. Why was he taking you to the frontier?”“I was too strong to leave with the other borers,” replied Sheryl, emotionless, “so my former owners sold me to be a combat sve.”Hilda frowned with a harrumph, “Hmph! Of course. A human- er, cat, shield.” Sheryl ughed at that. “I thought nobles were supposed to be rich sver scumbags! You’re a strange one, Lady DuSonde,” she said.Laughing along, Hilda acquiesced, “I suppose I am. My family are some of the only notable abolitionists in the empire. And you can just call me Hilda.”“Okay Hilda.” Sheryl let curiosity guide her next question, “Why is a dy like you dressed like a mercenary when you should be, I don't know, having tea parties with your peers?”Hilda ughed like there was an in-joke only she knew, “I want to explore the frontier and sharpen myself on some monsters.”“Monsters. Like sve traffickers?”“Only when the opportunity presents itself.” A diabolical shadow seemed to pass over Hilda's face, “Generally it's frowned upon to wander around sughtering otherwise w-abiding citizens, even for a noble.”“But if you run into a sve trying to murder the man selling her?”“The man died to rogue monsters and I saved the sve girl by the virtue of my heart.” Hilda dramatically held her hand to her breast for a moment before rolling her eyes sardonically, “If anyone even bothers to ask.”They returned to their dinner. When finished, Sheryl spoke up again, “I couldn't just cross the empire, even if I had a home to flee to. Someone would probably try to reshackle me.”Hilda cast her eyes downward and sighed, “then, what do you want to do, Sheryl? Did you even have a pn?”Sheryl winced, ears fttening back, “I didn't. I was actually kind of excited to go to the frontier. Maybe end up with some mercenaries and put my strength to use. Could…” She took a moment to gather her confidence, “Could I stick with you, if that's okay?”Frowning in silence, Hilda found herself frustrated. She had no particurly good reason to deny Sheryl's request. Frankly, though, every time her new world graced her with a reminder of the institution of svery, she felt a little sick. Seeing both chattel and indenture at an imperial scale left her furious. Sheryl's presence would potentially be a constant reminder of the fwed world she was set upon.She had already hated the prison bor of her previous world, and the svery of earth's history felt simir to the current state of this world. Generational oppression inflicted on people who are considered lesser for being different from those in power. If Hilda could get the requisite power and influence, she pnned to personally end the practice. It might be presumptuous to assume she could be so important, but she had decided, years earlier, to be confident in her new life.“Hmph!” She puffed, “I suppose you can join me. Do you think you can hold your own in a fight?”Sheryl giggled, “I think I can, ma'am.”Hilda nodded, “good! I don't want you to die.” Then she added with a smile, “You shouldn't have to worry about me, I was top of my css.”“Your css?” Sheryl asked, ears perked, "What do you mean?”“Ah, I attended the imperial military academy. Just graduated a few months ago.”Sheryl furrowed her brow. She didn't know a lot about the imperial military, but she had to ask, “why be a mercenary, then?”Hilda smiled wryly, stating, “I'd rather kill monsters than men.”In truth, Hilda had actually long wanted to be an adventurer. Role pying games and fun nights with friends and a whole bygone lifetime as a guy who conspicuously pyed a lot of female characters, and now she gets to fucking live it. Of course she went straight for the ice spellbde archetype; the magic was hardly difficult with her secret background. She can cast ice magic with a flick of her mind now! She'd had twenty years growing up into an icy, occasionally clumsy battle princess - an ideal state of being for Hilda, no matter the lifetime. She didn't pn on expining the truth to anyone, though, figuring that she'd just sound insane.Who would believe that a dumb nerd boy had been reincarnated as a beautiful noblewoman?Sheryl shrugged, “that's fair, actually. I kind of feel the same.”The two women regarded each other for a long moment with bnk faces. Hilda found herself trying not to blush at the cute beastkin she had earlier wandered upon. Sheryl had lightly tanned skin and short bck hair, while sizable bck ears tipped with brown tufts rose up from the side of her head as well as a bck tail poking out of her clothes. Her rge mesmerizing slit eyes were a pale green with a couple of gold-brown flecks and the cat-person look was finished off with whiskers poking out of her cheeks next to her adorable button nose. Hilda would occasionally catch a glimpse of her catlike teeth as Sheryl spoke, and her nails were sharp, seeming to extend when she flexed her hands.The part that didn't fit Hilda's preconceived notion of a catgirl was Sheryl's build. Having learned plenty, Hilda knew that cat people - more respectfully known as felind - were physically strong, agile, and hunters by ancestry, but seeing one like Sheryl in person was a different experience. The girl was built with subtly bulging muscuture as if she spent all day throwing around building materials for fun, and Hilda wondered what sort of bor Sheryl had actually done to achieve such a physique. Not that she was compining; Hilda had trouble keeping her eyes off of some parts of Sheryl. The noblewoman knew she liked girls, but she had no real experience in two lives, and hadn't the first idea how to tell if a girl liked her back.Sheryl was busy memorizing the noblewoman's features in return. Hilda had high, fine features like those treasured by upper css imperial women, but there was a certain stability to her that the newly free woman found appealing. To Sheryl, Hilda's strong face looked like she had seen her fair share of bck eyes and even should have had a few battle scars. Her pale skin was immacute, though, and the adventuress's icy blue eyes were soft now, in contrast to the sharp calcuting gaze she dispyed when helping Sheryl kill her trafficker. The catgirl was rather certain about Hilda's attractions, as Lady DuSonde was nearly ogling her. Sheryl was less sure how to handle mutual attraction between herself and a noble. Hilda didn't seem the type to care but that sort of css boundary was an ambient threat within the empire.Eventually they broke the silence with some small talk about each other's lives and backgrounds. Sheryl had worked in a shipyard for several years, mostly as hard bor, helping to build ships for the imperial navy. This was intriguing to Hilda due to her sister's position as a commodore in said navy. One point led to another before Sheryl was astonished at Hilda's admission to having six siblings, some half brothers or sisters.Eventually discussions died down, and Hilda offered space in her tent to her confused companion. Sheryl thought they would have had to keep watch, but Hilda had a high css warding stone to keep their campsite free of animal or monster intruders. It would even warn if anything came close, so the felind accepted the hospitable offer.Neither woman thought the situation through before finding themselves next to each other on bedrolls trying not to look, say, or do anything untoward. Hilda had put on nightclothes that felt, frankly, unfair to Sheryl for how cute she was in them, and the felind was much easier to appreciate from up close. Both of them took a tense and silent extra hour to get to sleep, thinking about the other.They first saw its titur ndmark in the early morning, but they reached their destination in the early afternoon. Beacon, named for the old Balreli signal tower it had been built around, was considered the edge of the frontier. While the military base had become a burgeoning city in the past 40 years, it was still considered to be on the edge of the wilds. In fact, the nonfunctional tower was important to secure Beacon against any rge monsters that might wander too far north. One could see for miles atop the millennia old spire, so there was a permanent guard detail on lookout. There hadn't been any major attacks in almost five years, though, and Beacon was becoming a bustling trade hub for goods coming and going from frontier outposts.The two didn't have a lot of time to spare after arriving, as Hilda wanted to reach Thraes Hold as soon as possible. They would leave the next morning, so they had to get Sheryl equipped. They got clothes fitted quickly at a tailor, and some padded leather armor with a breastpte fitted at an armorer's shop where, to Hilda's mild surprise, Sheryl also requested they purchase her a retively light shield made of curved steel. The felind admitted that she was hardly a martial expert, so having a good defensive fallback seemed necessary.The noblewoman had wanted to buy better armor, but Sheryl insisted she buy something cheap and reliable. The catgirl wanted to earn better armor on her own. Besides, Hilda still bought all the missing necessities and sundries that Sheryl needed, and insisted the free woman keep the gold from her former captor.When they finally had sufficient supplies, they retired to a quiet inn on the wealthier side of town. It was hardly luxurious, but they both had a comfortable cot to themselves to rest for the coming day.The next day, they left the city mid-morning, heading south. After a quiet day of travel, spent mostly talking and getting to know each other, they pitched a camp around sunset, setting up two tents and a fire for them to cook their dinner. It was dark when their dinner was ready, and both being little worn from the long day walking, the two ate and regarded each other in retive silence. That is, until Sheryl's eyes and ears perked up and her tail swished.“Someone is coming!” She hissed, looking around the dark surrounding their campsite.Frowning and coming to attention, Hilda whispered back in arm, “where?”After a quirk of her ears, Sheryl looked into the woods, away from the road, gesturing for Hilda to do the same. They sat for a long moment before Sheryl let out a soft gasp, hand still on her sword. Hilda didn't see their visitor until a few moments ter.Out of the foliage came the figure of a cloaked woman wearing leather, with an unstrung bow on her back and holding a dagger. The hood of her cloak was down, and Hilda could barely make out a telling green hue to her hair, that would have made her identity obvious if the pointed ears didn't. She was an elf. Hilda had seen plenty like the intruder in town around the DuSonde estate; Sondegürd y near the border of the Vexwood. All three of them were far from their ostensible homends.Hilda had always found the fell beauty of the elves entrancing even before she had remembered her past life. This woman was no exception, with an ethereal quality to her soft features. The elf was well covered with armor intended for scouting, and as she approached, Hilda recognized the accessory she wore around her neck.A sve colr. The kind that magically enforced orders. The elf had probably been a combat sve for frontier mercenaries.Hilda closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.