Zagaroth

  When Fuyuko, Shizoku, and Derek woke up at their campsite by the ending ke of the river level, they found a letter with notes on their performance. Kazue praised their iy, skills, and perseverance highly, but she did hat if they had takeime they could have started fishing and searg for treasures both above and below water up at the river's sourd along the river's course, not just in the ke at the end.

  Normally Kazue would include some extra performance-based prizes to be cimed, but she and Mordecai were still saving up to give the kids some bigger prizes, and it all had to bance.

  The trio debated spending more time here treasure hunting, but in the end, they decided it was best to move on and see what the floor held for them. They packed their boat back up and unched out into the ke to follow the se of the river.

  This proved to not be a terribly long ride, but they hadn't been able to make out the other side very well and had been too tired to deal with the unknown if they didn't have to. When they found a pier to tie up to, Shizoku looked out across the snd with disgust. "Well, I guess robes are going to not be an option for the rest of this zone. Anyway, I say we take the day to deal with our haul so far. I want to be careful with desg the fish, and we he rest anyway."

  Derek nodded and then walked along the water lio where the river blended into the wetnds. There he found a rock to sit on, and stared out at the s.

  Fuyuko frow his back before turning to Shizoku. "Is he okay?"

  "Yeah, he's just ihinking mode." Shizoku waved her hand dismissively at the . "Don't worry about it. He's got some idea he's chewing on, and he wants to make sure he's got it right." She grinned up at Fuyuko suddenly. "He doesn't seem like the brainy type at first, does he? I made that mistake too. He just likes to work his way through things meticulously."

  The kitsune shook her head and looked over at the boy fondly. "Mordecai did a good job pointi him."

  Fuyuko blinked in surprise before asking, "Wait, he set ya two up?"

  Shizoku shrugged, "It's a little more plicated than that, but pretty much, yes. I already khe type I liked in men, I just hadn't been able to see the potential in someone a little more my age. Derek's going to be strong, and is already kind and thoughtful. And I need someone hao moderate my temper, and someone who is patient and thh to slow me down."

  Now she giggled at Fuyuko's open mouth expression. "Don't mistake that freat wisdom and insight on my part. My family and my patron have been quite thh in making sure I am aware of both my strengths and my fws. I'm a three-tail at thirteen years old, I know I'm kind of awesome, but I know I'm not perfect. Well, except for when I fet." She shrugged, "And that's one of the things Derek is good at. He'll never be mean about it, but he's not at all afraid to call me out if I'm in the wrong."

  It took a little bit for the luponi girl to gather her thoughts back together after that. She was thoughtfully silent as she helped gather the st of their stuff and headed into the s-side vilge to find a room. Fuyuko found her voice agaihey were unpag. "I guess, that means yer are dating?"

  "I wish it was that simple," Shizoku huffed as she tossed a bag onto her bed. "Look, I figured out that he's probably perfee, he bances me out and smooths over my rough spots. And with a little help from his friends, Derek figured out that I liked him and asked me directly about it. And he's open to seeing how things go, but, well, he's youhan me and isn't very ied iing thing. So I'm kind of iween, a friend who gets to get away with flirting and messing with him a little." The thought made her growl with frustration, and theails suddenly drooped and she turo face Fuyuko.

  "I get scared sometimes," she said sadly, "I worry that I'll drive him off. But I 't not be me. I don't know how to stop being me, but even if I did, I don't think I could pretend around him. It would be too much like lying to Derek, and I really 't do that. And I'm the idiot who kept getting crushes on older men. So it's not like I really know what I'm doiher. I'm just kind of hoping that Mordecai and Kazue were right in pushing us toward each other."

  Fuyuko didn't know what to say, but she did remember something that had been done for her retly, so she simply hugged the smaller girl ahe kitsune cry out her stress. When she recovered, Shizoku stepped bad wiped at her eyes before frowning up at Fuyuko. "You don't tell him or ahat I cried, uand?"

  Shizoku's tone sounded like a threat, but Fuyuko was beginning to uand her new frieer, and she just smiled. "Dontcha worry. I gotcha."

  "Hmmp," Shizoku replied, and then asked, "What about you? Got your eye on anyone?"

  "Nah," Fuyuko scratched at her neck with a touch of shyness, "holy, the whole thing don't make much sea me. If it makes ya happy, the, but it feels kinda weird ta me."

  The kitsuilted her head inquisitively. "Really? But you're fourteen. Not being even curious would be a really te bloomer." Now she looked Fuyuko over with an analytical gaze. "You're lean, but you don't seem malnourished. Hmm. What is the lifespan of oni like? Wait, that might not be accurate for you anyway. I call on Mordecai? I've got something I'm curious about."

  "Um? Sure, I guess." She replied in fusion.

  Shizoku nodded, and then called out with a sharp emphasis, "Mordecai!" Fuyuko felt a faint hint of the dungeon's preseurning their way.

  A few moments ter, there was a knock at the door, but it was not who they were expeg. Instead, it was a bunkin who told them, "Master Mordecai and Mistress Kazue are a bit preoccupied, but I pass along messages if you need."

  "Huh," Shizoku said, "Well, I guess that will do. So, Fuyuko doesn't know anyone of her , does Mordecai know her equivalent age to humans and kitsune?"

  The bunkin's gaze went distant for a moment before he replied, "Master Mordecai says a normal fourteen-year-old oni would be close to a ten-year-old human or kitsune, as they are longer lived. Either of those mixed with an oni would be more like twelve years old. Mixing most shape-ger bloodlines would slightly accelerate the adolest phase, but Fuyuko is not a simple mix as her is her a stabilized ary nor a first-geion mix of two stable aries. This makes it much harder to tell, but now that he's doing his best to analyze her biology his best guess is that aspects of her maturation will be desynized retive to most adolest experiences, and some of it will e in fast bursts. If Fuyuko wants to go over details of what to expect, that is best relegated to a discussioween her and Kazue." The bunkin blinked as he processed what he'd just passed on and then looked like he was trying to blush. "Um, is that all?"

  "Yes, thank you," Shizoku said and closed the door when he left. "Well, that's iing." She turned back to Fuyuko. "I guess we shouldn't hang any specific expectations on ye, it's not a reliable tell. Well, things will happehey happen."

  "Er, kin ya break that down a touch more for me? I know how babies are made, but I think I'm missing somethin' here."

  Shizoku sighed, "I'm not sure if I should be gd this is part of my education or not. Well, let's start with a question. I've seen your supplies, I know you've had your first blood. Have you grown sihen?"

  Fuyuko blushed hard but nodded. She was the one who had asked to be taught after all.

  "Most of the time girls don't grow much if at all ohey bleed." Shizoku made a face at that, "Which means I am stuck at this height unless I actively ge my appearance. So if you are still growing anyway, that means you aren't following normal patterns. If that's been thrown off, thehing else is up in the air too. Maybe you'll wake up suddenly boy crazy tomorrow, maybe you won't be ied until you're twenty. Maybe this will be your build when you are older, maybe you bee an hss. Who knows? Well, Mordecai and Kazue seem to have a more precise idea than that, but you o talk with Kazue about that."

  She didn't like the idea of being that curvy. It sounded like it would be awkward and she already felt clumsy often enough as it was. "Alright, I'll ask her ter then."

  The two of them turned back to unpag all their prizes but the fish and began s them. Shizoku was able to identify some of the stones, such as some nice pieces of white nephrite, but there was a lot she didn't know here.

  By the time they were done, Derek had rejoihem and helped finish the s job, with all the items they still o identify now in one bag.

  "So," Shizoku asked when they were done, "what were you thinking about?"

  "The note from Kazue."

  "And?" She prompted.

  Derek shrugged, "I want to ask Fuyuko a little more about what she knows of this zone, but I don't know if it will make a difference. I think we might want to slow down and explore instead of fog on clearing the level."

  "Um," Fuyuko said slowly, "I don't think I know a lot. I know we have ta satisfy Carmil, she's the fairy pyin' the part of a s witch, and when we do she lets us escape or somethin'. But I don't think anything said we had to hunt her out first thing."

  Shizoku tapped her lips thoughtfully, "Derek, I would have thought you'd want to finish up."

  "I do, but I am not sure it's what is best here. They want to challenge us hard to give us good things, right? Well, the more we do, like, really work at doing, then the more they do tht? And there's something that feels different here. I think this will be good training for me."

  "Well, I guess if everyoside is okay with it, I don't see why we 't take our time," Shizoku replied. "Let's clear up our chores today. We o get the stones identified and figure out what we are keeping and splitting and what we are selling, we o get the scales off the fish ly and see what else we harvest from them. I bet they are tasty as well, so let's not waste it."

  Derek frow that st part. "Are you sure we should eat them? Aren't they dungeon monsters? They could be smart like the rabbits."

  The fox girl and the wolf girl turo him with expressions that clearly veyed their opinions of the idea of ing avaible meat. Shizoku answered him first, "That's sweet of you, but there are two points you should know. First, that only applies to some creatures, he ohat the dungeon has elevated in some way, and the fish aren't that sort of creature. Sed, for the most part, the dungeon still doesn't care. It's part of the cycle sihe inhabitants don't really die. My patron taught me a lot about this sort of thing sihe st time I visited. Now, Kazue's got a soft heart, so she might have some issue if we were eating the dire rabbits, but I don't think Mordecai or the other inhabitants would be bothered."

  "Besides," Fuyuko added, "you still eat things that talk at you. Gil and I ate the peryton that I killed and nearly killed me. No one's had a problem with that."

  And this is how the wolf girl found herself having to tell that part of her history in much more detail thawo had known before.

  Zagaroth