A Catgirl at Last

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I traced my steps through, and then out of, the town, scanning the treeline as I approached it. Surely Honse hadn't just left for good; that creature seemed smart enough to get her nerves together and return instead of running off into the sunset loaded down with tack and being eaten by a dire-bear, or something stupid. It didn't take long to spot Honse standing at the edge of the woods, munching on grass as if nothing had happened, and I made my way up to her.

I was within spitting distance of the poor creature who would never understand the meaning of her name, when a voice from above and behind wrenched my soul from my body. I grasped for my revolver and raised the crosshairs up towards what was unmistakably that cloaked "level 20 rogue" from before, perched atop a branch.

"Has nobody on Earth ever climbed a tree? Drawing a weapon is no way to treat someone who just got your mount back. Do you usually do that on Earth, too?"

She spoke English with an accent I couldn't possibly describe, other than that she enunciated her m's heavily in a way distinct from everyone else I'd heard.

Within the few seconds it took to process all that, I ran through a list of all the things she could be doing this for. To kill me? To kidnap me? To get close to me and find out all I know before killing me? Just to mess with me? Just out of curiosity? Maybe she's an agent of some lord somewhere? Maybe she's alone and just wants to rob me? Then how in high hell does she speak English? 

Well now you're just standing there not even directly looking at her. At least say something.

"What the hell?"

By the time I responded, she had adjusted her position on the branch, stretching and balancing herself in an almost... catlike way.

"Quite the charmer, are you? I thought I'd head out to see this 'offworlder' I'd heard so much about, but it seems I'll have to settle with you. What're you even doing, anyway? Running? You're a cut through the woods and two day's ride away from your mistake and you're still running? You don't seem like the paranoid type."

By now the initial shock had been entirely replaced with confused frustration towards whoever this was supposed to be.

"What's the meaning of this? What are you trying to accomplish? Who even are you?"

I stole a glance towards the guns I'd left strapped to Honse's saddle, and started backing towards them, swinging my head around me every couple seconds in case she (whose gender I still didn't know for sure) wasn't alone. If she tried anything, I wanted the highest possible chance of success. Did I even stand a chance, though? I mean I knew that my guns were a total game changer for an ordinary soldier, but if what I'd seen or heard was anything to go by, there were people here on-par with anime superheroes. 

I mean they've worked just fine so far, haven't they?

I could hear Honse munching grass something like ten feet behind me when I turned my attention back to the branch to see nobody there.

"I hope you're not trying to be anybody with just these toys."

Another jolt of panic, another 180 with a raised revolver, and there she was, standing on Honse's saddle with my tommygun dangling from her left hand and a sword in her right. 

Well, that settled it. I didn't bother with the crosshairs before opening fire. The crack of gunfire rebounded against my eardrums, and she didn't even flinch. Before I could pull the hammer for another shot that hopefully wouldn't miss, the gun was knocked from my hand with a stinging strike, and then I felt a slam on my belly that lurched me backwards and inwards as it drained my breath. The feeling of having the wind knocked out of me, combined with the conclusion that I was about to die or worse, made for a horrendous fraction of a second, before I forced my gaze back up to see her returning the sword (which I only now noticed was still sheathed) to her belt.

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