D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

Kat was starting to think that she was perhaps she was out of her depth. Watching Hunter dispatch hordes of corpse worms both in outside of their puppets was humbling in a way. To Kat, it showed that there was a difference between 'Rank 3' and 'Rank 3'.

Completely ignoring the fact that she'd manage to make it through getting her heart destroyed twice in quick succession then walked it off… at Rank 2. Kat was just much less lethal.

Of course Hunter was easily making up for that deficiency. Nothing that tried to attack lasted more than a few seconds, burning away to nothing with barely a glance. This was all without Hunter using her gun once, which was likely more lethal, at least in Kat's mind.

In truth it was more accurate to say the gun was 'differently lethal' but Kat had a hard time recognising that in the face of Hunter's prowess.

Which made it more concerning when she noticed that Hunter was starting to struggle. It wasn't on her face. She cut down worm pits, a bunch of giant gorilla things they were piloting, the not-bats and plenty others besides.

If you watched Hunter's face she barely reacted, and she slithered forward at a consistent and unchanging pace where the lamia only stopped to bash holes into the walls to reveal more worms to kill. If Kat was paying slightly less attention, or if her eyes were a bit worse she would've missed it…

But Hunter was starting to sweat. Not a thing Kat was certain the lamia could do, and certainly not in great quantities… but a little bit. It was mostly her 'human' half doing so, but that might just be the dust preventing it from being obvious lower down, or not. Kat had no idea how sweating even worked in lamias consider she herself didn't really sweat anymore.

It took a moment for Kat's brain to even register it might be a problem. All of the fire around sort of implied that it would be hot, so when Kat noticed it, she dismissed it at first. There was a bunch of fire, so why wouldn't Hunter be sweating. It took a few moments after that for Kat to really think about it… well that and perhaps brief poke from Lily pointing things out.

*So… should I actually do anything about it? No that's a stupid question. I SHOULD do something about it, but will bringing it to Hunter's attention actually make things better? Or should I just be ready to take over once she starts having issues? To ask or not to ask… probably safer to make it known I've noticed. I'd hate for Hunter to think I either don't care or I'm not paying attention.*

"Are you alright?" asked Kat.

"Of course," stated Hunter.

"Um… ok? I mean… how do I say this…" Kat paused to allow for Hunter to burn away another wave of attacking worms. "I guess I'll just say it? I noticed that you're starting to sweat and I suspect it's because you are pushing yourself… so do I need to step in or something?"

"It is within acceptable tolerances I can see this through," stated Hunter.

"Right… ok… so that's the truth as you see it… but IS that safe? Are you going to like… pass out as soon as this is over? I mean, I've done that before even WITH my regeneration… but you don't have that. So… is this going to be an issue?" asked Kat while trying not to sound accusatory.

Hunter let that hang in the air for a bit as she finished off the current batch of attacks… and when they were done it was strangely silent. Kat looked around but saw no more worms in the immediate vicinity, and all she could hear was the crackling fire. "Are we done?" asked Kat with some hope.

"No…" answered Hunter slowly. "Also I do worry that you may be correct about potential future issues. It is… admittedly straining to keep this going,"

Kat waited for the follow up. Hunter perhaps admitting that she needed help, or affirming that she would see it through the end. Nothing. Not another word even after knocking down another wall and throwing some fire in. "Right… and?" asked Kat after a minute of no response.

Hunter waited for another ten seconds before replying. "I do not appear to be comfortable stopping. I recognise you are likely correct. That I should rest now before continuing, or allow you to do so in my place but I find I am struggling to do so. It is not strictly necessary for me to stop to avoid injury and it appears I am going to push myself here,"

"That… how can you be so self-aware and yet so unwilling to act to fix the problem?" asked Kat, partially just to the air.

"I do not know. Perhaps it is because I have faith in you to ensure I survive this encounter. Perhaps because this is not an official hunt, though if anything that makes it worse now that I have given the issue some extra thought. Alas, it seems I am paying for my insolence. Something I neglected to mention before this is that I have not needed to deal with corpse worms for over a decade.

"Saying this aloud makes me wonder if perhaps D.E.M.O.N.S was intentionally keeping me away from them to ensure that any potential issues were mitigated… and yet now I find myself running into them while on the same team as someone who can calm my emotions and also seems to be quite friendly. Certainly more trustworthy then many other demons I've been teamed up with," stated Hunter.

"Wait… are you saying D.E.M.O.N.S planned this?" asked Kat.

"Perhaps… or perhaps not. It could be entirely coincidental. The chance is not one I am discounting," stated Hunter.

"I didn't realise that D.E.M.O.N.S did that sort of meddling," mused Kat.

"It does not, or at least, not in its entirety. I can see D.E.M.O.N.S ensuring that I do not have to deal with them as part of choosing 'suitable' demons for contracts. Making sure that I am in such a position with help available? That stinks of someone in the clan using a favour token to help engineer something like this.

Then again, D.E.M.O.N.S wouldn't allow the committee to risk the world to deal with my issues," explained Hunter.

"Right… counterpoint. What if saving the world involves dealing with your issues?" asked Kat
Stay tuned to M|VL|EM|PY|R

"I don't see how that is likely, we are here for drake," stated Hunter.

"What if it's a drake covered in corpse worms? Or just worms?" returned Kat.

Hunter shivered, the control over her flames faltering for a split second. Worms burst from the walls to try and take advantage of Hunter's brief lapse in attention but the flames quickly roared back into action burning them all along with a decent bit of the dirt surrounding the area, digging groves into the floor and walls. "I do not appreciate such jokes," stated Hunter.

"I'm not joking, but I will admit it's a bit mean. Now are you willing to take a break?" asked Kat.

"I feel as though I cannot," stated Hunter. *Right… well that's not exactly a surprise. So what do I do here? I'm still sort of lost as to how I should deal with Hunter. She's clearly very confident and I feel like if she was about to fall apart she could still probably deal with it… but I also feel like she's not in a good place no matter what her face might make it seem. So how do I HELP?*

"Hunter, do you trust me to protect you if you stop?" asked Kat as gently as she could.

"I… I don't know," stated Hunter.

"That's fine," said Kat. "Now, even knowing that, and knowing that you're worried… is it really safe to keep going like this? I understand that you feel like you need to keep going until the jobs done but I do have my own demonic fire. Even if it's not as powerful, or if you're right I'm not at as good at it, which is similar in effect here… I can still do something.

I can carry you, I can run away, and heck, I can throw out my own fire and hope for the best. I will ensure that nothing happens to you."

"It's not that simple," stated Hunter. Kat used a great deal of willpower to resist rolling her eyes or sighing out loud.

*Dammit Hunter I've already GOT that much. I am well fucking aware that this is not a simple issue and what few hints I'm getting tells me it's some serious trauma… but I can't help you manage that trauma if you won't let me in.

I admit that perhaps using my aura right at the start instead of asking permission and then keeping it running to help keep Hunter calm down once we entered the nest was a mistake. Still… have to deal with the hands you're dealt. So… how do I get through to her? I know Lily said to wait… and that was fine before but I'm not sure how long it'll stay fine.*