Chapter 494: Down in the Dark Hole
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Kat jumped straight down the newly made hole, very thankful that Stone had somehow been able to eyeball her wingspan at some point and make a hole to accommodate for that. As Kat fell, she observed her surrounding and instantly came to a conclusion she didn't like… and that was the realisation that despite the huge number of rats Stone had killed, it wasn't even close to enough. A veritable wave of the things was already washing in her direction and she didn't think some fancy blade would help her here.
Kat wanted to freeze. Her mind didn't know how to react. She'd be fine. Probably. Her regeneration would take care of it. She wasn't scared of course but… she had no idea what to do. There was too much, and she'd been told not to use her fire too much inside the mines. Then, as the first rats started to touch her body a small part of her mind spoke up. 'We aren't in the mines anymore' and 'As long as it isn't too much fire'
Another part of her mind tried to argue back, 'this is dangerous' and 'this is a bad idea' but a second later when another five rats came into contact with Kat's body, the only response was FIRE. Purple blazed out of her form, wreathing her in a bright light that would hurt mortals to look at. The temperature plummeted as the fire slithered out, sinking deeply into the bodies of hundreds of rats at a time as it BURNED and while freezing the vermin solid.
Kat spun herself around, throwing flames as she went, her tail extended and crushing the rats that had frozen, dispersing them into thousands of fragments, now unrecognisable from any other as yet more fire spilled out from her. In just a few seconds Kat had used up half her energy reserves, but the area around her was silent.
Untold numbers of rats surrounded her still, but all frozen in place with whisps of purple fire still leaving the corpses, making the temperature alone enough to end any of the rats, not that there was likely to be any, that escaped Kat's rampage. She took in a deep breath, trying to real in her instincts that still wanted her to throw just a bit more fire on it.
*Um… woops?*
Kat looked out over the sea of frozen rats and was shocked at how serene it all looked. Just moments ago it had seemed a little unsettling but now that she looked, the slight shine from the remnants of her fire, the glassy finish across all the rats, even the scattered pieces of ice that glittered.
*You know… maybe this is fine.* "What the HECK KAT!" shouted Sue "How are Kamiko and I supposed to come down there when you've frozen everything. I can feel it chilling my nipples from up here and I'm not prepared to jump down"
"Um…" Kat heard Kamiko's much quieter voice ring out after Sue finished, "I'm like Kat and have an ice constitution. I'll be fine…"
"Of course" grumbled Sue, "I had to end up with the two frosty b-" Kat heard something impact something else. It was almost like a door being slammed. She couldn't see it, but what had happened was Stone slapping Sue's horns who groaned in groaned in response. "Oi, Stone, what the heck. They both have ice flames. I have the right to be mad!"
Stone sighed, and gestured to Kamiko hoping she'd be able to explain. When Kamiko just looked at him confused Stone gestured for them to remove their headphones. Kat couldn't hear them, but he said, "You know as well as I do Sue that you can summon up your own flames to keep yourself warm. You don't need to complain"
Kat did here the response though, which to her was out of place. "Oh sure, but that's a massive drain on my energy. How can I keep that going, plus two shields? I'm good, but not that good Stony."
Stone sighed, "Fine let me see if I have a coat for you…"
Stone stuck his hand into his palm before digging around for something. Eventually his eyes lit up and he pulled out a jacket. It was a thick trench coat like design with bright reflective strips across the entire thing to help with it's visibility. "Here" said Stone
Sue's eyebrows shot up. "You want me to wear that ugly thing that's at least twice my size? It's not just a jacket it's a walking fashion disaster."
Stone's eyes narrowed and his back straightened. "Now, I was going to let Kat and Kamiko deal with this for the most part, but your attitude has always been a problem. I know your parents are just as bad, but they have power to back it up. They also know when to stow the attitude, or to make it funny. Now. You can either take this jacket with warming enchantments and jump down to Kat, or, I can throw you down right now. And guess what the only way you can leave is?"
Sue paled at this but Kamiko grinned, "Kat. She's the only one who can fly"
"Indeed." said Stone, "Look Sue, I understand this is not a pleasant job, but you want be on the frontline and I did explain, in detail, what you were going to be doing. I didn't downplay it, and the only reason I've been so patient with you so far is because it is gross and unpleasant and I know you can't help but run your mouth. Still, biting the hand that's offering to feed you is the height of stupidity. I didn't feel the need to make this a Contracted job, but I will if I have to Sue."
Sue grimaced at that, knowing that if this was really a Contracted job she'd have been forced to go along already. Swiping the jacket out of Stone's hands she draped it over herself and felt like a clown. The jacket might have well been a dress with how low it come, covering everything except her feet. It say uncomfortably on her shoulders and she needed to do the jacket up just to avoid it from falling off because of the extra size.
The only thing that helped the jacket fit at all, was the size of her assets, which filled it out slightly more than it would otherwise. Without those four additional orbs of flesh the jacket would have just fallen off anyway. The enchantments were for self repair and temperature regulation, not resizing.
Seeing her wearing the outfit, Kamiko nodded and jumped down into the hole, easily taking the impact on her knees. Despite this, the ice still cracked a bit under her feet, as she'd landed a bit to the side of Kat and hadn't used the stone platform Stone had provided. The ice was solid enough, but not really up to taking that kind of impact.
Still, Kamiko placed her earmuffs back on and waited for Sue to go down. After waiting for a minute and seeing nothing, Kamiko was about to just get started on the rats but Stone was of a similar idea and picked her up after placing her earmuffs back on. "Wait!" shouted Sue
But Stone didn't listen. He'd given her enough chances to officially back out or get on with it, and decided to force the issue. Stone noticed Kamiko waiting to catch Sue, and a dark thought passed through his mind urging him to throw her away from the smaller demon. Still, logic won out. He'd have to really throw Sue if he wanted Kamiko to be unable to catch her, and that would be potentially lethal at those sorts of speeds, and frankly, it was just unprofessional and likely to cause issues for Kamiko.
"Noooooo!" shouted Sue as she fell, not even trying to use her wings to help with the descent. Kamiko caught her easily though, taking her weight and resting her in a bridal carry for a few seconds to get her to recover, but just dumping her to the side. Sue stumbled slightly, courtesy of the ice, but she managed to recover with enough grace to keep herself upright.
"What? Can't handle this for more than a few seconds?" snarked Sue automatically as she tried to regain some calm.
Kamiko sighed. "I just assumed you'd find it embarrassing. Plus, I at least went to the trouble of catching you. Wouldn't want you to crack the ice and fall through…"
Sue winced, but her mouth was faster then her mind, "I'd never find being carried embarrassing, it's just my place, to be above the ground"
"Yeah and a burden to everyone else" said Kat without really thinking. *Oof. I… that was meaner sounding out loud then I intended. But… I mean… I'm not wrong? Just… ugh, she really is though. She's just complained and held us up at this point. Granted, I wouldn't want Kamiko to go in without her help but… I really don't know if I trust her to keep Kamiko safe at this point.*
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Kat jumped straight down the newly made hole, very thankful that Stone had somehow been able to eyeball her wingspan at some point and make a hole to accommodate for that. As Kat fell, she observed her surrounding and instantly came to a conclusion she didn't like… and that was the realisation that despite the huge number of rats Stone had killed, it wasn't even close to enough. A veritable wave of the things was already washing in her direction and she didn't think some fancy blade would help her here.
Kat wanted to freeze. Her mind didn't know how to react. She'd be fine. Probably. Her regeneration would take care of it. She wasn't scared of course but… she had no idea what to do. There was too much, and she'd been told not to use her fire too much inside the mines. Then, as the first rats started to touch her body a small part of her mind spoke up. 'We aren't in the mines anymore' and 'As long as it isn't too much fire'
Another part of her mind tried to argue back, 'this is dangerous' and 'this is a bad idea' but a second later when another five rats came into contact with Kat's body, the only response was FIRE. Purple blazed out of her form, wreathing her in a bright light that would hurt mortals to look at. The temperature plummeted as the fire slithered out, sinking deeply into the bodies of hundreds of rats at a time as it BURNED and while freezing the vermin solid.
Kat spun herself around, throwing flames as she went, her tail extended and crushing the rats that had frozen, dispersing them into thousands of fragments, now unrecognisable from any other as yet more fire spilled out from her. In just a few seconds Kat had used up half her energy reserves, but the area around her was silent.
Untold numbers of rats surrounded her still, but all frozen in place with whisps of purple fire still leaving the corpses, making the temperature alone enough to end any of the rats, not that there was likely to be any, that escaped Kat's rampage. She took in a deep breath, trying to real in her instincts that still wanted her to throw just a bit more fire on it.
*Um… woops?*
Kat looked out over the sea of frozen rats and was shocked at how serene it all looked. Just moments ago it had seemed a little unsettling but now that she looked, the slight shine from the remnants of her fire, the glassy finish across all the rats, even the scattered pieces of ice that glittered.
*You know… maybe this is fine.* "What the HECK KAT!" shouted Sue "How are Kamiko and I supposed to come down there when you've frozen everything. I can feel it chilling my nipples from up here and I'm not prepared to jump down"
"Um…" Kat heard Kamiko's much quieter voice ring out after Sue finished, "I'm like Kat and have an ice constitution. I'll be fine…"
"Of course" grumbled Sue, "I had to end up with the two frosty b-" Kat heard something impact something else. It was almost like a door being slammed. She couldn't see it, but what had happened was Stone slapping Sue's horns who groaned in groaned in response. "Oi, Stone, what the heck. They both have ice flames. I have the right to be mad!"
Stone sighed, and gestured to Kamiko hoping she'd be able to explain. When Kamiko just looked at him confused Stone gestured for them to remove their headphones. Kat couldn't hear them, but he said, "You know as well as I do Sue that you can summon up your own flames to keep yourself warm. You don't need to complain"
Kat did here the response though, which to her was out of place. "Oh sure, but that's a massive drain on my energy. How can I keep that going, plus two shields? I'm good, but not that good Stony."
Stone sighed, "Fine let me see if I have a coat for you…"
Stone stuck his hand into his palm before digging around for something. Eventually his eyes lit up and he pulled out a jacket. It was a thick trench coat like design with bright reflective strips across the entire thing to help with it's visibility. "Here" said Stone
Sue's eyebrows shot up. "You want me to wear that ugly thing that's at least twice my size? It's not just a jacket it's a walking fashion disaster."
Stone's eyes narrowed and his back straightened. "Now, I was going to let Kat and Kamiko deal with this for the most part, but your attitude has always been a problem. I know your parents are just as bad, but they have power to back it up. They also know when to stow the attitude, or to make it funny. Now. You can either take this jacket with warming enchantments and jump down to Kat, or, I can throw you down right now. And guess what the only way you can leave is?"
Sue paled at this but Kamiko grinned, "Kat. She's the only one who can fly"
"Indeed." said Stone, "Look Sue, I understand this is not a pleasant job, but you want be on the frontline and I did explain, in detail, what you were going to be doing. I didn't downplay it, and the only reason I've been so patient with you so far is because it is gross and unpleasant and I know you can't help but run your mouth. Still, biting the hand that's offering to feed you is the height of stupidity. I didn't feel the need to make this a Contracted job, but I will if I have to Sue."
Sue grimaced at that, knowing that if this was really a Contracted job she'd have been forced to go along already. Swiping the jacket out of Stone's hands she draped it over herself and felt like a clown. The jacket might have well been a dress with how low it come, covering everything except her feet. It say uncomfortably on her shoulders and she needed to do the jacket up just to avoid it from falling off because of the extra size.
The only thing that helped the jacket fit at all, was the size of her assets, which filled it out slightly more than it would otherwise. Without those four additional orbs of flesh the jacket would have just fallen off anyway. The enchantments were for self repair and temperature regulation, not resizing.
Seeing her wearing the outfit, Kamiko nodded and jumped down into the hole, easily taking the impact on her knees. Despite this, the ice still cracked a bit under her feet, as she'd landed a bit to the side of Kat and hadn't used the stone platform Stone had provided. The ice was solid enough, but not really up to taking that kind of impact.
Still, Kamiko placed her earmuffs back on and waited for Sue to go down. After waiting for a minute and seeing nothing, Kamiko was about to just get started on the rats but Stone was of a similar idea and picked her up after placing her earmuffs back on. "Wait!" shouted Sue
But Stone didn't listen. He'd given her enough chances to officially back out or get on with it, and decided to force the issue. Stone noticed Kamiko waiting to catch Sue, and a dark thought passed through his mind urging him to throw her away from the smaller demon. Still, logic won out. He'd have to really throw Sue if he wanted Kamiko to be unable to catch her, and that would be potentially lethal at those sorts of speeds, and frankly, it was just unprofessional and likely to cause issues for Kamiko.
"Noooooo!" shouted Sue as she fell, not even trying to use her wings to help with the descent. Kamiko caught her easily though, taking her weight and resting her in a bridal carry for a few seconds to get her to recover, but just dumping her to the side. Sue stumbled slightly, courtesy of the ice, but she managed to recover with enough grace to keep herself upright.
"What? Can't handle this for more than a few seconds?" snarked Sue automatically as she tried to regain some calm.
Kamiko sighed. "I just assumed you'd find it embarrassing. Plus, I at least went to the trouble of catching you. Wouldn't want you to crack the ice and fall through…"
Sue winced, but her mouth was faster then her mind, "I'd never find being carried embarrassing, it's just my place, to be above the ground"
"Yeah and a burden to everyone else" said Kat without really thinking. *Oof. I… that was meaner sounding out loud then I intended. But… I mean… I'm not wrong? Just… ugh, she really is though. She's just complained and held us up at this point. Granted, I wouldn't want Kamiko to go in without her help but… I really don't know if I trust her to keep Kamiko safe at this point.*
Kat jumped straight down the newly made hole, very thankful that Stone had somehow been able to eyeball her wingspan at some point and make a hole to accommodate for that. As Kat fell, she observed her surrounding and instantly came to a conclusion she didn't like and that was the realisation that despite the huge number of rats Stone had killed, it wasn't even close to enough. A veritable wave of the things was already washing in her direction and she didn't think some fancy blade would help her here.Kat wanted to freeze. Her mind didn't know how to react. She'd be fine. Probably. Her regeneration would take care of it. She wasn't scared of course but she had no idea what to do. There was too much, and she'd been told not to use her fire too much inside the mines. Then, as the first rats started to touch her body a small part of her mind spoke up. 'We aren't in the mines anymore' and 'As long as it isn't too much fire'Another part of her mind tried to argue back, 'this is dangerous' and 'this is a bad idea' but a second later when another five rats came into contact with Kat's body, the only response was FIRE. Purple blazed out of her form, wreathing her in a bright light that would hurt mortals to look at. The temperature plummeted as the fire slithered out, sinking deeply into the bodies of hundreds of rats at a time as it BURNED and while freezing the vermin solid.Kat spun herself around, throwing flames as she went, her tail extended and crushing the rats that had frozen, dispersing them into thousands of fragments, now unrecognisable from any other as yet more fire spilled out from her. In just a few seconds Kat had used up half her energy reserves, but the area around her was silent.Untold numbers of rats surrounded her still, but all frozen in place with whisps of purple fire still leaving the corpses, making the temperature alone enough to end any of the rats, not that there was likely to be any, that escaped Kat's rampage. She took in a deep breath, trying to real in her instincts that still wanted her to throw just a bit more fire on it.*Um woops?*Kat looked out over the sea of frozen rats and was shocked at how serene it all looked. Just moments ago it had seemed a little unsettling but now that she looked, the slight shine from the remnants of her fire, the glassy finish across all the rats, even the scattered pieces of ice that glittered.*You know maybe this is fine.* "What the HECK KAT!" shouted Sue "How are Kamiko and I supposed to come down there when you've frozen everything. I can feel it chilling my nipples from up here and I'm not prepared to jump down""Um" Kat heard Kamiko's much quieter voice ring out after Sue finished, "I'm like Kat and have an ice constitution. I'll be fine""Of course" grumbled Sue, "I had to end up with the two frosty b-" Kat heard something impact something else. It was almost like a door being slammed. She couldn't see it, but what had happened was Stone slapping Sue's horns who groaned in groaned in response. "Oi, Stone, what the heck. They both have ice flames. I have the right to be mad!"Stone sighed, and gestured to Kamiko hoping she'd be able to explain. When Kamiko just looked at him confused Stone gestured for them to remove their headphones. Kat couldn't hear them, but he said, "You know as well as I do Sue that you can summon up your own flames to keep yourself warm. You don't need to complain"Kat did here the response though, which to her was out of place. "Oh sure, but that's a massive drain on my energy. How can I keep that going, plus two shields? I'm good, but not that good Stony."Stone sighed, "Fine let me see if I have a coat for you"Stone stuck his hand into his palm before digging around for something. Eventually his eyes lit up and he pulled out a jacket. It was a thick trench coat like design with bright reflective strips across the entire thing to help with it's visibility. "Here" said StoneSue's eyebrows shot up. "You want me to wear that ugly thing that's at least twice my size? It's not just a jacket it's a walking fashion disaster."Stone's eyes narrowed and his back straightened. "Now, I was going to let Kat and Kamiko deal with this for the most part, but your attitude has always been a problem. I know your parents are just as bad, but they have power to back it up. They also know when to stow the attitude, or to make it funny. Now. You can either take this jacket with warming enchantments and jump down to Kat, or, I can throw you down right now. And guess what the only way you can leave is?"Sue paled at this but Kamiko grinned, "Kat. She's the only one who can fly""Indeed." said Stone, "Look Sue, I understand this is not a pleasant job, but you want be on the frontline and I did explain, in detail, what you were going to be doing. I didn't downplay it, and the only reason I've been so patient with you so far is because it is gross and unpleasant and I know you can't help but run your mouth. Still, biting the hand that's offering to feed you is the height of stupidity. I didn't feel the need to make this a Contracted job, but I will if I have to Sue."Sue grimaced at that, knowing that if this was really a Contracted job she'd have been forced to go along already. Swiping the jacket out of Stone's hands she draped it over herself and felt like a clown. The jacket might have well been a dress with how low it come, covering everything except her feet. It say uncomfortably on her shoulders and she needed to do the jacket up just to avoid it from falling off because of the extra size.The only thing that helped the jacket fit at all, was the size of her assets, which filled it out slightly more than it would otherwise. Without those four additional orbs of flesh the jacket would have just fallen off anyway. The enchantments were for self repair and temperature regulation, not resizing.Seeing her wearing the outfit, Kamiko nodded and jumped down into the hole, easily taking the impact on her knees. Despite this, the ice still cracked a bit under her feet, as she'd landed a bit to the side of Kat and hadn't used the stone platform Stone had provided. The ice was solid enough, but not really up to taking that kind of impact.Still, Kamiko placed her earmuffs back on and waited for Sue to go down. After waiting for a minute and seeing nothing, Kamiko was about to just get started on the rats but Stone was of a similar idea and picked her up after placing her earmuffs back on. "Wait!" shouted SueBut Stone didn't listen. He'd given her enough chances to officially back out or get on with it, and decided to force the issue. Stone noticed Kamiko waiting to catch Sue, and a dark thought passed through his mind urging him to throw her away from the smaller demon. Still, logic won out. He'd have to really throw Sue if he wanted Kamiko to be unable to catch her, and that would be potentially lethal at those sorts of speeds, and frankly, it was just unprofessional and likely to cause issues for Kamiko."Noooooo!" shouted Sue as she fell, not even trying to use her wings to help with the descent. Kamiko caught her easily though, taking her weight and resting her in a bridal carry for a few seconds to get her to recover, but just dumping her to the side. Sue stumbled slightly, courtesy of the ice, but she managed to recover with enough grace to keep herself upright. "What? Can't handle this for more than a few seconds?" snarked Sue automatically as she tried to regain some calm.Kamiko sighed. "I just assumed you'd find it embarrassing. Plus, I at least went to the trouble of catching you. Wouldn't want you to crack the ice and fall through"Sue winced, but her mouth was faster then her mind, "I'd never find being carried embarrassing, it's just my place, to be above the ground""Yeah and a burden to everyone else" said Kat without really thinking. *Oof. I that was meaner sounding out loud then I intended. But I mean I'm not wrong? Just ugh, she really is though. She's just complained and held us up at this point. Granted, I wouldn't want Kamiko to go in without her help but I really don't know if I trust her to keep Kamiko safe at this point.*
