Getting To Know Risty

"Whew! That's a lot of stuff!" Roman said looking at a sizable pile of gear and supplies that was Ristys loot. Risty was feeling much better, practically good as new thanks to the healing herbs. She had lead him to her hideout, which was just a basic camp with a tent pitched between some boulders.

"Sorry," she said chuckling and rubbing the back of her neck, grinning. "It's not all stuff from your guys I beat up, though. Some of it's mine. Well, was mine. I guess that makes it yours now."

Roman shook his head and shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry about. That's what this life is like and the nature of loot after all. We'll return a good portion of stuff that the camp needs and to avoid hard feelings and keep some of the choice bits. And your stuff is your stuff. Anything you had before is definitely yours and if there's stuff that's important to you I'm fine with you keeping it, Risty. Let's start going through it all and figuring out how we'll pack it out of here."

Risty knelt down with him giving him a nice view of her legs, ass and breasts. Her outfit didn't leave much to the imagination. "Ok. Can't say I'm particularly attached to any of it. No gold or jewels or other treasures and even if there were what would I spend them on? Not like I could send them home to the orphanage."

Roman started packing up the foodstuffs setting some aside for their dinner and breakfast. They'd probably leave in the morning. "Is that why you became "the Benevolent Bandit of the Wilderness"? To help an orphanage?"

Risty nodded. "Yeah but I was already doing that and helping others too. The lord of the domain I was from was a corrupt noble. The Vance family and those like them lived well but the common folks not so much and the less fortunate starved. I hated the nobles... until Leina that is."

Roman smiled. "This Leina person was different I take it?"

Rusty smiled. "Yeah. Leina Vance. Or more commonly known as Leina the Wandering or Exiled Warrior. We... crossed blades early on and I didn't think much of her. Tried to collect the reward for returning her to her people... and steal some valuables in the process! But that quickly changed. We became friends. She had walked away from her title and family, had a strong sense of justice and a compassion for the weak... and little by little grew from a weak but brave pampered little rich girl into a respectable and capable warrior and adventurer who helped people."

Roman smiled. "Sounds nice. A friendly rival you respected."

Risky nodded and smiled too. "And an ally too. Leina was... special."

Roman shrugged. "You are too. Sounds like you had a hand in making her that way. So you became a bandit out of necessity?"

Risty smiled at his kind words that made her feel good. He was good at that. She shrugged. "I suppose. It definitely started that way. But this life? It suits me. I like fighting, stealing, traveling, doing the occasional mercenary work and even living like this." She took a drink from the flask. "Woooo! Being this way?"

Roman grinned. "It suits you! The adventurers lifestyle! I'm the same way. I could have done anything. This? I chose this!"

She laughed. "Two of a kind then! I'll drink to that! Aaahh!"

"Score!" Roman said setting some blankets and even a few sleeping bags aside with every intent of keeping them. There was another tent too like Ristys! Those would make the girls happy! "Hey pass me that flask back! This deserves a drink!"

Risty blinked and sheepishly handed back his flask. Roman looked at her flushed face and shook his flask. It sounded like there was somewhere between a half of a swallow and a sip left inside. "Seriously? You're a drinker, I guess."

Risty nodded as he tilted back the flask and drank what little remained. "Yeah. I love drinking! Sorry about not sharing more."

Roman smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. I'm glad you liked it!" Though he had already known. He'd checked her stats during his walk earlier.

[Risty

Bandit of the Wilderness

Occupation: Bandit Leader/Theif/Sometime Mercenary

Human

Hair: Red, long

Eyes: Purple

Height: Approximately 5'10" (178 cm)

Weight: ?

Bust: 35" E (90 cm)

Waist: 24" (62 cm)

Hips: 33" (85 cm)

Owner, Roman

Relationship +2

Submission +1

Lust +1

Likes: Meat, ****, Stealing valuables, Bathing - Especially in tubs & hot springs.

Dislikes: Being called a monkey, Bossy people (That last made him wonder briefly how she and Saya were going to get along? Well he supposed he'd find out.)

Strengths: Exceptional Physical Strength, Agility, Speed, Toughness and Resilience. Courageous, Cunning and Compassionate. Excels at making powerful, swift and Rapid "flurry of blows" style attacks. Acomplished theif with appropriate skill set. Skilled with bludgeoning weapons and Shields. Naturally gifted but untrained brawler and grappler. Unarmed strikes are almost or just as powerful as those with her favored heavy Morningstar.

Weaknesses: Can be blinded by treasure. Tendency towards foolhardy bravery and violent hot-headed behavior in certain situations. "Sensitive Butt".

Masturbation: 1

Orgasm count: 3 ]

The "Sensitive Butt" at the end made Roman feel a bit bad again. Apparently he had accidentally targeted a weakness? Or... had he developed one for her? It looked like it had been added on to the end. Was it "new"? He wasn't sure but he was more than a little intrigued. It wasn't listed under "likes"... yet. Would it "evolve" like some of Knives info had if it changed into a...?! He shook his head and was trying hard not to think about it or what those things meant... but it was hard not too. He was curious... and it was exciting to contemplate.

Their other current stats were at Relationship of +2 already so there had been some kind of a positive bonus already. There was also "Submission" at a +1. Was that on account of how he'd gotten her to finally acknowledge her loss? And both "Lust" and her masturbation count were at one and her orgasm count was at... three? When, where and how had some of that happened? Had she been actually... getting off on some of the things that had happened earlier? Possibly... but he didn't feel like it was the right place or time to contemplate it. But, again, it was hard not to be curious! Those thoughts joined the nagging cue with all the others in the back of his mind. Best to focus on the rest of the summary.

So basically Risty was a fast, strong and tough close in fighter with some rouge like tricks up her sleeve... figuratively. Her outfit didn't have them... or much for that matter. He could respect that. They weren't all that dissimilar. Sure their tactics and tricks might differ but they were similar types. And with Knives in the mix they all had complimentary styles and skill overlaps... with the exception of Saya.

Not that Saya was without her strengths. It was just fighting wasn't exactly one of them. Still she could help devising strategies and even be the backup strategist for when he wasn't around. If she could become a halfway decent shot he felt their quartet could start becoming a rather capable band... or maybe if they picked up a ranged specialist?

He shook his head. He'd just gotten a third he wasn't expecting and was already wondering about his next? Maybe he'd caught Pokémon Fever? Probably not... Still he resolved to stay on the look out for the warning signs of "Gotta-catch-'em all-itis". Until then it was best to focus on the task at hand.

"Hmm? What's this?" Roman asked holding up folded a scrap of paper.

Risky tilted her head to one side then snapped her fingers. "Oh, that! I don't know. I had it when I woke up here. Actually I think it's-"

"A piece of a map!" Roman said grinning hold up the piece he'd aquired.

Risky grinned and slapped her knee excitedly... which Roman noticed drew attention to not only her muscular legs and exposed barely thong covered crotch in her unladylike pose but made her voluptuous breasts wobble enticingly. "Haha! Now that's some good fortune! Let's put them together and see!"

Roman **** his eyes to look up and meet her eyes and grinned too. "Lets finish packing up most of this stuff first. Then we can sit around the campfire, have some dinner and try to figure this out while we wait for morning!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Risty said happily.

They finished packing most things up. Roman was glad they'd be trekking mostly downhill tomorrow instead of up. Still it promised to be a grueling trip. He had Risty build a fire while he started meal prep. "Hmmm... let's see. Nice we got some dried meat. I know what I'll make. How does meat stew sound to you?"

*Stomach Growl*

He looked up to see Risty wiping away drool a bit red faced. "Uh, that sounds fine, I guess," she said trying to play it cool.

Roman chuckled. Her "Likes" didn't lie. She was definitely a carnivore woman. "I mean I could make something else," he teased. "I could pick us some dandelion greens and mash them with some wild roots into a vegetable dish, if you'd prefer that. Nice and healthy."

"Uh, no thanks," Risty said. "Besides that sounds like a lot of work. If you've already got meat- I mean the stuff to make a stew that sounds simpler."

Roman grinned. "Alright. Meat Stew it is," he said pulling out some wild vegetables he'd gathered during the hike to go with the dried meat.

"Okay," Risty said happily... but then she made a face as he pulled out something else. "Hold up what is that?!"

Roman shrugged and started slicing up the thing in question into long strips. "Dried Slime. If you wring the insides out and are careful with the skin membrane they look like this. Dry them out, cut them up like so and boil them and they actually make a pretty good noodle like substitute- what?"

Risty's face had turned comically blue. "Slimes?! That's... kind of gross sounding," she said unenthusiastically.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Have you ever tried it?" He asked and she immediately shook her head in the negative. "Well then you can judge it after trying it for yourself... Don't give me that look and don't be a baby. If I cook it, you can at least try it!"

"Who do you think you are? You're not the boss of-... oh, yeah," she made a face. "I forgot you're my "owner" now. I guess I better get used to you bossing me around. Fat chance of that."

"No," Roman said cutting up ingredients. "Sure there maybe times I need you to do what I say because our situation and survival may depend on it. But I'm not interested in ordering you around all the time either."

"You arent?" She asked surprised.

Roman nodded. "That's what I said. Other owners do things differently but that sounds tedious to me. Worse even... boring. If I tell you to do something I want you to know that it's in our best interests... and the same goes for you if you tell me to do something." He smiled. "Some of my mothers who raised me and my siblings are chefs. If someone cares enough to make you something to eat the decent thing is to at least try it. We have slimes in abundance at our basecamp and we've been including them in our diet and other uses. If you do me the favor of trying it and you honestly don't like it, then you can eat around it and I'll eat it when you're done. Deal?"

"Deal," Risty said after considering that for a moment. "You'd really eat my leftovers?"

Roman nodded smiling. "Our parents told us kids... "Wasting food is a sin"."

Risty smiled remembering her parents, then the bandit leader who'd adopted her when they died and even the sisters at the orphanage she'd visit and support telling the little kids the same. "Fine. I'll try to keep that in mind... and I'll try to keep that in mind when you tell me things too. Though I gotta say. You're not at all what I expected of an "owner". You keep surprising me."

"In a good way?" He asked adding ingredients to the pot and stirring.

She rested her elbow on her knee and propped her chin up in her hand, watching him with a smile. "Yeah, so far." He was interesting to her in a way that few men had been.

"Alright, well let's let that simmer," Roman said covering the pot over the fire. "Now let's look at these map pieces!" He moved around the fire to sit next to her.

They pulled out and compared the map pieces. The material seemed to be the same type and texture and used the same markings to represent things like mountains and forest and trails but...

"Hmm... odd," Risty said holding the pieces together in different ways. "They don't seem to exactly match up."

Roman sighed but nodded. "That's what they look like to me too. Either we're missing a piece... or they're parts to two different maps."

Rusty studied his. "This here... it might be the coast and... jungle? Or a swamp maybe?"

Roman nodded. "I was thinking that too. And here on yours... I think that might be those mountains over there. Through that pass maybe? And beyond... is that a desert?"

Rusty shrugged. "I was thinking that too when I saw it but I didn't go that way. I didn't have the provisions for it. That's why... well, you know."

Roman chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I get it. That's part if the reason you were gathering stuff. Honestly? I would have done the same!"

They both grinned as they understood each other and thought a little alike. Risty kept looking over the pieces as he stirred the stew. "Do you think they're treasure maps... and if so what kinds of treasures?"

Roman hummed in thought as he sipped the broth then blew on another spoonful to cool it before offering it to her to taste. Risty blushed a little at the gesture and bashfully sipped it... before quickly deciding she liked it and sticking the whole spoon in her mouth! It had a rich, meaty taste and thickness and the wild vegetables gave it pleasantly earthy aroma.

"I don't know," Roman said covering it simmer some more. The longer it did, the better it would taste. He thought sbout the caverns. "It could be survival gear, items or materials... or it could be another Character or even both. Could even be another place to build a camp or settlement. It's hard to say." He rubbed his chin. "The thing that concerns me is how many of these maps are there and how common are they to come across?"

Risty blinked and thought then nodded. "You mean if they're commonplace there maybe competition for discovering their secrets!"

Roman smirked and nodded. "Exactly. That's exactly the kind of thing the game developers would do for good ratings. It must seem strange to you, huh?"

Risty smirked now and shook her head. "Not really. In my world we have a big tournament and fights leading up to it just to get there and compete to see who's "queen". The Queen's Blade tournament. They're broadcast by angels for the whole continent to bear witness too... or they're supposed to." She snorted. "We had the angel Nanael doing some of that but she was a bit of a handful and sometimes unreliable. So no, it honestly doesn't seem that strange to me at all."

Roman chuckled. "That actually does sound really interesting! I'll have to see if I can watch those when we get out of here."

Risky blushed a little more she wasn't exactly shy about her body but some fights were more... titillating than others. She waited for awhile and then said, "You're not going to ask are you."

Roman shook his head. "If you didn't win, then I'm sure it was close. You can tell me if you want but either way that was there and then, not here and now. I lose... It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Unexpected variables, dumb luck or just an unwinnable situation from the start. But with every loss I try to learn something. Grow stronger and become a better opponent. I'm betting that you're the same."

Risty sighed and nodded. "I try and I did lose in the end. Leina won. She'd gotten strong. I knew she would right from the beginning. She's more like you. Learns something from every defeat, every opponent. In someways she started the weakest and became the strongest. And then she was strong enough to walk away. She turned down being Queen of Gainos to continue her journey."

Roman smiled and stirred the stew. "Sounds like... someone I know."

"A rival?" Risty asked sniffing tgen wiping her mouth of drool. "Is it ready yet?"

Roman chuckled and adter a moment nodded. "Close enough. Hand me that- heh!" She was already holding out the metal cup he'd given her earlier for the tea. He took it and started filling it up for her. "There's sporks er they're, spoon fork combinations in my kit. In my backpack. Right front pouch... and sort of a rival. My brother. He was strong enough to walk away and seek his own path. Here you go, careful it's hot." he said handing her the cup as she handed him his own spork.

Risty barely paused long enough to blow on the food before sticking it in her mouth. She started comically huffing and puffing like a kid trying to cool her mouth but- "Eeeee! Sho' gud! Mmmmm!"

Roman chuckled and filled his cup up. He took his time blowing on the food though. Infact he'd barely gotten more than two bites and Risty was going for seconds. "That was fast."

"The meat is so good!" She said happily filling her cup then blinked. "Oh!"

"Something wrong?" He asked.

She shook her head. "I uh, just realized... I ate the slime noodles..."

Roman grinned. "And you didn't notice anything?"

Risty half heartedly chuckled embaresed. "Eheh... The meat was so good I didn't notice the rest."

Roman paused... then started to laugh. "Hahahahaha!"

"Ish nawt tha' funny!" Risty mumbled around another mouthful.

Roman laughed even harder for awhile before finally saying, "You're surprising too! I didn't expect you to be so cute!"

Risty paused from her third helping long enough to blush. "Cute?! Me?!"

Roman simply nodded as he chewed.

Risty wasn't sure how to respond to that. It wasn't something she was told often... or ever really. When was the last time she'd been called "cute"? As a child certainly. By an opponent mockingly? Some of them were weirdos that way so that was possible.

But she didn't feel like Roman was mocking her at all. He just found her "cute". Her. Risty. The rough and tumble bandit. So tomboyish she was almost mannish. It was a part of why she dressed the way she did. To assert herself as a woman. But genuinely cute?

"Thank you," she said shyly at the most unexpected compliment. She even tried to daintily slurp the slime noodles in her fourth helping.

"You're welcome," he said refilling his cup. "We should finish eating and get some rest. Do you mind taking the first watch and I'll take the second?"

"Oh! Uh, no. That's fine," she said. She'd been alone out here before so hadn't kept a watch. But if they were sleeping in shifts that answerd the question of if, and how, they would be sleeping together. They wouldn't. "That works for me if that's how you want it?" She asked trying to keep the disappointment and relief out of her voice.

Roman chewed and nodded before swallowing. "Yeah. I figure that way I could make you breakfast too! It'll be a long hike back carrying all this stuff so-"

*Loud Happy Stomach Gurgle*

"I take it that's a yes?" He asked smiling.

Risty turned bright red. Even after starting eating her sixth helping and especially after he'd called her cute she was betrayed by her own stomach. "Y-Yeah."

Roman finished eating looking at her face. He didn't need to be a mind reader. She was as red as her hair. He rinsed out his cup and wiped it out before standing and stretching... then patted her head and played with her hair just a bit. "Yep... Really very cute! Eat all you want. It makes me happy to see you enjoying it." He headed towards the tent. "See you in a couple hours. Goodnight!"

"'Kay! G'night!" She said happily. His words made her feel good and warm inside... almost as good and warm as the meat stew as she helped herself to more and fully intending to finish it all!

[Roman Stark Knives Chau Saya Takagi and Risty

Will Return In

Bear-ing Burdens Back To Camp

Coming Soon]