Find where the others are.

Near the far end of Castle Phoenix, you hear the sound of grunts and swings before you see the fury of a dwarf wailing on a training dummy, which doesn't stand a chance. It ends up in pieces by the weight and strength of Bekram Kholrann's maul. Though he is a wild card who seems to crave chaos almost as much as battle, he does his brown hair up rather well with braids in his beard as well as from the hair atop his head. His flesh is pale, though almost more like grey stone, and his body is clad in plates of armour over a dark red shirt and brown trousers.

He looks back at you beneath big, bushy brows, though catches his breath in silent distance for now as you step closer to the others much more near.

Niki stands apart from Amara. Both of them are dressed back in their usual clothing, perhaps due to how badly the outfits from a day prior need to be washed. So once again, Niki wears small segments of steel, mostly upon her hands, elbows, shoulders, hips, and as her breastplate, as well as small, tight, dark brown shorts and leather boots. Not far off rests her magic shield and mastercraft mace.

Amara gazes upwards for some reason, with he arms out-stretched. She's wearing the white, nurse-like dress, though her hat as been set down near her silver staff, also where the other girl placed her things. It's a cute and modest design, with a skirt more appropriate in length than many, but still adorable with a cut up the side. She wears a baby blue belt with a pouch at her hip, and the same colour trims subtly around the entire wardrobe. The cap nearby is decorated by a blue heart, witch matches the white choker she wears, which of course has a pink heart instead. Upon her delicate feet is a pair of beautiful elven shoes, decorated with silver vines and leaves--not quite high heels, though more pronounced than flats.

To the best of her ability, she suddenly smacks her hands together and pulls them in, though nothing is there. A second later, a ball hits the grass in front of her feet.

"Uh. You're getting there," says Niki.

"I do not think I am enough of an athlete," Amara admits. "This is a little embarrassing."

"Sure, but it's good to stay active anyway! Here, let me throw it again, not as high this time."

A small table has been set up nearby.

On one seat is Eva. Just like the other two, she's wearing her usual adventuring attire again--a light blue, low-cut crop top blouse trimmed with silver, and with pale purple ribbons hanging from the end of each sleeve, as well as a miniskirt to match, above thigh-high stockings striped both violet and blue. Down her back is a small cape that barely reaches her lower back, which is a far deeper, more saturated blue than the rest. The belt which holds up her skirt has a couple pouches, and it holds her pink-tipped brown wand as well. A single silver star clips her hair, just beneath the rightmost bunny ear. Her shoes are just as cute, with fluffy balls decorated the backs of each, likely to match her own cottonball tail.

There's a chessboard before her. The other side is where her opponent watches--Stax the goblin.

Of course she still wears her black crop top which pronounces an abundance of her cleavage. Her hips stretch the fabric of her matching booty shorts so much that the top button is always undone, hinting at her dark purple panties beneath. One of her eyes is always partly concealed behind the parted bangs of her violet hair. Between her belly button, wrists, ears, and neck, she wears a number of piercings and bands of gold and silver.

It at least looks like chess, though the pieces are completely different than what you're used to seeing.

"Damn! I swear I had a piece over there," Eva says. She looks like she's using one hundred percent of her brain power. "But I guess not. Uhm, hmm..."

"Make your move, bunny-babe, unless you don't think you have any left," Stax boasts with a grin.

"Bunny-babe?! Hey, I've been holding my own. You haven't beaten me yet, have you?"

"Yet is the important word there--Oh hey, Kyle."

You wave your hand as you approach. "So who's been winning?"

"This is our first game, but probably me."

Eva scowls. "Not if I do this," she says before moving a piece forward through the center.

"Hah! I mean, if you--Wait what the fuck? Uh, hold on. Let me think here."

When you look to Eva, she looks back at you with a smug face of pride, as if she just did the greatest thing ever.

"Keep going with your game, but when you're done, start getting ready. That is, if you want to go with us to take down Thunderbeard," you say. "Everyone else is making preparations. The others who are coming I mean. Gwyn went home, and I doubt Vyzia wants to bring all her allies with us, so I formed a new party."

"Of course the Hero King can't have an adventure without his greatest party members, right~?"

"Damn straight!" Niki calls out

A moment later, the ball falls between Amara's hands as she misses it entirely again. "Aw."

Stax moves her piece and sighs. "There we go," she mutters intensely. Then her eyes shift back to you, and with a smile, she twists around on her rear and crosses her legs over to face you fully. "So, you're heading out to sea to fight some pirates or something, right? Now I don't want to overcrowd your ship, but..."

"You have the aura of a pirate yourself, Stax," you say. "Even when you came with us to the coast, I could easily have seen aboard the boat. If you're asking if you can come, feel free."

"All right! Awesome. I'll start getting ready as soon as I win here."

Eva is staring past the board, however. Her eyes are on the goblin. Her brow furls, and you look down to see the same. It isn't just her bountiful breasts the two of you are inspecting. There's something wedged deep between them. Eva crawls over the board, knocking a few pieces over with her own busty bosom, which grabs the attention of the other.

"What are you doing?" Stax asks. "Are you being a sore los--"

"Do you have a piece between your tits?!"

The goblin freezes. "... Uh."

Eva grabs her shoulders from across the table, nearly causing the entire chess board to fall off to the ground. "How many pieces did you stuff in there? Huh? Is that my dragon I see? I was wondering where it went!"

"Ahaha, listen! It isn't what you think, I was just--Wait a minute." She stares forward, deep into the bunny's cleavage. "Is that my dragon?!"

This time, it's Eva who freezes. Slowly, she pulls herself back, and as casually as she can, sticks her finger between her breasts to push the piece back down. "No."

You put a hand to your head. "Were you seriously both cheating?"

Stax shrugs. "What's the point in having a big pair of fabric-stretching melons if you don't use them?" As she speaks, she slowly plucks three more pieces from within, and places them upon the board. "Anyway, let's get ready then."

"Fine." Eva rolls her eyes and stands. After straightening her clothes, three pieces fall from the crop of her blouse and to the grass. "Uhm. Yes, let's do that."

"Look out!" calls Niki.

Then a few seconds later, the ball crashes down against the center of the table, sending all of the pieces flying in every direction.

"I do not think I could have caught that one," Amara says.

"Sorry!" shouts Niki. "My bad. I wanted to see how high I could throw it. Hey, at least he stayed on this side of the wall. Otherwise we would have lost it."

"Don't just casually admit you knew it was a bad idea!" Eva yells back.

Through the chaos, you almost didn't notice Bekram make his way over to the group. With his maul cast over his shoulder, he stops a few steps from you and casts his gaze upward. "Did I hear you right, lad? Are we putting together a sort of questing party?"

You glance down and nod. "That's right."

Then with both hands on the shaft of his weapon, she spins it around and slams the end down against the soil. "Let me go too! Not to crowd your group, but I'm going a little stir crazy, I admit. I can't just smash training dummies all day. Yeah, there are monsters nearby that I gotta fend off sometimes, but how is that gonna compete with the shit you had me fighting before? Big mechanical dragons and shit. Slimes and minor demons and all that are nothing. I can sneeze and kill those buggers."

"You are a mighty warrior, Bek. I can't deny that. Your dedication to the craft of combat is admirable. If you want to come with us, and you can handle being at sea for awhile, then I'll have your maul."

"Yeah! All right!" the dwarf cheers. Leaving his weapon down, she throws his fists up in celebration. "And maybe if I'm lucky, that dragon lady you brought home will spar with me."

"Not on the ship, Bek. We need it to stay in one piece."

"Aw all right. But there better at least be some good drink for our journey. That's the kinda shit that bolsters your morale. And the best drinks are the ones that rarely go bad. Ain't that good luck? Thanks again, Kyle. I can't wait to get going. I'll be ready."

Amara shuffles closer. "Ah... I will be ready as well, but I apologize. I do not think I am any better at catching balls than before."

You place an affirming hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're fine, Amara. We don't need you catching anything."

Stax snickers. "Balls? Those are easy to catch," she mutters while cupping her hand and wiggling her fingers suggestively. "I can teach you."

Eva peaks her head in and whispers, "C-Can I learn too?"