"Food's ready!"

Better to appeal to her stomach than her brain, it was much more reasonable. Amber did an about face and bounded over to the fire, expectantly watching the pot, "-in just a moment. So sit down and be patient." She sulked but waited for you to hand her her dinner. You spend some time bantering back and forth about the nature of good and evil and what exactly your plan was to 'clear the old road of evil.'

Truth be told you were mostly working on a hunch and you needed to keep moving or you might turn into one of those tavern layabouts you'd seen so often since leaving the barracks. It had honestly motivated you more than any training instructor you'd ever had: you had to keep moving. Your quest was pointless and irrelevant in the grand scheme but it was a quest. Besides, if you'd actually graduated to knight and gone on pilgrimage then you'd be doing the same thing anyway.

{if Saved from town boys - jerking = 1} "Hey... Jay?" You turn, surprised by the hesitance in her voice. She's fidgeting and doesn't look at you. "... yes?" She glances up like she was hoping you hadn't heard her, "Thanks for... chasing those guys off. In town." You smile genuinely and bow, accepting the compliment gracefully. That must have been hard for her. Which meant you should probably get her back where she was comfortable and make a fool of yourself, "I'm glad you specified that it happened in the town, I thought you'd been talking about all the other people we've been meeting out here." You gesture to the empty woods and she smirks, "You moron, I-" {endif}

Amber stops mid-sentence whilst telling you you were being dumb, staring off into the darkness. You rise, sword on hand, she'd never stop halfway through calling you stupid. Something was out there...

Sure enough, three glowing yellow eyes shine the fires light back at you and their owners plod into the light. Orcs. Fat orcs at that. They leer at the fox-girl, who{if Slut > 15} leered right back and let her kimono slide open a little past what could be considered decent. {else} cooly straightened her kimono as she rose to her feet.{endif} You could probably kill them now, what with their drooling over your {if Pervert > 15}sexy {else}lovely {endif} companion, but you had a protocol for this.

"As a knight in training for the Order of the Iron Shield I am compelled to inform you I mean you no harm unless you mean harm on others." Two of the orcs tear their eyes from Amber and give you an incredulous look while the third literally drools. One mutters to the other, "Let's kill this idiot and take the fox to the boss, he'll be happy to have another one." Your grin at their stupified looks fades somewhat. Another fox captured by the orcs? That wasn't good. It almost sounded like-

Your grin returns as the orcs ready their weapons, "A QUEST!" Amber rolls her eyes and vanishes in a flare of foxfire, though you doubt she'd actually been sitting there since the orcs arrived, and you charge the grey/green boar/men. You swing wide, forcing the two paying attention to stumble over themselves in retreat. The drooler was caught off guard and paid for it with his head, which went flying off into the air at a very satisfying velocity. The other two aren't much of a challenge, stumbling and crawling back over the bridge to avoid your huge swings.

You're just as surprised as they are when they suddenly tumble back into what looked like solid stone, the glamour collapsing in a flash of foxfire. You peer through the hole in the bridge, darkness and the gentle sound of running water all that greet you. You heft your sword, making your way back to the fire as Amber materializes from behind a tree, looking very pleased with herself, "At least you got one Jay, you can put that {if Slut > 15}overcompensating sword to good use. {else}huge sword to good use. {endif}It's just a shame you weren't able to deal with the majority, like I did, in a fabulous way, like I did."

You finish cleaning your blade and sheath it, turning to the ridiculous fox, "Are you done?"

She ponders for a moment but you don't let her continue, "Did you hear what they said? About the other fox?" Her smile fades and she nods, "We're going to save them?" You smile, trying to hold in your excitement for actually finding something worthwhile, "Hell ye- I mean, ahem, Yes! Of course we'll save your brethren!"

Her eyes roll so hard you wonder how they don't pop out, "You're ridiculous. I wouldn't hold my breath for it being one of my 'brethren' either, male foxes don't get into trouble often." You give her a curious look, hefting the bag into a safe-enough looking hollow in one of the older trees, "Why not?"

"Because they're patriarchs. Or seconds. Or thirds, or whatever. Point is, they don't get out much."

"So if we find a fox it will probably be female."

She gives you a suspicious look, "If you hit on her I swear I'll drop you down a hole with those orcs."

{if Pervert > 14} You raise your hands placatingly but can't help but have a little bounce in your step at the prospect of two gorgeous kitsune traveling with you. {else} You're a little wounded and your expression shows it. You'd never take advantage of a damsel in distress! {endif}

She continues to glare at you but scouts ahead as you try to sneak through the ruins, as quietly as you can in armor.