Breakfast and heading out

The lovers were up before the sun, preparing for their trip to Carthin. The kitchens in the Lounge were almost always running, so Venus led Rondo down to an early breakfast of smoked ham and and eggs over slices of freshly baked bread. They had gone ahead and brought their gear down with them so that they could leave as soon as Rosalia joined them.

A few Hunters were up early as well. Salvin was stringing his bow and talking to his team, Ace kept casting unhappy glances towards Venus, and a few other hunters were settling down to breakfast like Venus and Rondo had. Venus mostly ignored the other hunters, but Rondo was taking in everything around them. Now that the main hall wasn't so full of angry Hunters, he could really get an idea of the size of the building.

"This is a nice place. Must have taken quite a bit of time to construct it just the way you guys wanted it," he mused out loud.

"Yes between the carpentry and the fittings the blacksmith had to make it cost us a small fortune. This place was built before my time though so I only know the stories. We worked out of a giant tent in the old days, but one bad storm tore it to pieces, so the Elder at the time decided a lodge was in order."

"Where did you store all the weapons and stuff back then? A tent would be too open."

"Namina has always had a sort of ruling family, even before it became a major city. The Mayor's residence was used to store everything then, but it was sort of on loan."

It was about this time that a sleepy-eyed Rose came down the stairs. She saw their plates of food and came over to join then.

"Oh great food! Did you get any for me?"

Venus pushed the remainder of her plate over to the woman and watched in fascination as the girl began devouring the food. Within moments it was gone and Rose let out a content sigh. Rondo's astonished look made Venus giggle but she quickly recovered and smiled at Rose who now looked embarrassed.

"You don't have any gear with you? We need to be leaving soon so we can make good time before nightfall."

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't think to grab my stuff. Give me one moment!"

With that the girl rushed back up the stairs. After five minutes went by she finally came back down. She had put on her leather armor and had a sword strapped to her hip. On her back was a pack and a bed roll.

Venus and Rondo gathered their own gear and the trio set out for Carthin. They headed south for the Holy City. To pass the time, the girls chatted a bit. Rose was extremely curious about how Venus and Rondo handled their relationship, and for the most part Venus was happy to answer. She explained how they met and how they fell in love, but she tried to gloss over the sex. Rose seemed happy with her answers for now and they moved on to other topics.

Twice Rondo called a halt to their trip and lifted his nose into the air. On the second stop he suddenly dropped his pack and turned behind them. Rondo had smelled a group of Red Caps following them. The wicked creatures were a foot taller than goblins with brown leathery skin. They had wide ugly faces and stocky bodies. They got their names from the hats they wore, dyed red from the blood of their victims.

Before Venus could even draw her sword, Rondo had transformed and charged. The five monsters were caught off guard and three lay dead before the remaining two could even muster a counter attack. Rondo took a spear in his shoulder but he simply pit the wooden handle in two before slashing his sharp claws down the chest of the attacker. The remaining Red Cap tried to stab him in the back with a dagger, but Venus had drawn one of her own and thrown it. The monster was caught square in his back and it toppled lifelessly to the ground.

The fight was over in less than two minutes and Venus was thankful Rondo had been there. If he hadn't caught the scent of the Red Caps, they could have been in trouble. Rose had stood dumbstruck during the fight, watching the massive Werewolf tear through the smaller monsters, but with urging from Venus she came over to help with Rondo's wound. It was already healing, but Rose used some of her magic and the wound disappeared almost instantly.

"Well that was exciting," Venus said cheerfully. Rondo turned his big wolf head to her and gave what passed for a smile on his beastly face.

"Aye lass, just what we needed to work up a sweat. What do you say we find a nice spot and rest for a bit before we start back on our quest?"

The idea was happily accepted and the trio gathered up their gear. They found a spot about a quarter mile away from the battle location and sat down to rest. Rondo changed back into a human and pulled a new shirt from his pack after realizing he had torn his other one during the change.