--- Kat ---
Kat was starting to think that she was perhaps she was out of her depth. Watching Hunter dispatch hordes of corpse worms both in outside of their puppets was humbling in a way. To Kat, it showed that there was a difference between 'Rank 3' and 'Rank 3'.
Completely ignoring the fact that she'd manage to make it through getting her heart destroyed twice in quick succession then walked it off... at Rank 2. Kat was just much less lethal.
Of course Hunter was easily making up for that deficiency. Nothing that tried to attack lasted more than a few seconds, burning away to nothing with barely a glance. This was all without Hunter using her gun once, which was likely more lethal, at least in Kat's mind.
In truth it was more accurate to say the gun was 'differently lethal' but Kat had a hard time recognising that in the face of Hunter's prowess.
Which made it more concerning when she noticed that Hunter was starting to struggle. It wasn't on her face. She cut down worm pits, a bunch of giant gorilla things they were piloting, the not-bats and plenty others besides.
If you watched Hunter's face she barely reacted, and she slithered forward at a consistent and unchanging pace where the lamia only stopped to bash holes into the walls to reveal more worms to kill. If Kat was paying slightly less attention, or if her eyes were a bit worse she would've missed it...
But Hunter was starting to sweat. Not a thing Kat was certain the lamia could do, and certainly not in great quantities... but a little bit. It was mostly her 'human' half doing so, but that might just be the dust preventing it from being obvious lower down, or not. Kat had no idea how sweating even worked in lamias consider she herself didn't really sweat anymore.
It took a moment for Kat's brain to even register it might be a problem. All of the fire around sort of implied that it would be hot, so when Kat noticed it, she dismissed it at first. There was a bunch of fire, so why wouldn't Hunter be sweating. It took a few moments after that for Kat to really think about it... well that and perhaps brief poke from Lily pointing things out.
*So... should I actually do anything about it? No that's a stupid question. I SHOULD do something about it, but will bringing it to Hunter's attention actually make things better? Or should I just be ready to take over once she starts having issues? To ask or not to ask... probably safer to make it known I've noticed. I'd hate for Hunter to think I either don't care or I'm not paying attention.*
"Are you alright?" asked Kat.
"Of course," stated Hunter.
"Um... ok? I mean... how do I say this..." Kat paused to allow for Hunter to burn away another wave of attacking worms. "I guess I'll just say it? I noticed that you're starting to sweat and I suspect it's because you are pushing yourself... so do I need to step in or something?"
"Right... counterpoint. What if saving the world involves dealing with your issues?" asked Kat
Stay tuned to M|VL|EM|PY|R
"I don't see how that is likely, we are here for drake," stated Hunter.
"What if it's a drake covered in corpse worms? Or just worms?" returned Kat.
Hunter shivered, the control over her flames faltering for a split second. Worms burst from the walls to try and take advantage of Hunter's brief lapse in attention but the flames quickly roared back into action burning them all along with a decent bit of the dirt surrounding the area, digging groves into the floor and walls. "I do not appreciate such jokes," stated Hunter.
"I'm not joking, but I will admit it's a bit mean. Now are you willing to take a break?" asked Kat.
"I feel as though I cannot," stated Hunter. *Right... well that's not exactly a surprise. So what do I do here? I'm still sort of lost as to how I should deal with Hunter. She's clearly very confident and I feel like if she was about to fall apart she could still probably deal with it... but I also feel like she's not in a good place no matter what her face might make it seem. So how do I HELP?*
"Hunter, do you trust me to protect you if you stop?" asked Kat as gently as she could.
"I... I don't know," stated Hunter.
"That's fine," said Kat. "Now, even knowing that, and knowing that you're worried... is it really safe to keep going like this? I understand that you feel like you need to keep going until the jobs done but I do have my own demonic fire. Even if it's not as powerful, or if you're right I'm not at as good at it, which is similar in effect here... I can still do something.
I can carry you, I can run away, and heck, I can throw out my own fire and hope for the best. I will ensure that nothing happens to you."
"It's not that simple," stated Hunter. Kat used a great deal of willpower to resist rolling her eyes or sighing out loud.
*Dammit Hunter I've already GOT that much. I am well fucking aware that this is not a simple issue and what few hints I'm getting tells me it's some serious trauma... but I can't help you manage that trauma if you won't let me in.
I admit that perhaps using my aura right at the start instead of asking permission and then keeping it running to help keep Hunter calm down once we entered the nest was a mistake. Still... have to deal with the hands you're dealt. So... how do I get through to her? I know Lily said to wait... and that was fine before but I'm not sure how long it'll stay fine.*