--- Kat ---
Kat's relaxation aura exploded out as she tried to calm herself. Since the Gloops, it had been another day and a half of gruelling travel. Nothing interesting or noteworthy, just near endless amounts of monsters crawling out the woodwork and nice stone paths that lead to nowhere important or the wrong place. They did find a small village of six to ten people twice, but it wasn't the one they wanted.
No, that's because here? Right now? Right in front of Kat's eyes? Was a large stone sign.
"Welcome to Forrest Village!"
Kat didn't consider herself an angry person. Neither did the others. Hunter was usually quite calm, patient, always waiting for her chance to strike. Lily was rather sleepy these days and ravenous for knowledge but it was hard for her to get angry unless it involved Kat. She simply lacked a sufficient level of self esteem to get angry about her own situation. That was Kat's job anyway.
Finally, Kamiko. She actually had the most anger out of the group, but she was used to pushing it down, burying it with other feelings... and awfully shy when it came to expressing herself. Yet now, she was angry just alongside the rest of them. The aura was helping a lot, but not completely.
"You know..." Kat started to speak slowly, somehow realising everyone else wanted her to voice their thoughts. "As lovely as this little mural is... this is FAR different from 'you'll know it when you see it' in fact... I'd have to say it's A FUCKING CLEAR SIGN! Which perhaps makes the statement factual, but I do feel horribly misled,"
"Agreed," stated Hunter, who was actually allowing Kat's aura in this time. Her attempts to bask in the calm Kat was providing did help somewhat.
"Like, looking at the stone path next to it? It's perfectly ordinary. A bit sloped, I assume so the rain can run off into the grass but besides that? It's perfectly normal and if anything in slightly poorer condition then the other paths we checked, which, if I had to guess is from lack of use but like... I do not see how this pathways stands out compared to the others..." continued Kat.
"It does seem rather ordinary," agreed Lily as she tried not to cut herself. Apparently she now knew how to pull out her claws in her human form and they were NOT helping right now.
"Don't get me wrong, the sign is clear, the large arrow makes it impossible to go the wrong direction and despite my earlier criticisms about the designs and the slightly worn down state of it, the road looks perfectly acceptable. There are no large cracks or potholes, and it seems quite sturdy.
I have no issue with anything the townsfolk, and the earth mage have done," Kat was on a bit of a roll now.
"Um... yeah it's a bit plain... but I do sort of like it... and um... that actually lets it stand out a bit? It's almost like concrete, though a lot smoother and clearly more solid..." added Kamiko. .net
"The town was right in the middle of the highway and we may have asked for direction even if we weren't stopping, besides it's hardly your fault Slvr gave us questionable advice,"
Kamiko's horse snorted in agreement with Kat and licked Kamiko on the ear causing her to giggle. "Alright, alright, I get it..." laughed Kamiko.
"You want in on this hug Hunter?" asked Kat as she opened one of her arms up so that Hunter could slide over. "It's a great way to cheer up. I may have been mostly calm before, but now I feel like I'm ready for just about anything you know!"
"I am fine over here," stated Hunter.
"Come on Hunter, you know you want to. Let's all have a big group hug," said Lily.
"As I said, I am fine. I would not want to intrude on the moment," stated Hunter.
"Um... it's... it's fine..." mumbled Kamiko. "I think it would be nice if you joined in..."
"I am not really one for hugs and I know that lamia have the unfortunate tendency to hug a bit hard when we try, it is better if I ref-" Hunter's statement was cut off when the horse moved behind her and nudged her forward with its head. Nowhere near hard enough to really force Hunter to do anything, but she went with the push just enough for Kat's outstretched hand to grab on.
Kat reeled the lamia into the hug and let her tail bind the group together. She even sent a big smile and a thumbs up over to the horse. "Good job sir! We need a name for you after that! Heck I'll even try to make sure you get some good food... though I'm actually not sure what you'd consider 'good food' so maybe not?" giggled Kat.
The horse snorted in amusement at the statement, apparently understanding, if not the specifics then at least the intentions as the rest of the group laughed along. It was cathartic in an extreme way. The anger they were experiencing bleeding away even as Kat reeled her aura back in and let herself flop down onto the others a bit.
Apparently massively overcharging your demonic aura and blasting it out, not just over your friends to calm them, but the entire nearby forest, was exhausting. Who knew?
Of course the others were able to take the extra weight easily, even Lily. Hunter wasted no time wrapping them all up in a proper hug once she got comfortable and they all just took the time to laugh and smile. Perhaps they hadn't saved the world just yet. Perhaps they'd just wasted a whole bunch of time... but the world was still there. Their journey could still progress.
Forest Village was just down the path.