Second Sortie

It took longer than expected. Much longer. Deep White came and went. The spring semester of their senior year started. Despite his repeated threats over the years to drop out the day he turned eighteen, Oro surprised them all by continuing to attend school well after his birthday came and went, and seemed willing to go on all the way to graduation...even if he'd be crossing the stage with the enamel worn off his teeth. He did this mostly to keep them from giving him undue grief about what he was spending his money on now...

In lieu of accepting the cash from his first run, Mrs. Hope had deposited it into an account in his name. Not a bad starting fund for a kid who'd never had a job before, but most of it was gone by midterm. These "materials" Organa needed were rare indeed, and Oro was constantly suspicious he was being taken for a ride. "A 'foocubus' egg?" he grumbled one afternoon, "Are you...?" But he'd asked that question too many times now. She was every bit as serious in her magic as he was in a fight. Reluctantly, the Rabbit replied to the shady email from some shady dealer on some shady occult message board in response to his (admittedly also shady) inquiry, and forwarded a deposit from his account to the one provided. His bookshelf had become a small display of herbs and tonics that most of the world would mistake for weeds and craft-store decorations. Only a handful of people knew they existed, much less how to value them...and the value was always high. They only bothered selling to Oro at all out of a kind of respect for anyone else who also recognized their arcane significance.

Oro was glad this was the last thing on Organa's list. His account was now down to something more befitting a teenager's monthly allowance, and likely wouldn't be adequate for any more ingredients. He would have needed a loan for that last item if he hadn't been able to trade the violet gem from his first run for a discount on a previous item. "All that's left is this 'Heart of Flame', I guess," the Rabbit sighed, referring to the item Organa insisted he would need to run The Gauntlet to retrieve, "What do we do if I don't find one?"

"Run it again," the ghost answered with a shrug in her voice, "But I think you will, if you make it back at all. The Gauntlet seems to know when a Champion is seeking something in particular, and will usually include it among the rewards. Of course, the more valuable the treasure, the more difficult the test to retrieve it. It's unwise to go seeking something whose value you don't fully understand."

"Right," the Rabbit rolled his eyes, suddenly feeling this all could have been done much faster if he'd just taken her shopping list on a run with him, "Fine. I'll handle that this weekend."

"Eager to be done with it, eh?" Organa mused, "The egg won't even have arrived by then. You could wait until you have everything you need for the recipe."

"I can see why it took you four hundred fucking years to reach town again," Oro growled, "You've taken patience from a virtue to a fault. Waiting does nothing except make me antsy."

"Well, a long life tends to instill that in a person," the Fennec observed, "If you live long enough, some rude infant will tell you the same thing someday."

"Yeah, and I'll punch him in his disrespectful little mouth," Oro nodded, "When you have hands again, take your best shot." He spent the rest of the week making preparations: picking up some pads and a helmet from a sporting-goods store, writing a "just-in-case" letter to leave for Nayeli, and thoroughly enjoying every single bite of every single lunch Sarahi bought for him.

As he walked her home that Friday afternoon, he kept his promise to her: "I'm running The Gauntlet tomorrow," the Rabbit dropped the news on her as soon as they were around the bend from school. No preamble could really prepare her to hear it, so there was no point trying to ease in.

"Like Hell you are," she answered almost before she fully realized what he'd said, "Why?! What in the world do you need from that thing?"

The Rabbit snorted. She took that better than he'd expected, actually, especially from out of the blue. "Apparently, the ghost I'm attached to turns out to be the baby-eating variety, and I need a stone from inside The Gauntlet for a spell to sate her so all the wee little future-fucks will be safe."

She gave him a narrow, hard look. For several minutes. Finally, she sighed, "I really want to think you're just yanking my tail like the jerk you are, but I can't quite convince myself. I don't suppose you've considered cutting off this 'employment'?"

"First fucking thing that went through my head," he growled, "But apparently, we either have to mutually swear to break the binding, or I have to satisfy the oath by resurrecting her. Obviously she's not going to swear off the binding, so that leaves spells and sacrifices as the other options. Or I can commit suicide, but I'm trying to explore more difficult options first."

She cringed a little, but nodded. "Got it. You're stuck."

"Yep," the Rabbit's lips curled in a sneer. The whole situation disgusted him, but he couldn't honestly swear he didn't bring it on himself, so in his own eyes he had no choice but to eat it. "So I'm keeping my promises. All of them. I told you that I'm going. Now I'm also gonna tell you not to even try to stop me," he warned her with a hard look, knowing she wanted to stop him, and probably by about any means necessary.

Sarahi grit her own teeth...but nodded. "I won't. If I thought I could tackle you, hogtie you, and still find you in the attic in the morning, I totally would. But I didn't bring a rope, and you're the sort who'd chew his own foot off to get out, if that's what it took."

"My left foot, even," he chuckled.

"Right," she sighed, "So...just promise me you'll be careful, okay? And come back."

"Yeah, yeah," Oro waved off the requests, "Kind of goes without saying, right? Just don't tell Nayeli. She would definitely try to stop me, and it would be more annoying than your rope."

Sarahi shook her head. "I wish she would share her methods, then. Fine. I won't tell her until after you've gone."

"Fair enough. Thanks," he grunted simply.

The next morning found him making the long, winding hike up the mountain to Organa's ring of stones, Gororond in hand and a backpack full of sports pads and a helmet slung on his back. It wasn't exactly a suit of armor, but he figured it would be better than nothing at all, given his last encounter. "It's so convenient you can just wizard me up there when you're being threatened," the Rabbit grumbled, adjusting the pack on his back uncomfortably, "But never any other time."

The ghostly Fennec chuckled from the pendant around his neck. "Oh, I could, but you seem to enjoy the walk. Besides, it's a good chance to clear your head and prepare to the challenge to come, and on the off chance you fail, I'd like it not to be said that I hastened any man to his death unnecessarily."

"Somehow," Oro snorted, "I don't think that actually bothers you a whit. Nice acting, though."

"Thank you," she answered, ignoring the accusation, "At least this time it will be no mystery where you went. It was bold of you to keep your promise to that girl. Speaking of which..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he interrupted her, raising his voice a little, "Her paws may be padded, but her steps are still fucking heavy."

With a resigned sigh, Sarahi abandoned her efforts at stealth behind a tree some yards behind him, trotting quickly to catch up to him. "So I never went hunting as a kid. Sue me," she huffed, "Was that the ghost you were talking to?"

"Yep," he answered bluntly, giving her a disappointed frown, "So did you tell Nayeli, too?"

"No," the Sha'khari assured him quickly, "What makes you think I would?"

"Well, you're still trying to stop me," he pointed out, "I just wondered if you kept the other promise, at least."

Sarahi looked offended. Not that Oro would care. "I am not," she insisted, "I take my promises seriously, too, you know. I'm coming with you. Promise kept."

"The fuck you are," the Rabbit arched a brow at her, "Your parents will freak out if you're not back by dinner, forget by morning--"

She interrupted his argument with a stern frown of her own. "Look, I'm keeping my promise, but if you want to stop me, you're going to burn a lot of time trying to do it. Didn't you once say if you were going into a fight, I'm the one you'd want at your back? Aren't you going into one now? A dangerous one?" She took two quick steps ahead to block his path for a moment. "Do you trust me, or not?"

He met her stare unflinching. Then he reached into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out the knife he'd retrieved on his last run. Flipping it over in his hand, he offered her the handle. "It's not a question of trust," he grunted, less venomously this time, "I don't want you hurt because of me. You have people who care about you, and they'll miss you if you're gone."

She looked angrier after he said it than before, but took the knife. "Right back at you. If you can understand that, you understand how I feel about you doing this. How we all feel."

With a sigh, Oro relented, and stepped around her to continue up the mountain. Organa cooed, "Ooo, she is a feisty one. You keep good company, young man."

"Shut up," he growled.

Sarahi blinked. "I di--" She caught herself in mid denial, and shook her head. "Um...is there any way I can be included in that conversation? You said she had you do something to make her visible the first time, right?"

"Once you reach my ring," Organa told him, "I can manifest to her eyes and ears easily enough. Tell her to be patient."

The Rabbit rolled his eyes. "She says you'll see her when we get there. Now come on," he insisted, leading the rest of the way up the unmarked trail to the ring of standing stones and the little burned-out hut between them. Ducking inside, he fetched the bag of items needed for opening The Gauntlet. He'd left them here for convenience, figuring nobody would steal a bunch of worthless-looking rocks and an old skull.

Sarahi gasped as she stepped between the stones, entering the ring for the first time, and spotted the luminous Fennec sitting casually on top of the hut. She gave the Sha'khari a big smile and a wave as she entered. "You are real..."

"You've humored him a lot for someone who didn't believe him," the ghost giggled, "I am Organa. It's nice to officially meet you, Sarahi."

"Same," Sarahi answered, though she looked less-than-trustful of the translucent girl, "So...are you absolutely certain there is no way to get this...whatever he's looking for...without going into The Gauntlet? Didn't you have one before, or something?"

"Oh, I did, but it was used for a spell much like the one he intends to cast," the Fennec nodded, "And even if I still had it..." She gestured off-handedly at the burnt-out shell of a hut below her, "Who knows where whatever was left of my possessions ended up in this wide world? You could search for years and find no more than these ashes."

"Fuck that," Oro grunted, laying out the rocks and skull between two of the standing stones, "It's been just a little over one season, and I'm already sick of you. We're getting this done." He poured out the line of salt, and the gate erupted into existence.

"Whoa..." Sarahi whispered, feeling a little intimidated as she stared into the yawning abyss behind the open doors.

Oro chuckled, and started pulling the gear out of his pack. "Yeah, it's pretty impressive, huh? Here," he tossed her some shin-guards, shoulder-pads, and a football helmet, "I was going to wear these, but with that dinky knife, I think you're likely to need them more."

Sarahi blinked at the pads, and the weapon she still held in her hand. It was viciously sharp, and looked big for a knife when he'd first handed it to her...but now, she had to admit, it felt uncomfortably small. "Yeah...I don't suppose you brought anything more substantial, huh?"

"Didn't think I needed anything but this," he answered, thumping his bat on his shoulder. She was polite enough not to ask, but he could see the question in her eyes. Muttering something to the weapon, he casually tossed it to her...

"Ouch!" Sarahi winced, immediately dropping it as it touched her hands. A single, small drop of blood welt up on the heel of her palm.

"Yeah, it gets kind of pissy about anyone else touching it," Oro snorted, "Otherwise I'd trade with you in a heartbeat. I'd try making a spear, but I didn't bring rope, either. Sorry. That's the best I've got unless we find something inside."

Sarahi nodded her understanding and let him help her suit up, glad she had decided to wear her jeans for this little adventure (the pair he'd made for her, no less!). That little extra protection was somehow comforting, and she could be more confident it wouldn't get snagged on anything. "So...other people have done this before, right? Any idea what we can expect?" she asked, as much of the ghost as Oro.

"The Gauntlet adapts to the champion. The only certainty is that it will become more difficult each time you enter, as it tests your strengths and tempts your weaknesses. Keep your guard up," Organa warned sincerely.

"Out of curiosity," Oro grunted, tightening the straps on Sarahi's legs, "What's the most runs your champions have made in the past?"

The ghost tapped her chin thoughtfully, trying to remember the various counts, while Sarahi gave a look to Oro that said she'd really rather not have that statistic. "I had one survive eight runs before he refused to go in again. That's...let's see...no, my strongest champion made eleven, and never returned from the twelfth."

Sarahi grit her teeth, not believing she was about to ask the next question: "What's the least?"

"...Two," Organa admitted, making no effort to sugar-coat it.

Oro snorted, getting back to his feet and resting Gorgorond on his shoulder. "Well I'm not going to be breaking any records today. Let's go." As prepared as the pair could get, Oro lead the way into the portal...

The doors slammed behind them, and Sarahi clutched the knife in both hands like it was a sword. Much as she'd tried to put on a brave face, and as determined as she was to help him in this crazy mission...this place scared her, right from the get-go.

"Welcome, Champion and Company!" the voice of The Gauntlet boomed cheerfully, causing Sarahi to squeal.

"Yeah, that takes some getting used to," Oro agreed with a sneer, "Fucking thing has no appreciation for sensitive ears."

"What is it?" the Sha'khari hissed, looking around for the source of the sound.

"I am The Gauntlet," the voice answered helpfully, "You will be tested within my walls. Succeed, and your rewards shall be great! Fail, and your soul shall join with my halls!"

That might have come across more ominously if she hadn't noticed Oro rolling his eyes and lip-syncing with nearly every word. "Same spiel, same deal," he muttered before addressing the open air, "Hey! I came here for a 'Heart of Flame' I need for a spell. Make sure it's in the prize bag, okay?"

"Your rewards will be great," The Gauntlet assured him again, proving it wasn't simply a mindless pre-programmed introduction, "But they must be earned. As this is your first time bringing companions into me, I will put you through some team-building trials. Against these foes, none can stand alone," it warned, and a light appeared at the end of the tunnel before them, exactly as it had during his first foray.

"Terrific," the Rabbit grunted, "It's not gonna be rope courses and trust-falls like at school, I hope."

"You and me both," Sarahi nodded, swallowing her rising nerves and taking the first step toward the tunnel.

Oro caught her shoulder. "It's kind of late for this," he told her in an unusually soft voice, distracting Sarahi from her fear for a moment with confusion, "But thank you. I didn't want you to come, and I wouldn't have blamed you for backing out as soon as I stepped inside, but I do feel better about this with someone to watch my back. I do trust you. If it's you and me, this is going to be a piece of cake."

She blinked at him. Then smiled. "Just try to tell me you wouldn't have come with me, had the situation been reversed."

"No," he answered a little too quickly, "I'd have beat you senseless for going in the first time, then hogtied you and made the second run for you. You're lucky the situation is what it is."

Sarahi rolled her eyes, and shrugged his hand off her shoulder, though she was still smiling. "You make it hard for a girl to be sweet on you," she observed again, turning back toward the tunnel, "But I guess I can't blame you. I'm definitely going to have to 'man'-up for this place."

He gave her a dubious look. "You're going into fashion, right?" he asked as he stepped out ahead of her, "Because comedy is definitely not your gig." They both shared a chuckle as they marched down the hall.

It ended in a small room with four smooth, featureless walls. A torch ensconced above their heads provided the light. "A...dead-end?" Sarahi blinked, "Right at the beginning? Did I miss the part were we got into a maze? I thought we were heading into an arena or something."

"Me too," Oro growled, looking around, "This isn't what I saw last time. The fucking place changes. Terrific." He scowled up at the ceiling. "Give me a boost. It looks like there's a gap up there at the top of the wall."

Arching her brow, Sarahi stationed herself with her tail against the wall and cupped her hands for him. Oro planted one foot in her grip, and she heaved him up as high as she could. He nearly tipped her onto her face when he kicked off, bouncing high enough to brush his ears on the ceiling. Sarahi almost didn't clear the area in time for him to land.

"Well that's fucking inconvenient," the Rabbit huffed once he was back on the ground, "There's an opening, but the floor is as smooth as this wall, and there's nothing to hold onto." He gave her an appraising eye. "No offense, but you're too heavy for me to haul up without an anchor. I'll just slide right off."

She was hardly offended. Her bestial body was nearly four times his weight, and it had always amazed her that he could actually push her around when he had a mind to. "Well...I know it's going to be awkward, but can you boost me up there? If I sit down and let my tail hang off the edge, I think I can stay put while you climb up."

Oro tilted his head at her for once. "Say that again? You're telling me to use your tail as a rope?"

Sarahi chuckled. "Yeah, congratulations: you are the only person I will ever give permission to pull my tail."

"Well color me honored," the Rabbit chuckled, turning his back to the wall and crouching down while offering her his hands.

It was awkward getting her situated. She had too many feet. Putting her hands against the wall for balance, she rested her front paws on his shoulders and her back paws in his palms, crouched and ready to spring as high as she could. This sort of thing had never worked out for her in gym class... "Okay, ready?" she asked, and felt him nod against her belly, "Three, two, one: ju--SHIT!"

She wasn't prepared to go up that fast. When Oro kicked off the floor and straightened his back...it was the first time she'd ever felt light in her life. She barely got to kick off before her paws left his hands, and nearly missed the ledge with her front paws when she came up level with it. After a moment of brief, desperate scrabbling, she managed to haul all of her back half into the passage at the top of the wall, grateful it afforded her space to stretch out completely for a moment.

"You alright?" Oro shouted from the floor below.

"Where do you hide all that muscle?!" she shouted back in earnest. Knowing he wouldn't be giving her anything like a serious answer, Sarahi backed up as close to the edge as she dared and sat down. Her claws couldn't dig into the stone here, so she really hoped she had been right, and that her displaced weight and center of gravity would be enough to keep her from sliding. Taking a deep breath to brace her nerves, she lowered her tail straight down the side of the wall. "YEOOW!" she yelled as his weight was suddenly suspended from the tip of her spine. Gnashing her teeth, she managed to keep from making any further complaint as he pulled himself up as quickly as he could manage.

"You gonna make it?" the Rabbit arched a brow as soon as he could get a hand on the edge and release her tail.

Sarahi scooted aside to give him room to finish hauling himself up. "Yeah," she promised, still wincing a little as she rubbed her tingling rump against the wall, "Just give me a minute to get feeling back. I'm really glad you're as light as you are." He waited relatively patiently as she shook off the effects of having her tail yanked, then the pair continued down the tunnel. Their next challenge came as rather more of a surprise. "Is that what I think it is?" Sarahi arched a brow at the split in the tunnel ahead.

"If you think it's a hall of mirrors," Oro grumbled, thumping his bat on his shoulder, "That's what I'm looking at, too." He blinked as he felt her take his hand in hers, holding it in a firm grip, and arched a brow at her.

Sarahi rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look. Even you have played enough games and seen enough movies to guess the trick here: we get separated without realizing it, panic when we can't find each other, and get lost in the maze of reflections. Who knows where we end up in the end. Do. Not. Let. Go."

Oro snorted as they passed the first mirror. "Better idea," he announced, dropping the end of his bat casually onto the nearest reflection. A spiderweb of cracks erupted across the surface. Oro grinned. "Damn, that's satisfying," he chuckled, swinging to smash the mirror on her other side.

"Okay, okay, easy there," Sarahi urged, stepping carefully over the broken shards he was dropping on the ground. She wished she could say she was surprised, but this was definitely his kind of tactic, and even she had to think it effective. With all false avenues being broken as soon as they were presented, it would be hard to get lost.

His bat hit a mirror that rang, but didn't break. Oro frowned at it, and struck again, a little harder. Still no crack. "Don't move," he warned her, shaking his hand free to take Gorgorond in a full-on batter's grip. Not only did the mirror break this time, but the shards flew back into a hollow behind the mirror, revealing a hall with no other mirrors. "Well, that's convenient," the Rabbit smirked, "Come on." He stepped through the gap and glanced over his shoulder to be sure she was following.

Sarahi was looking at him, concerned. "Oro?" she asked, "What...just happened?" The Rabbit quirked a confused brow, then went wide-eyed as his gut told him this was bad. Sarahi reached out toward the opening, and her fingers pressed against another mirror. The Sha'khari he was staring at was a reflection. The real Sarahi was somewhere else now.

"Fuck, I am stupid!" Oro growled, hopping back through the gap in the mirrors and carefully scanning around with his bat, tapping each outstretched hand to see if any belonged to the real Sarahi. All he found were more mirrors. "Fuck! Can you hear me, at least?"

"Yes!" she answered loudly, though her voice still seemed very close to him.

"Okay...," he thought hard about what to say or do next. He had to fight to stay focused instead of berating himself for that moment of cockiness. Sarahi was kind enough to do the same, her reflections looking around cautiously. "Okay," he said again after a few minutes, his voice deadly serious again, "I don't like it, but we're going to have to get moving again. Look for an exit. Test the reflections, but be careful," he lightly tapped her hand in one of the mirrors nearby, "I'd prefer not to get gutted because you thought I was another mirror."

"...Got it," she agreed, taking a deep breath. Both of them separately began working their way through the mirrored paths, gently testing the reflections as they went, looking both for each other and an exit. After a few minutes, his bat touched her hand. Her actual hand. Almost as soon as she felt it, Sarahi let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness," she sighed, reaching passed the bat to take his hand again, "This time--"

Oro skipped back before she could touch him, keeping his bat leveled at her. Sarahi gave him a confused look. "Sorry," the Rabbit grunted quickly, "But I don't think it's that simple. What's my secret technique to winning a fight?"

"...What?" The Sha'khari tilted her head for a second...then her eyes widened, as if she suddenly realized the nature of his concern. "You think...the reflections can step out of the mirrors?"

"I asked you a question," he growled, suddenly dangerously still and relaxed.

Sarahi swallowed anxiously. "You...have a lightning-fast 'step' that you can--"

He used it. Before she finished the sentence, he was at her shoulder, and Gorgorond had passed through her head, catapulting it through the next mirror behind her. The headless body puffed into a cloud of ashes and settled around his feet. A shudder ran down his spine before he carefully exhaled and reassured himself that his suspicions had been right. "Sarahi!" he called out to the mirrors, "Can you still hear me?"

No answer, though he could still see her reflection in some of the nearby mirrors, looking around carefully and testing other panes of glass. "Fuck," the Rabbit hissed, giving up on caution. He slammed his bat through the nearest mirror reflecting himself, then through a couple more, until he found another mirror with a gap behind it. Stepping into this hidden hallway, the Rabbit proceeded down it, breaking out the mirrors on either side each time he found one.

Sarahi squeaked in surprise on the other side of one of them, and blinked at him stupidly when she realized who she was looking at. "What the--?" the Sha'khari gasped, glancing now at the Oro standing at her shoulder, holding her hand. Both Rabbits leveled their bats at each other.

"It's a fucking clone," the Oro in front of her warned.

"Says the reflection stepping out of the mirror," growled the Oro beside her, "Don't lose sight of me again."

The Oro in front of her smirked. "Ask it what my secret technique for winning a fight is."

Sarahi blinked, looking back and forth between them as they widened their stances and prepared to go at each other in an all-out fight. "Wait!" the Sha'khari stepped between them. Clutching her knife to her chest, she took a deep breath. "Fair question," she declared, looking at the Oro that had been walking with her until now, "And you know the answer, don't you?"

"Obviously," the Rabbit grunted, tapping his bat on his shoulder with a confident smirk, "This bat of mine is fucking--"

His body burst into ash as her knife slammed into his heart. Sarahi stared at it for a long moment before she released the breath she'd been holding. The Oro behind her chuckled. "Do me a favor," he suggested, "If you ever have to knife me, go through the throat. More likely to hit something vital, and I won't be disturbing you with dying screams for several minutes."

That cavalier attitude was reassuring to her. Even now, she couldn't quite shake the feeling she might have picked wrong, having struck before he'd finished his answer. Though that was definitely not even the start of the answer she was sure Oro would give. And when she finally turned to look at the remaining Rabbit...he apparently shared her insecurity. His bat remained steadily leveled at her. "Now, I hate to say it, but I have to be sure," Oro growled, "Same question."

Sarahi drew herself up as confidently as she could, and likewise leveled her knife back at him. She couldn't help but smile as she replied, "Just remember: I'm the bigger dick here."

"Oh, we'll see about that," the Rabbit smirked.

They shared a brief, relieved chuckle before she continued, "What's my favorite line of our victory song?"

Oro rested his bat back on his shoulder, puffing his chest out proudly. "Take a swing. I can take a hit. If we die, it's fine: we live for this."

Trotting forward, she threw her arms around his neck for a reassuring hug. "Gods forgotten, I have never been so glad you are so weird," she sighed as she released him.

"You and me both," he grunted, and with arms around each other's shoulders they set off down the hall behind the mirrors.

It lead to another stone wall. This one had an equally stone door carved into it, and two stone sentries etched into either side. The eyes of the sentries lit up as the pair approached. "Secrets are a poison to trust," one hissed, then the other demanded, "Purge the poison, then you may pass."

The Rabbit scowled at them. "So we have to tell each other a secret? Well that's refreshingly straight-forward. I just wish I had one," he grunted.

Beside him, though, Sarahi's cheeks turned red as something came immediately to mind. The color spread quickly to the rest of her face as she pointedly avoided looking him in the eye for a moment. Taking her arm out from around his neck, she told him, "I...can go first, if you want."

The Rabbit arched a brow, and crossed his arms over his chest with a shrug. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

Looking a little nervous, she took a couple of steps back from him. "I've been thinking this for a little while, now," she started hesitantly,"Wondering if I should tell you first...or her." Steadying her nerves with a deep breath, Sarahi met his eye as firmly as she could. "I want to fight you...for Nayeli."

His brows reversed themselves, from raised in curiosity to dipped dubiously. "Yeah...I'm going to need a lot more detail before I can tell what you mean by that."

Sarahi nodded, but reluctantly. "You've made it very clear which of us you prefer. And frankly...I don't blame you. I see the attraction. I feel it, stronger and stronger the longer I know her. For the passed season," her blush deepened, "I've even begun thinking...she looks...really hot. Maybe it's because I have one of those, too," she gestured toward her back half, and the anatomy hidden underneath, "But...yeah, I'm thinking of asking her out. Especially since you still refuse to, even after you finally brought home some actual earnings, and even have a sort of employment." She gave him a stern frown. "You did say that's all you were waiting for. I can't help but notice you're still holding back. I've been respectful. I've kept my distance. But if you're still scared...well, I'm not, and that'll just make it easier for me." The persistence of his dubious look rankled her a little. "I've got a shot!" she insisted, though he hadn't said anything to contradict her, "She's my friend, too, and we share a lot of interests. Unlike certain Rabbits, she even takes compliments...and gives them, too!"

The light died out of one of the sentries' eyes. Oro's expression didn't change...but in spite of that, his mood seemed to grow darker by the moment. And he stared at her, hard and thoughtful, for several minutes. "Well," he growled at last, "Thanks for making this little trial easier for me, I guess. Turns out I do have a secret to tell you. I warned you before what you needed to do for whatever son of a bitch she might fall for in the meantime, right?" The fire in his eyes was frightening, despite the subtle quiver developing in his nose that betrayed the fragility of his emotions at the moment. "This...changes nothing. The only difference is that you are the one and only poor fuck I will regret putting in that box...every single day of my life."

His eyes shone with moisture despite the stone-cold set of his face. So did hers. The light died out of the second sentry's eyes, and the carved door swung open to let them through. Neither moved toward it.

"Why is it," Sarahi asked around a lump in her throat, "Every time you share a 'secret' with me...my heart breaks just a little more?"

"Because those are the only kind I don't tell you up-front," he growled, then wagged a finger between them. "When we get out of here...you and I are going to have a good, honest, vicious fight. Loser will bite their tongue until Nayeli rejects the winner. Don't you dare half-ass it. I'm not going to tolerate any hard feelings when it's over." He pointed to the carved sentries. "We are going to purge this. Right?"

Wiping her arm across her eyes, Sarahi grit her teeth and nodded firmly, reflecting his glare right back at him. "What about right now? Can we get through the rest of this place...with hard feelings?"

"Fuck no," he grunted, ears twitching, "But I don't have any. You said you see the attraction, and don't blame me. So do I. From where we stand right now until she accepts one of us...I will still burn the fucking world for you. This place especially. Count on it."

"...I hate you both, sometimes, for that merciless honesty. It makes it hard to stay mad at you, even when I want to." Sarahi took a trembling breath, steadied it, and exhaled slowly. "Okay. I'm good."

"Great," the Rabbit grunted, finally moving toward the open door, "Now I just need something I can actually smash into tiny fucking pieces..."

The Gauntlet was very accommodating in that regard. The room this door opened into looked immediately familiar to Oro: the arena where he'd killed the beast on his first run. This time, the walls were decorated with shields hung from pegs with swords or spears crossed behind them, and little stands holding an assortment of weapons stood around the wall's base, offering them their choice of means to defend themselves. Across the way from them, seven Lion skeletons stood lined up along the wall: six archers and a commander bearing a sword and emblazoned shield. No sooner did Oro's foot touch the sand than the commander raised his sword, and the archers nocked their arrows. They loosed at his command, and the barbed line of death came arching swiftly at the living pair.

Oro smashed the flimsy shafts away with a quick swipe of Gorgorond. "Wait there," he barked at Sarahi, but she was already through the door and practically against his back. The stone portal closed behind her tail and, just like last time, all the other gates were closed and barred.

"We're trapped!" the Sha'khari noted, clutching her knife and glancing around for any sign of an escape route. She started trotting over to one side, keeping a wary eye on the undead across the arena even as she sought cover and a weapon with more reach...

But Oro's gaze was fixed murderously on their enemy. From this angle, Sarahi thought he looked...a little bigger than usual. The fire in his eyes had flared up to turn his usually green irises to a bright, burning red. Sarahi found her breath caught in her throat. The sight of him scared her more than the skeletons did. "...Oro?" she managed to squeak out.

"Pity these poor fucks, then," the Rabbit growled in a low, soft voice, "Trapped in this little room...with a monster like me..." Another volley arched toward them, and Oro moved quickly to intercept the arrows descending on Sarahi. No sooner had he broken those shafts than he was off across the room, kicking up sand in his wake as he made a dash for the enemy lines. But the archers were quick to ready the next round, and the tilt of their bows made his blood run cold. "GET DOWN!" he yelled at Sarahi, doubling back as hard as he could. To a one, the archers had singled her out, and she had not yet managed to get a shield off the wall.

He almost didn't make it in time, but managed to intercept the rain of arrows with a desperate leap and wide sweep of his bat. "Fuck," he grunted as he landed next to the Sha'khari again, "They're not going to let us separate."

There was no bow available for them to return fire. Sarahi made do with the next best thing she could find: a long spear. She hardly knew how to use a weapon, but this seemed like it would be simple enough to hold onto, especially for a rider who could not be unhorsed. "Then don't try," she growled, slapping her bestial back, "Come on. We'll be one target, so we know where they're aiming. You be the shield and I'll be the lance."

Oro hopped on her back like it had been his idea, grabbing the handle of the backpack she was wearing for balance to keep his bat at the ready. Sarahi rolled her eyes even as she started running. "One leg on each side," she instructed, "I know you've seen people ride motorcycles, if not horses!"

"It looks fucking uncomfortable on either," he growled, "And you don't even have stirrups!"

The commander gestured with his sword as soon as Oro mounted, and the archers spread out in two wings on either side of him, putting extra space between themselves. Sarahi held the spear like a lance and zeroed in on the leader as she picked up speed...

"Not that fucker!" Oro yanked the pack, though it hardly had the same effect as reins, "The range is going to kill us! Keep them on one side! That guy, that guy!" he waved his bat furiously at the archer at the very end of one of the lines. If she could get to him, the line of fire on them would become very narrow, as the archers had to shoot along their own lines, making Oro's job easier. But en-route, she would essentially be broad-side to more than half of them...

The sword fell. The arrows flew. She hadn't quite started the turn yet, which left them coming in from both sides at once. "Duck!" Oro yelled, and she was at least quick to put her head down. Sarahi couldn't quite tell what he did from there, having only the sensation of him moving on her back to go by...but somehow he managed to put all six arrows harmlessly in the dirt, and end up fully astride her back...though facing toward her tail. "Go!" he urged, slapping her rump with his free hand for emphasis.

"I'm going! I'm going!" she answered, turning as quickly as she could and circling around to come at the archer as close to inline with the rest as possible. Of course, it wasn't as simple as a video game. Their target was quick to break ranks, adding still more space between itself and its companions, and moving further into the center of the arena, forcing them to expose their side if they wanted to follow it. Sarahi immediately turned toward the next archer in the line, keeping with the gist of Oro's priorities. She was close enough get her spear between its ribs before it could fire the arrow it already had on the string, using the leverage to snap two of its ribs in passing.

Oro's bat scattered the rest of the bones like dice in their wake. They didn't have time to celebrate, though, as the next volley came. Sarahi continued her charge, keeping her stride as even as she could for him, and desperately put her trust in her friend. Oro put his feet on her back and leaned on her shoulders to knock down the arrows coming in from ahead of them.

The one behind them came close. The Rabbit managed to bring his bat around in time to intercept the head before it hit her haunches. He knocked it down into her calf instead. Sarahi screamed...but kept her feet, and even managed to maintain her momentum long enough to force the next archer to evade them. A few feet on the other side of it, the commander brought its shield to bear, as if daring her to continue her charge.

"Stop, stop!" Oro insisted, scooting sideways off her back and kicking off the ground to shove her sideways, swerving close to the wall.

"I'm good," she growled, despite the obvious limp in her back leg, "We have to keep moving."

"I can't drag you fast enough to dodge arrows," the Rabbit growled, eying the remaining archers and the commander raising his sword to signal the next volley, looking for an opening or something to inspire a new plan.

Sarahi cringed, and the burning sensation in her leg forced tears from her eyes. But there was no time to think, or plan...or regret. "Then run!" she shoved him aside, "You can--!"

His bat caught the side of her helmet in warning, turning her gaze away as he continued around in a flourish that put down the arrows seeking her life. "Fuck that!" Oro snarled, looking as pissed at her as at the skeletons now, "I'm going to Hell ahead of you, got that?! And you!" he bared his teeth and leveled his bat at the commander, "You were a fucking 'champion' once, right? Show some fucking honor!" Oro pointed to the limping Sha'khari. "She's down already. Non-combatant. So keep your fucking bones off her until you've dealt with me!"

A dark red light flared inside the empty sockets. The commander hammered the pommel of his sword on his shield. A luminous bubble enveloped Sarahi, surprising her, as the voice of The Gauntlet boomed out, "A challenge has been issued! The contested accepts! Oro the Ravenous, Temerant the Relentless: only one can leave alive!"

Oro's eyes widened excitedly, and his sneer grew into a wide, feral smile. "I think she just called you a loser," the Rabbit chuckled darkly, "Only one of us is alive going in..." Sarahi shrank back from her friend as far as the bubble would allow. It effectively removed her from the fight, and was probably intended to protect her from errant shots...but it felt like glass despite the glow, like it would shatter if an arrow even clipped it, and she was certain...quite certain...it would not stand up to a hit from him.

He had grown since they entered the arena. Or maybe it was just that she felt that much smaller in the shadow of his presence. His eyes were as scarlet at his palms, as scarlet as the stains on his bat, and his teeth seemed to have turned thin and sharp, like he was smiling with razors. Sarahi wasn't so sure he was her friend anymore...but he still seemed to think they shared an enemy.

The next volley was very clearly intended for him. Oro batted them away contemptuously...then disappeared. The skeletal Lion reeled from the impact, tumbling backward with its shield practically pinned to its chest. Oro stood smiling in the space it had vacated. "I take that to mean you are all 'Temerant'. Good. I've got some steam to blow. Try to last."

The volleys became a stream as he moved again, this time sprinting for the closest of the archers he and Sarahi had passed in their charge. One after the other, each archer fired as quick as they could nock their arrows, forming a relentless stream that chased the Rabbit across the arena. He didn't so much run as dance, constantly turning and spinning, hopping and cartwheeling, to dodge or swipe away the next arrow. Despite their best efforts, he drew close to his target, and the skeleton turned to put more space between them.

Oro disappeared from in front of the arrow at his back. The skeleton that had been about to flee scattered against the wall, its individual bones cracking as they were dashed against the stone. Not even breaking stride, Oro made for the next one...the one that had put that arrow in Sarahi's leg.

It ran, leading him in a wide curve around the arena, keeping in front of anything that might serve as cover to give its companions as many shots as they could take. Still Oro gained on it, a violent dervish that could not be diverted or stalled. As he drew close, the other archers took aim right on their companion's heels, hoping to intercept him even as he blinked out of Sarahi's view. He reappeared on the ground, sliding like a pro athlete into home plate as the arrows passed above him, and broke both of the skeleton's shin-bones with a kick. Rolling back to his feet, Oro next broke its bow, then its hips. He flattened its armor, pounding the metal plate into the ground with brutal strength in between fending off the continuing barrage of its allies. He saved the skull for last, smashing it to shards of dust with one final blow.

The commander set upon him, heedless of the torrent of arrows coming it from its back. What threat did a few narrow shafts pose to a skeleton, after all? "Wait your fucking turn!" Oro demanded, meeting its sword with his bat. The blade was forced wide, but was smoothly followed by the commander's boot, rolling Oro's head to the side. Oro kicked off with his own feet, pulling off a handless cartwheel so that his bat was still at the ready when the sword came back down on his head. "Oooh, you've got some fight, huh?" he grinned, holding the blade at bay, "Hold that thought. I'll be right back."

It tried hard to intercept him, to interpose either blade or shield in his path and force him to remain squared off against it...but there was no keeping up with him at this point. He wasn't even trying to deflect the arrows as he crossed the arena again, but vanished out from in front of each bladed head as it reached him, like the archers were fighting an illusion. Using his quickened step time after time, one right after the next, was taking its toll. His legs were burning, the muscles screaming, begging him to relent. He demanded they give more.

The Gauntlet itself began to laugh as he reached the first enemy in line: "Run! Flee!" it cheered jubilantly as bones and armor flew across the sand, "Time is a monster that cannot be outpaced, and one has reached its end! Stand! Fight! Death is a hound from which none can hide, and the prey is already cornered!"

"Lady," howled Oro, plowing through the final archer and rounding toward the commander again, "Now you're talking my language!!" His bat crashed down on Temerant's emblazoned shield...and was, at least this once, repelled. "Nice!!" Oro laughed wildly as they engaged in earnest.

Sarahi could hardly feel the wound in her leg anymore. She couldn't feel much of anything, actually. Her whole body felt cold, and she actually hoped it had something to do with the blood-loss. She had taken his words at the door as a kind of pep-talk, psyching himself up for the fight to come, and her with him. Now...now she wondered if it was really Oro who had walked out of that hall of mirrors with her.

He was amazing. His coordination, his balance, the sheer control he had over every fiber of his body...and that much she recognized as the Oro from her own world. He was strong. She often marveled at that...but this had become something else. By the third blow, the shield was visibly warping. Even her Oro couldn't manage that. Although it looked like he was winning...like "they" were winning...Sarahi had a steadily growing fear that they had lost well before entering the arena. He really did seem to be the monster, against which a hero struggled.

Temerant slung off the shield. If it folded in any further, it was going to crack the bone of the arm behind it. Amazingly, the undead warrior was still managing to go head-to-head with the berserker Rabbit, matching the barbaric fury with countless years of experience. But if the shield could not withstand that brutal length of wood in his hands, then bones had no hope, and even a direct hit against the sword was a gamble if it wanted to stay armed...and it definitely wanted to stay armed.

Something was happening to the Rabbit. In spite of the gains he'd made, in spite of the advantage he'd shown, Temerant still stood, and time seemed to be favoring the undead. Oro was steadily slowing down, and his hideous strength seemed to be ebbing as his own blows consumed it. His breath was coming hard. His legs had grown unsteady. Temerant was effectively on a level with him now, and soon to gain the advantage if this kept up. The undead did not tire.

"Fuck you," the Rabbit huffed, leaving his bat low to tempt his challenger into a swing. Temerant feigned taking the bait, moving for a strike to the head before twisting it into a strike against the knees. Even if Oro got his guard back down in time, it would be a weak, off-balanced hit.

Oro was quick on the reversal. The sword fell in two. It didn't shatter. There was hardly a sense of impact as the two weapons met. A heated knife passing through warm butter would have encountered more resistance. Everything that reached beyond the spot where the bat passed through the blade simply dropped into the dirt. "Surprise," Oro chuckled breathlessly, continuing the swing in one long curve that clocked the skeleton's skull, popping it free of the spine. In two final swings, Gorgorond tore through bone and armor alike, devouring the former undead like an over-cooked french fry.

Oro's knees buckled then, and he fell onto them with a painful grunt. They were swollen and hot, and everything below them felt like jelly. The Rabbit managed to avoid falling square on his face only by planting Gorgorond's tip in the sand and bracing on it.

The protective bubble around Sarahi popped. "Oro!" she shouted, getting unsteadily to her feet...though she didn't actually move toward him. "Oro...are you okay? Are you Oro?"

He gnashed his teeth as he dragged one knee out of the sand and forced his foot underneath it. "Fucking right I am!" he groaned, repeating the gesture with the other leg and standing upright despite the pain, "What about you?" He looked over at her injured leg, still bleeding around the shaft pierced all the way through her calf. Then he looked at her face.

She was scared. Of him. That doused his temper like a bucket of cold water. "Right," he grunted more gently, looking down at the bat he was using like a cane at the moment, "That was pretty wild even for me, huh?"

"...Yes," Sarahi answered softly, "What happened to you?"

Oro could only shrug. "Hell if I know. This thing, maybe," he lifted Gorgorond briefly, then let it thump back into the ground. "Whatever it was, you're dealing with me again, though I don't know how I'd prove that if you need me to." Looking at her leg again, he awkwardly pulled his shirt over his head with one hand, never moving his legs, and tossed it in her general direction. "Wrap that up. You should try to take the arrow out, if you can. I'd help...but you're going to have to come to me, if you want that."

She still stayed where she was. "...Why?"

The Rabbit gnashed his teeth and thumped the tip of his bat on the ground again. "Because I can't fucking move, okay?!" he barked, "I overdid it. A lot. And I really hope that was our 'boss fight', because I don't have another one in me," he admitted.

After another hesitant moment, she carefully walked forward, collected his shirt, and laid her back half down in the sand to do her best at binding her wound. Oro had to give her credit for being tough, as she did manage to break the arrow and slide the shaft back out, all through grit teeth and with a minimum of groaning before cutting a strip off of his shirt and tying it tightly over the wound. Using her spear in much the same way he was using his bat, she got her paws back under her and started limping in his direction.

"Hang on," Oro put out a hand toward her, then pointed to the small, white gem sitting in the sand where Temerant's torso had been a moment ago, "Find the rest of those first. They're part of the rewards, kind of. Like drops in a fucking RPG. Even the little trash mobs I killed last time turned into them, I just couldn't let up long enough to collect any."

Quirking a brow, Sarahi nodded and began roaming around the arena, trying to remember where he'd downed each of the archers. She collected six more white stones, stowing them in the backpack he'd originally been carrying her pads in. She was on her way back to him when she noticed one more, roughly where she guessed the commander's skull had landed. "Um...this one's different. Is it safe to touch?" she asked, pointing it out to him. The small rock was a smooth-polished heart, like something from a cheesy souvenir shop, made of a porous black stone laced with veins of angry red. What concerned her was that it appeared to be on fire, even as it lay there in the sand.

"How the Hell should I know?" Oro growled, too far away to see it clearly, "Flip it over here or something."

Sarahi leaned down and used the knife she'd come in with to carefully lift the stone and awkwardly toss it closer to Oro (since she couldn't seem to balance it on the blade). Gritting his teeth, Oro leaned down and quickly tapped the back of his hand against the little stone...then picked it up. "Yeah, yeah, looks like it's just some visual effect. I guess this is that 'Heart of Flame' we came here for. Didn't expect it to be so fucking literal." He stuffed it in the pocket of his hoodie...and was relieved to find he still did not burst into flames. "I guess that means we made it, at least. Good. I'm getting hungry, and I did not bring us any snacks."

"...I'm sorry," Sarahi said as she came up to him, looking a little ashamed. Oro quirked a curious brow at her, like he couldn't understand how their lack of food was her fault. "We were supposed to beat this place together, as a team. The Gauntlet even said that was what it was going to test us on. But...you basically had to carry that fight all by yourself."

"Yeah," Oro agreed with a scowl, causing her to wince unnecessarily before he continued, "And now I can't leave this fucking place unless you carry me all by yourself. Sounds like teamwork to me. Can you manage?"

The Sha'khari blinked at him...and then giggled in relief, and nodded. "I am so glad you are so very weird," she sighed, at last reassured that he was the genuine Oro, and walked around behind him so that he could more-or-less lean back into a seat behind her lower shoulders. With him safely seated, they looked around for the door that had opened after the fight, and limped out.

The next room was small and simple. To their right was a table with a small chest sitting on it, like something out of a pirate cartoon for children, a small wooden box beside that, and a strange spear leaning against the wall by the end. The shaft was all a single piece of onyx wood, crowned by a blade that danced with undulating waves of light, like a view of the sun from just underneath the ocean's surface.

The spear immediately caught Sarahi's eye. "What is this?" she asked, making her way closer cautiously.

"Our rewards," Oro grunted, eying the chest and the box, "If we can carry them out. You like that?"

"I don't like to think I'm attracted to shiny things...but yeah, that thing's awesome," she nodded, setting her current weapon aside to pick it up. "Oh! It's light. This...is this bone?" she quirked a brow, looking more closely at the shaft, "I thought it was wood." If she thought the shaft was strange, the head of the spear gave her a real surprise: there was no metal for the light to dance along. It just seemed to emanate from the end of the shaft, constraining itself to the suggestion of a spear head: a blade literally made of warm sunlight.

While she fawned over the spear, Oro leaned over and opened the little wooden box, expecting another stack of cash similar to last time. Instead he found what looked like a jewelry case, containing a single ring and five small bottles of bright red liquid, each about the size of his thumb. The ring resembled a tiny, sleeping rabbit made of gold, formed around a pearl that peeked out of its back. There was a label burned into the wood on the inside of the lid.

"A spell to keep your children safe," Oro read aloud, "A spell to restore your health." Judging by the way they were displayed, the first line belonged to the ring and the second to the potions.

"Restore health?" Sarahi blinked, eying the bottles and then her wounded leg. "So...healing potions? For real?" she reached for one of the vials, to take a better look, "I could seriously use something like that..."

Oro dipped a dubious brow, and took the little bottle back out of her hand with a frown. "Not saying you're wrong...but if one of us is going to get tricked into drinking fucking poison, it's going to be me," he declared, pulling the cork out with his teeth and spitting it on the ground. He sniffed it cautiously. "Smells like candied apples. I don't recommend kissing me if I 'fall asleep'," he rolled his eyes, then upended the contents into his mouth.

Sarahi watched anxiously, carefully turning toward the gate. If he did lose consciousness, she had every intention of dragging him out the door and down the mountain as fast as three legs could still carry them. Hang the treasure.

He grimaced. "Why does medicine always taste different after you swallow it?" he grumbled. He continued to sit on her back for a moment, while she stood with nervous tension, watching his face carefully...and finally slid down to stand on his own two feet. Then he kicked the leg of the table, rocking it a bit. "Okay...I gotta admit, that's effective," he sighed in relief as all the aches and pains in his entire body disappeared one by one. Oro took a second bottle out of the case and offered it to Sarahi, who downed it in a desperate gulp.

"Oh gods forgotten, that is so much better!" she sighed a moment later, stretching out her back leg. She hadn't unwrapped it yet, but could tell just by the feel of the cloth on her skin that the wound had already closed, and just needed a good wash to disappear entirely. "If I had to choose between that box and everything else in this room, I'd take the box."

"Yeah. Fortunately, we don't," Oro nodded, closing the case and stuffing it quickly into the backpack Sarahi was wearing, "Three left. Remember that for a rainy day...and by 'rain' I mean 'blood'."

While he was tugging the zipper open, the Sha'khari lifted the lid of the chest...and immediately dropped it shut again. "I...can't imagine why I was expecting gold coins," she tried to joke, but the shock on her face made it fall flat, "Oro...that...is a lot of money."

"It had better fucking be," the Rabbit grumbled, stepping around her to toss the lid back to see for himself. The chest was divided into two compartments inside: about a third of it full of small rocks and gems, similar to what the monsters had turned into before. The other two thirds were filled with neatly stacked bills, much like the box he'd retrieved last time. They weren't small denominations. Oro gave a low whistle. "I like this place's math. That's way more than double the last haul. I won't need to come back for a long time."

"Or ever, ideally," Sarahi emphasized, reminding him that they had really only come here for the stone, not money.

Oro nodded absently, apparently thinking about something else. "I wonder if it's because you came, too. Did it kick it up for the level then double it for equal shares?" He shook his head at his own pointless musings. "Why the fuck would a dungeon care? Let's get out of here," he insisted, closing the lid and tucking his bat under his arm to take it by the handles, "This place is making me crazy."

"That is easily the most sensible thing I have ever heard out of you," the Sha'khari sighed, picking up the fancy spear and making sure the backpack was secure on her shoulders before they trotted out into daylight again.

Clear mountain air never smelled so good. Sarahi breathed deeply, blowing out the last of her anxiety as she could finally trust they really had made it out. "Oh good!" came a delighted call from Organa as the pair emerged, "I was starting to get worried. How did it go?" She was eying the blood-soaked cloth around Sarahi's back leg as she asked it.

"We're back," Oro snorted, "Doesn't that say enough?" He pulled the strangely burning stone out of his pocket. "This had better be what you need."

The ghost floated closer, smiling broadly as she nodded. "Oh, yes. You got a big one, too. Very well done! Were the rest of the rewards this interesting?" Her eyes ran up and down the length of the spear leaning against Sarahi's shoulder.

The Sha'khari eyed it, herself, as if just realizing how she must look walking around with it. "Yeah...I'm not sure what the story behind this thing is, or what I thought I'd be doing with it when I picked it up...but it's definitely interesting."

"I'm starving," Oro grumbled, thumping his bat on one shoulder and slinging the chest over the other by one of its handles, "Let's go. We can talk about our trophies over lunch. I'm buying a really tasty one today," he promised with a chuckle as he started away from the ring of standing stones. He could definitely afford one or two today.

"I think you mean 'dinner'," Organa remarked from the stone around his neck.

Oro quirked a brow and checked the sky briefly. "Fuck," he grumbled, "Didn't seem that long inside." It had been mid-morning when they went in. Now the sun was sitting on the horizon, beginning to turn red in the evening atmosphere. He glanced over his shoulder at Sarahi, likewise shocked as she checked the time on her phone, now that it could sync up with the real world again...and also shocked at the number of calls she had missed from Nayeli.

"Oh crap...she's probably as worried about me as about you by now," Sarahi sighed, taking a moment to send a quick message assuring the Lioness that they were okay and on their way home.

"Well, you might as well stay for dinner now. At least you won't be terribly late getting home," Oro sighed.

She nodded, but added, "Wow, it's so weird...it felt like a long time inside, even though I'm sure we weren't gone more than an hour or two. Now that we're out...it seems like a really short day, even though we were gone for practically all of it."

"Yeah. Try not to think about it too much. Magic is fucked," Oro sneered. They walked on quietly for a little while, before he asked out of the blue, "So: house or college?" Sarahi tilted her head, prompting him to elaborate on the question. "What are you going to do with your half? We're graduating this season, and you've never really talked about college that I can remember, so what are your plans?"

"...My half?!" Sarahi almost dropped her phone when she realizing what he was talking about, "Oh...my...no, no, I wouldn't even know what to do with that kind of money!"

Oro rolled his eyes. "Like I do? I fucking burned it on rocks and weeds. Still wish Mrs. Hope would have just done something worthwhile with it," he grumbled, "You'll figure something out."

Still trying to wrap her head around seeing that much money all at once, much less having it, Sarahi could appreciate the bizarre intimidation it evoked. "Well," she started slowly, "If what you've told me is true, I wouldn't call it wasted on this. Kind of lucky you still had it, actually. Um...anyway...no, I'll be happy if you spend a few dollars of it on dinner with me." She eyed the spear leaning against her shoulder one more time. "And can I leave this at your house? I weirdly want to keep it, but I somehow get the feeling Mom and Dad are going to be very concerned when I bring it home. At the very least, I don't want to have that talk tonight. I'm already going to be in enough trouble."

Oro arched a brow at her. "Sure, but...they know you're eighteen now, right? Isn't it about time they back off on curfews and stuff? You could move out tomorrow...and that's not just hypothetical, as of five minutes ago. They've got to start letting you step out and be independent eventually."

"Heh...I think that's what scares them," she nodded, "Anyway...still not a talk I want to have tonight. I'll come get it next weekend, if that's okay."

The Rabbit shrugged. "Sure, no problem. Errrg...I am so hungry!" he groaned, bringing a smile back to Sarahi's face as the sense of being back home returned at last...including the berating they both suffered from Nayeli when they finally showed up at the Hope house.

She was understandably angry that Oro had gone back into The Gauntlet, regardless of his reasons or the rewards, and more than a little disappointed that Sarahi had joined him instead of stopping him, or at least telling her. The young Lioness did them the courtesy of hearing out their story, including the reason Oro needed to do something so dangerous in the first place, after she'd gotten through her initial lecture. In light of those facts...well, she was firmly in Sarahi's camp, at best considering it a "necessary evil", though all the more disappointed that the Sha'khari had not told her they were going.

"Cut her some slack," Oro grumbled as Sarahi started looking genuinely ashamed, "She couldn't have stopped me if she sat on my shoulders all the way up the mountain, and you know it. We're back, and I can't think of a single reason I'll be going back into that Hell-hole for the foreseeable future, so just be happy for that."

Nayeli grit her teeth for a moment...then sighed, and accepted that as about the best outcome she was going to get from this evening. "Fine. But I'm asking both of you...no, you know, that's pointless. Next time...just...tell me, too, okay?" she begged, "I couldn't do much more to stop you than beg, in the long run, and I'm not fool-headed enough to think I'd be any kind of useful, so I won't even try to come along. But at least don't leave me wondering why you disappeared one day. I'll take it personally."

Sarahi, on the verge of tears, nearly knocked Nayeli over when she threw her arms around her in a reassuring hug, nodding her agreement quickly and wordlessly. "Yeah, yeah," Oro huffed more reluctantly, "I won't do it again. Can I go make a sandwich now? Fucking starving over here..."

Nayeli sighed in exasperation, but could hardly say she was surprised. Pushing Sarahi back, she waved for the Sha'khari to go sit by the couch as well. "Just sit tight. I ordered some sheilan earlier, and we have some other leftovers," she remarked, heading for the kitchen, "Then you can show me your treasures. I'm sure you're dying to show them off." In fairness, she couldn't blame them. The spear currently leaning in a corner of the room, lighting it up with slowly waving light like a lava-lamp, was definitely impressive...

The night was dark and quiet. Sarahi had gone home hours ago, and Nayeli to bed. The door to Oro's room opened quietly. Though asleep on the bed, the Rabbit's keen ears twitched at the sound. "Time for school already?" he grumbled groggily, rubbing one sleepy eye. He didn't have a clock in his room, so it was hard for him to tell exact hours, even with the sun up.

The intruder simply stepped over and sat down on the edge of the bed, resting a gloved hand on his arm. "No. I wasn't ordered tonight, so I'm home early. I guess I'm getting old," Mrs. Hope chuckled softly. Her humor was brief. "Nayeli told me where you went today," she continued in a near-whisper, "I just wanted you to know...that I am very disappointed. Especially since you got Sarahi involved--"

"That was her own choice," he growled, pushing his face behind his pillow, "I told her to go home. I didn't want to put her in danger, either. But I'm not her boss. Neither are you. She came on her own," he insisted with finality.

Mrs. Hope sat quietly for a moment. "I believe you. And we talked about my feelings last time, so I won't go into it again. Nayeli assures me you didn't do it for money...but I can't help thinking that was at least a secondary motivation, since you left the chest sitting out for me to find when I got home. So tomorrow I am going to call Mr. Swordbright. We're going to find you a job in town where you can earn a living without getting yourself killed. You're going to work there...wherever it is...until you can decide what you really want to do with your life, that doesn't involve gambling it for petty riches."

Oro snorted. "And if I don't?"

"Then you're going to die of mere pride," she answered, sounding genuinely hurt and worried, but quickly clamped down on the additional lecture trying to launch itself off her tongue. "Oro...I...," she sighed, and patted his arm, getting up from the bed, "You can go back to sleep. I just wanted to tell you that. Think about it tomorrow, okay?"

"...Okay," he grunted, never turning over. Mrs. Hope closed the door gently behind her.