D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kat ---

"Well the differences seem to be rather obvious… but can you give us some specifics?" asked Kat.

"Right, can do," said Bower as he threw on the bracer and pulled the rope around his shoulder, wincing a bit at the weight as he leant against the tree to help with that. "So, the big obvious one is that the rope keeps us all together, but the bracers give more freedom of movement. Sure I got a lot of rope, but that comes with the issue of it being heavy.

Not so much an issue for you kids, but for me? It's a bit of an issue these days.

"Nothing major of course, I can handle the weight… but it will slow us down just with that. Then there's the mobility concerns in general. Hard to dodge and attack if ya can only get so far away from the monster. Might not be a worry right now but some of the later stuff we're likely to encounter will be.

"Of course the opposite is true. If you take up a bracer and move about to fight a monster you might stumble into a little pocket and be stuck away from us. The bracers will point you in the right direction… but that includes threw walls, cliffs, trees, whatever have you. Heck, I know mine led me through an underground waterway once and it was SWAMP water.

Took a week to get the smell out once I got back home.

"So ya, not perfect but they work quite well. The only thing is the pull gets stronger the further away ya are… up to the point where it can literally drag ya forward if you're not careful. Can't take them off either because once ya activate them as a set? They stay active as a set.

"So if ya took off the bracer and left it to the side it's quite likely to go flying away. Hard to get off, and no monster can do it… but if you're the idiot? Well that's gonna cost ya."

"It seems like the bracelets are still the best option," said Kat as she glanced around.

"Ah, you're just saying that because you've never taken two steps away from ya group to take care of some business, then be forced to track across a bleating dessert for six hours before getting back to ya group… that hasn't moved more than a dozen paces," said Bower.

"Oh…" intoned Kat. "Can it really be that bad?"

Bower nodded, "Oh yeah. That one didn't happen to me but an apprentice. Senior apprentice admittedly and I wasn't too worried about him… but it was an annoying wait. He was booking it too. Though he was one of my more capable trainees he was a massive coward. Retired to start a sweet shop in the capital actually, wonder what he's doing these days?" wondered Bower.

"It seems the risks are quite great if we do not remain close. How close though?" asked Hunter. "You have not been entirely clear on that front,"

"Eh, it's a bit of a feeling type of thing see?" said Bower. "Not everywhere has the same level of… separation. You gotta feel the mist and pay attention to the way it's flowing. In… let's call them 'calm' areas despite the fact you can't see shit, you might be able to get two hundred metres from everyone else and still be in the same place. A bit of effort and you can all meet up…

"But in other times you can be within grabbing distance and someone will vanish on ya. It's not commonly that bad, and when it IS that bad usually I'll be able to backtrack a bit and find the are you've slipped into before someone ends up more lost… but that doesn't mean it won't happen. Especially when we need to explore for the drake.

I suspect something like that will quickly start to destroy the bubbles as it moves around, and that should be easy to track… but it might have learned better. That likely?"

"Hard to say," said Hunter. "The issue with the drake is that it is… much older than it should be. How that additional time has effected it is the biggest question. It leaves a lot up to chance. A more standard foe would allow me to make more accurate guesses.

"If the drake was exposed to this mist while in its egg, it likely knows how to manipulate the fog to some extent, or at least has an instinctive understanding of how to best interact with it. Of course even with that, it might decide that eliminating the bubbles is the best answer for some reason. This fog has… certainly made things harder to determine. How easy is it to destroy the space bubbles?"

"Not all too sure myself… I've been in a few as they collapsed but I ain't sure if that's a natural thing or not. Never intentionally destroyed any myself, even when I was making an effort to test things. So I can't say if I was never successful because I lack a certain something, such as ya demonic power, or if they are hard to destroy when it ain't there time.

I mean… I call them bubbles, and that feels right so I assume they have to pop sometimes?" suggested Bower.

"Hmm…" Hunter moved up to the mist and put a hand in. Then an elbow. Then she went and put the entire humanoid section of her body inside of the mist for a few moments before pulling herself back out. "The mist does not feel strong enough to keep such bubbles in perfect condition.

I suspect you are correct, they pop on their own… unless you are closer to the centre of this mass where the mist has more power. Though that part is a guess,"

"Eh, I don't rightly no meself. Had a bit of a gander at trying to get to the centre once upon a time… not to seriously find out what was going on, more to look for interestin plants I could sell and I ain't too sure I ever found it. Space is strange inside the mist so… how do ya know ya got to the centre?

I found a few places it could be, sure, but I was never too happy about declaring them THE centre ya know?" offered Bower.

"I understand," accepted Hunter.

*I don't.*

[I think Bower was indicating either that there is sufficiently fancy areas deeper in that could all possibly be the centre, or he used the stars to make a guess at the centre and found himself close enough… but perhaps not at the perfect centre?

Actually it might be more likely that he DID find the perfect centre but something felt off about it and decided it must not be the ACTUAL centre of the mist.]

*That makes sense I think?*

"So, ah think we've been drifting off target here a touch. Let's put it to a vote within your team, do ya want the bracelets or the rope?" asked Bower.

"I vote for the bracelet," stated Hunter. "We are going into this mist intending to fight an extremely powerful foe. The rope will not be sufficient for such a thing, and I would like to get used to the bracelets before we arrive so starting now instead of switching as we get deeper in seems to be the best idea to me,"

"I… I'd like to go with the rope…" mumbled Kamiko. "I… I don't know… I mean… I get that we'll have to fight… but I think the rope will… will help us get a bit used to things before we… before we get too deep into the mist. Give us… um… a transitional period? Yeah. I mean… you and Kat will be fine… but I sort of worry what will happen if I end up alone…"

Lily transformed to say, "I'll have to go with the bracelet, I don't have the best combat skills and instincts in my human form so I'd want to be sticking to my Memphis one… but there's no way to wrap a rope around me like that. I'd be safe in Kat's arms sure… until we get attacked by something and Kat has to drop me to keep me safe. So I vote bracelet,"

"Will the bracelet work even then?" asked Kat. "I mean, it's probably got some amount of resizing on it… but can it resize ENOUGH to work on your Memphis form?" Experience tales with m v|l e'm,p y r

"Huh… I was just sort of assuming I'd put it on my arm then transform… but you're right it probably won't work like that. Maybe around my stomach? It'd be a massive pain to move around but it would fit… probably. Um… pretty sure I could follow our connection if push came to shove… but… hmm… ok I admit we might need to think about this a bit more…" mumbled Lily.

"Um… why not both?" everyone turned to look at Kamiko. "I mean… I know I said rope… but why not tie the rope around everyone and also put on the bracelets? Well, maybe not around Lily… but you guys know what I mean,"