Same Job, New World

It had been a long day of gathering personal belongings, but Vyn was finally done packing. Of course, a good amount of that packing involved removing a plethora of kittens (and their mother) from the suit case, and then brushing loose fur off of her clothing, and then returning to find more kittens on the now exposed clothing. By all rights, it should have been a very quick process.

"Well Gladius, despite your best efforts, I'm ready to go." Vyn sits back on her bed, a poofy pink kitten immediately jumping into her lap. She strokes the kitten's ears idly as she takes another look around her room. She was going to miss this place, but an assignment is an assignment.

She could have said no. She almost did say no, if it weren't for one little detail. Vyn was almost certain they were sending her to hunt, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Instead, she is to escort a new hunter as something of a sponsor. The Guild Master had described it as some sort of "Advanced Sweetheart Duty", and she couldn't really refuse an advanced mission.

And, of course, the research.

That was the reason she accepted, wasn't it? Yes, seeing the New World would be exciting, but what really caught her attention was the prospect of monster research. In fact, it was said that some of the world's leading researcher's were already there. And where there's research, there's doctors.

"Are you sure they can help you with your condition?" Gladius sits next to Vyn on the bed, another kitten clinging to her back. "I mean, from the sounds of it, the Frenzy virus isn't even on their radar. In fact, it kind of seems like the Frenzy virus has been all but forgotten by the guild."

Vyn lets out a sigh, reminded that her case was becoming more and more lost as time goes on. "I'm kind of banking on it, Glady. This isn't the Guild we're dealing with here, this is the Commission."

"And the difference is...?"

"Look, I know the Commission is just a research group payed for by the Guild, but I have to try. The way it was described to me, it sounds like there are a lot of researchers there who are eager to, well, research." She picks up the kitten in her lap and holds it up to her face, earning a reassuring nuzzle from the small palico. "And besides, I'm not out there to hunt, I'm just there to be the personal assistant to a new hunter. I don't know much about this person, but as long as they're out in the field, it should be a low stress environment for me. Low stress means low risk of outbreak."

"And you're not going hunting at all?" Gladius asks, to which Vyn shakes her head. "Not even though there are gonna be a bunch of new monsters that nobody's ever seen before? Not even though Mozart's going out there too? Are you really going to sit around at base the entire time?"

"Absolutely. That's not my job anymore." Gladius narrows her eyes and leans forward, giving Vyn what she hopes is a scrutinizing glare. "Alright, maybe just a little, but it'll be different." She motions over to the corner, where there's a giant weapon that looked something like a hammer, only with a pipe organ on the end. It shimmers in a way that makes it hard to determine if it's golden or platinum, the light dancing off of it in a rainbow. "I'm leaving my blades here. You know I started hunting with the horn, and now I think would be a good chance to shake the dust off."

Gladius looks at the gaudy instrument for a moment, her gaze softening. "Isn't that made of...?"

"Don't worry about it, Glady. Music always helps me relax, so if the frenzy ever starts up, I can just play a short tune to get it under control." A loud whistle blows from outside. "Oops, gotta go! Are you sure you'll be alright taking care of this place and your kittens while Moz and I are gone?"

"Sure, sure, I ain't some pampered house cat! Now get going! And bring me back something nice!"

With a final scratch behind the ears, Vyn bids Gladius farewell and runs out the door with her luggage.

                                                                                                                                                                  

"Don't see why you're worrying so much, it's just another place to hunt." Mozart snacks on a wedge of cheese, sitting across from Vyn at a table near the corner. The ship they're on isn't very stable, but it's at least big enough to accommodate plenty of hunters.

"I don't know, Moz, something seems off. I don't ever know who here is supposed to be my partner." She scans around the room, seeing plenty of hunters but none that stand out to her. "She's supposed to be here, and maybe she is, but I didn't get a chance to meet her before we departed."

"Eh, it'll be fine. Whenever we reach port, it'll be easy enough. Just find the hunter who's missing a handler, yeah?" He jumps up on the table and stares down at Vyn with a confident smirk. "And worst comes to worst, we could just take on the mission ourselves! Heck, you're way more experience than all of these hunters, I'd be willing to bet you could just find the big thing they're looking for and kill within the week!"

"Not gonna happen, buddy. I'm sorry, but I promised Gladius that wasn't going to do that much hunting. You're more than welcome to, though."

Just then, Mozart spots somebody suspicious. Not suspicious in the "they're going to take down the ship!" kind of way, but more in the "why didn't I see her before?" kind of way. "Hey, Vyn. Who's that over there?"

Vyn directs her gaze in the direction that Mozart points, and sees that there's a young woman with raspberry colored hair sound asleep at a table, all alone. Her head is resting unceremoniously on the table, an empty bowl being tipped on it's side against her cheek. Vyn couldn't help but wonder...

She makes her way over to the sleeping girl, taking note that she has a very large bowgun strapped to her back. Vyn places a hand gently on the girl's shoulder and shakes her awake.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" The sleeping girl slowly opens her eyes, stopping halfway, and looks up groggily. She gives Vyn a lazy smile.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" She asks. She sits up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes. she never actually loses the tired look, but it's a start. "You need something?"

"I was just..." Vyn looks the girl over, wondering if this was really one of the hunters being sent for this mission. "I mean, um... Well, I'm looking for my assigned hunter. I'm something of a veteran, you see, and I was sent to be a handler for the Commission. I wasn't sure if..." She trails off, almost put off by the blank stare she was getting back.

"Oh yeah, totally! That's probably me." The girls replies, raising her hand for a shake only for it to be re purposed to cover a yawn. "You must be Vyn, the Guild told me about you."

Vyn almost returns the handshake, before getting whiffed. Mozart watches in great amusement from the other table. "Yes, my name is Vyn Sikahl, and you are?" Vyn gives the most genuine smile she can, though her eye twitches as her supposed partner begins nodding off. Not dropping the smile, she snaps her fingers loudly, getting the reaction she desired.

"Oh, yeah, my bad. Fei."

Vyn's smile falters as the silence between them carries on. Mozart makes his way over to the table with the two ladies and sits down. "Well, I take it you two hit it off. Now then, loves, how about we get us some drinks and a rack of whatever that thing is that the chefs are serving?"

Vyn takes a seat across from Fei, mouthing a 'thank you' to Mozart. "Sure, why not? From here on out, we're going to be partners, Fei, so let's be friends!" With the wave of a paw, Mozart beckons for 3 mugs of dragon ale. "Here's to the New World!"

Vyn raises her mug, only for Fei to fall forward, knocking over her own mug and spilling it all over Vyn. A wisp of purple permeates off of Vyn as her eye twitches violently, a loud snore coming from the other side of the table.

This is going to be a long mission...