Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah shot out of the tent, Mascot clutched in his hands and held before him with locked arms like a petulant child. He didn’t bother waiting around to see what the demons thought of the cat’s arrival. It would take too long to explain everything, so it was easier to just let them come to their own conclusions.

He pulled aside a random demon in the camp and ordered them to bring a writing tool and some paper. They hurried off and came back just a minute later holding what he needed, their face pale with fear. Noah took it from them, gave them a curt nod, and then strode off to find Moxie and Lee with the supplies stuffed into his travel bag.

He arrived at his tent and poked his head inside. Fortunately, both women were already there, sitting in a pair of plant chairs that Moxie had formed to fill out the rather barren room.

Lee had a bag of food tucked under an arm and was happily crunching away on it. Noah couldn’t see what was in the bag but it smelled vaguely citrusy. The loud cracks coming from whatever she was grinding down between her jaws really didn’t align with anything citrus-associated, but there were bigger problems at hand.

“How’d it go?” Moxie asked, turning to him and freezing as she spotted the cat in his hands. She leapt to her feet in surprise. “You’ve got Mascot? How?”

“He somehow portaled into the Damned Plains,” Noah replied. Mascot sent him an irate look as he walked over to the chairs. The cat didn’t seem too pleased with his method of transportation. Then again, he hadn’t teleported away or attacked Noah yet, so he couldn’t have been too annoyed.

“Can he—”

Noah shook his head. “Unfotunately not. At least, I’m pretty sure he can’t. Maybe he just doesn’t want to. Getting a way out of here was my first thought as well, but I think we’ll need to look for a different angle for that.”

Disappointment washed over Moxie’s features. Lee took a handful of something from her bag and tossed it into her mouth, continuing to crunch away.

“Damn,” Moxie said, her shoulders slumping. She reached out and scratched the top of Mascot’s head, just behind his horns. The cat purred. “What’s he doing over here? He didn’t bring a bunch of monsters with him to mess with us, did he?”

Noah hesitated. That was definitely a possibility. He hadn’t seen anything, but Mascot did have a penchant for showing up with something big and ugly on his tail. The cat definitely liked watching them fight — or perhaps he just liked watching them kill things. Both were probably equally likely.

“That probably remains to be seen. I haven’t noticed anything yet,” Noah said. He walked over to Moxie’s chair and stole it, flopping down. The soft vines gave in more than he’d expected and he sank into them as the chair molded to his back. “Whoa. This is really comfortable.”

Mascot yowled in warning and Noah glanced back just in time to see Moxie sitting down even in spite of his attempted theft. He held Mascot up as Moxie lowered herself into his lap and leaned back against his chest. She twisted her head to send him a smug look. “Thanks. You’re a bit less comfortable, but I suppose I’ll have to settle.”

“I thought you were trying to conserve your seeds,” Noah said as he shifted Mascot over Moxie’s head and dropped him onto her lap. The cat padded in a small circle before curling up and lowering his head with a contented purr.

“I was.” Moxie wiggled around to get more comfortable and got her hair caught in Noah’s mouth in the process. “These aren’t made from my normal seeds. I was testing my rune on a slab of meat. A bit of a waste, but it worked.”

Noah craned his neck back and tried to get the hair out of his mouth. The attempt failed and, after a few seconds, he gave up and accepted his fate. “There’s something a little weird about sitting on plants made out of meat.”

“They aren’t made out of meat. They’re just using the energy from it,” Moxie corrected. “Normal plants aren’t made out of dirt and sunlight, you know. Also, why are you eating my hair? Don’t give Lee any ideas, please.”

Noah glared at Moxie and she smirked in response. Letting out a huff, Noah decided the only winning move was to not even respond.

“I wouldn’t eat any part of you,” Lee said defensively. She paused for a second, watching them with more than just a little curiosity in her eyes. “But… just for the sake of expanding my knowledge, does Moxie’s hair taste good?”

Noah stared at Lee. That wasn’t a question someone who wasn’t planning on eating someone asked. Of course, Lee would never try to actually eat Moxie, but he didn’t put it past her to not take a nibble of some hair to test it out.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Moxie arched an eyebrow and gave him a playful grin. “Does my hair not taste good? Now I’m offended.”

“Are you trying to get chomped?” He untangled a hand from Moxie and reached into his travel bag, pulling out the writing supplies he’d just gotten. Moxie stiffened, the smile vanishing from her face as she realized what he was holding.

“Oh, shit,” Moxie breathed. “We can write a letter back!”

“There we go.” It was Noah’s turn to look smug, though the effect was somewhat lost because Moxie’s hair was still covering half of his face. “Mascot can’t or won’t bring us back, but he can definitely take a letter back. At the very least we can let everyone know that we’re okay.”

“Are you sure Mascot will do it?” Lee asked. “That seems like a lot of work.”

Noah reached around Moxie’s waist to scratch the cat’s back. “Sure he will. I don’t know where Jalen is, but after Mascot delivers the letter, he can go get any form of payment he wants from him.”

“Do you have a deal with Jalen about that or something?”

“Nah, but he’ll be fine. He’s rich — and he isn’t here to say no, is he?”

“No, I guess he isn’t.” Moxie burst into laughter, but it quickly petered off. She leaned her head back against Noah’s shoulder and a small frown crossed her features. “What can we even say, though? I didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to even have a conversation with the others until we got out of here. I’ve been thinking over what I wish I told Emily before we left… but now I don’t even know what to say.”

“I think saying we’re alive and planning to return once all this shit is dealt with is probably the most important thing we can do. If possible, hopefully Mascot can also bring us back a letter from them. I want to make sure they’re keeping up with their studies and practice.”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re concerned about?”

“They need to be stretching as well. And eating,” Lee advised. “Both are important for growing bodies.”

“So they are,” Noah said with a nod. “And training doesn’t stop just because we’re gone. I don’t know what Arbitage has done or plans to do with them since we aren’t there anymore. I’d like an update, even if it’s a boring one.”

Moxie’s back stiffened against him. “Shit. You’re right. Emily should be fine due to her heritage, but nothing has stopped Jakob or Verrud from keeping up with their bullshit. I hope they’re all safe.”

“They are,” Noah said. He rustled the paper in his hand. “The kids are resourceful, and they’ve got enough connections to pull now. Let’s just figure out what to say to them and get it sent out before some more shit happens here. I don’t think the demons are going to be silent for much longer.”

Moxie nodded and Lee leaned forward in her chair as the three of them started to draft out their letter.

***

“What do you think of The Web?” Aylin asked.

“It’s a little plain,” Torrick said hesitantly, watching Vrith with wary eyes as he spoke. Even though Aylin had introduced everyone to her again properly, he didn’t blame the boy for being intimidated. Vrith was not a very kind looking demon.

“Plain can be good,” Vrith said. “It’s also bold. The more generic your name is, the more chance it ends up treading on the territory of another gang and angering some hot-headed fool.”

“Wouldn’t it be wise to keep our name something a little more inconspicuous? People would be less likely to attack us if we sounded boring,” Violet said.

“I think it’s far too late for inconspicuous,” Aylin said with a shake of his head. “And we’ve got me, you, and Vrith. That isn’t even counting Spider and his companions. I’d say we’re strong enough to start taking some liberties. That’ll also show the other gangs that we aren’t afraid to throw our weight around, right?”

Vrith nodded. “You’re learning quickly. I guess that’s to be expected. I think the name fits, especially given that Spider is the one at the top. I think it works, and we need a name sooner rather than later. If we’re bringing the other gangs under us, we can’t let them keep their names.”

“Why not?” Edda asked. She’d found something to chew on, but Aylin wasn’t sure what it was. He decided not to ask. She’d never gotten sick from eating anything, so she’d probably be okay.

“It lets them keep too much of their former identities,” Vrith said, sending a glance at Aylin to make sure the new information hadn’t accidentally triggered his abilities. “They need to view it as joining a new gang, and they need to recognize Aylin as their streetlord. Even if we keep their organization just to avoid a huge mess, the chain of command needs to be evident.”

“I agree. I guess we’ll go with The Web, then,” Violet said. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. Aylin was tempted to do the same. It had been a very, very long day. He wasn’t quite ready to kill for some sleep, but he wasn’t far from it.

“How long do you think it’ll be before the Silent Silverfang responds to what happened?” Aylin asked. “And what about the other gangs, for that matter?”

“Tomorrow,” Vrith said confidently. Her features darkened. “Word has spread by now. Anyone planning to make a move is going to be smart enough not to try it on their own. We should be prepared for a difficult day.”

“Yeah. I kind of figured.” Aylin sighed. He drew in a deep breath and let it out as he shook his head. “Right. Let’s go back over the plan one last time before we get some sleep. We need to be ready for everything that’s coming our way, even if we don’t know all of what it’ll be yet.”

“How do you prepare for something that you don’t know?” Torick asked.

“By having lots of plans — and by filling in Spider, Moxie, and Lee on them.”

Torrick swallowed. “How… how many plans, exactly? There are a lot of things that can go wrong.”

Aylin’s response was a smile that sent shivers down the spines of every single demon sitting in the room.

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