Party 1 Beginning: Lost Woods to Clock Town

Shooing at fruit was a pretty easy task, but at least it helped keep Reina's mind off of her current state of separation from Chaos. After she had shot a few fruits down she gathered them up and made her way back to the camp. The food wasn't quite finished cooking yet. "I'm going to try and find a place to get cleaned up a little." She said, "I smell awful." She made it down to a secluded looking part of the Bay before stripping down and cleaning her clothes and body.

Chaos worked hard on the armor. He smelted ingots, morphed them into shape and applied them to the hide, slowly crafting strong, light, and practical armor. After an hour he was finished and the product of his labors was a strong and durable armor that was also light and made very little sound. It was perfect for a fast or stealthy fighter. "Here, this can keep you protected without impairing speed or stealth." He handed over the set of armor and sat down. "Now for payment." He said as he crossed his arms.

Chaos wanted to get this over with and head back to the inn. He'd been gone longer then he should have. For all he knew the two girls could be in trouble again. He tried to calm himself since Fist was with Reina, but he still wanted to make sure for himself.

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"Just be careful." She said to Reina. Fist took note of their condition after Reina's comment. After going through the sewer they did smell pretty bad. "Maybe I'll go find a place after dinner." She said to herself while turning the cleaned fish around. She hadn't really bathed in what seemed like forever

After Reina had cleaned the smell of sewer off of her and her clothes she redressed. She wasn't quite satisfied with bathing in the ocean, her body felt gritty and her hair felt brittle, but at least she was clean of sewer waste. "We'll find an inn tomorrow." She told herself, "I can take a proper bath there."

Fist finished cooking the food and set it by the fire. With some shells she found on the beach, she washed them out and used them as cups for the juice she squeezed from the fruits Reina collected. Using one of her knives, she chopped up the fish and layed them on flat rocks. "Alright dinner's ready." She called out to Reina.

Reina heard Fist calling and quickly slipped her saltwater-stiff tunic over her. She didn't bother with the boots as she ran back to camp barefoot. After such a long day she was starving. "I looks as good as it smells!" Reina smiled.

Fist happily took the complement. "Yes, well I'm used to making fairly good meals with raw resources. I wasn't the best back in the day, but I thought I was pretty good." She took a piece of the cooked fish and slid it through the mask. "So how was the salt water? Refreshing?" She said in an amused manner

"Not as clean as I'd like to be but better than sewer water for sure." Reina slipped a piece of the fish into her mouth. "This is really good!" With food in her belly and comparatively clean clothes and body Reina's spirits had picked up considerably.

"Well I don't know about you, but after this I plan to find a real place to get cleaned up." She said as she downed some juice with her fish

"Anything you had in mind?" asked Reina, "Salt water isn't really the best way to bathe but I haven't seen much fir fresh water on this beach."

"Well it's getting pretty dark so it should be easier to take a look around. There's probably a pond or something in the area. We are nearby civilization, and where there's people there's fresh water." Fist was determined to find something to clean off in. She finished her food and stood up. "Are you in or out?"

Reina ran her fingers through her brittle and salty hair. "I'm in."

Fist put out the fire and started looking around for a pond or something to clean off in. She lay low while looking around the outskirts of the town. After searching she stumbled upon a cave where she could hear the sounds of dripping water. "I think there may be something this way." She told Reina as she walked into the cave. Running far in she eventually found a verry tiny stream of water flowing into a puddle at the bottom of a basin at the end of the cave. "Well, not exactly what I was hoping for..." She said as she peered at the crack pouring water down to the ground

"Doesn't seem like anything to bathe in." Reina stuck her finger under the trickle. "Too bad though," she said, "It's nice and hot."

"hmmmm." Fist had an idea as she slipped one her gauntlet. "stand back." She told Reina as she put her fist on the crack. Shemoved it back and forth for a sec to get a feel for the swing and as she pulled back a third time her arm surged with energy and she hit the crack dead on. The energy could be seen going into the crack and quickly it grew larger and suddenly burst as water flowed at an alarming rate into the basin while Fist leaped out at the last second. Soon it slowed down and came to steady flow of water. "Well how about that? Quite the find we have here." She said as she put her hands on her sides triumphantly.

"It's great!" Reina said excitedly. after going days without bathing properly the spring was a most welcoming sight. She dipped her bare toes in, the water was so warm and inviting. She waded in up to her knees before slipping off her tunic and throwing it to the somewhat dry cave floor. She looked back at Fist. "What are you waiting for? It feels wonderful."

Fist undid the binding on the back of her suit as she slid it off and quickly hopped in the water to avoid the cold of the air against her skin. She sunk her body in all the way to her neck and relaxed in the warmth of the spring. " I almost forgot what a hot spring felt like." She said. After a moment she took some of the water and a sea sponge she found on the beach and started to use it to scrub the grime off her gauntlets that were due for a shining.

Reina lounged back in the water. "It feels wonderful to get clean." she sighed scrubbing the grime off herself. After she was satisfied that her body was clean she brought her tunic into the water and scrubbed and pounded it with smooth stones to remove the dirt.

After cleaning off her suit and gauntlets Fist sighed. "Alright now comes the hard part." She said as she began undoing the fastens on her mask."

Reina was impossibly curious. She had wanted to see Chaos and Fist's faces for quite a while. She sat up in the water and watched quietly.

Fist took a deep breath and pulled the mask aside revealing an attractive face with brown eyes, largely untouched by the elements. She glanced over at Reina's curious face and smirked before dunking her head in the water and after a few seconds lifted it out and wiped her face off before quickly putting her mask back on and exhaling. "whew, glad that's over."" she said as she adjusted the mask on her face

"You have a very nice face." Reina said, she was satisfied to have that curiosiy out of the way, "It's a shame you have to keep it in a mask all the time."

"Yeah sometimes it's a hassle, although now it's practically a part of me. I've been wearing this mask for over 10 years. It's more of a face then the one I was born with." She said as she leaned back against the edge of the water

Reina couldn't imagine having to wear a mask all the time. Something about it felt imprisoning to her. She decided not to pry and laid back in the water.

"wait before I pay you do you know something about guns and bows since im trying to find a smith who can forge a new bowgun for me"

Chaos chuckled. "More then you could imagine." He wanted to get back, but he did enjoy crafting weapons