The White King

Preemptive Strike

Nua pulls the binoculars from his face just long enough to sink his teeth into another bite of a massive turkey leg.

The beast was delicious and practically defenseless. How the species survived this far is a mystery, at least to him.

With the lenses back over his eyes, he regains sight of his target: Octanus. It had been quite a while since she'd left, and there were only another day or two (at her pace) of travel before she arrived in town.

While it would be best to be there first, it would be trivial to show up on the last day. Teleportation combined with his motorcycle reduced travel times drastically.

She didn't have either, as it seemed, but she was still a mage. Whether she was an actual Wizard was yet to be seen, but that would be a safe assumption for someone of her status.

It was just strange that the only spell she'd used over the last dozen days was a fire type spell that warmed and dried you when cast.

She lit a bloody campfire by rubbing two sticks! Sticks! Who does that!?

Unlike Nua, who hunted during Octanus' frequent breaks, she just seemed to eat leaves or vegetables she came across on the trail. She was a sloth, as could be identified by carefully observing the claws on her hands, but still...

Pan were omnivores. Even Nua, the most carnivorous person in the Regalia Empire's military, ate the occasional lemon or orange.

How were leaves enough?

Actually, sloths move slowly because leaves don't have a lot of calories. Maybe that transferred over?

The problem then came from the donut. She may have eaten it on the third of so many travel days, but she'd still eaten a very high energy food.

Where was the spontaneous boost of energy?

This is gonna give me a headache, isn't it, he begrudgingly thought while dismissing the topic. Coincidentally, it wasn't worth the energy.

But this turkey is, he thought while stuffing himself with more of the unfortunate bird.

Just as the bird had to remain silent to avoid his attention- it failed, by the way- so too must Nua remain magically neutral to avoid hers.

Casting magic was obviously detectable- really easily, as well- but a massive reserve as he had could also be sensed. To negate this, you had to take direct control over it and match the signal with nature, using the background 'noise' as a cover.

To do this, you had to be awake, though, so he had to go to sleep after Octanus and wake up first.

Not that such a task was hard to do.

Really? You're going to sleep already? It's only been 3 hours! he admonishes from his mind. The sun has barely past it's peak...

Nua slumps against the tree he was leaning on, completely defeated. Even as a cat, he was never that lazy.

Hell, he counted as two!

"Rowl!"

Nua skips right over shock, skips right over turning around to identify the target, and skips over planning a way to retaliate.

The instant the sound reaches his ears, the source audibly coming closer at high speeds, Nua was no longer there.

He was behind the target.

Die!

Before his brain could even register the target's form, it was dead, the entirety of its nervous system burnt to a crisp.

But then he does recognize it: it was a Pansa.

A Hokori attacked him.

For no reason.

I... WHAT?!

Nua doesn't give himself time to process the situation. Lightning wasn't silent, even without a thunderclap announcing its presence, and he wasn't exactly the most restrained when dealing with surprise attacks, so now was the time to be literally anywhere else.

Heaving his bike onto his shoulder, Nua blinks away from the scene.

~~~~~

Is... Is that a Pansa? Octanus wonders while examining an animals corpse. The beast was clearly feline and larger than a normal jaguar, but it was difficult to judge it from a distance.

If it was a Pansa, whatever hit it was strong enough to scorch it's entire body black and either shatter or melt it's armor.

Trying to figure out which would be an exercise in frustration.

Octanus steps a bit closer, but avoids entering the small clearing it was within. Whoever killed it was probably still somewhere nearby, after all.

Why attack a Hokori? she ponders, following a puff of smoke from the beast's tail with her eyes. They're basically universal guardians.

Okay, universal was a lie, but what do you expect? The White King didn't have a limitless supply of the things, and the strongest ones would obviously be kept near him to prevent losses.

Basic strategy.

Actually, why is this one out here? The station was at least within Central's territory...

There wasn't an answer she could garner from the situation, whether she was next to the corpse or not, so... What did that leave her to do?

It was a Hokori. It's not like it spoke with anyone, even the White King himself, meaning there was no trail to discover for its purpose.

The Pansa just kind of... Was.

Preferring to leave rather than further risk being caught, Octanus sleuths away from the scene.

Well, she would have, if the ground didn't suddenly shake around her.