"Now, the question is what do I do with you"
Kat heard the movement of steel sliding out of a sheath and knew that she could rule out the twins.
"I was looking for a partner, but finding the demon collapsed in the snow gives me mixed feelings"
Kat heard boots crunch as the figure approached
"I'd thought you'd be one of the stronger contenders in this challenge, but I guess not"
Kat heard the wind whistle and felt a blade coming towards her. Kat's tail without even the need for vision snaked itself around the attacker's arm and held it in an iron grip.
"Oh? Not quite as out of it as I'd thought… but why bother with the charade?"
Kat turned her head a bit, not enough to see past the thick wall of snow, but enough to use her mouth. "Wasted all my energy a few hundred metres back on a dumb idea. If you want to stop attacking me for a minute, I'll be all good"
"Why should I when I can just finish you off here?"
"Well" said Kat "I'm not quite sure you could. From where I'm laying, face first in the snow it seems my tail has you beat"
Kat heard a faint chuckle "Well, how about this then… we make a contract?"
Kat could almost feel the power in the word despite not being the one to say it.
"You help me win, and I won't eliminate you right now"
Kat couldn't stifle the laugh the spilled out of her throat. "I'm really not that scared. I might look worn out right now but I doubt you can win this fight"
Kat felt the pressure on her tail increase as whoever was behind her tried to push the blade close to Kat, with zero success.
"Ok, fine, how about we commit to working together until the orb or something like that"
"Ah see" said Kat "Now your getting closer. The only thing is I have to try and remember what my contract actually allows me to do"
"Oh, why does that matter?"
"Well, I'm trying to remember, and it was either I had to try to win the last round, or I had to help them win the last round, which would mean drastically different things for this partnership" said Kat
"Oh, and why does that matter?"
"Well, as I said the wording is important. If I have to try and win, singular, working together with you to get the orb sounds like a great idea, but if I was asked to make sure the team wins then I'm not certain I can accept your offer" said Kat
"Oh, is that supposed to reassure me?"
"Well, I'm simply putting my offer on the table. If you don't mind I'd like to search my memories to confirm" said Kat
"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere"
Kat sighed and got ready to use even more demonic energy. *Hopefully this isn't going to cost me much.* Kat started to try and recall the memory of the contract, but before she even put a sliver of energy towards her mind the answer came forward in perfectly clarity.
*Oh, it seems I just have to participate with the intent to win. But it also says 5 man duel… which this clearly isn't.*
"Looks like I'm good for the contract" said Kat "I just have to have the intent to win, and it seems to only apply to me personally. Are you ready?"
"Of course. Demon, do you swear not to attack me, and assist me as much as possible until we successfully use the orb, in exchange I offer the same, I will not attack you, and will assist you as much as possible until the orb has been used. Do you accept"
Kat wanted to say yes but found she couldn't, something was missing. *Why can't I accept? *
User Kat requires knowledge of the Contractors name.
"I need a name to accept" said Kat.
"Oh, it's Grace" said Grace
Kat felt the last piece click into place. "I accept"
As Kat spoke the words practically dripped from her mouth, and the weight of their decision crashed down on them… mostly Grace. Chains exploded from Kat blazing a hot purple as they launched straight for Grace.
Kat heard a scream and felt the dagger slip from Grace's grip as she tried to wrench her hand away. Kat let her go, but it didn't matter the chains were much faster than even Grace's quick reactions. Hundreds of chains coated her pulling in before wrapping themselves fully around Grace and disappearing into her body.
As the chains vanished Kat felt a surge of fire burning through her body. Pulling herself to her feet Kat stumbled as she stretched up and blazed with a purple fire. "The contract is sealed"
Then Kat shook her head for a moment and took in Grace. The elf looked completely terrified of Kat now shaking slightly as she looked between Kat and the dagger with wide eyes and fear on her face.
Kat took a step forward and Grace took a step back. Grinning Kat took a fast step forward empowering herself with her flame and wrapped Grace up in her tail and released her aura coated Grace with a decent amount of calming energy.
"Calm down" said Kat
"What did you do to me" said Grace, trying to escape but lacking the will
"I've just calmed you down. Now did you really not know about the chains? Why do you think we demons place such importance on our contracts? Surely it isn't just because we can't lie?" said Kat
Grace shivered despite the calming influence. In truth she could feel her terror building even as the aura contained it. It was just now dawning on her she'd made a real contract with a demon. "I, um, I didn't actually think it would work, considering I didn't summon you" said Grace.
"Understandable, I suppose" said Kat as she loosened her grip on Grace "But I can assure that any formal agreement between demons will be enforced, with extreme prejudice"
Grace nodded slightly downtrodden. *Hey system, why do I feel so refreshed?*
User Kat isn't truly refreshed. The Contract is just temporarily boosting User Kat's physique. Further use of Demonic Energy will render User Kat immobile once again.
*Got it no energy. Wait does my aura require energy?*
User Kat's aura only requires energy at the highest setting, otherwise it is a natural ability of User Kat
"Do you think maybe you can let go of me" asked Grace
"I dunno, are you going to freak out again? You'll heart someone's feelings if you look at them like a monster" said Kat
"What, someone's? Not yours?" asked Grace regaining a bit of confidence.
Kat used her tail to turn Grace around and set her eyes on fire, as well as placing just a little bit on the edge of her tongue. "Why, of course not. I'd take it as a compliment"
Grace shivered and once again tried to back away from the crazy demon. Kat tried to hold in her laughter to keep up the illusion but failed. As she did the fire fell away and her hold on Grace loosened enough for the elf to escape.
Grace watched Kat laughing to herself and realised she'd been the but of the joke. "Perhaps if you stopped playing pranks on people, you'd have more friends"
"Perhaps" said Kat shrugging "But I like the ones I have. Besides, that's probably the best joke I've played on anyone. I mean did you see your face? You looked like you thought I was going to eat you"
"So what's the plan now" said Grace
"Well… despite my jovial attitude, I'm still about to collapse. So perhaps we should take a short nap. Especially now that I know you won't attack me… wait where is your Timmy?" asked Kat
"Wait, what? Timmy? Who are you talking about" asked Grace confused
Kat pointed to the miniature Thyme still sitting on her head "That's Timmy, he follows you around and plays cassette tapes"
"Um, that creepy thing? I left it behind but it keeps showing up somehow" said Grace
"Naw, Timmy she thinks your scary… and wait you can teleport" said Kat as she put Timmy on her hand to watch it's reaction.
Timmy just gestured for yeah sort of.
"Right well, ignoring that I'll just set up the camp" said Kat taking out the dagger she found in the chest. Clearing out the nearby area with her tail and hands Kat shovelled a bunch of snow away.
"Here goes nothing" said Kat as she plunged the dagger into the icy soil.
The dagger trembled, and Kat got the fain impression she needed to step back.. Jumping away and grabbing Grace as she passed Kat backed up a good 50m from the dagger and watched as it continued to tremble, shaking left and right.