"Um… how much energy do y-you have? I'm… well I'm fine" said Minor
Kat checked her reserves and found them still to be around a third, perhaps a bit better. *Dam, I get some good mileage out of everything except my flame. I really have to wonder if I'm doing something wrong you know*
"Turns out I'm still at like 2/3 full. So, if you want to weight around a bit I'll be back to full, or we can just head off" said Kat
"Hmm, better safe than sorry" said Minor "I can already feel the scene unravelling around us, so there is no reason to rush things. It might even break on its own."
Kat nodded and let herself slide to the side, and have her wing cover the entrance. It wasn't exactly a perfect fit, but it was enough to stop a large part of the wind and rain, and it wasn't so bad on her wing. A little uncomfortable perhaps, but better than simply letting the wind stream in. At the very least it didn't make her cold.
Atmosphere sufficiently improved, Minor let herself snuggle up next to Kat. Not that there was much choice. The crevice, by necessity, was only about as deep as Kat's arm when it was created, and neither felt the need to deepen the tunnel.
The pair sat in silence. Minor to further help herself recover from her slight breakdown, and Kat because she felt Minor's need for it. Additionally, she wished to ponder further on when she should and should not use her calming aura… but no real answers were forthcoming to her.
After a few minutes passed and Kat returned her energy to full, she had a strange thought. *If time isn't actually passing properly… how then is it possible I regenerate energy normally? I know it isn't noticeably slower than in the real world but… what does that mean?*
*Is it a conceptual thing? Because it should take say thirty minutes it does? Or is it because of the spell making this world more real, thus I am bound by that rule… or perhaps something else?*
Eventually, Kat saw that her energy had fully recharged and she brushed aside her less important thoughts. It was time to move on. *I'm already getting a little uncomfortable with waiting so long for me to regenerate my energy each time, but I understand the need for it… so I guess we continued.*
"I'm ready" said Kat
Minor nodded, reaching over to the side of the wall, and pushing into it. The wall seem to melt into her fingers and flow around them for a second, before the scene shattered. Kat got a moment to ready herself for whatever danger was going to confront her next…
Before she found herself in a desert. The sun beat down on her from high above, and the wind didn't move in the slightest. There was nothing as far as the eye could see, and a slight application of demonic energy only reinforced that fact.
Minor stumbled slightly on the sand, before steadying herself. Kat however took a very different approach, practically melting into the sand underneath her feet and spreading herself out to get as much contact with the sand as she could.
"Kat! Kat! Are you ok?!" shouted Minor
"I'm great" purred Kat, actually allowing the rumble to escape her throat at the end.
"Did… did you just purr? I know you're called Kat but you're clearly no beastkin" said Minor
"Sorry it's just so comfortable" said Kat stretching herself out. When her wings spread out, they threw up a bunch of sand luckily away from Minor.
"How can this possibly be comfortable?" asked Minor.
"It's the perfect temperature" said Kat
Minor, seeing this reaction, let her immunity to the heat dissipate for a second, before a burning sensation set in. Shouting in pain she disabled the sensation, before tumbling over and rubbing her now sore feet. "What in the everfrost's name was that!" said Minor
Kat shrugged, even as she buried herself deeper into the sand "Well, I didn't exactly think it would be comfortable for you. The temperature here is clearly very hot, and I can tell as much but I'm practically fireproof.
"Small changes in temperature don't really do it for me, so a normal 'hot bath' is basically still lukewarm. Enjoyable, especially for the atmosphere, but the temperature is largely irrelevant. This on the other hand
"Well, I would put good odds that you could cook food on the sands as they are now, in fact I'm almost sure I've seen fire lacking in the heat produced by this sand. That and it is wonderfully smooth
"So, laying here like this is just exceptionally comfortable for someone like me. I can dig in and experience it. Plus dirt and grim don't stick to me, they just sort of slide off, so I don't have to fear this sand creeping into my clothes or other areas if I don't want it to" said Kat.
Minor stared opened mouthed down at Kat "You're telling me… that an endless desert, intended to cook lesser creatures alive is basically paradise for you?" asked Minor incredulously.
"Well, I wouldn't quite say paradise you know. I couldn't stay like this forever, it's just very relaxing. Really the hot bath analogy is by far the most accurate description I could wish for. Would you like to spend your days in a hot bath forever?" asked Kat.
As soon as the words came out of her mouth though she paused. *Wait, would Minor even know what that feels like? Should I have found a bett-*
"I guess that does make sense… I don't really know if I'm honest but it is comfortable when Major took baths occasionally, and it was nice when Grandma was cleaning me off in her massive bath…
"Though it's more like a pool really. I'm told it's a natural hot spring… but I seem to remember that those aren't supposed to smell great, and I didn't notice anything strange… Is that the same?"
"Um…" *I don't really know? I mean… I think so?* "I'm going to go with yes" said Kat
Minor nodded "Right that's fair… so, what's the plan now then Kat?"
"Well, we have to break this scene right? I know I'm enjoying myself but I should probably get on with it" said Kat
"Ah, actually your fine. The scene is already tearing itself apart as we speak" said Minor
"Wait what?" asked Kat
"Oh yeah, it's practically shredding itself. I'm not sure what the core theme of the desert was, but it really didn't like the fact that you love the environment. In a few more moments the whole thing is going to break by itself" said Minor
"Oh" said Kat. *Well that's good then. As enjoyable as this is, we have a job to do… though why aren't we breaking the walls down?*
"Is there a reason you aren't shattering it faster?" asked Kat
"Well… see I have an idea. The other scenes weren't breaking quite as fast as this, even now, if you look into the distance you can almost see it falling apart at the seams. So, I want to try something. Instead of using my power to break it, I want to wait for the moment it breaks then push us further along" said Minor
"What do you mean?" asked Kat
"Well, we are slowly approaching Major, but she keeps throwing up walls. Thing is, she can't build those walls until we are in transition, or well, she can build most of it but not put it into place? That might be a better picture
"So, I'm trying to get us to go as far as possible in one break. Not sure if it will work or not, but your enjoying yourself and the scene is about to collapse so it works out well as a test" said Minor
"Well, you're the expert" said Kat gazing into the distance. And to her surprise she could see what Minor was talking about. On the edger of her vision, looking a lot like a mirage was a long crack that seemed to run down the horizon.
The sand acted as if it wasn't there, and it extended into the sky, and it was almost like the crack was on Kat's eye rather than in reality, only a slight tilt of the head causing the crack to remain in place convinced Kat it was a fixture of the landscape.
"Well when exactly will it be breaking?" asked Kat pulling herself semi-reluctantly to her feet, to ensure that she was ready for the next scene.
"Why, it is about to happen, in just
Three,
Two
One
Now"
And the world broke. Unlike previous times when things seemed to reconstitute instantly, the shards seemed to hover and circle the pair as if waiting for a chance to strike. Finally after a few more seconds, they reconverged… and the next scene was a drastic departure from what the previous three had been.
"Well Minor… what do we do about this?" asked Kat