24 Vol 1. pt. 24 Patch 5.0: All Your Ship Are Belong To Us (1/2)
The party, led by Rock, heads back to the coast. Their mission is to head up the coast while Oleander comes down it. Oleander could just make his way down by himself, but given that he's in the same situation as Fenrir with having zero respawns left, they don't want to risk anything happening to him.
Fortunately, they are able to meet up with Oleander without getting distracted by any crabs, coming across guys too desperate to get laid, and without Fenrir and Cassiel getting into another competition.
Fenrir thinks about how if he was living in some sort of manga or anime, then he would be stuck with several more filler arcs before finally reaching Oleander. He doesn't know how he would feel if he was looking forward to a grand heist and battle only for the story to get sidetracked by fishing.
Alas, he gets right to the point and meets Oleander without issue.
He wouldn't mind another fishing distraction even if it means delaying his ”story,” though.
”Fenny! Carry me!” Oleander shouts out from farther up the coast. He's dragging his feet and whining.
”Fenny?” Cassiel asks, looking over at Fenrir.
”Problem, Cassy?” Fenrir replies.
”Never call me that again.”
”Trust me, I'm the least of your worries now.”
Rock runs out to greet Oleander. ”You got a pet dog?! Seriously?! That's awesome!” he shouts, crouching down so that he can greet the puppy whom he does not yet know is Rock.
He also doesn't know how strong Rock is. Maybe it's the fact that she's made out of rock, but when she jumps up into his chest, she knocks Oleander onto his back!
”A dog… made out of rock?” Oleander asks.
”Yeah, she's Rock,” Fenrir explains.
”Rock? You don't mean the rock that you were carrying around with you, do you?”
”Same Rock.”
Oleander doesn't know how to accept the fact that a random rock has been turned into a dog. ”I guess being a rock fetishist pays off.”
”You're the only fetishist here.”
Oleander turns serious, looking Fenrir in the eyes. ”I've seen your browsing history. Do you really want to call me the only one?”
Fenrir covers Serra's ears from behind. ”Listen, a man has his needs and you can't just—”
He feels Cassiel staring at him. Yeah, she's totally judging him.
”Anyways!” He uncovers Serra's ears. ”Cassiel, this is Oleander. Olly, this is Cassiel.”
Cassiel doesn't even look in Oleander's direction. All she gives him is a simple greeting.
When Fenrir looks at Oleander to try and figure out why she won't look at him, it all makes sense. He's still naked.
”Couldn't you have gotten yourself some new leaves to cover up with?” Fenrir asks.
”I wanted to hurry up and meet up with you! I would have had to have gone back into the forest, find big enough leaves, some more of those stems, and then—” Oleander cuts himself off. He has the expression of somebody with a lightbulb turning on above their head. ”Hang on!”
Oleander runs off of the beach into the grassy plains beside it. He comes back a few moments later with nothing to show for it. ”Never mind. I wanted to try and turn some grass into a dress with magic, but it went away as soon as I stopped concentrating on it.”
”Here,” Fenrir says, taking off his worn bark armor and handing it over to Oleander, ”this will keep you covered up at least.”
Oleander happily accepts the armor and puts it on. While it didn't fit Fenrir that well, it fits Oleander perfectly. ”By the way, how'd you meet her?”
Cassiel turns to glare at Fenrir as if she knows what he's going to say.
Her concern is well deserved.
”She thrust a long, hard pole into me from behind,” Fenrir explains.
Oleander looks at her furious expression before giving Fenrir a knowing smirk. ”Hey, new girl! Thrusting into Fenny is my job! If you want to have him too, then you at least have to take him from the front while I get the back. Though, if you want to thrust your pole into me, you can do so whenever you—”
Cassiel wraps her hands around Oleander's throat and lifts him off of the ground. She's not squeezing hard enough to choke him, and after he leans his head down to lick her arm, she's not squeezing him at all. ”You're both – what is – how are – do you expect me to believe we're going to take on Coastedge with an unarmed girl, a puppy, and two deviants?!”
”We also have an orc,” Fenrir adds on.
”By the way, Fenny, what's the plan?” Oleander asks.
Fenrir goes over the plan. It's the first time that Oleander and Serra hear it, and hearing it again brings some excitement and faith back to Cassiel.