After saying goodbye to Minato and the girls, both groups took different paths. As the local hero's party went to the big city that they had seen on the horizon to try to recruit more members and resupply to move on to another dungeon, Raven and Fuwa walked back to the mountains in a different direction than yesterday, they now had intel about this "high difficulty dungeon", Minato had told them the monsters were around level 10 or 12, for a moment Raven panicked then remembered that should be level 1 back home.
"So..." Said Raven as they walked across the calm forest following a stream of water.
"So?" Asked Fuwa, she had been humming, she was in a very good mood.
Raven hesitated. She wasn't usually one to struggle with words, but this... this was different. She wasn't sure how to ask without making things more awkward, but the question burned inside her.
"What... are we?" Raven blurted out before she could stop herself. She cringed inwardly at how blunt the question sounded, but there it was, out in the open "I mean, after everything that happened... last night, and this morning... are we still just... friends? Or...?" Her voice trailed off, uncertain.
Fuwa's steps slowed, and for a moment, she didn't answer. She looked down at the ground as if deep in thought, her usually bright and confident expression clouded with uncertainty.
"I... don't know," Fuwa finally admitted, her voice quiet "I've been wondering the same thing" She stopped walking, her eyes focused on the stream, the sound of the water filling the silence between them soothing her somewhat, she took a deep breath and continued "I never really thought about it before... I mean it was my first kiss too..."
"What!?" Said Raven stumbling with a root losing her balance once again surprised, Fuwa grabbed her hand preventing her from falling into the stream of water.
"Of course!" Said Fuwa "I was too busy all my life with training, and studies, and anime to think about romantic stuff!" She said panicking pulling the cat so she didn't fall, she then covered her face with both hands "If my mom finds out I'm into girls she will kill me for sure!" Fuwa had this image of her mom holding a sandal engulfed in fire in her eyes, and because Fuwa started panicking Raven panicked too. As soon as Fuwa blurted out her fear about her mom, Raven's mind filled with wild images of an intimidating woman with fiery fists, ready to punish them both. The thought sent a wave of panic through her, and her tail fluffed up involuntarily "What are we going to do!?"
"I-I don't know!" Raven stammered, her usual cool demeanor crumbling in the face of Fuwa's sudden panic "Do we run away? Hide? Pretend nothing happened?!"
They both stood frozen for a moment, letting their respective panic spiral into dramatic, over-the-top scenarios of doom. The tension in the air between them from the earlier conversation was suddenly replaced by shared, ridiculous dread.
"Wait! Pause!" Said Fuwa coming to a realization "We are universes away she can track us here... right?"
"I don't know you tell me!" Raven said surprised then she placed her hands on her hips "You are a fool Fuwa, I got really worried for nothing!"
"Sorry... I'm overthinking things again" She said.
"Hey..." Raven took her hands "I don't want to rush things if you are not ready" She said with an honest smile "But if I was your first kiss... it made me somewhat happy" She admitted.
From the bushes near them, a creature that resembled a wolf with three eyes jumped toward the girls, with its maws open ready to take at least an arm of the unprepared girls, but Fuwa moved her hand pushing the wolf back to where it came from. Her red eyes looked directly at Raven's. The monster whimpered and ran away.
Raven blinked in astonishment, her golden eyes wide as she watched the three-eyed wolf creature scramble back into the forest, its tail between its legs. Fuwa had just casually swatted it away like it was nothing... while still looking straight at her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The air was thick with the echo of Fuwa's words, the brush of danger, and something else unspoken between them. Then both of them laughed, their tummies were even in pain with how ridiculous that had been.
"Uh... wow" Raven finally muttered, gasping for air "Remind me to never make you mad."
She quickly dropped her hand and rubbed the back of her neck, blushing slightly "I didn't even think about it. I just... reacted, maybe we really can take that dungeon that Minato mentioned..." As the laughter died down, Fuwa took Raven's hands again catching her attention.
Raven chuckled, shaking her head "You're seriously something else, Fuwa"
"Raven... I don't know what we are right now... but we can take it slow and see where it takes us" She said smiling "You are the first person I really want... I haven't felt like this before... but I want to discover it alongside you"
Now it was Raven who was blushing fiercely. Throughout her life, she had fooled around and had been with girls and guys alike, but she had never felt like this. Her heart pounded in her chest.
'It had to be you...' She thought 'The silliest girl I ever met' She hugged Fuwa who was taken by surprise, there wasn't any trace of the strong libido from last night, she was just happy to be there with her 'And if you allow me... then I will...'
"Hey but... let's conquer this dungeon!" Said Fuwa cheerfully "We can discus more over good food!"
"You and food..." Said Raven "I can't win against food... damn it!" She said pretending to be hurt.
Fuwa giggled at Raven's playful tone, her eyes lighting up with amusement. "Hey, food is one of the most important things!" she said, her voice filled with mock seriousness "You can't fight monsters on an empty stomach, you know"
Raven shook her head, pretending to sigh dramatically "I guess I'll always be second to a good meal, huh?" She teased, but there was no bitterness in her tone, just warmth. She squeezed Fuwa's hand as they started walking again, the forest around them serene and quiet except for the soft rustling of leaves and the gentle sound of the stream beside them.
Fuwa looked at her with a soft smile, her twin-tails swaying as they walked "Well… maybe you're tied with dessert" she said, her eyes sparkling with playful mischief and showing her the tongue.
Raven laughed, shaking her head "I'll take what I can get, I guess, in your vocabulary that's a big win"
After a few more minutes of walking in peaceful silence, the forest around them began to change. The trees grew taller and denser, the air felt heavier, and the sound of the stream seemed to fade into the background. There was an unmistakable shift in the atmosphere as they approached the area where Minato had said the dungeon would be.
As they pushed forward, they arrived at a surprising place. It looked like camping, there were some tents, and in front of what looked like a dungeon portal there were three guards who held a barricade, near them someone sitting on a stall looked like a clerk, they all looked bored. Fuwa and Raven shared a confused look between them. What was going on here?
"Who goes there?" Asked a guard raising his halberd.
"Easy!" Said Fuwa "We are here to challenge the dungeon"
The other guards looked at the pair who appeared out from the dense vegetation and looked confused, why would they cross the forest and not follow the path? As a road came from a side to their encampment. The clerk stood up and looked at both of them.
"Can I see your guild plates?"
"Guild plates?" Raven asked confused.
"What... wait... are you not registered on the adventurer guild?"
A grim shadow crossed Raven's eye and Fuwa's eyes sparkled. But before Raven could start ranting she shook her head.
"Nope!" She said "We can't go inside then?"
The guards looked annoyed but said nothing, the guild clerk was surprised.
"Eerrr... is not like you can't go in, but this place is really dangerous!" He said "You see almost no groups come here because of it!"
"What are those plates you talk about?" Asked Raven confused.
"Aaah these!" The guild clerk showed them a small metal plate on his neck with his name written on it, it looked like it was made of copper "It shows your rank in the adventurer guild... this dungeon is classified as a Mithril Dungeon"
Raven remembered seeing some steel plates on the necks of the trio last night, maybe they were adventurers registered... but she didn't want to ask about them last night. She had thought it was more like a marriage thing.
"So we can go in?" Asked Fuwa.
"You... can...?" Said the confused clerk "But we don't recommend it! I would advise you to register at the guild and start by completing easy dungeons first!"
"Then we go!" Said Fuwa "We will bring back souvenirs!" She was so full of confidence, that Raven smiled, she looked radiant.
The clerk looked at the guards and nodded, they raised the barrier. Soon both girls crossed the portal.
"They are so dead" Said a guard.
"Yep" Said the clerk.
"Well... maybe they look inside and run outside?" Asked another of the guards.
"I don't know, for some reason they gave me chills..." Said one of the last one.