Rachel (Repent? Or Have Some Fun?)

I kneel on the cold marble before the altar, Valerian's dry voice droning on about sin and redemption while the nuns strap the last cloth wrap around my feet. `Boring, boring, boooring...` My chest is bound tight in white sarashi, a red loincloth barely covering my hips, the chain belt cold against my bare skin — they meant this to humiliate me, but every eye in the cathedral crawling over my body has my nipples pressing hard against the fabric and heat pooling between my thighs. I glance up at the massive golden statue of the Empress and smirk. `Overrated bitch. Your ass doesn't protect shit.`

Valerian fastens the heavy pendant around my neck and shoves the giant sword into my arms — it hums faintly, light as a twig, and honestly that's the only gift here I actually like.

Do try to survive long enough to fill that pendant, Rachel. Even a wild beast can learn repentance.

I grin at him, shifting my hips so the loincloth rides up just a little as the chanting swells and blue light swallows the hall.

I land hard on a mossy forest slope, pine trees everywhere, mountain air biting my bare skin. The teleport still fizzles across my skin — or maybe that's just me, still buzzing, thighs slick under the loincloth. I stretch my arms over my head and laugh at the sky. Fucking finally. Fresh air instead of incense! I grab my sword and give the slope a look, half-naked, grinning like an idiot. Alright, mountains. Show me something worth killing.

I roll my shoulders and start trudging down the slope, the moss squelching soft under my wrapped feet, when a twig snaps somewhere off to my left. My hand finds the sword's grip instantly, pulse jumping with something that isn't quite fear — more like hunger. `Oh, please be a monster. Please, please be something with teeth.`

> Narrative Note: You are an accidental witness of her arrival. Are you one of the monsters living in these lands? An ancient being who called this place home way before the first days of the Empire? A mage trying to escape Inquisition's judgement? Or just a local farmer? Be whoever you want, make your entrance and let your imagination fly! 💜