Kat's lips quirked into a smile as she watched Ehluria walk deeper into the forest. "She's one of the few I don't immediately hate," she said, still rubbing Hel's head. The snow leopard just gave another huff. Kat turned her eyes towards him again and playfully nudged him, smile growing.

"You find that spring we were talking about?" she asked conversationally. "I wanna get a bath in before I venture off to my death." Hel paused at that and leveled a glare at her. Honestly, what had the girl gotten herself into this time? "Oh relax," she said, "if things get too crazy, we're gone." Hel knelt down and Kat swung herself onto his back, the motions coming surprisingly easy to a girl with one arm. The two began heading towards the hot spring Hel had found as he was waiting for Kat to finish her meeting in the town. "Some fool's errand… we're meant to take down a [i]dragon[/i], of all things." Hel's tail twitched in irritation (anxiousness? It was hard for Kat to tell, even after all this time) at the news, and Kat could already imagine the glare he wanted to send her way for signing up for such a dangerous quest. 

"Anyway, we leave tomorrow at noon," she continued. "I wanna stop by the apothecary and get some things, along with a new whetstone." Though really, Kat didn't know why she even bothered sharpening her blades; she was getting pretty good at throwing them, and they were useful for stabbing and slashing, but without Hel she was more or less useless in combat. "Heck, maybe I'll even get some decent armor." 

She smirked then and leaned down, bringing her face close to the top of Hel's head. "You're gonna love our new buddies, I already know it," she said, a sarcastic edge creeping into her tone. "Some humans, some elves, a goblin, a dwarf, some weird dog man…" she listed on her fingers. "Oh yeah, we're all gonna be best friends." Kat rambled on, talking about their companions, the quest, the inanity of it all, and all the while Hel listened in silence, plodding through the forest. The two would locate the spring, and then find somewhere safe to hunker down for the night – though, with a massive predator like Hel, most places were safe due to any other beasts giving them a wide berth. 

And then with morning would come the start of their new adventure.