Gentlemanvaultboy — Roleplayer Guild

Alchemy

The Previous Day

Linkle

Merge Rate: 30%

Level 9 - (3/90) - 3

Word Count: 5820

Location: Frozen Highlands - Snowdin

With @Lugubrious

Linkle gladly took the door Albedo offered, stepping inside the cozy stone building and letting the heat flow into her again. She gave a look around the shelves, stacked with books. They didn’t have a librarby back home, and she had never seen so many books bef-

LIZALFO!!!!!

Her hand instantly went to her crossbow, bound and ready to draw it, before she had realized that that hadn’t been one of her thoughts. That lizard behind the desk didn’t even look anything like a Lizafo. Plus he was reading a book and not trying to eat her face. Luckily they didn’t look up as she pulled her hand away from her bow and followed Albedo to his table. 

So eager... the voice trailed off as the alchemist started. First of all, and most importantly, he confirmed he knew something about The Stranger but unfortunately didn’t know a way of putting him down for good. The revelation deflated the girl a little, but not nearly so much as the man outright telling her that she was dead. The bit about her going through the motions of breathing stung especially. “If it helps make sense of it, I haven't been dead for very long.” She said sadly. The way he had noticed the weirdness of the world, though, brought her right back up. Especially when he revealed that the state of his eyes was the result of nothing but his own hard work. She could believe that. Ryu had done more or less the same thing. 

She unconsciously reached up to touch her rabbit ears when he started talking about everything in the world being made to be remade, but when he dumped his bag of dust on the table she wasn’t sure what it was until he called it the most basic form of complex life. She graciously accepted the flower he created from it wide eyed, mind abuzz with questions about the implications.

“Yes. Oh man, yes. Thats...that’s body dust. Right?” She asked, still not quite sure she believed it. They had always been so focused on the spirits, she had never paid any heed to the ash that was left behind. “That’s what things turn into when they,” she suddenly clasped a hand over her mouth, nearly eating the flower as she realized she had begun to get loud in her excitement, then continued in a more librarby tone of voice. “When they die?”

“Yes,” Albedo confirmed in succinct fashion. His even voice did not threaten the encouraged quiet, but he seemed at least a little happy that the Skullgirl was excited. “That ash came from a sproutling. In my world it would be said to be Dendro-aspected, much like this flower. It’s from my world as well. So far transmuting things with similar properties has been more successful, and I can’t create life I’m not familiar with.” Despite how the subject obviously interested him, he cut short his explanation. “Still, a useful art, and one with intriguing implications.” He set to work gathering the remainder of the dust back into the pouch, not eager to waste any. “Moreso if not for fusion, of course.”

“So you already know about spirits, then?” Linkle askes, before popping up and pulling the bottle with the direwolves floating around in it out of her pouch. She set it on the table between them. “You probably figured this out already, but I’ve already done it a few times.” She bobbed her head from side to side, letting the rabbit ears bounce around. “The ice powers aren't mine either. How much do you know about how it works?”

After watching his new acquaintance’s ears for a moment, Albedo replied, “Well, I have carried out a number of experiments. I do not have all the details yet. My hypothesis is that these spirits, as you call them, are concentrated clusters of information that give dust distinct behavior and form, and that life is the binder. If life is removed, the spirit can no longer hold the body together and collapses into an orb, while the rest of the body reverts to ash. Of course, the spirit can still modify living bodies according to its specifications. At least, that is what I’ve concluded.” He rested his head, looking a little disappointed. “Unfortunately my experiments have been limited. Once I observed fusion’s tendency to alter personality, as well as its permanence, I have only experimented on what monsters and animals attempt to kill me outright. It’s been slow going.” After fiddling with his sleeve, he raised his arm to show a painful-looking bite mark, mostly scabbed over.

Linkle winced. “That sounds right from what I’ve seen.” she replied. “I think I can help fill in the gaps though.” She reached over, opened the bottle, and shook one of the wolf spirits into her hand. “This is how it was explained to me, and I’ve done this every which way and it’s held true. You take the spirit and put it up here,” she took the wolf between two fingers and held it up to her temple. “It gives you skills from the spirit. I did this with this heroic rabbit, and it taught me how to shoot better and jump off people and I think it made me quicker. So if I did this with the wolf it would make me better at eating peoples goats or smelling things.” She moved it down to her chest. “You do this and it gives you the spirits powers. This is where I got the ice stuff. So I guess it would give me sharp teeth or make me really muscly. Probably both. But you’re right about the personality stuff. After I did that with the ice lady whenever I got really mad it made me go all weird and cold. I didn’t even notice at first, it’s hard to tell when it’s a part of you.”

“You can crush it.” Linkle did so, closing her hand over the spirit and squeezing until it popped before opening it to let whatever came out fall onto the table. “That’ll give you something related to it. Actually, I’m not sure why that happens. One time a friend of mine crushed a really ugly fish monster spirit and it gave him a funny fish hat. If they’re just information where does the item come from?”

After a moment of examination Albedo took hold of the wolf cap laid before him. He turned it over in his hands, feeling the texture of the fur. Only ashes remained when Linkle took this creature’s life, but here was a piece of equipment that could only be crafted from the wolf’s own hide and fur. “A good question. If a spirit is raw potential, a coalescence of everything that made something what it is, crushing it robs it of its transformative power. I cannot explain it yet, but in the same way that there is an underlying law in how the traits of parents are passed on to offspring, maybe there is a law that decides what a spirit’s potential resolves to when it becomes matter.”

He put the cap back down and crossed his arms. “In my world, adventurers can engage with certain large creatures or mystical sub-realms called Domains. Beating them gives the winner a selection of rewards. The rewards aren’t the same each time, but they’re always related to the enemy or Domain at hand. Figuring out what rewards will appear from what activity, then selling that information to adventurers, is even something of a profession. The sum of all the possible rewards from an activity is referred to as a ‘pool’. What rewards ‘drop’ from the pool appears to be up to chance. My working hypothesis is that spirit items work similarly, but given that potentially infinite worlds are intermixed here, many with their own versions of things like wolves, the ‘pool’ is unimaginably large.” His expression turned into one of mild self-reproach. “I’ll admit my curiosity has found a boundless source of diversion just in finding and trying to catalogue the various drops from even a single species. So far I have been unsuccessful.”

Linkle bandied about the ideas in her head, picking up the wolf hat as she tried to understand them. “So, it’s like the spirit still tries to be a wolf. It gets its new form from the pool, but the pool is more like an ocean?” She hoped she was following this. Still, this talk about pools and domains drew her attention momentarily to her lootbox. “Do you have any paper money?” She said, reaching down and picking up the box that she had placed next to her chair. She placed it on the table between them. “I think these might work the same way. I’ve seen someone put paper money in these and a bunch of random stuff popped out. Do you think that draws from the pool too?”

“Perhaps…” Having never seen this sort of chest before, Albedo stood up to examine it. “Er, perhaps it draws from the pool, I mean. I don’t have any paper notes. That said, it doesn’t seem like this thing is associated with a spirit, in which case it may be completely random.” He found no way to open it, with the only potential point of entry being a singular slot on one side. That, he reasoned, must be what the paper money Linkle mentioned was for. “How strange. It’s almost as if we’d be paying the box to open, but what does the box need money for? Does someone collect it?”

“That’s a good question.” Linkle said, looking at the box in a new light. Who exactly did you pay to open one of these. Leave it to someone smart to dig up a new mystery.

Despite his questions he lost interest, instead gravitating toward the spirits. He took one in hand and held it up, peering at the image within. “Personifying these may cause you some distress,” he suggested. “Without a vessel or the spark of life, they have no mind or will of their own. Just a prescription of behaviors the body should follow. Their patterns are like water flowing downhill, or the turn of seasons.“

“I can’t help it.” Linkle replied. “At least for the ones that were people once. I feel like I should be taking them with me, you know?” The mention of personifying did steer her mind back to the conversation at hand. “Anyway, there’s got to be some kind of will left in there because of the last thing you can do with spirits. If you talk to that wolf you’ve got there you can sort of coax it out, and if you manage that...well, here, let me show you.”

She turned to her side of the table, eager to show this off. “Imani, come on out.”

The sniper appeared beside her in her customary plume of white smoke, crossbow resting on her shoulder and her one good eye scanning the environment for threats. Only when she was satisfied that, unlike the last few times, no one here wanted Linkle dead did she even begin to relax. 

“This is Imani and she’s called a Striker.” Linkle said as Imani waved one hand to the alchemist in a dispassionate hello before vanishing once again. “Oh man, already?” Linkle said, disappointed. “She can’t stay out for very long. Usually it’s just enough to get an attack off before poof, back inside me.”

Linkle sat back. “That’s all I know about spirits, personally. I hope it helped you out a little with your research.” She said hopefully. “If anyone would know more it would be The Master of Masters, he’s got a better handle on this stuff than I do, but he’s all the way back in Alchamoth.”

A few seconds passed while Albedo made notes in his book. “It’s something to think about. If death is not the end of one’s existence, well...it’s a comforting thought, isn’t it? I would certainly be interested in meeting this master of yours, particularly if the place you mentioned has anything to do with alchemy. Although if the name were more than coincidence I expect you would have told me sooner.” He leaned back again without closing his book or putting away his pencil. “I’ve already researched spirits a great deal. They still offer much mystery, but I was hoping that you might be able to shed some light on other facets of this world. He pointed at his eyes. “My condition, for instance. If you lack it, there must be some sort of cure. How things came to be this way, if you know. Or how its resolution could be achieved.”

“Right, that was the next thing I was going to get to!” Linkle said, embarrassed that she had let it sit for this long and also not making a connection between Alchemy and Alchamoth. “I don’t know how you’ve been doing it. My friend Ryu, he managed to reach a point a lot like yours, but I think he did it with discipline and martial arts training. I got cured like this though.” Linkle brought her hands up to her chest, but hesitated at the last moment. Softly, under her breath, she uttered a short prayer. “Oh goddesses, please still let me be able to do this.” Then she tapped her chest and pulled away.

Her face lit up with delighted half-surprise when she pulled a pink floating Friend Heart out of her chest. Relief radiated off of her. She had been scared that it could be some kind of evil black heart now. “This is it.” She said, holding it up. “This will wipe out the last of that Light element that’s inside you when it touches you. After that I think you’ll be able to understand the rest of the story more clearly.” She looked away a little queasily before deciding to tell him. “But it’s my turn to be as straightforward as I can. When I use one of these on someone usually they’re hurt first. I’ve seen it bounce right off people that are in too good a shape. So if that bite on your arm doesn't cut it we would have to go out back so I can hit you before we try again.” She hoped it didn’t come to that as she, probably more gently than necessary, pushed the heart across the table and touched it to Albedo’s chest.

Albedo watched the heart with fascination. He wanted it, or rather the freedom from overbearing light it promised to provide, but he considered the stipulation his new acquaintance mentioned. When the heart touched him, it popped with no visible change. “The bite is an old wound,” the alchemist told her. “Either one of us will need to hurt me, or we’ll need to find some monsters. I could use a little more dust. Regardless, we’ll need to go outside.” He glanced at the reptilian librarian, who’d been trying to read despite the newcomers but clearly having a hard time of it, distracted by their magics and conversation.

“Yeah, let’s go find a monster.” Linkle said, standing up. The prospect of getting injured taking down a dangerous beast appealed to her much more than assaulting the Alchemist until the heart took, and if she could help him get more dust in the process all the better. She looked over the items on the table and decided they were probably safe to leave here. “Do you have a way to heal yourself?” She asked him. 

Albedo pocketed his notebook as he stood. His corgi, having dozed off during the conversation, jumped to his feet, and the alchemist lifted him off the table to put him on the floor. “In a way. Some of the food served in this town has healing power, much like specially-cooking cuisine did in mine. Although, my appetite is rather small, so if I’m to have anything I’d prefer something sweet that stimulates the mind. Ah, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m much more eager to see you in action as well. You mentioned the ability to manipulate ice earlier, which in mind world required a Cryo Vision, so the comparison will be an interesting one. Meanwhile, this new aspect I’ve terming ‘Mortuo’ is totally unfamiliar.” He exhaled through his nose in something close to a laugh. “Forgive me, I’ve a tendency to let my mind wander. Let’s go. Whichever way we travel I’m sure we’ll find something that wants us dead. Or...more dead, perhaps.”

“That’s okay.” Linkle said, walking up to join him by the door. “I like listening to smart people talk.”

He stepped outside, holding the door open for Linkle. A rotund Shiverian passed by, who inclined his head in greeting. “Good evening! Found another friend at last, eh Albedo?”

The alchemist’s breath misted as he exhaled in something close to a sigh. He glanced at Linkle and rolled his eyes as if to say get a load of this guy. “Something like that.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Linkle replied as she stepped out, waving at the bundled up creature as it passed with a big smile before giving a similar sign to Albedo’s as it made its way up the street. That well meaning tone of it’s was annoyingly nostalgic, like a criticism from an old beloved relative creeping into your head long after they were gone. She tilted her head toward Albedo sympathetically. “I used to get a lot of comments like that back home.“ She said, before bending over and continuing in a voice as shrivelled as a raisen. “‘Oh dearie Linkle, a young lady can’t just have cuccos for company. Come along to our house for dinner tonight, our Noko’s back from Castle Town and I’m sure he’d love to see you again.’” She straightened her back with a short giggle before going to retrieve her sled from where it was parked. “I hardly ever had time. Supper time and wolfos hunting time started around the same time.”

As Linkle went to get her sled Albedo dusted off his corgi with a few broad strokes, who had planted himself right into a drift of snow by the librarby door. “Ordinary people do tend to occupy themselves with uninteresting things.” Her mimicry elicited no laughter from him, but he didn’t look annoyed, either. Instead he gazed down to the east end of Snowdin, opposite from where his new companion came in and the ice fields in general. “If there are no objections, let’s head that way.” He rubbed the corgi’s head and then shooed him inside, knowing that the hunt was no place for such a small, gentle creature. “Would you look after him?” he asked the librarian before closing the door. Faced with the cold once more, he adjusted his jacket and prepared to set off.

“Not uninteresting.” Linkle replied, a little defensively. “Just more ordinary than fighting monsters.” And less fun. That thought slipped her notice as she pulled up beside Albeto. ”No objections here. Anything would feel like a breath of fresh air after fighting that guy.” At least other monsters had the decency to die when you killed them. She lifted the sled a little. “Hop on?” She offered. 

Albedo raised an eyebrow, wondering if she planned to pull it. Then he remembered her cryo abilities, and concluded that she planned to locomote using them. Although the sled struck him as a little rickety, he climbed aboard. “My thanks.”

He was wrong. Linkle ducked underneath the bar, put her hands on, and set off in a brisk jog over the snow in the direction Albedo had indicated. The boy froze in embarassment, staring at the sky, and hoped that neither the Shiverian from earlier nor any of his friends happened to be looking on. At the very least, he was out of Snowdin and away from prying eyes in only a few moments.

Linkle and the sled made tracks eastward, putting the warm lights of Snowdin behind them. The discoloration of the cloud-covered sky suggested it would be night before long, but Albedo didn’t expect that their trip would be a long one. After a few minutes of travel the pair reached the edge of another snow-laden pine forest, although Albedo also noticed the long-bare deciduous trees whose thin, wispy branches wept with glistening tears of ice.

“Ah.” No sign of life stirred in the frigid underbrush, but Albedo recognized the area, and hopped off the sled with purpose. “We’re near a camp. Just a moment and I’ll draw them out.” He brought another flower to life and stood atop it to be lifted into the air. Once its ascent came to a halt at a good height, he cupped his hands and shouted, “Unclean vermin of the winter woods! I’m here to finish what I started. Come and die!” Although not possessed of a particularly strong voice, he sent his proclamation echoing across the landscape. Still, it lasted only a moment before the silence of a nigh-untouched wilderness settled back in, and there appeared to be no response.

For a time the seconds ticked by uneventfully, allowing him to return to the ground without needing to rush, but sure enough the tramp of heavy feet sounded out from the treeline before long. A moment later, a hairless, bucktoothed beast the size of a rhinoceros shoved its way from the vegetation, its bloodshot eyes staring evilly at the human intruders. Atop it rode a rider of rodential aspect, wielding a chain-bound javelin with a leer even more baleful than its mount’s. That was a baddie if Linkle had ever seen one. It had a human skull mounted on it for goodness sake. Further rummaging of the surrounding plants revealed two more monsters looking for a fight, a headless yeti with a maw in its belly and a crystalline satyr wielding what looked like an arcane cannon. Albedo tilted his head, mildly curious. “I was expecting more rats. Their leader, perhaps?” The creature kept quiet, trying to look as menacing as it could. Linkle thought it managed to pull it off on the strength of that cannon, but it couldn't pull off the near effortless bloodthirsty menace of the other two. The alchemist shrugged and held out his hand. A sword manifested from yellow light in his palm. “Well, I hope at least you can do me some harm, and that your spirits are worth something. Or my time will have been wasted.”

Linkle walked up beside him, pulling out her crossbows and motioning them toward herself. “Yeah, come and get us.” She taunted, coiled and ready to spring into action once the monsters launched their assault. 

The creatures obliged. Raising its cannon, the satyr let loose a chunk of blue crystal at the pair that forced them to move out of the way. At the same time, its larger companions charged. Spurred on by some sort of personal vendetta against Albedo, the rider attempted to bulldoze him with its brutish mount. The alchemist out of the beast’s way, narrowly avoiding its vicious tusks, and raised his hand. Before the ringleader could get off another shot, another Solar Isotoma sprouted a short distance in front of it and bloomed with a burst of golden power that knocked it back. Albedo sprinted toward the magic gunner while the rampaging ratbeast made its wide turn to come back around. When its next blast came he blocked it head-on, taking some damage but not enough to divert him from his target. Sapphire readied another crystal shot even as Albedo drew near, convinced that its enemy wouldn’t shy away from a point-blank blast. When the alchemist’s foot touched the flower he created, however, he was boosted into the air right over Sapphire’s shard. He raised his blade for a plunging attack, out of the way of which the beast nimbly dodged forward, but rather than commit Albedo simply dropped to the ground. He turned on a dime to lash out with a punishing slice against Sapphire as it rose, drawing blood in the vicinity of the Solar Isotoma. In reply the flower surged with Geo energy. The wave plowing into Sapphire gave Albedo the chance he needed to summon a third flower. 

Sapphire ground its teeth, seething with rage, and returned the favor with a summoned crystal right next to Albedo. He found his movements suddenly hindered, and could not dodge the animal as it launched itself toward him. He tumbled backward and came to a stop on his stomach, where he raised his head in time to see Sapphire get out of the way of the ratrider and thunder his way. “Still not enough…” With a sharp intake of breath he jumped to his feet for an evasive slash, only for the monster to thrash its head and slam a horn across his back. “Hrk!” He plowed into the snow shoulder-first and felt pain shoot through his spine and arm. Nevertheless he used the embedded point of his sword to rise, then raised it to swat aside the rider’s javelin. With a chitter and a smirk the rider reeled its weapon in and turned its mount around, sensing that the hunt was at its end. Sapphire approached as well, cannon at the ready. Albedo’s heavy breath misted in the air as he strafed to the side, refining his position.

The yeti, meanwhile, ran at the Skullgirl with its burly arms swinging. Linkle’s first instinct was to try and stick close to Albedo, but she overrode it as she dodged back farther from the Yeti’s whirling claws of death. After all, he would have a much harder time talking a few bumps if she were there making sure he didn’t. So she led the Yeti a little father off so that it at least wouldn't get in his way. The Yetil took a great loping leap like a gorilla, slamming its arms into the spot she had been just moments prior with enough force to cause the crystalline ice coating the trees to rain down on them. Neither paid it any mind as the monster dug its claws further into the earth and ripped out a chunk of rock and ice. It hurled it at the girl who dashed forward and slid under it, spinning up and firing a hail of bolts that peppered its skin. “You aren't even the first one to try that trick on me today.” She said, but the Yeti couldn't seem to understand her anyway. It charged through the bolts, taking them in its broad shoulders and the fleshy hump where its neck should have been. The tackle caught the skullgirl in the ribs, the Yeti lifting up as it moved and tossing her into the branches of one of the nearby trees. Linkle held her stomach as she steadied herself among the branches, but surprisingly didn't seem to be that much worse for the wear. “You’re not as strong as he was either.” Seemingly to prove her wrong the monster ran up to the base of the tree and wrapped its arms around it, the wide mouth on its chest gnashing at the base until half of it lay in chips at its feet. Then it pulled, ripping the rest of the tree and the skullgirl with it off its foundation. Linkle held on for dear life as the monsters began shaking the tree back and forth, flinging the ice that had stubbornly clung to its branches off in all directions. 

Linkle braced herself, wrapping her legs around the trunk to keep from being thrown out. If it wasn’t trying to kill her she had to admit she would find this incredibly fun. She tried to aim down at the monster, but with the forces throwing her forward and back she couldn't get a good angle. She reverted to tried and true indiscriminate bombardment, and explosions began to resound around the yeti as bomb arrows landed around it. Thinking quickly it reared back with the tree and swung for the earth, looking to shatter the entire top. Mid-swing, however, it caught a bomb to the face. Linkle was sliding down the incline created as the tree swung, fast enough to plant a boot right in the monsters non-face as it lost its grip and the tree began to fall. She bounced backward off it, spinning in midair and launching one, two, three more bomb arrows into it before bringing down a flaming ax kick right between its shoulders. She felt something give, heard a crack, and then a wail from the monsters chest mouth as it stumbled back. 

There! It was vulnerable! Linkle rushed forward as soon as her feet touched ground, firing at that spot. The bolts sunk in much more readily than before, knocking the creature even more off balance than it already was. Taking the opportunity, Linkle crossed her bows across her chest as the whole of the weapons blazed red. She launched forward, spinning into a flaming high kick that left a blacked strip of singed fur up across the Yetis entire body even as it launched her high in the air above it. She aimed down at it, firing off two bomb arrows that looked more like two streaks of pure fire. They slammed into the weakened point of the Yeti’s hump and detonated, finally sending the thing sprawling to the earth where it began to dissolve into ash.

The explosions from the Skullgirl’s bombs, and the high-flying theatrics that followed, brought about a pause in the other battle--and the chance that Albedo needed. He dashed once more to the side, a golden mote aglow in his free hand, until his enemies were in a line. Then all at once he unleashed a wave of earth power, rising up from the ground like enormous flower petals in a fan before him. Sapphire and the beast stumbled, throwing off the ratrider’s aim, and from the Solar Isotomas around them rose motes of concentrated Geo energy like shrapnel mines. Another series of detonations rang out through the chilly air as rock fragments pierced Albedo’s enemies. They wounded Sapphire severely and sent the ratbeast into an agonized stampede that forced the ratrider to hold on for dear life. That endeavor came to a swift end when Albedo leapt from a brand new flower in a full-body tackle that tore his foe from its saddle. All his weight drove the point of the sword clean through the rider and into the snow beneath. It shuddered, and died.

With a heavy exhale, Albedo staggered to his feet and watched the ratbeast crash off through the trees. “It won’t live long,” he stated, his voice flat. “Not with the venom of Festering Desire in its veins, the very poison that felled a dragon.” He maintained a firm grip on his sword, however, and shambled over to where Sapphire lay. With its body intact it remained alive, but for how long with those wounds Albedo couldn’t guess. “This one is done as well. If it keeps clinging to life, it will be for minutes rather than hours.” He glanced at Linkle, cognizant that she had a job to do.

Linkle landed gracefully and impressed. She hadn’t expected him to handle the two of them all on his own, especially taking down the rat monster with such physicality. She wished she had been able to catch more than the end of the fight, she was more interested in what Abedo could do with his alchemy powers. Of course, she also wished that it had been enough to end the monsters outright instead of crippling one like this. “First things first.” She said, popping out a friend heart and tossing it to Albedo. The mote cleansed him in just a moment’s time, and undid most of his wounds to boot to the alchemist’s surprise. “Huh. Have they always done that?” She asked herself, scratching her head, before turning back to the task at hand.

The goat monster reminded Linkle of the wolf that had attacked her early. Clearly beaten, should have run, didn’t because of Galeem. No, not even that. At least the dire wolf had been able to fight back. This was more like the man with the spirits and the monster kart from when they had crossed the desert. She had stopped mid attack then, unable to continue until at least the man was back on his feet. Agoston had dropped out of the sky before he had the chance, and she remembered being so mad at him for not giving the man a fighting chance. She hated beating an opponent while it was down. 

Maybe it was because the creature was so clearly in pain, but now she found it much easier to point her crossbow at it and end that suffering with one clean bolt to the head. It was surprising, and not at all pleasant. 

With a final gasp the satyr turned to ash. Its spirit shrugged off the dissolving body and floated a short distance above the ground, above the disturbed snow. That made three total, leaving out that of the ratbeast which Albedo doubted would be worth the effort to retrieve. Even the collection of the ash seemed less attractive when it was mixed with the snow. Still, the alchemist collected a handful into an empty pouch, allowed his eyes to linger on the Skullgirl a moment, and then looked away. Despite her sunny demeanor, his new friend did not shy away from taking a life when necessary. Then again, neither did he, and he wouldn’t even call his own company pleasant. “Let’s...get going. I let them toss me in the snow too much.” His voice was apologetic.

Albedo’s voice roused Linkle from her position, looking down on her crossbow with an experion of shaken confusion. “Huh?” She said, looking up at him. Snow? What did… ”Oh, right!” She said, looking around. “This is still cold. Sorry. Let me just…” She ran around the area, scooping the spirits and a few handfuls of dusty snow into one of her pouches before running to the sled and dragging it over to him. “Here, get out of the snow.” She said. 

Although he would rather not be pulled around again, Albedo came to a pragmatic decision. Pride wouldn’t do him any good if organs began to fail. “...Very well.” He climbed aboard again. “In town, there’s a bar that’s always empty called Survive. The man who runs it can make medicine and restorative food.” Shivering, he crossed his arms and hunched over.

“Right. Survive.” Linkle said, getting back into position and bolting across the snow as fast as she could in the direction of Snowdin, following Albedo’s directions whenever she started to veer off course.
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