It wasn't like she was an exterminator or anything. Yet, somehow Rini Faithe had been roped into clearing rats from an abandoned building. Why should this matter, since it's abandoned, you may be asking? Well, simply because a filthy rich landowner intends to turn the said property into some sort of drug shop. What he did with it after the job wasn't really any of her business, though she couldn't help but wonder why, out of every building a person could turn to a shop, he would choose this particular building. It was falling apart and had rat feces everywhere. There were claw and teeth marks all over the walls as well. At least she knew it was the right building.

Trailing behind her was an adorable white ball of fluff with six curly tails of whom she had acquired just recently as a companion. They were still adjusting to each other's company, and though Rinni found the adorable fox to be quite pleasant; the timid creature returned her affection with shy, awkward distancing. She sighed as she headed into the building, the tiny Snow Vulpix poking her head through the doorway.

This place was creepy, especially at night. It was so dark the girl could barely see a foot in front of her face. She turned toward her companion, calling her to follow. "Come on, Winter. It's just a few rats. No need to worry, okay?"

The creature known as Winter cooed softly before timidly entering the crumbling building. As Rinni pressed onward, Winter stayed close at her heels glancing around nervously. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Rinni thought to herself that this job had better be worth the pay as she ventured through the various rooms. Finally, the sound of squeaking and scratching caught their attention.

Winter perked up her ears and gave a gentle 'vul' sound as she turned toward the sounds. Rinni nodded as she too turned toward the noise. "Yeah, I hear it too. Sounds like it's coming from the basement." With that, she headed down the stairs, Winter following close behind.

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Rinni gingerly descended the stairs to the basement. Winter followed close behind, whining nervously. It wasn't until a nasty smell reached their nose and a light splash followed by dampness to their feet/paws revealed to them the source of the infestation. The sewer water had partially flooded the basement. The odor prompted Rinni to cover her nose, the nasty smelling and more than likely polluted water caused the Snow Vulpix to quickly jump into the girl's arms and wrap herself across her shoulders. Rinni lightly scratched between Winter's ears with her free hand as she looked around at the disgusting scene surrounding them.

"No wonder this place is abandoned." Rinni observed. "What was that old man thinking, buying a place like this?" Despite that, she had a mission to do. Her mission wasn't to question why, nor complain about the smell it was simply to locate and eliminate the rodent problem. It was such a wreck down here, she wasn't entirely sure how they were going to locate the rodents, much less kill/chase them away. She wasn't even sure how many rats were down here, nor their size.

Suddenly Winter bared her fangs, ears drawn back as she uttered a low, threatening growl. "What's wrong, Winter, do you see something?" Her question was answered by high pitch squeaking as a rat revealed itself atop a partially submerged box. The water wasn't deep (yet) but it did reach Rinni's ankles, which made her uncomfortable and made it difficult to move quickly and quietly. Rinni readied her Arcing Bow, a mana arrow materializing as she drew back the bowstring. She held it for a moment, and released. She didn't feel the need to exert too much energy into killing rats. This mission should be relatively easy.

As the arrow struck the rat dead, a thousand rats poured out of the debris. Rinni's eyes widened at the horror unfolding in front of her. There were so many, where did they all come from? She fired her bow repeatedly at several rats, but it barely detented the numbers.

"Damn it. We're going to have to lure out the leader, and block the entrance they came through!" Rinni looked at the six tailed fox-like creature who was perched on her shoulders. "Winter, can you freeze the water?"

Winter nodded and stood up, leaping off Rinni's shoulder. Her mouth opened, releasing a rush of cold air that, while normally creating a sheet of ice across the ground, managed to freeze the already existing  3 inches of water. Several rats were trapped in the frozen ice, the rest slipping and sliding in the surface. Winter easily walked along the icy surface thanks to the special padding on her pale blue paws. Her ears twitched, and she cocked her head as if hearing a new sound.

From a large pile of debris, a huge rat emerged. This one was bigger than the rest. Winter's big blue eyes widened in surprise as she turned and jumped into Rinni's arms. Rinni comforted her companion, allowing the Snow Vulpix to climb back onto her shoulders. She then readied her bow once more, as the rat glared at her with round, red, menacing eyes. The rat hissed as Rinni's bow produced another mana arrow.

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Spells/Skills:

The rat charged at Rinni, who quickly jumped backward. Her landing was awkward and clumsy so the rat took advantage and lunged, fangs ready to take a chunk out of whatever it can latch onto. Rinni squeals, unable to ready her bow in time to react. Winter leaps between her and the rat, her mouth opening as she blasts Icy Wind at the opponent. The rat staggers backward squealing as the cold gusts whip it in the face. Winter keeps up the assault as Rinni struggles to her feet and readies the bow again.

As she pulls back the bowstring, an arrow made from mana materializes. Rinni fires at the rat, but misses as it dodges to the side. Shocked by how fast the rat is, Rinni readies her bow again and releases the arrow. This time it hits its mark, and the massive rat squeaks and retreats to lick its wounds. Rinni and Winter chase after it and discover the opening and source of the rat infestation. Rinni uses Winter as a sheepdog and has her herd all the rats together. The rats squeak and squeal as the fox forces them through the hole. It takes a while to accomplish, as there's so many of them. However, as Winter herds the rat population Rinni digs through the debris and finds planks, nails and a hammer she can use to block off that hole once and for all.

The water problem? Well, that's their problem.

Once the last known rat is on the other side of the wall, Rinni places a plank against the hole. Winter stands on her hind legs and holds the plank in place with her pale blue paws as Rinni nails it in place. Once that plank is placed, she grabs another plank and places it just above the first, leaving no gaps. As before, Winter holds it in place while Rinni nails it in. She continues this for 3 more planks until the hole is fully sealed. She pants for breath, along with Winter, as they recover from their task.

Who knew exterminating rats would be so exhausting? She could have sworn having to deal with werewolves was easier, but then shook her head of such a silly notion. To be honest, if she saw another werewolf again, it'd be too soon. In fact, the only thing on her mind was getting out of this nasty sewer water, returning to the inn where she was staying, and taking a bath until this smell was off her. She picked up Winter, took a whiff, and held the fox at arm's length.

"Phew! Looks like I ain't the only one who needs a bath!" She observed with a laugh as her companion cocked her head to the side.

Rinni was quick to get out of that basement (and that building) as she headed to meet the buyer and report her progress. She told him of the rat infestation, and how she dealt with it, and then she took her payment for the job and moved on.

There was a nice warm bath calling her name. And to be honest, she felt like lounging in nice hot water for several days after wandering through that disgusting sewer water. She didn't care what that dude had planned for the building; he'd never catch her there again. Rinni entered her room and set up a bubble bath for herself and Winter. She stripped down and stepped into the hot, soothing water. She had a smaller tub with ice water nearby for Winter. And as both sunk into their comfort zone, they both released sighs of contentment. This day started out bad...

But it ended very very well!

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