Thunderous applause and cheers ring through the air as they are led through the village.
Covered in flower petals and smug satisfaction, Vuvi holds a bulging bag of gold in each arm, cradling them tightly like newborn babies.
"Pip!" she gushes, her face flushed and brimming with pride. "It's not even been a week since we left home and we're already legends! We didn't just fill a sexual void, we resurrected a dying culture! Oooooooh, twist my tailfeathers! I'm going to send Mother a scroll so smug it's gonna set itself on fire!" she giggles as she skips through the streets next to Pip.
He walks besides her, pulsing long, blissful beeps as his polished frame beams brilliantly in the morning sun. Women call out his name in adoration, children gently touch his hand, whispering thank yous as the sad, depressed mothers now sing and dance nearby.
Even some men appear amongst the crowds.
Sullen stallions, eyes glazed over, peek through the crowd in cautious awe, murmuring amongst themselves about golden salvation and prophecies fulfilled.
"Could it be… the promised one?" one mutters, squinting through the crowd at Pip.
"The Staff of Salvation… he wields it!" another proclaims.
"You speak of the Golden Redeemer? The one from the prophecies?"
By the time the sun loomed at midday, only endless, flower filled meadows stretch out before them.
Vuvi groans as she contends with the weight of her gold sacks while Pip happily forges on, his strengthened body easily handling the mountain of cargo he carries.
"You know," Vuvi sighs as she kicks at a rock. " This is my first time away from home… and Mother… and my forge. Ugh! I think I miss Forgey the most. Gods, I can't wait till Mother hears what we've done."
He nods proudly, resting his hand on her shoulder as they walk.
She talks for hours, more to herself than to Pip, who answers with non-chalant nods and beeps as he barely listens.
"... and I'm gonna spoil you rotten once we're set up in Market Town!" Vuvi grins as she bites into an apple. "Dual-Frequency pulse crystals, adaptive-heating plates, ooooh, hydraulic thrust accentuators aaaand… an audio modulator! You'll finally have a voice, Pip!"
Vuvi continued to prattle on, but the thought of having a voice and finally being able to communicate with his creator, felt… extremely daunting to him.
In his previous life, Pip was an absolute failure when it came to face-to-face communication with the fairer sex, blessed with an unnatural and powerful ability to disappoint and disgust, simply by opening his mouth.
But before he could dwell further on his painful history, the smell of burnt oil and smoke caught his attention. He scans the area, and notices a faint, white puff rising in the distance.
"... and once your mechanical upgrades are done, I can recalibrate your thrust vect—Ouch!" Vuvi squeals as Pip nudges her shoulder excitedly. "Not so hard, I'm a sensitive lady, you brute!"
He points to a ridge in the distance.
Vuvi's eyes narrows onto the rising, white clouds. "Oooh… let's check it out!"
As they crest the next ridge, they are met by the sounds of grinding metal and loud, creative cursing.
Below them, on a small dirt road at the edge of a field, stands a large, boxy, steam-powered contraption coughing up puffs of white smoke as it groans and cries through screeching metal.
"Bless my bolts! A Mark-2 Vren-Angstrum Steam Hauler!" Vuvi shrieks. "I've never seen one of those!"
And as they hurriedly approach, they notice two figures fiddling with the vehicle.
Pip's eyes radiate faintly with awe and wonder when he's finally able to see them clearly.
Floppy ears hung from one's head, her arms and legs covered in thick, fluffy, pastle-coloured furs. Her puffy tail wiggles furiously as she bounces around the vehicle.
The other figure, tall, dark and mysterious, hid their face deep beneath a hooded cloak, moving about the machine with a fluid grace and sharp efficiency.
As they step into the road, a bunny-girl turns to them wide-eyed and ears perked up.
"Ah! Travellers!" she squeaks. "We're, uh, totally fine. Nothing to see here. Feel free to just, you know, move along. Just keep travelling!"
"We're fine." The other figure adds, her voice low, sultry and arousingly arrogant as she draws her hood further over her head.
Pip turns to the bunny-girl and beeps a friendly hello as his HUD blinks.
[Target Name: Unknown]
[Species: Bunny Hybrid]
[Emotional Status: Fear / Guilt / Distress]
He tilts his head, then turns to the hooded woman.
[Target Name: Unknown]
[Species: Demonkin]
[Emotional Status: Frustration / Suspicion / Fear]
Demonkin?
"You've got a crack in your trans axel," Vuvi yells, already half way under the vehicle and covered in grease. "Fourth cylinder is leaking pressure, and your coolant levels are way too low. You're lucking the boiler didn't explode!"
"You can fix it?" the bunny-girl squeals, clutching her cheeks with luxuriously soft paws..
Vuvi grins as she pulls herself out from under the machine, hops to her feet and wipes the sweat from her brow, covering it in grease, instead.
"You promise to get us to Market Town by sundown, and I'll have her purring like a glimmercat in no time."
"Yes, yes, yes!" The bunny nods as she bops up and down, her tail wiggling madly.
The demonkin shrugs, crosses her arms and slumps into the grass along the road, glowering at Vuvi, then glancing at Pip, her crimson eyes glowing with curiosity.