KARA

Despite the other options seeming more practical you simply can't take your eyes off the Beast-woman. Part of it is her humble, yet somewhat riske, attire. Though not many of the girls back home would wear something similar, it is something someone you grew up with could wear. Complimenting her look, she does not try to put up airs and comes off as being very honest. In contrast, all three of the other women are foreign to you and at least two of them seem to have some ulterior goal in trying to bring you with them. Teuta is undoubtedly from the capital, the nest of nobility and bureaucracy. The opposite of what you are used to. She is earnest, but you have no idea how that environment will treat you. The mage Jeane is just extremely cocky. The self-proclaimed sword saint is frank, which is the same thing that drew you to Kara, but instead of being open the silver haired woman is completely obtuse and uncaring, which makes it exceedingly easy not to pick her. Overall, Kara is exotic to you, but not as unfamiliar or far from your sensibilities as the others and it helps that she is just gorgeous. For those reasons you raise your finger and point at her.

The other three women begin to react to what each of them see as an unusual choice. Jhiana simply offers a short nod before turning to leave. Teuta lowers her head in acceptance of the decision. Jeane's reaction is the most stark. Her face reddens with anger and the Elf Mage glares at you with wide eyes, her dark pupils shrinking into their dark-blue iris's.

“This is unbelievable! You are WASTING your talent, you dumb kid!”

You are taken aback by the outburst and are not sure what to say. You gulp, then open your mouth to earnestly muster an apology, but you stop as Kara moves out of the corner of your eye. She steps beside you and drapes one arm around your shoulder protectively. Kara then leans forward in a taunting pose.

“Everyone may as well be a 'kid' to an old hag like you.” She mocks.

“In the Human world he's old enough to make his own decisions. Humans and Beastmen don't need lots of time before we can stop acting like kids.” She gives Elaine a knowing smirk, pointing at her accusingly.

“Unlike Elves, Apparently.”

The mage is obviously seething. She clenches and unclenches her pale, delicate hands. “Yooou!” Her fingers crackle with electricity that shifts color from blue, to red, to black. As the black sparks begin to lick at the ground near you Kara still seems exceedingly calm and even maintains a bit of her playful air.. Whether she was not worried about Jeane's magic, or she predicted that Teuta would pull the arrogant mage into a headlock, the effect is the same. You are sure you made the right choice in that moment. Jeane's magic is dissipated. She kicks and pulls at Teuta unsuccessfully.

“Let me go, you cultist!”

“Your masters would be embarrassed by your conduct.” Teuta says simply.

“Uhh...” Jeane's anger immediately turns to embarrassment and her struggling stops.

“Come now.” Teuta pulls Jeane out of the hall while she remains stiff as a board.

“Bye bye. Don't come back.” Kara giggles and waves after them jokingly.

“So...” You look down and blush. Of course you did not feel anything in the moment, but now that the tension has left the room you can not help but notice how close Kara is to you. The woman is essentially hugging you from the side and leaning on you.

She looks at you curiously and seems to just say the first thing that comes to mind, completely ignoring the situation. “Do you have food where you live?”

You stand stiffly and avert your gaze, assuming she will realize what she is doing soon. “I live on a farm.” Instead of letting you go, your answer has the opposite effect. She turns and actually begins hugging you excitedly from the side. You throw your head back, feeling her breasts pressing around your arm.

“That's great! Chickens? Eggs?” She brings her face close to yours and licks her lips. You can feel her breath on the side of your face. It smells surprisingly good.

“No!” You finally muster the wherewithal to pull out of her grasp. She was not trying to hold you in a particularly tight way, so you were able to stumble back a few feet.

“Eh?” She huffs and leans back, raising her brow. “What's wrong? Why're you so red? I'm not gonna raid your chicken coop...”

“We don't-” You hold your hand to your chest to feel how quickly it is beating and decide to take a moment. It is only a few seconds of Kara tilting her head at you quizzically, waiting for an answer, before you are able to stand up straight and collect yourself. “We don't raise chickens or any kind of livestock. It's mainly root vegetables and there's also a small plot devoted to flowers.

“Huh? You got meat at your place, right?” She asks with a worried look on her face.

“It's not something we have very often, no.” You begin wondering if you picked up a master or a stray with your decision.

Kara holds her head in her hands and shakes. “No no no... This isn't good.” She closes the distance again quickly and grabs your arm. She is frantic.

“W-what!?” You lean away from the woman. You had not noticed before, but with her angled just right you can see a bushy tail pointed straight up behind her.

Looking at you with a completely serious expression she states sagely. “If you only eat vegetables you'll end up turning into one.”

You are speechless but eventually manage to ask. “Who told you that?”

“My master.”

“Meat is for special occasions. You'll be fine. I'm fine.” You argue calmly.

She squeezes your arm in response. “This is why you're so thin! You probably eat nothing but beanstalks so you're taking the shape of one.”

Rapidly questioning your choices you say humorlessly. “I'm not tall enough to be a beanstalk and besides, those aren't root vegetables. If what you're saying is true then I should look more like a potato, right?”

Kara releases you and steps back, adopting a determined expression. “I'll teach you how to hunt, apprentice. I'll make sure you don't end up looking like a potato.” She says that with a benevolent tone, as though she is honestly trying to help you avoid that fate.

“Okay.” You decide to stop trying to fight her on this point.

“What are you going to teach me, exactly? You mentioned you were a fortune-teller and you could help me get stronger?”

“Yep! I'm able to predict the future, sort of. My accuracy is a little off but this time it worked out.”

You question internally the value of a fortune-teller with low accuracy, but set that aside for now. “One of your predictions brought you here? How do they work?” You brace yourself for another ditsy response. Surprisingly, she adopts more of a serene expression in response and holds both of her hands out with open palms while closing her eyes. To you it looks as if she is meditating while standing.

“This is the way of the universe. Everything that's happened, is happening or will happen is like a stream.” The space around you darkens and every part of the hall fades into black except Kara, who is standing in the middle of a flat blue stream that is traveling through her. Looking down, you notice that the stream is traveling through you, as well. She lowers her palms into the stream. It reacts by flowing around them like they are stones in the way, but instead of reconnecting on the other side, the clear blue is split into three.

“Everything moves the stream but it's when something important happens that it splits apart. Learning to predict the future is about reading how the stream's gonna split.” Kara opens her eyes. Her golden iris's are replaced by glowing blue pools similar to the stream. She points straight ahead, alternating between the three streams that are flowing through you.

You try to put your hand down into the stream, but nothing happens. “There's three, though and they all could happen. Right?”

Kara nods. “Yup! That's why it's tricky. I'll read your stream when we settle down somewhere.” She moves her hands upward fluidly. As she closes her palms the hall fades back into existence and the stream disappears. Kara smiles at you with wide, golden eyes.

“Speaking of. Where are we going?” You can't help but feel that she is looking and acting more and more like a stray with each passing minute.

** The choice for Patrons this time is 'RETURN HOME' or 'DO NOT RETURN HOME'
If you would like to participate in the evolution of the story or if you just wish to help support my work, join up at https://www.patreon.com/TVWintergreen for just $3 a month!