A Walk Through the Woods

The past week has been rather boring for Krvavy. That isn’t to say that nothing exciting happened, as there were quite a few moments she wouldn’t give up for anything, but they were buried amongst downtime that dragged on and blended together.

Not being able to go outside due to the rain has been affecting Krvavy more than she realized. She is feeling rather pent up, and not in the usual way. It is kind of odd, really. She had spent almost her entire life indoors, never really wanting to go outside. But here she is, feeling antsy at being stuck inside this cave. This massive cave. A cave that has two lakes, numerous hot springs, and a grotto full of plants.

Complaining about feeling cooped up in a place like this kind of makes her feel bad. Like she is being ungrateful. Especially since their unfinished bedroom alone is larger than any place she had lived in as Leanna...

“Are ya sure ya want ta go out there today?” Beryl asks, jostling Krvavy from her thoughts.

“Yeah.” The barbarian instantly replies, as this isn’t the first time this morning that the elf has asked that. “I want to stretch my legs and be out under the open sky. Besides it stopped raining yesterday, so I don’t really have anything keeping me inside.”

“It’ll still be quite wet out there.”

“Eh.” Krvavy dismissively waves that off. “I’m not waiting a few more days for the ground to dry. So what if it is a little damp?”

Beryl presses her lips together, looking a little unhappy. “Ya sure tha’ ya don’t want ta just go huntin’ wit’ me?”

“Nope. We’ve been over this.” Krvavy almost sighs out. “I want something more than just a single day out there, and I don’t want to leave these two alone.” She gestures to Khalia and Thea, both of which are doing their own things.

The Orc has a dopey smile on her face as she lovingly rubs at the bite marks scattered across her neck and shoulders, still visible despite it being more than a full day since they were left there.

Krvavy may have gone a little overboard with the biting. But, to be fair, she wasn’t exactly in control of herself. Besides, it isn’t like her own body got away unscathed as Khalia left bite marks all over her chest and neck, a couple on her arms, and even one right in the middle of her abs. And all of those bites are a lot more visible than the ones on her Orc, standing out against the barbarian’s pale skin.

“Can you just let that large lizard leave already?” Thea grumbles out, sounding rather grumpy as she struggles with the task that Beryl left her: finding the center of balance on some simple wooden arrows, and ensuring that it is the same for each one.

The tanned wood elf slowly sighs out. “Damn yer wanderlust...” She almost whispers.

“You don’t need to worry so much.” Krvavy reaches out and pats Beryl’s head, trailing her fingers through the elf’s short hair. “I’ll be heading south. Not towards the road in the west. I’m... not ready to go back there just yet.”

“Ya should train more before goin’ on another journey like tha’.”

“It’s just a walk through the woods. I will be fine.” Krvavy curtly responds, beginning to get slightly annoyed as Beryl’s constant insistence wears down her patience. “Besides, a little bit of training won’t change much.”

Throughout the last week Krvavy was just barely able to get enough experience to level up, most of which came from killing the Rock Bear. And in theme with the rather boring week, reaching level eleven was rather anticlimactic as well: she only just got it this morning while carving out some bricks. Krvavy put the five points into Insight, as she needs that stat for her blood magic, but it’ll still be a couple levels until she gets the trait.

That said, there was one thing of note that came from levelling up: she got another point of Divine Favour. Hopefully she’ll be getting one with each new level from now on. That won’t be enough on its own for her to buy the more costly things in the points shop, like that Inventory she so desperately wants, but it’ll help her get some of the more affordable options, if she wants them.

Shaking her head, Krvavy puts those thoughts aside. “If it makes you feel any better, there are a few skills that I can’t level up in here but can out there. Seismic Stomp, for example. Also Tracking, Stealth, and Foraging, to list a few”

“Ah’m just worried. Ya know tha’.” Beryl sighs out. “Ya are such a low level...”

“I’m a higher level than Thea.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean!?” The bratty girl snaps back in annoyance.

“Aye, but tha’ doesn’t mean much.” The wood elf responds, completely ignoring the increasingly angry noble girl.

“You horrid hag!”

“I’m not going to just head out with nothing.” Krvavy points out, placing a hand atop Thea’s head and rubbing her hair, causing the little brat to fume silently. “I’ll have a few javelins and a roll of those healing bandages. Can’t forget about those.”

“Alright, alright...” Beryl slumps her shoulders in defeat. “Ah know tha’ Ah can’t change yer mind... But... at least let me help ya pack up.”

“Sure, though I’m not going to hav–”

The barbarian gets cut off mid sentence as Beryl gently grabs onto one of Krvavy’s horns and leans in for a kiss. “Ah love ya, and Ah’ll be here waitin’ fer ya ta come home. Don’t forget tha’.” The elf quietly whispers out after pulling back.

“I love you too.” Krvavy responds, slightly flushed from hearing the genuine sincerity of her tomboyish wood elf. “But don’t act like I’ll be gone for ages. It’ll only be a few days. Around four, probably.”

“{Even a minute away from you is too much, my dearest love.}” Beryl replies in her native tongue, a sad smile gracing her face.

“{No need to be so dramatic.}” The barbarian smiles back, leaning in to give her elf a quick kiss.

“Ahhh...” Beryl happily sighs out as she pulls herself back. “Come on, my dearest love. Let’s get ya ready ta go.”

Krvavy nods before quickly turning to Thea and giving the girl a kiss as well. “See you soon.”

“Ugh, just leave already!” Thea groans out, though the blush creeping its way onto her cheeks gives away her true feelings.

Unable to keep a smile off of her face, the barbarian rises to her feet. She almost doesn’t want to go. Almost.

“Haaahh...” Krvavy slowly sighs out, leaning back against a sturdy tree as a deep feeling of content fills her.

Krvavy really needed this. Though she isn’t quite sure what this is. Did she just need some fresh air, some time under the open sky? Or did she just need some space, some time away from her girls?

She would like to think it is the first one, though she has never been one to appreciate the outdoors. Granted, she has never been one to walk around naked either, so that doesn’t exactly mean much. But... she also isn’t a people person. She could never really stand being around others.

Krvavy tilts her head up, looking past the canopy of trees. The sky is dyed orange as the sun sets behind a horizon she cannot see. Guess she should find a spot to settle down for the night.

As good as it feels to be out here, it isn’t perfect. The ground squishes beneath her feet with each and every step. It isn’t too unpleasant, but she could do without it. The main issue is that this wet and muddy ground is what she will be sleeping on. It wasn’t nice last night, and she doesn’t think it would have changed much since then.

She misses the patch of moss and furs back in her cave. And she really misses having an actual bed. If only...

< ERROR: SOUL-LINK CONNECTION LOST. UNABLE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION WITH ORIGINAL FORM >

The pit of dread forming in her stomach tells Krvavy that trying that was a mistake. She does not want to think about... about being trapped here. Even if her life as Krvavy is, arguably, far better than Leanna ever had it.

She has been over this so many times in her head, desperately trying to rationalize what happened. But each day she wakes up, still in this body, it gets harder and harder to deny...

So what is so bad about it? Is it just the choice being taken away from her? If she had to make that decision herself, then she may very well have chosen to stay as Krvavy. The only reason that Leanna kept living was stubbornness and spite. Krvavy at least has a good reason to live now. Multiple good reasons. Still, she would have liked to say goodbye to her sister, face to face. Not that the jar of ashes has a face...

Shaking her head, Krvavy pushes off against the tree and walks off, trying to put those thoughts behind her. Nothing good will come from lingering on them.

Clear water lazily flows on by, beneath the trees and the cloudless sky.

Krvavy sits on a fallen tree, watching the weak current pull away leafy little twigs while she chews away at one of the dried blocks of minced meat and berries that Beryl packed for her. Water drips from her body as she takes the chance to dry off a bit.

The river only reached up to her hips at its deepest, so it was rather easy to cross. At least compared to the other one. Though, thinking about it, she is pretty sure it is the same river. She is just a few days upstream from where she had crossed before.

It would be nice if she had a map of the area, so that she could know for certain, but nothing she can do about that.

Finishing up her snack, Krvavy rises to her feet and begins to tie the deerskin loincloth back around her waist. Not having to lug around her axe makes walking through this forest a whole lot easier. She has enough trouble keeping her head and horns from whacking into branches.

Granted, the rough javelins hanging from a strap slung over her shoulder take away some of the convenience that her Soulbound weapon provides. They keep getting caught on pretty much everything that she gets too close to.

That is really the one issue Krvavy has with this forest, as she has to constantly stoop over and duck beneath branches. Though, to be fair, that is more her fault than anything else. She chose to make this body of hers ridiculously tall, and Krvavy is thankful that she had enough restraint to not just crank that slider to max. Not only is her height a little inconvenient for walking through a forest, but it makes being with her girls a little awkward at times.

A smile makes its way onto Krvavy’s face without her realizing it. Her girls... Just thinking about them makes her happy. She never thought that she would meet someone who makes her feel that way, and here she is with three such people.

Krvavy almost wants to turn around and head back home so that she can see them again. But she just crossed the river, so she might as well keep going on. Though that does mean this trip of hers will end up taking five or six days...

Hopefully her being a bit late won’t worry Beryl too much. And if she is, well, Krvavy can make it up to her. The barbarian is definitely going to be a bit pent up by the time she gets home, and the elf would be more than happy to help her out with that.

The sun slowly climbs its way into the clear sky, shining down between the increasingly sparse trees. Krvavy is still in the forest but it is visibly thinning out, making it much easier for her to move around.

Glancing up at the sky, Krvavy figures that it is about time to start heading back. To be honest, she probably should have turned around yesterday, at the river. This is her fourth day out here, and she is definitely going to have to apologize for being out so long when she gets back.

Her girls won’t hold it against her, but that is no reason to make them worry. Krvavy usually turns back when she eats through about half of her food, but this time she has hardly eaten even a quarter of it. Beryl made her bring way more food than she needed. But she can’t blame the elf for that...

Krvavy’s thoughts slowly trail off as an unsettling feeling overtakes her, making her skin crawl. She immediately comes to a stop, cautiously looking around her while on high alert. But she can’t see what is setting her instincts off, and she can’t hear anything either. The forest is completely silent.

Wait... That is what the problem is. The birds aren’t chirping. The wind isn’t rustling the leaves. Everything is silent and still. Almost unnaturally so. What is going on?

The silence is briefly broken by the faint sound of thunder echoing from off in the distance, further to the south. The first crack of thunder is quickly followed by a second and a third, causing Krvavy to scowl. She doesn’t want to be caught out in the rain.

But that thundering sound isn’t actually thunder, is it? The sky is completely clear, without even a single cloud in sight. So what is making that noise? If she didn’t know any better, then Krvavy would say that it sounds like gunfire. Slower single shot gunfire, like a line of muskets or some cannons.

Then again, it could just be something magical, like exploding fireballs. That... actually makes more sense, thinking about it. After all, that’s what it was the last time she heard an unnatural thundering boom in this forest, back when she found that sketchy fire mage fighting Beryl.

Krvavy’s scowl deepens. There is only one way for her to figure out what the source of that sound is: go and investigate it.

She should be turning back, heading home to where her three girls wait for her. The fact that she is even thinking about heading towards the obvious danger of those mysterious thundering echoes kind of pisses her off. But she is just far too curious to just ignore it.

Krvavy has to make the decision on what to do right now. This is her first, last, and only chance to ignore that noise and head home. The barbarian knows what she is like. If she goes to investigate, then she is going to investigate. She won’t just have a little look at what is happening, no, she’d probably do something stupid like getting involved.

So, what should she do? Head back home to her loving girls who are patiently waiting for her to come back? Or do something reckless and head directly towards some random explosion sounds that keep going off?