Reason With the Elven Archer

Jade drew her blade almost as if by instinct as the red headed elf drew back her bow, pointing her arrowhead directly at Jade's chest. "I don't want to hurt you," Jade said, gritting her teeth as she held her position against the woman. "I just want to free the bear…"

"Free it and it will die," the elf said her fiery locks surrounding her head like a lion's mane under her hooded cloak.

"Huh?"

"The bear is hurt… I found it here captured by poachers… chased them off and I was fetching it herbs for it's injuries before you showed up," the elf explained. She kept her bow string taut, ready to let loose an arrow at Jade on a moment's notice. "So if you are here to try and claim it back for the poaching bastards… be my guest and try, see if that little knife ever reaches me before I put an arrow through you. But if you do care about this bear… lower the blade."

Jade narrowed her eyes at the elf. As far as she could tell her words seemed truthful and there was a satchel of discarded herbs behind her. "Alright," Jade said and lowered her dagger before returning it to its sheath. The elf lowered her bow and slowly released the tension on the string. She did not, however, unnock her arrow. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought you had hurt the bear."

"Reasonable assumption but that poor beast has been poisoned," the elf said. "I am a hunter myself but I don't resort to poison, it spoils the meat and is not my way to fell such a noble animal. The type of people that hurt this bear were the type that only wanted it for its pelt and not to sell either. They want to go home and have it made into a rug or stuffed and used as a trophy. A symbol of the big game they hunted when in actual fact they let the single measly poisoned arrow they hit it with do the work. Pathetic." She could see the rage within the elf's grey eyes. It was like that of dark storm clouds.

"What can I do to help the bear?" Jade asked and she watched as text popped up 'Side Quest: Nurse a Bear Back to Health'.

"That depends, how much do you know about herbalism?" The elf asked as she finally did unnock her arrow and return it to her quiver. "I collected what I could to treat the poison but I still need something to sooth the pain or the bear won't trust me enough to apply the remedy."

"I don't know a lot… but what do you need? I can help you search for it," Jade offered as she watched the elven woman put her bow aside and bend down to pick up the herbs. She never took her eyes off of Jade fully but she at least released her weapon.

"Not enough time to go out searching for anything more but I need something a berry would eat naturally that would numb the pain. A few Honey Sap-ple, good luck finding any in these conditions, some Grenger Root but that would be buried under a foot of snow. At least a dozen, preferably more Snowberries, some spice from…"

"Snowberries? I have those, I stuffed my pockets," Jade exclaimed as she dug through the pockets of her cloak and pulled out the icy blue coloured berries. "Will these be enough?" She walked forward towards the elf showing her the freshly picked berries.

"That just might do the trick," the elf said with a smile as she finished gathering up the herbs in her satchel and reached for the berries. "You been eating these?"

"Only the one… it helped with the cold," Jade said as she handed over the berries.

"Good, good," the elf said as she gathered them into her satchel. Her eyes seemed to scan over Jade. "No wonder you aren't shivering with your tits out like that if you ate one of these." Jade wanted to object, her boobs were not that far out of her clothes… okay maybe they were poking out a lot more than they had been when they were smaller, the boob window had been smaller too, but it was not that bad. She almost commented on the elven woman's choice of clothing, sure it was furs and leather under a black and white cloak but it still left her midriff exposed and was so tight you could basically see the exact proportions of her own supple chest. "Interesting tat by the way."

"Thanks…" Jade said automatically as she glanced back down at the green heart tattoo that plunged down her exposed chest into the valley of her triple D breasts. "I… it's a curse. I didn't choose it."

"Most don't with curses, but you can tell me about it later, right now I need to get these berries to the bear and the herbs into a mortar and pestle," the elf said as she walked past Jade. "Names Bethrynna Silverdew." She offered a hand to Jade. "But everyone calls me Beth."

"I'm um… Jade Sato." She shook Beth's hand. As she did more text appear up on the side of her vision under the title of this side quest. A list of objectives. 'Feed Snowberries to the Bear' and 'Assist Beth to Make a Poison Cure'. "I've never met an elf before."

"Really? You must have grown up in one of them rural human villages then because we are everywhere," Beth said as she placed a hand on Jade's shoulder. "Come help me with the bear and then I will show you some basic herbalism tricks. Both useful skills to know out here in the wilderness, never a shortage of wild animals and strange plants." She led Jade towards the caged bear. "So… how good are you with animals?"

"I don't know," Jade said her voice trembling as the bear growled at their approach.

"Well just do what I say," Beth said as she took a handful of Snowberries and passed some to Jade. "The bear is hurt and afraid right now… worried we are a threat to it so back up straight, keep your body language slow and deliberate and offer them that handful of berries."

"Are you sure about this?" Jade asked as Beth gently pushed her forward. "It's… a bear." Jade felt her legs shaking below her robes as the bear lumbered forward, towards Jade, bearing its teeth and arching its back.

"An injured, poison weakened bear that has been starved… it's barely strong enough to stand, that there is a feeble act to try and make you feel afraid," Beth reasoned as she kept close behind. Jade dared not tell Beth that feeble or not the act was working. "Look, I'm right here… I'll make sure you are not hurt, okay?" Beth moved up behind Jade, pressing her body against her back, she reached out with long muscular arms around Jade's much smaller form. Years of training with the bow must have toned them, building up her strength till she felt like she could easily crush Jade. "If anything happens I will pull you back, okay?"

"Alright," Jade said with gulp as she started to edge towards the cage with Beth now hugging her back. She glanced down into the chat and felt her cheeks flush. Many people were commenting on Beth, or as they were calling her, the hot elf chick, and many were pointing out how cute she and Jade looked together as well as the standard 'Omg she's so hot. I bet she looks smoking under those clothes ;) Roll to seduce Jade? Am I right?' Others were commenting both on how realistic the bear looked and equally how silly Jade was being for her fear of the video game bear in a world of physically harmless monsters that did not even have a **** feature in the first place. "Yeah well you're not the ones that have to deal with getting fucked or worse when you are defeated."

"What was that Jade?" Beth asked in response to Jade's muttered whisperings.

"I said let's feed this bear," Jade said with a determined look. She walked forward and held out her hand to the bear. It approached her slowly, still on the defensive, teeth dripping with drool as it's wet nose sniffed the air between them. It growled loudly as Jade kept her hand out held.

"Maybe this was a bad idea after…"

Beth never finished her sentence as the bear lunged forward. She tried to pull Jade back but Jade grabbed the bar of the cage with her other hand. "No," she said and Beth paused as the bear came forward at Jade… and licked her open palm. As it did it gulped up the berries. "Give me more."

"On it," Beth handed Jade more and more berries and the bear ate them down, one after the other. It's dark nose rubbed along Jade's palm as it's rough tongue licked her fingers clean of any remnants of the berries. It gave a big yarn as it backed off and laid down onto its side. "Wow that was… you are better with animals than you think."

"It seems so," Jade said as she noticed her experience bar filling a little as this objective was marked off the side quest. "How do we do the herbalism thing?"

"Well you have the first step down if you can identify Snowberries in the wild but come, let me show you the basics of mixing some herbs," Beth said as she led Jade over to a section of the camp near the fire. "Stock this fire up while I get my tools out. There's fresh wood in the tent." Jade went to get the wood and by the time she had worked up the fire Beth had unpacked a small kit containing vials of strange liquid and powders, a mortar and pestle, a palm sized book labeled 'Field Guide to Herbalism' and a small metal pot with a stand and lid. "Okay so herbalism is technically a school of alchemy. It's the building blocks of the alchemical magical art. It's not the same as culinary but there is some crossover. Now the main difference is alchemy requires the user to expel some sort of magic from themselves during the process. Herbalism doesn't, it's just mixing ingredients, magical or not, to make remedies, cures, enhancements or even poisons. Understood?"

"I do," Jade said as she watched her experience bar jump up till it was about a third full. A tooltip informed her of the tutor mechanic. If a character was more knowledgeable than the player was they could engage in tutelage. A practice that would slowly earn the player experience as they were taught new skills. It would slow down as the character had less and less to teach the player but right now Beth had enough to give Jade's experience a significant boost. It also mentioned such tutelage often cost gold or favours but could also be part of a quest like this one. "What do you want me to do?"

"Use the field guide to identify the herbs I collected and divide them up, there should be two different types," Beth said as she handed Jade the book and satchel of herbs. "I'll continue prepping." Jade nodded as she opened the book and took out the herbs, another tooltip said the book gave her a small bonus to identifying vegetation. Just like the berries Jade took out two samples, a bark like substance and some sort of acorn sized nut. She tried to identify both and with the book's aid was able to.

Troll Bark
Uncommon, Plant (Bark)
The bark of a troll back tree, believed by many to possess the regenerative properties of a troll. This thick bark is near impossible to digest unless crushed to powder and boiled in water first. It will turn the water into a sludge like material that can be ingested but is hard to keep down because of the foul taste and smell.

Raw Consumption: Ingesting this without proper preparation will result in terrible stomach aches that can render people immovable or worse.

Culinary: As mentioned, troll bark is not the optimal ingredient to make food taste good but if prepared and seasoned properly it can be ingested as a super food that gives increased strength, stamina and regenerative properties for a short time.

Alchemy: A common ingredient in basic remedies to counter poison. Alone it can fight off the poison long enough for it to be flushed from the system. Not an actual cure itself but a solution to allow the body time to heal itself. You can also make troll pheromones to repel or attract such monstrous creatures. Warning, it is very easy to accidentally make troll pheromones of either type. It is recommended you proceed with caution while using this ingredient.

So that was how Beth planned to cure the bear. Jade made sure to remember to be cautious with this whole thing. Something told her troll pheromones could mean only one thing… she shuddered at that thought. How big were trolls in this world and would they really… Jade snapped out her fantasy as she turned her attention back to the nut. Looking it over closely she flicked through the book till she found it.

Butter Nut
Common, Food (Nut)
This nut is a very common variety that grows year long on small bushes around the base of trees. Often sort after by the average woodsmen for their buttery flavour and nutrient value. Such nuts are easy to crack and eat while on the move.

Raw Consumption: Perfectly safe to eat these nuts are a delicious treat that provides long lasting energy. The food for an active lifestyle. They are also loved by animals and other non humanoid creatures as well.

Culinary: A flavourful addition to any food, requiring minimal skill to prepare in any dish, butter nuts provide nutrition and taste to any dish. Heating them up results in the shells dissolving into a fine sweet powder while the inside turns to a thick butter that blends naturally into soaps, cakes and other culinary delights.

Alchemy: Used as a remedy for conditions that make orgasming difficult, butter nuts prepared properly can increase the cum production of humanoids. They can be used to break chastity or orgasm denial curses. Many people use them simply as a pleasure enhancement or as an attempt to increase the chance of conception.

"So…" Jade said as she looked up at Beth. "Troll bark for the poison itself but why the butter nuts?"

"Well they were original for… my own… personal usage," Beth said, her freckled face turning as red as her hair. "But there's no way that bear will drink the troll bark potion alone… I figured some butter nuts should cancel out the taste." Jade also noticed that Beth had set up her stand above the fire and started melting snow into water within the pot. "Got them sorted yet?"

"Just a moment," Jade said as she hurriedly sorted through the nuts and bark, picking out a couple pieces of normal bark and an actual acorn, before separating them. "Got it."

"Have a go at crushing the bark and when you're done put it into the pot," Beth said as she grabbed the nuts. "I'll crack these open." Jade set to work under the careful tutelage of Beth. She soon got the hang of using the mortar and pestle, reducing the bark into a fine dust that she then added to the pot of now boiling water. Sure enough that became a thick sludge that Jade stirred while Beth finished preparing the nuts. They took the pot off the stove and let it cool before adding the nut, stirring it again and then the shell of the nuts on top. Jade checked her experience meter and was pleased to see it half filled as she ticked off the second objective of this quest. Each step of the quest had given her a little experience and she seemed well on her way to level one.

"Time to see if our patient will drink it," Beth said standing up. She reached down with her long arms and pulled Jade up to her feet. "You've got snow all over your butt… here let me." Beth reached back and Jade blushed hard as those calloused hands brushed her rear. "Damn girl I thought you were front heavy but you got a lot going on back here too."

"Watch the hands," Jade said, stepping away from Beth and giving her a glare. Beth stuck her tongue out at Jade in return and she could not maintain a straight face. Rolling her eyes she bent down to pick up the alchemical brew. The long stare that Beth gave her behind did not go unnoticed to Jade but she did not comment on it as she stood up and made her way confidently towards the bear. This time Jade had no fear as she reached forward and placed the pot within the cage. The bear lumbered over, sniffing the air as it went. It leaned down and licked the brew, giving a soft growl before quickly devouring what was in the pot. It licked it clean before leaning up to give Jade's hand a lick and then nuzzled into her side.

"Wow," Beth said, stepping up alongside Jade. "I have never seen someone with no experience make such good progress with a bear before." She watched Jade ruffling the fur of the bear's head. "You know if he survives this, I think you will have made a friend for life. You have a real connection to animals and a talent with herbalism. If you want I could train you to be a ranger or if nature itself is more your calling, you would make a good druid… maybe a cleric of nature or a paladin of the green order." The bear nudged Jade's side hard and the girl stumbled back as Beth chuckled. "I was going to say an animal totem barbarian could also be your calling but you'd need some more muscle on your body." She playfully punched Jade in the shoulder making the girl flinch. "Come on now… let's leave the bear to rest. He'll need it to fight off the poison."

Jade nodded as she gave the bear one more pet before leaving him. She walked back with Beth to the camp. "What do we do now?" Jade asked.

"All we can do now is wait," Beth said, putting a hand on Jade's shoulder. "Only time will tell if the bear will make it or not." Jade shuddered as she felt a tear well in her eye. "Oh darling…" Beth pulled Jade into a hug, forcing the shorter woman's head into the side of her elven breast. "Morning will give us a better indication of how things are but till then… come on, let's get in this tent, it will be a cold night and we'll need each other's warmth and comfort." Jade let Beth lead her around once more, reaching the tent. She did as Beth did, taking off her thicker outer cloak and her boots before crawling into the tent. Silent tears still fell from her face as she felt Beth pull her over and onto the taller elven woman. "Hush Jade… we did all we could… it is now in the hands of nature herself… let her work her magic and it will be over by the time we wake."

"I don't think I can sleep," Jade said, her voice little more than a whisper. "Not tonight… my head is so full of… everything. Can we do something else?" She looked up at Beth and in the dim light she saw her beautiful elven face. Copper skin well tanned by the sun, more freckles than she could even count, a beautiful sad smile, grey eyes that had a hint of silver to them and flowing red hair that was like fire in motion.

"What sort of thing…" Jade kissed Beth, cutting her off, as for a moment her cold lips were pressed against Beth's warmer lips. It was only a moment before Beth pulled back and Jade felt fear grip her heart. Had she done the wrong thing… "I see." Beth licked her lips and Jade opened her mouth to apologize only for Beth to kiss her back. Only Beth instantly deepened the kiss. She responded to Jade's brief peek on the lips with a full on open mouthed, tongue **** that caught Jade off guard. Within a moment she was on her back with Beth above her making out. Once more the elven woman pulled away. Both of them were panting hard. "You know… it gets very cold during the night… we should get out of these clothes… to share some body heat."

Jade smirked up at Beth as the elven woman reached back and started to undo her own furred leather armour. Jade reached for her own robes clasp as she felt the temperature of her body steadily rising. She could see her arousal meter was already shooting up. Damn she had been waiting for her chance to get with a hot fantasy elf ever since agreeing to this sponsorship. And now was her chance but what was Jade's approach in all this? So far Beth seemed more than willing to respond to Jade's actions and even push the boundaries herself. A kiss like that left no question over whether Beth could take control or not. The real question was, was Jade going to let her be in control? Or was it finally Jade's turn to be the one taking the reins?