Ch66: Rainy Days
“Hmm...” Krvavy hums rather thoughtfully, sliding a crude wooden figure across a slightly less crude checkered board. “Check...mate.”
“Ugh! How do you keep winning!?”
The noble brat kept whining about there being nothing to do and, quite frankly, she was right. So in an effort to stop the girl from constantly complaining, Beryl used her magic to create a game that is pretty much just chess: the wooden pieces look different, but everything else is the same.
“How are you even so good at this!?” The bratty noble girl complains, glaring down at the board with her brow furrowed in frustration
Krvavy just smiles and shakes her head, slightly infuriating her brat. It isn’t that the barbarian is good at this game, but that Thea is absolutely terrible. The little brat doesn’t think her moves through at all. She just keeps making horrible decisions that don’t benefit her and only occasionally realizes it when Krvavy moves a piece in response.
“My dearest love, are ya busy right now?” Beryl asks from off to the side, standing in the unfinished doorway.
Thea dismissively waves her hand when Krvavy looks to her. “Not really,” the barbarian responds.
“If it isn’t too much trouble, Ah’d like ta do some tests wit’ yer Naturists Blessing.” The Elf states. “We ‘ave some fabric that is... unneeded. It is too coarse fer comfortable beddin’ and isn’t wa’er proof either.”
“You want to see how much of me needs to be covered to get the most true defence?” Krvavy guesses.
“Aye.” Beryl confirms that with a nod. “Ah want ta get the most out o’ it when Ah make yer next loincloth.”
“Okay, we can do that now, I suppose.” The barbarian says as she rises to her feet, before glancing back down at Thea. “You alright here on your own?”
Thea raises an eyebrow, briefly looking over to Khalia’s curled up and sleeping form. “Yes.”
“Alright, be good~.” Krvavy teasingly pats the noble brat on the head, causing Thea’s face to flush slightly as the girl narrows her eyes. She is just so adorably pouty~.
“Ah left the sheets up in the storage area, so we can do this there.” Beryl turns and begins to head off up the path.
“You sure?” Krvavy asks, following after her Elf. “It’ll be a bit dim.”
“Ah’ll see just fine.” Beryl insists. “And... Ah’ve realized tha’ Ah still haven’t sung ta ya yet, so we can do tha’ too.”
Krvavy tilts her head in confusion. Just as she is about to open her mouth to question that, the barbarian remembers what Beryl is talking about: the Elf wanted to teach Krvavy her language. And with Not So Cunning Linguist she can do so simply by singing, which would be far less awkward than talking to no one for the hour or so required. Though Beryl does still seem a little embarrassed about it...
“Just stand ‘ere and we can begin.” The lithe Elf all but orders as soon as they arrive in the storage area.
Standing where she was told to, Krvavy looks out over the grotto. She will never get used to just how beautiful this sight is, even if it is better on a sunny day with light spilling through the holes in the cave ceiling. But the view is no less beautiful now, with waterfalls of rain pouring down through the skylights. Though she could do without all the extra noise that the crashing water brings... Even if it fades into the background after a while...
The barbarian is jostled from her thoughts as Beryl begins to hum a calming melody. Beryl’s voice is beautiful and lyrical, even if her wonderful accent masks that at times. But what will she sound like when Krvavy finally understands her native language? Will her voice still be the same, just minus the accent? Or will she sound completely different?
Only time will tell that answer. And not even that much of it either.
Krvavy stands still as Beryl presses a strip of fabric to her side, leaving it there for just a moment before pulling it away. That one action completely summarizes this whole method of finding the ideal amount of coverage her clothes can provide. It is excruciatingly boring.
She doesn’t even need to relay her True Defence to Beryl, as the Elf can see her resistances with a simple Inspect. Which means that Krvavy has had nothing to do except look out over the grotto, watching the water pour down into the lake, and listen to her Elf sing.
And damn can this Elf sing. Listening to her voice has made this whole experience worth it, even though Krvavy can’t understand a word of what she is singing.
Beryl has gone through song after song, each one invoking different emotions than the last. From a calming lullaby that made Krvavy feel completely at ease, a joyous melody that forced a smile onto her face, a fierce chant that made the barbarian’s blood boil, a bold ballad that make Krvavy’s heart flutter, and now a melancholic tune that is almost bringing tears to her eyes.
This tomboy’s voice, when she speaks her native tongue, is truly magical. Quite possibly in a literal manner. She is an Elf...
Due to your Not So Cunning Linguist trait you are now proficient in Iaith Coetir.
The long awaited notification pops up in Krvavy’s vision, accompanied by a sudden understanding of Beryl’s melancholic gibberish.
“{ – pulled away by its breath,Far away in the stream, wherever it wishes.Wherever it wishes. Far away from this world,Between the sea and the stars...}”
The Elf exhales slowly, almost like a sigh, and Krvavy turns to look at her. “{That was beautiful.}”
“{Thank you.}” Beryl primly replies, brushing a lock of hair behind her long ear as a slight blush tinges her cheeks. The tanned tomboy suddenly freezes, her eyes quickly going wide in realization before her head jerks up to stare at Krvavy. “{Wait! You...!}”
“{What about me~?}” The barbarian teasingly asks, her lips curled into a playful smile.
“{Oh~! My dearest love~! It brings me such joy to hear you speak in this tongue~!}” Beryl joyfully coos, throwing herself at Krvavy and wrapping her arms around the barbarian’s neck.
“{Really~?}” Krvavy can’t help but tease her Elf. “{Do you enjoy listening to me that much~?}”
“{Oh, yes~! My dearest love~! Even if you sound a little silly!}”
“{I sound... silly?}” The barbarian raises her brow.
“{Yes~!}” Beryl happily giggles, grinning widely as her blue-green eyes glimmer with amusement. “{Like each word is being tangled on the tip of your tongue! Oh, but it is so endearing~!}”
“{Huh. You also sound rather... different without your accent.}”
“{Oh~? Do you miss it~? My clumsy way of speaking~?}” The Elf teasingly asks, trailing a finger down Krvavy’s jaw.
“{Kind of, yeah.}” Krvavy honestly admits. “{It is pretty cute.}”
“{Oh, why do you wound me so~?}” Beryl dramatically sighs out, the curl of her lips betraying that she isn’t being serious. “{Hah, if it cannot be helped, then so be it~! I too must admit that I prefer your voice in that Human tongue. Perhaps I am just more used to it...}”
The barbarian smiles as she ruffles Beryl’s short bob of hair. “{We can still talk like this from time to time, if you’d like.}”
“{I would love that, yes.}” The Elf smiles back, before leaning in to give Krvavy a gentle kiss.
“{So... What was it that you were singing? I only caught the end of it.}”
A faint blush creeps its way onto Beryl’s cheeks. “{W-well... I was just singing any song that I could remember...}” The Wood Elf woman embarrassingly answers.
“{Right.}” Krvavy can’t help but tease her Elf, though that doesn’t make what she is about to say any less genuine. “{You have a beautiful voice, you know? Even more so when singing.}”
Beryl’s cheeks flush red as she pulls back from the barbarian’s embrace. “Ah sh-should get back ta work.” She slightly stutters out, trying to act like that compliment didn’t make her heart flutter. “Ah’m almost done.”
Krvavy smiles as the Elf picks up a strip of fabric and resumes the tests. It isn’t often that Krvavy sees Beryl blush, and now it seems that she has an easy way to bring out those adorable expressions whenever she wants. Hopefully she won’t abuse this power...
“Uff... There, it’s done...” Krvavy huffs and gasps as she crawls backwards out of a claustrophobic hole in the ceiling, carefully stepping onto the stone stairs atop the unfinished wall.
“Can we finally move the fire now?” Thea slowly yawns out, pointedly ignoring the sound of rocks and rubble being tossed down onto the other side of the wall.
“Well... no, not quite yet. I have to close off this part first, and I need more mana for that.” The barbarian replies, climbing down to the ground.
“And you are sure that no animals will crawl in through that sizable tunnel you made?” The noble girl skeptically asks.
“Crawl in from the very top of this giant cave?” Krvavy raises an eyebrow. “But no, don’t worry. I made it split off into a whole bunch of little holes right at the end. Hopefully that doesn’t make it a pain to clean...”
“My dearest love, wit’ how wide ya made it, it’ll likely be centuries before tha’ chimney needs cleanin’.” Beryl idly speaks up, making sure her arrows all in good shape.
The barbarian just shrugs at that, as it isn’t like she had much of a choice. Krvavy can only use Sculpt Stone within a certain range, so she had to do it the worryingly claustrophobic way. Unless she wanted to waste a ridiculous amount of mana to carve out the entire ceiling just to fill it all back in again...
Shaking her head, the barbarian walks towards her girls sitting around the fire. “Still raining, huh?” She states, briefly glancing out over the grotto.
“Did you expect it to change in the few minutes that you were not looking?” Thea dryly asks.
“It would have been nice.” Krvavy responds with a light sigh.
“Ugh... I hate the rain...” The noble girl whines as Krvavy settles down beside her. “There just is nothing to do...!”
“Hmm? Really? You’re blaming the rain for that?” Krvavy skeptically questions. “The thing that is keeping us in here? Where we can keep you company?”
“No need to be an ass... You know what I mean...” Thea grumpily grumbles, rolling her eyes and leaning against the barbarian’s side.
“Ya need a hobby.” Beryl states, lifting up an arrow to inspect it in the firelight.
“Of course, why did I not think of that!?” The noble girl sarcastically spits back. “How about I start a rock collection?! Or maybe I can count how many leaves are down in the grotto?! There are just so many exciting things to choose from, are there not?!”
“Mmm.” The Elf makes a nonplussed hum as she places her arrow down. “Ah could teach ya ta use a bow. Though we’d ‘ave ta make ya one o’ yer own first, and some ah’rows too.”
Thea opens her mouth to respond, but stops herself. She seems to actually consider it for a few moments, before loudly sighing out. “Alright... It is not like I have anything better to do...”
“Wha’ about swimmin’?” Beryl asks, tilting her head questioningly. “We ‘ave two good lakes fer tha’. Or maybe just one right now? Wha’ wit’ the rain and all.”
“T-that is not exactly a hobby.” The bratty noble huffs out.
“Do... you know how to swim...?” Krvavy slowly asks her increasingly flustered girl.
“Y-ye...” Thea stops herself, sighing dejectedly and letting her shoulders slump down. “No...”
“Ah’m sure tha’ our dearest love would be ‘appy ta ‘elp ya learn, right?”
“Of course.” The barbarian immediately answers, before a bit of doubt creeps its way in. She still hasn’t actually had to swim in this body, having cheated with the river by just walking through it. “Though it has been a long time since I’ve last gone swimming.”
“Ah’m sure tha’ ya’ll do just fine.” Beryl reassures her. “So ‘ow about we go and do tha’?”
“Now?!” Thea squeaks out in surprise.
“Aye, and we can bring Khalia too.”
“Wuhf...?” The Orc raises her head upon hearing her name.
“Alright...” The noble girl sighs in resignation, lifting herself up onto her feet.
“Is... is this safe...?” Thea asks, hesitantly approaching the large body of water glowing dimly in the darkness of the cave.
“Aye. Ah swam in it a while back.” Beryl answers. “The wa’er being as it is makes it easy ta see down inta it. There aren’t any crevices or ‘oles, nor any fish. It is just a reservoir o’ pleasantly warm wa’er.”
“It doesn’t look very deep.” Krvavy points out, closely watching Khalia as the Orc cautiously pokes at the slightly steamy water.
“Aye, it isn’t.” The Elf agrees, walking into the lake. “At least not on this side. See? It is a nice gentle slope. Now come and join me, the wa’er is wonderful.”
“You first...!” Thea nervously demands as Krvavy glances to her.
Shrugging, the barbarian decides to do what her brat wants and enter the lake. Krvavy carefully places a Draconic foot down into the water, expecting to stand on a slick and slippery stone. But to her surprise the rock is a little rough and coarse, making it fairly easy to stand on. Suppose this water is rather mineral rich, which might explain that? She isn’t a geologist. Or hydrologist...?
Not having to worry about losing her footing, Krvavy walks deeper into the water. It isn’t quite as hot as, well, the hot springs. But it is still rather warm. It is quite nice, actually. Before she even realizes it, Krvavy has caught up with her Elf, standing in water that reaches up to the bottom of her breasts.
“Hah!” Beryl laughs out, treading water beside the barbarian. “Ah don’t know ‘ow, but Ah keep forgettin’ just ‘ow tall ya are~! Look, if Ah wanted ta stand ‘ere Ah’d be like this–!”
The tomboyish Elf quickly sinks down into the water, leaving just the top of her head sticking out.
Popping back up, Beryl laughs once more. “Now go! Ah want ta see ‘ow ya swim wit’ tha’ thick tail o’ yers~!”
Krvavy is kind of curious how that will work as well, but seeing how it is her body there is only one way to find out. And so, with a deep breath, she pushes off the ground and falls forwards into the water.
She immediately sinks beneath the surface.
Suppressing the slight bit of panic that causes, Krvavy kicks her feet and moves her arms, clumsily swimming back up. This body is undeniably different from... the one she grew up in. She had expected to float, but it would seem that Krvavy is just a bit too dense for that...
It takes the barbarian a few moments of floundering around beneath the water for her to get the hang of it. After popping back up to the surface for a brief breath of air, Krvavy begins to swim to a deeper part of the underground lake. Her tail flicks back and forth as she kicks her legs, propelling her through the water with surprisingly little effort.
As long as she doesn’t think too hard about how she is moving her limbs, just letting instincts keep her tail out of the way, swimming is pretty easy. It just feels... natural. She has no problems staying afloat, as long as she keeps moving.
After swimming around for a few short minutes, Krvavy turns and heads back towards the shallower water where Beryl is still floating.
“Ya ‘ad me worried a bit at the beginnin’ there.” The Elf states as Krvavy stands in the water beside her.
“Yeah... I had to remember how to swim.” The barbarian shrugs back.
“Oh, but ya swim in such an interestin’ way!” Beryl gushes out. “Using yer tail like a croc does!”
“Hey! S-stop that!” Thea’s voice suddenly calls out, drawing their attention over to her.
The bratty noble girl is still in the shallows, standing in water that doesn’t even reach her knees. She seems hesitant to go further, and that isn’t helped by the fact that Khalia is running circles around her, splashing up water with each stomping step.
“Ah was keepin’ an eye on them, so don’t worry.” Beryl immediately says, before nudging Krvavy. “Ya should go over and teach the girl ‘ow ta swim. Ah’ll ‘andle yer puppy.”
Krvavy nods as she and her Elf head off towards the shallows, though Beryl quickly overtakes the barbarian, being able to swim in the shallower water where Krvavy has to walk. The Elf calls out to Khalia, dragging the Orc woman’s attention away from Thea.
“Enjoying the water?” Krvavy teasingly asks her girl, as Beryl leads the Orc off to the side.
“It... it is not unpleasant...” Thea hesitantly responds. Her cheeks go pink as she covers her bare breasts with a single arm, suddenly looking a little self conscious about her complete nudity.
“Well then, why don’t you come a little deeper with me?” The barbarian asks, reaching towards the girl.
Thea immediately grabs onto Krvavy’s hand, squeezing it tight before trying to lock fingers with the much larger barbarian.
Holding hands, Krvavy slowly leads Thea deeper into the lake. The water creeps up the noble girl’s pale skin, illuminating her beautifully in the dim light of the cave. The two of them finally come to a stop when the water reaches over the swell of Thea’s bare breasts. And barely reaches Krvavy’s hips.
It is in times like this when the difference in height between Krvavy and her girl’s becomes all the more apparent.
The blonde noble girl shuffles nervously in the water. “What... what now...?”
“Hmm...” Krvavy tries to remember how she first learned to swim, but it was such a long time ago... “I guess you should start with just trying to float.”
“You guess?” Thea skeptically questions, not looking particularly happy that Krvavy appears to be winging this.
“Would you rather I just threw you deeper into the water and made you learn the hard way?” The barbarian raises an eyebrow as her bratty noble girl shies away. “Didn’t think so.”
“Fine...” Thea grumbles out. “How should I... float?”
“Here.” Krvavy leans down towards her girl, squatting down slightly in the water. Placing both of her hands on Thea’s back, one between her shoulders and the other just above her ass, Krvavy gently lifts the girl up to the surface of the water. “Now... stick your arms out. And spread you legs a little. Don’t be so stiff.”
The bratty noble girl lies back on Krvavy’s hands, doing as the barbarian said and relaxing her body a little bit. Looking up at the dark cave ceiling far above, Thea’s arms reach wide and gently sway back and forth through the water.
After a few short minutes of holding Thea up, Krvavy slowly withdraws her hands, leaving the noble girl floating at the surface of the warm water.
“Aha!” Thea happily cheers out, “I am–aAH!” She shouts out in panic, immediately sinking down and flailing her arms around.
“Don’t worry,” Krvavy grabs the naked girl by her shoulders, dragging Thea back up onto her feet, “I’m here.”
“T-thank you.” Thea coughs out a bit of water.
“You good?”
“Yes,” the noble girl smiles up at Krvavy, “I am.”