Chapter 265: Off to the Mountains

Ann yawned, her sharp teeth glistening in the morning light from the inn’s window. Kat was already up, getting their things organised, but paused to give her a kiss while she stretched under the covers.

“Oi, ye don’t get tae sleep in today,” Kat said, flicking Rosalyn’s nose.

“Mmf! Hey! I was having a good dream!” Rosalyn grumbled, rubbing her abused protrusion.

“What of?” Ann asked, sitting up and quickly brushing out her tail before starting the process of dressing in her armour. They’d be leaving pretty quickly, so no time to change after their on-the-go breakfast.

“Oh, the usual, you and Kat doing awful, terrible, sometimes a little scary things to me. Mmmm,” the woman shivered, her hands clasping her cheeks happily. “Good dreams. Gotta make a couple real. Hey! I’m getting up!”

“An’ temptin’ me tae take ye by the horns,” Kat laughed. “Ann can share a cock now.”

Rosalyn’s eyes went wide, her horizontal pupils dilating. “You’re right!”

“Later!” Ann insisted, pulling on her kilt and hiding even the fluffy patch where her twin sheaths hid. “But that’s a definite later. I’m keeping the two for now. We might have a fourth, and it’d help with making sure everyone’s having fun.”

Kat nodded. “Aye. Shame ye can’t ‘ave both at once. I’d love tae see what Rosalyn’d do tae ye wit’ that much power.”

It was Ann’s turn to shiver. The thought of her usually meek lover, who took to teasing manipulation to get what she wanted, with two cocks driving into her, was intoxicating. If she ever got a skill that let her do that, she didn’t care what the other was. It was an instant lock.

They took the time to get Kat’s hair re-braided to prevent the need until they at least got to the mountains. Frizz and flyaways were inevitable, but getting this handled now was better than some of it coming undone during a fight.

Bren and Lucia were waiting for them downstairs, munching on some bread slathered in a thick jam. Lucia handed Ann a roll covered in golden jam that tasted like an apple, but more acidic. It was tasty.

Their first stop was to stop by Henrick and rent out the cart and animal. True to her word, as soon as they told him they were helping Minnie, Henrick became a lot more generous with what he’d loan them. They wound up with a single-axle cart and a large four-horned goat as their beast of burden. Two of the thing’s horns curved forward instead of back, wicked points ready to stab whatever it headbutted into. Henrick had called the thing a mountain goat. In addition to its four horns, it had six legs and could apparently climb up sheer surfaces like any other of its kin, but more reliably. The stablemaster insisted that this would be the best creature for their trip. Her name was Keitl, and she was apparently a sweetheart.

Once they had that locked down, along with a batch of apples to feed Keitl, they picked up their provisions from Timmo. He was still overly happy to help them move and pack the things into the cart around his morning customers, but didn’t say a word about Ann’s lie.

It was as the first bell rang that they got to Minnie’s shop. Tarvis was already at the forge, but put aside his work to greet them. He’d been letting Minnie rest a little overnight and doing some cleaning to ease her stress. The Grrn held up a hand for them to wait while he went and got the miner.

Minnie was bundled up like Ann hadn’t seen her yet. Her coat and pants covered her from head to toe, much to Ann’s disappointment. Still, she had a pack with a pick, bedroll, canvas, canteen, and probably a dozen more tools for her job in this expedition. She even carried a lantern with a yellow crystal bouncing on a metal arm extending from her back and over her left shoulder. It’d be good to have underground, for sure.

“Hot dog! You all got that together quick. Is that Keitl?! How’re you, girl? Let me check your feet real quick,” Minnie crooned. She walked around the goat, which patiently lifted each of its feet for her to check. “Taking good care of these. Goats don’t get shoes, in case you were wondering, but I still like to check on all of these guys. Might need steel caps eventually if their hooves get bad later in life. Keeps them up and moving for a bit longer in their old age. At least, that’s what Henrick tells me. So, we good to go?”

“Are you?” Ann laughed, none of them having been able to even say hi before the woman started talking.

“Hm? Oh, ready as I’ll ever be. Been a while since I’ve been on a hike, but I’ll get my trail legs quick. Kat, Rosalyn, looking awesome in all of that gear! You too, Lucia! Love the leathers. Bren, is that… wait, reinforced robes?”

“Yes. I am not built for heavier armour, so I make do with what I can wear. These robes have served me well and have many a hidden feature. They are priceless.” Bren looked supremely smug detailing his outfit.

“I can tell. The wear on it is significant, but you’ve done a good job of preserving the fabric. Alright, let’s go. We can talk while we go. Don’t we want to be north of the screaming awfulness before we have to camp? Still winter, so we’ve gotta make time!”

Minnie set off towards the gate, leaving everyone else to catch up to her eager pace.

They waved to the guard couple, who looked a bit more relaxed today. They made sure Minnie knew what she was doing, but didn’t get in the way.

“How does a smith know about fabric quality?” Rosalyn asked, trotting up to walk next to Minnie.

“Hah, you think just because I work with metal, that’s all I see? Nah, people put metal in and on leather, cloth, wood, other metal, and everything else you can think of. Gotta know a little about all of it just so I don’t mess up things I’m affixing things to. Stitching is annoying as hell, but I’ve gotten alright at it.”

“Oh, I could help with that! Had to get good at keeping most of my clothes in proper shape when I was growing up. Mom taught me how to, so I’m decent at mending. Do you just do needlework, or is there something special to putting metal onto cloth? I guess if it’s just little doodads that’s not hard with just thread but if it’s a bigger thing that’d need strips of fabric, leather, or something else to attach and poke through the lattice of the cloth, maybe a piercing with a backplate, but then you run the risk of stressing the threads around the insertion or breaking one which would make that one thread ruined for forever.”

Minnie leaned over to Ann. “Does she always talk like this?”

“Only when she’s excited about something,” Ann laughed. “If she’s in a room with strangers, you’ll barely get a peep out of her, but if you engage in one of her interests, you’re lucky if you get a word in edgewise.”

“Aye. Remember when we first met ‘er? Gods, I don’t think I caught ‘alf o’ what she was sayin’.”

“Took me a minute too,” Ann giggled. “Stick around, and you’ll adapt.”

Ann looked over her shoulder. The walls had shrunk as they walked. Ann judged that they wouldn’t be overheard at this distance. She needed to clear this up before they got out into the wilderness, and it felt like trapping Minnie.

“Heeey, Minnie. There’s really no good way of starting this conversation. Got something we need to clear up before we get too far here.” Ann purposefully kept her posture relaxed, signalling no danger to the human. She still felt everyone else tense. “So, there’s a reason we’ve been wearing all of these heavier clothes. I… we’re not exactly normal. Promise you we’re not Warped or anything dangerous, but open mind, please?”

Minnie had stopped in her tracks and was glaring at all of them. “Don’t like surprises, especially with Warped being mentioned. What’s your deal? If I can’t handle it, I walk.”

“Fair,” Ann shrugged. “Guess I’ll start. I’m the Chosen of Orenous. You hear about the announcement in Korvas?”

“Eh, a little. Not a religious type.”

Ann would shelve how that was even possible for later. “So, that was me who made the big announcement. I’ve got some weirdness going on with me that’s changing my body and those really close to me.”

Minnie took a step back.

“Not physically,” Ann sighed. “Emotionally. Like, I dunno, like you and Tarvis. Bren’s been around me for months and only recently started. So…” Ann took off her hood, letting her fluffy ears pop free.

Minnie’s eyes showed her surprise, then confusion. “Wait, so you’re… you’re Vulhardrin, right?”

“Yeah. Lupine, specifically. I’ve just got more animal parts because I was asleep in a Seed for five thousand years. I’ve got other things I can do because of that, but none of them are dangerous to you or anything of the like. I wanted to do this here to make sure you were far enough that it was out of earshot of town, but not far enough that you felt trapped, especially with that thing in the woods.”

“Define other things,” Minnie said, her voice flat as she stared.

“Can change the colour of my hair, can change my teeth and eyes.”

“Can change ‘er cock.”

“Whu?” Minnie did a double-take at Kat.

“Ye heard me,” Kat laughed back.

Ann sighed. “Yes, I can do things with that. Thanks, Kat.”

“Welcome, Mutt.”

“So yeah! Girlfriends here got it first. Kat’s got the scales, Rosalyn’s got her eyes. Lucia and Bren are recent.”

At a gesture, Lucia pulled her hood back slightly to show off the plumage on her head.

“But none of this will be happening to me, right?” Minnie asked, very cautiously. Ann couldn’t blame her.

“Right. You’d have to do a hell of a lot more to even get close to this. You can see my sheet if you want. Just don’t flip to the skills, please.”

“Nah, I believe you. I remember them talking about a purple-furred Lupine Vulhardrin. If you can change your hair, then you fit the bill for that.”

As she talked, Ann let her ears lose their grey and grow in purple, then reversed it. She brushed the fur off her shoulders.

“Yeah, ok, that’s… really weird, and kinda scary.” Minnie’s laugh was nervous.

Kat leaned in. “Should see it when she does ‘er eyes. Way freakier.”

“So, you’re not…”

“Nae. I’m Alfhindur. Just got scales now. Probably somethin’ else soon, cause of course.”

“Wait… the Chosen was supposed to be with…” Minnie’s entire body language transformed. “Your Highness!”

Kat flicked her on the cute button nose. “Do that again, an’ ye get more flicks.”

“So, wait, you are?”

“Aye. Katlyn Farragher, Princess, third in line, blah blah blah. That doesn’t mean shite ‘ere an’ we’re gonna keep it like tha’.”

“Gotcha… I still call you Kat, right?”

“Aye.”

“Cool! Going to look for rocks with a High Priestess and the Princess. Not the.. No, this is totally the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Minnie giggled nervously.

“If it helps any, I’m just a Druid, Bren’s kinda special, but Lucia’s also just a Huntress,” Rosalyn piped up. “Not all of us can be super duper important.”

That did seem to ease some of Minnie’s nerves.

“They fall out of her!”

And she was back to creeped out. “Alright, I can understand why you didn’t want to make a fuss of this, so we can keep going. I don’t like people lying to me, though. Now’s the time if you’ve got more freaky secrets.”

“That’s about all I’ve got,” Ann shrugged. She figured it’d be best not to let the woman know about Waheela and the rest. There were limits.

You catch that?

I will not speak through you until we are without company, Waheela grumbled. She understood, but Ann didn’t blame her for being grumpy about it. Getting a jump out of Rosalyn was something they were looking forward to.

“Alright, then welcome to the group!”

Ann started walking, but noticed Minnie hadn’t moved. “My demand for silence is utter protection from getting my ass killed by Warped living in the woods, getting that ore, and getting home safe. Sound good?”

Bren rolled his eyes. “That was the agreement, regardless of our unique situation.”

“Well, good. I also am now very curious about what you were talking about, Katlyn.”

“Kat. Which part?”

“Her cock?”

Bren started walking, Lucia laughing in his wake as Keitl took off behind them.

The girls made to follow.

“Aye, but I figure that’s somethin’ she should tell ye about.”

Minni gave Ann a very curious look. Damnit, her brown eyes were too pretty. “Got… well, I normally have both parts. Right now I’ve got two dicks.”

“What? Wait, what?!” Minnie cried, stumbling over nothing.

Ann caught grumbles from Bren, but Lucia was also talking. If anyone was going to distract him, it’d be her.

“Yup. I was… I woke up with both, and got a weird skill that lets me change things down there. Anything I want, really. We’ve only scratched the surface, really.”

“Mm, that horse cock scratched me really good,” Rosalyn hummed, her eyes closed and hands clasped behind her back as she walked.

“You… holy shit, you’re serious? Sorry, just… having a hard time believing this. Seems like a Warped thing,” Minnie laughed.

“Well, it kinda is,” Ann shrugged, then quickly continued as she caught Minnie’s glare. “It’s part of what happened to me for sleeping in Orenous’s Seed for so long. I’ve got safeguards in my soul to keep things from going too far.”

That you have weakened recently.

Shut up.

Waheela laughed, but quieted down again.

“Huh. That why you’re called Orenous’s Chosen? What’s that like, by the by?”

“Complicated, stressful, and really annoying at times. The sex makes up for it, though. Oh, and I’m called that because it’s my title.”

Minnie gaped. “Voltid’s forge, you have one already?”

“I am five thousand years old,” Ann chuckled.

“HAG!”

“GREEN WALRUS!” Ann yelled back at Lucia, who returned a rude gesture.

Minnie busted out in a giggle. “Alright, yeah. You’re normal people. Good. So, what’ve you been doing since the longest nap in existence?”

Ann couldn’t help but laugh back. “Pretty sure dragons have me beat on that one, but I’ve been mostly fighting Warped. Orenous has me going into Seeds and interacting with the Cores. We’re trying to find the source of the corruption, and the idea is that since I’m already corrupted but mostly stable, I get to touch the bad shit and see what happens. So far, it’s been a lot of skills, like the hair and eyes. I guess my claws count,” Ann said, looking at her gauntlets as she extended the natural weapons. “They’re not listed as that, though, so I dunno.”

“Well, that’s cool. Don’t do the eyes thing, though? I’m kinda bad with blood.”

“Aw, guess we’ll skip my usual,” Rosalyn pouted.

Kat distracted Minnie from the worried look she was giving Rosalyn. “So, ye’re blacksmithin’ wit’ Tarvis. What’s yer speciality?”

Minnie focused on the offered escape route gratefully. “Well, kinda no speciality is my speciality. We’re the only smithies in tow, so we do everything. Voltid knows how many nails I’ve made over the years. I know I’ve lost track. Then there’re the shoes, bands for wagons, helping with spears and swords for the guard, helmets and armour, the random commission for a massive cauldron, the last couple weeks, and whatever else someone comes up with. Tarvis guides a lot of it, since he’s got the Path, but we work well together.”

“Ever thought o’ changin’ yer path?” Kat asked. They were getting close to the trees, and her eye was already scanning the trunks for any sign of motion. Both she and Ann were listening, their ears twitching to catch anything.

“Nah. Like we said the other day, I can do some useful stuff with my mining skills, and starting over just feels bad. If I was like ten years younger, I’d do it, but I’ve only got so much life.”

Ann refused to ask her age, but she figured that put Minnie in her thirties. Or at least her late twenties. She didn’t show any of it, though. Her dark brown skin was immaculate without a wrinkle on her brow.

“Get tha’. Guess we Alfhindur an’ the Bultrong ‘ave advantages wit’ all tha’. Takes some doin’ too.”

“Yeah, and all of that prayer kinda just isn’t my thing.”

“Oh, is that how you’re not religious?” Ann asked. “I was really confused how that’s possible. You know, with the Gods being there and all?”

Minnie laughed again. She barely seemed to notice that they’d crossed the threshold into the woods. “Right! Yeah. I just don’t worship all that much. Like, the Gods are real. Can’t deny that. I just pay attention to me, is all. I’m not Pile. I’m not getting Voltid’s attention either.”

Ann stifled the retort that Pile would only talk shit about Voltid. She hadn’t yet, but she was sure the strange woman had harsh opinions on most Gods.

“Quiet,” Lucia hissed.

Keit slowed, sniffing the air. Her breath billowed white in the chill.

A tree moved.

“Shite, huddle!” Kat yelled.

The Warped weren’t wasting a second.