Chapter 278: No Time to Waste

Well, that's things mostly talked out. They've still got a few things to work through, and Rosalyn has pieces she needs to say, but current events are progressing. Life unfortunately doesn't always wait for emotions and conflicts to fully resolve before moving on.

Morning broke relatively normally. They were on an east-facing slope with no other major mountain ranges in the way. The sunrise from the crest of their protective ridge was breathtaking. Blacks and blues fled the chasing sun across the clouds. Slowly, the landscape before them began to sparkle as snowfields caught the earliest rays. Forests cast dark shadows next to the rolling hills and stone formations. Ann even spied something truly gargantuan slowly making its way across an open field toward a neighbouring mountain.

She sipped her coffee, letting the familiar taste breathe life into her exhausted body. Last night had been one of the roughest nights of her life so far. Rosalyn’s self-harm had gone completely unnoticed, and while trying to help her, Ann had been fighting her own feelings of inadequacy. She hadn’t noticed and hadn’t been there to stop the woman from going so far. A collection of Warped pieces would have been completely expected of the Druid, but what she’d been doing with them was seriously disturbing.

Lucia, having woken up around the same time Kat had, was currently watching over the sleeping sheep. Ann and Kat had stolen away to take in the morning together. Kat wasn’t saying much, but that was normal. One could only guess that last night’s events had added to her nightmares. They’d added to Ann’s. For her part, Waheela had also been quiet but was given free speaking privileges until they’d had breakfast.

“It’s beautiful, ain’t it?” Kat whispered. Her scales sparkled brilliantly in the morning light. All around her, there were dancing patterns cast upon the snow and stone. Ann laughed to herself, wondering how she’d not clocked that Kat was a sapphire dragon before the full reveal.

“Yeah, she is,” Ann smiled down at the woman, then leaned in to kiss the top of her head.

Kat didn’t fight it. “Ye flatterer.”

“You love it.”

“What if I do?”

“It means you belong,” Waheela replied.

Kat gave Ann a glance. It was just a moment, but she was still getting used to Waheela actually contributing to conversations. “Shite, this mean I’m in a foursome now? Did I get a girlfriend without even meanin’ tae?”

Ann wrapped a comforting arm around Kat’s broad shoulders. “Nah. Just got an addon to me. Package deal with a friend, I guess?”

Kat snuggled in closer. She was wrapped in blankets, but had overheated a bit, so was letting her body cool down. The way her arms steamed in the light, white streamers rising from her muscles, was mesmerising. “Well, we knew she was there, an’ ye’ve been interpretin’. Just leave us alone when we’re fuckin’, aight, granny?”

Ann felt Waheela grumble at the title. “She isn’t wrong, granny wolf.”

“Do you enjoy being called a hag by the green one?” Waheela griped.

“I honestly don’t care. It’s just fun to act like I’m mad at it.”

“Something different.”

“Old Wolf? Oh! Ancient Beast o’ the Woods?” Kat suggested. “Nae, that one’s too much. Ann, ye got any names from languages you remember? Ye got Waheela outta yer culture.”

Ann wracked her brain. She couldn’t find a word. “I’ve got like twenty for old and wolf, but nothing together that sounds like a name. Aldvulf would kinda work, but does that really fit?”

“Nae. Not feminine enough.”

“It does not need to be,” Waheela huffed.

“Nae, ye need a pretty name. Waheela’s damn pretty already.”

“Well, Patriarch and Matriarch are generally the leadership of clans,” Rosalyn said. She had a steaming cup in her hands, sat down next to Ann, and took a sip. The Druid didn’t look at anyone else, keeping those hazel eyes on the horizon. “Matron is old, but has a charm to it. Kinda motherly, though, and I don’t know if Waheela wants that part attached to her since it’s a little extremely presumptuous.”

Ann sat there for a moment. Neither she nor Waheela knew exactly what to say. Kat was quiet, too, seemingly in the same boat.

“You’re making this awkward, and it’s making me nervous. I don’t like being nervous around you two.” Rosalyn heaved a sigh. “I’ve been up for a while. Just wanted to take some time after you two came out here. Thinking. I… I don’t agree with everything you’ve been saying about what I’ve been doing. Not that it’s not dangerous. It is. I get that. I just don’t think stopping is the best idea.”

“Rosalyn,” Ann started, but she was stopped by a small hand held up more firmly than she’d ever seen it directed at her.

“Ann, let me finish, please.” Rosalyn still hadn’t looked at her. She was lost in the sunrise. “It’s dangerous. I’m going to keep doing it. I’m not going to hide it from you, or Kat, or Bren and Lucia or anyone who joins us. I chose to join up so I could dig into these creatures and figure out what makes them what they are. We know it’s divine, but not the mechanics of the physical mutation. That’s my goal.” She sighed, looking down at her cup, her long lashes brushing against her glasses. “It’s been all I’ve wanted to do for so long. I love animals. I kinda love people. I hate what this does to all of them. I’ll be the test bed, if I need to be, to figure out the how to the why. Just, I’m not going to do what I did last night. I will promise you that much.”

Ann turned her gaze back to the landscape. She wasn’t sure how she felt about all of that. Rosalyn experimenting on herself to keep her research going was a terrifyingly uncomfortable idea. Her gut reaction was to tell Kat to just pick her up and start walking. Ann didn’t, though. They were all in their own personal struggles. Kat was fighting her overprotectiveness, and this would have just given her an excuse to fly off on that road without looking back. She didn’t want that for her. Kat would hate herself for it.

Ann didn’t want it for Rosalyn, either. The entire situation sucked, and she couldn’t see a way forward that didn’t, in some way, conflict with another’s feelings. Kat was sure to hate the idea of Rosalyn cutting herself open. Bren would object for similar reasons, as well as for very valid medical concerns. Infection alone would be a real risk.

“Do it on me.”

Ann didn’t think she heard that right. Kat was doing the same thing Rosalyn was, not looking at anyone else.

“What?” Rosalyn asked, looking at her girlfriends for the first time.

“Ye heard me. I’m the toughest o’ all o’ us. If somethin’ goes wrong, ye’re less likely tae actually hurt me permanently. I already lost a feckin’ eye. What’s a bit more o’ me missin’?”

“Kat,” Ann said softly. Fear pressed into her throat, making her words difficult to eke out. “No. I… no. God damnit, I hate this!” Ann suddenly stood. That nervous, anxious energy that always came when she was freaking out roiled inside her. “Why does it have to be like this, Rosalyn? Why can’t you just keep taking things apart? Why are you trying to put shit into yourself?”

“Cause I can’t do it to someone else,” Rosalyn said. It was so quiet that Ann would have missed it with her old hearing. “I can’t do this… to you or Kat or anyone else. It’s not right. I can’t ask that of anyone but myself.”

“But why does it need to be done?” Ann pressed.

“Cause I haven’t found shit, alright?” Rosalyn snapped. She’d cursed. She never cursed. “Like every other fucking researcher before me, I haven’t found jack all in these bodies. I’m not special, like you, so I don’t get the lucky divine crap to guide me! I get to go at this like everyone else, ‘cause I’m not special. I’m your girlfriend, and that’s amazing! I love you more than I thought possible, but I’m not actually more than a Druid who’s really curious about some really grim stuff! A farmer’s daughter who got pulled into a huge adventure with these brilliant people, and I’m just me. If I want to make my mark, to show my worth, I’ve got to do something that no one’s done. Don’t… don’t argue it. That’s not really an objective viewpoint, like Bren says. Just feelings. I know deep down that the not special thing is wrong, otherwise Eas wouldn’t be paying attention. Ugh,” her shoulders slumped. “I was hoping things would be better in the morning.”

Ann stopped pacing and stood there with her arms crossed. “Sometimes things are going to take longer than a talk to figure out,” she conceded. “As much as I’d love for us to have the storybook conversation that fixes everything, that’s not life. Kat, I really don’t want you thinking about allowing her to do that to you, either. You’ve got enough baggage, we don’t need to add this either.”

Kat sighed her own sigh. She scooted over, back in her bundle of blankets, to bump up against Rosalyn. “Aye. Was somethin’ that just popped intae me head. A possible way tae ‘ave things work out. Ye’re right, though. Lost me eye, lost me Da’, me Ma’s pissed, technically on the run, I’ve got enough. So, no Warped bits put intae me. Not even a fingernail in a cut.”

“Fingernails wouldn’t work, anyway,” Rosalyn half giggled. “Not enough connective tissue and no nerve endings. It wouldn’t have the cellular structures to integrate with flesh if it wanted to. So a big bad monster scratching you won’t cause problems unless its got a poison or disease on it.”

Kat eased an arm out of her cocoon and pulled Rosalyn close. “I’m glad ye’re safe, love. Don’t scare me like that again.”

“Promise,” Rosalyn whispered back. “Promise both of you.”

“I still don’t feckin like it,” Kat grumbled, grabbing Rosalyn’s horn and tweaking it.

Rosalyn squealed, bent sideways in the woman’s grip. “Ok! Ok! I get it! Kat doesn’t like it! Get off of me!”

“Nae, not gettin’ off ye until I get what’s mine,” Kat laughed, then tugged Rosalyn in for a kiss. “Even if I don’t like what ye’re doin’, I still love ye. I’m fightin’ bein’ all possessive, but ye’re mine, an’ don’t ye forget it.”

Ann imagined that, if Rosalyn’s skin had any shade besides black, her blush would be blinding. “Y-yeah! Uh-huh?”

“Who’s who, now?” Kat didn’t stop harassing Rosalyn as Minnie hiked up the ridge to join them. She stopped, giving the pair an uncertain look. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

Ann beckoned her forward. “Nah. Think we’ve got most of our bullshit sorted out.”

“Mind me asking what the bullshit last night was? Lucia looked terrified, and I don’t think I’ve seen her look anything but flat the entire time.”

“It was a bad situation, but we’ve worked it out. Nothing that you need to worry about, and honestly, you probably don’t want to know the details. It was about one of the things living in us.”

“Ah, mystic bullshit. Nope, I’m good. Bren said we’re taking the day off for recovery?” she asked as she sat on a rock near the rest. Minnie was in her heavy brown coat with a cup and comb in hand. As she drank, she started teasing her hair. Over the trip it’d almost gotten to afro levels of puffiness.

“Here. Had a black friend in primary school I helped with her hair,” Ann said, snatching the comb from Minnie before the other woman could protest. It was going to take a lot of work to get it condensed back into a more manageable form, but Deft Hands turned out to be a huge help.

“Thanks,” Minnie said, wincing as Ann caught a snarl. “I usually just let it go when I’m travelling. Still, everyone’s safe?”

“As safe as I… GET OFF!” Rosalyn cackled as Kat attacked her neck with kisses. Kat didn’t listen. “Safe as we can be when we’ve got this absolute MENACE with us!”

“Listen, it’s not me fault ye’re irresistible, an’ all KISSABLE!” Kat shouted, tumbling them into a tangle of blankets.

“Completely fine,” Ann chuckled. “Problems like any normal… throuple — man that sounds weird — but made extra weird by having magic monsters and Gods poking around.”

“Good to hear it. So, no need for a break today? You have no idea how excited I am to get started. I was planning on getting things charted today with you all watching out if everyone was taking it easy, but in this case we can get right into delving. Mapping still happens, obviously, but if we can find an exposed node, we can be in and out of here in a couple of days. That fulfils your commission, provides proof of the claim’s value, and sets me up for a loooong while. Eee!” Minnie squealed, earning a gentle swat from Ann to keep her still. “Sorry! Been so long since I’ve been underground!”

“Do you have skills fo… Kat! For that?” Rosalyn asked. Kat had wrapped them both up and was now just rolling around on the stones.

“You bet your horns I do. Still need a lantern, but I can find my way around easier in any underground structure, whether natural or constructed. You’ll find that skill’s way more common for Bultrong folk brought up in a traditional clan. I don’t get their ore sense, but I can check mineral quality by touch and taste, and I can hear what a cave has to say about what’s there.”

Kat stopped wrestling Rosalyn. It wasn’t a fair contest in the slightest, but she was pretending to let the Druid pin her. “Ye lick rocks?”

Minnie let out a long, exasperated breath. “Yup.”

Kat looked up at Ann and wiggled her one-and-a-half eyebrows.

“That woman has three modes,” Ann grumbled, pulling hard against Minnie’s hair. The stuff was as uncooperative as she’d remembered from her friend. Sometimes you really had to put in some elbow grease. “Fight everything she can find, fucking, and being endearingly protective. Swear she combines the first two so much I should describe her with only two modes.”

“Hey, I can get behind a woman with simple tastes,” Minnie shrugged.

“She’ll be the one gettin’ behind ye. Ow! Rosalyn!”

Rosalyn had clamped her teeth down on one of Kat’s ears, growling very ferociously.

Ann could feel the woman tense at those words. It wasn’t fear, just surprise. Minnie quickly relaxed. “Guess you would be, huh? Considering what you’re packing under that kilt.”

“By the Gods, have you corrupted her already? I leave you three with a woman, and you fast-track sex the moment I look away,” Bren griped. His boots crunched against the stones as he and Lucia joined the group. “Apologies, Minnie.”

“Hey, don’t apologise, it was part of our contract, after all,” Minnie laughed.

“Buh?” Bren tripped. Lucia caught him at the last moment. “I demand access to this contract!”

“Can’t! Got a tie?” Ann asked Minnie.

“Left pocket.”

Ann reached down over Minnie, grabbing the tie from her left breast pocket. She didn’t miss the opportunity to cop a quick feel. “Can’t because it was sealed with one of these.” Ann planted a stupidly exaggerated kiss on Minnie’s cheek.

“Ann, if ye wanted to start a fire, ye could ask Rosalyn fer lightning! It’d be less destructive!” Kat cackled, pointing at Bren’s face.

It was true, he was bright red, and Ann swore she could see steam coming off his ears! Both sets! His cat ears had finally gotten big enough to poke out of his hair! Ann couldn’t tie Minnie’s hair back into a puffball fast enough to get at the man’s new additions.

“WHEN DID THEY GET THAT MUCH BIGGER?”

“Get off of me!” Bren protested when she tried to grab his face for a better look. “They may have grown significantly lately, and I have kept them hidden within my hair.” The ears were two tawny, black and orange cat-style ears. They were still small, and looked like a kitten’s that had barely opened, but they were there. Little fluffy fur had already begun to poke out of the base, protecting sensitive ear canals.

“Looks dumb. Both ears,” Lucia grumbled.

“I hate it as well! My body should choose one or the other! Both is going to be a sensory nightmare!”

“Or it’ll help you with directional hearing like none of us are capable of,” Rosalyn piped up. She’d somehow wriggled out of Kat’s grip, but the telltale twitch in Kat’s muscles told Ann she’d given the princess a little shock. “Imagine being able to pinpoint something moving around in any direction without moving! Lucia! Why don’t you have this? It’d be super useful in hunting.”

The Thrundol just shrugged.

“That makes three o’ us who can hear real well,” Kat said, groaning as she sat up. She went through a series of stretches to loosen her muscles after the jolt. “Gonna need tae get ye some sound beetles.”

“I will be ordering some from Wendyl as soon as possible,” Bren agreed. “We do also need to discuss other sensory blockers being added to them as well. That is for later. It sounds as if you all are in far higher spirits than I expected after last night’s events.”

Ann shrugged as the girlfriends exchanged a look. “It’s not over, but we’re not going to freak out on Rosalyn, and she’s not going to do something reckless, so it’s as good as we’re going to get. I want to get in and out of this mine as quick as we can, too. Something’s telling me I’m going to hate it in there.”

“Not even a mine. It’s just a cave,” Minnie pointed out. “Tunnels even! Wouldn’t that, I dunno, make you think of a den?”

She is not correct. Dens are warm and full of family. This will not be like that, and you will feel the unease of the mountain upon you. Waheela was talking in Ann’s mind, not quite wanting to speak aloud while Minnie was nearby.

But it is full of family.

Truth, but it is not a home.

“Yeah, Waheela says I’m gonna hate it.”

“Then let’s get going!” Minnie cheered. She shot up and slid down the ridge, boots kicking up shale in a shower as she did. “I’ll get my gear set up! You five get ready! Who knows what’s in there?”

“With our luck? Warped,” Ann sighed. Her claws scrabbled in the loose stone as she followed Minnie.