B18

Hello Patrons! Just a head's up that this post should probably have come out around M34, so it might seem out of order a bit. I'm sorry about that!

-Plum Parrot

Bronwyn jogged out of the cave, loath to be in there any longer than she needed to be. When she came out of the cold dark cavern into the sun, she took a deep breath, some tension running out of her; she knew that she still had a few hours of daylight left and slowed her pace to a walk. Bronwyn wasn’t sure if it was the weight of the confrontation being lifted from her shoulders or if the Yovashi had been sapping the Energy from the land, but everything around her seemed greener and more full of life. Birds flitted happily between the trees, small fuzzy rodents clambered about in the underbrush, and she saw a sizeable beaver-like creature with pastel green fur gnawing on a sapling. Hops even made an appearance, climbing out onto her shoulder. He stood up tall, and his head swiveled about as he took in the forest around him, chirping happily. Bronwyn smiled, looking at her small furry companion and feeling at ease for the first time in a long while.

When she passed the location where she and Morgan had fought the undead colonists, she laid the bodies on the side of the trail, closing their eyes and crossing their arms. When she got back, she’d send some people out with a cart to collect them and bring them home to be buried. The remaining trek back to the colony was pleasant and uneventful. She took her time, admiring the beauty of the forest around her.

When she arrived at the colony’s gates, she gave the guards a wave and exchanged some brief pleasantries before heading inside. The settlement was abuzz with activity and looked more and more like a thriving community. Even as the sun was starting to fade, people were running about working on some task or another. The smithy was billowing out clouds of smoke in the distance as their new smiths practiced their craft. She stood a couple of dozen yards from the gate, her hands on her hips, just taking in the sights. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder as Olivia walked up from behind and stood beside her.

“Pretty incredible, isn’t it? All we’ve accomplished in just a few days?” Olivia spoke with a sense of wonder in her voice. “I waited here at the gate for you; I was starting to get worried. I almost made Arthur send out a search party. What…” she hesitated for a moment. “Can I ask what happened in the cave, Bron? Are you okay? Morgan isn’t with you. Did he make it out too? Sorry, that's a lot of questions.” She smiled nervously and moved to look Bronwyn in the eyes, holding her hand as she spoke.

Bronwyn let out a long sigh and then let out a slight chuckle. “You can ask me anything, and yes, I’m okay. In fact, I feel amazing. We killed that Yovashi bastard, but I don’t know what happened to Morgan. He got teleported away at the end of the fight, trying to stop the Yovashi from using some kind of amulet. I don’t exactly know why, but I feel like he’s alright. It’s almost like I had a sense of him or something. It’s weird.”

“That’s amazing, you’re amazing. I can’t believe you two were able to defeat that creature. I know I put on a positive face, but you have no idea how nervous I actually was.” She gave Bronwyn a huge smile and laughed, “I’d give you a hug, but I think your armor might impale me!”

Bronwyn laughed with her. “It’s probably for the best; I’m sure that I’m absolutely filthy anyway. I’ve been running around for days without a proper bath.” She ran her fingers through her hair and could feel the sweat and grime clinging to it. “Thank god we don’t have any mirrors yet; I probably look and smell worse than an Urghat.”

“We have a bathhouse!” Olivia practically shouted in excitement. “We raised enough contribution points while you were out in the fields for our latest two buildings, the brewery and the baths! I can lead you there now unless you have something else you need to do first?”

“Well, I need to stop by the colony stone, and I have a couple of items I wanted you and the other mage-types to look at. The items can certainly wait, though; a bath sounds goddamn incredible.” Bronwyn looked towards Hops on her shoulder. “You could use a bath, too, you little stinker; your face is still mostly purple.” She chuckled as she patted him on the head.

“The stone’s on the way anyway, so no worries there. I am, however, very interested in these items, but I suppose I can hold my curiosity for a bit.” She dragged out the word “suppose” and pouted mockingly, turning toward the center of the colony. “Follow me!”

Bronwyn walked with Olivia to the Settlement Stone and pressed her hand on its smooth cold surface. When the gray screen popped into view, a prompt overlayed all other menu items.

***Quest Complete: Explore the cavern from which the Yeksa emerged. Contend with the evil that lies within. Claim rewards? Y/N***

Bronwyn pressed her thumb into the yes button and found herself surrounded by a swirling white mist that quickly dissipated.

***Congratulations! You have been awarded 10,000 Contribution Credits.***

“Holy shit, ten thousand credits.” Bronwyn looked towards Olivia and chuckled, “Guess I’ll have to do some shopping after the bath.”

Olivia’s eyes widened, “Yeah, for sure! There're all kinds of skills and items you could get with that many credits. Speaking of fancy magic items of dubious origin, weren't there a couple of things you wanted me to look at?”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Here, one second.” Bronwyn rooted around in her backpack and pulled out the small gilded chest she took from the Yovashi lair, handing it out towards Olivia. “Don’t open that right away. I don't know if it has some magical trap on it. That’s why I need you to check it out. There’s one more thing, as well.” Bronwyn reached into her dimensional pouch and retrieved the tapestry embroidered with runic circles that she had taken from the cave on their first venture. “I don’t know why exactly I took this, but I think the runes on it might mean something, and I’ve been meaning to give it to you to look over. Something else keeps coming up, though, and I forget. And, I mean, it might not be anything at all; it could just be random circles in a pretty pattern or something. I just, well, I don’t really know much about magic or any of that stuff. Also, it’s um, a little bit wrinkled.” Bronwyn’s cheeks flushed, and she let out a nervous laugh realizing she was rambling a bit and felt a little embarrassed.

Olivia smiled at her reassuringly, “Don’t worry; I won’t flip this open until I’ve thoroughly inspected it. If this tapestry seems important to you, then I’m sure it must be. It undoubtedly holds all the secrets of the universe!” She winked at Bronwyn and started folding the tapestry into a neat square. “Only teasing, but who knows? All of the magic items we’ve found so far have runes inscribed on them; these may be just as important. I’m certainly very excited to take them back to study them.” She tucked the folded tapestry under her arm and held the small chest in front of her. “Thank you very much; as soon as I figure anything out about either item, I’ll be sure to let you know straight away. Now, are you ready for me to show you the bathhouse?”

“Yes! Definitely! Lead the way!” Bronwyn walked next to Olivia down the road.

Olivia stopped in front of a large, wood-paneled building with a set of double doors. “Well, here it is, the bathhouse of First Landing. There’re changing rooms inside and separate bathing areas for men and women. Now, don’t get lost in there; it’s honestly incredible, and I wasn’t sure I would ever leave, but we have an important meeting tomorrow.” She put on her mock-serious voice, pointing a finger at Bronwyn.

“Okay, okay. Yes, boss; I promise I won’t be late!” Bronwyn raised her hands and laughed.

“Alright, well, I’ll see you then, Bron. Have a nice soak.” She turned and started to walk down the street toward the permanent housing area.

Bronwyn watched her walk away and called out, “Olivia, wait! One more thing. Sorry, if you happen to see Arthur, and it’s not too late, could you tell him I need to speak with him? I just need to requisition some people and a cart.”

Olivia gave her a curious look but only said, “Yeah, definitely; if I see him, I’ll send him your way.”

Bronwyn waved goodbye to Olivia and stepped into the bathhouse. The air inside the changing room was warm, even away from the baths, and she could feel some sweat start to bead on her forehead as she gathered a towel from the wall cubby and shoved all of her armor and clothing into her dimensional pouch. She didn’t feel entirely safe leaving it in the open cubbies and decided to take the pouch with her. She’d had her stuff stolen at the gym once and never really felt okay with the trust system after that.

She wrapped the towel around herself and held it against her chest with one hand, her pouch in the other, and Hops on her shoulder. She pushed her way through the curtain into the women’s baths and was greeted by a face full of steam and the sounds of dozens of conversations. Looking around her, she saw that the bathhouse was massive, with multiple pools. Even in the somewhat poor visibility, she guestimated that there were at least a few dozen other people spread out in various pools. She wasn’t self-conscious about her body but worried about how people might react to her bringing Hops, so she headed toward one of the least crowded pools with only three other women in it; they were seated close to one another and talked in hushed tones.

Bronwyn folded up her towel and set it on the floor at the edge of the pool, slipping into the warm water. Hops immediately flung herself from her shoulder and landed in the middle of the pool, creating a tiny cannonball splash, and immediately began to zoom through the water. The three women sharing the pool stared in amazement as his turtle shell zipped this way and that. He eventually swam back to Bronwyn and spun in small circles in front of her. “Well, I guess that shell isn’t just for show, after all, is it, buddy? I had no idea you liked the water so much! I would’ve taken you to the pond!” She chuckled, watching the fuzzy little creature dive under the surface like a fish and come back up, shooting a small stream of water out of his mouth.

Bronwyn sank in up to her neck and felt more relaxed than she had since she’d left Earth. She let out a long sigh, “Fuck, I forgot how nice this is.” She leaned backward and dunked her head under the warm water. Using her nails, she began to scrape away the dirt, smoke, sweat, blood, berry juice, and god knows what else that was caked to her scalp and hair. After a couple of minutes, she sat back up and was startled to see one of the women had floated across the pool to her.

“Hey there! My name’s Akari Yakahira. You must be Bronwyn, right? And is that Hops? He’s absolutely adorable.” She was smiling broadly and holding out her hand.

Bronwyn was a little caught off guard but reached her hand out to shake hers, “Uhh, yep. That’s me. Nice to meet you, Akari, and, yeah, that’s my little buddy.”

“I’m so excited to meet you finally! My father was one of the colonists you saved from the Yeksa! I just wanted to thank you. I’m sure it’s kinda awkward being ambushed in the bath, but it looks like you could use these; I bought them at the contribution store this morning.” She was positively beaming and held out a scrub brush, a small washcloth, and a bar of purple soap. Bronwyn’s face fell, and she had a surge of emotion that took her by surprise; conflicting waves of guilt and happiness assailed her. She pushed down her feelings and smiled broadly at the young woman.

“Oh my god! Yeah, of course. I’m just glad I was able to help! Are you sure it’s okay if I use these? That would be awesome; I’ll give them back as soon as I’m done.” She started to reach her hand out towards the brush.

“No need! They’re a gift! Take your time and enjoy your bath. I gotta head back to the brewery anyway. I'm sure the crowds are already gathering; you should come check it out when you’re done!” With that, she swam back over to her friends, and they all exited the pool.

Bronwyn set herself the task of scrubbing off a week's worth of filth and making a mostly successful attempt at washing out her mane of curly hair. Maybe she would go check out the brewery tonight. She hadn’t really done anything relaxing since she’d woken up in the field, and the System started fucking with her life.