"Open the gates!" The guard yelled.
.
At the sound of the guard's call, the massive gates began to slowly creak open, the slow moving of the heavy steel accompanied by the sounds of heavy winches and pulleys. As the light began to shine through, the first thing that Aisha saw was a massive, white spire, sitting atop what looked to be a mountain pocked with various shiny buildings.
.
But as the gates opened wider, and Aisha's vision was drawn lower, the buildings seemed to grow duller in color - and as the mountain widened, flattened, so did the buildings, as if the weight and size of the buildings above cast a shadow onto the lower sections.
.
Eventually, Aisha's eyes settled on the sights in front of her. A regular looking, if not slightly dirty street, lined with dozens of humes, ambling about from road to road, various colorful tents and stalls lining the cobbled streets, staffed by vendors that looked as dirty and tired as the roads.
.
As Aisha walked past the guard, she took note of a foot outstretched in her path, eyes narrowing.
.
Her urge to attack the guard was probably stronger than it should have been, but out of a desire to not get kicked immediately out of a new city, she held it back, stepping over the foot instead. Korian followed suit, looking around with wide, greedy eyes as he started to count coins in his head.
.
"So this is the capital, huh?" He breathed out, barely two steps in the gates. "I can't wait to fleece the gold out of these suckers' pockets."
"Really?" The guard scowled.
.
Korian looked at his travelling partner.
"Where should we go, dog?" He asked. "The guild hall, so I can turn in the contract?"
"You're really wearing out that nickname." Aisha muttered under her breath.
"Hm?"
.
"No." Aisha said, without skipping a beat. "You have to find a place to set up shop, and living quarters, and food, and-"
"Really?"
"What?"
"I thought you would want to just get the contract done with, and leave me."
.
Aisha's face twitched, as if experiencing an allergic reaction.
"...The contract involves getting you here safely." She said, after a short pause. "Making sure you don't die immediately after includes that."
.
Korian just looked at the fey quizzically. Her line of reasoning didn't make any sense - after he turned in the contract, it didn't really matter what happened to him. But nonetheless, he shrugged, striding confidently forward into the city, Aisha following dutifully behind.
.
"Hey, you." He said, striding aggressively over to the nearest pedestrian and gripping their shoulder forcefully. "I need directions!"
"What the fuck?"
.
"Moron." Aisha mumbled, rolling her eyes.
.
.
.
The path to the nearest government building was a shorter journey than both of the travelers expected. After a few clumsy attempts at getting directions, asking the gate guard turned out to be their best bet, the man complying out of a pure desire to see the man stop harassing the entire street.
"Alright, this is it." Korian said, hands on his hips as he looked up at the large, official looking building, only slightly cleaner than the dirt around it. "Gimme the contract."
.
Aisha handed him the folded paper, faded from their journey, placing it gingerly into Korian's dirty, weathered hands. Unfolding the parchment, he wedged the paper between his hands, a blue glow emanating out from his palms and slowly spreading to the rest of the document.
.
Afterwards, he crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it on the ground, his eyes catching the edge of Aisha's boot as she turned to leave.
.
(I guess this is the last time we see each other.)
.
.
.
Aisha sighed as she entered the guild hall, full of raucous laughter and conversation. The noise died down slightly as she entered, eyes moving to the ears on her head, and distasteful stares being pointed her way. She was used to the stares. Whether they be because of her ears, or because of her soul, one stare was the same as the rest.
.
She walked up to the front counter, sliding her contract onto the desk. The receptionist was an older gentleman, grey lines streaking his jet-black hairline. He too, gave a distasteful look at Aisha, as she retrieved her little dog tag from her pocket, reaching up to place it on the desk.
.
"Dogs can't be adventurers."
"I'll give you a quarter of the gold from all my contracts if you never talk to me again."
.
Without so much as a raised eyebrow, the man took the gold-plated tag and turned around, fiddling around with all sorts of documents and magical machines. The sounds of flowing mana and scribbling ink were masked by the ambient loudness of the hall, but eventually, he turned around, placing the tag back on the counter. Aisha took the tag.
.
This did prompt a raised eyebrow.
"My payment?"
.
"Yeah, I didn't get paid for this one."
.
A pair of tired eyes met another pair of tired eyes, but when Aisha slipped a single gold coin onto the counter, both parties seemed to come to a mutual agreement, the clerk returning to his desk and sitting down, propping his legs up and taking out a cigarette from his coat. In turn, Aisha left as well, feeling quite tired.
.
But she still had enough energy to push through. She didn't want to rest. Resting let her think, let her regret.
.
But god, she was tired. She wanted to just... sit down, and lay her head on something soft. Preferably, the breasts of a soft woman...
.
Her heart leapt a little at the thought of the wagon woman. Something about her just made her… really excited. Maybe… she was just excited to cuddle with someone, for the first time in four days. She had tried to sleep, but she had figured out long ago that she could no longer sleep without the warmth of another body next to her.
.
Aisha turned to a helmeted warrior, sitting on a bench and reading something. A question rose to her lips, but before she could ask it, she frowned, another question coming to mind.
"You're not going to take off your helmet to read that?" She asked.
.
An audible, loud screech was heard as the knight turned their head to face Aisha, the metal scraping against chestplate.
"...No." They said, voice too muffled to discern any gender.
.
"..." Aisha frowned. "...Do you know a... ssss..."
.
Aisha grimaced in frustration. She had forgotten her name. She had forgotten her name, and now, well, she wasn't... she wanted to see her, dammit! Why- it had to be someone else's fault- dammit!
.
"...Are you okay." The knight asked, at Aisha's furious expression.
"NO!" She growled in frustration, hands turning over, as if it would help her remember.
.
After a few seconds of frustration, Aisha spread her arms a few inches wider than shoulder length.
"A woman, adventurer..." She tried describing, extremely poorly. "Kind of... you know..."
.
"..."
.
Aisha cupped a pair of imaginary breasts.
"Celeste?" The knight said, almost inaudibly, over the echo of the helmet and the chatter behind them.
"Uh… yeah! Do you know where she is… or when she will be back? From what she's doing? Or what she's doing?" Aisha asked, hopefully.
"...She should just be returning from a contract. Probably freshening up, or something. Good luck getting her in your party though, everyone wants her."
.
Aisha suddenly frowned, at the thought of... competition.
"What do you mean?" She asked slowly.
.
"She's a talented mage." The warrior mumbled out, through their ridiculously thick helmet. "And her support skills are unrivaled in this place. Probably because nobody wants to do that kind of stuff. You didn't know? Why do you want to see her?"
.
Aisha didn't answer, turning away. She didn't have to answer the knight - she had all the information she needed.
.
"Hey." The knight said, raising their voice as Aisha turned away. But still, she continued to turn, until a firm hand gripped her arm. She turned to see the knight taking off their - no, her helmet, revealing a sharp face with auburn hair.
"Answer me." The woman demanded dangerously, hand gripping tight. "I answered your questions, yeah? It's only proper that you answer me back."
.
"I..." Aisha frowned, slightly disarmed by the admittedly pretty features of the warrior she had assumed was male. "Euh..."
"Are you an assassin?" The knight demanded squeezed Aisha's arm tighter, her facial expression turning dark. "I'll have you know… that we have no tolerance for assassins in this place. And the people here… are not reasonable people."
"I'm not an assassin." Aisha finally managed to struggle out.
"Then why do you need Celeste?"
.
"...She told me to ask for her in the guild."
"You didn't know her name."
"I forgot." Aisha mumbled sheepishly.
.
"That's really suspicious. Why do YOU want to see her?" The knight asked suspiciously.
"... I... I don't know." Aisha mumbled.
.
The knight's grip tightened, and Aisha stiffened, not wanting to start a scene and have to skip town again. She wracked her brain for answers, but it seemed like the only solution out of this quandary, at this point, would be…
.
Aisha's - and the knight's - thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the guild doors opening, followed by the sound of hastily scooted seats and upturned stools. Both girls turned their heads to see what was going on - the sounds of desperate begging and rushed compliments growing louder and louder.
.
It was like a corny princess movie, the dank, musty hall lit up by the presence of an angel, her white dress, gentle smile and soft demeanor a stark contrast to the weathered, rowdy adventurers in the hall. Instantly, she was mobbed by the crowd of adventurers, so many words strewn about it was impossible to tell what was actually being said. Aisha caught hints of desperate requests for the woman - Celeste, to join their party, mixed among various compliments, shortly followed by the same requests, coming from the same mouths.
.
Celeste herself handled the storm of words with surprising levity, smiling gently as she made a parting gesture, and with a bit of awkward shuffling, a path was made to the desk, which the woman took graciously, heels clacking confidently across the unstable wooden floors.
.
Even the grumpy old clerk seemed to hold a grudging respect for the woman, even managing a greeting, although her charms didn't seem to effect those without souls.
.
But Aisha would eat her words as she approached closer - physically dragged over to the desk by the ironclad knight, she found that she couldn't muster up any words as Celeste's body got closer.
.
"HEY!" Someone shouted. "Get that mutt away from her! What are you doing!?"
"Vigil! What the hell-"
.
Ignoring the cries of indignity, the knight wrenched Aisha in front of her, keeping her grip tight as she addressed Celeste, her eyes softening.
"Celeste." She prompted. "Do you know this fey?"
.
"Fey?" The woman cooed, tilting her head in thought. "I don't know any fey. Although-"
Celeste's eyes visibly lit up as her gaze settled on Aisha, looking quite meek as she tried in vain to escape Vigil's grip, unwilling to meet Celeste in her eyes.
.
"...Although, " Celeste laughed softly. "There was an absolutely adorable little fey woman that I met on my way back."
.
Celeste walked over and crouched in front of Aisha, casting a short frown at Vigil, who just shrugged as she released the fey girl's arm.
.
Still unwilling the meet the pretty woman's eyes, Aisha felt the urge to run, but stopped when a pair of soft hands clasped her one of her own, tugging it gently towards herself.
.
"Hey, I know it must be hard, being a dem- a... non-hume, here." Celeste whispered, casting a scornful glare at the rest of the guild. "But I want you to know that I won't let anybody bully you, okay?"
.
"Auhhh..." Aisha mumbled, suddenly feeling a little pink in her cheeks. "I- I mean... I can take care of... of myself."
.
All of a sudden, Aisha could feel the stares of the adventurers, watching the tender moment. Some had the decency to pretend to turn away, but Aisha still felt the glares like rays of heat from the sun, heating up her skin.
.
"Awh." Celeste reassured, cooing with a little bit of condescension. "I didn't mean it like that! I'm sure you can. I just want to be friends, okay?"
"Uwh." Aisha mumbled ineloquently. "Okie."
"Yay!"
.
And contrary to the words she had just spoken, Celeste reached out and began to pet Aisha on the ears, her arms attracted to the fluffy little appendages like opposing magnets. Instantly, Aisha felt weak in the knees as euphoria washed over her - it had been so long since she had been pet, and oh gods, Celeste's hands were so soft -
.
It was only when Aisha began to whimper that Celeste seemed to snap out of her trance, enjoying the feel of fluff underneath her fingertips maybe a bit more than just a friend might. Her eyes suddenly snapped into awareness, going alert as she retracted her hand sheepishly.
.
"Oop!" Celeste hiccupped, covering her mouth with another hand. "Sorry! I just - you're really cute, and-"
"You can keep going!" Aisha cried desperately.
.
Celeste's eyes brightened again at the cute girl's admission, and she giggled softly as she began to pet Aisha again, this time, more aggressively, fluffing and tousling her fluff, relishing the way that the softness felt under her fingertips - so ridiculously soft, despite the environments that Aisha slept in, like literal clouds, soft and fluffy, but with enough volume to push around and bounce.
.
Aisha herself couldn't muster up any words - it felt too good, after so long - she wanted to grip something, bury her face into something, but Celeste was too far-
.
"Celeste, people are watching..." Vigil whispered, blushing slightly at the intimate display. "Didn't you just meet this girl?"
"Hm?" Celeste pouted, not stopping her hand for a single second. "So?"
"I saw her adventuring plate." The knight frowned. "She's a gold adventurer."
"Oh!" Celeste's eyes widened. "Oh. She actually... she actually can take care of herself."
.
Celeste tilted her head as she watched Aisha, finding it hard to believe that the panting, blushing girl in front of her was a gold adventurer. At the moment, she looked like she was a scritch away from turning over on her tummy and begging for rubs.
.
"You should have some dignity yourself." Vigil mumbled.
.
Celeste blushed at the words, also suddenly made aware of the staring around her, and stopped her ministrations abruptly, rising to her feet with a pout. At the hand leaving her head, Aisha suddenly began to topple over, losing the bit of support Celeste was giving her, and she yelped, eyes opening as she held her hands out to brace herself.
.
But she found her momentum stopped - not by anything physical, but instead, it was like her body had become weightless - or, in fact, it had - she was floating!
.
Celeste giggled as Aisha's eyes met her own, before quickly darting away - locking onto Celeste's hand, outstretched and glowing a faint gold. A hand that soon found its way to her face, caressing her cheek gently as she closed her eyes again, pressing her head into the softness.
.
"Aw, you're adorable." Celeste cooed, stepping forward. "Who cares about prudish old Vigil. You're so helpless..."
.
Vigil just scrunched up her face and left, unwilling to watch the cute display any longer - ripping a contract off the wall, she interacted with the clerk for a few seconds before leaving, armor clanking noisily as she left the two women to their blatant flirting.
.
Aisha found herself wrapped in a warm embrace, and she couldn't help but melt. It was like all the fatigue hit her at once, the softness pressed against her reminding her of the tenseness in her own muscles, sore and tired from travel.
.
Celeste was like a teddy bear. Ridiculously soft, but unlike a teddy bear, she was much larger than Aisha, and had the faculties necessary to coddle and squish her. Faintly, she heard something, but she was too distracted by the warmth, the comfort radiating out from this flirtatious woman.
.
"...ur name?' Celeste repeated.
"Huh?" Aisha mumbled, blushing as she realized she was being addressed.
.
Celeste smiled at Aisha's speechlessness.
"Your name, darling. I know I'm already hugging you... but gosh, we haven't even exchanged names yet!"
.
"A-Aisha." The fey girl mumbled out.
"Well, adorable... little Aisha." She said, smiling and giggling. "What brings you here? I've never seen you before!"
.
"W-well.. I came here to get away from some… trouble."
"Oh…" She said in a concerned voice. "Did the demi-hume haters get to you?"
"U-um..."
"Well... don't worry." She cooed. "I'm here to protect you."
.
With that Celeste once again buried Aisha into her cleavage, stopping any further conversation. Aisha could feel the hateful and jealous glares coming her way, but she didn't care, too busy enjoying Celeste's plush and warm body. The minutes passed by like seconds, Aisha finally in the snug embrace of a soft body.
.
Aisha caught herself almost falling asleep, Celeste's soft rocking motions almost lulling her into a soft dream. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart. She was… supposed to be doing something. Celeste was really… really really really nice to cuddle with, but… she was on this journey for a reason. To… make something of herself. And cuddling with other women was… just something to... quell her needs.
.
"Mhhmh hmhmmnn." She mumbled, in Celeste's massive cleavage.
"Hm?" Celeste asked, freeing Aisha from her squishy prison.
"Contracts..." She mumbled.
.
"Oh!" Celeste's eyebrows raised, as if recognizing that Aisha, in fact, was not just an oversized cat that had wandered into the hall. "O-oh, that's right. Of course, darling. Uh..."
.
For the first time since they had interacted, Celeste was the one who looked to be a little unsure, face contorted into a thinking expression. Aisha could tell she was conflicted - clearly she wanted something, something to do with her contract.
"Do you want to come with me?" Aisha asked softly.
"Oh, yes! Sure!" Celeste smiled happily. "Thank you for asking! I would love to."
.
Celeste got up, taking Aisha by the hand and leading her to the contract board. Aisha saw out of the corner of her eye, another board with cards on them.
.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the other board. Celeste stopped, turning her head.
.
"Oh! That! That's a thing we have here, since we have so much people, and some of the contracts are really difficult, the guild prints out the cards of people looking for parties, and then when you want to form a party, you can use the cards to contact them. People really like this system, since you can change around whoever's in your party, in case you need a different skillset."
"Your card's not on there."
"Ah, well..." Celeste murmured sheepishly. "Most people in the guild already know who I am. Besides, I like to pick my own contracts."
.
Celeste led Aisha to the contract board. Despite having many more people, Aisha noted that there were still an incredibly high amount of contracts, compared to the last board, and that there were a ton of old platinum and higher contracts.
.
(Or incapable.)
.
"Let's take this one!" Celeste said happily.
.
Aisha looked over her shoulder at the contract she held. It was an escort mission. It said it would take two days for a round trip.
.
"Why take that one?"
"Well, it's an escort mission."
"Why?"
.
Celeste gave Aisha a mischievous look.
.
"Because… you don't have to leave the wagon."
.
Celeste winked. Aisha was excited for the implications of those words.
.
"Wouldn't the owner not like that?"
"They're happy to let me ride in the back, after I use my float."
"Float?"
"It's one of my enchantments. It reduces weight."
.
Aisha remembered her enchantments. She was naturally attracted to the woman… but under the charm's influence, she had almost been as enraptured as she was when she was with mistress…
.
"Come on. Let's find some teammates!"
"Why? We don't need any."
.
Celeste smiled at Aisha.
.
"Maybe we don't." She said, squeezing her cheeks. "But just to make sure."
"Mhhhm." Aisha grumbled, a little unhappily.
"It's ok. We can get some of my friends! They're not like the others in here. They're nice!"
.
Celeste dragged Aisha over to the teamfinding board, and gave her two cards, as she made her way through the crowded guild towards a table with two other girls.
.
"Hold on to these for me. You can read up on them!"
.
Aisha looked down at the two little cards in her hands. The cards had a little picture of the adventurer, their name, and other information.
.
The first girl was a mocha-skinned woman, who had a strong look, short, wavy black hair, and light brown skin.
[Name: Kua Tua'tl
Age: 29
Rank: Platinum II
Role: Fighter/Support
Currently taking |Gold| jobs
Notable Spells: Barrier, Blessing of Xa'Kta]
.
The second woman was a girl with sharp features, short brown hair, and green eyes. Aisha noted that she was wearing a green amulet… same as hers.
[Name: Fei Madison
Age: Not Given
Rank: Gold V
Role: Scout/Ranger
Currently taking |Silver,Gold| jobs
Notable Spells: Sharp Eyes]
.
Aisha looked at the 'notable spells' row with distaste. She knew humes liked to name things, but gods, she hoped that they would say silent during combat.
.
Celeste returned with the two adventurers in question. They looked exactly like they did on the pictures, but with large, adoring eyes, clearly enraptured with her cute features.
.
"She's so cute! Celeste! Can I hug her?" Fei squealed. Celeste giggled.
"If Aisha's ok with it."
.
Aisha decided she was ok with hugging the two women, so she accepted the hug from the slender woman. She had kind of a firm body, and her breasts weren't very big, but she smelled nice, like leaves and grass.
.
The other woman decided to not ask to hug Aisha, instead offering a handshake, which Aisha took. She was really muscular, and her form radiated strength. She smelled... exotic. Aisha didn't know how to describe it. She was probably from somewhere far away.
.
"So… what's your role? What can you do? Do you have a card?" Kua asked.
"...I can run fast and shoot this crossbow."
.
Aisha motioned to the enormous piece of wood on her back.
.
"...You know, people don't really hold crossbow users in the highest regard." Kua said.
"I don't really care."
.
Kua flashed a glance at Fei, who was frowning.
.
"Why use a crossbow? You look skilled enough to use a bow."
"Crossbow works better for me."
"You could easily get the same power out of a bow than a crossbow, even with a little bit of mana. And you can shoot faster with a bow. Is it… because you can't aim?"
"Fei!" Celeste exclaimed. Kua gave Fei a disappointed look.
"It's not that." Aisha responded.
"Then why?" Fei pressed.
"I… don't have the magical capabilities."
"Basic mana infusion?"
"...Sure."
"I don't get it."
.
"It's a long story." Aisha said, exasperated.
"I got time." Fei teased.
.
Aisha just sighed.
"I don't have a soul."
.
Fei, Kua, and Celeste froze, as well as a few adventurers nearby.
.
"...What?" Kua asked, shocked.
"Aisha?" Celeste said softly, worried.
"..."
"...Are you… undead?" Fei asked.
"Fei!" Celeste scolded. "That's enough! Does she look undead to you?"
"That wouldn't even be right." Kua said. "Undead have souls. Err. No offence."
.
Aisha sighed. She didn't want to reveal that information in front of Celeste, afraid of how the woman would react. She looked like she was still interested in cuddling, though.
.
"Wait, how have you been doing contracts like that?" Fei asked. "Wait, Celeste, is she even an adventu-?"
.
Aisha pulled out the little gold plate from her sash.
.
"GOLD TWO!" Fei exclaimed. "Without any magic??"
"Yes."
"How??"
"Look, girls." Celeste interrupted. "I'm sure we can talk about it when we're on the contract."
.
With that, the four girls went up to the desk to ring up their contract and go to the job. Aisha walked along, but could feel stray glances from the three other girls the entire walk.
.
.
.
Aisha climbed into the back of the wagon, into the awaiting arms of Celeste, who wrapped her arms around the little fey girl and rested her head on top of hers. Fei and Kua climbed in after, the wagon creaking slightly under their weight.
.
Aisha saw the driver frown at the sound, a thin, older gentleman, but he couldn't complain, as Celeste's enchantment had made the wagons much lighter, even with the added weight of the four girls.
.
"So Aisha! How have you been doing your contracts?" Fei exclaimed.
"..."
"...Aisha?"
.
Aisha was sound asleep in Celeste's arms, cuddled up all snugly with Celeste's soft, squishy and warm body, and warmly in Celeste's soft embrace. Celeste giggled and held up a finger to her lips, shushing Fei.
.
Fei frowned disappointed and leaned back on a crate, deciding to rest a bit herself. Kua followed suit, crawling over and leaning her head on Fei's shoulder. Soon all four women were asleep, dozing in the filtered sunlight coming through the wagon's cloth.