*Bryna's POV*
Waking up this morning, I was stiff and cramping. I knew I needed to get up, and I knew I needed to go get the lady cloths I was supposed to have retrieved last night before dinner time.. But I didn't feel able to do so. The cramping was pretty bad. Why? I didn't understand it. I glanced towards the window and saw it was actually not my usual time of waking. It was raining even. It was much earlier than I usually woke. Must be because of the cramping. How terrible.
Barely, I managed to force myself out of bed. I felt like crying. I changed the lady cloth, and used an available basin to clean the used one. Then I slid back into bed miserably. Curling in to a ball, my arms wrapped around my midsection. All there was to do was wait for it to pass. Time dragged slowly until I had fallen asleep again. The only real way to escape the cramps.
I awoke a second time to knocking. It was still raining, too. The cramps were still a thing, though they'd dulled some. The knock came again with a gentle call of my name. This time, I was more awake, so I answered. "Yeah?" My voice was groggy.
"Are you alright in there? Do you need something?" Bibs asked.
Groaning, I started to get up. Go figure, the cramps intensified once more. "Cramping." I said.
"Alright. Give me just a moment." Bibs said.
I curled back up on the bed. After around ten minutes Bibs came back. He knocked again, and warned he was coming in, gave it a few seconds, then did so. "I remember that cleric woman who said if I kept laying with multiple men that I would experience terrible cramps and my womb would rot. She was a cracked pot at best, but it hurts like I imagined such a curse would."
"Well that sounds.. just awful." Bibs replied. He had a sort on concoction in his hands that he offered to me. It was in a little vial. "Drink this. It should help considerably."
I took it and obeyed him. Knowing he'd never seek to harm me. He'd also weasel his way out of doing so unwillingly. If he decided to anyways. If Bibs wanted you hurt, you're gonna be. Thats just how it is. It didn't go into affect immediately, but after around ten minutes it eased and I could breath normally again. Bibs stayed with me till it had let up.
"I'd love to say I'd give that to you every time it started to act up, but I can't. It'd do more harm than good to you at that point." Bibs said.
"That's ok, Daddy. For now is good enough. There's women around I can ask advice of." I said. "I probably am not too different from a human."
"Probably not. You seem to have the same physiology." Bibs replied.
I got up and we headed downstairs. I had a light breakfast before heading out for the day. I headed immediately to the woman's stall to collect the other lady cloths I'd paid for. I thanked her for her troubles. She assured me it wasn't any such trouble. I stopped by the Guildhall next looking for a quest to do. There weren't really any that stood out much. But I did take one about a potential dungeon cropping up a few miles Northwest of Dueling Rivers. Oddly, this quest wanted the quest taker to talk to Greggor first.
I'd never seen that on a quest before. I approached Clara to ask her about this. I waited for her to acknowledge me. I didn't feel like talking to Crowley. I found his Yes Man attitude taxing at times.
Without looking away from her book, she said, "You're not going to go away are you?"
"No. And I know my stare annoys you." I said.
She sighed dramatically and closed her book, sitting up. "How can I help you, Bryna?"
"This. Why?" I asked placing the quest before her and pointing at the clause.
"Well, that seems like a very simple sentence. It means see Greggor, he probably has information you should get." Clara said.
"Clearly. But why Greggor? I've never seen that on a quest. Is it a big deal?" I asked.
"Trust me, and I really want you to hear me on this, Greggor doesn't out that on a quest unless it's really necessary." Clara said.
"...Ah. Well, that's unnerving." I admitted.
"You can always put it back on the board." She pointed out, tauntingly.
"Hmm. Maybe I should have Kershka come with me to talk to him. Is he even awake at this time, or just a bear?" I asked her.
"The bear is always there." She said. "A word of advice, no matter what time of day, always bring either a good quality liquor, or vast quantities of poor quality liquor."
"That's easy then. I'll get some from Hearthstone Town. Want some cherry wine?" I asked her.
She looked at me very seriously and folded her fingers together. "If you can bring me such a fine wine.. I may actually enjoy your company."
I blinked and said, "If this pretty Big Sister likes gifts so much, I'll bring it to you."
She leaned back, picked up her book and said, "Good luck with the grump."
"Gonna need it since I lost my chubby cheeked cuteness." I said, leaving with the quest paper. I headed out and straight to the East Gate. So far, I'd not run into Thomas and Wren, and I intended to keep it that way. I managed to get out, and I jogged to Hearthstone Town. Once there, I remembered about Adelaide wanting a dog. So I turned from the town and started heading further East.
An hour from Hearthstone Town and I shifted to run the rest of the way. Reaching a travel speed, I traveled twenty four miles in two hours by running in my wolf form, with the five miles I'd gone walking allowed me to reach the odd old man's home. Thomas and I had met him and his dogs a couple of years ago. They were crossbred between a dire wolf and a sheeper's dog. The resulting half dog was a fluffy and sturdy dog that took down Owlbears with ease. It was larger than a mastiff, and smart.
I shifted to my human form and cautiously entered his land. I could smell the ocean, even in my human form. It was a mile from the shore, after all. A few of his dogs were watching me now, I'd known they were around, but I hadn't been concerned with running into them. They were trained not to attack without aggressive actions being taken first. I walked up to the door and knocked.
It took a few minutes, but the old man rounded the building, rather than coming through the door. He suffered from acute paranoia. He stared at me for a minute before grinning. "You've grown." He said.
"I have, as children do. Any chance you've got that problem pup still?" I asked.
"Aye, that one I do. Hasn't run off in a week." He answered.
"Can I barter to take it?" I asked. "If not a listening one would be great."
"Eh, mayhaps. What fer you got?" He asked. Which meant, 'what was I offering for trade.'
"This." I said, taking out an old silver bracelet.
He came closer and looked it over. Anyone else would have been offended. "Aw, I see this is well liked." The old man said. He turned it, running it over his old gnarled fingers. "Sure you want to part with this?"
I honestly had suspected this man to be fey for a while, but I never wanted to call him on it. "I'll be sorry to let it go," I said, I liked the bracelet. It'd been a gift from an old lady I helped. "But I'd be sorrier if I didn't get a woman chased by nightmares a puppy."
After listening to me, he made up his mind. Slipping the bracelet into his vest pocket, he walked to his barn. I stayed where I was, I'd not been invited to follow him. Oddly, he'd walked better than he had previously... Nevermind. I'll not think about that. Minutes later he came out with a waggly puppy under his arm. He offered the puppy to me. "Name it with care and it shall listen."
I nodded and told him to have a wonderful day. He smiled and told me the same. I turned and walked for a mile in my human form, before setting the puppy down and shifting to my wolf form. I picked the puppy up by it's scruff, if was almost too big for such treatment, and took off running. Two more hours and another fifteen minutes, and I shifted to human form and headed into Hearthstone Town with the wiggly puppy.
Kids awed and oohed over the puppy, but I kept going, heading into Undertown City. Immediately after reaching the last step I went to Bits and Bobs, Vincent's store. It was open, and the pair of them were there. I greeted them, the puppy doing it's all to get loose. His fur was majorally black with a white muzzle and tan underbelly. His eyes were big and blue.
Adelaide's face brightened with delight once she noticed the puppy that I held towards her. Vincent looked, decidedly resigned.
"I see you found her one very quickly. Looks like he's gonna be an interesting one." Vincent said.
"Yeah, I knew where a man lives that bred..." My voice trailed off as I looked towards Vincent and his counter. On the edge of his counter, just behind a book, out of his sight, was an old silver bracelet that was very familiar to me. My expression was very puzzled.
Adelaide picked the puppy up from my arms, and scratched him behind the ear. "Does he have a name?"
I started slightly and looked at Adelaide, "Oh, no. The puppy doesn't have a name. The old man said 'Name it with care and it shall listen.'" I told her, then I looked at Vincent, "An odd question, but did you see someone leave that bracelet there?"
"No, actually.. I don't know where that came from." Vincent said.
I approached and lifted it up. The little 'G+T' was on the clasp that had always stood for 'Ginavi and Talon'. After looking at it, I offered it to Vincent, "Do you want to keep it? It was on your counter. An old lady had once gave it to me, and I had just traded it for that puppy."
"It's not part of my inventory. Sounds like it still belongs to you." Vincent said.
I smiled at him and said, "The old man bred the puppies from dire wolves and sheeper dogs. They're big, and can take down Owlbears. They're guardian dogs."
Adelaide was playing with the puppy and said, "He's just a sweet boy. I think I will call him.. Felix."
"That's a great name, Miss Addy. It means Happy and Lucky." I said.
"Well, I'll certainly try to keep him happy. And he'll need some luck to make it through my rigorous training." She said.
I smiled at her and said, "Now I gotta go get some alcohol."
"If you're having some problems.. you can talk to us, you know?" Vincent said.
"Do you want to talk about a girls' moon cycle?" I asked him.
"I have some fine alcohol. What were you after." He replied. It was a definite 'no.'
I giggled and said, "Something to appease the Greggor and something sweet like cherry wine for a grumpy lady. I never have liked alcohol."
"I just got some nice cherry wine. As for Greggor I hear he's more of a whisky drinker. I may have something, just a moment." Vincent said.
I nodded and waited. Watching Adelaide and her delight with the puppy. And wondering if the old man was nearby. I figured I'd go ask Bibs later about fey deals and returned items. I couldn't remember a single time a fey had returned a traded item. Or maybe I should ask Alexander? His lady is a Archfey.
Vincent returned with two bottles of alcohol after a moment. He set them on the counter and went under the counter, pulling out a box with padding. He packed them into that box. "Alright, these two together are gonna be seventy gold." Vincent said.
I paid him and said, "Of course you'd have the good stuff. Do you think you could really be the child of The Merchant?"
"I would never want to claim such a thing. But it's possible." Vincent said.
"Seen him once. He was a tall human looking fellow. His eyes were kind of similar to yours." I said. "He's more boisterous than you."
"So one of those.. salesmen merchants." He said.
"Only at his amusement." I replied.
"Well, it sounds like I could do wothout meeting the fellow." Vincent said.
"Good thing you don't adventure, then." I said.
"Even though I don't adventure, I still see quite a few interesting people." Vincent said.
"That's certainly true." I said, before flinching. I felt a pang of the cramps intensifying again. Thankfully it was brief. It did cement to me to go talk to Alexander, though. Cause he'd be around Sylvia and Sienna who both had massively painful cramps.
Adelaide stood suddenly and said, "Oh, Vincent, we need to get towels for training before anything happens."
"I will try to find some sacrificial towels." Vincent said.
"Um, how should he communicate if he needs to go outside?" I asked.
"I would like him to sit next to the door and bark twice." Adelaide said. "Can you make him understand that?"
I nodded and stepped out of view of the door to shift to wolf form. Wolf and dog languages are similar enough. I approached the dog and explained what she wanted, then I exemplified the action, explaining why it wasn't good to poddy inside. Once the puppy acknowledged it. I stepped out of view again, shifting back to human. "He says he understands. But it may still take practice. And consistence. If you miss a cue he may decide to stop alerting."
"Well, I will certainly try not to miss a cue. Most of my time is spent right here by the door anyways." Adelaide said.
"You'll need some tough hides for him to chew, too. It'll keep him from being bored. Boredom is the worst thing for a puppy." I said.
She looked at Vincent and asked if he has anything. He did not. I suggested checking with a hunter, then I explained about how dogs should have a mixed variety of meals, but organs, bone and vegetables are important to feed them, then I explained which vegetabkes to avoid, cause of their toxic properties. She listened closely. At the end of my explanation I took the alcohol box, placing it in my bag, and told her she was lucky to have Vincent acause he was very smart and would be able to help her. Then I headed out to go find Alexander.
I smiled at them while approaching. Then I got close to Sylvia and whispered to her about my cramping issue.
She smiled in a sympathetic way and said, "I'll see what I can do for you. I'll be right back."
"Thank you." I said. I didn't mind thanking her at all. She wouldn't use it against me.
She nodded and walked away. Alexander greeted me then, "How you doing, Bryna?"
"Um. I don't want to answer that honestly." I said.
"Al.. right.. That's fine." Alexander said. "How's the rest of the squad doing?"
"Daelyn's in trouble, and Thomas has his Mama again." I shrugged. "I brought Adelaide a puppy. And I gotta go talk to Greggor."
"Yes, I met Wren. And Adelaide had a puppy? Hmm. What kind?" He asked.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Acause I'm pretty sure that old man is a fey in disguise.. I traded a bracelet for the puppy, and he accepted the trade but when I delivered the puppy I found the bracelet." I explained.
"I feel that would be a better question for my lady." Alexander said.
"Okies. Well, the puppy is a guardian dog. It was crossbred between a sheeper dog and a dire wolf." I said.
"Goodness. That sounds like quite the combination." He said.
"He lives almost thirty miles to the East if you wanted to get a puppy." I said. "His dogs look real big and scary, but they won't hurt ya. Acause you aren't an Owlbear."
"Oh, I don't think I need any dog that large." Alexander said.
"If you say so." I said.
"Good afternoon, Bryna." Alexion said, approaching us with sweets. His little siblings were probably in school. He offered me and his father a pastry with sweet cream on top, saying, "No egg."
I accepted it. He wasn't the friendliest person, and didn't smile much, but he was a sweetheart. "Hi Alexion." I said before biting the pastry.
Alexander tried his own pastry and said, "Well, this is yummy. Who made it?"
"Not telling you." Alexion said. His secondary hobby is bullying his dad.
"Well fine, I'll have to go to every pastry shop in the city and see if I can find it." Alexander said.
Alexion smirked and said, "Go try."
"This will be my greatest journey yet. I'm off!" Alexander said.
Plight and Sienna were coming over. Sienna had a pastry herself. "Off to where, Ada?"
"To hunt down the creator of these pastries. Your brother won't tell me. So I'm going to scour the city for them." Alexander declared.
"That's silly, Atya." Sienna said, she caught a look from Alexion and raised her eyebrows. The two seemed to be communicating, in a twin language, I supposed. "... Well, have fun Atanya."
"Alright, I'm off then, since no one wants to fill me in, I will fill my stomach until I find it." Alexander said.
Sylvia came back at this moment. "Sorry for the wait Bryna, here you are." She handed me a pouch. "Wear it, it'll help you some. If it get's worse, use a warm press." She looked at Alexander, while I put the pouches strings around my neck like a talisman, and said, "I'm surprised Alexion shared with you."
"Indeed he shared. But neither of my children here will tell me where they came from." Alexander said.
"They came from the kitchen in our home, Dear." Sylvia said, giving her children a look. "Sarial and Alexion made them."
Alexander began laughing and said, "I'm so glad I didn't miss their rebelious teen phase." After he sobered a bit from his joke, he concluded, "These are quite tasty."
"Sarial wanted to bake and was getting in my way, so I elected to let her help me. The honey she made was tasty." Alexion said.
He started tapping his chin and said, "I'm going to go write a song, I'll be back."
Sylvia patted my head and said, "Have things you are up to doing?"
"Oh, yes. I gotta go see grumpy people." I answered.
"Alexion will go with you." She decided.
Alexion regarded her for a moment, then nodded and left with me to head to Dueling Rivers. It was an uneventful walk and when we entered the town, I saw Thomas walking around. He didn't see me and Alexion, though. We went inside the Guildhall and approached Clara. I took the box out of my pack and took out the wine and held it out to her, label facing her.
Clara took the bottle and looked it over. "Gotta be honest, I didn't expect you to actually come back with one."
"It's a high class one from Bit's and Bobs." I told her.
"Can't say I've heard of the store, but if they are able to get a label like this.. You said you went to Hearthstone Town, didn't you?" She asked.
"Yup. Bit's and Bobs is run by Vincent, the younger brother of the mayor Sarial." I told her.
"I'll have to stop by some time and see what else he may have in stock." She said.
"I recommend it. There's a cute puppy, too." I told her.
"More of a cat person, but dogs are alright." She commented.
"Bear still upstairs?" I asked.
"Oh, it's up there. Grumbling away about something for sure." Clara said.
With that, I headed up the stairs with the box under my arm and Alexion at my back. I knew where his office was, I'd had to meet him once when we'd raised our rank high enough already. We being Thomas, Daelyn and I. I really couldn't say I was afraid of him, but I didn't like dealing with him. I knocked on his office door.
A grouchy voice within snapped, "What."
"Visitor bearing a gift." I said through the door.
"Enter." He said after a moment.
Alexion opened the door and entered with me. I saw he was at his desk. I didn't know if that was the usual, but I figured it must be.
Greggor looked at us and said, "Bryna and... pretty sure you're Alexion."
"I don't know why I am here." Alexion said.
"Acause your Mama told you to." I pointed out, approaching Greggor and offering him the box.
He looked at the box and looked at me. "Is this going to blow up."
"I suspect you wish." I said. "I think you might enjoy it."
"Is this going to cause me any inmediate physical harm?" He asked drily.
"No more than usual I suspect." I said.
"Alright, let me see this." He said taking the box and opening it. He easily found the whisky with the label facing upwards, just how Vincent had packed it. He took the bottle out of the box, looking it over. "It's a fine bottle." He decided. "I know no one in this town could have gotten it. So, if I was to guess, Bit's and Bobs?"
"The very one." I nodded.
"Is there a particular favor you're trying to ask of me?" He asked.
I blinked. ".. No, but I can come up with something if you want." I said, taking the quest paper out and offerimg it towards him, "I came to see you because you directed it."
"Why are you interested in taking this particular quest?" Greggor asked.
"Curiousity, majorally." I said. "And the other things available weren't very interesting."
"That's how most adventures start. Fine." He said, opening a drawer, pulling out a key and closing it. He offered me the key and said, "You're gonna need this to get into the dungeon. The dungeon opened up under a large tree in the forest. You'll need this key to get through the door under the tree." He explained, handing me the key. "When you're done in the dungeon, bring the key back. Don't need random people wondering in there."
"Alright, I can do that. I heard meat kebabs are best to have with whisky." I said.
"They do go quite well together." He said. "Good luck. Don't die."
"Sure thing. See you some other time, Handsome." I said, taking Alexion's hand and leading him out of the room, while putting the key in my pocket.
I heard him pop the top off of the bottle as I shut the door. We headed downstairs and Alexion asked, "Are you sure that quest is the wisest to take?"
"I'm sure it's not." I replied.
"Then why do it?" He asked.
"Why not do it?" I countered.
"Dungeons are notoriously dangerous." He replied.
"Life is dangerous. To boot, I am a young woman. If I don't adventure, due to my status, the best way for me to live is to marry a man. A man will want to have babies. I could die delivering those babies. So what's the difference between living my life fighting, or living my life by design?" I asked. "I have no interest in religion, and not do I want to be lonely."
"What about Thomas?" He asked.
"Eh? What do you mean?" I asked as we stepped outside of the Guildhall.
"What about his opinion on the quest." Alexion stated.
"I always discuss with Thomas before we do something." I said. I hadn't noticed Thomas'd approached us while I was talking to Alexion.
"Is that so?" Alexion asked. "Hello Thomas."
"Hello." Thomas said. I looked at him, and his eyes were on me. "I saw you come out of the Guildhall. Do we have a quest?"
"Maybe.." I said. "Is your mom gonna allow you to go to a dungeon?"
"I don't know why I wouldn't be able to just.. go?" Thomas said slowly.
"Acause parents don't let their kids do stuff like that." I said. "Normally anyways."
"Thomas.. I'm plenty old to be able to go and do what I want." Thomas said.
"Well, Daelyn is older than you and he got into trouble." I pointed out.
"Daelyn was mean to his family." Thomas pointed out.
"Well, that's true, too. Children should be filial to their parents." I said.
"I have no idea what that means." Thomas said.
"Filial means 'of or due from a son or daughter.' In this case it means obedient and respectful or mindful of parental expectation." I explained.
"Oh. Yeah he didn't do that." Thomas said.
"But that's why Thomas should check with Wren before doing such things." I said.
"Alright. Thomas will check. Thomas thinks it will be fine, but Thomas will check." Thomas sighed.
"Who minded Thomas the most while Wren was away?" Alexion asked.
Thomas pointed at me and I said, "I guess that would be me..."
"Then I would say it is up to you. Besides that, biologically speaking, Daelyn is an aduly whose treated like a child. That's likely to cause some resentment. Thomas hasn't had his mother for nearly as long as he had her. That makes him in charge of himself, or who he decides to listen to." Alexion lectured.
"Well, I'd still prefer if Thomas speak to Wren before we do anything dangerous and multiple day related. We won't be leaving right away anyways. I'd like to prepare and give Daelyn a chance to join up with us, if he'd be allowed. I'd probably want to talk to his parents before allowing that." I sighed.
"Alright. I'll let her know." Thomas said.
"Are you sure you have no intent to marry? You're nearly at the age humans start marrying, aren't you?" Alexion asked. from his tone, I realized it was just pure curiousity.
"I might marry. I'd just have to like the guy first." I told him. "It would be a different experience. What about you?"
"Hmm. I haven't taken an interest in anyone." Alexion replied. "I'd like to connect with someone emotionally before investing much into them."
"Hm." Thomas said, appearing to ponder. "I'm gonna go talk to Mom." And he walked away.
"Thank you for walking with me Alexion." I said. Effectively telling him I was done with him.
"I'll go with you both into the dungeon. Let me know when you're going. A healer is a great ally in such a place." Alexion said, and left.
I decided to head to Kershka. Once I reached him, I tucked myself up next to him and took a nap. He'd keep me safe. When I woke from the nap, I hopped up and went on my way, after giving Kershka a hug anyways. I left town briefly to head into the woods to hide and handle my lady cloth, then I cleaned and stored it before heading back to town to sell the wolf pelts I'd still had. I'd give Daelyn his part of that in person.
I wasn't really sure what to do after that. I kinda wondered around a bit. The headed to Balnur, the blacksmith, to check on what I'd asked for. Amazingly enough, he'd fashioned a sort of gloved weapon already. This would readily boost Thomas' punch and not hurt his fist in the process. I purchased them and headed out. I looked around for Thomas, first. Finding him towards the bakery.