Enlightenment Through BDSM

I was struck by the people that were coming down the hill, an assortment of wonders in both dress and body. There were regular humans walking with what looked like clothes pulled out of a renaissance painting, green giants like Dreck walking around in nice silks and scant pelts alike, shorter people with giant beards wearing bundles of fur and cloth, and even one person who was, for lack of a better description, like me, a catperson.

She walked with a group of four others, leading a man wearing long blue robes and a pointed hat, a large green woman whose face I could barely see under copious amounts of armor, a strange looking short, skinny person with a lighter shade of green skin carrying some type of guitar, and one of those stout shorter people, a woman buried in thick leather and with a scarf wrapped around her entire face.

And the leader was weirdly magnetic. She was dressed in skintight leathers, had two long knives on her side, long red hair, a deep, crimson red, and eyes as green as grass. I honestly couldn’t help but stare as she approached, raising her hand into a friendly wave. “Hail, friends!” she said, a deeper, huskier voice than I’d imagined from looking at her. “How go the wilds?” She was obviously looking at me, but I was too awestruck by everything to respond even if I did know how to answer.

“Like shit,” Dreck said, sullying the jovial nature instantly. The group had seemed in good spirits, but their expressions soured at that. “Lost our rogue yesterday to a band of marauding gnolls.”

“Oh, my condolences,” my fellow Felyn said, bowing her head. “Terrible luck in these parts, really. Must have traveled far from their spawn. May I ask your levels?”

“We were level two, the three of us,” Kalia said, gesturing to herself and Dreck. “Mai here is new to our group, a Reborn.”

“Oh,” the girl said, visibly wrinkling her nose. I couldn’t help but notice what seemed like looks of disdain from the others in her group as well at the comment. “My apologies again. We’ll try and avenge your lost comrade if we can, but we must be off.”

With that her and the group hurried along, nary another glance at me despite the seeming interest earlier. “Uhm, what was that?” I asked as we moved along ourselves, trudging up the hill. 

“It’s nothing,” Kalia said, though her expression betrayed a certain discomfort she was feeling.

“They hate you,” Dreck said. “Commonfolk? The love ancient heroes having come back from the dead to save them. Fellow adventurers though? Most think you cheated. We’ve had to work hard our entire lives to earn our Jobs, in the hardest times there’ve ever been, and then all of the sudden you pop up right at level one, never having worked your class here at all? Some folks feel cheated is all.”

I couldn’t help but feel a certain level of guilt at that. I wasn't exactly sure what process and strife I’d skipped, but I did know I was incredibly lucky to be in this situation. 

“I see it different though,” Dreck continued. “You people are alright, from the ones I’ve met. And you earned your Jobs, just not recently. No use blaming you for that, I reckon.”

That only made it worse, and I noticed Kalia wincing as well. Maybe I was starting to understand why the other Reborn kept up the charade they did, but I was already feeling a little guilty about lying about stuff like that.

“They have a point,” Kalia said. “It’s hard to explain, but I understand them.”

Dreck shrugged. “Help kill monsters, help clear a way to the Demon King. Nothing to feel shame about if you’re willing to help us out.”

Easy for him to say, I thought. I was glad he didn’t hate me just for that, at least.

“Dreck,” Kalia said after a long silence, right as we were approaching the top of the hill. “Have you thought about staying?”

“I have, and I won’t,” he said.

Kalia’s head dropped, a kind of resigned half nod. “Okay. Do you want me to do it, or?”

Dreck walked forward for a while before shaking his head. “I’ll do it.”

Nothing really changed, but I felt it anyway. Dreck inhaled sharply, like he’d just dropped a heavy load, and Kalia’s hanging head sunk lower. I knew what is was without even asking, that Dreck had released himself from his vow with Kalia, breaking the bond, locking himself from ever receiving the benefits again.

“I wish you the best,” he said as he stopped at the top, in front of the open gate, in between two sections of white stone wall. “I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. Nothing’s wrong with you; I just can’t deal with that level of restriction. And Key’s death wasn’t your fault.”

Kalia straightened her spine, looking forward, strong once more. “I wish you the best as well, Dreck. And thank you.” Dreck grunted once in acknowledgement and then continued over the hill, disappearing from view.

Kalia and I were left on the side of the road, slowly being pushed to the side by the growing crowd of strange-looking people as they made their way down the hill. I wanted to both comfort her and pry, make her feel better and find out what Dreck had meant, who Key was, what exactly happened to her.

I won’t lie, part of it scared me, knowing someone in their group had died just the day before. It wasn’t about being with Kalia though, just a reminder that this world, the outside at least, was more dangerous than the world I came from. I knew she’d do her best to protect someone she was with, if only because Dreck seemed to acknowledge that, despite his own hang-ups.

“Come on,” she said after a while, a smile that looked a little too “put on” on her face. “We have lots to do, and I’m hungry besides.”

I wanted to say something, let her know everything was okay. But the problem was she was trying to do the same for me, and I wasn’t used to that, so I just followed, and my mind quickly became distracted anyway as we walked.

Valleytown, she’d called it. It was an apt name, though a little underselling the idea. Below me was a wide stretch of land between two long, gentle slopes, littered with red roofed buildings, arranged in a tight mass that reminded me more of a city than a town. There was a small smattering of open areas of what looked like white roads and green parks, giant river flowing through the middle, and a handful of offshoot streams I could see from this distance as well. 

I was in awe. There wasn’t a car in sight, no grimy haze of smog, the only sound as we walked down the laughing of fellow travelers and the blowing wind. I couldn’t help but take in a big gulp of air, relishing in the freshness of it.

“You’re so cute,” Kalia eventually said, snapping me out of my trance. 

“What?” I said, feeling my face glowing at the comment. “Cute” wasn’t exactly a word I was used to being called. 

“I was a little worried when you said you didn’t know anything bout fantasy worlds, but I think that was wrong of me. You seem to like it here just fine.”

“Well, yeah,” I said, gazing out over the town. “It’s so… peaceful,” was the only way I could describe it. Nothing like what I expected hearing I was being sent to save a world in peril. 

“It’s our job to keep it that way,” Kalia replied. “But first, we’ll need to get you some proper clothes.”

That did sound good. The makeshift dress I was wearing was kind of fun in a way, but it wasn’t really the most flattering thing. And I had a body I liked now, so I should be able to show it off, right? Just a little, obviously. Nothing too revealing, of course…

To that end, we approached two people as we were entering the city proper, two humans carrying axe-headed spears and wearing brown uniforms, not nearly as ornate as Kalia’s, but still uniforms nonetheless. 

“Excuse me,” Kalia said, raising her hand up in greeting as we walked towards them. “Might you direct us to a tailor, or a ready-made shop preferably?”

“One just down this way, actually. Two blocks down, one to your right. ‘Woodland Designs’ it’ll say out front, run by and elven lass like yourself.”

“Thank you,” Kalia said with a polite bow before heading off in the direction the man had pointed.

“Elven lass?” I asked with a whisper.

She squinted, obviously confused at the question, before tapping her ear. “Elf, like Felyn. It’s what I am.”

“Oh,” I said, blushing again for the I-don’t-even-know-how-many time that day. “I just thought… you had pointy ears.”

“Do I need to explain orcs too, or did you think Dreck was just a green person with droopy ears?”

“I know what orcs are!” I said. I mean, I did now, at least.

I was blessedly saved further humiliation as we came to the building with the saying “Woodland Designs.” It was a little different than most of the other stone buildings, being made of wood, but a white wood that matched the color of the other buildings at least, still with that dark red wooden roof most of them had. From what I could tell, the inside didn’t really look like inside either, with branches and flowers pushing up against the windows, very little light coming through. 

“Come on, kitty,” Kalia said. “Let’s go see what type of outfits I can buy for you.”