“Mmm, g’mornin,” Kat mumbled, blinking sleep from her tired eyes.

She and Ann had passed out just after their nightly passions, and she felt the member still inside her. Ann was already awake, simply resting next to her lover and taking in the lovely warmth of Kat’s body. If this is how she woke up every morning, she’d be happy for all her life.

“Morning, sunshine,” Ann teased, pushing a lock of messy hair out of Kat’s face. “Sorry, no morning surprises today.”

“Mmmm, but yer still in there,” Kat moaned, clenching her insides around Ann’s member. “More’n enough o’ a good wakeup.”

“Finally getting used to me? Aww, I feel a little let down…” Ann teased, pulling out an inch. Kat sucked in her breath. “Oh? Or are you not? Woulda thought after an hour or so last night the princess would be satisfied.”

“Mmm, for that monster? Never.” Kat whispered in a low growl.

“Oh? A monster is what you want? Hmm,” Ann bared her teeth, rolling over and trapping Kat underneath her. She panted heavily, letting her tongue slip out and lick up the other woman’s cheek.

Kat struggled playfully under her, each movement stroking her length and drawing another moan from her. “’Elp! ‘Elp!” she cried in mock terror. “I’m bein’ ravaged by a mad beast!”

It was a full hour before they were ready to get dressed and head downstairs. Kat was covered in bite marks, some of which would probably need Bren’s healing, and Ann swore her sides were bruised from how hard Kat had latched on to her.

“… every morning?” they heard Rosalyn ask Bren as they joined them at the table.

“Not every morning, no. Usually they keep things to nights,” the man answered, giving the late comers a grin.

“Gossiping about your team’s love life?” Ann joked, taking a piece of bread and buttering it.

“Merely acquainting our newcomer with your normal routines,” Bren responded airily as he slid bags of coin to each, having already divided their earnings.

“You are kinda late. I was wondering if this is how things normally went,” Rosalyn clarified, brushing the wool from her face.

“Only when we get distracted in the morning. Or, well, actually, Kat can be late in general. Takes an act of God to get her to wake up most mornings,” Ann laughed.

“I… can’t say anythin’ tae that,” Kat grumbled.

“Damn right. So, what’s up with today? We had a card under our door saying my clothes are ready. I’d assume our equipment from the last Seed would be too. Should we split and go get all that?”

“Probably fer the best,” Kat agreed, tearing a piece of her bread off with gusto. “How about the girls hit the armour and weapon area, then go pick up yer clothes? Bren, ye’d need tae hit the magical district, yeah?”

“Correct. I would not say no to the company, however, it is out of the way for the rest of your errands. We do also need to see what we can get done with that piece of the Snail shell Kat has been so considerately carrying.”

“Heavy piece o’ shite,” Kat grumbled. “Not sure what anyone’d do wit’ it, but doesn’t hurt tae see if armour or sommat can be made o’ it. Especially if ye aren’t usin’ it as shingling now,” she grinned, elbowing Rosalyn’s side.

“Yeah. It was too uneven and rounded to be much use for that, anyway. Not unless I cut it down, which would be a massive pain considering my arms,” she giggled, waving arms that lacked any sort of definition. “Can stand up and endure, but boy are feats of strength, not my thing. Anyway, yeah. I wonder if they might be able to make a shield for you, Kat? Or maybe a shoulder piece or two? It’d be heavy, but considering how much trouble you all had damaging the thing, even thinned down to actually be usable, it’d be a considerable defensive increase.”

“Maybe a breastplate?” Ann suggested. “Like, you’ve got your normal hardened leathers, but I feel like a Protector would have heavier equipment.”

“Just me startin’ out fer a while. Gotta save up fer the good shite,” Kat said, finishing off her mug of ale. “Heavier armour is feckin expensive. Modifyin’ somethin’ like that shell? Probably a bit less so, since the armourer gets tae work wit’ a novel material. Can always see. Already ‘ave who I want tae get in mind.”

“I guess that settles it,” Bren declared, pushing his seat back. “You three run your errands. I will pick up my wand and head to the Qu’sella temple to get information on the Seed we are looking at. Not too much, I promise,” he grumbled, catching the rest of the table glancing at him.

After quick goodbyes and a further grumble from Kat about not over-researching things, the four parted ways. The women’s first target was an armoursmith Kat had commissioned to work on her ironbark equipment. She hadn’t told the rest what it was, so Ann spent most of the trip speculating to herself.

As they walked, she also noticed that Rosalyn stayed unusually close to them, always in some physical contact with the other two while they wound their way through the busy streets. Once the crowds of the main thoroughfares thinned, she backed off slightly, but her eyes never lost the shifting nervousness.

“You don’t do well with crowds, do you?” Ann pointed out the obvious, hoping to distract the timid woman with conversation.

“Nope! Never have! Or at least, I guess I’ve never really had the opportunity to find out? Everything has been small and remote in my life. Have I told you this? I probably have. Ignore me. But yeah, crowds. Sorry if I’m crowding you. Heh,” she chuckled at her accidental joke.

“Nae, yer fine,” Kat reassured her. “Just let us know if ye’re getting overwhelmed. Don’t want ye passin’ out on the street.”

“I totally will. It’s just so much happening around me. I try to listen to it all and pay attention to everything, but that’s not possible and I just kinda spiral and shut down? I barely remember the walk to the Association yesterday, or the gate. This dumb brain keeps going a mile a minute with nothing actually happening.” She let out a sigh, lowering her head dejectedly as she gripped her horns.

“What’s tha’? The whole thing wit’ ye holdin’ yer horns like tha’?” Kat asked.

“Old habit,” she said with a start, realizing where her hands had gone without thinking. “It calms me down, to just hold on to something solid. Usually that’s just been me, so I got used to it.”

Ann wondered if she should ask. She was desperate to know what someone else caressing the ebony curls of bone that almost matched the woman’s skin would do. How they felt. She’d gone to petting zoos before, but wasn’t sure the experience translated to a human sized set. She decided not to, though. It felt awkward. Almost intimate? Something to ask later if things played out well between them.

Soon, they arrived. The building was squat with nary a speck of snow on its steepled roof. One squat floor was all there was to the building. Utilitarian and built to resist heat, built with the customary black stone bricks and shingles that appeared to be fashioned from the same material. Smoke rose from a thick chimney set in the side of the building, and light flickered in the windows. The clang of hammers on metal sounded from within, and muffled curses rose above the other noise as they entered the front door.

“Jeb!” Kat called as she kicked open the door. A blast of hot air met them, blowing back all of their hair and instantly drying out their eyes. “You ok back there ye arsehole?”

“I’m fucking great!” the sarcastic reply came from the back. It was surprisingly high pitched, and not what Ann expected at all. “Piece of metal that’s really not wanting to behave. Who is that?”

“Katlyn and friends! Come tae pick up me order, an’ mayhaps give ye another.”

“All right! Be right out, let me quench this bastard real quick,” he called back, followed quickly by a hiss of heated metal being dunked in something.

Wiping his hands on a dirty cloth that did absolutely nothing to clean his gnarled hands off, Jeb walked out from the forge to the front room. He was a Bultrong, and an absolute specimen of one. Thick red hair flowed from a widow’s peak down his back, ending in several braids. His beard was a darker auburn of similar length, with patches that looked singed and mangled. Behind that beard were sparkling emerald eyes with deep crow’s feet etched into the corners from a life of squinting into the fires of his profession.

“Got a good crew with ya this time!” he belly laughed. “Here, got your pauldrons like you ordered them. Should be a good addition to your gear. Give me that old chest piece of yours and I’ll get the buckles put on for ‘em.”

“Thanks,” Kat said simply, handing over the armour as requested. “I actually mean tae talk to ye about that. Picked up an interestin’ scrap thanks tae this one,” Kat said, patting Rosalyn’s back gently. “Thick shell o’ a Warped. Piece o’ what was a snail shell. It took a feck o’ a beatin’, so Rosalyn here took a bit o’ it back. Was thinkin’ about keepin’ it fer roof work, but since she’s joined up wit’ us, figure ye might be able tae do somethin’ wit’ it.”

“Let me see, then.” Jeb gestured with a meaty, calloused hand. Kat heaved the large chunk of shell across the counter, and Jeb picked it up with a single hand. Ann’s jaw dropped as he turned it over deftly, inspecting the quality. “You ok there girl?” Jeb asked, knocking her out of her stupor.

“Sure. Just, that thing’s heavy as fuck. Surprised you can just do… that,” she explained awkwardly, gesturing in the air.

“Benefits of the trade. Gotta be strong to work with metal, let me tell you. Stronger than a good amount of fighters I know, but not a lick of combat in me, so I get all the practical uses.” He let out another booming laugh. Every time he did so, his eyes closed tightly, and Ann came to realize that the crow’s feet were from equal parts squinting and laughing. “Anyway, Katlyn, you’ve got yourself an interesting piece here. I can fashion this into a chest plate for you. Simple, attaches to your existing armour. With it being as large as it is, I could get a full front and back plate. It’ll be solid pieces on each, no fancy interlocking. That would need more material to trial and error with.”

“I’d be careful with it, too,” Rosalyn piped up. “It was really strike and impact resistant, so grinding might be a better method of wearing it down. Especially if it works like shells I’ve seen on smaller things. They can crack so easily if you weaken them enough.”

“Right you are,” Jeb affirmed, waving a hammer at Rosalyn. “That was the plan. Grind a groove in the middle here, use it to split, then grind the rest down to shape. Bolt a plate of light metal onto the back to reinforce it and give it places to anchor. Once done, you’ll have some fine armour there. Distinct too, considering how brightly white this stuff is. Makes good contrast to tall, dark, and leathery there,” he chuckled, hooking a thumb at Ann. “Anything for you two, wolf and the lamb?” he asked, turning his eyes to the others. “Royal entourage has to be well equipped, you know.”

“Maybe, if I figure out anything more than this sword,” Ann said, showing him the blade of her falchion. “It’s nothing special. Picked it up at an outpost. Lady named Pile showed me it.”

A curious thing happened. Jebs' eyes widened, then glanced down at the sword, then back at Ann. “Ye met Pile?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah?” Ann replied, giving him a nervous look. Rosalyn and Kat had perked up at the interaction as well. “You know her?”

“Know her,” the man heaved a sigh. “Lady’s a bit of a legend. What in the hells was she doing hanging out in an outpost? Let me guess, super curt, informal, always talking about a line that wasn’t there?”

“Aye, that was ‘er,” Kat confirmed.

“Voltid’s rumbling crack,” he cursed again. “Quick story, ‘cause I gotta get to work. She’s not what she looks like. She’d been around for ages. No one knows how long or why she’s like that, but she’s a figure in the smithing community. Rumors of her not being entirely of this plane have been going around because of her habit of rushing people along for unseen customers. She didn’t give you anything special this time. You run into her again, try to get her to make something for you. I guarantee on my name and my profession you’ll have something special. She’s made relics passed down in noble circles. Shit, I’m surprised you don’t know about her, Katlyn.”

“Nope, somehow passed me by. Always heard o’ the legendary swords, who used ‘em fer what, but not who made ‘em.”

“Well, not all of them were from Pile. I’d actually say the minority are, but the ones that are, they’re legends. Not only swords, neither. Just, yeah. Keep an eye out for her.”

Ann was taken aback by how much reverence was in Jeb’s voice as he spoke. He was clearly awed that they’d had the chance to meet what she’d thought was just a weird weapons lady.

“Anyway, anything for you, horns?” Jeb asked Rosalyn.

“Rosalyn, and no. I deal mostly with this,” she said, summoning her staff. “There’s a little pocket dimension enchantment on it so I can do that, but that’s it. I don’t believe that’s your forte, however.”

“Damn right it’s not. You ever want some metal plating for those horns of yours, though? Come asking. Not the first time I’ve worked with special Vulhardrin requests. Even metal caps on the tips for glamour’s sake.”

“Oh! I thought that would be the work of a jeweler, not an armourer,” Rosalyn mumbled, eyes never meeting Jeb’s.

“The disciplines cross enough, I’ve picked up some simple things. Tell you what,” he reached down under the desk. “If you’re in town and want to work with a jeweler for those, frankly, very nice horns of yours, head down to Timbolt’s. I’ve worked with him a couple times on jewel faceting into armour. Good lad, if a bit green. And I don’t mean skin colour, though he has that too. Enough jabber. Be back in a couple.”

He shuffled back into the worksop, and soon the sound of metal being hammered rang out again.

“Is horn jewelry something common for people with horns?” Ann asked Rosalyn.

“I wouldn’t know. Way too fancy for my skin, almost literally. Mom said she’d seen a couple of others with some fancy chains driven into their horns, all sorts of things. People can get really creative if they have a lot of money,” Rosalyn explained. As she spoke, with the focus only being from Kat and Ann, they watched her body language uncoil, her eyes relaxing.

“Is that something ye’d want?” Kat asked, appraising the horns on the Ovine’s head in a new light. “Think a simple chain or somethin’ o’ the like’d suit you well.”

“No, uh, maybe? I don’t know. I don’t… didn’t have money. I’ll need to send some of this home. Is that something I could set up, Kat? With the mage who’s going to be maintaining the Runestone?”

“Aye, tha’ can be arranged. Just gotta give Polaris the details. Guessin’ she’s not back since we’re not bein chased up tae the keep yet.”

“You, of course you know a General. You said she’s away? What’s she like? Is it something related to us, since she’d be asking about us if she were here?” Rosalyn inquired.

“Yeah,” Ann answered, taking her time to parse the response. “To not give out too much with current company, though I doubt he can hear over that racket, she’s gone to talk to Kat’s mom, the queen, about me. Who I am, what I’m here for. We’re expecting it to kinda blow up, but we’ve got some time.”

“Enough tae get that seed, I’d wager. Takes a day by train tae get to Korvas proper. She’d be cuttin’ through red tape tae talk to mum, but she can do that if it’s important enough,” Kat sighed. “And lemme tell ye, Ann, ye are.”

“Don’t I know it,” Ann chuckled halfheartedly.

“Well, that will be intense. I, um. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle that, honestly. I fall apart when a couple of strangers are looking at me, much less a queen, and more important people. Oh, I’m getting light-headed thinking about it.” Rosalyn swayed, her eyes going slightly unfocused, but was caught by Kat’s strong hands.

“Easy there, lass. Don’t get ahead o’ yerself. Ye’ll ‘ave us. Or at least one o’ us wit’ ye. If it’s not Ann, it’ll be me, or if it’s neither, Bren. No need tae fret.”

“THERE it fucking goes,” Jeb shouted in his workshop. Soon, the man bustled up to the counter and shoved Kat’s modified chest armour over the counter. 

The shoulders were beautiful. The Ironbark they’d received from Estval was set over metal pauldrons that would hang down over Kat’s shoulders and upper biceps. Surrounding the tough wood was a frame of polished brass that shone in complement to the lacquered bark.

Taking a moment, Kat tried the piece on. The normal leathers fit over her chest tightly, keeping her more delicate parts secure while still, at least to Ann’s eyes, being incredibly enticing. The shoulders fit well, with a strap over her biceps to keep them from flapping around. Clanking around? The verbiage escaped Ann. Regardless, the armour looked tough and brilliant.

“That’ll do. Here,” Kat said happily, sliding a few silver over to Jeb, plus a few more. “Advance for the plate attachments.”

“I thank you kindly, Katlyn. Anything else you’ll be needing?” He said, scooping the coin off the counter.

“Nope, see ye in a week or so,” she called as they stood to leave.

“See you then! I’ll have this all ready for you!” he replied as the door swung shut behind them.

“So, what’s next again?” Kat asked, adjusting her armour slightly.

“Clothes. I need to get my clothes,” Ann reminded her. This content belongs to novel·fire·net

“I’ve never been in a clothes store before,” Rosalyn piped up.

“Maybe not just for me, then,” Ann smirked, looking down at the Druid beside her.