Bonus : Back from the Wild
/*TODO : Trigger warning for nudity and hornyness of "underaged" characters*/
"Aaaaah, finally home!"
Lyra let her bag fall on the ground with a heavy sigh. After two whole weeks spent in the Wild Unknown, she was sore, tired, covered in dirt, and most of all, glad to arrive in her little home at the edge of the woods. The sun was lazily sinking behind the mountains. In a few hours most of the villagers would meet at the tavern to have a fresh drink after a hard workday. Lyra weighed her options for a few minutes. She had enough food in stock to cook something, but right now a good beer with a hot plate of stew sounded like paradise. Even with the ten minutes walk before the village. Beside, she knew the villagers now. They would be disappointed to not see her after a long expedition like this.
But first, she needed some rest, some quality "me time" to get her mind out of the survival-in-the-mountains state. And new cloth that didn't smell like goats. First thing first, she set up to make a fire. Leaving her bag near the entrance with her sword and pointy hat, Lyra took two logs of wood next to the door and made her way toward the open hearth at the center of the room. She dropped the logs next to it, only to realise that it was already prepared to be lit.
"Awww, that's so sweet." she said after a second of surprise, "I'll have to go thank Finn." That young boy was the only one with a double of her keys. He had agreed to come take care of her precious plants while she was gone, but now that she payed attention she could see he also did a bit of cleaning. With a soft motion of her hand she activated the runes she had carved on the sides of the hearth and the fire immediatly illuminated the room. Lyra looked around to see what had changed. Her house was basically just one room. The first third at the entrance had a dirt ground. The wall had all the equipment to cook except the fireplace. Said fireplace was at the third of room, were two steps of stones led to the rest of the house, elevated by a stone floor. This floor was separated in two spaces: the bed at the right, covered with heavy blankets and a few pelts, with a huge trunk of clothes at its feet. And a desk at the left, under the only small window of the house, next to a bookcase countaining a dozen of books. That was not even half of what the Baron had, but still a dozen more than the average in the village.
The floor around the bed and the desk was covered with rugs and carpets. At the center of the stairs, separating it in two, were the fireplace. It was at the same level as the stone floor, making it easy to use for cooking, even with large cauldrons. It was also conveniently placed to heat the whole room. Above all that, heavy wooden beams supported the thick roof and were covered in plants in pots.
Everything was cleaner than she remembered, Finn really outdid himself!
A few trips to the well behind the house, and everything was ready. Lyra shut the curtains, closed the door, and made a quick magical scan of the area to check that no villager were approaching. Now that she was certain to be alone, she could finally relax. She removed her heavy leather gloves and boots and put them next to the entrance, on a shelf dedicated to it. She threw her tunic on the ground, it needed to be washed anyway. Now she could take off her chainmail and put it next to her leather equipment. It would need to be tended to later, but it couldn't be left to rust on the ground. She quickly got out of the rest of her cloth. Pants, underpants and undershirt made a pile of dirty fabrics next to the bag. Free from the weight of iron on her shoulders, the young witch breathed out in relief and stretched a little. Her shoulders were tensed, her neck was hard as steel and her lower back was killing her. She really needed to relax in some hot water.
The fire had already started to heat the room, but it was still a bit chill without any cloth on. Lyra went back toward the center. As she bent down to activate the runes on her bathtub, she saw her reflexion in the water. Her red hair were attached in a fluffy ponytail, she had a cute round face with bright blue eyes and freckles on the cheekbones, shoulders and hips. She had a curvy figure, a bit chubby, with wide hips but surprisingly small breast. "Oh right. How could I forget that ?" She said, shaking her head. She stepped back, detached her hair and snapped her fingers. Her Glamour shattered, and she no longer looked human. Her skin was a dark greyish blue, her freckles turned into dragon like scales. Thick, but round at the tip and smooth to the touch. They covered her cheekbones, neck, shoulders and arms down to her elbows. It made intrincate patterns on her back, extending on her hips and down to the middle of her thighs. Her spine now continued in a lizard like tail slightly shorter than her legs, also covered in scales at the base, in continuity of her back. Her toes and fingers were a bit shorter and ended on black claws. Her ears were now long, large and pointy, like the wide ears of a bat, and her forehead was ornated by two stubby horns. Her ears seemed very mobile and were pointing down.
"Now that's much better!" Her ears bolted up to accompany her smile, which showed very pointy canines. Her hair and her eyes were the only thing that hadn't changed. Her silhouette was also the same, except for the tail, ears and horns.
While the water in the tub was slowly warming up, she went to the chest next to her bed to choose some clean clothing. she came back with a pair of linen pants, a linen underdress and a dark red sleevless dress made of wool. Simple and comfy, not to warm, perfect to enjoy the tavern. Though she would need her big hooded cape to reach the place of the village without freezing.
Lyra tested the water. It was perfectly warm. She slid into the water up to her neck. A chill of pleasure went down her spine as she settled against the familiar planks. It was just so good. The young witch took some time to just soak in and let her muscles relax. "I understimated how tired I actually am", she thought. She could feel the knots in her muscles untie themselves slowly under the effects of the hot water. The house was very quiet. There were no sound beside the fire cracking, few animals living their life in the forest surrounding her little cottage, and the wind rustling the branches of the trees. Through her horns, she could feel the life around her house in a radius big enough to almost reach the village. She could see the trees all around her, their roots going deeper than she could feel inside the ground. She could see the owl hunting behind the house, its eyes glowing brighter than the rest of its body. She could see the mices and other rodents running around, probably as shinny to the owl as they were to her. On the far end of her reach, toward the forest, she felt a group of reindeer running away. Reindeer are powerfull magic users, not to be trifled with. But they're also very fearful, so there's no doubt they were fleeing from the magical aura of her detection spell.
After a few minutes in the warmth of the bath, the little witch sunk even more to immerge her head entirely. That was something she loved to do. She loved the silence of underwater, when all exterior sounds are muffled and she can focus on herself. Here, she can hear her heart beat, her muscles rumbling softly, her joint crack ever so slightly when she stays still for a while then move a little. Here, she feels safe, she can be herself with no judgments, not even from the back of her own mind. Lyra stayed there for little while, going back to the surface to take some air sometimes, always leaving her ears under the surface.
Suddenly, she felt something strange. At the edge of her magical reach, coming from the village, something was approaching. It wasn't a living being, it was a shiny little dot in space. Floating between one meter and one and a half meter above the ground, moving at the speed of a brisk walking human. That odd appearance in her radar put a smile on her face, she knew exactly what, or rather who, that was. Finn was coming to her house. "Damn, that signaling pendant was a good idea.", she tought.
Finn was a young boy from the village. He was rather small, only one and a half meter despite being already sixteen years old. He had short light-brown hair, green eyes, freckles going from one ear to the other, and little to no facial hairs. He was also a Black Blood. Because of this condition he was born with, he cannot absorb the minerals affected by the winds of magic that every human, and almost every living being, have in their bones. Magic moves through him without affecting him, making him impervious to any and all spells, be it detection, attacks or healing. Or illusions. He has never been impacted by Lyra's glamour and she knew at first sight he was a Black Blood. He was the only one she couldn't feel the presence. She managed to prove that she wasn't here to do any harm to anyone and to convince him not to tell anybody. Now, approximatively a year later, they were very good friends. Maybe a bit more than friends. The young boy entered the house using his spare key, and almost immediatly froze when he saw Lyra in her bath, her head resting on her arm at the edge of the bathtub. She greeted him with a huge smile, enjoying the shades of red coming up to his cheeks.
"Hi Finn! Come in, don't stay in the cold!"
Finn obeyed and closed the door with stiff movements. "I-I ... I'm sorry, I didn't know you were back!" he managed to stutter"
"I arrived at sunset, I was just cleaning up a bit before going to eat at the tavern. Wanna join me?"
"I-i-i-in the bath!?"
"No, you silly! At the tavern!" Finn's face was ready to combust, and Lyra enjoyed every moment of it, chuckling softly at the qui pro quo. Her smile was so earnest that Finn started to laugh too.
"So, as I was saying," Said Lyra once they calmed down a bit, "Once I'm done with my bath, I'll go to the tavern to get something to eat. I'd love it if you came along, at least for a beer. Can you wait for me?"
"Sure, I can wait outside."
"No no, you can stay inside, take a sit at my desk, I won't be long."
"Erm. Ok, if you insist."
Finn removed his coat and boots before the stone steps then went to sit at Lyra's desk. He turned his chair around so he wouldn't impinge on her intimacy. She appreciated his chivalry, though she was also a bit disappointed. Finn was just so pure, she loved that about him.
She proceeded to wash herself while they talked about her expedition. He asked if she had found something about her identity out there, she said that she didn't but she could feel she was getting closer to something important. She could feel it in her horns. There was something about the winds of magic that felt ... Familiar, somehow. She also found some bones rich in Crystals that would come in handy to make some Sigil Ink, or to engrave some Enchantments. So, all in all, the trip was worth it. After a few minutes, Lyra was done scrubbing herself and washing her hair. She came out of the bath, dried herself up with her towel then rolled it around her body. With a simple wave of her hand, she deactivated the runes on the tub that kept the water warm. She was about to get dressed when she stopped in her tracks, then went toward Finn with an impish smile.
"By the way, Finn, I almost forgot..." She passed right next to him and bent down to reach her bookcase as she continued, apparently ignoring his startled jump "I have a new book that you might like, it's about animal anatomy and biology."
She gave the tome to a flustered Finn who was making a lot of effort to focus on the book. He tried to answer a "Thank y..." but he catched a glimpse of Lyra's body he wasn't expecting.
"You have a tail?!" He almost shouted in shock."
"Haha, among other things, yeah."
"Since when?"
"Since I was born. But I have to tuck it in my pants when I go out in public. My glamours are powerful, but they only hide the appearance of things. If someone were to trip on my tail, it would be a disaster."
"... So that's why you alway keep a distance with people."
"Also yes."
Suddenly, Finn seemed to realize that the tail he was staring at belonged to a young girl's naked body and he turned around in panic
"Oh Goddesses, I'm sorry, I was staring!"
"It's ok, you can" She replied with a smile "Anyway, you can put on your boots, I'm gonna get dressed and we'll be good to go!"
"O-ok ... Sorry again."
"Don't worry Finn, you can look at me, I don't mind." she said as she put on her underdress, emphasizing the "you".
Lyra Finished dressing up, put on her boots, gloves and cape, and joined the blushing boy who was waiting in front of the door.
"All right" She said. She clapped her hands in front of her chest, creating a new glamour, then she turned around, snapped her finger in the general direction of the fire which extinguished instantly. Finally, she turned back toward Finn with a warm smile. "Let's go!"
Lyra let her bag fall on the ground with a heavy sigh. After two whole weeks spent in the Wild Unknown, she was sore, tired, covered in dirt, and most of all, glad to arrive in her little home at the edge of the woods. The sun was lazily sinking behind the mountains. In a few hours most of the villagers would meet at the tavern to have a fresh drink after a hard workday. Lyra weighed her options for a few minutes. She had enough food in stock to cook something, but right now a good beer with a hot plate of stew sounded like paradise. Even with the ten minutes walk before the village. Beside, she knew the villagers now. They would be disappointed to not see her after a long expedition like this.
But first, she needed some rest, some quality "me time" to get her mind out of the survival-in-the-mountains state. And new cloth that didn't smell like goats. First thing first, she set up to make a fire. Leaving her bag near the entrance with her sword and pointy hat, Lyra took two logs of wood next to the door and made her way toward the open hearth at the center of the room. She dropped the logs next to it, only to realise that it was already prepared to be lit.
"Awww, that's so sweet." she said after a second of surprise, "I'll have to go thank Finn." That young boy was the only one with a double of her keys. He had agreed to come take care of her precious plants while she was gone, but now that she payed attention she could see he also did a bit of cleaning. With a soft motion of her hand she activated the runes she had carved on the sides of the hearth and the fire immediatly illuminated the room. Lyra looked around to see what had changed. Her house was basically just one room. The first third at the entrance had a dirt ground. The wall had all the equipment to cook except the fireplace. Said fireplace was at the third of room, were two steps of stones led to the rest of the house, elevated by a stone floor. This floor was separated in two spaces: the bed at the right, covered with heavy blankets and a few pelts, with a huge trunk of clothes at its feet. And a desk at the left, under the only small window of the house, next to a bookcase countaining a dozen of books. That was not even half of what the Baron had, but still a dozen more than the average in the village.
The floor around the bed and the desk was covered with rugs and carpets. At the center of the stairs, separating it in two, were the fireplace. It was at the same level as the stone floor, making it easy to use for cooking, even with large cauldrons. It was also conveniently placed to heat the whole room. Above all that, heavy wooden beams supported the thick roof and were covered in plants in pots.
Everything was cleaner than she remembered, Finn really outdid himself!
/* TODO : Redo this whole scene to be more like Lyra looking around and less like a narrator explaining the floor plan*/
After taking a mental note of finding a way to thanks Finn properly, Lyra went through a door barely visible next to the kitchen, in the dirt-floored part of the house. The cottage was half-buried in a small turf. This door led to a cellar inside the artificial hill, only three steps below ground level. She brought back a bathtub, struggling a bit to push it up the steps and through the door. After setting it up next to the fire, close to the stones so she wouldn't step on the dirt right after her bath, she took a minute to admire it and catch her breath. It was an old one, made of thick wood planks soften by years of use, and circled by two rings of iron. It looked like a misshapen barrel open at the top, but it was way more confortable than it looked. She had bought it in a flea market for almost nothing years ago. It took her a full week to scrub the rust out of it and engrave it like only a talented Rune Witch could have done. It was now perfectly resistant to rust and could heat the water it contains with a good precision. She had spent dozens of hours in this bath tub since, it was still one of her most valuable artefact to this day. At least in terms of emotional value.A few trips to the well behind the house, and everything was ready. Lyra shut the curtains, closed the door, and made a quick magical scan of the area to check that no villager were approaching. Now that she was certain to be alone, she could finally relax. She removed her heavy leather gloves and boots and put them next to the entrance, on a shelf dedicated to it. She threw her tunic on the ground, it needed to be washed anyway. Now she could take off her chainmail and put it next to her leather equipment. It would need to be tended to later, but it couldn't be left to rust on the ground. She quickly got out of the rest of her cloth. Pants, underpants and undershirt made a pile of dirty fabrics next to the bag. Free from the weight of iron on her shoulders, the young witch breathed out in relief and stretched a little. Her shoulders were tensed, her neck was hard as steel and her lower back was killing her. She really needed to relax in some hot water.
The fire had already started to heat the room, but it was still a bit chill without any cloth on. Lyra went back toward the center. As she bent down to activate the runes on her bathtub, she saw her reflexion in the water. Her red hair were attached in a fluffy ponytail, she had a cute round face with bright blue eyes and freckles on the cheekbones, shoulders and hips. She had a curvy figure, a bit chubby, with wide hips but surprisingly small breast. "Oh right. How could I forget that ?" She said, shaking her head. She stepped back, detached her hair and snapped her fingers. Her Glamour shattered, and she no longer looked human. Her skin was a dark greyish blue, her freckles turned into dragon like scales. Thick, but round at the tip and smooth to the touch. They covered her cheekbones, neck, shoulders and arms down to her elbows. It made intrincate patterns on her back, extending on her hips and down to the middle of her thighs. Her spine now continued in a lizard like tail slightly shorter than her legs, also covered in scales at the base, in continuity of her back. Her toes and fingers were a bit shorter and ended on black claws. Her ears were now long, large and pointy, like the wide ears of a bat, and her forehead was ornated by two stubby horns. Her ears seemed very mobile and were pointing down.
"Now that's much better!" Her ears bolted up to accompany her smile, which showed very pointy canines. Her hair and her eyes were the only thing that hadn't changed. Her silhouette was also the same, except for the tail, ears and horns.
While the water in the tub was slowly warming up, she went to the chest next to her bed to choose some clean clothing. she came back with a pair of linen pants, a linen underdress and a dark red sleevless dress made of wool. Simple and comfy, not to warm, perfect to enjoy the tavern. Though she would need her big hooded cape to reach the place of the village without freezing.
Lyra tested the water. It was perfectly warm. She slid into the water up to her neck. A chill of pleasure went down her spine as she settled against the familiar planks. It was just so good. The young witch took some time to just soak in and let her muscles relax. "I understimated how tired I actually am", she thought. She could feel the knots in her muscles untie themselves slowly under the effects of the hot water. The house was very quiet. There were no sound beside the fire cracking, few animals living their life in the forest surrounding her little cottage, and the wind rustling the branches of the trees. Through her horns, she could feel the life around her house in a radius big enough to almost reach the village. She could see the trees all around her, their roots going deeper than she could feel inside the ground. She could see the owl hunting behind the house, its eyes glowing brighter than the rest of its body. She could see the mices and other rodents running around, probably as shinny to the owl as they were to her. On the far end of her reach, toward the forest, she felt a group of reindeer running away. Reindeer are powerfull magic users, not to be trifled with. But they're also very fearful, so there's no doubt they were fleeing from the magical aura of her detection spell.
After a few minutes in the warmth of the bath, the little witch sunk even more to immerge her head entirely. That was something she loved to do. She loved the silence of underwater, when all exterior sounds are muffled and she can focus on herself. Here, she can hear her heart beat, her muscles rumbling softly, her joint crack ever so slightly when she stays still for a while then move a little. Here, she feels safe, she can be herself with no judgments, not even from the back of her own mind. Lyra stayed there for little while, going back to the surface to take some air sometimes, always leaving her ears under the surface.
Suddenly, she felt something strange. At the edge of her magical reach, coming from the village, something was approaching. It wasn't a living being, it was a shiny little dot in space. Floating between one meter and one and a half meter above the ground, moving at the speed of a brisk walking human. That odd appearance in her radar put a smile on her face, she knew exactly what, or rather who, that was. Finn was coming to her house. "Damn, that signaling pendant was a good idea.", she tought.
Finn was a young boy from the village. He was rather small, only one and a half meter despite being already sixteen years old. He had short light-brown hair, green eyes, freckles going from one ear to the other, and little to no facial hairs. He was also a Black Blood. Because of this condition he was born with, he cannot absorb the minerals affected by the winds of magic that every human, and almost every living being, have in their bones. Magic moves through him without affecting him, making him impervious to any and all spells, be it detection, attacks or healing. Or illusions. He has never been impacted by Lyra's glamour and she knew at first sight he was a Black Blood. He was the only one she couldn't feel the presence. She managed to prove that she wasn't here to do any harm to anyone and to convince him not to tell anybody. Now, approximatively a year later, they were very good friends. Maybe a bit more than friends. The young boy entered the house using his spare key, and almost immediatly froze when he saw Lyra in her bath, her head resting on her arm at the edge of the bathtub. She greeted him with a huge smile, enjoying the shades of red coming up to his cheeks.
"Hi Finn! Come in, don't stay in the cold!"
Finn obeyed and closed the door with stiff movements. "I-I ... I'm sorry, I didn't know you were back!" he managed to stutter"
She proceeded to wash herself while they talked about her expedition. He asked if she had found something about her identity out there, she said that she didn't but she could feel she was getting closer to something important. She could feel it in her horns. There was something about the winds of magic that felt ... Familiar, somehow. She also found some bones rich in Crystals that would come in handy to make some Sigil Ink, or to engrave some Enchantments. So, all in all, the trip was worth it. After a few minutes, Lyra was done scrubbing herself and washing her hair. She came out of the bath, dried herself up with her towel then rolled it around her body. With a simple wave of her hand, she deactivated the runes on the tub that kept the water warm. She was about to get dressed when she stopped in her tracks, then went toward Finn with an impish smile.
"By the way, Finn, I almost forgot..." She passed right next to him and bent down to reach her bookcase as she continued, apparently ignoring his startled jump "I have a new book that you might like, it's about animal anatomy and biology."
She gave the tome to a flustered Finn who was making a lot of effort to focus on the book. He tried to answer a "Thank y..." but he catched a glimpse of Lyra's body he wasn't expecting.
"You have a tail?!" He almost shouted in shock."
"Oh Goddesses, I'm sorry, I was staring!"
"All right" She said. She clapped her hands in front of her chest, creating a new glamour, then she turned around, snapped her finger in the general direction of the fire which extinguished instantly. Finally, she turned back toward Finn with a warm smile. "Let's go!"
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