The Lady’s Hand (A Dickings & Dalliances Adventure) - (Closed Except By Invitation)

[Poprockz]

"Uh, I guess you're right," Arx nodded, diverting her attention to her bowl of soup. What kind of grumpy answer was that? It wouldn't kill the dwarf to summon up a bit of pleasantness in the morning, and it wasn't as though she had asked anything particularly offensive. Maybe he had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed and was super grumpy. Or maybe Arx was the grumpy one for having taken offense to his grumbled reply.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her black hair, looking up when the tabaxi arrived. Damn. From where she was sitting, she had been awarded a full few of the woman's ass, and she had to say that it was a very nice ass. It seemed as though the scales had tipped, the good coming with the bad this morning. Arx was grateful to have something to brighten her day though, her eyes wistfully following the cat until she was out of sight. A beauty and a huntress- what a sexy combo. She could teach Arx about Hind in the biblical sense anytime.

Turning away from the dour dwarf, she addressed Button, "do you have any health potions or some such things we might be able to trade or purchase? We may not be lucky enough to avoid serious injuries next time."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The dwarf ignored Arx, sullenly slurping his stew. Unaware of that interaction, Button shook her head. “We don’t have much for trade or purchase beyond a bit of leatherwork and some meager foodstuffs. We fend for ourselves here, and safe opportunities for trade are few.”

 

[justspitballing]

Sprite took note of Frikan. She was clearly a skilled hunter and she would know the area well, she could possibly work as a good set of eyes. She was tempted to ask the woman for help. She was also curious about what she knew as far as trapping and hunting went. Learning from skilled fighters was always important. That being said though she wasn’t going to bother her when she clearly needed a good rest. That was the most important thing for someone like herself. Sprite sighed to herself.

It really was getting to her, the short comings that she had the other day. The wolves almost killing Arx, herself being raped, her body being made to enjoy it, her confidence in herself and her skills had been shaken greatly. But, she had to push past this fear. They had a job to do. She would perhaps trade battle stories with Frikan in the future, but for now it was time to be the hero she was supposed to be.

Sprite walked over to Arx and put her hand gently on her shoulder. “The ruins, they are waiting for us. I’m ready when you are,” Sprite said to Arx.

 

[Poprockz]

"Ah, well it can't be helped then," Sprite replied to Button, then feeling a hand upon her. She looked up to see Sprite standing there in her tall, feathery glory. Her plumage was truly striking, especially in the sunlight, and she was reminded again of just how harpies managed to bed outsiders- they were simply majestic. It made her glad that she had seen Sprite completely naked, as now she could shift into her at some point. Probably not soon, she imagined, but perhaps later when they parted ways. People tended to be disturbed when one shifted into someone they knew or themselves unexpectedly or without good reason.

Lifting her bowl, she slurped the last bit of her stew before setting it down and standing up. "Yeah, I think it's about time we head out as well." She brushed off her pants and grinned at the gnomes. "Thank you for your hospitality. I hope we meet again someday."

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Button and Redcap, as well as the nearby goblins, wish the two of them well, and the walk back to the road that hugs the Green River is short. It takes four days of travel to reach the general area that Mellavia marked on Sprite’s map. The road had nearly disappeared by that point, half overgrown with weeds and half never properly marked in the first place. The river had narrowed and grown angrier, white rapids frothing among the rocks. The land itself was beginning to rise and roughen into the base of Oklut himself.

 

[Poprockz]

"Oh thank god... We're close," Arx wheezed, leaning against a tree with one hand. It had been a grueling couple of days in this godforsaken forest. There were far too many trees, and if it wasn't for Sprite, she probably would have walked in circles until she dropped dead. The city was much better- it wasn't filled with random plants, bugs, and that awful quietness at times. She had several bug bites, including one that was conveniently placed right in that specific place in one's back that couldn't be reached easily. More than once she had been tempted to whip out her dagger and scratch it with the blade itself.

Her eyes narrowed at the tree and she glared at it, thinking to herself that after this, she was never going into another forest again unless it was in the back of a wagon.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

After two days of searching the area, combing between trees and around rock outcroppings, Sprite and Arx are no closer to finding the temple, and the sun is beginning to set…

 

[justspitballing]

As the sun was giving out its last rays of light Sprite was flying high in the sky. It had started out on the second day of travel, she told herself she needed to get as high as she could to search out their way. Truth to be told though it had become more and more about calming her nerves.

Although she had managed to keep Arx alive, but just barely, she had seemed to have gotten the two of them completely lost. She wasn’t even sure at this moment if they were within the circle on the map that had been drawn for them. She had done such a poor job of leading this adventure, the whole thing had left her feeling lost and upset. As such she spent long hours up in the sky, taking in the view all around her. Having the winds try to calm her being.

She took one last great glimpse of the land before she flew down to meet again with Arx. She felt bad about the fact that she would likely be telling her it was another wasted day.

 

[justspitballing]

Sprite didn’t notice anything and started to drift down, but right before she hit the wood line she say it, a tree a bit more sturdy and tall then all the rest. It would be able to give them safety in the night, at least she was very sure. It was at least one positive she could tell Arx. She landed next to the woman, Arx looking very annoyed and warn out. Sprite did her best to make the news she had sound better then it was.

“I’ve found our resting spot for the night. I’ll take you to it. It’s high so it will lend us a lot of protection,” Sprite stated. She felt she made it sound good, but her voice was quite bitter, she couldn’t really hide it.

She walked with Arx the rest of the way and then saw to getting them set up safely in the tree. She would take the standard measures of setting up a trip line with an alarm attached to it, just to make it a bit safer. It was going to be a long night.

 

[Poprockz]

Arx heard the bitterness in her voice and couldn’t help feeling the same way. She was frustrated that whenever they poured over the map and discussed where to go, the harpy didn’t seem to quite get it. Cartography wasn’t one of the bird’s strong suits, and it wasn’t as though Arx could fly up to take a look- she had to rely entirely on Sprite’s eyes and the way she described their surroundings. Needless to say, she felt like they were never going to get there if this kept up.

At the same time, she felt exceedingly guilty that she had been practically babysat for the last six days. She had gotten her foot stuck in a rotted log, fallen into a pond, tripped and fell more times than she could count, and even stepped in several piles of shit. The changeling was not having a fun time, but she dutifully followed Sprite to the tree, climbed up onto a very leafy branch, and hunkered down for the night. Though she wasn’t in a good mood, it didn’t stop her from wishing Sprite a good sleep as she always did.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The tripline is set. The adventurers are out of reach. But, the forest is wild, and full of hungry creatures. Sometime in the middle of the night, Arx and Sprite hear the snuffling and scratching of one such creature, just conscious to be aware that it's not a dream. Soon, the line is tripped and the bell rings. Below them, a creature the size of a dog is clawing at the trunk of their tree, sniffing the air. It has the thick claws and pointed snout of a badger, but there are long tendrils attached to its body that are beginning to wind their way up the trunk. It's difficult to pick out anything else in the low light.

 

[Poprockz]

“What the fuck…?” Arx mouthed, looking down at the creature. She had been sleeping softly when she heard the alarm go off, instantly leaning slightly to try to see what had tripped it. She squinted, feeing like she had heard something about it before... Ah yes, now she remembered. There had been a noble she was seducing in order to steal his golden cock-ring, and he had been regaling her with various facts and stories about magical creatures he had studied. He had ended up fingering her in front of a portrait of it, though he had commissioned it to be less educational, and more lewd, the vines being wrapped around several women who presumably were enjoying themselves based on their exaggerated expressions of pleasure. She doubted the creature actually had any interest in fucking anybody, the fantasy being more in the mind of the noble himself.

She couldn't remember much more about it regarding whether it was dangerous or not, but she had remembered the man whispering into her ear, 'I bet it could smell your sweet pussy from miles away...'

The changeling stiffened, realizing that it possibly there because it could smell them, and that wasn't good. Having been on the forest floor, tripping over roots and plants for the past six days, Arx smelled like mud, shit, and moss. On the other hand, Sprite had been flying, keeping relatively clean, and possibly fucking herself at night at times, which meant that not only did she still smell like blood from a week ago, but she also smelled like sexual fluids. It was probably there to eat her, taking advantage of the fact that it thought she was injured.

For the moment, Arx made no move, trying to think to herself what the best option would be. If Arx flew up, they would both be unharmed, especially if Arx was able to keep quiet. The rub was that she was well-hidden enough that Sprite might not see her hand gestures for her to fly up though, so she contemplated getting closer to her. First though, she had to untie herself from the branch.

 

[justspitballing]

Sprite awoke and quickly looked down. She saw a very odd creature with long tendrils. She didn’t recognize the thing, not a shock, the wild lands around here were massive with all kinds of unknown beast. It was pawing at the tree they were resting on. She wasn’t sure if the creature could climb up the tree or how much it was aware of them, but she would much rather play things safe then sorry.

She quickly snapped off a small branch beside her and then shot up into the sky. She held her wings close to herself, trying to blend into the night air. Then she tossed the branch out from her. She put her full body into it, sending the thing an impressive distance away. It crashed down making some significant sound on its way down.

Sprite then drifted back down. She pulled herself onto where Arx had been resting only to find her awake and trying to untie herself from her safety line. Sprite put her finger to Arx mouth. They needed to stay silent now, see if the beast went for the distraction.

 

[Poprockz]

Fuck.

Arx stared at Sprite wide-eyed, her mouth slightly open against that well-meaning finger. She was slightly in shock about the fact that they were now in the same place, her original plan having gone awry before it even was put into motion. Had she simply flown into the air, they would have both been fine, and yet because the kind-hearted harpy had come back for her, she had unwittingly wafted her smell to the creature and alerted it to their location. Even if Sprite took off now, it was possible that the snuffling beast would still make it's way to her branch just to double-check that there wasn't anything there.

The only thing she did was tap her nose, and point down to the creature, hoping Sprite got the message.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The creature turned after the sound of the clattering stick, and began slowly waddling toward it, its vines waving curiously in the air like the headsnakes of a gorgon.

Eventually, the creature reached the stick, sniffed it thoroughly, and turned around to shuffle back toward the adventurers’ tree…

 

[justspitballing]

After the beast was out of sight Sprite let out a bit of a sigh of relief. Their adventure had far to many hiccups at this point, the fates had to cut them some kind of break by this point. Of course then the creature started to come back.

“We need to move,” Sprite whispered, motioning her head to the tree that was beside them. There was a little bit of a gap between the two branches, one from each tree, but it wasn’t to bad at all. Arx was a nimble being, so Sprite felt she could make the jump on her own.

Sprite flew over to said tree and then waved Arx over. Hopefully they would get far enough away before the creature returned.

 

[Poprockz]

Arx nodded, agreeing that it would be best to move trees before that thing came back. She tensed, finally springing forth to jump between them. However, while she had untied herself from the tree, her blanket had caught her around the ankle, causing her to halt mid-air and plummet down with it. She reached the forest floor with an "oof!" the very blanket that had fucked up her jump ultimately shielding her from getting any serious injury. Still, she was a bit sore from it and definitely had a few bruises.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The vedger is not a fast creature, but it’s nose and ears lead it straight to Arx ow that she’s on the ground. It huffs and scrabbles across the rocky forest floor, it’s vines questing out several feet from its body.

 

[justspitballing]

Arx landing on the floor of the woods sent Sprite into sudden motion. She could not believe she had been so foolish. She landed swiftly before Arx and stood like a wall before the strange creature that was approaching them. Sprite still though did not want to fight this beast. She had little confidence in herself at this point and she felt that the creature may actually not be as violent as it looked. After all, most wild beasts just want to live and keep to themselves.

Sprite took out some of her rations, tough bits of jerky. She tossed them down before the creature. If it wanted something to eat maybe that would be good enough.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The vedger tromps after the food, and quickly begins gnawing on the tough jerky. As it eats, its vines wiggle happily in the air, any pursuit of the harpy or the changeling forgotten.

 

[justspitballing]

Sprite sighed, glad to see one of her ideas at last paid off. She tossed the creature a bit more jerky and then helped Arx up from where she had fallen. The wise thing now would be to talk away, but the creature seemed to be very taken with the food. Sprite decided to push her luck.

“You should get to safety,” Sprite said simply to Arx.

Then she turned back to the creature and put down her axe slowly onto the ground. She got to her knees and pulled out one last bit of food. As the creature went to eat it she used her other hand to scratch the beings ear, it did not pull back. It moved its head into it.

Sprite played with the beasts fur a bit on the top of its head and then petted it along the back. “You’re actually a very good boy, and very cunning. We will need you, and you can get some easy meals out of it,” Sprite said with a smile.

The creatures’ vines stroke her leg and just like that the party had a new helper.

 

[Poprockz]

Arx went behind a tree and poked her head out, watching with wide-eyes how Sprite tamed the creature. Now it seemed a bit silly for her to fall out of a tree just to see the creature happily taking snacks and stroking Sprite's legs like a good little pet. Brushing herself off, she slowly approached and leaned toward Sprite.

"It tracks things with its nose. Maybe it'll help us if someone tries to sneak up on us or something. But uh... how did you do that?"

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

The vedger ate its fill of the jerky, and immediately rolled over to show Sprite its belly, hoping for some tummy rubs. It was definitely going to follow her if she went anywhere, though.

 

[justspitballing]

Sprite wouldn’t be one to refuse a belly rub. She gave a quick but kind one, saying to Arx as she did, “a beast such as this just has to be reasoned with the right way. They mean well, and I should have respected it like this right from the start. But you live and then you learn.”

After standing back up she then stated, “if he can smell us out, then others can too. We should wash up well. The river is to wild for bathing, but we could at least splash some water over our bodies, get the smell off of us. Then we can give finding these ruins one more good shot.”

She walked forward and then headed towards the river.

 

[Poprockz]

"Huh," she remarked, amazed at Sprite's skill with animals. Perhaps she had a kinship with them due to her own harpy blood. Though the animal looked docile now, she didn't pet it on the off-chance that it was only loyal to Sprite. After all, she liked all of her limbs attached to her body.

Arx sighed, wanting nothing more than to go back to bed. Being the middle of the night, she didn't think splashing in the cold water was going to be a pleasant experience, but at least they would be clean and it might wake them up a bit. The moon was round and bright, so she wouldn't have to worry about tripping over things... too much.

The changeling strode after her, wondering whether she should morph into someone smaller to not have to wash off as much. Her clothes were fucked, tru, but she could wrap them up and put on the other outfit the shopkeeper had given her, as that one would give her more benefits to stealth anyway.