Chapter 37.
We sat under a tree; we didn’t have much of a view beyond the path we had clambered off of. But we sat on a little hill, the forest thicker in the woodland equivalent of a bald spot. Galine lay the blanket down, and I sat down, snuggling up and casually using her equine half as a back rest while doing my best to be charming.
She seemed charmed, if only begrudgingly so.
I got to work unpacking the food. It was probably a bit early to eat still, but given all the walking, I could eat a… well, not a horse. I kept that thought to myself. Bad Pamela.
“So how’d you know about this spot?” I asked, giving up on peeling the hard-boiled eggs and handing them to Galine. It was a relief to have a functioning pair of hands to help out. And it was t as awkward as having the Tavern Crew there.
“I used to go on a lot of walks after I started living here,” Galine explained, peeling the eggs. “It felt claustrophobic within the city walls and even out of them was… oppressive. I grew up constantly on the move; we never stayed in an area for more than a few seasons. It was hard being so cooped up, but it made my job at the outpost much easier for giving directions.”
I nodded, setting a piece of bread on my thigh to add the spread without hopefully just pushing the bread around. “Are you more used to it now?” I asked, trying to multitask.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Mostly. But I still like to come out here to breathe. The quiet is nice. What about you? How are you liking Agocester?”
“Oh,” I sighed, trying to balance the knife on the basket so it didn’t get dirtied while I ate my bread. “It’s… fine, I guess, on Earth I lived in a massive city, like… I’m not sure there’d be anything of comparable size here,” I hummed. “As I said, Earth was super globalized, and there were billions of us, so… very crowded in some places. Agocester is like charming and quaint for me,” I chuckled. “I like it,” I decided. “Though living surrounded by walls is strange.”
Galine bit into an egg. “Your world sounds utterly absurd.”
I grinned. “So does yours.”
She smiled, pouring us both some wine. Then she began cutting the cheese into pieces. I relaxed, leaning back against her flank. The spread was good, well worth the money and full of flavour. Well, given that I was broke, maybe not entirely worth the money, but still pretty good.
I had to sit up, my stomach too full to curl up the way I had tried to. It was bizarre just how fast my body grew and shifted now. But I focused on the money that would come.
“Do you know anywhere that is kinda hidden around here?” I asked. “I want to set up the dungeon core, but we don’t exactly have anything to defend it.”
Galine seemed to consider it. “I… I think there's a cave around here,” she squinted, trying to remember something. “The road splits up ahead, and I think if we turn sharply right and follow the base of the hill, there's one there. I’m not sure, it’s been a while since I’ve explored the area.”
I blinked. “A cave would be amazing.”
“Totally. Nature’s dungeon,” Candy agreed.
“Well then, I suppose we’ll have to make a bit of a detour on the way back,” she smirked.
“Though,” I frowned. “Is it safe out here? We’re ever closer to the mountains, and that's dangerous, right?”
Galine nodded. “It’s largely safe. Yes, the mountains are dangerous, and very much so are the wildlands beyond them. But there are militarized outposts at the base of the mountain, and the border is mostly secure. Though of course, we should be careful. There's no solid wall or anything.”
It wasn’t the most reassuring, and given my past mauling, I was feeling far less comfortable about being out here. Fuck. Maybe I just needed to travel further away from the border. Surely there was a nice town surrounded by more towns and even more towns with no dangers to behold. Then again, this world was magic; it was a largely stereotypical fantasy world, and it wouldn’t ever be fully safe.
Galine placed her hand on mine. “It will be okay. I know the area, I’ll keep us safe.”
I tried not to grimace. “That's what the Tavern Crew told me.”
“I’m sorry,” she smiled weakly. “They should have kept you safe.”
I sighed, offering a noncommittal shrug. “I’m not anyone’s job to keep safe.”
Galine shook her head. “No, but they're all capable fighters. The fact you got injured means they really fucked up.”
“You don’t even know what happened,” I protested. “I really don’t blame them.”
She smiled. “I’m not saying to blame them. Just… They’re used to escort quests; they’ve done several this year. Protecting precious cargo isn’t new to them. I’m not saying you have to be angry with them, just… they didn’t do their job right,” she muttered. “No one’s perfect, mistakes happen, but you still almost died.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. “Maybe I should be more angry with them. I just… they’re my friends,” I offered.
Galine shook her head. “I’m not trying to tell you to feel a certain way. Feel how you want to feel. I just mean… you got hurt badly, and it shouldn’t have happened.”
I let out a shuddering breath. No, it shouldn’t have happened. “Thanks,” I sniffed.
“Sorry,” she laughed weakly. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s okay,” I mumbled. “The only way to process things is to get it all out.”
Galine nodded and leaned her head on my shoulder, far more flexible than I would have expected. I appreciated the closeness. I offered her a piece of bread and spread it before popping a piece of cheese in my mouth and sipping my wine.
“Thanks for today, this is really nice,” Galine sighed wistfully.
“I’m happy to do it,” I smiled. “Thanks for putting up with my weirdness.”
“I’m not sure being too interesting is a problem,” she chuckled. “Has Candy had anything to say about our picnic?”
I squirmed slightly. It was weird having her curiosity towards the slime. It wasn’t jealousy, but it was definitely unease. I didn’t really trust Candy, a brightly coloured tiger I was keen to keep away from anything I cared about. Not that that was at all possible to do, given her location. But still… Galine’s desire to engage was a new thing to… deal with.
“No,” I replied. “She’s not particularly chatty. Mostly, she complains or gets mad about me badmouthing her.”
“Hey!” Candy predictably grumbled. “I do slime things. What do you want from me?! I thought you were happy doing people stuff. We all have our jobs, jerk.”
“And there she goes,” I smiled.
“Did…” she trailed off in silence for a moment, “What exactly is a ragebait and why is it so infuriating?”
Galine watched me in amusement. “I wish I could hear her. I feel like that would make this all far less… something,” she chuckled.
“I… maybe,” I couldn’t help but agree, even if I didn’t like the idea so much. “She’s… dangerous,” I ventured.
“Damn right I am,” Candy preened proudly.
“And not just the slime part,” I continued honestly, ignoring just how jovial Candy seemed. “She’s as smart as I am, but she lacks points of reference, a code of ethics, a childhood where someone could have taught her right and wrong. She’s hurt me a lot, and only now is she remotely starting to grasp why and how that was bad. Part of me thinks it's stupid to try and teach her to be a better person, especially after everything she put me through, but… that's what I’m trying to do.”
Candy didn’t have a response to that. For once, no quips or rage, she just stayed quiet.
“That's terrible,” Galine frowned. “And you’re stuck with her?”
“I agreed to… partner up,” I shrugged. “I know it maybe wasn’t the smartest, but… I do weirdly care about her.”
Galine’s frown didn’t ease. “That doesn’t sound very… healthy, Pamela. You just described her as an abusive partner whom you still stay with because you care about her.”
“Yeah. fuck… I guess I did,” I sighed, rubbing at my temple. I took a big gulp of wine.
“Hey,” she said gently, rubbing my shoulder. “I’m not blaming you for anything. And I know things are… bizarrely complicated. Just… be careful, okay? And if you need to talk, I’m here,” she smiled.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, leaning into her hug. My appetite was gone. Now that Galine had pointed it out, all I could think of was that I had made a terrible mistake. All Candy had ever done was drive me into situations which made me uncomfortable. I had been blinded by the potential of skills and power, but… at what cost?
Fuck. I could honestly say that I would give these stupid stats and skills up to have never dealt with Candy in the first place. I’d rather my arm, my bodily autonomy, my sanity. I’d rather be weak than… broken.