Poisoned Rationality

During the next day and the morning after, our party gathered up all the things we needed and said goodbye to our families, for now.

Sarya and Tyler didn’t have any family in the region, so the two of them did some extra shopping for any last supplies.

Nat had to say goodbye to her parents and all her little siblings, who were going to need a different babysitter now that their older sister was leaving. Thankfully, their next-door neighbor was a kind older woman who had very little to do, so that was settled.

Her siblings were all very sad that their big sis was going to be gone, but she assured them that she would be back. It was very cute.

Her parents gave her one last hug before waving her off.

Ariana said goodbye to her mom, her sister, and her sister’s partners as well. The two catgirl sisters were a little sad that they had to separate after such a short time together, but Ariana assured me it was fine.

I said goodbye to my parents last. They were a little emotional, but glad to see me doing what I wanted.

On the last night before the day we were going to set out, Ariana slept over at my home.

The two of us were cuddled up in bed, our tails twined together and our arms around each other.

“Hey Nyx?” Ariana asked quietly.

“Yeah?” I replied.

“What do you think that [Share] skill you have does?” She murmured. “If you used it on someone, would it give them void powers?”

“I don’t know what it does,” I said softly. “I can tell what you’re asking, though. Are you worried that you’re not strong enough compared to me?”

My girlfriend nodded shyly, and I patted her head.

“I would never leave you behind,” I told her firmly. “Remember, we’re Fated Ones.”

“I know,” She mumbled. She nuzzled her head against me gently. “I’m not sure why I’m worried. I just am.”

“You don’t need a reason,” I said. “It’s okay. I will always love you.” After a moment of thinking in silence, I added, “If you really want me to use the skill, I will. But I want you to think about it first. We don’t know what it does.”

“Okay,” Ariana whispered. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” I murmured. “Now, let’s try and sleep.” She nodded and pulled the blankets in closer.

“Goodnight,” She said softly before closing her eyes.

I smiled and put an arm around her before doing the same.

…

The following morning, I woke to find Ariana cuddled against my chest, purring softly. I smiled and pulled her closer, petting her head.

After a few minutes, she blinked awake, although she continued purring. I started scratching behind her ears gently.

“Good morning,” I murmured.

“Mhm,” Ariana replied, nuzzling me more. “Keep doing that.” I laughed softly and kept scratching, moving one hand to stroke her tail, occasionally scratching that as well.

Soon, though, I pulled us both out of bed. Ariana pouted but allowed herself to be dragged into standing.

We went into the front room, where Mom gave me a knowing look. I blushed slightly as she handed me and Ariana plates of food.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, sitting down with my girlfriend at the table.

After eating, I said one last goodbye to my parents before Ariana and I grabbed our packs and left the house.

We met up with Nat, Tyler, and Sarya before heading to the town’s North gate. There, the five of us found the caravan preparing to leave.

I walked up to the person who was organizing everything.

“Hello,” I said. “We’re here to join the caravan.”

“Name?” The tall man asked. He was very thin and wiry, and had skin that looked almost like tree bark. I guessed he was a dryad of some kind.

“Nyxandria Arilis,” I answered. “We registered two days ago.” The man looked through a small booklet he held before nodding.

“Welcome to the Oakwood Caravan,” He said. “My name is Willow. I’m our leader. Over there is Victoria, our animal tender.” He pointed in one direction off to the side.

I looked over to see a short, heavy-set woman with fiery red hair petting the side of a green-skinned horse. She turned and waved before focusing on her work.

“Over there with the gold shield is Seth,” Willow continued, waving at a tall man conversing with two others. He bore a large golden shield, almost a meter across, on his back. He also wore a dark green feathered cloak. “He’s our main defender. You’ll be working with him, for the most part.”

“Good to know,” I said.

“What are all your names?” He asked.

“I’m Natalya,” Nat answered. She turned to the others, who each said their names in turn.

“Great,” Willow said. “You five, go talk with Seth for your assignments. He’ll tell you which wagon you’ll be with. I need to keep working.”

I thanked him, and we walked over to the aforementioned fighter.

We waited for a couple of seconds as he finished talking with two other adventurers.

“Hello there,” He said. “I assume you’ve already talked with Willow?” I nodded.

“He told us to come talk with you,” I told him. He grinned in response.

“Yep, sounds like him,” He chuckled. “I’m Seth, although he probably told you that. I’m the caravan’s lead fighter, so you’ll need to follow my orders when we’re fighting. If you don’t, you'd better have a damn good reason.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I expected as much.”

“Cool, cool. Guild Classes?”

“Paladin, rogue, mage, tank, and sage,” I explained, pointing to myself, Ariana, Nat, Tyler, and Sarya.

“I’m also a healer,” Sarya added.

“Alright, you’ll be with wagon two,” Seth said. “That should be over there.” He pointed towards one end of the line. “Meet up with your driver, Calliope. She’ll get you settled.”

I thanked him, to which he replied, “It’s us who should be thanking you. We need all the help we can get.”

The five of us walked over to the wagon that was second from the front. The horses that were connected to it looked less like actual horses and more like plant-made imitations. There were also two people who had the same bark-like skin as Willow, loading various boxes and packages into the storage space of the wagon.

Watching over them was a woman with reddish-brown bark-skin. She towered over everyone nearby, with dark green spiky hair flowing down her back.

“Ah, are you the adventurers assigned to wagon two?” She asked, turning to us. Her eyes focused on me and narrowed for a split second before her expression returned to normal.

“That's us,” I replied.

“What’s her problem?” Ria grumbled, and I could feel her pouting.

I don’t know, I thought back.

“Great, let’s get ya settled,” Calliope hummed, smiling. “Find a spot by the back, please. Keep your gear under the seats. I want ya ready to hop out the moment we see trouble, ’kay?”

“Got it,” I said.

“Cool, get to it,” The tall woman told us. “I need to organize our passengers with Willow.” She strode away, leaving us to get in by ourselves.

“She’s odd,” Ariana murmured, watching her leave. “What was that little glare about, do you think?”

“Probably nothing,” Nat said. “Come on, let’s get settled.”

The five of us climbed inside the wagon, finding spaces at the back. We stored our extra gear underneath our seats, keeping our weapons close in case we needed them.

We spent the next little while chatting idly as we waited. After a bit, several other people came over to the wagon with Calliope. She got them on board before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Geric, we’re leaving!” She yelled toward what looked like a dead oak tree.

To my surprise, it shuddered for a moment before rising, revealing itself to be an ent. It slowly lumbered over to the wagon, stopping right next to it.

“What is that?” A young girl in our wagon asked, peering out the side. A woman I assumed was her mother pulled her back in, eyes wide.

“Geric is an ent,” Calliope answered from the driver’s seat. “He’s my companion. He’s with the caravan, don’t worry.”

Another dryad walked up and conversed with her very shortly before moving on down the line. After a couple more minutes, the wagons began moving.

“We’re off!” Calliope shouted, grinning.

I smiled too. This was bound to be a fun adventure.