Ryn of Avonside

Rain began to hit the roof of the tavern right as Mer and I skipped out of the Nameless Garden. We landed in the usual room and headed immediately for Dr. Wilcott’s office — which, if I remembered correctly, was in the Branner building now, along with all the other councillor offices and the council hall itself.

The weather out on the Ring was at least calm, even if the mountains tended to have a dry chill. That dry chill was definitely getting more pronounced, too. I could feel that the temperature had crossed some threshold.

“Hey, Mer,” I said, looking up at my lady knight friend. “Ryn mentioned that the Ring has seasons? Like, you know, the temperature starts changing and all the plants and animals have to adapt?”

With a soft, warm chuckle, she nodded. “Yes, I know of seasons. The Ring not only turns on its poles, creating the days, but also spins to create the seasons. The spin is extremely slow — I believe we complete two orbits of our sun between one winter and another.”

“Thanks. Ryn mentioned Eilian knew, but I wanted to check. Plus, wow, that was… really informative, thank you,” I said, smiling up at her while I—

I frowned. When I first popped out of the fruit, Mer was almost a head taller than me. I couldn't put my finger on an exact difference, or even if there was one, but I swear the gap between us had shrunk.

Mer didn't notice my train of thought suddenly do a backflip, and gave me a fond smile. “You have a very analytical mind, Catherine, so I know to give you a succinct but comprehensive explanation when you ask questions. It saves you asking follow-up questions.”

She was so thoughtful… but, I kinda had different questions now, like, “Mer… have you gotten shorter? Have I gotten taller?”

My friend blinked. Oops, I think I turned the topic too quickly.

“Don't think… so?” She did not sound very sure.

Hurriedly, and looking quite concerned, she pulled her mace from the holster at her back and stopped walking. I stopped with her and watched while she placed the head against the pavement. Palm down on the pommel, she balanced it there and appeared to consider it, gouging something.

Looking very concerned now, she flipped the mace deftly back into a normal grip and hefted it, then swung it a couple of times. Her frown lessened slightly, until suddenly her eyes widened and I saw her swallow clearly.

“Catherine, if I may, could you show me your plant form and specifically, your bare arms or back?”

My cheeks flushed. She wanted to… no, this wasn't sexual or anything. She was concerned about something. I had to look around to check if anyone was nearby, and when I saw nobody was within a hundred feet, I flexed my mind and brought my hafornsu to the fore.

I opted to show her my bare forearm, which was a soft dark green, with swirling knots of bronze streaked through it. I looked like a big tie-dyed leaf, if the leaf were as thick as a forearm.

Apprehensively, Mer raised her own bare forearm and placed it beside mine. I was so confused, and looked between them and her face repeatedly. Also, gosh but the fur on her forearm looked soft. There was a lot of very fine hair per square inch. It was very dark brown, but with an interesting pattern of lighter, almost shiny brown fur. Actually… the pattern looked weirdly like… like the one on my arm.

Pressing them together further, I frowned and peered at them. What the heck? The patterns were identical!

Abruptly, Mer pulled her arm away and strode several feet, her back to me. Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly — she was breathing fast, or panicked even.

An odd, flushed sensation rippled down my skin, and I dropped my hafornsu. The pattern on my arm faded, and I approached my friend with so much concern. What was happening? I'd never seen Mer this rattled before.

Hoping it would be okay, I reached out and wrapped my fingers lightly around her forearm, covering the largest matching whorl in the pattern. Holy fuck, her fur was even softer than I imagined!

Crud. Keep on track, Cat.

“Mer?” I whispered, leaning forward and around to try and see her expression.

I was jostled as she suddenly stood up straight, and I stumbled back a step. With a grunt, she said, “Sorry. I'm okay. Nothing wrong.”

She was facing me again now, and her expression did not fill me with the impression that she was fine, but… Well, I wasn't sure I could call her on it.

Apparently she could see that I didn't believe her, though, because she scowled and stomped down the path for a few steps. “I am. I'm okay. Let's go get this fruit situation resolved.”

I hurried to catch up, but I continued not to say anything while her metal and leather shoed hooves clicked on the pavement. Obrec shoes were very strange, and many only bothered with ankle coverings. Mer was currently wearing the full deal, which were long tubes of leather, with thick wood and steel soles.

…God fucking damn it, Catherine. You're focusing on her shoes while she's obviously upset about something.

“Mer, I want you to know that I think you're awesome, and lovely, and—”

“Stop,” hissed the obrec warrior. “Stop. Please. I'll back you up with this fruit thing, but I need some time to think. Please don't assail me with questions or platitudes right now.”

My mouth snapped closed while my mind reeled. What was happening? I was so confused, and the more I tried to analyse or understand, the worse it became. I had so many spell plants dancing in my head that I just didn't have room to parse what was going on.

It happened when she realised she was shorter, then when she saw the patterns on our arms were matching? Well, it'd be more accurate to say that her pattern now matched mine, since I still recognised my hafornsu’s arm just fine.

We reached, and then continued on into the Branner building in silence. There was someone in the foyer at a desk who took one look at us, heard who we wanted to see, and pointed us in the right direction. Being a recognised mage did

Dr. Wilcott's office wasn't too small, but all the book cases, file cabinets, and chairs covered in papers made it seem very cramped. She sat behind a heavy wooden desk that looked very old, while sitting on a cheap office chair. The whole room practically screamed, ‘we are an ancient institution that is running low on funds.’

“Catherine! A pleasure to see you— and you, Mer,” said the councillor as she gestured for us to take seats. “What can I do for you?”

“The opposite, actually,” I said with an uneasy smile. “I had to make a mage-fruit to study some aspects of magic and… well, now I have to give it to someone if I want the effects on my own power to be permanent.”

Dr. Wilcott's expression became instantly serious, and she leaned forward. “You need to give this power to— why are you here, of all places? You didn't seek my advice before.”

“We want to give it to you,” I said, feeling very awkward. “To you specifically.”

She rocked back into her chair, causing the cheap plastic to creak alarmingly. “Me? Why?”

“Because…” I started to say, but then I realised that I didn't have any words to follow, and I had to think. The stuff with Mer had entirely co-opted my thoughts. “Because we promised to give Avonside some magic, and I'm not sure but I think the number of our own mages we wanted to make was like, ten? We have way more than ten now, because the buns are sneaky little shits who don't know what moderation and restraint is.”

“Like their creator, I imagine,” Dr. Wilcott remarked wryly.

I snorted a laugh. “Ryn knows what they are, she just doesn't use them too often. She almost died the other day because she shoved too much power into her spells… Anyway, point is, I have a fruit, and I want to give it to you.”

“How will it work? I'd love to accept unless the process is… too prohibitive?” She asked, looking kinda eager, but also very apprehensive.

“Well…” I explained the process, what would happen to anything non-metal in the fruit, and how long it would take. I also explained that it takes a lot of work to become powerful, and that early on the only benefits are a pretty body and telekinesis. I also explained that Esra would be teaching her alongside the buns, because I didn't have the first clue how to do any of that.

“That is quite a lot to consider. The time it takes to… transform is substantial and could be an issue,” said the older woman as she considered everything I'd just told her.

Mer and I sat quietly while she got lost in thought. Then, slowly, she reached for her phone, which sat atop a skewed pile of paper. “Could you wait for me at the edge of the forest? It'll take roughly an hour to get all my affairs in order.”

Looking at Mer, I saw her shift uncomfortably. With a sigh, I reached over and touched her arm. “You can go. I might be small, but I'm not timid. I can figure this out if you need time to… to do your own thing.”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Yes. Okay. I'll see you soon.”

With that, she stood up and left, which was awkward because I also had to go so that Wilcott could do her thing.

God damn, what a mess. I hoped Mer would tell me what was bothering her, once she was ready.