Following a series of successful contracts as well as a much-needed shopping trip to get new, less pungent clothes, the pair of adventurers decided to spend an afternoon relaxing in style. They had just returned from a quick morning hunt and were now pleasantly relaxing in the bubbling warmth of a secret underground hot spring, letting the waters soak away their worries and aches. ‘Mrs Bubba’s Bathhouse’ was an expertly hidden and exclusive secret respite for veteran adventurers and friends of Mrs Bubba herself. Joanne fit both categories having helped the old dwarven woman set up her legitimate business ventures on top of the technically illegal one. She didn’t run drugs or traffic people but the existence of an underground hot spring within the heart of Capital city still needed to be kept hush if only because the officials in charge would tax the sweet plump dwarf out of business then take the spring for themselves. Mrs Bubba was the kindest, most earnest, potbellied dwarf to have lived in the Gentile kingdom for over a century. She came from a long line of professional hostesses with similar family run springs across the four corners of the continent. She arrived in the Capital City intending to expand just such a business, unfortunately local politics and competing service industries forced the sweet great-great-great and so on grandmother to halt any and all plans to open a legitimate resort.
Thus along came Joanne, still an adventurer at the time, with many connections formed through contract requestors and other guild members who jumped at the chance to establish a hidden spring in the heart of Capital city. This included, surprisingly enough, Margaretta who did all she could to act within the confines of the law and help out those suffering from it unjustly. Her name would never appear on any tax records, and no one would be able to prove she was ever involved unless they spotted the old woman taking a dip in the waters. A sight which many would agree was better left repressed from memory. With the combined efforts of Joanne’s many friends and colleagues, Margaretta’s networking and Mrs Bubba’s tenacious drive they formed the highly secretive and very lucrative: Mrs Bubba’s Geothermal Laundromat with the dwarf and ex-adventurer as co-owners.
Monsters hunters, mercenaries and anyone else who plied their trade on the road were always getting into sticky situations and their clothes would inevitably end up stained, muddy, blood soaked and worst of covered in drool. No adventurer could escape coming across a monster that didn’t try to eat them and for an unfortunate few succeeded. For the even less fortunate they would be gobbled up but live to tell the tale, how they escaped an unspoken rule to never be discussed. Thus, the laundromat, a completely reasonable business venture that used Mrs Bubba’s expertise on geothermal heat and mystical lava stones to warm waters as well as clean all kinds of travelling gear, plate armours, leathers and most importantly unmentionables. Beneath this upstanding business lay the real money maker, an extensive and securely warded series of caverns pocked with numerous bowl-shaped hollows filled with refreshing spring water. Carefully selected and screened adventurers could soak their worries away for a generous price or join an even more appealing membership program.
As friends with one of the co-owners, Valerie and Samantha were given special privileges allowing them the opportunity to take a private dip in the mystical waters and experience true relaxation for the first time in either of their lives.
“Ooooooooooh…”
A boon Valerie realized she may never be able to repay Joanne for. Even after visiting the baths on five previous occasions, it always felt like the first, that sudden prickling feeling from the hot water immediately followed up with an addictive sense of tranquillity.
“Thirty-six!”
A sense that was quickly interrupted by Samantha erupting from the water to unintentionally splash her compatriot. The shadow user enjoyed the bath and the refreshing clean feeling it gave her but couldn’t sit still in it for very long. So, she practiced holding her breath as well as her swimming technique, which given her tendency to flail around violently may be too generous a description. In the beginning, she could barely hold her breath for more than ten seconds but had steadily been increasing that number. She still flopped around or sank like a rock when she tried to imitate the swimming illustrations she read from a book. A skill she and Valerie alike were very new to and still some ways away from mastering.
Over the past month since arriving in Capital City, they had formed something of a daily routine. They would start the day having a light breakfast with Albert while he went over lessons on how to read and write with varying success. Next the pair would walk to the Adventurers Guild and stand in line for a few hours, sometimes one if they were lucky or if a new plague was infecting the streets, unfortunately no such disease had spread just yet. When finally reaching their destination, the pair would hand in and simultaneously take on a new contract using their up-and-coming reading skills much to Margaretta’s chagrin. Sounding out the words and picking a suitable job or two they bade farewell to the receptionist before heading to the city gate. If the contract was far, they circled back to request Joanne’s assistance carting them. Recently, however the pair had been relying on their own sense of direction as well as a helpful map marked with crayon drawn arrows. If a contract ran long or was too far, they would camp in the wild for a night and return back on the following morning. While out and about they hunted all monsters they saw along the way and picked up any morsels of meat Joanne might be interested in. When finally meeting the contract requestor they got the details on the monster or job and went about planning, trapping and finally executing their prey with proficiency that belied their short Adventuring career. Only occasionally had their job been to protect rather than kill but regardless, it always came down to a stand-off between the burgeoning adventurers and a creature of ill repute. They also encountered some requestors who tried to opt out of the contract or refused to sign after fulfilling the job. At this point Samantha would step up and begin negotiations, or more accurately she would stare at the requestor unmoving and without saying a word until they felt so uncomfortable they acquiesced. The shadow user’s creepy aura was a powerful mediation tool, but the two adventurers made sure not to use it to take advantage only securing what they were owed. Arriving back in the city they would either visit Joanne’s restaurant for a well-deserved meal or return home to the library and receive more lessons from Albert.
It was a good loop, Valerie thought, they were earning money, learning skills and eating good every day. With the added benefit of the hot spring, as well as who knows how many more friends Joanne had, they were in a fantastic place in life. And yet, why did she feel so unfulfilled? She was free of her uncle’s influence, could improve basically all her skills as she pleased and had the opportunity to see the world whenever she wanted, provided they had the time and funds.
“Is this it? Is this what I wanted?”
The huntress spoke softly sinking into the waters until only her head remained visible. She had been left in a rut her whole life, trapped with no escape and no contact with anyone but her uncle. She respected him, but he was family, maybe the only one she had, so she was all but forced to care about him. Even though she set off not caring about them, she often wondered where the rest of her family was, her mother, her father, any siblings. Were they out there? Were they still alive? She couldn’t help but worry about her potential family and a dark part of her considered she might not have any left. That James wasn’t her uncle, just some guy who kidnapped her and trapped them in that cabin to eventually…
Valerie shuddered and cast the thought aside. If he wasn’t her uncle, why did he care so much about her? Why did he go out of his way to do so much for her, teach her how to fight, to defend herself? And then there was Samantha. Valerie turned her head to watch her friend flop around like a drowning fish in the soothing waters. If her uncle wanted to, he could have gotten rid of Samantha, but he didn’t, he cared for and taught her just like she was his own. It somewhat helped Valerie feel assured in her uncle’s intentions, but it still didn’t stop the worry, where were the rest of her family?
“Granddaughter? What’s the matter?”
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Valerie jumped and rose back out of the water only now noticing Mrs Bubba had entered the cavern intending to join the pair for a soak. Mrs Bubba was as short as she was wide and could outweigh both of the adventurers combined three times over. She had a full and voluminous head of dyed coppery hair that was naturally curled and resisted all attempts to straighten it out. She was also wrinkled beyond the point it made sense to form wrinkles. She looked to share more in common with a dried-up raisin than any other dwarf the huntress had seen. Valerie realized she was staring and quickly answered the elderly woman.
“N-nothing grandmother, I was just… lost in thought. Yeah.”
One of the conditions for entry into the springs was you had to refer to Mrs Bubba as Grandmother without exception. The woman’s whole life had been built around her family’s expansive hot springs and her own maternal affection to every last relative whether they be direct family, married in, adopted, fostered, friends of the family or even their lawyer surprisingly enough. Thus, anyone who visited her springs was also family to her and she expected each to address her accordingly. The multigenerational grandmother huffed, not fully accepting the hasty answer but she didn’t dig into the issue, the elder Bubba had seen her fair share of moody teens and knew better than to pry.
“Very well, now make room, I have been dying for a soak all morning.”
The old dwarf said in an aged voice full of authority, wisdom and care. Stepping into the warm waters she caused the surface of the spring to rise marginally but noticeably. Shooting up from deep end yet again, Samantha yelled forty-five and then looked around while wiping the moisture out of her eyes. She froze upon noticing Mrs Bubba was among them until her whole face lit up with unrestrained excitement.
“Granny!”
The young girl barrelled into her faux grandmother and tried to wrap her in a hug that couldn’t even reach halfway across the rotund woman. Mrs Bubba laughed returning the gesture and nearly crushing the much thinner girl in an inescapable bear hug. Valerie watched the two, feeling a little envious. They had barely known the dwarven woman a few weeks, but Samantha was already the picture-perfect granddaughter, doing whatever Mrs Bubba said and visiting regularly. The overflowing with love woman herself had taken to the addition of two new “granddaughters” with zeal, doting on the pair whenever she could. As far as Valerie knew there was no competition or award for greatest grandmother, yet she couldn’t imagine anyone but Mrs Bubba being the clear winner year after year. She knew it was irrational to feel any envy, Mrs Bubba would pamper them both given the chance. Watching the older woman listen to Samantha’s inane rambling, Valerie realised she didn’t envy not having Mrs Bubba’s attention, it was that Samantha could so effortlessly accept the affection. Both adventurers were in the same boat with no family, but Samantha seemed so much freer because of it not in spite of it.
She had no idea what made up a family and didn’t seem interested in learning more about the concept. The few times Valerie asked about her adoptive father Samantha reminisced about the man but didn’t seem to care where or how he was. Despite this, she became the object of so many people’s attention it bordered on the obscene. She was the subject of Albert’s intense research and the old man enjoyed answering any and all questions no matter how ridiculous. Joanne found Samantha funny and in a drunken stupor admitted she felt nostalgic at the terrifying sensations she got from the shadow user. Even James had seemed so attentive in the brief time Samantha lived with them at the cabin. The huntress briefly wondered if her uncle cared more about Samantha than herself but tossed away the idea. She would always be able to hold that over the shadow user or she hoped she did at least. And now there was Mrs Bubba. Deep down Valerie knew the reason, or hoped she knew the reason, it most likely came back to Samantha’s death prophecy. She believed she didn’t have long to live so didn’t waste time, she was honest to a fault, did what she wanted, enjoyed every moment and never felt an ounce of regret.
That was what Valerie envied, her friend was the perfect girl free from worry and all the better because of it. She could live life how she wanted without fear of tomorrow because tomorrow might not come. To top it off, she didn’t have a family to concern herself with or any thoughts of where they might be. She didn’t have to worry about leaving anyone behind or that they would be devastated when or if she died. She could become the apple of their eye and then just as easily slip out of their lives, a fun memory and nothing else. When the end came, Valerie knew, there would be no one to mourn her friend.
“No one at all…”
She muttered to herself dipping deeper into a depressive state and hugging at her knees. The water didn’t feel very relaxing anymore. Her gaze fell from Mrs Bubba and Samantha who were sitting side by side with their eyes closed enjoying the spring to the fullest.
“Mrs B- Grandmother, what’s it like having a family?”
Mrs Bubba’s eyes shot open at Valerie’s quivering voice. She took in the sight of the dreadfully sad girl, the steam and condensation masking her watering eyes. The old grandmother reprimanded herself for not noticing anything was wrong. No that’s not right, she did notice but decided to let Valerie be, hoping she would open up given time. Despite being a big strong adventurer, the girl was still only sixteen, possibly seventeen, without a mother or any maternal figures in her life to help during the most tender moments. Mrs Bubba was unaware of either girls’ exact circumstances, only receiving tidbits from Joanne and piecing the rest together later. In spite of the situation, she felt glad, happy to have gotten the chance to show off some grandmotherly advice yet again.
“What is a family? That’s simple dear. Family is this.”
She said gesturing to the pool around them. Valerie looked up to the short woman confusion breaking out across her face.
“Generations of Bubba’s have all contributed to this spring, to this moment all in their own little way. From my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, to my children and so on. They all helped because that’s what a family does; help with no expectations or feeling they are owed anything. And family is being in each other’s company like this with no tension, no drama… Well, no, family is also drama, can’t escape it, there is always going to be drama. But you know, I have grandchildren seven generations my descendant that I share a minor amount of blood with, but I treat every single one like they were my own children. And you two count as well.”
She announced wrapping an arm around Samantha and squeezing tight.
“I’ve known you two, for a handful of weeks and I am happy to say your still family to me.”
Samantha, who had been patiently following along, tried yet again to wrap Mrs Bubba into another hug that couldn’t quite encircle the woman. Valerie suddenly realized Mrs Bubba didn’t recoil, avoid or even look uncomfortable at Samantha’s presence despite the shadow user not trying to limit her aspects frightening aura. The Bubba matriarch was simply too full of love for her family blood related or not. The huntress felt a tightness in her chest ease off slightly, not entirely disappearing but right now, in this moment it didn’t hurt as much. Sliding over to Mrs Bubba and not so subtly wiping at her face, Valerie sat on the opposite side of Samantha. She tried to lean her head on the diminutive woman before stopping realizing she would end up at a right angle.
“Thank you, Granny.”
The elderly dwarf smiled surrounded by the two newest additions to the Bubba household. A thought sprung to her mind and she felt it may help in putting Valerie’s concerns to bed.
“You know dears, why don’t you form a family all your own? You’re always welcome to join us Bubba’s, I think Valerie Bubba and Samantha Bubba are wonderful names. But you are allowed to pick your own family name. Have to have something you can pass on to your children one day.”
In truth Valerie had thought about it, ever since they stopped at the McDale household and learned you could have a first AND last name. With her uncle it was just James and nothing else, yet another thing she found suspicious but didn’t concern herself with anymore. Meeting so many people with their own name and family name intrigued the huntress to no end and she wondered about how to get a name just like it.
“How would I- how would we, I mean, go about picking a name Granny?”
The huntress enquired a bit of energy returning to her voice. Mrs Bubba debated on it and advised.
“Well, like I say you can always join the Bubba’s.”
She said with a wink.
“…Or you could ask Joanne and become a Willow, divine knows that woman could do with some responsibility. There’s also the option of… Woodpen. I would not recommend it however, having that ancient tree trunk teaching you two is bad enough.”
Mrs Bubba spat the last sentence out in a sour tone. Joanne did once inform the pair Mrs Bubba had a foul mouth though neither Valerie nor Samantha had seen it unless the topic of their elven teacher was brought up. Despite all her care and love some biases were simply unavoidable especially when it came to the long running elf/ dwarf feud. She also did not bother to bring up Margaretta, despite all the years they had known one another she never did learn a thing about her own family affairs.
“You can also pick one out yourself. Back in the day, long before my time, people picked whatever they saw, heard or did as a surname. You could even do your job if you’re so inclined.”
Valerie tried to wrap her head around the concept, but there were so many options, so many things to consider she didn’t know if they got one chance at this and didn’t want to waste it. Should she or Samantha be a Bubba, a Willow, a Woodpen or something else? What about Valerie’s uncle? Could she be a James or Jameson? Jamesdaughter? Jamesniece? It was too much, so she decided to offload some of the burden.
“Samantha what do you think? Who do you want to be?”
The shadow user stopped snuggling up to her granny and pondered the question. Rising to stand at her full smaller than average height she walked around the hot spring only barely stopping herself from slipping. Then it hit her. Snapping her fingers and producing no sound, because they were wet and for no other reason, she voiced her carefully chosen and well thought out name.
“I’ve got it! We can be Valerie and Samantha Adventure!”
Her chosen name was met with quiet distaste and grandmotherly condescension. Deflating, she suggested a potential back-up.
“Well, what about…”
Later that afternoon two girls entered the local registry office quickly signing all the necessary paperwork in sloppy, barely legible and slightly damp handwriting. After all was filed and the I.D.’s updated, the pair who left were the newly named Valerie Hunt and Samantha Trapper.