PART II - IDYLLIC
“Oh shit,” Major Celeste said flatly.
“Hey! Not all of my ideas are bad!” Callie snapped, but she laughed at the same time.
The Major looked back unconvinced. “What are you plotting?”
Rolling her eyes, Callie ignored Celeste and addressed the entire group. “Juniper is going to need to make three trips to get everyone back, now that Tazrok and the Major are here, unless enough people want to fly or walk. Juniper can only make one round trip, before she’s going to need to rest for two hours for another round trip, and then another hour for the final group.
“That will be quite the wait, especially for the last people,” Olin pointed out. “It looks to be a pleasant night, and I don’t think there’s much danger, but there is always a chance something may come from the woods.”
Callie nodded in agreement. “That said, I think I have a way to get everyone to a completely safe spot in only thirty minutes, and then get word back to camp thirty minutes after that.”
“Explain,” Olin said, more curious than commanding.
“Juniper effectively has enough charges on her teleport to make four hops, which is one round trip to camp and back. However, she could take two groups immediately to her Heartwood Tree, leaving them there, and then bring the last group a half-hour later. Once we’re all there, thirty minutes later, Juniper will have a charge back, and could take a group to camp, or an hour later if she wants to make a round trip at once.”
“Juniper, would you be comfortable with everyone close to your tree?” Vanis asked.
“I … suppose,” the Dryad said cautiously. “I have never had someone else near my tree, except earlier for mere moments on our way here. It … makes me nervous.”
Callie mentally kicked herself for not even first asking Juniper if she’d approve of the idea. It just seemed like a simple solution to the problem of the group being exposed at night here. “Juniper, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think to ask. If that won’t work for you, please don’t be pressured to say yes.”
The Dryad swallowed hard and looked worriedly to Vanis.
“Shit! I’m sorry,” Callie apologized again quickly. “You know what, we’re good. We can stay here and just do three waves to camp directly.”
“No, Little One,” Juniper said, still hedging. “You are all my friends, and I trust you to do no harm. There cannot be a fire, however, even one of the safe ones. I must insist on that.”
“Are you sure?” Vanis asked carefully.
The Dryad didn’t say anything, but did nod her head a few times after a momentary pause. Callie could still see the worried look in her eyes, and was absolutely hating herself for mistakenly forcing her friend into such an uncomfortable position. She had been so focused on finding a solution, she didn’t even consider the possible impact on Juniper! Time would need to be found to apologize properly as soon as possible.
“That’s a good plan, Recruit.” Major Celeste said, nodding briefly towards Callie. ”Olin and I would like to take some time to sit and discuss the fight with all of you. The Commandant will want to do a formal review tomorrow morning, but there are some things to talk about immediately, and we can do it at Juniper's tree while we relax and she recharges to take a group to camp.” The Major addressed the entire group. “Everyone, you heard Juniper. We are guests and we will treat everything with utmost and absolute respect.”
Callie was curious what the Major might want to discuss in advance of the post-mission debrief. Maybe she wanted to discuss what happened to Vanis? He froze up in the middle of the fight, and that certainly did deserve a conversation. But in Callie’s mind, he did the right thing, realizing he wasn’t in a state to do the job and handing command off to someone else. That should be applauded, not criticized. Maybe he took longer than he should have, though, so that probably should be mentioned.
Turning, the Major led the entourage forward, moving with a careful, steady pace. The closest tree of any appreciable size was still about one kilometer away, and while the prairie was free of obstructions, it was still slow-going in the dark.
“So is it another officer?” Lhawni asked the Major. “Or one of the trainers? Or one of the staff?”
“I’m not having this conversation!” Celeste scowled again. This had been the repeated response to an on-again off-again game on the hike, with people trying to guess who the Major’s lacy underwear was for.
“It wouldn’t be a recruit,” Ambria said. “She hasn’t had time to get to know anyone enough to justify sexy lacy things.”
“I would never …” Celeste gasped defensively. Then she added, “It is not a recruit.”
“So …” Callie said, drawing the word out. “You admit there is somebody.”
“I did not!” There was a strong pause. “Shit!”
“Tell me this, did you get the underwear yourself, or were they given to you?” Callie asked, a tiny hint of teasing in her voice.
“Why would that be important?” Olin asked, his furry face slightly confused.
“Because, if she got them herself, it's either new or she’s hoping to get with someone,” Maugra said, also joining the mocking conversation.
“And if someone gave them to her,” Ambria added, “Then it’s been a thing for a while.”
“Right!” Maugra agreed.
“You shut up,” the Major growled at the Faun. “Considering it took you only a week to get with one of the other recruits, you don’t get to judge my private life.”
“Who’s judging?” the Faun replied, almost seeming insulted.
“Yeah,” Callie agreed. “Go you, Major!”
“I could just order you all to drop it!” Celeste sneered.
“Isn’t Vanis in charge?” Callie smirked. “We don’t have to take orders from you.”
“Leave me out of this,” the Warlock said, raising his hands defensively and wanting nothing at all to do with the Major’s possible wrath.
Juniper, who so far had had a perplexed look on her face the whole time, finally seemed to figure out what everyone had been talking about. “Are you all trying to deduce who the Major’s mate is?”
“Ooooo! Do you know something?” Lhawni asked eagerly.
“Oh yes, it is very apparent that …”
“You better not finish that sentence!” Celeste scowled, turning and holding up a finger to the Dryad.
Juniper swallowed hard, suddenly nervous. Following a quick whisper in her ear from Vanis, the Dryad said, “Perhaps this is not something for me to share.”
A collective ‘awww’ of disappointment went up around most of the group.
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Callie was falling again down the endless dark tunnel of light. Before she even had time to take it all in, though, their group stepped out of the great Heartwood Tree as they arrived in Juniper’s protected grove. Setting Wallir down, who quickly resumed his Elven form, everyone waited for what they expected would be the acute nausea they had felt the first time.
“I don’t feel sick,” Ambria said eventually, a hand still instinctively on her belly.
“I feel fine, t-t-too,” Pixyl added.
“Maybe because we’re used to it?” Melga added, also not feeling unwell.
“Or maybe because it was only one hop?” Callie suggested. If getting sick only came from doing more than one teleport in rapid succession, that was an interesting piece of information to know if they ever needed to rely on Juniper for transport again. Heck, considering the world had the ability to teleport or portal distances, facilitated by ultra-rare Astralists, a Wizard specialist, it was good information to know.
“I shall return to get the next group,” Juniper said, interrupting everyone. “Please stay clear of this area so we can arrive safely.”
Quickly, everyone moved aside as the Dryad stepped forward and warbled out of existence, off to get the next wave, which would consist of Celeste and Tazrok. Olin, Vanis, Cheena and Bratig were going to hold at the forest’s edge, returning once a charge of Juniper’s magic returned in a half-hour. Vanis felt it was his duty to be the last to return, while the others plus Juniper would fill out the other team roles should there be any unexpected threats.
“Wow!” Ambria said, a sense of wonder in her voice.
Everyone turned to look at the Faun, and continued to follow her gaze. The idyllic grove that Callie had seen briefly on the first trip had been beautiful, and she had to admit that seeing it again was one of the selfish reasons why she had suggested bringing everyone here first. However, now, under the absence of all but the faintest starlight, the surroundings were nothing short of surreal. Everywhere, from the flowers and trees to the entwining ivy, the world glowed in a mesmerizing array of bright, bioluminescent hues. Even the tips of the grass emitted a brilliant green glow, resembling a vast expanse of lights moving like the waves of a dreamlit ocean. Overhead, a small nightbird of some kind flew by, its wings glowing yellow at the end of its feathers. It reminded Callie of that movie with the giant blue people on another planet, where Humans come and, like usual, fuck everything up.
Turning on her Darkvision out of pure curiosity, Callie was flooded with an even more-brilliant array of saturated colors. Normally, the Darkvision trait simply saw the world in various shades of detailed greens and grays, but earlier today the Rifts had been visible in pink, and now it was even more awe-inspiring.
“I have no words,” Rowani said, her voice nearly a whisper, before she looked down and smiled at Maugra, whose mouth was hanging open, simply awestruck.
“Take a look in Darkvision,” Callie whispered down to Pixyl, who had stepped up next to her.
A squeak of surprise dribbled from the Pixie’s mouth as she activated her own magical sight and the flood of new colors swept over and through her. “This is amazing!” she finally gasped out in a whisper.
“It really is,” Callie responded, placing a hand on Pixyl’s shoulder. She looked down, as Pixyl looked up and their eyes met again. “We probably need to talk, don’t we?”
“P-P-Probably,” Pixyl responded, sounding a little glum before looking away.
Was that a worried look on the Pixie’s face?
The tinkling sound of Juniper teleporting in with the next group sounded behind them, and Callie looked back quickly, seeing a weasel leap from the Major’s arms, gliding gently to the ground before morphing into the form of Tazrok. Looking down to Pixyl, she still saw that worried look on her friend’s face. Or was that her girlfriend’s face? It was too much to figure out at the moment, but with everyone’s attention on the new arrivals, Callie bent slightly, tilting Pixyl’s head up by her chin, and gave her a hard, quick kiss to help put the Pixie’s mind at ease. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
“So … pretty,” Tazrok said quietly as he looked out over the self-lit grove around them. “Many colors.”
Callie noticed the hard face that the Major had made earlier, wanting to talk about the fight, had eased a little bit. Maybe it was the comfort of Juniper’s space, or just that most of the team was one step closer to home, but she was definitely relaxing a bit.
“I shall depart to join the others,” Juniper said, interrupting everyone that was gawking at the lights. “As a reminder, please keep this area close to the tree free of people, so we do not appear on top of you. Stay within the grove and nothing will bother you.” The Dryad turned, but then turned again. “Also, do not go close to the river, lest something think you delicious.”
“I will summon a Ball of Light,” Maugra said. “We can gather around that like a campfire.” Then to Juniper she added, “I can have it give off some heat, but nowhere near enough to cause a fire. Would that be permissible?”
“I’m … I’m not sure,” the Dryad replied, concern showing on her green face. “Would you show me?”
Quickly, Maugra summoned a weightless ball of light in her hand about the size of a basketball, and set it on the ground. She focused, and it turned into an undulating ripple of oranges and reds, and it now gave off a comfortable warm heat. It wasn’t nearly as warm as a campfire, but it would serve as a nice substitute. “I used to use this light source when I was an Adventurer, instead of an actual fire, as I could dismiss it in an instant if needed. Very useful for light and heat inside of a tent, as well.”
Callie looked at the little ball, fascinated by all the colors. She had seen Xin use her Ball of Light spell several times. At Iron, it was only the size of a golf ball, and couldn’t float. It could however be slapped to any surface, where it would stick and continue to glow for about five minutes after she ceased channeling. When Xin reached Silver, the little ball was not only able to get bigger and brighter, but could float in the air and be slowly directed by thought within a couple meters, plus be winked out in an instant. Callie had always thought it a somewhat silly, but situationally useful spell, probably because she could see in the dark. A simple glowing ball of light wasn’t all that impressive compared to summoning Demons or energy swords or dozens of arrows falling from above. Now seeing Maugra’s higher tiered enhancements made Callie appreciate the spell quite a bit more.
Juniper reached down towards the glowing ball, but drew back before she touched it. “This does not burn anything?”
Maugra shook her head. “No. Just pleasant light and a little heat to fend off any of the night chill.”
“Then … this would be permissible,” The Dryad said simply. “I shall return as soon as I am able with the others.”
“Okay everyone,” the Major called out after Juniper stepped back into her tree. “We have a half-hour to relax. Don’t wander off, and remember we are guests here. This is a special place, and we’re going to leave it in the same condition we found it.”
With a flick of a finger, Maugra dismissed the orange globe of light. She walked about ten meters into the grove, staking out a nice spot for everyone to sit around, and resummoned the fake campfire. A few people moved close, either taking a spot to sit on the ground, or in some cases lying back to look at the stars, the gentle heat a nice addition to the evening and the orange glow a cozy replacement for firelight.
Callie subtly reached for Pixyl’s hand and they mutually stepped backwards into the shadows, slipping around behind a tree. Her heart was skipping and fluttering wildly, as if she were sneaking out of the house. There were so many things she wanted to say, and even more that she, quite honestly, wanted to do. She had to push aside some of the more-lurid thoughts for the moment, as there was an audience, after all. Instead, she simply looked down, causing Pixyl to strain her neck looking back, before Callie charged in for another kiss.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Callie whispered when the two finally came up for air.
The little Pixie shrugged, the muted bioluminescent light making prisms of unimaginable colors as they refracted through her wings. “You might have said ‘no’.”
“Apparently I’m completely blind. I didn’t even know you were gay, let alone interested. I mean, my gaydar is usually pretty good, but apparently I just completely missed it, and you never mentioned anyone you’ve been involved with in the past.”
“Gay? Gaydar?”
“You know? That sixth sense that tells you someone is attracted to the same gender? I’ve always been good at picking that up in people. I guess it’s not working here, or probably the social cues are different. It also was something I just wasn’t thinking about much.”
On the walk back, Callie had been wrestling with her own confused thoughts about what had happened with Pixyl, when not giving the Major shit about her underwear, that was. Since arriving here, she’d given absolutely no thought at all to dating anyone, or even hooking up, for that matter. Well, Juniper maybe, but that wasn’t real. Her life here was so new and confusing here that it simply wasn’t a priority. Plus, for all she knew, she’d be whisked away back to Chicago at any moment, although that was seeming less like a possibility as the days passed. She didn’t even know if it was socially permitted to be gay in this world, and had assumed she’d need to go back into the closet for some reason. A couple times she’d thought about asking Lena, but the right moment never came up and it wasn’t much of a priority. She’d need to get that lowdown at some point. At least the others in the mission group hadn’t seemed negative about it, so maybe it was acceptable?
“There’s a few of us around here,” Pixyl said carefully, “both males and females.”
“That’s good to know,” Callie replied just as carefully, resisting the instinct to immediately ask who and inwardly sighing slightly to know that they weren’t the only two.
Both lying back in the grass, Pixyl snuggled up close, putting her head on Callie’s armored chest. Until they got out of these things and away from people, there would really be nothing more than being close to each other. Still, Callie amazingly felt warm and happy, and Pixyl simply felt relieved that her secret was out and she hadn’t been turned away.
They awkwardly snuggled there for a bit, just watching the colors ripple and flow all around them. Things needed to be said, but neither was really sure where to start, let alone what those things might be. Finally the near silence of their vibrant darkness was broken by a simple whisper.
“I love you, Calliope.”