As Kana came back from her adrenaline rush, she could hear the waves of cheering and applause as her stream viewers rushed to congratulate her. She let out an ululating yell to center herself from the chaos of battle.

"YEAAAAAAH! Thank you so much for everything! I couldn't have done this without all of my viewership AND the help of my dungeoneering party!"

At her feet, scored by a multitude of magically burning axe wounds, lay the mortal remains of an giant abyssal salamander, its slimy, yet magma-hot mammoth-sized tauric-form body slumped on the floor of the deepest depths of the Balcones. A wickedly bladed, magically burning greatsword lay on the floor, ready to claim as her prize: the [Child of Laevateinn]. A treasure trove gleamed at the far side, and all its riches would rightfully be hers.

Incongruously, there was also a cheap faux-gold trophy hovering mid-air, with a message proclaiming in weirdly poor grammar, "You're Winner!" Kana smirked at that.

Kana could also claim a title: [Deep Delver of the Balcones], because she was the first to face down the dungeon boss, much less win. And she had faced it down alone.

Kana's adventuring party had all long since turned back, been knocked unconscious by rock falls or ambushes, or simply had opted to teleport home from fatigue. Kana begrudged none of them for doing so; after all, she could hear them even now, the text displays of their congratulations scrolling across the screen. Even though she wasn't obligated to send any of them a share as she was the only one to make it this far, she knew she'd end up sending an equal share of the dungeon loot anyway, Kana now already had more money than she would ever need, and even split twelve ways, every single adventuring partner would be flush for a very very long time.

The notifications in her HUD were coming fast and furious, and she noticed a ton of donations among them and flushed.

"Oh geez, y'all do *not* have to send donos right now, if anything, as thanks for your support, here's a free year-long sub for everyone who's watching right now!"

There was no sense in hoarding: Kana wasn't a dragon, after all, just a normal, everyday hobgoblin gal.

Maybe not so normal, when you factored in that she was a near max-level dual class barbarian / bard, garnering a wide social media foilowing from her dungeoneering and physical training videos. Kana liked how easy it was for her hobgoblin physique to get like this; if you got it, flaunt it, right?

"I hope you enjoyed the latest episode of the Badass Bard-barian! I can't believe we took him down! YEAAAAAHHHHH!"

More cheers arose, especially from her erstwhile party members as they realized just how much loot she'd just put into their accounts. There really want nothing quite like the convenience of party inventories and instant item teleportation. Having your cousin Belladonna the mathemancer in your ear calculating the wealth of all your winnings within mere seconds didn't hurt, and of course she was getting her share too - she didn't even have to ask.

"All right folks, it's time for me to freshen up and teleport out of here. Remember, I'm taking a week-long break from streaming after this, so please remember to follow all my party members, and make sure to give them follows and subs!"

After the final pleasantries, Kana finally mentally switched off the camera drones, and not long after, the dungeon boss's corpse disappeared, converted into components and teleported into the digital inventory for processing and storage. She mentally switched off her communication signal to the streaming service and all socials, and those final parts of her magical heads up display feel silent and invisible.

Kana was now alone, in the quiet stillness of the cave. She unsummoned her armor and weapons, as she knew she no longer needed them.

Indeed, there wasn't anyone watching, so she didn't need to have anything on, anymore.

She took a light breath, and then sang a small ball of ultraviolet light into being. As she hummed a few bars of a song without a name, she could see the dust and debris from countless broken stalactites and stalagmites float into the air, recoalescing into their original form and the dungeon began to reset. It wouldn't reset until she left, and it was in these times that she could enjoy these caves in their natural state, without the magical beings ensorcelled into existence by the nearby dungeon core.

It was in these times that she didn't have to be Kana the Badass Bard-barian, but her truer self: Kanariya Redhill, just a hobgoblin gal who liked to read, and sing, and be in nature.

The barbarian adrenaline spells were finally wearing off, and she could feel her "cut and muscular" physique remold back into her normal softer, curvier self. She liked being buff, but in reality, despite being from one of the peoples that could naturally easily be super-buff super-easy, for her it took constant effort to maintain via spellcraft, and she wanted to be here in the moment, not worrying about mana management. She liked being in the buff more, to be honest. That literally took no effort at all.

But she couldn't dare show that to her audience. She wasn't that kind of attention-getter - not that she hadn't watched her share of streaker-streamers. That looked fun, but it wasn't her.

No. This was Kanariya - sitting by herself marveling at the ultraviolet light playing along the timeless formations in a deep dark cave, enjoying the cool air washing over her olive-brown skin, listening with slightly pointed ears for the magical songs of the air currents and of the deep earth.

This was the Kanariya that chuckled to herself at how the patterns on the ceiling here are there looked like bacon strips or imagined those tiny bits of calcite over in that corner as soda straws.

This was the her that didn't mesh with her public image, and that was okay, because this was the her that she kept to herself. Maybe she'd find a nice girl to share it with someday.

And thus Kanariya spent her time contemplating and enjoying the cave, until the light spell finally wore off on its own, and she sat quietly in the darkness, enjoying the calm. And then it was time to go, and one cleaning spell (for the battle sweat) and one quick summoning of some shorts and a tank top and Mary Janes later, she closed her eyes and teleported back to a spot she had picked about a few mile away from the dungeon entrance, by a long-abandoned pre-Sundering schoolhouse.

Stolen story; please report.

She opened her eyes back again, slowly so as not to be blinded by the sun. Kanariya had learned that lesson on her very first delve, way back in her teens. Her eyes still watered and wavered -- realizing her ocular enhancement spell was wearing off, she summoned a pair of glasses, and then a couple of pink scrunchies to put her shoulder-length chestnut hair into a pair of pigtails.

There. Better. She took stock of herself for a moment:

Kanariya Redhill, hobgoblin woman, age twenty-three. Bard, barbarian, but also a botanist and book-mage. Five-foot eleven, simultaneously toned but with curves in places she liked, though maybe a bit spare in the chest for some -- she'd never be voluptuous, and that got in the way during exertion so she really didn't need super-boobah anyhow, as much as she enjoyed seeing, well, any size of boobs on other girls. Olive-brown skin, and that unique set of native-copper irises you really only saw on hobgoblins, behind a wide-rimmed frame of glasses. Despite being on the tall side, Kanariya's face seemed very soft and almost neotenous -- her features only came off as hard and angular when the barbarian rage turned her into a muscle-machine and that certainly didn't apply in the here and now.

This Kanariya wore the kind of look that others had described as mousy, strangely nondescript, and truly everyday, and this was how she liked to be when by herself. When she wasn't performing.

Looking around, Kanariya saw she was alone by the old schoolhouse, an angular thing with wooden walls painted stark white, contrasting with the bluebonnets and fire wheels growing in the nearby fields. She'd always liked the irony of its name, "Nameless School." She really didn't know if it was one of those structures destroyed in the great cataclysmic wars of pre-magic or it had survived and this was still original, but it was a comfort to her all the same -- a place few people know about.

None of Kana's fans would be waiting for her here. If anything, they would still be waiting at the cavern entrance trying to throw her a surprise party or something, which at another time might be nice, but Kanariya wanted quiet and was glad for it.

Up until she felt that first big spatter of rain right on her face.

Oh gods, she'd forgotten to check the weather, and there was a nice big squall line that had just darkened the sky. Not mist, not a mere drizzle, big, heavy drops of rain, that soon crescendoed into a roaring downpour. Kanariya ran to the front of the schoolhouse, but with no eaves, she was very quickly soaked. Thank the gods it was warm rain!

And then Kanariya leaned against the white walls of the schoolhouse, calmed herself, and listened.

Drip. Drop. Patter. Swoosh.

The pouring rain formed into puddles, streaming down into waterfalls off the roof, forming tiny rivers and braided channels in miniature as it spread across the ground. The flowers shook with each falling raindrop and gust as if trying to shake themselves off.

And Kanariya heard ... music? Not just the music of the wind and rain, but ... an actual song. Kanariya quickly cantripped the water off her glasses, and saw ... her.

A lithe feminine form draped in a pale yellow sundress that clung to her as she danced in the pouring rain, barefoot through the fields before Kanariya, like a dream. Impossibly long, thin pointed ears. Blonde hair, tied in a braid, and laced with flowers. Dancing. Dancing. Coming to Kanariya.

Kanariya blinked, but this was no hallucination. How hadn't she noticed this elf girl nearby? How long had she been there? Oh my, she's ... so pretty. Kanariya flushed hard, because this girl had the audacity to be exactly Kanariya's type. She's coming here. Oh crap.

Oh crap.

The pretty young elf maid seemed to float across the field, she was so light on her feet. Step. By step. Kanariya saw how the thin material of the sundress revealed this girl wasn't wearing anything beneath. What the hell was going on? Why couldn't Kanariya look away? Everything in her active mind told her this had to be a glamour, or a hallucination, or some other form of magical enchantment, but Kanariya knew well how to detect all of that through her bardic training, and none of that was happening at all.

Just a very, very pretty elf girl, walking right up to her now, through the rain, up the steps of the old white schoolhouse.

Kanariya gasped. No. Way. Kanariya knew her, for this was indeed a face and a form straight out of her dreams.

How many days had she followed the Idol Adventures of Magical Mary Sue?

How many nights had she fallen asleep listening to MarySueASMR?

How many days had she fantasized about traveling the world alongside Mary Sue as she globetrotted with her rapier and light spells in battles that seemed to be more dance than battle?

How many times had she engaged Mary Sue in chat, never once dreaming they would be anything more than casual online connections? On those streams, Kanariya was someone else entirely, a different facet, but more herself really, not the raging Bard-barian at all, because this was her alt account, the sweet botanist booklover she wanted to be. Kanariya was a bonafide Mary Sue super fan, but Kanariya hadn't been made teeny and cute and adorable, but tall and statuesque and a bit intimidating, a shrinking violet who'd learned to be tough to succeed.

If Kanariya could never become Mary Sue, then she was content to be the awkward girl next door, quietly pining for another so impossibly far away. Who was, somehow, someway, right here.

How does Mary Sue know I even exist?

Now, suddenly Marielella Susanna's sky blue eyes right there looking up into her own. Right up to Kanariya Redhill. The crown of Mary Sue's head just reached Kanariya's chin. Oh my gods. She's so short. And so cute. No way. What. The fuck. Is she doing?

Her pert nose and pouty little lips. Right there.

Those pouty lips opened up in a gentle whisper that somehow silenced the rain and thunder and wind and changed Kanariya's life forever.

"At last I have found you, my Canary. And now you are mine."

Mary Sue stood on her tiptoes and reached her slender arms around Kanariya's neck as they came into an embrace, and Kanariya made no effort to resist, because why would you resist what you've wanted as long as you can remember?

Thus Kanariya's fate was right then and there sealed with a kiss.