As I stretch, spreading my wings and shaking them a little, ruffling the feathers, feeling the muscles and sinews in my extra appendages flex and shift, Captain Brandia stops fussing over my new bnuuy. Limping over, she salutes crisply with her right arm. “Well fought, Kettrin. It was a privilege to enter combat alongside you and your allies. Now, as much as I would like to join you in your victory, I have much to do. We’ll need to get back to the Imperial Capital, Vassim.” She pulls out a map and gestures to a spot, a few days’ travel from our current location.  My own map updates with the location, and I nod.

 She continues, “In fact, I would like you to meet me there, if you’d be so gracious. I WOULD escort you and your comrades, but I’m needed back at the military encampment. I need to organize its dissolution and begin the return journey.  May the Lords watch over you!” she salutes once again, and, flanked by her men, she hobbles back the way we’d came. I wave, smiling. “I like her. She’s so much more approachable than her stubborn old man!”

Asteria giggles, hugging me from behind. Luckily, my sword isn’t sheathed across my back, and my wings are still spread. I splutter a little as I feel her chest pressing against the base of my wings, the feathers ruffled slightly. Her arms close around my waist, and I feel her chin on my shoulder. “We did it, Kettrin. The first boss, well done. You did great, honey, I’m proud of you!”

I swat at her playfully. “Hey, we’re streaming, you butt! Quit with the touchy-feely business!”

She just giggles, and shakes her head. “Nnnnope! And you can’t make me!”

I huff, furling my wings and trapping her against me. “Says you! If you won’t quit it, then I’ll make you regret it!”

As I giggle, I catch a glimpse of my stream-chat. Ohhh no. Uhhh…..

STEAKFRITES: Yo…are these two a couple? Like, WildRoseOfTheWest seems way too affectionate.

DARK_SEBASTIAN: I dunno. It’s only been a few weeks, yeah? Like, two or three, at most. I mean, I get where you’re coming from though.

STEAKFRITES: Honestly, good on them if they are! LOVE KNOWS NO GENDER!

The whole chat is like that. Sure, there’s the occasional unpleasant message, but they get roundly told to fuck off if they can’t be supportive.

I stare, and I can feel my face flushing pink. My viewership… it’s over 12,000 people now! And my sub count is almost as high, standing at a whopping 9,255. I gulp. “Um… Asteria, I think I’m gonna need a moderator or two. I’m not gonna be able to wrangle almost ten thousand subscribers on my own…”

Asteria nuzzles her cheek against mine, making me even more flustered. “I think I can help you with that, sweetie. But later. We have a trek ahead of us, so we might wanna get going, hmm?”

I nod and unfurl my wings enough for the warm, cuddly Alv to squirm free. She has a couple of my feathers sticking out of her bra, and I stick my tongue out at her as I turn to my stream. “Well, I’m sure you guys are going to have questions, but I don’t really have any answers! Anyways, be excellent to each other, support the LGBTQIA+ community, and don’t let hate win! Goodnight, and I’ll see you… in the heavens! This is Sky-Queen Kettrin, taking off!”

I rocket up with a wingbeat, shutting off my stream as soon as I’m out of frame. Asteria’s stream is already closed. It seems she has a short and snappy outro compared to me. As soon as I land, she pulls me into her arms and kisses me gently. I can feel my blush return, and snuggle into her grip, feeling her arm snake around my waist, pulling me closer.

Far too soon, Asteria’s lips pull away from mine, and I sag a little, gasping for breath. Once I’m steady on my feet, she slooowly untangles herself from me, dragging her fingers across the small of my back, my breath hitching a little as she smirks, her crimson lips quirked up at one corner. “Go ahead and level yourself up, munchkin, I’ll arrange some travel supplies.

That brings me back to the present. Fuck, I’d forgotten my new class cut off access to all my old abilities and stuff, I need some new ones!

Flicking open my menu, I sit on the tiled floor, leaning against the glacial pillar that Clawdette’s magic grenade created, my wings tucked in, but not enough to stick to the melting ice. My level is no longer 15, sitting pretty at a solid 20. I have 15 Attribute Points to spend, as well 30 Ability. Nice. I can make something work, I’m sure. As I start preparing to level up, my enormous, electrically-charged bnuuy lollops over and flops on me, her fur sparking gently as she washes her face.

Getting down to business, I begin slotting points into my stats, feeling the now-familiar trembling that indicates my power increase.

KETTRIN________

Skyborne

Thunder Valkyrie Level 15->20

CON: 23->26

DEX: 23->26

STR: 27->30

WIS: 15-> 18

INT: 15->18

LUCK: 25->25

Next, I peruse the list of available skills, biting my bottom lip in thought as I debate the pros and cons of each option. Finally, I spend 5 points on a short-ranged melee strike, Earthshaker. The description states, “A powerful, but short-distance attack, Earthshaker is performed by bringing a heavy-class weapon down with ferocious strength, minimum of 30, that causes a wide ring of stone spikes to jut up from the very soil itself, turning Nature’s might against one’s enemies. Unfortunately, it is ineffective against airborne adversaries.”

That sounds like it’d be pretty helpful in close-quarters situations. Next, something less offense-focused. The best option from those available, Volt Healing, is a HP-regeneration buff that can also damage melee attackers. It costs another 3 points, leaving me with 22.

As I furrow my brow, I spot a nice-looking ability, Imbued With Chaos, which allows me to enhance my blade with flames, ice, or wind, for a cost of ten points. I snap it up gleefully, shifting my position as Asteria negotiates with a couple of dwarves over something.

Below that, there’s a nifty little skill that allows me to place a weapon in a pocket dimension and draw it from out of its storage place whenever I need it. It’s worth the 2 points, and I giggle as I take my giant sword and focus on secreting it away. The blade glides forward, disappearing into a faint shimmer in the air, and vanishing as I let go. I spend about ten minutes practicing, calling my greatsword to my hand and returning it to the demiplane, over and over, until it becomes second-nature to me. Could come in handy in a battle or something.

Finally, there’s one more ability, Overclock. This ability uses the natural electrical signals running through my body to massively increase my speed. There is a drawback in that I can’t use any weapons at all while Overclocked, but it DOES have the interesting little effect of multiplying unarmed strike damage by the speed I’m going at before impact. The faster I go, the harder I hit, basically.

That’s the last points gone, and I stand after extricating myself from underneath my rabbit friend’s huge head, cracking my neck and brushing a hand through my waist-length silver locks. I’d love it if my hair was this long in the real world… it’ll grow, though, it just needs time, right?

Looking around, I can see the people who’d fought with me. Gimmel and the Anvil Squad. Harvenhaight, my best friend and supporter. Asteria Willowthorne, my beautiful Alv mage. The departing Captain Brandia and her trio of guardsmen.  Clawdette the Ashiga, and even Marika.

Despite my personal dislike of the pink-haired girl, I had to admit she’d more than pulled her weight this time around. Maybe... Maybe she wasn’t as bad as all that? I mean, we’d kinda gotten off on the very, VERY wrong foot, but… Maybe if I had a chance to actually TALK to her, instead of ending up arguing with her or insulting her….

As if she sensed my eyes on her, the hot-pink sorceress turned, and met my gaze. She began to approach me. “Hey, you! Is… is your stream off?” she spoke, in a surprisingly quiet tone that was at odds with her usual demonic yawping. I shake my head, and she visibly relaxes. I open my mouth, and, to my surprise, my next line has an echo to it.

“I want to talk to you…”

I want to talk to you.”

We both pause, taken-aback that we were in sync for the briefest, weirdest moment. Nodding my head, I check for Asteria. “Well, Astie and I were about to head for the Imperial capital, if you want to tag along? We can talk on the way?”

She pauses, before nodding slowly. “Okay. I actually wanted to head there, as a matter of fact. I think there’s an event going on there. Something big…”

The Alv mage approaches, a pack disappearing from over her shoulder into her inventory. “What’s going on here, Kettrin? Are you ready to go?” she ruffles my hair playfully, and I bat at her fingers, trying to stop her from tangling it.

“We are, yes. Marika and I kinda… wanted to talk to each other, and she’s heading the same way, so I thought it’d be better if we all went as a group, and-”

Asteria places a finger to my lips. “It’s okay, sweetie. If you have your reasons, that’s good enough for me. Welcome aboard, Marika. Are you packed and ready?” 

The neon spellcaster nods, and falls into line with us as we leave, making our way back to the surface. With the undead cleared, it was a rather uneventful, boring trek, but the feel of sunlight washing the dusty air off of me had a wide smile forming on my lips.

“Give me a second; I need to de-clog my wings!” I call, and, with a short run, I bound up, snapping my wings out and beating them, letting the rushing wind flurry through my feathers. I can actually feel the musty, dusty atmosphere of the tomb being scoured off of my stunning wings, the feathers losing the grimy sheen that must’ve coated them from all the cobwebs and gunk.

When I land not far from my companions with a hop and a couple of skips, I furl my wings, tucking them behind my back. I no longer have to worry about my obnoxiously-oversized sword cutting them now, which is nice. As the two girls catch up, I stretch, luxuriating in the flexibility and power of my body. I wish I could live in this world forever!

I let Asteria take the lead in guiding us towards our distant goal, and hang back a little to have that talk with Marika. “I… I’m sorry for slapping you. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, and I don’t like it when it happens. I just couldn’t stand you insulting my friend, and I reacted very poorly.”

Marika almost walks into a tree, yelping, “koala!” as she barely manages to prevent herself from causing a self-inflicted injury. When she recovers, she blinks at me several times.

“Wait… did you just apologise?! Why??? I… I was in the wrong… I may be a member of the Church of One, but…despite what my brothers and sisters in faith might think, using violence to get our way makes us no better than what we preach against. I… I shouldn’t have insulted your friend, and I shouldn’t have threatened to fight you. I’M sorry.”

I splutter a little, almost ‘koala-ing’ myself on a low-hanging branch. Maybe I’d done the right thing after all! I smile, and sigh with relief. “Look, I don’t think anyone would call us FRIENDS, but how about we at least be civil and pleasant towards each other, yeah?”

Marika actually smiles back! She’s really rather pretty when she isn’t scowling like an upside-down bucket. She reaches out a hand and I shake.

“I think we can manage that, yes.”