Fell Champions

Otter woke up in a tangle of limbs and blankets. Somehow, the three of them had ended up in bed together despite Liaru needing to be carried. Otter couldn’t remember much after that. It was all a haze of lust and exhaustion and now she was waking up feeling tired and sticky.

She was going to need to scour herself clean. Sex was a messy business normally, but what they’d done the night before had been absolutely filthy in the best way.

Otter tried to rise, but an arm held her in place. It was Liaru’s, gripped onto her tightly in a fierce hug, who in turn was the little spoon for Kaya. Otter tried to move again, but Liaru’s grip tightened, and she groaned softly.

Well. This was unexpected.

Was Liaru awake? Surely not. She was too cold, at least with Otter, for this kind of behaviour. She probably thought she was holding her wife, as opposed to the potential father of her child. 

Otter rubbed at the bridge of her nose. Father. What had she been thinking? Just because she had a dick, she’d let it take over her decision making. And now she’d probably knocked Liaru up.

She’d never wanted kids, back in the real world. The idea had felt weird, something other people did. Normies. She enjoyed her freedom too much, and hadn’t wanted to get bogged down with that kind of thing.

But she wouldn’t have to. That was a good thing, right? It was what Liaru clearly wanted. Kaya, too. Otter didn’t need to get involved with the kid. They were okay with that. Even preferred it. Still, it felt kind of scandalous, and not in a good way. 

“Oh my sweet Aphrodite jamming on a clam,” Otter whispered to herself. “I’m the uptight prude in the room.”

No. Impossible. She refused to accept it.

She was startled out of her train of thought by a fit of soft giggles. Kaya had evidently woken up and thought the situation Otter was trapped in funny. 

“Take your wife before she wakes up,” Otter hissed.

“Take her? You want a show this early?”

Otter sputtered. She was getting teased! In a sexy situation! That never happened. She was the one who was supposed to be pushing others’ boundaries during these kinds of circumstances.

“If you don’t take her, I will,” Otter said meaningfully.

Kaya smiled brightly at her. “As if you could.”

Damnable woman. 

Still, she managed to unentangle Liaru’s arms from Otter, who took her moment to collect her clothes and escape while the two got to their business of snuggling. 

Otter had never understood the term ‘walk of shame’ before. Mostly because, in her college days when her promiscuousness had been at its height, she’d usually high fived people on her way back to her dorm. She’d always felt like a conquering queen, returning home from a victorious campaign.

This time, she didn’t know what she felt, clutching her clothes to her chest while keeping an eye out for maids and servants. She tried to put on her pants as she walked, hopping about awkwardly, before realizing she could just dismiss the old outfit and summon a new one onto her body with her Thread of Sanctuary. 

She felt kind of good, in that ‘just had sex’ way, but she had no idea how to navigate things with Liaru later. Especially that there was a good chance she was pregnant with Otter’s child. It was going to make things weird. Or maybe nothing at all would change, and Liaru would be back to sneering at her and calling her lazy.

That thought alone brightened Otter’s mood. Joke was on Liaru, those lazy genes would be passed onto their kid. 

But there was also the Rua situation. Otter was always thinking on how to rescue her, and she had a loose framework of a plan bouncing around in her head, but it needed more ironing out. She needed more info. She needed Rua to–

All at once through their link, Otter felt absolute anguish. Pain, frustration, fury, all in an avalanche. Sick panic, raw rage. It all kaleidoscoped in Otter’s brain, dizzying her, and it was all she could do to note immediately collapse and begin crying in sympathy. 

Rua. Something had happened to her. Otter struggled to open her menu through the pain, and sent a call request to her, but got nothing.

Not surprising, but Otter needed information. She knew Rua was physically fine, could feel it, but mentally, it was like Rua had been trampled by a stampede of angry nerds after being told she’d been cast as a male character in whatever franchise they loved.

So Otter called Sami. In typical Sami fashion, the call was accepted instantly. Sami was so weird.

“Where are you?” Otter said through gritted teeth. 

She had to figure out how to block the sensations coming from Rua. She normally had to tune in to feel what Rua was feeling, but this was too intense, too real. 

“Just entering the city,” Sami said. “I was about to call you to ask for directions, but then I remembered you never answer. This city is big. And everyone’s giving us the side eye. Doesn’t help that someone decided to be a seven foot tall dragon man in character creation.”

“Is that Mayumi?” Everett’s voice said in the background. His mouth sounded full. “Tell her that I said hello and that the food here is delicious!”

“Tell Everett I said hi,” Otter replied. “Or rather, I’ll just say it when you guys get here. Just look for the really big house. Like, the biggest, fanciest, more garish one.”

“What does that even… oh wait, I think I see it. Never mind. How does that thing stand up on stilts without collapsing under its own weight?”

“I dunno, magic? Just knock on the door and tell whatever servant answers that Otter is expecting you, and if they give you any lip, just tell them to get Liaru. She knows you’re coming. Vex works, too.”

Sami gave her an annoyed look. “And why can’t you just let us in yourself?”

“I need to wash sex stink off me. I’m a dirty little monkey.”

The annoyed look intensified. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I got tricked into it, I swear! It’s all Rua’s fault.”

“The same Rua who is, as I understand it, currently kidnapped and not on the island?”

“She is very subtle and cunning in her trickery.”

“Fine, go bathe. And maybe you should get tested while you’re at it.”

“Nah, I’ve asked around. I don’t think STDs are a thing amongst Silayans. Everyone seemed confused when I asked about it. They probably don’t have them here. Unless the Faceless Oppressor is… oh my god, the Faceless Oppressor is a sexually transmitted disease.”

Holy shit. That made so much sense.

A bunch of strangers had shown up in a series of islands populated by fit, athletic women with no qualms about sex. A bunch of sailors from a faraway kingdom had shown up, and one thing led to another, and suddenly a disease that only caused the sniffles with most people was suddenly genociding an entire gender of people the Criobani Empire didn’t have.

For whatever else they were guilty of, intentionally setting the ‘Faceless Oppressor’ on the Silayan people probably wasn’t a deliberate attack, just the result of a bunch of randy sailors meeting the sexually liberal population of the Islands. 

“I’m going to need an explanation,” Sami said. “I just witnessed one of those rare moments where both your brain cells collided into one another and formed an actual thought. Walk me through it.”

“Explanations later, there is sex stink in need of scouring. It must be defeated lest some maid catch a whiff and think me some errant slut.”

“You are an errant slut.”

“Hanging up now.”

“No, wait–”

Eh, whatever it was would have to wait. Probably wasn’t super important.

After bathing – and Otter took her sweet time about it, the hot water felt amazing on her tired muscles – Otter made her way to the main sitting room. Sami was sitting in the fanciest chair and looking like she ruled the place. Everett was busying himself by helping Liaru prepare tea for the room.

Liaru was walking with a noticeable gingerness, which Otter smirked at, and looked annoyed that someone was helping her. Well, if there was one thing Otter was good at, it was making that particular feeling worse.

“Sit, Liaru. You’re looking tired. And sore. Let Everett do his thing.”

Liaru glared at her, the heat from it only diminished by how exhausted she looked. 

“I’m surprised you got out of bed,” Otter said. “I would’ve thought you’d be out for the day.”

Sami looked between the two of them, and Otter could practically see the calculations going through her head. 

Liaru made a small growl, but redoubled her efforts in making tea, which only made Everett try to help more. 

“I see you’ve met Sami and Everett. They’re our prospective thug power, and part of my plan to rescue Rua.”

“Mercenaries?” Liaru asked.

“Skilled hobbyists,” Sami supplied. “And I have a vested interest in returning Rua to her home. We’re both Pactholders, and know our way around violence. And we won’t charge for our services.”

“I rarely trust help that’s offered freely.”

“It’s not free. If anything, it’s payback for something Rua already, ahem, gave me.”

“She means sex,” Otter said. “They totally fucked.”

“Yes, well, there’s a lot of that going around, it seems,” Sami said, pointedly looking between Otter and Liaru. 

Was she jealous? Sami never got jealous. Oh, Otter was going to have fun with this.

She crossed the room, and picked up one of the tea cups. It wasn’t a dainty little porcelain thing you’d expect from their world, but more of a ceramic mug painted in a garish display of colours. Otter took a small sip. Like most Silayan food, it was a mix of spice and citrus sourness, and not bitter like most tea she was acquainted with. She made an appreciative noise, and then held the cup to Liaru.

“It’s quite good, but it’s missing something, don’t you think?” Otter asked.

Liaru narrowed her eyes, and looked about to say something, but Otter used that moment to press it to her lips. She took a sip, and then said neutrally, “It tastes fine.”

“It must be how tired you are,” Otter said. “From last night.”

“Hey, let me try,” Everett said, and then plucked the cup from Otter’s hands and took a gulp. “Not bad. Not what I expected. Might need to steep longer, though, I think we can get more flavour out of it.”

“I’m sure the tea is fine,” Sami said. “Otter is just being rude. You know the games she likes to play.”

Everett looked confused, and then glanced between all three women, and then realization hit him. “Ah.”

“There’s nothing between us,” Liaru said. 

“Of course there isn’t,” Sami said. “I’m certain it was a one-off. I know Otter. She’s just trying to annoy you. And possibly me, as well.”

“It’s working.”

“That’s the first trick with her. Never let her know that, and just ignore her.”

“I won’t be ignored! I am the nexus of all–”

“Perhaps it’d be best if we heard about the political status of the Islands,” Sami said. “I am a little unclear about the motivations and machinations of all the factions here. Perhaps a little history lesson is in order before we think of how to act?”

“Boring,” Otter said, sitting down with a sprawl onto a couch. 

Everett, true friend that he was, sat beside her, and yawned in an exaggerated fashion.

“It would be best if we knew what we were getting into. And knowing exactly who and what Il-Su is serving,” Sami said.

Everett suddenly leaned forward, looking very interested.

“Traitor,” Otter grumbled.

“I’m just a servant,” Liaru said. “But I have been keeping abreast of things, so that I could properly brief the Seat when she returned. Very well. I will do my best to explain things.”

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