Bear With Us

“LADY FAYDAN REALLY DID DELIVER, AMELIA,” said the catgirl with delight.

She was having the time of her life, hugging me from behind while I sat on the ground. Her chin was resting atop my head, and even through her armor, I could feel a pair of soft fruits pressing against my back.

“Don’t make me raise my hand, Xana,” warned Amelia, a vein bulging on her forehead. “Let go of Master John, immediately.”

Eh? What’s she talking about? We’re doing just fiiiine.

“I don’t wanna!” the catgirl flatly rejected her.

You go, girl! Show her!

“You’re bothering him!” Amelia exclaimed. “He’s making weird faces and… Gods, I don’t even know where to look!”

Yeah, better not look at me right now. Might see something you don't want.

“That’s not true!” Xana pouted. “Right, John? It’s okay if we stay like this…” she asked, tracing her soft fingers along my cheek.

Holy hell, she’ll have me wrapped around her thumb in no time at this rate.

“Please forgive her,” Cerys addressed me, unfazed by the shameless flirting that was unfolding. “It’s mating season for therianthropes, so my friend here is in heat.”

Ohhhh. That explains the pheromones!

It was Xana who smelled like them, so it all makes sense now!

“Shut up, you dumb elf!” Xana hissed at her. “In case you don’t remember, I specifically asked Amelia to pray to Faydan for a good boyfriend. And what did the Goddess give us? She gave us John, right here! So as we agreed before, he’s all mine.”

Oh my. So I’m a literal godsend now? Man, that’s flattery!

“We didn’t agree to anything,” Amelia refuted. “You came up with the decision on your own, and you’re jumping like, ten steps ahead!”

Ah, the ‘you can’t marry someone you just met’ argument. I watched the movie.

“What of it?” Xana asked. “I like John. He’s strong, he’s brave, he treats me tenderly, and he smells so freaking good! I swear, he feels wild like a dragon!”

Oof. Bit too close to home there, Xana.

“Then be considerate for a moment,” Amelia argued. “You haven’t even asked John anything about the matter. He could be taken, for all we know.”

Heh, that’s a stretch. I get she’s trying to give me a lifeline, but getting together with a clingy catgirl doesn’t sound so bad. I became a wizard back on Earth, so I’m not averse to an assertive woman on this side.

“So says you, but I don’t hear him complaining,” Xana pointed out, pressing her chest against the back of my neck. I’m guilty as charged.

“John,” Xana addressed me, “You’re single, right? If so, let’s start a clan together. I’ll bear as many kittens as you like.”

Holy shit, my nose is bleeding.

Cerys let out a heavy sigh.

“Let us first explain our circumstances to him, at least,” she said in exasperation. “Xana, you can’t expect him to make an informed decision if you’re throwing yourself at him like this.”

“Hssss,” the catgirl hissed at her friend, but Cerys grabbed her from the nape of her neck and pried her off of me, kicking and screaming.

Oh my God, it was getting dangerous here.

“Ehem,” Amelia cleared her throat, offering her cloak to me.

“Thank you,” I graciously accepted. I really, really needed to cover myself, after everything Xana had put me through.

“Well then,” Cerys addressed us, struggling to hold onto Xana as she thrashed around to break free. “Would you mind handling the talk, Amelia?”

“Gladly,” she replied, sitting down in front of me. “Let me tell you about ourselves, Master John.”

I nodded in agreement, and thus began the story about the Rose’s Thorns.

* * *

It took a while for Amelia to explain, but here’s the gist of it.

She, Xana and Cerys used to be cozy with the royal family until a few years back.

Amelia was a paladin serving in the Order of the Silver Shield, under direct command of King Cedric, the ruler of the local kingdom. Cerys was a court mage, and Xana was a personal retainer of the King’s eldest daughter, Princess Camila.

However, things went sour three years ago. Amelia’s paladin order was charged with the King’s security during a diplomatic visit abroad, but the teleportation ceremony went catastrophically wrong. Instead of delivering the King’s entourage to their destination, the ritual sent them to an ambush site.

Most of the paladins and entourage were slain, and the King was gravely injured. He’s been in a coma ever since, wasting away from a terrible curse, with no hope of recovery.

To make matters worse, Amelia’s father was the leader of the Order of the Silver Shield. He took the fall for the teleportation trap, and remains imprisoned to this day.

As for Amelia, she and her relatives were kicked from the Order, and she’s been working as an adventurer for the past three years. But fortunately, she wasn’t alone.

Cerys and Xana were good friends with Amelia, getting acquainted through their positions in the royal palace. They often trained and worked together, and hung out whenever time allowed.

When Amelia was exiled from the Order, her friends followed after her. Although Amelia tried to stop them, Cerys and Xana were adamant. They were a team back in the palace, and would remain a team outside of it.

Thus, the party of the Rose’s Thorns was born.

And now, the Thorns had been given a chance to redeem themselves.

The priests and alchemists of the temple of Maladriel, the Goddess of Mercy, had completed the recipe for an elixir that could potentially lift the King’s curse. In turn, Princess Camila mobilized every resource at her disposal, determined to brew the potion at any cost.

For Amelia’s party, their mission is to harvest a root of the Dead Tree — a key ingredient to the concoction. According to them, the tree rests at the site of a great and terrible battle from ages past, and it’s located somewhere in this forest.

But the Dead Tree is known to be concealed by a powerful barrier, and the Thorns aren’t confident in their ability to find it, let alone pierce it. So, they’d like to recruit the help of a powerful ally… for example, the help of a Master Druid like me.