Chapter 3.1

Katrina’s melancholy mood vanished immediately as she realized she wasn’t alone. In her surprise, she reflexively pushed off the tree and floated a few feet away, all while keeping her eyes on this new stranger.

“Wait, don’t go!” the girl in the tree said. “I’m not upset, I just wasn’t expecting anyone, that’s all.”

Doing her best to regain her composure, Katrina finally found the words to respond. “I-I’m sorry, I thought the area was abandoned, I didn’t mean to intrude, miss.” In front of her, the stranger began moving out of the tree, its bark magically shifting to accommodate her movements, and she finally got a good look at her.

The girl in front of Katrina had rich, green skin, and wasn’t wearing any clothes, though saying she was naked would also be wrong. Strips of bark and patches of leaves seemed to be growing from her body, and together they covered all the same features a bikini would. Her face was soft, with delicate rounded features and a fair collection of freckles. The vines, leaves, and flowers Katrina had seen just moments ago were, in fact, her hair. It was fairly long, and collected behind her head where it formed into a loose ponytail. Her bright green eyes subtly reflected the moonlight, and they were looking at Katrina in amazement.

She finally settled onto the branch Katrina had just vacated as she continued talking. “You weren’t intruding, I promise! And you’re not wrong, this neighborhood is entirely abandoned, other than myself.”

“Ah, I see,” Katrina said, pausing to clear her throat. “You’re a Dryad, I assume?”

“That’s right!”

“Certainly explains how comparatively unique this tree is. I’m—”

“A vampire?”

“…I was going to say Katrina, but both are correct.”

“Oh! Right! You can call me Alicia.”

The dryad held out her hand, clearly hoping to formalize their introduction with a handshake. Katrina hesitated, scared to remember the last time she’d purposely touched anyone. Still, with a fresh supply of blood hanging off her shoulder, she figured it was safe enough. She floated closer, grabbing Alicia’s hand and gently squeezing her fingers. She only lingered for a second before she broke the grip and created more distance between them again.

How didn’t I sense her? Even now, it’s like she’s not entirely here.

“Well met, Alicia. Again, sorry for the disturbance.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Katrina the Vampire!” Alicia giggled as she settled back onto her branch, cradling her head in her arms. “So… what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

“Um, I live closer to the city, but I missed my stop.” Katrina paused, nervously wringing the straps of her cooler. She wasn’t used to this kind of small talk, and was out of practice. Still, Alicia seemed eager to have someone to converse with, so Katrina figured she might as well try. “So… You said the neighborhood is abandoned? Why?”

“Yup! When the Change hit, we got quite a few of the more… unusual Races, to say the least. Some pretty big fights broke out, a lot of people started using their new Class Abilities out of fear, it was real scary. When things started going back to normal, the government wanted to try and consolidate their resources, so they implemented programs to relocate people out of heavily damaged areas. Unfortunately, my Heart Tree can’t move so… here I am.”

“Here you are.” Katrina said meekly, gesturing at the tree. She realized she was still holding a packet of blood and tucked it into her cooler.

“What about you?” Alicia asked, “What was your Change like?”

“It was… bad.”

Alicia had clearly expected more, but Katrina hated talking about that night. That entire year, honestly. For many people, it was the easiest conversation starter in the world; for Katrina, it was the second big reason why she had started avoiding people. When she didn’t elaborate, the Dryad filled the silence herself.

“Oh… W-well you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

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Katrina faked a smile, not sure what to say. After another few seconds of silence, she tried to change the topic. “You wouldn’t happen to have some kind of stealth Class, would you?”

“Me? Not at all, I’m a Bulwark. Not that I get much use out of it. You?”

Bulwark? That doesn’t explain why I can’t sense her. Maybe it’s a Racial Feature?

“Bard, Path of Magic.” The Dryad excitedly opened her mouth to say something, but Katrina cut her off. “To answer your next question, guitar. And no, I don’t have it with me.”

Alicia deflated again. Katrina could tell this interaction wasn’t going the way the Dryad hoped, but she didn’t know what else there was to talk about. She was also used to this kind of behavior; Katrina was well aware of the effect her 19 Charisma had on people. Strangers that weren’t watching her out of fear usually had lust in their eyes.

“So… what are you doing tonight? You probably haven’t been up for long, right?” Alicia asked hopefully.

“I made a quick visit downtown,” Katrina tapped her cooler for emphasis, “and I was on my way home when I missed my stop. I didn’t really have any plans tonight.”

“What about your—” Alicia paused for a moment, her sentence interrupted by a heavy yawn, “—your, um, guitar? What kind of music do you play?”

Seeing the Dryad yawn reminded Katrina that she was the only nocturnal Race present, and that was a perfect excuse to leave. “Look, Alicia, I’m clearly keeping you up. You seem really nice, but it’s probably better for both of us if I head back to my place.”

Alicia’s response was delayed by another yawn, and her eyes seemed to be growing heavier. Still, her disappointment was palpable. “I… understand. Well, I’d love to see you again sometime, Katrina the Vampire. You seem… really nice… too…” The dryad nestled her head in her arms again as she waved goodbye, and Katrina was fairly certain Alicia was asleep before she’d even turned to fly away.

As the Vampire rose higher above the mostly abandoned neighborhood, she took one last look at the Cherry Blossom tree before heading back home.

The flight was uneventful, if a little longer than she was used to. As she flew, it became more than obvious that she was farther from home than she’d initially thought. Thankfully, the mana drain from her flying was miniscule, and she had plenty to think about. Something about that encounter was bugging her, and she just couldn’t figure out what.

When she finally made it home, she eagerly unlocked her window and flew inside. The blood went in the fridge, and although she desperately wanted to finish the pouch she’d started earlier, she knew she needed to ration it out. Realistically, her night was barely halfway over.

She returned to the laundry basket she’d abandoned outside her bedroom and began putting her clothes away. She folded some shirts, hung others in her closet, and returned her hand towels to her bathroom. Her cleaning continued into the living room, where she spent quite a bit of time tidying up all her music. Various piles of sheet music had been scattered, as had some of her guitar accessories. She lovingly placed everything back in its place before picking up her guitar.

She’d bought it two years ago, as soon as she had the money and her life had settled down post-Change. Taking a seat, she placed her leg on her footstool and pulled the guitar in her lap. She carefully tuned each string, taking great care to make sure everything was perfect.

Whenever she told people she was a guitar Bard, they tended to think of their favorite rock bands, inevitably asking if she knew Freebird. Katrina, however, had no interest in that kind of music, which had affected her choice of instrument. It had no flashy colors, no electrical outlets, with a slightly larger body and shorter neck. Its strings weren’t made of metal, they were made of nylon, which produced a much softer, full-bodied sound that Katrina had fallen in love with. The strings were also further apart compared to more standard guitars, which reflected the purpose of this particular instrument; it existed to play classical music. She didn’t even need a pick, as her fingernails had been angled to serve that need on their own.

Her Bardic Knowledge Feature had made learning the instrument incredibly easy. Every new skill she was able to learn in a fraction of the time, which made practice incredibly enjoyable. Now, she was practically a master, but her skill on the instrument unfortunately didn’t translate to Class Levels.

She hugged her guitar tight, cradling it as if it were a loved one. Surprisingly, her thoughts returned to Alicia, to their brief handshake they’d exchanged earlier that night. Her skin had been incredibly soft, but not as warm as Katrina had expected. At the time, she’d been so worried about losing control of herself that she hadn’t noticed these details, but now she had plenty of time to return to her thoughts. Once again, she felt there was something she didn’t quite understand about that encounter.

She was a Bulwark and a Dryad. Neither one was known for its stealth capabilities, so why had Alicia seemed so distant? As Katrina dwelled on these thoughts, she absentmindedly began playing a somber song.

Depending on her Level, she might have Features I’m not aware of. I’ve never looked into Bulwark that much, and Dryads aren’t necessarily common…

As her fingers danced across the strings, the melody filling her small apartment, she thought back to how peaceful it had been in that tree, before Alicia had shown up. The gentle breeze rustling the leaves, the smell of cherry blossoms filling her nose, it had been a delightful change of pace from her life in the city.

Wait, cherry blossoms. They smelled of fresh flowers, which I only noticed because there hadn’t been any people around. At least, I thought there hadn’t been people, but even once Alicia showed herself, I never smelled anything else!

That’s when it hit her, the reason why her conversation with the Dryad had felt so stilted. The entire time, she hadn’t been able to smell Alicia, and her usual desire to attack people had been completely absent.

Dryads don’t have blood! They’re plants!