Chapter 24: Bonny and Bucky

The songs of the thrushes that whistled in the trees outside the cabin made each morning pleasant, but this morning was even better than the average. Daisy had forgiven me, and I had obtained a new feat for my efforts.

Mood Reader: Level 12 Feat

Prerequisites: Resolve a harem crisis that has frozen your XP within one hour of discovering the crisis.

The Mood Reader feat gives you the following abilities:

That last bit was a little unclear to me, but I could extrapolate the meaning. Autumn mentioned the Umbris once before… around the time she kidnapped me way back when. From this context, it seemed that the Umbris was the spiritual energy that I expended in order to use my various abilities. So, in other words, I could use Mood Reader all I wanted and not be afraid of exhausting my other abilities.

The feat was a no brainer, so I accepted it, expending a feat point, and I turned it on and looked over at May Belle. The heart over her head was completely full, visibly throbbing, as she noticed me glancing over at her. She grinned back coyly, brushing her chocolate colored hair back and batting her eyelashes. I grinned, but kept scanning the room.

There was Daisy--this would be interesting. I focused on her and saw that her floating heart icon was only about eighty percent full. It made me wonder how low it had been before the talk. Even she was grinning at me as she adjusted her clothes and stood, stretching and yawning as she began her day.

Rainbow Sprinkle’s heart was currently the most alarming. It appeared to be just over sixty percent full, but even she beamed at me saccharinely as I looked at her.

I could guess why Sprinkle was less content than the others. She missed life in the forest, despite what she tried to tell me before, and had trouble being surrounded by so many people sometimes. She often expressed anxiety over not understanding what we were talking about, and even our love life was strained. She obviously was into things that I wasn’t adapted to yet, and that no doubt was a point of stress for her. It was something I was working on, but it was slow-going, and I wasn’t yet sure just how far I’d be willing to push myself.

For a moment I regretted taking the feat. It seemed as much a curse as a blessing. Now, all I could think about was how unsatisfied with their lives both Daisy and Sprinkle seemed to be. I felt my jaw clench and beads of sweat dot my brow as my eyes rapidly flitted between them, hoping the values would increase, but they didn’t.

Autumn suddenly dove through a window with urgency, tumbling on the ground and landing in front of her, her hair looking ruffled and messy as though she’d just woken up. She stood up, just a foot from me at most, her eyes wide and urgent.

“We have a door,” I laughed.

“They’re coming!” Autumn screeched. “The other Apex Hero and my sister! They’re coming!”

I shot up, and so did everyone else save for Sprinkle. “Now!?” I asked.

“Tonight!” Autumn squealed, jumping up and down half a dozen times. “They’ll be here tonight!”

I felt my heart slowing as I realized the situation wasn’t nearly as urgent as I’d originally been made to believe. “Tonight is still a full day away,” I laughed. “Relax.”

“No!” And then she leaned close, whispering in my ear very conspicuously since everyone in the room was looking at us. “Did you deal with the situation?”

I nodded. “Yep. No worries at the moment.”

“Good,” she said, now up to a normal speaking volume again. “We need you to head into the forest and kill a bunch of monsters. You need souls. I want you to get at least one more combat feat before they arrive.”

“There’s no guarantee of that,” I pointed out. “We don’t know how many souls I need. I’ve been killing monsters for days.”

“You’re close,” she grinned. “I can feel it.”

I perked up and cocked my head curiously. “Really? Is that a power of yours? Or just you being helplessly optimistic?”

She didn’t answer. “Take Bonny with you. She’s a good fighter and I think it would be good for her to observe you in combat so that she and Etherea can imbue your gear with appropriate enhancements in the future. The rest of us will prepare the Sanctuary for their arrival."

I noticed Daisy sitting up straight at the mention of Bonny’s name. I looked over at her, expecting her to voice some kind of concern or feedback, but she said nothing, just grinning unusually widely.

“Alright,” I said. “If you’re sure this is the best use of our time. But only because your sister is apparently involved and I love a healthy sibling rivalry. After she’s gone, I’ll be bossing you around, missy.”

“I won’t complain,” she grinned. “We need the XP.”

"I wasn't necessarily referring to--"

“Boss me around, too, Bucky-Baby,” May Belle cooed, placing herself between us. “Your favorite little milk cow needs some attention.”

“Excuse you?” Daisy squealed in the corner. “How presumptuous!”

I chuckled. “This is the dynamic I live for.”

We sat around the fire pit outside, one holstaur on each knee, and I had my happy fill of their cream while Autumn blissfully prepared a breakfast of cooked carrots and meat from the traps.

“This one’s a rabbit,” Autumn frowned. “Don’t let Bonny see it.”

I chuckled. “Is that a point of tension for monster girls?”

“You bet your sweet ass it is,” May Belle shuddered. “Don’t ever let me catch you eating beef in front of me, unless the source of your sustenance is between my thighs.”

I decided not to mention the details of my previous career for the moment.

After breakfast, I helped out with a few of the early morning chores before Autumn practically shoved me off of the grounds. “Go get Bonny!” she insisted. “It’s time! Stop dilly-dallying.”

I chuckled and headed into the village with Blue trotting beside me. He’d taken to following me around, and that suited me just fine. I enjoyed having him close, but he was a source of some spectacle when we walked through Tater Town.

“Oh, hi!” Bonny said as we approached. She was fastening a buckle to a strap of leather that Vale had likely produced. Her tools were all set out in front of her with the implication that she had a day’s worth of work still ahead of her. “Your armor is coming along well!”

“Glad to hear it, Bonny,” I nodded, grinning at her. I patted Blue on the head as he nuzzled me. “I hate to impose, but Autumn suggested I ask if you could join me on some forest patrol work.”

Her floppy bunny ears perked up, and from the angle she stood at I could see her cottontail waggling excitedly at the suggestion.

“Oh!? I see, I see, I see. Wow. Okay… Hmmm, well I do have a lot of work. Is there a reason why you need me today of all days?” she asked. A fair question.

“I guess because tonight another Apex Hero will be coming into town,” I shrugged. “Autumn was hoping we could slay enough monsters to get me a new selection of feats.”

“Hmmm, feats are a big deal. But why so competitive? Is the other hero a threat?”

I was taken aback by that. “Is there any reason why he would be?”

She shrugged, biting her lip thoughtfully before answering. “Sometimes heroes join the enemy. Greenskins are mostly the spawn of the Goblin Queen and corrupted heroes and breeders. A converted Apex Hero would be bad news indeed.”

It sounded familiar, but I hadn't considered the difference an Apex Hero would make compared to the standard fare. My head started wondering how it all worked. Maybe breeders made orcs and goblins while heroes made trolls and ogres? If that were the case, what could I breed out of the queen as an Apex Hero with the Harem Knight feat? “Wow,” I said. “I don’t think that’s what’s going on. I think it’s a matter of friendly competition between Autumn and her sister. She wants me to be the tougher hero,” I chuckled.

“Wow! I see, I see,” she said, crinkling her nose with a cute grin. “Okay. I think I can put this off for today.” She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow, though her hair was still damp with the stuff. “Does this earn me a favor with you?”

“Oh, sure!” I said. “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve been holding out for a proper hero for a long time,” she said, steepling her fingers like she was making a prayer. “Word has it you’re starting a breeding program in town, and I want to be at the top of the list.”

I swallowed hard, scratching my back with sudden nerves visible on my face. “Oh. Umm, well. Actually, can I ask you something about that?”

“Of course,” she said, smiling back at me as though the conversation was as innocent as could be.

“Mercer was a fixture in town for a long time, right? Why not him?”

She sighed. “Compatibility, for one thing. I just didn’t like the man. Not a bad guy, maybe, but not my type either.”

“And I am? You hardly know me,” I inquired, my eyebrow tilting further and further upward as the conversation pressed on.

“True, but us monster girls have something of a sixth sense when it comes to finding a mate. For some reason you just happen to ring my bells in a way Jacob never could.” She was chewing on her lip, and I could tell that bashfulness was finally setting in on her face the longer this line of questioning went on.

“Well, I’m not in a huge hurry to start the program,” I said. “But sure. When it starts, I’ll put you near the top.”

She grinned. “Deal.”

Something about the interaction still left a sour taste in my mouth. Up until that point I’d been happily--and blindly--accepting that I was just a fucking stud when it comes to charming monster girls. And it did sound like many of the women in town did find me attractive. On the other hand, it almost seemed supernatural, as though it impacted their free will, and that didn’t sit well with me. She called it a sixth sense, but based on everything I'd seen, I wasn't so sure that was it.

Was I taking advantage of a town full of beautiful women who were only into me for some weird magical reason beyond my control, or that had nothing to do with me as a person? If so, then I was a proper bastard. Even my own girls… Daisy, May Belle, Sprinkle, Autumn, especially… were they only into me because they simply had to be?

Autumn mentioned monster girls having the instinct to breed. Did Autumn even love me? For that matter, did May Belle? Daisy? Sprinkle? Or were they only latching onto me for the security I provided? Or prestige, or something like that? Or just some raw instinct to attach themselves to the first hero they came across?

My stomach churned and my smile wilted into a clear and obvious frown as these thoughts invasively drilled their way into the back of my mind.

“Are you alright? Oh my gosh, you look sick all of a sudden!” Bonny said, addressing my sudden change in pallor.

“I’m fine,” I lied, shaking my head a bit too eagerly. “Alright, I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Just give me five minutes,” she hummed as she went inside to find something. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

I heard the sounds of her rummaging loudly through equipment and gear, metal clanking on wood and stone, and eventually she emerged with a battle axe that dwarfed her in size.

“How can you even wield that?” I asked in awe.

“I have 16 in Strength,” she grinned back at me proudly.

My voice took a low, reverent tone as I reacted to the newly presented fact. “Holy shit.”

Her nose crinkled again as her eyes squinted to see something behind me. “Is that Autumn?” she said, pointing over my shoulder. I looked behind me, and sure enough, the blonde catgirl was tearing up the hill at a dead sprint.

“Why are you still here?!” she shrieked at me from a few dozen paces away. “Oh my freaking Lord! Daylight’s burning, Bucky! Daylight’s burning!”

“Jesus.” I couldn’t help but chortle at the overreaction. I turned to Bonny. “Alright,” I said. “Looks like time’s up. Let’s head out.” Part of me wanted to interrogate Autumn on the spot, but I decided it wasn’t the time or place, so I bottled my discomfort and headed toward the forest after listening to the catgirl rotate between quietly fuming at me under her breath for wasting time and kissing me on the cheek again and again as she wished me farewell. Blue flew us to the edge of the farm where the trees grew thick and the Watcher’s Woods began, and for the first time I knew the feeling of Bonny’s bodacious bunny body pressed against mine. That was enough to lift my mood--and lift something else.

We could have brought Ivy or Sprinkle with us for their knowledge of the forest, but I understood why Autumn didn’t want them to come along. First of all, experience points tended to be split more when there were more members in the party, and she was singularly focused on me at the moment. Secondly, and probably more importantly, monsters usually stayed away from Ivy and Sprinkle as they were women of the woods. Not always, mind you, but if the goal was killing monsters, then going in without them was the right idea.

We trudged through the thicket carefully, plodding with deliberate steps, trying to toe the line between so quiet that we didn’t attract any attention and so loud that we scared lesser monsters away. It was a tough line to straddle.

But eventually, I heard a rustling in the trees above us. I held my hand out, to stop Bonny and she walked right into my open palm. I accidentally copped a feel, and it was glorious, but I didn’t have time to think about the exquisite softness and pillowy goodness of her bosom. It wasn’t the right moment to concern myself with the texture of her skin above the strap she wore across her breast, how I felt her skin go taut and goosebumped at my touch, or how I noticed the slightest aroused gasp emitting from her lips. I didn’t have the luxury of time or the mental bandwidth to process how delicious her bunny girl nipples would--

Somehow I was still caught by surprise as half a dozen shadowy creatures, waist-height, fell down from the treetops, thunking on the ground on all sides of us. They moved like shadows, too, dark and hard to track against the canopy-shrouded duff, but they were very real and closing in.

“Forest Shades,” Bonny giggled, lifting her enormous axe as though it were a trivial thing for a little bunny girl to do. “Brace yourself, Mr. Drake. This is gonna be fun.”