Amara sighed miserably, stirring the rabbit stew that was currently cooking over the dying fire. Her no-meat vow had been given up long ago.
Aliane had woken up a few days ago, but her wound was still not healed enough for traveling. And frankly, Amara was starting to get sick of sitting around camp all day. It wasn’t that she didn’t mind resting; it was just that a certain man was starting to get on her nerves.
Thalion.
It seemed that whatever Amara did to help out, Thalion had to do it 100% better. She knew she shouldn’t be complaining, since it was nice to have extra help, but his perfection was driving her insane.
Amara gathered firewood; Thalion would bring back a TREE and then use his magical powers to cut it into perfect pieces. Amara found nice herbs to use on everyone’s wounds; Thalion found rare ones that healed them almost instantly.
She looked up from the cooking dinner to see Caelia returning with a stack of wood, Thalion following behind. Thalion walked over to where Aliane was sitting, and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
Caelia made a barely audible gagging noise as she dropped the wood onto a stack.
“Here, let me help you.” Thalion made his way over to the fire.
“Oh, no,” Amara protested. “I’ve got it under control!”
“Really, I insist.” Thalion spread his hands above the fire and it flared to life.
Amara sniffed, and her nostrils were suddenly filled with the smell of smoke and burning hair. She became aware of heat on her knees. Looking down, she saw that the ends of her hair had caught fire. The flames quickly burned through the strands of hair, along with the material of Amara’s dress.
Looking back up, she saw Thalion standing there with a panicked expression. Aliane remained seated on the ground, knowing there was nothing she could do. Caelia, meanwhile, was screaming “Stop, drop, and roll!” over and over again.
Screaming, Amara grabbed a nearby water bucket and doused herself with it.
As the smoke and steam began to ebb away, Amara saw the open-mouthed expressions on the others’ faces. She reached up to feel her hair, but instead was reaching at air until she reached her chin. Snatching another water bucket, Amara stared into her reflection and was horrified with what she saw. Thankfully, since her hair was so thick, she only acquired a few minor burns. Her hair, however, had become completely lopsided. The side of hair that had been next to the fire was short and choppy, while the side that had been facing away from the fire was a few inches longer, but still incredibly choppy.
My hair. My beautiful hair… Amara felt like she could cry, right then and there. It had taken her almost her entire life to get her hair to that length!
“Oh gods, I’m so sorry!” Thalion apologized.
Amara tried to pull herself together. “Oh, it’s fine… I’ve been meaning to get a haircut, anyway.” she joked. She pulled her knife from its sheathe and attempted to cut off the damaged ends, but it was no use; her hands were too shaky.
“Here,” Aliane offered sympathetically. Amara handed her the knife, and she went to work to cutting Amara’s hair into a reasonable style.
“There.” she said simply after about ten minutes had passed.
Amara looked at her reflection once more, and this time was actually pleased with what she saw. Aliane had cut her hair into a bob, and while it wasn’t usually her favorite style, it actually looked pretty cute.
Amara gave Aliane a small hug. “Thank you,” she said graciously. Aliane smiled and nodded.
Thalion rummaged through his saddlebag and pulled out a small vial of green liquid. “Catch.” He tossed the bottle to Amara, who caught it.
“What is it?” she asked, puzzled
“It’s a hair re-growth potion,” Thalion answered. “It should help your hair grow back about fifty times as fast.”
Amara removed the cork from the vial and smelled the contents. It didn’t smell poisonous. “It’s almost like you knew something like this was going to happen,” she said suspiciously, pocketing the potion.
“Nah,” Thalion replied. “It’s what I use for my beard.”
Because that’s supposed to make me feel so much better… Amara thought. She took a bowl of stew from Caelia and ate her dinner quietly with the others. Mentally sighing, she wondered how long it would be before they went after Ryle and Avarice.
As the party settled down for the night, Amara removed the potion from a pocket on her charred--she was going to have to fix that later--dress, and downed it like a shot. Almost immediately, she felt her eyes grow heavy and realized how exhausted she was--almost being burned to death could really wear a girl out. Staring up at the stars, she wondered what her little sister was doing back in Lorvale, and that was her last thought before sleep overtook her.
--
Amara woke the next morning to bright sunshine and singing birds. She sat up to stretch, and noticed that she felt oddly… furry.
Whut.
For what felt like the fiftieth time in less than twenty-four hours, Amara checked her reflection in the water bucket…
And let out possibly the shrillest scream ever known to man.
Caelia, Thalion, and Aliane all shot up immediately and grabbed their weapons, as if to prepare for battle.
“W-What’s going on?” Caelia slurred sleepily.
“THIS IS WHAT’S GOING ON!” Amara screamed and gestured at herself.
It seemed that Thalion’s hair potion had made all of Amara’s hair--except the hair on her head--grow to incredible lengths overnight. Her eyebrows were large and bushy, and she had somehow grown a mini-beard. She shuddered to think of what the rest of her body hair was like and was thankful that her clothing covered it all.
Caelia looked horrified. Aliane looked intrigued. But Thalion?
He was laughing.
Amara grabbed him roughly by the collar. “Damn it, Thalion! This is your fault! What the hell did you do to me?!”
Thalion’s laughter died down and his face turned serious. “How much of the potion did you drink?”
Amara hesitated. “The whole thing…”
Thalion burst into laughter again. “Well, there’s your problem! You were only supposed to take a mouthful.”
“Well then why didn’t you tell me that?!” Amara was furious.
“I thought it was obvious?”
Amara groaned.
“Just hack it off and you’ll be okay,” Thalion said snidely.
Okay. That was it. Amara couldn’t take it anymore. She already didn’t like Thalion, but now he had crossed the line. If only there was a way to…
She had an idea.
She released Thalion’s collar and sighed. “You’re right,” she said innocently. Taking her knife, Amara walked off into the woods and began to shave off all of the newly grown hair. Now I know how boys feel, she thought disgustedly. She somehow managed to only cut herself a few times, and when she was finished, she walked back to the camp and put on a happy face.
“So! Who wants breakfast?” she asked enthusiastically.
Caelia’s hand immediately shot up.
Amara smiled and turned to Thalion. “Thalion, would you mind helping me find some food?” she asked politely.
Thalion thought it over for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure.”
“Excellent. Come on, then.” Amara grabbed her bow and began to trudge towards a patch of woods, Thalion following behind.
Once surrounded by trees, Amara looked around carefully. “Well, I suppose we’ll have a better chance of finding things if we split up.”
Thalion nodded. “There’s a lake over that way. I’ll go see what I can nab there.”
Amara smiled. “Good idea.”
As Thalion began to walk in the opposite direction, Amara waited for a few minutes and then started following his path. She eventually made her way to the lake clearing and saw Thalion kneeling down at the water’s edge, presumably trying to catch a fish.
Snickering, Amara clutched the emerald pendant around her neck. “Now… Let’s see what happens when the pretty boy ain’t so pretty anymore.” She murmured an incantation, brought the pendant to her lips, and the clearing suddenly became engulfed in a flash of light.
----
Meanwhile, Ryle finally gains some character depth and Avarice mysteriously vanishes. DUNDUNDUNDUNNNNN.
Just kidding. I think.
… I got lazy at the end. D:
Now! Time to go do something productive. Like homework. Or play BBS.
