Mature Content Warning: Nothing to really warn about in this chapter.

Author's Note: This chapter is short, and somewhat sweet. We return to action in the next two chapters and then the finale of the volume. :)

In a world filled with wonder and adventure monsters can be expected. Fantasy stories and role playing games are littered with monstrosities and abominations that the hero must overcome. There are dragons and three-headed dogs.

There are leviathans and razor-toothed rodents. There are more disease bearing, flame throwing, beasts in existence than you can possibly imagine. Yet, the most dangerous monster of all has neither scale nor fang. That monster is the mind killer known as doubt.

Scott sat on his bunk at Neerdles plagued by the ancient beast known as doubt. It had been two days since Rhea had needed to go do elf stuff, as she called it. She had told him that she would come to town the next day, but she had not shown up.

He had told her that she was worth waiting for, that he would wait in town. Yet, she had claimed that she would arrive the next day. The next day had come and gone. Another day had come and gone. Soon it would be dawn of the third day.

Self-recriminations invaded his mind once more. Had he done something to offend her? Should he have searched for her longer than he had? He had spent several hours searching the woods. He had even run across another slime monster, and several hunting groups while looking around. Rhea was nowhere to be seen.

The beautiful elf had disappeared from his life just as suddenly as she had appeared. Scott sighed deeply then stood up.

He had no choice in the matter. As much as he wanted to hope that she would simply show up, he could not afford to wait any longer. He owed a debt, and there was no guarantee that she would even come back.

There were a few more hours till morning, but he could not sleep. Scott chose to ready his gear and head out to check the town bulletin board. If he did not see any promising jobs, he would head off to the next zone in search of the mine that they had discussed. It would be the next logical place to go given his current level.

Chapter 10: Become My Warmth

The dust of the road swirled about him as the wind whipped. A storm was on its way, but he did not care. Rain or shine, he had to push forward and try to become stronger. In this world, strength was all that mattered at the moment.

Scott looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. He brought up his map screen and determined how far away the mine would be. The mine was at least five day’s travel from Victory Station. He was not particularly worried about the monsters in this zone as even critical hits from a rabbit or grass rat did little damage. They had slightly higher levels at night, but even then he had outgrown them.

“A roadside tavern, there was one about a day’s travel from town.” He looked at his map and traced his route. He was close to that inn. If he set out at a hard jog he might be able to reach it before the storm hit.

The sorcerer picked up his speed and raced down the road at a steady jog. He did not have much remaining money after restocking his food and buying a tent. The tent was meant to be used as either an emergency measure, or to extend the trip to the mine by an extra day. It would be consumed after the first use, but it would last twenty-four hours. During that time it would greatly improve his regeneration rate.

Two hours passed before the rain started, but he could see the tavern in the distance. Just as the downpour began, he walked through the open door.

The place was practically deserted, but he did see three people dining in the corner. Behind the counter an older man used a cloth to wipe down glasses. He held a bored expression, but did not seem unsettled by the lack of customers.

Scott walked up to the bar and greeted the man. “Hello.”

“Ah, good evening to you. Just beat the rain?”

“Barely, I did get sprinkled on a little but I managed to get in before the flood.” replied Scott casually.

“That’s good. Can I get you something?”

Scott suspected that he would have to buy something or he’d be tossed out in the rain. He was hungry anyway, so it was not a problem. “Sure, I could do with some dinner if you have anything. A bed too, if you rent those out.”

“Staying the night? Sure, it’d be two hundred Fayth, but you get dinner and breakfast. A full day is four hundred, but you get three meals.”

Scott barely had four hundred Fayth left, so he opted for the overnight stay. He had hoped that he could stay here anyway. It was another two day trek to the zone border and another day after that before he reached the tiny village of Meaden. That village was a little beyond where he needed to go before turning north toward the mine, but it would be a good spot to rest before heading north.

“I’ll leave after breakfast.” Scott handed over two hundred Fayth and chose the meat platter as his dinner.

“That’s fine. You can have room number three up the stairs. It’s keyed to you, so only you and your party can enter.”

Scott did not bother to mention that he was alone. Instead, he sat down at a table in the far corner and waited for dinner.

A plump, reasonably attractive, woman brought out his meal then winked. He tossed her a few Fayth as a tip and she flounced off in a happy manner.

After dinner, he headed upstairs to his room then stretched out on the bed. He looked out the small rectangular window and watched the storm raged outside. Lightning crashed, and rain poured down in torrential sheets.

He sighed softly but jumped up with a start when he heard a knock at his door. Curious about whom it was, he walked over to open it. On the other side he saw a terrifying but familiar sight.

“What in the world...?” Scott asked.

Rhea looked up at him with forlorn eyes. She was drenched from head to toe. Her hair hung limply and she shivered.

Scott looked at the elf who had gone off to do elf stuff, and saw a girl who looked like she had barely survived an attempted drowning. What had she been thinking? He wanted to ask her so many questions but she was soaked to the bone. “Come here.” he said softly.

Obediently, she entered the party room and stood in the middle of the floor with her head down. She fidgeted a little and stared down at her hands.

“Did you bring a change of clothes?” he asked.

She nodded once, but did not speak. Rhea trembled, but not entirely from the cold.

“You get out of those wet clothes.” Scott walked outside and shut the door.

Rhea sighed loudly then unequipped her gear before dropping it from her inventory list. Naked as the day she was born, she set about putting her clothes and armor up to dry. After putting everything in place she equipped a set of pink pajamas that had a cute little animal print style.

She knocked on the door and said, “OK, Scott.”

He re-entered the room and immediately noticed what she was wearing and frowned. He was mad at her, why did she have to be so damned cute?

Rhea slid her fingers together then looked away shyly. Neither of them spoke for a while. Scott was the one who finally broke the silence. “You should get some rest. It must have been hard traveling in the rain.”

Her face grew slightly red and she sat down on the bed. She sat there for a time and waited for the questions to come. She waited for the questions that she could not answer.

A question did finally arise, but not the one that she suspected. “Have you eaten?”

She blinked then looked toward him. “No...”

“Are you hungry?”

Rhea bit her lower lip then slowly shook her head. “I... am fine.”

“I see.” said Scott.

Silence ensued after that. Scott eventually took out a blanket and pillow that he had stored in his inventory then settled onto the floor in the far corner of the room. “I owe you money from the sale of the slime loot. I spent it on supplies for the trip and for this room. You’ll get your share out of my cut of the mine, if you are still going. Otherwise, I won’t be able to pay you until I get back.”

“That’s fine... I still want to go.” was the soft reply.

“We’ll eat breakfast then head out in the morning, if that is alright with you?”

“Yes.” said Rhea.

Scott rolled over and wrapped himself within the confines of his blanket. He had many questions, but no energy to ask them. Honestly, at this point he was not even sure if they mattered anymore. They were just two people journeying together. What right did he have to her secrets? He had a few of his own as well, after all.

Rhea sat on the bed for a while, tears silently trickling down her cheeks. There was so much that she wanted to tell him, so much that she could not tell him. She could feel the shift in the atmosphere of their journey and it hurt her. Things had been so warm and fun before, but now they were different.

Scott had not been cold to her, nor had he yelled at her. He had simply accepted that she had returned then proceeded to treat her politely. He had not tried to take the bed, and she suspected that if he could afford it he would have gone to get another room.

His politeness had hurt worse than any argument could have. She knew that it meant that he had closed his heart to her once more. All of the effort that she had put into getting him to open up and accept her over the few days that they had known each other had been destroyed. He did not trust her. She knew that now.

She cried for a while then slowly slid sideways and curled up on the bed like a child. She lay there for a while in her pink animal jammies, her chin on her knees. She could not sleep. She did not have the energy to crawl under the covers and it was starting to get pretty cold.

A few hours passed and exhaustion started to overtake her. Rhea shivered softly in the cold, but it was the sense of loneliness that truly caused her body to shake. Half-asleep, she still sensed movement in the room. Someone was moving stealthily, or attempting to do so.

Rhea felt a gently pressure atop her body and the cold ceased to be a concern. A soft masculine voice, barely more than a whisper, said, “You’ll catch a cold like that.”

She did not move or speak. She did not even dare to open her eyes. Rhea felt a gently hand slide across her hair brushing back a stray strand. A soft, nearly imperceptible sigh escaped his lips before the night-shadow moved back to the corner of the room.

The sad little elf girl clutched at the blanket with her delicate fingers. A soft, timid, smile rose upon her lips. She inhaled the scent of the blanket then pulled it over her head. It was proof that he did not hate her, even if he did not trust her. Rhea wanted to be wrapped in that proof completely.

Several hours passed before she would awaken. Dawn was still at least two hours away. Rhea gently got out of bed. She needed a drink of water. She looked over to the corner and saw that Scott was curled in a ball and hugging his pillow tight.

Her eyes widened. He only had one blanket? Why did he give her his only blanket? It would have been silly to think that he had another if he had been trying to sleep in the manner that he was currently sleeping.

She forgot her thirst and marched over to the bed like an angry she-cat. She snatched up the blanket, the bedspread and another pillow then stalked over to the corner of the room. Her eyes blazed with feminine fury. He had done something this stupid! He had even quietly admonished her for sleeping without a blanket! The nerve of the guy...

Rhea draped the bedspread over Scott then slid underneath it as well. Her motion disturbed his tenuous grasp on dreamland and he awoke groggily.

“What?” asked Scott in a lightly slurred tone.

“Quiet. Go back to sleep you idiot.” It was impossible to see it in the dark, but Rhea’s face had taken on a bright red shade due to both her anger and her nearness to Scott. Her lips had pressed together in a devastating pout that threatened to turn into a full-blown frown.

“Huh... Rhea?” asked Scott before reaching out in the darkness. Why was it so dark anyway? His hands, as hands often do, pressed against something.

Rhea gasped loudly then smacked him on the shoulder. “Not right now!”

Scott blinked and tried to grasp the situation better, pun intended. He finally woke up completely when he heard Rhea gasping for air. “What the... Rhea what are you doing?”

“What am I doing? What are you doing!” She asked in surprise.

His eyes widened in the dark and he drew back his hands. Had he just been squeezing...? What was wrong with him! “Sorry, I didn’t mean to...”

“I know. Its fine... Now just go back to sleep.” she said.

“Sleep is impossible now.” muttered Scott.

Rhea tried to fight the feeling, but she gave in to temptation. She unleashed a soft feminine giggle.

“What are you doing down here anyway?” asked Scott.

“Well, you looked cold and I didn’t like that.” she replied in a soft voice.

“The cold never really bothered me...”

“Is that why you were shivering and curled up in a ball?”

Scott did not have an answer to that question. Instead he asked a different one. “Why did you curl up with me?”

She quietly murmured, “You looked lonely, too.”

He had only just woken up, but he was coherent enough to catch the true meaning of what she had said. She did not mean that he looked cold and lonely. She had meant that he looked cold and lonely, too. She was lonely. That was why she had joined him.

“Fine, but no molesting me in my sleep.” he said.

She snorted loudly. “Who molests who in their sleep?”

“You sure didn’t slap my hand away.” replied Scott.

“Why would I?” remarked the girl before snuggling closer. Scott could feel his face heating up at her response. This girl, geeze!

The conversation entered a lull for the moment. They both continued to lay there in the dark listening to each other breathe. Finally, it was Rhea who broke the silence. “I’m sorry, Scott. It took me longer to finish than I thought it would.”

He did not immediately reply. Rhea grew tense and nervous for a moment. However, when he did reply it was to say,

“You don’t owe me an explanation.”

“You don’t think so?” she asked, confused.

“We both have our little secrets Rhea. Don’t ask about my stuff and I won’t envision you doing perverted elf things in the forest.”

“P-perverted elf things? What is it that you think I do!”

“I’d tell you, but you’d either slap me or want to marry me. So, I won’t say a word.”

She laughed softly then patted his cheek. She could see him just fine in the near-total darkness. Even a little light was enough for elven eyes.

“Too bad, I would have liked to have known the outcome.”

“Suffer the mystery.” said Scott.

She pouted at him. She did not like secrets, even if she had to keep one.

“Scott...” she asked after a few minutes.

Sleepily he asked, “Yeah?”

“Is... Is this OK? Me doing this?”

“Mhmm. Warm.” he murmured.

She smiled brightly. He did not mind, huh? That was a start. “I’m glad to hear that... You know I-”

“Rhea...” Scott interrupted her.

“Huh, yeah?”

“Be quiet and keep me warm.” Scott stretched out then cuddled up to the girl who exuded so much warmth.

She started to frown at his commanding tone, but the feeling of being held so closely silenced her briefly. After the moment passed she softly said, “Become your warmth, huh?”

“So warm.” murmured Scott before he slipped into dreamland.

Rhea’s face heated a bit. Unable to restrain herself, she leaned forward and kissed Scott softly on the forehead. She hugged him tightly then fell asleep as well.