Over fifty new Skills later and Astra felt exhausted as if someone had written on her already tired soul with needles. The first fifteen had been melee and ranged weapons. These were such in-depth Skills that they had their own names rather than simply being Piercing Mastery, Bashing Mastery, and such. The lance Skill was called Dragoon. The bare fist martial arts were Monk. She already had Sword and Shield as payment from another Player but she’d never gotten any Sword Skill or Shield Skill to make use of it. It appeared, if a Player Scroll worked with a Skill she got from a Skill Master, the Player Skill Scroll would unlock fully. Her new talents Blademaster and Bulwark had unlocked Sword and Shield, allowing her to level it beyond one hundred.

The people of Vard had been so excited to finally have people from outside find them that they’d built a bonfire in the Soul Stone Plaza and brought out chairs and tables for a feast. Xander, having nothing else to use the meat on, had donated the Razor Boars he had in his inventory and the villagers had joined with more food.

Astra stared blankly at the fire, hands dangling between her thighs. Evening had fallen. She couldn’t get her eyes to focus.

A familiar blanket settled around her shoulders. She looked up at Xander as he sat beside her on the ground.

“We need to speak of what happened,” Xander said.

“We already did, and it doesn’t matter,” Astra said.

“It does. There is more at stake than my wounded feelings. Regardless of how you came to this world, your presence is desperately needed.”

“So, you’re willing to put aside everything the Players did and use me because the world is in danger,” Astra interpreted. She shifted, pulling the blanket closer and over her head, blocking out the sight of him. “Never mind the fact that my real body is just lying there in my apartment, dying,” she added. “I could just fizzle away at any moment for all I know.”

“Astra—” he started, then leaned to look at her face, his hair a sparkling curtain between her and the fire. “Jessica,” he amended.

“Get out of my face,” she muttered. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to do what I can.”

He leaned out of her field of view, but suddenly swept her up in his arms and stood.

Yelping, she clutched his shoulder. “Where are you taking me?”

“To bed. You need rest.”

“I don’t want to.” She kept her voice low, aware that others were within hearing. “Please... Stop...” she whispered, starting to tremble.

They entered a darkened house and Xander sat her on a soft bed. Kneeling at her feet, he gazed up at her face, his eyes searching her. She could only tell his features because he was so pale that what little light there was reflected off his skin.

“I will not leave you alone,” Xander said. “It is my fault you were dead for so long. It is my fault that you nearly lost the will to live. I will take responsibility and stay by your side, Jessica. You will not be alone this night or any other until you feel ready for such.”

Flushing, she looked away. Was he... saying what she thought he was? Did he like her? Surely not. No... it... no. Pushing him away gently, she fell onto her side and rolled over in the bed, putting her back to him.

The bed moved as he laid down behind her, the blanket tucked tightly around her along with his arms. “Sleep now. Tomorrow will be long.” She felt him pet her hair down, gently rubbing her ear and the space just in front of it.

Astra had done that to cats before, but to have it done to her...

Her eyes fell shut in pleasure. She couldn’t resist the pull of sleep.

* * *

Xander was vaguely aware that Astra had woken several times in the night but had settled back down after shifting position on the bed. At a point late in the evening, he’d been awoken by her sniffles. Obviously, she’d been trying not to wake him as she cried.

Xander had chosen to pretend to sleep. Admittedly, she was in a tough situation. Was she going to die along with her body? It had only been a few days in Ashguard, but she had said that time flowed differently between the realms.

Now that he knew the desperate situation Ashguard was in, they couldn’t afford to lose her. He didn’t know how long they had before the Convergence. He didn’t know how long Astra had before her body died. He didn’t know if she would disappear from Ashguard if her body did die. There were too many unknowns, and he didn’t like it. One thing he could prevent, however, was Astra seeking death on her own.

She had been far too close to death, and he had seen many succumb to the darkness in the days after a late Resurrection. So, he had laid down with her. He hadn’t meant to touch her so intimately. Xander had been trying to get her gross, lake water-crusty hair out of his mouth, but when he’d pet her ear, the reaction was immediate. She was instantly asleep. Unfortunately for him, there was no getting comfortable in that bed. It had not been made for someone of his height and it wasn’t very wide, which meant that he’d been curled against Astra’s back the entire night.

He cracked his eye open, finding morning light seeping between the slats of the shutters on the window. He unexpectedly had the bed to himself.

Sitting up, he glanced towards their health bars at the top left of his vision and was relieved to find that she was at full health. Consulting his Direction Sense, he felt that she wasn’t far away, simply up the street.

Tossing the blanket off, he ran his hands through his disgusting hair, equipped his armor, and opened the door to a glorious woodland morning.

Following the road up the slope, he came to the communal kitchen that had prepared their feast the night before. Here, he found Astra, ears up and tail swaying with interest as she helped in the kitchen, filling flat discs of dough with leftovers from the previous night. Her hair was clean, dried into loose waves around her face. She wore a loose shirt and pants of local fashion.

Looking up from her work, she left off her dough and went to a plate, picking a few steamed buns off the top to hand to him. “There’s a bathhouse just down there,” she said, pointing.

Xander nodded, taking the steamed buns and heading off to find said location. Biting into one, he stopped in surprise and actually [Examined] the item he held.

[Steamed Bun, Level 334, Boost to Stamina Duration 5 hours: Crafter Astra Diane]

Apparently, she still had access to her crafting Skills without her Menu. That was good news—and probably why she was in such a good mood. Finding the bathhouse, Xander stepped in, having to duck through the doorway as usual. The problem was that he didn’t have any clothes to wear except his disgusting armor, he realized and was about to turn around to go back when the Felis Mage Skill Master burst in.

“Oh!” she gasped. She was tawny brown with mostly Human features but tabby markings on her skin. “Here.” She held out a bundle of cloth. “Astra said you didn’t have anything else to wear.”

“She is correct,” Xander said and took the bundle. “Thank you.” Glen, he recalled finally. Her name was Glen.

The smile the woman gave him was shy. He knew it meant that she found him attractive and was vaguely hoping something might happen between them. Instead, he took a bite of the steamed bun and tucked the clothes under his arm, heading further into the bathhouse. The Felis woman’s ears flicked down in disappointment, but she left him alone. Finishing his breakfast, Xander stripped his leathers and began by washing his hair.

* * *

She knew she was probably misinterpreting, Astra couldn’t help but feel something tight in her chest as she’d looked down at Xander’s sleeping face that morning. He had ended up on his back with her curled beneath his arm, head on his chest. The man slept so quietly she’d resorted to putting her ear near his nose. He snorted and twitched as her hair tickled him. Even wearing several days’ filth, he was stunning to look at.

Sitting back, Astra brushed her hand over her ear and hair, remembering how he’d pet her. She didn’t know what to make of him... Did he have feelings for her, or was it strictly business? The way he acted most of the day versus how he had been sleeping with her for the last two nights were just so different.

Mentally doing math, Astra guessed that it had been somewhere around two to three days on Earth. She didn’t feel any different. Would the death of her body sneak up on her? What would it feel like? She wasn’t going to get anything leveled in time to hand it on to others, and with her Menu gone, she couldn’t make Scrolls of the ones she already had leveled up enough. Why had they all jumped on board this plan?

Unable to come to any kind of conclusion, she decided that maybe she should just keep herself busy until the end.

Stepping out the door, she found a redheaded Felis standing at the foot of the stairs, holding a bundle of clothes.

“Hi! I’m Rita,” the woman said. “Yesterday looked pretty tough for you, they didn’t even let you get cleaned up.”

Astra pushed her chin-length white hair out of her face and cringed when she hit a tangle.

“Come with me. We’ll get you washed up,” Rita said and stepped up one stair to grab Astra’s wrist, pulling her down the street while she continued talking. “Welcome to Vard. We’re what’s left of a bigger city, or so Ruth has said. The rest of the city is under the lake.”

Looking in that direction, Astra could see the murky blue water between the trees and houses.

“We have a lot of community buildings here. I don’t know what it’s like in other cities, but we really rely on each other to survive. I’m one of the five cooks. We rotate out morning and night.”

They arrived at another building and Rita pulled Astra’s arm, bringing her up the two steps to the porch and then into the building. “This is our bathhouse.” The room they entered was one big space with multiple spigots on the walls and benches beneath them. “We wash in here and then the next room is a hot bath, but we don’t heat that up until closer to the evenings. The hunters usually come in with sore muscles and bruises and soak then.”

Before Astra could do anything, Rita was stripping her clothes. “Well, hurry up and get undressed. We can’t wash you and your clothes at the same time!” she laughed.

Seeing another Felis naked was... strange. Astra worried that the body she’d created wasn’t normal as she stripped her stiff, stinky shirt off. But Rita didn’t seem to notice anything off and instead kept chattering away. “Here’s where we keep the soap and towels. We’ve got people who do nothing but the laundry and clean the bathhouse but try not to make a mess.”

She turned the water on and filled a bucket, setting it next to a bench. “Let’s start with your hair. I bet it’s so pretty when it’s clean. What a shame that you got dragged through the mud.”

“I was a corpse for a day and a half,” Astra admitted. “Fell into a stream and dragged down the mountain.”

Rita paused. “That sounds horrible...” she whispered.

“I wasn’t aware of most of it,” Astra said and smiled. “But zero-of-ten, do not recommend.”

Rita poured cold water on Astra’s head, making her yelp, then followed with soap. “We’ll wash that memory out along with the muck!” she announced. “And then we’ll brush-brush-brush!” The Felis was careful around Astra’s ears, though she did take a moment to peer into them.

“Looking for my brains?” Astra asked. “Probably won’t find any.” Feeling a little embarrassed about someone helping her wash, Astra took the soap and started scrubbing at the rest of her body, then got down to her tail. There were sticks and leaves in the matted fur and she wasn’t looking forward to getting that out.

Rita giggled. “I was checking that you didn’t catch anything in them. Sorry if that was a little forward. We’re used to making sure everyone’s healthy when we bathe together. Part of why we bathe together.”

“Makes sense...” Astra said. “I don’t know much about being Felis... It’s just the body I’m in right now.”

“Oh! What’s your real body like?” Rita asked. “If you had one, that is.”

“I do. I was taller. And scrawny. I like this body better.”

Rita leaned around to look at her face. “Well. I bet you were pretty either way.”

“Not really,” Astra said. “I’m much cuter now. But I’m not used to having ears and a tail that move on their own.”

“Well, then, I’ll let you in on a few secrets,” Rita said. “Try not to sit on your tail. It goes numb quick. And don’t let boys pull it.”

Astra laughed.

“I was wondering...” Astra said after a little longer. “How many people live here? I haven’t seen many Felis.”

“There aren’t that many of us,” Rita said. “There are only forty-five. All the Elves died. The last one just this past fall. She fell out of a tree and broke her neck.” Rita piled soap on Astra’s head. “There are about fifty-thousand people living here. Mostly Lycanth and Human. It really sucks not having many Felis around because we all end up having to share the same guys and I don’t like any of them.”

“Why not interbreed?” Astra asked.

“What?”