CHAPTER 12: Willow's Edge

Three days travel brings me to a road that must be somewhere near Willow's Edge, and another day of skirting the roadway takes me past signposts that tell me that I'm on the right track. A few times, I see a horse drawn wagon or a rider pass, but I'm not hiding from them. I'm just … not ready. I've only been in these woods for a week and a half, but they feel strangely like home.

It's an uncomfortable home, though. It turns out that I can get tired of venison, but even if I hadn't, I'm tired of eating wild game cooked by someone who has no idea what they're doing. I miss drinking tea and eating sweet cakes! I miss salt and spices! I miss having more time to read. I miss sleeping in a bed. I miss toilet paper!

I can rough it out here a little more, though. I've taken the time to identify and attune my magic items on the way here. The Ruby of the War Mage was easiest. 'This ruby allows you to use a simple or martial weapon as a spellcasting focus for your spells. For this property to work, you must attach the ruby to the weapon… and it's glimmering in the haft of my handaxe right now. I have other weapons, sure. Even more powerful ones. But the handaxe is the oldest thing that I have from the system, and it's just what feels most comfortable in my hands. Next came the 'Boots of False Tracks', and they live up to their name. As for the Shield of Expression, it's novel, but not useful. My sense of wonder at even simple effect of a magic item is not diminished, though.

Boots of False Tracks

Wondrous item, Common

While a humanoid wears these boots, they can choose to have them leave tracks like those of another kind of humanoid of their size.

Shield of Expression

Armor (shield), Common

The bearer of the shield can use a bonus action to alter the expression of the decorative face.

The system has explained to me that a 'bonus action' is basically just the way it describes doing something other than attacking or moving, that takes about a fraction of a second. I don't know what else I can do as a 'bonus action' other than with the shield, so I tell the system to let me know if anything comes up. The magic items aren't the only time I've spent in the system outside of town, either. Nervous about making a good impression, I spend an attribute point, the only one I have, in CHARISMA. I don't know if it will make me more charming but having at least theoretically done so makes me feel at least a little more confident. At the moment, I'm awake early looking at the 'Backgrounds' page while I wait for the sun to rise. Over the last week I've checked in on the OUTLANDER heading and watched the number increase. From double digits to triple, and it kept rising. Its at 270/10,000 right now. That might not seem like a lot, but for a girl who'd never even camped in her life, having spent eleven days straight camping and hiking made me feel like I was an experienced woodsman. It was the HERMIT heading that caught my eye now, and I could see that the number had went from zero to nearly two hundred and fifty! That was even less impressive than my Outlander number, but I couldn't help but wonder.

Outlander. Spend 10,000 hours living in the wild.

Hermit. Spend 10,000 hours living in seclusion, including study and prayer.

I guess I had been in the wild and I was in seclusion. But did checking the system and spending a little bit of time reading count as 'study and prayer'? It must have. One thing was certain about those books. They were etched into my brain. If my soon-to-be new town had a library, I'd go there every week. Maybe even every day! I could work there! I could read and write – and in three languages, thanks to the system. I somewhat doubted that I'd find stimulating intellectual writings in goblin, but still…

I shake my head to clear the errant thoughts. The sun is coming up and it's time to do this. No more putting it off. I take a quick shower using 'Create Water', and I make it to the road as I near the town. It's a lot like Mirtulfield. But less welcoming. These people seem on edge and I'm getting strange looks as a pass a few people on their way about town. I head to the general goods store to shop around. I'm not one for taverns and Inns, and I need to find some REAL food and hear the local gossip. The inside of the shop is glorious! And there are fresh books! They're so expensive – but maybe if I just ask the shopkeeper, he might trade me for the ones I have? I have ten gold with me to spend, besides. That is A LOT of money, so maybe he'll make a special consideration. I've grabbed a large iron cooking pot, and I'm filling it with goods as I notice that the store clerk is giving me a strange look, like he knows me from somewhere. I can see it out of the corner of my eye. Putting a few bars of soap into a basket (my so-called 'showers' were seriously lacking in that), I smile and greet him. "Good morning!" I say brightly. I'm in a good mood, just being around people again, plus it doesn't hurt to make a good first impression. The balding and portly shopkeeper is at a counter near the door and after grabbing some other things, and I make my way over. I'm smiling and unloading the iron pot; a whetstone (for my axe), the soap, a weeks' worth of rations, a fishing tackle, a few sheets of paper… "I'm new in town", I explain as I'm setting things on the counter. "Would you happen to know if there's a good place for me to stay, or if there's some looking for work to be done? I can read and write, and I thought that-" Suddenly, looking at him, I realize that the shopkeeper is looking just past me with wide eyes. That's when I see it. A wanted poster. With my face on it.

"WANTED. A reward of 10 Gold Pieces is hereby offered by the town hall of Mirtulfield to the party that brings one Brienne Runesinger alive to Mirtulfield for public execution. A reward of 8 Gold Pieces is offered if she is returned dead."

My face snaps back from the poster to the shopkeeper, and his gaze slowly moves back to me. "You!" he says, "You're her! Stay right there!" He even gets up off the stool! He's coming around his table, and I'm not sticking around. I reach out with my hand and at a touch, I take everything into my inventory. A soft gasp escapes him as the items vanish. Just like that, I'm out the door, but he's chasing me! He's shouting, "Stop her! That's the murderess! She's a thief!" They might be rude to strangers, but I'll give them this: these people aren't wasting time. They're coming at me.

"Wait! I cry out. "I can explain!" A rock hits me in the head, thrown by someone in the crowd. "Get her!" an ugly voice shouts. "Please!" I say, "It's all just a misunderstanding!" but a hand grabs for me – that's when I use the Warding Flare. A bright light flashes from my hands, to stop my would-be abductor. Then the mob erupts with gasps and yells. "She's a witch!" "She's using her hexes!" "the witch is wanted dead!" "Get her before she beguiles you!" So, I run.

There's no dodging all the rocks and pebbles that are thrown at me. They hurt, sure, but that's not why I'm crying. I get it. I made some mistakes. But I thought I could start over. I didn't want to hurt anyone. It's not like I used Acid Splash! All I did was try to stop some dangerous jerk from grabbing me. Then that mob – that whole town… They turned on me. The mob is close behind me as I reach the woods, but they aren't Rangers like I am. Tears in my eyes, I look behind me at my pursuers. I run until my legs are weak, and all the fear and sadness I feel turns to bile and anger. I hate them.

I HATE THEM. I just wanted to start over. Tyrna was a monster, and I know it. Dorn came for me, and he wanted to take me back there. To the town where Tyrna kept me close after she murdered my parents. That yokel from the crowd grabbed at me. He grabbed at me! I'm gripping so tightly that my hand hurts, and when I look down, I see what I'm gripping. It's my axe. The system gave me this axe. It gave the ruby in its hilt. It told me who killed my parents, and it kept me alive out here.

I can live out here. I can head back to where the elk are, my beautiful little camp by the creek. I'll leave the towns behind, and I'll just be with nature. I don't need them. I don't need any of them. I think to myself that I can head for the elk clearing tomorrow, as I take the blankets out of my inventory, and I curl into a ball. And I cry.