No Cheap Favors

"Well, what will put you in a good mood then?" Rory smiled and asked. The silver wolf's tail began to wag excitedly, so the young man quickly siezed this final opportunity to set certain boundaries. "I won't sleep with anything that isn't human."

The tail-wagging abruptly stopped, and the spirit sounded obviously discouraged. "Does that include me if I'm possessing a human?"

So the spirit could, in fact, possess humans. Rory filed that information away in his mind and blushed. "… As long as you have their permission to use their bodies that way, then fine."

The wolf nodded, and the forest spirit immersed himself into consideration. Rory, meanwhile, was mentally bracing himself for whatever request would ultimately be laid upon him.

Just a moment ago, he'd felt incredibly bold and resolute, but his determination was quickly bending under the weight of anxiety and doubt. He worried what he was thinking trying to seduce a spirit when he had no romantic experience whatsoever. What if his clumsy attempts just made the ancient being angry?

But then he reminded himself what was likely at stake here and his resolve hardened. What did anything else matter compared to the value of life?

Rory's emotions continued to seesaw while the spirit decided on the price it would levy.

'I… wanted to save myself for someone I truly loved,' Rory thought mournfully.

"Hm," Jahreszeiten muttered, signifying the end of his internal debate. "Then, since that isn't possible for now… I will wait."

Aurelius blinked. "What? Wait? But…"

"What danger are you facing now?" the spirit asked astutely. "Nothing. And you might face nothing still on your journey. If you fear a lack of preparedness, then ease your heart. When the jaws of danger come to claim you, I will give you what you need to survive. Afterwards, we will settle on an appropriate price for you to repay me."

Rory's eyes widened. He felt suddenly tired as all the adrenaline he had emboldened himself with faded from his system.

"I don't understand you," he murmured. "Didn't you invite me here for that in the first place?"

"For cheap favors and false affection given under duress?" The snow outside the circle of spring crackled in grim amusement, "No, that is not why I invited you here."

The viridescent light left the wolf's eyes, and it stood up, yawning and stretching its body. Casting a last glance at Aurelius, it bounded away into the forest.

Bodiless again, Jahreszeiten spoke further, "You humans have always been slow to trust. Perhaps you think too much? What I want cannot be coerced, and so I will continue to wait and show you generosity. I hope you will begin to understand me soon, Aurelius."

Confused and feeling inexplicably guilty, Rory returned to the village to collect all the supplies he had arranged. Wondering just how he was going to pack all these things in a manageable way, a small herd of deer peeked out of the forest. Seemingly unafraid of people, they crowded around Rory and his things. One large stag practically head butted him, demanding head pats.

Rory confusedly pet the deer and smiled awkwardly at the crowd gathering to watch the unusual sight.

"Wow, look at that?"

"Is he using some kind of spell to tame them?"

"Maybe they think Rory's a deer too because of his new headband!"

Rory chuckled awkwardly and considered the forest creatures. 'Jahre, did you send these deer?'

"Yes, they have agreed to travel with you as long as they are kept fed."

'How am I to do that?'

As a result of his sorcerous training, Rory knew how to command various simple spells, but he couldn't produce food out of thin air. And carrying enough with him to feed all these deer on a long journey seemed infeasible.

"I will take care of it."

'Well alright then,' Rory thought privately and began to load up his travel supplies onto the deer. The pushy buck refused to carry anything, throwing tantrums and head butting him whenever he tried to mount supplies on its back.

"That one wants to be your mount," Jahreszeiten explained.

'Mount? I've never ridden anything.'

The young druid considered the deer and took hold of its horns for balance, kicking one leg up over its back and somehow pulling himself into position. The animal screeched it's deer call at him, obviously complaining about his inelegant mounting. It didn't throw him off, though, stalking away from the village center with ghost-like steps. The rest of the herd naturally followed.

Rory struggled and failed to suppress a giddy smile. 'I'm riding a deer. I can't believe I'm actually riding a deer.'

His thoughts were only for him this time, but his expression of child-like wonder made it obvious what he was thinking. The forest spirit luxuriated in the human's sunny smile and felt that he had done something good.

The herd of deer brought Rory to his house, where he disembarked to pick up a few more things and ensure the place was secure before he left. The birds swooped down to land on his horns the moment he passed through the front door, he smiled and reached up to pet one of them, then eyed the bear sleeping in front of the fireplace.

The Druid took a deep breath and approached the massive animal. He knelt down to be near its face. Although it was clearly very drowsy, it peered up at him and rumbled a voice of acknowledgment deep in its throat.

"Would you guard my house while I'm away?" Rory asked uncertainly.

The bear grumbled something and curled it's head tighter to its body, trying to sleep.

'Somehow, that doesn't seem very reassuring,' the young man thought, scratching the back of his head.

"Your home will be safe while you are away, Aurelius" Jahreszeiten assured him.

"… Thank you, Jahre," Rory nodded. "I have a lot of fond memories here for people I can't get back… so this place means a lot to me."

With that, he went upstairs to pick up some spare clothes, tools to help with his sorcery, and a couple other things he needed. After loading everything securely onto the deer, he mounted the buck again—a bit more smoothly this time—and steered them toward the nearest city: Pompeii.