Dungeons & Deliveries - A Post Apocalypse Comedy Adventure [Book 1 Complete]

Early, crisp Autumn air sent the first fallen leaves scraping along the parking lot. The setting sun cast swirling orange and magenta in the sky as the crescent moon rose. Rabble-rousing children in hoodies and shorts darted in all directions while their parents chased after them, some casting Freeze Skills behind their shouts of 'Get back here!', and 'Timmy, I swear to System there will be no pumpkin pie for you!'.

The local apple orchard, tucked just outside of the bustle of the city in a suburb that was more farm than burb called Markham, was just busy enough to feel lively without being crowded. Families, couples and throuples, old-timers floating on their chairs, and other attendees funneled under an arch decorated with pumpkins, gords, and wheat that read:

Pearline's Wondrous Apple Orchard

"Thanks for the ride, Barry." Alex called as he slammed the door to the monstrous, lifted pick-up truck Snu's Gargoyle bodyguard had driven them in.

He'd been surprised that Snu even owned a car. She'd only giggled and waved him off, squeezing his thigh in the backseat and declaring it a business expense. According to her, that made it a tax write-off and therefore, technically free.

Just how rich is she? And I don't think that's how money works.

"Back at nine tonight, Barry. Please and thank you." Snu directed. The gargoyle, disguised beneath a beanie, an XXXXL red flannel, and a pair of extremely inconspicuous sunglasses, grunted before driving off.

Snu sighed. "He's hitting Bingo World. Again. I just know it."

"Eh," Alex shrugged, breathing in the cold air spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. "Guy's got to relax, I guess. And this is a fantastic spot for a date. Little sunset, little fruit, little cozying up and feeding each other butter tarts?"

He moseyed up to Snu and let his fingers trail over yet another one of her surprises, feeling the rough but comfortable fabric before turning his palm upward to reach for her hand.

She gave him a sidelong smile, in her own pink and black flannel, before slotting her smaller hand into his. "You know…the red flannel does look good on you," she murmured. "Careful, though. Can't have you getting a big head."

He squeezed her hand and pulled her along. "Hey, you're the one that said we're boyfriend and girlfriend now."

Excited, as Alex had never been taken to any fun seasonal activities as a child, he didn't notice Snu going wide eyed at his comment as she allowed herself to be practically dragged forward.

Keep it cool, Snu, she thought to herself as that tickling feeling jimmied in her chest.

Post System, much had stayed the same with seasonal based activities. Alex and Snu shared a scalding coco with cheap marshmallows while snuggling up in front of a small bonfire. People wolfed down freshly baked butter tarts. Pumpkin flavoured everything was being sold, and uncooked ones of all shapes and sizes, though yet to be carved into jack-o-lanterns, were stacked next to hay bales for photos. Together, the two enjoyed the entrance of the orchard as they wandered towards what was different about seasonal activities in a post System world.

Snu was pinching Alex's side playfully as the pair arrived at the last part of the date.

"Woah," Alex said in awe as he stared out at the Pearline's Wondrous Apple Orchard. "I haven't…I didn't…Woah."

"It's changed so much. I wasn't sure if I believed it." Snu said softly. It had been more than twenty years since she'd been in the same orchard. "Let's go."

This time, it was her who pulled Alex forward and carried the empty sac.

Lines of mature apple trees swayed along a rolling field, moving too much in the light breeze. Dots of people reached and snagged ripe fruit from different varieties to keep in their sacs to pay for later as they stole juicy bites and tossed cores. That was where the similarities ended.

Every single tree was a System enhanced and modified version, unique unto itself. People laughed under glittery leaves and plucked golden apples with pie filling as innards. A purple tree with white spots dangled teal fruit the size of volleyballs. Children laughed as a bush variety jingled their favourite tunes from apples in the shape of long, candy coated stick fruit. But it wasn't only the children that were laughing. The trees were singing and laughing too.

Snu led Alex under the canopy of an apple tree whose cracked bark glowed from within and wafted cinnamon.

"Hello, little ones," a baritone woman's voice rumbled from the tree. "Care for a pair?"

Alex had already frozen from the sound of the tree's voice. Plants had spoken to him before, especially trees. He had a nasty habit of picking leaves and tearing them from the energy he constantly tried to repress. It wasn't common that plants gained sentience or connected to the System in the city, but it did happen. So it wasn't that the tree speaking that surprised him. It was the fact that the Tree's presence pushed out Essence that felt powerful, and every tree seemed to be speaking to the people around it.

"All of them? Every tree?" He asked in awe as a pair of perfect red apples without blemishes and giving off actual sparkles drooped from above on stems.

Snu picked the apple and took a big crunch. "Oh. My. System. Alex, you need to try it."

Alex picked his own and took a bite of the best apple he'd ever tasted.

"Here?" The tree creaked as she answered, chuckling at Alex's moan. "All of them, yes."

The bite snapped clean, and juice burst into his mouth. It was cold and sweet and just sharp enough with tartness to tickle his jowls before melting into honey. The texture was perfect. Firm and crunch, no mealiness. It was the kind of apple that everyone dreams of, and before he knew it, Alex was munching away and swallowing bite after bite.

"Ugh," He moaned. "It's so good."

"Another, then?" the Tree laughed, its voice washing over them like a warm blanket. "Just remember to pay for some. The apple's aren't all free, after all."

Another pair of sparkling apples popped down within their reach, and Snu reached up and grabbed both. Once they were in the sac, she reached over and rubbed her hand against the bark.

"Thank you, delicious as anything."

At her touch, the tree shivered in excitement. Leaves rustled themselves together, the bark creaked against itself, and the Tree giggled nervously.

Stolen story; please report.

"Oooooh. I recognize that type of Aura," the Tree said secretively as Snu pulled her hand back in alarm. "It's OK, Boss. Your secret is safe with me. With all of us."

It was hard to feel, but Alex could sense some sort of pressure from every tree within the orchard.

Are they…looking at us?

"Though I must say," the Tree continued. "My apples aren't particularly special. Delicious, yes. I've chosen my Path. Why, ages ago, when I was young, a young farmhand would read Plato under my shade, and I quite liked the idea of a perfect apple. Others have leaned and grown along other Paths, and maybe a few could use your help."

"Help?" Snu stared up at the foliage. "The Trees need help?" Alex just knew those words always hit Snu's endless thoughtfulness.

"Hah," The Tree laughed deeply. "Help is too strong a word, perhaps. Do not worry, little Dungeon Boss, we are well taken care of, and all of us have staked our claim deep down to the bedrock."

Snu gave Alex a serious look before placing her hand once again on the bark of the glowing Tree. "But what did you mean by help?"

"Oh, just that some fruit is rarely given," the tree rustled again. "And what is it to be a fruit tree that refuses to bear its fruit? Not one incapable of such. One that refuses. Just as what is it to be a human with no duty or attachments? An unbounded, chaotic Path indeed."

"Woah," Alex stared up in wonder at the Tree. "You're like…a philosopher Tree. Cool. You must be so smart and stuff."

His comment made the tree rustle so hard and make such a strange noise that Alex though Snu's hand was somehow hurting the Tree.

"The male sex of the human race never ceases to amaze me with it's directness," The Tree stopped rustling, and Alex realized it had been doing the equivalent of a belly laugh. He also realized his head was feeling a little funny. "And you, little Boss, I sense your root and path are still…undefined."

Snu just rubbed the bark of the tree and perked a small smile. "Yeah…I'm figuring it out."

"And I sense a Path of service," The Tree answered, thinking a moment. "Seek Rowan out. I think he could use some of your particular magic."

"Rowan? How am I supposed to find a specific—"

Before Snu could finish, the tree's inner glow pulsed once.

It wasn't bright, but it was a wave of Essence that washed over his mind. Suddenly, he knew exactly where Rowan was. Not just Rowan, but every single sentient tree in the orchard. He could feel them all. Some were bright and young and laughing along, others traded whispers in their comingling roots. Collectively, their laugher bubbled together as visitors picked fruit, the flow of Essence folding into roots to flow to buds and bursting into succulent bloom. It was a beautifully tangled mess.

"I thought you said your apples weren't magical?" Alex laughed, not upset in the least.

"I did not say that," the Tree replied, voice deep and pleased. "I said not particularly special. There is nothing special about recognizing and connecting those life around you. It is my Path. The apple is just an apple."

"Woahhhh," Alex breathed, wobbling as Snu dragged him in the direction of Rowan. He waved over his shoulder at the Tree. "That Tree is like…really smart, right?"

They wandered through the orchard in a delightful haze. The world around them felt dripped in honey and laughter. Children giggled as they bit into cotton candy apples that puffed sugar. Couples fed each other slices that fizzed and tickled lips. Through the link to the trees, Alex even sensed one cheeky pear tree pretending to be an apple tree. It all feltlike walking through a mythical manufactured forest. As Snu tugged him forward, the crowds thinned, and the clatter faded. The trees in the back of the orchard were introverts, content to sway in silence rather than sing out. And she was making a beeline for one in the far corner.

It was taller than any tree in the entire orchard. Not unhealthy, but clearly pulling up and away from the ground, its packed leaves nestled together in a clump. From the hazy connection, Alex could sense that it wasn't an introvert perse. The tree just felt…sad. Quiet in a way that it had grown comfortable within its own shroud of loneliness while life blossomed around it.

"Oh dear." Snu pulled away from Alex and ran towards the tree.

As Snu placed her hand along the bark of the lonely tree, its leaves rustled. From his view, Alex wasn't able to see any fruit, though he expected Rowan was hiding it high above.

"Rowan, are you there?" She asked.

After the rustling slowed, a deep timber rolled out from the Tree. "Hello, don't get many pickers this deep in the orchard. I don't give out my fruit, sorry. If you go just to the next one over, another Tree will give you what you want. Merletta is dolling out an extra sweet fruit that tastes like sour belts. Or so I'm told."

Alex's head rolled as he felt the pang of regret and stubbornness roll out from the tree and into the roots below.

"Why not your fruit? What if I wanted yours?" Snu asked softly, keeping her hand against the bark.

The tree groaned low like a sigh. "No. None appreciate it," Rowan said. "Trees give and give but are never given to. It is the way of the Tree, I suppose. We offer sweetness and shade. That is all. The way of the Tree, I suppose."

Snu tilted her head as the last of the orange sunset light lit her face. "Not appreciated? What can people give to a tree besides water? Or care? Company? Isn't that enough?"

Rowan's high leaves rustled again in a sad laugh. "Enough?" he echoed. "Would you say care and company and a splash of water is enough?"

"Then why keep growing fruit at all? Why not stop it all together?"

"Because to stop would mean forgetting how." Rowan sighed again, his deeply cracked bark chipping to the floor. "And despite it all, I am a Tree, and I have fruit to bear. You must understand this, Succubi and Dungeon Boss," Rowan snorted. "Why aren't you in your Dungeon? Serving your Path that was laid?"

Snu flinched slightly at the question, but her hand stayed pressed against the rough bark as she looked up into Rowan's canopy.

"Because I'm more than just a Dungeon Boss. More than just a…Succubus."

"Are you? Am I more than just a Tree that bears fruit? Giving to those that take and forget once they eat another? My fruit cannot even be eaten."

Snu's brows drew together, but she spoke gently. "Is that why you won't give it out? You feel your fruit won't be appreciated for what it is?"

"It hasn't been. Not ever. I've given fruit before and each time, each one, is forgotten. Thrown into a corner and left to wither. Another piece of me gone. And you expect me to bear fruit?" The deep voice creaked slightly.

Snu's fingers curled a little tighter against the bark. "What if I promised it wouldn't wither?" she asked. "What if it lasted as long as the System around?"

A sound like a chuckle shook along the roots. "Oh," he said, branches trembling. "I feel your earnestness, little Boss, but how will you guarantee your Dungeon will never be defeated and my fruit not taken?"

"I can't," Snu admitted sadly, and Alex could see the pain in her face at the thought of dying to be reborn again. "But I'm more than just a Dungeon Boss." She drew her breath. "Let me show you what is borne doesn't have to be forgotten. That it doesn't just have to be a thing."

Rowan fell silent. Alex thought the tree had simply closed itself off as it had some so many times before. Then the low timber spoke again.

"Ok, little one," Rowan said at last. "I will trust you this once."

From high above, a tall, spindly branch bent and creaked downwards, unfurling. Alex squinted into the dimming light. He saw no fruit at its tip. Then, with a gentle crack, the branch snapped a foot-long potion of itself loose. It tumbled to the ground and landed in the soil. With the remaining sliver of sunset light, Alex watched as tiny roots pushed out from its base and groped at the ground, ready to take hold.

"See?" Rowan murmured. "My fruit is not edible. I give a little piece of myself. And now I hope you don't let it wither away."

"Thank you, Rowan." Snu rubbed the bark just once more, before stooping to pick up the sprouting branch. "I won't let it wither."

"I hope not, little Dungeon Boss," Rowan said, the leaves above shivering in amusement. "And I hope that piece blossoms into something that can bear more."

Together, Alex and Snu wandered back through the orchard. Snu cradled the little sprout, Alex swung the burlap sac and stopped every few steps to collect a weird, magical apple and say hello to a tree. They kissed under the moonlight beneath a giant willow and shared a butter tart along with a miniature pumpkin pie. Time thinned and slipped. It was after all, a simple autumn date, and it was perfect.

Before long, Alex was lacing his fingers with Snu and boosting her into the tall truck, climbing in after her to face a glowering Barry. The gargoyle still wore his beanies and sunglasses.

"Fun?" Barry's gravely voice asked.

"So much fun," Snu answered, wiggling over to snuggle into Alex's side in the back seat.

"Barry," Alex admitted, still a little floaty from the kisses, the fun, the sugar, and the apple, "sometimes I think I'm too dumb to follow deep conversations. You ever feel like that?"

Barry turned up the tunes and pulled onto the road. Go figure, the gargoyle liked metal. "You would like Bingo, then."

Together, Snu with a sprouting stick and Alex with a sac of apples, they rode back toward the Leather Spires.

It had been a fantastic date.