The Systems Challenge

When Jonas, Kim, Elin, and Elmo left to see about what they could do for the kind in the capital, Heather settled into a simple routine of working as a waitress at the inn. She wasn't unused to working, but this certainly was quite a bit more demanding than she had been used to in the past.

However, she still felt rather relaxed. Occasionally she'd have trouble with something, but typically it wasn't a problem for her. Especially when she had Sonya there to help.

The biggest change was how the other women who had been rescued by the goblins were people that Heather found rather easy to talk to. Which was a surprise for her, given she hadn't had any real experience talking with others that much.

With the others involved with the competition, it wasn't the same. They at least had common ground, in that none of them had been given any choice in participating in this or not. So it wasn't like they were there because they wanted to be. Which made it easier for Heather, although at the same time, she couldn't say that she felt like she could really open up to any of them.

Even with Sonya, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to be more than a teammate, no matter how much she liked her. Yet, given the shared experience with having been captured by the goblins, she was able to use that to break the ice with them and found herself becoming good friends with them, even though she was pretty sure they were going back to the life they knew. Which involved things that likely weren't completely legal.

Not that that fact bothered Heather. It was merely what their job was, or at least how they managed to survive in this world. Though, Heather didn't try to pry into exactly what they did, since she had a feeling that it would either put her new friends in a bit of a bind or that she'd find herself in hot water faster than she could blink.

Heather wasn't sure what the chances of any of the goblins having gotten any of them pregnant might have been, but she was a little surprised that all five of the women had gotten pregnant, not that they seemed overly put out by it. Which Heather wondered if that attitude had to do with the way the culture in this world worked. As that was the only thing she could think of, since she was still sometimes having issues dealing with it herself.

Though, Sonya didn't seem to be as interested in staying with her to work in the inn as much as she had been. It almost felt like she'd come to a decision that she wasn't telling Heather about. Which made Heather wonder what she was thinking. Such as if she had plans on leaving Heather there rather than sticking around.

It was about three weeks after the challenge involving preventing the king's assassination was completed that Sonya approached Heather. Though, Heather had already embraced the idea that Sonya was getting ready to leave and would do just that sooner or later, no matter what she herself might try to do or say.

At the time, Heather was wiping down some tables, after the dinner rush was over. She hadn't expected to see Sonya after she'd gone up to their room, though Sonya still typically helped out for breakfast, although she had been frequently gone before lunch had even started.

"Heather?" Sonya asked, sitting at the table that she was currently working on.

"Yeah?" she replied, not sparing much attention to her.

"Would you have a minute to talk with me?"

Heather stopped moving the rag over the table. Typically Sonya would just say what she wanted to say, so her asking to talk was a little bit of a surprise for Heather.

Heather sat down, curious as to what this was about, though she was suspecting that Sonya was getting ready to tell her that she was leaving her and going off wherever she had in mind.

"What did you want to say?" she asked when Sonya didn't say anything right away, bracing herself for bad news.

"First, I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been for a while, and what I've been doing, right?"

Heather nodded, not sure where Sonya was going with this.

"Well, I've actually been out getting some training from Murdock and Tina," Sonya told her, which rather surprised Heather. If anything, she'd thought that Murdock and Tina wouldn't be interested in doing anything like that.

"By training, you mean…?" Heather asked, hoping that Sonya would be willing to expand on what she'd said.

"Just hunting monsters and things," Sonya replied as she waved her hand as if to dismiss that point altogether. "Anyway, I've leveled up a little and was able to unlock a new shape to shift into."

Heather blinked. She wasn't sure how Sonya's system worked, as they hadn't really discussed that with each other, so she wasn't really sure what exactly that meant. Or why she was telling her this at this time as well.

"What shape is it?" Heather asked when Sonya stared at her expectantly for a couple minutes, clearly waiting for something.

"Actually, I don't know. I wanted to have you with me when I find out."

Heather was about to nod, but stopped, because she really wasn't sure how to react to this change. She accepted that Sonya might not be able to control which shape she gets, but at the same time, she wasn't sure what that had to do with her being there when Sonya found out.

Sonya looked like she wanted Heather to say something while Heather wasn't sure what to say in response. She couldn't help but feel a little worried at how long this stalemate seemed to be taking. Almost like if it turned out badly it'd be because of her that it ended up that way.

It wasn't just that it was starting to feel uncomfortable and awkward, but it was also starting to give her flashbacks of sometimes when she'd been in high school when she'd try to give a presentation and end up freezing if she stumbled a little. Though, that usually only occurred when others in her class went out of their way to disrupt the presentation.

Sonya's fingers snapping in front of her face startled Heather out of her thoughts. "Hey, don't go spacing out on me," Sonya warned. "You might not like what I'd do." Heather hesitated to respond, but Sonya merely gave her an evil, suggestive smile. "Or maybe you would. Can't really say how kinky you might be just yet."

Heather hadn't dealt with anything like that before, but she was at least well versed in things to understand what Sonya was getting at. Which is why she was certain her face was beet red at that moment, further clamping down on her ability to say anything.

"Heather?" You still there?" Sonya asked, sounding like she was just checking.

Heather nodded, not sure when her voice would unlock again. Although, she hoped it wouldn't take that long. She didn't like the idea of not being able to really participate in this conversation. Though, she hoped that Sonya wouldn't continue to do things that would get her like that, either.

Sonya merely sighed, like she felt her patience was being tested by Heather. "Anyway, back to the main topic, I'm going to draw my new shape, so would you be willing to hold my hand for luck?"

Several questions went through Heather's mind as Sonya held her hand out towards her. One was about if Sonya would be able to change into whatever shape she had the artistic talent to draw, but at the same time, she felt like she had to be missing something. That it couldn't be that simple overall.

Another was how was holding Sonya's hand supposed to bring her luck? Didn't people do various other things for luck? Like kiss their fingers and raise them upward or rub someone's shaved or bald head? Or maybe through getting a four-leaf clover, a horse shoe, or something else like that?

Still, she couldn't think of a reason to object to just holding Sonya's hand, and she still wasn't able to get her voice to work. So, she reached out her own hand and set it in Sonya's, not sure if she should do anything else, even as Sonya's hand closed around hers and held it tightly. Like she was a little worried Heather would change her mind.

Heather couldn't help but look around, unsure about what to expect. Would Sonya change right then and there when she drew her new shape, or would she just get a notification on her system telling her what it would be? Heather wasn't sure why she was starting to feel nervous, as it wasn't like she was getting anything out of this, but she could feel the sensation of butterflies dancing in her stomach.

After a minute that felt like an eternity, Sonya relaxed her grip on Heather's hand, though Heather didn't pull her hand back. Instead, she hoped that Sonya would continue to hold it for a while longer.

"Ah, here it is!" Sonya declared, her usual demeanor returning. "Let's see, it says my new shape is yadda yadda, it can blah blah blah," Sonya looked like she was reading down the abilities that the she would have in her new shape, but then paused and Heather wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Wow," Sonya said after a minute. "It looks like I drew a dragon shape."

"Dragon?" Heather echoed. "You mean like the kind that we're supposed to go an kill for this next challenge?"