Caroline frowned deeply as she examined her map. They had grown all the cabbages they needed and now they needed wheat. Rosie had told them about an old mill and the pastor had given her a map. Unfortunately she was extremely bad with directions. Usually she'd ask someone how to get where she was going, but there was no one around to ask. None of the landscape seemed to line up with the map.
She heard the squeal of some nearby creature that had tried to take her by surprise. She lowered the map to see Malroth was already done with it. He was grinning at her. She had a feeling he was laughing at her. She put her nose back in the map to ignore him.
"I know something you don't." He taunted.
"What?" She snapped.
"You really haven't figured it out, have you?" He asked with laughter in his voice.
"Well if you'd like to tell me some time this decade then we'll both know!"
"You're in a mood today!" He observed, frowning at her sharp tone.
"Yeah, I know. Sorry. I'm just not at 100 percent today."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Nothing she was going to tell him about anyway. "So what is this secret you're lording over me anyway?"
With a shit eating smirk he pulled the map from her hands, gave it a sharp 90 degree turned and returned it. "We're about here."
She examined the spot he jabbed on the map then looked up at there surroundings. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? We've wasted the whole day!"
He shrugged. "It was funny. Besides, we're not on a deadline and this is fun. Just the two of us, exploring and mashing monsters. I like this."
"It has been nice to have some time to ourselves. Think we can make it to the mill by nightfall?"
As the afternoon progressed dark clouds gathered in the sky and the temperature began to dip down low. "I don't think we're going to make it to the mill tonight, it looks like we need to find a place to wait out this storm. Shit, I left all my blocks in a chest so I could grab more materials!"
"So, what's the plan?"
"Dig a shelter. Over there, the mountains look like chalk, it's soft." The bottom fell out as they made their way to the mountians and they were both drenched by the time they got a shelter dug through the soft rock.
The rock shelter did not hold heat the way their small wooden house did. The bonfire provided some warmth, but their soaking wet clothing was sapping their body heat quickly.
"We'd better get dry." Malroth said as he squeezed the excess water from his hair.
"I d-didn't th-think to b-bring a ch-change of c-clothes." She told him, her teeth chattering from cold.
"What did you bring along?" Malroth grumbled. "Remember I'm not a builder, I don't have enchanted pockets. Well, anyway we'll be warmer naked and dry than in soaked clothing. I know you don't want me to see under your dress for some reason but you need to take it off."
"What? I'm n-not t-taking off my c-clothes! Are you n-nuts?"
"You'd rather die of hypothermia?"
"N-no. B-but... Y-you're a g-guy..."
Already topless he paused in removing his boots. "What has that got to do with anything? Look, if I'm cold you must be absolutely freezing. I really don't get why it's a big deal."
She turned away, she was freezing. Her undies covered as much as a bathing suit. She took a breath, grabbed the hem of her dress, and pulled it over hear head. She immediatly felt the warmth of the little fire wash over her bare skin.
"Can you build us something to hang our clothes up? They'll dry faster that way, won't they?"
"Yeah, I did grab some extra wood and cord, I can just make a -WHERE ARE YOUR FUCKING UNDERPANTS?"
"They were wet."
Hers were too, but she wasn't taking that last layer off. Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry to be so weird about this. I know we had to get those wet clothes off. It's just... I've never been around a naked guy before. I kind of always planned to be married before I saw a man naked in the flesh, so this is a bit weird for me."
Caroline tried very hard to keep her eyes off Malroth or to look him in the eyes when he spoke. It was difficult. Malroth didn't mind that she kept glancing at his body when she though he wasn't paying attention. After all, she had said she'd never seen a naked man before, it was only natural to be curious. If he was honest, he was curious how her body differed from his, but she didn't offer to show him, and he didn't ask.
She cooked a meal of cabbage, sliced and warmed on a hot rock in the fire then laid out some straw beds, taking care to place them far enough apart that she wouldn't wake up with a naked man in her bed. She did miss his warmth, but she just did not know how to handle her hot best friend being naked Infront of her. Sleeping next to each other... Her teenage mind strayed to a very dirty place indeed and she turned bright red.
She awoke the next morning to a very familiar tummy ache. She knew it was due but it always happened at the worst possible time! She glanced at her friend and did a double take. She'd heard that happened to men in the morning. She snapped herself out of it, and grabbed her dress and boots and snuck away as quietly as she could.
Malroth opened his eyes and noticed his friend was missing. She'd taken her dress but not her book or mallet, he wasn't to worried, she would't go far without those. Wait.. she'd left her book unattended. Now was his chance, he could sneak a peek and she'd never know! As he stood and approached her bed he smelt blood, the builder's blood, inside the hole she'd dug for them! He couln't smell what kind of monster it was, if it were a ghost... He grabbed his club and dashed out of the camp, he had to find her!
He found her one her way back to camp. She was ok! Thank the Goddess, she was ok! "Are you hurt bad? What kind of monster was it?"
"What are you talking about? What monster?"
"No monster? Well, that's a relief, did you cut yourself making breakfast? You're such a klutz!"
"What are you talking about?"
"C'mon, fess up. I can smell your blood, Caroline."
She gaped at him in abject horror, he could smell it?! "I'm not hurt."
"Caroline, I can smell..."
"Listen, yes I am bleeding, but it's not an injury. It's just, you know... that time of the month."
"What time of the month?"
"My period."
"Menstrual period. You... you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Should I?"
"It's common knowledge. I guess whatever caused your amnesia caused you to forget a lot of things you should just know. Okay. Hey in the future I will be happy to explain anything you hear and don't understand, okay? Lets get back to camp, I'll explain it there. When we get there I do have a small request."
"What's that?"
"Put your fucking pants on."
"So let me see if I have this right, You have an organ inside you that bleeds five days a month every month."
Caroline unsheathed her stone sword and cut down a slime that popped up out of nowhere. She had been explaining menstruation as they continued to the mill. Keeping busy made it a bit less awkward. "Yep."
A random skeleton came at them. Malroth polished him off in two swings. "And this happens to all women."
"Until we get too old. Ahhh!" She barely missed and attack by a giant slug. The two of them took it out together.
"And you just carry on like eveything is normal?"
"Some women do have to take it easy for a few days, but for the most part we just deal with it. The world doesn't stop just because biology sucks."
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Malroth, my uterus and back are in absolute agony right now, but I am used to it."
He was absolutely floored but this new information. "You're Amazing! All you women are. I mean you are bleeding for days, in pain, and you just soldier on?"
"It's how we're made." She replied with a shrug.
"Still, pain and days of bleeding every month when you haven't even been in battle seems like a lot for your body to go through. No wonder women don't get very big. is there any way to stop it?"
Rolling her eyes she scoffed "Getting pregnant."
"Getting pregnant will stop your period?"
"Yes."
"So then lets get you pregnant! How do we do this? is it something I can help you with?" He beamed with pride that he had such a great idea.
Caroline froze and stared in shock. Then she did a wonderful impression of a trout before exploding "Are you insane?! I'm not going to get pregnant, I'm only 16!"
"What is getting pregnant bad?"
"At our age it is!"
"You think we're the same age? I'd never thought about it to be honest."
"I'd be shocked if you're a day over 19, but that's not important at the moment, You don't know what pregnancy is or how it happens?"
"No."
"Do you even know what sex is?"
"Never heard of it."
"Godddess damn it! Do you even know what THAT is called." she asked gesturing to his crotch.
"Uh... no... I don't." he replied, looking and feeling a little self-conscious for the first time ever.
"Oh. Oh, my goddess, I'm sorry. Malroth, I'm sorry! I know you have amnesia and it's not your fault!" Actually, she was pretty sure what ever had happened for him to get knock in the head that hard probably was his fault.
"Lets take a break. Sit down."
"It's early and the mill is right there."
"Yeah but this is important Malroth. You can get a woman pregnant and you need to know what that means before you're in that situation."
Sometime later she sat fidgeting with her water bottle while waiting for him to sort through all she'd told him. It was a lot. She had told him that names of body parts, including a few of the more common slang terms for each. She had explained the mechanics of sex to the best of her abilities though she only knew from books, some educational and some not. She had explained the possibilities of diseases and what pregnancy was.
"Wait a minute, we started out as parasites?"
"No Malroth, fetuses!"
"You just said it attaches inside the mom and lives of her body. That sounds like a parasite to me."
"Well you're not considered a parasite until you're 30 years old and still living at home."
She then explained how the baby grew inside and the mother grew with it. Then she told him how it came out.
"That sounds dangerous." She nodded but said nothing, still playing with her bottle. "You said you mom died when you were born. Is that how?" She nodded.
"There is one thing I don't understand. If it is so dangerous why do people risk it?"
"They say it feels good. I guess good enough to be worth the risks. And some people get pregnant on purpose because they want kids."
"That just seems kind of crazy. I mean come on, would you take that risk?"
"Actually one day I do hope to get married and probably will have kids."
"Married?"
"That is the most important part. Make sure you don't make a baby with a woman until you marry her. The world is very cruel to unwed mothers and their kids." Ok, enough dilly dallying, let's find some seeds."
"Hey one last question, when it gets hard can I do anything about it alone?"
"Yes, but you're going to have to figure that out!" She replied, "Let's go."
It was dark and musty inside the mill, but a bonfire was burning, was someone else here? They took their time, poking around, looking in sacks and breaking open crates. They found nothing downstairs.
"I you were a seed where would you hide?"
"Let's check upstairs."
Upstairs they found a depressed young woman in blue armor talking to herself "First I get attacked by monster then my weapon breaks in half... I just can't even. there's totally an anvil like right there, but I would just die if I actually had to make something. If only someone would trade me a sick weapon like a cypress stick for these useless wheat seeds I found"
"Hey'd you hear that, she has wheat seeds and you don't need your cypress stick anymore." Malroth told her.
Fishing wood out of her pocket she walked towards the anvil "I left it in that damned chest."
The girl, who introduced herself as Brittany was thrilled with the new weapon. She was equally amused and impressed to learn they were building a farm despite the threat of divine retribution. The meeting was interrupted by a swarm of iron ants. Working together they made short work of the ants and Brittany decided to return to the farm with them. They arrived just as the sun was going down. Caroline slipped off to bed early while everyone else welcomed Brittany to the farm.
The next day Rosie and Caroline planted the seeds while Malroth showed Brittany around and talked security and monster bashing. When they passed the field again both women were gone. He asked Perry where they were and the pastor informed him the builder was not well and had taken to bed. Rosie was tending her.
Worried he ducked into the little house they shared. Rosie pulled a heated rock out of the new fireplace Caroline had added two days ago and wrapped it in towles for Caroline to hold against her belly then took down her pig tails and began brushing her hair. He wasn't sure how that helped but she was O.K. at least. It was a woman issue and a woman tending her so he left the room and ressumed patrol, popping in every so often to check on her.
The fourth time it happened Rosie laughed as soon as he left. "He's so worried about you, it's adorable!"
"I told him this is normal, but he's convinced himself I'm 'bleeding internally'."
"Oh goddess, imagine how cute he's going to be when you get pregnant!"
"What are you talking about?"
"We'll I know you're both young so you probably plan to wait but you two do want kids eventually, don't you?"
"Rosie, we aren't together."
"You're not?" She asked in confusion,
"No. We're just very close friends."
"Oh. Bonanzo was under the impression that you're married. We all were."
"No. We're not old enough. At least I'm not I'm 16 and Malroth can't remember his age. And besides we barly know eachother. We met days before we came here."
"So it was love at first sight? How romantic!"
"Who said anything about love?"
Rosie smiled at her. "Okay. I guess you need more time, but trust me, Malroth is absolutely smitten."
