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The Mask Comes Off	By : Samson Category: -Misc Video Games/RPGs > Slash/Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 4986 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdoms of Amalur intellectual property, nor am I making any money off of this fanfic. Unauthorized duplication of this work is prohibited.

Chapter List
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Lonesome

The Mask Comes Off
Part II - "Hourglass"
By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson
Original Date Written: October 25, 2015

It took Leah the better part of the morning to settle on what she needed to do. Even sleeping on it until dinner time failed to dissuade her. She simply couldn’t deny the reality that was staring her in the face. She had always known that it could come to this, that it would, inevitably, come to this. Some part of her had never wanted to believe it, however. Part of her had wanted to think that she had escaped, that the Crudok had been making an empty promise. If a Crudok in the territory was amassing Brownies, however, then...It clearly hadn’t been an idle threat. There was only one explanation, only one course of action left to Leah: she had to leave. It was as simple as that. She couldn’t wake up to fire and smoke, again. For her own sake, and for the sake of the Bruin family, she needed to go. Maybe, if she left, the Crudok would leave them alone. After all, she was the only one that it really wanted, right?

Going without sleep for the duration of her excursion to Gorhart had, in a way, provided her with an out. A cowardly one, perhaps, but she preferred to think of it as less dramatic, less confusing and uncomfortable for herself and the others. Slipping away in the dead of night would be easier, all around. It took her several hours to actually go through with it, however...Not because she had to scrounge for her belongings, but because she was reluctant to put her foot out the door and be done with it. She knew she had no other choice, but a hint of doubt stopped her. What if, just maybe, it was a coincidence, and she was simply overreacting? She’d be abandoning the people who took her in, and thrusting herself into the world...Alone.

But, if her gut instinct was right, then what kind of alternative did she have? Stay and die with everyone? She just couldn’t. She wasn’t going to watch what happened to her old home happen to her new one. She had to be strong. This time, leaving home would be different. She’d be doing it on her terms, and nobody would die, this time. She took the same sack she had used for her trip to Gorhart, and then began collecting her things. Being careful not to awaken Patrick from his slumber, she waited until after midnight, then rounded up her personal effects: her makeup, her dresses, and her sex toys, along with her tube top and shorts for a spare change of clothes. Having the foresight to realize that sleeping out under the stars would often be cold, she slipped a spare blanket into her pack, but decided against a pillow. That, sadly, would take up too much space and add too much weight.

With most of her worldly possessions rounded up, she crept out of the bedroom and snuck downstairs as silently as possible. Stepping into the pantry, she looked around for anything non-perishable, anything that had been preserved and wouldn’t spoil on her. Last thing she needed was her food stores all going bad on her at the same time, smack dab in the middle of her journey to nowhere. When possible, she avoided taking anything in jars, fearing that, like a pillow, jars would take up too much space and weigh down her sack, too much. She took a few paper-wrapped packets of dried meat, some salted, some not. The meat would make up the brunt of her provisions, thanks to their flat shape allowing for efficient stacking inside her sack.

She ended up allowing herself to take half a dozen packets which, if she ate nothing but the meat, could probably last her the better part of a week, at least. A couple loaves of bread went in, as well, alongside a small cheese wheel wrapped up in wax paper and an accompanying knife. A small jar of pickles, another tiny jar of raisins mixed in with a variety of nuts, and lastly, a glass bottle of spring water, all rounded out the tail end of her supplies. No fruits of vegetables, sadly, but she decided that those would go bad too quickly, on the road. And, besides, like her water rations, she could easily find fruit out there in the world, couldn’t she? With her supplies taken care of, there was just one last thing Leah felt compelled to do, before she could leave. She had to give word to her family, she needed to let them know what had happened to her.

As easier as it would be to disappear in the night, it would only serve to raise concerns if she did it without explanation. After all, none of them could see the same things that she could. The writing on the wall was clear to her, but for them, who knew nothing about the Crudok’s promise, these dangerous times were for everyone, equally. She had never told them about the Crudok’s involvement in her home village’s destruction, and she couldn’t bring herself to do it, now. As she sat at the dinner table and wrote them her farewell on a couple spare pieces of paper, she listed the full extent of the provisions she had taken and hoped that, one day, she might be able to come back and repay the family for what the supplies were worth. Hopefully, she wrote, she hadn’t taken anything that would be missed.

Barring Liam, she wrote a personal message to each member of the family, telling them that she would miss them and what it was about them that she had always appreciated. Making the decision to leave Liam out didn’t come right away. At first, she had to debate whether or not to write out how she truly felt about him, but eventually decided against it. It would’ve taken too long, taken too much space, and would ultimately be a glaringly conspicuous black mark in an otherwise melancholic letter. Leaving him out, she decided, would get across her message, well enough. Alongside the personalized farewells, she wrote a general goodbye, trying to explain her reasons for going.

She told them her reasons as best she could without coming out and trying to explain the truth, telling them that she was leaving for her own safety as well as their’s, telling them that trouble was coming for her and that the best way, the only way, for everyone to have a chance of survival was if she left. She tried to put a positive spin on things, trying to say that her leaving didn’t have to be nothing but sadness and separation. This departure, she tried to say, could’ve actually been a good thing for her. This could’ve been her opportunity to grow a little, to mature, to experience life on her own. She was at the age, anyway, where she wanted to become her own woman, more and more. Travelling and seeing the rest of the Faelands would be nice, and besides, this didn’t have to be goodbye, forever. Maybe she could come back and visit, at some point.

She left the note where she had wrote it, hoping whoever noticed it would show it to the others. With that finished, there was nothing left for Leah to do, aside from walking out that door and putting one foot in front of the other. It was time to leave the nest before this home became another mass grave. Slinging her sack over her shoulder, Leah walked outside and simply kept moving, getting onto the road next to the farm and following it south. Not long after, she paused and looked back at the farmstead. It wasn’t hesitation that had slowed her steps, but a desire to memorize the picture before leaving it behind. For all she knew, she might never be able to lay eyes on it, again.

Once she had walked the road for an hour or so, Leah began to realize just how unprepared she truly was. Not only had she never considered where, exactly, she was departing for, but she didn’t even have a map with her to find her way, anyway. On top of that, she was alone on the road. Had she forgotten so quickly the creature that had been set on attacking her, before Farrah had scared it off with her carriage? The wildlife, Fae and otherwise, were less than friendly to anything and everything they came across. The thought brought Leah’s trip to a quick halt. Before she took a single step further, she needed to consider where she was going. She couldn’t wander, forever. She needed a destination, a goal.

It took a moment of puzzling, but eventually, Leah came upon an idea: that old Warsworn Keep, down to the south. That ancient fortress sat more or less right at the southern border of Odarath, still inhabited by those warriors and mercenaries, some of whom could’ve even survived the hopelessness of Mel Senshir. It didn’t have to be a final destination, of course, but it might be a good stopping point until she could come up with a better place to go. If there was anywhere she’d be safe, it’d be inside a fortress, surrounded by seasoned fighters. No number of Brownies would be able to storm that kind of place, and if they even so much as tried, retribution would be guaranteed.

Of course, the soldiering life didn’t sound appealing to Leah, and even if it did, she didn’t think she was in the physical shape or even had it in her to do the things required of a soldier. After all, a full suit of steel platemail must’ve weighed a couple hundred pounds, spread across her entire body. She felt no shame in admitting that she couldn’t have been strong enough to handle that. But, if room and board meant signing up for basic combat training and doing a bounty or two, well...It might be worth it, in the end. If she couldn’t cut it, well, she never really planned on staying, anyway. She had almost decided on going to Gorhart, but decided that it’d be too easy a place for her family to find her, should they go looking. She didn’t want any awkward situations with someone trying to convince, or force, her into returning to the farm. Even if it meant the possibility of running into Kelly, again...Well...She didn’t want to risk it.

Now that she had a destination in mind, nothing prevented her from continuing on. For that first day of travel, things were rather quiet and peaceful. She didn’t often see another living soul for most of the day, and when she did, it would always be a deer, which more often than not would simply flee at the sight of her. She didn’t spend much time contemplating what she was doing, the kind of serious life change she had just undertaken, or what kind of journey she had just set herself upon. None of those were issues, anymore. Instead, her thoughts were largely taken over with how pleasant and, well, rather enjoyable life on the road seemed to be. Sure, she could’ve been called a homeless bum, now. She had left her home, after all, and didn’t have another to go to, just yet. But, the sensation of freedom was quickly beginning to sink in. She could do anything, now. Go anywhere.

She could finally be herself. She could dress the way she wanted, behave the way she wanted, do whatever she wanted. Once she clued in to that fact, she was quick to take advantage of it. Finding an open spot by a stream, she stripped out of her clothes, sat down, and pulled out her makeup. Without a mirror, it was difficult to tell if she was doing a good job, but she did her best and put on as much as she could from her woefully limited selection: a heavy application of dark brown eyeshadow, complemented by black eyeliner and some mascara, all to bring out the green in her eyes. Once she had gotten on a layer of her pink lipstick, she was finished. With a grin, she put away her makeup and hoisted up her sack, then set off down the road, once more. She couldn’t wait to look at herself in the first mirror she found. She had never worn so many beauty products, before! How lovely did she look?

It wasn’t long after that that she finally crossed paths with someone else. An Alfar, a Dokkalfar judging by the pale tone of their skin, was walking along in the opposite direction as her. The woman was wearing a flowing dress of green and brown, her long black hair left loose and free behind her, hanging down on her back in the still, balmy air. The Alfar was already holding in her hands a queer, spherical contraption, about the size of two fists pressed together. Coloured silver, it gleamed under the midday sun, shimmering in her hands like an oversized pearl. Once the two of them were close enough to one another, the Dokkalfar raised an arm and waved, calling out “Yoo-hoo! Miss! Hi, there!” Leah smiled a little awkwardly, giving a little wave of her own as she answered back “Eh...Hi, hello there.”

The woman stepped to the side enough to come into Leah’s way, forcing her to stop walking as the Dokkalfar, with a flashy flourish of her dress, dramatically swept her arms out by her sides and said “I...Am Elizabeta the Magnificent. I’m a wandering magician and illusionist of great renown, currently travelling as far westward as I possibly can.” “A magician?” Leah asked, smiling a little more. Elizabeta nodded. Bringing her hands back together, cradling the silver ball in her hands, she said “Yes indeed, miss. For a small fee of three gold pieces, I can show for you, right here and now, the most dazzling spectacle of lights and sounds you’ve ever beheld in all your life. All this...From my simple Silver Optic.” Grinning, Elizabeta dropped her chin, looking up at Leah. “Care for a look?” She asked, her voice dropping to a playful murmur.

Leah gave an exaggerated shrug, apologizing with a playful tone. “Sorry, I would, but I don’t have any coins...I’m sorry.” Elizabeta blinked, then gave a dismissive wave. Raising her chin back up, her eyes were practically closed at how widely she was grinning. “Oh, it’s alright. Since you were so nice about it, I’ll give you the show, anyway. That sound alright?” Leah lightly arched her light eyebrow, smiling guiltily as she mumbled “Well, sure, if you’re really okay with it. Sounds like fun!” Elizabeta nodded, a good-natured titter floating out of her. She quickly brought up the orb, holding it fairly close to Leah at nose-level. Looking deep into Leah’s eyes from just over the sphere, Elizabeta gyrated her hips in circles as she proclaimed “Now...Stare hard at the Optic, my dear. Look deep into the shine of it’s silver. Watch...As the lights emerge!”

Leah’s lips parted, a crack. She had never noticed the engravings all along the sphere, before. There were birds and fish, moons and clouds, and...A very faint groove running horizontally across the front. In fact, there was a second groove running across the top, as well, just from the middle of the sphere’s body. How odd, it almost looked as if the sphere could open. Without warning, the top half of the sphere popped up. Leah barely heard the rushing hiss of gas as a dark blue smoke blew into her face. It got in her eyes. She had been in the middle of inhaling. It got in her nose, in her mouth. Blood rushed to her head as she stumbled a step away. As her senses went dark, she felt herself collapse, numbly crashing to the dirt.

“...Cheeky lil’ cunt, where’ja put the coins? Got nuthin’ but rubbish in here, aside from...Ooh, what’s dis, then? Hah! Woman’s best friend, eh? Yeah, you look the type wot can’t find a man...”

Leah didn’t recognize the voice she heard, as she came to. Her head was pounding like crazy, and she felt like the inside of her nose and throat were both coated in the same itching substance. She choked up and began to cough uncontrollably, the dirt against the side of her face burning her skin with friction as her body jolted. Had she been knocked out? What had happened. “Oi, you awake?” Leah opened her eyes, barely raising her head from the ground. Elizabeta stood mere steps away from her, holding up Leah’s sack of supplies. The warm look on her face had vanished. Now, she was glaring, her jaw set tight. She was speaking in an entirely different voice, now, complete with a rather thick accent that Leah had never heard, before. She gave the sack a hard shake as she demanded “Where you keep ya coins, eh? You mean ta tell me you really din have any gold?”

Leah coughed, tears in her eyes from the exertion of the rib-rattling blasts of air she was trying to choke back. She barely shook her head. The dangerous glint that crossed Elizabeta’s eyes was terrifying. Her mouth opened wide as she yelled out “Lucky I don’t kill you-!!” The woman’s leg snapped out in the blink of an eye. The meaty clunk of the woman’s shoe against her chin was the last thing Leah heard before everything went dark, a second time. When she came to once more, she felt like death. The maddening itching sensation in her nose and throat had subsided, but in it’s place, she instead felt a crushing pain inside her head, throbbing with her heartbeat. In particular, her chin and jaw felt like rock underneath her skin, stiff and boiling with pain.

Leah couldn’t help but groan as she pushed herself up from her chest, lifting her face out of the dirt. She winced at the pain in her head, but the facial movement only made her whimper as the muscles around her jaw seized and spasmed. She slowly dragged her legs up under herself until she was sitting on her knees, then flopped over on to her hip, sitting on her side. She brought a hand to her chin and gingerly touched herself, momentarily shutting her eyes tight at how her muscles panicked and tightened up. This time, there was no confusion whatsoever about what had put her under. In the back of her mind, she was dimly aware that if Elizabeta had kicked her any harder, she could’ve broken Leah’s jaw.

Leah slowly looked around, checking to her left, right, and rear. No sign of Elizabeta. The woman was probably long gone, by now. Tears began to trickle into Leah’s eyes as she struggled to stand. Perhaps, if she hadn’t been so giddy about her makeup, she might’ve been more wary. Then again, perhaps not...Perhaps it was naivete, perhaps it was her predilection for optimism, but something told her she would’ve fallen for the trap, all the same. Leah couldn’t bring herself to feel angry. She just felt confused, hurt, and both in more than one sense.

Why had Elizabeta attacked her, like that? Had she been offended that Leah couldn’t pay for her magic trick? Had she thought Leah was lying about how much money she had? Leah looked around until she spotted her sack, lying not far. Judging by the position of it, Elizabeta must’ve thrown it aside, once she had finished rummaging around Leah’s belongings. Leah walked over, picked her up her sack with the same care she would an injured friend, sat back down in the road, and began to look around inside. Everything was accounted for. Elizabeta hadn’t taken a single thing. Leah sighed as a wave of relief washed over her, but the exhale quickly turned into a sob. What had happened? She didn’t understand. What had she done wrong? Had she upset the woman? And, why had she been talking so much differently, after her device had opened up?

No, use your head, Leah. It was the same thing as those merchants who had stiffed her for her return trip to the farm. It wasn’t her fault, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Elizabeta had probably been planning on robbing her from the moment she saw her, up the road. Considering she had a rather complex tool to do it and an act to complement that, Leah almost certainly was not the first, nor would she be the last, to fall for such deceit. She stood back up and, slowly, dragging her feet, set off down the road, once more. She sniffled, raising a hand to try her best and wipe the tears from her cheeks. Funny how she cared more about her streaked mascara than she did about being a robbery victim. Maybe she just didn’t want to think about it, and was looking for literally anything else to focus on. She was sure that anyone else would feel bitter about what had happened. Her, she was just miserable. She blamed herself, despite telling herself not to.

About an hour and a half later, she was too exhausted to keep going. She pressed on for a couple more minutes, however, until she crossed paths with a small pond, hoping to make herself some kind of camp for at least a nap. Walking into the trees surrounding the pool, she set her sack down in a tiny gap between two trees, then sluggishly began pulling her clothes off of her body. Without a soul around, she didn’t feel very self-conscious about stripping naked for a bath, and so she left her tube top and shorts behind on the grass, sat down on the edge of the bank, and let her legs fall into the water to test the temperature. The surprising warmth of the pond had Leah draw in a breath, then sigh it back out. A smile even started to creep up on her face. Some good news after what had happened with Elizabeta was just what her heart needed. Her hands on the bank, she pushed herself off, and her feet didn’t touch mud until the water had risen to her chest.

As she slowly rubbed her hands across her arms and chest, she couldn’t help but feel more at ease. A warm bath was such a trivial thing, but after the kind of day she had had...Between leaving home and nearly getting her teeth kicked in, a bath did wonders for her soul. She rubbed over her shoulders and under her arms, inwardly telling herself not to dwell on what had happened with Elizabeta, despite the pain throbbing in her face creating a constant reminder. As she reached behind herself and stroked across her back, she asked herself what she’d do if she ever saw the woman, again. Probably nothing, she had to admit. What could she do? She gently rubbed her hands around her thighs, sweeping high between them before going back around to the other side, stroking across her big cheeks while sliding into her valley.

She just needed to put the Dokkalfar out of her mind. Easier said than done, of course. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that someone manipulating her and trying to rob her in broad daylight had rattled her. She closed her eyes and hung her head down close to the water, splashing water against her face before getting to work washing away her makeup. If Eli were there, he would’ve told her to wipe that crap off her face, toughen up, and stop feeling so sorry for herself...After punching Elizabeta to the floor in a single blow, of course. The image in her mind made Leah chuckle. If Kelly had been here, maybe she would’ve defended Leah, as well. Being on her own meant taking care of herself. Friends were nice, but they wouldn’t always be there for her.

Leah dunked her head in the water, running her fingers through her hair. Oh, the water felt so soothing for her aching muscles...If Kelly defended her, Leah’d have to reward her, of course. It was only right, after all. Maybe she could...Do what she did before. Feeling Kelly’s hands on her head, playing with her hair, had been so exciting...Leah couldn’t help but smile as much as her tense muscles would allow. Something was stirring impatiently, down below. She was alone, and for once in her life, she could do whatever she wanted...What had Farrah asked her to do, again? Shake her princessly wand until nothing came out, anymore? That’d take a couple tries, and she really was exhausted, but...Maybe one would be alright, just to take the edge off. Leah reached a hand down, rubbed it across her belly, crept across her smooth mons, and found a certain personal spot, now as stiff as iron. She closed her eyes, sighing, her mouth already hanging open. Her arm began to shake back and forth, while the other went to her chest and found a nipple. How long had it been since the last-

A sound struck her ears. Sniffing. Shifting. Her eyes snapped open wide. Somehow, she instinctively knew what it was. She twisted around, an arm already groping onto the bank for a good spot to pull herself up. She saw it, instantly: a brown and gray-furred wolf, sniffing around at her supply sack, trying rather doggedly to shove his face inside and get at her food supplies. “Hey!” She cried, scrambling out of the water, pulling herself up to a knee at the edge of the bank. The wolf didn’t shirk at the sound of her voice. If anything, he started shoving his face into the sack all the more urgently, obviously hoping to snatch a prize before making his escape. Once Leah was on her feet, she ran over and charged the wolf, fully intent on kicking him away as viciously as she could.

The wolf could tell she was barrelling towards him, and instead of pressing the confrontation, he chose to retreat. His ears dropping, he pulled his snout out of her sack and took off, galloping away like a clumsy galoot until he felt like he was a safe enough distance away from her. Leah didn’t pursue him, instead dropping to a knee by her sack, pulling it open and examining the contents for anything missing or damaged. It didn’t look like the wolf had managed to take anything, and thankfully, neither had he chewed through any packaging like the rotten little scavenging, thieving vermin that he was. The wolf apparently felt emboldened by her lack of pursuit, considering he began to approach once again. Perhaps he felt that challenging a human was worthy enough of a risk for the meats amongst her belongings. His ears up high, he bared his teeth and growled, then licked his chops like a gluttonous little imp.

Leah’s lips curled until she was baring her teeth. This was her food, nobody else’s! She reached off to the side, grabbed a fist-sized rock by her leg, and whipped it over as hard as she could. The stone cracked right into the wolf’s face, just next to the creature’s left eye. The pain instantly changed the wolf’s mind about this whole affair; Leah was not prey, and she was strong enough to defend her provisions. There was nothing for him here, aside from defeat. With a brief yelp, the wolf turned around and bolted, his tail tucked between his legs all the while. Leah remained tense for a couple minutes, riding on the adrenaline of the encounter, but eventually, she decided that the wolf wasn’t coming back.

Leah sat herself back on the grass, closing her eyes as she held her forehead. Gods, that had been close. Losing any of her food would probably be the absolute worst thing that could happen to her, next to some kind of grievous injury. She’d need to be more careful, in the future. She can’t take her eyes off of her belongings, or at the very least, she would need to put her food somewhere she could retrieve, but would be inaccessible to most animals...Like, up in the branches of a tree, perhaps. If she did that and some dopey bear tried climbing the tree to get at her food, ooh, just the thought had her angry enough to clench her fists bone-white. How unbelievably disrespectful, thinking they could take from her, or worse yet, deserved, her food. Maybe it wasn’t so much disrespect as it was animal stupidity, but either way, having her food stolen would be a quick and easy way to drive her to violence.

Just when she thought things were getting better, someone else had tried to steal from her. At least this time, Leah comfortingly told herself, she had actually had the chance to do something about it. With a throbbing headache compounding the pain in her jaw, Leah pulled her spare blanket out from inside her sack and, using her sack as a makeshift pillow, curled up under her covers and did her best to fall asleep. It took some time, but the comforting scent of home lingering on the blanket soothed her, and eventually, she was drifting off to sleep. When she awoke, the sun was just beginning to set, so she must’ve been able to catch at least five or six hours of sleep. Not bad, she thought, considering she had quite literally slept on the ground, for the first time in her life. Sleep had helped ease her headache, but a dull ache persisted, and the pain in her jaw had hardly subsided.

She eased the blanket off of herself as she sat up. All ten fingers and toes, she noticed. Thank Mitharu for that, at least. Crossing her legs beneath herself, Leah wobbled a little groggily as she folded her blanket back up, setting it down beside herself to get it out of the way. Then, she pulled her sack out from behind her, put it in front of herself, and reached inside for her breakfast. As she pulled out her bottle of water, she couldn’t help but wonder how her family was reacting to her departure. By now, they must’ve read her letter. Leah pulled out one of her loaves of bread, alongside her cheese wheel. Unwrapping the wax paper from around the succulent cheddar, Leah took her little dinner knife and cut herself off a respectable hunk. Once she had cut off a thick pair of bread slices from the loaf, she had herself a very straightforward, very serviceable, and surprisingly satisfying breakfast, on her hands.

She was careful with her supplies, quickly wrapping the cheese back up before replacing everything back in her sack. Last thing she needed was more wolves being attracted to the scent, or worse, the inevitable spoilage of her food being hastened. Yeah...By now, the others must’ve noticed she was gone. Maybe they had stood around in the dining room, looking over her goodbye. She could only hope that none of them had left on a search, hoping to stop her. It was better this way, for herself and for them. Leah took a big bite of her sandwich, slowly chewing. She kept telling herself that, didn’t she? That she had made the right choice, that she hadn’t overreacted out of paranoia. If she was so sure of it, why was she still trying to convince herself?

She had to do this. It was better, for everyone. She wasn’t going to let them become the Crudok’s casualties. The Crudok wasn’t going to kill her, either, not if she could help it, but she’d rather it hunt her by herself, rather than repeat history at the farm. And, besides! It wasn’t all bad, saying goodbye! David and Madeleine wouldn’t have to worry about her embarrassing them or the family, anymore. And, it was about time Leah got out and experienced the world, anyway. She was at the age where she should be spreading her wings, after all. On her own, she could be who she really wanted to be, especially now that her nipple rings were slowly, yet hopefully steadily, growing her lean buds into something she could fill a bra, with. As much as she wanted to believe that sprouting breasts might push her family into accepting that she wanted to be girly, she realized now that it could’ve just as easily gone the other way, as well.

No...It was better, this way. The Crudok had finally found her, and it had been time to move on. She had done the right thing, leaving like she had. She was alone, now. Nobody else could get hurt, on her account. No home to risk. None to go to, either. Alone. There had been no other way...She couldn’t have handled it, any other way. She put her elbow to her knee, then her forehead to her palm. Her sniffles were drowned out by all the insects by the water’s edge, cricketing away without a care in the world. It took her a minute to compose herself. When she got around to finishing her sandwich, she found herself looking for something to distract herself with, and eventually, her thoughts moved to Kelly and Farrah. Would she ever again see the tremendously busty Ljosalfar? Maybe it would’ve been a good idea to visit Gorhart, after all. Maybe Kelly could’ve taken her in and given her a place to sleep, or at least pointed her in the direction of somewhere she could go.

She started to smile, her eyes falling half-closed in a dreamy stare. Looking at nothing in particular, the trap began to daydream. Yes, these were happier thoughts, better than the depressing realities surrounding her. Kelly owed her a blowjob, and seemed quite willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. The best of friends, she had said. The kind that bend over for each other...Mm, and what an ass Kelly had, too. To think, on her first real trip away from the farm, she had met a girl just like her. It must’ve been fate. It just had to have been. That curvy Varani had a taste for light Almain meat, and Leah was just the girl to give it to her. The next time they met, they’d spend an entire night together, fucking each other’s asses until they were both utterly spent. Speaking of which...Leah’s stomach started to flutter with butterflies. Her eyes shifted to the sack.

She was supposed to be preparing, wasn’t she? If her hole was too tight for some proper pipe to be laid upon her virginal backdoor, then she’d need to loosen herself up, a little. Kelly had given her everything she had needed. Leah reached over into her sack, dug in deep, and found her little helpers without much trouble. In one hand, out came the lubricant, and in the other, out came the plug. Leah’s eyes began to glaze as her heartbeat picked up. Her breathing started to turn husky as she momentarily put the plug down, freeing up a hand to screw off the cap of the vial. She didn’t want to waste any, so as she turned the vial over the plug, she carefully watched the syrupy fluid shift to the end, pouring only a dollop over the lipstick marks around the end of the plug. Carefully capping the vial back up, she slipped it back inside her sack, then picked up the plug and rose to her feet.

She had to swallow some saliva to steady herself. Her face was boiling, and the blush was already spreading to her ears. She watched the plug as she lowered her hand, spacing her feet apart as the plug reached her navel. She was really gonna do it. Would it feel better than her fingers? Her fingers had been alright, but...She was already getting hard as she brought the plug under herself. She was a little nervous, but too excited to stop, now. She honestly had no idea what this would feel like, but she felt compelled to find out. She needed something inside her ass, she just needed it. She brought her free hand behind herself, grabbing one of her thick cheeks tight, sinking her fingers into her spongy flesh. She pulled herself to the side, trying to spread herself as wide as she could with just the one hand, hoping to make it easier for the plug to make contact with her quivering, clenching hole. If only Kelly was there, now...If only she could see it...If only she could put Leah down on her chest, get on top of her, pin her down, and just...Mmf.

Leah closed her eyes and let her mouth begin to hang open. The very end of the plug met her trembling ring. Oh, gods. She could see it, so vividly. She was in some random inn room, her tube top straining to accommodate her bust, barely covering her nipples as the pink semi-circles of her areolae peeked out from under the fabric. Kelly would pull her top up without warning, letting her big globes tumble free, jiggling as they came to rest. “Look at those huge damn jugs,” Kelly would say. “With tits like those, I definitely can’t call you a boy, anymore. Big boobs to match a big ass. You almost put me to shame.” Just as unexpectedly, Kelly would yank her shorts down, turn her around, and push her down to the bed, forcing her chest against it and pulling her hips up into the air. She’d feel Kelly’s baton abruptly come up under her, lightly smacking against her orbs before slowly dragging upwards through the valley of her cheeks, teasing her hole. “Hey,” she would whisper, “wanna be my girlfriend?”

Leah’s cock jumped. The butterflies in her stomach went into a frenzy. She was already pushing the plug against her sphincter. She needed to see Kelly, again. She couldn’t help but let out a steamy sigh as the pressure mounted. It was just a little uncomfortable, but it was so much more enticing. The adrenaline was making her heart beat harder. She didn’t know if it was the lube or if her rump was excited to swallow something, but either way, it took surprisingly little effort to open her ass up and start sliding in the plug. As soon as it happened, she knew. The sensation of her rosebud opening up and widening was unmistakable, even with the cool lube and glass of the plug dulling her sensations. She had to groan as she pushed it inside, letting out a deep, satisfied moan as the round bulb slipped in until her ring could close in a kiss around the narrow neck, leaving her hole covered by the base of the plug.

Leah’s hands were lightly trembling, from the adrenaline. She let go of her cheek, gently stroking her hands down her thighs as she took in the sensation. The euphoria of having something inside her, the feeling of being full...It was just so good, and she wasn’t even sure why. The big shape pressing against her walls, inside...The light pulsing rocking through her insides...The faint grinding against a spot just behind her cock, leaving it tingling...Was this what anal was like, or was real sex even better? Leah didn’t think she had ever been this hard in her life, aside from when she had given her first blowjob. She desperately wanted to grab her pulsing prick and masturbate as furiously as she could until she drained her stuffed, cum-packed balls all over the grass, but she didn’t feel like she had the time.

She wanted to wash her dress, too, and put on some fresh makeup, but those, as well, would have to wait. She needed to stop wasting daylight, who knew what kind of critters would come out after dark. Leah put the lube back inside her sack, and at the same time, pulled out Kelly’s panties. She gave the black fabric a knowing smile. She never had second thoughts. Confidently putting her feet through the openings, she slipped the soft, lace underwear up her legs, pulling it up until it came up under her orbs, her shaft jutting out just over the top. The seat of the panties helplessly slipped between her cushiony cheeks, devoured by her voluminous ass, a hapless victim to the trap’s manslaying posterior. Leah was practically slack-jawed and drooling, by that point. She was wearing Kelly’s panties...They even now had the woman’s raw, kinky scent. The fabric felt so good, it was so soft and silky...It felt so right.

She carefully pulled the material up and over her leaking tip, tucking away her unrepentant hard-on. She angled her manhood diagonally towards her left side, letting her length follow the strap running around her hip, getting her bulge as flat as possible before pulling on her shorts and tube top. Time for another day on the road. There’d probably be at least a third, so she’d better get a move on. She’d have time to clean her clothes and jerk off later, for now, the road beckoned. Making sure not to forget her glass water bottle, Leah picked up her sack, hung it over her shoulder, and departed south. Unfortunately, that night’s events were rougher than the day’s. If Leah had been paying better attention, she would’ve noticed that she had ended up drinking almost the entire bottle of water, and had failed to refill it in the pond right at her side.

Thankfully, she didn’t have the sun beating down on her head, but still, the steady exertion of speed walking across fields for several hours without pause eventually had her feeling parched. When she stopped roadside and rummaged around inside her sack, finding barely an inch of water at the bottom of the bottle was distressing, to say the least. Nonetheless, she kept her usual optimism and trucked on, an attitude made significantly easier to maintain by the very welcome guest trapped inside her bountiful booty, as well as the near-constant tent filling out the front of her shorts. Uncomfortable, you say, doing so much walking with a plug corking up her backdoor? Nonsense! If anything, it just gave her something enjoyable to think about along the way, and any little joy was enough to keep the stress of having nothing to drink off of her mind.

As time went by, however, and no streams, ponds, or creeks came into view, her concern rose parallel to the dryness in her mouth. She realized, by this point, that she hadn’t done the smart thing and refilled her bottle when she had had the chance. However, she also realized that she wasn’t about to die of dehydration, and had plenty of time to find a water source before that happened; let this be a lesson for the future, Leah. Always top off your store of water whenever you have the opportunity to do so. It wasn’t until sunrise, numerous hours later, that Leah finally began to hear the telltale burbling of a stream. Out of relief, she couldn’t help but blurt out a breathless thanks to Mitharu, picking up her pace until she was rushing off of the established path. After a minute of pushing her way through some thick brush, her eyes finally met the glimmering sunlight, reflecting off of the water’s surface.

It was a tiny thing, nothing stupendous, just a narrow channel for some fish to pass through, but for Leah, it was a godsend. Dropping to her knees at the river’s edge, she put her sack down beside herself, reached inside, and pulled out her bottle. She was so hasty to unscrew the cap, the nearly fumbled and dropped into the river. Lucky thing she caught it, otherwise that bottle would’ve been as good as useless. The thought had her blood running cold, for a moment. She had told herself that dying of thirst wasn’t a genuine concern before, but with nothing to carry water in, this journey could’ve become much more difficult.

She held the bottle underwater until the bubbles stopped coming up, then poured the entire bottle right back down her gullet. Another full body went the same route, and then, finally, she was sated. As she screwed the cap back on her bottle, her ears pricked. Leah’s brow furrowed as she paused. She waited a couple seconds, and then, there it was, again. She turned her head to the side, looking over her shoulder. What an odd noise. Almost sounded like a big dove cooing, or...Even a wounded animal, whimpering in pain. When it came again, Leah could make out two voices, and sometimes, it sounded like a third was chiming in. Leah momentarily narrowed her eyes in confusion as she stood back up, turning around to face the noise. Through the brush, she couldn’t see what was making the sounds. She waited for a few seconds more, trying to judge if the noise was coming closer.

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be homing in on her. Common sense told her to ignore it and get the hell out of there. Leah partially turned back around, slipping her bottle back inside her sack. Then, against her better judgement, she slung the sack over her shoulder and went to investigate. Although it was futile, she tried to make her way through the brush at least somewhat quietly, listening as the sound grew louder and louder. As she neared the edge of the brush, she even began to make out the sounds of a few light footsteps, padding away at the grass. Leah pushed her way through the last of the obstructive branches and vines, but upon stepping out into the weak light, she immediately froze up. Oh, Mitharu, no. No, please, no. It was them. Brownies.

There were three of them. The Fae creatures were humanoid in shape, bipedal, only they were each around three feet tall. Their bodies, aside from their hands and feet, were covered in a short layer of gray fur, which thickened into an almost human head of hair, overtop their skulls. Disturbingly, they had even tried to style their hair, similar to how a human would - each one had tied together some of their “hair” into short pigtails, over the backs of their heads. Their fingers and toes each ended in long, black claws. Their shoulders had bizarre swirling patterns set in their skin, just like she remembered. Their heads were disproportionately large, making them look somewhat like overgrown babies, while their mouths were even larger. The Brownies seemed to lack cheeks entirely, allowing the corners of their mouths to stretch from ear to ear, giving them as large a maw to shove food inside as possible.

They had long, narrow, hooked noses, like a bird’s beak. Their eyes were yellow and gave off a very faint glow of their own, while their pupils were thin, black slits, a dead giveaway of their predatory nature. Their ears were long and a little floppy, almost like an exaggerated Fae’s without the rigid structure. Leah’s heart began pounding in her ears. Their ears were hanging down like a frightened dog’s, while they clasped their hands together before their chests, as if they were begging for mercy or charity. They were, understandably enough, already well aware of her presence. They had probably heard her coming, with her first step. They took slow, shuffling steps, their eyes on Leah as they each bit at their bottom lips, approaching her as non-threateningly as they possibly could.

Leah wasn’t fooled. She still remembered seeing one of them chew into Elliot’s face. She was not falling for this, but she couldn’t immediately overcome her terror and hightail it out of there. Part of her was, admittedly, genuinely confused by this act they were putting on. A cold sweat was already beginning to break out across Leah’s body. Her lips were parted as she unknowingly began baring her teeth. Her eyes slowly began to widen as her stare became more intense. “...This what you normally do? Huh?” She asked, looking from face to face. The Brownies didn’t respond. They simply continued approaching, making their pitiful whimpers all the while. Leah knew she was unarmed, but all the same, she couldn’t do the smart thing and run. She just kept losing her cool.

Raising her voice, she shouted “You think this fools me?! Huh?! I know what psychopathic savages you really are! I’m going far away, somewhere your master’s n-never gonna find me!” Part of Leah felt stupid. They were just animals, they couldn’t understand her. The one closest to her abruptly swung his arms out by his sides, threw his head back, and opened the full extent of his bear trap of a mouth, grinning like a fiend as he roared as loudly as his little lungs would allow. Seeing that mouthful of needle-sharp teeth finally prodded Leah into action. She bolted towards her right, taking off in a sprint. The Brownies gave chase, the remaining two giving up their ruse as they pursued their fleeing prey. Leah ran for nearly half a minute, then tried looking back. To her surprise and confusion, she had already left the Brownies in her dust. Was it really that easy to outrun them?

That didn’t make any sense...These were clearly the same kind of Brownie that had attacked her old home, but...If they were this slow, then why hadn’t anyone just ran away? No, what the hell was she thinking, they weren’t wrong to want to protect their homes and families. But, if the choices were fleeing or death, then...Leah snapped herself out of it. She was just standing there, for Mitharu’s sake, internally arguing when these things were still closing in. Just as she began paying attention to them once more, one of the Brownies abruptly stopped in his tracks, letting the other two continue on ahead. Leah’s stomach felt hollow as the creature’s oversized head began to twitch violently, jerking left and right. The Brownie raised it’s arms and grabbed the sides of it’s own head, as if to stop the quite painful-looking spasming.

That the Brownie didn’t want this made it all the more disturbing for Leah when it suddenly stopped twisting it’s head, going still. It’s mouth began to hang open. As it stared at her, the yellow of it’s eyes shifted hue, turning a vivid purple. Leah almost screamed. She turned and ran as fast as she could. She could hear the racing footsteps chasing after her, closing in. How could it have gotten so fast? Something grabbed her leg, throwing her wildly off balance. Leah fell like a sack of bricks, slamming down so hard that she couldn’t even scream, knocking the wind right out of her. Her sack flew out of her hands, smashing into the grass in front of her, scattering some of the looser contents. The Brownie was breathing hoarsely as it grabbed her by the shoulder, flipping her over on to her back. Leah grit her teeth as she tried to thrash at it, hoping to knock it away.

She started screaming as it grabbed her head with both hands, gripping the top of her head with one and her jaw with the other. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as it leaned over her, bringing it’s face closer to her. Blood began to pool along the bottom side of it’s eyes, collecting at the corners in red teardrops. It started pulling on her jaw, easily forcing her mouth open. No matter how hard she hit it, it wouldn’t budge. It was too small, too close to her side to kick away. It opened it’s mouth and, in a harsh, rasping voice, exclaimed “I see you!” The putridity of it’s breath had her retching, instantly. It wouldn’t stop pulling. The corners of her mouth felt like they were going to split apart. Leah kicked against the ground and scrambled until she could start twisting her body around, trying to force her head out of it’s hold.

The hand it kept on the top of her head slipped across her hair as she moved. It tried to grab her hair for a tighter hold, but it’s fingers simply passed through her strands. It tried to do the same for her jaw, but the perspiration on her skin caused it to slip, albeit not before one of it’s claws could slice her between her chin and lower lip. One of her hands scrambled for her sack, but she needed to pull back her fist a split-second later. When the Brownie tried pouncing into her to throw her back off of her knees, she threw out the hardest punch she could manage, cracking her knuckles over his left eye so hard that she could feel droplets of it’s bloody tears hit her fingers. She sent it stumbling back a few steps, which gave her the time she needed to stick her hand back inside her sack. Where was it, where the fuck was it-

The Brownie recovered, the purple light from it’s eyes beginning to intensify. There was no mistaking it when it roared a second time, it’s voice was stronger, now. It started running towards her, arms outstretched. Leah grabbed the handle from inside her sack and swung her arm back out, watching as her cheese knife bit straight into the side of the Brownie’s neck, plunging in all the way to the handle. It grabbed at her arms as she grabbed it by the face, pushing her palm against it’s forehead. It slashed at her forearms, cutting effortlessly into her flesh. Leah started pulling on the knife until the front of the Brownie’s throat began to bulge, and a moment later, the knife came bursting back out in a brief gush of red. The mortal injury seemed to sap the strength from the Brownie, and it’s struggling quickly began to cease.

Leah, still gripping the knife tight, shoved against the Brownie’s head, knocking it down on to it’s back. She didn’t even look at the other two, still pursuing her in the distance. She grabbed her sack and the things that had scattered from it, got to her feet, and ran, sprinting into the distance. She didn’t stop running until she didn’t even know which way she had come from, anymore.

(Author's Note - Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter:). This one mostly focused on giving Leah a bit of time to herself, allowing her some space to grow and allowing her path apart from the rest to begin. The next chapter will do the same for Kelly and Miriam, and follow their own little path. How will everyone come together:D? If you have any suggestions or requests for things you’d like to see, feel free to leave a comment and let me know! See you all in the next one!)
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The Mask Comes Off