Blood And Chlorophyll Ch 03

The "Becoming Monsters" LitRPG setting was originally created by AiLoves, and is now managed by OtterlyMindblowing.

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Katrina's melancholy mood vanished immediately as she realized she wasn't alone. In her surprise, she reflexively pushed off the tree and floated a few feet away, all while keeping her eyes on this new stranger.

"Wait, don't go!" the girl in the tree said. "I'm not upset, I just wasn't expecting anyone, that's all."

Doing her best to regain her composure, Katrina finally found the words to respond. "I-I'm sorry, I thought the area was abandoned, I didn't mean to intrude, miss." In front of her, the stranger began moving out of the tree, its bark magically shifting to accommodate her movements, and she finally got a good look at her.

The girl in front of Katrina had rich, green skin, and wasn't wearing any clothes, though saying she was naked would also be wrong. Strips of bark and patches of leaves seemed to be growing from her body, and together they covered all the same features a bikini would. Her face was soft, with delicate rounded features and a fair collection of freckles. The vines, leaves, and flowers Katrina had seen just moments ago were, in fact, her hair. It was fairly long, and collected behind her head where it formed into a loose ponytail. Her bright green eyes subtly reflected the moonlight, and they were looking at Katrina in amazement.

She finally settled onto the branch Katrina had just vacated as she continued talking. "You weren't intruding, I promise! And you're not wrong, this neighborhood is entirely abandoned, other than myself."

"Ah, I see," Katrina said, pausing to clear her throat. "You're a Dryad, I assume?"

"That's right!"

"Certainly explains how comparatively unique this tree is. I'm--"

"A vampire?"

"...I was going to say Katrina, but both are correct."

"Oh! Right! You can call me Alicia."

The dryad held out her hand, clearly hoping to formalize their introduction with a handshake. Katrina hesitated, scared to remember the last time she'd purposely touched anyone. Still, with a fresh supply of blood hanging off her shoulder, she figured it was safe enough. She floated closer, grabbing Alicia's hand and gently squeezing her fingers. She only lingered for a second before she broke the grip and created more distance between them again.

How didn't I sense her? Even now, it's like she's not entirely here.

"Well met, Alicia. Again, sorry for the disturbance."

"The pleasure is all mine, Katrina the Vampire!" Alicia giggled as she settled back onto her branch, cradling her head in her arms. "So... what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"Um, I live closer to the city, but I missed my stop." Katrina paused, nervously wringing the straps of her cooler. She wasn't used to this kind of small talk, and was out of practice. Still, Alicia seemed eager to have someone to converse with, so Katrina figured she might as well try. "So... You said the neighborhood is abandoned? Why?"

"Yup! When the Change hit, we got quite a few of the more... unusual Races, to say the least. Some pretty big fights broke out, a lot of people started using their new Class Abilities out of fear, it was real scary. When things started going back to normal, the government wanted to try and consolidate their resources, so they implemented programs to relocate people out of heavily damaged areas. Unfortunately, my Heart Tree can't move so... here I am."

"Here you are." Katrina said meekly, gesturing at the tree. She realized she was still holding a packet of blood and tucked it into her cooler.

"What about you?" Alicia asked, "What was your Change like?"

"It was... bad."

Alicia had clearly expected more, but Katrina hated talking about that night. That entire year, honestly. For many people, it was the easiest conversation starter in the world; for Katrina, it was the second big reason why she had started avoiding people. When she didn't elaborate, the Dryad filled the silence herself.

"Oh... W-well you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Katrina faked a smile, not sure what to say. After another few seconds of silence, she tried to change the topic. "You wouldn't happen to have some kind of stealth Class, would you?"

"Me? Not at all, I'm a Bulwark. Not that I get much use out of it. You?"

Bulwark? That doesn't explain why I can't sense her. Maybe it's a Racial Feature?

"Bard, Path of Magic." The Dryad excitedly opened her mouth to say something, but Katrina cut her off. "To answer your next question, guitar. And no, I don't have it with me."

Alicia deflated again. Katrina could tell this interaction wasn't going the way the Dryad hoped, but she didn't know what else there was to talk about. She was also used to this kind of behavior; Katrina was well aware of the effect her 19 Charisma had on people. Strangers that weren't watching her out of fear usually had lust in their eyes.

"So... what are you doing tonight? You probably haven't been up for long, right?" Alicia asked hopefully.

"I made a quick visit downtown," Katrina tapped her cooler for emphasis, "and I was on my way home when I missed my stop. I didn't really have any plans tonight."

"What about your--" Alicia paused for a moment, her sentence interrupted by a heavy yawn, "--your, um, guitar? What kind of music do you play?"

Seeing the Dryad yawn reminded Katrina that she was the only nocturnal Race present, and that was a perfect excuse to leave. "Look, Alicia, I'm clearly keeping you up. You seem really nice, but it's probably better for both of us if I head back to my place."

Alicia's response was delayed by another yawn, and her eyes seemed to be growing heavier. Still, her disappointment was palpable. "I... understand. Well, I'd love to see you again sometime, Katrina the Vampire. You seem... really nice... too..." The dryad nestled her head in her arms again as she waved goodbye, and Katrina was fairly certain Alicia was asleep before she'd even turned to fly away.

As the Vampire rose higher above the mostly abandoned neighborhood, she took one last look at the Cherry Blossom tree before heading back home.

The flight was uneventful, if a little longer than she was used to. As she flew, it became more than obvious that she was farther from home than she'd initially thought. Thankfully, the mana drain from her flying was miniscule, and she had plenty to think about. Something about that encounter was bugging her, and she just couldn't figure out what.

When she finally made it home, she eagerly unlocked her window and flew inside. The blood went in the fridge, and although she desperately wanted to finish the pouch she'd started earlier, she knew she needed to ration it out. Realistically, her night was barely halfway over.

She returned to the laundry basket she'd abandoned outside her bedroom and began putting her clothes away. She folded some shirts, hung others in her closet, and returned her hand towels to her bathroom. Her cleaning continued into the living room, where she spent quite a bit of time tidying up all her music. Various piles of sheet music had been scattered, as had some of her guitar accessories. She lovingly placed everything back in its place before picking up her guitar.

She'd bought it two years ago, as soon as she had the money and her life had settled down post-Change. Taking a seat, she placed her leg on her footstool and pulled the guitar in her lap. She carefully tuned each string, taking great care to make sure everything was perfect.

Whenever she told people she was a guitar Bard, they tended to think of their favorite rock bands, inevitably asking if she knew Freebird. Katrina, however, had no interest in that kind of music, which had affected her choice of instrument. It had no flashy colors, no electrical outlets, with a slightly larger body and shorter neck. Its strings weren't made of metal, they were made of nylon, which produced a much softer, full-bodied sound that Katrina had fallen in love with. The strings were also further apart compared to more standard guitars, which reflected the purpose of this particular instrument; it existed to play classical music. She didn't even need a pick, as her fingernails had been angled to serve that need on their own.

Her Bardic Knowledge Feature had made learning the instrument incredibly easy. Every new skill she was able to learn in a fraction of the time, which made practice incredibly enjoyable. Now, she was practically a master, but her skill on the instrument unfortunately didn't translate to Class Levels.

She hugged her guitar tight, cradling it as if it were a loved one. Surprisingly, her thoughts returned to Alicia, to their brief handshake they'd exchanged earlier that night. Her skin had been incredibly soft, but not as warm as Katrina had expected. At the time, she'd been so worried about losing control of herself that she hadn't noticed these details, but now she had plenty of time to return to her thoughts. Once again, she felt there was something she didn't quite understand about that encounter.

She was a Bulwark and a Dryad. Neither one was known for its stealth capabilities, so why had Alicia seemed so distant? As Katrina dwelled on these thoughts, she absentmindedly began playing a somber song.

Depending on her Level, she might have Features I'm not aware of. I've never looked into Bulwark that much, and Dryads aren't necessarily common...

As her fingers danced across the strings, the melody filling her small apartment, she thought back to how peaceful it had been in that tree, before Alicia had shown up. The gentle breeze rustling the leaves, the smell of cherry blossoms filling her nose, it had been a delightful change of pace from her life in the city.

Wait, cherry blossoms. They smelled of fresh flowers, which I only noticed because there hadn't been any people around. At least, I thought there hadn't been people, but even once Alicia showed herself, I never smelled anything else!

That's when it hit her, the reason why her conversation with the Dryad had felt so stilted. The entire time, she hadn't been able to smell Alicia, and her usual desire to attack people had been completely absent.

Dryads don't have blood! They're plants!

---

Early the next morning, as the sun began to dawn on Primrose Acres, Alicia woke with a groan. She was extraordinarily uncomfortable and, as she came to, also felt strangely exposed. She thought back to last night, wondering what might have caused this, when she remembered her vampiric visitor.

"Katrina!" Alicia gasped, attempting to sit up.

Unfortunately, in her excitement, she failed to realize she had never rejoined her Heart Tree. She didn't have the support she'd expected, and her sudden movement only served to shake her already tentative grasp on the branch underneath her. She shouted as she plummeted from the tree and, with a loud thud, hit the ground hard.

She groaned again, louder this time, as she stared up at the pink and green canopy above her.

Alicia, you idiot! The first visitor you have in years, the most beautiful girl in the world, and you scared her off with all your questions!

The pain from her fall almost felt right somehow, as if it was vindication for her crimes. She thought back to last night, remembered the feeling of someone playing with her flowers, then holding her hand and gently squeezing it. She could feel herself blushing at the memory.

She stayed on the ground much longer than intended, and had to shake loose a few roots that had sprouted when she got up. With a heavy sigh, she decided to jump back into her normal routine.

Her first stop, as usual, was the elaborate fungal network next door. She rearranged some of the dirt, added a bit more mulch, then paused. She gently ran her fingers over the cap of one of the bigger mushrooms, recalling the touch of Katrina's skin on hers. "I met someone last night, did you know that? She was this tall, super pretty Vampire named Katrina!" The fungi, as usual, had no comment.

Across the street, as she checked the roots of the oak tree, she continued talking. "She had super bright, red eyes, and they were glowing! I bet she was just really hungry, 'cuz I've heard there's a blood shortage going on. But she was so graceful, even when she jumped out of my tree she looked like a model... Oh! And she can fly! Isn't that cool?" The sapling, much like its neighbors, also stayed quiet.

In the next yard over, she cautiously made sure the rose bushes were staying on their property. "And she said she's a Bard! She didn't have her guitar with her, but I bet she's amazing; I've always heard great things about Bard performances. I would've loved to hear her play, it's been... oh wow, I think it's been years since I've heard any music." The rose bushes, as well, refrained from conversation. As Alicia prepared to leave the lot and make her daily trip to the river, she paused with a heavy sigh. The camaraderie she was used to feeling from her plant friends simply wasn't there today.

Her walk to the river was slow, and an air of malaise hung over her head. She dipped her feet in the water, then laid down to stretch her arms out.

What could I have done differently? I really didn't mean to scare her away, but I haven't talked with anyone outside of work since... since the last time that dragon came back to clean out its house, and that was at least 3 years ago.

Oh.

Three years since I've had any human contact.

That might explain this feeling.

After shaking her roots free, Alicia grabbed her watering can and started walking home. The hundreds of flowers she'd planted since the Change were all in great shape. They got plenty of sun, all the water they needed, and lots of attention. They weren't lonely at all, but they also never spent 20 years as a human before turning into a plant.

I don't even remember my 21st birthday. Or my 22nd, or my 23rd... I'm not 24 yet, am I? I should really check that.

Arriving at home, she set her watering can down. She carefully dragged her feet through the indentation she'd made earlier, then glanced up at the branch she'd slept on last night. She could still picture Katrina there, cherry blossom petals floating around her, getting stuck in her beautiful black hair.

But no one was here now. She was, as always, alone. Separated from society by miles of abandoned suburbs.

Looking at the sun, Alicia realized it was time to get to work. She rejoined with her Heart Tree and floated up to her bedroom, then paused. She barely spent any time here, but in the first few months, she'd done her best to clean up the spots where the room met her heart tree. She made sure to leave room for her Tree to grow, but she also inspired some plants to fill in gaps in the woodwork. As it stood, her bedroom was perfectly functional, other than the notable lack of a bed.

What would I even do if she came back? Ask her to water plants with me? No, you're not supposed to water at night...

She grumbled as she turned her computer on, the glare of its screen particularly frustrating today. Work went by slower than normal, and her clients weren't even that irate today. One of them, an older woman that had just hired an Aasimar, was even somewhat pleasant. She found herself explaining somewhat simple terms, as the woman had never even heard of Aasimar before.

"All Aasimar have an innate Racial Feature referred to as a Wellspring. It will be tied to a specific emotion, something like pride or happiness, and that emotion is broadcast out of the Aasimar at all times. They can try to mute it, but it takes effort, and it can even be dangerous to mute its effects for too long. To be ORC compliant, I'd recommend training all your existing employees about the specific Wellspring they'll be working with. If their Wellspring is tied to an emotion you feel would interfere with work, I recommend scheduling times and places where your employee can let it free safely."

"..."

"Well, not all Wellsprings are tied to happy, calming emotions. They might have something like rage, jealousy, or even lust. I'm sure you can imagine how those might make work difficult."

"..."

"Yes, they can always take Status Breaks when the situation becomes dire, but they really should let their Wellspring flow as often as possible. Imagine if your bladder was full to bursting 8 hours a day, and you just had to hold it in."

"..."

"Precisely, it wouldn't be very fun, would it? Sometimes, workplaces will find ways to positively channel their Aasimar's Wellspring, so I'd encourage you to talk at length with your employee to understand how it works.

"..."

"Of course, the pleasure is all mine. You have a great day."

Alicia hung her headset back on its stand and sighed. Another long day of work over, but at least this one ended on a high note. The woman had seemed genuinely curious about her new employee, and had reached out to ORC of her own accord to try and be as accommodating as possible.

Calls like that were in the minority, however. The most common calls came from the hundreds, if not thousands of people that still complained about sex work being legalized. They didn't care that certain Races physically needed sex to survive, and they seemed determined to cause problems because of it. It was actually fairly common for ORC employees to be called as witnesses in various court cases and depositions, and a vast majority of those cases tended to involve employers discriminating against sex workers. Alicia had never been called, but she assumed it was only a matter of time.

She sent a goodbye email to her boss and happily signed off from her work account. When she went to turn her computer off, however, she hesitated. Memories of her past flooded her mind, of all the time she used to spend online. Watching TV, playing music, talking with friends, she'd been a relatively social person. In the chaos of the Change, all that had been lost.

Another wave of loneliness washed over her, and she decided to recover all her passwords from her old social media accounts. Over the next hour or so, she let herself catch up on the lives of all her old friends. Many of them had changed Races, and quite a few were now working as Delvers.

She got lost in all their feeds, and realized she knew next to nothing about delving. She knew the basics, of course; Dungeons had popped up all over the world during the Change, and they were filled with monsters and perils. Delvers made it their job to explore these Dungeons, both for personal gain and to make sure the monsters didn't wander out and attack civilians.

As Alicia kept looking, she learned just how hard Chicago had been hit after the Change. Apparently, when the main Chicago Dungeon appeared, thousands of monsters had poured out and overrun the city. For the first two years, the streets of Chicago had basically become an active war zone, with Delvers doing everything they could to push back the monsters. During that period, the city government had been paralyzed, which meant many of the Delving Guilds had essentially called the shots. They did their best to organize the reclamation effort, and even allowed significant portions of the population to freely utilize Class and Racial abilities.

Once order had been restored, the Guilds and the City tightened some restrictions, and now only certified Delvers could freely engage monsters, both inside the dungeon and out.

In time, she grew tired of reading about Dungeons and delving, and returned to her social media sites. Some of her old friends were incredibly active, for good reason, but she couldn't shake the feeling that her news feeds seemed to be missing names. She opened up her old messenger apps, memories returning in waves as she read through the list of all her old friends. She began clicking through their profiles, trying to see what her non-Delver friends were up to, when she realized the sobering truth.