Chapter One Hundred and Two - Bounce Back

I sat on the edge of one of the room’s beds. Orange on my lap. Amaryllis to my right and Awen to my left. My friends, all of my close friends, were trying to comfort me.

It was quite silly. It wasn’t as if I’d lost something precious or anything, and I wasn’t hurting. I had just become... something else.

“It happens,” Amaryllis was saying. “Not terribly often, but it has been noted before. In fact, some races can trace their origins back to communities who all changed their main class and were turned into something... uh, else.”

“Something like me?” I asked.

“Awa, it’s not so bad,” Awen tried. “Um. I think your new ears are very cute?”

My ears twitched.

Reaching up, I tugged at one of them, then pushed it back up so that it was standing tall above my head. “I guess they’re kinda cute,” I said. If I was pouting a bit no one chose to comment on it.

“You’ll need to learn how to care for them. And... and I suspect a few books on Bun culture wouldn’t go amiss. You’ve sort of barged into their race,” Amaryllis said.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.

Awen reached up, then paused. “Awa, can, can I touch them?”

Sighing, I nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”

Awen started running her hands up and down my new ears. It was weird, and kind of ticklish, especially when she touched the white tufts at their base. My right ear kept flopping down as it bent in half at the middle. It was really annoying, like having a sock on crooked, but on top of my head.

“Right,” Amaryllis said as she bounced to her feet. “I think I saw a book store around here. I had to stop by there anyway, I can look to see if there are any books that will talk about your... condition.”

“Yeah, I’d appreciate that,” I said.

Amaryllis nodded and stomped off. She wasn’t the kind of girl that could just sit around and wallow when things weren’t going right. She needed to act, to move.

Usually, that was the case with me too, but I wasn’t feeling it.

I sighed and let myself fall backwards onto the bed, then winced as a bit of pain sprang out from my tailbone. My tailbone that now ended in an actual tail.

It was a good thing I was wearing a skirt, or else I’d need to cut a hole in my pants to let out the big ball of brown fluff now permanently attached just over my bum.

“I’m being dramatic,” I said as I splayed out my arms across the bed. My new bunny ears flipped over the edge as if they were melting off the sides of the bed above me. “This isn’t so bad, I guess.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Awen said. “Um. No one dislikes buns, I think. And, and you’re still Broccoli.”

“That’s right!” I said. My good mood plummeted a moment later. “Ah, but now I can’t go back home.”

“You, you can’t?” Awen asked. She climbed onto the bed and slowly sat cross-legged next to me. “Why not?”

“Well, for one I don’t know how. But also, if I do go back. Well, there aren’t any buns where I’m from. And I don’t think I could hide my ears at all.”

Awen looked down at me, eyes wide and sad, then she fell atop me and pulled me into a hug. “It’s okay! We’ll make a new home for you here. To-together!”

I grinned and returned the hug. “Thanks Awen,” I said. “Ah... I should find a distraction, all this ear business is driving me spare.”

“Um. You have a new class to pick, right?” Awen asked. “Did you like the ones you have available, or, uh, will you go do another dungeon for something else?”

“Hrm,” I said as I began to rub Awen’s back. It was as much a gesture to keep me occupied as it was one to comfort my friend. “I have three available, we could look over them together?”

“Sure, I, awa, would like that.”

Wonderlander

Skipping along the edge of madness, the Wonderlander is always late but never left. They find the beautiful things in the world and make them brighter. Never settling for less when more will do!

Class Specializations:

Social Niceties

Hat-based Combat

Madness Enhancement

Do you wish to unlock your second class?

“I like this one,” I told Awen as I repeated the class’ description. “It’s kind of weird.”

“Awa, you, um...” Awen flushed and looked away. “You’re a little weird too, I guess. But in a good way.”

I laughed. “Thanks! You’re... actually I have no idea, I guess you might be weird or normal and I wouldn’t know.”

“Ah, I think I’m normal?” Awen wondered.

“Amaryllis though,” I began.

“She’s weird. B-but don’t tell her that I said that. She’s also scary.” Awen shuddered. “But...I think I like her. As a friend! I meant as a friend!”

I pulled Awen in for another hug, because hugs were the best. “You’re so cute Awen.”

“Awawawa...” Awen mumbled as I hugged her.

“Next class?”

“Y-yes please!”

Glass Cannon

The best defence is a good offence! The Glass Cannon puts everything into attack, which is a good thing too because they have a glass jaw. One way or another, something is getting broken!

Class Specializations:

Striking Hard

Blitzing Fast

Attacking Always

Do you wish to unlock your second class?

“That’s the same class I have,” Awen said. “Um. I think I’m about to get glass manipulation with that one.”

“Is that good?” I asked.

“Um. Glass is an interesting material, I think. I ah, had an idea but I’m not sure if it’s good.”

I shifted so that I could see her better. “What is it?”

“Awa. W-well, I know that Light Aspect mana is supposed to be easy to use, but it’s kind of... weak. But there are things like focusing lenses and prisms and such. I think I could tinker a way to make it better.”

“Like a laser?” I asked.

Awen blinked. “You know what those are?”

“Yeah, we used them to annoy cats where I’m from.”

Orange raised her head from my lap and kind of just stared. She was not impressed. She stood up, walked across my tummy, climbed over Awen, then spun around and sat on my face.

“Orange! No!”

After snatching Orange off of my face, then punishing her with kisses and hugs for a moment, I resettled on the bed with Awen tucked up against my side.

“Only one class left,” I said.

“Awa, the puppet one?”

Puppeteer

You have strings and now you're free. The Puppeteer ties others to themselves, not the other way around. The subtlest motions can have the most profound effects... Now dance, the show must go on!

Class Specializations:

Thread Manipulation

Body Stitching

Performing Presentation

Do you wish to unlock your second class?

“Hrm,” I said.

“Hrm,” Awen repeated.

“I think I’m going to go for the Wonderlander class,” I said. “It sounds like it suits me better.”

“Okay!” Awen said. “It does sound very, um, exciting.”

Grinning, I poked at Mister Menu and waited for just a moment. A shiver ran through me, from the tip of my poofy ears all the way down to my toes.

Ding! You are now a Wonderlander!

Health + 5

Stamina +5

Mana +10

Resilience +5

Flexibility +15

Magic +5

“It’s done!” I said.

Awen giggled and Orange flopped onto the bed’s pillow in celebration.

“Now we all have second classes. How neat is that?”

“Awa, it’s very, um, neat. I didn’t think I’d ever get to reach anything past my first evolution,” Awen said. “Now I’m going to be a glass cannon too, and Amaryllis will, um, make puppets out of people with electricity.”

“That does sound like something that’ll make Amaryllis even scarier,” I said

The bedroom’s door squeaked open and Amaryllis walked in backwards, wings carrying a small stack of books. “So, I’m scary, but not enough that you won’t talk about me when I’m not around,” she said as she stomped off towards the dining table set to one corner. “I found help.”

“Um, hello!”

I blinked and sat up straighter. I recognized the voice. Even better, I recognized the young woman that followed Amaryllis into the room.

She walked with her hands woven together over her tummy, and her eyes were focusing more on the floor than the rest of the room. She was wearing a light cloak over tough-looking travelling clothes. Still, for all that her face was partially hidden by her cloak, it did nothing to hide the two big ears sticking out of the top of her head.

“Booksie?” I asked.

The bookshop owner looked up. “Miss Broccoli?” she asked. Her eyes locked onto my ears and I saw her expression twist with confusion. “You’re a bun?”

I hopped to my feet, a smile tugging at my cheeks. “I am now! What’re you doing in Rosenbell?”

Booksie’s eyes snapped away from me. “I’m heading home. I just had to stop here on the way back. It’s a quick stop, nothing else.”

“Home to Port Royal?” I asked.

“No,” she said. Then, quicker. “Were you a bun last time we spoke? I can’t remember seeing your ears, but I think you were wearing a hat at the time?”

“I wasn’t a bun back then,” I said. “I’ve only had the ears for a few hours now. Ah, I guess that’s why Amaryllis asked you to come... she did ask you to come, right?”

“I offered her money,” Amaryllis said.

I huffed. “You can’t fix every problem with money, Amaryllis.”

The harpy snorted. “That sounds like poor people talk.”

Awen sat up, hands running across her clothes to straighten them. “Awa, who’s your friend?” Awen asked.

“Oh, right!” I said. “Awen, this is Booksie, she owns a bookstore in Port Royal.”

Booksie’s smile faltered a little and she went back to staring at the floor. “Used to own. I’m just a normal bun now, on my way to Cinderrun. But that’s not what matters. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Awen.”

“Awa, the pleasure’s mine,” Awen said.

“What happened to your store?” I asked.

Booksie shook her head. “It’s not important,” she said. “Miss Amaryllis said that you needed help with something, and I think I can see the problem. People don’t usually just turn into buns, not as far as I’ve read.”

“Were you born a bun?” I asked. I was definitely going to find out what happened to her store, but only when she was ready to tell me.

“I was,” Booksie said. “And my mother before me, and my grandfather before her. If a bun mates with a human, their offspring is going to be a bun.”

“Awesome,” I said. Any babies I had would have widdle little ears and a fluffy tail? I couldn’t say no to that! “So there are a bunch of buns out there?”

Booksie smiled a little wistfully. “We have our little corners. Most buns are well treated. And we have a good reputation for, ah, most things.” She flushed a little at that. “If you don’t mind, how did you become a bun yourself? An artefact? Some magic that went... strange? A class evolution?”

I nodded, then reached both hands up to stop my bunny ears from flopping. If only they could stay as fixed as my normal ears. “Yeah. My class changed to Cinnamon Bun Bun, and now I have these, and ah, a tail.”

“Oh,” Booksie said. “Well, then it’s probably nothing to worry about. You still have human ears? Any xenophobe will be able to tell that you weren’t born a bun, so there’s that.”

“Oh, um, okay,” I said. “Did you wanna sit? We can talk some more over tea or something. I guess if there’s no way to lose the ears, I might as well learn a bit about bun culture and such.”

“Sure!” Booksie said. She took off her hood, which was quite involved with the big ears and all, and placed it off to the side. In the full light of the room, I could easily make out all the marks around her eyes. She hadn’t been sleeping, and I didn’t think it was because she was binge reading until four in the morning.

My ears could wait, I had a new friend to cheer up!

***