After mister Gem granted me my request of changing the requirements of stealing an egg to delivering the egg back to a Kukuu nest, I was going to buy some rations to spend at least a few days without worrying about food, but miss Letianna gave me some, so I didn't need to worry about that anymore, which I was very thankful for.
I did however, have some leftover jerky from my last quest that I didn't have anything to do with, so I dropped by the nearby
orphanage and donated it, which was much appreciated by miss Tabea.
Following that, I went to the receptionist and told them that I wanted to do the rank up quest and explained my circumstances while showing the note that mister Gem gave me. The lady that was working at the reception at the time then asked for my weapons, though I carry none of those, so she just provided me with a knife and wished me a safe travel, which I thanked her for.
Immediately after, I visited Lady Janine Borcroft and asked for the egg under her care while explaining my circumstances. Once she heard of them, she gladly gave it to me and wished me good luck, which I thanked her for too.
After putting the large egg in a backpack, I moved to the tavern and asked for the adventurer that got this egg in the first place. It was hard to walk with it in my back, so I'll probably need to take plenty of breaks while walking with it on the Ravine... This might be a real issue once I start climbing the mountain, but hopefully it will be fine.
Regardless, it didn't take too long to find said adventurer, he was drinking and celebrating his recent promotion and spending his money in a carefree manner. It was a bit hard to talk to him because he was drunk, but he eventually told me that the nest that he took the egg from was in the right side of the mountains and was decorated with some colorful feathers. He said it was quite different from most other nests, so it should be easily recognizable... I wondered if the Kukuu birds were really the type to decorate their nests with feathers of other birds, but I decided I had no reason to doubt his claims, so I thanked him for his time and left the tavern.
Then I started the travel to the Gem's Ravine. Our maps weren't updated with it yet, but after asking around I discovered it was to the Northwest, and that it was near the road to Gelderholm. In that case, I asked for a ride to a merchant caravan that was going to Gelderholm as the distance was a bit too much for me to go by myself. They asked what would they gain from it, and I said I could provide The Goddess' protection to them, and they accepted the offer.
After some time traveling, we reached my destination, so we parted ways and I entered the ravine. Inside it, I walked near the river for a while, moving without much to worry about. From time to time some of the wild animals came nearby to drink from its water, but there seemed to be a fair amount of food available in the region, so they were not aggressive, which made the first day quite safe.
I also spent some time foraging some berries and drank from the river's water myself. I'd like to avoid eating miss Letianna's meal for as long as possible, as it would probably be necessary once I was in the mountains. Nonetheless, I did need to take quite a few pauses to rest throughout the day as the egg really was too heavy for me, but regardless of that, nothing noteworthy happened.
When night fell I set up a small barrier with a few talismans and lied on the grass. It was hard to sleep though, too many memories started entering my head... It was easier when I was with mister Garrett as having someone nearby helped distract me, but now that I was alone... I thought the times I ran from Luminous' devouts were behind me, but it seems like I only needed a vaguely similar situation to get agitated again...
But it was alright now, The Goddess protects, I'm safe here, she won't let me get endangered me, I can sleep without worrying about anything... It should be alright, everything should be alright...
Eventually I fell asleep, though I did not rest well. I couldn't quite remember what I dreamt of, but it certainly wasn't anything good... Probably some bad memories. I also felt tired from keeping a barrier up all night, but there was no other way around it, so I got up, ate, and started moving again.
This pattern was repeated throughout my stay in the ravines, walking, resting, foraging, finding wild animals from time to time, and sleeping without resting much.
After four days though, I reached the mountain, so it was now time to climb... I also got a small stockpile of fruits and berries to keep with me during my stay, which would hopefully last a few days to keep me energized in this harsher biome.
The first day wasn't too bad, there was a clear path to follow that moved up the mountain, though climbing up certainly took its toll on me, and I had to take a lot more breaks than I took in the ravine.
Things got worse in the second and third days, it felt hard to breath, I wasn't sure why, but I prayed The Goddess would give me the strength to continue.
By the fourth day I was getting closer to the top, but ended up finding a goat blocking my path... It looked considerably less nourished than the animals in the ravine, probably because there was less food available up here... In addition, it seemed adamantly against me passing, it was probably defending its territory...
I looked around for a small while, but there was really no other path around, and climbing the walls wasn't really an option, so I had no choice but to go past that goat... So I prayed, I prayed The Goddess would help it understand that I meant no harm and that it did not need to protect its territory from me.
I slowly walked towards it, and seemed to try scaring me from moving any further... Yet I moved one more step... Getting a bit closer... Slowly...
And then the goat moved, rushed towards me... It surprised me, I usually did not have trouble with wild animals. And yet, I did not try to dodge, I'd be unable to, and I believed The Goddess did not send me here to die to a goat's charge. There is a reason it was put here in front of me.
So instead, I opened my arms in an embrace, trying to show the goat that it was alright, that it did not need to fear me, for I did not fear it, and I prayed my intentions would be conveyed properly... And they seemed to be, for the goat stopped its charge a bit before connecting... I thanked The Goddess for her help, and then watched as the goat turned around and started moving up... I followed it, slowly, making sure to make my steps loud enough to be heard by it, I did not want to look like I was hiding myself.
After a very small while, the goat entered a creak, and it let to a small cave where a baby goat lied on. Though it seemed to be extremely weak, and sick perhaps... That was worrisome.
I looked at what food I had left, and there were basically the rations that miss Letianna prepared for me, the water was also running out by now... It couldn't be helped.
I prayed that The Goddess would help me cure this baby, and my will aligned with hers, manifesting a healing magic that slowly stabilized the baby's breathing. I felt quite tired after it, but that was okay... I also helped it eat a bit of the dried fruits and gave it the last bit of remaining water I had. Which also seemed to help improve its condition... I smiled at seeing the baby look better, and then got up and prepared to leave.
The parent goat nudged me a bit though, it seemed to be thanking me, so I gently caressed its fur a bit and prayed it would have no further issues in the future... And then, I left the cave and started climbing again.
It was near nightfall when I saw the colorful Kukuu bird nest. The parents were already at the nest by now, so it would probably be unwise to approach right now... However, I was already quite hungry, thirsty and tired, and I doubted I'd be able to set up a barrier tonight... It was better to finish this as soon as possible.
So I took the egg out of my backpack and started slowly carrying it forward. It was hard to walk with it as I could hardly see what was in front of me due to how big the egg was, but I at least made sure I was moving in the right direction.
It didn't take long for them to notice me. They started making loud noises and seemed to be angry, they probably recognized the egg somehow, which might be a good thing... Or not. I wasn't sure.
They approached me while flapping their wings up and down, the wind provoked by that was almost enough to throw me off balance, and I had to be careful to not fall down just by that... I wished to put the egg down and let them take it, but there was no place I could safely put it without it rolling down and possibly break, so I kept holding it while they approached.
Eventually, one of them got close enough to reach me with its talons, so I slowly lifted the egg up and tried to make it as easy as I could for the bird to take it from my hands... I'm unsure if it noticed my intentions or if it felt it as a chance, but the Kukuu snatched the egg from me and held it between its talons, I sighed in relief by seeing the child being returned to its proper parents.
... Only, the bird then flapped its wings a lot harder than before and from this really close range, which made a gust of wind that was far too strong for me, and pushed me off balance, making me fall. I thought that by itself would be too bad for as long as the birds didn't try attacking me right after, but it seems like I underestimated the strength of the wind's push.
After I fell and hit my back in the hard ground, I was actually rolled down and fell through one of the many slopes of the mountain... That was a real danger.
I prayed The Goddess would protect me and made a makeshift barrier on the spot, it wasn't very strong as I didn't have the time to take out my talismans, but it would have to do. As I rolled down and kept kicking in numerous parts of the mountain, the barrier constantly broke and had to be repaired anew, which quickly drained my energies... I also suffered a fair amount of wounds and my body started bleeding and hurting all over.
... Nonetheless, I arrived at the bottom of the mountain and back into the Ravine due to that. Pained, with a few bones broken for sure, and bleeding quite a bit, while also feeling very tired, but alive. Perhaps that was the way The Goddess chose for me to avoid starvation while going down the mountain... It was definitely not an ideal method of doing so, but that was certainly one less worry I had to handle.
First things first, I tried sitting down to better take care of myself... It hurt more than I imagined, but I managed it. Judging from what parts ached more and what parts I could move, I guessed I had a broken arm and a few broken ribs, that much was manageable, I could move like this. The bleeding was a bigger issue though, it would attract hungry wild animals, that wouldn't do.
I forced myself to once again pray for The Goddess to aid me and help me heal my wounds. To at least stop the bleeding and close the superficial wounds to some extent... I almost fainted during the process due to overexerting myself, but I handled this immediate problem.
Next, I needed to get rid of the blood on my clothes and body, so I forced myself to get up. The pain made my vision fuzzy, and a few black spots appeared in front of my eyes, but I managed to stand and slowly walk towards the river. It's a good thing the river passed near the mountain, so it didn't take too long for me to reach it, for I was certainly unable to walk a big distance right now.
I took off my clothes and washed my body first, to take the sticky blood out from me first. Luckily enough this part of the ravine wasn't very steep, so the flow of the river was not too fast, so I did not have to worry about it pushing me too far from my clothes or backpack while I washed myself... Though swimming with a broken arm and broken ribs was not a pleasant experience regardless... Even if it did not last long as the blood was washed away quickly.
Following that I washed my clothes in the river with my good arm. It took longer than I'd like to take the blood stains away, but The Goddess blessed me with no wild animals getting any closer while I worked on that. Once I was done and finally no longer in danger of attracting anyone with the smell of blood, I put my backpack on my back again and carried my clothes in my good arm and walked a bit away from the river... By now it was already night.
Ideally I'd make a fire to dry myself and my clothes to prevent a cold, but I did not have the means to make a fire, not to mention I was too tired to be actually able to do so.
Instead, I hanged my clothes in a tree branch I could reach, and then slowly and carefully rolled around the floor to try drying myself quickly. It dirtied me again even though I had just bathed, but that was a necessary measure to avoid getting sick. Unfortunately there was no way I could dry neither my hair nor my tail in a timely manner, so I would just need to wait for them to dry naturally.
I then made a small bed of leaves and slept on the ground. I had no strength to make a barrier tonight, so I just prayed things would be alright.
Morning came and I was still in one piece, which was a good sign. The Goddess certainly protected me tonight.
I felt extremely dirty and wanted to take another bath, but that would make me run into the same problem as yesterday of not having a good way of drying myself, so I refrained from doing so. Instead I slowly put on my now-dry clothes on and looked around to see what could be done about my arm. It was still hurting a lot and I couldn't have a broken arm hanging like that, it needed to be put in proper position...
The first alternative would be to tear up a part of my robes to make a cast, but my robes were already looking like rags after the fall from the mountain, so I'd rather refrain from doing that, instead I looked around to see if anything could substitute the clothes to make a cast... And I found some vines and thin branches. It looked functional enough.
Taking out the knife out of my backpack from the first time, I cut some vines and tied them together with some branches around my arm to put it in proper position and to not get any worse... It took much longer than what I thought it would though. Even though I knew that self-medicating was a lot harder than taking care of others, the time I spent in the temple still pervaded my thoughts it seems... I prayed to The Goddess for some peace of mind and for help in focusing on my task at hand.
The next thing I did was to go to the river again to drink some water, I met with a deer there, but it did not seem to mind me, so we went our separate ways. Following that, I moved around while trying to find some berries or fruits to eat.
Everything was painful and slow though, I couldn't walk very fast with broken ribs, so I had no choice but to take my time walking and searching, not to mention I still felt quite weak... I did find some food eventually though. And I used the time searching to also slowly move towards the general direction of Scribel, as I would probably take quite a while to leave the Ravine at this pace.
When night fell, I prayed to The Goddess to help my arm heal quicker, so I had no stamina remaining to make a barrier... So once again, I prayed for a safe night, and fell asleep unprotected.
... At some point during the night I woke up though, I heard noises around me, a fair amount of them... Slowly approaching, and all around me.
I didn't know what they were, but I could understand they were probably dangerous. However, I was in no condition to run, so I instead took some talismans from my backpack and positioned then around me. Then I sat down and waited.
Eventually I saw a wolf nearby... And that was pretty much all confirmation I needed to know that this was a pack of wolves surrounding me. They did not seem starved though, so I wondered why they chose me as their prey, I doubted I'd offer enough food for a whole pack... Perhaps I just looked like easy food.
Nonetheless, I had to do something about it, so I closed my eyes and prayed for The Goddess' protection, which slowly activated my barrier.
Some Moments passed with them closing the encirclement, I could slowly hear their steps getting nearer with each second. I kept my eyes closed though, The Goddess would protect me, I just needed to pray.
Eventually, one of them lunged at me. Its attack hit the barrier head on, and I felt the impact, but the barrier was still up. Some stamina was definitely taken away from that blow, but I could endure this much.
Another one, and yet another. Each time the wolves lunged, they were met with The Goddess' protection that stopped them from moving any closer. I was close to fainting and knew I would not be able to maintain the barrier for more than a few blows, but I kept praying. It would be alright, The Goddess would protect me.
I heard louder sounds, heavier steps moved closer to me... Perhaps it was the alpha of the pack. It took a few careful steps, and then lunged at my barrier as well... It almost cracked, but it stayed firm... The blow was certainly stronger than what the other wolves made so far. I doubt I'd be able to endure another of those.
However, my prayers paid off. The wolves' started moving again, and I could hear their steps moving farther from me. It seems they gave up after noticing they could not get any closer... I thanked The Goddess for protecting me until the end, and then fell asleep while still sitting down, no longer resisting the tiredness that was taking me over.
The next day was a harsh one. Using enough magic to both start healing my broken arm and then protect me in the night took a big toll on me, even after a whole night's sleep, I had basically no strength and wanted nothing more than a soft bed to sleep on... I forced myself to forage food and drink water though, and that was basically all I did the entire day. During the night I had no strength to even consider work on healing my arm, so I just slept as is. Once again praying The Goddess would protect me tonight.
The following days were better, I was slowly recovering my strength as I ate, and I made sure to heal my arm during the nights. The dirty feeling that permeated my body was horrible though, and I had a harder time dealing with it than with the pain from my still recovering wounds... At the very least, they were mostly internal, as I had healed the external parts before, so no infection came out of this.
About a week passed before I could properly move my arm again. My ribs were still broken though, and I decided to leave them like that until I reached Scribel. They could wait. Having two arms to do things and not needing to spend energy in the night healing it did wonders for me though, as I had to take less rests during the day and forage more food to feed myself better and recover energy properly. I thanked The Goddess for guiding my thoughts in the right direction once more.
Three days later I finally got near the edge of the Ravine, so I bathed in the river to finally get rid of all that dirt that was bothering me to no end. The river was stronger in this area though, which hurt my ribs considerably, but I endured this much for the sake of cleaning myself. After cleaning my clothes as well, I dressed myself while them were still dripping wet and moved out of the Ravine and towards the road. My pace was still slow though, so I only got halfway there before I had to stop for the day... I also had a headache troubling me and was feeling weaker than before, which means I probably got sick... Unsurprisingly though, after spending a day wearing dripping wet clothes, I would be amazed if I did not catch a cold. It was fine though, I could endure this sickness for a small while.
When I woke up in the next day, I was shivering, it was very very cold... Though that was probably my own body's reaction to the sickness and not actually the weather's fault. I ate some berries I stocked before leaving the ravine and drank water from my canteen before forcing myself to get up and move towards the road... I felt dizzy and wobbled most of the way there, so my pace was even slower than before, but I arrived it by noon.
Then, I sat down and waited, I would not move all the way back to Scribel in this condition, so I needed a ride... I prayed to The Goddess that one would soon arrive... But slowly, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt everything shaking and that made my sick feeling worse... I somehow ended up not puking though, instead I slowly opened my eyes and saw that I was in the road right now, moving... Probably on top of a cart.
I was not tied up in any way, so the people carrying me must not be bandits. I looked around and saw a man and a boy nearby, with the man guiding the horses that were moving the cart, and the boy just looking at the surrounding scenery, seemingly absent-minded. There were also a wide variety of things within the cart, so I assumed this was a merchant's wagon or something similar.
When I tried readjusting my position, the boy noticed me and eagerly talked to his father about how I just woke up. They both reprimanded me about how dangerous it was for me to sleep like that in the road, and how I could have been killed... They also explained I had a really strong fever, and that I was lucky they found me before it got any worse. It seems like I underestimated my sickness a bit.
I apologized for my carelessness and thanked them for their help, and The Goddess for guiding them to me. I then explained my circumstances and why I was alone in the wilds like that, they seemed to be pretty surprised about a priestess working as an adventurer instead of the temple, which was... Understandable, it would certainly not be my first choice of job as well. But I felt it was the right thing to do to follow The Goddess' teachings.
And per The Goddess' blessings, they were moving from Gelderholm to Scribel and not the other way around, so I arrived at the city before long. Moreover, they did not even ask for payment even though they did the kindness of both taking me here and also treating my sickness... They said they could never accept money from one that served the gods, and instead only prayed that I would use this opportunity to help as many people that needed my aid as I could.
I deeply thanked them for their kindness and prayed for their safety and success as well. I'm sure their acts will not be overlooked by The Goddess. Then, we said our goodbyes and they went to the merchant's district, while I returned to the guild to deliver my report... Then I'll need to work on resting to recover from this sickness, and healing those broken ribs of mine.