(ACT 1) BARD SONG: A BG3 FANFICTION

𝕭𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖛𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖆𝖌𝖊

The following morning, Aera woke up early.

She took some time to herself, braiding her hair into two short braids. She tended to keep her hair down and covering her face, but she felt that with combat it might be easier if it was out of the way. 

When she looked at her reflection in her small, handheld mirror, she felt a sudden pang of insecurity. 

Her scars were on full display with her hair back. Not only did they cover her neck, chin, and her bottom lip, but there were some along her eyebrows that were fully visible now. 

Sometimes she thought she'd be beautiful without them, other times she saw no beauty. She saw a weak, foolish woman whose decisions got her where she was. 

That's how she felt this morning. 

The previous night had been confusing for her because she'd never really felt a lot of the emotions she'd felt while with Gale. Jealousy. Concern. Admiration. Genuine attraction. The last person she'd felt such feelings for was Devor, but she often wondered if those were true feelings, or if she'd been manipulated into feeling the way she did. 

Gale naturally brought it out of her, something she would have never expected. 

Gods Aera, it's only been a few days. What are you doing? 

As she got dressed, she thought of their exchange and grew embarrassed. They had almost kissed, but he'd backed out. She couldn't blame him, but if there's one thing that Aera hated was making a fool of herself, and now she felt like she had let her guard down and made herself look weak. 

But he'd felt the connection too, or else they would have never gotten that far in the first place. 

Aera slid her feet into her boots and stood, grabbing her backpack and sliding the straps across her shoulders. She did the same with the Lute, making sure they sat comfortably against her back. 

As she thought of Gale and his story, Lae'zel walked up to her, sliding her sword into its sheath. 

"I want to speak with you," the Gith said. 

Aera straightened out her sleeves and looked at her expectantly. "Of course." 

"I spoke with a Tiefling within the grove. Zorru. He pointed me in the direction of the creche." 

Aera nodded. "That's great. I don't think Nettie is going to help us, considering she's under Kagha's rule." 

"I also spoke with Wyll. He spoke of an old woman who might have a cure for the tadpoles. We should go." Lae'zel glanced around at the others, who were still asleep. "This should be top priority." 

Aera grabbed her daggers and hooked them into her belt. "I understand. I say we tackle this goblin camp today, then we head to the creche or to this woman Wyll mentioned." 

"No," Lae'zel said. "We must go to a healer today. We've waited far too long." 

Aera knew Lae'zel was probably right. They needed to get this tadpole out of their heads as soon as possible. 

"Okay. We'll try to find this old woman." 

Lae'zel blinked, as if surprised Aera had agreed. 

"But if this woman can't help us, we must go to the camp before the creche." 

Lae'zel let out an annoyed grunt, but nodded.

 "Fine. Let's wake the others and get moving." 

******************

"Auntie Ethel said her cottage was southwest," Wyll said as Aera studied the map. They were all walking down a dirt trail, Karlach and Shadowheart in front, Astarion and Gale next, then Wyll and Aera. Lae'zel brought up the rear .