Steph and Anna stopped fighting over the room they both wanted with the help of an extended match of rock-paper-scissors, which the princess won. Afterward, the duo continued to bond with each other for the rest of the evening while also hatching a plan to manipulate the group’s voting system of visiting interesting places during their travels. Something they were sure none of the other girls could come up with.

“I just had a brilliant idea!” While that was going on, Maya and Ari were also getting comfortable in their room for the night when the cat-girl addressed the jaguar.

“Oh?” Ari tilted her head in return. “What is it?”

“Everyone decided that we should vote on places or biomes to visit, right?”

“Either that or if it doesn’t work out, the god old rock, paper, scissors, yes.” She nodded.

“We need to band together and vote on the same destinations!” Maya raised her voice.

“THAT’S BRILLIANT!” Ari liked the idea. “That way, we can stop the idiots from visiting too ridiculous places!”

“Or too cold areas!”

“I just said ridiculous places, did I not?” The jaguar looked right at her.

“You’re great!” She reacted with a smile. “Also, yes, to keep them from visiting areas that are too dangerous for their own good. I mean, not that there are places that could be dangerous to Sophia or most of the others, but you know what I mean!”

“Dangerous for us.” Ari smiled back. “Mostly for our mental health, as well.”

“EXACTLY!” She nodded a couple of times. “We, the two of us, and Fey, we need some peace and quiet every now and then.”

“I very much agree!"

“Well, I also think we should use it to cheat our way into some places we would find interesting but wouldn't have a chance of getting elected without us banding together," Maya added a selfish bit to her suggestion.

“I like the way you’re thinking~.” The jaguar did not even think about protesting her addition. "We must use this to our advantage as much as possible!"

“I’m happy you agree.”

“Ah, but what if the other duos have the same idea? Our efforts would be useless then!” Ari suddenly sounded a bit more serious.

“Steph and Anna, who can’t even agree on a stupid room?” The cat-girl scratched her cheek. “Or are you talking about Sophia and Chloe, who both are the same when it comes to the general idea of traveling and exploring but are polar opposites when it comes to the things they like. Do you really think our blonde warmth-loving cat would ever find a common interest with our arctic fox?”

“You do have some very sound arguments.” The jaguar couldn’t argue with that.

“We’ll sooo have the upper hand during the next vote for our destination!”

“Yes!” Ari had the same smug expression as Maya. “Oh, do you have any places you’d like to visit?”

“I’d like to see my hometown again, but I think that would be a really bad idea.”

“How so?”

"For starters, a friend of mine had a big crush on Sophia when we left…”

“Oh, that’s going to be awkward!” Ari nodded. “Also, our blondie sure is popular, huh?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Yeah…” She looked a bit tired. “Also, my hometown is right next to the monster country. What do you think would happen if Steph finds out something with that name is right next to my home?”

“Ahh…” The jaguar didn’t need more information. “It sounds like the thing and place we’re trying to avoid with our pact.”

“Exactly!”

“Anything else?” Ari looked at her again.

“Mhmm... You know, I kinda do enjoy fighting, playing around with magic, and stuff, but maybe not on the level of the monster country where the strongest monsters of this continent live. Some places with, uhh... medium strong foes would be nice?”

“I can’t exactly say I share your sentiment, but I would prefer that over whatever the others would like to encounter and or fight.”

“What about you, though?” Maya returned the question. “Are there any places you want to see? Things to explore?”

“Oh, that’s a good question.” Ari scratched her cheek. "I think I'm more interested in the traveling part itself rather than specific places. Though, my jaguar bits wouldn't say no to tropical areas and more rainforests~.”

“Even after we made our own literally right in front of the cottage here?”

“Absolutely!”

“You big cats sure love jungles and rainforests, huh?” The smaller cat didn’t dislike those places but didn't share the same excitement about them.

“They’re great!” Ari had no issues admitting it. “Are your cat bits not craving a specific area or biome?”

“I’m not sure.” Maya gave it some thought. “I somehow doubt it’s related to my cat side, but I think I’d like to see a desert. A massive one, I mean. Nothing but sand and dunes, as far as you can see. Finding an oasis would be fun, too~."

“Ohh!” She seemed to like the idea. “I wouldn’t say no to that!”

“Happy to hear!” The cat-girl smiled at her. “I think it might be slightly difficult to convince Chloe and Steph about it, though.”

"Right! Our cold-loving friends wouldn't be fans of deserts!" The jaguar could see the issue. "Then again, deserts get really cold at night. We could keep them here in Sophia’s domain during the day and bring them out to play in the evening!”

“That sure sounds weird out of context.” Maya rolled her eyes. "It seems like it could work, though!"

“You should suggest it during the next vote!” The jaguar gave her a thumbs up. “You have my vote!”

"Ahaha, though it might be best to get near one first.”

“True enough!” Ari nodded. “We probably have to travel quite far before finding one. As far as I know, there’s no desert anywhere near the capital.”

“I’ll ask Fen about it later. I’m sure he knows where one could be…” Maya paused for a moment. “Wait, if I remember right, Chloe actually visited a desert before and hated it! For obvious reasons. She might tell us if we suggest the idea of playing together during the night."

“Sounds like a plan!”

“Speaking of plans,” The cat-girl then looked out of her window from where their jungle was possible to see. “I was mostly just teasing Sophia, but are we really going to mess with her domain three times as much as she does with the normal world?”

“Ahh...” Ari also looked at their creation for a moment. “It depends a bit on what she does, I guess. I don’t think I want to destroy anything anyone created in here. That would be too sad. Doing something that would terribly bother our blonde friend, on the other hand, I think that would be more than fair.”

“And fun.”

“Exactly!” The jaguar reacted with a big nod. “Next time, let’s make a forest so dense and overpopulated that it’s impossible to cross for people.

“T-That’s a pretty cute revenge.” She tried to stay serious while saying it.

“Good point...” Ari’s cheeks turned slightly red. “I might need a while to get on the level of ridiculousness as everyone else.”

“Ahaha,” Maya let out a small chuckle. “I think it’s fine! To be a bit more mischievous, rather than creating a forest like that on our own, we should do that to whatever Sophia is trying to create. Extra points if we do it behind her back to make her think it was her own fault~.”

“I have much to learn from you!”

“Happy to be of use~.”

“Anyway, let’s decide on something specific when the time comes. Making plans beforehand rarely works out in this group, after all.” Ari knew that all of them were quite impulsive. "It's gotten late, and I'm actually rather tired, too."

“I like that plan.” The cat-girl nodded. “Are you okay with sharing a bed, or should we try and look for a second one in the other free rooms?"

“How horny do you get during the night?” The jaguar raised an eyebrow while she looked at her.

“With just you?” Maya looked back at her. “Slightly less than usual, I guess? Sophia not being here with us puts a bit of a damper on my mood. Why? Were you hoping for something?”

“I was not!” She raised her voice. "I just wanted to know if sharing a bed with you is safe."

“How rude!” The cat-girl didn’t like her wording. “It’s not like you and Anna are being known in the entire castle in the capital for being horny, right? Loudly horny at that.”

“Y-You’re still rubbing that in?!” Ari’s face got redder. "Y-You’re as safe with me as I’m with you!”

“…” She paused for a moment. “Okay, yeah, let’s leave it at that. I’m too tired to keep going with this.”

“We should tire you out more often.”

“…”

“Good night!” The jaguar noticed her usual ambiguity and decided to stop talking.

Once they agreed to end the topic, the duo got ready to go to bed and managed to quickly fall asleep afterward.