"Did Nin properly understand me when I..." I began to say as I leaned against my raised and open palm. A long dreamy sigh leaving me as I looked down the deck of the airship and at Nin. My smile consistently changing as he did something minor or greater. He wasn't even doing much yet here I was, just happy to watch him.
"Did Ninno understand what?" someone then suddenly asked into my ear, causing me to jump. Sparks flying off of my body as I wobbled about while clutching my chest. The laughter that followed it all clarifying to me that it was Ayi-chira. My smile quickly being done away with in favour of an annoyed frown.
"W-Why were you watching me!?" I demanded from her as I took on a straighter posture. Moving closer to her with flaring nostrils. Increasingly annoyed by her laughter.
"So I'm not allowed to watch you but you can watch," she began to say before she forced me into looking at Nin again, "Ninno here?" she finished off with. A smile somewhat coming back to my face as my face also heated up.
"I... I wasn't..." I tried to say but I just could not finish the sentence. The fact I was caught red-handed in the act was just too embarrassing!
"Yeah, you were!" Ayi-chira teased in a drawn-out manner. Her hands prodding at my cheeks before I swatted them away. Her giggles keeping my attention on her as I glared at her. But, my trembling lip and red face made it hard to be intimidating.
"What do you want anyway!? Surely you have something better to do!"
"Nope! The slavers... Are doing all the hard work so I am just left alone to wander! But, there just isn't much to do here." she said, going from contempt at first to a more cheerful tone and ending it with a shrug.
"So why does that mean you have to bother me!?" I asked of her before slowly crossing my arms. Looking away while still looking at her.
"Beeeee-cause! I want to know about what you," she said while pointing and poking me, "and him," her finger quickly moving over to Nin, "were doing after I saw you enter the bathroom!"
"It was a bathroom... What else could we have been doing!?" I let out quickly and in a higher pitch than usual. My face becoming a very bright red by the end of it all.
"Going by how you are looking at him, quite a bit." she suggestively said as her finger went down the front of my clothes.
"N-Nothing happened!" I said to her before stropping off. Stamping my feet down hard and letting sparks fly off of me as I did so.
"Did he say something to you? Did you say something to him? C'mon! Tell me!" I was asked by the persistent Ibenorrocon. A frustrated growl leaving me just before I stopped inside the airship's kitchen. A kettle being put on once I was still.
"Fine, you want to know so badly!? Fine!" I nearly yelled out before slamming the door shut as hard as I could. It having to be slammed again when the prior just made it bounce. Ayi-chira even jumped a little when it banged close.
"I do!"
"When we were in there, I was washing his back and I asked him what sort of women he liked and then I just blurted out what kind of men I liked and I confessed to him!" I said to her while making her back up towards the door. Yet, even as I did so, she kept that Aahtha-blessed smile and stayed joyful.
"And what did he say afterwards? Did he accept them and say he felt the same?" her smile widening as she began to push back. Her actions soon leading to me nearly stumbling over a stool when I was moving back.
But, I looked down in frustration before I answered, "No..."
"He does not feel the same way?" her smile disappearing when she asked that.
"No... No, he just didn't answer!" I said slowly at first before speeding out an answer to make sure it wasn't misunderstood. I did not want my slow answer causing Nin unnecessary suffering because I was too stuttery to clarify!
"Were you very direct with it? Like, did you specifically say you wanted to do romantic things with him?" she asked me after sitting down. Any joking tones and behaviour having completely gone away.
"Admittedly... I have been wondering if I was being too subtle..."
"That might be the case, but, trust me, Einervaene," Ayi-chira said to me before leaning closer, "sometimes they need it to be more blunt and confrontational." she said as if she had experience in the manner.
"You have asked men out before...?"
She then went quiet and looked away, "Yeah..." her behaviour clearly nervous, "Yeah, I did it a few times back in my homeland."
"I see, how blunt are we talking? Like... A very direct saying of it...?" I asked her as shades of bright red returned to my face. My mind quickly filling up with scenarios of where I directly admitted it to Nin. Some even being rather dramatised like it being in a battle or something. Like it all just came to a stop just so I could tell him and then kiss him deeply...
"Sometimes, yes, sometimes indeed. In fact! Why not even give it another go? Repeat it to him!"
"I... Don't think I could. It took everything to say what I did yesterday and I just couldn't say it again more clearly even after I said it. We just ended up talking about other things." I say to her before slowly slanting over and cupping my face. A long breath leaving my mouth as I tried to bottle up this embarrassment I was feeling.
"Then I'll help! I'll get his attention and then guide him into a place where it is just you and him and you can just go at it!" Ayi-chira said to me just before she hopped up onto her feet. Arms stretched out wide as she hopped up and down in excitement. Yet, here I was, glaring at her with suspicion.
"Just me and him? You not watching or listening in the slightest...?" I probed her with, my worries confirmed when she began to panic a little.
"No..." she blatantly lied while looking away and balancing on her heels.
"You better not!" I then told her firmly. Some of my magic crackling about the copper frame in my clothes to emphasise it. But, I wasn't sure if that would work, honestly. Ayi-chira was much, much more powerful than me...
"I swear I won't! I'll hide my soul and everything just in case!" Ayi-chira responded with, her hands making the gesture for her statement. Her claim that should she break this promise that she shall hide her soul from the God of Death... So that she is cursed to walk alone in the misty world forever.
"You better..." I grumbled before I began to leave the kitchen. Not bothering to do what I had originally intended just so I could escape the advance I was getting. Those verbal spears urging me on...
Shortly after we went topside again, I could hear him, I could hear Nin, "Swear she was... Ah!"
"N-Nin I w-want to talk t-"
"It'll have to wait, sorry, have you seen Lari?" he asked me while looking about, his eyes clearly not lingering on me. Something that only contributed to the anger I was feeling. He just wanted to see Ayi-chira... That should have told me all I needed to know but I wanted a clear answer.
"No, it's important!" I challenged back with as I tried to step forward.
"It can wait, now, Lari, come on. You two Einervaene." he told us while gesturing to Ayi-chira who had apparently been hiding behind me. So, as we were walking with Nin to where ever he wanted to take us to, I glared at her. I glared the finest daggers I could at her as she had gone back on her word!
But, that gaze she was giving me reeked of technicalities, "You never said it!" she whispered before quietly giggling. Giggling that soon stopped when Nin came to a stop with us just outside the control room. Vadei was here too, so it must have been important as it was clear she was waiting to listen.
"What is this all about?" I then asked once I had swallowed down the topic I wanted to bring up just before.
"It's about the two in there. I believe it should be in our best interests to at least elevate some of their work." he explained before he opened the door slightly. Letting us all have a look at the pair of slavers as they jumped up and started working again.
"It was your idea to work them like this, to begin with!" Vadei told him with a hiss.
"I know, but, they are the only two here who know how to pilot this thing. If we overwork them to the point of collapsing then we are just going to suffer severe problems."
"So you want us to learn how to fly this airship just in case?" Ayi-chira asked him.
"Yes, should worse come to pass, we can at least fly this thing ourselves. We might not know the way, but, if we know how to fly it we can bring it to a town or something. Get directions or something."
"I don't even think we can learn to fly this, you just don't learn details like that in so short a time." Vadei tried to point out to him.
Nin's hand raised itself at her in a non-threatening manner, "I know, I have worked on heavy vehicles before. We just need them to 'hold our hands' as it were. Nothing big, maybe switch in and out regarding who does what but just be there to interact with the two."
"It will also help us keep an eye on them, too. I don't trust them to not cause us issues..." Vadei said to Nin who nodded along.
"They're slavers, they will likely be making plans this very moment. Trading lives is, thankfully, not an easy profession so they will have experience in getting out of bad situations." Ayi-chira then said in an uncharacteristically annoyed tone. Nin and Vadei nodding along when she said it while I kept still.
"Right, are we all in agreement then?" Nin then asked as he put his hands together with a modest clap.
"I have no problems with it, Nin." I said with a nod while Ayi-chira pouted before slowly nodding. The only one who did not have a response yet was Vadei so everyone was now looking at her.
"Don't give me those looks... Not like my vote matters now." she mumbled in agitation before entering the control room.
"I guess she is taking the first shift or whatever." Nin said with a shrug before he started to walk away. My hand rising to try and stop him while my mouth opened up even if I did not speak. Thankfully, he stopped and looked at me.
"I'll leave you two to it then!" Ayi-chira commented before dancing off with returned cheer. A red tint coming to my face as I stared up at Nin's masked face. Gulping my nervousness down as I watched him.
"Not sure what that was about, but, Einervaene, a word if I can?" he said in Ayi-chira's direction before he gestured me to follow.
"What would you like to talk about?" I asked him as we started to walk. Surprising myself by not tripping on my words as we became isolated from the rest.
"Now, you were brought on board to help fix something, yes?" he then asked me. A sudden surge of disappointment filling me up as a result of it not being what I was hoping for.
"Yes, a small item. I don't know what it was but they just needed someone to conduct lightning through it and to fuse a few pieces together." I clarified to him before he then tapped his hand on a wall.
"Right, now, I may not have the training to be a mechanic of any kind. But, if I was to guide you through the process, would I be able to rely on you to maintain this airship should the worse come to pass? You are the only one with the skills to maintain this thing should on-board tools not suffice." he explained, a wide smile coming to my face when he mentioned how important I would be. He would be relying on me because of something only I could provide!
"That's f-fine!" I told him while nodding happily. A quick laugh leaving him before he then left. Something that made my smile go as I still needed to speak to him about... But, I guess it can wait. He has just explained that we had a lot to sort out.
So, I guess, I can go do something on my own for the moment. Yet, I just could not get him out of my head. Nor could I get the details he mentioned when we bathed together last. They just stayed in my head, constantly lingering.
A Modest build, short white hair and dark skin...
"But what does he see as modest?" I quietly asked myself once I found a mirror to look at. My hat having been put aside so I could somewhat pose before the mirror. A frown on my face the entire time as I went over my body parts. I pressed my thighs and moved them about, exposed my rear and even groped my chest.
And even once I did all of that inspecting, I could still not answer if I fit the bill in that regard. Yet, now that I thought about it more and compared myself to others. I just did not fit the bill. I was frequently made aware by my fellow Eusorochiian friends of the superiority of my chest...
And when I also thought about it, more of the men at the Academy stared at my lower half... My body was always the centre of attention so surely that meant I was not modest in shape? Maybe that was one of the reasons he liked Lari so much? Her skin was reasonably dark and her body was practically flat compared to mine!
"Not much I can do here then..." I mumbled in disappointment before I moved on to holding my hair. Carefully clutching the lower pair of golden hair cuffs I had and tapping them. Should I perhaps do away with them and start cutting my hair...? But I quite liked my hair yet Nin clearly preferred short hair...
To say nothing of how mine was nowhere near his preferred colour, but, I suppose I could dye it. And, when I was done looking in the mirror, I collapsed onto a nearby sofa to moan into a cushion. Why couldn't have his preferences been closer to me...? Either way, I suppose it didn't matter, I was still on a sofa moaning.
"Wait... I can still get tans can't I...? I should be able to get his attention like that!" I then said to myself as I got up again. My hands initially going to my hat before I pulled them back. I would not need a hat if I was going to tan myself! I needed as much of my skin exposed as possible!
So did that then mean I would have to strip myself down to expose more skin...? Just the thought of being caught naked by him made me stutter while my face was burnt red. Yet, despite that, I was smiling at the thought of it. To be potentially seen by him at what might be my most beautiful...
"Okay! I just need a place to do it then! Hopefully, we are above the clouds so I can get more light soaked into me!" speaking my thoughts out before I began to haphazardly undress. Reducing myself to my bra and underwear before I got outside. Quietly sneaking off to a more isolated part of the open deck before then sitting down. Frowning as I just sort of sat there.
Maybe I should try and get a chair or towel or something? It wasn't very comfortable to sit here, let alone lie here. It was also quite nippy as well. So, maybe, this was just a bad idea in general...?
Well, either way, me hearing his voice certainly made me dismiss these concerns.
And now, I was just lying there with my eyes closed while I let out a gentle stream of magic. I was not sure if that would interfere with my attempts to get a tan and so on. But, it would help keep my body warm as I laid down on this decking underneath the orbital-halo. A gentle smile on my face as I envisioned Nin's reaction to my tan.
"And what do we have here?" Ayi-chira asked me which caused my smile to disappear. Soon bringing myself up onto my legs and rear before glaring at her. My arms covering my chest as I did so.
"Just trying to get a tan..." I muttered to her with a pout. Her eyes looking up as a result of that statement.
"Why?"
"Because Nin said he likes girls with darker skin... And without a tan I am rather pale..." I said to her while looking down in disappointment.
"I am sure Nin wouldn't mind being in a relationship with you just because you had no tan." she said to me with a no-nonsense attitude.
"You don't know tha-" I began to say before I was pushed onto my back by her before she sprawled over me. Her hands and fingers happily exploring my body while her face came close.
"Besides, I am sure this body of yours would be more than enough to catch his attention." she whispered in my ear with a sultry tone. Sparks coming off of my skin with increased intensity before it became enough to get Ayi-chira off. And then, I was just laying there with a red face and nervously clutched breasts.
"Don't do that!" I told her before I tried to hide my face. Laughs and giggles being all I heard come out of her mouth.
"You need to have more confidence, Einervaene! Forget about what he told you were his preferences and make your features his preferences!" she said to me with confidence. Her tone implying that she knew a lot about this sort of thing.
"I can change his preferences...?"
"Yes! You just have to be upfront about it and make them addicted to you!" she said with a cheer before calming down. A modest blush on her face as she became still.
"Addicted...?" I repeated while moving my head slightly to the side. What was even meant by that? Did she just lack a better word for the situation? Or was it quite literal and I needed to do something specific...?
"Yeah, you know," she said while looking away with a strange nervousness about her, "get him to enjoy your presence so much he wants to just be with you." she clarified. Something that left me saddened as there was no way I was going to do that. She had already done it to him and I likely helped make that happen!
And all because of my prior words to him...
"I-I d-don't think I can..." I said with a sniffle before tears started to come out.
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Don't start crying, we're talking about you being in love! You should always be happy!" Ayi-chira tried to comfort me with before she came over and hugged me. Her hands once again feeling me up as she did so, but, I just did not care.
"Yeah, love that will never be returned by him at this rate because he is too interested in you!" I nearly screamed in despair before calming down slightly. Looking away as I was rocked back and forth by the Ibenorocon.
"Interested in me? Pfffft, we're just good friends!" she said to me in an attempt to brush it off. But I wasn't having any of it, it was clear Nin liked her!
"No! He clearly has his eye on you! You do pretty much everything together and he is always at his happiest when you are with him!" I said to her before forcing myself out of her hug.
Then, she sighed, "I know he does... I know... I just don't want to reject him should he finally ask the question..."
I then calmed down suddenly, "Y-You aren't interested in him?" a slight bit of hope having been put inside of my heart.
She shook her head before cautiously looking about, "I'm just not the kind of person who can do committed relationships like that... Maybe I could tell him it has to do with him being... what he is... But I just would not be able to. It would not be fair on him should he discover what I like to do when I am not with anyone else."
"I see, so... Is there anything I could possibly do to get Nin's eyes on me rather than you...?" I asked her, my own selfish desires coming to the forefront when I did so. Yet, despite how clearly selfish it was. It brought a smile back to Ayi-chira's face when I said that.
"There might be, but, it will take some practise to do it."
"Do what?" I asked her as we both stood up. My eyes soon watching her hand go down before her hips began to bounce. Her body quickly moving around before I was then being groped from behind.
"It's quite simple, really, I teach you how to dance like an Ibenorocon and put this body of yours to good use. I never got particularly lucky growing up, but you did. So you can do so much more than I!" she said to me with her emphasis being her chest being pressed against me. It didn't take long for me to feel the rest of her chest either. So I understood her point quickly.
I still gave her a shock, though.
"I did tell you not to do that again." I said to her with a small smile before she began to giggle.
"Then let's get you dressed and we can get started!" she said to me as she grabbed my hands with hers before running. My stumbling about not being as bad as I was not in heels this time. But, her strength certainly was enough to drag me around.
"Dressed into what!? Neither of us brought a spare set of clothes!"
"No! But while I was exploring the airship I found a small workshop with tools to repair uniforms! We can make something!" she explained to me which left me smiling widely myself. I knew very much how to make clothes and I was thinking of the last time I did it. How Rossie-chira smiled when Nin finally saw us in our clothes. A far more modest outfit than what I was likely going to make this time around!
But, that was fine! I was just in such a good mood now! Nin may not have his eye on me at the moment but those who would likely be in my way were now gone! Rossie-chira had a falling out with him and Ayi-chira just said she was not interested!
So even if it took me some time then I'd be able to experience that future! That future I saw in the temple where I had a child in me and we were back home and he was my husband! A future where all my problems were solved and I could just enjoy my life again with my family! Both old and new!
"So what are we making anyway!?" I then asked her as we ran deeper and deeper into the airship.
"We'll be making you your own dancer's outfit like what I have!" she said to me with a bright smile. Confirming in my head what I might have to work on. But, admittedly, I was a little stumped. I may wear more proactive clothing as of late but I was still a modestly-minded woman!
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
But as I looked about this workshop I was brought to, I noticed some things, "It doesn't seem to have much to work with." I said quietly while messing around with a spool of thread.
"There's enough! We won't need much anyway, however, we'll just discuss a design for now." Ayi-chira explained as she cleared a desk and gently slammed a tablet down. Her body hopping up and down on a stool once she was done.
"I guess I'll hear what you have to say, then." I said just before I sat down. A frustrated look from her soon being directed at me.
"Ah! Why'd you have to be dressed like this!? No, wait, I can sort this out, where are your clothes!? Nevermind!" she began to ramble before she dashed off out of the room. Leaving me alone in it and on a stool, mostly naked. A few sparks soon coming off of me as it was not a heated room.
"I guess I can try and draw a few sketches..." I muttered before rubbing my body to pat down some goosebumps. Placing a large needle near my lips and patting it against them while I thought on what I could do. Ayi-chira's outfits had a few things consistent about them. So I guess I should use them as a basis.
Similar to Rossie-chira in a way, it was revealing and distinctly erotic, however, it did it in a different way. While Rossie-chira's clothes were tight-fitting and built around spots that caught the eyes of men. Ayi-chira's was far looser and made frequent use of loose segments that bagged around her limbs. They even had trails that one could follow along when she was dancing, which was probably the point.
"Maybe it is just because she is slimmer than me, but..." I began to say quietly to the tablet before me. My hands having just sketched in a few images of what her bra's and panties generally looked like. They were not loose and did not seem easy to take off, unlike Rossie-chira, but, they were revealing. They even had metal frames sometimes...
But, then, I was struck with an idea, struck so much I might die from it as it was that sudden! I could try and create a fusion between my current attire and what Ayi-chira has right now! And, using my lightning magic, I could steadily add on metallic elements to it. Now if only I could narrow down what I wanted.
One of my sketches was a design with loose flaps of cloth and lots of metal chains and jewellery pieces. Another leaned more towards Rossie-chira's lingerie-style clothing mixed in with some of those flowing pieces. While this other one I had was just a cloth bra with a knot at the front and a long skirt with a fully open front. I had so many ideas and I just wasn't sure which ones I would look best in...
"FOUND THEM! FOUND THEM!" yelled Ayi-chira as she suddenly came running back in with my clothes. She even had my hat which I had initially left nowhere near the rest. It all soon being shoved into my hands once she was in here proper. I even nearly fell off my stool!
"Get off!" I had to tell her firmly once I got off the stool safely. As she just kept trying to force the clothes onto my body. So, once she was off, I started getting changed again, but, it was not a quick process. Those copper frames I had in this outfit made it stiff at parts and it needed a certain method to get it on.
"There! Perfect! Now, let me see..." Ayi-chira then said once I was done putting on my clothes. Her eyes lingering on my high-heels first before she looked elsewhere. A frown on her face as she got very close to my chest before prodding it. In fact, she did this with quite a few parts of me.
"Well?" I then asked her as she began to draw something. The way she stuck her tongue out in disgust after her eyes saw my designs bothering me greatly. If she had a problem with my designs she could at least explain the issue... Rather than being a child and vomiting at them...
"I am thinking that, ironically, despite your impressive body... We should go for something less revealing... Have it fit more with your usual style." she said to me before looking at the gap in my top-half that showed off my underboob. Coming over to her as she urged me closer so I could then see her design. It was an interesting one if I was to say. Compared to mine, it really was more modest.
Well, if we ignored how the legs and arms were completely bare. Only a bracelet for each leg and a ring for each hand. Not much at all but the majority was all on the main body and hips. It even involved some metal parts in the design.
It had a pair of decorative cloth strips that formed a V-shape and went over my breasts. Ones that came out from the middle of my crotch and then rolled over my shoulders. Likely going back down in a similar V-shape manner. And, going by how there was an extension down below, Was this likely meant to be one piece of cloth?
My face went a little red at the thought of it, just a piece of cloth covering my breasts with a bareback... It would not take much at all to make my breasts come loose if that was the case. But, if this was a dancing outfit, wouldn't my chest being loose be detrimental...? How would we even measure the required length of this cloth?
Because, frankly, I did not trust Ayi-chira enough to sensibly fit such a cloth on. She would drag us down into a fight just because she wanted to play with my chest! But, outside of that, there was also this stiff-looking piece that went on to my hips. I guess they were to make my hips look more rounded?
But, now that I had seen this, I had been given a new idea, "Hand that over for a moment." I asked but in reality, demanded of Ayi-chira. Immediately after doodling down a new design that took some inspiration from that hip piece she made. Unfortunately, I had to keep her off of me as she was moaning and complaining.
"No! My one is perfect!" she moaned before her eyes widened once I was done with my new design. It kept the hip piece, but this time it lightened it up by cutting a hole about where the hip bone is. The cloth was instead replaced by a corset-like piece that would securely cup my breasts from the side. Yet, would also push them up and make them seem even bigger!
I even took some inspiration from my Rossie-chira inspired pieces and put on a pair of garter-belt suspender leggings! And then a pair of gloves as well as I didn't want to be too naked... Even if it was for Nin to see and hopefully be aroused by... I still had some decency to maintain!
"That one, that one!" Ayi-chira cheered while bouncing up and down with her finger out.
A laugh leaving me before I said anything, "Calm down!" I said to her before she began to rummage about.
"But what colours!?" she then said in a manner that almost made it seem like she was panicking.
"Well, how about red and black? It contrasts your blue and gold." I said to her as I came over. The tapping of my heels being very relaxing as it felt weird moving about earlier with no heels.
"We could just keep your current colour scheme to be entirely honest...?" she then said to me with a ponderous tone. Her fingers drumming about her mouth while I just looked down. I suppose that could work, but it was a little dull in a way, no? Nin might not even notice much of a difference!
"The copper is only here because of my magic, this outfit won't need any magic being used with it."
"It might! I use magic when I dance, so why not try it with yours?"
"Your magic was entirely developed around your love of dancing, mine was developed out of a want to go up." I said to her just before transmuting myself into lightning. This spell having been an adaptation of my older one as I lacked clouds to use at the Academy. Quickly going back to normal and watching as Ayi-chira played with a piece of rope.
"You can still conduct your magic, though, right?"
"Well, yes, obviously, magic control applies to everyone regardless."
"No, I mean, conduct it through metal, like, we could add some bits that dangle and you can let them, you know, spark up!" she clarified while moving her hands about. Little bits of water coming off with each flick.
"I see, I can't say that is a good idea." I then said to her as I imagined myself doing that.
"Why not? You can turn yourself into magic! It can't be that hard surely?"
"It is when you take into account how embarrassed a dance routine in something like this would make me!" I pointed out to her as my face went a little red. My thoughts already full of images of me being ogled by Nin.
"Oh, yeah, that's right, confidence issues." she mumbled quietly, but not quietly enough.
"I don't have confidence issues!"
"But you're so easily embarrassed?"
"I'm so easily embarrassed because I was brought up to be a decent, modest woman with grace about her and everyone around me acts so inappropriate all the time!" I let out in one big, frustrated go. My breathing full of trembles as I began to flood with annoyance.
"We do not!" Ayi-chira retorted back with loudly.
"Do not? There have been several points since I started doing this with you that you have groped my breasts!" I said to her while grabbing them myself and moving them about. Her eyes focusing on them before she pouted and turned away.
"Show off." she muttered which then made me even more frustrated. Why did she just try to change the conversation topic!?
"I am not! I am proving a point!" I said to her before failing in an attempt to scream. Soon just sitting down with a sigh before playing with some of the tools in this room. A smile on Ayi-chira's face as she danced about slightly.
"So can we make the outfit now? I can start teaching you how to," she began to say before she began to dance erotically, "dance!" she finished off with as she sprawled herself out on a table.
"Fine, let's get this over with." I said to her before crossing my arms and looking away. A gust of air leaving my nose before I relaxed. Images flashing in my mind of me finally getting Nin's attention. Maybe it would catch his eye to such a degree that he even...
"Focus!" I was then interrupted with before a light tap hit my head. An intense frown soon being directed at Ayi-chira as the images disappeared from my mind. I was quite enjoying those dangerous thoughts and she went and ruined it...
"Hold on, I need to undress so we can accurately measure my body!" I tell her as I began to undress again. However, before I had even gotten a glove off, I made sure the door to this room was sealed shut. Getting back to it all once I was satisfied by that being done. Wouldn't want anyone walking in now, would we?
And I was even feeling a little nostalgic, even if it was not with Rossie-chira. But, it was almost like when we made kimono's together! A very precious memory of mine, in fact. Just spending a few days making clothes with someone after years alone on the seas and roads...
.
.
.
"So are they behaving?" I asked Vadei quietly as I walked up to the idle woman. Her legs and arms limply hanging over the sides of the captain's chair. All the while her tail just gently brushed about in front of her. Briefly flickering towards me when I spoke.
"Yeah, they think I did not hear them but I did. The little one wants to escape but the father says no."
"Father?"
"Yes, the one called 'Paps' is Heiya's parent."
"Hm, I guess that explains why he was so reactive to me choking her."
"Should have just snapped both their necks and be done with it."
"Understandable, but, if I did that, then how would we get home? Well, how would I get home." I said to her before correcting myself. A shift in her eyes having been caught by mine just before I made the correction.
"It would just take longer, besides, we know the Anvil-Peak is on the way there. So all we would need to do is find that."
"It was still a short while travelling there from Tobaballe. If we don't get the start direction right when we get there we will still get lost. And, to just call out to Undwote before we did it, we might end up in another land full of magical monsters and arrogant shits." I say before ranting out my aggravations at a potential chance of getting lost.
"Not much happens in the lands around the Anvil-Peak, tracks should be quite easy to find."
"How would you know that?"
"I went through two trips in that barren wasteland, Nin. One to your home to become a slave, the other away from it to be re-educated as a slave. Thankfully, however, that second trip was interrupted."
"Right..."
"But I mostly remember just because I was in a cage both times. You are a lot more exposed to the elements and outside of its dustiness and general barrenness... It's a calm place."
"Desolate and calm? Heard of stranger combinations."
"Such as a human's mind in that of a bug's body?" she said to me with a small smile. Snorting in response to it while I thought of my own jab.
"More like something with a soft tail and a bad attitude."
"Hey!" she said somewhat loudly before her ears went down, "I'm pretty sure I apologised for it..."
"Don't worry if you did. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day."
"It might not matter to you, Nin, but it matters a lot to me. I was hostile to you, regularly insulting you and demeaning you and it turns out you were not playing a part in my enslavement. You were just another slave that was seemingly a free man."
"To think all I needed to do to stop the insults and being called a 'Ho' was go... Oh! Stop it! I'm a slave too!" I began to say before changing my tone of voice and bouncing about at the end. A soft giggle coming from Vadei before her eyes moved down to my neck. A brief quiet happening as I stared at the two slavers.
"So... This might be a little forward, but, what was it like to try and kill yourself?" she asked me with sullen eyes that stayed focused on my neck. The place where I tried to stab that knife into my throat, most likely.
"I don't really know, I have sort of forgotten about it."
"You just forgot about trying to kill yourself...?" she asked me in disbelief after shaking her head about. My own head looking behind as Lari was guaranteed to be that way.
"There are some people that can just do that..." I said with a small smile hidden by my mask. My heart thumping loudly as my gut felt weird.
"Well, I hope you don't mind being banned from the kitchen then. Can't have you trying it again." she joked, something I did find funny, actually. But, I wanted to see how well I could tease her.
"Shouldn't joke about that, I could have died." I tried to say with a dead-serious tone. But, I failed, as I burst out into chuckles by the end of it.
"Wouldn't be the first time..." she commented while rolling her eyes. Something that made me laugh harder.
"I regret saving you that one time in the aelenvari flower." I sarcastically commented before returning my attention to the slavers.
"I quite liked it, felt nice feeling safe for once. Even when I was travelling with Vapooliar, I just never felt as safe as I did then." she told me with a small smile and tail wave.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I only did it for the chance to stroke your tail." I tell her as my claws began to fiddle with the air near it. Yet, she was quite happy to let it brush against my bandaged up claw. Only to then take it away while smirking.
"So how has your magic come since then, Nin? We may be in the same dorm but we don't do much together." I was asked by her. My eyes looking down at my claws before I thought about my spells.
"Not much, really. I can't do anything with rocks and that now, but I can make what I guess can be called magical poles or extensions." I said just before letting one sprout out from my claw.
"Personally, I really wanted to learn some more fighty spells. Like, I guess it was just because I was angry about some things. But, as I spent time at the Academy it became clear I would not be able to learn spells like that."
"How come?"
"Because of how we oxfuine are raised in our packs. We are taught rituals that are pretty much our magic lessons so my body is pretty much hardwired to more ritualistic magic."
"So you can't really learn much beyond that language thing you do with your spit?"
"No, I can do a few things, it will just take time. For example, I have been trying to see if I can apply my saliva spell into a breath spell. So, I can just breath on someone rather than kiss them or spit in their drink to get them to speak my tongue. Or just a tongue I know at all."
"Nice to see I got the better option then, back at the camp."
"No, you didn't. A kiss from me would be unforgettable."
"I'm sure it would be." I said to her with an enthused huff.
"I would say I would prove it, but you aren't getting a kiss that easily."
"Alright, fine! Never wanted one anyway." I joked some more before I was lazily kicked.
"But, yeah, I am hoping to do something with those spells. I have made some progress, but, I also need to learn some more languages to make the best use of it."
"Fair, anything else you have been able to do?"
"No, outside of that I have only really been able to put some magic on to my claws here and make them somewhat decent weapons... And then there's just what I have been trying to do when I get down on all fours."
"So, just a lot of stuff involving your body and that?"
"Yeah, but, sometimes, when I am watching Vapooliar do her spells. I just get jealous."
"Is she doing alright? Vapooliar that is." I then asked her with a sigh. My recent memories of the woman with soldiery manners not being good ones...
"She has seemed foul of mood recently, but she's been a little fouler since she, you know."
"I suppose that is fair." I replied with while a single claw went across my chest scar. The scar that proved I was cut into two.
"And what about Dandel'lhia? I notice her seed hatched."
"Yeah, she's doing alright. She wouldn't know magic if it weren't for this Academy, though. But, she has learned some spells in order to look after her son. But, she does worry for him and is easily scared."
"Well, as long as she is doing alright. But, I think it might be safe for her to go home now that Rose is no longer at her flower."
"She came here with you, didn't she?"
"Yes, when I came back from the dead... As this... She wanted to stay with me and all that. It was rough at first and we did quite a few things together in our travels. But, it all sort of fell apart up here. Back at the Academy."
"Aelenvari fickleness?"
"Indeed, but, she seems to be distressed over something. Of course, I don't know what given how she avoids me as if I have a curse of some description."
"It might be because she still harbours feelings for you." Vadei said while raising a finger at me.
"And how would that be the case? Aelenvari just go after the strongest male they see, right?"
"Yes and no. I got curious with Dandel'lhia as she shows no interest in any of the men at the Academy. So, I looked it up and it turns out when aelenvari..." Vadei began to say before she blushed slightly.
"Have sex?"
"Don't say it so loud!" she snapped at me before nodding, "But, yes, when they, you know... They become a lot more loyal. It's why they have special outfits for their first time as it is meant to be a sign of transition. Of course, they can still switch to new men and that, but, they often find themselves wanting their old one back."
"Except me and Rose have never had sex. Well, never went through with it technically. But I died shortly after I nearly did."
"That might be why then, the process was started and she has just clung to you somewhat. Of course, there might be another reason, after all. If you two were travelling together you surely did a lot, no?"
"Yep, I saved her from a sadroobell, from valley-riders holding her hostage. I saved her special outfit, took her up the mountain the Academy is on in a bag. We saw the big windy mountain for the first time together..." I explained before growing sad with each word. We had done quite a bit together and yet she still just left me alone in that place before Lari came along...
"If that is the case then, she probably is trying to hold out hope for you in a strange, aelenvari way."
"Wouldn't that be nice." I bitterly commented as I also started remembering her sudden change to hostility over adoring... Love. Even if it was more akin to lust.
"No, I am serious. If you did all those things with her then she likely sees you as the better partner. She just isn't capable of saying she wants you to improve so you can take her back."
"So I can take her back? I didn't give her up." I groaned out as that made it sound like it was a choice of my own making. Her abandonment of me.
"I never said you did, but, sorry if it was implied. Like, even though I hate her as she is a horrible woman. Vile and vain and all other kinds of behaviours I hate... For yourself, try to bear it all in mind. At some point, you will have to address it."
"Sure." I then said to her in what must have been a surprisingly calm tone. But, that was because I knew I would not have to. I was never going to see her again once I got home.
"At the very least, Nin, even if it does fall through. You will have people there to care for you and help you out." she said to me as one of her nails gently stroked my bandages.
"I suppose I will, I suppose..." I said while looking down slightly. Nearly sighing in frustration as I began to think once again about my lonely life in Tobaballe. Friendship was a convenience there, a childhood dream. But here, in these mountains, it has very much mattered.
And I was going to throw it all away just so I could have a chance to go home...
.
.
.
"M-Mistress..." an underling called out to me in a meek tone while I was focused on something else. My mighty talons currently in the process of restraining another underling. All so I could just exert myself over them. Something I always did quite enjoy doing.
"I do believe I told you... NOT TO INTERRUPT ME!" I said with growing anger before I roared out stone-melting fire at the offender. Laughing at them when they flinched away. Just barely missing the fire I let out. An annoyed expression soon on my face as I faced them.
Kicking away the underling I was messing with earlier so I could focus on what this one wanted, "A-Apologies, Mistress... But, it's important."
"Of course it is important! Because if it wasn't? Well..." I told them as I walked up to them. Letting my magic flow out from me in a more aggressive manner as I did so.
"O-Of course, Mistress... Your m-meal, Mistress, it is ready." I was told by them. Something that led to my eyes twitching in anger as this was not important at all!
"What did I just tell you!?" I told them with a snarl, black smoke steadily leaving my mouth shortly after.
"T-To inform you when your meal w-would be ready, Mistress..." they said with a meek tone as they backed off some more. Their body having prostrated itself so much that they were dragging themselves back.
I then calmed down and laughed, "I did, didn't I? Well? Go get it!" I commented then ordered before returning to my makeshift throne. Smiling deeply as my throne groaned and moaned as my spikes dug into their scales.
"Thank you, Mistress." the underlings making up my throne said as I relaxed on them. A smaller creature soon hopping up into my arms once I had sat down. A rare child of mine it was. I was feeling generous one time and so here they are.
I may have hated how weak it was, but it was still my child. So, I gave it bits of nurture every now and then and lots of favouritism. The underlings I had may have hated it too, to the point of tearing the father apart. But, nothing was going to happen to it, not on my watch.
"Mama..." it quietly said to me as it crawled over my scaled-covered breasts and pale skin. A small smile on my face as his little tail swished about. Gently nibbling the end of it when it swung too close to my lips. Lips which soon puckered his little face in kisses.
"Enjoying our stay here, little one?" I asked my son as I moved to pick him up. Gently bouncing him up and down just so I could hear his laughs. The laughs of the child I did not name. He was too weak to be named.
A frustrating affair that was, to have a son which was weak. For myself to have unbroken horns and an army of pathetic underlings. Each one trying their hardest to win my affection through the wrong means. If they wanted anything other than pity, they needed to win.
"No, Mama. We are moving around too much." he moaned as he snuggled up into my neck. His little, twig-like horns tickling me slightly as he moved about. My hands forcing him to settle down after a certain point.
"I know we are, little one, but we will keep doing so until we find those two hwardgon. You may not understand it right now, but in time you will." I said to them while stroking them with one set of claws. The other set clenching deep into the flesh of my throne so I could vent my anger.
It may have been an underling that those two hwardgon stole from me. But that wasn't the point, the point was that it was mine! It was my underling! MINE!
And I would not rest until they were both dead. Either turned to ash, mixed in with the slag and lava my fire made. Or, the most useful of all, falling apart in the depths of my stomach... But, speaking of my stomach.
"WHERE IS MY FOOD!?" I roared out impatiently, scaring my son in the process who scurried away. A snort leaving me when he did so. The sounds of hurried movements coming from the entrance of our current home filling my ears shortly after. A pair of bickering underlings holding on to my meal soon appearing before me.
"Here!" they both said at the same time before growling at each other. Their actions nearly destroying my meal before I went over to them. Slapping each one into the walls of my cave and going back to my throne. A large piece of bubbling meat in my claws as I did so.
And before I took the first bite, I licked my lips and made them wet with saliva. A relaxed moan leaving my mouth when I took that bite shortly after. The lingering taste of blood that hadn't burnt away, the way the melted fat just stuck to my mouth... It was wonderful.
"Little one?" I soon called out after taking a few more large chunks off. Soon getting into the process of taking another chunk off before they came back. Their body displaying much restraint if zero patience. And when the latest chunk was swallowed, I moved the meat aside so they could get on my lap.
"Thank you, Mama." my son said to me as I began to direct their little head. Towards each of the areas I would not be able to eat from. Near the joints, just before you got to the bone and that and so on. And even if I could eat bone just fine, I preferred juicy meat over splinters.
"Ah, ah, ah!" I began to tut out as I pulled their head away. They had tried to nibble at the areas I wanted to eat from. But, that was my food, he got whatever I left for him! So, when I was truly done, then I let him go for it.
It was just a shame for him then that I wasn't done with this meat, then. We had been hiding from the humans so we had been forced to fast for a few days essentially. Me and him got food priorities, of course. But we weren't exactly leaving bones on the floor as our bellies were fat...
"We'll just have to wait out here, I suppose." I found myself muttering as I thought on the human defences. Those hwardgon had been travelling on a machine recently, but, they got too close to a human nest. They chased us off and we were unable to get anywhere near the hwardgon. Now, well, we had to undergo the humiliation of hiding near them.
It made me bitter, see, if I was a dragon, then I could have taken the humans on. I could have burned their city down and the entire mountain! I could have had more than just a small army of underlings! I could have had a nation of them, each citizen loyal to my power!
Each of them just clamouring for a chance to lay with me... Or, maybe, I could have been tamed by a greater male who wanted more land himself. And my vulnerable lands were just ripe for the taking by him. Just before he then dominated me and made me feel feeble and meek!
It made my flesh burn hotter than my fire just thinking about all of it. Alas, it was all just fantasy and I was just wyvern not worth looking at. Meek and feeble in all the wrong ways... There would be no one for me to call 'Master' any time soon.
No chance to lay egg after egg with each one holding a strong son or daughter. Instead, I just had this rump on my lap. Nibbling away at a bone I held before him. His strength insufficient to even get his own food.
"MISTRESS!" some underling shouted after a loud crash echoed from the entrance. Someone had come in abruptly it seems. But, was this shouting from the one who arrived or a guard at the entrance? I suppose I should see what it was, though.
"Go on, little one, finish it elsewhere." I then told my son before taking him off my lap. Getting off my throne and walking away from it so I could see what the issue was. Staring at the panting underling before me with great apathy before rolling my eyes.
"Mistress!" he wheezed out before he steadied his breathing.
"What?" I quickly snapped out, not pleased with such a pathetic sight before me.
"They've left the human's mountain! The hwardgon!" he explained in excitement. Something that led to me developing a smile as if this was true...
"And where are they now?" I asked him as I moved closer.
"On an airship, moving in the direction of the great canyon!" he explained.
"And which one of my underlings found this out, then? Was it you perhaps?" I asked them in a sultry tone. My mood having been improved enough that I was willing to lie with one of them. But, only the one who found it out, of course.
"Me! I did! I di-" he began to excitedly say before the breath attack of another underling killed them. Blood splattering across me when their wind magic popped a hole in his head.
"I did!" an injured underling said as he hobbled into the cave. A slow nod coming from me as I noted the blood covering me. Blood caused by the loss of an underling to another underling... With magic that could have hit me.
Even if it would not hurt me.
"And there goes my willingness." I commented with a straight face before breathing a torrent of fire at the offending underling. His screams filling the cave before they just suddenly stopped. The only sound from then on out being the snapping and crackling of his flesh. An annoyed huff being the last noise I made in the cave before I went outside.
Going up onto the mountain peak and perching up on the quickly evaporating snow. Steadying myself on the slowly melting stone with a smirk forming on my face before I roared out into the sky. My wings unfurling themselves with smoke and dancing embers following them. A nose that twitched endlessly as I smelt the air.
Their scent soon entering it as I paid more attention to the land around me. I knew which way they were, which way they were headed. Now, all I needed to do was rally my strongest underlings and set out to get them. Yet, should I perhaps go for my weaker ones instead?
I wanted them alive so I could make them suffer and the stronger ones would just kill them... It was my vengeance that need satiating, not their desire for my loins! At the same time, though, if they were to die. I would just be overjoyed that I'd probably let them have at my body anyway...
But my preferences did come first, so weaker underlings it was! Now all I would have to do is get them and set out. So, I began to flap my wings and descend towards the cave entrance. Letting my magic flow aggressively as I hovered there.
"UNDERLINGS! ALL BUT THE STRONGEST OF YOU WILL FOLLOW ME! I SHALL HAVE MY VENGENCE!" I roared out to the cave. A series of pitiful roars being my response before dozens upon dozens of them swarmed out. Each of them flexing their claws and snapping their jaws before I went ahead of them.
A mighty orange boom filling the sky as I shot ahead of them. A trail of fire following me as I flew towards my prey. And as I smiled in anticipation for the coming slaughter of those two hwardgon. I began to think...
What were these other smells...? The hwardgon were near an interesting variety of other prey right now.