The Orbital-Halo finally starts to break through the early morning grey. With the first lines of gold settling across the valley's length, from peak to face with a plank's stiffness. Closing my eyes a bit, I focus them towards the vague orb-shape beyond the sky. A small wave forms in the motions of my lazy, free arm.

"Morning, you lot..." I let out quietly, mindful of Rose-sweerui's still sleeping form. Any joy in my expression goes away, and it mellows out into something miserable. I had a lot of fun while I was dead, more than I ever thought was possible. Me, of all people, travelling inside the Orbital-Halo with the gods and goddesses of All-That-Remains.

Of all the things I want to forget or ignore right now, I hope that experience is never one of them...

It's certainly more than worthy enough to be remembered. My time on the ship especially and while that town was interesting to experience, reminiscing over a burning city is... Off-putting. There were cool and exciting things to watch, admittedly, the gods were fighting after all!

But, again, the apocalypse made manifest. I'm worried it will stick in my head more than the good times will. Like how I can remember my time in the hive so clearly, but my time in Rose-sweerui's flower is nowhere near as vivid. I don't like it.

Lights flicker to my right and a slender body moves, her voice groggy, "M-Morning, my love..."

She shakes some alertness back into her system while also remaining snuggled up entirely in my cloak. Can't say I blame her. The air has been without heavenly warmth for a whole night now. The nip is in it and I would like to get moving. Though, I guess now is the time to see how sternly her parents and people made her.

"Anything you want to do about food?" I ask her, standing up and hopping down from our bed so I can get around to the bag's opening. As she passes out of view, I hear rustling. Able to see her again, I watch her as she greedily snuggles up in my cloth. A minute passes and she forces her way up at an awkward angle.

Not much longer and she finally manages to get herself upright. A constant caution about her bruised side dictating her movements all the way to me. She nearly collapses and smacks her lips, eyelids fluttering with forced blinks. A finger circles a general area.

"I... Think I put some food here... But I want more tart..." Rose-sweerui lets out slowly, her motions changing to gentle pats. Her words bring flavour back to my tongue and I smile. Motrtha, what a cook indeed.

"There is none. We ate it all, remember? Had to briefly soak you in water, you were that sloppy an eater." I huff in answer as to avoid my disappointment. No more goddess-made sweetness. She shakes her head back and forth with comical exaggeration. She's denying it ever happened.

But I do not think I will ever forget how she acted when she took her first bite. She was crying her eyes out and in a complete and utter display of ecstatic woe. The very best a cook could be. She tasted it. And she knows she will never match it in the slightest. Nothing to be ashamed of, admittedly.

She slips a bit and I catch her. Minding our position, I scoop her up as gently as I can and hoist the bag. We descend into the open valley, which only seems to have small critters for the time being. Wild rodents and the out of view actors known as singing birds.

I put the pair down and get to digging around the area she patted. Warm clothes land on top of me and I ignore it only for a second. Biting onto the curiosity, I scurry out and crane my neck around. And, right back into the bag I go!

"Can you pass me one of my one-piece outfits while you are there? Something that won't likely get dirty," the naked woman asks while her weight presses down on my malleable ceiling. Alright, this is definitely her belly on the other side. The pair of lumps to the left of my skull are in turn probably... Not that I mind.

"Is this really the best time to be getting dressed?" I ask, my voice muffled by mask and a full bag of stuff. Slipping out with some things in-claw, I open more of the bag. My eyes watch as she gently sways back and forth, a smile on her face and my cloak wrapped around. She winks and peels it away to reveal more of her shapely form.

Maybe I should empty the bag and repack it so she has a changing room...?

"Naturally, this is the best time. I am before my precious love, with not another soul in sight. Surely you would like to catch a glimpse of me sliding tight-fitting clothing up my body? Just letting your gaze linger as my breasts get tightly compressed and my round rear stretches out the fabric?" she questions, a sultry smile growing while the distance narrows.

The imagery paints itself across my mind's eye.

"I can guarantee you will not find a sexier body than mine," she carries on, running her hands along her curves and she stops, "In this mortal realm..."

I quickly scoff at the tack on.

She presses herself up against my back and squirms about across it. Though, one thing that is fairly easy to notice is how less eager she is with her actions. I know she's only just woken up, but... There's a lot of reluctance. I can quite literally feel it.

Stolen story; please report.

"Oh, just put this on! Do it while I sort something out to eat." I snap, getting some of my bother out in an unassuming bit of snippiness. Handing over her the first thing I get my hands on, she takes it without complaint. One quick wink and she swings her bottom out of view for the moment. Honestly, I have no idea if the clothes are a good choice. This all looks like it belongs in a High-Floor's bedroom back home!

My thoughts go back to Rose-sweerui's nervous remark, the admission of humility. While Motrtha is certainly beautiful, Aahtha emulates what my body sees as the most lust-inducing. She took on the form of Iishar, of all people. Images flash across my mind, Iishar in colour-stretched leggings clinging to smooth muscle and fat, easy to fall underwear anchored on hipbones and breast up-shoving bras, dark-toned skin with a golden shi-

I really do not believe I will ever get used to an aelenvari petal's fashion sense.

Metal dings on a bit of rock in the dirt and I turn to face her, "Do you like it?"

She hands my cloak back to me, revealing her attire fully in the process. Her lingering grip presses the parts of the cloak that have been on her chest and rear. Oddly enough, the sensation is soothing. The warmth, anyway, not the knowledge.

And, well, seeing as I don't think she'll drop the topic if I do not have a proper look. I get to it. It's a single-piece outfit, like she asked for, so well done me. Very strappy, otherwise, like a skeleton built to emphasise desired flesh rather than support it. She could probably do with a strap going horizontally across her bust as the current two going up need only slip-

That's probably the intent.

"The colours are unexpected. Normally you match your hair to an extent or have it done so in decorative, metal blossoms." I remark, noting its mainly grey colour scheme and the shiny, pine-inspired green.

"Well, I was thinking of asking for something else. But, when I packed this one, I did so knowing we'd be going to one mountain of the wind-peoples. Grey to represent the stone of them. Emerald-like shades to represent wind magic and the plant life growing on the mountains." she explains as she comes closer and scoots by. In her hands as she comes out, a little, elbow-length cape that's more her usual style.

I blink at it as she ties a knot with a pair of fluffy pink balls.

She smiles as warm as it looks, "And this is just to keep me toasty."

"Could of also packed clothing that covers you more..." I mutter and she has no trouble hearing it. She strikes me with a quick jab and I meet her glare and sneer. It warps back into a smile, though, one blatantly damming back tides of annoyance.

"I'm a petal! Not a stem or gods and goddesses forbid it... a root... As such, I will dress accordingly!" and some of this hastily made engineering breaks down spectacularly.

"And what happens if your clothing is deemed inappropriate when we get to where we are going?" I point out, my brow rising into an arch. It settles down and I blink the surprise away. Apparently, osibindah can move their brows like I used to do with my old hairy ones. Huh.

My attention of the world comes back in time to watch Rose-sweerui halt like I murdered her child, "They... They won't do that! T-They can't!"

Her mind blatantly fills with the 'nightmare' scenario of being forced into modest clothing. Physical behaviour is hyperbolic and all I can say is she's in a state of abject terror. A straight face is the hardest thing to keep today. All because I am now imagining stern men forcing a screaming woman into a typical sun dress. Or even just slipping on a jacket or coat!

"You never know, they might..." I tell her, hiding my amused whistle as she acts up more. Going back into the darkness of the bag, I let out my snicker and finally find the food. Some of it, anyhow. I sit down on my cloak and watch her panic about as I fiddle open one of bags.

Dried treats, dried fruit, unfamiliar insects, some dried meat, even surprisingly artistic pastries. Trail mix, she's basically packed a lot of trail mix by the looks of it. Mmmm, but this much dried food will wrack up quite the thirst. I didn't feel any bottles or containers?

"I know you packed water, Rose-sweerui, but what about other liquids?" I ask as I manage to get an orange-coloured bit of fruit between a thumb and finger claw. The points of which are digging into the juice drained snack.

She stops with the drama and strides quickly to the other end of the bag, "I packed a few flasks of juice and some small bottles of wine for myself."

"Which is which?" I ask as she pulls out six metal, cylindrical containers. Metal ringing seems to indicate more is still within the bag, too.

"This is some of the juice. Three different kinds spread over a third each. I like all three, but if you don't, I do not mind trading them for something you do when we find someone willing." she explains, putting all but one back. It enters my claw soon enough, but I am helpless to open it.

"And what if I only like one of the flavours? That leaves you with the majority." I ask, joking more so than being serious. Though, my inspection of the drink container is quite the opposite. It's a two litre one by the looks of it, so this should all last us a while if we are careful with it. Yet, at the same time, I've not got a single clue about how long we will be travelling. Is wild water even safe to drink...?

I never tried with the lake...

"Well, depending on why you might not like it. I can always mix two flavours together?" she offers, shrugging delicately as she helps herself to some of the food. I go by whatever catches her tastes the most, as I am not opening another bag with these damn claws. Not one bit of dexterity in them at all!

Slipping the mask up, I pop a little into my mouth as I'm not particularly hungry, "Sure, that works. But where did you put the map?"

She says nothing and moves to grab it, opening up when she's back, "There's a human flower this way. If we are lucky, it will have a means to get to Thrurstradtur quicker."

I can't help but shoot my head up, "What kind of settlement? Military? Fortified? Just a few houses? A town?"

Too much of the first two and I'm being run through or shot up!

"It doesn't say. The map only shows us what is in the area. See?" she tells me, showing me the glowing sheet that moves to the will of her fingers pinching and spreading. Putting one hand up, I try to zoom it out further, but it refuses to do so. Guess I can't use this to find my way back to Tobaballe. Well, at least for the time being, I can spot a path to follow on the way to Vapooliar.

I assume so, anyway, I cannot read anything on this map.

"So... How long would it take us to reach here?" I ask, using the mark on the map which I assume is meant to be us as our reference.

She peeks over the map's top and twists her neck, "I do not know, but, to get to where I was looking... The map says about a day or two at our current rate. Maybe three."

"The map says?" I repeat in utter bewilderment. Guess I still have a long way to go in getting used to magic. Back home, most I ever did was reference metal panels showing the path around barely touched backrooms. Hidden passages and the like. Rest was simply ingrained into me.

"Yes, it also says-" she starts to list off, much of it already slipping on by and through my head. I nod along anyhow.