"Ohh, our sleeping shaman is finally awake." Naketei heard someone talking while her head pulsed with hot pain with no end in sight. "Looks like the mental effects applied on her had all expired."
"Shiro Aneko?"
"What did I do to deserve getting my full name called?" Shiro's crimson eyes hovered above the fox's head, feeding on her misery.
"Eat shit."
"I don't think she appreciates your attempts to cheer her up." Nakatei heard a female voice coming from in front of her. She lifted up her head confused before seeing an elf sitting on a rock looking in her direction.
"I don't know, should I punish her...mmm," The nekos behind her contemplated with no signs of it being a joke. "But I think you are being humiliated enough."
"What do you mean I'm humiliated now? What happened to me?!" The shaman clutched her head, every time she opened her mouth her headache got more intense. "Huh?" Whipping her brow from sweat she noticed that her tail felt much more colder than her body. It was an icy feeling that pleasingly regulated her temperature ravaged previously by her need to mate. "NNNnnnooooo!" The fox screamed while feeling her face become hot as she noticed Kia using her tail as a pillow. The tall elf snatched the girl in a blink of an eye as the shaman yanked her tail from under the snow girl.
"Nyo?" A somewhat awake girl asked while she dangled in Iris's arms like a ragdoll before she puffed up her cheeks into a pout.
"Shiro! You- Why didn't you tell me!"
"What you wanted me to do? You were out cold." The nekos showed being annoyed at the shaman.
"You could have told them not to!" Nakatei felt an incredible pain flashing in her forehead causing her body to curl into a ball, hiding her large and rough-up tail in her arms.
"Fluffy?"
"You can't." Iris responded to the girl as she sat down with the crippled mage on her lap. "Not now atleast."
"Is white tail also fluffy?" The sleepy kitten's half-opened eye looked at the nekos.
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"Hehe, no," Shiro took a step back raising her arms in front of her chest. "My fur is coarse and rough. You would not want to get near it." Her split tail sought refuge between her legs from Kia's ghostly blue eye, wrapping itself around her leg.
*Sniff*
The girl seemed to believe Shiro's words as she curled into a ball on Iris's lap with cat-like shamelessness. The elf began to stroke the girl's back, she wanted to sneak her fingers behind Kia's collar to get her attention off Nakatei but her sleeveless silk dress wouldn't budge behaving more like the necromancer's second skin than an article of clothing, unwilling to peel off from its defenseless wearer.
"What is that necklace on both of your necks mean, is it a charm of some kind." Iris smiled as the cold-blooded kitten stopped her prowl and perked up to learn something new.
"This?" Shiro's crimson eyes dropped down onto her chest, where her fingers fiddled with the rodent skull. "This guy was my first ever kill. What age I was... like two months old, gave me quite a scratch on my leg."
"The same for her?" The undead elf inquired.
"Should be the same... Tei you never told me how you caught your first meal." The nekos turned to the shaken shaman.
"Don't wanna."
"I'm asking though."
"It's fine I learned what I wanted." Iris intervened seeing that Nakatei still was recovering from Kia's touch.
"I wasn't doing that for you but I understand." The warrior turned to the elf before walking away from their camp unsheathing a knife concealed behind her boot.
"Where are you going?" Nakatei asked as she heard her guardian's footsteps.
"Gathering some roots." Shiro replied leaving her ward alone with two strangers.
A feeling of awkwardness fell onto their camp as Nakatei shuffled over to lean on the cave's walls. In the meantime, Iris mindlessly played with Kia keeping the ancient undead from snoozing once more.
*Psik*
The girl in front of the fox sneezed adorably. Near the two strangers, Nakatei saw the grey fog slowly appear once again. That grey fog behaved like a river, flowing outwards from the two, gathering in large pools in the recesses of the cave's floor. Her green eyes darted through the fog as she could feel unseen spirits darting around them. Her eyes stopped on two gems acting as the human's eyes.
"I'm back!" Shiro's voice caused the other demi-human to look in her direction.
The warrior chucked a bundle of roots she fished out of her backpack into a metal kettle with a thin spout close to the weakly burning fire. Iris leaned forward to add fuel to their struggling campfire but the nekos raised her hand to stop her. Eventually after far longer than needed the water inside the kettle began to boil causing a constant stream of white steam to rush out the small spout.
"I was wondering what you were making." The tall damestar raven said as she saw Shiro pouring herself a cup of greenish-brown water which she lifted up to her nose.
"Smells lovely," The nekos breathed in the scented steam rising from her cup, inviting looks of envy onto her from everyone but her smiling eyes dimmed a little seeing only Kia had bit into her bait. "Here you go Tei, you too."
"Appreciated."
"Thanks."
"Liquid deliciousness exists?"
The porcelain doll instantly took a sip of Shiro's drink causing her face to contort before recovering. Iris placed the wooden cup up to her nose finding it scentless. Unsure if the white cat had played a cruel joke on them she placed the cup's rim on her lips and took a sip. Keeping the tea on her tongue Iris was hit with a strong sour taste which managed to twist her mouth before vanishing leaving a sweet aftertaste behind.
"Kia?" Iris looked down at the kitten who seemed to be stuck in a cycle. The girl would stick out her tongue, tasting a little bit of the tea causing her face to twist adorably, clearly not enjoying the strong unpleasant taste the tea started with before hesitantly sticking out her tongue again after tasting the sweet aftertaste.
Looking up from the kitten she saw the two demi-humans drinking the tea as if it was water. The shaman resembled a tavern drunk as she downed her entire cup in one sip before motioning Shiro to pour her more.
"Alright, I think that's enough rest." The warrior used her spear to lift herself onto her legs as she signaled to pack up.