Nyara awoke as the first rays of dawn penetrated the canvas of her tent. She stretched, reaching her arms above her head and grinning fondly at the young female wolf who was still curled in a tight ball at her feet. Reaching out and gently placing her hand on the wolf's head, Nyara sent a quick pulse of healing mana through its entire body. The wolf jerked slightly at the contact but relaxed when it realized Nyara was the only one in the tent. Once her magic had finished its double check, the wolf having earned a clean bill of health, Nyara hummed in satisfaction and began undressing, retrieving a fresh undershirt out of her storage ring and placing the dirty one inside of it. Suddenly, the tent flaps burst open and Nyara yelped in surprise, spinning around and clutching her arms across her chest.

“Riona!” she squawked, her voice pitching higher than she'd like.

The mercenary stood in the entrance of the tent, arms crossed and a lopsided smirk plastered across her face, her sharp blue eyes unapologetically taking in Nyara's near naked form.

“Well, well,” Riona drawled, leaning lazily against the tent pole. “I didn’t take you for one to sleep topless, elf.”

Nyara's ear-tips burned hotter. “I—I wasn’t—That’s not—!” she spluttered. “I was changing, you shameless pervert!”

Riona raised a brow, her smirk widening. “Well don’t let me stop you. I'm rather enjoying the show.”

The wolf at Nyara's feet stirred, cracking open one golden eye to peer balefully at Riona. Nyara, recovering somewhat from her initial embarrassment, glared daggers at the human woman.

“OUT!” she bellowed, one hand shooting forward to shove Riona back through the tent flap.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist, elf!" Riona called as she retreated from the tent, stumbling back amid gales of laughter.

Nyara groaned, dragging her hands over her flushed face.

"D-Damnit! What is it about her? How can she be so......bold! Ack- why am I even thinking about this!? She's a work partner....with no notion of privacy or shame, but a work partner all the same."

Once she was dressed, Nyara took a deep breath, gently nudging the wolf off of her blanket. She stored the pillow and fur-covered blanket in her ring then stepped out of the tent, the wolf on her heels. To her surprise, Riona was sitting on a stump, frying bacon in a pan over the fire. The wolf immediately trotted over to the Riona and sat. Saliva glistened as the wolf stared at the meat with longing eyes.

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"Traitor." Nyara muttered, shaking her head.

She began to take her tent down, rolling the whole thing up into a neat bundle once she was done and placing it inside her ring. Having run out of things to do, Nyara reluctantly made her way over to the crackling fire. She sat as far away from Riona as possible only to get up a moment later coughing, her eyes watering from the acrid smoke the wind had blown into her face. Nyara quickly sidestepped the worst of the cloud, rubbing her stinging eyes. With a resigned sigh, the elf seated herself beside Riona, the mercenary giving her a wide grin. Realizing that the woman had no plans to apologize for the earlier incident, Nyara decided it was time to set some boundaries. After all, she and Riona were going to be working with each other for at least a few weeks, and Nyara had no intention of allowing the mercenary's intrusion to become a part of her morning routine. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, Nyara spoke.

“Riona, we need to talk.”

Riona raised an eyebrow, looking up from the sizzling bacon. “About what? How wonderful my cooking skills are?”

Nyara’s jaw tightened. “About personal space and privacy.” She paused, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t appreciate being barged in on, especially when I’m in......a vulnerable situation.”

Riona’s expression shifted slightly, her smirk faltering, but she didn’t back down. “Ah, so that’s what’s going on. You need more time to adjust to my charming company."

Nyara shook her head firmly. "No. I'm serious. If you can't respect my boundaries, we won’t be able to work together." She paused, her voice hardening. "I can’t work with someone I can't trust to respect my space."

There was a short silence, only broken by the pop and sizzle of the frying bacon. Then Riona looked away scratching at the back of her neck with her free hand.

"Ah hells. I told you I'm no good with this talking stuff." The mercenary took the strips of bacon from the pan, placing them on two simple wooden plates that appeared from her storage ring. She handed one to Nyara, a serious expression on her face. “But... I guess you're right. I shouldn’t have barged in on you like that.” Just as Nyara was about to accept the apology, a mischievous grin broke through Riona's attempt at seriousness.

“But just because you don’t want me looking at you doesn’t mean I share your reservations, elf.” Riona leaned back, grinning cockily. “You already know where and how I sleep. And you’re more than welcome to take a peek if you’d like.”

Choosing to quit while she was still ahead, Nyara just rolled her eyes and ate her bacon, tossing one to her wolf once the meat was sufficiently cooled. Riona did the same and the wolf eagerly snapped up their offerings. A few squares of hard tack rounded out the simple breakfast and the pair doused their fire throughly before continuing on their way to Orchard Village. After walking for almost half of the morning, they could see the village. Nyara crouched down, cradling the wolf's head gently.

"Sorry girl, you need to stay here. We can't take you into the village with us."

The wolf whimpered as they walked away but then slowly trotted off into the woods.