A darkness envelops the body of James, blocking out all light, and seemingly all sound save for his own breathing and the beating of his heart droning in his skull. The last thing he could remember was a soft bed, and a conversation he wanted desperately to get away from seeking the warmth of covers and pillows. Then nothing. Am I dreaming? The thought occurred to him that it was entirely possible that he had merely fallen asleep, this inky space as good an indication as anything.

"You are dreaming young one." Someone answered his thoughts, causing James to open his eyes in surprise, looking left and right in search of the source before the voice spoke once more, "Looking for me will do you no good Host. We are one and the same here." Confusion drifted across his features for just a moment before surprise once more took hold, "Mondura? Aren't you a staff?"

The response he got did little to answer the torrent of questions raging within, "I am many things child of Gaia, none of which I have time to explain, I am too weak to keep this connection open for long. Do not trust your new companion, no one may take me from you but many would rather see you disappear to secure me than let you run free. You are too weak and we have already garnered too much attention. Hide my presence with your personal dimension, the system will assist. Hopefully if my mana signature disappears they will take it as you perishing and the system sending me away."

James floated in the darkness, brows furrowed, the a light was forming in the distance just out of reach, "Why are things so complicated? Why do you have to be here? Why can't I just throw you away and let them figure it out?" Ranting, he suddenly felt his lips sealed shut, unable to continue his tirade as the staff spoke once more this time almost angry, "Fate is not fair. You have no choice in this matter. You will either adapt or die. Now do as I say, we are out of time."

The light which had started as a small pinpoint had grown alarmingly fast, now just on the precipice of his floating body threatening to consume him, Mondura left him with one final word of advice, "Get stronger. Do not trust your companion, but use her to further your own goals, she is using you for her own." The end faded away slowly, a new soft, sultry tone replacing it, unable to make out the words, "Wake up."

"Wake up." James felt himself being pulled away by a soft sound, "Wake up", a voice, each word was gentle but insistent, "Wake up". Finally, the voice managed to penetrate the haze his dreaming state had left him in, eyes of the teen flitting open gazing upwards, finding the woman that had laid claim staring down with a smile on her black stained lips.

He was on the bed, as he could feel the covers under his thighs, but, he could have sworn he went to bed with some tattered clothing hiding his dignity. Her fur and skin were warm on his body, urging him to let his eyes fall shut once more so he could get just a few more moments of rest, the owner of such flesh, however, saw fit to give James a small shift back and forth.

"No more sleep, I've let you lay about for hours longer than I normally would already. We've got a lot to do you know~", it was at the uptick of her voice that James realized her own state of undress, what little assets she had on full display, and some resting on him. The teens body, acting on its own, pulled away, tumbling out of bed to the floor, covers tangled up and tagging along.

"N-n-naked!" James reaction caused the woman to bring a hand up to her mouth, covering it as eyes closed in mirth, a soft feminine giggle rolling from within her, stopping just enough to mess with him, "And so are you~" His eyes shot down to the covers, pulling at them and looking at his own state of undress. "You.. I.... did we? I mean.." Stuttering uncontrollably just sent her giggling to a full blown laugh, chest rising and falling, a white tuft of fur at the center sent dancing.

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"No. We didn't. I prefer my conquest to be far more lively and most importantly. Awake." A roll of her shoulders she shifted to the edge of the bed, those hooves touching down on the carpet, letting her bring both arms up, stretching, a few snaps and pops came from joints complaining. James, seeing more than he had before opened eyes before slamming his hands up to his face covering it. "C-clothes! Put on some clothes!"

The last part was almost snarled at her, causing a tilt of her head, not that James could currently see it. "Mm~ For someone that lashes out so viscously in a fight you sure are shy." She tapped at her chin, as if deep in thought, "Something else we'll have a to fix. A warrior should be comfortable with the body you know. All kinds of bodies. Besides, you had no problems staring yesterday~"

Women were a weak point for him, he had been single for that exact reason. James had been raised by a single mother, father having left the two at a young age. It was an odd relationship, one which left his interactions with the opposite sex very wanting. The woman in front of him, got to her feet, giving James one last look over before shrugging. "As much as I'd love to sit here and tease you all day we do need to get moving if I am going to begin building up good habits for you y'know. Oh. I'm L'sara by the way."

Her name had been tacked on at the end, as if it were an after thought. James for his part finally let his hands come down from his face, watching as L'sara walked towards the dining table where her leathers and underclothing had been tossed haphazardly. "Ah... Im James." He was in disbelief they had shared a room, no, shared a bed, naked even, and had not even given one another their names. L'sara seemed unphased by his turmoil, idling herself instead with getting dressed.

A chair was pulled out, and she settled herself down in it. Leaning down over her knees with a pair of simple gray shorts, just long enough to peak out at the bottom of her lower leathers. They had to be slipped on through both holes simultaneously. When the cloth reached mid thigh she stood, bringing them up the rest of the way to her waist. An arm came back, hand reaching for a hole roughly where her tail was, fingers grabbing the appendage through it and pulling it free, getting a small wiggle in appreciation.

The leather was next, having a belt and buckle wrap at the waist, two more, a set on either of her thighs, just on the inside. Each of the straps were tightened to the point of not restricting blood-flow but not letting the leather slip about.

Her upper-half had a open v-neck shirt, just wide enough to slip over the two horns on her head, the rest form fitting clinging to her body to keep it from moving around. The leathers for her torso were more complicated, split in half just off center to allow her to put it on alone. A set of four buckles and straps a few inches from the edges of the leather were tightened down the same as her thighs.

It had taken several minutes, but James sat enraptured, he always had some interest in things of fantasy, and leather armor was practically useless in the modern world. That thought drove him a question. "Hey uh.. L'sara", she looked up from her re-check of her gear to James letting him continue, "Why do you wear leather armor? Aren't there better things?"

Glancing back down she unhooked one of the straps towards the bottom of her torso, tightening it a little more before leaning left and right. "Better? Sure, they are more expensive though. This leather armor is probably as strong as metal without mana though y'know? For some reason the system seems to really favor melee combat."

L'sara let that statement hang for a moment before deciding to elaborate, "A skilled leather-worker is able to take a normal piece of leather and make it capable of withstanding an edge that would normally fell a tree, its not as good as what a blacksmith can do, but also lets you move easier too. You really should get dressed, I got you some clothes yesterday after you passed out, you're not going to be wearing those rags with me."

Her tone was plain, as if she were telling him the sky was blue, which only got an audible sigh from the boy, figuring it was best to just get dressed, she stopped him just as she reached the table, "Oh, and James, make sure you leave that little staff of yours stashed away in your inventory we'll get you something else to use. If I could find it. Others could find it. I am not sure I'd be able to protect you from everything, ok?" Her voice was serious, but seemed to have a hint of concern in it, causing him to look up at her face, eyebrows raised.

"A-ah... sure... thanks." His voice was shaky, not used to people showing concern for his well being. Mondura, and now L'sara, had both said the same thing. The thought of what the staff had told him about not trusting her ran through his mind before he brushed it off and turned to the simple clothing she had laid out for him, woven cloth pants with a belt similar to her leathers and a t-shirt.