Shami woke up from the morning with worry and a bit of self doubt about how she had conducted herself last night. She had finally slept with Tanatswa, but just one mistake had led to her lashing out like a drunken lady and she admitted to herself that maybe she hadn't completely thought things through when she seduced him into sex. She was genuinely worried that maybe she would eventually exhibit the symptoms of pregnancy: sore breasts, nausea and skipping her period, but at the same time she had to go look for the mana plant, continue to level up and hopefully meet up with the other members.
What if immortals couldn't get pregnant? That would just be absurd because she knew that all her lady parts were still functional and that at this point she was just lingering on denial. If in the end she did end up pregnant, how would she go about it. She barely knew any substantial information about Goshem nor a lot about Tanatswa to trust him enough to be the father of her child. What if he flaked and disappeared. If having to deal with her proves to be difficult, he could just ditch her and disappear to the unexplored parts of the planet, but that was probably her considering the worst possible scenario. She really wished that he had not splurged inside of her because she was now maimed with paranoia.
Tanatswa barely slept and seemed to be dealing with some mental fatigue. As soon as the morning dew disappeared, he decided to confront Shami regardless of the fact that he had messed up. He had been unexperienced in the past and also a victim of his own inadequacies, but after having slept over his conflicting thoughts, he decided to face the music head on, even if it meant Shami ending up hating him. He got off the tree he was reclined on and headed towards the fortress. He leaped over it easily like a gymnast doing a high jump and landed inside.
He trotted towards the semi finished cottage and encountered Shami who seemed to be all dressed up and packed for the journey. When they looked at each other, eye to eye, Shami saw him, but she seemed unhappy. As a newly virginity stripped man, he had to deal with two awkward emotions; having to talk to a woman who he fucked last night but now hates him and also having to talk to a friend who probably didn't like him anymore. Before he could say anything, she spoke first and told him, "About last night, I think a lot of things got out of hand and I could carried away.
I don't think we should be doing anything physical with each other anymore. I mean we have to get the mana plant, level up and also find others in this place, so I think it's best if we don't do what we did last night ever again." The moment Tanatswa heard this, he suddenly got upset. Was she pulling the female bullshit 'let's maintain a health distance from each other' thing? Although he wanted to respect her wishes, and even if last night's sex was all just some vapid hedonism to quench her thirst, he actually didn't want it to end that way.
"No, I don't want shit to get weird between us, but I am not gonna go with your decision. I mean, yeah I fucked up last night, but everything was great for you and for me, like it was like a special connection." he said, trying to find the right words to convey his feelings.
"I have heard the special connection remark before and it ain't going to move me. Let's just be friends again or I guess, survival buddies. I think it will be for the better." she said, finishing her packing.
"No, I don't want that, I mean sure you're probably pissed, but it doesn't warrant us ending it all." he said, with a poignant tone.
"There was never really an us. I just got fucken horny and wanted to get laid, but forgot that shit could get real in the moment and yeah, I got careless and trusted you to do something that is in our best interests and who knows if your love juices got me pregnant or not. I guess I will have to find out in the next 4 weeks. Hopefully I won't skip a period cuz lord knows I would be fucked if that were to happen." she said, now looking at him with sharp eyes.
"Okay, I get it, you are worried about getting pregnant, but what if you don't get pregnant."
"Yeah, me not getting pregnant would just put you in the clear right? Like, oh, everything is alright now because that time when I cummed inside you it didn't really count because you were never going to get pregnant in the first place, right, right?" she asked, raising her voice and at the same time trying to imitate a masculine sounding voice to mock him.
"No, I wouldn't be like that, I am not that kind of guy…" he said, almost pleading with her.
"Oh you're not that guy right, that guy who deliberately filled his load inside me even though I told him fuck no! You know what, I don't want to hate you because of last night, you're a helpful guy and you're pretty strong. We need to just focus on what's important, like the mana plant and just forget about whatever happened last night.
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"I don't want it to end, not like this, I mean, I could fix it. We had a special connection last night just tell me how I can fix it."
"Special connection? I told you that I was just horny and wanted to fuck, don't think too much about it. Just because we slept together it doesn't mean that we are a thing."
"Is that how you really think about my feelings? Like I just slept with you like a random stranger? Is that it! Do you just see me as some fuck boy who doesn't care?" he said, raising his voice and showing his anger. Shami was caught off guard by his shift in tonality. Even though he was in the wrong, the fact that she even treated their sexual encounter as some petty thing, considering that they had made an effort to know each other and cohabit together, pissed him off. She was frighten for the first time in a while and really thought that he was going to strike her in the face. Shami then decided to bail on this conversation and told him, "I am going off to find the mana plant on my own. If you want to tag along, it's your choice but I just want you to know that I think we should stop living together. It doesn't have to be today, but I think if we go our separate ways, things will just be better." She then began to run and Tanatswa pursued her. He quickly reached her and cut her off. She then deviated from her original path and ran a different direction. She leaped over the fortress' wall, but as soon as she landed, she found him waiting for her. She tried to run, but this time, he grabbed her hand, trying to restrain her from running. She used her inhuman strength to toss him towards a couple of trees that he ended up crashing into. He quickly bounced back and grabbed hold of her, at this point she began to cry and she asked him, "Why are you fucken doing this?" He then told her, with teary eyes "I like you damn it, no, I know the sounds silly, but I think I like you a lot and want things to not go crazy because of yesterday. I want us to be laughing and making sarcastic jokes with each other. I don't want us to separate, so forgive me for last night. I want this to work." Shami couldn't help but fall weak to his sincerity. She was jittered and scared, but the guy in front him was honestly trying to restore sanity in their relationship. She then caved in and began to sob. This made Tanatswa feel slightly uncomfortable but for the sake of them restoring their once intact harmony, he was willing to go through it.
The two of them set their eyes on the Oakwood forest, sobered up by the events in the morning. The journey had been a full sprint and a maneuvering over meandering obstacle courses. It was quick and the two of them passed some rocky terrain and various wildlife. The Oakwood forest trees were 60 feet tall trees and had overlapping branches. It was different from the Ethereal woods in that there was no fog, but the bushes and leaves were thick and provided cover.
The navigation point drew them near the mana plant, which seemed to be next to some swampy pool that looked littered with mulch, algae and several tree leaves. They could hear the sound of insects and there were a lot of bugs flying about. As the distance on both of their peripheral vision became less, they finally arrived at what looked like a garden of purple circular plants. Shami and Tanatswa gazed at the fruit and could see a gradation of yellow and golden aura. Shami went in closer and Tanatswa held the fur made satchel and patches that they were going to use to collect the plants. Shami quickly pruned and yanked off the plants and began to fill up the satchel. Upon finishing, Tanatswa closed the satchel and Shami decided to take a bite from one of the mana plants to see what would happen.
As soon as her teeth met with the plant, the juices flowed into her and she began to feel slightly weird inside. Her mana bar was filled up halfway and then she told him, "I think I can now test my powers." Tanatswa then waited in anticipation to see what she would do, but the swamp began to ripple and a hydra showed up from nowhere. It was a ghastly beast which looked deadly and they were completely caught off guard. A level stat appeared on top of it's head which read as , "Hydra - level 4" Their 2 level gap didn't inspire them at all to face it so they decided to retreat. As they began to flee, a sudden flash of light appeared and it was as if it was directed at the beast. The light collided with the monster and it was completely blown away.
The area within the explosion range began to sprinkle blood for a few seconds, signifying the end of that creature's life. Out of the remnants of it's carcass, a man with long husky hair, broad shoulders, a battered torn up sweater and tattered pants appeared. He was quick to seek out one of the mana plants and plucked it. He took a bite and began to experience the same thing as Shami. He was an ebony skinned male with an oblong face and squint eyes. His level read as 'level 2' and his name was broadcasted as 'Tichaona'. Shami and Tanatswa looked at him in awe and shouted out, "Hello. Did you stop the monster?" The man only took heed after fully replenishing his mana and then shouted back at them, "I am the one who has slain the beast, but I do not come in peace."
Tanatswa didn't get what he meant by not coming in peace, but they were sure as hell happy to see another human being in Goshem. As they came closer, for some reason, Shami began to feel a tingly sensation that made her question the motives of this newcomer.She could sense his bloodlust as if by instinct. She don't not contest her heart and began dragging Tanatswa to the opposite direction. He was surprised that they were deviating from this man and even asked her why they were avoiding him, but soon enough her reasons would be justified. The man was charging all his mana for a special attack, and it was made clear by the build up of a purple miasma. A bright light began to shine and it was now directed them. This was probably the same attack that was used to obliterate the Hydra. Tanatswa didn't get why they were instantly met with hostility, but if he wanted to find out why this was the case, he would have to do that another time.
The two of them ran as fast as they could and quickly realised that the light had been deployed. A huge boom like sound could be heard from behind and large energy field that was decimating everything in its path and leaving debris was coming their way. As the wave got closer, something miraculous occured. Shami turned into an anthropomorphic eagle and carried Tanatswa away into the sky. The wave of energy caused a lot of mass deforestation in the forest and it became clear that there was new big fish in town. Tanatswa had been taken by surprise by all that was happening and then realised that a humanoid bird like person, who was actually Shami, was carrying him. Shami then told him, "Don't freak out! I think this what my special ability is."