Bad berries

With her friends facing away from her, Alis heaved another sigh. To delay her stripping, she started by sending a brief pulse of mana to locate a seed underground. Any type would do, she just needed that small bit of dormant life energy that she could use to grow a goodberry bush. Finding a potential candidate only a few steps away from where she was sitting, Alis moved over before glancing back to make sure no one was peeking.

Reassured of her privacy, she kept her back to the fire as she kicked off her shoes then reached under the hem of her dress to whisk her hose down. She stood a moment, shivering as the night air caressed her bare legs, before haltingly shoving her woolen dress up and over her head. She had just started to lift her short shift when a shuffling sound had her whipping around to see Fendis turning to look over her shoulder at her. "Are you doing it?" she asked impatiently.

Alis crossed an arm over her covered breasts and quickly turned away, reaching back to pull the bottom of her shift below her panties. "Y-yes, just don't look please!"

Fendis apologized half-heartedly, facing forward again. Alis whimpered slightly; that close call had shaken her resolve. She thought back to her mother's gift, and the revelation that she technically didn't have to get all the way naked. With one last glance at her friends' turned backs, she slowly raised the edge of her shift up to her chest, boobs still safely concealed within the built-in brassiere which provided necessary support. Panties on display, she attempted to channel mana, focusing on drawing it out through her bare midriff.

The flow felt sluggish and anemic compared to what she was used to, and was subtly... off, in some way she couldn't quite put her finger on. Still, the mana was responding, and Alis smiled in relief at the possibility of preserving her modesty. Her mum had made clothed channeling sound like some great feat, but here she was managing it on her first attempt! Emboldened, she directed the mana down to the seed and gently coaxed it to start absorbing the energy. "Bloom!"

Just like last time, green stems began to push up through the dirt, the bush rapidly growing to maturity before her eyes. Sure it looked a bit different, being a paler shade of green with narrower leaves, but the purple berries were just as juicy-looking and sweet-smelling, perhaps even more so. Plucking one off the branch, Alis hesitantly bit into it, letting out a pleased hum at the familiar flavor. She could certainly understand why her mother wouldn't like the sickly sensation of channeling mana like this, but if the effects were the same then she didn't understand why she had made such a big deal about her wanting to stay clothed!

Her friends had turned around at her noise of enjoyment, and quickly scrambled over to crowd around the goodberry bush. Even with no one paying attention to her, Alis blushed as she sat kneeling in the dirt beside them in just her underwear. Slipping her dress back on, she moved to join them, noticing Sigrid staring pensively at a split-open berry in her hand. "Hey," she said, "is it alright for the inside to be this sort of pinkish color?"

Alis shrugged. "I ate one and it seemed fine. Do you want to wait a while and see--"

Fendis and Rosa were already stuffing their faces. The redhead shot them a pink-stained thumbs-up as she swallowed a mouthful. "'S good!" she said, before eating another handful of berries.

Sigrid's eyes widened in panic. "H-hey, leave some for us!" she said, hurrying to start picking berries for herself.

Alis just sighed and shook her head, starting to eat at a much more relaxed pace. After all, now she could grow more whenever she wanted! Though she soon picked up the pace despite herself, the delicious berries seeming to taste even better than usual. They were practically addictive even. She wolfed them down with gusto, ignoring the vibrant pink juice spilling out of the corners of her mouth.

A droplet dripped down her chin, and she shivered at the sensation. The cool liquid felt good against her flushed skin-- and why was she feeling so warm all of a sudden? Alis tugged on her collar, fanning herself as she breathed raggedly. She pulled her focus away from the bush so see her friends looking similarly afflicted, panting and squirming even as they continued eating. Alis looked down at the seemingly-innocuous berry in her hand. There was a tingling feeling between her legs that caused her to gasp sharply, letting the small fruit roll out of her palm and fall to the dirt.

"Oh no."