Sproink!

The woods became far more dense than I had expected; my previous body would have had to squeeze and duck around the sprawling mess of roots, branches, and leaves. Moss blanketed the ground where the light could not be reached by grass, as coveted as it was by the trees reaching up above. Eve led us across small creeks and through short footpaths; branching and intersecting pathways made by animals making their daily walk to water, or stalking their usual hunting grounds. We reach a small clearing, where I spy a familiar sight; a tree, murdered by the touch of a storm's bolt lf lightning. While surely not the same tree, it was an intriguing sight none the less, so relatively close in apperance to the one I saw before.

"Ah, you said you were in need of money, yes?" Asked Eve, after eyeing the tree up and down; pulling a long, pointed tube from her cloak. "This should be a good addition, on top of your cut of the bounty."

The machine girl stabs into the dead bark; pulling a jar from her cloak, and hold it beneath the end of the tube.

Cilla kicks the dirt. "Bah, I need to replace my tap; my old one broke last year..."

The Saltmoore Duo, Ashes and Zana, were looking on in intrest; the rest of us bumbling about in confusion.

"You coddin' us? The tree's dead." Says Trixie, landing on Zana's hat.

"It may appear so, but watch." Says Eve. "This is no mere corpse; it's a Tin-Tan Palmaceae."

A bubbling, glowing, blue liquid flows like syrup into the jar. When the container it nearly filled, Eve produces a second jar from her cloak, filling it as well. Once finished, she pulls free the tap, and holds the wound in the tree; her face displaying a count-down from five, to one.

She pulls from the tree, it's hole now sealed shut by it's strange sap. "One moment, I must put a cork in your jar."

After doing so, she gently hands Cilla the corked jar of sap; turning to the confused our number. "It will regenerate it's sap within the week. It sells for around twenty-five gold per jar in Apothecaries. It has many uses, and is even used in some dishes. It's most often used as fuel by my kind; the Compuro."

Taking the unsealed jar, she turns around; the shuffling of cloth indicating that she was pulling at her clothes. After a short burst of air, the sounds of metal gliding gently across itself, and a *click*; there was a short pause, followed by the sloshing sound of that sap.

"Ah, refreshing." Says Eve, placing the now empty jar back into her cloak. "Much better than lamp-oil; even more so with company. Sister Priscilla, would you show me your map? I'd like if you take the lead for a while as my fuel settles."

"Of course, Sister Eve." Cilla takes out that same large piece of parchment from our earlier lesson, and leans over to see where Eve points to.

While the Runacathy lackeys do their geography, Trixie flutters over to my shoulder, taking a seat. "So... I wanted to apologize..."

"For what? Making Ashes laugh after the clean-up?" I whisper, a coy smiling crossing my lips.

The Pixie kicks her legs anxiously. "Well, kind of... I was a real chancer, doing that spell outta nowhere. I was so pent up after being 'Klyde' for a week, I just wasn't thinking... you don't think I'm just some horny floozie, do you?"

I roll my eyes, patting her head gently with a finger. "Of course not; we're good. If jumping my bones were a deal-breaker; most of our party would be gone."

Her purple cheeks darken, and she flutters her wings; whispering. "Oh my... really? You need to tell this wee fairy the details sometime."

"What was that about not being a horny floozie?" I whisper back with a wink.

"Come along everyone! This way!" Calls Cilla, now leading the group as usual; Eve walking over to greet the rest of us more properly.

As we follow, the little Pixie on my shoulder decided to try her luck resting on top of Gabriella's staff; much to the amusement of the group. The show started with Ariel yelling for the Fae to "stop sitting on me" and Trixie egging him on, saying things like "Oh, but I thought you'd like a girl sitting on you" and "make me, O'All Mighty." Eve walks away from a talk with Sammy; their conversation abruptly ended by the giggling, jiggling slime's fits of laughter.

The Compuro instead walks over to me, holding out a hand; speaking as we walk"Hello, Monster; I am Eve, it is good to meet you."

"It's always nice to meet new people; especially Prissy's friend." I say.

Several slashes appear across Eve's screen (like so \\\) resembling a blush. "Oh my, she's already this close with you? I knew you had mated, but still..."

"What!?" I yelp in a panic. "What did she..."

"Shhh..." Hums the electric voice of the Machine Girl. "I was making a joke; but it is good to know my hunch was correct. How many of the others have you been with?"

She was asking these questions with the same, calm voice that one would use to speak of the weather.

"Why do you want to know?" I ask; my cheeks burning.

A smiling face forms on her screen. "I'm doing my job as a Clinician; your level of sexual activity is a portion of my evaluation of your mental well being."

The slash-blush return. "...and I've always wondered how Prissy is in bed..."

I slow my pace, keeping it slow enough to stay our of ears-reach of the others, but still close enough to spot them through the greenery. "Did she ask you to do this?"

The slash-blush is replaced by a face, winking on loop. "No, but she did say you were an odd case; which usually means highly unstable, damaged, and/or sexually promiscuous. If I agree with her on how 'odd' you are, then I would like to have you as my next patient."

"How much do you know?" I ask; Prissy really does like explaining everything...

"As much as she could say before I had her take the lead; she's still our beloved blabber-mouth. Always the first to answer Mother Maria's questions." She pulls a quill and parchment from her cloak. "I know your soul originates from another world, timeline, and/or reality. Your body was constructed by three Gods, two Dark, one Light. Your mind is the product of a meta-physical insemination of your mutated Core with a fragment of your soul..."

Scrubbing my mind of that image, I wave my hands around wildly. "Ok! I'll just... tell you everything I know; less weird descriptions that way."

I detail all I know of my creation, my past memories, and of our travels; no detail is spared, baring the more... intimate ones. Unfortunately for me, those are the questions Eve seems to want most.

She pulls her hood down over her screen. "So, when engaging in intercourse, what is your deepest desire? To enjoy pleasure? To procreate? To dominate your mate; or be dominated?"

Trying my best not to curl backwards and die from the tightness in my spine as I heard these questions, I answer. "I don't really... think, during sex; most of the time. My body just kind of..."

"Takes over?" Eve finishes, writing down in her notes. "Has Sister Priscilla been tutoring you in Grug Thynok's Guide to Urge-Control Meditation Techniques? Or Briss Dome's Bliss-Tome? Prehaps the old, reliable teachings of Core-Care and You, by Sir Un-Carna?"

"...what were any of those words."

"Oh dear... she really does need my help, doesn't she?"