A short rest, and a stealthier approach

Pacing Move [6] Add a Random Event | What happens: [5H] Move (social) | Involving: [AC] The PCs (Physical)

They rest, chat, and reach a new travelling arrangement.

This time, Lux focuses less on keeping Minn in view, and more on remaining aware of her surroundings. She has to trust that the sprite won’t abandon her – which, fortunately, turns out to be a safe bet. More important, in any case, to notice any signs of further trouble before that trouble notices her.

This slower and more cautious approach also allows her more time to take in her surroundings. She begins to appreciate, for example, that despite the pervasive fog, not every part of the Valley looks the same; none of the trees here quite them match up with anything she recognises from her own world, but still, now there are more conifers than she saw before, towering up arrow-straight from the needle-strewn forest floor. And in place of the leafy bushes and ferns that made up most of the undergrowth earlier, this part of the forest is home to some tangled, viney vegetation, much of it bearing wicked thorns.

Not that any of that is strictly an improvement, as the irritating nicks and scrapes that Lux manages to pick up will testify. Still, as she now makes her way across a fallen tree to cross a deep hollow that Minn blithely soared past, Lux has to admit that there is beauty to be found here. Perhaps, under different circumstances, this could be a pleasant walk in the woods.

But the circumstances she has are less than ideal, and even a pleasant walk has its limits. Finally, once they’ve put enough distance between themselves and where they left the mites, she has to stop and call out to Minn for a rest.

Minn flits back reluctantly, giving Lux a sullen look. “You mortals. Such short lives, and yet you’re the one to insist on stopping.”

“It’s easy for you,” Lux mutters, sitting down by a fallen log. They’ve come to a small mushroom-dotted clearing where, she thinks, she has a good enough view all around to spot approaching danger – assuming she knows that danger when she sees it. “You’ve got wings.”

“Well, yeah.” Minn shrugs. “Be silly not to.”

Lux stares for a moment, then shakes her head. She slings the bag the dryads gave her off her shoulder, and goes digging in search of a water skin. “So are you on your own out here?” she asks. “Are there others of your kin somewhere?”

“Oh, somewhere,” Minn says, breezily. “Seen everything there is to be seen with them. Went looking for new things. You’re the newest new thing around, near as I can tell.”

“Won’t be that way for long.” Lux takes a swig of water, cool and fresh. It’s tempting to drink the whole thing, but there’s no knowing when she’ll find a source to get more. “Not if Athisz figures out the way in.”

“Snake-witch. I heard.” Minn bobs thoughtfully in the air before, finally, settling down to land on a tree stump. “Should make things interesting for a while.”

“You’re not worried?” Lux asks. “About the Valley being taken over, about your king and queen feuding with each other?”

“Worried.” Minn sighs. “Another mortal thing. Any excuse to sit around instead of doing stuff.” A pause, then, as a dreamy aside: “…or letting stuff do you.”

Lux groans, and decides to take a little more water after all.

Minn sits quietly for the moment, tiny heels kicking idly at the tree stump, obviously bored. Those annoying birds continue to chatter somewhere out of sight. At one point, Lux thinks she catches a glimpse of a red shape – the white tip of a tail – briefly appearing before vanishing back between the trees. Probably her imagination. Surely not the same fox from before. Maybe it’s a sign of good luck, at least. She could do with some of that.

Finally, Lux carefully packs the water away and clambers back to her feet, feeling a little refreshed for the break. Minn dances into the air in anticipation, but Lux pauses, another thought striking her.

“It’d be easier if the things out there didn’t see us coming from so far away,” she says. “You think you could be less…bright?”

“Less bright?” Minn bridles at the suggestion, colours flickering fast. “I don’t know, could you be less of a bi – ” Noticing Lux’s grip tightening on the fairy lance, “…a biped?”

“You can’t turn the light off?” Lux asks, trying to ignore that.

“I could hide it,” Minn suggests coyly, dancing from side to side in the air. “If you’ve got room…”

“In the bag? I guess, if you can see out…from…” Lux trails off as she follows the sprites gaze down to – to her cleavage. “No. Oh, no.”

“Oh well.” Minn shrugs, still flickering red-yellow-orange like a little firework. “Guess we’ll have to keep letting all the monsters know where we are!”

Lux grits her teeth. “Fine, then,” she says, finally. “If you can even fit without suffocating yourself.”

With a howl of joy, Minn dives towards Lux’s chest, squirming and scrambling down into the valley of her tits. Lux lets out an involuntary gasp at the sensation of the diminutive fairy delving down, exploring the inside of her top, scrambling around under-and-over and pausing to tweak a nipple, eliciting a surprised squeal.

“Mmmmff…” Minn’s voice emerges muffled by a faceful of boob-flesh. “So soft, so warm.” More wriggling. “Smells good here, too – ”

“Ugh, would you just – ? Settle down in there!” Lux demands, trying to straighten out her bodice. “How are your elbows that sharp?”

Finally, Minn’s tiny red-maned head pops up as the sprite settles into a comfortable position – comfortable for Minn, at least, although Lux would have to quietly admit that the warm presence isn’t as unpleasant as she would have expected. “Whew! Here we go! All right – little to your left, and – yep! This way!”

Rolling her eyes, Lux shoulders the bag of supplies and resumes her trek through the woods. It can’t be much further, surely…?