Stay close, stay safe.

“You’re right,” Johanna admitted, “I’m sorry if I’m a burden.”

Elara guided Johanna out of the cave, then pulled her close, “You’re not a burden, Johanna. In truth, I might need your help should we confront him again. He doesn’t seem like the type of man to be beaten the same way twice.” Johanna was surprised to learn that Elara thought she might not be a match for Bone, but underestimating the pirate was a dangerous game.

Stepping out of the cave, Johanna looked for tracks, broken branches, or anything to indicate the path Bone might have taken, but if he exited into the jungle, he did so without leaving a trace. Elara pulled Johanna towards her in what was now a familiar position. “We should still have an advantage in speed. He can’t have gone far. Ready to go?”

Johanna really wasn’t looking forward to another high-speed flight, but she knew it would be foolish to attempt to track him on foot, instead. She wrapped her arms around Elara, the pack containing Bone’s food forgotten in the cave. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Elara wasted no time, leaping to a nearby tree, scanning the ground, then leaping again. Rather than the relatively continuous blurs of motion from earlier, traveling this time was more of a stop-and-go affair. Elara would bolt through the trees, then pause amidst the branches and scan her surroundings for a moment, before accelerating away again. Johanna did her best to look for tracks or clues as well, but by the time she recovered her bearings after each burst of motion, Elara had already scanned the area and was moving again. Worse, after a few minutes of this, Johanna felt her stomach start to churn and a headache start to form. She tried to endure the increasingly painful sensations, but after twenty minutes of searching, she began tapping Elara’s shoulder to get her attention.

Elara’s next stop was longer, giving Johanna time to speak. “Elara, I can’t... I, moving like this, I don’t think…” The captain’s head was spinning and she was having trouble focusing.

“Oh!” Elara gasped, “Johanna! I’m sorry. I didn’t consider that you aren’t yet used to this style of travel. I’ve been going much faster than before, trying to cover more ground, and I suspect the sudden stops aren’t doing you any favors, either. Do you think you can hold on until we get back home?”

Johanna took a number of deep, steadying breaths before nodding. “Yes, I think I can. I’m sorry, Elara. I-”

“Shhh,” Elara gently stroked Johanna’s hair, “It’s my fault, dear. Close your eyes, and I’ll get us home in a moment. I haven’t seen a trace of this Bone, anyway. I don’t think we’re making much progress.”

Johanna did close her eyes, and though she felt Elara begin moving again, she could tell that she was moving slower, with more careful, measured leaps. Johanna tried to focus on breathing, with some success, and before she even noticed that they had arrived back at Elara’s tree house, she felt herself being lowered gently onto a soft bed.

She opened her eyes to see Elara looking down at her with concern. “There you go, Johanna. Lie down for a moment and let me take care of you.”

Johanna smiled up at Elara, and reflected how fortunate she was to have found such a generous friend. “Thank you, Elara. I should be fine in a few moments. I’m sorry we had to stop searching.”

Elara waved her hand dismissively. “I don’t think the search was going very well, anyway. I think Bone has found a hole to crawl into for the time being. For as long as he knows we’ll be keeping an eye out for him, I’m not certain tracking him down is going to be our best use of energy.”

Johanna didn’t like the idea of giving up the search, but she also feared that Elara might be correct. “We should stay wary, though. He’s probably angry, and probably planning something.”

Elara nodded, “Of course. But he can’t reach us here. Relax for now. We can rest, today, and enjoy each other’s company. There is still much I don’t know about you, Johanna, and I’m sure you have questions, too.” Elara sat down at the foot of the bed, and began removing Johanna’s boots. “Tell me, Johanna, who were you before you washed up on these shores?”

Something about relaxing while Bone was once again at large upset Johanna, but she conceded that a day of relaxation and getting to know her new friend wouldn’t exactly be a day wasted. She let Elara remove her boots, and made herself comfortable in the woman’s bed before replying. “My name is Captain Johanna Stern. I was a member of the royal navy, and had been tasked with capturing Bone and his pirate crew.”

Elara raised her eyebrows, “That sounds very important. Did one of the storms take your ships, then?”

Johanna nodded, and the two women spent the next few hours exchanging stories and learning about each other. Elara, it turned out, was much older than she appeared, nearly fifty, and had been on the island for almost thirty years. She was somewhat evasive about the origins of her horns or her enhanced physical abilities, but Johanna gathered that they were not gifts she was born with. Elara also let Johanna know that there were other inhabitants of the island besides herself, but that the few souls who occupied the island mostly kept to themselves.

“As I said before, it can get lonely from time to time. I can’t remember the last time I could just sit and talk with someone.” Elara gently stroked Johanna’s hair, not for the first time. The captain had long since recovered, and the two were sitting together comfortably on Elara’s bed. Elara seemed quite fond of the feel of Johanna’s hair sifting through her fingers.

Johanna considered her partner for a moment. She had grown increasingly comfortable around Elara over the course of the day, especially this quiet, comfortable chat in bed. There were obviously still some unanswered questions she had, but she respected Elara’s privacy, and knew the woman was likely to open up more with time. Of course, in other ways, Elara was already incredibly open and forward. The beautiful, powerful woman had continued to openly flirt with Johanna all day, and Johanna found her own eyes gliding across Elara’s smooth, tattooed skin more and more freely. The captain knew she would be staying the night in Elara’s home, but perhaps it was time to take Elara up on her earlier offer to test out the bed, too?