Back to Namina

Venus forcefully squelched her fantasy again. The last thing she needed was to be in the thrall of a Kappa because of some misguided fantasy about having sex with one. Even as she squashed the fantasy, though, a faint tingle ran through her loins, reminding her of how exciting the thought was.

What followed was the single most harrowing journey she had ever made, a lengthy, drawn-out ordeal as she traversed the forest, hiding from every sound and avoiding every road she came across. More times than she could count, she found herself face-down behind a log, praying whatever had made a noise wouldn't notice her scent, or see her. Nightfall and her bare feet didn't help, as they combined to drastically slow her progress through the woods.

By some minor miracle, she made it back to the edge of the forest nearest Namina unscathed, and found herself crouched in the treeline, looking at the city as the sun broke the horizon. As she observed the city, she knew it would be extremely difficult to make it back to the Lounge unnoticed, especially by day.

Realistically, she had a few options. Approach the front gate, and see if the guards might be willing to lend her something to wear, or head through a little-used side entrance. The side entrance had originally been constructed as an escape path to allow important persons to escape in the event of a siege, but had been supplanted in recent years by a new, concealed tunnel that actually connected to the governmental seat. Thugs and bandits were the main users of the side passage anymore, carefully guarding its' usage from the guards to enable them to transfer contraband into and out of the city.

She could always wait for night, but that also posed its' own problems. Just because the various monsters of the woods hadn't found her yet, didn't mean they wouldn't.