Between the summer heat and the sweltering humidity of the woods, soon the whole party was drenched in sweat. Aurora was in the best physical shape, but she was also the only one wearing armor and she had trained for honorable duels instead of extended treks. Rose was used to sneaking around under the stars, sometimes ending her escapades with short bursts of panicked escapes, and the two mages had spent most of their time indoors with books instead of outdoors trudging through the forest. Added to that was the fact that they no longer had any spare clothes to change into, the whole party soon grew miserable.
That was when Rose stopped and her ears perked up. "What's that?"
Aurora looked back at her. "What?"
"Listen! Hear that? Water!" Rose turned off the deer trail they were following hopelessly and stumbled through the foliage until she found a small river at the base of a waterfall. "Yes! Oh, golden gods, yes!" She splashed her face with the cold spring water and refilled her canteen.
"Good ear," Aurora said. "We can rest here for a few minutes before continuing our search."
"I'm going to need more than a few minutes," Rose said, peeling off her boots. "My feet are killing me. Besides, it's not like we have any, you know, _leads _to follow."
"Do not lose heart," Aurora said. "Though the way is wrought with difficulty, our quest is a worthy one, and we will not be deterred by these … detours."
"Yeah, well, until then I'm going wash off some of the 'difficulty-wrought way' and take a bath while I still can," Rose said, unbuttoning her shirt.
Fiora blushed. "Wait, right here? Out in the open?"
Rose shrugged and tossed her shirt aside, revealing her modest breasts and started undoing her belt buckle. "Why not? There's no one around, and our chances of staying at an inn tonight are looking pretty sad right now. You should too, mage. Who knows when you'll get this chance?"
Fiora hesitated, but after seeing Rose jump in and start enjoying herself in the cool water, she decided to join her. She pulled off her clothes and hesitated nervously while naked before deciding to hang them up on a tree branch so they wouldn't get dirty before stepping into the water. Sadarth looked annoyed at having to wait on the others, but finally stripped naked and joined them as well.
Only Aurora remained apart. "I'll stay here and keep watch."
"Oh, you're going to watch us?" Rose teased. "I didn't know Pervert was a Paladin subclass!"
"What? No! I merely think someone should keep watch and—"
"Voyeur!"
"—and make sure—"
"Voyeur voyeur voyeur!"
—that no one finds us while—"
"While you're ogling a bunch of naked girls in the river!" Rose finished for her.
"I must remain vigilant!"
"Oh, like last night when you were sleeping through your watch?" Rose taunted. "Come on, we both know that your eighteen Charisma score isn't going to make up for your body odor after baking in your armor all day long! No one's dumb enough to attack us while we're awake, so just get in the water and relax for once in your Lawful Good life!"
Rose managed to roll a natural twenty on her Persuade check, and Aurora relented. The journey was exhausting, and if she wanted to inspire her party to greatness, she would need to be at her best. She reached behind her and undid the clasp of her breastplate, finally revealing to her friends what it contained, and pulled off her undershirt. Her breasts, which could have been any size under the flawless breastplate … were even more impressive than could be imagined.
"Woah," Rose said, who had wanted to see Aurora naked after the Paladin first freed her from the pillory.
"Show off," Sadarth muttered, trying to convince herself that her own slender elven figure lacked nothing.
"It's even bigger on the inside!" Fiora gasped.
Aurora blushed. "Who's the voyeur now? You lot … just turn around until I'm done, alright?"
They knew Aurora couldn't make them, so they didn't. They watched as she stripped, revealing more and more perfect ivory skin, showing them what eighteen points in charisma could do to a person, until finally she jumped in the water and joined them.
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