Kal stepped out of the tunnel from the storeroom to see Felli standing a few paces away. She was gazing out the cave entrance watching a couple of large birds gliding along the stiff mountain breezes. She turned to look at him and blushed furiously as he stepped up next to her. “A little late for that after what you just saw,” he said watching one of the birds tuck its wings and dive out of sight. Felli blushed even harde...

“I must say, it feels rather homey in here,” said Kal looking around the roc’s cavern. Ikuno stared at him like he had grown a second head, “Have you lost your ever-loving mind? How on earth could this place feel ‘homey’?” Many hours ago, they had gone exploring the roc’s cavern, a task that turned out to be much larger than expected. at the top of the slope was a crossroads that split off in three directions, instead of...

Later that morning Kal found himself in a very unexpected situation: riding piggyback on Ikuno. She was taking advantage of the natural trail that ran along the base of the mountain range. The oni surmised that it had been made over many years by herds of game animals traveling north and being turned aside by the steep mountain faces, eventually creating a decently wide path. Kal had used it a few times to get to Ikuno’s...

“Come back safe, Kal,” said Perra as she laid in bed with the covers pulled back so Kal could take in the candlelit view of her naked body. He paused every few minutes in his preparations for his extended trip into the mountains to kiss and run his hands over her skin. She was putting herself on display for him and he wanted there to be no doubt in her mind he appreciated it. He was disappointed that he didn’t have the ex...

Edited by: Old Fart ------ Perra and Kahrin both squealed like little girls and came together in a big hug as soon as they saw each other the next morning. After some quick chatter and complaints from both of them about being sore, making Kal curious as to why Kahrin would be sore, the two women disappeared into the back of the inn. Kal sat down next to Bren who was eyeing him warily. “Did I do something wrong, Bren?” Kal...

Three hours and five failed attempts later he finally had a small oval moonstone that matched his desired dimensions exactly. Kal looked over at Gerda. She had gotten rid of the stool once she was done eating the other crystal and instead made a bed to lay on. He chuckled when he realized that the bed she made was an exact stone replica of Ikuno’s, even down to the headboard. Kal wrapped the completed moonstone in a piece...

Kal, Ikuno, Bea and one of Aradelle’s vines approached the spectral wolf’s remains in hopes of finding any kind of information. Two long black streaks of decayed plant matter starting just beyond the edge of Aradelle’s clearing led them to where it had met its end. It was easy to see, however, that any hope of evidence pertaining to who sent it and why it was looking for Ikuno had dissolved into a bubbling, smoking pool o...

A few hours later Kal’s eyes slowly opened. He was still in the same position he had drifted off which seemed odd until he noticed that his arms were being supported by aradelle’s vines, keeping them wrapped around her as he napped. Aradelle snuggled into his chest as she felt him wake up, “Welcome back sleepyhead.” Kal smiled down at her, “I could get used to waking up like this.” The alarune nodded, “Me too, especially...

“So, how does it feel?” asked Aradelle, lying with her elbows on one of her petals with her chin resting on her hands. A stray breeze shook the white and blue petal but Aradelle never moved, held up by the two thick vines coming from the center of her flower that turned into her legs. Where those legs met an occasional drip of her clear nectar fell to the petal and ran back to the middle of her flower. “Not much different...

Kal, Ikuno, and Gerda rose up out of the mountain trail just a handful of paces from the edge of Aradelle’s forest. Kal stepped away and bent over to catch his breath as soon as the rock holding his and Gerda’s hands together receded. He glared over at Ikuno who was smirking at him; she seemed to be having no trouble at all with this new method of getting around. He honestly wasn’t sure if he was ever going to grow accust...

Kal was a panicky wreck by the time Gerda brought them back up onto the trail not far from Ikuno’s pool. He had failed to realize that, even though Gerda ‘flew’ through the stone at a good pace, the trip back to Ikuno’s cave would still take nearly a full hour. With no means of communicating with Gerda, he had no choice but to deal with his phobia and wait until they resurfaced. Once he had gotten his wits about him and r...

Kal opened his eyes and sighed, part of him had been hoping he would wake up in his own bed, or better yet Ikuno’s, but all that greeted him was the dim green glow of the cavern he fell asleep in. He wasn’t sure what woke him up whether it was the pangs from his empty belly or the morning wood proudly making a tent in his trousers. Since he could only take care of one of those problems at the moment, he got up and walked...

Rain pelted Kal and Ikuno as they made their way carefully along the thin mountain trail. They had left Ikuno’s home earlier that morning to return to Aradelle’s forest and crossed over the first mountain without incident. However, as they descended into the valley between that and the second peak, dark clouds had rolled in and a smattering of rain dogged them on the next ascent. As they approached the apex of the trail,...

After bringing the new linens and taking the old ones behind the inn to be washed, Perra and the new father made a second trip to get bowls of stew for the new parents and the midwife. Perra was a bit scandalized by the mother’s state of undress until she was forcefully reminded by the woman that Kal had just helped deliver her baby and saved both of their lives as well as being there for her daughter’s first meal, there...

Months passed, and winter finally released its grip on the land, patches of snow could still be seen in places where there were significant amounts of shade during the day as well as up on the mountains where the air was colder. Only a handful of conifers were starting to show signs of budding and the forests continued to be bare of leaves except for the occasional evergreen dotted here and there. The winter had come and...