The next few days, Sigmir and I spent our days hunting and processing our spoils. Under Sigmir's guidance, I became better at skinning and pre-processing the pelts. Most parts were still left to her though as she was quite simply a lot better than me. In addition, I found a few more Shadeleaves and we even found outcrop of limestone that we used to make quicklime replenishing the stock Sigmir had. Our nights were spent cuddling and I think both of us enjoyed the new sensation of closeness. I learned that Sigmir had spent most of her youth getting trained by her father and having little to no friends. Physical closeness had been rare and friendship even rarer. For me, it had been a long time since I had someone I could let go of everything and simply be. A small part of my mind told me that it was just a game but that small part was shouted down by the parts that wanted to enjoy something unique. Neither of us went further, I think Sigmir simply because she was unaware and I did not want to push anything. During our conversations I also realized that Sigmir was significantly younger than me.

Once we had enough pelts and leather, Sigmir started to craft clothes out of them, using hardened leather for her own and soft, pliable leather for mine so I was not losing any mobility due to weight. Both of our armour was well-made with fur-trimmings, mainly out of the thick winter-fur of the Black Wolves that roamed the area. In addition, I got a new cloak made from their pelts, complete with a hood to protect me from the icy wind that sometimes howling through the countryside. I had managed to embroider both of our cloaks, giving them a concealment effect when the wearer was in the shadows. In addition, I had embroidered the hood of my cloak with multiple Darkness and Concealment runes causing my face to be fully hidden in shadows when donning the hood. It made for an awesome effect, like a villain from an old film.

In addition, doing the embroidery had given me the enchantment-skill, letting me affix permanent, magic effects on items, using appropriate materials to create runes in the items.

Black Fur Leather Jacket Rarity Common Type Light Upper-Body Armour Base Protection 3 against Piercing Damage Base Protection 5 against Slashing Damage Base Protection 4 against Blunt Damage A well made Leather Jacket, trimmed with Black Wolf-Fur and quite warm.. Black Leather Pants Rarity Common Type Light Lower-Body Armour Base Protection 3 against Piercing Damage Base Protection 5 against Slashing Damage Base Protection 3 against Blunt Damage A well made pair of Leather Pants. Black Fur Leather Boots Rarity Common Type Light Boots Base Protection 3 against Piercing Damage Base Protection 5 against Slashing Damage Base Protection 4 against Blunt Damage A well made pair of Leather Boots, trimmed with Black Wolf-Fur. Black Fur Cloak of Concealment Rarity Uncommon Type Cloak Base Protection 3 against Piercing Damage Base Protection 5 against Slashing Damage Base Protection 5 against Blunt Damage Special Effect Shadowmelt – Gain concealment while in Darkness A well made Black Leather Cloak, trimmed with Black Wolf-Fur and quite warm. It's embroidered with Concealment-Enchantments.

For Sigmir's cloak, we got kinda lucky. During one of our hunts, we happened upon a huge, fat bear that was getting ready for it's hibernation. Together we managed to overcome this fierce adversary and Sigmir was now wearing it's pelt as a cape, complete with it's head as a hood, giving her a fierce appearance, even without the huge Lok'nar that she carried around. The curse on her had faded easily enough but sadly, I was unable to do more than prevent the malediction of their shaman from doing more damage. It was a temporary measure but it was enough for now,

Sigmir had managed to regain two of her lost levels since we met, bringing her to level 27, and I had reached level 31 as well.

It was the evening, on the next day we planned gather some foodstuffs for the continuation of our journey and rest.

Sigmir was stretching and doing light exercises with her Lok'nar, something she did every evening ever since we had time to rest after our flight. I normally liked watching her, the movements had a certain grace to them, like a large predator flexing it's muscles. A couple of times, I had lightly sparred with her, winning her respect with my skills in Wing Chun, they translated quite well into the game. I had no System-Assist for them but as my body was virtually the same as in reality, only a little faster reflexes and a lot faster mind, I was able to use the forms to their maximum effect. Well, Sigmir was still a lot better, being trained since she could walk, having longer reach and being stronger but I surprised her a time or two using her own strength against her. After the second time, she adapted and made sure to never overbalance which kept me from using momentum against her taking my only shot at winning away from me. Then it became a game of keep away and sooner or later she caught me.

Today was a bit different, the winds outside were howling and the howls had a strange fascination for me. I walked to the entrance of our cave, looking out and it was as if something was calling to me from out there.

I moved out into the storm, feeling it surround me and an enjoyment welled up from the depth of my soul. It was as if Mother Nature had called me to dance and I was waltzing with the raging Blizzard, dancing with the storm.

My magical senses stretched as well and I felt a longing to go north, pulling me in a certain direction, the storm, the cold, they were beckoning me. I was attuning more and more with the storm, soon there wasn't an elf dancing in the storm, I became the storm, dancing over the countryside and the storm was I; dancing in the snow.

It was glorious, being the storm, howling through the trees, over the mountains but still, I managed to keep part of me as myself, not losing them to the howling storm. I don't know how long I danced in the storm or how long the storm danced over the land, it was an eternal moment. When I got back to myself, I felt like I had just learned something, both about me and about the nature of my magic. With the storm leaving me, I felt something it had left behind, condensed into a rune. Interestingly it was no great concept like Blizzard, Hailstorm or something similar, it was a simple truth, the truth of Coldness. I could freeze, I could create Ice but just now, dancing with the storm, I had embraced the truth of Coldness, something so elemental to Ice-Magic that I had never thought about it before, thinking in scientific concepts of particle movement, crystal structures and so on, the storm had shown me the effect of its simple, biting cold on the world and it while it was physically the same, it felt different.

I bowed deeply to my dance-partner and turned to walk back into the cave. When I got in, Sigmir looked at me a bit strangely “Who did you dance with, it was beautiful?” I had to smile as it was a bit strange, telling someone you danced with the storm itself, but it was Sigmir. “I danced with the storm itself, Mother Nature called me to dance and the storm was my partner.” seeing her look a bit sad, I just had to ask, “Do you want to dance as well?” Surprisingly, she had a sudden smile, stepped closer to me and said “I'd love to.” So we started to dance, it was a bit awkward due to the limited space in our cave and the thirty inches of height difference between us but it worked somehow. All of a sudden, the wind outside was howling louder than before, causing us to change our dancing to a small, shuffle, hugging each other close and enjoying the warmth of the other.

After a while, I stepped out of her embrace and pulled her with me toward our sleeping furs. I felt a bit emboldened and started to pull off Sigmir's clothing, something I had not done yet. After I had taken off her cloak, leathers and the underclothing she had fashioned out of her old clothing and pieces of mine, she was standing before me, naked like the day she'd been borne. I had seen it before, living in close proximity with her and she was an impressive looking women, her muscles were clearly defined but not bulging, giving her a sleek and deadly look. However, today was the first time I had taken off her clothing, not stolen looks, taken while she was changing. Part of me felt bad on comparison, knowing that I had neither her athletic, deadly grace nor a more classic, feminine beauty. I knew she had seen me as well but still, compared to Sigmir, I looked like a child. But no matter what, I wanted to do this and do it now.

Luckily, if there was one thing we had in abundance, it was water, simply walk out, grab a bowl of snow and melt if over our always burning fire so we were both quite clean, having washed up after dinner. Now, there was only Sigmir before me, with a slight sheen of sweat from our dancing and her training before.

I pushed her down, onto our furs and started to slowly strip of my clothing, swaying to the rhythm of the storm outside. It was interesting, with every bit of skin I revealed, Sigmir's breathing started to get a bit faster and a blush crept up on her. Far too soon, the last bit of clothes were gone and I stood before her, in all my non-existent glory. She stretched out a hand, as if to caress me, I took it and started to kiss her hand. Sometimes, kissing, sometimes nibbling, sometimes sucking, I made my way from finger to finger and then started down her arm. When I started, I heard her breathing catch, then it started to speed up a bit and small moans signalled me that a spot was more sensitive than others. Kissing down her arm was interesting and soon I got to even more interesting places, nibbling on her shoulder, then over to her throat. Her breath hitched a bit when I did so, having my teeth on her throat was a gesture of trust and she did nothing to impede me, showing her trust in me.

Her moans started to grow more frantic now so I brought a hand into play, caressing her sensitive ear on one side while kissing my way up her jaw on the other. Then I started kissing her mouth and moving my hand down her neck with feathery touches and strokes lower, down to her collarbone, all the while kissing her with ever increasing fervour. I skipped her breasts, stroking down to her sides, caressing them and then moving to her stomach, enjoying her hard muscles and then wandering upwards, enjoying her soft breasts, a cushion of velvet over the her steely muscles.

By now, I could smell something I had smelled once before, shortly after I woke up in this very cave. I wanted to hear her so I stopped kissing her mouth, moving over to her ear nibbling on that while circling both breasts, each with a hand moving ever closer to the centre, teasing her her moans started to get louder and more urgent with every circle and when I started to kiss down the side of her neck they reached a fever pitch. I then kissed towards the front and my fingers started to caress her nipples, which by now were hard, little rocks, sitting proudly on her breasts. When I got to the throat, I, again, bit her but this time I also tweaked her nipples quite a bit. The result was a loud, keening sound breaking from her lips and her whole body went stiff and shortly after released the tension. Then she started babbling, telling me that she'd never felt anything like that before and how good she had felt.

After a few moments, she wound down and I captured her lips again with mine, at the same time pulling the furs we used as blankets and our cloaks over us so we would have it nice and warm during the night. Then, I whispered into her ears, “Sleep, my love.” With that, I cuddled into the strong embrace of this lovely, strong shield-maid.