The sun had nearly set by the time Yuriko made it back to the campsite. The command transport hub was filled with reporting scouts, most of which didn’t bother writing things down and gave a verbal accounting of their duties. For her part, she mostly did as the others did, and sought out a free desk.

A harried-looking Decanus sat behind his desk and put up a privacy screen before gesturing for her to proceed.

“Grunders in the forest. They’re closer than the initial report,” Yuriko said as she sat down on the chair.

The Decanus frowned and muttered as he wrote down the report. He kept his eyes firmly on the desk, not daring to look up to meet her eyes. Yuriko continued, long used to how the others treated her. It was honestly better than the leering, wolf whistles, and the occasional inopportune flirtation. Ah, the man was just afraid that meeting her eyes would enthral him.

Foolishness, really. Yuriko had better control of her Mien than that. And it didn’t take vision for him to be affected, though she couldn’t really blame them either since they didn’t know the particulars of her Mishala heritage. Anyway, this man, Derek, if she remembered his name correctly, was already seeing someone and didn’t want to tempt fate.

“Thank you for the report, Knight Davar,” Derek said after she was done, “you’re not the only one to report such. Grunders are spread out along a dozen leagues in the forest. It seems like a big nest.”

“Are we going to exterminate it?” Yuriko asked, somewhat eagerly. She remembered the infested miners a couple of years ago and she didn’t want the same thing happening here.

Decanus Derek shook his head and scrubbed the back of his neck. “That’s up to the council and the commander. But I don’t think it's worth the risk. All we need to do is move away from their range. There are no civilians nearby, and the only thing the Grunders could harm are the barbarians or the Wyldlings. Plus, they don’t really like the extreme cold, I think.”

“I see. Thank you,” Yuriko said as she stood.

“Thank you for your service.”

Yuriko gave the man a wave as she made her way back to her tent. She did her best to ignore the lingering gazes and stared down a few who tried to chat her up. It hadn’t been this bad before, but unfortunately, the current situation was somewhat her fault.

One evening, a couple of weeks back, she and the survivors of the plateau attack had gathered to spend the night drinking. As the night wore on, Areena had plopped herself next to Yuriko and drunkenly flirted with her. One of the things she asked was if Yuriko was really attracted to women.

She’d blushed and stuttered, then said, no, she wasn’t.

“You mean you’re not attracted to girls?” Areena grunted, her eyes hurt and disappointed.

“Ah, er, I’m, uhm, I’m not sure.” Her third incarnation made love to both, so she wasn’t all that sure if her tastes ran that way…wait. Why was she…? Urk!

She hastily excused herself, but apparently, the rumour mill had spread across the camp that she was interested in either.

Nobody really gave her trouble over it. While she was still fifteen years old, she was also a Knight, and thus, considered an adult capable of deciding what she wanted. Otherwise, she was sure Maru would have sat her down and lectured her for days. That, or locked her in her tent.

So, Yuriko avoided the issue by staying mostly away from the crowds. Even if her Mien loved the attention. She could feel its pulse quickening and when that happened, she tried her best to suppress the waves that came from her Anima.

When she arrived at her tent, she found her Desire perched on a makeshift chair, humming to herself. She perked up when she saw Yuriko and waved happily.

“Master! Welcome back.”

Yuriko smiled at her friend turned Chaos Lord and gave the other a hug. The girl stared up at her with begging eyes and a cute pout. “I missed you, master. Take me with you next time!”

She chuckled and ruffled Desire’s honey brown hair. “Alright.”

“Hooray!”

“Is Gwendith inside?”

“Yes.”

She pushed open the tent’s entrance flat, got on her hands and knees and crawled inside. The tent could accommodate someone standing inside, but it wasn’t quite roomy enough for her to stand up straight. She’d have to bend her neck at an awkward angle even next to the centre pole.

Gwendith was in a seated meditation pose on top of her bedroll, clad in her underwear, a chemise and panties, while her Anima was flared.

“Interesting,” Yuriko muttered. Gwendith’s Animus hue was pink, but her Anima was pale blue. There were tinges of pink though.

Yuriko sat in front of the other girl, while Desire crawled up and sat at her side, then rested her cheek on Yuriko’s shoulder.

She carefully expanded her Anima and covered Gwendith with it. When her flare touched the other’s, Gwendith’s eyes snapped open and she started. “Yuri!”

“Well done and congratulations on walking the Ancient’s Way.” Yuriko grinned. “Now we have to strain your Anima until it expands to ten inches away. You’ll also need distilled Chaos to help with the growth. You know how to produce it?”

Gwendith shook her head. “I’m not a Runescribe. Agaza didn’t teach that during the first term.”

“Oh, well, neither did Sharom, ehehe.” When she continued her studies in Realmheart, the ability had been tested, and since she passed, she didn’t know when Sharom students were taught the technique. So she could only teach Gwendith her self-created one. “Exude Pure Animus outside of your body and let the ambient Chaos taint it. Once it’s pale green, squeeze out the excess and take in the distilled Chaos.”

“Where will I keep it?”

“Let it remain inside your Anima, but don’t store too much. It can lead to Chaos poisoning.”

“Alright, thank you.” Gwendith shifted and glanced at Desire. A ghost of a frown flitted across her face. “Erm, can we speak in private?”

“Oh? I guess.”

“Why, what do you have to say to master?” Desire’s voice was both sultry and teasing. Gwendith’s cheeks pinked, but she didn’t hesitate.

“Please.”

“Desire.” Yuriko patted the Chaos Lord on the head, and Desire huffed.

“Yes, master,” she muttered with an annoyed tone before she flounced out of the tent. Once the flap fell across the entrance, Yuriko raised a questioning eyebrow.

“What did you want to speak about?”

If anything, that only made the other girl’s flush brighter. “I, uhm…”

Yuriko gave Gwendith an encouraging smile and scooted closer until their knees touched.

“Ahem.” Gwendith coughed, “I…” She paused and took a deep breath. “Wow, this is harder than I thought.”

Yuriko just smiled and waited patiently. She…may have an inkling of what Gwendith wanted to say. She wasn’t blind.

Riiiight.

‘Shut it!’

Ahem, she wasn’t blind. When she first met Gwendith, the blonde girl had been cold and snooty with her. It took the rest of the school term before the two of them warmed up to each other. Gwen wasn’t a touchy-feely girl either, but now she took every opportunity to cuddle or snuggle up to her.

She was also sure she had seen a hint of Aspiration behind Gwendith’s eyes the first time they saw each other a few weeks ago, although that had disappeared quickly. And more importantly, her memories of the third incarnation had inundated her with people who were attracted to her.

With so many samples to cross-reference with, Yuriko could hardly ignore the signs. Gwendith was attracted to her, but the real question she had to answer was if she was attracted too.

She didn’t know. Perhaps if Krystal were here, she could ask her childhood friend. Oh, there was no doubt that Damien found the girl pretty, and would have not hesitated in seducing her. But they were both girls, so…

Only a woman would know how to make a woman happy. Damien mused.

‘A former lover told you that?’ Yuriko teased.

Yeah. Ellana.

‘Oh. Too bad?’

We had a good run. She felt Damien shrug.

Gwendith leaned over and placed a palm on Yuriko’s knee. Her hand was cool. The brazier wasn’t active, Yuriko belatedly realised. The tent’s interior was nearly as cold as the outside. Yuriko didn’t really notice, but when she looked at Gwendith, she could almost feel how she controlled the heat around her body.

“I think…I love you.” Gwendith finally said. Her face was completely flushed and since she was in her underwear, the red had charmingly spread down her neck and bosom.

Now the air around them grew a bit warmer as Gwendith’s control wavered.

Yuriko placed her hand over Gwendith’s.

“I…” she cleared her throat. Huh, this wasn’t the first time someone had propositioned her, but it was definitely the first time someone she considered a friend did it. “Uhm, alright,” she squeaked. She also felt a blush cross her face.

Gwendith was visibly anxious. She swallowed and was starting to sweat. Yuriko could feel the other girl’s pulse racing.

“Do you…do you feel the same?”

“I don’t know.” Yuriko shook her head.

Gwendith looked crushed and she whispered, “You don’t? I thought you…ah, I’m, I’m sorry.” She started to get to her feet, but Yuriko grabbed her hand.

“I don’t know how I feel,” Yuriko repeated, “but, I don’t dislike you. The opposite, in fact, otherwise we wouldn’t be friends.”

“Oh! Uhm, sorry, I wasn’t really expecting anything.” Gwendith started babbling. “I…I didn’t even think I’d be attracted to girls, but you…you’re different.”

Yuriko nodded, “I’m not…uh…I’m not against it.”

“Eh?”

Yuriko’s face was completely flushed now, too.

“What… what do you expect out of this?” They were both young, and, well, she was betrothed, even if she wanted to avoid it.

“Honestly? I don’t know either.” Gwendith chuckled. “I know both of us would have to marry eventually and have husbands to pass on our Heritages…”

Yuriko reached up and pressed a fingertip against Gwendith’s lips. “I’ll only marry if I want to,” she said firmly, “not because someone wanted me to.”

“Oh.”

“I…I don’t really know where to go from here. Uhm, I don’t know what I feel, and while I don’t really mind, I…” Yuriko swallowed.

If Gwendith didn’t think that she liked other girls before, then she was definitely affected by the Mishala Mien. She…she couldn’t in good conscience just accept this. She took a deep breath.

“I… we’re friends, Gwen, and maybe we should keep to that, for now?”

Gwendith nodded mutely. Her Anima quivered in distress, boiling around the edges.

“Uhm, sorry,” Yuriko said again. “I don’t mean that I don’t like…uh, that I’m bothered by you saying you love me. I just think it’s a bit too soon to say that?” The awkwardness of the situation really made her want to run out and go fight something, but she couldn’t do that to Gwen.

Her words seem to have gotten through and Gwendith nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I guess that works. I just wanted to get that off my chest. A ha…ha.”

Yuriko gave a slight smile, patted Gwendith’s hand and said, “Well, I’m not saying I’m not attracted to you…just that I’m not really looking for anything…”

“... you’re not saying you’re not attracted…” Gwendith mumbled, then her eyes widened then her lips twitched. “So…you’re saying you’re also attracted to me?” Gwendith’s icy blue eyes looked quite warm now.

Yuriko coughed into her hand and tried to look away, but the intensity of Gwendith’s stare riveted her. “...Uh, maybe?”

Gwendith snorted a laugh, “You’re a tease.”

Yuriko returned the grin and repeated, “Maybe.”

The two of them shared a laugh. After a few moments, Yuriko’s tummy growled. And Gwendith’s did too, in response. That set off another peal of laughter, and the awkward tension broke.

“Go get dressed. Let’s have dinner.” Yuriko said.

Gwendith smirked, “You sure? We could just eat here.”

Yuriko rolled her eyes and got up to her knees.

“Yes. I’m sure.” Then she sighed. “Thank you for understanding.”

“Uhm, anytime,” Gwendith said as she grabbed her clothes. Just before Yuriko left, the other girl murmured under her breath, “I won’t give up.”

Yuriko felt Gwendith’s intense stare on her bottom and she couldn’t quite help the shudder that went up her spine. Oh, Ancestors…