The Edmontosaurus rocked slightly beneath Emily. She was already starting to grow tired of the swaying. While it had been rather smooth at first, even the slightest swaying can become much overtime. Though, if anyone could stomach some mundane torment, it was certainly her. She thought it was a bit silly how quick people adjusted to their surroundings.
When one was suffering, it was easy to stomach it and continue to fight for life. However, when the suffering ended, it made her start to feel comfortable. That comfort brought with it a desire to stay, but then the mundane swaying became a new kind of suffering. It's strange, isn't it?
They'd already traveled for several hours in this four day trip, and the sun was dimming on the horizon. Emily felt hunger building within her stomach, and she reached forwards to tap Cattleya on the shoulder.
Since the start of the journey, neither of them had said anything to each other. Emily was enraptured in her own mind, wondering what lay out there in the wilderness to the North. Constant questions sizzled inside of her brain, heating like a piece of meat on the grill. Why was she summoned here? What is this place? Who is Kurayami? And on some occasions, she even asked why Ratagast had to die.
The cat girl pulled on the reins with one hand and tapped the Edmontosaur on the side. Big Greenie recognized this routine and came to a stop. They were close to a source of water, but the trees had started to thin a bit, giving way to more hills and rocky terrain.
Cattleya turned her head, finally acknowledging the tap on her shoulder. "Here is a good place to stop, Miss Vander. We can make camp for the night. Bedding was prepared for our travel in the saddlebags."
Emily nodded and started climbing down the rungs of Big Greenie. Once she was on flat ground, the world still felt a bit wobbly. Nonetheless, she held out her hand and helped the other woman down.
"You don't have to call me Miss Vander, you know? Emily is fine."
Cattleya shook her head. "It is a sign of respect for your position, Miss Vander."
Emily gave a small nod, not wanting to start an argument with someone she barely knew. In four days, she will probably be free of me anyways.
The kitsune watched Cattleya reach under the animal with practiced motion. She tugged at some straps at the bottom of the saddlebags, freeing them from Big Greenie's hip.
Emily watched as the cat girl turned to her with a silent question. The kitsune nodded and helped the girl hoist the bags from off the creature's spine. Each of the bags were strapped together, and both of them were equipped with a brown buckle that sealed the contents inside.
One had to wonder how common magical storage devices were. Neither of these saddlebags were like the pendant on Emily's neck or the satchel on her hip. They were much more honest with their compartments.
Each of them consisted of a rolled up sleeping bag. There were no tents in sight, but there were other tools. There was a shovel and devices that Emily had never seen before. Both of them, she was certain were a kind of magical instrument, connected to a wooden pike, but she had no idea what they were.
She pointed to the rounded balls at the end of the pikes. "What are these?"
Cattleya looked at her with a tilt of her head, but after a second, she straightened herself. "Apologies, I forgot that you've not lived among humans. These are both wards. Each ball is for something different. This staff wards off the most common predator here, which are those raptors you faced."
She pointed to the other staff next. "And this staff is a ward for bugs."
"Do you not have tents?"
Cattleya nodded to Emily's surprise. "We do, but the master wanted to save on travel space to fill up the saddlebags with other things, Miss Vander."
"I see..."
Emily started reaching inside of the bag again, and sure enough, she found a large coin pouch that jingled when she shook it a little. More than that, there were bags of feed for Big Greenie, and another small pouch full of jerky for Emily and Cattleya. Full water skins were also inside of another small compartment, totaling all that was there.
The kitsune opened and closed her prosthetic hand with magic that went up the cybernetics along the inside of her arm.
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Cattleya stared at it, appearing like she might say something, but she decided to keep whatever it was to herself.
It's not like I really mind, but if she wants to keep her distance, that's okay, too.
Emily opened her bag of jerky while Cattleya got to work hammering her pike into the ground. The fox girl reached inside of the bag and grabbed a piece, lifting it slowly to her mouth hesitantly.
Way too salty...
It was not the best jerky she'd ever had, but it was certainly better than not having meat at all. It likely would have been chewy if it wasn't for her new sharp teeth that tore through the meat easily. Either way, it temporarily satisfied her urge, while she waited to see what the cat girl would do.
Cattleya wrapped her hands around the ball, and a faint white light could be seen coming from them. The color of her magic was white and nearly transparent at the same time. It reminded Emily of steam or mist.
The girl turned to Emily with a smile. "Should I handle the other one as well, Miss Vander?"
Emily handed the pike to the girl, letting her stab it into the ground. While the brown-haired feline worked on that, Emily started pulling their sleeping bags out. At least I have a lot of experience with something like this.
Now that she was doing this kind of outdoors exploring, she was recalling her memories in the military. She remembered the times when she had to stuff a ruck sack full of items. The sleeping bag always went towards the bottom of the sack, since it was the last item out.
The same was oddly true here if she considered the angle of the saddlebags Big Greenie's back. Such a silly name that is.
She looked over towards the large dinosaur, and he had decided to take a rest by himself. He tucked his legs towards himself and laid on his side, huffing air and cooling himself down.
Emily had sometimes wondered how a dinosaur would cool itself down, but now she got to watch him do just that. The creature panted and took deep breaths.
Meanwhile, Emily was already finished laying down the sleeping bags with enough space between them to fit a fire in the middle. They weren't given firewood inside of the bags.
"I can go fetch us some wood if you'd like, Miss Vander."
Emily shook her head. "I will go. You can tend to Big Greenie. If anything happens, call for me."
Cattleya pulled an item out of her pouch. "If anything happens I will use this."
Emily stared at it with a tilt of her head. It looked nearly identical to a standard wooden flute, and it was also too long to fit inside of Cattleya's pouch, confirming what Emily suspected. She has a storage device as well. Does she really trust me enough to just let me wander around?
The kitsune narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth before closing it again. In the end, she left without saying anything.
She sighed as she walked through the night, the wind dancing against her skin and ruffling the fur on her tail and ears. I wonder what's wrong with me? Other than randomly going to a magic world...
Emily tried to imagine for a second that this place was all an illusion, but doing so meant considering she would wake up in the scientist's lab again. Her stomach turned at the thought, bringing back the feeling of swaying she'd experienced on their mount's back.
Special forces breathing became a powerful asset when such thoughts surfaced. She used that technique to calm herself and fulfill her duty of finding logs. It wasn't too hard to find dry logs away from the water's edge.
Walking far enough got her small sticks and logs that filled up almost the rest of her storage. There was barely any room left when she was done, but the potions she'd given away had left her with enough space for one more thing.
She found clumps of dry weeds that would easily burn and rolled them together into an ignitable bunch. She stowed them away and used her prosthetic arm again, opening and closing it in the air. There was a bit of longing to feel the sensation of wind running through that limb as well.
Not only that, but the range of these fingers is not enough. Maybe I can make it better somehow?
She considered that while walking back to their campsite. Thankfully for her, nobody had tried to attack either Cattleya or Big Greenie. Neither had the cat girl tried to call for help at all.
The last light of the sun gone by the time Emily started placing down the logs. She put down the firestarter last and lit it using her nanobots.
Cattleya watched her but kept silent, merely smiling when Emily gazed up at her.
Is she going to act like a servant this whole time?
Perhaps it should have been a delight. Someone that would simply stay quiet for the most part. Maybe it was that darned rat who tainted me with endless talking?
She took another deep breath, choking down the feelings that wanted to climb back up. Is it better if I don't get close to her?
Emily ground her teeth together while looking down at the fire.
"Even though you are such a strong person, you look so vulnerable right now, Miss Vander."
Emily's eyes looked up towards the cat who'd gotten a bit closer to her. "What do you mean? I am not very strong."
Cattleya reached out a hand hesitantly towards Emily's prosthetic. "May I?"
Emily lifted it and nodded.
The brown-haired woman ran her fingers along the smooth wood and bits of metal. "Someone made this for you, Miss Vander?"
"Yes...How did you know?"
The woman grinned. "Call it a woman's intuition." She paused and looked up at Emily, resting her hand on the kitsune's shoulder. "Miss Vander, what you did for Master will never be forgotten. Based on that one action you have earned his trust implicitly, hence earning my trust as well. I imagine that the person who made you this was someone special."
"He was. He gave his life for me."
Cattleya paused for a second before nodding solemnly. "I am sure he was a great person, and I am sure he is still out there watching over you."
Emily swallowed, her heart throbbing in her chest. "Why are you talking to me now?"
"I thought that you looked lonely. As a servant, it is my job to make sure I fulfill the tasks of my superiors. Since the master is indebted to you, you are in a position above me, Miss Vander."
"Is that all?"
Cattleya smiled and shook her head. "No, I think that you are someone capable of greatness, Miss Emily Vander. It pains me to see you hanging your head."