The next few days, Nicole spent on walks to the forest with Soi. She grew more accustomed to the woods and could more or less tell which plants or animals should preferably be avoided. Her spear skills improved as well, and with the help of her two hunter companions, she learned how to hunt smaller creatures. During their trips, they sometimes heard roars in the distance, but they were always too far away to be a concern.
One evening, as Nicole and Soi returned home, they found a piece of brown skin with light gray wool neatly placed on their shared bed.
"Here it is!" Nicole grinned. "And I was starting to worry they’d forgotten about our deal."
"Wow, that’s a lot of Ironhide pelt." Soi said, her hand gliding over the wool.
"Yeah... Alright, time to take a break from forest exploration."
Hell yeah! Time to make some proper clothes!
Later, when the girls went to the beach, Nicole took the pelt with her. While Soi relaxed, she carefully washed the wool in case there was dried blood or dirt. Before going to sleep, she placed the pelt on the hut floor like a rug to dry. The whole next day, with occasional but helpful assistance from Tora, Nicole began the process.
Damn, I thought my crocheting hobby would help with this, but it’s harder than I expected…
After some trial and error, by evening, Nicole got the hang of turning the wool into decent-looking yarn. Over the next three days, she stayed home, spinning the fibers into a long, roughly 5-millimeter-thick cord. When she was almost done making yarn, a realization struck her.
I should make them different colors! Who wants to wear full light gray clothes?
She asked Soi about possible dye ingredients and gathered them—mainly flowers and plants. Using Tora’s guidance, she dyed the yarn step-by-step, following the AI’s tutorial.
Finally came the part Nicole knew best—actual crocheting. Using her flint knives, she made a set of crochet hooks out of sticks and was ready to start.
Okay, I should begin with something simple.
As a test, Nicole made a small square to check the material’s properties. She tried tearing and cutting it, but nothing happened. When she held it over a fire, it only produced a lot of smoke and turned slightly orange. Nicole quickly stopped the experiment, not wanting to fill the hut with smoke or alarm the village.
After cooling down, the square looked almost the same as before. A quick material analysis with Tora revealed the reason.
Of course! Okay, I am just dumb. It’s called Ironhide for a reason. The wool contains a lot of iron, and while it’s still soft and flexible, it has iron-like durability!
The discovery lit a fire in Nicole’s eyes. She stayed in the hut for three days and nights, and finally, she was done. Barely able to keep her eyes open, she grinned like an idiot, looking at the result of her work before falling asleep.
On the table lay a set of clothes: a buttoned shirt, a mid-knee-length skirt, pantyhose, and a buttoned jacket with leather panels on the outside for extra defense. The skirt and jacket were dark green, while the rest of the outfit was dark red. Thin yellow and pink lines at the edges gave them a less plain look. Nicole had considered crocheting patterns but quickly realized it would take too much time and yarn. The buttons were made from small pieces of Mountain Rabbit teeth, washed to a pearly white.
When she woke up, it was evening, even though she remembered finishing at night.
Shit, did I sleep through the whole day?
Nicole stretched her body after so many hours of sitting, then decided to try on her new clothes.
IT’S FUCKING AMAZING!!! Finally, I have somewhat normal clothes and not just leather. So soft and comfy! And they give better defense too—it’s like wearing chainmail. The skirt might be a bit riskier than pants, but with pantyhose, there’s no exposed skin on my legs anyway. And outside of danger, I can just lower them to show my thighs—sexy. And the most important thing—pockets! It felt so wrong without them…
She even moaned slightly from how nice the fabric felt against her skin. Nicole kept her leather gloves and wooden sandals from her old outfit, the one she got from Morilia. Lack of underwear wasn’t an issue—she hadn’t worn any since the elders stripped her, so she was used to it.
Damn, how long have I been here already?
"Your new clothes look so good~"
A whisper right next to her ear and gentle arms wrapping around her waist made Nicole freeze for a second before realizing it was just Soi. She didn’t turn around, feeling Soi’s torso and chest softly press against her back.
Shit, I was so absorbed in my thoughts and the dress that I didn’t hear her coming in.
"I’m glad you like them. If I had more material, I’d make you a set as well, but I used most of it."
"Don’t worry about me." Soi purred, giving Nicole’s ass a playful squeeze.
"You seem in a good mood. Something happen?" Nicole could almost feel Soi’s grin.
"Yeah, Morilia invited me to hang out with her tonight."
"Then why are you here, groping me and not her, hm?" Nicole smirked and turned sharply, nearly bumping heads.
"Just wanted to check on you. You know, after you worked so hard and fell asleep right away."
"Well, now it’s my turn to say—don’t worry about me. Oh, and I forgot to ask how it went with her last time, after I left. But if she’s inviting you again, I guess it went well."
"Okay, I should probably go." Soi stepped back and turned away.
"Have fun!" Nicole called as Soi left the hut.
Once alone, Nicole’s smile slowly faded, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.
Man, it still feels weird. Almost worse than being in the friendzone. She sighed, running her fingers through her messy ginger hair.
Then again, I’m not limiting myself, so what right do I have to limit her—or anyone else?
* * *
That evening and part of the night, Nicole used the leftover materials to make a proper backpack instead of the bag Soi had given her earlier. Inside, she stored a tall, corked clay pot for water and some dried meat borrowed from Soi. She felt ready to explore the tropical forest alone—but she couldn’t just leave without telling Soi.
The next morning, they walked together through the village toward the gates.
"So, who do you think will become our prey today, hm?" Soi asked, unaware of Nicole’s plans.
"Soi, there’s something I have to tell you. To learn how to live on the island, I’m going to leave the village for a while. I want to see if I can survive in the wild without any help from you or anyone else."
The catgirl froze, staring at Nicole for a few seconds before smiling and giggling. "Okay, you almost got me. For a second, I thought you were serious." But when Nicole didn’t smile back, her grin faltered. "Wait… you are serious?"
"…" Nicole stayed silent.
"You can’t just leave! You have no idea how dangerous it is out there!" Soi grabbed her shoulders, voice rising.
"I know it’s dangerous. And I’m not leaving completely. I’ll come back soon—maybe in a few days. If something serious happens, I’ll come back and ask for help."
"You… you don’t get it! I don’t want someone important to me to just die!" Soi’s voice trembled, and Nicole couldn’t tell if she was more angry or scared. "I’m not going to let you go! Please…" Tears welled in her eyes.
"Soi." Nicole sighed. "It’s not up to you to let me go or not. I’ve decided, and that’s it. All you can do is to have trust in me." Her voice was calm but firm.
Soi sobbed, looking at the ground. "Can’t I at least go with you? You’re like a sister to me. I can’t lose someone like that again."
"I’ll be careful. I’ve been with you guys long enough in the forest to know the basics."
Before Soi could answer, another voice cut in. "Don’t stop her, Soi."
They both turned to see Morilia standing a few meters away. "It’s her choice. If she wants to risk it, let her. Or should we stop you from hunting since it’s dangerous? In the forest, anyone can die. But most don’t—somehow."
"Mori…" Soi didn’t know what to say.
"Soi, listen. I’m not doing this for no reason. I need danger to grow stronger. Training in the wild will be faster than spending a month sparring with Morilia. I won’t go too deep, and I’ll be back in a few days probably."
Soi calmed down slightly, nodded, and walked away without another word.
Morilia sighed. "You should’ve picked a better moment for this talk. Anyway, I won’t slow you down." She turned away, taking a few steps before glancing over her shoulder. "Just don’t make her wait too long for you to come back."
Soon enough, spear in hand, Nicole walked through the village gates.