The weather outside Castle Elid was sunny and warm, the sky marked by a scattering of fluffy clouds. The heat felt somehow soft, unlike what Emily was accustomed to in her own world--the prickling scorch of Earth's sun was strangely absent. Whether this was down to the nature of this world or the protection of the Stoneshell, Emily had a feeling that she would not need to worry about sunburn. Some consolation for a naked girl on a long journey.
Once the initial shock of stepping out into the open wore off, Emily walked calmly, arms swinging at her sides, boots crunching on the dirt path. The feeling of sun against almost every inch of her skin was a new but not wholly unwelcome sensation. It was a very surreal, dreamlike experience, overall, though a knot of tension remained in Emily's throat and would spike every time there was a bend in the road, lest another traveler appear behind it.
After some miles, Emily realized she hadn't eaten anything since arriving in this world. Her stomach growled fiercely, and she placed a hand on it, feeling weak and light-headed. "I'm starved."
"Ah yes," said Aria. "Flesh requires food. Let me see... over there, a Starvine bush!"
Emily's eyes followed Aria's gesture to a small bush by the side of the road, its branches heavy with clusters of big, gleaming purple berries. She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you sure they're not poisonous?"
"Certainly not!" Aria scoffed. "Don't you have Starvine berries in your world?"
Emily shook her head.
"Then you're in for a treat, my dear Emily! They were one of my favourite things to eat, back when I had need of food."
"I don't know," replied Emily, "I've never eaten anything that glowed like that before..."
"The glow is what gives them their divine sweetness!"
Emily's stomach growled again, and that decided the matter. She plucked a berry from the bush and rolled it between her fingers. It was smooth to the touch, and once plucked, its steady glow became a pulse.
"Oh how I envy you!" cried Aria, staring intently at the berry between Emily's fingers. "What I would give to taste a Starvine berry again..."
Emily took a cautious bite. Sweetness burst onto her tongue, followed by a tart, spicy quality with an earthy undertone. "This is delicious!" she said, before finishing off the berry in a second bite. She could feel energy spreading to every part of her body.
Purple berry juices dripped down Emily's chin and stained her fingers as she wolfed down another three berries. As she was reaching for a fourth, Aria stopped her. "Too many Starvine berries can make you sick."
"I'll take some for the road, then," Emily replied, plucking another berry. "Just... oh, I guess I don't have anywhere to put them."
"I'll carry them for you," Aria said, taking the berry from Emily and dropping it down the front of her gown.
"I miss being able to do that," Emily replied, glancing down at her bare breasts.
With Emily's hunger sated, the two travelers continued their journey. In the late afternoon, the wind started to pick up. At first, the sudden coolness of the light breeze was refreshing, but as the wind continued to strengthen, it whipped Emily's hair into a wild inferno. She found herself constantly blinking and spitting, swiping away the long strands every few steps.
After one such futile swipe, she caught sight of the hairband still encircling her wrist. Swiftly, she gathered up her chestnut-brown locks and twisted them into a hasty bun, snapped into place with the tie. Finally, her vision was clear and her face free of constant tickling. But with all her hair piled up on top of her skull, the sensations of the wind against the skin of her shoulders and neck were a fresh reminder of her nudity.
"What a marvellous device!" Aria said, and it took Emily a moment to realize that she was referring to the hair tie. "How it grows and shrinks in your fingers!"
Emily chuckled. "It's great for windy days like this, but it does make me feel a tad more... exposed."
Aria's soft laughter blended with the howl of the wind.
Some time later, when the wind had relented and the pair's shadows were growing longer in the approaching dusk, Aria pointed out a dark shape on the horizon. "Someone approaches!"
Emily squinted at the distant shape, which was slowly growing larger. It appeared to be a horse-drawn caravan. If she looked really closely, she could just about make out the shadow of a man sitting at its front.
"That looks like the traveling merchant we've been awaiting," said Aria. "What luck! Emily?"
In a flash of pale skin, Emily had darted backwards and was now crouching behind Aria's marble form. "I can't let him see me like this!" she squealed.
"Oh, yes, of course," said Aria. "I will stay rooted to this spot and you may hide yourself behind me." Aria spread her arms out at her sides, causing her marble gown to drape. "We'll explain the situation and have you in a dress and cloak in no time!"
"Thanks Aria," said Emily, blushing as the caravan came ever closer, its wheels and the clip-clop of horse's hooves now audible.
Before long, it was possible to make out the details of the traveling merchant's face. He was an older man, though still quite handsome, with a head of gray hair and a neat gray beard which framed strong brown eyes set into a lined face. A curious air came over his complexion as he approached what to him must have appeared to be a marble statue curiously placed in the middle of the road.
A shiver ran down Emily's spine. She'd been embarrassed once she'd learned that the statues in the castle were alive, but that had been tempered somewhat by the strangeness of the situation and their relative inhumanity. Now that a flesh-and-blood human being was almost in spitting distance, this embarrassment was renewed and magnified tenfold. Here she was, completely naked in the middle of a country road, about to ask a strange older man for a dress she could wear. But first, she would need to get his attention.
"Hi there!" Emily squeaked, standing on tip-toes to poke her head over the much taller Aria's arm. She waved her arms over her head, and this seemed to catch the man's attention. "Please! Don't come any closer!"
The man made eye contact with Emily, and it was all she could do to keep herself from ducking back behind Aria and curling into a fetal position. Even though only her head was visible to the merchant, she could feel every inch of her exposed skin as he held her gaze.
"G'd afternoon, ma'am," the man said, speaking in a slow drawl. "How may I be of service?"
"Hail and well met!" said Aria. "Might you be a traveling merchant?"
At this, the merchant almost leaped off his seat. "A talking statue! What in the world?!"
Emily smiled at his shock. Clearly talking statues weren't all that much more common in this world than in her own.
"My name is Lady Aria of Castle Elid," said Aria. "Many years ago, I was cursed by a mage to inhabit this body of stone for all eternity. I wish you no harm."
