Losing Yourself
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The hazy morning sun was starting to rise over the badlands, marking the end of the eleventh night Alanna had spent in the great wastes. They had left behind the vast maze of rocky plateaus yesterday, the landscape opening back up into endless rolling hills with the occasional isolated plateau.
They were already both awake. Today, it was hypothesized they would be reaching the swamps surrounding Mschuleft, a sort of checkpoint to their long trek and a welcomed change of pace. Alanna was too excited to sleep much, and even Talos seemed in good spirits as he consumed the remnants of the latest wild boar they had hunted. Alanna smiled at him, Talos winking back. They soon packed up camp and headed out once more to the southeast, guided once again by sunlight.
Alanna was surprised at how well she had adapted to the badlands. What had been a terrifying prospect just a week and a half ago started to become a half-decent experience. The pair had several more run-ins with Orcs, several more heart-pounding moments with everything on the line. She had personally slain four more of the savages since their first encounter a week ago with Talos' crossbow, and even a wild boar; the adrenaline of the fight made her feel more alive than ever.
There were minor downsides to her predicament, of course. Her clothes had become more and more threadbare as they traveled through the wastes. She mused that she must look positively savage by now; her tangled hair lay in a messy bun behind her head, her blouse tattered and now merely tied around her breasts was patterned with tears and stains. Her leather travel pants now had a large opening at her left knee, ripping without her consent while hunting last night's boar.
She looked over at Talos, smiling softly as she looked his armor over. She was surprised to see that his had mostly held up; the proof of the quality of his gear. He mentioned, in reply to one of Alanna's complaints about her current wardrobe, how his had so far survived two years of travel. She made a mental note to ask him if his adventures were always this exhilarating.
She found the long stretches of time between combat were growing more comfortable for her as well. Most of that was the fault of her companion; Talos, several days past, had finally opened his mind completely to her with full consent. She overheard Talos' philosophical thoughts, surprised at the depth of his character. She felt splashes of his past adventures and conversations, overwhelming her with the full spectrum of human experience. She found herself swimming in his thoughts for hours on end.
And now that he was exposed to her, she found him ocassionally finding lustful pleasure in looking over her body. She didn't mind. She even encouraged him at times where she swayed her hips a bit more, or pressed her tits together when they were conversing. She felt closer to the man than any other being, even her own parents.
It certainly showed in her actions; she sat right beside him at camp every night, and walked near him on his left as they traveled. She found her hands on him more often now, touching him softly when sharing a joke or experiencing a fragment of his past.
The pair had learned much of their Orc neighbors as well. Coming across a small camp of theirs of three roundhouses, they had discovered that there was indeed a female component to their race. Smaller and not nearly as aggressive, Alanna forced Talos to spare them with a quick charm and a flash of her innocent eyes.
Alanna wondered if she finally found the man that would take her innocence. Two weeks ago, if the oracle at Selphyse herself had told her that she'd be lusting for a man who had a dozen more years of age than her, she would have laughed and disbelieved it. While exploring his thoughts, she found that Talos had slept with countless women in the past. Why didn't that didn't bother her? The only thing that did was a small thought in the back of her conscious, imploring her not to lose herself to...
Ugh. She bumped into the back of a suddenly stationary Talos, silently chiding herself for not paying attention. She scanned his thoughts.
"
Camp?",
Talos thought, the question directed at her. It was interesting traveling with someone so experienced with empaths, Alanna notioned, as she'd never encountered another soul who could direct their ideation at an invading voyeur.
She looked in the sky, the sun still almost directly above their heads as they stood in front of a thick granite pleateau. The marshes of Mschuleft were visible on the horizon, looking hazy and mysterious.
"Don't you think it's a little early?" she answered questioningly, shooting him a confused look. Talos accepted the challenge of convincing her as he took her hand and led her into a crevice in the stone, his tired horse obediently following them in.
The dark, cold stone soon fell away around her, and they were within the granite itself, the cloudy blue sky overhead. Before them, a tiny pillar of water fell from the stone above, producing a decently-sized pool beneath it.
Alanna's eyes lit up as she looked upon the salvation to her frustrating mess of hair. Talos smirked, released her hand and squeezed her shoulder, then walked back to the horse to unpack the tent.
Alanna wasted no time shedding her clothes. She removed her circlet, unfastened her cloak, and untied her ruined blouse. She felt Talos' eyes on her back and turned around, giving him a sultry look as she unwrapped the cloth from her tits.
Dropping the cloth, she put an arm under her voluptuous breasts as she stepped over to her pack, fishing her small pouch of hair cleanser from the bag. She actively worked to make the action as sensual as possible, bending over while keeping her knees straight, sticking her shapely ass out towards him. Slowly straightening her back, she faced away from him as she slipped both thumbs into her tight leather pants and carefully pushed them down her legs, bending gently at the waist and pivoted to the side when her butt was exposed, displaying her thighs to him.
Alanna was overtly reading Talos as she carefully teased him, driving her on and causing her cheeks to flush with color. Her slit was maddeningly soaked as she strut towards the pool, and she slipped her panties off mid-stride. This was the first time Talos had ever seen her naked alabaster body, and she ensured he'd remember it.
Looking down, she noted that the pool was only about four feet deep and slipped a foot daintily into the water, testing its warmth. It was cool to the touch; much cooler than she expected. She slowly lowered her body into the pool with a lusty moan, smiling at herself. There she bathed and, most importantly, washed her hair under the falling water twice. This gave Talos time to remember what he was doing and pitched the tent, while unsuccessfully trying to keep the other unpitched.
After several minutes of aching loneliness in the pool, Alanna tilted her head to look at her companion. He was unequipping his sword belt and shoulder armor, settling in for the day.
"Care to join me?" she cooed, standing up slightly in the water so her nipples were above the water line.
Talos smirked, replying tersely, "Sure, just a minute." She watched him walk out of their private oasis for a bit and wondered what he was up to. She reached out.
"
