The path less taken (Shizzy the mean slave driving face)

[Anonymous]

Linia would probably never really get how Fyuni could just be so free and uninhibited about being naked. It was just too utterly strange to her. She had been raised with the mindset of that just because everyone is naked under their clothes, it didn't mean one should give up the fight to prevent that.

She just shook her head, her cheeks still pink, "O-oh no. I could never do that! And I thought you said the trees could see us." Linia was grasping at straws now. She couldn't even imagine that Fyuni would run around the forest naked. It just wasn't done in Linia's world.

Though the fae jumping up quickly caused all of that to vanish. It was time to try the potion! Linia reached for it and started to lift it to her lips, then paused and set it back down, "If I am going to race over a pond, I really don't want all my clothes to get wet..."

Linia shrugged her outer jacket off, glancing over at Fyuni, "And you are sure there is no one in the forest?"

Stripped down to her underwear, the alchemist was still pretty covered, though she felt quite embarrassed. Her underwear didn't play around. It still covered her from her knees to her chest, bits of lace around the edges. But she really didn't want her clothes to get soaked and probably end up drowning her.

Carefully folding the last article, Linia straightened, blushing quite red as she gripped the potion bottle, "What is our end goal? Just the other shore?" As she waited for Fyuni's reply she lifted the potion bottle and drained it back.

For a few seconds, Linia was worried that she had messed it up and nothing was going to happen. Then the effects began to kick in, heightening her senses, sending her muscles into overdrive. Just having eaten the flower was nothing like this, where everything around her seemed to be moving so slow.

Lina's body jerked for a moment as it grew used to the energy, the speed, "O-oh. My...this seems to be a success so far." She blinked over at the far end of the shore, curious if she could even get going fast enough to get as far as Fyuni had, "Ready for a race?"

[Anonymous]

Cultures were such a strange thing weren't they? She had been raised more carefree, and most of the humans she had heard about had been raised with a little more...timid mindset. Which was fine by her, she didn't really care what they did, so long as they didn't bother her and try and change her. Which was odd since she had been changed, having to wear clothes and all. That was a minor thing though. She was thinking more of the major things like religion and what not.

"Yeah but their trees. What are trees gonna say? They're always naked and covered with animals." She shot down that arguement rather oddly didn't she? It was true though, and that's all that mattered to her.

"Not a soul but you an' me!" She chirped as she watched the alchemist for a moment. She snickered. Ah hah hah! The girl was wearing so many layers of clothes. "Well, I guess if YOUR going to be that way, I should do the same thing." It wasn't fair after all. Linia's underwear was a lot more covering than Fyuni's. As she stripped down her outer layer of clothes, it was apparent. Fyuni wore a small grey breast band and a slightly revealing pair of pink panties. At first it almost looked like she was a doll, with nothing below the waist, until you saw the little bit of white from the trim of her underwear.

Fyuni stretched for a moment, trying to get limbre, as if she really needed to at this point. "That's right. Whoever gets closer to the other side of the pond is the winner." Fyuni grinned as he looked over toward the water's edge. Alright. She could do this. If she was quick enough and if she kept herself lightly...she could do this.

She could win.

"I am! I was born ready!" And really she had been born ready to race. Fyuni strode quickly over to the Alchemist's side and got low for a good boost of speed, ready to run. "Alright...so we'll do this on the count of three then shall we?"

[Anonymous]

Linia opened her mouth to reply to Fyuni's argument, then closed it. She wasn't really sure how to argue that point, as it was such an odd point. Linia would just let it go, as she wasn't going to strip any farther then her underwear and that was that.

Though when the fae started to strip down, the alchemists cheeks went bright red and she did her best to avoid looking at her. She was positively naked! The few scant strips of cloth hardly counted. It wasn't even proper underwear!

Linia was quite aware she was in the minority of people. Few people were as modest as she was and tended to wear quite revealing clothes all over the place. But that didn't mean she liked to acknowledge that unless necessary. She was still pathetically easy to scandalize.

The potion was making her heart race. She could feel in pounding in her chest. She was dimly aware of it and in the back of her mind hoped it wasn't going too fast. That wouldn't be good. But she seemed alright, for now anyway.

Everything was happening so slowly, it made her feel almost dreamlike. But with a weird hyperness that was hard to describe. She wiggled her toes in the grass, watching the lake. She had no idea if she was going to be able to even get as far as Fyuni had. But it would be fun to try.

She crouched down next to the fae, legs set to push off from the ground, "One....Two....Three!"

[Anonymous]

When you couldn't beat someone, just confuse them with nonsense. Even though this nonsense was mostly truly. Trees could't really say anything about it. They were naked with bugs and animals all over them. They wer also naked all the time too. Not just once in a while. Unless you counted bark but...bark grew, and that was skin then.

Yeah. That's how it was.

Fyuni almost grinned at how Linia blushed. So she didn't much care for her attire did she? Well, she liked it, it was comfy and it didn't get in her way like...Linia's almost full length stuff would. Psha. The girl really needed to loosen up and get naked once in a while. Really get to communing with nature.

Fyuni was anxious, her fingers twitching as she dug her hoofs into the ground. Here went...something then. The moment the woman said three Fyuni was like a blur as she ran. She didn't push off when she hit the water, not yet. At first her weight was being supported, but the trick was to keep in front of her ripples. She could run where the surface tension was intact. However, a small twist of her body and the next time her feet hit the water...

She had ALMOST made it too!

She came up from under the water, sputtering and spitting water, looking around blearily for her alchemist friend.

[Anonymous]

The alchemist didn't have as good a start at the fae did. She was still getting used to moving at such high speeds and while she was able to move faster then a normal human if still took her brain and body a moment to sort itself out.

But she was able to keep up pretty well with the tiny pink girl. Until she hit the water. She was sadly slightly behind Fyuni and that doomed her from the beginning. The ripples the small fae made spread out and got in Linia's way. The alchemist didn't get very far from shore before she hit the lake with a splash.

The girl came up sputtering, shaking her wet hair from her face. She could still touch bottom, though just barely and her underwear was plastered to her skin and once she was clear of the water she would find it was almost totally see through.

She gave a laugh as she watched Fyuni reappear above the water, "Looks like you won this time."

[Anonymous]

In fairness Fyuni SHOULD have let Linia take a little time to get used to moving so fast but...well the girl seemed so...out of place. Being naked and all. She didn't want the poor thing to just die from blushing just waiting. That would be horrible. Funny though, because Fyuni would have liked to see that sort of thing happen. Kinda. Blushing to death.

Fyuni didn't even realize that her being first was going to help her out. Well. She knew the ripples were going to distract HER from winning but she never thought about Linia and what it would do to her. Apparently it would make the girl pretty much sink into the pond. ((Srsly, it's a pond, not a lake :P Lakes are huge. This pond is very pondish, not lakeish at all!))

Fyuni couldn't reach the bottom, but thankfully she was a good swimmer. The hooves had webbing in them, allowing her to move gracefully through the water. She didn't look happy at all by the fact that though she had won, she hadn't made it to the other side. At least she attempted this ins a small place instead of the ocean. That sounded like a pipe dream, being able to run across the ocean itself with nothing but her wits and her natural speed. Ohhh...that would be so nice to do. Outrunning waves and wake alike, unable to be touched by the water...

"Good race...next time I'll make it. I swear to the Gods that I will." Fyuni promised as she paddled over to the edge and climbed out. Once more she looked like a sopping mouse of some sort. Though this time there was a lot more flesh showing. Though, Linia on the other hand almost made her giggle. "Y'know Linia, maybe cold water and the colour white was a bad idea for you. Just sayin' though."

[Anonymous]

The alchemist shivered in the water, grinning like an idiot at Fyuni, "That was amazing!" And it had been. The speed had been one hell of a rush, she had never felt anything like that. And she was still feeling the effects, seeing the world so sharp, everything going so slowly. Everything buy Fyuni.

She shook her hair, trying to get some of the water out of it. The wet mass was already pulling itself free from the messy pile it had been in. The girl headed for the shore, rubbing her hands over her arms, "You seem to have gotten farther this time. I couldn't keep up! I bet you can do it next time."

She wanted a rematch! She just had to make another potion. And she was just going to make sure to avoid the ripples that time. And she would be used to moving at the high speed. Fyuni wouldn't stand a chance!

The Fey's comment got a confused look from the girl, "What?" Then she seemed to notice that her clothes really weren't hiding much and she gave an alarmed squeal as she tried to cover herself, "Oh no! I-I didn't even think of that!"

[Anonymous]

Fyuni didn't mind swimming all that much but it was just a little chilly in here. However, she had already cut away the tree line so it would be easy for her to warm up again. Of course, maybe she could think of a way to heat up the water. She didn't really have the magic for that, though, maybe she could always get Linia to make some sort of potion to warm the water up. Later. Right now it didn't matter.

She had won the race at least.

"I think I could do it next time...I just need to avoid the ripples...which shouldn't be too hard." She wasn't moving fast enough. Ripples moved slowly and she still couldn't beat them. That meant she had to move faster. She could do that. Oh she could do that really easily. Just had to focus was all. And get a little more of a run.

Fyuni giggled as she sat down on the ground in the sunspot, looking at Linia with a mischievous smile. The girl was so odd wasn't she? It was hilarious though to say the least. "That's why I wear pinks and grey. Can't see much through that!" Well, she was basically wearing a strip of cloth around her breasts and a thong basically. That really didn't work all that much. Still, you couldn't really see anything private after all. "How long is that potion gonna last? It should last for at least an hour right? Cause if that's the case we should just run again."

[Anonymous]

The alchemist was rather torn on the subject of swimming. On one hand the water was freezing cold and not all that comfortable. On the other hand, if she got out of the water, she was practically naked. After this she was getting black underwear! Well, maybe not black as that was a little much for Linia. But maybe a nice gray color.

Eventually the cold drove her the rest of the way out of the water to the shore, hunching up as best she could, shivering slightly, her cheeks bright red. Linia was beating Fyuni out in the drowned rat department. Her long hair hung in wet clumps down her back, having mostly fallen out of her bun. A few strands were still piled on her head, but it just sort of added to the over all pathetic look.

"It's still going." Linia smiled, "It is supposed to last that long, but who knows. It was all guess work." She glanced down at her sopping and see through clothes, "I-I'm not sure. I don't really have anything else to wear. I don't want all my clothes to get wet..."

[Anonymous]

The girl should just lighten up and learn to not care about her body. Fyuni didn't think she was that bad. At least she was taller and looked womanly instead of like...a child. She learned besides her own people there were only a few types of people who wanted her and that was...just nasty. Some very sick people out there. Made her blood run cold just thinking about it.

Or maybe that was the really cold water...she'd chalk it up to the water.

"It's just us women around her Linia. Not like I haven't seen a naked body before." Really. She could just look down at herself if she wanted to see that! At least in the comfort of her own gender Linia SHOULD be able to relax just a little bit. Though she just probably didn't like the fact that she was almost nude but still had clothes on. That must have been a little discouraging. What she thought she had to her advantage now was just flimsy and almost invisible.

"Well then, I say we race again! No point in letting your potion go to waste!" She was just antsy. She wanted to race again. She really wanted to run and jump and just be free. Not caring about anything. Which in all fairness there was nothing to worry about at this point. "So come on! Let's run! Across the pond again. I'm gonna make it." The pond's ripples already had died down and was still again. There wasn't a strong breeze out, barely anything, so the pond looked resembled a mirror more than anything. Perfect.

[Anonymous]

While Linia was a bit of a prude, she was also practical. She didn't reply to Fyuni at first, just stood shivering on the shore, watching the water. The race had been a thrill. The rush had been amazing.

Finally she gave a slow nod, "I...suppose your right." She was still blushing rather impressively, but Fyuni was the only one there. And while it was highly embarrassingly, it was just another girl. It was more being outside then anything else, but she could deal with that.

And Fyuni was correct about Linia being womanly. She was at least a woman and a half. And without her layers of clothing on to help suck her in, it was a bit more obvious. Fate had seemed to have decided that she was going to be chubby no matter what she did. It made Linia a little envious of Fyuni's slender build. Not so much the height though. She felt short enough as it was.

"It would be a waste to not try again." Linia gave a small smile, her cheeks still pink, "And you would be able to hear if anyone was coming, right?" Those ears of the fae's looked like they could hear someone coming several miles away.

[Anonymous]

She should at least know just how Fyuni felt all the time, and why standing still just made her so...well like this. Why she hated to stand still, why she wanted to be running and moving and stuff like that. It made sense to her to say the least. She was always in a speed induced frenzy, and she loved it.It was fun!

"Of course I am." She tried her best to fluff her hair but it was still wet, so she settled for simply moving it out of her face with a pinky finger, smiling all the while. Heh heh, she loved being right, just part of her ego!

Fyuni didn't really see that she was 'big' to say the least. All that Fyuni saw was that she was taller than herself. Which really just...blah to say the least. She wished she were taller too because then...well she wasn't sure what. But she wouldn't be thought of as a kid in the eyes of the humans or the elves. Even though she was really old! Many hundreds of years old. It was just mean to call her a kid. But they didn't really know better. Humans just didn't understand her sometimes.

Maybe because she talked too fast for some of them.

"That it would!" She pointed herself at the lake again, but then looked over to Linia and nodded. "Yep! And the trees will tell me. I asked them to watch for anyone who might come bother us!" She told her as she got back into a racing position and grinned. "You count again. On...let's say four this time."

[Anonymous]

Linia laughed as the fae tried to primp herself and failed with how wet she was. She was so adorable, like a little kid. It really did make Linia want to just hug her and squeal at how tiny she was.

Linia moved next to the fae, getting into position. She was still a bit nervous, but it was starting to be a bit fun. A wicked thrill along with the rush of the race. Though maybe that was just the potion talking? Linia just smiled at the fae, "Alright. Four it is. One...two...three...four!"

She needed to get a head! If she fell behind it was all over! The alchemist was a bit more used to the high speeds now, though she was still a little clumsy. And she was a good match at first for the fae girl, but she couldn't beat her speed. Not yet anyway.

She was able to get much farther then she had before, out to the middle of the pond. Then she hit the freezing water with a startled shriek and a huge splash.

[Anonymous]

It was not wise to try and treat Fyuni like a child. Hugging and squealing about how adorable she was would just get the Fae very...aggravated. She hated being called adorable cause of her size. She was not adorable, she was a fighter.

Ahem. Still, maybe with Linia it would be okay laaater to try that. When the Fae wasn't as hyper. Because she really wanted to race or fight and be competitive. It was her nature of course, and just because she wanted to do something...she wanted to be active and to burn off the energy. "Heh, I'm gonna wiiiin." She said in a sing song voice as she waited for the count. She was going to do something different though, she was gonna wait a moment.

She let Linia suddenly dash out in front and take the lead, while the Fae didn't move a muscle. Not yet. Already her little brain was working as she watched Linia fall and sink into the water. Middle of the pond. She could do better. Her eyes hardened suddenly...she had to wait for the right...moment...THERE!

Suddenly Fyuni was gone, off at her high speed, her body crouched low as she kept in a more L shape, with her upper torso and head stretched out front while her legs were behind. She cut the air like an arrow, and she had timed herself to when the ripples were just right. Big enough to have some tension. The other ripples helped to keep hers from growing too big before her foot came down again. Her tiny legs pumped furiously as she felt something hit her foot. At first she thought it was Linia, or something in the pond had grabbed her, but what really tripped her up...

The other shore.

With a surprised yelp she hit the ground and tumbled a couple times before coming to a stop on her back. Breathless, she just stared up at the sky for a moment before she slowly got up and looked back at the pond.

She made it.

She...had made it.

"I did it."

[Anonymous]

The alchemist gave a pleased laugh as she made her way to shallower water, where she could properly touch bottom. Once she was able to stand, she clapped her hands, applauding the tiny pink fae, "Congratulations! That was amazing Fyuni!"

Linia was so far resiting the urge to huggle the crap out of the smaller girl rather well. But it was always just sort of there, in the back of her mind. She had no doubt that the fae was much deadlier then she was, it just didn't seem to matter so much.

It was quite cold after her second dunk into the icy waters. For once she was glad of her layer of protective fat, it made it a bit better then if she had been skinner. She flopped down into the sun, finally relaxing enough to not care about her see through clothes, "Oh my. That was a good one."

She needed to take a breather. It was hard to keep going that fast, her body just wasn't used to it. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest, as if trying to break through the rib cage. But the rush had been amazing. And she had gotten much farther that time! Maybe eventually she could mimic Fyuni and get to the other shore. There was thought!

[Anonymous]

"It was wasn't it?" Fyuni said as she looked to her companion with one of the largest grins. That was...that was pretty amazing. She had actually made it. She had ran across the water. It hadn't been smooth, it had been very rough but still, she had done it. If there was anything better than the rush she felt right now, she wasn't about to find out. Maybe there were some drugs out there but...this was just...it was amazing.

Fyuni grinned as she came around the other side, going over the little stream to where Linia lay in the sun. "I think it's almost better if we go one at a time instead of both. Surface tension an' all that jazz." She told the alchemist as she took a seat beside the woman and started to pick at the grass and twigs in her hooves.

"And to think you're almost as fast as me! Those berries and flowers are really working out. You've got some powerful alchemy...powers?" Fyuni blinked several times. Knowledge? Power? She wasn't really sure. It must have been knowledge but...then some people had that knack for alchemy. Hrm. Fyuni wasn't sure.

"Ahem. I'm starting to get hungry though...and I don't want to have to eat those berries." She was hyper enough as is, and she wanted to leave some for her friend, so she could make some new potions and what not. It would be rude and mean of her to just start hoarding all the berries. Greedy really, since they wouldn't affect her. Not unless she drank one of those potions...that might affect her.

[Anonymous]

Nodding agreement, Linia flopped onto her back, taking deep breaths. That had not been easy on her body, pushing it to those super speeds. It was probably going to start hurting as the potion wore off, "You made it all the way across!"

She turned her head to the side, grinning at the bright pink fae, "You are probably right. Though I still don't seem to be any good at it." Linia hadn't quite worked out how to step just right. It would be fun to try more, just to say she had done it. And that was a good selling point, a potion that made you fast enough to walk on water.

The potion was starting to wear off, her body returning to normal. Linia carefully sat back up, shaking her head lightly to clear her vision. It was a little weird coming down off of the potion. She would have to remember not to make it last for much longer, not with just the berries anyway. There needed to be something that lessoned the effect on the body be- She blinked, startled out of her thought process by Fyuni's compliment. The alchemist flushed, ducking her head, "I'm not that great. It's just like....cooking. You just throw things together and it works."

That wasn't really true at all, though anyone could learn alchemy as there weren't any special powers required for it. And Linia found it very naturally intuitive, making new potions acme easy to her. Her stomach gave a loud grumble then, wanting food. It had burned through a lot of energy and wanted substance. Her flush got a little deeper and she grinned at Fyuni, "Yeah. I'm hungry as well. I don't have a lot of food..." Mostly just some bread and a bit of cheese. She had snaked a bit earlier and had ended up eating most of the stuff she had packed for lunch. Which hadn't been the brightest idea.

[Anonymous]

"Well you're going from being how...humans are, to what a Quickling is. That's gonna definitely take some time getting used to, but when you do, you'll be able to do what I do!" Fyuni told the alchemist with a small smile. She really did like hanging out with a human who was AS fast as her, but she wasn't a Quickling. She just didn't want to be with her own kind because they were so...odd. Humans were a lot more preferable but at the same time they weren't as fast. Now, she had found the perfect middle ground.

Fyuni gave a giggle and shook her head. "Stop being so modest! Be a little arrogant, live a little! I mean, I can't even cook all that well even if you gave me all the recipes. I'd just end up burning something down." Besides, as a Fae, she was mostly into just eating berries, fruits, roots, vegetables, that sort of thing. She didn't really need to eat anything. It was all provided for her.

"Well then, maybe we should get dressed and head to a town or something!" Not like she had much choice. She always had to get dressed. Going in her breast band and panties would no doubt get her thrown in jail for indecent exposure. Plus this was the mountains, it could get really cold up here. She didn't much want to get a cold. That meant she would be slowed down. Ugh! The worse thing that could happen. So Fyuni began to get dressed against, pulling on her clothes and strapping on her weapons as well.

She knew around the base of these mountains there were a few towns littering the place, and it wasn't like she had any real idea where she was going. "So I'll just let you lead Linia! You know the towns locations I bet." She also could have had a map or something like that too. Fyuni really wanted to invest in one of those, but they were so bulky and cumbersome. More so if she wanted to get a detailed one that showed almost everything. Then she'd really have to take some time to read it all. Bleh.

[Anonymous]

"I hope I get better at it. And I can keep working on the potion, refine it a bit more. I can hopefully make it a bit less harsh on the body." Her heart was slowing back to normal and the adrenalin was fading back down. She didn't feel like she was crashing from the biggest sugar rush ever anymore.

Ohhh. Sugar. That might be interesting to add. It would improve the taste, that was for sure.

Linia's blushed deepened even more at Fyuni's admonishment, "I-I'm not being modest. Really. Its just....It's not that hard. I could teach you if you wanted?" Alchemy just came so naturally to Linia it was hard for her to understand how it might be difficult for other people to get it. It just all made perfect sense to her, "And I bed you aren't that bad of a cook."

Having dried enough to get dressed again, Linia stripped all the way out of the soggy underwear before starting the long process of getting dressed again. She felt a bit scandalous not wearing underwear under it. But the clothes were going to take hours to fully dry. She carefully packed them into a waterproof sack in her bag, "I think going to town would be lovely. I could eat a horse."

Once the clothes were stored away, Linia collected the rest of the berries and the moss Fyuni had shown her, packing them into the huge bag as well. She really did need to send another load of supplies home, it was getting very heavy. She really needed to looking into a magic bag of some kind, that....didn't weight anything. They had to make those, right?

Once ready, she settled the bag onto her shoulder and took a moment to take in her surroundings and figure out where she was in relation to the town she had come from, "Okay! This way!"