Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Shapeless Heart [Jeufufns and Sigr]

Thiya didn't quite know what to think when she got comfortable next to Savia. It was really, really hard to equate this person to not only the slime but also her copy of before. Plus it was hard to just accept that she had a sister now. She didn't like it when people stayed. Her father died while her mother was still pregnant, and she had alway been called a lucky child for being the only attempt between them yet still being able to live, since most children died at a young age or right after their birth. She liked the way their family was, perhaps not because she didn't miss her father, but because she didn't want to be reminded of her father's death...

Yet Emaline just took this girl under her wing, if you could call her that. And she was supposed to just accept this...it's not like there was anything objective she could say to kick her out or something, no argument to be had when it came to whether Savia was a bad influence or dangerous or anything like that, yet it still pained her for there to be anyone else than Emaline in their family. She wouldn't even want her girlfriend in her family, she'd want to found a new one.

"Night can be nice though. You can sleep and think about the day," she said, since the slime didn't seem particularly fond of it. She couldn't understand why you would be afraid of the night as well as her mother could, but these were things she would learn when she had her own children.

It seemed that Savia was quite enthusiastic about what she'd been able to do in her day, though she wasn't quite sure about touching her. Savia certainly seemed to like her boobs, most people would like the sight of them probably, but she'd feel weird if she were to touch them. But Savia seemed to want in.

Slowly reaching forward, she slowly put her hands on them. They had flawless skin and looked quite shiny too. And damn, they were soft. She could feel it the second she squeezed them. They were just so irresistibly soft, but not wrong soft, realistically soft still but still so very very soft. Thiya removed her hands quickly, smiling a little. That had been a rather fun little experience. Having her around had her upsides she nearly joked.

"They're very nicely done," she said, smiling to make the slime comfortable. She didn't mind Savia as a person, she really didn't, it was just....painful.

Faster than she expected, Emaline returned, carrying something heavy. Thiya immediately jumped up to help her as she carried it, putting it down a little bit from her bed. When she lowered in and opened up the bedding, Savia would be able to see that it was, in fact, a bed like Emaline's. Borrowed, but enough for tonight until Emaline could get a new one.

"I have something for you Savia, Tomorrow I'll get you a new one, but for tonight, you can have this one," she said, visibly excited. She had to give them some rice in return later for borrowing it but it was worth it. She'd just have to collect some more berries.
 
"Night can be nice..." Savia mulled over the idea, as Thiya spoke about the good parts of it. Perhaps sleeping as a person could be nice, and she did have lots of things to think about. Doing it somewhere safe and lovely as that house was a good part of it, so maybe Thiya was right. It seemed that Savia was right on reading Thiya's glances as interest, as once she was given permission she slowly and carefully reached down and pawed Savia's breasts above her shirt. Thiya's touch was as welcome as Emaline's, a connection and reassuring of sorts every time those women touched her. It had also an strangely exciting component Savia couldn't quite understand, specially when Thiya squeezed them.

Savia didn't need to ask if they felt good, as Thiya smiled a little, although it was coming and going, seemingly disturbed by something. "Thiya good-?" Savia started to ask, wanting to know what was bothering her, but Emaline stumbled inside and Savia wasn't even sure if Thiya had heard her. "Bed! Sleep close!" Savia cheered, seeing what she was bringing. Savia of course wasn't aware of the price of stuff, since she wasn't even knowledgeable about bartering systems or even the notion of private property, not really, since if she knew she would want to help at any costs.

Turning to Thiya, Savia smiled, wanting to cheer her even if she didn't know what was going on. "Thiya sleep close? We nice night, sleep close, feel good" she tried to explain, wanting to ease whatever was going on with her even if she couldn't understand it yet.
 
Thiya heard her but didn't quite understand it as a question. And since her mother came in, she had other things to pay attention to. Emaline however was very much paying attention to Savia's reaction, and it only seemed to encourage her. Thiya seemed confused at best, Savia's description only further fueling the irritated look on her face, but Emaline waved her off. It wasn't anything too complicated after all.

"Savia didn't feel too happy about sleeping alone so I got her a bed to sleep next to me," Emaline explained as she set up the bed as best she could. There wasn't much in terms of a pillow, it was primitive bedding, after all, just a wooden bed, not solid wood so it was a bit softer. The bedding was just various blankets of different craft, thin and layered, one to keep you from hurting yourself on the wood, the other for covering yourself at night.

"Savia you..." Emaline started explaining, but the noise of covers made her look around. Thiya already seemed to be showing her how to do it, if unintentionally as she crawled into her own bed.

"Or just do that..." she said, but her face lit up as she remembered something. "Ah, the rice, I forgot!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the pot. Thankfully, it was just a little more than usual, not enough to ruin it or even change the taste. Got lucky. Within minutes after hanging down the pot and evacuating the water very carefully with her hand into a smaller pot, she divided the rice equally into two bowls and fetched two bronze spoons, two items that would be considered great luxury by others before handing one of the bowls to Thiya. Diner was the last part of the daily routine, and perhaps one of the more welcome ones after a day of work. While they were eating, Savia had all the time in the world to try and get comfy in her new blankets.
 
Savia looked at Thiya get into her bed, understanding how it was meant to work but feeling that there was something else beyond an instructional will on Thiya's gesture. She didn't say a thing since Emaline was back with the bed, and now she was eating the rice without a sound. Was it something related to her time out of the house? Or was it something related to the ones inside the house? Maybe it was Savia's fault and she didn't know what could have she done to make Thiya feel bad nor how to fix it. Looking at the bed, the covering blanket made Savia curious so she asked Emaline. "Bed clothes? People go in without clothes like river?" she wondered, since the bedding already seemed to offer covering, her more cold resistant body making her unaware of the purpose of clothing beyond modesty.

Sitting down on her bedding Savia was happy to be able to spend the night in company, too much time had she been alone in the only home she had ever known, her brutal past so mindless that she didn't even know how much time had it passed. The bedding was cozy and somewhat soft, but the important thing was knowing that she could sleep not far from Emaline, so she didn't have a reason to feel alone. Perhaps Thiya was right and the night could also be good? Savia still doubted it, but she was open to the idea. Unable to keep guessing about what was going on with Thiya, but understanding that something wasn't well, Savia crawled in all fours without getting up from her bed to be close to Thiya and softly patted her in the head twice. "Thiya feel good?" she asked, since she wasn't specially adept at asking if she was scared, angry or sad, nor had the words to do so.
 
Thiya seemed quiet, more so than Emaline who seemed to want to make sure Savia was comfortable before she got back to her food. It was a simple meal, but a good one. She still remembered cooking rice at the coast of Ticia, to the south of Thracus. The salty water of the ocean made the perfect base for any rice dish, provided the water was clean of course. Ocean water was terrible for drinking, but certainly not for cooking.

Savia seemed to be curious about beds and their purpose once more, something that Emaline delighted in. Having visible amounts of fun, she tried to explain: "Clothes keep us warm, in warm weather, we wear...less clothes, in cold weather, we wear more clothes, night is colder than day, so the blanket keeps us warm," she said, patting the blanket when she said its name to be certain Savia understood.

While they spoke, Thiya had finished, setting off her bowl at the side as she reached down to her skirt below the covers, seemingly fiddling around with it before she slowly drew it out the essentially cock sock protecting her manhood, before setting in down on the side. A bit later, the same went for what held up her balls. Sleeping free was much more comfortable and if you had them on and your morning wood came, you'd probably be in some amount of distress.

Emaline rose up to make sure the wooden barrier would help against the cold air from outside before she put out the fire, but waited until Savia got comfortable in bed. Being so well endowed, sleeping on the side or on your back was the norm, though it wasn't impossible to sleep on your front.

Thiya grunted a little when Savia patted her head, turning her head up to look at the excitable young woman. She didn't seem particularly keen on talking, and it would probably take some time for Savia to understand that this is how people were when they were tired. "I'm fine, I just want to sleep..." she replied, not particularly talkative as she cuddle into her covers. Even they didn't quite manage to hide Thiya's curvy nature. Average had taken on a whole different meaning here.

Even if Thiya wasn't in the mood for being social, Emaline very gently put her hand on Savia's head, letting it run along her beautiful red hair to comfort her as she helped her settle down. Like a mother her child, she covered her with the blanket in very loving and gentle way. "Sleep well Savia..." she said with a tone as gentle as her actions before she turned to put out the fire. In the darkness, it was hard to guess, but it seemed that Emaline was undressing in the same way that Thiya did, only removing the clothing around her genitalia.
 
"Body warm" Savia nodded, as Emaline explained the reasoning behind not only the blankets but also the clothes. Savia shared her interest in the warmth, even if it was from a different standpoint. Of course that Savia could hold better harsher climates, but warmth was a good part of that pleasurable touchy moments they shared. It wasn't just the charm or being reassured, the warmth indicated a presence, the one of a person, and that was nice by itself. As they finished their food, it seemed to be time to sleep, as Thiya was tired and it didn't take long for her to just turn around in her bed.

Savia looked at her curiously, perhaps it was just that, being tired what it explained her mood. There was so much she had to learn about those people yet... it was crazy. Savia couldn't exactly follow Thiya's example with her underwear, as it was part of herself, but she still untied it on the sides and then made it disappear into herself, trying to make herself remember to put those back on when she got up, whenever that was. Leaning towards Emaline's touch in her hair, Savia felt good, assuming a comfortable posture on her back that kind of made her breasts sway a bit to the sides. Sleeping on her side would also be possible, one would assume, but face down would be a pain with those enormous things on her chest.

"Sleep well Emaline, sleep well Thiya" Savia said, echoing the woman's wishes for them, finding comfort in those words as the room soon was plunged into darkness once the fire was put down. Savia couldn't help but hum a bit, thinking of all that happened that day, but soon fell in silence as it wasn't just appropriate, but also because she had inadvertently dozed off. It seemed that fleeing from the only home she had ever knew, walking to the forest and meeting Emaline and her teachings had took a toll in her that she even wasn't aware of, and soon she was dormant. Without having seen anyone else sleep, it was still weird seeing her sleep perfectly still and without taking a breath, or would be if it wasn't for the darkness, as she didn't know how one was supposed to sleep.

Savia's dreams were full of dark corridors, horrible things without a face, cold hands in the dark. It was odd, it somehow reminded her of the times before she could think, and yet she didn't know why. Most of the night was fine, but there were moments when her form slightly waved, shivered, as if it was unstable or was at risk of reverting to her original self, but in the end nothing did seem to happen and Savia kept sleeping nice and calm.
 
The night was quiet and refreshing for those that had previously experienced it. But for Savia it was different, plagued by nightmares. However, there were still many interesting things to learn about sleep, discouraging her would be unwise. One of those things she was about to learn as morning broke, the sun creeping along as the rays became stronger, more and more apparent as they began to poke past the barrier, flooding the room through every hole it could.

Emaline was diligent, a trait that she liked to teach her child, though Thiya was not a morning person. Much like her father, she always laid in bed a little longer, a habit she was a little too fond of to try and break. Much as she had been able to serve breakfast when her lover woke up, she was able to do so now. But she had never tried to sneak to the pots with an attentive young shape-shifter in the room. Things would get a little harder. But the girl seemed very much asleep, so she thought herself in good condition. Her morning wood seemed just as eager as her to start the day. She was far less impressive than her daughter in that regard since she went after her father, but there was nothing bad you could say about a cute three feet. It was still more than enough to take a woman to heaven and back. All these young girls craving size to be the best when comparing was silly, sex was the same at any size after a certain mark.

Then again, perhaps it was best they didn't know so much about it, it made them curious, but careful, not to mention that she taught Thiya to never let her girlfriend or anyone near her womanhood, as all mothers taught their children. Fun was one thing, but the fun stopped when you were in danger of conceiving.

Thinking of less emotional subjects, she tried to remember what she was going to do today. Give the bed back, make some baskets...but where did Savia fit in? Perhaps she would like to know how to make a basket.

Her morning wood meant she had to be careful not to bump into anything since her manhood was quite sensitive at the moment, but that was easily handled. It was very common for you to wake up like that, it was a sign of health she imagined. Of course, they were many centuries too early to know the biological reasons and benefits, but fertility was a desirable trait in these times.

She still had some beans left, enough for a good breakfast. They were already prepared from when she got them, so she just needed to cook them up. Taking the pot again, she hung it up by the quickly assembled stilts, igniting a fire as quietly as she could before she hung the water and beans up to boil. Strange how one thing needed to be added later while the other needed to be there from the start. Cooking was a wonderful discipline, one where she was a little disappointed that she hadn't mastered it early on.
 
"Ah..." Savia sighed, waking up to the light and noise of the morning. It was her first sleep since she was... well, a person, and waking up with light was a strange experience. Nightmares and odd dreams were left behind and quickly forgotten, as she looked around seeing Thiya still in bed and Emaline getting stuff ready. Getting up from bed Savia felt her genitals hang free and brush her inner thighs, remembering that she had to recreate and tie up her underwear. Leaving it for later, considering that it wasn't so bad with her size while she was into the house, Savia was curious about what the new day could bring.

"Savia sleep good, Thiya know, night good" she voiced as she approached the busy Emaline, wanting to tell not only that sleeping had been nice and refreshing, but also that Thiya was right and night could have its nice parts. "Sleep close good-" she started to say, thanking to Emaline to be close to her, but the tent on the woman's skirt distracted her. "Ah! Emaline penis change!" she yelped, pointing at the partially covered erection with a finger, as she usually did when something called for her attention.

Savia leaned in, taking a look too close for comfort, and then backed off and looked Emaline with confusion painted on her face. "Thiya touch breasts, penis change, biggest" she voiced her memories from the day before. "Emaline penis change bigger..." she added, lacking a seemingly cause for it. "Emaline touch her breasts? Cooking change penis bigger?" she was completely and utterly confused by the workings of that particular appendage, wondering if perhaps Emaline had been touching her own breasts or if it was the cooking what made her penis bigger, completely lost at the causes of the event.

Baffled at the first event of the morning, the day had begun with another mystery for Savia, and it had just begun.
 
Even if Emaline's skirt tried its best, the cover could only be described as...'lacking'. In a world where size had a different meaning, certain impracticalities and impossibilities allowed people more free room with their genitals, in a private environment at least. With the means at the time, it would hardly be possible to make a garment that could adjust to an erection so large, not to mention it would be expensive to do so.

At this point, Emaline's penis was already calming down a little, since the typical half an hour period was reaching completion, but not quickly enough for Savia not to notice. This would be one of the more difficult things to explain, Emaline could already see that. Not because it was complicated, but because it made no sense to the people of the time, to begin with.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," she said with a wide smile on her face, making sure nothing terrible was happening to the beans before she walked back over to the bed. Adjusting the covers was perhaps not necessary, but it made things look more orderly for the day. Plus, she needed to fix up Savia's since it was to be returned today.

"Savia, um, no. Sometimes after you sleep, it grows, not always, it doesn't have any particular, rhythm or reason to it..." she tried to explain, slowly noticing that most of these words had no meaning to Savia.

"Rhythm," she tried to explain as she gently tapped her finger on the edge of the bed in a simple and easily noticeable rhythm. "Faster rhythm," she explained as well, hoping that displaying it would help Savia to understand the word as she tapped faster on the bed. "Slower rhythm," she continued, tapping slower this time, slower than she had originally. Simple enough explanation, she hoped, but it was one of those things where she didn't quite know if someone unfamiliar with the concept would be able to understand it. Besides, maybe rhythm would give Savia more time until she was taught sexuality. That was really not a topic she wanted to start with anytime soon.
 
"No breast touching" Savia nodded when Emaline started to explain, discarding that cause of penile growth that she had in her mind. "No reason..." she frowned, not exactly understanding the rhythm part of it but a bit bothered by the phenomenon not having a reason to it. After all, without a reason for that momentary change, there was no way Savia could work out a logic to emulate that change on herself. Perhaps the further explanation would help her, so she attentively looked at Emaline explain while tapping on the table.

"Hmmm" Savia hummed, her face clearly expressing trouble and confusion about the topic at hand while she worked with it. "Some days it gets big, some days it not gets big" she finally concluded, adding it to the whole world of mysteries that awaited her. "Maybe other day mine will get big" she said, not as something that could happen by chance, but as something she would need doing for her to be more and more human-like. Savia took a seat next to the table, her new physique allowing her to wiggle her legs in the air as she didn't reach the ground.

"Day go outside? River? Fields? Return bed?" Savia wondered what they were supposed to do today, noticing something. "We make Savia bed?" she wondered, since that one was to be returned, that still left her without a place to sleep. Not knowing anything about the day to day living, she wasn't aware of the burden she could be on both Emaline and Thiya, so she was just happily sitting there, awaiting for Emaline and perhaps Thiya if she woke up to eat and do something interesting with her.
 
Emaline smiled a little sheepishly as Savia spoke of her own penis doing that one day. She doubted it and honestly, she didn't want Savia to concern herself with that part of her body, for now, so she would have to work on establishing that as something that simply happened during the mornings. For the first time, however, she wondered how it would be for Savia to give in to certain urges that came with reaching the age of maturity. Savia was a very free and open person, and she a very free and open mother. It might be that Savia took more interest in someone of another species. Then again, those species probably had social conventions regarding interracial relations as well, so Savi would have to make herself look like one of them...but then she couldn't return...perhaps it was best to wait a little...

Seeing Savia wiggle her legs made her chuckle, ripping her from her thoughts. Savia was simply too cute. She behaved like a child in many ways, but the inner child was still within everyone, it was simply tamed and enriched with knowledge and wisdom. Perhaps it was better that Savia had made herself shorter, in a symbolic way. She was sure that at some point Savia would surpass her peers, but for now she would have to care for her. That was a different problem. Caring for Thiya had been relatively easy thanks to the father's higher position within the tribe, but she knew from other mothers she had assisted that it could be quite hard for them. At least Savia didn't require much nutrition, which was good for them, but Emaline would have to use some of her savings to get Savia a bed. She didn't mind of course, but she'd have to travel to Tracus, the capitol city to get one. Perhaps this was a good opportunity to take Savia with her.

"Thiya!" she called out to her grumbling daughter, who was still trying to escape the confines of sleep. Please take some rice over to Darya, and the bed as well, me and Sava will have to get up early to make it to the city, she said as she removed the pot from the stilts, gently evacuating the water into the same pot she'd put the rice water in. Thiya didn't seem all too thrilled at the idea...

"Savia! We'll be going to the biggest village, the...." she was nearly going to call it the place of her ancestors, but judging by previous questions, that would have led to more questions like how babies were made. "There we'll get a bed for you," she explained as she divided the beans up in two bowls, handing one to the rather skeptic-looking Thiya.

"Mother? You were still going to craft the baskets that were requested. If you're going to the city at least take them with you. You can't just travel twice in a week..." she said, making Emaline furrow her brow. She was, of course, painfully correct. Perhaps she should teach Savia something about baskets. Baskets were a wonderful thing, used by anyone, anywhere, so surely this would benefit her in a multitude of ways. "Yes, before we go, would you like to watch me make a basket Savia?" she asked, her voice having a slightly sly undertone since she already knew what Savia's answer was going to be. She was going to have a lot of fun today and Savia was probably going to learn a lot. The well-traveled are the wisest of all after all.
 
Savia looked at Emaline that seemed to be amused and in a good mood, specially when she returned her stares. She patiently waited for her questions to be answered, but as Emaline seemed to be thinking about something and working on cooking, so she waited until she was free, examining her and the surroundings in the meantime. It wasn't long until Emaline called for Thiya to finally awake, once again grumpy at Emaline's words since she seemed to be asking for her to do some errands. Savia though was looking more interested and excited as Emaline started to tell her what they were going to do.

"Biggest village?" Savia asked, wondering how big could it be, how many different people could it have, but since she had no basis for it, she couldn't really come with anything. Emaline seemed that she had something else to say, but she talked about getting her a bed there, so Savia soon jumped out of her seat, eager and excited. "Biggest village! Get bed!" Savia echoed a couple of times excited, looking first to Emaline then to Thiya, that clearly didn't share her enthusiasm about the idea, and had something to say about it.

"Baskets? Make baskets..." Savia considered, a bit deflated since it could mean she wasn't going to see the biggest village, but still interested about doing something new. "Savia unknown make basket, Savia watch Emaline make basket, Savia known make basket" she nodded wildly, wanting to watch and learn from Emaline how to make a basket, perhaps that way she could also make things and be more like a person that way. After all she could adapt to the surroundings, but one of the features she found more interesting about people was how they adapted their surroundings to them, how they made things for daily use.

Learning what their needs were and how they covered for them would make her better understand what it meant being one of them.
 
Emaline was glad that Savia was so excited at the opportunity to travel. Most people were intimidated on their first trip, whether they were children or already adults. It was weird how little people traveled even between their own cities. The capitol was a different story, and the villages around it too, like this one, but the outer ones were almost outcast from society, not to mention other tribes. Zadea was different, because the Zadeans were wealthy and a hotbed of culture, there were more foreigners than usual there, but not even there was there ever more than a handful of non-Zadeans.

But baskets were a different and surprisingly enough, Savia seemed to ponder whether she liked the idea of helping Seillyn. Of course, that wasn't the kind of enthusiasm she wanted, but it was nice to see that there were in fact different stages of said enthusiasm. Loving everything made love lose its meaning after all.

As soon as she could put her dish down, she hurried over to some of the wood in the corner. Previously, it had looked simply like thinner versions of the wood in the fireplace, but apparently it served a different purpose. Finished baskets were already laying around it, so that seemed to indicate their purpose.

"You see, Savia..." Emaline began to explain, caused Thiya to groan in frustration. "Thiya, you're going to get dressed, and go do what you were supposed to be doing yesterday," Emaline replied, taking an authorative tone once more that only seemed to annoy Thiya more, but nonetheless she complied.

"This is a different kind of wood, rattan," she explained, picking up some of the wood and what seemed like a half-finished basket. It looked about half as tall as the others, with large strands of the wood sticking out at 6 different ends of the basket.

"We make the basket out of Rattan because it is flexible, flexible," she demonstrated as she bent one of the six longer strands. The rattan quickly returned to its original position after she stopped bending it.

"If something is not flexible, it is inflexible. Like normal wood," she explained, picking up a stick from the other wood pile. She bent it and while it did bend a little, it broke shortly after that. "Inflexible things break if bent too hard," she explained, waiting for Savia to show any sign of understanding before she continued. "Some things can be flexible and inflexible in different places, we for example," she explained, putting one of her legs a little forward so she could explain better. "The skin outside and the flesh are flexible, but the bone underneath is not. Sometimes things need to inflexible to be able to take certain stress, for example, you could never have built these walls out of rattan," she explained, knowing that this information would be crucial to Savia's development. After all, her body was flexible, but it could become hard if she wanted it to.
 
Savia followed Emaline diligently and eagerly as she went to a corner to pick some fine strands of wood. The incoming explanation was cut short by Emaline having to give some instructions to Thiya about getting dressed and doing some stuff. Thiya was still a bit grumpy like last night, making Savia wonder what was going on with her, but since the beautiful girl was busy and Emaline started explaining stuff, Savia soon focused on the task at hand. "Rattan different wood" she nodded, looking at the half done basket. Savia could see that what made the basket strong and sturdy seemed to be the careful intertwining of the rattan in a complex pattern, something that she could start to garner how was done since that one was unfinished, but wouldn't dare to make one of her own.

"Flexible... flexible! Savia flexible" she nodded, since in her older form she indeed was flexible. Well, she still could be, but since normal people just bent in very specific ways she didn't want to do anything weird. Savia continued listening to Emaline's explanation, poking her legs with a finger to better feel the difference and touch the bone under the skin and flesh. She was aware of the underlying structure of people thanks to her heightened senses, but just in a most general sense, still having lots to learn. "People flexible and... inflexible" she voiced, considering the idea.

"Go, make basket" Savia asked of Emaline, handling her the unfinished one, wanting to learn how was it done. "Make basket, go different village?" Savia asked, being impatient like a little kid. After all, making baskets was interesting, as it was making something complex from something simple, but compared with the idea of visiting other place and seeing other people it just paled. "Savia help?" she offered, even if she really didn't know what she could do to really be of help.
 
Thiya seemed disgruntled, but didn't say anything as she tried to stand up from her bed a little later. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she grabbed a fresh set of clothes from the basket next to her bed. It was already sunny outside...she hated having to work in the fields, threshing was the worst. Nonetheless, after tying together what counted as underwear around this culture, keeping her girthy genitalia in check, she slid on her skirt and blouse before leaving quietly. Maybe she could visit a certain someone before she got dragged off to work again.

Emaline didn't seem to notice Thiya going out, more focused on making her lesson easy to understand for the curious slime. She waited until Savia had prodded her leg enough before getting more comfortable in her posture. As much as Savia had to learn however, Savia seemed impatient to do so. She almost demanded that Emaline make the basket, with a very child-like demeanor that made her chuckle. She did like to work with children, it was something her wife had always remarked, who was less proficient around the village young. She had a good reputation long after her wife's death partly for that reason. The children who adored her had grown up.

"After I finish this basket, we can go," she explained, grasping the basket a little firmer now that she had it back. She wanted to indulge Savia's curiosity while it was fresh, allow her to see new and exciting things, so she was going to hurry up a little.

"Watch Savia, to make a basket, you need to weave, weave," she said twice, ebding one of the sticks to gently weave it into the upper most row before letting it stick out next to the next stick. She then bent that one, repeating the process until all of the large straps had moved 1 space around the basket. "Baskets allow us to carry things that wouldn't fit into our hands," she explained as she continued, allowing Savia to watch her. It was a very intricate process, complicated and requires a steady hand, yet Emaline managed to make it look so easy.
 
Savia noticed Thiya go, but didn't want to prod her with more questions or doubts, since she did seem to be in some kind of bad mood since the night before and Savia was starting to think it was somehow her fault. It would clarify itself, or so she thought, returning her attention to Emaline's promise of going away after finishing that basket. Nodding to the idea of seeing another new place, Savia scooted a bit closer to Emaline, watching intently how the basket was finished.

Her characteristic humming returned as Emaline explained the process, seeing how the pattern that formed the basket was getting reproduced. "Weave..." she mused, getting her hands together and intertwining her fingers. She saw Emaline doing it with ease born from experience, but it seemed to require quite the amount of focus to not allow mishaps and the exact amount of strength to bend the rattan properly. Knowing that she shouldn't interrupt her while concentrated, Savia just stared while sitting down, seeing how Emaline worked on the basket. It wasn't long until she started to slightly swing side to side at the same pace Emaline worked, eager to not only see the basket done but also that new place she talked about.

"Carry bigger things..." Savia mused, breaking the silence. She wondered if in case of need she should make her hands bigger or she should stick to that form she chose. After all, those people didn't have the capability to change shapes, at least beyond the mysterious penis, so if she wanted to live among them she would probably have to refrain herself from doing anything too weird. She had seen Thiya's and Emaline's scared face, and even if they had reacted more or less positively given time, Savia didn't want to see faces of fear directed at her again, those expressions that took her back to her second birthing, to that cave, to that moment.

With all the patience she could muster, that wasn't specially much, Savia distracted her mind with the basket making process, in wait for Emaline to take her to that new and amusing place.
 
Emaline looked over to Savia with a loving expression as she scooted closer. Savia was pretty much an adopted daughter at this point. Emaline had enough motherly love to go around and Saiva, regardless of what she was or how she got here was so young and helpness that it feltlike her duty to help her.

And part of that was to finish this basket as quickly as she could. But, she shouldn't hurry too much. When you did something, you should always do it right. At some point she would have to teach that to Savia, but she'd probably need a bit more life experience before she could fuly make sense of it.

"Savia, perhaps I should be more specific. A basket can be used to carry bigger things, but you'll be surprised what hands can carry. Baskets are for carrying things like blueberries, lots of them," she corrected her earlier statement. But as much as she loved the craft, Savia seemed impatient. Was the big city really that interesting? Apparently so.

"Savia, I'm almost done. Are you fully dressed, do you have all your clothes on?" she asked in quick succession, wanting to take off as soon as possible to alleviate the girl's curiosity. "Try to grab some baskets when you're done," she added. She'd need the extra hand.
 
"Bigger things... and lots of smaller things. Both things" Savia nodded, seeing the usefulness of the apparently simple contraption. "Water?" she asked, poking at the basket softly, wondering about the capability of those tightly intertwined pieces of flexible wood to hold water it. "Water pots, things basket?" he soon added, guessing that if pots were used in the house to hold water it was for a reason and not just on a whim.

"Yes, fully dressed!" Savia chimed enthusiastically, getting up from the floor, although in the mere act of it she noticed that her bits felt dangling under the skirt. "Ah! Not yet, underwear" she voiced innocently. Raising the skirt up and keeping it there with her chin against her formidable chest, she formed back the clothes that kept things in order down there, once again tying the garments manually instead of making them already tied. Once done, she let the skirt go, falling into place. The ability to make her own clothes was certainly convenient, making Savia wonder how would it feel to wear real clothes.

"Fully dressed!" she remarked, going to the basket pile, seeing that there was no way to grab them all without having extra arms. "Basket carry things... basket carry basket?" she wondered, trying to stack a few of them one inside another to make it easier. Savia had to switch the order a few times to get it right. "Smallest inside smaller inside bigger inside biggest..." she mumbled trying to stack them by size so they were easier to hold.
 
Emaline was trying to finish up, gathering the baskets that Savia didn't take. The girl was eager to help, something she always liked to see. then again, the concept of being nasty didn't even seem to occur to her. Perhaps self-preservation was a very humanoid trait.

"No, no water, the water would run through the gaps," she explained, pointing to the very small cracks between the wood. "Water is drawn to the earth as all things are, nothing with gaps can hold it," she explained further, generalizing her previous statement a little. It was perhaps good for Savia to learn about fluids since Savia herself was somewhere between fluid and solid.

Emaline politely looked away as Savia adjusted her clothing, taking the chance to stretch her legs again after sitting down in the awkward working position. Sitting for that long could get quite uncomfortable after a while.

"Very Good, come, we have no time to waste," she said, smiling as she waved for Savia to come, making sure they had every basket she needed. Usually, she wouldn't have needed to bring something to barter for Savia's bed, but the payment for the baskets would be enough.

"There is much to see. I can't wait to show you," she said with a wide smile as she approached the exit, making sure Savia was on one page with her before they left. This trip would have a very special feel to it, one that Emaline enjoyed. It's been a while since she'd been able to walk to the capitol with someone, Thiya had her own work to do and didn't like it there that much.



The trip was long and uncomfortable for people who would be doing this for the first time. Savia perhaps wouldn't suffer from the same discomforts, but her youthful excitement and curiosity would perhaps play a larger role than any physical discomfort. Emaline tried her to best to make he rip seem fun though. They went past many trees and plants Savia had never seen before, people travelling, more the closer they got to the capitol.

But before they would reach the city, there was a much more exciting sight to see. A bull trodding in front of them. The bull was a creature very unlike anything Savia would ever have seen, mainly because of its size. It was far bigger than the cougar, high enough to reach a person's chest, but in total much, much bigger. It was a fierce creature, pulling a cart behind it. Its fur was a striking brown, the hair on its head long and unkempt. The contraption made of leather around the bull's body kept it attached to the heavy cart, another very interesting thing for the girl to see. Even Emaline seemed very intrigued, but for an entirely different reason.

Stepping closer, she let Savia out of sight, a perhaps somewhat unresponsible thing to do as she looked over the edge to see the cart's contents. It was a material she'd never seen before. It was grey, silver in appearance, but it certainly didn't look like tin. Then again, it was still ore, so it was hard to tell.

A woman accompanied the bull, of tall and strong stature, dressed in garments that were wildly different from those Savia would have seen previously. While Savia was used to the village's skirts and shirts, this woman seemed to wear a much more elaborated armour. The blouse was normal, but it had pieces of metal woven in for protection along the chest and shoulder, connected with coloured thread, blue as it was the most expensive colour you could realistically afford for a mass-produced product. Instead of the skirt, it featured dozens of small patches woven together with metal to form an alternating pattern of metal down the legs and cock. The balls seemed similarly protected, but even more so at the sides. Protecting the genitalia seemed like a very high priority.

The arms had similar, but lighter armour, two of the four hands holding a spear. Some mutations had advantages over others, like four-armed individuals making much better soldiers or workers. But over time, there would be more to attribute their superiority over other mutations to than simple utility, but that discovery would take a few hundred years more.

"Miss Emaline, step away," the guard said with a very authoritative voice. Emaline didn't seem to take her too seriously but pulled back a little. It would have been surprising to people that the guard would have known her name, but one shouldn't forget that her late spouse had been a woman of rank.

"What is that metal? I have never seen it before, it looks quite intriguing, may I not even have a single look?" she asked, unimpressed by the guard's words but still being polite, but even that didn't work on the guard. The armoured woman simply shook her head. "No," she simply stated before she turned away, leading the bull forward. Emaline stared after her with little compassion, grimacing as she tried to find where she had left Savia. "Ah..." she explained, realising she had completely forgotten the poor girl earlier as she took her hand again, pointing at the bull with the other one. "Bull," she explained, though she still seemed a little distant. Whatever that was, the guard seemed to have been ordered to guard it. Ore deliveries usually didn't have guards accompanying them between settlements either. Whatever that metal was it had to be something important. Maybe she could pull a few strings and figure it out? Somehow, she doubted that she'd figure it out. Maybe it was a very rare and expensive variation? That would explain the guard. The concept of iron was still foreign to her, and perhaps it was better that way. Years would pass, but the time that everyone should come to know this metal was to come, and sooner than one thought.
 
Savia eagerly followed Emaline in their trip, and just the variety of people and plants on their surroundings was a welcome sight to her eyes. Savia clumsily asked about everything, what kinds of plants they were around, if they could be eaten, where were all those people going. With time even the girl's endless well of curiosity seemed to dry down a bit, as it was to be expected of a young one even if she didn't know her own age, she was more interested in things to come that the ones surrounding her.

That sentiment came to an end when they stumbled into the cart pulled by such an extraordinary creature. Savia looked at the four legged beast, trying to size up its might and power without getting too close, in case it was a dangerous one even if restrained. It had to be strong to carry all that weight, making Savia wonder if she could do such a thing. Carrying the baskets was no trouble for her, but she wasn't aware of her untested strength. She understood that if people used such a beast to pull that cart it was due to not being able to do it themselves, so even if Savia was capable, she shouldn't do it.

Emaline's curiosity was eventually followed by Savia's own, and as she approached the cart, Savia's eyes drifted to the tall woman that conversed with her. Not only she was taller and had a couple of extra arms, but also was strangely dressed and carrying a pointed stick with her. Those clothes didn't seem comfortable, so Savia wondered what was the reason to wear such an outfit. When Emaline returned to her side after the brief conversation she explained to her the name and nature of the animal pulling the cart. "Bull" Savia nodded when told the word used. "Biggest" she added on her own, appreciating the obvious size of the beast.

"Person?" she wondered, pointing to the taller one. "Differentest clothes and..." she didn't know how to refer to the thing on her hands, instead explaining it with gestures. Emaline seemed distracted around the whole encounter, and was paying quite the attention to the cart, making Savia wonder what was there. "What inside?" she pointed to the cart, not even aware of how the contraption that was being pulled by the bull called. "Want know" she added, looking at Emaline. Being carried in a thing she had never seen, pulled by a beast unknown and escorted by a strange looking woman made Savia beyond curious, even if she knew little about the world, Emaline's interest on it proved in her eyes that it had to be something extraordinary.
 
Savia seemed, almost fascinated by the creature. Emaline could kind of understand it. She had only known people, some insects and cougars up until now, and none of them was as big as a bull, or as strong as a bull. Cattle was one of the most important things they had. It was a very versatile thing to have. It would keep you fed, it would keep your back healthy with age, it would keep multiplying, it was perfect. All this brought a smile to Emaline's face as she nodded in response, happy that Savia was able to at least give a rudimentary description.

But it seemed like that wasn't where Savia's curiosity ended. She seemed curious about the guard as well. Perhaps that was to be foreseen, as well as her curiosity about the cargo. Well, Emaline was more than willing to indulge her. Perhaps it was best to talk about the guards before they came to the city.

"She was a guard. Guards have metal, to keep away Cougars and creatures like that. The mirror was made of metal for example, but that's for other reasons. She was holding a spear, a spear is also to keep Cougars away, but you can use them from further away," she tried to explain it in the simplest way possible without going into gruesome details. No need to shock the child with vivid descriptions of death.

"Inside the cart was ore. Ore gets made very hot so that the metal melts and the stone burns away so that the metal remains," she tried to explain. She knew it was a difficult concept, so she tried to only use words Savia knew the meaning of. It was interesting to realise how little of what you said actually contained information, and how much of it was used just to make your sentences better understandable or more precise, but not by much. You didn't really get to realize that unless you had someone who doesn't know the language handy.

With her hand in hers, Emaline gently led Savia past the cart, hurrying along a little so that they got away from the rather unfriendly guard. There was still much to be seen, and they should arrive soon.



The city came into view long before they arrived, simply due to its size. Past a smaller batch of trees, the land opened up, and you could see rich fields, beautiful flowers and birds flying through the sky as they approached the rapidly growing patch that was civilization. Even from here Savia would be able to see just how much bigger the village was. It was built into the hills, with large wooden outposts around it, so it looked much more like a single settlement than the village they came from did. It looked like it would house more than a hundred families, most likely several hundred people. Here the traffic was the thickest, carts and travellers rolling in and out from everywhere, going through the gates once they had passed the security check. Like the guard at the caravan, these were part of the royal guard, the small military force the royalty had at its disposal. Bronze was expensive and rare, so no large force could be adequately armoured or armed, which is why the guards had a lot of work to do and why they enjoyed a special status within society.

To Savia, just the road they were on was more exciting than anything in the village. There were more people around than she would have ever seen at once, and it slowed their approach, allowing them more time to analyse their surroundings. The security checks were loose compared to modern ones, haystacks were stabbed, cargo inspected, but not a lot and the guards were mostly present to keep just anyone from entering the city. The fact that there was so little to pay attention to only made their controls looser, and they let Emaline in without batting an eyelash when the recognized her, which only presented Savia with an even bigger mass of people. It wasn't a modern crowd, you could still stretch out your arms and walk with minimal contact to other people, but you could see a few dozen people walking around you. For Savia, this was a massive upgrade from the village she came from.

Houses like the ones in the village were visible, round walls, cone-shaped roofs, some let into the hills, some on top. But there were also trodden down roads connecting everything, with far less vegetation than in the village. There were also specially built wooden stands for shops, people selling ornaments or items that were impossible o acquire in the village they came from. There were a lot of shops around the entrances so they could capitalise on people just entering the town, and already as they walked through people were trying to get their attention. A shopkeeper said Emaline's name, another came close to them, offering them something. Emaline ignored them, pulling Savia away from the sights they had to offer. Perhaps it was cruel to take her away from these magnificent offerings, but she would return in due time. She didn't want the young mind assaulted by greedy merchants.

Soon after the shops had ended, she stopped, allowing Savia to finally get what she wanted, a look around.

"Don't let go of my hand Savia, you won't find me anymore if you go far places," she explained, knowing that the concept of getting lost wasn't yet part of Savia's vocabulary. Though perhaps her explanation would need some adjustments. "If you don't know where you are or where to go, that means you're lost," she explained, knowing that Savia was way too excited to be worried about getting lost. Still, she wanted to keep her hand exactly for that reason. The girl would start running around immediately and disaster was practically pre-destined to happen then. She just wanted to give the girl some first impressions before they went to deliver the baskets, after which they could really get to explore the city.
 
Savia had seen someone with metal before, back when she had done that horrible thing. She nodded at Emaline's explanation, roughly understanding the hard nature of metal to serve as a means of defense and to stave dangers away. "Metal no keep Savia away" she said, something that would make many warriors proud instead sounded full of regret and sorrow in her voice. There was no reason to be proud for harming, for ending other people's lives and yet she had the power to do so, although the mere though horrified her.

The next explanation was harder to understand, but Savia was getting better at reading Emaline's intent, so she tried her best to offer her take on what Emaline had explained. "Fire burn stone, change metal. Metal change mirror, change spear, change clothes" she said. Even if she wasn't aware of the process, now she knew that fire could help change the metal and that very same metal could turn into many things, from Emaline's mirror to the guard's garments and spear. That didn't explain Emaline's surprising interest on the cart and such, but Savia guessed that perhaps she was just as curious as the girl herself. With the guard and her mysterious cart out of the way, Savia was happy to keep moving into the promised city.



Only the firm hold of Emaline's hand prevented Savia from stumbling upon rocks on the road more than once, as she was busier looking at the people passing by, the city in the distance, the birds in the sky than at the ground she was stepping on. "Birds. Flowers" she repeated and learned along the way, but her eyes returned over and over again to the most interesting and complicated things they could set on, both the people and the city they seemingly lived in. There was so much to see, so much to learn that it was dizzying. Savia got closer to Emaline, going from holding hands to almost hugging Emaline's arm against her chest, as the busy streets threatened to drown the girl into a sea of faces. Wildly different people approached Emaline, calling her by name, offering this or that only to be ignored by her. The wares they were peddling were almost as varied and interesting than themselves, making Savia drift a bit apart from Emaline, even if she still was holding her hand, but soon Emaline stopped after they had left the merchants behind.

"Guards feel no good. Bigger people no good" Savia voiced as soon as they stopped, disturbed by the meddling nature of the guards job and how the crowds felt overwhelming for her at first. She was seeing that nobody reacted negatively to the amount of people, and seeing that it was normal she was slowly getting accustomed to it, but it was still dizzying to absorb that amount of information. As they had been walking around, she could pick on how people looked and moved, how they dressed and behaved, how they talked and acted, and as exciting as all those things were incredibly interesting, they were also too many to take at once to the almost just born girl.

"Savia no lost" she said, sounding a bit scared, tightening her grip of Emaline's hand. The notion of being away from that woman, not knowing what to do, where to go, barely how to talk or behave terrified her. "City biggest. Big things to learn" Savia said, substituting amount for size, as they were lost of things to learn at the same time, too many for the novice girl. "People make different things" she commented, looking back at where the merchants were, how each one offered a variety of wares in the noisiest manner. "I no know people name to show baskets" Savia expressed, thinking that they had to push the baskets they were carried on the people that wandered there and that she would have to know their name to get rid of them as the merchants knew Emaline's name.
 
the meaning behind what Savia said kind of went by Emaline as they continued their trek. Then again, she wasn't quite in a position where she fathomed much of the girl herself. She knew she was gelatinous, shapeshifting, did something terrible when she couldn't think, as most people did, though this was perhaps a little different, with more extreme consequences. But over time, she understood what Savia meant, but at that point, it was better to ignore it. The girl was obviously young, and while she was perhaps being too quick to judge, she didn't think her hazy past was something that spoke of her current character, especially since Savia didn't present it like something she was proud of or tried to hide it from her. She would teach the girl to look past her old self, and her current self, all with time.



Emaline's treatment of Savia during their entry was perhaps a bit rough, but she could see from Savia's confusion that it was the right thing to do. The girl was barely used to seeing one or two people around. seeing a hundred of them in a very small area must seem monstrous to the girl. The assault on her senses was different as well, the smell of bodies, sweat, dirt. The city was a hotbed of disease and filth, a combination of the times and the lack of a river next door like the village did. Of course, the river ran through here, but it was much more frequented and solitary times were hard to come by, not to mention the amount of waste dumped into it. The river was far from clean when it traveled further down, which is why no settlements had settled there apart from the very edge of the land where the beach opened up to a seemingly endless ocean.

Despite Emaline's worries, Savia seemed more concerned about their task than the many people around her after they cleared the initial mass of people. Perhaps it was this sense of pushing forward that was one of the reasons she took to this girl so much. "Guards are important. Metal protects the guard, which allows them to protect us," she explained, hoping Savia could figure out what she meant. However, not entirely content with Savia's reaction, she lifted one of the baskets before she hit against it from an outward angle, as if to imply that it would have hit her chest if the basket hadn't been in the way. "Basket protects my chest," she explained, repeating the motion a few times before lowering the basket once more. It was a bit hard to hit with the same hand whose arm was holding the basket, but she managed. It was better than letting go of Savia's hand. The girl needed her support.

"Do not worry, we don't need to know names. We supply. There is the supplier, the merchant, and the buyer. The supplier makes a basket and gives it to the basket merchant. The merchant gives the basket to the buyer. They are loud because they are looking for buyers," she explained, combining proper yet simple grammar with words Savia was already familiar with to make the explanation a little easier. the intricacies of buying and selling were probably something that was best learned watching her hand over her goods.

"Now, come Savia. I'll show you how it works," she said, gently squeezing Savia's hand to get her attention as she started walking towards the city centre. The shops were still there, but the merchants were more dignified, less loud, more trying to attract attention to their goods than target individual people. Fruit of immense size was mixed with juicy-looking vegetables at multiple stands, the most stands Savia had seen selling one type of thing. In fact, the whole section seemed to be dedicated to it. Everywhere you looked the green just seemed so overwhelmingly bright and healthy compared to most other things, like a piece of village home out here in the city. The sight would be mesmerizing for the girl, and even more exciting was the fact that Emaline seemed to be steering for one of the shops right next to the fruit stands.

Intelligently located, the basket merchant was just at the start of the food stands to capitalize on people without a basket to carry their purchases. The smell of cooking was coming from elsewhere, which seemed to be hidden somewhere in the food stands. It smelled good, banishing the bad smell of the city from the surroundings.

The basket merchant was a very friendly looking woman, though her mutation was perhaps more interesting. She wore a white blouse, the common fashion around here, though it didn't have arms and lacked a back in favour of being held up by a collar. It seemed rudimentary, but it was very effective at keeping the heat of the city away, especially on such a hot day. safe to say she wore the typical shot skirt for hot weather, her genitalia hidden behind the counter, but presumably dressed in a similar fashion as Emaline and Savia's. Her mutation was one Savia had seen in the crowd, but not actively noticed yet. Certain elements on her body seemed plump than usual, a protrusion from her bosom, her nipples presumably, her lips, they were all swollen larger, though the lips were only a little bigger, whereas the nipples were very obviously thicker and longer, to the point where they were slightly bent against the fabric. Emaline took no notice of this, simply giving Savia's hand a reassuring squeeze before she let go, gently propping up her baskets on the table.

"Emaline, I've been wondering when you'd come. I've been a little short on supply recently," the merchant said in a friendly tone, brushing through her hair with one hand. Long but very fluffy, it gave her a mature appearance, especially with how the brown of her eyes mixed with the auburn shade of her hair. She wasn't all too special or pretty, a little older perhaps than Emaline.

"You know I have the best timing," Emaline replied with a smile, reaching down to take Savia's baskets as well. Eight in total, they were sure to get a good reward. "Eight baskets, woven to perfection," she said with a smile as the merchant seemed to look for something underneath the stand.

"Just what I needed. Demand is high in such good times. Thirty spoons of salt are right here," she replied, picking up a pouch from under the counter. "Bring the pouch with you next time. I can't afford to hand these out," she said, making Emaline nod out of reflex. That much salt was a good bit of money, but baskets were hard work after all. The pouch was quite large, but not hard to carry since it wasn't filled all the way.

"By the way, who's your companion? I haven't seen her around," she said, smirking as she looked down at the shorter girl. To her, she must look a little lost, looking so overwhelmed and curious, like an oversized child. Still, the merchant didn't ask specifically after a child, since she knew as well as most people what had happened to Emaline's wife. Perhaps Savia didn't understand what the merchant was saying per se, but the expectant stare was enough to tell her something, especially since Emaline was starting to look at her as well, mostly because she thought it polite to ask these questions to the person involved rather than ask about someone while they were standing right there.
 
Savia followed Emaline through that ocean of civilization, mostly overstimulated and without knowing where to focus at each time, her grasping hand serving as an anchor to Emaline that kept her close. Even with the knowledgeable woman's explanation about protection, Savia still felt a bit weirded out by the societal structures, but now at least she could understand the purpose of certain things and could share said purpose. "Emaline protect Savia and Thiya, Savia protect Emaline and Thiya" she said, sharing the role of the guards on a personal level, making sure that Emaline understood that even if Savia was naive and lacked knowledge, she was there for her as much as the older woman was there for her inexperienced self.

"Supplier. Merchant. Buyer" Savia repeated, trying to fix the explanation in her mind. "We supplier baskets?" asked while nodding, trying to make sure of their position in the chain. But at the same time they could as well be buyers of something else, like a bed or some kind of food. Trapped in that hectic place, Savia started to understand the whole of it like it was another living being, and watched it with interest. It was like individual people formed one higher being that was part people and part the system and place they lived in, an organism of sorts composed by people and their needs. The notion, even if still raw, was mesmerizing, but soon the contrast between the ripe fruits and fresh vegetables with the sickening crowd enraptured her senses, distracting her while she followed Emaline.

"Smell good..." Savia mumbled, catching a whiff of unknown things in the air. Her experience with food was limited, and even if her ability of getting nourishment from the humidity around her was now slightly stifled by the awful air of the city entrance, she could start to notice strange and interesting things in the air. Of course, she had never seen people cooking an animal, nor did Savia know what spices where, but the aroma was certainly more tempting and pleasurable than the rank smell of people.

But once more, a new thing distracted Savia from another, as if she stumbled from one curiosity to another. Savia's own breasts were something to behold, soft mounds on her tiny frame, but the merchant before them was selectively plump just in the tiniest of areas. Not only her lips were slightly bigger, something that made Savia wonder if the ones between her legs also were like that, but the most eye catching feature rested on the tip of her chest. Maybe it was because Savia with her smaller stature was basically at eye level, but she tilted her head a bit while staring at those nipples so long that they were bent against the fabric of the blouse. The design of said clothing was also of Savia's interest, as it left the back open, something she hadn't seen yet.

Savia was soon enraptured by the exchange of goods, as Emaline got a small sack of salt for the eight baskets, something that wouldn't seem nowhere near fair at first sight. That salt thing had to be valuable then, making Savia wonder where it came from, and what could it do. What really startled her was when the merchant directly talked to her. On one side it was nice to be recognized as the person she was, she wanted to be, looking perfectly fine in that environment, no traces of her old self in sight. But she didn't know how to act, what to do. Her encounter with Emaline had been fortuitous and driven by their mutual curiosity, while meeting Thiya had been conditioned by her mother. Now Emaline was still there, but saying nothing about what should she do or how should she do it.

"I'm Savia" she muttered, at least she could say her own name. And what now? What was she to Emaline? How to explain to that merchant woman where she came from? What was her role in all of that? "I'm... learning" she said, reserved but still honest. Savia scooted a bit closer to Emaline, wanting to feel safe.
 
Very much intent on keeping her young protégée secure as well as feel secure, Emaline's took every chance for personal contact she got. With an approving nod and smile, she signalled the young girl that her assessment was correct. She was still impressed with how quickly Savia took to all these, as well as to human nature. Approval and nodding in itself were concepts Savia had no way of knowing and could only indirectly interpret. But Emaline had shown approval towards her and others often enough to tell Savia what it meant. And the view times Emaline voiced disapproval were in stark contrast, elevating her approval to something to be worked for and something to be proud of when received.

But eventhough interpreting Emaline became easier, it was still just as hard to interpret others. Everyone was unique in appearance, and behaviour, nothing seemed the same. Approval or disapproval became harder to read, and confusing when pretence joined in, merchants feigning positivity to raise sales.

Society was a very confusing organism, and Emaline would have to explain it to her bit by bit. For now, she was simply intent on getting the deal done with. She wanted to keep the interactions Savia had to make the small and controlled bits and pieces so Savia could learn how to ask for something for example. The dialogue between her and the merchant was something she wanted to put a stop to quickly, her motherly instincts kicking in. Thankfully, Savia gave her a very good opportunity to do so.

“Savia here is learning to work the fields. I've taken her here today to help carry things,” she quickly explained, taking the conversation from there. The merchant, to her credit,didn't seem particularly surprised or bothered, simply nodding appreciative. “Nice to know you're not done teaching the young a thing or two. We can always use people who know what they're doing,” she replied, taking down the baskets one by one and seemingly sorting them in a spot under the counter where she had quick access to them. Emaline, glad that things were wrapping up, nodded thankfully as she grasped Savia's hand as the girl cuddled up to her, holding the small bag in the other one.

“I shall take my leave, there's much to do on a day as nice as this one,” she said, slowly stepping back from the counter.

“Very well, I look forward to any batches you have coming up!” the merchant dismissed the two, prompting Emaline to turn and walk to the side. The food stands were plenty, and filled with many brown, white and green delights, not to mention the berries or fruit further down the line. A lot of small wooden signs with amateur engravings were set up, presumably to set prices. Savia wouldn't know that of course, and Emaline only knew because the letters meant something for their writing. It was rudimentary, but understandable, and most people were literate in these peaceful times.

After they had put sufficient distance between them and the basket merchant, Emaline gently leaned down a little. Still holding Savia's hand, she gave her a very gentle and loving kiss on her forehead, as a mother would do. “You did very well Savia,” she said, trying to encourage Savia. She did manage to understand a request and relay information, which was much more important than learning the specifics of language for now. She wouldn't have expected Savia to be able to say she was still learning, but she did teach it to her after all so why not.

“We require food for me and Thiya, come! Let's look at what they have,” she said, giving Savia a gentle pat before she stood up again, still seemingly very proud. Emaline was very good at conveying motherly emotions, which is perhaps why everyone judged her to be such a good parent and teacher. And in a way, Emaline had missed the days where she could raise Thiya and help raise the other children around the village. Savia brought back memories she didn't think she still had.

“All the food here grows, like rice. We take it from the earth and sell it to feed us and others,” she explained, gesturing around. She wouldn't mind nibbling on one of the things they bought...spices were a delight, but she couldn't afford getting anything too expensive right now. They needed to afford a bed after all, something that she sadly never learned to make herself, even if it was the next step after learning to weave baskets. She had appreciated the field work, and wove baskets to relax. But ever since her wife had died, she found herself forced to weave in order to feed herself and her daughter. But it always stayed a hobby rather than a job for her.

“Some we grow ourselves, some we have to import from outside of Thracia, the place we live in,” she explained, leading Savia past the stand. Beautiful round berries, a sea of blue, followed by exquisite-looking celery, various herbs and other plants, though the spring onions perhaps looked the most intriguing. Already Emaline was inspecting some of them, picking up a few as she handed the woman the bag of salt. The woman, a more resolute woman, wordlessly but politely measured a spoon before taking it out and filling it in somewhere below. Taking the bunch she had picked out, she handed it to Savia, letting her hold onto it.

“We'll go get the bed soon, I'll just need to buy some food. These are spring onions, could you carry them please?” she asked politely, introducing the word please. The way she spoke already hinted a little as to what it meant, but saying it and when to say it was a different question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom