Shapeless Heart [Jeufufns and Sigr]

[Sigr]

Savia looked oddly at Emaline as she talked with the merchant. She was relieved since she wouldn't have to use her clumsy words with her, and most of what Emaline said was true, but the part of her learning to work the fields wasn't exactly honest. That meant that people didn't always tell the exact truth? Like the guard of the bull pulled cart, it seemed that everyone had secrets. Did Emaline also lie to her? Did she hide stuff from Savia? She had no way of knowing, but she didn't think so. No, Emaline was good to her, friendly.

Once they were on the distance and the food stands made the air around them smell enticing, specially for Savia that could pick up details more faithfully with her senses, Emaline surprised her when she leaned to kiss her forehead and compliment her. The feeling of the kiss was wonderful and made her look beaming. "I did well" she repeated with a smile, but she still wanted to know more about Emaline's words with the merchant. "Emaline talk merchant. Talk Savia learning to work fields. I'm learning big. No work fields" Savia had trouble expressing that what Emaline said and the truth weren't the same. "Savia learning work fields and Savia learning city, learning river, learning grass and house and words... different" she tried to explain. "Emaline talks merchant different Savia learning" she did her best to summarize that what Emaline had said she was doing and what Savia was really doing weren't the same.

With the disparity cleared out, as it wasn't something that irked Savia, she was just curious, she listened with enraptured attention to what Emaline had to say about food. "Food grow earth..." Savia hummed, a well known notion that prefaced a more complicated one. "Sell food, sell baskets... sell... merchant" she mumbled. "Give food, give baskets... get salt. Give salt... get things" she composed, trying to wrap her mind around the idea. "Salt good, salt grow?" she wondered where that substance that was so valuable came from. Things were interesting in the city, but also complicated, and it wasn't hard noticing Savia sighing from time to time as she thought about stuff, given her ample chest, another mannerism she didn't completely understand but picked up along the road.

"Live Thracia?" the new weird notion made her eyes sparkle. "House in town. Market in city. Town and city in Thracia. Thracia bigger" Savia paused. If things came from outside Thracia, there had to be more to the world, more places she didn't know. "Thracia in...? What biggest?" she wondered aloud, curious about her environment even if it wasn't an immediate one. Surrounded by food and holding those wonderfully smelling spring onions, Savia soon focused on the wonders around her, although she kept mulling Emaline's every gesture, every word. "Please?" she wondered, it seemed nice, it felt nice, but she didn't know exactly what it meant. "I can carry" she gestured, rising the hands with the onions on them. "Please good word, weird word" she mumbled.

Thinking about it, Savia tried to imagine how it worked. "Please make words more good" she nodded. "Emaline" Savia looked at her directly, eyes sparkling. "I liked it, could you..." she tried to mimic her phrase about the onions but lacked the words for it. Putting her lips out as she was clumsily kissing the air, Savia then tapped them. "Could you touch lips, please?" she asked, tapping her forehead.

 

[Jeufufns]

While they had a lot to do and Savia's questions were quite numerous, Emaline still went through all of them. A single unanswered question would leave the girl's thirst for knowledge unquenched, and for every question answered a new one appeared. What would seem like an unwinnable battle to some only encouraged Emaline to continue. Those that asked questions would always be ahead of those that didn't.

But perhaps some question were more difficult to answer than others. Some things would just come with time, like the concept of lies. This was something Emaline had to be careful with, but she didn't really know how. After all, lying was a very special concept. It was an evil deed that could result in good, or perhaps a tactic more than anything? That's where it already began. What was a lie?

"You learn about the world, that is the truth. I told the merchant that you work in the field. That is a lie," she explained carefully, trying to pronounce the words to bridge the gap between the many connecting words Savia didn't know yet. Her smile never waned as she spoke, as if to make Savia smile as well. Happiness was the most intrusive of emotions, always spreading from whoever gave it. And Emaline had always used that when she worked with children. "Only lie if I tell you to. You will learn about them more as you learn and grow, but they are dangerous! Only lie if I tell you to," she repeated, using her more disciplinary motherly tone to try and protect Savia from misusing them. It could only end badly. Grown-ups didn't even know how to use lies properly sometimes. they were a necessary evil, but she didn't like them.

A little pre-occupied with managing the sale, Emaline waited until everything was done and over before she continued her lecture. Patience was a virtue, one she hoped to teach the young girl, through all of her youthful excitement. "Salt grows in the sea. The sea is the largest amount of water in the world," she explained, with a little bit of her own excitement showing. It was clear she loved the world, and she loved exploration. Perhaps that was why she took a liking to the unusual young girl so quickly. Shared interests went a long way. "Thracia is a tribe. The world is divided into tribes and oceans. Some land is not inhabited by a tribe, but still used by them occasionally," she explained as clearly as she could, though things were clearly more complicated and nuanced than that. "Noone knows how big the world is, and we are far from being able to know," she explained, more romanticising than trying to be informative. Some said the few tribes they knew were the end, some said the world ended where the horizon did, she knew better. She knew the horizon changed wherever you were, but she was far from knowing. she simply saw her own ignorance, though that made her in most ways unique compared to the others.

But Savia was very much unique, and not just from a physical standpoint. Everyone was unique in their own physical way, but to be unique was something different. She still believed that the true extent of what Savia could be was something she would never know, but her understanding of the word please was part of it. Pride filled her as she forgot where she was going for a second, turning to Savia instead.

"Of course," she replied softly, leaning down to give Savia a gentle, motherly kiss on her forehead. Once Savia would start understanding more and more things on her own, like a newborn listening to the language of its parents, she would make sure that Savia would never stop learning. Perhaps that was the mistake she did with Thiya? Her daughter was intelligent, beautiful, but her curiosity had faded with time. She did not want her to end like many old women, eager only for what they've known for years and years until death came for them. Death....no, she would keep Savia far, far away from that concept. She was familiar with it already, and that was enough.

Now that she had soured her own mood a little, she thought it would be best to continue on their initial objective. Some other time they could really explore the city in all its depth, when Savia had processed the sensation of so many people, so many smells, so many colours around. Perhaps.....yes, she would prepare a gift, one that she treasured, but hid away because of the memories attached to it. Perhaps it was better to attach newer, fonder memories to it.

"Come Savia, let's get you your bed and get back home. We will come back to the city some other time," she said as they left the many food stands behind. They had gotten enough spring onions to last them for a while, and while it would seem like a very one-dimensional purchase, she knew exactly what to do with them. They had their own crops after all back in the village, they were only missing onions, a plant you could put into any recipe she could think of and improve it. And skipping the spice and produce was a little lighter on the pocket as well.

And looking at the shopping district, they would probably beed to go a little easy on the pocket. Despite the main road being off-centre in regards to the city, very much so, all the shopping and goods were focused around there, since naturally the most people would walk along here. The salesmen were a little less enthusiastic in selling their merchandise, with less overly excited women trying to sell you things in a very close and personal manner. Luxury goods were being sold here, and as such the store owners were a little more defensive about their business. In this case, it was better to have them enter and look rather than to try and sell outside or over a counter. Of course these were old times. A large shop was naught but a larger dustier room, not built round like the houses but instead retangular, built into whatever ground there was, supporting with wood and rock, inhospitable. Only the taverns and houses retained the well-known architecture of the village Savia would grow up in.

Luxury goods meant there was a lot for Savia to see. Some stores bore metalwork, mirrors, swords, jewelry. Nothing that Emaline could afford, but someone had to be able to. Emaline wore a decent amount of jewelry too, quite beautiful and well-crafted, even better than what was in the store. For Savia it would probably be weird, for Emaline to posess the most beautiful piece, even if she didn't know the price. Emaline however knew why this was. Her love had spared no expense to make her feel cared for. Every piece she had given her was stored away safely apart from the things she wore right now. And up until now, Emaline hadn't really seen a reason to dig them out again.

Knowing how many new things Savia got to see right noe, she decided to slow down a little. It wasn't like they were really in a hurry. But even then, her destination was coming closer. A small shop, nothing more than a room with stacked woven furniture and a counter, it was one of quite a few furniture stores around, though every shop did different things so they did threaten each other's existence as much as one would think. This one sold beds,exactly what she wanted.

"Hello? I would like to take a look at the beds please," she said, with routine in her voice. It was clear that this was sentence she said a lot to different people, or at least with a few words replaced. The shop owner got up from her seat, ready to show them the selection. She wasn't too impressive either. Some people looked naturally more beautiful than others. The shop owner didn't, nor did her body seem to have anything particlarly special about it other than the usual curvy proportions of a Taracian.

As for the sale, Emaline knew very well what she was doing, and the shopkeeper did not. With a very careful pointers to damagers, she managed to haggle out a good price. Aome dents and bruises were there, but from weaving herself, she knew the different between actual flaws and cosmetic flaws. Visibly satisfied after a good few minutes of confusing Savia with nothing but talks about damages and salt, she took out the pouch and picked up the bed in question while the store owner measured out less than ten spoons. A fair price.

But while she was trying to lift the bed properly, which could be a problem with these large constructs, she spied a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye. Her head darted around, teying to find what it belonged to, when she saw a pleasantly familiar sight entering another shop. While she didn't know this woman, there was perhaps someone she knew who eould like to.

Leaning the bed against the counter as she took back the pouch and secured it, she gestured to the young girl. Saying her goodbye's to the merchant, she tried to maneuvre the bed as best she could. She had honestly been waiting for this moment, and Savia looked just as excited about having a bed as Emaline was buying it for her, this was an opportunity that absolutely had to be taken.

Putting a few steps distance between them and the shop, Emaline set the bed down again before turning to Savia, making sure she had the girl's attention. "I'm Taracian, the merchant is Taracian, Thiya is Taracian, you are different. Would you like to meet someone else who is different?" She asked. She tried to introduce proper sentence structure and grammar, but knew that if she went too far the girl wouldn't be able to understand anything. Using words they had already talked about like merchant was the key and Emaline hoped Savia would be as excited as she thought she would be at the news. This was a fairly big deal after all, not a lot of foreigners came here.

 

[Sigr]

Savia listened intently as Emaline explained what a lie was. It seemed that truth was formed with the things that were, and lies were made with the things that weren't. "Grass is green. Truth. Grass is blue. Lie" she said, nodding, using the things she had learned to try and show Emaline that she understood, but what came next made her cower a bit. Covering her mouth with a hand, Savia nodded as Emaline said that she shouldn't lie, that lies were dangerous. "Savia no lie" she said while nodding even more vigorously, Emaline's disciplinary tone making her wanting to obey, to be a good girl.

Luckily for her, the explanation about salt was more lighthearted and talked about how the world was, bigger than anyone could know, with masses of water Savia couldn't even begin to imagine, different tribes scattered across the land. As her young mind tried to put together town after town, city after city, all full of different people, stitched together with grass, rivers and those seas Emaline talked about... it was clear that the idea overwhelmed her a bit, looking almost cross eyed trying to figure out how that worked. She did calm down as Emaline kissed her in the forehead as she asked, feeling good not only for the touch itself, but what it entailed. She was a good girl.

Before Savia could wonder why that touch felt good or what other kinds of touches would do to people, Emaline talked about getting a bed and returning home. Savia's green eyes sparkled, she was going to have her own bed. Sure, learning a lot about the city was fantastic, but it was also stunning at the same time, so she didn't take the returning home as something bad, but a moment to rest. Away from the busier streets of the market, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, Savia followed Emaline into a part of the city that still had shops, but of more reserved nature. And what of the merchandise they peddled, shiny wonders at every corner for Savia to peek. Some places seemed to sell weapons similar to the ones of the city guards and the woman of the cart before, others those mirrors when one could see the self almost as clear as day, while a few reserved ones sold the kind of adornments Emaline wore, although Savia preferred the ones on her, even if she had trouble discerning their purpose.

With the bed shopkeeper not being strange or interesting in looks nor behavior to Savia, she focused briefly on the wares she sold, but soon turned to Emaline's attitude and how she behaved with the merchant. She seemed to find every fault and problem, but even for the naive Savia the counterpoint was apparent, as the damages extended so did lower the amount of salt. As it progressed and it became faster and more convoluted, it was hard to follow for Savia, who started to consider other things. It was clear that Emaline wouldn't buy her a faulty bed, or so she believed, so the importance of the damages would be different for Emaline and the shopkeeper. But if only one of those views was true, did it mean that Emaline was lying again after the talk she gave her? Savia frowned, as it wasn't the time or place to ask her about something she didn't quite understand, so it would have to wait until later, although the exchange was soon done and Savia was happy to have her own bed.

Once they went out the shop Savia thought of asking Emaline about the lying issue, but she seemed to have something to say. "Different you or different me? She can change?" Savia asked, curious and confused. She had thought herself to be unique, well more unique than others, as each person was different, but perhaps there was someone else who could do what she could? No, Emaline didn't seem to mean that. "Another tribe?" Savia asked, finally thinking she had found the proper idea Emaline was talking about. "Savia learn new people, Savia meet new people" she nodded quickly, wanting to know who Emaline was talking about.

 

[Jeufufns]

Savia's behaviour was commendable, though perhaps it was her lack of confidence in this strange and foreign world that made her so curious and loyal. Perhaps once she grew more confident over time, things would change. It did for most, but Emaline had her doubts that it would be the same with Savia but perhaps her earlier thinking needed to be adjusted. She couldn't exclude biological factors from her theory as to why Savia might be so different. Or just the way she came to be here, practically a child before having to learn things that babies learned, years worth of knowledge flooding into a brain completely unprepared. Perhaps she would have to think of Savia's behaviour the same way she had to think of her development. Perhaps she really could not make assumptions about Savia's future. Nonetheless, it did not change the fact that she could change it.

And while this was only a fleeting thought, an afterthought of something she had decided earlier, it made her curious herself. The joys of parenting were to observe and to learn with your child, to learn to control it, but to also learn to release it, allow it to learn how to do it by itself before it was sent out into the world when it came of age. It made her genuinely curious as to how Savia would develop, and what mistakes she would make while she matured.

So far, Savia had been a very good girl and Emaline made her feel that way even after their kiss, smiling at her guesses, nodding when she got something right. Feedback was important, and to be warm and gentle to her gave Emaline great amounts of joy.

She would have gladly answered any question Savia would have if she knew of them, but perhaps Savia would have something much more interesting to ask question about very soon. Her own biological differences would no doubt pre-occupy the young girl, so to meet someone who was just as different from the Taracians around them would be a very important and very memorable experience for the young girl. She would have to save up for a longer trip so she could show Savia the Zadean capitol. It truly was a sight to behold, a beacon of civilization, by far the most advanced place she knew. Once Savia knew the city well enough, she would be able to appreciate how much better the foreign capitol was. In consequence, she would also learn what kind of cultural influence the Zadeans had on their surrounding tribes. For now, a live Zadean was sure to excite the young girl.

"Another tribe, one I know," she answered the curious girl's questions, smiling at her peaked curiosity. "I think you'll like it, you'll meet someone who looks a lot different than what you've known so far" she explained, slowly so that Savia could fill in the gaps between the world she knew. At some point Savia needed to learn how to construct sentences, but she wasn't sure on how to do that. Nonetheless she was confident that Savia would grasp the meaning of some of these words, similar to how a baby listened and learned its mother's language.

Gently grasping Savia's hand, she led the girl to the store she watched the woman disappear in. It was a jewelry store and even from afar, you could see the bronze bracelets decorating a wooden stick used to hold them up. Jet and Amber decorated the more expensive pieces, fresh from the mines in the north. Some looked quite beautiful and shiny, though Emaline's still bore a uniqueness to it. The stones Emaline's jewelry had were very different as well. Perhaps it wasn't so foolish as to assume Emaline had gotten it somewhere else entirely.

Nonetheless the shop obviously sourced from the gold-works, as there were many crafted items around rather than the gemstones themselves. But despite there not being a lot of capable smiths to craft such jewellery, they sold to more than just the rich council members and their families. The Zadeans were good customers of jet in particular because of how well it fit to their unique physiology. How fitting that the Zadean Emaline spotted earlier was exploring the jet bracelets, trying to find something pretty for herself. And she was a very exotic sight indeed.

At the base level, she was a woman like any Taracian was. Quite shapely curves that would surely make a night with her a very memorable experience, and a healthy thick manhood up front. The fashion was very different from what the Taracians wore, a long tight skirt rather than the loose short ones with extra genital covers Taracians wore. It seemed to be modular too, the front part cotaining the genitalia being woven into the back part which was tailored to her rear to increase the chances for a shop to be able to seel something pre-made. The Zadeans were large and industrious enough to pull that off, rather than custom tailor everything like the tribes did. The skirt was made of similar material as the Taracian ones, though the tightness gave it a whole different look. The white garment pronounced the woman's curves quite well, showing off her shapely physique. One could see that she was a traveler from how toned her legs were, rather than her arms as they would be with field work.

If you included her blouse, those were the things the two tribes had in common. But there was so much separating them it was hard to believe. In fact, it was too much. The Taracians had moved during the early days of the bronze age, settling down at the highly contested area they occupy now. The tribes at sea were mostly concerned with infighting at the time, so the Taracians settled with relative ease. The circumstances of this however were largely lost. The most educated of Taravians like Emaline knew that their tribe had moved here long ago, but the exact circumstances of it had faded with time, as did the hostilities between certain tribes the Zadeans were related to. The rich sea and mountains provided the Taravians with enough resources to make the tribe grow larger and larger over time, even if the Zadeans still beat them.

While history explained the differences well, it didn't quite do the exotic tribe justice. Uniquely beautiful, their slightly pinkish skin set them apart from the more purple shades of their sister tribes. Stunning blue hair that was somewhat well-kept framed and a pair of horns sprouting on one side, giving her a lop-sided but by all means enchanting appearance. Her ears were a little longer as well, a little pointier, not significantly but enough to make it seem like a racial difference. As Emaline approached her, she turned around, revealing sharp features and yellow, very radiant-looking eyes. It was a lot to take it for the young girl, a lot. Not only that, but her feet made very odd noises when she turned. A look at her feet would confirmed that there was something off about her shoes. They seemed to be leather for the toes and below, then stretched upward. But it was also stretched over a large and thin protrusions sticking out from her foot. Savia mostly likely wouldn't be able to discern what it was, but it only added to the many things different about that tribe.

"Excuse me? Do you have a moment?" Emaline asked very politely, but in a very confusing manner. The language sounded very different than the usual Taracians. Emaline spoke fluid Zadean, which came in handy during her many travels. The woman nodded, a little confused, until Emaline started to get a little more specific.

"My daughter here has never seen a Zadean before. I saw you and thought I should grasp the opportunity." She continued in the foreign language, even more foreign than regular Taracian to the young slime. "Never before?" The woman asked in the same language, a little surprised, but it seemed like she wasn't opposed to the idea. Turning to Savia, she tried to look nice, smiling as she watched Savia's reaction after she had put the bracelet she was looking at back where it belongs. "Hello, nice to meet you," the woman said, in Taracian this time.

 

[Sigr]

"Look a lot different..." Savia mused, mulling over the idea. If there was radically different people out there, how would she know how she should look like? Savia had found a form she was comfortable for her, a form that felt like her, despite her body being able to change shapes, but that same form was based on what she knew about people. Her doubts were discarded when she gave a thought to them. If she was to learn from Emaline as she had been doing, if she treated her like one of her own people, her own tribe, her own family, it was only appropriate like she looked like one of their own. Similar, yet different. Savia didn't had to worry about how she could look like, since she already did look like she wanted to.

Jewelry flashed as Savia walked with Emaline into the shop, various pieces of metalwork adorning the shop, showing the wares. The jewels only caught Savia's attention so long, as she soon laid eyes into the shapely figure whose strange clothes hug in new ways. Once you got to think about it, the differences weren't as pronounced, as it still was a garment made to be practical, but what could be done within the realm of that criteria was interesting to say the least. As soon as they moved a bit, Savia's attention soon switched from the outfit to the person itself, looking at her with wide green eyes and open mouth.

The skin was of a different color, making Savia wonder if the feel, the texture would be different. Her hair was of a color no other hair she had seen before, almost like the one of the sky, and the eyes were even more yellowish than Savia's own green ones, adorning a sharp and interesting face. All of that paled when compared to the horns that appeared on one side of the head, defying the symmetrical patterns Savia was familiar with so far. The movement also clued Savia to her feet, making her tilt her head in curiosity. Emaline didn't lie when she said that such a person would be different.

"Ah!" Emaline's strange words startled Savia, making her frown while she stared at the exchange taking place. Without a frame of reference she couldn't understand a thing, the words making no sense at all for her. The conversation didn't last long, but Savia followed it with eager eyes, marveled at the new things she was learning that day. "Ah-" Savia scooted a bit behind Emaline, but after a brief moment she realized that she was perfectly safe. "Hello. Nice to meet you" she answered with the same words, feeling like it was the proper thing to do after being exposed to a few conversations. "You look different. You look good" she mumbled. "Sky blue hair and..." she gestured around her own head where the horns would be, although she didn't have a word for those. "Good clothes, different boots" she nodded appreciatively. Savia may know a few words, even string them together into a clumsy sentence, but the art of conversation was far out of her grasp for the time being.

Without knowing that a girl that looked her age should know how to talk way better than she did, Savia continued in the appreciation of the Zadean woman. She was aware of which places she shouldn't touch after practicing with Thiya, but she was too curious as to not push further. "Can I...?" she struggled with the words, extending one hand into the air. "Can I touch?" she asked, waiting with bright, eager eyes.

 

[Jeufufns]

While Savia's reaction was of course of intense interest and curiosity, Emaline felt different things looking at the woman. Appreciation for a fellow traveller, appreciation for her looks, exotic and beautiful. And she was happy to have a chance to flex her language skills a little, trying to feel like she was travelling again. Nothing pleased her more. But Savia's curiosity also pleased her. It was expected, but that didn't make it any less nice to see. Savia had healthy curiosity she learned to foster, it was only a question of whether the woman would cooperate, but she seemed nice enough.

The stranger tried to figure out how to deal with Savia for the first few seconds, but soon she adapted a friendly smile. She couldn't quite pull off the warm, motherly glow that Emaline had, but it was friendly enough. She was probably used to being ogled, being a traveller as well as a pretty young woman. She even seemed a little amused by how nervous Savia looked, inching behind Emaline. She would probably assume that Emaline was her mother, which while factually untrue might as well be. Still, she did look older than a typical child, so it was a bit odd that she couldn't speak the language. Thankfully however, the Zadean didn't notice as much as Emaline or any native did. She had only learned this language later in her life, so she had a bit of an accent as well as some mistakes here and there. She was quite thankful that Emaline spoke her language perfectly.

The Zadean nodded thankfully as Savia complimented her, but looked over to Emaline after Savia asked whether she could touch her. She wasn't quite sure she understood her correctly. "she wants to touch me?" she asked Emaline in her native tongue, to which Emaline replied with a somewhat nervous nod. "She's just curious, she wants to learn about other tribes. I've taught her to be clean and polite about these things," Emaline tried to reassure the woman. Turning back to Savia, she didn't seem to know what to think of the idea. But Savia seemed remarkably clean now that she looked her over. Not a single bit of dust or sweat was to be seen. It was....remarkable really. "Um....yes you can," she replied, in Taracian this time as she allowed Savia to proceed. She smiled again as well, which would probably make the girl feel a bit more comfortable. Savia seemed like a nice enough girl, she didn't mind. Might have been a more enthusiastic yes if Emaline wasn't here, but she was always nervous about mothers.

 

[Sigr]

Savia's green eyes danced between the Zadean woman and Emaline, trying to anticipate what Emaline would say while also interested in the Zadean's bemused expression. She didn't do anything wrong, or so she hoped. When Emaline brought here to met that person she meant that she had to learn, and for that she had to touch. She was taught to not touch in those places, even if she didn't know the reason, so Savia would obey, as the good girl she wanted to be. Hearing them talk once more with those strange words, Savia frowned once more, trying to put the pieces together but lacking too many of them to solve the puzzle. In her mind it made sense that different people used different words, it wasn't much of a stretch of her logic, but if she was to learn how to speak it seemed difficult to learn the words of many people, or so she thought, unaware of her quick progression being an oddity by itself.

Her eyes opened a bit wider when the Zadean turned to face her, awaiting for what she had to say about it. Savia could notice that the woman was looking all over her, seemingly pleased and perhaps even surprised with what she saw, not knowing what she had noticed. The affirmative answer and friendly smile soon made Savia brighten her expression, a small happy hop as she approached the woman making her formidable chest bounce. "I'm Savia" she said, introducing herself. "Hand, please" added, visibly more enthusiastic, no longer seeking Emaline's protection, as her own curiosity got the best of her. Extending a hand of her own, the tip of her fingers grazed, then caressed, then touched the Zadean's pink skin, curious to find how similar or different was from Emaline's.

"Pretty hair, pretty eyes..." she mumbled, her attention focused on the Zadean's face. Savia still didn't know the exact purpose of many parts of the body she had, since even if the purpose of arms and legs was easily apparent, and the face was full of many useful things, she didn't quite understand it all. To all those mysteries she now had to add that thing that extended from the Zadean's head, that protuberance she lacked even a word for, and yet she wanted to touch, to find out what was it like. "I don't have... that" she said, gesturing with a hand around her head where a horn would be, then pointing to the Zadean's face. "Word unknown..." she sighed, her feet shuffling a bit, fidgeting. Maybe it was one of those places where she shouldn't touch, like the breasts or the penis, but Savia wasn't sure as no one told her about it.

"Can I touch it?" Savia said, her eyes darting from the horn to the Zadean's face, trying to see in her expression if it was something she shouldn't ask. Either way, with her short stature she wouldn't be able to reach it unless the woman leaned down, so she waited, inadvertently gently squeezing the Zadean's hand with her own, awaiting anxious for an answer.

 

[Jeufufns]

Emaline was aware of the fact that Savia probably didn't understand a word of what they were saying. As much as she enjoyed speaking foreign languages, Savia's oral development was perhaps a tad bit more important than her personal indulgence, so she kept things short. She didn't realise that Savia could already separate them into different languages, but even then it would probably have been better to stick to one for now.

While Savia words were a little blunt, she said them cutely and innocently and her grip on the language wasn't perfect anyways, so she let it slide. Though perhaps the hop and the subsequent jiggling of pounds-worth of boob made the Zadean's decision a little easier. While Savia looked quite young, she made the physical impression as if she were of age at the very least, but it was a bit too hard to tell from her demeanor.

The woman smiled, giving Savia her hand as the young girl prodded and stroked it. She didn't know if she liked being the centre of attention when coming to Taracia, but she liked the youthful curiosity she awoke in younger people, though perhaps it was only natural for her to appreciate the admiration of people of her age, though Savia didn't quite belong to that.

"My name is Edea," the Zadean replied, a rather traditional name for one of her tribe, though Savia wouldn't know that. Naming conventions were quite different for Taracians and Zadeans, though the Zadeans shared theirs with most of the other tribes surrounding them due to their common ancestry.

There was no obvious difference between Emaline's skin and the Zadean's skin. They were different, but just as different as Thiya's and Emaline's were. It wasn't anything new or exciting surprisingly. It seemed a bit shinier though and a little more forgiving. The Zadean seemed aware of their differences already, and had already anticipated that Savia would want to ask about her horns. The horns were however somewhat more private than her hands. It was like asking to touch someone's hair, it was mildly inappropriate. Still, while Edea didn't look as enthusiastic about it as she did before, she gently crouched down just a little bit to allow Savia to touch it while making sure not to tax her skirt too much as her voluptuous figure threated to slip out on either end if she were to go down too much. Zadeans could be quite protective of their horns as well, so she watched Savia while she did it. "You can touch my horns," she replied, trying to reassure the girl a little. She probably didn't know, something she saw reflected in the nervous squeeze of her hand. The girl was harmless, she shouldn't be so sceptical. Emaline watched, a little concerned, but not stepping in. It didn't seem necessary, and Savia wouldn't do anything unseemly.

 

[Sigr]

"Edea, pretty name" Savia widened her smile, her bright emerald eyes dancing around as she poked and felt that the Zadean skin, despite coloration, wasn't really much different from the skin of any other woman. Yes, there were small differences that Savia with her senses could pick with ease, but nothing that really separated Edea's skin from Emaline's beyond the weird hue. As with other approaches, Savia found that touching other people was nice, as it was not only interesting but... good in a way Savia couldn't yet describe. Warm, friendly, funny, intimate, enticing, familiar, gentle, tender. There weren't a lot of things Savia didn't have a word for, but also some that having a word for them wouldn't help, as were things new to her, feelings she couldn't quite describe with her recently gained awareness. What she felt when Emaline kissed her that made her want be a good girl, how Thiya reacted and made her feel when she touched her, there were things she couldn't quite describe yet and were in the back of her mind, gaining presence.

"Horns" Savia nodded, repeating Edea's word for the things she had in her head. "Thank you" she added, slowly reaching as the Zadean woman leaned forward. Savia's fingers danced around the tip of the longer one, tentatively. First she just brushed it, then gently poked with a single finger, appreciating the different texture and consistency. More fingers joined the quest of the first one as she went down the length of the horn and it widened, soon joined by another shorter one that jutted just above Edea's ear. "Nice, strong, hard" Savia whispered her appreciation of them, more of an absentminded exercise of trying to fit the words that she was catching here and there than complimenting Edea. They were really interesting, and somewhat similar to what she could feel people had under the skin, those hard parts under the soft ones. "Sky hair" she mused, brushing aside a lock of that wonderfully strange hair as she approached the base of the Zadean's horns.

"Oooh..." Savia quietly appreciated the difference in touch as her fingers caressed the base of them, passing from the familiar feeling of Edea's skin of her forehead to the newfound feeling of her horns. "Pretty" she said, moving away her hand, eyes sparkling in admiration. "Thank you Edea!" Savia added with enthusiasm, so glad that the stranger woman had allowed her to learn so much. Edea had been really nice with her, so Savia felt that just thanks wasn't enough to show her appreciation. Getting advantage of Edea's still slightly bent form, Savia planted a small peck with her soft lips on Edea's forehead, quickly backing off. "Edea good girl. Edea nice and pretty" she said with a wide, warm smile.

Savia then remembered that Edea's feet were also somewhat odd in a way she couldn't yet guess, so her eyes stole glances downward from time to time. It was too much to ask though, and seemed quite impractical to remove her shoes in a place like that, so Savia limited herself to stand there, beaming with everything that she had learned, humming happy from time to time.

 

[Jeufufns]

Edea couldn't help but smile when Savia complimented on her name. There was something innately cute and innocent about this young woman that made her smile as if you were talking to a child. Nonetheless, it was only a matter of time for the innocence to wane. Emaline perhaps wouldn't have expected that Savia could feel attraction without her encouraging her in some way. But the rift between their species was smaller than one would think even if her sensitive areas weren't limited to certain areas.

The Zadean had to lower a hand to the ground to help balance herself a little. Usually, one would sit down or crouch differently, but she wasn't going to crouch for long. This way however she needed to balance herself artificially, as her heels weren't all too adept at balancing her like this. At least Savia was being careful, so that didn't give her any issues. The horns were a bit more sensitive than one would think, but not to a point where what Savia was doing would make her uncomfortable.

Savia was somewhat quick to finish, taking the correct amount of time to understand what she was touching. The compliments seemed to amuse Edea as well as her eyes followed the enthusiastic young girl. The sparkle of admiration in her eyes was a mannerism that Emaline didn't think of teaching her, but apparently, it just seemed natural to Savia. Perhaps the road to humanity was given, not constructed? Perhaps if you took one step towards humanity, the rest would inevitably follow. An interesting thought, but too much to read out of a single expression. Still, she was a little proud of Savia, even if her language and interaction skills needed improving. She managed to convey humanoid emotions quite well.

Though perhaps it was time to wrap things up. Savia had had enough interaction for now and the whole 'good girl' part made her nervous. She knew it was somewhat risky to let her interact completely on her own, but other than that she'd done well.

Edea seemed to blush a little as she began to rise up after the kiss. Still, it didn't seem unappreciated. It was just weird somehow, the young Taracian girl behaving young enough to seem like a child while looking old enough to be of age and to give her kiss a somewhat different meaning. It was getting a little uncomfortable, but of course, the child just did what she thought was nice, which she appreciated. Not to mention that a child more often spoke the truth than anything, so compliments from a child meant a lot more.

"Thank you, I'm sure you will grow up to be just as pretty," she replied, slowly reaching forward to give Savia a gentle stroke through her hair before she turned back to her 'mother'. "We'll be on our way. Thank you very much!" Emaline said in Taracian, to which Edea responded with a friendly smile, despite how hurried Emaline seemingly was. "You're welcome! You have a very sweet child"

Giving Savia enough time to linger a little as the Zadean returned to her shopping, it seemed that there was still more to see. Emaline had already begun walking away, but the few pieces that Savia was still missing to copy a Zadean's looks were coming together. Now that she could see the Zadean's back, a lot of differences were becoming visible that weren't all too noticeable from the front. For one, Edea's lower back and chest seemed pushed towards the front a little. The spine looked different as well, the complete change not being something that Savia would be able to grasp, but the different behaviour of it was, how it moved, how it seemed to function.

Nonetheless, the heels still seemed to be the most interesting by far, and after Savia had played with Edea's horns they suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense. Savia's incredibly precise vision made it easier for her to spot the difference, and it was noticeable if you were as gifted as she was. Despite the many different feet sizes around, the foot seemed less muscular, but instead, the ankles seemed to be a lot stronger. The muscular structure of her lower legs was similar but different as well, allowing more pressure on the knee at the consequent boon and cost of endurance, though these purposes and effects would be as obvious to Savia as the structure itself of course.

Still, despite all this magnificence, one wouldn't want to lose Emaline in such a crowded place.

 

[Sigr]

"Grow pretty..." Savia muttered under her breath, repeating what Edea had said while she ruffled her red hair. She didn't know everything about herself, specially about her origins and her nature, but she understood the peculiarities of her body enough to dismiss the notion. She couldn't really grow, could she? She could change her own shape if she saw fit, of course, but grow as Edea suggested, as grass did... she probably couldn't. The idea didn't worry her much, as she knew that she was different and she accepted it, at least at that moment, so Savia limited herself to nod and smile. Wait, did that count as a lie? Emaline told her that she couldn't lie, but saying nothing about it didn't seem like a lie, right?

As they greeted and thanked Edea while going out, Savia noticed other differences, both apparent and subtle, that separated the Zadean woman from any Taracian one as far as Savia was concerned. It would be easier to discern those while naked and allowing Savia to touch all around, thanks to the sensory nature of her body, but even Savia felt that such a thing would be inadequate, Thiya's face and reactions in her memory. What was that? A small tingle, a feeling of unknown nature bothered her. It wasn't just the idea of safety that warmed her while holding hands with Emaline, nor the welcoming sensation of being adequate whem she said she was a good girl or kissed her. It was something else, something good like those other feelings, but also something strange, private, disorienting. Of course, Savia lacked the understanding or the words to express all those doubts, all those things that came naturally to any person but were trapped in her strange, sensitive, shapeshifting body.

It also hardly was the moment to voice her confusion or discomfort, hands busy with the spring onions while Emaline carried the bed, their grasp separated as they walked out of the store. "Emaline!" she yelped, hurrying close to the woman. "City unknown" Savia added, now focused on the task at hand instead of inwards. "I... don't want... far from Emaline" she voiced, struggling with words, looking scared for a moment. If separated from Emaline what would be of her? She could go out of the city, but would she be able to find her way to the village on her own? She could ask people, but with her limited knowledge of the words and the surrounding area, it seemed like a daunting task. "City interesting, learn big, but also... scared?" she finished, reaching all around her limited experience, pulling words she heard here and there to echo her feelings.

 

[Jeufufns]

Emaline stopped as Savia called her name, turning to the direction of the voice. Her initially surprised expression turned warmer as she looked down at the agitated young girl, gently reaching out her hand to Savia. Or at least, that's what she tried to do before she remembered she was carrying a bed. These things were somewhat uncomfortable to carry. But after moving it under her arm, she managed to hold onto it with only one arm so Savia could have one for herself. It was quite hard to carry it like this, but she wanted to make Savia happy. She'd have to hold on at least until they made it out the city, when there wasn't any danger of Savia getting lost anywhere.

"I'm sorry Savia, I should have looked where you were," she said with a warm tone in her voice, waiting for the girl to compose herself a little. But Savia wasn't done talking, and she said things that made Emaline curious. She expected it, but it was still fascinating to watch Savia's progression with language. It was fast too, this was only their second day together after all. It was only their second day...she didn't realise that so little time had passed. Savia felt a little more familiar than that to her already.

"You will learn to be on your own, but today I wanted to show the city. It's beautiful...pretty is it not?" she said, smiling as she corrected herself to a word Savia should already be familiar with. "We'll head home Savia. And I'm proud of you, you're speaking the language much better already," she said, using a sentence that was a bit more complicated. She knew she shouldn't be pushing her luck like this, but the girl would learn eventually, and she had a feeling that it was sooner than anyone would think. The girl was gifted in many ways. In some ways due to her tribal heritage, in other ways due to her own, personal nature. She hoped that Savia would be able to embrace both of them soon, since she had trouble with both.

Gently setting in motion, she guided Savia along until they reached their mutual pace, setting course back through the market. It was a little different this time. Savia had to clutch the onions close to her to prevent any accidents, but thankfully they were quite easy to carry. Emaline however had it a lot harder. She had something very big, very hard to carry and very awkward to carry. Nonetheless she didn't do anything that would indicate her discomfort, even if the observant eye would be able to spot it.

But Emaline hurried them through, ignoring the pleasures of the market even more staunchly than before. Small changes were noticeable for the slime and her sensitive senses, mostly the warmer, less pleasant air, used up and dusty. It truly was a difference between city and country, a contrast that became immediately apparent as they exited the city gate. The clean, pleasant air, the sudden openness around them, the cool wind that removed the everpresent warmth of the city. It was much nicer this way

Emaline let go of Savia's hand, giving her a little more freedom as she moved the arm to assist its sister in holding the bed. It was a lot easier that way and it aided her aching muscles. They still had an hour-long trip ahead of them, but they had gotten past the hard part.

A little less disgruntled now that she had reorganized herself, she turned to savia with a warm expression in hopes of making her feel a little better. Not that Savia was sad or anything, at least not to her knowledge, but she liked to see the way Savia seemed to enjoy any kind of approval she got from her. And she was more than happy to provide it.

"You met a Zadean for the first time, the woman from another tribe," she said, specifying a little since she wasn't sure whether she had explicitly told Savia the race of the woman. "How was it? There are many other races out there, what do you think of the Zadeans?" She asked, trying to foster the girl's curiosity. The girl probably wouldn't be able to turn into a Zadean and compare? No, probably not. Would she even want to? "You said the city scared you, but it was interesting too. Tell me what you liked about it," she said with a gentle tone, encouraging the girl a little. They had a long voyage ahead, it was only natural that they should spend it talking about today's experiences.

 

[Sigr]

"Beautiful, unknown..." Savia echoed Emaline's feelings about the city and added her own. It had been a truly teaching experience, answering many questions she didn't even know she had, but also the things that she didn't know made he wary, fearful. It wasn't a fear for her specific well being, since even if she wasn't aware of her limits, she knew she could defend herself. But she didn't want to harm people, not again, and most of all she didn't want to lose the person she had become, and a good part of it hinged from being with Emaline. Focused on not getting away from the protective woman and keeping the spring onions safe, Savia didn't notice how awkward Emaline's dealing with the bed had been until they were out of the city and her posture shifted.

"Ah..." Savia sighed, feeling a bit bad for making Emaline carry the bed when it was for her. "Savia strong, Savia carry" she offered, extending her arms. It was true that she could carry it without much care for the weight, but given her smaller stature and ample bosom, she would have trouble with the volume of it. It seemed that with both hands and away from the busy city it wasn't much of a nuisance for Emaline either, so Savia let her do what she wanted and kept the onions safe. Away from the dusty and smelly air of the city that Savia could even taste, she felt more comfortable in the open space, where her usual and thoughtless absorption of humidity from the air went easier, even if she didn't need much for sustenance.

"Zadean, yes" Savia nodded, once Emaline started to ask. "It was interesting. She was pretty. Emaline beautiful. Edea beautiful. Both different" she said, appreciating how they were. "I not know what horn for" she clumsily added. "Eyes see. Ears hear. Hands hold" Savia added, trying to explain that she was referring to the function the horns had. "But many body parts I don't know what for" she shrugged, making her own breasts bounce, one of those parts she didn't know what use they had. It seemed that it wasn't a mystery she was eager to chase at that moment, accepting that a time for a deeper understanding of the different bodies would come later, as Emaline still had questions for her.

"I liked learning a lot" Savia answered, visibly excited. "Many people, many things. Shops. Merchandise" she rushed talking. "Salt. Salt buys things" she remembered, having learned a quite important part of the relationships and exchanges of the world. "The cart with the metal, the soldier woman, the guards... so many things" she paused, breathless, more of a thinking pause than an actual breathing one. "I liked learning and being safe with Emaline. I more like people than things. Things interesting. People more interesting" she voiced. Her interest on the things that formed the world was huge, but since she was a person, since she wanted to be a good person, her main point of interest were people in general.

"Edea was nice. And weird" Savia commented, the Zadean having left a mark on her. "She looked at you and me weird" Savia remembered. "She liked touch, and I liked touch, but she looked at you..." Savia doubted. Maybe if had to do with how things were, what you could touch and what you couldn't. "Did I touch bad places? Kissing bad?" she wondered, since even if she had been engrossed in sating her curiosity, she had noticed weird vibes now that she reflected back on the moment.

 

[Jeufufns]

Emaline politely declined when Savia offered to carry, shaking her head a little. The girl was learning to be helpful. Well, she always was, but the routine was a good thing. Being used to helping people, or simply asking to, was a mark of character.

Speaking of positive character traits, Savia curious questions were exactly what Emaline wanted to hear. She had been introduced to so many new concepts today, so Emaline was proud of her that she actually seemed to be trying to understand them all and think about them. Some things however, some things she wasn't sure about. Love, attraction, she didn't know whether Savia could feel them or even wanted to feel them. She would probably want to, she couldn't imagine why she wouldn't, but it was a subject even people who have lived for dozens of years couldn't grasp. So how was she going to explain to someone who had the knowledge of a child or less. She would have to work around it for now, though she did hope that one day Savia would find someone she could discover true happiness with.

"Horns can protect you. But they also serve to be pretty. They are many things, Zadean are mostly for looking pretty," Emaline explained with a smile in rather simple terms. They might have been to defend oneself at some point but the way Zadean horns looked she doubted it. The assumption she made about horns having defensive used was pretty much entirely based on animals that had them. While there were some species she had met over the years that seemed to have horns for similar purposes, most were purely cosmetic, especially for the Zadeans, at least to her knowledge. But beauty was needed for a species to reproduce, though she didn't quite realise this in the same way that a modern scientist would.

But while Savia liked people more than objects, she said so herself, she had no idea how human interactions worked. It was understandable that she would have some trouble in that regard, but the problem came when it came to explaining things. Some things made sense like what she was about to explain to her. Others didn't, but they were still convenient to do or have. But why whatever gesture in particular was being used was a question she hoped wouldn't come up, depite it proving deeper thinking on Savia's side.

"Edea looked at me because she thought I took care of you. Taking care as in feeding you, giving you a home," she explained, clarifying what was meant with taking care first. It is polite to ask for the caretakers permission, through words, or gestures like that look you're talking about," she explained, slowly and clearly because there were a lot of new words being introduced.

"You will learn much of this in the future. It'll take longer than language, and mistakes, unintended wrong things will happen, but you did well today," she added, a warm note of pride mixed into her voice. Whether it was natural or artificially mixed in not even she knew, but she knew that while mostly coincidental, Savia had behaved mostly correct, and even the things she would have done differently, she seen others do like that. Correct behaviour was never a certain code, more like a grey area. The stuck-up bronze horders on the council never realisedthatt, and she doubted they ever will. But as much as they had gotten rid of her, she had gotten rid of them.

---

Emaline proceeded to answer the girl's questions during their long journey. Looking at how the sun fell and how it was just starting to get late when they left the city, it was easy to see that the city was quite the walk. Having to walk such distances for hours was normal for the time, and this was still by all means a relatively short trip. The fact that they could travel to the city and back in a single day was very much desireable. The city was a source of wealth, even for those around it.

It was getting darker and darker, and for the first time Savia got to see the slow transition from light to darkness, the colours slowly fading to red and then to a heavy dark blue as the world around her changed colour in a fascinating display, or at least for someone unfamiliar with the concept. Of course she had experinced nightfall before, but in inner turmoil and more often than not sheltered inside that cave, this was the first time she was there to watch the whole process happen. Emaline didn't make any mention of it, perhaps it was so natural to her that she forgot about it? She tried her very best to think of anything Savia might not know, but even she couldn't think of everything.

The village was quiet, though many lights were burning inside of the hut-like housings, and there was still the occasional working woman. The village seemed like a much more pleasant place to live. Cleaner, more serene, less crowded, but less exciting too. Nonetheless there was already a familiarity to it. Savia would probably have some trouble figuring out which of the somewhat identical but different huts was theirs, but just seeing the entrance of it was enough to awaken feelings of home.

Emaline seemed genuinely tired, which would be understandable for most people considering the size of what she had been carrying the whole time. Despite it being light, just having to carry something so big was strenuous. Making sure not to bump against the entrance, she let Savia in first before going after her.

The lack of light was immediately apparent. It seemed that Thiya was somewhere else. It seemed odd. Emaline was surprised, but didn't really react to it much. It seemed like she thought that this wasn't as outlandish a state as it seemed. It was dark, so Emaline had to make an effort not to bump against things. It took her about a minute to painfully maneuver around the central fireplace and two small pots before she reached the living section of the hut. Still unsure of where things were, she planted the bed directly next to hers on the free side so she could be sure it wouldn't hit anything before she turned back to the fire. The light situation had to be mended.

"Savia? Come sit. I will show you how to make fire," she said, seemingly enjoying the opportunity to show her something. It was only the question of finding her flint. Rummaging a little in the stones that encircled the fireplace, she finally found a small dark stone, and another rougher one.

"I will show you what they look like once the fire is burning but this one is pyrite, this one is flint," she said, holding up the respective stones. It was pretty much impossible to see the difference between them in the darkness, only that the pyrite was bigger.

"Now, you take the flint, and strike it against the pyrite," she said, emphasizing the new words including the verb as she hit the the two together in a quite specific manner. The first time nothing happened, same for the next try, but it gave a slight flimmer on the third. Another try that did nothing later, the fifth try finally managed to send a spark into the wood in front of her. Immediately she laid down the stones, stoking the place where the spark landed. It was a hard and not very reliable method, but much easier than the old wood method their ancestors had used and some tribes still used.

"See, the spark made it burn, now we grow the fire," she said, gently laying some dry grass inti the smoldering spot. Soon it began to catch into the dry fibers, growing into a tiny flame. Very small and tame, nothing like the fire from the day before, but it was slowly growing.

Gently lifting the two stones back up again, she got Savia's attention before handing them to her. "Now you try. Strike the pyrite with the flint," she repeated the instructions, smiling as if she were confident Savia could do it. It was certainly motivating to see her so sure of it, even if it gave one a little bit of pressure.

 

[Sigr]

Savia listened to Emaline's explanations as she always did, but the little one seemed more distracted and less focused than usual, more concentrated on sorting what she was learning on her mind than anything else. Her usual humming and nodding were still there, but done almost automatically as Savia processed those ideas about beauty and body parts first, about taking care and being protective later. They weren't exactly connected besides having Edea around, but the encounter and the things she learned there were starting to pile on the things she had been learning from the day before, and the fuller picture Savia had, the more questions and doubts arose. "Learning difficult" she mumbled, still looking content and calm but her attitude and frown evoking a more pensive moment than Emaline was accustomed to seeing in her protegee.

"Ah, night!" Savia said surprised, as dusk started to paint the sky darker and darker. It wasn't like the day before, Savia wasn't exactly afraid of the night and the darkness, but it was still something surprising for the girl that gained awareness just a couple of days ago and before that spend her whole existence in a cave. "Weird, difficult, but pretty" she acknowledged the beauty of the night even if it was a foreign concept and didn't make things any easier. The mention of something being pretty made Savia wanting to know more about that notion. She liked what she liked, and not much of an explanation was needed about that, even if the sentiment was something new for her, but she was still curious about the body she had at the time and how it related to the different Zadean one.

"Edea's horn served to be pretty" Savia said, seemingly out of nowhere. "Face pretty, eyes pretty, hair pretty. Edea pretty. Emaline pretty. Thiya pretty" she repeated, finding the three women she had most of her talks with beautiful, but she continued talking trying to transmit her question. "Hands grab. Legs walk. Eyes see. Horn pretty" she summed up a few body parts and their actions. "Breasts? Penis?" she wondered. They couldn't have the same function of being pretty than the horn did, or they would be out in the open for people to see, or so Savia thought in her lack of understanding.

---

Later in the village Savia found herself more at ease, being in a known place, although with her limited experience and the darkness of the night made hard to really sort out her mind and orient herself. Following Emaline around, she finally felt a strange and safe feeling of being home, even if she couldn't quite understand it. "Thiya? No Thiya" Savia first called for her as she entered the house then realized she wasn't there, or at least didn't seem so in the dark house.

"Make fire. Dangerous. Useful. Warm. Cook" she quickly summed up what she knew about the topic at hand, caring little for making a proper sentence out of it, more interested in seeing the process and learning something new. The sparks made her utter a small yelp, but she looked at Emaline tend the fire with the care and dedication she used on everything, not a woman that did things in a sloppy way. As the fire slowly grew, the light allowed for a better look at things around, included but not limited to the things Emaline used to make the fire. As she handed those contraptions to Savia, she looked at them curiously.

"Pyrite and flint... Stone? Metal?" she wondered, not knowing exactly how to classify them, or even if they belonged in a category she knew. Being extra careful she did it as softly as she could at first, but it was obvious that the process required a bit more of strength. Trying different angles and positions, Savia slowly heightened the strength used to clash them, experimenting with how she was holding them. Eventually she produced a small spark that surprised herself, although luckily it landed on a stone and didn't burn her clothes or anything else.

 

[Jeufufns]

Emaline consciously decided to ignore Savia's question about certain body parts until later. Not because she wanted to keep a big secret about them. That would be foolish, it would only lead to Savia's curiosity getting either out of hand, or being permanently stifled, neither of which being good outcomes. But how did you explain the concept of sexuality? She supposed that there was a function to them that she could explain without having to go into detail, but she had to figure out how. That was the question.

She had to contemplate this while she showed Savia how to make a fire, but she did have to concentrate as well. It wasn't an easy process, nor was it easy to critique someone else doing it. After complimenting Savia on her knowledge about fire, which was impressive despite the lack of a proper sentence to support it, she expected Savia to be more enthusiastic about the process and trying it out for herself. And she was! It was cute to see her react so strongly to the spark, or sparks as she continued to react strongly to the other ones as well.

Finally, the fire had been made, and the 'contraptions' became visible. And Savia, mostly by coincidence, had already correctly stated their nature. Emaline didn't expect her to connect the dots so quickly, but many things surprised her about the girl. Perhaps she should stop being so surprised whenever Savia had a correct answer. The way the girl sucked up knowledge, it was unavoidable.

"Both Pyrite and flint are different stones," Emaline explained with a smile on her face as Savia tried to find a good angle to hit them with. Eager to try things out as always. IT seemed like she struggled to find the correct way to do it at first. But with enough tries, she managed to get a spark. Surprised by it, Savia had little control over where it went. OF course, it hit the stone, so there was no danger of setting the house on fire, but this still had to be addressed to prevent this from happening in the future.

"Savia, you must strike it away from you," she explained as she reached forward, gently guiding Savia's hands with her own. First, she made a motion striking it towards Savia, then a motion to strike it away from Savia. "Towards you, away from you," she explained, repeating the 'away-motion' in the hopes that Savia would grasp the concept. "If you strike away from you, you know where it lands, you can point it at where you want the spark to land," she explained in simplistic detail, easy enough for Savia to understand. Just about to explain to her what the word 'land' meant, she realised that, with the rest of the sentence in place, it would actually be fairly easy to guess, since Savia had seen the process before. It was indicated as the end of the process, and Savia had seen the end of the process now multiple times. Still, she didn't want to rely on theory to teach Savia. It was an interesting thought, they maybe they were reaching a point where context was enough to teach her, but she still wanted to guide her along.

"To land is to touch the ground after being in their air," she explained, picking up a rock from the area around the fire to hold it up and imitate the motion of flight, much like the spark had done, before slowly prodding the ground sideways with the rock, trying to indicate what process she meant with landing. It wasn't easiest word to understand since it was quite specific, but Emaline was confident in Savia's abilities, partially because of the previously mentioned reason.

She put the rock back where she got it from, making sure the area around the fireplace was okay. It had a decent amount of extra padding, but it was still good to take good care of what was essentially protecting your hut from burning down. It was good to have a routine of good practices.

Carefully reaching into the fireplace, she pushed some smaller pieces of wood towards the fire, careful not to get too close. She wanted to encourage the fire to spread, so it would burn quicker. The smell was a bit unpleasant, it seemed that she had been careless when putting out the fire, or was it Thiya? She didn't quite remember.

With the fire started, she slowly stood up, grabbing the spring onions that Savia had set down before picking up the flint and pyrite. While a relatively benign movement, the way that Emaline's manhood lagged behind her legs drew her attention to another lesson about human physiology. It was hard to learn at the start that humans had limitations on how they could love. For some, these limitations were clearly visible, moving under the skin while it was less obvious to others. But now that Savia had learned to move around these limitations, there seemed to be another layer that decided how humans. She wouldn't be able to distinguish 'civilized' and 'uncivilized' movement just yet, like how people typically closed their legs in company of others, nor would she realise the layer above, the layer of intentional movement such a seductive or aggressive movement, but the layer between civility and limitations was becoming more and more apparent, the layer of comfort. For example, there seemed to be great care invested into the way one moved the legs in certain scenarios before it was learned through routine. There seemed to be a conscious effort to avoid intruding on to the space of the genitalia, more so for the balls. The reasons for this would be inexplicable at this point, but it was an interesting behaviour and somewhat hard to replicate behaviour as well, as it was easy to over or underdo, though overdoing it seemed worse than underdoing it.

Emaline meanwhile concerned herself with what they would be eating tonight. She would only dare to use salt on special occasions, even if just a bit of it was enough to make something taste a lot better. While she was still living a wealthy lifestyle while her wife was in the council, they put salt in most meals. It had taken her time to get used to not salting things anymore, and it made her realise that it was a waste to use salt for food too much. It generally was a bad thing to get acclimated to wasteful behaviour.

She would, however, use some of the spring onions, that were equally viable in improving every dish she could think of. They weren't as valuable or long-lived as salt, however, so she picked a dry and cold spot near the door to store them. Still, she didn't quite realise how many questions were building up to be answered for the young girl she had practically adopted into her family, especially since she had practically ignored her previous question about breasts and the genitalia. She was hesitant to talk about this subject, not because it was taboo, it was way less taboo in this age, but because she thought that it was a dangerous topic to deal with for someone who had no idea of human interactions. It could lead to very badly handled scenarios that could reflect badly on Savia and she didn't want that. But eventually she would have to concede.

 

[Sigr]

"Different stones" Savia repeated, grasping them with care. "Away?" she questioned, listening to Emaline's explanation of how to use them. Thanking the guiding touch on her, she let the woman explain the concept of away her and its opposite, towards her, as she repeated the moves over and over. "Strike away, point spark..." she mused, before Emaline explained her what to land meant. Savia frowned a bit, but the explanations made sense, or at least she thought that way. "Land" she said, rubbing the ground with one hand. "To land" she raised her hand, moving it through the air, then returning to the ground. She didn't dare to use that same structure with other things yet, as doubtful if it worked the same way and she could use 'to city' or 'to house' in the same way.

Not letting the language lesson distract her, she wanted to try the correct way of making fire, so soon Savia returned to striking the utensils together until she managed to properly land a couple of sparks before handling them back to Emaline. "I know fire" she nodded, paying attention to how Emaline tended to it, putting care in making sure it was properly contained. She looked at Emaline get things ready around the house, now that they had the fire to be able to properly see around, taking care of the spring onions and such, looking oddly silent. What did she had in mind? Perhaps thinking of another lesson? Or was Emaline thinking about dinner? Or maybe Thiya, as she wasn't there and as far as Savia knew, that was were she slept and it was nighttime already.

"Emaline" she voiced, calling for the woman's attention. "Where Thiya? No sleep house?" she wondered, thinking of something. What if she wasn't there because of her? That didn't make sense, her bed was still there and people needed a bed to sleep, so her expression of guilt soon vanished. "Savia bad girl, made Thiya go?" she still asked, wanting to make sure that the absence of the young woman wasn't her fault. It was somewhat tough to guess why she should be there, or if she wasn't why not, as the relationship between people was still a mystery to Savia. Sure, she had learned about the market, how salt was used as a means to exchange some items for others. She was also aware of how there were other people, different people, organized in tribes in other towns, even cities.

But what was the relationship between Thiya and Emaline? Emaline didn't interact with anybody else in town yet, so Savia wasn't aware of if she had some kind of special status like the guards of the city or anything alike. But what she knew was that there was some degree of respect, of authority there. Not only because it was nice to be a good girl, it made you feel good and Emaline kept you safe, taught you things, gently touched you. There was something else there, as Thiya yesterday did what Emaline asked of her, showing herself to Savia so she could better understand how a person was made, how it looked.

"Big things unknown" Savia sighed, trying to say that there was still much she didn't understand, hoping that things were fine between Emaline, Thiya and herself, that the absence of the young woman and the silence of the older one was due to anything else. Anything that wasn't bad.

 

[Jeufufns]

Breaking off small parts of the spring onion's stem, Emaline seemed surprised when Savia asked about her in a sense sister, though the surprise quickly vanished. There was nothing to be surprised about Emaline realised, it was a rational question, and one she preferred.

With a sigh, she piked up all the pieces she had broken off, grabbing a small piece of pottery to put them in for now. Carrying it carefully, she slowly made her way over to Savia as she set it down next to some of the amphorae closer to the fire. Opening one of the misshapen containers, she checked on its contents, making sure the rice was okay. It would be disastrous if water got inside of it, as it would cause the whole thing to go bad. "Thiya is a woman of age, she is allowed to do things by herself. Sometimes this means that she returns late, at night," she quickly added to clarify. Most of what she just said probably didn't make any sense to Savia, so she'd have to elaborate a little further. "Taracians, or any other tribe I know of, grow with time. Some faster, some slower, but eventually, all of them reach a point where they no longer need their mother, their caretaker to look after them," she explained, slowly as she picked up the same piece of pottery she'd used the day before to store some rice in from the amphora she'd been handling.

"It is then that they can choose what they do, where to work, like the rice fields," she continued, approaching Savia. There was a little bit of care put into how she sat down, mainly to avoid getting any part of her too close to the fire, whilst remaining close to the girl. "You're a good girl, this has nothing to do with you," she said, her voice warming as she gently wrapped her arm around the girl next to her. Pulling her close, she let her feel both her own warmth, and the warmth of the fire.

"You will learn with time, you can't know everything the world has to offer in two days. I have had much, much longer, and I don't know anything close to it," she explained, using words that would take Savia some effort to decipher, but the message would get there quicker than the meaning.

She gave Savia to dwell on what's been said, keeping her close to spend her all the motherly warmth she could. The fire grew and grew as it reached it final size, small, but much bigger and more dramatic than the tiny ember it had sparked from. In a sense, no, literally, it had grown, changed shape, and it was constantly doing so, yet it was neither fluid, nor hard.

"Would you like to learn a bit about cooking?" Emaline asked after a while, breaking the silence. She was hungry, and if she knew Thiya, she'd be back very soon. She was aware of what her daughter was doing, it was always the same, she had made an agreement with the family of the Thiya's interest after all. Besides, it was an important skill for Savia to know, even if she didn't need it herself really. To cook for someone was another of way of showing affection, in a different kind of way.

 

[Sigr]

Savia looked at Emaline work on dinner stuff, getting a little bit accustomed to her needing time to not only sort out her answers, but also guess how to present them to her, not to mention that she seemed busy. "Woman of age..." Savia echoed, weak and doubtful, not quite understanding Emaline as her understanding of the passage of time and how it affected people was tenuous at best. The follow up explanation did clarify things for her, although there still were bits and pieces of information she lacked to complete the puzzle. She hummed happily not only knowing that Thiya not being there wasn't her fault, but also liking Emaline's contact, hugging her even if she was busy.

"Emaline caretaker... Emaline take care Thiya before" she mused, voicing her thoughts as she ordered them. "Emaline take care Savia... Emaline mother Savia?" she asked outright, wondering if that was what the word mother meant. "World biggest, world unknown" she nodded in understanding with Emaline, sharing her view that she couldn't learn everything in such a short period of time, now that she had a better grasp on how things went outside her dark, damp cave. Joyful and basking on both the hearth's and Emaline's warmth, Savia was happy, although her eyes returned to the flames over and over. "Savia person, woman. But Savia no grow with time, Savia no woman of age" she muttered, tying such a development only to the passage of time, and not a mental growing up as well.

"Savia no need to eat, but Savia can taste, can smell" she commented as Emaline asked her about a cooking lesson. Part of who she was she borrowed, no, she stole for the ones that ventured into her cave when she was little more than a mindless weapon. But those ideas, those notions melted into her, forming who she was as the early years of any other woman would do for a normal person. She couldn't quite access those memories, those ideas at will, but it was like a few things, some words, where more remembered after being forgotten than learned anew. Where those just the echoes of the ones she killed without knowing any better or was there something about her creation involved? Savia had no way of knowing.

"Savia can learn cooking. Savia cook for Emaline, for Thiya when she's late" she nodded, happy of being able to not only keep learning, but doing so in a way that benefited the ones she liked, the ones that were taking care of her after all. "Cook rice and spring onions?" she wondered, as it seemed to be what Emaline was going to do, or at least what Savia had knowledge of being around at the moment, as it wasn't like she checked every pot and container.

 

[Jeufufns]

Savia echoed her words with a lack of understanding that she almost expected given the content of her sentence. There were a lot of things that Savia didn't understand. Previously she had tried to explain everything as quickly as possible, to leave as little a gap in Savia's disctionary as possible, but it occured to her that that was a near impossibility. But it was also an impossibility for Savia to have already learned so much, but that was easier to explain. Someone with no language would find it easier to learn their first, it only seemed logical. Seemed...

She nodded as Savia voiced her thoughts, connecting things together, Savia was going further on a fact Emaline hadn't wanted to voice before. Yes she saw herself as a mother-like figure for the girl, yes the girl probably saw her as one as well, maybe that was enough to make her her mother? yes, it was enough.

"Yes, I am Thiya's mother, I am your mother" she said with a warm smile that seemed perhaps a little unexpected. Of course mother had another, different meaning to it, but that was one Savia would have to learn later. Perhaps the girl was lucky to have a cosiderate mother, she knew others who held nothing back from their children, to their detriment. The problem was, with Thiya she had a long time to slowly prepare her for 'adult' life and teach her how to control and redirect her innate bodily urges. With Savia, she didn't even really know if she had them in the same way.

But thing she did know Savia had were taste and smell, two things that were vital for culinary enjoyment. She knew Savia said she didn't need to eat, but she couldn't imagine that it wouldn't have a positive effect on her. Or at least, in her interpretation of a positive effect.

"Yes, for tonight, rice like yesterday, but with spring onions. You'll taste the difference, it'll be much better," she said with a smile as she grabbed the small setup she'd used yesterday that was laying at the side of the fire. The metal looked worn, different from some of the new wears that were sold in the city that Savia had seen today. context made things look a lot different, despite them obviously remaining the same visually. Same with the fabric of Emaline's clothes actually. Some of the cloth she'd seen today was less or more well-made, and more or less worn out. Perhaps two of the same could be very different?

But before Emaline continue, the wooden barrier at the entrance moved erratically before it was lifted away from the door, the familiar face of Thiya poking through the entrance. But for all the familiarity she gave off, her expression still turned sour when she looked at Savia before she slipped through the doorway, her manhood bouncing a bit in front of her legs as she blocked it off before any cold wind could come in.

"Sorry, I was going out with Yehrna, I should have been back earlier," she said, a little hurriedly as Emaline's initial expression of surprise turned into a warm smile. You didn't have to be a genius to know what the two had been up to. After all, she'd discussed it with Yehrna's family at length as was the custom of the time. A small thought went to Savia, but she figured that the girl would just understand it as a friendship or something even more innocuous. she herself was happy for Thiya, things had been a little more complicated with her own relationship, with her mate being of higher status than her. but it all turned out well in the end.

"Thiya, your clothes are all moist, come sit by the fire before you get ill," Emaline demanded, a demand Thiya was quite willing to accomodate. She'd had to wash herself off with yehrna before she came over for reasons that her mother knew for nature knew what reason, despite her never mentioning it. Of course, Emaline had gone through all of this herself when she was young, so she knew it all too well.

Thiya walked over slowly, her generous curves showing more strongly in the slightly wet clothes than usual. Of course Emaline was a pretty woman, very much so, mature and beautiful, but Thiya had a sort of youthful radiance to her that made it hard not to desire her.

Despite Savia's wishes to be friends, though not explicitly that with Thiya, as well as her sexual desires for her, again not explicitly so, Thiya chose to walk past her and sit down next to her mother, sitting down in a very feminine manner. It seemed that contrary to Savia herself, Thiya had little to no interest in what was being cooked, and instead opted to rub her hands over the fire in an attempt to warm herself.

"I'm so glad the cold season is over..." Thiya said as she shivered slightly, leaning her head against her mother's shoulder. Her wet blouse stuck to her bosom, more wet than the rest of her clothing for reasons Savia wouldn't be able to guess just yet. Nothing ti di with her bosom per se, only thanks to her generous cleavage and the water that could collect there. Her hair also looked different, not much, but a little more black and a little more sticky than usual. Did water do that?

"How was the city?" she asked, somewhat nonchalantly as she rubbed her shoulders a little. Temperature had previously not been a big deal for Savia, but the way Thiya behaved seemed to indicate that it was difficult for other races.

"As usual, but we met someone special today," Emaline said with a smile, trying to bridge the gap between her left and right neighbors. She didn't think Thiya had anything against Savia, and she didn't, but especially after the weird start between them, she thought things might be hard to get used to.

"Savia? Why don't you tell Thiya about what we did today?" she asked, turning her head to the girl. Encouraging her with a warm smile, she hoped this would help her refine her language a bit and maybe get the two to talk to each other. She wanted Thiya to help her, which was only fair and right if Savia was to be her new sister.

 

[Sigr]

"Emaline mother, Emaline care" Savia said feeling immensely happy, wrapping the woman into a somewhat brief but tight hug. There still were a lot of questions as how one ended being another person's mother, as Savia doubted that it just happened by stumbling into distressed people in the forest as it happened to her. Relishing the touch and feeling strangely warm about it, something that the girl had a cooking fire to blame for, Savia released Emaline and paid attention to the cooking, as it wasn't just interesting, but also entertaining and stimulated her senses. Paying attention to her every move, Savia wanted to learn cooking, but something pleasurably unexpected happened.

Savia raised a hand to greet Thiya, but her expression wasn't friendly nor warm at all, so the girl's greeting weakened, her hand barely waving her in before returning to hang by her side. She was curious about why Thiya didn't seem to like her, as that could be a way to fix it, but Emaline started talking before Savia could even think of what to do or say. For reasons Savia couldn't understand as it wasn't raining outside, Thiya was wet, and Emaline beckoned her to the fire so she would dry. Savia could help with that, but her mind was busier looking at the young girl walk for no reason she could understand.

There was something there that she couldn't quite understand but liked. It was similar to what she felt on other moments, and yet different. Emaline's caring touch, Savia's curious hands over Edea and her horn, Thiya's body at plain sight or covered by tight clothes... there was something there, a calling that wasn't just mere interest or curiosity about the truths of the world, but Savia had trouble deciphering it. Even if Thiya sat next to Emaline and seemed to avoid Savia, the girl's eyes were still on her, appreciating how her hair shone, how her clothes clung to her cleavage. "Ah!" Emaline's commentary about how she should tell Thiya what they did that day pulled Savia out of her reverie, forcing her to sort out her thoughts before talking.

"We went to city and saw cart with weird metal and warrior woman" Savia started, sorting out her thoughts in chronological order. "City bigger and full of people and smells. Bought spring onions and bed" she resumed as well as she could, more for sake of a limited vocabulary than wanting to save time. Savia looked at Thiya, wanting to gauge how she felt about what the girl was saying, but she had trouble reading people. "Emaline showed me a Zadean. Edea" she said. "She was beautiful. Thiya beautiful but Edea beautiful, different" she tried to explain how both women were beautiful even if it was in a different way.

"Edea let me touch, nowhere weird. I liked the horns" Savia said with a bright smile, trying to share her enthusiasm with Thiya, awkwardly hoping that perhaps that way she would be more comfortable with her. "Lots of people, didn't get lost, interesting but a bit scary" she added, wondering something. Perhaps it could be nice that Savia asked the same thing to Thiya, as it seemed to be the nice thing a good girl would do. "How was... the day? Yehrna good girl?" she asked Thiya, unsure on how to voice interest about the young woman's day.

 

[Jeufufns]

Emaline had only filled in a bit of water into her cooking pot when Thiya had entered, so there wasn't much she had to pay attention to when her daughter arrived. She still wanted to show Savia how to do it, but she at least wanted them to be more civil to each other. It was the second evening after all. If Thiya just brought someone home to live with them she'd be sceptical as well, especially if they couldn't speak the language and were a different species. But Savia needed a home and she was going to provide one, and family was part of the home.

But Thiya was having trouble warming up to this new girl, becoming her mother's favourite pet as soon as she came along. Though it was the shapeshifting that freaked her out the most. She probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night if the girl still looked like her. Her lack of linguistical understanding contributed to the divide between them, but Savia was about to give her a small shock in that regard.

With Savia no longer able to stare at Thiya leggy form, she was put into a tricky situation, but despite that managed to construct coherent sentences. they were obviously bad and obviously not something you should talk to the wrong person with, but it was enough to make Thiya turn her head on confusion. Blinking a bit, she lifted her head from the mother's shoulder, instead leaning a little over her mother's lap to see Savia better which caused her shapely bosom to shake quite pleasantly as they shifted in the wet fabric. This girl couldn't even say two words yesterday and now she was walking like that? What has her mother been doing to this girl? What was this girl even? Could they really be sure whether this was a good idea?

Shooting her mother an irritated look rather than choosing to confront Savia herself about it, Emaline glared at her with disapproval. Her daughter was behaving badly, and she made sure she knew it. "Well, how was your day with Yehrna?" she asked with authority in her voice.

Retreating back to her seat a little, Thiya still seemed surprised, if a little sceptical. The girl couldn't speak properly just yet, she shouldn't give her too much credit. But if her mother was going to force her to say something in response she had to.

"Yehrna and I picked the fields, then we went to the lake and drew in the sand, ran back to her home...it was wonderful..." she said, a smile appearing on her face as if the thought of her love had placated her. In fact, a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she thought of certain events that had transpired, a reaction that would be particularly curious to people inexperienced with their species.

Still, her mother didn't seem happy with the answer, and she was willing to be more direct this time as well: "Savia has asked you about your day, why don't you ask Savia something about her day?" she said with a tone that expected no buts. Yet Thiya provided her with one anyway. "But she won't understand what I'm saying," she complained, causing her mother to furrow her brow. "And she never will if you don't talk to her. Now be polite," she said with audible irritation in her voice.

Realising that maybe she shouldn't make her usually very soft-spoken mother angry, she quickly turned to the girl, squinting a little as she tried to think of something. "Would you rather look like a Zadean or a Taracian?" she asked, somewhat rebelliously, and her mother wouldn't tolerate this kind of behaviour to her young protegè. Knowing how much Savia wanted to be like them she felt like Thiya had crossed a line. She wanted to make them like each other but instead, Thiya asked an uncomfortable question.

"Thiya, there will be no dinner for you," she said with a very stern voice, prompting Thiya to recoil slightly as she stared at her mother with both shock and repulsion before she moved away wordlessly, simply warming herself from the fire as she stared into the flame.

Emaline fearing that this situation might be too much for young Savia who did not understand, gently wrapped her arms around her, giving her a brief, gentle hug before she gave her a warm smile, trying her best to gloss over how annoyed she felt by her daughter's unwillingness to have common decency.

"Savia, I'm sorry, shall we cook something for the two of us?" she asked, gently stroking the girl's shoulder. Of course, she had not yet given the girl any time to reply to Thiya's question with everything that's been going on, whether she even wanted to answer it or not.

 

[Sigr]

Savia did her best to explain how the day had gone, even if she was somewhat distracted by both Thiya's face and her troublesome expression Savia couldn't quite identify and those swaying, wet clad breasts. About her expression Savia was sure she would end understanding it better, or the young woman could perhaps voice her feelings, but for the other she had no explanation whatsoever. Why did those seem of so much interest to her? It couldn't be the size, as she was sporting a bigger couple, but there was something about them and their mysterious function that captured her attention over and over again.

Even the oblivious girl caught on the tension between Thiya and Emaline, the tone of their mother far from soft as she echoed Savia's question about how had her day been. Savia nodded while listening with utmost attention, a smile forming in her face as Thiya's expression softened into a smile of her own, a warmer tone returning to her face, something that Savia chalked to the fire slowly warming her wet body. Savia didn't quite understand the drawing on the sand thing, but it seemed interesting so perhaps she could ask Thiya to teach her what was that about, although her thoughts were interrupted by the yet stern tone of Emaline, a reaction she didn't understand.

An argument started between mother and daughter, making Savia's eyes dance from one another, her mouth open without a word, not knowing what she had to say or even if she should say something. Thiya seemed to accept Emaline's words, as she looked at Savia and asked her a question that was interesting and thought provoking on Savia. Needing time to ponder it, Savia remained silent, but soon that brief pause was filled with a voice that she had barely heard Emaline use, the only moment that came close to it when they stumbled upon each other and that cougar was about to attack her.

Emaline hugged her, something that Savia usually liked, but the moment was so awkward and difficult to understand that the gesture felt empty, meaningless. Savia understood at least that fact, that the touch meant nothing without the sentiment attached to it, that the barrier between people could only be broken from a positive standpoint, from a warm sentiment to at least a permission like the one Edea gave her. "Ah..." Savia gasped, trying to navigate the situation.

"No..." Savia said, looking at Emaline, a poor imitation of her stern tone, lacking the strength or the self-confidence the woman had. "Thiya good girl, need food grow woman of age..." she protested, finding terribly cruel that the girl wasn't going to have dinner. Maybe it wasn't that bad, it was just skipping a meal, but Savia didn't know that and grew increasingly restless with the idea, going from a sitting to a kneeling position as she grew more nervous. She wanted to defend her sister, even if she didn't know the word yet, against something that Savia perceived not only as more cruel than it really was, but also unfair and perhaps even her fault.

"Savia difficult understand Thiya, but Savia learn" she said, showing a strange range of expressions that seemed to hop from angry to sad, almost a childlike tantrum. "Savia no understand Emaline now, no understand no dinner" she continued, growing more and more expressive the more nervous she became, her hands moving around. "Mother take care of daughter, Emaline take care of Thiya!" she pleaded, almost a demand, when a wide swing of one of her arms hit the water pot, making it tremble and threatening to topple it. The recipient with just a bit of water ended up emptying that already hot water over Savia, that did her best to return the pot to the fire, but once empty.

The girl didn't seem to mind the heat of the water, more worried about causing a mess than anything else. "Savia cleans water" she said, meek, using her hands to absorb the wetness off her clothes, leaving them dry. Draining all that scalding water had the effect of making her warmer, appearing as she was blushing wildly. She was well fed of moisture and her current size couldn't hold much more, so even if she managed to drain the water, a few droplets escaped her form here and there, not too different from a sweating person. "Savia sorry make noise, empty pot" she apologized, looking down. "Emaline good girl, give Thiya dinner please" she begged, looking like she was about to cry even if she wasn't quite familiar with the workings of that.

 

[Jeufufns]

When Savia said no, her tone a little shaky, Emaline looked a little concerned. She had to discipline Thiya, but Savia wouldn't understand it, and it seemed that Savia was taking an issue with things, especially since she'd been asked something. But Emaline seemed to recoil a little when Savia complained that Thiya needed food, something she had tried to avoid. Of course it her mind, Savia had a point, she probably did too since Thiya had worked very hard today in the fields. It wasn't the nicest work you could be doing and Thiya was starving.

Savia was starting to throw a tanrum. At least she was learning to display emotions Emaline noticed. How she learned this was beyond her, but she shouldn't underestimate her adoptive daughter after all. She'd probably seen all these expressions somewhere and copy them, or maybe these expressions came naturally when you felt a certain way and had a humanoid body, after all the different humanoid species also shared their facial expressions.

"Savia," she said, trying to calm the young girl, but it didn't seem to have an effect. Thiya looked quite bewildered herself. She didn't at all expect for Savia to suddenly get so agitated, no less for her. Savia only seemed to get more excited and it caused her to hit the water pot. A loud 'Ai' escaped Emaline's lips as she quickly lead Savia's arm away from the fire, fearing that she might have burnt herself. Savia seemed to have little to no burns to her, which was fascinating in and of itself, but still hse held on to Savia's arm, to make sure she was okay. Poor Savia had gotten so excited she was blushing, at least that was Emaline's interpretation. The fire had suffered a little from the water but not too much thankfully. Wet wood was a horrible thing to cook over.

"It's ok Savia, it's okay, you don't need to be sad, I will give Thiya her dinner, no need to get so excited," she said, trying to calm the young girl in some way. She tried to be warm, but she seemed a bit too hurried and it didn't come accross as genuine.

Thiya, being the subject of this argument, Stayed silent as she stood up, walking around the fire as she made sure not to step in it. She was a beautiful young creature, and when she stood up, there was just a second in which Savia could peek under her skirt. There wasn't much to see, but it was still lewd somehow. Moving closer to Savia, she sat down right next to her, making sure she didn't catch her manhood in an uncomfortable position. So pretty and so close, and about to do something that would confuse Savia quite a bit. Leaning in, she gave Savia a soft kiss with her warm, plush lips, right on the blushing cheek. It was a warm gesture, from a big sister to a little sister, which was what everyone had wanted her to do, but perhaps what Savia had just done was enough to prove herself to Thiya.

"It's okay Savia, thank you for standing up for me," she said with a smile, still very close to Savia's face before she retreated back to a normal seating position. She'd kissed Savia on the cheek, and somehow that felt very, very different from when Emaline did it. But at least Thiya seemed to accept her now! Emaline was still very concerned about Savia, checking her arm for any burn marks, but seemed to calm down when she didn't find anything. Little did she understand that Savia was distracted by something else right now.

 

[Sigr]

As Emaline took Savia's arm she would feel it warm, but not much else after having absorbed the scalding water on her body. Emaline said it was okay, her voice sounding quick and unsteady, somewhat rushed, but as she said Thiya would have dinner, Savia started to calm down. "Hmm, hmm" small and brief hums escaped Savia's still closed and slightly tense lips while she nodded, as Emaline's voice wasn't as reassuring as usual, but soon was distracted by Thiya getting up. The curious girl felt even smaller, as Thiya was standing closer and closer to her while Savia was still sitting, and somehow tearing her eyes away was turning out to be troublesome.

Why was she trying to peek? Trying to look beyond her clothes? First it was how the wet clothing clung to her breasts, now a small opening to see up her skirt. It didn't make sense, she had already seen her naked, and yet there was something on her that slowly changed as she learned that made her aware of things she didn't mind before. It wasn't like Emaline wasn't a sight to see, but with what happened Savia felt a little bit distanced from her, even if she was still worrying about her arm apparently. Edea was also beautiful, but she wasn't there and their encounter had been brief and somewhat awkward. Thiya was right there, closer and closer in fact, and Savia couldn't help but stare at her every move.

"Ahh-" the girl uttered a soft sigh, as Thiya's soft lips landed a kiss on her warm cheek, her whole body heated up by both the absorption of the warm water and things she couldn't understand. Thiya's smile as she thanked her disarmed the girl, as who had been aloof and almost hostile until that moment, now she was close and grateful, positively beaming. "Oh..." Savia was wordless, her free hand reaching for her cheek as Thiya leaned back, touching her own face trying to discern why that kiss had been so different. Those fingers moved slowly to her own lips, wondering how to make kisses differ from one another, remembering how Edea looked after Savia kissed her forehead.

"Emaline, Savia good" she tried to reassure the woman, finally noticing that she was still handling her arm. Something was building up inside Savia, something as old as life and yet new for her, an instinct buried since the events that gave her a new conscience. "Savia eat water, dinner" she said, managing to smile honestly thanks to Thiya's gratitude and Emaline's softer attitude, oblivious to most of what was going on inside her. "I never had hot water... different... Savia feel warm" she tried to express, as the heat wasn't dispersing as fast as it should, although the heated water she absorbed wasn't to be blamed. Even if born from a horrible act, the people Savia consumed that granted her a heightened awareness also gave her notions she wasn't conscious of, and of course not even remotely familiar with. It was that base that allowed her to think more clearly than when she was a mindless slime, what allowed Savia to get use of Emaline's careful, brilliant and generous lessons.

But were also a source of buried instincts, emotions and drives Savia couldn't understand at first and were clawing their way up the more she interacted with people, the more she learned. Savia was, both literally and figuratively, absorbing everything she could, learning, shaping herself as a person and interacting with others, Emaline specially. Slowly but surely, things have been getting closer to the surface as she now had a body that mimicked a Taracian one, her shape determined by her whim, an instinct more than conscious thought. With proper stimulation, she had been more expressive that day, exposed to a lot of things in her way to the city, on that crazy market itself and with Edea. Now, after throwing a tantrum to a perceived unfair treatment, Savia had been feeling new things, specially every time her eyes set on Thiya.

"Savia still warm... feeling unknown" the girl gasped, not knowing what was going on, as the heat from the water wasn't enough to make her feel like that, specially after being dispersed all over her body. With her labored breathing, even if it was a custom she had picked up out of habit and not need, her generous breasts bounced, feeling somewhat more sensitive than the norm, making Savia wonder what was going on with her. "Emaline... Savia scared... I don't-" she said, wanting an explanation to what was going on with her, looking at her mother for relief, to care for her, when her words were interrupted by a surprising sight.

Slightly engorged, pressing against the skirt's inside, Savia's member was bulging the fabric as she looked at it in disbelief.