Wild Lake

...

She had stopped for now, crouched by the river taking the water she needed so badly. With a soft sigh she looked around, her instrument against her back as it always was. Kira flipped back her blue hair before sitting back and wiping water from her mouth. Her shoulder still acted from that previous battle, the enemy holding nothing back from the mage. It was times like these when she wished she had joined that party a while back, being alone was not as easy as she thought it'd be. Oh well, enjoy the peace now she thought and brought a book from her rucksack. She flipped the pages to where she had left off, and began scanning in the silence, nothing speaking except the waters of the lake.

Silently through the trees moved a woman. She was almost like a shadow since she blended in with everything so nicely, and she was definitely quiet enough to be. Slowly the shinobi came to a halt at the edge of the tree lines. Drina stared forward with golden eyes, her head tilting to the side some as she watched the woman at the edge of the water. Was she so dull as to let her guard down? Certainly the place seemed peaceful, but it was still dangerous in the wilds like this. Even the waters were full of creatures that could cause harm, yet still...This woman here seemed so at peace.

Allowing her eyes to wander, Drina took in the rest of the land before her eyes fell upon a creature which emerged from the woods. It was silent much-like herself, but it certainly wasn't as prepared. Quickly she reached to her side and pulled out some of her senbons, one resting between each of her fingers. Suddenly she flicked her wrist and let them fly, each hitting her target with precision and catching vital organs. Dropping from the tree Drina's ears twitched as she looked at the woman in front of her. "Never let your guard down."

A sudden rush of air and the book fell from her hand with a 'splash'. She turned to see a dead animal, then again to see a stranger stating never let her guard down. Kira turned once again and sighed, picking up the sopping wet print she had been enjoying.
"I can see that very well now thank you."
She had been enjoying that book, it was a shame. Oh well, she was alive at least. Throwing the book in the grass she stood up, kicking the beast to inspect it.
"Thank you very much, if ti weren't for you I'd be dead right now."
The mage turned, the large instrument clinging to her back.
"What is your name? I am Kira Okabe."

"If you were going to read why didn't you stay in the city? Coming out here is for people to train, not read." An exasperated sigh escaped from Drina's lips. This person must have been new to the game. She watched the woman curiously as she kicked the beast, but then her eyes moved up to meet the woman's before she glanced away with a somewhat frustrated look on her face. "Yeah...Don't mention it." She stepped forward and knelt down to remove the senbons from within the beast. She wiped them off in the grass before returning them to the pouch at her side. "I'm Drina Rinnma." The nine fluffy white tails at her back twitched some, but the black ears on the top of her head stood straight and attentive.

This stranger had nine white tails sprouting from her back, and she spoke of going to the city to read. Kira shrugged, twitching as her arm hurt again.
"I just returned from training, and did not want to take the long road back home."
The mage sighed softly, at lest her spell book wasn't damaged. She glanced back at the stranger.
"You are quite skilled with something so small, others think it's ridiculous I carry this instrument around all the time but it's the only way my magic works. I've gotten used to carrying it around anyway so it doesn't bother me anymore."

Drina's ears twitched slightly as Kira's body did. Looking at the marks across her face combined with the ears and tails it was easy to tell she was somewhat of a fox. "You're hurt." Animals were good at telling such things, and Drina immediately straightened and made her way over to Kira. She reached out towards the girl and moved towards the area she guessed was hurting. It was easy to read to Drina. "It's not my only weapon, but I am a shinobi after all." She glanced towards the instrument before refocusing her attention. "It's an interesting instrument you have."

Drina came closer to her, inspecting the wound quickly before taking note of the instrument on her back.
"It's the only way my spells can work, I have to play it to active them."
She let the shinobi inspect her arm, rolling up the sleeve to show the full damage. A sizable claw mark could be seen, the bleeding had stopped but it still bothered her somewhat.
"I've had worse then this before, it still bothers me though."
The mage took full note of the animal like qualities of the other female, straight pointed ears and several tails told she was some form of fox being. The rest of her looked rather human though, stranger things happened she thought.

"Huh...That's really interesting as well. Even more so than the instrument. In all my time here...I haven't met a mage like that." Carefully Drina examined the claw marks on Kira's arm a moment. Slowly she leaned forward and stuck her tongue out to give a couple of licks at the wound as if to disinfect it before opening her inventory to get equipment to bandage the wound up. With it like that she carefully pulled Kira's sleeve back down and uttered quietly a single word, "There."

Drina began licking at the wound, surprising the mage but she didn't move. With how close Drina was she'd end up hitting her if she did anything drastic. With a bandage around her arm she moved it up and down, noting the pain was fleeting .
"Thank you very much, yes it seems I'm one of a kind around these parts. I haven't met another musician mage myself. I would have healed myself if my magic had not been spent in the previous battle, I should have joined a party at this rate I'll get myself killed."
She almost had a moment ago, she kicked the best again, it was harder this time as it began entering rigor mortis.

These words seriously shocked Drina. "Do you...Not carry anything for your mana? Are you new to this or something?" Even being new...Drina would assume that one would know about mana, stamina, and health and how to recover all of those things. She glanced towards the beast as the woman kicked it once more and flinched slightly as her ears laid back on her head while she averted her eyes from what the woman was doing. Certainly she had been the one to kill it, but there was no reason to disrespect it.

"I do, but I was not thinking straight. I am still quite new to this."
A few days to be precise, but Drina did not need to know that right now. She adjusted the instrument on her back, making it sit straighter. Drina was taller then Kira was, by a few inches easy.
"Thank you again for your help, I must be an inconvenience to you."
Kira knew that she was too new to this sort of thing, and that's part of the reason why she was going alone. She wanted to know what she was doing before she would join a party, the last thing anyone needed was an incompetent healer.

"I guess I can understand that...It can be a bit frightening when you're new." Drina slowly moved her golden gaze to meet Kira's eyes. She watched the woman a moment, but was silent just as long before she spoke up. "No. You're not. You're new to here, and so someone's gotta show you the ropes. You should have gone with a party and gone on your own later so that you could be taught." Her voice was rather gentle as she spoke to Kira. She was cunning like her features suggested. "I suppose I can keep you around and teach you a few things though." There it was. The part she meant to slip in with ease.

Kira sensed something was up with Drina's offer, something lying under it waiting to pounce. But for the time she could use the company and the aide, so she nodded firmly.
"I would appreciate that very much, thank you very much."
The mage shifted her gaze to look Drina up and down, why she had joined a party herself was no mystery. She was skilled on her own, and didn't need that much. Still, Kira would offer it when she could, new didn't matter she could still cast spells that were of use.

"Alright...Well I'll keep you safe then. So if here's where you'd really like to read then that's fine." Drina said nothing more that was cunning, but stuck to the truth now as she moved to sit down. If Kira wanted to stay here then that was fine with Drina. She could use a nap after all. If she wanted to go...Well that was also fine with Drina. She wasn't that much of a picky person. As long as Kira proved herself to be helpful at some point. If she didn't then well...Drina would probably ditch her. She hated people who couldn't fend for themselves at all.

The shinobi sat beside her, Kira nodding and sitting herself. With her book ruined she could stand to study her spells as to help Drina and herself. Reaching into her bag she brought out a large book and set it in her lap, flipping it open and beginning to study. The spells were shown in a small pieces of old music sheets. Kira was silent and content a she flipped through the pages, taking the spells to memory.

Drina sat silently and awkwardly for a moment before she shifted herself around. Slowly she laid down behind Kira and curled up around her body while her tails curled around the both of them. It was more to make herself comfortable, but her fur was rather soft, and so it'd probably be comfortable for Kira as well. She closed her eyes, but no matter how relaxed she seemed her ears were constantly twitching at the slightest sound.

Out of the corner of her eyes Kira aw Drina shift her weight, then she was lying behind her with her tails wrapped around the both of them. Kira smiled softly, continuing to read the spell book. One hand brushed the fur of one of her tails, and Kira was slightly shocked at how soft it was. She left them alone from then on, returning to her book of spells.
Drina seemed vigilant even in her sleep, and Kira focus her ears to listen around them as well. She picked up all sorts of things as she read on, the slurping of the lake and the rustling of the grass in the soft wind.

A twitch of the body and a somewhat strange noise was Drina's reaction to Kira's touch of her tail. Once more her body shifted slightly, and she curled herself in around Kira a bit more to get somewhat more comfortable, though her tails stayed basically where they had been the entire time. A lot of times people found it weird that Drina could be so touchy, but this wasn't exactly a sexual thing for her. Drina would do this with anyone regardless of gender. It was a comfort thing instead.

Her body twitched and she shifted closer to Kira, the mage smiling softly. Turning from her book for a moment she wondered what would happen if she did something. Carefully she took one of the tails in her hands and rubbed the soft fur with her fingers, being careful not to tug on the appendage or be too rough. The fur was very soft, plush like even. Kira smiled and found it soothing to rub the limb in her fingers.

When Kira took Drina's tail into her hand she reacted with just a slight noise and a faint blush covered over her face as she curled in even closer. Suddenly she sat up though with a dark blush on her face after having let out a slight moan. That was definitely strange! "Jeez!" Drina sat directly behind Kira now, but slowly she leaned forward into the woman, moving her head so that her chin rested on the others shoulder. "I'd be careful...Cuz you keep it up and you're gonna owe me big time. And what I'm going to ask for is you to finish what you started."

Kira let go of the tail when she heard Drina moan softly, blushing softly herself. Drina rested her head on Kira's shoulder, saying she'd owe her if she kept doing that.
"I'm sorry my curiosity got the better of me I'll leave them alone."
that was unexpected, the tail was a sensitive part of her body for sure but...Kira would almost call it arousal? She made a mental note to leave them alone...even if somewhere inside she wanted to touch it again.

Slowly Drina turned her face towards Kira's neck, giving her a light nuzzle before muttering "Well good morning to you too..." She moved her face away before laying back down on her side and then turning so that her back was towards Kira. She sighed after a few minutes though before mumbling. "The water looks pretty nice, hm?" That's all she said though as her golden eyes stared forward towards the tree-line. There was a somewhat odd and unreadable look on her face though as she went silent.

Kira blushed darkly as Drina suddenly nuzzled her neck before lying back down. She cleared her throat before replying to her.
"Yes, the water is nice and clear. Very good for drinking I had some before."
She flipped her book open again, trying to focus on that again. Kira wanted to be useful to the lady who had taken her in. They made their own sort of ragtag party.

"..." Drina remained silent for a moment, not saying anything. Suddenly she stood though and reached out to grab Kira's hand, being sure she didn't knock the book away from her as she pulled her up to her feet. "Come with me." She turned with Kira's hand held in her own before taking off down the pathway. Drina was gonna take this woman to a place with far better things to drink than lake-water.