>>6110181You spend the next few days trying to patch over the most glaring hole in your defences.
For some reason, that decision sees you sitting topless inside a chalk circle, with Soralisa behind you, Rubida mounting guard, and Salicera grinning, draped over a fallen tree like a lazy cat, enjoying the view.
Hmmm. Perhaps you should have asked Soralisa for help at a later time. Now you can’t keep but focusing on Salicera’s smile as she looks at you like a cat aiming for a silver-haired canary.
“… the oils, please?” Soralisa pulls you out of your reverie and you comply, giving her the vials of sacred oil you received from the town. Behind you, she uncorks them and starts to trace slow, tentative lines over your back.
Your cheeks grow even redder at her touch over your naked back, mostly because she is really making an effort. She already said she wanted to help the group and she is really pushing herself.
But perhaps effort and exercise will do better to her limbs than passive rest.
<span class="mu-i">We are storm animals, and the storm suits us,</span> Master used to say. Maybe it’s true even for Maduans, used to their carefree lives of plenty and abundance.
“The intent is the most important thing,” she relies, her voice soft and focused, reaching your ears like silken braids. “When you reach out to the Sun-Birther, you are casting your net just like a thousand thousand’s other prayers. If you are not sure about what it is you are looking for, neither She will be able to help you find it.”
You nod, noticing how Salicera has crossed her arms over her chest, as if to shield herself from Soralisa’s words.
“I will have to stay focused then.”
“Focused yet receptive. Your inner world is— expansive.” Her fingers stop tracing lines over your back.
She ought to know. She has been there.
For all the interactions you had with the other two, especially Salicera, the slender brunette was the only one who could reach out to you, led by the Highest of leads.
In a way it was… intimate.
You haven’t given it much thought as of now, but Soralisa has seen the barest parts of your soul, unlike anyone else besides Master and the Sun-Birther herself.
You turn your gaze to regard her, looking at you with her big brown eyes.
“I-Is there something amiss?” She stutters, flushing slightly on her rounded cheeks.
[cont.]
