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Varia really wants to like The Dhelgar Forest. It's entirely inoffensive as far as semi-remote woodland goes. The brook babbles cheerfully, the trees sway serenely, and the oversized hornets stick close to their nests. It's more visually appealing, and certainly safer, than most of the locales she's found herself in as of late. So why can't she shake this sense of unease?
Weathered leather soles crunch loudly on the soft ground, pausing Varia's somber stride. Bones. Her feet have carried her to an old haunt and she has not yet laid these ghosts to rest.
"Varia!"
Honed reflexes activate, supplying the bandit exile's palms with pommels. She swiftly scans the clearing while cursing herself for leaving the tree line without first scouting ahead. Varia releases the breath she'd been holding when she finally spots her ambusher. Altina sits upon the edge of a nearby overhang, bare legs and feet dangling in front of the mossy cavern entrance. The subterranean hideout in general and this tunnel specifically had once been a well kept secret. Varia's explosives had played a part in ruining both.
The slight elf waves down at Varia, "Do you want to join me?" Varia's stomach sinks at the thought of passing through her old lair, but Altina continues brightly, "I can pick you up!"
Varia feels the aimless breeze swell around her. She nods toward her companion. The wind's shrill whistling offers the mildest of discomfort as Altina's magic lifts Varia from the ground and deposits her a few feet from the mage.
Altina's smile falters slightly as Varia's countenance comes into focus. "Does it hurt to be back here?" she asks timidly. She continues, softer, almost to herself, "It's hard to go back to Withering Mountain sometimes."
Varia sits next to her. Altina had been rescued just days before the harem saved Varia. She seldom considered how similar their situations had been. The former outlaw didn't like thinking about her old life, least of all the bottom of the spirals she had too often found herself in. It made her resentful.
"It does," she responds simply.
The silence stretches for a few seconds. Varia can feel Altina's brilliant blue eyes studying her. She turns to face the younger woman and finds her thin ears and mouth pulled down into a look of empathetic concern.
"I don't want to be sad, but I am and that makes me more mad," Varia sighs as she opens up to Altina. She feels guilty now too. She'd been spared the specific horrors Altina had endured thanks in part to the mage's efforts. "I think I won't feel better until I stab Fate or Destiny, or whatever, in the face," she finishes grimly.
Altina turns, gaze settling far into the distance. The sun has just begun to dip below the horizon, painting the forest with splotches of orange light. Varia wonders what details those expressive elven eyes discern that her own cannot. The day's dying light accentuates the warm hues of Altina's chestnut twin tails. Varia follows their descent, how they frame the woman's dainty features before coming to a rest below her bare shoulders. A now familiar heat smothers some of Varia's sour mood.
Altina interrupts Varia's ogling, "I think your confidence is really impressive!" she declares, locking eyes with her comrade. "You say you're going to do something and then you just do it. Even something crazy like killing Destiny. Everyone just nods along, they don't doubt you at all." Altina's own confidence falters, but she persists, "It's taken me a long time to start to think of myself as more than just an elf, or a mage," she finishes with a whisper, "or a slut."
"You're amazing Altina," Varia wraps an arm around Altina's slim waist and pulls her into a tight hug. She takes a hold of her friend's graceful fingers, interlocking them with her own before lying their hands in Altina's lap. Her wrist comes to rest right at the edge of Altina's robe. Varia strokes Altina's hand with her thumb and resumes her praise, "You've been through as much as anyone and yet you'll help any of us and do it with a smile on your face. A very fucking cute smile," she punctuates her final comment by extending her thumb to instead stroke Altina's exposed thigh, hoping that she has not misjudged the warmth spreading across that pretty face. Altina's blush deepens and Varia feels a smile of her own tug at the corners of her mouth. She slides her finger under the hem of the skimpy garment before breathing into Altina's reddening ear, "There's something only you can help me with."
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Varia is pretty certain she's minutes away from passing out. Another wave of pleasure crests and she squeezes her legs tighter, trapping Altina's face between her hips. Her lover's tongue pushes into her folds once more and Varia shudders. She gasps for breath, pausing her own ministrations to grind her body against Altina's. Her ample chest slides across her partner's flat stomach. Varia's ardor grows as the motion also pulls her own muscled torso over Altina's hard nipples, the movement lubricated by her dripping arousal. Varia's wetness has completely coated both women, due in large part to the fearless rogue hanging upside down over the edge of the cliff.
While Altina is stronger than her petite figure might indicate, and despite the desperate grip the two have on each other, they'd have fallen immediately were it not for the young elementalist's magic. A constant gust fights the pull of gravity on Varia's naked form, enabling the pair's simultaneous cunnilingus.
Varia suggested this arrangement to build her paramour's self-esteem, but she hadn't realized how turned on she'd be by surrendering her wellbeing entirely to Altina. Fucking at the bottom of the ocean had been exotic, but she'd never felt endangered. This is different. Each time she swirls her tongue over Altina's clit she feels irregular surges of air around her as Altina's concentration on the spell holding her afloat falters. The risk is intoxicating.
Throwing caution to the literal wind, Varia launches a final lustful assault on Altina. She slides her tongue into her dripping slit before slowly tilting her head 'downwards' blazing a trail of deliberate licks inside and then over Altina's pink nub.
"Even your pussy is pretty," Varia murmrus as the object of her affection temporarily halts Varia's ravishing by tightly clenching her shapely thighs. The maneuver tousles Varia's violet hair, splaying it across Altina's curled toes. Varia stifles Altina's throaty moan with her own leglock, pressing her sopping sex into Altina's soft lips. Her groan slides into a lewd whine when Varia slaps her perfect ass. Varia drags her nails across toned cheeks and towards her still shaking legs.
"Cum for me, Altina," Varia purrs as she pries open her ladylove's legs, her own lightheadedness pushing her closer to crescendo.
Varia caresses the smooth skin of Altina's thigh, one hand keeping her slender legs spread. Varia's other hand slips into Altina, two fingers curling along her sensitive inner walls. Altina bucks in response, mewling into Varia's throbbing cunt as Varia's tongue resumes servicing her clit. The older woman works methodically, thrusting steadily while working her tongue in circular patterns. Altina's control dissolves, her attempts to reciprocate are frenzied, quiet whimpers punctuating her frantic fingering.
A squall lashes at Varia's back. She shivers at the full-body stimulation, an uninhibited Altina on one side and her increasingly unfettered spell on the other. Varia picks up the pace, plunging her fingers and flicking her tongue relentlessly. She's quickly rewarded as Altina arches her back and screams. Varia's face is flooded with Altina's climax, her sweet smell and taste driving Varia to the edge. She gasps at the speed with which Altina's thumb rubs her sensitive spot, nearly overwhelming all other sensation. Her orgasm rocks her like the hurricane forming behind her. She reaches her free hand to grab one of Altina's perky breasts, but her lover is faster, pulling her wind-whipped hair as she inserts another finger and the world disappears in a flash of white.
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The first thing Varia feels is the departing pulsations of healing magic. It's replaced by an array of much more satisfying tingles. Varia opens her eyes slowly, a lascivious grin already plastered on her still dripping lips.
"Thank Ivala you're ok!" Altina is on all fours, perched above Varia anxiously. "I lost control of the spell at the end, I was worried I'd drop you, I guess it's not quite combat ready," she finishes breathlessly, eyes darting over her partner, whether looking for wounds or disapproval, Varia isn't sure.
She summons what little remains of her strength and pulls Altina into an intimate embrace. "I'll help you practice anytime you want," Varia murmurs before kissing a flushed cheek.
Altina wraps her limbs around Varia, nuzzling her neck while mumbling, "Can we lie here awhile?"
Varia runs her damp fingers through Altina's silky hair. Movement in the glade below grabs her attention. She espies a familiar winged form, doubtless enticed by the women's loud exultations. She closes her eyes, the last dregs of worry seeping away.
"I'd love that."