#16 (Warning 18+)

As soon as we cross the wall Apricot pops out with an angry snort. "That little shit! He didn't even wait a second before putting out the call for new Fae."

"It's alright. You've got us now." Amelia comforts the winged woman. "You've said it before; they're little more than instinct, especially when so young."

"I know. But it's still annoying." She says flying closer to Amelia. "Ugh, I can already feel the drain. Can we form the bond now, please?" She looks a little pained.

"Of course. What do I need to do?" Amelia cups her hands to give Apricot a place to land.

"Just don't block the connection." She says, settling her wings behind her as she sits down on my lover's palm.

I try to activate Magical Sight again, and with a series of *dings* from all three of us. It works. The view is disorienting at first. Enough so, that I'm glad to be sitting down, and that the horse knows what it's doing. It's amazing, Magic suffuses everything, from the air we breathe to grasses around us, and the soil under our wheels. The wagon and my various creations glow more than the background environment. "Everything, everything is magic." I breathe out unconsciously.

The pixie in Amelia's hands more so than anything else, and I can see mana being pulled through her before passing into Amelia, clearer and brighter than before it started. A thick band of mana connects them, like a flowing river of light. Looking closer, I can see a smaller one spiraling back up and around it.

"Did we all just level?" Amelia asks, breathing heavy.

"I did." Apricots confirms.

"Same here." I add. "Got Magical sight unlocked too... You two are so beautiful." That last just slips out on its own.

"Can you show me?" The vision sitting next to me begs.

"I can try. Light!" I conjure an image in front of us, almost like a magical mirror floating in the air. It may be called Magical sight, but I don't need my eyes to use it. So, I present her with an image of the three of us.

"Aww, Apricot. You're like a little rainbow glow bug" Amelia says, causing me to snort.

"This is amazing." She doesn't acknowledge the comment or my outburst. "Co always felt so mechanical, even the old Mana spring was just a constant flow. But, you... You're so... Alive!"

"That's one of my top five favorite things about her." I try joking, only to get hushed by Amelia.

"I can feel you too. The sensation is hard to describe, not like feeling the aspects of water, more like emotions. Like that feeling you get wishing on the first star of a warm summer night when you're a child. That and so much more. It's, it's just.. Magic."

"..." I'm a bit lost for words after that. So, I just reach my arm around her waist and hold her as the two women work through their bond. We continue on like that until around mid-day, when I hear Amelia's stomach rumbling.

"Here, take the reigns I'll go make us all lunch." I hand her the horse's lead.

"Thanks." She says a little dreamily. "Don't forget to ask mom and dad."

I nod and hop off the side of the wagon. Her parent's driver seems alarmed, but calm him down with a smile and a wave. Easily matching the pace of the horses, I knock on the carriage door.

"Sorrel!" Kaitlyn startles. "Is everything alright? How are you keeping up with the carriage like that?" She looks down at my legs. We're not racing down the road as that would wear out the horses, but they're still going at a fair clip. And, I'm just strolling along like it's nothing.

"Everything's fine. I was just about to make lunch, came to see what you guys wanted. And, this is just a perk of being Awakened. We're both stronger and faster than we were a month ago." I explain.

"Amazing." Turner joins in. "Amelia can do this too?"

"Sure, she's been using all her free stats to boost her magic, but even the baseline boosts from leveling up make it so we could outrun the horses if we wanted too."

"I've only read some stories about Awakened; it's still hard to wrap my head around stuff like that." He adds. "Could we join you two for lunch and ask a few questions."

"Yes, maybe something light, though." Kaitlyn interjects.

"I've got just the recipe." I say before looking forward and using magic to communicate with Amelia. "Could you pull over for a second? Your parents want to join us for lunch; I'm going to make a pasta salad."

"Oooh, make the dressing with the sunflower seeds, I love that one." The spell carries her words back to us as she slows the wagon.

"Of course." I smile so she can hear it in my voice. "Should I try the 'chicken' again? I think I figured it out with that last batch."

"That's sounds good, and we can always pick it out if the taste is off."

"Alright." I end the spell and turn back to her parents. "Come on over. Oh, what about your man? Holt, Right?"

"Thank you sir, but I'm fine." The driver says.

"Ha-ha, Holt's been like this since I've known him. He'll only have a cup of tea in the morning and a big meal in the evening." Turner explains.

"We'll make you something special tonight then." Luckily I had a few vegan friends back when I was human, and I've been able to piece together most of the recipes they showed me. Between that and all the cooking Amelia's done before, we haven't any lack in variety.

Climbing into the vardo we're met with a little surprise. "Apricot, you finally decided to show yourself?" I'm happily surprised, but Amelia's parents are puzzled about why I'm talking to what seems to be an odd looking insect. "Oh, sorry. Kaitlyn, Turner, this is Apricot. Magnify!" I create a hologram of her entire body this time, making her about ten times larger than normal. "She's a pixie that decided to bond with Amelia; thought it'd be weeks before she showed herself to anyone."

"..." - "..." Amelia's parents just open their mouths for a moment; Kaitlyn recovers first. "Oh, pardon our rudeness. It's not every day one meets a Fae. Maybe if our daughter had warned us.." She shoots a look out the front window. "..We wouldn't have just stood there with our mouths open."

"Mom!" Amelia whines. "It wasn't my secret to share."

"Hah!" Apricot laughs. "Serves you right. Threatening to withhold lunch if I didn't show myself."

"Amy girl! You didn't!" Her mother huffs. They go up front next to the window to chat, and I just shake my head with a smile.

Pulling out what I'll need, I quickly throw together our meal. It's a fairly simple meal just some spiral pasta, a mix of sun-dried (magic-dried) and fresh cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, cucumber slices, red onions, and my latest attempt at pseudo chicken. Mixed up with a blended sunflower seed based dressing and served up in freshly baked bread bowls. The only thing it's missing is some cheese and maybe some olives. But we're out of the former, and Amelia doesn't care for the latter.

"That looks lovely, and you made it so quickly" Amelia's mother says with a smile. "I see our Amy girl still hasn't gotten over her dislike of olives."

"Mom." Amelia mutters before tucking into her bowl. "Mmm, I think you finally got the chicken right. This is good, just wish we had some cheese."

"We've still got some of that cashew based parmesan." I offer.

"Nnnh, you gave it a good try with that, but it just didn't taste quite right." She tries to be polite, but the curling of her nose gives away her true sentiment.

"Sorry, maybe if I had some coconuts or soy, that and there's a thickening agent that can be made from sea-weed..." I trail off thinking of the few foodstuffs I wasn't able to get back in Riverton. "But, I think we're more likely to run into a cow before spotting a coconut tree."

"You made cheese without milk?" Kaitlyn tilts her head in confusion.

"Heheh." Apricot titters. "The lunker made chicken without chicken. Or, did you miss the lack of birds back at the dungeon?"

"What? How?" Turner says after taking a bite. "There's no way this isn't chicken."

"Magic to get the texture right, and weeks of tinkering to nail down the flavor. Gave up trying other meats a while ago, and I think Amelia's expression gives you a good idea how my tries at cheese went. Not even Apricot liked them."

"Hey!" She says indignantly, but she's already finished her bowl before us, and is trying to sneak bites from Amelia's.

"Here, you can have the rest of mine. I know you're made of magic and all, but I still expect you to pop one of these days." I let out a small chortle while setting my leftovers in front of her. "I'll be up front; you two can explain Awakened to them."

"Oh yeah, we've been moving this whole time." Turner says in surprise. "I'd forgotten because of how smooth it is. And, here I thought you did a good job on the carriage."

"Well, I've had a bit of time to tweak everything how we like it. That and I'm using a bit of magic to make us lighter." I explain from the driver's seat. "We've been keeping the horse exercised, but there's no reason to stress her on the first day out."

The rest of the day goes smoothly. Apricot gets along with Amelia's parents quite well, even getting a few stories out of Kaitlyn that caused her daughter to writhe in embarrassment. 'I'll have to make her something special for that.' I think, wondering what treats to make for the tiny woman. 'Knew she needed more people to interact with. Pixie's are as much a social animal as humans are.'

We make camp at the last waypoint we reached with Charlie, oh so many weeks ago. Things are fine through dinner, but afterwards. When we're all sitting about the fire pit, talks turn to Rodrick, and the water works start coming out.

Aside from that first outburst, and a few sobs in the night; things were a bit too hectic back at Circle Orchard to really let the dam of emotions flow. Amelia and I grieved together before, but now... I just feel like an outsider; sitting here awkwardly trying to offer what comfort I can. Holt disappeared to "check on the horses" and hasn't been seen since. Lucky bastard.

Eventually things wind down and we all end up sleeping out under the stars. Amelia clinging to me all night, like she's afraid I'll vanish if she lets go. I just hold her and stroke her hair whenever I feel her tremble from a bad dream.

***

Apricot Pov: The next night.

"Oh fuck!" I moan as a wave of heat washes over me from the bond with Amelia. "I didn't think the connection extended this far. Hng. Oh, wow. No wonder they're always doing this."

I can practically feel that lunker inside of me. "What is he doing to her nipples?" I tweak my own trying to copy the sensation, but it soon stops. Only that heat deep inside me remains, it's not moving anymore though, and just having this sense of fullness is driving me crazy.

I start reaching for myself with one hand when I sense the Soundproofing around my house drop and Amelia calls out to me. "Apricot, you okay in there? I think the Bond is a little stronger than we imagined."

"Oh, fuck." I squeak out, and stop my hands. "You can feel it too?" I raise my voice, too embarrased to fly out there. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea it would be like this. Then that heat hit me, and I sorta lost my head. How can you take this every night? I can feel him inside of you, it's so..." My voice rushes out, too confused and overwhelmed to filter myself.

"Should I stop?" Sorrel asks my Bond mate, and I can feel him start to pull out of me.. her.. us!

"Don't you fucking dare!" I shout without realizing it. "Oh, gods." I slap my hands over my mouth once I come to myself. My face locked in an expression of shock. "How could I say that? I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry." I mumble.

"Come out where we can see you, silly. It's okay, we're not mad." Amelia tries to calm me down.

"Well, it would have been nice to know we were starting a threesome..." Sorrel says under his breath.

"Oh hush." I can hear a light slapping sound, she must have smacked his shoulder again. "Apricot, please come out." She calls to me again.

I peek out the door of the house Sorrel made for me, only to stop when I feel his giant cock twitch inside of us. The tightening I felt when I spotted her stradling him must have been trasmitted through Amelia, making him react.

I can't fucking take it, now she knows just how much I want them. I call them lunkers and insult them, but they look so much like pixies, and they're so fucking hot. That time I screamed out when I first saw them naked was mostly frustration. Frustration that I'd never have his cock inside of me. Frustration that I'd never feel her soft curves pressed against mine.

I started poking holes in his soundproofing every night after that, just barely big enough to slip a tendril of magic through, so I could watch. I regretted it almost instantly, but not enough to stop.

"Oh, sweetie." Amelia reaches her hand out to me. "You've been so lonely. I can feel the the longing. Why didn't you say anything?" Her eyes start tearing up, and I can feel mine going along for the ride. "Sorrel, baby. Can she join us please? You can't imagine what it feels like for her."

He lets out a deep sigh as I look on worried, and hopeful, and so fucking horny that it hurts. I never thought I'd see another pixie, let alone get close to one, so I put if out of my mind. But, feeling him inside of me, even by proxy, it's just too much. I fucking need it. Now!

"I only want and need you." He says, and I can feel my heart break. "But, she's part of you now. It looks like you're both feeling what the other feels?" His last sentence more question than statement. "Um, just how are we going to do this though?"

I have my own ideas, and make a bee line straight for her nipple. It's too big to fit fully in my mouth but I start sucking on what I can and knead the rest with my hands. ""Oh, fuck!"" We both scream out. It's too much and I have to let go. Slowly drifting down, my body shaking as I land on Sorrel's taught abdominal muscles.

"Oh, fucking wow!" Amelia pants out. "Haah, good... Really, fucking good try, but I think we're going to lose our minds if we go at it like that." We shiver in sync as the aftershocks of the orgasm wash over us. "Sorrel, baby." She pleads. "Can you do something with magic? She.. We need this so much."

"My focus is good, but I doubt I could manage. Not with you twitching around me like that." He grabs her waist to still her rocking hips. "Okay. Now that I can think... Nnfh, quit that." He smacks her ass with a vine, sending another aftershock through us both. "If you would let me explain. I think I have something that should work, haven't tried it before though."

"Anything" I beg. "You have no idea what it feels like to have you inside me, but not really. Please fuck me." I shimmy around on his muscles, one hand firmly planted between my thighs as the other teases my nipple in approximation of what his vines were doing to Amelia earlier.

"Gods damn!" He swears. "I'm sorry Amelia, but that is too fucking sexy to ignore. Shapeshift!" It sounds like he's casting a spell, but I don't sense any magic.

"Don't ignore it." The Water Mage becomes my own personal Goddess with that one sentence. But, I still don't know what's going on. "Look behind you." Amelia says after sensing my confusion.

I look up his body and see another Sorrel, only this one is pixie sized and seems to be connected to the big one's chest. I don't even question it, just fly over and slam myself down onto his waiting cock.

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck." His whole body clenches up, both of them do. "Damn, I wasn't expecting it to be that sensitive. Wooo, alright. Hahh. That's better." His hands and vines grab my ass, holding me in place. "You girls are gonna have to work together here, I can't really seperate my movements."

""We can do that"" We speak together. I look back to see Amelia bound up just like I am when Sorrel starts a slow rocking, snatching my attention back to him. I try to take control, but he doesn't let me. "Faster, please." I can't help but beg.

"Do it Sorrel." My Goddess commands her man. "Fuck her, fuck both of us. I can feel everything you do to her, so make it good."

"Yes, Ma'am." He says with a smirk that would make me worried if this double sensation of him filling us up wasn't taking up my whole world.

He lifts me up until I'm afraid he's going to slip out of me, then he just holds me there. I'm squirming and wriggling trying to get back onto him, but it isn't until I let out a whimper of frustration that he finally takes pity on me.

Slamming me down in one brutal movement, he buries his cock all the way inside of me. Amelia might have been ready for it, but I wasn't. And the orgasm that rocks through me, then her, proves it. Not that he lets that stop him, he just lifts me up and slams me back down again.

It's another minute of that before I stop shaking, and that's when he starts moving his hips, only to set me off again. "Oh, fuck! Gods damn! Wind and Water! Nng." I groan out as his pace picks up.

"You wanted fucked, right?" He practically snarls at me. "You two aren't the only ones getting double sensations right now. So, pixie up and fucking take it!" He growls and starts slamming into me so hard that I'm left a quivering mess. No muscle control at all, I'm sure I'd go flying off if he didn't have such a strong grip.

Amelia's right there with me, we're both beyond moaning, beyond screams. We're just panting, trying desperately to suck in enough air to keep from passing out as he fucks us into oblivion. Until... Finally... With a shuddering wrench, he drives into us one last time. Let loose from his manic grip, we both slump forward onto his chest.

My legs are caught in Amelia's cleavage, and that just makes it feel even more right. Exhausted, we all just lay there panting. Sorrel's length occasionaly twitching when one of us moves too much. I drift off into unconsciousness a moment later, too out of it to do anything else.

***

Five days later sees us finally quit of this interminable grass. This is more than twice as fast as it would have taken Charlie and his laden wagons. We passed a steady trickle of people headed for the new town, and every. single. one. asked about the dungeon. We got so tired of it that Amelia gave me permission to make a billboard. It had a picture of the town on one side and a rough map of the dungeon on the other. It read "Circle Orchard Ahead" on top, and "Known Monsters:" underneath with a picture of the kangaroo rats. Apricot says there's some oversized insects too, but they aren't even poisonous, so I didn't bother adding them.

The floating sign did it, and we didn't get waved down anymore. Well, my giving everyone the stink eye probably helped a bit too. Nobody wants to mess with a grumpy mage. At least not until we were camped at a waypoint. Then everyone, awed by our magic or not, just had to ask questions.

If it weren't for some rather interesting complications to the bond. The least of which being that neither of us really need the Magnify spell to see Apricot anymore, Amelia because of the bond, andme through my magical sight. And, the greatest being that we three are all now much closer friends. And, well. That's probably the only thing that has kept my grumpiness from switching into outright hostility directed at those around us.

"You know? I could have probably just flown us to the Capital." I lean over to tell Amelia after telling some passerby everything I knew about Co for what felt like the hundredth time. "Wouldn't even be dangerous, just a big bag full of hot air attached to the vardo. Like an oversized paper lantern." I quickly fashion one to show her what I mean.

"You're a big bag of hot air." She smacks my shoulder. "I'd much rather keep my feet on the ground, thank you very much." But her eyes are following the lantern, so I make a few dozen more and have them waltz through the sky above the camp.

"So violent." I ham up my non-existent injury.

"Just like her mother, that one." Turner commiserates with me, nearly earning his own smack.

We haven't told her parents my whole story yet and they know I'm keeping some big secrets. I don't exactly act like someone born and raised in the middle of the woods, after all. But, they trusted Amelia when she told them that she knows all my secrets, and none were bad. They may also have gotten the idea that my father was someone important. Which is not at all true, unless you consider that Voice Guy brought me into this world.

Speaking of secrets. We finally got around to telling Apricot and she was flabbergasted. Not about the re-incarnation though, that she took in stride. But my being a Plantkin completely threw her. Apparently she knew some Plantkin before and I act nothing like them. So, even with my vines giving me away, she'd totally discarded that as an option.

She's been doing great; The bond seems to have really helped her a lot. She even introduced herself to Holt during our first breakfast on the road, but he just gave her a nod and a "Ma'am" before going back to his tea. That gave us all a laugh, Apricot even joined in after a little huff.

Since then she's shown herself to some of the people when we camp for the night, just the kids though. I had a hard time believing that anyone would take their kids and move to a dungeon town, but even in a safe and relatively prosperous nation like Larendath. There's still poverty. And, there will always be people looking to get ahead. I just hope it doesn't cost them their lives.

***

As we're entering the first town after the grasslands, I signal for a halt. I'd just seen a kitten hobbling along the side of the road. "Poor thing. Did you hurt your paw?" I speak soothingly to the injured thing, a grey tabby with white paws and a white splotch on it's mouth and up the right side of it's nose. It looks too old to still be nursing, but too young to be on its own just yet.

"No need to be afraid." I reach out with my Nature magic to calm it enough to let me approach. I've only had a few horses to practice on, but I was able to manage a simple calming spell. "That's a good kitty. Can I see your leg?" I lean closer to get a better look at its back right leg. "Looks like its just swollen, there's no blood and nothing's crooked. Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better." I extend a finger with a large drop of healing sap on it to the kitten. "There you go, drink up. Your leg feels better already, huh?" It just purrs and starts suckling on my finger.

"You big softie." Amelia comes up from behind to give me a big hug. The kitten doesn't even notice her, too absorbed on what is probably the best meal it's had since it was weaned.

"Oh hush, his little paw was hurt. I couldn't just do nothing."

"Softie." She reiterates, hugging me tighter.

Just then a couple boys around eight years old come running around the corner. "See, I told you there was a fancy wagon here." The one in front says to his friend. "Betcha it belongs to a mage or something. Look, I bet that's him playing with that cat over there. Ain't that the one you threw a rock at earlier?"

"Sorrel, don't." Amelia immediately catches onto my fury.

"I don't hurt kids." I tell her, rage heavy in my voice. "But that doesn't mean I can't scare the little shit. Grasp!" I reach out with my left hand; the one not occupied by a kitten, and wrap the brat in a layer of wind, lifting him in the air. "Soundproof! No need to scream, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know why you would ever think it's okay to harm a defenseless kitten."

"P-p-p-please, s-sir mage." His friend begs. "H-he didn't mean no harm. We was just chucking rocks, and the kitty walked out and got hit." His friend nodding along, tears in his eyes.

Looking up at Amelia, she nods. We both get the feeling he's actually telling the truth. "I believe you." I say lowering his friend to the ground. "And you stood up for your friend, even against a mage. That takes guts, boy. What's your name?"

"Zak, sir. This here's Joey." The boy says, beaming with pride at being called brave by a mage.

"Well, Zak, Joey. Please be more careful in the future, you never know who might get hurt." Joey gulps at the look in my eyes as I say that. "Now, why don't you two run along." The boy just nods and drags his oblivious friend off.

"No, light shows? No flaming cat jumping for his throat? That was practically tame for you." Amelia teases me, ruffling my short red hair. "Now what are we going to do with this little thing?" She looks down at the kitten that's fallen asleep, its mouth still loosely around my finger.

"I hadn't planned to do anything, I just hate seeing anyone in pain." I say, Freeing my hand from the greedy little thing. "Why? Did you want to keep him? What about Apricot."

"Hey! I'm not a pet!" The pixie in question shouts indignantly from inside Amelia's hair.

"No." I take a deep breath. "But you might become a cat treat if he catches you."

"Oh, please." She scoffs. "No cat could lay a paw on me on my worst day."

"Well, looks like we adopted a kitten." I try to float the little murderfloof into my hand but Amelia scoops him up first. "Make sure to add some extra meat to the shopping list. I'll make him a bed and put a sand box in the corner. At least magic will make cleaning that less unpleasant. Do you have a name for the little guy?"

"Oh, he's got these cute little paws, we have to call him Mittens." She's playing with said paws while Mittens snoozes away.

"Seems like that's a classic everywhere. I like it."