Stranded on The Southern Continent

Teetri adapted quickly–really, the turning point was when they learned that I didn’t want to eat them

Over the last couple days they’d asked for a bucket of water to wash themselves, which I provided. And they gained a bit of healthy weight. It felt like my friend wasn’t on the brink of a physical or mental breakdown.

Despite their new stability, one topic felt too risky to raise: Their gender. They were getting comfortable, why ruin it! It’ll come up in time….probably.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Everyone else in Sapwood had mixed feelings about Teetri. It wasn’t the fault of the villagers, since our guest never went outside. They never got to see that the new human was harmless. Instead, it was like Teetri’s ominous aura–that was entirely inside the villager’s imaginations–was rubbing off on me! For the first time, I was getting suspicious looks from my neighbors.

Honestly, it sucked pretty hard. A half-naked lizard girl is fine, but a human is apparently where they draw the line!

---

Today was the day of our little expedition to the teleportation circle; Cleyre wasn’t willing to wait a second longer. I knocked on the door to Teetri’s (temporary!) room.

“Teetri, time to go. Meet us downstairs.”

Don’t know if they're a morning person, but I’m certainly not. Even the bunks were difficult for me to leave this morning. If not for my mate’s persistence, I’d still be asleep.

I leaned next to the front door and suppressed a yawn.

My “expedition” outfit was my normal green-gold cloak and a fresh set of wraps. As usual my scale-covered tummy was visible–more radiant and violet as ever because of my bath this morning. I idly cupped my breasts; these were getting heavy. Did I need more support? How far along was bra tech on the Southern Continent?

The only change to my attire was that I’d tied my hair in a long braid. After a year I’d built up enough confidence to try different hair styles!

“Emperor’s Blessing to you this fair morning, Vylet.”

They walked as lightly as Windthrow-impressive! Or maybe I was more tired than usual.

Teetri gave an (obviously) fake smile and bowed their head. They wore the gray too-big robe. Their red hair looked bright–almost fiery–did they wash it yesterday? And their complexion was looking so much healthier. Gods, I would have killed for such nice skin back before I was a scale-haver!

Somehow I’d never noticed that they were slightly taller than me. Anyway, they looked great! The only issue was with their greeting. Referencing the (human) Emperor was an issue–the equivalent of greeting someone by referencing the evil mustache model from my old world. Not good.

“Morning Teetri. One thing. Please don’t reference the Emperor–probably ever,” I said. “Ready to go?”

“My apologies! I won’t,” she replied, before bowing deeply.

As she came back up, I noticed that her eyes were fixed on Tanglewood’s silverine spear tip. This was the first time she’d seen me with a weapon!

“I’m ready Miss Vylet–but is there perhaps a blade that I may borrow?” She held out her scarred hands. “I am very much unarmed.”

“Maybe we could ask Cleyre. I’m sure we could give you a dagger!”

The truth was that an armed human was an absolute no-go. Our village was surrounded by the dangerous Emel Weald and its beasts, but nothing inspired as much fear as humans. At least for now.

They smiled weakly. “Of course, you all…have a very low opinion of my kind.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” They walked to me, then clung tightly to my arm. “Please lead the way, I’m ready.”

What would the villagers think seeing this? But…it’s probably the safest for Teetri.

With them clinging to me, we exited into the cool morning air. Dew clung to the grass and the village was still. I spent many mornings like this, back in my old world, getting up hellishly early for school. And later work. In this world, we’d be investigating a ruin and teleportation magic. Life is weird.

Windthrow and Cleyre were chatting by the entrance of Sapwood. Windthrow smiled at me, a smile that faded when he saw Teetri. He was kitted for battle. Bow, studded leather armor and his silver dagger holstered at his side. Cleyre wore her long purple robe, inlaid with silver. Upon seeing us she grinned and waved.

“Good morning you two!” She bellowed. “You must be Teetri, I don’t believe we’ve officially met.”

She extended a hand towards Teetri. They flinched and pushed behind me.

In a tiny voice they said, “Very good–to meet you both. Cleyre, Windthrow. Vylet spoke often of you both.”

“Awww, aren’t you a cute little human. And so polite. Look how you cling to your big sis, adorable!”

Teetri shifted more into view, taking care to not let go of my arm.

“My most sincere apology. I am not used to speaking to demi-humans.”

They bowed their head.

Windthrow scowled. An expression that I’d hardly seen him make. It felt so weird. He was my mate, and still hot. I just didn’t like seeing him like that.

“Nice to meet you, Teetri. But don’t call us demi-humans. No part of us are human,” Windthrow said. “And thank the gods for that.”

Eh, not good. Poor Teetri. And just when she was getting comfortable.

Wait. Their pale skin was flushed. Bright and lively eyes. All their attention was on Windthrow. I could smell Teetri’s attraction–something like mild sweat mixed with strawberries.

This irked me. But, I’d rather they were attracted than scared. And nothing’s wrong with a crush; they’d get over it!

“Anyways, let's get moving! You’ll have to direct us, Teetri.”

“Yes. I can do that. Let’s depart.”

A short expedition into the Weald, what could go wrong?

---

We trekked northward. The ancient giant tree was to the northwest–the one surrounded by drakes. Luckily, we wouldn’t be going that far.

Teetri was surprisingly confident in guiding us. They recognized streams, boulders, and all sorts of geographic quirks. It was frankly impressive. Especially since they kept staring at Windthrow! My mate didn’t notice.

“Teetri. Did Vylet tell you that every villager in Sapwood is a former slave of your Empire?” Windthrow slowed his pace to match us.

“She did tell me. And while my memory is not entirely intact”–Teetri moved closer to Windthrow midstride–”I think that anyone who would do such a thing is evil. I’m glad you are free.”

A branch broke under Windthrow’s step. “Is that so? Good.”

Cleyre watched the exchange silently. Just when she was going to offer a (probably) witty quip, my mate pushed back ahead of our group.

“Wait!” Teetri shouted. “It’s around here.”

Our surroundings: Dense foliage where not even the sunlight could reach the ground. Vines hanging all around us. The sound of something howling far in the distance. But nothing man-made. Was this really the place?

“Really?” Cleyre said.

She brought up her staff, slowly panning it in a wide arc. “I don’t detect any magic...but if the circle is no longer active, I would have no spell to find it.”

“You must remember something that could help us? Anything at all. I’d rather not spend hours looking for something you probably imagined,” Windthrow said.

“Hey! Lay off. They’re trying their best–”

“The sun,” Teetri interrupted. “When I first teleported I was blinded by the sun. There must be a large gap in the canopy.”

“Sounds like something I can help with! Apologies for my mate.” I winked at Windthrow. “He’s not the biggest fan of ya’ll human beans.”

“Beans?” Teetri responded. “And surely those wings you brought out when we met aren’t functional?”

With the crook of my elbow, I held onto Teetri’s slender waist. Probably not good enough. So I wrapped my tail around both of us–kinda like a lap bar on a roller coaster.

I’ve always wanted to say something like this…

“Hold on tight!”

“Wait, wait, WAIT–”

My Spectral Wings burst forth in a flash of brilliant blue, briefly drowning out the fading light of the evening sun. One huge flap sent us skyward. My companions were left in a cloud of dust. I tore through layers of leaves and branches. Then we surfaced into the clear air. Already the stars were peeking through the darkening celestial tapestry. And the twin moons were taking the place of the setting sun. We had to act quickly.

“Oi! Stop closing your eyes, Teetri! You need to spot the gap in the canopy!” I shouted over the sound of rushing wind.

They whimpered and opened their eyes.

“Okay, imma fly low to the top of the trees. Say stop when you see something!”

Moments later, Teetri shouted, “There! Right there!”

With my tail wrapped around her like an anaconda she couldn’t point–but I saw where she meant. A very conspicuous gap in the canopy. It looked like a meteor fell from space and smashed through. I tucked my wings and swooped down. We landed–surprisingly softly–in the clearing.

In front of us were two low walls, in an ‘L’ shape, with the open side towards us. It was built with moss covered stone blocks, draped in thick vines. Palm sized pink flowers bloomed along the length of each twisting vine. The faintest hint of masonry was visible between patches of gravel and dirt. Nature had almost reclaimed this place.

“Sooo I’m only a Spellblade. I can’t detect or whatever, like Cleyre. Is this the right ruin?”

Teetri stumbled as I finally released my tail. She hunched over.

“This is it.” She pointed without looking up, taking deep heaving breaths. “I was transported–right between those walls.”

Weird. Really fucking weird. But why would they lie now?

“Better alert the others.” I pointed my horns upwards, through the opening in the trees, then shot three Frost Rays. “Hope they see that.”

I turned to Teetri–they were staring at me like I was an alien. Oh yeah, they hadn’t seen me do that before.

“That’s how I cast some of my spells!” I pointed to my horns. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yes–quite…cool.”