As he walked down the trail in thought, his mind replaying Triska’s kiss and her request that he consider her as well, two girls were walking closely behind him while a witch was riding on her horse. Triska had her duffel bag slung around her shoulder with one hand as she watched Daniel walk in front of her, trying to figure out how to confess her real feelings to him, and what it would take for him to return them. She had finally gotten to kiss him after having dreamt about doing so for so long, and was still relishing the feeling of it. Although she couldn't bring herself to confess her true feelings to him afterwards, she had clearly made herself known to him that she did indeed want to be his.
Next to her Alyssa was riding on Lucky, still hoping Daniel would pick her as his mate in life as long as she helped him on his journey. She wanted him like no other, feeling her heart beating faster for him the more she watched him walk in front of them. Even though she had charmed and subdued many men during her life, never once did she feel such a strong attraction to one like she did with Daniel. Although she was upset she wasn't able to get a second kiss from him earlier, she still hoped for another opportunity to do so, and to have him pick her as his mate in life.
And walking next to Lucky and Triska was the group's new companion, Squeak, the ant girl having her pickaxe slung behind her as she watched Daniel with a hopeful smile. She was under orders by her queen to assist Daniel with his cause and be his proof. Not only that, but she knew she wanted a confident and brave human like Daniel as her mate, and would do whatever it took to earn his affection and make that a reality. Although kept away from making her attempt to get a third kiss by Alyssa's magic, since Triska wasn't able to hold the strong ant girl at bay with all her strength, she was determined to stay by his side and earn his love. Daniel may have picked her only to be his proof, but she was confident she could convince him that she could be more than that for him.
As they all walked together Triska glanced to Squeak then to Alyssa, catching their glances as well.
"So…" she said quietly so Daniel wouldn't hear.
"You stealing that kiss from him won't change anything, I still say I'm the best one to be his mate," Alyssa said firmly. Squeak looked to her with dull expression and a low squeak. Triska glanced to each of them then back ahead.
"Looks like we all share that mentality," she said softly.
"So how are we going to settle this then? If we start another fight we're finished with him," Alyssa asked cautiously. Squeak glanced to the girls then ahead with a quiet squeak. Triska nodded and smiled slightly with a shrug.
"There's only one way we're going to settle this, girls," she said softly. Squeak and Alyssa glanced to her as she smiled at Daniel walking ahead of them.
"We do what he wants. Help him with his quest, and wait for him to choose the one he wants as his mate," she reasoned. The girls all looked ahead at the boy that all wanted as a mate, the one they were all now rivals over. Either because of his bravery, his kindness, or downright attractiveness to them, they all desired him to be their mate in life. Charming and hexing him wouldn't earn his heart, and fighting amongst each other would only push him away. They only had one option left; to coexist with each other as was his desire, and hope that he would choose among them the girl he truly wanted.
The ground rules were clear as day; no fighting, no deception, and wait for him to make the decision on who he wanted. Of course, it wasn't against the rules to remind him what each girl could offer him.
Both for his noble quest, and otherwise.
Chapter 11
What Love Is
In the world of Eden, monsters were driven by their inner nature to breed and create more of their kind with human mates, using many different methods by any means they could. The way they went about their breeding differed greatly from one race to another, with some being primal and savage with their prey while others were more gentle and caring. Some would use the humans to breed with then kill them should they lose interest, while others would use them to satisfy their urges then let them go peacefully afterwards. There were even some monsters that wished to marry the men they found, either by force or by his choice, and become a loving wife to him. It may have been hard for some people to believe, but it was just as true as it was with humans.
Even monsters can feel love for their mates.
*****
For a long time Daniel had a firm belief that monsters and humans could coexist, that they could help each other survive in this world against their common enemies, and even help each other grow and prosper. There were stories and rumors about monsters having aided humans that were in distress, with certain types helping mankind with their magic and respected crafts. Although such stories were few in number and rarely believed, Daniel was convinced that monsters could be trusted, that not all of them were evil. He had every reason to believe that they had the capacity to have a heart and be true allies to man.
Especially since he wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for one of them.
"Daniel?" Triska asked curiously. Daniel blinked and then looked over to her, the two sitting on a grassy hill with their monster companions. A few clouds drifted by above as they had stopped to eat a small lunch, eating simple sandwiches that Triska had packed in her duffel bag. Lucky was grazing nearby in his normal form while munching on a patch of tall grass, while Squeak and Alyssa were sitting on the blanket with the two humans, both girls looking at Daniel curiously as he had been rather quiet while just looking down with a distant gaze.
"You ok?" Triska asked again. Daniel smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, sorry, just daydreaming," he said before taking another bite of his sandwich while the girls looked at him curiously.
"You've been just staring at your sandwich without saying a word, what's on your mind?" Alyssa asked before she took another bite of her sandwich as well. Daniel smiled and just shrugged.
"A lot of things really. Nothing to worry about though," he said simply. Triska watched him with concern as the wind gently blew by, and then looked down in silence. Squeak gazed around the surrounding landscape then squeaked something at Daniel. He just looked at her curiously as the ant girl was trying to say something, squeaking at him again with a curious expression.
"Um… what?" he asked. Squeak looked around at the others then pointed towards the dirt road.
"We really need to figure out how to communicate with her," Alyssa commented while shaking her head. Squeak looked at them then pointed to Daniel, then down to the road again. He looked over towards where she was pointing then back to her curiously.
"You want me to go over there?" he asked puzzled. She shook her head and waved her arms around while the three travelers watched her, the ant girl squeaking again and again.
"She's trying to tell us something," Triska said with a simple nod.
"I'm ok with her coming with us since she's more proof for Daniel's cause, but how are we supposed to talk to her when all she can do is squeak?" Alyssa questioned. Squeak face palmed and shook her head, then looked around carefully. After a moment she pointed down to the road again. The others glanced to each other then back to her as she repeatedly pointed down to the road.
"Um…" Triska said puzzled.
"We just stopped to eat; do you want to go already?" Alyssa asked. Daniel examined Squeak's motions as she pointed around to them all then down to the road again, showing a curious expression while squeaking a few times.
"I think… she's asking how long before we all get to Ashwood," he guessed. Squeak nodded and pointed to him with a smile.
"Huh, didn't get that from her, but alright then," Triska said with a shrug.
"I think we're almost there, we should be arriving before it starts to get dark," Alyssa said looking down the road that stretched out across the rolling plains. Daniel nodded and looked up at the sky, chuckling bit with self-amusement.
"What's so funny?" Triska asked. He shrugged then looked at her with a calm smile.
"It's just kind of funny to
think about," he said. Triska looked at him puzzled as he gestured over to Alyssa and Squeak with his hand.
"I set out to find monsters that could coexist with us, and I find two before I even made it to Ashwood," he said with a smile. Alyssa and Squeak smiled at that while Triska nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I guess your quest is off to a good start after all," she said looking to the two monster girls. She and Daniel didn't expect to find any monsters until after they left Ashwood into the surrounding territories, and yet they stumbled across two before even making it to the city.
"I guess it is," he agreed, looking down at his sandwich with a calm smile. Alyssa and Squeak looked at him with hopeful eyes then glanced over to Triska, the teen glancing to them as well. They were all in the quest together to help Daniel with his cause, each one of them wanting to not only keep him safe and sound during his travels, but also hopefully have him pick one of them as his mate in life.
The group finished eating their meals in peace, with Daniel thinking about something that was at the forefront of his mind while the three girls were looking down in thought about how to appeal to him better. They knew fighting wouldn't work well, and using underhanded or forceful methods wouldn't give them his heart. All they could do was to wait until he picked one of them as his mate on his own free will.
However, there was still something they could do to try to win him over.
"Um, say, Daniel?" Triska asked softly. He looked to her as she glanced away with a curious smile.
"Before we get to the city, could we make a slight detour?" she asked. The group looked at her curiously as she smiled at Daniel.
"Detour? Where to?" he asked. Triska pulled out a map from her duffel bag and showed it to him.
"Well, it's just there's a small lake nearby. I thought we could get washed up before going into the city. After all we've been through I don't want to walk into the place smelling like mud," she said with a laugh. Daniel looked at the map curiously while Alyssa and Squeak glanced to each other.
"Hmm, well it is close to us. I guess we'll have time for that," Daniel agreed. Triska nodded as she rolled up the map and glanced to the other girls.
"Besides, I'm sure Squeak would like to clean her clothing too, since they're dirty and… damp," she said with a slight snicker. Squeak blinked then slowly glanced down to herself, blushing before looking away embarrassed as she realized she was wearing her dirtied clothing that she had peed in twice now. Alyssa looked to her own outfit and shrugged, brushing some of the dirt that was still on her skirt.
"I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up either, that sounds like a good idea to me," she said with a nod.
"Alright then, let's get going," Daniel said as he stood up. The group packed the blanket back onto Lucky along with Daniel's bag then set off down a side road together. Daniel was walking ahead as he gazed up at the blue sky with a calm smile, feeling better about his journey now as he had two types of monsters joining his efforts. Alyssa was riding on Lucky looking around at the landscape casually while Squeak was walking next to her, watching Daniel with a soft smile as her antennae twitched a bit. Triska however was walking next to them with a hopeful smile on her face.
'Time to show Daniel what I have that these other girls don't.'
*****
Daniel was looking ahead at the blue lake that they had come across, the small body of water surrounded by rolling hills and tall grass. A few birds flew by overhead as he walked up to the edge of the lake with a calm smile. There was a river leading into the body of water on the opposite side of the lake through a wooded area, the water being crystal clear revealing a few fish swimming about.
"Nice place, we should have had our lunch here," Daniel pondered with a slight laugh. Alyssa walked up next to him and looked around as Lucky strolled over and started to drink from the lake.
"Nobody else is anywhere around here, it's nice to have it all to ourselves," she commented with a smile. Squeak walked past them towards the lake and looked at the water. She struck her pickaxe down onto the dirt with a whack then started to pull down her underwear. Daniel and Alyssa looked over to her and jumped in surprise before Alyssa screamed and ran over to her, grabbing her hands and stopping her before they dropped past her thighs.
"What are you doing?" she cried out. Squeak looked at her curiously then to the water, squeaking softly before looking back to the witch. Alyssa pulled the girl's underwear back up and looked back to Daniel.
"You can't strip right in front of Daniel," she scolded sternly as he was watching nervously. Squeak looked over to him then blushed as he was staring at them. He jumped slightly then quickly turned around.
"Sorry! I'm not looking, sorry," he said quickly, before going wide eyed as Alyssa and Squeak stared at something as well. Walking up to them was Triska, the girl dropping her duffel bag to the ground casually as she gazed around at the lake. However she wasn't wearing her usual attire, having now changed into a light blue bikini. Her worn and dirty clothing was clumped together along with her boots under her arm, while her dagger and sheathed sword were strapped to her duffel bag. She smiled contently then looked to the others as she flicked her hair behind over her shoulder.
"Isn't this nice, being able to go for a swim like this?" she asked walking up to Daniel. He stammered something while Alyssa's eye twitched slightly with discontent.
"Triska? What… I thought you were…" Daniel stuttered as he saw the girl's figure in her swimsuit, something that had never really been as prominent to him before as it was now. He couldn’t even remember ever seeing her in a swimsuit before, this being the first time he saw her so exposed. She nodded as he continued to stammer incomprehensibly.
"Washing my clothes? Of course, but I thought since we're here we could go for a dip as well, you know, to relax," she suggested with a small shrug. He glanced from her clothes, then to her bikini, then to her as she smiled innocently at him
"Um… I didn't really… think about that," he said with a weak smile. She giggled and walked closer to him.
"C'mon, it'll feel great to go for a swim," she said leaning closer to him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Alyssa yelled out. The humans looked over to see Alyssa growling at Triska while Squeak had her eyes narrowed at the bikini clad human.
"What? I'm just going to wash my clothes and cool off at the same time, nothing wrong with that," Triska reasoned innocently.
"You're half naked in front of Daniel!" Alyssa shouted out. Daniel gulped and glanced again to Triska's body, the girl catching the eye movement and smiling smugly.
"I'm just going for a swim, if he chooses to look at or join me that's up to him," she said before walking past him and over to the water, swaying her hips a bit with a calm stride. Alyssa growled at seeing the human exposing her figure while Squeak glanced to Daniel worriedly, the boy staring at Triska with wonder and a small blush. Triska walked into the water and over towards a few large stones near the shore, the water going up to her knees as she straightened out her lower piece with a glance back to Daniel. She then started washing her clothing with the water, dipping them down and scrubbing out the dirt and blood the best she could, and laying them out on the rocks. As she did Daniel and the other girls saw her leaning over more than needed, bending over and arching back slightly as she showed off her figure while rinsing her clothes in the clear water. She glanced to Daniel and winked, then went back to her washing while humming a gentle tune. Alyssa growled and ran over to her, hopping on the stones to get closer to the bikini clad teen.
"What are you trying to pull here? You're just trying to seduce Daniel!" she yelled out. Triska looked at her with a coy smile.
"I have no idea what you're talking about; we all came here to get cleaned up right? There’s nothing wrong with me doing just that and enjoying the water is there?" she asked innocently.
"Is that why you're wearing a skimpy bikini?" Alyssa growled through bared teeth as she looked at the human's figure. Triska giggled and shru
gged with an innocent smile.
"Just my swimwear for this journey, you never know when it might be fun to just play around in the water. What's wrong, didn't pack any yourself?" she asked simply. Alyssa glared at her then glanced to the side as a squeak was heard. Triska looked over to seeing Squeak watching her with annoyance and her hands at her hips. She smirked and glanced to Daniel as he looked over to her, watching with wide eyes and a bright blush as Squeak pulled off and dropped her tunic down to the ground next to her, the girl then bending over and pulling her boots off. She squeaked softly before pulling down her underwear and slipping them off as well.
"Squeak!" Alyssa cried out as she and Triska watched with surprise. The ant girl slowly pulled off her gloves then picked up her clothing as she glanced to Daniel with a soft smile. He stared with wide eyes as everybody saw the ant girl's naked body, the monster glancing down to herself then back to Daniel timidly. Alyssa stared with shock and shakily pointed to her as Triska shook her head fearfully, both of them seeing that the ant girl had a perfect statuesque figure under her tunic.
"Oh my… god," Alyssa breathed out in horror.
"Her body…" Triska said in disbelief. Triska may have had a lovely physique of her own, but the ant girl seemed to have a more well-toned body by far. There wasn't any hint of fat or marks anywhere on her skin, the girl's figure seeming to be sculpted perfectly from head to toe. Although it wasn’t as evident when she wore her tunic, especially when she had dirt covering her from being underground, she certainly had a more developed body. Even with her insect abdomen sticking out above her rear Daniel couldn't help but stare with wonder.
chronicles of eden - act I Page 33
