Thankfully, the climb down was much easier than the way up. If not a little slower due to the precious cargo Juniper carried close to her chest. By the time they did make it down, the two had been gone for a few hours and Vesta had apparently gone and returned. So, both she and Flora were waiting for the would-be explorers when they stepped out of the forest.

  Aurora greeted them both by raising her hand up high and waving and Juniper was pleased to see that a second bush had appeared in their absence. Which she pointed to with her free hand when they all met in the middle. "You made quick of that, Flora."

  The Glumos beamed for a moment and twisted at the hip to look back at her work. "Well, it's easier when I can focus my energy on one pnt instead of spreading it out. I figure we get a few more up and then I'll be able to concentrate on the berries."

  "Sounds good to me, Juniper agreed with a nod. “Oh, speaking of food, at least I think it’s food, I found this on our hike." Juniper brought the strange, blue object up for everyone to see and Flora's eyes went wide.

  "A skill fruit! Where did you find that!?"

  "It was on top of that hill Aurora and I went to, just hanging on this odd-looking tree. Sounds like you know what it is though?"

  "I do!” Flora moved closer and bent at the waist to get down closer before continuing. “It lets Pals attune and use powers from elements that aren't their natural ones. This one," as she spoke, Flora reached out and tapped the skill fruit a couple times for emphasis. "Is for water."

  "Water? So, if one of you ate this, you could do things water-attuned Pals could?” Juniper was still getting used to this whole elemental…attunement… thing, but even with her limited knowledge she could see how this would be very beneficial. “Like what? All the same powers?"

  Flora thought for a moment but ultimately shrugged in response before standing tall. "I would think so. Bst water like Vesta does fire, for example. I’m as not familiar with the extent of their abilities since most of the water Pals like to stay out in the ocean or in kes and rivers."

  "Interesting. So, that's the way you learn new powers?" Always something new with these wonderful little creatures.

  "Outside our normal element, yes. Otherwise, we learn how to control them as we grow and fight."

  "Grow and fight, huh." Juniper had no intention of doing much of the tter but the former was another thing. Would using their powers in everyday life help her Pals come to understand how to control them better? She certainly hoped so. Of course, there was nothing like conflict to jump start your learning, was there? That was true for humans, anyway. "Well, that gives me a lot to think about."

  "Who are you going to give it to?" Vesta asked while she eyed the fruit. "If it's all the same, I would prefer not to for obvious reasons…”

  "No, I don't think so," Juniper shook her head before eyeing Flora. "I have to admit, having Flora be both earth and water makes sense for her duties.” Pnts need water, after all “However," Juniper's eyes shifted to Aurora then, who looked surprised when the gaze nded on her. "There is someone who could use a little extra oomph. If you catch my drift." To match the power Juniper knew Aurora had in her heart. So, she stepped forward and offered the fruit to the Lamball instead. Aurora hesitated for a moment but, when she looked up with an expression of uncertainty, Juniper only met it with encouragement. "You can do it, go on."

  She nodded then and took the fruit from Juniper’s hand. She brought it up without any hesitation and then took a bite. Then another. And more as the others watched intently. In not even a minute she had devoured everything but the stem, which she tossed off to the side. For the next 30 seconds nobody moved, nobody even made a sound while they all looked on.

  Finally, though, Juniper had to ask. "How do you feel?"

  "I feel...tingly?" Aurora brought up a hand and turned it over a few times while staring at it. "I don't really know what I'm supposed to do..."

  Before Juniper could respond, Vesta stepped up and pced a hand gently on the Lamball’s stomach. "When I want to breathe fire, it's like I have to tap into the heat within myself. It’s always there, just waiting. Down here, in my belly." She paused and put a hand on her own stomach, in the same pce she touched Aurora. "It's like a ball of warmth that I reach out to and channel. Do you feel anything like that?"

  Aurora didn’t answer at first and only dropped her eyes to Vesta’s hand to think. “Maybe.” She paused then and her eyebrows knit together in concentration. “For me, it feels…cool. Not warm.”

  “Well, that would make sense given the element. Now, try and reach out to it. Bring it out from deep inside you and let it flow from your body.”

  More silence followed but eventually, little droplets of water formed on Aurora’s hand to run down her fingers to fall off at the tips. “Whoa!” She shouted before moving her hand away instinctively. Whatever connection to that “coolness” inside must have been severed due to her surprise and the trickle cut off.

  “No! You’ve got it, Aurora. Reach back out,” Vesta encouraged. Even though it was flowing water, Vesta didn’t move away. In fact, she took a step closer.

  “Okay, I can do this!” Again, Aurora focused on her hand and the trickle reappeared. Over the next minute, it got stronger and stronger until it flowed freely like water coming from a faucet.

  Juniper couldn’t help but smile ear to ear and cp softly where she stood. Both from Aurora’s accomplishment and Vesta’s instruction “Good job you two! I knew you could do it Aurora!”

  In her excitement, the Lamball turned and held out her hand in Juniper’s direction. The heightened emotions must’ve affected the intensity of the flow because a sudden torrent lurched out and punched Juniper in the chest. The impact brought an “oof!” and she was sent backward to nd on her ass.

  “Miss Juniper!” Aurora, and the other two Pals, immediately jumped from where they stood to kneel at her side, looking her over for any injuries. “I’m so sorry!” Aurora said hastily. Again, the connection to the water was severed and it no longer flowed from her hand.

  Juniper looked surprised for a moment but quickly recovered by rubbing her chest. “It’s ok, I’m alright. Just caught me off guard, that’s all.” And knocked the wind out of her! After a few deep breaths, she even managed to ugh before looking up at the Lamball’s worried face. “It’s no problem, Aurora. Really, I’m more impressed than anything!”

  “Are you sure!”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Here, help me up.”

  Aurora and Vesta reached out to help and then moved around to wipe her backside off.

  “If anything, we should be thanking Aurora,” Flora said with a giggle from where she stood still in the front.

  “What? Why?” Aurora responded looking out from behind Juniper’s back.

  “For giving us such a great view!” The Glumos brought both her hands up and indicated Juniper’s chest. The white camisole was now soaked through and clinging to her skin, letting everything beneath it show through.

  Juniper eyed it as well and chuckled before she brought her hands down to the hem of the garment. “Well, if you like it so much then here, you can hang it up!” As she spoke, Juniper lifted it up and off her torso before throwing the wet ball of clothing at Flora. Followed quickly by the bra.

  “A small price to pay,” Flora responded before turning to Aurora. “I’m going to need you to do that every day, please.”

  “Yeah, I just might have to…” Aurora was now back in front admiring the view along with Vesta. Before saying anything else, she brought her hand up and Juniper tilted her head in confusion since she wasn’t reaching out to touch her. Then it dawned on her much too te. Aurora summoned the water once more, using it to soak Juniper's shorts and panties as well.

  “Aurora!” Juniper yelled before trying to wrap the Lamball up in a pyful hug. However, Aurora managed to dodge the sudden attack and took off running across the field with Juniper close behind, ughter trailing in their wake.

  A few minutes ter, the four of them stood by the shack, all completely naked. “That’s going to cost you, missy. Not now but I’ll get you back.”

  “Whatever you say, Miss Juniper.” Aurora stuck out her tongue before shooting a wink in her direction. Causing Juniper to shake her head with a smile.

  “Cheeky. I see Vesta and Flora are rubbing off on you.”

  “In more ways than one…” Flora quipped before looking up and into the distance. “Unfortunately for Aurora’s newfound power, it seems that nature still wants to do the heavy lifting.” She raised her hand then and pointed to dark clouds out in the distance. Storms.

  “Aww man, I wanted to water everything tomorrow!”

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get your turn.” As she spoke, Juniper brought her hand up and gave the Lamball's shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Come on, we’ve got lots to do before it rains tonight.”

  After hours of chores and one rexing dip in the natural pool ter, the girls found themselves snuggled up on the bed. Each Pal y across a different part of Juniper's body and her hands danced from scalp to scalp, gently massaging and scratching as they talked. Tonight, it was Aurora's turn to be little spoon with Vesta snuggled up close behind her. Flora made it known she preferred an outer position so she could slip free in the morning to get a jump start on her work but would take her turn cuddling when it came.

  Sure enough, when Juniper awoke the next morning, she only had Vesta and Aurora with her in bed. Groggy greetings exchanged, the trio made their way out to find Flora and scrounge up some breakfast. Now that they were all gathered up, Juniper cpped her hands together before menacingly rubbing them.

  "Alright, girls. We had a storm st night so you know what that means!" Aurora smiled and nodded but Vesta's ears fttened. In addition to the groan that escaped her lips.

  "What?" Flora asked, confusion pin on her face as she looked at each of them in turn. "What does it mean?"

  "It means we're going treasure hunting!" Aurora shouted before raising both her hands.

  "It means we're going to pick up trash on the beach," Vesta added in a much grimmer tone.

  "It's not trash," Juniper corrected. "Not all of it anyway. I'm sure we'll find something useful down there. Like the bucket, for example."

  "I guess..."

  "Sounds...fun?" Flora didn't sound convinced, but Juniper pressed on anyway.

  "Come on, let's get something to eat and then make our way down. I want to start before anyone tries to grab anything. If there is anyone else." She still hadn’t seen other survivors other than Lily but you never knew. So, after a quick breakfast and an initial inspection of the third bush, they all started off for the beach.

  ---

  When they got to the giant staircase, Flora paused and looked over at Vesta with a raised eyebrow. "Now I see why you weren't so thrilled."

  "Oh, it's not so bad," Juniper said as she stepped up, only to reach out and lightly pinch Flora’s ass. "It'll keep you nice and tight!"

  A yelp and some ughter ter, all four were making the descent more or less without compint. Again, there wasn't anything interesting at the nding but, once they got out to the beach proper, Juniper's eyes immediately found a much bigger piece of debris lying on the beach. A human-sized piece of debris, to be exact.

  “Shit, come on!” As soon as she realized a person had washed up on the beach, Juniper took off in a run towards where they y, gesturing for her Pals to follow. When she arrived at the newcomer's side, she reached down to put a hand on the woman's shoulder while she looked her over.

  Her hair was jet bck and probably no longer than her shoulders though it was hard to tell with it messy from a rough night at sea. The shorts and t-shirt she wore were still wet and a pair of bck-rimmed gsses were partially buried in the sand no more than a foot away. It was hard to tell but she looked to be in her te twenties, if Juniper had to guess.

  Of course, the Pals joined her at the side of the mysterious stranger and looked on with curiosity on their faces.

  "A woman? Is she ok?" Aurora asked, coming to squat at Juniper's side.

  "She's breathing, at least," Juniper noted the gentle rise and fall of the woman's chest with a nod. "Let's see if we can wake her up."

  Juniper leaned down a little closer then and gently started to shake the woman. "Miss? Are you alright?" All she received for her effort at first was a groan and a change in her expression from sleepiness to a grimace.

  "Well, she's definitely alive," Vesta noted from the other side.

  The addition of a third voice must have piqued the woman's curiosity enough because she began to stir more in the sand. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked up at Juniper. They were a stunning hazel and Juniper couldn't help but smile wide in response. “Hello," she said in a soft voice before shifting her hand up to move some of the hair stuck to the woman’s face.

  "W-what happened?" The stranger asked before shifting her eyes to Aurora next. The Lamball simirly smiled and even brought up a hand to wave.

  "I'm not sure but if I had to guess, you were on a ship that ran into a storm yesterday. Is that right?" Surely her story would be simir to Juniper’s.

  "The storm..." The woman's eyes grew distant after she answered like she was caught up in a memory.

  "You're okay now, Miss. Don't you worry." When Aurora spoke again, the stranger’s eyes refocused and really took in the sight of the Pal. They grew wide then and scanned over every part of the strange body squatting by her.

  "What the hell!?" She suddenly sat up and a light tint of red flushed on her cheeks. "Why are you naked!?" Her eyes kept darting around the circle, taking in each Pal in turn, no doubt finding more and more oddities. Vesta and Aurora's ears, Vesta's tail, a certain appendage hanging between their legs. It must have been quite the shock because the stranger’s breathing increased and she brought an unsteady hand up to wipe at her brow.

  "Whoa, easy now," Juniper said, reaching around her back for the canteen that hung across her shoulder. "Here, drink some water." The stranger nodded and took the canteen to sip at. All the while, Juniper continued to look her over in case there were signs of injuries from whatever had transpired the night before. Thankfully, she looked alright. Maybe a little frightened and confused, but uninjured.

  However, the reaction to the Pals had Juniper beginning to understand why Lily only made herself visible at first, waiting until after she'd expined what a Pal was to reveal Mist's existence. Something to consider for the future.

  When their guest was finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and returned the canteen with a nod. "Thanks, I needed that."

  "Don't worry about it. I know it's all very overwhelming."

  "You can say that again.” Here eyes started to travel around the circle once more before they eventually settled on Juniper. “But that doesn't really answer my question..."

  "Yeah, I guess it doesn't. Uh, where to start?" Juniper looked up to her Pals and brought a hand up to rub the back of her neck. "Can you guys give us a few minutes? Why don't you take Flora and start looking around for stuff we can use."

  “Sure thing!" Aurora gave her a thumbs up and then smiled at the newbie before standing tall. "Don't worry, Miss Juniper will expin everything. You're in good hands!”

  "Oh...okay?"

  "Yeah, just listen to what she has to say and you'll be fine,” Vesta added before turning and stalking off down the beach, Flora and Aurora in tow. Once they were far enough away, the stranger turned back to Juniper but still dropped her voice lower.

  "So, why are those girls naked? And what's with the costumes?"

  "Ah, well...those aren't costumes."

  In response, the stranger only lifted an eyebrow and sat silently staring back at her.

  "Let's not worry about that just yet, my name is Juniper." As she spoke, Juniper extended her hand for the other woman to shake.

  "Yeah, I figured as much. My name is Aoi." She brought up her hand and took hold of Junipers before shaking it weakly.

  "Nice to meet you, Aoi." Juniper dropped her hand and then shifted to sit next to her. "I guess I owe you some answers, huh?" She paused then and thought back to when Lily first expined things to her and how she felt being left in the dark. Frustrated. Even if she had come to understand the reason why, that didn't mean Juniper had to do the same.

  "Alright. So, I actually washed up on this very beach about not even a week ago. And let me tell you, it's been a wild ride since then."

  “What? Really?” Aoi shook her head in disbelief and then looked out over the water. “That almost sounds farfetched.”

  “Yeah, I can see why you’d say that but it’s the truth. Though, what I’m about to tell you will make it seem like a fairy tale or something.” Juniper unched into the full story then, doing her best to summarize things without getting bogged down in the details. Things like Pal attunement and hidden structures could wait. There would be plenty of time for that ter. Besides that, she left out very few details. She even reyed how exactly she’d managed to bind Aurora, Vesta, and Flora to her. Which caused Aoi's face to do its best impression of a bright red tomato.

  When the story finally ended, Aoi didn't speak either. She only looked at the ground a few feet in front of her.

  "Yeah, it's a lot to take in," Juniper said while nodding to herself.

  "Understatement of the century right there."

  "True," Juniper started before she leaned over and picked up the gsses buried in the sand. "But you don’t have to figure it out on your own.”

  “Thanks.” Aoi took the gsses and did her best to clean them off before sitting them on her face.

  “You're welcome. Now, how about we get you something to eat? This is all a little easier to digest on a full stomach.” Juniper stood and offered her hand down to the newcomer.

  Aoi looked up at it for a second and then shrugged as if resigning herself to the truth of Juniper’s words. “Alright, that sounds good.” Once their hands were csped, Juniper helped her stand but almost immediately had to move in and keep her from falling back over.

  “Whoa! Here, hold on tight.” Juniper brought Aoi’s arm up and around her shoulder before wrapping her free hand around the woman's waist. Unfortunately, Juniper had to hunch a little to get their heights right since Aoi was more petite. Whatever she did before this, it didn’t build much muscle. That much she could feel. “Okay, let’s get you back to our camp.” As they started to walk, Juniper gestured toward her Pals and they quickly joined the pair heading back to the stairs. Not that they had gone very far in the first pce.