The cave was quiet, except for the faint sound of breathing and the distant drip of water hitting stone.
Rhaëlya rose silently, careful not to disturb the beastfolk lying around the now extinguished fire. Although she slept in a different "room", she knew that beastfolk were more sensitive to movement.
Carmen had rolled closer in her sleep, one arm half flung over near the entrance of the room.
Crypt was a still coil of tension near the wall, and Azrakai finally slept soundly, his expression unguarded.
A pot of soup which seemed to be made not too long ago was now sitting above and extinguished fire. Rhaëlya put a gentle hand on top of it, it was still warm.
A shame that she didn't feel hungry right now.
Outside, the forest was soaked in mist. Rain had passed during the night, and now the world glistened with dew and silence.
The air bit at her skin, not yet winter's bite, but the kind that warned it wasn't far. She walked barefoot, letting the earth guide her, letting the cold ground anchor her.
"You're finally up early for something useful." Orion's voice floated through her thoughts like cool water. "Let's fix that cave before it collapses in a storm."
Rhaëlya stopped at the base of a moss-covered tree and tilted her head. "You could start with 'good morning' you know."
"Good morning, your highness. Now stop sulking and listen to Ariel." The jellyfish retorted in an overly formal tone while rolling her eyes.
A flicker from her peripheral vision drew her attention to a damp patch of earth.
There, set neatly as if mother nature herself had arranged it, lay a bundle of items wrapped in tightly-woven barkcloth: sinew rope, sharpened stone wedges, hardened mud bricks, and what looked like animal-bone pins carved into anchoring hooks.
[Organic. Native. Undetectable.] Ariel popped out in front of her.
[Nothing foreign. All crafted to blend into this time and place. We adapted the fabrication matrix to your environmental timeline.]
"Is that... even allowed?" Rhaëlya muttered, crouching beside the bundle.
"We followed this world's rules..." Orion answered. "...mostly."
She cracked a dry smile. "Figures."
A small satchel was tucked at the bottom, lined with a fine powder of crushed shell and sap, likely to seal cracks and insulate against wind. Clever.
[Start with the entry. That overhang will collapse under heavy snow if it isn't reinforced.] Ariel instructed, pulling up a faint glowing print screen in front of her.
[And don't forget to gather extra stones from the eastern ridge. The lichen growing there is water-resistant. Perfect for sealing gaps.]
Rhaëlya slung the satchel over her shoulder, fingers closing around the stone wedges.
She wasn't sure what she was building yet, a home, maybe. A den for her misfit family.
But for once, she didn't feel like it was simply a duty. She would make this place strong.
She would make it safe.
Even if she had to do it while being watched.
Then silence ensued.
A few noises from the forest, drops from trees that seemed too big, and the wet mud beneath her feet made her admire her surroundings.
She was walking with the satchel full of the materials needed to renovate her current home, yet she didn't feel it heavy.
Not that it was, thanks to her unique physique and newly acquire powers anyway.
She kept looking around her and then at her feet, which still bore her sneakers. They were worn out by now.
They were still good to go for a few years initially, but these sneakers were made for the city life not the wild life. And especially not made for fighting beasts.
She should make herself some shoes soon.
While Rhaëlya was walking back to the cave in silence, she started remembering her life from...before.
Before she found herself here. Before she was taken by the academy.
And also, her life at the academy. She wondered how Ran was doing now.
And as she drew close, the air around her seemed to have shifted. The chilly wind halted, the leaves stopped singing and the forest noises were no more.
Thus, she halted in her steps before looking around cautiously.
Her pink eyes scanned the surroundings with predatory inquiry, looking for any intruder in her territory. For any threat.
But after a scan, both visual and through mana, she couldn't find anything. And everything started up again.
The forest noises, the leaves and the wind picked up again, as if someone had simply pressed the stop button of a video by accident before pressing it again to start it up.
Orion was also on edge, which was why she was hiding inside her host's space. While Ariel kept quietly scanning the surroundings.
Neither made a noise.
Rhaëlya also just started walking again. Whatever it may be, I'll deal with it if it comes to me.
And a few minutes later, she was back at the entrance of her cave.
Everyone was still asleep.
But that's where the problem was. She needed to renovate the cave, but she couldn't do that while everyone was inside.
Not only because she didn't want to wake them up, but also because she couldn't explain where she got the items from.
"...Don't you have the ability to make them sleep through it all?" Orion asked her, while floating in the corner of her mind.
Rhaëlya sighed, "I can. I just don't like using such methods. They aren't very ethical."
Orion snorted, "You? You care about ethics? I don't remember you caring about ethics when threatening your school principal to freeze everyone and everything in your school for eternity and then go to hell, freeze over their souls and make them vanish forever so that they never reincarnate!"
Rhaëlya paused, "...how do you even- wait no that's not the point. Those fu☆kers deserve it, I don't use any underhanded methods or threats on innocents. I know that i do not feel any 'real' guilt, but I still have my own codes."