Aurora finally raises her head from meditating before the small hand-made shrine to Skadhi that she had built in the woods of the island. She is startled to realize that the entire afternoon has passed - and that it is nearly dusk.

It is dangerous enough to be so far away from the campus at any time of day - but the priestess knows that whatever dangers lurk in the day, the danger is a hundred times greater after nightfall.

She mentally swears at herself as she realizes that she would never make it back to the campus before dark if she took her usual path, that winds through the woods. That path is small and narrow, but it is rather clearly defined and easy to follow. Which makes it all the more likely that it might be watched by those looking to prey on the students.

With some trepidation, she decides that it is less dangerous to try a more direct, but less traveled path through the woods, then it is to be caught outside after dark. Still she doesn't want to take any more chances then necessary, so she does hurry along the slightly overgrown path that she has never followed before.

The overgrown path Aurora had chosen was actually leading her closer to a domain claimed by the monsters. A bunch of rather diminutive monsters, to be exact.
The first sign of this was not quite as omnious as could be expected. Right before Aurora, a fat lazy bee passed through the air, legs heavy with pollen. Just like her, it was trying to get home before sunset.

The reason there were bees on Shokushu island was that a group of pixies had established themselves there, and where pixies lived, they always made sure a hive of bees was nearby. Pixies, you see, love honey.

The bee flew in the general direction of the path for a few minutes, and then diverted its course to the left, towards a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a large, hollow tree, obviously the site of the hive.
Around the tree grew a large amount of plants. Not just plants chosen for their blossoms, but also herbs planted by the pixies to add flavor and spice to the honey.

Aurora takes a deep breath as she enters the clearing. The scent of honey fills her lungs.. but under that is something else. And she closes her eyes as she gets hit with a sense of homesickness.

It takes a minute for her mind to process the scent memory - and a word fills her thoughts "honey-drink". Honey-drink - the childhood mix of water, honey and spice that is given to youngsters in her village. Honey-drink, which is the core of mead, before it is fermented into alcohol. The herbs and spices fill her mind, as she realizes that the scents include not only normal mead spices, but some of the rare scents that are used for ritual mead in the temples as well.

"How could these things be HERE?" she wonders to herself as she walks into the clearing, and heads over to the plants to examine them and to confirm that they are indeed the herbs she would need to make ritual mead.

She shakes her head in awe, but smiles to herself - such a treasure here for her. She had built her shrine, but she has had to make due with just a touch of honey in water for her prayers. But with this - she could make mead! Real, blessed mead!

She doesn't have the tools to try and harvest the honeycomb from the bees right now, but she kneels down amongst the herbs, and starts to pick a small selection of each plant. Enough for her to start making some honey-drink at least, but carefully picking the herbs so as not to damage the plants, nor risk the cultivation of the tiny source of such a blessing.

"Thank you Skadhi!" she murmurs in prayer and appreciation of this wonderful treasure to her spirit.

Aurora was not the only one in that clearing this evening. A few of the pixies had also decided to visit their beehive, to check on its condition, and perhaps sample a little of its honey. They were quite surprised to see hat someone had found their spot.

A hushed conversation took place, barely audible over the natural sounds of the woods.
"Is she a thief? Has she come for our honey?"
"I don't know. She seems to care more about the plants."
"But look at her! Look at that gorgeous hair! Is she not beautiful?"
"She seems to be.. strong. She has something inside her. Something cold and powerful."
"Let us see what she does, then. Maybe we can trap her and play with her?"

(OOC: What is Aurora wearing? School uniform, ceremonial clothing or somethng else?)

Aurora starts a little at hearing something - causing her to stand up quickly and look around. Her white flowing ceremonial robe swirls about her as she looks around quickly - the robe parting slightly to reveal the long lengths of her legs, and clinging to the curves of her body, suggesting she is likely naked under the thin layer of fur-trimmed silk.

She looks around nervously - unable to see or hear anything unusual now - but her instincts scream at her that she is being watched.

Caution mixed with fear begins to urge the priestess to move. It is getting late now, after delaying to investigate this little treasure trove. She will be lucky now to make it back to campus before dusk.. but at least it won't be full dark.

"I hope I can find this place again," she murmurs softly. "I'll need to bring some tools if I want to harvest some of the honey as well." She gathers up the few bundles of herbs that she had gathered, and starts to head down the path back to campus - although she is looking around nervously, still feeling like she is being watched. "Thank you." she murmurs to the tree and plants as she starts on her way again.

The pixies fell silent as one as they realized they were being heard. Quietly, very quietly they watched and admired the striking woman.
How beautiful she was! The pixies marveled at her long, white hair, her regal bearing, and was could only wish they got to see more of her naked flesh.

"Did you hear that! She is going to steal our honey!", one of them whispered as soon as she was out of earshot.
"That is a good thing! That means we get to play with her!"
"She seemed Northern to me. Do you think she is related to the elves?"

"Quickly, someone follow her! We will prepare for when she comes back!"
A few of the pixies followed Aurora at a safe distance, while the others exploded in chatter, already planning their welcome for her return.

Aurora heads along the path cautiously at first.. but as no monsters appear, and it is getting later.. she begins to walk faster as she leaves the grove behind.

The priestess finally breaks into a run as she spots the campus in the distance, just as the sun finally sets. As she runs, the long robe flutters behind her carelessly, revealing the long, pale, well-muscled legs completely.

The robe even occasionally parts open enough to reveal the smooth, hairless junction between her legs, or to let a brief glimpse of her generous breasts slip from the neck of the robe.

It only takes a little bit longer, for Aurora to reach the dorm, and for a moment she pauses to catch her breath. She leans back against the door, eyes closed as her breasts heave with each gasping breath - unaware of the fact that the robe has slipped enough to reveal one naked breast, glistening with sweat, and crowned with a dark, pink nipple.

With a sigh, she finally stands away from the wall, and adjusts her robe, before entering the door and heading to her room. She has a private room, with a window out over the campus - so she sighs as she closes the door.

Thinking she is finally safe, she slips the robe off, to reveal her naked body completely and carefully folds the garment respectfully before putting it away carefully in a small hidden corner of her closet.

She carefully lays the herbs she picked out next to the window, which she opens slightly to let the cool night air in - but also setting it so that the warmth of the sun the next day will help to dry the herbs and spices.

Exhausted after her long day of worship, and the run back to the campus, Aurora finally goes over and lies down on her bed, closing her eyes to let sleep take over - with her final thoughts being of honey and mead.

Unbeknown to Aurora, she had visitors that night. Having quite enjoyed silently chasing her back to the dorms, it was a small matter for them to follow the scent of herbs and slip in through the open window. Stealthily they explored her room.
They were quite satisfied with this woman they had found, and in their own language, they praised her beauty in hushed voices. Indeed, a couple of them quietly pulled back her covers, so that they could all admire her naked form, until she stirred, and the pixies found it best to dart out the open window and return to the beehive, were their kind were already preparing for the next day.

Aurora sleeps deeply and content - as she is so pleased with her discovery. She wakes at dawn, as is her usual tendency, and quickly prepares herself for the day.

She chooses a simple calf-length wool skirt since she will be in the woods, and working around the tree. The skirt is heavy to protect her, but is slit high on the sides to allow for easy movement. She chooses a simple, lace-up peasant blouse, that scoops low across her cleavage, but without danger of her curves falling out of it thanks to the tight lacings. She takes a few minutes to work the long cascade of snowy hair into a tight braid, which still falls down to mid-thigh, but at least now it should be out of the way as she works.

It's early - and it's a Saturday - so most of the students are sleeping in. That makes it ideal for her to slip out. It's easy for her to manage to 'borrow' a small knife from the cafeteria, and she has a plastic container she can use to store and carry a piece of honeycomb.

She makes another quick stop to the campus greenhouse though and also takes a couple of small tools to help cultivate the herbs. She wants to assure herself that her supply will thrive and grow, so that she will not have a problem obtaining more for her ritual mead.

"It may be worth a few demerits, if I get caught. But it will be worth it!" she whispers as she packs the small trowel and hand-rake in her bag with the knife and container.

Then she heads back down the path she thinks she followed, hoping that it will be easy to find the path and the grove in the early light.

Aurora did not need to worry about not findin her way back. I was a small matter for the pixies to make a place in the woods hard to find, a simple matter of changing the vegetation to hide what needed hiding, but today they wanted their spot to be found. In fact, a couple of pixies were flying from branch to branch above her, careful not to be seen, their task to divert her attention back on course, should she stray. Not that it was needed. his girl obvoiusly knew something of the way of the woods.

Another pixie followed after the young priestess, using magic to grow plants on the path she had used, making it harder for her in case she decided to return t the school before the pixies had their fun.

Back in the clearing, the pixies had been hard at work during the night, but little of the magic they had wrought was visible to a human, except that the flowers and herbs had been made to smell a bit more inviting. They had also given the bees a bit of enchanted pollen this morning, to make them unagressive. It would not do for them to sting such a beautiful maiden, after all.

Quiet and hidden, the pixies listened and watched as Aurora approached the clearing..

Aurora makes her way through the woods and finds the path she had taken with little difficulty. Unconcerned about being away from campus during the day like this, she doesn't think to look back, so fails to notice that the path is being hidden as she passes.

She sighs as she smells the air as she enters the clearing - the honey and spices seeming to fill the air even more strongly than last night. "Ahh.. such a sweet smell.. It's incredible.. the way the sun seems to just bring out the life of everything." she says, as she puts down her bundles, and stretches out languorously, raising her arms as she revels in the delicious scents.

"This is such an incredible blessing!" she murmurs, as she pulls out some of her gardening tools, and goes over to kneel by the herbs she had picked the night before.

She works carefully to turn the wild patch into a carefully cultivated garden.. working to clear weeds away from the herbs, carefully tilling the soil around the herbs so they can take better roots, and feeding small amounts of fertilizer to help the plants grow.

She works with a singular purpose, not really paying attention to what else might be happening around her. She is completely unaware, or unconcerned, about how her blouse falls forward as she leans over, nearly revealing the firm mounds of her breasts completely to anyone who gets a glimpse down her top, or how her wool skirt clings tightly to her the curves of her buttocks as she works.

If Aurora were to pause in her task a bit, she might hear small sounds, nearly imperceptible to the human ear rise and fall in the air and amongst the trees.
This were the hushed voices of the pixies, eagerly discussing their guest and possible playmate.

Some were surprised that she seemed to care about the herbs as much as the honey. To the pixies experience, few humans paid any attention to the plants they carelessly trod upon. Some of them expressed a certain respect for the pale maiden because of this, but others did not agree. It seemed she was laying claim to their spot. Maybe she would turn it into a lawn or field or something stupid like humans were wont to do.
But of course, there were other things about Aurora that interested them as well.

"Such rare, white hair.. She is a fine maiden, is she not? I bet she makes good sport!"
"See those legs, so shapely they are! And those buttocks!"
"Legs, butt.. Her finest treasures is clearly her bosom! I wonder if she keeps them trapped in a bra?"
"I bet we will know soon!"

Eventually, the pixies decided it was time to start their move. Still in hiding, they started to call out to her, in whispers and murmors at first.
"Mortal maiden.. Mortal maiden.. Beautifull maiden.. what brings you here.."

Aurora gasps, and her head snaps up from where she was working on the tiny 'herb garden' she was trying to cultivate and promote. She quickly stands up and begins to spin around, looking in all directions - including up.

"Who is that? Where are you? What do you want?" she calls out, trying to sound confident and demanding, but her voice quivers with the fear she is trying to hide.

"I'm just trying to collect some herbs and honey." she finally answers, hoping that she might be able to get a better idea of where the voice(s) is/are coming from if they talk some more.

"Who.. who.. who is it that seeks our honey? Who.. who seeks our plants?", the voices continues, stronger now.

"What is your name, mortal maiden? What brought you here..", the voices stills seemed to come from all directions. At least most of them. Was one of them coming from the beehive itself? And was that some sort of giggle?

((FYI - my main computer died over the weekend. Until I get it fixed, I'm going to be a bit slower than usual because it's not as easy to work for long periods with my laptop. Sorry ))

Aurora still looks around nervously - especially when the voices speak of 'our honey' and 'our plants'. The LAST thing she needs is to offend the denizens of the island - she is already TOO familiar with the dangers and costs of doing that. But at least so far, these voices seem a little different - talking to her, rather than immediately threatening and raping her.

"I.. I am Aurora Skadhisystir.. priestess of Skadhi. I.. I just happened upon this grove, I did not realize that any had laid claim to it. It's just that the herbs and honey - they made me homesick. My people make a drink of honey and such plants.. and I was hoping to gather the ingredients to make some myself."

"I would not harm the plants, nor the bees. In fact, I was hoping that my work might help the herbs to grow stronger. I meant no harm." she says a bit shyly. Her voice gradually has become calmer, and more secure - even that little sound of a giggle brings a smile to her face as she relaxes a bit, thinking she is safe, and isn't going to be attacked now.