Finn didn't take them far. The sun was fully up, illuminating the forest around them in greens and golds. Besides, Finn's legs were killing her, so she wasn't keen to push herself much more.

She followed paths made by deer and foxes through the underbrush until she found a sharp overhang cut into the side of the hill leading down to the river that could provide them a little bit of protection. Finn suggested they bed down there for the day and Adi agreed, sitting heavily beside her against the rocky cliff side.

Despite their good haul, they didn't have a camp to set up. They had no tents and no bedrolls. They couldn't set a fire when they were still so close to the hunting lodge and possibly a human town. Still, the warmth of their newly acquired clothing and the comfort of a belly full of dried and salted food was a big improvement over how they had spent the last few days.

After stuffing themselves with some really superior deer jerky, they settled down together against the rocks. Adi leaned against Finn heavily, fitting herself against her side with an ease that had Finn freezing up despite herself. They had been clinging to each other for warmth during the days while they tried to sleep. Even with the sun warming the surroundings, it got cold in the shade of the trees once they stopped moving. Finn had thought that would stop now that they had some clothing to protect them from the chill in the air, but she certainly wasn't upset that Adi still wanted to sleep close by.

"We need to make a plan about what we're going to do," Adi mumbled, her face half pressed into Finn's shoulder.

Finn was briefly self-conscious about the smell of both her own body and her used tunic, but she shoved the thought away. Neither of them smelled great after living in the woods for days. But, that gave her an idea.

"We still need some things if we're going to go after the caravan. To do that, we'll need to blend in with the humans as much as possible," Finn said. "We can start with a bath, if you want? I stole some soap from the lodge. If we can find a hidden spot to bathe, we can clean off, and then one of us can try going into town for information. Maybe we can even find some supplies if we're lucky."

Adi pulled her boots off with a bit of grunting and swearing, and then wrinkled her nose at the smell. It had only been an hour, but her body smell had already gotten into the socks and boots. It was a really foul smell, but Finn was much too polite to let her face so much as twitch.

"A bath sounds amazing right now," Adi sighed. "But, I'm too comfortable to go any farther today. Do you think we can look for a spot tonight?" Adi tilted her head up at Finn. Her big dark eyes sparkled in the sunlight coming down in shafts through the trees.

"Uh," Finn mumbled, feeling all the blood rushing to her face and desperately trying to think of anything other than how sweet Adi looked pressed up beside her. "Of course!" Finn said, definitely too loudly, if Adi's raised eyebrow was any indication. Goodbye, sweet moment.

"I mean," Finn stumbled. "It's up to you. I can give advice, but I'll follow whatever you decide to do in the end."

Adi stared at Finn with her big eyes rounded in surprise and her thick eyebrows climbed up her forehead.

If Finn wasn't red before, she was absolutely red by then. That was way too much honesty. Was it honesty? Finn's heart was pounding in her chest in a rhythm that sounded like vulnerability and honesty.

Finn squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her hands roughly over her face. She tried to banish the sweet feelings that were swelling up behind her ribs with little success.

"I am a royal knight, loyal to the beautiful and terrifying Queen Titania, and I am definitely not falling ass over teakettle in love with a cute kobold girl!" Finn angrily told herself.

When Finn pulled her hands away, Adi was looking at her with a determined expression. "Okay," she said. "We'll find somewhere to get a bath tomorrow," Her previously hard-pressed lips started to twitch into a smile, "Miss Knight," she added teasingly.

"Ugh," Finn said, putting her face back into her hands.

Adi snuggled closer to Finn's arm, her body soft and warm even through the layers of clothing they were now wearing. Much to Finn's chagrin, she couldn't keep up her own embarrassment when it was so obvious that what she said had pleased Adi.

"Let's try and get some sleep," Adi said with a yawn.

"Yes, ma'am," Finn sighed. Despite the teasing, she turned her body toward Adi's and wrapped her arms around her to keep her safely ensconced against her chest.

Adi snorted into Finn's shoulder, but didn't dignify the dig any further. Before Finn knew it, Adi had relaxed completely into Finn's arms.

But, it would be a while before Finn could sleep. Her heart kept pounding away in her chest, a staccato of excitement, affection and fear. Being with Adi felt good, better than good. Even though their situation was dire, Finn felt more relaxed and comfortable the past few days she had spent with her than she could recall ever feeling at court.

Which raised a lot of troubling questions that chased sleep away from Finn for a long time that day.

When the sun finally dipped below the horizon, Finn nudged Adi awake. She had only gotten a little sleep herself, sometime around midday when the sun was the brightest and her own thoughts had finally worn her out enough that she was able to doze against Adi's soft crown of hair. But, it hadn't lasted long.

Still, her legs felt better than they had before. And, she felt nasty enough that the chance of washing herself and the second hand clothes they had just acquired felt very pressing indeed.

Together they both nibbled a bit of their dry provisions, but were much more judicious with their portions in the fading sunlight. If all went well, Finn would be able to get the bow back into working order and start supplementing Adi's foraging with some protein, but until then all they had was the dried goods Finn had been able to steal.

After eating enough to hold them over for a bit, Finn led the way north. She was still following the path of the river, but was keeping to the hillside leading down into the river valley. She kept her eyes out for a good creek heading down from the mountains that they could use.

They barely had to walk at all before they came across exactly what Finn had been looking for.

"That was fast," Adi commented with a raised eyebrow. They had stepped out from between some bushes to find themselves on the side of a quietly burbling stream rushing down the hillside through a well-worn groove in the rocks.

Finn paused and cocked her head as she listened carefully. Her ears twitched a little as they tried to tune into what she thought she was hearing.

"I think there's a waterfall a little further up," Finn said, indicating the hill they were on with a nod of her head. "Let's find that first,"

Adi agreed, and they began the arduous climb up the hillside and toward the sound of falling water. As they climbed, the sound grew steadily louder.

Finn's thighs burnt from the exertion of lifting her knees high, but it felt better than the burning of the night before. It felt less like she was shredding her muscles beyond repair and more like she was getting some good exercise in. Some food made a big difference, she supposed.

Before long, they found the source of the sound. As Finn had guessed, there was a small waterfall tucked into the side of the river valley. Calling it a waterfall was maybe overstating it a bit. It was a shelf of rock that stuck out awkwardly over the hillside. The creek trickled slowly over it to form a thin curtain of little raindrops. But, as Finn had hoped, the falling water had made a shallow depression in the ground beneath, which in turn created a small pool of water. That would be much easier to bathe in than a few inches of rushing spring water running down a hill.

"Oh!" Adi exclaimed as she stepped up to the side of the pool. "Hey, this is perfect," she laughed, dropping the heavy pack to the pebbled ground and starting to pull off her boots. "Let's wash off first, then we can wash the clothing."

"Sounds like a plan," Finn agreed, pulling her own long sleeve tunic over her head and then starting to work on the laces of her pants.

She noticed Adi watching her. It was hard not to notice. Adi had completely frozen with one boot off and the other still on as soon as Finn had pulled her shirt off. Finn thought that maybe she didn't realize she was staring and Finn didn't want to call attention to it if that was the case.

Hesitating, Finn stared down at her own breasts. They were pale and freckled with tight nipples from the sudden rush of cold air. She had a scar on her left breast, the tightening of the scar tissue causing the surrounding skin to ripple unappealingly. She had the sudden urge to cover it, cover them both, to prevent Adi from seeing.

Which was stupid. She had been unashamedly nude with Adi for the last few days. Adi had seen all of her scars, and Finn hadn't cared before that moment.

Finn had never been taught to be ashamed of her naked body. Growing up in the barracks, it was normal for both men and women to bathe together in the communal baths for the sake of speed and efficiency. Finn and Ruven had both been so much younger than most of the other guards and soldier that they had been treated more like everyone's annoying younger siblings than someone to look at. It had only been in the past few years that Finn started seeing anyone in the barracks younger than her. Sure, a few of them would stare at her in the baths, but she just assumed they were annoying younger kids like she once was.

It was nothing to get all strange about. She had seen Adi nude from all angles, and Adi had seen the same of her, the same way most of the people Finn worked with had.

But, the air around the little pool of water felt charged in a way that Finn couldn't deny and was unfamiliar with.

"I am a royal knight," Finn thought to herself and put herself back to the task of undoing her pants.

After all, when she wasn't sure what to do, usually the best course of action was to just push through. It had served her well enough in the past, and it would have to do the same then.

Pushing her roiling thoughts away, Finn impatiently tugged off her pants, the worn fabric stubbornly clinging to her aching thighs, and splashed into the shallow pool. It was almost painfully cold, the water coming straight from some hidden mountain spring. She felt her skin raise up in goosebumps and hissed a little as she forced herself to wade toward the center of the pool. Her ears twitched, listening for any little sound from Adi, but she remained completely still and silent.

Groaning under her breath, Finn dunked her head under the water. The chill of the mountain spring was freezing cold. She hoped fervently that the frigid water would cool whatever hotheaded thoughts were stirring in her head. Immediately afterward, she hated herself for even thinking that.

"There is no tension!" she admonished herself as she finally broke the surface of the water with a gasp. "You're acting like a child. Adi doesn't like you like that, you're just projecting your feelings onto her."

As Finn pushed her hair off her face with a scowl, she heard another splash behind her. She determinedly kept her back turned and used the tips of her fingernails to scrub at her scalp. She had left the soap back at the shore with the rest of their supplies and was feeling like an idiot for forgetting it. But, she couldn't very well go back now and face Adi with her fact still red and her heart beating so fast. She would just have to make do.

The splashing came closer, but Finn was stuck in her own thoughts. It wasn't until she felt warm skin press against her naked back and saw dark arms wrap around her waist that she realized just how close Adi was.

"Finn," Adi's voice sounded shy and unsure, but her arms tightened around Finn's waist.

Finn was frozen. She felt her resolve waver like the house of cards that it was. She knew that if Adi wanted it, Finn was ready to give her everything and anything. It was a harsh realization to discover only just then that she was in that deep. But, there they were.