Haruhiro had gotten very little sleep that night. It had been a while since he had spent the night physically close to another, the fact the Centorea or Cerea as she preferred to be called was a centaur didn't bother Haruhiro as much as he thought it would, not that he had ever imagined that he would meet such a being. The strangeness of her request had his mind running a mile a minute during the night, what was required of him as her Master? She had gone into very little detail after he had nervously accepted her offer.
He didn't know what questions to ask either, he didn't want to come off as rude. She had spoken of her tribe, meaning that there was obviously more than one centaur tribe in Grimgar and who knows what else was out there in the unfamiliar world. Now morning was here and he had listened to Cerea as she trotted off somewhere, her belongings were still here so she obviously intended to return.
When Haruhiro did get up he spotted her galloping across the grassland that stretched out towards Altana. She had already told him of her hesitancy to enter Altana, unsure if the humans would welcome her as Haruhiro and Manato had and the young thief had to agree, he wasn't sure how they would react either. If any spotted her from the walls of the city, they could easily mistake her for a rider and their horse.
Both Haruhiro and Cerea were still covered in mud, Haruhiro more so having been dragged through it by the goblin. With the events of yesterday he hadn't been able to wash himself thoroughly only able to pick at the dry mud on his skin and the clumps that stuck in his hair. Cerea was more fortunate, only having her legs and skirt covered in dry mud.
He didn't like the idea of going back to Altana just to bathe despite the need to get some more food for himself, a bath in Altana would cost him money he couldn't afford to use right now and there was a lake in the forest. He would have headed their already to quickly wash off but he didn't want Cerea to worry that he was suddenly gone when she got back from her morning run. So he waited, watching Cerea run, he had to wonder just how fast she was running but couldn't tell. Deciding to fill in time he went through the small pouch from the goblins that he had taken down the previous day.
He was surprised to find a small fortune, to him at least. Two silver coins, a few stone gems and wolf fangs, along with a small handful of copper coins.
It wasn't long before Cerea returned to the camp, sweaty but with a smile on her face having enjoyed herself it seemed.
"Master." She bowed her head as she walked into camp causing Haruhiro to grimace slightly at the title.
"Just Haruhiro, or even Haru is fine." Recalling the name Yume seemed to be comfortable calling him by, it didn't bother him at the nickname and it was better than being called Master. He didn't like to be called Master, it sent a weird shiver up his spine and just being called such didn't sit right with him. Centorea thought this over for the moment.
"Haru then." She smiled gently as she tested the name a few times to herself before turning back to Haruhiro. "What are the plans for today if I may enquire?" She questioned leaning down to pick up the water skin, Haruhiro watching her movements, the droop of her breasts making him look away before she could catch him. He didn't want to look like a pervert, he wasn't Ranta but he couldn't seem to take his eyes of her chest more often than not, they were seriously bigger than Shirou's.
"I… uh..." He began awkwardly, still looking away as she rose back up taking the water skin to her mouth before drinking. "There's a lake, in the forest." He told her. "I was going to wash off all this mud." He got out as he rose to his feet up. "I'll be back soon."
"Haru…" Testing the name for the first time, the teen blushing slightly as the sudden use of it as he turned to face her. "May I accompany you?" Cerea questioned halting Haruhiro as he looked over his shoulder at her, her face was slightly red showing that she was embarrassed about what she intended to say as her hands fiddled with the water skin before her. "I'm ashamed to say this, but it has been quite some time since I've been able to properly bathe." With that, Haruhiro couldn't form a coherent argument to deny her and if he did he hated to think what her impression of him would do.
Now the two unlikely duo were walking through the forest. Haruhiro had his gear with him, knowing it would be stupid to venture into the forest without a weapon and Cerea had most of hers as well, not confident enough to leave it behind at Haruhiro's camp only making it more concrete that they needed a more secure place to stay and not have to worry about being raided.
It didn't take long before they arrived at the lake, the very same lake that Haruhiro and his former party had killed their first goblin at. The corpse no longer was on the muddy bank, obviously have been dragged off by some kind of animal. It was a place Haruhiro remembered fondly, it was where he and the others had been able to take down their first goblin together.
"It's beautiful." The centaur spoke causing Haruhiro to look over at her, she was astounded by the scenery as she stood beside him looking over the lake, sunlight pooling through the trees and illuminating the water's surface.
"The water is fresh, so it's drinkable." Haruhiro told her walking towards the waters edge, placing his hands in the crystal clear water and bringing them up to his face washing away the dried mud some needed a bit of a scrub but his face was now clean, turning he saw Cerea unclasping her armour and placing it on the bank with her gear under a tree. Undoing his own armour knowing full well he wouldn't be going in naked.
Walking over to where Centorea was placing her belongings he discarded his boots and shirt before stretching his arms and turning for the water with what little soap he had on him. He would be glad to be rid of all the mud. Wading into the water, his pants sticking to him as he entered the brisk water. It was cold but he didn't worry much over it.
"I wonder how deep this gets." Haruhiro wondered, curious to know how far it would come up to on Cerea, deciding there was only one way to check and he was already waist deep already he dove into the water. The water was clear underneath, a small school of fish swam past his vision the lake got increasingly deeper the more you travelled out. Suddenly the fish were startled by something and Haruhiro felt a strong push of water against him and turned to see what it was before seeing the centaur's legs crashing into the water behind him. Breaching the surface, the first thing he saw was Cerea with her hands stretched above her head with a smile on her face, the next were the very naked breasts. Haruhiro instantly turned red and faced away from the gorgeous naked centaur.
"Haru?" Centorea's voice reached him as he huddled beneath the water his eyes roaming to find something of interest, to distract him of what he just saw. "Is everything alright?" Nope, no matter what those were the first pair of naked breasts he had seen probably since childhood, he'd never forget that.
"W-Why are you naked?" Haruhiro got out, still not facing the centaur.
"O-Oh." Cerea's face flushed a crimson red as she rose both her arms up, crossing them over her chest. "I apologise, it's just that centaurs are less conservative than humans, or so I was told." She mumbled under her breath.
"If you knew that… then why?" Haruhiro questioned, not sure of why Cerea would enter naked if she knew humans to be more conservative than her own race? Small waves rippled as Cerea moved further into the lake and Haruhiro was surprised as a soft hand landed on his shoulder making him look up, unable to hide his furiously blushing cheeks which only matched Centorea's own.
"Because you are my Master." She spoke softly. "And I don't mind if you see." Haruhiro swallowed nervously, keeping eye contact with her not letting his eyes stray despite his adolescent mind desperately pleading for him to take in the once in a lifetime view.
He offered a small smile which she returned releasing her hand on his shoulder. He didn't want to offend her custom or make her feel out of place she had journeyed away from home and chosen him to be her Master. The worst thing he could do was to make her feel weird about her body, something he didn't want to happen, if that meant he had to endure this then so be it he wasn't going to openly stare, they could think this more through later, like separate bathing times. Haruhiro watched her walk deeper into the lake until her lower body was completely submerged, using her own soap and cloth to was herself Haruhiro began to do the same. All the while thinking about the centaur.
He had been alone for a few weeks now, he was beginning to think that he would always be alone. But with Centorea here he didn't feel alone anymore, he shouldn't let her customs come between them. If she saw him as her Master fine, but he would never take advantage of that. Centorea had been through enough as it was with the Goblin's he didn't want to make her anymore uncomfortable than she probably already felt. After Haruhiro was clean of the mud he let himself float over the water's surface.
"H-Haru." Haruhiro rose his head to look over to Cerea to see her fidgeting slightly, she had moved to a shallower part of the lake, obviously kneeling down. "May I request your assistance?" She asked, Haruhiro had to wonder just how long she had been trying to gather the courage up just to ask him.
"Sure." Haruhiro nodded, unsure what she would want from him as he approached her, Centorea covering herself as he got closer, something Haruhiro was grateful for, he didn't think he'd be able to concentrate on the task otherwise.
"Th-there are spot's that I cannot reach by hand, I was hoping..." Haruhiro seeing the problem, it was clear that she wouldn't be able to reach everything with just her hands and he nodded as he stood beside her seeing several streaks of mud across her lower body. Swallowing nervously he reached out with both hands cloth in one soap in the other as he began scrubbing at the horse body. "I apologise Haru, I do have a longer scrubbing brush that I use but I've left it back at camp."
"T-That's fine." He continued. The mud came from the equine coat with ease, a gentle scrub was all it took. Continuing on, believing that Centorea would like a thorough cleaning, not just of the mud. His hand reached close to the base of her tail and she instantly jolted, standing abruptly showering Haruhiro with a wave of water in the process almost pushing him off his feet.
"M-Master." She had a look of apology in her face as she bowed her head to him. "I'm very sorry Master, but you really don't have to wash around my rear end." Haruhiro blinked before his eyes widened, he hadn't even been thinking! "Y-You see." She looked away blushing madly. "T-That's a bit of a sensitive area." She admitted, not able to face him.
"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have been touching there!" Haruhiro felt so embarrassed. "Of course you wouldn't want me to wash you there! It's way to personal." He muttered out hanging his head. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologise for." Centorea began. Thus their bath ended in embarrassment, something Haruhiro had wished to avoid. Now they stood on the bank, dressed and ready to return to camp. Centorea was fidgeting with her hands as Haruhiro began to walk to the path that they had come from. "Ah, Haru." The young thief looked back at the centaur who looked embarrassed still. "There's something… I uh..." Centorea began, face inflamed even more than when he had come close to touching her privates. "..." She whispered softly, Haruhiro unable to catch it. She looked up, slightly curious to know why he was not answering.
"I didn't quite hear that." He shifted slightly.
"I..." She cleared her throat and rose up high, taking in courage. "Master." She declared, Haruhiro wincing slightly at the title. "Us Centaur's are a proud race and as my Master you are permitted to… to ride me." Haruhiro blinked as Centorea became slightly embarrassed but continued on. "It is my duty to carry you, should you deem it necessary." Haruhiro was shocked, this wasn't what he had thought what she was going to say, he thought that she would bring up the awkwardness from the bath, but he didn't know how to respond to that. "Do you not want to?" She questioned.
"No, it's not that!" Haruhiro quickly defended, sure he had thought it would be an easy way to get around and he'd be lying if he hadn't thought about it. "It's just… I've never… before." He got out as she approached.
"I see." Cerea smiled. "Then this will be a good learning experience." She told him. "Hop on." She walked a few paces past him so he was lined up with her back. He wasn't sure but she was offering. Carefully placing his hands on her back, careful to not rustle her skirt to much before he jumped up, swinging a leg over as he imagined would be the right way to do it. A firm grip landed on his leg as Cerea helped support him as he got into a proper riding position. It certainly felt different to sit up high, Cerea glanced over her shoulder with a smile. "See, nothing to worry about."
"Yeah." He nodded as Cerea reached back with both her hands grabbing his and placing them on her waist. Cerea began to walk forward humming a gentle tune, Haruhiro feeling the movement beneath his legs as she walked. He was immensely enjoying the ride, Cerea taking the scenic route as they talked. Haruhiro questioned a little about Grimgar and where her tribe was located and Cerea responded with questions of her own learning that Haruhiro had come from the tower in Altana and didn't recall anything before then. However as they approached camp something was wrong, both knew it. Haruhiro frowned as he looked around from where he was on Cerea's back as the centaur herself came to a stop, her long ears twitching.
"Something's wrong." Haruhiro told her getting a nod from the centaur in return as Haruhiro slid down off her back while Cerea drew her her bow and pulling forth an arrow and knocking it ready to draw at a moments notice "I'll scout ahead." This surprised Cerea, the centaur believing that they shouldn't split up. "I'll cause less noise and I can observe the situation." He told her getting a reluctant nod from her.
"Be safe, Haru." The thief nodded unconsciously pulling his scarf up to hide his lower face before he darted off the path, meanwhile Cerea paced on the spot nervously, ears strained to listen for any kind of movement. There were no animals in the area and she doubted a goblin would come this close to the forest edge, so just what was ahead?
Haruhiro frowned as he crouched behind a tree, he was at the very corner of the forest now. His camp was within sight and it wasn't empty like they had left it. Large humanoid figures stood in his camp, already having destroyed his small cover where he slept, they were both armed and heavily armoured. They were unlike anything Haruhiro had ever seen before. There was no way he could take them, he had no idea how they fought or if there were more lurking about the forest.
He needed to get back to Centorea and head towards Altana. Whether they let her in or not, they had to try they couldn't stay out here with things like this wandering about. Maneuvering back through the forest where he came from he found the path he had come along. Stepping from the trees onto the the path he was stunned to see Cerea pointing an arrow at him before she lowered it.
"Thank goodness." Cerea sighed in relief. "What was it?"
"I'm not sure." Haruhiro shook his head. "They were large, much larger than a goblin or even a man." He explained. "They had armour and weapons." Cerea frowned at that. "We should head to Altana, if they don't let you in, we'll head somewhere else that's safe. We can't stay at the camp with them around."
"He wouldn't abandon me?" She thought in surprise, she had fully expected him to say that he'd enter Altana without her, not that they'd search for somewhere else. She couldn't help but raise a hand to her chest where her heart was beating rapidly. Even in this short amount of time he was considering her a comrade.
"OSHUU BAGDA!" The cry came out of nowhere as a hulking figure crashed out of the tree line, Haruhiro's dagger was instantly drawn and Centorea had already raised her bow letting loose the arrow. The arrow impacted the shield it had then it charged. The short distance between them didn't allow for the time for Centorea to knock another arrow. Seeing this, Haruhiro appeared before her as the large creature swung down.
It took all of Haruhiro's strength to swat the blade away, he kicked out at it's knee with what strength that he could only for the creature to bash it's shield into Haruhiro's front. The thief managed to keep his footing only because Cerea was behind him, his back pushed into her side. In the time of Haruhiro's intervention, Cerea had the time to knock another arrow, drawing back on the string she let it loose the impact forced the creature off its feet as the arrow sank deep into its chest. Haruhiro seeing it was still alive leapt and with his newly reclaimed dagger drove it into the creature's neck, it falling limp beneath him.
"It's an Orc." Cerea commented walking over to where Haruhiro was now standing beside the dead creature. "It's possible the Orc's you saw were scouts of a Raiding Party, I believe they intend to attack Altana."
"We have to warn them." Haruhiro instantly told her getting a swift nod of agreement from the Centaur. Haruhiro almost let out a sound of surprise as Centorea grabbed his arm and swung him up onto her back with little effort before running through the trees along a narrow path, the little experience he had on her back hadn't prepared him for this and he hugged his arms tightly around Cerea's waist just to keep himself from falling from her back. Despite the situation Centorea was enjoying her new Master's embrace and her face was flushed as they hurried to Altana.