"...Is it really so mysterious? Well, we can return it to uh... I forgot the names, but Startail's friends, later, if nothing else."

I clutch the fork in my hand; I don't think it will throw off my balance, I'm not really using my hands much when tree surfing. Though I do take a good close look. What kind of metal does it seem like, what color is the little bit of debris? Cotton or plant fiber of some sort, perhaps?

"Calling out that my game goblin sensibilities and my real life sensibilities are clashing. In real life, why would I keep a random fork? It's not mine, someone might be looking for it. In game it is, apparently, a clue. So I'm tryna compromise?"

"Well, you could just tell Dapple to carry it for you." 

"It's not Dapple's fork either! What is this, preschool? Finders-keepers?"

"It obviously belongs to the missing person you picked up a sidequest to find!"

Vanessa snickers.

"I mean, you don't know that, even if it is really obvious above table. What's that called, meta-gaming?"

The substance tangled in the tines of the fork, on closer examination, greatly resembles thin ribbons of clear latex, like someone put a condom through a very small paper-shredder.

"...Or attacked it with a fork. Ahem."

"...Huh. Do you think this could be - destroyed clothes, or bits of a bag? I don't want to jump to assuming there was some kind of fight - or accident? But... I have a bad feeling, I guess."

"It's very, very difficult to suffer permanent damage as a guest of the Starheart Lodge," Dapple says kindly. "Even in the worst case, Startail is almost certainly unharmed. She might be stuck, somehow, though..."

Dapple peers more closely at the fork.

Hmm. Actually, would Dapple recognize this? It's not exactly her expertise...

"Hmm. I'm not sure, actually. It's rubbery, but it really doesn't look like ambershade to me, so probably not?"

As she says 'ambershade' she gestures at one of the benches, at the black rubber you've seen used in the construction of various things along your journey.

"...Maybe we can show it to an expert, later. If there is such a person."

Dapple nods several times, and then, sensing your awkwardness at carrying the clue, takes it and sticks it in her hair.

She skips over to the start of the next mossy branch. "Keep going?"

"And since you did make that last roll before that whole conversation happened, I'll let you roll a fresh Grace check for the next leg of the journey, if you want."

"Feels like cheating. Besides, I want to fail at least once along the way, seems more aesthetic!"

Vanessa grins briefly. "Alright."

You ride the mossy branches into a dense thicket of the world-tree. The pink leaves press in, creating a midnight darkness. Scattered speckles of those bioluminescent golden flowers form a starfield that makes you feel a little like you're in deep space. On the scale of the world-tree, its a tight space, but on the scale of a person, it is still a vast cavern.

You can see a faint glow trailing Dapple's feet, the moss flaring up cyan blue just a little from the friction. But the cords of mossy wood are thinner here. Thin enough to wobble under your weight. Turns bend wider. Slopes bend faster. And watching Dapple's body telegraph the next gravity shift gets harder.

What happens next almost feels inevitable.

In the darkness, you misjudge a leap, land wrong, and your foot slips to the side. Your momentum jolts you into a tumble, and a last glimpse of Dapple flashes by as you drift out into space, continuing in a straight line as the course curves away. The feel of the air on your skin tells you that you're actually slowing down. You've lost track of which direction natural gravity is even pulling you, here, and you're not arcing obviously enough to tell which way you'll fall, yet, but it's weak enough here that you were surfing at well above your current terminal velocity.

You hear Dapple's voice call out, "Lisara! Hang on!"

And in the distant darkness, a gleam catches your eye in the direction you're drifting. Threads of reflected light rippling in and out of visibility, a small patch of discoloration spreading across an area of starfield bough.

I feel the thrill of movement turn steadily more to anxiety as the path grows thinner, but that only makes it more fun in some ways. When the inevitable failure comes, I do my best to dodge right.

I fight the urge to flail further, knowing it will not help. I let my limbs splay out, to slow my rotation by spooling out momentum.

It's safe. I've already been proven that. Just enjoy the freefall and the wind on my skin.

"I'm shouting so you can tell where I am! I'm moving towards - something!"

"You're being downright evocative!"

Vanessa grins.

It doesn't take long for Dapple to come gliding out of the darkness at you. You see her coming, and can catch each other to soften the impact.

Dapple embraces you, her nude body as soft and curvy as ever, anchoring herself to you as you drift further and further from the path.

"Hi there. Hold on to me, oka - "

Sanity roll for Dapple. 19.

" - hey? Whoa, what is that?"

Dapple seems... puzzled and curious... about the odd patch of bough that is now behind you as you rotate, but after a moment she shakes it off.

"Whatever. It can wait. I'll root us back, just hold me, 'kay?"

"You would know more than me."

I hug Dapple tight. Specifically angling to nuzzle her boobs.

Vanessa slides Dapple's Soft Succulent Boobies over to Lisara's Shiny Kissable Lips.

Dapple pets your hair for a moment before relaxing her own limbs, stretching them out as you rotate together in space as though embracing something larger than just you.

And after a second or two, a braid of snaking tentacle vines shoots out of the darkness with shocking speed, splitting at the last moment to seize Dapple's limbs.

Once they've coiled around her arms and legs securely, they pull hard, and the two of you go shooting through space as the tentacles reel you in, back to the branch you fell from. They bunch up to cushion your deceleration as you slam to a stop, back on said branch.

Everything goes still in the wake of the landing, and in that moment, you find yourself clinging to a torso buried in soft pastel pink tentacles in the shape of a person-sized flower. Dapple's arms and legs are each folded up and embedded in one of the flower's seven petals, hidden, while her head and shoulders are swallowed by a green tentacle offshoot from the 'stem' from behind the flower petals. It is simultaneously artistically floral and also very reminiscent of one of those wall-butt glory holes.

You are floating, nearly weightless, your face in the pair of boobs that peak out from under the tentacles, between splayed thighs, but a moment later, a gravity-shift drops you back down onto the mossy wood, though not with even close to enough force to dislodge you.

She smiles. "I saw Flower-vines carrying people between platforms back in the first town, and this looks mostly the same as that, right? And the Flowers bound up in their roots. Dapple's in a different pose, but it doesn't look like a problem? Also, that description is making me want to fuck her, nice job."

"Yep. All of the Flowers that you've seen bound up like flowers all had a variety of poses, including this one. This one just happens to be Dapple's. And yeah, this is the Flower's level 5 Feature. It does a few things, but you don't know about the non-obvious stuff yet."

"Okay, I just asked because something about the narration and the ominous hint of forest corruption had me off guard. Anyway~ -Uh, I want to play with Dapple and Satisfy her, so that means an Encounter, right? It feels in character to want to 'thank her properly' after that, and maybe cool down from the surfing experience a bit. And it should be quicker since I'm less confused than last time."

"Dapple is not immediately un-rooting herself, just in case you want to play with her while she's trussed up, in this moment."

"This is thanks for the save," I say, and then start vigorously kissing and licking at her breasts-

"I can just make a Move, since we already have the pairing, right?" She gestures to the little paper slips. "Oh, and more time passed in world, so... Stat decay..." She checks the rules for that again. "It's been about... Another half hour? So my Satiation goes down by thirty minutes divide by fatigue of three, so thirteen to... three?"

"Unless your Ardor is more than that. Fatigue would be four by now, so..."

Dapple's at 0 Arousal, 0 Sensitivity, 5 Craving and maintains her 11 Satiation. And 17 Stamina to start with.

"I'm going to have Dapple be In The Mood, so..."

Dapple's Arousal increases to 5.

"Okay, what are you doing to these Soft Succulent Boobies, Lisara?"

"I dunno I'm not good at the description bits! Um-"

I aggressively squish and lick and suckle and nibble my whole face into her soft boobs, alternating between them. First one, firm kissing right on the areola with my tongue playing with her nipple. Then the other, always making sure both get attention... I keep this up for a while, knowing just how much she can take and making sure to put a really good amount of effort into it, nibble and suckle and pressure, not being gentle about it and just barraging her breasts with kisses and sensation...

"I also want to put my hand on her pussy. Or in, I guess. Gentle pairing? Oh, and I'm going for... I know she has lots of ardor so fourteen stimulation, spending seven stamina."

Her stamina starts at... 5 + FIT (5) + level bonus (1). So 11. Then she spends 7. It goes from 11 to 4.

She rolls her Prowess dice... 8 and 3, 6 and 1. Adding up to 11 and 7. That's +4. Her Prowess is 2, so it's +2. And she was going for 14, so, "Dapple receives sixteen stimulation. I get two reciprocal. Mwa ha ha."

Her Arousal goes from 0 to 2. And intensity from 0 to 1.

"Sixteen stimulation to which? Her boobs or her pussy?"

"That's sixteen to her boobs. Because I didn't want to get hit with sinful nectar right now."

"Gotcha."

Bound as she is, Dapple (pretends she) can't do anything to stop your mauling of her boobs, or your wandering hands. Her pussy is wide open and slippery as your fingers find it. Her body squirms fetchingly to show off how helpless she is.

Optimal Stimulation for Dapple's boobs is 16. Ooh.

Ardor check for Intensity. 19. Intensity increases from 0 to 6.

Arousal increases from 5 to 21.

Your suckling lips and nuzzling face make Dapple's Soft Succulent Boobies into your playground, giving them exactly the right amount of attention.

"Still your turn. Want to do anything else?"