The Great Northern Forest

[Elf]

Emiya

She's distracting me on purpose, he thought dimly as Sakura's cool, soft lips pressed against his own.

One hand moved to her lower back while the other entangled in the back of her thick, silky violet hair as he returned the kiss.

I guess I'll let her distract me for now.

[SINIB]

Emiya

She's distracting me on purpose, he thought dimly as Sakura's cool, soft lips pressed against his own.

One hand moved to her lower back while the other entangled in the back of her thick, silky violet hair as he returned the kiss.

I guess I'll let her distract me for now.

Sakura

The kiss was long and drawn out. Her ice-cold tongue plunged into his mouth like a wriggling wet popsicle. She ran her hand down his back with an idle hand, using the other to rub his cheek. After a few long moments lasting what felt to her like an eternity, she pulled her head back. "Having a small chest does have its benefits, I guess I have to admit."

[Elf]

Emiya

"I'll admit that I'm fond of them," his breath was hitching from Sakura's intense kiss and a red flush appeared on his bronze cheeks, making his steel colored eyes bright.

His fingers trailed to the top of Sakura's top and he smirked.  "If we keep this up, we're not going to get to dinner or the bath."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

For a long time, Sakura had wanted to find a way to remove the last of the worms that filled her body, reducing her potential and reminding her of her unhappy childhood. As such, when she heard a rumour of a powerful mage who may be able to help her, she immediately decided to see if she could find them, even if that meant heading into the dark Northern forest. So, one day, she took a bus up to the north of the city, leaving Shirou to perform errands at home, safe in the knowledge that she could teleport him to her if any issues arose. Then, she crossed over the border and entered into the forest, looking around to see if she could find any traces of the magical energy of the person she was seeking.

[SINIB]

Arcaena

Sakura wandered through the forest—darkness quickly draped her surroundings in shadows, and the further into the forest she delved, she began to feel some serious effects—the air itself began to feel crushing, the sounds of the forest grew ever louder and omnipresent, threatening to drive her to insanity, and she became unable see even with her magically enhanced vision.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand and yank her quickly in a direction. "What do you think you're doing! Just wandering in here! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!?"

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

As Sakura continued deeper into the forest, its magical nature became apparent. The sounds of the forest began to drill into her head, only her strong will preventing her from going insane from the constant noise, and the light began to fade until, eventually, it became pitch black, even reinforcement making it impossible for her to see. Worst of all, the air itself felt like it was crushing her. Recognising that she wasn't getting anywhere, Sakura tried to turn back, only to find herself getting hopelessly lost, unable to make her way out of the forest.

She continued for a little while longer, seeing if she could find anything of use, gradually coming to the conclusion that this was a waste of time, and that she should teleport back home. Before she could do so, though, someone grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her towards them before admonishing her, asking her what the hell she was up to going so deep into the forest.

"I came in here looking for someone who I heard would be able to help me, and I got a bit lost", she replied. "But I can get out any time, I just need to use my magic to travel back home."

[SINIB]

Arcaena

"Stupid!" The elf kept yelling at her. "That's so naive! Your magic could get sealed—or worse, a monster could instantly kill you before you could even notice, leaving your soul to wander this forest for an eternity! You're just lucky you ran into me instead of basically anything or anyone else!"

[SINIB]

Emiya

"I'll admit that I'm fond of them," his breath was hitching from Sakura's intense kiss and a red flush appeared on his bronze cheeks, making his steel colored eyes bright.

His fingers trailed to the top of Sakura's top and he smirked.  "If we keep this up, we're not going to get to dinner or the bath."

Sakura

"Well, that's generally the implication with an either-or question, isn't it?" Sakura asked with a cocked eyebrow. A hand slid into his shirt and pressed it against his chest. "And I don't think I heard an answer~"

[Cherry Lover]

Arcaena

"Stupid!" The elf kept yelling at her. "That's so naive! Your magic could get sealed—or worse, a monster could instantly kill you before you could even notice, leaving your soul to wander this forest for an eternity! You're just lucky you ran into me instead of basically anything or anyone else!"

Sakura

Sakura frowned, recognising from the girl's tone that she'd been in more danger than she'd realised.

"H..hey, I was about to leave", she said, a little bit shaken by the girl's words. "I just really wanted to find the person I was looking for, and I didn't realise quite how dangerous this place could be."

"Hang on, where are you taking me?" she added as she realised that the girl was still dragging her along.

[SINIB]

Arcaena

"Away!" She exclaimed, suddenly swooping Sakura off of her feet in one clean motion, sliding an arm under hers and another one under her knees. In the blackness, she could feel the other woman's figure-she had a modest chest, was lithe, and despite her small frame, possessed immense strengths.

Arcaena burst out into a full sprint, slipping through the gaps in the underbrush and dodging the immense trees as they moved as fast as a cheetah. "There's a powerful feral vampire that lives around here—he wouldn't dare to cross my mistress by harming me, but if you caught his nose, you'd have been turned into hypnotized livestock!" She looked down, finally taking in the nicety of Sakura's body. "Or worse, he'd make you his pleasure slave. I'm taking you to my hideout, so you can tell me what in the world you were thinking!"

At full sprint, the two reached Arcaena's hideout in about ten minutes—a large tree that had had a hollow carved into and expanded into it. Finally, it was at this moment that Arcaena stopped to ruffle through her cavernous system of pockets, pulling out a small vial and popping the cork out of it. "Here! It'll let you see this deep in here."

She shoved the valuable potion into Sakura's hands.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

"Away where?" Sakura replied, rather concerned at the manner in which the girl had dragged her off her feet.

Ultimately, though, Sakura knew that, if the girl actually wanted to harm her, there was very little she could do about it, and she didn't seem hostile, so she made no effort to resist despite the lack of an immediate answer to her question, instead simply holding on as the girl carried her through the forest, listening to the girl's chiding with ever-increasing horror. The thought of being turned into a pleasure slave by some vampire sent shivers down her spine, bringing back bad memories of her past abuse, and she couldn't help but wonder how close she had been to such a fate, and whether she would have left the forest quickly enough to escape his attentions. As she clung to the girl, she began to realise that her trip had been reckless, that her preparation was not sufficient to travel this deep, even with her ability to escape via her shadows.

Finally, after a significant trip, they arrived at the girl's destination. Still unable to see in the darkness, Sakura could only tell that they appeared to be inside a tree, perhaps some kind of hideout. Before she could ask any further questions, however, the girl pressed a vial into her hands, informing her that it would let her see.

"Thank you", Sakura responded, holding onto the vial carefully.

 For a few moments, Sakura hesitated, unsure whether to trust the strange woman, before quickly deciding that, if the woman truly wanted to harm her, she could easily have just forced the potion down her throat, or done anything else she liked. So, taking the vial, she tipped the contents down her throat. Almost immediately, her vision began to improve, allowing her to determine that they were, indeed, inside a tree, in some kind of hideout. What was more, she could now see her saviour more clearly. As Sakura had already determined, the girl was lithe and short, with only a modest chest. But the ability to see allowed Sakura to notice the girl's white hair, green eyes and, most surpisingly, her distinctive pointed ears.

"Yes, I can see much better now", she said with a smile, only a slight hint of the surprise that she felt appearing in her face.

"My name is Sakura Emiya, it's nice to meet you", she added, bowing politely. "Thank you again for saving me. I wasn't intending to go this deep, but I got a bit lost, and I was too focussed on my search to recognise the danger I was in."

[SINIB]

Arcaena

Arcaena's ears trembled-with excitement, fury, pity, and most of all, curiosity. The lithe young woman leaned forward, staring directly into the purple-haired youth's eyes. She began to circle around her, taking a keen interest in the rounded tips of Sakura's petit human ears. "Well, I'd glad you understand that you made a grave error of judgement. My name is Arcaena of the house Lavinia, daughter of Eruraviel."

Suddenly, the elf's hand snaked out with unearthly grace, grabbing onto Sakura's ear and rubbing her thumb along the rounded top, before sliding down to pinch her earlobe. "Fascinating. So this is the form that my mother has taken such a keen interest in as of late. Exotic, and certainly inefficient, but—" After a few moments, Arcaena pulled her hand back to her side and grinned. "There is a certain appeal to your form. So, what brought you all the aay out here into the wilds of the Nexus?" She asked with a clap of her hands.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

Sakura couldn't help but notice the way that the elf's ears trembled as she listened to Sakura's reply, leaving her curious as to what, exactly, such a reaction meant. She felt a little uncomfortable as the girl circled around her, looking her over with a clear focus on her ears, but she didn't react, instead waiting for the girl to introduce herself. For a moment, she smiled, until she felt Arcaena's hand grab hold of her ear, rubbing along the top of it before sliding down and pinching her earlobe, causing Sakura to look at her with shock and a hint of indignation at the rude treatment.

Paying little attention to her reaction, Arcaena continued to inspect Sakura like she was some kind of research specimen, talking to herself about her mother's interest in, presumably, humans. A little shocked at the elf's rude behaviour but not particularly wanting to upset the woman who had both saved and, effectively, kidnapped her, she simply endured the somewhat humiliating inspection until, finally, Arcaena pulled back, grinning, and finally addressed her. Feeling a little nervous as a result of the girl's previous behaviour, Sakura stuttered for a moment, before gathering herself and responding to the question.

"I..I heard a rumour of a powerful mage in the forest, one who might be able to help me with certain ..issues I have with my body. I thought I'd come and take a look, see if I could find anything useful, but I underestimated just how dangerous this place could be", she replied, pausing for a moment before continuing.

"Oh, actually, you wouldn't happen to know of anyone like that, would you?"

[SINIB]

Arcaena

Arcaena hopped back, and then hopped forwards again, leaning in towards Sakura with a big silly grin on her face. "Ufu~ Hmm, well, I don't know how to say it, but your luck really is amazing. I do know of one, two, in fact!"

She reached out and quickly drew an elvish rune on Sakura's neck using her magic. Arcaena's eyes flashed with the blue of powerful magic, the young human's soul suddenly illuminated, revealing her maladies and the sort of past that she muzt have suffered through to be harmed in this way to the white-haired elf.

Her grin faltered for a moment, but she quickly put it back on, covering up her distaste with a giggle. "You do too, in fact. You were looking for my mother, the great progenitor of the elvish race and my tutor, Eruraviel Lavinia! I just so happen to be her chief assistant in matters of the soul!"

She brought her fists to her hips and thrust her chest forwards, beaming with pride in her exalted station. "Having taken a quick peek at your soul, I don't think it'd be too hard for us to fix it."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

Sakura looked at the girl with uncertainty as she hopped backwards and forwards, wondering what she would do next. However, when she heard Arcaena's response, a smile formed on her face for a moment, until it was once more replaced by a look of annoyance as the girl reached out and, without asking permission, drew some kind of magical rune on her neck.

"Hey!" she said, only to be cut off as the girl giggled before speaking up once more.

Sakura began to smile once more as Arcaena explained in more detail who they were looking for, mentally rolling her eyes at the overly-grand introduction, but not allowing her feelings to be visible on the surface. Her smile broadened as the girl finished off, beaming with pride as she stated that they would be able to fix her issues, her words also making Sakura aware of the reason behind the rune that had been drawn on her neck.

"Thank you!" Sakura replied, immediately, overjoyed at the possibility of being cured of the final reminders of her years of abuse at the hands of the Matou, only to pause momentarily as she realised that the elf would surely not provide such a service for free.

"Actually, what would your mother want in return?" she said, a little wary of what the elf might want in return. "I have some money back home, but I didn't bring anything with me, and I don't know if it would be enough to pay for a procedure like this."