Some Unplanned Alone Time

As they ran, Xilo looked for any large Astral Beasts nearby while following the map he had. Kirel clung to his body as they ran since he wasn't too sure how recovered she was yet nor was she heavy. He had noticed Xelfia get a little pouty about it but he left that alone. "I think a forest is coming up soon." If the map was right and they were lucky then there might be some Astral Beasts they could take with them. "Let's hope luck is on our side." With a couple more hours passing XIlo eventually saw a group of trees clumping together in the distance.

"Alright, let's take a break by that forest. Town's haven't been working so I want to look around there for a bit. If we find one or two then it should save us a lot of time and energy in the long run. Are you three okay with that?"

"Yeah I don't have any problems with that, mind if we just let Tearia rest for a bit though?"

"Sure that's fine, I want you to stay with her though Xelfia along with Kirel, I'll take Relia with me."

"That's fine with me, you okay with that Tearia, Relia?"

"I could definitely use the rest."

"..."

"That settles that then, go on Xilo, Relia."

With a smile on her face, Xelfia pushed Xilo and Relia in the direction of the forest after taking Kirel off his shoulder. Watching the two of them walk away, Xelfia really hoped Relia would use this time well. "I don't think Xilo has noticed the gap she's made." She wasn't expecting it to close in this small amount of time they were together but she hoped it might shrink at least. Sitting down on the grass beneath her feet she watched as Tearia came up next to her and did the same. Her breath was heavy and she was losing a lot more energy than all of them, so hopefully she would make use of this break.

"You...seemed quite eager to give those two a chance to run off together Xel, got any devious plans in mind or something?"

Leaning her head on Xelfia's shoulder they both pet Kirel as they chatted together. With a nice breeze cooling them down and her legs feeling like they were about to melt Tearia had no complaints as she took out some water. Finishing it quickly she passed another to Xelfia, as she got to enjoy the rare moment with just her. "There's no way she doesn't have something up her sleeve." Ever since those two had talked that one night alone, Tearia had noticed a change in Relia's behaviour. The two of them had been trying to push the gap back ever since but nothing was working. She was starting to get a little scared something bad might happen.

"Nope, I got nothing this time, Xilo was the one who brought it up. So unless he's got something planned then their little trip should be perfectly...normal."

"A little hard to believe coming from the Queen of mischief."

"Oh please, I'm not nearly that bad, I just like to have fun here and there. Everyone's reactions are so cute."

"Not that bad you say...Well on a more serious note, I don't really know how long I can keep this pace up for the next town. I know I told Xilo I was getting faster but I'm going to run empty soon. I don't really know what to do about that honestly. Once I run dry..all those people just..die."

Like a switch that had been flipped, Xelfia swapped from her normal teasing self to the older sister Tearia had always thought of her as. Xelfia had always been her idol and someone she strived to be and every time they talked it was just reinforced in her mind. Chatting, the two women and fox spent the next little bit refilling their fuel as Xilo wandered into the forest with Relia. Getting a little bit deeper into it, Xilo spread out his senses as he checked for any nearby Astral Beasts while Relia stayed by his side. "nothing so far." Not finding anything with his first scan he kept trying.

Feeling awkward and slightly nervous, Relia looked at Xilo's body as they walked. Her mind wasn't on finding Astral beasts right now, instead she felt like hiding herself. "What am I doing!" She kept remembering bits and pieces of Xelfia's conversation with each step. "Who do I want to be?" Taking a few steps forward another question came to her mind. "Don't you like Xilo?" These were two things she didn't really have any answer to and because of that she was getting overly nervous lately, especially around Xilo. Now that she was actually alone with him, it came at her a lot harder than ever before.

"You okay Relia?"

Noticing Relia's face slightly turning red as she looked away, Xilo asked that question as he found a couple Astral Beasts off in the distance. "Found some." It only took him a couple of scans to find him so that was nice. "Their size is decent too." He would have to get a closer look to tell for sure but for now it was a good start. Recoiling in fear a bit from Xilo's question, Relia silently shook her head up and down. Seeing her answer XIlo let it go as he pointed in the direction of the Beasts.

"Alright, then let's head this way. I found some Beasts up ahead that could work for us. If we're lucky this could be done pretty soon and then we can head back."

"...Okay..."

Following behind Xilo, Relia made sure there was some distance between them as they spent a couple minutes walking towards the direction Xilo had pointed in.

"They are pretty close now, should be just up ahead...."

Sending out his senses, Xilo checked one more time but a lot more carefully compared to before, in case he alerted them by mistake