I woke up with Milo still in my arms, with his head pressing in my chest. He was still sleeping, with the face of bliss. The scene was beautiful, or at least cute, though both my breath and his had a very distinct scent of alcohol. It really surprised me when I realized Milo’s breath was actually quite stinky too. I opened a malicious smile that grew with the realization that I had made Milo drunk. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep, after all, I wouldn’t want to wake up my precious little drunkard.
Unfortunately, our sleep did not last for much longer; after all, Lezine was a thing. A very angry thing. She woke us up and had us do the chores like always. I say always, but really, this was just my second day. But because she was angry at us, she had us do the chores by ourselves, while Sonese and Geno were wise enough to not talk about last night in the presence of Lezine.
Really, we did it all laughing, it was worth it, truth be told.
There really isn’t much to say after that. Every night I and Milo went drinking, sometimes with Sonese and Geno, sometimes by ourselves. Sometimes Lezine caught us, but even when she didn’t, she knew what we did. Suno, the baby that I saw only once, remained that way. He died of some sickness during the winter that followed my arrival, poor thing. I used to wonder what stories he’d be a part of, and what would become of him, until I was told that he would have become a loyalist and- let’s not talk about it. Anyway, as I was saying, nothing really happened for a period of time, but thing started to change three winters after Suno passed away.
Winter was once again in its peak, the snow was pouring into the pour little defenseless village. Most of our efforts were put into chopping firewood and gathering and hoarding food. I even had to tone down my drinking because the supply line for beer was obstructed; making it so our supply was cut in half. But the worst came a few days after the first snow. One day, Lezine was sweeping the house, like she usually does, but she fell on floor without any good reason. I and the others ran to her when we heard the thump. We took her to a bed and called someone to examine her. She had a fever, a very high one.
Sonese took over Lezine’s duty, and even moved into the house. I and Milo did our best to help Sonese, after all, we couldn’t stand to see her exhaust herself with all the duties and taking care of Lezine. Geno would come by whenever possible, but he spent most of his time chopping wood. But when he did come by, he and Sonese spent the time together, though Milo didn’t really understand (he’s rather dull, to be honest) and I pretended to not notice.
It lasted longer than any of us would’ve expected, or liked. The four of us were beside her in her bed. She was proud of Sonese and Geno. She was angry at me and felt pity of Milo. “Poor boy has to deal with such pest it makes me happy to not have to deal with it.” Milo was crying like a baby before she had started talking. “I miss the old Milo. What did happen to him?” she was smiling and looking straight into his eyes. “Curarri,” she called me like that to ease the mood, but didn’t really work. “Don’t drag him down with you.” she looked at me with seriousness. “Sonese, do make sure she doesn’t.” Sonese had her left hand in Milo’s shoulder and her right with Geno’s. “And Geno, make sure none of them get hurt.” the woman responsible for Lezine took us away and we never saw her again. Even in her last moments, she was giving orders and speaking ill of me.
Poor Milo couldn’t sleep for two days, he’d just cry, shudder and cry. After two excruciatingly long, alcohol lacking nights, I decided to take a little liberty, and snuck into his bed. I could understand his shuddering now, his blanket was not as nearly as protective from the cold as it needed. I was going to get out and get my own to put over us, but he held me. It took me back to the night Sonese danced. I just didn’t struggle, just accepted and reproduced the scene that took him to such bliss last time; though this time I actually had some prototype of breasts, so it was a bit cushier for him than last time. He didn’t cry nor shudder that night.
Sonese moved into the house for good this time, and Geno spent most of the nights with her. He was growing up to become a big framed man, beefy from chopping wood and from what I guess were secret sparring with some friends. He let his hair grow out a bit, holding it in a small pony tail. He was kind and gentle, and was always saying he was going to become a knight. Funny thing is we actually believed him. Sonese was becoming even more gorgeous and even kinder. And, to my delight, she had started to dance. Sometimes, when walking or just doing a boring shore, she would do a little dancing step. Her hair was even longer, now reaching the floor, and, once again to my delight, her breasts had grown to their full size. Sure, it wasn’t much to look at, but I had the pleasure of bathing with her, and when bare, those where treasures.
Milo didn’t grow much more, he stayed at about my height, and I’m not tall. His hair reached his shoulders and were wavy and of a light brown color. His body frame was pitifully small and he lacked muscles just as much as he lacked courage and bravery. He would fall apart in the slightest hint of pressure. But that is why I was always by his side. My hair had darkened a bit, being of a very dark blonde, basically brown. I liked to have it in a bun, but without the lock that I used to have. Really, nothing really changed about me other than my height, even the word used to describe me was still the same: “shameless”, and I kind of agree with it.
Sonese’s brother, Fenci, was a hunter. He spent most of the time in the nearby woods, in a small cabin, or lodge, if you will. He’d spend weeks straight out there and come back with five or six big animals and a few small ones, and then go back for another haul. Of course, he didn’t go alone, he went with other hunters, three, to be exact, Older, more experienced men, who had years of tracking and stalking. He became even grumpier, like an old man in the body of a young adult. Terrifyingly annoying and annoyingly terrifying. His beard had grown enough to tie it under his chin, and his hair had also grown, but he braided it and put it around his neck to protect it from the cold, kind of like my father would do with his beard. I had always suspected he had a thing for the man that taught him to track down animals, until he impregnated a woman. At least I got his age preference right.
As I grew older, I started to feel I was doing less than I should, restricting myself to house chores, and barely doing anything outside. So one day, when Fenci was in town, I asked, though witnesses would say I begged, to go with him to the woods. “You’d be a hassle” he answered simply. I kept bothering him until he said something that wasn’t a simple ‘no’. “Can you draw a bow?” I shook my head. “Can you track animals?” I shook my head again. “Then what use would you be for us?” I had to think for a while before reaching a solid conclusion: “No use, really” he got even angrier and walked away without allowing me to say another word. But I was determined.
That night, Fenci was leaving to the cabin again, so I told Milo to pack some clothes. We were going to follow him and make him accept us. After Sonese told us to go to sleep I told Milo to get his things. “Where are we going?” he asked confused like always. “To the woods, following Fenci.” he really wasn’t that surprised with my answer; he just did as I told him and followed me. We left our room and tiptoed to the door, but Geno caught us. “What are you- Where are you going!?” his voice was like thunder in the dead of the night, but he was more confused than Milo had ever been. We froze as a chill struck our spine like a bolt. “So… Are you just going to stare at me like two turd sacks?” Sonese had heard Geno’s voice and left her room to see what was happening. Before she could even see us, we bolted to the door and ran. Geno waited a few seconds, probably to explain the situation to Sonese, and then pursued us.
We had taken too long to leave, and at that point, there was a risk of losing Fenci’s track and getting lost, and Geno wouldn’t let us go without an explanation. We dashed through the small village towards northeast, to the woods. Geno caught up to Milo before we reached the tree line, and I stopped with him.
“What the hell are you doing!?” he was a mix of confused, angry and hurt - his bare feet had taken a toll for following us. “Are you running away?” he was really worried. Sonese arrived soon after, her loose hair going everywhere as she ran. “What is going on?” she seemed worried.
“We don’t have time to explain.” I said and tried to pull Milo’s hand, but Geno was holding him by his arm. “Let go!” I slapped Geno’s hand and we began to run again. We dove into the first trees and Geno followed yelling for us to stop while Sonese lagged behind still asking what was happening. We dodged trees and branches, barely jumping over roots that sprouted from the ground, and soon stopped to hear. Geno’s voice was gone. And worry haunted us, because we were in the wrong area of the woods. And not only were we lost, but we; I had dragged the with me.
