chronicles of eden - act I (43 page)

"I guess it is," he agreed, looking down at his sandwich with a calm smile. Alyssa and Squeak looked at him with hopeful eyes then glanced over to Triska, the teen glancing to them as well. They were all in the quest together to help Daniel with his cause, each one of them wanting to not only keep him safe and sound during his travels, but also hopefully have him pick one of them as his mate in life.

The group finished eating their meals in peace, with Daniel thinking about something that was at the forefront of his mind while the three girls were looking down in thought about how to appeal to him better. They knew fighting wouldn't work well, and using underhanded or forceful methods wouldn't give them his heart. All they could do was to wait until he picked one of them as his mate on his own free will.

However, there was still something they could do to try to win him over.

"Um, say, Daniel?" Triska asked softly. He looked to her as she glanced away with a curious smile.

"Before we get to the city, could we make a slight detour?" she asked. The group looked at her curiously as she smiled at Daniel.

"Detour? Where to?" he asked. Triska pulled out a map from her duffel bag and showed it to him.

"Well, it's just there's a small lake nearby. I thought we could get washed up before going into the city. After all we've been through I don't want to walk into the place smelling like mud," she said with a laugh. Daniel looked at the map curiously while Alyssa and Squeak glanced to each other.

"Hmm, well it is close to us. I guess we'll have time for that," Daniel agreed. Triska nodded as she rolled up the map and glanced to the other girls.

"Besides, I'm sure Squeak would like to clean her clothing too, since they're dirty and… damp," she said with a slight snicker. Squeak blinked then slowly glanced down to herself, blushing before looking away embarrassed as she realized she was wearing her dirtied clothing that she had peed in twice now. Alyssa looked to her own outfit and shrugged, brushing some of the dirt that was still on her skirt.

"I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up either, that sounds like a good idea to me," she said with a nod.

"Alright then, let's get going," Daniel said as he stood up. The group packed the blanket back onto Lucky along with Daniel's bag then set off down a side road together. Daniel was walking ahead as he gazed up at the blue sky with a calm smile, feeling better about his journey now as he had two types of monsters joining his efforts. Alyssa was riding on Lucky looking around at the landscape casually while Squeak was walking next to her, watching Daniel with a soft smile as her antennae twitched a bit. Triska however was walking next to them with a hopeful smile on her face.

'Time to show Daniel what I have that these other girls don't.'

*****

Daniel was looking ahead at the blue lake that they had come across, the small body of water surrounded by rolling hills and tall grass. A few birds flew by overhead as he walked up to the edge of the lake with a calm smile. There was a river leading into the body of water on the opposite side of the lake through a wooded area, the water being crystal clear revealing a few fish swimming about.

"Nice place, we should have had our lunch here," Daniel pondered with a slight laugh. Alyssa walked up next to him and looked around as Lucky strolled over and started to drink from the lake.

"Nobody else is anywhere around here, it's nice to have it all to ourselves," she commented with a smile. Squeak walked past them towards the lake and looked at the water. She struck her pickaxe down onto the dirt with a whack then started to pull down her underwear. Daniel and Alyssa looked over to her and jumped in surprise before Alyssa screamed and ran over to her, grabbing her hands and stopping her before they dropped past her thighs.

"What are you doing?" she cried out. Squeak looked at her curiously then to the water, squeaking softly before looking back to the witch. Alyssa pulled the girl's underwear back up and looked back to Daniel.

"You can't strip right in front of Daniel," she scolded sternly as he was watching nervously. Squeak looked over to him then blushed as he was staring at them. He jumped slightly then quickly turned around.

"Sorry! I'm not looking, sorry," he said quickly, before going wide eyed as Alyssa and Squeak stared at something as well. Walking up to them was Triska, the girl dropping her duffel bag to the ground casually as she gazed around at the lake. However she wasn't wearing her usual attire, having now changed into a light blue bikini. Her worn and dirty clothing was clumped together along with her boots under her arm, while her dagger and sheathed sword were strapped to her duffel bag. She smiled contently then looked to the others as she flicked her hair behind over her shoulder.

"Isn't this nice, being able to go for a swim like this?" she asked walking up to Daniel. He stammered something while Alyssa's eye twitched slightly with discontent.

"Triska? What… I thought you were…" Daniel stuttered as he saw the girl's figure in her swimsuit, something that had never really been as prominent to him before as it was now. He couldn’t even remember ever seeing her in a swimsuit before, this being the first time he saw her so exposed. She nodded as he continued to stammer incomprehensibly.

"Washing my clothes? Of course, but I thought since we're here we could go for a dip as well, you know, to relax," she suggested with a small shrug. He glanced from her clothes, then to her bikini, then to her as she smiled innocently at him

"Um… I didn't really… think about that," he said with a weak smile. She giggled and walked closer to him.

"C'mon, it'll feel great to go for a swim," she said leaning closer to him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alyssa yelled out. The humans looked over to see Alyssa growling at Triska while Squeak had her eyes narrowed at the bikini clad human.

"What? I'm just going to wash my clothes and cool off at the same time, nothing wrong with that," Triska reasoned innocently.

"You're half naked in front of Daniel!" Alyssa shouted out. Daniel gulped and glanced again to Triska's body, the girl catching the eye movement and smiling smugly.

"I'm just going for a swim, if he chooses to look at or join me that's up to him," she said before walking past him and over to the water, swaying her hips a bit with a calm stride. Alyssa growled at seeing the human exposing her figure while Squeak glanced to Daniel worriedly, the boy staring at Triska with wonder and a small blush. Triska walked into the water and over towards a few large stones near the shore, the water going up to her knees as she straightened out her lower piece with a glance back to Daniel. She then started washing her clothing with the water, dipping them down and scrubbing out the dirt and blood the best she could, and laying them out on the rocks. As she did Daniel and the other girls saw her leaning over more than needed, bending over and arching back slightly as she showed off her figure while rinsing her clothes in the clear water. She glanced to Daniel and winked, then went back to her washing while humming a gentle tune. Alyssa growled and ran over to her, hopping on the stones to get closer to the bikini clad teen.

"What are you trying to pull here? You're just trying to seduce Daniel!" she yelled out. Triska looked at her with a coy smile.

"I have no idea what you're talking about; we all came here to get cleaned up right? There’s nothing wrong with me doing just that and enjoying the water is there?" she asked innocently.

"Is that why you're wearing a skimpy bikini?" Alyssa growled through bared teeth as she looked at the human's figure. Triska giggled and shrugged with an innocent smile.

"Just my swimwear for this journey, you never know when it might be fun to just play around in the water. What's wrong, didn't pack any yourself?" she asked simply. Alyssa glared at her then glanced to the side as a squeak was heard. Triska looked over to seeing Squeak watching her with annoyance and her hands at her hips. She smirked and glanced to Daniel as he looked over to her, watching with wide eyes and a bright blush as Squeak pulled off and dropped her tunic down to the ground next to her, the girl then bending over and pulling her boots off. She squeaked softly before pulling down her underwear and slipping them off as well.

"Squeak!" Alyssa cried out as she and Triska watched with surprise. The ant girl slowly pulled off her gloves then picked up her clothing as she glanced to Daniel with a soft smile. He stared with wide eyes as everybody saw the ant girl's naked body, the monster glancing down to herself then back to Daniel timidly. Alyssa stared with shock and shakily pointed to her as Triska shook her head fearfully, both of them seeing that the ant girl had a perfect statuesque figure under her tunic.

"Oh my… god," Alyssa breathed out in horror.

"Her body…" Triska said in disbelief. Triska may have had a lovely physique of her own, but the ant girl seemed to have a more well-toned body by far. There wasn't any hint of fat or marks anywhere on her skin, the girl's figure seeming to be sculpted perfectly from head to toe. Although it wasn’t as evident when she wore her tunic, especially when she had dirt covering her from being underground, she certainly had a more developed body. Even with her insect abdomen sticking out above her rear Daniel couldn't help but stare with wonder.

“Look at the size of those…” Alyssa breathed out, her hands slowly holding her own chest with disappointment.

“How am I supposed to compete with that?” Triska asked shakily, her eyes slowly going up and down along the ant girl’s figure.

Squeak winked at Daniel then slowly walked into the water, glancing to the other girls with an arrogant smirk before heading over to another patch of rocks near the shore. She started to wash her clothes as well, pulling the same routine that Triska did by bending over and arching back as she leaned closer to the water. Daniel stared with wide eyes as that gave him a perfect view of her private parts in the sunlight while she bathed her clothing in the water. He blinked then slowly glanced between the two attractive girls nervously as this wasn't what he had in mind for a simple break by the water.

"What the hell are you doing?" Triska yelled out at the ant girl. Squeak looked over to her and smiled smugly as she shrugged carelessly, squeaking softly while her antennae twitched slightly. Triska and Alyssa stared at the ant girl with shock then looked over to Daniel, the boy jumping slightly as he realized he was staring before he turned around quickly.

"I… I should leave you girls to this… um… sorry…" he said shakily.

"No, wait, don't go, Daniel!" Alyssa cried out as she hopped over on the stones and ran towards him.

"Squeak! Cover up this instant; you can't swim naked in front of Daniel!" Triska yelled out as she marched over to the ant girl. Squeak stood up and looked at her with an arrogant smile, then glanced down to the girl's bikini and back to her with a raised eyebrow. Triska looked to her outfit then back to the ant girl with anger.

"I'm not naked like you are! There's a difference!" she shouted out. Squeak rolled her eyes then looked at her with a dull glare.

"Daniel, are you alright?" Alyssa asked as she tugged at his arm, the boy holding his other hand over his eyes.

"This isn't how I imagined our detour going," he said tiredly.

"Dammit, Squeak, put your clothes back on right now!" Triska yelled out. Squeak shook her head and pointed to the teen's bikini while squeaking in discontent.

"I'm at least wearing
something
! You're just flaunting yourself in front of him naked!" Triska shouted back. Squeak shrugged and stood proudly with her hands at her hips, smiling arrogantly as Triska growled with rage. The teen yelled out and tackled her down into the water, the two splashing and kicking around as Alyssa looked over to them with annoyance. Daniel sighed and shook his head then looked up with exasperation.

"Hey!" he called out. The splashing stopped and all fell quiet around the area.

"I thought we were done with the fighting," he asked expectantly.

"I'm not doing anything wrong, Daniel; she's stripping down naked in front of you!" Triska cried out.

"You're wearing your bikini in front of him to seduce him, that's the only reason you wanted to come out here in the first place!" Alyssa shouted out.

"There's nothing wrong with me enjoying being in the water, that's not bothering Daniel like Squeak is strutting around and showing her body off to him!" Triska yelled out. The splashing and yelling resumed as Daniel looked down with a hand covering his eyes, hearing the two girls shouting and squeaking loudly at each other.

"Alyssa, could you please separate them for me?" he asked tiredly. The witch smiled and held out her staff towards the girls.

"Sure thing, Daniel, anything for you," she said sweetly as her staff glowed orange. The two fighting girls were lifted up into the air out of the water, looking around with surprise before they were dropped down with a large splash. They scrambled back up and looked over to Alyssa before the witch waved her staff over, the two girls then flying forward out of the water and crashing into the sand on the edge of the lake before tumbling over onto the grass.

"If you two are about done, Daniel would like you to please knock it off," Alyssa said flatly. Triska and Squeak looked at her with anger then to Daniel with worry as he was shaking his head.

"Daniel?" Triska asked softly. Squeak merely squeaked quietly as Alyssa glanced to Daniel.

"Triska, is this the only reason you wanted to come to the lake?" he asked tiredly.

"No, Daniel, I mean I was looking forward to cooling off in the water, plus I thought you'd enjoy it as well," Triska said worriedly.

"You just wanted to show off for him like Squeak did," Alyssa said shaking her head.

"Hey, I didn't strip down naked in front of him," Triska said glaring over to Squeak.

"You wanted her to wash her clothes, right?" Daniel asked. The girls looked to him as he shrugged.

"She only has that set of clothing, what did you expect her to do when she's washing it?" he asked. Triska and Alyssa looked back to Squeak as she smiled weakly.