“We’ve probably haven’t seen even the beginning yet…” Scarlet mumbled as they started walking among the giant cave, filled with mushrooms. May of those were incredibly rare in the general tunnels and people would pay huge amount of money for them. That’s why the ruling cities kept that mushroom cave under lock so only they had access to it.

“On another note, we at least may be able to stock up on some useful mushrooms like this one!” She smirked and pulled a mushroom from the ground.” If we grind this one into dust, mix it with some water we cam make dough!”

“Yes… and no… I still owe ya a lot!” Scarlet said and moved deeper among the mushrooms, throwing glances around until she located what she wanted. It was a huge gray mushroom. It was almost as big as her.” Come, help me cut some pieces of this one. That’s a firwod shroom. It’s stump burns for a long time! If we cut some pieces now, we will have for campfire for a few stops!” Scarlet started to immediately cut small chunks from the mushroom stump and put them in her bag.” Out in the wilderness mushrooms and molds are very useful! There are just so many kinds of them and may have incredibly useful qualities~ my teacher had me survive for a month alone... in the caves... just by living of the things found in a very small mushroom cave.”

Annora was fairly quiet, letting the witch talk and just smiling as she followed and started to cut pieces of the mushroom. It was surprisingly rough and hard, nothing like she imagined normal mushrooms being, but that made sense after all - if a mushroom burned enough to sustain a fire, it only made sense it was a bit tough than the others. As she continued to cut the mushroom, she would look up at Scarlet every so often and smile. She wasn't so sure if she really liked her or not, but she was slowly starting to admit small bits of interest. It was easy not to let it go out of control though, since it was unlikely Scarlet was into women herself as it was.

Still, after a moment she just said, "you're pretty amazing, you know." She kept this friendly, genuinely impressed tone to her words. "You know so much about everything.. I feel like I'm a student learning from a wise teacher, hehe.. I'm glad you decided to travel with me. I'd probably be lost, haha!" She grinned at Scarlet and just cutting at the plant until she was told otherwise. She had to admit, the idea of camping and resting would be nice... just sitting around a fire, spending time with a new friend.

Scarlet was cutting chunks from the mushroom, whistling a happy tune in the meanwhile. She did notice that the other woman was throwing her looks every now and then and that made her feel better. She was planning a very interesting… event for tonight. Well figuratively speaking of course. No one knew when it was supposed to be day or night. Now people just went with time for when they needed rest and sleep and when they didn’t.

“ Thank you, I’ve been living in the wilderness a lot. We witches are often forced to live in the caves… away from towns so we learn the ways of the wilderness. As for knowledge, I’ve read a lot. My teacher had an extensive library that also had a lot of books that the known cities ‘ban’ for being inappropriate. Like the importance of magic and so on.”

“I suppose it’s fine to let you in on a little secret, but I hope you will not dislike me afterwards…” Scarlet said with a smile.” I’m 35 years old, so I’m older than you. My magic preserves my body so… I’ve had more time to learn things.” Scarlet said, throwing a quickly look at the red mage and stopped cutting from the mushroom for they had enough for a few campfires. She also gestured to Annora to stop cutting as well.” So do you find me creepy and disgusting now? I’m a 35 years old woman… who looks much younger…” Still frankly no matter what Annora's reply now was, she was going to give the red mage a 'gift' tonight...

"Huh?" She blinked as she stopped cutting the mushroom, staring at Scarlet for a few moments, beginning to examine her all over again. After a few moments, she just gave Scarlet a gentle, warm smile and shrugged once. "No, why would I? Magic can do all sorts of things... and I kind of like the idea of you being older - which I hope isn't rude of me." Her smiled turned into embarrassment for a few moments. "No, it's not disgusting. It's just a different type of magic... though I don't know my feelings on demon pacts... you're really nice to me and you seem like a good person. How you look isn't that important, even if you are beautiful." Annora replied in a causal manner, acting as if it wasn't such a big deal or more accurately, she actually seemed a bit more impressed now.

She stood up and tucked the pieces of mushrooms in their own private pouch as to make sure they didn't mix with anything and just smiled at the witch again. "People would be silly for thinking you creepy just because you look younger. I actually feel kind of privileged to be in the company of someone older - oh!! I was right then! You are the wiser one, ha!" Annora jumped up and down a little, in a very girly manner and grinned, completely pleased that she had unknowingly guessed something so correctly.

“Awe… no, it’s not rude. Age isn’t something I personally take to heart in that way as to think people rude when they say I’m older for it’s the truth.” Scarlet said as she once again led the way through the overstuffed mushroom cave.” Ahh… you are making me blush! People rarely told me I’m beautiful, so are you by the way!” Scarlet giggled as they neared the exit of the cave, which was another narrow dark tunnel.” People usually go with: Begone foul creature! I’m not fooled by your demonic mask!” She smirked.

“Hehe… I suppose you indeed was right on the mark with that.” She smiled and shook the magic bottle again to get it to shine brightly.” Say… do you want to camp here for now actually?” Scarlet asked when they reached the end of the mushroom cave.” We can easily camp here for beasts usually don’t get here in these caves because of the spores, but my potion will protect us.” She said and pointed a nice cozy place between few big mushrooms that was going to protect from the tunnel draft and also there was a bed of many, many small mushrooms that if a cape put over it, would make for a fine bed.

"Really!?" she said in surprise, taken back a little. "Rarely tell you that you're beautiful? How strange... but I guess people are pretty hung up on magic, huh?" She bit her lips softly as she thought of all the rejection she had gone through her life, looking at Scarlet. It was weird, feeling like she was accepted, but having been abandoned her whole life... but the biggest reason she could figure out - magic - wasn't an issue for the witch, not even a little bit. So strange...

"But thank you.. I don't know if I've ever been called beautiful.. well, it's been a long time.. people usually just stare at me like I'm some kind of monster they had to tolerate - just so I could heal them.. eh.." At that Annora just sighed and looked at the spot Scarlet had gestured to and then at all the mushrooms. The thought of being safe from creatures and people made her smile, distracting her from more depressing thoughts, bringing an easy nod of approval from the red mage. "Yeah, would be nice to rest and just to rest in peace, without feeling all that tension from before... I feel comfortable around you~"

She hopped cutely over to the bed of mushrooms and spun around, grinning at Scarlet before undoing her pack and letting it slip to the ground. Untying the main pocket, she pulled out a blanket and a pillow she had silently 'burrowed' from the townsfolk - she was sure they wouldn't miss it after all. "There's only one, but I guess we can share?" she offered in a quiet voice, placing the blanket over the mushrooms and sitting down.

“Yeah… me being ‘a devil’s spawn’ seems to make it that my appearance is just a forgery or something like that. Which is frankly incredibly rude I was born with this face… my ‘demonic overlords’ have nothing to do with it!” She said with joking voice.” Frankly… witch’s magic now utilize no demonic powers since there are no demons around anymore.” Scarlet stated as she quickly took off he own bag and threw her cape next to the small mushroom bed where they were going to sleep tonight.

“My, my… thank you. I’m glad I make you feel comfortable and all.” She said as she crouched and pulled the mushroom stump chunks from her bag and placed a few, surrounded them with stones and she had made a small unlit campfire!” Hehehe… I think we already established people are fools… you are a beautiful woman, who isn’t an evil witch or anything of the sorts. You can even heal, if it were me, I would have been treating you as a royalty.”

Afterwards the witch threw a glance at Annora who now prepared a bed for the night. Scarlet rose an eyebrow as she saw the blanket and the pillow of all things. A smile appeared on her face right away.” My, aren’t you resourceful and thoughtful?” She smiled and brought a finger to her lips, biting it slightly with her canine fangs, causing it to drip blood. She quickly let a few drops fall on the campfire. Moments later her magic activated as the blood drops flared up and set the entire thing on fire. By the time that happened, the small cut on her finger had already closed.” Of course we can share…” She said and made her way to the improvised bed as well.” We’d better enjoy the soft bed we have this time, for the next we might have to camp on the sold stone.” She said with joking smile, pulling a small shroom bread from her bag, breaking it in two and handing a half to Annora.

Annora watched as Scarlet did her thing, though she was a bit surprised she had to use blood, but it sort of made sense after everything she had been told about it. She let the chatter box of a witch go on and on again, smirking amusingly as she just responded to everything Annora had said, one thing after another. She had never had this much conversation before and it made her feel good. Though she did feel a small heat on her cheeks when Scarlet finally said they could share. She gently took the bread and gave the witch a shy smile before staring at the food for a few thoughtful moments.

"Treating me like royalty?..." She bit her lower lip and felt her cheek glow hot at the very thought of even saying the next thing, but it was too late - she had to now. "Like a princess?" she asked in a shy tone, only giving the witch a single glance and giving a cute little pout. At this point, she had made herself so bashful about asking that question, she wasn't entirely sure what to do or say, so instead she just bit into her bread quickly and keep her eyes down in her lap. She hadn't a single clue why she was acting this way - it wasn't like they had been together for more than a few hours. It was strange though... the way Scarlet was beginning to talk to her. It wasn't at all like she had before, it was almost like she was her mother, but... that definitely wasn't it.

After chewing her food for a while and letting silence issue, Annora finally calmed from her blush and looked over to the witch with a bashful smile. "Well... I could always try and make the stone into sand.. or something.." Her tone still made it obvious that she was still extremely shy about she had said before.

“Yes…” Scarlet replied, a playful smile appearing on her lips.” Why, do you prefer to be treated like a princess? Then you are the princess type? Nothing bad with that.” She finally said with a smile, slightly moving closer to Annora.

The shy red mage was completely adorable in the moment and the inner darkness withing Scarlet was screaming at her. She wanted to own this woman… she wanted Annora to be hers alone. The corrosion of darkness upon her mind had indeed grown. She needed to let it out now or risk permanent effects upon her mind, a thing she didn’t want happening.

Still she waited just enough for the other woman to finish chewing her food.” That would be… perfect.” Scarlet said as she reached over and kissed Annora out of nowhere as she was replying to the red mage’s proposition for the future.

“You really are too adorable for your own good… my little princess.” Scarlet said, wrapping an arm around the silverhaired woman. Holding Annora tightly pressed agains herself.

All Annora could do was stare at Scarlet as she felt soft lips on hers. It felt like it lasted forever, but before she could come to materialize a single complete thought, the witch had pulled away. As if be instinct, knowing exactly the type of thing that Annora enjoyed, she felt an arm around her stomach pulling her close. Then those words.. like drops of pure honey on her ears.. she couldn't control her body as her entire face turned bright red, biting her lip from the feeling of affection. She slowly looked up, eyes gazing at Scarlet through her white-colored bangs and just staring.

'W-what? Just? I...' She couldn't even think properly, her eyes just searching Scarlet's own for answers. When had this happened? What had happened? Was this lust on the witch's part? But this didn't feel like lust, it felt like true affection. Is this why she had been so confident about Annora's playful request? This was so confusing for Annora and the expression was painted across her face. Still, she couldn't deny that something in the way Scarlet handled the situation - it was like a dream come true. "I-... h-how... I-I mean.. bu-... we've only know each other for a few hours! You can't like me that much, can you?" Even in her confusion and her determination to understand, her tone was still kept quiet and meek, almost like she was afraid to ask - but she had to know.

As Scarlet had pulled away for a moment, she observed amused how Annora was looking at her through her silver hair. The red mage had a look of complete innocent confusion written all over her face, as she was trying to figure out what had transpired. The witch smiled devilishly at Annora.

“Hush…” Scarlet commanded with voice of authority, looking in the eyes of the Red mage.” Who said you can ask question right now?” She whispered in the mage’s ear.” Seems like I will have to punish you for that~” She continued her whispers as she ran a finger down the mage’s neck.” What kind of princess demands answers from her queen?” She smirked and bit gently the mage’s ear.

“I suppose there is no harm in telling you anyways~” The witch whispered again.” So what’s if it’s been only a few hours… I told you that you are too adorable for your own good Annora.” Scarlet stated in her domineering voice.” I found you attractive from the moment we saw each other… If the rest of the fools didn't see your beauty, well better for me for now you are mine~ So no more stupid questions or I will have to punish you more…”

The silverhaired mage could only widen her eyes in absolute surprise as she was scolded and felt her body shiver at the touch of her neck and even more so at her ear being bitten. She had only ever imagined something like this before and had never truly experienced it - not like this. This was something entirely different than anything she would've ever imagined happening. Only moments ago Scarlet was causally speaking of camping and breaking bread with her and now she was in the witch's arms, being ordered and commanded to hush. It was both shockingly amazing and stunning at the same time, leaving her just staring at Scarlet for moment's on end.

Honestly, Annora had ideas of what this was, but weren't their rules and limits and things to be discussed? And it was so hard to concentrate, seeing the witch giving her that look - like she was some sort of Mistress residing over her slave. Why did this feel so natural for Annora? How had Scarlet even catch on to it? She must've been experienced... but Annora didn't want just a fling... no, if Scarlet kept this up...

"U-um.. y-yes ma'am.." is what she finally blurted out in a meek though surprisingly happy voice. She could still feel her whole face being hot from her blush - it hadn't even gone away yet. "I-is it... a stupid question to ask... what the rules are?... o-or.. if this is.. um..." At this, she started to look away, fear settling in as she realized she might not get the answer she wanted. After all, Scarlet said the reason was attraction and beauty. "... I'm.. not good... with short-term relationships..." she admitted softly, worried pelted into her tone as she avoided the witch's gaze.

“Good girl…”Scarlet stared down the smaller woman that was now like a puppet in her arms as she continued to ask questions. It actually put a smile on her face that Annora was obedient enough and as she had guessed seemed to be enjoying this a lot. Still the darker side of the witch that was still in control wasn’t going to let her little princess act as she wanted.

“What did I say about the stupid questions?” She asked, her eyes narrowing sternly at the red mage. At first almost as if she was angry, but the she smiled and nodded.” But that, my little princess, is not a stupid question.” The witch replied whispering still in the other’s ear.” The rules are simple, you obey and in return you shall be well rewarded and cared for~” Scarlet whispered giving Annora’s ear and after that giving the other a gentle bite.” If you don’t behave, I will simply have to punish you for it~ Until you start behaving. Two very simple rules, don’t you think?” She asked and looked in the red mage’s eyes. If Annora was able to think straight for a moment under the circumstances, by the look in the witch’s eyes she may be able to realize that Scarlet isn’t completely normal right now though.

“Who said this is a short term relationship?” Scarlet asked with a smile, using her arms to press their bodies together closely again.” I told you, didn’t I? I will be with you as long as you want me to. I will not leave you or cause you harm, I will take care of you as long as you are my little princess~” She stated, whistling softly in the mage’s ear.” I can even turn you into my familiar if you so desire at some point~ It comes with the nice little bonus of a collar that links us together. Granting you benefits as long as you behave~”

The submissive woman cringed slightly as she saw Scarlet staring her down, but instantly relaxed as the stern look turned into a smile. Another shiver ran down Annora's spine as the witch whispered in her ear and even though her blush was dying down slowly, it had never completely gone away - of course the nibble on her ear, again, did not help any. However concentrating on Scarlet's words, she did love the way she was being spoken to, even though she wasn't sure exactly why just yet. There was still some worry about the situation and even more so when she caught a glimpse of 'something' in Scarlet's eyes.

Of course, like a good servant, she kept quiet until the witch was done speaking. At first her response was just to smile up at the witch. Even though Annora wasn't sure she completely believed that Scarlet would never leave, hearing those words still made her feel safer than she was before. Still, "yes.. those are simple rules.. but.... what if I don't like something?" It was a little nerve-wrecking to ask such a bold question, given the situation, like asking a queen if she didn't like her orders - but Annora felt that was important. She didn't want to be caught in something that wasn't healthy, where she felt scared or unsafe.

"And, um..." She pondered for a moment and bit her lower lip shyly. "Mistress?... um... what's a familiar.. mean?" She was curious, though she suspected she would not want that just yet. After all, even if she was okay being linked, they had only developed fancies for each other and nothing more, as far as she knew. Annora also made note to watch Scarlet's eyes - she wanted to make sure the witch was okay. Even if this was how it'd be all the time, it didn't mean a princess couldn't take care of her queen, after all.

“Hooooo?” Scarlet made a mildly surprised sound as Annora asked yet another question. A devilish smile appeared on the witch’s face as she looked the red mage in the eyes.” Still asking questions? What a bad little princess you are.” The witch stated and ran a finger across Annora’s chin. Finally holding it in place between her thumb and index finger, making sure the smaller woman will be not able to look away this time as she once again glared down her.

“I told you, didn’t I? I will take care of you as my own little princess…” The witch stated again and smiled.” Still if you really think you don’t want to do something, you are free to voice your opinion of course.” Scarlet finally added and released the other’s chin and kissed the red mage on the forehead. Almost as if she was a child."What kind of queen will I be, if I cause my cute little princess harm?"

“Where to start on that…” Scarlet muttered, making a very hard thinking expression, but still not letting go of the red mage as she kept them tightly pressed together.” A familiar is a… helper to a witch. Magically linked with a witch via an equality pact. In exchange for the servitude, the familiar will gain some kind of magical gift.” Scarlet explained with a smile.” For example a cat might start to talk or a bat to transform into something else and so on.”

“Many witches prefer the pact of a servant, but I personally don’t. That one limit’s the familiar’s will and I don’t want that from my familiar… Well those are the very basics if you ever decide to think about it more seriously, ask me again later~” She stated and quickly kissed Annora again.

All Annora did was bit her lip softly as she was glared at, but the words Scarlet said set her more at ease, causing her to smile gently as she thought over her words. As her forehead was kissed, she leaned into it a little and cooed softly, whining softly in approval as she snuggled up closely to the witch. She had not been spoken to or been treated like this for a long time, but there was a time in days past where she had similar experiences in her life, so she had some inkling of how this worked - but Scarlet... the way she treated her was far beyond anything she imagined. While it was hard for her to trust, Scarlet was very good at reassuring her that everything would be fine. She needed that.

As Scarlet explained how familiars worked, Annora smiled softly to herself and felt herself getting all blushy again. There was something about it that sounded so wonderful to her and she was glad to know that her new Mistress did like her pets having free will - another thing that made her more relaxed about what was happening. She especially enjoyed the thought of having a collar and briefly imagined herself in one before feeling Scarlet's lips on her again. This time, Annora was quick to react and returned the kiss eagerly before bashfully pulling away with a cute little smile on her face. "I'm... not good at trusting... a lot of people have left me, but..." She quietly nuzzled her cheek against the witch. "I will try.. for you.. it's been a very long time since someone has treated me... like this.. thank you." She cooed once more and let out a sigh. "Maybe.. later.. the familiar thing does sound nice...." Her voice trailed off as she began to fall asleep, her head laid against Scarlet's shoulder. Annora hadn't realized how tired she was nor how safe she really felt in the witch's arms.

Scarlet smiled widely as she observed the way the red mage acted. It was nice… to have someone with you, who wasn’t afraid of you even when Scarlet acted like that. As she was a witch even when she found someone to be with, they would usually run away when she started to act like this. Some even immediately betrayed her and threw her to the witch hunters. So having someone who would go along with her like this was certainly a new thing…

“Don’t worry, in that we are together. I too have been thrown away by many, but that just mean I can now truly appreciate you~” Scarlet whispered with a smile as the red mage suddenly started trailing off and fell asleep on her shoulder.”…!” Scarlet stood there surprised for a few moments, trying to think what happened, before realizing the red mage was simply sound asleep. When she got that, she smiled gently and ran her hand across the red mage’s hair gently caressing it. Before carefully, laying Annora on the mushroom bed, making sure the girl’s head was on the pillow. The darkness in her mind began to disperse as she observed the sleeping girl.

Scarlet’s cheeks flushed now as she regained control of herself. It didn’t go bad as it usually did. Still… she was going to have to talk with Annora about it later, when the mage woke up. To explain what exactly had transpired, but for now they had to rest. She quickly threw a few more chunks of the firwod mushroom into the campfire. That name was probably a thing that started with firewood mushroom. As the chunks were set ablaze and the warmth spread around, the witch bit her lip, causing it to bleed. With a few whispers the bleeding stopped and the blood that was already bled, vanished into smoke as a type of barrier formed around the two women. Even in the safety of this cave, it was better to be prepared. Scarlet felt her heart speed up as a pain spread through her body. Used to it already, she simply laid next to Annora, embracing the girl and covering both of them with the blanket, falling sleep soon after that.

Annora slowly opened her eyes up hours later, yawning slowly as she reached up to wipe her eyes. As she felt resistance, she looked down and saw a blanket over her and the shape of an arm around her stomach. Suddenly the night before came back into her mind, causing her to grin and bite her lip softly. She slowly turned so she could see Scarlet's sleeping face and felt herself blush softly. She couldn't believe that it had happened last night, but here she was, wrapped in the witch's arms. All she could figure to do was snuggle back up against the woman and cooed softly to herself. She loved the feeling of being held so much.

Still, thoughts slowly crept into her mind as she watched Scarlet's chest rise and fall quietly. She was admittedly scared. What if last night was just a fluke or something that would only happen once? What if Scarlet would wake and be a different person, not be the controlling, confident version that Annora felt so safe with? Or even worse... what if the witch thought it was all a mistake and pushed her away? Annora wished over and over in her mind that it wouldn't happen, but all she could do is lay there and wait - she didn't want to wake up her new potential Mistress... and she loved the idea of being her princess so much.

Scarlet slept incredibly sound for first time in years. Having someone next to her, feeling both secure and not lonely. Also the fact that between the two of them, the fire, and the blanket, it was warm even in the tunnels where while the big mushrooms provided protection from the draft, it still was quite a lot colder than in the town cavers for here in the underground cold was still something constantly present.

Eventually Scarlet got disturbed form her sleep when she felt movement from the woman in her arms. At first she didn’t really wake up, just cuddled up and moved a little until she was in more comfortable position, still hugging Annora. Eventually she did wake up though, as she opened slowly her eyes and saw the red mage’s cute face. “ Good morning, my little princess~” Scarlet said with gentle voice and kissed the mage’s forehead.

“I see you waited patiently in my arms and not wake me up. Good girl~” She said with a smile and caressed the silver hair.” Did you sleep as well as I did?”

Annora perked up when she heard Scarlet's voice, blushing noticeably and leaning her head into the gentle kiss. "Nothing changed!" she said in a perky, sing-song voice before wrapping her arm around the witch's stomach. She tried her best to cuddle as close as she could and nuzzled Scarlet's chest affectionately. "Yes Mistress," she replied more shyly, "I slept really well... how did you sleep?" Nuzzling her face against Scarlet's shoulder, she let out a soft cute cooing sound and grinned at her.

It seemed like Annora was really happy and seemed far more comfortable and relaxed than the night before. It was also obvious that she was still perfectly enjoying the dynamic of Dominant and submissive.. she had been so scared until she heard the word princess, then she knew it wasn't all a dream and that everything was real.. and that Scarlet still wanted her just the same. It made her feel fuzzy in her stomach and really giddy otherwise.