The wind howled like an out-of-tune flute as it blew across the forest, making the canopy swivel as if the plants themselves were waving their hands at the rhythm of the song. Min ducked underneath one such swinging branch, carefully stepping on the upturned root in front of her and using it as a platform to jump to another root, avoiding the pile of muddles in between.
"Hey Peonie, you still keeping up ok?"
"I´m coming, ack!" Peonie wasn´t so keen on the rhythm of the forest. She didn´t see the swinging branch until it hit her face. With her vision blinded by pure green, she didn´t notice the branch near her feet and tripped into the pile of mud on the ground.
"I see someone isn´t used to taking the ocasional nature walk out." Min crouched down, offering her hand to help her companion stand back up.
"Urgh, how are you so comfortable crossing the deep woods?"
"Well, not to tout my own horn, but I took wildlife survival lessons from a bonafide knight! ...Indirect lessons, sure, but they still count. Also, my grandpa used to take me camping every once in a while."
Peonie cleaned the mud out of her face, grimacing when she saw her once red-onesie caked in the mud. "Can we please go back to the road?"
"No. The elves are probably watching the road. We have to travel the countryside, avoid crowds, be as inconspicuous as possible, you know?"
"Hmm," Peonie let her gaze wander across her companion's body, stopping briefly at the little pink nubs crowning her naked chest. Min´s only garment was a short cape that didn´t even reach down half her back. Well, that and a jester hat she carried on her hand instead of her head, but it hardly counted if she wasn´t wearing it. "Hard to be inconspicuous in your birthday suit…"
"B-besides, taking the scenic route is not so bad. You get to smell the fresh country air, see wild animals, have a campfire under the stars… some people pay for this kind of experience, you know?"
"Well, I´m happy that my life-or-death predicament has at least presented you with a nice vacation opportunity."
"It´s not like that! This is simply the most optimal escape route. Business, not pleasure."
"Then why are you smiling like a clown? Admit it, you are enjoying this!"
Min scratched her face coyly. It seemed her façade wasn´t going to hold up any longer. She let her lips smile as wide as her face. "M-maybe? …Come on, you have to admit that this is kind of exciting! On the run from elven knights on a journey to a magical kingdom? Talk about an epic quest! Way better than killing rats or fetching herbs. This what being an adventurer is all about!"
Peonie looked right, left, and behind her to make sure no one was listening in. "I know, right?!" she grabbed Min´s hands and shook them gleefully. "Just like in the ballads. Nothing this exciting happens in Court!"
"Yes, you get it!"
"I guess when you put it like that, the mud and the bugs are just part of the ambiance right? … but how come they aren´t trying to sting you?"
"That´s right. No tale of heroism it born inside a boring hut or in the middle of a market, but out here in the woods! We might find a lost treasure or a mythical beast to help us grow our legend!"
"Well, I guess our legend will have to wait a little bit. I think I see the town of Valecirse in the distance." Peonie pointed at the swinging blade from a windmill appearing and disappearing in quick succession behind the moving canopy. "We are almost back to civilization!"
"Ah, y-yes, the… town we were walking towards. What do you say we skip it and go around the long way? See if we can find any forgotten dungeons hidden in the forest?"
"Well, the town is at the entrance of a canyon that cuts across a mountain range, so there´s no other way. We´ll have to cross it no matter what."
"Aha! So that means that it´s a chokepoint! The elves are surely waiting to ambush us there. We have to find a more secret path to reach the Kingdom."
"This is the secret path! Most everyone would follow the Twin River to go to the Faeneo Forests! Besides, I think I have a friend staying there and I want to see her. Why do you want to avoid the town so badly? Where did your enthusiasm go?"
"I-I don´t know what you mean…" Min replied, clasping her hands over her naked groin and twiddling with her fingers.
"Oh right… I became so used to seeing your ass that I sometimes forget that you are naked. I get it, I´m embarrassed enough being seen in this jester onesie, but having to walk across a town´s main road naked? Yikes. "
"N-no, I´m not embarrassed about-"
"Shh. No need to act tough on my behalf," Peonie walked around Min, staring at the naked woman up and down. "Maybe we can work something out. We can try to make, well, not an outfit to be proud of, but something to at least give you the barest minimum decency."
Min sighed. "N-no, that´s just a waste of time, the curse will-"
"Wasn´t that what your system was all about? Beating the curse? If it looks like a mean wind is going to strip you, all you have to do is find a bully and lower her pants first."
"B-but-"
"And even if by some unlucky happenstance you get stripped as soon as you set on foot in town, at least this will be a fun activity, right? Think of it like a game. Something you would do around a campfire with your grandpa."
"I g-guess you are right, although I sure hope gramps isn´t watching me right now…"
"Great, now, to start with the only thing we have to work with, this cape…" Peonie grabbed the tip of the cape and lifted it. "I think you can use it better. Have you ever considered wearing it the other way around, so that it falls on over your chest like a cravat?"
"More like a giant bib. Wearing the cape that way looks completely ridiculous and I already look ridiculous enough going naked. Besides, a cape ought to flow free and heroically! When it works, it makes me look cool! Even if it just a tiny bit!"
The wind blew across the forest, making Min´s tiny cape flutter behind her back. The naked adventurer put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.
"See?!"
"Hmm, what I´m seeing is that if we put this over your chest, then the slightest breeze will also make your cape flutter out of the way and flash your breasts to anyone around…" Peonie rubbed her chin. "But that might be better than going naked all the time."
"N-no, it´s worse actually! I mean, yeah, it´s not like going full naked is great or anything. You are super self-conscious all the time, but at least you feel a constant level of embarrassment, you know?"
"Sadly, I do know what you are talking about."
"Right? The problem with a temporary cover like that is that you are always nervous about when it will fail, like every step you take is in the middle of a minefield. And of course, when it does inevitably happen, it´s like a pure shot of shame injected directly into your veins. Ugh, I would rather go naked."
"OK, if you can´t use the cape to cover your chest, how about your groin? Make a makeshift loincloth out of it?"
Min reached up for her neck and untied the cape´s strings. She lowered the garment and attempted to tie it along her waist. "No use, it doesn´t reach all the way around."
"Can I try?"
"Sure."
Peonie ignored the neck-strings, instead grabbing both ends of the cape and rolling it over to make it into a long string of cloth. She attempted to wrap around Min´s waist, squishing both tips around her slim buttocks.
"Ow! At least be gentle about it!"
"Sorry, but you are right. If I stretch it to its limit, it might be just long enough to tie itself together, but the cape would be stretched so thin it will only cover the absolute barest minimum."
"Like the flimsiest censor bar on TV…"
"The what? Anyway, luckily, we have something to extend the reach just a little bit!"
"You are going to give me some of your clothes?!"
"I´m wearing a onesie, I literally can´t give you anything. But, you do have the missing piece of the jester´s outfit! Please hold the hat right over your crotch."
"O-ok? Like this?"
"Perfect, now stay still," Peonie grabbed the left-most "horn" of the jester hat and carefully tied it to the rolled-over cape. When she was reasonably satisfied with her knot, she moved to the right-most horn. With some finagling, the cape belt kept the hat suspended right in front of Min´s groin. "What do you think?"
"I feel like you turned my unmentionables into the world´s lewdest jack in the box."
"So, in other words, it feels fun?"
"And my ass is still showing!"
Sticking her tongue out of her mouth, Peonie looked around, thinking. "How about… this!?" She leaped upwards, yanking a leaf the size of her forearm down from a tree. She carefully shoved it inside the back of the improvised cape belt Min was wearing. "Ta-da! You can´t see the crack now! …err, from most angles anyway."
"Well, this is the most avant-garde loincloth I´ve ever seen. I guess it´s better than nothing, and it leaves me with both hands to cover my breasts…" Min forced herself to smile, covering her chest with her trusty-hand bra.
"Hmm… You know? There are a lot of leaves and flowers around these parts. Maybe we can gather them and try to stick them together? I bet we could bend the stems to tie the flowers together and make some sort of flower crown, or er, corset, for your chest."
"I mean, I tried something like that before but the stems are too flimsy and weak to work like you want them to. In my experience, all I got for my troubles were green thumbs and a lost afternoon."
"Well, you never had my help before! Making flower crowns was my favorite pastime each spring, so I think I have a better chance to make this work. And if we fail, well, then at least we would have found a fun way to pass the afternoon and we´ll go into the town at night. You won´t have to wander the streets topless in the middle of daylight."
Peonie smiled warmly, and Min could not help but smile back. "Y-yeah! Let´s give it a shot!"