Once the Tarn and the two of them were on the ground, Zoe gently patted Midnight's head as a gesture of gratitude and affection. The Tarn, in return, nudged Zoe with its beak once again. The two had become fond of each other in the short period of time. With a small smile, the young pulled away from the hawk-like creature and walked up to the campsite where they would be staying. Slowly, she took a seat in front of him watched Daniel work in silence with an air of resignation. She figured she might as well be upfront about her scars and her past before things took a turn for the worse. The last thing she needed was for Daniel to return her to that awful marketplace, claiming that she had been touched by another man or deeming her a fraud because of her scars. It wasn't an easy story to tell, but Zoe had learned to get better at recounting the events of her childhood over the years. After so many interviews, depositions and testimonies, telling her story was no longer as traumatic as it was in the beginning.<br/><br/>While Zoe watched Daniel work, asking menial questions about the preparation to make sure she had all her bases covered. When Daniel spoke of those other women, the young woman before him looked into his eyes filled with concern. "I can't be like those women. I envy how free they are... how unashamed they behave in front of men. But you have to understand that it's more difficult for me to act in such a way. Where I grew up, any talk about sexuality was considered taboo and grounds for punishment. If I even looked a guy in the eye, I'd be punished with the belt or made to kneel on rice for many hours while my mother called me a harlot. When I had my period, my foster parents to give me an exorcism to make sure my soul would be cleansed of demons and improper thoughts," explained Zoe. She wasn't trying to be difficult to mess with him, but her past was complicated. The disjointed relationship with her sexuality wasn't because of shame, but because of the baggage she still carried with her. Things like that were hard to escape, no matter how hard she tried.<br/><br/>"After many years of therapy and psychiatric help, I'm now well aware that sexuality is part of human nature and that I shouldn't feel ashamed for having desires. But even with what I know now, it's hard to forget the things you were told over and over while you were being severely beaten up. You try to forget, but those things just stick with you." Zoe focused her gaze on a spot in the ground as she spoke, unable to make eye contact with the man before her. She took a deep breath and slowly stood up from the ground, closing her eyes. With fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, Zoe slowly removed the rags that she had been given, fully exposing herself to Daniel. Even though her first instinct would have been to cover herself up with her hands, her hands remained at her sides balled into fists as she steadied her breathing. With a soft sigh, oe opened her eyes and made her way up to Daniel, kneeling down next to him with her back facing him.<br/><br/>"I've seen some of the women do this around the market with the man they accompany." Zoe said softly, glancing back at him for a moment. Her back was a collection of tiny circular marks that looked like burn marks and larger ones that had been made by the belt Zoe had mentioned earlier. "I'm not ashamed of my scars, you know. They are a testament of what I survived at the hands of those monsters. I don't want them taken away... though it is not my decision anymore, but yours."<br/><br/>Zoe was a beautiful young woman, even if she didn't realize it. She had a set of medium-sized natural perky breasts that any woman or man would love to have back on Earth. Just like her tits, her ass was perfectly round. The faint lines across her abdomen and muscle definition on her arms and legs were signs on a woman who enjoyed working on her physique, though not overly so that it tarnished her beauty. "And being naked doesn't bother me. It's just hard for me when I've received so many mixed messages. If you don't like the way I look, I wouldn't be offended if you took me back to the market. They should have told you about the scars... I told them to tell you about them!"