<strong>Eshalu - a long overdue bath</strong><br/><br/>Eshalu watched Reliyian depart, her keen eye watching over her companion until she disappeared from sight in the dense forest. She knew the sorceress was capable of defending herself, for the mountain elf was a mistress of sorcery and had proved an invaluable ally. But she also felt vulnerable in her wounded state - it was a strange sensation, mingled with her pride at bringing the spider down and successfully protecting Aeryn and Reliyian. She dipped herself lower in the water, gingerly extending her legs into the current. Another biting twist of pain gnawed up her calf. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore the pain. Taking her obsidian dagger in hand, she slipped into the full centre of the current and dived underwater, peering into crystalline stones of the stream bed polished like gems by the force of the water's flow.<br/><br/>When she re-emerged, she felt refreshed - the unnatural, musty stench of the spider slowly fading from her skin. Her bandage was wet. She'd change in time, but the tincture had darned the torn skin and flesh together, leaving a tight green residue like resin to seal the wound closed. Her arm would be stiff for a while, but she was grateful that there was no sign of putrefaction. The last thing she wanted to do in her condition was to have to bleed the wound and cauterise it with fire. Raising herself, a little unsteadily, on her haunches, she relieved the mounting pressure in her bladder, mindful that the current would swiftly disperse the scent. Then she plunged back in the icy waters, surfacing only after a long, soundless moment deep in the primordial embrace of rushing water.<br/><br/>Still clutching her dagger - for it wasn't proper for a ranger to be unarmed in the wild - she waded to the riverbank to fetch the dark grey, smoky-scented ball of fat-ash she carried with her medicinal herbs. Settling by the riverbank, she washed with a brisk thoroughness Aeryn had once said to be 'feline', though Eshalu had disagreed. The People did not lick themselves clean.<br/><br/>Then she turned to scrubbing her jerkin, boots and breeches, leaving each item to dry in the afternoon sun on a rocky ledge further up the bank. Her weapons she washed in the current with a hemp cloth and, when she was satisfied that the last traces of spider were gone from her blades, she lay them beside her, with her ancestral spear lying close to her like a childhood friend.<br/><br/>Eshalu lay wordlessly on a damp, flat rock, focusing her breathing, contemplating the myriad shapes formed by the distant clouds. The water felt cold on her skin, but it soothed her aching muscles. She had the pommel of her shortsword clutched tight in her left hand. That evoked a memory. The fatal, adrenaline-fuelled strike on the spider's abdomen, drawing forth gouts of its vital fluid.<em>I am a huntress now - a true huntress.</em>She imagined telling her Lodge-Sisters that story; even the blustering Shulaan, who had mastered the Way of the Blade, would be impressed.<br/><br/><em>Yes, a huntress -</em>, Eshalu was conscious of the lingering, icy kiss of the current on her breasts, her fat nipples stiff and taut in the cool air.<em>A huntress...</em>she dipped her free hand between her thighs - for a delicious instant, there was no pain. She gripped the pommel of her shortsword harder - reveling in the memory. She traced the inner lips of her sex - not exploratory or teasing - but firm and purposeful. She knew what she wanted. She felt her heat, her slickness. Her own scent. Her musk.<em>The scent of a huntress,</em>her calloused forefinger found the stiff, angry bud of her clit. She sighed,<em>not so quick</em>. A little indulgence after a successful hunt wouldn't hurt.<em>Indulgent thoughts -</em>her mind turned to Aeryn -<em>what if she's watching?</em>now that was a delicious idea, and then to Reliyian -<em>lucky are the drops of water that dry off her body</em>.<br/><br/>She circled the pebble-hard, sensitive tip of her bud with her fingers, a languid, unhurried motion. She couldn't help but smile. The teasing, self-satisfied grin that got her a sharp reprimand from a senior ranger when she won a race or bested a fellow novice in a sparring match.<em>I am Eshalu and the wilds of this island will remember that I came like the shadow of the Moon Huntress</em>.