Exploration

Story by Baron03 on SoFurry

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#2 of Old Earth

Here's the second part to Old Earth. Otho has a rocky start to surviving in the tropical jungle, but with Rik's help it isn't too painful. There is a breastfeeding scene, but it isn't meant to be sexual (at least to one character).

Sorry it took so long, but at least the future part five and six are already done!

Edit: fixed a continuity error thanks to Tsuna!


The morning and afternoon started hot and humid as the day before when he crashed. The night proved to be a mostly sleepless one for Otho. Every time the fire cracked or popped, images of the robot shooting came to mind. Instead of the typically pre made breakfast that Otho was accustomed to, Rik searched around the forest for something to eat only to come up empty handed. The noise from yesterday probably had everything weary of coming out of hiding, but the pilot wasn't used to being hungry for more than a couple of minutes at most throughout his life. He often found himself looking for pieces of watermelon only to remember that they had thrown the last husks away earlier.

"Uhh. Man I'm hungry." He held his stomach as a loud grumble sounded out. "Are you sure that there is nothing around to catch?" The vixen's ears dialed in searching for something at the noise of insects as she sat upright for a minute. He exhaled a disappointed sigh as she shook her head slouching back down. His crash landing and that large robot really scared the wildlife into hiding for the day. "My stomach is trying to eat itself." He whined with a dizzy head.

'I've been hungry for days before and haven't complained.' Rik thought looking away into the quiet surrounding forest trying to calmly daydream to pass the time. Otho meanwhile just tried to ignore the heat and hunger the best he could before looking back at her. The vixen's ears flickered before splaying out deep in thought as she rested her cheek on her hand. The other hand scratched lazily through the fur on her chest.

"If there's a chocolate bar hidden in your fur, please split it with me." He mumbled with a half grin trying to remember what the treat tasted like. The raccoon would've done just about anything to get some now. She merely continued her thoughtful stare down her chest before an idea suddenly formed.

"Won't these help feed you?" Rik asked catching his attention. With eager eyes, he looked at Rik only to frown seeing the vulpine cupping a breast in each hand. Her tanned pink teats and areola were unabashedly visible from her creamy white fur.

"Uh, no. I don't think either of us want that." He lightly shook his head trying to ignore the hunger pains. Rik's face was scrunched unsure in thought.

"They're here for a reason." She half pouted staring at her chest. "I remember a mother fed her kit with one."

"I already know what they are for." He groaned out feeling his stomach gnaw at him.

"Are you afraid of them?"

"No! It's just.." He paused to frown. It was taking him a while to look at them as a part of her instead of anything sexual, but now he had to see them as a potential source of food? The raccoon's eyes widened seeing her crawl over to him. "Wait, hold on Rik." His arms shook noticeably as he sat up. The vixen had no trouble holding him still and keeping his back pinned to the tree.

"I don't want you sick." She simply stated sitting on his lap, locking her legs around his hips.

"Oh come on Rik, y-you probably can't even... you know. Produce." He sheepishly squeaked out, shivering as her unwavering brown eyes looked down at him.

"Better than trying nothing." She countered quickly with concern.

"What about a plant somewhere nearby?" He pleaded with her.

"Hmm. Fruit there, but dangerous." She pointed to what looked like blue-orange bananas hanging by the pair in a nearby tree.

"I'll take it!" He exclaimed trying to remove her from his lap unsuccessfully.

"It kill you." She warned squeezing his sides with her legs. "Poisonous stuff to eat." Otho silently sobbed at the bad news that left him with the only alternative that Rik offered him. The twinned creamy white mounds stared back only a few inches to either side of his muzzle. He furrowed his brow feeling his stomach cramp and yell out for something rather than nothing. A deep breath was taken as he made a choice.

"Fine." Otho submitted growling. "Just don't make fun of me." He seriously said making her eyes roll.

"Trying to help, not harm." She reminded him patiently waiting for Otho to start.

"Right." The raccoon nodded staring at each fur less nipple that slightly moved with her breathing. He picked the one on his left and leaned closer towards it. Swallowing his pride, he carefully wrapped his lips around the exposed flesh and breast. The red hot feeling of embarrassment was only suspended when a fresh pain from his stomach made itself known. 'Just imagine they're watermelons she buried.' He told himself a dozen times. Thinking of what to do, Otho began suckling with the vixen's fleshy teat in his mouth. A minute passed where Otho started to think this was for Rik's amusement when something wet landed on his tongue. He paused for the briefest of seconds and continued feeling a second droplet please his tongue. Rik felt something too that made her body relax. To the sand vixen it felt as if a flower was blooming within her, and the sensation was delightful. She turned slightly to help him as his mouth went on autopilot, sucking voraciously for more droplets. A tough pinching, however, made the vixen grimace.

"Teeth hurt! Use tongue." She whined squeezing his shoulders before an alleviated look washed over her face. His tongue was a lot smoother caressing the skin than those biting teeth, and the occasional drops increased in volume. The taste resembled a sweet vanilla but it didn't matter to the starved raccoon while he coaxed as much as he could from the generous female. She eased him off when Otho began tugging too hard and directed him to the other one where he continued less haphazardly, and more rhythmic. Rik was happy to feel him go at a softer, gentler pace. It actually made the experience very pleasant for her and she quietly hummed watching him. Otho didn't notice her hands move to his back and his head to keep him still, but he wasn't going to move anyway with the droplets he did obtain. She watched the raccoon with an unseen smile, happy to help. When the drops disappeared altogether he unlatched and breathed softly through his mouth, eyes lazily hanging half open to the vixen on his lap. A thumb wiped his chin for him as he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. "Done?" She asked receiving a subtle nod in return. At least his stomach wasn't trying to eat itself at the moment.

"Teeth bite. Tongue much softer. Nicer." She delicately rubbed her right teat.

"Sorry, I... I didn't know how hungry I was." Otho still couldn't believe what he had just done out of sheer desperation. Although, his muzzle was still only inches from the now two damp spots on Rik's chest.

"I do." She gave a brief grin before and stood up as he looked away with embarrassment. An arm nudged his shoulder. "I hurry and hunt before you hungry again." Rik said helping him to his feet. "Feeling better right?" She inquired as he smoothed over his clothes.

"Yeah. Let's find something before my stomach attacks me again." Otho followed silently behind her after she retrieved her bow and a few arrows.

"No, you stay. Too weak." She pointed by the fire pit. He immediately plopped down onto his back feeling the slight dizziness in his head vanish. "Come back with something, ok?" She peered down over him.

"Okay." He nodded giving a thumbs up to the nude fem. She gave a satisfied grin and trekked away into the forest. Otho closed his eyes hearing the low drumming of insect and other non edible wildlife around the open area. 'What did I just do?' Otho asked himself staring up into the clouded blue sky. 'Am I already this desperate to survive? Only twenty four hours later?' It felt more like a twisted daydream while orbiting around various planets. His stare continued seeing a few clouds lazily roll by. Images of his Toulousian Tailpaw flickered through his mind from what the view down here would've looked like. A hunk of partially burning metal whistling through the sky that had never been seen before by the only inhabitant in the area. A sight like that would scare mostly anything into hiding save for naked foxes and robot soldiers, although Rik was probably the best thing that had happened to him since landing. Otho was more than thankful for her help, but the raccoon frequently wondered exactly where Rik was in this jungle maze. His survival depended solely upon her now. His stomach still growled occasionally, but it simply hurt more than anything else. The sky and canopy above almost appeared to swirl if he focused too long.

So he closed his eyes until the ground felt it was starting to move instead. The sun gradually arced towards the horizon as he bordered in and out of sleep and dizziness. The unknown time marked by the arcing sun that had passed left him nervous without her. Blinking, he heard footsteps above the forest chatter and immediately sat up. Rik was wearing a proud smile ear to ear with a pair of dead birds in her hand, an arrow still stuck in both of them. The vixen approached.

"For you." She gave him a dozen small unidentified berries.

"Thanks." He immediately accepted the few pieces and scoffed them down. From the taste they might have been blackberries, but Otho wasn't very picky now. Licking the sweet flavor off his teeth, Otho watched her quickly prepare the birds to be cooked before she had to gut them. The raccoon never had a fondness for blood. Innards soon disposed, the sand vixen gathered a small pile of wood and started a fire. The birds were skewered onto thin durable sticks and suspended over the flames. "What are those?" He pointed to e birds.

"Guineas." Rik answered as he licked his lips hearing the edible word. "Long time before I find something." She sat down next to him as they started to cook. "Everything hides." The vixen stretched out her legs towards the flames and relaxed.

"Really?" Otho asked dismally. If he had to solely rely on her hunting and foraging for a long time, then he would only be a hindrance to the native sand vixen.

"Should be normal again. The giants always scare everything." Rik explained the best she could. Otho merely nodded and looked over to watch the meat slowly cook. The vixen however was restless and wanted to talk. "You make fires this way?" She asked looking at the raccoon.

"Uh, no. Well I guess I could but it's very different back at home." He thought of turning a simple knob or tapping a screen panel. That convenience would definitely be missed.

"Clouds look same?"

"Yeah, they're pretty much the same." He traced a line in the dirt with his shoe. "Puffy white to dark grey and all that." Clouds never really concerned his mind before.

"What your ship do?" She inquired next.

"Let's see..." He concentrated past his empty stomach. "You can fly around, travel,, and explore areas never seen before, or even carry cargo."

"Why so big?" She used her hands to convey the size of the ND-12 Tailpaw.

"It requires a lot of stuff to make it fly and keep me safe." Otho did his best to explain the complex machinery for her perspective to understand.

"What those do?" She pointed at him.

"My pilot suit? They're just clothes."

"What clothes?"

"The clothes I am wearing. Didn't I clarify this yesterday?"

"Those clothes?" She couldn't help but grin at how the words rhymed.

"Yes, they keep me covered." He stated holding his empty stomach. The last thing he needed was a headache to attack him. Although, if it wasn't for Rik's questions, Otho may not have even noticed the sun setting that left them with the fire for their only source of light. That fact alone terrified him.

"No like dark?" She asked noticing the raccoon scanning the dark forest around them.

"Anything else... big out there that could harm us?" He said as a growl from his stomach interrupted.

"Feral animals yes. Not many though."

"Great." He muttered. No shelter existed to hide from wild animals except for a fire.

"Shots scares them." She glanced back at the weapon nearby. Otho stiffened feeling a hand rest on his shoulder. The raccoon shied away from the physical contact much to the fox's surprise. "Shoulder hurt?"

"No, it's nothing." He looked away. How could he explain to Rik that he had never been around a naked female before? Rik herself had never seen clothes before! The vixen didn't take much notice and scooted closer to the fire.

"Eat!" She lifted the first one before handing it over to him.

"Thank you." He replied before taking a quick bite, only to yip backing away.

"Hot." Rik told him before pulling hers away from the flames. Otho only grumbled waiting for the bird to cool down while his mouth overflowed with saliva. This time Otho blew on it before tearing off a large chunk. 'Oh yeah, this is what I needed.' He thought happily despite nearly scalding his tongue in the process. The mild flavor dazzled his mouth even after he chomped down into the second bite, and third. Rik watched as the raccoon hastily ate the bird away from her very eyes.

'Fast eater.' She took a smaller bite of hers, enjoying the meal more. The sand vixen produced a leather canteen of sorts filled with water to satisfy their thirst while eating. Otho was happy enough that his mouth was the only thing he could hear now. He paused to take a breath as soon as that hungry feeling inside his stomach dissipated. For the first time since he crash landed in this barbaric jungle, the raccoon looked over his dirty form. Dust, dirt, and sweat marred his worn clothes as well as most of his body. The sand vixen wasn't much different. He looked at his cooked bird on the stick Rik had skewered it on, his dirty flight uniform, and his unwashed hands. The raccoon's brown eyes darted over to Rik's chest where he had actually fed from hours ago. She didn't even have the time to properly dry her fur there seeing how disheveled the cream topped hills were. This was too much for the military exploration pilot as his bottom lip curled up. Rik looked up already half done eating her portion only to find Otho shaking with his hands covering his face. "Otho?" She stood up and hurried over hearing him breathing through his mouth. Rik barely sat down beside the raccoon before he wrapped his arms around her, sobbing into her tan furred shoulder.

"Otho?" Her voice was barely a whisper. She couldn't remember anyone crying so much at once as the coon shuddered and bawled in her arms. Otho didn't care that her bare chest was touching his clothed one for once. The raccoon felt grateful that someone was hugging him in the first place, but he couldn't understand why everything bad had happened to him so suddenly. He was angry for napping while setting his ship to auto orbit, and especially angry for not sending the coordinates immediately. Everything quite literally, blew up in his face the previous day.

'I'm lost! I'll die in an unknown jungle!' He wailed in his thoughts as the sobs racked through his body. Rik looked out into the trees with concern consoling him the best she could, but Otho cried on her shoulder endlessly. A long time passed before Rik felt him slow down and stop. Her ears pinned back seeing that he had cried himself to sleep in her arms. Rik patted his back with some relief seeing a calm look on his unconscious face.

'I don't want to be alone again.' She cradled his body protectively in her lap.

Otho could feel himself slowly waking up. For once in a few days he felt cozy and didn't want to wake up yet. No growling stomach, weak head, or panic attacks bothered him. Typically he would peek an eye open to see if his alarm was about to ring and prepare to jump out of bed with adrenaline in his system, but the raccoon felt too exhausted even for that. Colonel Sheschneu would likely have a message waiting to be read as the alarm's blue dot would in turn be lit. Or even worse, Major Bulganin would have some stupid assignment for him and leave a message telling him how important it would be to find the location of Earth.

'Earth? No one would even recognize it if it could exist.' He mumbled to himself snuggling his head into the cloud like comfort. Then again, Major Bulganin was a real bag of chips. Otho's nose then detected a faint aroma, stopping his little trip down memory lane. It smelled like Rik, but more of her. 'Right. I'm in a jungle.' He remembered the grim prospect able to feel the dirty ground beneath his body. Whatever the faint aroma was, it caused his sleepiness and remnant dreamy thoughts to evaporate leaving him no choice but to wake up. Blinking, his eyes noticed that his head was indeed slowly rising and falling like he thought it was. The cloud Otho had been sleeping on turned out to be Rik's tummy. He took a breath recognizing the aromatic scent. Looking down his muzzle, he realized his nose was resting on top of her groin right where her thigh's softer white fur met. 'Oh why me?' He immediately sat up wiping his nose just to be safe. 'Guess I'll smell her all day.'

"Awake now?" A female voice asked startling him. The raccoon turned in his spot finding that the sand vixen was awake. Her pale blue eyes stared back waiting for him to answer.

"Wait. You were already awake?" Otho felt his face flush with embarrassment.

"Didn't want to wake you." Rik stretched on the ground despite prying eyes before sitting up. "Feeling better?" She asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah. Sorry about all of that, I just lost control of myself." He looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"No worry. Afraid long time ago, but now have each other." She smiled brightly making a grin form along his muzzle.

"That is true." He remarked. "We'll make the best of it then." His eyes still inadvertently dropped to her chest for a brief moment. He definitely needed to become accustomed to the whole naturist thing she did. "Are you still sore there?" He did his best to make the second glance at her breast unnoticeable. The bump of flesh on top was slightly red compared to the other one.

"A little, but it felt nice on this one." Rik looked down at both.

"Nice?" He questioned her explanation feeling less guilty about it.

"Licking better than biting." That did actually make sense to him. Otho sighed and loosened up somewhat. Rik watched him stare into the forest around them.

"How do you survive in this climate every day?"

"Very tough, but know how to live... Oh, you need to eat!" She exclaimed and brought the skewered cooked bird over to him. "I kept warm." Otho gladly accepted and took a bite. It was a little dry for his liking, but he wasn't going to complain.

"Thank you for the hospitality." He said with a full mouth. "Thanks for everything. I'm alive because of you."

"Yes, welcome." She beamed taking what remained of her guinea off the low burning fire to eat. They enjoyed most of the meal together in silence while watching each other. "Yuck! Tendon." She watched him pull the piece out of his mouth and toss it into the fire pit.

"I think my guinea is finished." He set the carcass into the smoldering fire. Rik did the same with hers and stood up with a stretch that had Otho's eyes glued to her body for a moment.

"I get ready to forage." She walked over to the edge of the clearing.

"Ok." He looked down at a small tear in his sleeve. His red and white uniform had seen better days. A smudge was wiped away, but there was little purpose in cleaning any deeper stains without a proper washing machine. The raccoon sighed and walked over to where he left his backpack. Otho rummaged through the relatively empty thing and found his journal along with one of the numerous pens he had saved. The raccoon sat down and quickly wrote everything that had happened since yesterday while Rik was busy.

'I can't believe what's happened to me in the past few days when I was supposed to be completing a simple three week assignment. My Tailpaw crash landed into what I thought was an uninhabitable jungle planet, but for a while I've been staying with a native sand vixen who shot a large armed robot and can speak English! Her home isn't what I expected it to be (There's only a fire pit with a small clearing), and I miss everything being at my fingertips. (Not to mention everyone on and off base).' He paused to close his eyes and take a deep breath. 'Her name is Rik, and she has been very kind and generous to me so far. She has been alone for a long time, but when I was starving she offered to breastfeed me despite never doing so before. There has to be some natural chemical in the native food, because the vixen actually lacta-' Otho paused writing as Rik sat down beside him.

"What is that?" She looked at his journal.

"Uh." He started to hide the small black book. 'Oh yeah, she probably can't read!' Otho breathed a sigh of relief showing the page he was writing on. "It's a book that you can write in. A journal."

"Write in?"The vixen questioned with a furrowed brow staring at the half filled page of characters and letters. "Older village people did that since they couldn't run anymore."

"You mean they could read and write?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "Don't know why." That was a good question. How did a bunch of village elders know how to write, and where did they get paper to write on? Otho finished the last sentence and moved on.

'I just hope that everything works out for the two of us. If anyone finds this, they can lock me up in the looney house.' He wrote before snapping the book shut.

"What you write?" Rik asked.

"Just everything that's happened so far, and hoping for the best. That sorta stuff." He returned the journal to his backpack. She shifted preparing to get up. "Wait. Can I come with you so you can show me where edible plants are? I can at least help you with that while I'm around." He offered. It would definitely help to know the area.

"Of course!" She readily stood up. "I like that." The vixen quickly led him into the jungle.

"Any reason for the gun?" He asked seeing that she brought it along.

"Shoot if attacked." She brushed a large deep green leaf from her path. Otho was visibly worried at the prospect of being assaulted again. Numerous birds and insects created plenty of noise for them to listen to as they walked on the forest floor. The clustered trees proved to be problematic for Otho, but the sand vixen navigated around them with ease.

"Slow down please!" He squeezed by two close trees. The vixen paused and turned to wait for him. Tiny bits of bark crumbled away as he edged through. "Thanks." He brushed his uniform walking beside her once again.

"Welcome." She walked by a few more large trees before finding a large green bush. Otho's eyes lit up seeing small red fruits hanging from its small vines. "Raspberries." She sat down with him.

"Hold on a second." He paused with an outstretched hand. "How do I know if it's poisonous or not?" Otho remembered the funny colored bananas she pointed out the other day.

"Splotchy blue. Only on bananas." She assured him already chewing through half a dozen berries already.

'Now she tells me.' He popped the small fruit into his mouth. A pleasant sweetness stung his taste buds making a pleasant grin curl his lips upward. "Mmm. These are pretty good!" He picked more. She nodded and eagerly leaned towards him.

"How you hunt? Many plants where you live? How your clothes made?"

"One question at a time please." He scooted back from the curious fox.

"Hunting?" She asked again eagerly. Her innocent curiosity did put a grin on the raccoon's muzzle,

"There's no hunting that I know of where I'm from." Otho picked another berry and popped it into his mouth.

"How you eat? Food everywhere?"

"There's plenty of mass farming in fertile grounds. Where I grew up there were too many hills and too much cold weather." It would've been nearly impossible for him to explain what a mall complex was, grocery store, or a city was to the native vixen.

"Have these there?" She held up the berry before eating it.

"I guess so. I never shopped for them." He ate a few more while Rik curiously plucked at a few vines.

"Hmm... Next spot now." She stood up spitting out a troublesome seed.

'Just when I was getting comfortable.' Otho quickly followed through the dense green vegetation. He watched her tail swish merrily as the vixen slipped around countless trees and plants. The raccoon suddenly bumped into her failing to notice that she had stopped. "Sorry-"

"Mango tree!" She shoved the gun into his arms and quickly bolted off to the side and climbed up the tree trunk.

"Wait! How do you know?" He called out only to lose sight of her past the multitude of leaves and a few dozen branches. Only a loud rustling responded above while he waited. 'There are too many tree to even see the sky.' He set the weapon against the mango tree and looked around. The dense foliage could probably make someone used to buildings claustrophobic or at least paranoid if they were alone too long.

"Otho!" Rik's voice caught his attention.

"Yeah?" He looked up unable to see the sand vixen.

"Catch!" A large piece of fruit nearly hit his head before it plopped onto the ground. Otho quickly picked up the mostly yellow-orange fruit and felt over it.

'Kind of heavy-' Another large one suddenly hit him squarely on his head. "Ow! Careful Rik!" He dodged a few more until he heard the sand vixen scramble down the tree. She helped gather them up and sat down by the tree with him. "So it's a mango?" He asked hesitantly holding the large thing. The raccoon had never seen a mango before, much less eaten one.

"Yes!" She adroitly cut the mango and handed it to him before cutting one for herself. Otho pulled out the large central seed after watching her, but paused to watch her eat. Her lips smacked loudly as she messily devoured the piece like a child. "What?" She asked as some of the juice dripped from her wet muzzle. "No like mango?"

"Oh, uh yeah I'll take a bite." He had to look away and stop himself from bursting into a tirade of cackles. Otho took a big bite and marveled at the taste. It wasn't a strong sweet, but more mild and savory in his mouth. Rik ate the other half of hers before cutting into another.

"Always good." She hummed to herself before stopping to look at him. "Talking to you." She happily sang taking another bite. Otho couldn't help but grin at her strange personality, and ate his piece with less haste. His ears flicked away potential flies that hovered too close.

'I should bring my backpack if we have extra.' He noted the other untouched mangoes. A wet feeling on his forehead caused him to stop thinking. Otho looked up feeling a drop of water land on his muzzle.

"Rain." Rik stood up only to look back at him. "Raining!" She grabbed his wrist and tugged him along as the raindrops increased in volume.

"Where are we going?" He asked dodging by the wetting branches and leaves. Rik didn't answer and brought him to a large tree where she stopped. "Oh. To stay dry." He figured.

"Comes fast." She nodded and sat down against the large trunk. Otho followed suit taking the rain spell as time to rest his back.

'Well. There are lots of fruits and nuts to eat if worst comes to worst.' He took a deep breath to relax as the sound of rainfall filled the jungle. He watched the curtain of rain pour creating a pleasant noise to relax with. Numerous droplets dripped off the leaves that barely sheltered them as a harmless rumble of thunder echoed from far away. Rik seemed to be enjoying it too, but she always appeared to enjoy everything. "How much does it rain here Rik?"

"Lots of rain usually." She quaintly smiled sitting next to him. "Rain at your home?"

"Yeah I suppose. It's normally windy when it happens." The raccoon preferred this gentle rain though. He remembered his fur getting soaked completely through on more than one occasion as a kid. "No noisy bugs for a while though."

"Mhm. Quiet." Her tail tapped leisurely. Otho stared at his hands resting in his lap.

'Strange how I have spare time while trying to survive.' He was constantly accustomed to work in the military whether it was flight training or paper shuffling. Spare time to think felt odd. His shoes absentmindedly dug into the ground creating a small ruffle in the dirt and leaves. Rik had a content grin across her muzzle and keenly listened to the rainfall around the jungle. She didn't feel antsy about having time interrupted. "So," he looked around the wall of rain once more, "how long have you been out here by yourself?"

"Years. Since ten or twelve." Her smile dimmed.

"You survived in this mad world when you were a kid?!"

"Yes!"

"How old are you now?"

"Don't... Know." She answered folding her arms. "Twenty?" Her brow cutely furrowed wondering the answer to his own question.

'About a decade... That's a long time.' He silently thought looking at her blue eyes while the rain continued to pour much like a curtain.

Two figures walked into the clearing carrying handfuls of food apiece. The glimmering golden rays of the sun already began their journey below the horizon leaving night very close in pursuit. Otho and Rik had eaten plenty while walking and were left with a momentary surplus. The raccoon set the remaining fruits next to the fire pit where they last slept and wiped his uniform. They would make a nice breakfast to start the day and look for lunch.

"Thank you for carrying." She set her handful with his followed by her rifle. "Never had so much!"

"No problem." Otho laid down with a huff while Rik made a small fire. It had been a long day even with about an hour of rain to pause and relax. His paws and legs were especially worn out from the continuous walking. Soon crackling of the fire filled his head. It sounded so alien compared to a heating unit turning on outside an air vent.

"Tired?" She asked laying down on the other side of the fire, facing the mostly darkened sky.

"Yes. You practically dragged me around every tree."

"Can't stay slow." She drew a clawed finger in the dirt before bringing both hands to prop up her head. "Wonder about why stars there?" She pointed to the clear sky with a flick of her bushy light brown tail.

"I wondered why I constantly had to follow them." He reflected on his job as an exploration pilot.

"So silly!" She snickered to herself at his strange answer. The sand vixen yawned before rolling onto her side without saying anything more while Otho continued to stare into the night sky. The stars in their foreign patterns twinkled so far away as if to tease him of how unlikely returning home would be. Otho took a deep breath and turned on his side to face Rik. The sand vixen had fallen asleep and looked so peaceful just laying there. His eyes combed over her uncovered form automatically, centering on the soft hills of her chest down to the subtle furrow of her nether regions. His nose wiggled remembering where it had been during the night. Her front was covered in a pleasant cream color that was only interrupted by the tanned hue of her nipples. Otho sighed closing his eyes.

'She's a female, what else should I expect?' He told himself returning his focus to falling asleep.