- While Ruko was dealing with his problems, Reia was relaxing in a pond. She would occasionally dip under the cool, soothing waters, coming up with a giggle. The Rathian had allowed herself the joy of retracting her breast and vaginal plates, letting the cold water tickle her in places rarely touched by anything at all.
- Her nipples stood stiff as the icy fluids graced her breasts in full, and her nethers grew tighter as the water caused them to contract. She stifled a giggling moan as this happened, leaning against the rim of the pond and fondling her own breasts.
- "Oh man, what Ruko is missing here...ah, almost criminal." She chuckled, her own soft fingers squeezing and pressing on her chest cushions. "Maybe I'll give him a look later." The she-wyvern mused, before laughing. "Yeah, and maybe I'm the last Rathian on the planet!"
- She gasped for just a second when a fish brushed against her inner thigh, its smooth scales causing her to jump and slam her plates back in place. Just as well, there were footsteps behind her. The Rathian simply assumed it to be Roy, arms full of food for the two of them as they usually were.
- "Hey, welcome back. Find any food for us?" She asked calmly, not looking back. She was still grinning, expecting him to say something about her bathing all the time.
- So sue her, she liked being clean.
- He didn't respond, instead getting closer.
- "Roy, if your mouth is full, swallow before you talk. You know I hate that 'talking with your mouth full' crap." The she-wyvern growled.
- Closer still.
- As she went to turn around, Reia felt someone grab her from behind and lift her out of the water. It roughly groped at her chest, and she growled in anger. Its fingers lingered on her breast-plating far too long, trying to pry them off. Similarly, a long, thin *something* was sliding between her thighs while something thick and warm was resting on her ass.
- No way in hell was Kino going to settle for this. She had her pride to uphold.
- "THAT'S IT! I told you to keep your damn hands off my tits, now you lose them!" She roared, stiffening her back quills and slamming back into her assailant.
- A satisfying *snnkt* as they pierced his scale and flesh was her cue to twist, breaking them off into his chest and using her feet to push off of the stunned male. Losing the quills was no huge deal, she'd grow them back in a week or so. Didn't even hurt her.
- "That'll teach you, won't it Ruko?!" She roared as she made a flashy forward-flip and revolving to face her soon-dead assailant, before gasping in shock. Her eyes came to rest on a bulky Abiorugu desperately clutching at the sharp quills residing in his stomach. His eyes were wide with shock as the neurotoxin spread through his veins, quickly and unpleasantly shutting down everything important to his very survival.
- The thin object between her legs? His knife-like tail. The thing on her ass? His uncovered dick.
- Growling in fury, she spun on her heel and smashed him in the face with her tail bulb, injecting yet another wave of toxins into his cranium. He quickly keeled over, heart stopping in a matter of seconds.
- Kino spit on the corpse for good measure.
- "Fucker, trying to 'get some' without any effort, huh? Think 'this slut will be easy', huh buddy?!" She raged at the rapidly cooling body. "It'll take more than a few boob squeezes to get between here!" The Queen of the Earth half-shouted, gesturing to her thighs.
- "Kino!" A finally familiar voice called. She turned and relaxed when she saw the Rukodiora anthro running to her. His wings were stained with orange, though it was quickly receding to the calmer yellow. He had a huge gash in his chest, though it was only lightly bleeding. Those plates were far more protective than Kino gave them credit for.
- "Wow, holy shit." Roy said, slowly coming to a stop. "Remind me never to actually piss you off."
- "Hey Ruko."
- "Hmm?"
- "Don't actually piss me off." The woman said cheekily, sticking her tongue out at him. Roy couldn't help but chuckle, scratching at the damaged plating on his chest.
- "Heh, alright, message received. Damn this itches."
- A few of the skin-colored plates came out with his scratching, all of them damaged from an Abiorugu tail.
- "Reia, we need to leave. They were gonna kill me, then pass you around like some breeding bitch." Roy said, frowning with worry. "Tough as we both are, we can't take on an entire species on our own with no food."
- "But...but our vacation..." She whined.
- "Maybe we can go somewhere else, Kino. We can't stay here though." Ruko replied. "You need time to regrow those quills, I need time to heal. We'll come back later."
- "Fine, fine..." The she-wyvern said, finally giving in. She went into the cave, collected their sleeping bags, and they both flew home. Their timing was fantastic, as mating pairs of Abio chose that general area to begin breeding ceremonies almost immediately afterwards.
- ---
- The two came home just in time for the chilly desert night. Kino was shivering even before they landed, causing her flying to be crooked and her landing to be quite rough. Ruko was also cold, but not to the degree she was.
- "Kino, let me get us inside, okay? Then you can have all the warm you want." Ruko consoled, landing and beginning to push on the rock. It slowly shifted, and the impatient green-scaled anthro started shoving with the dragon.
- She rushed in, setting up a fire-pit in record time and lighting it, before covering herself in a thick quilt from the chest. It had been locked via padlock...so Reia simply melted the lock off and took her prize.
- Ruko strode over and wrapped the shivering woman in one of his golden wings, pulling her close and wrapping a blanket around them both.
- "Now, I hardly think that was needed." He said with a light chuckle. Kino didn't reply, instead shivering intensely in Roy's soft grip.
- "C-c-c-c-old..." She whimpered. Ruko stroked her back, knowing that unless she actually stiffened her quills, they were harmless. "Pl-pl-please stay and w-w-warm me up-p..."
- "Of course."
- He laid himself on the ground, and pointed to a spot right in front of him that was cast in the fire's light. The smaller wyvern-anthro took up position as the 'little spoon', shivering as both Ruko and the fire warmed her up from nearly hypothermic temperatures.
- He stroked her hair as he did often, getting a stuttering coo out of the female wyvern. Her coverings for both her slit and nipples were out of control, flickering in and out to try and generate heat. Roy ignored her sex and breasts being exposed, shockingly mature for once.
- "There there...easy now..." He whispered into her ear, and she slowly stopped violently quaking. Her breathing slowed to normal, and the Rathian calmly fell into a deep sleep. Her plates had yet to re-cover her, but the Rukodiora was above taking advantage of her. If she didn't actually deliberately tell him she wanted it, he wouldn't touch her.
- Her talons rested against his thigh scales, harmless. The pad of her foot would occasionally glide across his thigh, sending a shiver down his spine. He smiled in amusement, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her tight.
- He too fell asleep, coaxed into it by the woman's own deep breaths.
- They both woke up hours later when thunder boomed overhead, both anthros jerking awake in shock. A desert thunderstorm, but unfortunately it brought no rain.
- Reia was still nestled into Ruko's grip, but she didn't fight him. It was still cold, and he was being a great heater.
- "Go back to sleep, Reia. You need it." He whispered into her ear, sending pleasurable little chills down her spine.
- "Mmhmm..." She replied quietly, diving back into the depths of sleep.
- ---
- Ruko was fishing by the time she woke up a second time, the thunderstorm still not gone. If anything, the storm was causing the fish to go berserk, judging by the small pile the dragon anthro had next to him. He was leaning over the pool, looking into it.
- "Good morning, Roy." The green-scaled woman said, walking over and sitting next to him. "What are you doing?"
- He merely held up a hand in response...then jerked his head up. The fishing line and hook attached to his horn came out of the water, another fish hooked.
- "Damn, I'm getting good at this." He praised himself. "We dry them out properly, that's enough for a week."
- He threw it into the pile and took the hook off.
- "How'd you sleep, Reia?"
- "Very well. I sleep well when there's a thunderstorm." She said, yawning lightly. "Might even take a little felyne nap later, if it doesn't let up."
- "Need...need a sleeping buddy?" The dragon asked without looking at her.
- "Hmm..." She said, grinning. "Well, I do tend to get cold, and you're nice and warm...we'll see." The Rathian teased. She brushed her tail on his leg as she grabbed a fish, expertly cleaned and char-broiled it, then began eating. She spit out the occasional bone.
- Roy joined her moments later, chewing on his own fish.
- "I was thinking, about that ruined trip."
- "Mm?"
- "Well, Reia, plenty of other places. What do you think about that nearby rainforest? We know pretty much every Abio on the continent is in the jungle on the opposite side of the continent, and that rainforest actually borders the desert." He said, finishing his meal and throwing the bones into a small pile they had.
- "Oh, that place with the low hanging trees?" She asked, attempting to remembering the place. They had only been there once before, exploring a bit before a Nargacuga chased them both out.
- They were a little better now, they might actually win if he bothered them.
- "Hmm...that actually sounds fun. When do we leave?"
- "Today, if you want." Ruko replied. He placed the salted and dried fish in a chest lined with Ice Crystals, ensuring they'd freeze and stay fresh at least for a few more days than they would have ordinarily.
- "What are we waiting for then?!" She half-shouted in excitement. "Let's go! I want my vacation!"
- Ruko chucked and packed their sleeping bags up as the Rathian excitedly jogged out.
- Sliding the rock back into place, they both took flight...with Ruko once again hanging behind her.
- "Still a great view!"
- "Oh, why *thank you*!" The Rathian replied with a predatory grin. "It's about time someone noticed! I don't hear about it enough!"
- "So very soft and squeezable!" He continued. Her sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife, though the Rukodiora either didn't catch it, or didn't care.
- "Yeah yeah, keep it in your sheathe!" She growled, watching as the rainforest rapidly approached.
- It functioned by essentially siphoning away all the rain from the desert and other nearby areas, almost like it was one giant organism. The desert suffered the worst simply through fact that it was closest, having a direct land-border. The other areas suffered less due to having rivers several kilometers wide between them.
- They landed in a clearing, then began looking for a spot with ample cover. A nearby cave was perfect, clear of pests and other dangerous or annoying things. There were several mushrooms on the ceiling that were providing a small amount of light, though Reia would have to touch off a fire in a few moments anyway.
- The wet bark was a poor ignition source, so she slowly dried it out with several hot breaths over the next couple hours. Roy, meanwhile, went hunting. He came back an hour later with a dead kelbi slung over his shoulder, grinning.
- "I've still got it!"
- Kino rolled her eyes.
- "Yeah, well, help me out with this then." She said, gesturing to the wet wood. Ruko began beating his wings as she continued to blow hot air onto them, and they were drying out faster now. The vines covering them would serve as fine ignition points, which Reia took advantage of twenty minutes later to have a merry fire crackling.
- They both set up their bedding as night began to fall, and Roy noticed that the Rathian had set her bedding closer to his than before. She didn't say anything about it, so he wouldn't either.
- "Good night, Ruko." She said, climbing into her own sleeping bag.
- "Good night, Reia." He replied, standing guard at the cave entrance. He didn't trust this place one bit, and was standing guard for a few hours. They'd swap off in roughly six.
- For now though, he was content to let her sleep first, the rainforest attempting to lull him into a slumber as well. Once or twice he caught motion in the treeline, but saw it was only a small bird or the occasional insect.
- He sighed.
- "Gonna be a long night..."
- ===

