When Erik woke up the following morning, he was greeted by the voice of a female stranger.
"Good morning, traveler!"
Erik quickly shifted his gaze to the source of the voice - it was a faun, sitting across from him on the opposite side of the now-doused fireplace. She was crouched down in the fetal position, her arms wrapped around her legs. It was as if she was actively looking at Erik with great interest.
Erik quickly sat straight up from laying in his sleeping back in surprise. "Whoa!"
The faun herself was also taken a bit off-guard. "Oh goodness! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!"
"What are you doing here?" Erik asked directly. "Who even are you?"
The faun smiled and stood up from her crouched position as she answered, "My name is Meadow. What is your name?"
Before Erik answered, he silently took stock of Meadow herself. He scanned her body up and down, but most of his attention was split between her face and her legs. Unsurprisingly, her legs were goat-like in appearance, with hair covering them all over, and hooves that stood in place of feet. The hair on her legs matched the color of the hair on her head, that being a bold auburn color, which stood in contrast to her fair skin tone. What also drew Erik's attention was her face - Meadow's nose and cheeks were lightly speckled with faint freckles, and her eyes were a striking lime-green. The top of her head naturally had horns, and both were straight rather than curved, more similar to an elk's horns. Though, her left one was slightly longer than her right, for whatever reason. Her only articles of clothing were a leaf bra that covered her breasts, and a leaf loincloth that covered her front, but not her backside.
After a few awkward seconds of silence where Erik didn't answer, Meadow asked again, "Uh, traveler? You do have a name, yes?"
Erik shook his head slightly and replied, "Uh, y-yes, sorry. The name's Erik. Erik Leif."
Meadow smiled softly. "Pleasure to meet you, Sir Erik Leif!"
Erik put up his hand and replied, "Hey, drop the 'Sir,' I'm not a knight. Just Erik is fine."
"Well then, pleasure to meet you, Erik!" Meadow said, still with the same earnest smile.
"Uh, yeah... you too, uh, Meadow was it?" Erik clarified.
Meadow nodded happily.
Erik let out a sigh and added, "Well, Meadow, you sure surprised me..."
"Oh, my apologies!" Meadow replied. "I was just keeping watch over you while you slept. I must say, you have me quite interested!"
"Interested?" Erik questioned. "What's so interesting about a lone human dude traveling the empty valleys of Esteri all by himself?"
"Precisely that!" Meadow answered enthusiastically. "I don't often find another wanderer out here besides myself, so it's always a treat!"
So, she's just wondering what brings me here, I guess, Erik thought. Guess I can't blame her - it IS somewhat of a strange sight.
Erik then thought, My only hope is that she didn't hear me fa--
"Oh, and I must say," Meadow continued, "your backwind is quite impressive!"
"M-My backwind?" Erik replied.
"Oh, right," Meadow recalled, "you humans call it, uh, 'farting' or 'flatulence,' right?"
Erik couldn't help but blush, even if ever so slightly. Great, so she TOTALLY heard me fart in my sleep.
"Uh..." Erik muttered in an unsure tone.
Meadow titled her head. "Is that not right? Do you call it something else?"
"No no, we call it that," Erik replied. "It's just... wait, you said you were impressed by it?"
Meadow nodded. "Of course! I could almost feel the power behind it myself! The sound was quite boisterous, and the smell was quite strong as well!"
Oh, this is just getting better, Erik sarcastically thought to himself, as his blushing grew.
"O-Oh, so you could smell it?" Erik asked somewhat sheepishly.
"Well, to be quite honest, the smell was hard to miss!" Meadow answered with a grin. "I imagine the sleeping bag you used was quite useful for concentrating the scent."
Erik then looked down at his sleeping bag. He leaned over slightly and took a whiff. Oh geez... Yeah, she probably has a point.
"Yeah, uh... sorry about that," Erik said.
Meadow raised an eyebrow. "Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"Uh, y'know... farting in front of you," Erik clarified.
Meadow seemed confused. "I'm not sure I understand - your 'flatulence' was really rather impressive to behold. Nothing to apologize for at all!"
Erik looked even more confused. "S-So, it... it didn't bother you at all?"
Meadow couldn't help but giggle. "No, not at all! How many times must I say it?"
Erik couldn't help but shift his gaze away.
"My, you humans are such bashful creatures," Meadow laughed to herself. "An honest compliment, and your cheeks become a bright red!"
Erik finally stood up and replied, "I-It's just a human thing. You... you probably wouldn't quite understand..."
"Perhaps not," Meadow admitted. "Although, are humans themselves not just as windy as any other creature in Esteri?"
She probably means "gassy," Erik deduced.
"That's... true. I think. But, for humans, there are certain customs in place - passing gas in front of a stranger is considered impolite."
Meadow giggled some more. "So strange! If I had feats such as yours, I'd be more proud than ashamed!"
"You want to be gassy?" Erik asked in disbelief.
"Ooo, is that the human term for it?" Meadow asked as she clasped her hands together. "Gassy... yes, yes, I would quite like to be gassy!"
Erik just rolled his eyes, before breaking wind himself.
Brrrrrpppphhhhh...
"Uh, to each their own, I guess," Erik said with a cough, as if he was trying to hide the fart.
Meadow shifted her hands behind her back. "So then, Erik. What brings you out here, all on your own?"
"You see those tracks there?" Erik replied as he pointed in the direction of the collection of wagon and horse tracks that littered the ground.
Meadow nodded, and Erik continued, "Well, those belong to the caravan I was traveling with - we were ambushed by bandits, and they seemed to take the caravan elsewhere, and left me by my lonesome."
"Oh goodness," Meadow said in concern. "You were separated from your pack?"
"Not my-- ...well, yeah, I guess you can say they're my pack," Erik said. "But, it's more like they took me in, and now that they could be in danger, I owe it to them to help them in their time of need."
"Because those bandits bested you?"
Erik nodded solemnly. "Yeah... I tried to stand up to them, but they... uh, knocked me out. I was taken by surprise."
Erik didn't want to admit that he was bested by a bunch of bandits' foul flatulence, of all things, so he danced around it.
Meadow walked around the fireplace and up to Erik as she grabbed both his hands.
"W-Whoa, uh..."
"You're a noble soul, Erik Leif," Meadow said in an honest tone. "I knew there was more to you than met my eye."
Erik was taken slightly aback, and released another fart.
Brrrrrrpppppphhhhhtt!
He started blushing slightly again. Meadow, however, giggled as she added, "fitting for a warrior with a strong heart to have strong farts!"
Erik looked down at their hands, as they were being held by Meadow's. "Uh, I guess? But, it's not as big a deal as you're making it. I just gotta give them my due. It's... it's another human thing."
Meadow grinned and stepped back from Erik as she put her hands behind her back. "Whatever you say, Bashful Erik."
"A-Anyway, I should be going now," Erik said as he started rolling up sleeping bag at his feet.
"I shall join you!" Meadow exclaimed.
"Join me?" Erik replied. "Uh, why?"
"I can help you!" Meadow pointed back at the tracks. "The tracks are beginning to scatter - it's likely that those bandits would have separated by now. I can track the correct path forward for you!"
Meadow's offer was quite generous - fauns made for natural trackers and hunters, so to have her guide him would be a great benefit.
"Oh, well... thank you, Meadow!" Erik said. "I appreciate it."
Meadow grinned back at Erik. "You are very welcome! Now, let me know when you are ready to depart - I'll be going forward some to scout ahead."
With that, she waved at Erik as she made her way ahead of him. Erik waved back, but somewhat half-heartedly. He was more surprised by Meadow's outgoing personality than anything.
"She's... an odd one," he said aloud to himself. "Gotta say, never thought anyone - let alone a woman - would compliment me on my farts, of all things... "
Erik shook his head. "Eh, she may be a weirdo, but if she's willing to help, I won't stop her."
With that, Erik began collecting his supplies, save for the pile of burnt wood where his fireplace once stood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------
Some time later, Meadow was ahead of Erik, leading the way as she followed the tracks. Erik, a couple feet behind Meadow, found himself--
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