A Change In The Horizon || The Lost One AU

11. Cleansing

AN

Yeah, I think my motivation for this chapter just kind of died at one point--

Just an FYI, it might be a bit until I post the next chapter. I'm not going off the grid or anything; I just want to take a breather for a short while.

~🌤~

The two travelled for the rest of the day after they had rested up. Come nightfall, they set up a shelter as per usual. Xelqua made this one larger than the last, realizing there was more space needed this time around.

The two had been traveling for a few days already. Partially cut off from their magic their bodies reserved it, forcing them to take care of themselves manually like players did. Add in a sweltering trip to the Nether, and it was only natural that the body odor from only one of them alone was enough to knock out any regular player.

"Why did you make this room so much bigger than last time?" Miesall asked as Xel began shoveling a hole in the dirt floor. "And what are you doing?"

"You'll see." Xel smirked as he widened the hole to be comfortable enough for one person to lay in. He climbed out before filling it up with water from his water bucket.

"I see a hole with water." Miesall observed, completely unamused. He still didn't see where this was going as Xel quickly began crafting something. Once finished, he tossed the red bar over to his partner, who sniffed it.

"Soap?" He asked, still not following.

"Yeah, if you just have some apples and a few other things, you can make soap. It's not the good stuff, but it will do." Xel shrugged.

Miesall stood there, using his eyes to study the soap. He brought it up to his mouth, pausing before lowering it again and studying it some more. After a short while, he walked over to the water and dropped it in, turning his head over to Xelqua for confirmation.

The Watcher gave a nervous shrug. Good enough of a start, he supposed. "Now you take your clothes off an—" He was interrupted by a slap in the face. He stumbled backwards, falling onto the bed as he held a hand over his cheek. "What was that for?!" he cried.

The blushing creature hugged his sides, fluttering his wings. "That's indecent!" he scolded.

"Well you didn't have to slap me!" Xel cried back. His body had already gotten rid of the pain, but he still finding himself holding his cheek anyway. He took a moment to calm himself down. "What I was going to say was, get into the water."

"You want me to get into the mud pit unclothed with apple-scented soap." Miesall stated, almost as if this was as bizarre a thing to ask for as grilling chicken on a boat in the bottom of the ocean.

Xelqua studied the water. The bar of soap had floated into a corner, ready to be used. "Well... there's more to it than that, but yes." He gave a soft laugh as he felt all of Miesall's judgmental eyes peering into him.

"It is dishonorable to be unclothed." The Watcher insisted, crossing his arms.

Xelqua was tempted to point out that players did it all the time, several times throughout the day in fact. He knew they didn't count though, seeing as they weren't of the higher species. "It's also dishonorable to reek and look like a pig." He argued, frowning. Miesall sucked in a breath, offended. Xel continued anyway. "What would the Great Ones think if you came home looking like..." he gestured to all of Miesall— his mess of hair, robes that had turned brown with dirt, rips and tears everywhere. Even his wings — usually a pristine white— had become a slight greyish brown color, and his feathers needing pruning. "That."