Fen and Ari were still diligently working on their forest oasis and had just begun adding a river and a lake to make it even more comfortable and relaxing in the area. As especially the lake turned out to be more work than expected, they needed to get a little creative and test out some things before continuing, though.
“Finally, free!” While those two were having a great time, Sophia had just won a fight between life and death. Getting rid of the snow they fell into, that is.
“I just want a hot bath and go to bed…” The fight had left some scars on Maya, too.
“I’m looking forward to the hot springs tonight!” Anna’s feelings on the matter also were the same.
“Haa…” Steph just let out a sigh. “Though, I agree with the hot springs part!” She loved that event, after all.
“Was it at least worth it?” Anna then started looking around. “WOW! Would you look at that, more mountains and snow!” She did not find anything of interest.
“More fun stuff, perfect!” Steph’s opinion on it differed greatly.
“Well, that was to be expected.” Maya scratched her cheek. “Wait, I think I just spotted something pink and weird-looking!” She then pointed a little bit to her right.
"Hey, that's rude!" Chloe got upset over the fact that the cat-girl was roughly pointing in her direction. "Also, I have a name!"
“Not you, pink idiot.” She shook her head. “Turn around and look to the right of the next mountain we’re facing. There’s something pink peeking out behind its base.”
"Hey!" The fox-girl did not like the idiot part but still turned around as instructed. "Let's see!" She then looked in the direction Maya was actually pointing while squinting her eyes and putting a hand over her forehead to block out some of the sun to see better. “Ohh! You’re right! What is it, though?” She squinted her eyes even more to focus on the objects in the distance. “Are those trees?”
“Trees?” Sophia’s tail perked up as she heard that. “Pink trees?!” She seemed very interested in them. The blonde then also tried her best to focus on the area Maya was still pointing at. “They’re actually pink! Wait, are those cherry blossoms?!” She got quite excited.
“Cherry blossoms?” Anna tilted her head. “Isn’t it a bit late for them to bloom?”
“Well, it’s a lot colder around here, so it would make sense if they bloom later.” Chloe had an easy explanation for it.
“Right, that’s true!”
“Alright, let’s go!” Sophia suddenly became the most motivated person in the group.
“Ehh?” Maya didn’t like her enthusiasm. "It's getting late, though! We've been out in this hell all day, and I'm pretty sure the sun's about to set, too!"
“I 100% support the complaints of our cat-girl!” The princess instantly sided with her.
“I’m not going home before I reach those trees!” The blonde sounded more determined than ever. “I need those cherry blossoms in my domain!”
“Why?!” Maya didn’t want to stay.
“Because I love them!”
"Perfectly valid reason!" Steph supported her sister's sudden passion. "I, too, love everything that is pink!” She smiled at Chloe during the last part.
“Does it have to be today, though?!” Maya wasn’t done being against it just yet.
“Exactly!” The tall cold-hating cat had the same concerns.
“As mentioned before, you don’t have to stay.” Sophia then opened one of her portals in front of her. “Though, I would be very grateful if someone would prepare dinner for us in around two hours.”
“Deal!” Maya immediately jumped through the portal.
“I’ll help!” Anna followed right after her.
“Ahaha.” The short tiger could only laugh over this. “Who could’ve possibly imagined me being the last cat standing, huh?”
“Yeah, I would’ve lost a lot of gold if I had placed any bets on that.” Aura agreed with her.
“Yes.” Steph nodded. “Especially because I would’ve put my odds on Ari for being the least affected between you four idiots.”
“Things really worked out weirdly there.” Chloe, too, was confused about the outcome.
“Anyway!” The blonde decided to ignore them. “Let’s head to the top of the mountain next to the cherry blossoms first to get an overview of what’s going on there!” She then grabbed another of her portable portals and threw it towards the mountain just as she did before.
"Yay!" Steph and Chloe were big fans of the excited tiger.
----------------
“WOW!” Sophia’s eyes grew wide the moment they arrived on the other mountain. Luckily, that summit was only covered in a very thin layer of snow that wasn’t much of a bother. Thanks to that, they could immediately concentrate on what lay ahead and down the mountain. It wasn't visible before, but it wasn’t just a few cherry blossom trees. Hidden behind the mountain that had blocked the view before, there was an entire forest of cherry blossoms in full bloom. It was so massive that the whole area between the mountains, which were a couple of kilometers apart, was covered in pink.
“It looks so nice!” Her little sister agreed with the view. “As expected, once something is pink, it’s perfect!” She smiled at Chloe again.
“That wasn’t your best one.” The fox slowly shook her head. “Thank you, though~.” She still liked it regardless. “Still, yes, this looks absolutely lovely! It would make a great biome in the domain, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes!” The tiger agreed. “Also, before anyone gets the idea, it will be MY project! I adore cherry blossoms, and I want another project that's just mine!"
“Another?” Steph got curious about her wording. “You helped all of us with various things, but was there something else you did?”
“Maybe~.” She smiled at her.
“Now I’m getting curious!”
“Sorry, it’s still a secret.” As Sophia was talking about magic being conscious and how she's having a ton of fun with them, she had no intention of telling them about it. “It’s also still a work in progress, so maybe in a few years once it’s ready.”
“Years?!” Aura raised her voice. “Just what are you up to?!”
“Something incredibly fun!” Her mood was excellent. “And you’ll hate me for having kept it a secret once you find out~.”
“I already hate you right now!” Steph started pouting as she hated being left out of something. “I wanna be in on the fun!”
“Sorry, no can do.” The blonde shook her head. “Everyone should have a thing or two just for them, and that’s mine.”
“Alright, fine.” The dog-girl gave up.
“Well, I’m looking forward to whenever it’s done.” Aura didn’t sound upset in the first place. "A few years sound excessive at first, but they’re over in a flash, after all.” Being as long-lived as she was, something like that long stopped mattering for her.
“And on that note, the cherry blossom forest will be another me project!” Sophia ignored the wolf. “I want it to be exactly how I want it to be without any input from others~."
“Ehh?” Steph didn’t like that that. “Not even a single suggestion? We already have one, but we need a hot spring surrounded by everblooming cherry blossoms!”
“Who do you take me for?” She stared at her while slowly shaking her head. “It would be a crime not to have them there. “In fact, there will be multiple different ones!”
“Okay, you have my blessing for the project!” The dog-girl was happy.
"Wait, does that just mean that no one can help you with the forest or that you're the only one allowed to use cherry blossoms? I mean, it's your domain, so there's little I can say, but I’d love to have them in more areas.” Chloe had mixed feelings about the plan. “They are very pretty, after all.”
“Ah, no, that would be totally alright~.” Sophia smiled at her. "It would be nice to have a little group of them sprinkled everywhere, but I want to keep the massive forest unique for the time being.”
“Thank you!” It was enough for the fox-girl.
“It’s just as Steph said, everything’s better when it’s pink~.”
“Exactly!” The dog-girl nodded a few times.
“You’re just saying that because Maya isn’t here right now.” Chloe didn’t buy it.
“Let’s go!” Not facing her, Sophia raised her arm and began walking down the mountain towards the cherry blossom forest.
“Dork.” The fox-girl could only shake her head.
Obviously, Sophia made exactly three steps before she remembered that they were traveling using her portable portals. She quickly pulled out another one and threw it towards the forest.
“Ohh!” Arriving inside the sea of cherry blossoms, the blonde’s mood increased yet again. “It looks even better up close!” She twirled around on the spot while several pink petals fell down on and around her. They seemed to be in bloom for a few days already because even the lightest breeze caused more petals to fly around in the air, and the ground, too, was covered in pink.
“We came at the perfect time, huh?” Steph was also looking around with a big smile. “It couldn’t have been more impressive and beautiful.”
“Yeah!” She nodded. “I almost feel bad that I’m going to rip a 200 by 200-meter-wide hole into it to put into my domain.
“This much?” Aura tilted her head. “Didn’t we usually take a few trees or saplings together with a bit of soil?”
“I love this area too much, and I want a full copy as my starting point. With just a few saplings, the output is more random. I mean, the areas you all made with the samples we collected look nothing like the original places, right?”
“That’s true.”
“I mean, I’m going to make some changes, but the base is perfect! I wanna keep the feel! At least in some parts.”
“I’m looking forward to whatever the outcome is~.” Chloe was certain she’d turn it into something nice and beautiful.
Afterward, Sophia went ahead and borrowed a sizeable portion of the cherry blossom forest for her domain. Though, feeling bad about the hole she created, she released a little of her internal magic in the area, hoping the surrounding trees would absorb it and grow enough to close the gap she made. Then, once the four were ready, the group returned to the cottage using the blonde’s portal that she opened for them.
Fen and Ari were still diligently working on their forest oasis and had just begun adding a river and a lake to make it even more comfortable and relaxing in the area. As especially the lake turned out to be more work than expected, they needed to get a little creative and test out some things before continuing, though.
“Finally, free!” While those two were having a great time, Sophia had just won a fight between life and death. Getting rid of the snow they fell into, that is.
“I just want a hot bath and go to bed…” The fight had left some scars on Maya, too.
“I’m looking forward to the hot springs tonight!” Anna’s feelings on the matter also were the same.
“Haa…” Steph just let out a sigh. “Though, I agree with the hot springs part!” She loved that event, after all.
“Was it at least worth it?” Anna then started looking around. “WOW! Would you look at that, more mountains and snow!” She did not find anything of interest.
“More fun stuff, perfect!” Steph’s opinion on it differed greatly.
“Well, that was to be expected.” Maya scratched her cheek. “Wait, I think I just spotted something pink and weird-looking!” She then pointed a little bit to her right.
"Hey, that's rude!" Chloe got upset over the fact that the cat-girl was roughly pointing in her direction. "Also, I have a name!"
“Not you, pink idiot.” She shook her head. “Turn around and look to the right of the next mountain we’re facing. There’s something pink peeking out behind its base.”
"Hey!" The fox-girl did not like the idiot part but still turned around as instructed. "Let's see!" She then looked in the direction Maya was actually pointing while squinting her eyes and putting a hand over her forehead to block out some of the sun to see better. “Ohh! You’re right! What is it, though?” She squinted her eyes even more to focus on the objects in the distance. “Are those trees?”
“Trees?” Sophia’s tail perked up as she heard that. “Pink trees?!” She seemed very interested in them. The blonde then also tried her best to focus on the area Maya was still pointing at. “They’re actually pink! Wait, are those cherry blossoms?!” She got quite excited.
“Cherry blossoms?” Anna tilted her head. “Isn’t it a bit late for them to bloom?”
“Well, it’s a lot colder around here, so it would make sense if they bloom later.” Chloe had an easy explanation for it.
“Right, that’s true!”
“Alright, let’s go!” Sophia suddenly became the most motivated person in the group.
“Ehh?” Maya didn’t like her enthusiasm. "It's getting late, though! We've been out in this hell all day, and I'm pretty sure the sun's about to set, too!"
“I 100% support the complaints of our cat-girl!” The princess instantly sided with her.
“I’m not going home before I reach those trees!” The blonde sounded more determined than ever. “I need those cherry blossoms in my domain!”
“Why?!” Maya didn’t want to stay.
“Because I love them!”
"Perfectly valid reason!" Steph supported her sister's sudden passion. "I, too, love everything that is pink!” She smiled at Chloe during the last part.
“Does it have to be today, though?!” Maya wasn’t done being against it just yet.
“Exactly!” The tall cold-hating cat had the same concerns.
“As mentioned before, you don’t have to stay.” Sophia then opened one of her portals in front of her. “Though, I would be very grateful if someone would prepare dinner for us in around two hours.”
“Deal!” Maya immediately jumped through the portal.
“I’ll help!” Anna followed right after her.
“Ahaha.” The short tiger could only laugh over this. “Who could’ve possibly imagined me being the last cat standing, huh?”
“Yeah, I would’ve lost a lot of gold if I had placed any bets on that.” Aura agreed with her.
“Yes.” Steph nodded. “Especially because I would’ve put my odds on Ari for being the least affected between you four idiots.”
“Things really worked out weirdly there.” Chloe, too, was confused about the outcome.
“Anyway!” The blonde decided to ignore them. “Let’s head to the top of the mountain next to the cherry blossoms first to get an overview of what’s going on there!” She then grabbed another of her portable portals and threw it towards the mountain just as she did before.
"Yay!" Steph and Chloe were big fans of the excited tiger.
----------------
“WOW!” Sophia’s eyes grew wide the moment they arrived on the other mountain. Luckily, that summit was only covered in a very thin layer of snow that wasn’t much of a bother. Thanks to that, they could immediately concentrate on what lay ahead and down the mountain. It wasn't visible before, but it wasn’t just a few cherry blossom trees. Hidden behind the mountain that had blocked the view before, there was an entire forest of cherry blossoms in full bloom. It was so massive that the whole area between the mountains, which were a couple of kilometers apart, was covered in pink.
“It looks so nice!” Her little sister agreed with the view. “As expected, once something is pink, it’s perfect!” She smiled at Chloe again.
“That wasn’t your best one.” The fox slowly shook her head. “Thank you, though~.” She still liked it regardless. “Still, yes, this looks absolutely lovely! It would make a great biome in the domain, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes!” The tiger agreed. “Also, before anyone gets the idea, it will be MY project! I adore cherry blossoms, and I want another project that's just mine!"
“Another?” Steph got curious about her wording. “You helped all of us with various things, but was there something else you did?”
“Maybe~.” She smiled at her.
“Now I’m getting curious!”
“Sorry, it’s still a secret.” As Sophia was talking about magic being conscious and how she's having a ton of fun with them, she had no intention of telling them about it. “It’s also still a work in progress, so maybe in a few years once it’s ready.”
“Years?!” Aura raised her voice. “Just what are you up to?!”
“Something incredibly fun!” Her mood was excellent. “And you’ll hate me for having kept it a secret once you find out~.”
“I already hate you right now!” Steph started pouting as she hated being left out of something. “I wanna be in on the fun!”
“Sorry, no can do.” The blonde shook her head. “Everyone should have a thing or two just for them, and that’s mine.”
“Alright, fine.” The dog-girl gave up.
“Well, I’m looking forward to whenever it’s done.” Aura didn’t sound upset in the first place. "A few years sound excessive at first, but they’re over in a flash, after all.” Being as long-lived as she was, something like that long stopped mattering for her.
“And on that note, the cherry blossom forest will be another me project!” Sophia ignored the wolf. “I want it to be exactly how I want it to be without any input from others~."
“Ehh?” Steph didn’t like that that. “Not even a single suggestion? We already have one, but we need a hot spring surrounded by everblooming cherry blossoms!”
“Who do you take me for?” She stared at her while slowly shaking her head. “It would be a crime not to have them there. “In fact, there will be multiple different ones!”
“Okay, you have my blessing for the project!” The dog-girl was happy.
"Wait, does that just mean that no one can help you with the forest or that you're the only one allowed to use cherry blossoms? I mean, it's your domain, so there's little I can say, but I’d love to have them in more areas.” Chloe had mixed feelings about the plan. “They are very pretty, after all.”
“Ah, no, that would be totally alright~.” Sophia smiled at her. "It would be nice to have a little group of them sprinkled everywhere, but I want to keep the massive forest unique for the time being.”
“Thank you!” It was enough for the fox-girl.
“It’s just as Steph said, everything’s better when it’s pink~.”
“Exactly!” The dog-girl nodded a few times.
“You’re just saying that because Maya isn’t here right now.” Chloe didn’t buy it.
“Let’s go!” Not facing her, Sophia raised her arm and began walking down the mountain towards the cherry blossom forest.
“Dork.” The fox-girl could only shake her head.
Obviously, Sophia made exactly three steps before she remembered that they were traveling using her portable portals. She quickly pulled out another one and threw it towards the forest.
“Ohh!” Arriving inside the sea of cherry blossoms, the blonde’s mood increased yet again. “It looks even better up close!” She twirled around on the spot while several pink petals fell down on and around her. They seemed to be in bloom for a few days already because even the lightest breeze caused more petals to fly around in the air, and the ground, too, was covered in pink.
“We came at the perfect time, huh?” Steph was also looking around with a big smile. “It couldn’t have been more impressive and beautiful.”
“Yeah!” She nodded. “I almost feel bad that I’m going to rip a 200 by 200-meter-wide hole into it to put into my domain.
“This much?” Aura tilted her head. “Didn’t we usually take a few trees or saplings together with a bit of soil?”
“I love this area too much, and I want a full copy as my starting point. With just a few saplings, the output is more random. I mean, the areas you all made with the samples we collected look nothing like the original places, right?”
“That’s true.”
“I mean, I’m going to make some changes, but the base is perfect! I wanna keep the feel! At least in some parts.”
“I’m looking forward to whatever the outcome is~.” Chloe was certain she’d turn it into something nice and beautiful.
Afterward, Sophia went ahead and borrowed a sizeable portion of the cherry blossom forest for her domain. Though, feeling bad about the hole she created, she released a little of her internal magic in the area, hoping the surrounding trees would absorb it and grow enough to close the gap she made. Then, once the four were ready, the group returned to the cottage using the blonde’s portal that she opened for them.
