Having finished her meal and tidied up, Nyarra crawled into her tent and curled up in her
bedroll. She could still faintly smell the ointment on her ass, but a careful rub no longer
elicited any discomfort. She decided to try a harder squeeze
to see if there was any lingering tenderness deeper in the muscle, but it merely
felt like she was trying to give herself a massage. Giving up on this investigation, she
pulled her blanket up tight around her shoulders and plopped her face into her pillow to
try to get some sleep.

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, she finally got comfortable and began
to nod off.

“please, no erotic dreams this time” she whispered quietly.

Mercifully, Nyarra's sleep was untroubled by disturbing dreams and she woke to the
sounds of the forest birds going about their morning routine. Stretching in her
bedroll, she peered out of her tent to see that it was somewhat past dawn and the
clearing was well lit by the sun.

“no going in the temple today, I guess. Oh well. I should probably do some hunting;
I need more than just trail biscuits and dried meat soup or I'm going to go crazy.
And I need a bath. Definitely.”

Nyarra crawled out of her tent and put some water on the fire to heat for tea, then
grabbed her clothes and her pack. Setting her worn clothes aside, she pulled a
clean linen shift out, then dug around for her pouch of soap.

“I am not going to have a bath, then put dirty clothes back on, so I guess I'm going hunting in
just my spare shirt.”

After dropping some tea leaves and herbs in the hot water to steep, she carried her clothes and
soap over to the stream and proceeded to soak and scrub them clean as best she could. Once she
was satisfied that they were as clean as she could get them, she spread them out on some rocks to
dry. Sitting back down on her bedroll, she drank some tea and nibbled on a biscuit for her breakfast.

“I'm pretty sure I'd seen a small pond a couple hundred feet downstream from here on my way in.
That seems like a good place to not only have a bath, but also to start looking for game sign” she mused

Slipping on her soft shoes, she gathered up her shift, then pulled her bow and quiver out of her
tent. Slinging them over her shoulder, she moved off into the woods, following the stream.

After a half hour or so, she came out into a small clearing with a nice pond in the middle.
The stream flowed into it on one side, then out again a little ways away on the side opposite
where she entered. Finding a soft spot on the grassy surround, she set down her things and kicked
off her shoes. Soap in hand, she walked over to the edge of the rocky pond and swished her hand
around. The water was chilly, but not unbearably so. Setting the soap down on a small boulder on
the edge, she slowly stepped into the pond and began to move away from the edge to deeper water.
When the water reached her knees, she gritted her teeth and dove straight in. She swam a couple
strokes underwater before coming back up and gasping at the shock of the chill water.

“gods, but that's bracing!” she exclaimed, goosebumps rising on her skin and her nipples
puckering. She lazily swam around in the pond, getting used to the temperature, then moved
back over to the edge and grabbed her soap. Standing in the shallows, she lathered and scrubbed,
working away the grime and grit of her journey. Thoroughly scrubbed, she put the soap down
and dove back in to rinse herself off. After a few minutes of splashing about, she finally
swam back to the shore and climbed out. Squeezing as much water out of her hair as she could,
she ran her comb through it to pull out any tangles. Lacking a proper towel, she brushed as
much water off her skin as she could before pulling her shift over her head and slipping her
shoes back on her feet. She fastened her belt around her waist to hold her shirt in place,
then hung her soap pouch off one side and her small hunting dagger off the other. As she bent
to pick up her bow and quiver, she laughed softly

“it's a good thing there's no one else around. This shirt barely covers my ass, and
the dampness is making it cling to my tits.” Nyarra smiled a little at the picture she
must present, then softly made her way around the pond to follow the exiting stream where
it entered back into the woods.

Moving as quietly as she could, Nyarra made her way through the forest, looking for
signs of game trails. Where there was water, there was always game. She wasn't looking
for much, maybe a rabbit or two or even a couple of fat birds.

Nyarra stalked the woods for the next several hours, being alert for signs of movement
and life. Birds sang in the trees above her and the leaves rustled in the
soft breeze. She was ultimately successful, bagging herself a large rabbit and a
fat ground bird. She had lost three arrow to the endeavour, but it was a small
price to pay to have some fresh food. Now that her hunt was over, she was no longer
trying to be stealthy and pushed her way through the branches and underbrush. She
pulled a larger branch out of her way and hooked it on the brush beside her, then
slipped around the end of it to continue on her path. As she passed by, her shift
caught on the branch and pulled it loose; it snapped back and struck her across the
ass, just above her thighs.

Smack!

Nyarra yelped at the blow, but then started to flush as the brief stinging jolt
ignited a kernel of heat in her loins. Rubbing her ass, she bit her lip and mused
“I guess I do kinda like being spanked”
“Naughty branch” she laughed and wagged her finger at the offending tree. Turning
away, she resumed her trek back to camp, only to stop after a few paces and look back
the branch that had struck her. She licked her lips and her brow furrowed in
thought. Making up her mind, she set her catch down and moved back to the branch
and pulled out her knife. “not as good as an axe, but it will have to do”
After a few minutes of chipping and cutting, she had the naughty branch in hand.
Sheathing her knife, she picked up her catch and started to hurry back along the trail.

Arriving back at her camp outside the temple in late afternoon, she built up her fire
again and began to clean and dress her kills. “I'll have to cook it all, but that's ok,
it'll keep longer” She portioned out the meat, putting some on skewers
above the fire, other pieces cut small she grilled in her cookpot. Some of the
larger pieces she wrapped in leaves and buried in the hot ashes under the fire to
bake slowly. The sun was beginning to set as the fastest cooking pieces approached
being done. Pulling the skewers out of the fire, Nyarra settled back and sighed
peacefully. She was warm, she was safe, she had a good hot meal. Reaching back into
her tent, she pulled out her book. Flipping through the pages, she found the story
she was looking for – Lola's Secret. Absently chewing on the rabbit skewer in her left
hand, she re-read the whipping scene again. She had a fresh new perspective
on it now.

'She didn't think Mistress had figured out yet that Lola secretly enjoyed the crop.
Every stinging slap sent a jolt of pleasure coursing through her body. She had to work
hard to stifle her moans of pleasure when Mistress whipped her. Thankfully, Mistress had
chosen to gag her this time which made that task a bit easier. She didn't think her Mistress
knew how much she liked the gag as well, especially this one – the plug was shaped vaguely
like the tip of a penis and Lola enjoyed the feeling of it stretching her mouth open. She
couldn't resist running her tongue over it.'

Nyarra now knew how Lola felt. She'd felt the same thing when the paddle had struck
her ass, and again this afternoon when the branch had sprung back and smacked her.
“I'm not so sure about the gag yet, though” She pushed the book aside and licked the
juices from her meal off her fingers. She banked her fire to let the heat and
smoke dry out and seal in the flavor of the meat on the spit above, then cleaned up
in the stream. Returning to her camp, she picked up the branch she had cut and held
it in her hands.

“I can't believe I'm doing this” she thought, as she bent the branch in her hands
a few times, testing its springiness. Kneeling down beside her tent, she made note
of a spot on the pole, then began lashing the heavier end of the branch to it with
some cord. The task wasn't much different from building a snare trap, just a different
direction of movement. When she was satisfied it was going to hold
firmly, she bent the branch back to find the right spot for the trigger stake. Once she
felt she had it right, she hooked up the trigger string and stepped to one side. Looking
everything over once more, she tugged the string.

Swish!

The brench snapped back straight, swishing through the air in its stroke. Nyarra
reset the branch and tested it again.

Swish!

It snapped back again, right through the same space it had the first time. Nyarra
licked her lips as she reset it once more. Getting down on her hands and knees in
the spot she had selected, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she tried
to settle in to a comfortable position, her hand tugged the trigger string a little too hard.

Swish!
Smack!

The branch swatted across her exposed ass, sending a stinging jolt coursing through
her body. She yelped in surprise – she hadn't been fully ready for the blow. As the
jolt passed through, her, she felt something else. Yes, there it was, that kernel of
heat igniting in her loins. She reset the branch and got into position again,
tugging the string almost randomly.

Smack!

The branch lashed her ass again, a burst of heat spreading as the sting coursed 
through her. “oh, that does feel good” she breathed as she drank in the mingled
sensations of pain and pleasure. She reset and triggered again.

Smack!

This time, Nyarra moaned a little as the feelings washed through her. Biting her
lip, she sat up and rubbed her ass. It was feeling good, but she knew it would
ultimately be unsatisfying. It took too long to reset everything – her ardour was
cooling off too much between blows. She really did need to be spanked by someone
else in order to reach the desired result. At this moment, she almost envied the
girl in the story.

Looking across the clearing, she could just make out the temple door in the light
of the moon.

“what other secrets are you hiding in there” she looked down at herself.
“what other secrets are you trying to unlock in me?”
“who is Delphine, really?”

“in due time, Nyarra” Delphine's voice echoed in her mind
“all will be revealed in time. You are making progress, though. I see you trying to
explore your desires. I wish I could help you, but I am unable to do so right now”
Nyarra frowned a little and closed her eyes.

“the best I can do for you right now my sweet girl, is this”

Nyarra felt a sensation course over her body, as if hands and lips and tongue were
caressing her, gently sucking on her nipples, rubbing her pussy. She lay back and gave
 in to the ghostly caresses. She felt a spectral tongue glide over her pussy,
parting her lips and flicking against her clit. A ghostly finger swirled around her
asshole, gently teasing, stroking. Nyarra was unfamiliar with this new sensation,
but she didn't find it unpleasant. Nyarra brought her hands up and began to squeeze
and caress her breasts. She moaned softly as the ghostly finger pushed gently into
her ass and began to stroke in and out. She began to shudder as she felt the heat
build in her. She felt her ass stretch open wider as a second finger joined the
first, and the sensation of her pussy being licked intensified. The wave of heat
built and broke over her softly, and she moaned her pleasure to the night sky as
she came. Nyarra revelled in the feeling of her orgasm. While not intense, it was
instead deeply relaxing, as of tension washing away under a good massage.

“sleep now, morning comes all to soon” Delphine whispered in her mind.

Nyarra sighed, then rolled over and crawled into her bedroll to sleep.