The Misfits meet System-san

Drayden:

At roughly the same time, Drayden and Cassy were also thinking about such matters.

"That's a relief that we won't get pregnant," said Drayden.

"We?"

"You know what I mean."

Now that I can see again, her face and figure are lovely. However, her hair is all over the place.

He reached out and gently tried straightening some of her messy hair. Only Cassy looked irritated and flicked her head to dislodge his hand.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I don't like anyone trying to fix my hair."

Why not? Never mind, I'll ask her about that later.

However, when it came to deciding on whether or not to stay or move, they came to a different conclusion from Alice's and Bronsen's.

"There's nothing all that special about where we are now, and we were able to make our accommodation in a few hours, so I suggest we make a move," said Drayden.

Make sure I suggest things, not order them!

"I'll have to agree to that," said Cassy.

She was sitting cross-legged in front of him in their little tree house.

She looks so amazing!

He allowed his gaze to linger on various parts of her body.

"Drayden, we're supposed to be discussing our future, not ogling my body."

"OK, OK. In that case, in what direction should we move if we move?"

"Towards the wall, of course. The ground rises in that direction, and we might be able to see further."

Drayden thought this over.

"Well, in the other direction is the ocean, and unless we acquire a boat, there is no way we can cross it."

"Remember, there are crocigators out there. And, probably, marine animals that eat crocigators," said Cassy.

"Right, let's avoid the ocean. Course, there is the option of going clockwise or anti-clockwise around the ring."

"But, if we get a bit higher, we might have a better idea of what lies in one or the other of those directions."

"Fine, fine. Let's go to the wall," he said.

"But first, we must make some clothes!"

Sigh. "I was afraid that was going to be coming up."

A big grin from Cassy. "Just think, you will have the excitement of watching me take off my clothes!"

"Ooh, suddenly, I'm all fired up to make some. But how?"

The following week, they were busy for once, answering that very question, mainly by slaughtering a lot of otters and doing their best to cure the hides.

They gained an extra thirty free points from this.

"Say, Cassy, notice that the more otters we kill, the less we get for each one?"

"Yeah, a nuisance, that."

And their [Butchery] ability was modified.

Ding! [Butchery] and [Tanning] increased to 36.

A few days later: "What do you think, Cassy!"

Drayden held up the fruits of his labour: a metre of partly cured hide about half a centimetre wide.

"It's pretty crude, but it certainly can be used as thread," said Cassy.

They used their daggers to cut and trim the hides and the daggers again to punch holes in the edges, thus allowing the thread through. Finally, after much work and swearing, they had their travel clothes ready.

"Hell, you realise that we are wearing furs in this tropical heat trap of a country!" said Cassy.

"Just as well we have [Heat Resistance], then! Let's give it thirteen more points," said Drayden.

Cassy didn't object since she was feeling a little warmish, also.

Drayden admired Cassy's attire. She was wearing shorts that reached just above her knees and a jacket that covered her front and back, and barely managed to reach down to the top of her shorts. The jacket had short sleeves and was closed at the front by lacing up a thread through larger-than-normal holes. Drayden was wearing exactly the same outfit, although his was bigger to fit his bigger frame.

"What a pain. We don't have underwear; the hides feel uncomfortable, and the stitching sticks everywhere. And they look ghastly."

This was because they had the outside of the hides against their skin, and the roughly scraped insides were facing outward.

Drayden could do nothing but shrug his shoulders.

"Unless you want to parade around naked in front of anybody we happen to meet, then this is the best that we can do."

Cassy agreed that she didn't want to go naked in front of anybody apart from him, so she had no choice but to stop grumbling.

Drayden also had a straggly beard. It had been slowly growing ever since they had arrived. He wiped his hand over it.

"This is a nuisance. Should I try cutting it off with my dagger?"

He tried and ended up with an uneven layer of stubble.

"It looks worse," said Cassy, "But never mind. At least you can't now cut yourself shaving!"

They looked up at the wall, visible above the tree line.

"OK, hold my tail with yours, and let's go!" said Drayden.

They went. They didn't even bother to glance backwards at their first home on the Ringworld.