SpoilerNedral forced her eyes open, her eyelids stubborn as if weighed down but a hundred lead weights. The light flooded into her eyes, making it that much more difficult to open them, and she forced herself to sit up. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room in the tiny house in the forest. She was in the bedroom that wasn’t much larger than a good sized pantry in a castle kitchen.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, the wood floor cool to the touch, and stood, stretching gratefully for a long moment. She yawned and moved from the bedroom into the main room, which housed the living room, kitchen and a large metal tub for bathing. There was an old sofa situated against the far left wall beneath a window covered with dark gray blinds. She came to a stop in the middle of the room, the place still foreign to her, not knowing exactly what to do. She was dressed in the same white shirt she woke up in the previous day after being transferred into this Miqo’te body which reached down to her ankles. She felt a sensation, at least that’s the only way she could describe it, run through her mind. She froze for a moment, thinking something wrong, then visibly relaxed, smiling.

“Good morning,” she said aloud.

“What are you doing just standing around?” Aixa asked, her mind voice still tired from sleep.

Nedral shook her head and looked around some more. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what do to with myself.”

“Well,” Aixa started, thinking about her normal routine. “I usually start out the day with a cup of tea then tend the garden for a while.”

Nedral sighed and her brows furrowed. “Tend the garden? I’m no botanist.” She crossed her arms, the tip of her tail swishing underneath the long shirt.

“No, but I am; I can walk you through it. It’s rather easy and relaxing, especially in the morning.” She replied, more alert now. “I’m afraid, however, that I used the last of the water yesterday, so no tea. I was going to get some today until this happened, but it might give you a chance to get used to… my body.”

Nedral nodded then moved to the door in front of her and opened it, the hinges squeaking in protest. The sun was bright and the air comfortably warm, a slight breeze caressing the surrounding area. Per Aixa, Nedral looked to her right and moved to a small chest on the side of the house near the door. She lowered herself and opened the chest, finding several gardening tools, an apron and some gloves. She donned the gloves and grabbed the spade then moved over to a row of moon flowers.

Nedral began working around one of the plants, attempting to uproot it for a transfer to a pot, but broke the stem. She cursed and tossed the spade down.

“This is stupid. As I said, I’m not a botanist.” She fumed.

Aixa sighed. “I’ve an idea, can you read what I’m thinking?” Aixa thought something and Nedral nodded. “Try this: I’ll think what it is that needs to be done, go through the movements and you try and copy it, okay?”

Nedral thought for a moment before nodding. “Alright, lets give it a try.”

Nedral stretched her neck and then began to focus on what Aixa was thinking. As she did so, she looked down at her hands and she reeled back in surprise as she saw her hands and arms split and start moving.

“Well this is interesting.”

“What?” Aixa said, breaking her concentration.

“I can see the movements you’re thinking, it’s like a residual image of my limbs, even though I wasn’t physically moving.” She explained.

“Hmmm… You think you can match the movements as I think them?” Aixa asked.

“It felt like I entered your mind and made it my own, so it’s possible but it might take a few tries.” She replied.

Nedral stumbled the first several tries as they practiced, at first, picking up the shovel and digging some dirt. Once she had that down, they tried some more complicated hand movements until Nedral could near predict what Aixa was thinking before she began the movements. After an hour or so, Nedral was up rooting plants, putting them in pots, and planting smaller one’s and various other things around the garden, as if she had been doing it her whole life. And she had to admit that it was rather enjoyable in the cool morning breeze.

When the work was done, she stood and wiped the sweat from her brow. Now it was time to fetch the water. Again she read Axia’s mind and it directed her to put the tools away, grab the two buckets just inside the front door and walk a path straight back into the woods away from her house to a fresh water stream that was about three minutes walk. After making several trips, gathering enough to fill the tub, Nedral set a pot to boil and lit the fire underneath the tub to warm the water.

While she waited, she went into the bed room and picked out some fresh cloths to wear from a small closet she hadn’t noticed when she woke up. While removing a shirt from a hanger, she noticed the pommel of a sword buried behind some boxes and old books. She moved the items aside and removed the sword from the closet; it was a plain hand-and-a-half sword with a simple leather sheath. Nedral was surprised to find the blade in excellent condition with no rust, only a few chips in the edge from battle.

“You practice?” She asked Aixa.

“No, it was my uncle’s. He died in battle when I was much too young to remember him. It was returned to my father, along with the rest of his armor and effects. It’s been in that closed for Gods know how long.”

“Hmm, well it will be perfect to start practicing with. I still remember my training with the sword, but I’ll have to get this body into shape before we head out.” She replied.

“Head out? In shape?” she huffed. “What do you mean ‘in shape’?”

Nedral laughed slightly, sheathing the sword and leaning it against the wall then moved out into the living room with the clothes and set them on a bench near the tub. “I meant no disrespect, you’ve kept your body in superb condition but it’s not use to sword play. We’ll be sore for a few days until it’s used to the training.”

She walked up to the tub and dipped her hand into the water and to her surprise, it was hot. “That was quick.” She started to bundle up the shirt to remove it.

“Stop!”

Nedral jumped and dropped the amount of shirt she had bunched up. “Gods, Aixa, what’s wrong?” A feeling that Nedral recognized as embarrassment coursed through her body.

“I uh… You have to close your eyes.” She said quietly. Nedral found it odd that she could barely hear Aixa.

“Well, I’m going to have to see it eventually, Aixa, there’s no need to be embarrassed.” Nedral was trying not to get annoyed, but she understood how Aixa must feel to have someone else in control of her body.

“I know it’s just…” She trailed off and blocked Aixa from her thoughts.

“Okay, Aixa, I won’t look this time but we’ll have to work through it the next time.” Nedral felt the relief Aixa was feeling. She closed her eyes and removed the shirt, cracking one eye lid with her head tilted back so she could find her way into the tub, then sank down into the warm water, a wide grin spreading across her face.