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A short distance away from the clearing Ciera had been trapped in, Karla was helping set up camp for the night. She was trying to rehearse the conversation she was going to have with everyone, hoping that if she memorized every detail of what she was going to say, she could focus on not revealing that she was now hopelessly enamored with tits. God, it was so bad she found herself occasionally looking down at herself and wishing she was a little more...busty. Whatever Percival had done to her, it was definitely devious. And here she was distracted again! Thinking about how her problem was affecting her instead of the helpful things she had learned and needed to tell everyone!

"Are you alright, Karla? You seem a little distracted."

"Yes, Chester, I'm fine. I'm just tired, that's part of what we're going to talk about once camp is set up."

"You being tired? Does it have something to do with the fight?"

"In a way. Let's just hurry up, sooner we finish setting up the sooner we can go over everything."

It was a grueling few minutes, but eventually the campfire and sleeping arrangements were made and Karla found herself standing in front of her three companions. She was staring intently at the fire, making sure her eye's didn't wander. It was helping, but she was beginning to realize that even if she wasn't looking, she was still thinking about how good it would be to sneak a look. This was going to make focus difficult, but she decided to just push through it.

"Okay...So, really there's three things I learned during the fight that will help us strategize. The first is easy, we all knew that you can't back out of a duel, if someone challenges you, you have to fight, or concede the match. However, it doesn't seem like the duel really starts until both people have agreed on it, or at least that's the feeling I got. What I mean is, if you're sure you're going to duel someone, it's best to challenge them first, then introduce yourself, talk to them, whatever."

Everyone nodded along, and Karla glanced up to make sure she had their attention, only realizing her mistake when several seconds had passed without her saying anything and her eyes were glued to Ciera's chest. Damn! Could they see how flushed her cheeks were? This was humiliating...

"Er, the uh, the second thing is maybe the most important. We were only told that no injury could take place, and that we could fight normally but no actual blood would be spilled. In, in fact there's actually magic in place that makes each wound or injury you would suffer exhaust you, draining your energy. If you, uh, if you get hit with a sword, or mace, or probably even spell, there's no pain or anything. You just feel much more tired. This is important, because as much as getting stabbed in the shoulder might slow you down in a fight, being, uh..."

She was staring again while she talked! She could feel her tail swishing behind her, betraying her! She had no idea how much actual experience they had with half-beasts like her, but if they understood what that meant...She needed to stop thinking about this or the blushing in her cheeks would give her away for sure. She also needed to stop thinking about how beautiful Vivian's tits were, especially when she was sitting back the way she was, practically presenting them...Damn it, look away!

"It-It's very tiring! The magic. Not like being injured normally. So you have to account for each wound, adjust your speed, like you've been fighting for a long time. It also means that hitting first is important, because whoever gets hit first is at a disadvantage immediately. I also think the magic is, well, not totally fair about wounds and hits. A glancing blow is worse than it should be, and heavy strikes are probably not as bad. That being said, mortal wounds are still immediately incapacitating, and armor still seems to weaken the effect of each strike..."

There! As long as she focused, looked only at the fire, she'd be fine! Her eyes were watering, and she was probably going to be half blind for the rest of the night, but maybe that was for the best!

"Oh, and if you do lose a fight, it seems like you recover fairly quickly afterwards. There's a sort of...lingering tiredness, but it's very faint."

"Did you manage to get your opponent to tell you that?" Chester asked.

"W-What? Oh, yes, of course. I mean, I didn't lose, but even I still feel a little tired. They did explain a few things to me, which brings me to the final point. If you win a fight, you don't have to speak to the Judges out loud to do whatever you're going to do to your opponent. You can talk to them through thought alone, so that you can do things without them necessarily knowing. This_also_ means that if you lose a fight, you may not necessarily know what's been done."

There was a bit of a silence after that revelation. While it hadn't been explicitly mentioned in the rules, they had all assumed that they would know what anyone did to them when they lost a match. The idea that people could do things discreetly...

"Damn. We just have to never lose then, right?" Chester said, looking towards Vivian and Ciera.

"Yep! Shouldn't be too hard! Maybe we should stick together then, and not split up unless we need to?" Ciera replied.

"Well," said Vivian, "Perhaps a little more caution going forward is a good plan. Speaking of which, how are you feeling, Ciera? Anything unusual?"

"I'm, well...Still sore. Sort of, specifically sore. Um...maybe we could talk privately after we're done eating?"

Vivian nodded, and then looked at Karla. "You should get some rest. If you encountered someone, most likely things are just picking up. We may need you tomorrow. I can help Ciera, and don't forget that if anything comes up I can help you too. Enchantment and mental magic are good for more than disabling opponents, there's many ways it can help us all in the Tournament."

"I'll keep that in mind Vivian. And, you're right, I should get some rest. You keeping watch, Chester?"

"Yes, I can take care of it tonight. Me and Vivian will work out who's on watch, you and Ciera will just rest up."

"Okay...thank you."

With that Karla went to her tent, perhaps a little too quickly. She needed some time away, it was impossible to focus with Vivian or Ciera there. She had also increasingly come to realize that not only was she humiliated by how little she could control herself, but also that the more humiliated she felt by it the more _turned on_she felt. It had to be the work of Percival, of course it was, but...she had some doubts. Was...was that part just who she was? She wasn't exactly experienced outside the realm of battle, and had never really had time to explore the more intimate side of things...

But, right now she couldn't stop to think about it. She needed to go to sleep, try as hard as she could to calm down and focus on something else. Like how beautiful the moon had looked outside, big, round, soft-damn it!This was going to be a rough night...

The next morning, the group broke camp and started traveling as early as possible. Theoretically, the forest ended somewhere. There was always talk of the varied environments the Tournament took place in, forests and deserts, rivers and small lakes. Even talk of an underground labyrinth at the center of it all, where the Champion's Key resided. What was never really mentioned was the actual scale of everything. Would it take days to exit the forest? Weeks? The Tournament only lasts three months, if someone doesn't win by the other conditions, the Judges pick a winner when time is up. It was apparently fairly common, and one of the reasons playing to the Judges was so important. Maybe that was why? What if the center of the Tournament area was so far away no one could reach it to get the Champion's Key and win the Tournament?

Karla was deep in thought musing on this, thankful that she tended to travel in front of her companions (other than Chester, who was off scouting as always). She had noticed this morning that Ciera seemed a little uncomfortable, and while the forest was always a little chilly in the morning, she was wearing an unnecessary amount of layers. Jackets and things they had packed for snowy climates. She was clearly overheating now, as the day carried on, but didn't seem to want to take anything off. This was, if anything, helpful for Karla. All she had to do was not think about Vivian, or what was under all those layers Ciera was wearing, and she could basically function normally!

Ciera had not been having a good day. Yesterday's encounter with the...plant...thing...had been difficult but not terribl __e_ ,_per say. The lingering soreness last night worried her, but Vivian had assured her that whatever it was, the party was well equipped to deal with it.

Then this morning happened. He breasts had been sore all night, there was almost a pressure, and she had reached up to massage them in the privacy of her tent, trying to get some relief and felt a slight dampness on her skin. _Milk._Of course, she wasn't an idiot, not nearly as stupid as people liked to believe she was (because being bubbly and optimistic also meant naive to most people). She knew that the Tournament had a reputation for a certain amount of deviant behavior. Well, a lot of deviant behavior. Most who joined just figured it was worth the risk.

And, it follows, she was...well-endowed. The chances were high someday in the Tournament, if they lost to someone, they'd think they were having a bright idea_and do something inconvenient to her. It was just, she had expected a few cup sizes, maybe some kind of increased sensitivity, not..._milk._She had no idea how to handle this. She had had a panicked conversation with Vivian, but she had just told her to deal with it and they could talk tonight, in private. The problem was that it was getting worse! The soreness was _not going away, and she new exactly what she needed to do now, but she was a little too embarrassed to even try it.

It didn't help that Karla had been staring. It was like she knew. Something was definitely different there, Karla had always been flexible when it came to partners, and of everyone here, Karla and Ciera had known each other the longest, so she thought she knew her pretty well. As far as she knew, Karla had never been all that interested in her. To be honest, Ciera didn't know any real specifics about who Karla was interested in. Just that it had always seemed pretty varied...

Either way, she was going to have to talk to her about it. It would be an embarrassing conversation for both of them. She didn't mind being looked at, not exactly, just...it was weird for Karla to suddenly be looking at her like that. Especially because Karla wasn't nearly as subtle as she thought she was.

"Everyone, stand still for a second..." Vivian suddenly whispered, crouching low.

Thank god she was paying attention, Ciera thought. Neither she nor Karla seemed to be.

"What is it?" Karla whispered as they gathered close to Vivian.

"Two people, up ahead. Where's Chester?"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon. If we saw them, he definitely has."

"Should we wait for them?"

Karla stared into the trees, thinking very specifically about things that were not how Vivian's breasts were currently touching her arm. This was fighting time, her domain. She could stay on task.

"No, just two of them? We can handle it. I can see them, they don't look all that experienced. They haven't noticed us, either. I say we jump out and ambush them, they'll likely ask for a two-on-two duel. Who do we send with me?"

"Ciera," Vivian replied, "She's going to be the most help in a fight without Chester here."

"I'm right here, you know," Chester said, surprising the three of them.

"Damn it, Chester," Karla whispered hoarsely, "Warn us first! You nearly spooked us all enough that we gave away our position. You up for a fight?"

"Of course! Finally, something interesting to do! I'll sneak back behind them as a bird, and drop out of the trees to challenge them when you do. I say we don't reveal our allies are here, not until we win. Agreed?"

"Agreed, I'll go introduce myself!" Karla said.

Karla stepped out from behind a tree after a minute or two of closing the distance quietly, and immediately shouted "I challenge both of you to a duel!"

The two people were a beastman and beastwoman, full blooded. The male was clearly a canine, most likely a wolfman, and the woman was a catwoman. It was unusual to find those two particular types working together like this, but anything was possible.

"Well! Just one lost half-blood trying to take on the world? You've underest-"

"I challenge the two of you to a duel." Chester said, dropping down from a tree behind them.

"Ah!" The catwoman shrieked, jumping back a half foot out of surprise, "What the hell? There's two of them!"

"Damn it, how did he sneak up on us?" The wolfman said, before sniffing the air, the tip of his muzzle rising to meet the wind. "Ah...A shifter. You smell like prey, shifter. A bird maybe? Clever way to get close to us."

"The name is Chester, thank you very much. And we have a duel to start, mutt."

"I_will_ make you regret calling me that. My name is Varder, and this is Mileena."

"And I'm Karla. Are we through with the whole round of introductions?"

The wolfman sneered, turning to face her. "Listen, half-breed. We both have twice the speed and reflexes either of you have, and probably twice the cunning to boot. You are not in for an easy victory. You should enjoy this moment before you endure whatever we inflict on you after you lose."

Chester and Karla shared a bemused look for a moment, before Karla said "You take the cat, I take the dog?"

"Fair enough, Karla."

Karla didn't want to admit that the reason she wanted him to take the catwoman was because she still wasn't sure how _distracted_she would be in a real fight. The catwoman was not exactly busty, but Karla still didn't know exactly what Percival had done. Would it only be big tits? Any set of tits? She was not ready to find out yet, so she was pointedly ignoring her female opponent.

"Let's start on three, a two on two duel. No individual matches. None of us moves until the duel starts. Agreed?"

Chester listened to the wolfman's proposal, nodding as he finished.

"We accept. On three? You count."

"Very well. One, two, three!"

As soon as the Varder shouted the last number, he unsheathed a large two handed blade, charging at Karla. She was thankful he was stupid, smarter opponents would have considered trying to complicate their opponents tactics, maybe trying to make her fight the catwoman, or trying a feint of some kind. It seemed this opponent felt their strength and speed would be enough.

To his credit, he was a great deal faster than she expected, and the first swing of his blade missed by only a hair. He pivoted quickly, reacting almost preternaturally to her movements, and kept swinging relentlessly. He was clearly trying not to give her a moment to rest, or strike back.

Meanwhile, Chester circled the catwoman, both of them simply observing the other, waiting to make a move. He could see the wolfman practically going berserk in the background, Karla using the trees and terrain to slow him down, wait for him to tire out.

It was all the distraction the catwoman was waiting for, apparently, as he looked past her at Karla. She quickly reached into a pocket hidden in her clothes and grabbed a small dagger, throwing it with pinpoint precision at his neck. He reacted quickly enough to dodge out of the way, but two more daggers quickly follow, grazing his clothing but thankfully not his skin. They were almost certainly poisoned, if this catwoman was smart.

Karla on the other hand was beginning to tire out Varder, or at least enough that she could maneuver between his strikes. As strong as he was, he was wielding a large blade and even a well trained swordsman weakens after a barrage of blows like that. She started to poke at openings with her sword, grazing his legs and shoulder with each strike, and she could tell that it was having an effect.

"Mileena, aim for the half-breed!"

The shout was sudden, and Karla realized she had been maneuvered between the two of them, when Mileena shouted back "I'm a little busy! If I give him an opening I'll be out of the fight!"

"I don't give a damn! If you can hit this cat-eared bitch I can take out the snarky asshole! Just do it!"

Karla turned to try and get both of them in the peripherals of her vision, preparing for them to gang up on her, but the catwoman was fast. Karla dodged the first, second, and third knives that came towards her, then managed to step back enough to dodge the swing from the wolfman, only for a fourth dagger to plant itself in her shoulder.

Chester managed to use the opening to get a dagger planted firmly in Mileena's back, which resulted in an almost simultaneous collapse of her and Karla. Chester realized he had been right about the poison, as the dagger Mileena had thrown only hit Karla's shoulder. It would have to be something deadly to take someone out of a fight that quickly. He was thankful for the magic of the Tournament.

"Just you and me now, shifter. How well do you think you can do challenging someone like me alone? Head on?"

"Poorly," Chester said, and then quickly darted away behind a tree. The flapping of wings was the only evidence of his escape.

"Damn it, you can't run! If you flee too far it counts as you surrendering! I'd rather take you out myself!"

Varder shouted angrily into the air, baring his fangs as he turned from side to side, sniffing the air to try and find the shifter. He started swinging his blade wildly at the surrounding trees, scaring or injuring any of the small animals that fled after each strike. As seconds turned into minutes, his bluster and anger started to become genuine frustration, on edge trying to listen to every sound, process every scent.

When the dagger came spinning out from between the trees, Varder had just enough time to deflect it with the flat of his blade. He failed, however, to deflect the one that grazed his leg.

"And, I believe, that is victory. I don't know what the hell you poison these things with, but it is deadly."

"Basilisk...venom..." Mileena said, breathing heavily between each word. "You've...won."

Varder started to charge towards Chester, rage in his eyes, but each step came slower as exhaustion overcame him, and he eventually dropped his sword and fell to his knees.

"Damn...it. You win. Bastards."

Chester stepped over and helped Karla up, who was quickly recovering.

"I think...I think the magic only keeps you weak until the fight is over? Or, until your opponents are done with you, I suppose," Karla said.

"Well, what are we doing with these two?"

Karla stumbled slightly as she walked over to Mileena, still getting her footing. She hadn't really gotten a good look at the catwoman during the fight, but now she was glad she hadn't fought her. She could feel a familiar heat, a tightness in her chest. Mileena may not be well-endowed, but the clothing she was wearing barely covered anything...maybe it was a full-blooded beastman thing. Even Varder's armor seemed a little less protective than a standard set, leaving gaps where there shouldn't be any.

"Oh, uh...Well, we need the Judges to keep us around, right? So we need to do something interesting, something they'll appreciate..."

In truth, she already knew what she wanted to do to Mileena. The thought of it hadn't left her head since she had wondered over. Sure, Mileena was not well-endowed...but she could be. That was the magic of the Tournament. Karla didn't need to know a lick of magic, just had to have an idea, and the will to win a fight.

"How about...you let me deal with Mileena, and you get to pick something for Varder?"

Chester looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I think I have an idea to deal with this loud mouthed pup."

Karla stood over Mileena, more than a little anxious about her first victory. She didn't want to give away how turned on she was by the thought of what she was about to do, and she was sure that Vivian and Ciera were watching just outside of sight. Ciera was usually about as observant as a rock living under a bigger, heavier rock, but Vivian always caught the small and unusual details no one else did. It was, to tell the truth, a bit unsettling.

None of that was going to stop her though. She tried to reach out with her thoughts and activate the ring, still a little unsure of how the magic worked, and was surprised when she felt a _connection_of some kind. She realized her thoughts were being broadcast.

"_I...I want her breasts to grow bigger!"_she thought, her own voice echoing in her mind.

"Easily done. How much bigger?" a voice responded, vague and androgynous.

"O-Oh, uh, three times bigger?" she responded, her heart quickening as she pictured it. She felt rather than heard a sigh before the voice responded.

"Any kind of unit? Are we talking volume? You need to learn to be specific, contender...'

"Oh...er, volume, sure!"

"Very well."

And with that, the connection cut out. She looked down at Mileena, and waited.

Mileena had been waiting anxiously, expecting some kind of conversation, or gloating, but instead all she got was a half-breed catwoman standing over her with a surprisingly intense gaze. She knew some people were into...more specific parts of a woman's body, but this...Karla person...really must have it bad. She hadn't taken her eyes off Mileena's chest since she wandered over. She wasn't really all that surprised when a gently tingling started to spread across her breasts, alongside a growing tightness.

The tightness was constricting at first, she scrambled to loosen the cloth and leather armor she was wearing, not immediately worried about the fact that she was exposing herself in the middle of the forest. As soon as the pressure was relieved, she looked down and saw that she was still growing considerably! Her face went from mildly annoyed to shocked and anxious as she realized that this was not going to make fitting back into her armor easy...

Karla was practically panting, trying as much as possible to control herself. The problem was...a part of her didn't really want to control herself. A part of her loved the idea of giving in to her desires, getting down on the forest floor in front of those two expanding tits, putting her face between them...

"Oh...oh my god, are you..."

Karla snapped out of it in time to realize her hand was halfway inside her pants, with the other cupping her left breast through her armor. She gasped, quickly turning away from Mileena.

"I, I just...D-Don't ever think about trying to challenge us again! Your next loss will be far worse!"

Mileena sighed, looking down at her chest as she responded "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it will be. Do you have any idea how difficult it's gonna be to refit my armor while we're out in the middle of nowhere? God, these are now...what, G-cup? I hope one day someone does this to you and you get to deal with the fallout of having an extra couple of pounds of weight dragging you down. Good luck,half-breed."

Karla then stormed off, partially because the half-breed thing was getting annoying, but mostly because the thought of someone doing this to her had just set off sparks inside her. She needed to talk to Vivian tonight. This was going to be bad, she no longer had any idea what would set her off, suddenly make her as horny as a full-blooded beastwoman's first heat...Vivian would be able to help.

When Karla approached Chester, he was just turning away from Varder.

"What did you do to him?" she asked casually.

"Oh, just made him a more interesting conversationalist."

"Arf! Ruff!" Varder responded, barking like a dog, clearly enraged.

"Oh, wow, that's uh...pretty cruel."

At this Chester started walking away with her, while lowering his voice so no one else could hear.

"Oh, don't worry. It's only when he's really emotional that he'll bark. Maybe teach him to keep his temper in check. Might also give that Mileena girl some leverage to keep him under control, seems like they have some teamwork problems. Speaking of which...did you really just grow her tits?"

The brazen mention of what just happened cause Karla to blush strongly, but she tried to keep her cool.

"Y-Yes, just trying to play the Judges. They like that kind of thing, right? Maybe if we see them again, you know, we'll do some kind of related change, that sort of thing. I mean, that's what it seems like we should be doing, trying to get the Judges on our side."

"Makes sense, I suppose. Maybe I should have been a little harder on him. Hah, turned him into a dogman instead of a wolfman! That would have been hilarious, actually..."

With that, they both caught up to their friends hiding just out of sight, who both congratulated them immediately. Karla noticed that she was getting some odd looks from them, but considering what had just happened she could hardly blame them. Still, this was what the Tournament was all about...they had known what they were all getting into.

The rest of the day's journey was actually quite quiet, the only sounds being the natural background of any forest. The group spoke every once in a while, commenting on the battle they had just won. Ciera worried about what would have happened if they had lost, Vivian commented on the potency of the poison. Chester revealed he had snagged a few things off of Varder before leaving, including a very small phial of the poison, for emergencies. Karla realized that it was possible Varder's sword was also coated in poison, and that if she had even let it touch her skin once...but, they had won the fight. That was all that mattered.

When they made camp that night, Karla asked to speak to Vivian after she was done tending to Ciera. Karla had no idea what Ciera's problem was, but Vivian apparently decided she needed to be dealt with first. They left and asked for a little privacy, and their group had agreed before the Tournament even began that boundaries on that sort of thing were important. It had been Vivian's idea, actually. She was used to treating people with various ailments of the mind and soul, although not the body. Karla had only met her a few months ago, and was a little concerned about some of the stories she had heard. Everyone seemed to be happy they had payed for her services, her treatments, but...well, no one ever got exactly what they expected. Vivian was a bit of a wildcard, that way.

When Ciera came back with Vivian, she looked exhausted, and went straight to sleep barely saying a word. Vivian seemed a little tired too, but then called for Karla to follow her a short distance away.

They walked just far enough away to be sure Chester couldn't hear or see them, and the sat down next to a large tree. Vivian brought out a soft blanket for them to sit on, inviting Karla to sit across from her.

"Okay, Karla. I know you've been acting a bit odd. Please be honest with me, we're all a team. I know some things are...difficult, so please rest assured, I will not reveal anything you say to me to the others."

"Well...I suppose that's fine then...Just, uh, don't judge me too harshly?"

"Please, Karla, you're safe here. This Tournament is going to be difficult for all of us, you need to trust me just as I trust you."

"Okay. Well...I lied about beating the knight I found. His name was Percival, and he was very skilled...and when he won, he changed something but didn't tell me what it was. That's how I learned all the things I told you guys..."

"That makes sense. So, presumably, whatever he did is what's been causing you to act strangely? Like the way you are having a great deal of trouble looking me in the eye right now?"

Karla jumped slightly, muttering an apology. "S-Sorry, yes. uh...I think he made me...like tits..."

Vivian cocked an eyebrow. "Like tits? Karla, you know it's odd to even hear you talk like that, honestly. I...suppose that makes sense. Give me some more details."

"Well...I've been having trouble stopping myself from openly staring, I've even been daydreaming about getting a peek at you or Ciera while you're changing, or when your clothes...I mean, I'm not trying to be creepy or anything! It's just-"

"Relax, Karla, don't worry about it. Has anyone approached you asking you to stop? We've all noticed. We're just worried about you, that's all. I think Ciera might even appreciate the attention, on some level."

"What? Really? I mean, look, that's not the issue...The issue is that it's distracting. And humiliating. I just can't get over the fact that it's Percival's fault! That every time I have trouble concentrating because I can't tear my eyes off one of you is because of him!"

"I think you're painting a picture for me. Honestly, you don't need to say any more. I know just the thing to help."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course Vivian!"

"Very well."

With that, Vivian pulled out her lyre, and began playing. At first, Karla thought about prying for more information, to figure out what she was doing, but the music was beautiful and relaxing. It wasn't long before she was gently swaying with the music, just focusing on how good it sounded, how little she needed to focus on anything except the music, and Vivian's voice.

She was dimly aware that Vivian was talking, maybe even singing, but there wasn't anything for her to grab on to. No words that made any sense, not to her. They all just drifted past. Soon, she realized, she didn't need to keep thinking at all. Just sit...and listen...

Vivian relaxed slightly as she let her music wind down slowly. The magic she used to enhance it was exhausting to use, and twice in one night was stretching it. Hopefully this would not become the norm. She needed to make certain everything took, so before she finished playing she made sure everything was solidly implanted.

"Tell me, Karla, what happened with Percival?"

"Huh? Oh...he won. But...whatever he did had no effect."

"Good, and how long have you been addicted to tits?"

"How long? As...as long as I can remember. I've always loved tits."

Vivian smiled, Karla hadn't taken her eyes off Vivian's breasts since she started playing. Honestly, it probably made everything go much smoother.

"And are you embarrassed by this?"

"No, of course not. It's who I am. I'm just waiting for the right time to tell Ciera..."

"Good. And you will find a good time for it, I'm sure. I think that about sums everything up."

With that, Vivian stopped playing her harp, and Karla snapped awake, still groggy from the entrancement.

"W-Woah, wow, I'm exhausted...that fight took a lot more out of me than I thought..."

"I bet it did! Now, go back to camp and get some rest, I'll be right behind you."

Karla stumbled to her feet, still a little out of it, but started to walk back in the direction of their camp. Vivian stood up shortly after, a little unsure of her footing herself. Still, this was what the job was all about. She had a duty to her team, and this was the best way to keep Karla from worrying constantly. It was even possible, she thought, that her work tonight could be good for both her and Ciera, long term. Even after the entrancement ended, if it ever did. Maybe it would make Karla a little more open about herself. Vivian smiled at that last thought, and began walking back to camp.