The Unicorn's Forest

Beth stopped what she was about to say as she realized Amelia was right. Even if this worked, Charlie was in no state to even get herself dressed and Beth was pretty sure that she would resist if they tried to get her dressed themselves.

"How about we carry her in her sleeping bag out and take her behind some trees, then let her out where she can go where she wants?" Beth suggested, not sure how smart that idea was, not like they had many options anyway.

Amelia nodded. "Might be better than trying to turn the tent around and have her go just outside it."

"Wait, you were thinking of having her go just outside the tent?" Beth stared at Amelia shocked.

"Well, if we're going to do this, we better hurry," Amelia said, clearly ignoring Beth's question. "I think she's going to feel the need soon."

"Okay, I'll get by her head so I can keep her stuffed in it until we get to the bushes," Beth volunteered.

"Sure, I'll take the bottom of it," Amelia replied.

As they picked up Charlie's sleeping bag with her in it, Charlie seemed to freak out, as she was moving around almost at a frantic pace.

"She's restless," Beth joked as they carefully left the tent with Charlie between them in her bag.

"Let's hope she doesn't make us lose our grip," Amelia said as both of them ignored their friends, other than motioning them to stay away. "I'm not sure how long I can hold on to her bag with her like this."

"At least we don't have far to go," Beth replied, feeling the strain of carrying the bag.

They managed to get out of sight of their friends, so they let Charlie down and helped her out of her sleeping bag. Then Beth slowly started untying her, starting with her legs, so if Charlie showed signs of bolting, the could easily keep her from disappearing into the woods or heading towards their friends.

"You know, would you go back and get some wipes or a damp washcloth?" Beth asked Amelia.

"Why?"

"Well, once she's done with her business, I thought we should probably put her back in her sleeping bag, and if we don't clean any lingering urine and anything else that comes out and tries to stick around, it'll just create a mess if we don't clean her off first," Beth answered, then realized something. "And then if this works, then she's probably going to want to get dressed, so while you're getting the wipes or anything that can work, don' t forget the clothing she was wearing; and I mean alal of it."

"Yeah, I forgot about that," Amelia replied, smirking. "I just wish I had a camera to record how she'll react once she's back to her old self."

"Probably would get smashed once she got her hands on it if you did," Beth remarked.

"Okay, I'll be back real quick," Amelia assured Charlie.

Charlie looked like she was ready to go exploring, but Beth kept a firm hold on her with the rope, which still tied her from the waist up. "You might not like this, Charlie, but I'm sure you'll thank me later," Beth said,

Charlie didn't show any signs of responding, but Beth was sure she heard her. Although, she wasn't sure what had prompted Charlie speaking when they were plying her with water, but she hoped that meant that her friend was starting to return to her old self.

Though, she didn't have to wait long before Charlie sat on her heels as she began to relieve herself, during which, Beth looked away. Despite this being necessary, she still didn't like having to deal with it. She was also pretty sure that Charlie wasn't going to be happy with it later either. At least if she remembered all of this and Beth had a pretty good feeling that she was going to remember all of this.

Fortunately, Amelia returned with a washcloth and all of the clothing Charlie had been wearing before all this started by the time that she finished. Beth couldn't say how relieved she was at this. She wasn't sure what she'd do if Amelia hadn't gotten back before Charlie had been done.

"Okay, let's wipe anything remaining," Beth said, but had to catch Charlie when she seemed to pass out again.

"Think that's a good thing?" Amelia asked, as she quickly took care of doing what Beth had asked her to do.

"Probably," Beth answered, kneeling down to open Charlie's sleeping bag. "I mean, that's what happened when all of this started anyway."

"Hopefully she'll be up to continue on tomorrow," Amelia commented as she helped Beth put Charlie back in her sleeping bag.

"What's the rush?" Beth asked. "We should still have enough time to rest a day if Charlie needs it after this."

"I wouldn't mind that, I mean, we'd have more time to read, but I'd just like to get out of this forest," Amelia confided. "These spores just make me feel a little jumpy. I mean, I'd suggest we head out right after Charlie's back to herself, but I think she should rest regardless.

Beth looked at Charlie's sleeping bag as they both heard a moan coming from it. The kind Beth remembers making herself when she woke up with a headache or when she really wanted to go back to sleep. Beth shared a hopeful look with Amelia before turning her entire focus on Charlie.

"You okay, Charlie?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, but why-" Charlie started to say, but suddenly stopped. Beth could only assume she'd just realized she wasn't wearing anything.

"Hold out your hand," Beth instructed.

"What?" Charlie asked, sounding confused.

"Stick your hand out of your sleeping bag. I'll hand you your clothing. You won't need to come out that way," Beth answered.

Beth first handed Charlie her underwear when her hand came out. "Why am I naked anyway?" Charlie asked.

"Do you remember anything since we stopped for lunch?" Amelia asked, sounding uncertain as Beth felt about how Charlie might react to it.

"Huh?" Charlie asked, as Beth could see her moving in her sleeping bag. How Charlie could move so easily in her sleeping bag, Beth had no idea. Only that she seemed to have no real trouble with it. "Uh, I think I do. It seems weird, kinda surreal and more like a dream."

Amelia and Beth shared a relieved look. "Well, let's just say that you shouldn't let Velithy ride on your shoulders anymore," Beth said, handing Charlie the rest of her clothing as she stuck her hand back out again.

"Why? I didn't have any problem with it. Besides, it's not like she weighs that much."

"Well, that's not the problem," Amelia said, sounding a little hesitant. "The problem is the spores that your skin came into contact with. It had an effect on you, one of which was you stripping your clothing off."

The silence coming from Charlie spoke volumes to Beth, even though she couldn't see her expression. Just knowing how Charlie was normally was enough for her to take an educated guess on what her expression probably was at the moment.

"We can walk slower so Velithy can keep up, but we think it might be dangerous for you to carry her like that again," Beth said, not sure what else to say. "I mean, Amelia had to use magic to get the spores out of your system so quickly, otherwise you might have been like that for days."

Charlie stuck her head out of the sleeping bag and Beth could see she had already put her shirt on. "Wait, you mean that wasn't a weird, freaky dream?" she asked, her expression begging Beth to tell her that it really had been some weird dream that didn't actually happen.

"I wish I could say it was, but you really freaked all of us out with what you did," Beth said, mixed emotions rising up as she saw how red Charlie's face became.

"You guys should just go and leave me," Charlie lamented, as she started to withdraw into her sleeping bag. As if that would keep her from facing what she had done under the influence of those spores. "I'll just stay here."

"You can do that if you want," Amelia said, winking at Beth. "Just keep in mind that we'll be resting here the rest of the afternoon, and as my patient, I'll have to keep you under observation, just to make sure that there isn't any lingering effects."

Charlie's head poked out of the sleeping bag again, an alarmed expression on her face. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, though Beth was pretty sure Charlie knew what Amelia was getting at.

"Nothing much," Amelia assured her. "Just that you'll have to be around everyone and if we need to, we can just tie you up again and carry you in your sleeping bag."

Beth realized what Amelia was doing and added, "When you're yourself, I can tell you won't be as difficult to tie up as when you were high. So, it won't really be a challenge to do that."

The groan coming from Charlie sounded both resigned and pitiful. Beth couldn't help but wonder if they'd overdone it a little. After all, Charlie did get like this from time to time anyway, but this was the first time they'd actually gone and prodded her like that.

"Fine, I'll come out," Charlie said after a minute, resignation clear in her voice.

Beth could only sympathize with Charlie as she came out looking incredibly miserable. More than any other time she'd known Charlie. She knew she needed to say something to try and help alleviate her misery. Otherwise she might not like what happens later on with Charlie.

"If there's anything you'd like both Amelia and me to not say about what you did, we can keep quiet," Beth offered. "After all, you were in the tent when you finally actually started taking your clothing off, so only Amelia and me can say for sure that you were naked when I finally tied you up and put you in your sleeping bag."

Charlie sighed. "Let's just go back, okay?" she said, her voice sounding a little hollow, which didn't surprise Beth at all. "I just want to sleep."

Beth doubted that's what she really wanted, but didn't dispute that. After all, if she disputed what Charlie had just said, then she would merely enhance what she suspected Charlie wanted to do, which was just disappear. Giving her space was what she figured was what she really needed at the moment.

"If you need anything else, just let Beth or me know and we'll get it for you," Amelia offered. "That way you won't have to, say, come out to get something to eat for dinner if you would rather stay in your tent."

Charlie managed a weak smile. "Thanks," she said, picking up her sleeping bag and starting to slowly walk back towards where everyone else was.

While Beth wasn't surprised Charlie was able to know where everyone else was, despite having been in her sleeping bag where she couldn't have seen which direction Amelia and Beth had taken her in, given the noise the others were making. Being quiet was always hard for Ralph especially, so that wasn't really out of the ordinary. However, as she and Amelia followed behind her, Beth noticed that Charlie was trembling. She didn't think Amelia had noticed with hw slight it was, but Beth had been around Charlie enough to recognize when she was floundering.

Charlie was good at putting up a front of being fine, but Beth wondered if she'd really need more than just the afternoon, even though she had talked with Amelia about how they needed to get a move on tomorrow. So, she held Amelia back a little more to put some more distance between Charlie and them before speaking her mind.

"I'm not so sure moving out in the morning is a good idea," Beth said quietly, her eyes focused on Charlie, just in case she turned around at any moment. "I think Charlie needs more rest than that."

"Why?" Amelia asked. "She looks fine to me."

"Yeah, I can't say exactly how I know, just that she's not as fine as she appears to be," Beth answered. "Even if we spend an entire day just reading and not moving, it might be better than just heading out like this was nothing. If nothing else, just use the excuse that you want to observe the after effects of the spores on Charlie, since she had such a strong reaction to them."

Amelia nodded. "Okay, I'll buy that," Amelia replied, then suddenly smiled. "Besides, I'm sure once we coax Charlie out of your tent, we'll be able to do some reading tonight."

Beth could only shake her head, grinning in amusement. "Just try not to coax her too hard. She's probably going to need a lot of time by herself. Maybe until even after dinner."

"Well, we can check on her periodically anyway," Amelia said, her eyes looking like they were planning how to get Charlie to come out so they could continue their reading.

Beth could only shake her head again. She knew there would be no stopping Amelia. Especially when they didn't really have anything else to do. As such, she knew that Amelia was probably going to be difficult for the rest of them to deal with until Charlie was ready to be around others again.

_

Charlie still wasn't happy about what she had done, but she had at least come to terms with it. She could only be thankful that only Amelia and Beth had seen her naked, and they were more worried about her health rather than teasing her about it. Which she was grateful for. She knew she was probably going to get comments from her other friends for how she'd kissed Beth and Amelia, but she hoped it wouldn't bother her as much as she was worried it would.

Aside from that, the day was much like most of the rest they'd had to deal with on this world. Charlie sighed as she rolled up her sleeping bag before putting it with her pack. She'd enjoyed the extra day to relax, even though she had to give in to Amelia's demands that they read. She wasn't sure how much they really should do that, but knew Amelia wasn't going to go away, no matter how much she'd wish Amelia would.

Though, it wasn't as bad as she was afraid it was going to be. It was more tedious than anything. Velithy seemed to enjoy looking at the book as they read from it, though she kept her distance from them because of her spores, which she was immensely apologetic for. Especially with the reaction Charlie had with them.

Thinking about that, made Charlie remember something that she could vaguely remember hearing Beth talk with Amelia about. Such as how the spores had affected her. Though, she couldn't remember if there was three or four ways that Amelia said that they'd affected her.

So, as she had her pack ready to go, she picked it up and left the tent, then set it down so they could strike the tent later. She then walked over to where Wes was cooking some pancakes. She wished they could have some sausage or even just eggs with them, but they didn't have anything to keep them refrigerated. As while they could use magic to do that, doing that would just drain them more than anything else they could.

Wes, Beth, and Tim were the only ones currently out of their tents, though movement could be heard from the other tents.

"So, Beth," Charlie said, sitting on the ground next to her. "Amelia said that she'd explain what effects the spores had on me, right?"

"Yeeeeaaaaahhhh," Beth drawled, her expression telling Charlie that she'd forgotten about it as well.

"Should we ask her about it when we're eating breakfast?" Charlie asked.

Beth glanced at Charlie for a minute before shaking her head. "Let's wait until everyone's finishing. Who knows what she'll say, so it might be best to not be holding anything that you don't want to fall on the ground," Beth replied.

Charlie sighed. For some reason she felt like she was a small child surrounded by adults. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, but wondered if it had to do with the effects of the spores. Otherwise she had to assume it was because of how she felt with what she could remember of her behavior. If it was up to her, she'd have left everyone, or had them leave her, and started making her own way to other worlds.

The thought made Charlie realize something. "Hey, Tim," Charlie said, straightening her posture, not having realized she'd started slouching. "Would you be willing to explain to me how you use your magic to find gates?"

"Why this all of a sudden?" Tim asked. "We're almost to the next one and we've been traveling, uh, what? Two weeks?"

"Think of it as a realization about what just happened to me," Charlie answered. "If something like that happened to you, and we needed to get through the nearest gate to get you back together, shouldn't at least another of us know how to find gates?"

Tim considered what Charlie said for a few minutes. Then, as Hannah and Amelia started leaving their tent, he nodded. "Alright, I can do that. We might as well all know how to do that, because who's to say that it'll just be one of us next time?" Tim asked rhetorically.

"What're we talking about now?" Amelia asked as she came over.

"Tim was going to explain how we can use our magic to find gates," Wes said, his focus primarily on the pan where he had another pancake cooking.

"Really?" Hannah asked, as she sat next to Tim. "What brought this on?"

"Charlie suggested I explain to her how to find the gates, since if something like what happened to her happened to me, we could be screwed if we need to get through a gate in order to get me treated," Tim answered.

"Not bad, short stuff," Amelia remarked, earning a scowl from Charlie. She had a feeling it was going to be a long, long time before she lived that nickname down. Of course, it didn't help that she felt much smaller than all of her friends too. "A good idea coming from something so embarrassing. I would have thought you'd have kept something like that to yourself rather than bringing attention to what happened."

Charlie sighed. She really would have preferred not bringing it up, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel like bringing it up was her only real way to prepare to leave her friends if she felt it became necessary. After all, she wasn't sure that things would ever be the same between them again, so she worried that what she did when she was high from those spores would be what really defined her around her friends. This way she'd be able to continue travelling between worlds regardless of if she was still with her friends or not.

As it is, she wished that they wouldn't keep referencing it, but she stoically endured it. Each reference letting her know that leaving them was a good idea. Although, at the moment she still wanted to be around them. If nothing else, while she felt she should leave her friends, the idea scared her more than she had thought it would. She wasn't sure if she actually would at some point, but she wasn't sure that she wouldn't.

"Well, once Ralph comes over, we can start that," Wes said. "Until then, the pancakes are ready. I just have a few more to make before I'm out of batter, so get a plate and have some syrup. We'll get some homemade beanie weenies tonight, as I have some beans soaking right now."

"Where'd you get the hot dogs from?" Hannah asked as she took a few pancakes and just held them in her hand rather than putting them on a plate and eating them one at a time. "I didn't see any in my pack, but should they be refrigerated?"

"I used my magic to test Heathcliff's spell on us on the hot dogs. So, in essence, I made it so they wouldn't spoil, although I'm not sure how good they'd be if you just had some without heating them up first," Wes replied, pouring more batter on the pan he was cooking with.

"Not a bad idea," Beth remarked, taking a bit of her pancakes. "That would help us get some things that would otherwise go bad quickly."

"What's not a bad idea," Ralph asked as he came out of his tent, stretching as he walked over.

"Wes used the same magic trick Heathcliff used on us to keep us from aging on some hot dogs to keep them from going bad," Hannah replied casually.

"Nice," Ralph said. "How many hot dogs?"

"My last pack," Wes answered, as he took the pancake off of the pan and started pouring more batter on the pan again.

"What do you mean your 'last pack?'" Tim asked, looing at Wes suspiciously. "I know we haven't had any hot dogs since we started out."

"Well, I added them to some of the stuff we ate that you guys said was good," Wes replied.

Charlie didn't really care. She just was happy to have something that she knew would be good. Although, part of the issue that she saw was that Wes hadn't let them know about the hog dogs earlier, so she couldn't be sure that he really hadn't only brought just one pack and only remembered it and acted like there were more?