The kitty cat, took a stroll in the forest, fascinated by all it could see, even though all of it wasn't new to its eyes. Shami noticed that as a feline, she easily got excited by anything and everything, as if she had become a victim of ADHD. Whenever she would get just a smudge of dirt on her fur, she felt a hind leg jerk reaction that made her want to lick off the dirt. Before she even attempted, she remembered that cats pooped fur balls because they would ingest their fur as they self-cleansed themselves. She used this to fight her animal instincts, hoping to not have to deal with her fur once in human form. The feeling of having a tail which felt like a 5th limb to her was unusual. She felt like she had a protruding muscle sticking out of an area just above her ass which wiggled and turned upon the slightest changes in the wind. The feeling of having paws was especially otherworldly and she couldn't help but feel amazed by her power.

Shami monitored her mana bar which was depleting slowly, but really hoped that she could exhaust her quest for hedonism in this current form. She drew out her claws and used them to climb trees. She latched on to branches and various vines as she leaped from tree to tree. The feeling was wonderful and she even took time to role on the ground like a complete fool. She chased after butterflies, bugs and then after a while, reclined. As she rested, she looked at sky, gazing at the spacious blue emptiness and the wind whispered all around her. As she enjoyed the contentment of her simple antics, she began to hear the sound of something being chased as the ground began to thud heavily. It sounded like a heard of unicorn, tramping the ground as they left gusts of wind in their trail. Shami didn't want to return to her human form for fear of being in the nude. The only person, in her mind, who was allowed to see her in the nude, was Tanatswa. Furthermore, she didn't want to turn into a large creature that would then sap out her mana quickly. Having to work on another portion of land to plant more mana, wasn't something she wanted to rush back into doing, even if most of the physical labour was done by Tanatswa. Shami found an opening on one of the large tree's roots, and hid there. As soon as the barrage of dust, debris, bleats and the quaking of the earth ended, she came out of the confinement to see what had just happened. Apparently one of the wolves was in hot pursuit of the animals. The wolf and the unicorns as well as other animals that were running for their lives, looked so grand and intimidating. Their size towered over hers and for a second, she thought she could relate to how diminutive creatures felt about bigger animals. Eventually, the animals that had passed were long gone into the distance. She wondered if Tanatswa would encounter them and darted her eyes elsewhere. Shami thus continued to wander off, easily amazed by anything she saw in the heavily vegetated jungle.

Shami found a solid mound with an unusual structure. It was like a cascading hill top of dirt that contained what looked like Goshem hornets. She took a peek at the inside and saw several larvae and hornets yet to be born. She began to wonder if there was a species on the planet that was the equivalent to bees. Back when she was young, her father ran an apiary where they produced lots of honey for sale. She recalled how her dad taught her the trade that her mother wished she hadn't gotten involved in. Southern African beehives could be deadly and many hapless folk were killed by swarms of bees in her neighbourhood. She recalled the time her dad got lectured by her mom for being careless and irresponsible for exposing her to such dangers. Her mom was the overly protective mother who didn't want anything remotely dangerous coming into contact with her child, but her father was the one who debunked the danger. Without letting his wife know, he would take her to the apiary farm, after his daughter begged him. Shami's father made sure to make his daughter aware of all the dangers of not having the right protection and made it clear to her that there was no need to be afraid of anything if you knew what you were doing. She took these words to heart and only acted on things she had prior knowledge about, during her youth. As these memories occupied her mind, she wondered if she was going to start her own apiary with Tanatswa. With a little help from the custom goals mechanic, they could learn how to whip up the right gear and she could work on the architectural end of building a proper structure. She eventually left the mound as soon as he heard buzzing in the air. She didn't wish to aggravate these bugs and opted to distance herself from the mound. Shami strayed far until she reached a pond; there she noticed the water which she would probably never drink in human form, but the scorching sun which was mostly obscured by the branches and leaves had still managed to make her dehydrated. She decided just this once, to quench her thirst.

Upon licking the water, her ears twitched as she heard a rumble coming from within the pond. Bubbles piled up onto the top and she began to quiver in fear. Suddenly, she heard something land from behind. It was Tanatswa, whose landing shock the ground and disturbed the entire forest. Tanatswa was ecstatic; patting himself on the chest after accomplishing something that she had no idea was about. She wanted to call him, but her cat voice didn't allow for human articulation. She sounded like a really loud cat and soon enough Tanatswa could hear the distinct feline sound. Tanatswa noticed her, but didn't realise that it was her in cat form. Her life bar which hovered on her didn't have her name showing and all it indicated was 'level 2' on it. This threw him off and he thought he had just found a cat for the first time in Goshem. Shami was bemused by his inability to recognise her and then after a while came to the conclusion that he indeed could not tell her part from any random feline. That got her so pumped that wished to continue with the deception.

Tanatswa moved, walking slowly as to not scare away the cat. Shami pretended to want to run away whenever he moved, but then would pause. She wanted to see his reaction and was definitely laughing inside as she watched her hunky man, pause and tip toe as he said, "Here kitty cat. I am Tanatswa, a fond animal lover and regular cat man. Here kitty, kitty cat." The experience was very funny for her as she saw him sound so embarrassingly awkward with the way her called after her cat form. As soon as he was close enough to touch her, she fell on her back and behaved like an upside down turtle. Tanatswa ended up saying, "If you promise to not scratch me, I won't hurt you kitty cat." He stretched out his fingers and tickled her chest and lower regions. The feeling was really enjoyable and she began to feel slightly, aroused even though she wished she wasn't. Just before Tanatswa could grab it and lift it up from the ground, a gelatinous tentacle came out of the pond and snagged the cat.

In a flash, Shami went from being in an estranged situation with her mate to being submerged into a pond by a creature. Tanatswa watched aimlessly, confused and waiting for something to reappear. The cat he was tickling just now was taken by something he could barely recognise. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to put his hands in to search so he took a random long stick and began to prick where ever he could prick. The animal he had just made friends with had probably drowned and he was beginning to feel really bad. As his confusion stifled him, Shami was being dragged down into the depths of the pong. Mulch, dirt, animal faecal material and all sorts of things bombarded her as she tried to breath. The creature that yanked her looked large and it seemed as if the further they got into the darkness, the more the light at the top became bleak. Desperate and afraid of being trapped, she thought about an animal that scared her when she was, the crocodile. Shami turned into one and quickly got control of her situation. The squid creature could not drag the bigger animal so Shami immediately retaliated by ripping its tentacles to shreds. With one bite, she tore through its flesh, driven by her adrenaline as she relentless fucked it up. The pond slowly began to change colour, getting a concoction of purple and red in it. Tanatswa noticed this and thought that it was the blood of the cat which was submerged into the pond. The young man felt more miserable until suddenly, a crocodile surfaced out of the water. This freaked him out and he jumped back a few feet. Upon realising that it was a crocodile he then shouted, "You ate the cat you monster, damn you. I am going to blow you away." Tanatswa proceeded to get into a stance and Shami began to see his level 2 digit move up, reaching 5. The attack he was preparing was probably deadly so she reverted back to her human form before he could unleash it on her. The situation that transpired as soon as she became human was on that would leave him speechless.

"What the fuck? Shami, you're the crocodile, geez, fuck, this is confusing." he said, amazed by her sudden appearance.

"Don't hurt me or do anything, it's me, Shami." she said, crawling out of the water as she proceeded to stand on her two feet.

"What the fuck is going on, like seriously explain it to me. I found a cat just a moment ago, right there by the pond and it got pulled in the, wait, oh my god, did you eat the cat?" he asked, baffled by the possibility.

"No I was the cat silly. How could I eat myself?" she asked, trotting towards him as she tried to remove the dirt of her naked body.

"Wait you were the cat, no, you're joking. So explain to me where that blood came from?" he asked, doubtful of her claim.

"Something in the water pulled me under in my cat form, so I had to turn into a crocodile to kill it. I am not sure what it was, but I am guessing octopuses can live in ponds here in Goshem. Fucken weird right?" she said, getting close to him as she kicked of the dirt and wiped it off her body.

"Well that's a tall tale, maybe you did kill the…" he said, getting distracted by her body's private parts.

"Kitty cat, kitty cat, I am an animal lover is pretty corny. If I had recorded you, I am pretty sure your silliness would have gone viral on the internet. Anyways, cover me. It's flattering that you still lose your composure when you see me naked, but please be a gentleman and cover me." she said, embracing him as she shivered slightly. The wind was blowing quite heavily as she stood next to him and he immediately took off his shirt and made her wear it. The shirt covered mostly her upper body, but didn't do much in hiding the lower half. He ended up carrying by the arms and said, "I sometimes feel like you want us to be in these situations even though you insist on us taking it slow. How can I handle you always putting yourself in compromising situations like this? Where are your clothes?" he asked, slightly embarrassed and trying to hold in his hormones.

"They are back home, I couldn't carry them as a cat." she said, trying to look earnest as she spoke.

"Oh so by the time your mana would run out you would be butt naked in your human form, right? Shami, in your past life, are you sure you weren't an exhibitionist. I mean I am an open minded guy who has dealt with all kinds of people, but if you're an exhibitionist, you can tell me." he said, partly teasing her and trying to understand why they always ended up in such scenarios.

"I have never been that kind of girl. Exhibitionists are weirdos and besides, turning into different sized animals actually tore my unitard to pieces. Unless you can make expanding spandexes that can accompany any shape I take, then I will entertain you, but for now, I will have to go nude to transform." she said, sternly.

"No but I don't want you to be butt naked when you turn back to normal. I don't want anyone to see you naked. Like no, I get the grievance, but this is just too weird. As my lady, no, as my girlfriend, I don't want that image playing in my head. I don't mind it that much because it's just the two of us here, alone, capable of doing whatever we want, but let's stop the risqué act. Try to keep your clothes on. If you need me to help you knit or sew extra clothing for whatever occasion, I can do that. If you feel like you can't move with them then just get to your clothes before you revert back." he said, looking extremely serious and driven. Shami for a moment stopped to think about her actions and realised that she had been behaving like a drunken college student during spring break. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was happy that he was finally establishing boundaries. For the longest time, he would just ignore her antics or just think that she was just being herself and didn't need correcting. One thing that Shami knew about herself was that unless you set a boundary with her, she will spiral out of control with the freedom you give her.

"Okay, Tanatswa. I should probably stop putting myself and you through the lewd games and ratchet behaviour. I guess I am all giddy about being alone with you and not having any societal structures to stop me from being free with my body. I mean, you have had that feeling before right, when you'd go for a school trip, away from parents and get up to some mischief, only that we are dead and there is no society. Anyways, my point is, as much as there are dangers here, and people I personally want to fuck up once I get stronger, we are kinda free. Like really free. So maybe I got carried away with my freedom." she said, trying to sound apologetic.

"Well, it's kinda hard since you stated boundaries that I have to follow through with, but yet, like me carrying you when I can easily see your crotch, is not helping. So when do we end this taking it slow stuff?" he asked, honestly exhausted by her constant teasing and temptation.

"Soon, when we fix up the house and expand with another mana plantation." she said, trying to dodge him.

"That's like some vague timeline, give me at least something tangible." he said, looking at her with resolute eyes.

"Alright, in the next 7, no 8 days, then we will break this taking it slow stuff off. That's me keeping a promise, no bullshit." she said, smiling at him.

"Okay then, I guess that's good news. Though I wish I didn't have to nag you into it, I mean, I feel like a needy guy right now. It doesn't sit well with me." he said, as he winched his eyes in discomfort.

"No need to worry Tanatswa. It's empowering to know that a man is begging me for sex. I feel like I have ascended to heaven." she said with her wicked smile.

"You know what, you really do talk shit." he said, looking slightly peeved.

"Well this shit talker is yours for the keeping. I am pretty sure you'd get bored without me. Which reminds me, what do you think about the idea of keeping bees?"

"I will drop you woman." he said, looking enraged.

"Okay, I will keep my mouth shut for the rest of the journey." she said, as she felt Tanatswa's arms tense as if he was planning on doing something. Tanatswa didn't mean any real harm, but sometimes her mouth would get under his skin at times. The two of them returned back to base where they continued to work on the cottage as well as expanding Shami's clothing line.