Shadow got back on two legs as they walked outside, making the decision to try walking around upright in the village, now that she had clothes.

It was an interesting experience. She’d walked around upright before (she wouldn’t be nearly so good at it if she hadn’t practiced),but she’d never done it for all that long. It was nice to not be staring at legs all the time. Sure, now she had to stare at people’s chests or stomachs instead, but it was a welcome change. She liked how much easier it was to meet people's eyes.

It wasn’t all good, though. She was a lot slower, and basically had to waddle to keep up with the pace of her group. Her hips wouldn’t really let her legs complete a stride like a human’s (or beastman’s) would. She found her legs wouldn't really get behind her back walking straight forward. She found herself twisting her hips from side to side to let her take bigger steps. Her shortness wasn't helping, either.  She also wasn’t sure what to do with her forelegs. They were just sort of… there. She was used to having all her limbs involved during movement, and her main reason for getting on two legs, in general, was so that she could use her forepaws for something. She wasn’t really used to just… having them hang out with nothing to do.

She tried to get them swinging like she saw her companions doing, but it felt awkward. She had to pay attention to make it happen. Eventually, she gave up and decided to use them to start waving at everyone. Maybe being friendly would help make all the glares stop.

Because that was still going on.

She’d thought maybe the clothes would help, and perhaps they did a little bit, but for the most part, the villagers still seemed pretty upset with Annie.

So, she started waving at them, trying to look upbeat. The atmosphere was still oppressive, but she was determined not to let it get to her. She had awesome new clothes and was allowed to be herself now (Well, technically she was still pretending to be a beastman, but at least she could act like herself). She wasn’t going to let some unreasonably grumpy people stress her out.

It… was surprisingly effective. Maybe it didn’t make them like Annie anymore, but it took people’s attention off of her and put it on Shadow. And most people seemed to be willing to wave and smile back.

She noticed Annie was smiling warmly down at her after a couple of minutes of excited waving. Her eyes looked wet again.

“Would... would you mind holding my hand? It’s… something mothers do with their daughters.” She asked, offering up one of her hands toward Shadow.

Shadow accepted, grinning at Annie but wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do. She tried grabbing the hand between both of her paws.

Annie laughed a little.

“Thank you, but just your left paw will suffice. I can handle the gripping.”

Shadow did her best to grip back, short of using her claws. She… liked it. Holding hands felt safe, warm. Like they weren’t just walking next to each other but were, in fact, linked. It was a good feeling.

She decided to keep waving at people with her free paw. The looks people were giving them had changed with the hand holding. It was almost like she  and Annie had been combined somehow. There were less hostile looks at Annie, and less overtly friendly looks at Shadow. Now there were a lot of confused or conflicted people looking at both of them.

Shadow decided it was an improvement. She kept up her waving until the group reached its destination.

They had been heading toward a small shop where they could buy a jar of wax. It was the same spot where Jonas had bought  her tablets (at the behest of Annie) the day before. They had been so sneaky about that! She’d had no idea they’d had that planned.  

She broke away from Annie to go explore once they got inside.

The whole place smelled like bees, or bee products, she supposed. There were only a few different types of things inside, most of it smelling like beeswax. The only exception was some jars that smelled like they contained something sweet. She assumed that was honey.

A part of her really wanted to try it, but she also knew from experience that sweetness wasn’t a great flavor for her. She’d tried berries and such (only a little bit as to not get sick) and while they did taste interesting, they didn’t really taste good. She didn’t want to make Annie buy a jar of something she would take a small taste of and never touch again.

Shadow was still worried about how she’d pay Annie back for all this stuff she was buying her. She was incredibly grateful and happy, and Annie didn’t seem to mind, but it didn’t feel very fair to her. Shadow didn’t like Annie just giving her things and not getting anything back.

Not like she could do anything about that just yet, though.

She sighed a bit, still looking at the honey, then broke off to go look at other stuff.

The majority of what filled the shop was jars of the wax itself, and a bunch of candles. There were other things, like the wax tablets and some baskets that seemed to be made of needles and wax. She also noticed spools of thread that seemed to have been infused with wax?

It was all very interesting.

One convenient benefit of staying on her back legs was that her forelegs were immediately available whenever she felt like using them. She found herself poking at stuff and touching the waxy objects with her paws, just to see what they felt like. Not that she wouldn’t have done that before, but now she was basically doing it with everything, just because she could.

“Come on, Shadow! It’s time to go.” Annie said, waving for her as she left the shop.

That was quick.

She supposed it didn’t take long to buy a jar of wax.

Shadow hurried to follow them, and reached for Annie’s hand again, smiling up at her. Annie was happy to oblige.

Unfortunately, after a few more minutes of walking, Shadow noticed her rear legs were getting pretty tired. They were burning and her hips were starting to hurt. She patted Annie on her hand with her free paw to get her attention, before pointing at her legs and making an exaggerated panting expression.

“Tired from all the upright walking? You’ve been at it for a while.” She said with a friendly quirk of the lips.

Shadow nodded and Annie freed her clasped paw, letting her drop back down to all fours. It was a little sad she couldn’t keep holding hands while walking normally.

Most of her two-legged walking was very transitory. This time she’d been at it for perhaps a half-hour, which was way longer than she normally kept it up. It was a bit discouraging that this was all the farther she could go. Humans could walk for hours and hours. She could have kept it up for longer if she really needed to, but she wasn’t going to torture herself.

She took a moment to shake out her back legs to loosen them up. They felt weird, tired in ways she wasn’t used to. The fact that her hips and back were also sore was strange. She'd never experienced that before. She supposed it came with the new territory, exertion-wise.

She started keeping pace with the group again after a moment and immediately noticed how much less effort it was.

She sighed a little. It would probably take a concerted effort from her to get better with long-term two-legged walking. Not that it really seemed entirely necessary. Shadow didn’t notice anyone that seemed particularly bothered by her walking around on all fours. It must make her seem less person-y, but as long as she had her clothes on and acted like a person in other ways it would probably be fine. Plus, she could always get up on two legs if the situation really warranted it.

Annie had discussed getting horses with the group, but in the end, decided it would be better to give Shadow more time to learn from the group before they actually made it to Glossa. 

She also hadn’t been sure how manageable the prospect would have been. The large animals were pretty nervous around Shadow whenever she passed them walking around the village. Shadow was curious about riding one of the large beasts, but didn’t feel the need to push it. She'd had plenty of excitement lately and knew she would have more chances. Horses were apparently pretty common.

On the way to the village exit, they found Willit, and she also discovered the purpose of one of the constructions she hadn’t gotten around to asking about. She asked about it now. Apparently, it was called a pillory, and it was one of the ways those in charge punished law-breakers.

Willit’s head and wrists were locked in place by a pair of boards with appropriately sized cutouts to fit the appendages. The boards were suspended at near standing height by a pole, which forced him to stay standing. He looked quite miserable.

Annie had explained their purpose, but didn’t seem to approve. Jonas and Kirrik on the other hand seemed to have no problem with it.

Shadow wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The man had tried to break into their room, most likely to steal something. The headman had informed Annie that the man was a known scoundrel. Supposedly the only reason he still had hands was that he was essentially harmless, and so bad at actually stealing anything he’d become something of a village mascot. He spent a lot of time in stocks, if the headman was to be believed.

By all rights, he did deserve to be in there, but he looked so sad. He’d never hurt anybody, just tried to take their things.

She sighed and shook her head. She didn’t like how complicated all this stuff got. It was certainly a lot simpler when all she’d had to worry about was finding something to eat, and not letting herself be eaten. She supposed this solution was better than killing him. Willit didn’t even look at them as they passed.

She was very grateful the mill fire was being regarded as an accident, even though it really had been Maggie’s fault that Mr. Clive had broken the lantern. Apparently, people tended to be more lenient when children were involved. Shadow thought forgiving her was the right decision; it wasn’t like Maggie had been trying to start the fire. She shivered at the idea of Maggie hanging from that thing. The girl wouldn’t even be tall enough to stand.

Shadow sighed, lost in thought as her group continued walking toward the gate.