The group had success during their underground exploration and found a massive cave, including a lake. The water was special, too, as it was quite warm to the point where it was ever so slightly steaming. It didn't seem to be related to a volcano, as the water was neither boiling nor were they cooked alive by the steam.

“Oho, it’s actually quite a bit hotter than I thought." The group had reached the water, and Steph curiously put her hand into it. “Kinda like an extra warm bath, I’d say~.”

“Really?” Liking the sound of that, Sophia also touched the water. “The temperature’s perfect!”

“Hmm.” Maya tilted her head while watching the sisters and then looking at the lake. “The water’s pretty milky, the light steam, and this mineral smell in the area… This whole thing’s just a massive underground hot spring, isn’t it?”

“Ten points to our cat.” Mira smiled at her. “That’s exactly what it is, a huge thermal spring. The forest above is flourishing to such a degree simply because of the size and the closeness to the surface, which lets enough warmth reach it.”

“Hot spring?!” Hearing that, the dog-girl got even more excited. Immediately after, she removed her jacket and started unbuttoning her shorts while her tail wagged vigorously.

“Oi!” The blonde karate chopped her head and stopped her sister just before she fully pulled down her shorts.

“What?” She just looked at her sister. “It’s a hot spring! Let’s go!” Steph reached for her already half-off shorts again. “We’re all friends, so it’s fine~.” And with that, on top of a short smile at the male wolf, her shorts fell on the ground. "Also, while Fen's the only straight individual and male in our group, which would make me wary in the old world, he's like the least horny member, by far, and we're not exactly compatible, are we?” She then grabbed the hem of her panties and was ready to get rid of them, too.

"Not only are we incompatible, but I also have zero interest in you.” Fen took a quick glance at the slightly extra exposed dog and then shook his head.

“Zero?” She looked back at him as she stopped stripping for a moment. “That hurts!”

“Well, I mean, your tail is very pretty, and your ears are amongst the cutest canine ears I’ve seen, but all your furless human bits are an absolute no-go for me." He took a better look at the almost-naked girl and let out a huff. "Not a chance.”

“Good enough!” Steph was happy with the clarification on his side.

“White, huh?” During their exchange, Maya's eyes immediately fell on a specific something that was about to hit the floor. “I would’ve expected something bolder from you.”

“They’re my comfy panties!” Steph showed her a cheeky smile. “Perfect for moving around a lot! The other types of panties are reserved for other types of events~.”

“Fair enough.” She could get behind her logic. “There’s a bit of an issue, though.”

“Hmm?” The dog tilted her head.

“I’m not going in there.” Maya pointed at the gigantic lake with the milky-white water and then all around her. "I'm not in the mood to go into water of which I can't see the bottom inside a massive cave we reached through self-made tunnels.”

“What she said!” Ari felt the same. "A shallow open-air hot spring, count me in, but this here is a massive turn-off!” She also just pointed all around her.

“You’re no fun!” Looking incredibly disappointed, Steph kneeled down to grab her shorts before fixing her panties and slid into them again before also putting on her jacket once more.

“Hmm…” Ignoring her sister, the blonde kept staring at the water while seemingly thinking about something.

“What are you up to?” Maya knew that look on her girlfriend’s face.

“I’m currently in the middle of having an idea.”

“Why even bother coming up with something if no one wants to enjoy an amazing hot spring…?” Steph was already properly depressed over it.

“That’s why I’m trying to come up with a solution for that.”

“LET’S GO!” The dog’s mood swings could be even stronger than those of the older sister.

“Unless you take this hot spring and put it somewhere else, there’s nothing you can come up with.” Ari slowly shook her head while looking at the blonde.

“That’s the plan~.” Sophia smiled at her. “Mira, is there anything dangerous or unhealthy in this water?”

“Nope, it’s perfectly fine.” The overseer smiled at her. “It’s, in fact, one of the better hot spring sources I’ve seen so far.”

“Perfect!” She seemed to be happy about her evaluation. “Okay, give me five minutes!” Saying so, the short tiger created two portals to her domain for some reason and stepped through the right one.

“Oh, I think I know what she’s up to!” Chloe started smiling. “That’s going to be fun~.”

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“Alrighty!” Roughly five minutes had passed, and Sophia reunited with the group after passing through the left portal. “I’m almost done~.”

“Done with what?” Steph had trouble following her.

“Give me a moment~.” She then focused her attention on the two portals and moved one of them right in the middle and roughly 50 meters above the lake by using her magic. “Perfect!” Then, the blonde also moved the second portal on top of the water, but she submerged it instead of putting it up. A few moments later, the milky-white water started gushing out of the portal floating above the lake. “It’s working!”

“What is working?!” The dog-girl was getting impatient.

“I created a big hole in my domain where I put the submerged portal on the bottom.” She pointed at the lake in front of them. “I also made an overflow around it, which follows a short river and feeds into the second portal over there." Sophia pointed at the floating one above the lake where the water was gushing out. “That way, it gets constantly replaced by fresh and hot water.”

“Hmm?” She needed a moment. “Wait, does that mean you have your own natural hot spring in your domain now?!”

“Yes!” Her sister gave her a thumbs up. “We need to do some redesigning, but that’s exactly it~.”

“Awesome!”

“Ohh!” Maya also seemed interested. “If the hot spring’s in your domain, and made cutely, it's a different story!"

“I agree.” Ari nodded. “If it’s not in a cave and I can stand in it, I’m in favor, too.”

“Let’s go!” The sisters unionized.

“Anyway, while I’m also looking forward to that, now that I know this place is a lot less dangerous, which is a good thing, it took away much of the excitement.” Anna was glad there wasn't any volcanic activity, but it also made things a bit more boring.

“I don’t appreciate the disrespect towards this amazing underground hot spring!” Steph shook her head a couple of times while looking at the princess. “I think this hole is great!”

“It gave us the chance to build our own private hot springs in Sophia’s domain, what more do you want?” She stared back at her. “From now on, once it’s done, we can take a dip in it every single day and then take it easy in the cottage. It’s a win-win, so shut up~.”

“I guess that’s a compromise I can live with.” She still seemed ever so slightly unhappy.

“You just like holes too much.”

“I love holes!” Steph got loud.

“…” They went silent for a moment.

“Should we head back to the surface?” Ari didn’t want to deal with whatever the situation was heading towards and decided to change the topic.

“I’m very much in favor of this suggestion.” Fey felt the same.

“Sure!” Sophia nodded. “I’ve gotten everything I wanted and more~.” She was in a good mood.

Steph eventually also agreed to leave the cave behind, and the group started to retrace their way through the many tunnels Fen and the dog-girl created on their way down. While they were heading back, the blonde kept sealing the tunnels using earth-based magic. After all, she didn't want anyone to ever come across the cave and her portals.

“Finally, daylight again!” The jaguar seemed to be glad to be out of the tunnels.

"It looks like we still have a few hours left before it gets dark." Steph glanced at the sun through the treetops above them and then looked at the group. “Should we keep going for a little longer?”

“Absolutely!” Sophia decided to answer for the entire group. “I won’t accept any other replies, either~.”

“Sure.” No one seemed to have anything against it in the first place.

“Where to go, though?” Chloe looked around for a moment. "We got a little derailed today, but how do we get back on track?"

"Were we ever on any sort of tracks?"

“What tracks?” The sisters got incredibly confused.

“Okay, you win that round.” The fox had nothing to add there. “Alright, let’s go that way!” She then energetically pointed to her left.

“Which direction is this?” Sophia leaned over to Maya.

“South-west… ish." She looked at the sun's position for a little bit before answering.

“Let’s go!” The blonde seemed to be okay with the direction. “I was concerned you wanted to go north, towards the cold, but that’s totally fine~.”

“Ah, I forgot about that!” Chloe looked mad at herself.

“Too late!” Not giving her a chance to change her mind, Sophia immediately started walking in the direction the fox-girl had pointed.

Not wanting to be left behind, the others quickly followed after her, and their group continued their exploration for a little while longer.

 

 

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