"By all means do what you will on that front.  I've not the slightest clue how I'd find the place."

"That cave is to be our camp, so we may as well get an early start making it comfy. There's not a lot else to do out here except think."

She lies down on the slope and looks out over the hills and forest below instead of taking off again, though. And lets out a giant fox sized sigh.

"...Being alone is so easy. It's not like the predators or monsters can do anything to me. The rare times I saw people out here, they left me offerings. I seriously have no idea how long I was out here. Before or after the Red Dream. At some point it just... Time stops mattering and you can go a whole day without remembering a single event during it." She shakes her head. "Don't mind me. Just... Some melancholy attached to this place. I think I remember where my cave is, now."

When the words 'Time stops mattering and you can go a whole day without remembering a single event during it' are uttered, Alicia lets out a pained whine.

"...I know that feeling, if it's the feeling I think it must be, and I know it all too well.  I'm not going to just not mind that.  I'm not going to leave you feeling like you're alone in - in having suffered from an intangible and rather irresolveable-feeling disconnection from the rest of the world.  Because, gods, I've felt that feeling too - except it was on Earth, where I had the Internet to salve it even the smallest bit.  To deal with all that here...

"Your continued - sanity, as much as I loathe the word - has my utmost respect."

Nicole seems a bit taken aback. She starts to roll onto her side, then realizes where Alicia still is and stops herself.

"...I mean. I think it's a wilderness survival thing? Well, it certainly didn't help to see medieval tech goat farmers as my first point of contact. Who I had weird... Red Dream... Interactions with... And could barely speak properly to..."

Huff. She clicks her teeth.

"Okay, yes, it was bad."

She does as best she can to provide tactile reassurance, because her words have failed her.

"...The wilderness survival is by far the easier part."

"...At least I have forever to get over it. With more time and perspective, people are still people. Just... Foreign people. I wonder how many kitsunes are reincarnated, and have this sort of trouble. I wonder if miss Hanabi did. And, like, revels in vice now to cope."

"...I can't blame her for seeking an escape.  Goodness knows I did, albeit not very successfully - and immortality is...  So much.  Even with the chance to start anew."

"...Let's get back in the air. To that cave. Set up camp and prepare, as much as one can out here. Any objection? How are you feeling?"

"Well, all that was an unexpected seriousness, but...  Aside from that, I'm still feeling the oncoming Dream.  We should go for the cave, if you're good, because I'm certainly not bad in a way that makes the cave a real bad idea."

"I'm good, probably. Just a lot of weird thoughts prompted by coming out here. Old familiar scents, and scent is the backdoor straight to deep core memory even now..."

She loses focus for another few seconds, then shakes herself a bit and takes off again. It's nearly effortless, downslope and into the wind. Just two steps forward and a flap. Perhaps that's why she liked this place so much...?

The cave is off on the right side of the vast open slope, closer to the bottom. There's a clear mountain stream right next to it. It's about a hundred feet deep, and smells empty and clean.

"Well, here we are. You can see traces of my old campfire there still."

A song gets stuck in her head, at that last bit.

"Scents always were like that, and if anything I'd be surprised if foxing didn't make it moreso - though it's music, for me, that draws up all the deep feelings.  How can I help you set up?"

She transforms- A process that tugs at the building energy in Alicia- and stands, before shedding the big pack slash saddlebag and stretching. "Maybe I should learn an instrument. I made myself a drum last time I was here. Not sure what ended up happening to it... Uh, tent first, then I go get some firewood, then... I'm not sure. We're not going to be out here forever so no need to go building too many more things unless we want to keep busy."

"I played violin, prior to all this; I hope that will still work, to be honest.  ...I just felt you transforming."

"...Huh. Well, the 'transform anywhere' method kinda involves dipping briefly into the Spirit World- It's why it's pricey energy-wise, so maybe since I was carrying you...?"

"...Huh.  Certainly not impossible!  No idea how we'd disprove it!"

"Kitsune magic is like that sometimes."

Tent: Setup start! Firepit too. And so on.

She will try to help with camp setup!  Although, to be honest, she's feeling very zoomy and might not be able to wait longer than five seconds for a thing to happen.

"I wonder if..."

"Ease-of-transformation in a temple is likely confounded so I wonder...

"Graveyards?  But those are temple grounds just as much, surely?  I don't know, I haven't been paying close attention and I barely remember seeing the one."

"Anyway, it would be interesting to see if 'being close to the spirit world' could be controlled for and then measured against ease of transformation."

"Graveyards and shrines are 'otherworldly'. Transforming in 'otherworldly' spaces is easier. Some other ones I've seen seem more like Tamamo's work, where you have to run around on all fours or do a weird transformation dance... I've also seen 'help from a fellow kitsune' as in a little kiss or cuddle, and 'on the full moon'. Honestly you might just want to ask a, uh, senior in the sisterhood sense, like 'senpai'-"

"Yeah, but can you make a space otherworldly without gods or ghosts, is what I'm wondering - and how much that would actually help a kitsune relying on the - default?  Is what you just did default, do we know? - that method of transformation."

"I'm... Not sure if it's the default? It's certainly the most convenient. I've heard that old battlefields can be otherworldly, for the same reason as graveyards..."

"Without gods or ghosts, I say.  But that's still useful to know."

...She feels nervous. They're talking about anything and nothing in order to distract from the looming change.

You know what after they finish setting up camp why don't they get out some chalk and do some spell math on the cave wall? Whatever comes to mind, not trying to solve a specific problem.

Yeah, spell math sounds cool.  Frustrating, probably, but also cool.

...So yes this is how her alarm ward works, it sort of creates this spherical shell of energy that, when interrupted, puts this bit in an unstable state, which then pops over here and triggers the noise making effect...

Hours pass. Eventually (with a break for fetching some firewood), the sun sets.

Oh that's neat!  Hm...  Oh, no, that wouldn't remotely do, nevermind her thoughts - but the 'interrupted energy sphere' thing...

It doesn't reset, anyway, she doesn't think?  So that's not, hm.  Her brain bounced to typewriters for a second there, basically.

Oh huh, time is passing.  It sure does that, doesn't it.  Is there food?  They should probably eat something.  She's not remotely tired, incidentally.