=== CHOICE ===
What happens next? Comment your choice and I will read them to see the most popular pick.
1. The Admiral and Atago roam around the forest for a couple days to learn and experience a little bit more of survival in the wild. [2 picks]
2. The Admiral and Atago find a road and make their way to a village. [0 picks]
=== WINTER ===
Winter woke up sometime in the middle of the night. Immediately sensing something was off, he lightly opened his eyes to observe the surroundings.
Atago was gone.
He was instantly up and alert. Winter listened intently for any signs out of the ordinary. Nothing stood out to him from the silent rustle of the breeze passing through the forest. After a minute of the same calm atmosphere, the commander slowly stood. Judging from the moon's movement in the sky, it was a good five hours of sleep.
Winter looked around Atago's small camp. He didn't think that the shipgirl would've left without a good reason. They were both lost and only had each other for help. It has been over 12 hours since Winter had awoken in this forest, but there were still no signs of the navy searching the area.
It's possible that we're at most half a day away from the base. Atago said she woke up here this morning, which meant she wasn't kidnapped until after she slept.
Winter shook his head. He should focus on finding Atago first. Being seperated would be a problem for him when-
A blur of movement.
The admiral quickly locked on to the moving shadow in the lake. Thanks to the moon overhead light illuminated the forest, but more importantly, it completely lit up the lake like a mirror. The calm peaceful waters reflected the moonlight in several directions, including the shadow moving near the shore.
Eh?
It was the tail that Winter first spotted, followed by the heavenly-shaped ass.
Winter's jaw dropped.
Atago was fishing naked. Her sexy body was on full display, her shapely butt and full breasts showered with moonlight.
Every few moments, she would dip down in the water then seize out a catch with precision and speed Winter could only imagine. Instead, he was more focused on watching the curve of her ass as she leaned forward, as well as the jiggles that her breasts gave with each movement. He was far away so he couldn't see her nipples, but the distance was enough to watch her naked body in the moonlight. Atago slowly straightened back up after catching a fish, unknowingly showcasing her bare body to him.
Winter stared mesmerized. The scene was like it came out of a dream. His mind wandered off, focused on the nude goddess in the distance. Luckily for him, he too was far away to be spotted. The surrounding tree line covered his area with shadows in addition to the bush cover. Winter could feel his erection grow at the sight of the nude fox girl, but didn't dare act on it, too busy carving the memory into his mind.
Atago continued to catch fish, tossing them to the shore where a small pit had been dug to keep them from escaping. This went on for a few minutes before she felt the urge to look in her camp's direction.
'Does she see me? No, she can't have. It's too dark-' Winter thought before Atago hurled the fish in her hand toward his direction with the velocity of an artillery shell.
'Oh. She does see me.' Winter realized just a moment before the fish knocked him out.
His world blacked out the next moment.
.
.
.
When Winter woke up, he found himself buried in the ground.
"Awake now, Shikikan~?"
The commander blinked a few times while trying to analyze the situation. Only his head remained above ground. The rest of his body was stuck under, keeping him trapped. He couldn't move at all.
"Ehe...Atago?"
Atago walked in front of him with slow deliberate steps. She was dressed now, but her wet clothes gave the situation away.
"I...wasn't dreaming?" Winter tried to play it off.
"Dreaming you say. You were dreaming about me Shikikan~?" Atago smiled a little bit too wide. "Ara ara, my commander is having dreams about me. How should I feel about that~?"
Winter played the only move he could: remain silent.
"That's the second time you've peeked at me, Shikikan~ Do you have anything to say for yourself~?"
If Winter said anything here, it would only make the situation worse.
"So, Shikikan~ What kind of punishment should the repeat offender get~?"
Suddenly, Winter remembered an important detail about shipgirls.
"Wait. Shipgirls were designed with special heating systems so you can operate efficiently in all weather conditions. Why are you worried about fishing with clothes on? You could just cycle heat and dry off your clothes quickly."
Atago froze. When she didn't react for a couple of moments, Winter slowly looked up at her. Her expression looked like she had been caught. He continued to stare at Atago as her face turned red.
"...Atago?"
Atago blushed fiercely, immediately covering herself with her arms. "W-wait, how much did you see!?"
"Well you were far..."
Winter crumbled when Atago's glare hardened.
"Everything."
"...everything."
"You were standing on the shore."
Atago's expression went blank. Winter could see the gears turning in her head as she thought of how to go forwards.
"Shikikan, die."
"Ahahaha...please no. It wouldn't look right once they review your memory." Winter tried to laugh off Atago's threat. "I'll forget about what I saw..."
"Shikikan...you're a pervert. I can tell. I have to make sure you never remember." Atago's expression stayed blank as she walked forward.
"Stop! We can work something out! Just tell me what you want me to do! I'll do anything!!!" Winter begged.
Atago stopped. She looked directly at Winter with an intense gaze for a good long while.
"...anything?"
Winter nodded vigorously.
"How about extra rest days?" Atago demanded. "When we get back to base, I demand more rest days for me and Takao."
Winter paused. "What?! I can't- there's a process for that you know! I can't just ask command to give you extra rest days."
"You're an admiral! Why not?"
"I still have superiors you know! The navy keeps a close eye on all the shipgirls. You girls are our best fleet against the Abyssals so we have to take care of you properly. They have already planned out how to maximize your efficiency!"
"Then lie. Make something up."
"..." Winter couldn't believe what he was hearing. His expression must've shown because Atago frowned.
"Fine then. I think you need to stay here and think about your actions you pervert." Atago huffed.
"Wait! Wait! I'll do it. I'll figure something out." Winter immediately changed his mind when he realized he would be stuck underground if he didn't agree.
"Good." Atago smiled sweetly. "It's a promise now Shikikan~ If you break it, I'll show command that you've been peeking on me~"
"WHAT?! They were both accidents!" Winter gulped.
"Then I'll just tell the rest of the girls~"
"W-wait no-" Winter could see it already. The shipgirls in the base would avoid him. He wouldn't be able to see such beautiful angels anymore.
"Don't forget about this promise Shikikan~ If you break it..." Atago trailed off as she stared at him intensely.
"I- fine..." He surrendered. What choice did he have? Atago had all the cards here.
Atago smiled as she pulled her hand back. "I'm glad we could come to an understanding Shikikan~"
'She's scary...' Winter realized. The first time was definitely an accident on his end, but the second was deliberate. Could you blame him? A sexy woman swimming while naked? Atago was flaunting her assets and no sane man would turn an eye away from such a heavenly sight.
Atago started digging him out. Once he was free, the commander patted himself down to remove the dirt off.
"Start cooking the fish. I'm hungry." Atago crossed her arms.
"You're not going to help me?" Winter asked while collecting the fish.
"I already did the fishing. Not to mention you were peeking you pervert." She narrowed her eyes.
"Aha...okay..." Winter sweatdropped before he began forming the campfire.
.
.
.
Winter really messed up with Atago. For the following day, the fox girl had made him do all the work. Gathering wood. Searching for fruits and berries. Setting the fire. Every task was handed to him and Winter worked to fix the relationship.
The following night, Winter shared his plan with Atago.
"Since fishing is our best source of food for now, how about we make a schedule?" Winter brought up as they finished the last of their fish for dinner. They didn't really have a choice, campfire-cooked fish was their best bet. "I'll sleep here on the shore, then you fish while guarding. So by the time I wake up, you'll be dressed."
"If I see you peeking..." Atago narrowed her eyes.
"Wait for me until you know I'm asleep then." Winter raised his arms in surrender. "Deal?"
"...fine."
He grinned triumphantly. 'That went well!' He thought as he lay down on the sand. Atago did seem more amiable tonight.
"Now, moving on. We need to have a plan for tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Atago raised an eyebrow.
"We can't keep waiting here. If we don't see any signs of search and rescue, then we must move." Winter explained. "We don't have to go far. We'll just explore around this lake. We can only explore further when we find streams to stick to."
"Hmmm...sounds as good as any plan." Atago nodded. She could understand that inactivity for too long would only waste precious time. Perhaps, they'd find a road soon.
The second night passed without any trouble. Atago fished while Winter slept. When Winter woke up, he cooked them while it was her turn to sleep.
Once morning came, they were prepared to scout the forest.
"Let's go!" Atago exclaimed, eager to get a move on. She had been stuck in the forest for two days now and missed the comfort of their base.
"We'll split up to cover more ground. I'll take the clockwise direction while you take the counter-clockwise side."
"See you in a few hours commander." Atago casually slipped into her operations mindset and headed into the forest.
Without nothing else to do, Admiral Winter started scouting the other direction. They regrouped late in the afternoon with little progress.
"You didn't find any roads?" Atago asked when they met again.
Winter shook his head. "Nothing on my end but trees and wildlife."
Atago released a long sigh while kicking the ground. "I guess we're stuck exploring until we find one, or if the navy finally finds us."
"They should have an idea where we are." Winter moved his gaze towards the lake. "We are only a days away from the base. They should have made some progress. There are little landmarks around us so the lake should be a priority."
"If you say so…" Atago mumbled. She wasn't as familiar with the military's capabilities as Winter. The shipgirls were limited to Abyssal operations and little knowledge of the navy outside of communication and first-hand experience. Between them, Winter would know about the other branches.
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.
.
After another day of searching with no luck, they returned to the campsite.
Winter sat by the fire and cleaned the fish bones from dinner while Atago sat nearby, staring at the flames. The silence was deafening.
Atago broke it. "Do you think we'll be rescued soon?"
"I'm sure they're looking for us." Winter replied. He had to stay optimistic. Atago looked worried and any weakness now would shake the little amount of confidence and stability they had.
Atago nodded, but she looked unsure from his response.
"…but what if they don't find us?"
"Then we'll find them. We've nearly scouted the entire perimeter of the lake. We can make a decision after checking out the southeast corner." Winter looked at Atago. "We're doing fine so far, aren't we? It's just a bit difficult now because we don't know what we're doing, but it'll get better once we have more ideas."
"…okay."
=== CHOICE ===
I already have an idea for the next chapter. So instead, let's discuss what the readers want for the adventure party.
Winter is an Admiral so naturally he'll get stuck with the leadership role and an extra position. Atago is a heavy cruiser, so we're also considering her super strength in terms of shipgirl capability. She easily gets the warrior class since battleships would work better as knight/paladin/tank.
===
What kind of roles should we try? Comment your choice and I will read them to see the most popular pick.
1. Admiral Winter should stick to the support position. (Buffing, scouting, healing, and others)
2. Admiral Winter picks up a frontline position. (He adapts to fight frontline alongside Atago)