Adept Paws 2: Better than Nothing
#3 of Adept Paws
Forbidden to see Jax, Rea takes matters into her own paws. Little does she know what awaits at nightfall...
Adept Paws 2: Better than Nothing
by Tempe O'Kun
The second chapter in Rea and Jax's story. :) Have fun!
The dragons' vanishing caused quite a stir. Rea, as the one who had pointed it out, was largely ignored. Worse, she was still not allowed into the Sanctum, and Jax was certainly not allowed out. That her dreams had been filled with soft kitty paws and slender feline curves under robes had not helped. Each morning, she awoke tangled in her blankets. Each day, she spent her time gutting fish. Each night, she spent sulking about the house, her parents talking about anything but her encounter at the Sanctum and giving her gentle scritches on the shoulders as they walked past.
Upon hearing what happened, her father had done his best to comfort her, though he seemed quietly pleased someone had finally caught her eye, even if that someone was once a little thief. Her mother, by contrast, made sure to be out in the market the morning after, ready to squash any slanderous rumors, but the topic of the village was dragons, not vixens.
After the third morning, she could stand no more of hearing her parents hammer rivets into the mayor's broken saddle and ventured out early for a walk. At the very least, the village now had something other than her wandering paws to talk about. Now the greymuzzles all gathered outside the inn, staring through the treetops at the Dragon Tower and speculating wildly. Rea stopped for a moment to listen.
"The dragons are there!" Her fishers' grandfather gestured with a webbed paw. "They're hiding, plotting."
"No, they are all dead." The matriarch of the wolves growled into her rawhide chew. "Dead and gone."
"No, no, some rotten magic has shrunk 'em as tiny as flies!" An old ferret leaned forward conspiratorially, his long body supported by a staff. "My grandson, the stable hand, swatted one just yester-- Evening, Constable."
Toskun strode past. The constable did not abide such prattle, of course. Despite being over two centuries old, the badger seemed to lack an appreciation for idle rumor. Perhaps that, like his long life, was a side effect of the magic. Rea had seen him rousting his dozen underlings, including the leopard, Rin. All thirteen of them wore their swords; a few of the townsfolk started to do the same. The air hung thin, like in winter when the beasts attacked the village walls. The young vixen found herself touching the pommel of her small knife.
As she walked, her other paw ran along the patterns etched into the sides of the buildings. The inlaid designs wove and twisted under her pawpads. Her family's house had felt tiny and stifling and she'd felt the need for a walk. It hadn't cleared her mind, but it allowed her to pretend she was doing something useful.
The village walls were painted fresh every summer. The villagers would make violet dye from chokecherries and red from the blacksmith's rust and any other color they could brew up. They painted everything, sometimes even the carved horse heads on Toskun's roof or the planks of the boardwalks. She had heard that other places had streets paved with stone, but digging much of a quarry invited the wood sprites to come pester you. For this reason, the streets of Lagan consisted of beams laid flat into the earth. Her claws clacked against them with each step.
She passed Sara, who was staring at the shivering leaves of a bush in a typically dreamy fashion. One of the mountain tribes had brought her down to the village years ago, believing her to be either a mystic or an idiot. In either case, she was safer here. The plump little bunny had always been a bit off, to be sure. While the rest of the town was looking up, trust her to be looking down. Rea called to her, but got only an entranced smile and a distracted wave. The fox rolled her eyes and continued on.
Rea happened past the Sanctum. The golden eyes of a leopardess found her the instant she turned the corner. The young fox swung leisurely around a pillar to go back the way she had come. Even if she had been planning to, she couldn't have snuck up that big tree beside the Sanctum walls. Not again, anyway. The leopardess probably had a vision charm on, and she actually knew how to use them.
Not to be so easily beaten, Rea took one of the sides streets to the the back of the Sanctum where she knew Jax would sit during meditation. She dug into a pouch on her belt, pulling out a small carved figurine. A fish. After squeezing it in her paw for a moment, she tossed it over the wall. Her eyes watched it sail silently over the wooden beams. She wasn't sure he would find it, but it was better than nothing. Besides, he usually found them. Slipping through a tangle of playing cubs, the only other people on this boardwalk, she retreated to the market.
The sun lingered warm in her fur. She stood in the market square, breathing the scents, hearing the sounds. A paw tapped on her shoulder. "Standing idle, little cousin? I thought you would have innocent adepts to corrupt."
She spun and growled in his face. "Cork that muzzle, Rozzle, or I'll do it for you!" Ears flat to her skull, she punched him hard in the arm. "It wasn't anything like that!"
"Ow! Hey! I was just teasing." The taller fox rubbed his shoulder, then crossed his arms over his apron. His fur shone silver like his father's, even through the flour, though not from age. His ears were black and perked, just like his mother's. "You can't blame me for hearing, even with all this chatter about the dragons. Hasn't been this much talk about you since you smooched one of the whippet twins."
Rea swatted him again, less hard this time. "You make me sound like the village harlot!"
"Oh, your harlotry's nothing compared to most." He tussled her ears, smiling. "Come inside and have a bite. I just baked some melon bread."
She tipped her muzzle up, giving him an aloof sway of her tail. "I'm not hungry." She turned to leave.
"Sure you are." He took her by the shoulders and pushed her toward the shop. "Roughing up defenseless bakers gives one an appetite."
Her yaps of protest did not slow him in the least. At the first step inside the shop, sweet scents assailed her, conquering her stubbornness and declaring her hungry. Within moments he had planted her at one of the small tables in the bakery. He handed her a large, round bun. A thin film of sap and flour covered his paws. The sap kept his fur out of the bread, and its brewing was a trade secret.
Her cousin sat down across from her, grabbing a melon bun for himself. "Shouldn't you be gutting a fish right about now?"
She tore the bread open, letting the steam curl out. The round puff of a melon bun squished under her pawpads. The sweet aroma tantalized her nose. "My fishers set out for the other side of the lake this morning. Claimed they would find the front door of Dragon Tower and knock."
"Rowdy band of otters, those." The taller fox brushed the flour from his fur. It made little clouds in the morning light.
"Everyone told them it was a grand idea." She took a bite. The warm, fluffy bread practically dissolved in her mouth. Meditating on the taste for a moment, she swallowed. "'Get the story straight from the dragons' mouths,' they said."
"They'll never do it. No sane person bothers dragons, even ones as benign as ours. Not if they value their pelt."
"I wish I'd heard they were going."
"I don't."
"Why?"
Roz laughed, his tail swishing behind him. "Because you'd have bashed the door down! Your parents would've hung those otters by their tails for getting their only daughter burnt to cinders."
"Shut it, cousin. Only otter you care about is the one who mounts you nightly!" She made a face at him as she devoured the rest of her melon bread.
"Speaking of whom, I've got a lot to get done before Toskun lets him go at noon, and you're giving me no help and all delays!" He fluffed her in the nose with his tail. "Get out of here, little cousin. And try to stay out of trouble."
So, like everyone else in the village, Rea had little to do but think about the dragons. Like meteors or moon phases, they came and went on their own time. Well, they had until a few days ago. And for all the legends that claimed otherwise, she had never once seen one of those massive creatures swoop in and toast a row of houses or devour scores of people in a single great chomp. On the contrary, the rumor of dragons had kept the village safe for hundreds of years. The books the druids studied supposedly came from the dragons too, though no one could tell her how. All she had learned was that their magic was different from the magic of other lands. She was told not to brag about this gift to outsiders, since the technique was forbidden in every other corner of the world.
The town ended at the walls, a clearing of farms and ditches surrounded it. Her paws stirred up the dust of an old game trail that led toward the water. Arriving at the gold grass of the lakeside, she looked out over the water. The bare, gray stone of the mountains lay on the other side. At its center, the talon-shaped columns of the Dragon Tower clawed skyward out of the mountains. Rumor claimed the Tower had been whittled down from a whole one, but its every surface reflected the cooling firelight of the sunset like black glass. Its sweeping arches and impossible walkways whispered of magic to her mind.
She rested against the base of one of the cherry trees. Around her, the pink blossoms fluttered on their branches. The air smelled pure and clear. No one would be by to disturb her. She laid her paws in her lap and curled her tail across them. How wonderful it was to not smell of fish. She had almost forgotten. Her soft-furred chest rose and feel inside her blouse.
Her thoughts turned to Jax, of what his hand felt like in her arms... and in her paws. She rubbed her thighs together, feeling fur on soft fur. Still covered by her tail, she slipped her paws under her dress. There, they pressed against her undergarments. He had felt so hard, so warm. She felt warm too. Her pawpads rubbed the fabric against the thin fur of her crotch. Settling back, getting comfortable, she slid her paws deftly under the layer of cloth. Delicate fur under fingers, the texture getting scanter as she caressed downward. The outer lips of her vagina were bare where they met. One paw massaged in little circles along this surface, hairless pawpads against hairless flesh. The other traced along her stomach and thighs, feeling the heat and slight tension there. Her legs spread as she imagined Jax filling the space between them, ready to enter her with his beautiful penis. She'd seen a few others while swimming with her friends, but Jax was shy. She'd fix that once she got her paws on him, that much was sure!
Her tail fluffed against her lap. She squirmed, licking her sharp teeth. Gods, why did he have to be an adept? Slowly, slowly, she rolled her fingertip along her slit, the smooth texture of her claw against one side, her soft pawpad against the other. Did he ever touch himself? He must. Everybody did. Except maybe Toskun; keeping the village in order was probably the only thing that curled his toes. Pushing the grouchy badger from her mind, she returned her thoughts to Jax. What did he look like when he masturbated? Did he make the same sounds she did? Her finger worked a little further in, resisting a bit at first before it was coated in her slick, hot juices.
It always amazed her that her body could get so warm. Was it because she was a girl? Or a fox? Confronted with the pleasant tingling wherever she rubbed, the only reasonable way to find out would be to get Jax's stiff penis inside her and see if it felt as hot. Her mouth hung open as she gasped, needing air to fuel her fire. She closed it for a moment, swallowed hard, then let it slack open again, tongue lolling just a little out the side of her muzzle.
Her free paw slid up to feel at her breasts. Would he like them? He had certainly seemed to back in the Sanctum. She worked her finger in and out of her passage, wiggling her hips. Her mind summoned the feel of his erection in her paw. He had felt smooth, moist, and thick. She slipped another finger in, squeaking in delight. The faster and harder she stroked, the slicker and hotter it became. She squeezed her muscles around those slippery fingers. What would it feel like to do that on the firm flesh of a feline member? Her hindpaws wiggled together at the thought.
Her ears pressed flat as she gave a long whimper of desire. Jax had always been kind and funny; what was more, he had a delicate side most boys of the village never showed. She could see it in his soft smile, feel it in his tender kisses. She squeezed her eyes shut a little tighter, biting her bottom lip. She imaged him pressing into her, filling her with his length, surrounding her in his arms.
The arm doing all the pawing grew tired. She pulled it from her wet, eager passage and rubbed the slick juices into her fur. Musky, sweet, tangy: her own scent played across her nose. When she first slid her two dry fingers into her vagina, the wet interior of her passage stuck to her pawpads, pulling a bit. It felt almost painful. Rea eased up, giving her fingers a moment to become slick with her juices before pushing them any further. She moved them against her tender walls, testing, and was pleased by the results. She resumed her movements, curling her fingers deeper inside herself. The heel of her paw pressed to her clitoris, causing her to squirm a little more. Her other paw trailed down her tummy, brushing careful against the small nub. She rolled it tenderly under her pawpads. Her body humped upward. In her mind, her kitty pounded away at her, his hips thrusting in time with her own.
"Oooh, Jaxxy. Oh-ohhhh..." Wet noises found her tucked-back ears. Her fingers continued curling in and out of her grasping passage, dampening the fur of her thighs with slippery fluid. She panted, louder and louder, pleasure coursing through her body as her tail lashed madly against the grass. She pressed back against the tree, her hindpaws sliding against the earth, claws leaving little furrows in the soil. The Jax of her fantasy held himself against her, shuddering as he sprayed his semen against her walls.
"MmmmMMMmmHMMM!" Her vaginal muscles practically fluttered inside her as her orgasm hit with full force. "Ah! Ah! Ahhh!" She gave in to it, riding it out as far as it would take her, all the while the shadow of Jax's arms around her filling her mind. Her hips hitched up. Her breath caught. Her heart raced. Her fingers lost their rhyme and simply stayed buried deep as she rocked back and forth against the soft earth. When it was over, she panted, little shivers of pleasure lingering on. Pulling her damp paws back into a more lady-like position, she let her head tilt back against the trunk. She relaxed. The sweet scent of the cherry blossoms swirled on the air as a pleasant tingling stirred through her body. Her eyes closed.
* * * * *
The sky was dark when she awoke. She'd missed supper. Her parents would be worried. Brushing the leaves from her thin shirt, she rose and took a deep breath.
Smoke.
She looked back toward town. Among the lit windows, she saw a great cloud of it, lit red from beneath. The flames were blocked from sight where she stood. It was on the far side of town.
Her paws thundered down the trail back to village. She ran. She ran until she tasted blood. The smoke smelled of wood. Someone's house? The inn?
She reached the boardwalks of Lagan. The glow from the blaze could be seen around the corner. The smoke was thick. She passed the Sanctum and--
She bowled over a plump bunny who'd been staring up into the dark sky.
"Sara!" The young fox scrambled to her feet.
"Hi." The bunny sounded confused.
She seized the rabbit by the paw and pulled her to her feet. "Are you alright? Why are you just standing here?"
"I'm fine, Rea." The bunny smiled, her voice lilting and pleasant even as the flames lit her from behind like a demon. "Something just landed in the Sanctum."
"Landed? What, like a dragon?"
"Hmm? No, no. It was much smaller than that. A bat."
"What?!" No bats lived in Lagan.
The bunny repeated: "A bat."
"Are you sure?" Sara was a loon, but never a liar.
After a moment of thought, the rabbit nodded. "Yes. It went over the wall."
Rea glanced to the wall. Ten feet high, it was constructed from foot-thick beams. She dashed to the gate, but it rattled in her paws. Locked. She turned back to the rather daft bunny. "Listen, Sara."
"Hmm?" The bunny looked down to stare pleasantly at her, one ear up.
The fox took her by the shoulders. "Stay here. Watch the wall. I'm going to get somebody."
She gave a cheery nod, ears bouncing. "Okay!"
Rea barreled headlong down the street and rounded the corner. Instantly, the fire's heat hit her. Flame snapped and crackled up the side of the stable. The entire building had been engulfed. The townsfolk had formed a chain from the well. They passed buckets, pans, old helmets: anything that held water. With hurried shouts, they soaked the buildings on either side, keeping them from catching too.
Three druids stood in the center of the street facing each other. Together, they murmured a mantra. Rea couldn't see the strands of magic, but she saw their paws moving.
A wall of the stable exploded. An old badger staggered out onto the burning boards, green sparks of magic and red sparks of flame dancing off his bare fur. He bellowed: "Clear off!"
The crowd parted just in time. Half a dozen horses galloped out the hole he had battered. They neighed and squealed, eyes wild in the roaring firelight. Their hooves rang against the boardwalk. They bolted. People dove out of the way, save the druids, who stood humming in key.
Toskun brushed the flames out of his fur without fuss. He was naked save for a singed loincloth and a few glowing green scars. Appearing from the smoke, Rin was at his side in a moment's breath. The leopardess squelched the remaining embers with her gloved paws.
The druids fell silent.
The flames snuffed out.
All that heat, that great tower of smoke and searing orange light, all suddenly collapsed in on itself, almost like fire running backwards in time. All heat and noise vanished, plunging the scene into a silent void. Her ears still rang with the echoes of roaring flame. Her fur slowly cool in the night air. The image of the burning building hung in Rea's vision, a ghost of the light. The building still stood, though almost invisible in the dark. It was over.
At once, a great cheer arose from the folk. It echoed down the streets, among the painted houses.
The badger breathed hard, hands against his knees, as if he had just run a great distance. Rin, at his side, held a paw to his back.
Shaking herself from shock, Rea hurried up to them. The badger didn't appear in good shape and had very recently been on fire, so she addressed his apprentice. "I need you to come with me! Sara said--"
"Did you not see what happened here, girl?!" Toskun snarled. Sparks seared from between his glinting fangs.
Rea jumped; every hair on her tail bushed out.
The leopardess put a paw on his shoulder. She faced the young vixen. "Speak, foxling. And make sense."
She coughed. Why hadn't that badger coughed? "Sara saw someone fly into the Sanctum. A bat, she said."
"Be easy, boss." Rin scritched his back and passed him his sword. "I'll go."
"No." The badger stood. "We'll go." His gaze found Rea, eye burning with inner light at Rea. "Show us."
The young fox lead the way. They found the bunny standing stiff as a post, only her ears swaying in the breeze.
As they reached the gate, Rea called to her: "Sara! Is the bat still in there?"
"Hmm? Oh. Yes!" The rabbit gave her a bright smile.
The constable curled a thick paw around the gate handle. It creaked under his touch.
"No, boss. Let me unlock it." Rin took a running start, her spotted fur dancing in the moonlight. With one powerful leap, the leopard sprung to the top of the wall. The claws of her feet sank into the wooden beams. There she stood a moment, getting her bearings.
From inside the Sanctum, noises rose. A skitter. A rustle. Then a dozen shadowy forms flapped over the wall.
"The bats!" Rea shouted, furious at the bats' being so far out of reach.
Leathery wings beat against the night air. Talons gripped several large objects; lumpy objects that shifted. They flew into the treeline, quiet as a panicked breath.
In the dim light, Rea saw a flash of steel streak through the starry sky. One of the bats shrieked. A dagger buried deep in his thigh. His prize swung precariously in his talons, ready to fall, but another bat swooped in and snagged it before it fell. Together, they carried it off into the woods.
Rin stood atop the wall, her body still in a fluid stance from having thrown the dagger. She glanced down at the constable.
Toskun snarled: "Go!"
Without a moment's pause, the leopardess drew another blade and leap off the wall after the bats. Rea had seen Rin sprint. Surely, she could catch at least one of the bats. They could find out what they had stolen and where they planned to take it.
The badger hurled himself against the gate. The timbers creaked and splintered, but these were no flimsy stable walls. The gate held fast.
Rea dashed over to the large tree beside the Sanctum. Paw over paw, she climbed the branches until she could see over the wall, then scampered to her feet and hopped the short distance. Standing on the narrow beams was harder than it looked. She nearly fell. At the last moment, she managed to balance back with her tail. The fox clung to the surface with all four paws. After a steadying breath, she grabbed the splintering wood tight and let her legs dangle down inside of the wall. She let go and dropped to the earth with a teeth-clattering impact.
Finding that her legs weren't broken, she ran to the gate. It shivered again as the badged thudded against the opposite side.
"Toskun! Stop hitting it, you idiot, and let me open the thing!"
The constable growled from the other side. She hoped that meant he had stopped. The heavy latch had jammed into the iron supports, and a sliver of moonlight sliced between the halves of the gate. The young vixen braced against it and lifted the latch with her shoulder, ignoring the splinters that bit into her pelt.
The Sanctum sat still and quiet. The shirtless badger huffed inside, not a word of thanks. He pushed past her and trotted toward the buildings. "We have to make sure the adepts are safe."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Hurrying after him, she glanced back though the open gate. There stood the rabbit, nodding slowly as if this situation were some interesting play of shadows on a tavern wall. Rea turned, backpedaling for a moment. "Sara! Go get someone."
"Right!" The bunny hopped a little into the air and scampered away.
Having crossed the small yard, Rea turned back just in time to avoid crashing into Toskun. Her paw brushed one of his faintly glowing scars. He didn't react, but a little trail of smokey magic trailed from her fingers. She shook it off and peered inside the druids' residence.
The door hadn't been bashed down; it hung open. The interior hung dark. Toskun drew his sword. Feeling unprepared, the vixen pulled out her whittling knife. Handle longer than the blade, it was made more for peeling apples than for fighting off raiders. Still, better a shack than the rain.
"Come out!" The badger's voice assailed the inky silence. "This is Toskun, town Constable. Friend or foe, you'd best not make me come find you!"
The young fox's ears flattened. "What are you doing? You'd scare anybody into hiding, bellowing like that!"
The constable growled back. "You are still here."
Rea grumbled and advanced into the darkness, her little knife at the ready. She tripped once, then shuffled her paws the rest of the way. Her ears swept around, scouring the room for any sounds. She stubbed her toe and swore. Bat, bear, or steel beast: she'd give the next thing that popped up at her something to fear at night.
Toskun stumped off in the other direction, knocking overturned furniture aside with his stout frame.
Then she heard it. A soft scraping under the bed beside her. She froze for an instant, then dove under and hauled a scrawny form out by its shirt.
But it was not a bat. It was a scared little canine pup. She recognized him from Jax's mediation sessions. Flat on his back, his big puppy eyes were locked on her knife. She lowered it sheepishly, patting him on the chest. "It's okay, little guy." Then, a little louder: "Toskun. I found one of the adepts."
A looming form beside her. The young vixen jumped. It was only that damn badger. He knelt beside them. Rea could feel the little pup's heart beating like swallow's wings. Toskun cleared his throat, his voice surprisingly gentle. "Where are the others, Freese?"
The pup's pointy ears slipped flat against his head. His small paws clutched to Rea's, trying to speak, but failing. He shuddered, breathed, and closed his brown eyes. He breathed deep, his small chest rising and falling under her paw. She could hear a soft mantra under his breath as it slowed. When he spoke, his voice was a trembling leaf: "They took them."
I hope you like this little adventure so far.
Let me know how you liked it (or didn't) and why.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. ^_^
-Tempo