FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Two hours to nightfall, maybe two-and-a-half.

Seeker's day of foraging and listening to the songbirds was over. It was time to get the chores done for good.

As he sat up, the biting spring wind shifted directions and washed over his right flank. It rushed over his ear and hampered his hearing. But, like a brushfire, the loss was minor. The hearing of a Kelly was not so easily trounced.

Rabbits and other small creatures crackled about the trees below him. As the fickle wind slowed, he made out the chatter of a disgruntled squirrel staking out his tree. He'd have to retire soon when the sun went down.

When the wind grew yet more gentle, Seeker stood, careful not to be upwind of any of the larger masses of animals. Disturbances would be bad this late in the night. The sun was disappearing to the west, blazing away and making his eyes burn in protest. He squinted to find the Rotor in the distance. Fially, he picked out its supple, skeletal geometry, haloed in sunlight. It spun lazily in the distances, casting rays of shadow through the balmy air.

Seeker jogged with a low-set, deliberate pace. He merged into the tree line without a sound of greater magnitude than the swishing grass below his boots. He pulled out his compass as he descended into the shadowy groves.

The direction to the Rotor was a little bit northward of being westerly. Over time, he'd learned exactly how close the compass point should hover to that direction. The minor game helped deaden the monotony of his daily obligations. He'd been doing it as long as he'd been doing those chores, at least ten springs. The fact that he'd started at an early age only implanted it deeper into the realm of dull familiarity.

The trudge through the first stretch was monotonous. It was a slow walk around the thick trees, over the vague ghost of a trail that had been worn by his passing. The birds directly above him stopped singing with his passing. He consciously urged his steps quieter as he listened. Away in the shadowy distances far to the east he could hear the crickets and other night things, freshly awoken from the yielding snows. Meanwhile the birds sang again.

Even he could be silent if he wanted to.

He glanced at the compass, still on target. The green stretches weren't a safe place to roam unaided. One could get turned around and lost easily in the trackless sea of trees. Then, when the sun went down, your chances were very bad. Father said never to be out one hour before sundown or later.

Seeker banished the thought, as he had done many times before, and trudged on through the leaf litter.

***

The sky, previously hidden from Seeker by tree cover, was now brought fully to bare â€" from mountain to mountain. But, he was well preoccupied.

H released his hand from the edge of the steel mesh platform supporting him. He was some hundred feet in the air and wouldn't let the hand stray long. He spared only a few taps to his P.D.A. before he placed the stylus back into the top and held on again.

The wind whipped intensely about the loose edges of his down vest and his arms had gone slightly numb in the cold. But he'd grown used to it over the years and was hardened against it. The elements had always been a tool for his betterment and survival and it didn't steer him wrong here. His hands weren't shaking from the cold, rather from muted fear.

He breathed in, concentrating to stop the shakes. A godawful racket was banging around the rotor's forward cone. It was the most likely culprit for why the thing was producing nearly a megawatt less power than it should have been. Occasionally the blades would bounce on an unseen obstruction, then pick up speed again. He disconnected the drive shaft from the blades and turned on the ripper.

There was a rising scream as the high R.P.M. turbine whirred along like a garbage disposal. A rash of clangs, degraded feathers and the smell of death blasted out from the front of the wind turbine on which Seeker sat. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the old carcass' smell. The vitriolic odor was like old feet, feces and... he averted his head to take a deep, shaking breath of fresh air. The ripper blade ran unhindered now, complete in its mission but sounding a bit uneven. Dad would have to come out and replace the blade within the month. Hopefully a bird wouldn't seemingly magically find its way into the blade works again. After a few more taps, the ripper began a slide into dormancy, whizzing down to a pitch that didn't leave Seeker so dazed.

Seeker studied the sky. It was an hour and a half to sundown. But Seeker only had to get down and unlock the pivot so the Rotor could follow the wind and-

A sound reached his ears through the dying din of the ripper. The night denizens had stopped singing, even though their jubilant chorus had moments before been growing closer as the sun fell. Now the other sound was clear in the silence, keening, wandering cries. It wasn't the delta-wolves, regular ones. Those ones kept to their own.

But, seeker had heard tales of alpha-wolves and their powerful cries.... He only hoped that they were not here. The Elk people weren't due back through this area for another month. That would mean more sleepless nights and no one to go harass the packs at their source. He would go home immediately and hope that there was no threat for him, come tomorrow. Or, if there was, that they had plenty of bullets left over.

***

Seeker reached the porch and knocked shave-and-a-hair-cut on the door, careful to add a pause before the last two taps. The pause was imperceptibly small to most. You had to expect it to know whether or not it was there.

The sun was a dull ghost hidden by the towering pines that surrounded the house like sentinels. The sun wouldn't be long and his father would be close by the door, waiting for him.

Sure enough; the door opened before him discreetly, he hurried in and it was shut quickly and without any raucous.

"Aye, good lord, you're safe, Seeker. You fixed the Rotor?" Came a sandy whisper through the dimness. Seeker nodded. "Aye, my boy, we noticed you've got the output up. You're a good son, and no better replacement there will ever be." Fatalism scared Seeker, it reminded him just how dangerous it was here for everyone. It's odd that his father would mention that after the ghost howls had happened less than an hour before. Perhaps chance.

His father opened the inner door for Seeker and they walked in. "You'll want to get up early," he said through a strong Scottish accent. "Got some special errands for you to run." Seeker imagined more than saw his father's wry grin. "You'll be a busy, wee chipmunk."

His dad was full of crap. Seeker was six foot three and a head over his father. He was not "wee."

That said it was a common joke and Seeker understood its irony all to well. It was good to hear a joke and smile out here, there was little else one could do to stay sane. Of course, he couldn't trust his extended family to keep him smiling - Aunt Sileas and Uncle Sean were good people, but simple in their craft. Terry was an exception; she'd had been his aunt until he was nearly ten seasons old. Then he'd gotten smart and realized she was a family friend and a free woman. She had seemed attractive for a while, but she was too old to be to Seeker's preference, even if only by a hair.

Mummy' Catri was nowhere to be seen, as were the others. No light escaped the windowless, interior bedrooms that they passed. He would be quick off to bed, possible surprises and adventures waited beyond his own bedroom door in his dreams.

***

The sun was peeking through the tall pines far across the corn and potato fields. Sun up was ten minutes ago; Seeker had been awake when that happened. He hurriedly tied the laces on his dark felt boots, barely able to contain his excitement. He was going to Deiselwhump Square!

He had to pick up some of their property from Smith Machinist. He'd modified one of their old handguns. The old rusted thing had been Seeker's for a few years, but it was a useless heap. It never worked and he'd been using his dad's to hunt. But maybe it would be in much better shape now, maybe he could snag a few rabbits for a stew on his way back!

"Dunnae be dallyin', son," Papa Kelly said from the door behind him, almost as if he'd read Seeker's mind. "I want you back on your way by noontide. There's some godawful racket that kept me up in the night."

"Yeah? What was it papa?" Seeker remembered the ghost howls. If his father had heard them late in the night, things were not as well as Seeker hoped. Then, they would have been more than creeping nightmares in his imagination; they would be real. "What was it?" He asked again.

"Aye, I'm not so sure, m'boy. My ears aren't what they used to be working around the combines the contractors bring." He sighed, perhaps bringing the memory of the sound up, perhaps stifling his own fears of what they might be. "Sounded to me like off singing." Howls! He'd heard it! No, Seeker mustn't jump to conclusions. "Maybe just nearby owls or strays. But it could have been wolves. They never come this close, maybe alphas." Seeker's stomach flipped.

Seeker broke eye contact with his dad, turning to watch the rising sun again. He didn't want to tell his Dad he thought it was alphas, too. He could be holed up at home and then they would be short a firearm. If the alphas ever came, someone might have to light the signal lamp to the Huggins compound, they'd light over to the Rojo's place and everyone would know. That would be necessary to mount a resistance if the Elk people never came. It would also be necessary to have enough weapons to put one in the hands of every able adult in the house.

His Dad had been the hunter before Seeker and was still a good shot. But they were strapped. Seeker imagined himself unarmed when they came. Crashing through windows, nothing but a knife...

"I don't know, Dad. I didn't hear anything weird when I was out yesterday."

He'd just have to get back extra early.

***

The sun was bearing down on Seeker's shirtless form. He was instead clad in a large white robe. A seller from the west had come selling them, saying the Sun was getting closer or the sky was getting thinner and they'd need them. The seller had been right, the giant cloth was lovely. It shaded Seeker from the harsh sun but let the wind wash over him.

Still, the strap from the small pack Seeker carried weighed down on his right shoulder and left a cold sweaty band on his skin. He felt every increment of the eighty-five percent humidity bearing down on him as he walked, but he was just about there. The clouds had also slackened the sun's influence, so he decided to stop for a change. Seeker slipped off everything on his shoulders and discreetly slipped a white shirt over himself.

He picked up his gear and stuffed the robe into the bag. It would just be over this hill and...

Ah! There Was Smith Machinist's house, and Parser Harrington's! And, he'd take a shortcut.

Cracked, discorporated pavement snickered and crumbled under the curved soles of his boots. As he set into a run, he strode heal to toe. A moment later and he ducked under the bridge, onto the slimy mud of the narrow creek and scrambled back up the other side.

A short run across Machinist's lawn and he was across. He saw Machinist out on his porch waiting, so Seeker ran right up. "Hi, Smith." Seeker said casually as he stopped, panting.

"Ah, hallo, sonny," he said through his sandy American accent. "Your Pops radioed me about you coming over. Good a time as ever, Contractors are by with some shipments." Seeker's eyes lit up, there would be a bazaar down the road!

"Anyway, I got your glock gutted and restored. It's gotten an upgrade, too. Magnetic accelerators, just like yer' pops asked."

Seeker couldn't contain himself. "Wow, wow!" He whooped, smiling. He'd get those stew rabbits for sure, and then some! "Thank you, Smith!"

"Ah don't thank me, you got the rest of the contract payment?" Seeker nodded and pulled out a small plate of platinum. It was scored sixteen ways into tiny bars. "It'll be eight," Machinist said, it wasn't.

"No, my father told me seven on the list," Seeker said absently as he smacked the bar hard against the heel of his boot, snapping off seven ingots. He reached up and assertively presented them to Smith.

"Mmm, you're right. Sorry Seeker." He wasn't called the Machinist for nothing. He always edged the tables in his favor without quite seeming greedy. But he did his service well, so most shut up and took what they could. He reached up from his pocket and handed the ‘glock' to Seeker. It had a silver finish to it now, a far cry from the crust covered cloudy gray of oxidized metal that had adorned it previously. The finish was brushed as if Machinist had ground away all the rust Seeker'd become so familiar with... it was like new! He also handed him a small, heavy box.

"What's this?" Seeker asked.

"Two clips and fifty bullets," Machinist said casually. "Have fun at the bazaar, pup. Let me know if that Mag' pistol fails on you, I'll fix it up right away." Seeker nodded and smiled gleefully, his father would be happy with the deal. "See you soon, pup!"

Seeker put both items deep within his bag and closed it tight. Thieves weren't unknown at the Bazaar. Seeker would take no chances. He bounced the heavy load onto his shoulders and continued down the crumbling pavement road.

***

The wheezing squeal of truck brakes passed Seeker's ear over the laboring grumble of heavy diesel. The spindly under-slinger combine nodded forward slightly as it came to a stop, hissing compressed air. It stood on four wheel-supporting arms splayed out like a jumping cat. However, this was mundane compared to what else was with the trading convoy. There were two "Tanks" far off behind the field-combines and the articulated lorry that had shipped the goods.

They were painted in matte black, thrown into contrast by sun-yellow patterning. They sat on heavy, solid wheels and were built like armored boxes. They were high-set and topped with large weaponry of a type he hadn't seen before. He subconsciously milled in that direction as he browsed. He had a few platinum sections of his own to spend, after all.

There were cows and horses milling around posts, vendors yelled out their wares in an attempt to gather attention. All the meanwhile, a large cadre of people moved about, hunters and foragers, farmers, power salesmen running nearby plants. They were all afoot, attempting to find anything worth buying from or selling to the merchants. There were some viles of bio-fertilizer, power couplings, motors, generators and even vehicle deeds.

"Hey, kid. ‘Saw you ogling Wynona back there." Seeker turned to look at a man in camouflage fatigues with a white, ornate beret on. He was gesturing toward the tank he was saddled in. This contractor group seemed more militarily than agriculturally minded than others. "We saw ourselves some big Chimera Vectors the other day coming up here. Spring is crazy like that, huh?" Of course, that carried with it a sprinkling of relief. Subtly, his envisagement of the siege shifted in the back of his mind, became softer... he wasn't the only one who knew.

But, was spring crazy? In a place like this it was. The drastic season changes here meant lots of things came and went and what was dangerous changed from month to month. Spring famously brought Chimeras around, like the Alpha wolfs.

"Yeah?" Seeker asked smartly, "you drive this thing?" He pointed up to the tank the captain was sitting out of.

"Yep, gunner's back there, you wanna' have a look inside?" Seeker's father had told him long ago to never follow mysterious contractors unless someone would miss him. Seeker had figured out why, they could make off with people that way and leave before the day was out, no one the wiser until much too late. No one here would notice he was gone besides Smith.

"Hay there, buddy boy!" Speak of the devil, Seeker turned and grinned as Machinist sauntered their way. "You tellin' this boy lies about the Chimeras, Mack?"

"Gah," the captain said, grumbling restlessly. "I'm telling you this time we saw the Chimeras coming up north! News on the grapevine is they've taken out a few compounds down south a few days' drive." He finished smartly, glancing at Seeker to see if he'd reacted. Seeker would hold his vote until Smith had his say.

"Don't poison this boy with lies, Mack," Smith said. The impatience in his voice was fairly clear. "You say something like this every year you come around. I'll tell you what comes of it; nothing." ‘Mack' just scowled at the thin air, defeated. "I'm sure this fine young man might want to see some of your hardware though. His pop runs a farm and these combines look to be in good shape." He paused and looked at Seeker. "Whatcha' say?" Seeker nodded jubilantly.

***

A few days down, the convoy would be coming. Dad's fields needed a replanting anyway and the under-slingers seemed up to it. A big hopper truck roared by to go refill another vendor stall on the far end as he went over the numbers again. It factored out to eight tenthbars an acre, not a bad cost considering they had asked for a whole bar at the beginning.

Hopefully his father would approve and they'd get a good first-harvest on the speed-crops later in the season. Meanwhile Smith was gone again. Perhaps the old codger had nothing left to do but get home, it was almost noon. He started making his way out when a gray furred hand fell on his shoulder.

"Oh, it's you, traveler," Seeker said smartly.

"Hello to you too, Seeker Kelly," said a familiar voice, inquisitive. "The winds are bringing howls, have you heard them?" He frowned to himself. The wolves were definitely not in his imagination. Seeker'd learned to trust the Traveller's ears for good reason. So, that meant things were serious.

He hid his expression and turned around, leaning on a broken stone wall as he faced her. "Yes, actually." When a cat-woman hears something, she doesn't hear it wrong. "From the top of the Rotor."

"Ah that silly, spinning sail? I see. Shall we go find someplace more private?" Seeker nodded. Sirens weren't seen often talking with humans, especially not a loner. Some farmers and their daughters didn't approve that a viable man like Seeker would talk with a mangy nature-woman, so they said. Seeker heard their gossip or pretended to not look when they whispered. He had keen eyes and could read a few words by lip.

"Let's go," he said, morose thoughts swimming through his mind. Those gossipy ones were pointless.

She immediately made for a patch of trees and disappeared, Seeker bounded on his boots and flipped through with hardly a sound. Not only were the village women spiteful, but their sort could teach you nothing, unlike this girl.

***

"It's good to see you again, Seeker," she said, her lithe body curled up against an old pine tree. She toyed with her shoulder fur as she talked. She seemed scarcely twenty and had a form to match her subdued but powerful vitality. She wore a thick armored collar that draped over her chest. Long strands of silky hair bellowed out of the top, flowing lazily in the quiet winds permeating the daytime forests. "It's good that I've found you well. This spring, it is not right."

"Yeah, you've said. Have you seen any of the Chimeras?" Seeker asked as he settled and looked up at the sky dreamily.

"The God-beasts? Yes, I hear them in the night at all hours. The trample of the grandfather buffalo fill my dreams and the shrill cries of the Hunchbacks break them." She said matter-of-factly in her honeydew deep voice.

"So maybe I've got this," Seeker said, back perched on an old, demolished log. "You're talking about hunchbacks... the alphas? Big wolves?"

She smiled and nodded. "I appreciate how keen you are." In spite of her wry tone, honesty drifted through her lightly controlled, yet adamant voice.

"Thanks," he said, smiling in spite of the fact that his upturned face was likely unreadable.

"These... Alphas," she continued. "How is it your people deal with their incursions?" He yawned in response, eyes still on the sky. "Seeker?"

There was a pause and he heard a slight rustle, then the Traveler's face appeared a few feet above his and blocked his view of the sky. She looked down at him, lips lowered in a contemptuous frown. She'd never been this close to him before. "Are you going to give me all of your attention or what? The Hunchbacks are a serious problem, you know." Her eyes, all the while, remained cool and confident as she stared down at him curiously.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry," he said hesitantly. She pulled away and sat back down in her original spot. His eyes followed her back â€" partly because of her admonishment and partly because he'd grown suddenly curious.

Below her metal neckpiece was a tan cloth, pulled around her breasts. It wrapped around to cover her back, but a chevron of snow-white fur was exposed to the elements at her stomach.

He'd heard stories of how beautiful Siren women were, but the Traveller had surpassed anything he'd heard when he'd met her a month or so ago as the snow had begun abating. "Do humans usually ogle people of a different species, Seeker?"

He shrank back in a stint of guilt, his cheeks flushing. "Uh," he said that a lot around the Traveler. "I'm not familiar with many times that's been tested out..." He'd been meaning to ask her name, but he'd wondered if it would be any use. He'd seen her so little and had wondered if she'd stop returning, but she never had. Furthermore, she always found him when he was about on his loneliest days. Ah, what the hell? "So, Traveler, do you have a name? I think you owe me that much if you know mine."

"Mmm, I was waiting for you to ask. I'm Theia of the tribe of the East-Falsecoast Kin. Not that you'd know them, farmer boy."

"You don't have to remind me that I'm as planted here as our crops," He said. Theia cackled ruefully. He may act disgruntled around her, but she was actually delightful when she relaxed.

She never turned her nose up at him (though she didn't really have the right features to literally accomplish this.) She never talked to him like he was a simpleton, either. Only Aunt terry ever talked on his level as far as members of the fairer sex went. He supposed it was because they both lifted heavy things. The way Theia acted you'd think she did that and more.

Seeker looked up at the sky and discovered the sun had begun to wane. "Ah, cripes, I have to go!"

"You humans and the night. It's not as scary as you think." Theia said mischievously.

"You'll have to get me into that whole loving the night thing," Seeker said with little enthusiasm. "Until then, you know, I could use some company." He smiled a wolfish smile that still somehow remained innocent, Theia found. She'd been lonely out in these woods and there was little to keep her company that could ever satisfy more than her need for sustenance. She needed something... someone living and breathing, someone like the farmer boy, at least. Even if he was a fool. She flashed a comforting smile back at him. Fools do need protection, after all.

***

The birds had stopped singing and the sun was slowly hovering lower over the western mountains. He would be very worried if Theia wasn't with him.

"We still have to make better time. Are you following me all the way to my house?"

"Mmm, why not?" Well, that's an issue. "I'd like to see how you people live."

"Well you're uh," okay maybe his family would be a bit confused. But they'd all been people of the world before the Chimera Vector... he supposed they would understand.

"What?" Theia pressed, her voice suddenly hard.

"Uhh, well. You first!" Seeker said hurriedly.

"Seeker, my family is many tensleeps west. Now isn't the time." She said.

"Not my fault!" Seeker turned and flicked his tongue out at her. "Nyah!" He thumbed his nose, then wondered if she'd even recognize it.

"Agh! You petulant little child-man!" Theia pounced with rueful and unexpected force. The impact forced him over and she used the leverage to push him toward the gully at the edge of the road. He thought he caught the flash of a mischievous smile through the flailing blur of gray that assailed him.

"Theia!" he gasped as a foot grazed open grass. "Pack! Pack!" She reluctantly took her weight off of his shoulders. For a few protracted seconds her aggravated, quickened breath fell warm on his ear. Then it was over as if it had never happened. She rose and brushed agitated dust from her clothes.

"Hah, I think I forgot about that," she said, wearing the same smile as she stepped away. "Let's get going." She turned and continued on ahead of him. Before he could recover from his own response to her proximity, his eyes naturally strayed to her gently tapering neck.

It was almost unnaturally thin â€" for human proportions, at least. Her lean, sharp shoulders rose and fell with each stride, twisting into arms that bulged noticeably outward, leaving no straight line in their form. He would have assumed she was sinewy, but her demeanor was more graceful than any masculine male he'd met. Grey fur jostled and washed like a grassy field in the waning sunlight, dancing over her arms as they swung with her gait. Her shoulders tapered down a full back, before disappearing beneath her tan, cloth robe.

Her buttocks rose dramatically from the cloth, punctuating themselves like gentle hills in the fabric. Below them, the fabric terminated in a slightly frayed corner, hiding her thighs from view. Below, her legs were wiry and narrow, but sleek and curved at the back. What was truly implied by all these curves was lost slightly in the flowing gray gossamer of her coat of fur. The mystery was delightfully enticing.

He sighed and got back on task, they would be a while. No use getting busted looking too long.

***

It was getting dark and the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon. He had been jogging for a long while up and down the hilly pavement highway.

"It's not too long from here, Theia!" He said sidelong behind him. He stopped walking when there was no response. "Theia?" He turned and discovered the road behind him, all the way to the top of the last hill where it disappeared, was empty. There was only three words that accurately encompassed how seeker felt about that particular situation.

"Aw', fuck me!" He mumbled.

Birds blasted away from a nearby oak tree in droves, making him jump as they leapt for the sky in a cackling mass. The sky had darkened heavily in the east. It appeared as if night had arrived in that direction. All that his eye could see was bathed in shadow.

A droning, moaning howl sounded from up the tree-packed hill to his left. The noise was deeper than any howl Seeker had known. "Ah!" he said, throwing away his shakes with a frustrated sigh, "screw this!" He flipped his pack over his shoulder and opened the main pocket. He hurriedly dug around, then his hand touched cold metal.

"Okay, alright... I know what to do..." he mumbled in some ghost of an attempt to reconcile himself. There was another howl, perhaps a half mile away at most. He found the box of bullets in short order and pulled both items from the pack. He flipped the pack back around and fumbled with the thin box. He suppressed the shakes again as he fumbled for a clip. A moment later and he had begun pressing cartridges in.

One, two, three â€" another howl sent a number of small creatures in the pine trees scurrying â€" six seven eight. Okay another clip, just to be safe. One, two, three, four... where was Theia?! Seven, eight. He hastily closed the box and threw it into the pack before reaching behind and latching it.

Instantly he took one of the clips in his hand and slammed it home with a sleek swish. He clicked the safety on the gun off and a small red light on the butt of the pistol began to strobe dimly. The pistol emitted a rising, subliminal whine as he shoved the other clip in his pocket with his free hand.

He backed away from the treeline on the left side of the road. On the opposite side was a drop off onto a field of heather and tall grass. He might be able to allude them there. If they were Deltas, regular ones, they'd just bug out and find something easier to kill. But, then again, they would have done that a while ago.

All Seeker could hear was his own ragged breath as he clicked on the LED light at the front of the gun. Blood red light illuminated a cone through the approaching night. The sun had nearly ceased lighting the sky above him. All that remained was a light blue halo over the towering treetops. Meanwhile all was dark accept where his light pointed. The gun clicked noisily and there was a barely audible, rising shriek like a camera flash capacitor.

In reality; they were fairly similar. The capacitor made use of a massive, instantaneous jolt of power along small magnetic rails to add extra velocity to the metal bullet via a strong magnetic field. The red status light at the butt of the gun now shone constantly, creating a dim red glow about Seeker's feet as he raised the weapon. There was a howl in the trees, just up the hill by a few hundred feet.

They wouldn't make him run! If he ran, they would catch him no sweat -- whatever they were. Crazed deltas, alphas, some other Chimera.

A menacing growl caught his ear from just above the road, a few yards into the trees. He aimed and fired instantly with a whistling crack. The shot blasted into a tree with an unearthly ‘bark!' He watched a gray shadow flee from his light cone. He'd been close with that one. These sons of bitches had put the fire in him now. They were going down!

He breathed through clenched teeth as he heard a cadre of clicking paws on the pavement. He looked around and saw dull green eyes staring him down from a handful of different directions.

"Come on," he growled. "Come on you sons of bitches!" His voice cracked as he yelled at the top of his lungs. No use acting quiet, he was already discovered. He might be able to intimidate them if they were standing off instead of ambushing. He hollered. A few jumped back a step, but one larger animal was unfazed. He slowly stepped forward and made Seeker wheel around to face him.

"Ah, you want some, mangy thing?" he said senselessly, "what's up you fat bastard!" He yelled, the creature didn't step down. He had a heavy gait to him, maybe he would be too slow, just had to time it right... The beast curled back and Seeker tensed. As the hunched shadow charged him and leapt, Seeker jumped sideways, not caring where he landed, and squeezed off a shot toward where he had been.

He landed and rolled awkwardly over his pack, off the pavement and into the roadside gully. Something caught his foot and twisted it like it had never been twisted before. Seeker cried out reflexively at the racing jolt of pain that overtook his leg. Meanwhile, there was a crumpling thud of smashing limbs from the road, like a bag of cement topped off with bricks. Something whined plaintively and sent some of the hell-hounds running. Seeker brought his leg against his chest as he fought with the pain, fumbling with the laces on his boot.

Two began to advance on him, still hoping to score a kill... but they didn't notice the hanging form, swinging down from a lulling pine branch. The creature's thin limb gave up its purchase on the branch and the branch snapped upward in protest. By the time the beasts had averted their gaze to stare at the attacker, it was too late. They fell back from glancing blows by a wide swing of a long spear that swiped vengefully through the air. The faint plaintive whines of defeated mutts reached him.

The silhouette jumped about on two legs, flexing the spear about its form in a spinning, jabbing blur. The other beasts appeared confused, some ran, but still a few remained. Seeker pulled the laces free of his boot and splayed it open. Even though he moved his foot gingerly out of the boot, the pain was almost knocking him unconscious. There! His foot still moved, with great effort.

The figure turned its jade eyes on him, shimmering reflected moonlight into his. It advanced cautiously, still keeping the creatures at bay by swinging the spear back and sashaying about to stare at them. Seeker reached with the free hand not clutching his boot, groping madly about for his pistol. He looked around and then sighted a patch of grass being blasted with red light. He immediately clawed out for it and touched familiar metal, hot from use. He found the rubber handle and gripped tight, brandishing the gun towards the silhouette. Two triangular ears shot bolt upright from its scalp.

"Sst! Seeker!" It was Theia's voice that reached him! Thank the gods. "Can you get up?" the Silhouette seemed to glance back at him with concern.

He flipped over onto one knee and, with great pain, raised himself. He limped painfully up the grass drop off, foot sidelong, before he finally reached her. The remaining pack members sidled about nervously, attempting a slow advance. He hastily counted three as he leaned against Theia's shoulder. They faced down the remaining ones surrounding their exit route.

"We must make our way quickly, if they will not back down, you must use your fire-pen." She tried harrying them, two fidgeted but one remained. "Hurry, more mustn't find us!"

He raised the weapon, one shrank away under the red light and another barred its teeth, but refused to back down. Its eyes were filled with rage that made him hesitate. As he paused and held the trigger, it jumped right for his face.

In a panic, he squeezed off a round and heard it pat thunderously into the loose asphalt. He had reflexively curled his head down to save his face from being ravaged by the beast, but no impact came. There was a dull thud at his feet and the emaciated creature fell before him in a pool of its own blood. Theia's spear was raised in front of him and its polished metal blade was sheathed in shining crimson. Pattering paws retreated into the treeline.

"Don't..." she began, sighing and shaking noticeably. "Don't ever scare me like that." Seeker was far too stressed to have anything pierce his emotions now. But; the words came to him later that night, when he'd stolen away back to their farm through the heather fields.

***

"Oh, sweet Jesus! You're leg, Seeker!" Catri screamed as she paled like a sheet. He was on Aunt Terry's shoulder, his left foot skewed slightly and very swollen. There was a storming racket out of the center of the house at mum's outcry and Papa Kelly came storming through the halls.

The muscle-bound, stocky man barked at the top of his lungs. "What's this about m'boy's leg? What's happened to him?" Garish Kelly was notoriously defensive whenever someone close to him was in danger in the same way a wildabeest was angry when someone tried to bite off its leg. Of course, both reasoned, the best defense was a good offense. "Jesus, Seeker!" He said, echoing his mum's tone. "Yeh've lamed yourself! How in the hell did you get back here in one piece?" He seemed on the verge of roaring tears. "My boy you're scaring the living-" He sobered and his eyes snapped like motion cameras to the area just above Seeker's left shoulder, through the door and- where was Theia? "Don't move," he mumbled as if he were being circled by sharks. "The rat bastard's followed yeh' home!" He reached slowly for the butt of a weapon sticking out of his pocket.

Seeker shook his head adamantly. No, this can't happen. "Don't-" Seeker dove forward, Terry gripping for him as if she'd thought he'd fallen. But he hadn't he'd lunged. In a flash, he'd grabbed his dad's pistol and dragged it to the floor with his crumpling body. All the meanwhile he realized he'd been wailing for him to stop.

Seeker gripped the gun like death itself, clutching it lengthwise to his chest. "Don't kill her, dad!" His foot felt even worse, like a hot iron jabbed into the bones of his lower leg. "She saved my life!" All the same, he didn't care at that moment.

***

"Ah, sweetmaryjesusthesaviorand..." Seeker let out a constant blur of slurs that rose and crashed like a wave --- synchronous with the adjustments Terry made to his splint. She let out a heaving yank on the straps and he cried out. Theia wished she could just comfort him... but it was necessary to stay at arm's length, his family was very protective. Furthermore, they'd not conversed on the matter. For all they knew, she was a rogue, some wild mercenary who would demand a take...

"You talk?" She turned her gaze upon the short stocky man who had turned a fire-stick on her before. She watched him suspiciously. He stared her down effortlessly and didn't flinch, nor did she. "You talk, don't you?"

"Yes," she said, her melodic, treble voice edged with malicious aggression. "Will you now be figuring out how best to flay me?" She asked sarcastically. She should have never stayed behind, she should have left. These humans were flighty and treacherous like does and bucks all under one small roof. These spaces unnerved her also. She pined for the open canopy where she could move as she pleased.

"No... no," he grumbled in defeat. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, you saved my son." He turned and stared at his feet. The headdress over his head, shaped like a cylinder pot with a visor on the front, hid his eyes. What was the purpose of this gesture? "You've done as good a job of protecting him as me. Did he do well for himself in the tussle? Who was it with?"

"Hunchbacks," she said, tired from the night running and the dragging of poor Seeker through the underbrush. His scent covered her. "They are what you call.... Alphas. I believe your son called them this?" she hesitated, wondering weather he should know what Seeker did with the fire-pen, was it forbidden?

"Don't hold back about my son, did he get any of the bastards?"

That would be that. "Yes, a few at least. But I found it remarkable that he frightened them."

"He what? He scared them off?"

"Yes and no. Hunchbacks are not easily frightened, but these ones were like scavengers they were so wanting of bravery." She sighed as she realized how easily he could have simply failed, perhaps not shooting the alpha male, as he had. "He is either very lucky or gifted with senses even I may find amazing."

"I want you to watch him if you can," he paused. "You're a good soul, y' are." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "You two might just be the best thing that's happened to each other, the way you talk." Perhaps he had a point. Theia chanced a small smile across her lips, mostly to remind herself how she'd felt about the boy.

After all, fools needed protection. And, assuming their cultures were alike, his father had just forged a very important pact with her.

***

Theia's arm's embraced his exposed shoulders, caressing the skin with electric pinpricks where her fur slid so gently over him. "Before we.... I wanted to thank you, Theia, for caring."

"Don't... don't ever scare me like that again. You know I care about your safety."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that." She leaned in closer to him, her hot breath falling between his eyes in gentle puffs. His nose was full of her scent, like pine, clean earth and roses. "Oh, Theia."

"Seeker," she whispered. "Sst!" Suddenly his vision blanked and he was alone in darkness. "Seeker, hey!" He slowly opened his eyes to the moonlit light streaming through his window. Wow, wow. What a dream! It even seemed to be chasing him back to reality.

Back to reality? He then chanced upon a silhouette with big-parasol ears falling against his reinforced screen. He leaned up on his healing fracture, the sprain long gone. The pain nagged at him like a distant thunderstorm.

"Th-Theia?" He whispered, his voice stolen by his recent return to the waking world and the sudden appearance of the real half of his lusty dream's doppelganger.

"Hello, Seeker. You sleep like a fat mouse-bat, my friend. Can we talk?" He nodded and rose, unlatching the guard shutters and raising them as quietly as he could. Their metallic hiss ground against his eardrums. He felt as though flailing about with a giant rain-stick and bashing it against the walls wouldn't have equaled the racket he was making.

Finally there was enough space where she immediately slinked through. She sat on the edge of his bed, emerald eyes catching the moonlight and glinting like a night-sight. "I'm sorry I left so soon," she said. He'd waited a day for her to return, he was happy she had. "But I couldn't spare a private moment unless I was able to sneak in later. You'll be happy to know it consumed my time for many hours." She smirked sardonically in the darkness. He smiled back.

"I..." he stammered. "I want to thank you for getting me out of there the other day..." he said hastily. She looked away and he thought he saw a slight flush beneath the fur of her neck. "If there's anything.... Anything I can do." His mind was on the dream. What it suggested was oddly compelling, if not wholly impossible.

"No, it was nothing." She said, a slight bite to her modesty. "You scared those hunchbacks very thoroughly. They won't be pushing forward for a while."

"It was both of us, okay?" He said.

Had his father seriously suggested she court him, or was it some expression? She knew of her distant traditions from the falsecoast... though it seemed so long ago... But, watching someone was a very serious responsibility when pinned on someone by an elder. To travel with someone was to be intimate... perhaps this was true for humans, whether or not they knew it. Either way, this was the destiny his father had clearly requested.

"Fine," she said. "Would you mind if we traveled together more often?" Gah! What a lack of tact on her part! Surely, such a blatant request would get shot down! "You know, for self defense?" she rushed out. Much to her surprise, his odd, angular, purely formed face was graced with a smile.

He said yes.

***

The spring peepers had began to sing again, around them the forest noise hid their every action. They were deep in the Green Stretches, far from the western mountains and encased in a net of many aware creatures. There, they would know long before anything reached them if there was even danger at all.

Theia had picked this spot to steal to in the night, through the shutters of the squat, little house and out into the wilds. She heard the familiar babble of flowing water as she pushed aside yet another branch. Before her was a tiny clearing, bisected by a meandering creak. Along its mossy, leafy faces there were slabs of flat slate sitting like altars amongst the rolling, open space.

"So what are we here for?" The blatant sexual tension in the way he said the phrase practically lit her. She turned to gaze at him as they entered the clearing. The weather had grown hot and he'd only had the time to slip on a pair of slacks before they departed his room. The muscles that ran down his body were subtle but present. They tensed and slackened under his marvelous, sleek skin, unobstructed by any hair.

The ponytail at the back of his head whipped and swayed in the light wind as he looked at her quizzically. She'd long ago discovered they were about the same in relative age. It was an odd thing to know that youths of either species tended to get both an independent and a reproductive streak in them at about the same time. But it was very lucky for her, as she'd long ago decided she could love this man, for whatever length fate allowed. But this would only be the case if he felt the same. Tonight, tonight would be the night she'd know for sure!

"A creek I like," she said. The comment was plain and innocuous. However, over the past few weeks, Seeker had learned to take the seemingly innocuous with an analytical ear when it came to Theia. He'd checked his odds and had some guesses as to why they'd gone to a place so remote. It also helped his case that her tail was flinging itself about in weird, nervous curves.

He sat down on a flat rock, careful to keep his pants out of the caked mud, lest he get found out later for it. "It's cold," Theia commented in her honey-sweet voice as she nestled in between his legs. She had a voice oddly like a boy-soprano, high overall yet more deep than the women he knew. It was as if she'd won out in a vocal balancing act somewhere in an uncommon gray zone. But her voice was full like the treble of a Saxiphone, like on Papa's LPs. The effect was otherworldly.

But he honestly didn't have much formal knowledge of women. He just knew about dowries, formal suiting of the bride's favor, all that rot. With Theia, it hadn't mattered. He knew the way they shared personal space now was shameless, but what was so wrong with that?

Having acknowledged that, apparently his body wanted to protest in its own way. As she nestled up against him, he fought his own natural functions for her sake. It was a tense jostling that set him off, but he subsided by his own will easily enough. Still he knew she would have noticed it. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. He supposed it was best to just let things take their course.

"Sanders talked to me about courting his daughter again." He said casually to the back of her neck.

"Isn't this the third time?" She asked. It might as well have been, if not more. Since it'd gotten around he'd killed a chimera single-handedly the offers were ceaseless.

He hummed in thought for a moment as he tried to recall the exact number. "Yeah, I think so. I don't really like her that much."

"Your parents would like this? She asked, a hint of her casual demeanor lost.

"Yeah, I guess. But they also know I don't like the idea. They've tried to convince me, but I dunno."

"Why bother committing, then? You're still young, like me. You have many years of being a viable stag left."

"Stag? I could get used to this treatment!" he said. She grunted, reached back and cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. So what was this "young like me" stuff? He supposed they were about the same age, but what was she really getting at?

"Have you ever considered what you'd do in the meantime?" She asked. D'oh, getting a tad awkward.

"I.... Guess not." Okay, just roll with what she says then. Crash courses in psychology aren't so bad. Especially when it involves a somewhat alien mindset...

"Well what about the both of us?" His stomach back-flipped.

"The both of... huh?" The words escaped his mouth of their own accord, subconsciously egging her on, he knew. But even as his head began to catch up, no thoughts of protest arose.

"What ..." she said, her voice a wavering, passionate whisper. She turned to face him, her jade eyes intently flicking between his eyes and lips. Her pupils were dialated. Seeker couldn't tell whether this was from the night darkness or a sign of interest. Her muzzle was a scant few inches from his mouth. "What will..." he found himself inexplicably drawing closer, willed on by the pine scent flowing from her like the smell of a spring flower. "...what will we-"

Her lips met his before she ever finished the sentence. He made no move to let her as they pressed together, the only remaining sound the lubricated slide of flesh on flesh. Seconds stretched out as they drew each other deeper, his arms tightening around her turned back, her hand rising up to press behind his neck. The stimulation immediately set him to working in a way he'd never done in reality before. His tongue raced between their parted lips and ran gently over her sharp teeth. As it passed the center of her jaw again, her own coarse flesh rose to meet his exploring tongue. Hers danced around his, encircling it with rough, passionate sensations the likes of which he'd never felt before.

Before long they were both panting through their noses, then gasping for air as they broke the contact. Their foreheads touched as they leaned on each other. Seeker continued to hold her tight against his bare chest.

"When did you get it in your head to do that?" He asked between gasps.

"I think... Maybe when I first met you," She confided. "It only grew from there." It was good to know he was wanted for something before anyone else had cared.

"Mmm, how long until sun-up?" He asked, they'd leapt the ledge now... where would it take them?

"Perhaps somewhat more than three times a fourth of a sleep." He worked out her odd way of doing fractions then decided nothing could be more perfect. He hummed adamantly at her words after a pause.

As she'd become an occasional member of Seeker's household many moons ago, she'd become the only woman he'd dreamt of. It had gone on without ceasing for a long time and he'd gradually come to the realization that he had wanted this. To have it realized was a gift from mother forest herself, if not very unexpected.

Or perhaps it was just fate that their time of passion had been so aligned on this night. He looked up into the night sky and smiled, for above them was the fullest moon he'd seen in a while. This night was bright and safe.

"What are you looking at?" Theia cooed gently to him. There was only one thing left to realize his utmost hopes, the ones that had clawed at him and left him restless and frustrated.

"How far will we take this tonight?" He asked. Theia looked him in the eye and drew him into another close embrace, her cheek on the side of his brow.

"Tsk tsk," she began in a playful whisper. "The evening is still very young, Seeker. Why don't we find out?" In that moment he knew she'd never hold the wiser lusts at arms length. He knew then -as he'd guessed- that she wasn't pure, but flawed, just as he was. This realization only made him feel closer.

"I'd like that," was all he could say. Mostly because he'd never poured his heart out -- he felt disarmed. But it seemed she expected nothing else of him as she moved a hand onto his arm. She guided it gently from where it rested on her flank over her stomach. As he passed it, he took the time to gently caress her, his hand rubbing gently through the coat of voluptuously soft, snow-white fur.

A gentle, rumbling purr fell onto his right ear, which was wafted over by hot breath with each outpouring of sound. "More of a gentleman than I expected, Seeker," she whispered gently, giggling before she resumed purring sedately. He smiled quietly to himself. There's nothing wrong with manners.

Her hand urged him still further, past her stomach and down onto the body-hugging wrap she wore. His hand fell between her legs and was bathed in extreme warmth. "I suppose you may surmise why I'm so hasty tonight." He could almost hear her wry smile. He could guess well enough. Warmth in any given place meant excess blood-flow, which meant bodily focus upon that area. Similarly, he also knew from talks his parents had given him long ago what was beneath his hand.

He gently cupped her there, his hand falling neatly into contact between her legs, his longest fingertips barely reaching underneath her kneeling form. She gulped and uttered a gentle sigh in response. The sigh was like wind through the leaves of a willow. It was so full of chill relief, yet beneath it beat a power much greater than was insinuated by the ways in which it made itself known.

Without a word, the beautiful woman in his lap let go of him and spun lightly. She landed her knees so they urged against his thighs. His eyes met hers, glinting wryly down at him from her higher, kneeling stance.

"How often do you get like this?" Seeker asked through quick breaths.

"This passion grips me regularly every moon. It's been many long years since I've even had a man I'd thought about spending it with." She spoke confidently. "Only once before have I ever lain with such a man." The ease with which the words escaped her thrilled Seeker.

This was so much so he chose to speak out himself in return. "I'm afraid I've never had much action myself... Well, none - actually," he said with shyness in his whispering voice. Action, great word choice, Casanova.

She raised an eyebrow at him just as she was reaching behind her back with a nubile flexibility with which he'd become familiar. Still, her contrasting, thin form was striking from such close proximity. Her thin midsection arched backwards, raising her breasts into prominence - in spite of their tight cloth bindings. They seemed to reach skyward above him. Though he'd known women more ‘well endowed' than she, few carried such pertness in this area. Nor; such universal grace as she did possess. That more than made up for any so-called "shortcomings."

"You talk with such knowledge of courtship and wedding ritual, though, as if you're so well versed. Does not this not mean you've lain with a woman before?" Seeker blushed at this question.

"No, we don't often meet intimately outside of marriage, us humans." This was partly because portions of the farming families were Christian, and their legal customs had been accepted for the most part. Premarital sex was a dangerous game in a land where the food supply could fall short of any new demands. Those who did tread it tread it lightly and with protection. Though he assumed it wouldn't matter with Theia. She didn't seem too worried either.

"I see. Well, you'll yet be versed, my lovely Seeker." She spoke so blatantly, yet it flowed with the subtlety and softness of old prose. He gasped inwardly as the metal collar fell from around Theia's neck and was tossed gently aside by her gracefully thin hands. She reached behind herself again and, shortly, the wrappings confining her fell about the two of them.

She kneeled half naked before a muscle bound man whom she'd never have imagined being so intimate and casual with as this. But he'd grown on Theia like a trusted friend since their encounter with the hunchbacks. Not only that, but she'd discovered him to be truly dashing.

He'd been hewn like the very representation of a god of farm and bounty into a truly amazing sight. Two gently converging, well-defined lines diverged from below his belt upward into a set of subtly visible abdoiminals, pronounced against his skinny frame. He was barrel-chested yet lacking any real substance in his outline. He was quite unlike any human male she'd seen, and more like the skinny, light-footed males of her own tribe.

Despite her incredibly lithe frame, Seeker couldn't help but marvel at her strength as she leaned into him, hooked her arms under his shoulders, and lifted him to sit on her upper legs. Undaunted and, actually, rather allured, he set immediately to her. His lips fell gently upon the gossamer, white furs of her neck, nuzzling through to fleeting patches of sensitive flesh underneath. He brought his attention down and grazed his teeth over her collarbone.

One hand fell gently to Theia's shoulder. As he tended to her, he felt her muscles tense and relax. They were surprisingly pronounced and solid underneath her thick coat of fur. Out of curiosity, he brought his other arm down her forearm, feeling her as he nosed upward again, noting how she tensed under that specific attention. His waking thoughts began to fill with her as his dreams had as he took in the smell about her in vivid intimacy.

She smelled of blooming trees and pines, of fresh dew and gentle summer breezes. He'd continue, he knew, and have no remorse if she was happy. She mewled loudly in his ear as he nipped ever so gently at her cheek, sending shivers down his spine. When they met again, her lips were open and waiting, letting forth hot breath as she pulled back and kissed him hard.

Her face angled against his as their lips locked deeper. As before; their searching tongues met, but more bravely than they had before. They passionately locked in a duet of grinding, swirling sensuality for precious seconds before both withdrew and the two lovers parted.

Seeker ducked his head to resume what he'd begun, gently planting kisses and teasing flesh. But he was bolder in his exploration now, moving downward below her collarbone â€" now nuzzling down the natural curve of the valley formed by her breasts. He moved with an obscure purpose, driven by the output of every sense of his body, feeding into a base few instincts. He wanted so badly to make her happy, to please her, to show her just how much she was wanted and everything beyond.

Her purring was intersected by another quietly passionate squeak as he nuzzled the top of her left breast, his chin scantly grazing bare flesh. In short order, he searched his way downward to the soft flesh of her nipple, where he planted a gentle kiss. For a scarce moment, Theia's breath caught, her chest raked with the tingling tension that such contact brought.

His lips landed upon her more boldly than before, sucking gently upon her flesh. She immediately hardened in his mouth from the attention and let loose another gasping mewl of pleasure. A hand slid into place on the back of his head, urging him onward and keeping him in contact with her sensitive flesh. He withdrew only momentarily before he bore down upon her again.

His tongue caressed her, circling over her engorging border and lapping up and down over the pronounced tip at the center. He sucked and slackened, then sucked again upon her, eliciting gentle sighs and tense moans. He continued tending to her with an audible fervor, making her squirm gently beneath his attention as she alternated between breathless vocalizations, purring euphoria and words of gentle encouragement.

He broke the contact with an audible pop, making Theia shiver in his arms. He soon connected with her other nipple and began tending her there before she gently urged him back. He rose and looked into her eyes, planting a fleeting kiss on her lips and taking her by surprise. She panted under his gentle, caring gaze for a short while before she spoke again.

"Oh, Seeker," she paused before she began again. "I'd like it very much if you keep surprising me like this." She smiled weakly at him as he chuckled quietly. Around them, the sounds of the night were unoppressed, Seeker soon discovered there was something else acting free and careless.

He yelped as a hand suddenly wrapped around his pronounced maleness. Still breathless, Theia spoke again. "I think we need something for this." She winked at him and let him rise. Taking the cue, he unfastened his belt, stood on the rock and shed his pants. He let them fall on a dry patch, letting his naked bottom fall on the cold rock. The experience was rather shocking at first and made him gasp. Meanwhile he felt certain dangly parts draw up and away from the ice cold rock. Theia giggled at his misfortune, and he scowled slightly.

The scowl faded when Theia undid a knot at the back of her scant remaining wrappings. The wrappings encircling her hip and covering her loins fell carelessly in front of seeker's feet. She stood above him in what appeared to him as her full, unbridled glory. He'd often wondered what she looked like underneath her flourishes and garments, now he knew. She was surprisingly human. But he already knew she was human enough in her heart, enough to harbor love for him. Thus, he saw her for what she was. She was lithe and lean through and through and had a longer, slightly narrower upper body than most women he'd seen. Despite her well-defined muscles, she had a slight hourglass shape to her curves, accentuated by the crescent curves of her breasts. Her angular eyes led up to her styled hair, raked with stripes zig-zagging in deeper shades of gray.

She looked down on him with amusement, beaming ever so slightly in a way that filled him with warmth. That was in spite of the cold slab of slate upon which he sat.

A swath of white fur covered her entire front, running down her stomach and diving between her legs where the smooth ‘v' shape of her loins came to a terminus. There, she was flush, even through the fur there, and parted gently. Her folds were exposed to him, contrasting with the white fur surrounding that area.

She didn't say a word, and he had only three. "Thank you, Theia." She smiled knowingly as she slowly came down to meet him. Her hands landed on his flanks, stabilizing her as she let her feet dangle over the edge of the rock just behind him. She let one hand fall to support her as she maneuvered, her breasts brushing against him and her breath falling hot on his shoulders.

In one amazing, unexpected moment, she let gravity run its course. His maleness parted her, caressed by warm, slick folds that had minutes ago been ready for the intrusion. She let out a musical sigh so full of pure passion that he was moved even in his ecstasy. One of his arms instinctively wrapped around the small of her back and held tight. His grip tightened gently as she drew up from him, her entire front rising against his, caressed by airy strands. Fiery contact flowed between them where they met, progressing and propagating like waves between them. The stretched seconds ended as only his tip remained within her.

As she drew down upon him again, he fought his muscles, twitching in pleasure, to bring his free hand up to stroke through her hair. Though it seemed at a distance to be composed of many braided strands, he discovered it was cropped into rows that ran down her scalp. The style was bold and unlike the modest cuts most of his community sported.

He was distracted again as she continued to embrace him in every way. Her furred legs brushed his thighs and sent his tightened nerves into a frenzy. Meanwhile, she drew up and down upon him, contacting him upon every surface of his sensitive length as he pushed into and out of her tunnel. She began to purr gently through her quickened breaths, pausing to sigh and mewl under their shared assault.

The purring conducted all the way down to where they met, driving the stimulation upon him into further prominence. Soon, however, it gave way completely to sighs and gasps rising in stacatto bursts from her upturned mouth. Her breasts jostled and bounced as she ceaselessly pounded onto him.

The pace continued in a haze in which Seeker had lost all grasp of time. There was only her movement against him, constant and rhythmic. He moved his hands to her buttocks and tried to assist her movements. His strength showed itself to be a very useful asset as her cries of pleasure grew more furious with his act.

His length, slickened by her own juices, passed easily within her as she drew up and pistoned down onto him time and again. For a while, they twisted and writhed together in this shared, overbearing bliss. But, then Seeker began feeling a rising feeling within him. He feared he wouldn't have the control to stay himself much longer.

He hurriedly ducked the hand from her behind torest between her legs at the front of where they met. By chance he brushed a protruding bump just below where her fur began. Her breath caught and she stopped purring again, but moved faster upon him. A thrill shot through him; he'd found a way to please her, one that seemed to drive her madder than ever.

He swiped his thumb over the sensitive bump, the rough flesh becoming wet with the slick juices that eased their meeting. With each swipe, she gasped and mewled, her breathing quickening. She held him tight and he felt her hands clasp together behind him. The tendons in her wrists pushed against his back as she seemed to squeeze her hands as an outlet for everything he was trying to give her.

Meanwhile, she didn't slacken her rhythm. But as she rammed herself up and down upon his length, her gasps became lengthier and more broken. Meanwhile, she preoccupied herself by throwing her head about, until finally their lips aligned. He caught her in a kiss deeper than any they had. She seemed to let out one final gasp instead as a sucking force upon his own lips. Her tongue twitched blindly against his until she finally hilted him deep within her loins.

Her walls pressed in upon him, squeezing his critically engorged length until he could take it no longer. The muscles in his maleness threw themselves about violently and he felt his own liquid pleasure rolling into her like a river unleashed down a mountain. They twisted their lips upon each other until finally she broke the kiss. She stayed still as his own pulsing fits subsided, then kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Oh, Seeker..." she paused and looked deeply at him with concern. "Are you okay?" He was breathless, but had enough sense in him to nod. This was, without a doubt, the night that trumped all others in his memory. He finally felt wanted by someone besides a groupy of his status as a local Chimera killer. He was wanted by someone because he'd been with them long before he'd ever merited any attention. It had been when he was just Seeker Kelly, innocuous son of a farmer.