Arcanine Wants Me To Be His Shrine Maiden? [Ch.2]
Imported from SF2 with no description.
A dull thumping noise prompted Maia to open her eyes early the next morning. Face half buried in the pillow, she lay still a moment trying to figure out what exactly she had heard. Or even if she had heard it. Almost like furniture sliding to a halt on the other side of the bedroom wall. Her mother doing some rearranging in the guest room just to leave in a day or so. It fit the eccentric woman's habit well enough to settle the matter.
Maia rolled over and yawned. Her robe was open and she left it that way to bask in the cool air. In the meantime noticing her bed was looking like it had been through a wild night. Blanket halfway on the floor, her other pillows kicked off and sheets bunched up or pulled askew. The aftermath of a restless, feverish night tossing and turning.
The house remained silent as she ventured up and out of bed. A little too quiet given the fact her mother was staying over.
"Mom? You up yet?" She tried at the guestroom door, knocking as she opened it.
Nothing. The room was completely empty. No luggage or belongings in sight, with the bed immaculately made.
About the time she processed this, she froze with a tight grip on the doorknob. All at once she was yanked back to the odd dream, before it even had a chance to evaporate fully in the sunlight spilling in the windows. There was a flash on the other side of the room. A pair of flames fixed on her, only for an instant. It faded and she could see it was her own eyes in the mirror over the dresser. Her mind playing tricks on her, that's all it was.
She shut the door and then leaned against it with a sigh. Her mother must have departed earlier. Just to be on the safe side Maia fished her phone out and tapped out a quick text.
-
Deep within the temple Kuni sat in meditation, veiled behind thin smoke and the inexplicable ripples brushing across hanging banners. Behind a white Ninetails mask accented with red and blue markings she conversed without a word. Whispers lightly disturbed the flames of the glowing candles peeking out from the wall of darkness behind her.
Wooden clappers were struck followed by a spirited "EEYOOOOOO!" of a Kabuki howl that echoed throughout the chamber.
"Hm?"
Kuni plucked the phone from her robes, seeing she had a text.
>Hey. Did you make it home okay?
"Fufufu. The Wild Fire has chosen his mate from among the shrine's descendants. My very own daughter at that!"
She reached into the shadows and scooped a Haunter in her arm, bringing the unwitting Pokemon in for a tight hug. A captive audience to her monologue.
"With that foul temper of hers, she wasn't going to find a Human husband anyway! But now, I'm going to be the mother in law of Nojukubi himself!"
With sheer delight, Kuni squished the Haunter like an ectoplasmic squeeze toy.
"I could just tell her what's going on. But fate is much more fun when it's a surprise, wouldn't you agree?"
The Haunter was squished nearly flat under the considerable weight of Kuni's breasts as she rested her elbows on its head and tapped at her phone.
>The Wild Fire has chosen. I am to prepare for the joining of the twin flames. See you soon hun <3
-
Aside from her mom's mystical spirit world tangent, it was back to business as usual for Maia. She strode along the park trail clad in a running outfit. Not one to rest on her laurels even on the weekend. A nice jog was always an invigorating way to start the day. Hopefully it would also serve to distract from thoughts of ghostly, hypnotic candle flames and their intoxicating warmth.
The path curled into the park's interior, steeped in deep azure shadows. The trees became dense enough that the canopy soon blocked out the upper limits of the skyscrapers. The ambience of distant traffic was swept away on a breeze. She slowed her pace, lulled by the illusion that she was no longer standing in the middle of a metropolis. Thick roots laced through loamy soil as they had been for thousands of years judging by the size of the trees they sprawled from.
A creaking of wood sounded as the breeze shifted the leafy curtains around her. Something in the gloom took shape as she stared. An old statue sitting just off the trail. Pock marked and mossy but still recognizable as an Arcanine. It sat on a slab sunk a ways into the dark ground and thickly piled leaves.
For a moment she stood and watched, waiting for what she could not say. Nothing happened, outwardly anyway. The statue did place a missing puzzle piece into place about that odd dream she couldn't dislodge from her head. The pair of flames in the dark- they had traced out the outline of a Pokemon's face. A living version of the stony one she was looking at presently.
With a cool touch on sweaty skin, the breeze highlighted the skimpiness of the outfit. Bare legs, up to the shorts cradling her hips, midriff on full display, and the perkiness of her chest in the brisk morning air. Hands on hips, standing not too far from the end of the stony snout as she examined him. She could just lean forward a bit and the nose would be in her cleavage.
She blinked, shifting the statue back into focus. The notion that it was watching her was completely absurd of course. Still she reached out and touched a palm to the chest of the statue. It was cold stone after all, not housing any spirits. Sitting inert, not poised to pounce.
Probably.
She took one last look over her shoulder before departing. Quickly she put the statue out of sight.
-
Late in the afternoon, Maia found herself periodically peeking over the book she was reading. Nothing out of place in her living room, nor anything that should have been distracting her. Still she sat the book aside and sat up on the nest of blankets and throw pillows she had made of her couch.
The wind picked up outside with fitful gusts whistling around the walls. This set the shadows into motion, darting back and forth. The room was gradually darkening as the sun set outside, somewhere beyond the mountain. It was always dark up there even after sunset except for the shining earthbound star midway up the slopes, where the shrine grounds would be. Moonlight would soon spill over the labyrinth of stone pathways through the steep terrain and thick pine forest.
It all seemed like a distant fantasy world after the time spent in classrooms, labs and the lights of the big city.
Maia yawned and lay back on the couch. Night set, leaving her living room crowded with shadows. Only the distant ambient light of the city glowed in the patio's blinds. Though oddly, it seemed to be flickering like a distant bonfire.
-
Everything around them was cloaked in fog and shadow. Darkness blended the forest with the sky, with crooked reaching claws. Human shapes wielded spears, striking out at the curling, angular tidal wave. Only to find they were fighting shadow with shadow. Black shapes swirled around the weapons, up to the wielders and pulled them into lightless voids. The stars between the forest's canopy had no better luck escaping and those too were swallowed. The situation looked hopeless, until a bright flare exploded and a pillar of flame shot skyward.
In an instant, the confusing darkness was dispersed and their minds reoriented. Up, down, solid ground and shadow were put back in their place. At the center of the pyre, a pokemon stood. Searing heat only tussled his hair and ears as if it were no more than a gentle breeze.
Shadows evaporated and a black tide pulled back from the fiery Growlithe to leave the group of Humans standing in awe. Finding that their shadows no longer twitched or reached for them, some fell on their knees in front of this unexpected savior.
The Pokemon stood on an outcrop just over their heads. The chubby roundness expected of a younger Growlithe, had thinned and turned to lean muscle over a body grown larger, more agile. His face and muzzle sharpened into that of a predator.
One of the Humans approached, clad like the others in simple tribal garments. A loose yarn robe with a deep hood concealing their face. Until she stepped close to his fiery aura. The dancing light revealed plump lips smiling and a lock of red hair draped over a bare collar bone. A cloth bundle was in her arms, which she knelt and laid before his paws. Embers began to eat away at the cloth until the fire stone was revealed.
A bonfire of pure energy ignited where the Growlithe stood. Covering him as well, until he was a silhouette of light that began to grow and morph before eyes that had to squint as the mountainside went as bright as daytime for a brief moment. Once it faded, an Arcanine stood there.
A draft of wind sent the woman's robes fluttering until they were just clinging by the collar and hood. Red and orange robes danced like a fanning flame behind her while she stood stark naked otherwise. A tendril of fire arched up, lashing against her rear with a brief but intense sting that singed some kind of black mark into the pale flesh.
Maia awoke with a yelp. That dream had been a little too lucid especially at the end.
The weather was calm now, still dark outside. She didn't know nor care what time it actually was, instead heading straight to the shower. Its white noise and the light spilled into her bedroom as she undressed. But as she prepared to dip under the water, noticed something unusual peeking from where the towel was wrapped around her hips. Diverting to stand before the mirror, she hesitated for a moment before sliding the towel down.
It was there. Expected and yet not at the same time. Something that tied her logical mind into a knot. Absently she rubbed at it but the brand remained sharp against smooth, taut skin. Getting a second opinion from the mirror didn't change anything. Maia stood nude in side profile, hair draped down covering her breasts. And displayed on the curve of her butt, the symbol. A paw print stylized in such a way that it made the toes look like dancing flames.
-
Monday rolled around, finding Maia again parked in front of her computer like clockwork. And like many times before, the end of the day came and went as she remained in place. Although on this occasion, it wasn't excess work keeping her in the lab. Rather it was a personal research project.
Many tabs spanned her desktop. A couple pages on astral projection. Some select tests and experiments logged on psychic/fire type Pokemon. Not much help there so she brought forward some articles on prehistoric Solspire Island.
Reflected in her glasses, images scrolled past of artifacts that had been dug up from the myriad ruins and temples peppering the mountain. Ancient pottery fragments, simple stone tools. Then she came upon an article featuring a photo of a temple wall, cracked but still displaying the engraving there of a stylized version of Arcanine dashing across the landscape.
Nojukubi the Wild Fire: Fact or Fiction?
Maia reached for the plastic cup sitting on her desk. Ice had melted, watering down the pitiful remaining tinge of coffee but she slurped it up regardless before digging in to the article.
It didn't really do justice to him. The researchers believed he was a minor deity. A guard Pokemon watching the gates to the afterlife.
They know nothing...
Great, now she was starting to sound like her mother. Reading on was only more misinterpretations. But one thing of interest popped out.
A photo of a circular stone chamber, where most of the space was taken up by a dark stone statue of an Arcanine. This one was realistic, not stylized or even weathered like many of the statues and engravings of him. The stony image stood proud and fierce with fangs bared and a paw raised. Kneeling behind him were a pair of Human women, the smaller statues featureless with smooth faces and the distinct curve of breasts but clearly memorializing them was not the priority. They clung to his hind legs as if for protection. Dangling nearby between Nojukubi's legs was a set of testes and a sheath that had to be exaggerated. The sculptors really emphasized the Pokemon's impressive genitalia and raw masculine power. And those shapely little Human concubines of his? She had a sneaking suspicion their real life counterparts would have been redheads.
She leaned back in the chair, a hand over the marking under her office skirt. That fire furred bastard had branded her ass like it was just a foregone conclusion that she would join his harem.
Was it?
She was at a fork in the road. She could give in to those flames, submit to what was behind them. On the other hand, an Arcanine exhibiting these unusual powers of influence- that's something she should have been jumping at the chance to study. No matter what, it looked like the path was going to lead her up there to the mountain and far away from the city's glow.
The keypad's numbers blinked as her fingers tapped a code across it. The glass case opened and revealed an item- six rotating chambers under the tubular barrel of a white and purple weapon. Locked and loaded with six masterballs. Fate might have plans but so did she.