[TWI] Prologue

„Fae, get off." The female jungle stalker jumped off the bed and left the result of her playfulness. The backpack, that Suel spent the last hour to pack, was in chaos. Half of the clothes were pulled out and the target of the game of her feline companion now lay on the bed. A glove made of rabbit fur.

Suel sighed and picked up the glove. She searched for the other glove of the pair and found it in the muzzle of the spotted cat. She tried to snatch it, but the playful feline held it tight with her fangs and took the opportunity to play a game of tag with her master.

The charr huntress snarled and squinnied her yellow eyes to look stern into the likewise yellow eyes of her young friend. While she held the glove with her right paw, she used her left to push at the jaw joints of the cat and force her muzzle open.

"Don't break it. We don't know if I might need it." In reality Suel doubted that she would need the gloves. As a char it was not very likely that she would have cold paws and she would not travel to the icy mountains of Snowden Drifts. The gloves were a keepsake of her friend, or better so say ex-friend.

It had been a short while ago when her longtime partner left her. The relationship of the two women had always been looked upon with disapproval by many of their warband. Fae did not know if this was the reason of her lover leaving her so suddenly. Suel wanted to forget her, and this was the reason of her setting off on a journey far away from the black citadel and her warband. She did not know where she would go yet. She asked for some time off and packed her stuff to leave at the first sunlight.

The only ones she would take with her would be Burl, her first companion, a male whiptail devourer, and the young female jungle stalker Fae. The feline was still not completely out of her youth and behaved a lot like a little kitten from time to time, just like now.

Finally, the jungle stalked let go of the glove with a disappointed growl and Suel let her go. "You are right. I should throw them away already but somehow I can't yet." She said to her friend and softly caressed the spotted ears and throat, which made the cat emit a pleasant purr.

Suel laughed, threw the glove into the backpack and pushed all the other clothes and items into it without caring for a well sorted arrangement anymore. Before she sat down and opened her arms to signal Fae that she could come and get her cuddles, she sealed it tight so the cat would not open it again and make her pack everything anew.

The cat took the offer and jumped into her arms and snuggled her head against the head of Suel, who closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm breath of the cat and the soft touch. Tears started to roll out of her eyes. This reminded her too much of her longtime partner. "Say Fae, what do you think love is? I think I do not know anymore."

Suel cried ten minutes into the fur of her companion before she finally got a grip of herself and got up. "Ready for a last walk through the black citadel?" she asked her friend and the feline jumped around and snarled happily. It was clear that she longed for some action. "Okay, I get it!" Suel laughed and dried her tears. "We will have a short look at Burl and then we will make one final round."

The whiptail devourer already was asleep in the stables. Suel left him there because he still got a bit grumpy when he was caged in a small room together with the overactive feline. The arachnid was usually very calm and collected. Suel trained him good and he got a lot of experience.

Maybe it was because he was a male or because, unless in a fight, he always liked to rest and take it easy, but the moment Suel brought Fae, he got very moody at times. The first thing the feline had to learn was, that Burl did not enjoy playing with her. The first time she tried to animate him for a playful fight, Suel had to part them and mend the wounds of the young jungle stalker.

Since then the relationship between her two companions got better, but Burl still did not like to be the center of Fae's games and he hated to be disturb in his sunbaths. The old companion seemed to not mind being left alone in the stables at night. He loved the calm environment and he never had been fond of the tight limits of Suel's small room.

"I hope you will be more in harmony when we get into the wilds." Suel whispered and ran her finger over the hard scales of Burl's head. There were many nice memories she had with Burl, who she tamed and trained from a young age on, when she still was in hunter training herself.

Fae pulled at her clothes to get the attention of Suel and she turned away from her sleeping friend. "Right, I promised you a last walk before we part." She whispered and led the feline out of the stables. "When we are on our journey, you will be able to run around much more." She promised and finally left the stables with her spotted companion.

The night was young and dark. Only sometimes the moon peeked between the clouds, that rushed over the sky like big shadows. In the stables were at the edge of Hero's Canton and only two torches were lit at the entrance. The old stable caretaker sat next to the entrance, smoking a pipe, and nodded to Suel when she passed him.

Fae already jumped around and was nothing more than a fast-moving shadow on the dark square. There were fires here and there with a few chars sitting around them, but they were not big enough to spread their light over the whole square. When Suel passed them on her way to Canton Factorium, she could feel the cold glances upon her. None of the charr, who looked up when she passed with Fae, greeted her and she knew why.

Even though there were few charr of the ash legion here, her relationship had been known and even outside the ash legion, many did not approve their relationship. Suel looked to the Imperator's core through the gap between two buildings. This was the place, where the ash legion had its quarters, but Fae would be happy to not see it for a while. The core was bathed in light. Where most of the rest of the black citadel was in twilight with only a few lights, the core made up for it with many braziers and torches. Suel could see the dancing shimmer of the big fires at the entrances, to see who entered or left the core. It was the best guarded place in the black citadel.

At the Canton Factorium, Suel made a stop and watched the smith at their work. It was a bit brighter here, because all the shops and crafting facilities still were active, and the shimmering of the forge added to the red and yellow light.

Suel ignored the nudges of Fae, who gave up after a while and just jumped off to play with the feline companion of another hunter who waited for the repairs of his armor to be finished. This place was filled with so many memories about her ex-girlfriend. The leather smith shop had been the place where they met. Suel smiled sad when she remembered, how she bumped into the charr female in her haste to deliver some furs and hides from one of her first hunts.

The soft paw that helped her up and the smile on the other charr's face had her fall for her instantly. At the start they had been just friends, like sisters. Over the years it had developed into more than that, but they often came here on their free days to go shopping or get their armor repaired.

"Can't you keep an eye on your pet?" the growl of the other hunter ripped her out of her memories. The black strong charr snarled at Fae who still played with his young feline. "I do not need to have your dirty pet play with my princess." Fae rushed over and snatched Fae to pull her away.

It would not be good to start a scene here, even though the words of the other hunter hurt her. She knew him. He was one of the ash-legions stalkers and she knew that he also had have an eye on her ex-friend. Maybe he was even behind her leaving Suel behind. He always hated Suel and belittled her wherever he met her, but Suel learned her lesson to oppose him.

Not that he was in any way superior to her, but the last times she tried, all charrs around her turned against her and supported him. The crafters and customers around them already looked at her with cold eyes. Suel made haste to leave rush up to the main street, which would get her back to the Imperators Core. She wanted to escape the hateful eyes of the others and get this tour through the black citadel over with.

Before the Core she looked at the guards and decided to not enter the quarters but continue south towards Gladium Canton. The air was warm and heavy when she entered the grotto. This part of the Black Citadel was mostly populated by the poor population and the air felt like it was not moving at all here. Nonetheless, Suel did not dislike the atmosphere and took a deep breath when she entered the slums.

A few of the charr, who sat right and left of the street, smiled at her, some even waved. It was much different than in the rest of the city. The people here usually were very nice to her and did not prejudge her.

Suel had come to the Gladium Canton a few times, when she had been in a fight with her ex-girlfriend. She shared alcoholic drinks with the poor people and drank until she could not stand anymore and forgot all her worries. But today she was not here to drink.

Many of the Black Citadel would not go near this area, but for Suel it had always been a sanctuary, where she had been safe from the cold gazes or whispers of the charr who disliked her relationship. Over the years, she made friends with a few of the people here and she heard their stories. Most of them once had been a respected part of the charr society. War, personal tragedies and alcohol put many of them into a situation where they were not wanted by the rest of the charr. It was the area of the castoffs, the forgotten, the forsaken. Suel always had felt a bond with them, because she also experienced the hate and disapproval of others.

Fae went back and forth, sniffed in the corners or got an ear rub from one of the passengers who knew her, while Suel looked at all the places that called back memories. Tears started to push into her eyes. This place had been the closest to a home for her, with all the aversions she experienced in her warband, legion and the city.

She visited one of the gathering points, where she left a bottle of fire water as a parting gift. She did not talk much but just bid her farewell to them, promising to return sometime in the future. They did not blame them or try to keep her there. They all knew about her challenge and about the reasons for her journey. They all were good people.

Suel spend an hour in the Gladium Canton, before she moved on to the Junkyard. This had been the playground of her childhood. Whenever she, and some other cubs, managed to steal themselves away from the Fahrar, they came here to play. There were not many people here, and now at night she could not see anyone around, and the place was big with a lot of waste, parts of armored vehicles, carriages, broken weapons and shields and many other big and small items.

She climbed up the stairs and the wind picked up. It was a big difference to the Gladium Canton and the air pulled at her fur. Fae did not like the strong wind. She ran next to Suel to be shielded from the wind a bit. This high the wind was very strong and Suel knew, why Fae did not like it here. When she had been younger, the wind blew her off the platform and she had been insured so strong, that she needed two weeks to recover. Even though the wind was no threat for the cat now, she still disliked this place because of this bad memory.

The Junker's Scrapyard had been the battlefield of Suel's youth. With her friends, she had use the labyrinth of trash to play pursue games like hide and seek or they took some of the broken weapons and fought battles of honor against each other. Suel remembered the one time, when they went a bit too far and injured themselves with the weapons. They had got a very angry scolding of the leader of the Fahrar, when they got back, bleeding and dirty. But even this had not prevented them to get back here every time they managed to slip away.

Suel went across the upper stage when she heard silent battle cry, which made her ears twitch and she looked down on the big yard. There were small shadows rushing through the labyrinth like area below here and she could see two shadows clashing and the silent chink of their weapons. Suel could not prevent herself from smiling. Even now, years after they left the Fahrar, there were still children stealing themselves away and playing here.

Suel watched the game of the kids a few minutes, until Fae reminded her that she was not alone. The cat pulled at her pants and growled silently. Suel placed her hand on the head of her companion and scratched her ears. "I am sorry Fae." She whispered. "We will get out of the wind now." With a sigh, Suel turned towards the iron legion arsenal in the north. The memories of her youth faded when she turned her head away from the playing cubs. It had been a nice time. Back then, no one disliked her. She had been a promising hunter trainee and had many friends with the other cubs. The time had turned this and barely any of her friends still came to see her or supported her now.

Over the Perimeter Loop, Suel and Fae reached the Iron Legion Arsenal. The big warehouse for the weapons, hosted by the iron legion, was still very lively and Suel passed it without entering any of the buildings. There were no good memories she shared with this place. Every time she got here in the last years, they had made fun of her, sent her around to fill formulas until she got the items she was asked to organize for the warband. An additional reason was, that this place had been a regular hangout of her ex-friend and she did not want to run into her.

From a safe distance, she looked at the people entering and leaving the big buildings and listened to the shouts and noises coming out of the arsenal. This place was a big contrast to the Junker's Scrapyard at night or the Gladium Canton. Even at night, it barely went silent for more than an hour. She could have gone around it, but the fastest way to the War Wagon Prep Deck from here was through the arsenal. Suel increased her pace and soon left the unpleasant environment with Fae to enter the much calmer War Wagon Prep Deck.

At this hour, the big area was silent and only a few people walked between the big vehicles. The huge shadows looked like sleeping giants. Even if Suel knew, that they were just cold engines and carriages, she made lighter steps, as if she was afraid to wake up one of the monsters.

This place packed nice memories for her, even though they tasted bitter now. This had been the regular hangout and meetup of her and her ex. Here they hid inside of a broken carriage or under a big war machine, kissed or even got intimate at countless evenings and nights.

The magic of this place was the silent slumber. Even if a low humming sound waved over from the arsenal, the air was much lighter here and in contrast to Junker's Scrapyard, there were less people here to bother them. Every now and then, someone used the area as a shortcut, just like Suel did with Fae just now, but usually they did not care about anyone else.

Hidden in a vehicle or beneath it, no one ever found them and Suel and her ex had been able to live their love without any interruption or secret observers.

Suel leaned against one of the big war machines, that was parked in the middle of the War Wagon Prep Deck. The cold steel felt nice against her horns and head and with one hand she reached down to caress the head of Fae, who snuggled against her leg. The feline felt, that Suel needed some consolation and as a good friend, she was happy to provide it to her friend.

A few tears ran down the cheeks of Suel, when she thought about the happy times she had have here. In this moment, when she was at the place of their most intense love for the last time before leaving, the realization of this being real struck her hard. Up to this moment, it felt like a momentary crisis. It felt unreal and more like a bad dream. But at this moment Suel realized, that it was over forever. There was no going back. There would be no magical reunion. Her ex had made this very clear to her. This was the final goodbye to her old world, her old life and her old love.

Suel sank down and hugged Fae, who came to snuggle her head. She burrowed her head in the fur and cried for a long time without anyone disturbing them. It felt nice to cry. Suel felt like all the sadness, the worries and the anger dropped out of her with each tear she shed. The most important part was, that she was not alone. She felt the warmth of Fae's body, smelled the earthy scent of the fur of the car, mixed with a bit spice from the sweat on the felines skin, and heard her own heart beat while her eye expressed all feelings of betrayal, frustration and despair that bottled up inside of Suel in the last days.

It was liberating to just sit there, with Fae in her arms, and cry. The past, her hurt heart and her ex faded slowly, and the warms of Fae spread through Suel. She had felt like she was alone, like there was a void inside her, but this moment showed her, that she would not be alone. Fae would be there and Burl. The past did not matter. The future was the only thing Suel now had to concentrate. The next morning, she would open a new chapter of her life. She would leave behind all the hate and prejudices of the people around her and go far away, where no one knew her. And she would start a new life and maybe, sometime in the future, she would find a new love that did not betray her.

It took a long time until Suel slowly calmed down and detached herself from Fae. The cat licked over her face and purred. Suel returned the sign of love by ruffling Fae's fur at her chin and behind the cat's ears. Fae loved these spots and Suel knew it by heart. After a few minutes of loving caresses, Suel rose to her paws and continued east towards her last stop for the evening, the Praetor's Canton.

The Praetor's Canton was silent and only a very faint noise waved over from the Armory. At this time there were very few of the veterans, who lived here, walking around. Some of them were sleeping already while others were out drinking. For her destination she was sure to meet the owner of the small house. Blanor Ironheart was an old friend of Suel's father. A guardian who fought many battles and protected his warband before he finally was released as an honorable veteran. The battle-hardened warrior had been in the Fahrar a lot of times to talk about battle and help to educate and train aspiring guardians.

Blanor has been one of the very few who supported Suel even after her relationship came out. He did not prejudge her for her choice and his house had been a sanctuary for Suel many times, when she needed to get away from her warband or had love troubles.

The silent knock at the door was answered by a slow slurping sound of the paws of the old veteran and a click, when he opened the door.

"Good Evening Suel. I did not expect you today." The deep and warm voice of Blanor Ironheart greeted her. He smiled and Suel looked up to the big an strong charr while Fae sniffed at his paw. Blanor had a red-brown fur and black horns. His red eyes pierced into the night and the scar over his left eye made him look very fierce and scary, but Suel knew that his nature was soft and caring.

"Come in girl. I planned to go to bed soon, but I do not mind a little company until then." The door closed behind Suel and she followed the invitation and moved over to the living room, where she sat down on the couch. Fae explored the room and sniffed in each corner, before she returned to Suel and rolled down at her feet with a low purr.

Blanor sat down in front of Suel and looked into her eyes. "Is it about you two breaking up?" he asked. Suel had not told him yet but it had been a topic in the black citadel so it was no surprise that Blanor knew about it.

"Yes, kinda." She replied, feeling a bit insecure under the stare of the veteran. "I just wanted to visit you before I leave. I plan to take on a journey to think about all this and find my balance." She blinked. Tears shot into her eyes again.

The big charr stood up and closed in to her to ruffle her head, like he had done some many times when she had been little. "It is not the end of the world girl. I think it will be good for you to learn about the world and get away from it for a while." He smiled and she had to smile as well with the warm and caring face just in front of hers.

"Did you already decide, where you will go?" he asked and Suel shook her head. She just had have the urge to go far away, but she never spend a thought about the direction or the destination of her journey. Now that she thought about it, it really was a hard decision. In the west, there were the cold zones controlled by the Norn. To the north, after the Diessa Plateau, there was the region controlled by the fire legion and to the east, crossing the Plains of Ashford, the Blazeridge Steppes were swarming with Ogres.

"It is best if you do not go near any war zone, if you want to find yourself. I suggest you go to the Plains of Ashford." Suel looked up surprised. "But this will not be much different, will it?" she asked. "There are the ghosts and it also swarms from charr. I will not find a place to be by myself there."

The old charr chuckled. "Not if you stay in the know fields, I agree." Suel was confused by this statement but waited for Blanor to continue. "I will tell you a little secret path that leads from the Plains of Ashford to the south into the mountains. It is hard to find and therefore very few know about it and go there." Suel looked at the friend of her father with interest.

"If you follow a small cave, you will cross a gorge and get into a wilderness. There will be no settlements or places where you can refill your resources, but you are a good hunter, so I am sure you will not go hungry. If you continue south through the gorge, you will enter a valley with small hills, surrounded by mountain, that goes on for miles. Most of it is covered by a big forest and a few rivers come down from the mountains. The only thing you have to be careful off in this valley are the wild animals."

Suel's eyes sparkled on the promise of some secret valley with wild animals. She had always felt more comfortable around her companions or animals than around charr. "Can you describe me where this cave is, what I have to follow?" She dried her tears, suddenly not feeling anxious but excited about her journey. "I can tell you, but make sure to not tell anyone else, okay?" she nodded.

The next hour, Blanor explained her how to get to the secret valley and she repeated it numerous times until she had the images in her head and was sure she would not lose her path in seek of the secret passage. Blanor also told her about a few caves and good spots to camp to help her settle in the valley.

They talked about happy things, memories of Blanor about her father and other stories of his battles, and it was past midnight when Suel finally left the house of the veteran, thanking him for everything he did and bidding her farewell, and returned to her quarters together with Fae.

This night Suel took some time to fall asleep, but not because of her love sickness and sadness, but because of the excitement about her journey. She finally had a new goal that might be able to erase the memory of how much she got hurt by her partner.

The purrs of Fae, who slept together with her in her bed, slowly led her into sleep finally and she rested well and without disturbance until the sun, that shone through the window, woke her up the next day. She grabbed her backpack, had a small breakfast together with Fae and then got Burl from the stables. They were set for their journey.

A lot of eyes followed Suel, when she crossed the black citadel and exited through the gate. Quite some of her legion were on duty or also left for a mission or for business outside the citadel and most of them had heard the story of her by now. Suel tried hard to ignore the eyes that burned in her neck and increased her pace.

When they were past the gates and the village of Smokestead, Suel sighed relieved and allowed Fae and Burl to do as they pleased. Fae directly took off and ran around the grassy plain while Burl stayed close to Suel and ignored the hyperactive cat, which ran back and forth, jumped over him and tried to animate him to play.

"Fae!" Suel shouted to the cat with a stern face and a warning in her voice. The young jungle stalker had gone too far in her tries to get Burl to play with her and the devourer had both his tails raised to get rid of the annoying girl.

"It is okay Burl. You know she does not mean any harm. She is just young." Burl looked at her with his many black eyes and then slowly relaxed his tails. Suel knew Burl good enough to interpret his clicking as a sigh. "I am sorry my friend." She Whispered and send Fae away to play a bit out of range.

The jungle stalker soon found a new involuntary playmate. A small weasel rushed through the grass and tried to escape the cat. Fae circled around it, pushed it out of balance and chased the small animal around, until it found a hiding between a few rocks. Suel knew that Fae only wanted to play. If she had been on a hunt, the poor weasel would have been dead already. The cat waited before the opening between the rocks until Burl and Suel passed her, then she jumped away, made three circles around Suel and Burl, which made the whiptail devourer raise his tail again, and then ran off to let loose of her energy.

"I think it is time we train Fae for good, what do you think Burl?" Suel asked laughing, but the old devourer only clicked a bit angry and continued to walk next to his master.

It took them only half a day to reach the Ashford Forum and continue their way to the Lake Adorea. Sure, Blanor had suggested to ask the few charr, that settled around the lake, to stay for the night, but Suel could not get away from all charr fast enough. She circled around the lake, like Blanor suggested, and after a bit over an hour search for the hidden cave, that would lead to the pass, she finally found it when the sun already sank red into the mountaintops around the lake.

"We will rest here for today. We should not try to stumble around at night when we do not know the exact path." Suel explained her companions and she placed a few pelts she brought with her on the ground to have it a bit more comfortable. She gave them a bit to eat from her provisions and ate some dry meat herself, before she got read for sleep. Fae cuddled up with the charr while Burls trotted a few steps away and found a nice flat rock that he used as a bed. The old devour always had preferred hard rock for sleeping and never had been much of a cuddler. "Good Night Burl, good night Fae. Our Adventure is finally beginning." And with a last caressing of the ears of her feline friend, she closed her eyes and fell in a peaceful sleep.

Outside the cave the rain started to poor down and when the thunder started, Burl opened his eyes a few times and rose his stingers in preparation to face an attack on his master, but this night his watch did not demand any fighting and he got enough sleep in between to be well rested in the morning.

Finding the way through the tunnel maze of the cave in the light of a torch was not as easy as Suel had thought. She was happy, that she got a description of the right tunnels to take, because else she would have lost her way instantly. There were many crossings or forks where she had to turn right and left and up and down until they finally got out of the dark cave when the sun was already setting again. Before her lay a long gorge with high mountains to the left and right. The ground was moist from a small river that started in the last cave and slowly snaked through the gorge, showing the way for the three adventurers. The rock on the left and right still was wet from the thunderstorm the last night. There were only a few clouds in the sky now, colored red from the late sun.

Suel decided to rest one more night in the caves before starting the climb down through the gorge. From the hard climb in the last hours, she knew that they were quite high, and she did not want to miss a sudden decline of cliff in the middle of the gorge because of the bad light. This night, no thunder or other noise woke up Burl and all three were well rested when they entered the gorge together.

This day, Suel kept Fae close to herself like Burl because she was not sure what dangers could await them in the gorge. Suel could not see far into the gorge, because it went right and left and the view was blocked by rocks. The longest straight was a hundred meters decline right at the start.

After a lot of clicking and a few times where Burl rose his stingers to warn Fae to not get close to him, Suel parted them and had Fae run on her other side. This meant, that she had to run in the small river and got cold feet, but this slight discomfort was much better than having to stop the fight between Burl and Fae.

There were strong declines in the middle, like Suel had feared at the last evening, and she was happy that they had the light of the sun, that was only reflected by the mountains right and left and did not show itself, and not just a torch to look for safe footing and evade slippery rocks in the water. Now and then other small rivers joined from caves left and right, where Suel suspected other wells like in the cave they started. The river got bigger, but fortunately so did the gorge.

Around noon, the river was a few meters wide and the three now moved to the right hand of the river, just like Blanor told her. The mumbling of the water turned into a light rush and the decline got softer. Suel allowed Fae to run a bit ahead, because the gorge now went straight for a few miles.

Suel made sure to take breaks, whenever the mood of Burl, who did not like to run for so long, got worse and he started to emit clicking noises with every step. She knew that the old whiptail devourer liked to take it easy. In fights, he was energetic and did not complain or rest until the danger was over, but on the travels she had experienced quite some mood swings from the male, like one time where he just refused to go on and lay down in the middle of the street until Suel told him that they would rest next to the street for the rest of the day.

This time however, the devourer seemed to accept the long walk. He voiced his complains with the constant humming and clicking, but he moved on until Suel decided to take a break and let him rest. Because of the constant breaks, they only got half way through the straight when the sun started to set, and the rocks were painted red.

Suel found a small dent in the rocky wall to their right, where the rock 2 meters over their heads caved forward and build a shelter. Suel even started a fire to give them a bit more warmth, because this high in the mountain the wind was cold and even burl moved close to her for sleeping to steal a bit of Suel's warm fur from Fae.

The next morning, the pass was dyed in a red color like fire. Suel detected, that this was not only because of the sun, but most of the rocks here seemed to contain a lot of ferrite and had a red color that was intensified by the red sun. It looked like the cliff right and left was burning. Only the cold wind gave away that there was no fire around them.

The gorge went wider with every mile they ran, and trees began to show up right and left. The change was so subtle and slowly, that it was around noon when Suel noticed that they left the gorge already and entered the valley. Like Blanor suggested, she followed the river, that was a few meters wide now, until she got to a fork where the river parted into two directions. She followed the western route and after a few hours, they detected the rocky hill of the descriptions of Blanor. Just like the veteran told her, there was a well-hidden cave on one side of the hill, protected by a few bushed and half way to the hilltop. Next to the entrance of the hill, that could not be seen from afar, there was a small rocky plateau and Burl directly lay down on the rock and exposed himself to the warm sun.

"I think you found your favorite spot already, right Burl?" Suel chuckled and went into the cave to inspect it. It started with a smaller entrance, but behind it the cave seemed to go on for a while. There was only twilight in the cave because of the bushed in front of the entrance, but still she could see a solid wall after twenty meters and that the cave was about ten meters wide.

There were a few leftover pelts, some wood and dried leaves from the previous occupant of the cave. From the dust in the pelts and the state of the leaves she was sure that the cave had no visitors for at least a year or more.

Suel brought out the pelts and beat it to get rid of the dust. While leaving them on the plateau, together with Burl, she ran down the hill with Fae, who was happy to get some action. First, Suel looked for more wood and let the cat play. She also collected some moss and leaves to make the cave more comfortable, just like the previous guest of the cave most likely had done.

At the second round, Suel went for the river, which was just hundred steps away from their cave. She refilled her water at the river and took the chance to take a dip in the cold liquid. It was refreshing and even Fae joined her for a short swim, before both left the water with dripping fur. Suel did not bother with equipping her clothes. She did not have a towel ready and her fur would take some time to dry. On the other hand, there was no one around except her companions and animals. There was no need for her to feel embarrassed or to protect her dignity.

The young white charr enjoyed the breeze in her fur. The day was sunny and wonderful. No sign of the heavy storm just two nights ago. Suel took a long and deep breath and laughed loud. The freedom and peace in this valley filled her with relieve and happiness.

"Let's hunt something for dinner." She suggested to Fae, when they returned to their hideout. The cat growled eagerly. This was the action her companion had been waiting for. Burl only clicked two times and did not move from his spot.

"Okay, you can wait here. I think you have run more than a week's share already. You protect our camp and we get us something to eat, agreed?" A tired rustle of the devourer told Suel that he understood and agreed to his task. She grinned and bounded off with Fae, still bare, with only her bow and a few arrows for the hunt.

On the hunt Suel noticed how much Fae learned already in the short time they ventured together. At the start, the cat had bounded off, running after prey as she seemed fit, not reacting much to the commands of Suel, but now the charr did not even have to say anything. By her simple stance or a sign with her hand, the feline knew what her master wanted and they circled their prey, a deer, fast and brought it down just twenty minutes into the hunt.

Things could not have started better for Suel. She used a tree to hang the carcass and let it bleed out, while she prepared a small fire with in the cave. The wood was dry and therefore there was nearly no smoke. The little bit of smoke that collected at the cave top, exited through a small hole in the middle of the cave that seemed to exit to the hilltop a few meters above them. Suel was sure, that Blanor, or someone else who knew about this valley, dug the hole to be able to make fire in the cave without suffocating from the smoke.

"Burl, dinner is ready!" It took a while until the whiptail devourer showed up, but he took the stripes, that Suel cut out of the slowly grilled meat after she let it cool down a bit, and consumed them with appreciation, emitting a joyful hum. "I am happy that you like it." Suel told her old campion and went to Fae, who already waited for her share.

There had always been an order of food. First the old Burl got his share, then the feline and the charr would eat only when her companions had something to chew on. Fae preferred her meat raw. She only took a few of the grilled stripes, but then turned her head to the chunk of meat that Suel prepared for her. The meat was juicy and had a strong and satisfying taste.

When they were finished, Suel fell asleep fast with her belly filled and happiness in her mind, while Fae snuggled up to her like so many nights before. Burl had positioned himself near the entrance as a guard like he always did when they camped in the wild. Suel felt happy about having such lovely companions and already decided that taking this vacation had been her best idea in years.

The days went by and the weather was mostly nice and warm. The days became weeks and Suel liked this new experience and enjoyed every day. Burl stayed at the plateau near the cave most of the times and bathed in the sun, while Suel and Fae went on adventures.

They scouted the valley, but it was so big that they only had managed to scout a few miles around the cave. The river was the daily center for a refreshing bath and Suel sometimes just lay down next to burl while letting Fae go for a hunt alone.

Their life went on until at night Suel was woken up by a roar in the woods. The moon was bright but Suel was not able to see the source of the roar because of the tress. She signaled Burl to protect the cave and took Fae with her to find out where this roar came from. They had heard feline roars before, but never so close to their hideout.

Fae and Suel sneaked through the woods, carefully looking around and preparing for an attack of the feline creature that closed in to their hideout. They heard the roar a few more times and it told them that they got closer.

The mumbling of the river got louder as well and soon Suel spotted the nightly intruders at the river. She and Fae crouched down in a bush at the riverbank and looked at the event across the river.

There were two black feline creatures, Panthers from the look of it. The one panther jumped on top of the other and the roar had come mainly from the lower panther. At first Suel thought that the panthers were fighting, but after watching them a few minutes and a turn of a wind that blew the scent of them into their direction, she understood what they were doing.

The top panther was a male and the bottom a female and the panthers were mating. Like hypnotized Suel watched the act of the panthers, not turning away or leaving. She watched the male taking the female multiple times and how the female rolled around every time the male dismounted her. In the light of the moon, both black cats were clearly visible and sometimes when the male drew back, Suel thought she saw a reflection of the moon at the nethers of the female, most likely a drop of their love juice that reflected the light.

The spicy scent of heat was accompanied with the heavy musk of the male and long before Suel noticed herself, her own paw moved to her nethers and started to stroke them. Time flew by and Suel could not say if hours or minutes had passed, but at some point the panthers left the riverbank and they could hear them running through the wood at the other side, roaring now and then, and getting further away from them.

Maybe they picked up the scent of Suel and Fae, or they just decided to take it to another location, but soon Suel and Fae were alone there and Suel started to pull off her clothes and masturbate strongly, moaning while picturing the wild animals act inside her head.

Fae just sat next to her master and watched the now naked charr stimulating her clit and dugs under the fur. Her hands roamed over her own body, with her eyes closed, and caressed her line of dugs with circling motions. One hand drew lower and rubbed the clitoris, making her pussy juice up and her breath increase.

Suel did not regard her companion that laid down and watched over her friend, but just repeated the picture of the wild feline creatures inside her head and continued to stimulate herself. Something triggered inside Suel when she saw the mating couple. She had played around with her ex as well, but it never had made her so hot like now.

The feral act had something highly arousing for Suel and while her fingers started to slip into her snatch and stimulate her clit from all sides, while slightly scratching her own intact hymen just a bit to increase her own pleasure, the love juice was now actively dripping out of her snatch and the moans echoed over the river.

Suel was close to her orgasm, when she opened her eyes and finally took note of Fae. She reached out with her wet paw to caress the cat and the feral feline purred and licked at the wet fur of her hand.

"Good girl." Whispered Suel and she pulled the head of Fae closer while opening her legs. She pushed the snout of the feral cat between her tights until her nose hit her dripping vagina. The cat understood what her master wanted and complied to the request, licking her pussy with her rough tongue and making Suel increase her moans.

It took the charr just a few minutes after that to climax and she splashed her juices all over the head of Fae while her body relaxed, and she lay there on her back, savoring the afterglow.

The feral cat continued to lick the sopping pussy until Suel encountered another small climax and then pulled the head of the cat up to her own head and gave her a lick over the cheeks. "Thank you Fae. I really needed that." She whispered and gave the feline a kiss on her muzzle.

The following week was filled with pleasure for both Suel and Fae. The feral cat entered her heat and Suel decided to pay her back for the pleasure she gave her daily. She licked the spicy liquid of the cat's heat from the drenched snatch, while Fae stood over her and licked her pussy in return.

Suel did not put on her cloth anymore but ran around naked. There were only wild animals around and they did not care about what the charr wore. Suel liked the wind in her fur, when she ran around with Fae or hunted, but every now and then they stopped to play their game of intimacy together.

Burl often left the cave, when they got too loud with their game, and camped outside. He showed little interest in the games of Fae and Suel and was just annoyed of their loud moans, when they climaxed.

Suel felt great pleasure and liked this new relationship with Fae, but somehow, she was not satisfied. The picture of the feral male cat crossed her mind every now and then. Fae also slowly got out of her heat and she was less energetic and engaged in their daily games. She still licked Suel, if her master demanded it, but she did not present her backside to Suel anymore to get licked in return.

Every few days she let her master return the favor, but most of the time she just brought her to orgasm once and then either laid down in a corner to sleep or left for a night hunt.

Another week went by and Suel slowly calmed down, with getting less and less licks from Fae, but then something happened that had her body in overdrive and heat up: Suel got into heat.

She had experienced heat before, but it had never been this strong and unbearable. Her mind still pictured the male panther every night and at the first day of her heat, her own fingers and even the tongue of Fae, who agreed to one round of licks, could not satisfy her. Her mind spun around the picture of the male genitalia she saw at this night and after she tried to sleep for one hour this night, she sighed and got up.

"You can stay here." She told Fae, who opened her eyes tiredly. "I will be back by morning." And with that she left the cave. Burl looked up when she left but she signaled him that he should protect the cave with her hands.

Suel didn't even know what she was looking for. The cold air in her fur felt nice, even though her snatch dripped with each step she took. She ran through the night, not looking at the path or knowing herself where she was headed. The tingle in her stomach and nether increased and her vision got a bit blurry while pictures of the mating of the panthers crossed her mind while running.

Her senses led her. Mostly her sense of smell and instincts showed her the way through the forest. She had picked up a light scent that she followed unconsciously. The scent got stronger and at some point her mind slowly recognized that not only she moved towards the scent, but the scent also must have picked her up and now headed into her direction.

At a small clearing she met the owner of the smell. It was a big panther, even bigger than the one she observed the other day, and from his musk and the already dangling cock between his legs, she knew that it was a male.

The male panther did not show much shyness but directly approached her and sniffed at her dripping pussy. It was clear that he followed the scent of her heat and that this had been the reason why he turned around.

Suel moaned loud when the male licked her sopping snatch and savored her taste. The female charr dropped to her knees directly and turned around, just led by her heat's instinct. It was like the male commanded her and she followed.

The big male sniffed and licked a few times under her raised tail, while Suel got into a crouching position and pushed her nether against his nose in need of attention. The male nudged her at the flanks and even pinched her a bit with his teeth to have her assume a wider stance and the body of Suel complied. She assumed a wide stance, front low, bottom high, and purred and mewled while the male spared a few more licks over her tail base, her backdoor and her pussy.

Suel's mind just returned when she felt the legs of the male step next to her and his body moving over her own. A sudden panic gripped the inexperienced charr. This was her first time after all and she had never been together with a male like that. Her heat told her, that she wanted this, but it was all so sudden now and in addition this was a feral cat, not a charr.

"Wait!" she moaned husky and she tried to lift her upper body, but fangs gripped in her neck at this moment and the full weight of the feral cat dropped on top of her. With his snout the male pushed her neck down again, which brought Suel into position she assumed before.

Suel shivered a bit in fear of what was to come, but at the same time a warm tingle traveled from her neck down her spine up to her tail and soppy snatch. The tingling inside her stomach and pussy increased and she felt the hot juices, that dripped actively before, flow out like water.

Her body did not want to listen to her anymore. The heat and the grip of the male dominated her and had her submissive to what every would come. She felt the breath of the panther at the side of her neck and the saliva of him soaking into her fur at her neck and shoulders. The warm body of the male pushed hard against her back and then she felt something hot poking her sensitive folds.

She could not help but moan from the stimulation it sent through her labia and one moment later she groaned loud in pain, when the male pushed forward for the first time, taking her hymen and her virginity in one stroke, ripping through her cherry and pushing his long rod into her heated wet tunnel.

Pain and pleasure mixed together into a feeling that overwhelmed Suel and her head began to spin. She could not grip a solid thought anymore but just groaned and huffed under the male.

After a burning pain that felt like hours, but was most likely just a few seconds, another pain shot through her body, when the male pulled back and the small spikes at his penis scratched her untested insides for the first time.

The panther sure did not care about the pleasure or wellbeing of his mating partner. He also seemed not to mind, that she was a charr and no feral beast. Her voice became husky and her breath fast under the constant pushes of the rod inside her snatch.

With each push, the penis of the male entered deeper and it just took him a few minutes until he breached her last line of defense, the cervix, and entered her womb.

Suel knew that ferals could not breed charr but at this moment all thought about that were gone. She would not have cared about it, even if it were differently, because her body was shaken between pain and pleasure, with the pleasure getting the upper hand with each push.

Even if she would have tried to object the male, she would not have had any chance to do so. He had full control over his female and dominated her in body and mind. Suel's husky groans turned into just moans and mewls and even though her sore tunnel still burned a bit, she reached her climax very fast.

The feral male did not care about her flesh being hypersensitive after the climax or even showed any mercy or consideration about her having climaxed already. He continued to push into the sopping wet opening, making slurping sounds every time he pulled back, and smacking his massive orbs of balls against her clit with each push.

When he stopped, and his thick semen gushed into her unprotected womb, Suel mewled loud in another climax and huffed under the male which now let go of her nap and roared in dominance and conquer.

He pulled back and exited her sore tunnel. Suel was too tired to swipe at him, like feral cats did regularly, and when he exited her body, she just dropped to the side, moaned, mewling and huffing nonstop while her vision slowly lost the blurriness and looked up to the strong male next to her.

The male also dropped down to the side and started to clean himself, not sparing much gazes for his female. Suel was fixated at his massive cock. She could not believe that this big thing had been inside her just a short while ago.

Her break did not last long enough for the charr. She barely caught her breath and started to gain a bit of energy back, when the male stepped up again and licked her nether and ass. When she did not react to the subtle hints, he started to pinch her tights and back until the groaning female charr got the commanding request and slowly got back on all fours. It was clear who was in command here.

The panther only bit her scruff for a short time when entering now, but soon noticed that his female was far too occupied and exhausted to fight back. There was less pain now, just the burning from the sore flesh that had been scratched by his barbs and stretched to its limits. The pleasure overpowered the pain and the groans of Suel vanished completely, making way for soft moans and mewls. Without noticing herself, Suel also emitted a low purr, which made the male work extra hard to screw into his new mate.

The pleasure that Suel felt under the big male was indescribable. Her whole inside tingled and burned hot like it was on fire and her body trembled in the shocks of pleasure from the big organ inside her. The wind brushed cold over her heated face, but she did not pay it much mind. She only concentrated on the big member inside her snatch and had her eyes half closed, totally lost in trance by the feeling of the big thing rubbing her clit, cervix and inner walls.

Every time the big male spurted inside her, it felt like hot thick lava pouring inside her womb, caressing the walls of her most sacred place and when it was too full to fit more, the burning heat traveled further inside as it pressed into the fallopian tubes.

Suel did not take note of the big panther dismounting, cleaning himself and then mounting again with her mind anymore. She dropped to the side, panting and catching her breath, until her black lover pinched her sides and nudged her belly to get her into mating position again. And she submissively complied to his request every time.

There was no count for the times they did it this night. At some point the male seemed to be exhausted as well and he laid next to her trembling and leaking body, shielding her from the wind and warming his female up, and she finally got some rest and sleep. Her body was deeply satisfied and weary and within seconds she fell asleep, not worrying about anything anymore.

The way back to the hideout took the whole morning and it was interrupted from eager thrusts of the male inside her sore vagina. She had managed to stand up and walk towards the direction of her camp, but the male directly followed her and after about 10 minutes of travel, he pinched her legs and jumped her until she finally dropped to all fours.

Not only his weight made her submit to his request, but her own heat also demanded attention and even though her inside burned, it longed for the big pointy penis to slide in and out again. This day, being satisfied a bit already, Suel managed to keep her senses enough to get up quickly after each mating and continue her journey, even though her legs burned as much as her inside from the heavy weight of the male cat.

After the third mating, the male seemed to have satisfied the strongest urges and needs and he only went by and licked her pussy from behind while walking until she crouched down for him, instead of the forceful demands before. Maybe he just started to feel affection for her instead of just seeing her as a mating material.

Suel managed to get to the bottom of the hill around noon and she saw burl taking his sun bath at the usual spot. Fae bounded down the hill toward her, but the big panther jumped between them, protecting his mating partner from any disturbance.

"Whooow, easy boy." She said and took a leap next to him to hold him back. "That is Fae, my companion. You do not want to hurt her, do you?" Fae, who also first went into attack mode, to protect her master, stopped when Suel showed open affection for this male and then slowly got closer, with her head down and her mouth doing the chewing motion of a cat submitting to a stronger opponent.

Suel had to smile to this gesture. In situations like this, Fae showed her still young age. The panther circled around the spotted cat and sniffed at her, but when he noticed that she was female and not in heat, he lost interest and went back to Suel, now demanding aggressively again to mate her by pinching her legs.

"Ow, alright. And I just thought you would be gentler with me now." Suel felt a bit embarrassed when she crouched down for the panther in front of her companion, that watched their act from a few steps away. All thoughts about embarrassment and her friend were taken away soon enough by the big rod pistoling in and out of her snatch and making her mewl in ecstasy. She spent most of the day under Don, this was the name she gave the panther because he was dominating like a don, mewling and moaning until her stamina dropped and she was too tired to stand up on his demand.

The black panther first started to get rough with her and bit her scruff in the try to pull her up, but then his eyes fell on the young jungle stalker. Suel could only watch half asleep, as the panther approached the younger female and after a short play for dominance, he had her by the scruff and rammed his barbed cock into the inexperienced girl, ripping her off her virginity just half a day after her master. It seemed that the heat scent all around made the male confuse the females and forget about the feral girl not being in heat. Maybe he only just did not care because he was on the edge because of Suel. Whatever it was, he forced himself upon Fae two times, with the younger cat swinging her claws at him in between and fight him, before Suel was recovered enough to stand up.

To save her companion, Suel got between them and presented to Don, even though her insides felt sore and her energy was still very weak. After two more mating sessions, that brought Suel again to the edge of her limits, the male finally exhausted himself and walked a few steps away to clean himself while watching over his females.

Suel knew, that he would jump into action when they tried to leave, but at least he seemed to not care about them right now and they had some free time. Suel crawled on all fours to Fae, who also was cleaning herself, shooting half aggressive, half fearful looks to the male.

"I am sorry, that I got you involved in this Fae." She whispered and kissed the feral cat. "I will make it up for you." And she licked over the pointy dugs of the female and moved lower until she hit the still erect clit and sore vagina of the stalker.

The taste of the semen, that dripped out of the used cunt, was strong but Suel did not dislike it. She lapped the traces outside away and then pushed her tongue through the labia of her friend to scoop out more.

At first Fae winced, surely because her inside was sore and burning, but then she relaxed, purred and every now and then mewled from the muzzle job Suel was giving her friend. She could taste the raw flesh, that was rubbed sore by the barbs, and the semen of Don. Underneath this there was a faint light taste of the love juices of Fae that slowly began to flow from the more pleasant feeling of Suel's tongue.

Suel felt a hot big tongue at her own nethers that made her snatch burn and tingle at the same time. After a short wince at the start, she pushed her hind up and against the snout of Don, who was back on his feet. He was much more affectionate now and while Suel licked Fae to a small orgasm, Don did his best to pleasure Suel, until her heat taste and scent made his urges go over the top and he hopped on top of her to take her one more time.

The burning of her loins became a pleasant itch that was scratched by the thick intruder into her innermost tunnel and cavern. After one more intense mating, that made Suel mewl in high pitches, the three of them moved to the den where there was a small scene with Burl before Suel could calm him down and make sure he understood that the panther was no enemy. Because they continued the mating, Burl soon left the den again in seek of a more silent place and left the three cats to their games.

Don stayed with them for the whole week of Suel's heat and took both females, mostly Suel but when she was exhausted, Fae had to sub in, multiple times every day inside the hideout or on their way to the river. Fae slowly got used to the feeling and even though she still did not like it, she submitted to the panther when it was her turn and even mewled after a while, getting a bit of pleasure out of it as well.

When the heat scent of Suel vanished from the hideout and Don left, she felt sore and exhausted. The last days, while the scent still lingered, she had been out of heat and experienced the pain without the soothing heat just like Fae did before. Don had not been a caring lover but a demanding one but like it was the nature of male cats, and because Suel did not tame him, he left as soon as his job at breeding the females was done in seek of other females that were in heat and would allow him on top of them.

Suel still dripped his spunk for a few days until finally all of the semen seemed have left her body or were absorbed in it. The charr was just happy, that it was impossible for the feral to impregnate her. She was not prepared for cubs and did not know if she wanted any at all, but she knew that with the amount of spunk the big panther gushed into her, she would be pregnant for sure if it had been a charr.

Even though not everything had been pleasant, Suel enjoyed her heat with the big panther male and at night she sometimes still dreamed of him and moaned in her sleep. In her subconscious she already was set to look for Don, or any other male, when her next heat would hit her. The pleasure of real mating was much better than any games she had played with her girlfriend before. Her heart began to long for a handsome male as a new friend, but in the next weeks she went back to her normal relaxed days of hunting, adventuring and resting with Burl and Fae.

Little did Suel know, that at the last days of her heat, there had been a secret observer who saw everything she did. But she should soon enough get note of it and then face yet another decision.