Kindly step this way
Story for KindKin!
Kindly step this way
The tiger met the delivery truck outside his house to have a look at the new dogs he was getting from the pound. He always thought that was a preferable way over having a specific breeder make tailor-made pets, it was a sort of grab bag where some really good examples could be found, and a few had to be weeded out.
So far he'd gone through a few round-up pounds aswell, to find one that was honest enough to not mix in the worst ones they wanted to be rid of on purpose, but actually delivering from one of several criteria. Sometimes, he asked for any dog that had been fetched in a certain time interval, sometimes it was from a particular region of the city. All to make it a bit more entertaining and diverse, when it came to training the random pups up for resale, giving away, or just keeping some around the household.
He didn't so much have a mansion, as a converted warehouse area, where the front was built up to look like a good old fashioned mystery novel cottage, stone walls and all. That gave an impressive look from the outside, and had the disctinct advantage of being a lot cheaper than anything found in the city. Still, he did live there, and was aware - if not a bit picky - that his home should look decently well off.
From the truck, the driver - a stocky badger - hopped off and opened up the back door with its eight cages inside. "Here y' go, mister Ford. If I could just get your signature, we're all set to unload." As the tiger, Ford, jotted down something illegible on the e-ink pad, a couple of his hired staff hauled the crates out one by one onto the driveway. The animals looked anywhere from young to a couple of years old. It'd be a little extra trouble training the older ones to get back into society, but then again, he did like a bit of variety.
"Thanks, Fred. I'll give you a call when we're done with this batch. Say hi for me, will you?" he said with a smile and a wave to the badger who got ready to take off. While the staff wheeled in each cage to the front kennel entrance, Ford went through the individual paperwork that accompanied each dog. What breed they were, if known, any form of mental or physical deficiency that would need to be corrected. Little details. He usually left it up to his employees to roughly sort and categorize the newcomers, then studying them more in detail if there were any particularly good or bad outstanding specimens.
The tiger wrinkled his brow briefly at one of the entries and removed that page from the collection before handing the remainder to staff. "Hey Greg, most of these look okay, there's just the one or two pitiful sods in the lot, wouldn't you say?"
Greg was a stereotypically slow moving bloodhound, the kind you'd practically imagine looking at home in a Sherlock Holmes cap and pipe. He skimmed the page and looked back at the crates. "Yee-ap.. Might need a bit o' extra attention, them. I'll put 'em aside fer now."
Ford nodded and then went to get a change of clothes, putting on a set of loose gym pants that ended just above sneakers that are clean but worn. One can see they're showing signs of age, but still gets wiped enough so as not to be grimy. The tiger's orange-and-black striped back gets hidden under a workout hoodie, and to finish it all off, rubbing in a scented mixture in his fur. Good enough for just wandering out in.
He knew to which general region he wanted to go, but still thought it best to take an Uber. His staff was already busy, and he didn't feel like driving himself. The ride was uneventful, he spent most of the time looking out the side window after politely turning down the ever-offered chewing gum from the driver.
Once out of the car, he walked for some ten minutes to get to where he really wanted to be, where curious eyes peeked out of the foliage here and there. Stretching and taking a good huff of air, Ford both aimed to look casual and get the scent of what was around him.
"Anybody out there?" he called, though already knowing generally how many mixed scents of animals were here. Now's when Ford got his first look at the braver critters that came out to see what this new prey might be.
The little meter-tall fuzzy in its patched looking coat first to emerge, of indeterminate gender, made its way up to Ford like a curious bunny could hop to someone who's perfectly still and has an ear of cabbage to tempt with.
Ford smiled a bit, careful not to show teeth, and knelt down to be at roughly eye level with it. "Aww.. aren't you just adorable! I won't bite. What's your name, um.. fuzzy?"
The small creature, looking just so sweet in its soft fur, smiled up at that large tiger. "I'm Kindly! Are you a friend? There are lots of people around here that would try attacking you, d'ja know, alone out here in the dark places. But not when you're with me. I'm too tough for 'em!"
Kindly had a puffy look, in a good way, with a coat around itself looking like it was meant to keep rain out, a long, fluffy tail, and a big eyed face with the most lovely eyes and large soft ears one could think of.
Ford thought to himself how it was a little odd to not smell any gender on the kindkin. Maybe it was a hidden scent, or how would there be more of them? Meanwhile, Kindly looked up innocently at the tiger, keeping its coat closed.
"Can, um, can I pick you up? You look so sweet and small, like one of my puppies," Ford said, waiting for consent before reaching out to grab Kindly and stand up with the adorably fluffball in his arms. "That's very nice of you to offer. I should probably be going home, could you show me the way out of here?"
Kindly smiles and points the way, more or less, to where Ford had just come from. Thinking that it will be even better to get to the tiger's home and potentially more victims and loot, than just attacking as soon as it finds a soft spot. That, and getting the prey to itself means more for Kindly and nothing for its bunch of other solitary hunters in this area. None of that devious intent showed in its wide, fluffy smile and sincere eyes.
Ford smiled wider and hefted Kindly up to carry and walking along towards the more bright city lights, where he now pulls up a phone and calls home for a ride. Presently, a plain Chevy pulls up to take them both home, and the tiger seems much more relaxed once they're in the car, something Kindly also notices as a potential weakness. Its prey is far less on guard when in a familiar environment. Good.
Reaching the home/kennel, Ford carries the kindkin into the kitchen and sets it down at the table, where it just about peeks over the table's edge. "Hang on, I'll go fetch you something to drink. Be right back!"
While the tiger is gone, Kindly looks around. There are various knick-knacks that might be worth grabbing. More importantly, it has only noticed two sentient beings so far, which isn't that hard to deal with. Its thoughts are interrupted as Ford returns with a steaming warm mug, smelling sweetly.
"Here you go, li'l pal," says Ford with a nice smile, not having any for himself but seeming content to sit nearby and stroke-play with Kindly's big, soft ears. "So cute.." he rumbles to himself.
The warm drink had a good spicy tang to it, easy to swallow down and feeling like a good warmth spreading out from Kindly's stomach. It gulped the contents down quickly, then licked around the inside of the mug to get all leftover drops, like the drink had just teased the kindkin's mouth to want more.
Ford took the mug once it was emptied though, and helped Kindly down on the floor off that high chair. "There, there. If you gobble down too much you'll just get a stomach ache. You little cutie!"
Kindly, without a definitive agenda on what to do, didn't appear to mind getting its headfur ruffled, but then, its facial expression and body language almost never swayed from 'sweet and approachable'.
"Come on, I want to show you my pups! Even if you're a lot fluffier than most of them. It's a hobby of mine, I guess you could call it. I try to make them comfortable here, and it pulls some strays off the streets." The tiger takes Kindly's much smaller hand in his and leads him through a couple of rooms, to the garage-slash-kennel where the new batch had been placed and fed. "This one in particular has a chance to grow up just as poofy as you are, isn't that great? If he makes it, he's a little weak."
Ford opened the cage to a small wolf cub and gently lifted it out, handing the cub over to Kindly. "What do you think? He must have strayed too close to the city, I almost always only get dogs here."
Kindly held the small boy wolf, thinking to itself how easy it would be to just devour this one's spirit and skin if he could just get a moment alone in here. So many animals, unguarded. It began feeling an itch though, a prickling in its skin and small twitches in its fingers.
"Easy there, we don't want to drop him, poor boy. Here, I'll put him back in his cage." Ford said, taking the wolf from Kindly's lightly jerking fingers. "Are you feeling all-right?" he asks the kindkin, showing some concern for his guest's wellbeing.
Kindly was now feeling a strange itch along its chest, down to between its legs and up to the tail in the back. It was like the skin was tugging and changing slowly, much like it felt when it had absorbed other creatures to fill into its own spirit before stealing their bodies too. But there was something strangely off about the whole thing. It could feel its own body shrinking just a small amount, enough to have the worn coat fitting more loosely.
"Are you okay?" Ford asked with his still nice smile on, "Perhaps we should move away from here if you're allergic, or something like that. Come along, I'll show you the back part of the kennels too. There's plenty of fresh air there and open space."
Kindly takes the tiger's hand and lets itself be led through the kennel corridor towards the back. It knows it can't complain, because that might give away its intention of doing whatever it feels like with the occupants here. While it's being led to the other exit door, Kindly feels its coat slide even more, to where it has to squeeze an arm in along its side to keep the coat from slipping off. Looking down at its hands, the kindkin sees fingers retracting and bending, and can feel contractions in what passes for flesh and bones under that soft, sweet furred skin.
Upon reaching the door, Ford knelt down to give the coat a light tug. "You don't seem comfortable in this. May I help you with it, and store it for you?"
Kindly began to shake its head. "Nrooww. Ah'm frr.. fine." What's up with the voice? It can't speak clearly! Knowing how it hunts for others, some understanding dawned in its mind. His. Its. His. The drink. Something strange in it.
Ford grinned and slid a paw down between the kindkin's legs, feeling a little bump begin to form, and slipping the paw further in, he could feel an indentation forming under Kindly's tail. "Well, that answers that.. I was just wondering how you gender-less beings could, you know.. become more. Changing to fit the need is a clever way. My kennel helper really knows how to mix his potions for healing the weak pups we get in here."
He opened the door and gave Kindly a small slap on the butt, then started to peel off the leathery, skin-made coat, made easier by the kindkin - now on its way to becoming a boy - getting its body re-configured to match the spirit within, the ailing wolf cub whose ills and part of its spirit having been a part of the mixed up sweet, tasty drink. In return, the cub will gain power and health, stolen from Kindly's aura like it was draining a battery.
The tiger now grinned a bit, having undressed Kindly fully, and ushering it/him into a T-shaped hallway. "It wouldn't be fair of us to not give you a chance to fight for your freedom, so to speak. If you can find the antidote in here, you go back to the way you were, and the cub will just have to be destroyed. Go ahead, look around. I'll send a couple of helpers in if you haven't found it in half an hour or so, okay?"
Kindly wrinkled its face, the unwavering innocent smile beginning to crack as it.. he.. felt its own body adapt to the spirit forced into the kindkin shell, bringing with it quadruped traits such as fingers devolving into pawpads, arms getting more pronounced elbows, legs pulling downwards as a four-legged stance would now be normal. Besides not being given a chance to pull its knife from the coat and defending itself with, Kindly also cringed a bit inward as it felt a groin and anus forming, the beginning of turning an 'it' into a 'him'. Whether the drink was magic or high science didn't matter much, as the results were the same.
The walls in this new corridor were a bit rusty but holding fast, providing a metal hard surface to walk along. Kindly took to wandering along the right side first, with the old trick in mind that always taking a right bend ought to lead to the center or an exit eventually. By now it was definitely a 'he' with a small sheath, anus opening formed, and a quad dog set of tiny nipples under the fur.. His pretty fur, that was so soft and long, was beginning to take on a matted look and feel, and become shorter. So much like the wolf cub he had felt earlier.
He soon got forced down to walk on all fours, as it became too hard to stand up on only his digitigrade hindlegs, and he had a perfectly good set of forepaws to walk on aswell, now. Testing the air with his nose, Kindly sniffed and hoped to pick up a trace of anyone having been in here recently, but all he could find was a mish-mash of so many dogs.
He kept padding around what must be the outer wall, sometimes being led inwards but always staying to the right. While the body on the outside now more and more resembled the wolf cub, he caught himself thinking 'I can still reason. I have still got my mind.' which led to brief pangs of despair. What if the forced possession would push his rational thoughts out too and just leave a 'non-sentient' feral shell, instinct driven? He could never reason enough to find his coat and the antidote then. It might even be right in front of him, and unless he tried to lick it out of curiosity, he wouldn't know that it was important!
After a long while of inwards thinking, in part trying to keep a check on his mind and make sure it was still there, he heard the echoes of distant barking now and then. They appeared to get closer. Was that the help he had been promised?
The two large mutts from the kennel kept woofing to warn others to stay away, needlessly since the hangar-sized maze was empty save for them and Kindly. Picking up the scent, they both followed around the floors and corners where the kindkin's scent grew stronger. Only briefly did they get confused and backtracked some, as Kindly's scent too was turning more into the wolf's.. Still, the way the kindkin was constructed, there was always the underlying smell of rot, hard to hide from keen canine noses.
Outside the covered maze, Ford watched a laptop display, a piece of hunting gear, that reported where the dogs he sent in were through their GPS collars. He shared a chuckle with the bloodhound. "Should have been you in there, huh, tracking's your thing?" The hound, being good natured and knowing well it's never good to piss off your employer, gave a "heh!" as he too watched the two dots move close to each other. "It's pretty interesting to see, the first time someone gets put in there.." Greg muses, "How they move, that might say something about how smart they are. Or along those lines.."
The tiger smiled. "That's a bit deep thinking for me. I'm just trying out simple mind tricks. If we collar newcomers right away, they'll be more likely to give up too soon. We want his energy.. besides, it's a bit of a fun hunt for some of our pups. There was another boy, not in such a bad shape, but he might need a picker-upper. What do you think?" Greg thought about it, "If we go to another hideout of these critters, perhaps. Two in one night from the same place might make even those live-in-the-moment things figure out that it's time to move."
Ford nodded and resumed watching the display. "True, that. It's good to keep our supply of donors where we know they're at. Mmm.. they're closing in now, from the speed of the dots. About time we got going in there. How's the runt doing, by the way?"
"He's picking up already. The most major damage has been fixed, as long as he doesn't get tainted by the kindkin connection, he should grow up to be a fine wolf."
In the sharply lit maze, the hunting dogs caught up with Kindly by now. As the wolfy kindkin was still searching the corners, the two big canines slowed down to pad up, growling quietly. Big, shaggy beasts, wolfhounds perhaps, with a bit of collie thrown in for extra shedding. One of them walked around, sniffed under the belly at the new fully shaped sheath with shaft inside on Kindly, then up to nose at the face, suddenly biting the kindkin's left ear and tugging a piece off, like an instant piercing. Then he nosed down to bite across Kindly's neck, teeth pushing in towards skin, hard enough to keep the wolf'kin face pressed down against the ground.
The other dog meanwhile, sniffed under Kindly's tail and gave a lick or two, before climbing up to straddle and start to jab its tip against the new wolf's rear. Missing a few times with sharp pokes as a result, then sliding in and causing a very sudden, and very painful, stretch in Kindly's lower regions. 'He' hadn't been male before, so the sniffing of his groin and the weird arousing feelings that may have caused were just confusing to the kindkin. Being penetrated was a lot more painful, he hadn't even had an opening there before, much less getting a large, eager dog thrust in.
For a bewildering time that felt much longer than it was, perhaps the first ten strokes or so, those jabs deep up in his body were in a not fully formed anus, actually forcing the transformation, each one meeting with a solid meat wall in Kindly's body that gave a bit more space. And still the dog was only halfway in. To the new wolf, that was a kind of dizziness and agony it hadn't experienced, so he let out surprised yelps while unsure of really what was happening.
The shaggy dog up at Kindly's face bit down harder on his neck, applying force to mute the yelps somewhat as the muzzle got pressed down harder into the dusty floor, acting as an aid to his eager pal atop the wolf's back. Eventually the top dog got to press all the way in, and by now the knot had started to form as he, his body, was simply expecting to be in already, so the sudden extra stretch sent pinpricks of pain up Kindly's spine. That dog had began to spurt out seed already, making for sloshing sounds as he kept thrusting, and wet spoo trickled down Kindly's thighs, matting the fur yet more.
Once fully in, the dog lay down across the smaller wolf's back, wrapping forepaws in under Kindly's thighs to get a good grip, and humped for roughly another half minute, then settled for being very well stuck in that cozy warm body. The dog up at Kindly's face let go of the neck and backed off just enough so he could grin down into the wolf's face. Like that dog had a bit of sentience and knowledge, perhaps he wasn't a fully feral quad. On the contrary, he appeared to have enjoyed watching the new toy being broken in.
While the heavily panting dog on Kindly's back was cooling off, he stepped off to stand rear-to-rear with the wolf, the inserted knot jerking and tugging sharply on newly formed nerves in the kindkin's anus. All nasty and painful, as they're new sensations reaching a bewildered mind.
Kindly scraped at the floor, he tried to pull his hands.. forepaws.. in under him so that he could begin standing up and pushing back to the dog, at least realizing much enough that if he wants the tugging pain to cease, he has to move back so there isn't that much pressure on his anus from within. His eyes had gone wet with tears from the abuse and confusion. "arh.. arhf? arrh?? rr-rarrh!!" he yips, trying to speak to the dogs only to find that his throat no longer could form words, only growls and yips. He'll have to be patient, he told himself. Eventually these big animals will grow tired of him and leave him to recover. Hopefully.
From far away, he heard footsteps in the maze, leading to some other part of it, and muted far away voices. One of them he recognized as being the tiger who led him here, but he couldn't make out exactly what they're saying. The dogs however hear this too, and excitedly gave a few barks to let their owner know where they're at. As part of this, the one lodged deep up in Kindly's rear shifted halfway to the side, with an accompanying sudden pain flash to the kindkin when such a large shaft got yanked around in the newly formed body.
Shortly after, the footsteps grew louder, and there came Ford along with a bloodhound Kindly hadn't seen earlier. The tiger took care of his dogs first, ruffling their headfur and ears, saying what good boys they were, chuckling a little as he did that to the lead dog. That one took care to form a 'woof' through his quad-dog throat, but in a way that made it sound like it was a deliberate word. There was definitely more than all-feral intelligence in this mutt.
Ford patted the dog and sent him away down the maze, which earned him a disappointed look in return. After the one dog had left, Ford patted Kindly's head like that was a pet, too. "How do you like your selfless act of healing a wounded cubbie so far?" he said with more than just a little smirk, "I know you're just _dying_ to be of service," he then chuckled, "...but that you totally adorable little kindkin live practically forever is a great trait for you to have, when some life force needs to be tapped out. Don't worry about feeling sluggish or dizzy, it's completely normal.. I've been told.. as you're basically sustaining another body too with your aura."
The tiger turned to take a collar that Greg had been holding, with spikes and a little box on it. He started to put it around Kindly's neck, and as he tightened it the spikes turned out to be on the inside, pressing in through the skin. Held on with a simple buckle clasp, no fancy locks or things like that. Who in here had working fingers to manipulate it open with?
Ford wrinkles his nose. "I'll never get used to something looking so alive can smell so dead inside.. hum." He didn't offer any explanation on why the spikes were there, and indeed why should he explain himself to someone that's currently lower than a pet? In truth, the way they twist with every move of the neck Kindly does would cause more pain-pricks and, in a crude manner, be used to keep the kindkin conscious and very aware at all times. The slightest motion and subsequent jabs ensuring that he would get precious little sleep, at any time.
As the tiger stood up, he brought up the laptop used earlier, to verify that he was getting a good connection with the new collar. "And this.. is simply so we know where you are at all times. If you should find the antidote you may even be able to tug it off, wouldn't that be something! Your gear is in this maze, including your cute little knife, that much I can promise you."
By now, the big feral dog had swollen down enough to pop out with a messy sound, and sat down to lick himself clean. The tiger twitched his whiskers at the scent of all that dog seed, and how it now flowed out of Kindly's abused anus, some of it seeping into the leg fur, some making a congealing puddle on the dry, unclean floor.
Ford waved dismissively to the bloodhound, "I think I'll give him a little extra love, too. You can take Barker here with you on the way out." Greg winked at him, good-naturedly, but then wandered off to leave Master alone for a little while, thinking it so curious that some things the tiger had no qualms about, but for some archaic reason he still preferred to be on his own with the love interest of the moment.
The large tiger then slipped out of his gym pants and just kicked them off, to later be thrown in the laundry. He clipped a short leash to Kindly's collar, and got in position behind him much like Barker had, earlier. Now, he could use hands to position himself, so he got his tigercock just at Kindly's opening. "Spread wide, this might.. sting a little," he said, in the middle of the sentence thrusting in hard, at the same time jerking back on the leash and forcing several spikes into the wolf's throat. Kindly could just groan-gurgle out in surprised pain, a cute fluffball like itself/himself would likely not have experienced such sudden cruelty before.
And Ford rammed in to the hips right away, eased by coming in after the big dog, though when he pulled back the tiger's barbed penis really felt nasty. Where Kindly had 'only' felt the knot jerk at the anus nerves, this was yet another new sensation, in that it felt like a ripping, grating abuse of an already sore hole that the wolf tried to squeeze closed, to keep cold air out and in some way to reassure himself that he was still basically okay.. though in an altered body..
Kindly yowled out and tried to pull away, only putting more strain on the leash and forcing the spikes to shift and dig in his throat yet more. Carefully placed spikes, that wouldn't prod against any vital spots, merely the hurting ones. The small wolf yowled and grunted as he tried to speak, or even tried to scream, but that didn't stop Ford from keeping the heavy thrusting up. To him, the ways that Kindly squirmed and groaned just made for a better show, a better feeling as the tiger got to continue breaking in his new toy.
With how soft and pliable the wolf's body was, Ford enjoyed himself immensely. He could feel his barbs drag like they were trying to hang on to the flesh, but with Kindly still being soft and rebuilt not too long ago, it proved easy to withdraw all the way before slamming in again. He was rocking the wolf down against the floor, and after a short while Ford leaned forward to place a wide, claws-out paw in the middle of the wolf's back, now both pinning him down and jerking the leash to get more reactions out of the hump toy. He lasts for upwards of a minute before grrowling out and giving a final hard thrust to lodge himself in Kindly's rear, mixing it up with tiger semen aswell.
The wolf made choked sounds into the floor, breath pushed out of his body both from the pounding his fresh ass got, tiger-weight on his back, and the tugged collar making it all harder to draw in breaths. Eventually Ford felt sated, pulled out with a final rasping of the penis barbs, and wiped himself clean with the tossed aside gym pants, then retrieved the short leash. Kindly groaned raspily, he hadn't felt this before, he hadn't even had a gender or sphincter! Just being that all sweet, all fluffy little tricky being, luring others in with being adorable into situations not unlike this.
"Time for the treasure hunt!" Ford called to him as he walks off, a big grin across his tiger face. "To keep you motivated in your search, I'll let in a few of those doggies you seemed to get along with so well, they'll prowl around for you. But I'm not all bad, I'll keep the air conditioner on along with a good dose of scent removal, so unless you're very close to a big boy, they won't find you too easily. Now go get your gear!"
Kindly lay still for a little while, seeping out drool on the floor and blinking, eventually
he managed to roll over onto his side. By now, the changes to his body that were still in progress when the first dog raped him, had completed to where he had gotten a protruding wolf muzzle, matching ears, and the bone structure was a total quad conversion. He couldn't stand up on two legs even if he tried, and try he did several times. He just hadn't learned the balance skills needed for this new body yet.
The messy wolf got up to his fours, and briefly rubbed his rear end on a wall to wipe off some of the goo. It didn't occur to him, not by far, to use his tongue to lick himself clean. That's something only animals do! As Kindly started to wobble down the nearest hallway, he could only think of finding his things, and a way out of here. He's in a junction and had forgotten from which direction he came. "Must.. keep.. right.." he thought to himself and picked a random direction to start over from.
Wandering through the long hallways, mostly well lit but with dim stretches now and then, his wolf ears prick up at far away dogs. The sounds seemed to come from random locations, but he knows that's just echoes in the hallways from several dogs, in several corridors. Still not comfortable with the forced abuse, even if he could take quite a beating while still being a fuzzy 'it', part of Kindly's mind just wants him to take any path that leads away from the sounds.
Despite the air conditioner scrubbing scents away slowly, he was still leaving a trail of easily traced cum on the floor, getting the dogs to rapidly gain on him until he manages to clean himself off. For a brief moment, he hesitated, but then he sat down and began licking to clean his hindlegs, averse to it to begin with but soon it became a mechanical motion. Once that was done, he would be harder to track through scent.
Wandering the halls, the only thing he felt fairly sure about was that he was moving away from the entrance, as that would likely be where the dogs he heard came from. Not a great loss, as his mind was set on reaching his coat. Perhaps, if he could get into it, it could help heal him and push this foreign spirit and body shape out? And then he'd be able to use his knife in defense too if any of the dogs caught up with him on his way to the exit.
It meant walking through and possibly crossing paths with the dogs that had been let in, but he reasoned, anything to get out of here. The little wolf padded in at an angle to the yips he heard far off, in the hope that if he were to zig-zag in parallell with the dogs, he might come to the center of the maze. A logical place for a devious mind to put 'rewards'. But still he came up against dead ends and had to turn back, and every time he did, the sound of other canines grew louder.
Inevitably, one of them, a big sheephound, came skidding around a corner to land atop the wolf's back, play growling and biting like it was a fun game. He even tussled Kindly around some in his large paws, before doing what all these dogs seem to have for a favorite recreation.. Showing off for dominance, or playful, either way it results in one mounting the other. Kindly tried to push him off with inefficient use of his forepaws, but the other, larger, dog got a good grip and rolled both of them over. It was like he'd been trained to play in a particular way. First he stood over the wolf, then placed a paw on the collar and pushed down so Kindly would be trapped.. Also causing the spikes in the sides of the neck to jab in sharply, making the wolf kick out and gasp. Having 'caught' his prey like that, the sheep hound began to press in and hump under Kindly's tail. Luckily for the wolf, this one was not as big as the previous feral dog that had mated with him. Less lucky was that he was slightly on his side, so the jabs punch in at an odd angle.
Kindly let out a muffled howl, though he tried to bite down so as not to attract even more dogs. He would just have to clench and bear it. When this pup was mostly done with him, after a certain while that dog's collar let off a couple of quick bip-bip sounds. He perked his head up and bounded off, vanishing around a corner.
During the incident, Ford had watched on the laptop with an overlay of the maze, where each collar showed up as a dot so he could see just where they were moving. When someone caught the kindkin, he gave them a certain amount before triggering the 'come back to start for a treat!' signal. Smiling a bit to himself, he thought this was an amusing version of Pac-Man, if viewing the maze and moving dots in a particular frame of mind. So many 'nasty ghosts' and just one lone hero trying to steer clear of them. He's almost to the center, too..
Kindly decided to follow the dog that was being called back, running quickly so that he, in theory of some sort, would 'slipstream' behind and sneak by others, who might expect the lucky first winner to smell of wolf anyway. When he reached a certain spot in the wall, he could just sniff around for the sheepdog, and the trail ended right at a wall. He must have been let in there to relax for a while.. Presumably before being sent out to hunt the wolfy again.
Not finding any way to get through, even scratching with soft, dull forepaw claws where the wall met the floor, Kindly got up and turned around, determined to get to the center again. Once again, he was lost, and followed the right hand rule, but with some rapid dashes to evade other dogs when they got too close. A couple of times he was caught and subsequently raped, an action the large mutts seemed to think of as recreational time.. They were getting to have fun with a wolf runt, it was not every day they got to play freely! Each time, after a certain delay the collar-bips were heard and the dog ran off back the way Kindly had come from, towards that elusive door.
After much searching, the sounds of other dogs faded away from the maze. They had probably been recalled for feeding time as it was now quiet in the corridors except for Kindly's heavy breathing and dragging paw steps. He could feel how the spirit link to the other wolf was putting a drain on him, making him drag his paws and turning running into a near impossible task. He would live, no doubt, but this constant stealing of his powers through the spirit link made his reflexes dull and motion slower.
When the other dogs had wandered off, Kindly could relax a bit and start his maze search over. Slowly and carefully he walked through the entire corridors, trying to remember which ones he'd already been in. He couldn't even mark them like a normal dog, with a bit of pee, the air conditioner scrubbed all scents away by the time he returned to the same junction. Walking always to the right eventually led him back to the first entrance, that he remembered more by sight than smell. He would have to go into the layers.
As he padded around the maze again, now doing right turn, left turn alternating choices, the wolf managed to get closer to the center. There were still more than one way in, as he could tell from smelling himself on the floor when wandering around in what must be a circle. If he was that close to the center, that the air conditioner hadn't scrubbed his scent away, then he must be very close indeed. He now started to examine each corner carefully, making a sort of mental map as he went along, and managing fairly well as he was now close enough to the center that he could indeed hold all the junctions in his mind. That's a feat for kindkin, whose main traits include living in the moment and not thinking far ahead.
After many wrong choices, he got the idea of pawing at the walls. The maze obviously wasn't used often by sentient non ferals, so he could scratch in the dust at the corners he had turned. Everything became much easier at that point, and it wasn't likely that he would have at least one day of searching before someone became aware that he had figured out this particular cheat.
The first search took him back to the entrance again, in one of the branches, but he felt that was okay. He was doing a clever tree search now, wander down any corridor until he found claw marks in the dust on a wall, then turn back and take the next turn. Slowly, he was mapping out the entire maze and walking through every corridor. Now he was sure that he was onto something, one of these paths must lead to the center, or whatever room they called 'center' that would hold his coat!
Kindly was beginning to grow tired now, as his powers were drained, but knew that when the scratches were found, a cleaning crew likely would come and brush all walls down, removing all his progress. Panting aloud through his open maw, he pushed forward, intent on walking all night if he had to. He could sleep in the morning. Being found and used by other dogs perhaps, but it wouldn't matter by then. In the morning, he would either have found his stuff, or been 're-set' along with the maze, having to practically start his search anew, without the aid that the dusty wall marks gave him now.
He pressed on to map more of the maze, a mix of despair and hope in his eyes every time he saw a claw marked wall. Yes, he had been there before. But, he knew that he had been there, and could avoid that route in the future. Now and then he came back to the same intersection several times, each time notching and cutting off one path from it. The corridors grew shorter, so he knew that he was likely to find the one room he had never been in before. Presently he did, padding into a large room that was dim in every part except for a well lit up display along the far wall.
Kindly just stared for a few seconds, then fell over forward, mind reeling with what he saw. There was no way he was ever getting out of here. The lucky wolf cub would have a long, healthy life.
Behind a thick unbreakable polymer, were rows upon rows of kindkin coats, carefully hung up like trophies, each one denoting one of Kindly's species being trapped, to be drained and give a stray new life.
(Watch the adorable kindkin here