Chapter Three; The Road North

"You're sure it's ok for you to pay for all of this?" Jace asked Orianna yet again as they began to make their way back to the Traveler's Rest with the gear and supplies they had purchased it town. It had not been a cheap shopping trip. Jace had awoken in the field dressed in minimal hide and leather clothes and armor, and with a fairly decent longsword as well, but he had almost nothing else on him. The journey to Farfleet had been tough on him. With no water, and only the meat they had managed to salvage from the bugbear that first night for food, he had arrived in town thirsty and starved.

Now, thanks to Orianna, he had enough survival gear that he should be able to live at least a couple of days out in the wild. At least long enough for him to make some coin and be able to purchase his own supplies. But it was still pricey. The first thing they had gotten was a travel pack. After that, Orianna had given Jace a whole list of things that she insisted every aspiring adventring warrior should own; A waterskin, a hunting knife, a length of rope, a flint and steel, a whet stone for his sword, a small jar of oil, and a small, portable oil lantern. After that, they had gone in search of food.

Mostly they had bought dried meat and hard cheese. They bought two loaves of hard bread, and a large pouch of nuts. No fruits, no vegetables. Orianna had insisted they mostly just needed meat, and a few other things for some diversity. Everything else, they would find in the wild. Jace had to take her word for it. He was new to this whole anthromorphic body, after all.

"Don't ask me again." Orianna said, answering his question. "You can pay me back later. After you make some coin."

"How about I just make you cum again, and we can call that even?" Jace said, smiling. He was trying to be flirtatious. He was pretty new to that too. Orianna rolled her eyes.

"It would be a pretty shit payment, since you'll be doing that every night anyways while we are traveling together." Jace blinked.

"Every night?"

"At least. I haven't had a male in a long time. You're pretty good with that tongue of yours, and a hard cock stuffed in my pussy is always welcome. Last time I had anything besides my own paw was months ago."

"Oh." Jace said. He blushed, feeling flustered and uncomfortable. Orianna heard the tone in his voice and looked back over her shoulder at him.

"Are you embarrassed, Jace Darren?" she asked, confused. Jace shrugged.

"You are just... well... very matter of fact about it all. Very blunt, you know?"

"Oh." Orianna said. She was silent for a moment, and then; "I could be less open about it, if you want."

"No, no, that's ok." Jace said, shaking his head. "No one really seems to mind when they overhear it, and it is sort of... refreshing? To be able to just openly talk about it. I'm just not used to that sort of thing, is all. Where I'm from, you have conversations like that in a whisper. Either that, or your just kind of an asshole."

"Sex is a part of life here." Orianna said, shrugging. "If you are particularly desirable, it can even be a currency. It's very open, very public. You just have to be cautious who you choose to share your body with is all. If you just give it away to anyone you meet who strikes your fancy, you can cause yourself a lot of problems."

They arrived back at the Traveler's Rest just before sundown. There were a few more people gathered there in the taproom at this hour, having drinks or eating their evening meal. Jace's stomach rumbled. Orianna, however, walked past the taproom and began up the stairs to their room. Jace gave one longing look into the taproom, and there he saw the young ursine serving girl who had smiled at him earlier.

She had a shapely figure, and broad curves. Her hips rounded out her plain linen dress nicely, and Jace could see the little nub of her tail poking out of the back of her skirt. She was a bit older than him, at least older than his actual age. He wasn't too sure how old this body was that he was borrowing. Her bust filled out the top of her dress nicely, and as she turned to pick something up off the floor, Jace got a good, long look at her full cleavage. As she stood up, she caught his eye. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she smiled at him. Jace felt his face redden. Had she noticed him checking out her tits. He rushed up the stairs after Orianna.

Their room was pretty small. There was a single wooden bed pushed up against the wall, near the window, covered in a small, ratty blanket and a straw stuffed mattress. The bed was roughly the size of a twin bed.

"It will be a bit of a tight squeeze." Orianna mused, looking at the bed as she dropped her pack to the floor. "But I'm sure we can manage."

"I could sleep on the floor?" Jace offered. The panther gave him a curious look.

"Whatever for?"

"So you could have the bed...?" Jace said. Orianna laughed.

"Oh no, my male." she said. "You are sharing this bed with me. You will be laying under me, with your cock in my pussy." She reached out a paw and grabbed his bulge affectionately, purring deep in her chest.

"You really like being on top, huh?"

"It is the only proper place for a warrior." Orianna said proudly. "It would be shameful for me to lay on my back with my legs spread, to be used for someone else's pleasure. It is not the warrior's way."

"I thought you said I was a warrior too," Jace protested. "Isn't that what you are having me do?" Orianna huffed.

"You are a warrior, yes. But I am a better warrior." She declared, waving her hand dismissively. "If you wish to mount me like your female, you will need to defeat me, and conquer me like a warrior."

"So I am 'your male', but you are not 'my female'?" Jace asked. Orianna grinned.

"Exactly." Jace shook his head. It seemed a bit like a double standard to him, but in truth, he didn't think there was any way for him to 'conquer' Orianna. At least not right now.

"Ok fine. So what is our plan then?" He asked.

"Our 'plan', Jace Darren, is that you are going to please me tonight, and make me cum." Orianna purred, her eyes flashing. "After that, we will look for a paying job. Something we can do to earn you some coin. You can hardly make a life here without work or coin."

"What if I don't want to make a life here?" Jace asked, uncertainly. Orianna shrugged.

"We don't have to stay in Farfleet." She conceded. "I have lived in these lands for many years, but if you wished we could go elsewhere."

"No, I mean..." Jace paused, uncertain. "I mean I am not from here. I'm from someplace else, someplace where people are people, not... well... animal-people. This is not my world."

"You wish to go back?" Orianna asked, taken aback.

"Well, I don't know." Jace shrugged. "It's not like it was that great for me where I was from. But it was my home. I don't belong here." Orianna watched him for a long moment, saying nothing. Jace was about to say something else, when the panther spoke, her voice low, her words careful.

"I suppose we could figure that out," She said, slowly. "We would still need coin though, still need work. We certainly won't figure it out here in a backwater town near the Farwood. In any case, first thing first." Orianna grinned, unfastening her belt and dropping her skirts down around her ankles. She stepped out of her clothes, and began unlacing and removing her bracers. Jace watched her, watched how her body swayed and moved, her hips, her sleep, black furred tits. He felt his cock begin to swell in his pants.

"What are you waiting for?" The panther asked impatiently. Get those pants off and get into bed. I want to ride you again."

....

They awoke early the next morning and headed down to the taproom for breakfast. The ursine serving girl, Jaina was her name, brought them each a bowl of left over stew from the night before and a tankard of watered down ale. After they had eaten, Orianna called the girl back over to their table.

"We're looking for a bit of work." She said. "Heard anything like that around here for folk like us?" Jaina frowned, wiping her paws on her apron.

"Me? No." She confessed. "My father, Ern, might though. Folk talk to him more often than me. Mostly I just get crass comments and requests for more ale." She smiled cutely at them. Jace smiled back. Orianna ignored her. "I can go get my father though?"

"Please do." A moment or so later, the older ursine innkeeper came over to join them. He was not nearly as cute as his daughter, Jace noted.

"So, yer lookin fer work?" He asked. "Well I ain't heard much myself, but some of them kingsmen came riding in a few days back. Said they was lookin' fer bandit who's been hidin out in the hills a few days north of town."

"A bandit, hm?" Orianna said, considering it.

"Aye." Ern said. "Said she was a gnoll. Has a whole gang up in the hills, robbin folk and holdin them for ransom. Could be if ya bring er in, earn yerselfs a few coins."

"And how much did these kingsmen say they were paying?"

"Thirty crowns fer the bitch's head, twice that if she's still breathin." Ern said. "Yer gonna have ta bring er all the way to Mensalis ta collect the reward though." Orianna thanked him for the information, and Ern went back to the bar. She turned to look at Jace.

"Well? What do you think?" She asked.

"I don't know, a bandit? It sounds dangerous..." He muttered. Orianna grinned.

"Oh yes. But what better way to test your mettle, hm? And 60 crowns is no small sum."

"He said she was a gnoll, what is that?"

"She's a hyena," Orianna explained. "And they are big bastards. Particularly the women. Big, strong, and ruthless. She isn't going to come easily all the way to Mensalis. But if we can deal with her pack, we might be able to overpower her and bring her back on a leash."

"If you think we can handle it, I guess lets do it." Jace said, but he didn't sound convinced. Orianna ignored the anxiety in his voice.

"Good. We'll leave at noon. We just have to pack up a few things and we can be on our way."

....

They were ready to go before noon. It didn't take long for them to pack their bags with the gear they had purchased. Orianna went into the market and bought another coil of rope, as well as some extra provisions. Ern told them the hills this gnoll bandit was hiding out in was a few days away, and so they would need to be prepared to walk all that way. Apparently Mensalis was even farther away, according to Orianna. It was a larger city, east of Farfleet and the river it was built on, which Jace had learned was named the Tarbor.

After they had gathered their few belongings and Orianna had returned from the market, they met downstairs in the taproom. They had no horse, and no cart, and so they would have to carry all their supplies on their backs. They were standing outside the inn when Jaina emerged, looking around over her shoulder to make sure her father hadn't noticed her exit. She wasn't wearing her work apron anymore, but was still dressed in the simple linen dress she had been in earlier that day. She smiled nervously at Jace, wringing her paws together.

"Um, I was wondering," She began, her voice quiet, almost a whisper. Orianna turned to look in her direction, but didn't seem too interested in what the ursine girl was saying. "I was wondering if maybe I could come along?" Jace stared at her, surprised. He opened his mouth to answer, but Orianna shot him a glare and answered instead.

"And why do you think we would need you?" She asked brusquely. "Can you fight? Can you hunt? Are you a tracker? Do you somehow know where this bandit camp is hidden? No? Then don't waste my time." Jaina's face turned red.

"Well, no, I can't do anything like that..." She admitted. "But I could learn, I suppose. And I know how to cook, and I could carry stuff for you too and..."

"Not interested, girl." Orianna cut her off. "You would slow us down, we would need to bring along more supplies just for you, and if we were in a fight you would just be a helpless town girl we would need to protect from danger. No offence, but you would be a liability. Why don't you just stay here with your father where it's safe, and leave this to the true warriors, hm?" Jaina stood there, staring at Orianna. Jace felt a pang in his chest as he saw the tears well up in her eyes. He felt bad for the girl.

He knew Orianna could be a bit harsh. She had been prepared to kill him after all, when they had first met, and it was only after the bugbear had attacked them that she had shown him anything resembling respect at all. Even so, she was probably right. Jace didn't want to be responsible for this girl getting hurt, or worse, while following them around. For that matter, he didn't want to be responsible for himself getting hurt doing this, but he didn't really have much choice about that if he wanted any chance of getting home again.

"Let's go, Jace Darren." Orianna said briskly, turning her back on the ursine serving girl and walking away towards the edge of town. Jace shot Jaina one last look as he began to follow Orianna.

"Sorry," he said. Jaina watched them walk away, then turned quickly and went back inside the inn. Jace frowned, feeling a bit guilty.

"You know," He said to Orianna, as they reached the edge of town and began walking northwards towards the hills. "You didnt have to be like that."

"Like what?"

"Like, you know, that cruel. Telling Jaina she was a liability, that she had no skills." Orianna shrugged.

"It was true." She said. "Never fought, never even held a real weapon I bet. She has spent her whole life in that town, probably never going far from the inn itself. She would have slowed us down and put herself in danger doing it."

"Maybe." Jace mused. "But you still didn't have to be that blunt about it. It was... unkind." Orianna gave him a curious look.

"Unkind?" She said, weighing the word. "You think me unkind?" Jace made a face.

"No, not really. You were probably right. It is safer for her in Farfleet. But there were nicer ways to let her down. Easier ways for her to deal with, maybe. Maybe next time not telling someone they are useless would be a good start." Orianna was silent for a moment, thinking.

"Ok." She said finally. Jace blinked, surprised.

"What?"

"Ok." Orianna repeated. "You're right. I will try to be less... blunt... next time. I will try to be kinder."

"Oh." Jace said, taken aback. "Well, ok. Thank you."

They continued to walk the rest of the afternoon. Jace wasn't used to walking nearly this much. Back home, he only ever walked too and from school, and he spent most of the day sitting at his desks, or at home on the couch playing video games. Even so, this new warrior body seemed much better suited athletically for this kind of extended exertion, and so even by the time the sun began to dip down behind the trees of the Farwood to the west, Jace still wasn't tired.

Hungry and thirsty, now that was another thing. He had tried to take one of the loaves of bread from out of his pack earlier, but Orianna didn't let him and made him put it back. "We have far to travel." She had said. "We can't start into our rations every time we get a little bit peckish." She did, however, let him drink some water, but not too much. She explained that a waterskin should last an entire day, maybe two if you were far from a river or pond. Jace hoped that they weren't going too far from the Tarbor any time soon.

By the end of the day, they were a good distance from Farfleet. The town had vanished over the hills on the horizon where they had come from. The wide dirt road they had been following north into the hills had narrowed, becoming nothing more than a footpath, then a game trail. Now it seemed to vanish entirely into the rolling grassy hills north of town. As the sun set, the air grew cooler. The stars began to appear in the dark blue night sky, shining down brightly on the hills. The moon rose, bathing the countryside in its silver glow.

They found a wide-topped hill to camp for the night. A ring of large rocks surrounded the top of the hill, providing minimal shelter from the chill night air. Jace figured that there had at one time been an old watchtower perched atop this hill. Orianna gathered some dead wood from the few trees that grew around the base of the hill, and soon enough they had a descent sized fire crackling merrily amid the circle of stones. The two companions sat together, side by side near the fire, eating their dried rations.

"I'll admit," Jace said, tearing at a chunk of dried meat and hard bread. "I wouldn't say no to Jaina cooking us a hot meal tonight." Orianna snorted.

"Then you can feel free to walk on back to Farfleet and fetch her on your own." She said. She set aside her food and stretched languidly, arching her back, thrusting out her tits and yawning. "Now, stop talking about that girl and come bed me."

Jace rolled his eyes a bit. "You know, you could be a bit more enticing than that." He complained.

"What would be more enticing to you than emptying your balls in my pussy, Jace Darren?" Orianna asked. She was mocking him, but she smiled, looking amused. Jace shrugged.

"I don't know," He admitted. "I've only ever had sex with you, and you can be a bit intimidating."

"I am a warrior." Orianna said. "I should be intimidating." She thought for a moment, looking at him critically. "Though I suppose you are right. Perhaps we could do with a small change. Would you prefer to mount me then, my wolf?" Jace blinked, taken aback.

"I thought you said I would have to 'defeat and conquer' you to do that."

"If you want me to spread my legs for you like your female, then yes. I'm talking about mounting me. On all fours, as nature intended, A good hard fucking." Her eyes flashed in anticipation, and Jace could tell that she was starting to get into the idea. He had to admit, the idea of fucking that hot panther pussy from behind, having her tight ass spread before him, slapping againt his hips, was a bit of a turn on. He could feel his cock hardening, and his pants tightening against him.

Taking his silence as an answer, Orianna got to her feet and stripper her clothes off. Her hips swayed back and forth as she dropped her belt and skirts down around her ankles before turning her back to where Jace sat and bent forward, stretching down and placing her paws on her ankles. She looked at Jack from around her legs, grinning. She lifted her long tail up, her round, full ass swishing back and forth in front of Jace's wide eyes. He stared, mouth partially open, eyes locked on the panther's tight, glistening pussy, and her tight little pucker between her ass cheeks.

"I'm waiting, Jace Darren." Orianna said softly. "Get your fucking cock out and stick it in me. Maybe if you really satisfy me, I'll even suck it clean for you after." Jace didn't need any more encouragement. Quickly, he stripped his clothes off and scrambled to his feet. Orianna watched him, a satisfied smile on her face, her eyes half lidded as she swished her ass back and forth temptingly in front of his face.

"Get me ready first," she insisted. She reached back with one paw, grabbing one of her black-furred ass cheeks and pulling it open. Her pussy was on full display, her juices glistening in the flickering light from the fire. Her tight pucker winked at Jace, and her tail was held high up and out of the way. "Why don't you give me a taste back here, hm?"

Jace got to his feet, eyes locked on Orianna's wet pussy, and her tight asshole. He bent down, grabbing two pawfulls of her tight ass, squeezing firmly. Orianna growled in pleasure, watching him over her shoulder. She held her ass open for him, and her long, black furred tail draped itself over his shoulder as he leaned in, pressing his muzzle tight against her wet fold.

She tasted wonderful, as she always did. Jace had little to compare her flavor to, having never eaten a pussy before he had met her, but he found it difficult to imagine anything tasting sweeter than her spicy, musky flavor. He dragged his tongue up the length of her opening, savoring her taste as she left a trail of pussy juice on his broad, wet tongue. Jace dragged his tongue from the hooded nub of her clit, all the way back, finishing just bellow the tight pucker of her asshole. Orianna groaned in pleasure, shaking her ass in his face.

"That's good," She complimented him. "But enough teasing. Get your tongue in there and really eat my pussy. And don't be afraid of licking a little higher. I have lots of parts of me that long for attention." Jace chewed his lower lip, looking at her asshole. He had to admit, he was curious. He figured if her pussy tasted this good, it was a fair bet her other holes would be just as sweet. Orianna pulled her ass cheeks wider apart, wiggling her rear in his face.

"I'm waiting," She prodded at him. "I don't feel any tongue yet..." Jace smiled.

"Ask nicely and maybe you will," He teased, finding a bit of confidence. Admittedly, he found Orianna quite intimidating, but he was beginning to learn more about her and realized that as frightening as she sometimes seemed, it was mostly a mask. Orianna growled at him from around her legs.

"Oh, so are you giving the orders around here now?" She said. She sounded irritated, but Jace saw the twinkle of interest in her eye.

"Not orders, no." He said, leaning in to kiss lightly at her moist pussy. "Just encouraging some nice behavior. You could soften up a bit."

"Mm, could I now." Orianna's voice was hard, but Jace wasn't overly concerned. "Well then, please be a good boy and lick my asshole Jace Darren." Jace shrugged.

"I'll accept that. For now." He pressed his face tight in between the panther's cheeks, locking his lips around her pucker and pressing his broad, wet tongue against the tight ring of muscle. He lapped at it cautiously at first, not noticing much flavor. He decided to go for it, and pressing his face harder against Orianna's rear, forced his tongue deep past the ring of muscle. He had been right about her taste; Her ass was as sweet as her pussy. Jace began to slurp and lick at her hole, dragging his tongue up from her pussy and across her asshole, pressing his tongue in and sucking hard on her pucker. Orianna sighed in pleasure.

"That's it," She cooed, her legs beginning to shake. "You eat ass as good as you lick pussy, Jace Darren. Not bad for a beginner. I'll have to have you do this more often." She let go of her ass with one paw, reaching back to grab Jace's head and hold him in place. She leaned back against him, her ass pressing firmly against his face as he tongued her hole. Jace could feel her pussy dripping juice down his chin and neck as he devoured her ass. Orianna began to grind back and forth, rubbing herself against him, riding his face like it was a cock. She groaned, and growled in pleasure deep in her throat.

Just as Jace was beginning to run out of air, the panther released him and pulled away, panting hard. Jace gasped for air, tongue hanging out of his mouth. A long rope of drool connected his mouth to Orianna's polished asshole. The panther purred, stretching luxuriously, before turning to face where Jace now knelt in front of her, one hand on her hip, smiling at him cockily.

"You did good, boy." She said, sounding proud. Are you ready for your reward?" Jace nodded, one paw closed around his cock and gently massaging his shaft and balls. Orianna chuckled. "Thought so. Well, come on, on your feet then." She moved across the hilltop to a large, low stone near the fire pit. Bending over once more, Orianna placed her forearms and chest on the cool grey rock. Her tits pressed tightly to the stone, bulging at the sides as she arched her back and stuck out her ass towards Jace once more.

"Come mount me then, warrior. We aren't quite equals, but everyone deserves some encouragement sometime. Perhaps one day you will roll me on my back like a maid, but until then, this will have to do." Jace rolled her eyes, growing a bit weary of her arrogance, but figured he could hardly argue. He scrambled to his feet, coming to stand just behind Orianna. His cock rested nicely between her two round, nicely lubed up ass cheeks. Spit and pussy juice ran down her thighs, and as Jace gripped her hips tightly in his paws and lined his cock head up with her moist opening, Orianna purred.

"That's it, just give it a nice strong thrust. You'll do great," She egged him on, grinding her read into the tip of his cock but never pressing back enough to penetrate herself on his shaft. That was his job. Taking firm hold of her supple waist and hips, Jace thrust forward. His hips slammed into Orianna's rear, sending ripples through her ass. The panther gasped in pleasure at the sudden intrusion into her body, and Jace groaned loudly in pleasure, his voice deep and husky.

Holding on tight, Jace began to pump into Orianna's rear. Her tail wrapped around his waist, and her claws dug sharply into the stone on which she leaned. She yowled in pleasure as her hips were thrust roughly against the cold stone, her ass rippling with each powerful thrust Jace delivered to her hind quarters, his shaft sliding effortlessly in and out of her tight, wet passage. Jace panted as his balls slapped against her toned thighs. It hurt, but it was a pleasant kind of pain. He hunched over her back, his mouth open, tongue hanging from his mouth as a long thread of drool dripped down into the small of her back. Neither of them paid it any mind, they were absorbed in the savage, primal fucking.

She had been right, about mounting her like an animal. There was something so much more powerful about it. It didn't put her in quite so vulnerable a position that she felt she was in his power, and in fact, as Orianna began to grow bored with Jace's constant thrusting and slapping against her read, she began to push back, pushing off against the stone and grinding her ass tight into his hips. Her hips shifted and twisted against his throbbing shaft, and soon she was fucking him as hard and insistant as he had been fucking her.

Her claws dug into the stone, cutting deep grooves in the rock. She snarled in pleasure, and Jace knew she was getting close. He didn't let up. He focused on the feeling of her tight passage around his cock, the way her moist folds hugged him and tugged at his meat as if drawing him deeper into her body. He imagined what it would be like to truly bed her, laying her down on her back as he knelt over her, her legs spread and knees bent, up near her full, black furred tits. He pictured holding onto those thighs, pounding into her as she mewled and yowled under him in pleasure, her tits bouncing on her chest like her ass did against his hips now. The image turned him on, bringing him closer to his climax faster than he had expected. He began to slow his thrusts, hoping to last longer, but Orianna was having none of it.

As soon as she felt his pace slowing, she increased hers, humping back against him with renewed ferocity. She snarled, baring her teeth, eyes shut tight as she fucked herself on his shaft. Jace gasped, digging his fingers deep into the flesh of her ass, panting for breath and trying to hold onto his stamina for as long as possible.

"Orianna, if you... if you keep that up..." He began to protest. The panther ignored him, continuing to fuck herself on him.

"If you cum before I'm done, You at least better keep it hard enough after for me to finish." She growled at him, grinding her pussy tight against his hips, groaning loudly. Jace felt her pussy juices soaking his thighs and balls, and couldn't hold it any longer. He whined, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Orianna's supple waist. He held tight, face pressed against the back of her shoulders as she fucked him. His cock throbbed once, spurting a jet of precum deep into her passage before the true climax came. His cock jerked hard, once, then again, then a third time. Each time it spasmed, a thick load of creamy white wolf seed was squirted deep into Orianna's womb, filling her up to the brim.

Orianna kept up her rythme, yeowling in pleasure even as the thick wolf seed filled her pussy. It squirted out past his cock each time she forced herself back on his shaft. Jace panted, feeling himself begin to soften inside her. He worried if she took too much longer, there would be nothing left for her to fuck herself on. Luckily though, Orianna was close. She dug her claws into the stone and forced herself back once more. Her head tossed back and she practically roared in pleasure. Jace gasped as he felt her pussy tighten up on his shaft, and immediately he began to harden once more as she squeezed at him repeatedly, milking his cock for every last drop of spunk.

As the twitching in her pussy began to subside, Orianna relaxed, laying her head down on the stone and panting loudly. Jace lay across her back, worn out by their combined efforts. He laughed weakly. "That was... Wow." He said. Orianna chuckled.

"You really were a virgin." She said, as if this was news. "Every little thing impresses you. This was nothing. Wait until I suck you clean."

The sound of clapping swiftly killed any response Jace had to her last comment. He and Orianna tensed at the sound, and the panther rolled over, shoving Jace to the side, and rose to her feet, snarling at whomever it was intruding on their camp. Jace scrambled for his sword, where he left it over by his clothes, only to find it missing.

"I must admit, the show was quite entertaining," A voice said as the clapping continued. Jace looked up, searching for the owner of the voice, and found the figure sitting atop one of the tallest stones on the hill top. Orianna had frozen, claws out, but she had not lunged at the strangers. It took Jace a moment to realize that her swords were missing also.

"Who are you?" Jace demanded. Orianna was clearly too enraged to react reasonably. The figure stopped clapping, and hefted a shape from his lap to level it at the two of them, Jace realized it was a loaded crossbow. His blood froze. The figure was a fox, fairly small and lithe compared to him and Orianna, but he was nearly thirty feet away, and had a crossbow bolt trained on them. Their weapons were leaned against the stone he sat on. Jace couldn't imagine how the fox had managed to steal away with them without their noticing.

"My name is Kallen." The fox said. His voice was light and carefree, though his eyes were sharp and cunning. His crossbow never wavered. "I would caution you, pantheress, not to do anything rash. I practically hear those thoughts of yours. 'Can I reach my weapons before he fires that bolt?' Allow me to answer that for you, you cannot."

"Orianna," Jace said, his voice low. The panther snarled.

"He's right." She snapped back. "I would be dead before I made it two steps."

"What do you want?" Jace asked. He was painfully aware that he stood naked in the firelight, his soft cock dripping cum and panther pussy juice into the grass, as this fox threatened their lives from afar. Kallen shrugged, grinning a cunning grin.

"Not much. I got a pretty excellent show. If I thought she would let me without tearing my throat out, I might have tried asking to join in with you and your panther. But alas." The fox made a show of looking forlorn. "No love for the rouge in the night. No, what I want simply is an assurance that you won't be interfering in a particular bounty I've come all this way to collect."

"Bounty?" Jace asked, confused. "We aren't after your bounty." But Orianna swore, snarling angrily.

"The bastards after the same gnoll we are," She hissed. "And you thought you would remove some competition on your way to the bandit camp, did you?!" Kallen shrugged again.

"Guilty as charged I'm afraid."

"So what do you plan then? Kill us both and leave us dead in the hills? No one would bat an eye, just more victims of the bandits." Orianna sharled. Jace shot her a panicked look.

"Don't give him any ideas, Orianna..." He muttered. Kallen laughed.

"My dear lady, if I had wanted to kill you, I would have put a bolt to each of you while you were so nicely distracted and coupling. No, I don't want to kill you."

"What then?" Asked Jace, not feeling very relieved. Kallen still had a crossbow leveled at them after all. Kallen pulled a bundle of something from his belt and tossed it to Jace. It landed at the wolf's feet, but he didnt bend to look at it, eyes still trained on the crossbow.

"Pick it up." Kallen said. "And tie up your ferocious panther slut, if you don't mind."

"Watch it, fox." Orianna growled. Kallen ignored her. Jace looked down and saw before him a coil of rope.

"What?"

"Tie her up." Kallen repeated. "And make it nice and tight. I don't want her to get loose." Jace shot Orianna an uncertain look.

"Just do it." She snarled, eyes never leaving the fox. Jace obeyed, hefting the length of rope and moving slowly behind Orianna to bind her hands behind her back. He tied them tight, but there was a long length of rope left.

"On your stomach, darling." Kallen said, gesturing with his crossbow. "And you lad, hogtie her. Ankles together, then wrists to ankles."

"You're joking." Jace said. Kallen grinned.

"Do I look like I'm joking, boy?" He asked. "Hurry up. My trigger finger is getting itchy." Orianna grudgingly lay down in the grass, and Jace began to tie her up.

"Sorry." He said.

"I've never been a fan of being bound." The panther muttered. "I like this less." Only when she was sufficiently trussed up did Kallen drop down from the rock. He left his crossbow trained on Jace, but mostly ignored Orianna now.

"Alright wolfy. Your next. On your stomach." He said, pulling another length of rope free. Jace lay down, glaring at the fox. Kallen ignored him and quickly bound him tightly. Jace tugged on the knots a bit and was disappointed to find they were solid.

"Ah, good." Kallen said, standing up and removing the bolt from his crossbow. "Now that you are secure, I can relax a bit. Sorry for the inconvenience my friends. And I hate to tie and run, but I imagine you'll be working on freeing yourselves as soon as possible and I plan to be away with my query before you get free." He gave Orianna a regretful look. "It's a pity though. Maybe if you're still here when I come back through I can give you another load of cream in that pussy of yours, pretty kitty." Orianna snarled.

"That cock of yours comes near me, fox, and I'll rip it off with my teeth and eat it." She growled. Kallen shrugged.

"Suit yourself. I hear I am an excellent lover. Anyways, good luck on your escape my friends. I'll leave your gear untouched for when you free yourselves. Try not to take too long. I hear there are bandits about." And just as quickly and quietly as he had arrived, Kallen vanished into the darkness. Jace and Orianna lay there for a long moment in silence.

"Fucking bastard." Orianna hissed. "Jace, see if you can roll over and get to my binds. I'm going to hunt that fox down and eat his balls."