Another week of endless walking was past us. We encountered not even as much as a hint of another human or morph, let alone a village to stock up on so needed resources. In the time I bonded even stronger with Amand, enjoying not only giving him my endless pleasures, but also losing myself in never-ending conversations with him. We really found the same sort of mutual language - most of the time sarcastic - that we speak.

So strange it was then when we finally met someone else on the travels. Weeks, feeling as if longest months of nothing but trees, grass plains and rocky passes; and then, such a strange cascade of occurrences took place, that it still feels like a loneliness induced dream. If not for the single-edged sword and skimpy tail's testimonies, I'd really think it all just took place in my mind.

Friday, 21th May 830 / Somewhere in Agnola

We walked along a rocky passage snaking by the side of a valley, leading us into a dense greenwood full of rude insects. I found myself longing after the Kingdom of Ferlow and its colder climate, where no such buzzing creatures aggravated me by playing hide and seek in my fur. My stomach loudly groaned in displeasure, and I realized it was noon and we haven't been eating yet. Fishing in my side bag I found some dried meat, and snapping it in two I shared it with Amand. We both knew our reserves were getting thin, and as if to make matters even worse, we took to talking about food.

"Got any favourite meals? Something that sates your wolfish taste buds?" I asked in-between munches.

"Other than you?"

I interfered, "Oh come on. I mean actual food. Cum is no food...even if I love slurping yours for all of eternity. Rice, roasted meat, pound cakes...that sort of stuff. Not my juice covered vixen flower."

Amand growled playfully. "Heh. I wanted to push you into stating that my seed is your favourite." His pants started to bulge visibly. "Hmm. Of food...I think, well, I always enjoyed fruits. For a wolf stuck under pines, they were as exotic as it gets. I really like apples." He hunched over, trying to release the pressure growing in his pants. "Dammit! Ow! It still stings like crazy."

"You brought it upon yourself...." Then I tried to mimic his grainy voice as closely as possible. "...steering yet another conversation into sex."

"Yeah, yeah," he uttered, leaning onto a pointy rock. "Gosh....it hurts even when in my sheath. Like my skin is crawling all over. You broke me, fox."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Please? You're saying that I broke your mighty wolf spear with just my helpless, little vixenhood?"

"Ten times a day is too much even for me." He groaned in pain. The bulge of his pants subsided in time, and as the wolf straightened to full height, stroking his groin, he sighed in comfort. "Ah...finally. I can walk again."

I squeezed his shoulder. "Better? I think my heat is gone anyway. Say, I give you a few days to heal up and then some more sweet, sweet loving? No claws involved?"

He growled in appreciation, smiling at me.

I continued, "I knew you'd like it. Anyway...what were we talking about? Oh yes. Apples. Not extremely fond of them, unless they're coated in caramel."

The wolf laughed, much to my confusion.

I asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing, really." He glanced at me. "Nah. Just, kind of like you. Those apples I mean. A sweet sugary coating of crunchy caramel, and when you get deeper, a rich, sour sweetness of beautiful texture. Though one has to watch out for the seeds."

What an analogy. I fished out another bit of dried meat, giving it whole to my lover. "You really are hungry like a wolf. Take this before you eat me alive."

He gnawed at it hungrily. "Thanks." After a thorough chewing he loudly swallowed the precious meal, continuing his speech. "Meat is great too. Like these dried ones, reminds me of what we bartered with travelling merchants, back in the tribe. There was also this soup our shaman used to cook. Very creamy and full of tastes. Just what was it's name...." He looked up at the sky dreamily. "I cannot remember. Not sure if it even had a name. I went after it like mad, that thing sure tasted divine. Best is, Marat used to coat his...well...he...I." It was so cute to see him struggling.

"I get the picture."

"I miss him sometimes. Then again, our relationship didn't start in the healthiest way. And when I needed him the most, he just couldn't make up his mind." His tail lost its vigour, only limply swatting side to side "Guess it's for the best you pushed me into this. There are some things, stuff, I have to tell him. Scream at him. Perhaps even give him a healthy smack across the head."

The elevated road took a turn down into the valley and into the first trees, just as the deep slope at the side of the road was starting to disappear. I took one last hesitant look over the edge, into the hollowness down bellow, and I returned back to Amand.

I smiled mischievously at him. "I though I was to help you knot him?"

Amand grimaced, his features furrowing like the valley we walked. "Well...I could use some, ah, knotty fun. That is for sure. If you're all right with it, then." How conflicted he was. I could almost taste it on my tongue.

"Hmm. I'd like to watch."

"Uhm? That's-" He cringed, showing his teeth through the crack of his lips. "I don't think I can do that. No, I just-"

"It's all right. The decision is yours. And don't restrict yourself, not for this vixen."

He whined in a low pitch, almost grumbling; and leaning over to me, the wolf kissed me fondly on my cheek. "Good. I'll make up my mind by then. Its truly nice that you, you know, don't mind."

I snickered in response, "I'm the last one who could mind. Even if...I'm curious how you sound on the receiving end."

"Sheesh." Amand shook his head, his braids flying about and slapping into his jacket and back pouch. "Really? This is not easy for me, Marcella."

I stroked him over with my tail. "Only a friendly tease. Well, I have more of my own to...feeling like taking another peak in my diary?" The familiar feeling of my stomach nauseating tainted the moment.

"Uh. No. My cheeks still ache from the last time."

"You know you made a rude remark."

"Rude?" he whined. "It was a friendly tease, my little!"

"You have a lot to learn about teasing, my big one. Sheesh."

Amand laughed. "Sheesh indeed-" But before he could voice himself fully, he stopped abruptly in his tracks and halted me with his paw. "Stop. You smell that?"

I was puzzled. "Smell what? You catching whiffs of non existing food?"

"I'm serious." His expression shifted into an emotionless, focused stare. "We're not alone."

I lifted my bow and readied an arrow, doing both with soundless swiftness. When it came to smells, I trusted the wolf's nose fully.

"I don't know if to love or hate that thing." I gently tapped the moist tip of his muzzle. "What do you think? How far is this someone?"

My companion whiffed at air profoundly. "Close. Very close. At the edge of the forest, if I have to guess...."

I took a quick look around. The slope at the edge of the road leading down into the valley was too steep to traverse safely. And on the other edge was the side of the rocky hill, sharp edges and stones littering every bit of the way. "It's no good. We can't walk around it. Though...Aren't we just overly paranoid?"

Amand gazed directly into my eyes, preparing his javelin as if for war. "The scent is very weak, coming from so close. Someone masked his smell over. And that never brings anything good."

"Okay. I'll walk onward, first. You keep your distance, sneak around of you get the chance. And get in their back. I hope its not bandits...or worse."

The gravel crunched under my boots as I surveyed the surroundings, looking for anything suspicious amid the trees or behind the rocky ledge looming over me. I lost track of Amand completely. He must have sneaked into the trees already, the taps of his naked wolf feet soundless even in the still air. Not a tree branch of the oak trees moved, as prominently as they shuffled in the past days. And where the road disappeared under the branching tops of the oaks, was standing a solitary figure of a strange looking female.

I walked close from behind the rock ledge, bow at ready but not drawn to shoot. I deemed it unnecessary to start with such a direct provocation. Squinting my eyes I made out the features of the morph girl, who already took notice of me, placing her gloved hand on hilt of one of her two swords. She was a lynx, with a sandy brown colour of her facial fur, and stripes of darker brown marking her forehead. Her strands of dark, straight hair were swept to the sides of her face, and from under them, she pierced me with a stare as sharp as the features of her face.

"Hello," I announced myself.

She only fluttered her tufted ears. I hesitantly walked close to the rough in appearance lynx, clothed in a dark green armour the likes I have never seen before. Her breasts and chest were hidden under a plate of sewn together armour shards, several details and ribbons of rusty orange colour marking the whole attire. Down from her waist she was wearing pants of the same, dark green colour, and with knee pads and shin guards ready to protect her limbs from incoming harm. There wasn't a bit of her revealed to the world other than her face, as her gloves and forearm guards covered her arms, the whole attire finished by a pair of black sandals shielding her sock enveloped feet.

The warrior lynx greeted me with a dry, uninterested voice. "That is close enough, fox."

"I can give you an arrow from any distance," A crude way to loosen her up, but nothing better came to my mind. "If that's how you want it."

Her eyes widening was the only warning. She tightened the grip on the longer one of her straight swords, and faster than I could blink the steel ringed and flew at me, the tip of the razor sharp edge stopping a hairs length away from my chin.

I jumped back in surprise, my heart catching rate at such an alarming rate that it almost shot out through my neck. Drawing my bow to shoot, I hissed at her, "Who the hell are you."

She smiled unnaturally in a deliberate act to show me her fangs. "And who are you?"

"I asked first." I kept the metal tip of my arrow aimed at her.

"Lower your bow, it is clear we are not to fight here."

"Really? Sheath your sword then."

She aligned the tip of the sword to the sheath and pushed it in, where it slid into its place with a sharp click. All done in one tantalizing, smooth motion. I did the same with my bow, strapping it away into the holster at my back.

"I am Miru" She dragged the words through her lips akin a rough purr. "A freelance mercenary travelling these lands."

My ears perked up on their own, giving me away completely. Another female mercenary, and on top of it, a fellow morph? I couldn't help myself but feel excited. "My name is Marcella. I'm bit of a mercenary myself."

She jumped right in. "A bit of a mercenary? What is the other...bit?" She looked me over top to bottom with her round eyes of a colourless brown tint. "...oh dear. If you mind me saying, but...you look like a cheap whore."

How it pissed me off. "Oh, so you noticed then? I take pride in being the most luxurious courtesan around, why thank you." I made sure to say it in the most pride filled tone I could muster the moment.

"Uhm. And you're proud of that? Or are you just playing with me." Her brow curled into a confusion riddled curve.

I felt my cheeks lifting up, the mischievous smile impossible to contain. But before I could tease her some more, my mind froze, as from the corner of my eye I saw Amand, appearing from behind a thick tree and sneaking after Miru carefully. I kept my eyes dead centre on her, not to give him away.

"So." I tried to think of something to say. "Who you hunting with those swords?"

Miru relaxed her posture, letting her hands fall to her sides. "Your wild guess is correct. I am currently employed to rid these forests of one criminal. Ah, perhaps, you want the prize yourself?"

Amand closed the distance considerably, walking in casual posture right behind the strange lynx. The predatory stare edged into his eyes was nearly impossible not to glance to.

I licked my lips over. "I could care less about your gold. I'm, well, you handled that sword incredibly good. I'm more interested in what you know."

She lifted both her black brows. "A lesson? That's your idea? Wow. Now this is a first." Her voice wasn't sarcastic in the slightest, even if the words themselves allured to it.

Amand was right behind her, staring down at her neck. I had no idea what was going through his head, but it seemed he enjoyed finding his prey so oblivious to his presence.

Miru cracked her joints. "Well then, if you're serious about this, you can show me what you can do with that bow. And perhaps..." She paused, flaring her cat nose. "...you can help me with the job. It's not often I find another woman who picked up a man's occupation." She grinned wide, again in a very clumsy and unnatural way, and closing her palm into a fist, she slammed it into the hilts of her duo of swords.

The sheaths of the swords jumped into the air with considerable speed, and as Amand was standing right behind her, they hit him in his groin. He cried in an agony filled whimper, serious pain twisting his face, and whining as if a pup, the wolf took several steps back.. Miru simply moved a short distance away, staring me down.

Much to my surprise, she hadn't lashed out. "Very clever and fitting of a fox, ordering him to do that. But a wolf? How you hoped for that mindless brute to sneak up on me? Not to mention, these walking glands reek with musk across several countries."

Amand whimpered again. With the rustling of the forest grass he fell down onto his knees, clutching his pride dearly. I walked over to my poor wolf, hissing at Miru along the way. "Don't speak ill of him. Ever. Again."

I expected some retribution from the mighty mercenary, but all she made was a single 'hmm'. Kneeling in front of skimpy tail I reached for his groin, but he refused to put his hands away.

I whispered in his ear, "It's me. Let me heal you, wolfie."

"Ugh. Why in my balls...when I'm already sore...," he groaned in pain.

Miru walked over and stated in a firm voice, "He only got what was coming to him. Breathing down my neck like that."

I glanced up at her. "I'm not denying that." Then I finally managed to wrestle Amand's shaking hands out of the way. "Just a short moment." I concentrated myself and healed him enough for him to stop whimpering. The pleasant warmness seeped down from my hands, but I only used the bare minimum of spell power that was needed, to preserve it for later. Since he was no longer gasping for air in pain, I helped him up to his feet.

"No hard feelings I hope. My name si Miru." She introduced herself to Amand.

My teary eyed companion returned the favour. "Amand. Sorry for, sneaking up on you. We had to make sure-"

She interrupted him. "That is settled. Now, if you don't mind, I have something to discuss with your friend here."

The wolf whined sad.

I tried to lighten up the conversation. "Well, no hard feelings as you said." I then leaned onto my lover and whispered in his ear. "Make a bonfire, love. This might take a while...you okay?"

He hugged me close, his nose unnaturally warm as he pressed it on mine. "Watch yourself...."

"I'm only going to practice archery, don't worry."

"I heard it all. Just-" He pulled himself away from me and wobbled to the nearest oak, leaning on it back first. He then gazed at the lynx. "Return her safely. You haven't seen anything of me yet." That was a strange strike of confidence from him, especially after he got humbled so roughly.

The lynx chuckled softly. "I can imagine. You two love birds done?" She gave us both a quick glance. "Then follow me, Marcella."

We walked a bit deeper into the woods, only far enough to get us some privacy. When I asked why, Miru twitched the short stubby tail she had, sending an orange scarf tied to it swishing in the air. Her response was quick and dry as well. "I want some privacy. Don't want to bring men into something they comprehend badly."

"Oh, some girl love? You could have asked right away."

She ignored my remark completely. Instead, she tightened her gloves and prepared her own bow - the largest archery equipment I've ever seen. It was almost two metres long and it's limbs of uneven shape were made from thin wood.

"This is a good spot," the lynx remarked, looking about. "Hmm. I forgot to set the targets. Will you hold it for me?" She handed me the bow, already picking a roll of bundled papers from her back pouch.

Miru then walked tree to tree, using iron nails to stick the paper targets onto them. She hammered the nails into the bark with her forearm guard.

Once satisfied - which was apparent by her stubby tail stopping its dance of wild twirling - she walked over to me and said, "Go ahead. You go first."

"All of them?" I asked, nocking the first arrow in.

"All of them."

I did my usual ritual, one deep breath to calm the mind, and then, I left the rest to my body and my training. I shot the first arrow, and not stopping in motion, I pulled a fresh one from the quiver. It was as natural as breathing for me. Arrows nested into targets one after another, whistling through the air and cracking the tree bark open. After sending the last one flying, I exhaled softly and looked over my handiwork.

I was left with ten arrow filled targets - not a single shot went wide - and one very wide eyed lynx mercenary.

"You...what in the...I cannot believe my eyes." She scanned over the trees, her pupils jumping from target to target. "I thought you were some kind of joke. But...my gods. That is some very skilled archery indeed."

I giggled at her idea of a compliment. "Why thank you. Care for a try yourself?"

She shot her round of arrows, a bit slower as she took her time to aim. Some of the shots went wider than would be nice, but her result was above average given the type of bow she was using - one clearly meant for stationary shooting.

Miru groaned in her emotionless way. "Well. And I thought I'd be giving you lectures. Anything to share?"

"For a start, you tense yourself a lot before the shot. Other than that, training your shooting routine would help tremendously. I saw inconsistencies in how you nock arrows, and in string pulling too. Those inconsistencies add to your inaccuracy."

She put her bow away. "I know. So simply more training on my part."

I did the same, strapping my recurve bow back in its place, my wolf brush lazily rolling in the air. Nothing like when your own body parts are pleased with you. "Yeah. The technique itself is good, you just need to find the time and get the arrows flying. So, I take it we're done shooting?"

She presented two pairs of ominous looking metal pliers to me. "No. Help me get the arrows out."

Miru lent me one pair of the pliers and we both took our share of trees to clear. One or two arrows I plucked out broken, but most were fine. For the last one I had to bend over to reach it, as it was stuck at the bottom of the tree, almost in the roots. Arching my back to pull it out, the crisp evening air brushed by my nether lips, tickling me.

"You wear no underwear?!" the lynx shot at me.

Her sharp tone startled me on the spot. "Wha?"

I heard her footsteps nearing. "That you prattle yourself about so perversely open. I...how can you?"

I shook my tail at her just to add to it. "Oh come on. Don't make it into a bigger deal than it is."

"It is a big deal! You expect anyone to respect you? When you cheapen yourself like that?" She said in heated tone, perhaps the first actual emotional response I got out of her.

Having pulled the arrow out, I hid my privates to not to aggravate her further. "You have one yourself. Look, I love showing myself to others, you don't. End of story. I am a courtesan, remember? Or you thought I was joking."

"I don't. Who knows what you are, really." She gave me back mine arrows she pulled out - some without tips as they got stuck in the wood, and I gave her back the share of her that I collected.

She hadn't brought up the subject again. We practised some more and I helped her improve. With mine well aimed advice she worked on her consistency, and I felt warming pride swelling in my chest at seeing her accuracy rising as a result. To reciprocate, she sparred sword-fighting with me. We left our swords sheathed to minimize the possibility of injury. And as well, I was mighty scared of seeing the barren steel of her straight sword flung at me from some unexpected angle. She was crazily skilled. So skilled that I couldn't land in a single strike.

"Good. You have skill in sword fighting too." She gave me a compliment. "But against a real enemy, you're gone. Poof." And then she immediately erased it.

I growled like a wolf. "Look, I rely on my bow. I can easily hit targets even in confined spaces. The sword? Only when there is no other choice. And I'm alive and kicking so far."

"Hmm. Yeah." She overlooked my explanation again, quirk of her personality I was growing very, very weary off. "I'm still impressed though. Say, I'd like some help with the bounty I'm taking care of. I can take anyone sword to sword, but the criminal has backup - dozen or more lumberjacks, cutting down trees of this forest. With no given permission of the authorities, and all at his command. I could see you as my...helping hand."

"Killing them all? Not without a damn good reason." I wasn't very keen on starting another senseless bloodbath.

Miru squinted her eyes at me, something very closely resembling a puzzled expression. "You got problems with killing?" She sounded as if she wanted to add more, but in the end, she took different approach. "Uh, we're only killing the target, the criminal that funds them. All we do is scare them white with a few well placed examples, and trust me, they will make way."

I grimaced, biting my lip.

"Still not satisfied? What are you, whore and a saint in one person?" The lynx scratched her nose. "I have a handful of blunt tipped arrows I hunt small game with. They can still kill, but with your skill... I'm sure you'll figure that out."

I left her hanging for a bit. But no matter how long I acted thinking about it, she simply kept gazing at me stoic. There was no choice but to respond. "I accept. Want to see your moves again. Besides, I could use some gold too. Right?"

Back with Amand at the clearing, the bonfire was crackling in the nigh coming night. I was completely exhausted, and upon the wolf greeting me, I fell on top of him, toppling him over.

I licked the length of his muzzle and laughed softly. "I'm hereby conquering this wolf as my sleeping mat."

He laughed back, sneaking his hands into unmentionable places. "And the wolf yields before the mighty warrior vixen." He paused, furrowing his brow. "I take it it went well. Anything worth mentioning?"

"Yeah. I'm taking care of some bandits tomorrow. With Miru here."

"She's a courtesan too?" He delighted me with a cocky grin.

I flicked him across the nose. "You better hope she didn't hear you." I glanced over my shoulder and the lynx was sitting with her legs crossed, good deal of way across from us. Her swords were placed on top of her thighs, glistening black, and she was motionless, as if not even breathing.. "Seems you're lucky. This time."

"Yeah, she is meditating. I can feel her calming." Giving me one worried look, Amand stuck his whole muzzle into my fox ear when I felt his breath invading it. And as such, he whispered in a shuffle of words I had to concentrate fully to pick up. "You trust her? I cannot shake this feeling. Something foul is going on."

I whispered back. "As far as morphs and humans go, I do."

He whined in his usual, grainy way. "Okay. Still, I'm going to be up the whole night. Keeping watch."

"As you wish." With my final words I had fallen asleep, both anxious and excited of the bounty hunting.

Saturday, 22th May 830 / Grassfields Forest

The sun was close to the horizon, shining orange tinted light at us where the trees gave enough way for the rays to pass through. Miru was focused and walking some thirty metres in front of me, part of the plan we agreed on. I chuckled to myself at the mental image of Amand, completely red eyed and tired, as he truly kept his word and stayed up the whole night to keep watch. The poor wolf.

With my bow comfortably sitting in my paw I trailed after Miru, making sure to walk over any fallen branches and keeping my silhouette out of sight. She was to walk into the lumberjacks first and take care of them, my task to keep watching from distance and lend her a hand if needed. The air was awfully cold so early on, and I feared that the puffs of steam coming from my nose would give me away. Before I could worry myself over nothing, I heard a sleek, sleazy voice coming from the distance.

"Lookie lookie here. Some morph cunt got lost, eh?"

I perked my ears and picked up pace. It was time to act. Once close enough I hid myself in vegetation, placing several trees between me and the two human males she walked into.

The sleazy one was bulky male of rugged clothes, as pale as they get. He opened his mouth again, his line of terrible insults intensifying, "Kitty, kitty, kitty cat...you looking for your ball of tarn? None here...but oh! We have one of your freaks here, with hairy little balls for you to play with!"

If it wasn't for the black tail twitching behind one of the distant trees, clearly belonging to third of the pack, I would have been sending arrows already.

Two aggravated voices cried in unison, "Shut it!" One belonged to other human male, a bearded man of bit of a leaner built and puffy, fur decorated collar, and the other voice belonging to the unknown morph behind the tree.

Miru gave a sharp retort, "One more word and you're eating steel. Clear?"

"Oi, oi. She is unaware of the fact, that really, steel cannot be eaten!" Even twenty-five metres away his voice was hurting my ears. The bearded guy stepped in, taking charge of the conversation.

"Don't listen to this drunk fuck." He pushed the bulky man away, giving him a sharp slap on the back. "The others are even worse. There is, where was the road...go more north to find a road. It leads into a village. Trust me, you better sleep under the stars. I come from another kingdom, but these guys take morphs for filth." He quickly gained my sympathies.

But after all, Miru wasn't looking for a place to sleep. "Very nice. Yet, I'm looking for your leader. So all your advice is useless."

He acted confused. "You...what?"

She unsheathed her sword, the edge ringing sharply - a warning to anyone wanting to get closer. That's when the male cat morph finally walked from behind the tree, a recurve bow in his hand and fully drawn back, ready to shoot.

That was my cue.

I aimed at his hand and released the blunt tipped arrow. The front heavy thing flew lazily through the air before landing right on morphs wrist, yanking the bow from his clutch. The pain was enough to send him to his knees, taking the black cat from the fight. I dashed from my hiding place to aid Miru, who was already doing her job. She smacked the bearded guy across the skull with the hilt of her sword, and walking slowly across the muddy ground, she aimed for the sleazy talker. He stood no chance. She wept her sword at him, then, turning the edge over, she took it trough his body again on the way back. And doing this several times, pieces of his garb and clothing flew in random directions.

I halted myself next to her, coming clumsily to a stop. What was left of the guy felt into the mud in a splash of blood and dirty water. Miru was covered in droplets of blood and even pieces of skin. I couldn't look at the pile of fractured bones, torn skin and mangled flesh down in the mud, still oozing blood at an alarming rate; and as the lynx took to cleaning herself and her sword with a piece of cloth, I walked over to the black cat, realizing he is a male jaguar.

"No...go to hell! Don't come near me!" he cried in a desperate wail.

I knelt next to him, trying to gently grasp his hand I had broken. "Shh. I'm not going to hurt you. Tell me where your camp is. That is all." I had to roughly grasp him by the wrist, and looking directly into his eyes, I enveloped his broken paw in my other hand.

"Fuck you! Fuck you, you damned bitch! I meant no damn harm here, you-" He gasped and gagged, when I focused my mind and used my healing spell on him. The warmth flowing through my hand was almost burning, as I had to use a good deal of my willpower to fix the damage.

Miru scolded me promptly, "What are you doing? We only need the location, not a liability on our tails."

I pulled the leanly built jaguar to his feet, leading him behind trees and away from the massacre. "Leave this to me. Keep a watch if others come, okay?" I replied the lynx.

Once at a comfortable spot - a thick tree I leaned the boy on - I commenced my interrogation techniques. "What are you doing with this mongrels here? Hmm? What for?" I asked the jaguar, all the while looking him over with my eyes. He was wearing only several belts over his chest, more accentuating his softly muscled body than hiding it, and over his waist he had draped few thick leather straps, forming a makeshift skirt. Thanks to the ever curious touch of my paws I learned his goods were plump and ripe for the taking under it.

He closed his brightly yellow eyes. "I-uh. Well. I need the gold. And...I don't want to piss the rest of them off. Please. Let me loose..."

"Uh-uh." I pressed myself tightly against him, nibbling at his neck. "I'm not done with you. And I promise, that once I move on to them, they wont have the slightest need to go after you." The young jaguar was breathing in fast, shallowed breaths, more scared of me than aroused.

"Look." I led his hand onto my inner thigh. "Tell me what I want." I left it there, giving him the space to make the next move. "Or I can torture you...you'd prefer that.?"

He rasped dry, gagging with every and each word. "No no no...please. No more pain."

"So then?" I waited for the response.

"They...the camp..." He whimpered, when I felt his shaking fingers rustling the fur of my nethers, stopping at my pink lipped vixen flower. "Ah...I...The camp is...to the south-west. About an hour of-walking. I, I'm sorry. And, uh, you can find it by watching for cut down trees."

I smiled fondly, first kissing the young jaguar on his nose. "Good boy." Then I deep kissed him, feeling his heavy, fear ridden taste on my lips and tongue. "Promise me...you won't have any bad memories of me?"

He drew in several breaths, when he gazed in my eyes. I could sense he was calming a bit. "No...No. You're sweet."

"I only hope you meant that. And if you ever meet me again, stop for a chat. I can be very... delicious...to well behaving boys." I fondled his softly furred sack to give him the right idea, and nibbling at his folded ear, I whispered, "The name is Marcella." I questioned my decision to tell him my name, but since the deed was done, I distanced from the scared lad and gestured him to leave.

He looked about, taking one drawn out exhale before he pressed his muzzle on mine and kissed me on his terms. Unskilled, sloppy, and hungry. Once withdrawn, the jaguar lowered his head in shame, blinking several times. His leave was hesitant, as if he expected I'd turn on him and shoot. The notion hurt me inside.

Deciding to check on Miru I turned on my heel. She was standing right behind me, and seeing her face all of the sudden startled me.

"Marcella...?!" She asked in a shocked voice, mouth slightly agape.

The sight of her unnerved me. "How long you've been there?"

Wind picked up speed, rustling the trees around us, and washing away the smell of death clinging to the lynx.

She shook her head, slowly, and her eyes, even in their very soft, mild brown, glowed vividly. "Are you really this slutty? I mean, this fucking cheap? I thought you were with that wolf? What the hell was that?!"

I expected no other. "It worked, hadn't it? And Amand...he knows, and accepts, who I am."

She simply started walking away, not sparing me as much as another glance. For me, the conversation was not over. "And what if I prefer dealing in pleasure over pain!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. But thinking back, was I really shouting at her? Or at myself?

The camp was a handful of bushes and patches of watery mud away, the humans working and sawing at tree trunks stacked in a neat pile.

"Listen." Miru slowly crawled next to me. "No more bullshit. Okay? We do this on my terms. I walk in, cut down any fool feeling manly to face me, and if all gives, I duel with the so called leader one on one."

"And if not all gives?" I asked dryly.

We both pressed ourselves more closely to the ground, as one lumberjack walked uncomfortably close to our hiding spot. He swept a thick layer of glistening sweat down from his bald forehead, and coughing deeply - gurgling like he had all the saliva of the world in his throat, he spat right into the bush we were hiding under. And much to my luck, the foul smelling globule of sweaty spit landed right on the tip of my nose.

I groaned in disgust and anger, "Filthy bastard, just you wait."

"You ready?" Miru asked, softly elbowing the side of my ribs. "I don't want to wait for the son of a bitch to take a leak on the next pass."

"Agreed."

She got on her elbows, slowly and in a predatory fashion, and once the coast was clear, she straightened from under the bush. I followed her shortly after, preparing my bow and another one of the blunt tipped arrows. Miru walked amid the lumberjacks as if she hadn't had a care in the world. In fact, she did it with so much confidence that they only noticed her when she drew her sword, its characteristic ringing overshadowing even the loud rasping of the wood saws.

"What the?!" The man closest to her threw his axe high in the air from sheer surprise.

My tail, on the other hand, caught all the unwanted attention the second I stepped from under the bush. The lumberjacks encircled me in seconds, and not taking me serious in the slightest, they started grabbing at my vixen brush.

Miru stared down the first of the men blocking her way, who wisely stepped to the side. The second one wasn't as cooperative. He laughed in a serious, high pitched voice, and lifting a broadsword from his sheath, he charged at her immediately. It took the lynx exactly one sidestep and one swing of her sharp sword to behead the overly muscular man. I swear I could see her smiling when the resulting bloodbath splattered her facial fur.

I, on the other hand, had different problems.

"Wow, she really does look like a forest fox."

"Hey baby, give me that tail."

"Damn, the morph bitch is hot."

"What? You like her? Hair lover! Haahahaha!"

The nerve of those guys. I spun in place, aiming at each one of them so they wouldn't rack up the courage to close the distance. One of the hands grabbing at my tail clasped its tip and the man pulled roughly, ripping a strand of black fur from my vixen brush.

I yelped in stinging pain. "Bastard! You piece of shit! Where are you?!"

How wide I grinned when I found the bald skin holding the patch of my black fur in his hand. He threw it to the ground, raising his hands above his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's not what I wanted!"

I released the string of the arrow and the blunt tip smacked loudly against his skull, knocking the man out and into the mud.

"You're so getting it now, bastards!" I spun again, and finding a bald dome of a head flashing light at me, I grinned even wider. "Oh, the baldie that spat on my nose. Any last wishes?"

He gasped in confusion. "What?!" The string slipped by my claws, the arrow connected with his nose, and the man too, found his home in the watery, stinky mud.

I glanced at Miru, and as she glanced over her shoulder at me too, our eyes had met. Her way was free, since the one man finding dead by her hands was enough to scare everyone white. She nodded, jabbed the severed head with the end of her straight sword, and flicking it my way, it landed on the chest of one of the lumberjacks. The man gurgled something incomprehensible, his eyes bulged out so far that they looked as if to pop out, and screaming in agony he threw the head as far as he could. Cacophony of shocked gasps and screams filled the air. Who wasn't frozen in spot fell flat on his ass from the shock, save for one man who fled the site screaming and flailing his arms.

"Demons! Demons emerged from hell! They are coming for us!"

The way was free for me too. I joined the lynx mercenary who was walking calmly towards her prey. I expected her to be smiling, yet, there was a deep frown on her brow.

"These guys are pathetic. I hoped for a more of a fight," she remarked, cold as ever.

I decided not to react and just wait for it all to play out. The man she was after was standing next to countless colourful tents, preparing a short sword for the fight. There was something of his appearance that bugged me. Clothed fully in black leather attire, he had a darker tone of skin, a cleanly shaven face and a neck long, well kept, dark brown mullet. His eyes held the typical stare of a man that had seen too much in his life.

He edged slowly towards us, dragging his lip up in clear contempt. "So, the corrupt kings and their ass climbers send you two sluts after me? I'm fucking disgraced."

"Clarius Manalus. Wanted for the murder of the Olin brothers, banditry, several occasions of rape, and distilling and selling of non - taxed alcohol." Miru cited his crimes from memory. "But in all honesty, I don't give a damn what you did. What I give damn about is, do you have the courage to face me head-on, you filthy worm?"

The man laughed humourless. "You want it rough? Oh, you better try your best." He pouted his thin lips and spat under Miru's boots.

Only the tree leafs rustled in the silence, as they both edged closer and closer. Their swords glowed brightly in the dim lighting, shaking and jumping in anticipation. A low, rumbling growl pierced the silence, followed by steel clashing steel, two blows of the sharp tools colliding together in the act of skill, reverberating soundly in the lumber camp. And after that, a slash ripping through a leather jacket, slicing anything, and everything, which had been standing in its way, only a void of hollow silence present since.

The man was standing with his arms high above his head, preparing for an overhead blow with his sword. And he was frozen still, as his stomach was a sliced open crevice, crimson coloured river of blood trickling down to his legs. With last remnants of strength he swung his sword down at Miru, to which she responded by a swift sidestep. And turning about, she impaled him on the single-edged tool front to back. He grunted in pain, and to finish the work fully, she dragged her sword out of his midsection, opening him fully. I cringed, as what used to be his bowels spilled freely to the ground, the bandit crumbling right after, already dead.

The lynx then cleaned her sword with the small piece of cloth, the textile soaking the blood and turning rusty red. I tried to suppress my gagging reflex which had emerged at the gruesome sight, but only coughing violently liberated me of the burning desire to throw up all over the place. She then knelt to the corpse, and searching the pockets and around its neck, she lifted a strange medallion. The close resemblance it held to the six I collected back in Krelhom as a part of that damned assignment frightened me to no end.

On our way back to Amand - and his bonfire extraordinary - her mood turned strangely gloomy. "Five hundred gold for your involvement. That is a rich pay-off you should have no problem with," she stated extremely dry, as if simply opening her mouth aggravated her.

I sighed in relief at not having to barter with her. It was not the act itself, but her blood covered face that I didn't want to look into. Just glancing at the rusty red patches of dried over blood forced my heart to skip a beat. I couldn't wait to return to my wolf, and get on with our journey.

"Miru?" I had to ask. "Do you really enjoy killing that much?"

She only groaned in response.

"What do you plan onward? Are you travelling west?"

Another throaty groan.

"Fine."

The sky turned overcast not five minutes away from the clearing. I walked in first, ahead of the lynx as I hoped to throw myself into Amand's firm paws and rest, enveloped in his soft fur. But alas, that was not how things were meant to be. At the edge of the clearing I made out two silhouettes next to the bonfire. That was strange enough, but only upon walking closer I lost my breath completely. An unknown wolf-like morph was holding Amand hostage, a dagger to my lover's throat. I was about to get hold of my bow, when Miru walked in front of me and faced me head on.

I barked in complete confusion, "What is this?!"

She smirked.

My blood boiled so high in me that I felt all of my veins swelling in rage.

And with stone cold calmness, she stated her reasons, "Marcella Gale. Grey fox, female, age twenty six, occupation: mercenary, courtesan. Armed and very dangerous. Wanted for the murders of Kamil Laramu, Bernard Bauxon, and Silvia Crauford. Committed crimes of prostitution, indecent exposure, debauchery, incitement to prostitution, injury to health, disregard for authority, and conspiracy."

She took a deep breath.

"Quite the list...and now onto the new ones. Murder of high ranking officials Lilith Norwood and Bosnar Norwood, and crimes of involvement with the underground, conspiracy, and treason." Playing with her claws, she dragged one along the hilt of her deadly sword. "Reward for apprehension: fifty thousand gold."

The price on my head shocked me.

Miru exclaimed calmly, as if a regular routine. "Got anything to say?"

"Yes." I placed my hand on the hilt of my short sword, clutching it with agonizing rage. "Burn in hell, you treacherous cunt!"

What hurt me the most was the knowledge that I was helping her, risking my life for nothing but her amusement and gain of gold. I pulled my sword out of its sheath, the steel, double-edged blade piercing the rays of the dim light shining down from above the tree tops. Calmly, and perhaps with even soft gentleness, I shifted into my battle stance, cultivating and controlling the anger within me. But my raw fear was impossible to tame. I looked into Amand's eyes, with that bastard standing above him and digging the dagger into his soft neck. The wolf only lowered his head in shame and I could almost hear him saying 'I'm sorry'.

The lynx unsheathed her sword; long, straight and sharp, ringing its foreboding melody of nigh coming death. There was a stare of professionalism in her cat face, when in a relaxed manner she lowered the sword to her side, staring at me with stoic stillness and awaiting my attack. She knew all my weaknesses. In sword fighting I was no match to her. The bitch prepared the fight so she would have all the ups on her side. But I could always fight dirty.

Keeping my distance I swung my sword at her several times, trying to provoke a reaction. No such came, not even a twitch of her brow. She was standing still, the tip of my blade passing mere millimetres away from her nose. She knew I was feinting. I took two steps back, my tail curled and coiled to my leg in fear, and reaching for my bow with my left hand, grinning in her face. That was almost my end then and there. Her straight sword flashed before my eyes, and only thanks to my quick sidestep it grazed by my jacket instead of impaling me end to end through my stomach.

Amand whimpered in the direst tone of voice.

My heart stopped beating all-together. Seeing her speed first hand I did my best to buy me some time, throwing several slashes and quick jabs at her. She countered all with ease, using the edgeless side of her sword to fence me. It was her turn. She swung her sword at me in two rapid attacks, but to my luck she clearly signalled both of them. Diverting her blade with the swings of my own, I took to my dirty side and I cast the wave of condensed air at her from my left paw. The mighty warrior lynx had anticipated even that, and raising the blade in front of her, it absorbed most of the energy.

The force was enough to slide her backwards across the grainy dirt, her sandals raising a big cloud. The opening was plenty for me. It had to be. My bow was already in my hand, and with my sword still in the other, I nocked an arrow fast and fired half draw. If only. Miru was dashing wild for me, and simply placing her foot more to the left she lowered her posture, the arrow whistling past her ear. Full of fear I run backwards, away from the crazy lynx, firing another metal tipped arrow in haste. As slow as it was flying, she literally cut it down from the air. Miru closed the distance in a fraction of a moment, her sword already scraping mine, when she tried to circle me to deliver a finishing blow. It was my rebellious brush that had saved me. It uncoiled from my leg and swished right under Miru's feet, tripping the cat over as she rolled down to the ground.

It hurt like hell, but it did save my life. Being so cheaply humbled by my foxy brush, the lynx charged at me with a rage induced cry, and thanks to her momentarily loss of self control, I managed to lock our swords in a battle to yank each others blade from our hands. She was holding the exotic sword with two hands, and I, with my plain piece of everyday steel, was holding it with one. My free hand I used for another dirty trick. Placing it quickly in front of her face, I shone the magical light directly into her eyes. And in her momentarily blindness, I dug my blade deep into her thigh.

The young man holding Amand hostage gasped in shock.

Only then I learned she was actually holding back the whole time. What followed was a barrage of otherworldly fast and precise attacks, so quick and vile that only my years of training allowed me to deflect some of them. But what got through sliced right into my arms, penetrating my jacket with ease and mangling my muscles and tendons all the way to the bone. I felt my hands limping right the moment.

"...they...they're going to kill each other!" Amand's captor cried.

Miru stopped in her tracks, the pain of her carved open thigh finally reaching her brain. She gasped loud and her body shook in erratic, shallow breaths. I could kill her the moment. All I had to do was to cross the distance and deliver the blow. Yet, what was simple in mind, was impossible in practice. My hands were twitching and my fingers turned completely limp, when my short sword slipped from my grasp - down into the dirt. There was nothing I could do.

Amand growled deeply. "Release me you dumb mutt!"

The lynx took a shaky step towards me, and then another, her fangs milky white and fully on display. Grasping by tips of my claws onto consciousness, I managed to place a paw on the torn open wound of my arm, blood gushing out of it in time with my beating, scared heart. The healing took considerable energy, but once I felt warmth seeping through my fingers, I brought my knee all the way to my chest and yanked my knife from my boot holster. And then, I waited.

Miru hissed in pain with every limp of her feet. The edge of her sword aimed at me, a pointy tool meant for nothing other but to end the wild river that was my life. I waited, the knife ready in my hand.

And then, out of nowhere, the wolf-like morph charged into the lynx with considerable force, pinning her to the ground with all of his weight. In my blank mind I did not understand what had happened at all. No more than a second later a muscular body slammed me to the ground as well, restricting me from any further action and blowing hot breath into my face. My first instinct was to try and wrestle to freedom, not recognizing the black furred wolf at all.

"Stop! Please...stop trying to fight her. Love, please!" Amand cried in desperation.

My short sword was almost at my hands reach, a mere stretch of fingers away. I wanted to end the bitch for her trickery. She too was struggling under her companion, slapping the dirt trying to grab her deadly weapon.

"Marcella!" The wolf screamed into my face with all the strength of his voice. "It's me!"

Realizing that the hunk of fur pinning me down is my lover Amand, I eased my efforts. I took a deep breath, when, suddenly, I felt inner peace the likes of is impossible to explain, and I passed out in his embrace.

It seems I always wake to the cracking fire of a bonfire when I return from the limbo. The blazing yellow flame blurred double in my watery eyes, and when the two images finally managed to join into one, a familiar sight of a long, pointy muzzle pushed itself into my vision.

The wolf's voice was calm, albeit with a hint of worry looming in it. "How you feeling?"

"Uhhh...alive, I guess. Since all I feel is pain." I groaned.

Amand kissed my forehead fondly. "I'm one happy wolf." He then cushioned my aching body on his chest, wrapping me in his arms.

An unfamiliar voice jumped into our moment. "I'm a happy wolf too. Nearly lost everything today."

"You're not a wolf. And you can still loose your fangs, if you don't shut up." My companion growled back.

I tried to make sense of things, even if that seemed very hard with my head spinning wildly. "Anyone care to explain what this is all about?"

I blinked a million times, my eyesight eventually sharpening fully. We were at the clearing next to Amand's bonfire, hidden under the tress that had witnessed our brutal fight. Shuffling myself into a more comfortable position, my naked fur ruffled against the blanket I was wrapped in, and I felt two bandages tightly wrapping the whole length of my arms. It was nearing night, the only sunlight a pinkish glare crossing the horizon.

Despite Amand's warning, the young wolf-dog across the bonfire took to talking. "That is kind of a long story, you see." His voice was very young, breaming with overconfidence so typical of most barely adult dogs.

I pinpointed him to be most likely a Tamaskan dog, his fur a wolf like pattern of creamy white and sandy-brown. Clothed in a simple attire of a brown leather west, a white rough shirt one size too small for him, and black, curve-hugging pants, he was sitting with his legs crossed, Miru's head resting on his belly while he stroked her hair. The mercenary lynx was deeply asleep. She was completely stripped of her dark green armour, her torso wrapped in Amand's dark brown jacket to cover her decently. From her bandaged thigh my gaze slipped at her panties, which were awfully skimpy given how prudish she had been all of the time.

"I'm not going anywhere." I urged the wolf-dog to continue.

"I, uh, well." He got immediately stuck. "Well, thing is, and by the way, my name is Seth, she wanted to test you."

"Test me?!"

Seth curled his lips and exhaled. "I told you it's damn complicated. See, she is hunting criminals for a living, and, unlike most numb killers, she first sees if her targets are, you know, vile enough to kill. And, uh, we were on your tail for some time-"

That was frightening. "You...how long?"

Miru purred in his lap and the wolf-dog scritched her ears lovingly. "Two weeks, give or take. The first bounty, or more precisely, the murders you've done in...what was the kingdom...."

Amand responded faster than me. "Vulsa"

"Ah, yeh. So, about two weeks back we picked up a flyer which mentioned your name again. Just to remind, she was following you for three or four years before. She said it was curiosity. But with the pay-off of fifty thousand gold...she dropped everything else." His eyes darted from Amand to me and back.

I ground my teeth together. "Why did you attack Amand? He wasn't part of the bounty!"

I could understand Miru's actions, even if the bitch played me like a child. The possibility of a bounty hunter trying to hunt me down was always there. But the memory of my skimpy tail with a dagger pressed firmly against his throat haunted me - his life threatened only so they could get to me. I found it hard to stomach that.

My companion groaned angrily above me. "That is a story of itself. When you left for the bandit, this self entitled wolf tried to sneak up on me. He almost managed that, having masked his scent." He growled even more strongly. "Young pup forgot I have other senses too. Once I caught his trail, he surrendered. Told me everything. Of Miru's intentions...the duel she planned. And, that he was excited he had met an actual wolf. I'm only angry I fell for that."

"No, no! That is truth. I admire wolves...since...I...damn," Seth said in one breath, the flames of the bonfire dancing in the reflection of his eyes.

"Since you're only half one?" The lynx woke up, swatting Seth's hands away from her. "I-Is this a joke? Who stripped me down?!" Her voice oscillated in pitch, and as if not even hurt, she sprung to her feet. Sniffing at the jacket she was draped in, her nose wrinkled deeply. "This is yours I believe." She threw the jacket back at Amand, revealing her pair of generously sized breasts, jiggling freely on display. Her eyes widened fully the second she took notice of her own nudity.

Throwing his limbs around, Seth tried to shuffle as far away from her as he could in the short while.

"Where is my bra you dense brat?!" Miru's stare of death was downright horrific.

He tried to explain fast. "I had to check for wounds! You had blood everywhere!"

"Don't play with me! Ah, nevertheless, I'm taking care of you later. Now. If you all don't mind, I'm going to get myself clothed." Her graceful walk was marked with a bit of a limp, the lynx trailing next to her armour stacked in a pile. She bent over, giving us all perfect view of her curvaceous butt and so skimpy underwear I could make out all her naughty bits, and with the armour in her hands, Miru disappeared behind distant trees.

My wolf chuckled, "I almost feel sorry for you, pup."

"Save it for someone who cares. Old man." He delighted Amand with his sharp tongue and sat back next to the brightening fire. Daylight was practically gone.

"You know what? I do feel sorry for you. For what a low person you are, tricking me into sparring with you. And while I strip down to prepare, you crack my skull open." Amand finished the sentence with a loud bark.

I whispered, wondering. "Striping down?"

"Wolf tribe sparring. He bragged he could take me."

Seth clasped his face with his hands. "None of you understand! You think you do. But you don't. I couldn't let anything happen to her. I saw your skill in archery, and...and...I feared you'd kill Miru in the duel."

I responded first, "There were other ways...."

"I wasn't thinking." He paused, trembling. And when he opened his muzzle again, the young wolf-dog cried in heart shattering desperation. "...I love her. That's all I could think of. She never takes my feelings seriously...but. I cannot let anything to happen to her...."

He sobbed for long minutes. Amand got up and walked around the fireplace, placing his large paw on Seth's shoulder. Something in the young man must have reminded him of himself. Most likely the love he had for me, back when I overlooked my own feelings, and at the same time, rejected the wolf's sincere love. By the time when Miru returned, Seth had long since wiped his tears and calmed down.

I was half asleep next to Amand, enveloped by both his hands and his tail, looking with my watery eyes at the lynx. I decided to send her to sleep. "We'll talk in the morning. Good night." I had no energy left for her, and given the slightest possibility she'd want to duel with me again, I needed at least some of my strength back.

Sunday, 23th May 830 / Grassfields Forest

The morning was clear and chilly, soft draft playing with my clothes and the wavy curls of my hair. I still couldn't look directly into Miru's face. But as Amand and Seth disappeared to who knows where before I woke up, and there still wasn't any sign of them returning, I mustered my courage, gazing into her round eyes..

"Marcella." She took the initiative.

"Miru?"

Playing with the orange ribbons of her attire, she tried to voice herself. "I wouldn't want to part ways in bad spirits. You showed yesterday, that you are an honourable person. You helped me with the lumberjacks...even though you had plenty opportunities to leave me in the cold. And, I haven't fought with such a worthy opponent in a long, long time."

I smiled hesitantly. "Oh come on. I fought dirty."

"You utilized everything you had at hand. I did the same. And you think I didn't know of the battle spells? Don't try to insult me." She rested her paw on the hilt of her straight sword.

"That's it? You're letting me go?"

"Killing you would serve me no purpose. I have all the gold I need." From one of her pouches she gave me a gold filled satchel, and with it also several yellowish brown papers bundled together into a tube. "Small something for the help. Besides...you got me thinking. About my life, work...it's inspirational how accepting you are of your...well, sexuality."

I couldn't help myself but to tease her. "So, you want to try your hand at being a courtesan?"

"Sarcasm should be a crime," she stated dry. "But, I want to open myself more. I burned my heart badly in the past. Ever since, the only thing I'm content of doing is killing."

"Why not give Seth a chance? You know he has feelings for you."

She inhaled, wrinkling her cat nose. "I suspect as much. But I don't know...."

I asked the next logical question. "How long are you travelling together?"

"Something over two years."

"Two years?!" My own tail slapped me in distaste. "All this time, and you never let him? You're a cruel woman Miru. You know how pent up he must be?"

The lynx placed her paw on her forehead. "You really measure everything in sex, don't you?"

"That's how I am." I puffed my chest proudly.

Amand and Seth finally decided to show up, laughing heartily at something. All in all they appeared to be in a good mood. I looked them over, the young wolf-dog appearing to be limping slightly.

"I feared I'd see you both cut into pieces." Amand half joked. "You made up?"

Miru crossed her arms. "I question your choice of words. But yes."

I smiled fondly, hardly any anger left in me. "Goodbye Miru. Think of what I said. And Seth, goodbye too."

"Wait!" The lynx halted me. She took hold of the shorter of her two swords and removed it from her belt. "It's against everything I was ever taught...but take it."

I enveloped the sheathed end in my hand. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't think I'll ever meet anyone as strange as you. Take it, as a memento."

Amand whispered something into the young wolf-dog's ear, and biding our final goodbyes, we parted our ways. The road was strangely soft to walk on, as if made of dreamy clouds, same as the dreamy events of that day. The wolf and I went further west, while Miru and Seth walked down south, most likely towards another bounty hunt.

"What were you doing the whole of the morning, skimpy tail?" I was curious.

"Seth decided to keep word and spar with me."

"Woah, wait. In the ways of your wolf tribe?"

He uttered in response, "Yes."

"And you-"

"Yes," he uttered again.

I was angry. "You're a vile creature, wolf. How could you do that to the poor soul?"

Amand looked into my eyes, the sincerest look of his I had seen in a while. "He...asked me to do it. He said to treat him like a wolf. And if I won't, I'm worse than the rest. I...you know I made sure it was pleasurable for him."

"And you?"

"...I enjoyed it too."

I looked into my own mind, thinking of what to say. Something about the wolf had felt slightly different. I looked into his dark, chocolate brown eyes, and he responded to a question I had never asked him.

"I feel more like myself. More whole perhaps...I..." He closed his eyes. "Thanks for helping me...to try to accept."

The straight, single-edged sword and the bounty pamphlets - all with my name wanted on them - are the only material proofs of some of the three strangest days of my life. For one, I am fearful. Where there was one mercenary coming after my tail are going to be endless more. All wanting no more than the lump of cash to my name, given for a brought to law, breathless corpse of what used to be me. But for other, I feel only the growing confidence. What is it in man that commands that one dealing in pleasure and joy is to be resent as unnatural and vile, while the other, doing no other than ripping through flesh and causing agony, is accepted and glorified? The actions I witnessed and feelings I experienced only grew me the firmest. I shall never kill again of my own choice if it can be helped. And if the world cannot accept me giving release and pleasure to those who need it, and gods forbid, the men decide to part with their gold as gratitude for my embrace so I can buy food and survive to the next day, then I shall hear their mocking words no more. For they, from now on, and ever again, hold no significance to me.