Shelter in the Storm
Last week Meanybeany did a quick illustration of a rather interesting sort of gryphon-taur. She had a great deal of personality and ideas of just how meetings between her and other people might go, and how some might become closer relationships. I found the character to be just as interesting on the page as she was in the illustration, and decided to write the story out a bit.
The original is located here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21259917/
Character used with permission and owned by Meanybeany
Shelter in the Storm.
Chapter 1
The temperature was falling fast, and the weight of their trouble was growing on all their minds. The line of men might have looked like ants against the towering white slopes around them, cresting to a small plateau. Wearing dark thick furred leather jackets and cloth masks, hardly a bit of their skin showed. They made their way slowly through the narrow path of the mountains, bags and boxes of goods littered behind them in a stream as hopes of profits gave way to simple hopes of survival. This was not the safest way to carry goods to Hennim, but it was by far the fastest, and one they had all traveled many times before. This time though their experience failed them, a storm was moving in, shelter was hours away and it was already getting dark. Taylor was on his forth time over, still a rookie, but enough that he had some respect even among the experienced of the climbers.
The youngest of the group, Tanzen called up quietly to Taylor, not wanting the others hear, “There is still a chance this could blow over, right?"
Taylor sighed slightly. No, there wasn't. That wasn't something he could say aloud though, even if everyone else knew it too, “Yeah, it… still could. Though, I think maybe we should start thinking about making shelter here. I don't think we're getting to camp."
Ahead, the lead figure paused she overheard the words of the men behind her, she knew it too, but had to hear it before she ever thought about giving up. She turned back, pulling down her mask so everyone could hear, “We should stop using up our energy climbing and start using it digging. I think here is as good as it is going to get." At first nobody said anything, nobody moved. There was little noise but the storm and a few murmurs down the line. slowly the climbers pulled out their shovels and got to work, they could at least try to wait out the storm under the snow.
The weather worsted fast, the dark jackets of the climbers already growing hazy as the snow fell over them, the sky darkening towards night as they dug without much chat before another murmur went up among the men. The digging stopped as first Tanzen looked skyward, then one by one everyone looked to see the same.
“What the hell is that?" Mara, the leader, called out.
“It looks like a… Pegasus maybe?", Taylor called back to her, nearly shouting as the wind had grown in intensity.
“They couldn't fly in this wind, I don't know what." she stopped mid sentence as the figure got closer. It was huge. “Cripes, it's as big as a house!"
She wasn't far off. The creature landed with a thump by the group, snow crackled loudly under it's large, padded feline paws as it's weight sunk in. Two, large, dextrous, bird like-claws settled in front of it. It towered over the men it landed by, who barely reached the bottom of its chest, and hardly up past it's elbows where it's scales became thick feathers. It wasn't just its height that made it a massive beast, each of its hind legs was as thick around as a man could reach at the haunches, the gap of it's inner thighs as wide as a man's shoulders. Where a large toothy head might be on another beast, there sat the upper body of a human, dressed much as the men around it. The men and women gathered around it couldn't help but gawk at this in particular. The modest proportions of it's upper body in stark contrast to the enormity of its lower body as its huge wings folded at it's back. Its smaller arms lifted up and undid the fabric over its mouth. It was difficult to tell much, but that part was human for sure.
When it spoke all doubt was expelled, a staggering realization to the men around it, Taylor nearly stunned; it was human, and it was female. The human half of the beast in front of him was a woman for sure.
“Your camp told me you hadn't come in yet. They feared you had fallen behind and it seems they were right. I don't think I can fly all of you back at once, and there is no way I can get back here once this storm gets blowing... here." She unwrapped something strapped to her back, using her large avian fore-claws to lift and pull it down to the men in front of it, unfolding a large, insulated, leather shelter, “Digging into the snow will help, but I can give you a lot better shelter tonight."
It took a minute for what had just appeared in front of them to sink in. But the biting cold made quick work of any hesitation just as quickly; they all gathered in to spread out the shelter the beast had brought, taking four men to lift what she had brought on her own, but there was no time for second doubts, it was already almost too late.
Chapter 2
They hadn't even needed to anchor down the shelter on that night the gryphon woman had saved them. The her weight that held it firmly in place. They all knew it wasn't the shelter that saved them, it was the warmth of her body and its weight against the storm. All twenty of them crowded around her legs and belly. Taylor himself had a spot right by her chest. He could hear the huge heartbeat as they slept, rumbling deep behind a chest wider then he could reach across.
“Slept," he thought, “in the middle of that storm." It was the first time in his life he actually could remember feeling warm while up on the mountain. The shelter she brought was really just to keep her comfortable. It was her mass that saved them, and he couldn't stop thinking about her after she left that morning.
“God, she must have weighed four tons." He said quietly, gathered around a tavern table with a few of the other men, sorting what was left of their things. The town common stop for traders and travelers making the passage, having maybe a hundred people living there at any time.
Tanzen laughed, “You on about her again?" He pulled out a few small bits of jewelry from a pouch he had managed to dig back out from the snow before they left, his demeanor brightening substantially, “Oh thank god, I thought I was going to be in the poorhouse after this."
“You were almost at the undertaker after last night, if anyone had even bothered to try and find our bodies. She saved our lives!"
“No, I know. Even Mera seemed impressed. But you know, she said that was just her job. The town, the camps, they just pay her to go out and help people."
Taylor sighed, “I think you are missing the point, Tanzen."
A man who had been drinking quietly at the next table turned and looked at them both, “Your friend is right there, young man. A lot more people used to die up on that mountain before Anrea came here. There isn't anyone else who could have saved you. You should be grateful."
“No, I am grateful, just you know, well... I don't know." Tanzen countered meekly.
The older man laughed and patted his back, “It's... it's OK, she gets that reaction a lot, I think. Well if it makes you feel any better, she said you were all very professional. A lot of people panic, or lose their head. That's when people die, no matter how much she can do. She can only be in one place at a time."
Taylor perked up, having only been listening passively, his thoughts far elsewhere, “You spoke to her? You mean, she's here? In this town?"
The old man gave the traveler a curious expression, “Well, sure. This is the closest town to the camps around us. She doesn't live in a cave, you know."
“Ah, um, then where?"
The man chuckled again slightly, “Trust me, you can't miss the place. It's right at the west end of town." He paused a moment, “I'm sure she wouldn't mind the company if you wanted to drop in and give your thanks. I don't think she gets that a lot, but I know she'd like it."
Taylor mulled this over to himself. He hadn't really thought about actually seeing her again. It all seemed more like something out of a dream or story than something that had happened to him just last night. “Well, um yeah maybe." he said somewhat dismissively, realizing the others were catching on to his unusual interest, but quietly the thought intrigued him.
The rest of the afternoon went by quietly in the tavern, people mostly staying in place as the weather was already starting to get nasty again. It had only been just barely good enough to make it to town that morning, and the night was clearly going to be just as bad as the last.
Still, not so bad that he couldn't take a little walk through town just yet.
Chapter 3
The evening was miserable, but the man at the tavern had been right, you couldn't miss her place. Standing well larger then the smaller homes around it, he building looked like it was once a large warehouse or livery. Now, plants were strewn about its front yard in a rather homely manner. A quaint, if large, fence around the front. A sturdy oak door hung where simple gates had been in the building's past life, still just as out scale to a person as those barn doors had been, at least 15 foot tall and almost as wide. Several large windows had been cut in the walls about half a dozen feet up, though they had been all shuttered against the cold air. He clutched a bottle of wine that he had picked up from the tavern on his way over, not wanting to go empty handed, particularly when he owed such thanks.
Two arbors arched over path up to the front, standing many times his height. The vines intertwined through it just dark branches in the cold winter months. Out-sized as the door might be, the knocker was right at a sensible height, even if the doorknob was about 5 foot higher than he might find on another door.
A few solid knocks was all it took before he could hear some shuffling around inside, then the weighty thumps of something very large coming towards the door. She was looking right down to him as the door opened, the warmth inside washing over him.
“Oh, hello?" She was wearing a simple shirt, it was a little strange seeing her so casual and out of her winter coat like he'd first seen her, but it felt much more disarming. She was even smaller than he expected, her human part at least, but her build was healthy and athletic.
“Hi. You don't know me," he said tentatively, “but I was on the mountain the other night and I jus..."
“Oh gods, it's freezing out there, come in, come in." she interrupted. Her large frame stepped to the side, clearing him a path inside.
Even stepped aside her form was an imposing presence at the doorway. It was one thing seeing her in the open on a mountainside, it was a whole other being here, indoors with her, and having her standing so far over him. It seemed like a short jog to walk past her body and into the living area just within. Several steps just to walk in past her powerful haunches a good fifteen feet away from her front.
The door closed solidly behind him, “I'm sorry. It's cold as hells out there, and it's a pain to keep this place warm. Every crack I close up two more seem to open up as it is." She turned around and paused as she looked down at him. It was not a feeling he was used to, having to look so far up to someone. Stranger still having someone look so far down to him. “I'm sorry, what did you say your name was? What do you have there?"
“Zephren. Taylor Zephren, but you can call me Taylor. Oh! I brought you this as a thanks for last night, it was very kind of..."
She brightened up quickly, excited enough to interrupt him some, “Oh! Yes you were with that team on the mountain last night. That was a hell of a storm, yes. I'm glad I was able to find you so quickly, that's a nastiness that people shouldn't have to take alone. You guys really knew your stuff, though, sometimes it's just all about luck." She spoke quickly in her excitement, giving him little time to respond at first. “You are from Port Jentown right? Out on your way to Hennim? I really need to get myself out there some time. Here, have a seat."
She seemed all business on the mountain, but now he could hardly get a word in before he was being shuffled over to the seating area just inside. He paused a moment once she stopped, almost making reu there wasn't more, “I am from Hansberg actually, Hennim was just a stop for trading. Not that I have much much use to go, now."
The huge gryphon woman walked her way over to a large pillow-like pad opposite the chairs she had arranged for guests. Her gate had all the grace of her feline half, despite her size, settling onto the pad's nearly 30 foot expanse, yards of fabric flattening under her. Taylor couldn't help but stare a bit as her huge form moved. The muscles rippling along her sturdy form put draft horses to shame, and he couldn't help but appreciate it.
“That's a beautiful area, even this time of year" she said reminiscently, “I'd love to visit again were I not needed here in the winters. Oh yes, you had something to share you said?"
“Oh! Yes. Here." He stood up to hand her the bottle. Even with her sitting on her stomach, scaled legs crossed in front, it took a little reach to hand it up to her.
“Oh, well thank you." She smiled, a blush just visible across her cheeks, “You would be surprised how many people just... oh never mind. Let's just, have a drink, hmm? Just you and I." She pondered a moment, then smiled to him, shifting herself and turning back to pat a spot on her shoulder with her hand in an obvious offer. The small feminine hands seeming dwarfed by the powerful fore-shoulders which stretched almost beyond the tips of her fingers on her outstretched arms She was almost as wide as some men were tall, but all of it solidly built. “I am Anrea, by the way. Why don't you join me up here, hmm?" Her blush deepened, as did his own. He knew for sure though, it wasn't something that he could ever refuse.
Chapter 4
The night had gone quickly, as did his bottle of wine, the first of several bottles that followed it. It was perhaps no surprise it took her more than a little alcohol to wind down, but well worth it for a night of talk. That chatter of the night before largely gone from his mind as Taylor awoke to... warmth. The wind howled outside, a little chill blowing in under the door or through cracks in the walls the original builders cared little about. The chill was only just a hint where he awoke, surrounded by a warm sea of feathers and fur that stretchered as far as his arms and legs could reach. His body rising and falling slowly as the lungs filled and exhaled beneath the huge cords of muscle beneath him. Her fur and feathers smelled like fresh snow with a hint of lavender. All of her clean, smooth and well groomed as satin. He hadn't intended to fall asleep here, but it just sort of happened, and a lovelier sleep he couldn't think of.
“I suppose you are wondering, why I am like this?" She spoke when he felt her wake, her voice feeling deeper, having a rumble to it so close to her chest as he laid across her side. He'd used her feathered fore-shoulder like a pillow through the night, better then any stuffed pillow.
He was quiet, just letting the silence speak for him in a tacit response to her question, something that hadn't come up in the casual conversation of the night before, even if they had seemed so easily to open up to each-other. It was surely on his mind though, and she knew it.
“Well," she went on, “There are others like me... sort of. You might have heard of the Lienen. The flying gryphon people I guess some people say. Most of them don't stand much taller than a human, if you've never met any. When I was young though, well, I was not at all well. I had trouble eating nearly since I was born, and I never seemed to get better. My growth was stunted from the start for it. Besides worrying for my health, my parents worried about my future, we were a family of traders, much like you, but the Lienen were blessed with strength and speed of flight. All of which I lacked. So my parents, our town's elders, they brought me to churches, to temples, to witches... anything, everything they could think of, praying every night to any gods that would hear them. Perhaps it was one of those witches, perhaps too many gods answered, or perhaps just one god struck us for our audacity of asking, but my parent's prayers were answered. And I ate, boy did I eat, by the time I was ten I was already bigger than my father. And when I came of age... well." She chuckled slightly motioning back to herself, “But despite my appetite I loved working, I loved the feel of my muscles stretching when I worked." she gave a flex of her huge haunches in emphasis, making the bulk noticeable with the huge cords of muscle underneath probably bigger around then Taylor could wrap his arms around.
“I made good money for myself and my family, and I was well liked by the town. But, that is all I was, work. One by one my friends and peers went into relationships, became married, had kids of their own, and well, I was never one of them. So, I left. After a few weeks of wandering and not finding any place I could call home to settle, I happened upon a group of travelers up here, much like how I found you. They even worse off. Mmm, well anyway, I think you can figure out the rest. I get along here pretty well. Though, I seem to be back to just sort of being... you know... the friendly beast." The chest under the human fell as she gave a deep exhale. “I really appreciate the company, tonight. It's been a long while since I've had a talk with someone... close."
It was quiet for a moment, before Taylor spoke up quietly, as much coming to terms with his emotions as he was the bravery to say them aloud, “Well. I uh..." he steeled himself, “I think you are beautiful, amazing even. And I couldn't' stop thinking about you ever since I saw your face on that mountain." His hand reached out and tenderly brushed down the feathers of her shoulders. Hand stroking through feathers that stretched on for yards over the curves and contours of her body. He could feel his hands rise and fall over great swells of her shoulders, flight muscles. Layer and layers of bulk that made up the gryphon woman that towered over him, yet, made him feel so comfortable.
She blushed deeply, but didn't stop him, instead she leaned towards him, guiding his hands up towards her upper body. Bringing his hands up along her stomach where feathers gave way to smooth, soft skin. It felt strange, but incredible for his hands to wander along a body so lithe and has fragile as his own, from a body so powerful and massive. His hand gently slid under her shirt, just brushing over her stomach and to the lower curves of her breasts. It was enough, he felt a strong lurch go through her body. Muscle under him was tensing up as he felt deep from under him something new: a low, powerful rumble that he felt down into his core coming deep from her own. She pulled his other hand around too, pulling him back to spoon her upper body as she lay there on her side. Both supporting his weight with her huge body and being held in the human's. “Are... you... are you sure you want to...?" It was the gentlest voice he'd heard from her, but he could tell she was more then ready, it was him she was worried about.
He lifted his hand under her chin and gave a kiss to her cheek. A wordless answer her question before he began to pull off his shirt and pants, his clothing falling to the side of the huge gryphon body below him. She lifted off her own shirt once she new he was sure. Her hands slid under him, tentatively at first, then firmly as she groped his solid arousal. His own fingers slid under her exposed breast. This curse, or blessing, had some bounty on her human side as well as he felt their full weight in his hands. She would be a lovely person under normal circumstances, but she was so much more unique then anyone he'd met before. It was a striking new experience as his naked body settled back to her strong lower body. His legs spayed out over huge muscle that rippled and writhed. She was tensing powerfully in response to his gentle touch, a somewhat staggering amplification of his intimacy. Warm softness like he'd never felt before greeted his member as it pressed in against that blanket of preened, clean feathers under him. Dabs of his clear pre leaving shiny strings across it their iridescent surface. He couldn't help himself as he indulged grinding into that softness under him, powerful muscle tensing solidly back in response to squeeze his shaft between his stomach and her solid back.
She arched again, 4 tons of powerful gryphon arched and flexed in almost a convulsion, “Yes... please..." she rumbled out. Her voice seemed different now, speaking from low in her immense form it thundered through and filled the air as she spoke for the first time in her natural voice, something she thought might be to intimating for most humans. His hands slid down from her upper body and out over her huge lower shoulders, just feeling so much of the beautiful creature moving under his palm. He gently nudged her, urging her out onto her back. Her wings so wide spread they out across the floor, reaching the whole width of even her large living area, spreading out a carpet of feathers around them as he crawled over her form to stretch out onto her chest and belly. His member now feeling the soft, white, feline fur under it, sliding over him and making him almost want to cum right there. But there was a bigger prize back behind that wide gateway of her spread legs, and she needed this as much as he did.
He shifted himself backwards, sliding his hands along her vast belly. Pushing himself back with those two huge, upturned legs for leverage as he slid down the incline at the back of her stomach landing at the base of her small, leonine tail. There was no mistaking what he was looking for. There, tucked between the curves haunches, each well bigger then he was, was her wide, feminine slit. The thick nub so large, and aroused, it was visible protruding even in her thick fur. She was immense, but it didn't matter. He slid his fingers down into that slit, larger then he could reach across, slowly teasing over the wet entrance and parting the fleshy lips. He braced himself over her belly, putting himself in position to sink his tip between those folds. The heat was amazing, the warmth of her inner walls grasping and sliding against his shaft unlike anything he'd felt. His hips started to rock as the huge gryphon woman moaned again. The loose wooden floorboard rattling with her voice as her foreclaws scraped against the large pad under her. This, he knew, would take a two pronged assault on her impressive slit. His fingers, still ticking the inner walls of her labia slid downwards towards the base of that exposed clitoris. His fingers stretching out over its impressive size as he probed its length.
It wasn't hard to know when he'd found the right spot. The massive thighs he was wedged between flexed suddenly, squeezing in on him with a profound pressure and shoving him in tightly against her body. Those huge thighs could easily crush him, but this was a gentle, loving spirit who just his needed love. As he needed hers.
His fingers worked and slid over those sensitive places. Hand becoming hot and lubed in her now copiously leaking fluids as he squeezed and worked them fondly. His fingers working outwards, inwards, around that wide entrance, his other hand bracing himself against her huge thighs as he was doing everything not to just finish himself right there. She was a woman who needed this more than any he'd known. It took a more then a little effort to work the massive slit he was at, but he was rewarded with more squeezes in against her body, grinding herself against him and his member sunk within as her. Her inner walls pressed sloppily over his shaft, balls, and his whole front-side it felt like. Her claws dug deeper into the large pillow under her, puncturing deep holes now as she gave more strong jerks upwards that shook the house. Furniture and dishes rattling and bouncing around themas her hips hit the floor.
There was no question when she came as her hot juices spilled out over his hands and member. A deep roar filling the room and no doubt being heard all over the small town outside, but she didn't care, she didn't care about what they thought about her modesty or who she was with. She wanted them to know she had cum now, and cum hard. Taylor's moans were lost into her rumbles as he came with her, spilling ropes of his seed down into her deep, hot tunnel. It was the hardest he ever felt it as he shared his passion with the huge, beautiful creature splayed out in front of him.
He slumped forward over her lower stomach as she slumped back, the both panting in bliss for some time. The smell of her lust now strong in the air as they shared the quiet moment long due satisfaction and intimacy together. She took in a deep breath and hugged him in close with her strong hind legs. Deep, hopeful thoughts about their future brewed deep in her mind, but for now, she was just glad to enjoy their denouement.
Epilog
A loud series of bangs came at the door, startling them both for a moment in their positions against each other. Before either of them could gather their thoughts someone shouted from outside, “Anrea!" a hurried voice shouted from outside, “The storm ripped apart North camp, it's a disaster and they have no one up there but useless gre..."
“Shannon! Shush! I get it" She rumbled out, using the deeper voice in a way that she seemed to have been afraid to before, “I will be uh... I just need… just hold on!"
She looked down to Taylor and chuckled a little, “It seems that duty won't wait. Maybe you could," she paused somewhat bashfully as she looked at the mess they'd made,“help me clean up a little bit?" She paused again, chewing over one more thought, “And you know, North camp is going to be a big job, I could use someone with some experience. To come along with me for a little while. Your trading run was a bust, right? I'm sure that I could find some room around here for a few..."
Taylor stood up, framed by her huge haunches at the bottom of her belly. He patted a small patch of the solid inside of of her thigh, holding up a hand to slow her down a moment. One he could get a word in he smiled widely to her “I can think of nothing I'd rather do, Anrea. After all, some people up there need our help, yeah?"
She leaned away and stood, shifting up and stretching her limbs and broad wings, looming up over him again, the top of her back where he had slept well out of his reach. It was still imposing, but soon she was kneeling over on her forelegs and leaning her upper body down. One of her hands sliding behind his head and tilting his head up towards her. She met his lips in a long kiss, “Trust me, there will be plenty for us to do together this winter.." she winked and slid his clothing over with one of her forelegs in one single move, “Let's get going."