A new chapter: Part 4; Discovery and the final stand

Story by Tygriss on SoFurry

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#4 of Becoming Tygriss

Sorry it took so long but I am out with the final part. I've left a window open in case I wish to revisit and do more on this but for now this is the final chapter and includes some of my more exotic fetishes as well as a surprising end twist. ;)


A bright, orange furred tigress sat in the mouth of a cave. Completely naked and with a tiger patterned baby folf suckling at her bust. A stranger stood a foot away from her, face covered by a metal mask with a glass slot to see out of making it hard to tell what she was. Needless to say the situation was odd looking to say the least.

"Um...can I help you?" Tygriss said, realising she was quite at a disadvantage and couldn't even reach the tail staff on Tygon's metal form.

"Never mind playing innocent," it, she Tygriss assumed from the high pitched tone, squeaked with another wave of her metal weapon in her face. "I know this tunnel, it leads directly to my workshop and only Olvan knows of it. What did you do to my friend?" she squeaked threateningly. Flipping a switch on the weapon, it hummed to life before she fired a bolt of energy to her side, a rock bursting into a shower of pebbles.

The folf nursing pulled away and started crying at the sudden commotion, "Look, you've got eyes haven't you? Can't you see I am defenceless and have a pup here?" Tygriss growled angrily, her ears back and struggled not to bare her teeth. If only she had enough time to change.

The strange person suddenly took a step closer, her long nose sniffing before she raised her face mask up; leaning up close to the tigers chest before recoiling. "Oh I'm sorry; to me it looked like you wore some sort of chest wrap to match your fur. I have very poor eyesight you see. All I saw was that mechanical contraption behind you and assumed you were a thief or bandit." She bent down and ran a short clawed hand over the pups head before tickling her chin gently, earning a giggle before she nibbled the finger.

"Look...sorry but, would you mind letting us be on our way now? We're looking for a friend of Olvan's for help," she said before the small female turned to face Tygriss with her hands on hips.

"You're looking at her. Cassie 'O' Possum at your service, she said proudly as though expecting her to know.

Settling the pup on the cart she was using to pull the obsolete Tygon around on she stood up and sighed. "Look, I'm not all that bothered about any of that right now. So far I have had a run in with a strange goo creature and been changed, had a pup I just managed to save from bandits, been convicted of a cannibal and had to run for my life, lost a friend I had just made and now had a weapon that would blow my head clean off my shoulders in my face," she said, the growl in her voice growing more and more with each item of events. "I think you owe us at least somewhere to clean up and some clothing."

"Clothing?" Cassie said before leaning in close to her large chest before recoiling as a large white breast and perky nipple came into focus. "Goodness, you're completely naked! What in sakes name are you doing going around like that?"

Running a hand over her face, struggling to contain her growing impatience and keep her claws sheathed she grated out, "Can-we-PLEASE save it for later?"

"Oh...you must excuse me, I have an insatiable curiosity. Yes yes, of course follow me. This tunnel connects to my workshop slash home. One thing, how can we pull it with that metal lump on top? Come to think of it how did you get this far on your own? Your far too weak looking to have pulled it all the way down that tunnel and not to mention size is disproportionate. Maybe if you give me some time I can construct..."

Her rapid babble was cut short as Tygriss's form began to once again shift and change, the bones cracking and realigning, the form bulking with muscle and before Cassie's eye stood a six foot long, four foot tall feral tiger of pure muscle before she worked herself into the harness.

"Oh...Ohhhhhhh!" The excitable opossum squealed in joy. "You're of the wild clans aren't you? I knew not all of them could have been wiped out, and to be in the presence of one," she giggled like a cub, bouncing up and down, examining her muscled form as she pulled the cart along. "Is that why he sent you to me, to have a new test subject?"

She was soon proven wrong, no sooner had Cassie uttered the words before she was pinned up against the wall of the tunnel with an angry, snarling muzzle very close to piercing an ear before letting her go, leaving the poor thing shaken before following at a respective distance, somewhat quieter now.

As the light at the end of the tunnel brightened, Tygriss expected to be able to see the outside until she emerged in a vast, cavernous cave. Looking around the place in wonder, she noticed that nearly every bit of floor space had been covered by machines of various sizes, ranging from knee high to as big as a small cottage with the light source coming from what seemed to be bottled light dotting the ceiling and sides.

Shifting back to her humanoid form leaving herself nude once again, Tygriss glanced back at the Opossum. "Is this all lost technology from the monster wars?" she asked her, unable to keep the awe from her voice. Never before had she seen objects that were so wondrous to look at and at the same time, filled her with a sense of dread.

The opossum suddenly shot to her side upon hearing a question about the monster wars. "Yepperdoo, or well, the machines are," she said with an excited squeak in her voice regarding her favourite subject. "Those glowy things above us though are called light bulbs. Those, and all the machines really, are powered by something called electricity; very dangerous stuff. Kinda like getting struck by a lightning spell. BZZT!" She threw her arms upwards for extra effect but her playful demeanour quickly faded as she saw the tigress taking no interest. "What are you here for, really?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the tigress.

Tygriss shook her head and pointed to her large bare breasts, "First I need something to cover with. Then I will be happy to talk," she stated, crossing her arms firmly.

"Sounds fair," Cassie said before retreating inside the only other building in this cave been that of a small stone cottage before coming out with a grey bath robe. Tygriss couldn't help but wonder how she found her way around with that eyesight of hers. "I'm afraid this is all I have that will fit you but hey, better than nothing right? Though I must say you are one of the more beautiful looking female tigers I have seen, well not that I have ever seen much unless it is right under my nose or I have my scope to help see. Now, I fulfilled my promise, what say about that story huh?"

After tying the robe around herself she sighed and was going to sit down on the hard floor until Cassie waved her to come into the cottage. Giving a grateful nod she plucked her pup from the cart, stirring the new born before a motherly instinct kicked in to rock her gently, settling the pup into a blissful sleep in her arms. Following her in, she looked around and was grateful to see there was lovely, soft looking cushions on the floor to sit on.

Sitting cross legged, she accepted a metal cup of water from the Opossum. After taking a few sips, Tygriss took a deep breath. "Okay...I wasn't actually born this way with the name Tygriss. I was born a male tiger named Tygon; a large, burly tiger who worked as a mercenary but, only good causes. I came across a goo girl that managed to hide in the deepest, darkest cave and escaped the purge during the monster wars. It was there I found myself in its thrall...it manipulated my mind as it had done so many others before me and filled my mind with thoughts of been a female. It seems it had a special ability to suck the masculinity from men, adding to the creature's strength and then it would gain even more satisfaction from the new female it created."

Tygriss shuddered as she remembered how pleasurable it had felt and how close she had come to dying. "Wait, so if it absorbed you, you mean you are actually a monster?!" Cassie squeaked in surprise, reaching for her gun before Tygriss growled lowly, losing her patience with this dippy creature.

"I wasn't finished, and to answer you no!" Her tail flicked and twitched as she wrestled with her temper. The pup in her arms started to give a small whine of distress which made her catch herself. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, Tygriss willed herself to be calm before ploughing on. "I managed to free a part of myself, the creature had already absorbed my feral form but breaking free briefly allowed that part of me to find its way to a war machine named Tygon. He rescued me before it was too late and helped me escape the cavern. And along the way I rescued a folf who was dying in a burning village thanks to bandits and found out...another side effect. It turned out I could stretch in certain areas of my body.

So, with a pup dying in my arms I took the risk, became its mother and was thought to have eaten him, who somehow became a she when I gave birth. Running for my life I ran into Olvan who helped me escape before I was found out by the knights and had to flee to here."

Tygriss sat there, eyes closed as she felt the weariness from so much happening in such a short space of time. When she reopened her eyes though she had to lean right back from an opossum's face right close to her own. "That is very interesting Tygriss. So, can I meet this fascinating machine hmm?" She said, eyes sparkling with wonder to be able to actually meet and talk to a robot from the great-war.

Shaking her head sadly, Tygriss dipped her head down, "No. He...perished. The feral spirit he absorbed kept fighting to find a way back to me until its systems burned out and I regained my form."

The opossum's beating tail suddenly went limp at the news, "That...is a real pity. But I can have a look at him yes?" she said in a hopeful tone.

"Well," Tygriss said with a smile, "I was actually hoping you would be able to fix him."

No sooner had she given permission when the little mammal shot out, nearly sending the tigress spinning with what looked like a pair of goggles gripped in one paw. Shaking the fiery mane of hair out of her eyes Tygriss said softly to herself, "Did she choose to live out here, or did Olvan place her here for the people's protection?"

*

The hours ticked on by with Tygriss having fallen asleep, the day's events playing catch up. Her new pup tucked against the swell of her breast, a fat nipple exposed as they had both fallen asleep after another feeding.

They looked so natural together, who would have guessed they were anything other than a tigress with her cross bred cub? The peace was however disturbed as an excitable opossum came blundering in, nearly tripping over the pair in her blind excitement.

"Oh my god what an amazing machine; to have one so intact, he looks just like the machines freshly stepped out from the pages of history," the excitable mammal babbled excitedly with her nose quivering in joy. "Oops," she said, accidently stepping on Tygriss's tail with a growl, rousing the pup with a soft yawn and lick of her mother's muzzle.

Running her finger over the pups' head she glared at Cassie, "Thanks for the flat tail sister," she said crossly before holding her tail and rubbing it to get feeling back into it. "What got you so excited apart from everything?"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry, just I get so excited when it comes to lost technology and yours is one of the best I have seen in my life!" She said, bouncing up and down on her heels.

"So? What have you found out, is he alive again?" Tygriss asked, just wanting to know if she could once again see her friend who rescued her more than once.

"About that..." Cassie said before suddenly losing her enthusiasm. "I'm afraid his central processor was completely burned out. Even if we could get a working mana core for him, he'd just be a mindless hunk of junk. Tygriss...I know he seemed like a living creature, but you're going to have to let him go, it was nothing more than a machine."

Tygriss's ears suddenly went right back and bore her fangs at Cassie, "Maybe not to you, but he was real to me!" She growled before the pup started crying in her arms, alarmed by its mother's sudden aggression. Coming to herself, she looked down at the poor thing and stroked its head soothingly, "I need some time alone, please."

Cassie opened her muzzle to speak but Tygriss ignored her and barged on by towards light she could see filtering through into the cave, only to stop when the next step would have had her falling off the edge into an abyss. "WHAT THE HELL?!" She screamed, clutching the folf to her chest tightly for dear life.

"I was about to tell you there is no way out of here directly. It is the perfect place to be hidden, or to end up a pancake if you are careless."

"Wha...how do you?" Tygriss panted, her pupils wide with fright before her legs gave out and collapsed on her rump onto the floor.

"It's simple really; there is a lift here that runs on the power generated for this place. It was originally a secret base. When me and other scholars in the kings service found it out, we were in the company of Olvan. He knew how passionate I was about my research on the monster war. We knew the entire place would be destroyed by the knight mages if it was found out, so when we came back to the unit we just reported nothing. Olvan gave his word there was nothing of import and I left a while afterwards. My good friend comes down once a month to see how I am which is very nice of him."

"Da," the pup in Tygriss's arms squeaked out suddenly starting to squirm, trying to reach around Tygriss's shoulders.

"Da?" she said in curiosity, turning around before she and Cassie both gasped in unison.

There, heaving and barley keeping upright stood Olvan. The muscled veteran bear was covered in cuts with a chunk of an ear missing on is right side, same side as his blind eye. His wolf was breathing labouredly, doing its best to support him before the pair suddenly collapsed on the floor.

"Olvan, what happened?" Tygriss gasped in shock, though the she had a good idea.

Cassie cried out his name and came hurtling towards the downed bear, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and sobbed. "Oh Olvan, you stupid idiot!" She squeaked, batting feebly at his chest in frustration.

"You didn't take on all the knights...did you?" Tygriss said in awe. She wasn't sure even with all her former strength she would be able to pull off such a feat.

"No, but I gave them a good run for their money and bought you some time," he grinned before hacking up a glob of blood. "You'd better get going...they will be coming here, and when they find out our secret along with a wild clan, they will torture us mercilessly before letting us die."

"No," Tygriss said flatly with a determined look. Setting her pup down, the little thing crawling towards the bear and peering curiously at him, "I will not let you die, I refuse to. I know a little of healing magic that will at least speed the mending of your cuts up. Cassie, do you have bandages?" At her shaky nod she detached herself from Olvan, kissing his nose before rushing back into her odd little hut.

Tygriss clasped her paws together and rubbed them, bringing the words of power into focus and holding onto them as she had been taught. Her eyes glowed an eerie pale green before she cupped her hands into a spread fan shape and a ball of light emitted, shooting towards him before his body absorbed the spell.

"O-ow," he grumbled, wincing as his cuts stung worse before the bleeding quickly stopped. Running a stout finger over his torn ear he winced at the raw pain before looking at his finger and looking with mild surprise as it came away dry. "Heh, you really are something aren't...you," he said with a small grunt before closing his eyes shut. "I'm...tired. Give me a while okay?" he sighed with his wolf giving him a concerned nuzzle into his side. Tygriss's pup suddenly climbed onto his chest and licked his chin gently, "Heh looks like she's taken a liking to me. Must see me as the dad since I helped with the birthing," he said, not seeing the tigress's white ear spots blush red before passing into a recuperative slumber.

"I'm here I'm here, move!" Cassie squeaked, barging Tygriss aside with a box of bandages.

Grumbling "You're welcome" in a sarcastic tone, the tigress picked her pup off his chest before leaving the two friends alone. After she got some distance she looked at her pup, "Look you, soon it will be just me and you so you'll have to forget about him. They are from a different world to us, it is just how things are," she said with a tinge of bitterness to her voice.

Walking absentmindedly to the cart with the now unrepairable machine, she sighed softly and sat on the wood platform before placing a hand gently on the cold metal tail. "Am I strong enough to look after myself and the pup?" she whispered to herself before looking to her pup, the little thing reaching up to her with small hands and giggled innocently. "No...I Will be strong enough, I have to be," she said before tickling the pups belly, feeling a mothers pride well up inside her chest as she nibbled at her finger. Suddenly the tail she had her hand on snapped off, turning into the tail-staff she had used before. "You'll help protect us, even when you are no longer here huh?" She said softly, getting up before bending over and kissing his metal head.

As she turned away from him however, his empty eyes glowed a brief red before blanking out again.

Walking towards the cave exit to think on things, a tap on her shoulder almost had her jump to her death. Whirling round she looked down to see the little opossum staring curiously at her, "Do you WANT to kill me?" she growled at her in exasperation.

"Hm? Oh sorry, I didn't think about that," she said all too casually.

_"Big surprise there,"_Tygriss thought before trying to will patience for the creature, "is there something you want of me?" she said, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

"Well, I was just wondering if I could run some tests on you," Cassie asked casually before whipping a paw up to halt the angry rebuke she saw in her face. "I'm not going to do anything sinister, and it is so rare I get the chance to test a goo monster, even if you are only in part. It could also be pleasurable and lord knows you seem like you could do with some fun for once."

Her tail lashing back and forth, Tygriss snorted at her, "Putting aside that remark how do we know my body will react how you think it will?"

"If everything you have told me is true my calculations should be accurate to the nearest decimal point," Cassie said with a good degree of confidence.

Running her hands absentmindedly down her robed body, she sighed softly and couldn't help a slight blush underneath her fur. It HAD been a while since she had relaxed and had fun, and she hadn't had much chance to explore her body. Glancing towards the little stone hut in the cave where her pup soundly slept, her ears twitched for sounds before nodding to herself.

"Okay," Tygriss said, taking a step towards Cassie, "what types of experiments?"

*

The opossum explained what was going to happen, she didn't know what to think but if it didn't work how she thought then no harm could come of it right?

Excusing herself for a few minutes, Cassie cleared and cleaned a metal bench and erected a screen around the work area along with a few machines with hoses hanging off of them. Seeing the nervous tigress eye the machine warily, Cassie gestured for her to sit down. "No worries, these are normally used for cleaning out and cooling down machines but they can be used for this purpose too yup, nothing to worry about," she smiled, just about bouncing up and down with excitement, her thin hairless tail waving to match her mood.

More so then could be said for the tigress as she looked on nervously. "Um so...what do you need all those hoses for, last time I checked I only had one vagina now," she said shakily as she nervously unrobed herself.

"Oh that? We can move to that mundane task later. What I'm really interested in is your other parts; namely these," Cassie said as she teased a nipple on Tygriss.

"Ahh!" She cried out as a small spark of pleasure shot through her before swatting at her hand. "What-what do you mean? You can't mean to think they can...?"

"Only one way to find out, now will you just trust me okay?" Cassie squeaked impatiently before grabbing two smooth, metal tipped hoses before bringing them to Tygriss's nipples.

"Nnh, s-see...just ordinary milk making breasts," Tygriss panted out as the cool rubbing sent jolts through her body before Cassies grabbed at one large breast before squeezing around the fat nipple. A shot of milk sprayed up, moving her head to avoid getting an eyeful before shoving the pipe in firmly. Throwing her head back, the fiery furred tigress arched her back off the metal work table, muzzle open in a silent scream of pleasure. "Ahh, wh-wha?" Tygriss gasped finally, cracking an eye open to see the smooth metal end sticking into her nipple, pushing it wide and causing it to look much fatter.

"See, told you I knew what I was on about. Now hold still," Cassie said before doing the same to the other nipple, not even giving Tygriss a chance to calm down from the unusual sensation of her first.

A breathless moan croaked out of the tigress's gasping muzzle as her pussy squirted in an orgasm, just from having her nipples messed with. "Oh dear," Cassie squeaked before quickly fetching a cloth to place in front of her squirting pussy, soaking up most of the mess, "I guess it affected you even more than I calculated, yep."

"Holy...what the hell?" Tygriss moaned, finally opening her eyes to stare at her breasts. "I can't...believe they can do that," she breathed heavily, wincing as more pleasure coursed through her breasts. With each breath she took, her breasts would move and the hoses along with them, rubbing and stimulating her to yet more pleasure.

"Well, I would ask how you are feeling but I already have a good measure," Cassie squeaked, was that a little jealousy in her voice? "Well anyways, we came this this far, may as well go all the way." Cassie shot to the pump controls before calling out, "ready?"

Not even waiting for her confirmation the opossum twisted the two little red valves, the hoses rumbling before water began to pump into Tygriss's breasts.

The first thing she felt was the cold, numbing shock of the water hitting the inside of her breast flesh. But soon the numbness faded and her emerald green eyes widened as she witnessed her white furred breasts slowly pushing outwards as they filled with water like fleshy balloons.

"Shit...holy shit, fuck. They...please stop. I'm going to blow," she moaned as the weight on her chest increased and the water sloshed around inside her breasts, reaching to pull the pipes out.

"Do that and you risk tearing your nipples with how tight they have become," Cassie squeaked as she looked around the expanding tigress from different angles, scribbling notes down on a pad before jumping onto the bench. She gently prodded a ballooning breast, causing a small spurt of water and milk to erupt from around the hose with a gasp from the tigress, followed by a glare at the rodent. "Oh don't worry your pretty head, by the feel of them and the calculations I have made you would probably be able to fit a small person inside those and be fine still. The flesh really has impressive elastic properties.

By now her already DD cup sized bust had swollen to nearly triple its size. "Ahh, haahh!" Tygriss moaned as with each pint of water pumped into her caused her pussy to squirt, having a series of mini orgasms, soaking the bit of cloth through to the bench.

"I see, the larger you get the more pleasure you experience from them, interesting," Cassie squeaked. "I can't wait to see how you respond with water blowing your womb up," she said, wriggling in excitement, "it's so rare to have a live test subject it is."

"Okay enough...I'm going to be crushed by the weight soon. Cut it out," Tygriss moaned with the constant sloshing and jiggling of her water filled breasts making speech hard and slurred.

"Well, I guess that would be a problem given I need you alive for an accurate reading. Very well," Cassie sighed, placing her paper down somewhere safe and dry before turning the pumps off.

A sigh of relief passed through the tigress's muzzle lips, but there was still a matter of her huge breasts that now threatened to overtake her body, "You do have a reverse pump right," she asked, not relishing the thought of having to get all the water out naturally.

"Oh of course I do silly, I think you'd find it hard to move around like that even if you are strong," Cassie said, bouncing around on her heels and rubbing her little pink pads with glee. "This testing has to go on, I've learned so much already about a goo monsters physiology. We'll have to fill your womb up next."

As she set about putting the pumps in reverse moaned out loud, "Come on, let me have a break, I'm worn out as it is," she made to move onto her side which turned out to be a mistake as the weight sloshed around, threatening to pull her off the bench before laying on her back again with a moan. The only place she wanted water right now was around her. She felt dusty, dirty and now sticky in between her thighs from all the climaxes she had.

Suddenly the screen was pulled away, "I heard moaning, are you girls oka..." Olvan began before stopping. Well he acted like any male would after seeing a beautiful tigress on a metal table with breasts been filled with water. His arms hung by his side, breathing heavily before suddenly covering his crotch with his large hands to hide his erection. "I-I'm sorry um, what on earth...?" he said, fumbling for words to the bizarre, erotic scene.

"Well figure it out yourself," Cassie piped up, "she's part goo monster duh," she said before setting the pumps in reverse to drain her breasts.

"Ahhh!" Tygriss cried out as the pumps began sucking milk and water from her over inflated breasts before growling to the bear, "get out!"

Olvan stood there in a daze for a few seconds before shaking his head as though coming out of a trance, "Um y-yes ma'am, my apologies," he said in a somewhat flustered tone before limping off as fast as he could to the hut in the cave. "Just when you think you've seen it all...grr," he moaned as he struggled to keep his hands from playing with his bulge.

Covering her blushing face, Tygriss moaned into her hands, "W-why did I agree to do this? I feel so tarnished now," she moaned, clamping her legs shut and willing them not to keep leaking her pleasure. This crazy engineering Opossum was one thing, but showing such a lewd display in front of a fellow warrior seemed somewhat disdainful.

Suddenly she felt something climb up her tail before going over her head and onto her slowly deflating breasts before a little orange and black striped face looked curiously at her. Tygriss's pup had come looking for her mother for a feed and started sniffing around the tubes stuck inside her nipples before trying to nudge them out the way, only causing a guilty moan of pleasure to escape from her muzzle.

"S-stop that right now pup!" She moaned, reaching around her enormous breasts to pick her off with a needing whine. "Cassie...could you please hold her until my breasts are drained?" she said through gritted teeth, not wanting to moan in front of the pup.

As the opossum took the pup from her mums trembling hands she laid the pup onto her back before tickling her little belly with a finger, smiling as it grabbed the offending digit and nommed on the tip. "So you don't have a name for her yet huh? Maybe you should otherwise she will grow up nameless and confused, yep," she said before using her tail as a toy to tease the little thing with.

As her breasts returned to their respectable size, the tubes were taken out of her now sensitive nipples, a dribble of milk following in their wake before taking the pup from Cassie and setting her back at a now large tit. It took a few attempts to get her little muzzle over the fatter nipple but eventually managed to and sucked eagerly.

"A name huh...?" Tygriss moaned slightly, "well...I once met this beautiful wolf when I was still male who I took a fancy to called Tessa. So maybe Tess would be a nice name?" She sighed happily before looking in Cassie's direction with a dreamy gaze, "what do you think Cas..."

Cassie had in an instant gone from sitting on a chair to having her face right up to the tigresses, her head just hovering over the breasts. "It is really hard to believe you ever male you know? You just seem so natural with this motherly role it makes me jealous; I wouldn't have a first clue with a little one of my own, nope."

Pushing her face away so she fell onto her rump, Tygriss growled to her, "Ever heard of personal space? Respect it thank you!"

"Tygriss?" Olvan shouted from inside the hut, "get dressed and be ready to fight for your life...they followed us," he said with a grave tone to his voice.

Pulling her reluctant cub away from a fat nipple, Tygriss tied her robe back onto her body before carrying Tess over to the old bear. "What's wrong, who followed...?" Tygriss trailed off before quickly placing her pup on the covers in the hut as she heard a rumbling sound from the direction of the dugout tunnel.

"No worries, I can just blow the entrance up with some dynamite I have," Cassie said, making to head towards a crate marked "DANGER" before Tygriss put a restraining hand on her small shoulder.

"You idiot, do that and this cave could collapse!" She warned a mollified opossum.

"Well no other way then. We fight, yep," she said, heading into her hut before coming out with the gun she had used before, but this time it had something on top of it. "It's called a scope, it will help me sight the enemy and hopefully avoid blasting my friends," she said all-too-cheerfully.

"I'll fight too," Olvan growled as he hobbled over to them.

"No Olvan, not in the state you are in, not to mention you have no weapon now," Tygriss pointed out before his wolf padded to his side, a determined look on her muzzle.

"No option here lass, you need all the help you can get. Besides," he withdrew a battle axe and short sword from behind him, "Cassie keeps a set here for such an occasion came up." His wolf came limping from out of the stone hut before he ruffled her head and knelt down, "Sorry girl not this time. You would be in too much danger. Just lay low and wait okay?" he whispered to his pet, receiving a concerned whine and lick of his face before reluctantly padding back inside.

Tygriss shook her head in dismay, "A gender changed mercenary, a retired solider and a crazy opossum, not really what I'd call a confident set up huh?" she said, getting into a battle stance with her staff as the rumbling drew closer, smiling despite the circumstances as Cassie gave her a withering look.

The knights poured out of the tunnel two by two, side to side before the panther Olvan had encountered before emerged last of all and moved to the front. "Olvan...it's over now," he said in a grave tone of voice. "If you surrender the wild blood over to us we promise to leave you and your friend in peace," he said in a tone of authority.

"Look, it doesn't have to be this way," the old bear said as he stepped forward. "Towards the end I was like you; misguided by the empires fears of those different to themselves, I still have nightmares as to how stained my paws became with the wild clans blood. I was even ordered to kill helpless innocents which I blindly followed until it was too late and I was beyond redemption. Don't make the same mistake, they are no more dangerous than we are," he said with his hands relaxed to his sides in an effort to seem unthreatening.

"We can't, the king himself proclaims them a threat and wants them all put to the sword," he said flatly.

"Why? Because of a feral that killed his son once out hunting? The king has grown senile and fearful and you would still serve him?" Olvan growled, his hands tightening around his weapons.

"I'm sorry old man," the panther growled back, "but as long as I'm in the king's service I am duty bound. And if you oppose me you oppose his majesty and have to be put to the sword. I am sorry, Olvan," he said before unsheathing his weapons with the rest of his knights following suit.

Sighing, the three readied their weapons, "Well, so much for a peaceful solution," Tygriss said lowly before the captain gave the order to charge. 21 men charged towards the motely trio with swords drawn.

"Hah, looks like the little rat forgot to reload her weapon, there is no bolt in it," one of the knights laughed as two ganged up upon Cassie.

The laughter soon died down as she fired a shot squarely at a head, shattering metal and bone as his former comrades body slumped headless next to him. "You barbarians, I'm an Opossum," she squeaked angrily before taking care of the other in the same way.

Tygriss was engaged with four knights, all trying to hack a piece of her with deadly swords drawn. Metal clanged against metal as she parried and warded off strikes with her staff, her robe fluttering about to give glimpses of her naked form underneath. "This-isn't-fair!" she growled with each parry before she got an opening, "...for you," she spun her staff fast, using a battle skill she had learned in her training as a monk. It was well known tigers had an affinity with fire and earth as she tapped into her chi, setting her staff on fire before slamming it into the floor.

A burst of flame followed and every little bit of fur and exposed skin of her opponents was set alight, quickly spreading and cooking them under their armour in screams of agony. "I'm sorry, you gave me no choice," she said, bowing her head in remorse. In her lapse, she found her weapon flying out of her grasp as a large ox brandishing a mace sent the staff sailing across the floor.

"You know...I take back any regrets I felt about killing you bastards," she growled before shifting form into her feral state. Lunging at him, he dropped his weapon to try and fend her off but to no avail; she found the soft spot under the helmet and bit down with her powerful jaws, the ox's dying screams sounding as blood gushed out to cover her face and fur before whirling around to face two more opponents. "You Monster!" They cried out in unison as they saw her blood covered muzzle before rushing her.

Olvan was meanwhile engaged with the panther as they matched blow for blow, the panther's swift sword strikes parried by the bear's short sword before countering with his axe, only to have the nimble feline dodge the swipe.

"ENOUGH!" Olvan cried out before charging the young panther with both weapons together. With a grunt the young panther held his sword at hilt and spine as he was pushed back, his boots scraping along the floor but retained his footing.

With a grunt of pain, Olvan's wound reopened and blood trickled down his side before he was over powered and pushed over, dropping his axe in the process as the tables were turned on him. "I never imagined things would turn out this way; I never wanted to kill you Olvan. I looked up to you as a cub and to have to kill my hero is heart breaking. But the king's word is law and I WILL carry it out!"

Kicking the sword out of Olvan's paw, he raised his sword for the kill before he was suddenly swept off his feet with a scream of pain and terror. Opening a hazel eye a crack, Olvan stared in shock as he saw his saviour. "How...?" he whispered as he saw the gleaming metal form of the chrome feline Cassie had proclaimed to be gone for good, and sat on its back clinging with tenacious hands was Tess, giggling like it was some sort of ride.

Looking towards Olvan, the bear froze, wondering if it knew friend from foe before a cry from Tygriss had the machine dashing straight for her. "Ugh why...did my form give out on me?" Tygriss groaned as she clutched at a wound on her shoulder. Had she not moved in time she would have been minus a breast from her two opponents.

"Changing back to your bipedal form won't earn you any mercy missy," one said in a cold tone, a jackal by the looks of him, "you and your friends killed ours, think of this as pay back!" he said, about to plunge the blade into her neck before a shower of blood erupted from his neck, suddenly dropping headless onto the floor.

"Tygon...how?" Tygriss stammered as she was faced with the blood-dripping metal muzzle of the war machine, her pup waving and giggling from the top, totally ignorant of the blood bath she had been a part of. "Tess!" Tygriss cried in shock before quickly grabbing her off his back and held her tight to her chest, her wound all forgotten about.

"Well, that seems to be the last of them, guess the kings men are not all that huh?" Cassie said, panting slightly. She had her own to deal with, dodging soldiers deadly swords whilst giving her weapon time enough to charge again. "Wow...its working again?" Cassie said before that usual excitable gleam creeped back into her eyes. "Oh yes, yes!" She squeaked out, flinging her arms around the machine. "Now I can study him in full!"

Tygon turned its head towards Tygriss as though unsure this creature was a threat. An exasperated sigh and shake of her head was the only answer before clutching at her bleeding shoulder with a wince, keeping tight hold of her pup with her other arm. "Cassie? How did he come back to life? You said it was impossible without a mana core," Tygriss said with a suspicious glare at her.

"Normally yes," she said before she moved all around him at a comical pace, checking every part like each was a new discovery. "But I think there must be a link between you two that caused him to reactivate when you needed him," she said, her head stuck into his muzzle before quickly retreating as his jaws came own with a clang.

Meanwhile Olvan kneeled beside the bloody form of his former enemy, an increasing pool of blood surrounding the panther. "I didn't want it to come to this; I saw a bright future for you with your strong sense of honour and loyalty. Your name young knight, so that I may be able to remember you with respect," the bear said, his eyes downcast and sad.

"Biran...but it makes no difference," the panther coughed a glob of blood out before laughing weakly. "My men have been given the order to light a fuse connecting a line of dynamite we embedded into the sides of the tunnel if we don't emerge in ten minutes. You'll be buried here, all of us," he laughed one last time before with a rattling breath, he was still.

"Oh shit," Tygriss cursed, "Cassie now might be the time to use that lift of yours," Tygriss said, heading towards an iron set of doors with her pup in hand.

"Yeah...about that," Cassie said slowly, "It will take five minutes to warm up. It is a giant lift for transporting heavy loads so...it has a heavy warm up time," she said with her tail in her hands.

"Well that's just a fine predicament isn't it?" Olvan said lowly before hobbling over to a device in a corner, "What's this? It looks like a giant mirror missing a panel."

"Oh that? That is called a portal but it has been inactive since I found this place and never been able to get it running. It needs a sort of command that I haven't been able to decipher."

"Have you tried Open Sesame?" Tygriss joked weakly before looking to her pup, innocent and ignorant of their impending doom. "No, it can't end like this!" she growled, clenching a fist. "I have to live; if not for myself for my daughter, there must be a way!"

Tygon just then stepped up to the portal and the large machine attached to it, the end of his tail opened up to display three prongs on the end which he inserted into the machine, his red eyes dimming before the portal hummed to life. "Wow...I didn't know you could do that Tygon," Tygriss said in awe as she stared at the shimmering, swirling mass.

"Yes! Way to go kitty cat!" Cassie whooped before running to the portal. "This should lead us to safety so," she was cut off by a sudden explosion from the tunnel, sending rubble spraying out and suddenly bits of the cavernous roof started crumbling. "Okay times up, see you two on the other side!" She said before diving into the portal.

"Well, I'm not ready to be buried yet, come on Wolf," Olvan said as he carried his still injured wolf through the portal before stopping to look at Tygriss. "Make it through safe okay?" with that he vanished through as well.

"Come on Tess, let's get out of here," Tygriss said before gripping her pup firmly to her bare bust and ran towards the portal, only for a sudden rumble and a chunk of rock to land on her tail, pinning her. "Ow, Fuck!" She spat before trying to pry it loose with one paw. "Come on, come on!" she cried desperately before Tygon quickly leaped to her aid, head-butting it off her with a wince. "Thanks Tygon...that's another I owe you," she said with a rueful smile before charging towards the portal.

Just as the chrome cat vanished through it though, a falling piece of rock struck the machine, causing it to malfunction before the entire roof started coming down, crushing everything within.

*

"Nnh, no mommy, I don't want to go to school. The others make fun of me," Tygriss mumbled as she blearily opened her eyes up. She opened her eyes up to see she was inside a building of some kind. Various furs roamed around beds with poorly looking patients in them. She too was laid in a bed the same and looking around they all wore uniform white clothing to match the surrounds. "Where am I, what is this place?" she mumbled before gasping as an orange and black striped form flung itself onto her.

"You're awake, you're awake!" she yipped and giggled as she hugged Tygriss tightly and nuzzled into her chest, large fluffy tail wafting excitedly back and forth.

"Um, do I know you?" Tygriss gasped in bewilderment before a pretty snow leopard walked up to the pair.

"Ahh good to see you are awake, your daughter Tess has been quite frantic about you when you were found unconscious. Seems you had quite the ordeal and had to rest a good two days. We have been monitoring your vitals to make sure you are okay and apart from an interesting DNA structure you seem fine and are cleared to go," she said. She turned to leave before adding, "You were found naked the pair of you and have been loaned some clothing, do you have somewhere to go or we can contact a homeless shelter for you?"

"Um, wh-what?" Tygriss said; her head pounding. What was going on? She looked at the folfess holding her before recognising those same green eyes of hers, "Tess?" she said in shock. She looked like she was 15 years old now. Suddenly realising she had been asked a question she shook her head. "Um, well I don't have anywhere really...I'm just a traveller," she said.

"Oh a gypsy huh?" The woman said with a sniff before walking off. Was it something she said Tygriss wondered?

Walking out of the building through alien corridors she stepped out into the sunlight with her daughter holding her hand, looking up at her with adoration. "Mommy I woke up suddenly a lot bigger and we were surrounded by strange metal boxes that made a stink and all these scary huge buildings and all these eyes staring at us it was really strange and mph."

Tygriss closed a hand gently around her muzzle, halting the still pup minded girls babble. She looked around and saw shining metal boxes on rubber wheels whizz on by, the air made her want to gag at first with the acrid stench. Brick, glass and metal buildings loomed all over and around them. "What...where did it send us? And what happened to Olvan and Cassie?" Tygriss wondered aloud.

"Yeah daddy Olvan isn't here neither is crazy lady," Tess said sullenly, her thick tail in her paws as she toyed with the tip. "Also mommy...something strange happened to metal kitty."

"Metal kitty?" Tygriss said before the wheels clicked, "oh Tygon?!" She said before as if on cue someone from the hospital came up to her.

"Oh miss? Your bike was taken to the carpark at the rear, here it is," he said as he held tight onto an impressive looking thing.

"T-Tygon?" Tygriss gasped. The chrome cat had been morphed; she could tell it was him from the head and body. But in place of feet it had a wheel at each end and its ears had elongated to become handle bars. "What...what the hell?" she gasped, looking dizzy before the doctor caught her.

"Easy there miss, maybe it would be best you walked home with it until you are stable again. Take care," he said, waving her as he was engulfed by the building once again.

"Mommy...where are we?" Tess said, tugging onto her still sore tail with an innocent expression.

Suddenly Tygriss remembered hearing a clunk as they entered the portal. The thing must have malfunctioned, sending them to this place. Whatever time or place this was.

She looked wearily at what Tygon had become, could she even keep the thing up as she rode it? Striding onto the frame, she took the handlebars in hand before the bike seemed to start on its own. She could feel the link, could feel what used to be the war machine still there at its core and respond to her feelings and thoughts. "Tess, don't worry things will be okay," Tygriss said, helping her onto the back portion near the tail before feeling her cling to her tightly.

She set off, heading for what looked like the way out of this cramped, bustling place for some peace and space to think. "We'll figure it out some day, we survived up to this moment and I swear one day we will find our way back to where we belong. Until then we have each other my daughter," she said as the breeze rushed pleasantly through her fur.

Tess leaned into her and whispered innocently into her ear, "I love you mommy, with all my heart."

Tygriss's heart fluttered at her words, feeling what she gathered to be a true mothers love glow in her chest before reaching a hand back to grip her daughters own hand lovingly. "And I love you my dear, we have each other and that is what counts."