FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The days were as long as the land was wide, someone had told Shadi at one of the stables in the north, but even on horseback, the land certainly seemed to stretch on further than the day did, even setting a brisk pace south. The little feline's pack jangled as the horse bounced her up and down through the southern parts of Lanayru.

Sadly, the thick leather bag didn't weigh her down as much as it had before her captivity, but that was okay. She'd spent a week doing odd jobs for various people while she stayed in the Zora's domain, even going as far as to paint a masterful rendition of the city as seen from afar that had funded the majority of this new leg of her adventure, with a few gleaming purple and silver rupees still comfortably tucked away in the saddle bag.

The horse, she'd finally just gone and purchased, deciding that walking left her exposed for too long, and frankly, her short stature simply wasn't made for it. She'd already walked most of the country to begin with. Let her enjoy it in comfort now, so that she could relax and focus on her whole purpose of being here.

The bag on her shoulders was loaded with art supplies, ink, quills, pencils, even a full set of watercolor pigments she'd purchased from a traveling artist she had met at the stable, who had been more than happy to provide her with a gorgeous picture of death mountain he had drawn from memory.

"For you, it's free. Just be sure to add my name in your book somewhere!" He'd insisted, shoving the painting into her paws. The watercolors she'd all but had to force to rupees on him to pay for, but it had been a fine encounter, and the weather suited it. As she traveled south through the fields, warm sunlight bathed her fur, and for a while, she even allowed herself to doze in the saddle, trusting that the horse would follow the path adequately without tossing her.

Her path took her back through the center of Hyrule, past the raised steppes of the Great Plateau. She wished she had some way to reach it, but even now, only the Rito and a few very experienced climbers had managed it, reporting back that there was little of interest aside from the shrine of resurrection, and an old temple to the Goddess Hylia. Her wayshrines dotted each of the towns and some roads even, with the general consensus among folk being that she brought protection and good fortune on their travels.

Soon, Lake Hylia appeared on the horizon, with the equally expansive Bridge of Hylia crossing its breadth, and her tail flicked in excitement. She planned to reach the coast through the thick jungles in the Faron region, perhaps visiting some of the old shrines in the region, and fill in some of her new books that were simply itching to be drawn in.

She stopped to have lunch on the shore of the lake, trying her new paints and doing her best to colorize a drawing of the lake that simply sprawled out before her, and while the finished piece was good, it was still an unfamiliar medium, and she was left feeling that it could have been better. She did a second sketch from a different angle in her more familiar grey scale to remedy it.

Time and practice she reminded herself. That was all. Still, she longed to have her Sheikah Slate back... The priceless artifact had been an invaluable source of reference and inspiration with her photos, and without its familiar weight at her hip... Hopefully the elders who had allowed her its use would forgive her that much...

Her tail flicked to and fro as she hummed to herself, leading her horse onto the massive stone bridge.

"And if not, there's always back here, right boy?" She chuckled merrily, slapping the draft stallion's neck. He wasn't the fastest, but he had been the strongest looking, and with as many books as Shadi planned on ending her trip with, she needed a good strong steed that could haul the weight of an extra person worth of packs.

She passed beneath the massive arch that denoted the northern end of the bridge, and as she passed into the shadow, something swirled beneath her horse.

You know, if you're heading down this way, my kind used to have several shrines in Faron. I've always been curious how much of the Keaton still remains here...

Shadi damned near jumped out of the saddle, her fright causing the stallion to rear back with a whinny of protest before she was able to calm the great beast down, petting its flank as she cursed under her breath. The nerve!

"You've had almost four weeks to show yourself, and you choose NOW! When I'm crossing a bridge, riding a horse, where I could get kicked off and fall to my death, to show yourself!?" She snarled, jabbing an angry finger downwards.

Her glare could have burned a hole through paper as she stared with fury down at the shadow of the stallion, the darkness swirling and twisting slightly.

You seemed preoccupied in your recovery. There was a hint of playful snark. She whipped it back around at him threefold.

"PREOCCUPIED!? I was almost killed and you didn't even bother to ask if I was okay? To tell me what happened, where you had been?"

I was never far, but neither did I wish to add to your distress. What would be gained by telling you that you had almost frozen on that shore? I kept you warm in the darkness as long as I could, and then did what I could in my state to draw the Zora's attention, hoping that it would be enough.

The stallion's shadow seemed to condense as a cloud passed before the sun, providing just enough darkness for the Keaton to manifest himself, the shadowy fox's blue eyes staring up at her impassively. She paused however, when the words he had spoke finally processed in her head, looking down at her vulpine companion.

"You... You kept me warm?" She asked, turning to slide off of the saddle, standing by where he had materialized.

Yes. The water was near freezing. I lay myself over you until dawn when I realized you weren't waking up on your own. The Zora almost went past you twice before I was able to cause a splash enough to get them to investigate.

"I... I didn't know."

You never asked. You were unconscious. You're welcome.

She went to hug his fluffy mass out of habit, and almost stumbled forward into the wall as she passed right through him, the vulpine standing up and fanning his tails out with a distressed yelp, his shadowy fur appearing as if it were standing on end.

Please refrain from doing that again unless it is dark enough for me to actually appear. The sensation is... Most unpleasant and unnatural.

Shadi blushed, a soft giggle escaping her as she went around him to get back to her horse.

"Sorry... So what was this you were saying about your kind having shrines ahead, Stay?"

His figure melted back into the shadow of her horse, who gave a nervous nicker as she prodded him onward with the stirrups, the clacking of hoof beats on stone setting a gentle tempo for her to hum along with as she rode.

I told you, I despise that name, but if you must insist on using it... He paused, and she could have sworn she heard him grumbling before he continued. A little playful smirk crossed her lips. Yeah, let him come up with something better.

Back before the Calamity, there was a tribe of Hylians who lived in this region. Their temple city was called Zonai. This was long before even the modern Hyrule that your people knew of, long before the castle, the hero and the princess, but their legends included the story as you know it, though perhaps from a time before either of us... An owl, a dragon, and a boar. Wisdom, courage, and power...

She knew the references immediately. He was speaking of the triforce, a recurring image in Hylian mythology. Supposedly the Hero, Link, Princess Zelda, and the Calamity Ganon were simply the latest reincarnations of a story that appeared to have repeated itself throughout Hylian history. If what he was saying was true, perhaps the story went back even further than that. Her interest was peaked, and her ears twitched.

"Go on..." She said, looking out over the lake quietly, her mind deep in thought. If that was true, it would make a great addition to her book. Just how long had the cycle been repeating, she wondered... Would it repeat itself ever again?

They disappeared from history during one of Ganon's resurgences, but their ruins stand as testament to their civilization. Lizfols had overrun them for a long time, and due to the dragon iconography, they seemed to have seen the ruins as some sort of sacred ground... If they are still there or not, I do not know, but from what I heard while you were... Well, busy healing, the Hylians since pushed them out.

Shadi nodded, but there was a frown on her face.

"You didn't exactly explain how this concerns your kind?"

I was getting to that. Keaton often appeared to their chieftains to deliver omens and blessings to the wisest among them, and they built us a shrine in honor of our trickery and cunning. It was concealed, hidden like we were, through a passage behind the shrine. You would not find it unless you were looking for it deliberately... Perhaps...

He had paused, and Shadi pulled on the reigns, bringing her draft to a stop beneath the southern arch of the bridge, where the shows were perhaps enough for him to appear again.

"Perhaps?" She asked with a quizzical tone, looking about for Stay, but the Keaton was nowhere to be seen. Not even the telltale 'shadow upon a shadow' he seemed to cast. She looked up at the sky. The clouds had moved on, bathing the land in light once again.

She waited a full minute before grumbling and digging her heels into the stallion's flanks. Well, if he was going to just up and vanish on her, she'd just go and check the ruins herself! Just where had he gotten to? He had to stay in shadow, right? How far could he have possibly gone... She rode onward, quietly jotting a few new notes into her journal, before she returned it to her saddle bag, and instead, retrieved a map from the pocket to study quickly.

Well, if the marking were accurate, Zonai was still the better part of a day's ride ahead. If she was lucky, she could find a place just before the jungle began and set up camp. Perhaps he would come back when it was darker, and she could ask him more then...

---

At first, the shift between forest and jungle was a subtle one. The earth went from a deeper brown to a more ruddy, reddish clay. Oaks turned to palms, and bushes into ferns, and before she knew it, the temperature was up, and so was the humidity. The road forked ahead as she crossed a quickly flowing river beneath a bridge that seemed far older than the others she had seen, and she stopped, looking for any indication of the ruins.

A large statue of a water dragon stood to the left of her, as well as two large piles of wooden rubble, as if some great structures had been torn down board by board. A flag bearing the Hylian royal crest had been planted at the top of one pile, leaving no doubt who had been victorious in that fight.

Further down the well worn path that led deeper into the jungle, she could see large, stone pillars dotting the sides of the road. It seemed as sure a sign as any, but the sun was almost down as well, and she wanted to speak with Stay again before she went off and ran into another situation that would end in her capture...

She tied her horse to the sign post, and set her camp off the side of the trail between the high-reaching palms. Before long, she had a fire going, her tent set up, and was already sick of the humidity and insects that it brought with it. She warmed some of the Zora's salted fish over the fire, and enjoyed a good, warm meal. She passed the time drawing the statue of the dragon in her book, scribbling across the page while she tried to capture the details in the fading light.

It was well past dark when Stay finally did reemerge, startling her in his usual fashion.

It is safe.

Shadi's pencil went flying, and once it landed, she quickly marched over, and retrieved it from the road, before she turned and pelted it at the Keaton in the shadow of her tent.

The vulpine had managed to fully materialize in the darkness from the fire that the thick, canvas tent provided, and it bounced off of his forehead. He sat there, looking unimpressed.

That was unnecessary. The light was too much earlier. Even in your shadow, I couldn't maintain my form. I see it didn't hamper you in finding this place any.

Shadi gave a huff, shaking her fist tauntingly at the male, before she fetched a cup of water and poured it over the fire, extinguishing the flames with a hiss and rush of steam. Darkness enveloped her, pieced only by a scant few beams of light from the moon that managed to piece the thick, overlapping canopy of the tropical trees above.

Stay moved silently out of the shadow of her tent, padding around until he stood before her. Only when he was up close did she finally get a good look at him. His head easily came level with her own, those piecing blue eyes now defined with narrow black slits in the center. In the darkness, they seemed to glow almost ominously. Up close, she could see his pelt wasn't a perfect black, and instead seemed to shimmer between blacks and dark silvers. His fur shifted in the breeze the rustled through the undergrowth, and slowly, she let herself sit down beside the rapidly fading warmth of the remains of her fire next to his feet, which were easily the size of her own spread paws.

"So, about those ruins... You kind of cut off right as you were getting to the point."

Follow me, and I can show you them. He told her simply, and padded off across the road, threatening to disappear into the shadows again. She leapt to her feet, stopping just long enough to throw her backpack across her shoulders. She was going to need her books for this! She raced over the trodden path, following the branch of the road as he trotted along it at a leisurely pace. She quickly came alongside him, and just like he had in the maze, he pushed himself in beside her and allowed her to grip a fistful of his thick, silky fur.

Mind your step. The road has sunk in places. His icy blue eyes locked to hers as he turned his head, triangular, pointy ears twitching.

As I was saying before... Perhaps with you here, there may be some way to restore what was lost of my kind, or let the others know that they can return now... I do not know for sure. I have hopes, but they are just that. If anyone has the power to do something about my kind's plight, it is the gods...

Shadi gave his back a reassuring squeeze, nodding in understanding. Perhaps this was part of her Journey? If she was being indeed guided by a mysterious hand of fate... Well, people often said that the gods worked in ways that ordinary mortals couldn't understand. Perhaps that phrase applied to semi-mythical beings as well.

"If there's anything I can do to help. I will." She gave him her promise, and his eyes seemed to glow in understanding. He looked away before she had a chance to read any deeper into the strange expression that had passed across his features, leading her further down the path.

This way.

Between the crickets and the occasional hooting of an owl hunting nearby, the Jungle was remarkably still and calm as Stay led her along the ancient path. The stones had grown mossy on their edges, and Shadi bid him pause a few times along the way so that she could satisfy her curiosity with some of the ancient carvings lining the stone pylons along the path.

Gradually, it curved and twisted like a serpent, snaking into a sunken valley, the walls of clay propped up behind thick structures of stone and masonry that predated the Calamity by generations. Thick slabs of granite had been moved who knew how far to construct this hidden city in the jungle, and the statues of their ancient gods were carved with the dedication and patience of those who revered them, and wished for their memory to outlast even their own existence.

Well, in that regard, they had certainly succeeded, even if few, nay any could still recall the specific significance of every marking. What evidence of language she could find seemed to be a very, very primitive variant of Hylian, but while some of the runes bore slight resemblance to the language she had poured over while studying in her younger years, even she could not say with any certainty what any of it meant.

Once, these paths would have been filled with travelers and worshipers alike. The road you camped by used to be a major artery of trade once upon a time, before the dueling peaks split. But even with all the people who once lived here, my kind were only ever viewed as minor deities as best, and praised only by those with the skill and wit to find us.

Ahead, the path widened into a larger clearing, paved in stone with structures on both sides. Much of the depression had been flooded out, leaving a path consisting of random stepping stones across what seemed to be a perpetually flooded center. Once, this would have been a grand sight to behold. Even now, the ruins still lost none of their majesty on Shadi, and she made note to return when it was light so that she could get sketches of this place.

"So where is your shrine then?" She asked him as he zigzagged across the raised stones, slowly guiding her along a trail across the plaza.

Inside there. He replied simply, and Shadi blinked, confused.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust adequately to the dark when she saw it, and another moment for the details to come into focus, but when they did, her gasp was barely contained.

The central structure had been made entirely in the likeness of a snarling dragons head, the mouth forming the main opening into the temple. It's image in the nighttime was frightening, and she at once understood why the Lizfols had taken over this site and dedicated it to whatever gods they worshiped.

Stay seemed amused at her reaction, what sounded like a soft chuckle escaping the feral beast as he tugged her towards the looming maw of the temple.

No reason to be afraid. It is supposed to be Farosh, the Dragon who is said to watch over Faron, as charged by Hylia herself. This place is only as 'evil' as your mind makes it. Come on... Through here.

She hesitated at the threshold, watching the light vanish entirely as she entered the mouth of the dragon, the soft sounds of the jungle replaced by an eerie silence and the sound of slowly dripping water running down the rocks further inside. She held tightly to Stay's scruff, trusting his much keener sight to guide her through the interior of the temple.

Much of it was collapsed, and several times, he would lead her in a full circle while looking for something that was no longer where it was in his memory of this place.

Was it there... No, that's not right. There should have been a door here...

His searching seemed to grow more frustrated as time ticked along, midnight giving way to the early morning. His time was running shorter, and he knew it as well. Finally, with his nose pressed to the stones and following a scent, he barked, pulling her down with him as he lay upon the stone.

Here! Behind this rubble, there should be a passage. Help me move it.

His paws scrambled against the heavy stones, slowly dislodging a few loose pieces, but it fell to Shadi to help him move the larger ones, pushing them aside without knowing just where or what she was dropping the rock slabs onto. Soon enough, a hole had emerged in the rubble, and she moved the last large part clear.

Stay vanished into the small tunnel she'd cleared, large enough for her to perhaps fit through if she crawled on her stomach, and hesitantly, she undid her backpack, pushing it in ahead of her.

Come on! We're nearly there.

At least one of them was excited about this... Claustrophobia engulfed her as she slid forward of her belly into the unknown, pushing her pack forward before she followed after it, making sure the tunnel didn't suddenly dip or compress in ahead of her. The edges tickled her whiskers after just a few meters, and past that, she had to use a little more force to get her backpack to move on.

"How.. Ung.... Far does this go?" She growled through gritted teeth, worming her way through gaps that she otherwise wouldn't have ever attempted by herself.

Not much further. Just a little more. Come on!

The vulpine's tone was excitable, something she had simply figured was unheard of for his usual 'to the point' voice. With a last great heave of effort, she shoved her backpack forward with her shoulder, tumbling out of the small tunnel into a chamber lit by the glow of several blue stones set into the ceiling. She sat up, dusting herself off as Stay nosed around, her eyes adjusting to having a natural light source once again.

The luminous stones were arrayed seemingly at random into the ceiling, but when she looked closer, she noticed the patterns they had been arranged into as the same that could be seen in the night sky. The constellations twinkled above, as as her gaze roamed around the rest of the room, illuminated by the faint blue glow of the mysterious rocks, more and more details become apparent.

The room itself was maybe only a thirty foot cube, with the tunnel exiting into the wall behind her. On the opposite wall was some kind of shrine, a grinning stone statue of a Keaton flanked by two humans in fox masks looking down at her. The room itself smelled damp and stale, the scent of years of isolation and neglect. If the Keaton had been celebrated as deities at any point, nobody had done so here for a long, long time.

Stay was quiet, softly nosing the foot of the statue as he looked about, searching for some kind of sign, looking for a meaning to his search as he padded back and forth across the room, nosing at overturned stones or puddles where the water had gathered.

I... Look around. There has to be something here!

Shadi stood as the vulpine's search grew more frantic. She ran her hands gently along the length of the walls, following the intricate patterns of lines and carvings wordlessly. Perhaps this place had been abandoned for a reason... She reached the statues after a moment, feeling across the smooth, black stone they had been carved from, letting her fingers follow the sharp lines of the human's fox masks, before she moved on to the Keaton itself.

It's face had been carved with almost painstaking detail, every last speck done in an almost perfect likeness. Her fingers felt bumps in the stone across it's brow, and she realized that they'd even gone as far as to try and detail the fur. Her hand searched lower, brushing across its gazing eyes when she realized something. The sockets were hollow, vaguely hexagonal openings there in their place.

"The eyes are... Empty?" She said aloud, her voice echoing in the chamber more loudly than she intended.

What does it feel like? Do you recognize anything that might fit there?

It took her a moment, but something did come to mind...

She reached down, feeling for her backpack before she pulled her small rupee pouch from its side. Under the faint light of the luminous stones, she pulled out a single green rupee. The shape was right, but the size was not...

Try another. Stay encouraged her, and feeling her way through the pouch, she drew out one of the larger gems, a purple one. Again, the shape was right, but it was still just too small. The next one she grabbed with hesitation. If she left them here, she would be hurting for a time until she-

Try those. Stay insisted, and reaching up, she slid the silver rupees into the statues eyes. Something clicked, and suddenly, the room was bathed in a pale, amber light, small candles set above the two statues of the priests coming to life. Shadi blinked, as the entire chamber took on a new perspective.

Oh my...

She turned, blinking as her eyes readjusted again. The carvings and paintings on the wall were largely intact, untouched by any mold or decay from the dampness that had pooled in one corner. Who knew how old these were, or what.... Knowledge... might...

"Uh... Stay, what is this exactly?" Shadi hazarded the question quietly, her nose turning a vivid pink as her eyes scanned over the walls of the room, and back to the statues in the small shrine. Now that she had light to go by, she noticed an important detail here.

Firstly, was the paintings on the walls, and while indeed they did seem to show some kind of ritual, it... Was not exactly the one she had been expecting. She'd figured idols and torches and mystic chanting, not...

Uh... I believe it is the ritual room that the... Priestess's given to our kind to earn our favor performed.

"Really now? Because that looks a whole lot likes she's doing a different kind of worship..."Shadi turned back to face the vulpine, who oddly hadn't faded back into his specter-like form in the light of the candles. She raised an eyebrow dubiously.

This was before my time, don't try to implicate me in this. I knew it was a shrine, and I knew it was here, not the... nature of the shrine. He protested quietly, stalking about the room as he took take a chance to 'admire' the paintings on the walls.

Now that it was clear, it became apparently why this room had been hidden away. The artwork in the room would have been more fitting for a brothel than a Temple, featuring women of the various races of Hyrule performing all manner of lewd acts on their Keaton 'deities'. On both sides of the room were a pair of small brick rises that Shadi had initially assumed were seats. The artwork confirmed her suspicion that this was not in fact the case, by the nature of the women bent over them with the beasts of their worship mounting them from behind.

You know, in hindsight... I suppose this explains why there are no female Keaton... I had pondered it, but when you have as long a lifespan as we do, such matters appear trivial in comparison. We don't often see the others of our kind save during events of great significance, like the emergence of the calamity.

"So what then, they would bring the priestesses here to breed with them?" Shadi asked, perhaps with a little more snap to her tone that was warranted, but even so, looking at the images on the walls was certainly having an effect on her, despite her attempts to resist, and the candles that were burning were filling the chamber with an odd, enticing scent.

Looking over at the two statues flanking the rupee eyed Keaton, she realized that they were not in fact priests. They were priestesses. Heavily pregnant ones at that, and she couldn't help but glance down at Stay as he examined the room. The thought was inescapable, and she looked down, suddenly feeling very self conscious and foolish for not bringing any kind of contraceptive brew...

Surely I'd have felt something change, and it's been weeks... No, I'd have been able to tell by now. She quietly reassured herself.

That appears to be it. The king would offer us women to continue our line, in exchange for the favors of our wisdom and cunning. He spoke, following a line of runes along the wall beneath the paintings. Shadi frowned, and Stay tilted his head.

Something about granting the blessings of us for our connection to the dragon of the lands, who would bless the rulers and those gathered with prosperity, though I'm not sure what this rune means...

"Wait, you can READ that??" Shadi gawked, surprised that the feral creature could read at all. He looked back over his shoulder blankly, his inky black tails flickering.

You can't?

"Of course not! I doubt there's anyone left who can!" She explained almost equal parts exacerbated as she was excited. This could potentially be huge! She stepped over the mounting block, crouching down beside him as she pulled her journal from her pack, quickly recording the runes on the walls while Stay provided their meanings for her.

This could potentially be the first recording of it's kind, and the giddiness made Shadi's heart race, her tail swishing over the floor as they moved around the room, all the while trying to keep her eyes on the markings and not on the mating depicted on the wall, though... Admittedly, after her experience, she could understand why a woman might agree to such a lifetime position...

She paused when they passed one painting in particular, of what appeared to be an upright Keaton, standing before a frock of priestesses kneeling before him. She stopped, and made a quick sketch of that. As far as she could tell, it was the only one of its sort in the chamber, and the figure was most certainly a Keaton, judging by the flowing golden tails and furred body.

"What's this one? Perhaps one of the uh... Offspring?"

Oh... No, I do not think so. We can change forms as pleases us, often assuming the guise of bushes to fool travelers into disbelieving that they'd seen us. Going upright was less common. It's an inefficient mode of travel. You're slower, less balanced, can't follow scents as readily...

He strung of his list of reasons while Shadi just looked at the ancient painting. She couldn't deny that the beginnings of arousal were getting to her, warmth blooming between her legs like kindling slowly catching on a larger fire. That sweet smell in the air was stronger now that they'd been in the lit chamber for almost half an hour, and undeniably, she reasoned, it was some sort of aphrodisiac...

"Have you found anything? I'm not sure if there's anything here we can do..." She started, Stay's icy blue eyes fixing her with a sharp gaze.

The ritual that they did here... It was more than just mating. It was a way of calling the dragon forth to give Hylia's blessing to those present... What if-

Shadi snorted and interrupted the vulpine, but she already knew where he was going with it.

"That's superstition and you know it." She chuckled, letting out a quiet sigh. Dammit, she couldn't deny it though, she felt like she was in heat, and that was going to be a problem that needed to be sorted out sooner rather than later... If it didn't happen here, she had no doubts she probably find herself under him back in her camp anyway... Besides, if it was all just superstition and magic mumbo jumbo, what could it hurt? Why was she worried about it? She get some herbs at the next stable they stopped by, and that would be that, if it were even possible...

"But... It couldn't hurt after all to try... I mean, worst case, nothing happens, right? Best case..."

You get to see a dragon in the flesh for your journal. The vulpine was grinning, if he could have even made such an expression, but she knew that look as he padded over to her, giving her shoulder a nudge with his nose. Shadi batted him away, scruffing the hair between his ears like she would have a common dog. The way he was looking at her though let her know the air was getting to him as well. That face didn't care about seeing a dragon, or even if it worked.

She chuckled, and set her pack down on the floor, casually opening her shirt and setting it on top of the bundle as the vulpine watched on with what could only be described as a ravenous hunger. She giggled, lightly brushing her fingertips across his muzzle.

"You don't get out enough."

I've been imprisoned in a realm of perpetual twilight for the last century. I'd tell you to bite me, but I can think of better uses for your mouth.

"I'll give you mine if you give me yours." She teased with a wink, wriggling easily out of her belt, and let her trousers pool around her ankles, exposing the soft, tan fur and the brown patterning across her belly. Her nipples were already firm, bright pink with a warm flush. Was it getting warmer in here?

"It's just a shame you don't talk with your muzzle. It'd be a good excuse to have you quiet for a little while..."

That taunt did it. Stay's bulk reared up against her shoulders, pushing her down to the floor of the chamber with a low growl. He stalked over her, covering her view with the bulk of his black-furred stomach, and with a grin, she reached up, letting her claws softly comb through it before she ran her paws down between his hind legs, taking a firm grip on the vulpine's sheathe, stroking it with a soft, yet firm grip.

His tip had already emerged, and the rest of his dark, maroon dappled prick quickly spilled from it's home at her touch, the bulb of his knot coming to rest with her fingers closed around it. If her last time with him was any indication, it certainly wouldn't stay like that long. Still, it was interesting to finally get a look at the vulpine, rather than just feeling it and using her imagination.

Her leathery pawpads just glided along the smooth, firm girth, using his own lubricants and the drips of precum from his spade-like tip to ease the motions. The Pleasurable friction made the male above her growl as he shifted, turning about slowly until his muzzle was breathing hot pants of air across her exposed nethers, tickling her bare, puffy sex.

While she was taking her time exploring and observing his own reactions to her touch, Stay had no such reservations, and dove hungrily between her thighs. His broad, vulpine tongue bathed across her womanhood from her clit to the base of her slit in a single, sweeping motion. Her moan came involuntarily, and he swiped his oral muscle across her again, lapping up the arousal that had beaded along the outside of her body's moist lips.

If had been one thing to experience that sinfully wicked tongue's touch on her body, it was another entirely to get to watch it as well, the feline's chest rumbling in a loud, pleasured purr as she raised her hips slightly, spreading her thighs out to let the feral have his way with her. Sure, it might have been taboo in her home, but dammit, it felt too good for her to care. She reasoned it away behind the guise of 'He's already fucked you once. What difference does any time after that make?'

And so she shamelessly let herself embrace the pleasure his tongue provided, moaning like a whore as the quadruped mutt lapped at her pussy, eating up the flavor of the heat-like state the scent of the candles had induced in her body. It felt amazing, and it scratched at that very particular itch that came with a female's season, but even it was not as much scratched as she really wanted.

Gazing over the vulpine's length, she stroked it carefully, watching each pulse of precum as his cock tensed, the vein bulging before it would throb, his entire penis becoming tense and rigid until it had messily sprayed the latest wet, almost watery jet of preseed across her thumb. She ran her digit in teasing circles across his tip.

He growled above her, his hips humping instinctively.

I thought our agreement was for your mouth, cat...

"I was getting to that..." Shadi promised with a roll of her hips, pressing her cunt against his tongue instantly. "Keep licking, dog." She responded with

Leaning up, she hesitated just a moment, as if lingering on her doubt, but her lust addled brain took care of all that before she had the chance to get to distracted by the taboo nature of the act she was about to perform. She opened her mouth with a soft moan as the Keaton tongue-fucked her, and swiftly brought his tip between her lips, engulfing him in the warm, wet embrace of her muzzle.

His taste was interesting, and it seemed to have an immediate effect on her body, or perhaps that was just his tongue working its own magic on her. It was smooth, slightly bitter and salty, but not at all unpleasant, and she dragged her tongue across the underside of his length, earning herself another watery splash of precum across her tastebuds.

His hips pushed more of that quickly swelling length into her mouth, and before long at all, she'd gone from suckling on the tip to sloppily making out with his swelling knot at the base of his shaft. One paw cupped his furred sac, gently rolling them around in her palm, while the other gripped around the flesh of his rigid cock behind his knot, as if teasing his body to believe it was tied.

Apparently it worked, as his next thrust threatened to force that knot into her muzzle, his tip jabbing against the back of her throat, sliding wetly down it. She pulled back, coughing as she caught her breath, and his licking against her cunt stopped as he looked at her from between his legs, head comically inverted.

What? Too much?

"Ach... Just a little." Shadi wheezed, her paw adoringly stroking across the entirety of his exposed girth, now that it was fully engorged. "It seemed smaller when you fucked me last time..."

Holy shit... She blinked, her tongue flicking out to tease his tip. How in Hylia did that FIT?! Her thighs seemed to tremble as she got a good, up close and personal look at the male's girth, and damned if she wasn't sure he would have given even Kass a run for his money in that department. She had known that he felt huge, but seeing it with her own eyes for the first time, she struggled to find the words. Her paw couldn't even fit all the way around his girth like this.

I can assure you it's the same... The mind plays tricks in the dark... She could hear his smirking, even as she pulled him back into her maw, suckling like a hungry kitten on the tit. Stay growled quietly in bliss, and buried his slender vulpine muzzle between her legs, lapping like a mongrel until his snout was sodden with her arousal.

She moaned around the vulpine pecker, feeling and tasting each salty spray of his precum as he all but fed his cock down her throat, and she swallowed obediently, her throat muscles rippling and drawing him in until she was kissing his knot once more. This time, she didn't gag, preparing herself for it and relaxing as she moved her head slowly, bobbing on his length and deepthroating the many-tailed Keaton expertly.

His tongue meanwhile was doing a number on Shadi's own body, and she knew like this in her heat, and there was no doubt that was what it was right now, she would not last much longer against the vulpine's oral assault.

She groaned, washing his shaft and bathing it with her rough tongue as he filled her mouth, the throbbing organ dribbling mess down the back of her throat like a leaking pipe. Her entire body tensed as his teeth carefully gripped her clit, closing around the bundle of nerves, and then he did something Shadi wouldn't forget any time soon.

He growled.

Her entire sex vibrated with the loud rumbling, and like that, Shadi had to pull herself back, gasping for breath before she let out a high pitched whine of overwhelming pleasure. She came like a bomb arrow going off, suddenly, loudly, and with enough force to surprise even Stay, who lapped as her juices flowed like he'd split open a ripe mango, gorging himself on her lust.

She finally had to clamp her legs closed, still whimpering as she forced his muzzle back with her paws, sitting up.

"No, No! Too much!" She whined, her legs still trembling as she crawled a few short feet over, and willingly lay herself across the stone bench, laying with her breasts hanging over the other edge. Her tail flagged, and she pulled it over to her front so she could bite down on the fluffy appendage. He hadn't been gentle last time, and she didn't want him to be this time either. Like this, her legs were spread, and her wet and puffy sex on full display for her shadowy companion.

It was as clear an offering as she could have given, presenting and offering herself to the beast for breeding. She couldn't help but look at one of the pregnant priestess statues and grin. Now I know why you women did it...

"Well?" She asked after a moment of the Keaton nosing around her rump. His tongue lashed out, dragging tortuously slowly across her exposed sex with a wet sound that made her shiver in delight, lifting and wriggling her hips enticingly. She whined when he licked her again, she passage clenching around nothing desperately.

"Come on.... Didn't you want to perform your ritual? Stud for me like your ancestors and breed a kitty?" She looked back over her shoulder, her mismatched eyes sweetly pleading with him to fuck her hard. "Please?"

She felt desperate. His tongue had lit a fire in her core, and she knew from experience there was exactly one thing that would help to quell it. She gave him her best pleading mewl.

Gods, if the cocky fucker could have given her a most smug and pleased look...

If you were a priestess, I'd let you worship me all day... As it stands... Good cats who ask nicely get bred properly.

Shadi rolled her eyes, whining with frustration, but dammit, she was too goddamn horny to think between her induced heat and the smouldering in her womb as her body urged her to get on with it and breed already.

"I swear, if you don't fuck me already- Oof!"

The breath left her as she tried to snarl, the vulpine's weight landing on her back as he lowered his head down beside her ear. She'd almost forgotten how much larger than her he was... And honestly, she was just fine with that. His growl made her body react in a most primal way, her tail trying even more to move itself aside as she spread her thighs out for him. She gasped as his hot tip pushed against her inflamed sex lips.

Don't worry. I'll give you the cub your body is begging for. I can smell the heat pouring off you...

Shadi was already panting. Between the warmth of the chamber, the closeness of the vulpine mounting her, and the heat of her own body, she was more than ready. His forepaws closed around her hips as he penetrated her, and humped her like the dog he was.

"Ahh~ Fuck..." Shadi grit her teeth as his girth spread her apart like some young teenager whining around her first cock. Her body parted eagerly, letting him spear himself in to her core on the first blow, sinking in until his knot slapped against her lips wetly. He pulled back unthinkingly, and proceeded to breed her like she needed, fucking her with a feral speed and force that only a canine could.

Enjoying yourself kitten? Like this, you'd easily be mistaken for a queen in heat...

"Ahh, Just shut up and fuck me you dog!" She snapped back at his cheeky remark. His claws dug into her sides and he did just what she asked, Shadi's yowl of pleasure echoing almost deafeningly in the small chamber. He pounded into her relentlessly, his hips moving like a blur as she reached back to grab a fistful of his pelt, trying to hold onto something!

Wet smacks resounded like the beat of a drum as he mated her in a vigorous display of canine stamina and endurance to keep that pace up, thrusting, hilting, and withdrawing several times a second.

Sweet Hylia he fucks like a stallion!

Shadi's eyes shot open wide, bulging like his knot that was trying to force its way inside of her. She let out a snarl a her claws dug into his hip, but it only seemed to encourage the rutting vulpine to pick up his pace, a fresh sense of urgency filling both of them with the primal desire to breed.

"Gah, Just get it in-" His teeth gripped the scruff of her neck and yanked hard on the thick mane down her spine, making her open her mouth in a breathless moan. His pounding didn't stop for a moment, even when her core seemed to flare with heat around his breeding rod, pummeling the poor feline's cunt into submission.

"Please!" She yelped as the fat bulb of flash rammed against her fertile gates, his tip jabbing roughly at her cervix. The touch just stoked the fire further, and it was torture! Was this some kind of magic? It was like every second that went by just fueled the inferno inside her core, and she was already dripping down her thighs.

She came again, screaming out as Stay's knot stretched her, and then just as she felt her body about to give, he pulled back, leaving her body spasming around his length as he held himself still while she moaned and writhed and whimpered underneath his midnight black bulk.

She panted as his ground forward, looking like a hot, wet mess as he gripped her scruff in his jaws, threatening to yank it again. She shivered, bot hin fear and desire. She knew just what that did to her kind, kicking breeding instincts into gear, making her hot, ready, pliable..

Fertile... And she knew it to. This time would be different. She'd played with luck all the other times, but this was different. She could feel whatever had put her into this state working already, preparing her body and her fertile fields to be sown.

Don't let him knot you. Don't let him knot you, or he will breed you...

How long had he been pulling on her neck? How many eggs were already floating down to her womb... How many of those would his swimmers claim if they could? Sparing a glance up at the statues, she no longer doubted his odds...

"Please..." She whimpered.

You need it. Beg.

She whined desperately, rocking her hips back to try and push his knot against her womanhood, but his weight kept her pinned, panting and mewling with the desperation of her need.

"Please!" She tried again, hiking her hips up. He remained still, drawing out her torture. Damn him!

Let him knot you. Just beg for it already so he can make this end!

"PLEASE! Breed me, mate me, I don't care if you give me a pup! Just fuck me alread- Ahhh!~" She screamed as his knot slammed into her, shoving her hips back down against the cool ritual stone under her as he roughly pounded the thick, engorged lobes into her body with a wet pop that sealed Shadi's fate, he knot swelling even more to tie him to her with no chance of pulling out.

Stupid girl! Now you're going to end up like those statues!

She didn't care anymore. She covered his length in her kitty cream as she climaxed, moaning out as the tip of his prick pierced her womb, and the first ropes of hot, virile Keaton seed poured into her. He painted her womb an off white with his cum, not stopping until he was utterly drained and slumped across her back with his tongue lolling from the corner of his muzzle, a messy pool filling her belly until it swelled.

Shadi could feel it, the warmth the soaked into her core, extinguishing the fires of her induced heat. She trembled, but already she could tell it was done. Whatever came of it remained to be seen, but she would deal with that later...

Right now, she was too busy coming down from orbit, his mind still reeling with the force of her climax. Neither of them spoke, and rather just lay there in each other's embrace, panting and wheezing as they caught their breaths.

The candles behind the statues went out with a soft fizzle, darkening the room. Above her, Stay shifted, and with a lurch, pulled back, his knot popping free with a messy splash of cum that coated the insides of her thighs, pooling on the floor beneath them. The entire room smelled of their fierce and desperate coupling.

"We... We should probably go back to camp..." Shadi mumbled as she blindly felt around for her clothes while her eyes adjusted, managing fumble with her pants enough the get them around her ankles.

Here.

Something cool at wet bumped into her thigh, and Shadi reached out, grasping one of Stay's fuzzy ears as he lowered his head, giving her sex a few long, soothing laps of his tongue, cleaning her fur up of the mess he'd made of her.

To tired and turned on to protest, she lay back against the ground and let him, guiding his tongue with gentle tugs and twists on his ear as he diligently cleaned his mate, drawing her body into a another, gentler climax, her hips rocking on his tongue as she rode the pleasure out, her entire body humming for the experience.

You know he was just doing that to seal it in you...

She told the over-logical part of her brain to shut up for a while, finally managing to push his head back enough to get her trousers all the way up to her waist.

"Ahhh.... Thank you, Stay... But I'm not sure if this will help the others like you any..."

Oh, I'm sure it will... In time, all things work out. He spoke to her cryptically, and Shadi could feel her nose pinkening. She knew the cocky mongrel was sure he'd just helped contribute to repopulating his species... She ran a paw over her soft, bare abdomen, petting the slight swell he'd given her before she caught herself and pulled her tunic back on quickly.

Well... At least they'd be cute if he could...

"Come on... It's probably morning by now..."

---

They crawled back through the tunnel, Shadi pushing her bag ahead of her, with Stay bringing up the rear, his nose teasingly bumping under her tail as she shifted forwards on her belly, at least until she swatted him with her tail.

They emerged into the early dawn light, the chill of morning moisture still clinging to the air like a blanket.

Well... I wouldn't say the trip was entirely fruitless... You got some sketches, I got-

"Yeah, we both know what you got out of the trip..." Shadi chuckled with a smirk as she stretched, walking alongside Stay as he trotted forward towards the dragon-headed mouth of the temple.

She stopped when she bumped into Stay, who had quickly darted in front of her, his eyes fixed forwards. Shadi frowned, following his gaze up into the sky-

It was right there. It was right there, and it was looking directly at them. It couldn't have been more than a hundred feet away, just floating, suspended in the air by whatever magics helped keep it aloft, the air outside the temple crackling with static electricity. The great green dragon of Faron's eyes were fixed upon her and Stay, transfixing them with the force of that ancient, inescapable stare. It did not speak, but at a flick of it's gaze, she felt compelled to move, and stepped forwards.

Shadi was trembling as it's ancient might seemed to boom, the silence deafening in itself, but despite what fear she had, her legs moved anyway as she stepped forwards again. Stay apparently had a similar compulsion, as he moved forward with her, stopping barely feet away from the dragon. The air was charged, and Shadi could feel some of her hairs beginning to stand on end.

The massive horn atop the dragon's head lowered until it was level with stay, and Shadi could only watch, fascinated and paralyzed in fear all at once as a spark leapt from the end of Farosh's horn, striking Stay in the snout and causing him to topple backwards, twitching. She wanted to cry out, to say something, but the Dragon was looking at her now, it's horn ominously close to her own face.

There was a flash of light, and Shadi's vision swam as she collapsed to the ground, strange and fanciful visions filling her mind for the moment before blackness overtook her.

---

She awoke at an insistent prodding from Stay's nose, his tongue lapping across her face as he tried to rouse her back to the world of the living. The sun was already past it's zenith, and her head rang like a freshly struck gong. She pushed him back with a gentle scruff between his ears, groaning as she sat up.

"Wh... What was that?"

"A dragon's blessing, I presume..." He spoke quietly, his voice still holding a note of awe from the encounter.

Shadi blinked, turning her head as she suddenly realized something.

"Wait, did you just- Ahh! What happened to your fur?!" She leapt back in alarm, stopping after a moment to giggle quietly.

"What? What's wrong with it?" Stay looked confused as he spoke, the Keaton turning in a circle slowly, as if looking for some hair out of place, or one of his tails to have turned into a fluffy blob of fur.

The tips of his tails had gone a brilliant white-golden color, as had the tips of his ears and his chest, all the way from his thighs up to the underside of his snout. Where it met the black, it was divided by a barrier of deep maroon, the color of the calamity's corruption.

"Is there something in one of my tails?" He asked, and Shadi couldn't help but giggle.

"You spoke." She pointed out, a giddy grin on her face.

"So I did... I'm.... Not as sure about the colors." He frowned, as if he was considering asking the dragon to take his blessing back.

"It uh... I looks good Stay..." She snickered with a faint blush pinkening the tip of her nose.

"Uh... Thanks, I guess... Izyat... That was my name..." The vulpine nodded softly at her, something of a smile crossing his feral features.

Shadi smiled. "Izyat... It's a good name..."