FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sponsoring the Kitsune Stories

Altar of the Sole

Sponsored by Lorvianne

By Draconicon

"So, let me get this straight. You want to hire me...to fix whatever's wrong with the National Park?" The kitsune's tails twitched behind her as she raised an eyebrow. "Hon, I appreciate the faith you've got in me, but I'm an archaeologist, not a naturalist."

"It's that serious."

Vicki sighed, rubbing her forehead as she leaned back against her chair. The cafe buzzed around them as she tried to get comfortable, wondering how she was supposed to approach this one. Considering that she'd hoped to get some sort of real job, rather than someone that thought she could be hired for any old thing, she was already feeling the urge to just get up and leave before this could get any more embarrassing.

But, that would be unprofessional. And she already had enough 'unprofessional' moments under her belt that she didn't need another one stapled to her reputation. She shook her head, took a sip of her coffee, and gestured at the wolf across the table.

"Alright. Convince me. Why do you need an archaeologist to fix this for you? Sounds like if things are going missing, you need more park rangers, not someone that hunts down artifacts."

"It's why they're going missing that I need you to find out."

"...You think it's more than just people getting lost?" Vicki asked.

"I'm sure. Tracks aren't right for that. And they don't just get lost. They disappear."

"...You mean that seriously, don't you?"

The black-furred wolf nodded as he leaned over his own drink. So far, he hadn't even touched it, but she could see that some cracks were already appearing in the plastic cup from how hard he squeezed it. Some of it had even bubbled up through the drinking hole in the top, pushed up from the tight clenches.

Hmmm...

She had thought this was just some sort of joke, and so she hadn't bothered to study the situation as well as she normally would have. As she took a second look, the nine-tailed kitsune started to see things that she'd missed before. The wolf wore a survivalist jacket, but a real one, and used, not just put on for the sake of appearances. The scratches on the buttons, the slight wear and tear on thread and zipper were proof enough of that. His eyes were drawn, and though they were clear, she could see the faintest hint of red trying to creep in. He probably hadn't slept in a week, and was using eye drops to keep from going blind from exhaustion. And considering that he looked and sounded like he knew his business, perhaps the wolf had a point. If he wasn't finding them, then maybe there was something more...mystical going on.

"Alright. Let's say that they are disappearing. What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"I want you to come back to the park. Check out the latest disappearance with me."

"And see if I pick up anything?"

"If we're lucky, you will."

"And if not?"

"Then I keep looking for someone luckier."

Vicki nodded. She could see that being the only real solution when one came right down to it. Glancing down at her coffee, she debated draining it, decided that would only leave her bloated, and pushed it across the table instead.

"I'll meet you tomorrow to head back, then," she said. "Plane, train, or car?"

"Car."

"Alright, Lorkos. Meet me at the Western on the edge of town. I'll be waiting at nine. Don't be late."

"Same to you."

They shook on it. Pay had never come up, but that was fine. When it came down to it, she'd probably find a way to negotiate something out of him in the future. He was cute enough that it probably wouldn't take that much effort, if you liked the strong, silent types.

She didn't, but she could fake it.

#

The drive from the little out-of-the-way neighborhood just north of New Orleans to the scene of the disappearance was just long enough for Vicki to start hating cars again, and just short enough to make her not want to spend the money on a flight back. The jeep was cramped, the interior stuffy, and Lorkos was as silent as the grave as they drove back. If she hadn't known better, she would have assumed that he was the possessed one and been more worried about it.

As it stood, she knew he wasn't. She'd checked that as soon as she'd hopped in the car. Her tails were good for more than mere decoration, after all; some channeled her magic, some served as detectors for other magics, and some were...well, mostly decoration, but that was just because she hadn't figured out what they did just yet.

Point was, she knew he wasn't possessed. She would have felt that. Kind of like a double-image when you got your head knocked around, except more of a tangible, felt thing. That wasn't there, so she didn't worry.

At least, not until they arrived at the scene of the disappearance.

As she stepped out of the jeep, the vehicle half-straddling a small creek, she felt it. The air trembled, not just with the general feeling of buzzing life, but with something else. Something heavier, something that left a bit of itself behind. The vixen gritted her teeth, her fingers curling around the edge of the jeep door as she stood up. Her sandals pressed into the mud, the smell of forest and wet earth seeping through everything as she looked around.

"This is the place? You're sure?" she asked.

"Yes." Lorkos nodded. "My family's watched this park as part of the Rangers for the last three generations. I know this place inside and out, and I know when something's happened."

"I'm sure..."

She knew that she sounded dismissive when she said that, but she couldn't help it. Her attention had been snared by that otherworldly feeling. She walked away from the jeep, making each step slow and careful.

"You're right that something weird's involved here," she said, shaking her head. "If that's any comfort."

"...It means I'm not insane."

"Well, no more insane than me."

"And are you?"

"Not as far as I know. Not sure how good a measure that is, though."

Following the feeling in the air - somewhere between the tingling before a lightning bolt and the cold chill before a snowstorm - she let three of her tails wave about on their own. The rest she pulled tight to her hips, almost like a belt, while the other three set to work, twitching this way and that.

"Who disappeared?" she asked.

"Three hikers. Two male wolves, one female."

"Vacationers?"

"Hikers. Passing through, as far as anyone knew."

"Hmmm..."

It didn't feel like some spirit of the area. That would have been annoyed at her and pleased with Lorkos, if that was the case, someone foreign and someone familiar. Hikers would have been somewhere in the middle, people that knew enough to be careful and respectful while not being part of the area. So, not one of them.

"What were they like?" she asked, walking down to the edge of the river. Water spirits could sometimes seduce people away, and there were plenty of artifacts that related to them that had been hidden in creeks in the past. "Explorers?"

"Fitness enthusiasts. The Ranger that checked them in said that they were a little...hyper...but seemed to know the rules of the forest well enough."

Not someone that would be digging around, then...

Fitness enthusiasts. What would that attract? Someone that was interested in survival of the fittest, perhaps, but that would have led to a great deal more blood, or an emaciated body somewhere else. There was the possibility of them venturing too loudly in some beast's domain, but that didn't feel right, either. There would have been more disappearing, even if this was only the latest. There'd be no-man's-lands in the forest that Lorkos would have already checked.

Which meant that they stumbled onto something else. She stepped further down the river, then paused.

"Lorkos? Were there other paths through the park besides the one we were on?"

"It's the main one, but there's a few others. Why?"

"Any that go through the creek around here?" she asked, gesturing in front of her.

"Shouldn't be."

"Well, there is now..."

The three tails that had been waving around like mad had finally concentrated their attention straight ahead. She knelt down, pulling a fur-lined leather glove from her pocket and dragging it over her hand. Reaching into the water, she wiggled her hand among the pebbles beneath the current -

And found it. A pressure plate, something that could easily be triggered by accident if you were off the beaten path or playing in the water. Fitness enthusiasts would probably have stepped off the path, she'd reasoned, and would have taken the path of most resistance. Through the water, traveling upstream. If they'd pushed this...

She pushed it herself, and the earth rumbled around them. Rocks just ahead of her flipped, forming a pathway of click-clacking clay pieces, scattering leaves, bark, and bugs as it went, leading off into the underbrush. Lorkos all but leaped out of his skin at the sight, his eyes wide as a pathway formed.

"What -"

"A pathway. To what, no idea, but I'm going to bet that your missing hikers found that, and wanted to see where it went."

"...Do you think that they're still there?" the wolf asked.

"That depends. You said this happened how long ago?"

"Two days."

"Then I'd say about a 1 in 3 chance."

The other two possibilities being that they had gotten injured in the process, or had been taken in by whatever lay at the far end of the path. Vicki shook her head, taking a look at the path itself.

It was a rather surprising set of tiles that formed the pathway. Not only that they had been hidden beneath the forest floor the way they had, but more to the point, their shape. They were not made of squares, triangles, or other things that would have been more simple and understandable of an earlier culture, but rather...

She leaned in to be sure, but even then, she didn't entirely believe it. Footprints. The pathway was made of footprint shapes, of five toes, a sole, and a heel. They were impossible to be anything else. They were in miniature, for the most part, but here and there, at just past where most people would be able to walk, were foot shapes that were bigger than her own foot. She stood up slowly, looking into the distance.

"Well, I think we both know where we're going."

"...Is this all mechanical, then? No mysterious thing?"

"Considering that nobody discovered this path was buried just below the surface, I think you have your answer to that."

True, it was possible that the clay hadn't been detected by whatever they'd used to check the area, but the fact that it had remained undetected over three generations was telling. A glance at the tiles confirmed that they were at least several hundred years old, which meant that they should have started breaking down in this wet environment. Instead, they were still just as strong as ever.

Which meant magic.

Looks like he got the right person for the job, after all, she thought, feeling her tails still pointing right at the pathway as the strongest source of magic in the area. She stood up properly, shaking her head.

"Let's get going."

They followed the path well off the main trails, eventually coming to a standing rock formation. The path itself led to a cut-out part of the rock, where some of the stones had slid to the side and revealed a cave. Wolf and kitsune looked at each other; this cave hadn't been there before the path had slid free, which meant that this was meant to lead whoever followed the path to a hidden tunnel.

"Back-up?" she asked.

"Let me try."

The squawk from his radio, and the beeps from both their phones, confirmed that they were well out of service range. Vicki sighed.

"Always the way..." she muttered as she climbed into the hole in the rock.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lorkos hissed. "That could close any second."

"Yep."

"And you want to climb in?"

"If it means getting to your missing hikers, yes."

"There's no way of knowing that they're -"

"It's the best lead you got. And I'm curious now. You want to stay on the surface, or want to come down with me?"

"..."

"Up to you, but I'm going in."

She dragged herself up and over the lifted path, putting her sandaled feet down on the other side. The wolf followed, shaking his head as he pulled a flashlight from his waist.

"Can't let anyone else disappear," he muttered.

"That's the spirit. Come on. Let's see what we can...find..."

As Lorkos shone the flashlight around the first chamber, it was clear that they weren't in any old ruin. The interior was surprisingly dry, she realized, and well-preserved for that. The walls were carved, and the floor, while on a downwards slope, wasn't the sort that would instantly send them sliding away.

But it was the carved walls, as close in as they were, that grabbed her attention. Females - very obviously females, from the exaggerated chest curves - were carved into the walls, sitting on large chairs that were meant to look like blocky thrones. They were all but nude, their eyes open wide, imperious as any male might have been in other cultures, and -

And they were lording over more masculine statues that knelt before them. The males were bare to the waist, their heads down, bowing over the conspicuously bare feet of the females. She arched an eyebrow, taking a step closer to one of the statues.

"Bring the light closer," she muttered.

"What is this?"

"That's what I'm finding out."

Waving Lorkos over until he did what he was told, she leaned in for a closer look. It had been a bit harder to tell due to the exaggerated proportions elsewhere on the statue, but now that she had a better look with better light, it was clear that the female's feet were more exaggerated in size than her chest or hips were. If it was meant to show their importance, that was one thing - though she had yet to find some ancient tribe or people that put that much importance on feet - but if it was meant to show something else...

Bigfoot's more of a Northwest preoccupation, but nothing says it couldn't have spread in the past...

A tribe of Bigfoot women, perhaps with males that served them. A matriarchy, perhaps?

Hmmm...we're missing something...

Particularly with that feeling. The tiles had been semi-magical, but not enough to actually account for that other feeling in the air when she'd stepped out of the jeep. And it was stronger here. Much stronger.

"Vicki? What are you thinking?" Lorkos muttered.

"I think that we're on the cusp of discovering some 'dead' cult...possibly a cult big enough to have formed a society around it."

"And what does that mean for us?"

"Well, typically?" She looked around. "I'd normally say that we'd be walking into a big old trap. But this place has been buried for too long. Even with the hikers, they didn't exactly disturb anything coming through here. Just a few footprints down the center. I doubt that anyone's still alive, but whatever they had in the depths..."

"...I hate explorers," the wolf muttered.

"Fitness enthusiasts."

"In this case, same difference."

"Looks like we're going spelunking."

Down, down, down the cave they went, following the pathway that switched back on itself just often enough to qualify as the most painful, smoothest set of stairs in the world, as far as Vicki was concerned. The further down they went, the more elaborate the carvings and statues on the wall became, and the more obvious it was that the females were in charge.

There were quite the variety of species, ranging from wolves to badgers, occasionally showing a cervine or ungulate that had been transformed to have soles in the first place. Here and there, vixens could be seen, as well, and she had an odd tremor when she saw her own species. They were less dressed than she was, and considering that she'd come in a tight shirt, booty shorts, and sandals, that was kind of saying something. She even felt a little...

She paused, cocking her head to the side. Lorkos stopped just behind her.

"What's the matter?"

"Lorkos, do you feel...weird?"

"Define weird."

"Inferior-weird."

"...Now that you mention it..."

"There's something about this place..."

She looked down at her feet. It wasn't the first time that there'd been something to focus her attention there - not all of her clients were as reasonable as Lorkos was, and some of them had an...attraction that had to be fed to get her paycheck to clear - but this was the first time that merely being around statues had made her feel...interested in them. Interested, and a little bit less than, almost like her more dainty soles made her inferior to the statues around her.

The fact that Lorkos felt something similar made her concerned. Looking back at him, she looked him right in the eye. He met hers for a moment...then looked down. Both of them went wide-eyed at that.

"Why can't I -"

"This place is magical, alright..." Whatever lived here, it clearly had two main focuses. It was meant to enforce a matriarchy, and for some reason, it focused on the sole. "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed."

They turned, to find themselves staring straight at the missing hikers.

Or...something like them. The two males had been stripped down to something like the worshiping males in the carvings, bare to the waist, with their feet uncovered and their ankles shackled, while in the back - leaving both Vicki and Lorkos blushing - was the wolf female that had gone missing. She...she had grown, to put it mildly, with breasts that had become as matronly as one could imagine, heavy and full, with enough of a drop to them to make her look like a mother ten times over.

And she was big. Big-hipped, big-assed, and big-footed. Her feet were well out of proportion to the rest of her body, the fuzz on the top of her feet grown long and thick, and her toes long and dexterous.

"Seize her!" she called.

Vicki leaped back, but rather than jumping out of the way with her, Lorkos grabbed her by the arm. He slowed her down, and she only barely managed to slap him and yank her arm free. He jerked away from her, his eyes wide.

"What - "

"Don't ever do that again," she muttered. "Now, run!"

The wolves chased them down the cave, and only the bobbing light of Lorkos's flashlight lit their way. Vicki ignored the statues, only focusing on the path. Left, left, left, taking the turns when they happened, knowing that they were going further and further down the path of no return, and not knowing what lay at the bottom. She just knew that it was going to be bad, something to make things worse, and her tails were going mad pointing straight down, then forward, then down again, depending on just where they were on the next ramp.

Finally, they came to a stone door, one that was propped half-open. She gritted her teeth as she saw it, seeing the light that emanated from the other side. That had to be the source of all the magic in the air, what had caused the shift for the wolves behind them, and what had caused this whole thing in the past.

"Think you can fight them?" she panted as they approached the door.

"I can't fight...a matriarch..."

Matriarch. That had to be part of the magic, too, and she realized that it had come to her, as well. Matriarch. Woman in charge. Big-footed woman.

Why do feet matter?!

But she could fight...she hoped. She was at least aware of the magic, which meant that she might not suffer quite so much of the compulsion as Lorkos was. She looked at the door, imagined their chances of getting free if they tried to seal the door shut and find another way out, and didn't like them.

"Alright. You fight her males. I'll deal with her."

"..."

"Lorkos?"

"Not right for a small-sole -"

"Lorkos!"

He shook his head, gritting his teeth as he nodded. They skidded to a halt, turned, and the black wolf charged the two big ones. They slammed together, falling into a ball of conflict, while she leaped around them at the charging wolf female.

"You should embrace this," the wolf said, charging at her. "You are like us! Be -"

"Oh, shut up!"

Vicki ducked the tackling grapple, sliding between the wolf's legs. Those huge feet almost stomped on her from either side, but she slipped by, using her tails to flick her back upright. As soon as she landed, the wolf tried to turn around, but a kitsune's tails were good for something. She swung them about, and it was not dissimilar to hitting someone with a two-by-four across the face when they were bundled together.

The wolf female slumped back, stumbling towards the fighting males. One of the enslaved wolves had been taken down, and Lorkos was wrestling with the other, the two of them rolling around as they did. Vicki didn't let herself pay too much attention; she knew that if she took her eyes off the bitch, she'd be in trouble.

"What do you want with me?" Vicki shouted, trying to keep the wolf's attention on her. "What happened to you?"

"All women must take their place...and show their power..."

Great. A spirit in a loop, at best...

Or a species that was trying to recover from the brink of extinction by taking over other people. Either way, not something that she wanted to -

The wolf bitch threw herself through the air, faster and further than Vicki thought possible. The kitsune ducked, but too late. One of those feet caught her cheek, knocking her backwards with a glancing blow. She rolled, coming up with a leap, only to have to duck another kick, and then another, throwing herself left, right, and center to avoid getting caught in the barrage of blows.

It was only when she managed to get a swing of her tail between the other woman's legs that she managed to throw her off-balance. She flipped the wolf backwards, thanking heavens that she had managed to get an opening. She was already out of breath.

Guess the fitness nut got even stronger from this...

The fall must have knocked the female out, too, which was all for the better. Vicki gasped for breath as Lorkos pulled himself out of the fight, having won his, as well. He looked down at the fallen wolf, his eyes on her feet for a moment before turning his attention to the kitsune. She smiled.

"Heh...good job," she panted. "This...this is why I hate fighting...less than a minute...completely out of breath."

"Small-sole."

"..."

"Shouldn't be on top...Small-sole..."

"...Ah, fuck..."

He was on her before she could stop him, and this time, there was no wriggling free. Training, it seemed, had the edge on tails. He pinned her, holding her down until she slipped into unconsciousness.

Vicki woke up with her legs chained down. Somehow, that wasn't a surprise, though it was kind of kinky. The kitsune had a momentary flashback to a rich New York sponsor a few years back who had a thing for tickling before the mad flicking of her tails brought her back to the moment.

She opened her eyes to find Lorkos kneeling at the base of an altar made of the same stone that had formed the statues in the long cave. She tried to sit up, only to realize her arms were pulled tight over her head.

Great.

The feeling of something else around her, something old and powerful, was stronger than before. It pulled at her senses, and she gritted her teeth as she realized that the altar was shaped as a large sole, with toes at the base that extended past the edge, and curled slightly to raise her heels up. It was an altar dedicated to large feet, and shackles made of the same stone were wrapped around her ankles, holding them down and keeping her from moving her legs.

And in the back of her mind, something whispered. It was just loud enough to be audible over Lorkos's breathing.

Another female. Another, smarter female.

"What are you? What is this?" Vicki asked.

My name is unimportant. What is important is that you accept us...become one of us...

"Yeah...I don't want to become like that. I'm fine with my feet as they are, thanks. And I have enough back problems with my breasts."

You will become one of us...Do you not wish to command the men in your life? Do you not wish to have the freedom to take control of your world?

"Mmmph...I can already...do that..."

By offering yourself?

She gritted her teeth. So much for a little mental privacy, but then again, she supposed that was to be expected on a goddamn altar. No way for her to get a little privacy when they were able to just climb into her -

A tingle ran through the chains, and she gasped as she felt it erupt into what felt like a series of miniature shocks along her feet. Her toes curled tightly, and her teeth clenched hard as she felt the itching tickle turn into something else. Something warm, then hot, causing her feet to start getting wet with sweat. A few droplets started at her toes, running between them, then slid along the balls of her feet, heading down to the heel.

Even as they warmed and wetted, though, Lorkos looked up, his eyes blank, his gaze fixed on her soles. She wasn't sure, but she thought he looked a little more muscular, as well, like his arms had thickened while she had been unconscious.

Become like us. Allow us to give you power over males...

"Nnngh...what...by giving me big...big feet?"

Allow us to grow you, small-sole...let us give you power...and change other females to be like you...

Well, that all but confirmed that they had an agenda. The heat throbbed harder through her feet, and - were the ankle shackles tighter? They were definitely getting harder against her legs, almost like they really were getting bigger. Vicki gritted her teeth, looking over her head, seeing if there was any way to try and pull her arms free. The chains were old, more like the clay tiles than the stone shackles on her ankles, but they were still heavy.

But not magical.

That meant that she had a chance. If she could just -

"Ah!"

The heat on her soles was broken for a moment, something cool and wet pressing to them. She whipped her head back down, her eyes going wide as she saw Lorkos pressing his nose to her toes, sniffing slowly. His eyes seemed to grow more and more hazy the longer that he stared at them.

"This is...Oh, boy...You're not looking to just make me bigger."

Males must learn their place...and you must be made stronger...

She could feel it, alright. There was a tingle along her soles, something beyond what was making them swell and throb, more than what made them sweat and made them more sensitive. As Lorkos licked along the ball of her foot, as he dragged his face along the undersides, she could tell that it wasn't staying there. The spit was getting absorbed, and his facial fur was getting stripped away.

The transformation wasn't just making her feet larger, or giving her the power to command males. It was giving her feet the ability to absorb things, to 'feed' her soles. And it made it feel good.

"Lorkos...Lorkos, stop."

Her command went ignored. And why not? She was a 'small-sole,' a female that wasn't sufficiently 'gifted' by the altar to be allowed to command the males just yet. He kept sniffing, licking, his eyes glazed over, dead to the world save for what he could give her soles.

Vicki hissed at every lick, biting her tongue to keep from letting out the moans that were starting to build up in the back of her throat. The licks along her feet felt far better than they should have, almost like they were being given to the space between her legs rather than along the bottoms of her feet. She gritted her teeth again and again, huffing through them as she tried to control herself.

The rest of the transformation was quick to follow, a warmth filling her chest and starting to push up under her breasts. The more that the altar's power suffused her, the more that she felt the changes. Her breasts, already quite large, were growing, pushing against her shirt, coming close to ripping it already. Her hips flared, fighting against the fabric of her shorts, trying to rip through it and expose her further.

And her feet...her feet were still lengthening, growing, pushing out further and further. The shackles were starting to become painful, and Lorkos was soon bald on either side of his face.

Gods...how do I get out of this one?

The End

Summary: Vicki gets hired by a park ranger wolf to investigate some disappearances.

Tags: M/F, F/solo, Foot Fetish, Foot Bondage, Growth, Bondage, Magic, Artifact, Fetish Artifact, Modern Fantasy, Tails, Kitsune, Wolf, Vicki,