# LUST Author: LiveIron Tags: Anger, Angst, Anthrostate, Blood and Injury, Car Chases, Dark past, Death, Gun, Horror, Hug, Human, Interspecies, Interspecies Awkwardness, Large Breasts, Magic, Old Friends, Pain, Paranormal, Possession, Resurrection, Size Difference, Smothering, Smothring, Spies & Secret Agents, Tiger, Tigress, Transformation, butt slapping, driving, fights, firearm, healing, monsters 'Each other.' \>The thralls thin out as you cut through the corn. \>Their unsteady gait left clear trails through the dead stalks, all coming from the direction of the flame. \>Makes fighting your way to it a little easier. \>Rebecca shouts directions between swings of her blade. \>Not to guide you, but to tell you were the thralls are coming from. \>Some still jump out like cheap thrills in a corn maze. \>Rebecca shreds the ones you don't catch. It's scary watching her up close. \>You don't think she's used a sword more than a day, but her swings obliterate the creatures regardless. \>You stay close to her, inside her guard. You'd rather deal with her swaying hips and stomping feet. \>The thralls manage to close in a few times. \>You didn't spot them fast enough; Rebecca has to step around you; all the little errors and cautions stack up and go wrong. \>One latches onto your arm. Another slashes at your armor, the claws tearing through to the knife-vest layer. \>Talia picks them off easily. \>Rebecca's snarls raise in pitch whenever the monsters manage to get to her \>Like you, most can barely reach past her stomach. Instead they add new stripes to her legs. \>The tigress barely notices. \>She sends thralls flying back into sword-range with her hips, kicks them with footpaws the size of their torso. \>Her voice gets deeper as she calls out bogeys. \>Before long, they're just guttural growls. \>You get slapped with her tail; her sword whooshes over your head. \>You hit the deck with a grunt, chaff blowing up in your face. \>Above you, her muzzle is wrinkled in a permanent snarl. \>Her green eyes glint red in the night. \>"Rebecca!" \>You dance around her feet, taking potshots at thralls. \>"Rebecca! Down here!" \>She finally pauses and glances down at you. \>Her eyes are a little more human. \>"Are we close?" you ask. \>The flames reflect off her teeth. \>"Yeah," she growls. \>You grab her arm before she swings again. You keep your eyes on hers, letting Talia deal with the stragglers that approach. \>"Remember what I said." \>"Don't let it control you, don't end up like me." \>Rebecca growls. \>Then she runs off, charging towards the flame. \>You curse and set off after her through the corn. \>Her path through the stalks is wide, marked occasionally by chopped clearings and cleaved bodies. \>You almost run into her when you catch up. She's stopped at the edge of a large clearing. \>The stalks are all dead and withered, laying on the cold ground. Jagged shoots lie here and there, the whole thing looking like a wasteland. \>In the center lies an inferno, the fire an angry red. \>It silhouettes the familiar, emaciated figure draped in cloth. \>Flames wreathe Patrick's legs; his missing arm is hidden beneath the tattered cloak. \>He laughs, the sound rising to that demonic pitch from before. \>His army howls around you. \>Rebecca answers in a roar. \>She flashes, her fiery, otherworldly mantle wreathing her once more. \>Her stripes burn a blistering white. \>Patrick smiles as she charges towards him, raising his cut staff. \>And then the flames engulf them both. \>You hiss and pull back from the heat; they're infernally hot even from across the large clearing. \>You call the tigress' name and get no answer, save snarling and the clash of steel on steel. \>Your breathing quickens. \>"Rebecca!" you yell again. Your voice cracks. \>The flames flare and push you back; the screech of the thrall behind you is the only way you know it's real. \>You point the Kolibri over your shoulder and fire; there's a bloody gurgle. \>"Talia," you whisper. "Please." \>The pearly metal of the tiny gun glimmers in the flames. \>Your hands are shaking. \>She still doesn't answer. \>"Please." \>Is she upset? \>Does she know? \>Is she even real? \>Guilt weighs more heavily on you than the past six hours of action. \>The chaff is rough beneath your knees. \>Of course she's real. \>Of course she knows. \>She knows what you're too afraid to admit. \>That you wanted to break your vow. That you wanted Rebecca. That -- \>"Dumbass!" \>The she-wolf's voice rings clear in your head. \>You're jerked to the side before you can even process it, led by the gun. \>It pops up and spits fire at the nearest thralls. \>The metal feels warm in your hand. \>"Talia?" \>All you get is an exasperated grunt. \>She jerks you to your feet. \>Her warm presence invades your limbs. \>You shudder, memories of Virina bubbling to the surface. The way her moonlit presence -- \>"No time," her voice rings out. "Move." \>The voice is hurried, worried, demanding. \>It's Talia, alright. \>"Where?" you ask. \>Another growl; you're pointed towards the flames again. \>"Go to her." \>You can feel her trying to move you, but some part of you resists. \>"Talia, I -- she --" \>" **Move**!" \>You lean into the heat. The flames seem to die down. \>"You -- letting her -- die?" the she-wolf asks in your head, voice strained. \>Then it all clicks into place. \>An otherworldly evil. \>An idiot with a gun. \>And an innocent woman made to die to prove someone else's point. \>A weight drops in your stomach, but you don't let it hold you. \>The PsyScope whites out as you charge into the inferno. You brush it aside as you run. \>Embers line the ground before the blaze itself. Glowing cracks have formed in the earth. \>You feel the heat for a brief moment as your faith falters. \>But then you leap. Source: https://sofurry.com/s/V1YGxpvm Part of the series Negligent Discharge: Repent Previous: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2063316-gluttony-and-temperance.md Next: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2065370-chastity.md