FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

watch out for the discussion of scat and watersports near the end of the chapter. it's the third thing that's marked with "----"

~~~~

Twilight was a young anthro Yoshi with, at last, everything to live for. After trials had plagued her life, she had finally found happiness. Every day from now on, she'd wake, tend her garden, play with and train her nine pokemon, make dinner, watch the second sunset, make love to her Farfetch'd, write, and sleep. In the cabin she'd built in the valley where she and her pokemon lived alone, she had everything she needed. Twilight smiled wide and turned her head to her mate, Star, behind her. Star looked up from her watering and smiled a real, genuine smile for her Yoshi. Twilight knew, deep in her heart, that she deserved this.

There was a lot to do before lunch. Twi had been a little shortsighted, capturing a Zangoose without really planning what to teach him after she'd caught him. She was almost done with her weeding, fortunately, so she'd have Star make lunch while she did a little research. The tomato patch occupied a circle at the center of the large garden, ten plants as all of her pets liked tomatoes, and in this climate, those ten plants provided her a pretty steady supply all the way from late spring to early winter. She'd moved her stool and was turning over the soil around the final plant when Star came over with the watering can in one wing.

She grinned, came to mock attention, and saluted: "All done with the flowers, Twi. What should I do next?"

Twi looked up and sat with her legs apart and her hands on her knees, trowel in the right one. "Get yourself another can of water, Star, and make sure the soil around the tomatoes is nice and dark. Remind me to dig in some of the dirt from around the river tomorrow, too."

"Kay," Star said, dropping her salute, "that it?"

"Ya. ...Look around," said Twi. "Some of the tomatoes are very nearly ripe, and the herbs have been going strong for a while now. I think maybe today'll be the last time we'll have to have winter fare for lunch. How about you and I bake some bread tomorrow morning and have bread salad for lunch?"

"Ooh," smiled Star, licking her beak, "someone's in a good mood."

"Why not?" said Twi. "Things are working out. Life is good. We've got a new member to our team, too."

Star grinned. "Even better, he fits!" She glanced down.

Twi giggled, understanding Star couldn't find many things that fit in her cloaca, much less a cock, while still being big enough to give her pleasure. (Fortunately, Twi's fingers were one of those things). "I noticed," the Yoshi said.

Star blushed and winked, licking her beak again.

"Anyway," said Twi, "speaking of Enichi, I've got to get inside and look up what to teach him."

"Mm," Star nodded, "okay."

"Make us some lunch when you're done watering, kay?"

"Will do, love," Star said.

Twi picked her up, and they gave each other a couple little licks on the neck before Twi put her mate down again and walked back to the house, dropping off her stool and trowel by the outside of the fence. It was a nice day, really nice. Both suns were high in the sky by now, but it wasn't at all hot, and it was dry, too, just right for a glass of lemonade. She reminded herself to pick up a bag of lemons in town since her own weren't anywhere near ready yet.

It wasn't too long of a walk from the house to the garden, seventy meters or so. Once there, she hopped up the few stairs to the porch, the front section of which was covered with a wooden awning, and sat down on the edge. She surveyed her land: beauty as far as the eye could see. The hills rose up in the east a couple kilometers away, but the mountains in the west were closer, maybe a half a kilometer or three quarters. But in front of her were the plains, going out so far she could only see the dull outlines of the mountains that were the north border to the valley.

The river or stream, whichever you wanted to call it, that ran down from them and right past the house not fifty paces from it, was at almost ground level; not a very ancient river at all, and not all that wide, either. It was wider elsewhere, farther north, but by the house, it was no wider than a creek, and Twi had long ago built a log bridge over it that she'd been using forever to get to the path to town. Farther north, it met another river that came through a break in the western mountains and continued on east out to the coast, and that's where today's sparring was going on.

---

Twi smiled to think of her pets, and the good feeling of having them, taking care of them, and training them never went away. She always thanked the Heavens for them before bed each night; she'd give her life for any one of them. She needed to train Enichi now. Ya, how easily she got sidetracked. She jumped up to go back in the house, opened the door, and suddenly shivered. It'd just crept up on her. Gods was she horny. Again. That was because this had been a really good day so far.

She leaned against the doorframe and felt between her legs only to find a soft mushy marsh. "Gods..." she sighed, almost debating in her mind whether she could really be hot again so soon after pawing this morning. But when she was happy, horniness was only natural. She puffed and made up her mind. Researching could wait a little while. She was going to go back to the garden to find Star, so she turned around, only to find Star right there, standing on the ground in front of of the front steps looking up at her and smirking.

The Duck giggled. "Well, you are in a good mood."

Twi grinned. "Shut up."

"Well, I'm done with the watering. What was it you said I should do next?" Star was licking her beak.

Twi was about to say, "make lunch," until she realized that wasn't what Star was asking at all. In fact, the Duck was holding up her leek and eyeing Twi's dripping cunt. Twi backed up against the doorframe and blushed, her tail showing down between her legs because of how she was pressed up against it, and her tail was dripping, too, with the juices that had soaked it when she'd been sitting down before. "Lunch can wait," Twi let out, panting.

Star came up the steps. "Nah, I know you gotta get to your research and all."

"It'll only take a little while!" Twi protested.

"It'll have to be quick," Star grinned. "I'll just get you off and then we'll get back to business. Lie down now, on your back."

"Right here?" Twi worried.

"Yep. No one's here."

"Enichi is. He's in the back room."

"So," said Star. "He's not coming out."

"He might..."

"So what if he does?"

Twi blushed and got down on her back immediately, lying back and holding her legs up and apart, displaying her sopping cunt.

Star giggled, "Good girl." Twi giggled, too.

"Just... c'mon!" the Yoshi begged. She brought her hands around under her hips and held her lips apart with her fingers; She was rewarded. Star held the leek at its end in her right wing, sat down at Twi's right, and pushed the length of the vegetable right up in her. It slid right in with no trouble and opened Twi's hole right up, much to her delight.

It got all the way in, and Star twisted it so as to get a better grip, bringing a groan from Twi. Then the bird pulled it all the way back out, slowly, listening to Twi softly moan as she did it. She pulled it back out into the open air just to watch it glisten with her lover's juices, and Twi kept holding her lips open, looking down between her legs, hoping Star would start soon.

"Pretty Twi," the bird cooed, looking the wet leek all over, making the Yoshi blush more purple than she already was. Then the leek was positioned back at Twi's opening and slid easily back in the now stretched hole, and Star brushed Twi's hands away from her pussy with her left wing.

She had some experience at this. She watched the leek go in and out of her lover's pussy just long enough to get her thrusting hard and steady, and then she looked right into her Yoshi's face, and her Yoshi looked back at her. Twi's cheeks were burning.

Though it wasn't overly obvious, Star was in one of those moods where she had to get what she wanted or the world would come crashing down, and Twi found that incredibly hot. If Twi had protested the treatment, there would have been hell to pay, but why would she have resisted? The long, ungiving vegetable up her hole was sending shivers two- and threefold up and down her spine, making her legs quiver with the hard rod in between them.

And doing it outside, even if there was no one else around, made her feel so naughty, so good to give in to Star's want to get her off. What if Enichi had come out at that moment?

Star upped her pace, savoring the squelching noises it made coming out and going in every time. There wasn't a word exchanged between the two, but there was a lot of communication going on. Star could see in her lover's face exactly what she was feeling, in the grin, in the blush, in the way she gasped or her lips quivered whenever Star tried a subtlely different stroke.

Star kept staring right into her Yoshi's eyes but pounded the leek harder and harder into the slit between her lover's creamy thighs. The vegetable was long enough to reach right to the back of Twi's seven-inch-deep tunnel. Then Star could hear her Yoshi holding her breath, so she went a lot faster with the leek. Thirty seconds later, Twi squealed and caught the leek in her spasming tunnel.

Star pulled it out anyway, bringing a powerful eruption of juice in every direction out from in between Twi's thighs. Twi's eyes were closed, and head was back, and her arms were by her side, and her shoulders were tensed, and her hands were clenched. Then she collapsed back on the deck, quivering and panting, when the ripples had stopped running up and down inside her tunnel.

"Ooooh... Star..." Twi breathed out.

Star giggled, licking her mate's juices off the green-and-white vegetable. "You ready to go on with your day now?" she teased.

Twi shook with silent laughter for a moment. "Gimme a minute, crazy," she said.

Star jumped up the rest of the stairs and bent over and licked Twi's breast and then her cheek. "I'll be inside making lunch, then," Star winked.

"Kay," the Yoshi said before closing her eyes for a moment. The sun felt so good on her legs; the shade felt so cool on her sweaty tits. Five minutes later, she went in the house, back to her study, and started reading.

****

Everyone gathered back in the house, and lunch was a quick affair. Ge had won the morning match and was lording it over the rest like he usually did when he won. It was all in good humor. Lunch itself was Moose jerky, capers, pasta, and tea. All Star had done was boil pasta, and Twi laughed at that inside throughout the lunch, which they took on the west deck. The meal was the usual chattering affair, everyone gathered around, then Twi assigned them general excersize for the day.

Ge's assignment was pretty much always long-distance running; his strength in battle came from his agility and stamina. Ki was to work with the river, making shapes rise out of the water with her mind; lately her psychic accuracy had been lacking in the telekinesis. Flame and Tangie were to spar one on one; Flame needed to get smarter and Tangie quicker. Takashi and Burr were to race to the northern mountains and back; one was fat and the other small.

Artemis was to fly over the entire valley and find five targets that Twi had placed a week ago (a week ago so they would be half buried or grown over by now); Twi was really pushing Star's keen eye. Star was just doing laps to the coast and back; she was getting fat. After everyone besides Enichi was dismissed, Twi patted the Zangoose's shoulder.

"Not to sound scary or anything, 'Nichi, but I'm asking your final consent. You gonna obey me, trust me, and give up your life for me should I ask? Consider it. I'll see you in a half hour."

"What?" Enichi exclaimed, looking around at Twi, who was getting up and about to walk back into the house through the study door.

"You heard me," said Twi, smiling. "I'm giving you a half hour. Will that be enough time?"

"Wh... yeah," said Enichi, "but..."

"I'll see you then, then," Twi told him, and with that walked back into the study.

She sat down at her long desk and took her book, open, from the table, then sat back. Step one was to challenge him, that's right. Step two, she didn't know yet. The one "extensive" book she had was hardly a manual; it told her what this trainer taught this pokemon, what that trainer taught the other one, descriptions of attacks, et cetera. But it was missing something very important, something that she still felt too many people lacked: soul.

After all these years, she'd still never met anyone, even her pokemon, who had the kind of soul the Dragons who raised her did or the kind of soul her father had--save one girl, and she was, yep, definitely gone now. Twi had moved on, and so had she, and Twi knew without having to think about it that they both were hoping, hoping without knowing, that the other was in a better place now.

Twi sighed, smiling. A half-hour nap was in order. She didn't bother to put the book back on the table before falling asleep, and the nap ended up lasting an hour instead. Not that she hadn't intended it to; there was an alarm clock right there on the desk too.

Enichi was still sitting there against the house on the east deck when Twi walked back out yawning and stretching and scratching her tail. The Zangoose blushed as soon as he looked over.

"You're pretty hot, you know, Twi," he said. "I hope you don't mind me saying that."

Twi giggled. "I only don't mind if you mean it," she said. "You factor my hotness into your decision?"

Enichi blushed. "Well no... Should I have?" he grinned.

So did Twi. "There ya go."

Enichi wasn't sure where he'd gone or what he'd said right, but he kept on grinning anyway, staring at her tits, even when she sat down right next to him. Then he looked up at her smiling face after about a minute of silence.

"Done?" Twi asked happily.

"For now," he said.

Twi kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush. Then she looked out ahead of her. "You like this kind of weather, Enichi?" It was a bright and sunny day, a couple clouds in the sky, not too hot, not too humid: the perfect spring day. "It's great for working in the garden," she said.

He looked out at the vista for a second, which consisted of the thick of trees across the field ahead of him, then the rising hills beyond that. "Yeah," he told her, "it's nice. But I also like those kinds of days where... those cold and windy days when it's rained and everything soaked and you can't find a dry place to sit down. That real cold, you know? That when it gets to be night it's so cold... you know what I'm talking about?"

"It's so cold you can feel it in your bones. Ya," said Twi, smiling, "I know." She paused, and her smile got just a little bit wider. "Well now I'm sure. Now are you?"

"Sorry, Twi, sure of what?"

She looked back over at him from the landscape. "What?"

"Sure of what?" Enichi asked again.

"Sure that you belong with us," Twi said to him, looking at him this time.

Enichi nodded. "You know, Twi, if I was gonna lay my life down for anyone, I'd like if it were you."

Twi nodded, too. "You're scared, huh?"

"Very," Enichi said.

"But ready?" Twi asked him.

"Yeah," he said. "I meant to say..."

"Ya?"

"I didn't mean to say what I said. I meant..."

"I'm the only one you've met worth laying your life down for?" Twi finished.

"No," he said, "but damn close. And Twi? We don't... risk our lives in these matches, do we? In tournaments? It's over when the judge calls it, right?"

"Ya," said Twi.

"Then why...?"

"Pets should give themselves up for their masters, Enichi."

"So you were testing me," he said. "That was part of my training, right there."

Twi shook her head slowly. "No." Then she smiled.

Enichi paused.

"Come on," the Yoshi said, getting up and jumping off the deck into the grassy field between the house and the trees. "Come on, we're gonna start."

Enichi got up and followed her, confused now. Twi was turning out to be more than he'd bargained for. Figuring people out was usually his thing, and he usually had no problem seeing what it was people wanted. Twi was an enigma: in the sense that if you questioned something about her, the only way you'd be able to answer would be with another question. What she said next was no exception.

"Come at me," called Twi to him across the ten paces they were apart. "Try to claw me to death."

Enichi blinked. "What? Twi, you must... you can't want... I mean, I have been trained before, you know," he called back, making the last part louder and more forceful.

Twi chuckled. "I'm pretty good myself, Enichi. Let's see what'cha got." She took an actual fighting stance.

Enichi laughed but then got serious and ran at her, letting his claws out as he was. He faked to the right and then swung at her belly from the left. Twi stepped around to her left as he was faking, he changed direction anyway and struck, and Twi kicked him right in the dirt. She'd moved maybe one pace. "There," she said, "made a fool of you."

Enichi got up and growled, about to slash at her again, but Twi stopped his claw with her hand on his wrist, and the Zangoose suddenly found himself unable to move. "Wh...? How are you doing that?" he stammered, still struggling to push his claw down into Twi's breast.

"I'm better than you are," Twi said, "way better."

Enichi blinked and let the tension out of his body and stopped his attack. He blushed and stood there looking down. "I'm sure you are..." he said.

Twi lifted his face back up with her hand. "You know, Enichi. There are some who'll tell you you're good at whatever just because they want to see you smile. Or if you're bad at something, they'll tell you you're good so you don't get discouraged. Then when you get good, they'll start criticizing you because they can see you have potential. You wanna tell me what's wrong with that?"

Enichi was huffing with rage. "No, not really, Twi."

Twi shrugged. "Okay. We'll just keep doing this till you get tired."

Enichi growled, so Twi took his legs out from under him with her shin, and he fell right down in the dirt again. She looked down at him and smiled, offering her hand. "First thing you gotta learn is when someone tells you to attack them, you stay put. You got that? I don't want you down in the first five seconds of a match because their pokemon taunted you and you rushed in blind."

"How... how did you do that?" he asked, not really paying attention to her.

"Do what?"

"I couldn't move there. When I was gonna hit you, I couldn't move."

"I confused you," said Twi without missing a beat. "I took a stance that put all my defense exactly where I knew you were going to attack. You know how I knew where you were going to attack?"

Enichi nodded and stood up. "Because you confused me."

"Right," Twi nodded and smiled, "and the sooner you stop being ashamed when you mess up, the easier it's gonna be to get good at this."

Enichi sighed and nodded. "Okay," he said.

"Battle is an art," said Twi, "but you can't be a master of oratory until you learn how to speak, a master of editing until you learn how to criticize, or a master of painting until you know how to hold a brush."

"What does that mean?"

"Glad you asked," Twi said. "It means you've gotta master the basics before you can practice the art. It means you're gonna follow the rules and leave your emotions out of it until you know what you're doing. Kay?"

"Yeah, okay," Enichi said, nodding.

"I made a fool of you back there."

"Thanks," Enichi said.

"Good," Twi nodded. "Let's move on."

Twi turned around and started walking back towards the house.

"Where you going, Twi?" said the Zangoose.

Twi said something, but Enichi sneezed from the dust in his nose and missed it.

Twi had stopped, was facing him and smiling. "Come sit with me a little while," she repeated herself.

"What? Aren't we training?"

"Ya," said the Yoshi. "And you can't train just by working your muscles." She motioned with her head. "Come sit with me a while."

"We spent five seconds working our muscles," said Enichi, coming running up to her.

Twi waited for him, and then the both of them started walking on back from the middle of the field. "So?" said the Yoshi. "Things are gonna be pretty slow like this at the start. Believe me, you'll wish it were like this when you're out there sparring with Arts."

"...Arts?" asked the Zangoose, looking over.

"Er, Artemis. I guess I'm the only one that really calls her that. Have from pretty much the beginning. Just the way things happened, I guess."

"Oh." The both of them hopped up on the deck and sat down against the wall of the house where they had been literally a minute ago.

"Well you seemed to get over your frustration pretty quickly," the Yoshi segued.

"Um," mumbled Enichi, blushing and looking down bashfully, "I guess so."

"Get frustrated a lot?"

"Yeah," said the Zangoose. "Everyone always beats up on me."

"Sorry," said Twi.

Enichi chuckled. "Sometimes I need it, you know."

"Ya, well," said the Yoshi, "I'm still sorry. Probably shouldn't have started out that way."

"Nah," said Enichi, "it's okay."

That made Twi smile. "Good, then. From what I've been able to gather, you've been with four families in your life, including this one: Zangoose, Human, then Zangoose again, then us. Your Human family trained you, probably the daughter, right? You called her Allison."

Enichi blinked. "From what you gather?"

Twi giggled. "Well, it wasn't that hard. You've been more or less open about it."

"Yeah," Enichi told her, "that's right. My first family used to pick on me cuz I was the smallest one of us. Then Allison's father didn't... um. He hated us, plain and simple. My third family thought I was small, too, but I was friends with one of the girls in the family that took me in. Niko. She was my sister. She probably thinks I'm dead."

Twi frowned and cringed a little. "I... didn't quite realize that."

Enichi shook his head. "Nah. How could you have? She was the one I was getting ready to fuck when you captured me. She ran off. She's alright."

Twi looked a little worried. "You could go at least show her you're alright, ya know."

"No," Enichi said, "better the way things are. Let her think I'm gone. I am gone. I never belonged there. Let her grieve for me. Let them all grieve for me. Life goes on. I wanna be here."

"Geez," Twi whispered to herself and let it drop.

"Gods, Niko was hot," Enichi said suddenly. "Gods. She had the cutest little cunt all surrounded by her white fur, and it was all ruffled there, and... er." He looked up at his mistress.

Twi was blushing pretty hard. "...Where'd you learn to talk like that?"

"I dunno. I guess it's just been kinda coming out that way since I've been here. Everything's so open here, Twi! I can do anything I want!"

"Pretty much, Enichi," Twi said seriously. "That's the way I want it; that's the way I've always been trying to make it. You can't be this way most places in this world. Nafory's close, but they're really very radical compared with the rest of the land, even in the middle."

"You mean the middle three regions?"

"Ya," said Twi. "You have a good memory, 'Nichi."

Enichi's ears perked up, and he grinned. "Thanks!"

Twi smiled and nodded.

"So this is training?" asked the little Zangoose, chuckling.

"Kinda," Twi smiled, "you'll see."

Tangerine was scattering off thousands of tiny spores as she ran directly towards Flametail as fast as she could. Unfortunately, part of the reason she was running as fast as she could was that she was being chased by a gigantic fireball that had come out of Flame's mouth five seconds earlier and was tracking her.

Flame had the obvious advantage in this matchup, and Twi knew it. Plants burned, and that was why they always fought right next to the river, in case Tangie got in real trouble. The point of this was to make Tangie use her head more.

The only way Flame was gonna get that fireball to catch up with Tangie was gonna be to stop her himself. He ran towards her, loosing his claws as he did. Tangie knew what she had to do, but unfortunately, Flame knew what she had to do, too. At the last minute, he jumped, aiming to come down on her from the air, foiling Tangie's plan to coil him up and hit him with his own fireball.

Tangie was too fast and shot her vines up towards him, but he was too aware and cut them as they were coming towards him. Tangie had to roll out of the way of Flame's attack, and the fireball caught up to her, not setting her ablaze but instead dividing into four parts which circled around her so she couldn't go anywhere. Flame landed. He had missed his attack but caught her in his fire spin. He'd finish her off right now.

That's when the spores got to him. He tried to rush in and slash her, but when he tried to move his muscles, they wouldn't go except for his head and neck. So he looked over at Tangie, who was standing very still in the middle of a wheel of fire grinning at him. He'd learned how to tell when she was grinning from her eyes even though she didn't technically have a mouth.

"Pah," he sighed, and Tangie rolled her eyes. They looked at each other, neither able to move. Another stalemate. Which was good; it meant Tangie was keeping up against attacks she was weak to. But it seemed kinda pointless on some levels for the goal of the spar to be a draw.

The ring of fire disappeared and the paralysis wore off at about the same time. When they had, Flame and Tangie walked in towards each other, both perspiring pretty heavily.

"We're too good for each other!" called Tangie as they were reaching each other.

Flame grinned proudly. "You can say that again, sexy."

Tangie's eyes smiled happily. "Take a break?" she offered.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm out of it. Probably only been going a half hour, though. Don't you think that's kinda pathetic?"

"We'll go again soon," she reassured him, giggling. "Wanna take a dip with me?"

"Ah-ah," Flame grinned, "no naughty stuff. We're supposed to be sparring."

Tangie winked at him. "I promise. If you get horny, you'll just have to take it out on me in the match."

"That an invitation?"

"Ah-ah," Tangie grinned, "no naughty business."

Ignoring her, Flame put his tailfire out and waded into the stream, ignoring her, and she followed right after. The water was gentle and cool here. Flame waded in up to his waist and sat down on the pebbly bottom and leaned up against a rock, his hands at his sides, watching Tangie wade in herself and quietly telling himself it'd be pretty embarrassing to get hard right about now.

Tangie didn't have to worry about that sorta thing; she could get as wet as she wanted and he wouldn't know, and she snickered over this. Even the smell would get washed away in the river. She sat down in shallower waters eight or ten paces from her mate and closed her eyes. So did Flame, and his shoulders dropped. He could feel the water gently flowing past him just like he could hear it running downstream. He loved it here.

Twi opened her eyes, letting a cool breeze whisk over her shoulders and breasts, and turned her head to Enichi next to her. They had been silent for about five minutes now.

"Why'd you wanna know about my Human family earlier, Twi?" he said as if moved to do so by Twi's glance.

"Just interested," she said.

"Oh. Ya know, there was something I was supposed to ask you earlier, but I forgot."

"What was it? You can ask me now."

"No, I mean I forgot what it was."

"Oh," Twi said, looking back out to the field. They hadn't gone back out there yet, but that was okay.

Training was a slow process, one that wasn't all about work. The mental and the emotional parts had to come first. Then the physical would come naturally once he was in the right state of mind for it to.

Twi herself was radical. She had her own freer methods for everything, methods based on her own theories, methods that seemed to be working out for her and her pokemon. But they had certainly come to her at a price. And there was always the chance they were only seeming to work out.

"What did you mean earlier when you said Nafory was radical?" Enichi asked, turning to her.

"Was that the question you forgot?"

"No it wasn't, but I wanna know."

"I meant compared to almost every other city in the world," Twi told him, "it's... free. There's no police there, but there's also no crime. Everyone's selfless and generous because of their circumstances and because of their pride and because of their heritages. But at the same time it's free, there are also so many ideas floating around that... I mean, the people believe so many different things--and the population is so varied--that no one knows what to beli-... I mean, there's no real common belief system. The closest there is is religion, but Naaiji is practiced heavily throughout the world, anyway."

"Sorry, Twi, I'm not following you at all," said the Zangoose.

Twi chuckled a little. "I'm used to talking in generalities, I guess," she said. "It's radical because there are many different species living there, but they all have different ideas on the world. A Kangaroo can meet a Lynx in the marketplace, and they can talk about the war, the people, the trade, the food... even themselves and how to bring up their children... and not agree on one thing yet still be friends. You follow?"

"Yeah, I understand that, Twi. But the rest of the world isn't like that?"

"No way, Enichi." (She inwardly giggled at his naivete.) "Most places, with most people, if they don't agree on something, they like each other less. The less they agree on, the less they like each other. Less and less and less until they can't do anything but hate each other."

Enichi blinked. "So that's the reason the Dragons and the Unicorns are fighting?"

"You could say that. It's very complicated. But at the root of it, they're both very old cultures that live very differently, and they can't even tolerate each other."

"I'm sorry, Twi," Enichi said. "This is all very much over my head."

Twi smiled. "I don't really know how to explain it, either, 'Nichi. When you get to know something so well as I know the war, it's hard to explain it to someone who's just hearing about it for the first time. You don't know where to begin. Ask everyone around here questions about it. We all know about it more or less."

Enichi smiled back. "Sure, Twi. I'll think of some."

Takashi and Burr were neck and neck, grinning at each other as they were running instead of watching where they were going. That was okay; they were trained in not watching where they were going. The little Sandshrew looked really extra cute when she was grinning, and that distracted the big Nidoking, and she knew it. But she also wasn't admitting to herself that his grin was distracting her.

Truth be told, he just looked at her as a daughter, but she was developing quite the crush on him. She wasn't all that little, either. Her first heat would be soon, within a couple of months, probably, and she had already been interested in boys for longer than she was letting on. Playing innocent let her do whatever she wanted during yiff time. She hopped over a root sticking up out of the ground in a loop and didn't miss her footing. Takashi would have crushed that root if he had stepped on it. They were a natural pair.

Sweat was running down Takashi's chest and sides as he ran, and drops were accumulating on the underside of Burr's tail, too. They would be at the foothills soon, and there was nothing but flat plains left in front of them. Top speed was almost not good enough for Burr to keep up with her short legs, and she hadn't slowed down from a sprint at all. Twi wanted her to run less like she was used to (with even strides and close to the ground) and more like the Rattata did (in more of a jumping style, front paws at the same time and back at the same time instead of an interchanging stride).

She thought the height would help Burr focus her motion more forward instead of side to side, not to mention making her stride much longer and helping her dodge in battle. It was no wonder Twi wanted her to work on her agility. Burr didn't let it on, but she was a very dedicated little girl, and she knew it. It gave her a lot of joy to be able to run, even more joy to please her mistress in battle. She showed Takashi her teeth, their gazes still fixed on each other, approaching the base of the hills.

Takashi was just tired by now. Running was clearly not his forte; his frame just made it a challenge. He wanted to be a fortress in battle, but Twi wanted him to be a moving fortress. His top speed wasn't high, and he didn't have much stamina. He would have liked it very much if all his mistress asked him to do in battle was stand still and trade blows, but he didn't fight in matches between the neighborhood kids. His team was nearly the best in the land, and after the time last battle he hadn't made it to Ki fast enough to save her from being knocked out, Twi was really, really working his legs.

His bright, blue eyes smiled at Burr once more before he turned his head back to the course in front of him. Agility was another thing Twi had been working on with him. He needed to be able to change direction more quickly. He was just reaching the base of the hill. He'd practiced doing this all last week. A pace from the turning point, he planted his front legs in the earth, jumped up with his back ones, and used his weight to whirl him around. Then he planted his hind legs and sprang forward in the other direction. He could hear Burr curse behind him in her cute, normally meek little voice. He'd perfectly executed the spin, putting him a body length ahead of her, one of his body lengths. He smiled with pride as he ran on, increasing his pace.

Twi and Enichi had just passed another five minutes in silence. Enichi was getting a little ansy, and it was gonna turn itself into horniness if he stared at Twi's breasts for any longer. Twi, sitting next to him, perfectly aware where he was staring, was just looking out into the field, smiling. He was the best kind of fresh meat: the innocent, strong kind with a huge heart and a huge cock (for his age), the kind you were truly excited by.

"Mm, Twi?" he said, looking up at her face again.

"Ya, 'Nichi?"

"You think we could get out there again? My legs feel like movin', you know?"

Twi smiled over at him. "Sure thing, cutie."

The both of them got up and walked back out into the field, from under the shade of the deck's awning to the warm, gentle afternoon sun.

Just getting off the porch herself, Twi grinned a little as she watched Enichi eagerly running back into the field. Her ploy had worked for the moment. She'd given him a little taste of what it would be like to be truly good at something. She'd challenged him for real for probably the first time in his life, and he'd loved it. She was sure he didn't know quite what was going on, but she knew that there was suddenly now something starting to grow in the base of his chest.

Twi reassured herself of her own methods: when you go up against an opponent stronger than you, all you want to do is beat them; but when that opponent wants to help you beat them, then that's teamwork. That makes you feel wonderful inside, excited, eager, like Enichi was.

She'd humiliated him, but she'd also given it a little time to settle in his mind. And now he was beginning to see that he'd just feel bored sitting on the porch. He saw a new purpose to life that he'd never been able to see before, and that was the thing Twi took the most pride in about her training.

Nevertheless, she'd been perhaps more interested in what he had to say about his previous families than he was in starting his training. To Twi, it felt like something she should know right away, and she was almost nervous not knowing it.

He'd nearly bared his claws when she'd mentioned Niko, but she had a feeling what he was opposed to was going back to any of his past lives rather than opposed to seeing her again. She imagined he'd love to fuck her silly. Twi kinda grinned wavily for a second. It would almost be kinda nice to have Zangoose pups around the house. But that was dumb.

She came back to the moment. The grass, still moist on the cool, humid day, felt amazing in between her toes. Enichi was practically jumping up and down, ready as he'd ever been for anything in his life. Pretty much whatever she taught him right now would be the thing he would best internalize. She took a second considering this, then came up and stood beside him. Enichi looked over at her and flashed a big, toothy grin at her.

"Let me see your claws, Enichi."

The request almost half took him by surprise, but he popped them out. "...Okay. Why?"

She took his right hand in hers and turned it palm up, stroking each one of his fingers with her thumb. Then she scraped a finger down against the point of each claw. They were sharp enough for the wild--maybe--but they were pretty dull in her book. Good thing is, they were sturdy and thick.

"Mmm," Twi mumbled suddenly, curiously enough to make Enichi look at her face to try to determine what she was thinking. Then she looked up and around for a second before fixing on a tree about twenty, twenty-five paces from them. "Run up and put a slash in that tree, Enichi, see the one I mean?" She pointed to it.

"Ya. Both claws or one?"

"Just do it any way you want. Let me back up a little so I can watch you."

"Kay."

Twi took a few, ten paces back and towards the tree, then started watching Enichi. "Go ahead!" she called. "Anytime you're ready."

Without hesitation, Enichi took off forward at a sprint, as fast as he could, towards the tree, drawing both claws. (That he was using both pleased Twi immensely; this would be an interesting one. Flame didn't use both claws for melee; neither did Ge or Ki, Burr had a bit of a different style for the whole business, and Takashi was a boxer.)

This Zangoose was fast already, that was for sure, but he looked like he wasn't watching where he was going. Or aiming. He jumped up at the last moment and came down with the right claw first going diagonally then with the left doing the same in the oppposite direction, then he landed sturdily on both feet. The X in the tree was large; not horribly uneven, either. Having accomplished his mission, Enichi turned around and grinned, proud of himself. Twi came up grinning a little, too, cuz he'd surpassed her expectations.

"Good," she said, which made Enichi grin even wider.

"What now?"

"Don't get cocky on me so soon, 'Nichi. I'll knock you back on your tail again." She winked at him.

"Ya? Bet I could take you."

Lightening fast, she punched him right in the gut, and he stood there for a second, dazed, before doubling over in pain and coughing.

"You fuckin' shattered my ribs, you fuck!"

"Now, now," said Twi, "I barely touched you. Don't get cocky on me. Now we'll just have to wait 'till you get your breath back before I tell you how much your slash sucked."

Enichi looked up at her, queazy and dizzy. There was a sudden fire in her eyes that hadn't been there ever before. Her voice was harsh, too, unlike anytime before. Was this what she was like when she was angry? The Zangoose dropped to his knees, afraid staying here had turned out to not be such a good idea, cursing himself for letting her trap him like this, hating himself for believing that there were any trainers that were really kind. He closed his eyes, and two tears streamed out.

"I'm sorry, Twi," he heard himself saying. He felt himself blushing hard right away, miserable and ashamed, unable to believe he'd just said it. He told himself all he felt was anger against her and anger against himself, but here were these tender words forcing their way out of his mouth, directed at his enemy.

Twi smiled. Ya her methods were radical, but they worked. "You going to respect me from now on?" she asked him very quietly.

"...yes," Enichi said, giving in, sniffling and quivering.

"Then it's okay," Twi told him. "You understand what you did?"

Enichi's lip quivered. "No..." he let out.

"You were thinking only of yourself. While I was thinking of you. It may not have seemed like a big deal to you, but if you challenge someone stronger than you who's actually got something against you, you're gonna find yourself bleeding out in a gutter. It shouldn't happen. It doesn't happen to normal people. But you're going to be strong, and people fear strength. Respect will save your life if you play your cards right."

"What... what do you mean, Twi?" He wouldn't tell her, but images of the Ponyta that had almost killed him were flashing through his mind, and that's why he was crying. He wasn't afraid of her. And he knew very well what she meant.

"Outside of this valley, outside of Nafory, people aren't kind, Enichi. One of us, someone would think nothing of killing a fur just for their money; and pokemon, people treat them like toys. They call us people who take care of pokemon, they call us owners. If your 'owner' isn't with you, they can do whatever they want with you. Those are the rules they live by."

"So..." Enichi looked up, the last two tears running down into his cheekfur. "Here it's perfect, in Nafory it's perfect, and... in the rest of the world, it's like that? People's hearts are so full of those awful things that they just go around killing each other, taking whatever they want?"

Twi chuckled dryly for a second, looking sober. "Not each other, 'Nichi. They're not that stupid. But us. Out there, especially outside the middle, it's okay to hate furries, and pokemon are objects."

"It's really like that?" he asked.

"Ya."

"Then... how can it be so perfect in Nafory? That they don't even need police? That furs and pokemon and members of all species are accepted there?"

Twi sat down. This lesson over respecting her as trainer had gone far astray. But he didn't need that lesson. He was just a little kid. He needed a lesson about the real world and about evil and about death, and he needed to grow up. He'd been long trying to find a place for himself, and he was fortunate enough to have found his way here, but he didn't know anything.

She wondered how he'd found his way here. He must have gone through some horrible things already that he didn't understand and was too afraid to talk about with anyone. She answered his question as best she could:

"It's complicated, Enichi, really. You remember me telling you Nafory was a mining town, right? A trade town?"

"Um, I guess so," he said, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"You know how strong an Ox fur is, who's been a miner for thirty years? You know how good of an archer a properly trained Squirrel or Owl is? Nafory is like... it's a meeting place for those who..." She considered how to put it. "You probably won't understand."

"I'm smarter than you think," Enichi said seriously and defiantly.

Twi giggled at the childishness of that. "I'm saying so cuz you've never been to Nafory, so you might not quite get what I tell you about it."

"Oh," he said meekly, blushing.

Twi smiled. "Your tummy hurt less now?"

Enichi smiled. "Ya, Twi."

"Good," she said. "Nafory's like... Hey, Enichi? Why'd you run away from your trainer before? Allison?"

"I didn't run away from her," he said immediately. "I never got to say goodbye to her, even. She thinks I'm dead."

Twi was silent; they both were for a long time.

Then Enichi went on: "I was running away cuz her father, he took an axe to all the other pokemon I lived with there."

"...Gods" was Twi's quiet response. "I'm sorry I said those things to you!"

Enichi looked at her, seeming like the mature one of the two again. "Wasn't like I knew why he did it before, Twi. Now I know he just didn't think we were anything worth keeping around the house."

Twi looked away, a little ashamed of herself, but said, regardless, "that's probably true."

"I dunno how he found us, Twi. Allison hid us in a little room in the cellar that she said only she knew about. But when he did, he brought us up into the kitchen one by one and slaughtered us. We heard him yelling at Allison and her little brother and sister to go to their rooms, then we heard him stomping down the stairs, then there was nothing... Then he came up through the trap door in the floor cuz that was how you got into the room, and... I dunno why he didn't just kill us all right there, but..." Enichi was sobbing again.

"But..." the little Zangoose went on, "he took us one at a time, and the kitchen was right above the basement, and... one time as he was coming back, I got out before he got there and he didn't notice, and I ran upstairs as he was going back down through the tunnel into the room, and I didn't know what to do, so I hid under the sink."

"...How old was Allison?"

"Thirteen. She'd just gotten me, too, and I liked her. My friends back in the pack I was born in, they used to tell me stories about how awful trainers were, how they liked to beat their pokemon, keep them locked up, and rape them. But she wasn't anything like that at all, Twi. It was just her father."

"How'd you get away, 'Nichi?"

"He finished killing the others, Twi," he said, "so he went upstairs. I could hear him go. So I came out from the cabinet and looked for a way to get out, and there was the window above the sink, half open. I was little then, so I wasn't strong enough to get it up the rest of the way, but I was small enough, so I could get through. Then I could hear the children crying from inside, but I was already running, and I don't remember how far I ran, but I didn't stop till night came, and then I was in a forest somewhere. And it was cold, and it rained really hard that night."

"Gods," Twi said. "I didn't think it would be anything like that, the reason."

Enichi looked to the side, then said, "well I like you too, Twi, like I liked her."

"I know," she told him. It maybe wasn't the most sensitive thing to say, but he smiled.

"I know you know," he said. "You let me fuck you."

"You cummed really fast," she said, giggling a little.

"Yeah," he said. "You were sweet inside."

Twi grinned shakily.

"What about Nafory?" Enichi said.

"Huh?"

"Well, I told you my story, now you tell me yours."

Twi giggled a little more brightly now. "I was gonna say, it's like a place people run away from home to. There are a lot of furs there, and Nafory is home to a resistance of sorts, against the war in general. It has its own defenders, so normal people are kinda scared of it, but they kinda respect it, too. The Dragons or the Unicorns could easily take it if they wanted to, but... well, this is where it gets speculative..."

"Speck-you-luh-tive?"

Twi snorted and burst into laughter for a good minute straight, rolling backwards onto the ground. Enichi just looked at her confusedly then stared at the juicy cunt she was giving him a great view of.

Artemis and Star had finished their assignments way ahead of time, so they were taking a walk. They didn't feel so bad about slacking off for one day; it would be a couple months at least until the next tournament--the next one Twi could go to, anyway--and they trained hard usually. Really they would have used each other as an excuse if Twi had found out, but that's not what they told each other.

It was a beautiful day again. The first sun was getting to be almost straight overhead, so the really hot part of the day was just starting, and that was good in Twi's book. She had her pokemon start training in mid morning, around 4, and liked them to go for about four hours so they would be going until exactly midday. Midday was when the second sun was directly overhead, and that meant the first sun was high up too, and that was the really hot part of the day, when it was customary to take a nap.

The pair of birds walked along the northeastern path, going away from the river. It was peaceful here, that's what they both liked about it, and both had a lot more in common than they liked to admit to each other. Either might say they saw the other become their friendly rival over the years, but honestly, even living in the same house, their paths didn't cross that much when they were away from the main group. Artemis had her friends: Takashi, Ge, Ki, and Twi, the more serious of the residents. And Star had her friends: Flame, Tangie, and Burr, the playful ones.

There were obviously crossovers, when it came to Takashi and Burr or Star and Twi especially, but they'd lived with each other long enough to know that there was something of a division. Not that that was a bad thing or meant members of one group didn't have real friends in the other; it was just more a matter of who tended to hang out with whom. Therefore both Star and Artemis found talking with the other refreshing. They didn't get much chance to talk alone. Something always came up, it seemed, but more they just didn't think about it unless they opportunity presented itself. It was kind of a rare occasion.

Though a side effect of that was not knowing quite what to say to each other at first. They walked along in silence for a few minutes until eventually Star broke the ice:

"So you like Twi, huh?"

"Um," said Artemis, not really focusing on Star for the moment, still facing forward and walking along although the Duck was turned to her.

"Like, like like," Star clarified. "You know? Like, you have feelings for her. Geez."

Artemis seemed unconcerned, which got to Star pretty quickly. "Oh. Yea, Star. It's nothing new."

Star quacked. "Well, I didn't know before last night."

Artemis turned to her on that and blinked. "Why? What happened last night?"

"Duh!" the Duck told her immediately. "The number sixty-nine ring any bells?"

Artemis's feathers ruffled quite against her will and a blush rose in her cheeks. "Wait, stop. So that told you I like, like like her? We all fuck all the time."

"Not you and I don't," said Star, kind of missing the point.

Artemis's blush got hotter. Neither was walking anymore, and they were turned to face each other on the path. "Well, you..." started Artemis quickly without being really sure how to finish the thought.

"Yes?" said Star, grinning.

"You want to fuck, you should have just said so, or cornered me in the bedroom or something, you know. Geez," Artemis told her.

Star felt herself blush quite unexpectedly. "Well, maybe I will," she said quickly, "but that's not what I'm saying."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Star went on, more calmly now, getting back on topic, "is that the way you were eating her was more than fucking. And don't pretend you don't know what I mean, neither. You gave Enichi the fuck-mate talk, didn't ya?"

Artemis blinked. "Yea, it came up." She sounded more amazed than anything. "How'd you figure that? You couldn't have heard us. We were half a kilometer away from you."

Star laughed--chuckled quackingly, more like. "I didn't hear you, dummy. You always educate the new ones. You like to be seen as the mother of the group. You take newbies under your wing. You did it with me, you did it with all of us, now you're doing it with him. The mate-fuck thing is always first."

"What?" Artemis blinked. "That may be true, but the um... 'mate-fuck' thing just came up in conversation. In fact, he mentioned it. How you could have possibly just guessed that... I mean, I refuse to believe it." Artemis stood staunchly with her wings on her hips. "Kroot," she hooted for emphasis. "How could you have known?"

"Don't ask silly questions," Star told her.

"You were eavesdropping."

"I was at the fire with the rest of the group!" she quacked. "I'll tell ya if I'm gonna eavesdrop on you."

"Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

"Don't change the subject." Star waved her wings, blushing again. "You love Twi."

"That's not a challenge, is it, Star?" Artemis asked shyly.

And Star stopped dead in her tracks. "...Nope. No, I don't mean it like that at all."

"I do love her, yea, Star. But I didn't realize it just last night. It's been a very long time. I've just never... um..." Artemis looked to the side. "never gotten the chance to tell her... or something. Why did you want to know?"

"I was just gonna tease you about it. Thought it was some new thing. Didn't think it'd make you act like this," the Duck said.

"Oh!" Artemis let out. "I'm sorry. Guess I can just get a little too emotional."

"It's okay, hun!" Star told her. "That must have been rolling around in there for a little while."

Artemis laughed a little, quietly. "It gets bad, it gets better. Sometimes I don't notice it's there for a long time, but I always end up thinking of her when... well, you know, Demetrius."

"You're still yearning for him after all this time," Star said. "Poor thing. Ever since he was gone?"

"Yea," Artemis said. "He was my soul mate, definitely. What are the chances I'll ever find love again?"

Star found herself blushing for the third time in the conversation, but she wasn't sure why it was happening this time, now. "I dun know," said Star. "Nothing might ever seem right to you again. Most of us don't get soul mates, ever. Or find ours, if you wanna think of it that way. I never had a soul mate. Twi definitely isn't."

Artemis chuckled a little and sat down on the path with her legs out in front of her like an anthro. "Oh no?" she prodded.

"Nah," said Star. "The sex is fantastic, and we care deeply about each other, but it's just like any other normal relationship. We make the other feel good about themselves; that's why we're together. And both of us know it isn't as real as some things, but if the chance is there for any kind of love, you know, why not take it?"

"Yea, I know," said Artemis. "Don't take it like I think Twi's a perfect match for me and I want her to myself. I'm happy seeing you two together, just like I was happy about her and Dusk and her and Spark."

Star nodded happily, smiling as if to say "that's right." "Uh-huh," she said aloud, "and Twi's doing alright cuzza me. That makes everyone around her happier. We don't like it when she's depressed, do we?"

"Absolutely not," said Artemis, chuckling. "For one, she gets me flying laps around the whole valley as training. And not just five laps, either, or ten. Thirty, forty. Nap is over by the time I get back."

Star giggled. "Ya. I get to go fishing. How much fun does that sound? Stand there in the cold river the whole time with a line, not saying much of anything. Twi says she does it to think, then makes me come along and never says a word."

Artemis laughed. "I know. And I'm not sure whether I love her more as a friend, either, Star. She makes me laugh... what does that mean? And the connection we share is very deep, but also, I've been with her forever and through a lot. You know?"

Star smiled. "Ya, that's what I was sayin', hun. Could be you just want Demetrius back and you're reaching out to whatever reminds you of him."

"Yea..." Artemis said, looking sadder again.

"It's okay," Star told her. "You've got as long as you need to figure it out. Things like that, you shouldn't rush 'em. You're not regretting leaving Dusk, are you?"

Artemis chuckled. "No. No. He and Demetrius, they were always gonna take a path I didn't belong on. I never regret being with Twi."

Star smiled. "Thas' very valuable, honey."

Artemis smiled too. "Yea."

Twi and Enichi were back out in the field, having decided to save the discussion about Nafory for later. It would be an ongoing thing, probably, though she said he could come along today when she went to buy groceries if he wanted. Just now, Twi had critiqued his slash and was having him try again.

"It was good," Twi had said, "better than I had expected. It'll be something we're always working on. But for now, I just want you to make one little change. I want you to be watching the exact point on the tree where you're gonna put your slashes, kay? All the way through, from standstill to delivery."

And the second slash had been a huge improvement over the first. He'd taken less time getting to the tree, and the marks were deeper and more even. That was good enough for Twi for now.

"This feels really good, Twi," Enichi let her know, panting after coming down from his fifth double-slash in a row.

The Yoshi giggled. "That's cuz you're letting out all your pent up boredom and cuz you're not crying out of frustration from me making you get the perfect slash."

Enichi laughed at that. "Cry out of frustration?"

"All my pokemon have," said Twi, grinning. "I've broken each and every one of their spirits, more than once in a few cases. Flame and Ki."

"Yeah?" Enichi grinned, breathing heavily. "Well you're not gonna break mine. Try as hard as you want."

"I was planning on it," said Twi, "but that's not for today. That's for when you're pretty good."

"What about the punch in the gut?" Enichi asked her, recovering himself enough to walk up to her. (He looked pretty drained already.)

"Pssh," said Twi. And then, "Go slash again. You can't be getting tired yet."

She could see exactly how tired he was getting as he lined himself up for another shot, and his marks showed the signs of his fatigue. He wasn't holding himself well anymore, and he was running much more slowly. Twi both grinned and chastised herself for the next thought that came into her mind: he didn't have stamina for fighting or sex.

But that was true, though. He was plenty strong for his size, and healthy, but he liked putting his all into everything, every strike. He'd throw himself into the first attack, then wait till he'd recovered half his strength, then go again, and he wasn't doing much but cutting his accuracy and effectiveness in half every time.

He landed from this, the sixth strike, and Twi walked up to meet him. His fur was soaked with sweat, and he was letting his tongue hang out and panting too. Twi blinked. "You're really very out of shape."

He panted. "I know. I can feel it. I shouldn't be getting tired this fast."

"First of all, I think you want to impress me," she said.

"I do! I wanna show you I'm lean fresh meat."

Twi laughed out loud. "But you're fat. Not that you should be worried about it, but you haven't exercised for real in a long time, I can tell. Nor have you been on a helpful diet."

Enichi looked up at her. "I'd forgotten about that part. You gonna put me on a different diet?"

"Well not if I don't know what different is. We'll learn over time, so don't worry about it now. Stand up straight and breathe deeply, first of all. Don't ever stop working, just work more when you've got energy and less when you don't. Try just stretching if you're tired."

"Um, okay," he said, and he did--by reaching up as far as he could and standing on the tips of his toes. "Like this?"

Twi laughed. "We'll work on it," she said.

---

Ki and Ge pounced towards the other at the same time but Ki was just more agile, and she landed on top of her mate with her right paw's claws at his throat. It was the final strike of a battle that had gone on for just about a half an hour straight. They'd both finished their individual training early (like most of the rest), and had decided to make a little wager.

It had been clear to Ki when Ge padded up to her at the river after the final leg of his running that he was horny. He was sweating through his skin and tongue, panting, and his deep-blood-red cock was beginning to slide out of his sheath as he jogged up to her. What hadn't been so clear is that it wasn't her he wanted; it was Flame he was looking at, sitting across the river against a stump with Tangie.

After Ki's teasing had been unsuccessful and Ge's true motives had shown themselves, she'd coaxed him into the only chance she'd have (at least for another day or so) of filling her own need with his gigantic pole. Very simple: there'd be a match. If he won, he could fuck whomever he pleased. If she did, she'd get to make him hers for however long she wanted. She was his mate, after all. It seemed perfectly fair.

Ki lay on top of him, grinning madly. "Now what was that you promised? Or will I have to actually slit your throat?"

Ge laughed. "Get off me, you Bitch."

Ki bit his neck playfully. "Maybe you wish," she mumbled around her teeth, "but..." (She got off of him and started padding away slowly, letting her tail drag on the ground and waving it slowly back and forth, giving him precursory glimpses of her swollen round lips. "...but I'm more of a Queen, thank you very much. And the deal was, you'd let this Kitty play with you as long as you wanted if she won. Pity, non?" She winked at him and continued into the clump of trees ahead of her, leaving Ge wondering what it really was he wanted.

He stepped into the thicket a moment later to find her lying seductively on her side, tail concealing her dripping pussy. She looked up at him and looked pitiful for a second but then smirked, licked her lips, and got back up, slowly making her way over to him while he just feasted on the eyecandy.

"Hmm, what shall I do with you first...?" she mused out loud.

"I, uh..." he got out before she shushed him.

"Shhshhshhshhshhhhh," she hissed, grinning, "shut that maw of yours." "Use it for something that doesn't make you sound like an idiot," she teased.

He blinked. "Ah... wha?"

"There now, see what happens?" After she'd slowly circled around him, she walked a few paces forward and hopped up and put her two front paws on a log lying there. "Come here, now," she coaxed, lifting her tail, showing how her pussy was nice and big from the heat, swollen; dripping juice in nice, long, thick streams of creamy white on the grass between her hind paws.

Ge, stunned from his long run and certainly finding no reason to protest such a direct offer of dripping cunt, stepped up behind his mate without hesitation. He didn't start licking at first, though; he pressed his cold wet nose right up against her lips (making Ki gasp and flutter her eyelids), and sniffed for a long time, drawing in his mate's body heat and sweet scent, getting his nose soaked and slick in the meantime.

Then he turned his head up in order to start licking, unable to avoid looking right up her tailhole, giving him a sudden rise, and he shivered, his cock sliding quickly halfway out of his sheath as he thrust his hips down once on instinct. Something about this felt so incredibly good and right. He was so relaxed now, coming down from the highs of the battle where he'd exchanged blow after blow with his mate and lover, from the length of the run before that. He just closed his eyes and licked up her juices with his broad Doggy tongue.

Ki moaned softly when he started, repositioning her stance on the ground, lifting up one paw and then the other, closing her own eyes, settling in. She felt so empty inside right now--physically. She felt so hot and wet down there, but she knew it would be worth the wait. The more she let him tease her now, the better it would be when he started pounding her. So she'd let her insides pulse and beg for a little while.

The sun felt good here. There were places where it was falling through the canopy, and one was on her head, and she savored it, craning her neck back. Ge, on the other hand, was savoring her dripping lips and pushing his tongue out and forward, wiggling it around to try to get to the hole in the middle of those lips. Ki gave a drawn out moan and picked up her hind legs one at a time again and widened her stance, feeling his flexible, moist muscle wiggle up and down and back and forth to try to get inside her.

Then he got past the lips, and she felt the tip of his tongue slide in, running along the top of her tunnel in as far as it could get reach. Then it dropped all against the bottom wall, and the sudden heat against the new area sent a shiver shooting up her spine.

Ge was just about in Heaven right now, tasting his lover's insides, the sweet and sour juices, the sweat from her lips, the very slight salty taste of piss. He started a lapping motion, not curling his tongue all the way back, obviously; but working his tongue with that motion. The result was that his tongue wiggled inside her, the tip tickling the top wall, the bottom lying in a stream of her juices, curled up around the bottom of her tunnel. His heart was beating so fast.

Ki shuddered and shut her eyes tight as felt her pussy clench down all of a sudden. Then her eyes flashed open and she gave a squeal as she felt herself release a wave of juice. She sprang forward over the log, leaving Ge looking at her confusedly with his tongue hanging out and dripping.

"Wha...?" he complained as she turned around to came back to him.

Ki blushed as she hopped back over the log. "I was about to go over," she told him shyly. "That was really good. I didn't realize how good you were being."

Ge chuckled. "Yeah, it felt good doing it."

It seemed Ki had tossed her seducing mask by now. "You want something in return, honey?"

Ge grinned with a sudden burst of inspiration, and he licked his lips. "Can I have two favors?"

Ki made like she was considering it, then made like she was put out, and said, "Well... aaaaalright..."

"Can I have one favor now and save the other for later?" Ge asked.

Ki grinned. "Sure thing, love."

"Then for the first... turn around right now and get back up on the log you were on."

"Okay."

She did, and he came up behind her, watching her swing her tail idly back and forth.

"I'm gonna hop up on you. I want you to hold my knot out when it comes, okay?"

"Aww..." Ki complained, turning back to look at him, "you're not gonna tie me?"

"Nope," Ge said. "But I will make it good for you."

"Aww..." Ki complained again but turned back forward because she was blushing this time. "Okay..."

Ge padded up behind his mate and grinned before he mounted her, awkwardly. There was no way he'd get in like this, but that wasn't his intent, exactly. Closing his eyes and picturing her warm patch, licking his lips, he thrust his hips forward a couple times, and his red, sticky cock, swollen and hard, started slipping out of his furry, black sheath.

Under him, Ki panted, straining backward on instinct to get him in. She closed her eyes and listened to her heart beating in her ears, she was so desperate for him. Ge thrust faster now, flinging his cock a tiny bit farther out each time in spite of it slipping back in a little ways each time on the backstoke. Finally, being jostled back and forth and forward and back got his rod out all the way but the knot, and then he licked Ki's neck and told her to, in a whisper, so she wound her tail around him and back along his belly to his sheath, situated the fork in the end of her tail around it, and pushed back, and out popped her Umbreon's knot, big and nicely round and pulsing.

Ge grinned closed his eyes part way, moaning very sofly as he could feel the flesh of his sheath stretch and slide around the base of his self-slickened meat. He would make his love feel amazing, and he'd slide right into that wet, little snatch. He walked forward with his hind legs, climbing up Ki's back, until he could rest his two front paws on the log she was up on, his paws on the outside of hers.

Ge was just that much taller than Ki to where the position didn't put hardly any pressure on Ki, and it brought Ge's member right to her entrance as long as he bent his hind legs a bit. His knot out with her still holding his sheath back, his rod firm, the position perfect, all he had to do was easily thrust his hips. So, in he went, very slowly, sliding easily foward and up and in.

"Oh Gooooooooodss, Ge..." Ki moaned, craning her neck back, his filling rod slowly stroking her clit on the way in. "This... this is your favor...?" She shuddered, letting out her breath when his meat was all the way inside her except for the knot and he stopped, the bulge rubbing her swollen outer lips.

He chuckled, though hardly able to concentrate for the electricity running through him. He slowly slid out, so that only his tip rested in her. "Yeah, one of 'em," he breathed.

"Gods... why haven't you done this before? It's incredible."

"Just thought of it," he said, sliding back in just a touch faster this time.

"Oh, it's gooood..." she moaned. "I'll do anything you say after this..."

He chuckled again, sliding out to the tip. "Well... I... I don't think you'll have anything against fulfilling the second f-favor, either."

Ki licked her lips in answer to him, then closed her eyes, and shuddered as he continued to stroke. "Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaah," she let out after a moment, shivering, as his meat got her clit nice and hard in a hurry. Inside, her muscles shuddered and pulsed, unsure if they should be gripping down and where, creating the most incredible rippling sensation for him. Juices rained down on his cock every time he pushed into the wet, hot, pulsing tunnel, then flowed out when he pulled back, sloshing and squelching and streaming down to the ground and running down her legs in streams heavier in flow with each slow thrust.

"Oh... oh my Gods..." Ki moaned. Ge wanted, all of him wanted, to go faster, to get more of the slick stroking and wet gripping all around his meat, but he was patient. There was electricity flowing between the two of them, more than usual, and he wanted to harvest it. The longer he went at this slow pace, the harder he'd get and the wetter she'd get, and the higher he'd take them both.

"Ge..." she moaned, and he grinned, his eyes closed like hers. Her voice was one of the sexy things about her: lithe like her body and warm--but intelligent and weighty, too. It sent shivers down his spine, and he whispered in her ear,

"You like it, Ki?" And she responded with what he wanted:

"Oh... Ge... Just... just a little bit faster, okay...?"

So he did, went just a little bit faster, slipping easily in and out, in perfect control, with excellent, genuine rhythm. She moaned loudly all of a sudden, and he nearly creamed right there, but he got control and tried to thrust in that same way again and was successful.

Ki gritted her teeth, the sides of her mouth turned up, her eyes shut tight. "Yes!" she let out. "Like that! Keep going, oh Gods...! Keep going!" He discovered he could get at that spot if he stood up just a little straighter and slid up a little less and forward a little more. And it worked, so he upped his pace quite a bit, stroking, not so fast that he'd get himself off right away, but fast enough to keep her vocalizing. She craned her head back at one point, and, instinctively, he brought his head down and bit her lightly, to hold her.

Now he could feel her breathing, hear her panting and moaning, and his cock got so much harder listening to that. Her moans were getting longer, her breathing more frequent and more shallow; those were the signs. So he just let it all go and went at her as fast and as hard as he could. It wasn't long before he could feel his end approaching, but listening to her, he had a feeling hers would come first. He kept pounding her, and then it did. Two quick, consecutive explosions of juice splattered out of her, wetting Ge's whole underside, as her tunnel squeezed down incredibly tightly on his member.

She was holding her breath; her teeth still clenched, she almost looked like she was struggling, and Ge kept thrusting as fast as he could through it, stroking her still despite her gripping tunnel, lengthening her orgasm. But her pussy was rippling inside, squeezing and undulating randomly, and he couldn't stand it. Cum shot up through his rod, and he tried so hard to hold it back, getting two more thrusts in, but on the second, he buried himself inside her, all but the knot, and blasted it out.

It was incredibly powerful, and his seed splattered up against the back of her tunnel, hot and sticky, much to her delight. She made a noise that was half a moan, half a scream, and Ge shuddered, his loins tight, his legs wobbly. He could literally feel his balls clenching hard before he rocketed each jet of cum into her. His tongue hung out, his tail flagged, his expression showed he was in Heaven. Ki's cheeks burned, her eyes shut tightly, and fireworks were exploding in her mind, his cum slipping down the wall at the back of her tunnel and the opening to her cervix. Then the jets stopped coming, and he slipped out, still very, very hard, of course.

Then they hopped down from the log. Both stared at each other as if to say "you blew my mind." But they were exhausted, from this and from training beforehand. Ki collapsed on her side just about where she was, and Ge came up and dropped right behind her, spooning her with his hot, hard meat cushioned in the fur of her back. They closed their eyes to recover.

"It's almost time to go back, isn't it, Ge?" Ki asked him about ten minutes later, lying in the cool dirt with him curled around her. They'd finished "training" and were about ready for their naps.

"Yeah," he said. "Almost." By which he meant his erection had just now gone down.

"Well we don't want to go back together," she said. "It'll make it look like we did it."

"We did do it," he said sleepily.

"Pssh," she told him.

"Whad'yu think about just taking nap here?" he mumbled, his eyes closed.

"I think I'd tease you about not having the stamina to get back to the house," she said, slowly getting up and stretching her legs.

"Bah, alright," he said, getting up even more lazily than she had. "Let's go. But you know I get sore all over every time."

"That's exactly why you gotta keep moving," she said. "Now c'mon."

"Alright, alright." He yawned. "You have to carry me if I fall asleep on the way back."

She giggled. "Fine."

On the way back, Ge seemed unusually preoccupied with the sky above him. In other words, he was looking up at it rather than down at the road, like he usually did, as he was walking along. Also, he was walking more slowly than Ki and about ten paces behind her.

"It's going to rain later," he said.

"Is it?" said Ki, glancing up for an instant, "looks perfectly clear to me." As it was, in fact, there was barely a cloud in the sky, and the few there were were big, white, high, and fluffy.

"Uh-huh," answered her mate. "You wanna bet?"

"No," she said. "That'd be dumb."

"Would it?" he said, phasing out.

"You're being weird," she said back.

"You ever think about what's up there?" he asked no one in particular, still looking up, choosing to ignore her last comment.

"Um," Ki said very flatly, "isn't that something people usually ask when they're lying out under the stars and feeling particularly romantic? It's not even nighttime."

"Well, I am a pokemon of the night," Ge said, adopting a mock suave tone. Then he dropped it: "Maybe it's in me all the time. Maybe I don't need to be feeling particularly romantic."

Ki chuckled. "Fine, then," she told him, "act weird, see what I care. And no, I don't really think about what's up there."

"What do you think the point of all this is?"

"What, life?" Ki smirked.

"Yeah..." said Ge.

Ki stopped walking and turned around, blinking, astonished that was actually what he'd meant. "Ge. You're being really strange. Stop."

"Aw, okay," he said.

They started walking again, Ki out in front like she'd been before. The river was calming, and the day was pleasantly hot. The house was just starting to show in the distance. The grass tickled their footpads.

"I mean, cuz, what are we really doing here, Ki? Under Heaven. What's the point, since we're all gonna die, anyway?"

"Gods in Heaven, Ge. I swear..."

"Cuz, even if you did something great for the world, brought all people together as equals, whatever, they're all gonna die, too. So what's the point?"

"I cannot believe you're actually thinking about this," Ki said, turning around and beginning to walk backwards, facing him.

"Why not?" he asked, tilting his head. "It's interesting."

"Well, first of all, cuz you sound ridiculous. You realize what a good fuck you are? You're strong, you make me submit, you bang me, then you act all flowery and talk about the meaning of life all the way back afterwards? I don't know where to begin."

He just smirked at her.

"Second of all, the concept isn't worth thinking about. You'll just depress yourself if you do."

"No I won't. I'm happy living like this."

"Well, still. It's a question that doesn't have an answer." She paused and smiled. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I am. No one thinks about it, but happiness is such an important thing, and those who have it take it for granted, and those who don't can't do anything but worry that they don't. But it's not like that. All you have to do to be happy is accept yourself."

"Not really," said Ge. "If you're in a bad situation, like if your best friend dies or you're trapped with an unforgiving master, it's hard to be happy whatever you do."

Ki nodded, turning back forward but falling back to walk beside her mate. "I guess that's true. But even if you're in a good situation and you don't accept yourself, you can't be happy."

"Also true," said Ge. "Still doesn't tell me what the point of it all is, though."

Ki shrugged. "Creature comforts. Yiff. Good meals. Warm nights. Rain."

Ge nodded. "I think that as well. It'd still be interesting, though, if there was a point. If there were really some ultimate difference between good and evil, between doing right and doing wrong."

"Ya," she said, "it would be. Some would say the point is to go to Naai. Or become a star."

"Still just a temporary goal," he said. "After you get to Naai, what then? Or if you lived forever as a star, what difference does that make? If there's no point today, then there's not gonna be one tomorrow, and there won't be even if you live forever. You'd just get bored." He chuckled.

"Ya." She giggled. "I suppose that's all you can really do to at least make it seem like there's a point, huh? Just keep busy."

"Yep," he said. "I'll take it. I've found where I'm supposed to be. I'll tell you a secret, though."

"Ya?"

"I used to worry about stuff like that. I used to be so unhappy all I could do was worry that I wasn't living the same life as everyone else. Now that just sounds ridiculous to me. What kind of life would everyone else but me be living? Huh. No one lives the same life as anyone else."

"I certainly hope not," Ki giggled. "We'd all be the same person."

Ge chuckled. "Back when I was with Jake, all I ever thought about was all the other pokemon I saw with their other masters. All the other trainers, they looked so kind, and all the other pokemon looked so happy. Sharing ice cream cones with their masters, mistresses. With Jake, it was all only ever about winning the next match, and his whole life was picking fights with his school friends. I just didn't realize how much I'd always hated him. He liked me cuz I was strong, but he never talked with me, ever. ...But the point is, I was always looking at everyone else, busy being envious that they'd found their places in life. I thought I was just being selfless... or responsible, staying with Jake. I was all he had. Probably because I was the only one who could stand him. I'm so glad I ran from him in the end."

"I know," Ki said. "How about we find him and beat him fair and square, to pay him back for the way he treated you?"

Ge laughed. "I like that idea," he said. "But... let's not beat him too bad, okay?"

Enichi was taking a few laps around the field on all fours, and Twi was just sitting on the east porch watching his running style when Flame and Tangie called out to them as they were coming back from out north. It was getting to be about 8, 8-1/2; the second sun had just passed the middle of the sky--and it was starting to get very hot. Flame and Tangie were waving as they were walking, and both looked pretty exhausted, but they were smiling, looking satisfied too, and Twi waved back and smiled.

She waited until Enichi had finished another lap before she walked out and stopped him. (Unfortunately, his running would be another big thing they'd have to work on. Even though he was fast, he was awkward on his feet.) And the two of them came in and sat on the front porch and waited for Flame and Tangie.

Twi and Enichi turned and smiled at each other as they sat. This kind of life was the one they belonged in, where they all belonged. But while Twi could see that Enichi was just happy to be here with a family that loved him, it pleased Twi more deeply than Enichi could probably have seen. It justified her way of life, finally.

Ki and Ge appeared over a hill in the northeast just about then along with Artemis and Star, too, whom they'd apparently met up with on the way back. No sign of Burr and Takashi, though, but they were probably just off making love somewhere, Twi snickered to herself. They wouldn't be. Though it was pretty hot to think about that: last night when she'd crawled down from his head and cleaned off his tall, fat, red cock with her little tongue.

But there Twi was going, back into her head again, and there was Enichi next to her staring at her tits, a little of his meat showing itself. She grinned. And there were Takashi and Burr, barreling suddenly over the same hill as the group of four, shaving right by them, still racing. It looked like their destination was the front door of the house (it was lunchtime), so Twi, still grinning, tapped Enichi on the shoulder, and the two got off the porch and out of the way.

"So what's for lunch?" asked Enichi as if he'd been living there all his life, unfazed by the big Nidoking and he little Sandshrew blasting down the path struggling to get ahead of one another. (It was like a Cow racing a Housecat.)

"Dunno yet," said Twi, also unfazed. "Jerky? Dried fruit? Bread and jam? Early fruits'll be coming in the garden soon. Some of the lettuces too. Won't have to rely on winter fare for lunch for too much longer. Oop, here they come."

The Yoshi and the Zangoose watched, turning their heads, as Burr hopped up the stairs one at a time like a yellow streak, reaching the door at the same time Takashi leapt up, ignoring the stairs entirely. Burr beat him by about a second, much to her celebration.

"What happens after the fruits come out?" asked Enichi, picking up where they'd left off.

"You just go in there and pick what you want. Fruit, Radish, Tomato. You saw the garden. Plenty enough for all of us every day, usually, all spring and summer and autumn."

"It was huge," said Enichi.

"Lots of space, lots of pokemon," said Twi, grinning a little.

---

"It's smart," said Enichi. "Do you fertilize?"

"Oh!" said Twi, turning to him. "Ya, now that you mention it, where have you been dropping?"

Enichi blushed because that meant using the bathroom. "Um, I've just been going outside," he said, "though I did see a toilet..."

"No, no," said Twi, "I mean you should use the garden. I don't care where you piss, but scat in the garden from now on and mix it with a little water from the hose and extra dirt. The toilet's for me just as a convenience sometimes, but all the pets go outside. Um, so ya, we do fertilize."

"...Oh." responded Enichi after a second, still blushing (and a little amazed that even this was acceptable for open conversation). "Okay."

Twi chuckled. "It's nothing to be shy about," she said, "and especially not ashamed. Cuz we all do it, right?"

"Um, yeah," said Enichi. "No one cared in my Zangoose families, I guess, but no one ever talked about it in my Human families, you know? I guess I picked the shyness thing up from them."

"Ya," said Twi, "a lot of people are starting to be that way these days, though it didn't used to matter. A lot of people are starting to wear clothes now, too. None of us here do, but a few people in Nafory and certainly in the more conservative cities. It's cuz Humans have always been really shy about being naked and the things they do when they are, I guess, and the idea spread." "Maybe cuz they have bare skin and everything exposed," she added.

"What's up?" Ki asked as everyone else arrived and Takashi and Burr finally came up to join the conversation.

"Talking about why Humans don't talk about dropping and sex and stuff they do when they're naked," Twi said.

"No fur," said Takashi.

Twi giggled. "Ya, that's what I said."

"Ah, but Flame doesn't have fur, either, and he doesn't mind, right?" said Enichi.

"Not one bit," said the addressed, stopping with the others as they formed a circle.

"But his cock comes from inside," said Ki, "and only the tip of it comes out to pee."

"But your mate's sheath hangs on the outside," Burr pointed out.

"Yeah, and," said Flame, "I really like my body. I want everyone to see it when I pee."

The tentacles around Tangie's eyes turned rosy for a second. "Um, I like watching him pee," she said.

Enichi blinked and turned to her. "You... you do?"

"Lotsa people like that kinda stuff, Enichi," said Flame, next to her.

"Like... pissing... on each other?" he said, grimacing.

"Well, not necessarily," said Twi, "but that's one way to play." She smiled.

"That's... that's disgusting!" Enichi said, screwing up his face and cringing with his whole body.

"Well then we won't do it with you around," said Burr. It was one of the few times she'd spoken at all since Enichi arrived. (And the Zangoose wasn't too sure how she felt about him, either.)

"Why do you do it?" said Enichi after a second's consideration, looking back from Burr to Flame.

"Geez, I dunno that any of us knows why we like anything that we like for yiff," said Twi.

Ge said, "I like it when Ki holds my sheath while I'm pissing out of it," and grinned.

****

Enichi blushed really hard at that, signaling that perhaps he'd had too much of this conversation and that maybe things were getting a little bit too open. "Um, anyway, he said, so why are lotsa people starting to wear clothes and stuff now?"

Takashi nodded. "It is kind of weird, huh? People, furs and non-anthros, used to only wear clothes for fashion. Remember Twi was gonna buy a cape? Or for warmth, like that. But now you see lotsa people, especially furs, wearing shirts in the summer or..."

"Yeah," Twi said. "Girl I was mated to used to wear a shirt and skirt all the time."

"It's so weird," said Ki. "Girl furs wearing a top and skirt I can kinda see. It looks pretty cool. Or an Ox wearing overalls. But it's like some of these people are ashamed of who they are, or think others will be ashamed to be with them unless they cover themselves up."

"Um, sorry to interject here," said Ge, "but I'm hungry and tired, and it's hot. How about some lunch and sleep?"

Twi giggled. "Sure thing, hun. Let's all go in and get something light before nap, ya?"

Everyone agreed "okay" or nodded, so they went in, Burr in the process grabbing onto Takashi's tail and running up his back to perch on his head.

Lunch was indeed light. Most weren't accustomed to a big midday meal and just chomped on some jerky or crackers or dried cranberries or cheese. (Enichi likely wasn't accustomed to such high-class hippie food and ate more than his share. Or maybe he was just hungry from training.)

Lunch was over almost before it began, in any case, and there was little conversation during it since everyone was mulling around the pantry in the kitchen. It was a nice day, if not a little hot for springtime, and they went back outside to lie on the porch in the shade. Enichi was the last out of the house, and he closed the door softly behind him, and when everyone was lying down with their eyes closed, he went to sit by Ge, curious despite himself.

"Umm..." Enichi walked up to the dozing Ge a little sheepishly. "Can I sit down by you, Ge?"

Ge cracked an eye open and looked up at him and smiled. "Sure, little buddy."

"You're not too tired or anything to...?"

"To talk? Nah. I can say a few words. Mostly I just wanna close my eyes and not do anything for a while."

"Um... okay!" said Enichi, unintentionally getting a little excited.

Ge chuckled.

Enichi smiled a little and reddened bashfully. "What you were talking about before was weird, but, um..."

"Oh, you mean the pissing thing? I guess I'm tired, and Tangie had already... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," he said.

"Well... a little," Enichi admitted. "But just cuz I'm not used to it," he quickly added.

"You don't have to be comfortable with it, and you don't have to like it," Ge said, "whether all of us do or not."

Enichi smiled genuinely. "Er, thanks."

Ge chuckled again. "You're welcome."

"Um, but... what I was really asking about is... what do I do if, um... if I think I'm gay?"

Ge's eye opened again, rather more quickly this time. "You think you are?"

"Well..." Enichi fumbled, "to tell you the truth, um... I'm not exactly sure what it means."

Ge opened his eyes and looked at the Zangoose. "You just came here. Are you really sure you're comfortable talking with one of us about this, especially me?"

"Well, we haven't talked one-on-one before," was Enichi's simple answer.

Ge smirked, then smiled. "Well, good enough for me," he said. "And not that we shouldn't be talking about it, but you are aware that everyone can hear us, right?"

"Yeah," said Enichi quickly, nodding, a hot blush rising in his face at having had his intentions sniffed out.

"Okay," said Ge, and smiled. "If you're gay, that means you like males and not females. Now it's not just a black-and-white thing. Some gay guys like males and herms, some like males and a few females... But I feel comfortable saying all guys who label themselves gay at least perfer males."

"Um, okay," said Enichi, blushing even more. "Now I'm more confused. I thought it just meant you like guys. And I've never really met a herm."

"Er, fine," said Ge. "Don't worry about that then, at least yet. But if you're attracted to both guys and girls... It's more about the genetalia than... Here, let me put it this way: if a pretty guy and a pretty girl were bent over in front of you, and you could have either one to fuck, which one would you take? It's simplistic, but it works pretty well in the end."

"Um," Enichi started, "...I'm not sure. Can I fuck both?"

Ge laughed pretty loudly, and some of the others around the circle smirked, including Ki, who was lying behind Ge. "Would you want to?"

"See, that's what I'm not sure about," said Enichi, in his mature mode again instead of being embarrassed.

"Well, would you fuck the female?" asked Ge. "Let's start there."

"Oh yes," Enichi said.

"Then you're not gay."

Enichi looked a little bit relieved, but he had a confused look on his face, too.

"But I think I like guys..." said Enichi.

Flame opened his eyes and looked over, then a second later decided to come over and join in, and Ki opened her eyes and got up to a sitting position. Twi's eyes were open and watching them, and so were Burr's, and as Ge looked around, he decided that this was no longer really nap time. "Does anyone around here actually want to sleep?" he asked.

"Not anymore," said Tangie and Star at the exact same time, looking and grinning at each other before springing up extremely eagerly and coming over to join in. Over at the other side were Takashi and Burr both shaking their heads and Artemis and Twi grinning.

"Alright, alright," said Ge, "but I am tired, so I'm gonna close my eyes. And let's not be too loud, yeah? But c'mon. Looks like everyone wants in on this, and Enichi doesn't seem to mind one bit.

Enichi's face turned deep red, and he felt it burning, but it was the truth: he wanted everyone to hear, and more than that, he wanted everyone to know who he was. "I don't mind," he said superfluously.

Everyone gathered around while Enichi watched them all, his blush cutely growing progressively deeper. Flame sat next to him and asked,

"So you're questioning this cuzza me?"

"Um... yeah," Enichi told him, looking down.

Flame's smile turned right into a very wide grin as he looked at Tangie as if to say "chalk another one up for old Flametail." "Sweet" was what he actually did say, turning back to Enichi. "I'm glad I could provide you the opportunity to get to know yourself better." It was obvious he was covering up a great deal of pride. (Tangie was grinning too, looking at her mate.)

"I'll assume something happened between you two," said Artemis, still slightly removed from the rest of the group, over on the other side of the porch steps.

"Yeah," said Flame. "Last night, remember Enichi ran off? Well..." And he, Enichi, and Tangie, between the three of them, proceeded to explain to everyone what had happened.

It was a warm day, but dry, and the suns were shining down from a cloudless sky everywhere except onto the porch, which had a wooden awning over it. Walking up to the house, you would have seen a happy group of friends, sitting close together, laughing, enjoying each other. It would have brought a smile to your face wherever you came from.

Because that group had been brought together by fate: Enichi and every pokemon before that had been drawn to Twi, one by one. And looking at them now, sunlight caressing their naked bodies: it was the meaning of peace and love.

So few creatures find their way into the light. Destiny often deals a cruel hand of cards, and the road to the end is often long and treacherous. So many stop before they ever start; some can't see the road at all. And some just don't possess the strength to finish the trek. But the longer the road, the greater the reward at the end; and the harder the road, the more satisfied you feel when you've come to a place where you can sit down and rest a while.

For those that do finish (for those who are strong and never give in to the temptation to take the weight off their bad leg), there is paradise waiting for them. It has been called many things: Enlightenment, Nirvana, Heaven, Eden--but they all speak of a shaded porch in the middle of a hot day with close friends. Naai was right here in this land, in this life, waiting to be found by those who were simply interested enough to look for it. You've gotta find your own sense of peace.

Everyone was smiling. "You're not gay, Enichi," said Ki. "You might be bi, but you're not gay."

"Bi?" he asked.

"Bisexual," said Flame. "Bi, two; sexual. It means you like both, er, sets of anatomy."

"I still dunno if I do," said Enichi. "I haven't touched any... male parts." (He was shy again.) "So... it doesn't mean anything that I liked what Flame did, I guess?"

"It might," said Ge, "but not necessarily."

"Yea," said Star. "If you fucked my cunt and loved it and then went over and sucked Flame off, I'd say you were bi."

(Enichi blushed, feeling very hot for the Duck at that moment, images of fucking her last night instantly popping back into his mind as she said it.)

"But getting sucked off is a totally different thing," Star concluded.

"Or if you have moods where you want only cock and moods where you want only pussy, that's bi, too," said Twi.

"Really?" said Enichi, turning to her. "Um... you mean it doesn't mean I want both all the time?"

"No," everyone said, some shaking their heads. Some said "nope" or "not at all."

"It just means you can get turned on by either one--when you're in the mood for it," Twi finished, choosing her words carefully.

"Oh," said Enichi, simply. Artemis was watching him blush, smiling.

Ge winked at Flame, grinning all of a sudden, and Flame looked at him and grinned back after a second, understanding. He nodded "okay." (Then Ge whispered something in Ki's ear as the conversation went on.)

Star came over to sit by Artemis then, only the Owl didn't notice. "What'cha lookin' at, Artie?" Star whispered in her ear all of a sudden, sinisterly, and Artemis nearly jumped out of her plumage.

"Fuck!" she let out, starting and panting a couple of times. Conversation cut off, and everyone looked at her. "Um...!" She closed her eyes, and her face got hot. "Nevermind! Sorry!" She looked at Star on her left and sneered.

Star giggled, watching the rest until conversation around Enichi continued. Then she whispered to Artemis again:

"You were starin', huh, Cap'n?"

"I was not," Artemis told her defiantly.

"Oh really?" said Star. "I think ya were. I also think yur horny taday." She snickered.

"I am not!" she yelled. (Everyone looked over.) "Um... nothing! (Dammit, Star!)"

"You aaaaare," the Duck said.

Artemis blushed. "Why do you think that? Not like you could tell."

(Avian pokemon didn't go into heat, and their smells were not very distinct. It was usually difficult for a different species to tell if an avian pokemon was horny: male, female, or herm.)

"Cuz I think so," said Star. "You were on about Dem earlier, now you're staring at 'Nichi." Star was very happy cuz she'd figured something out, and she was just a little hyper cuz of it.

"Well... maybe," said Artemis quietly. "But that's... I mean... You can't tell anyone, kay, Star?"

Star looked disappointed. "Why not, Birdie?"

"Cuz... No real reason, Star. Just please don't. I don't want anyone to know, and I don't wanna take care of it, either."

"Um..." Star blinked, wrapping her wings around Artemis for a hug. "Okay, Artie."

After that, it was actually kinda naptime. Conversation slowed down, then stopped, with Enichi a little less confused. Everyone found themselves lying down against one another and closing their eyes as the energy boost from lunch wore off and they all got lethargic again. Ge fell asleep after not too long, and so did everyone else one by one, except for Artemis, who didn't want to close her eyes because then the only images that would come to her mind were of Demetrius, and she thought she might cry.

The reason she hadn't told Star why she didn't want to take care of her horniness was that she wasn't sure herself. Today, though everyone around her was smiling, and she had no worries, even so she felt profoundly lonely inside. It was just one of those days when his memory wouldn't go away. She wondered what he was doing, he and Dusk off on their own. He said he wouldn't be coming back to her. She wished he would. He'd said he had to go his way and her hers.