War of the Wolves

Chapter I: Misplaced Kitten

A gentle breeze ruffled the long fur and hair of a young lynx kitten, standing lost in thought on a balcony suspended some two-dozen feet in the air. The building to which the balcony belonged wrapped around the trunk and lower branches of a large tree, incorporated into its structure so as to disturb its growth as little as possible. The kitten was something of a oddity; shi - for shi was a "shi", not a "she" as people often assumed at first glance - wore nothing but a small waistcloth, a strip of fabric tied above the tail with a square flap down the front that barely managed to cover all it's supposed to.

Hir face and most of hir body have the look of one hovering just on the leading edge of adolescence; however, hir bust was a subject of envy even from some teenagers shi knew. That young-looking face now stared off into the distance, lost in thought - shi seemed to have been doing that a lot lately, shi reflected. Shi looked down at the small and rather motley collection of orphans below, all dressed the same as hirself, engaged in all manner of pastimes: Most of the younger ones dashing back and forth across the clear spaces or darting between trees in typical kittenish play; some of the older ones - both of hir own age and a few well into their teenage years - engaged more-advanced hunting games; even a couple of pairs hir own age completely undressed, curiously exploring each-other's bodies. Shi chuckled at that last thought. That'd never be allowed inside; Matron's really strict about that for some reason. Speaking of which...where is she? The kitten looked toward the exterior of the matron's room - the shutters on the windows were closed, as was the door... What on earth's she up to? Why isn't she out here? The lynx thought about that a bit more, then shrugged and returned to hir musings.

Continuing to watch hir fellow orphans, hir mind began to wander down the eight years shi knew shi'd spent here. Shi had literally no memories before hir fourth birthday, and none that made sense before hir fifth; but somehow they didn't seem to matter much. The important times in hir life all seemed to be happening now - "now" beginning sometime in hir ninth year, when shi first entered puberty. It was well-known to any who knew them that such things came early and fast to hermaphrodites, but shi seemed to have weathered the storm of hormones fairly well so far - at least, shi hadn't yet had any of the internal conflicts or emotional breakdowns that seemed all too common among the teenagers in the orphanage. It's only a matter of time before something threatens to break inside me, shi mused. Hopefully I'll be able to head it off when it comes - and maybe I'll even have someone around to help prop me up if I need it.

At that, hir thoughts turned toward one of the few who was not in evidence below: In the past few mooncycles, shi'd grown quite close to one of the females of about the same age, an intriguing cat/fox twinbreed by the name of Karina. Close friends they'd become; but lately, shi found that shi could hardly look at the tall, nimble vix-kitten without feeling a stir of arousal - a sensation still new to hir, and one that shi thoroughly enjoyed - as the female seemed to be rather an early bloomer. Not only had she grown quite a bit "up"; she'd also grown "out" in ways that couldn't help but attract the eyes of any creature with a taste for females, and the dual-gendered lynx found hirself most firmly in that category. It also didn't hurt that she'd inherited some unusual colouration: Solid rust-red save for pale gold on the forearms, lower legs, shoulders, and most of her feline tail.

Shi purred softly, tailtip twitching as shi pondered a mental image of hir fancy's entire body, unable to keep hir mind's eye from lingering on those luscious breasts. They have to be at least as big as mine...I wonder how much she'll have when she's finished? A rasp of tongue across lips suddenly dry as shi drew a vague picture in hir head of the same person in another few years, and shi felt the still-novel stirring: a slight firmness in the sheath hidden beneath the waistcloth; a mild dampness just below.

Thoughts of the female's breasts brought hir mind round to hir own; shi cupped one in each hand and pondered them. Lately, they'd felt..."full" was the only word shi could come up with to describe it. They felt almost as if they'd filled with milk - but that was ridiculous; shi'd never mated with anyone, much less a male or the sole other hermaphrodite in the orphanage - and that one was probably too young to have kittens, anyway. Shi may try to change that sometime soon, but -

"Hey, Tani! Look here!" A penetrating voice snapped the kitten back to the present, and shi recognized its owner even before looking up into the tangle of branches above. There sat Karina, crouched on one of the larger limbs, waving at hir cheerily. "See? I can do this!"

Tani chuckled, leaning against the balcony's wooden rail. "Careful up there - you're no chipmunk, after all!" shi warned, showing a bit less worry than shi felt.

*pthbt!* The soft, flatulent sound of a raspberry wafted down from the canopy. "No, but I am a cat! See? Oop..." She tried to demonstrate her felinity by balancing on one foot upon a thin branch, bus ended up having to grab onto one above to keep her footing. "Ehehehe..."

Tani sighed and shook hir head fondly, looking back toward the southwest. That seemed to be a perpetual vice of Karina's: trying to keep up with the purebred felids in terms of agility seemed to be frustrating her more and more, as she simply didn't have their near-infallible reflexes - and all the more saddening, it was blinding her to her other strengths.

Again the lynx' reverie was slashed, this time violently, by a shrill "YAIII!"; shi turned to hir left just in time to see a flash of crimson fall past. A heartbeat later shi stood looking down over the nearest railing and flinched painfully as a sickening CRACK echoed around the woods, startling a few stray birds to wing. Shortly the firecracker sound faded, its sonic void thinly filled by a stream of piteous, woeful mews.

Ears folded back against hir skull, shi shouted down at the crossbreed. "Kari! Are you alright?" The female took a deep breath, gathering her wits, and looked back up at the other kitten through tear-misted eyes with a small sniffle. "I...I think I...broke it..." She pointed at her right leg and gnawed on her lower lip.

A soft hiss of drawn breath passed between the herm's clenched teeth - not that shi hadn't suspected something of the sort. "Stay there - I'll get Matron!" The vixen nodded as shi turned and bolted inside, pounding on the matron's closed door a few times before throwing it open. "Matron! Kari's hurt - she - " hir declaration trailed off into uncertainty with a few twitches of hir bobtail as the scene sank in:

Matron, a middle-aged - and rather well-built, Tani reflected - red vixen (the same type as one of Karina's parents), lay sprawled on her bed, legs spread and arms around another small body. The smaller body (Tani's ear flicked as shi recognized him) was Nas, a male redfox about hir own age. And what with the motions they both were making, Matron's soft moaning and the loud murr they both emitted, and the smell pervading the room, there could only be one thing they were doing - shi _mrf_ed softly at another, more-insistent stirring from hir groin.

Both foxen looked up at the sound of hir voice as they gradually brought their shared passions under control; Nas pulled himself out from between Matron's legs - the lynx noted that he was indeed quite erect (shi was heading that way hirself, despite hir efforts to control it) and fairly well-endowed for his age - so that she could sit up on the edge of the bed. "Who? Kari? What happened?"

Tani sighed, shaking hir head. "She was playing around in the tree, trying (again) to prove she's a cat - she slipped and fell clear to the ground and broke her leg."

The vixen eyed hir critically, thinking, her eyes roaming the young cat's body a little. Nodding in decision, she directed: "Get yourself down there pronto; make sure she's not making things worse. I'll be down in a moment." She stood, reaching for her own waistcloth, as the kitten dashed out onto the balcony. From there shi leapt onto the tree's trunk and sunk hir claws into it, then carefully inverted hir body and climbed down to the ground.

Shi slunk toward the female on all fours, nosing at her cheek from behind and curling arms around her waist, gently pulling the catvixen into hir lap. Karina cringed as her leg straightened out and the lynx ran a ginger hand down it to make sure everything was more-or-less in line. As shi did, the female snuggled tightly into hir long fur for comfort, resting her muzzle on hir bust. After a few moments' inspection, shi nodded and moved hir arm back around hir charge's waist with a calming purr; Karina let out a soft sigh and let her nose dip a bit toward hir stomach. Tani zoned out for a few moments, hir entire world for the time being composed of hir need to make the female as comfortable as possible...until a soft lapping and a gentle tug at one of hir nipples yanked hir forcibly back into full awareness. Shi blinked down at the vermillion ears as their owner slid down just a touch, suckling firmly on the kitten's breast and very definitely drawing something from it; tilting hir head back as hir purr grew louder and deeper, shi finally conceded the losing battle against hir inflamed maleness, feeling it shoot up quickly to its full size and nudge hir waistcloth out of the way as hir breast was plied by the one person shi was most attracted to.

Matron jogged toward them from the staircase about then, grinning practically from ear to ear at the scene with a look in her eye that said she'd just had some pet theory confirmed. She carefully picked Karina up off of the lynx' lap - she seemed to be falling quickly asleep now - and winked at hir, beckoning the kitten to follow her back up the stairs, then setting off that way herself with hips swishing back and forth. Tani blinked, then shrugged and followed, panting slightly in arousal. Matron motioned the kitten into her room then bustled off to settle the half-vixen in her bed, returning a short while after and closing the door behind her. She chuckled at the kitten's state, sitting there on the foot of the bed with absolutely nothing hidden despite a bit of cloth vainly trying to keep hir erection in check, and started undoing her own. "You can go ahead and take that off - we're in private, and it's not doing much good anyway!" Tani giggled lightly, removing the ineffectual bit of fabric and tossing it aside along with the vixen, who sat down beside hir. She grinned that enigmatic grin again, eyes atwinkle. "Seems I was right about you..."

The lynx blinked cluelessly. "Eh?" Matron draped an arm about hir shoulders and squeezed lightly. "I've suspected all along, but now I'm almost certain: You're a Canatis."

Another few blinks, equally uninformed. "A what?"

Matron chuckled again, shifting away a bit and bringing her legs up to cross on the bed, facing hir. "Lemme tell you a little story." She murred softly as the kitten shifted to a similar position. "Mm, this'll gimme a chance to brush some dust off my little knack..."

Tani tilted hir head curiously. "Knack? What sorta knack? You mean your fox-magic?"

The vixen nodded, beginning to gather her energies. "That's right. You know that all foxen have an innate gift for a particular form of magic - usually illusion of some sort, for your information. In my case it goes a bit further; I'm a Taleweaver - I can use a sort of hypnosis to really get people into the stories I tell. Wanna try it out?"

At the lynx' nod, she extended her magic's energies outward a bit to encompass both of them. The kitten gasped softly as the room began to fade around them, slowly to be replaced by an outdoor scene not unlike the one they'd just left: A deciduous forest in early summer. They sat at one end of a small clearing where a few small birds twittered from their arboreal perches; at the other end, shi saw a pair of fourfooted lynx - dual-sexed like hirself - probably in mid-adolescence.

Matron's voice pervaded the scene as shi looked around and at the pair, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once; shi looked quickly back toward her, only to find that she'd disappeared. The Canati date back many generations, back to when we twolegs were still differentiating ourselves from our fourlegged brethren. They were - still are, though hardly any remain - a small tribe of lynx, few in number but far-ranging. The pair walked past them, chatting amiably until they ran across a red vixen, apparently half-dead and breathing ragged, shallow breaths. They glanced at each-other, then moved to either side of the vixen and began painstakingly dragging her onto her feet. Bracing her on either side, they led her back the way they came; Tani rose and followed, curious as to where they were going - back to the rest of the tribe, as it turned out. The Canati had always cared intensely about all beings, no matter what their race. This was a scene repeated many times over, often with the rescued being adopted into the tribe. For the same reason, they'd always adored the herms they produced, which other races tended to regard with anything from wariness to hostility - they felt such as yourself had been given a gift beyond measure, they treasured their ability to have kits with members of either sex; herms soon came to dominate the tribe to such an extent that there were almost no single-gendered cats left. This became the main earmark of the Canati.

The scene changed again, subtly: This time there was only a single lynx, and the injured party was a black-furred male wolf. As you might imagine, they made many friends because of this, and they angered virtually no-one. The lynx hurried to the wolf's side, casting a worried glance about hir but finding nobody to help, and so settled down next to the canine with a small whimper of worry. Then, at some point, their love for life began to work magic within their bodies. The wolf, who had seemed to be asleep until this point, whined and nosed at the cat's side. The cat blinked a few times, then obligingly rolled onto hir side, allowing him to place a forepaw on hir ribcage and to suckle gently upon one of the nipples which were already swollen as if for a litter of kittens. Their milk began to take on a supernatural healing property, mending broken bodies with unbelievable speed - anywhere between a few moments and a couple of days, depending on the injuries. Because of this it began to smell unusual, and the particular scent is gave off triggered the nursing reaction in anyone who'd been wounded, and sometimes even in the sick. The wolf, having drunk his fill, cuddled close to the lynx and quickly fell asleep - much as Kari had done, Tani reflected.

Probably the most important friends they made were the Fenri - like this wolf here. Fenri always have black fur, and almost all black-furred wolves end up as Fenri. When their territory began to overlap with that of the Canati, the lynx started witnesseing some of their many battles; and whenever they did, they stayed to offer their help afterward. The scene changed again, this time showing a small pack of Fenri staring down a band of obstinate-looking cougars, both sides including a couple of bipeds. Both sides charged and tore into each-other; shortly the cats withdrew from the battlefield, cursing and deriding their conquerors, but the wolves were far from unscathed. The Canati healed countless wounded Fenri, and often even tended to the enemy; many such enemies ceased being enemies after such displays of compassion. Several such scenes played out in rapid succession, interspersed with a few powwows, those involved presumably discussing peace terms. Over time, a few of the Canati also began showing talents for combat, further deterring anyone from trying to destroy or displace them.

Unfortunately, things always seem to come to a balance given time; this particular balance was struck when the twofeet had become fairly numerous, but still mostly remained with the established fourfoot clans. A new tribe emerged: the Qirisa, a breed of wolf with psyches somehow warped so that they despised the Canati and all they stood for. A large male wolf strode into the now-empty scene, made obvious by his bright solar-gold fur - the first Qiris. He turned his muzzle toward Tani, making hir start and stiffen with a loud sniff of indrawn breath though he couldn't really see hir - there was a keen intelligence and cunning behind those golden eyes, but the sneer upon his face as he looked around marked it as one most people would do better not to associate themselves with. The sneer mutated into a hunter's smirk as he was joined by a grey female who looked to be barely half his age, if that; to judge by the oversized erection quickly forming between his hindlegs, she was probably just into her first heat. She gave his jaw a friendly nip, then yipped and hopped backward as she caught sight of that engorged member, shaking her head apologetically. His smirk morphed again into a grin somewhere between playful and predatory as he rocked briefly onto his back feet, then sprung at her, knocking the cub over and pinning her with his body. She whined pleadingly and shook her head again, but he ignored her, placing a forepaw on her throat just wide enough of the windpipe not to cut her breath as he thrust his shaft between her legs. Tani's ears flatted to hir skull and shi snarled softly as he took the female (who was barely two-thirds his size) more roughly than most wolves had ever done, even before they were fully intelligent enough to know what they were doing. Such scenes were entirely too common in the first couple of generations after the Qirisa appeared; whenever they did, the Qiris shortly disappeared with their forced mates.

Of course, once they had fully established themselves as a separate tribe, such measures were rarely needed since they always passed their twisted mindset on to the next generation. Their numbers grew quickly as the other facet of their perversity came to the fore: The one thing they valued at least as much as prowess in battle was the ability to produce cubs; eventually this became so dominant in their lives that males were sometimes treated as second-class, good only for mating and fighting. It also led to a disproportionate number of females choosing to mate strictly with other females, and they began dabbling in ancient and forgotten magicks that allowed two females to bear litters without a male present - magicks with the ironic side-effect of producing a great many more hermaphrodites than the usual method. And for a further twist of irony, they came to regard their dual-sexed packmates almost exactly the same way as did the cats they so loathed: The fact that they could both sire and bear cubs with either sex without resorting to the magicks that had created most of them made them even more valuable than other females.

Before long they began to viciously assault the Canati and all who consorted with them, intent not merely on driving them from their homes, but on completely annihilating them. All of the clans the cats had ever helped rallied to their side immediately, and together they put up a valiant resistance, even driving the Qirisa back upon occasion. The Fenri counterattacked with what seemed like twice the vigor showed by any of their comrades, and in some ways it was. Another battle began to play out, this one on a monstrous scale, and the black wolves on one side seemed to feel absolutely no remorse in the many ingenious and final ways they dealt with their foes. Even their allies were sometimes shocked as the black wolves showed their enemies a ferocity bordering on enraged madness, for they fought not only to protect their closest friends, but to restore their own tarnished honour - the Qirisa had emerged from their own ranks, and the fact shamed them at the most basic level.

However, even the berserker's reckless fury couldn't prevail against true insanity such as that which posesses the Qirisa. They never achieved the total victory they sought, but their relentless attacks gradually crushed the opposition beneath them. To the foxen who'd aligned themselves with the Canati and Fenri, stealth came as naturally as the various powers they wielded; their ability not to be found proved a constant frustration to their pursuers. The other lynx and bobcats had wisely chosen to stay mostly out of the conflict, as they knew they wouldn't be able to contribute much and their numbers were few enough to begin with. Their gallant cousins the puma were less fortunate: Their kind was decimated during the war and thereafter hunted into obscurity, confined to the western mountains and deserts. The red wolves remained mostly intact, despite having been brutalized much like the puma; they have always been more skilled at healing and divination than at physical combat, but had been so shocked by what had happened to their grey brethren that many of them felt it both cowardly and dishonourable not to fight at their side. They were driven into the marshes and swamps of the southeast, but their intimate connection with the earth has allowed them survive in reasonable comfort.

The Canati, Qirisa, and Fenri all lost most of their numbers. The remaining Qirisa retreated into themselves, then began to spread thin, scouring every forest and canyon they could poke their noses into for traces of their blood foes. The Canati were scattered to the winds. Many of them followed the Fenri as they withdrew to the safety of the large grey clans; even more joined the foxen as they blended back into their lands, never again to be seen save when they wanted to be. The rest became companions of other lynx, of bobcats, of red wolves, and especially of puma - they're a large part of the reason the larger cats still exist in numbers even remotely significant.

Matron's bedroom faded back into existance around them as the vixen ended her spell, swooning a bit from the effort before recovering with a shake of her head. "A few large families did stick together, but they made sure they never got to a size that was sure to be noticed. Even then, every so often a Qirisa pack would run across one and exterminate them." She took a small breath as if to brace herself, and looked squarely into Tani's eyes. "Like your parents."

The kitten's eyes widened to a huge size as the implication sunk in. "You...you knew my parents?"

She nodded. "A little, yeah."

Tani leaned toward the female intently. "Do I have any other family around here?"

This time the vixen's head answered in the negative. "Nah, they were a young couple, only just left whatever clan they were from. Never got a chance to tell me exactly who they were." She sighed softly with the admission. "You were their first kit, and they never had a chance to have any more; frankly, I think it's a miracle you managed to escape. Nicest coupla cats you'd ever wanna meet, too."

Closing hir eyes, shi tilted hir muzzle down toward the covers in thought. "Wish I could've had at least one sister; I feel so lonely sometimes..."

Matron scooted around beside the lynx and draped one arm about hir shoulders with a conpiratory wink. "I don't think you'll be that way much longer..." She chuckled at the kitten's blank look. "You'll find out soon enough. Although..." She smirked at the shaft which still stood proudly erect from hir mound and lightly stroked her fingertips up its length. "...right now, I think it's time I fixed another sort of loneliness."

Tani gasped through the purr the female's touch had provoked. "You...you want me to...mate with you?"

A plush white-tipped tail curled around hir as the vixen leaned in to lick hir nose, then pressed their bodies gently together. "More than that - I happen to be in heat right now, and I'd consider it both an honour and a privelege to bear your kit. I know you're old enough to have one, and I've been wanting another for the longest time, and I don't think I'll have many more chances...besides, there can never be too many of your kind in this world, and there aren't nearly enough right now. What do you say, Tani - will you sire my kit?"

Combined, the offer and the vixen's scent were enough to make Tani's head spin. "Wh - I - er - " Shi took a deep, fortifying breath, then tried again. "I don't know what to say...a sire, at my age? Of course I will, Matron! I owe you so much for everything you just told me..."

She leaned in and smooched her new lover on the nose with a wink. "Call me Sian." Her tongue flicked thoughtfully across her upper lip: She really wanted to get that maleness inside herself now, but it would be mean to leave the cat's female side hanging until after that, when she may not even feel like dealing with it...on the other hand, at hir age, it was entirely possible shi might not be up to two in a row. Besides, even if shi was, shi'd likely be a lot closer to the top than her...right, then. She nodded, laying back and pulling her new lover down atop her. "You know what to do, right?"

Tani nodded enthusiastically. "More or less. Hrm, I wonder..." Shi gently kneaded Sian's breasts before wrapping hir lips around one of the nipples and suckling lightly, just as Karina had done to hir not so long ago. The vixen's murr swelled encouragingly, then tapered into a low moan of pleasure as she felt the heat of a felid erection penetrate into the neglected region between her thighs. Her mind stayed just clear enough through the sudden haze of ecstasy to note that Tani was just as well-endowed on the male end as shi was up top - which was to say, quite well indeed.

Tani moaned along with the female as shi felt walls of muscle close in softly around hir shaft, snug but not so tight as to hamper hir motion. Hir hips took on a mellow rolling motion which gradually picked up speed, taking hir in and out of the vixen with ever-increasing speed, as shi felt hir own breasts being squeezed and bluntish clawtips being traced around hir nipples. Shi returned the favour upon the breast that wasn't occupied by hir muzzle and was immediately rewarded by a small gasp as the large nub of flesh stiffened - much like when shi'd first ran hir tongue across the other - as hir much-sharper claw danced across it, evoking a tiny prickling sensation. This time the vixen's sex also seemed to tighten a bit further around hir, enough so that shi felt compelled to thrust that much more quickly within her as firm ridges began to form along hir length, drawing out another shared moan as their breath came a bit faster and more shallow.

The cycle of sensation and responce locked into a spiral from which there could only be one release, and Sian with her much-greater experience saw it coming long before her partner. The lynx' endurance surprised her: their paces seemed to match almost exactly, when she'd have expected the preadolescent to find hir peak much sooner - but then, she was unused to the barbs all cats posessed, and they seemed to be pushing her along a great deal faster than she was normally capable of. Then the kitten suddenly did find that summit, burying hirself up to the hilt in fox with another loud moan of ecstasy, and Sian was right with her when shi did; long legs wrapped around the smaller body atop her, she threw her head back and let out her high-pitched vulpine howl as her walls cinched down around the sire of the kit she was now sure she'd have in a short while, the inner muscles rippling around hir shaft in their effort to collect every possible drop of that precious seed.

Sian's chest vibrated in time with Tani's deep (for a kitten, at least) purr as shi thrust erratically a few times more, then hilted hirself again within the female and nuzzled around her bust. She let her lover rest a few moments, then nosed the top of hir head and started rolling over with a chuckle. "We're not done yet..."

Tani cocked hir head to one side as shi rolled with the vixen. "We're not?" Shi blinked curiously down at her as she pushed up off of the lynx' body, revealing the an erection still firm and coated in both their fluids. She then slid downward until her muzzle pulled even with the kitten's groin; a single long, sensuous lick up hir length produced a belated dribble of semen which she lapped up almost as it exited, then she moved a touch further down and took a deep sniff at the as-yet-untouched lips between hir thighs.

The vixen's tail swished back and forth in excitement as she took in that musky felid scent. She knew from experience that it wouldn't take much to push hir over the edge, and the thought that she was probably about to send the herm into ecstacy twice in as many minutes was nearly enough to send her over the edge again without having to do a thing; her tongue lolled out like a hungry wolf's as she panted and took another deep breath, revelling in the kitten's musk.

"Ma - er, Sian? Just what are you doing?" She fumbled for her voice, trying to reply through her intoxication, then finally gave up and settled for a playful wink. A pass of her tongue along the slit before her nose, its outer edges inflated with arousal, produced a small gasp much like her first touch to Tani's male sex had; but this time she didn't pause after the first. She continued lapping at the small cat's nether region until shi squirmed and mewed softly in pleasure, then took the area into her muzzle and pressed her tongue inward, her hands meanwhile groping downward to squeeze and knead her own breasts. Hir mews turned into a low, long moan of lust as the vixen probed within hir virgin channel, its pitch occasionally spiking upward as she found the odd point that resonated especially well.

Just when Tani thought shi couldn't possibly fell anything more erotic, the matron's attention turned to a small nub of flesh shi'd never really noticed before, and hir moan became almost more of an empassioned scream as the sensations multiplied tenfold and more. Nor did shi last long at that plateau; almost before shi'd realized shi was there, shi'd fallen back off the precipice of orgasm and Sian was suddenly lapping up a veritable tsunami of lynxian juices. The sensation proved too much for the other half of hir sexuality as well; shi thrust hir hips once into empty air as shi felt hir maleness reach a second peak and let off another small gout of hir seed, which fell onto the vixen's ears.

As she'd expected, Sian's sudden burst of arousal at the beginning proved a premonition: Though she'd only fondled her bust the whole time, the fact that she'd made the kitten orgasm not once but twice more brought on a second of her own, further evidence of her pleasure seeping out from between her legs and soaking the sheets beneath. She crept back up to face the first female she'd mated with in many years and pressed a long, gentle kiss to hir lips, poking her tongue between the cat's parted lips to feel the other's roughness briefly on its underside. Tani giggled lightly as she withdrew, smacking hir lips at the taste of hirself shi'd just been given as shi turned onto hir side and snuggled into the vixen's bosom.

A few utterly-restful minutes later, Sian gave the lynx a small grope to the backside and sat up, pulling her knees partway to her chest. "I think you'd better go join Kari now," she suggested as she admired the sort of stretch only a cat could produce. "She'll likely be needing more of your milk soon."

Always one to enjoy a good stretch, Tani purred lightly as shi dangled hir legs over the side of the bed and the matron scooted over beside hir. "More? You mean it's not healed yet?"

Sian nodded. "It's entirely possible. Most likely what's left is just the finishing touches, but a broken bone takes some effort to mend, even with the best medicines available. Besides, that milk of yours does everything you could possibly want in a medicine - it fixes whatever's wrong; it kills the pain if there is any; it even puts them to sleep!" She winked. "That's really why I want her to have a little more - knowing Kari, she'll wanna be up and running amok before her leg's fully healed, and playing around with a half-healed legbone is a bad idea. Won't set right if you're not careful." Her tail flicked in a circular motion, emphasizing the point. "So you'd better go keep her company."

Tani blinked again as the implication set in. "You mean...sleep with her? In her bed?" The thought sent hir maleness immedately back to full attention, not that it had very far to go.

An urchin's grin lit the elder's long red-and-white muzzle. "Yep! After all, she'll probably be half-asleep when she wants that second dose, and we wouldn't wanna keep her waiting..." She hooked Tani's waistcloth with a toeclaw as shi reached for it and tossed it up in the air toward her hands, then winked suggestively as she caught it, knowing that the lynx preferred to show the world all of hir gorgeous body. "By the way, I don't think you'll be needing this anymore."

"Eh? What about your rules..?"

Sian chuckled softly, expecting such a responce. "I think it's time for a few changes around here. I shoulda realized from the outset that kits would find a way to, ah, live the good life whether I 'outlawed' it or not; it's time I got rid of all those useless restrictions." Her fangs showed again, this time smugly. "Besides - I was startin' to feel like my style was a little cramped myself!"

Another light giggle issued from the lynx' throat as shi plopped to hir feet on the wooden floor and made hir careful way out of the room. Shi stopped around the foot of the bed and turned, head tilted again to one side as shi remembered something: "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you: Why is this place wrapped around a tree?"

The vixen's muzzle tilted partway toward the ceiling and her eyes took on the faraway look of reminiscence. "When I decided to start the orphanage, I was mated to a squirrel - she was the one who built it."

Tani nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense." Then, without further word, shi turned back toward the door and padded out of the room.

Between watching the kitten exit and thinking about her lost love, Sian decided that she was up for a third run after all. It was as well shi hadn't asked what had happened or where said squirrel was now, as the answer would have mercilessly killed both of their moods, and that was the last thing she wanted to inflict on the dear kitten right now. She sighed softly and lay back as she let her right hand drift toward her hips and her left toward her bust. Her eyes slowly closed, but not before percieving a crimson ray of sunset leaking in through her west-facing window; I won't need to be awake much longer anyway, she noted.

Creeping through the main bedroom and glancing casually about, Tani found about half the beds occupied - most of the younger cubs and a few of the older ones had already given up on the day, having thoroughly worn themselves out; the rest now lounged with the teenagers in the common-room. The lynx totally related: Though shi hadn't exactly been engaged in the same sorts of activity (as most of them, at least!), shi felt quite drained as shi wobbled hir way across the room.

When shi reached Karina's bed, shi leaned against the side and looked down at the crossbreed fondly. Her sleep seemed completely undisturbed, though not very deep at the moment, and she looked so beautiful to the lynx that way that shi didn't really want to disturb her. There wasn't any point in just standing there, though, so shi leaned down and licked the female's cheek as shi slipped under the covers before her. A soft mrf? greeted hir, and the foxkitten tilted her head curiously as she awoke. "Eh? What're you doing here, Tani?"

Tani blushed a bit and beamed. "Matron asked me to keep you company for a bit. Make sure you stay off your feet until your leg's mended and such."

A light purr rose from Karina's chest as she snuggled welcomingly into the lynx' front and laid her head on hir shoulder. "How nice of her..." She giggled as her lower stomach brushed along Tani's erection. "Hey, what's this? You're all hard down there."

Tani's hips arched reflexively toward the contact, hir blush deepening. "Err, yes, well...you sort of do that to me..."

Karina blinked, not immediately understanding; then her eyes widened. "You mean I - er - you wanna - ?"

The lynx-kitten nodded, eyes closed as the blood-tint in hir ears approched red. "Mate with you, yes. Maybe not now, but soon...after you're all rested, most likely."

Shi felt a slight tickle of whiskers on hir shoulder as hir companion shook her head. "No way I'm just leaving you hanging like that. Matron may not want me out of bed for a while, but I don't think..." Her cheeks began to echo her predominant flame colour as the implications sank in. "...giving away my virginity will hurt it any..."

Tani stared into her eyes, dumbfounded. "Are...are you serious? You'd really want to do it?"

That won from the cat-fox a moment's hard thought, then a nod and more redness under her white facial fur. "Truth is, I've kinda liked you for a while now, and I've thought about it a little myself..." She started to roll onto her back, then aborted the motion with a wince as her leg griped, instead simply moving it forward to drape across the lynxcub and scooting upward so that hir muzzle was about even with her throrat - being that she was a fair bit taller than the herm, that position placed the shaft waiting to part her sexlips just outside its target. "I'm all yours, Tani - show me what it's all about."

"Kind of a strange position..." Not that it matters much, shi added silently as shi leaned forward a bit to lick the hollow of the female's throat and slowly pressed hir maleness in between her thighs. Shi moaned softly as shi discovered that Kari was much tighter in there than the matron had been, her walls already gripping slightly at the invading member despite the fact that they'd just started. Kari gasped and tilted her head back, unprepared for the size of the lynx' unusual endowment as it filled her completely, its tip even parting the fleshy curtain within to enter the chamber where hir cubs would surely soon grow - she blinked as that last thought blindsided her, never having gone anywhere near that idea before.

Then her mind suddenly had no room for thoughts of any sort, flooded with ecstasy as Tani pulled out of her and cupped one of her breasts from underneath, tilting it upward to lick and suckle upon it. She did find room in her head for one more thought around the sensation of her nipples hardening under the cat's tongue and the hand firmly kneading the other half of her bust: She realized that her tail was about the same shape as the erection now advancing again into her loins. Its tip flicked across her to land between the lynx' legs and produced another moan as it pressed into the organ which made hir female.

Their combined purr resonated throughout both their bodies their rhythm solidified, alternately filling each-other's sexes, Tani's spare hand scritching between Karina's shoulderblades while the female's hands pressed hir muzzle into her chest. A stringendo pushed the sexual backbeat as the ridges began to rise again along the lynx' maleness, gently scraping the crossbreed's tightening interior in time with the cello-string vibration of their shared pleasure, accented by contrapuntal gasps and mews. The tempo climbed to a feverish vivace and held there for an eternal heartbeat; then the meter fractured into a chaos of hemiola which itself only lasted the same infinite moment before tripping over the ritenuto of duelling release.

Hir arms clinging tightly around hir lover's midsection, shi buried hir muzzle amid the female's expansive bust and began to catch hir breath again. It's entirely possible I managed to sire two kittens today, shi mused while hir new mate's womb filled with hir seed, assuming... Shi looked up toward the half-vixen's face, curiosity glowing in hir verdant eyes. "Kari?" As shi felt a light nuzzle between hir ears and heard a yawn stifled with a vague interrogative, shi probed: "Do you go into heat?"

Somewhat to Tani's surprise, a headshake accompanied the reply. "Nope. Must take more after my dad's side that way - I've never had an actual heat in my life. I get a little..." Tani felt her cheek heat slightly, pressed against the top of hir head. "...randy every so often, but never like Matron."

The lynx nodded amongst Karina's cleavage. "So there's a decent chance we might have just..."

Kari let out a small, trilling mrrripp in responce. "Could be, yeah. I thought of that myself, just as we started. I wonder..."

Again the full-felid's muzzle tilted up, this time with a look of concern. "Will you be alright? Do you think you could handle it?"

Beaming down at hir, Karina gave her mate's nose a playful kiss. "Tani, as long as you're with me, I can handle anything. You can count on that."

Tani tilted hir muzzle down to nose around the hollow of the throat before hir, satisfied. "Good. Hopefully that won't change."

It only took a few more affectionate minutes for both of them to drift off to sleep, Karina still elated from her first experience and Tani drained into exhaustion, hir maleness still retracting back from its foreign shelter into its own sheath several minutes later despite hir youth.

*********

Somewhere between ten and twelve hours later, sunrise found the two youths still cuddled in each-other's arms. It took a few minutes' worth of newborn sunshine resting on her face to wake Karina, typically the earlier of the two to rise thanks to her mixed bloodline; she yawned softly and nosed about Tani's ears. The lynx stubbornly refused to wake at first, and Kari declined to insist, knowing full-well (or at least half-well) how much sleep cats tended to need.

Finally reaching something vaguely resembling coherence about fifteen minutes later, Tani blinked a few times in confusion before realizing where shi was; shi had just enough time to wonder what shi was doing in Kari's bed before remembering what had happened the previous evening, the memory drawing a very-contented purr from hir chest.

Noticing hir transition to wakefulness, the twinbreed licked hir nose. "G'morning, hot stuff."

A hint of pink tinged the kitten's cheeks. "'Hot stuff'? Since when do you call me that?"

Kari giggled lightly, reaching up to scritch behind one of hir ears. "Enh, I've heard a couple of the older kits say things like that every so often. I kinda like it."

Tani chuckled and purred softly at the claws plying around hir headfur, tilting hir head a bit to get at a spot shi knew to feel particularly good. "It is kinda cute, ennit?"

The foxkitten nodded and opened her mouth to reply; but before she could, Matron's head poked around the corner. "Hey, you two finally awake?"

Both of them blinked and looked around the room - they were the only bodies left in it; even the other cats seemed to have gotten up before sunrise. Her mouth already being open, Karina decided to reply. "Eh, yeah, mostly. Why? What's up?"

Matron's left hand appeared from behind the wall, beckoning them into the common-room. "C'mon; I've called a little meeting. Got an announcement to make." She then disappeared again, leaving the two cubs to blink at each-other in bafflement.

Or rather, leaving Kari to blink at Tani in bafflement; Tani's muzzle adopted a broad smirk as shi tugged gently on the female's tail before starting to get out of bed. "You heard her."

Kari gave hir a look of utter confusion that melted partially into a look of confused surprise at her mate's state of undress as hir feet hit the floor. "Erm...Tani? You're naked."

Tani giggled and nodded, twirling in place a bit before folding hir arms behind hir. "Yep. You'll find out why pretty soon, I bet..."

The half-vixen stared at hir with an eyebrow arched for a few moments longer, then shrugged and joined her felid compaion, and they made their way into the common-room with arms and tail tucked about each-other's waists. Once there they found the entire population of the orphanage gathered in a circle around Matron, most of the males (except for a certain teenage cougar - Treth was his name, Tani recalled - who had the only other hermaphrodite in the orphanage - a vixen named Cilae with fur about the same golden colour as his own, who still seemed a year or two shy of puberty - in his lap with his hand between hir legs, petting hir slit; this was quite obvious since Cilae's raging erection made if difficult for hir waistcloth to hide anything) and some of the females staring at her. When she looked fully at the elder vixen, she realized why: Matron was entirely naked, flouting her own rules, or so it seemed.

"Alright. Now that everyone's here, I bet you all wanna know what my big announcement is." Most of the heads in the room nodded, urging her to continue; she gestured down at her exposed body. "Well, you're looking at it. I've decided that the clothing restrictions I laid down some time ago are just silly - so from now on, we can all go as naked as the day we were born! Or not, however you like."

A few of the assembled cubs cheered and most immediately removed their waistcloths (including Treth, who also removed his playmate's, in the process revealing his own arousal); the rest started to wander into the bedroom. Before they could, Matron held up a hand. "Oh, one other thing: You can also have as much sex as you like, wherever you like." At that, a few of those who had started toward the bedroom continued and the rest immediately shed their garments, quickly finding certain people who they apparently lusted after, intent on making good use of the sudden change. Treth let out a small "woot!" and coaxed Cilae into spreading hir legs a bit further, promptly burying his oversized maleness in hir underdeveloped sex, eliciting a loud moan of pleasure.

A small grin flashed across Karina's slender muzzle and she arched an eyebrow at her mate, evidently thinking along the same lines. Matron dug Nas out of the corner he habitually skulked in, licking his nose with a playful wink, leading him toward her room to finish what had gotten interrupted the day before; she stopped partway there to whisper a couple of sentences in Kari's ear, engendering a look of surprise - and anticipation? - as both the kit's ears wobbled a bit in excitement. Tani blinked as hir lover motioned hir into a chair, kneeling between hir legs. "Matron gave me an idea..." she explained as she licked her lips, looking the lynx' body up and down before pressing her muzzle between hir legs and taking a curious sniff; Tani gasped softly as her cold nose brushed across hir folds.

Her crimson tailtip curled and uncurled rhythmically as she nosed about the kitten's nether regions, eventually opening her muzzle to take an experimental lick along the length of hir slit. The experiment proved quite a success as Tani took a deep breath, spreading hir legs a bit further and tilting hir muzzle toward the ceiling with a loud purr buzzing from hir chest. Encouraged by such success, Kari pressed her lips against those before her so her tongue could delve between them, lapping at the small cat's walls. Just as the elder vixen had, she concentrated on those places she found that prompted the kitten to arch hir hips further toward her attentions, soon provoking loud moans of pleasure; just as the elder vixen had, eventually she ran across the stiffened nub of hir clitoris and teased it with her tongue, after a few moments tilting her muzzle slightly to suckle on it. And just as with the elder vixen, this quickly breached Tani's dam, a mouthful and more of lynxian fluids rushing into a muzzle of mixed parentage as waves of orgasm crashed upon hir shore.

Hir purr deepened a bit as shi felt a bit of weight on hir legs and a brush of lips across hir own, giving hir a pleasant taste of hirself as shi came down from hir sexual high. Shi licked those lips as they withdrew from hirs, opening hir eyes - when had shi closed them? - to find Karina straddling hir lap, both hands stroking through the thick fur on hir breasts. Tani arched hir chest into the touch, shifting hir hips slightly to prepare for what shi knew came next: the weight on hir lap lifted and adjusted slightly before resettling, and again shi felt hir engorged maleness enveloped by the heavenly warmth between hir first love's thighs.

For some minutes Karina so rode her lynxian lover, somehow having managed to find a pace quick enough to satisfy their desires, but slow enough to continue almost indefinitely. However, at some point they reached that "almost" and their desires shifted, now craving the peak just becoming familiar to them; as one their pace began to quicken, hybrid hips rising and falling against the thick fur underneath. Slowly they pushed their tempo, dragging each moment, each sensation out as long as it would stretch until it faded into the next. At length she felt her inner walls begin to clench and bore down harder, ever harder upon the intruding member until she gave way, her howl of ecstasy filling the common-room just as she herself was filled by the fluids pumped out by her mate.

As the sensual haze lifted, both their ears began to swivel about as they realized there was still a fair amount of sound in the room. Looking around, their ears began to pinken as they saw every eye in the room focused on them; a few appluaded; many of the older cubs in the room simply stared, wide-eyed unable to believe that they'd been outlasted. Karina looked at the floor in mortification while Tani buried hir muzzle in crimson fur, giggling helplessly. After a few prods from the lynx, they both rose and wobbled their way to the bed they now shared, one even redder than usual and the other still snickering quietly.

~fin~