FSE

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The lingering euphoria of Airy and Jak's morning tryst was nearly exceeded by the joy they experienced when they discovered the canyon rim within two miles of their previous night's love den. Relieved beyond capacity to contain her gratitude, Airy knelt piously at the edge of the expansive defile and gave thanks to the Great Maker of all things. Her appreciation was not restricted to achieving this milestone along her journey; it extended to include meeting Jak and to the love and intimacy that they now shared. The Rabbit priests of Rikifur absolutely would not approve of the latter, but she cared nothing for their opprobrium. Adrift far from home, the constraints of doctrine and creed that previously manacled her to particular behaviors were removed, freeing her to decide for herself what was moral. Her world had recently become a vastly more extensive place both mentally and physically as evidenced by the astonishing panorama that spread out before her.

A great rift in the earth thousands of feet deep and several miles across stretched to the east and west beyond the limits of Airy's sight. So similar was it to what she had experienced in her dream, she was momentarily dazed by the sense of déjà vu. Layers of rock colored yellow, red, and pink had been deposited one upon the other over countless eons to form banded cliffs that rose like the walls of muted rainbow-hued castles from the depths of an unfathomable abyss. Forces beyond imagining had heaved them upward over geologic time to form the high elevation, nearly flat plateau upon which Airy precariously perched. Waters draining from the Earth Spine coalesced here to become a wild, muddy river greedily eating its way down through the rock to a depth of over a mile. From the summit, the canyon had the appearance of a vast maze of gorges and cliffs. Rivaling the Earth Spine in vastness and exceeding it in complexity, Airy could not guess at where its bottom lay.

Jak remained a few paces behind Airy, wary of triggering his acrophobia. All cliffs frightened him, but these were of a scope previously impossible for him to imagine. He fought his compulsion to drag Airy back from the precipice. Despite his fear, the precipitous sight raised his morale, and he thanked his ancestors and gave homage to the nature spirits that ruled here for this moment of triumph.

As their initial excitement over finding the canyon, and hence the edge of Cat territory, began to wane, their mood grew grim and somber again. Traversing this barrier would not be trivial. Fording the River Elv to enter Aserth had been effortless compared to this daunting obstacle. Escaping Cat territory would be exponentially more difficult. Somehow, they would have to reach the river at the bottom and climb the other side. The descent looked impossible to Airy.

"How do we get down?"

Jak remained quiet. He was already scanning east and west along the gorge's southern rim, hoping to find the answer to that question.

"Our best course is to follow a stream down and hope we don't end at a waterfall and have to back track."

He pointed to his left.

"Look to the west. A side canyon cuts back into the plateau to the south. There must be a larger, maybe more permanent, stream there than the ephemeral one we followed that ends at this cliff. Perhaps the walls will be less steep and allow for safer travel to the canyon floor."

Having no better ideas, Airy nodded in agreement, and they altered course to the west.

Jak had chosen wisely. The side canyon afforded a manageable route that previous travelers had already discovered. A conspicuous trail wound its way over broken rock and soil and through groves of shade trees growing beside a small, permanent stream.

"This trail both gladdens and worries me," spoke Jak grimly. "It is likely that such a well-defined trail leads to the bottom. Following it will hasten our descent. However, our pursuers are certainly aware of it also and able to navigate it faster than us. We could possibly lose them by attempting to blaze our own path, but that will lead to many dead ends and much backtracking. I like that option less than this trail."

Jak didn't need to remind Airy of the importance of speed to their survival.

"Let's take the trail," she decided. "It's faster. I want out of this place, and I don't care if I have to fight to leave it."

Jak smiled at her display of courage.

"Agreed. Haste is our ally. The risk is worth it."

Zigzagging back and forth over rock and talus, the trail was akin to a giant desert snake winding an unerring course downward in search of the canyon's ultimate depth. Myriad surprising turns and non-intuitive changes in bearing reinforced Jak's judgement that forging their own route would have resulted in days of wasted time. Probably he and Airy would never have found their way down on their own. Too many avenues to go awry existed in the canyon's maze-like confines. Years of trial and error and clever exploitation of the terrain by the makers of the trail had gone into its creation. Where the natural rock was traversable, the builders had not bothered to carve a path in the sandstone. Instead, they relied on the grainy, gently sloping rock to provide adequate footing. Jak used what he was learning about the lay of the land and the natural interplay of erosive forces against the different layers of rocks to deduce where the path would resume.

They moved as rapidly as the steep and hazardous trail allowed. For Jak, the worst parts of the path ran along ledges where softer shale was sandwiched between erosion resistant beds of limestone. The friable shale was easily removed by the wind and rain. It undercut the vertical faced limestone above while retreating inward from atop the next hard layer beneath it. A half tunnel was the result, and the trail makers took advantage of these ledges to advance the path to the next break in slope where the trail's descent to the river could continue.

Along some of these treacherous stretches, the vertical drop was scores of yards and the path became so narrow that Jak and Airy were forced to walk single file; each hindpaw placed in line with the other as if walking a tight rope. Jak's acrophobia placed him in constant fear of falling. Merely looking down caused him to shake and grow unsteady as he became overwhelmed by his disorienting vertigo.

The first time Jak lost control, he turned abruptly away from the edge's dizzying plunge. With his eye closed tight, he clung desperately with his claws embedded in the soft shale. Pieces of the rock broke free in his trembling grasp and clattered to the trail where some continued over the edge further aggravating his sense of helplessness against the relentless tug of gravity.

Unaware of Jak's phobia, Airy was confused by his behavior.

"What is it, Jak? What's wrong?"

Jak whimpered and trembled like a frightened pup in a thunderstorm.

"The fall. I can't stay balanced. It's pulling me towards the edge."

"Don't look down, Jak," said Airy.

She instantly regretted her hasty advice when she recognized the power of the spell that gripped Jak. She had seen this particular fear manifest itself with some of the soldiers under her command. It was not a trivial problem to overcome. To see her beloved and heroic Wolf lover so afflicted was heartbreaking. She moved to his side to comfort him and steady him with her body. She placed a supporting paw against his back. His shaking and trembling lessened somewhat.

"Jak, listen to me. You are not going to fall, because I won't let you. Put your paw on my shoulder and follow my lead. Use me to stay steady and balanced. Keep your eye on the inside of the ledge and watch your hindpaws. Do you understand?"

"My courage has left me. I am ashamed," Jak whined.

"You are not a coward, Jak. Everyone has weaknesses. This is yours. It is not your fault or your failing. You have been strong for me so many times, Jak. It's my turn now to be your strength. We can do this together. Put your paw on my shoulder."

Unresponsive, Jak continued to shudder and whine.

"Jak, you must do as I say. As your captain, I command it!"

Jak opened his eye and met Airy's look of stern yet tender concern. There was no pity or recrimination in her expression, only total, loving acceptance. Her boundless belief in him made him realize that he was being a fool. Hiding his fear put them in graver danger than the fear itself.

"Ok," he croaked as he nodded to Airy.

She turned around, and he gripped her so tightly that his claws gained purchase in the rings of her steel armor beneath her surcoat.

"Your strength is my strength," muttered Jak quietly to himself until they passed to safer ground.

Deep in the canyon, they surveyed the path behind to gage their progress, but its beginning was hidden from their sight. Instead, they spied vultures circling above on thermals. Airy considered them an evil omen. Jak thought it would be nice to be able to fly, but then reconsidered. At least on the ground, there was something beneath his hindpaws to steady him.

It grew hot and stuffy in the canyon as the sun climbed towards noon. Fortunately, the trail frequently crisscrossed the stream that carved the embayment that was their route, allowing them to slake their thirst. Jak was grateful for the talus-filled slopes that the stream had created by undercutting and collapsing the adjacent cliffs. The broken rock cut at the pads of his hindpaws, but formed no cliffs over which he could fall.

Just before noon, they were well nearly to the river when they heard the Cats far above them on the trail. A loud roar was answered by a second call from a different voice.

"They know we're here," said Jak.

"Are you sure?"

"No, but we should assume it."

Sniffing the air, the faint but unmistakable scent of Cat added urgency to Jak's words.

"We need speed now. It's a race. Go! Fly!"

They ran where they could, and walked where the path was narrow and dangerous. The roars of the Cats sounded behind or above them periodically, always closer, but thankfully still distant.

It seemed they might reach the river. Their hopes rose at the prospect only to be crushed when the trail ended at the last rock shelf still one hundred feet above the river. The stream they had been following plunged over the edge. To their left and right, the cliffs rose vertically above them for at least another fifty feet. The only other way out was back the narrow U-shaped defile from which they had just emerged. Peeking over the edge to the right of the waterfall, they espied paw holds carved in the rock face at regular intervals all the way down to a sandy beach at the bottom where the river curved away from the cliff it had carved.

Jak swooned back in despair. Airy held his arm to steady him.

"We can do it, Jak."

"No!" he shouted pushing her away. "I can't. It's too far; too steep. I will become dizzy and fall."

Jak's push had not been violent, but the rebuff wounded Airy in her heart.

"Jak, don't reject my help. You can do this. You must."

"No, Airy. I cannot, and you can't hold me steady this time," he insisted while shaking his head.

"There is a way. Keep your eye on the rock where you put your paws. Imagine that you only have to go ten feet, and conquer that. Then, when you are done, imagine it is only another ten feet. Ten feet is easy. Right? You can do that."

Trembling, Jak's ears lay flat against his head. His tail tucked forward between his legs. Airy had never seen him so miserable.

Unconvincingly, he agreed.

"Fine. I will follow your lead. You go first."

Airy knew that was a bad idea. She had trained new recruits before, and had learned that you could not leave them behind when they were afraid, hoping that they overcame their fears and followed. Guidance and leadership was needed to see them through their crisis.

"No, Jak. I know what you are planning. You have to go first. We're a team. I'm not leaving you here to face the Cats alone."

Growing angry at the shame of his own phobia, Jak transferred his rage to Airy. Without warning, he lunged at her, knocked her over, pinned her to the rock, and snarled in her face like a feral wolf.

"You cannot make me do this. If I decide fighting is better than falling, how will you stop me?"

Airy was not afraid. No matter how Jak reacted, she was certain he would never hurt her.

"I can't stop you with force, Jak, but I won't leave you behind. I love you. There is only one way for us to live through this and remain together. We have to climb down the wall."

Jak struggled internally trying to destroy the fear and the unsteady feelings it provoked. Airy was right, and he was wrong. Staying put was suicide; the climb gave them a chance. He had to stop his imagination from controlling his actions. Descending a ten-foot wall was something he could do. He knew he could. The rest of the climb didn't matter. He had to believe that.

Searching for the strength he desperately needed, he found it in Airy's eyes. Unconditional love that promised to support him stared back.

Feeling calmer and less anxious, Jak realized he had stopped shaking. Accepting her love and the strength it bestowed had helped him tether his fear at least temporarily. He surprised Airy by kissing her deeply and passionately.

Releasing her lips, he stood and strode calmly towards the cliff. He threw his spear down towards the riverbank where it stuck in the bole of a tree growing on the sandy beach. The rest that he carried went over the edge to land in the sand except his bow and quiver of arrows, which he tied to his back. Emptying his mind of everything but the number ten, he slithered over the edge on his belly and started down.

His eye saw only the paw holds as he completed the first ten feet. When that was done, he pretended that he was starting again. Deliberately losing count of how many times he restarted, Jak's perception of the world shrank to a methodical process of repeating the same action. His left paw was clumsy, but it had enough movement to grip the pawholds, which had been well constructed and angled downward into the rock. He knew that if a hindpaw slipped, he could easily support all of his weight with one arm.

When his left hindpaw finally touched sand, he was puzzled. The sensation didn't correlate with the tiny bubble of reality of a single ten-foot descent that he had created in his head. Even though his weight was fully supported by his legs on solid ground, a pawful of heartbeats passed before he was able to release his grip and experience the profound relief of standing on the beach.

Airy wasted no time in following. As Jak had done, she tossed all of her cumbersome equipment over the side of the cliff. Her sword landed in the sand followed by her mail shirt, arm guards, and hauberk. She deftly scaled the wall and was soon just a few pawholds off the bottom. Before her hindpaws touched the sand, Jak swept her up off the rock face into a furry embrace.

"Thank you, Airy."

"It was a small repayment for everything you have done for me. Climbing that rock wall despite your fear was a supremely brave deed, Jak."

"Nevertheless, this Wolf is grateful for your strength."

"Then kiss me again like you did on top."

Jak obliged, and they both longed for it to last forever. A Cat scream from above ended the tender moment and forced them to gather up their gear and run in the only traversable direction; they moved east and downstream looking for a place to safely cross the river.

The canyon's floor widened as they followed the river. Dense groves of deciduous trees and shrubs grew anywhere that had not been recently scoured in a flood. There was no obvious trail and no easy place to cross the river. The watercourse was not wide but they could not ford it because it flowed deep and fast over rocky rapids. The confusing terrain hindered their downstream progress. They were forced to back track often when they encountered woody deadfalls blocking their path.

After they had run nearly a mile, a section of the river that was wide, flat, and sluggish opened before them. With hope for escape renewed, Airy and Jak sprinted across a broad, sandy bar towards the river to wade across to what they hoped was safety. Piles of tree trunks and branches swept ashore in times of flood forced them into a weaving path. Jak stopped their flight before the last of these debris mounds and tested the air with his nose.

"Cat. In front of us," he growled.

As if invited by Jak's pronouncement, a male Cat stepped out from behind a root wad where he had been hiding and blocked their path to the river. Jak glanced back the way they had come. He had heard the voices of two Cats pursuing them, but this one seemed to be alone. Typical of his race, the Cat was tall, towering nearly a half a foot over Jak. Orange and black stripes like that of a tiger covered his lean, muscular body except for his chest and stomach, which were white. A mop of orange, spiky hair crowned his head, and sideburn-like tufts of fur clung to the sides of his face. His only concession to clothing was a tight leather pelt wound about his loins.

Airy drew her sword and planted her hindpaws preparing for an attack. Even though Jak respected Airy's proficiency with the steel blade, especially against an unarmed opponent, she looked ridiculously small compared to the feline giant. Jak stepped forward to add his spear alongside Airy's sword.

"I am certain there are two," Jak whispered to Airy. "Keep a watch behind us. Don't let this one distract you."

Airy nodded and moved to guard Jak's back.

"Get back, Cat!" shouted Jak to the opponent in front of him. "We mean to leave your lands. We have no quarrel with you unless you intend us harm. Don't make us kill you."

A quizzical look was the Cat's only response. Jak had enough experience with felines to know they spoke and understood his language. If this one didn't wish to have a discussion, Jak would be satisfied with silent neutrality. He sought only to be allowed to pass unmolested, but when Jak and Airy tried to circumvent the striped menace, the Cat moved to interposed himself between his quarry and the river. In an attempt to drive the Cat back, Jak thrust at him with his spear. The Cat easily dodged the blow demonstrating incredible speed and agility.

"I mean it, Cat."

Frustrated, Jak planted his spear in the ground, drew his bow, and notched an arrow all in one smooth motion.

"Can you outrun an arrow, Cat?"

Displaying impudent conceit towards the Wolf, the Cat smiled an unpleasantly satisfied smile.

"I just might, one-eyed doggie, but there is no need."

Jak instantly suspected a trap, but before he could locate the suspected threat, he was tackled from the side, knocked to the ground, and driven snout first into the sand by the missing second Cat. His bow and arrow were efficiently stripped from his paws and tossed aside.

Despite her vigilance, Airy was baffled by the Cat's sudden appearance. It was if Jak's assailant had materialized out of the background. With years of military training, Airy's reflexes and combat instincts made her response to the threat swift. A normal pair of adversaries would have found themselves in mortal danger against the Wolf and well-armed Rabbit, but the two felines possessed physical capabilities beyond anything either Jak or Airy had previously encountered.

While pivoting towards the beast that had assaulted Jak, the male Cat sprang and was upon her before she was aware that he had moved. A sweeping kick knocked her legs out from under her, and she fell heavily to the ground supine. Easily prying the sword from her paw, he tossed it spinning through the air to land in the sand twenty yards away.

Jak fought to rise, but he had no leverage. The female Cat was sitting on him while twisting his lame paw painfully behind his back. She was nearly identical to the male Cat in appearance, and was similarly clad. Leaning forward she pressed her small, firm, furry breasts into Jak's back, and placed her mouth against his ear.

"You've already lost vun eye, little puppy. Don't make me take your arm off, too."

The Cat's speech was strangely accented, but Jak understood her well enough. The added pressure she applied to his paw and arm made her meaning clear without words. Jak lay helpless as he watched the male Cat pick Airy up by her ankle and hold her at arm's length as she futilely tried to strike him with her fists.

"I didn't believe you, Sister, but you vere right; bunyic and doggie traveling and vorking together. I am astounded."

The female Cat purred at the acknowledgement of her victory; Jak could hear and feel the thrumming from her body.

"Is it possible you are right about the rest?" he wondered.

The male Cat lowered Airy roughly to the ground so she was flat on her back with her legs in the air. Stepping on her chest to hold her down, he spread her legs and sniffed at her crotch.

"Incredible! The doggie has been here. Sister, you have solved our little mystery."

Airy was mortified. The horrible Cat seemed to know that she and Jak had been intimate. The helplessness and embarrassment was maddening. She tried to kick him, and scrunched herself up so she could slap him, but he dodged her blow with casual ease.

"Let go, Maker damn you! We don't want anything of yours. We just want to leave."

To contain her struggling, the tom casually flipped Airy over onto her stomach and pressed his foot on the back of her neck so that her face was forced awkwardly into the sand. Airy had to turn her head sideways just to breathe and avoid inhaling the beach.

"She's feisty enough. Is that vhat you see in her, doggie? Is that vhat makes you vant her? She's prey. Vhy do you keep her alive?"

Jak failed to see how the tom's questions were relevant.

"We don't mean any harm to you. We just want to travel north. If you let us go, we will never return."

"That's not how I remember your first vords. I remember threats and veapons. How is that not harm?"

While the Cat spoke, Jak had slowly been moving his free arm towards the knife at his belt. Sensing his goal, the she Cat snatched the knife first and held it against his throat.

"Big bad Volfie is still trying to hurt us, Brother."

"Doggie, your situation is becoming more perilous vith every action you take and vord you speak. bunyic is prey, and your kind constantly invade our lands trying to kill us. Only reason you are still alive right now is because I am curious. For days, my sister and I have been tracking most unusual tracks - bunyic and doggie traveling together, but doggie isn't hunting bunyic. How strange, ve think. Never have ve heard of or seen such thing. Vhy vould ancient enemies be traveling like good friends? Then, stranger still, ve find old stump vhere bunyic and doggie had spent the night, and vat do we smell?"

The tom paused, while the female on Jak's back purred and licked the back of his ear. Receiving no answer from Jak, the tom persisted.

"No answer, doggie? Do not be reticent. You know vhat ve smelled besides the pungent flowers. That place vas rank vith odor of your sex. That makes my sister and I more curious than ve have ever been. My sister says to me that predator and prey make love to each other. No sense or understanding could ve make of these signs."

"It's like I said, brother," interjected the she Cat. "These must be freaks and miscreants running avay form their own kind to avoid punishment for their perversions."

"Is this true, doggie? Are you some kind of pervert who likes to fuck his prey, or are bunyics and Volves vorking together against Cats? Ve know you don't like us. Is that vhy you are here?"

To add emphasis to her brother's words, the she Cat wrenched Jak's arm back farther and pushed his face deeper into the sand. Jak grunted loudly in response to the pain.

"Our peoples are not working together against you. We are just lone perverts, like you thought," protested Jak as he spat sand out of his mouth.

"How delightful if true, but I am not convinced. Tell me more," demanded the tom.

Given no recourse, Jak explained.

"I am a deposed pack leader in exile. Airy, the bunyic as you call her, was separated from her people and lost on this side of the Earth Spine when the pass was closed by burning rock and ash. We saved each other's lives. I promised to take her north to try to get around the Earth Spine and return her to her home. We have become...friends."

"More than just friends, I think," said the female Cat as she stroked Jak's muzzle with the paw holding the dagger. "I share vhat she sees in you. You're kind of cute for puppy - all black and shiny silver"

Burying her snout into his neck fur, she inhaled deeply.

"And you smell...exiting."

The brother seemed less thrilled with Airy than his sister did towards Jak.

"I don't know vat doggie sees in this bunyic, though. She's scrawny and small. Vorth eating, but not much to fuck."

He turned Airy again like a sausage on the grill as he examined her. Lifting up her mail shirt and surcoat, he exposed her breasts.

"Big titties. Too much like Cows. Oh, ho! Look at this. Under all of the dirt, she has stripes like little tiger. Maybe she's part Cat after all."

Annoyed with being handled so roughly and casually, Airy lashed out with all the violence and ferocity she possessed and managed to land a kick solidly on the side of the Cat's face. The blow affected him enough that he recoiled backward slightly, and Airy squirmed free from his grasp. She seized the opportunity to strike out at him again, but he deftly caught her neck under his arm and pinned her body into immobility against his stomach.

"Then again, she is little ball of fury. I almost felt that kick. You just earned yourself more time alive, bunyic."

The Cat pinned both of Airy's arms behind her by clasping her wrists in one of his strong, slender paws. Sweeping her legs from under her again, he lowered Airy back onto her stomach. Completely helpless, she could not prevent him from tearing away her underclothes with his other paw.

When he was finished stripping her bottom half naked, he unwrapped the cloth that covered his loins exposing his sheathed penis. As he roughly prodded the naked flesh between Airy's thighs with his fingers, his erection grew displaying his long, slender, pink, barb covered staff. Airy was blind to his arousal as he knelt behind her until he roughly forced the tip of his cock into her exposed vagina. Grasping her thighs, he jerked her hips towards his burying the rest of himself deep inside. Unprepared, Airy screamed from the pain and shock of his violation and tried to crawl away, but he effortlessly lifted her from the ground and stood with her impaled upon him and restrained by the crushing embrace of his arms. She could only curse, kick her legs impotently, and cry for Jak to help as the barbs clawed at her insides with the rhythmic rocking of his pelvis.

Provided a clear view, Jak tried desperately to throw the she Cat off his back and rescue Airy. Equal in strength to her brother and too well positioned for Jak to do anything but hurt himself, she let Jak struggle to exhaustion before returning his obsidian blade to his throat where it bit shallowly into his flesh.

"Tsk. Tsk," whispered the female Cat into Jak's ear. "You vill not interfere vith my brother's fun. Relax. You can't help her vhen you're dead."

After a short pause, she spoke more quietly as if only for Jak's ears.

"If you and your bunyic vant to live, she needs to be more entertaining."

"Entertaining? What do you mean! What is your game? What do you want from us?"

Jak resumed his efforts to escape, but only reaped more pain in his arm and blood congealing in his neck fur from added pressure of the knife.

"Hush, and be still," she insisted again quietly.

The knife withdrew from his throat. She began gently stroking his muzzle and licking behind his ear as she continued in a voice for Jak's ears only.

"Vould you believe that I am helping you, puppy?"

For several heartbeats, Jak was too astounded to reply.

"What?"

"I vas there this morning vhen you and bunyic made sveet love."

She waited for Jak to respond, but he had no words to counter this bizarre revelation.

"Do you need proof? You asked her if she vanted you to hold her snout shut. She is screamer. She vas surprised to get stuck on your doggie knot."

"Enough. I believe you. You don't have to say any more."

The Cat purred again.

"You don't seem to understand. I saved you vunce already. I convinced my brother that you had traveled on farther vhen I knew you vere still there. I circled back to your love stump as he vent in the wrong direction."

"Why?"

"Like my brother, I am curious. Unlike my brother, I do not kill everything I find. I find bunyic and puppy dog traveling together, and vonder vat is this? I alvays believe Volves are dangerous murderers. I know they are rapists and raiders, but now I find vun traveling vith bunyic. I decide to find out for myself vhy, before my brother kills them. I vas surprised to find Volf having sex vith bunyic. He makes sveet, tender love to her; not violent and mean even though he is much bigger and stronger than she and can have vhatever he vants from her."

As she spoke these last words, her purr grew louder and her tongue scraped the back of Jak's ear as if she were a mother giving her kit a bath.

"You intrigue me, Volfie. I think you may be vorth saving."

"Save? How?"

"First, I have deal for you, puppy. You must do exactly vhat I say until you are free. Then, you take me vith you vhen you go. My brother lives. You do not try to hurt me in any vay. If you do not accept this deal, you both die...after ve are done having fun vith you. Is my meaning clear?"

"But I can't..."

A strong paw clamped over his snout while the other applied more pressure to his injured paw.

"No other conditions. My deal is not negotiable. You are not rapist and raider Volf. You have honor. I sense that, but you must svear to me on something; something I can believe that vill make you honor deal."

The knife reappeared against his throat.

"Now, or you die."

Cries and screams continued from Airy during Jak's exchange with the she Cat.

"Stop, please," she begged. "It hurts."

Her pleas secured no mercy from the tom's relentless thrusting. Instead, the sound of her suffering accentuated his arousal thus intensifying his pace like a team of horses responding to the crack of the wagon driver's whip. It was a dubious blessing. The increased pace brought the tom to orgasm sooner. His violent skewering stopped with his cock buried as deep inside of Airy as he could force it. She sensed the liquid warmth of his spurting cum. When Jak had released his seed insider her, the sensation had brought her near infinite joy; in contrast, the Cat's slimy violation was akin to a poisonous stain of shame spreading throughout her body.

Apparently finished, the Cat's slightly softening cock began a slow and staccato retreat as the spurs encircling its length caught on Airy's tender insides. When it finally slipped free and protruded from between her thighs, she was able to see the instrument of her torment. Covered in ejaculate, narrow teardrops of the viscous white goo dangled from the dozens of short spines that lined it like spikes on a mace. Airy was horrified to reconcile its appearance with what she had experienced.

Wanting freedom from his vile clutches, she fervently prayed that he had spent himself so that he would release her and never touch her again. It was a delusion born of desperation. The Cat's prickly pole lost little of its stamina. Using his own dripping cum as lubricant, he pushed the still erect member into her backdoor just as roughly as he had entered the front. Airy screamed even louder at the rude violation.

Airy's suffering was an equivalent torture for Jak. Unable to endure it further, he was forced to capitulate to the she Cat's demands.

"Let me up. Grant me the chance to subdue him, and I'll do whatever you want."

"Svear to deal first. Say anything else, and you both die after she suffers greatly."

Jak's trust for the Cat was as tenuous as a wavering shadow under an overcast sky, but he was bereft of other options. No treachery could be worse than a continuation of their present circumstance. Airy's pained grunts and screams tormented him; each one a searing dagger in his soul. He had to rescue her somehow, and he possessed only what the inexplicable she Cat was offering. Desperation triggered his assent.

"I swear by my ancestors, I swear on the honor of my pack, and I swear by my love for Airy that if you save us, I will abide by your deal."

"Bunyic, too?"

Jak sighed, knowing Airy would not appreciate this bargain even to save her life. She would want vengeance. She would never find contentment until both Cats were dead. Greatly exceeding the beating she had received from Autumn, this was a deep humiliation and personal violation she would never forget.

"I will ensure Airy abides by our agreement, too."

"Good. Deal is made. Now you do vhat I say and follow along vith vhatever I do. Understood?"

Jak nodded.

"My brother likes his sex rough...I know," she said with a trace of something akin to sadness and regret. "He doesn't vant docile plaything. She's starting to act like Cow girl. He vill get bored soon, and she vill be dead."

Jak began to understand.

"Airy!" he shouted.

She turned her head with a grimace of pain and despair on her face as the Cat continued to violate the entrance below her small tail. Sand stuck to her cheeks where her tears had wetted them. Jak's next words were mouthed silently so the tom couldn't hear.

"Fight him."

Airy stared uncomprehending until after Jak mouthed the phrase repeatedly. Even when she did perceive his words, the underlying reason for his suggestion escaped her, but it didn't matter as long as she believed that anything, even death, was better than what she was enduring. With that motivation firmly fixed in her mind, Airy attacked the closest weak point she could find on her opponent. With both of her paws, she grabbed the Cat's left forefinger and bent it back as far as she could. The tom howled in pain before slapping her hard across the back of her head with his other paw.

Striking her required him to release his grip. Free to move, Airy planted her hindpaws on his thighs and pushed herself away. Airy ground her teeth to stifle another scream as the nasty barbs raked her roughly before the Cat's cock popped out of her tailhole. Worth the momentary pain to be free of his clutches, the agony did nothing to distract her from resisting recapture.

Having been trained for years in paw-to-paw combat with much larger opponents, Airy was quick to roll to her hindpaws with her next action already planned. As she had anticipated, the Cat recovered quickly and lunged at her. Endeavoring to confound, she did not try to escape as he no doubt thought she would. Instead, she took advantage of his height, rolled beneath him, and knocked his legs out from under him. Again, she sprang to her hindpaws, but this time she had recovered a weapon. Unaware of where the Cat had tossed her sword and having no time to search for it, she took comfort in the feel of the stout tree limb she held in both paws. It made a serviceable club.

"Oh yes!" the tom exclaimed gleefully where he lay in sand. "Sister, did you see that? I may just keep this vun alive a bit longer. My compliments, doggie, on finding such excellent and entertaining prey."

"You come near me again, Cat, and I'll beat you bloody!" yelled Airy.

An effortless kick-up put the tom back on his hindpaws. He made several feints to draw her forward, but Airy was alert for such simple tricks. She kept her hindpaws apart and her center of gravity close to the ground as she had been taught. When the Cat lunged for real, she was ready. He went low, expecting her to do the same. Instead, she surprised him again by leaping high over his shoulder from where she hit him as hard she could across his head with her improvised club. An ordinary opponent would have been stunned by the blow that splintered the wooden weapon upon impact with his skull, but even though Airy executed her maneuver perfectly by twisting in air to land upright behind her foe, the Cat recovered with his signature grace and speed. One of his long legs reached out and hooked behind her ankles.

A quick yank put Airy hard on her back, stunned, and gasping for air. On top and in control again, the Cat held her legs apart and attempted to reenter her tailhole. Airy punched at his throat, but he caught her tiny paw in his larger fist. With a wicked grin, he pinned her arms. Curling her knees up she managed to kick him in the chest, but he barely recoiled. When she bit his paw, he did balk, and she briefly managed to roll away, only to be caught by her ankle and dragged back on her belly and completely immobilized by the weight of his body on top of her.

"The only safe vay to give it to you is from behind, little bunyic," growled the tom into her ear as he worked to spread her clenched butt cheeks apart.

Jak observed the battle with frustrated fury. He could not tell whether each escape by Airy was of her own doing or just the Cat toying with her, but he knew she would stay alive only as long as the Cat continued to be amused. That was either a part of whatever plan his sister had for their escape, or Jak had been duped into helping provide more sport before an inevitable fatal ending. Beginning to suspect that he had been betrayed, Jak frantically sought for options that didn't exist. The Cats were superior brawlers, and the knife at his throat was poised to kill him in a single heartbeat. As Jak languished in despair, the female Cat resumed whispering to him in her inexplicably seductive manner.

"Is my little puppy getting exited yet? Does he vant to play rough, too?"

Using rope from Jak's kit, she tied his arms behind his back at the wrists. No longer requiring a weapon, she threw his knife away. Unexpectedly, the she cat then rolled over on her back carrying Jak with her so that he was seated atop and astride her. The action was astoundingly fast, and with his wrists firmly bound, Jak was unable to resist.

"Now let's see how ready you are." Slipping her paw under Jak's kilt, she pawed at his privates becoming disappointed by what she found. "Vhat's the matter, puppy? Doesn't this excite you?"

Unbelieving, Jak stared at his captor trying to comprehend how she could imagine that he would be aroused by any of this.

"Are you sick? No. It doesn't. My mate is being raped. You think I'd get off on that?"

The sister responded with a look of astonishment, but not by his lack of excitement or lack of an erection.

"She is your mate? You have feelings of love for her? Bunyic is not just your toy?"

"She is not my toy. She is...it's complicated," said Jak with a sigh.

Rather than anger the feline or invite her contumely, his admission piqued her interest in him further. In the background, Airy and the male Cat continued their game of catch, fuck, escape, repeat. Airy was no longer screaming or crying. She was fighting for her life. It was all too surreal for Jak, but even odder was what the Cat beneath him did next. She pushed Jak onto his back, climbed on top, and lay with her snout close to his. There was no anger or threat of death in her look. Instead, she gazed at him with a look of sincere and amorous yearning.

"Arrre you gentle to herrr, Puppy? Do you make tenderrr love to herrr?"

She rolled her R's with a purring sound while tenderly licking lightly at Jak's face. Jak attempted to shy away embarrassed by the question, her attention, and her seductive allure, but she held him still and persisted.

"Tell me how you make love to bunyic. I vant to know."

"Airy is...how does this help us escape?"

"Shhh. Deal is deal. You do everything I say. Now tell."

"I, um...I'm not sure it's something...I," he stammered.

She responded by licking and blowing in his ear, while slightly but pointedly digging her now extended claws into his upper arms.

"Not request, puppy. You do everything I say. Tell me everything. Don't make me say again."

Resigned, Jak obeyed.

"We have only made love twice. Once before we entered Aserth and again in the stump where we hid to avoid you. The first time, I licked her...everywhere."

A sharp intake of breath from the Cat accompanied a forceful and deliberate grinding of her pubis against Jak's groin.

"Tell me more."

"Just licking the first time. When we awoke in the stump where we spent the night I was...ready, and she was on top. She wanted me, and I wanted her."

"She vas on top?"

"Yes."

"Vere you sveet and affectionate to her, puppy?"

"I let her set the pace and do what she wanted, if that's what you mean."

The she Cat purred again and kissed Jak briefly on the lips.

"Vat I mean, dense puppy, is you did not force her or hit her did you? You let bunyic be in charge even though you are much stronger and much bigger. I find that...interesting. Vould you fuck me like that, puppy?"

"If I loved you, yes."

"Love? Vhat has that to vith sex? You Volves have many mates. You can't love them all."

"That's different," he protested.

She shut Jak's snout with her paw.

"Quiet now. You had better be good at pretending you vant me, puppy if you desire life for you and little doe. My brother vill get suspicious if I don't have some fun vith you, and I need him to trust me. Do exactly as I say, and you vill be free."

Jak sought clarification, but she kept his mouth tightly closed leaving him to grunt and mumble.

"No questions. No negotiation. Choose life or death. I von't discuss."

Coincident with her threat, she grabbed his cock and began to stroke him, sliding his sheath roughly down to his balls exposing his limp red member.

"Better get this up, puppy boy. Start thinking of things that make you excited. I von't be jealous if you think about last night vith your little bunyic doe."

The Cat's tongue slid into his mouth attempting to intertwine with his. Bound, helpless, confused, and thinking only of his need to rescue Airy, Jak relented and attempted to give her what she wanted. There were many times as pack leader that sex with females was required for political reasons. It had never been this forced or quite this stressful, but he had developed techniques to perform even when he was not in the mood. He prayed to his ancestors that he could succeed now. A picture of Airy formed in his thoughts of the way she had been this morning; fresh, new and eager for him. All his will bent towards that moment and his love for Airy. Instincts responded as he stiffened slightly in the Cat's grip.

"Hey, Brother!" she yelled in response to the growing organ in her paw.

The male Cat had Airy firmly pinned face down in the sand once more with her rump in the air. With one large, slender paw he held her tiny wrists behind her back while his forelegs pinned her thighs to the ground.

"Ahh. Ahh," He grunted as he came copiously in her backside.

Spitting sand out of her mouth, Airy cursed him loudly. To Jak's horror, the Cat bared his fangs and lunged for the back of her neck. The metal neck guard of her armor saved her. Frustrated by the unyielding steel, the Cat satisfied himself with biting down on her shoulder instead, and though Airy was protected by her chainmail shirt, she could feel the intense pressure of his jaws and the points of his teeth protruding between the ringlets. An ugly bruise would be another grim reminder of this insult if she lived through the day.

"Your little bunyic is lucky to have steel," the she Cat whispered to Jak. "Male Cats often bite like that vhen they orgasm. It stimulates females to get pregnant. I think he really meant to kill her, though."

"Hey, brother!" she shouted again.

The male Cat released his jaws from Airy's shoulder to give her his attention.

"Ohhh. Vow. I think I may have chipped tooth, but it vas vorth it. Vhat, Sister?"

"Puppy likes being tied up."

The tom laughed cruelly seeing Jak's now engorged prick in his sister's paw.

"So he does."

So not to lose his focus, Jak ignored him and kept his good eye clenched shut.

"He told me he lets bunyic have her vay with him," the she Cat added.

Jak tried to protest her revelation of his intimate secrets, but she twisted his head sideways and clamped down harder on his snout to silence him.

"I bet she ties him up just like this and punishes him vhen he is bad," she added after muzzling the Wolf.

The male Cat rose and kicked Airy over onto her side. Too exhausted and hurt to move, she lay still, panting, feeling the tom's semen seep between her thighs and ooze from below her tail. She was determined not to cry no matter how she felt.

"This pathetic doe boss such large Volf around?"

Incredulous at first, he reconsidered the possibility and massaged the places on his body where Airy had managed to kick and punch him.

"She's real hell cat all right. I believe it. How delightfully kinky."

The she Cat threw the rest of Jak's rope in her brother's face.

"You vant kinky? Let her tie you, and let's see vhat she does."

The tom looked doubtfully at his sister.

"Don't vorry," she said to placate his concerns. "I can handle her. I von't let her do any...permanent damage to you."

A depraved leer contorted the tom's snout. Dragging Airy by one hindpaw closer to his sister, he placed the ropes in Airy's paws and knelt in front of her.

"Vas I too rough on you, bunyic? Vas I bad kitty? You should punish me just like you do your little puppy dog."

Relieved that the rape had been suspended, but too hurt and muddled in her thoughts to focus on the trajectory of the conversation, Airy looked to Jak for answers. Her lover was immobilized beneath the female Cat but was furiously nodding to Airy. It was obvious he wanted her to cooperate with whatever sick scheme the Cats were proposing, but when Airy noticed the wretched female had her paw around Jak's erection, her anger resurfaced. Meeting Airy's eyes, the she Cat smirked slyly enjoying Airy's rage.

Airy was on the verge of resuming her fight when an almost imperceptible nod of the female Cat's striped head made her pause. A subtle message was being relayed. Jak mimicked the Cat's subdued gesture. There was some kind of bizarre game afoot, but Airy was disinclined to play. Her quick and violent temper and her pride made it difficult for her to compromise with her adversaries even for her own good. Airy's grudge with Autumn was now a dimly remembered shadow eclipsed by the blindingly bright ball of rage she felt toward both Cats but the female in particular. Airy wanted to do anything she could to thwart the she Cat's will, but she trusted Jak. He had faithfully led her on what he admitted would be a difficult and dangerous journey. By cooperating with him, they had overcome dangers equal to this. If Jak urged her to participate in this wretched sport, she would control herself and play for his sake.

"Very well," she thought and made a silent vow to herself_. "I will hurt these Cats back as best I can, but I won't be satisfied until both are dead_."

Airy rose to her hindpaws to stand in front of the tom.

"You are a bad kitty," she said as she backpawed the male Cat's snout with all the force she could muster.

He hadn't expected such a rapid conversion in behavior from his quarry. The unforeseen clout caught wrenched his head to one side. He recovered quickly, though, and grinned broader.

"I am a princess," she continued in her most authoritative voice, "and no one treats a princess like that."

She slapped him again in the opposite direction. Anticipating her assault, he turned his snout with the blow to mute its effect and responded with a renewed erection.

"This is the sickest fucker I have ever met," Airy thought as she tied his paws behind his back and to his ankles, forcing him to remain on his knees.

A loud, rumbling purr betrayed the tom's enjoyment. When Airy was satisfied that he was properly bound, she stood in front of him, pulled up her shirt, and dragged his snout down against her crotch. She had no desire to have his evil mouth touching her most sensitive region, but was trying her hardest to humiliate him the way he had humiliated her.

"You made a mess. Clean it up!"

Enjoying the game, the Cat licked her as commanded collecting his own dribbling semen from between her legs. When her fur was merely damp and no longer sticky, his tongue greedily thrust between the fleshy folds of her sex and his muzzle bumped against her clitoris. The Cat's tongue was rougher than Jak's, though the sensation as it scraped against her insides was not disagreeable. It might even have aroused her if the act had been administered by another than this despicable creature.

Remembering that she was supposed to be punishing the Cat, she stepped away from him. His tenacity to continue savoring her piquant nectar made him totter forward with his tongue hanging out.

"You're enjoying this too much. This is punishment not pleasure. More discipline is in order."

Airy paced around the tom with a leisurely stride using a thin, whip-like switch to randomly strike him across his back and buttocks.

"You are a wicked and wretched creature. Tell me how wretched you are!"

To emphasize the demand, she whipped his buttocks hard, three times.

"I am vicked," he howled with delight.

"Louder!" The switch struck across his taught buttocks again, and though she didn't think it possible, his cock swelled larger in response.

"I am vicked cat!" he shouted throwing his head back and smiling perversely.

"Princess!" she corrected.

His shoulders received the switch for his lack of proper respect.

"I am an evil and vicked Cat, Princess. Oh, yes. Thank you, Princess."

Airy was disgusted by how much the Cat relished the fetish she found so abominable, but the wounded child within her was savoring this modicum of revenge enough to be blind to how the she Cat was exploiting Jak.

"Can you be gentle, little puppy?" the sister hissed into Jak's ears. Her breath was warm and moist.

"Vere you tender vith all your lovers? Did you have special she Volf before bunyic? Tell me her name. Call me her name and be gentle vith me."

"Moon. Her name was Moon," replied Jak bound by the conditions of their deal.

Swiveling one hundred eighty degrees while remaining atop Jak, she planted her crotch firmly upon his snout. A light shudder convulsed her body at the momentary contact of his cool, moist nose against her sensitive flesh.

"Then call me Moon and service me vith your tongue. Make it good, puppy. You're vorking for your lives."

"Yes, Moon."

Nothing ever felt more degenerate to Jak, but he was consoled knowing Airy was no longer being violated. He could smell no lies from the Cat and held onto a delicate hope that she was acting in good faith to release them. With her brother fettered, Jak and Airy had a chance to escape if the sister let them go.

"Was that her plan?" Jak wondered._ "If I please her, will she free us?_

Tentatively, he licked the soft, moist valley between her thighs. She purred in response, mistaking his hesitation for the gentleness she craved. Her taste was exotic unlike anything Jak had experienced before - musky and tangy like the intoxicating beverages his people brewed from wild grains. His olfactory prowess, which was usually a strong asset, betrayed him by allowing her seductive scent a short path to his brain. He strived to keep his involvement mechanical and unemotional while satisfying her, but instead, he was drawn into a state of involuntary arousal, and his tongue acquired a will of its own.

Never quite taking her eyes from Airy, the she Cat purred louder and moaned as Jak's tongue swept across her sex and in between to the warm, inviting interior. In return, she tongued Jak's swollen cock, and she lightly nibbled at it with her sharp teeth.

"Yes, Puppy. So tender. So kind. So different. So...Ahhh."

An abrupt orgasm made her body shudder. Her foreclaws sank lightly into Jak's legs as she squeezed Jak's head with her thighs. Jak continued lapping. Fluids dribbled down his snout and onto his chest. Unable to withstand the pleasure's intensity, she lifted herself away from Jak's probing tongue. Jak strained unconsciously to maintain the contact silently cursing the rope that bound his paws and futilely wishing he could grab her buttocks and drag her back down.

Rotating her body again, the Cat pressed her snout to his and lapped the sticky residue from Jak's fur.

"How about Cat on top instead of bunyic?"

As she spoke, she gripped his cock at the top of his swollen knot and eased him between the now well-moistened folds of her sex. A minor tremble shook Jak's body.

"Do it, puppy. Do it inside me," she whispered, as she eased up and down careful to keep his knot from entering and tying them together.

Having transitioned from a chore to an act of pleasure, Jak no longer needed to force himself with the Cat. Guilt plagued him despite rationalizing that he was doing this for Airy. She would be upset by it anyway. He wanted to resist for her sake, but the pounding thunder growing in volume inside his head was deafening him to rational thought.

Chuffing pants presaged the collapse of what little resistance remained, and he exploded releasing his seed within the Cat. Grinding his teeth to stifle all sounds of pleasure, he hoped that Airy had not recognized what he had just done.

"Bite me now," she demanded of him as he came. Confusion clouded Jak's lone eye.

"Bite my neck," she ordered more earnestly as she lowered one shoulder exposing her scruff.

Jak's jaws were powerful enough to crush her spine and windpipe. Puzzled by her request and the reckless jeopardy to which she was exposing herself, Jak agonized over what to do. If he killed her, he would still have to free himself from his bonds before the brother escaped his restraints. With Airy's help, it was possible, if not likely, for the two of them to overcome the tom and escape, but his sense of honor made him delay. A sworn covenant had been made with the she Cat, and Jak was convinced that she was trying to help them in her own unorthodox way. Enough of Jak's dignity had been sacrificed already today. He was unwilling to relinquish any more. He hoped that Airy would understand the need for integrity if he was mistaken.

"Go on! Do it!" she urged again.

Sensing she wanted something painful, Jak put as much force in the bite as he could without making it fatal. The action sent her into an even more powerful orgasm than previously. Violent contractions clutched him where their bodies were interlocked. The rest of her went rigid as a statue, every muscle and sinew bulging beneath her fur. No scream accompanied the event. Instead, she released a long, slow exhalation as the flexing and squeezing inside her pelvis subsided. Spent, she relaxed and sank down on top of him.

"I could have killed you," Jak whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Why then?"

"It was a test, little puppy. You passed."

"A test? I don't understand."

She grasped Jak's snout in her paws and kissed him.

"You'll figure it out eventually. I think my brother is about to cum his last today. It's time for me to uphold my end of the deal, puppy."

During the she Cat's imposition of herself upon Jak, Airy's frustration with the Tom had become insufferable. Though it felt good to abuse the object of all of her rage and hate, it was not enough. Airy wanted to kill him. Tied wrists to paws, he was helpless. Only the she Cat held the power to thwart her vengeance, and she was succeeding admirably by delighting in keeping a careful watch on Airy while simultaneously tormenting Airy with her lechery towards Jak.

The impulse to turn her fury on the sister was nearly irresistible regardless of the dismal probability of defeating the Cat in unarmed combat. Airy searched anyway for a moment of inattention that would allow her to retrieve her sword, kill the male, and then deal with the female, but the opportunity never transpired. Every time Airy glanced at the sister, the horrid thing was slyly staring back with a smug look of victory and pleasure on her feline face.

It was maddening beyond endurance. The tom was tied. Airy had the stick. Why did she feel so helpless? Since the only power she possessed was to embarrass and hurt her rapist, she continued to vent her anger by slapping him, yanking his ears, and whipping his back and buttocks. He aberrantly enjoyed it all. Pain was ineffective. She needed to embarrass and humiliate him as he had done to her. She needed to violate him in some way. Tired of spanking him with the switch, she grabbed his ear from behind and pulled him backwards so his neck stretched painfully and his head was against her stomach.

"Because you are so naughty, I'm going to give you worse than you gave me. How do you like being a helpless little kitty?"

Before he could answer, she pushed him forward and sat on his back facing towards his rear. He was strong enough to resist her weight, but now his snout was nearly in the sand. As he struggled to hold their combined weight, she pulled his long, striped tail flat against his back. To the tom's astonishment, she inserted her forefinger up his puckered tail hole, violently and with no lubrication, much the same way he had first entered her. He gasped in surprise at the sudden shock. Finding room to spare, she inserted her middle finger too and began to stroke them in and out roughly.

To Airy's vast disappointment, his surprise turned to delirious pleasure. She had accomplished nothing. Desperate to hurt him, she crammed the rest of her fingers inside making a fist. The result was no more satisfying - to her that is.

"Ahh. Ahh. Oh, damn!" he cried.

Amazingly, he climaxed again spreading his discharge all over his chest, face, and the sandy beach in huge spurts. If this was his finale, it was also Airy's. She retrieved her paw as roughly as she could, shoved the Cat's snout further into the sand as she stood, and kicked him in the side. He toppled, not in pain or from the force of the blow, but from an excessive dose of pleasure - panting and purring through it all.

There would be no more of the Cats' sick game for Airy. Vengeance or death - nothing else would she consider, and quietus was better than the shame of this grisly charade. Brandishing the only weapon she possessed, the switch, Airy charged the sister trusting in surprise, luck, and the protection of the Maker. None availed her against her enemy's adroitness. Once again, Airy found herself lying supine in the sand, with her foe on top. Anticipating imminent death, Airy braced herself for the fatal strike, but it never came. Incongruously, the Cat patted her cheek instead as if she was an errant kit.

"Untie your little puppy, dear. It's time to go."

Completely flabbergasted by this unexpected statement, Airy stared mouth agape at the Cat while the feline casually stood and walked towards her brother. Though confused, Airy didn't hesitate to crawl towards Jak and begin untying him. Certain that the she Cat was doing the same for her brother, Airy hoped to at least even the odds.

As she worked Jak's bonds, Airy whispered, "If we hurry we can kill her before she frees him."

"Airy, we can't. I made a promise..."

Airy wasn't listening.

"Shhh! No time."

The bonds slipped from Jak's wrists.

"There. You're free. You stop her, while I get our weapons."

Before Jak could respond, Airy was running to retrieve her sword and his spear. Ignoring Airy's order, Jak rubbed his wrists to bring some blood flowing back to his numb paws. Focused entirely on arming herself for the final battle she knew was coming, Airy nearly dropped the weapons when she turned and saw Jak doing nothing. The sister Cat had likewise made no attempt to free her brother. Reality continued its holiday for Airy when the she Cat shook her head at her brother and made a disapproving hissing sound.

"Vhat mess. Enjoy yourself did you, Brother?"

"Oh yes," he purred.

"Vas it better than me?"

"It vas incredible. Let's keep her."

"I am keeping her, Brother, but you are not."

The purr stopped abruptly.

"Vhat do you mean?" he asked warily.

"I'm leaving, and I'm taking them vith me. North. Far from here and far from you."

"Vhat? Vhy? Ve've found something great here. Vhy do you vant to spoil it? Look, you can keep the puppy if you vant. I don't mind. He didn't seem very interesting to me, but if you like him, you can have him as long as you vant."

He struggled with his bonds as he spoke, but the she Cat intervened making them tighter and more secure.

"You'll get bored of her eventually, Brother, and then kill her and the dog. I know you vell enough. You von't kill me, but you've been throwing me avay for avhile."

The tom tried to object, but she cut him off.

"Don't deny it. I'm bored, too, and looking for something different. Vell, maybe I've found it. I am curious about these two. Let's see vhere helping them takes me."

While the Cats held their conference, Airy brought Jak his weapons and gear. Airy wanted to kill both of them, such was her rage over being raped, but Jak held her back silently and shook his head. Jak's reticence made no sense to her.

"You can't leave me like this," the tom pleaded. His sister ignored him and held out her paw to Jak.

"Lend me bow and one arrow."

Though still furious, Airy was willing to concede that her tormentor was helping them in some bizarre fashion.

"I'll give you my sword if you kill him," said Airy drawing the weapon. The Cat made no move to take it.

"No? Then let me do it."

As Airy tried to move towards the tom, the sister gabbed her wrist, twisted her arm painfully upward at the elbow, took the sword as Airy's fingers involuntarily opened, spun Airy about, and slammed the sword back in its scabbard at Airy's side.

"No, little bunyic. You vill not hurt my brother. Don't try that again. Next time I break your arm."

Airy fumed in helpless rage. The Cat paid her no further heed. Instead, her eyes met Jak's. Impaling her with his spear while she had been struggling with Airy would have been easy. That was twice now that she had left herself vulnerable to him. A mutually shared, but wary, trust was developing. It was nothing like friendship, but trust forged of necessity. Jak and Airy needed the Cat's protection, at least for a little while, and now she had cut her ties with her own kind making herself dependent upon them. He was unsure how he felt about this new relationship. A part of him knew she would cause trouble between him and Airy, while another part felt a kinship with a fellow uncivilized predator.

Despite those feelings, Jak's passionate love and loyalty for Airy and the need he had to protect her was a mighty temptation for him to break his pact with Cat. Everything would be easier for him and his relationship with Airy if he killed these Cats now, while he could, but the remnants of White Paw that persisted forever within his soul forbade that ill choice. A deal sworn on his honor had been made. He could disgrace himself with such duplicity.

Jak handed the Cat the bow and one arrow. Airy watched astonished wondering what had silently passed between her love and her enemy. With precision, the Cat drew Jak's longbow and let the arrow fly to the south away from the river. The arrow lodged itself in the bark at the base of a large cottonwood tree about a hundred yards away. She then returned the bow to Jak.

"There you go, Brother. Roll yourself over there and use arrowhead to cut your bonds. You can't reach rope vith your claws. I made sure of that. By time you free yourself, ve vill be vell up canyon. Don't follow. You can't take on all of us, and I'll be vatching for you."

His answer was an icy glare. The she Cat shrugged and beckoned to Airy and Jak.

"Follow me."

"No," said Airy. "I don't want you anywhere near us. Go away. Scat!"

"Scat? Ha! Do you think you can be rid of me so easily? You can't make it vithout me. There is no vell-defined trail on this side, and many vays to go wrong. Vithout me to protect you, my brother vill find you and kill you, or vorse. Vhat he did to you vas almost benevolent compared to vhat he is capable. If he gets his paws on you again, you vill beg for death long before it comes."

Airy turned to Jak for support.

"There is only her. If we work together as a team, we can kill her."

"No, Airy. We can't kill her or her brother."

Airy was dismayed.

"Why won't you help me after what they did to us? Why?"

Tears streamed down her face. Jak gently brushed the sand and tears from her muzzle and cheeks.

"Honor."

"How can this be honor? He raped me Jak, and she helped him. She raped you."

"I know. I'm sorry. I want what you want. I want to make them feel every ounce of pain and shame that we felt one hundred fold, but she helped us perhaps more than anyone else we have met so far. I made a deal to save us, Airy. I swore to that deal on my honor and on my love for you. In return, she has saved us, and in doing so, has made herself an outcast among her own kind. Can't you see that?"

"That doesn't excuse what they did."

"No...no. It doesn't, but others have tried to do worse to us. Eagle and Robin would have killed us, yet we spared their lives. That was honorable. At Winter pack, Blue wanted to sacrifice us to Ovia and eat you. You could have killed Autumn, but you didn't. I could have killed Blue, but I didn't."

"Worse? Death is not worse than...than...I can't go on knowing he had that power over me. I don't care about your deal. I want him dead."

Airy tried to push away from Jak, but he held her tight.

"You have to care, Airy, if you are to become a great leader...become a queen. Bad things will happen to us no matter how hard we try to avoid them. You must learn to temper your reaction with justice, reason, and mercy. We can't live for vengeance. This Cat...she needs us and we need her. Like it or not, I feel that she's a part of our destiny - a part of your destiny, Airy. She can help us get to Rikifur. She has skills and knowledge we need. I don't know how to find our way and neither do you. She does."

Airy knew Jak was right, yet she felt too damaged and humiliated to agree. Crying, she put her face against Jak's chest fur and wept in huge gulping sobs. He held her until she stopped.

"Do you still love me, Jak?" she asked timidly.

"You do not need to ask that. Of course I do. If anything has changed between us, it is an increase of my affection."

With an edge to her voice, she asked, "Do you love her?"

"The Cat? No. I don't love her. I don't even like her. If she helps us find our way safely to Rikifur, then I may come to respect her as an ally, but that is all."

"But you made love to her."

"That wasn't love, Airy. There's a difference. When I was pack leader, I mated with many females, but I only loved Moon. I know it is different for you in Rikifur where you have only one mate and sex with no others. I am sworn to honor the ways of Rikifur now, and I will honor my vow to you. Moon is lost to me forever. You are my new Moon, Airy. You are the only one I love."

"Oh, Jak. Thank you."

Tears of both hurt and healing continued to run from her eyes. Time was needed for the princess to process her pain, but the she Cat was becoming impatient.

"Are ve done yet? Bunyic loves puppy. Puppy loves bunyic. Puppy does not love Cat. I think this is all settled. Let's move so ve make canyon rim by dark."

The tom had begun to slowly edge away, but the she Cat stopped him with a foot in the small of his back.

"My brother is restless and vill only get more dangerous vith time. Be veak and veepy some other time. Ve must go now!"

Airy relented - for Jak's sake, not the Cat's. No one but Jak could have stopped her from fighting to the death.

The she Cat led them across the river. Airy took her time crossing to wash the dirt, blood, and the vile traces of the tom's lust from her body. Despite annoyed glares from the sister, Airy would not leave her impromptu bath until she felt clean. It was an impossible goal. She became so obsessed with washing that Jak eventually had to carry her out of the water.

Their new guide was correct regarding the difficulty in finding the way out of the canyon. Jak and Airy would have been lost for days on their own. No one spoke during the entire ascent. The she Cat was with them when the way was ambiguous, and dropped behind to watch for her brother when the path forward was easy to follow. They reached the rim just as the sun was setting behind the Earth Spine. There was no sign of pursuit by the tom.

A flat, grass-covered plain swept northward away from the canyon. Trees were rare, growing only in sinuous lines marking the location of stream channels. The horizon in their direction of travel was far away, and no hills or mountains stood as a backdrop; the earth simply melded into the sky in the twilight shrouded, hazy distance.

Once again, Airy and Jak had reached another key milestone on their journey. A brief moment of elation at having achieved so much displaced some of the horror of their time in Aserth. Jak hugged Airy, but she was moody and irritable. Having dutifully held her tongue until they had truly escaped the land of the Cats, she was ready to demand answers. She rudely pushed Jak away.

"Tell me the deal that you made with her. I want to know the terms. I want to know how to get rid of her."

Saddened by Airy's anger and continued desire to dismiss their new travelling companion, Jak tried to reason with her.

"Airy, we need..."

"Don't!" she interrupted holding her paws out between Jak and herself. "Tell me the deal, Jak."

Sighing in resignation, he paraphrased Cat's words.

"The deal is I was to do exactly what she said until I was free. The deal is I take her with us when we go. The deal is her brother lives. The deal is I do not try to hurt her in any way."

His eye patch was turned toward Airy as he spoke. She grabbed his snout and pivoted his face to look in his good eye.

"What else?"

Jak's shoulders sagged.

"The deal is...the deal is I make sure that you honor the deal also."

Airy gasped.

"Jak? Would you fight me to save her?"

Now there were tears in Jak's eyes.

"I would try to stop you, but I could not hurt you. You will have to kill me to get to her, though."

A tense silence ensued. Up until this moment, Jak had never felt so afraid that he could lose something so precious, something without which he could not endure. He was helpless to do anything other than trust in love. He could sense Airy's anger, indecision, shame, embarrassment, and love all warring within her for dominance. She eventually reached a neutral balance. It was not a place of unrestrained love, but her anger towards Jak softened.

"There is nothing in that deal that says we have to let her travel with us and be in our company." To the Cat she said, "I don't want you around me or Jak. You want to follow us, then stay well behind where I can't see or smell you. You want to help, then scout on ahead and report back when you find anything useful to report. If you can't keep up with us, even better. You don't like that deal, then go away and don't bother us ever again. Now get out of my sight! You are not wanted."

Cat hissed at her, and stood up to her full height, looming over both Airy and Jak.

"Very vell then, bunyic. Ve'll play game. Game is called cat and mouse. Mouse tries to get avay, and cat catches it every time. Try and lose me, bunyic."

Stepping backwards, she became like the other long shadows of dusk and was gone. Airy yelled towards the general direction in which she had vanished.

"Don't come back, damn it! I'll kill you if you do!"

Jak thought it unwise to send their new guide and companion away, but he did not challenge Airy. She was traumatized and was not herself. He could explain later the lesson of discriminating between friends and allies. Cat was not a friend, but she had the potential to be a powerful ally. Besides, he had a feeling that Cat was not so easily discouraged. He was certain they would see more of her than they wanted.

The Wolf and the Rabbit found a place to shelter for the night amid a copse of trees at the edge of the great prairie and slept together. Airy held Jak tight all night long as she dreamed troubled dreams.

[END OF CHAPTER]