{"sf1_id":782708,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Earning His Stripes, Part 3","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":4771,"posted_at":"2014-11-16T19:30:00.000Z","tags":["Anthropomorphic","Emotion","FEELINGS","Female","Human","Love","Magic","Otter","Spellsinger","Tigress","Transformation"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/782708-earning-his-stripes-part-3","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/782708","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=782708\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#4 of The Spellsinger Tales","content":"            The two fell fast asleep an\nhour later. She was snuggled against his chest again. He had the presence of\nmind to drag his cape across them both before he too collapsed from exhaustion.\nHe awoke to flower petals in his face, a cramp in his back and an otter on his\nchest. She yawned, smiled, and snuggled in closer.\n\"Morning sugah! Did you\nhave a good night?\" \n\"That depends. Are you\nasking about after I fell asleep or before?\" \nShe giggled, a sound he deemed\nappropriate in this form, but not so much in a tiger. \"Both I suppose. But\nthen, I rather expect I know the answer to \"before\", so I guess I\nmean after.\" \n Jon-Tom yawned, shifting slightly to ease the\nknot in his back, but not so much as to dislodge her. \"I slept just fine.\nIt kind of helped that I was worn down to the bone.\" \nShe giggled again. Her nimble\npaws found their way to his crotch. \"Sugah, right you are. Your bone has\nwithered away to nothin! Oh wait, nope, I was wrong. Feels like there is a\nlittle life in it yet!\"\nHe protested. \"Might the\nlady give me the honor of relieving myself before we get started again?\" \nShe giggled even more.\n\"You better make it fast honey. This body seems to be in constant need of\nattention!\"  \nHe was sure it was, if his\nfriend Mudge was any indication. Sex was all he seemed to talk about, other\nthan money, food, stealing, and; well that was about it. His friend was a\nbundle of energy, leastwise when it suited him. There was a good chance that he\nwas going to wish for his friend's never ending sexual appetite before the day\nwas through.\n He walked over to the trees, answered his\nbladder's urgent call, and returned to the otter. She was propped up on her\nelbows, watching him walk back. \"Dang it, honey, you are way too slow. You\nhad better pick up the pace or I'm going to end up leaving you\nbehind.\"  She giggled again at some personal joke. Her amusement\nrippled through her frame from head to tail resulting in her tail remaining\nfixed in the air. \"Well, come on. This here lady is a waiting. Get a move\non it!\"\nShe continued waggling her tail\nhigh in the air. \"Hey Jon-Tom, ya think this here backside is up to your\nkind of abuse?\" He was a bit taken aback. \"How about we start in\nfront and see what happens.\"\nShe sighed. \"OK. But ya\ngot to get there from here!\" She was wet and ready, willing and able, and\nraring to go. As turned on as he was, he couldn't help but think that this just\nwasn't like her. It had to be the effect of these new forms. He for one didn't\nwant to take advantage of her with her morals compromised. She had no qualms\nnow about trying new things, or old things in new ways. While that might be a\ngood thing, it seemed to him that she was going a little overboard. At the\nmoment she really didn't seem to care.\nHe positioned himself behind\nher, acquiescing to her present need. He slid in, pushing gently. She would\nhave none of it and pushed back hard. He sank in deep. She grunted with\npleasure and emitting high pitched yips, ground her pelvis down hard. She had\nall four limbs securely planted and was rocking back and forth with increasing\nspeed. With a shrill squeal she climaxed, falling limp on top of his cape. \nJon-Tom was alarmed by her\nbehavior. Rather than continue on, he made the decision to pull out and call it\nquits. He reluctantly withdrew from her wet dripping hole. She woke up and\nturned on him, teeth bared. \n\"Oh no you don't.\"\nShe shoved him onto his back, perched over his crotch and firmly impaled\nherself upon his manhood. As she did, she clawed his chest and yelped at the\nsame time, all the while pushing forcefully against his groin.\nIt was only when he felt a\nsqueeze at the base of his cock that it dawned on him that she had followed\nthrough with her plan. Her sphincter muscles were stretched tight around the bottom\nof his shaft and his cock was deep inside her bowels, deeper than he thought\npossible. She remained were she was, grinding her hips. He knew that it had to\nbe uncomfortable for her, but if it was, she wasn't showing it. Instead, she\ngrowled with pleasure. She opened her eyes, looking all dreamy-eyed at him.\n\"You fit much better this way, Jon-Tom. Before I couldn't get you all\ninside.\" He lay still, allowing her to move as she pleased. He was afraid\nthat if he engaged with her, something might rip or rupture. In the end, it\nturned out that otters are much more\nflexible than they appear. The two came together in a writhing entanglement of\nbodies. When she collapsed again. Jon-Tom was quick to pull out before she\ncould come to her senses.\nWhen she did come to, she was\nready to go again. He declined with as much aplomb as he could muster.\n\"Why don't you switch back for a while? This has been fun, but I think I\nmiss your old self.\" \nShe pondered that for nearly\nthree seconds. \"Nope. I like this form. It's fun, and fast and agile. And\nit likes sex...a lot!\" She smiled at him, batting her eyes coquettishly.\n He decided he had better be firm. \"I'll\ntell you what. You change back for a while and we can do this again\nlater.\" She pouted a little but relented. \"Fine. I guess I have to be\na tiger again.\" \nJon-Tom was quick to agree. He\ngot his real Roseroar back.\nShe seemed disoriented for some\ntime. She stood only to fall. He thought something serious was wrong. She\npushed him away. \"You idiot man, can't you see I have to get used to this\nbody again. Being an otter was a totally different experience. Now I'm me and I\nhave to adjust.\"\n She stood only to tilt to one side. She\nfinally gave up and slid to the ground. \"Don't stand there gawking, get\nover here and sit with me.\" \nHe complied. She rested her\nhead on his shoulder. \"Ya know sugah, I really liked that body. I think I\nunderstand your friend a little better. Given a chance, I would have sex all\nday!\" \nHe almost hated to ask.\n\"How about now?\" \nShe grinned back at him\n\"What? Haven't you had enough?\" \nHe let out a deep breath.\n\"I have had enough to hold me until you're ready to do it again.\" \nShe pursed her lips as best she\nwas able \"Now isn't that a diplomatic answer? Well, if it's all the same\nto you, I think that I'll wait a while. Otters don't seem to spend much time\nthinking of the consequences of their actions. I had better rest a few of my\nmore delicate parts.\" He understood, but instead of remarking on it, stroked\nthe soft fur on her head. She purred and fell asleep.\nWhen she awoke it was well past\nnoon. Jon-Tom was hungry, not surprising considering the energy he had expended.\nShe awoke to the sound of her own stomach growling.  She sat up, working\nthe kinks out of her arms and legs. Her yawn gave him a close look at her\nfearsome teeth. He was glad she and he were on good (or was that great?) terms.\n\n\"Howdy sugah. What's to eat?\"\n\n\"Nothing as of yet. I've\nbeen here with you the entire time. But since you're awake, I'll see what I can\ndo.\" The pond was still at hand, but it had been she who had caught the fish\nthe day before. He still didn't have a pole or a spear. Spear. That gave him an\nidea. He had taken a college course on early humans, and one of their\nassignments was constructing a spear. The professor had been a stickler, and\nnot only had they had to make it, they had to use it. His had been for impaling\nfish. Maybe, just maybe he could do it again.\nHe didn't know where to look\nfor the necessary materials. Just then his map flashed. In quick order he found\na straight branch, some tough thorns and some strong thin vine. With the blade\nin his staff he went to work. The tigress sat down to watch him. \"Why not\njust use the blade?\" \"Because, it may go into the fish, but there is\nnothing to keep it from coming loose. It may not be as efficient as you in\notter form, but it may be safer.\" \nShe sighed. \"I wish I was\nan otter again.\" Jon-Tom said nothing. She looked sidelong at him. \"I\nknow sugah, but I'm hungry and it would be the quickest way...\" \n\"OK, OK. I think you make\na wonderful otter.\" And there it was again, that brown furred sexual\npowerhouse. She looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye. Without a word she\nwas into the water and off like a torpedo. Six fish later she erupted onto dry\nland, the last remaining fish firmly in her teeth. She spit it out and\napproached the spell-singer.\n\"I'm still on the hunt\nsugah!\" \nIt was what he had been afraid\nof. Otters seemed to have only a few things on their mind. He had nothing\nagainst another round or perhaps twenty with her\n \"Good. I'm ready to be preyed upon, but\nonly after we eat, and only by my lovely tigress.\" \nHer nose twitched. Her whiskers\ntook on a life of their own. She sighed. \"Oh all right. But I think I like\ndoing it in this form better than any other so far.\" \n\"That may be, Roseroar,\nbut I would rather take a break from otters. To be honest, they tire me\nout.\" \n\"Oh, and I can't do that\nin tiger form?\" \nHe answered cautiously.\n\"Why don't we see? I know one thing for certain; I'll never get tired of\ntrying!\" \nShe winked and smiled at him.\n\"I think it's time to be a tiger again.\" \nHe happily agreed. The old\nRoseroar was back once again.\nThey roasted their fish, ate the\nsmoky flesh with relish and sat back, enjoying the fire. Jon-Tom heaped on more\nwood, sat back and watched the flames dance in the air. They were both silent\nfor a while, absorbed in their own thoughts. After a prolonged silence, the\ntigress spoke up. \n\"Jon-Tom, have I been\nmaking a fool of myself?\" \nHis reply was perhaps too\nready. \"No, not at all!\" \nShe grimaced. \"You're just\nbeing nice honey. I know that I was behaving improperly. I have made a disgrace\nof myself.\" She looked crestfallen. \nHe slid  over next to her.\nHe looked her straight in the eyes. \"Roseroar, you are a terrific person.\nIt doesn't matter what you look like, or even how you act in a body you're not\nused to. I love you for who you are inside.\"\nShe glared at him, eyes wide in\nthe firelight. \"I don't believe you!\" she growled.\n He was taken back a bit. \"But Roseroar, you've\ntaught me to look at the who rather than the what. It has been a remarkable\nexperience being with you. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.\" \nShe stared at him until he\nthought she was going to burn holes through his head. \"Not that you stupid\nidiot. If you enjoyed the sex even half as much as I did, then there had better\nbe no complaint from you on that point.\" He had that \"I have no idea\nwhat you're talking about\" look on his face. She leaned in close, her nose\ntouching his. \"You just said that you loved me.\" He sat back. She was\nright. He did.\n\"Now sugah, I like you a\nlot. I might go so far as to say I love you too, but when it comes down to it,\nwe are way too different for it to mean much of anything. But if you said it\nand you meant it, I would like to know.\" \nHe didn't answer right away,\nknowing that their present relationship hung in the balance. When he did, he\nwas sure of what he felt. \"I said what I meant and I meant what I said. I\ndo love you. You are terrific and if you were a human, I would want to make as\nmany babies together as we could. And in between times we could keep on\npracticing.\"  \nShe was still reluctant to\naccept his explanation. \"I want to believe you, really I do. But love is\nnot the same as sex. You can have one without the other. If you really love me,\nthen that changes everything about us.\" He looked horrified, like she was\ngoing to maul him, or perhaps do something worse.\n\"Now don't go getting all\nupset. If you love me, all you need to do is prove it. Otherwise its just\nwords.\" \nHe didn't like where this\nseemed to be heading. \"How am I supposed to do that?\" \nShe grinned down at him.\n\"Simple. You unconditionally give your love to me, and I will do the same\nto you.\" \nHe relaxed momentarily, until\nhis brain noted that there was no physical way of doing that. In the end it\nwould still just be words. He said as much. \n\"Sugah, you grew up in a\ndifferent land. I assure you that if we do this, there will be no question ever\nagain in either of our minds as to whether or not we have true feelings for\neach other.\" He didn't know what she had planned and was marginally afraid\nthat he might have overstepped his emotions. \n\"OK Roseroar, what do I\nneed to do?\" \nShe motioned to him. \"Put your\nhand on your chest, and tell me that you love me, and that your love for me is\ngiven freely. And then give it to me.\"\nHe was both relieved and\nintrigued by her request. But he felt so strongly that he had feelings for her\nthat he put his hand to his chest and avowed \"I hereby state that I love\nthe tigress Roseroar and that I give my love freely and of my own\nvolition.\" His hand started to glow until the light was so intense that it\nhurt his eyes. He was afraid that he was on fire, for there was heat in his\nhand. He fearfully jerked his hand away from his body. It came away slowly,\nlike he was pulling on taffy. As he did, the glow clung to his hand, leaving a\ntrail to his chest. That came to an end and retracted to a globe of light\ngathered about the end of his wrist. He felt a little disoriented. \"Now\nwhat?\"\nShe was looking at him\nintensely. \"I Roseroar, do hereby acknowledge from the bottom of my heart\nthat I am in love with this human.\" Her big paw raged with a blinding\nlight. \"Now, put your hand on my chest, and I will do the same to you. The\nmoment the lights touched one another they disappeared. Jon-Tom gasped and\nreeled. Roseroar had a better idea of what would happen, but she was still\nknocked to her knees. Her eyes lit up as brightly as did her paw the moment\nbefore. She couldn't see it of course. All she could see was his eyes, glowing\nlike hot coals. To him, her eyes shown like diamonds in sunlight. He sat\nstunned, unable to speak. When he finally found words, they were hardly what he\ncould have hoped for.\n \"What the hell just happened?\"\n\"Something that I've heard\nof sugah, but that I've never been witness to. They say it only happens in\nprivate, between two true loves. I didn't think the tales were really true, but\nI guess they are.\" \nHe cleared his throat.\n\"You mean you had no idea what would happen?\" \nShe wrinkled her nose at him,\nlooking briefly akin to her otter form. \"Kinda like yo spell singing,\nisn't it?\"  Her poke at his abilities was ignored. She continued on.\n\"I have heard of this, but I sorta figured that if it didn't work, then no\nharm done. But I didn't wish to go through the rest of my life wunderin if you\nlied to me or not.\" His protest was halted with a paw across his mouth.\n\"Don't talk. Feel inside you. Do I love you?\" \nHe concentrated on his feelings\nonly to find they weren't there. There were feelings of love, but they had a\nfierce, catlike quality. He searched through them and found memories of their\ntimes together, but instead of seeing it from his perspective, he saw it\nthrough her eyes. The love that was there washed over him and nearly drowned\nhim in emotions.\nHe was in tears.\nSo was she. \"It's OK\nsugah. I'm sorry I doubted you. I thought that maybe you were just patronizing\nme and I couldn't go for that at all.\" She sniffed back tears. \"It's\ntoo bad that you're not a tiger. I would be set for the rest of my life!\"\nBut even as she said this, she felt within his emotions another love. While it\ndampened her spirits, it did so only marginally. She looked deeper into the\nemotions roiling inside her and saw the image of a skinny little human with red\nhair. But the image was diffuse and blurry. Then it was gone, eclipsed by the\ndistinct image of a tigress. She recognized herself but was surprised at the\nimage. The picture from Jon-Tom's soul showed a princess, draped in robes and\nfestooned with jewels. The manner of dress was foreign to her (being in the\nstyle of India) but it showed the high esteem he placed upon her. If he only\nknew the truth.\nShe sat there staring at him,\nand for his part, he gazed back enthralled. Roseroar was the first to speak.\n\"Well, we know how we feel about each other. I must say human, you don't\nalways show it on the outside, but you have very fierce feelings on the\ninside.  What you lack is experience and confidence. I think that if you\ngain the first, you will have the second. Then beware the magician that crosses\npaths with you!\"  \nHe smiled at her appraisal. It\nwas hard to be confident when others were always knocking you down a notch or\ntwo. For his part, her emotions for him were almost scary. She was extremely\nloyal to those she felt deserved it. He understood why she wanted to know if he\nreally did love her. If he had been lying she would have been devastated. But\nhe had not. \"We seem to have settled this matter rather concretely,\" he\nsaid. \"But what now? Do we keep each other's...whatever it is we\nexchanged, or do we somehow go back to normal?\"\nShe had no clue. \"Honey, I\nhave absolutely no idea. The only thing I know right now is that I want to make\nlove to you right here, right now. No arguments!\" \nHe wasn't about to give any.\nThis time there was no kinky stuff, nothing weird. Just two lovers locked in a\nsensuous embrace. The mood was relaxed, and the two held each other, joined as\none, for over several hours. There was no flailing, only long slow strokes and\nquiet moans. When they finally came they did so together. As one their bodies\nlit up. To an outside observer it would have been impossible to look at\ndirectly, but at the same time it illuminated nothing around them. They lay\ntogether for a while, neither one noticing the glow encasing them. Only when\nthey disengaged did the light subside, diminishing until it was nothing more than\nan aura about their bodies.\nShe laid back, feeling as giddy\nas when she was a cub. He lay beside her, bathed in a glorious feeling of\ncompanionship unlike anything he had ever felt before. She laid there in\nsilence, looking up at the sky. She couldn't help but to delve deep down inside\nherself, searching for that faint memory Jon-Tom had of that human girl. She\nwasn't out to sabotage their newly affirmed love, but she had enough sense to\nknow that at some point in time, love or no, they would have to split up. She\nwanted to know more about this girl. She wasn't such a fool as to not know that\na being could love more than one at a time. She herself had no one at home, and\nwhile her experience with the spell-singer was extraordinary, no one would\nchastise her for her relationship with him. But there would be no cubs between\nthem. It would take impossibly strong magic indeed for that to happen.\nTry though she might, no image\nof the girl would appear. It was then that it dawned on her that the images\nthat were showing up were her very own; her soul, if that's what it was, had\nbeen returned. About the same time Jon-Tom sat up and looked over to her. The\nlook on his face said that he had come to the same realization. \"Are\nyou...back to normal?\" \nShe laughed with a roar that\nexposed her enormous white teeth. \"Honey, just what the hell is normal\nanymore?\" He declined to answer on the grounds that he sure as hell didn't\nknow either.\nThey sorted themselves out and\nsat together. Roseroar leaned back against a tree and invited him to sit, much\nlike a child on an adult's lap. He eased against her, relishing the feel of\nsoft fur tickling his back. She was initially reluctant to broach the subject\nso soon, but then there was never going to be a better time. \n\"Jon-Tom, have you ever\nmet someone that you wanted to be with the rest of your life?\" \nHe leaned his head back a\nlittle. \"I think you already know the answer to that.\" \nShe replied firmly. \"I\ndon't mean me. Before you go squawking about how you love me, I already know\nthat you do. But this world would soon be unpopulated if different kinds stuck\ntogether and there were no cubs born to replace us as we got old.\" \nHe mulled that over. \"I\ndon't like where this is going. I love you very much and would be happy to have\nbabies...uhh cubs with you.\" \n\"I know sugah. But that\nfact is we can't, which is for the best. Can you imagine what an equally mixed\nup mess this world would be in if it was filled with half human/half tigers? Or\nany other combination you can think of.\" \nJon-Tom was about to protest\nbut his mind drifted to Mudge. If cubs were viable, there would be half-otter\nbabies stretching halfway around this planet.\nHe spoke cautiously, but\nhonestly. \"There was one. She is as independent and fierce of heart as you\nare Roseroar. Maybe she was too independent, or proud, or something. I tried to\nhit it off with her, but she would have nothing to do with me.\" \nShe nodded knowingly. \"She\nwas short, skinny and had a head topped with red fur?\" \nHe craned his neck around until\nhe could see her face. \"How do you know that?\" \n\"Because sugah, when you\ngave me your love, you gave me all of it, including that part you had reserved\nfor her. I'm honored, I really am, but you will need to keep that for yourself.\nIf you give up on her, you give up on yourself. And that just isn't like you.\nBe patient. If she is to be your mate it will happen.\"\nAll this talk of red-haired\nTalea made him melancholy. He liked the girl, but she had rebuffed him more\nthan once. Here he was with Roseroar. True, until a short time ago he would\nnever have had relations with a non-human. She had shown him that what was\nimportant was what was inside.  He wanted to stay with her; fur, teeth,\nclaws and all. But deep down he knew that if she wanted to be a mother, to have\nchildren and all its benefits, she would need to have someone capable of giving\nher that. As a mere human, it was never going to work between them.  He\nknew it from the beginning, but selfishly didn't want to spoil their\nactivities.\n She read his mind. \"Honey, now don't go\nfretting about our relationship. It' still along way before we get me back home\nand therefore a lot of time to experiment. I just wanted us to be clear on\nwhere it was headed, and where it wasn't. And right now, I think the direction\nis up!\" So saying that, she reached a big paw around and gently rubbed his\ncock. It sprang to life at her touch. In no time at all, Jon-Tom found himself\nin deep. Literally.\nThe next day they set off\nagain. Food was abundant, though for him it was easier. He ate fruit where it\nhung down from the trees, or dug out tubers and roasted them in the fire. She\npolitely declined such edibles. \"Sugah, you should know by now I eat meat.\nI'll find something, don't you worry.\"\n She did, in the form of the largest snake he\nhad seen outside of the riding snakes. She identified it as poisonous.\n\"But only if it bites you,\" she added as an afterthought. He was\nabout to tell her to be careful when with a well place throw, she launched one\nof her swords straight between its eyes. When it stopped writhing they\napproached it, still cautious. He had no way of measuring, but as he was six\nfoot tall, and he managed to mark off over three of his body lengths, the\nreptile was at least twenty feet long. It had an impressive set of fangs.\nRoseroar wasn't going to take any chances. She tied the jaws shut, severed the\nhead and threw it into a gully. The body was going to be more meat than either\nof them could eat in one sitting. \"No problem honey. I'll show how to\nsmoke and dry it. I don't believe in waste.\"\nIt was tedious work, stripping\nthe meat off and lacing it over branches strung between two poles. While they\nworked, their more immediate needs were cooking over another fire. The smell\nwas mouth watering. By the time they finished with the soon to be jerky, their\nsupper was finished. They sat together eating in silence. Jon-Tom was thinking,\nas was his fashion, about how to improve something that didn't need it. He\nreally did like Talea, but he was leaning away from ever having a relationship\nwith her. He wanted one with the tigress, but knew it wouldn't be fair to her.\nThe only way to make it happen was for him to become a tiger. He knew he could\ndo it with his magic, for look what it had done to her. But he had no way of\nknowing how to reproduce something that he had no control over in the first\nplace. He wanted to broach her about it, but came to the realization that there\nwas nothing to talk about. The way his magic tended to work might turn him into\na wart hog, or a horse, or a llama. And that wouldn't go over too well.\n\"Whatcha contemplating\nover there spell-singer?\" \nHe snapped out of his thoughts,\nlooking slightly embarrassed. Since she had asked, he felt he had to tell.\n\"To be truthful, I was wondering what it would take for us to have a baby,\nerr, cub together.\" \nShe looked down at him, her\neyes glowing with compassion, but her words filled with cold logic.\n\"Nothing. I've told you already that it isn't going to happen. Yes, maybe\nmagic could do it, somehow, but would it be worth the effort? Sometimes things\njust have to happen naturally. Like begets like, as the adage goes. I wish you\nwould quit dwelling on it and just enjoy what we have. Soon enough I'll be back\nin my lands and it will be time for you to return to yours. Or rather, back to\nthat old shell-shocked wizard I guess.\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/782704-earning-his-stripes-part-2.json"}