Pathfinding: An Adult Choose Your Own Adventure, Seventy-sixth Entry
#77 of Pathfinding-CYOA
The campfire flickers, and the Rufus' little family gathers close, seeking warmth from each other, and healing after their ordeal.
Pathfinding: An Adult Choose Your Own Adventure
Seventy-sixth Entry
By Gideon Kalve Jarvis
Vote Tallies
Is Rael pregnant by Skaeth? Y/N - 13/19
If no, should it be because Rufus' seed beats Skaeth's to the punch? Y/N - 15/5
Prior vote retread:
* Shara, Ryg, Jonna, and Padmini comforting each other after the latter three's ordeal - 2
* Erlend and Rael starting to get to know each other better (Erlend is still wearing his chastity device, so no penetrative sex will take place, character building for Erlend) - 2
* What are the Valkyries up to? (Belthin's present status will also be explored) - 1
* Romance scene between Rufus, Adel, Urtan, Urta, and Hanaro - 14 * Selected
* The start of Skaeth's slave-breaking (Party males and Urta take part) - 10
* That "rape" Rufus promised Cassidy - 2
Additional Votes
* Spark goes back into the sex machine, and this time he has sex with himself - 2
* Meet Lysha in Valkyrie City - 2
* Check on Belthin's fate - 3
* Padmini/Wisselfleur/Imogen (adding Lesage if possible) all f/f scene - 2
* Jonna/Skaeth scene - 1
* Lesage starts using a Crown of Morpheus for sexual storage purposes - 1
* Introduce a non-sexual character - 1
* Return of the succubus imp as an active character - 2
* Rael/Erlend romance, Erlend character development - 5
* Let Belthin go - 1
* Romance scenes with Rufus (Adel and Urtan suggested) - 3
* Get Hanaro some proper O-Yoroi armor (no more skimpy samurai stuff) - 3
* Loshada (centaur filly) having fun in the Blue Feather camp - 1
Vote Options in Progress
* Shara and Padmini learning flesh magic and non-lethal skills (sex quite likely)
* More Hanaro sex scenes (Rufus and Urtan primarily)
* Rufus bottoms to Windtooth (his father, the Blue Feather alpha male)
* Incestuous foursome with Windtooth, Wauken, Rufus, and Erlend (tied to above)
* Shara gangbanged (all-female and all-male both suggested)
* Urtan/Urta incest scene
Author Notes
This one was a close fight right up to near the end, when the votes finally shifted to indicate the readers' choice. So, if you're ever wondering if your vote matters...well, it does. And sometimes, one vote can make all the difference.
Also. All votes that went toward a Rael/Erlend romance and character development have now gone to the "Additional Votes" option for the same thing, since the direct vote didn't win this time around. If anyone objects to having their vote moved like that, let me know and I'll remove it.
Pathfinding Seventy-sixth Entry
"Just hold me."
That's all Adel had to say after her rescue, as the campfire crackled nearby, and the little party had finally settled down for the night. The mountains had plenty of little caves and crevices, and the captured kobolds and Skaeth were safely bound and hobbled in one of these caves, while the party had set up camp just outside. Inside the cave, Urta and One-eye took turns as guards, their bestial darkvision allowing them to easily keep an eye on the traitor and the kobolds...and perhaps more. Rufus didn't ask what those odd sounds coming from the caves meant, and didn't really care; after all, Skaeth deserved far worse than some shemale rape.
Right now, though, Rufus was focused on far more important things. Resting on one of his thighs as he sat by the fire on a large rock, Adel leaned tiredly against Rufus' side, her blue eyes mostly closed. On the other thigh, Rael was snuggled tightly against her daddy's warm body, her hands resting on his broad, bare-furred chest. After his change in sex, followed by its return, Rufus had been growing steadily more wolflike in a great many ways. Besides the change to his genitals (which had continued to progress), he'd also developed a thick "treasure trail" of shaggy fur down his chest and into his loincloth, pointing the way to his now very lupine genitals, complete with a sheath into which they tucked themselves when not in use.
Rubbing the two girls' backs, Rufus turned his head slightly, smiling down at Hanaro, who rested her back against his. She was only wearing a light, white shift, her armor cleaned and polished nearby, and she glanced up as she felt Rufus' eyes on her, returning his smile, albeit tiredly.
All the girls were tired, actually. This wasn't a surprise by any means: they'd suffered horribly to the cruelties of Skaeth and the kobolds. Rufus didn't feel sorry for having killed so many of them, almost wiping out the entire tribe with his party behind him. Off in the woods, he could hear the soft sounds of Shara's tender attentions to Jonna, Padmini, and Ryg, and thought he could also hear Cassidy somewhere over there, rendering the best possible apology he could to the friends he'd left, abandoning them in the short term to ensure their salvation in the long-term. His reasoning was good, it was true, and it had indeed saved them before they'd suffered even more torment, but the tan-furred rabbit still felt guilty about what he'd done.
For some, Rufus supposed, sex was just what they needed to heal after an ordeal like what the girls had endured. Good sex, the sort that laves the soul with numbing pleasure. For others, he continued the thought, looking down at the girls pressed tightly against his body, squeezing as much into his thick, soft, grey fur as possible, sleep and the comforting presence of loved ones would suffice. At least he hoped so.
Urtan approached as the night progressed. He'd been taking a shift guarding the cave, and had left Wicker to take his place. He'd also left Maji there, and though Rufus had told the orca elemental not to do anything to the prisoners without permission, he wasn't at all sure that she'd obey. Another reaction to trauma, after all, was rage and revenge, and Maji was known for her capacity for returning what she'd been given, with interest.
"Urta's given Maji permission," said Urtan as he settled next to Rufus, leaning his head tiredly on the wolfen's broad shoulder - the trek through the kobold tunnels, followed by the brutal cave fighting had left him, like all of them, exhausted. "Just thought you should know."
Rufus rolled his eyes.
"Typical," he grumbled, but not with any serious malice. "Guess it's not a bad thing, really. After Maji's worked off some of her energy, I don't think any of the prisoners will be trying to escape anytime soon."
Across the fire, Erlend watched Rufus and the others as they did their best to press against him, as though taking strength from the contact with his shaggy-furred body. The dark-eyed buck seemed thoughtful, introspective after the violence and danger of the day, watchful rather than tired. When Rael opened her sleepy eyes, asking for some water, it was Erlend who immediately got to his feet, without even being asked, and got a waterskin for her, before returning to his silent brooding on the other side of the fire.
"It was always a danger," said Adel as she opened her blue eyes, looking up into Rufus' yellow ones. "We always knew it could happen. It nearly happened when you first met me, and would have if you hadn't saved me and Cassidy and Urtan." She looked toward the fire. "Rape, I mean. It's a part of the law of spoils, after all. Everybody does it."
Rufus knew that Adel was trying to accept what she'd just endured, to make sense of it all. Forced pleasure during her violation by Skaeth actually made it harder for her to adjust, to handle the sexual violence she'd endured. If she'd hated it, then it would have just been another sort of physical assault. When pleasure was added...it changed somehow, becoming more soul-crushing, more damaging to the psyche.
"It's just a good thing Rael was already pregnant," Adel finally said, looking at the wolfgirl as she lay, curled up now in the middle of Rufus' lap, like a four-legged cat or puppy, letting the sleep cleanse her mind and soul of the day's trauma. "At least Ryg was able to tell us that." She looked at Urtan with a tired smile. "Guess we'll find out if it's you or Rufus when Ryg gets the rest of her power back."
"I hope it's Rufus," said Urtan, nuzzling his alpha's cheek. "He'll make a good father once he finally settles down."
"Maybe, maybe not," Rufus growled softly. "You'll make a good daddy too, Urtan."
"I'm more of an 'uncle,'" Urtan chuckled. "That's part of the fun in being a beta: all the sex, and all the fun from the children that result from it, but none of the heavier responsibilities. That's the alpha's job, handling responsibilities." He kissed the side of Rufus' neck, then leaned down to kiss the top of Adel's head. "I'll help you change diapers, though. I'm not completely irresponsible."
"You're all heart," chuckled Rufus. "Just...what're we gonna do now?"
Adel and Urtan shared a confused glance, then looked at Hanaro, who only shrugged.
"What do you mean, Rufus?" asked Adel finally, her expression worried.
"I don't..." Rufus started, then scowled, starting over. "I've never had people I loved hurt like this. By Fenrath, I've never had people I've loved like all of you to_have_ hurt. And I do love you, you know. All of you. Even Urta, for all her rough edges. You're all a part of me, and I never want any of you to be hurt again."
"What are you suggesting?" Adel asked, pressing further, her brow furrowing beneath her red hair as she looked up at Rufus with deep concern.
"Is all this fighting against the Warlord worth it?" Rufus finally asked, putting his insecurities into words at last. "There's no guarantee that we'll win. And even if we do, in war, people die." He looked between Urtan and Adel, the fear for the future plain in his eyes. "There's no way to protect somebody against the chaos of war. I've had to face that pretty hard, after you and the others got captured, Adel. I don't want anything like this to ever happen again."
"So you're gonna pussy out on us?" asked another female voice, causing Rufus, Urtan, Adel, and Hanaro to turn and look as Urta stepped into the light of the fire. "You're gonna just give up and hightail it somewhere, maybe take up farming, and live out the rest of your life somewhere where you never have to think about anything except yourself and the ones you love most? Think you can just run off and leave the rest of the world behind?" She walked over, then squatted in front of the muscular wolf, curling her lip in disdain. "You can't run away from the world, Rufus: it'll always find you eventually."
"Guess I was just feeling the weight of being alpha," sighed Rufus with a light shrug, though not enough to disturb the seemingly still-sleeping Rael from her place on his lap. "Still, it's true: I don't want to lose any of you. I love you."
Urta's hackles raised as she heard this, in an attempt to show her irritation at the admission, but her ears turned down, betraying the blush beneath her fur.
"It's not like the feeling's mutual," she grumbled, folding her arms before her bosom, then casually plopping herself down on Rufus' free side, leaning the back of her head against his other shoulder, opposite her brother. "I couldn't care less about you, anyway. I'm just with you until I can get my own pack of gnolls pack together."
"Of course," said Rufus, nodding slightly.
"Still, we're all in this together, aren't we?" Urta finally admitted with a sigh, letting her body relax. "I'm no traitor, not like Skaeth." She grinned toothily. "It's gonna be fun showing him what happens to traitors to the pack. But that's beside the point: we've got a job to do, Rufus. Might as well do it well."
"Yeah," Rufus agreed, nodding again, then looking down at Adel, before kissing her forehead, then her cheek, then her lips, before letting her settle against him more fully, her body relaxing as she began to fall asleep for real this time. "Guess you're right. Guess it's really the only way to make sure the ones I love are safe, too."
Across the fire, Erlend watched and listened to this exchange, his brow furrowed in deep thought. What had been said, he would remember.
Path Choices
A campfire scene, or a random encounter?! Let's see what folks want to see next!
First, we shall focus out next scene on:
* The Blue Feather camp
* Rufus' party
* The Warlord's camp
* The Valkyries
While focusing on this place, we will see:
*A campfire scene (character development happens, sex secondary, if at all)
* Character sex first, development second (but it should happen)
* A random encounter (could be anything! Combat very likely)
Please pick one from each of the two available option groups. You may make suggestions on what characters you'd like to see - in fact, it's encouraged. Otherwise, I'll select something and/or someone at random.