Not sure if this story will all fit in one post, but I’m gonna try. First, some background. I first saw this image from ThingsHappen back last month or so. It immediately caught my attention - for one, it’s not his typical subject matter, second it obviously reminded me of Katia Managan - but it’s not.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/30021225/
I dubbed her Smugcat. Then my mind started spinning. Notice her armor has absolutely no flaws or signs of wear... A story began to form. First, I’d have to find out what I could about her, so I contacted ThingsHappen and he put me in touch with the commissioner and owner of Keera Faye. I told him I wanted to write a story based around this image and gave him an outline of what it would be.
He was hesitant, as expected when someone wants to write about your own OC - but what he told me about her personality fit well with what I had in mind, though he did point out shes not as... um... shall we say “mentally lightheaded”? Also there’s one very small bit he didn’t much care for but I wanted to keep it in.
So I wrote it, then I showed it to Boogeestro who liked it so much he offered to do his own illustration. I gave him two scenes to choose from. He picked one and I just now finished coloring it. So finally, I’m ready to post the story. It wanted to grow longer, but I reigned it in - so if it seems abruptly cut short a bit, is sorta was. I didn’t want to do another novelette!
Okay, without further ado, here’s Keera Faye - Adventurer.
“Damn,” she said, looking at herself in a mirror and tugging her breasts up just a little father in the dirndl, “I look good tonight!”
The proprietor of the tavern, Sam, looked at her scornfully. Although he was a good friend to her, he knew of her propensity to fall out of her bodice. For that matter, so did everyone in the place - which kept the tips coming. That and the oddly recurring habit of her tail hiking up the back of her skirt just a wee bit too far when she bent over - along with her habit of not wearing anything underneath it - had made her the most popular barmaid in the Crown and Stag.
“Keera, I swear, if you pull them up any higher they’ll pop out the second you bend over. I mean, hell, why don’t you just take the blouse off altogether?
She turned to him with mock outrage.
“Sam! I am shocked! Shocked I say! What kind of establishment do you run here anyway!? Is this a tavern or a brothel?”
At that moment, another of Sam’s three barmaids entered. Virginia was the eldest of the three, and as such she took on the role of matriarch.
“Stop looking at your tits and get out there, Keera. Yes, they’re very nice, but they won’t make us any money back here!”
“It’s all in the presentation, you know,” Keera said, bending over and jiggling them to test the blouse’s limits. She was satisfied when they fell out at at just the right amount of pressure and inhalation. It was important, after all, to make sure that such accidents would only happen at the proper time, and for the proper patrons.
Sam left, carrying a case of ale back to the bar with a sigh, but she noticed he’d dallied long enough to get a peek.
“Okay, I get it. Now go on in, they’re expecting to see the Cat tonight. You’ve been gone two days. They’re getting impatient for some tail!”
Keera smiled. She knew what she was. She liked to show herself off, and everybody knew it. If there were some wives and girlfriends who hated her because of it - well, that was their problem she figured. Being the only female catfolk in the area had made her somewhat of a local celebrity since she’d started working as a tavern wench some years ago. Since then, she’d come to love the work. Others might be disgusted by the ogling gazes of the patrons, but she loved them!
A good thing too for all involved. Since she’d started working there, the Crown and Stag had become quite prosperous. Sam had expanded the main room twice over to accommodate the ever growing weekend crowd, and she knew she and Olivia were the primary cause. Not that Virginia was a bad-looking wench herself, if a little older than her prime. But she was of the Old School that actually was offended by the occasional grope or kiss. Her and Olivia both relished them, though the front of offense had to be maintained anyway. The game was, after all, the game.
She turned around and bent over, testing the height her tail had to go to reveal what lay underneath in the mirror.
“KEERA! Get your ass out there!” Virginia said, spanking her with a little more force than was usual between the girls.
“Okay! Lighten up Virginia. Just testing. I’m going, I’m going!”
The crowd was about normal for a weekend, she noted as she stepped out from the room behind the bar. The patrons around the bar spotted her and immediately broke out in a round of catcalls and hoots. She couldn’t help herself. She smiled and bowed low for them - but not too low.
She saw Olivia dancing at the far end of the tavern when she came out, with a small circle of men gathered around, but the commotion around the bar drew their attention away from her rival. Olivia gave her a dark scowl, but fortunately their rivalry was good-natured.
She liked Olivia. While sometimes their shared exhibitionist tendencies took them a little over the line in their competition for tips and attention, it kept things interesting. Sam handed her a tray with three ale mugs and a glass of cider.
“Table 7 in the back,” he said, nodding in that direction. “The lad gets the cider.”
She nodded and arranged the drinks on the tray, hefted it for balance, and set it to spinning as she balanced it apparently on a finger. Some of the patrons knew it was a special trick-tray that had a detached hub in the center. It had been her idea, though, and thus only she could use her special tray - but it was something that caught the eye.
She deftly managed to get it past the first few tables. She wasn’t, perhaps, the most graceful of her kind, but she didn’t often spill drinks. Some of the locals had taken to “accidentally” leaving a leg out a bit far from their chairs as a challenge, and she hopped over two on her way without losing her stride or a drop.
She got to the table where two bearded men, a somewhat grizzled looking woman, and a youth of maybe nineteen or twenty and with only a wisp of facial hair, sat watching her display. She didn’t recognize them, but she knew their type. They were Adventurers, (with a capital A). The woman and the bigger bearded man looked to be the muscles of the four, while the youth and the other grey-bearded man looked to be their support. Adventurers were always a bit tricky to handle. You never knew for sure if they would be the boisterous type or the sulky serious type. Often they were the same people, their mood just depending on if their most recent quest had been successful or not.
Boisterous ones tipped best though.
She leaned low, counterbalancing with her tail as she presented their drinks with a flourish.
“Your ale, Sirs and Madam,” she said. Big-beard and the young one, at least, obviously appreciated her. She particularly enjoyed the blush on the young one’s face, so she presented the hard cider to him with an especially low presentation.
“Thanks,” said the gruff old biddy, tossing her a coin. It looked to be silver. She deftly caught it in her cleavage and nodded her appreciation. A middling tip, but it was better than the coppers the locals usually gave her.
“Say, you guys are Adventurers right?” she said, squatting down beside them at the table to put herself on eye-level. You back from a quest?”
“Just going,” the youth said with enthusiasm. “We’re going into the Caves of Damoth!”
“Ooh! Well, be careful down there. I hear it’s full of nasties.”
“It’s my first time,” he continued.
She was really hoping to connect with big-beard, but the younger one was cuter. Probably not as much coin though.
“First time! Are you scared?”
“Naa,” he blushed as she came in close and brushed up against his arm. “I’m just an apprentice mage along for the experience.”
“I’ve always wanted to be an Adventurer. It sounds so exciting.”
“Hmph,” grunted the old crone, and her and big-beard turned their attention back to Olivia and the bard.
“Well,” she thought, “not everyone is into us catfolk after all. Can’t win ‘em all.”
“You want to come with us?” the young apprentice asked.
“ME?” she reacted with genuine surprise. She’d never had that offer before!
“Well sure! What do you think guys? Can she come with us?”
The old man, who had been watching their exchange with some interest, laughed a short but engaging chuckle.
“A catfolk? Sure! Why not? This is just a beginner quest, after all. A few rats, maybe a kobold or two - if you’d like. Do you do magic? Archery perhaps?”
She sighed and stood up. “I just wiggle my boobs and my tail. I don’t think that would help.”
Suddenly big-beard laughed. He’d obviously been listening even if he wasn’t showing it.
“I don’t know, I’ve known some dwarves that like that sort of thing!”
The others snorted, and she bowed and thanked them for the tip again before heading back to the bar. She felt a bit depressed. She didn’t even slap away a hand that stroked her tail as she passed. Instead she turned and took an order from a table of regulars she knew well.
Later she was helping Olivia and Sam wash dishes. The patrons had all gone home, or up to their rooms.
“Olivia,” she started, broaching the subject that had been in the back of her mind all night. “Do you ever think about what you’ll do… you know, after your boobs have gone all saggy?”
“Never happen,” her friend said. “My great grandma’s boobs were taut and perky all her life!”
Keera looked at her, open mouthed. “REALLY?”
“Probably. She died right after giving birth to my mom I hear,” Olivia laughed, and Keera swatted her on the ass with her tail.
“That’s terrible!” she spat between her own snorting laughter.
Olivia made a quick holy gesture that ended with a glance upward. “Sorry Gramms,” she said.
“But seriously,” Keera went on. “We can’t do this all our lives.”
“You could become a bartender,” Sam suggested helpfully.
Olivia and Keera looked at each other, before both howled with laughter, leaving Sam with an angry look.
“Why?” Olivia continued after they’d recovered from their fit. “What’s got you thinking about that tonight?”
“Oh, it was those four adventurers. Now that’s living! Can you imagine the excitement? Traveling the world, exploring ancient places, not to mention the treasures they find!”
Sam replied sarcastically, “...staying in nasty taverns.”
All three had to laugh at that. Virginia happened to step in then with another heaping tray of goblets and dirty plates.
“What are you laughing at?” she asked as she scraped the leftovers off the plates into an offal bin.
“Oh, it’s just Keera,” Olivia answered. “She wants to be an Adventurer.”
Virginia snorted. “Oh, that is a good one!”
Keera scrunched up her snout. “What? I could be an Adventurer!”
“You?” Virginia scoffed. “Keera, you have trouble killing fleas!”
“Hey! I haven’t had any fleas for two months now!” she protested, still somewhat embarrassed by the incident.
“Besides,” Sam said while scratching a stubborn bit of food from a plate, “Adventuring is a man’s game.”
“No it isn’t! One of those adventurers was a woman, just tonight!”
“Yeah, and did you see what it’s done for her?” Olivia added, “She just needed a wart on her nose and she’d qualify for a role as a witch in one of those plays - no makeup needed!”
The other three laughed at that, but Keera wasn’t laughing.
“I could be an Adventurer,” she thought, bristling at their derision. “I will be an Adventurer. I’ll just show them!”
--------------------------------
The idea nestled in her brain for months afterwards. She even dreamed about it at night sometimes, but she didn’t say a word to the others. Instead, she began setting aside her tips. She wasn’t too sure how much some armor and weapons would cost - she wasn’t really too sure what they were really for - but they probably weren’t very cheap.
One night the Adventurers she’d met before returned. The apprentice looked like he’d changed since she’d last seen him - maybe matured a bit - and the old woman was no longer with them, but they did appear to have been successful. The “Beards” shared a round of ale with the kid and tipped surprisingly well at that. She didn’t mention it to Olivia or the others, who probably didn’t recognize them. She did, however, get the youth talking. He was fun to talk to actually, and he still blushed when she leaned in close. She liked him.
In fact, it appeared he’d never actually had ale before that night. It was, she found out, his first adult beverage, having been warned away from alcohol since childhood. He had gotten a little drunk by the time her break time came, and she took him up on his offer to take a night walk with him.
He was nice, if a little nervous, but she set him at ease with a kiss and took his hand as they walked down the deserted street. He told her of his disappointment in the Caves of Damoth and how they’d gone on to a much more interesting adventure in some ruins a few days later.
“What was wrong with Damoth?”
“Oh, it was just what they said,” he said. “Just some rats. We saw signs of kobolds, but they never showed themselves. Really nothing much in there. I didn’t even get to kill anything.”
She put her arm around his waist to comfort him, and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Sorry to hear that, but you saw more action in the ruins I assume?”
“Oh yeah! Plenty there. Maybe a little too much. Gafna said she was going to retire after that and left us.”
Suddenly she got an idea.
“Hey, do you think Damoth would be a good place for a new Adventurer? You know, to practice? Get a little experience?”
“Oh, yeah - probably. I mean, it’s really just pest control in there. Might be a few coins left in the place, if the kobolds haven’t scavenged them all.”
She planted another kiss on his cheek, and he looked at her curiously.
“You’re cute,” she said, but she was smiling inside. She had a plan. She wanted to celebrate, and, after all, he really was cute.
------------------------------
Of course, she was late getting back to the tavern, but the others knew her ways well by now. When she took some patron out for a walk, she rarely ever returned within the hour. They didn’t even make a snide comment.
“Three ales to table 5,” Virginia said when she got to the bar.
“Got it,” Keera answered, picking up her special tray, but she felt a tug on her tail and she stopped and turned back.
“Nevermind, Keera,” Virginia said, taking the mugs off her tray. “Your blouse is inside-out. You go fix it and get back right away. I’ll take this.”
If catfolk blushed, no one ever could see it, but Keera’s tail did have a tendency to floof out when she was embarrassed, and it had gone into full-floof mode now.
Finally, the day arrived. She had scheduled a week of vacation time off, but hadn’t mentioned a word about where she was going to anyone. Instead, she gathered up a small pack of traveling clothes and took a coach to the Big City nearby. She gave Olivia a hug as her friend saw her off, and then she was gone. However, she did not plan to stay in the city - only to outfit herself there.
She strolled down the street, marvelling at the height of the buildings in the Big City. Catfolk were almost unknown there, and she delighted at the gawking of the men as she strode by in her wickedly daring outfit. Yet that was not her goal - just a side-benefit. Then she saw what she was looking for across the street. The shop’s front was filled with various mannequins sporting a surprisingly wide variety of clothing and armor. Better yet, most of the feminine armor was just her style - skimpy and revealing!
She worked her way across to the other side of the street and perused the armor. She tried on a miniscule set of breastplates over her clothes that did cover the most important parts of them at least.
It was then that a small man stepped from the interior of the shop.
“Put that down, Cat!” he demanded, “Or I’ll call the guards, I swear!”
“Lighten up Grumpy Dwarf,” she said, patting him on the head and handing him a hefty little pouch of gold that she’d managed to accumulate. It wasn’t all of her money, but it was what she had set aside for her armor and weapon purchases.
“Oh!” he said, looking within and biting at one of the gold pieces. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know your kind were thespians.”
“I’m not. I’m a Catfolk,” she said with a confused look. “Look, sir…”
“Mr. Mycene,” he said with a deep bow, “at your service! So, you want to be a Sexy Adventurer then?”
“Why, yes! That’s exactly it!”
“Well, you’re in luck. I just got in a new shipment. Come on inside, we’ll get you all set up…”
She smiled and followed him into the shop, but she hung onto the breastplates. She liked them.
“Mind if I try these on first?”
“Oh certainly! Go ahead. The dressing room is…”
But she had already taken off her tunic and was working out how to get herself inside the little straps.
“Oh my!” the little man said, his eyes growing almost as big as the boobs bobbing in front of them. “Well, I suppose you people have to have a different sense of modesty, what with having to get in and out of costumes so quickly.”
But Keera wasn’t listening. She had managed to get the little plates over her sensitive bits, but they kept sliding back upwards.
“Seems a bit tight,” she admitted.
“Oh. Here… kneel down. The straps are adjustable,” said the shopkeeper. “Let me let them out a bit… My, but you’re a big girl aren’t you!? There. How’s that?”
She stood back up and wiggled her shoulders back and forth. The little plates moved around a bit, but at least they kept returning to their proper places. She jiggled herself, bending over to give them a good shake, but the plates still stayed properly aligned.
“Very nice. I’ll take them. Now, what else have you got?”
“Well, you’ll want some leather pants, I assume. We have some with nice studs and slits down the sides. Very sexy…”
But she had found the cutest little leather G-string. The little straps looked like they matched those of the breastplates perfectly. Off went her skirt and up went the G-string.
“Bu...bu…” stammered the shopkeeper.
“Damn,” Keera said as she realized the g-string didn’t have any way to accommodate her tail.
“Where are you from, Cat?” the shocked little shopkeep asked in a squeaky voice. “What’s your company? You must be from the Capital! You’d be ran off the stage around here if you only wore that!”
“Oh, I’m from a little town. But I’m not in a company. Just me.”
“Oh my word! A solo act, eh? You must be one talented Cat!”
“Yeah, I’m going solo. Just to start. I might join a company later,” she said while twirling the little G-string in front of her. “I really love this little thing, but I guess I can’t wear it. Tail, you know.”
“Hmm… I can make a modification for that. Here, give it to me and let me see what I can do. I’m a bit of a tailor myself, you know. One has to be able to make alterations in this business.”
She did so, though he appeared somewhat distracted as she watched him work.
“You need to measure me?” she asked, noticing him darting glances at her lower body.
“Sorry. I’m… well, I don’t do lingerie normally. And I’ve never done a Cat before. I mean… I’ve never measured a Cat before!”
“‘Catfolk’, please,” she reminded him.
“Sorry. ‘Catfolk’,” he said nervously as he fumbled at a long cloth measuring tape.
“You... don’t mind?” he asked.
“Oh, certainly not. Measure away!” she said cheerfully.
“Okay. Just hold the end of the tape here,” he said, indicating a point just north of her HER.
She did as asked and he ran it underneath and back up to the hilt of her tail.
“Is that it?” she asked, bent over slightly.
“Well. Ma’am, it is a G-string. It has to go… well… a bit… in between your…”
“Oh! Of course. Silly of me!” she said, realizing what he was trying to say. She bent over more, spreading herself with her hands so he could get an accurate measurement.
She heard a suppressed squeak from the man, but she felt the tape measure press lightly against all of her most intimate bits now.
“Got it!” came the suddenly high-pitched confirmation.
He made a scratch with a pencil on some parchment, before excusing himself to the bathroom.
She was beginning to worry about him when he finally returned.
“Oh, that’s a relief. I thought for a minute you’d gone!”
“Sorry Ma’am. I just had to take care of something. I’m alright now. Anyway, now that I’ve got the measurement, I can just cut the back strap, tie in a metal hoop big enough for your tail and…”
Ten minutes later, she was admiring the customized G-string.
“It’s perfect!” she exclaimed, and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.
“It is very nice, I must admit,” he said, looking unabashedly at her crotch now in appreciation of his own handiwork. “Feels okay?”
She tried some rather acrobatic movements to ensure the piece was secure. When she stood on one leg, pointing at ceiling with the other, she heard the familiar squeak from Mr. Mycene. By the time she was satisfied, the flush had returned to the shopkeeper’s cheeks again.
“Okay… she said, then looked around. “What else?”
Another hour and she was fully outfitted. She looked at herself in the mirror, a very pleased expression on her face. The little mini-cape was a nice touch, she had to admit. The boots had needed to be altered to allow her feet to fit properly, and the garters that held them high up her thighs had to be tied to the belt around her waist, but it all came together just as she’d imagined.
The shopkeeper came back from his third trip to the bathroom. Keera began to understand that the poor man must be having intestinal problems, but she didn’t want to embarass him with questions on such a personal subject.
“Now… I need some weapons too,” she said. “Do I have enough left?”
The shopkeeper looked at her, uncomprehendingly.
“My gold. I don’t know what this armor costs. Is there enough left for some weapons?”
The little shopkeeper had been in business for all of his adult life. He knew a mark when he saw one, and this naive, sexy cat had all the signs. He knew right then that he could easily fleece her for every coin she owned. Yet somehow, he found he couldn’t do it. Maybe it was the fact that she’d just given him, whether she knew it or not, more sexual satisfaction than he’d known in all those years. Or maybe he just found her complete naivete refreshing. Though every fiber of his business acumen screamed against it, he said…
“Ma’am, I don’t know what outfits like this cost where you’re from, but you’ve got to have a couple of hundred gold pieces in there. All of this wouldn’t cost half of that.”
“Really? Oh, but you’re a kind businessman! Not like those skinflints around where I live. Well great then! So… what kind of weapons would you recommend?”
In the end, he sold her both a very realistic sword as well as a bow, quiver, and matching arrows. These he helped her tie to the belt as well. She had remarked on how incredibly light they were, but he assured her they would hold up well in the limelight.
“So, how do I look?” she asked as she counted out the number of coins he had requested.
“You are,” he said with complete and utter sincerity, “the sexiest Adventurer I’ve ever seen.”
“Well thank you!” Keera said, and dropped a couple extra coins on the counter as a tip. “You’ve been a real help, Mr. Mycene. And a hell of a lot cheaper than I expected!”
“It’s been my pleasure, Ma’am. Very, very much my pleasure indeed.”
She began to walk from his shop.
“Wait!” he called. “Are you going out in public like that?”
She cocked her head, confused. “Why, of course! Is there a problem?”
“Well, I guess not… I just… if you’re sure. I just thought you’d want me to bag it up and just wear it on the stage.”
“Oh. No. I want to show it off right away!”
He followed her out of the shop and watched her - along with just about every other male eye in the street - as she crossed proudly in her new Sexy Adventurer outfit.
Had she turned back she might have read the sign over the doorway - ‘Mycene’s Wigs, Costumes and Props’ - but she was having too much fun. She strolled up and down the street, in fact, waiting for the next coach going near her destination as she watched jaws drop and pants bulge. It may have been the happiest moment of her life.
When the coach was finally ready to depart, she climbed in with a couple other passengers and sat near the window. As it drew away from the city, they happened to pass Mr. Mycene’s shop one last time. She waved at him as she passed by.
“Goodbye Mr. Mycene! Thanks again!” she called.
“Say, I’d meant to ask you... Where are you playing?”
“Playing?” she called back as the horses trotted by the shop.
“Where are you going?” he called instead, rephrasing the question. A sudden and awful thought came to him. Surely not… Surely she didn’t think… But no - she couldn’t. The sword was painted wood. The bow would probably snap in two if she actually tried to draw it. And the armor… thinnest painted balsa, cheap leather and rubber. No way she could think...
“Oh! I’m going to the Caves of Damoth! I’m an Adventurer now! Goodbye Mr. Mycene!”
With that Keera sat back in her seat, pleased with herself. She’d managed to get a lot done, and it was no more than noon. Another hour or two and she should be at the Caves. She sat back and dozed off, while the other passengers cast surreptitious glances at the ridiculously attired, but undeniably sexy Cat-lady.
Neither her, nor the coach’s driver, heard the shopkeeper behind them as he flailed his arms trying to stop them.
As the coach entered the valley of Damoth, Keera began to get excited. She leaned out to call to the driver to stop, eliciting some protestation from one of the other passengers who apparently got a facefull of tail in the process. In short order, she was watching the coach rumbling away while she looked into the mouth of the cavern on the other side of the rivulet that ran the length of the valley.
She smiled inwardly, drew in her breath, and started towards the dark caves. She skipped lightly across the rocks that carpeted the little stream, not even getting her toes wet, though that set her boobs to bouncing. She almost regretted that there was no one to see them - it had always been one of her most popular moves back at the Crown and Stag.
The mouth of the cave was wide and the day was still warm and bright, so she had actually gone quite a distance into it when she began to realize she may not have thought this whole thing through properly. As the gloom deepened, she realized she had not brought a torch or anything of the sort along. Her catlike eyes did allow her to see significantly better than human eyes would in the darkness, however, so she continued on. When she saw the first glowing mushroom, she relaxed. Hopefully a torch wouldn’t be necessary after all.
She soon came to the first major branching of the main path. There had been numerous little side passages, but this was the first time that the path broke into two of essentially equivalent sizes. She sat down on the cold hard rock and pondered a moment. She probably should have purchased a map.
“Oh! I know!” she said to the empty air, “I’ll just always turn right at any fork in the path. That way I just need to turn around and turn left to find my way back!”
She was feeling quite satisfied with herself and she strode down the path to the right with an air of self-satisfaction. This Adventuring was fun!
Not much farther, she met her first rat. Two actually. They squeaked and scurried off down a side path which was too small for her to give chase. However, she really didn’t feel like it anyway - their little dark eyes had glistened in the greenish mushroom-light and she really felt they were too cute to kill anyway.
She continued on, deeper and deeper, always turning right at any clear junction or fork. However, she did come across a couple of exceptions she wasn’t sure about when a passage would lead off to the right that she couldn’t clearly decide if it represented a true fork or a side passage. She’d followed one to a dead end and had to double back again. And so far she’d seen nothing remotely like a treasure chest or even jewelry strewn about the floor of the caves.
She had just returned from one dead-end back to where she’d started when she heard something in the unexplored darkness to her right.
“Hello?” she called, and pulled her sword out of it’s scabbard. “Is someone there?”
The noise stopped briefly before the snuffling resumed. A dark shape loomed out of the gloom. It was another rat, but like none she’d ever seen before. It was the size of a large dog and it’s eyes glowed green in the mushroom-light as it appraised her.
“Now now,” she warned, backing away. “I don’t want to hurt you. You stay back!”
The snuffling came closer. Keera hadn’t expected anything of quite this size, but she gulped and steeled her Adventurer’s courage, waving the sword in front of her.
Suddenly the beast leaped at her, and she swung the sword with all her strength, eyes wide with fear. The impact was terrible, and the wooden sword broke cleanly in two while the stunned rat sat shaking its head.
Keera looked at the stump of the sword she still held, noting the wood that now was revealed under the silver paint. She looked back at the rat, that seemed to be reorienting itself. Then back at the sword. She threw it at the thing with all her might and ran.
The rat was fast, but Keera - at top speed - was just a little faster. She screamed with abandon as she raced through passage after passage, heedless of which way she turned, but the rat followed. She was gaining slightly, but couldn’t keep up this speed for long. She hoped perhaps she could lose it at some corner, but it unerringly followed her every turn. Finally she spied a ledge and scrambled up as fast as she could, hoping the beast couldn’t climb.
But her mind hadn’t been solely fixed on fear as she’d ran. As soon as she’d topped the ledge, she drew an arrow, nocked it into the bowstring and drew back, ready to shoot if the thing looked like it could follow her.
She watched in horror as the thing leaped in a single bound right onto the ledge and she backed off, her hand shaking. It came at her slowly, warily. So she let go the string.
The bowstring slapped her right boob painfully, leaving a welt.
“OWWWWW!” she cried, which caused the rat to back up. She rubbed the angry red line on the side of her breast, then remembered her circumstance and drew out another arrow and tried again.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!” she screamed again, now with two angry lines criss-crossing her sideboob.
The rat was chewing on one of her arrows now that had landed a foot from it.
She hurled the remaining arrows at the thing, which looked up at her as they bounced harmlessly off it. It advanced, slowly, sniffing at the arrows.
It snuffled towards her, but she pushed it away with the bow. It began to eat the bow.
“Help!” she cried to the empty cave. “HELP!”
Suddenly a shaft flew out of the darkness, spearing the rat neatly through its neck and it rolled over, dead.
She looked into the gloom, but there was no sound or form to be seen. But the spear was real enough. Rather smallish, but sharp and feathered, she drew it from the dead rat. It was somewhat crude, the sharp rocky tip having been tied to the shaft with some sort of string, but it’s edge was undeniably well worked.
“Thank you, whoever you are!” she called to the silence.
After having gathered the arrows, she climbed down off the ledge, favoring her tender boob. A strap holding one of her protective shin guards caught on a rock and snapped in two, sending the metallic guard clattering to the floor below. She cursed not at the loss of it, but at the sound it had made when it hit the path. It was not the sound of metal-on-rock.
She retrieved it and sat in the middle of the path and scratched at it. Sure enough, under a thin coat of silver paint, it was wooden - not even a strong wood like oak or maple. It was balsa, perhaps the softest wood there was. No wonder it had been so light! She snapped the shinguard in two like a twig.
One by one, she examined her outfit. Every bit of it that appeared to be of metal turned out to be nothing but painted balsa-wood - absolutely worthless. In frustration and rage, she tore all the fake metal off herself, breaking them all with ease. Better, she determined in her anger, to be rid of all her fake armor than to think it real!
When she was done, she realized she’d also broken her only chest coverage.
“Er,” she thought. “Maybe I was a bit hasty…”
She tried to cover herself with the little cape around her neck by twisting it around to her front. It barely covered her nipples, but kept sliding off. Finally she gave up, strapped her bow across her back with the string between her boobs, and looked up and down the path. Somehow the image she now portrayed was probably less the heroic adventurer than she’d dreamed of.
An hour later, she realized she was hopelessly lost. She recognized nothing. She’d tried following upward-leading paths, but they seemed to inevitably lead deeper down. And she was thirsty. And she had to pee.
That little need turned out more difficult to accommodate than she’d expected as well. Her darling little g-string, she soon realized, was hopelessly stuck behind her belted garters and boots. It took her five minutes to manage to work herself free of the thing. She looked around for some privacy and found it behind a boulder. The sound seemed to echo through the silent cave like a torrenting river rushing over a waterfall and she cringed, hoping her unseen ally wasn’t listening.
Another five minutes later and she’d managed to get herself re-dressed at least. But she had no idea which way to go. She’d heard of people who could sense fresh air, and she sniffed at it. She smelled cave.
But she shrugged - whatever her fate down here, she might as well try. She started back, staying to the left at every turn.
An hour later she saw a familiar boulder. Yup… wet.
She sat down and started to cry again. She was really getting thirsty too. And hungry. She couldn’t even remember how to get back to the rat, if she got desperate enough. But crying did no good, so eventually she stood up again and this time took a right turn at each fork.
She came to a place in the path she’d not seen before. The path crossed a dark crevasse, but was boarded over with planking. That was a good sign, she thought. Someone had been here. She stepped gingerly on the wood and managed to get halfway across before it swung out from underneath her feet. She had just time enough to notice the crude hinge as she fell. A trap. She sincerely hoped the pit was not spiked.
In fact, it was strewn with piles of non-luminous mushrooms. She landed with a PLOP as her weight mashed them into pulp, but she was unhurt - though covered in liquified mushroom. She made her way through the knee-high mass to the edge. Just as expected, the sides were smooth. She wasn’t going to be climbing out of this. She felt along the entire edge of the pit, but it was unremittingly smooth and without chink or blemish that she might get a grip on.
“Help!?” she called weakly, hoping her unseen ally from earlier might hear. She pulled a mushroom from out of her G-string that had managed to get itself wedged in the most inappropriate of places. “Help!” she called louder as she looked up at the glowing edge far above her head.
A figure was there. A reptilian figure.
“Hey! Help! Can you help me?” she called.
“Patience, boobed-one,” it said in a surprisingly clear voice, if rather squeaky and sibilant. “Others are coming with rope.”
“Oh! Thank you! You are a kobold? Right?”
“And you are a catfolk, boobed-one. A rather stupid catfolk.”
She looked down at herself and pulled another mushroom out of her boot.
“I am,” she admitted tearfully.
A few minutes later, more heads appeared above her and a rope was lowered.
“Does boobed-one want out?” another voice called, somewhat more feminine but with the similar reptilian accent.
“Yes!” she called back. “Yes please!”
“You must first make oath,” it replied.
“Yes. Promise. Boobs must promise to be our slave. For one year you must remain with us, and do all we ask. If you make promise, we will release you.”
“I’m not going to be your slave for a year! Don’t be ridiculous. Help me out of this and I won’t kill you!” she called back, feigning courage.
“Pfffft,” the voice laughed back. “You couldn’t kill a rat. You need more time to consider. We will return tomorrow. Don’t eat mushrooms. Are poison.”
Then the heads disappeared.
“Wait!” she called, but there was no answer.
“Oh shit,” she said to the silence. “I think I fucked up.”
“Wait!” she called again a few minutes later. “Come back! I’ll be your slave! Please come back!”
A head immediately popped back into view, laughing.
“Boobed one has changed her mind so soon?”
“Yes! Please! Get me out of here, and I promise to be your slave!”
“Two years?” the voice called back.
“Hey, you said one year!”
Her mind swirled. Two years? Well, hell. She could probably find a way to escape in two years.
“Okay. Two years. I swear.”
“And you do whatever we say?”
“Yes, I’ll be your willing slave for two years, now just get me out of here!”
She heard some mumbling above and then silence.
Suddenly a rope was dropped down. Her hands were slimy with mushroom-juice and slipped when she tried to lift herself.
“I…” she said hesitantly. “I can’t climb. It’s too slippery.”
“Stupid boobs,” the voice called back. “Tie rope around you. We will pull you up.”
She tied the rope around her waist before calling, “Okay! Lift me up!”
The rope immediately rose to just under her breasts and she realized it wasn’t going to work.
“Wait! Stop! You’re squishing me! Let me retie it!”
The rope slackened and she heard a disgusted snort from above.
“Sorry! I don’t have much experience with ropes!” she apologized.
“Silly boobs, tie it through your legs and hold on.”
She refashioned the rope until she was satisfied, wrapping it around her hips and between her legs before tying it off in a sort of sling.
“Okay, try again please!” she called as sweetly as possible. It would not do for them to get annoyed.
This time she rose, if not gracefully, at least effectively - though the rope wormed its way into her most private of areas, leaving her to wonder if she’d ever be able to get the G-string back out again. Still, it was effective and she rose up out of the pit slowly, using all the strength her arms could muster to relieve the pressure on her crotch.
Finally, with an effort, she managed to get over the lip of the pit. She found herself surrounded by a small band of kobolds - perhaps thirty in all and non taller than her chest.
“Thank you,” she said as graciously as she could, and began untying the rope.
“No,” said the tall female whose voice she recognized. “Keep rope on. We lead you home.”
“But,” she protested, indicating where the rope had practically inserted itself into her ‘fertile valley’.
“Leave rope,” the female kobold demanded.
The walk was decidedly uncomfortable, with every tug on the rope by those leading her eliciting a squeal as coarse fibers rubbed against her most sensitive area. Still, it beat death by poisonous mushroom, which she realized she would eventually have succumbed to.
They led her down a myriad of paths, through tight twisty ways and dark passages that even her eyes couldn’t see through, as the glow-mushrooms came and went as they passed. Yet finally they came to a wide underground vault where she saw hovels that the kobolds called home. There she was allowed to untie herself, which she gladly did - gingerly tugging the rope free of her private area. While most of the kobolds had returned to their daily lives, a sizable group stood watching, and she was uncomfortably aware that the majority were male.
There was simply no way to extricate the G-string from where it had gotten itself burrowed inside her without exposing herself to their lizard-like eyes that appeared to relish her embarrassment. But she was, after all, somewhat of an exhibitionist - and in some remote part of her mind that she would certainly deny, she might - just maybe - be enjoying it a little.
But even after she’d gotten it back where it belonged, the G-string was bothering her sore bottom. She finally said, “Fuck it!” and removed it altogether.
“Just till the soreness is gone!” she insisted to the ring of kobolds that surrounded her.
“Silly boobed-one,” said one of the kobolds, looking down at himself. “We not wear such hindrances here! But you top-dwellers are weird. Do as you want. I am Clip, and you met Queen Kotkot. You are free to do as you like today. It is unwise to leave, but we have not will to guard you. Tomorrow you will work. What is your name?”
“My name is Keera Faye. I am an Adventurer!” she said proudly.
That started a tittering among the gathered kobolds.
“What? I am!” she protested
“My brothers doubt you, Keera Faye,” the kobold named Clip replied. He passed a scaly finger along her sideboob where the welts from the bowstring had marked her.
She swatted the finger away, “Hey! I’m new to it, admittedly. But I’ll get better.”
One of the kobolds whispered to Clip in a language she didn’t understand. “My brother Clap says you won’t with those boobs. What are they for? We see them on other outsiders, but have never seen them used.”
She looked down at herself. “Oh! Well, mostly they’re for feeding our babies... our young. When we bear children, they produce milk.”
“You feed many babies with those!” Clap laughed, prodding at her.
“Hey, hand’s off! They’re… private.”
“Private?” Clap asked, cocking his head to one side. “They’re squishy. And warm!”
“Well, yes, but they’re not to be touched. Okay?”
Clip looked at his brother menacingly. “Don’t touch boobies, Clap. They’re private,” he said, quoting Keera.
“Okay, I won’t touch,” he agreed.
“Good!” Keera said, relieved. At least it appeared her bodily privacy would be protected here. “I was afraid you might… take advantage.”
“Oh! No, boobed-one. We don’t do that. Queen would take our heads! Besides, you look weird,” Clip replied - adding as if needed for his own self-assurance, “We like scales.”
Clap whispered something to his brother again.
“Most of us like scales. Clap is weird.”
She looked back at Clap whose eyes were shining now. Kobold or no, she knew that look. She had an admirer. She smiled back.
“Thank you Clap! There are some skin-people who like fur better than their own kind too. But no touching, right?”
Clap looked chagrined and shook his head.
“Good,” Keera said, rather pleased with how things were turning out.
The kobolds may look weird, but they apparently had some sense of morality, and that relieved her greatly. Her vague fears of being a sex-slave to these diminutive lizard-men looked to have been unfounded. In fact, she seemed to be becoming a sort of celebrity already.
“Clip,” she said, turning back to the first kobold. “I’m afraid you all look very… similar to me. I might mess up your names. Please accept my apologies if I do! No offense is intended, I assure you!”
“Is okay, Keera Faye. We mix us up sometimes too. You are hungry?”
Suddenly her stomach rumbled at the thought.
“Keera Faye is pregnant?” Clap asked, and she thought she saw a hint of dejection there. Perhaps ‘admirer’ might have been the wrong word for him.
“No, no, no. Just hungry. And thirsty.”
Clap enthusiastically volunteered to get her some food and water and she watched him bound off towards the cookfire in the center of the little village. She rather liked that little runt already.
Meanwhile, Clip led her around the camp, pointing out the various highlights.
“Here is family of Prind’s home. And here is my home. I share with Clap. Large hut is Queen’s home.”
“Say, Clip,” Keera said sheepishly as he led her from one structure to another. One building appeared to be missing. “Where do you… you know… take care of nature?”
“Oh! Stinky Creek! Down that path. See glow-mushroom? If covered, someone is using Stinky Creek. If you need, put cover on mushroom and take off when you are done.”
Keera laughed for the first time since she’d arrived as a kobold slave. “Stinky Creek. Good name!”
Clip smiled. “Is... accurate. But water moves fast. Doesn’t stay stinky very long.”
“Um… what do you use to… er… clean up?”
The kobold stared at her, his head cocked in an attitude of incomprehension again. “We sit in Stinky Creek! Upstream. This is not known above?”
“We… don’t have a Stinky Creek. We use,” she thought for a minute, trying to think of what terminology he would likely understand. “...a hole.”
“EW! Stinky Hole? Sounds terrible! You poor people should make better clean!”
She had to nod at that. “It is. But thank you, Clip. I might not mind living with you kobolds for a year as your slave after all!”
“Two years,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Two years you swore.”
“Okay, okay - two years. Do you ever go out of the caves?”
“Oh yes! Not enough food here. We go hunting at night. Want to come?”
She looked at him, this time her head cocked, “You want me to come with you? Outside?”
“But… well - don’t you think I might run away?”
The little kobold smiled. “Oh no. You swore to stay with us.”
“Yes,” she said, squatting down in front of Clip. “I did, didn’t I?”
He looked at her again with that inquisitive look, as if he didn’t quite comprehend something.
Instead of answering, Keera ran her hand across his scaly forehead. He didn’t draw back.
“That,” she said with a genuine smile, “was for trusting me.”
He replied slowly, one suspicious eye narrowing. “You don’t lie to kobolds, do you?”
“Of course not. I swore,” she answered, and she meant it. Of course, if circumstances required it, perhaps she might slip off and break her word. But for now at least, she was quite sincere. She liked these little guys.
-------------------------------
She soon got used to her life with the kobolds. The queen didn’t seem to like her much, but she was allowed the run of the place. As for her slave labor, it was mostly little menial things. But the other kobolds treated her with the greatest of respect. It seemed so long as she obeyed the queen, she was respected.
There had been one incident where she had talked back to the queen. The reptilian eyes narrowed and the queen left the scene without a word. Keera thought perhaps it had been forgotten, but after dinner that night she felt herself getting woozy. She looked at the cup. She’d thought it tasted strange.
Clap, who tended always to stay near her these days, apologized as she felt hands grasp her body, carrying her somewhere.
“Keera Faye,” he said in a high-pitched voice that she’d come to interpret as sorrow. “You anger queen. Not good. You will be punished.”
“Punished,” she managed to say through her heavy tongue.
“No make queen angry again, okay?” Clap said as she felt herself being carried down a passage she’d not explored before.
Though her body was enfeebled, her mind was still clear. That ‘again’ at least, was a good sign. She surely wasn’t going to be beheaded at least.
They lay her down on the floor and tied both hands and feet in a spread-eagled position as torches were lit around the open space. She saw all the adult kobolds standing around her in a circle, and her feeling returned to her limbs.
“Keera Faye - you disobeyed the queen of our clan,” said a large male who she’d learned acted as the spokesman during clan meetings. “You will be punished. First offense, queen is kind. Next offense will not be so kind. Do not disobey queen, Keera Faye.”
Keera nodded her agreement, directly to the queen who sat on a small crude chair.
“KahKah is punishment,” the queen said.
The circle of kobolds went to their knees and began creeping towards her, their taloned fingers moving in slow arcs.
Her eyes went wide. Of course, she had no idea what KahKah was, but she knew she was about to find out and it didn’t look good. Their slow approach was obviously part of the punishment. She tugged at her bonds, but they were quite firm. She looked back to Clap, who shook his head but didn’t stop his approach, nor his weird finger movements…
And then they were on her. Tickling. In her dread, she didn’t laugh at first - but soon she couldn’t help herself. Never were the fingers sharp or cruel, but they tickled like hell. She began to laugh and giggle uncontrollably as the talons groped every inch of her. Just as it began to get hard to breath, the queen held up her hand and the other kobolds stopped.
She was breathing hard, trying to suppress her laughter.
“Has Keera Faye had enough KahKah?” the queen demanded.
She tried her best to keep a straight face.
“Yes, dread queen! Please. Enough KahKah!”
“Release,” the queen said, and her bonds were untied.
“No anger queen,” the queen said. “Understand?”
“Absolutely! I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Is good. Next KahKah will be worse.”
“I won’t!” she assured the queen, sitting up.
They returned, and the kobolds treated her just as they had before. Still, she knew that the punishment - light as it had been - could still be cruel. She really did try not to anger the queen again.
A few days later, Clip asked her if she wanted to come with them outside. Their larder had gotten meager and they needed to forage again. She agreed heartily, and followed a small band through the winding maze of passages until she saw light ahead - though it was the dim light of a moonlit scene. The mouth of the cave was not the same as that she had entered through, and she saw no sign of the road. Instead, she helped the little kobolds pick fruits and plants while others went on to hunt. She did note that there were a mix of both male and female in both parties, and she approved of that.
Clip and Clap returned with a rather large deer they’d managed to fell with a spear.
“Oh! You did well! I only thought you hunted rabbits and the like!” she said happily, and her mouth watered for venison.
Clap beamed up at her, proud of his accomplishment, as did Clip and his brothers.
“Is for you, Keera Faye!” Clap said proudly.
“Aww! Clap! You killed it for me? That’s so nice!” Keera said happily and kissed the smooth scaled snout.
“No,” Clip said. “Is for you. You carry. Too heavy for kobolds.”
“Oh,” Keera said, somewhat dejectedly.
But Clap was rubbing his snout where she had kissed him as if he had received the most precious thing ever.
She sighed and shouldered the forelegs of the small deer. It really wasn’t too heavy, but she thought of the long trek back. Then she felt something strange on her butt. Startled, she looked back and saw Clap looking up at her with Those Eyes again. Had he just kissed her butt?
“No, Clap. No kissing there. Kiss here,” she said, kneeling down and indicating her cheek.
Though it was really more of a mouth-press than a kiss, she accepted his sign of affection happily and her burden was lightened as he carried the back of the deer all through the caverns with her.
“Thanks Clap,” she said. “You are a good kobold.”
“You like Clap?” he asked from behind her.
“I very much like Clap,” she said, and the little kobold whistled a little song all the way back.
Once she’d dropped the deer, some of the other kobolds set about preparing it, and Keera went back to sit outside her tent, where she resumed a weaving task she’d been set to.
“Keera Faye,” said a voice beside her unexpectedly.
She looked around and saw Clip.
“Clip. You scared me. Everything okay?”
The kobold sat beside her. She’d already gotten used to the kobold’s familiarity. They seemed to thrive on the sense of their neighbor’s touch, and the coolness of his thigh pressed against her own. But it was their way, and she had come to rather like it. It did seem to help bond the little band together.
“Keera Faye,” he started again, not looking at her directly.
“I’ve told you before, Clip, you can just call me Keera. ‘Faye’ is sort of the clan that I’m from. Most people where I’m from just call me Keera.”
“Keera,” he said again, glancing at her. “Clap likes you.”
“I know. I like him too. He’s nice.”
“Keera, Clap likes you very very much. Clap talks about you at night.”
Keera began to understand.
“You are nice to all kobolds, Keera. But you are too nice to Clap. He wants to be your mate.”
“Hmm,” she said. She wasn’t unaware of that type of infatuation. She’d seen it before. It was a hazard in her line of work as a barmaid.
“What do you suggest?” she asked Clip.
“Do you want to be Clap’s mate?” he asked quietly.
She touched Clip on his horn, and he turned to her.
“You like your brother, don’t you?”
“I like him very much, Keera Faye.”
“I’m sorry, but no. I don’t want to be Clap’s mate. I want to be his friend though.”
The reptilian head turned back to contemplate the floor. “I see.”
Clip hesitated. “Do nothing. I will talk to brother Clap. He will be sad. Please, do not kiss him again.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry Clip. I just… I like him. I like all of you. But… no. I don’t want to be his mate.”
The kobold stood up, bringing his head a bit above her own. He touched her ear. “Do not kiss Clap,” he said somberly, and then left her.
She looked around, but didn’t see his brother. She wished she could do something to ease his disappointment, but she knew from experience that nothing she could do would help. She’d best stay away from the infatuated kobold for awhile.
She found it easy, in the days that followed, to avoid interacting with the lovesick kobold. When she did see him though, the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. Clip had talked to him obviously, and the look of dejection radiated from him like an aura.
She wished she could help, but since she was the source of his problem, it was not within her power to do so. Instead, she set about her daily tasks - slight though they were - with a renewed sense of duty.
She fashioned herself a new top with the ruins of her supposed ‘armor’ and some deer hide, as well as improving her boots which had never been intended to be worn daily. She fashioned a loincloth of sorts with the remaining hide, and became surprisingly adept at the coarse work. She even presented the queen with a loincloth of her own, with polished stones acting as decorations.
As the days passed, she found herself enjoying the time she spent with the clan even more, and no longer thought of escape as she began to feel she was home with these little people. Their language remained something of a mystery, but many of them spoke her tongue well enough and she did pick up a word or two at least.
One day she was out on another hunt. She’d never managed to become accomplished as an archer, and had realized the inadequacy of her bow quickly enough - but she had taken up throwing the spears that the kobolds used and found she was at least decent with it when fishing, if not hunting wild animals.
She was out with just such a group, tracking some rabbits in a high grassy meadow when the loud bellow of a wild boar was heard. The moonlight overhead was clear and bright, and she had no trouble spotting the sudden eruption of three kobolds from the wood’s edge running at top speed towards them.
“GROUWGROUW!” screamed Clip as he ran, followed closely by Clap and another female kobold named Slat that Clip had been romantically pursuing for some days. The fear in their eyes was obvious.
She turned and saw that her own group was already heading at haste in the same direction. Looking back, she saw something big in the grass, chasing the kobolds. She looked at her spear, then back to the boar. She could easily overtake the kobolds and outdistance the boar, but she shook her head. No. She had grown somewhat stronger over the time she’d been with the kobolds, and it was time for her to earn her keep.
Instead of running, she placed herself in the path of the boar, pointed her spear menacingly, and screamed.
The boar was startled, and stopped, it’s head now rising from the grass and it looked at her menacingly.
Instead of quailing, she advanced towards it, spear raised high.
Behind her, she heard Clap’s shout of warning.
“NO! KEERA FAYE! IS GROUWGROUW!”
She ignored him, and advanced. The boar snuffled again and lowered it’s head. For a split second, she realized she may have made a fatal mistake, but she had no time to question that now.
But the boar didn’t charge. Instead, it ran back the way it came, unsure of this new opponent that stood so tall and with a sharp spear in its hands. In a moment, it had retreated back into the woods.
She realized she had been holding her breath. She let it out in a rush, and plopped hard onto her butt as the adrenaline rush faded. She began to shake.
A hand touched her shoulder, and she jerked around. The face of Clap was there, eyes adoring once more.
“Keera is… champion of kobolds!” he said in a quiet tone of awe.
She looked down at her hands, still clutching the spear in a death grip, and managed to peel her fingers free. The other kobolds began to gather around her, hooting in a way she’d not heard before. Even Clip and Clap joined in.
“It is song in your honor, Keera Faye,” they explained.
“I… didn’t really do anything,” she protested, though she was a little unsteady getting to her feet. She hadn’t realized how much her brush with death had affected her physically, but she was soon back to normal as the band returned to the caves.
The story of her bravery quickly made the rounds in the small clan. She continued to protest, but they were having none of it.
“It’s not like I killed the thing,” she said to all that would listen. “It would probably have gored me to death if it hadn’t run off!”
“Yes,” Clap replied. “GrouwGrouw has killed many kobolds. We were too close. It probably kill one of us. But you stopped the GrouwGrouw.”
“I… guess I did,” she admitted.
Clap came close, as she saw the queen emerge from her hut.
“Keera Faye, I know you don’t want Clap. But… can I kiss you?”
She looked to his brother, but Clip had no response.
She lowered her head and felt the reptilian kiss on her cheek.
“Keera Faye,” said the authoritative voice of the queen.
“Yes, my queen,” she said humbly, lowering herself so the two were on a level.
“You stood down the GrouwGrouw. These are my children, cat-woman. They are precious to me - every one. They are my clan - even those who did not issue from me directly. You may be a stupid adventurer, but with this act, you are a member of our clan.”
Keera nodded in gratitude. “Thank you, my queen.”
“We have no slaves in our clan, Keera Faye. You are released from our service.”
Keera looked back at the queen. The kobold nodded back.
“Go, Keera Faye. You are freed of your oath. Thank you for saving my children.”
Keera stood up, looking at her little clan, all eyes on her.
“May I walk you out?” Clap asked.
“I would be honored, Clap!” she said with sincerity. “But you are wrong, queen. I am not released. I have been only three moons in your company, but you are forever in my heart. I am in your clan, and your clan is in me. Two years I have promised, and two years I will serve. Only, let me return to the outside. I have learned a lot here. I have learned how stupid and foolish I was. Let me return, to train and become a real adventurer, and not a stupid one. It may be a year or more before I am ready, but I give you my second oath. I will return and repay you, with even more skill than I have. I will dedicate myself to this, and when next I return, I will be ready. I will slay the GrouwGrouw, and any other threats - and you will taste of boar meat!”
The ring of kobolds raised a shout of celebration at this. Appeals to their stomachs were always successful.
Clip came up to her then, his girlfriend in tow.
“Can you not stay longer?” he asked, his voice high and sincere.
“The sooner I go, the sooner I return,” she said. “You will see me again, I promise.”
Clip nodded at that. “You have been a good slave, Keera Faye,” he said. “We will name our child for you, for you maybe saved its life today.”
She bent and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
The dedicated kobold looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with more than love. “Keera Faye?”
“Let’s go. But… can you come with me… farther? I promise I’ll take care of you while we’re outside. Even among the skin-people. I would really like to have you with me, if you want.”
Clap looked at his queen, who still stood nearby.
“You will look after him?” she asked with severity in her voice. “He loves Keera Faye, you know.”
“I will. I promise an oath.”
“Then, if you want to, Clap…” she asked, turning to the little kobold whos eyes had gone wide as saucers.
For the second time, he kissed Keera’s rump most inappropriately, but she didn’t mind. Maybe everything would work out okay anyway. He certainly was eager enough!
“Forever I will follow her,” he said. “I will look at her butt forever.”
Keera suppressed a snort. The sentiment was understood though, even if the visuals were a bit kinky.
“Then go with my blessing. Return to us when you are ready. Then we shall hunt the wild GrouwGrouw and perhaps other dangers.”
And with that, Keera took the little kobold’s scaly hand and they walked together out of the caves. The dawn had broken by the time they emerged. Happily, Clap didn’t seem to have any problem in the full light of day, and they sat on a rock, waiting for the next coach to come by.
“Now Clap, you are going to have to learn the ways of the humans. I’ll teach you to speak better, but there are other things.”
“The Stinky Hole,” he nodded, as if that explained everything.
“Well, that and a lot of other things. But do as I say, and I’ll make sure you fit in. I’m going to be busy, between working at the tavern and training to be an Adventurer. I’ll need to trust you to be good.”
“For you, I will be best kobold ever!”
“And… about that… I know you like me, a lot. But… well, even if I like you too, the humans would never understand.”
Clap started a barking laugh. “Kobolds don’t understand either. But… you think you might… like me too?”
She looked down at the cute but little form sitting beside her, his thigh against her own. Yes, she realized. She could love this little fellow. Maybe she already did. She knew what she was doing when she invited him, after all. It would be… interesting, that was sure!
Keera smiled back. “It’s possible, little kobold. They say love knows no race…”
A naughty thought crossed her mind, and she glanced sidewise at the kobold. She was going to have to get him a loincloth at the first opportunity.
“...or size,” she sighed a bit wistfully.
