Axel sighed to himself as he rode away from the disaster that had once been a battlefield.
"I told them not to make him General. I told them. Does anyone listen? Of course not. Silly boy, you're only the oldest warrior this side of creation, what do you know." Axel shook his head with weary amusement as he remembered the scene in the command tent. "I need to start my own company, I really do." He'd been second in command of Illuch's Immortals and had spoken his mind in a way that day that had almost gotten him kicked out of the tent. But he was pretty sure that Illuch himself was dead, so who cared. Clearly his mercenary unit had been misnamed. "I could do a thousand times better than most of these SOB's. Or maybe not." Even if Illuch himself had spoken, they probably wouldn't have gotten Torma away from the General spot.
Unfortunately, while Torma had been competent and well-connected he hadn't been at all brilliant or flexible. And the enemy had been both. The rank and file on both sides had been mostly competent, so it had come down to leadership and initiative and that was where they had fallen short. The enemy had taken advantage of every hesitation and they'd come out reamed.
Axel wasn't worried at all about himself. His armor was splattered liberally with dried blood, so much that he was starting to attract flies, and his horse was equally soiled. But they were both a going concern, if a bit tired, and the main part of the enemies' army was concentrating on seizing their objectives and ransacking the baggage train. Not searching for little refugees like himself who were just heading out for brighter pastures. Axel actually had a fair amount of savings on him but most like him didn't. They spent their money immediately on wine and women.
"Hm?" Axel slowed his horse as he spotted a ruined cart up ahead. Several bodies were strewn around it, brutally murdered. Axel sneered as he spotted the emblems on the cart… more of a carriage, really. Some noble had been trying to escape, but how had they got ahead of him? Axel thought about it a moment and nodded to himself. He'd come from the opposite end of the battlefield, making his way around because this road led to the border of a neighboring country that would be relatively safe. Whoever had taken this carriage had no doubt had the same idea, but they'd been spotted. Probably because they were the tools in an ornate cart rather than a plain one, or just a horse. Deciding to stop and see if there was anything left in the wreckage, he tied up his horse with enough reign to let it browse and started scouting. If nothing else, the horse would be glad for the rest. It was more tired than him.
Axel searched the carriage quietly and thoroughly, but came up mostly empty. He did find a bag of grain which would be welcome for the horse and another of beef jerky that had been hidden under the carriage seat. Knawing on a bit of that, he suddenly froze as his erratic other senses flared to life.
The alien gifts he'd always had suddenly registered fear. Not his own fear, of course, a fear outside himself that felt absolutely terrified. And Axel could suddenly hear the beat of a heart, the quick, ragged breathing. Finishing his piece of jerky, he reached under the cart and yanked out what he found.
"Ah! No!" A little boy squirmed in his grip, dirty and bruised. Axel lifted his eyebrows as he spotted the flicking cat ears in the spiky brown hair. Then the boy got a good look at him and suddenly stopped struggling, blue eyes wide and surprised. "You're a neko?" Axel grinned, flicking his own red cat ears at the boy. He sounded like he would have been less surprised if Axel had been a naked maiden.
"Born that way, kitten. Now what are you doing here?" The child was much too young to be a soldier. He'd never found an army that desperate, the child looked like he was ten. Although Axel had the sense that he might be older. Neko-kin matured young but stayed cute looking for longer than humans. The boy shivered, looking down, and Axel looked him over thoughtfully. "…Oh." It was pretty clear what he was, now that Axel examined him. The golden slave chain at his throat looked like real gold, and his clothing was dark blue velvet, too rich for a cheap slave. The boy was an expensive little toy, no doubt belonging to one of the deceased men surrounding the carriage. And from the bruises on his wrists, not a terribly well treated toy, although the bruises on his forehead were likely from the carriage crashing. "I see. Well." Axel considered what he should do for a moment.
It was a bit of a puzzlement. The child was a slave and theoretically, he was the property of the man's heirs. However, in actual fact he was the property of whoever could find and keep him. For the moment, that was Axel. But Axel had no use for a rich man's toy. On the other hand, if he left the boy here he was probably going to starve or end up raped by some passing mercenary and then starve. Axel very much doubted the child had much in the way of wilderness survival skills, although he could be wrong about that. Still…
"Lovely." Axel sighed. "Come on, kitten. Have a piece of jerky." Axel let go of his wrist and handed him a piece of the meat, which the neko boy quickly devoured. He looked well fed, but probably hadn't eaten since this morning.
"Who are you?" The neko child said shyly, looking up at him with an oddly trusting air. It was like the boy had decided he was safe because he was a neko. Axel wondered if he could really be that innocent, but decided it didn't matter.
"I'm Axel. Got it memorized? And who are you?" Axel untied the horse, giving it a handful of grain as Sora watched him.
"I'm Sora." Sora squeaked a little as Axel boosted him up onto the horse, in front of the saddle so he could hold onto the boy. Then Axel mounted easily, putting the horse into motion. It started off obediently, twitching its tail at a few flies.
"Well Sora, we're heading to Immervale." Sora's ears perked up at that, and Axel wondered why. Had he been there? It was possible, it was right on the border. He could have been bought there. Sora glanced back at him, examining him with his big blue eyes, and Axel smiled at him.
"Axel? Can I ask you some questions?" Sora finally said after they had been riding for a while. Axel flicked his ears before responding.
"Sure. I might not answer, but you can always ask." It wasn't like his thoughts were very deep anyway, so Sora wasn't interrupting much.
"Were you a slave too?" Axel blinked, surprised, and flattened his ears a little before he snorted.
"Me? Never. I've been a mercenary longer than you've been alive. Why do you ask?" Sora blinked at that. Axel didn't look very old to him. He looked hardly nineteen, in fact, although he did have an older air about him.
"Well… it's just… most neko are slaves so…" Sora looked down, then up as Axel laughed.
"You haven't gotten around much, have you? Let me guess… you're from the Swartheld Plains and you went right to the auction after you were taken from some little village, right? And then some rich man bought you and all you've seen is his villa until he dragged you along to be his bitch in this war." Sora winced and hunched up, but didn't disagree with Axel's rendition of events. "You haven't seen much Sora. Most neko aren't slaves. Most neko from the Swartheld Plains are, but you can blame your great-grandparents for that."
"Huh?" Sora blinked. Axel took a deep breath, thinking of how to explain.
"Okay. This is the down and dirty guide to the Swartheld Plains, by Axel P. Bellatora."
"What does the P stand for?" Sora asked, distracted, and Axel paused to frown at the little brunette.
"I have no idea. Something that starts with P, probably. I didn't get much time to talk to the man who named me, since I killed him immediately. It's a long story. Bellatora means warlike, if you wanted to know." Sora paled slightly at that and nodded. "As I was saying, keep in mind that parts of this guide might be inaccurate. I might be a god in my sphere but I'm far from infallible and I tend to put my own personal spin on everything. So. How you heard of Rimbol the Unifier?"
"Oh of course!" Sora said, suddenly enthusiastic, and Axel had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Every neko from the Swartheld Plains reacted that way and he found it quite tedious. "He won us our freedom and made the Plains their own country!"
"And that is the problem in a nutshell." Sora turned to stare at him, looking a touch hurt and offended as Axel grinned. "Rimbol was a great man, Sora, don't get me wrong. He did an amazing thing, pulling all the clans and tribes of the Plains together to throw off the oppressors' yokes. Daring deeds, wonderful stuff, blahblahblah." Axel's tone suddenly hardened and Sora blinked. "The problem is, everything he did depended on him. His personality, his charisma, his ability to get all those fractious clan chiefs working together. His son managed to keep things together for a little while when he died, but that made things worse in my opinion. Maybe if it had fallen apart fast, people would have figured out they needed to do something." Axel drew a deep breath and reached into a saddlebag for a water bottle, taking a quick drink before offering it to Sora. The little neko took a long pull before giving him a quick thanks and handing it back. "Swartheld is the only real nation the neko have. And in the Axel guide to the world, it is a cocked up, perambulating disaster."
"But!" Sora couldn't help but sputter. Axel was doing drastic violence to his worldview. "It's a beautiful place to be! My village was wonderful!"
"I'm sure it was." Axel said dryly. "But you're here, a slave, and there's a reason for that. The reason is that the King of the Swartheld rules at the sufferance of the clan chiefs. He can't collect any taxes worth speaking of so he hasn't got an army. He's pretty much just another clan chief. And all the clan chiefs are busy warring with each other and in bed with the slavers… a lot of whom are neko's, oh you better believe it… and the chiefs are using the slavers to raid each other and destroy each other's farmers." Sora's mouth sagged open as Axel laughed, a rough, angry sound. "I bet if we could go back in time, we'd find out that whoever enslaved you was working for a rival clan chief. But it's not just that. Sora, tell me. How many of your relatives can you think of that have died in blood feuds?"
"Uh… seven?" Sora said after a bit of thought, and Axel nodded.
"I thought so. Sora, most neko outside of the Swartheld Plains can go through their whole lives without losing a family member that way. The way neko on the Plains go at each other is insane. The only reason no one has conquered the Plains is that all the neighboring countries have decided it would be way more trouble than it's worth. After all, if they conquered the Plains they'd have to get rid of the damn clan chiefs and start enforcing real order since murdering people is actually illegal most places. In times of peace, anyway." Axel added as he stared ahead. "In times of war, it goes out the window." Sora winced and nodded. He'd seen that already.
"How do you know so much about the Plains?" Sora was beginning to wonder if Axel really knew what he was talking about. But he seemed so certain. Axel grinned.
"I lived there for ten years. Couldn't stand it, but there was a price on my head. It's a long story. Anyway, I got intimately acquainted with blood feuds along the way. There's a price on my head in the Swartheld now, not that anyone has managed to collect it." Axel thought back fondly to that time. He'd pissed off a lot of people effortlessly. It had been fun.
"Oh." Sora seemed more than a little depressed now, and Axel ran a hand through his spiky brown hair.
"Look at the bright side, Sora. Whatever lies you've been told about humans enslaving us, free neko are common as hell. Not surprising, really. We're all human under the skin." Axel commented as he glanced around the road.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sora tilted his head, and Axel blinked.
"You don't know how neko were created?" Sora blinked and shook his head. "Good grief. Even in Swartheld, that was common knowledge when I lived there. Okay. Neko are the descendants of magical experiments on humans." Axel idly stroked Sora's ears as he talked. "We were meant to be adapted to living on the Plains. You know the crystals you sometimes find there? They give off a radiation that's poisonous to normal humans. Neko are immune to it. Another reason why no one's tried to take back the Plains. But basically, we're just humans with some magical frills built in. That's why we can mate with humans and have kittens with them."
"I never knew that." Sora was amazed by all the things he was learning in his brief time with Axel. His owner had never really talked to him like he was an intelligent being. What he'd had to say had mostly been commands… Sora shuddered faintly as he remembered it.
They rode through the rest of the day chatting about various things, although nothing as earth shattering as the initial subjects they'd touched on. Sora was amazed time and time again by how Axel seemed to know a bit about everything. He was like a worldly older brother to the young neko, and Sora was feeling very comfortable with Axel.
A bit too comfortable, although Sora didn't realize that. They finally made camp, and Axel brushed down his horse, putting a blanket on him and giving him a nosebag of grain. As Axel took care of that Sora gathered up dry branches for a fire, and Axel quickly started it with a flick of his wrist. Sora blinked at the fire magic, but didn't ask any questions, just enjoying the warmth of it. It could get rather chilly at night here and they were both lacking bedrolls. Sora blinked as he realized Axel was watching him, his bright green eyes glowing in the dim light.
"Sora, come here." Sora swallowed, licking his lips for a moment before obeying the older neko's command. He gasped and almost whimpered as Axel slid an arm around him, pulling Sora into his lap.
"Axel…" Sora said nervously. This was reminding of the man who had bought him, and the bad memories flashed behind his eyes. But Axel didn't immediately start touching him the way that man did. Instead, he gently stroked Sora's ears. Sora relaxed a little, wanting desperately to believe that Axel was just comforting him. That Axel didn't really want… that from him.
Then Axel began gently massaging the base of his tail with one hand, and Sora closed his eyes, oblivious to the thin whine that slipped out of him. Axel's hand felt so good there, so warm, comforting in his fur and hot against the patch of bare skin where his tail met his butt. Sora shivered faintly, his tail twitching in pleasure. Slowly, he realized there was something poking him, something hard and-
"A-Axel." Sora's eyes opened wide as he realized what that something was. His breathing suddenly speeded up, but in fear this time. Axel laughed softly, his hand still doing its magic on Sora's tail. "P-Please don't." Sora swallowed, breathless and suddenly aware of his own small erection. Axel hadn't touched it yet but… he shivered as he felt Axel's hot breath against his ear as the redhead spoke.
"Don't what, kitten?" Axel glanced down Sora and smiled. "I think you want me to." He could easily see the bulge forming in the little neko's pants. Keeping on hand firmly on the base of the boy's tail, he started undoing the pants and pulling them down.
"Please… I'm only thirteen…" Sora pleaded faintly, although he knew it was a dim hope that Axel would care about his age. He was old enough in the Plains. Axel snorted, amused.
"Sora. You're being really silly about this." Axel's voice was smooth and amused as he slid a hand down, easily stroking his erection to full stiffness. "You're my slave now. I might not have wanted a rich man's toy, but here you are and this is what you can do for me. Besides, who would you rather have… me, or some human who doesn't know how good this feels?" Sora moaned as Axel lifted his tail and slowly drew a finger from his anus down his tail a bit. It felt like a jolt had gone straight to his groin and Sora's cheeks suddenly flushed. His other owner had never made him feel like this. Axel made a small, pleased sound as Sora shifted slightly, pushing against his hand. Sora whimpered as Axel pulled his hands away, then shivered as he felt the older neko opening his pants to free his own erection. They were both mostly clothed, except their pants, but that was… very arousing, actually. Sora swallowed, feeling terribly turned on by everything that was happening. He wanted to plead with Axel, beg him to stop, but at the same time his teenage hormones really did want more from the red headed neko. And he didn't think Axel was going to be stopping anyway. "Hm. I lost my bags with the train so I'm fresh out of lube. This will have to do." Sora gasped as he felt Axel's fingers, wet with saliva, slowly fingering his entrance. He closed his eyes, trying to relax at that all too familiar sting. But soon Axel found something inside him that made him whine again, and Sora closed his eyes, hearing the older neko chuckle. "You like that, huh?"
Axel took his time, enjoying every whine and movement of the boy in his lap. Sora was innocently making things very interesting as his tail slid over Axel's arousal. Axel finally decided the boy was ready and gripped the base of Sora's tail, lifting the little neko and pressing him down slowly onto his swollen member.
Sora gasped, eyes widening as the sheer size of Axel registered. He was big and it hurt, even though Axel had tried to lubricate it as best he could. Sora whimpered in pain, but Axel took his time, pausing to soothe him and stroke his erection, keeping him hard. Soon the older neko was completely sheathed in the younger, and Axel groaned at the feeling of wet, tight heat surrounding him. Unable to hold back anymore, he began thrusting into Sora. The little neko yelped in pain… then gasped raggedly as Axel found his special spot again.
"Oh!" Axel chuckled softly at the surprised sound, aiming for that spot and hitting it again and again as Sora writhed in his lap. "Axel! Oh that feels- ah!" Axel had to bite his lip and think about unpleasant things as Sora suddenly tightened around him. The little neko was panting and begging and along with the tight heat, it was driving Axel right to the edge. Gripping the little one's hips, Axel lifted him up and then yanked him down to meet his thrust. Sora cried out in pleasure, fingers digging into Axel's knees. Axel laughed then groaned as Sora tightened again.
"Sora, you're going to make me come right now if you keep that up." Axel panted out, but Sora wasn't listening. So he concentrated on making the little one release first, stroking his erection and gently squeezing before flicking Sora's tip. That was too much for the younger neko, and he released with a scream. Axel gasped, eyes going wide as Sora tightened powerfully around him and the red head came in a rush of pleasure that left him breathless. For a long moment, the two neko just stayed tangled together, Sora relaxing and curling up in Axel's arms as Axel went limp inside him. It felt strangely good, having the older neko behind and inside him like this. "Mmm." Axel finally sighed, looking down at the little brunette in his arms. Sora looked so happy, so content. Axel's green eyes were a little sad as he gently stroked Sora's ears, making the boy sigh. He was just so innocent and trusting. Too innocent for all the ills of the world. It was sad, and Axel knew that he probably wasn't going to make it better. Not for long, anyway.
He was a death bringer, and he always had been.