***Time-Stopping-9990's prompt - "Gemshipping: Ryou is an enslaved neko to be sold and Akefia comes upon him at a slave dealers."

FYI: I've never read a neko fanfic before, so I don't know any of the conventions for them, so sorry if I missed an important troupe because of that.***


The first thing Ryou learned as a slave was never to speak unless spoken to. The second thing was to always keep his head down. Nonetheless, when he caught the flash of a scarlet robe swishing around a body that smelled strongly of the desert, Ryou's curiosity got the better of him and he lifted his red eyes up to stare at the stranger.

White locks crowned his head, the same color as Ryou's hair but otherwise he looked human. He saw Ryou staring. Smirking, he walked up to the little, white neko and held his chin, tilting his face up so they could get a better look at each other.

"That one's extra," the vendor said, eyes never lifting from the sordid magazine in his hands. "All white ones are rare. Most have spots on their ear or foot, but not him. All white. He'll disrobe if you want to see for yourself."

They were at a space station known as The Market. Silks, jewels, rare metals, anything the rich and privileged species of the galaxy could ever want to own ended up at The Market - slaves more than anything else.

"Yeah?" the stranger asked. "How much extra, though?"

"1k."

"That's twice as much! It's robbery!"

The vender shrugged. "Buy a spotted one, then. That one's 1k."

"Hmmm . . . hey, pet? You worth the extra cash?"

Ryou looked down. He held his hands together, trying to hide his angry shaking.

"He asked you a question," the vendor snarled.

"I would take very good care of you, sir," Ryou whispered, his eyes closed so he didn't have to look as he said it.

The man leaned close, so close that when he snorted Ryou felt his breath tickle his sensitive, white ear. "If I freed you, would you gut that swine over there?"

Ryou's heart started pounding. He froze in place, not daring to hope that the man was in anyway sincere - until the neko felt a dagger slip up his sleeve. He opened his eyes and the human smirked again.

"Well, I'm going to see what the prices are at the other end of The Market."

"You won't find one that pretty at the other end of The Market."

"Perhaps not, but then I'll just come back here and pick this little kitten up." He slipped a thin rod out of his own sleeve. The vendor didn't notice because he was still staring at his magazine.

"I'm not saving him. If he gets sold before you get back it's not my problem."

With a twist of the rod, Ryou felt his manacle fall from his hands. The human caught them so they wouldn't make any noise. Ryou's tail started to swish. He couldn't help it; he was too excited.

"I like to gamble," he said, winking at Ryou and walking away.

Ryou grabbed the dagger from his sleeve and walked behind the vendor. He glided the blade across the vendor's throat before the vendor even had time to look up. A rush of satisfaction coursed through Ryou as the man twitched then fell to the ground. As far as shopkeepers went, the man was neither kind nor cruel, but Ryou didn't care - the vendor had thought of them as nothing but merchandise, and now Ryou thought of him as nothing but a carcass.

Afterward, Ryou grabbed the key and freed his closest companion. The little cream and yellow neko shook his head, yellow ears twitching above the spikes of hair. "It's too soon. Ryou we can't yet."

"This doesn't change the plans, Yugi, it only fast tracks them." Ryou handed the key to Yugi. "Free the others. Go to the underground."

"Where are you going?" Yugi, asked.

"I have to find the man who freed us. Go on without me. I'll contact you when I can."

"Ryou, don't," Yugi hissed, violet eyes more than a little frightened. No one had noticed the vendor dead on the floor or them escaping, yet. The market was loud, crowded, and full of self-absorbed humans, but they wouldn't have long to escape.

Ryou rubbed Yugi behind his ear. "It's okay. Go to the underground. You'll be safe."

Ryou raced down the street. He ran much faster than a human and soon caught up to the stranger's scent. He noticed the stranger boarding a small spacecraft and Ryou followed, stowing away into the spaceship by a small maintenance shaft. Ryou squirmed his way through the engine bay - not wanting to be near it when the ship took off, and hid in a storeroom until he was sure they were far away from the wretched market before he went to search for the stranger.

The man in the scarlet robe had his feet propped up, too occupied in a game of solitaire to notice Ryou until the little, white neko crawled into his lap.

"What the hell!" He jerked, but couldn't move much considering Ryou was in his lap.

"I wanted to thank you," Ryou said, tail still swishing.

"Yeah, great. You're welcome. Now get off my lap."

"Do you always cause revolts like that? Or are you just fond of albinos?" Ryou ran his hand along the stranger's dark-tanned arm. "Your hair is white, but your skin is dark."

"Look. I just hate the system, all right? Maybe the Pharaoh says it's the way of nature that some species rule while others serve, but I think that's shit. So I cause trouble whenever I can."

Ryou smiled. "I like you."

"You need to get the fuck off of my lap now."

"Nekos don't have courting rituals like humans do. We mate whenever our instincts tell us to." He leaned a little closer. "And right now, my instincts tell me that you don't really want me off of your lap."

"Last thing I need is some fuzzy kitten following me around. You're free now. Go. Shoo."

Ryou shook his head. "I'm not free. Not until every single one of my people are free. Not until the Pharaoh and his Council are dead."

A dark, bitter laughter shook the man's chest and he slipped his arms around Ryou's waist. "Okay. Now you have my attention. What was that about killing the Pharaoh?"

"As long as he's alive, as long as he has supporters in positions of power, there will be slaves. We've been planning revolution for years. Your little stunt actually forced our hand a few days early." Ryou pressed his lips next to the human's ear. "Get me past security. Offer me as a present to the Pharaoh, and I'll cut his throat as quick and easy as I did that bastard at The Market."

The human turned so that his face brushed against Ryou's hair. "You know what? I've decided that I like you as well."

"Good." Ryou started kissing the human's neck. "I have contacts with the underground. They can give us access to guard schedules, security codes, things we need to get through alive - won't do for us to die before the Pharaoh."

Ryou's little human seemed too distracted to talk as Ryou kissed his neck. He tilted his head back, giving the neko better access to cinnamon-colored flesh. Ryou moved down the man's chest, curious as he explored smooth skin with very little fur. He slipped off the red robe. Beneath it, the man only wore an indigo wrap around his waist.

"You don't dress like other humans." Ryou pulled at the cloth and watched it fall to either side of the man sitting in the chair.

"I lived on a small planet," he whispered, even as Ryou kissed along his body. "We were-" he snorted, and Ryou could smell the anger floating off of his skin, "-primitive. Not as technologically advanced as other planets, but because of that we had a lot of resources."

"Resources the Pharaoh wanted for his own kingdom."

"They killed almost everyone, sold the rest as indentured workers - said we were paying for our travel expenses off of the planet. They never asked if we wanted off of the planet in the first place. I worked. I earned my freedom. I've been freeing slaves and other indentured servants ever since."

"Shhhh, shhhh," Ryou slipped off his own robes, revealing white skin and white fur in different areas. "Didn't I say I'd take good care of you? And I will."

Ryou's pet human made a distracted noise, a mix of past pain and current want. He reached down to a compartment in the chair a pulled out a strange pouch. It took Ryou a moment to realize what it was, but he figured it out when the human squeezed out clear gel from the pouch and rubbed himself with it. As soon as he was covered, Ryou lifted up his hips and impaled himself on the human's erection.

The man grunted, and Ryou began to purr as he lifted his hips and settled back down, repeating the motion until he had a steady rhythm going. His human's face flushed with their movements. Ryou thought the strangely human response was endearing, and he nuzzled the man's cheek with his nose, feeling the heat radiate from the skin.

Sweat beaded around the man's temples and chest, a few drops rolled down his neck. Ryou didn't sweat, but he panted hard and fanned himself with his tail.

"We'll probably die," the human said between groans of pleasure. "The royal guards are infamous."

"I'd rather die fighting than live as a house pet or a pillow slave. If we cause enough trouble before they kill us the word will spread, and a thousand will pick up where we left off."

"Ngh." The man held Ryou's waist tighter, leaning forward a bit.

Ryou took it as a sign to speed up. He'd been going slow because he didn't want it over too quickly, but the tension in his own loins demanded that Ryou pick up the pace. He knew the human enjoyed the change in speed because his deep-throated grunts became small, open-mouthed screams.

"Better than a human, yeah?"

For this, the man had no answer, only more moans and cries, and drops of sweat glistening off of his dark-skinned body. He slipped one of his hands away from Ryou's waist and grabbed Ryou's erection, jerking his hand back as soon as he touched it.

"Why-"

"You didn't know?" Ryou asked. "All nekos are like that. The nodes help females ovulate." Ryou grabbed the human's hand and placed it back on his erection, helping the human stroke.

"Does it hurt your women?"

"No, we're not barbed like cats. Our nodes stimulate the nerves." Ryou chuckled. "I'll show you next time. You'll like it."

A curious grin marred the human's face as he squeezed Ryou's shaft. Ryou's purrs grew loud and fierce. He could feel the vibrations travel all the way through his body, adding to their simulation.

The little neko's tail stuck straight in the air as he threw his head back and mewled. He couldn't ride after that, all the energy felt drained from him, but the human didn't complain. He lifted Ryou up and set him back down on the side table. Cards scattered to the floor, but neither heeded them as Ryou's liberator continued to slam into Ryou's body until his own climax forced him to drop back into his chair. They panted for breath, glancing at each other.

Ryou stood up and slipped back into his robes as the human dressed. Afterward, Ryou curled up in a secondary chair and started to groom the whiskers hidden near his ears, tail still fanning himself to get his body temperature back to normal.

The human laughed. "Really?"

If Ryou had the human ability to blush - he would have turned pink. "Don't you dare laugh at me."

He held up his hands as if to ward of the neko's wrath, but continued to laugh. "Okay, okay. So . . . we have a revolution to start. Where to first?"