Routine Expedition

Chapter Nine: The Tunnel


Ethan and his girls trudged into the small outcropping of buildings tucked into the foothills of the Green Mountains. The mountains, topped with white even in the late summer, loomed tightly together. The orange sun was just slipping behind the mountains, bathing the whole area in warm light. The tiny village was a waypoint, a speck on a map and the last stop before going over the single mountain pass. The single street was empty except for a single OfficerJenny and her partner walking a patrol. Ethan waved at them and earned a welcoming wave back. He took that as a good sign and led the girls into the tiny outcropping of humanity.

"Look, there's a pokecenter," Brandy said, pointing at the round, red and white sign at the end of the street. "We can stay there for the night."

"It's not yet noon," Atsuko protested. "We should continue onward."

"There's a pokecenter," Brandy said with more force, turning to stare pointedly up at the Cudildo. "We can stay there for the night."

"While there is still light we can still move," Atsuko argued. "If we must rest, you have the tent."

"Hey hey," Ethan interjected. The last thing he needed right now was a fight. "We need to stop for supplies, regardless of whether or not we stay."

"Warden, I must disagree—"

"We only have a couple of days' worth of food," Ethan said. "By the time we get in here and buy the supplies we need, it'll be near enough nighttime that I don't want to go traipsing through the mountains—especially with those storm clouds hanging overhead."

Ethan pointed up at the dark, rolling mass looming overhead and waiting for any excuse to empty its heavy payload over them. As if on cue, thunder rumbled down and Ethan waved his arms to emphasize his point. Atsuko looked up at the clouds and then back to Ethan, her expression hidden behind her bone mask. After a long, uncomfortable silence, she sighed.

"Very well." Ethan stared at her a minute, his eyebrows scrunched together over his goggles.

"Good," he said. "Now then, we'll go ahead and try to sell some product while we're here."


Business was as bad as the weather was quickly becoming. Swirling winds threw fat raindrops against the pokecenter windows with sharp slaps. Ethan and his girls had ducked into the pokecenter as the first drops fell like the scouts of an invading army. They weren't alone—a tiny blond girl who looked to be half Ethan's age was in the corner, huddled under a heavy blanket with a Charamanda, as evidenced by the red skin and the small but steady flame on the tip of her tail. Next to them was a bear of a young man, bald with a long scar across his nose. A tiny winged pokegirl with a violet mane of hair was perched on his shoulder.

Ethan had gotten them a room for the night, but decided that he wanted to stay in the main lobby for a while and see what he could find out about the area. Emma wanted to use the opportunity to send another letter to her mother, and Brandy never liked being far from her master. Rose was still angry at Atsuko, who had declared that she was going to find a place to train. The cold air brought about by the storm outside left Susan feeling sluggish and lazy, and they had left her coiled up on the bed in their room, next to the small heater.

Ethan was talking to the red-haired Catgirl behind the desk about the safest way through the mountains to Galveston. She'd told him that the only way on land was a marked trail that twisted and turned between the mountains. It was a five-day trip but well-maintained and protected by machines that repelled pokegirls. Ethan thanked her and rejoined his girls to share the news with them.

"Doesn't sound so bad," Brandy said gently, glancing nervously from Rose to Ethan and back as if she was worried they'd start an argument.

"If it's the only way to go, we don't have much choice," Rose said. "Unless one of us suddenly sprouts wings."

"That's the way to go," Ethan said firmly. "We'll stay here tonight, stock up tomorrow, and be on our merry way. Any arguments?"

"Sounds good," Brandy said quickly. Rose took a bit longer with her reply and glanced at the door that led to the small dojo at the back of the pokecenter.

"Fine," she said.

"Master!" Emma yipped as she jumped into his lap and hugged him tightly. The tension Rose was generating disappeared almost immediately as the hyperactive Growlie grinned at her. "Momma's doing good! And Daddy's tripping over himself trying to find something to do now that he doesn't have us to be mad at."

Ethan smiled gently and scratched behind her ear. She leaned into him and smiled wide enough to show off her molars, her tail loudly thumping against the arm of the chair. Brandy leaned over to lay her head on Ethan's arm and sighed contentedly. They stayed like that for a while, none of them (especially Ethan) tired enough to sleep. The two other tamers had started up a conversation and apparently had no intention of keeping it to themselves.

"Can you believe it's five days through the mountains?" the girl whined loudly. The man shrugged.

"It's either that or go through the Tunnel," he said. "Three days isn't worth that."

"What?" the Charamanda tilted her head to the side and hugged her tamer closer. "What's not worth three days?"

"You're not from around here, so you wouldn't know," the man said slowly. "The Tunnel used to be the main path to Galveston. They dug it through the mountains about twenty years ago as a way to increase traffic through the town. It worked, for a while, but they didn't know what was sleeping there."

The two girls held each other closer together. Brandy pressed herself onto Ethan's arm, and Emma's ears drooped.

"What—what was it?" the blonde asked, trying and failing to hide the fear in her voice.

"Something dark. Something dangerous. Something that has made it so that no one who's entered that tunnel in the last fifteen years has come out."

"No one?"

"Not a single soul. People would go in, headed to Galveston, but then their folks would call and ask why they hadn't arrived. No one would come to us through the Tunnel. Sure as hellfire, something was stopping anyone that went through the Tunnel. That's why they built that other trail, so we can still get across the mountains. But, to this day, something is still in that Tunnel—waiting for someone stupid enough to try rushing through it."

"R-really?" the blonde squeaked. Her Charamanda was shaking visibly, the flames on her tail seeming no brighter than a candle.

"Ah, nuts," Ethan said suddenly. Brandy's ears twitched and she looked up.

"What is it?" she asked. Ethan pointed towards the entrance of the pokecenter. Brandy followed his finger to see Toby, the greenhorn tamer from Trail's End, enter, with his Boobisaur following him closely. They were both a bit worse for wear—their clothes were dirty and torn, his hair looked like it had been singed off on one side, and her right side and arm had obvious burn scars.

"Don't draw attention to us," Ethan whispered. "We'll try to sneak back to the room and Emma get back here!"

The oblivious Growlie had jumped up as soon as she recognized them and bounced over happily to sniff at the Boobisaur.

"Hi there!" she barked, tail wagging wildly. Toby and his pokegirl jerked back in surprise.

"What the—you!" Ethan groaned as Toby suddenly recognized him and thrust a finger at him imperiously. "I've been looking for you!"

"I haven't been looking for you," Ethan said. He stood and whistled. "Emma, come on. Time to go."

"I'm not done with you!" Toby bellowed as Emma reluctantly padded back to her owner. Rose and Brandy stood as well and smoothed out their clothes. They all turned down the corridor that led to the rooms, and Toby roared at them, "Get back here! You're my rival!"

"Good night, Toby," Ethan called over his shoulder as they disappeared around the corner.


After breakfast the next morning, Ethan and his girls were gathered around the edge of the large bed in their room.

"A week!?" Atsuko demanded. Ethan shrugged helplessly.

"Last night's storm caused a mudslide that blocked the path around the mountain," he repeated the words he'd overheard from the police early that morning. "An earthmover team was sent from Galveston a few hours ago, but it'll take them a week to get through."

"So we're stuck here," Brandy groaned. Emma fidgeted on the bed.

"What about the Tunnel?" she asked. "The one those Tamers were talking about yesterday."

"The haunted one?" Rose quirked an eyebrow at the young Growlie.

"Yeah!" Emma yipped. "That one!"

"The haunted one that no one who's entered has come out of for fifteen years?" Brandy asked, looking up from Emma to Ethan.

"Uh-huh!" Emma nodded happily. Ethan shook his head.

"Those are just stories," Atsuko said firmly. "We must continue onwards."

"What's wrong with waiting a week?" Rose demanded, glaring across the bed at Atsuko. The Cudildo crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"If you are frightened," Atsuko spat, "I will go alone."

"Fine, then!" Both Atsuko and Rose stood angrily.

"No," Ethan barked. They froze and turned to him. "Both of you sit." They did, slowly, grumbling. "Now then. Atsuko, I said we'd help you, and we will. Rose, we're helping her. You and I'll talk later."

"Yes, Master," Rose grumbled. Atsuko nodded solemnly.

"Now," Ethan said, turning to address his entire harem. "I say we go on through the Tunnel. Ah-ah! I'm not finished. We go through the Tunnel. The rumors are most likely just that—rumors. It's a two-day journey and we can certainly take on or run away from any Ferals we find. We'll take every precaution we can. Are there any objections?"

Rose's hand was in the air immediately, followed slowly by Brandy's. Ethan clenched his teeth but quickly hid his surprise.

"Brandy, Rose," he said quietly, "we'll speak in private. Atsuko, Emma, Susan, unless I say otherwise, assume that we'll leave for the Tunnel at noon."

Atsuko and Susan excused themselves, the former stating that they would find somewhere to train. Emma ducked into the bathroom, and the sound of the bathtub faucet thundered through the open door. Ethan closed it behind her and muffled the sound.

"Okay, Rose," he said, turning back to the angrily champing ponytaur, "you first."

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" she snorted and pawed at the thin carpet. "You said we wouldn't be doing anything stupid for her!"

"I know," Ethan said, keeping his voice low and even. "You heard her, though. She would have gone off on her own. We can't—I can't let her do that."

"Why the hell not!?" Rose threw her arms wide. "Let her go! What happened to 'I'm just a businessman'? To 'I don't want to get into fights'?"

"That's still true," Ethan tried to stay calm, but three years of living together meant that Rose knew exactly what buttons to press.

"How!? She's trying to kill someone—from the sound of it, someone a lot stronger than all of us. If we try to help her, all of us—your family—will die."

"Do you think I don't know that?"

"I wonder!"

"Rose!" Brandy suddenly shouted.

Ethan snapped his mouth shut, his angry response stuck in his throat. Rose blinked in confusion and they both turned to look at Brandy. The tiny Eva had her hands balled into fists, her ears raised and the mane of light tan fur around her neck bristling as she tried to make herself look bigger than she was.

"But Brandy—"

"Shut it!" Brandy growled at the much larger Ponytaur. "You've said your bit. Now stand there and keep quiet."

Rose stepped back, more surprised than anything at her usually-demure Alpha's sudden harsh tone. Ethan was stunned silent as well, but that only seemed to incense Rose again. She was half a second away from turning back to shout at her suddenly reckless tamer when Brandy turned and got to him first. Rose crossed her arms across her chest, waiting to see if her Alpha would take her side.

"Ethan." Brandy's voice was polite, but carried a low tone that threatened violence if she didn't hear an answer she liked. "Please explain why you feel the need to help a random stranger we found in a bush."

"I…it's…I just do."

"You 'just do'?" Brandy parroted incredulously. That was obviously not the right thing to say. "Do you think she's prettier than us, then? That she'll be a better pokegirl, or a—a better apprentice?"

"What? You know that's not it!"

"Then why?" Ethan was silent for a long while, and Brandy grew impatient. "Well? Tell us."

"Because she's like us!" Ethan finally said. Brandy and Rose stared at him.

"Master," Rose began, but fell silent when Brandy shot her a glare.

"Ethan," Brandy said slowly, "she's hell-bent on killing someone. How is she like us?"

"I know that," Ethan said. "It's just—the reason she's like that is because she lost everyone she loved. Everyone, killed right in front of her."

"That's her problem," Brandy huffed, looking away.

"It was our problem once, too," Ethan almost whispered. Brandy stiffened, the fur on her neck rising. "Mom, Dad, Aunt Lita, your parents. We lost all of them, remember?"

"How could anyone forget something like that?" Brandy whispered. Ethan wasn't sure if she even meant to say it aloud, and Rose was wisely staying silent. He decided to keep going.

"We had each other and the staff at the ranch. You remember how much that helped? Atsuko has no one. She's not even on her home continent. She doesn't have anyone to help her. Not a single person."

"She's still—I—I guess I can see that," Brandy admitted.

"We can help her," Ethan said slowly. "I don't even mean with her…quest. Just, we can be there for her. Make sure she knows she isn't alone. Backup—support—just be there if she needs us."

"I…okay, fine," Brandy huffed. She jumped forward and hugged him tightly. "But if you do anything like this again, I swear I'll make sure there won't be an Ethan Warden the Eighth."

"Noted," Ethan said as he hugged her back. He glanced up to see Rose pawing at the floor in agitation. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask her opinion.

"If Brandy's okay," she grumbled, "then I guess I am, too."

Ethan wasn't sure about that answer, but he decided that it would have to be enough.


Ethan, his girls, and Atsuko stood at the entrance to the Tunnel. It was a simple semicircular hole in the mountain, thirty feet wide and half that tall. The walls and ceiling were lined with concrete, and a few faded signs were nailed to either side of it. If it weren't for the bright orange "DANGER—KEEP OUT" tape forming a fluorescent spider web over the dark entrance, they'd think it was any old, poorly kept hole in a mountain. They stood there, waiting for a ghost, or a feral pokegirl, or even some obnoxious kids to jump out and shout "Boo!", but nothing happened.

"Well," Rose said. "This is anticlimactic."

"Just a local urban legend." Ethan shrugged and adjusted the straps on his pack. Atsuko suddenly strode forward. A swing of her club tore down the "DANGER" tape, and she was swallowed by the shadows in the Tunnel. Ethan sighed and marched after her. He looked back and said, "Come on. Let's make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

His girls quickly followed him into the almost worryingly-normal Tunnel. Despite the bright sunlight outside, the inside of the Tunnel quickly darkened. Brandy and Rose both lit lanterns so that they could see, and Ethan pushed his goggles up on his forehead. They quickly caught up to Atsuko and flanked her, all marching down the straight, seemingly infinite Tunnel.

"They'd already put the lights in," Brandy said and pointed at the caged fixtures along the ceiling.

"They probably decided not to waste the power if no one goes through here," Rose said. They didn't speak again for a while, and the only sounds were their footsteps and the steady clip-clop of Rose's hooves.

Emma was miserable. She couldn't see more than fifty feet in front of her; the concrete walls made the tiniest noises echo until they sounded like thunderclaps; and on top of everything, the whole place stank of dirt and mold and decay. They'd been walking for hours, and she was starting to wonder if they were making any progress at all. Emma glanced behind her, but she could just barely see the tiny pinprick of light that was the entrance.

She whined softly and her tail hung limply behind her. It would be this bad if they were outside. At least there she could look around and smell all the different things around her. Emma began to wonder if the real reason that no one used the Tunnel was that it was just. So. Boring. Not a single thing jumped out to scare them, or even rattle chains or groan or any of the things ghosts did. The orange-furred girl was so busy moping that she didn't notice as Ethan slowed his pace a bit until he was walking next to her.

"How're you doing, Emma?" he asked gently. Emma sucked in a deep breath.

"It's cold, it's dark, I can't smell anything but mold and death, Rose didn't brush my hair this morning, and I'm bored!"

Ethan chuckled gently. "Patience, puppy. We'll be out of her tomorrow, and then I'll brush you all over."

Emma pouted at him, her golden eyes shining in the low light. "Promise?"

Ethan patted her head. "Promise."

Emma beamed at him and hugged him tightly. Her tail wagged happily and they nearly fell over. Before Ethan could completely lose his balance, the hyperactive Growlie let him go and bounded to the front of the group.

"C'mon!" she said cheerfully. "There's Brushies at the end of this tunnel!"


Another couple of hours passed before there was any change in the Tunnel. The uniform concrete-lined walls suddenly gave way to a huge open area. A steady drip drip echoed all around the cavern, and the lights from their lanterns shined on the slick stalagmites that rose like stone fingers from the floor. The walls of the cavern were just barely visible, glittering with colored bands of rock.

"Wow," Brandy summed up their feelings in one word. They stood and looked at what they could see of the cavern in awe.

"The diggers must've stumbled on this by accident," Ethan said. He pointed at the ground in front of him. The concrete floor of the tunnel continued, with rubber pads and metal safety rails at the edges to keep people from falling off. "They came in and decided it'd be a nice scenic break, so they just went right on through to the other side."

"Still," Brandy said. "It's pretty."

Susan, who had been quietly following at the back of the group, slithered forward and pressed herself to Ethan's back.

"It's cold," she hissed in his ear and squished her soft breasts against him. Her tail wrapped around his legs and squeezed tightly. "You're warm."

"Hey now, there'll be time for that later," Ethan said gently as he tried to pry her tail off. She reluctantly let go and the group continued their march. Atsuko boldly led the group, followed by Rose and Emma. Ethan and Brandy fell in behind them, with Susan trailing at the rear, sluggish in the cool cavern. Ethan wondered to himself at the different geologic formations he could see. The light from the lanterns, though barely enough for most humans to see more than a few meters, was plenty for him to examine the glistening stalagmites they passed. It was that sensitivity that allowed him to spot the faint flicker of movement about twenty meters away. His mouth set in a grim line, he quickened his pace until he was next to Emma.

"What do you smell?" he asked quietly. She sniffed the air a few times, eyes closed in concentration. Despite her usual silly antics, the Growlie was dependable and serious when she needed to be.

"Water, rocks, us," she said finally.

"Nothing else?" Ethan asked.

"That's all I smell," Emma confirmed with a frown. Rose noticed their hushed conversation and leaned over.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I thought I saw something move," Ethan said and cast a quick glance to the side. "Off to the right. Couldn't see it very well."

"We're in a cave at the heart of a mountain," Rose said. "Not many pokegirls could live down here."

"And I'd rather not have to deal with the ones that could," Ethan said. "Keep your guards up. I'd rather us be paranoid for a while than dead a long time."

Emma and Rose nodded, and Ethan stepped back to fill in Brandy and Susan. As he did, he looked up to Atsuko, who still fearlessly led the group with long, confident steps. Her club was slung carelessly over her shoulder, and her gaze didn't seem to waver from the path ahead of them. Personally, he both admired and feared the single-mindedness of a Cudildo. She wouldn't stop until either her target was dead or she was. Atsuko wouldn't care if something happened to Ethan or his girls. He doubted she would even wait for them if one needed to so much as tie their shoes. He sighed to himself and wondered if he really knew what he was doing when he offered to help her. Maybe he should have listened to Rose and let her go. Helping her would only get them trouble in the end.

"Master!"

Ethan looked up just in time to see the rock flying towards his face. He had no time to react, other than to screw his eye shut a split-second before the projectile collided with his cheek with a sick crack. Pain shot across his face like lightning and he fell to the concrete path. He just barely heard several heavy thumps over the bass throbbing in his ears and saw that his girls had dropped their packs. Rose reared onto her hind hooves, her forelegs kicking out at the shape that was climbing over the safety rail at the edge of the path. Smoke poured from Emma's muzzle as she readied a flamethrower. Brandy crouched down and was gently prodding at Ethan's cheek.

Before anyone could do anything, though, Susan surged forward like a released spring, smashing into the pokegirl's chest just as her feet hit the path with the heavy crack of stone on concrete. They tumbled together, over the railing and onto the cavern floor. Susan quickly wrapped her tail around the feral, pinning her arms and legs, and tried to bite down on her neck, but the tough, rocky skin stopped her fangs cold.

"Wha—what's?" Ethan tried to sit up, but Brandy held him down. She was craning her neck, aiming her lantern to try to see what was happening. Emma leaned over the rail, but growled in frustration.

"I can't fire without hitting Susan," she complained, looking back to Ethan for orders. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, but that only made the thunderous pain worse. Rose saw this and started talking into Emma's ear at a volume Ethan couldn't detect. Rose leapt over the railing to help Susan, and Emma ran further up the path, where Atsuko was standing and staring back at Ethan with a frown. Brandy helped Ethan sit up, and they both watched the fight with the Feral.

Susan was worried. She had the Feral pinned, true, but the girl was struggling as hard as she could and Susan could just barely hang on. And if that weren't enough, none of her other attacks even made a scratch in the Feral's tough stone armor. All she could do was hold tight and roll across the stone floor a bit.

The Feral girl roared inarticulately and jerked hard, nearly dislodging Susan. Over her own strained hiss, the naga heard the steady clip clop of hooves on stone, and looked up to see Rose trotting towards them. She stopped, just out of striking range, and looked down to the stone pokegirl wrapped tightly in Susan's coils.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked. Susan snorted.

"Unhurt," she said. "But can't hurt her." Rose looked around them, then suddenly leaped over the pair and cantered away.

"Over here!" she called. Susan looked up and saw the ponytaur splashing her hooves in a shallow pool. Faint memories of being drilled on tactics by her previous tamer flashed in her mind, and she instantly figured out Rose's plan. Quickly, she started rolling with the still-struggling feral pokegirl wrapped tightly in her coils. Rose jumped out of the way and they splashed into the pool. Why didn't the horse say it was so cold!? The Feral screamed as if the icy water were acid, but Susan didn't fare much better—already feeling sluggish from the cold of the cavern air, the muscles in her tail spasmed as if she were being stabbed all down her length with icicles. The Feral managed to slip from her grasp, but was preoccupied with thrashing wildly in the water.

Rose surged forward and gave the Feral a hard kick to the head, then another, and another, until she fell face-down in the pool. Susan hissed in pain—the world seemed to slow down as a pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her from the pool. They were soft, but strong and most importantly warm! Quickly she tugged her tail up to wrap around this source of heat, a familiar but unintelligible voice echoing in her ears.

"What happened?" Brandy asked as Rose jumped back over the rail with Susan coiled around her tightly, but not so much that she hindered movement.

"That Feral won't bother us again," Rose said. She gently pried Susan off of her and lowered herself next to Brandy and Ethan. Susan immediately coiled between all three of them as best she could, trying to press as much of her cold skin and scales to their warm bodies as she could. Rose sighed and looked down at Ethan. "How's Master?"

"I'm okay," he said quickly. Rose gently prodded at the right side of his face, which had turned a nasty shade of violet and had swollen to easily double its original size, and he flinched away with a pained grunt.

"The bitch broke his cheekbone," Brandy muttered darkly.

"We can—ow!—we can deal with it later," Ethan said, wincing when talking brought about more pain. "I want to find somewhere secure to rest. Come on."

The girls quickly shouldered their packs and continued along the path. The whole time, Rose glared death at Atsuko's back.


At the other end of the cavern, the Tunnel returned in all its lackluster sameness. Ethan's girls all were showing signs of fatigue, though only Emma was openly complaining about it as she leaned heavily on Rose's flank. With rest on all their minds, they were thrilled to find what had once been a rest stop combined with gift shop not a hundred yards after they exited the cavern.

Camp was set up efficiently, due to the mutual desire not to do more work than necessary. With no firewood, they settled for leaving a lantern on the concrete floor between the entrance and the single module of the tent they had set up. Dinner was a quiet, mechanical consumption of dried foods, and would have been entirely uneventful if not for the glares of doom rose was shooting at Atsuko. For her part, Atsuko ate swiftly, ignoring the others, and quickly stood.

"I will take first watch," the Cudildo declared and moved closer to the door. As soon as her back was turned, rose stuck out her tongue in a childish display of distaste. Satisfied, she turned to Ethan and tried to ignore his admonishing stare. They had treated his broken cheekbone the best they could, but he still winced with every bite.

"I think I'll spend the night in my pokeball, Master," she said. He continued to stare at her, his eyes shining in the light of the lantern.

"Me too," Emma yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

"Okay," Ethan finally said. Two flashes of red later, the Ponytaur and the Growlie were both safely ensconced in their respective balls. Brandy and Susan each took one of Ethan's sides and draped themselves over him with sultry grins.

"Massster…," Susan whispered. Her forked tongue flicked out to graze over his ear. "It's still cold. I need…warming up.'

"Do you now?" Ethan asked with an amused grin. Brandy nuzzled his shoulder and tugged at his shirt. Ethan looked down at her. "I suppose you do, too?"

Brandy shook her head gently. "Not just yet. Susan deserves a reward for saving you earlier. I'll stay out here and keep watch."

"You sure, love?" Ethan asked. Brandy pushed him towards Susan.

"Go on and get in the tent before she tears your clothes off. Again."

Chuckling, Ethan stood and brushed some imaginary dust off his dark clothing. Susan rose and eagerly led the way into the tent, flicking the tip of her tail the way a woman would beckon with her finger. Ethan followed her and zipped the flap shut behind him. He looked up just in time to see Susan pull the thin tube top that was her only article of clothing over her head. Even with his sensitive eyes, the near-complete darkness inside the tent meant he could just barely make out Susan's powerful curves as she stretched lazily.

"I want you, Master," she said as her tail pressed against his back and knocked him onto his knees with a grunt. He quickly shucked his clothes, tossing them into a corner of the tent, and lowered himself onto Susan. She made a pleased hiss and wrapped her tail snugly around his legs and torso. "You're so warm…."

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, already knowing the answer as he leaned in to nip lightly at her neck. He'd learned several of her weak spots since their initial taming, and he intended to make full use of them. Susan ran her fingers through his hair as he growled and tugged sharply on her ear with his teeth. She squeezed him almost unnoticeably more tightly and then slowly started to relax and constrict her tail in sections, forming a ripple of pressure over her tamer's body. He grabbed her wrists and roughly pushed them down, pinning them to the cushioned floor over her head. She pouted and gave a mock struggle—not nearly her full strength, but enough to at least look like she was putting up a fight. Ethan leaned in and dragged his teeth over her neck, his hot breath playing over her the sensitive olive skin. Carefully he shifted his hands so one held both her wrists down and freed the other to graze his fingernails over her side. She arched her back and hissed in a sharp breath that deepened into a throaty moan when he roughly squeezed one of her firm, round breasts.

"Ha!" Susan suddenly twisted, pulling her arms free and rolling on top of Ethan. Her tail still held him captive, and her hands gripped his forearms tightly. He could just barely see the hungry grin as she licked her lips. She leaned in and licked his ear, teasing over the curves of it with her forked tongue. "You're mine now."

Ethan growled at her and winced as pain shot across his face. Susan immediately stopped and leaned in close.

"It hurts?" she asked. Ethan gingerly shook his head.

"I'm okay. It's nothing," he said. She stared into his eyes before grinning again and dragging her claws over his bare chest. He shivered under her and struggled feebly to free his hands. Her grin widened as she felt his cock stiffening between her coils.

"I do that?" she asked teasingly. Ethan groaned as she squeezed it gently and released him to shift her grip. He took advantage of the movement and managed to roll over again, pinning Susan's hands down as he lined himself up and swiftly thrust into her. She screamed out in pleasure at the sudden penetration, arching her back almost impossibly far. He grinned at her and leaned in, biting her breasts roughly, leaving quickly-darkening marks all over the olive skin. Her passage was tight, warm, and wet, and pulled him in deeper with rhythmic contractions. Susan hissed in pleasure and dragged her claws down his back, leaving a set of angry red lines. He made powerful thrusts, driving into her with dominating force.

"That's right my little pet," Ethan said as he pounded into her. "You're my little toy, aren't you?"

"Yes, Master!" Susan bucked her hips up to meet his thrusts. "Fuck your pet!"

Ethan bit down on her shoulder with a growl and she stiffened, orgasm crashing over her like a tsunami and leaving her a twitching mess. Still he pistoned his length into her, feeling her tight channel grasping at him until he finally joined her in carnal bliss. The feeling of his hot seed shooting deep inside her kicked Susan over the edge of another wave of pleasure. Her eyes screwed shut as heat and tingling spread from the end of her nose to the tip of her tail, rippling in waves. Finally, breathless and half numb from the pleasure, she coiled tightly around her Master and laid his head on her sweat-slicked breasts. He was panting from effort, but still nuzzled her orbs, which seemed a bit bigger than she remembered. Susan paid it no mind and settled in for a few hours' sleep when everything suddenly went very wrong.

First, he stiffened. Then, he started to shake, wildly jerking in her coils. She immediately released him to see he was spasming on the floor of the tent. Everywhere that she had touched him had turned an angry blotchy red, and acid green foam was gushing from his mouth. Susan looked down at herself and realized what had happened. She had evolved.

And then she had poisoned her Master.


So... Shit happened. Six months is a very short time.