A/N: Well, thankfully from the last chapter, Lupus got rid of the last of the excess energy. Kaden and Selkie helped her with the physical portion, her family relieved her emotional side, and Seta gave her sexual reprieve.
Canon name = nickname.
Velouria = Vella. Keaton = Keaty. Hinoka = Hina. Setsuna = Seta. Corrin = Lupus. Sakura = Saku. Ryoma = Red. Azama = Monkundo. Subaki = Superman. Selkie = Silky. Kaden = Ka-da. Lastly, only Selkie/Silky refers to Corrin/Lupus as Lu-pu.
Consort: Nah, I think Seta fell into the trap and dragged Lupus into it with her. Oh, and thank you once again. You've gave me a good starting point for the last two chapters.
Serpentfeather: Nothing but wow? Wow... wowzer!
Curse of Whimsy: Well... hello there. I see you've popped over here now. :)
I'm glad you think of Setsuna in that light, because I've been enjoying typing her up.
...I'm at least trying not to make him a complete ass. It's kinda hard since he's one of my least liked characters.
Etiquette tastes bland and rubbery. So, it's no wonder Lupus didn't want any of it with her chicken.
I'm glad you're enjoying this concoction. Heh... I'm still trying to figure Corrin out, too. Though most of that is creating those flashbacks.
Lupus awoke to the sound of gentle breathing, a warm body pressed up onto her, and the sight of the woman she had sex with next to her. The Wolfskin-raised human yawned and stretched, completely content with staying right here with her. Their arms are still wrapped around each other, though it does seem her arms has gotten more dirt on them…
Oh well.
She rarely feels better than when she's outside. Dirtiness is just a part of life… besides, being dirty means she'll eventually get itchy, and being itchy means she can have an excuse for someone to scratch those itches. Letting out a small giggle, she bundles up closer to Seta, and the, wait. There's a… blanket on her?
Lupus scooted around, seeing the extra covering over them. Well, it is soft, so she supposes she can let it slide. Then again, humans don't take to nudity so openly, maybe it's for the best they are covered. In any case, she'll have to thank Hina later. Her big sister's lingering smell of spicy is still on it, but now that scent is mixed in with her own 'nature' and Seta's alluring scents.
She then gives Seta a quick kiss on her cheek, relishing in both the scent and taste of her.
In response, Seta tightens her embrace around Lupus, even though she is still asleep. Just like something Keaty and Vella would do. She then frowns, feeling an increasing urge to see them again. How long has it been? She wonders if they worry for her. Well, of course they worry, they are her family, the pack… even if it's just Keaty and Vella who worry.
She wants to visit, to see them again… to soothe her own fears. They are alive, they have to be.
Seta squeezes her tighter, as if knowing she isn't calm. Her embrace helped, but it didn't stop the tears from falling. "Keaty… Vella…" She ends up whimpering.
"Heeeey, Lupus?" Seta whispers. "Take a breath. They're fine." To be honest, the archer's breath on her skin isn't really helping her.
It almost feels as if her hands are over her all again. "I… can't. You, you don't know how tough it was over there."
Seta hums, "You're right, I don't. But, I do know that you're strong, and since they raised you…"
She's right, too. "Not everyone comes back safe, though." Lupus feels her breath choke, "I've seen the alpha come back injured. And he's a Wolfssegner." A pause, "It was one of the winter days, where the snow was piled higher than normal."
Lupus was tending to a campfire. She already went through and checked all of the flaps for every den, so now all she could do is poke at this campfire. She wouldn't be any help if the cold got to her. It's not fair, that she needs extra time to warm up in between rounds. The alpha, Keaty, Vella, and a few other of the more stronger members of the pack are out hunting.
Lupus has already checked up on the other Wolfskin, with one of them being that much older bitch that knows so much about herbs. She frowns as she thinks their talk over again. She really is old, like, starting to have trouble with even the intermediate tasks. The only reason she's still here is due to her skill in those herbs. Otherwise, she would have been abandoned.
She reached for the makeshift blanket that was made for her, which truly wasn't more than a well skinned bear hide. She wrapped it around her, before resuming to poke the fire, willing herself warm. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else to do before the next round of check-ups, which meant her mind was free to wander and worry on the condition of her family, the pack.
Winters were never easy.
Scent trails are lost, food becomes scarce, and playtimes don't occur.
And it's truly apparent when the others start to get hungry. Lupus can see it in Keaty's or Vella's eyes, it's a sort of glint, but it's a bad kind of glint. The type where she has to start being careful.
She isn't Wolfskin, if the situation was bad enough, she wouldn't doubt she'd end up… at least, if she ever were in that situation, she'd hope the pain wouldn't last. Lupus shivered, but… that's a last resort.
Her ears twitch as she picks up an obscure howl, it was too distorted by both the flap and the falling snow to properly make out. She shouldn't leave, not yet… it could be a rival pack, looking to take what's theirs, it could even be a wolf pack. She simply can't… a second howl, this one more urgent and clear. She can make out the distinction of the tone…
Vella.
But, this howl didn't sound like a simple return call. No, it's too desperate… and injury! Lupus bolts up, adrenaline running through her as she feels the sudden urge to help. Discarding the bear pelt, she parts the flap and lets out her own howl, a request… who's hurt, how serious.
Keaty's comes next, it's far more powerful than what Vella sounded off. Someone really important… the alpha! Summoning her strength, Lupus replies with another, part of it was for the pack, the other was for the old Wolfskin. She had to make sure to have that second portion extra loud, lest she doesn't pick up on it.
With that out of the way, Lupus makes a dash across the snow-covered den grounds towards the old Wolfskin's den. The snow may have obscured her vision, and the scent trail may have been lost, but she's been there enough time to remember the path. All she has is…
Lupus squeaked as she felt a heavy force slam her onto the snow… it's probably due to the white and cold blanket that she didn't suffer any cracked bones. When her vision levels out, she sees a shifted Wolfskin looming over her. Her breath catches as she's locked in his stare. "Hmph, a pet." He scoffs. "You're too small to even be a snack, human." He sniffs her. "Or, perhaps there's another reason why you're here?"
Her breathing shortens, partly from fear, and partly from his intensity and… "It's not about what the female wants." Lupus struggles against the hulking Wolfskin for a half-moment, before freezing as his grip forces her arms to the ground. She shivers, though the cold isn't doing much for it. "It's about what the male wants."
He chuckles, "Oh, so you were raised by this pack? That would explain why you aren't struggling much."
"Mating…" Lupus breathes. "I'd imagine he would hold you down… biting." No! Don't think of that now! 'I wondered what it's like.' Her heart races as she looks him over, that distinct pull that the alpha described is there. By of their own will, her legs move to part.
"Sister!" And the next moment, Vella slammed into the Wolfskin.
"I gotcha." Keaty scooped her up the next moment. "He's already in there. Stay put." He says as he drops her off in the old Wolfskin's den.
Lupus nodded as she stumbled backward, her thinking finally catching up to her. She… she almost gave in. She felt it, it may have not been her being in heat, but she felt something of the sort. "Pup." She jumps in place, turns, and see the alpha. He has several nasty gashes strewn across him.
"Alpha?"
He chuckled, "It won't happen again." He stands to his full height. He is bleeding, but it looks like it was a whole lot worse recently.
"What happened?"
"A group of poachers taking advantage of our hindrances in the winter snow." He… doesn't seem that bothered. "Shows how incapable humans are."
With their clothes back on, Seta tilts her head at Lupus, a worried expression showing, "You were more worried about the alpha than yourself?"
She quickly nodded, "Yes." Of course she doesn't understand, "It's a Wolfskin thing, Seta. I don't expect you to understand."
"Buuuut, you're also the best when it comes to traps, riiiight?" Another confirming nod, "So, you should take more care for yourself, didn't you say you were worried if they would be dead if you weren't there to deal with the traps?"
"Well yeah, but the alpha has the final say-so in everything, if…"
"They're also mating to be the strongest, soooo… maybe it's time to adapt some new ideas? What if there are more Wolfskin like you and the oldest one you mentioned? What if there are ones with high potential, but their alpha doesn't let them speak up?"
Whatever retort Lupus had died on her tongue… Seta's right. Lupus only managed to 'lead' disarming traps because she went out on her own and discovered that talent herself, if she were born Wolfskin, she'd never have done that, because it would be against the alpha's command. And the alpha knows what's best for his pack…
Or does he?
A third nod, "You're right, Seta. But I can understand your thought process because I'm a human. The alpha won't…"
"I think you're wrong on that, too." Wow, she's really adamant on changing her views today. "The alpha let you leave when you wanted to, despite him losing the best trap disarmer. Vella sees you as a 'sister', Keaty doesn't reject your Human habits even if he doesn't openly accept them. The alpha lets all of this happen. I think that your family, the pack, is in the best position to change, to set an example." Seeming satisfied with her explanation Seta flashes that lazy smile of hers…
The one that makes Lupus's heart race.
And come to think, this is coming from the same woman who falls into traps and has a tendency to daydream or seem like an 'airhead', as Hina puts it. But, if Seta is truly an airhead…
Then she's her airhead. "Thank you, Seta… you always seem to know what to say."
The two share a big smile, "So, that means you'd like to cloud gaze right now?"
"If it's with you? Absolutely!"
Lupus's days have been relatively lax since arriving here, but she has never spent a day as idle as today. Sitting next to Seta, holding hands, and cloud gazing…
If only her heart was as steady.
But, the prickly feeling has almost completely vanished, leaving only the warm feeling left. Lupus would be completely fine with declaring she'd be happy simply being by Seta's side.
That feeling has to be love.
A quick smile, a light squeeze on her hand, a brief kiss, all of these things and more brings her heart racing.
"I should check up on Hina…" She suddenly states, "I'm still her retainer."
Lupus frowns, but she knew this would pop up, "I'm going to see if Kaden and Selkie are okay. I'll, uh, see you later?"
Frowns morph into smiles, "I'd love that, Lupus." One kiss from her leaves her mind blank for a few moments. The two women rise and leave, saying one more set of goodbyes.
It didn't last nearly long enough.
Shaking her head and trying to settle her now slower beating heart, she takes a deep sniff, quickly pinning down the Kitsunes' scents. She quickly follows it through the halls, completely unbothered by the many twists and turns. At some point, she picked up her speed… the two must be feeling better, since their scent trails leads straight outside.
"Hey, woah!" Takumi calls her out, "What's the rush, sister?"
"Gonna see Kaden and Selkie!" She yells from over her shoulder, refusing to slow down. Besides, they might be leaving here right now, and she, at the very least, would like to give them her goodbyes. One moment she was in the castle, then she ran through the courtyard, leaped from the ground and onto a building… summoning her wings for a single flap, enough to skip having to climb up the side of the building. She lands with a roll, then continues running without any delay. She quickly takes a deep sniff of the air, then shifts direction to match up with their path… part of the roof chips away from the force of her movements. Sprint, jump, wings, roll, she repeats as she clears a distance that would be unreal to human standards.
But, she isn't human, is she? Apparently born a half-dragon, raised by Wolfskin… the alpha had to have known something. Her pointed ears and slightly sharper teeth were the only reasons she was even taken in the first place… She shakes her head as she makes another incredible leap…
There might be a foot-sized hole from that one.
Due to her life in the mountains, however, even a sudden and unexpected obstacle like that didn't faze her. Within that moment she would have tripped and faceplanted on the roof, she has already recovered and regained her speed.
She's… she's better than a human. But, humans aren't weak, they are not all greedy.
Then again, her family, the pack, is also the most flexible… Seta is right, they can change.
Taking one last massive jump, her wings slow her descent just enough to keep her from crashing into the ground below. One more roll and she's outside of the city. She dismisses her wings and resumes her sprint…
While panting heavily. It's been a while since she's made such a run. Lupus lets out a ragged howl, a plea to wait up…
Her heart lightened with the response.
Then she saw them, the pair of Kitsunes she almost killed. "K-Kaden… S-Selkie…" With them within ear distance, she finally lets up on her sprint. Her legs feel rather sore and her throat is dry.
"Lupus?" Kaden asks.
"Heya, Lupus!" Selkie adds.
"What do you want?"
"Just… since you're leaving. I… wanted to say, well… goodbye? Be safe." Lupus felt unsure, this isn't something the Wolfskin do, so she also doubts it's something the Kitsune do.
"You ran all the way out here to say that?" He raises an eyebrow.
"And… I'm sorry. I know I can't take that pain back, and I know words won't fix anything, but I'm really sorry." Lupus takes a deep breath, her breathing has already evened out… even if her legs are sore and her throat still feels dry. "I don't expect…"
"Accepted!" Selkie exclaims, much to the dismay of Kaden, "What? Stop being so dense! You know she didn't want to hurt us." She narrows her eyes as she stares him down.
"She willingly…"
"Oh, don't be like that." Selkie turns and walks towards Lupus, "Hey, don't worry about it, okay? I heard you back in the healing-place." She smiles, "It's all good, I believe you."
"...Thank you, Selkie."
The female Kitsune looks her over, "Oh, you're dirty… does that mean you're itchy?"
"Selkie, we need…"
"Nuh-uh." Kaden startles at her sudden defiance, "I wanna stay with Lu-pu." Selkie giggles, "Oh! Can we have nicknames, too!?"
Lu-pu… "Well, I'm not itchy right now," She starts off, "And uh… Selly? Sekie? Silky?" Lupus nods to herself, "Silky, since your fur is so nice."
Her furry ears twitch and she gives an open smile, showing off her canines, "Silky… Okay, what about my dense brother?"
"I'm right here, you know…" He gripes.
"Ka-da." Lupus quickly supplies.
"Ka-da?" Silky echoes, "Ka-da… kinda cheesy, but I think it works."
"Don't call me Ka-da." Ka-da sighs.
"Too bad, too late, your name is now Ka-da." Silky turns towards Lupus once more, "Alright Lu-pu, what are we gonna do next?"
She offers a tired smile, "Kinda out of shape, wore myself out getting here."
"Aw… that's alright." Silky smiles, "You're a good playmate, I can wait. Ka-da? Are you gonna stay, too?"
He looks to the horizon, then back to the two women… then shrugs. "Oh, alright." He walks back to them… then levels a look at Lupus, who shivers from his intense gaze.
"Ew, not here!" Silky pouts.
"I didn't even do anything this time!"
"You held off both me and Selkie, not to mention standing your ground against several others. You've done enough to catch my eye." He steps forward, she stays in place. "Maybe some other time, after you rest up, I'll see if I want you." He smirks before taking a few steps away…
Then he pulls out a brush and starts grooming his fur.
Lupus yawns and stretches.
Silky looks between the two. "...Are you itchy now?" She smiles.
"Nope." Lupus admits, "C'mere." With Silky in range of her arms, Lupus begins rubbing her fur. "So… soft." She hums.
"Mmm…" Silky ends up lying down on the ground, Lupus lies next to her as she continues to give her a very hard rub. "Haah… You're soooo good at this, Lu-pu…" Her leg even starts shaking. "Haah, haah…" Her fingers may have grazed her nipples by mistake, hence why Silky is panting in a rather… heated manner, but it's all good. They aren't humans. There's no advantage to having two females together, so Silky won't try and mate with Lupus…
What happened with Seta won't happen with Silky.
"I can't help it, your fur is so soft." She says as she tackles Silky, burying herself further into the Kitsune's fur. "Smells good, too."
"Hee hee, thanks! The humans there have such good smelling soaps and shampoos and whatever else they use to clean themselves. Can't find anything like it in the forests."
"Yeah, well…" Lupus starts, "Also can't get anything to smell like how the forests can get you to smell."
"Forest smells aren't bad," Silky nods, "Except wet fur."
"I know, right!" It's almost like they never fought in the first place… even if Lupus can't remember that, "Oh, it could get bad during the rainy days in the mountains. Buuut, Keaty and Vella kept themselves dry pretty well. Oh!" She suddenly exclaims, "You ever had snow in the hamlet?"
"Snow?" Silky echoes, "What's that?"
"It's like… rain, but really cold. But, it's a nice cold, and it's soft. It usually piles really high and you can pack it together to make things!" With that, Silky bolts up, interest burning in her eyes.
"Have you ever played in it?"
She hums, "A few times. Buuuut, snow obscures scent trails, so had to make sure we didn't go too far."
"Aw…" Silky pouts, while lowering her ears. "But, I bet you didn't have the days where the trees lost a lot of their leaves and they would fly around in the air."
"We made a game to catch as many as you could without letting go of the ones you already had." Ka-da added.
Silky then snickers, "But you were never too good at it."
"The leaves kept getting stuck in my fur!" He counters. "And don't act like you were much better."
She pouts, "Yeah well…" She pauses, unable to come up with a good enough retort.
Taking advantage of the silence, "Hey, Silky?" Lupus rolls over, "Riiight here." She points to a spot on her back.
"Itchy?" Silky asks, perhaps a bit too eagerly.
"Yup." She nods. The Kitsune quickly scooted over and started, "Under my shirt, if you don't mind? I really like it."
"Sure thing!" Her hands easily slip under Lupus's shirt and starts scratching her back.
"Oooohh…" In response, her leg starts kicking, "That feels good…" She hums. It feels like she's adding just the right amount of pressure. "O-o-oh!" She ends up squeaking, practically collapsing under her fingers. "S-Silky…"
Who giggles at Lupus's current state, "Imma so do this to you next, Ka-da." She calls him out.
"That requires for me to get unnecessarily dirty, and that isn't going to happen."
Silky's eyes light up, then Lupus felt the Kitsune's breath start hitting her back, "Hey, Lu-pu?" She nearly sings.
"Yes, Silky?"
"Up for a round of chase?" Lupus's ears perked up, "Let's see if we can get him really dirty…"
"Could you two not…?" Ka-da complains.
Lupus thinks it over, "I'd need some water first." She concludes.
"Then let's get some water!" Silky exclaims, pulling her arms away from Lupus. She raises her head to the air and sniffs, her ears perking the next moment, "Okay, this way."
Smiling, Lupus follows Silky…
She looooves playtime.
A/N: So... Seta dispensing words of wisdom? That literally came out of nowhere for me.
Oh yeah... and right back to the two Kitsunes, Silky and... Ka-da. I kinda feel bad for Kaden on that.
Anyway, I'll be shifting back towards Lupus's family, get some awkward and learning moments over there...
And then I can advance the overall plot.