Illusion
"Uhmm…"
The first sensation Uriko was conscious to was the feeling of a cool liquid sliding down her scratchy throat, briefly soothing the soreness of the dry canal. A low, pleased chuckle reached her ears, but she paid little attention to that, due to the fact that fatigue was stealing her energy. Her head lolled to the side in reflex, and her lips mumbled in protest when she left the sweet drink that had brought her temporary contentment. Barely gathering enough strength to open her eyes, the Kenpo student blinked slowly and tried to focus on the scenario that unfolded before her view.
It took a minute for her to realize that there was black material covering her sight, and the prevention made her groan in exhausted defeat. As her senses began to grow more aware of the surroundings, she discovered that she was standing up, and her back leaned against a hard support. She tried to move her arms from their stiffly raised positions above her head, but found out that she could not; the feline tugged and fought the restraint, but it was in futile effort. When she attempted to budge her legs, they would not relent and could move around as well as her imprisoned hands, which brought her confusion and desolation as she wondered what kind of situation had befallen her.
I…I was… I was walking home from school… The girl recalled faintly, flinching when the impacting throbbing of her own pulse thundered in her head, distracting her from the reminiscing. Then… then I'm here… What… what happened between the end of school and now…? Another realization hit her. Oh no, I won't be discovered missing until school starts up again on Monday…
"You have awakened, my princess." A soft-spoken tone of voice caught her attention.
"…? Someone's there…?" A flicker of hope shone inside her, "Please, help untie me - I…I can't move."
"All in due time, love," the words were so quietly emitted that she could not identify if the speaker was male or female, "Once the spawn of atrocity is cleansed out and disposed from the angelic pureness that is your body."
"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Uriko concentrated on her acute hearing, hoping that something would tip her off and she could discover who was in the room with her. "You, wh-whoever's in here too, untie me, please! I-I…don't know where I am…" A sudden wave of nausea made a cry break out from her mouth, and she bit down on her lower lip to keep it sealed; she did not want to express any signs of weakness to the one she was at mercy of.
"Tsk, tsk… He had embodied his essence within you, my poor, innocent darling. Had more time passed, you would have been burdened in plain evidence with the horrific memory of his appalling deed forced upon your person. But thankfully, the situation was recognized before it would become too late to extract the remembrance of his offspring, and soon, you will be saved from the bleakness that is him."
"What… what are you talking about…?" she murmured in question, grimacing when her stomach lurched, and she had to fight back the urge to throw up.
A light chuckle. "Do not feel the need to express your gratitude, my sweet. I know that you are far too weary at this moment to do anything, but worry not, your strength will return soon enough, and then all will be clear to your understanding. I should hope that you will feel better in time for when my bodyguard returns with the - hopefully - alive form of the horrible monster that sinned by ravaging your ever-precious body."
"I… I don't get what you're trying to tell me…" Her voice raised to a high-pitched level, expressing her growing hysteria at being trapped, while baffled by the pains that would occasionally stab at her abdomen. The auburn-haired female slumped in her stance, releasing the tension from her body, although not from will, rather that she had little energy left to keep a normal poise. A sudden sensation made her realize that fluid was running down from her inner thighs, and she immediately blushed in horror, wondering if she were allowed to use the facilities. "Oh…God… Whoever you are, I-I have to use the restroom…"
To her surprise, the other presence laughed in delight. "How wonderful, the formula was a success! Such quick results… yes… this is magnificent… Smile now, princess, as it will only take a day or a little more for you to regain your former posture, and there will be no shadow lingering over your head, constantly reminding you of the past dismay."
"Past dismay…?" She tried to shake her head in bewilderment, but dizziness overcame her senses, and she could not fight the sleep that was threatening to engulf her. All the while, the fluid continued flowing down her legs, but a draft that swept around her thighs suggested that she wore no underwear, and possibly only donned loose clothing. Moaning in discomfort, she rustled in her restraints, and struggled to stay awake as she protested once more, "Un…untie me… Let me… let me go… N-now…!"
"Hah, hah, hah, you are being so stubborn in wasting your energy, my darling. Rest, rest! Save your strength for tomorrow, and you will most certainly recover more quickly. Surely, you do not wish to remain irresolute and vulnerable for any longer than necessary?"
"N-No… Let… me… f…fre…" her lips became numb, unwilling to obey her commands, and the back of her head soon met the hard support that was behind her. "U-ugh… I… I want… you to… un…untie me…"
She tried to fight against the persuasive taunt, and the way that her own form was betraying her in not submitting to her commands in trying to escape the imprisonment. A heavy fog fell over her eyes, snapping them shut immediately, and her mind fumbled for coherent thoughts as the words became jumbled and resembled nonsense. Even emitting a mere hiss or groan of pain used up much of her efforts, and she finally decided to conserve as much of her energy as she could, and plan her get away later when she was stronger. The last sound that rang in her ears before she succumbed to the blackness that consumed her being was the amused laughter that seeped through her susceptible body, and chilled Uriko to the very bone in anticipation of what plans lied ahead for her.
U…ugh… have to… keep going…
A direly exhausted Kenji continued trudging down the pathway before him, feeling each step was being weighed down by lead as he struggled to keep walking forward. The late night scenery before his eyes blurred, and he could barely make out the aspects of a small town where people hustled and bustled about the place. Holding no possessions with him aside from his school uniform, he heard his stomach growl in hunger - he had not eaten since the measly excuse of a breakfast that morning, since he started reclining to lunch at school to avoid crossing paths with his former best friend. Now, he regretted his foolish decision, and each painful moment that passed stabbed and provoked him with the memory of his mistake, while torturing him with the possibility that his zoanthrope compatriot was too far out of his reach to be retrieved back so that she could return home.
"Mmmph…" the ninja hissed groggily, and his dark blue bangs drooped to sway over and comfort the upper, half-closed portion of his eyelids. His shoulders were slumped, and it was taking enormous amounts of his energy, combined with his determined persistence, to pursue his journey. Every nerve in his body screamed for him to lie down somewhere, anywhere at that crucial moment in time, and sleep to sedate his fatigue. But he gritted his teeth and pressed on, forcing his legs to keep moving, scuttling along the dusty ground, even as his consciousness fazed for a moment, which finally caused him to pause, but only momentarily.
The sixteen-year-old clung onto every last bit of strength that was still stirring in his veins, and if it were not for his enhanced zoanthrope abilities assisting his weaker human half, he would have long ago fallen in exhaustion. Streaks of sweat wiped across his face, and his nose was grimy with soot from the dirt that flew around in the air, and yet it seemed he did not notice any of those conditions. His school uniform felt damp as the material stuck to his skin, and he grimaced uncomfortably at the intense heat of the surrounding environment enveloping his body. His feet ached from traveling around India all day, stopping every few minutes to ask residents about a mysterious figure in golden garbs carrying a comatose girl in arms.
His inquiries had led him in all sorts of wayward directions, but one lead had caught his interest: the palace of where a young prince lived, whom people told him had previously left the country to retrieve his future bride from an area in eastern Asia. He dashed off after hearing that tidbit, not bothering to catch the name of the royal member, with the desire of finding his friend riding his nerves and occupying his mind every waking moment. Perhaps it was a long shot that this prince was related to Uriko being kidnapped from her home; but then again, it gave him the most feeling that this would bring him close to his goal. Whatever the costs, however much time it took to get her back, Kenji vowed not to return to Japan until he had her right by his side to go with him.
"U…Uriko… I…I won't… fail you… this time…" he mumbled drowsily, clumsily stumbling to his knees when his foot caught a rock and he had no energy to remain standing. His hands shot out to prevent him from falling on his face, and he was poised in a bent position on his knees with his palms flat upon the pebbly ground. The mole zoanthrope groaned heavily as he felt his arms tingle with effort, but fail as they gave away and he lurched, his upper body falling. There was a brief sting of pain that pricked his cheek when he came into contact with the little stubble on the floor, and he faintly thought a frightened gasp noised somewhere above his head as he passed out.
The auburn-haired teenager awoke to a burning pain that scorched her body, and for a moment, she thought that she was experiencing a torturous nightmare. But when she screamed aloud, until her throat hurt from being hollered raw, it became apparent that what she was experiencing was happening in reality. The fire spread over her bare skin, which suggested that she had been stripped nude, but when she tried to move her arms and legs, they were still restrained as previously. Uriko shrieked in pain when the flames continued traveling around her form, especially focused in the lower areas, and a singed smell of burnt hair emitted from the apex between her thighs.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!"
She writhed and twisted, futilely attempting the escape the scorching sensation, but the feeling kept haunting and plaguing her nerves. Her skin screamed in-sync with her raw cries, and the girl felt her eyes water, and her tears began to stain the black material covering her sight. The moments of torture continued dragging on endlessly, and Uriko could not fight back the sobs that shook her slender form, wishing that death would come and claim her at second. At least then she would have an easier ending, and could be free of the hideous flames that engulfed her being and was burning her alive.
"H-help me!! Someone!! Urgh…!! If you want to-to kill me, use a-a more painless way!!" She ground out between gritted teeth, screeching in surprise and relief when the fiery torment was doused out with cool water that both tingled and shot jolts of pain into her body.
"Shhh… darling, this is necessary…" the same low voice from before spoke up, making her cringe in fear. "The initial had passed earlier, and you are not in pain any longer, yes…? This is the next part, my princess; I understand you are hurting now, but we must proceed with this to regain the goodness that was stolen away from you. You have been brutally ripped from your world of innocence, and forced to be a woman without your consent. But do not shed tears of sadness or remorse, my love, for we will purify you, bring back the youthful girl inside, and properly introduce you to womanhood."
"You… you're a monster…" She whispered hoarsely, guessing that the more sass she gave her torturer, the more she would suffer, but at this point, she no longer cared about, or wanted to be submissive. "I-I don't know who you are… but when I find out, I'll make you pay…! You have… you have no idea what kind of person you are messing with… I have powers that will… that will make you scream as you bleed to… to the brink of death, and then I will claw your eyeballs out of your head…"
"Tsk, tsk," a light chuckle of amusement drifted into her ears. "Such a feisty one you are, unafraid to speak your mind, which is all the more fitting to be my lovely, adoring princess, my beautiful bride-to-be. I do wonder which beast form you possess by the zoanthrope powers that you have been blessed with, as selected others also have."
Uriko was stunned into silence, and her mouth fell slightly agape. Th-this person… knows… that I'm a zoanthrope…?
"Hmm, you spoke of claws, so I will presume that you must be a most ferocious animal, am I right? A member of the feline family, perhaps, or you may be one of the older, predator-type species of canine. However, you are drenched in feminine beauty, so you have to be a delicate creature, yet dangerous at the same time, like a lovely rose newly bloomed in the spring."
Throughout the analysis, she kept shaking her head, denying what was happening, unwilling to accept the possibility that she would never be able to return home. I…I have to get out of here… The sixteen-year-old tested her strength by tugging against the ropes that bound her arms to a thick wooden structure, and she found that a bit of her energy had managed to surface. Still, she did not have enough power to break free, and she crumpled in sorrow, knowing that more time had to pass before she could attempt her escape to freedom. The estranged mumbling of the person that was speculating on her beast form drifted right through her ears, and she paid no attention to the senseless babble.
"Now!" The voice exclaimed all of a sudden, breaking her train of thought. "We must continue with the process. I apologize, my love, you will have to endure the purification a bit longer, but rest assured that we are almost finished with this part of the ritual. Afterwards, you will be able to experience the rapture of entering womanhood with your destined soul mate, rather than suffering the knowledge that you were taken advantage of by that unworthy scoundrel."
"What-urrrrrggghhh!!" Uriko could not get out her question before the fire started up again, and began to scorch her sensitive nerves, bringing back the previous feeling of torture. Her body tingled with perspiration, and she could faintly feel the braid of her long brown hair hovered around her rear, pressed into the small of her back. There was no hunger that ate away at her stomach, and she presumed that she had already eaten, although that did not compensate for what she was being put through presently. The feline zoanthrope threw her head back in instinct, and screamed her pain and anguish as the lingering hours passed by, and the last remnants of the night slipped into the early inklings of dawn.
"Ermmph…" Kenji shuffled in his sleep, and grimaced subconsciously, his arm raising to sling over his eyes when brightness shone through his lids, pricking his senses. Scratchy cloth that covered his body irked his bare skin, and when he shifted his position, he felt the material scraped against his sensitive male organ, which elicited a groan of discomfort from his throat. A silent command urged for him to awaken and see his current location, so his eyes blinked slightly, and he tried to open them to obey. Light brown irises wavered before finally beginning to focus on the surroundings, and he lifted his head to get a better look, flinching when a pang of numbness surged into his body.
"Oh, mother, he is waking up!" A soft voice exclaimed from somewhere in the same room as the cobalt-haired teenager was residing in, and he recoiled, briefly pausing from his action of sitting up.
"Wh-who…?" he mumbled confusedly, turning to glance to the side and squinting to get a clearer look at the speaker.
"Are you all right?" came the concerned inquiry. A cool palm pressed against his forehead, and he immediately grabbed for the coarse sheet that covered his body, holding it securely to his naked chest.
"Who…who's there??" Kenji murmured in question, brushing the hand away from his face and averting his eyes to peer at the youthful girl that was standing before him. Her bright green irises flashed at him, as if intently intrigued with his presence, and a look of compassion was displayed over her dark facial features. She donned a modest beige gown that clothed and hid the aspects of her form, and when she leaned toward him, long locks of her curly black hair brushed across the tip of his nose. He instantly moved back, and hastily sat on his bottom, gazing at the female curiously, wondering how he ended up where he was right then. "…? You are…?"
"You're awake!" she beamed a wide smile at him. "Oh, how my mama and I worried about your health, stranger. By the state your condition was in when I found you, we both thought you might have been attacked by those wild beasts in the desert, near the oasis outside of our town! What happened to you, young traveler?"
"…I'm no longer sure," he admitted, and scratched the back of his head in an instinctive action. "Uh… thank you for trusting and helping me earlier. I-I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't brought me into your home. Huh, I probably would have gotten robbed, or even worse." He sighed at how foolish he had been in not taking caution and instead acting recklessly in the foreign environment.
She covered her mouth with one hand, giggling lightheartedly before offering, "My name is Milyna Ishkat. What's your name? You don't look like you're from around here, either. Are you on vacation?"
"Err, a vacation?" The ninja coughed and glanced off to the side. "…In a way, I suppose. No, I'm not from around here; I live in Japan. And also, you can call me Kenji. If you don't mind my asking, Milyna," he lifted the blanket and peered underneath, his motion confirming his suspicions that he was nude. "…Why am I undressed?"
"Your clothes were - forgive me for saying this," Milyna Ishkat blushed faintly, "filthy, so my mother stripped your outfit off to clean them, and then put you in this room to let you rest."
"Ah." His cheeks flushed slightly at the thought of his naked body being exposed to complete strangers. "U-um, thank you once again, I'm very grateful for what you and your mother have done for me. I'll be up and out of your way soon enough, rest assured," he swung his legs over the edge of the cot, cautiously keeping the sheet covering from his waist down, leaving his chest bared to any curious eyes.
"Oh, don't worry, you're not imposing on us or anything like that," she smiled graciously. "Stay as long as you need, take your time to recover so that you can conserve all your strength, all right? I'll go into the kitchen and bring you a breakfast tray."
…It's morning already? Damn it, I slept too long! I have to leave now and continue searching for Uriko. He shook his head and started to hold up a hand, "You don't have to-"
"Why, of course I do!" Milyna shot him a matter-of-fact look before turning around and heading out the door of the small room, her voice trailing away as she added as a final note, "You're the guest."
Sighing heavily, Kenji lowered his arm and wrapped the thin blanket around his body more tightly, silently planning to leave the residence as soon as he retrieved his clean clothing. He glanced at his surroundings, getting no distinct or negative feeling from the environment, but just the same, he wanted to leave and pursue the search of his friend. But his conscience nagged him to not be rude, and offer some sort of assistance to the Indian girl and her mother in return for their taking him into their home. All he could do for the time being was stay put, and wait for the right moment to make his exit, hopefully escaping before it was too late and the trail of his zoanthrope compatriot ran cold.