ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLIED HERE.

Thanks for the reviews I have received so far. The people that read and enjoy my story are the reason I continue to post. If it wasn't for you, I would just keep this gem to myself. Here is the latest happenings. Had a little trouble writing out part of the story so I hope the feelings and emotions Viv is experiencing is portrayed well. Hope everyone enjoys it.

Will try to add more on a regular basis but updates may be sporadic sometimes as inspiration strikes. I am not sure what will happen with this story, it is writing itself, I am just the conduit that tells it to everyone. Again I hope you all enjoy.

I want to thank the people that find this interesting and adding it to their alerts. Hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Please feel free to review and let me know what you all think so far.

Chapter 6

Waking up the next morning, I beginning donning my leather armor and loading my pack with necessities for a day spent in the wilds doing jobs for the area residents. Village residents have come to rely on adventurers like myself to go into the wilds to gather the items they need for daily life. Sure some tasks are quite mundane and tedious, but I don't mind. These tasks give me a chance to hone my skills as a shaman and to gather the materials I need to work on my engineering designs.

As I descend the steps of the inn, I am reminded of the night before. My steps slow as I try to figure out what I am going to do if I were to see that Night Elf again. I step to the bottom of the stairs, slow and unsure, as I scan the tables for her. Not seeing her sitting at any of the tables, I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and give a sigh.

Wait, was that a sigh that is thankful she isn't there or a sigh that is regretting she isn't there I wonder to myself. Still being watchful for the Night Elf, I head out of the inn and around town to see who needs help.

After about an hour's time, I complete a trip around town and have a list of items to gather and tasks to complete for the town. I check my bags to make sure I have supplies for the day and enough space to carry everything back. Satisfied, I head out over the east bridge and turn to the north. A town official tasked me with checking on the local furbolg population and to remove any that had moved too close to town. I could see some of their huts located across the lake from Astranaar and decided to start their and save the gathering quests for last when I didn't have as much energy.

After about a half hour of finding my way through the trees, I am nearing the top of a hill. Just on the other side of the hill is a group of furbolg huts. Slowly I creep to the top. As I crest the hill and can see down below, I hear a loud commotion. I can hear growling and weapons clanging against each other. Gazing down the hill, I can see three furbolg fighting with a large panther. I start to relax some thinking that I will just let the furbolgs deal with the wild animal. Just then some markings on the panther catch my attention. Looking closer I can see that they are the markings of a druid panther.

I look up from the fight and notice the bodies of several other furbolg scattered around the group of huts. I can see lacerations and claw and teeth marks on the bodies lying around. Turning my attention back to the druid, I can sense that the druid is starting to falter and weaken. The damage the druid is doing to the furbolgs isn't going to be enough before they kill the druid.

Quickly I set off down the hill to intervene and to help the druid. Sensing the druid is near death, I quickly cast my Gift of the Naaru onto the druid. I then turn my attention to the closest furbolg. I hit it with a quick earth shock to slow it down and to draw it away from the druid. My axes quickly slice into the body of the furbolg, leaving it lying on the ground as the last of its life drains away.

Next I set after the stronger of the two remaining alive. Calling on the winds, I strike against the furbolg's body with the fury of a storm. As my axes connect, lighting arcs between and singes the fur of the furbolg causing it to yowl in pain. Succeeding in getting its attention, I take a step back and start dropping my totems around myself. Realizing that my gift has worn off of the druid, I make sure my healing totem is positioned where the pulses can reach the druid as well. Facing the furbolg, I swing my axes while mixing spells in to keep the furbolg off balance. The fubolg manages to land some blows to me but because it is off balance, they are ineffective and I just shrug them off. Meantime, my blows are effective and are quickly wearing it down. The furbolg takes another weak swing at me that I easily dodge. The momentum from the swing carries the furbolg past me and to the ground where it collapses. It makes a feeble attempt to get up but collapses once more and stops moving. Slowly I approach the body and give it a nudge. Satisfied that the furbolg is dead, I turn to where the druid and last furbolg is at.

The druid is standing over the body of the third furbolg panting heavily. With all the furbolgs dead and no more on their way, I can take time to concentrate and use a better spell to mend the druid's injuries. After a couple more spells, the druid's injuries nearly healed and the druid isn't breathing as heavily any more.

"Thank you," the druid says.

Hearing the druid's voice causes me to stop and stare. Something about that voice stirs an emotion and a memory in me.

The druid catches me staring. "Oh you are probably not used to hearing a cat speak." With that, the druid shifts from being a cat to that of a Night Elf.

It's her!

What do I do?

What do I say?

Should I tell her about my dream? I can't tell her that, I just met her.

While my mind sorts through what I should be doing, the Night Elf looks at me wondering what is wrong. She begins looking herself over, trying to find something wrong. Not finding anything, the Night Elf slowly walks up to me. She gently lays her hand on my shoulder and gives me a gentle shake. Broken from my trance, I blink a few times as I focus on the face of the Night Elf standing in front of me.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Huh? Yeah I am okay," I reply.

"You sure? You look like something is wrong."

What can I tell her?

I can't tell her the truth.

But I don't want to lie either.

Quick, change the subject.

As I stand there trying to figure out what to change the subject to, the Night Elf snaps her fingers near in front of my face. Breaking my trance for a second time, she stands there waiting for my answer.

"No, nothing is wrong," I answer quickly. "Are you okay? Your wounds were pretty bad."

"I am alright," she replies.

"You sure. I am not very good at healing. I know just enough to get by."

"You did a wonderful job. I am alive thanks to you and that is all that matters."

"Thank you," I say quietly as I turn to retrieve my totems.

As I finish putting my totems away, the Night Elf walks up beside me.

"Thanks again for your help," she says. "By the way, my name is Catalya. Cat for short."

"Vivian or just Viv," I answer back.

"Can I ask you a question?" asks Cat.

Instantly I freeze as my mind tries to figure out an answer as to why I was staring at her.

"Sure," I hesitantly answer.

"What brings you out to this area?" Cat asks.

"I was tasked by Raene Wolfrunner to come out here and assess the furbolg threat," I reply.

"That is interesting, so was I," she ponders. "I wonder just how big of a threat they really are. Well perhaps working together we can get a better picture of what is happening before reporting back to Raene."

"Alright," I agree. Meanwhile mind starts to quickly portray other images and situations showing us together in a way completely different than scouting furbolgs.

After a few hours of scouting the furbolgs and removing any that could be a potential danger, Cat and I are taking a break and relaxing on the shore of the lake surrounding Astranaar.

"A swim in the lake would be just the thing to clean off this sweat and grime," Cat says.

"Hmm," I say as I turn my head to look at Cat. As she comes into my field of vision, I can see that she is in the process of removing her chest piece. As she sets the piece of armor to the side, she is wearing a thin, white shirt underneath and the wetness from her sweating has rendered the shirt virtually transparent. I quickly turn my head away as I can feel a blush start to spread across my cheeks and am remind of the night before.

"I should get going," I say as I stand up and sling my pack onto my shoulders.

"Oh, where do you have to be in such a hurry?" Cat asks as she stops unlacing her pants to look towards me.

I turn back towards her some but continue to avert my eyes away from the sight of her wet shirt clinging to her body.

"I have some more tasks the people of Astranaar asked me to complete and I want to get as much done before nightfall."

"Then perhaps we should get going," Cat says.

"Huh?" I say as I turn to look at her. My eyes quickly travel over her body, taking in everything. Just before she laces her pants back up, I catch sight of her brown thong. Quickly I turn my head to look out across the lake as I feel my cheeks heat up even more.

"I also have a number of tasks from Astranaar as well and I am sure we have similar ones from them," she explains. "Besides, two people working together always goes faster than one person alone."

"Sure. Makes sense," I mumble.

"Hey you okay there?"

"Yeah I am okay. Why do you ask?" I question looking back in time to see her shrug back into her leather chest piece.

"You look a bit flush is all," Cats answers as she walks up to me while buckling her gear up.

As she reaches me, she lays the back of her hand on my cheek. Her skin feels cool on my hot cheeks. I close my eyes and begin to lean my face into her hand. Before I can put too much pressure against her hand, I snap out of my trance and open my eyes. Focusing on Cat's face, I see the barest smile start to curl the corners of her lips up.

Taking a step back, I stammer some as I say "I am fine. It is just from the heat and the excitement of battle is all. Shall we get going?"

"Alright then, if that is all that it is," says Cat as she leans over to pick up her pack and staff. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her give me a lopsided grin as she arranges her gear. "Let's get going."

We spend the rest of the day traveling through the woods gathering this, killing that. When the moment permits, I watch Cat and look over her body. Her tight leather armor shows each and every luscious curve on her body. My mind keeps going back to earlier when we were by the lake and Cat started to take her armor off. I see her continue to undress till she has nothing on. I watch as she gracefully dives into the water. When she surfaces, the water makes her body glisten and the coldness of the lake has hardened her nipples to hard little points. On her face is a mischievous grin as she beckons me to join her.

These thoughts soon have me blushing and looking for a chance to get away from her and collect my thoughts. Quickly I tell Cat that I see a good spot for ore and quickly dart off towards were I indicated. After a bit, I rejoin Cat where I left her patiently waiting for me. She never questions whether I found anything or not but I can see in her eyes that she knows something is up.

As dusk envelops the day, we walk back into Astranaar with our bags full of items for the residents. We decide to deliver the goods in the morning and head towards the inn. Once in the inn, we head up the stairs and to our separate rooms.

Closing the door behind me, I lean against it trying to collect myself.

How foolish could I be spending the day with her.

I wasn't prepared to run into her so soon.

And now I can't stop thinking about her.

I wander about my room, scolding myself for the day's actions while removing my armor. Between the memory of being at the lake and the thoughts of what could have happened, I had been distracted and more than once I had made a mistake that nearly got me injured. But Catalya had been there to prevent anything serious from happening.

Catalya.

Cat.

A name never fit a person more than her. Even when not shifted into cat form, Catalya still had a feline grace and a feral beauty about her. I smile as I remember the way she moved. So smooth. So gracefully. She was absolutely beautiful.

I shake my head to bring myself back and to try and stop my thinking of Cat. Looking around, I find myself standing in the middle of my room completely naked. While remembering the day, I had managed to completely remove all of my armor and undergarments.

Stepping in front of the full-length mirror on the wall, I twist and turn my body, examining it while I run my hands along it. I run each hand up my sides and around front to cup a breast in each. I hold and squeeze them as I think about how Catalya's would look naked and what they would feel like. I gently pinch my nipples some to make them stick out.

Just then my stomach growls to remind me that I haven't eaten much since this morning. Quickly I use the wash basin and wash cloth on the dresser to clean the sweat and grime of the day from my body. I pull out fresh undergarments to put on and a pair of simple pants and a simple shirt as well. Once dressed, I take another look in the mirror at myself. My stomach lets loose another series of grumbles to urge me on. I exit my room and head downstairs in search of food.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I scan the room looking for a place to sit. A waving hand catches my attention. It is Cat waving me over to her table. The sight of her causes my stomach to clench and my heart to beat faster. As I slowly make my way over, I can see she has changed out of her armor as well. In place of her leather gear, she is wearing a long, black dress that hugs her body and accentuates just the right areas. Openings in the dress don't reveal too much but just enough of her soft skin to be tantalizing.

"I figured you would be down shortly so I went ahead and got you some food as well," Cat says as I pull a chair out and sit down. "Thought you might be as famished as I am."

Looking across the table full of food and inhaling the various aromas, my stomach gives an approving growl.

"I guess I am," I reply.

Quickly I fill my plate with various items and begin to eat. After a few minutes of stuffing my mouth, I take a few moments to watch Catalya as she eats and to also get closer look at her. My eyes wander over every inch of her that I can see. The soft swell of her breasts left exposed by her dress. The way her hair was pulled to one side to cover one shoulder. I lick my lips as my eyes travel along the tender skin of her neck. My mouth starts to water at the thought of pressing my lips against her plump lips in a sensuous kiss. I continue looking upwards towards her eyes that are staring right back at me. Realizing that she caught me staring at her, I quickly avert my eyes downward towards my plate. I start to blush some as I see her give me a knowing smile.

"Quite a day we had today," Catalya says.

"Mmhmm," I mumble as I continue to stare at my plate of food and pick at it with my fork.

"Tomorrow should prove to be quite interesting as well," she says as I hear her slide her chair back. "Don't stay up too late tonight and get plenty of rest so we can get an early start in the morning."

"We?" I question as I look up at her.

Standing before me, Cat has here lean body fully stretched out with her arms stretched behind her. With her arms pulled back, the material of her dress is taunt across her chest. The dress is tight enough that I can see each nipple protruding from her breasts.

"Sleep well Viv," Cat says while placing her hand on mine. As she walks past me towards the stairs, she lightly trails her fingertips up my arm and shoulder. She continues sliding her fingers across my back and over my neck towards my other shoulder. As her fingers lose contact with my shoulder, a shiver runs through my body.

Having forgotten the food before me, I sit there for a few moments with my eyes closed relishing the feeling of her fingers on my arm. Letting out a deep breath, I get up and make my way upstairs. As I reach the door to my room, I hesitate with my hand on the handle. Looking down the hall, I stare at the door I had seen Catalya go in earlier. I pull my hand from the door handle and start to take a hesitant step towards that door.

What do I say?

What would I do?

I can't do this.

Quickly I turn and dash into my room, closing the door behind me. I grip the bedpost as I try to get my rapid breaths under control. Clenching a hand to my chest, I can feel my heart pound against my rib cage. Slowly I turn and lower myself onto the bed. As I lay down on my side, I curl my legs up to my chest.

What am I going to do?

As I lay there trying to figure out what to do, I slowly drift off to sleep.