You can find more of this on by Subscribe/Star (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted past Ch. 20 there. You can find the same on my new (via Discord per their ToS), under /WildErotica. The DISCORD is at h-t_t-p_s-:_/-/_discord-._g-g_/-N9yDASt6Cw (taking out hyphens and underscores, 'cause FFnet). If you prefer direct links, go to my Discord and follow the 'links in general' section to find the ones you want. All of my fics are well ahead of what I post here, often 10-30 chapters ahead.

You can also read my original fiction on Kindle, or Kindle Unlimited for free. My author page: www ._amazon ._com / stores / Kaja-Wilder/ (this time taking out underscores and spaces, but leave the one hyphen).

Enjoy!

A/N 2: I apologize for the dozen of you who noticed I didn't do my flurry of posts in the week before Christmas. Or even anything on Christmas. There was a bout of sick in the house, and I got it pretty bad. I'm mostly over it now (after 3 weeks) but still not doing great. Hopefully by next week/year things will have smoothed back out, I could really use it.

Until then, enjoy!

Chap. 7

Dukashi Lin did not appreciate being handed promotions. Especially promotions he felt he had not earned. He was a farm-boy. A nobody. Even his surname, Dukashi, wasn't really his, but the name of the minor prefecture where his equally no-name village happened to be. His parents had no family name, his great-great-great-grandparents had no family name.

Now he was a Lieutenant. Or at least, he was dressed as one, despite having not wanted to be a Sergeant.

Part of Lin cursed his luck, which he suspected had begun to turn foul (if it could be called that) when the Kyoshi Warrior known as Mai had fought, and defeated the bandit lord Boshi... and then given him the kill.

It was his first, and if the man's cursed eyes haunted his dreams, well... that was normal, wasn't it? They didn't, though not often anyway. Instead, he was plagued with shapely, statuesque silhouettes in the moonlight. After today, a new nightmare of bare flesh in the rain would, no doubt, take its place.

Or perhaps... this.

"Is all of this really necessary?" he asked, not for the first time.

"Of course it is," the pretty Kyoshi Warrior he now knew was called Yugao giggled. She was getting her own hair brushed by one of the heavily made-up, elegantly-dressed attendants at the Lĭfà shī, though Lin could tell she was still keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, like the woman had been doing since he had left the fancy noble's inn. "Mai wouldn't allow- er, order- either of us to do this if she didn't have a reason. Just relax, and let the ladies work."

Ladies, as in plural. He doubted any of them were noble except perhaps the owner of the establishment, who had at first turned up her nose at his appearance. But Yugao had said something about Mai's family name, which she had whispered, and the lady had been much more amenable to taking on the 'special project' of getting him, not just a peasant but a man, presentable.

There were three of them working on him. One trimming and painting his nails, even his toes. Nothing garish, in fact he thought it was nearly indistinguishable from his normal color, but the woman assured him it would be noticed by 'those that mattered'. And, Yugao pointed out, it would help strengthen them against breaking, too. That, at least, was something the warrior in him appreciated.

The second was, of all things, cutting his hair. His top-knot, at least, was mostly been left alone. "Regulations," apparently, was enough to convince them to only trim the tips. But the sides were now cut short up to the top, and she was applying some sort of pine-scented foam with hot water in preparation to shave him.

Lin hadn't been shaved by someone else since his father had taught him to do it at the age of thirteen.

It was embarrassing!

Even if, deep down, he had to admit it was nice for someone else to do the work. After all, what did a woman know about shaving a man's head and beard?

The last was, of all things, picking through his eyebrows, pulling out or cutting one hair or another, deftly working around the one shaving his hair.

What a rigmarole... and for what? He didn't care what he looked like, as long as he met the dress regulations.

An hour later, standing in front of a very expensive-looking, full-length mirror, Lin had to admit... he did look pretty nice, his face freshly-scrubbed and baby-smooth. He'd been nervous to have the woman's razor so close to his face and neck. How many people had she shaven?

But her movements were deft and sure, and as he ran calloused fingers over it, he had to acknowledge that the attendant had done her job very well. His topknot had lost perhaps half an inch and now hung properly centered from the center-back of his head past his shoulders. The rest of his head, for now at least, was bare, almost like a monk or Air-tribesman, though with the topknot it was a very traditional Earth-Kingdom hair style, folded back at the top with- he gasped as he saw it- an actual, solid-gold clasp.

"I, uh... I can't pay for that," he said quietly, "Even on a Zhōngwèi's salary."

"Mai'll cover it," Yugao replied as she stepped toward him, "trust me. Her family's loaded. Don't like, take advantage, but if you ever can't cover something it's a fair bet she already knows and has it taken care of. Madame Longmi here is more than happy to send them the bill, isn't she?"

"Absolutely," the older woman tittered behind her fan, "an extravagant piece like that is still well within her family's ability to pay for, I am sure. Think nothing of it, young man."

He was pretty sure, just based on the look of avarice in the owner's eyes that the piece was either not as fancy as he thought, or that she would be well over-charging Mai's parents... but he had to trust Yugao. And if not, well... what were they going to do? He would probably never be in this establishment again. How would they hunt him down? There were millions of young men that looked too much like him in the Earth Kingdom Mustered Soldiery. Probably too many even with his name. So... maybe it would be alright?

"I- Alright," he acquiesced. It felt strange, very strange, to walk out of the salon with what amounted to a year's worth of his salary or more, mounted on his head just to keep his knot in place. He felt, suddenly, even more like a target had been painted on his back. This time, by thieves.

At least he wasn't walking through the unfamiliar streets alone.

Yugao kept up minimal conversation as they walked, as she had before. "Turn left here, right there," but he didn't mind. It took another twenty minutes to reach the next stop, and she walked into the clothier, Ming-na's Finest Fashions, with as much confidence as he'd ever seen in the brief time he'd known the woman.

"My friend here, name's Lin," she announced before the older gentleman who seemed to both run the place and make all the clothing, given his current activity behind an old but very well-polished counter, could stand to greet her. "He just got a promotion to Lieutenant. I've been told you help the EKMS with their uniforms from time to time. Do you have one in stock you could tailor to fit him? It's kind of a rush job, we'd need it done as soon as possible. He's leaving the city later today."

"Oh?" The gentleman stood up smoothly, though Lin noticed him wince and put a hand on his back as he did, setting the piece, an elegant purple dress that probably cost even more than the gold hairpiece he now wore judging by the astounding quality and finery on display all over the small shop's walls. "I'm always happy to help out our proud soldiers, of course, and yes, I do have a few I can probably resize... this the young man in question?"

"Yes, sir," Lin greeted softly, "I'm Lin."

"Paimon," the older man replied with a kind smile as he walked toward him. He turned a bit more shrewd as he eyed him up and down, "I believe it would take... about an hour for me to resize one of our current pieces to your size."

"How- how do you even know my size?" Lin asked, quite confused.

Yugao smiled.

The gentleman laughed, "Son, when you've seen as many strapping lads come through your shop as I have, you pick up an eye for it. If it makes you feel better, I can break out the old string, but it just makes things take longer."

"Uh, n- No, thank you. Faster is better," Lin replied after seeing Yugao break into a wide, devilish grin. She was a pretty woman, all the Kyoshi Warriors were, but something about her smile seemed downright demonic, as if someone were not only dancing on his future grave, but an entire party was occurring over it. Anything had to be better than her standing there, watching, while the old man took what Lin was sure would be very detailed measurements.

Paimon nodded, his expression serious rather than amused even if he had a little twinkle in his eye, then lifted his arms out, "Alright, young man.. hold your hands out like this. That's it, just stay there a moment..." He walked around Lin once slowly, then gestured downward, "You can relax now. I should be done in... oh, just under an hour. You're lucky, my last rush job just got finished and I've nothing urgent on my plate. You can either wait here, or there's a small tea shop across the street. Their cakes are better than the tea, but the nearest aside from there is a half-hour away."

"We'll wait," Yugao chirped, then immediately headed to a small bench set in a corner for just that purpose.

He had hoped, since it was now after lunch and he still hadn't had breakfast. But he also didn't dare leave the woman's side in this unfamiliar city. She, at least, seemed to know her way around.

Fortunately, she still wasn't all that talkative, and seemed content to sit on the bench quietly, her eyes watching through the wide, many-paned windows as the busy streets of a well-to-do shopping district grew even busier.

But Lin was more fascinated by the clothing.

The shop was small, only a dozen chi on one hand, and eighteen or so on the next wall, with a small door at the back leading, he was sure, to the man's residence. There was a closeted area for changing, another on a stand for fittings with a wider space around it. A section for fabric itself, which had, he took the time to count, thirty different shades of green alone. Then the actual outfits, which were hung with half on display covered by the next in three rows from just above the floor to near the ceiling.

One wall was dedicated to what he could only guess was men's fashion of the day and city, though most of it just looked too complicated to Lin, who preferred practical clothing. As always in the Earth Kingdom, light greens, tans, and browns were the most common colors, with darker green or black accents.

The smaller wall, the one partially covered by windows, held enough underthings for women to make Lin blush as he realized he was staring. He'd never seen any but his own mother and sister's simple, practical peasant's underthings. These were multi-layered silk or lace or something even finer he did not know the name of, with straps and padding and all sorts of little additions that just seemed like...

Well, a lot.

And then there were the outfits. Fifty, sixty of them, maybe more. Cheongsam, Hanfu, and more traditional robes by the score, but also some newer designs with wider, flaring skirts that he had never even imagined, much less seen before. He preferred the older styles, but he could definitely see how the newer could be appealing. He couldn't help but imagine Ty Lee wearing a few of them...

Or Mai.

Of course, thinking about the knife-wielding warrior in high fashion such that her apparently-wealthy merchant family might be able to buy on a whim made him imagine her as she had been that morning, too.

Naked, in a natural hot-springs bath, standing in the rain.

No... he couldn't afford to be caught, er, reacting to that memory. Instead, Lin yanked his mind and attention back into the present and looked left. No... Yugao would not do, either. She was still too pretty.

On the right, thankfully, a more than adequate sight presented itself to distract him from his growing arousal.

The price-tag on the nearest hanfu, a relatively simple garment, was thirty-seven Wángzi. He made about a hundred and fifty ban per week. A quick mental calculation told Lin it would take literally every penny he earned as a Sergeant for just over an entire month to pay it all off. And it was among the cheapest things on the wall.

"I can't pay for this," he hissed, blood suddenly pounding in his ears as panic set in.

"The army's paying for it," she told him with a smile, "just like Mai bought your new accessory. Relax. You'll get the standard uniform, it's just going to be a bit higher-quality than they might have at a backwater fort like Qiquan."

Yugao's reassuring words did little to quell the mounting terror, but at least it slowed its growth.

A little.

Lin couldn't quite suppress the shudder that was a physical symptom of the dread he felt. Being shown off to the Kyoshi Warriors after his Army- and Mai-sponsored trip with Yugao was horrifying. They had cheered, laughed, whooped and hollared as if they were women possessed, but to a woman they had been smiling. There were calls that he was 'perfect,' and 'gorgeous,' and even more embarrassing, more than a few loud shouts- right there in the fancy inn- that one girl or another would 'happily bed him'.

How was he going to live that down?

I'm probably not, he thought ruefully. There was more, though. I'm definitely going to die of shame after this.

The cause of his current terror?

He was, by far, the most extravegantly dressed person within half a mile... even though he was currently being escorted by six of the Kyoshi's better fighters, according to Ty Lee, who, alone among the number in the lobby, had simply nodded and pronounced his appearance 'passable'.

His feet were even mostly clean, and the extremely expensive, well-tailored Lieutenant's uniform fit him almost like a second skin. Somehow, the rains had passed and left the roads in this poor northern district of the city moist, but not quite enough to sink into the moment they had left the cobbled streets in wealthier districts. He shouldn't have been surprised the ground absorbed the moisture greedily, the Earth Kingdom had always had relatively good sewers thanks to their ability to work underground. That the city, small though it was (a fact he still had trouble believing), had flooded at all was unusual.

He was standing, now, flanked by the six women in their stylish green combat uniforms, outside the hostel known as Sennjia's Rooms, dressed in more finery than his entire village could afford with a year's taxes, and about to go inside.

About to be seen by his men. His men who thought of him, who knew him, as a poor man, who had just gotten lucky and been promoted for it. Men who were loyal to him (he hoped), who trusted him as he trusted them...

But now might well be seen as reaching or acting far above his station.

"What are you waiting for?" Yugao muttered quietly, "Get in there. We've got to go, we've already lingered too long as it is."

He sighed once more, wished he could just drop dead on the spot for the sixteenth time since he had been woken up in the far-too-early hours of the morning by that same woman, and then pushed his way inside. Lin didn't need to look back to know that the Kyoshi Warriors were already disappearing down the allies and streets. Unfortunately, he had little time to observe the pleasant sight of so many pretty women walking away.

Because his men were filling the tiny common room of Sennjia's Rooms, and they looked quite put out at being made to wait.

Which meant they were now all focused on just one thing: Him.

"Attention!"

The shout came from Corporal Chonji. Everyone in the room except the aged, exhausted Sennjia himself suddenly bolted to the proper stance, Lin included.

He realized to late that his subordinate had given the order for him. Lin was the officer who had suddenly stepped into the room.

His face burning, Lin raised a hand to wave off the attention, "A- At ease, m- men."

He was never, ever going to live this down. They started laughing at once, talking amongst themselves about who he was sleeping with (General Quon herself being the foremost subject, which Lin knew they would never dare if they were within even a few days' ride of her own posting at Qiquan Fortress) to have earned himself two promotions in such a short time. Thankfully, not many mentioned the leaders of the local band of Kyoshi Warriors.

That probably would've sent his heart into an explosive overdrive whether the discussion was about Ty Lee or Mai.

Lin did his best to join in the joking while setting the record straight. Mostly, that he didn't know why he was being promoted, and in fact hadn't seen any paperwork or proof that he was, only that there were apparently orders to get him a Lieutenant's uniform.

Fortunately, if he could call it that, Lieutenant Jo Gai was there twenty minutes later with fresh orders... and an explanation. Not that it was much of one. "Sorry, Lin," the portly man hissed, looking a bit uncomfortable back inside the dingy, small wayhouse but also to have pulled Lin aside to speak to him privately in a room that was anything but private. "I did my best to find out what's going on, but the orders are clear, and they came from far above my own pay grade. I'm not sure if it was Captain Taijin, General Quon, or... or even higher. The orders were clear, though. Sergeant Pochin is taking over the WhiteAnt Platoon because he's their last officer, the rest were killed in the attack on Boshi's camp and the last ambush a few days back. Mini Dong is still leading Iron Bass, but he's getting old for a field officer. We should keep you as Sandseal's platoon leader. You have the most experience. But the higher ups think you're better placed elsewhere, it seems, so Chonji is going to be Sandseal's Sergeant, and Yuya will be his only assistant for now, until get get another Corporal trained. It's a pain, but... orders are orders."

"And... and what's to become of me, Sir?"

Jo Gai snorted, "No need for Sir anymore, kid. We're the same rank, remember? Oh- here's your stamped seal with the orders. And your insignia pouch, thanks for reminding me."

Lin took the silken satchel and the small case with the scroll that changed his entire future even more than the last promotion had with shaking fingers. "Is... it's r- real?"

"It is," Jo Gai told him quietly, seriously, "and as for your orders... well, you're sticking with us for now. I've got to train you in a few of the finer details of your new station, but in a month or so I expect you'll be gone from BirdFox Company altogether."

"L- Leaving BirdFox? For where?"

"I don't know," Jo Gai admitted, and it looked like it physically pained him to say it, "The gossip among the officers, best I can tell, is that there's a special project being set up. General Quon and Captain Taijin have something to do with it, but he's not talking, and getting secure information out of the General is like pulling wine from a rock. It's something, though, something big. Why you?"

Lin nodded, his hands still trembling. If no one knew what it was, but it was big... and it involved him? There weren't that many options.

And both of them were stunningly gorgeous women.

"If I had to guess, it's hunting down the people behind the bandits," Jo Gai hissed, much quieter than he had been before, with a furtive glance around. "There's rumors, but if I just put two and two together... these bandit raids are bigger than they seem. Too organized. Too strategic. Even hiding in a little backwater like your home village has its reasons. I think this time, the rumor mill has it right. It is big. And you'll probably be right in the middle of it. So... listen to what I've got to teach you, and be careful. And good luck, you'll probably need it."

Somehow, the last bit of more upbeat news didn't help remove the trepidation that had taken root over the course of the conversation.

Why was he worried about fashion? The Dai Li were still out there. In his home village. A village that, according to Mai, they might have to raze to the ground.

No, he didn't have time to care about a gold clasp or fancy new uniform. He was too busy worrying about his family, his old friends, everything he had grown up knowing.