Radiance

by Ghostnobody

This will be my first dip into the Fallout universe, here I will tell the tale of the mysterious Number Seven and the rag tag group of adventurers that he gathers to him as he makes his way through the post-apolyptic world. Contains Multiple pairings including Human x Deathclaw Based on my Podcast series of the same name avalible on all podcast outlets like Spotify.

164. Chapter 164

A Radiant Christmas: Winter's Warmth.

It was a cold and snowy night in the Alaskan wastes which honestly was nothing new to Lena as it was pretty much always cold and bloody snowing up here.

Thankfully, Lena's thick fur protected her from the worst of it and even managed to keep the howling winds at bay.

As she looked out over the haunting silver moonlit night at the snow-covered trees stretching out as far as even her sharp eyes could see far below her cave, she noticed something odd.

In the shadows of the distant trees, she could see what appeared to be a light moving very erratically and casting some very berries shadows as it darted about.

A mobile light source this far from any of the settlements in the area was never going to be a good sign, to begin with, but moving like that spelt trouble.

Humans never ventured out this far into the forested wilderness as not only was the environment incredibly hazardous but the predators were doubly so as any creature that could live in this environment was incredibly hardy.

Creatures like Lena.

There was a reason that Lena had chosen to live so far out into the tundra and it wasn't because of her glowing friendly personality, predominatly it was because every time humans saw her there was the inevitable screaming, shouting and shooting.

To say she had become very sick of it very quickly was something of an understatement.

So rather than try to get them to understand her or to find some kind of common ground that would allow them all to live in some kind of peace Lena had decided to fuck off about as far from humans as it was possible to go without ending up in the sea.

But it appeared that even out here she couldn't escape them.

It was obvious to her even from up here that whoever was carrying that torch was in some serious trouble and it was most likely of the being chased by wolves kind.

Now normally Lena would have shrugged and muttered something about it being their damn fault for being this far out into the wilderness and in the dead of winter no less and simply left them to it.

After all, she wasn't responsible for human problems and they had made it very obviously clear what with all the bullets that had sung over her head and torn chunks out of her fur that she was not welcome anywhere near them.

So why should she care what happened to them?

But something kept nagging at her mind, it was like some kind of odd compulsion that seemed to grow ever stronger as she glanced up at the massive silvery moon that chose now to fully emerge from behind the clouds to fill the sky with its brilliance.

"Fucking humans," she growled in her deep baritone but still oddly feminine voice bearing her large teeth as she stared at the moon.

With a loud humph noise she pushed herself up onto her massive and very powerful legs before turning to head into her cave to collect a few things.

Wrapped in a few extra layers of wolfskin and clutching her large war axe Lena began to make her way down the mountainside towards the forest.

The war axe she held in both of her hands had been made by her hand and was easily the size of a large human in length.

The massive double-sided head was adorned with Runes that she had painstakingly engraved into the thick metal which was easier said than done when your fingers were the size of hers and tipped with large blunt claws.

The axe itself had been inspired by a book about ancient humans she had found once in an abandoned town that was of the old world, the one before the humans fucked it up by bathing it in fire.

The ancient humans had called themselves Vikings and they revered nature and its power.

They held animals and the spirits of animals as something to be both respected and feared, this was echoed in their iconography.

So to pay homage to these humans Lena had decided to try and bring back some of their traditions and crafts.

As it had turned out this had really paid dividends in the harsh world that was post-war Alaska as the predators and creatures that roamed the wilderness out here could have very well been some of the mythical creatures that were brought to life in the stories of those ancient Vikings.

That's why Lena had chosen to arm herself with a little something for every eventuality, for an up close and personal fight she was carrying Ice Splitter which was the name she had given her mighty doubled-headed war axe.

For something a little further afield she was also carrying Ice Needle which was the name she had given to her massive war bow which she had painstakingly carved out of a single piece of wood, before reinforcing the limbs with some metal that she had taken from a couple of scrapped human vehicles she had come across in her travels.

The reinforced limbs and massive springs she had fitted into them allowed Ice Needle to fire arrows that were about half the size of a tall human pretty much right the way through a tree trunk.

Or nail three wolves to said tree as she had found out with a singular and rather spectacular shot once.

Then there was her trump card, something she would only bring out should the situation truly need it, a massive war spear she had named Moonbeam.

The spear was taller than even Lena was and given that she stood at just shy of nine feet tall it was rather sizable, to say the least.

The head of Moonbeam was made of polished Damascus steel that she had painstakingly folded together to form a truly beautiful runic head that could cause absolute devastation to anything unlucky enough to be struck by it.

She called it Moonbeam not only because of the brilliant silver shine of the head but because when she threw it it tended to descend out of the sky with a flash of said silver, much like a moonbeam.

So armed with these human-inspired ancient weapons of war, Lena headed down into the forest below her mountain.

Thankfully her eyes were far superior to those of a human in the dark so she did not need burning torches which in this environment might have been a fucking dinner gong announcing it was time to eat to the local predators.

Even before she had made it halfway her sensitive ears began to hear the very obvious and telltale sounds of distant combat.

It sounded that whoever had been foolish enough to venture into this forest this winter's night had indeed been unlucky enough to encounter some of its rather less hospitable inhabitants and was now fighting them for the right to survive.

Lena honed in on the sound of combat like a moth drawn to a bright flame and given that the closer she got the brighter the flame from the human's light got that was somewhat prophetic.

As she got close enough to finally make out shapes between the trees what she saw impressed her.

There was a singular human dressed in red armed with a long sword in one hand and a large flaming torch in the other, it appeared he and a group of other humans had been escorting some kind of caravan through the wilderness when they had been set up on by the resident Dire Wolves that called the area home.

The bodies of both wolves and humans littered the area and the scent of blood filled her nostrils to the same degree that it painted the surrounding snow red.

The human dressed in red wasn't tall, nor was he broad and it was obvious that he was no warrior but despite his appearance he was in possession of what no one could deny was the soul of a true warrior.

Despite being encircled by no less than eight wolves this little human showed no sign of backing down to them.

It was obvious to even a casual observer that the human was suffering from a multitude of wounds inflicted by the mighty snapping jaws of said Dire Wolves.

As she watched from a distance the eight wolves circled the lone humans like silver shadows in the darkness of the forest and if it were not for his torch illuminating them and causing their eyes to burn like jewels in the darkness he may not have seen them coming.

One broke ranks and lunged at the stricken human but to Lena's surprise, he not only managed to dodge the flying wolf but also managed to stab it in the flank as it sailed past his head.

The wolf let out an ungodly howl of pain as the human's blade pierced it and from the way it was moving when it hit the ground Lena could tell he had managed to hit something vital.

A torrent of dark liquid fell from the wolf's body and stained its bright fur almost black as it tried to stand on shaky legs before finally collapsing into the snow and joining its fellows.

The remaining seven seemed undeterred by the fate of their pack-mate, if anything it seemed to make them even more determined to make a meal of the last remaining human.

Lena sighed heavily and placed her axe down at her feet as she unslung her bow from her upper body.

Silently she fingered one of the arrows in the massive quiver that sat on her left hip and lifted one of her hand-crafted arrows from the multitude sat snugly in its reinforced leather walls.

Each of them had been crafted for a specific job and Lena had also crafted the flights of these arrows to match them, from long feathered and wide-fletched long-distance arrows designed to fly far and drop on her target, to short fletched speed arrows designed to go only a short distance but to get there incredibly quickly, she had something for all occasions.

It was one of these speed arrows that she now pulled from the quiver and nocked into her bow.

The heads of these arrows reflected their speed-based nature.

While the longer-range arrows had much heavier heads that were narrower and pointier much like a large dart designed to use gravity as its engine these short-range arrows were very different.

They had much wider broad heads that were made of a singular cut piece of razor-sharp metal that was flattened into a large V shape.

As Lena pulled on the quadruple braided bowstring that was made from hardened leather she heard the springs compressing under the metal plates that were bolted into the limbs.

Ice Needle creaked under the stress of her strength pulling at its limbs and Lena turned and angled her sizeable body to give herself the clearest path between the trees.

She held her breath to keep her hands steady and when just the right moment presented she simply let go.

The mighty limbs snapped forward with an audible crack as they sent the massive arrow out into the night, speeding right towards its target at incredible speed.

With a solid-sounding thud noise, the massive arrow stuck into the side of the wolf that she had been aiming for and was now in mid-air as it leapt towards the unaware human who was busy facing off against two of them that had squared up to his front.

This was an obvious distraction tactic that these wolves tended to employ to make their quarry look one way while one of their packmates attacked from the rear.

Only this time the attacker found themselves nailed to a tree by an arrow half the size of itself in length.

The pinned wolf screamed in pain as it struggled in vain to free itself from the wicked arrow's hold but Lena had put a lot of work into making these arrows and while they appeared thin and fragile they were very strong and supple.

So rather than snap off the arrow held firm and simply bent under the wolf's weight slightly but did not allow it to escape its deadly hold.

The sound caused the human's head to snap around and the look of surprise that was now painted on his oddly handsome face at the sight of the massive silver wolf pinned to the tree behind him was priceless.

Had the wolves not been about to press the advantage opened up by this distraction Lena may have relished it a bit further, but there was no time, so instead she nocked another arrow and let it fly.

As one of the wolves opened its mouth in a growling snarl Lena's arrow found its mark and slammed straight through the roof of its mouth and into its skull effectively nailing its upper mouth to its forehead.

No sooner had that wolf fallen than the others in the pack seemed to realize that they were now under attack from a different source than the stricken human.

Some of the pack broke off and split up in order to locate this new threat in the darkness of the forest while the others kept up the pressure on the injured human, backing him up to a tree.

But to his credit, this human had guts, despite his obvious injuries he kept fighting while also being totally exhausted from both the prolonged fight and the blood loss caused by said injuries.

He swung his long sword in a sything arc towards the neck of one of the attacking wolves that pressed him and in a stroke of good fortune, as the wolf tried to jump back out of reach it instead collided with one of its brethren which allowed the humans blade to find its mark and bite into the wolf's flesh.

The blow was lethal as even from where she stood Lena saw the jet of dark liquid that sparkled in the light of the human's burning torch as it sprayed from the injured wolf's throat.

It tried to retreat away as its brothers and sisters forced the human back up against the tree but it was obvious the human had managed to strike a lethal blow, as was proven when moments later the wolf collapsed into a heap in the snow.

Lena quickly resecured her bow over her back as she saw the wolves that had broken off from their packmates to pursue her were quickly closing in on her position.

Picking up Ice Splitter from where she had laid it Lena braced herself for what was to come and she turned to face the charging wolves who had seriously picked up their pace now that they knew where she was.

But what the wolves didn't know was that Lena had never lost a fight in her life, especially not against their kind and today was not going to be the start of this.

Rolling her massive shoulders to loosen them up Lena bellowed out a war roar that seemed to throw the charging wolves off balance somewhat as they obviously were not expecting to be taking on something far larger than they were.

But this did not stop them from trying their luck either way.

As the first wolf charged headlong right at Lena obviously intending to barrel right into her in an attempt to knock her off balance Lena simply turned to the side and booted the large creature full in the flank.

The powerful kick folded the wolf nearly in half and sent it sprawling before crashing into the trunk of a tree with enough force to drop an avalanche of snow down on top of it, momentarily trapping it.

This was more than enough time for Lena to raise her massive battle axe and bring it down right on top of the fallen wolf's head as it popped out of the mound of snow like a gruesome game of whack-a-mole.

The giant battle axe lived right up to its name though this time instead of splitting solid ice it split the wolf's skull clean in two with a single downward swing.

Feeling that the other wolves around her were now seriously out for blood given that she had killed quite a few of them Lena wasted zero time wrenching Ice Splitter free of the now very dead wolf and using both her size and her reach to her advantage swung it in a circular arc around herself.

This proved to be a most prudent move as two of those that had rushed to attack her were in close enough proximity for the massive axe to collide with them, though the blade only bit into the first one that it hit.

But her strength and the momentum of the swing carried this now stricken wolf straight into the side of its pack mate with a rather hefty thud that sent them both rolling, though only one of them tried to get back to its feet, the other now having a completely caved in chest cavity lay as still at the ice it was sprawled on.

Lena let out a bellowing roar at the final wolf before rushing forward and swinging Ice Splitter in an upward arc that caught it right in the stomach and sent it flying into the air, by the spray that flew from the wolf it was obvious it was not going to be getting up again when it landed.

Lena turned to look at the still-stricken human and found herself once again impressed to find that he had managed to take down yet another of the four remaining wolves by stabbing it through the mouth.

That left only three of the massive canines in the fight.

Lena held Ice Splitter high over her head and let loose another bellowing roar while charging forward towards the group.

The wolves had no idea what the hell hit them as Lena burst out of the shadows created by the light given off by the torch it had obviously affected their usually very acute night vision more than enough for them to be totally blinded by it so that they could not see the massive nine-foot tall bipedal creature running towards them until it was too late and she was upon them.

The first one lost its head as soon as she burst into the bubble of light, quite literally as Lena brought Ice Splitter which had been raised above her head down in a massive arc that took the canine's head clean off its shoulders with barely any resistance.

So distracted by the felling of their pack mate were the other two that one of them failed to notice that the human they had pinned up against a tree had moved until his blade emerged from the other side of one of their skulls.

This left only one of the massive creatures left standing and sensing its impending doom it did the only thing it could do, it turned tail and fled screeching into the night, its fear-filled yelps carrying through the trees as a warning to any others lurking nearby that there was far more deadly than they out in the forest this night.

Lena lowered the axe and turned to face the human who was still clutching his sword though now he was facing Lena directly.

A look of confusion was painted over his oddly handsome face that was glowing almost gold in the firelight given off by his torch.

"Put that damn thing down human, I mean you no harm otherwise I'd have left you for those four-legged fuckers to pick their teeth clean with now wouldn't I?" Lena growled eyeing the man curiously.

She had to admit she couldn't fault his bravery, despite the massive difference in their stature and skill levels, not to mention the fact that the human was pretty heavily wounded he was still willing to go down fighting if need be, this spoke of an inner strength that seldom few possessed in her experience.

Slowly the human lowered the sword and pretty much all of his strength seemed to go with the falling blade.

He slumped backwards against the trunk of the massive tree and used it to prop himself up.

"W-W-W-Who are you? What are you?" the human managed to stammer in an oddly cute and surprisingly deep voice for someone of his very slender frame.

"My name is Lena Ironclaw and I'd have thought it obvious, I am what you humans call a Yao Guai," Lena replied curtly as if such a thing should have been obvious to him.

"W-W-Well met Lena Ironclaw, I-I-I am Nicholas Journeyman, I-I-I've never seen a Yao Guai walk or talk b-b-before," the man stammered though his stammer did not seem to be one of fear of her otherwise she'd have been able to smell its bitter scent in the air around him, no this was something else, most likely to do with his injuries.

"And I've never seen a human be courteous enough to give me their name before so it seems that this is a night of firsts for both of us now doesn't it?" Lena shot back and Nicholas laughed somewhat bitterly before slumping down onto his ass at the base of the tree.

"F-F-For what it is worth Lena Ironclaw, thank you for your timely intervention on my behalf, though I fear it may be for naught as I am..." Nicholas began to say before slumping down onto his side with nothing more than a rattling sigh.

Without even hesitating Lena dropped down to his side and placed a hand on the side of his neck, there was still a pulse and it seemed that the male human had merely lost consciousness due to the combination of his wounds and the effort he'd put into the fight.

Lena made a humming noise deep in her throat as she looked at the small frame of the human and she found herself wondering how long had it been since she'd had a conversation with a fellow sentient.

How long had it been since not only had she had a polite conversation but had been shown both courtesy and humility not to mention thanks?

But this human had shown them to her without hesitation despite her being what she was, there was something different about this human over the others she had encountered during her lifetime and it vexed her somewhat, enough that it drove her to lean down and to lift the stricken human into the air.

"You shall live Nicholas Journeyman and then I shall know the secrets of what makes you unaffraid," she grumbled to herself gently placing the fallen human over the top of her broad shoulder.

As she turned to start heading back to her homely cave high in the mountain she spied something in the forest and turned to focus on it.

It was the oddly shaped sledge that the human and his now fallen comrades had been escorting through the forest.

The small group of Raddeer that they had apparently been using to pull the large sleigh all lay dead thanks to the wolves still harnessed into the large reigns that fastened them all to it.

Lena made a humph noise to herself.

"Must be important if it is worth risking life and limb to pull through the forest at night," she said and she headed over to it choosing to gently place Nicholas in the rear of it among the multitude of sacks that it held and then after taking up the reigns she began the long trek back up the mountain with the sleigh in tow behind her.

To her surprise given its size and obvious weight, the sleigh had been well designed to run on the snow-covered ground which made it rather easy for her to tow it up the mountain to the small plateau that sat outside of her cave where she would sit in the evening and watch the world go by.

Once the sleigh was secured Lena lifted Nicholas gently out of it and took the unconscious human inside before placing him on top of her bed.

"Hmm I suppose I'd better patch you up if I want my answers out of you human," Lena said spying one of the plethora of wounds on his young body.

One of the many human books that she had liberated from the various ruins she had scoured on her travels before settling here had taught her a lot about human anatomy.

It was a field guide of sorts that among the many chapters on wilderness survival had an entire section dedicated to treating wounds, everything from broken bones to lacerations and even poisoning was covered in the many pages and Lena had studied them all fastidiously.

So taking her time Lena slowly and gently removed the human's outer layer of clothing, everything from his long red cloak to his undershirt and pants leaving him lying on the furs of her bed in nought but his underwear.

Thankfully she had a pretty decent fire going in the hearth she had made from rocks and clay which provided warmth and decent light to the entire cave augmented by the few small oil lamps that she had dotted around the place.

As Lena looked over Nicholas's bare body the soft golden glow that was washing over his white skin made him look almost radiant and she felt a very unusual stirring in the pit of her stomach that seemed to spread outwards and downwards like fire spreading over a pool of oil.

Before she even realised what she was doing Lena had reached out and was running a large furry hand over his bare slender chest.

The warmth and softness of his exposed bare skin mesmerized her in a way she had never experienced before.

It was like she was touching warm silk that was covered in plush soft fur that was barely visible even to eyes as sharp as hers, invisible to all but the gentlest of touches.

She only snapped herself out of it when she suddenly found herself teasing one of her claws into the corner of his mouth while stroking his oddly handsome face.

Shaking her head Lena scowled and pulled her hand away like he had bitten down on her finger, what the hell was wrong with her?

Giving herself a mental slapping Lena quickly turned and picked up her medical bag where she kept all of her supplies including some of those wonderful little human devices they called Stimpacks.

She had only managed to find a handful of these things in her journies but through careful study, she had learned not only how to boost the effects of one by a factor of three but how to half the dosage without losing any of the speed healing effects they provided.

The things were a miracle of old-world science that could repair what would be a lethal wound without immediate help right there in the field plus they turned what would take weeks to heal properly into mere days.

But Lena's boosted versions were even more potent, they could heal even the nastiest of lacerations in nothing but mere hours, though they would still need binding and stitching to do their job effectively.

So once she'd shot him full of the pale gold mixture which contained both the original medicine plus a large variety of local herbs that were designed to do a multitude of tasks from clotting blood to reducing swelling and fighting infections she got to work on the delicate task of stitching him up.

As she worked that unfamiliar feeling that hijacked Lena's senses made its presence known to her again like a Nightstalker sneaking around in the shadows of her mind she could feel it waiting to strike.

And strike it did.

Once again while stitching one of the deeper gashes across his left flank Lena found herself stroking his stomach idly with her large hand and relishing the feel of his soft skin again while also loving the involuntary contracting of his firm muscles at her touch.

"You are not supposed to be a beautiful human," Lena growled deeply as she forced herself to stop stroking and focus on her stitching.

Once she was finished Lena stepped back to admire her handiwork and she couldn't help but feel proud of her work.

Nicholas was now wrapped in a plethora of white bandages which unfortunately covered up a large section of his body which once again Lena found herself staring at like she was a starving woman staring at a juicy Brahmin steak sitting fully garnished and steaming upon her plate.

No matter how she tried to fight that little Nightstalker running amok in her brain it was winning, it was causing chaos by throwing deliciously indecent images up to distract her while it scampered off into the shadows only to pop up somewhere else and hit her again.

After a couple of truly torturous hours of suffering the relentless attacks of this invisible little deviant running around in her brain, she was finally snapped out of the hot, pleasure-promising stupor by Nicholas taking a very deep breath and suddenly sitting up on the bed with a wracking cough.

"Take it easy human or you are likely to pop your stitches before the Stimpack is finished healing you," Lena growled deeply while placing a massive hand on his chest to push him back prone onto the bed which caused that little bastard in her brain to bite her again.

"W-Where am I?' Nicholas stammered slightly though curiously once again there was no fear in his voice just surprise.

"You are in my home, I brought you and that infernal sleigh that you were guarding here after you collapsed post-battle and I healed you," Lena said gesturing to his bandaged body while struggling to keep her paws to herself.

Nicholas looked down at himself and one of his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Well then it appears I owe you my life twice over now but all I have to offer you at this moment my good lady is my eternal thanks, you have saved me and quite possibly many others this night," he said with very genuine sincerity in his voice.

"What do you mean?' she asked curiously stepping back to plant her ample fluffy rear end down onto a large wooden stool that she had been using while attending to him.

"I and my fallen comrades were answering a call for aid that we received over the radio, that infernal sleigh as you put is packed with both medical supplies as well as other aid like warm clothes and food among other things," Nicholas explained.

"Who made this call?" Lena asked curiously.

"A new settlement that was set up a few miles East of here, apparently set up by some group who call themselves the Free Peoples of the Wastes, from what I have heard of them they are some kind of movement that started far south in the centre of America and have been spreading outwards ever since from their main stronghold in Boston, not quite sure who they truly are but from what I do know they are dedicated to fighting Raiders and unifying the good and innocent people while rendering aid and protection and that's what they were doing up here, they answered a call for aid and after fighting off an entire clan of Raiders they took the settlement under their protection but now they need help and in my book, a plight as noble as this needs all the help it can get," Nicholas said with such passion in his voice that Lena couldn't help but be moved by it.

"So where are you from?" Lena asked.

"Oh far North of here, but me and my group call ourselves the Brothers and Sisters of Mercy, we have made it our mission to aid those in need and after hearing that call on the radio we could not ignore it so we gathered what we could and set out to reach that settlement to render aid," he said.

Lena mulled this over in her head for a bit and then glancing at him and then at the doorway of the cave where the sleigh sat a thought occured to her.

"There is no way you will be able to move that sleigh in your condition, though honestly, I doubt you would be able to even if you were in top shape," she grunted.

Nicholas glanced where she was looking towards the doorway of the cave.

"I fear you may be right my good lady and given that I already owe you twice over already I am loathe to beg this of you but I fear I have little choice, will you aid me, you will of course be compensated for such aid?" Nicholas said looking at her imploringly.

There was something in his bright and beautiful blue eyes that really called to Lena and once again that sneaky little fucker in the back of her brain began nibbling away.

"What kind of compensation?" she asked.

"Well I do not know what I can offer one such as you but if it is within my power to grant it to you I will grant it unquestioningly," Nicholas said sincerely.

"Anything?" Lena said raising a furry eyebrow as she looked at him and took a deep breath as if trying to smell his deception but smelled nothing more than the pleasantly musky aroma of a healthy male.

"Anything, you have my word sworn upon my very soul," he said.

"Very well Nicholas you have yourself a deal, I will decide upon what I wish to call my compensation as we travel and you shall have my decision upon arrival, but be warned if you welch upon this deal with me it will be the last one you ever make, my honour dictates that I do not tolerate either deception or oath breakers," she growled waningly and he nodded.

"As does mine so it seems our values align my good Lena and I cannot thank you enough for your aid in this, it means the world to me and I'm sure it will to the good people that we are setting out to aid," he said offering her his hand to shake which she did by enveloping his much smaller paw in hers and sealing the deal.

After an hour or two more of rest and a good hot meal that Lena prepared for them both of Reddeer stew Nicholas dressed himself and the pair were ready for the off.

Despite her giving him the option to ride on the sleigh due to his still injured status Nicholas was adamant that he would walk alongside it and not be a further burden to her.

So as she pulled the sleigh through the thick powdery snow her new human companion walked alongside it and kept watch for further threats which she had to admit caused her to admire him further, this human was a determined one despite his stature, it spoke volumes of his true character.

As they trekked the pair conversed about a multitude of topics including how Nicholas had come to join this group and even how Lena had come to be living in a cave far away from the bastions of 'civilisation' though given how she had been treated by said civilized people the term was incredibly loose in Lena's opinion.

Upon hearing her story or rather severely watered-down version of it Nicholas looked horrified.

"Oh my, that's horrific! While I know I am in no position to apologise to you on behalf of an entire species please know that it brings me great shame to be associated with such vile behaviour, in a world as harsh and unforgiving we need every good and noble soul to pull together to make it whole again, regardless of their origins or their species all should be welcome as mere denizens of this place, the only way we are going to heal this place we all call home is if we not only put aside our differences but embrace our strengths to unify into one whole," he said both sadly and defiantly.

Lena had to admit that he had a very noble and enlightened way of looking at things and as she was about to discover he was not the only one.

It took them a great many hours to make the journey to the faraway settlement that had called out for aid but thanks to Lena's relentless determination and strength they made excellent time.

Soon enough they found themselves looking at the now not-so-distant lights of the town called Winter's Bane.

As they drew closer Lena began to pick up on the sights and smells of a not-so-distant battle that had taken place here.

The whole town itself had a large wall built up around it to protect the residents from roaming predators of the quadrupedal and bipedal variety.

Soon enough they began to see bodies littering the ground outside the walls of the town and the sheer number of them both surprised and impressed Lena.

All of them seemed to belong to the Raiders by the way they were dressed.

It seemed that even up here in the frozen North these fuckers could not shed their obsession with leather and spikes having strapped the outside of their protective fur coats with very tell-tale spiked bandoliers and leather patches embossed with various artwork of the not-so-subtle kind.

As they approached the large sliding gate of the town the pair suddenly found themselves bathed in a brilliant white light that blinded them both.

"Halt! Friend or foe?" a challenging voice called from one of the watch towers above the gates.

"Friends! We have travelled here in answer to your call upon the radio, I am Nicholas from the Brothers and Sisters of Mercy and this is Lena Ironclaw who aided me in my perilous journey," Nicholas called up to the unseen sentinal.

"Wait there and do not make any stupid moves!" the guard yelled and moments later the gates began to open but what it revealed shocked the pair of them.

A group of armed humans samed out of the gate to surround the pair but it wasn't them that paused the pair of them, it was the massive Deathclaw and what appeared to be a half spider half human that was with them.

The spider seemed to be some kind of Huntsman by her incredibly long legs and patchwork grey and white fur, well what fur they could see as her entire body was swaddled in thick furs that had been expertly stitched into a coat and cloak mixture that covered her entire body.

Meanwhile, the large Deathclaw was blatantly a male by his size and shape and he too was wrapped in equally expertly stitched furs.

The male Deathclaw strode up to them confidently with each of his steps causing a thud on the concrete hidden beneath the thinned-out snow above the concrete road on which they stood.

"Ahh, you must be Nicholas the human I spoke to on the radio! It is a pleasure to meet you in person at last and your arrival couldn't be more timely!" the massive male Claw boomed before reaching out and grabbing the surprised human's hand to shake it.

"Indeed, I tell you what this stuff is gonna go a seriously long way, especially these blankets, I am getting sick of patching up the holes in those thin excuses for blankets we have around here, Protector of Archnakai swear I was a bloody orb weaver or something, I'm starting to get bloody sore spinnerets with the amount of silk I'm going through, if my booty gets any smaller I'm not gonna be able to shake it for my human!" the Hustman said scuttling her way over to the sleigh and apprising ists contents approvingly.

"Oh don't worry yourself there Helena I'm sure that human boy of yours would probably still drool over it if it was the size of a peanut if all the bite marks I keep seeing in your furry ass are anything to go by," the big male Claw said with a fang-filled grin.

"Hey never joke about an Archnakai lady's booty and I won't start joking about tail size oh scaly one!" Helena shot back as she lifted up a massive and very warm-looking knitted woollen blanket from the sleigh to admire it.

The male Claw roared with laughter and then turned his grin towards Nicholas.

"It doesn't matter the species quickest way to get a girl hopping mad is to start making booty jokes am I right? I bet an enlightened human like yourself knows exactly what I'm talking about given your choice in companion there?" he said gesturing towards Lena.

"No human is brave enough to joke about my rear end!" Lena growled before Nicholas had the chance to even say a word.

"See?" the male Claw said with an even broader grin then he turned and gestured to the group of humans around them.

"Alright guys let's get these good people inside and get them some food, they have come a long way on this mission of mercy and we're gonna show them how the Free Peoples rewards such acts!" he yelled and there was a cheer from the group as they came forwards to take the sleigh from Lena who relinquished it with a nod from Nicholas.

"I'm Sal Furyswipe by the way, but don't let my name scare you I'm an ok guy, though I can tell you what after being sent up here to spread the word and help the good people of this place I doubt I'll ever complain about the rain in bloody Boston again," the big male Claw said guiding the pair int othe town proper as the group of humans pulled the sleigh with Helena now perched atop of it past them and what the pair of them took their breath away.

The town was predominantly human but there were a whole host of non-humans running around helping out.

From Nightstalkers to armoured scorpions, Banshees and even humanoid Avians to name but a few.

Then there were the Claws a large group of the Deathclaws that most people knew but also there were some that looked like oversized alligators wandering around.

But it wasn't just their presence that really grabbed the attention, it was the way they were interacting with the humans around them, quite a lot of it was rather um intimate.

Lena felt her muzzle fall open as she spied what looked remarkably like a bipedal female wolfess locked in a very passionate kiss with a human male before she hoisted him into the air and quickly carried him away into one of the buildings.

Sal seemed to notice her gaze and he chuckled out loud.

"Yeah some of the things you might see here might shock you somewhat as some of the Free Peoples are not exactly subtle or even discreet when it comes to our passions," he said before guiding the pair towards what appeared to be an aid station in the centre of the town.

For over an hour, the pair sat and watched as the attendants of the station which appeared to be some of what they called Gator Claws diligently went through the aid that she and Nicholas had delivered and then set about distributing it but it was the large bag at the back of the sleigh that really got Lena's heart melting.

You see Nicholas and his people hadn't only packed that sleigh with the bare necessities of life here in the frozen wastes, they had managed to rustle up an entire sack filled with a plethora of toys and games for the cubs of the town and now the pair of them got treated to the sight of a rather large male Gator Claw dressed as Santa handing them out to the children of the town.

By the time it was time for the pair to leave the strange town they had leaned more than they would have ever thought possible, as they walked that little Nightstalker in her brain was steadily chewing the fuck out of her inhibitions until there was nothing left to hide behind.

"Well that was certainly illuminating, I knew that the Free Peoples were different but wow I never expected that, but it was certainly good to see, I mean look at all of those different races of people just coming together and working to make a wonderful whole, it was incredible don't you think?" Nicholas said as the pair walked back now pulling the empty sleigh behind them.

"Yes coming together was certainly what many of them seemed to be doing," Lena said a little absent-mindedly.

"Oh and have you given more thought to what boon I may pay you back for all of your aid with, you did say that you would have your decision by the time we were done here and you have been oddly quiet?" Nicholas asked.

Lena glanced at him and then took a deep breath and nodded.

"You did say that I may have anything in your power to give correct?" she asked and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! I am a man of my word I'll have you know!' he said with determination in his voice that spurred her even further.

"Good then my reward shall be you," she said quickly before her nerve left her.

Nicholas stopped and his eyes went wide as he looked up at her.

"M-Me?" he asked in surprise and Lena nodded her large head.

"Indeed, seeing that place and those people opened my eyes to what is truly possible in this world and it showed me that humans and non-humans can not only exist together in peaceful coexistence but together forge something new and wonderful, I have spent pretty much my entire life roaming and hiding for your kind for the want of not being hunted like an animal, but today I learned I can have my deepest wants and needs fulfilled most beautifully by one I never expected, you gave me your word now will you honour it, Nicholas?" Lena said marching over to tower over him with her hands on her wide powerful hips as she awaited his answer.

Nicholas swallowed hard and then balled his fists as if steeling himself before nodding.

"I gave you my word and so it shall be, if your wish for reward is me then I shall be your prize, let no man or woman of any race say that Nicholas Journeyman is a welcher of deals or a word breaker, I accept your terms but simply ask that you treat me gently," he said and for the first time in her life, Lena felt a smile light her face that showed off her large teeth.

Lena reached down and cupped the handsome human's face in her large hands.

"You need not worry about that pretty one, you are in the very best of paws now and I will show you how warm and wonderful the depths of winter can truly be," she said before bending down to run her long tongue over the side of his neck and cheek and allowing the salty taste to sparkle on her tongue before plucking him off his feet and placing him in the sleigh.

"As my prize, you shall ride in comfort back to my home for I expect you to be rested for it will be my turn to ride in comfort next," she said in what she hoped came across as a playful voice causing Nicholas to swallow hard but simply nod in response.

As she pulled the sleigh along behind her containing her prize Lena had to force herself to not skip and what made it all the more alluring was the fact that she could feel Nicholas's eyes on her ample rump as she walked.

She had never had a male looking at her in that way before and it lit a fire deep inside her that warmed her from the very depths of her nether regions putting a true haste in her step.

Although she knew he couldn't see it her little fluffy tail was wagging like an over-excited dog as she walked, never in her life before had she felt so alive and well aroused and it was all because of a human of all things.

After what felt like an eternity Lena finally saw her mountain looming into view just as dawn was breaking over the horizon and she had to resist the urge to not break into a full-on run as her excitement threatened to overwhelm her.

But finally, after the slog up the slop of her mountain was at an end they arrived back on the plateau outside of her cave and before he could move Lena spun around and plucked Nicholas from his seat in the sliegh and lifted him into the air before her.

"I could feel your eyes on my bum the entire way here little human, did you enjoy the view I granted you?" she asked in her deep growly voice but trying to add a purr to it.

Nicholas blushed as red as his cape and clothing but he still nodded trying hard to meet her eyes as he did and the adorable look on his face at being caught out set Lena's heart ablaze with want.

"Well then I'm sure you would like the opportunity to admire it much closer up and in far more detail would you not?' she asked and once again he nodded though this time he spoke in a rather raspy voice.

"Yes, I would like that very much," he said making her grin.

"Then you shall get your wish my pretty little human as I shall get mine," she said and with that, she turned and headed for the cave entrance with Nicholas still dangling from her large paws.

As soon as they were inside she quickly deposited him on the bed of furs before quickly turning and lighting not only her fire but all of her lamps as well, the last thing she did was to roll the large bolder that served as a door into the entrance of her cave, there was not going to be any distractions this night, she would not allow it.

As she turned back she saw Nicholas nervously fidgeting on the bed where she had placed him and she felt a sudden rush of tenderness, it was obvious the young human had no clue how he was supposed to fulfil her desires in the way that she found herself now yearning for but she could see a defiant and determined glint in his pretty eyes, he was steeling himself to learn on the job so to speak.

Lena walked over to him rolling her wide hips as she did in a way she hoped came off as sultry and appealing she had never had to try and seduce a male before and not a human one so she had no idea what would appeal to him but she already knew one ace was up her sleeve, or rather in her pants, he liked her big furry bum.

Lena leaned down and very gently stroked Nicholas's face with her large furry hand and to her delight he leaned into her touch and then proceeded to kiss each and every one of her furry fingers.

"I am not sure how I should proceed to please a lady such as you Lena but you have my word that I will do my very best for you, I shall ensure that this night is one we both remember for as long as we both shall live," he said softly and Lena could not resist, she leaned down and gently licked his face.

"Do not be afraid Nicholas, I will not hurt you I swear it, I wish to relish you not harm you, so please relax and simply enjoy yourself," she said softly.

To Lena's surprise and pure delight, Nicholas turned and pressed his incredibly soft human lips to the very tip of her muzzle in something akin to a kiss but it felt truly wonderful all the same.

Tilting her head slightly Lena opened her mouth and to her joy, as her large tongue brushed his lips he parted them and allowed her access to his mouth.

The taste was indescribable, there was nothing on this earth that she had ever tasted like this before.

A warm sweetness flooded her mouth as her tongue snaked its way into his and before she knew what was happening it seemed her paws had grown a mind of their own and they knew exactly what they wanted.

Her large fingers were fighting back the nervous excitement as they undid all of the fasteners holding on Nicholas's clothing before slowly peeling him out of them piece by piece until once more he was sat in nought but his underwear on her bed, though this time there was an incredibly noticeable bulge in the front of those loose shorts of his.

Slowly and sensually Lena ran her large hand over that bulge through the thin cotton of his shorts and even through it and her fur she could feel both the heat and the throbbing of his maleness.

Nicholas gasped as her fingers teased along the length hidden within his shorts.

"It seems my human likes it when his bear touches him here hmm?' she growled softly and Nicholas nodded as he gasped again.

Slowly she inserted her hand under the waistband of his shorts and using one of her claws she very very gently and slowly traced along the side of his throbbing manhood before gripping it and making sure to keep her claw tips clear of it.

It seemed that Nicholas's hands had also grown brave as suddenly through the fog of her lust and desire Lena became aware of his much smaller hands roaming over her large body in search of the clasps that held her clothing on.

"Hmm it seems that a little unfairness has crept in between us my sweet Nicholas, here I am enjoying you laid near bare and here you are unable to enjoy your bear the same way, so let us fix that," she said softly before rising up off the bed and standing before him in the firelight.

Slowly and as sensually as she could muster Lena began to shed both her armour and the clothing that it hid and with each piece that hit the floor, she could see Nicholas's beautiful blue eyes getting wider and wider until they dominated his wonderful face.

The last pieces that she was to shed were the binder that held her rather sizeable breasts in check as well as the cloth that protected her loins, she decided that when she removed this last piece she would give him a show, she was going to pull out her ace.

So after releasing the knot that held her binder in place and letting her large furry breasts fall free, she turned her back to him and with a slow sensual wiggle she bent double and pulled the leather material down her long legs aiming her large furry bum right at him and she even lifted her little fluffy tail and gave it a little wiggle to truly entice his eyes.

It worked beautifully, Nickolas's large blue eyes were locked onto the succulent feminine treats that that cloth had hidden and now that her tail was lifted his gaze was locked onto one place in particular.

"It seems that you truly have a thing for my tail end my pretty little human, tell me would you like a closer look or maybe something more, do speak up now and tell me the truth?" Lena purred softly as she shook her rear from side to side tantalizingly while also wiggling her fluffy little tail while keeping it up.

"I-I-I want to taste it, I want to taste all of you!" Nicholas blurted out before going bright red at such a lewd admittance and Lena grinned all over her muzzle.

"Oh is that so? Such a bold request little one, well how could I deny such boldness, well why not?" she said turning and slowly walking towards the bed again towering over her pretty little human as she did.

Slowly she got onto the bed on all fours and then turned herself around so that her bum was facing him, teasingly she kept her little tail lowered until just the right moment when she lifted it and gave it a little wiggle again to draw his attention where she really wanted it, not that she needed to as his eyes were glued there.

When his prize was revealed to him Lena saw him lick his lips through her legs and she teasingly swayed her rear back and forth before him.

"Well what are you waiting for my human, dive right in and enjoy your treat?" she said softly and Nicholas scrambled up onto his knees behind her and what she felt next took her breath away.

Nicholas's hot, soft human lips pressed tightly against her incredibly sensitive tail hole and his tongue darted out from between them before slathering all over her incredibly sensitive forbidden flesh.

Lena couldn't help herself, a growl of purest pleasure and joy burst out of her like a grenade had gone off in her chest.

It felt like heaven had been given flesh and form before that flesh had been given to her to enjoy.

She was suddenly convinced that this was no mere human male licking her anus like his life depended on it but an Angel who had one singular purpose, to make her forget every single reason why she had grown up hating and fearing humans through the power of mind-numbing pleasure.

Lena lowered her upper hand down onto the bed so that her bum rose higher and gave him better access and Nicholas rewarded her by pushing that delightful little tongue of his up inside of her bum.

As she felt his incredibly hot squirming organ swirling around and tasting her insides Lena could barely form a cognitive thought, with every single lick along the sensitive walls of her rectum, Nicholas seemed to take away part of her ability to have sentient thought and in its place leaving a burning hot pleasure the likes of which she had never dared to dream real.

It seemed that Nicholas was not simply content to taste of her forbidden fruit, he wished to touch as well and while one of his delightful little human hands was squeezing her ample rump and sending all sorts of tingles up her spine making her tail go crazy with its dancing his other hand had snuck its way in between her powerful thighs and was now creeping up the inside of one of them, its destination was yearning his arrival.

No sooner had those dextrous little fingers arrived than they set to work, peeling apart her slicked lower lips and diving in between them, Lena let out another loud growl of purest pleasure as she felt him stroking along the insides of her soaking and slippery folds, seemingly seeking out something in particular.

It did not take him long to find what he was looking for and when he did oh boy was she glad he had.

Nicholas pinched her clitoris between his thumb and forefinger and gently rolled it back and forth between them and the pleasure that exploded inside of her was like someone setting off a mini nuke inside of a garage.

Lena bellowed out a roar of pure ecstasy as her very first human-induced orgasm exploded through her bathing her insides with flaming pleasure.

As Nicholas slowly pulled his surprisingly long tongue from her now well-licked tailhole he gave it a little parting kiss which her clenching hole returned very eagerly.

"Did I do well Lena? Was it everything you had hoped for?' Nicholas asked softly and Lena responded not with words at first but with actions.

She spun around and hoisting the little human up she laid him down on his back somewhat pinning him beneath her weight, she was as tender and non-aggressive as her aroused state would allow her to be.

"You did more than just well my beautiful male, you have awoken something in me that I feared I would never experience and now you are going to revel in it with me, so brace yourself little human for tonight you are getting the bear," she said in a deep growling voice before running her hand down his long body and yanking away his underwear.

Finally, her truest prize was revealed to her and it was even more beautiful than she could have hoped for, seven inches of pure human masculinity stood proudly upright resting against the fur of her belly, throbbing away its silent call to action.

Reaching down between her thighs Lena gripped it tightly and guided it into its new home, rubbing it against her virgin labial lips before with one swift and powerful thrust seating the entirety of him inside of her where he belonged.

Nicholas responded by letting out a deeply pleasured moan of surprise as his manhood was gripped from all sides by what felt like a mixture of hot velvet and liquid silk.

Lena placed both of her large hands on his shoulders and held him against the bed as she began to thrust downwards into him causing their pelvises to collide over and over as his human flesh scraped and swirled against her feminine bear flesh deep within her.

The whole bed rocked and creaked under their combined weight and the force of their coupling, Lena was making sure that she took the vast majority of her weight in her knees and giving just enough to keep him pinned in place beneath her, he had nearly drowned her in joy with what he had done with her tail hole and his tongue now she was going to drown him in joy with her womanhood, well that was if her didn't drown her a second time.

Lena simply could not believe how incredible this felt, human cock buried deep in her pussy making her lose her ever-loving mind, this little human was making her crazy and drawing out a side of her that she had never even known existed.

But it also seemed that her passion was having a knock-on effect on Nicholas as he was far from content to simply lay there and just take it, he was going on the attack again.

One of his hands came up and steadied one of her large swaying breasts that were rocking with her relentless rhythm and as soon as he had it stopped he latched his mouth onto the erect nipple that was peeking through her thick brown fur.

This sent a jolt of pleasure through Lena's whole body as he began to swirl it around with that talented tongue of his but this wasn't the only thing he was up to, thanks to his mouth distracting her she failed to notice that hand of his had snuck back between her massive thighs again and was now attacking her clit once more.

This sudden attack caused Lena to clench down hard as well as push down hard on him, this resulted in what felt like a liquid explosion in her womb and it wasn't until she heard the deep guttural moan of pleasure that she realized she had made him cum deep inside of her and what was more the sensation of it tipped her over the edge as well.

Lena joined him in his pleasure-filled roar and collapsed forwards barely managing to catch herself before crushing her beautiful human on her bed or rather their bed as she would be damned if she was ever going to let him out of it ever again, she would not let anyone or thing take this joy away from her, this human was hers now and she was going to protect him and make sure he was happy every single day of his life because if he rewarded her with this then it would be life more than well spent.

The pair of them lay panting softly together for a bit before Lena slowly rolled herself off him but to her delight Nicholas was in no mood to simply let her go.

He turned onto his side and buried both his hands and his face into her fur clinging tightly to her like his life depended on it, like she were a warm furry liferaft on a sea of chaos.

"I'm going to guess that you enjoyed what we just did my handsome little human?' Lena panted.

"More than enjoyed it my big beautiful bear, I relished every single second of it and if God above is kind enough to will it for me I will relish it every night from now until my time to lay down in eternal rest comes," he said.

Lena lifted her head and looked him right in the eyes.

"Do not make such a pledge lightly little human as I will hold you to it," she said warningly.

"As long as you hold that divine tail end of your against me again you can hold whatever else you wish against me and I will be happy with it," he said making Lena bark out a laugh.

"Well then wish granted Nicholas from this day forwards you belong to me and I to you and you may relish my tailend as much as you please for I will relish you in every way possible as well," she said laying her head back down.

"You funny thing, as I and my brethren from the Brothers and Sisters of Mercy were travelling I saw a shooting star and stupid as it sounds I made a wish upon it," he said.

"What did you wish for?" Lena asked curiously as she felt him snuggle against her tightly.

"For happiness to find me in whatever form it may take, Lena my wish came true, you are my happiness," he said his words melting her heart like ice before the fires of hell.

"Are you sure it is not my bum that is your happiness?" she joked and he barked a laugh into her furry side.

"That is but a part of my happiness, granted a rather large and incredibly beautiful not to mention surprisingly tasty part, but simply a part all the same, you are my happiness Lena Iornclaw, simply you," he said.

"As you are mine, my little human, it seems this night and for every night into the future you shall get the bear because now the bear has you," she said.

"And I couldn't be happier, I got my Christmas wish," he said softly before falling soundly asleep thanks to the warmth of her fur.

"As did I Nicholas, as did I," she said.

The End

A very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a fantastic new year to one and all, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for reading my works this year and although somewhat self-serving heres to many more together.

GhostNobody.