Chapter 93: Prey.
"Whoa! Take it easy!" Raymond exclaimed as Lia dragged him into their room and closed the door behind them and by the heavy clunk noise he heard she was making sure it was locked behind her though whether that was to stop anyone entering or him from escaping was definitely up for debate here.
They had just finished a rather delicious and hearty meal laid on by Abigail the mother hen that ran this establishment and whom was definitely a subscriber to the ideology of overfeeding her guests as not even with the appetites of his group could they finish all that was laid on for them.
After the glorious meal and a lot of merciless teasing from the fussing hen genus woman over both himself and Lia, the big Claw girl had half dragged half carried Raymond away from the table towards their room, leaving zero wiggle room to the imagination as to what she had intended for the pair of them.
Lia turned from the door to face him and her body language made her look like she was about to start a wrestling match with him, she has crouched low with her feet wide apart and her legs bunched like she was readying herself to leap at him.
Her tail swished back and forth thumping against both the door and one of the wooden walls of the bathroom that lead off from the main door to the right.
Raymond could feel the intensity of her stare as she narrowed her eyes on him turning her vertical pupils into a pair of slits as she seemingly sized him up, "Umm Lia what are you doing?' he asked as he watched her begin to circle him.
"Hunting you, I'm going to prove once and for all that I am the only Claw worthy of you and thanks to that hearty meal I have the strength of five Claws and there is no way you shall defeat me tonight my handsome green male, tonight I shall claim my prize!" she growled lowing her top half to the ground and gently running her claws over the wood making it crackle and pop slightly under her weight.
"Umm I think you might be mistaken here Lia I said I'd be your mate not duel you, combat isn't exactly my strong point nor is it necessary here," Raymond said as he watched the big Claw girl circling him slowly seemingly making each and every movement and oddly arousing mixture of both predatory and sensual that played merry hell with his senses as he tried and failed to tear his eyes from her seductive scaly curves not to mention her bulging and tensed muscles.
'Nonsense! A duel of claim is absolutely necessary! It shows the pure truth of both party's hearts and wills, the only way I can truly claim you is to defeat you because a claim duel is a winner take all, if I win I get you all of you unashamed and true, if you defeat me then you get the option to leave me as an inferior Claw or claim me, in combat there can be no lies, no honied words, no half-truths or deceptions, there is only the truth of one's heart and will raw and unadulterated, this is the way of all true Claws!" Lia said proudly arching her back a bit like a cat stretching and flicking her tail back and forth after stretching it out.
"Funny I can't remember either Seven, Gregory or Chris having to duel their Claw," Raymond said.
"That is because those would be one-sided unfair duels with no chance for the weaker of the two to win, that is not a duel that is subjection and it is not what those Claws wished to think about it, how could Gregory win in hand-to-hand combat against Ven? Or Chris against my Matriarch or even Visa against Seven? They would be totally dominated and defeated before the fight even got started, Ven and my Matriarch would simply crush their humans breaking them and injuring them maybe even worse which is not the point of this in the slightest, hell Visa wouldn't even get off the starting block before Seven would have subdued her, so none of those duels would have been fair or true, but with us it is different we are evenly matched!" she declared proudly as if it was something that should have been blatantly obvious to him.
"So for me to know the truth of your heart I have to fight you?" Raymond said sounding both confused and incredulous.
"Exactly because then and only then will we know the truth of our feelings for one another! I will see the truth of your worth and you will see mine! Now make ready handsome one for we fight for love and the right of the first night!" she exclaimed and Raymond held up a hand to halt her as she bunched up like she was going to pounce.
Raymond's mind desperately searched for a way to stop this before it got started as he really didn't want to fight her and this really wasn't what he'd had in mind when he'd accepted her feelings for him, while he had been in combat many time by now it wasn't exactly something he sought out where in his mind it could be avoided.
"Wait! We can't do this in here!" he exclaimed stopping her almost mid-release.
"What? Why not?" she exclaimed impatiently.
"Look at the size of this room, we'll trash it and that would shame us both and our entire group in front of our hosts, we are trying to make a good impression on these people and I think it would be a pretty poor spectacle if we trash their hospitality don't you?" Raymond exclaimed gesturing around himself to the size of the room which made Lia stop and look around before looking thoughtful.
"You are right Raymond," she said causing him to breathe a sigh of relief which turned out to be short-lived as she moved back to the door and unbolted it.
"Umm where are you going?" he asked.
"Outside of course, if we do not have a big enough arena in here then we shall seek one out there!" Lia declared making Raymond sigh in exasperation, it seemed Claw girls like human males simply did not get hints.
As he followed her out of the room trying desperately to wrack his brains for a way to put an end to this idiotic fighting nonsense they ran into Abigail in the upstairs corridor and by her ruffled and surprised demeanour Raymond had a suspicion that she may have been lurking in hopes of possibly listening in on their antics.
"Going out for a nighttime stroll dearies?" she asked quickly and Lia shook her large horned head.
"No, we are looking for an arena to fight a claim duel!" Lia said as if everyone should know exactly what she was talking about and by the confused look that settled on Abigail's face as she looked at the shrugging Raymond it was obvious she was just as lost as he was.
"Well umm the basement of this place is pretty big, I was meaning to use it as a brewery to brew my own ales so it's been cleared out if that helps?" Abigail said making Raymond groan heavily as Lia's face lit up.
"Thank you my good woman that will be perfect, come Raymond to the basement and on to our destiny!" Lia said grabbing his hand and dragging him off down the corridor with Abigail giving him a both sympathetic and apologetic look as he passed by.
They found the basement pretty easily given that it was the only subterranean place in the whole building and therefore had the only staircase that actually led downwards and to be fair Abigail had not been exaggerating when she had said it was pretty large, everything was made from heavy-duty looking wood and metal and the outer walls were littered with barrels but other than that the centre of the place was clean and well-lit thanks to the large spot lamps affixed into the ceiling.
'This will be perfect Raymond! We shall fight our duel here and finally, you shall see that I am the Claw for you!" Lia said triumphantly as she manoeuvred him into the centre of the room.
"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?" he said and she looked at him in confusion.
"Talk me out of it? Why on earth would you wish to do that? It was you who declared your feelings loudly and proudly for me?" she said tilting her large head as she looked him right in the eyes with an almost accusing stare that made his nerves jangle.
"Yeah well, I didn't exactly envision it leading to hand-to-hand combat when I did Lia, I'm not exactly a lover of fighting you know?" he said and she waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh nonsense, I've seen you fight and you truly are a worthy opponent and it isn't like this is a fight to the death or something, it is merely a test of strength and will, we don't even use our Claws in these things," she said.
"Err I don't have claws Lia and I am not a Claw, I'm a super mutant or did you forget?" Raymond said seemingly confusing her for a moment as she looked at his hands and feet.
But she swiftly recovered and simply grinned at him, "Exactly! Just like I said a worthy opponent, we are evenly matched on strength so the deciding factor will be whose will is strongest!" she declared.
"Can I just surrender now and get it over with?" he asked hopefully and by the aghast and horrified expression that passed over her beautiful face he was going to go out on a limb and hazard a guess at that being a no.
"Surrender before the duel is even fought!? Why would you even suggest such a dishonourable thing?" she exclaimed.
"Err maybe because I don't wish to fight you Lia?" he said his voice growing as exasperated a he was beginning to feel, he was also beginning to realise where the phrase stubborn as a Deathclaw came from.
Once again she waved her hand dismissively, "Oh don't be so silly Raymond, it will be good for both of us, nothing gets the blood going quite like a good duel, it will make the rest of the night far more interesting trust me," she said and with that like that was simply the end of the conversation she moved to the centre of the room and took up her wrestling come about to pounce on him and claw his fucking face off stance.
Raymond sighed heavily and sensing he was going to get no-where trying to talk some sense into her moved to the centre of the room, though a large part of him was actually debating walking away at this point to convey his point if there was one thing he hated more than anything is was simply being dismissed or ignored and right now she was doing both.
That's when he felt a hot rush of anger flow through him, how dare she just gloss over and ignore his opinion like it was not important!
Now he found himself glaring at her as a multitude of thoughts ran through his head and none of them pleasant, the major one was how could she claim to care for him and even love him if she so easily dismissed his opinion like it was worthless?
He felt himself having to suppress a snarl of anger at this little revelation and his eyes locked onto her, tracking her movements and her swishing tail as she waited for him to ready himself, well fucking fine if she wanted a fight then he'd fucking give her one but she might not like the outcome.
Sensing that he had seemingly come around to her way of thinking Lia gave him a dark fang-filled smile and readied herself, "This will be a claim duel to submission or incapacitation, no claws or weapons and no hitting the face, throat or nether regions, do you agree Raymond?' she said in a low deep voice.
"Let's just get this fucking over with," he spat which seemed to surprise her slightly but her determination was driving her forwards so she quickly brushed it off.
"It is a winner take all fight and the winner will have the right of claim or denial upon victory meaning that not only should you win will you have the right to claim the other as your mate for life but you will have one night to do whatever you wish with them unopposed do you agree?' she asked and this put him off balance a little bit, she hadn't mentioned that second part earlier but his anger was still building and clouding his judgement so he simply nodded.
"Then let us fight from the heart handsome one!" she yelled and with that, she lunged at him.
Now while Raymond might not like to fight, infact he absolutely despised doing so being of the opinion that words were always the best way to solve any disagreement or argument, that did not mean he could not fight, infact given that he had spent quite a lot of time-fighting for his very life after he had become what he was now he was rather well acquainted with it.
So as Lia dove at him like a scaly torpedo with her arms outstretched obviously intending to tackle him to the ground he simply sidestepped her and drove a very calculated right hook directly into her solid midriff though he did note that despite the obvious power he did deliver something had made him pull the punch at the last moment, only delivering about half of the power he was capable of, though by the way Lia swung sideways and bounced across the ground still far more than she was obviously expecting.
He was half expecting her to stay down from the impact but no sooner had she slid to a stop than she was back on her feet with her eyes blazing like demonic jewels in her head, "Yes that's the spirit! Fight for what is yours!" she roared and once again launched at him causing him to once again dodge her only this time when he went to throw in the short space punch she whipped her tail around taking his legs from under him forcing him to roll out of the way of the follow-up tail slam that sent an explosion of dust clouding into the air around them, it seemed she really wasn't playing about.
She whipped her tail at him again as he sprang back to his feet and this time he saw it coming bringing up his arms to deflect the blow which still carried more than enough force to send him sliding across the floor but what she wasn't expecting was him to use that momentum to his advantage because as she struck him he grabbed her tail and took her with him pulling her off her feet.
But as he threw down to deliver a hammer-fisted blow to her exposed stomach Lia drew her legs back and kicked out with both of her massive feet impacting heavily against Raymond's chest and sending him flying backwards and slamming down hard on his back before sliding a few feet.
Both pain and anger ignited inside him like two warring torches that were growing hotter by the second each feeding into the other, he was angry that not only was she not listening to him but that she was making him do this, that she was making him abandon his principles to resort to something as barbaric as this to prove his heart and his worth when it was she who had pursued him and he who had already declared his heart to her.
"RAHHHH Why won't you listen to me!?" he bellowed catching her mid jump and throwing her backwards across the room and stopping her follow-up leap with a massive kick that caught her right in the stomach and sent her flying.
"Damn you for making me do this! Damn you for making me fight you! Damn you for making me hate myself more than I already do! I thought you understood me, that you understood that I fucking hate fighting and fucking hate violence! I thought you were supposed to care about me and my feelings but you're just like everyone else! So if you want the fucking monster then here he fucking is!" Raymond snarled loudly as the rage began to take over.
Raymond didn't know whether his words affected Lia or not though she did seem to hesitate before striking back at him after he'd spoken which allow him to throw a harrying flurry of punches into her but she seemed prepared for them blocking them with both her powerful arms and her tail before striking back faster than lightning and punching him while he was mid-throw and taking the wind right out of his lungs as her knuckles crunched into his midriff.
Well, she was right about one thing as he tasted his own blood in his mouth but felt no pain thanks to the mixture of adrenaline and rage, it really did get the blood going and it was true that it did truly bring out the person within you, there was no mask, there were no half-truths here, only combat pure and simple.
Rather than follow up her punch Lia circled him as if wither waiting for him to make another move or to analyse him, she hadn't said a word since the beginning and he wondered why that was, did she now have nothing to say to him now that she knew the truth of how he was feeling?
Did she think him a coward for not wanting to fight for her like this?
Was she disgusted with him for said perceived cowardice?
These and many more questions ran through Raymond's rage-clouded mind and added to the dark cloud that was building within the depths of his mind, but suddenly out of no-where she lunged at him and this time because he was so distracted by the questions he didn't have time to dodge and took the full brunt of her assault right to the chest sending him sprawling backwards again and slamming into the floor with a crash that not only winded him but did something else by the feel of the sharp crack from somewhere in his chest.
But Raymond barely felt anything but anger now and as Lia scrambled to try and pin his limbs he kicked out at her to try and shake him off her, as it turned out was a mistake and one that she had anticipated him making somehow.
Quick as a flash she grabbed his leg and locked it spinning on the spot to place a large clawed foot on his chest sending a sparkling explosion of pain throughout his chest and upper body as she turned herself and locked the leg at an awkward angle while using her weight to pin his top half down.
"Submit, you are defeated," she snarled darkly.
Raymond bellowed a roar that was both a mixture of pain, anger and indeed sorrow, once again he had failed to make his point, all people had ever seen him as was a brutal beast since he'd become this thing, people thought him only capable of violence and destruction and even now when he'd been forced to try and prove his point through exactly those means he had failed.
Raymond fought against the restraint, against her will to subdue him, he put every bit of strength he had into resisting her and fighting back, he ignored the pain, ignored the anger, ignored the sorrow and instead focused on pure willpower and determination but it simply wasn't enough, when she saw that she wasn't going to be able to hold him like this as he began to thrash himself free undoubtedly damaging himself in the process by the sharp stabs of pain in his chest as he did Lia brought her tail down on his stomach hard to knock the wind out of him before once again spinning only this time she flipped him over on his front pinned his weight down with hers and locked his right arm behind his back to the point where it felt like it was going to pop out of his socket.
'Submit! I do not wish to hurt you!" Lia snarled making Raymond's heart ache with even more sorrow.
"Too late for that, fine you want to win so badly, take it I hope it's worth it," he snarled bitterly, he knew that this time he truly had failed, he'd given it his all and was beaten so he slammed his hand into the ground to show submission and defeat and with it went his pride.
That's when Lia did something surprising, rather than jump up and start bouncing around in celebrating her victory like he'd expected her to, she instantly released his arm and shifted her position to his side where with a single slow and precise movement she rolled him onto his side and wrapped her arms and her tail around him from behind turning him into a little spoon.
She pressed her snout into the back of his neck and held him tightly, "I'm sorry," she said softly which made his anger freeze in place like cold plasma.
"W-W-What did you say?" he stammered.
"I said I'm sorry Raymond for showing you that side of yourself and making you confront it, I know it's hard and I know it hurts but I needed you to see it and to know that even when you fall and fail I will still be here for you, this is what the Claim duel is supposed to do, it's supposed to make us see our true selves while also showing it to the other person, so I got to see you without the mask and you got to see me without mine, I saw you at your worst and I didn't realise just how bad your life has been or how opposed to violence you are until you spoke those words and I saw it in your eyes, you hate yourself and you hate what you see as a monster inside you but I need you to know that it's not a monster and even if it is I accept it," she said softly.
Raymond's mind began to whirl like a maelstrom, what in the name of hell was happening here, what was this?
It was like someone had flipped a switch in Lia, she'd gone from supremely confident and powerful Claw to gentle and compassionate caregiver in what felt like a heartbeat.
"I-I-I am a monster Lia, I see it in every set of eyes that look at me," Raymond stammered as the walls of his mind didn't so much crack more and began to crumble into dust.
A large scaley hand reached around his chin and turned him so that he was looking up at her as she leaned over him and looked down at him, "So what? How is that a bad thing?" she said and Raymond's brow furrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean? Who the hell would want to be a monster?" he exclaimed.
"Well me for one," she said and now he was even more confused so she continued.
"I am a Claw and I am proud of it, humans and many other races see us as mindless monsters who will kill you as soon as look at you which is fair enough given that a great many of my feral breathern can be aggressive and given how fearsome we must look to something like a human it is understandable, but that doesn't mean I am any less proud of being a Claw, if anything it makes me prouder to be a Noble Claw one of the lucky few who have a a true mind to call our own, a mind capable of compassion, understanding and most importantly love, it was something I finally understood when I first set eye on you but I could also see that there was a massive conflict within you, something that you needed to face to break free of it, to see who you truly are and to accept it so you can move forwards that's why I initiated the claim duel and yes you were right technically I did not need to do so because you had already accepted me as your mate, so I could have just let it be, but I knew you needed to see who and what you truly are and to see that not only do I accept it but Ido not fear it or you, you let truly loose on me and did I run or cower from you even when you screamed hurtful things at me?" she said.
Her words stung Raymond's heart now and a wave of guilt hit him as he truly saw what she had been trying to do and he also felt like an absolute shit for doubting the intelligence of a being who grew up in a pack of Claws, Lia truly saw more and understood more than he ever could.
"I'm sorry for saying those things Lia my anger blinded me and I wanted to hurt you for what you were making me do but despite my anger, I knew I could not use my fists to their true potential because I did not want to risk truly harming you, so I just said the first things that came to mind, fuck I'm so fucking sorry," he said and she shook her large horned head.
"I am glad you are and I thank you for those words but you do not need to be sorry Raymond, that was the whole point, it was to try and get you to let go and to lose control to see that even at your worst and most out of control that I was still there with you, going toe to toe with you, without fear of you because I love you and I trust you and by the looks of it by what you've just said it turns out my heart was right o the mark in you because even at your worst you still couldn't bring yourself to truly hurt me even though you had countless chances to and even I know that hell I know in my heart that as proud of a Claw and as good as a warrior I am if you had truly let go you would have taken me down and out easily," she said.
Her words shocked Raymond and in his mind, it was like someone had just picked up the pieces of his broken and shattered heart and reforged them into something far stronger and more whole than it ever was before because now it was solid, it was not fractured or damaged, it was whole, he was whole and it was all thanks to this wonderful young woman.
Raymond ignored the flaring pain in his chest as he turned over to face her and Lia gripped him tightly and held him as she looked at him right in the eyes, "Thank you, Lia, thank you so so much for this, no one has ever gone so far for me like ever, I thought you didn't understand me that you were simply doing this to satisfy some Claw tradition at my expense because I am strong enough to be able to resist you but that was never the point and I see it now, it doesn't matter what I am only who I am, if people are going to judge me on what I look like then there's nothing I can do about it other than show them how very wrong they are by my actions," he said and a large fang-filled smile lit Lia's face from horn to horn.
"Exactly and no you truly see who you are you will also see who you can become and what you can do as well, because no matter how hard or bad things get I will be right here where I'm meant to be, at your side, always," Lia said reaching up and stroking his cheek with her large claw-tipped fingers.
Raymond couldn't help himself, he just had to show her exactly what that meant to him, he reached up and clasp her large hand in his and brought every single finger to his lips to kiss each one before entwining them together in a knot of unity, "Thank you, Lia, you have no idea how much this and you mean to me right now, I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to thank you for this," he said and she smiled.
"Oh but I do, more than you'll ever know big guy, now come on we gotta get that rib of yours sorted out and then we can start planning you your thanks," she said climbing to her feet before reaching down and hoisting him to his feet by the armpits so she didn't put too much weight on his rib.
Raymond looked at her in surprise and she gave him a grin, "What you thought I didn't notice your rib break? Trust me it took literally all of my strength not to stop the duel there and then when that happened, it's why I got so angry all of a sudden but it wasn't with you, it was with myself for hurting you, if it wasn't for the fact that you were so close to breaking through your shell I'd have binned it there and then, but for what it's worth I am deeply sorry for it Raymond, now come along and we'll get it sorted out, I want my man comfortable for tonight," she said reaching out and gently placing a hand on his chest above the fractured rib but placing no pressure on it so it didn't hurt.
"Thanks but it'll be alright ain't the worst I've had," Raymond said and Lia gave him a sly smile.
"Did it sound like I was giving you a choice big boy? Did you forget the rules of the duel, you lost and that means for twenty for hours I get to do exactly what I want with you and right now that heals and pamper you so get your big green tailless rear end up those stairs to the bedroom before I put you over my shoulder and carry you up there," Lia said in a rather commanding but still playful tone.
Raymond sighed and then chuckled to himself while shaking his head, once a Claw girl always a Claw girl, "Yes ma'am," he said and she grinned as she fell into step behind him.
As they were walking back Abigail appeared again and it was obvious that she had been listening in to them, both their fight and their conversation as she was holding a large tub of an odd-looking hot liquid that was white and grey in colour in both hands while over her shoulder she had large fluffy towels, while she was also carrying what appeared to be a med kit of some kind.
"Whew you two that was quite something, I could hear you both from all the way up here and that basement is triple reinforced and soundproofed because I've been told that the stills can be quite loud, but anyway I figured you'd need these, this is a restorative balm of my own making good for dealing with bruises though how it'll work on scales I don't quite know but I brought these too just in case, human stim packs but given a little more oomph by our smart little doctors, these will fix that broken rib right up in no time," she said holding out the lot to both of them.
Lia beamed at her and took the bowl, towels and the little kit bag from her, "Thank you so much Abigail you are a truly good person, your kindness shines like a beacon," Lia said and the large hen fluffed her feathers and smiled at her.
"Thank ya kindly dearie but I just know a good woman has to take care of her man even when he doesn't know how to take care of himself and that's why it's up to us to help him find his way," she said giving the large Claw a knowing smile that told Raymond she had heard every word spoken between them and was now acting on it.
"True words indeed Abigail and don't worry this one is in good Claw right now and he always will be, I won my heart Claim and now I'm always his," Lia said and with that, they continued off up to their room.
"Right, on the bed, sit and take your shirt off and don't even think about arguing or I'll clip it off you with my claws," Lia said in that commanding tone again.
Raymond followed her order without any complaint but he winced hard as he lifted off his shirt and outer clothing for his upper half, as he threw it down he saw Lia eyeing his bare torso with a very hungry and predatory look in her bright eyes, well that was until they locked onto the large ugly dark bruise on his side and chest where the rib had gone, then it morphed into a look of concern and sadness before becoming one of determination.
"Right human stim pack things first and given how quick these things work on the humans in our group I'll bet they'll work far faster on you given how resilient mutants are," she said drawing one of the large injector guns from the little leather kit bag and trying to figure out how to put her fingers through the little hoops of the injector gun before settling on using her claws and thumb to do it.
She jabbed the needle into the muscle of his chest making him wince but no sooner had the gun injected the medicine within than the pain vanished, this mixture must contain a very powerful painkiller to boot because a warmth spread right over the damaged area like she'd stuck a hot poultice to his flesh.
"Better?' she asked upon seeing his change in expression.
'Much, thanks," he said and she nodded placing the injector down on the table next to her, next up she got one of the sponges that had been wrapped in the fluffy towels and dipped it in the oily liquid so that it soaked some up, then she crouched down in front of him and looked him right in the eye.
"Tell me if this hurts and I'll stop at once," she said and he nodded before the hot sponge touched his skin and added a second layer of heat to him.
Lia's touch was gentle and precise and she was diligent in her work coating not just his wound site but his entire upper torso in the soothing warm oil that seemed to sink into his skin while also leaving it with a freshly waxed-like sheen.
When she was done she stepped back and admired her handiwork, "I like you shiny it makes you look even more handsome, make's it damn hard for a girl to keep her claws to herself you know?" she said and he chuckled.
"I think I get it, it would be like if you had a light bulb on the tip of your tail, would make it damn hard not to reach out and grab it," he said playfully and she grinned at him.
"if you did it I'd pounce on you, if anyone else did it they'd lose an arm," she said and he laughed.
"Alright now the lower half so lose those aggravating bloody covers you insist on wearing," she said and he raised an eyebrow at her but he did as he was told, lifting up his legs so that he could remove his boots before wriggling himself out of his trousers and his underwear and by the purry growl that escaped Lia she very much liked what she saw.
"Looks like I'm going to have to take extra long to do this half, after all, I wouldn't want to miss a single inch now would I?" Lia said in a deep throat and very sultry growl that sent a shiver down Raymond's spine.
"N-No I guess not," he said feeling his heart hammering harder and hard with every step she took closer, oh boy this was going to be a hell of a night he could already tell.