On the Prowl

Luna is wonderful. It is that simple; this girl has me smitten. We have been travelling by foot for two days now, and I don't think I have eaten this well since my mom passed. And not only is she improving the provisions as she did for our first meal together. Now, she has been trying out her new spellrods, honing them in on passing deer, and cooking us fantastic meals afterward. She also had an excellent knowledge of edible plants and fungi that grew near the roadway. These helped to accompany and season the meat, elevating the experience from praiseworthy to prayer worthy.

Her cooking skills make sense, though, as she loves to eat. I think she must eat 2-3 times as much as I do. And I have never been a dainty eater. However, most impressively, she eats the food with such grace that it was only when I noticed how much deer was gone that I understood how much she could put away. Not wanting to ask about it, I tried to catch glimpses of her eating. Upon finally noticing, she didn't get embarrassed as I would expect from a human woman. Instead, she explained to me that beast-people typically have a higher metabolism, explaining her warm body and her ravenous appetite.

I noticed that as she was allowed to eat her heart pleases, she gained a bit of a round softness to her bust, hips, thighs and butt. This was by no means an unwelcome change, as with her adorable floppy ears, that slightly more motherly look suited her better. I would have to get her an apron to wear when she is cooking for me.

Shaking my head to clear it of my afternoon fantasies, I looked over to my right, where the wear the woman of my daydreams was strolling next to me. Whistling a tune foreign to my ears, she had a skip in her step that brought a warmth to my heart. "Gear is worn in a bit more now?" I asked her, checking to see if the leather had started to give at all. "Yes, the oil and heat method you showed me for around the fire has had great success in softening the joints."

As the day started to fade, we pulled off the road to a spot where I started to flatten the earth for our campground. A howl suddenly sounded from the surrounding forest. I paused what I was doing and looked at Luna. She had already assumed a battle stance, both her rods drawn. My Manavision showed me her magic flowing into the crystal in each pistol-shaped spellrod, her fingers on the triggers. A second later, answering the first call, we heard a chorus of howls respond.

Standing from my kneeling position, I brushed myself off and got ready to assume a fighting stance of my own. Before I could, Luna, grinning at me, said, "I will handle these wolves, Master. I want to show you how I can protect you too." I quickly used my Beheld Eyes to check the darkness. Levels 1 through 3, she's got this. Respecting her wish to show her affection and gumption, I moved to a position behind her and told her, "Show me what you can do."

As if they were awaiting my stage direction, A large grey wolf jumped from the foliage, leading around twenty smaller, but still about the size of an Irish Terrier, wolves. Luna sighted the lead wolf's head with both rods, unleashing a shot with each into the face of the leader. As the first shots were leaving the barrels, Luna activated a Scatter Volley. Each of her arms moved outwards in a sweeping motion, each launching eight shots. As I watched the mana bullets head straight for their targets, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My body acting almost on impulse alone, I launched my right gauntleted hand out. I did not punch, but rather, I stuck out my open hand and closed my fingers. I had caught the wolf that had tried to flank around and get me from the back. It was grey like the leader but smaller. His mate, perhaps? It did not matter; I would not let it disappoint Luna. I clutched my hand around its throat. The massive metallic gauntlet muffled a dry snap before I quickly sent the lifeless body to the void for Storage. Luna had not noticed. Good.

Glancing back, there were seventeen lifeless wolves on the ground, including the grey-furred leader. Two more were already struck through the skull with spell blasts and were on their way down. The last two had finally realized the inevitable, but too late, as the dog-eared dealer of death before them, snapped her aim to each of them, aerating those final thoughts with a pure blast of mana each. Luna cocked each of her arms to a 45-degree angle in front of her, the barrels pointing to the sky. The end of each barrel, level with her lips, emitted a wisp of smoke as the still-warm mana crystals let off the remaining radiant energy. Puckering her soft pink lips, she blew to last tendrils of smoke away before spinning each on her fingers and dropping them back into their holsters. Following the move with my eyes, I felt my gaze linger on the alluring lower body between the two holsters.

Snapping my attention back up as she spins around and jogs over to me. Luna skids to a stop in front of me. inclining her upper body at a slight angle towards me, she asks, "How did I do, Master?" Eagerly awaiting my attentions, I hitch my gauntlet to my belt and retrieve my hand, softly placing it on her head. "You did wonderfully; there is no one I would I would rather have on my side than you." I truthfully answered. My hand had a mind of its own as it would alternate from one of her fluffy adorable ears to the other. Each time it would reach an ear, my fingers would splay and run through her hair until her ear was between two of my digits. My fingers would then gently close together, pulling away from her head, letting the smooth, fuzzy ear run between my fingers.

Losing ourselves in the moment, Luna's head, and body following it, slowly rocked closer to my body as she pressed into my chest as I pet her head. As the overpowering stench of iron crept into our noses, we were pulled back from our own little world. "Sorry, Master, I did not mean to..." "Sorry, I got carried away..." Luna and I both spoke our excuses over each other. "I will get to prepping these wolves," Luna said, snapping back to her role as the ever efficient helper. "I will handle the furs if you want to handle the meat?" I offered.

Before long, we had processed all twenty-one wolves from the attack. The twenty-second remained safely hidden in the storage space. I had found the Help section of my System. It provided a Glossary of both terms used in the System and Terms and Skills relevant to this world. I read up on the entry for my Storage ability. I can store any none living thing inside my Storage. It is held in the same state it enters the Storage. That means that all the bits of wolf I am shoving in there right now will not spoil, but be this fresh when I take it out.

For dinner, we tried the new meat. Slightly weirded out by Luna's excitement to try the dish. I guess it is not as weird as people eating primates back on Earth. Wait, what does evolution even look like on this planet. All sorts of races existed here, according to the info I got from the Help section. No, never mind, this line of thinking will just hurt my brain. Back to the wolf meat, I found it not as tough or as gamey as I expected. Yet even still, it was not my favourite meat I have ever had.

After dinner, I immediately lay down on top of the sleeping bag and fell asleep. Luna had told me to rest, as she wanted to handle the cleanup, and I had already scattered Alarm Wards around. I woke up shortly after I drifted off. Before me, with her body glove pulled down, only covering from the waist down, facing away from me was Luna. I was not distracted by the sensuality of the scene, as on this night, the bit of ambient light allowed me to see the criss-cross pattern of angry red scars lining her otherwise smooth pale white back. "Don't move," I commanded in a whisper. I reached out and touched the scars on her back. I felt her jolt slightly at my touch, but she did not seem repulsed by my touch. "Who did this to you? Was it that bastard merchant? I'm sorry I touched them, do they hurt?"

"Master, I do not mind if you touch them. I was just more worried they would repulse you, as a maiden should not have such unsightly blemishes on their skin." Luna replied, putting on the baggy cotton shirt I had given her previously, before removing the body glove and hanging on the line we had set up inside the tent. I assured Luna, "No, I am not repulsed by them, only by the monster that did this to you." I felt a wave of anger in my heart. She was gesturing for me to roll over to face toward the outside of the tent. Luna was able to then slip the cover from under me. Luna pulled it on top of me before sliding into it herself. I felt the front of her thighs occasionally bump my butt cheeks as she wiggled her way in the sleeping bag. I was wearing just the cotton pants that I had stolen back from Luna. I undid the hem from earlier to make them my size again. Sleeping next to the space heater that was Luna, the body glove was a bit warmer than I needed at night.

Once she was inside the sleeping bag, I felt her finger trace a line across my back. "These scars are from when I was being taught how to be a proper slave. It is a dark story, but would you hear it?" Luna asked, her confidence waning near the end. I spun to face her. Reaching my hand towards her face, I cupped her cheek and used my thumb to wipe away the tear that had been forming as she remembered her past. Wanting to let this poor girl, who must have gone through her own personal hell, get some of her feeling out, I tell her that I am here for her, "For as long as you need to get it out, I will listen."