“Campfire: four stories are told”
It had been a rough first day, but finally the small party had overcome the unexpected tribulation and scratched out a living in the lonely wilderness. Their troubles were by far the worst, however—not because of any outstanding impediments or forces beyond their control, but by inner conflict, one of the deadliest forces in history. Lillianne Markus was in the party, spoiled rotten and vain, selfish and manipulative and heedless of others’ feelings, but could be amicable enough amongst those who could take care of their own problems and didn’t incur her wrath. Naja Elapidae was there as well, outraged that her quest for the Nail of Saigrim had been substantially delayed, in need of something to take her emotional and sexual frustrations out on. On the opposite side of the spectrum was Dr. Fuuka Fujiwara, a gentle and innocent soul who nonetheless had made two bitter enemies during her tenure aboard the Dauntless, now encamped with them through a freak twist of fate. To balance this radical tension out was Kate Shepherd, strong in mind, body, and spirit, capable of holding her own against the two fighters but smart enough to reason with the doctor.
After forcing themselves to coexist for a few hours, the four women decided that their energies were best spent searching for their companions, and they spent most of the day wandering: Naja and Lil in one group, Fuuka and Kate in the other. Their first search was fruitless, but at least it wore them all out, so by the time night fell, nobody was in the mood to fight. They lit a fire and roasted some game they had caught (Fuuka preferred to snack on the wild fruits and vegetables they found), and for awhile, there was peace. Kate still noticed that her three companions were eyeing one another with contempt, so she decided to break the tension by suggesting they each tell a story. To make things fair, they would go in alphabetical order, which meant that Naja was going first (which pleased her).
It was a wet and windy night when Fsysh went out to overthrow her mother. The old woman had been in control of the Hshiirmdu business for too many years, and it was time to replace her with fresh blood. Fsysh had been her mother’s favored apprentice and most trusted advisor ever since graduating from Getzka Academy, so it was only fair that she smear her mother’s reputation. Years of living under the same roof as the old woman had given Fsysh astounding insight into her mother’s dealings, and she knew just which corruption she wanted to expose. Events began to fall into place as Fsysh grew closer to her mother, seducing those who worked under her, gleaning information from people the old woman trusted—even more than she trusted her own daughter.
When the time came for the old woman to be dethroned, Fsysh invited the local chief of police to her house, timing the visit so that her mother would not be able to prepare for company. Fsysh led the chief through their house, down a hallway and into a basement, where her mother kept her most incriminating sin behind a trick wall. Fsysh grinned with ecstasy as she showed the officer how to open it with a switch, and they proceeded deep into the dark catacombs beneath
the house. Before Fsysh and her family moved in, the house had once been used as a burial for Elshyrin nobles—how ironic that a dark secret would be exhumed in this place!
When they came to the end of the mausoleum, the officer pointed his light to the final room. Inside was equipment used to make suitcases, belts, book covers, shoes, and other necessities. The last thing the officer saw before screaming and dropping his light was a container that read, “genuine snakeskin leather”.
“Pretty scary, huh?”
“That was awful!” Fuuka exclaimed. “What was the point of that story, anyway?”
“”It’s a classic scary story that Elshyrin kids tell each other! It always gave me the willies when I was young!”
“I don’t get it,” Kate shrugged.
“Yeah, that was lame,” Lil yawned. Naja shoved her scaly foot in the fire, erupting sparks and embers to signify her rage.
“You charlatans wouldn’t know a work of art if it raped you! That story’s guaranteed to give any Elshyrin nightmares for a week!”
“Uh, yeah, but we’re not Elshyrin,” Kate pointed out. Naja snorted and crossed her arms angrily, muttering and cursing to herself. While she was defending her race’s horror stories, Lil gave Fuuka a nasty look and a nastier hand gesture.
“Your turn now, bitch meat! This ought to be good: ten to one it’s about some stupid cartoon she saw.”
“Actually, I’d like to tell how Athena and I met each other.” Kate smiled sweetly and focused all her attention on the Kitsune.
“I’ve always wondered how two complete opposites could meet and fall in love, especially since your species are usually enemies.”
“It took a lot of work, patience, trust, and love…but doesn’t every relationship need those qualities? Now if you want the details…”
“Go ahead,” Lil gestured. “Naja and I will just tune you out and have crazy sex over there.” Fuuka snorted impatiently and waited until the Mun was out of sight. At least Kate seemed interested; she was turning out to be an unexpected friend.
……
On the planet Onogoro, nestled in the island of Kyuto, the largest in an archipelago resting in the heart of Bunkuri ocean, there lived a clan of renowned doctors called the Fujiwaras, and they were the final authority in medical and surgical techniques. They combined modern medicine and ancient herbology to cure ailments that many others deemed impossible, and their fame was so great that, despite their humble lifestyle, people from other worlds came to visit them; some even say that this is how Onogoro broke out of its isolation and officially joined the planetary union (which is quite untrue, but that’s another matter). For generations, the Fujiwaras have enjoyed their renown, and have used it to provide care for any patient that came through their door, whether they could afford it or not. Eleven years ago, however, they brought someone into their home that would change the family’s lives, perhaps even their history.
Fuuka, the only daughter of Hanzui and Natsume Fujiwara and heir to their legacy, was just fourteen years old at the time: a simple, innocent girl who was gradually turning into the woman she was destined to become. Like nearly all the Fujiwaras, she followed the clan’s medical profession, and had been identified as a prodigy in the making when she was younger. Like so many stories, this one has humble origins, an uncomplicated protagonist, and a matter of interest (and even conflict) that would be the crux of the tale. Fuuka was beginning her years as a high school student, and among her studies was the obvious electives of Biological Health, Pharmacology, General Anatomy, and Ethics. Many of her weeks were filled with study and hands-on activity, the kind that allowed her to personally observe and interact with the profession she was chasing after (for example, being invited to study a routine operation). They would all shape her into the miraculous physician she would later become, but the assignment most important to this particular story was Herb Gathering.
The Fujiwaras had turned herbology from a science into an art, and they expected Fuuka to know about the various plants and fungi used in medicine as well as she knew her own room. She was often asked to venture through Kyuto in search of a certain leaf, weed, moss, mushroom, stem, bark, or flower, and bring it back so she could learn from it, and so when the time came for her to look for a certain lichen, she went out equipped with everything she needed. For the first quarter-hour, she picked through familiar brushes and brambles as easily as one strolls around their own backyard; she knew the lay of the island by heart, and could travel through just as easily in pitch darkness. Nothing out of the ordinary popped up in that fifteen minutes, but on the sixteenth, as she turned a corner and prepared to duck under a small bluff, something caught her eye that startled her, jerking her back and sending her belongings to the ground.
It was an unconscious Usagin, a rabbit-person, mortal enemies of the Kitsune, of which Fuuka was a member.
The Usagin was beautiful and tall, taller than Fuuka even while her ears drooped, and her hair was the color of blood. She was not particularly muscular, but Fuuka got the feeling that this
creature, if it was conscious, could rip her apart, and cause plenty of destruction besides. There was a tattoo on her right shoulder, two simple ovals etched together, 00, its significance completely meaningless. Fujiwara would’ve ran as fast as her feeble legs could carry her, out of fear for the enemy of her kind, if not for the numerous wounds, bruises, and cuts along the Usagin’s body; she looked like she had been attacked by the rocks and trees themselves.
Two titanic instincts collided inside Fuuka’s heart as she stared at the Usagin. One was, of course, to run, and leave the woman to rot in the wild, a decision none of her contemporaries would blame her for. The other was to ignore her xenophobia and to listen to her training, thereby bringing a dangerous entity into her family’s house. The choice seemed perfectly clear to her, and so she knelt down and carried the bleeding Usagin as far as she could. Fuuka was frail, however, and the woman was tall and quite heavy in spite of her graceful limbs, so she ran out to find help. She knew that only a Fujiwara would have compassion for this creature--this helpless, beautiful, wounded animal who would most likely attack them all once she was healed--and enlisted the aid of her father and grandfather, who brought a stretcher and carried the Usagin into their house like she was a member of the family.
“So what’s wrong with her, Fuuka?” Hanzui said, more of a test than an honest question. He was already sterilizing himself and the patient; Fuuka and several other members of her family followed suit, not a single one pausing to reconsider the ramifications of their actions.
“Well, these marks along her legs indicate she must’ve been attacked by a trained pack animal, because I don’t know of any wild beast whose bite is so precise. She must’ve been very fast to outrun them…and here’s a few scratches on her arms. Ah, they were made by brushing against a Melkruuz bush! Notice the purplish hue of the blood around the cut?”
“Very good. What do you recommend?” She leaned down and sniffed; the nose of a Fujiwara is just as important in an operation as their hands and eyes.
“They’re very fresh, so we won’t have to cut anything off. I’d recommend the Pablynis weed and juice from a Floraidis to prevent gangrene. I wouldn’t give her a rabies antidote until she’s conscious. Oh! She was shot, too!”
“It was meant to kill her, not slow her down,” Hanzui noted. “Look how close it went to her vital organs. But from the way these scars have formed, this injury isn’t nearly as new as the others. She must’ve carried this bullet inside her for a good three, maybe four hours. That’s some friend you brought home with you, Fuu-chan.” Fuuka blushed and continued to answer her father’s questions, and in spite of the situation, she managed to impress him with her knowledge. The operation lasted into the evening and ended just as the moon was crawling through the sky--a relatively speedy procedure by any other account. When it was all over, Fuuka was so exhausted that she had to be carried into her room, where her mother told her how proud she was, just as she nodded off.
Several days passed, and while the operation was a success, Hanzui and Natsume were beginning to grow concerned. If their furry patient didn’t wake up soon, her muscles would atrophy and her body would degenerate from lack of nutrition. Fuuka had been massaging and feeding her
whenever she could spare a minute, but spent most of her free time watching the redheaded woman, wondering what she would say once the “sleeping beauty” woke up. Kitsune and Usagin were enemies, but Fuuka was hoping she could be friends with this stranger, and wondered if she would ever find out why she had been lying out there, and what terrible force had driven her hence. She was just about to leave for a lunch break when the patient woke up with a violent start, screaming bloody murder as she swung an invisible weapon. Fuuka was knocked to her feet and stared at the rabbit-woman in terror before slowly calming down.
“Whew! You scared me!! You don’t have be afraid of anything, uh, Miss. You’re in a clinic now, on the island of Kyuto; my family brought you in and took care of you. Um…is there anything I can get you?” The woman glared at Fuuka as she tried overcoming the shock of waking up so spontaneously, and hesitated as she studied her surroundings, and her nurse. She tried to speak, but her mouth was dry and sore, so she made gestures instead. Fuuka chastised herself for asking such a silly question, and came back with water, milk, fruit juice, and several snacks that were easy to chew and digest. Her face was glowing with renewed hope and excitement as she placed the tray before her guest, and as distrustful as the Usagin was, she wouldn’t turn down a free meal.
“My word,” Fuuka whispered as she watched the redhead wolf everything down. “You poor thing, you’re starving! Wait right here while I call for some help! Um…wait, what’s your name, Miss?” The Usagin immediately turned her head and crossed her arms. She buried herself underneath her blankets, grunting negatively. Fuuka got the message and decided to wait another day for introductions.
The Usagin slowly regained her strength, but nearly ate everything the Fujiwaras had in their stock that first day. By the time she started pacing herself, Fuuka was forced to spend what little money she had replacing the groceries, and was “punished” for bringing such a pig to the house by being assigned as her personal chef (for which she hugged her parents quite forcefully). The mysterious Usagin continued to remain mysterious as young Fujiwara fed, spoke with, cared for, and entertained her, but Fuuka believed that with persistence, she would open up once she was ready. No doubt she had suffered through enormous trauma, and was still coming to terms with her surroundings, her condition, and her caretakers, which she no doubt saw as a family just waiting for “the right moment” to spring some fatal surprise. But of course that day never came.
This process lasted for half a year: Fuuka came in nearly every day to feed her and share what was going on in the island, usually talking about her studies, and tried to bring a little more sunshine into her patient’s life (she still didn’t know her name, even though the Usagin knew Fuuka’s very well). By this time, the Usagin was allowed to take walks around the island, and could even swim if she chose, so long as one of the Fujiwaras was looking after (she thought they were spying on her at first, but they were really just concerned about her health). She actually cracked a smile, one day, when Fuuka tripped and fell into a spectacular mud puddle; she even played a prank on her nurse by stealing her swimsuit while she was sunbathing. That night, as she drank milk from a coconut and watched the sun dive below the waves, the Usagin opened her mouth and addressed Fuuka for the first time:
“You know, this is the nastiest thing I’ve ever eaten.”
“That’s pretty ungrateful of you!” Fuuka yelped, “Especially since I climbed the tree myself and even drilled a hole in it myself, which wasn’t easy--HEY!! You talked! By gar, she CAN talk! You’re actually talking to me!!”
“Only out of ferocious disgust.” She smirked rather cattily and tossed the coconut to Fuuka, who got splashed by the milk. The Usagin laughed, loud and beautiful for the whole island to hear, and Fuuka ended up laughing too, full of joy and wonder. Once the rabbit-woman calmed down, she bowed and stiffly muttered out her name:
“It’s Sifr, Athena Sifr. Hopefully now you can stop pestering me about it.”
“Nice to meet you, Athena Sifr!!” Fuuka exclaimed, almost screaming at the top of her lungs. “My name’s…well, you already know my name!”
“Fuuka,” she nodded amicably. “Now that I’ve gone and untied my tongue, it looks like I will never be able to give you the silent treatment again. It really would…be ungrateful of me.”
“And you have such a pretty voice,” Fuuka added sweetly. Athena smiled dimly.
“So do you have anything besides coconut?”
“Just some chocolates I’ve been saving.” Fuuka dug into her bag and pulled out a small sack with a handful of candies, leftovers from her journey to the children’s ward. Athena bit into one cautiously, but was soon gorging herself, given new life by the strange confectioneries. Fuuka laughed and took one before Athena could hog them all. “Slow down or you’ll get sick! They’re not food, they’re a dessert, for special occasions! Uh…well, I guess this is a special occasion. Of course, thanks to you, we’re all out of food, again.”
“Whorry,” Athena mumbled, her cheeks puffed with candy. Fuuka giggled and ate the last piece.
“It’s okay. I’ll just have to get some more. Actually, the store should still be open by the time I get there! You can just wait here and, uh…try not to go swimming anytime soon, okay?” Athena was actually at the shore and had bent down to clean her hands and face.
“I’m only washing up. That chocolate of yours is delicious, but messier than I thought. Hmm…hold on, don’t move.”
“Why?” She had raised her cute little pink nose in the air, and was sniffing carefully. Fuuka started sniffing as well, and twitched her ears as a drop of water splashed her face.
“It’s going to start raining soon,” Athena warned her. “We should probably head back to your house. I can wait until another day.”
“Don’t be silly!” Fuuka laughed. “It’s only a gentle drizzle. I’ve gone to the grocer’s and back when it was raining, don’t worry. It’s not far away, so I’ll be back before you know it. We actually need some other supplies as well. You go on ahead; I’ll be fine. Trust me, okay?!” She
winked and skipped off, glowing and giddy with happiness. Her patient was finally warming up to her, after so many long weeks, and from the look of things, she would probably make a great friend. Athena sighed and started walking back to the Fujiwara house, but something held her up, a force she had never encountered before. It wasn’t until later that she realized she cared about Fuuka--she was worried about her, not merely as a nurse but as a friend as well--and if something should happen to her in this storm…
“If she gets angry, that’s too bad,” she resolved. “I’m going to follow her and make sure she’s safe. I do trust you, Fuuka, whether you know it or not, but I also care about you as well. I owe you my life.” Arming herself with a coat, a strong umbrella, and an adamant will, Athena raced off into the rain, using her sharp senses to track down the person most precious to her.
What first began as a soft shower turned into a merciless downpour, complete with high winds, flooding, thunder, and even lightning. Fuuka wailed as her fur was drenched (forget about drowned rats: wet Kitsune are much less attractive), and she slipped and slid against the wet road. She did pause to admire the lightning, but kept moving on, as fast as she could, more to reach shelter than to fulfill her promise. Just where did this storm come from anyway, she wondered. Living in an island had given her some intuition about weather, and how to read the signs nature put up. Fuuka wished she had listened to Athena, but it was too late for that now: she would just have to keep going until she reached the store, and hope that the manager would let her dry off inside while the storm passed.
A flash of lightning caught her eye, and danger notwithstanding, she stopped to gaze at it with childish glee. That was a deadly decision: the blast struck a tree on a cliff’s side above her, and it came crashing down and collapsed on her. The horror of the moment was not so much in the suddenness of everything--it had all passed in the blink of an eye, making Fuuka’s heart thud in fear as an adrenaline rush took over--but rather in the long-term danger of her new dilemma. The tree had not smashed her limbs or crushed her body, thank god, because the trunk had completely missed her, and she was now wrapped in its branches. But the worse she struggled, the more entangled she became, until her leg found its way underneath a heavy limb, her arm pinned down, and her head was caught underneath a limb. That was it, then; she was stuck.
There was no way Fuuka could free herself, and the tree was so heavy that unless the entire Fujiwara clan arrived immediately, armed with saws and hatchets, there would be no hope for her escape. The road she was on was beginning to flood, and the cliff looming over her was beginning to lose its integrity. Soon, a mudslide would smother everything in its path, including Fuuka and that damned tree. She panicked and lost focus, and all the while the rain mocked her, slapping her with torrential hands, a punishment for her selfless deed. But she was sorry! She would listen to Athena from now on! She would never take such another stupid risk! Wasn’t that enough? Couldn’t she be saved? Fuuka closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate, weeping out of fear and regret. She would’ve given anything to see Athena’s face again…
Clap, clap, went the lightning! Snap, snap, went the laughter of the tree beneath her--but wait, that wasn’t right! The tree’s branches were being broken--there went pieces of shrapnel and debris, flying in horror of some greater monster. Fuuka managed to twist her face and strain her
eyes through the rain, and watched in glorious awe as Athena Sifr broke the tree’s branches with her bare hands. She called to her in a voice that rivaled al the raging thunders above.
“ATHENA!!”
“Hold still! Don’t try moving just yet!” Athena worked at a tremendous speed, pulling wooden arms like they made of cotton, her strength alien and sublime. She had to burrow through what seemed like hundreds of interwoven bars, racing against the storm and the inevitable mudslide. Nature’s fury seemed to retaliate, determined to claim its prize, as part of the cliff gave way and a deluge of thick, gooey mud surged through. Athena had lost the luxury of time; she would not be able to reach Fuuka in time.
“Save yourself!!” Fujiwara screamed. Athena stared right at her, eyes flaming sapphire, muscles tense and bloodthirsty, ears pointed straight up, hair standing on end. Fuuka had never seen anything so terrifyingly wonderful before in her life--it was like being in the presence of an angel.
“Fuck that,” Athena growled as she hunched down next to the trunk. “Either we make it out of this alive together…OR WE DIE TOGETHER!!” And with a roar that would’ve made a dragon tremble, Athena mustered all of her strength into a single action, and lifted the trunk off the ground. As mortified as Fuuka was, she wasted no time and scampered away from her prison. The ground trembled as Athena dropped the tree, and together they sought higher ground, clinging to each other the whole time.
Fuuka was in such a daze over the whole event that the next thing she remembered was waking up in her own bed, surrounded by overwhelmingly grateful family members. Mother cried, father gave thanks, grandfather kissed her…and Athena, who had been crouching patiently in the corner, looked over at her and smiled. She waited until Fuuka’s relatives were out of the room before approaching her new friend, grasping her hand as she caressed that sweet face she knew so well.
“Guess we’re even now,” Fuuka sighed. Athena smiled, but said nothing. “Boy, that was some stupid stunt you pulled, Fuuka. I mean, going out in the middle of a storm just to buy your new friend Athena some candy? When are you going to get some sense into that head of yours? Isn’t that what you’re going to say?” Athena’s lips parted to reveal a happy grin, and she chuckled softly.
“I really wasn’t going to say anything. I just wanted to look at you and touch you until I knew you were really here. That’s all I wanted.”
“Oh. Well, thank you, Athena. Some day, huh?”
“It’s actually morning now, but I know what you mean. Actually, I should be the one to thank you, Fuuka, although I do suppose my…umm, debt is clear now. Do me one last favor, Fuuka, before I go to get your breakfast. Please don’t make me worry like that again. I know I’ve…been distant ever since you brought me in, but the truth is…I actually care about you a lot. I thought
my heart was going to break when I first saw you trapped there. Now it’s ready to burst from happiness.” Precious jewels trickled down Athena’s eyes, tracing teary lines on her face that Fuuka wiped off. It didn’t take long for Athena to fulfill the one wish Fuuka had been harboring and praying for all this time: their first kiss was as perfect as she had imagined.
“I love you, Fuuka,” Athena whispered. Fuuka smiled sweetly; she was crying, too.
“I love you too, Athena. I always have. I promise I’ll be more careful in the future, but can you do me a favor in exchange?”
“Of course, anything.” The overjoyed Kitsune giggled.
“Could you call me Fuu-chan from now on?”
They have been inseparable since.
“That was so sweet!” Kate exclaimed as Fuuka ended her tale. Fujiwara smiled warmly and yawned.
“Yes, but it took longer than I thought! I’m ready for bed. Maybe we can continue this tomorrow.”
“Yeah. I guess Naja and Lillie are still going at it.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Fuuka groaned as she laid down. “It’s bad enough being stuck here with them; I don’t need mental imagery distorting everything. Are you going to stay up?”
“Nah, I’m beat. Mind if I curl up next to you? It’s getting cold.”
“Sure, make yourself comfortable.” Fuuka smiled lovingly as Kate snuggled next to her, and draped her tail around her so the muscular woman would be warm. Athena wouldn’t mind them being intimate; she and Fuuka trusted and understood one another. Besides, that bunny-girl was probably doing the same favor for another member of the crew…
……
Lillianne knew she had not returned to her opulent room in the Dauntless since she could feel the pebbles and blades of grass poking through her blanket, and there was a star in the sky much
larger and hotter than any of the ones she could see through her window; it beat down upon her sadistically, but that was nothing compared to the electric warmth Naja was giving her as she stirred, and went right to work reviving them both. Lil giggled and gave Naja a few minutes of playtime before retaliating.
“Morning, danger girl,” she purred. Naja grinned and licked Lil’s face with her forked tongue.
“You smell pretty nice for a woman who hasn’t bathed in a day. You’re soft, too.”
“But not too soft,” she squealed. They wrestled intimately for about fifteen minutes—kicking, squealing, groping, and groaning—and ended up falling into an exhausted, naked pile, glowing with lust as the sun climbed higher, settling in the middle of the sky. “It’s noon,” Lil estimated. “We must’ve really been beat.”
“Hell, you were as insatiable as I was! So tell me something: was I as good as Aseria?”
“You were different,” Lil smirked. Naja scowled playfully and slapped her belly.
“At least the bitch meat isn’t here,” she hissed sensually (if you’ve never heard an Elshyrin hiss sensually, you’re missing out). “You and I would be a lot happier if she had never come. I mean, Kate’s all right…”
“Let’s not talk about it now,” Lil groaned happily. “Actually, how about I tell my story? It’s probably a lot more interesting than whatever she decided to yap about.” Naja hummed sweetly and straddled Lil, pinning her arms to the ground as her scaly breasts and russet hair swung.
“Mmm, sounds nice!”
Long ago, ere the light of knowledge
Banished darkness from the East
Ere Mu, brilliant treasure of Tellurian pride
Was cast away by Selene’s bow
Catapulted ‘cross primordial heavens
And laid to rest in a distant sea
Ere Numenor fell, aye, upon the world’s dawning
Did she, Nephilim, pose as sovereign.
Blessed with grace, beauty, and wisdom
Skilled in all manners of learning and study
A terror to foes, and boon to her kin
Long was her life, long was her life.
Long ago, ere the light of knowledge
Brought wisdom from the West
Nephilim Queen governed the land
Cold was her marriage bed
Barren her womb, yet unchaste was she
Sephira the Morning Glory
Pale as a winter’s dawn
Her blood rivulets of ice
Her voice as a lark in the bough
The terror and joy of Mu
She shared the bed of Nephilim
Their unholy union discovered, inspiring
A war that stole away Promise
The daughter they had conceived was lost
She was taken by fanatics and heroes
She was called Promise, erased from their memory
And thus did Selene strike Tellus
Her sacrosanct arrows did sing
Ne’er do they fail their mistress
And divided the lovers with death
Their bodies blown to the wind
And spirits enveloped with chains
Eldar of Numenor exiled them
For the crimes of defiling their honor
Nephilim to the stars of Deep Heaven
Her kingdom carved from the earth’s womb
Jewel of Tellus abandoned
Lost from all knowledge and time!
Sephira became Selene’s captive
Thus the goddess was charged with a task
To keep the mad demon ensorcelled
Inside her asylum so cold
But eons have passed since that dark age
And old chains do wither with time
Nephilim’s kingdom may linger
And Sephira may deceive her lulled warden
Their spirits honed strong through the movement of history
Might yet find a union one day!
So listen, ye children, of the ballad of demons
Let not thy thoughts wander astray!
And pray, dear children, to the heavens above you
So the mad lovers may never unite
Their people forgotten, worshippers disbanded
Memories locked up, and rumors kept silent
Not for their love were they exiled
But rather, desecration of vows
For Sephira the fair had forgotten her people
And Nephilim consumed by lust, by lust
Lust of what was not meant to be…
“Hey, it sounds like the terrible two are awake at last,” Kate snorted. She and Fuuka had been hard at work all morning, gathering food and kindling for the camp, and had just returned to rest and check up on things. Fuuka’s sharp ears had picked up the haunting song from far away; it easily traveled over the empty grassland, and sounded like a ghost from a time and place long since forgotten. No doubt it was an ancient Mun ballad describing some heroic or tragic deed.
“It also seems as if Miss Markus has told her story,” Fuuka agreed. “That just leaves you, Miss Shepherd.” Kate frowned sourly.
“Oh. I almost forgot. Um, could I take, like, a rain check? I’m sort of running dry on creative juices.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Fuuka cackled. “We all bared our souls…sort of…so it’s only fair that you follow up! Come on, you must’ve led an interesting life. Why don’t you tell us about that tattoo?”
“This one?” Kate pulled her shoulder strap back to reveal a portrait of a nude woman riding a missile, armed with Uzis. Her face turned red as the memories came back to her. “Actually, that’s a pretty unusual tale. It’s, uh…sort of my coming-out story.”
“What does that mean?” Fuuka asked naively. Kate decided that the best way to explain it would be to let her story speak for her, and began bashfully.
You already know that I’ve spent all my life in Utopia, a Heavy-G world that’s also regarded as one of the worst places to live. There are cities all across the galaxy that have infamous reputations, and on a higher level, there are countries that are rotten and corrupt to their core. Sometimes, you’ll even see an entire continent go under--but I don’t think you’ll ever see a whole planet devoting itself to filth. Outsiders have called Utopia ‘the anus of the galaxy’,
among other colorful monikers, and I say it deserves them all. But I’m getting off track. As soon as I managed to scrounge up enough gold, I took the first commercial flight out of there and never looked back.
The story of how I got my tattoo begins on my first rest-stop. As Shana or Yenae might tell you, I took the ship from the Rennai system all the way to Strategos, but I had one layover before that--the world where I got this work of art etched into my skin, where I first sampled the pleasures of sex, and where I confirmed my attractions to other women. Having just spent my last coin on the long one-way passage, I was desperate for money, and so gnawingly hungry that I was just about to steal something and risk everything I had worked for, when I was stopped by a person who would later become my first lover. Her name was Sarishaun, and she was an artist.
Now she was a lady! She treated me to dinner and even gave me some money to tide me over, but in exchange, she begged me to model for her. I was flattered, of course, but also a little embarrassed. I mean, I’m not hideous, but I’m not exactly breathtaking, either. She told me it didn’t matter--she thought I was beautiful, and that seemed good enough to lure me in. As she drove me to her temporary studio--she traveled all over the place in search of models for her work--Sarishaun told me that she was a body artist, that she painted bare skin and presented the living work of art in her gallery, or whenever a client favored that unorthodox style. I was taken aback, but far be it from me to keep a closed mind. She was a beautiful, passionate woman; I was beginning to feel excited as my fantasies grew.
Anyway, to make a long story shorter, she painted this very image all over my chest. I had to take my shirt and bra off--it was a little uncomfortable at first, but Sarishaun was very professional about everything. I stood there watching as she gradually transformed me, chatting with her as she worked her magic. My god, Fuuka, it was heavenly. After I posed for a few photos, she told me I could take a shower, and I asked her if she wanted to join me. This is…sort of the part where you have to use your imagination! Anyway, I got to keep the copies and before I boarded my next flight, I went into a tattoo parlor and asked the woman working there to impose that image on my shoulder. It’s always been my permanent reminder of that magical day, when I was given a new life with so many possibilities.
“And that makes four,” Kate concluded nostalgically, “although I think yours was best.”
“It was certainly the longest!” Fuuka jested. As they shared a quiet smile, Naja and Lil finally emerged from the barrier they had erected to keep the two groups private, apparently finished with their lovemaking.
“That was four, all right,” Lil said. “And now, I think it’s time we resume our search. We’ve wasted enough time telling stories.”
“That’s why I kept mine so short,” Naja snickered. “If I wanted to, I could’ve told a prize-winning whopper that would’ve made all yours look like nursery rhymes! And to think, you all call ME inconsiderate! Hurry up, bitch meat! Get the lead out, Shepherd! Daylight’s wasting!”
“Yes, boss,” she grunted bitterly. She looked over at Fuuka, her unlikely new friend, and reached out to support her as they moved out of the safety of their camp into a harsh, unforgiving environment.
Preview of next chapter
Naja: SOMEONE PLEASE COME RESCUE US! I’M TRAPPED IN MY OWN PERSONAL HELL!!
Lil: Gee, really? This is your idea of Hell? I always pictured there’d be more cats.
Naja: sniffling Well…now that I think about it…I suppose it could be worse. I could be married to that caveman fiancé of mine!
Lil: That’s the spirit! Just keep your hopes up! In the meantime, I’m going to start building a weapon that will completely obliterate the FILTHY DEVIL SLUT who’s shacking up with my Aseria!!
Naja: Yee! You’re so cool, Lil! I wish I was arranged to marry YOU. pout
Fuuka: Eww, and the mind-raping continues…
Kate: At least they have the decency to do it in private. But anyway, we’re getting off topic. What’s the next chapter about, doc?
Fuuka: Oh, I almost forgot! Yes, it seems my darling Athena will take center stage in the next chapter! You heard my side of our first encounter--now you’ll hear hers! It’s all in the next astounding and completely credible chapter, “Ballad of Angels: her bloody trail”.
Kate: Umm, how can I hear it if we’re separated like this?
Fuuka: ………Good point. PLEASE COME RESCUE US, ATHENA!!
Kate: Uh, yeah, I’ll just go curl up in the corner over there…
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