Dania

I almost couldn't believe it! I had escaped. And to my immense satisfaction, I had exacted some revenge on Roth. I took a chunk of meat out of his shoulder and clawed at his face savagely. I could only hope that I'd scarred him permanently. I will never forget that look of shock on his face as I warned him not to follow me. I knew that they would though, maybe even Roth himself. But they would follow, that was a certainty.

I ran for awhile and tried to think as I ran but it was getting me nowhere fast. I could not concentrate on any single train of thought. I let my Cat take over and let her do the running. I retreated into myself and just floated for a moment. I had to figure things out.

They had tracked me home. This meant that they not only knew where I lived, but also that they could track me. This also meant that running was not an option. So I had nowhere that I could run to, which meant I could run anywhere....or nowhere at all. I was hungry. I would need to find food soon. At the very least, I would be able to hear them coming.

Then there was the Meh-teh in general. They were generally a peaceful people. But they had kidnapped me and kept me prisoner without provocation. So how peaceful could they really be? They were obviously intelligent: they had a language, a culture, a society and had even taught me how to speak.

I found all of this very frustrating. None of this made any sense. Each thing I knew about these people contradicted itself.

And I couldn't forget how easily Roth had thrown me through the air; there was little chance I could do battle with them. One on one, maybe. Probably. But there were dozens of them. This was not a fight I wished to have. If they chose to, they could follow me wherever I went and if I chose to fight them off, their numbers would overtake me.

I had to stop thinking like this! I needed to be practical. I needed a plan of action. Every fiber of my being knew that this was what I should do. But before I could do that, I needed some food and some rest. The ability to think clearly would be paramount in the next few hours.

Living this last cycle of the Moon on so little food had done wonders for my body....I'd lost some extra fat and my body had become chiseled. Be that as it may, i was still hungry and weak. And I wanted to hunt. I'd missed that thrill I get when I'm hunting.

I set out to find a meal, momentarily forgetting that Roth and the Meh-teh were probably looking for me this very instant. I'd put some distance between us, but they would be closing that gap. My Cat told me not to worry about them just now. I needed food and rest.

I moved silently through the treetops looking for something that piqued my interest. I came across several animals that, luckily for them, didn't appeal to me. Until I came across the fawn......This was dinner. Not only would it be fun to chase, but it wouldn't give up until it was dead. Being young, it wouldn't know to give up.

I stalked it for awhile before making my way to a lower branch, and then to the ground, landing in front of it. For a moment, I could see the confusion in its eyes. I could detect the moment when it realized that it was being hunted. It took off without a moment's hesitation. Maybe it was the look in my eyes that tipped it off, maybe it was that I was new to it. I waited for a bit before setting off after it. Oh how I loved this. I repeatedly would run up next to the fawn and bump into it just enough to trip it up. It would fall and then be up and off in a different direction. This one was quick. I liked that. But I soon grew tired of this, I was too hungry to keep playing with my food.

I tripped the fawn once more, but was on top of it before it could rise again. I took the fawn's head in one hand and pulled it back to expose its neck. I sank my teeth in and enjoyed the feel of the warm blood as it danced across my tongue. I let the blood run for a moment before ripping out a chunk and swallowing it. It wasn't dead yet. It should have been, but it wasn't. Gripping its head firmly, I snapped its neck. There, it was dead now. No sense in letting it suffer. I drank of its blood once more before finally eating my full.

Having a full stomach set me at ease and now all I needed was rest. After that, I could formulate a plan. Resting would put me in danger....they could easily slip up on me....I would need to find a place where I couldn't be tracked to.

A river would be perfect. I could float down it. You couldn't track something that left no tracks. It took the rest of the daylight hours before I found a river that suited my needs. The water was icy and after awhile it threatened to overtake me. I'd stood it for as long as I could and now it was time to come back. I could only hope that I'd drifted far enough down the river so as to not leave them any way of finding me. I made my way into the trees and was asleep before I began to dry.

*****

I found myself kneeling on top of some furs with a fire burning softly nearby. My head was down. I tried to move my head but found that I was not in control of my body. I couldn't see much of my surroundings. I noted that my hands were clasped behind my back, restrained, somehow, likely bound. But I wasn't alarmed, instead I found my circumstances created a surge of potential.

"Dania, look up at me."

My eyes raised, but my head remained still. Before me stood another like me. Only it was a male. I knew that I belonged to him and it was the greatest feeling in the world. Potential fulfilled. My loins grew hot as I drank in the sight of him. He was perhaps a full head and shoulder taller than me. His musculature was easily seen beneath his coat of silvery grey fur. And as much of a perfect physical specimen as he was, it was his presence that captured my attention and adoration. No, it commanded. Yes, that's the right word. He commanded my attention. And I gave it willingly.

I knew what he was to me, but I could find no name for it. It wasn't love or lust. It was something else. For me, in this moment, it simply was.

"Why do you serve me?"

I had no answer for this, but apparently my tongue did. "Because it pleases you."

He didn't say anything as he walked over and pushed my face back to the floor. He held me there. I'd disappointed him and I was ashamed of that. I felt three very hard slaps on my ass, each harder than the last. When he was done, he lifted me by the neck back to a kneeling position.

"Why do you serve me?" he repeated.

"Because it pleases you, Sir."

A smile spread across his face. "Good girl."

Joy coursed throughout my body. I knew that I'd pleased him. I loved to please him, to make him happy. I had to be a good girl for him. I ached to be his good girl. And that smile meant that that I was doing well.

He walked over and petted my hair and brushed it back out of my face. "You know that you are mine and that what you do reflects on me. When you behave it glorifies me. When you misbehave . . . . well then you must be punished."

He didn't wait for me nod my response. He walked around behind me and I couldn't see what he was doing. The part of me that was "now" was frustrated that I couldn't look around to see, the part of me that was "then" only felt ashamed that I'd let him down.

He grabbed the rope that bound my hands together and lifted, which also lifted my arms behind me to a not-so-pleasant angle. I stood as quickly as I could, but even then, he'd lifted high enough to cause just a bit of pain and I felt exposed in this position: my arms were lifted up behind my back in such a way that I was bent over at the waist and my butt was sticking out.I could feel him fumbling, but could not tell what it was. I was focused on the pain that I was in. I could tell that the other me knew what the transgression had been and accepted that she deserved the punishment.

"Dania, open your eyes."

I hadn't realized that they had been closed.....but they opened on command. He was standing in front of me now. I'm guessing that he'd tied our hands up like that. I felt vulnerable.

"Tell me that you know that I will not harm you. That I do this out of love."

I could only hoped that the other me remembered protocol. "I understand, Sir." Thank the Moon! She remembered.

"Good girl. Now lift your foot."

I did and he spread some small rocks where I had had my foot.

"Back down now."

Again, I obeyed. I was not, however, prepared for the excruciating pain that pierced through my feet at multiple points. Those stones hurt. I am certain that I would have cried had I had any control over my body. He repeated the process with my other foot.

It was only now that I realized how this punishment would work. I would endure some kind of pain for however long he deemed necessary. If I chose to not support my weight on my feet, then my arms would be lifted to an impossible angle, possibly dislocating them. If I chose to support my weight, then the stones would cut into my feet. I had resigned myself to this fate when he came up to me with an evil grin on his face.

"You don't think this is all of it, do you."

"I . . . I . . . . had hoped."

Without another word, he reached down and began to massage my sex. I had been wet before and was shocked to find that I still was; perhaps even more so. His hand felt so good that I forgot about everything else. Until I let go with my legs, which caused my arms to angle painfully, which then caused me to stand back up, enabling the rocks to cut into my feet again. My body did not know what to do, and he was not stopping.

"Ha ha ha, my pet."

Both of myselves loved hearing those words. They spoke to something primal in me.

He increased the intensity with his fingers: his fingers circling much faster and with more pressure. I was on the verge. But something told me I wasn't supposed to. Not until he said so. No, never until he said so.

I nearly lost my bearings when he inserted a finger in me. It was almost too much to be present with the feelings circulating between my arms, crotch and feet.

My body had lost any sense of what it was supposed to do except respond. All I knew was that I didn't want him to stop. Part of me (both of me) never wanted to disappoint him again, but part of me (again, both of me) couldn't help but think that if all punishments involved this much pleasure, it might be worth it every now and again. But not too often.

"Dania..."

Can it be? Is he going to let me?

"you..."

He is! He's gonna let me cum!

"may..."

I can't wait. Go ahead and say it, please. Please, please, please. I'll be a good girl.

"c..."

*****

You've got to be kidding me. Could I have picked a worse time to wake up? I doubt it. I tried playing with myself, tried to get to completion. But I found that I couldn't. Was I too soon removed from his power? I smiled to myself, hoping that was the case and not sure why.

I soon returned to sleep. It was not a pleasant one however. I had a nightmare in which Roth and the Meh-teh captured me again and this time, they weren't so nice about it. I was tightly bound and it was clear that I would be executed. Another of my kind was there to be executed, just as I was. I begged Roth to let her go, but he couldn't hear me. It was as I were underwater and my words were lost to the bubbles. I watched in horror as he literally ripped her head from her shoulders and held it above his head, allowing the blood to drip down onto him. And now it was my turn. I felt him start to pull and the pain begin to build. And then I woke up.

While that last bit of sleep hadn't been peaceful, it had been restful. My head was clear and my belly was full. It was time to develop a plan. I knew that there was no way to keep them from finding me; and I was not going to run from them. I was tired of running. But fighting them was not an option either. To fight them would be suicide. Especially all of them together. Even one on one would be quite the task.

So did I join them? That was something I had no inclination of doing. To live with them would inhibit the way I chose to live. The treetops were where I loved to be and I wasn't willing to give that up.

So that left me with one viable option: A truce.

But I really didn't think that a truce was ever going to happen. Roth was the leader of the Meh-teh and also the one responsible for my being captured in the first place. And to top it off, the last time we'd met, I had attacked him, clawing at his face and ripping flesh from his shoulder. There would be no way on earth that he'd want a truce now. Not after that.

I knew that they would come after me. I was an unknown for them, a loose end. But I was not going to let them come for me, I would hunt them instead. And I would let them know that I just wanted to be left alone, that I didn't pose a threat to them. I was still far from their home when I heard one of them. I stalked him from above, trying to discern who this one was. But I'd never seen him before. I was unsure if this was good or bad. Just like me to them, he was an unknown to me.

I jumped down from the tree where I'd been watching him and landed on his shoulders. It caught him off guard and we both hit the ground. I rolled from him and was back on my feet, ready to defend myself if I had to. I tried in vain to tell him to stop, but he never heard me. He was already charging towards me. I ducked to the side and he only barely missed me. Several more times he lunged at me, malice clearly in his eyes.

If this continued, I would have to defend myself. This was not going the way I'd hoped it would. I had to get him to stop trying to fight me in order for him to listen. But how? He was a ball of anger. I had to stop him.

The next time he barreled towards me, I, again, stepped to the side just a little. As soon as he passed, I pounced onto his back. I had hoped that the sudden shift in weight would have been enough to take his balance away. It was not. He was able to reach up over his head and grab me, slamming me into the ground.

I knew that if I stayed down that I would be done for. I forced myself up and charged him, clawing blindly and screaming as if I were mad. This took him by surprise and I was able to tackle him to the ground. I sat on his chest with my knees on his arms so that he couldn't hit me. I knew deep down that he could throw me off at anytime. But before he could, "Wait. I don't want to fight. Listen to me."

He responded with acid in his voice, "Roth wants you hunted down and killed. You're dangerous."

"I'm not dangerous. I want to be left alone. Go to Roth and ask him to meet me at the place where he first saw me. Tell him to come alone."

"Not dangerous? You just attacked me! Out of nowhere, you jumped down from the trees and attacked me!!!"

"What else was I supposed to do? You guys took me prisoner before, and kept me. Look, just tell Roth."

"And if I don't."

"Then you leave me no choice but to kill you. You just told me that you're here to hunt me down. I can't let that happen. I don't want to, but I will."

Without warning he both lifted me and shifted his weight at the same time and pinned me to the ground. He held both of my arms with one massive hand and my throat with the other.

"Or I could end all of this right here."

I twisted my head and bit down on his hand and refused to let go. He howled in pain and drew his hand back, leaving his finger in my mouth. I wriggled from under him and grabbed his neck from behind, squeezing enough to let him know that I meant business. I spit his finger onto the ground in front of him so he could see it.

"I don't want to do this," I told him again as I let the claw from my index finger trace lightly across his throat. "Go to Roth like I asked."

Knowing it could be a bad idea, I turned from him and began to walk away. I knew that he could decide to attack at any time so I wasn't surprised when I felt his hand on my shoulder and spin me around. As I spun, I lashed out at his face, slicing completely through his cheek. He would need time to heal from that. I smiled.

His already bleeding hand went to his cheek. "I'll go to him. I can't promise he'll come. And if . . . ."

"Just go," I interrupted.

He turned and walked away. I watched him as he all but disappeared into the woods. I had never noticed before how well the Meh-teh could conceal themselves. It was truly remarkable.

And I had held my own against this one and had wounded him permanently. If he were typical of the Meh-teh, then I knew I could take them on one on one. Their strength was by far superior to mine, but I was the faster and more agile. If it came down to a fight, I would have to make the fight last as long as I could and rely on my speed and agility.

I needed to get back. I had to prepare. I knew he would be angry and that there may be a fight. I had no doubt in my mind that with Roth being the leader of the Meh-teh, he would be much more of an adversary. The question was whether or not he would be too much for me to survive.

I reached the watering hole just after Moonrise and I was relieved to be back in familiar territory. My Cat wanted to go for a swim and relax. And I was tempted to give in. But there were things that needed to be done. Roth would see most traps that I would lay for him, so I had to be discreet. I decided that I didn't want to make anything obvious for him, so all I did was gather a few small stones that I could throw if I had to. The Moon was now directly overhead.

My Cat would wait no longer, it wanted to swim. I let it take over and I simply enjoyed this moment of peace. I didn't know when I would have another. I didn't know IF I would have another. If things went badly tomorrow, I would either be a prisoner or dead. So I enjoyed this and I slept soundly.

When I awoke the next morning Roth was already there. I was crouched down and it was clear by the look on his face that there would be no truce. I found myself almost glad to see him. The shock of this realization froze me for a moment as my mind tried to determine exactly what this meant.

I never moved as Roth stood up and walked towards me. I could only watch him as he came near. The kick to my gut brought me back to reality and light flashed before my eyes. My vision was blurred for a moment and cleared just in time to see Roth hurling a stone towards me (one of the very stones I'd gathered). It had nearly struck me in the face. If my reflexes weren't as good as they were, it would have.

"Roth wait!"

As he prepared to charge, I could tell that he wasn't in the mood to talk. When you thought about things, I couldn't really blame him. The last time we'd met, I'd attacked him, and then I'd injured one of his people. As their leader, he had to take action.

I knew that he would win if we both charged. My hope was to jump high, land on his shoulders, and then jump down to the ground behind him. I jumped high enough, but he moved faster than I'd anticipated and I half landed on, half fell down his back. My only consolation was that as I'd done this, I'd dug my claws into his back.

I heard a sharp intake of breath as my claws dug in and made their way down his back. I knew that this would anger him all the more and I was ready for that anger to be directed at me. Instead, he turned slowly with a slight grin on his face. What the fuck? How could this be? It hadn't hurt him at all. I stood there, my head cocked to the side. He stood there letting this sink in for me. And then he was on the attack again. For the first time, it occurred to me that I might lose this fight.