Off The Beaten Path 6

Brick buildings, worn and weathered by countless storms and the passage of time, filtered past in a seemingly endless blur of gray and white. The scene was broken only by the passing of cars and thin, green trees lining the sidewalk.

Sunny sat back in the cracked leather seats of her taxi as a generic radio filled the interior with club music from the previous decade. She'd quickly learned her driver knew a minimum of phrases in order to deal with tourists so she stared silently out of the window with her backpack held against her chest.

The girl leaned against the car's door to glance up at the sky. Thick white clouds circled slowly overhead - cotton fluff in an azure bowl. It was the last day of her four day trip but she was still shocked at how clear and perfect the sky seemed to be.

With a squeal of brakes and the faint smell of leaking oil, the small taxi came to a stop.

"Cava Makis," the driver said. He glanced back at her while she rifled through her purse for the fare.

"Wait for me, please," she told him as she paid. "I'm just going to run in to buy something and I'll be right back."

Rather than answer, the driver grunted. Sunny grabbed her backpack, dragging it along the seat as she left the car before hefting it over her shoulder. The store's bright red canopy shined in the early morning light. She couldn't help but smile as the warmth of the sun surrounded her. The faint scent of the town's lake was intoxicating. It had become something of a habit for her to breathe deeply to remind herself just how different the town was from her own city.

"Καλημέρα," a man's voice called out as she entered the store. He stood among the shelves in simple, gray slacks and a loose white shirt. She couldn't help but notice that his clothing matched his graying hair. When he turned to her, he smiled and light danced in his mischievous eyes. "Ah. A tourist. Do you speak English? Or Chinese? I only know English, I'm afraid."

"English, yes," Sunny said, smiling back at him. She'd been annoyed after the first twenty assumptions of her ethnicity until she forced herself to relax and deal with it. "But my parents are Korean, not Chinese."

"Apologies, apologies!" the older man said, his voice thick with his accent. "I sometimes let my mouth run faster than my thoughts and my wife would tell you it's never a close race. Can I help you find something?"

"Yes, actually," she told him, glancing around at the shelves of liquor. "Do you have canned wine?"

"Canned-" the man frowned. "Surely I misheard you. What is this? Canned wine? Do you mean grape juice?"

"No, wine in a can," Sunny reaffirmed. "I'm hiking through the Vikos--Aoös National Park this morning and I wanted to have a picnic for lunch. I don't want to drink too much."

"I would never sell such a thing!" the gentleman told her. Despite his eyes, she felt she struck a nerve with him. He glanced at her, his eyes roaming his body with his bottom lip stuck out in a thoughtful expression. She still wasn't used to how blunt and casual people were with their behaviors. "Are you here long?"

"I- no, I leave tonight," she answered, taken aback by the direct question.

"And where will you go?"

"There's a nice hotel north of here," she replied. Despite feeling affronted by his questioning, her upbringing forced her to answer. "Hotel Mir. I thought I would hike a little beyond there until I found a nice place to sit."

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm- I'm sorry?" she asked.

"No," he said again, walking away. "I'll make a simple map. That's your taxi waiting? You give it to him and he'll take you. If today is your last day, make it memorable. I know where and I know which wine you'll take. Wait a moment."

Sunny glanced toward the bored taxi driver outside the darkened windows. She weighed leaving and finding another store but the owner returned with a black bottle. It bore no label and looked old.

"It's a fine red wine," he told her, offering it out with a small piece of paper. "Trust me. Show the paper to the driver and he'll know where to go."

"This is too much," she said, pushing the bottle back.

"Nonsense!" the shop keeper said, backing away to refuse. "It is my gift. Don't go to this Mir. That area is dull. Enjoy the wine and enjoy your moment in nature. The bottle is my gift. Our city would not thrive without people like you."

She stood there, torn for a moment while holding the bottle and scrap of paper until she'd remembered the entire purpose of the trip: unwinding. Relaxing from the stress of her first semester at college. Her parents had made a deal with her, that if she studied medicine and maintained a high average, they would pay for a trip for her every year. She'd been surprised at their generosity but couldn't say no. The chance to travel and get away from her demanding mother was a goal she was willing to work towards.

"Alright, I will," she said, holding the bottle in her arms. "Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes, yes!" the man said, shooing her with his hands. "The gods smile upon us and provide us with a bounty. It's the very least I could do."

"Okay. Thank you! Uhh. Eff ka ree stow!" She attempted in Greek.

"Yes, you're welcome," the man said, smiling widely.

Returning to her waiting taxi, the driver was surprised to see the note she passed to him but his expression quickly changed. He glanced at her in his rearview mirror. His mouth opened and his expression hardened before he looked away but he stopped the meter as he pulled away from the curb.

Sunny lost herself to the view once they left the town. With her return trip coming closer and closer, she found herself thinking back to her waiting studies. The material creeped up on her after endless nights of memorization and testing until she felt as if it was consuming her.

A bump in the road brought her back from her reverie. The town lay behind them and she watched as buildings grew further apart until only the country was left. She was hypnotized by the rolling green hills and the rhythmic humming of the tires on the poorly maintained roads.

Trees soon replaced empty roads when the driver turned onto a lone dirt road. She lost herself as the road twisted through forests and the path was dappled by the shadows of the passing trees.

"Here," the drive said, slowing to a stop.

The young woman shook herself and grabbed her backpack before stopping. There was no marked path or anything to show where she was.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "How will I get back?"

"Don't worry about it," the driver said in his longest sentence yet.

"Will there be a bus or something?" she asked, hesitating with her backpack in her lap. "Or a hotel nearby?"

"Yes," the man said impatiently. "It's fine."

Although she felt the worm of worry in her stomach, she forced herself to calm. She'd found nothing but generosity and helpfulness during her stay and was certain she'd find a hotel or hostel or

something

down the path beside the car.

With one hand on the wine and the other on the handle of her backpack, she exited the car and bumped the door closed with her hip. The driver gave her a final look but turned and left the way he came, his tires kicking up dust and pebbles as he flew down the road.

Birds chirped overhead as she stepped onto the lightly trampled path leading into the woods. She held the bottle by its neck as her backpack pulled at her shoulders. The taxi was already gone, vanished around a curve but she spared it a last glance before walking the trail.

It seemed as if she were in a fairytale. The forest was verdant without a hint of decay anywhere. Fallen logs appeared fresh with vibrant green moss and the air was filled with a faintly sweet scent. Despite not seeing a single sign of civilization, she felt relaxed. Invigorated.

Sunny grinned at a passing butterfly, holding her finger out and then laughing as it landed on the tip of her nail. Its wings beat gently before it took off, tracing a spiraling path around her head.

A small clearing opened before her. She paused at the treeline to stare into it. It felt home-y in a particular way, encircled on all sides by trees with a thick carpeting of moss. She breathed in deeply and then gasped as the nerves along her body seemed to thrum within her body.

Before she could stop herself, she pressed the tips of her shoe against the back of the other to step out of them, one at a time until she stood barefoot. It felt wrong to walk on the moss with her shoes. Unnatural.

"Wow," she said to herself as she stepped carefully into the clearing. The moss was cool beneath her feet and she wiggled her toes deep, feeling the soft loam.

As carefully as she could, she slipped her free hand through her backpack and then carried it until she reached a nearby log. She gently lay the backpack down and then sat back against the log with the wine bottle between her spread, bent legs. Her slim arm lay against the smooth trunk and she leaned back. The girl's long, glossy black hair pooled onto the log until the weight of it pulled it down, the strands cascading like a waterfall behind her. She breathed deeply and her shirt tented against her suddenly erect nipples. Still with her eyes closed, she gripped the bottle with one hand pressing it hard between her legs, pulling it up and down against her moistening sex until she shivered from the sensation of it.

Her delicate fingers brushed against stray hairs lining her forehead before slipping into the mass of her hair. She massaged her scalp for a moment, the base of her palms pressing against the two bumps over her temples. The movement of her hand against the bumps pulled at her skull and the skin covering them. She pulled her hands back from her her to scratch at the bumps, her nails digging into her flesh as she clawed and caressed the hardened lumps. She smiled tremulously, surprised at how sensual the feeling was. Almost overpoweringly so. Like a lover teasing her nipples. She shook her thick hair, licking her full, pouty lips.

A sudden thirst filled her, distracting her and reminding her why she'd come in the first place. She opened her backpack to pull out the waxy brown bag she'd brought with her. It was filled with a wedge of cheese, a chunk of bread and cured meats. She opened the bag to lay it flat next to her before working on the wine bottle's cork.

Dark black hairs emerged around her bare ankles. She scratched at the skin as they grew thick, strand-by-strand before vanishing beneath her pant legs.

As she worked the cork back and forth, she pressed her toes into the cool earth. The webbing between her toes began to expand, slowly connecting her big toe to her index toe while the other three pulled together separately. She dug her toes in and pulled them back, idly scratching the skin against the ground as the skin along the front of her feet calcified. Hidden beneath the moss, her trimmed toenails thickened out to sharp points. Nerves died painlessly in her feet as the keratin from her nails began to spread.

The girl's new hooves began to take shape just as she popped the cork of her wine bottle with a loud "ahah!"

As soon as the wine was opened, the heady scent filled the clearing. She blinked rapidly and then brought the bottle to her nose. As she breathed in the earthy tones of the wine, the bridge of her nose collapsed with a quiet crunching sound. The pale skin of her flattening nose brightened to pink while her nostrils pulled up to face forward.

The aroma filled her with a dizzying effect that left her reeling. It burned her throat and nose, soaking her brain before twisting down her stomach. And lower. She moaned and spread her legs wider as her lips curled up in a lazy, lusty smile.

"This is, wow," she said, her head swaying slightly. "Dang."

The fur covering her ankles spread lower. She winced as bones broke in her foot to give her the stance she needed to walk on hooves with her still-human legs. The pain faded quickly beneath the influence of the exotic drink and her changing body.

A dark patch formed on the young girl's crotch and she bit her soft lips with a shuddering sigh. Hairs joined the sparse patch covering her mound. They tangled together as they grew, sliding against her suddenly too-sensitive skin.

With her legs bent, her pants pulled tight against her hips while digging deep between her thighs. The darker patch of her arousal spread as the taut fabric bulged over her engorged labia. The fur beginning to cover her mound crept over her body. Held down by her pants, the tips of the hairs dragged torturously against her smooth, pale skin.

She gasped.

And jerked.

And bleated softly.

Red liquid ran down her lips as she careless drank from the bottle. With another pull, she filled her mouth too full. It burned as she forced it down and she wheezed, coughing slightly as she swallowed.

When her eyes opened, her pupils quivered.

The girl laughed, rubbing at her wine soaked lips with the back of her hand. She leaned her head back, turning her wrist to rub her eyes with her palm. Her laughter broke into a oddly animalistic cackling sound as the black ovals of her eyes squeezed into thin, horizontal rectangles.

Black fur sprouted from beneath her chin as her hair parted to expose two curved, delicate horns growing from her skull. She laughed again, glancing down at the red splotches soaking her plain white blouse.

Sweat broke out along the girl's collarbones. She squirmed, tugging and pulling at the slit in the center of her blouse. The soft fabric brushed her aching nipples and she arched her back at the feeling of it.

Sunny took another swig of her wine and then set the bottle down, shivering as heat pulsed through her arms and along her back. The girl tugged at the small gap of her shirt, pulling to expose the swell of her slim breasts. She bit her lips as her fingertips pressed into her soft flesh and then pulled further to expose her nipples. With another sharp tug, the shirt ripped to leave her bare chested.

The cool air surrounded her, stroking her overly warm body with its ghostly touch. A line of black fur escaped the band of her jeans. It crept along her stomach, fanning out to her sides while slowly, lazily marching upward. The hairs encircled her belly button, barely hesitating before climbing higher. Her growing pelt was sparse with skin still showing but, soon, more dark hairs joined those already covering her until her waist was covered in dense fur.

She pressed the heel of her hand against her belly, soaking the hairs with the sweat covering her body. Down her hand went until her fingers slipped into her pants. She toyed with the thick tuft of fur and then closed her legs, knees pressed together as her fingers slipped between her slick pussy.

The girl's moan broke into a gentle bleat. She rocked on her ass while pressing a fingertip against her hooded clit in a swirling motion. Fumbling to her side, she knocked over the wine and then grabbed it, taking another deep drink as fur sprouted along her jaw. She gasped, coating her body in a mist of red wine as a tiny orgasm surprised her.

Laughing with her head lolling and wine running down her fur-covered chin, she set the bottle down and worked on her zipper.

The sound of faint music made the girl's ears twitch. She glanced around, blinking her slitted eyes. Her ears lengthened and folded as soft white hairs grew within them. She pushed at the log to stand and then stumbled, focusing on her feet in shock.

"My- my- my-!" she gasped, reaching down to touch the wide cloven hooves. The tops of her feet were hidden behind thick, black fur but she was still surprised when she touched her foot and felt thick bone. Her heart raced as she touched herself, desperately trying to wiggle toes that no longer existed. As she watched, the still-growing hooves began to darken with each newly added layer.

She stood and her growing ears flopped at the tips when she stumbled, barely catching herself on her awkward feet. The world seemed to spin around her as the approaching music filled her long, soft ears.

Pressure built in the girl's skull. She bleated and then covered her mouth in shock, her strange eyes wide as she felt the downy hairs covering her face. Shock turned to pain and she closed her eyes as the bones cracked within her jaw, pushing her face forward.

She fell to her knees, panting as her face elongated. Exposed skin quickly disappeared behind still-growing fur. Through it all, her thirst tortured her. She lay there, supported by her hands with her knees spread on the mossy ground and her slim breasts free beneath her.

"I have to get help," she said to herself, focusing on her hands and tiny holes opened in her skin to allow her hair follicles to emerge. The music was louder and seemed to come from everywhere. A lively tune played on a wooden instrument that she couldn't place. She grabbed at the ruins of her shirt, trying fruitlessly to cover her bare chest. "I have to- have to-"

She licked her lips and glanced at the bottle laying on it's side. Bones shifted within her hips and her jeans strained against her waist as she reached for the wine.

"Need to-" she whispered, feeling the music tug at the knots within her stomach. She sat back, lost in the haze of the music and her growing arousal. The lilting song toyed with the nerves along her body and she shivered as she brought the bottle to her changed lips.

Sunlight gleamed off the girl's shiny horns as her glossy black hair brushed against dark fur lining her back. Wine spilled from her long muzzle, coursing down her cheek and the dusting of fur along her chest. She quivered as the drops spattered against her nipples, tangling with the short scarce hairs dotting her breasts.

Seams burst along the side of Sunny's jeans. Muscle formed in her waist and ass, pushing at the fabric until it gave way to the pressure of her expanding hips to reveal fur covered thighs.

Movement caught the girl's eyes. Her floppy ears flicked as she looked up to see a man standing at a nearby tree.

No, not a man, she realized. He was tall and hooved and covered in curly brown hair. Her eyes were drawn to his waist, to the thick, bulbous erection that bobbed before him, angry and red. She felt a sharp pang of need and she breathed deeply, as if she could smell him. He held a flute in his hands and his smile was more a lustful leer than anything else.

The man stepped to her on hooves like hers and offered a hand. She took it shyly and he helped her stand. Before she could try to say anything, he kissed her lips and she surprised herself by opening to him. She turned her jaw and their tongues swirled together while his strong, rough hands explored her body.

He pulled her close to him and she bleated in surprise. It

was

wrong, wasn't it?

Sunny tried to focus as the man went to one knee before her. She bit her lip as she felt his hot breath on her exposed, throbbing pussy. She grabbed his curly hair as he tugged at her ripped pants. There was- her school. The trip. It was a vacation and school. School waited for her. The stress of it. The endless nights of studying while the few friends she had went out partying. Locked in her room on the weekend, taking notes until her hand cramped. Still awake when her giggling roommates stumbled home with slurred stories of conquests and lurid texts.

Hiding herself away to masturbate beneath her covers, just to ease the stress and help her sleep. And then waking for classes with pain behind her eyes from lack of sleep.

Starting the routine over again. It seemed so difficult now. A lifetime away. All she had to do was ignore it and it would all go away.

He was behind her now and his lips pressed against her ass. She gasped as he slapped her lightly. Her normally slim ass jiggled, a healthy layer of fat over strong muscles. Muscle grown to help her walk on her hooves.