Action Pack 8: Opening Moves

Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. contained within this
story all belong to paetrasslave and may not be used in other
media without express permission. Why anyone would want to, she's
not sure.

This story is incredibly sexual in nature with many preferences
and depictions on display that will probably offend many people.
Anyone under 18 or possessed of an easily offended mindset should
leave now. For everyone else, that's probably all the reason you
need to stay.

Codes: furry porn

----------

Synopsis: Thoroughly bored, Jasami accepts an invitation to be
shown around the city by a raccoon-like creature. She helps him
to survive a sinister plot by Zenith's enemies, while a
mysterious game begins...

Dedication: To Jeer. For being a friend, for being a sounding
board, for letting me use his character, but most of all for
telling those lies about me being a talented writer.

	He eyed the board cautiously, then his opponent, trying to
anticipate her moves. Even after all this time, even after all
their confrontations, her kind proved infuriatingly mystifying to
him.
	"Having second thoughts?" she asked, her tone mildly amused.
	"If this is a trick--" he growled, but she held up her hands
placatingly.
	"We've never seen eye-to-eye, but have I ever gone back on my
word once I gave it to you? Or to anyone else? I know you've been
watching."
	Surprisingly, he gave a deep, guttural chortle. That was a good
sign. Probably.
	"True enough. Then perhaps we can cease wasting time."
	"You're the last one I ever thought I'd hear say that," she
replied, amused again.
	"I'd wager you also never thought you'd hear me say anything
like `I agree to this little contest of yours.' If you're quite
finished with the pleasantries--"
	"All right. Point taken." She gripped two of her pieces, and
advanced them off their starting positions.
	He stared hard at them for a moment. "Are you serious? You're
opening with THEM?"
	She chuckled. "And here I thought you were finally getting used
to me."
	He grunted. "Well, let's see you contend with THIS..."

--------

	Her back raw from landing on the mat so many times, Jein
nonetheless shakily rose to her feet. She had to resist the urge
to press a hand to her new black eye.
	She had to resist it because Takel closed on her again, driving
his hand at her side in a fast chop. Jein feebly tried a chop of
her own aimed at his wrist to deflect it, but her flagging
strength was no match for his and his hand made contact with a
sharp *thwack*. She yelped and this time there was no fighting
that urge to cover a source of pain, and Jein sank to her knees.
	"Takel, I'm calling a stop to this NOW," Namiel said and shot
her bodyguard a withering glare.
	"She asked for help learning to fight. Learning how to accept
pain is one of the most vital things a fighter can learn," he
replied, unperturbed. "It was the first thing I learned. For
months straight."
	"She's learned enough acceptance," aunt Namiel said coolly.
"Start showing her something more practical or this is over."
	"Looks like it's over either way," Takel observed. Jein had
collapsed onto her un-chopped side, clutching her aching ribs
with one hand and bruised eye with the other.
	"Takel, I swear to you...," Namiel said in a warning tone.
	"Learning how to avoid getting hit's even more important than
knowing how to hit," he said. "Her mother understood that. Now
there was a Sword Daughter."
	"I'm getting there," Jein groaned.
	Takel shook his head. "A Sword Daughter is blessed by Shile, He
Who Lays Waste, from the moment of her birth. She learns the
skills of war more quickly than any other, and has a remarkable
eye for spotting vulnerabilities in the heat of battle."
	"Used to," Jein muttered, and clutched at her face.
	"Oh, hush. That'll be fine in a few days," Takel said. "Most
importantly of all, a Sword Daughter also the ability to fill her
followers with courage based on the strength of the courage she
feels herself."
	"Sounds like all I'm missing is some followers," Jein said, and
managed to haul herself up to lean against the wall, and as if
out of nowhere Jasami appeared with an ice bag which she
gratefully accepted and pressed against her face.
	Cathallis chewed her lip before she worked up the nerve to say,
"Maybe you're trying to pick this up a little too fast?"
	"Maybe I want to survive if I run into trouble," Jein replied,
sounding polite, but firm. "I want to get out there and see what
there is to see, and I don't plan on waiting forever to do it."
	"Maybe Cath has a point," their other sister spoke up. Despite
being the youngest there was far more confidence in Jasami's
words and face as she said her piece. And as much as she enjoyed
seeing her eldest sister in nothing but shorts and a sports bra
all the time, the fact that Jein was always getting knocked
around by their aunt's bodyguard while she was wearing them
diminished the charm a little. "Maybe you need to slow down a
little. I mean, you're starting to look a little more muscular
and that's sexy, but...the bruises really don't do anything for
you."
	"Knock it off you two," Jein said gruffly. "I'm not getting hit
half as much as I used to."
	Takel chuckled. "You learn the ways faster than most, Sword
Daughter, but even you have to learn."
	Jein groaned. "But I hate grinding."
	"Oh, yes," Caht said. "The term for long, tedious periods of
practice and resource gathering."
	Jein grunted in the affrimative. That wasn't the first time her
sisters had heard her make that complaint.
	Their aunt walked over to the side of the exercise room where
the sisters were conversing, and looked down at Jein with
concern. "Your sisters have a point. Takel's been harsher than he
should, and I'd feel much better if you got an examination before
you had anymore...," she paused and sighed, "training so
demanding."
	Jein let out a frustrated sigh, but a defeated one. "My arm's
been kind of bugging me since I tried to vault off it
yesterday...," she admitted.
	"I'll have someone ask someone to come down and take a look at
it," aunt Namiel said and left. At some point Takel had simply
vanished, but he was no doubt following her out, silent and
unseen.
	"Thanks," Jein said, and gratefully slumped back onto the mat.
	"So, Jein," Jasami started to ask, making no effort at all to
sound casual. "Since you're not gonna be training for a
while...can we go do something later?"
	Jein looked over at her. "Like what?"
	"Like find good places to shop? I dunno, I'm almost getting
bored of all my teeny lace panties."
	"Never heard anyone say something like that to their sister,"
Jein said, but grinned, and Jasami grinned at seeing it. "Tell
you what, we'll go shopping after I can walk again if you'll do
me a favor. A big one."
	"What's that?"
	"Teach me how to walk in a skirt?" Jein asked.
	Cathallis looked at her twin quizzically. "Since when do you
wear a skirt? Even on the days where we don't do anything, you
always wake up and put on pants."
	"Hey, a lot of weird shit's been happening to me," Jein
responded. "Going with it makes it a lot easier on my sanity.
Besides, who says I'm not allowed to wear skirts?"
	"I'll show you," Jasami interrupted, her young eyes glimmering
with eagerness. "So...when do you think you'll be up for walking
again?"
	"I dunno, hopefully not too long. I'm probably gonna have to
spend the rest of the day in bed," Jein answered. "I gotta
admit...maybe these sessions are catching up to me faster than I
thought."
	Jasami gaped. "ALL day??"
	"It's just one day," Jein said.
	"But it's ALL day!" Jasami moaned. "What am I gonna do til
then??"
	Cathallis draped Jein's arm over her shoulders and lifted her
up. "What you always do to pass the time?"
	"That's getting a little old," Jasami mumbled. Aunt Namiel had
kindly filled Jasami's new room with toys and games she'd said
she'd had at Jasami's age, but what Jasami had been doing to pass
the time depended on nothing but a young girl's vibrant
imagination and some nimble fingers. She was starting to long for
the real thing, though. Or at least to have something useful to
do around the house, but Namiel had politely turned her down.
They had people for that, and after all, Jasami was family.
	Jasami meant to tell Jein about her time away, as she'd promised
when the two were alone, but ever since they'd moved in with
their aunt it seemed as if Jasami could never get any time alone
with Jein. Usually Jein was either in fight practice, or
Cathallis was hogging her, tending her wounds after fight
practice.
	Tending her wounds. Yeah, right.
	That was the problem with being the little one. Nobody listened
to you, or took you as seriously anybody else, even if the
difference was only one of a year or two.
Cathallis wasn't the only one who'd grown up knowing about the
duties their parents had meant them to inherit, but knowing Jein
was meant to carry the load. Both Jasami and Cathallis had come
to imagine her as a brave, beautiful warrior-woman, a role she
seemed to be growing into with relish.
	And both of them had fallen in love with that image that was now
being realized. Both of them.
	So where did Cath get off hogging their sister's attention?
	Didn't Jasami have just as much right to jam her groin against
Jein's? Was Cath hoarding the groin-jamming because of her own
deprived childhood? Maybe Cath thought she could get away with
it, since the only one complaining was the youngest among them,
and who really, honestly, listened to the youngest? Jasami hadn't
grown up with her siblings, but she'd still learned that hard
lesson from the children of her benefactress's friends.
	She sighed and made no effort to hide it as Cathallis helped
Jein limp upstairs. Jasami stomped over to the back stairway and
out into the yard behind the house. A good distraction seemed in
order, and she wanted to get out and away from her room, away
from the house, away from her family for a while.
	She walked to the edge of the pool behind the mansion, where the
ice blue water seeming to beckon her to dive in and let it wash
away her frustrations. She was starting to undo her dress before
getting in when she saw something that stopped her.
	In the bushes outside the fence, there were a pair of points of
light focused on her. After looking for another second she
realized they were eyes. Their own creeped closer and she could
make out the face of a raccoon. Rather then having tiny paws,
this one had hands.
	Then it stood up on its hind legs like a person.
	It was just shy of four feet tall, and had on a gray t-shirt and
blue jeans. It held up a hand, not a paw, and waved at her.
	"Hi," it said in a soft but masculine voice.
	"Hi!" Jasami replied with a smile.
	"Don't act like you have to stop thanks to me," the
raccoon-creature said. Jasami peered at him, then followed his
eyes and saw she'd opened her dress enough to flash shoulder and
the little cleavage she'd managed to develop. She didn't close
her dress back up as she walked closer to the fence.
	"Who are you?" she asked.
	"Jeer," the creature replied. "I heard some really pretty girls
moved into this house. I heard right." He grinned.
	"That's why you're hiding in the bushes?"
	"You're asking me that, but you're not covering back up," Jeer
reminded her, his smile turning cheeky.
	She couldn't argue that. She hadn't exactly been raised modest,
and was used to hearing how nicely she'd prepared herself.
Lately, she hadn't been hearing it much.
	"Actually," Jeer went on, though his eyes were focused on the
exposed flesh. "I was on my way home when I thought I'd swing by
and check."
	"For pretty girls?"
	He nodded. "For pretty girls."
	"You found one, what now?" Jasami asked curiously.
	"Ask her if maybe she's doing anything. Find out if she needs
someone to show her around, since she's probably new in town."
	Jasami folded her arms over her stomach. She was different from
her sisters. One had been prepared to battle the country's
enemies, the other to offer wise counsel. She hadn't been raised
to seek adventure.
	But she was bored, and this creature seemed harmless enough.
Besides, she did want to learn her way around Zenith, and he WAS
trying to flatter her. How bad could he be? This was the safest
place in the world, wasn't it?
	"No, I'm not," she said, and started toward the back gate.
	Jeer whispered something rather loudly that sounded like
"Score!" Then he coughed, collected himself and dropped to all
fours to scamper over to meet her at the gate. She opened it, and
took his proferred hand before they headed into the streets of
Zenith.
	As always, creatures of every color hurried past on their way to
countless important places to do countless important things. This
time, Jasami felt less like she stood out. Perhaps it was the
raccoon holding her delicate hand, and holding tighter when the
foot traffic thickened and it seemed for a second like they might
be separated.
	"So what's your name, cutie?" Jeer asked after they'd been
walking a few minutes and most of the foot traffic had thinned
out.
	"Jasami Devyre," she said. Jeer's eyes bugged out for a second.
	"Devyre? Like the old queen?" Jeer whistled. "You might not want
to say that out loud, honey. That could get a girl like you the
wrong kind of attention."
	"I thought this city was the safest place on Akton."
	"Sure it is," Jeer answered. "But it's still a city. Even in one
like Zenith, there's certain kinds of people in every city. Not
wholesome gentlemen like me, if you get my drift."
	"Oooooooooh, okay. I gotcha," Jasami said, and did. Her previous
benefactress had been snatched by a couple of lowlifes on a trip
off the grounds once. She'd made it home safely, eventually, but
had insisted it was the most horrific experience of her life and
had relied on Jasami to help her recover from the shock of her
ordeal. Relied very heavily.
	Then again, she'd relied on Jasami to help her recover from the
strains of running her household from day to day. Those couple of
nights hadn't been a huge change of pace for her.
	Jasami had never been able to keep track of time so well, but
after a while traffic thinned out and the buildings around them
got lower as they kept walking. Jasami kept looking around to
make sure she wasn't being led into a seedy part of town, if
indeed Zenith had one. Jeer stopped in front of a small building
with a yellow neon dragon in the window and went up to the door.
	"You hungry?" he asked.
	Jasami made a pouting face. "A little. The food where I live's
not that good. I keep asking if I can get a chance to cook, but
she always tells me no. Because `you're family,' apparently."
	"Well, you'll love this place. Maybe," Jeer smirked.
	The building proved to be a small restaurant. There were only a
few patrons, mostly human but with a creature that looked like an
anthropomorphic hairless rabbit sitting with them as well. Behind
the counter were two other raccoon-creatures who stared at Jeer
as he entered with a human girl next to him.
	"Where in the seven hells did you find HER?" one of them
demanded. Jasami hid a proud smile magnificently.
	"The rich district, like I told you," Jeer grinned. "Guys, meet
Jasami. Two of the usual." He dropped a blue coin on the counter,
and one of them grunted and took it while the other slipped
around back into the kitchen. Jeer took a seat in a booth near
the back of the place, and patted the seat next to him with a
smile.
	"What's the usual?" she asked as she took it.
	"You'll see," Jeer smiled still.
	"So who are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
	"I'm Jeer, black sheep of the coonkin," he smiled. "But I'm just
too darn good-looking to get rid of. Plus I'm kind of good at
helping them get things that are, heh, kind of hard to get."
	Jasami sighed. "I think I know how your customers feel."
	"Why?" Jeer snickered. "Poor little rich girl, is the one thing
you really want a friend?"
	"No," Jasami said tersely. "Something to do." Noticing a
peculiar glint in Jeer's eyes, she added. "Something. Not
someone. Necessarily."
	He laughed, but reined it in when everyone else stared at him.
"Well, tell you what, cutie. I was kind of in the middle of an
errand when I stopped over at your house. As soon as I finish
that, I'll take you out and you can see what Zenith has to
offer." He lowered his voice, and added. "The obvious and the not
so obvious, if you're in the mood."
	"It can't possibly be any worse than things at home," Jasami
said.
	He laughed again, and this time everyone else ignored him. "You
just wait see, sweetie. Let's let us celebrate a little, then
after uncle Jeer earns his next paycheck, I'll show you some
things you won't believe."
	"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I've seen," Jasami
smiled coyly. Just being outside the estate and talking to
someone with a sense of humor was helping her mood already. She'd
been hoping for a big reaction from Jeer, but he just smiled a
little knowing smile.
	"Guess I'll have to try harder than usual," he said, as if
awaiting the challenge.
	The coonkin who'd vanished into the back came up to them with a
platter in each hand. He set them down in front of the pair and
promptly disappeared into the back again. The dish held what
looked like a slab of cooked fish, which was white in color with
a faint yellow garnish. Jeer immediately grabbed a fork and
started shoveling his into his mouth. Jasami took a fork and,
more delicately, carved off a small portion and placed it in her
mouth.
	Her eyes went wide. It had a velvety texture and a taste she
couldn't quite describe, but it left her tongue tingling. Jeer
grinned around a mouthful of his own meal.
	"What IS this?" Jasami asked.
	"Manglerfish!" Jeer said through a mouthful of same. "Isn't it
great? Hard as hell to get. That's why I only have this when I'm
celebrating."
	Jasami looked at him probingly while taking another dainty bite.
"What are we celebrating?" Jeer smiled over at her with bits of
fish in his teeth, but it was the look of someone who was pleased
with himself for not spilling his guts so easily, probably
especially to a pretty girl.
	"You'll see, but it's a quick job, promise. Then we'll get out
there and you can really see Zenith. We got everything here,"
Jeer promised.
	"I'm pretty sure you said that."
	Jasami finished her manglerfish at a leisurely pace. She
might've been raised for a humble vocation, but she'd learned a
thing or two about projecting an air of cultivated indifference
while she was away. Jeer smirked at her through a muzzle smeared
with his own fish. They left with Jasami thinking she hadn't
entirely sold it.
	Then again, she was finally out doing something that promised to
be more interesting than sitting in her borrowed bedroom
surrounded by playthings completely unsuited to a girl of her
upbringing. Why bother hiding it? She smiled over at Jeer, whose
smirk hadn't budged at all. He fished a small metal box out of
his pocket as they kept walking, and the buildings got lower and
older still. Eventually Jeer went around the back of one building
that Jasami would've called a crack den if she'd ever heard the
term, or been to a seedy side of town before. Any town.
	"You can wait out here, princess. This'll only take me a
minute," Jeer told her.
	She thought briefly on how if Cathallis knew she was going into
someplace like that with someone she'd just met, some scolding
and a limp attempt at discipline were sure to follow.
	She smiled to herself, and followed Jeer through the battered
metal door.
	The staircase they entered simply led straight down into the
guts of the earth, the only illumination provided by a string of
old, flickering light bulbs suspended from the ceiling by a
strand of cheap wire.
	"Probably not as pretty as you're used to, but this'll only be
for a little bit, promise," Jeer said with a smile Jasami found
reassuring. They went down the staircase, through a short tunnel,
and then Jeer squeezed through a sizable crack in the wall.
	Jasami hesitated.
	Jeer extended his hand through the crack and beckoned. "Oh come
on, you afraid of getting your dress dirty or something?"
	Again, part of Jasami hesitated. She'd never been down in the
basement of a dirty old building with a stranger before, but
she'd been told very strongly what she should do if she did.
Which was, in short, to get out. Besides that, while she hadn't
gotten much use out of her aunt's other gifts, Jasami did have on
a nice new dress she rather liked. She wasn't too keen on getting
it scuffed or torn crawling around in holes.
	On the other hand, she saw Cathallis's disapproving face. Her
mind was made up in the next instant.
	"I'll show you," Jasami muttered defiantly and squeezed in
behind him. She sounded pretty convincing, if she did say so
herself. Jeer just smirked at her, but then dropped to all fours
again as he led the way down the new tunnel.
	No string of crappy light bulbs was lighting the way this time.
Instead, light came from up the tunnel itself, a soft but
pervasive yellow glow that held steady as they grew closer. After
a few minutes the tunnel opened into a large, round chamber. A
few men with a dark cast to their skin, wearing gray uniforms
were sitting around a table playing cards. One of them looked up
and brightened as he saw Jeer, then scowled as Jasami cleared the
doorway. The light they'd been following came from a strange bowl
suspended from the ceiling that radiated a bright but pleasant
golden light that easily filled the room.
	"You think this is a date, little boy?" he growled at the
coonkin. "A party?? To bring your little girlfriend to?!" He and
the others reached into their pockets and started to withdraw
guns, but Jeer held out the box he was carrying.
	"Relax, Mister Happy. I got your thing," he explained. "Besides,
isn't that the whole reason you're doing this so close to Zenith?
So you can bring a whole shitstorm of Paetra's fury down on the
other guy if he tries anything?"
	"Don't say it like that leaves you out," the man grunted and
snatched at the box, but Jeer scuttled backward.
	"I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Remember?"
	The man grunted and jerked his head in Jeer's direction. The
others produced a metal lockbox and tossed it over to Jeer, and
then a small key. The coonkin twisted the key in the lockbox,
revealing stacks of yellow bills, neatly arranged, and a
compartment full of colorful gems. He grinned over at Jasami, but
all she said was, "Not bad."
	"We're done," the man said simply and turned his back to Jeer.
The coonkin set his own box down, then grabbed Jasami's arm and
was starting back the way they came when a towering figure seemed
to melt out of the shadows right in their way.
	"We're done when I say we are," it said in a snarling voice. Two
big, hairy hands reached out and lifted Jeer and Jasami off the
floor, and they were carried into the center of the room. "And
you don't your precious blueprints until I do." He paused and
blew an angry-sound breath through his nose. "You hired a bloody
coonkin for this? What, is your boss really that incompetent?"
	"What do you care?" the man demanded. "We got the jewel, that
was the deal."
	The hairy being set them down and crossed over to where the man
stood. As Jasami suspected, he was something less than human. His
body was covered with thick brown fur and he was so wide from
shoulder to shoulder it looked like nothing short of a tank
running into him could budge him. His head was that of a bear,
and his torso was swathed in red body armor made of what looked
like flexible plastic.
	He wasn't alone, either. Behind him was a massive hornet with
evil faceted eyes, standing on its two hind legs. Between its
gauzy wings was a rectangular box that looked a lot like a
jetpack. Bands of mottled flesh near the base made it look like
it had been welded to the monster's back, rather than simply
worn. The other one was tall, slender, and had a feminine build.
Her fur was white and she had the head of a fox. Over her torso
and legs she wore a set of the black, plastic-like armor that the
bear-man did.
	The bear-man snatched the box from the human. "I'll tell you
when we've got the jewel," he said, and flicked open the box. He
held up a rectangular gray device up to it. Nothing happened, and
he glared at the man.
	"This isn't it!" the bear-man roared.
	"Of course it is!" the human retorted, but the gun in his hand
was quivering. "The general's intelligence had been tracking and
identifying it for months! We only hired him because somebody his
size could've gotten past the security the most easily!"
	The bear-man checked the battery pack on his device, waved it
over the box again and growled. "Tran's an idiot, and he has
nothing but idiots working under him. This. Isn't. It."
	Before the bear-man had the chance to turn and demand answers,
Jeer grabbed Jasami and lunged for the hornet-creature, hitting
it with his shoulder in the narrow section where its abdomen and
thorax met. It buzzed angrily and fluttered its wings, but almost
bent double and slammed into the wall. Jeer darted through the
opening the hornet had left for them. Jasami was following when
she heard Grisly roar, and felt the air on her back as he took a
swipe at her, but then Jeer grabbed her wrist and pulled her
behind him as he ran as fast as he could down the tunnel they'd
come through.
	"What's going on?!" Jasami screamed as they ran.
	"This is what I was celebrating. The big payday, remember?" Jeer
answered, his tone proud. "I just wasn't expecting Grisly while I
was still there."
	"Who?"
	"The bear guy. His name's Grisly."
	"I guess that makes sense..."
	The end of the tunnel came into sight, but the scene had
changed. The crack they'd squeezed through was blocked by a dark,
sinuous shape. Like a huge snake.
	That wasn't the only difference. Part of one wall had been
pulled back. A secret door Grisly and his friends had come
through, no doubt. Jeer pushed her through it just before the
snake lunged for them. All of a sudden Jeer dodged a side and bit
it just below its hood. It hissed angrily and thrashed around,
and Jeer and Jasami both fled down the door and the descending
stairs behind it.
	Jeer weaved through turns and tunnels as the light from above
vanished into the distance. After a minute Jasami was panting
heavily, and Jeer pulled her behind a corner and they both
slumped against the floor. "Sorry, rich girl," Jeer said. "I
didn't think they'd all show up like that. If I did I wouldn't've
brought you, you don't look like you run a lot."
	"Don't call me `rich girl'. My name's Jasami," she said as
haughtily as she could, but looked over at Jeer and couldn't help
giggling. It seemed so natural to do so around him. Then she
clapped a hand over her mouth. "There are probably more of those
animal monsters down here, right?"
	"Maybe," Jeer said, then cracked something and a chemical light
came to life in his furry hand. "But don't worry, they don't know
about it, but I know my way around the undercity pretty well.
This isn't the first time I did business down here, ya know. I'll
find us a safe way out."
	Jasami pulled the hand holding Jeer's light closer to look
herself over in the narrow field of light it provided. "Damn...my
dress is all dirty...and it's torn here. Urgh..."
	"You could always take it off," Jeer suggested. "You were about
to the first time I saw you today."
	She smacked him on the back of his furry head, but he snickered.
"Well, you could. It's not like there's anybody else around to
see."
	"Except more animal monsters. No thanks." She looked over at
Jeer, who was looking up the tunnel for any signs of anyone else
skulking around. Softly, Jasami added, "Um, sorry..."
	"For what?"
	"The animal monsters thing. You're not a monster, right?"
	He looked at her with no trace of humor or anything on his face.
"Do you think I'm a monster?"
	"Do you think I think you're a monster?"
	He laughed quietly. "Quit dodging the question."
	"No, I don't. But those other ones...they scared me."
	Jeer nodded. "They should. And they're not even the meanest
things Doctor Kargis invented. Even the queen's afraid of the
things he might send down from his labs, and if they're already
this far out...shit. But he made them to be monsters."
	"But didn't you know he was in on this?" Jasami inquired.
	"Sure I did, but I didn't know Grisly had so many of his buddies
with him. Even the Dogs of War go around in a group because of
how mean these guys are. And I'm not a Dog of War."
	"No, you don't really look like a warrior," Jasami smiled.
	Jeer huffed in amusement. "That's right, you're looking at the
finest lover in Zenith. And we are finally alone, my sweet..." He
leaned over and ran his wet nose in a curving line along Jasami's
neck. She gasped then giggle as it passed within half an inch of
nipple, and swatted him on his furry cheek. He just smiled again,
and then peered at something behind her back.
	Jasami turned around to try to see what he was looking at. "What
is it?"
	"Well, you were right," he grinned.
	"Right about what?"
	"Your dress is ruined," he said, and gave her a stroke over her
butt. She gasped, and twisted her skirt to see what was going on.
A large patch, running from her waist to the hem, was missing, no
doubt torn away when Grisly swiped at her as she ran. The seat of
her panties and back of her legs were hanging out in full view.
	"That's kind of annoying," was all she said.
	"Ha!" Jeer barked "Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming."
Jasami frowned and wrapped her fingers around his muzzle to shut
him up.
	"Maybe we should wait until we're away from the bad guys to
start yelling?" she suggested.
	Jeer wiggled free and looked up at her. "Really? `That's kind of
annoying,' that's it?"
	"I'm used to people staring at me."
	"Oh? And why's that? Parents always showing you off? I can see
that. Easy."
	"Sort of," Jasami shrugged. "I grew up as the ward of a very
eccentric noblewoman. She made me one of her chambermaids, so I
spent a lot of the time cleaning up her house and cooking meals.
Things like that.
	"But she also took me to bed every night since I was legal. Did
things to me. Taught me things. When she'd throw parties, or go
to other peoples,' she'd always bring me with and show me off to
her friends. She'd always be looking at me out of the corner of
her eye, with this glint that told me what we'd be doing as soon
as we were alone again. Sometimes she'd loan me to her friends'
kids."
	"Sounds hot," Jeer said absently, his hands positioned
suspiciously over his groin. "So she assassinated your modesty,
huh?"
	"Pretty much, yeah. That reminds me, I promised my sister I'd
tell her this..."
	"Big sister?" Jeer asked, his voice suddenly alert.
	"Yeah, I made a bet with her, and she won. I hoped she would."
	"What bet?"
	Jasami smiled to herself. "That she couldn't get me off. She
did. With her fingers. I want to tell her, it's just my other
older sister keeps hogging her--"
	"Oh gods!" Jeer exclaimed and dropped the tube of chemical
light. Jasami picked it up, and saw what had happened. His pants
were tented in front, with a dark stain on the crotch.
	"Did I just make you pre?" Jasami asked quietly, grinning
herself.
	"Only if you're not kidding about all that stuff you just said."
	Jasami put on her best haughty smile. "A lady doesn't besmirch
her honor telling lies. At least not the kind she isn't willing
to spend her life covering up."
	"I think I'm in love with your family," Jeer moaned and stroked
at the bulge in his jeans. "Are you doing anything tonight?? I
mean, all night?"
	"I know what Cathallis is doing to Jein," Jasami grumbled, and
shivered. Jeer leaned close and whispered into her ear.
	"How about you loosen that dress and I'll...warm you up?"
	She looked up as Jeer cupped her chin, and then leaned over and
pushed his muzzle against her mouth in a heated kiss. Her eyes
started to drift closed, and then she was returning it.
	With a deftness that didn't surprise her in the slightest, Jeer
unfastened the remains of Jasami's dress and pushed it down her
shoulders. She shook her hips as the dress slithered past them
and it fell at her feet with a soft sound. With an equally deft
touch she pulled his shirt up and tossed it behind him, but
before she could go for his pants, he did. Jeer undid his zipper
and carefully pulled his jeans and boxers down off his stiff
cock, and grinned over at Jasami as the solid foot of pink male
organ bobbed in her direction.
	Jeer grinned and reached out and grabbed Jasami's delicate
A-cups. "Shouldn't we hide if we're gonna do it?" she panted.
"And you've--"
	Jeer interrupted her with a nod and dug into the pocket of the
pants around his ankles. "Relax. I got protection. I do this kind
of thing all the time, believe it or not. And I know a safe
place..."
	"Oh, so you bring all your dates down into a bunch of crappy old
caves, huh? You must be ROLLING in the pussy," Jasami said.
	"Hey, it's only been a couple times," Jeer said defensively,
then smiled before he put the light in his mouth to take Jasami's
hand in his, and tucked his condom and the lockbox under his arm.
Jasami picked up their clothes and followed him down a short
passage and into an alcove behind a large rock that blended right
into a wall. Behind it was a small, cool little room. Jasami
tossed their empty clothes onto the floor and laid down on them,
thighs splayed.
	"It's cold. Get over here and warm me up," she commanded.
	"Yes, princess," Jeer said. There was the sound of a wrapper
tearing, and the light bobbed closer, and lingered over her
chest. His furry hands slipped into the small circle of light and
found her nipples and gave them each a playful tweak.
	"Uhnnn!"
	"What happened to the stoic princess?" Jeer teased. "You know
what, I bet you can't do this and not make a sound the whole
time."
	Jasami grunted in annoyance then pressed her lips together. The
light was laid beside her, and then she felt Jeer's furry body
press down on top of hers. Then slowly, she felt his cocktip
press against the inside of her thigh. Her body seemed to go numb
as it did. Jeer breathed lightly on her neck, and gave it a soft
lick.
	This was different than Jasami was used to. She'd had some male
liaisons before coming home, but she'd been happy not to see most
of them again. Jeer seemed a bit full of himself, and was a
little shady, but his strokes on her chest were gentle. He
pressed his cock up against her folds slowly, easing himself into
her valley. Almost as if he was afraid of hurting her.
	She quivered as she felt him hilt inside her. She wanted to
voice the urges his touching was building up inside her. It was
what she'd always done. Always. Her mistress had told her it was
grateful of her to do so. It had been so easy to manufacture when
she was being toyed with by some conceited noble brat.
	Yes, this was different. Despite his brashness there was a
tenderness as he brushed his furry fingers over her nipples
again, like she'd only felt with her oldest sister. This wasn't
the technique of some spoiled boy looking for some quick
gratification.
	She felt the fur of Jeer's legs atop her own, then it was gone
as he rose up and slid his cock back. Then slowly he inched it
back in. He blew lightly into her ear. Her body contorted, the
desire to cry out intensified, but Jasami pressed her lips
together tighter. She curled her legs around Jeer's just before
he pulled back and jammed another thrust home. She wanted to let
out the tension wracking her body, paralyzing it, with her voice.

	She couldn't. Jeer had challenged her. To prove her mettle. Damn
it, she was the daughter of a queen, and the little sister of a
heroine (well, future heroine, but anyway...). There was a
reputation at stake. The coonkin shifted his mouth to her neck,
rubbing his thumbs over her rosy nubs again and again in the
dark. Jasami arched her back and pushed her body up to rub
against his soft fur. Her small breasts were pancaked back
against her chest.
	"I'll show you!" she thought.
	Jeer pulled back his hips, then rammed his cock up inside her
harder than he had before. Another thrust came more quickly, and
another more quickly still. Jasami managed to hold her position,
though. Jasami held onto him as he slammed his cock home again.
As he pulled back and started to slide forward again she rolled
her hips forward to meet his thrust. A rush of sensations ripped
through from that contact. Surprise, warmth, excitement,
fear...Her knees weakened, but still she managed to hold herself
up.
	He pulled back again, and when he started to push himself up
into her again she pushed back to meet him. This time, the rush
was less intense. She stayed pressed against him, more easily
now.
	Jasami craned her neck upward and kissed Jeer as their hips met
again. He purred into a kiss with her, moments before  their hips
seemed to roll together as part of a single thought.
	Faster and faster he started to pump her, and faster and faster
she pushed her hips down to meet his thrusting. In the dim
illumination of the chemical light their eyes locked. Jasami
stroked her fingers through his fur, up his neck to between his
ears. Jeer thrust faster, and dug his blunt claws into her ass. A
warm trickle went down her leg. She was silent. Jeer ran his
tongue over her lips and stroked a finger down the crevice of her
ass cheeks. She was silent.
	Then, it was too much. Her body tensed and she fell back onto
their clothes and released a surge of her wet arousal onto Jeer's
cock. She bit down on her lip as hard as she could, staring him
straight in the eyes as she did and remembering his dare. Her
young body contorted as she splurted onto Jeer again, and then
contorted the other way with another splurt. Still, she was
silent.
	Jasami was faintly aware of the surging of Jeer's cock within
her as well, but he also didn't make sound as his orgasm ran its
course. Slowly he pulled back out of her and removed his
prophylactic. "I knew it," he whispered.
	"Knew what?" Jasami rasped. "And you got any water?"
	"Knew you could keep your mouth shut," he answered. "And no, no
water. Thought you'd want to get away from the bad guys before we
did that."
	"Well, I'm not cold anymore. At least that's better," Jasami
said and brushed herself off. "You got a mirror? I bet my hair's
a mess."
	"You even got a comb? Or did Grisly rip it off with the rest of
your skirt? Besides, that's the only light we got."
	Jasami looked down at the remains of her dress. "Oh yeah, that's
right."
	Jeer pulled his pants out from the bottom of their makeshift
bed. "You're serious? You had a comb back there?"
	"Of course I did. I had a brush, too. What if I had to fix my
hair?"
	Jeer zipped up his pants and held out Jasami's shoes for her to
put on when they heard a sound from one of the tunnels. It was a
loud snuffling mixed with angry grunting, and it was coming from
the tunnel where they could see an orange glow that was quickly
growing brighter. Jeer grabbed his lockbox. "Come on!" he
whispered urgently.
	"Don't have to tell me twice!" she whispered back.
	He cast a look back at her naked form, the clothes she'd tucked
under her arm to run with him, and muttered, "Where have you been
all my life?"
	"I already told you."
	They snuck out of the alcove where they'd been hiding and dashed
out of the room as the loud snuffling got closer. A minute later
they heard a roar in the chamber they'd left behind. Jeer ran
faster and Jasami had to push herself to keep up as heavy
footfalls that seemed to shake the very ground echoed down the
tunnel behind them. A lady didn't run, she'd been told. She
hadn't been told what a lady did when a bear was attacking her,
though.
	At least, not from her mistress. As they ran she threw her socks
down a side tunnel. They kept running and she threw her
undergarments down another. Then her dress down yet another.
Finally the stopped to pause for breath, and they both listened
hard behind them. The footfalls slowed, and then they heard
another angry roar. Some more padding, and another roar. Louder
and angrier. "Tricky little bitch...!" Grisly shouted.
	"Nice one," Jeer said over his shoulder. "And I think I know the
perfect way to cap it off. Can you swim?"
	"A little."
	"A little's enough," Jeer answered. He turned down another
tunnel and after another minute of running they came out into a
sprawling cavern. They walked out onto a rocky cliff, and below
Jasami could hear the sound of lapping water.
	"What are we gonna do?" Jasami asked. She was grateful at least
that all the physical activity was keeping her warm for the
moment, because she could feel the chill air of the caves setting
in again, and she had a feeling she knew what Jeer had in mind.
	"We're gonna swim. A little," Jeer answered. He stuck the
chemical light back in his mouth, clutched the lockbox in one
hand, and Jasami's hand in the other. Then he jumped.
	Jasami felt like screaming as they plummeted through space, but
remembered Jeer's dare from when they'd been making love and held
breath. Hell if she was going to let him think of her as a
screaming damsel in distress.
Then suddenly, they broke the surface. Her naked skin was stung
by the frigid water but she immediately started paddling for all
her thin arms and legs were worth after the small yellow beacon
bobbing in her friend's mouth.
	"There," Jeer panted as they slipped into another tunnel leading
away from the underground lake. "We should've lost their scent
after our little swim. Now we can just cruise on out of here."
	"You sure you know where we're going?"
	"I knew about the lake, didn't I? Come on, there's way out just
up ahead, promise. They won't follow us out there, not unless
they're total idi--oof!" Jeer was cut off as he ran headlong into
a group of General Tran's men, brandishing guns and wearing
high-tech masks.
	The one in front laughed and cocked his weapon. "You think far
too lowly of the general, coonkin. You didn't think we'd scout
the area in case we had to make a getaway?" Then he squeezed the
trigger and an almost inaudible hiss was the only other sign he'd
fired.
	Jeer raised the lockbox like a shield and the bullet ricocheted
off, leaving a dent. Two of the other soldiers aimed their guns
at Jasami and fired.
	The coonkin gasped and tried to dive protectively in front of
her, but then a strange thing happened. A small whirlpool-like
shape formed in the air in front of her and the shots disappeared
inside. Then it was gone, as if it had never been there.
	"What in the seven hells...?" one of them gasped. He suddenly
ducked down and yelped in pain, clutching his scalp. Two small,
glowing objects rolled off his head and landed on the ground with
a tinkle.
	Bullets.
	While he was still looking down at them, the two surged forward.
Jasami jumped the bewildered soldier and bit him hard on the leg.
He yelped and went down in a heap, and Jasami made sure she fell
with him, between his body and the wall so they wouldn't try to
shoot her.
	It didn't work. Another bullet grazed her leg as she went. Two
more went through his chest near her head.
	"Damn!" she yelped, but managed to drag herself up and run for
all her legs were worth. More of those hisses, but nothing hit
her. She dared a glance over one supple shoulder and Jeer was
jogging after her, but there was a dark, dripping stain next to
the light in his mouth. He staggered and clutched the lockbox to
his chest. After they went around a bend, Jasami pried one of his
arms loose and draped it over her naked shoulders. "We're gonna
make it. We're almost there, right?" she said.
	Jeer nodded, but groaned and leaned his head on her shoulder.
His fur was softer than she remembered from when they'd been
fucking. Then again, she HAD been focusing on a part with no fur
at all...
	Right then Grisly roared again, loud enough that dust fell from
the tunnel roof into her eyes. Only for a second, then suddenly
the dustfall stopped. As Jeer indicated the right branch of a
fork in the tunnel, the bear-man bellowed down the tunnel. "I'll
have that jewel and I'll feast on your remains!"
	Jasami could feel the angry bear-man thundering down toward
them. Suddenly, though, she heard an angry roar followed by
angered sputtering and coughing. A pain shot up Jasami's leg from
where she'd been grazed by the bullet, and it was all she could
do to limp along. Jeer groaned and leaned more heavily on her,
his free hand slipping down her back and brushing against her ass
cheeks. She yelped, but for the moment pretended it was an
innocent accident and kept stumbling forward, wondering if it was
really getting lighter or if it was just her imagination...
	...and suddenly a pair of strong arms reached out and grabbed
her, and lifted her off the ground. She had to squeeze her eyes
shut because it really WAS brighter. She prepared herself to
kick, scream and bite for all she was worth, but she heard two
things. One was a voice saying, "It'll be all right," and the
other was Jeer giving out a sigh that sounded relieved.
	She managed to force her eyes open and saw she was in the arms
of a woman wearing a white uniform and facemask, standing in a
grassy lot. Jasami counted at least twenty more people standing
around in blue uniforms and helmets with opaque visors.  That
wasn't even counting the one wiping Jeer's bloodied shoulder
clean. Most of them quickly stormed into the opening she and Jeer
had escaped through.
	The woman set Jasami down and called over to the medic. "Better
take a look at this one too." Then she seemed to disappear, with
just a rush of air to mark her sudden absence.
	The medic tied off Jeer's bandage then came over and took a look
at Jasami's leg. And Jasami. "What happened to your clothes?" he
asked.
	"Those guys ripped `em off her," Jeer croaked. Jasami couldn't
help but notice the lockbox he'd been lugging that entire time
had disappeared. "They were gonna do unspeakable things to her.
Scum!"
	"Sounds like that's another one we owe you, son," the medic
said. He tied off a bandage around Jeer's wound and went over to
start cleaning Jasami's.
	"If they thought this was important enough to send somebody from
Legion Alpha, maybe this is worth something extra, hmmmm?"
	"You'll get the reward when the busts are made," the medic
replied and turned to Jasami, staring hard at her face and not
what was below it. "Does it hurt?"
	"Big tough warrior princess like her?" Jeer scoffed. "She
would've been fine even if I hadn't showed up, wouldn't you?"
	Jasami grinned and flexed her thin white arms. The medic tried
even harder to stare at what he was doing and not the expanse of
pale flesh on display. "There, that should do it," he said,
looking intently at a rock at his feet. "I'll go get you a
blanket. Or something." He hurried off, muttering, "I thought we
sealed these places off years ago..."
	As soon as the medic was gone, Jeer hugged Jasami up from
behind, furry hands on her chest. "He totally had a boner."
	"I bet you do too."
	"Not yet, but it's getting there real quick," he whispered into
her ear. Furry fingers closed around her pert little nipples, and
twisted. She squirmed, but tried magnificently not to.
	"What did he mean, busts? Was this all a trick?" Jasami asked
and tried to change the subject.
	"Heh heh heh. Yeah, princess, that's what you call a sting
operation," Jeer explained. "I found out those guys were going to
try to steal something in Zenith, and when I went to the police
like a public-minded citizen, they decided that even if they
didn't know what those guys wanted, it was important enough for
them to get involved. So they decided to take advantage of my
unique skill set.
	"I talked to the bad guys, let them know who I was, and that I
could get something like the Eye of Azimoth for them, if they
were willing to compensate me. The police helped make it look
very real. But not quite. For some reason they didn't trust me
enough to hang onto the actual Eye. But you saw that.
	"But I can't take all the credit for that. That thing you did
with the little tornadoes was awesome. We might not've made it
out of there in one piece if you hadn't done that when you
sprayed dust back at Grisly."
	"Did I?" she asked
	He blew lightly into her ear as he pulled on her nipples. She
held in most of a whimper, and couldn't see it but he grinned at
the small sound. "Anyway, here we are. I hadn't meant to drag you
along like this, but you really do seem like you could be the old
queen's kid--"
	"I am," Jasami huffed.
	"--so I figured you could probably handle it," Jeer finished.
	"So you were working for the good guys the whole time, huh?"
Jasami smiled over her shoulder.
	"Not really," Jeer grinned back. "They just made me the best
offer."

-----------

	"I believe first blood goes to me," she said and smiled at him
from across the board.
	He glared back at her. "First blood? Don't flatter yourself.
That was a block. Nothing more."
	"That's the problem with you. You never had to learn to
strategize."
	He leered back. "Who says I never learned?"
	She smiled obligingly and made a motion for him to proceed.
"Then by all means, show me how misinformed I am."