Chapter 6
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"..." Speech
'...' Thoughts
The dinning room was starting to get crowded by the time Miko stumbled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen for breakfast. The normally early rising pokegirl had nearly slept right through the morning meal, and actually had to scramble for the remaining scraps before April cleared the table. Miko had a nagging suspicion that the kitchen mistress knew she was the one who kept making midnight raids on the fridge, but that April didn't have any proof to nail her with, and thus had to contend with simply being a pain in Miko's blue ass when she could get away with it. Luckily, April only had two hands to try and complete with Miko's pair of hands and tail, and the aquatic pokegirl was able to grab up a plateful before everything edible was snatched away.
Finding an empty table for herself however was going to be impossible. She gazed about the room, looking for someone she wouldn't mind joining. The triplets waved at her from a table near the back, but she pretended not to see them. The sight of them did however bring her hand up to the pendant that hung around her neck on a short, fine chain. The catgirl sisters had handed out the trinkets when the orgy had finally ended, a couple hours after they had helped Tobias to bed. Their master might have been spent, but the girls had been far too wound up to call it quits just because he wasn't involved anymore.
The pendants were cheap, simple things, but Miko was rather proud to wear hers. Not because it was beautiful or because the triplets have given it to her by any means, but because hers had the most gems. The oval shaped ordainments could be popped open in the back to place little colored glass beads into the holders that would display the faux gems. Hers had a pair of white and one red gem that she had placed in a simple triangle. That was one more then the two runner ups behind her, and two more then everyone else who had one. The significance of that was not lost on the rest of the girls, given some of the looks she was getting.
" Good morning Miko," a voice purred in her ear, and she nearly dropped her plate. Turning around, she took a quick step back as her gaze drifted up.
" Good morning head mistress," Miko replied, bobbing a quick bow.
" Please Miko, you can call me Keri," the warcat told her.
" But, you're on duty," the aquatic pokegirl protested, waving a hand at the blouse and skirt the warcat wore.
" Not when I am eating I am not," Keri said, holding up her own plate.
" Oh...you know, I'm surprised April would let even you get away with coming to breakfast after she put everything up. I almost had to fight her for mine." Keri smiled warmly at her.
" I knew I was going to be late, so I told her to save me some. Come, would you join me?"
" Um...yeah, sure," Miko agreed a bit timidly, following after Keri as she made her way between the packed tables. She paused however when Keri set her plate down and took a seat at the back table, right in the middle of the triplets. The catgirls seemed just as surprised as Miko, but they quickly recovered.
" Why head mistress, what a pleasure to have you join us," Raas said with mock sincerity. She was the only one of the sisters Miko could readily identify, as her pendent held a single white gem, while the other two triplets had red.
" How it warms my heart to hear that," Keri replied in kind. " A shame you were just leaving." The uncertain smiles that had been forced on the catgirl's faces turned to looks of confusion.
" We were?" One of the other sisters asked.
" You were," Keri told her. " After all, I can see your plates are clean, and today is a working day for you, so clearly, you were just getting ready to leave, yes?"
" Uh...well..."
" I thought so, unless...you do have a full day of chores set out, yes? If not, I would be happy to suggest a few things I know need doing."
" No!" All three objected at once.
" That is," Raas said " Our day is looking very packed as is, thank you."
" We'll be going," Another sister added, getting up.
" I am sorry to have missed this chance to get to spend some quality time with you," Keri told them with a bright grin. " Perhaps some other time." The triplet's final responses were unintelligible mutters as they left, never even giving Miko a second glance. " Are you going to just stand there?" Keri called over to her.
" That was really awesome," Miko said, unable to keep from smiling a bit as she sat down across from Keri, who smiled back.
" If you can surprise them, it is not actually all that hard to handle them."
" I'll try to remember that, though it's pretty hard to catch them off guard."
" True," Keri agreed. She started in on her meal and Miko did the same, neither one speaking for what started to become a tense silence. " That is a cute necklace," Keri finally said.
" Thank you," Miko responded after a pause. It might have been her imagination, but the comment had sounded hesitant, almost forced.
" I cannot help but notice, it looks a lot like the ones the triplets were wearing," Keri pointed out, and there was a definite hint of uncertainty in her voice.
" Yeah, they gave it to me," Miko replied simply. Something odd was going on, she'd never heard Keri speak with anything but complete confidence before. Something was making the warcat pick her words very carefully.
" Oh...I see," Keri said, and Miko was amazed to see the headmistress's ears actually droop slightly. She was still smiling slightly, but it had taken on the stiff, wooden tones that forced smiles usually have.
" They were giving them out when the orgy started to break up," Miko supplied cautiously, watching Keri's reactions carefully. A thought had come into her mind to explain the normally assertive and confident pokegirl's current behavior, and Miko wasn't sure how she felt about it. " They gave out quite a lot of them."
" Oh." Keri's ears perked up in a rather hopeful manner, and Miko felt her mouth go dry.
' She was worried I was hooking up with the triplets. Oh hell, she really is interested in me.' Miko swallowed her current mouthful of food with some effort. "They're uh...markers I guess would be a way of putting it."
" And what is it they mark?"
" Ummm..." Miko couldn't keep the sheepish smile off her face, even with her concerns over Keri's sudden interest in her. " Well, and this was all the triplets idea..."
" Naturally."
" You get to wear one if...if you've been with the new master," Miko finally got out, blushing slightly. Keri stared at her for a second, her golden yellow eyes wide, and then she started laughing.
"That is so tactless!" she exclaimed. " You are keeping track for him! Or is it for yourselves?"
" A bit of both," Miko admitted. " That's what the gems are for, keeping track among ourselves that is."
" And what do the gems stand for?" Keri asked as she tried to stifle her laughter.
" Well, each red one is for a time we've been with him. And the white ones..." Miko bit her bottom lip and tried to look innocent.
" The white ones..." Keri prompted.
" The white ones are for each time we've managed to get him off," the aquatic pokegirl admitted in a rush. Keri covered her face with her hands as a new wave of incredulous laughter hit her..
" I take it...Tobias is not...aware of this yet?" the headmistress got out between chuckles.
" I don't believe so, no." Miko told her, smiling brightly. She had never heard Keri laugh before, her real laugh that is, not the rather ominous chuckle she sometimes used before really asserting her authority, and it was a very refreshing sound. The blue skinned pokegirl found her doubts and concerns about Keri's interest in her losing weight next to that laugh alone. She was much more used to the serious and collected Keri, and seeing the head mistress nearly loosing control in her mirth made Miko realize she‘d never really looked beyond her authority. ' I've just been too busy seeing her as the head mistress, and have been ignoring the person behind the position.' She watched as Keri finally got control of herself, her eyes glancing down at Miko's pendent.
" Three times already?" The warcat asked with a slightly impressed tone.
" Well, two of them I earned one right after the other," Miko told her without hesitation, suddenly feeling emboldened by this friendlier, more open side of Keri.
" Well done, nice to know our master's first night here was indeed a pleasant one."
" I did what I could," Miko said with false modesty. Impulsively, she reached across the table to lay a relatively tiny hand on Keri's. " I always like to make sure my partners are happy by the time I'm done." The look of surprise that flashed across the warcat's face made Miko grin.
" Is that a fact?" Keri asked, leaning forward slightly, her eyes locking onto the smaller pokegirl with a palpable intensity.
" How would you like to find out?" Miko almost lost the nerve before the words came out, forcing both the words and her gaze towards Keri. Trying to match stares with the warcat was like trying to push back an avalanche, but once she got passed her initial shyness, Miko often found a core of strength in herself to rival anything that could be thrown at her.
Whatever Keri started to say was lost in a thunderous booming that had half the room cringing with their hands over their ears and the other half way to the ceiling. Miko ducked as the table came flying at her from being knocked into when Keri leapt out her chair, and she felt the wood scrape over one the points of her head crest. The flying furniture came crashing down on the next table over, scattering the girls there as food exploded from the impact like shrapnel.
" Holy fucking hell!" Miko exclaimed, a hand wrapped protectively over the abused crest point, which felt as if it had just been dipped in boiling oil. Her head crest was mostly bone, but the thin layer of skin over it was extremely sensitive. " What in the world was that!?"
Keri however didn't answer, and the stunned look on the head mistress's face finally registered through the pain. Miko followed her gaze, and didn't even notice as her jaw fell open. Just a few tables down from them, a pile of burnt wood and half melted metal sat smoldering between one very irate looking mousegirl, and rather indifferent looking Naga.
Sissy was the last person in the house, or in the world for that matter, that Miko would have ever expected to see in a towering rage. The pokewoman was a model of self restraint and emotional control, she could even handle the triplets without showing so much as a hint of annoyance. Right then though, her usually calm and reserved features were a stone mask of anger. The crackling electric aura that danced about her form only served to highlight how upset she was. Sissy used her powers so infrequently most of the household probably didn't even know she had them.
Shayla on the other hand, was showing about as much emotion as a rock. The snakegirl was staring back at Sissy's glare with what might have been a slightly puzzled look, her bright red eyes looking unblinkingly at the pokewoman's display of power. She never even glanced down at the obliterated remains of the table.
Miko didn't know much about Shayla, other then most of the household tended to give her a wide berth. She'd heard more then one comment about how the snakegirl made the speaker uncomfortable. Miko had always figured they were just put off by Shayla's odd appearance.
The snakegirl's most obvious feature was her lack of legs. From the waist down, her body was a thick mass of coiled muscle, a blackish purple scaled tail a good fifteen feet long. The scales weren't exclusive to her tail though, indeed they continued up her spine and out over the back of the cobra hood that adorned her head instead of hair. Bright red markings displayed a series of intricate diamond patterns on the back of that hood, while the front had slash like lines that ran across the inside to where the hood connected to her face, just behind the holes that were her ears. A single red line on either side ran over her cheeks to the corners of her mouth, and Miko had heard rumors that those lines marked folds of skin that would stretch to allow Shayla's mouth to open wide enough to swallow a person whole. They were just rumors though.
Watching her now though, Miko could see why some people might be put off by her. Sissy looked ready to fry the snakegirl from the tip of her tail to her top of her hood, and yet Shayla was looking back as if trying to figure out a puzzle. Most of the room looked ready to bolt for the door if the mousegirl even glanced at them, and yet the Naga seemed almost bored. It was definitely unnerving.
Keri found herself at a complete loss for what to do. Such an explosion, any explosion, from Sissy was just so unexpected. Keri doubted she could have been more surprised if the sun rose in the middle of the night. It actually took her several seconds to get over the shock and realize Sissy was saying something.
"...even suggest something like that again, if you ever..." the irate electric type was saying.
" I wasn't done eating you know," Shayla suddenly cut in, her eyes dropping to the smoldering ruin of the table between them. Sissy's mouth hung open in amazement at the casual manner in which the snakegirl brushed her tirade off. Shayla's gaze came back up, and though her expression remained flat, her eyes were full of amusement. " I might have to find something to tide me over until..." Her words cut off as Sissy stepped over the destroyed table, and her tiny hand grabbed the pokegirl by the throat.
Her mind might have been stunned, but Keri's body knew what to do. She wouldn't have had to think about it even if her mind had been clear. In an instant, the head mistress crossed the distance between her and the pair, and none too gently pried them apart.
" Are you both out of your damned minds?" Keri hissed at them, giving Sissy an angry glare and Shayla a look that clearly questioned the pokegirl's sanity.
" Stay out of this Keri," Sissy snarled back, and Keri was shocked, both emotionally and physically. The former was far worse then the latter, which was merely sufficient to make her let Sissy go.
" Sissy!" Keri unconsciously stood up straight, until she absolutely towered over the tiny pokewoman. There was over two feet of difference in their respective heights, and the warcat was going to use every inch of it. " I think it would be best if we went somewhere more private and tried to talk this out in a reasonable manner." Keri was amazed at how tense she was. She really wasn't looking forward to trying to force Sissy to leave the dinning room, if it came down to that, if she even could if the pokewoman really didn't want to...
Sissy stared up at her defiantly for several tense moments, but finally she let her gaze drop, and the electric aura around her faded. Her eyes swept the room, and several girls flinched. She nodded slowly, and her voice was flat when she spoke.
" That might be a good idea head mistress." Keri had to suppress a sigh of relief, letting none of her relief show on her face.
" Let us go for a walk outside, some fresh air might help." She looked over at the still only mildly interested Naga. " Shayla, I will talk with you after I am done with Sissy. I want you to go wait in your room for me."
" Yes mother," the snakegirl scoffed.
" Do not!" Keri roared at her, and half the room jumped, " make light of this! I am taking this extremely seriously Shayla. It would be very wise of you to do the same."
" As you wish head mistress," Shayla said in a voice completely devoid of emotion. She turned and headed off, her body swaying lightly as her lower half propelled her along with a series of undulating waves, curving side to side. She never once looked back.
"What on earth came over you in there?" Keri asked as the iron gate closed behind them. Neither had said a word after Shayla left, they had both silently and calmly made their way out the back of the house and across the lawn as if out for a stroll. When Keri had turned right and opened the gate set in the fencing, Sissy had walked on through as if the training grounds had been her destination all along.
"She pushed my buttons I guess," Sissy answered as they made their way down the dirt pathway.
"Pushed your buttons?" Keri was incredulous. " Sissy, you do not have buttons. I have never seen you that upset. Even our master's death did not effect you that strongly."
"Not that you saw."
"Yes, my point exactly. You have more control then what I saw in there. What could she have possibly said or done to spark that kind of reaction from you?"
Sissy didn't answer at first, and the pair walked in silence onto the dirt field that was the training ground. The tiny electric type stared off into the forest for a bit, and Keri let her take her time. Now that she had Sissy calm, she wanted to keep her that way. If she had to wait for the pokewoman a bit, she could live with that.
"She threatened my kids," Sissy finally said.
"What!?" Keri had to force her hands to relax from the clenched fists they had formed. Sissy's two adorable pokekits, Milla and Nedra, were the only girls in the house Keri just could not be strict with. She had never known it before they came along, but Keri absolutely adored kids, and the two little mousegirls had a definite soft spot in her heart. They had made her almost eager to become a pokewoman herself, and start her own little brood. "What did she say?"
"She...she said..." With a sudden snarl, Sissy's hand lashed out, and a bolt of pure electric force blazed across the clearing to blast one of the striking posts to splinters. "She's stalking them Keri, I've seen her at it!"
"What do you mean?" Keri blinked, trying to clear the after image from her eyes.
"She watches them. It seems like every time I leave them for even a minute, when I get back she's there, watching them with that unreadable look of hers." She turned to look up at Keri, and there was anguish etched on her face. "Damn it Keri, but she turns my blood cold. She's made me afraid for my kids that's why I confronted her today. I wanted to know what she was up to, and you know what she told me? 'I was just wondering if them being mice types means they would taste like real mice.' I...I just lost it. I know I shouldn't have, but..."
"No, it is alright," Keri told her. "Honestly, I do not think I would have reacted any better, and they are not even my kids." She had to force her hands back open again. "I doubt I would have managed to only take it out on a table."
"I very nearly didn't," Sissy admitted quietly.
"Where are Milla and Nedra?" Keri asked, deciding that she'd better redirect the conversation.
"With Iris, she seems to enjoy their company, plus I know they're safe with her."
"And they are okay with her? She can be a bit...uncomfortable to be around," Keri said, doing her best to be polite about it.
"They don't mind at all. They feel sorry for her, but they never let it show. They just want to help her."
"They are good girls."
"Yes they are," Sissy agreed with no small amount of pride. Her voice then became steel. "And I will do whatever I have to do to protect them Keri."
"I know." Keri sighed. "Take the day off Sissy, and try not to worry. I am going to have a talk with Shayla, and she will listen to what I say. I will make sure of it."
"Are you some kind of lunatic or something?" It was not the most diplomatic first words Miko had ever spoken to someone, but she really didn't feel patient enough to make the effort at being civil. Once she had gotten over being worried about Keri's interest in her, she had quickly found herself wanting to get to know the head mistress better, much better. Keri's sudden departure with Sissy had left Miko feeling a bit stung, she had just been brushed aside, and she didn't like it one bit. While she didn't care much for being the center of attention, Miko was not used to being outright ignored either. Chasing after Shayla probably had more to do with venting a bit of steam then any real curiosity about the snakegirl's actions.
The sudden look Shayla gave her made Miko take a hasty step back. There was no anger or malice in the Naga's eyes, but she had gotten a brief hint of something threatening in that stony gaze. Miko found herself feeling like a bug might as it watched a person decide whether or not it would be worth the effort to step on it. Then utter indifference filled those red eyes, and Shayla continued on down the hallway where Miko had caught up with her.
" Maybe, but if I am, would I be able to tell that I was?" Shayla answered finally, though it seemed more like she was talking to herself. Miko quickly caught back up with the Naga, though she kept at least an arm's length of distance between them.
" What did you say to Sissy?" she asked, deciding to ignore the snakegirl's first response.
" Something she didn't like," Shayla told her.
" No, really?" Miko's voice practically dripped sarcasm. " And here I thought she just took a sudden dislike of tables."
" Well then you were wrong, weren't you?" Shayla's tone made Miko hesitate, she couldn't be sure that the Naga hadn't taken her comment seriously.
" Were you trying to upset her?" Miko asked after a moment's silence, deciding once again to ignore Shayla's odd response.
" It's possible," the snakegirl answered.
" Possible? Don't you know? You either did or didn't."
" Do you always know what you're trying to do?"
" Well...yeah, of course."
" How remarkable," Shayla commented, looking at Miko speculatively. Another silence fell between them. Shayla seemed perfectly comfortable with it, but Miko found the whole experience becoming rather surreal.
" You do know Sissy could kill you if she wanted?" Miko asked.
" Yes, probably without really trying" Shayla replied as calmly as if commenting on the wallpaper.
" And you pissed her off, either on purpose or accidentally." Miko pointed out.
" I did, didn't I?" Shayla sounded as if it was some sudden, great realization.
" And yet, you don't seem worried in the slightest."
" Should I be?" Shayla asked indifferently
" Most people would be."
" Most people over value their lives."
" And you don't?" Miko could not keep the disbelief out of her voice.
" No, I know exactly how much my life is worth to me. I don't think it's worth enough to be worried over who my words might offend."
" Oh really? I couldn't help but notice you shut up rather quickly after Keri threatened you."
" I had nothing more to say to her."
" No offence, but that sounds like pure bullshit to me."
" If that's how you want to take it. Be offended or don't, but your opinion means nothing to me."
" Dammit, don't you care about anything!?" Miko half exploded. The Naga's casual indifference was striking a nerve with her.
" Of course, there are many things I care about."
" Like what!?" Miko demanded.
Shayla stopped so suddenly that Miko took another pair of steps before she even realized it. She turned, and the intense look in the Naga's eyes made her take another step, directly back. Shayla started forward again, but slowly, her eyes locked intently on Miko as her body swayed side to side with the undulations of her tail. As she came closer, inch by inch, her body rose, pulling more and more of her tail under her torso, lifting her upwards. By the time she reached Miko, she topped the aquatic pokegirl by more than a foot.
Miko was frozen were she stood, unable to focus on anything but the twin blazing orbs that were Shayla's eyes. She wanted to move back, to get away, to run even, but her muscles felt incased in iron bands. While the rest of her struggled to even twitch, her eyes and neck moved freely to ensure she never broke gazes with Shayla as the naga towered over her.
Shayla's mouth opened slightly, her tongue softly wetting her lips as she paused to consider the blue skinned little treat waiting patentially for her. Miko's own mouth was hanging open, short, rapid gasps of breath passing over her lips. She looked positively delicious.
She struck like lightning, her powerful coils wrapping around the pokegirl before she could even think to move. In the space of a breath, Shayla wound about Miko once, twice, three times, locking the girl's legs together and pinning her arms to her side. Miko threatened to topple over, but Shayla supported her. She could feel the blue skinned pokegirl's heart hammering in her chest, and her own pulse quickened. She squeezed slightly, and Miko gave a most delectable wavering gasp.
Shayla let her hands come to rest on Miko's shoulders, a slow smile crossing her face as she felt the girl flinch at her touch. Her hands ran up Miko's neck, and the skin crawled under her fingers. The entangled pokegirl finally managed to get some control of herself, and she tried to push herself away, leaning as far back from the snakegirl as the coils would allow.
"You want to know what I care about?" Shayla whispered as she brought her face right up to Miko's. The aquatic pokegirl gave a tiny but vigorous shake of her head. " No? Are you sure?" The desperate nod was every bit as slight but enthusiastic as the shake had been. " Shame, I do so love to share a few final thoughts with my prey." The wild fear that entered Miko's eyes warned her, and Shayla's coils tightened before her prey could pull more then a handful of air into her lungs. Her would be yell, or scream, came out as nothing but a noisy gasp as the breath was crushed out of her.
" I do hope you're as tasty as you look," Shayla smiled warmly at her prisoner, and leaned in to give Miko a long, slow, lingering lick up the side of her neck and across her cheek, ending with a slight slurp right on the pokegirl's lips.
Miko fell hard on her ass when Shayla suddenly released her and she tripped backwards over the snakegirl's coils. She barely felt it though, her whole body was shaking too much. Even her newly freed lungs seemed to have trouble maintaining a steady rhythm, and her breaths came in sporadic bursts.
" Fishy," Shayla sighed deeply, almost regretfully as she smacked her lips. " I hate fish." She gave Miko a rather sad look. " How disappointing, and you looked so good too."
Too stunned to speak, Miko could only watch as Shayla slithered away, the tip of her tail vanishing after her down the hallway. Her hand came up unsteadily to her face, and she felt the wetness on her neck and cheek. With a shudder of revulsion she wiped away the salvia, rubbing especially hard over her lips before spitting on the floor in disgust.
" What a...a...freak!"
Keri forced herself to remain calm as she raised a hand to knock for a third time on the door to Shayla's room. The door probably wasn't locked, and she'd be finding out for certain if the Naga didn't answer this time, but Keri had made it a rule for herself that she wasn't going to go barging into other people's rooms without good cause. Carefully, as it wouldn't do to go knocking holes in other people's doors either, she rapped lightly on the wood.
The door of course rattled violently on it's hinges and sounded as if someone was pounding on it for all they were worth. There was no way Shayla couldn't hear it, if she was in the room. If she wasn't, well that would be something else she'd be sorry for once Keri tracked her down. Breaking the rules might get Keri's ire, but outright disobeying a direct order was a sure way to earn her fury.
Finally, just seconds before the head mistress was about to see if she was in control of herself enough to work a doorknob without wrenching it free, the door swung open, and Shayla glared out at Keri with a look of annoyance that made the warcat want to drag the Naga outside and see how far she'd fly after being swung around a few times by the tail.
" Would you like to come in?" Shayla asked with about as much warmth as the breeze off a glacier.
" Thank you," Keri replied in kind as the Snakegirl moved aside. She stepped into the room, and felt the door clip her tail as Shayla flung it shut right behind her. Forcing the growl that had tried to crawl out of her throat back where it came from, Keri took a moment to look around the room while she brought her temper under control. She was not going to let Shayla get to her, she didn't know as much about the Naga as she did about most of the rest of the girls, but Keri knew enough to be on her guard against mind games.
The room was small, very small actually. Shayla was one of the few girls who had her own room, and unlike Keri, it was not because of special privileges. No one had been willing to room with Shayla for long, and finally Keri had been forced to stick the Naga in a converted storage closet. Keri realized this was the first time she'd been in the room since having it cleaned out for the snakegirl, and Shayla's choice of decorations certainly made the head mistress understand why the rest of the household didn't want to sleep in the same room as the Naga.
The room was mostly a deep, light drinking violet, the same shade as Shayla's scales. The walls and ceiling were painted, after a fashion. As far she could tell in the dim light cast by a single, tiny, crooked lamp sitting on the floor in a corner, Keri thought it looked like Shayla had simply taken the paint cans and sloshed them at the walls and ceiling. Streaks, splotches, and uneven clumps of paint somewhat covered the surfaces, but quite a bit of white showed through in patches. The floor at least was uniformly colored by a blood red carpet.
A storage rack had been left behind for Shayla to use as shelving, and she had loaded it up with what would have been an impressive collection of plants, if not for the fact that they were all dead. The withered and off colored display made Keri more then a little uneasy, and she began to consider that there might be something really wrong with the girl.
The only furniture in the room was a black painted chest in which Keri figured Shayla must keep all her personal belongings. There was no bed, just a pile of mismatched pillows and cushions with a wrinkled blanket tossed half over them. There were no chairs, though Keri could understand that in light of the Naga's unique physiology. Over all, the room was very depressing, rather odd, and more then a little creepy.
" Alright," Keri began, turning to face Shayla. " I have heard Sissy's side, would you care to tell yours?"
" Sissy is being paranoid," Shayla said casually, drifting over to the plants. She plucked a cracked and dirty pot from the shelf, looking over the skeletal remains of what had once been a tiny fir. " If I was really going to do anything, I'd have done it by now."
" And just what is it you would have done if you were going to?"
" Please, lets not dance around the subject Keri," Shayla sighed, turning the plant around in her hands. " Sissy thinks I want to eat her kids. Tempting though the idea may be, I think they're a bit small of a snack to throw my life away for." She held up the fir. " I'm not stupid, I know I wouldn't survive the little brats by more then an hour if I did eat them." She let the plant fall from her fingers, and didn't even watch as it smashed to pieces on the floor.
" So then why are you stalking them if you have no intentions towards them?" Keri asked with a calm in her voice she was definitely not feeling.
" Really now Keri, you of all people here should understand."
" Oh?"
" I see, going to try denying it?" Shayla laughed, and there was no humor at all in the sound. " You're as much a predator as I am. You're going to tell me you can look at those two little mousies and not feel anything? Come on Keri, admit it, they make your mouth water just looking at them." An almost sultry tone came into her voice. " The urge to stalk, to chase, to catch your prey and consume it, you don't feel that when you look at them?"
" Not in the slightest Shayla," Keri crossed her arms, mostly to keep herself from doing anything she might later regret. " The only thing I feel when I look at those girls is affection, and maybe just a hint of envy that they are not mine." She meant every word of it, and she was going to make sure Shayla understood that. While she wouldn't, couldn't, fault the Naga for feeling the way she did, Keri was not about to forgive her, even if she did understand the reasons behind it. She wasn't being completely unbiased in the matter, she really did adore Sissy's girls, but Shayla needed to find a healthier outlet for her instincts. Most predatory pokegirls managed to switch their interest in prey type pokegirls from culinary to sexual when they where tamed. Keri began to think that maybe it was because the two pokekits were too young for such things that Shayla was having trouble getting her mind off them. If she could just fuck them and be done with it she probably would have switched interests by now
" I never pictured you as the maternal type," Shayla admitted. Despite herself, Keri had to laugh.
" It seems to me that I take care of a whole house full of children every day."
" Is that what inspired Aras's little punishment?" Shayla scoffed. " Should I just go ahead and bend over for you, or are you going to ground me?" She smirked at Keri, and it was all the head mistress could do to not smack the Naga's face right off her head.
" I will do what I think is necessary to keep the peace in this house," she growled, and Shayla seemed to realize she was on very thin ice, and her smile faded.
" And just what do you find to be necessary here?" Shayla's tone became defensive. " I haven't actually done anything you know. In fact, Sissy is the only one of us who has broken any rules. I wasn't the one using her powers to smash up the furniture or threaten another member of the household. Did you punish her?"
" That is a matter between me and Sissy."
" I didn't think so," Shayla scoffed, and Keri felt her shoulders tighten.
" I am going to say this once," Keri's voice was barely more than a whisper, but the edge to it would have made steel seem soft. " I have no patience left for your attitude Shayla. If you are trying to push me, you have very nearly succeeded. Before you go any further though, ask yourself if that is really what you desire, to be in this little room with me when I go off." Her own threat scared her, because Keri wasn't sure that she wouldn't carry it out if Shayla provoked her.
Fortunately for them both, Shayla, wisely, chose not to test her luck further. Her gaze fell from Keri's burning glare, and she considered the broken remains of the plant she had smashed.
" What are you going to do? I really haven't broken any rules," she asked, her tone subdued, nearly meek.
" No, you have not," Keri admitted grudgingly. " You have however, behaved in such a way that threatens to peace of the household. I hold you responsible for breaking the spirit of the rules."
Shayla shook her head, and when she spoke it was clearly to herself. " Spirit of the rules. There's only one real rule in life, kill to live. You are either eating or being eaten." She looked up at Keri, and there was a hint of desperation in her eyes. " If we were in the wild, you wouldn't think twice about snapping those two and their mother up for dinner."
" No, I would not. But those days are behind me." Shayla blinked rapidly at those words, and Keri could practically see her brain working that one over. She didn't give the Naga a chance to respond though. " Now stop trying to talk to me about things you know nothing about. I know your background Shayla, you have been a pokegirl less then five years. I have been one all my life. You have never had to survive in the wild, I have. I thrived in fact, I was very good at keeping myself fed." A small but rather nasty grin crossed Keri's face without ever touching her eyes, and it grew as Shayla unconsciously shied back. " Snakes were just as good as mice, and they could not run as fast."
Shayla's eyes had gone slightly wide, and Keri could tell she was fighting to keep control of her expressions while trying to figure some way to salvage the situation in light of the new info she had just received. Keri wasn't about to give the snakegirl the chance to think though, and in one long step she crossed the distance between them to tower over Shayla.
" If you are really so keen into listening to your instincts Shayla, then listen to them right now. What are they telling you?"
"...I...I..." Shayla stammered, and then snapped her mouth shut, looking both surprised and angry with herself.
" Let me help, they are probably telling you that you should be running right now." Keri leaned in closer, and she could see Shayla tremble as she fought against herself to not back away from the warcat. " They are telling you that you are not in fact, at the top of the food chain, I am. You might be a predator Shayla, but you are not above being prey. And if I ever catch you hunting in my territory again, you will become my prey. Do we understand each other?"
Shayla found that the shaking didn't go away just because Keri had left. Her hands in particular continued to twitch uncontrollably from her encounter with the head mistress. She had never known what it was to be on the prey side of the equation before, but Keri's hungry stare had drilled through Shayla right to her core, and she still felt the results. She couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless, so terrified, and yet, so alive.
The thrill of it had put her on edge, filling her with a conflicting sense of dread and joy. It had been a rush that left her feeling lightheaded and giddy. She trembled just picturing the iron hardness the head mistress's anger had given to her golden eyes. The threat in that gaze, it set her nerves on fire.
She stumbled out of her room, no easy feat for someone without any legs to trip over. It was too much to keep pent up inside her, she needed to find a release for the emotions bubbling over in her. She headed down the hallway in a daze, without a plan or thought to guide her, only an undefinable desire pushing her along.
It was the smell that made her realize what she wanted. It was like running into a wall, bringing her up short, the haze lifting from her mind. Her tongue flicked out to catch the scent, filling her head with the aroma, the taste. It was exquisite, mesmerizing, undeniable.
Lurching almost drunkenly after the scent, Shayla drew herself upright as she caught the first sound of her prey. It was unique, unmistakable for anything else. It was all she could do not to rush on ahead. She couldn't afford to just blunder into this hunt though, not if she wanted to sate her appetite. A mere taste would not do, and she would get no more, if that, if she was careless.
Her prey was not alone, she could hear others with it. She hissed in frustration, but a mere second later she took control of herself. Patience, a good hunter knows how to wait. The moment to strike would present itself in time.
Shayla followed silently, her body was well adapted for stealth, and she used every advantage it gave her to remain undetected. Several times she was forced to break off the pursuit to avoid being seen, including one especially nerve wracking moment when Keri's scent stung her nose. Each time though, she would determinately pick the trail back up, tracking her prey back down until she was just out of sight.
Time passed largely unnoticed, but she was vaguely aware of the movement of patches of sunlight across the walls and floor. Eventually though, even these hazy markers faded away, and the only light came from within the house. Fewer and fewer people were present in the halls, making it that much easier to follow her prey.
Finally, the time was nearly at hand. Her target was alone and tired, she could hear the weariness in the rhythm of its footsteps. She followed, forcing herself to relax, to be patient. This was the most dangerous moment of the hunt, so close to the end, where excitement and desire could ruin all the effort that had lead up to this moment. Almost time, almost, just a few feet more, to where no one might interrupt. Her prey paused, finally sensing her presence, but it was to late, even as it turned. Nerves twitching, muscles coiled like springs, Shayla struck where she knew her prey was weakest.
Tobias turned when he realized he hadn't heard the click of his bedroom door closing behind him, and he nearly fell over backwards when he came face to face with the pokegirl that had snuck up on him. He also managed not to yell out or curse in surprise either, though just barely.
" Hello master," the pokegirl said in such sugary sweet tones that the rebuke for sneaking up on him died in Tobias's throat. Her voice was high pitched and girlish, and her expression was so filled with curious innocence that at first he thought she couldn't be more then twelve.
Then his eyes took in her body, and there was no question that she was a grown woman. She wore not a stitch of clothing, and her female assets proudly proclaimed her full development. He took a step back to give himself room to fully admire her. The thick tail that was her lower half was certainly something different, as was the stiff hood that grew out from above her eyebrows and curved off in either direction to frame her face, coming to rest where her shoulders met her neck. The rest of her decorations were more subtle, a light dust gray tint to her skin, the bright red slashes at her mouth, twin patches of scales that ran along her flanks to join in a thin strip just under her violet capped breasts, but the full effect was mesmerizing, to the point that his mind barely even considered just how far from human looking she really was.
" Um, hi," Tobias responded, bringing his eyes up to meet her own red tinted orbs.
" I was, just wondering, if, maybe, my master might, want some help, getting ready for bed?" The hesitant, breathy way the words came tumbling from her lips, and the nervous clasping of her hands by her waist made him relax. He had spent all day dealing the girls, and while he certainly had enjoyed their company, it took a certain amount of effort to keep up with them. Just conversing with them had taken a good deal out of him, and most had wanted to do more then talk with him. Tempting though many of the offers had been, he had promised himself that he was going to take the day to recover.
" That's really sweet of you to offer, uh...?"
" Shayla," the Naga almost whispered, biting her bottom lip.
" Shayla," Tobias repeated the name, finding it rather to his liking, much like its owner was. He was rather enjoying her timid, sweetly cute attitude, it was a welcome relief after dealing with some of the more intense personalities possessed by the rest of the household. To be fair, Tobias figured his view point in that regard had been tainted by a more vocal minority that had merely made it seem like every pokegirl in the house was sultry nymphomaniac who saw him as little more then a dick waiting to be used, but that didn't change the fact that he had been forced to spend all day trying to fend them off as tactfully as he could manage. He hadn't wanted to offend anyone. After all, just because he was restraining himself today, that didn't mean he wasn't interested in taking them up on their offers at a later date.
" So, is there, anything I could do, master?" Shayla asked.
" Well, I really don't need any help, I'm kind of used to taking care of..." Tobias trailed off as the snakegirl's face fell, and her eyes dimmed like lights going out.
" Oh, I...I'm sorry to have bothered you then," she mumbled, starting to turn for the door.
" Wait," Tobias called after her, and the flash of hope across her face made his decision for him. " Please, stay. I might not need the help, but I would enjoy some company."
" Really?" Shayla asked, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
" Really, I'd like to have someone to talk to." He held out a hand to her, and her face lit back up with joy as she took it.
" So, are you enjoying living here master?" Shayla asked as Tobias lead her over to the bed and had her take a seat.
" I'd say so, yes," he answered. " It's certainly better then the orphanage, especially in regards to the company."
" Oh?" A hint of confusion crossed Shayla's face. " How's that?" Tobias paused in the act of getting changed for bed, casting a thoughtful look at the pokegirl. Did she really need him to clarify?
" Uh, lets just say that being with you girls has been the most fun I've had in my life." If she didn't understand that...
Shayla giggled. " I'm so glad, we really want you to be happy."
" No worries there," Tobias assured her. He hesitated now that he was stripped down to his boxers, really he had nothing else to do except crawl into bed and go to sleep, but he wasn't sure if he could get away with just that with Shayla sitting there. ' Technically, the day is over,' a certain part of his mind informed him.
' I promised myself the whole day, that meant until I woke up tomorrow.'
' Are you really going to worry about the piddly details at a moment like this?'
' She didn't come here for that, she was just trying to get helpful.'
' Suuuuuuure, that's all. She's only naked and on your bed to be "helpful." Why are you fighting this man?'
' I just...she's so...'
' Get over it, I don't care how innocent and empty headed you think she is, she's a pokegirl. She came here to help you get ready for bed so she could be in the bed with you. Why deny her that?'
' Well she is kind of...different.' Shayla had curled her tail up around itself under her, forming a spiral of scale covered coils that she lounged on.
' Different sure didn't stop you from banging Miko, or Dianna, or half the girls in that little orgy for that matter.'
' She doesn't have any legs!'
' Oh whine about it. She has all the right parts in the right places. Use your imagination, I'm sure you can figure out how to make it work.'
" Master?" Shayla's bubbly tones cut through his thoughts. " Aren't you coming to bed?" Her voice made the suggestion seem nothing more then what she asked, without a hint of the implications he would have expected from any other girl in the house. She had pulled the covers back from one corner, and was holding them open for him.
" Thank you Shayla," Tobias said as he crawled into bed and she laid the blanket over him. She didn't try to grab him, to try groping him 'accidentally'. She simply made sure he was comfortable, smiling in a very self satisfied way to herself. When she started to get up, he reached out to catch her hand.
" Master?" She blinked down at him.
" If you would like," Tobias said, considering his words carefully. He didn't want her to leave, but he also didn't want to order her to stay, or make her think he was. " you don't have to leave, if you don't want to."
" Really?" Shayla asked in a hopeful whisper.
" Yeah, really." The smile that blossomed on her face was contagious, and Tobias found himself smiling back at her as she literally burrowed under the covers. In seconds she was snuggled up against his side, and a happy sigh slipped from her lips.
" Mmm, you're nice and warm," Shayla mumbled into his shoulder. Tobias's reply never had a chance to get started as his mind was suddenly distracted by something smooth, firm, and flexible wrapping around his ankle. He nearly jumped out of bed before he realized it was just Shayla's tail.
' I guess that's her way of hooking a leg over mine.' It didn't stop at his ankle though. The Naga's tail continued on, hooking around his other leg and coming back, wrapping around both legs at the knees. Tobias started to feel a bit concerned, he could feel her muscles rippling under her scales, and the strength he felt there was rather intimidating.
" Uh, Shayla..." He wasn't really sure what to say to her. The sensation was different, but not really unpleasant. Still, he wasn't sure how far she was planning to take coiling him up.
" Huh?" Shayla murmured, just as the tip of her tail slid up between his legs, and it was most certainly not an unpleasant sensation at all as it caressed against the front of his boxers. " Oh my!" Shayla gasped as she felt the results stiffen against her skin, and her tail froze. She looked up at Tobias, and a faint redness spread over her cheeks.
" You, don't have to stop, if you don't want to," Tobias told her, and her blush deepened, but her smile returned in full, and her tail dragged heavily over his hardness. ' You made it all day without giving in to some very tempting offers,' Tobias told himself. ' A little reward seems due.'
Acknowledgments: Thanks go to bsmart for introducing me to pokegirls in the first place as well as for proofreading this work. If not for him, this story would not exist.
Requests: Please let me know what you think. Email me at
Yeah I'm a pervert, but if you've read this far, you're one too.