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This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
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Four
(07/06/06 1730 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Lisa Silvestri was a chunky brunette who smiled a lot. She also wore the M delineating her as infertile, but Caradoc suspected that it was extremely unlikely he’d ever meet an adult woman who didn’t. It was very doubtful that he’d be given access to the holding facilities for the fertile women. He noted that her smile made her go from plain to pretty, in a cute sort of way. She was smiling now. “You want to go where?”
“I asked if they were using something for currency. I have some valuables I’d like to exchange if they are, otherwise Naomi and I’ll need to head for the beach so we can do some fishing. We do need to eat, you know.”
She gave him a surprised look. “Sir, you’re a tamer. You can eat at the tamer commissary for free.”
“And what if I want to purchase some gear or souvenirs?” Caradoc leaned back in his chair. “Can you eat at the commissary?”
“No, sir; I’ll have to buy food.”
“So there is money.”
Lisa smiled. “You are very good. Yes, there is money, but tamers usually are issued everything they need. What kind of valuables do you have that you wish to convert?”
“I’ve got some jewelry.”
She shook her head. “Then there may be a problem, sir. We live in a city with more dead than living. Everyone has jewelry right now and there’s a glut on the market.”
Caradoc hadn’t considered such a state of affairs. “What is valuable?”
“Exotic foods, fabric in good condition, alcohol and tobacco are the most valuable.”
“I see.” He shrugged. “It sounds like we’ll be eating at the commissary then, although maybe I need to look into building a still. Can we get you into the commissary as well?”
Lisa’s smile vanished. “Sir, I realize that you don’t know the situation here, but that could be dangerous for me.”
“How?”
“If you take me into the commissary it will be assumed that I’m your woman. If you leave and I don’t go with you, it will be thought that I failed to please you in some way. It could be very rough for me, sir.”
“I won’t put you through that.” She relaxed as he continued. “So where is this commissary?”
(07/06/06 1900 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Lisa stared at the table. “What did you do, sir?”
“I told the people at the commissary that I wanted my meals to go. They tried to argue with me, but I’m a tamer and I pulled rank.” Caradoc gestured at the table. “I got four meals and now you can eat with us if you’d like to.” He frowned. “Unless, of course, you’ve got someone you’re in a relationship with. In that case, you can take half the food with you.”
“Sir, I am in a relationship, but he doesn’t live with me.” She sniffed the air. “And I’d love to eat dinner with you and your pokegirl, but I’m not sure you should be so kind to me.”
“Naomi.” He nodded towards his elf when Lisa gave him a curious look. “Her name is Naomi and she’s an elf. As for being kind to you, you are a person. I’m sure you can remember when you weren’t a second class citizen.”
Her smile became forced. “Second class? So I’ve been promoted?” She touched her tattoo. “This means I’m not worth the time of any man who wants children. I don’t sleep alone unless I want to, mind you, but it’s hard. I wanted kids and a husband and a real life.” Tears suddenly glittered in her eyes. “And damn you for making me remember what I’ve lost.” She fled out the front door.
Caradoc forced his mouth shut. “Well, that didn’t go as planned.”
“I hope she comes back tomorrow, sir. We don’t know where to go.”
“If she doesn’t, we’ll make do somehow.” He closed the door to the house they’d been given. “Am I supposed to feel guilty for her crying?”
“I think it’s customary, sir.”
“I don’t feel it. She should have made her peace with life a long time ago. That probably sounds cruel, but I didn’t make her sterile and I haven’t treated her like she’s disposable. I will not take responsibility for the actions of others.”
“You did make her feel bad, sir.”
“That I feel guilty for, but since I didn’t know her situation, I don’t feel a lot of guilt. Still, if I see her again, I’ll apologize to her for hurting her feelings.” He looked the table over. “So, are you hungry?”
(07/06/06 2100 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Caradoc had lit a fire in the fireplace and so they had hot water, which he’d used to fill a bathtub. Naomi and he had bathed together, resulting in the water being cold and mostly slopped out on the floor by the time they’d gotten out.
Naomi was drying her hair and twisting to try and look at her newest bite mark. It was on the right cheek of her ass and hard to see. She resolved to find a mirror or else make him bite her again, this time somewhere she could see it more easily.
She froze as she entered the bedroom they would be sharing. “Caradoc.”
“What?” He stepped up behind her and ran his hands up her belly to cup her breasts. He looked up and frowned.
The nightmare was in the bed, watching them both. She cocked her head and made an inquisitive noise.
“How did she get here?”
Caradoc chuckled. “Ask her, not me.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Well, I can’t give any more of an answer than she can. She can’t talk and I don’t know.” He let his hands fall away from her body. “Ease over towards your bow.”
“From now on, it comes with me no matter where we go.” The elf drifted in the direction of her weapons.
“While that sounds kind of kinky, I agree.” He became motionless when the nightmare slid off the bed and picked up her baby. She gave him a hesitant look and slowly moved in his direction, looking more nervous with each step.
Naomi had reached her bow and stood with it ready for use. The quiver was resting against her legs for ease of access since the elf was concerned that swinging it onto her shoulder might precipitate an attack. “Sir?” At the sound of her voice the nightmare turned her head to stare at the elf. She hissed.
Caradoc slowly shook his head. “She hasn’t attacked yet, so just stay alert.” Naomi nodded as her breathing began to speed up in anticipation of a fight to the death.
The nightmare continued to advance until she stood almost next to him. Then she carefully placed her baby on the floor on her other side from where he waited. She stood and looked at him, making that inquisitive noise again before turning, placing her hands flat on the wall and bending over to present her ass to him. She looked over her shoulder at him and made the same noise at the same time as she wriggled her rump.
Caradoc felt himself stir at the sight, but his brain ruled his life and he was far from stupid as to the potential ramifications. “Naomi?”
Her voice was quiet and calm. “The baby might be a problem, sir, but nightmares are strong pokegirls and she would compliment me. They were also heavily hunted by humans during and after the war. Even though she’s feral, the fact that she’s still free and alive is a testament to her skills. I advise you to accept her offer.”
The nightmare trembled when he ran his hands over her ass and up her back. He slid them around and over her breasts, cupping them as he pulled, lifting her up to press the warm line of her body against his, nestling his erection between her legs. He rolled her nipples lightly in his fingers and she moaned before almost slumping against him, her head falling back to rest on his shoulder.
She pressed back against him and rolled her ass in a slow circle, grinding against his hardness. He dropped a hand down her body, tracing over the curve of her stomach and between her legs. She gasped softly as his fingers cupped her, finding her already wet and then he slid his fingers between her folds and stroked her lightly. Her body jerked at his touch and she groaned when he worked a finger inside her and began slowly moving it in and out.
She reached down and wrapped long, delicate fingers around his length, stroking it in time to his thrusts, her soft gasps growing louder and faster as she pressed against his hand. Her hips began rocking in counterpoint to his fingers, meeting them in a rhythm that became faster and faster as she felt her orgasm rising inside her.
Her body began jerking uncontrollably and Caradoc used his other arm to hold her up as she shuddered and gasped until she slowed and stopped.
Naomi put her bow down and began squeezing her hard nipples, moaning as pleasure rippled through her body. One hand slid down between her legs and she began rubbing herself as Caradoc picked the nightmare up and carried her to the bed.
He kissed the nightmare hungrily, his tongue driving into her mouth. She twisted and wrapped her hands around his neck as she kissed him back. She pulled him on top of her, trapping his leg between hers and began grinding her wetness against his knee as he knelt above her.
Naomi’s body jerked when she slid two fingers inside of herself and she leaned back against the wall as she began pumping them in and out of her pussy. She began moaning in a low voice that rose and fell in time to her thrusts.
Caradoc slid his other leg between the nightmare’s and with a heave, spread her wide. Her eyes went wild and for an instant she fought him, until he rubbed his head against her clit. She froze and whined in a loud voice and then raised her hips as she sought the relief that he denied her. Caradoc thrust, rubbing his length through her liquid heat, teasing her until she growled at him and tried to grab him. He fought her enhanced strength for a moment and then leaned down to lick her lips. Centimeters apart, they stared into each other’s gaze and he smiled as he pressed himself against her opening.
She was soaking wet and he slid in smoothly until he hit bottom. Her eyes shut as he thrust and the nightmare moaned loudly.
Naomi came so hard that her legs gave out and she slid down the wall to the floor as her body jerked in pleasure so strong that it almost hurt. Her eyes wide, she stared at the two lovers on the bed, her fingers unconsciously moving in time to them.
Caradoc pulled out fully with each thrust before driving back into the nightmare. Her fingers tightened in the bedding and fabric began popping as she twisted. Her hips rose to meet him and she cried out softly each time their bodies slapped together.
He sped up slowly, feeling his own orgasm building. The nightmare jerked and she tightened around him, sending him over the edge. Her body arched as his heat spilled into her and her legs wrapped around his waist until he was through.
Naomi came again, her body jerking as she vicariously joined with them.
The nightmare’s breathing slowed and her legs loosened. Caradoc carefully slid from between her legs and shifted her to one side of the bed before lying down with her.
Naomi forced herself to her feet and wobbled over to where the infant slept. She picked it up and her footsteps steadied as she made her way to the bed, tucking the child in her mother’s arms. Then she climbed into bed with the others.
Caradoc had been starting to drift off, but his eyes snapped open when wet heat surrounded his cock. He lifted his head to watch as Naomi sucked him into her mouth and her tongue worked to bring him back to life. He tugged and she looked up at him before shifting around and draping her thighs around his head. She moaned around his cock when he sucked her clit and ground her hips against mouth. He lapped up her juices before returning to her clit. The elf jerked and bit him accidentally as she came into his mouth.
Her eyes glowed with emerald heat as she lifted up and quickly swung around to rub him against her wetness and she looked deeply into his eyes as she trapped him and dropped, impaling herself on his hardness. She rolled her hips in a circle, savoring the feelings swirling through her body and then she lifted up to begin riding him.
She cried out when she dropped and he raised his hips to meet her. The sound of their bodies colliding echoed throughout the room again and again as they met each other’s rhythm. Naomi’s nails dug into his chest as she came over and over, each orgasm rolling her higher into the next one, as the blood began to trickle across his skin.
Faster and faster they moved until Naomi felt him swell inside her and she dropped her head and sank her teeth into his shoulder to scream her pleasure into his skin. She tasted blood and her orgasm seemed to redouble as he came inside her. Her eyes began to glow green from within as she thrashed above him and Caradoc pinned her body to his with all his strength as the glow spread until it encompassed her entire being.
He felt her body shift and grow in his arms and his eyes rolled back in his head when he felt himself orgasm a second time in as many minutes. Darkness whirled around them and swept them both away.
(07/07/06 0600 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Caradoc sat up slowly and yawned, looking around as he did so. The nightmare lay on her side with her backside pressed against him, cradling her slumbering infant in her sleep.
On his other side, Naomi stretched slowly and looked up at him. “Good morning, master.” She rolled onto her back and arched upwards, giving him a seductive smile. “I have breasts now, and hips.”
He kept his voice low. “You had them before, but I’ll admit they’re more prominent now. I like the changes.”
She chuckled as she slid out of bed. She wobbled when she stood and frowned unhappily. “I’m taller and my balance is off. I may be taller than you and I’m not sure I like that. It’ll make certain things harder to do.” She glanced at him. “Things I like to do with you.”
“We’ll work something out.” He quietly got up and stood next to her, looking her up and down. “You are taller than me. Lots of people are.”
The elfqueen looked over at the sleeping pair in the bed. “Do you have a name for her yet?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” he began, but a rusty sounding voice cut him off.
“My name is Shima.” The nightmare had rolled onto her back and was watching them warily. Her baby moved on her chest and her eyes went wide as she looked down at it. Then they softened and she smiled. “I have a child.” She kissed the baby on the head. “I will call her Winona.”
Her crimson eyes returned to him. “I was feral, wasn’t I? Thank you for waking me. What is your name?”
“Our master’s name is Caradoc Bishop and I am Naomi, his alpha.”
Shima glanced at her. “I was not speaking to you,” she announced coolly. “I was speaking to my male.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “Did you say the baby’s name was Winona?”
“That’s right. She is my precious Winona.”
“Please give her to our master. I’m going to beat you whether you try to use her as a shield or not, but I’d prefer not to hurt our baby.”
The nightmare’s eyes narrowed and she sat up. “You will not survive a confrontation between us.”
“Is this really necessary?” Caradoc looked between them.
“Yes, sir, it is. Shima will acknowledge that I am your alpha and give me the respect that I deserve or I will take it out of her hide.”
“I bow to no other pokegirl.” Shima’s voice was stronger and a thread of anger ran through it.
“That, sir, is why this is necessary.”
Caradoc gritted his teeth. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one in charge here?” Both pokegirls looked at him. “I am, right?”
Naomi nodded. “You are my master, sir. If you deny me the right to put her in her place, I accept that, but it will destroy my ability to function as your alpha.”
“Shima, will you accept Naomi as your superior?”
“Not without proof that she is.”
He folded his arms. “Shima, for Winona’s sake I’m sorry to do this, but take her and get out.”
The nightmare stared at him in astonishment. “What?”
“Naomi is my woman and my friend. Right now you are neither. That makes choosing between the two of you easy.”
She gave him a stubborn look. “You awakened me. What if I don’t want to leave?”
Naomi gave her a look that promised terrible things. “Then I will beat you within an inch of your life.”
Caradoc put a hand on the elfqueen’s wrist. “Shima, if you don’t leave and you don’t do what I want in this, then it’s simple. I won’t let Naomi fight you unless you attack someone. What I will do is not feed you, tame you or assume responsibility for you in any way.” He pointed out the window. “The local commander has orders to catch any equine pokegirls he finds, so if you follow us outside without my protection, his people are going to swarm all over you while I stand by and do nothing. If you remain here, we will not return to this house.” He gave her a bitter smile. “If you leave now, you have a better chance of avoiding capture. I wouldn’t really care if they caught you or not, but I suspect they’re not set up to raise pokekits. Sadly, that means Winona will probably be murdered, either deliberately or by accident, sometime during your capture or soon afterwards.”
The nightmare clutched her baby to her chest hard enough to make the infant squeak sleepily in protest. “You would let us be killed?”
“You cannot be part of my family and not part of it at the same time. I have rules and I expect them to be obeyed. One of those rules is that I decide who is my favorite or alpha or whatever the hell she’s called. If you won’t obey that rule, then you have no place with us.” He forced down the wave of guilt at what would probably happen to the child. She wasn’t his responsibility and, while his society treasured all children, he couldn’t allow Shima to subvert his family because of it. “In any group there is one leader and in this one I am it. If you cannot accept my rules, find another group.”
Shima stared at him, then at Naomi and finally at her baby. Her words were almost a whisper. “She is my superior.”
“Shima,” Caradoc said quietly, “there is a baby involved and that makes things complicated. Once you join our family, she becomes my responsibility. Once that happens, you cannot just decide to leave and expect to take her with you. I will move heaven and earth to protect her and, if necessary, protecting her includes taking her from you if there’s a good chance you’ll end up feral again.”
“You will protect Winona if I obey the elfqueen and you?” There was an odd tone in her voice.
“As if she came from my loins.”
“Good.” She slid from the bed in a liquid movement and faced the two of them. “I will stay, at least until she is grown. I will not chance going feral.” She stared at the top of her child’s head. “I don’t remember carrying her or having her, but she is mine and I won’t lose her that way.”
Naomi gave her a sympathetic look. “If you want, later I can tell you about the birth.”
Shima looked stunned. “You were there? But I was feral.”
“Master Caradoc delivered her with his own hands. You were having problems and it looked like you both might die. I didn’t care about your life, but he overrode my desire to stay away from you and we helped you deliver her.” The elfqueen smiled gently. “I think you and Winona could use a bath, and while we’re heating water for it I can tell you the whole story.”
“I want to know.” Shima frowned. “Did you say I was going to have a hot bath?”
“Yes, I did.”
“I haven’t had one of those since the war and that sounds almost better than the story. When can I bathe?”
Caradoc raised a hand as the two pokegirls headed for the door. “Ladies, there’s one more thing. The rule here is everyone needs to wear clothes. Naomi, I’m not sure your bikini top will fit you now, but we need to find something for everyone to wear. That includes Winona. She’ll need a diaper, at least until she learns to control her bodily functions.”
Naomi nodded. “Sir, we’ll work something out. What are we going to say about Shima’s joining the family?”
“Who says we’re going to say anything? She was away on a mission I’d ordered and now she’s returned. There’s nothing more to say about it. Shima is mine and I’ll have words with anyone who thinks otherwise.”
“That will work nicely, sir.”
(07/07/06 0700 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Caradoc was returning from the commissary with a basket containing breakfast. He came around the block corner and had turned towards the house where he was staying when he realized that Lisa Silvestri was sitting on the steps and crying. He paused to watch her for a moment before continuing on until he stood at the bottom of the steps. “I’m sorry if I said anything yesterday that hurt your feelings. That wasn’t my intent.”
Lisa jumped with a yelp and stared at him with wide, tear stained eyes. “Sir, you haven’t left yet!” She wiped at her face with her palms. “I thought you’d gone on without me, and I would have gotten into a lot of trouble if you had.”
He lifted the basket so she could see it. “I went off to get breakfast. The girls are probably still in the bath and wouldn’t have heard you knock.” He gave her a crooked smile. “If you haven’t already broken your fast, you’re more than welcome to eat with us.” The smile faded. “That is, if I haven’t mortally offended you by being an insensitive clod last night. I didn’t mean to be cruel to you.”
She nodded and smiled shyly. “I realized that after I rushed out, but I was too ashamed to come back. I owe you an apology. You didn’t know my past.”
“Perhaps.” He stepped around her and unlocked the door. “However, I should have thought about how that tattoo might affect your life. That crack I made about you being a second class citizen was out of line and I’m pretty sure Amelia is going to give me a piece of her mind if she finds out about it. Please accept my apology.”
“Amelia?”
“She’s like you, infertile, and she was ordered by the local administrator to work on my farm in Bog Walk with her two kids. She thinks I’m the best of a bad lot, and if she hears what I said to you I doubt her opinion of me will improve.”
“You have a farm? Tamers here say that protecting us is their only job.”
“They do that in Bog Walk too. I was made a tamer because Manley needed my expertise, not because I was one of his war buddies. I already had the farm and I think he was scandalized when I didn’t want to give it up. The other tamers were kind of upset with my working, since it might give the locals the idea that they could do work too, instead of feeding off the public trough.” He started laying food out on the table. “The bathroom is down the hall, third door on the right. If leaving without you could get you in trouble, then you looking like we had a fight might too.”
Lisa touched her cheek and flushed. “Thanks.” She darted down the hall.
A few minutes later Naomi swept into the room. She was wearing a thigh length sea green summer dress that did nothing to hide her new curves. “Sir, I’m glad Lisa came back, but did you do anything to her?”
“She thought we’d left without her and panicked. Nice dress.”
“Thank you, sir. Shima found some boxes of clothes in the attic that hadn’t been looted. We moved them down to our bedroom so we could go through them. Some of the clothes might fit you.”
“I’ll take a look later. What about her and Winona?”
“The woman who lived here liked these dresses. Shima has a black one. Winona is wearing a man’s shirt that we belted with a rope. Another box had some bedding and we turned a blanket into diapers.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “That is not a happy child right now.”
“She’ll get over it. How are you and Shima getting along?”
The elfqueen took a biscuit. “We’re doing better. Sir, you really frightened her when you told her to get out. She knew you were serious and she’s determined to prove she’s valuable.” Emerald green eyes met his. “She wants to be alpha.”
Nightmares are too focused on themselves to make a good alpha.
“I understand her breed’s not that good at command positions.”
Naomi nodded. “That’s right; although I’m surprised you know that. Most people don’t know much about nightmares.”
“I’m just a wealth of surprising information.”
“This has something to do with,” she hesitated and glanced down the hall to see if Lisa was returning. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “This has to do with your past, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, and this isn’t the place or the time.” He looked up as Lisa returned. She’d washed her face and looked much better. “Care for some breakfast?”
“Thanks.” The brunette dropped into a chair and grabbed a plate. “This looks wonderful compared to my usual oatmeal.”
“You look too fat to eat oatmeal regularly.” Shima carried Winona into the room and grabbed a couple of biscuits. She dipped the biscuits into the bowl of gravy and popped them into her mouth.
“Please excuse Shima. I see I need to work on her manners.” Caradoc had to admit that the nightmare looked very fetching in her tight dress.
“I have a hormonal problem that keeps me this way no matter how much or little I eat. I’ve been this way since I was a child.” Lisa gave Caradoc a curious look. “I didn’t know you had more than one pokegirl. I didn’t see this one yesterday.”
Caradoc settled down to eat. “Shima, remember that the rest of us might not enjoy eating after you. Use the spoon.” He turned to Lisa as the nightmare gave a heavy sigh and reached for the spoon. “This is Shima and her daughter is Winona. Shima wasn’t here last night.”
Lisa’s mouth dropped. “You’ve got a baby?” She stared at the slumbering infant with something like awe. “She’s so cute. You are so lucky.” She glanced at Caradoc. “I might advise minimizing your baby’s presence as much as possible. Around here, when a tamer’s pokegirl gives birth, he usually ships the baby off to Kingston right away. They’ve got some kind of orphanage there for newborns, although it’s called a ranch. Tamers think that a baby will reduce their pokegirl’s effectiveness.”
“They’re probably not ready to deal with children either. Will the other tamers cause trouble?”
“They’re probably not ready to deal with children either. Will the other tamers cause trouble?”
“I’d be more concerned about the women who aren’t tamers. All of them here are infertile and they haven’t seen an infant in ages. Some of them want a baby pretty desperately.” She looked seriously at Winona. “Some might try to take her from you.”
Shima didn’t look impressed. “Caradoc will protect me and Winona. He promised.”
Lisa tried to convey the importance of the situation. “What if he can’t?”
“I’ll kill anyone who gets past him,” the nightmare said simply.
“I’ll kill anyone who gets past him,” the nightmare said simply.
“She can’t do that.” Lisa gave Caradoc a worried look. “It’s against the law for a pokegirl to kill someone unless the league has a death warrant out on them.”
“Then I’d better not let anyone get past me.” He smiled at her shocked expression. “Eat up, we’ve got to go meet with the techs soon.”
(07/07/06 1230 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
You know a lot, Bishop.” Joe leaned back in his chair and motioned to his catgirl, a cute brunette. “Fissy, get me a drink. Make it something sweet.” Joe Singleton was one of the techs Caradoc was here to meet. The other was a muscular woman named Alex who seemed determined to be more of a guy than any man she met.
Caradoc had yet to hear a word out of the catgirl and wasn’t surprised when she bowed and trotted off towards the bar. “Why is her name Fissy?”
Joe chuckled. “I helped to catch her during a rainstorm and that’s the noise she makes when she gets rained on. ‘fsk, fsk’. Originally I called her Fisky, but too many people thought I said Frisky.”
“Does she talk?”
Joe shook his head. “She’s as mute as that post, although she can make noises when she wants to.” He wriggled his eyebrows theatrically. “You know what I mean.”
Shima suddenly looked disgusted, a feeling that Caradoc shared. He was glad she remained true to his request not to talk since he was pretty sure any remarks from her at this point would be scathing. He glanced at her and received a ghost of a smile. “Do you have any more questions about the great grape?”
“I don’t want to talk work during lunch.” He glanced up. “And I see Alex has returned safely from the bathroom. We were just talking about Fissy and her noises.”
Alex gave Joe a look as disgusted as Shima’s, raising her in Caradoc’s estimation. She glanced at Caradoc coolly. “Were you?”
“I asked if she could talk and Joe here was explaining in detail. I’ve never heard of a mute catgirl before.”
Alex dropped into her chair and glanced at her pokegirl, an amazonwu. “Tina, get me a juice.”
“Yes, mistress.”
The woman rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “The reason Fissy can’t talk is that she took a pretty severe injury to the throat sometime before she was captured. It pretty much pulped her vocal cords. It’s a wonder she survived at all. If she were human she would have died.”
“What about sign language?”
Joe grinned. “We communicate all we need to. I’ve given her notecards with my favorite foods and drinks on them so she can get me what I want.”
“Sir, here’s lunch as you requested.” Naomi appeared from the bar, leading a waitress balancing three plates of food and four mugs. She laid one plate down in front of each tamer and blinked as Naomi gracefully took the mugs, placing one of them in front of Caradoc. She handed one of the others to Shima, a third to a surprised Lisa and stepped around to lean against Caradoc’s chair, sipping hers.
Shima dipped a finger into her drink and slipped it into her baby’s mouth. Lisa had helped them to turn another one of the sheets into a baby carrier that strapped to Shima’s chest. The nightmare kept the carrier covered, both to reduce the light so Winona would sleep and to keep people from noticing the infant.
“You’re feeding them here?” Alex was watching the nightmare with curiosity and more than a hint of interest.
“My pokegirls have needs too. Or am I doing something wrong again?”
“Again?”
“Back in Bog Walk, I was regularly violating some unwritten rule or other on pokegirl care. Mr. Manley thought it was more amusing than anything, but some of the other tamers were pretty upset.”
Alex grinned. “Now why would you break unwritten rules?” She slapped herself gently on the forehead. “That’s right, they’re not written down.”
Tina returned, handing her mistress a mug of something pink. Alex looked at her amazonwu and smiled as she made a decision. “Tina, would you like something to drink?”
Tina looked shocked for an instant and then eyed Shima and Naomi. She nodded slowly. “If the mistress doesn’t mind, I would like a banana smoothie like they’re drinking.”
“Then why don’t you get one? Tell them it’s for me.”
“Thank you, mistress.”
Joe half glared at both of the other tamers at the table. “Alex, would you have Tina get one for Fissy, too? God knows I don’t want to look like more of jerk than I sometimes do.”
Alex smirked. “I’m not sure that’s possible, but Tina, get two of them.” She patted Joe on the hand. “It’s ok, except for your inability to stop talking about Fissy and sex, you’re not that bad.”
Joe snorted. “Then why is Caradoc’s nightmare looking at me like I’m something her kid just hacked up?” Shima’s eyes glittered as she smothered a sudden snicker.
“That’s more than enough talk, I’m hungry.” Caradoc shook his head and dug into his lunch. He’d suspected that he’d be unable to let his pokegirls or Lisa eat with them, so he’d made arrangements for them to get a light lunch before the two specialists had dragged him off to eat. He wondered briefly what arrangements the others had made for their pokegirls and then shrugged the thought away. It wasn’t his problem.
(07/08/06 1500 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Alex kicked at a dirt clod. The experimental farm was located on the south side of the city so as to be as far from the ocean as possible but still close enough for league forces to patrol the area. She tucked a strand of hair over her ear and looked over at Caradoc. “You say that a boobisaur can improve the ground by lying on it?”
“I know it sounds hard to believe, but I’ve seen it work.” He’d found that it was easier to get the two specialists to believe him if he claimed to have actually observed what he’d read. “I’m not sure how she does it, but the quality of the ground improves after she lies on it for a while. She can tell you how good the soil is, too.”
“Do you have one of those at your farm?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t seen one around here. Besides, I’ve already got two pokegirls. I do have other things to do besides have sex, you know, and the more pokegirls you have, the less free time you have.”
She chuckled. “Be glad you don’t have one of the fire pokegirls then. I’ve seen them and they want it all the time.”
“Is that why most tamers don’t have real jobs?”
Alex’s head whipped around. “I wouldn’t go bandying that around too much. Protecting people is a full time job and the military tamers will cheerfully remind you of that anytime you want to hear it.”
“I’m a civilian defense force kind of fellow. Fight when you need to, work when you must. Do we have any enemies requiring a standing army?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t heard of any?”
“What about the ones up north?”
“The Indigo League? They’re our friends, or so I keep being told.”
“I meant the ones in Haven.”
“Those loons? What of them?” She shrugged. “I heard that the league sent a colony up there, but that it disappeared. If the place is that bad, the loons can have it. We’ve got enough problems here that we don’t need to go buying more somewhere else. If they make it, someday we’ll be friends. We don’t have much choice if we want to survive the pokegirls.”
Caradoc shrugged. “You’ve got a point.” He pointed at the rows of seedlings. “As you can see, Naomi has accelerated the growth rates of the great grape plants. She said it will probably shorten their lifespan by a couple of years, but you’ll still get at least five or so years of production. I’d recommend planting seeds from them every year. In no time at all, you’ll have fields of them.”
“What about cuttings?”
“I don’t know it that’ll work, but if it does, I’d like to know. I’ve got some great grapes myself. I’m also looking for the other berry plants.”
“We’ve got a sample of seeds from something called a bluebottle. Can your elf get them started, too?”
“I don’t see why she can’t.”
“What will it do?”
“The pollen will cure status conditions, like being poisoned or frozen. The brown fruit can be used as a spice. It’ll also heal minor injuries. It’ll keep you from wasting great grapes when a tamer stubs his toe.”
Alex laughed. “Anything else?”
“The blue fruit makes humans and pokegirls faster for a while. I’d suggest giving them to your reaction forces to eat before deploying.”
Her hazel eyes bored into his. “You do know a lot about this stuff. What did you do during the war?”
Caradoc gave her a hard look. “I did whatever I had to in order to survive.”
Alex grinned. “We all did that.” She stared into the distance. “I was a bodybuilder before the war.” She smiled at him and flexed a bicep. “I still keep in shape. During the war, I’d dress up like a weak pokegirl and infiltrate their compounds to surveil them before the military moved in to wipe them out.”
“That sounds uniquely hazardous.”
“That sounds uniquely hazardous.”
“It was, but it made me respect them. They weren’t some ragtag group of bitches, they were organized and smart. If they’d been better led, we’d have lost. It was in the last compound that I met Tina. The fighters like her were really arrogant to the weaker pokegirls.” She flashed a smile. “If you look around, you’ll notice that really hasn’t changed. Tina was different though. Even though it wasn’t part of her duties, she made sure that the weaker pokegirls got fed. It was rough for them at that time and supplies were short. A lot of the stronger pokegirls felt that they deserved the lion’s share of everything and sometimes that meant there wasn’t anything for the weaker ones.” Her eyes grew distant. “When the JDF hit the camp, Tina got shot up pretty badly. I took care of her until she recovered and we’ve been together ever since.” She gestured at the seedlings. “She almost died and those would have helped her a lot. Other tamers will need it to protect their pokegirls as well as themselves. So, how did you meet your pokegirls?”
“Shima kind of fell into my lap.” The nightmare smiled amusedly without ceasing her continuing scan of the area around them. Naomi had ordered her to protect him and she was apparently taking her duties seriously. His elfqueen was busy encouraging the seedlings to grow.
“What about Naomi?”
“She was buried beneath the floor of my house.”
Alex gave him an amazed look as Shima snickered loudly. The woman shook her head. “I thought I’d heard just about every way a tamer could find a pokegirl, but that’s a new one.”
He shrugged. “It’s an infinite universe.”
“When will you be leaving?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. You and Joe have what you need to keep the bushes going and I need to get back to my farm.”
“Will we ever see you again?”
He smiled as he repeated his earlier words. “It’s an infinite universe.”
(07/09/06 1000 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
“Bishop!” Joe came running across the field. “Hey, Bishop!”
Caradoc straightened, brushing off his knees. He was performing a final series of inspections before they went back to their house to pack. “I heard you the first time, Joe. What is it?”
“Commander Jordan wants to see you.”
Bishop sighed and bent backwards as he stretched out his back. “Did he say when?”
“Right away.” Joe bent over, sucking air. “I need to work out more.”
“Yes, you do.” Shima looked at Caradoc. “Is this Commander Jordan the one you were threatening me with?”
Joe gave them a bewildered look as Bishop chuckled. “Yes, he is. Stay close to us and if he gets grabby, make yourself scarce instead of hurting anyone.” The nightmare nodded. “Thanks, Joe, I’ll head over there right now. Shima?”
Shima fell in behind him as he went looking for Naomi. A short time later they stood in front of the TLCF building. The tamer standing guard duty looked him up and down. “You’re Bishop. You know where to go?”
“I do. Go up three flights to the uppermost floor and his door will be on the right.”
“Then go on in.” His eyes followed them inside.
The same redhead was sitting behind the desk inside Commander Jordan’s office. “Tamer Bishop, it’s nice to see you again. Please have a seat and I’ll let the Commander know you’re here.” She got up and went into his office, coming out a moment later to stand, holding the door open. “Tamer Bishop?”
“Thanks.” He entered the room with his pokegirls and, once again, Jordan waved him at the chair.
Jordan looked at him for a long moment. “How do you like Montego Bay?”
Caradoc raised an eyebrow. “It’s ok. I’m anxious to get back to my farm.”
“Why? You live in a shack. The house you have here is much better and I could make sure you get a bigger farm.”
“So you’ve been checking up on me.”
“It’s part of my job to know about newcomers to the island, and once I found you were an immigrant, I had a complete investigation done.” He glanced at Shima. “You didn’t have her when you left Bog Walk, so you must have captured her during the trip. Catching anything more dangerous than a catgirl on your own is pretty impressive and I wanted to know more about you.” He looked the nightmare up and down. “I could take her from you, you know.” He looked meaningfully at Caradoc.
A sudden tension filled the air until Jordan gave him an irritable look. “Don’t you have something to say about that?”
Caradoc looked evenly at him. “Anything I say at this point could be construed as a challenge, so I’m hoping you’ll be reasonable and just leave it at the threat.”
A curious look appeared on Jordan’s face. “And if I don’t?”
“This room is kind of a small venue for a pokegirl battle. You, me, everyone else who works here and this entire floor are likely to be damaged.”
Jordan’s brass blinked in surprise and began moving surreptitiously in her tamer’s direction. She stopped when Shima gave her a hard look.
“You’d violate your oath and fight me for her?”
“With all due respect, Commander Jordan, I never took an oath to you.” Caradoc was curious as to where this discussion was going. “And yes, if you try to take Shima and her daughter, I will be forced to respond. They’re both mine to protect.”
Jordan looked into Bishop’s eyes for a moment before nodding. “I believe you. Why don’t you stay in Montego Bay? I’ll send another tamer to take your place and, since he’ll be someone who is in the tamer program, Manley will be much happier.” He leaned back in his chair and watched Caradoc. “I’m not really used to bargaining with anyone, but I’ll even make sure that the Henry family keeps your farm.”
This would help you with your mission.
Caradoc pretended to waver. “If I decide to live here, I have some personal items I’d like to have.”
Jordan smiled slowly as he sensed victory. “I don’t see why you couldn’t go get them.”
Caradoc looked at Naomi, who shrugged. Finally, he nodded. “Can I pick the location of my farm?”
(07/09/06 1500 Montego Bay, Tropic League)
Shima looked around. “Are we out of town yet?”
“I believe so, why?” Caradoc blinked when she put down her baby and stripped off her dress. Her black skin gleamed in the afternoon sun.
“There are better ways to get wherever you want to go besides walking.” The nightmare’s body rippled and wavered in the light as she changed into a quadrupedal form. In this form, she had a long leonine tail with a tuft on the end that was the same color as her hair. Her cloven hooves were also red. She smiled at him as she offered him the dress. “I will even let your other woman ride with you.”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed but she remained silent as she adjusted her quiver.
Shima was a lot taller now and Caradoc looked up at her. “You’d do that?”
“You are my master and it would be my pleasure.”
“Great.” Caradoc slipped off his pack and folded up the dress. He carefully put it away and then slapped the pack onto Shima’s back. “You can carry both of our packs. That’ll help a lot.” He eyed it. “We’ll probably have to use rope to fasten them in place. Later, maybe we’ll make some real pack gear for you.”
Naomi laughed at the shocked expression on Shima’s face.
The nightmare shook her head as if to clear it. “I can fly,” she said patiently, as if to an idiot. “We can get there a lot faster if I carry you.”
“Later you will, but right now all of us need the exercise. Besides, you don’t know the route and I want to show you the house where we met.”
They made good time and reached Falmouth as the sun was sinking into the horizon. Caradoc looked at Naomi. “Find us some houses to explore and one to sleep in.”
She nodded. “Shima, guard our master.” She readied her bow and silently headed off as Caradoc started unlacing the packs from the nightmare’s back.
Once the last pack dropped away, Shima shook violently. “That’s much better.” She sniffed the air and checked Winona’s diaper. “Are you sure that this is the best way?”
“Would you rather have her pissing and crapping on you whenever she wants?”
She grimaced. “You have a point. She’ll have to wait to be changed until I am not guarding you.” She focused on the baby, who was starting to fuss. Winona suddenly went limp.
Caradoc frowned. “Did you just put her to sleep?”
“It keeps her quiet. She will have no lasting effects from it.” He started to say something, then stopped and just shook his head slowly. “Do you have issue with the way I treat Winona?”
He gave her a wry smile. “I do, but I’m not sure how to address it. I don’t think you should treat her that way, but you’re right that we can’t have her crying right now and protecting me is more important than changing her diaper.” He gave her a thoughtful look. “You could let me change her.”
The nightmare’s arms tightened around her child. “She doesn’t know you.”
“She unconscious,” he pointed out quietly.
Shima’s lips pursed. “I don’t know you. I don’t trust you yet.”
“That’s true enough.”
He got a surprised look from her. “You’re not going to argue with me about it?”
“I don’t like arguments and there’s nothing in there to discuss. What are you going to do if you have to fight?”
The nightmare gave him a half-hearted glare. “I will let you hold Winona then, but I will get her back as soon as the fight is over.”
“I certainly won’t be changing her diaper while you’re fighting.” He smiled to himself when she tried not to laugh.
A couple of minutes later, Naomi appeared. “I found some suitable places.”
The next morning, Caradoc shrugged into his pack and looked at Shima. “I need to do some aerial surveillance. I think we’ll end up finding a place here. It’s close enough to Montego that we can get there quickly and yet far enough away to be out of their constant oversight.” He flashed a quick grin. “Jordan did say that I could pick the location of my farm and I have a legitimate reason to back it up. Elfqueens aren’t too great with pollution and they don’t really have adequate sanitation around Montego.”
The nightmare nodded and gave him a long look before holding out Winona. Caradoc suppressed his surprise and carefully took the child. Shima stripped off her dress and quickly swapped it out for her daughter, whose face was scrunched up while she was busy trying to decide if she should be upset or not.
Shima shifted to her centaur form. “Will I be carrying both of you?”
Caradoc nodded. “I’d like that. Naomi would be a third set of eyes looking for a nice place for us.”
The nightmare nodded and stretched. “I’ll be gentle.” Her tail lashed as she looked from her man to her alpha before she moved over near a pile of debris. “Who’s first?” Caradoc shrugged and stepped onto the pile before sliding onto her back, wrapping his arms around her human middle. She chuckled softly and leaned back against him. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t move around too much or I’ll get distracted.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” He shifted slightly as Naomi joined him on Shima’s back and grabbed onto him.
“Here we go.” Shima moved forward smoothly and without a pause, stepped onto the air and kept going. While it was almost exactly like the way she traveled along the ground, her gait was as smooth as silk and Caradoc was surprised to realize that she was almost completely stable. She turned as if she were still walking on the ground, climbing a shallow grade as she circled the house where they’d slept. Once they crested the treetops, Shima straightened out and headed out to sea. She accelerated until they were moving fast enough that the wind whipped past them and then began a much steeper climb, curving around to bring them back to the coast.
Naomi pressed her body against his and almost yelled into his ear. “If we’re going to be doing this often, we will want some kind of harness so I can fight from her back! She’s solid black and obvious up here.”
Shima laughed over her shoulder. “That’s why I usually stay much lower. I can wind run a lot faster than this, but I don’t want to hurt you or Winona. How high do you want me to go?”
Caradoc estimated they were about five hundred meters off the ground. “This is fine. I want to quickly swing over the town and then explore to the south, looking for something that would be good for us. We want a place with adjoining land that can be turned into farmland.”
The nightmare headed over the town and galloped in a wide circle that encompassed the entire community. Caradoc looked down, fixing the streets in his mind and quickly examining the buildings. Like the rest of the world, Falmouth had been decimated by the Red Plague and the Tropic League decided that the seven hundred survivors of this community of eight thousand would make a better start somewhere else and they had been evacuated to Montego Bay. It had been empty for more than a decade and it showed, even from above. A handful of buildings had given up or been destroyed by ferals and debris was scattered about. Cars lay rusting where they’d last been parked and reddish-orange stains trailed away from many them, showing where the water ran when it rained.
Naomi brushed her lips against his ear. “We’ll have to search the city for ferals and capture or evict the ones we find. If we don’t, they’ll raid the farm for food.”
He nodded. “I was thinking that the best thing to do might be to put a field between us and Falmouth just to lure them into a killing ground. That’ll allow us to work on the farm without having to sweep the city, at least for a while. Only raiding a space station can be more hazardous than city combat.” He leaned forward and spoke into Shima’s ear. “Ok, swing south.”
As they headed south, Falmouth just kind of trailed away into woods and cropland. The buildings here hadn’t fared any better, and Caradoc strongly suspected that ferals might take regular shelter in most of them.
Naomi pointed. “That one!” Shima glanced over her shoulder and wheeled hard, coming about in a display of agility that almost unseated her two passengers. She grinned as Naomi squealed and clamped her arms around Caradoc.
The house Naomi had indicated stood on the end of a gravel road about a kilometer from the main road that meandered towards Falmouth. The two story building stood on a small rise, surrounded on all sides by overgrown fields that extended all the way to the road. Forested hills bordered three sides of the farmland and a river gleamed on the eastern border.
Shima twisted and was suddenly running downhill, leveling out just high enough to avoid the chimney that protruded up from the roof. Once at that altitude, she slowed down to roughly twenty kilometers per hour and began running the edge of the fields so Caradoc could look the place over from all sides.
The front door of the building was open and a couple of windows had been broken, but the roof looked sound and the fields, while heavily overgrown, still had clearly defined borders and the shadows of where furrows had been plowed.
Naomi leaned against him once more. “From the air, it looks livable. I want to land and feel the soil.”
He shook his head. “No. If the place doesn’t have a pokegirl, it’s got rats. However, we can deal with both. As for the soil, we’ll have to wait until we come back. I don’t want to leave any evidence that someone is interested in this place or we just might return to find that someone else agrees with our opinion and moved in while we were gone.”
“Lookout!” Suddenly Shima whipped to the right as Naomi’s arms tightened explosively around Caradoc’s waist, driving the breath from his lungs. A beam of yellow energy lanced up from the ground to occupy the same space they would have if the nightmare hadn’t acted.
Caradoc looked down to see a winged pokegirl closing her mouth from the hyperbeam. She lumbered forward and sprang into the air, her leathery wings stroking powerfully as she turned to pursue her chosen prey.
That is a dracass and they are extremely tough. Extreme caution is advised.
“I cannot fight her with you on my back and Winona!” Shima didn’t sound panicky, but something in her voice begged him to come up with an idea. Naomi was trying to keep her arms around him while simultaneously unlimbering her bow. It wasn’t working well.
“Naomi, just keep hold of me. Shima, evade. If she’s still here when we return, we’ll figure out how to take her.”
The nightmare snickered. “If I were unencumbered, she would stand no chance against me. Don’t let go.” She twisted away from another hyperbeam and angled down towards the ground, accelerating once more until the wind began to whip around them. “Don’t let go,” she repeated loudly as she dropped down to less than a meter and headed for the woods. “Trust me.”
The dracass turned to follow. She wasn’t as fast as the nightmare and quickly began to fall behind, roaring her anger.
Caradoc buried his face against Shima’s shoulder as she continued towards the woods at a reckless speed. He opened his eyes when the wind abruptly died to nothing. He gasped when they plunged into the woods and he watched them pass through the trees without any effect.
Shima accelerated hard as another hyperbeam hit the woods behind them and trees exploded with a screaming noise as their water was converted to steam. “She’s shooting blind. I’m going to break contact in ten seconds, be ready.” She began muttering a countdown and when she reached zero she abruptly swerved to the right and in seconds sped up to full speed. Land and trees blurred by them for almost ten minutes before she slowed. Wind began to blow around them as she descended and landed in an open space, finally cantering to a halt. “We got away safely.”
Naomi slid off the nightmare’s back and flopped heavily to the ground. “I’m not made for flight. I almost threw up.”
Shima snorted. “If you had, I’d be very upset at you right now.” She frowned and wiped at her front. “Winona did. I had to put her back to sleep.” Caradoc got a rag out of his pack and dumped some water over it from his canteen. Shima gave him a sympathetic look as he cleaned her off. “Thank you. Is being a mother so aggravating?”
“Honestly? It’s only started and it won’t end until she moves out. However, the benefits outweigh the problems that she’ll bring.”
“Do you have children?”
He shook his head. “No, but I have this on the strictest authority from many sources. I should note that I’ve also been told that they just want others to share their misery.”
“What do you think?”
He started cleaning the baby she held. “I was raised to believe that children are our tomorrow and they deserve all the love and care we can give them, no matter how frustrating they can be from time to time. I also believe that this was an accident.” He stepped back. “Finally, I think both of you will get a bath this evening when we return to Falmouth. We’ll stay in the same house we were in last night.”
Both pokegirls stared at him. Finally Naomi spoke. “Why do you want to go back to Falmouth?”
“Do you know where we are?” He nodded when she shook her head. “Shima?”
“I do not. I was in too much of a hurry to notice anything we passed.”
Caradoc patted her on the hip. “I tried to, but I have to get used to how fast you can move when you want to. Since none of us know where we are, none of us know how to get to Bog Walk from here. Ergo, we have to retrace our steps and return to Falmouth so we can continue on to our destination.”
Naomi sighed. “I don’t suppose we could walk?”
Caradoc Bishop, Tirsuli human
Naomi - elfqueen
Shima - nightmare
Winona - nightmare pokekit