Story: The Smiling Man

Dude, frekin' epic. That's all I can say. That and - more plz!

Ah, one of those situations where all the characters genuinely feel that what they're doing is justified. I was quite worried for Alek. He was in a strangely helpless position, and for a moment I thought Thatris really had made him deaf, out of pure desire to hurt him.

And in all that, you manage to weave in the seeds (if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor) for a love story, by making the characters express their concern for each other in the strongest possible terms. Nicely done.

Thank you both. I am glad I'm finally finished with it and it worked out alright. I was nervous that trying to work the beginnings of Alek and Edearin's romantic relationship in there would break the story, but I'm happy to hear it didn't.

Thanks

It was a nice story
strange and with a unique setting to it. really interesting to read. Great job ^_^

Thank you.

EDIT: This thread will also have extra stories that are Thatris-central. I'll put up new tales as they work out.

Well, here's Thatris again, back with his blank face and weirdness. A story of his traveling close to the Great Tree and into the Forest of Whispers. There is no vore in this chapter of the story, but there is suggestive dialogue about it.

Travel Hazards

Ch. 1: Fire and Dryads

The small duiker struggled against the human holding it down, three good legs thrashing as it attempted to right itself and escape. The right foreleg of the little antelope was twisted at an obscene angle, broken. That had been the only reason the human had been able to catch the deer, but now it didn't matter at all.

The man had the duiker in a stranglehold, arm wrapped around its neck tightly. He had it in just the right position, crushing its trachea and cutting off its air with the inside of his elbow. The other arm was occupied with holding its head, preventing the deer from hitting him with its tiny but sharp horns. Both his legs were twined around the duiker buck's body, keeping him anchored to the antelope firmly.

The duiker kicked him once or twice in the struggle, but he bore the impact of the little hooves easily, merely winding his hold on the grazer's neck tighter. He kept increasing the pressure as it flailed, continually constricting its airway. It wasn't long before the duiker's fighting slowed, becoming lethargic, and finally stopped.

Thatris only let go of the strange deer once he was sure he had succeeded in strangling it to death. The other antelope creatures had caught wind of him quickly and fled too swiftly to be caught, but this one had been unable to evade him with its recently fractured leg. He had managed to bring it down, then gotten in close where he could grapple the thing and kill it.

He picked up the dead animal, putting it over his shoulder to carry like a sack of meal. It would make a good dinner once he roasted it over a fire, and he could probably dry the leftovers for later. At least, if he could avoid being interrupted by one of the numerous giant man-eating creatures that lived in the jungle. He had already run into several animals of this type.

He had been forced to trap all five of the huge, idiotic brown birds. They had all tried to eat him a dozen times, with him dodging and running and protesting, before he had finally gotten fed up and led the whole flock of the flightless and stubborn things right into a bramble thicket. After they had been tangled up, he had left the stupid things to thrash and squawk in their thorny chains.

He shook his head at the memory of the brainless avians, and hiked the duiker up on his shoulder a bit. Now all he needed was a little firewood and he could eat. He couldn't stand fire under normal circumstances, but he had to admit he needed it to survive here in this land.

He spotted a tree that looked promising, a tall, smooth-barked specimen that had an odd familiarity to its shape. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite grasp it. At least, he couldn't until the "tree" reached down and grasped HIM.

"Ah, lunch. How nice of you to join me." the dryad laughed, lifting the human up to her level.

Thatris shifted the duiker over, draping the antelope over his shoulders as if it were a scarf. It was interesting to see a dryad other than his mother, even if this dryad intended to eat him. She was larger than his foster parent, close to a hundred and thirty feet tall, and her leafy green hair was longer, brighter. She had smooth bark on her trunk, and equally smooth grass-colored skin on her human half.

Her bright, amber-tinted eyes looked over her prey. She studied him for a moment, assessing his size and health. Then she smiled, a beautiful grin that lit up her whole face with good cheer.

"You look delicious. You're just the right size to go down easy. Bet you taste great, too." she told him, bringing him closer to her mouth.

Thatris thought about how he could extricate himself from this situation, mind working behind his blank smile. Maybe he could offer her something . . .

"You can have this odd little deer thing I caught. I'll give it to you if you let me go on my way. You can eat it instead of me." he suggested, bouncing the antelope a little to punctuate the bargain.

The tree-woman let out an amused chuckle at this, leaves rustling as she shook her head at his foolishness.

"Silly little thing, aren't you? You're trying to give me what I already have. I caught you, so everything you've got on you is mine. Why eat the duiker and let you go when I can take it from you, eat it, and have you for dessert?"

"Ah. I can see your point there. Well, I guess you can eat me if you don't mind being in a lot of pain or maybe dying." he cautioned.

* * * * *

Lym, now suspicious, leaned close to her meal and stared into his dead eyes. She looked deep into those empty voids and saw . . . nothing. No sign that he was bluffing, nor that there was any truth behind his threat. The dark brown orbs held no trace even of life. He looked like a doll, or, she though with a shudder, a corpse.

Blank face. Blank smile. . . where had she heard that before . . . A moment later her eyes widened in astonishment.

"You're the human that those two were -"

A voice from off to her right interrupted he revelation.

"Light that shrub up, Galvin!"

She twisted on her trunk to get a lock on the shout, and spied a half-dozen elves just out of her grabbing range. One of them was muttering rapidly to himself, tracing complex patterns in the air with swift strokes of his fingers. Magic. What was that el-(Light that shrub up).

"NO!" was all she had time for before a burst of red-hot fire exploded up her trunk, setting her aflame.

The magic flames wrapped her up in a whirling sheet of fire, crisping the leaves in her hair to curled black twists in an instant. She shrieked, thrashing wildly as the burning agony spread up her body. She flung the human in her hand away, forgetting the tiny morsel in her torment. She batted desperately at the growing flames, trying to put them out, but to no avail. She was living every dryad's worst nightmare.

She was going to burn to death.

* * * * *

Thatris rocketed through the air, clothes still smoking from the heat of the fire, and hit a tree. His head collapsed in on his body, his body collapsed in on his waist, and this waist collapsed in on his legs. His whole body accordioned into itself, winding up as a splat of flesh on the tree. The bundle of clothes and tissue slid off the tree, fell fifty feet to the ground, and hit the soft soil with a flop.

* * * * *

Galvin, the elves' mage, watched with satisfaction as his hard-earned skills sorched the giant dryad. The monster was still failing in the inferno, screaming and crying like all the victims she had swallowed mercilessly over the years. Dryads took a long time to burn to death; perhaps it was their greenness and tough bark that did it, or maybe some latent magic. In the end, though, his months of hard training and lessons had payed off.

His fire would consume the man-eating fiend.

El' yeverse, the leader of the elven adventurers, stood next to him, a hand on his shoulder. She was one of the best leaders he had adventured with, sturdy and always calm in hazardous situations. She had gotten their group out of more scrapes than one. She patted his shoulder with a bright smile.

"You've got a lot of talent, young man. I've never seen anyone put a fully-grown tree-beast to the torch like you did. You'll turn out as the best mage I've had yet, if you keep this up." she praised.

Galvin flushed at the compliment, straightening up a little bit more. He was so busy with soaking up the attention that he never saw the human that barreled into him from the side.

The human took the elf wizard down in a flying tackle, taking the robed man to the ground with an impact that drove the air from the young mage's lungs in a startled wheeze. Before he could draw another breath, the human put a hand on his throat and gripped his larynx. He could take a breath, but only just; one quick, hard squeeze and he would suffocate in the open air with a crushed windpipe.

El' yeverse blinked, taking a second of confusion to realize what had happened. She looked down at the human kneeling on her mage's chest, and barked at the man furiously.

"What are you doing to my mage, you ingrate! I don't know how you're alive after that fall, but that man saved you life!"

She was struck dumb when he whipped his head all the way around to face her, neck rotating like an owl's. Though he had a bizarre, vacant grin on his face, his eyes were as hot as the fire still burning the dryad.

"Are you some kind of demon?"

"You tell this mage to put her out NOW." he ordered, ignoring her question and putting a razor edge in his demand.

"That thing's a monster! It was going to eat you!"

* * * * *

Thatris, hearing the dryad screaming in pain, hearing the hateful fire crackling in delight as it shriveled her, gave up talking to the commander and went for broke. Still pinning the elf down with one hand, he drew back with the other and rammed his arm down the mage's throat. Up to the elbow.

The robed elf, panicking in his distress, beat his limbs wildly against the ground, unable to breathe or speak. The human leaned in until their foreheads were almost touching, forcing his boneless arm further into the wizard's mouth. The other elves gasped, frozen with horror.

"I've got no bones. I could squeeze all the way in if I wanted, and then tear you in half from the inside. I've no quarrel with you personally, but unless you put her out you're going to get an opportunity to taste your own intestines. Because I'll pull them up out of you. So get rid of that fire."

The young mage, pushed to the limits of terror, twisted his fingers in an elaborate signal and slapped the ground. With its supply of mana cut, the flames went out in short order, leaving a charred but very much alive dryad whimpering in pain.

Thatris pulled his arm back out of the elf, the limb expanding back to its original shape and size as he withdrew it. The elf rolled away from him, gagging and coughing, as he shook the saliva and internal fluids from his sleeve. He stood and turned at the sound of blades being unsheathed and bows being drawn.

All five of the elves besides the mage had their weapons out and pointed at him, two with swords, one with twin scimitars, and the other three with recurve bows. He had his pistol out and aimed at the commander in an instant. The elves stood their ground.

Thatris was trying to work on the dilemma behind his vacuous smile, thinking on how to get out of his situation alive. His pistol was useless except as a bluff, able to shoot only an endless supply of candy. On the other hand, the elves' weapons could kill him. He could survive being squashed and flung around, but an arrow in a vital area would render him just as dead as anyone else. He was relieved when the elves backed down.

"Fine. You didn't kill Galvin, and nobody's hurt. We'll leave. Happy?" assured the elven leader, she and her group lowering their weapons.

"The dryad is hurt. You used FIRE on her, you barbarians. Get out of here before I shoot you."

The elves complied, vanishing into the underbrush with looks of incredulous disgust at the man. He relaxed a little once they were gone, easing his pistol's mechanism to its normal position and putting it back into his belt. He heaved out a sigh of relief, then started to walk off, ready to travel again now that the danger was over.

"Wait."

He halted and turned around at the request.

The dryad was biting her lip, obviously in pain from her burns. She was charred, streaks of black curled around her body, but not badly. She would heal quickly in the miraculous soil of Felarya. She shook some of the dead, fried leaves from her hair and looked down at him.

"I want to talk to you."

* * * * *

Lym shook herself, the blackened, dead skin fluttering off her. It was painful, but the burns were minor; she had only been alight for a few minutes.The human tilted his head, then nodded and agreed to listen to her. He sat down.

"Why did you make that elf put me out?"

His odd expression didn't change, but she thought she saw something sharp and deadly glint in his empty eyes.

"They used FIRE. Burning someone is the most vile torture I can imagine. I'll not tolerate it."

She found herself agreeing with the little snack, nodding. Fire was a hideous thing. The lingering pain of her near-immoluation attested to that. Still, his reasoning didn't match what she had heard from any other humans.

"But, well . . . I was going to eat you." she admitted, rubbing her stomach.

Despite her pain, her hunger was still there, reminding her that she needed to eat. She looked down at the little morsel, just out of reach, and her mouth started to water. Well, he HAD helped her. . . but he was still food. With her leaves unable to catch sunlight until they grew back in, she was going to have to eat a lot more. Surely he wouldn't mind feeding her and preventing her from starving after he had made such an effort to help her, right?

"Care to come a little closer? I can't hear your tiny voice so well from this far."

Her belly growled loudly, giving her away. The human shook his head.

"I think not. I'd hate to have to kill you after saving you from burning to death. As for trying to eat me, that's your right. I won't hesitate to put out an eye for you if you insist on trying to swallow me, though."

Lym blinked, remembering the story the giant and pantaur couple had told her about the blank-faced man. Surely not true . . . Well, best not to risk it. She could always find more food, and he'd helped her out, too. She shrugged, wincing as the crisped skin on her shoulders cracked.

"Alright, alright. You pulled me off the fire, literally, and you're out of range for me to grab. Go on and do whatever. Unless you want to feed me . . ." she invited, licking her lips.

The human got up, vanishing into the surrounding trees. The dryad sighed in disappointment, settling a little. She was startled when he came back and a familiar duiker with a twisted leg was tossed to her. Then he left, grinning his void, idiot grin even as he walked away.

Laughing quietly to herself, Lym picked up the limp duiker and blinked as something white fluttered off the body. Swallowing the duiker down, she examined the tiny square of cloth. She chuckled amusedly at what was written on the back.

"Not the feeding you meant, but here you go."

* * * * *

Thatris sighed as he walked through the seemingly endless forest. He had lost his meal in the middle of all that, and had been nearly caught on fire. It was going to be harder than ever to find a meal and work himself into the right mindset to willingly start even a little flame. Maybe he should just switch to fruit and vegetables . . .


Well, there's the end of Travel Hazards, Chapter 1. Critique as you like.

Felarya is Karbo's

Duiker are credited to Zoekin

Named characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

Second chapter of Travel Hazards. Thatris is especially vulnerable to . . . the dreaded Felarian fairy. As such, he wanders right into the Forest of Whispers. Has vore. Comment as you like.

Travel Hazards

Chapter 2: Fairies and Nekos

Thatris kept his breathing suppressed, back against the rough bark of the massive tree he was hiding behind. He peeked around the curve of the trunk, observing the fairy that was hovering only a dozen meters away. She was human sized, currently, and in the middle of a meal.

"Don't do this. I am begging you not to do this."

The fairy, a sprite with dark hair and skin, shrugged at the begging of the shrunken neko in her hand. The neko, barely five inches tall at this point, was a tribal, wearing a skin loincloth and an ear-ring crafted from bone, a male with strong features. That same strength showed in his voice, how steady it was even in his dire situation.

"I'm just eating. Nothing personal, you know? Sorry." the sprite responded.

Thatris watched for a chance to attack the fairy, the perfect opportunity to take her down. He needed that neko. He was no longer interested in this area he had been wandering in for nearly two days, and he had to have a local to guide him out of this sector of the forest. In fact, fairies were the reason he needed out.

They were a major threat to him. If they used their shrinking magic to reduce his size and grew a little, he would be unable to escape from their stomach. Besides that, most were able to use magic, and that made them even more dangerous. His being boneless was of no help against sorcery.

He had to be careful in ambushing this fey. If he wasn't fast enough, or he didn't incapacitate her right away, he would be in trouble. He just wasn't sure how he should bring her down quickly enough that she wouldn't be able to retaliate.

An instant knock-out wasn't possible for him; his lack of hard bones to back up the flesh turned on him when it came to physical blows. Strangling and grappling was his forte, but that would take too long. He had to find a weak-point of some kind, a place to land a stunning strike, or something delicate that he could severely damage . . .

He considered it. An abrupt clothesline tackle with his arm impacting her neck might knock the breath out of her long enough to grab the neko and run, but there was no guarantee he could outpace her. A kick to the genitals was a promising prospect, especially as she wasn't wearing any clothes that might lessen the effectiveness of it. It would keep her down for a bit, but there was still the problem of her chasing him once she recovered.

He made his decision, and exploded out from behind the tree. The fairy turned at the noise, but he got to her before she could swivel around completely and take action.

"What the-!" she began, but a quarter of a second later he was on her.

She didn't even have time to finish her exclamation before he knocked her flat with a flying tackle, then kicked her as hard as he could in the groin. The sprite gasped, a shockwave of pain blasting up through her abdomen in a nauseating wave, and instantly curled up, hands flying down as her legs twisted together. He flipped her over as fast as he could, then went for his real target.

Her wings.

They were butterfly-styled, red with swirls of green and blue that made fantastic whorls and spirals. At her human size, the wingspan was close to eight feet, the wings large and semi-triangular in the manner of most moths and butterflies. They were very beautiful, and soft, smooth with a velvety texture to them. He took a firm hold on either wing, placing his foot against her back as she took panting, pained breaths, trying to recover. The wings were lovely, but, more importantly, they were fragile.

Finally, the fairy spoke, beginning to uncurl as the shock eased up.

"Gah, that hurt! You're going to regret this, human!" she wheezed, trying to rise.

"I doubt I'll regret anything. Try anything and I just might . . ."

He pressed his foot down harder, and pulled back on her wings. She yelped, the sound pained, and immediately went limp.

"Ah, stop, stop, you'll tear them!"

"That's the general idea. I'm guessing these are pretty important. You struggle too much and I may have to remove them." he threatened, tugging a little to emphasize his point.

The sprite squirmed, but settled as he eased up. She wasn't sure how to handle this. This human had her by the wings, literally, and there really wasn't much she could do about it. Even if she attempted to shrink him, he could probably tear her wings quite badly before he became too small to further harm her. Sure, she would get to eat him in the end, and maybe have a little revenge on the side for his assaulting her, but that wouldn't be much comfort when she was sitting in the forest at human size and helpless.

She was going to have to go along with him. She turned her head sideways, cheek pressed to the ground, and looked up at her unexpected captor. He was about average size for a human, the rest of him average, brown hair that was somewhat messy, plain clothes typical of an adventurer, and normal features. The only unusual thing was his face.

It was blank, a vacant smile combined with dead, vacuous eyes the color of mud and just as lifeless. It made her nervous, and annoyed. What was wrong with his face? It was creepy. It almost looked like he was dead, or unconscious. Curious.

"Who are you, a fairy hunter?"

"Of course not. From what I've seen of this world's fey, that's a fool's occupation. I'm just a traveler. Thatris Jibbs. Pleased to meet you."

At least he was polite.

"Well, as you've planted your foot in my spine and have your hands on my wings, I'm guessing you want something?"

"Ah, that's right. I need that neko . . . Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'. I already ate him. And I can't cough things up. Now get off of me."

Thatris wasn't sure what to do from here. While he had been planning on how to attack the fairy, she had finished her meal. Now he had no guide out of this fairy-infested forest, where whispering seemed to seep right out of the ground and sprites giggled from the canopy. In addition, he had the problem of the fairy. She would eat him if he let go of her now, and he had to release her sooner or later. He had the tiger by the tail, or the fairy by the wings, anyway, and if he let go . . .

"Hey, I said to get off of me! Hurry up and get your hands off my wings!" she snapped.

"I'm assuming you'll eat me once I do?"

"Maaaaaybe. Let go and you'll find out." she snickered, licking her lips.

"That was a definite yes."

"I'll be sure to play with you a little beforehand. Would you like to go down reeeeeally slow?"

"Would you like to lose these wings?" he suggested, giving the members a sharp yank.

"Agh, okay, okay, I'll play nice! No eating, I swear!"

"I can tell you won't keep that promise. You'll shrink me as soon as you're free."

"Not if-" she began, but quickly cut off.

He pulled back on her wings hard enough that they made a peculiar strained noise like a washcloth on the verge of ripping. She quickly began talking again.

"-you tear my wings! Fairies' magic is in their wings! So please don't damage them!"

"What a sadly obvious weakness. It's quite lucky I decided to go for your wings and not your groin and then run like I planned in the first place. How curious that a predator species I'm highly susceptible to being eaten by has such a gigantic weak-point. Now then . . . "

He hauled on her wings, drawing them taut, and then put his free foot through each one. He was careful about it, doing as little damage as was necessary, but enough to stop her using any magic. The fairy yelled, but she didn't seem to be in a terrible amount of pain. He then hopped off of her and backed up.

She was on her feet quickly, wincing at the sting of her hurt wings, and glared at him. He kept backing off, but she didn't seem as if she was going to attack him. She realized, obviously, that she couldn't take him on at her current size. He kept his eyes on her, though, as he backed off. He noticed a curious change in her features, anger changing quickly into abject terror.

He cocked his head to one side at this new development, but kept stepping back . . .

. . . right into a soft, warm, and very large foot.

He tilted his head back, and was greeted by an upside-down, giant face some hundred feet above him, grinning cheerily, complete with pale hair and long eyes the color of freshly cut grass standing out startlingly from the face. A person. A GIANT person. The predator spoke, giving them both a bright smile.

"A two-for-one deal! Sweet!"


Well, there we are. Thatris is busy with one predator, only to have another sneak up on both of them.

Felarya is Karbo's

Named characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

Now that's bad luck

Giant nekos must be a really scary type of pred to run into ^^

Extreme bad luck, Kai. And yes, yes, they are. As Thatris finds out here.

Travel Hazards

Chapter 3: Children

Thatris tried to run.

He was quite fast, fast enough to make most predators at least MOVE, but this giantess had all the agility and rapid-fire reflexes of a cat. She just snatched him up off the ground so fast he didn't even have time to think, shooting out a foot and pinning the fairy at the same time, the whole thing taking place in the blink of an eye and finishing so quickly that it was disorienting.

He found himself dangling by one arm in front of her face. She had her forefinger curled around his limb, and she seemed quite ready to eat him, mouth already open. He reached back into his knapsack with his free hand, pulling out his flintlock pistol and aiming it at her as steadily as he could while swinging around in the air.

"Please put me down." he requested.

The giant raised a pale eyebrow. Her hair was all white, but she wasn't old at all, probably no more than sixteen going by her appearance. A juvenile, probably as tall as she was going to get but still not quite an adult. She was wearing clothes, made of some kind of leather, maybe Mumansi or possibly the hide of a young Kensha beast. A short, midriff-baring shirt, leather sandals, and a pair of shorts with a multitude of pockets made up her outfit, in addition to a snakeskin (or even nagaskin) belt and a leather pouch tied to it.

"Or what?"

"Or I shoot you, obviously." he gave, cocking the mechanism of his gun.

She snorted at his threat. She knew something that small couldn't do any damage to her, not unless he fired it right down her ear, and probably not even then. She was rather curious as to why his face seemed to be stuck in a dead smile, but she had things to do and places to go. The fairy under her foot yelled, surprising the huntress.

"Don't provoke her, you moron! Jeez, what is WRONG with you!? First you attack a fairy, then you threaten a giant! Was your mom a Glouteux or what?!"

Attacked a fairy? Now that was quite bold. The girl's face twitched into a smile. She liked brave people, mostly because she herself valued courage and was rather forward-oriented. She decided to test this human, opening her mouth again and teasingly swinging him close. He shot her five or six times in a row, just click, pop, click, pop, click, pop, one after the other.

Just as she had expected, it didn't even tickle, only . . . tasted like fruit?

"What the-? What kind of bullets you shooting, shorty?"

"Ah. I keep forgetting that it only shoots candy."

The sprite, still squashed under the predator's sandal, gave an incredulous groan.

"What kind of stupid gun only fires SWEETS? Ah, I'm so dead. It's all your fault, you dumb human! Now we're both going to get eaten!" she accused.

"Hahahahaha! Candy gun. That's just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. Hmhmhm, heh. Anywaaaays, you two I think I can do better with than having a snack." laughed the young woman, in better humor over the quirky weapon than the fairy was.

She bent over, plucking the winged woman from under her shoe, and lifted her two captives up, one in each hand. The fey one was wriggling around in her fist, trying to escape, but the other one seemed to be calm, no fighting, that kooky, empty grin still imprinted permanently into his visage. Looking at them made her a bit hungry, but she had other plans for these two morsels. She started off to the north, long strides taking her through the jungle rapidly.

"Look at that giant, they're quite rare, huh?"

As always, whispers of the fey were everywhere, today being no exception.

"Um-hm, quite rare. And she caught something. A human and a . . . ohoho, looks like poor, grumpy lil' Kayle got caughted. See ya, Kayle! Wouldn't wanna be ya!"

Kayle snapped back at the hidden sprites, long green antennae flickering in annoyance.

"Well you two are no help! If you've got time to gossip then get me out of this mess!"

"Are you kidding? We're not fighting a giantess! She'd turn us into hair-clips!"

The neko woman interrupted the fairies' tirade with a cough of, "I am not 'giant', you know! My name is Distis."

"Thatris Jibbs, Ms. Distis. Good day to you." the human introduced.

She chuckled at his nonchalance. Either he was immensely brave, or he was incredibly stupid. She waded across a small river, the water coming up to her thighs, and emerged on the other side to find her camp in shambles.

The giant tent, bigger than an office building, was torn down, lying in a heap of cloth and sticks. The fire was out; someone had dumped water on it, nothing but a pile of muddy ash in a circle of boulders. This wasn't the work of any robber, or a predator. It had to be-

"Yunen! Did you try to 'set up' the campsite by yourself again? I told you not to do that! Come out here, Yunen, I need you to meet a couple people." she barked.

Slowly, a smaller (but still giant) girl popped her head up out of the tangled ruin of the tent. She crawled out of the cloth bundle hurriedly, then darted over to look at the prey in her older sister's hands with interest. So much interest, in fact, that she started drooling.

"Ooh, Dis-sis, did you bring them for me!? Thank you, thank you, thank you! Can I have one now?!" she squealed, excited.

Thatris put his elbow on the curve of the older woman's hand and propped his head up with a sigh. Everything in Felarya will eat you, he thought, even the babies. She was maybe six, but she was close to sixty-five feet tall and could probably down a human with a little effort and a couple more swallows than most. She had the same pale fur and bright golden eyes as her older sibling, dressed in a similar manner, as well.

Distis smiled softly at the little girl, keeling to be closer to her level. She shook her head, and then made an announcement.

"No, they're not for eating. They're going to babysit you while I'm out hunting for a couple days."

Yunen tilted her head to one side, confusion spreading across her face.

Kayle' jaw dropped, left eye twitching.

Thatris kept on smiling.

"Ahahaha-NO. No way am I babysitting a giant girl who'll try and eat me!" denied the fairy, crossing her arms resolutely.

The giantess holding them spun around at a startling speed and hunched over the two in her hands menacingly, back to her little sister. She had a taut smile on her face and a killing aura coming off her in waves. Kayle shut her mouth so fast she nearly chipped a tooth, cowering down under that gaze. Thatris just looked up with his disturbingly vacant expression, seemingly unaffected.

"You'll do it and you'll like it. My baby sister can't stay by herself for two days straight, she'll go looking for me and get lost out in the woods. All you have to do is keep her here, play with her, and make sure she doesn't get hurt." the huntress hissed.

Then she turned around and her smile turned sunny again.

"I can't eat them? But the small people taste so gooood." the younger girl pouted, licking her lips wistfully.

"No, Yunen, they have to be here to watch you. Don't eat them while I'm gone, okay?"

"I don't need watching! I'm not a baby!" she protested.

"I know, I know, but I worry about you. So just humor me and let them hang around, okay?"

The older girl swiveled again, her smile becoming sharp as a guillotine blade and with the same deadly promise to it.

"And if I come back and either her or you two are gone, I will personally hunt you down and boil you alive for soup. Understand?"

Both captives nodded, Kayle deathly pale and sweating, Thatris as he always was. The giant put the two down, gave them that cutting, tight grin, gave her sister a soft one, and went off into the trees. She was gone in a flash. The three stood there, silently staring at one another for several minutes. The girl licked her lips again. The fairy began to inch sideways, getting ready to run, but the human traveler grabbed her wing and held her as she squealed and bounced at the end of her caught limb.

Yunen smiled.

"So, what do you want to play first?" she inquired.



Children. The horror. Well, lets hope the two of them can keep her occupied until Distis comes back.

Felarya is Karbo's

Kensha Beast (mentioned) is credited to Randomdude.

Named characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

Huh. Upgrades?

Well that's closer to a horror story the generation gap is to much to bear especially if it was me. XD

Stuck in one spot with wounded wings and forced to babysit one large neko child with Thatris is going to leave this fairy in a very VERY bad mood. hhehehe, well, only if she doesn't get her self eaten by that girl first, of course.

Dude, your stories are win. Keep writing them. Also, do you mind if I mention a character or two in a story I'm writing? I just find them so interesting I can't resist asking.

Absolutely, sparky I'm honored somebody would want to do so.

Thank you. I will do my best to get them right. I will tell you, Miss Mermaid is not going to enjoy this meeting. My characters aren't, how do you say, normal. One comes to Felarya constantly for the fun of it. He comes prepared. He he he...

Heh heh I like Thatris. he's as interesting as reading one of Tom Clancy's characters from his "good" novels. I can pin up a actual definition of him being a natural badass. and you describing and synchronizing his way of thinking to the flow of the story, definitely implies on that. keep up the good work

As long as Calimn doesn't die or get permanently scarred, ect., it's fine. Just PM me if you have questions. And let me know if she (or anybody else of mine you use) is going to get majorly affected beforehand, please. Otherwise, go for it.

Thanks, Vixen. He's a rather quirky guy, and quite a tough customer if threatened. Here is Chapter four, in which the difficulty of keeping a child ten times your size under control is shown. No proper vore, but dialogue and referencing of it. Comments and constructive criticism welcome.

Chapter 4: Babysitting

"Go play by yourself, kid. I'm getting out of here and hiding out until my wing mends." Kayle snapped, trying to wrench her wing free of Thatris' fingers.

The giant girl stamped her foot, sending a shockwave strong enough to lift her wardens off the ground an inch or two. She gained a slightly petulant look, and glared at the fairy. Kayle gulped nervously; stuck at this size and unable to cast spells, the child could do anything she wanted to the sprite.

"No! Dis-sis told you to play with me, so you HAVE to. She's in charge. And I want to play with you two."

"Well, you and your sister can both go to h-urk!" the dark-haired fairy began, but was abruptly cut off.

The human yanked her backwards by her wing, her back pressing against his chest. An arm twined around her neck at the same time, pulling her close, and squeezed. His chokehold was strong enough that she could feel the cartilage of her trachea give slightly, and she was having a hard time drawing breath properly. She felt fear run freezing tendrils up her spine; in this situation, he could really KILL her.

Her hands flew up to grab his arm, but she wasn't physically powerful enough to break his grip. She hated it, this feeling of helplessness. Why was it ALWAYS like this?! Somebody was constantly picking on her, making her cringe, and she absolutely loathed it. The fact that he was a human, freaking FOOD, made it even worse. It was like being mugged by a piece of candy.

He leaned in, right next to her ear, so close it caused the pointed tip of it to tickle. Then he whispered to her, voice low but concrete-firm.

"Listen very carefully. I couldn't care less if you want to leave, because if you go, that woman is going to boil the both of us, and that would kill me. I will NOT let you put my life in danger. If it comes down to it, I'll kill you myself and feed your body to the girl. Got it?"

Kayle swallowed the knot of fright and gall at being in this position in her throat, feeling the muscle movement of it as it rubbed against his arm. For a second she stayed silent, a line of sweat trickling down into her eye and making it sting, struggling with the annoyance and fear. Finally, she relaxed.

"Fine. I'll stay, but you'd better watch your back once my wings are fixed. And YOU'LL be the one playing with the kid. Now lay off."

He released her, the sprite shoving him away and walking a few meters off to sit on one of the boulders that encircled the remains of the campfire. Her sour frown grew as she plopped down. She was stuck here, with a giant child that might eat her and a blank-faced idiot who might kill her, unable to fly or cast spells, change size, ANYTHING, for at least a day. Well, she could take it until then.

After that, the human was going down her throat so fast he'd get a friction burn.

The man in question had his head tilted to one side like a curious dog, looking up at the youngster with his vacuous grin. She stared back with equal interest, eyes bright with inquisitive hunger.

"You seem to be in good shape for this jungle. You are probably decent at hunting, yes?" he inquired.

The girl smiled brightly at this, excited at the compliment. She nodded enthusiastically, long, wavy hair flipping about, and responded quickly.

"Yeah! I train every day with Dis-sis, so I'm really strong and fast. I'm not as good at hunting as big Sis is, though. I'm good at sitting and waiting, but I can't get the POUNCE part right." she admitted.

"Hmmm . . . can't get the surprise part right? . . . What if I teach you how?" he suggested.

Kayle's jaw dropped. What in the WORLD was WRONG with this guy? He was offering to instruct a baby predator on how to hunt! He must be insane to do such a thing! The young giantess seemed to like the idea immensely, though, and her tail was flickering about with anticipation as she agreed.

"Uh-huh! Please tell me how to do the jumping out thing! Sis took me hunting a few times, but I always mess up and the little snacks run off before I can grab them."

The fairy listened in disbelief as Thatris began to elaborate on the method of ambushing, critiquing the feline youngster's technique. The girl demonstrated her usual hunting crouch, going down on her hands and knees, every muscle taunt and at the ready, eyes focused and intense. He walked around her slowly, observing how she settled, and commented as he circled the child.

"Ummm-hm. I can see why you aren't catching much of anything. Your suppression of your presence is good, but your form is off."

"How do I fix it?"

"Well, I'd recom-" he started, only to be interrupted by the sprite's incredulous interjection from her seat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA! Stop and come here for a minute, mister."

Thatris held up a hand to the girl to indicate that she should wait, and to the fairy's amazement the giant immediately sat down with perfect obedience. He sauntered over to the woman, coming to stand in front of her. She lowered her voice instinctively, muttering so that only he could hear her.

"Not that I care, but you realize you're telling her how to CATCH and EAT your kind, right?" she hissed under her breath.

"Well, yes."

"And you're okay with that?! You're crazy!"

"Miss Kayle, I live on a basic set of rules. If it is trying to eat me, I will do anything I can to avoid consumption. If it isn't, I don't care about helping it out with other things. She asked for my instruction, so I'm giving it."

With that, he went back to teaching Yunen how to pounce properly, leaving the sprite sitting in stunned silence. Well, she knew how his gears ground, but it didn't help her understand his logic in any way, shape, or form.

"See, you have to give up staying low to the ground and sit in a kind of deep squat with your hands on your knees. That way you can push yourself up faster and you won't make as much noise as you do when you have to get up off your hands and knees. Now, try practicing your pouncing on me. Do it as hard as you like, you won't hurt me."

"You sure? What if I squish you, mister?"

"Trust me, you can't."

Kayle snorted. He really WAS insane. He had beaten her up and nearly strangled her, but now she had a front-row seat to his being smashed to a pulp. He backed up a bit from the child, then started running around in a random pattern, presenting a moving target for the training. The girl's vermillion eyes tracked him for a few moments, and then she bounced into the air. She landed right on him.

He was instantly flattened under her hands, both her palms slamming onto him. He vanished under her mammoth fingers, but one could imagine what had happened to him by the fact that her hands were flat to the ground. Kayle shook her head at his stupidity; he had gotten what was coming to him, and she was fine with that. A little disappointing that she hadn't gotten to play with him a little and eat him, but that was how the cookie crumbled someti-

He squirmed out from underneath the girl's fingers, completely unscathed, compressed flesh slowly filling back out to its normal size as he worked his way back into the open. The fairy's mouth fell open, hanging as if it were on a spring, as she watched him get up, brush off, and give a thumbs-up to the baby predator.

"Good job on that. Make sure to ease up just before you hit so as not to crush your food. Most humanoids would get mashed to jelly if you jumped on them that hard. Other than that it was a fine pounce."

"Oops. I'll try to do it better next time." she apologized, bopping herself on the head with a fist and giving a sheepish grin.

"Now, abou-" he began, but Kayle finally shook off the paralysis of astonishment and spoke up, cutting him off.

"Whoa, no, wait a minute, time out! What the heck just happened there?! You just got pancaked by thirty-something tons of deluxe-sized girl and you're fine!? What the heck!? What kind of freak human are you!?" she barked.

"One with no bones. All I have is very flexible cartilage here and there for structure. Also, don't call me a freak. It's impolite." he elucidated, those last two sentences with an iron edge to them.

Yunen's eyes practically glowed, full of the innocent curiosity only children could muster, at his announcement. A moment later she had him in her hand, prodding him and tilting him this way and that, examining him with the closest scrutiny. She squeezed him several times, giggling at the squishy feeling of his organs being squashed and popping back into shape repeatedly.

Even with her squishing him out of shape, he retained that funny smile of his. It was amazing that he didn't explode from the pressure of her tight grip, and he never gave any indication that it hurt at all. She pinched his arm in her fingers, watching with fascination as it compressed as easily as wet clay. This is so cool! she thought. She was about to tug on his limb when he protested.

"No, no, you mustn't do that. I may be boneless, but I'm not made of rubber. I'll rip apart if you pull on me too hard. I'm not hurt at all by being crushed, but anything else will be painful. Squeeze and throw me around as much as you want, though." he proffered.

Yunen looked enthused at this, and glanced over at the fairy.

"Can SHE do anything neat like you?" the youngster asked excitedly.

Kayle stood up hurriedly, raising her hands, palms out, in denial. She didn't want to get involved with this, not with these two or this situation.

"Hey, no way am I becoming a doll. I can't do anything with my wings busted up." she said quickly.

"Hmmm . . . Well, if you can't do anything then I guess I'll just eat you up. I'm sure Dis-sis won't mind if I have just one of you watching me. Plus, I've never had a fairy before. I wonder how you'll taste . . ."

The sprite paled instantly, turning to run.

Her attempt at escape was futile; the giant was on her in a flash, snatching her up. Curse that human and his lessons! She thrashed wildly, trying desperately to wriggle free of her girl's hold, but to no avail. She was raised up in front of the child's open mouth, eyes wide and terrified, heart pounding and hyperventilating as she looked down into that deadly maw. The girl's tongue came out to lick at her flailing, kicking legs.

"Mmm! Fairies taste pretty yummy!" the young predator exclaimed.

Kayle's struggling redoubled as she was held by her wings and drawn closer to the waiting mouth, screaming her head off.

She was going to be eaten.


Thatris seems to have gained Yunen's interest, and to some degree respect, but Kayle's not so lucky. Babysitting a young pred has an astronomical mortality rate for little folk, I imagine.

Felarya is Karbo's

Named character's are mine unless otherwise stated.

0_o oh my. That's the circle of life I guess, one minute on top the next a snack.

Thatris is an interesting fella. Yeah.

Ha, Pred fail. The almighty fairy, about to be eaten by a neko, who is normally food. ROLE-REVERSAL! And I don't think she likes where this is going. Don't worry, Calimn won't be harmed. She just won't be eating anything for an hour or two after they meet.

That story is taking a fascinating turn XD

Baby-sitting a child pred ? oh my. And somehow Thatris is perfect in that role. Having him learning the young neko how to pounce properly was cute and funny

Alright, in that case go for it, sparky :3 Now for chapter 5. Very important chapter that reminds you that preds aren't all you have to worry about. There is vore, so do not read if this offends you. Critiques are appreciated.

Chapter 5: People

Kayle was shrieking, pounding on the giant child's lips with her fists as she was pulled deeper and deeper into the child's mouth. Already the entire lower half of her body was within, legs trying to kick but lacking the space to do so. It would be cramped for even a single human-sized creature in the girl's mouth, her being barely halfway grown, and Kayle knew she wasn't going to have to endure that claustrophobic madness for long. She would be swallowed quickly; baby predators had no patience at all.

She had learned that when her mother had given birth to her younger sister, and fed her shrunken adventurers until she could catch them herself. Valyn had always gulped down the morsels as soon as she got them. Each had gone down screaming and struggling just like Kayle was now. It was all over for the fairy.

The heat of the breaths puffing out through the child's nose matched the heat permeating her legs, the giant having to breathe through her nostrils as the sprite was obstructing her mouth. Her lower half was absolutely soaked with saliva, as wet as if she had just waded waist-deep into a lake, and the powerful palate was coating her further. The tongue was very much that of a child, a young, inexperienced hunter that hadn't often had a taste of intelligent flesh, clumsy but energetic.

For once in her life Kayle could appreciate how her prey felt while she was eating. How many miniaturized travelers had she tasted just like this, shoving them around with her tongue (decidedly more agile than this girl's) and testing their flavor before finishing the job? How many nekos, elves, and hum-

"Hey, you, human guy!" she yelped, desperate to get the man's attention before she was sucked in completely.

Thatris looked up. Kayle wanted to punch him; he had that STUPID smile still pasted onto his face. He was LAUGHING at her, she was sure, snickering at her being caught in the abrupt turnabout that was taking place. She was convinced he was pleased to watch her go down, to watch an entity that had eaten countless numbers of his kind be devoured in turn.

Still, he was the only chance she had of surviving at this point.

"Save me! I don't want to get eaten!"

"Ah, and why would I do such a thing?" he inquired.

"Jeez, you humans always want something, don't you!? I'll give you whatever you want, just say it! I'm not ready to die yet!"

"Well, technically you are. If you die, then you'll have been ready to die. People are ready to die when they are dead. It's rare that they're ready to die beforehand."

"Stop philosophizing and help me!" she snapped, annoyed even through the terror.

"Hmmm. I don't see you having anything I want. Besides that, if you got caught, then it's natural you're getting consumed. Just the way things work, unfortunately for you."

Yunen made an impatient noise, not interested in the conversation and the whining of the fairy. She was eager to feel the fairy going down her throat slowly, an inch at a time, tickling the whole way. That was her favorite part, even if she had to swallow several times in a row to get them down completely. The feeling of them being jammed up in her stomach, filling it to bursting, wasn't unpleasant, but when they struggled it became rather uncomfortable.

"I'm being gobbled up right in front of you and you're just sitting there with that IDIOT look on your face! Help me, dammit!" she screeched, fear flooding up through her as she was sucked in up to her sternum, breasts pressed up on the girl's lips and preventing, for now, any further slipping.

Thank Nemyra I'm well-endowed, she thought.

"I'm not sitting, I'm hanging in a giant child's fist. Also, this is the expression I always wear. It never changes. But, since you're asking for help, I'll lend a hand. Yunen, could you spit her out?" he suggested.

The giant gave a pleading look. She really, really, REEEEALLY wanted to have this fairy.

"Why? I wan' 'oo ea' 'er. 'as'es goo'. AN' she can' o' anythin' coo'."

It took Thatris a moment to decipher, out of that, "I want to eat her, she tastes good, and she can't do anything cool.".

"You have a point. She isn't actually necessary, and it saves the trouble of going through the camp's food stock for something you like. Quite energy-efficient, really . . ."

"YOU FRIGGIN' JERKFACE!"

" . . . but I'd rather not risk your sister being angry over letting you eat her. Let her loose."

"Alrigh' . . ." the child mumbled disappointedly, spitting the sprite out into her hand and putting both of her babysitters down.

Kayle immediately ran to get out of the giantess' range, over to the rock she had been sitting on previously. She sat, trying to wipe off the spit covering her from the top of her midriff on down, and only succeeded in getting it all over her hands. With a disgusted "gah!", she gave up and glared over at the two who were talking.

"The sun's going down. You should probably go to bed now, Yunen." the human told the girl.

"I'm not tired." she retorted, trying to hide the fact that she obviously was beginning to wind down for the day.

"Maybe not, but if you don't sleep properly, you won't be able to hunt your best."

"Okay, I'm going to have a nap. Just a nap, though!" she assured.

A few minutes later she was out cold, quiet sighs of sleep emerging from the bundle of blankets she had nestled down in. It was deep twilight now, the sky's edge colored orange and purple, a few streaks of cloud catching strains of crimson and holding it. In a little while it would be night. They were right on the edge between the dark and light, shadows lengthening and melding into one. Dusk had come to Felarya.

"My mother told me a story once, about how this time is when the world turns over into something different. Ghosts and things show up mostly now, when it's twilight, and at dawn, and midnight. The tethers of reality are weakest now. It's the only time I really feel a bit homesick."

Kayle looked at the man, sitting with his back to a nearby tree root, with a raised eyebrow. Where had that come from? He still had that peculiar blank face going on, so she had no idea what was running through his head. He was a professional weirdo of the highest caliber.

"You're surprisingly good with kids. She just listened to you like you were her dad." she gave, wondering how he got the willful giant child to obey him.

"Hmn, I suppose. People tend to condescend to them, not really thinking about it, but if you reason with them like adults instead of just ordering them around, they'll respect you a lot more. Or maybe they won't, I don't know. That's just how I try to act."

She waited for some time before saying something, a phrase she never thought she would use with a human or any other food.

"Thanks for helping me."

There was no response, only the nearly silent sound of deep breathing. She glanced over at him; his hat was pulled down a bit, legs straight out from his sitting position. She leaned in, bending over to look under the brim of his adventurer's hat. She blinked at the fact that he had the void of a smile still on, eyes open even though his breathing and stillness bespoke sleep.

She wondered about that face. Why did it never change, and why was it so utterly dead? The desire to know was nagging at her, but she could ask him in the morning, if he would talk about it. She went back over to her spot, laid down, and drifted off.

* * * * *

The mercenaries came in the dead of the night, close to midnight. Adin, the naga in charge of them, motioned for them to move in on the camp from three directions, north, southeast, and southwest, a trifurcated pincher attack with two men on each point. The operations were soundless but for boots stepping and the slight 'shish-shish' of cloth rubbing against itself, all conversation taking place through hand-signals.

Each person was dressed differently, some with leather dusters and jeans, others in dark sweat-clothes and ski-masks, one in onyx robes. All, though, had a symbol stitched into the right breast of their clothes, a grey square with a set of black vertical bars. It looked like a cage, even including a pair of yellow eyes peering out from between the strips of black. Above the sigil was the word, "Catchers".

Once into the camp, they discovered the fairy. They sedated her, the sprite never even waking up, and made sure to aggravate the half-healed wounds already in her wings. They knew that a fairy's wings were the weak-point. They weren't amateurs, and it showed in how they treated the giant child, their main target.

She was the one they were after specifically, the fairy an unexpected but potentially lucrative hiccup. Fey could go for quite a lot of money, once they had gotten a small section of their wings cut and cauterized to keep them from healing. Ones caught at the size of tinies were best, the human ones far less so, and the giants impossible in any case. Not that these men hunted fairies in particular; anybody wanted a predator captured alive, and up to a certain weight class these mercs were called in.

They couldn't go for anything really big, of course, but smaller preds they could handle. This time they had been commissioned by an off-world source to catch a giant. Obviously they couldn't get an adult, so they had searched, and finally found out about this child. She was to be taken alive and then a mobile portal system carried in pieces between all six men set up to put her through. A special fission crystal would keep it open long enough for the team on the other side to hook on the tow-line and drag her through into the Adverachi Zoo of Behemoths.

They would be, as they always were considering how unbelievably dangerous their line of work was, very well paid. The payment was in high-carat Faldong gems, but the sum total was close to five hundred million skevols.

As such, they were careful, very careful, when the huge hulk of a neko with them slung the barrel of concentrated chloroform from his shoulders. They soaked a whole blanket in it, wearing special masks to avoid passing out in an instant; this brew was made specifically to put down things three times the size of an elephant and one whiff could put a human in the ground, permanently. In moments the giant child was falling into a far deeper sleep, unconsciousness.

They were so concentrated on the girl they didn't notice the gleam of dead, calculating eyes watching them from the dark.

* * * * *

Thatris picked them off, one at a time.

They had weapons, the human-sized naga leader with a modern handgun, one with a shotgun, the rest with short swords or knives, at least that he could see. He couldn't take them on with straight force, but that was fine. He had always been the ambush type. He just didn't think fast enough for outright combat, but if he had a plan and even the slightest opportunity, he could kill an armed soldier with nothing but his bare hands.

He waited until they began setting up the metal rig, dimmed flashlights giving away their positions in the darkness, before he took the first one.

It was the man in robes. Maybe he was just wearing them, maybe he was a mage, but in any case he had picked the wrong night to look like a magic-user. Magic was the biggest threat, unpredictable and defying physical laws, so it was the first to go. He was lucky in that the lights they carried were deliberately dim, so as not to draw too much attention, because the large spaces of darkness made it easy to avoid being seen. They were spread out, working individually on their section of the makeshift portal, wise if they needed to scatter from a predator.

It was not wise for dealing with a lone, normal-sized human.

He was careful when he wrapped his arm around the mage's neck, making sure to hold the flashlight in his hand still with his free arm so as not to alert the others with a wildly swinging beam. His boneless nature helped, letting him choke the robed man while, as there were no forced angles in his arm, bring his hand all the way around and stop the mage's mouth.

Actually, it would be HER mouth, as he felt the soft swell of breasts under the cloth when her initial struggles pushed her up against him. That was annoying; the lack of an Adam's apple made it harder to crush her windpipe. He managed it though, with a couple bites to his hand (and luckily she didn't think to get him with whatever magic, if any, she had), and waited until she was completely motionless and completely dead before he placed her in a sitting position, propped up with a branch he had gotten beforehand, with the flashlight jammed in her mouth to seem as if it were still at waist-level. Then he moved on to the next.

The tall elf with the shotgun was easier, dispatched in the same manner, Thatris sticking a finger in the space behind the trigger, tensing the digit to keep it relatively firm, to prevent him from firing. Four left.

Another woman, a neko. Three.

A rather fat human, who actually managed to cut his arm twice before he was strangled, hunting knife drawing hot lines of pain. The wounds were not bad, the glancing slices of panicked flailing. Even professionals had fear, and he was lucky his lack of bones had allowed him to entrap their limbs well enough that they could not properly fight back. Two.

The blood was what gave him away. The naga did not seem to have very good predator sense, or maybe did not have it at all since he hadn't noticed the traveler's presence before now, but he smelled the blood in the air, that oddly metallic scent that fresh wounds gave off. It was that that had him and the hulking neko turning instantly, and catching Thatris in the crossed beams of their flashlights.

He was blinded for a moment, even with the dimness, when the beams got him in the eyes. He didn't hesitate though; he had learned in the jungles of his homeland, filled with carnivorous plants, that hesitating meant dying.

He flung himself forward and down, hearing the sharp crack of the naga's pistol, and feeling the impact of the bullet, the hot pain of it, in the flesh of his side. It wasn't fatal, and even if it had been he would have kept going. If he didn't protect that girl, her sister would kill him. Maybe he would die in this fight, but that just meant he was ready to die. If it happened, Distis could boil his body, but as long as he was breathing, he had a chance. With a fight against humanoids his size, he had a chance of winning. Against an enraged gintess bent on revenge, he would have no chance. It was all about chance.

Another bullet flickered red-hot fire across the inside of his left thigh, tearing a ragged furrow through cloth and muscle alike. He was on the two then, the pair standing next to each other, neko putting something onto his hand, naga trying to aim with the poor lighting and movement. He slapped both flashlights from their hands in one motion, the devices tumbling away into the dark and both shattering against a tree root.

Lights out, Thatris whispered to himself.

He retreated, hoping to circle around now that they had no light, but unsure of how he would be able to track them now. Darkness, at least in this situation, was a double-edged sword. They couldn't see him, but he couldn't find them anymore, either. Still, it was an even playing field now, the advantage of the gun mostly void with nothing to aim at.

He suspected they might use a second light source. Even with that suspicion, he didn't anticipate what came next.

The whole world exploded, turning into a mass of blinding light and blaring sound. It left him blind and with his ears ringing furiously. He didn't even hear the gunshots, but he felt them as he ducked sideways, one passing all the way through his shoulder, the other missing even though it was so close he sensed it buzz by his ear. Things were coming back, blearily, and it was dark again, which explained why they hadn't shot any more. There was a dying flash-flare on the ground, a five-second flare used in tandem with the flash-bang to blind him and then provide enough light to fire off a few rounds.

He was bleeding quite a lot, and as such he ripped up his undershirt and tied the pieces around what wounds he could. He didn't have time to pass out from bloodloss, even if the healing soil here would keep him from dying. He had a job to do: Defend Yunen, and survive. He didn't worry about the noise of it; the naga was a decent gunman, and he wouldn't waste rounds firing in the dark at the sound of cloth tearing.

"Who are you? A rival, a pred-lover, or just a crazy?" said a voice from the dark, not deep enough to be the hefty neko.

"No, nothing like that. Don't you know? Midnight is when the freaks come out." he said, tone bitter on the word "freaks".

There was a laugh in the blackness.

"Why you fighting us? You have a problem with us?"

"Not you, no. With the girl's big sister. And with what you're doing. You're capturing a baby predator."

"So. They eat people."

"So you don't DO that. Unless they're trying to kill or eat you, you don't do stupid things like fight or catch them. Not only that, her sibling will murder me if she's taken. I obviously am obligated to avoid being murdered. Which means I'm going to kill you unless you back off."

"We're not leaving here without that giantess. Get him, you guys! What the hell are you slouches doing!" he yelled at the scattered flashlights, dull spots of illumination in the dark.

"No use calling them. I strangled them while you weren't paying attention. Just you two and me now."

There was a tense silence.

"Alright, then. We've got three five-second flares left. Let's see how many it takes to shoot you full of holes."



Oh dear, big trouble for all involved. We get to see Thatris at his gentlest, and then at his most brutal.

Felarya is Karbo's

Named characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

Awesome. They got owned.

Ha ha damn. that sounds like something a recon marine would due, and hell, they're scary. so is this guy. thought its completely reasonable why he's doing it. you kept the flow and situation well adversed and nice. keep it up!

God damn Thatris is creepy. In an awesome way though

Feels like I'm reading combat from a Tom Clancy novel

Indeed, Thatris can be dangerous if he's got a plan. Thanks for the comments, people.

Chapter six, the aftermath of all this. A rough night for a lot of folks.

Chapter 6: Bloodied Smile

Kayle woke up towards the middle of the morning, head fuzzy from the aftereffects of the sedative she had been injected with. She had dreamed of the weirdest thing, Thatris firing off his pistol, now much louder, over and over again. Where was that guy, anyway?

She looked around. Yunen was still asleep, rolled over on her side facing away from the fairy, quiet, deep breaths, and the sprite was grateful for that. She didn't want to be tasted and possibly eaten again after yesterday. She scanned the campsite, then spotted the man slumped against a tree. There seemed to be a few cloth bundles around him, half a dozen, lying out and nearly as long as he was tall, one even larger than that.

She fluttered her wings a bit, but winced at the pins and needles that pierced the thin membrane. She wasn't quite healed yet, though it would only be a little while longer. By the time the sun went down, she would be ready for action. Well, she would show that human then!

She didn't want to eat him now, despite how annoying he had been, since he had technically saved her from being eaten. Still, she would have a little fun with him, maybe truss him up, pinch and tickle him, perhaps sit on him for a while seeing as he couldn't get squished. That would teach him not to randomly attack a fairy! She was halfway over to him now.

He was slouching, hat low and head tilted down, coat spread out on his upper body to serve as a blanket. He was probably still asleep. Well, she would smack him awake. See how he liked being manhandled.

It was then that she saw the blood.

"Oh . . . oh, Nemyra!"

* * * * *

Distis came into her camp, and immediately picked up on the scent of blood. Intense worry shot cutting shards of cold through her chest, terrible images popping up in her head. Her baby sister, the only family member left to her, might be hurt. She saw Yunen lying on the ground, fear increasing at the sight. It was nearly dark, at the edge of twilight, but the fire was lit and the girl loved to stay up at night and watch the flames. Something wasn't right.

She turned Yunen over, and was relieved to discover her sister was indeed only resting. She was perfectly alri-

There were three pinpricks of blood, dull maroon and dry, on her bare arms, left uncovered by her outfit that was almost identical to Distis' own. She recognized the tiny wounds right away. She had received these same minuscule injuries before herself. Gunshot wounds. Her blood started boiling. Somebody had SHOT her younger sibling, and she had a good idea who.

She whirled, looking around, and spotted the still figure of the human lying near a tree at the edge of the camp clearing. She stormed toward him, intent on murdering the little bastard. She should have know he would be carrying regular bullets for that candy-shooting gun. She should have known better than to trust that creepy, empty grin of his, those vacant eyes.

"I'll kill that tiny freak!"

The fairy, who had been sitting beside the prone form of the man, turned at the loud thudding of the giantess' footsteps. The sprite caught the enraged look on Distis' face and stood up hurriedly. She had gotten her wings healed up, obviously, because she grew up to the huntress' size of forty-five feet. She stood resolutely in front of the human, arms spread out in a gesture of defending him. Her face was fearful, but somehow steady at the same time.

"Don't hurt him! He's already buste-"

Distis punched the sprite in the gut, hard, and the butterfly-winged woman went to her knees, wheezing and unable to draw breath properly. Even downed in this manner, the fairy grabbed the woman's leg to try and stop her from advancing, and made sputtering requests to listen. Distis knocked her aside, then advanced on the human.

"Hey, get the hell up! I want to see your face when I kill you!" she snarled, kneeling and slamming a fist down right beside the human.

He was covered in a blanket, hat placed over his face. There were six other blanket-covered objects of a similar size lying around him, but she ignored them, all her anger concentrated on the man. He answered her after a few minutes, voice in its usual monotone, but strained, as if he was tense or hurt.

"Go away and come back in a day or two. I'm a little woozy right now."

"WOOZY?! I'LL SHOW YOU WOOZY, YOU PSYCHO! YOU SHOT MY SISTER!"

"Ah, she got hit? Must have been a few stray shots while it was in the dark. In that case, you can kill me."

"I'm telling -huh, huh- you he did -huh- n't do i-" huffed Kayle from off to one side, still trying to get her breath back.

"Shut up! I KNOW he did it. Nobody else is around who has a gun!"

"The mercenaries did. Past tense, luckily. They're under the blankets. Now, I think I'll sing a little song before I die. I learned it from a book I found once, it's made for dying. A dirge, I seem to recall."

Distis lifted up the blankets, one at a time, and gasped.

"Throw away your hands, my friend, they aren't worth anythin'.
No need for fists anymore, because we're going to your,
Funeral."

A neko woman, pale, eyes slightly open and glazed. A tall elf with death casting a dull sheen on his eyes.

"Throw away your coins, my friend, they aren't worth anythin'.
No need for gold anymore, because we're going to your,
Funeral."

A pair of humans, one in robes and slim, one in sweat-clothes and fat, both very dead.

"Throw away your brains, my friend, they aren't worth anythin'.
No need for thought anymore, because we're going to your,
Funeral."

A naga and a heavily-muscled neko, the naga with a bloodied eye where the orb had been jabbed out with a thumb.

"Throw awa-"

"Stop that creepy song." Distis said, very quietly.

"You could at least let me finish my swansong before you finish me off. It's rude to interrupt."

"I'm not going to kill you. You obviously didn't hurt Yunen. Get up out of those blankets."

"I can't, unfortunately. Also, while it's your decision to murder me or not, I would say it's pretty viable. I didn't do my job of protecting Yunen, and there's no way I could fight back as it is, so it's your right to kill me. It should be easy, now. Even crushing could kill me now, what with all these wounds. One squeeze and I'd spurt blood all over the place and die. Great stress-relief for you, I guess."

Wounds? Distis thought, reaching over to pluck the blankets off of the man. His hat fell off when the sheets brushed it, all cover gone and the full extent of the damage done to him that night exposed. Distis was stunned, and, in a way, impressed.

Thatris had gotten the snot beaten out of him.

His lower lip was split, a brick-clored crust of blood on the bifurcation, a shallow cut along the underside of his jaw, as well. There were a few ragged furrows on his upper arm, raw flesh a set of parallel reddish lines, skin jaggedly shredded at the edges, another similar wound on the inside of his left thigh. A couple of light cuts were evident on his arms, and a clear bite mark. There were three bullet holes in him as well, one on the extreme right of his abdomen, one through his shoulder, one through the soft flesh of his right bicep.

His shirt was gone, his pants as well, both torn into makeshift tourniquets and wrappings for his gunshot wounds. Kayle had been in the process of fixing the impromptu bandages, letting the giant neko see just how much damage he had received in the defense of Yunen. He was in his underwear and nothing else, coat folded and off to one side, that and his hat the only articles of clothing he had still intact, though the coat had twin rips in one sleeve that matched the two trenches in his upper arm.

His hat having fallen off let her see something odd. He was halfway dead, shot full of holes, and surrounded by giant predators, but he was still smiling. That blank grin was there, as it had been before the battle, during the whole thing, and after it was all over. The only thing that had changed was that his smile was now a bloodied one.

"You. You did all this? The mercenaries?"

"Oh yeah. The last two were tough, and I ended up passing out around dawn. Luckily Kayle got up and used my clothes to stop the bleeding, or I would have probably bled out. I'll be okay now. The ground is already starting to heal me. You sure you don't want to kill me? I didn't keep my promise to babysit your sister very well."

"Are you joking?! You're the stupidest, craziest human I've ever seen! You took down six people with GUNS by yourself and barehanded, saved a baby predator, and you're saying something like that!?" Kayle barked, finally back on her feet and recovered from the gut-punch.

"It's not that I want to die, but Ms. Distis has a right to kill me, since I'm helpless and I didn't do what I was supposed to."

The giant laughed at this. Brave unto idiocy and with the weirdest logic she had ever run into, this lunatic she found interesting. Her eyes lit up as she heard Yunen shift and get up. She turned at the girl's excited shout of greeting, and hugged her tightly. She had ALMOST lost her only family. It had been an extreme case of "right place at the right time". Thatris there to fight the Catchers, Kayle there to save him afterward, everything clicking into place so perfectly that it seemed like fate.

"Sis, what happened to the squishy guy? Is he okay?" the child asked, eyes wide at the human's injuries.

"I'm fine, Yunen. A little battered, but it will heal. A few days and I'll be able to head out."

Distis, Kayle, and Yunen looked alarmed at that announcement.

"You're just . . . going to leave? After all that? You almost died for my little sister!" Distis exclaimed.

"Of course. I can't sit in one place for long. I'm a traveler at heart, really. I'll be out of your hair once I'm able to walk. Three days, five tops. A couple weeks and I should be completely fixed."

"But you need to teach me more pouncing!" Yunen insisted, gaining a pouting, upset visage.

"Ah, I can't do that, probably not for a month. Until I heal, squashing me will kill me just like any human. I apologize if I'm imposing on you, Distis, but could I bother you for shelter over the next few days?"

"Do you have to even ask? You and Kayle can stick around as long as you want."

* * * * *

The three days passed by swiftly, mostly spent in conversation. Kayle remembered to ask Thatris, in the end, about why he always had that peculiar grin on his face.

"I found an old book full of songs and poetry and things, in a kind of basement out in the forest in my homeland, Evenwood, and took a lot of it to heart. That song came from there, and my smile did, too. There was one phrase in there, at the very back of the book, last page. It went: 'let the world take your smile, and you let the world take your life.' So I decided that I would just grin all the time so I wouldn't randomly die."

"I . . . don't think it was meant to be taken literally. But I can see your point . . . okay, I can't, but it's a good kind of 'what the hell?' feeling." the fairy allowed.

"Hmn. It's time for me to get going. Thank you all for not eating me while I was vulnerable, even if it was silly of you to do so. And thank you for taking care of me and saving me, Kayle. I guess we're even now. If I meet you again, we'll have a nice talk. Unless you try and eat me."

"And if I did?" the sprite laughed jokingly.

"I'd attempt to escape. Or kill you." he responded.

Both of them knew that if she wanted to eat him, there would be nothing he could do. She knew his weakness against fairies now, and what he could do. She wasn't going to eat him though. She watched, standing there with a waving Yunen and Distis, as the traveler limped off. He left them each a pristine white handkerchief, with "Keep Smiling" written on the backs.

He now was back to wandering through the dangerous world of Felarya. For some reason, the three predators doubted he would get killed very easily. He was one of those peculiar types, seemingly too bizarre to live, and yet too crazy to die.

* * * * *

Thatris was glad to be on his way again. He was going to have a scar or two out of this mess, but overall it hadn't been bad. After all, he had gotten a new pair of baggy sweatpants and a nice, if overlarge, sweatshirt out of it.



Well, Thatris is off wandering Felarya again, with a few extra scars and a new outfit. Travel Hazards story line is done. He got the snot beaten out of him and shot full of holes, but it was totally worth comfy sweat-clothes.

Felarya is Karbo's

Named characters are mine.