The Tale of the Traveling Trio

This is the story that I said I was gonna write. I hope this story lives up to the previous one I made. Enjoy. WARNING: SOME DETAILS (like names) MIGHT BE OUT OF DATE.

_________________________________________-

Introduction: Another day, Another Mission

At first, all around there was darkness. Not a single object could be told apart from it's surrounding, and not a sound stirred. Of course, this all changed once the sun made it's incredible arrival at the horizon. From the mere glimmer of it's glamorous light came the vanquishing of the pitch black night, bathing everything in the city in the sun's rays.

It was the sign of another day that had dawned over the residents in Genyric City, giving everybody in their homes a lovely view of the waters which reflected the beauty of the large warm orb which illuminated the horizon in it's ascent to the magnificent blue skies. Thus started the day for the various sprawling residents in the city.

Among their residents, in a decent apartment near the edge of a city, a woman awoke to this very morning. She let out a yawn and made her way out of her bed.

"Mmmmyan.... is it morning already?"

The woman who was resting had large, catlike ears and a brown, near striped tail, paired with two sharp cat fangs a rather large set of sharp finger nails and a set of yellow neko eyes. She was a species of nekojin, AKA catwomen, who were quite rare in this city, and in this world. Yet despite the inability to see others similar to her, she was able to make out a decent life in this city.

"mmm.... I should wash up now. I feel a little dirty."

After getting up, the woman stretched out her arms and traversed to the restroom. When she opened the door, she saw the sight of a man there, brushing his teeth infront of the mirror. The man was a semi-regular human, ordinary in appearance, being six feet and three inches in height. and having black hair and brown eyes, and lacked anything out of the ordinary, minus a nearly faded  X shaped scar across his face, above his nose. He looked at her as the door opened up and gave her a smile.

"Good morning, Xina."

She let out a smile and returned his gesture.

"Good morning, Lex."

Lex finished brushing his teeth, spat the excess toothpaste in the sink, finished washing up and walked past her out of the restroom. Xina made her way into the room and looked in the mirror, and looked at her large, feline ears and smiled, before grabbing her tail in her hands and rubbing it clean from any lint the bed may have put on it. She then dusted off her shirt and short dress, splashing a bit of water onto her face.

"Ah. So much better. Heheh. Always feel good to start up the new day."

As she continued washing up, Lex spoke to Xina through the door.

"I have a really important job to do today, and I'm not sure how long I'll be out."

Xina let the warm water run through her fingers and responded rather unenthusiasticly.

"Oh. Again? I was hoping you could stay home today and we could spend a bit of time together."

"You know I would, Xina, but we need the pay of this mission. And if I don't show up on time, the mission payer will simply hire the next guy in line. It's our perfect chance. Besides, don't you need money for your family? They had a bit of trouble to deal with themselves, didn't they?"

She came to that realization and slowly agreed with him.

"You're right. I know it wouldn't be right if I asked you to stay if we didn't have anything to support ourselves with."

Lex was a mercenary, who had to compete for jobs in his world with other mercenaries, and as wealthy as some jobs paid, it simply was an expensive time to live in. Lex in particular was among the class of pilots of giant weapons known as "Armored Cores", giant bipedal machines armed to the teeth and completely capable of leveling armies in mere minutes. It was a tough job, and more over, more and more pilots emerged by the day, making missions scarce to come by. He had to work long days when he was hired, coming home to a sleeping Xina in the apartment. It was indeed rough on the both of them, but at the least payed off. Lex knew it did at least.

"Well, I guess I should be heading off shortly."

Right as Xina finished, she came out of the restroom, her short red hair brushed down, and hugged Lex tight, planting a kiss on his face.

"Well, before you go, Lex, do you think I could... come with you? You were out for a few nights already, and I want to spend some time with you. Please?"

She gave Lex her best "puppy eyes" impersonation, which swayed him rather fast in his decision.

"..... oh, all right. But you know how dangerous the mission is, don't you?"

She sighed.

"Yes, Lex. I know it's dangerous. You say it regularly."

She let out a giggle, which further swayed him.

"All right. Let's go."

Lex put on his pilot jacket, took his helmet and headed out the door. Xina followed after grabbing her kitty bell and putting it on her neck. They went down to the resident garage and delved into their storage area, reserved for them. In it, they approached the mighty beast which was there: a fifty foot behemoth in the form of a massive mechanical humanoid, visor glowing red in it's entirety and sprawling with multiple onboard weapons. On it's shoulder lay the emblem of it, bearing a sword in a stone, Lex bestowing the name "Excaliber" to it.

As Lex approached a raised platform to enter into Excaliber, Xina followed behind him.

"So... where are you going to today?"

"A close friend of mine said I'm on guard patrol for some scientist who's testing some new generator. If it's a success, then it will indeed be a big breakthrough in energy conservation. And the energy crisis will finally be over. Finally we'll be able to live easier."

"Oh. That's interesting. Guess it will be quite fun."

Xina said this in a hint of sarcasm, and Lex picked up on this.

"Yeah, very fun."

"In hindsight, I guess it would be good to have you along. Come on in."

He opened the back hatch and allowed Xina in first, before climbing inside himself and closing the hatch. He took a seat next to her and then tapped into the control scheme, activating all the systems. Multiple translucent screens switched on infront of him and
presented screens of information at fast speeds. His eyes focused directly at the information, as Xina strapped herself in.

Before they knew it, Excaliber started to rumble with activity, energy flowing into it's every area before starting up the remainder of it's systems. Lex opened the garage doors infront of him before he moved Excaliber forward step by step. When he got outside, a safe distance from the storage area, Lex switched on his machine's boosters and revved them softly. Thoroughly warmed up now, he threw them into moderate thrust which lifted the hulking blue machine into the sky. Lex locked in the coordinates from his mission operator and quickly sped off to the mission, seemingly expecting another normal mission.

That was when events would change both of Xina and Lex's lives forever.

Chapter One: Departure from Normality

An hour of flight later, Lex and Xina arrived at the facility where his fateful mission would occur. The facility in question wasa dome, massive in size, the size of three football fields and heavily guarded by tanks, infantry and unmanned sentries, signalling that whatever was inside was very important. The guards, upon the hirer's request, recognized Lex and allowed him to pass into the very large arena, housed at the center of the dome laboratory.

Lex, along with Xina in their machine, were led into the inner sanctum, where a giant machine was laden, which looked like a gyroscopic globe hitched onto a secure platform. At it's base were several men in white coats, who seemed relieved at the sight of Lex's machine. Lex exited his machine by himself to meet the lead scientist.

"It's good to see you here, Lex. As you can see, we need all the security we can get. And since all the good pilots are on missions already, you were perfect for the job."

Lex tried to not take this as an insult.

"Gee.... thanks."

"If this experiment goes over well, we could very well be looking at harnessing the power of a hundred black holes, forever ending the energy crisis that we're facing. We just would like to have some added security overlook the process, to ensure 'nothing goes wrong'."

Lex nodded to the doctor's request and went back to Excaliber. He went back into the cockpit and looked at Xina.

"I guess I'm just babysitting while the doctor plays with his toys. Nothing too bad. At least it'll pay well."

"Well, it could be worse. Right, Lex?"

"I guess."

He stepped back as the doctors all underwent their procedures as they had planned out before. Several worked on the machine's hardwiring, while five of the head scientists  bickered amongst themselves about the workings of the machine. Lex and Xina, in their heavily armored machine, were surrounded by multiple other warmachines, guarding the scientists in their research. The scientists, seemingly not furthering their goal, constantly fiddled with their creation for a whole half hour. After that time elapsed, the men finally came to terms with eachother and lined up infront of the device. The head man spoke up and started tinkering with the controls.

"Alright, men. Today, we embark on a quest to vanquish the problems of the world's energy crisis. And with the pressing of this lever, we shall make history!"

The scientist pulled the lever, which set the globe like machine into motion. Several parts of it started to spin at a very fast pace right from the start. Everyone stared on in awe, unknowing of what would happen.

The machine spun faster and faster, whirring to the point where normal human ears could no longer hear it. Sparks actually erupted off of the machine, before the machine's various components became enveloped in a dark aura, which destabilized the surroundings. The scientists at the base gazed in wonder.

"It's working!"

"The power of a black hole will soon be at our fingertips!"

"This was totally worth the taxpayers' money!"

As the experimental device continued operating, a massive explosion rumbled the test area. It emanated from the top of the dome, where rubble from the outer shell rained in, followed by a massive sillouhette which soared right into the area. It's glowing visor revealed it as an enemy Armored Core, and it stared right at the scientists' device. Inside the cockpit was the pilot, who spoke with nary a distraction.

"Target acquired. Commencing attack."

He raised his gun at the machine and pulled the trigger, only to have Lex ram his mech into him at full speed, pushing the bullets from his machine gun off course.

"You're not getting through without a fight, bub!"

Xina held on as Lex dueled guns with this opponent. They each unleashed a barrage of fire onto the field, the worthy opponent gunning down any other mechs that tried to interfere. Lex was then rammed into the side of the dome by a sneak attack from the mysterious pilot, who then proceeded to fire several rifle rounds right into Excaliber's core. Lex pushed him off with a surprise boost upward, but accidentally sent him hurling into the machine, which made the scientists yell in fear.

"YOU FOOLS!"

"YOU'VE DESTABILIZED THE MACHINE!"

"The taxpayers will not be pleased."

As the machine was tipped over, it still continued whirling. However, it's path of revolutions was now interrupted, and the internal parts started colliding with eachother  from the impact of being sent to the ground. The power that the machine had harnessed was suddenly let out in an uncontained leak from the core system. In short, the black hole within just became the black hole outside of it, and with the device still running, it only increased with size, and it started devouring everything within it's field of range. The scientists at the base, scared of what had happened, attempted to flee from the device. However, they were sucked into the black void first. Then came the surrounding mechs around the black hole, which attempted to head to the outside of the dome, only to be dragged into the hole next and out of sight in an instant.

The opponent who was eye to eye with Lex attempted to escape, but found that one of his boosters had malfunctioned, and no matter how he resisted, his machine failed him from the malfunction and was eventually subdued into the void from the machine.

Xina and Lex within Excaliber attempted to boost away from the black hole, and initially proved to be successful. However, the black hole was strong enough to cause a collapse in the massive dome around them, drawing in pieces of large rubble in to the void. One large piece of rubble slammed right into Excaliber, causing Lex and Xina to both hit their heads against the console of the computers infront of them. Without them conscious, Excaliber too was dragged into the darkness of the device's creation, disappearing beyond the event horizon and out of their world, and in an instant, another piece of rubble smashed into the machine before being sucked in, destroying it entirely, which left the black hole little energy to sustain itself before it collapsed into nothingness in a large explosion, literally taking down half the entire scientific facility in one fell swoop.

The survivors, later on, breathed a sigh of relief, but presumed that those who fell victim to the failed experiment within the facility as dead, not knowing that they had not been killed, but rather, had been brought to another dimension entirely different from their own....

Lol it looks like the LHC XD

It's a great start I think ! very nice work on the descriptions and your characters
I am curious to see where this will go ^_^

Thanks for the input, Karbo. I appreciate it very much.

(actually, you're right. I didn't notice how much this thing resembled the LHC. Weird.)

Chapter Two: In Felarya

The neko Xina, who had been all but passed out from the previous damage to the head, awoke some time later, only to find herself no longer in the safety of Excaliber's cockpit, or even within sight of Lex. What she saw upon opening her eyes was a beautiful, lush forest all around her. The sun shined from above, as the cawing of the native fauna cawed their calls. Xina had never once recognized such a place, and figured she was no longer in the doctor's science facility.

In a state of confusion, she called out in a vague hope to be heard.

"Any-body? Please... are you the-re... I... I'm confused.. where am ....I...?"

She felt oddly dizzy, and was unable to stand to her feet, let alone shout at high levels, so instead she decided to not resist the pain which had overtaken here, instead just resting there on the ground, a bit of fear stirring up in her in not knowing her surroundings. Somehow, her body also felt heavier than before, but was too tired to question it.

As she was about to try getting up again, she heard a voice nearby.

"Shh... try not to move, Xina. You're still hurt."

Xina recognized that voice and her fear decreased by a small amount.

"Lex? Is that.... you?"

"Shh... yes, it's me.... You took a nasty hit to the head, but thankfully, you seem to be recovering much faster than I thought you would. I took a big blow to the head too. And yeah, it hurts."

Lex was without his jacket as he looked over her, showing her that he covered her with his jacket to keep her warm. He then took a torn piece of his jacket, soaked it in a hot spring he had found nearby, and then used it as a warm towel and placed it on her head.

"Lex.... where... are we?"

"Where are we? Well, I'd like to know that myself. I've never seen this place before, and it's not on the sensors. Wherever we are, it's certainly not home."

Xina tried to speak again, but instead just kept silent and relaxed from the warmth of the jacket and towel piece on her forehead. Lex, meanwhile, kept a lookout nearby, while mournfully looking over to his Armored Core, which was torn asunder by the effects of the black hole.

"I think we were lucky to survive, Xina. Excaliber took more of a beating then any of us. I guess warps like that hate machines...."

As Lex continued to look out, Xina could hear something. Her senses sensed a large being approaching, which, oddly enough, sounded like a mass hoarde of scuttling. She didn't know what to do, never having heard this sound before. Before she knew it Lex heard it as well, but by then it was too late. Xina caught a glimpse of a shadow within the trees. She tried getting up, and was helped up by Lex, who held her close. His eyes darted across the trees, unable to see who, or what, was stalking them.

Behind them Xina noticed the sound again. She turned her head fairly quickly to catch a glimpse of the shadow which moved out of sight again, as if jumping tree to tree.

Lex grabbed his jacket and helped Xina to her feet, and Xina heard a large thud behind them, as if a huge beast had landed behind them. They both turned their heads to find that it wasn't a terrifying sight, but rather a unique sight at that. What stood before them was a brunette and short haired woman, about eighty feet tall. The top half of her body was completely nude, causing Lex and Xina to look away in embarrassment, in addition making Lex wipe a bit of blood from his nose at viewing her complete exposure. However, the bottom half of her body was different. It wasn't a pair of legs which inhabited her bottom, but instead was the lower abdomen and eight large, lengthy legs of a spider, which seemed to grant her the swiftness to appear infront of them so fast. The woman, who had very sharp fangs among her other spiderlike features, looked down at the two and smiled as she sat on her stomach to talk to them.

"Hi there!"

Lex and Xina, who were each confused, tried talking back. Lex started off.

"uh.... hi there...."

"Um... Hello...."

The woman giggled at their nervousness, inquisitive about the two people infront of her.

"So what are your names?"

"My name is Lex."

"And mine is Xina."

Lex looked up at the woman, who seemingly licked her lips at seeing them.

"And what's your name, ma'am, if I could ask?"

She suddenly grabbed Lex in her grip and raised him to her face.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about my name. It won't help where you're going."

Lex, taken back from this, tried to squirm out of her grip, but it proved to be impossible with her strong grasp on him.

"Hey... w-what are you doing?"

"I'm been looking for a meal all day today. You're the first to stumble into my territory today, so you and your girlfriend will satiate my appetite. <3"

"What?!"

She quickly grabbed Xina before she could react, and raised the catgirl to her face as well.

"I won't be going hungry tonight. Heheh...."

She raised Lex over her mouth and stuck her tongue out, dripping in saliva, which invited them inside. Lex could already see the darkened abyss that was her throat, and heard her stomach gurgle from hunger.

"You can't eat us! Don't you want to talk it over or something?!"

"I let my stomach do the talking, little human. And it says that you're going for a trip down my throat."

Xina tried to plead with the woman to help save Lex.

"Please, miss! Please don't eat Lex or me. We don't want to be eaten!"

"Sorry, but I'm not one to take orders from my food. hehe."

As the woman dangled Lex above her dark abyss of a mouth, making Xina yell in fear, a second hand grabbedLex out of her grasp before she could drop him into her mouth. The hand holding Lex was the hand of another woman, with the same spiderlike legs and abdomen. She looked at the first woman and snarled.

"Martha! How dare you hoard food that you find in public territory! There are starving younglings that could at least have one of these creatures satiate their hunger."

"Oh, but I was just gonna have one...."

The woman went up to the first and smacked Xina out of her hand, prompting the catgirl to quickly land on her feet.

"Don't lie. We all know you're the resident glutton. Now come along."

"I want at least one. I'm hungry...."

"Well, you should've thought of that before trying to eat both of them."

The first woman responded by smacking Lex out of the other's hand. Unlike Xina, he fell head first, causing a large sprain on his head. Xina quickly went over to him to help him as the two strange women argued over who would get what.

Lex and Xina took the opportunity of the women in the back being distracted by the fight to run back to Excaliber. The quickly climbed up it's side and entered cockpit.Lex panicked slightly, seeing just about all the weapon systems damaged from the trip to this world, along with several parts of the outer shell and frame. Lex could only hope the boosters were still active as he tried starting up the system.

Once a portion of the computers were on, he tried revving the boosters. They gave off sparks, giving him a ray of hope that they would work, but it suddenly died when the boosters failed to fire up after ignition. Sadly, this attracted the attention of the spider women around them, even the two who were arguing before. Noticing Lex and Xina were no longer there, the women looked towards the mech, about thirty feet shorter than any of them, and became suspicious, surrounding it on all sides.

Lex gulped in nervousness, as Xina shivered at his side in fear. They both felt like they were dead in the water. And considering the situation of their mech ceasing to function, they weren't too far off.....

*reads through*

o_o...


YOU SIR, ARE THE BRUCE LEE OF WRITING!

Gee, I don't know how to respond. Thanks.

I didn't think someone would like my story that much. I appreciate it. Now to work on the next chapter, so stay tuned. (by the way, if you want, I made another story if you're interested. It's lower in the story section. "The Anchor Brothers in Felarya")

Chapter Three: STAMPEDE!

Lex continued revving the boosters, only to be met with useless sparks every time. The women crawled closer to Excaliber with every passing moment, making him sweat in nervous tension.

"Damnit. Start already..."

"They're all around us...."

"I know, Xina... come on... start!"

The woman infront reached out a hand to try and pick up the mech, in hopes of prying it open for their meal inside. Lex revved his boosters once more, trying to make them work, but to no avail. Xina yelped out in fear as she felt the women outside attempting to pull open the mech's core.

"Lex!"

Lex smacked his head against the control panel, which oddly sent a shock to the boosters, sending from them mighty flares of fire. Lex, taken back at this, revved them a final time, only to be met by the comforting sound of the booster's roar. He took this opportunity and quickly pushed the boosters into full thrust, sending Excaliber forward and knocking five of the spider women to the ground. Into the forest Lex and Xina went, thrusting past trees and other flora....

Breathing a sigh of relief, Xina hugged Lex close.

"Oh, Lex. That was really close. I thought they were gonna get us...."

"I know, Xina. But we got away. You don't have.... to worr..y..."

His assurance was cut off by a rumbling behind them, which seemed to shake the entire forest with motion. Lex and Xina looked into the viewer behind them and saw a most terrifying sight: the appearance of ten of the spider women knocking down anything in their path and several more up in the branches, chasing after the two in their fast moving machine.

"AFTER THEM! BEFORE THEY ESCAPE!"

"We're really hungry!!!"

The women, with their agile spider legs, were gaining, and due inpart to Excaliber's decreasing booster output due to it's badly damaged parts, Lex and Xina would soon be caught in their stampede.

"We have to get out of here, Lex!"

"No need to tell me twice!"

Lex quickly stepped on it, increasing the output of the thrust, hurling Excaliber forward with more momentum. The women with their spider legs tried increasing their speed as well, hopping over obstacles and running through and over branches to reach their meal. Lex swerved left and right, going past multiple trees in their path, but could hear the persistent she-hoard behind them, only serving to make him more nervous.

Just then, both Lex and Xina realized that the forest was ending ahead by the light which showed through the various trees. They were relieved for the moment, right until they actually reached the edge of the forest.

The women behind them stopped at the edge of the forest and stared down the two of them in their machine, before the leader turned her abdomen to them.

"Damn humans and their odd creations. Let's head back, everyone."

Without argument, the women grudgingly turned around and returned back from whence they came, letting Lex and Xina breathe easily for the moment.

"Phew. That was close."

"Yes. It was, Lex. I wonder why they stopped chasing us, though...."

Lex looked at his screen, observing the damage to the boosters. They started giving out, which told Lex he needed to shut them off.

"Well, I guess we better turn off the boosters."

Just as Lex was about to do so, he noticed that the altimeter said that they were over a mile off the ground, which confused him. He was unsure if the equipment was wrong or not before he turned the viewing scope down, only to have a terrifying revelation.

His altimeter did not lie. In fact, the reason the women and forest stopped was because Lex and Xina had flown off a cliff's edge, and the boosters in thrusting had kept them from falling downwards.

Of course, at that moment, the boosters finally gave way to their disrepair and ceased functioning. Now, nothing was holding them up, and less than a second passed before Lex and Xina freefell down the cliff. Xina's whiskers stood on edge as she felt the effects of weightlessness in freefall, clinging to Lex in an effort to soften the eventual landing. Lex also felt a shiver in his spine from being lifted from his seat from Excaliber's descent to the awaiting forest below, and awaited the result.

When Excaliber thrashed through the canopy of the forest at the bottom of the cliff, it slammed into the ground with great ferocity. Xina and Lex crashed into their seats, giving them both a terrible shiver from the shock. Trees shook from the impact as the dirt flew up and the flora flew across the air. It was only a matter of time, though, before the forest quieted down once again, leaving the two in peace, though giving the forest a scar it would not forget...

Lex opened his eyes to see if they were in the clear, and was relieved to see nothing else in sight. Xina opened her eyes to this as well, and breathed a bit of fresh air as well.

"Are we.... out of harm's way, Lex?"

"Well, after last time, let's just check to be sure...."

Lex turned off all of Excaliber's systems, except for the viewer. He looked around to make sure nothing was stirring. The forest, though brimming with other life, did not seem to harbor anything rivaling the spider women from before. Looking around a few more times, just for insurance, he put up the viewer and laid back.

"I think we are in the clear for now. No signs of those insane monster women."

"What should we do now?"

"Well, I can't contact anybody, because the radar and comms systems are all being scrambled. It figures that the few things that didn't break are malfunctioning. I hate to say it, Xina, but we need to go on foot and find some help."

"There's no other way?"

"Waiting here won't solve a thing. We have to foot it, or just stay lost in the middle of this place. You know we don't have any other options.

Xina gulped, looking into the forest.

"Well.... if you say so...."

Feeling a bit more assured, Xina nodded to him and stepped out of the cockpit first, then helping Lex as he exited. They got out of Excaliber and climbed atop the mech's shoulder, looking around once more for any signs of life. All they were met with were the sounds of owls hooting, odd beasts growling, and other noises they couldn't quite explain. It brought shivers to their spines, but nevertheless they traversed down the machine's leg and got off. Unknown to them, they were about to have an encounter they would not soon forget.

It's funny how your characters seem to like going through and knocking large opponents in your stories XD
I am curious what will be this unforgettable encounter

Just wanted to thank Sean Okotami in particular for helping me so much with this chapter. Please do read his stories sometime. Including one of his classics: http://shady-knight.deviantart.com/art/Felarya-The-Land-Unknown-I-95794989  

_______________________________________

Chapter Four: Clawdy

High above, in the very top areas of the forest canopy, miles away from Lex and Xina, a humanoid figure leaped through the trees with stunning accuracy, not missing a single branch. As he practically flew through the forest tops, his cloak fluttered from the wind which passed him, which concealed his identity from head to toe.

He stopped briefly, perching on the branch to take a rest. His thoughts were concentrated on not much else, other than streaming through the forest, in earnest hopes to find a certain human city.

"Ugh... this forest goes on forever... how am I supposed to find that human colony amidst this confusing amalgamation of flora and fauna?"

He finished up his breather and jumped to the next branch, proceeding with his search.

"I better run across it soon. It's getting pretty dark...."

He scampered through once more, unaware he was heading directly towards a certain two people....

........

As Lex and Xina set foot on the grass, Xina felt something particularly strange.

"Myu? ...It feels... really odd here...."

Lex turned to her.

"What? Is it another of those really giant women?"

"No.... it feels... warm...."

She was almost instinctively drawn to this warmth, which radiated outward in a very pleasant fashion. As Lex followed her, he began to feel it too, and noticed the air was slightly steamy as he followed Xina.

Following a full minute of walking, she stopped and gazed in awe at where the warmth had brought her. It was a hotspring, suprisingly! Xina looked upon it and smiled, while Lex looked on in wonder

"Oh! A hot spring! Finally, something friendly!"

In her anticipation, she removed her shirt top bottom dressing, and kitty bell from around her neck as well as her shorts, panties and shoes and jumped right into the hotspring, causing a wave of water to splash up against Lex.

"Whoa! That's some hot water! Watch it, Xina!"

Xina giggled.

"Hehe. Sorry about that, Lex. I just really enjoy the feeling of hot water....."

She lounged at the side and blushed from the feelings of eased tension escaping her body, her ears twitching happily from the waves of pleasure which coursed all through out her system, all while her tail swished back and forth happily in the refreshing hot water. Lex merely shrugged and put her clothes and other accessories up on a nearby branch to dry.

"Heh. Always head first, aren't ya? Crazy neko..."

Lex chuckled under his breath and looked over to Excaliber, who was less than a quarter of a mile away.

"Anyway, I'm gonna see if I can make any repairs to Excaliber. If you need anything, just shout out."

"Okay, Lex.... mmm... I'll be here..."

He made his way back to Excaliber, leaving Xina to enjoy her steamy vacation....

...

The cloaked figure from before continued traveling through the trees, until he felt something odd during a leap from one tree to the next.

"Huh? Did the humidity change? It seems to have gotten much hotter around here..."

He grabbed onto the next branch and perched there, darting his eyes in every direction to explain the sudden increase in temperature.

"What could be the cause behind this oddity...."

Then his eyes settled on a hot spring nearby.

"Aha! That's what's causing it."

Letting his curious nature get the better of him, the man closed in on the spring, maintaining his anonymity within the canopy of the woods.

When the man got close enough for a decent look of the entire spring, he rested on the branch and took a good view of the spring.

"Wow. This natural sauna must be a mile long... and the water is steaming.... I guess this would be a perfect place to wash up, since I doubt I'll be finding that damn city anytime soon...."

The stranger jumped down from the trees and walked non-chalantly to the spring, looking forward to the feel of the warmth on his skin. Just as he was about to shed his cloak and underarmor, though, he heard the sound of a feminine laugh across the steamed waters followed by occasional splashing. This put the man in defensive mode, crawling back a safe distance before peeking through the foliage to check the spring again.

"Is someone else here? I thought it was all clear..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he then spotted a nude Xina, who had her back turned to him. Every part of her, from her rear end up, was out of the water. She had gone to a shallower portion of the spring to wash herself off. Her hands rubbed any remaining water off of her lightly tan body, letting the sparkling clean water drip off of her body. She shook her head as well to dry her short red hair and large brown neko ears of any water droplets that stubbornly stuck to her. Occasionally, she would lick the back of her own hand out of feline instinct, before resuming her regular washing. Even her tail wagged back and forth constantly to clean it's light brown fur from any particles left unchecked.

The sight of this brought the man to sheer still-ness. His body frozen from awe, his jaw wide open in amazement, and his hands trembling from nervousness, the once sturdy stranger had become nothing more than a man overcome by beauty.

"Sweet mother of Nekomura... who is that goddess which bathes in the spring...."

The man got to his feet and slowly walked out of the flora, towards the spring and nearer to Xina. His footsteps and ruffling of the grass and bushes alerted her to his presence, as she turned her head around without hesitation.

"Hello? I-Is somebody there?"

The man cleared his throat and spoke back to her.

"Hello, madam. It is a pleasure to meet you. I apologize if I... scared you there for a sec..."

Xina quickly went deeper into the hotspring, so only her head was sticking out of the water. She smiled back at the man and blushed red.

"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you too. You kinda snuck up on me when I was exposed. hehe."

The man chuckled along with her.

"Well, if I may ask, what is your name? I would really like to know."

"My name is Xina. It's nice to meet you."

The man reveled at this and sat down near the edge of the spring.

"Xina? That's a beautiful name, fit for a beautiful woman."

"Aww, thank you. That's sweet to say.... So, um... if I could ask back, what is your name?"

He thought for a bit and then responded.

"My full name is Clawdimount D. Maelstrom. But you can call me 'Clawdy' for short. It's nice to meet you too."

Mhh this smell like troubles on many levels XD

Chapter Five: New Acquaintance  


__________________________________


The newly introduced Clawdy removed his footwear and rested his feet into the spring.

"Ahh.... that's a load off... Been wandering around this damned forest all day."

He looked towards Xina and took a deep breath.

"So.... do you come to this spring often, Xina?"

"Well, this is my first time. It feels really good."

"Don't I know it... so anyway, Xina... are you alone here?"

"At the moment, at least. I've been moving all day, and I bumped my head earlier. So it really was a relief to stumble onto this spring."

"Oh. I hope you feel better."

There was a bit more trust in the air concerning Clawdy, so Xina waded through the water, closer to him.

"So tell me, Clawdy... do you live here in this place?"

Clawdy turned his head.

"This place? You mean this world?"

"Yeah. I'm not exactly from here, and I was wondering if you were by any chance."

"Ah. Well, I guess we're in the same boat then. I was brought here by a very strange string of events."

Xina sat down near the edge of the spring.

"Oh. I would like to hear about it."

"Well.... if you're interested, this is how I came to be here..."

Sitting back, he started to revel in his past to Xina.

"Well, I came from a galaxy far, far away, and never thought fate would lead me here. You see, I used to work for a galactic faction which promised to reign in a new order for the universe. And for a while I went with them. However, after my master/father passed away, I began to see that they were just like everybody else, after some unfortunate mishaps that I cannot unsee...."

Shivering at the thought, Clawdy took a breath and continued, all as Xina edged closer in interest.

"... I could no longer take the people I had worked for, so I took a ship out of the flagship's hangar and got the hell out of there. Sadly, I was attacked by Space pirates, and my ship was almost blown to pieces, being sent towards a black hole with me still in it!"

Now Xina was practically on edge, waiting to see what Clawdy would say next.

"I awoke next in this strange land, and encountered many fierce beasts and.... colossal beauties... none of which as beautiful as you, of course."

The shy neko turned away in flushed embarrassment, and Clawdy grinning at the compliment.

"...And so, I met a very smart woman-snake being, who towered over me, but surprisingly didn't eat me. To show a show of friendship, I gave my ship to her and she gladly offered to show me in the direction of the nearest human civilization. She didn't look like she was in a good mood, but I'm glad she at least pointed me in the right direction.... Anyway, that's how I ran across this spring, and you."

Xina smiled and perked up.

"So that's how you came here? Hehe. That's cool."

"It certainly is, Xina...."

Clawdy moved a bit closer to Xina, attempting to make a move rather fast.

"So Xina... would you be interested in us getting to know eachother better?"

"What... do you mean, Clawdy?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you would be interested in having a boyfr-"

Before he could finish his sentence, unfortunately, Lex came back to the spring and looked at the both of them.

"Hey Xina. Is this a new friend of yours?"

She smiled.

"Yep. His name is Clawdy. We were just talking for a bit."

Nodding in a welcoming gesture, Lex went over to greet Clawdy, while the strange Clawdy simply stared at Lex, then immediately looked at Xina.

"Xina.... who-who is this?"

"Heh... I guess I forgot to introduce you, Clawdy. This is Lex. He's my... heh... boyfriend..."

Clawdy immediately stopped in his tracks.

"What did you say?!"

"I said he's my boyfriend. And a very nice one at that."

Clawdy's jaw went agape, as he could feel something shatter in his chest. It was as if his heart was shot down before it could soar, which came crashing down on him in a total wreck.

"He's your... mate?"

Xina nodded.

"I... I see....."

Lex, unaware of Clawdy's heartbreak, went over to him around the spring and offered him a hand.

"So, who are you, if I could ask?"

"C-Clawdy...."

Lex gave him a hand out of the water as he shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Clawdy. You and Xina look like you're becoming good friends."

"It looked like it..."

"Anyway, why not stay for a bit? We could always use help and company, especially in this place."

There was much conflict in Clawdy, clenching his left fist in disappointment, but regardless, he accepted.

"Alright... I... I guess I'll accept...."

"Good. I'll be waiting in the clearing over there, next to that giant blue machine I call Excaliber. Okay?"

Lex walked back to Excaliber, leaving Xina to clean off. Clawdy, however, felt jealousy brewing up, as he stared mercilessly at Lex returning to the clearing.

"She.. loves him? But... why? Damnit, and just when I was gonna make a move.... I must get to the bottom of this... why a neko like her would love... a human...."

Clawdy then pulled off his cloak and let it hang on a tree, revealing underneath the fact that Clawdy himself was a neko male, complete with incredibly sharp eyes, sharp fangs, incredibly powerful claws, a black tail and black cat ears, a good portion of him covered in dark green military armor.

"I will get to the bottom of this "human loving a neko" oddity. By any means necessary...."

aww dude, don't have Clawdy move in on the great relationship between Xiao and Alex 0.o It will break my heart if she leaves him lol

Well, I won't spoil anything, but let's just say you won't be disappointed.

Jealousy.. you can't go wrong with that in a story ! It's just powerful

This chapter was brought to you by the following story, written by Iatos AKA Sokai.

http://iakos.deviantart.com/art/Part-1-Arrival-72443631

Please read it sometime. If you like my story, you'll love his. Anyway, please enjoy.

_____________________________________

Chapter Six: Friend or Rival?

Clawdy made his way to the clearing, as Xina looked at his newly revealed body with awe and giggled.

"Wow... I didn't know you were just like me. Your tail and little ears are cute."

"Heh... thanks, Xina. I'm glad you like them..... but trust me. There is alot you don't know about me. There is also much I don't know about you... and him..."

The confused neko girl did not know what Clawdy meant by this, but let him go on his way without question. Attending to her own business, she made her way out of the spring and shook off, letting water droplets fly off her body. She let out an instinctual purr as she sat down in a cat like position and licked the back of her hand for a few minutes, getting the last bits of water off of her before she got up and stretched once more. Xina then went for her clothes hanging on the tree and slid them all back on slowly, from her undergarments to her shirt dress and finally her kitty bell.

"Ahh~ I love hot springs. They're sooo soothing...."

She then happily, yet blissfully and slowly made her way back to Lex and Clawdy, who were now setting up a place to rest near Excaliber. Though Leex was in a rather cheerful, if not cautious, mood, Clawdy was stirring up a dubious suspicion and odd loathing for the human, thinking he was too inferior to be loved by Xina.

"So anyway, Clawdy, you never told me you were a cat like Xina."

"Meh, humans are pretty dense, so I'm not surprised..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

Lex seemed to want to befriend this stranger, if only because Xina had taken a liking to him. He himself was still suspicious about Clawdy, and took caution around what he said.

"So, Clawdy... you're new around here, eh?"

"Meh. I am. I've been wandering for quite a while. It's dangerous around this forest, so you have to be prepared for anything."

"Cool. We just arrived here as well, and it's already been hell. This is the only peace we've gotten."

They had set up several logs around a campfire with which they could sit and enjoy the warmth of the night. Lex had assembled the logs while Clawdy worked on the fire. However, as Clawdy kept thinking about Xina, he then approached Lex, hoping to discuss his concerns.

"Say, Lex.... let's cut the small talk. I have a question... I'm rather impressed you and Xina have been able to survive this long. How has it been possible? Has Xina been saving your human backside?"

This was odd of a question for Lex to answer, but he answered it to the best of his ability.

"Actually, I've been keeping her out of danger. It's been hectic."

"Oh. Well, how do you manage that? You certainly don't look like you could fight anything should it threaten her... and you of course."

"Oh. That's because of ol' Excaliber there."

Lex pointed to his rather badly damaged mech in the back. Clawdy looked upon it, then turned back to him with a confused expression.

"You... fight, using a machine? And a crappy one at that?"

"Well, it's not in the best condition... but it's gotten us through some jams."

Clawdy looked at the battered machine, and sighed with clenching fists.

"You're kidding, right? You rely on a MACHINE to do your fighting?!"

"Well, yeah. I don't see the problem with it."

"..."

Clawdy, having developed a hate of people who can't fight without mechanical assistance, suddenly saw Lex as an even more flawed rival, but decided to hold in his anger as Xina approached them, a smile on her face.

"Hi guys! Do you need help with making the fire?"

Lex responded with a smile.

"Nope. We're just about done. You just sit down and relax."

"Okay."

Xina sat down on one of the rolled up logs, as Lex started to light up the fire using a spare match in his pocket. Clawdy sat down next to Xina and looked at her, taking the time to talk to her when Lex wasn't listening.

"So Xina... tell me..."

Hearing this, Xina's focus turned to Clawdy.

"Yes, Clawdy?"

".... Well, why do you say you love Lex? He doesn't have the ability to defend himself, let alone you. He must rely on that 'thing' over there for battle and self defense, which couldn't even guard a can of beans in it's current condition. Of course, to top it all off, he's but a mere human. He doesn't deserve a feline such as yourself. And yet, you say you love him?"

Hearing this was slightly odd for Xina, as she had never actually heard someone question her love for Lex.

"Well, of course I love him, Clawdy. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, is there any reason? I just don't see it."

The girl made herself comfortable and sat back, feeling the need to tell Clawdy of what he did not know.

"Well, Clawdy, it's complicated.... but... there are many reasons why I love Lex... you see..."

Getting comfortable, Clawdy opened his ears to listen to her story.

"You see, Clawdy... ever since I could remember, when I was taken from my home... Lex was there for me. I mean, sure, there were times when I felt scared,  and when I even thought I'd die. However, Lex was there, and he made me feel much safer.... Of course... we have experienced everything life could throw at us...and boy, has it thrown alot at us..."

For an hour since then she rekindled on her story with Lex, with Clawdy paying close attention, all from when Lex became a pilot to when they first started living together, all up to when they came to Felarya.

"..... and after the portal brought us here, we came to this spring after a few unfortunate runins with those odd women...."

Sitting there baffled was all Clawdy could do, as he was just about left speechless.

".... so... you really do have a bit of history with Lex, don't you?"

"I do, Clawdy. We've been through so much together. I love Lex, and he loves me..."

Clawdy sat there as Lex came back, food in his hands.

"I packed some emergency rations. You want a bit, Clawdy?"

"....sure..."

Taking a few of the rations, Clawdy sat there and pondered over the story he was told silently in his mind.

"Impossible... that human was able to do so much? I honestly can't believe it... he must be much more resilient than normal humans... that or Xina must not have remembered right...."

Clawdy pondered this thought over and over, trying to make sense of it.

"I guess this human... is different... grrr.... regardless, I'll show Xina my superiority over such a weakling. If he can do all of that, then she'll have the pleasure of witnessing what I can do... and if Lex thinks he can outperform me, then he's welcome to try. And this world may be the perfect place to show her my survival skills, which he can only hope to achieve....."

Clawdy hid the rather obvious evil grin upon his face, for he felt he had a perfect plan for the next day. Until he could act, though, he joined Lex and Xina in satiating their appetites with the rations over the warmth of the fire. Lex and Xina were unknowing of Clawdy's planning and his never shown attraction to the neko woman.

"Yes.. It would be best to get some rest so I can prove myself tomorrow... hm hm hm hmm...."

It wasn't long, though, before they decided to turn in for the night....

Humph he's acting like a douchebag. He need a bit of a kicking here ><

Mordal: "I would gladly teach that man a lesson."

Yep. Got off my butt and got to work on this as much as I could. I hope you enjoy the result.
_______________________________________________

Chapter Seven: A New Day...?

It was the start of a new day, after Lex, Xina and Clawdy fell asleep near the fire, which had long died out, and were safely nestled near Excaliber for safety. The sun shined through the various trees above and shone upon them, Clawdy's eyes being the first to open up, enlightening him to the sun by himself as Xina and Lex, huddled together for warmth, continued to sleep.

"Ah... morning... what a peaceful start to the day."

He looked around and smiled, for he heard not a creature stirring in the clearing in which they slept, save for the morning sounds of far away avian creatures which were off in the distance searching for food.

"What a stroke of good fortune that we slept safely. I guess the inhabitants in this forests knew better than to mess with me...."

As he stretched his arms out and rubbed off any dirt off his person to prepare himself for the new day, a notion in the back of his mind kicked in, reminding him of what he had thought of the previous night.

"Ah! Of course! I almost forgot. When Lex and Xina wake up, I should get them to Negav. It would be a perfect way to show my superior tracking skills to Xina... that is, if Negav isn't too hard to find....."

He then crawled up to the top most part of the trees and scanned the surrounding area, his eyes darting back and forth in a fast paced attempt to locate the settlement.

"Come on, Negav... where are you... a huge city shouldn't be too hard to find..."

His mission continued in discretion for several minutes, which then turned into several hours, climbing countless branches and running through several leaf infested cradles in the canopy. When he began to doubt finding this city, he at long last spotted an oddity over a group of close knit trees.

"Wait... is that? Smoke billowing... an odd smell of foods.... AHA!"

Clawdy regailed, for what he saw over the trees was the edge of the massive city he assumed to be Negav. In his triumphant bursts of joy, Clawdy turned about face and rushed through the path of cleared foliage which he had extracted out of his way back to Lex and Xina, ecstatic over his discovery. However, in his over-excitement, he accidentally tripped on the last branch as his body tumbled over, out of the treetops in a show of embarrassing proportions. Down to the ground his mass fumbled to, however, at the last possible moment, he quickly recovered his stance by redirecting his feet and hands downward and landing on them in a rather rough position. The ground shook asunder in his powerful dismount from the trees, but settled just as fast.

As Clawdy shook off the landing, hopefully assuring himself that nobody had seen him, he heard laughing from the sidelines, in an all too familiar voice.

"Hahaha! Smooth move, kitty."

It was Lex, who had woken up only minutes earlier, only to experience Clawdy land roughly.

"Shut up, human. I meant to do that."

"Hehe. Sure you did."

Lex got up and dusted the sleep out of his eyes and the dirt off his clothing, all while Clawdy quickly resumed a straight stance.

"So I heard a bit of commotion when you were returning. Something of interest over there?"

With a smirk Clawdy returned Lex's retort.

"Ha. Well, unlike you, I was actually out finding out where we should go. The gigantic settlement of Negav is just North of here, through that path of foliage I painstakingly carved for your convenience, incase your human eyes couldn't see it."

Hearing yet another comment against him, Lex tried his best to just ignore his words.

"Ugh... well, that's good to know, Clawdy. We shall depart for there once Xina wakes up."

He and Clawdy then turned to Xina, who was still out like a light. Lex walked over to her and gave her a gentle rub behind her ear, which made her purr lightly in her sleep, before backing up to clean up the makeshift camp they made. Clawdy wanted to speed up the process of getting there, so he helped along the way.

"So Lex... did you know where you were going when you came here?"

"Not really. I was just gonna bring Xina and myself to somewhere safe until we got a better view of things."

Clawdy chuckled.

"And you really thought you could survive? That's funny... It's a wonder Xina is still alive....."

This comment happened to catch Lex's attention.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all I'm saying is that you don't seem to live up to what Xina says you're capable of... and I'm worried about her...."

"... so you're saying I'm not good enough for her?"

"Well, if the shoe fits.... and I know how much humans have trouble with that."

As Lex balled his hand, feeling steamed over what Clawdy said about him as the neko chuckled, he heard the sound of an innocent yawn from Xina. She let out a purr and sat upright, licking the back of her hand as part of her morning routine. Her eyes, albeit groggily, looked at Lex and Clawdy.

"mmmmm...morning, guys..."

The two looked at eachother and decided not to say anything else other than to greet her back. Clawdy just barely beat Lex to greeting her.

"Good morning, Xina."

"Yes, good morning. How was your sleep?"

Hearing the two of them made her cheery enough to get up and stretch for the morning.

"Mmm... just fine, Lex. Clawdy. I had a wonderful night... how about you two?"

They nodded.

"I slept like a rock."

"Same here."

"Good. Anyway, where do we go today?"

Again, Clawdy took the initiative to speak.

"Well, I took it upon myself to find Negav, and it so happens to be over there to the north. We can head there whenever you like."

She smiled.

"Oh, that's good to hear. Should we get going now?"

"If you want."

With a chuckle, Clawdy went over to prepare to head to Negav. Lex still harbored a bit of jealousy that Clawdy was showing off so much, but let it slide as Xina went towards Excaliber to get ready as well.

Right as Lex started picking up his equipment, he heard an odd screeching noise, as if it was the squacking of a bird, only a thousand times larger. It was accompanied by the sudden absence of the sunlight above him. Lex hurried up in fear and quickly looked back at Xina and Clawdy, who too had sensed the incredible irritation of the avian disturbance. Their visions both turned to the sky in terror, as Lex corrected his vision to intersect theirs. What he saw in the sky was, much to his horror, another of the giant, nude women he had encountered before. However, instead of the lower bodies they had before, this woman sported a humongous pair of bird legs and talons, and in place of her arms were large feathered wings which smoothed her descent.

Lex scrambled to try and get out of her way, but the fierce avian woman came crashing down upon him, her fierce talon opening up as it snatched him from the ground. When she made her landing, her legs smashed into the ground and halted her fall to a stop. Straightening her body out, her eyes redirected to Lex, who was unconscious from the roughness of her landing. She licked her lips from seeing him out, and her stomach grumbled in response.

"Ah. What a nice little meal to stumble on. I guess it was a good idea to check this clearing."

She flapped her wings fast to catch the air underneath, and in no time her body was lifted up from the current she had created. The entirety of her body ascended skyward with Lex in her talon, and before long, they were in the air as fast as she had came down.....

Xina and Clawdy, who were in the shadows of the trees, ran out as quickly as their bodies would take them. Sadly, they were too late, for they only caught the woman's ascension into the sky, Lex barely visible within her clutches. Xina looked up and let out a tearful yell.

"LEX!"

She started freaking out, as Clawdy simply sat there and felt smug.

"Oh well. Looks like he got what he deserved. If he didn't rely on a machine to do his fighting, then he woul-"

Before he finished his bout of gloating, he suddenly noticed that Xina was no longer at his side, but had taken to the trees using her neko agility to pursue the woman in flight, leaving him in the dust.

"What the? Xina, where are you going?! Come back!"

Clawdy set his feet into motion and took off after her, udderly baffled by her actions. Poor Clawdy, however, was unaware that the day had just begun......

Great chapter !
Somehow you managed to give the arrival of the harpy a real feel of danger I think

But man, this Clawdy deserve a good slap from Xiao ><

A rather short chapter this time, but here it is at least. Enjoy.
______________________________________

Chapter Eight: Birds of a Feather

Through the brisk trees Xina scuffled, using her rather amazing neko tuned agility, and in her wake Clawdy managed to keep up, for they were both in hot pursuit of a massive bird woman who had talon-napped Lex, knocking him unconscious.

The woman was a surprisingly fast flyer, meagerly curtailing across the breeze which flowed through the forest. Xina, however, had the swiftness of a cougar and cheetah combined in her movements, which allowed her to give chase to the aerial giantess. Sadly, as fast as her agile legs could carry her, she couldn't catch up with the feathered harrier, who seemed to speed up with every wing stroke, and within minutes she started to slow down, unfortunately because she was tired from not having eaten anything in the morning. Clawdy, having a better stamina, ran up beside her and tried to help her.

"Xina! Are you crazy? You're gonna get killed if you aren't careful!"

Xina tried to take a few breaths in.

"I don't... care, Clawdy.... I have to rescue Lex.... he's in danger!..."

Her fast paced breaths, only accompanied by her fast beating heart and sweat drenched body, signaled her eventual inability to continue the chase for much longer, yet she flung to her feet and continued through the trees, jumping branch to branch in an effort to not lose the trail the avian female left in the skies. Clawdy was simply amazed at how her stamina, but couldn't stand to see her continue exerting herself, so in a quick thrust of energy, and despite her getting ahead quite a bit, he caught up to her several minutes later and tried to reason again with her.

"Xina! Please! It's too late for him! You can't overexert yourself like this!"

"Clawdy, please get out of the way. I'm... I'm gonna keep... keep following that thing until I.... I.... I have Lex back...."

This time her constant breaths would not allow even a full sentence to flow past her lips. She finally collapsed onto a branch and succumbed to her fatigue of such a fast paced chase. She was just too tired to begin with, and her chase for Lex didn't help any. Clawdy wrapped an arm around her to help her up from her knees as she had collapsed to them, confident that Xina would eventually calm down. Sadly, he was wrong.

"Xina. Please... I don't want to see you in pain. Let's just go back and try to reach Negav."

Xina couldn't handle hearing this, and broke down, unleashing a torrent of waterworks from her eyes.

"Clawdy, I don't want to give up on Lex. He was there for me. I'm not... I'm not... giving up... I'll fight her myself if I have to..."

She then started coughing up, as her body suffered from the strain put on her. Clawdy, seeing this, suddenly felt a stinging feeling in his heart, as if he was actually feeling... bad. He tried not to give in to the sudden feelings he experienced, but seeing Xina made that effort all but futile.

"Xina... if you actually go against that woman, she'd kill you. You would risk that?"

"Yes, Clawdy. I would.... I... I would...."

"..."

Clawdy briefly took a look into Xina's eyes and saw the sadness that she tried to contain over the thought of Lex dying. Before long, pending the emotional conflict which fought within him, and after looking up to the heavens, he let out a horrendous mental scream within his own mind as his heart pain continued to escalate, for he knew he couldn't just leave Lex alone and not feel a sliver of guilt.

"Grrrrrr... I GET THE HINT ALREADY! You want me to rescue him, don't you, oh cruel fate?!"

Clawdy went back and forth in his own mind and weighed the consequences of what his mind was considering.

"Agh... if Lex was worthy of her, he would've been tough enough to stop her.... but she'd never forgive me for not even trying to help him... but then again... grrr..... alright, fine. I guess if I want her, I have to do it..."

Switching from internal to external voice, Clawdy looked down at Xina.

"Xina, stay here. I'll pursue that woman. And I'll bring Lex back. I promise."

Instantly Clawdy then found himself gazing into two gleaming cat eyes seemingly beaming from Xina's uplifted face, which still held tears in them.

"You... you mean it, Clawdy?"

"I swear it."

Xina could barely hold herself in as she wrapped her arms around Clawdy tight with the last of her strength.

"Thank you so much, Clawdy... I- I promise I'll always be grateful for.... "

Xina's stamina at last slammed on the ground to zero, fallen limp within Clawdy's hands. He hoisted her onto his back and then faced towards the bird creature, who had nestled into a very large tree a mile away. He could barely make out the figure that was Lex within her grasp, but he knew it was him. He held Xina up tight on his back and began his trek to retrieve his endangered rival, who was not doing so well.

Meanwhile, the woman placed Lex into the nest she had created, and at this point Lex finally gained consciousness again, only to be met with her face which she had placed uncomfortably close to him.

"Hey, back off. What do you want with me?"

The sumptuous woman licked her lips.

"I want something to eat. And I invited you over for that very reason...."

He tried scooting away from her as she gained an even scarier voracious expression, but was promptly halted when he came to the edge of the nest, and found that he was trapped. The woman who peered over him like a hungry hawk giggled in seeing his futility.

"Hehe. There's no escaping me. Now I'll finally get to eat."

She reached down and opened her mouth to eat Lex right out of the nest. Trapped, and with nowhere to go, Lex felt like he was a dead man.....

Just then, as he cringed at feeling her warm, nerve wrecking breath upon him, the sound of a large crumbling sound, much like the shattering of a boulder against a large body, echoed into his range of hearing. The shaking of the sound combined from the surprise it instilled into him brought him to his feet, as he opened his eyes to see that the bird woman was no longer hovering over him, but was now clawing at the edge of the nest, trying to get back up. On her face was a large red mark, where what seemed to be a boulder smashed into her, and sure enough when Lex looked on the floor of the nest, he saw a crumbled boulder. This made Lex turn his attention to where he assumed the boulder came from, only to find Clawdy, with Xina riding on his back. He looked mildly sweaty and was breathing harder than normal, which was plenty evidence to assume he was the one who threw the boulder.

"You're way too lucky to have me and Xina here, Lex. Now, let's get out of here before I change my mind."

Lex didn't need to be told twice, for he scrambled to his feet and ran towards the two nekos. Behind him was the rumbling of an angry avian woman, who rose to her talons without a missed beat, shook off the boulder which was tossed at her and stared at Clawdy with a vengeful gaze.

"How dare you interrupt me when I'm eating! You'll pay for this!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, lady. I've faced far worse than you."

Upon delivering his retort, he propped Xina off of his back and into Lex's arms, then scooted him off the nest into a safe batch of branches just below.

"You get Xina and yourself out of here. This is a job for a real man."

There was no reasoning otherwise with Clawdy, so Lex merely nodded and, holding Xina in his embrace, hopped downward to safety, while Clawdy stood in open opposition of the fatal feathered female which stood over him. Clawdy was more than happy to display a show of pride to demonstrate his lack of fear of this lady who loomed above him.

"Now, voracious beast, I shall demonstrate how powerful I truly am, and you will regret ever having crossed me, vile woman, for I am Clawdimount D. Maelstrom, the most powerful opponent you will ever face, and with my strength and abilities, you shall falt-"

Unfortunately, without a second hesitation, the woman smashed into Clawdy's body using her mighty talon before he could finish his speech, prompting him to let out a yell in pain when she let up her talon.

"ARGH! You bitch! How dare you attack me when I'm delivering a speech! That's just low!"

The woman countered with her own remark.

"Well, who threw that boulder at me, hmmm? Who's low now?"

Clawdy stoop back up and looked at the woman again, this time his body in quite a bit of pain. Nevertheless, he stood his ground and assumed a stance with which to fight her, an angry grin on his face.

"Come on... just because you're bigger, it doesn't... doesn't mean you've already won. I'll defeather you, you foul fowl!"

And with that, Clawdy charged the woman, who in turn ran right for him, her claws ready to tear him up as her next meal....

Nice chapter I am curious how the fight will go.
Only remark is concerning the harpy language ^^;

Sorry about the dullness of the harpy. When this particular one is hungry, I guess her mouth doesn't have enough energy to smirk off. ^^;

This chapter is dedicated to a friend of mine who's about to have surgery in a few days, and inspired me to continue this story. I pray for his safe operation.

Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter.

__________________________________________

Chapter Nine: Fighting a "Harpy"?

The woman brought her ferocious talon down upon Clawdy, who barely managed to jump out of it's path right as it shredded through the nest floor. Though he was hurt, Clawdy still used all of his strength to grab onto her leg and hold on using any means necessary. The woman in turn quickly flapped her wings and began to ascend skyward, in an attempt to shake Clawdy off, who was about to secure his position using his powerful nails.

Meanwhile, Lex and Xina, who scrambled to get to safety despite their own fatigue, were forced to turn back in hearing the bird woman's shrill cries as Clawdy dug his sharp neko claws into her leg. Seeing her fly upwards made the two duck for cover, in hopes of not being seen, as the creature divebombed downward and across the forestry. Clawdy was rooted tight on her leg, but could feel the flora of the canopy beat against him and the bird woman. She kept flying through the woods, dodging trees and edging close to branches, instead trying to smack Clawdy onto one of them to get him to release.

"Hey! Get off my leg, you little insect!"

"You'll have to rip me off yourself!"

The woman flew continually, right into a bramble patch, before wagging her talon around in an increasing fury.

"I told you to get off me, you idiot!"

"Still not gonna listen, you crazy monster!"

"I said GET OFF ME, OR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF, MAGGOT!"

"NEVER!"

The woman and Clawdy continued exchanging verbal threats and insults, making the woman enraged as Clawdy, making him tighten his grip. Because his claws dug deep enough to actually strike several nerves in her talon leg, she let out a yell, and in this fit of rage, she landed briefly and faced a massive red oak tree, about twice her height, and slammed her talon's side into it, like a roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, Clawdy was on that very talon and was promptly slammed into the tree as well, cracking up the bark and nearly cracking the tree in two as he was sent flying to the ground, having lost his grip. The woman spread her wings and lunged at Clawdy to sieze him before he hit the ground, if only to slam him into the soil herself, for now her stomach grumbled with a fierce vengeance, and she wanted to eat very badly.

"Why won't you die already, you puss bag?! I'll eat you dead if I have to!"

Hearing this made Clawdy slightly nervous, but nevertheless corrected his flight path and without a hitch landed on the ground below on all fours. The neko boy looked up to see the enraged flying woman flying right at him! In haste, he rolled to the side at the last second, feeling the intense shock of the woman's talon of a leg smash into the ground where he just was only seconds ago. Clawdy thought he was safe for the moment, but saw the other leg come down upon him, and just barely leaped for safety at the last possible second.

Now having a chance to counter, Clawdy reached for his belt and grabbed a metallic, cylindrical object and gripped it in his hand. Upon pressing a button switch on it, a reddish cylinder shaped protrusion, made of pure, yet semi-solid light, erupted from the end of the object and formed a crimson blade. Clawdy held it within his hand and looked up menacingly at the harpy.

"Alright. You want a fight? How about a fight with a guy who has a lightsaber?!"

Clawdy then plunged his saber at the woman's talon, plunging it deep within her leg. The blade penetrated her outer layer of scales and hit a critical spot, making the woman shout out in agony.

"AGH!! YOU TINY BASTARD! I'LL F@CKING KILL YOU!"

Clawdy couldn't get the blade out in time before the woman raised her leg with him holding on and shook it violently. Clawdy held on for dear life and in turn pulled his blade out of her leg, before jabbing into her leg with his blade multiple times, as well as making a few clean swipes across her scaly talons. Though the cuts were deep, the relative size of the avian woman made the cuts seem rather minimal compared to the first jab which struck deep, save for when Clawdy struck a sensitive nerve within. The woman could no longer stand it as Clawdy continued up her leg to try and get a better vantage point, so in a rage she let out a horrendous roar from the deepest depths of her lungs, which was a shriek that could shatter glass! Even half a mile away, where Lex and Xina had managed to take cover, the sound could be heard in high pitch. Lex covered his ears, as did the now conscious Xina, who's neko hearing could pick it up much more clearly. It was an unpleasant yell that even Clawdy couldn't stand, especially with cat ears like his, and caused him to cringe weakly, though still he tried to stay on her. His grip having weakened though, the woman took the perfect chance to twirl her leg around and throw off the persistant man like chewing gum stuck on a shoe. Clawdy was thrown off, having lost much of his concentration from the shriek, and was now being flung through the air once again. He tried to regain his balance while airborne, but this time the bird woman took the opportunity of his aerial disorientation and flapped her mighty wings repeatedly, causing a gust to carry him farther away before he could correct himself. The very gust kept him flying at a constant speed, as well as rustling up multiple branches and rocks on the woodland floor. In no time flat Clawdy was faced off with a whirlwind of flying debris headed straight for him. Thankfully he still had his "lightsaber" clutched in his hand despite the turbulence, and with it he slashed through a branch that came his way, before chopping clean through a giant airborne boulder. Apparently this woman's gust was powerful enough to even lift up objects larger than himself, which made it more difficult to keep from being hit. Fortunately, no matter what the wind or the woman threw at Clawdy, he dealt with it using a clean execution of his laser sword skills. Every foreign object that came his way was neatly sliced up and made harmless to him. For once Clawdy felt confident the woman had run out of ways to attack.

Unfortunely Clawdy did not see the very large tree he was heading towards, and with a massive THUD! the neko was slammed into the tree. Sadly, right in the middle of his impact, the voracious woman took flight towards him, slamming her talon foot directly atop him and trapping him directly between her talon claws and the sturdy tree, which unlike the previous one did not break.

Clawdy tried to struggle out of the position the woman had forced him into, but her talon pressed him against the tree with a great amount of force, and the force of the impact had caused him to drop his lightsaber. He had another in his cache, but could not reach it because his hand was pinned. The situation seemed bad for Clawdy, and the woman licked her lips between her breaths for air, thinking she'd finally get to eat.

"Anything you want to say before I send you to rot in the pit of my stomach, you filthy insect?!"

However, as bad as the situation seemed, Clawdy remained calm and, gripping his fists, he began to focus. The woman was confused by this, and even questioned it upon further inspection.

"Huh? Why aren't you afraid, worm!? You lost to me, and now I'm going to eat you. Hell, I might just rip you to pieces before letting you burn just barely alive in my stomach! Most small food like you start cowering when they hear that. Why don't you?"

Clawdy refused to answer her, instead deciding to continue concentrating on whatever he was doing. The woman only became more frustrated.

"...Answer me now, or you shall regret it!!"

Still, Clawdy did not break his train of thought.

"Very well. Have it your way, jerkass."

Right as the woman began to lower herself to her new meal, Clawdy gained a smirk on his face.

Almost as if by magic, right as the woman started to tighten her talon on him, she suddenly felt a pressure pushing her back from Clawdy. It became increasingly harder to pin him against the tree as the pressure became stronger and stronger, but Clawdy did not say a word. He kept his eyes closed and made sure his concentration remained unbroken. His body was surging with a strange energy, and whatever Clawdy was doing with it, it was working! He kept at it constantly, being sure to push his body to continue drawing out this strange "force" which he seemed to be able to control.

The woman felt surprised that he was able to push her back without even lifting a finger, and resisted him with her own strength. At the last second, before he exerted too much energy taking the talon far enough off of him, Clawdy quickly reached for his second saber, unsheathed it's mighty blade of energy and jabbed it into the talon ahead of him. The woman yelled again in pain, as the blade struck deep within her flesh. She edged back to try and catch her breath, as Clawdy plummeted to the ground and safely landed on his feet, grabbing the dropped saber from before. Now armed with two blades, he stared down the feathered giantess who regained her composure and stared back at Clawdy.

"How? How did you do that magic that pushed me back, you freak!? It's impossible! Tell me how you did that, NOW!"

Clawdy scoffed, still breathing rather hard from the force he exerted.

"Not really impossible. You just have to 'force' your way out of a situation sometimes. hehe."

"..... I don't care what you have, you cheating little bastard! I will not let myself as a proud harpy be beaten by a freak like you. Now just let me have my meal and die!"

Clawdy tried to reason with the woman, fearing that if he continued fighting he would lose.

"So you're a 'harpy', you say? I personally never heard of them. But listen, can't we call a truce or something?"

The woman contemplated  for a moment.

"You know, kitty litter? I'd love to call a truce. How about you stop fussing like a whiny bitch and I eat you. That sound good?"

"What? No! Why do you want to eat me anyway?"

"Because I haven't eaten in days, you idiot! All I had was a reserve of worthless humans who camped out next to my nest for the night THREE DAYS AGO! If I don't eat soon, I'll have to risk going into another predator's territory for food, and I'd have to fight some of the stupider predators around me, like that incompetent brunette whore, or the slut near the waterfall! Now stop squirming so I can finally eat, or you'll face my wrath!"

"Very well. If you want to keep fighting, then I'll ..... happily oblige!"

The "harpy" as she called herself, flew right towards Clawdy, with her talons prepped and her wings flapping at full force. Clawdy clutched his sabers and returned the rush, speeding along the ground to go right for her. Though Clawdy did not wish for it, the scuffle between the two tired combatants continued....

Great chapter ! The fighting was really intense
heh the harpy truce