Testing My Luck in the New World

The old Errat Fort was in ruins.

Once a symbol of military might, meant to stand out, to draw and defend against invasion, it now hid behind a dense, overgrown wreath of trees so thick it was almost impossible to see in the dark.

Faint flickers of firelight danced somewhere beyond, visible only where it trickled out over the walls. These stone walls, revealed to us by the thin veil of moonlight that saved us from complete blindness, circled around the main keep like the protective arm of a snake coiling around its nest, daring other predators to approach.

Within these walls, protected by men made criminals by greed, stood three towers: one with a small light—a candle burning in a high window; another whose middle had been blown open and was on the verge of collapse; and the last, only half the height of the others, had long since crumbled away.

The side we faced was built from two differently colored stones – ones newer, freshly quarried, the others old and withered. Clearly, the hole Giulio mentioned had been blasted into it was there at some point, but it has since been patched up.

Or so the cat girls told us as we ducked behind the tree line set against the imposing sight. It was far too dark for human eyes to see.

“Man… I get it, but these guys really don’t want anyone out here.”

This part of the forest was a variable death trap. Pitfalls and other deadly machinations of human ingenuity littered nearly every inch of the place; save for the path we took to get here.

Naturally, Memorization and the filled in sections of my map menu forced me to memorize every step we took, but a distinct lack of visibility kept the path narrow.

“I see another one,” Yua said, holding Elane’s spy scope to her eye.

As she described, a man appeared on top of the closest wall. Torch hovering beside his head, he gazed long and hard out into the trees, observing. Guess it was pointless to think they’d slack off a little where security was concerned, seeing that they already went the extra mile posting up out here.

We ducked behind our trees and waited him out.

“Yua, Mana, how many do you see?”

“I only see three,” Yua said.

Mana pulled her eyes off the fort to count on her fingers again before adding, “I only see three, too.”

“Can you tell if they're the same guys we saw with Willomina?”

“Not from here.”

“Damn… Well, it doesn't matter.”

Since we had a moment, I stretched my arms over my head and started to limber up. We may not need to walk hunched over like the more sneaky characters in video games do, but just the thought of doing so had my back aching.

Elane smirked at me. Having nothing to do herself, she’d been watching our rear just in case.

“And you talk about me being calm. I hate to burst your bubble, but you do realize you'll be in enemy territory here soon, right? Get caught and you'll have a real fight on your hands. And it won't be one of your little slapping sessions with Yua.”

“Obviously. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't prepared.”

I wasn’t ready to dirty my hands last time, but I won't be letting what happened with Tillmann happen to us again.

“Besides, it’s a better plan than walking up to their front door and asking them politely to leave.”

“True. I suppose the real question is, how do we even get close without getting spotted?” Elane said, turning back to the fort in search of a solution as she talked.

The fort itself did have a thicket of trees surrounding it, but the area just past that wasn’t so lucky. Most of the trees between us and them had been cut down, their stumps removed and used for construction or for firewood – it didn’t matter. The field of empty grass and soil leading up to the fort’s main gate might as well be a killing grounds, only, instead of enemy machineguns, any trespassers would risk getting shot with arrows or spells.

Well, trespassers that weren’t us, anyways.

“Leave the how to me. For now, come here.”

Confused but curious, Elane checked to make sure nobody was watching in our direction before dipping over to my tree. I threw open my map menu and, after taking a moment to control her loins, she looked at me.

“I'll use Material Destruction to dig underground and tunnel my way to the fort. Set out some map markers in a line to guide me to the wall. I can’t see the fort well enough for it to show on my map, so I can’t tell exactly how far away it is. You’d be more accurate.”

And having the markers direct me while underground will save me from having to pop out to check on my position every few feet.

“Wait, wait,” she said, tapping and plotting on the map almost automatically before turning her full attention back to me. “You can't just tunnel under the fort and pop out like a daisy on the inside. You won’t be able to tell if someone spots you until it’s too late.”

“I'm not going under the wall. I'll move to the front, pop out and then use Material Creation to create a ladder on the wall itself. When it's clear, I'll slip inside.”

“I'm hearing a lot of I's in your plan,” Yua said. Her eyes were still on the fort, but the near growl in her voice didn't sound pleased. “You're not going alone.”

“Of course not. I'll need your ears to make sure nobody gets the drop on us… Heh. Actually, you know what, with all those stone walls, it'll almost be like we’re in the dungeon again, right?”

“Hmph. Good.”

Apparently pleased that I wasn't preparing to do something so clearly stupid, and with a small, fond smile meant for memories of how we spent our first days together – or of all the fighting she got to do during that time - Yua’s tail swished.

She shoved the spyglass in front of Mana's face for her to take over, but she pushed it right back hard enough to bounce it off Yua's breast.

“No.”

“No? Mana, what are you…?”

“You're not going with Big Bro. I am.”

“Mana, you did great getting us here, but now's not the time for this.”

“I don't care.”

Mana dashed around her Big Sis and threw up her arms as if to stop her from moving forward. Her expression was more serious than any of us could have thought possible for a girl like her, so it took Yua a second to reboot. But Mana beat her to it.

“Big Sis, you are terrible at being quiet. All you want to do is hit stuff. If you go, you'll get caught and you'll want to fight. It's what you always do. I can prove it.”

“Yea? And how are you going to do that?”

“Easy… Lamb roast.”

Yua flinched back a step, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Her ears shot up, stiffened by the same surprise that colored her cheeks red. Those two moderately tasty words left her speechless for a moment before she came swinging back.

"Th-That doesn't prove anything.”

“Yes it does. Right, Big Bro? Booby-Lady?”

“Wait a second, Kitty. I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Elane threw up her hands after suddenly being thrust into the conversation and I was right there with her, though I did have some ideas.

“I'm guessing this has something to do with the village, but…”

“Yup.” Mana nodded with a smirk, as if she thought I was taking her side. “It was before Big Sis left the village.”

Crossing her arms, she put up a devilish smirk, but Yua flailed her arms in protest.

“M-Mana now’s not the time for…!”

I put a hand on Yua's shoulder.

“Let her speak.”

“B-But…”

I remained firm, even in the face of the once in a lifetime look of embarrassment that plastered itself all over Yua's face.

It had nothing, not a damn thing, to do with wanting to hear some of my wife's embarrassing and dirty secrets. Nope. Not at all. I just wanted to let Mana prove her case.

Seeing that neither of us were going to put a stop to this, Yua’s shoulders slumped. Meanwhile, Mana’s smirk widened just before she began her tale.

Annnnd memory recording is a go!

“Hmph. When we were little, some humans came through to sell stuff. The Chief traded for some lamb meat and the village cooks made roasted lamb for everyone. It was the first time we had it. Big Sis really, really liked it, but the Chief wouldn't trade for more, even when she begged.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait!” Yua cried, waving her hands about, trying to cover Mana's mouth. “I changed my mind. Don’t tell the rest!”

“Hehehe. So then…”

“Stop it!”

Mana ducked under Yua's attempt to grab her and dashed behind me, out of reach. With her hands on my hips, she peeked out from under my arm and continued.

“Big Sis tried to sneak into the merchant’s cart to steal some more meat, but their guards caught her before she could even climb on.”

“Really?”

“Yup. They said she was breathing like a starving animal. Even though they were humans, they heard her coming and caught her, but instead of running or apologizing, she started fighting them.”

Yea… That sounds like Yua.

“They went easy on her since her daddy is the chief, but once Chief Tama found out, he jumped in, slammed her face into the dirt and made her apologize. I think the chief had to give them a bunch of extra furs to calm them down.”

Momentarily captured by the question of whether they went easy on her because of her relation to Tama, or because she was just a naked little girl trying to throw hands with veteran warriors, I shook my head. We now had more pressing questions that needed answers.

I looked to Yua for an explanation and she flinched back.

"You know, I believe it was you, Yua, that told me everyone in this world is warned about the dangers of stealing while they’re young. Am I right?”

“I was a child! And hungry… I-I wasn't thinking straight.”

“Yup. And the Chief punished her by making her do a handstand in front of the village for, er, five hours. I think. He'd chopped her on the head every time she fell down.”

“What? That's so brutal. Weren’t you just a kid?”

Even for a beast-kin, how was a kid supposed to perform a feat of strength like that?

Setting aside from the more blatant parts of their culture assuring that that specific pose would have been ungodly embarrassing for a human girl, and how much they love fighting, that just sounds like torture.

Tama was a brute beyond measure. I learned this the moment I saw him greet her after a five-year absence, where she was presumed dead, by beating her into the ground. And that was before hugging her and welcoming her back. But that punishment is just…

How could he treat his own beloved daughter like that?

“Mhmm,” Yua sniffled. “The worst part is that I wasn't even allowed to fight back. It was like Daddy got a bunch of free wins. And he looked so disappointed. I never tried to take anything without permission again.”

“Wait… Are you saying that you're embarrassed because you saw that punishment as a form of sparring? One where you were essentially forced to lose over and over because you couldn't fight back?”

Yua nodded, sniffling. “Yea… It was the worst losing streak I ever had. I was so ashamed of it I trained three times harder the next day.”

“…”

Give me back my sympathy.

“Okay, Mana,” I started, trying to get us back on track. “I get why you chose that story as your proof, but she was just a kid at the time. What does that have to do with right now?”

“Hehehe. Because Big Sis got all panicky and loud, just because I told you a secret.”

“Eh? I did?” Yua gasped, whipping her attention back to the fort. “They didn't hear me, did they?”

Her tail was as stiff as a doornail as she scanned the fort for signs of alert. Elane, however, rolled her eyes.

“Calm down. If you can't hear them from here, why would they be able to hear you?”

“What are you talking about? There could be a dog or rabbit-kin over there for all we know.”

Elane shook her head, reached under Yua’s arms and pulled her eyes off the spy scope by grabbing two big handfuls of her breasts. Firmly grasping the soft fabric of the ninja gear and the softer hills beneath it, she yanked Yua back behind the tree – and out of the fort's line of sight.

“I've been around Erika enough to know how far she can hear. And she wouldn't be able to hear a damn thing that far away. Which means nobody can.”

“Fine…”

Apparently deciding to trust Elane's experience on the matter, Yua brushed the blonde's hands off her chest as though wiping a bit of dust off her shirt. She crossed her arms and her emerald eyes bore holes in Mana's smug smirk.

“But are you saying you'd be quieter?”

“I've been quiet ever since we got here.”

Yua's brow twitched, but Mana wasn't wrong. She's shown an incredible amount of control in both the volume of her voice and her movements ever since our chat at the pitfall trap. And she wasn't exactly loud before that, either.

But this wasn't enough for Yua.

“And what if someone called you short? Would you still stay quiet then?”

“Yes.”

The answer was so quick, so short and sweet and devoid of anything resembling anger that the rest of us all stared at her. Likewise, there wasn't a trace of her usual playful countenance anywhere on her face. If anything, she looked abnormally serious.

“Daddy told me that animals can sense your emotions,” she explained. “So you have to hide them when hunting or they'll run away.”

“Hold on, Kitty. Are you saying you can selectively ignore your anger when you want?”

“Selectively?”

Again, we looked at her, the same girl who accidentally kicked a man in the schlong because he simply alluded to her being small, but all Mana did was tilt her head in her usual, obnoxiously cute way as her beautiful mind tried to parse the meaning of a word she might not have heard in that context before.

Giving up, she softly grabbed hold of my monster over my pants and turned her big blue eyes on me. Upon gazing into those beautiful orbs that always reflected a sunny skyline even when night was at its darkest, I knew instantly by the pounding in my own heart that she was going to ask for something.

“Big Bro, I can do this. I know I won't let you down. Please, trust me.”

Let me down? Ah…

I see. So, that's what all this was about. How could I be so blind?

All of the sudden, the distinct lack of complaints coming from her and the overt pride she’s been showing in her skills makes sense. We’ve been treating her like the child she’s clearly not and she sees this quest as her chance to prove this to herself.

From trying to take the lead when scouring the city, to eagerly jumping into the mud to examine tracks. In her own Mana-sort-of-way, she’s been asking for an opportunity just like this ever since we arrived in Villeverdure.

She, the truest cat-kin to ever sharpen her claws, even went so far as to put her people’s customs somewhat to the wayside to grab me over my pants instead of under. Almost like she wanted to show she understood what it’d mean for us to get caught with our pants down – literally.

And here I am, offering the job she swears she’d be the best at to someone else.

“Mana…”

I met her with as much consideration as she gave and floated my hand up between her legs. My caressing palm pressed into the fabric of her shorts and only my middle finger laid itself along the small crease I made there. I did this and, still, her determination did not falter.

“Remaining unseen is our top priority. We’ll go in, learn what we can, then leave. We’re not going into a fight just yet. If you think we’re about to get caught, tell me. I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay.”

“And one more thing,” I said, pressing my finger a little deeper. “We’re going over the wall. It looks pretty high, but you can’t get scared and scream, alright?”

She gulped, but not even her fear of heights could break her will.

“I’ll be okay.”

“Good, then get ready. We’re leaving now.”

“Okay!”

All I did was lay out our plan, but it was enough to bring out the joy in those big blue eyes of hers.

Mana let go of me, and I her, and she raised herself onto her tiptoes to kiss me. I accepted her lips gratefully, resisted the urge to pat her on the head and dug a deep hole straight into the ground with Material Destruction.

“Good luck, Kitty. I know you can do it.”

“Hehe. Right!”

Elane scooped Mana into a congratulatory hug and, for once, the girl was happy to accept and return the favor. Though she did eventually squirm and push against Elane’s breastplate to escape when the hold lasted a little too long.

Mana gave her bow and quiver a once over and, while she couldn't quite hide the excitement in her tail as much as she would have wanted, she quickly pulled on a serious expression as she jumped into the hole.

Yua sighed in the face of her defeat.

For a moment, I thought she’d taken my decision to leave her behind as a distrust of the same skills she’d once carried us through the dungeon with, until she took my hand with both of hers and held it to her chest.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes. I trust Mana's skills just as much as I trust yours.”

Once you put a bow in her hands and point her towards an enemy, Mana isn’t the same playful girl she is back home. She did save our lives once, after all, but after living with her for several months and seeing nothing but that happy-go-lucky side of hers, I was beginning to understand why her own people doubted her.

Despite herself, Yua couldn’t help but let a little skepticism raise her brow. Especially when Mana had to suck her lips into her mouth and bite down on them to keep her smile from showing.

She sighed again.

“I suppose this is probably for the best. If she can get the drop on Daddy three out of ten times, she'll be more useful to you than I would be.”

“Come on, Yua, it's not about who’s more useful… Wait, three out of ten?”

I launched an attack on the man literally from within a shadow, at point blank range, and he still managed to hear it coming in time to dodge. But Mana can do it three out of ten times.

She nodded, but Mana was the one to answer.

“I can sneak up on the Chief, but only when he's mating with the Chief Mother. And it doesn't work every time. Sometimes he still catches me, grabs my tail and throws me out of his tent.”

“Why would you… why when they’re ma… Ughh…”

I brushed my finger through my hair, trying to wipe away the headache that started to take root after she so nonchalantly admitted to waiting until someone was making love in order to sneak up on them better.

The worst part was that I could actually see her doing just that.

“Pfft,” Elane snorted. “Why even ask for details if you don’t want them?”

“You know what, I don’t know.”

Regardless, Tama’s ears are just as bullshit-overpowered as my abilities, if not more so. I should just be proud of her for being able to sneak up on him at all, distracted or not.

If anything, I might be the one holding my little stealth archer back this time around.

“Anyways,” I said. “It's getting late. Let's get this done before the raiding party comes back.”

I pulled my hand away from Yua and jumped into the hole beside Mana. With a single cast of Material Destruction, I quickly carved out a chunk of soil on the side of the hole facing the first map marker. I kept it small enough to not need to worry too much about structural integrity, but large enough to keep from breaking my back.

“You two stay here and keep out of sight. Mana, you go in first.”

“Kay,” she said, properly masking her enjoyment this time. “Did you want to use your magic to borrow my eyes?”

“No, if I do that while we’re crawling, I won't be able to see how far from you I am. I'll just end up shoving my face into your butt.”

“So?”

“… I'll just use Fairy's Light so we can both see.”

“Oh, okay.”

Quick to drop the issue, Mana ducked into the tunnel and started to crawl. Once her tail dipped into the darkness, I knelt down behind her and was about to follow when Yua called out.

“Wait,” she said, grabbing hold of the hole's edge. “What will you do if you get caught?”

“We won't…”

I was about to say we'd do our best to make sure that didn't happen, but since Yua's worrying came from my own past incompetence, I gave her a proper answer.

“If that happens, we’ll find a safe place to teleport away. Our hoods and masks should at least keep our identities safe.”

Although, it might be best if I have Mana hide her tail as well…

“But what if you can't?” Yua asked. “What if they corner you?”

“Then I will shoot a fire ball into the air. If you see it, you two can storm the fort and help fight.”

“But what if you can't use any magic? What if they silence you?”

“Then I'll just have Mana scream as hard as she can. Surely you’ll be able to hear it from here.”

“But what if… What if you…”

She stopped herself, eyes darting left and right, searching for more ways to break apart my escape plans. Getting to see her so worked up over not being able to stand by my side was making me want to pin her down, so I looked away.

Then I laughed.

“What, you going to remind me to eat my veggies, too? Or that we need to be back before dark? We'll be fine, Yua. Just have a little faith in us.”

“Alex, that’s… Wah?!”

In a flash, Elane swooped behind Yua and wrapped her arms around her. With one hand flying down between the cat girl's thighs to grab hold of her crotch, while the other wrapped around to grab her breast – again – Elane yanked Yua into the air and away from the hole.

Instead of fighting her, Yua covered her mouth to suppress her gasp.

“Go on, Husband,” Elane smirked, setting Yua down. Patting her shoulder, Elane added, “We'll hold the fort out here while you storm the fort over there. Just get it done and come back in one piece.”

Still smiling, and with pride in my heart for having two beauties worry about me, I gave them a thumbs up and ducked into the tunnel.

I crawled inside and, when what little moonlight filtering through the trees faded into a pitch-black darkness that could only exist underground, I cast Fairy's Light. The glowing orb sprouted from my palm and floated up until it bounced off the roof of the tunnel and settled into place above my head. With it, I found Mana sitting on her knees at the end of the tunnel. Her lips were hidden once more by her mask, but her eyes sparkled with a barely-restrained giddiness that she was quick to hide once I got closer.

I stopped beside her to conjure a few support beams to keep the tunnel from collapsing on us before re-checking the position of the first map marker on my HUD compass. We turned a little to the right and I placed my hand on the wall of soil and pushed the next cast of Material destruction as far as I could. Another ten feet or so of soil vanished before our eyes.

“Let’s move.”

“Okay!”