Blood & Carrots Ep. 27

"You know, Alice... When I said I wanted time with you, I didn't mean with company in tow." Katrina purrs the words while sipping on her hot mug of blood.

"Don't be like that, my love. You will make them feel bad." I hum back in response, then both of our ears lift at your own words.

The cat shows her teeth in a grin and shakes her head. "I'm just messing with you, newbie. I appreciate the offer though, stick around."

The black cat looks to me and gives me a loving smile. "So... they seemed pretty interested in the whole Gloria thing, did you bring them up to speed?"

I nod my head and playfully collect the mug she was using, stealing a sip for myself. "I did, up to the whole point of meeting Toroah and her getting her wings."

Katrina gives a nod. "What do you plan to talk about next?"

I show my teeth in a grin and take a seat next to her, watching you sit in the chair opposite us. "Elias assigned you to go with her during some of her initial visits with the various lords and ladies of our court. Anything of note during that first month or so?"

The cat put a hand to her chin in thought. "Well, we spent the month bouncing around from house to house, staying at each for a few days. It was mostly for her to meet our people and understand how each was different. The only real note worth of the trip, was I got in a brawl with Harold and his wife Mino."

I giggle at the words. "That doesn't surprise me in the least."

"I would hope not, you were the first I told about it." Katrina grins at me as she speaks.

You speak out curiously towards us and the cat shrugs. "Well, of course I didn't win, it wasn't a malicious thing. I did put his bitch on her ass though. Harold is just crazy though."

"Ah, poor Mino. I remember the first time we earnestly fought." I hum the words fondly.

I see both you and my cat shift your gaze to me intently. "This is a story you have not told me, Alice." Katrina spoke out to me curiously.

"Oh? I could have sworn I did." I put a finger to my cheek in thought. "It was nothing I meant to hide. That was shortly after the Gloria incident and we had a lot going on that year. I guess it slipped my mind."

"Well now you have a captive audience, so let's hear it. Isn't that right newbie?" She speaks out with a grin and I see you nod your head.

I show a smile and nod before shifting to lay and rest my head in my cat's lap. I felt her hand move to stroke at my large white ears, playing with the ruby rings I had worn today. "So I was happy things worked out with Gloria, but I felt shaken over the encounter. I needed to get stronger, I had to work harder to protect my family... I had two goals in mind upon returning home."

Katrina nods while rubbing my ears and I show my sharp teeth and shift my gaze to you. "One was to go see Kazemde about improving myself against the various magicks of the world, the other was to sharpen my martial skills with Harold..."

#

I asked to see Harold earlier than usual. Usually, we met once per season but recent events left me eager to train. Had Elias not shown up or I had not gotten my words out to call my sheep, the outcome would have been very different.

"You ask too much of yourself, sister." The lion folded his arms while standing across from me in his armory, his ropey tail flicking about, the tuft of fur fluffed out slightly. "Not even a decade with us and you stood against centuries-old celestials and walked away, that in itself is a testament."

"Thank you, brother. However, I can't forget how powerless I was during that. Had I not called upon Lorelai, had my lord not showed himself when he did..." I clenched my fists and shook my head. "I would have lost all of them..."

I clenched my teeth and gave the lion a level gaze. "I have to get stronger, I can't just rely on others. What if the time comes Elias or Lorelai need me instead?"

Harold set me with a stern look. "If the time came that Lorelai needed help, you being helpless would be the least of all of our concerns."

"You damn well know what I mean, Harold." I spat the words with a glare.

"The martial arts of any style, be it with weapons or fists. It is like any other power, Alice. You must spend time cultivating it. You can't just will yourself to be stronger." Harold spoke the words and held his palm out. "You have made remarkable progress in these few years, I dare say you may be one of the most proficient users of a whip the world over. Easily in the top five. You certainly have surpassed me and I see so much skill in you, the same skill I saw in my former master that taught me."

I gave him a nod. "Thank you for the kind words, Harold." I unhooked the whip and tossed it aside on the mat. "Can you teach me more pointers of unarmed combat then? My gun and whip I feel fairly confident in, but as you said, my whip is useless once someone is atop me."

"Of course, my pupil. We will begin right now!" The lion showed his teeth and lowered himself into a stance I didn't recognize. "I have you for a few weeks again. I will make you into a killing machine with your bare hands."

I won't drag things out with the tiny details of the training. Suffice to say we trained like we did my first time with him. Sometimes not leaving the armory for a handful of days, foregoing sleep altogether and just fueling ourselves on blood as well as tenacity. Let's jump ahead to about the mid-portion of my second week there.

I grit my teeth as the lion blurred out of my vision, I didn't even think, my body just reacted. He was behind me grabbing for my shoulder but I sidestepped and leaped straight up and back. The massive cat let out a surprised grunt as my smaller body pushed to his back. I hooked a leg under his knee and sent him face-first to the mat in a loud displacement of air.

"Ha... your ability to adapt and grow never fails to surprise me, Alice!" Harold spoke the words with pride before climbing to his feet.

"I appreciate you humoring me and letting me drop you. I know you could have countered that." I showed a grin and put my hands upon my hips.

"If you don't know how to react to both counters and the falls of your enemy, you won't learn properly. Being ready for the next move is just as important when an attack fails, as when it lands." The lion showed his teeth in a grin, his palm extended as he spoke. His chest was rising and falling in heavy labored breaths, most of his training shirt torn showing his defined muscles beneath.

In the moments of calm, I found myself looking upon him and averted my eyes. It was getting harder to focus, of course, it had been a week and a half since I had any proper energy. He saw my body language and relaxed his stance. "Alice..." He called out in a surprisingly gentle tone to me.

"Yes, teacher?" I folded my arms over my stomach and looked upon him.

"I want to thank you for respecting my wishes. In these last years of training with me, you never used your powers to coax, even when I saw the ravenous hunger in your eyes." He bowed his head while speaking.

"Respecting the boundaries of your marriage and own preferences is hardly something to thank me for, Harold." I showed him a smile and shook my head. "Did you ever speak with Mino over my proposal? I never followed up after I made the offer years ago."

"I considered it, but I ultimately chose not to. I love my wife and she is all I need. The thought is a tantalizing one, but I do not wish to even ask. I do not want her to assume she isn't enough for me." He nodded his head as if telling it to himself as much as me.

I smiled and flicked my ears slowly. "You're a fine mate, Harold. I'm happy to count you as a friend."

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "We have been at this for days. Let us retire for the time being. Might I suggest taking a trip into the city and refreshing yourself?"

I nodded. "There are several hours of the night left, I think I might just do that."

"Will you be killing?" He asked me curiously.

I shook my head. "I've not taken the life of a mundane yet, I have no intentions to start."

He gave me a quick nod. "I expected as much, just watch yourself out there."

"Thank you, Harold. I shall." We parted ways and after cleaning up, I slipped away to the city to hunt.

It was nothing of note, simply coaxing a few mundane. I didn't even bother giving them the full session of mental lovemaking, I was eager to get back to training. I simply fed upon them and left them fatigued in bed, blissful from the exchange.

I came back from my hunt with renewed vigor and decided I would do a little practice in the armory on my own while Harold rested. A few hours passed of that before I heard the elevator in motion. I assumed it was Harold and turned to face it when the doors slid open. You can imagine my surprise when Mino was the one that stepped from it.

I folded my arms over my stomach as she approached and then bowed my head. "Lady Mino, thank you again for always welcoming me into your home and letting me train. How may I help you?"

"May we dispense of the formalities and talk woman to woman?" The dark-skinned cat spoke out in a matter of fact tone. I could tell by her inflection she had a clear purpose in this visit.

"Of course, Mino." I relaxed my stance and put my hands on my hips. "What's up?"

"You have been a constant in my husband's life for years, rabbit. I have never smelled you upon him short of the typical scent of sweat and blood that comes with training." She hissed the words showing her teeth.

"Yeah... imagine that? I'm a succubus, Mino but I've got standards and respect he's spoken for. Do you accuse me otherwise?" I showed my teeth and felt my body tensing at the topic.

"I do not. All the showering and sweat would not have hidden your scent on him. However, I have seen my husband's eyes when he speaks of you. I can tell he desires you." She snarled the words and thrust her hand out towards me.

"Actually he and I have-"

"You need not make excuses, rabbit. I have seen how you look upon him as well!" She snapped the words at me sharply.

I scowled at her and folded my arms. "I have a name, cat. Did you come down here to pick a fight?"

"I did." She spoke out pointedly to me.

I lifted my ears and frowned. "Mino, there is no need for hostility. I have no intention of trying to lay with your husband."

Her sharp canines showed as she spoke out in authority to me. "Do not play the fool with me, rabbit. I respect a warrior first and foremost. You and I will settle this here and now, and if you can best me, you may have him."

"I do not want to take your husband, I am spoken for. He is yours." I snapped the words out and rolled my neck and shoulder. "There is no point in this."

She laughed out bitterly. "Of course he is still mine! I do not offer to let you wed him, simply you may lay with him!"

"So... if I best you, I can fuck him?" I spoke the words crudely to get a rise from her.

"Yes..." She snarled in response.

I flexed and clenched my fingers. "Hmm... can I have you as well?"

The cat flinched at the words then clenched her teeth. "Are you mad? You are a woman, I wouldn't ever-"

"So you're straight, got it!" I gave her a grin. "That's a shame, I would have loved to taste you, Mino." I purred the words and shifted my stance.

She saw my shift and the silent acknowledgment I accepted her terms. "I have no desire to lay with you, but you may have him if you can best me." I saw her move into her stance.

"Oh that's great... I can't wait to-" I clenched my teeth as she blurred forward and was atop me in a blink. The tigress slammed her fist against my jaw and sent me spiraling to the floor with a thud.

"Truly? This is the extent of what your years with my husband has given you?" She hissed the words mockingly towards me.

I rubbed my jaw and coughed dryly. "Damn... anyone get the number of the truck that just hit me?" I spoke the words in an amused laugh and then looked back up at the cat, not bothering to rise. "If that's the best you're offering, you might as well ride that elevator back up and fetch your husband. I assure you the elevator won't be what I'm going to be riding after you do."

Mino showed her sharp teeth in a snarl and dropped a kick into my ribs that sent me several feet across the floor. "Do not mock me, prey!"

"Ah... there's that word again..." I hissed the words and climbed to my feet, rubbing my ribs, feeling them setting back into place and the fractures in my bones healing. I showed my teeth to her in a wide grin. "Alright, bitch. Now it's your turn!"

She set her stance as I darted towards her. She took a swing that I handily slipped past before leaping off my feet to slam my fist into her jaw, right in the same location she had struck me. The cat slammed down into the mat and bounced off it from the impact. I didn't let up and as soon as she settled I planted my boot into her ribs, hearing them crack like mine had done moments before.

"You know what? Just stay here, I will just have him in your bed!" I spat the words down at her, showing my teeth in a victorious grin. She hissed out and grabbed my ankle in response and I showed a wider grin.

She hauled me up by my ankle as the world flipped upside down. I gave her a smile while hanging upside down looking at her as she held me up by my ankle. "Disrespectful, bitch!" She thrust her free hand forward and I casually pushed my palm against it, catching the blow while hanging upside down.

"I tend to get a sassy mouth in fights, don't take it personally kitty." I quipped the words then yelped out as she slammed me down to the mat like a rag doll.

"Don't, make, light, of, me!" Each word ended with her lifting and dropping me back and forth on the mat before she threw me against the nearby wall. I slammed into it and crumpled to the floor, groaning as I rubbed my head.

"Yes... this is what I needed..." I found my feet and blinked the stars out of my vision before showing the tigress a coy smile. "You sure you don't want to retract that offer? Because I'm about to bring you to heel, cat."

"Vainglorious prey, I will have your throat!" Mino shifted her stance then blurred towards me. I sidestepped the grab and shoved my hand into her orange curly hair, grabbing a fistful before slamming her face to the wall she had thrown me against.

"Out, of, your, league!" I slammed her jaw into the wall with each word, in a retort to what she had done to me prior, then slung her across the mat by her hair, letting her scatter to the floor.

Mino snarled and shook her daze off before springing to her feet. Her eyes widened as she saw I had summoned my fire, blue flames covering my arms and legs. "I grow weary of this..." I hissed the words and was atop her in a flash.

The cat yelped out as I delivered a vicious blow from my knee into her stomach, my leg caked in flames. She took a knee while coughing and I grabbed her by the throat and hauled her off her knees. My teeth showed and my eyes burned with a cold white fire. "Say my fucking name, Mino!"

She winced at the grip to her throat, blood rolling from the corner of her mouth. "Tch... Alice."

"Good kitty." I spat the words and dumped her onto her ass. The flames faded and I folded my arms. "You're a hell of a warrior, but I've been fighting off lycanthropes, mages, and vampires for the last few years. I have even been throwing down with celestials. Some things training simply can't compare to. Do you understand? We are not even remotely in the same league anymore."

She gave a bitter laugh and rubbed her throat. "So it would seem. You are more than worthy, go take him."

"I won't. Because he does not will it." I spat the words at her and frowned. "He only wants you."

Mino looked upon me with a shocked glare. "What? Do not be absur-"

"Will you shut up?" I spat out at her and stomped my foot. "He loves you, dumbass! I told him years ago to propose the three of us together, he never brought it up because he only wants you, he didn't want you to feel you weren't enough."

"You speak the truth?" She hissed the words skeptically.

"Ask him yourself." I showed a grin and stomped over to her, offering a hand.

She took it and climbed to her feet, towering over me once more. "So you will not lay with him?" She rubbed her throat again and looked at me curiously.

"Not unless he wills it. He has said he doesn't and I will not coax him. I am honor-bound by my word." I frowned and turned my back to her. "He has eyes for only you, Mino. Cherish him and be thankful for his loyalty."

"And if he changed his mind?" She called out to me as I took a few steps away.

I looked back upon her curiously. "What if he did? Would you stop loving him and think less of your relationship?"

"A warrior has-"

"Why don't you give that shit a rest already? Love doesn't have a code, it doesn't need to make sense. Would you be hurt if he laid with another, yes or no?" I frowned and glared at her.

"I would not be happy about it." She hissed the words and stood up straight to face me.

"Yeah? Well, I think he knows that already. Don't throw your love away over some misguided honor." I sighed and looked away. "I bested you and all I ask is you use my name... and never call me fucking prey again."

"A fair request. I accept." She showed me her teeth in a grin and folded her arms. "I can see I've been lazy. I need to begin training more heavily and catch up with you."

"Well, you have a hell of an advantage. I am only friends with the greatest warrior on the planet, you are married to him. I might get a few weeks a year, you can get time with him almost daily." I felt my cheeks darken and I shook my head. "Oh, I would love to see some of the crazy violent sex you two would have after having been locked in a spar for hours..."

Mino's already dark cheeks grew a little darker. She shifted her eyes from my gaze. "I am not the voyeuristic type..."

"A shame... I would let you both throw me all over the mat, you could be as rough with me as you pleased..." I felt my tongue loll slightly and shook my head, reigning in the demons. "Sorry... it's the succubus in me."

She smirked and folded her ears. "I wonder how much of that is true. Regardless, thank you for respecting mine and my husband's boundaries."

"Cool. So we're good? Friends?" I extended my hand, a childish look in my eyes.

Mino hesitated before clasping my hand. "Friends may be a bit much... but you have my respect."

"Well... I guess I will just have to do my best to win you over. Next time I visit in a season, let's spar and see how much you've improved." I showed her a challenging glare while squeezing her hand.

"You have a deal, Alice." She showed her own challenging grin and returned the clench of my hand.

#

I grin up at Katrina and flick my ears. "And now you know the rest of the story."

"So you never laid with Harold? Huh... I always assumed you had." The black cat fondles my ears while I sigh happily.

"No, and still have not to this day." I hum the words and look over to you, my teeth showing. "You see my pet? Even your mistress has standards and will not lay with every creature she sees."

"Mistress?" Katrina laughs at my wordplay and rubs one of my ears. "You're laying it on thick with them, aren't you?"

I blush and frown. "You're going to ruin the air of mystery and desire I've built up over the last several days, Kat." My ears lift at your laughter and I give the cat a fussy huff.

"No doubt... why not tell them of your time at the circle next, since you already brought it up?" Katrina purrs the words, drifting her fingertips down my throat and over my chest, laying them to rest against my left breast while I lay there against her.

"You have been quite dominant with me these last days, Katrina." I hum the words then bite my lower lip, feeling her hand circling and kneading at my breast.