Crossing Boundaries Pt. 08

This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.

Please note that all characters are clearly over eighteen and written as such in all stories.

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He tried to calm his heartbeat as they approached the anthro dragoness' residence, Oshun of the school of battle mages within the university who had called for him. Giselle didn't seem to think that anything at all was out of the ordinary there, walking along with her usual light step, though she would never be trained out of constantly looking for danger, for threats, her eyes sliding one way and then the other, always watchful. Some things, for her species and simply who she had become after her intense training, would always be such for her.

Kael would never have admitted it out loud, but he felt better that she was there with him, the scroll containing directions, which had been sent via a messenger a few hours before, more surprising than he had expected. He had thought that the teachers were housed in a section of the university that was more lavish than the student quarters -- even what he had been assigned -- but Oshun was off on her own, distant, in the forest that was a part of the school grounds. Rather than being densely populated with conifers or pine trees, something begetting a forest of that size, it was framed in deciduous trees that lost their leaves in the winter. He wondered if that ever made her long for spring more, or maybe the cycle of the seasons was something that Oshun wanted to be closer to. With trees that were evergreen, it was easier to forget, sometimes, the depths of winter. Humans tried to ignore the seasons as much as possible, though expeditions did take them out to learn about the environment too without tarnishing it or trampling what they were allowed to live within in any way.

Light filtered down through the leaves, a hint of warmth on their bare arms. Kael smiled, trying to relax, wearing a tunic style top with a band around the waist and open sleeves that cut around his shoulders, not offering much sleeve at all to cover his arms with. It was a light fabric that was popular with anthros, at least the younger ones at the university, and he appreciated how it allowed his flexibility to be shown to a greater extent. There were no tight restrictions for putting on airs of formality when he had that on. Paired with loose trousers that allowed a full range of motion in a similar, light shade, he was, at the very least, cool and ready for action.

But what, exactly, did he think he had to be ready for? The dragon's residence came into view, Giselle pricking up her ears, though she was too well trained to express her joy at it. It could have been a fairy tale cottage to one who was a little more romantic, but what Kael saw was a larger countryside residence that offered her privacy from the main bustling of the university, a dragon who enjoyed her seclusion, being away from others when she had the space and liberty to do so. The walls outside were designed as if to show the framework of the large cottage, a ground floor and a first floor clearly in view, though the grey tiled roof showed that there was another window up there -- perhaps a guest bedroom? Of course, the rest of it appeared more than large enough for whatever was needed of anyone staying there, a pond out front and no fence, though the flowerbeds under the windows were densely populated with reds and yellows and greens. Horticulture, however, was not something that Kael could have claimed to be all that into.

"Ah, I see that you have found your way here without any troubles."

Oshun was a tall dragoness, easily discernible, though there was a quietness to her presence too, moving lightly, fluidly. Battle mages didn't only fling magic, after all, and Kael dug up a memory, however vague it was, from one of his books, the rigorous physical fitness regimes that they had to keep up to be at the peak of their game. A lesser battle mage, of course, could still fight, but the truly refined and well-honed were the ones that tackled such feats that required discipline to the extreme.

Her scales, where shown, splashed through a rich pink-purple, on the edge between the two colours, and a lighter shade of violet, offering the impression that she was, in fact, red and purple -- at a glance. There were no plate scales under her chin going down her chest, though the cut of her clothing was more feminine, tightened at the waist, sleeves running down her arms, though the white fabric was more flexible at the elbows. At least, it gave the impression of being such, her trousers a slate-grey, loose and allowing movement, similar to what Kael had adopted for himself.

Her horns, however, were lean and elegant, muscle lining her body where he was able to see it. Those horns though... They reminded him of the branches of a tree when the first buds of spring were blooming forth, unfurling their petals for the first time that year. Each horn split into two tines, yet the focus drew down the shape of her angular muzzle, strong and feminine, to her intense eyes, the shimmering blue like a pool that one could dive into.

She, however, was nothing in comparison to Giselle or Celine, he tried to tell himself, even if he did not believe it. It was difficult to be so convicted about something when his heart turned over strangely and wonderfully at the sight of her, the dragoness a good head taller than him, though Kael was not a small man by any means. He was strong in his own way as he exhaled and smiled politely, though did not quite know whether to extend his hand or not. One thing was certain and that was that he was to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground, the lightly worn path that led to the front door of her dwelling. Whereas humans would float, using their psychic abilities, he could not, despite that being the formal tradition that he was used to.

There was too much to get used to there.

"Yes, thank you -- your directions were most comprehensive, Madam Havran."

"Excellent. And, please, call me Oshun also. We do not impose formalities here, not beyond the younger years of schooling. We are all adults here."

The sway of her tail drew his eye and he could not help but be fascinated by it. Whereas he had spent an awful lot of time with Giselle and Celine, a dragon's tail was an entirely different thing, hers tipped with a pointed, triangular tip, though it was not large enough hat he could imagine it being used in battle in any way. She stood tall, her shoulder blades pushed back naturally, though that could have been the weight of her wings that helped her lift her chest more, bracing parts of her body that Kael could not even begin to imagine the sensation of.

"Sit, please."

A table had been set up outside, oddly civilised, or perhaps more friendly than Kael would have expected a meeting with a university teacher to be. His experience of teachers was of stuffy rooms and looking longingly out the window, even if so much of their lives were lived indoors, where they could not affect the outside environment and the environment could not affect them. It was the way of living, though that was something, thankfully, that was slowly changing, all for the better.

Oshun, however, sat him down as if he was equal to her and he carried on in a similar suit, accepting her offer of tea, which had already been brewed. It would have been rude not to have some and even Giselle tried it, though the canine could not quite sit still in her chair where she would have usually preferred to sit on the ground or even stand, ready for action at a moment's notice. Still, that was one more thing in the anthro lands and, beyond that, she was going to have to become used to, over time.

"So..."

Kael grimaced, not wanting to broach the subject that he knew he had to. Over the edge of her teacup, the dragoness eyed him, calmly waiting, a faint curl of smoke wafting from her nostrils.

"We're here to talk about what I did the other day, aren't we?"

It was not the most eloquent way of phrasing it, but he had to know, his heart beating a little quicker, though, for once, not in a good way. He breathed as slowly and as deeply as he could without making it obvious, but even Giselle knew that he was struggling a little, ears swivelling in his direction as she shifted in a little closer. If they had been alone in his quarters, she might have even laid her head in his lap to comfort him, but that was very much not suitable behaviour to undertake out in public -- even when it was only Oshun there.

Oshun stirred her tea, diffusing the herbs through the hot water more evenly. Steam rose from the cup.

"Yes, Kael, but not in the way that I sense you are envisioning. To put you at ease, everything is smoothed over. I imagine they will try to speak to you again and that is not something that I can control, but no repercussions are lurking under my wing for you for this meeting or any other one to come."

Kael exhaled, a short laugh of relief breaking his lips as he half-shrugged.

"Thanks -- wow, yes, really, thank you. I didn't mean for anything like that to happen, I didn't even think it was allowed on university grounds, but I didn't feel there was any other way to get safely away without hurting anyone else."

She waved him off, staying his explanations, that, to her, had already been understood.

"No need to say more, I completely understand. It is quite common for young dragons to want to test themselves against one another and, bringing them to a university like this, they will continue to test themselves against others, regardless of whether they are dragons or not. Their customs do not cross over to all other species, though I'm sure you saw that most do enjoy a good show too."

Humour tickled her tone and Giselle chuckled, glancing at Kael instinctively. Sometimes, she still thought that she had to ask for permission to speak, but that was no longer the nature of their relationship and, frankly, that was not something that Kael had ever wanted to be between him. Regardless of how other humans saw anthros, as in the dogs, he had always had a little bit of a different perspective, a sense that there was something else there, something that he could find if only he dug deeply enough. In the end, it had not been all that difficult to source, the two of them on an equal level when it came to intelligence, only coming from different worlds. That troubled him a bit, but he could at least be glad that Giselle did not have to be subservient in any way that she did not personally want to be, not with him, not ever with him.

"A lot were watching there," Giselle said, though she struggled a little not to simply lap her tea out of the cup, manners not always something that she had been highly skilled in, during her training. "There were some like that, back where I was trained, that always wanted to be the biggest, the strongest. They didn't understand that they didn't have to push others down for that, but that they could be the strongest merely by being a leader of the pack too. You have to know who to look up to also and looking down on anyone else rarely brings good."

Kael blinked at her. He'd never heard her speak so openly about her time in training but, to be fair, it was not as if he had asked her all that much about it anyway. Things simply had not gone as he'd expected in that regard and he vowed to be a little less curious about the world of the anthros and ask her more about how she had experienced where they had both lived, for there was more to be had there than the wealth of knowledge that he thought that he alone had accumulated.

He asked a lot of questions, but didn't always ask the right people, or anthros, them. That was something that only he could resolve.

The dragoness turned to Giselle, addressing her as an equal too. Of course, though anthros were not the same as dogs with the humans, there was still history there, the part that the dogs had played in the war lingering. Kael wondered if those times, regardless of who had instigated it back then, would ever be forgotten.

"And how much training have you undergone? I understand that you were in a military branch?"

"Yes, military and bodyguard, ma'am."

"Just Oshun, please."

Giselle nodded. Sometimes the little formalities were more comfortable for her to say, but she deferred to the dragoness, as her training indicated. It was not for her, after all, to always be comfortable, not when it came to little things like that.

"There is no need to hold a strong military presence currently, as we were told, but there are more and more humans, nobles and those with the ability to do so, that are wishing to travel. That is one of the reasons that I am here with Kael, to act as a bodyguard."

Giselle smiled, shooting Kael a cheeky look that, before meeting him, she would never have done.

"Not that Kael needs a bodyguard..."

Oshun laughed, the sharp sound of her lilting laugher surprising them, carrying through the small clearing surrounding her abode on the university campus.

"You could say that, couldn't you? I can see where it may have been thought that he required a bodyguard, for I know we do not see humans passing through, not even when it comes to military and diplomatic business, without guards of some kind. That they are always dogs, like you, must mean that they revere your strength."

Giselle's tail wagged, lips parting faintly as she panted happily. However, in that regard, she was too polite to open her maw all the way, something that she had picked up on being a faux pas around humans. Anthros didn't seem to pant like that either, thus she did not, taking care.

"I hope so! I try to do the best I can, ma'am... I mean, Oshun."

The dragoness smiled.

"And what is your role here, if not solely that of a bodyguard!"

"She's a personal assistant too," Kael said, though not even he could keep the fondness out of his tone, wanting so very badly to run his fingers through her fur at that very moment, to feel the curves of her strong body. "I think more so with that than bodyguarding, but it makes my parents feel better, what with me being so far from home."

Oshun made it easier for him to relax and ease into the conversation, exhaling a breath, a smile lightening his expression. It did not, after all, need to be ever so formal all the time.

"So, when it comes to guarding, however..." Oshun leaned forward, obviously curious but not in a position where she felt at all like she had to hide it. "What would you do? Of course, Kael asked you to step aside when the dragon trio attacked in public. What would you have done if they had come for him before he could react?"

The dog's answer was immediate.

"I would have taken them out, Oshun. No one is to lay a hand on Kael when I am around and I would do that, whether or not they are students at the university too."

"How far would you go?"

Kael didn't know why the dragon was pressing the issue, but there was an edge of tension in her, leaning her elbows even further onto the table, which suddenly seemed too small. It didn't offer enough space for two friends and a strange, though he had to be respectful, swallowing his nerves, offering a smile, doing his best. Sometimes, faced with such a strange land that was unfamiliar to him in so many ways, that was the best that Kael felt he could do, even then.

Giselle, however, had no such qualms about answering questions.

"I would give my life for him, Oshun, take a bullet for him. There is nothing that I would not do to protect Kael and any human that I am serving, guarding and protecting at that time."

Her formality and training came through in her repeated use of the dragoness' name, but Oshun was hardly fazed by it, sitting back, crossing her arms, nodding solemnly. Giselle licked her lips, taking another sip of tea, better able, after a little practice, to move her lips more softly around the edge of the cup. It still wasn't the easiest thing for her.

"Very interesting... Not even our battle mages at the highest levels would give so devotedly. But that is a very different thing. Both are trained for battle, to fight, but you see devotion and servitude to those around you as part of it."

Kael did not correct her about the exact nature of the relationship between dogs and humans, for to say that was a little contentious as it was would have been shy of the truth. Dogs were not "true anthros" to many over there, though Giselle had not noticed the sly looks and dark mutterings, not when her attention was elsewhere. Or maybe she didn't care about that sort of thing. Kael could not be sure and didn't want to highlight it to her either by asking the question.

"You would fight for him," Oshun said slowly, maintaining strong eye contact with Giselle, the dog staring back intently, unblinkingly. "You would kill for him. You would die for him. Giselle, are all of these things true?"

"Yes!"

That was the only word that was needed, punctuated with a short, sharp bark, the dog snapping up to her hind paws and to attention, her back ramrod straight and shoulders pushed back. Even her tail was still, as if she was standing in the middle of a line-up at the dog training academy, putting on a presentation and a show to display just who there was the best of the best. In but a single moment, she was back at the academy, showing off why she was top of her class, her ears pricked and her tail stiff, her body strong and powerful, every inch of her primed to fight.

Still, she was breath-taking and it was a moment before Kael blinked himself back to some kind of reality, coughing into his hand, waving her down gently, trying to get her to relax.

"Giselle, you don't have to do that here, don't worry... Oshun isn't being formal in asking that."

"No, no, dear..." Oshun softened her tone, Giselle responding, licking her lips, working her jaw, her legs folding to lower her back into her chair, though she still listened attentively as if the dragoness was the most important thing in the world at that moment. "Don't worry, I'm not assessing you. Only...impressed. I hope that all dogs have your passion for such work as you have truly made me reconsider."

Kael did not know what that meant but Giselle glowed so much, lips quivering as if she wanted to let out a little whimper, that he didn't say anything, letting his leg brush hers under the table. I'm here with you, he wanted to say, though it was not as if either of them could forget with the proximity of their bodies.

One thing, however, had stood out to him when it came to the dragons, how they had behaved, the push for fighting and, simply so, how much of the conversation that it had dominated so far. Were dragons always that aggressive? And how could he ask that when he had a dragon right there before him, drinking tea with the two of them? Was that even something polite that he could bring up at all?

Of course not, but he could not say, could not ask, shaking his head, trying to work through the words in his head. The dragoness' patience had to be noted too, sipping her tea, the tip of her tail curling back and forth. There was a soothing sense of patience about her, though that could very well have come from her role and position in life, what she did for her students, all the teaching that had, in turn, taught her more about life too. At least, Kael could only suppose.

"I see..." He said slowly his thoughts working sluggishly as if through thick mud. "So, what came about with the dragons challenging me... Was that was not something unusual that happened there?"