Everyday Life with Bubbles Ch. 13

Author's Note: Bubbles is not human. Penny royal is an unsafe remedy from the Middle Ages. Use the Pill.

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The sword that the ratgirl was dragging wasn't just as long as the woman was tall, it was about as wide as her forearm, and Bubbles could feel the weight of it rumbling through the ground as the village protector moved towards them slowly.

"Run." Erientyara commanded, stepping in front of her.

The moment that the salamander moved, Bubbles was thrown backwards by a concussive force of wind. She hit the ground, flying ass over head as she tumbled from the blast. As she came up, scratching dirt out of her ears, she saw the enormous sword resting against the salamander's shoulder.

Maly-Kiel had crossed the distance in a single instance, bringing the ridiculous sized weapon to bear. The salamander's scales were flared, and she was growling, struggling to hold back the force of the pink-eyed monster.

Bubbles didn't hesitate. She spun on one foot and took off sprinting. Naked or not, she knew death when she saw it. So, she immediately pounced back into the building she'd just lit on fire, diving and rolling to snag her wedding dress, before diving towards a wall and lifting a hand.

"Fireball!" She yelled excitedly, dismissing the wood panelling before landing in a coughing mess of dust and ash. The neko sprinted off into the wheatfields excitedly, laughing despite the insane danger of it all.

She had magic!

She'd had magic, her whole life, of course. She could make things go pop. Mostly that was about as useful as someone inflating a paper bag and then clapping it. Sometimes she could go a little dark with it and make someone's brain bleed, if she was feeling... Sadistic.

However, she wasn't a neko with magic. She didn't compare to hooktooth like Phoenix. She was a useless little kitten who could sing for her supper, not much more than that.

Except... Now, she'd apparently caught the attention of a goddess. Her last little pop of air had sent an entire brigade stumbling, with Luna helping. And now, that silver neko had given her a present like none other.

Probably had been really fucking stupid to use it in a farming village that was barely surviving on the edge of the wastes. Fires are scary in the best of places, let alone somewhere it would be the last mistake a village could handle.

But she could throw fireballs! It wasn't even an effort, unlike her usual spell!

Bubbles struggled not to laugh giddily as she ran through the field, as well as struggling even more not to throw her hand up and just release another one. It was almost addictive, being able to create a massive ball of flame and wind, whenever and wherever she wanted.

Her humour vanished as pain lanced through her left shoulder.

The neko hit the ground, ploughing into it with a hiss. She gingerly touched the cut, looking in fear as her fingertips came back red. She looked up in terror at the ratgirl approaching her and tossing a knife in one hand.

Bubbles sat up slowly, trying to reach the knife embedded into her shoulder blade, as her bottom lip wavered, "She didn't even mean it!"

"Yeah, I got that. But Maly-Kiel is Maly-Kiel. She says your a danger. So we get rid of the danger." The ratata yawned.

The neko finally got her fingertips to the edge of the knife, but failed to grab it. She winced at the movement, and then glared at the pink-eyed woman approaching her, "Fine! Kill her if it'll make you happy!"

"Happy? I don't know what happy is. I'm the spare. My purpose for being is waiting for Maly-Kiel not to be Maly-Kiel." The ratgirl shrugged, "Is happy a good thing? I've heard it's a good thing."

Bubbles finally managed to get a finger and the knife hilt, and flicked it. She hissed as the blade slipped free and hit the ground. The neko staggered upright, "Happy? Happy!? Today is her fucking wedding day! Anyone who fucks up her day... Is going to -"

"I've got this one, kitten." Ninaein kissed her cheek, and walking by her, "Kaia? Mind taking the bride out of range?"

"Fireball!" Bubbles ignored both her women, too enraged to deal with it.

Inny-Kiel vanished even before the flames rolled out over the space. She didn't flicker or anything like that, she just wasn't there anymore. Instead, another knife reappeared in the same goddamned cut in Bubbles' shoulder, and the ratgirl was standing behind all three of them.

The bride squealed in pain, falling to the ground with tears welling up in her eyes. Ninaein screamed in rage, wheeling around, before wavering weakly as she tried to threaten with her bridal dagger, before letting out a spray of vomit and collapsing to the ground with no further ceremony.

Ninaein didn't even twitch, even as Bubbles scratched desperately at the ground, scooting to her sick wife's side. Her bottom lip trembled, her own injury meaning nothing in the face of this. So many warnings that Nina was sick, and shouldn't be doing anything.

Kaia jumped in front of them with a violent crack of her tail as her red eyes blazed into life. The succubus issued a snarl, "You come near mine, then I swear by any god that is listening, that I will end you."

"Really?" Inny-Kiel reappeared close enough to arrogantly flick the underside of the succubi's chin, before vanishing and reappearing out of reach. Teasing the poor woman.

"Save her." Bubbles whispered, crying and staring down, "Please, goddess. She knows it's selfish. But... S-save Nina!"

There was no strangely physical touch that wasn't there. No laughter from someone she couldn't see. There wasn't even a comforting presence. Bubbles felt nothing at all, in the moment when she thought she actually needed the goddess.

She started howling in pain, weeping and rubbing at her cheeks as Ninaein didn't so much as breathe. The ratgirl in question continued to tease at the increasingly furious Kaia, but Bubbles could feel her wife's emotions, now. Could feel the crushing powerlessness threatening to drag Kaia's depression up over her head and drown her.

Somewhere else there was the roar of a pissed off dragon, and the sound of steel on scale. It sounded like that particular fight was going about as well as this one was.

Rali might have been able to negotiate a peace, having the letter to the ratking or whatever, but Bubbles didn't know where the elf was, and she doubted that Inny-Kiel would actually give a flying fuck. The woman smelled like she was getting off on her cruelty.

Besides, if there really was a ratking, this wasn't his village.

Bubbles forced herself to her trembling feet. She dragged her wedding dress back over her head with deliberate slowness. The neko stepped up beside her succubus, putting a reassuring hand briefly on her shoulder before she stepped forward towards whatever fate awaited her with shining eyes.

Ninaein had started to feel what Bubbles could feel, so she had to assume that Kaia could, as well. She needed to do this quickly, before the ones that loved her tried to get in her way.

The neko glared at the arrogant thing, "It was her fireball. Let the others go. She'll let you kill her."

"Threats get put down. Doesn't matter where they come from." The pink-eyed woman was unimpressed, pointing a knife directly into the bottom of the catgirl's neck.

Bubbles smiled sadly, the light in her eyes flickering as she struggled to keep the magic bottled in. Struggled to keep the tiny yellow marble of energy, that she'd summoned into her core when she'd pulled the dress on, contained inside herself.

"Boom." The neko shrugged, and let go.

There was no time for Bubbles to close her eyes and relax into it. A fireball expands too rapidly for most creatures to escape, especially if they're arrogant little ratgirls who think they're halfway to invincible and toying with an assumed lesser creature.

Yet, instead of a little blip, or a wash of burning pain, she felt a strangely horrible impact and lurch. Falling over backwards as something tiny burst through her chest and lit up every nerve fibre in pain.

Bubbles fell down to one knee, holding her chest and feeling like she wanted to vomit. In front of her a tiny figure tossed the yellow ball directly up into the air, right as it expanded and threatened to blow out her ear drums as the heat struck them.

The small figure's pink tail swished back and forth, "Odpieprz sie."

Inny-Kiel stared in surprise and then very slowly sheathed her dagger. She scratched the side of her head, "You're defending this piece of gowno?"

"Odpierdol sie, dziwko!" The small rat screamed.

The ratgirl rolled her eyes, "I might not be willing to screw you, but Maly's on her way. And you have to do what she says."

Bubbles groaned, and spat a mouthful onto the ground, "What... Did you do to her!?"

"Hullo! I speak Common." The tiny ratboy smiled nervously at her.

Before the catgirl could choke out a frustrated retort, Kaia's voice kicked out, "Ninaein's still not breathing, Bubbles! So unless you also got some kind of healing with this new fireball spell, can we get the fuck out of here, and somewhere safe!?"

The neko hissed, before turning and sprinting over. She hauled the thief onto her shoulder and staggered upright, looking at her other wife with more than a hint of anger.

Kaia waved, "Go!"

"Hullo! I speak Common." The rattan shoved Kaia, and then turned to bare their claws at the much, much bigger rat.

The succubus sighed, rolled her eyes, and then took off sprinting. As she did, she swept Bubbles into her arms, including the thief she was struggling to carry. The three of them fled across the now-burning fields, leaving behind their surprising saviour.

Bubbles felt more than a little guilt at taking advantage of Inny-Inny's obsession with her, but she was much more concerned that her just-married wife might be dying on her.

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Ninaein was leaning up against a tree, completely passed out. Kaia had managed to get the woman breathing again, but that was about the limit to the medical expertise between the two of them.

Which meant that Bubbles was sitting nearby, holding her knees and rocking anxiously.

What she really needed was a certain woman that she'd said she hated, and then fed a fireball directly into her reptilian jaws. Right before causing a disaster that meant that same woman was probably fighting for her life against a rattan born to fight who had no concept of slowing down and an insane amount of pain tolerance.

Kaia was looking relaxed, pretending to sit and idly play with Ninaein's clothes, as if she were considering pickpocketing the thief. Unfortunately, Bubbles could feel the sheer bloody panic of her wife. The woman was convinced that Nina was dying, and didn't know what to do about it.

As for the feelings coming from Ninaein... They were vague and uncomfortable. Like the woman was falling and confused, but the feelings didn't have a lot of definition to them. She felt like she was slipping in and out of a deep sleep.

Like she was dying.

The neko sniffled loudly, and wiped angrily at her cheeks.

All her fault. This was all her fault. She shouldn't have let the goddess... Blaming the god would make her feel better. It was also probably a real dumb thing to do, even if it was halfway the god's fault. However, Luna would probably punish her for that thought.

The dirt nearby exploded as the salamander fell out of the sky. The woman brushed at her red scales, and then blew at her fringe. "I can understand that I have earned your hate, but could everyone stop trying to kill Nin'ae'in? I do not like seeing my work go to waste."

Bubbles stared in shock as the woman knelt in front of her wife, placing two fingers against the side of the catgirl's throat. Erientyara pursed her lips, looking sightlessly up to the right and counting silently as she checked the thief.

Erin's scales were disturbed. More than a few of them were scratched and no longer sitting as flat as they should. In one of two places, she might actually be bleeding. Maly-Kiel had certainly made use of the bastard sword.

"They won't be following us." Erientyara stated stiffly, grabbing Ninaein's chin and twisting her head back and forth, making the woman's hair flop. "I managed to speak to their guardian, after I broke her sword. That I have a message for the Rataraed from Edric managed to calm the creature. Well... Calm enough she became more interested in putting out the fires than putting us down."

Bubbles sniffled, "Nina."

However, before the doctor could give her opinion on the thief, a tiny figure appeared. They didn't bound up from nearby. They simply appeared where the salamander had been crouched, and the fiery woman reappeared on her side at the edge of the clearing.

The figure chattered loudly, in something that the catgirl didn't understand, and then spat a huge gob of what looked like chewed grass into their hands. Inny-Inny rolled it around in her hands, smiling over at Bubbles enthusiastically, "Wazne jest blisko. Important."

"Nina's important." Bubbles sniffled anxiously.

Erientyara groaned, sitting up and knocking dirt out of one of her ears, "Not what that means. She's claiming you as her bride, again."

The catgirl winced, "You'll only give Nina the medicine if I agree to be your wife?"

"Skurwysyn!" The ratgirl swore in frustration, and then ripped the front of Ninaein's dress open, ruining the wedding outfit. She pushed it around the side to where the still-healing scar was, and quickly spread the green goop over it.

The unconscious catgirl groaned, her arms trembling for a moment.

Inny-Inny snickered, and then pulled a clean bandage from under her skirt and wrapped it tightly around the woman's side. She tucked it in tightly, and used a small bone-carved something to clip it into place. Finally, she lay the thief down on their back.

The ratgirl stood up slowly, cracked her back and then frowned, "Mmm... I speak Common."

Then she vanished.

Bubbles scratched her head, "Um... What just... Happened?"

"She's a doctor. Apparently." Erientyara approached cautiously, examining the treatment, "I don't exactly recognise what she used, but anyone should recognise a poultice when they see one. This is her land, she'll know what works. This close to the wastes... Injuries can be deadly. Toxins in the air, the water, the soil. I would trust the rat."

The catgirl nodded, "She thought they were bargaining. Nina's life for wedding."

"Ratata don't do that." Erientyara shook her head, "The girl belongs to you, Bubbles. Whether you acknowledge her or not. Until the day she dies, she is already yours. So... She saw that you were worried about Nin'ae'in, and tried to fix it. In the same way that if she saw you were hungry, she would try and feed you. If you see a necklace you like in a market, she'll steal it. She exists to make you happy. That is her entire reason for being, now."

"Bubbles feels sick."

The salamander shrugged, "They're breeders. Have you ever noticed how there are always ratata? Humanity treated them as the lowest of all slaves. Casually killing one resulted in no one caring. They never had good housing. Void, the miners slept in their own tunnels. Fewer than half waking up each night, but there were always more. It's because of this."

The catgirl frowned, "She can't tell if the fucked up Erin is even more fucked than she thought and a racist monster, or if that she just giving doctor opinion on rats."

"Important!" A voice squeaked, and Bubbles was surprised as she felt a brief hug from behind, and then the ratgirl bounced over, hauling a bag of grass that was bigger than they were.

Inny fluffed it quickly, and then laid it down underneath Ninaein's head. The girl turned around and grinned proudly at Bubbles, making her feel like she should reward them, somehow.

They might have just saved her wife's life. And they had fought of Inny-Kiel. Somehow.

"Thank... You." She whispered, and shuffled closer to the thief, kissing her forehead. "Is... Is she going to be okay?"

"Wazne jest blisko?" Inny asked curiously, her tail reaching up hesitantly before suddenly racing around Bubbles' middle. Drawing the ratgirl to her side as it tightened first into a belt, and then into some tentacle that made it hard to breathe.

"Nina is hers." Bubbles struggled to speak, "So... Um... She's important to me? Bubbles is... Sorry. That Inny wants it, too."

The ratgirl shrugged, and then pointed at Ninaein, "Important."

"Yes."

Then pointed at herself and shrugged, "So, important."

"Huh?"

"You chose Ninaein, so she chooses her, too." Erientyara chuckled, and then gave a heavy sigh. "I should return to Rali. The two of us will make our way back to Edric, and try and secure the refugee routes for the saved kittens. You're safe, now."

"Stay." Bubbles muttered, looking away from the salamander.

"You have already made it clear I disgust you. I can serve better as a guardian for catgirls that the world wishes were dead." The salamander spoke, her voice going tight.

The catgirl shook her head, "Before... Fireball... Goddess gave her another present. Stay."

"You did fireball my face." Erientyara pointed out, "Is that not proof enough of your hatred? Whatever the goddess has given you -"

"Not Bubbles." She shook her head, and smiled up at her sadly, "The Luna said that Bubbles could either kill her fucked up Erin... Or she could... Um... Give... Egg."

The salamander blinked slowly.

The wind whistled through Erientyara's unkempt scales. The distant sounds of a single ratata squeaking out orders and the splashing of water could just barely be heard.

The leathery skin of Kaia creaked, as the succubi held her breath. The leaves of the tree above them crinkled and scratched back and forth on top of them, as the sound of the promise fell out into the world.

Erientyara's knees went together and the royal dragon fell to the ground. Staring up at the tiny and irrelevant catgirl, awe and wonder in her black eyes.

A quirk of timing had the sun dip lower, the yellowing sky bursting into a brilliant red behind the neko. Inny gave a happy squeak and jumped up, landing on the catgirl's shoulders and sinking her hands into their hair.

The smell of smoke from the disaster they had caused was strong in the air. Little flecks of ash were falling here and there.

"I... Was wrong." The draconid whispered in astonished awe, "You're not a fun streetcat that appeared to claim my mate's heart."

Bubbles blinked innocently, pale yellow eyes confused, "She just said she could heal you. Is... Isn't it what you want?"

"More than anything..." Erientyara rumbled, before suddenly bowing down and touching her forehead to the dirt, "... My king."

"Bubbles not king." The catgirl gave a light-hearted giggle, "Also, Inny? What fuck you doing?"

The ratgirl kissed the head beneath her claws, and announced proudly, "I speak Common!"

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A silver-haired neko looked on proudly at the scene. She lifted a hand ominously, only to have a sword's flat land against her wrist. She glared sideways at the orcish god of war. "What do you want, Torruc?"

"I came to see for meself." He growled, voice shaking the dirt. "This is the one you chose? She's nothing but a common neko. She is a coward who dreams not of battle and glory, but of a warm bed and a dick between her legs."

"Not always a dick. Sometimes she just wants to be alone without any of the stresses of this brutal world." The goddess replied proudly.

He sneered, "The War for the North... You place it in her hands?"

"En-tirely." Luna giggled, "Now, you must excuse me. That's my cue to go fuck her, again."

"Tell me!" He roared at her back as she walked forward, "How will that thing guarantee you victory over the Golden Kitsune!?"

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