How to Train Your Orkhai Ch. 06

Editor's note: this story contains scenes of rough, reluctant, dubiously consensual, or non-consensual sex or scenarios.

Waves rolled against the shore again and again, drowning the sound of the rain that'd been falling down haphazardly for nearly an hour now as Tarai and her girlfriend walked the shores. Not that she minded it, really - even with her new... clothes leaving a lot more skin bare than she was used to, the orkhai didn't have any problems with a bit of water.

No, it was the deep gray clouds that were approaching that worried her far more than some droplets. The clouds... and the storm that'd perhaps come with them.

"A-are you sure we shouldn't find some shelter?" the orkhai asked her companion who'd climbed and stood on a rock, peering into the distance. The way the neko's feline ears perked up at her voice never failed to seem utterly cute to her. "The wreckage should probably still be there when the sky clears up!"

Jumping down from her vantage point with a little flourish, Lanica nailed the landing. "What, and let others run away with all the salvage? Don'tcha think that'd be a lil' bit dull?" the catgirl smirked, the glimmer in her eyes just daring Tarai to disagree. The excitement wasn't the orkhai's immediate concern, however...

"...But what if a s-storm breaks out...?" the tall half-elf muttered, her eyes drawn to the distant blotches of gray and black.

"It'll be fiiiine!" Lanica replied, grabbing Tarai's hand and giving the towering half-blood a little tug. "You're all safe with me, I promise. Now, come on - the wreck they mentioned's gotta be close!"

Tarai knew the eager catgirl couldn't really keep her from harm if a storm would begin, and yet... hearing Lanica's words took some of the edge off and sparked the selfsame excitement the neko felt in her chest. "...Well, maybe something pretty washed up..." she smiled a little sheepish smile.

"Oh, we'll find you something pretty, just you wait!"

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The rain definitely sucked, but Lanica wasn't going to let that ruin a chance at some perfectly good salvage. "After all, no one sane would turn down a bit of coin, right?" she thought, her hand clutching the gems hidden in her clothes as a greedy smile twisted her lips for but a moment.

After the whole trip across the Dreadsea went as well as it did, the catgirl honestly didn't have any concrete plans for what to do next - there was no way she wasn't too far away to be found by the long suckers of the law for her little mischief, however, and that thought made her tail shiver with delight. She was free - free to do whatever she pleased, and with an adorable giantess of a girl to toy with...

Her eyes sought out the orkhai following her lead from time to time, and the way poor Tarai just kept scanning the horizon for those pesky little clouds made the catgirl sigh under her breath. As long as the orkhai didn't end up panicking too hard, however, the neko didn't really mind.

It was a strange feeling, being essentially on her own now. Before, she could rely on her gang to share most of the juicy leads with each other - of course, the real scores everyone kept to themselves if they could get away with handling them on their own. Not that she could complain about that, given her own track record. Still, there were always marks to fleece, shipments to make disappear, secrets to blackmail those with an overburdened coin pouch with...

Now, there was exactly none of that, and the two were entirely on their own when it came to finding something to do. Thankfully, a patient ear is often rewarded, and so Lanica's had been when she heard of a tradeship that'd hit the rocks a good way further up the coast. Tarai had been very eager to investigate it with her - clearly, her dear girlfriend at least had a good sense of adventure to her. "At least she makes for half-decent company," the neko thought, biting her lower lip as she glanced at those abs that glistened with the rain. "More than decent to look at, too..."

She couldn't wait until it was time for a bit of training - so far, they'd gotten some blowjob practice on the dildo in every evening as promised, and she was not about to let that streak be broken. "Maybe we should scale things up a bit soon...?"

Her musings were disrupted when she saw Tarai crane her neck, the orkhai's attention obviously caught by something. "...Is that it?" the towering half-blood pointed into the distance. Having to tiptoe and look over a few rocks to follow Tarai's finger, Lanica saw some bits of what very well might be what they had been looking for.

A ship's hull, broken and spread over a part of the coastline only a few hundred paces away - or Lanica's paces, anyway. It was hard to deny the orkhai's legs covered a bit more ground with each stride, after all. "Let's check it out!" the neko suggested before excitement made her dash over, leaving the surprised orkhai with little choice but sprinting herself.

Wet sand squished underneath their boots with each rushed step, and soon the women were within a rock's throw of one of the larger chunks - until Lanica saw two orange flickers near it and darted behind a rock. "People!" she hissed to Tarai, but the orkhai hesitated the briefest moment before hiding herself as well. Glowering, the neko crawled over to the tall half-orc and shook her head. "Someone beat us to it - stay quiet, and we wait for a-"

"Who's there?" a voice called out, dashing all hope that the two hadn't been spotted. Tail stiffened in alarm when the voice's source rounded the corner, searching for the two with the help of a lightsource. "Hellooooo?" they spoke up again, the voice sounding female. Lanica's hand found its way to the grip of a dagger, preparing herself for any potential hostility. Tarai for her part kept herself admirably still - until the light shone straight into her face and the tall girl yelped quietly. "There you are - I knew I saw someone!"

What turned out to be a troll stood there, inspecting Tarai in the light of a lantern. She was tall in her own right and clad in light armour, but to Lanica's surprise the somewhat burly woman didn't even seem to try going for the cudgel at her side. No, she looked almost... friendly as she shielded her face from the rain with one hand and looked down to the crouching orkhai. "What're you two doing here, skulking around the rocks? You definitely don't look like bandits."

"We heard of a shipwreck around these parts and, um..." Lanica began, trying to think of a decent cover.

"...W-wanted to help salvage it?" the orkhai finished before the neko even could - the latter clenched her teeth at the half-elf's honesty. "That idiot... Let's see what happens now, I suppose."

"Oh, you do?" the leather-clad troll asked in surprise. "That's actually why we're here, too!"

Tarai rose from her knees, and the salvager's brow furrowed in thought as she did. "Well... the boss did grumble about wishing he had extra hands for this, and you at least look strong enough..." Then as she turned to Lanica, more sheepishly - "Er, no offense to you, catgirl."

"...None taken," Lanica hissed subduedly, even if she definitely took some offense. A little, anyway. "We could probably help with that - in return for pay, 'course."

"If nothing else, it'd be an excuse to get close to the goods without these goons stirring up a fuss..."

"Ha! I don't go over that part, but you can take it up with the boss if you want?" the troll suggested as she turned around, not even waiting for a response and waving for the duo to follow. "I'll show you the way!"

The neko's eyes crossed ways with Tarai's, and she answered the orkhai's questioning stare with a noncommittal shrug. "No reason not to at least hear 'em out, way I see it. Doesn't feel like a trap, so..."

"And maybe we can make everyone happy this way...?" the orkhai suggested, a shy smile on her lips. "If nothing else, she could make them happy in a different way," the catgirl imagined - not that she'd probably bother whoring out such a nice orkhai to some random people on the beach.

"Yeah, we very well might," the neko snickered, grabbing Tarai's arm and tugging lightly. "Come on, let's see what they've gotta say!"

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"...and now you're 'ere, offerin' to 'elp?" the apparent leader of the handful of workers asked, eyeing Tarai and Lanica carefully in the relative shelter of some of the broken ship. He was one of the vaguely demonic nethemir, with gray skin. grayer horns and eyes yet grayer. That his name - nickname? - was seemingly 'Gray' didn't surprise the orkhai in the slightest.

"That's the gist of it, yeah. Sure seems like you could do with another few eyes to find... whatever it is you're looking for, and we need work," Lanica gestured to herself and the quiet orkhai at her side. With how comfortable the catgirl seemed taking the lead with strangers, Tarai felt it best to let her do exactly that. Looking around, there really weren't many of these salvagers around - counting the boss, she had only noticed five so far, which in all honesty seemed like far too few to comb through an area of this size?

"And 'ere I thought we was just dealin' with fortune-seekin' vultures," Gray grumbled, his accent thick but mostly understandable. Crossing his arms, the nethemir looked between Lanica and Tarai, his neck having to crane a good bit to look the orkhai in the face. The way he lingered on her hips, almost escaped her attention. "Still, I could use the 'elp, what with this job bein'... time sensitive. There's too much ground to cover for my crew, so if you two check out a part we 'aven't yet, I wouldn't turn you down."

Lanica's hands shifted to her hips with a tiny meaningful cough. "Sure, we could do that..." the neko grinned, "if you make it worth our while."

The nethemir chortled shortly and shook his head before answering, "Don't 'ave the coin to spare until payday, which ain't until we finish up 'ere." Lanica's smirk faded subtly, which the nethemir didn't miss either. "Look, we can't pay you, but... the ship carried plenty of stuff. Find us a small silver lockbox engraved with a flower, and I'll look the other way if you find a trinket or two on the side to keep. Deal?" he asked, extending his hand with a curious glance.

Her girlfriend's eyes squinted ever so slightly, clearly thinking in the way Tarai had noticed more than once. "...Fine," the catgirl decided, but she didn't offer her own hand. "We'll find you your precious box, and then we pick our picks from the haul."

The technical side of the deal was important and all, but as the neko's words were followed by a moment of silence the orkhai felt like something important was left unasked. "S-so, w-where do we l-look?" Tarai spoke up after a bit, almost gulping when the eyes were suddenly on her, nethermir's and slitted alike. Being the center of attention didn't feel all that great, she began to understand.

"...Right, I forgot about that part - there's still plenty of 'round to cover outside, which we'll take care of. As for you," the foreman pointed behind his back with a gray thumb, "there's a cove if you follow that inlet, and I've got 'alf a mind the salvage may've been pulled in there. Now, if you've got no further questions, you'd best get moving..." the grump growled, grabbing an unlit torch as he prepared to return to his work - before realising the rain-soaked wood thing wasn't going to be much use, and he threw it on the ground with a scowl.

"...And do tell, how're we supposed to see in that cave? There's not gonna be much light there," Lanica pointed out, her hands on her hips.

Glancing back over his shoulder, the nethermir nodded towards the unlit torches and metal-clad lanterns standing off to the side. "Take one of those for all I care - good luck lightin' one in this weather..." Motioning his partners over, he didn't spare the catgirl another glance as he moved to leave. "Trust me, we 'ave tried. Good luck with the search..."

The troll with her precious lit torch smiled with a thumb pointed upwards at the two before following the rest, and then the duo was on their own again. "...Not even a single coin up front," Lanica hissed under her breath. Thankfully, she didn't seem to stay mad for long - or at least, Tarai saw that stiff tail relax a bit as her girlfriend turned to face her. "Well, if nothing else we know where to look without getting bothered, don'cha think?"

A little smile crept on the demure orkhai's lips. "R-right!" she answered with a soft giggle, averting her blushing face with the unlit lanterns proving a believable excuse to do so. "One of t-these would be better than a torch, I feel," Tarai said as she sank to her knees, running a hand over the metal coverings of the assorted light sources. A nicely sturdy one caught her eye, but a closer inspection revealed the inside to be too damp to be lit by normal means. Thankfully, the tall girl knew what to do about that...

As she searched her bags with one hand and opened the lantern carefully with the other, her girlfriend raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear the guy? Those things aren't lighta-" the neko began, before a swift motion with the firestriker and some careful maneuvering with the glowing thing caused the lantern's core to light up. "...Huh. I take it there's more than meets the eye to that thing of yours."

Satisfied and a bit proud, Tarai presented the lit lantern, her wide smile turning into a shy laugh when the catgirl accepted it with a grin and an exaggerated bow. "...T-ta-da!"

"Yes, very nicely done..." the neko grinned, enjoying the weight of the lantern in her grasp. "Now, let's find ourselves a treasure, shall we?"

Tarai would've been lying to herself if she acted like she wasn't very eager to get going - and apparently that was so clear on her face that Lanica didn't even need to hear her speak to know the orkhai's answer. "Time to test out this bad boy, and I just can't think of a better spot for it than a dank, dark cave!"

"Right!" the taller girl beamed, walking out into the rain and looking around for the inlet the nethemir had mentioned. "I think it's over there?"

Following Tarai's pointed finger, Lanica shrugged shortly. "'S worth a shot - follow me!" And with that, the catgirl set off, followed by the orkhai. The rain had only gotten more intense, although the lantern's flames thankfully didn't sputter out just yet as it swayed from the catgirl's swift pace. It hardly took any time at all before they found the stream of seawater culminating in a dark cavern, crowned in jagged rock and adorned with seaweed. "That looks about right - look, there's a good bit of flotsam here."

"A lot of it, too," Tarai agreed, brushing her fingers over a piece of what might well have been one of the ship's masts. "Hopefully the crew is fine..." she muttered, worried for the safety of what had to be quite a few people given the size of the wreckage littered over the beach.

"Well, 's far as I can tell there aren't any bodies around," the catgirl pointed out, which did lift the half-elf's mood a bit. "Of course, they may have been kidnapped by pirates, or the ocean could've claimed them... or wildlife, for that matter."

Lanica's words swiftly brought Tarai's spirit down once more. "I... I guess it's not like we c-could help as is. We don't even know where they might be..." the orkhai sighed, trying to focus on the task ahead instead. "If we find people who need help... well, we'll help, right?"

"It'd be the only proper thing to do, no?" the catgirl responded - a bit distractedly, really - as she shielded her eyes from the rain, glancing over the debris scattered around in search of the lockbox. "Hmm. Not seeing any silver around here just yet..."

Looking around herself, Tarai frowned in thought. "And they only crashed recently, so there shouldn't be sand covering it yet..."

"Good point. I guess we'll just have to check out that cave instead!" Lanica smirked at the orkhai, an excited glimmer in her eyes.

"Y-yeah, let's!" the half-orc smiled, her girlfriend's enthusiasm proving highly infectious. "I wonder what we'll find there... it's like one of dad's stories!"

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They may have found shelter from the rain, but inside the cavern it somehow seemed to be even wetter. A sheen of water covered everything, while the ebb and flow of the stream often caused droplets to spill all over. Lanica's eyes only rarely left the water, inspecting whatever came floating past with the lantern as she and Tarai explored deeper and deeper.

"Do... do you think there might be something... living here...?" the orkhai whispered - the flowing water and the rain that pitter-pattered through gaps in the roof almost drowned her voice out entirely. "...Feels like we're being w-watched."

"Maybe we are - you never know what's lurking in the dark, right?" Lanica chuckled, utterly unable to resist the opportunity to tease the towering half-elf. Casting her lantern's light towards Tarai, the catgirl's lips curled into a wicked smirk. "We'd better be careful not to get snatched up... Who knows what some monster might wanna do with yo-" she gasped, her teasing cut off when a wave of water splashed against her legs... and when she felt something grabbing her ankle, the neko jumped away with a short yet sharp scream.

"What's wrong?!" the alarmed orkhai yelled, rushing over to Lanica's side and wrapping her arms around the neko in protection. "Lanica, a-are you okay?"

The beastkin gasped as she ran a hand down her leg and towards her ankle. There was no pain, no torn clothing to be found. Nothing out of the ordinary but a large knot of seaweed which had gotten tangled around her legs. "You've got to be fucking..." Lanica seethed, pulling the slimy plantlife from her leg. The only part of her that hurt was her pride... and when she heard Tarai giggle, that only got worse. "...Quiet, you."

"I guess there might have been some delicious kelp lurking in the dark..." the tall orkhai teased with a glimmer in her eyes, her smile only getting wider as the catgirl stared up to her with a glare. "...If you want to take revenge, we can put it in a stew later...?"

If looks could kill, Tarai wouldn't be alive for much longer. "Not. A. Word!" the catgirl glared, getting back to her feet with a huff. To her credit, the half-orc was clearly doing her best not to laugh any longer - even when she finally managed to calm down, however, her amusement lingered on her face for a good while. It was a world of difference with how tense she'd been merely half an hour ago. "Let's just find what we're looking for - I don't wanna be in this dank, stinking cave any longer than we have to!"

A faint flash of white through one of the many gaps in the cavern's roof punctuated her words, with distant thunder following a while later. Lightning wiped away the laughter on Tarai's face - something Lanica was rather pleased with - and with a quick swallow, the orkhai nodded. "Y-yeah, let's - before the rain and tide become too much."

The two delved deeper, with the ground to walk on being swallowed little by little the further down the twisting cave they went. Keeping an eye on just about anything they wandered close to, the neko and orkhai had yet to find anything like a silver chest - but there were plenty of waterlogged remains about. "A promising sign, really." "...Does it really smell that bad to you?" Tarai's curious voice broke the silence as she climbed over a few stones in the way - if it weren't for the lantern, toes would have been stubbed, guaranteed. "It's just brine and wood, no?"