Nigkala Tales Pt. 28: How to stop an itch

"Yeah, I know the fun of that. With our schedules, regular daycare was interesting. But our maid had a cousin who needed a job, and it worked out well. She lasted three years, then graduated college. That gave us enough time to get a handle on life with kids. Your schedules should be far simpler, unless someone goes on location to a dig, or something."

"Don't think that will be a problem for us. At least for a while."

"Yeah, John is right. Phone and computer interviews are the most I can handle now. But a kid can open things up, so little Jack will help a bit for me."

The next weekend, John felt he was ready, and both he and Sally had studied the ritual, just in case John wanted to go. I recommended we proceed near bedtime, so she could use her bed. I said I would lie on the floor beside her, and hold her hand. John performed the ceremony, and we went under.

We woke up on a beach. "Where are we? Why do you have cat ears?"

"I don't recognize this place. But I brought tools. As to the ears, I am here as Captain Kitty Galore, space cat. Check out my tail." I turned sideways, and she saw it moving playfully.

"Huh?"

"It is a dream, and we can shape our presence here. Last time, I arrived as Obsidian, the Shokan half-breed spell blade. This time I am Kitty, explorer of space. As you can see, I am dressed for sexual fun, as the character was invented to demonstrate zero-gravity sex. Being a cat person was just the simplest concept for handling limited access to makeup and such in space. Unlike the character, these ears and tail really work. I wanted to learn how they feel and act while here and get two things done here rather than one. Now, on to my tools..." I then got out the predator talisman I had brought, and summoned a flying scout to give me vision.

"What? You're hurt!"

"It is minor, and the price for the vision I will be given for a time. Let us wait and see what it is about." A few moments later, I learned that this was a coast, and not some small island, my original fear. A few minutes later, the predator saw a town past the dunes, and over some grasslands. It did warn of predators in the grass. After a short discussion, it returned and went into me to assist me in my ability to handle combat.

Sally saw my attention return. "What did you see?"

"Over that way, lies a town past the dunes and grasslands. However, there are predators in the grass."

"Are we in danger?"

"Yes. The dreamworld is dangerous. But it is also capable of teaching a lot." I reached into my backpack and pulled out a belt and holder with a dagger in it. "Here, I brought a spare, in case it gets a bit much. Mostly, I expect you to hide behind me if trouble comes out here. Shall we go?"

"Why do you have a gun and a dagger?"

"This is a dream, and the rules of this reality are not the ones we know. I don't yet know if the gun will work as expected or not. The dagger, being an ancient weapon, has a surety that the gun does not."

"Oh."

I led the way, with the predator helping me be aware of my surroundings. When I noticed one of the animals in the grass seemed to approach, I focused on Aja's talisman to learn of it, and how it would attack, and its weak points. I told Sally to stop, crouch down and be quiet while I handled things. Staying between the hyenas and Sally, I got out both dagger and gun. Walking back a forth a bit, I shouted to get its attention, so it would go for me and not Sally. As soon as the first showed, I fired the gun. It apparently worked, and the hyena was stunned. I hit three more before they were upon me. Not wanting to kill them, I hit them with my gun hand, and saved the dagger for any that bit me.

Two minutes later, they were either down or fleeing. "You can get up now."

"Wow. I've never been in this much danger before."

"As I said, the place is dangerous."

Ten minutes later, I noted that they followed us, but at a distance. I chose not to say anything, so Sally wouldn't worry. When we approached the town, they finally left. Entering the town, I expected we would be greeted, but no one paid us any attention. I also noticed the town did not have a wall. Quietly, I said, "Sally, for now, refer to me as Kitty Galore. If the time comes for me to break character, I will do so."

"I will. So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. I am watching to learn if they use money or do some barter. I brought some items that might be traded, but I want to see how things are here for now. You, however, can study them. Just try not to stare, as that might mean something."

"You're right. I can study them."

We wandered about for twenty minutes, when I finally spotted someone who I thought might help us. I approached the beggar. "Hello sir. I seek information, and I think you might be able to supply some. Will you speak with us?"

"You are a cat! You have any coin?"

"No, but I do have some things I might trade for such. You see, we are not from this place, and don't know how things run here. I do have some good food, and would enjoy it if you could tell us about this place."

"You aren't worried about being seen talking with a beggar?"

"I am not. How about you?" I looked at Sally, and she shook her head. "What we seek, could be found anywhere, and those like you might see more clearly. So will you speak with us?"

"On your heads be it. It's like this..." As he spoke, I pulled out some food from my pack, as well as a bottle of water. He was clearly interested, so as he spoke, I gave him a small piece of food at a time, and when it was gone, I opened the bottle and gave it to him. I also opened my mind to all he said to pick up other things. When he finished, I thanked him.

After leaving, I led us to a money changer. On the way, I stopped in a corner to get some small gems from a hidden compartment of my backpack. Finally, I went into a shop that sold weapons. When the woman welcomed me, I said, "Hello. I have a need to acquire currency in trade. Might we speak in private?"

"Who are you? And what?"

"I am a traveler from a far place. This is my companion. We arrived here unexpectedly, and so have a need to change our plans a bit. That needs local cash. Might we speak in private."

She gave us a look, then said, "Okay. Follow me." She walked in back, past a curtain. We followed. She walked behind a high table, and said, "What do you have?" I got out the small bag I retrieved from my backpack, and pulled out two small gems and laid them on the table. She picked them up, and looked them over. Reaching under the table, she pulled out a magnifying glass and some other things. After a while, she said, "Good quality gems. What do you seek?"

"We plan to be here a while, so we need currency. Some large amounts, but a lot of the smaller stuff."

"I can handle that. How about..." We didn't understand the names she said, but I could read her thoughts a bit.

"That sounds kind of low. These are worth much more. I realize you need to make a profit, but that offer is too small."

"Strange. For someone not from here, you know the value of our currency. I'll give you half again that amount."

This felt much closer to fair. "You are still getting the better of the deal, but we accept." She then reached under the desk and started counting out the money. I watched to be sure she wasn't tricking us, and also learned how to understand the names and values of each kind of coin. When she finished, I said, "Thank you." We then headed back and when we came to the beggar, I dropped him a few coins.

He looked up, and said, "Thank you, ladies."

"Your information was helpful." We then left, and I headed for an inn I had spotted earlier. "Here's an inn we can stay at. You can study the people, and I'll try to find our way."

At first, Sally didn't want to leave my side, but after a while, she got used to talking with the locals. I had given her some of the cash, keeping the larger value coins for myself. I told her of the relative value of each I gave her, and that I had, so she would have a feel for them. At that point, I looked for a salt-of-the-earth man, that I expected would know the area about here. I didn't find any today. After dinner, Sally decided to go to bed. I said I would be by later. I also left my backpack, but hid it with a spell. When I returned, I started flirting, and it wasn't long before someone decided to see if I meant it. They got me to a wall in the back, and asked if I was just a tease, or a real woman.

Lifting the hem of my skirt, I revealed I was not only a woman, but also wet in anticipation. A few minutes later, I found myself sounding far more like a cat in heat than a human. That just got me more attention, and I wound up having sex with seven guys before they stopped. By now, my top was wide open, and all four breasts were showing, and my skirt was pulled up so high, my vagina was on display. Seeing no more takers, I pulled the skirt down, and got another drink at the bar. When the bartender asked if I was really purring, I had to stop a moment and listen. I was purring. I just smiled and nodded, then continued drinking.

After downing a second one, I paid, and went back to our room.

"Did you hear that racket?" asked Sally.

"No, I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary."

"It sounded like a cat in heat, battling toms wanting her attention."

"Oh! Sorry. That was me. Seems this cat-lady is more cat during sex. I didn't realize how loud I must have been."

"That explains your top."

I looked down, and laughed. "It does, at that. I'm going to bed now." I then finished undressing, then lay on the bed and went to sleep. Sally told me later I purred in my sleep.

In the morning, we explored the town. While Sally spoke to lots of people about their lives, I spoke little. I was more interested in finding out the lay of the land. A few days later, I learned of a caravan heading to a larger town. I spoke to Sally, and we arranged to go with them. It took three days to travel down the coast to the next town. I spoke on the way with the caravan master, and learned we were not on a large island, but a continent. I also learned a little more about the area, but he did not have a map. He did recommend a shop in the upcoming town that might help me.

We decided to get a place near the center of town, so Sally would have easy access to a lot of people. The first day there, I was on the lookout, learning the rules of this place. That evening, I was asked for sex, so I tried to keep the volume down. I only had three before I went to bed. The next day, I went to the shop while Sally did interviews. While they did not know of either place I knew, they did have a map showing this part of the land. At the far edge, it looked like there might be mountains, so I looked up the nearest large city, and asked about the best way to get there. It seemed caravans like we used to get here were the best way to travel.

Over dinner, I showed Sally the map. We discussed things, and decided to make our way there. She went to our room, and soon after she left, someone came up to me for sex. I was surprised how instantly wet I was, but I went with him. I tried to keep it kind of quiet. After the fourth, I finally went to bed.

"So, are you addicted to men? You weren't this blatant in Egypt."

That's when I remembered 'catnip'. "Addicted is the right word. I just remembered, as part of the premise, that these cat ladies found human dicks to be very satisfying. In fact, when the first guy asked me for sex, I got wet instantly."

"So this is going to happen every night you stay out after dinner."

"I suspect so. It seems I have little resistance, save to not be out after dinner."

"What would your husband say?"

"Oh, that's easy. Filipe would ask me to tell him everything, with all the details, including the addiction."

"I didn't expect that response."

"We knew, before getting married, our sexual needs could not be satisfied by just one person, so we agreed to be swingers who tell each other everything. That works for us. Does it shock you?"

"Not as much as I would have thought."

"Well, it is time for bed." Again, I undressed before laying down. Soon I began to purr, as apparently I have done every night. We stayed a few days while we waited for a caravan headed our way. Sally decided she needed to take notes, so bought some paper and something to write with. I found I could limit myself to two guys each evening I stayed out. On the caravan, it was different, since I was in a much more protective mode and could not spare time to play.

The next two months seemed to be a blur to me, as we traveled. Sally interviewed endless people, in the many different places we stopped. She also interviewed others on the caravans when she could. I found I was having lots of sex, and not always with men. The nature of the people changed, and Sally was excited by the many cultural differences we encountered. Three times, animals attacked, but they were repelled. It was a day out of our destination, when everything changed.

We were traveling up a valley when we were ambushed. It was quite sudden, and nearly half the guards were killed in the initial volley. I yelled, "Sally, hide inside the wagon." I then sprang out of it, and called the predator into me so I could fight better. I thought about my gun, but there was too much cover. So, instead, I cast a spell of mist between us and the heights. This meant they could no longer pick people off, and they would have to meet us in hand to hand. This helped, until my spell was ripped asunder. That's when I knew there was another caster about.

I needed to hunt him, but not be seen by him. So I cast another mist, and while that was taken down, I ran, jumped, and scrambled up the side of the valley to take out one of their bowmen. I knifed him quickly, and he wasn't able to alert anyone. Then I crouched down to see if I could sense where the other mage was. I took the bowman's weapon, and unleashed some of his arrows upon the attackers, and took out the four other bowmen on this side of the valley. By this time, I had realized the mage was elsewhere on this side of the valley.

Since they weren't aware of my presence yet, I went even higher up the valley before moving laterally to get directly above the mage. Darn, I didn't have a shot, so I dropped the bow, and got my pouch of sand ready. Focusing on it, I caused it to swirl about me, in a cloud twenty five feet wide. I then moved downhill. My cloud was soon spotted, but none of the fighters knew how to handle it. The mage, however, tried to dismiss it, but it wasn't a spell. When he tried to send fire into it, the fire was absorbed harmlessly. Likewise, when he sent lightning, it did no damage. However, I was able to amplify the power of the bolt, and more than double it before sending it back at the mage.

That got his undivided attention. He was clearly hurt by it, but was still game to fight. But he was running out of room, as I was closing on him. When he sent wind to push the cloud away, I twisted it and incorporated it into the cloud. It compressed to about fifteen feet, but doubled in height to almost thirty feet tall, and now looked like a miniature tornado. I suddenly sensed one of the fighters leaping into the cloud to attack it. I used martial arts to toss him right back out in another direction. My strength sent him nearly thirty feet through the air, and the claws on my hands left deep scratches on him, and shredded part of his clothing.

By now, I was getting into being the tornado, and was spinning very fast. Twice more, fighters leaped in to attack, and twice more, they went flying out another direction. The mage was now backed up against a wall of rock. I felt him trying to cast another spell, this time of escape, and instead, I rushed into him. I slashed him numerous places, disrupting his spell, and rather than kill him, I knocked him unconscious. When he went down, I cast another mist, and carried him, even as I sought out the fighters. I moved quickly from place to place, heading for fighters that stayed to fight. When I reached the first, I sent him, deeply scratched, flying out of the tornado. That's when I realized I was not only spinning, but spinning very fast.

While my eyes were closed, I was seeing with my life sense, and somehow feeling the ground and air with the sand swirling about me. When I cleared this side of fighters, I went after the other side of the valley. I sensed many arrows shot into the whirlwind, but they were tossed about and did no damage. I went all over that side of the valley until it too was cleared. I then went back to the path we traveled, and slowed my spinning. Now, I got dizzy. So I just dropped the unconscious mage, and then dropped myself. Sitting still on the ground, I slowed the wind and let it out. The cloud of sand expanded at first, but when the wind stopped, I felt for the pouch, and sent the sand back into it.

When the caravan guards realized we had won, and it was me there in the center of the whirlwind, they slowly came up to me.

"Hi. I'm kind of dizzy, at the moment, but this is the leader of the attack. I want to question him later. He's a mage of some sort."

One of the guards spoke, "How did you become a tornado?"

Another said, "Wow, you moved so fast, and every time one of them was swallowed up, you spat him out far worse for wear."

A third said, "Are any of them still alive."

I answered, "I think most of them are alive, but very frightened. They lost their leader, and faced unknown danger. They are also hurt, and were easily tossed about. Those who can leave have left. Only those too injured to travel are still here, and they are trying very hard to escape our attention. Tell me, what of you?"

The second in command of the guards came up to us, and began to bind the mage. "They killed Simon, leaving me in charge. Three others are dead, and five are hurt badly."

"Can someone help me back to the wagon I am using? I need to rest, and am still too dizzy to walk straight."

That's when I heard Sally say, "I will take her."

I was surprised, "I told you to hide."

"The fight is over. You saw to that. How did you do that?"

"While I don't have divine abilities here, apparently, I am attuned enough, I can channel a little power into them to manifest them a little. I am better able to handle the sand, as it is connected to me in a way."

"Well, when we realized they were being attacked, I peeked. Nobody knew what was happening, but it was clearly targeting them, so we pulled back and defended. When I realized it must be you, I had a sudden thought. Remember the cartoon character, the Tasmanian Devil? I think you became him."

"You're right! How could I have missed that? When I pulled in the wind, I went with it and began to spin. Then I went faster and faster. I closed my eyes, as I couldn't see anyway, but I used my life sense to 'see' where everyone was. Their position told me if they were friend or foe. Early on, I surprised myself at how fast I seemed to be spinning. Yet, I was able to go in the direction I wanted."

"I saw some of those fighters you hit. That wasn't the wind or sand that hurt them."

"You're right. That was my claws, my teeth, whatever. Um... I think I need to go to sleep. That took a bit out of me."

"Go lie down. I'll be right here for you."

I woke two hours later to the smell of dinner. No longer dizzy, I nudged Sally, and said, "Let's get dinner."

"You're awake. Good. They were worried."

We got up, and wandered over to the food. Soon we were served, and I was given a double share. Looking at the cook with a question on my face, she replied it was her thanks for saving them. During dinner, as we ate, quite a few came by to give me thanks. After dinner, I sought out Kevin, the new leader of the guards, and asked, "I'd like to interrogate the prisoner."