Toofy Ch. 14

Toofy let out a soft growl in the back of her throat as she woke up. Her eyes flicking open to glare at the man poised above her, staring down at her with deepest desire.

Daen growled back at her, deeper and firmer.

Toofy raised an eyebrow and gently placed her knee against his crotch. The other neko chuckled and moved aside. "She makes a good point."

She sat up and dusted the grass and leaves out of her hair and fur, "The Daen is getting infuriating. She will never let him give her kittens. She will cut off his dick the next time he takes liberties to approach her."

"He did not enter her."

"She will cut off his dick and feed it to his ass." She escalated her threat.

The tomcat chuckled at her, and then sighed and looked around the forest, "He misses the heat of his homeland. This wet and cold place is disgusting."

"Stop complaining." She replied, turning her nearby boots upside down before pulling them on. She pulled her hair back roughly, and crossed to where the human was sitting.

She flicked their captive in the forehead to wake him up, smiling and showing off her fangs, "Morning. Why did you try and hurt Toofy? Who paid you?"

The man jerked, wincing, "Monsters."

"I am... Running out of patience." Toofy snapped, "You were sent to kill the Castelle, but found me. Give me something. Or I will give you everlasting regret."

He spat in her face.

Toofy bristled and she shook her head.

They hadn't gone right to torture when she had caught him. She had sat in the man's lap, teasing him and offering him fun if he played along, but he hadn't been interested.

She stood up, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping at her face before dropping the cloth in disgust. "The Daen may hurt him, now. Toofy no longer cares to listen. Not one word."

She walked away, and sat down cross-legged beside the embers of a flame. Her tail twitching with every background scream as Daen enjoyed himself.

Toofy hated all of this.

She understood the necessity of it, but this was not play. She was deprived of her master, and her succugirl was on her way to die. Her handmaiden was lost beyond the edges of reality.

If this kept up for much longer than she would become a bitter cat.

Toofy began to cry, rubbing her cheeks on the backs of her hands. She felt so lost without Sai by her side. Completely alone without friend or kind hand.

Even Daen, who followed her out of misguided familial dedication, was only looking for a chance to make her have his kittens.

She was as alone, as she had been when she had been abandoned.

An unloved kitten, crying in the rain.

She howled at the realisation of her nightmares. Knowing death was poised at the throats of all she loved, all she cared for. Knowing it, and knowing that changing it was beyond her.

Her golden eyes squeezed themselves shut, and her palms pushed into her orbs, as she wept. Lost in the pain of it all.

She heard a rattle, and felt the gentle footsteps as a scorpion climbed across her knee. Trying to tempt her to chase it, hunt it.

Her stomach was as empty as her heart, and gave a half-hearted growl.

Toofy didn't stop crying to even look in the creature's direction. She was too far lost into her own self-pity to even want to try and eat. Her heart hurt too much, weighing on her.

The sky cracked with thunder, as the skies began to open up.

---

Saia entered the secret chamber of the priestess with trepidation in her heart. The stink of cursed magic was almost enough to stop her breathing, but Toofy had said one book would be worse than all the others.

She tried not to choke as she deftly stepped around and through the various traps until she found the object.

Even among bookshelves stacked with documents that seemed to scream of possessed and darkened souls, Saia had no issues at all locating the one that Toofy had referred to.

All she needed to do, now, was find the one spell the catgirl had referred to.

As she reached for the book, a chain snapped out of the floor and around her wrist. Saia cried out in pain as it burned her with silver, as other chains rose up and grabbed at her other limbs, including her tail.

She fell, writhing and smoking, to the ground.

"Hmm. She sent you." Efina's voice came from the darkness, "Do you even know what it is that you were fetching? What it is that Twenty Four wanted you to steal?"

Saia turned her head weakly, glaring, "Fuck you."

Efina knelt down beside her, patting her gently on the head, and tracing her horns. "Were you stealing it for her? That doesn't seem her way, Elia."

"Saia." She spat, "She named me. She named me, Saia."

"Oh dear." Efina said sympathetically, "You truly believed that she loved you, didn't you? You weren't supposed to succeed, dear Saia. If you were, you would know about the traps. She knows the way passed them all."

The succubus growled and spat at her former priestess.

Efina sighed and patted her head sympathetically. "What was the plan, Saia? Blackmail me by threatening to take these materials before the emperor? He would kill you for being aware."

"Frame Yu for the theft." She growled, "Toofy, for reasons beyond my comprehension, doesn't want you dead."

"Oh." Efina breathed in, before smiling slyly, "Now, there's a clever cat. My own cautious nature would be terrified the drunk got himself infected. And my ambition would proudly condemn the bastard. I assume this would have simply been vengeance for you."

Saia sneered from where she lay, trapped.

Efina nodded slowly, "I will assist you. If, you keep those pretty claws away from my throat."

"What?" She said scornfully, disbelieving.

The woman shrugged, "Your mistress has correctly presumed that I would do just about anything to have Lord Yu dead, but cannot play a direct role in it. You provide me the excuse, I will arrange for his corpse."

"She promised me the emperor would have him purified." Saia growled angrily.

Efina nodded curtly, "That is the likely case. Will you attack, if I release you?"

"Toofy has your back, Lady Efina. An ally, first." Saia replied distrustfully.

The priestess nodded and clapped her hands, dismissing the chains. "I am unsurprised to hear that she plans for my eventual demise, but I am grateful she trusts me not to get in her way. For now."

Saia sat up, and rubbed at the burns on her neck, "Fuckin' silver. Know this, priestess. I am not holding myself back because of Toofy. You're safe, because you'll help me gut the fucker I hate most in the universe. That is all this is."

"I have heard tales that Lord Yu beats his girls." Efina said darkly, "Especially those he is... Fond of."

"Beats. Rapes. Intimidates. If there is a form of abuse, then he employs it." Saia growled, her red eyes flashing in the dark, "By any power that I am able, I will cause him harm."

The priestess nodded gently, "I have promised my assistance. Now then, shall you frame him for being in possession of terrifying and soul shattering magic?"

The succubus stood up weakly, and pointed at the book, "Toofy told me a certain page to take from that book. Will you stop me?"

"I will not."

She smiled slowly, "The cat makes you terrified, doesn't she?"

"She knew of this room, in her time under my... Unloving care. I do not know what she knows of it, beyond threatening me with its existence." Efina replied quietly.

Saia turned to the book, trying to look nowhere but at the corner, for the symbol. "Toofy tells me that you hate humanity, human."

"I do."

"Strange confession, for someone who helps maintain the balance of the human empire." Saia replied.

Efina chuckled softly, "I have been trying, unsuccessfully, for many years, to get one of my girls to be selected as one of the emperor's concubines. Cut off the head, and the snake will die."

"Toofy would disagree with that. Killing the emperor isn't enough to take control of the empire. Only enough to cause civil war, and for that... You need an army." Saia said, before tearing the spell from the book and rolling it up quickly.

Efina shrugged, "I have the magic of several armies at my beck and call."

"And yet, you are defeated by a simple cat." Saia's tail flicked the air playfully, smiling at the priestess. "Maybe you should leave all this behind. You don't seem suited to playing on the level of my mistress."

"You still love her." Efina said, accusingly.

Saia shrugged, "She told me she'd probably sacrifice me, one day. Love ain't a sensible emotion. Makes you do all the dumbest shit in the 'verse."

"I do teach that to my girls. There is nothing more dangerous to your position of power, than to fall in love." Efina said quietly.

---

Arina looked over with the same impossible calm she'd been feeling since she first woke up. She did not recognise the man who was pushing his way passed servants to enter the room.

He looked upset, and as if some kind of creature had attacked him. Clothes torn, and bleeding from more than one location.

She smiled at him sadly, "Can I help you, sir?"

"My name is John." He stated, "I work for Lord Westcolm. It has come to his attention that there are those who would have preferred it, had you not woken up, miss."

Arina nodded slowly, "I see."

"As such, I am to escort you to a safe house outside the city limits." John continued, "Little Saia will join you there, shortly."

The handmaiden smiled slowly, "Did you she do this to you?"

"In a manner of speaking." John nodded.

Arina sighed heavily, "Lady Castelle has done right by me, thus far. I am loathe to leave her property. Lord Westcolm is not one that I count among those who would implicitly guard the interests of my mistress."

The man nodded, and she saw his demeanour begin to change. He had no intention of giving her a choice in the matter.

That wasn't something particularly odd.

Arina was a servant, and when a noble commanded a servant, they either got what they wanted immediately, or delayed but at the end of a blade.

Isaac may have offended her mistress, but nothing about the way he ran things was outside of the norm.

She smiled sadly, "How goes the investigation into Isaac's death, sir?"

"Lord Han has not been forthcoming about his suspicions." John stated, "However, it is quite possible that he suspects your mistress. I know that Lord Westcolm is convinced of her guilt."

Arina smiled sweetly, "Do you know why Isaac no longer breathes, sir?"

John cocked his head in confusion, "He annoyed your mistress."

"He harmed me, sir." She stated plainly.

The man nodded slowly, "I assure you, that you will be protected at the location that we have set aside for you."

"Yet, if this is against the will, or without the knowledge, of the Lady Twenty Four, sir, then you will have signed a death warrant. Your own." Arina threatened him plainly.

John considered it, and then nodded slowly, "I have no reason to believe it would cause the slightest angst for your ladyship. Now, may we depart, before others come to hurt you?"

She nodded, and slowly began to try and stand up. Each muscle in her body shaking and screaming as she slid out of the bed.

The man stepped closer, placing an arm around hers to help her upright. Steadying her and leading her towards the doorway.

One guard standing there raised an eyebrow, "Miss Arina?"

"I am going willingly." She stated quietly, calmly. It still felt ridiculously strange to her. Being unafraid of the world, and the consequences that may come her way.

He led her outside the large building, carefully helping her across every stairway. Showing consideration for her, which was another thing that felt entirely foreign to the young woman.

Strangest yet, when they got outside, there was transport waiting for her. Four burly men standing around a palanquin, ready to carry her as if she was somebody... Important.

John lifted the door, and helped her climb in, before crouching in front of her. "Remember, Saia will meet you at your destination. Wait until you are contacted by either Lord Westcolm, or Lady Twenty Four. The world is not a safe place, right now."

He lowered the door, and she was left inside a small wooden box.

She felt it jerk and sway as it was lifted off the ground, and she finally had to steady her nerves for the first time at the disorienting experience.

So, this was how some lesser nobles chose to travel. Cheaper than a carriage, without the expense of maintaining horses. It made Arina feel nauseous.

She ducked her head between her knees, trying to ignore the sensation as the strange vehicle took her away from those who had reluctantly been helping her to recover, and towards an unknown destination.

She wished that there was a way for her to reach out to Twenty Four. Her lady always seemed to know what to do, even if she had nearly killed them all by going too far.

Twenty Four had stood up to Death itself, and won.

Arina smiled sadly, wishing that she could reassure her lady that she had survived, intact. That though Death might now seek her lady's soul, no deal had been done.

She had refused to go back, until she was dragged back, and so Death might now be lacking a soul, but it was the fault of whoever had seized Arina by her... Parts... It was not done willingly.

What Arina wished for, more than anything, was to be wrapped in the warm and loving embrace of her neko mistress. A hand stroking her hair, as Twenty Four hummed reassuring nonsense to her.

She wished that she was with her ever-possessive mistress, and far from the politics that dogged the steps of the woman who would be empress.

---

The elf's sword swung around and barely stopped as it began to cut into the throat of the bear. She cocked her head, recognising the abomination.

The green eyes blinked slowly, unflinching, and then the fur began to fall away from the large creature. Bones cracked and creaked as he took on his human appearance with horrifying volume.

Tyre dusted himself down, standing in the ruins, and unashamed nudity. He smiled tightly, "You managed to survive then, prophetess. I suppose I should not be surprised... Though I am by your company."

Her ears pulled back and she hissed at him. Trician's eyes fell to the ground, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Unable to speak.

"I witnessed it." Tyre said without emotion, "If this is your response to grief... Then I would say that Godkiller is an apt title for one such as yourself."

She attempted to growl angrily, but only rasped and coughed. She turned her attention to the shambling collection of corpses, and signalled for it to come closer.

Tyre nodded slowly, "You constructed life. A magic as forbidden as they come. Is that why you can't speak, anymore?"

She glared at him.

The man smiled at her, "Perhaps, perhaps not. Ah, well. The draug left, once everyone was dead. But when they left, they still had a semblance of organisation to their ranks. They were headed inwards to the empire."

They were awoken by Astadia's death, but that isn't what gave them a direction or purpose, Trician knew. They were supposed to seal the elven borders. That was their purpose. When the empress dies, seal the borders, protect the empire. But... Something got into them.

Tyre nodded slowly, as if he could hear her thoughts, "I see. Well, then we have a rogue lich on our hands. Is that anything you can give us a direction on?"

Trician lifted a finger and pointed. She knew the direction, but not the distance.

He gave another small nod, "Well, then that is the way I must go. It is my duty to end the threat. You have done more than enough. You could return to hiding."

She sneered. She was going to find whatever had killed her Kal, and make them regret the day the gods breathed life into their accursed soul. Abomination or not, she would let no one get in her way.

He shrugged, "Fair enough. Then we are allies, for now. I have a succubus waiting for my return, I will try and not upset your course. Though I would be interested in interrogating the lich before you damn them."

She offered him no promises.

---

Entering the tent of the orc, Sai's eyes glowed a bright green. Allowing him to instantly see into the deep dark. To see the lazing female bodies lying around on half the surfaces, and a larger red-skinned orc busy at a table, ignoring the allure of his concubines.

Hammerhand waved a palm larger than Sai's chest lazily towards one of the roiling piles of female shapes, "Do you still partake in orcflesh, Slag?"

It would be offensive to dismiss them out of hand. He remembered that an offer of a concubine was, in fact, the catalyst that had finally driven the wedge between him and his father.

"My preferred flesh is somewhat less muscled, these days, father." Sai tried to be diplomatic, "I have taken a neko. I am afraid her kind tend to be exceptionally... Jealous."

The warlock chuckled, a rolling sound that Sai could feel through his feet. "A neko. Am I to expect to hear of the kittens, of the great House of Sai?"

"The emperor insisted on giving me the house. I never intended to become a lord." He replied, "You know that of me, father. That my interests in power lie... Elsewhere."

"He de-tusked you." Hammerhand spat, and turned around slowly to face Sai, towering over him. "Come, son, let me look upon you, before I am required to gut you like a pig."

Sai approached the elderly warlock, looking up at him. "It has been quite some time. Do you still think of me, as a son?"

"Yes. Human, abomination, or lord from a petty and vindictive empire, that cares more for gold than honour... You remain my son." Hammerhand said proudly, "I have heard of your butchery from the survivors. I even sent one in your direction."

He frowned, "The neko warrior was captured by one of my men. I am afraid I never met it... Though I suspect it was used to threaten my mistress. I have been in prison, until recently. I killed an elf who touched my woman."

"Bah." Hammerhand sneered around his long and brutal tusks, "Any man who touches another's woman, without invitation, deserves whatever comes next. From what I hear, Elatham tried to do more than touch her."

Sai smiled sadly, "Yes. I fed her, his heart. Incidentally. To break some curse he put on her."

"Fitting." The warlock chuckled, and clapped a large hand on Sai's shoulder and nearly knocked him from his feet, "You did not come all this way to spit in my face, and die. Tell me what you are designing, boy."

Sai grinned, "Oh, the freedom to say what you mean. I have missed that. My mistress, Toofy, intends to become the first nekan empress of the empire."

Hammerhand stared at him in surprise, "I had heard inklings that she might be... A political force. Your little neko, intends to take the head of your emperor?"

"Kaden intends to take it first. Sent me here to die." Sai shrugged, and pretended to be examining the concubines, "You've seen the battlefield. Not even I can turn that around, can I? And then... The army will be sent to kill your people. All of them."

"He has tried before." Hammerhand grunted, and tapped the shoulder of one of his women. She extracted herself from the pile and began to clean Sai's father, using her body as a cloth.

Sai frowned, "Never as a Son of Menes, before. I hate the title, but you've seen my eyes. You know I am one of them, now."

"Menes." Hammerhand mused, "I took far too long to bury that traitor's skull. An orcish warlock, giving all our secrets to the empire of humanity. A motherless son who deserves no memory."

He nodded grimly, "Thank you, for that. I am annoyed you deprived me of torturing the fucker to death, myself, but thank you. I am certain he suffered by your hand."

"He did." Hammerhand closed his eyes as the concubine began to play a hand beneath his loincloth.