Chương 22: Chapter 21: Please remove my pants!

Pain didn't come all at once. It came in fits and starts as Gelidia rested atop me. For a moment, I could not speak as my muscles bunched and body arched into her, and she did not understand. She just stared at me with slowly widening eyes as I struggled to breathe! I was changing, and I couldn't warn her! I struggled to take in a lungful of air, and broke the kiss, an involuntary creaking noise of pain escaping my lips before I got some kind of mastery.

Speaking was like breathing fire into the air, and literal steam billowed out of my lips as I spoke!

"G-Geli--- G-g-! Help!" I squeaked, and pawed at my tunic, my tight tight pants, with hands that felt like sausages, and sausages that belonged to somebody else, at that!

"P-pants! Take off... my pants!" The spirit, horrified, realizing at last what was happening to me, almost went into a panic!

"P-pants! Please!" I pleaded, trying to get her to understand what I needed as my back arched out of my control and bowed with strain, with cramp. My wolf wanted her to remove my pants, but not quite like THIS! This was something else! Her fingers sank between the taut fabric and my raw skin, and it was like she was stabbing me. An inhuman snarl escaped my lips, and I leaned into the arching of my back to lift my hips!

She tugged at them, once, twice, then a third time they tugged down and exposed the golden tufts of my mons to her. Sweat beaded, and it actually hindered the effort, made the clothing stick to me tightly, but she was persistent in her efforts to free me from my clothing!

"This is NOT what I had in mind!" she said, but kept working, looking down at me as tears blurred my vision! Oh it hurt... but somehow... it hurt less? Instead of being dipped in fire, I was merely being flayed with razor blades! Not a huge difference on the whole, but it was better, to be sure. I growled again, and felt my face pushing forward as bone creaked and tendons popped and my face began to distort. But soon she had the pants around my knees, then off of me!

The relief was almost narcotic as she stood her ground and took in my transformation in this direction for the actual first time. She didn't have to breathe anymore, but she was panting now, and gripped the hem of my shirt as fur began to grow - deeper, more dense, and warm as sunlight on my abs as my body steamed. Instead of being in my own little personal hell in this transformation, I felt...

like amidst the cramps, amidst the sounds of my body creaking and popping and pressing outward from within, like I had a bad dose of the flu. She was close to me, I felt her cold breath as it became visible mist on my belly, and I could... smell her. Smell... I could smell her fear... and I didn't like it.

"Lift your arms!" she said, and I struggled to do so. Even her gentlest touch over my reddened, raw skin was like fire, was like daggers scraping, and elicited soft cries from my breast and my lips. I couldn't help it! But then I was free of the cloth, and after it was no longer touching my skin, after I was only on the ground, under her eyes, the relief was profound. But she didn't run. She didn't take her eyes off of my squirming, writhing, groaning form as I grew... and grew...

and grew, as my vision narrowed to a dark pulsing tunnel and I became... a monster again. The maiden ghost's breathing stilled, and she... she began to sing. It was a wordless tune, warm, and I found myself focusing on it... to the exclusion of anything else. She stayed at my side, even as my legs lengthened, my feet seeming to grow longer, as paws formed. My hands grew, changed shape, but... her song fascinated me.

I stopped paying attention to anything else as her tune, her voice, her calm, filled me edge to edge. There was no magic here, no supernatural power. It was just... Gelidia. As the change finished, as my body was left tingling, and my breathing stilled, I kept staring at her, kept listening to her. Tears were in her spectral eyes, and... I reached out to her. My paw was... so big compared to her face, and as gently as I could...

I wiped her tears with my thumb, and she leaned her cheek into my palm, her tiny hands grasping mine. She was so small... PROTECT. Yes. Protect! I felt an urge to do just that. I'd defend her against the world in that moment, shed blood for her, mine or another's. My dear friend. She was scared... I could still smell it, but it was a fading thing. She'd been scared... for me. Not of me. I sat up a little, and she lifted her chin to me. Gentle as I could, I pressed my forehead to hers once again.

She smiled a little, and slid her fingers into the fur around my cheeks and ears, just holding on for a moment as she and I calmed together. She peppered my snout with gentle kisses, and I just let myself feel her cool body resting against my own, let her hold me tight.

"Are you okay, Goldtail?" she breathed, and I nodded, my tail thumping the ground a little bit behind me, to show willing!

"Oh. Good. That scared me - you sounded so..." she said Again I nodded. I scratched in the dust with an extended finger and claw, and she leaned to read what I wrote.

'THAT WOULD HAVE HURT A LOT AND DESTROYED MY NEW CLOTHES =(' She chuckled a little, and let me go at last, rising to her feet and adjusting her dress. I let her, perhaps reluctantly, the heat before the transformation hadn't faded from my mind. We'd... felt such desire for each other. But how could that be? She was... well, she was a ghost. She slid her hands into my ruff and scratched at it, digging her fingers in as one might that of a favored and beloved hound, and the touch was very welcome as I relaxed. Fresh off the change, it was so much more intense a feeling, and she had me trembling like a newborn just from that. When she went again for my ears, my eyes lidded shut and my other senses told me she smiled at my reaction as fingertips scritched and explored." They said they will bed down tonight. You've earned their trust." she said softly, and there was... something in her statement, a question? A desire? I felt one too. This one was bone-deep and gnawing, and I'd ignored it while I was in despair before, when I'd faced the memory of my old life. The wolf was a good deal more pragmatic, and this gnawing need was purely physical. I lifted my head under her hands, and she blinked at me as my ears perked in her hands. I looked at her, and she stared into my eyes." What is it, girl?" she asked, as if I were her hound. In this shape it was somehow less... I couldn't say annoying, but... exhasperating maybe? I almost moved to write, but my stomach made my need plain to her. She kissed the side of my snout, and nodded." Alright, come on then." she said, and turned to walk back towards the gate, leaving me to follow after. The shade clearly felt a little awkward about what had happened. After all, she'd gotten a little more than she'd bargained for, but I couldn't help but think about the coolness of her lips on mine... and lick my chops a little. I'd never, not in my life, kissed a girl before, but I found myself wanting to kiss her again, wanting to feel her again against me, but I found my Wolf was almost... annoyed! I wasn't keeping up with her, I was lagging behind in a daydream. She, on the other hand, lived entirely in the moment. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. FOOD NOW. Yes, of course. But still my thoughts lingered on the squish of... MATING LATER, FOOD NOW. My wolf's tone reminded me of a patient mother instructing her child, and I found myself amused at the thought of that! Her amusement came a beat after, and together, in one flesh, we walked after the object of our mutual affection. When we got inside the inn, we found the adventurers on their bedrolls. They didn't take the spot in front of the oven, that was by custom and practice my own spot, but a clean little corner of the stone floored kitchen. Gelidia brought food to me - red meat, and bones for my enjoyment from the deer. She knealt before me, and tore off a small piece of the meat... and offered it out to me. I stared up at her, and she smiled at me, her blank eyes gentle as she hummed again to me, hummed that sweet tune that had eased my transformation earlier, one that I remembered more vividly than I ever had before. I pulled the morsel into my mouth with my tongue, and gently bit down on it. Then... she tore off another piece, and offered it out to me. Ordinarily, my Wolf would have wanted to snap it all up, but this meat... had her scent on it, as a garnish. This meat... was given by her. I didn't get it, but my wolf seemed to, and she accepted each given morsel with a soft, chuffing grunt as we were soothed. Was she... wooing me? Was she just trying to comfort me? SHUT UP. I shut up my thoughts, stopped trying to fight against this feeling of peace that pervaded my twinned soul, and let it wash into me as it was through my wolf. Together, as one woman, as one monster, we basked in this kind, caring woman's touch and song. When the meat was gone... she held out the bone and kissed my forehead, rising at last." You enjoy that." she whispered softly." I... will go and look at the books in your bag, and collect your clothes from outside." she said, and my Wolf didn't like to see her go, but it was my turn to gently reproof her. She'll be right back. And tit for tat, my wolf trusted me as I trusted her. The bone was a good one, a thigh bone. It was thick, and dense, and had lots of marrow. It was a proper challenge for our jaws, and it occupied our attention with good flavor and lots to sink our teeth into, gripping it in our hands as we gnawed and crunched and lapped at it, making soft grunty, chuffing noises as we did so. This never would have interested me before, this never would have been... pleasant to me, before, but the flavors were so good, and the bone itself... it had a flavor all its own, a meaty sort of crunch, like rock candy to me. Before I knew it, she was back with my clothes folded on the table, and turning her way through a hardback book. Fel had transcribed that? And another book besides? Maybe he had special skills as a Scrivener that made that whole thing super quick and easy! Sounded likely to me. SHE IS KIND. I didn't need to be told who my Wolf meant. She is. Do you like her? YES. Me too. We have a lot in common, her and I. SHE IS KIND. My wolf didn't have a... huge vocabulary, I figured. She was as smart as I was, I knew that instinctively, but she didn't have any truck with nonsense or uncertainty. She didn't have room for it - it just wasn't how she worked. That was my job, to think of the whethertos and the whyfors, and to help my other side understand. And it was her job to keep me focused, and to think about the important things, like survival, to keep me in the now if possible. There was a kind of... dualistic zen to that, and I instinctively understood. Was this what werewolves were supposed to be like? Was this strange? I had no frame of reference at all. Sharing a body, now more especially than ever, I could feel her thoughts, and knew she could-- YOU THINK ALOT. I do. That's what I'm for, I think. My wolf didn't have much to say to that, but there was a sense of satisfaction, of understanding... what I meant by that. Acceptance. She really could read my mind. It was her mind too. TEAM. Team! I agreed with her, and imagined hugging a big wolf's head against me, kissing between her ears and touching my forehead to hers. In my mind, in that shared imagination, she waggled her tail a bit and nuzzled into me as we lay by the fire together as one, and watched over our friends. I felt a warmth in my breast from the whole affair, from the whole exchange with this other part of me, and decided it was time to check my character sheet. Name: Goldtail Twice-Cursed, Hound of Lambstock / (Emily Smith) Race: Human, Lycanthrope Class: Peasant [LIFE] Status: Healthy, Content Skill Slots: 1/0 Skills: [LIFE] Peasant level 5 Peasant skill points: 5 Skills: [LIFE] Inspect, Rank D: 10% [CRAFTING] Toolmaking, Rank D: 40% [LIFE] Cookery, Rank D: 20% [LIFE, SYNERGY] Samu, Rank F: 30% [MONSTER] Lycanthrope level 4 Lycanthrope skill points: 0 Skills: [MONSTER, SYNERGY] Bestial Vitality, Rank B: 4% [MONSTER] Lycanthropic Transformation, Rank D: 40% [MONSTER, COMBAT, SYNERGY] Bestial Might, Rank C: 30% [MONSTER, COMBAT, SYNERGY] Wolf-Ren, Rank E: 90% I'd... gotten a lot of experience in Lycanthropic transformation, but how? I mean, when I transformed last night it had been 25%. I'd... gotten some from talking to my Wolf though, hadn't I? BOND. And with that, came a rush of understanding from her. As we got along, as we got closer, that skill would level, my wolf figured. We'd get closer.. by bonding, by trusting each other, by being more than the sum our parts. My peasant skills were verymuch lagging behind. They seemed to level so much more slowly! I had five unspent skillpoints, but I'd more or less spent my Lycanthrope skillpoints as soon as I'd gotten them. I had several skills that were getting close to reaching rank C, when it cost a skill point! That was nice, they seemed to be leveling at a similar rate. My werewolf skills would quickly reach a plateau soon though, unless I leveled again! Transformation was at D, and the change had been quite noticably easier on me than last night. My wolf had no real comment