WARNING ADULT CONTENT!

Kilirniku 

I had watched the sky as much as was possible through the thinning canopy of the forest. The air was heavy with the scent of rain in the distance. I hastened my steps, I intended to be beyond the shelter of the trees by nightfall. Melete would ride the sled as she was until nearly dark.

Melete
watched the thinning canopy pass overhead, her chocolate-brown eyes following the darkening sky through the gaps in the branches. She knew the signs of an approaching storm; she had lived beneath these trees long enough to read the forest as easily as another might read words upon a page.

Kilirniku
If she had found my presence too overbearing and objectionable in the quiet, warm and dry quarters of our cave together; perhaps her first night upon the Tundra would be more to her liking, among the darkness, with the rain and the chill to keep her company.

Melete
The scent of rain carried upon the wind, and the distant heaviness in the air told her the heavens would soon open. She shifted against the sled, testing her bonds with a subtle movement, though she knew well enough that struggling merely for the sake of it would accomplish little.

Kilirniku
Near dusk, and well beyond the shelter of the Forest, I halted the team of verr to make camp for the night. First I unhitched the sleds from the verr, then removed their harness and tack, unburdening the animals from their loads. I tossed the tack atop the sleds, Kautak's I merely cast atop the woman as I walked the animals out a few paces releasing them from their lbor for the night. I found among the provisions of a smaller sled a pouch of mixed grains and seeds, bits of dried fruits and broken nuts; with several handfuls of this common fodder I fed the verr and gave them fresh water also.

Melete
*my body tensed as the tack struck me, its rough weight settling across my bound form. For a moment, my chocolate-brown eyes followed Skar as he walked away to tend to the verr, his attention given freely to their comfort while I remained upon the sled, treated as little more than another burden among his possessions. I said nothing. My jaw tightened, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of a spoken protest or the sight of me struggling against my bonds.

Kilirniku
From this sled also I took the small wooden frame and sturdy skin covering which would provide my shelter for the night against the chill of the whistling wind and pelting rain. I was glad the verr were shaggy and warm and would remain dry at the surface of their skin. Nuqi was well insulated as well, Melete however was not; and until my tasks were finished she would simply lay as she was and help shelter some of the gear beneath her from the elements.

Melete
My gaze followed his movements as he saw to his own needs, then the verr, ensuring they had food, water, and protection from the coming weather. I said nothing, though my jaw tightened at the knowledge that I was afforded less consideration than the animals he tended. The tack lay heavy against me, and I shifted as much as my bonds allowed, trying to ease the discomfort without offering him the spectacle of a struggle.

Kilirniku
Nuqi also, I fed and watered, and she I playfully embraced, wrestled gently and kissed about the ears and snout. She was a beast beautiful to behold, intelligent, obedient and surprisingly affectionante in her own way. She was also built for lethality, being bong and lean and well armed; her form was well suited for killing; she was fast, and agile and silent.

Melete
The cold wind swept across the tundra, stirring my dark hair against my face as I shifted beneath the weight of the tack. I looked away, fixing my attention upon the distant horizon, unwilling to linger on a tenderness that seemed so easily given to another while I lay bound among his gear. I would not begrudge the beast her place at his side; Nuqi had done nothing to earn my resentment. Whatever ache stirred beneath my ribs belonged to a far more complicated wound, one I had no intention of exposing to him.

Kilirniku
I built a small fire; just enough to heat a meal and provide a bit of comfort in the night. I busied myself with putting on a kettle to warm and adding a few bits of dried meat, small root vegetables, a handful of dry grains and a bit of red salt. It was not sumptuous, but it was hot, and filling.

Melete
I shifted carefully, testing the pull of my bonds once more before settling back against the sled. The chill was creeping deeper now, stealing the warmth from my skin, while the growing darkness left the vast tundra looking all the more bleak and unfamiliar. My eyes moved from the fire to the shelter he had prepared for himself, taking in each detail without comment. I would not ask for food, nor would I beg for the smallest scrap of kindness. If he meant to leave me lying there until his other tasks were finished, then I would endure it without giving him the satisfaction of hearing me complain.

Kilirniku
I shared a few choice bits from my bowl with Nuqi as I fed her with the same hand I ate with as we stood near the sled to which Melete was bound. I took a piece of the meat from the bowl and brushed it along the curve of the woman's calf, then patted her skin firm as I spoke "Nuqi, come, learn her scent."

Melete
The moment the meat brushed my calf, every muscle in my leg tightened. My head turned and my eyes dropped to the morsel dragged against my skin, then followed the movement of his hand as he patted me, speaking to Nuqi as though I were no more than another creature to be introduced to his beast. My nostrils flared, and a flash of pure, untempered fury burned through me. I knew what a sleen was capable of; I had lived too long among predators to mistake the danger behind those intelligent eyes. I held myself still, refusing to give either man or beast the satisfaction of seeing me recoil, though my gaze remained fixed upon Nuqi, watchful and unblinking.

Kilirniku
I watched as the young sleen sniffed and snuffled along the smooth curve of Melete's form. Satisfied that Nuqi knew her scent, I moved the harness and tack from atop her and began to release the bindings of her wrists and ankles.

Melete
Oct 12, 2026 12:30 AM
I remained still as Nuqi sniffed along my skin, every instinct in me keenly aware of the young sleen’s proximity. I watched her from the corner of my eye, studying each movement, the twitch of her nose and the shift of her body, never forgetting for a moment what sort of creature she was. When Skar finally moved the tack from atop me, I drew a slow breath while he untied me.

Kilirniku
Releasing the final binding of her right ankle, gripping it firmly I pulled her from atop the load to land by my feet. I pushed the bowl in my hands toward her as I stepped over her, and plced it upon the ground by her shoulder. I took Nuqi's fur from atop the sled where Melete had lain. I spread it upon the ground by my furs near the fire.

Melete
The sudden grip upon my ankle caught me before I could brace myself, and I was pulled from the sled to land hard upon the ground at his feet. The bowl appeared beside my shoulder as he stepped over me, and I glanced down at the steaming meal before looking toward the small fire. Hunger gnawed at me, yet I did not eat the food I held. I watched him take Nuqi’s fur from the sled and spread it beside his own bedding, noting the care with which he arranged shelter for himself and his beast while I remained upon the cold ground.

Kilirniku
I watched the woman; pride was chapping her ass, and she refused to eat. I nodded; and lowered myself onto the furs then relaxed and lay back inside the small but warm and dry shelter which gather the warmth of the fire while absorbing its soft glow cheerily. I lay back on my arm and began to caress the silky luxuriousness of Nuqi's fur. sifting gently through it with my fingers. I spoke softly to the sleen at my side "She is stubborn Nuqi."

Melete
I watched him settle upon his furs beneath the shelter, his body relaxing into the warmth while his fingers sifted through Nuqi’s thick fur, stroking the sleen with a gentleness that seemed almost at odds with the man who had raped, collared, branded and bound me. It was then I dissolved into tears, though I looked away letting the elements wash my tears away.

Kilirniku
I rose on my elbow and turned my eyes toward the woman. Slowly I sipped from the steaming bowl within my hands, the hot liquid strong and stinging up my palette. I watched from my sheltered comfort as the chilling rain poured about her bare form upon the ground in the shadows of the fliskering firelight.

Melete
The brush of fur against my skin startled me, and I turned sharply, my body tensing on instinct before the familiar scent reached me. Ember. My little pantheress had returned from her hunt, her sleek body dampened by the rain, her golden eyes catching the flickering firelight as she pressed against me. Whatever restraint I had managed to hold around myself shattered at the sight of her. My arms snaked around her neck, pulling her close as I buried my face in her pelt, clinging to her warmth with a desperation I could no longer disguise. A broken sob escaped me, then another, until the tears I had fought so fiercely to contain spilled freely against her fur.

Kilirniku
I finished the warm bowl then sat it aside and sank down upon my arm again to watch as she clung tightly to the panther cub and wept openly. I looked to Nuqi then back to the woman. Nuqi settled herself upon her belly with her left side pressed against my right, I closed my eyes and spoke softly "you could be warm and dry, if my company were not so objectionable woman."

Melete
I lifted my head from Ember’s pelt at the sound of his voice, my tear-streaked face turning toward the shelter where he lay comfortably beside Nuqi. For a long moment, I simply looked at him. I had never said his company was objectionable, so why did he think that? The rain continued to fall around us, cold against my bare skin, while the fire flickered beneath the shelter he had made. I did not move toward him, nor did I turn away in deliberate rejection. I remained where I was, holding Ember close, with no understanding of how to bridge the distance between the man he was and the man I had once believed I knew but slowly I stood motioning Ember to follow as I made my way to him.

Kilirniku
I patted the sleen's rump, shooing her away, then I sat up, rose to my feet and turned down the top fur stepping aside to allow her to enter them. I took the bowl I had drank from and filled it again with the strong and steaming brew, offering it to her.

Kilirniku
Ember, I disregarded entirely. I would not begrudge an animal its own attachments. I allowed her to do as she would, so long as it did not involve Nuqi's fur.

Melete
slowly, my movements stiff from the cold, and made my way toward him. I paused at the edge of the shelter, looking first at the furs he had turned back for me, then at the bowl in his hands. There was a time when I would have slipped into the warmth beside him without a second thought, perhaps even nudged his shoulder with my own as I settled close. That familiarity felt impossibly distant now, buried beneath the brand upon my flesh and the collar at my throat. At last, I accepted the bowl, my fingers brushing his as I took its warmth into my hands, softly I whispered; "Thank you my Master” quietly I settled not looking at him.

Melete
Ember watches a moment then she vanishes into the darkness leaving me alone with him

Kilirniku
Cold blue green eyes sparkled like frost bitten jewels as I turned my eyes toward her speaking softly but clearly "she may not steal a touch for comfort without my leave; sleep while you may girl, you will be whipped for your insolent selfishness after breaking camp and preparing the sleds." I closed the furs around her, spoke Nuqi's name softly and moved her sleeping fur atop the edge of my furs. "Stay my Nuqi." I watched as she settled herself along the length of the edge of my sleeping furs, sealing my woman, securely within their comforting warmth. I turned and took a walk to enjoy the wide expanse of the open night sky beneath the clouds and stars. I had missed this view, the Forest canopy had hidden it from my eyes.