The Admiral and the Chakat 8:    Becoming As One
by Boyce Garald Kline Jnr with Bernard Doove

Theme and role-playing by Christian Neumann

Ideas and inspiration by Boyce Kline

I was lying on my back, sleeping, when I felt it – a tiny pair of paws was suddenly on my stomach, followed quickly by another pair. They stayed there for a few seconds, shifting a bit as if to get their balance. Then, the paws began to move up to my chest. When they stopped I opened my eyes.

"MEEP!" the owner of the paws chirred happily. I grinned. "Good morning, honey!" I said quietly and reached out my hand. My lovely baby daughter, Chakat Ember, rammed hir tiny head into my open hands lovingly. Shi was a real cutie, being just a three-month-old. I started to gently scratch hir along hir chocolate brown jaw line with my fingers and hir whiskers curved forward in a smile as hir eyes closed in pleasure. Shi put hir tiny baby arms around my forearms and gave me a hug while hir hand paws and rear paws began kneading my chest. Hir tiny tail was held straight up. Shi was a happy kitten.

After about a minute of my daughter and I enjoying each other I saw a jaguar-spotted hand reach over from my right and begin to scratch Ember on top of hir head and behind hir ears, gently tousling hir mop of flame red hair.

"Good morning, dear heart," I said quietly.

"Good morning beloved," came the reply. Forest then gave me a lick kiss on my right cheek. Shi had apparently heard Ember's chirr and awoken.

"How did you get in here, honey?" I asked the little kitten kneading my chest and hugging my arms. Ember was too young to understand me of course; it was just a rhetorical question. Shi just continued to purr and bask in all the attention shi was getting.

"There you are!" The vulpine head of an arctic fox vixen had appeared in the room's doorway. It was Trina; one of Forest's other mates. Turning hir attention to us she said, "I hope shi's not bothering you. Lupu and I just got done feeding hir and when we turned our backs we found out that shi had escaped!" Then she grinned. "But now that you are both up, how about fixing us some breakfast, Boyce? I'm starved!"

Forest giggled at my mock groan. Ever since the family had discovered my culinary skills, I had been assigned the job of cooking breakfast whenever I was in residence. I heaved myself up out of bed and Trina grinned in appreciation. She and I had been lovers a few times during her pregnancy. I had been quite open with her how I admired the changes pregnancy had made in her body, especially her rounded belly. I had also been amazed that, even heavily pregnant, she had worn me out!

"YIPE!" I said and jumped in startled reaction as something furry goosed me! Turning, I saw that a grinning Forest had poked me with hir tail. Apparently not wanting to be left out, Ember was now making a nuisance of hirself by winding in and out from between my legs. Shi might soon grow up to be an intelligent felitaur, but for now, shi was hardly indistinguishable in behavior from an unusually clever kitten.

"Can't I get dressed in peace?" I asked with a laugh. "No!" Forest and Trina answered simultaneously while my daughter added, "Mew!" After we all had a good laugh, Trina scooped up Ember in her arms to allow Forest and I to get dressed in peace.

After we'd finished dressing, we made our way to the kitchen. Goldfur, Garrek, Malena, Lupu, Quickpaw, Kris, Trina and Ember were all there. I exchanged greetings with them and Forest went over to share a hug with Goldfur. Apparently, the family was anxious for me to start breakfast; I found that they already had set out bacon and materials for baking pancakes.

First thing first though. I reached up into the cabinet and took out a black ceramic canister. I hummed in pleasure as I opened it and smelled the Chipinge coffee beans inside. As the grinder turned the beans into powder, I heard several hums of pleasure behind me. Everybody loved my coffee!

The coffee was brewing, the bacon was frying and I had just started to mix the pancake batter when the cubs and kittens joined us. Six furry blurs came racing into the kitchen, skidding and sliding all over the place when they hit the tiled floor. They were all talking, laughing or mewing excitedly when they suddenly froze and stared as they caught their first sight of little Ember. Stonefur, Greypaw and Blaze had joined the "Terrible Trio" of Eudora, Snowcloud and Patchwork this morning. We adults watched as the cubs and kittens looked at the new baby chakat, their eyes wide and their ears perked forward.

Forest spoke to them. "Cubs! This is Boyce's new daughter, Ember. Now, shi's only three months old, a month younger than Stonefur and Greypaw, so I want you older cubs to remember to be careful around hir." I watched as each of the youngsters came up to Ember in turn, their noses moving rapidly as they scent-checked hir and Ember sniffed them in return. The older cubs had barely met hir before, and that only as a newborn. They had scarcely a chance to know hir before Midnight had left with me, taking our child with us. Now was their first chance to really get to know hir, and shi them.

After each had finished getting hir scent, they gave Ember a few grooming licks to hir head. I smiled as I watched hir close hir eyes and start purring in pleasure. The pop and hiss of the bacon brought my attention back to the stove. Thank goodness for chakat designed kitchens! They are perfect for preparing large quantities of food. I was able to get breakfast ready for everyone at the same time, serving up several pounds of bacon, pancakes and coffee. Everyone began to dig in. Ember, having already been fed, wasn't hungry. Shi hopped up into my lap and promptly fell asleep.

Kris smiled. "How much longer do you think shi'll fit in your lap, Boyce?"

"Not too much longer, I'm afraid. Shi's almost too big now," I said.

"Can we play with Ember after breakfast?" Eudora asked.

Goldfur smiled at hir daughter. "Yes, just remember how young shi is."

Finally, breakfast was finished. The three older cubs quickly got up from the table to go play and were just as quickly reminded to put their dishes in the dishwasher first. That done, they got out a large plastic ball. I gently shook Ember. Shi mewed a sleepy protest as shi woke up but perked up when she saw Eudora, Snowcloud and Patchwork playing with the ball. Hir eyes grew wide and hir ears perked forward as she watched the ball roll back and forth across the floor. Ember fell into a crouch, hir tail lashing. Shi wiggled hir butt. Then, shi launched hirself off my lap. Running at full speed across the floor, shi intercepted the ball, batting it back and forth. "Catching" hir quarry, shi held the ball with hir hands and handpaws, biting at the ball with hir tiny baby teeth and trying to gut the ball with rakes of hir hind claws. Everyone cheered Ember's "fierce" display.

"Looks like you've got a little huntress there, Boyce," Forest said with a smile. "You should be proud of hir!"

"Oh, I am!" I replied, the pride evident in my voice.

Ember not only appeared to be a good huntress, but she also appeared to be fearless. After attacking the ball a few more times, shi appeared to get bored and shi wandered off a little ways. But shi hadn't finished playing. Shi had just changed targets! At the edge of the room shi fell into a crouch, turned sideways to the group of playing cubs and humped hir lower back. Then, fluffing out hir fur to make hirself look bigger, shi did the strangest thing!

We adults watched as Ember, stiff-legged and hissing, bounced sideways towards the older cubs! This so startled them that they just froze and looked at this rather bizarre behavior. Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

Ember pounced, jumping on a surprised Eudora. Shi attacked, hir tiny teeth biting hir victim once or twice before she jumped off and ran for the edge of the room. There shi crouched, humped hir lower torso's back, and bounced sideways to the attack again! I and the rest of the adults were convulsed with laughter as we watched the Eudora, Snowcloud and Patchwork jump as they were attacked one by one by the spunky kitten.

"Ow! Stop! Ember! Quit that!"

"Boyce!" Goldfur said with a laugh, "Can't you control your own daughter?"

"Why?" I laughed in reply.

Ember continued to play with the older cubs for a bit but then shi grew tired. One minute she was busy playing and the next shi was tottering toward me. She mewed when shi reached me and I bent down and picked hir up. Settling hirself in my arms, shi gave me a lick-kiss and then fell asleep. Several people commented on how cute shi looked as shi slept and Forest took a picture, capturing the moment for us. I took Ember into the nursery and gently placed hir in a crib. I kissed hir on the forehead and smiled as I watched hir whiskers curve forward in a feline smile in hir sleep.

I heard Eudora call to me: "Come on, Uncle Boyce! Let's go!"

"Go? Go where?" I asked as I stepped out of the nursery.

"Outside to play ball!"

I found myself in a game of ball. Snowcloud, Patchwork, Eudora and I ran around the yard, throwing the large plastic ball back and forth. Then, the cubs decided to change the game to "Keep The Ball Away From Uncle Boyce". I was at a sizeable disadvantage. While I was much older than all three of them, they had four legs to my two. Also, they could use their prehensile tails as well as their hands to catch and throw the ball. After about ten minutes of this, I had to sit down. I went off to the side and sat underneath a eucalyptus tree, panting. I continued to watch the cubs play as I rested.

I'd been sitting there only about a minute when I felt a cool glass of water brush my left cheek. I looked up into Forestwalker's smiling face. I smiled back. "Thanks love," I said as I took the glass from hir hand. As I took a long, deep drink shi settled hirself behind me, leaning me back against hir upper torso, pillowing my head between hir lovely breasts.

I grinned! "Mmmmm! Love, you are the most comfortable headrest a man could ask for!" Forest giggled and began to play with my hair. "Flatterer," shi replied. After a minute, shi said "Boyce, what's the matter?"

Damn! I had tried to hide it but evidently shi could feel my tenseness while I was leaning against hir! "Nothing! I..." I started to say.

Forest cut me off. "Boyce, you can't fool a feline! We know when something is bothering someone! So, what's the matter?"

I sighed and slumped against hir. It would be nice to tell someone about what had been gnawing at me lately. "Well, it's probably best that you hear this from me rather than the vid."

"A few months ago, there started some incidents by groups of humans against morphs. At first these were small and isolated, looking like the work of some kooks. But lately, these incidents have been getting worse. They're getting larger, more organized and more violent. Relations between humans and morphs have been fine for as long as anyone can remember until this started. Now, we're starting to see old hatreds resurface. I'm very worried, Forest. If things continue like this, we could be seeing another twenty-first century!"

I felt hir shudder behind me. Shi had good reason to. Every school child knew what had happened during Earth's twenty-first century. Morphs, who had been created by man to be his slaves, had risen up in rebellion, making war on their masters. Humans killed morphs and morphs killed humans. The wars went on for decades. The weapons unleashed were terrible! The wars finally ended when neither group had the strength or numbers to continue. By the end of that blighted century, Earth had been devastated and most of humanity and their Morph creations lay dead amidst the ruins of a once great civilization. It had taken almost another hundred years just to rebuild Earth and its civilization to where it had been at the beginning of the twenty-first century. But this period of rebuilding had also been a time of great healing. Working side by side, morphs and humans learned to understand each other. Finally, friendships had flourished and between individuals, even love. This strong bond of friendship had stood unchallenged for centuries.

Until now.

"Could it really come to that?" Forest asked, hir voice almost a whisper.

"It could," I replied. "The most frustrating thing about this whole matter is that we can't figure out why this is happening! Why now? Why here? Relations between humans and morphs have been very good for the most part for centuries!"

"Any idea who could be behind this?"

"Not yet, but I'll find out," I said with grim determination. "The real question in my mind is: 'Who stands to benefit most from tensions between humans and morphs?' Someone with an agenda is behind this! This agitation between humans and morphs is just too organized to have sprung up on its own so quickly! Right now I see three possibilities. One, that there's a human group behind the disturbances. Two, that there is a Morph group behind them. Three..."

"Three?"

"Three, that there is an alien power behind these disturbances. Think about it. Create suspicion, hostility and hatred between two rival groups – humans and morphs – on your enemy's planet. Continue this until the hostility breaks out into open warfare. Let them fight it out. Then, when both sides are so weakened by their conflict that they can't continue, move in with a superior conquering force and annihilate both groups with ease."

I felt Forest shudder then I felt hir hug me close to hir breasts. "How terrible for you to have to think of such possibilities!" shi whispered.

"Hazards of the job love," I answered. "Someone has to do it."

We lay there for a few minutes. I drew comfort from hir physical closeness and touch. After a few minutes we heard the sound of children's laughter getting closer. The trio of ball playing cubs plus the younger cubs had finished their game and had come over to the tree where we were to take a break. Talking excitedly, they dropped down onto their bellies to take a load off their feet. Their happiness was infectious and I couldn't help but smile. "It's for them that I do what I do," I reminded myself.

Soon, the warmth of the early afternoon and their tiredness caught up with the cubs. They shifted around, using each other's flanks as pillows to rest their heads. Soon the area was covered with sleeping cubs. Ember was cuddled up in my lap and Blaze's head was pillowed on my right leg. I looked down at them in amusement.

"Looks like I'm going to be stuck here for a while," I told Forest.

"That's all right, Boyce. It's sort of nice just to sit like this with you and spend a quiet, relaxing day. Just lay back and relax, love."

I closed my eyes and shi continued stroking my hair. Snuggled between hir breasts, I felt my mind begin to wander. Five minutes later, we joined the cubs in sleep.

Lick!

Lick!

Lick! Lick! Lick! Lick! Lick!

Sputtering, I opened my eyes. I saw Stonefur enthusiastically licking my face. Apparently, shi had taken it upon hirself to wake me up. Seeing that shi had succeeded, she gave a small, happy yap. This chakat child of a wolftaur made some unusual sounds! This one acted as a wake up call because the other cubs and kittens around myself and Forest all started moving at the same time. Blaze and Ember both started mewing and Stonefur decided that this was a good moment to jump down and pounce on hir sister, who had crawled into my lap.

"Aack!" I squawked as paws scrabbled in my lap. Behind me, I felt Forest start to laugh, hir chest and breasts quivering nicely around my head. It had been a very restful nap!

"Hey you two! Come on down for lunch!" we heard Garrek call. Forest and I got to our feet and headed back down toward the Den, the swarm of cubs and kittens weaving in and out of our legs making it difficult to walk.

Since the weather today was nice, we were having a barbecue, or a "barbie" as it was known down here in Australia. The grills had just been fired up so it would be a while before the meat actually started cooking, but there were other things to snack on in the meantime. Potato crisps, Cheezels and salted peanuts were out on the tables as well as tea, soft drinks and flavored milks. I went over to get something to drink. I heard some chuckling behind me when I selected one of the flavored milks. "Hey, I like milk!" I said in my defence.

"We know!" Goldfur, Forestwalker and Quickpaw chorused.

This set all the adults and some of the cubs to laughing. I just smiled and took a pull on the bottle of jaffa (chocolate-orange) flavored milk I had selected.

Soon, the grills were up to temperature and the cooking began. Medium boneless pieces of steak were soon sizzling alongside snags (sausages), onions and home made hamburgers. On a day like today, there was nothing better than food cooked outdoors! I had developed quite an appetite today and tried a little of everything. A uniquely Australian way to have your hamburgers, I discovered, was to add a slice of beetroot to the usual lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. I decided to give it a try and found that I liked it! The steak sandwiches were very tender and delicious, served on thick slices of toast with fried onions, lettuce, tomato and cheese. The snags were wonderful too. They were served piping hot, the skins bursting when you bit into them. I was a little disconcerted though when Goldfur asked me if I wanted some dead horse with them. I asked them if horse was often on the menu and they all burst out laughing. Eventually Goldfur relented and explained that dead horse was Australian rhyming slang for tomato sauce! So, for the first time ever, I had snags with dead horse! As the food cooked and we ate, we had lots of time to just talk. It was a very pleasant way to spend a glorious winter afternoon in June.

After most of the eating was done the Aussie adults decided to start up an impromptu game of backyard cricket. Garrek, Malena and I, not being Australians, had no idea how the game might be played, but we were shown as best we could understand the basic rules. Don't ask me to explain, I still don't know that much about the game! The game was modified a bit from the usual cricket rules. We used a tennis ball rather than a regulation cricket ball and instead of teams it was more like "everyone versus the batsman". Still, even though I didn't understand much of what was going on, I had a good time.

Soon, however, the winter sun reached the horizon and it rapidly started to get dark. Gathering up the remains of the barbecue and the cubs, we all headed indoors. It rapidly gets cold after the sun goes down!

The party continued inside, though at a more leisurely pace. Someone lit a fire in the fireplace and we sat around, enjoying the fire's warmth, nursing the new kittens, and talking. The cubs and kittens soon grew tired and were put to bed. Not too long afterwards, Forest and I headed to bed as well. We had a "busy" day ahead of us tomorrow, after all!

I showered, alone unfortunately. Forest and I enjoyed showering together, but frequently the mutual showering led to other pleasurable activities and we wanted to hold off on those until tomorrow. Ah, tomorrow! I thought to myself. I could hardly wait!

When I walked back into the sleeping room, it was all Forest could do to suppress a smile. "Thinking of me, Boyce?" shi asked.

I looked down and noticed what shi was talking about. "Apparently!" I replied.

Then shi did giggle. "My turn in the shower now, love," shi said. Shi gave me a kiss and a quick caress of my aroused manhood before heading off for hir own shower. I moaned in strained frustration at hir touch, knowing that I would have to wait!

I lay down on the bed, shivering a bit as my body touched the cold sheets. I pulled the top sheet close as well as a comforter. I might not need the comforter once Forest got into the bed, but dammit I was cold now! I shivered for a minute or so until my body heat could warm up the sheets but I finally sighed and started to relax.

I had been in bed about thirty minutes when Forest finally emerged from the shower. The shower itself hadn't taken all that long but drying all that fur had. Seeing hir in silhouette by the light of the bathroom, I was again reminded of hir wild beauty. I was grinning as shi slipped into bed beside me, cuddling hir warm body next to mine.

"What are you smiling about?" shi asked.

"Just gazing at your beauty, my beloved chakat."

"Awww! You're sweet! I think I'll keep you!" Then shi gave me a deep, loving kiss. I kissed hir back with equal love. Oh, how I wanted to reach up and caress hir full breasts, to kiss hir throat and to continue from there, but we both knew we wanted to wait. After we broke the kiss, we snuggled close to share warmth, Forest helpfully tossing off the now too warm comforter.

Wrapped in my lover's warm strong arms, I drifted off to a very restful sleep.


I woke before Forest the next morning. As a matter of fact, it seemed I awoke before everyone in the Den that morning! Well, at least I wouldn't have to fight for the bathroom this morning (as if I ever had to here!). I shaved and took care of my hair before getting dressed. My eyes, thanks to surgery, now no longer needed artificial correction and so I was able to get ready even faster that before.

Once dressed, I headed for the kitchen. I puttered around some, getting another pot of Chipinge coffee and started to prepare some bacon. It was as I was standing in front of the stove that I felt warm, strong, loving arms wrap themselves around me.

"Mmmmm! Good morning, love. Have a good sleep?" I asked.

"Very!" Shi kissed the back of my neck. "Oh Boyce! I can hardly believe that the day is finally here!"

I turned in hir arms and returned hir kiss. "I can hardly believe it myself, love!"

SNAP!

"Back to the bacon, Boyce!"

I chuckled as I turned back around to pay attention to my cooking. Forest meanwhile was getting down two large mugs for the coffee from a cabinet. I took the bacon out of the pan to drain and got the butter and eggs. As the eggs cooked and Forest got the coffee ready, I noticed that shi seemed very full of energy this morning, almost antsy, and shi kept looking over at me.

"What?" I asked.

Shi grinned. "I went into heat in the night, Boyce!" she whispered excitedly.

I gave hir a big hug at the happy news! There was no reason why shi shouldn't have gone into heat right on schedule (that's why I was here after all) but the excitement of the coming day both had us caught up in an anxious mood.

"Cook those eggs! I'm starved!" shi said with a grin.

The eggs were soon cooked and breakfast was served: five slices of bacon, three eggs, coffee and toast for me and ten pieces of bacon, six eggs, coffee and toast for hir. Forest being a chakat needed about twice as much food as I did so this was a normal meal for hir. I chuckled when I thought how much I would be preparing for hir breakfast tomorrow morning. Then she would be eating for two! I sat on a chair while Forest sat on a cushion, there being chairs in the household for bipedal guests as well as Kris and Trina's use. As we ate, we kept catching each other's eyes and grinning like two children. We were both anxious to get the day started!

Once breakfast was finished, we made ready for our hike. Forest put on hir special saddlebags and once we had stopped to fill our canteens, we headed out the door.

The eucalyptus forest outside of the Den marked the boundary of the present urban development and the untouched wilderness. Centuries before, this area had been set aside as a National Park, saving much of the old-growth trees. As many times as I had been to the Den, this was my first real chance to explore this area. "You've shown me the forests of your native New England Boyce," Forest said as she gave me a quick hug and kiss before we entered the forest itself. "Now, my beloved, I will show you my forests!"

We entered the forest. The entire area was heavily wooded and the undergrowth was filled with creepers and tree-ferns. This area was dominated by a type of eucalyptus tree that I had never seen before – the Mountain Ash. Forest explained that they were very tall, rivalling the Sequoias of North America. "A Mountain Ash felled many decades before forestry controls had been introduced was measured as being taller than the largest Sequoia, making it the tallest tree in the world," she explained. "Unfortunately, that was a unique specimen and the Sequoias retain the title of the tallest known living trees."

"These trees are magnificent," I replied. Magnificent boles of solid wood towered straight up in the air. Some I saw were over a hundred meters tall! Their canopies spread to cast a shadow on the forest floor, but they let in enough light for us to see by. Strips of bark hung from the smooth surface of the trunk, contrasting strongly to the rough surface of the Stringybarks, another species of eucalyptus (which Forest had pointed out to me) which filled the gaps between Mountain Ashes where medium-sized trees prevailed.

Forest kept us to the path that had been made through the forest. Though shi could have easily navigated the tangle of roots, rocks, fallen limbs and undergrowth on the forest floor, it would have been arduous going for me. The last thing I needed was a twisted ankle! At one point, shi had me stop. There, together on the forest path, we listened in silence. We heard the characteristic laughing song of the kookaburra echoing through the forest and once the ringing territorial cry of the bellbird. We shared a deep, love filled kiss before moving on.

We continued up the path. As we went, there was an almost constant series of noises coming from the undergrowth. I asked Forest if shi could tell me what in the undergrowth was making the various noises. Shi swivelled hir ears forward and to the sides, listening intently, and hir nose looked like it was going a hundred miles a minute. With hir keen chakat senses, shi was able to identify the noises easily.

"That's a snake," shi said quietly, pointing down and to the left of the path. Pointing in two other directions, shi said "That's a lizard and that's a lyrebird. Lyrebirds are nature's mimics, able to reproduce an extraordinary array of sounds. They frequently fool people into thinking a completely different type of animal is just out of sight!"

"So, where are all the cute mammals?" I asked, giving hir right cheek a quick lick kiss.

Shi giggled. "They're asleep for the most part. They're mostly nocturnal in this area." Then shi froze, hir eyes going wide and hir ears facing straight forward. Having been around felines I knew that shi had either seen or heard something of interest and was concentrating all hir senses on it. I helped by making like a statue. After a full minute, she whispered "But I think I just found you one! Come on! This way!"

Shi left the path, picking hir way through the undergrowth as quickly and silently as the jaguar of hir fur patterning. It was a thing of beauty to see hir on the hunt. I could see now why hir cub name had been "Jungle-kit". After a minute, shi stopped at the base of one of the Mountain Ashes. Shi squatted then noiselessly leaped high up on the trunk. Using hir four legs and two hands, shi quickly made hir way to a low thick branch. Shi crouched as low as shi could along the branch, looking at hir quarry (whatever it was).

I was just starting to wonder how I was going to join hir when shi lowered hir tail down to me. Thank goodness for chakat tails! I grabbed on. With a minimum of effort, since I weighed only about half what shi did, shi lifted me up to the branch. I securely seated myself and Forest silently pointed down and to the right. There, on some rocks, was a rock wallaby. It wasn't very large, being a member of a smaller species, but it was the only mammal we had seen so far today. We watched it for a few minutes as it ate and groomed itself. I grinned and snuggled up to Forest, gently caressing hir breasts through hir halter-top. Hir nipples hardened and could feel hir throaty purr make hir entire body vibrate. "Boyce," shi whispered. "If you keep this up we'll never get to where we're going!" I chuckled and stopped teasing hir, after giving hir breasts one final caress. Ready to go after our short break, we hopped down from the branch to the forest floor.

A small wind picked up, showering us with leaves and filling the air with the smell of eucalyptus oil, making the entire forest smell a bit like cough drops. The path started to slope upwards at this point as we started to climb the lower slope of a mountain. It wasn't very high as mountains go, maybe a thousand meters in height if that, and Forest explained that they were lucky to see one or two snowfalls all winter. We hiked only about twenty minutes before we reached the top of the ridge. What I saw there took my breath away!

Nestled in a valley between the two main mountain ridges was a large lake. Filtered by the unspoiled protected forest around it, the water was crystal clear. "Wow!" I said quietly.

Forest smiled. "That's most people's reaction too. The lake is a source of fresh water for this whole area and is partially man-made. There are trails all around the lake since this is a popular area for hiking."

We began our hike around the lake. The trail itself along the ridge kept the lake out of view for the most part, but the trail did occasionally open up to show off the glistening surface of the placid waters. About ten minutes into our hike Forest took us off the main trail onto a side trail that you would miss every time unless you knew exactly where it was. "I found this trail on a very old map one day while doing some initial research on this area," shi told me. "It has almost been forgotten. It took me a while before I found it and I've improved it for my use. I think I'm the only one that really knows about this trail and uses it now." We hiked another five minutes up this hidden trail before Forest stopped and said; "We're here!"

"Here" was a ledge with a magnificent view! Not only did the view show off the lake, but a generous amount of the surrounding countryside as well. The canopy of the forest spread out before us, the air tinged with the bluish haze of eucalyptus oil hanging in the air. The ledge was open to the north-west so it was bathed in sunlight on this clear winter day. Forest and I just stood there, our arms around each other, admiring the view. After several minutes, Forest pulled me into hir arms and gave me a deep, passionate, love-filled kiss. I returned the kiss in kind, pouring all my love for hir into it. When at last we broke the kiss, shi whispered into my ear, "Come..."

Taking my hand in hirs, she led me to a crevice in the rock ledge. I followed hir inside and found myself in a shallow cave. It was very small but dry inside.

Forest turned to me. "This is my secret retreat for the times when I want to enjoy a little solitude. I've also used it on occasion for shelter in inclement weather. I've never taken anyone but Goldfur here before today, Boyce. I share my secret retreat with you."

I stepped close to hir and pulled hir into my arms for a kiss. "Thank you, my love, for so honoring me." Our kiss deepened and I could feel hir start to purr. One of hir hands reached down to my crotch and caressed my manhood through my pants. I felt myself start to arouse under hir touch and felt the nipples on hir breasts start to grow with their own erections, pressing into my chest.

"Wait, wait..." shi whispered. Shi broke the kiss but gave me a reassuring smile. Shi gave my manhood a final caress before moving to another part of the cave. From its hiding place, shi pulled out a large plastic bag. Reaching inside the bag, shi began pulling out a soft, baggy chakat-style sleeping mattress and I helped hir spread the mattress out on the cave's floor. Together, we knelt on the mattress and faced each other. I took hir hands in mine and held them before us. My eyes looked deeply into hirs and I was lost. I was so happy! The moment we had waited for so long was finally here!

I could see Forest's eyes shining as shi asked me the ritual question I had been waiting for so long to hear from hir: "Boyce, will you sire my child and promise to cherish and care for hir?"

My own eyes were shining with unshed tears of happiness as I gave the traditional reply I had waited so long to say to hir: "I will. Forest, will you bear my child and bring hir up happy in the security of the family?" "I will," shi confirmed.

Together we finished: "In the spirit of love, let our child know joy and fulfilment all hir life."

Then we were kissing. A kiss of joy and love and happiness all rolled into one! The kiss seemed to go on forever. Forest's tongue lapped all around my mouth as I tried to capture it with my own tongue. Then shi opened hir mouth to me and our tongues plunged into each other's mouths, twining and tasting of each other. Forest brought hir hands up and slowly began unbuttoning my shirt as my hands stroked slowly up and down hir upper back.

I heard hir sigh of resignation as shi opened my shirt. Yes, I was wearing my vest. I know that shi hated it, but shi had come to reluctantly accept the necessity of my wearing it. We separated slightly so that I could pull it and my undershirt off. Shi hummed appreciatively and ran hir hands through the hair of my hirsute chest.

"Now let's get you the rest of the way undressed!" shi exclaimed. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on my butt and Forest was busy untying my hiking boots! That done, shi pulled them and my socks off and started tugging on the legs of my pants! "Hey! Hey! I need to unbuckle them!" I said. Shi was giggling as I struggled with my belt and as soon as I had unbuckled the belt and unbuttoned my pants, Whoosh! They joined my boots on the far side of the cave.

Then, shi pounced! Forest pinned me to the mattress, a feral gleam, and a hunger in hir eyes! Hir gaze bore into me as I heard hir growling a low, almost subsonic growl.

"You are mine!" shi ground out. "You are mine to do with as I please! Submit to me!"

Wordlessly I tilted my head back, exposing my throat to my mate. Shi took my throat in hir teeth, biting down just hard enough to establish hir dominance over me, growling all the while. I was helpless before hir, completely at hir mercy, and I found it an incredible turn on! It was all a bit of sexual role-playing, of course. Hir demeanour was wild, but hir touch was wonderfully tender.

"I will taste of you," shi said. Slowly, shi began to lick groom me, hir tongue playing over my face, my throat, my chest, and my belly. Then shi reached the waistband of my very tented undershorts.

"Oho! What have we here?" shi said with a hungry grin. Shi reached down with hir right hand and pulled off my underwear. My arousal was plain to see as my fully erect penis throbbed with each beat of my heart. "Goooood! You are of a size enough to satisfy me!" Shi reached down, cupping my scrotum. Then hir fingers closed around it, hir claws lightly pricking its surface. "I claim you, human, and I claim your seed! You will service me, and with your seed I shall make a cub. Your cub! But first, you must prove yourself worthy of me! Pleasure me, and you shall have the honor of giving me a cub! Fail..." and hir fingers closed a bit tighter around my scrotum, "...and you shall be a man no more! Now, pleasure me!"

Now was my chance to strike back, to gain the upper hand in this battle of love...and manly survival! I didn't take any chances. I attacked the most sensitive spot on hir lovely body, hir large full breasts. I slid my hands up underneath hir halter-top, cupping hir breasts and teasing hir puffy nipples. Shi grinned and hir eyes began to close in pleasure. "Mmmm! That's a very good start!" I lightly caressed the undersides of hir breasts, felt the large, heavy weight of the beautiful place from where our cub would draw life-nourishing milk. Hir nipples quickly hardened beneath my palms. I could feel hir start to weaken beneath my expert touch. Slowly, I eased hir down to the mattress beside me. I gently rolled hir onto hir left side and then pressed my nude body to hirs, wrapping my legs around hir lower torso. I reached forward with my mouth and took in my teeth the tie that held together the front of hir halter. Hir breath began to quicken in anticipation and hir breasts surged forward into my hands as hir halter-top sprang away from hir breasts, leaving hir as nude as I was now.

I moved my right hand to expose hir left nipple, still caressing both breasts all the while. Already I could see evidence of hir arousal: milk already was leaking from hir swollen nipples. I drew my tongue slowly around the nipple, feeling it stiffen and wrinkle and heard what sounded like a tiny whimper of pleasure escape hir lips. I licked across the top of hir nipple and I heard hir give a tiny gasp and felt a small shudder pass through hir. I think I'd given hir a tiny orgasm!

Pulling hir left nipple deep into my mouth, I began to drink of hir. Shi moaned and held me to hir breast like I was hir own hungry cub. I continued to pleasure hir other breast and began to move my hips against hir, rubbing my manhood through hir belly fur. It wasn't but a few minutes when, clasping me to hirself with hands and handpaws, I felt hir have hir first full orgasm. I stopped, allowing hir time to recover.

"Oh Boyce! You always do that so well!" shi said to me with a happy smile once shi had composed hirself. I gave hir a happy grin in reply and lick-kissed hir nose pad. "I chose wisely when I asked you to sire my cub!" I dropped my head back down and now concentrated on hir right breast. I drank of hir until I brought hir to yet another orgasm.

My mouth left hir breasts and moved up hir chest. I reached hir throat and shi tipped hir head back. Opening my mouth wide I bit down on hir, claiming hir as my own. We kissed then; our lips pressed together, our tongues twining with each other. "Boyce," at last shi begged. "Please! Take me!"

"Yes," I whispered back to hir. We separated briefly. Forest got up and turned around. Shi crouched on hir forepaws and raised hir haunches, hir tail moving aside to expose hir hot, ready femininity to me. I moved up behind hir and placed my hands on hir hips. I felt hir shudder in anticipation but I decided at that moment to surprise hir.

Hir gasp! was music to my ears as my tongue traced teasingly the swollen lips of hir femsex. I plunged my tongue into hir vagina, tasting hir femininity, but avoiding the tiny pearl of hir clitoris. I heard hir breathing increase, heard hir start to build towards orgasm. I stopped and just held hir. Once shi had cooled down, I started in on hir again. Built hir up, let hir down. I was driving hir crazy, denying hir the pleasure of release and I was enjoying it!

"Oooo! Boyce! Please! Stop torturing me! PLEASE!" shi at last cried in desperation. I stopped. I moved up close behind hir, my throbbing manhood poised at the entrance to hir body. "Please!" shi begged. "Take me!"

We both cried out as the tip of my penis penetrated hir and slowly began to slide into hir body. Shi was like a furnace around me as I sank deeper and deeper into hir depths, so hot that I thought shi would blister me. My hips finally pressed against hirs and I was completely buried within hir, the tip of my penis pressing against hir cervix. I stayed there a few precious moments, feeling hir caress me with hirself, then I slowly began to pull out of hir. I pulled back until only the head of my penis was inside hir, then I pressed myself deep into hir again. Our lovemaking continued. Slow and fast, tender and fierce, wild and gentle, all at the same time! Hir tail held me to hir in a fierce caress, hir own hands caressing hir nipples. Then I felt it: the point of no return! The sweat broke out on my back and I knew I was spiralling upward towards climax!

"Forest! You're mine! I claim you as my own! I shall plant my seed in your womb and start our cub there! Your belly will swell and all will know that it is with my child that you grow big! Every kick, every movement, the heaviness of your belly will be a reminder that we are permanently joined as one! That part of me is inside you, growing bigger and bigger!" As orgasm was but moments away, my breath started to come in gasps. "Oh! Forest! This... is... my... gift... to... you... dear... ONE!"

I roared out in ecstasy as ultimate pleasure blasted through me as I came! I had penetrated hir cervix and I blasted jet after jet after jet of seed directly into Forest's hot waiting womb! Beneath me, I heard hir scream out as shi reached release with me, announcing to all hir fierce pleasure as she conceived our child. Shi closed tight around me and I roared out again as hir body milked my manhood of its seed, hungry to take it all within hirself. I opened my mouth wide and bit down on the back of hir neck, claiming hir as my own, my mate! We danced together at the heights of joy; joined together one heart, one soul, and one body!

At last we began the long, warm pleasurable spiral downward of afterglow. We lay there, still joined, my manhood buried deep within hir body, panting as we tried to recover our breath. When at last the haze of pleasure began to lift, I felt Forest's arms around me, holding me to hir chest. Shi kissed me and spoke the final formal words of our mating – "My deepest thanks for your gift. I will always treasure this moment."

I felt my eyes starting to water. Forest looked at me, caring but puzzled.

Kissing hir, tears flowing down my cheeks, I answered hir-unspoken question. "All of my previous children came as complete surprises both to me and the mother. I have never had the happiness, the joy, of knowing that I was creating a child! I thank you for this precious, precious gift!" Then shi held me to hir and let my happy tears flow.

After a minute, I felt hir body squeeze on my penis, still deep inside hir. Shi caressed and coaxed and I felt myself start to arouse and stiffen inside hir again. With a gleam in hir eyes, shi asked, "Ready to go again?"

I was, and we did!


It was a little after three that afternoon when we approached the Den. As we turned the corner to go into the yard, we saw all the adults and cubs currently lined up together. On seeing us, they broke out in a collective cheer and began clapping.

"Congratulations, new parents-to-be!" Goldfur said significantly. "Time of conception of your child..."

"Wait a minute!" I demanded. "How could you know...."

Goldfur grinned, showing all hir teeth. "You conceived your child by that lake in between the two mountain ridges, right? Well, the lake together with the surrounding mountains makes for some great echoes!" Shi touched one ear with a fingertip. "And we've told you before how good our hearing is!"

Forest began giggling and I turned bright red in embarrassment! "Hey Garrek! He's as red as you are now!" Trina pointed out. They laughed and this only caused me to blush all the harder.

We had another barbecue that evening, a celebratory one for the coming cub. It lasted long into the night and around midnight I and Forest went to our bed to sleep. Not just to sleep, however...

The next day dawned bright and glorious. I awoke to Forest's gentle caresses and hug. I opened my eyes and saw hir smiling. Hir eyes were shining with happiness.

"Boyce," shi said to me. "I'm pregnant!"

My cry of joy could be heard clear to the mountains.

 

Next story in chronological order is Forest Tales #15.

Characters and story © 1999 Boyce Garald Kline & Bernard Doove.

Link: Return to the Forest Tales main page.

 

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