InuYasha Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Dragon Half Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Hellsing Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Words Worth Fan Fiction / Battle Angel Alita Fan Fiction ❯ On the Run ❯ Unconciousness ( Chapter 10 )

On the Run

By: bsmart (a.k.a. Tiek Mo Shet)

Disclaimer: Why the hell am I writing this? Nobody reads them and they have no legal weight. It's a complete waste of time and bandwidth and yet I'm still typing. If you're under the legal age where ever you are don't read this, but since you're going to anyways at least don't let your mommy catch you. This fic is very much NC-17.

Copyright? Ha! Don't be a dick and claim this as your own and if you got this anywhere besides mediaminer.org or the official Pokegirls Yahoo group then you likely haven't seen all of it as those are the only two places where this story is officially distributed.

Note: This is an Orange League fic. To be honest I don't know a damn thing about pokemon and I want to keep it that way. If I make a dumb mistake feel free to point it out. I've done as much research as I can into this to keep it consistent with what seems to be the accepted canon of the pokegirl world. Also no one that I know of has done anything with the Orange League so I'm making it up as I go along.

"…" Normal Speech

`…' Thought

Chapter 10: Unconsciousness

Sango was caught by surprise when she turned toward the source of the scream to see that Nikolas was already running towards it at full speed. "Wait!" she yelled after him. When Nikolas didn't slow down she charged after him with Gally following close behind.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Gally yelled.

"I don't know," Sango answered as she leaped over a fallen log.

Just as Gally shoved her way through the last bit of brush Nikolas came flying past her head and slammed into the tree she was next to with enough force to snap off several branches and send bark showering down onto Sango and her. As his body fell limply to the ground they heard the rest of the girls scream as they saw Nikolas fall to the forest floor. "Take care of him!" Sango yelled as she turned to face her tamer's attacker, but Gally beat her too it.

The Naga had turned back towards Nikolas as soon as she had hit him and had begun advancing towards him even before he hit the ground. The appearance of a pair of pokegirls in her path had caused her to halt for a moment but when the long hair turned back to yell something into the woods she struck towards her as fast as she could. She never made it.

Sango's eyes couldn't keep up with Gally as the small Battle Angel launched her self towards the Naga, she could only watch out of the corner of her eye as the black blur smashed into the side of the Naga's face and slammed her to the ground. Gally landed nimbly on the other side of her target only to have her legs swept out from under her by the Naga's tail. As the Naga started to squirm her way back upright Sango reacted and hurled her giant boomerang at the snake-girl catching her squarely in the chest and sending her back to the ground.

With a snarl Gally leapt to her feet landing astride the Naga's head, in one fluid motion she pulled a metal object from under her trench coat and spun it above her head. The rotation caused the side of it she wasn't holding onto to swing open pulling a meter long blade out along with it, as she finished the swing the side that was opening hit the side she was holding with a click and forming a meter long handle. Gally gripped her glaive in both hands with the blade pointed down towards the Naga's throat and started to arch her back.

Seeing the rage blazing in Gally's eyes and the grimace on her face Sango lunged towards her. "Gally, no!"

Gally snapped forward bringing the blade down with crushing force but it only hit gravel as the Naga disappeared in a red flash. Gally's eyes narrowed as she turned towards the source of the flash.

Washu stood at the entrance to the glade with a closing pokeball in her hand. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Nina hopped around Washu and captured the blonde girl in another pokeball.

"Oh no, Nikolas!" Lana screamed when she saw her adopted son crumpled at the base of the tree.

Immediately everyone's eyes came around to see what was wrong and almost as quickly everyone rushed to where Nikolas laid. Edora almost touched him before Washu exclaimed, "Don't touch him, nobody touch him." Washu dropped to her knees beside Nikolas as Nina grabbed his pack from where it had fallen and started to search for the med kit. "Nikolas," Washu asked as she started to look him over, "Nikolas can you hear me?"

Nikolas' eyes flew open as his body tried to draw in a breath but couldn't. The pain in his shoulder and back were only a distant unpleasantness as he started to panic when his next conscious attempt to breath only resulted in a hollow wheeze and no relief. When a third attempt resulted in no more air then the first two he began to panic.

Washu watched as Nikolas' eyes started to widen in shock, he rolled away from her and rose up onto his hands and knees; she winced as the pressure on his arm caused the wound on his right shoulder to open up further. "Nikolas, you're fine, you just got the wind knocked out of you," she tried to assure him.

Nikolas started to calm down as his desperate gasps started to draw more air into his lungs, unfortunately as his concern for his breathing lessened he became more aware of the pain elsewhere in his body. With a pained groan his right arm gave out dumping him back to the ground. When he rolled over onto his back he grimaced as the dull ache became shooting pain around his ribs. Above him Nina's face appeared. "Nikolas, Washu says you just got the wind knocked out of you, you're gonna be fine, ok?"

"No," he groaned, "shoulder hurts."

"I need you to sit up so I can look at it," Washu said. Nikolas nodded and sat up with Nina's help, leaning back against her for support. "I need to see your shoulder, so let's get your jacket and shirt off," Washu said. While Nina helped Nikolas removed his jacket Washu motioned the other girls back. "Give the boy some room." As her eyes swept around the circle of concerned pokegirls she saw Gally walking slowly towards the group glaring at her and slowly folding her glaive back down. For a moment their eyes locked and Washu was genuinely scared by the anger she saw in Gally but as quickly as their eyes met they separated when Washu heard Nikolas yelp in pain.

"Come on, let's get this jacket off," Nina said reassuringly. Nikolas nodded drunkenly and did his best to shrug off his jacket with her help, when he stretched his right arm back he hissed as the skin around his wound stretched. When the jacket slid off it gave a better view of the wound on his shoulder, the girls who could see it groaned sympathetically, save Ceres, instead of a sympathetic groan hers was a hungry one. Nikolas was only able to glance over at Nina for a moment before her cheery voice interrupted. "Good, now the t-shirt," Nina said happily.

Nikolas started to raise his arm but as it passed horizontal the dull ache turned into a screaming pain that tore a yelp from his throat and brought Washu's attention back to her tamer. "I don't think this is gonna work," he said.

Washu considered the problem for a moment before saying, "Nina, cut it off."

The Catgirl nodded and quickly reached around Nikolas to grab the bottom of it in one hand and use her other's claws to slash it in half. With this done she quickly helped him out of it and tossed it to the side on his jacket. Washu scooted over beside Nikolas' shoulder and started to probe at the wound cleaning some of the grit out of it, her actions prompted a sharp intake of breath on his part and he turned to his left to avoid seeing what she was doing as she none to gently started to push one of her fingers into the cut. "What the…," he started as he saw Ceres glancing hungrily between where Washu was working at his shoulder and the bloody right shoulder of his t-shirt. When she tentatively reached a hand out toward the shirt it dawned on him what was wrong with her. "Washu, hold up."

"Why?"

"Just hold up for a second," he said before turning to Ceres. "Come here." When she didn't make any movement except to lightly brush her fingers across the fabric of the t-shirt he repeated himself, "Ceres, come over here."

Ceres shook her head before looking down at Nikolas, "Huh?"

He pointed at the ground where Washu was kneeling, "Sit down." Ceres did as she was told and an annoyed looking Washu moved out of her way. Nikolas raised his oozing right shoulder towards Ceres and said, "Quit trying to act like you don't want to."

"I…no…no…," she stammered as a shocked murmur ran through the group.

"Just do it and get it over with," Nikolas ordered.

Ceres fought her instincts for a moment before the sight of the bloody shoulder overwhelmed her and she latched onto the shoulder and started to lick it clean.

Washu sat off to the side and gave Nikolas a disapproving look as the murmur got louder.

"Oh gross!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Vampires," Gally muttered.

Nikolas grimaced and closed his eyes as he felt Ceres' tongue start to worm its way into his shoulder. He ground his teeth together as she started to suckle on the wound. He felt someone's eyes on him and glanced up to see his mother giving him a questioning look. Nikolas tried to give her a smile and shrug his shoulder but as he did he winced when his actions forced one of Ceres' fangs against the edge of his wound.

Washu let Ceres feed for a few minutes before she said, "All right, that's enough, let me fix him up before you drain him dry."

With a happy sigh Ceres let go and gave Nikolas a quick kiss before she scrambled over to the pile Nikolas' clothes where she grabbed his t-shirt and disappeared off into the brush.

"How long will it take for you to fix him Washu?" Nina asked.

"Not long," she said as she retrieved an analgesic patch from the medical kit and placed it on Nikolas' arm just below his wound, "but this patch is gonna knock him out."

Nina nodded and told the rest of their group, "Start setting up camp, we're going to be staying here for the night."

Nikolas started to straighten up and said, "The hell we are, we've got anoth…OW!"

Washu pulled her tweezers out of his shoulder and dropped the pebble they held onto the ground. "In about ten minutes you're gonna fall asleep whether you want to or not so stop arguing and hold still you big baby."

"Let me jam those things in your shoulder and see if you squeal!"

"Oh be quiet," she said as she started to dig in again. When Nikolas only grimaced and glared at her she told him with a big smile, "Good boy, if you behave yourself I'll give you a treat when I'm done!" Nikolas just kept up his glare until he felt Nina trying to hold back her laughing.

"See if I tame you again anytime soo….AAHHHH! Give me some warning before you do that!" Washu just ignored Nikolas' complaints and kept up her work. Nikolas did his best to ignore her and watch the rest of the girls set up camp. Sango, Gally and Faye had started to prowl around the clearing, looking like they were inspecting it for anymore surprises, his family and Mihoshi were working on the tents, and Mink was starting to clear out a place for a fire. "Hey, where's Ceres?"

"I think she went off…oh there she is," Nina said as she pointed off to their left.

Nikolas swung his head around and it took a moment to refocus his eyes on Ceres, when he did get her in focus he started to chuckle. Ceres had gotten rid of her torn yellow tank top and replaced it with Nikolas' torn t-shirt. The white t-shirt had been considerably to big with her before but now she had pulled it tight in front and had retied the two halves in front of her belly, exposing a great deal of pale flesh below and above the knot. Nikolas' appreciation of Ceres' newly exposed cleavage and stomach was cut short when Washu sprayed disinfectant into his wound causing him to screw his eyes shut as the stinging sensation roared through his shoulder.

"Almost done," Washu assured him as she started to apply some anti-biotic cream to the wound and began to close it with butterfly bandages and gauze.

Nikolas paused for a moment to rub his eyes and lean back deeper into Nina. `She sure makes a nice pillow,' he thought as his head settled between her breasts.

"I thought you said Nikolas' t-shirts were too big for you?" Nina asked Ceres.

Ceres smiled slightly and stared coyly at the ground while she ran a hand down one of the jagged edges of the shirt, "They were but you fixed that problem. Do you like it?" She asked without looking at Nikolas, when he didn't say anything she looked up to see him laying back against Nina with his eyes closed.

Washu laughed at the slightly hurt look on Ceres' face while Nina started to stroke at Nikolas' hair. "I'm sure he'd love it," Washu assured Ceres, "and Delta probably would too."

At the mention of Delta's name Ceres' eyes lit up. "Washu, can you let her out? Please?"

Washu started to say something but Nina cut in. "We should ask Nikolas before we let any more of the girls out."

"Fine," Washu grumbled. She leaned over and nudged Nikolas in the ribs, "Nikolas?"

"Huh, wha?" he asked sleepily.

"Can we let the rest of the girls out?" Washu asked with a small smile.

Nikolas rolled his head in Nina's bosom trying for a more comfortable position. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he slurred.

Washu got up and walked over to where Nikolas' pack had been moved and his rifle laid across the top of it. After a moment of searching she produced four pokeballs and tossed one of them to Ceres. "Knock yourself out," she said with a lecherous smile.

Ceres caught the pokeball and hurried towards her tent. "Washu, you know he didn't know what you were asking," Nina chastised.

"He said not to do anything without asking him, I asked him, he said yes," she said confidently. "Now let's get him in a tent so he can sleep that pain pad off." Nina and Washu picked up Nikolas between them and laid him down in his tent before joining the rest of the harem around the fire.

"So you're telling me that he hasn't tamed any of you yet?" asked a girl with light green skin and a blaze of orange red hair.

Washu shook her head, "He hasn't so much as touched me or Sango and Gally, but he's been making eyes at Mink from time to time."

A girl covered in short tan hair and black leopard spots asked, "Is there somtin' wrong wid 'em?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with him," Washu said annoyedly emphasizing her last two words. "We've just spent all day every day trudging across the country side. We're lucky he has enough energy to tame any of us."

The little spotted girl rolled her eyes. "Jeez, just pump him full of a recovery juice and wail away at 'em."

"Harley we can't, he has to be able to wake up in the morning so we can keep moving," Nina explained. "Not that we don't want to."

"Yeah about that," the green girl next to Harley started, "why is Ceres still here? Wasn't she a cop?"

Harley shivered, "Ew…cops."

"Are you gonna control her Ivy?" Washu asked.

"No, so?"

Washu glared at Ivy, "Well if you don't…"

"Nikolas is really nice to us," Nina injected before Washu could finish, "besides, Ceres had been at the ranch for six months without anyone showing any interest in her."

Harley grimaced, "Ouch."

"So why haven't you two ran for the hills yet?" Faye asked as she finished her dinner.

"Same reason as you, best offer I've had in a while," Ivy responded.

While Faye nodded at Ivy, Sango and Gally snorted at her reason. "Oh get off your high Ponytaurs," Faye said, "you two are missing a man just as much as the rest of us are."

"Speaking of the man," Yerella said, "how long before he wakes up?"

"Probably not until the morning, that pad is loaded with a morphine derivative." Washu set her plate down just as a particularly loud meow accompanied by a hiss came from Ceres' tent.

Edora hopped up several centimeters into the air over her seat, "What was that?"

"Kaya," answered the girls from Azusa's ranch in unison.

"But I thought it was just Ceres and Delta in there," Edora said.

"Well, it might have been, but Kaya smelled a taming," Ivy explained.

"Oh," Edora said before turning to Harley. "Why are you coming along?"

The spotted golden Catgirl shrugged her shoulders. "Puddin' left us so we needs a new puddin'," was all she offered as an explanation.

"Ohhhkay."

Isabella looked around the fire before asking, "Hey, where're Mihoshi and Mink?"

"They're in the tent cleaning up Nikolas," Nina told her.

Mink gazed down at Nikolas' head in her lap and smiled. When she pulled her hand out from under Mihoshi's head the Bunnygirl grumbled in her sleep and rolled over to latch onto Nikolas' sleeping form. Stifling a giggle she looked back down to regard her semi-tamer. `He's not so bad,' she thought, `hundred and eighty centimeters maybe eighty five kilos. I wish he was a little taller.' A frown crossed her face for a moment before her demeanor lightened again. `Brown hair, brown eyes he's no Dick Saucer but I guess he'll do. I wish he wasn't so tired, I wanna get tamed by a guy.' Mink remembered when she had shown up to the ranch a few weeks ago half feral and ready to be tamed by anything, even Azusa had looked good. Nina had been her first taming and Kaya had helped her after that, Kaya was more then willing to help anybody, but she really wanted to get tamed by a male, a tamer. `After all, it doesn't count unless it's a guy,' she thought.

Mink heard Ivy stroll past the tent talking away at Harley but when Harley tried to catch up to Ivy Washu grabbed hold of her shoulder and stopped the Catgirl right outside the tent. "Hold up a minute spaz."

"Awww, Washu, whada ya want," Harley drawled.

Washu jabbed her finger into Harley's sternum. "Under no circumstances do you get anywhere near Kaya."

Harley sounded hurt, "What for?"

"You know why, if you lust dust her I will chain you and Ivy to her and make sure that both of you are the last pokegirls Nikolas tames, if ever."

"No way!"

"Just don't even think about it hairball," Washu said before spinning on her heel and heading back towards the campfire.

Mink laughed quietly as the two shadows went their respective ways, she had been on the receiving end of one of Kaya's lust dust fueled rampages and she knew that Harley wasn't likely to be causing trouble tonight. Even that little Ocelolita wasn't looney enough to chance Washu's punishment. Mink drew her wings back into her body and settled back to sleep.

"What was that all about," Faye asked as Washu sat back down next to her.

The little redheaded Supe-Bra Genius folded her arms across her chest. "I was just making sure we'd all be able to sleep tonight."

"I don't think I'll get much sleep regardless," Edora said as she looked nervously around the clearing, her ears were flattened back against the top of her head. "This place just gives me the creeps."

"Everything gives you the creeps," her sister replied.

"There's nothing to worry about," Lana tried to assure her slightly younger daughter, "The stories about this place are just made up and besides, we have Sango and Gally and the others around now. Now why don't you two get to bed." With a little grumbling the twins got up and headed towards their tent, once they were safely tucked inside Lana scooted up closer to Yerella and wrapped her arms around her harem sister. "What's wrong with this place," she asked nervously.

The crackling pop of a branch in the distance got everyone's attention for a few moments before Washu started talking and got their attention back. "Nobody really knows, I wish we could stay and investigate but the life expectancy of a researcher around here isn't great.'

"What do you mean?" Nina asked.

"Those researchers who studied the growth rings of this forest were the only group to ever make it out all together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, in sixty four a group of five, three humans and a pair of pokegirls went in, nobody ever saw them again. In eighty nine another four went in and disappeared. Nobody ventured in again for another sixty years until one fifty one when a group of eleven went in, four researcher and seven pokegirls. Now one of those researchers made it out, his Skunkette drug him out a couple weeks after they had gone in. Unfortunately the man was catatonic for the rest of his life and the Skunkette died a few days after she pulled her master out."

Gally's derisive snort got everyone's attention. "Just a bunch of ghost stories."

"Oh really?"

"You're saying that almost every researcher who goes in doesn't come out?" Gally asked suspiciously.

Washu adjusted her green tank top before declaring, "Yes."

"Didn't you say just yesterday that only a quarter of the people who go into the forest disappear?"

"Yes I did," Washu huffed, "but most people who come in here are just passing through, not staying in here for weeks on end."

"Still sounds like a ghost story to me," Gally said as she nibbled on a chocolate bar.

"So, are we going to get out of here," Lana asked quietly.

"Oh, of course," Wash said, "We should be out by tomorrow night. We'll come out near a town called Cordale, not very big but it's permanent."

"What about the Naga and the other girl, what are we going to do with them?" Sango asked, "And what was that blonde?"

"A Billie," Nina answered, "I scanned her ball when I put her away."

"So what are we gonna do with them," Sango asked again.

"Well they could be useful, especially that Naga," Yerella said.

"Yes, but that's two more girls he'd have to tame," Sango pointed out.

Washu shook her head and pointed at the shaking tent where Ceres, Delta, and Kaya were. "Only once, I think Kaya would be happy to help keep everyone tame, and it's not like we all don't already have someone helping us."

"You really think Kaya's going to be happy with all of you once there's a stiff and willing dick in the vicinity, or that some of the rest of you might not be content with just her?" Gally said pointedly.

"Well I doubt that Nikolas will just let them go." Lana said.

Yerella nodded, "His protective streak's a mile wide."

"It doesn't matter," Washu injected, "it'll be up to Nikolas in the morning."

"Why did he go charging in after that Naga like he did, is he stupid or something," Gally sneered.

"He's only been a tamer for a few days," Nina tried to explain.

Sango shook her head, "He still should have known better, he's lucky he's not dead," she declared.

"If his shoulder hadn't caught on that rock he would be," Gally said.

"He still should have broken every bone in his back with how hard he hit that tree," Sango added. "Did you see how much wood splintered off of it?"

"That tree was half dead," Lana said dismissively.

"They only look that way," Washu said authoritatively, "The trees around here are quite healthy, and Sango's right, he should have a broken back not a bruised one."

"So how's he not?" Yerella asked.

"That I don't know," Washu said before a sly grin fixed itself on her face, "but I'm gonna find out."

"Later," Nina said sternly, "Now we all need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Gally grumbled as she sat up.

"Yes Mom," Faye said with a grin.

Nina smiled, "Off with you!"

Nikolas felt a hot wind brush across his face followed by something tickling his nose, with an annoyed grunt he wiped at the disturbance and when it was gone he tried to fall back asleep. Just as he was about to drift off again the tickling returned followed by the wind. Again he rubbed at his face but this time when he finished he heard a feminine giggle to his side and realized what was going on, the same thing that had been for years only with a slight adjustment for recent events, "…gimme a break midgets…," he muttered. When the breath returned he opened his eyes expecting to see a pair of Titmice laughing at him, instead he saw a pair of ice blue eyes surrounded by a mass of blonde hair and fur.

Before he could say anything the girl asked, "Are ya gonna be our new puddin'?"

Nikolas tried to sit up but as soon as he placed his weight on his right arm he yelped and his right elbow unlocked spilling him back into Mink's lap and waking her up. "What the…" she started, "Harley, let him sleep!"

Harley plopped down on Nikolas lap, "Awww, I just wanna new puddin'!"

"The hell," Nikolas said as he levered himself up by his left arm and considered the girl sitting on his lap with her legs splayed out to the side and her hands flat against his stomach. She was obviously a cat type though unlike Nina she was more cat then girl. Her human like hair was a bright honey blonde that would have hung down to the middle of her back if she hadn't put it up into a pair of high standing pigtails. The rest of her body was covered in a light fur slightly darker then her human hair with rough black rings all over it. Her tail had a number of black rings around it and a white tip. The yellow fur turned pure white as it reached her neck and her spots gave way to parallel stripes running up her throat and across her face towards her eyes, on set made their way directly towards her mouth and blended right into her thin black lips. She was wearing some sort of halter top whose straps met beneath her throat at a brass ring and then another set of straps wrapped around her throat. When Harley fidgeted, rubbing her hips along Nikolas' crotch, he turned his eyes to the lower half of her. Her legs were incased in a skin tight pair of latex pants. The right side of her top was red and the other side was black and the opposite was true for her pants. "Who are you and who's `puddin''" Nikolas asked sleepily.

"I'm Harley," she chirped, "and you're probably puddin'!"

"Huh?"

Behind him Mink sighed, "Puddin' is her name for whoever her tamer is."

When Harley leaned farther forward to bring her face back to within inches of his Nikolas groaned and covered his eyes as her movement exposed a portion of the tents opening and allowed some sunlight to hit his eyes directly.

"Puddin'?" Harley asked hopefully.

"Nikolas," he answered.

"Puddin'?" she asked again and wiggled her bottom against his crotch.

"Nikolas," he said a little more forcefully.

"Puddin'?"

"Nikolas!"

"Mr. N?"

Nikolas just stared at her, "Are you feral?"

She seemed to seriously consider it. "I don't think so."

"Yes she is," Mink said.

"I am not, I think."

"You can't," Mink snapped back.

The throbbing in Nikolas head just kept getting worse. "Both of you shush!" Rubbing his forehead didn't seem to help. "Where did you come from?"

"Maraqak Ranch."

Mink rolled her eyes. "Washu let her Ivy, Kaya, and Delta out last night. Well Ceres let Delta out."

"I don't bloody believe this."

"Sooo…..," Harley started to ask.

"So what," Nikolas groaned.

"Are you my…"

Nikolas' hand snapped up across her mouth and held tight. "So help me, if you say puddin'," he hissed and then released his hand.

"…master?"

"Eventually."

Harley giggled, "Yay!" and started to grab at Nikolas' boxers.

Nikolas tried to push Harley off him, "Back off!"

Mink tried to help, "He's hurt." With two people fighting her Harley gave up. "Why don't you go get Ivy, Delta, and Kaya up so Nikolas can meet them?"

When Harley looked back down at Nikolas expectantly he nodded in agreement. "Ok, I'll go get `em up for ya Mr. N," she said as she hopped up and darted out of the tent.

Nikolas flopped back into Mink's lap. "Four more? God help me."

Mink laughed, "Well, I know Kaya will be happy to help."

"I don't wanna know, I just don't wanna know."

"Well we should get up."

Nikolas smiled up at her upside down face, "Five more minutes mom?" Off to his left Mihoshi let out a little snort, rolled over, and started to search around for Nikolas with her left arm. When she found his arm she latched on and pulled herself up to him. "So you wanna wake her up or should I?"

"It's pointless, just let the smell of food wake her up."

Nikolas agreed and with a little help from Mink he was able to extract his arm from Mihoshi's grasp and head out for breakfast leaving the snoring Bunnygirl to wake up on her own. His tent was facing towards the fire pit that one of the girls had dug after he fell asleep and he immediately saw that Harley was no where to be seen and neither were any of the new girls that Mink had named. As he scanned the faces more closely he noted that Ceres seemed to be absent as well. "What's for breakfast?" he asked.

Edora looked up from the pan she was stirring. "MRE guts."

Lana lightly rapped the back of her daughter's head with the spoon she had been using. "Ham, eggs, and hash browns, how are you feeling?"

"Like a Snorlass sat on me."

"From a stand point of momentum that's not far off," Washu quipped, "Though jumped on might be more appropriate."

"That was a pretty stupid thing to do," Gally said offhandedly.

"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"We let out the stronger girls for a reason," Nina said quietly.

"I got it, I'm an idiot, I almost died." Nikolas accepted the plate that Isabella handed him. "What happened to that Naga and the other girl anyway?"

"Well, once Sango and Gally dodged your flying carcass they subdued the Naga and I captured her. Nina got the Billie," Washu told him.

As Washu finished Harley came prancing up with Kaya and Ivy in tow, Ceres and Delta followed shortly after. "I got `em for ya Mr. N."

Nikolas looked up and saw his new girls, the pale green skinned girl with long red hair was obviously a plant type, if the skin wasn't enough of a confirmation then the flower bud in the small of her back and it's associated vines wrapped over her shoulders settled it. Nikolas wasn't sure whether the skintight green suit covering her like a swimsuit was clothing or some type of leaf. The copious size of her chest had him leaning towards thinking she might be a Boobisaur and as Harley stopped bobbing up and down on the balls of her feet he realized that she was a bit shorter then the Catgirl. `Definitely Ivy,' the thought. On the other side of Harley was another cat type pokegirl.

Unlike Harley and Nina this girl's ears were long and pointed and came directly out of the side of her head where a human girl's ears would be. A light coating of white fur started just below her throat and disappeared underneath the collar of the dress she was wearing. Her arms and the portion of her legs that were visible were covered in a dark tan fur with black spots and her raggedly cut hair matched her fur right down to the spots. Her upper portion of her dark blue dress emulated a sweater in its high collar and long sleeves that she had pushed up her arms, the area over her breasts was nearly transparent. The bottom half of the dress consisted of two long panels of fabric barely fifteen centimeters wide in front and back that reached half way down her shins. Her legs were encased in pair of black thigh high fish net stockings held up by garters attached directly to her dress and her right ear had a thick golden hoop through it. Behind her a long bushy tail with a white tip slowly swayed back and forth. `Kaya.'

The girl holding Ceres' hand wouldn't have seemed normal no matter how much you dressed her up. Coming out of the sea of teal hair piled up on top of her head were a pair of small purple wings that matched the purple boned and maroon covered wings coming out her back. Her ears were long and pointed back and the only spot on her pale and flawless skin was a red symbol in the center of her forehead. Her feet were reptilian claws and her fingers were capped by three centimeter nails that looked more suited to killing then painting. The loincloth and bikini top she wore look liked they'd been ripped from whatever had made up the rest of the bottom of Kaya's dress. `And that would be Delta.'

Even as Nikolas was appraising the girl's they were looking him over with equal interest. While Ivy's green eyes and Delta's red simply roamed over Nikolas with simply casual interest Kaya's burned with a lust that was blatantly obvious.

"Thanks Harley. I assume that since Washu seems to be paying as much attention to me as she usually does that she's already told you what's going on, welcome to the group."

Ivy stately raised one of her hands and began to say, "Than…"

"When do we get tamed," Kaya said as she cut Ivy off.

Nikolas gave her a questioning look before answering, "We'll make it to Cordale by tonight, and Tigit tomorrow or the day after. When we get to Tigit we're going to find a motel and hole up for a day. I'll deal with the Naga and the Billie then too."

Kaya was greatly perturbed, "That's not soon enough."

Nikolas' eyes narrowed slightly, "It'll have to be, we're kind of busy at the moment. Just what breed are you?"

"Wildcat," she said defiantly.

Nikolas sighed and rubbed the bridge of his now. "And the rest of you?"

"Boobisaur," Ivy said.

"Ocelolita," Harley chirped.

"Youma," Delta hissed.

Nikolas nodded. "Alright, grab some breakfast, we're getting out of here in short order."

"I wanna be tamed now," Kaya stated.

"Tough, you're going to have to wait."

"Now!"

"No and that's final. Now get something to eat and make yourself useful helping pack up."

The hair on Kaya's ears started to stand on end and the corner of mouth pulled back to expose one of her over sized incisors but before she could say anything Yerella stuck a plate of food into her hand's and quietly returned to her seat where she served Lana and then herself.

When Nina glanced back from Kaya to Nikolas she saw a quickly fading smile from his lips. As the smile disappeared she unconsciously rubbed the collar around her neck. When everyone was done eating they quickly began to pack up and get ready to leave. Nikolas went back into his tent and started to get dressed, his pants and boots went on with little problem but when he tried to pull on a t-shirt he couldn't, as soon as his arm went above shoulder level the pain went from a dull ache to a screaming roar. The second time he tried the result was no better and he sat down hard with a grunt. A rustle at the tent opening got his attention. "Cry baby," his youngest sister said.

"Gimme a break fuzz ball," he said as he got ready to try again.

Isabella snatched the shirt from his hands. "You're just gonna hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine, just hold it for me so I can get it on." Nikolas noticed Isabella's ear pivoting to the rear before he heard the tent flap again.

"What are you two doing in here?" Edora asked suspiciously.

"Nothing to get excited about," Nikolas told her.

Isabella frowned, "Unfortunately."

"Just hold the shirt," He growled. Isabella did as she was told and when Nikolas jammed his arms and head through the holes and promptly fell over holding his shoulder she just smirked at him. "Don't say anything," he hissed.

Edora shook her head and grabbed Nikolas' pack as she left.

"Hey, bring that back!" he snapped. Isabella reached over and pressed down on his shoulder hard. For a moment he tried not to react but after a few seconds of resistance his stoney face disintegrated into a pained grimace and he grabbed her hand and snatched it away. "Alright, you proved your point."

"Well duh," Isabella said as she rolled her eyes and left the tent.

Even as he rubbed his shoulder in an effort to silence the painful impulses radiating from it Nikolas smiled and grabbed his rifle before he followed them out of the tent.

In a few minutes camp had been packed up and they started to move off through the woods. Even though the going was tough they still moved quickly no one was interested in staying in the forest longer then they had too. Even as the day grew longer it never grew significantly brighter then it had been in the morning and the longer they walked in this semi-darkness the more nervous Nikolas became. Before long he started to think he saw things moving in the distance.

"Come on, we've been walking for hours, is it time to eat yet?" Isabella whined.

Nikolas glanced at his watch. "Believe it or not it is." Nikolas thought he saw a flash of blue but when he turned he saw nothing besides the twisted trees and general gloom that had surrounded them the last two days.

"What is it Nikolas?" His mother asked.

Nikolas continued to stare out into the darkness for another second before answering, "Nothing, it's nothing. Let's eat fast alright?" He quickly picked out a tall tree root on the side of the group nearest to where he had thought he'd seen something and pulled out an MRE.

"You saw something didn't you?" Gally asked as she sat down next to him. "Are you going to eat that chocolate?"

"Yeah I saw something," he replied as he handed over the candy.

"Sango and I saw something as well, but we haven't gotten a good look at it."

"Was it blue?" he asked.

"Yes," she said before taking a bite out of the chocolate bar.

"You want something more to eat then that?" Nikolas asked. When Gally shook her head no he continued, "I thought it might have been my imagination."

"It's not, there's something out there," Sango said. "They've been following us for the last hour."

"They?" Nikolas and Gally asked at the same time as she finished walking up to them

The Kunochi nodded. "I've heard movement on several sides at the same time.

Nikolas looked up at Sango. "Has anyone else seen anything?"

"I don't know, I didn't want to alarm anyone without reason."

"Well there's a reason," he replied as his eyes scanned the trees around them. "Start asking, maybe somebody got a better look them we have but try not to scare anyone."

While Sango turned to leave Gally popped the rest of the chocolate in her mouth and hopped up after her. Nikolas finished off the MRE and tossed the brown plastic wrapper in a recess of the tree root and used his boot to cover it over with leaves and dirt. While he waited on the girls he started to check his pistols and rifle.

When Sango and Gally returned Washu was following them. "What's going on," she demanded with her hands on her hips.

"Just a second," Nikolas told her, "So?" he asked turning to Sango and Gally.

"A few of them saw something, but nobody saw anything more then we did," Sango reported.

Washu ground her teeth, "Saw what?"

"We don't know," Nikolas said. "We've caught glimpses of something out in the woods, none of us saw anything more then that whatever it is is blu…" A sharp crack out in the darkness caught everyone's attention.

For a moment silence reigned heavy on the little group until Gally declared quietly and far calmer then anyone else would have managed, "We're being hunted."

Nikolas slowly brought his rifle up in the direction of the sound and sighted down the barrel. When a second noise came from off to their right he looked over his shoulder before he snapped, "Everybody up, now!"

"Nikolas, what's going on?" Lana asked with her ears flattened against the top of her head.

"I don't know but let's get moving. "

"Nikolas," his mother said as a warning.

"Just go."

The group quickly set off through the woods and Nikolas pulled out his pokedex to check their progress. "Six more hours," he muttered under his breath, "five if we hurry."

"What was that?" Washu asked.

"We've got five or six more hours until we're out of Murkwood, another two after that and we'll be on the edge of Cordale and we can set up camp."

Washu nodded at this and stayed walking beside Nikolas. For several hours they trudged through the forest trying to move as quickly as possible. It started to become obvious to Washu that the part of the group that didn't know the whole story was starting to catch on to the rest of their nervousness. When she stole a glance at Nikolas she saw him watching Mihoshi and his sisters. Mihoshi's ears had fallen until they were hanging behind her head and she glanced around nervously with every step. The twins were shaking constantly and jumping with every step. "Mihoshi," Nikolas said as he motioned her over. When she arrived he asked her, "Mihoshi, I think my sisters are a little scared right now, why don't you walk with them and keep them company. It'll probably make them feel safer to have you walking with them."

"But…," she said cautiously, her big blue eyes starting to glimmer with a hint of moisture.

"They could really use you," Nikolas said with a reassuring smile.

Mihoshi glanced back and forth between her tamer and Washu before whispering "Ok," and joining the twins. Within minutes they had started to talk and their mood lightened.

When the three girls actually broke down and laughed about something Mihoshi had said Washu leaned over towards Nikolas and said, "How did you know?"

"Know what?" he whispered back.

"To do that," she said as she gestured towards Mihoshi, Edora, and Isabella.

"I just figured that Mihoshi could use something to take her mind off the forest and that she'd get the twins' minds off it too," he humbly explained.

For several minutes they kept walking along with Washu paying attention to Nikolas' constant scanning of woods around them. "What's happening? First Gally comes around asking if I've been seeing anything and then Sango's prowling around asking everyone else, then you tell us to pack up and go. What's out there?"

"I don't know. We've been seeing something, blue, and Gally's pretty sure we're being hunted. I think we may have found the reason those scientists never made it out." As Washu's face fell Nikolas resettled the rifle strap on his shoulder. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Yes…I just wasn't expecting this," Washu stammered.

"Just keep moving, a feral girl isn't likely to attack a group this large so as long as we keep moving we aren't likely to be bothered."

Something large moved through the bushes to the group's right and Nikolas caught sight of a pale blue tail disappearing into the brush. Beside him Washu stared wide eyed at the spot the tail had disappeared into. "Cocooner's lost her mind," she whispered.

"What did you see Washu?"

"It's…," she shuddered, "we have to go, we have to hurry." The diminutive pokegirl pushed towards the front of the group with her bright red hair bobbing behind her. Washu's rapid pace quickly forced everyone to increase their own in order to keep up.

As Faye hustled past Nikolas to regain her position near the front she said, "I've never seen her this worked up." Then her tone grew suspicious, "I wonder what's her problem?"

"I dunno but I'm going to find out."

"Then let's go," she offered.

Nikolas almost told her to stay back but as he looked into her green eyes he paused. "Faye just stay….," Nikolas shook his head a moment in an effort to clear it, he could have sworn he had just heard hear say `trust me,' but he hadn't seen her lips move. "Come on, let's see what shorty's up too." They sped up and after hopping over a few roots and ducking under a limb that Washu walked under easily and quickly caught up with her.

"Washu," Faye murmured, "what did you see?"

Washu didn't even acknowledge their presence and increased her speed slightly.

"Come on Washu tell us, this is important," Nikolas pleaded.

"Gally's right," she said, "those things out there, they're hunting us."

Faye's ears perked up, "What are they?"

"They're not pokegirls." Her eyes unfocused as she concentrated on remembering what she'd saw and Nikolas had to guide her around a half meter high rock. "It had four legs, like a Purrsian but it was walking on all four. It had large claws and three tails. It looked reptilian and had pale blue skin and dark gray stripes like a Tigress. It was probably a hundred and twenty centimeters at the shoulder I didn't see its head."

"How do you know it wasn't a pokegirl?" Nikolas demanded.

Washu looked up and locked eyes with Nikolas. "I. Know," she declared slowly and forcefully.

"How much longer till we're out of here," Faye asked Nikolas nervously.

Nikolas glanced at his watch. "An hour, tops."

"Good…." Faye started to say before being interrupted by a blood curdling scream from Harley. As he spun left towards the sound Nikolas brought his rifle to his shoulder, grunting as he pulled the butt of it tight into his shoulder.

Standing ten meters from Harley directly between a pair of trees was the creature that Washu had described and immediately Nikolas realized that Washu was right, whatever this thing was it wasn't a pokegirl. The creature had a long narrow but deep snout with its eyes set well forward of the hinge of its jaw and they were protected by a pair of bone ridges above them. The front of its maw was guarded by two huge twenty five centimeter fangs that emerged from its upper jaw and another pair of fifteen centimeter fangs that came of from its lower jaw. Behind these incisors its mouth actually started and was filled with dozens of razor sharp teeth. A long narrow frill emerged from the back of its skull and covered its neck. The skin covering its head was pulled so taunt and was gaunt enough that the animal's skull almost seemed bare.

For several moments everyone froze and stared at the creature while its pitch black eyes bored back at them. The only sign that the thing was alive was the slow expansion and contraction of it skeletal ribcage.

A bright flash to his right caught Nikolas' eye as he heard Gally yell, "Watch out!" From the corner of his eye Nikolas watched Gally shove her glowing fist through a charging creature's mouth and out the back of its head. His attention went immediately back to the creature that had been in front of Harley, and he saw it in midair only a few meters from the cringing Ocelolita. A quick tug on the trigger of his rifle and five rounds caught it in neck and chest, it landed on the ground in a heap only centimeters from Harley and didn't move.

In an instant the forest erupted as a dozen of the creatures attacked them. Nikolas was only vaguely aware of Mihoshi shoving his sisters into a hollow between some roots before diving in herself while his mother did the same with Lana and Washu before morphing into her battle form and backing up to defend the hiding place. As he opened fire on another of the creatures he felt the pistols being removed from his holsters and almost immediately he heard them open fire. A quick check revealed Faye and Ceres with their backs to him and a pistol in either of their hands.

His recollection of the fight was spotty at best. He saw Gally use her glaive to literally cut the legs out from under a charging creature before finishing it off by stabbing it through the back of its head. Sango threw her boomerang cutting one creature in half before drawing her short sword and thrusting it into the throat of another one that was charging her. Kaya was knocked to the ground with her arms covered in cuts as one of the things struck her a glancing blow but before it could turn back to attack her Mink incinerated it in a ball of flame from her mouth. His mother was holding back one of them by its jaws until its chest was shredded by dozens of Ivy's razor leaves. Nina helped the prone Kaya up a half second before a creature dropped out of the tree overhead and landed where she had been. As it's azure skin rippled over its muscles its claws ripped meter long furrows in the ground but before it could turn on the Catgirls Sango's boomerang bisected it.

Nikolas spun and saw one of the things about attack Harley but before it could she brought her hands up in front of her and uttered something unintelligible. The creature froze where it was as if paralyzed and a second later it collapsed to the ground. Not knowing whether it was dead or alive Nikolas put five rounds into it and made sure it was the former. However while he was distracted he stepped away from Faye and Ceres exposing their backs. Sensing an opening one of the creatures charged.

The animal was only a few meters from Faye when Nikolas saw it. He realized that he had no chance of getting his rifle around in time and even though he knew it was pointless he yelled, "Faye. Ceres. Look out!" Nikolas lunged towards the charging predator and used his left arm to push against its head until the rest of his body slammed into it. When he collided with the creature he spun to the ground with it and found himself directly beneath its chest. The animal realized their positions almost as quickly as Nikolas had and tried to bring its nightmarish head down to crush Nikolas' skull in its jaws. As he watched the maw of the beast rushing down towards him Nikolas was sure that he was dead and even as its jaws snapped closed millimeters from his face he was still sure it's festering mouth and putrid yellow teeth would be the last thing he'd ever see. When it recoiled its head it started to shuffle its feet back to let it get to its prey the next time it attacked but even as it reared back to strike Nikolas heard a half dozen pops as Ceres and Faye opened fire on it.

The creature staggered as oozing green wounds erupted along its side but it didn't stop in its attempt to kill Nikolas until Delta swooped down and her momentum knocked it off him. The pokegirl and the predator went down in a pile but instantly the creature was back on its feet and pivoting towards the Youma. "Delta get out of the way!" Faye yelled as Delta was blocking her and Ceres' shot at the thing. Nikolas scrambled for his rifle as Delta tried to get out of the way but they were both too slow. The look on Delta's face was one of pure horror as she tried to get moving but her hands and feet kept slipping on the decaying leaves of the forest floor.

The creature appeared above Delta's left shoulder, its jaws opened more then ninety degrees and its neck pulled back into a tight S curve. For an instant time seemed to freeze with everyone staring at the spectacle before them before the creatures head snapped down and it's jaws slammed shut on Delta's shoulder amid a spray of dark red blood. As Nikolas brought his rifle around he watched as the thing reared back dragging Delta along with it. When its mouth relaxed momentarily he hoped it was letting her go, instead it was securing its grip and with a crackle of disintegrating bone it bit down again even harder covering its jaws in blood. As he lined his rifle up with the visible part of the creatures skull it began to pivot to run away.

It didn't make it very far as Gally's glowing hand came down on the base of its neck and ripped the creatures head and neck from its body.

With Delta's attacker down Nikolas spun in a crouch to scan for targets and found none. "Any more? Does anyone see any more of those things?"

A few "No"s answered him before Gally declared, "That was the last of them, all clear."

"Delta!" Ceres yelled as she crouched next to her and started to pry at the animal's jaws. With Faye's help she managed to get the head of the beast off of Delta's shoulder and rolled it to the side. Washu ran up and dropped down beside them and started to inspect Delta's wounds as the Youma fainted.

"Keep watch," Nikolas told Gally.

"Somebody get me the med kit," she ordered them.

"Here," Nina said as she handed the small knapsack sized medical kit to Washu. "How bad is she?"

Washu pulled out several pads and started to clean the blood off of Delta's shoulder before rolling her over and starting on the matching set on her back. "I don't know yet give her an injection of morphine, another of antibiotic, and one of the general purpose stuff." While Nina went about giving Delta the injections Washu began to inspect the wounds. A moment later she removed a cotton swab from one of the wounds that was covered in a black sludge.

"What is that," Nina asked.

"Very very bad." Washu said a little distractedly before tossing the swab on the ground and moving over to examine the mouth of the creature that had bit her. "Clean out those wounds and douse them in disinfectant."

"What's going on?" Nikolas asked as he crouched down beside the little Supe-Bra Genius.

Washu stuck one of her finger into the mouth of the beast and ran it along the back of one of its large front fangs. The finger she brought back was covered in the same black sludge that she had pulled out of Delta's shoulder. Washu brought the finger up to her nose and sniffed the sludge before screwing up her nose and wiping her finger off on the creature's skin. "Did you see that?" she asked as she pointed at the disembodied head on the ground.

"Yeah, what was it?"

"Rotting flesh, fecal matter, and a bunch of other things I can't identify without a lab. The back edges of its teeth are serrated and this stuff is crammed into all the little crevasses. It bit Delta and jammed all this into the wound. Nina?"

Nina looked up from cleaning Delta's wounds and handed the disinfectant to Ceres who took over. "Yes?"

"Give her another shot of that antibiotic and start taking her temperature."

"What about her wounds?" Nikolas asked as Washu turned back to Delta and started to wrap her shoulder with pressure bandages.

"They're not good but if we wrap them up and put her in her ball for a while she'll be fine. Her bones will heal quickly and so will the wounds. She probably won't be able to move her arm or her wing for a while though."

"Her wing?"

Washu nodded, "The wounds on her back went right through the muscles she uses to move her left wing. Until they heal she's grounded but I'm not worried about her wounds, it's that sludge I'm worried about, even though Nina cleaned her wounds out some of that stuff is bound to be in there and if the antibiotic doesn't fight it off she could get a massive infection."

"Can we move her?"

Something roared in the distance.

Washu glanced up. "I think we can chance it."

"Alright, Ceres can you carry her?" Nikolas asked.

"Yes."

"Then let's get out of here." Nobody disagreed and after Ceres had picked up Delta they moved out as quickly as possible. Nikolas stayed in the rear while Gally took the lead. Every unexpected noise made everyone jump as though they were expecting a pale blue lizard to attack them. Ceres spent most of her time trying to carry Delta as gently as possible.

Fifteen minutes later Mink spotted a follower. "Nikolas there are more of those things out there."

"Oh hell," Nikolas muttered, in the distance the edge of the forest was visible. He spun and walked backwards for a moment noting several areas where things were moving that shouldn't be before turning back around. "Keep going, hurry," he told the girls deciding to press his luck a little more. `If we can just get a little farther we can sprint out of here and those damn things won't stand a chance of catching us before we're out. We'll butcher them in the open.'

Unfortunately the creatures seemed to know this as well and began to close the gap between the group and them. With two hundred meters to go Nikolas spotted a cerulean body disappearing behind a tree not twenty meters to their left. "Girls," he said nervously, "RUN!"

As soon as the group broke from its routine the creatures sprang from hiding and attacked. The first two that attacked were quickly dispatched by Gally and Mink but the third nearly made it to Nina but as it ran by Nikolas he was able to nearly press the muzzle of his rifle into its hide and every round that he fired tore through the creature and killed it. The forth made to Kaya and knocked her into a tree but before it could finish the job Harley again pointed her hands at the creature but this time it burst into flames. Nikolas dropped a fifth one with a burst to its head and the one that had attacked with it was dropped by Faye.

Ivy was busy dragging one of the creatures to the ground with her vine whips when another leapt onto her back and drove her into the ground. In desperation Ivy released her vine whips around the first creature's legs and used them to hold the one on her back at bay as it began to claw at her. The creature began to snap at the whips holding its neck and was able to bite one off. Its jaws came down around her head but the creature never finished decapitating her as the slugs from Nikolas' rifle ripped its heart out.

While he ran to Ivy's side Nikolas watched Mink burn another of the animals before running for the edge of the forest. When he got next to her Ivy staggered to her feet. "You ok to run?" he asked in a hurry.

"Yes," she hissed as the amputated vine whip curled over her shoulder.

"Then do it!" he snapped as he pulled her left arm over his shoulder and headed after the rest of the group with his mother's right in front of him.

They had almost made it out of the forest when a creature dropped out of the trees and slammed Lana to the ground with its paws on her chest. Before anyone else in the group could so much as twitch in her direction Yerella in her battle form had grabbed the creature by its head and thrown it to the ground off of her partner. Never letting go of her prey Yerella snarled as she violently ripped the creature's head around snapping its neck with a sickening crunch. A second creature swatted her on the chest and tore three crimson lines through her fur but the enraged Lupina gave no indication that she felt it as she gripped the thing's upper and lower jaws in opposite hands and tore them apart. Belying her ferocious dispatching of her two opponents Yerella showed remarkable gentleness as she scooped up the dazed Titmouse and carried her along to safety.

As the girls started to exit the forest Nikolas spun around and seeing nothing behind them he charged out of Murkwood and into the dead barren strip of land that surrounded it. His momentum carried him halfway across the dead area and up to the girls before his foot caught a stone and he fell to the ground. Spinning as he fell, and letting go of Ivy not to drag her down, Nikolas wound up sitting facing the woods and he brought up his rifle expecting to see the creatures right behind them. Instead he only vaguely saw a group of shapes moving along the perimeter of the woods.

"I don't think they're going to leave the woods," Yerella said in a gravelly voice as she sat Lana down.

Nikolas looked up at his mother standing over him shuddered. He had only seen his mother in her battle mode a very few times and it made him nervous every time he saw her like this towering over him. She was easily a meter taller then him when he was standing when she was like this and now instead of clothes she was wearing a solid coat of thick gray-brown fur. On top of her canine head her long pointed ears swiveled back and forth listening for something beyond the range of Nikolas' normal human ears. Taking a step to the side on her long hind legs she wrapped one arm around Lana's shoulder as the little Titmouse clung to her harem sister's leg, Lana's response to Yerella in her battle mode had always been the exact opposite from Nikolas' "You think so?"

Yerella's voice changed from gravelly to its normal reassuring tone even as her body did as she answered, "When it appeared that we would escape from the forest they pressed their attack and as soon as we left it they ceased, I believe we are safe." As Nikolas watched, Yerella returned to her normal appearance, her muzzle shrunk back into her normal face, the hair covering her body disappeared, her legs resumed having the normal number of joints for a human woman and the ears disappeared into her hair.

Turning towards the rest of the group Nikolas came up short as his eyes came across Ivy. The Boobisaur's clothes had disappeared and she was lying naked on the ground with a contented look on her face. Occasionally she would move and she'd wince as her wounds were aggravated but they seemed to be growing smaller as he watched her. Even the wine whip that had been bit in half seemed to have healed over.

"Damn it!" Everyone turned towards Washu who was standing next to Ceres who had Delta cradled in her arms.

"What is it?" Nikolas asked.

"She was bitten a half hour ago and her temperature is already four degrees above normal"

"What about the antibiotics you gave her, you doubled them up." Nina said.

Washu stuffed the thermometer back into her pocket before she answered, "Given how strong this infection must be they're probably the only reason she isn't dead."

"Can you help her?" Nikolas asked.

Washu closed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't think so, an infection this bad is too strong for the antibiotics in the med kit. Unless we get her some help and fast, she's going to die."

Nikolas' Girls

Nina (Alpha) - Catgirl

Washu (Alpha) - Supe-Bra Genius

Ceres - Vampire

Mihoshi - Bunnygirl

Gally - Battle Angel?

Faye - Cheshire

Mink - Dracona

Sango - Kunochi

Delta - Youma

Ivy - Boobisaur

Harley - Ocelolita

Kaya - Wildcat

Naga

Billie

Author's Notes

Acknowledgements:

Lighthawk - My designated pre-reader, who subjected himself to this every way too often.

Warpwizard - Who's given me a lot of advice on the mechanics of my writing.

Notes:

1) Go to the message board in the second link and go to the art section. In my thread there there's a picture of the creatures I'm talking about labeled "Thing.jpg" if you care.

2) The infection from being bitten is actually based off of what happens to a komodo dragon bite.

Feedback: bsmartfanfic@yahoo.com

Wanna get pissy in person? Come on over and bitch me out: http://s87753679.onlinehome.us/forums/index.php?act=idx

For updates and just my general bitching: http://www.livejournal.com/~bsmart

You don't need to tell me I suck, I'm well aware of that.