“Hey, Petit, it’s time to wake up.”

There was a nudge on his arm. He opened his sleep-crusted eyes. Enrika was in front of him, backlit by sunshine from the small rectangular window that sat within the upper wall, opposite the door. He blinked a few times. Enrika was already fully dressed for the day ahead.

“Sorry, long day.” Petit said, rubbing his eyes. He drew back his covers from his body.

         “Come on, they’re gonna serve breakfast.” Enrika said, holding out an open palm. Petit sleepily crawled into her hand, feeling her body heat perforate his body. He laid down, curled up into a sleeping position. Enrika cupped him in her hand, bringing him to her chest. She began walking. Her steps were silent, her footfalls delicate, so much so that Petit could only tell they were moving by the acceleration he felt in his gut.

“Hey!” Petit heard Enrika whisper at him, “don’t fall asleep, we’re here.” He hadn’t even realized he was falling asleep. Looking between her curled fingers, he could see they were in the dining hall again. The party was there, and as usual, the princess was sat at the head of the table. He mentally prepared himself for another day of harassment as Enrika opened her cupped hands, allowing him to step onto the table. The moment he left her palm, she turned and made her way out of the room.

         Petit looked up at Cortesia. She didn’t seem her usual self, displaying neither her tormenting grin nor her princess-like posture. She just seemed... defeated. At the very least, she wasn’t giving him any orders, so Petit sat down and bit into some of the food. He looked around the table.

The adventurers seemed to break into two pairs for the time. Faegan and Skewer were sitting much closer to each other. Skewer had his arm around the beast-kin, who in turn was lying against his chest. Both had particularly messy hair. Tharus and Ciamon, on the other hand, seemed to consistently giggle in hushed whispers to each other at the pair.

         “Those stories you told last night were amazing,” Petit said, breaking the silence. Ciamon, being the closest one to him, responded. “Thanks, Pet. Seems there’s a new one after last night.” She gestured at Faegan, grinning. The beast-kin gave her a dirty look.

“It’s, um, it’s Petit, not Pet.” Petit corrected, trying not to picture the situation that transpired in the room he sleeps in.

“Oh, my apologies-“ Ciamon started.

         “Only I call him Pet, we just have a special relationship.” Cortesia said curtly, curling her fingers around him. With the other hand, she poured herself a cup of wine. It was already a bit red, so Petit assumed it was not her first drink of the morning. He caught a glance of the princess glaring at Skewer with disdain.

“Well, it’s been wonderful to stay here,” Skewer announced, “but we should get going, we don’t want to get caught on the road when it gets dark.” He stood up, immediately followed by his cooperatives.

“It was nice to have you all.” Cortesia had a slight pause between each of the words, her princess smile cracking ever so slightly.

         The party left the room to gather their belongings. Once they exited the hall, Cortesia summoned Sasha with a wave.

“Yes M’lady?” Sasha answered, approaching the princess.

“Tell the other staff, that I will be resting in my room with Pet for the remainder of the day, and I am not to be disturbed for any reason,” Cortesia instructed.

Petit’s heart sank. Typically, the princess would show a little restraint around Petit when others were around, but when they were alone, it was a different story. Coupled with her being in an evidently terrible mood after her apparent rejection, Petit began to worry. Sasha glanced at Petit in her hand, a note of empathy in her eyes. She bowed and left the room.

         Servant in hand, Cortesia walked to her room wordlessly. Petit wanted to say something, but he didn’t know if it would help or harm his case. She entered her room and placed Petit onto her bed before crawling onto it herself, laying on her stomach. Seeing her begin to stretch her arm towards him, Petit shut his eyes tight, preparing for the worst, but then nothing. All he sensed was the sound of the bed ruffling, a shadow pass over him, and a familiar odor waft his way.

He opened his eyes. The princess’ foot was towering over him. “Rub my foot, Pet,” she commanded. She seemed to have lost her typically playful demeanor. He began kneading his hands against the arch of her soft, but ill-scented foot. A short while silently passed. The foot slid backward, then leaned forward, as the princess stepped on Petit, pinning his head between her toes. Petit laid still on the soft mattress, anticipating the princess to continue her antics. “I didn’t say for you to stop rubbing,” the princess said, coldly. Petit struggled, freeing his arms. He awkwardly rubbed the princess’ toes.

“You seemed pretty interested in their stories,” Cortesia stated.

Petit gulped. “Yeah, I, um, I really liked them. I always wanted to be an adventurer, so it was cool to hear what it’s like-”

“WHAT?!” Cortesia exclaimed, bursting out laughing. “You, an adventurer? You’re barely a match for my foot!” She squeezed his head between her appendages, as if she needed to remind him that he was under a foot. “You collapsed just cleaning my panties, and you want to fight monsters?!” She continued in hysterics, barely able to breathe.

“I… I want to help people,” Petit muttered shyly, immediately regretting his choice to respond.

         Cortesia grabbed an open a bottle of wine from her nightstand, taking a long swig. Her lips detached from the bottle with an audible pop. “You want to help people? I know someone you can help.” She moved her foot off her small servant and got up out of the bed. She set her bottle back on the nightstand.

She reached behind her head, playing with the strings of her morning gown. She pulled the thread out, extending with the stretch of her arm. Her eyes were locked on Petit’s as the dress fluttered to the ground around her, revealing her full nude form, devoid of undergarments.

         Petit’s eyes widened at seeing a woman’s parts for the first time. Cortesia smirked at him, crawling back onto the large bed. Sitting on her knees, she stretched out her legs on either side of her servant. Her womanhood was before him, just a few feet away. “You said you wanted to be an adventurer. Well, why not explore a cave, since you’re so very courageous.” She mocked.

“What?” Petit asked, a mixture of lingering confusion and shock clouding his thought.

“You felt good in my chest yesterday,” she cupped a breast, “so I bet you’ll feel great here.” She traced a finger down her chest, running a fingertip through her slit, which seemed to grow wetter by the minute.

Petit stared into the vagina before him. Cortesia had a slight pubic mound with golden follicles that matched her hair. Her pink lips shone wet in the light.     

         “Come on, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I will.” She reached her hand out toward him.

“Wait, princess, stop, I, I can’t do this,” Petit begged, backing up with his arms in front of him.

         Cortesia’s hand was inches from him when a gurgling could be heard coming from her gut. She paused and retracted her hand. “Ah, I better use the bathroom before we start, we don’t want to stop while we’re having fun, now, do we?” She stood up, giving him a wink. “Don’t go anywhere.” She retreated to her private bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

         Petit started breathing heavily, struggling to process what princess was about to do. “She... she’s gonna f-force me in… there...” He thought aloud. What am I gonna do? What can I do? He fretted.

A door opened. Petit snapped to the direction of the noise. But it wasn’t the door to the ensuite. It was the entrance. To his surprise, it was Enrika who came through the door, light on her feet as she approached him.

         “Petit, are you okay?” She asked, worried. “I heard what the princess said, I... I can’t let that happen to you.”

“What? What do I do?”

“We leave, it’s the only thing we can do.” she whispered down at him, holding out her hand.

“I can’t, my family, they need me, I can’t leave”

“You have to! You can’t let her do this to you, it’ll ruin you! Your parents would never allow you to do this for them!”

“I just can’t, okay? It just won’t wo-“Petit drifted off. There was something on the princess’ nightstand, where she had put her bottle. “What is that? Grab it, quickly, please.”

Enrika followed his request. It was a letter, with the bakery stamp on it, the one Petit thought he had seen earlier. She opened it, holding it so that Petit could read it as well.

Dear Petit,

         Have you been receiving our letters? The bakery is doing well. Your father is back and We’ve been receiving a lot of orders lately; a caravan is in town, and we don’t need the money anymore. You don’t have to stay there, but if you choose to, we understand.

Love,                               

Père and Mère

         Petit looked at the date. It was from two weeks ago. Letters only take a maximum of two days to travel between the different towns.

The princess had been hiding letters from him, just to keep him from leaving. He felt a boiling rage well up inside him. It was just too much, it was just too wrong. It made him so sick that his stomach hurt. He looked up at Enrika. She understood.

There was a click; the doorhandle to the ensuite twisted and opened with a creak. The princess exited, looking surprised.

“What are you doing here? Did Sasha not tell you to stay out...?” Cortesia’s sentence faded, seeing the envelope from the bakery, opened, on her bed. “You weren’t supposed to see that.” She stated coldly.

“It’s my letter, you had no right!” Petit shouted at her.

“I’m the princess, I get what I want, and I want you, besides keeping you here is easier when you have no choice,” The princess argued.

“Screw you!” Enrika interjected. She stood up, grabbing Petit. “We’re leaving. We don’t want any more of your shit!”

“And go where? The guards would have you back within the hour! You have nothing without me, without this estate!” Cortesia shouted. She reached and tore off Enrika’s headwear. “Even this, the cloth on your head, it’s my... mine...” She trailed off, distracted by the two pointed ears atop Enrika’s head where the cloth had been. “A... a cat-kin?”

“I AM NOT A CAT, I AM A SKUNK!” Enrika shouted in rage at the princess.

Petit was in shock at his friend’s reveal. Obviously, he was familiar with the concept of a skunk, but a skunk-kin? Unheard of. Enrika was growing closer to the princess. Petit was unsure of what she was going to do, but as long as it resulted in something bad for the princess, he intended to let her go through with it. In what felt like an instant, she spun around, pressing Petit against her chest.

He couldn’t see, and he couldn’t hear. He quickly realized he couldn’t breathe, either. Enrika was holding him too tight to her chest. But he felt. Enrika let out a grunt that Petit could feel vibrate in his chest, followed by a rumbling in her gut.

PPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

The guttural reverberation resonated into Petit’s very bones. Enrika released a monstrous fart, unleashing all the built-up gas she’s accumulated and hasn’t been able to release in a large dose until now.

Petit thought he heard Enrika mutter an apology down at him before he was overcome by the stomach-churning sensation of rapid movement. Before he could even take a breath, he was tossed into Enrika’s mouth.

Just as his previous experience with a mouth, it was incredibly humid, and everything was drenched in spit. However, the difference this time was that it was pitch black. Enrika’s lips were pursed tight, and her jaw shut. Petit couldn’t even lift his head without hitting the roof of her mouth. The air was breathable, but heavy and not particularly fragrant.

He heard a loud thud, the sound of an unconscious body collapsing to the ground, followed by the dull sound of glass clattering to the ground. There was a creaking noise. Orange natural light shone through, just a bit, lighting up the interior of Enrika’s mouth. She drew in a sharp breath, barely opening her mouth. It smelled faintly of the courtyard flowers. She must have opened a window, thank the gods, Petit thought.

There was running. A lot of it. A corner, a turn. She was panting now. Cold, fresh air being drawn in, pulling Petit one way, hot, humid breath pushing him out, leading to a sort of back-and-forth movement. The sound of running water, the stream that ran through the courtyard. More running. Enrika was breathing heavier, making the back-and-forth more exaggerated. An incline. The sounds of twigs crunching and snapping could be heard outside her mouth. She seemed to come to a halt. Petit’s stomach lurched, feeling the sensation of freefall for a moment as Enrika sat down. She stuck out her tongue, Petit rolling out into her open hands.

Petit shook his head a few times. He looked back up at Enrika. Her hair was dirtied and fuzzied. A twig stuck out of it. Her dress was torn in some places, ripped in others. “I don’t think they followed us” she panted between breaths.

He stood up, wiping her saliva from his face. His mind raced as his eyes went wide with realization of what they had just done. “This is crazy! We can’t do this! Making an enemy of the princess? It’s insanity! We gotta do something, we have to go back-” Petit rambled, his hands on his head as he paced about the beast-kin's open palms.

“We’re not going back! It's over, alright? We’re leaving. If I have to drag you away to get it through your tiny skull I will.”

Petit had never seen her so stern before. “I... I...” he muttered. He considered his options. If he went back to the princess, he’d never see the end of her punishment. Who knew what she may do, especially if he considered the particularly unforgiving mood she’d likely be in when she woke up. On the road, however... well, there was at least a chance.

“I’m sorry, I... I had to get you out of there, I couldn’t just stand by, and, and let her do that to you.”

Petit sighed. The idea of going out, into the vast unknown, with his only sort of weapon being a skunk-kin's flatulence. Sure, it was probably powerful, but he personally would have preferred a sword. Terrified was an understatement.

He sat down in her palm. They were beside the stream, the sound of running water creating a backdrop to their conversation. Enrika was sitting down, leaning against the exposed roots of a tree that seemed to have some grievance with the concept of dying. They were in a small valley, of sorts. The tree acted as a breakpoint, and the ground behind it was elevated about three feet, with tufts of grass at the top and the rest being exposed dirt all the way down. Petit looked up at Enrika’s rounded ears, and the streak of white hair that ran down the center of her hair. “So... skunk kin.” He initiated.

“Yup” Enrika answered. She set Petit down beside her atop one of the roots.

“So, why’d you hide it?” His legs were dangling off, and he had to wrap an arm around a branch of the root beside him to keep stable.

She shrugged. “There’s this old superstition that beast-kin attract the animals we were based on. Most towns obviously don’t want skunks, they’re a pest. So, by extension, we end up getting treated like pests.” The beast-kin explained. “And even if you don’t believe the superstition, you sort of have to believe in the smell.” She made a wafting gesture behind her. “And that usually gets us kicked out.”

“Oh. OH, I see. So you wear the stuff to hide, I see.” He nodded. He stopped, a confused look on his face. “Why not just go make a town alone, like the pixies? Seems a lot easier than trying to hide.”

“It’s a cultural thing, I guess. Birds gotta leave the nest, ya know? Soon as you hit fourteen, you’re off on your own.” Enrika reached out beside her and plucked a vine of ritberries off a nearby bush. She popped a few into her mouth, and handed one to Petit. “So,” she began, her mouth full, “my turn for a question. Why are you so small?”

“That’s a long story. Do we have time?”

She swallowed with an audible gulp. “Oh yeah, we’re gonna wait until nightfall before we move.”

“Alright then, I guess. Well, from what my parents told me, my mom got really, really sick during pregnancy. It was bad. We got worried, you see, the doctor said that either me or my mom would die during childbirth. Obviously, that’s not ideal, so she went looking everywhere she could for a possible cure to save us both. Well, that took her to a witch. The witch gave her something, a potion of some sort, saying it’d save us both, but the side effects would be problematic. My mother, she’s not normally a big risk taker, but she was desperate, so she took it.”

“And the side effect was that you were small?” Enrika interrupted.

“Exactly. So I stayed with them for most of my life. They took care of me, and I was unique, so I brought a few more customers than we would have had. Then the princess took power. Word spread around, and after meeting me herself, she ended up hiring me.”

“You took the job to support your family, right?”

“Yeah. Well, she was a lot nicer at first, so you can probably imagine that I was pretty excited for a lot of reasons. I mean, you have to admit she’s gorgeous, she lives in a friggin’ palace, et cetera, et cetera. I thought it was the best thing ever, for a bit. Things went to shit quick though, as you’ve seen.”

Enrika nodded in agreement.

“I guess that wasn’t very long.” Petit admitted.

“Almost wish it was longer. We’ve got a ton of time to burn before nightfall.” She tossed another few ritberries into her mouth.

Petit grimaced. The ritberries would undoubtedly make the upcoming while less pleasant. He wanted to say something but decided to hold his tongue. She had just saved him, after all. The least he could do was tolerate her eating habits.

“I was thinking we should head upstream.” Enrika took him out of his thoughts. “I think there’s a town up that way. Maybe we can pick up an odd job and get some money to keep moving. Right now, though, I need some sleep. We’ll be walking all night, so I need to sleep while I can,” Enrika said.”

“Whatever you need.”

“Thanks.” She turned onto her side, and laid down on the ground, using her arms to prop up her head.

“Hey, Enrika?”
            “Mhmm?” She replied, her eyes still closed.

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Of course, Petit, I wouldn’t let that happen to you.” She shimmied a bit, getting comfortable. Her tail unfurled from behind her, covering her eyes from the sun.

Petit reclined against the root, letting the serene quiet of the forest fill his ears. Birds chirped, and the running water soothed the ears. Enrika’s breathing slowed, indicating she had fallen asleep. He hopped down from the root and walked around in front of the beast-kin. Her tail looked soft. Reaching out a hand, he felt the silky-smooth hairs of her bushy tail. It was like fondling a cloud, it was lovely. He gently stroked her tail, finding it oddly comforting. He yawned. “I could go for a nap.” He muttered to himself.

“So could I.” A voice spoke from above him.

Petit gasped, and shot his head up. It was Faegan! She was on her stomach, leaning over the edge of the grass, a hand holding her head up. She was smirking. Petit opened his mouth to speak, but in the blink of an eye, the beast-kin shot out an arm, placing a clawed finger on his stomach. “If I wanted to hurt you, I’d have hurt you.” She whispered softly down at him. She looked over to Enrika. “Skunk-kin, eh? Not quite untraceable, is she?”

She wrapped her fingers around him, gently picking him up. Faegan moved about, dropping into the lowered area with them. She held Petit up to Enrika’s ear. “Wake her up, slowly. Don’t want to startle her and get us both gassed, do we?” She instructed.

Petit opened his mouth to speak. He looked back at Faegan, who gave him an affirming nod. “Hey, Enrika, it’s time to wake up.” He whispered to her, his voice slightly quivering.

“Is it night already?” She answered slowly, her tail still in place.

“No, it’s not night, but there’s someone here to see you, just don’t... freak out.” Right as he finished his sentence, Faegan swiftly moved Petit away from Enrika’s face, up under Enrika’s gown, and with an almost incredible elegance, into her butt, his entire body right up against the fabric of her underwear. She pushed and kneaded his body into Enrika’s admittedly soft posterior until he could be held in place without external assistance from Faegan. She withdrew her arm from the gown behind Petit.

“Hey” Faegan spoke to Enrika, a hand on her shoulder, holding her firmly against the ground.

“Uhm, hey. Where’d Petit go?”

“He’s right here.” She tapped a finger against Enrika’s buttock.

Enrika blushed, feeling Petit in her butt. “Wh-why’s he there?”

“Call it a precaution, in case you thought it would be a good idea to gas me. So let’s do everyone here a favor and relax before you blow your little pal here into the afterlife.” She removed her arm from Enrika’s shoulder.

Her face became even more red, as she felt Petit stir against her butt. “C-can I take him out?”

Faegan shrugged. “You could, but wouldn’t that ruin such a lovely neef to neef moment?”

“Are the rest on their way?” Enrika asked. She decided against taking Petit out of her butt – she didn’t want to make Faegan feel threatened.

“I came alone, so probably not. Princess is gonna wake up soon, though, and she’ll tell everyone you gassed her out.”

“How do you know I did that? I opened the window-”

Faegan laughed. “C’mon, neef. Have you never met a wolf-kin? Best trackers this side of the realm. Anyway, I just came by to wish you guys luck. It ain’t easy being a fugitive, I should know.” She gave her a wink. She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but stopped. Her ears twitched. “I think I hear someone,” she muttered, “stay quiet. Good luck, neef.” She hopped back up the ledge.

“Oh, there you are!” It was Skewer, and by the sound of it, he was a safe distance away. “I was wondering where you went. Princess is up now, should’ve seen her.” He chuckled at the memory. “Comedy gold, right there. Poor drunk, just kept on rambling.”

Enrika let out a quiet sigh of relief, untensing after the frightful encounter. Faegan struck her as well intentioned, but Enrika still found her intimidating. She sat up, leaning against the roots of the tree, and turned an attentive ear to the conversation.

“What did you run off for?” Skewer asked.

“Sorry, hunter’s cravings. Had to release some energy, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Ah, no problem, I understand. Missed some fun stuff, though. Tharus lit a candle in the princess’ chambers, the whole room lit up for a second, singed his brows right off.” Skewer recollected aloud. “Did you catch anything?”

“Nah, just found some ritberries.”

Enrika looked to her side. Her ritberry vine was missing.

“Just make sure you stay at the back of the party when we head out on our way, alright?”

They seemed to be walking away, their voices growing quieter with distance. Still, Enrika didn’t dare to peek out, out of fear of being seen.

“Let’s head back to the castle, maybe the princess’ll feed us again.” Was the last thing she heard either of them say before they grew too distant to be heard. She felt a familiar pressure build up in her gut. Deciding that the pair was far enough away, she leaned off to one side and let it escape with a soft but audible hiss. Immediately, she felt an aggressive thrashing in her backside.

She slapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. “Petit!” She exclaimed into her hand, having managed to completely forget her was there during the altercation. She hastily reached up her gown and between her cheeks, withdrawing her shrunken compatriot.

Enrika looked down at Petit in her hand, blushing from the embarrassment. She began apologizing profusely. “Oh, Petit, I am so sorry, I wanted to take you out, and, and I forgot you were there and –”

Petit stood up in her palm, coughing at the toxic air he had to endure. He made a dismissive gesture towards her, making her stop. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Just, could you rinse me off in the stream, real quick, please?”

“Of course, of course.” She hastily got up and crawled toward the stream, careful not to poke her head above the dirthill. She placed Petit into the stream, splaying her fingers out behind him to allow the water to pass around him without carrying him downstream, right back to where they had started. After a few seconds, she took him back out. She mentally prepared for a justified verbal assault.

Petit brushed back his hair. “We’re alright, phew.” He muttered to himself. He looked up at Enrika with a confused expression. “Neef?”

Surprised by the question, Enrika paused for a moment. “Oh, neef. It’s a beast-kin thing. Means ‘cousin’, sort of. A sign of respect for another of your kind, since we’re all technically related if you go back far enough.”

Petit nodded in response, seemingly having grasped the idea.

There was a momentary silence. Enrika placed Petit back on the ground. “Okay, we still have a little while before night comes. Wake me up at sunset.” Enrika said, laying back down. She shut her eyes, and tucked her tail in front of her eyes. She felt Petit recline against her arm, probably assuming she had already fallen asleep. She smiled softly, and actually fell asleep.