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Nathan had spent much of his time since the meeting steadying himself thinking of what he would say to Zarena. As he stood atop her knee he felt fully resolved. “Zarena there is a problem we are currently in the process of tending to that I must tell you about. This is typically the type of problem you would take action to resolve. As you've helped us begin the resolution of many issues since you're awakening. I must request however that you follow our lead in this matter. If you don't the brothers as group will have to oppose you.” As he finished speaking Nathan did his best to hold his resolve and stand firm. Rather then trying to hide his doubt, fear or concern he kept these emotions from entering into him. He knew this was the right way to go regardless of the outcome and was certain Zarena would support them in that moment.

For a moment Zarena said nothing. It felt strange to be spoken to in such a way. It wasn't due to her size though but rather it served as solid proof she was involved in the politics of her society once again. It had been a long time since she had been actively involved in policy making. Sure she had helped the brothers whenever it came to the spirit hunter issue but the nature of Nathan's talk was different then it had been then. She knew better then to say anything about it at the moment but seeing Nathan taking a strong stance was also a turn on. “I'm not going to like what you settled on doing am I?”

“Probably not. Zarena I'm going to state the facts. There is a small number of sisters that consider any species other then your own to be inferior. They regard every other species including the brothers the same as we regard the claimed or even less then. Up until now their numbers have been small and they've mostly been short on action if at times loud of voice. Recently they tried to take action though and while it failed it has moved us to action. We have began taking steps to contain these sisters which we know as the distrusted. A building has been selected to house them and plans for a guidance system are well underway as well as containment methods. It is our hope that we can bring the minds of these sisters into greater agreement with the community.”

Zarena had to bite down on her lower lip to keep herself from responding while Nathan was talking. She felt her eyes shifting and the world seemed to change around as her vision shifted to one better suited to hunting prey. She was still holding her tongue as she considered the fully implication of what Nathan had told her. There was a group of sisters that saw the brothers and anyone else as claimed. This meant the only rights they were given came from their keeper. “That is an upsetting thought. What kind of keeper are we talking about when you say they see you as the claimed?”

“One that doesn't believe in the promotion of the claimed or care about their desires. Many of them even see the brothers as a possible food source.” Nathan could tell Zarena was becoming tense. He heard her breathing change and she closed her eyes. Both of her hands came and clamped down on either side of her knee as if to prevent it from shaking. That or to catch him if it began to shake too much.

“So you allow a creature with the body of a monster and a mind to do you harm to walk among you just because our presence keeps it in line. Nathan do you have any idea how mind numbingly stupid that is! How can the same sisters that don't even allow you to have a powerful pet allow such a thing to happen! They should have been rounded up and killed long ago! I. I. This is just so astoundingly foolish!” As Zarena was speaking she was having trouble remembering not to truly shout. She didn't want to harm Nathan after all. Her heart was pounding in her chest though and she could feel her breathing shift.

“Zarena we did it for the sake of those who gave birth to them and for the sake of hope. We hoped that in time they would change their ways. The sisters protected us and the distrusted were restricted in their size to limit the danger they might pose. We believed the dangers were under control.”

“You believed? That means something went wrong. What did they do!” Zarena gave a rather annoyed snort as she tried to keep herself from standing up. Nathan was trying to explain the situation to her and she didn't want to overreact. She needed to have all the information before she decided on what she was going to do.

“First I'm going to tell you what we have planned. Zarena the distrusted are going to be moved to the laboratory once it has been modified to house them. Those distrusted who have never acted on their views will only be issued a curfew while those who have proven problematic will be confined there. No longer will a distrusted be allowed near a brother without a keeper to watch her and they will have no rights to the claimed either. We plan to lift these restrictions as they show development in the right direction. There is little difference between them and a group of extremely dangerous claimed that surrendered.”

“You!” Zarena managed to hold her tongue just in time and consider what Nathan had told her. In truth he was right. Not all brothers were trained as warriors and some claimed who had been captured knew some very dangerous techniques or magic. Trusted claimed were allowed to roam certain areas freely provided they tended to their task as well and didn't break any rules. At times even breaking the rules was forgiven depending on how they were broken. “You should have implemented such a system a long time ago.”

“I admit that we allowed the problem to go on for far too long thinking that it would work itself out. We believed that by restricting their size and thus insuring their hunger never faded and with the pressure from the sisters they would eventually change their views. Unfortunately suffering with their hunger wasn't nearly as good of a teacher as we believed it would be.”

“I take it you have plans for mentoring as well. If all you do is confine a bunch of people with like minds to the same environment you're not going to inspire change. An intellectual battle must be waged against their mind set as well. Even then how long do you plan on housing these distrusted and at what expense? You've mentioned giving the laboratory to them. It seems like we're all already paying a very heavy price. What makes them worth the trouble?”

“They'll be worth the trouble once some of them change their ways and become members of the community. We don't plan on just letting them lay around there. One reason we chose the laboratory is because of the work areas. We can begin converting these areas into gardens and require the distrusted to tend to certain plants and perhaps animals. They're used to being able to freely take from the forest. Perhaps if they're required to nurture something we can inspire some more thoughts in them.” As Nathan spoke he took in a deep breath. He found it hard to believe he'd used that reasoning but it had just escaped him. He doubted Zarena would find it the strongest argument but hopefully she would agree with the other points he had made.

How could sisters turn on their brothers like this? How could they have been allowed to roam around just like any other sisters? How many times had she seen one of them but not recognized them for what they are? Zarena gave another frustrated snort before speaking. “Changing people isn't an easy task especially when they don't want to change. If the pain of their hunger and rejection of their sisters wasn't enough to make them desire change what makes you believe this will?”

“Because this time we're approaching the problem systematically and actively paying attention to the problem. Rather then using an ever present stick we'll be applying different levels of stick as well as some carrot as well. I'm sure you'll agree this guidance method is far more effective then constantly applying the same level of stick with no real carrot.”

At least the more they talked the more Zarena was capable of pulling herself back together. She no longer felt the need to keep a death grip on her leg to prevent its shaking and to keep from standing up. “I see. How long do you plan to run this experiment?”

“At this moment there isn't a set date. We don't plan on giving the distrusted a deadline before execution though just as a claimed, even the claimed that are dangerous due to combat or mystic training, aren't given a deadline to regain their freedom. Only their own actions would allow for them to be killed.”

“Would a claimed be tolerated if the cost of sustaining them surpassed the benefit of keeping them?”

He had been using the comparison with the claimed system as a means of debating with Zarena. Nathan had known she would only need a little time to find a way to use it against him and she was being honest. “You make a good point. Tending to their gardens and animals should allow them to earn their keep but if they refuse to perform something more permanent may have to be done. However, we must also make sure that we have given them a fair chance and even the ability to meet such requirements.”

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Nathan, “Zarena has agreed to wait and give us a chance. She's even offered to put her support behind our efforts and really seemed to like the idea of being used as the primary instrument of terror when it comes to motivating the claimed. Unfortunately she's also made it clear that she expects a more permanent solution to be applied to distrusted that show an increased tendency towards violence. As she put it. They should be handled the same way a claimed would be if that claimed attacked a brother with a lethal weapon.”

A long sigh escaped Mirin and almost everyone else in the room. It was Mirin who chose to speak. “Thank you Nathan! Well that has one of the most frightening details of this whole project taken care of. We have Zarena's backing. Now has anyone not taken the time to look through the distrusted rehabilitation proposals one through five yet?” As he spoke Mirin took a moment to look around the room. He didn't see anyone admitting to not having read them. “Well if you haven't. Shame! Shame on you! As that is what we're here to discuss. Now I'm going to say that I'm a fan of proposal two. I believe that proposal one is aimed too much at making our sisters happy and less at obtaining the results we actually want.”

Alex, “Where do you get that idea?”

Mirin, “Well first there is this little issue where any sister of guardian rank or higher may inspect the distrusted living area. Can you imagine if a guardian showed up and began to rummage through the claimed living area? The keeper of those claimed would be liable to send her out of the living area with a swift kick to the rear.” As Nathan spoke he knew that a keepers reason for such an action wouldn't be entirely based on wanting to protect her claimed. The notion that some guardian is inspecting her claimed would also be calling a keepers competence into question. Typically this would be more then a little offensive to a keeper. “I realize that we can't give them complete privacy but if we're going to say that this is a safe haven for them there has to be some level of privacy involved.”

It was nice to have Dan setting with him. Despite all the work he had done with the other brothers Joseph simply trusted Dan more then the other brothers. It helped that Mina was a long term friend of the family and by extension so was Dan. Dan had also been a good friend since they had met. This extra comfort didn't mean he was ready to speak up as they talked about the plan. “Dan what one of the plans are you currently planning on supporting?”

“I'm going to let them argue the number of plans down to two or three before I actually pick one to support. I support plan two more then plan one but I also like plan four due to its more dynamic form of mental evaluation. A big risk of this entire thing is that we'll end up being tricked. I'm not sure what would happen if after being allowed to rejoin the community as a whole one of the distrusted ended up escaping or murdering someone.”

Dan's last comment worried Joseph as well. “What about the success rate?”

“Two and four seem like they'll both insure that the distrusted earn their keep at the very least. So long as the distrusted are paying for themselves I'm not worried about that. It would be nice if they produced more then they took in though so that perhaps in the long term we could say they've earned the use of the laboratory as well. That one is going to be rough. Even though the sisters never really made use of the laboratory the fact that it's being used to house the distrusted is going to upset several of them. Especially those who have their own ideas for what such a building could be used for.”

Nathan, “So the majority holds that plan one would be basically setting the distrusted up for failure rather then helping them. Let's not allow that to reflect on the other plans though. Let's take a moment to evaluate plan three and see how it holds up to the plans proposed in plan two. Personally I believe that the third offers more of an incentive for the distrusted to progress. By allowing interaction with willing claimed or brothers to be used as a form of reward it should let the distrusted see how much they truly value such interaction even if it isn't on their terms. Considering the way some of them make use of the claimed it seems apparent that they do desire some level of interaction.”

Mirin, “Do you really think that such interaction will be healthy for their development though? We all know that they don't have any desire to form a meaningful relationship with those they interact with. Rather it's simply a sign that their sex drive has become particularly strong.”

“Even if their desire for interaction is limited to a purely physical encounter it would force them to put some kind of value on the interaction. That's a lot better then what they have now whenever they believe they can just take any claimed that happens to wonder too far from the permitted areas. I'm sure that Sora has told you a few stories about how they stock certain areas.”

“You have a point there. Just the act of them having to ask a claimed to spend some time with them should serve some purpose as well.”

Alex, “Plan three is somewhat short on mental evaluations though don't you think? If we simply think about their actions and not their motivations then it's quite possible one of them could be restored to the community without considering her reasons. It seems more like plan three would teach them to hide their views rather then change them.”

Mirin, “True. I like that plans two, four and five all call for secret evaluation by sisters judging the scents and sounds a distrusted gives off in certain environments. If the heart suggest agitation but her words are of complete comfort then we know something is wrong. I just don't know how much credibility we can give such methods. At which point does the heart rate indicate that the distrusted is still hostile towards the brothers for example? Plus these are all methods of evaluation the distrusted have knowledge of.”

Dan, “Then why support the second method so strongly? Only three and four call for the development of methods of evaluation that don't rely on either scent or sound. Though I do question this as well. As while the distrusted do have knowledge of such methods the simple truth is that it's very hard for them to repress them. The heart speeding up when the person is agitated is a natural response. The eyes are another key point of focus for sisters and many of them have other subtle hints. Hey Joseph you've been working on ways to get past the sister's defenses. Would any of those help in the detection of a sister's actual emotional state?”

Immediately Joseph set up and looked to Dan then around at the wrest of the room. It was a surprising notion. “I can't answer that honestly but that's because I never really thought of it. That's a very good idea actually. It should be doable. The glyph I designed is meant to go around the defenses of a sister and draw out some of their energy. I'm sure the aspect where it draws out such energies could be changed to instead gain an imprint of their current emotional state. Oh. But I don't know how detailed such a process would be.”

Mirin, “That makes plan four seem more tempting. One of the reasons I was reluctant to support it is I believed some of the requirements would be too difficult to meet. I hadn't thought of your work with the glyph Joseph. Yet I don't believe we should rely entirely on magic either. Alex you've had some dealings with the orcs. They lack the superb hearing or sense of smell of our sisters. Would you say any of them are practiced at reading a person?”

“You should probably ask Kersara about that. From what I know of them though they are quite proficient at reading body language. At least their hunters are. What about some of us though? Nathan, Mirin I know that after all the dealings you've had with the sisters you've had to notice some signs. I know that they're a few I've seen. Joseph has been here the shortest time of all of us and I'm sure he's found some as well. Joseph what are some indicators of a sisters mood you've seen?”

“Ah well. I know that some of them have twitching ears. Well I suppose all of their ears move a bit to indicate their mood it's just some are more obvious then others. Maria's ears don't really tend to move a lot but even a little change can mean a lot. So I guess if a sister is talking to you nicely but her ears are constantly pulling back into an attack position something isn't quite right.”

Alex, “Indeed though I wouldn't call it an attack position. I know a few girls who's ears become a bit animated whenever she's sexual stimulated.”

“Well Maria never really gave me a chance to learn about that.”

Dan, “Don't worry Joseph that's news to me as well. I think Mina would be a bit concerned if I even mentioned that to her.”

Alex, “It's a good way to tell if she's really interested in you in some cases.

Julia, “Perhaps but have any of you men ever tried reading a sister's body language to detect if they're lying or not?” Julia wasn't surprised whenever the room went silent and many of the eyes turned to her. “I didn't think so.”

Joseph, “I guess we would need more information on such behavior if we were going to fairly use it as a means of examining the distrusted progress. Give me a few moments though I'm going to the library and I'm going to ask it a few questions.”

Julia, “That is right! You've been interfacing with the library quite a bit recently to find books you're interested in. I've been using it as well to research the spirit hunters. As useful as what you and Dan found asking the library tends to work better for me.”

Instead of commenting Joseph gave his head a nod. As he stood up though he felt somewhat uncomfortable with Julia mentioning that. While they both used the library Joseph knew that the library was to some extent influenced by the protectors. He also knew how the protectors could be. Part of him worried that Julia was trusting the library too much. Even worse he worried that such conversations may lead to the other brothers putting all their trust into the library. How long until the protectors found another brother they would try to shape into a luvarian?

Ridon, “It is really amazing. I've been doing some research into spirits lately and at times it takes me to books that I needed but would have never thought to ask about. Then they're the times that it seems to refuse to answer my question. I finally gave in and started to make use of whatever it brought me. So far I've found that whenever it doesn't bring me to the information I seek directly it's because the question is a lot bigger then I realized and I need to understand what it did bring me first.”

“That or to refine your question. I once asked it about the affects using alchemy to change the biology could have on ones ability to cast spells. The number of books it wanted to reveal to me was positively staggering. I quickly refined my question to what influence modifying the biology in order to increase tensile strength of muscles and resistance to magic could have. That reduced the books considerably but no where near enough.”

“I imagine there were books dealing with ways to increase your resistance to the elements, necromancy, charm spells and the like. Each one with its own methods and different influences.”

“Yes.”

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Naidra, “Here you go.” As she spoke Naidra held out a rather heavy book for Joseph to pick up. She had been waiting for him just within the library. With so many of the brothers at the meeting or tending to other responsibilities it was relatively empty. Yet compared to how much activity it had seen over the last fifty years it was positively buzzing with activity even now.

Joseph actually gave a slight jump. Despite her size Joseph hadn't noticed Naidra standing so close to the entrance. For her to confront him so openly was also strange. “What is this?”

“A detailed study on the sister's social behavior and their physiological reactions to different stimulants. It's out dated.”

Immediately Joseph froze up. Of all the things he had expected Naidra to say that wasn't one of them. “What?”

“That information comes from a Luvarian study which at this point has been out dated due to changes in the culture of the faelom. You were correct to assume that the library would have such records. We'll have something more up to date prepared for you soon from our own observations. We're having to cross reference the memories of several protectors in order to make a credible analysis of faelom body language.”

Joseph actually found himself smiling despite his initial surprise. “That doesn't mean you believe my plan is going to work does it?”

“No. As the one apprentice mentioned though even if we disagree with your plan we should do what we can to make it a success. Besides. If this is going to serve as a future testing process to determine which defective faelom are allowed to rejoin the community the test needs to be as accurate as possible. Perhaps in time it will evolve so that it may determine which defective faelom should be executed as well. As for your glyph. The books you'll need are waiting for you.”

“Thanks Naidra. So what should I do with this?”

“Show it to the apprentices naturally. An out of date source of information is better then no information at all. At the very least that book confirms that the sisters do give certain social signals that may be read to allow for a better examination.”

“That is a good point. Naidra there is something else before I go. What exactly are you teaching Julia and Ridon?”

“Ridon desires to progress to a true Luvarian. We have attempted to guide him down that path but it is still uncertain. Regardless of whether he succeeds or not the knowledge he gains and his development should be beneficial. As for Julia. Unfortunately Julia hasn't taken the knowledge we've provided her the way that we had hoped she would take the knowledge. Attempts to direct her in other ways have failed as well. That isn't to say we're unhappy with her progression or her progression is wrong.”

“What is she doing differently?”

“Joseph you're aware of the glyphs that spirit hunters would paint on their skin before they would begin hunting. Using a temporary marking has some risk but some benefits. The biggest benefit being that it may be removed if the body needs a time of wrest. Have you seen Julia using any of the markings that would later become tattoos?”

Joseph didn't need to think about Naidra's question o realize Julia hadn't. Her skin was completely clean. “Oh no. How bad is this?”

“It's fine as long as she can endure the changes without going blind and it's too late anyway. We provided Julia with information on how to make herself more resistant to various spirits and magic in general. We had believed she would make some light alterations to her body using alchemy and use the glyphs to reinforce those changes. Well she seems to have resolved that a temporary augmentation won't do and has relied mostly on the alchemical alterations. I do not suggest doing that with less capable spirit hunters in the future. Well spirit hunter in training or would developing be a better word?”

“I see. Does Julia know this?”

“I can't say for certain her thoughts are private after all and she doesn't keep a journal.”

“Journals are suppose to be private.”

“Joseph if you want to keep your thoughts private don't tell them to anyone else, don't write them down and most assuredly don't become part of a group mind. You'll never have a truly private thought again.” A slight chuckle escaped Naidra as she noted the look of surprise on Joseph's face. “All indicators are that she is aware of there being two alternate paths. I believe her reason for choosing this one is she seeks quicker results then what the alternative would yield. This is actually better then the use of glyphs provide she can endure the change and the permanent changes to her body. Now you should go before the others begin to wonder about your absence.” Even as she spoke Naidra knew that they wouldn't begin to worry about Joseph for some time. By presenting him with the book he needed immediately she had saved him more time then he'd spent.

“Yeah. Yeah thanks for the information Naidra. You've give me something to think about.”

“Another thing to think about you mean and we're always glad to add to the burden.”

Now it was Joseph's turn to laugh. “You don't worry that your seniors will be upset that you're trying to pressure me into a mold of your design again?”

“Oh no. This is more trying to keep you move then forcing you into a mold. They should be fine with that.”

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“This is ridiculous!” Kelah couldn't help but voice her frustration as she stepped away from the fire. Consulting with the local spirits of water had continued to be a frustrating even after some deals had been made and gifts given. This was proven extremely frustrating for Kelah due to her contract with Night Fang. Typically this contract gave her a great deal of pull with most spirits of the forest specially with those of predator or prey. The spirits of water were not so impressed by her contract with a land predator though and made no attempt to hide it.

Dinon, “Kelah you need to calm down. We haven't been making deals with the water spirits for nearly as long as we have those of the forest. They have no history with us and little reason to trust us. Factor in all the blood that was spilled in their waters and they're going to be rather resistant to our request to back off and keep the seas calm.”

“Resistance? They were mocking me!” As she spoke Kelah wasn't aware of the wolf that reached through her voice but she could feel it in the back of her mind. Her position as an alpha predator was being challenged yet she was struggling to find a way to meet the challenge.

Dinon actually took a step back from Kelah as he noted the expression on her face. This was done less out of fear and more to show respect to the wolf inside of her. She was feeling challenged and that was making her temper flare up. He would talk to her about controlling the wolf better after she had settled down but not before. “We're still searching for a predator of the sea to contract with so we can expedite establishing a territory in this region. This is a new environment for us though.”

A sigh escaped Kelah after a few moments during which her regular thought pattern was able to settle back in over the wolf. “I know! I know. Goodness I know. By the spirits though this is maddening. Night Fang isn't happy about the situation either and that's pounding in my head. Perhaps we need to go out further and bring something from the deep water in. I hear that they are some fearsome predators in the deep.”

“I just wish we could summon a spiritual version of Zarena to handle the spirits.”

“Now that would get them in line!” As she spoke Kelah turned towards the water. It hadn't broken the surface yet but she could easily tell where Zarena was working on building her little island. The massive cat girl would arrive early mornings and spend the day swimming in the ocean bringing back massive chunks of stone she'd cut with her claws. She would leave in the evening supposedly to go eat dinner at their main settlement and return for a little bit of work during the evening. She'd finally leave for sleep. “I wish that we could travel between our village and here as easily as her. I don't know why she doesn't take any of her people that want to return home.”

“I believe that's because Kersara isn't letting her do so. At least the spirits of the earth have gained strength thanks to her efforts in this region.”

“Yes and they've been a great deal of helping in calming the spirits of the ocean. At least the local ones.”

“Come on is that all you can manage! Are you going to let your brothers drown because you're too weak! Keep their heads above the water!”

As Kersara's voice ripped through the air Kelah couldn't help but grin. That was the voice of another alpha. Fortunately they had different packs as she would hate to have to prove that she was the dominant one to Kersara. Kelah would have to take the battle into the water and even then she didn't know if she would survive the experience given how Kersara had grown. “Poor Kersara. She works so hard but she just doesn't get the results she wants. Her situation isn't really different from our own.”

“Oh sure. What about sympathy for those poor girls that are having to carry rocks like they're drowning victims? Me and a few of the other offered to serve as their brothers for their training but she refuses. Even when I mentioned that the average orc is quite large and heavy she still declined. Apparently if the object can float then it won't serve her purposes. Hey Kelah what did you think whenever your father said that all the males of her species are human?”

“Um I was more focused on what he had to say about how destructive their magic can be. I always thought if we went to war with the cat people that magic would be our advantage and perhaps our salvation. Now I believe we might have to retreat to the spirit realm and hide there if it came to war.”

“Your telling me that you weren't the least bit surprised whenever you learned they were human?”

“Night Fang told me that years ago. He knows everything that hunts in this forest and he's never seen a male cat person. He just warned me that if my people learned this truth before the cat people were ready to reveal it we would be exterminated.”  A sigh escaped Kelah as she looked around at the town. They had set up several homes along the water front using information they had obtained from fishing journeys before, the information provided by Kersara's people and information from the spirits of the area they could speak with.  They still had some frustrations especially as she noted one of their totems. “We had better repair that or Naelearn is going to get upset.”

Dinon gave his head a nod as he noted the intricate carving. Naelearn being one of the more powerful spirits the orcs had contracted with it was best to keep him happy. In order to do this he required offerings and the orcs to place a few of his symbols within their settlement. Now that that had become two settlements there was a problem though. The wood he required the symbol to be carved from didn't take well to the salt in the air. Making new ones wasn't easy either as the trees didn't grow anywhere near the water front. In return though Naelearn helped protect their villages from illness. “Kersara I'm not sure if we can do that.”

“I know. I just hoped that we could maintain our contract until this settlement was better set up. We can't afford to have anyone becoming ill with so much left to do. How did negotiations go whenever you asked to change the type of wood we used to something more suited for this climate.”

“Not well. I also tried negotiating so that we could cover his symbol with some protective lacquer. He didn't like that idea either. Claimed that to influence the air he must be able to freely feel the wind.”

A long sigh escaped Kersara as she shook her head. “The spirits of the ocean want our blood. The spirits of our home aren't being cooperative. Well many of them aren't. I really didn't think that making a settlement here would be so much trouble. At least we're catching enough fish that we can meet and surpass our own food needs at this point.”

“The improvements to the fishing boats have been impressive! Do we have enough to send Zarena back with some?”

“Yes we do. I'm hoping that Kersara remembers to tell Maria to come speak with us as well. I want to send her back to our home with some fish as well. I would ask Zarena to take them there but I want to avoid leaving a path of destruction right to our home.”

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As Kersara moved through the water she had to kick rapidly and forcefully. If she stopped for even a moment she would rapidly sink and she knew it especially with the heavy load she was carrying through the water. At least the others could still float if they released their burden. She didn't plan on letting them do that though unless they were about to drown. “Clera pick it up! Hixria is going to leave us behind at this pace.”

Clera would have loved to shout her protest to their current situation but she needed all the air she could manage for swimming. Kersara had them each packing a stone one and a half meters tall and a third of a meter thick and wide roughly towards Zarena's building location. The sisters were buoyant in most cases  but just barely. Their dense muscles meant they didn't tend to displace enough water to counter act their weight. Now they were having to pack these stones so not only where they limited in the use of their arms but they were far too heavy to float.

As she moved through the water only one thought entered Hixria's mind. Beating the day lights out of Kersara. Unfortunately she was a long way away from that goal. A fact that was proven as Kersara quickly moved past her to once again begin leading the group through the water. This was how Kersara had been living for years after all. There was no way they were going to match her development in just a few months. Yet as Hixria looked at Kersara she couldn't help but hope. Hope that she would be strong enough to beat the day lights out of her tormentor some day.

“Nice job using your tail to add some extra propulsion Hixria. You're really good at coordinating the movement with your legs.”

“Thanks Kersara.”

“Okay that's enough work on our legs for now. What I want you all to do is take on the leg carry position. You're not holding a brother anymore so don't worry about keeping the stone above water. We're going to use our arms to carry us through the water for a while.” As she spoke Kersara released her hold on the stone she'd been carrying and began to quickly push her arms through the water. She made certain to adjust her hands so that she pushed as much water out of the way with her downward stroke and moved as little as possible with the upward. At the same time her legs quickly wrapped around the large stone forcing her to work her arms all the more quickly. “Nice! I remember the first time we tried this several of you couldn't even hold onto those small rocks I gave you. You're all improving. Now follow.”

Maker help me. Immediately ran through Hixria's mind. It was nice to wrest her legs but she knew her arms would be killing her before too long. It wasn't just her legs though. Typically a few hours after exercising with Kersara her entire body felt like it was going to break apart. Unfortunately there was little she could do about the situation but continue to follow behind Kersara. Once they had pushed their bodies to the limit they would head in to eat and recover. This made Hixria shiver. The sisters healing rate was remarkable compared to a humans. This was a good thing in most situations with one serious drawback. It meant that their conditioning would resume soon.

“You know many of you have the basics down very well. It may be time for me to send some of you back to the village in order to begin training other sisters while they could send me some fresh ones. Hixria how would you feel about teaching your own class in the village?”

Clera, “Hey! What are you talking about! Hixria hasn't even mentioned going home. How about sending some of us that actually want to return.”

Kersara couldn't help but glare at Clera for a few moments. “That's because Hexria is ready to start instructing some of our sisters in the basics. You are not. A few more of you are though but it's up to you.”

There was no way she would come to match Kersara's strength training on her own. Yet the thought of returning home made Hixria's mouth run positively dry. She would have to begin teaching the others but that would be far easier then actually training with Kersara. “Do you really believe I'm ready to begin teaching Kersara?”

“I believe so. At least you could prepare them for when they came out here.” A slight chuckle immediately escaped Kersara as she slowed her pace a bit so that Hixria could catch up to her. “Hey can you imagine if Mina wanted you to train her?”

The thought actually pushed some of the negative thoughts about Kersara from Hexria's mind. “Why would Mina want to train to strengthen her body further?”

“Well think about it. What she has now is effectively her natural strength. How much stronger could she become if a training program was developed for her? Okay everyone let's head towards land before you start to sink and I have to drag you back. You can have some food and give your muscles time to recover.”

***********************************************************************************

As Stella listened to the proposal she had to take in a deep breath. She didn't mind that they had chosen to use the laboratory for something other then research given how many of the brothers were working in the citadel now. It was the new use that bothered her. “I suppose my feelings for Allen make me rather on the paranoid side. I mean. If the distrusted complete this training program then whenever they're released I would have to just let them stand near my son.”

“Perhaps even talk to him.”

Stella, “You're not helping!” As she responded Stella could hear the hiss in her own voice. She saw no reason to apologize for this as she took in a deep breath. “I can respect the notion of mercy though.”

As she listened to Stella Flora nodded her head. In truth she was rather surprised by Stella's comment though. “Stella I didn't expect to hear that from you.”

“Yes well I'm also impressed by the thought the brothers put into the security features.” A sigh escaped Stella as she shook her head. “I still don't like the idea though. But I think of Allen and what I would do if he insisted on escaping from the forest with a mage's training. I imagine the difficulty in containing him and what we might have to do. Then I know that I would want him to be shown mercy as well even if his behavior put us all in danger.”

Flora, “I know what you're feeling Stella.”

“I imagine you know such feelings even better then I do.” For a moment everyone went silent and Stella took in a deep breath. “It still makes me angry though!”

Laughter seemed to come from every sister and many were nodding their heads in agreement. Even Flora had to admit part of her was upset by this plan. She was also rather worried that Zarena had been quiet the entire time. All she had said was that she approved of the brother's proposal. From what point on it had been up to Flora and Vera to explain the proposal to the other keepers. Mina had been helping as well. “Now I hate to ask this but do we have any volunteers to be keepers of the distrusted?”

Stella, “Oh by all that is good and tasty that sounds horrible!”

Flora, “Indeed so. What do you all believe that the one who keeps the distrusted should be rewarded with? I'm sure you all realize the additional issues that will come from tending to the distrusted. Unlike a claimed any attempts to run has a very good chance at success should they make it past the security measures.”

Mirara, “As the keeper handling this task will be watching distrusted I believe we need to have more then a keeper there actually. It would help if we had someone that was capable of tracking without relying on scent or hearing the same way we do. I was even thinking that Markus and I might take the task so long as I could have some guardian assistance to insure that he's safe.” As she looked around Mirara knew that her idea that caught the other sisters off guard. They seemed surprised though it was clear that they were thinking.

Zarena, “Markus? As in your former claimed Markus? The one that Alex deceived into helping with his escape.”

Mirara, “Yep and the one that's been teaching some of us how to hunt without depending on our hearing or sense of smell so much.”

Flora couldn't help but chuckle as she imagined how the distrusted would respond to that. A human, a former claimed and a key person in one of the worse escape attempts they'd ever had helping to keep an eye on them. “Mirara are you trying to get the distrusted killed! Oh I can just imagine the horror on their faces if we told them Markus would be serving as one of their keepers. You would probably end up killing half of them just while protecting him.”

Zarena, “Oh that sounds like a good idea to me!”

Chuckles could be heard throughout the room as the keepers smiled at one another. It was Mina who spoke first. “Well I can sure see the advantage to having him help take care of the claimed. When was the last time that the distrusted had to deal with a brother who had authority over them after all? By living away from the main village they pretty much insure that they never do. Honestly though I fear for Markus's well being in such a situation.”

Mirara, “Mina that's mean! Do you really believe I'd let Markus come to harm? If we're going to do this he won't be leaving my side whenever near the distrusted. At least not until I'm very certain they've learned the situation well. That's also why I'd like a matron or two to assist me.” As she spoke Mirara tried to give Mina a hurt look but she was struggling too much with her smile. The notion that the distrusted would be so horrified by Markus being one of their keepers was still making her smile.

“Okay you make a very good point. Asking a guardian to tend to the distrusted though. I swear we're already devoting a lot of resources to this problem and that's another one that could be used else where. Do you have any idea of what guardian we could ask?”

Flora, “I don't believe we should ask a guardian to handle this actually but rather a matron. In particular I believe Sora or Fera would be superb choices. One that they can never be certain of if she's there or not and the other they know they can't hide from.”

Stella, “Oh that is a good idea! Since the matrons have stayed roughly the same size since we last grew there need has diminished a little. It would be nice to get them back into regular activities. They've been helping with the rebuilding anyway.”

Mirara, “That is true. Now I'll need a little time to speak to Markus about this of course. I believe having a matron or two serve as the keeper of the distrusted would be a good move though. After all. They are also people the distrusted avoid by staying away from the main village.”

***********************************************************************************

Joseph had long since given up on trying to follow the movements of Maria's arms. The were simply a blur as they worked over the drums. He could just about follow the movement of her tail as she worked the ones behind her. The fact that she was using her tail to strike the drums was proving a problem for him though. It made it hard for him not to burst out into laughter even as he listened to her. The fact that Mira and Flora didn't seem to mind in the least only added to the situation. Ridon seemed to have notice but didn't seem to think it was strange. Fortunately Joseph could divert his gaze towards the notes he had taken on Maria's eating habits. He was quite surprised whenever Maria's playing was joined by words and he immediately turned his gaze towards Mira who had began to sing along.

Ridon was always amazed by the difference in sound from when a brother played the drums as compared to when a sister did. Thanks to the use of their tail and precision movements a sisters drums were far more numerous then a brothers with a wider range of sounds. It wasn't just the number of sounds though. The speed with which the sisters could work the drums allowed them to combine the sounds in ways that a brother couldn't match. He had no doubt if he tried to move his arms as fast as Maria was moving hers they would be ripped off his body. Maria's was different from other sisters though. Her speed allowed her to generate combinations of sounds even other sisters couldn't match.

As she listened to her daughter's Flora was tempted to join in. It was so wonderful to hear Maria's playing, even if it was different from her younger days, combined with Mira's singing. That had changed to though as she looked over at her keeper daughter. With Mira's larger size came changes to her vocal cords. Her voice was more powerful and she couldn't make quite the same sounds as she used to thanks to those changes. She was actually surprised by how light Mira could make her voice and had little doubt it was from careful control of her breath. In time though Mira would have to adjust to singing with her more powerful voice rather then trying to keep it as light as when she was smaller.

Despite struggling with his laughter Joseph couldn't help but clap the moment Maria and Mira seemed to finish. “That was wonderful you two. Mira what were you singing though? I didn't recognize any of the words?”

“Well they weren't words they were incantations.”

“Huh?”

“That song you heard was actually a combination of several spells. Not that I have the ability to cast them which is kind of the point I suppose. No danger in me singing them.”

“How did that happen?”

“We're really not sure. It's just something early sisters would do. I guess after spending so much time around the Luvarians they noticed how certain spells seem to harmonize with one another whenever spoken out loud. A few of the sisters began to chain these words together in order to form songs of a sort.”

Maria, “I think we came up with it just so we could do something that our brothers couldn't do with magic. A little jealous on our part you might say.”

Mira couldn't help but grin and nod in agreement with her sisters. “You may be onto something Maria. So no trying to copy our songs Joseph.” As she finished speaking Mira couldn't help but rub her throat. Her vocal cords were positively tingling as she took on her new natural voice. “I don't know how much longer I'll be able to sing like that though. It's rather rough on my throat.”

Flora, “You must have been quite surprised when Maria's voice began to carry more power as her vocal cords became larger Joseph. What did you think the first time you heard Maria after a major bit of growth?”

Maria, “Mom! Joseph there is no need to answer that.” As she spoke Maria actually found herself feeling a little nervous about the possible answer. Her main concern was that her voice had transitioned from a cute one to something less appealing. The thought was extremely uncomfortable whenever she considered that Joseph's experiments could result in her growing even larger.

“It's okay Maria. Actually I thought she sounded sexier Flora. What she had before was cute especially whenever we first met but I don't know if I would call it sexy.

Good answer flashed into Flora's mind as she nodded at Joseph. It seemed to make Maria happy as well as Flora noted a change in her daughter's breath. With an answer like that it should make Maria more comfortable about growing larger. “I just wish I knew how Zarena kept that voice of hers. She's powerful but her words are far lighter then what you'd expect from someone of her size. If she was the same size as one of us her words would positively be a whisper.”

Mira, “I would guess years of practice whenever she was awake.” As she spoke Mira found her ears twitching as she listened to her own voice. The changes were there and she wasn't comfortable with them. “Then again perhaps she was already very quiet whenever she was a guardian.”

“Oh I hope not. If she had to learn how to keep her voice so light then she could teach others. If her light voice just came naturally then we're going to have to figure something once Joseph is done with us.”

Joseph, “Well I wouldn't worry about that kind of growth Flora. I mean. Have you seen how much energy it takes to actually keep Zarena active? If she was to rely on the forest to sustain her then she would probably end up stripping it of resources in a few decades.”

“Well a lady can hope. How has Maria been doing in regards to her training?”

Now Joseph couldn't help but smile as he once again took out his notes. “Maria is showing a sustained increase of five percent based on some estimates and feed back I had to get. I know it may not sound like much but that means the conditioning is really working.”

For a moment Ridon was made to look towards his own notes. In truth he didn't agree with Joseph's results. From his own estimates Maria's increase was still a bit less then five percent but the results were certain. It was probable Joseph was inflating the number to five percent to sound more encouraging. “From what other sisters have observed you're taking your meals further apart Maria.”

“Other sisters observed?” For a moment Maria went silent as she looked to Ridon and then Joseph. “Are you having the others spy on me?”

For a moment Joseph felt himself freeze up and looked to Ridon. They had spoken to a few of the cooks at the dining hall about when they saw Maria. Joseph had also been keeping tabs on her. On top of that he had asked Naidra about her progress. Now he found himself a little worried and wishing that Ridon hadn't said anything. He actually felt relieved whenever her heard Mira's voice. “Sis. Since when have we treated our eating like a private matter? I remember a little speed demon running at.”

“Now now Sis! No need to go telling stories. Yeah I.”

Joseph, “Hey wait a minute. What did she do?”

Maria, “Joseph!”

A slight chuckle escaped Mira as she looked at Joseph, Maria and then Flora. It was looking at Flora that told her what she should do. “Sorry Joseph if you want the story you're going to have to get it out of Maria.”

“Come on Maria. Let me hear the story.”

Maria could feel her cheeks growing warm as she fought back a blush. After a few moments a long sigh escaped her. “Fine! I used my speed to cut in front of thirteen other sisters whenever I saw there was only one fruit treat left. I had just came into the dining hall and new they'd be done preparing sweets for the time being. Well not really the dining hall. The temporary dining hall and I knew that they wouldn't be making anymore baked goods.”

“Tell her the good part.”

“Mira come on!”

“You started it tell him the good part.”

A sigh escaped Maria as she shook her head. “I cut right in front of Terima. I thought it was a guardian I forgot to account for how much we had been allowed to grow.”

Joseph, “Maria! You cut in front of a kid!”

Mira, “You should have seen the look Pera and Terima gave her. On a side note Joseph. Don't be surprised if you're caught up in a practical joke.”

A sigh escaped Maria and her head quickly snapped to the side upon hearing some chuckling. She wasn't surprised to see her mother laughing. “Oh no. They came to you didn't they?”

“Would it make you feel better if I answered that question?”

“No.”

“Then don't be a silly and ask it.” As Flora finished speaking she felt her smile growing. Terima and Pera had indeed came to her looking for advice on how they might play a joke on a sister as swift as Maria. It needed to be something on par with snatching the last of the pastries when it clearly belonged to someone else. This had proven tricky even for Flora to think of.

A sigh escaped Maria as she turned her attention back to Joseph. “So you've been talking to the others about my eating habits?”

“Well yes. I needed it to make my calculations and well.” It surprised Joseph whenever he felt himself grinning. “I know that you tend to forget little snacks at times.”

Maria gave a slight chuckle and nodded her head. “True. That's one of the reasons I'm so glad to have you watching out for me. I swear Joseph at times I believe you really were guided to us considering everything that has happened over the last few years. It would have been a lot rougher for us if you hadn't been here.”

“Guided to you by what?”

“I don't know. We've never really been the type to worship the spirits the way the orcs do. I guess because we've always consider this forest ours and even the spirits are guest in our forest. After all it was the Luvarians who made this forest and we're the ones that were made to protect it. We've had claimed in the past who would talk of this god or that god. Some of them even managed to regain their freedom and stayed to talk to us about their gods. None of it ever really stuck though.” As she finished speaking Maria gave a shrug.

“I imagine it's hard to convince someone as strong as you sisters to worship any god. Did any of them promise that you'd never hunger again.”

Flora, “A few did a bit before Maria's time.”

Maria, “Hey! There was that one with the funny red markings on his robe whenever I was a kid. Remember he worked his way up from being a claimed always talking about how his god had guided him into the forest to be taken by us so that he might redeem us. You remember him right mom?”

“Oh yes. The name escapes me.”

Joseph, “What happened?” As Joseph spoke he took a moment to look down at the glyphs. It was amazing how comfortable Maria and Flora seemed to be at the moment. The psychological release of conversation seemed to help a great deal. “I haven't seen any sisters praying to any gods or even heard them talk about it.”

Maria, “I don't remember. He was here for a while and then one day he wasn't. I never really gave it much thought.”

For a moment Flora closed her eyes. Even as a keeper she hadn't had much to do with the priest and her memory of the events weren't the most solid. Especially with so many important events happening between then and now. “If I remember correctly he couldn't keep his promises. A few sisters talked about how he could solve their hunger but I guess a human can only channel so much power at a given time. Then the sisters began to doubt if his god could sustain them and when he started talking about leaving the forest they weren't willing to do so. What I believe ended his stay though was some kind of disagreement he had with the brothers. OH yes! I remember that now. He made some comment that the brothers couldn't hope to make us complete beings and they didn't take that well at all.”

Joseph, “So the brothers had him removed?”

“No. That's not what I remember. As I recall Nathan. A much younger Nathan decided to confront the priest directly. I wasn't there for the event as we only learned about it after it was over with. The priest left a little while after whatever happened with Nathan. Oh but we were so mad at Nathan for putting himself in danger! At least we assumed he put himself in danger at first. It wasn't something the brothers really talked about. You might be able to get an answer out of him if you ask him about it. Though he'll probably just tell you he's too old to remember.”

As Flora finished her story Maria took a moment to look to Mira. “How goes your lessons with Vera.”

“Painful! Without you there anymore she's focusing even more attention on those of us who remain. She's had two of us begin teaching others the basic strikes but she doesn't want to hear about us sparring using what she's teaching us without her presence. Mina offered to let us use her as a target so that we could practice hitting critical areas. Have you ever really hit Mina?”

“No.”

“It hurts! I mean it seriously hurts whenever you hit her. Those muscles of hers are so solid. She insisted that some of the more advanced techniques I know sting a little but you sure couldn't see it on her body.” A sigh escaped Mira as she looked down at her hands. “She even took the time to assure us that we were causing her a little bit of pain.”

“You're not buying it are you.”

“No. Well yes. I mean I don't know. Mina has always been honest and I'm sure she wouldn't lie to make it look like we were developing more then what we had. It's just she doesn't even flinch whenever we supposedly make the hit sting. I asked Vera earlier if she believed she could handle Mina in a fight. You know what she said?”

“She would have a slim chance of winning.” Flora had a grin on her face as both girls looked towards her. While she hadn't spoken to Vera about the notion of fighting Mina she had a good idea of how Vera would respond. “Mina has weak points just like any of us. However, her weak points are still better defended then many of our strongest points. Vera would have to avoid everyone of Mina's attacks while focusing on these weak points until one of them failed.”

As Flora was speaking Mira was nodding her head. The wording wasn't exactly the same but it was very close. “Yeah. So have you spoken to Vera about that before?”

“No. I've spoken to Mina about it. It was when Mina was first adapting to her muscles. She wanted to know what it would take to harm her so she could get a better idea of what she could fight. She actually had me spend some time beating on her but well I'm not the best fighter amongst the keepers. So my strikes weren't refined enough. We actually had to ask a few keepers for help before we found one that could. The real reason that Vera would have a chance against Mina is her conditioned claws.”

Mira, “Oh yeah. I always thought all of our claws were sharp but I never saw what Vera's could do up close. So how many of Mina's hits do you believe Vera could avoid?”

“On average? I would say ten out of ten but Mina would deliver far more then ten attacks before she went down. Not that Mina doesn't try to practice.”

“Everything she practice with breaks though.”

Yes. Dan once even tried to make her a sort of punching bag that was meant to deform with her punches and then return to shape rather then break. Unfortunately he underestimated the stress that Mina's hits would put on it and she ended up covered in some horrible smelling gel. Oh. Never mention that in front of Mina either. The memory of the smells still makes her sick and I do mean she'll end up throwing up if you mention that event. She's put a lot of effort into blocking the memory.”

As he Listened to Flora Joseph couldn't help but imagine Mina having to leave the room upon someone mentioning the bag. It brought a grin to his face but he had to wonder. “Are you serious Flora?”

“Yes. Then after she's done being sick she'll be rather annoyed with you and even angry if she knows you had advanced warning. I can understand her situation though. I helped clean the gel off of her and out of her fur. It was horrible! I couldn't stand to smell my own hands for two days after the event and numerous washings. I even resorted to a sand wash down to try to remove the stink.” As she spoke Flora actually gave a slight shiver as she recalled even the faint smell. “Oh I believe I'm making myself a little sick now.”

“I believe I know what you're talking about. It can used with cloth armor types to make them more resistant to blunt weapons. The gel really is good for absorbing force. I never noticed a smell though.”

“At times your limited sense of smell is one of your biggest advantages.” A sigh escaped Flora as she shook her head. “Normally alchemical potions and gels smell good but whatever that stuff is smells positively horrible.”

“I wonder if that's because it's meant to discharge energy. You seem to enjoy the smell and taste of anything with abundant easy to digest nutrients and energy. The gel you have in mind is extremely hard to process though after all it needs to hold up to repeated hits and not break down. It is also meant to dissipate energy not contain it. How did that affect her and Dan's relationship?”

“Oh not much. Dan helped her get clean and did what he could for her. He also apologized a lot. He kept applying this other salve to her nose which purified the air for her. I don't know how Mina didn't avoid going insane or passing out whenever she was first covered in the stuff though. Oh you should have seen it. I remember once she actually yelled. I wish I could go back into a coma while you wash this stuff of me. Though with far more energy. Dan would have had more then a few sisters upset with him if he hadn't been so devoted in taking care of her and getting her clean. The salve you see didn't even last an hour on Mina due to our body's nature. So he kept preparing fresh salve and applying it even while she slept on the first night so she wouldn't wake up.”

Mira, “That was sweet of him!”

“Yes it was. It was also the main reason none of us involved with the clean up were angry with him. Oh if he hadn't helped get that gel off of her I don't know if their relationship would have worked out though. Well maybe it would have. Whenever I asked Mina about it she said that after all the bruises she gave him whenever they were being intimate she couldn't hold this mistake against him. He didn't know that the gel smelt so awful.”

For a moment Joseph couldn't help but think of Dan back at the alchemy shop. It had been a while since he had seen him there. He had been standing in front of his equipment willing his healing potion to be ready faster. It was enough to chuckle about. “I should ask Dan this but I wonder if any of you know. How often does Mina bruise Dan up?”

Flora, “Not often at all! During normal intercourse Mina doesn't harm Dan in the least these days. Typically he's injured on rough nights. Mind you these were his idea. It's nights were he uses alchemy to toughen his body up so that Mina can be less restrained and enjoy herself more. Often his potions hold but at times they weaken a little early. With the way we've been growing I imagine that has become more difficult.”

“Hm I believe I'll go speak to Dan later. Maybe we can work together to come up with something even better then what he has been using. Anyway, Maria, Flora that's it. You can get out of the glyphs for today.”

Maria, “We're done already?”

“Yes you are.”

For a moment Maria wasn't sure what to say. Between playing the music and talking the time had moved by quite rapidly. Her muscles felt tense and a little sore which was strange but she didn't feel like she had been within the glyph of draining for an hour. As she stepped out of the glyph though she was surprised whenever she stumbled slightly. “Whoops. Wobbly legs.”

Flora, “Mine feel a little stiff as well. I suppose we need to work our legs a little as well.”

***********************************************************************************

“You want me to do what?” As Markus looked at Mirara he couldn't be certain that he had heard her right. Keepers were sisters. They were never brothers. Now he was asked to be the keeper not to other humans but to a group of sisters. It didn't seem like the safest position to be in whenever he considered they were distrusted.

“I want you to serve as one of the keepers to the distrusted we're going to be taking care of. You see the higher ranked brothers have come up. Hey wait a minute! Why am I having to explain this to you? They should have asked you to come to their meeting even at your rank.”

“Oh. Well there have been a few requests but. I just don't get into that mage talk.” As he spoke Markus felt like he'd done something wrong. It was the same feeling he got whenever he realized Mirara was about to scold him whenever he was a claimed. In truth it seemed a bit worse then he was a claimed. She couldn't decide if he lived or not anymore or she wasn't allowed to anymore but having her upset with him still hurt.

“Markus! You're not going to progress in rank if you don't become involved in the dealings of the others.”

“Ah well. I don't particularly want to advance Mirara. Rank five is fine with me you know. Politics isn't something that I've ever really been a fan of. Plus I'm not sure I want to be responsible for others.”

“Choosing to be ignorant of events and decisions does not absolve you of responsibility.” As she finished speaking Mirara couldn't help but give a sigh. “Still you are rather busy. Training the sisters and going into the forest to hunt. I should mention that if you accept my offer then hunting is going to be for recreation from that point on and honestly you won't get a lot of time for it. Normal claimed require supervision. The distrusted are going to be another issue all together. Fortunately that's the point of a curfew or one of the reasons.”

“It gives you time to do some things for yourself.” As he spoke Markus couldn't help but imagine what it would mean if one of the distrusted ran. He would be expected to help hunt it down. Given that they would be hunting another sister who would know the same tricks as the others and how to conceal them they would likely be relying on him a lot. “If we're going to do this then I want some of my students to be the assistant guardians.”

“OH that is a good idea!”

“Also you have to let me step up your lessons as well. I'm not going to be the only one that knows what to look for whenever hunting for something as stealthy as one of you.” As he was speaking it felt strange to make demands of Mirara. Typically he would have requested her agreement. Since he had become her mate though Mirara had been pushing him to be more assertive and more involved. He was officially a brother after all and while the lowest rank possible that still required a change in behavior. Markus still felt that his voice lacked the confidence he heard in the other brothers whenever speaking to sisters other then Mirara but he was working on it.

Did she have the time to receive more training from Markus? The question was one Mirara had to truly consider. With the change in her job she would be able to leave some of her responsibilities behind. Given that it would take a little time to prepare the laboratory it was possible. “Very well but we're going to have to work hard before it's time to begin tending to the distrusted. I'm not going to have you instructing me in proper hunting techniques where they can learn from you as well. Your skills are one of the few advantages we'd have should they choose to run.”

To this Markus gave a nod. “You know your breathing changes whenever you're really thinking about something just a bit. It's like you're trying to pump more oxygen to your brain. Actually I've noticed that in a lot of you. Whenever you're really conflicted or thinking about something your breathing picks up.”

“Really? I never noticed. Blast it Markus you should have been at the meeting!” There had been a slight delay in Mirara's outburst as she had taken a moment to remember the brothers were looking into the body language of sisters. Now here was Markus with a trained hunters eye and he had been observing the sisters for years learning how to judge their responses. The fact that he had leaped onto his seat told her that she had put a bit too much energy into her voice. “So what does my body tell you now?”

“That you're not ready to attack but damn you're annoyed. What did I do? I mean you said I should have gone to the meeting earlier.”

“Markus they're trying to prepare techniques for the reading of a sister's body language to help in the evaluation of the distrusted. Little indicators that even we haven't noticed. How many other indicators do you know?” As she spoke Mirara didn't expect a truthful answer from Markus. She just wanted to make it clear that he should have been at the meeting.

For a moment Markus wasn't certain what he should say. He was so far out of the loop that he didn't even know what they had talked about. Not that he had tried to find out. “I believe that I could help them with that. I'm not one for meetings though Mirara. How about we go to visit one of the higher ranking brothers and I can tell them what I've noticed while I was claimed? You'd be surprised by how many things your tail can tell someone.” As he spoke he could tell that Mirara already approved of his idea. She would continue to pester him him to attend the meetings without a doubt. She often said they needed view points from other cultures. He wasn't certain that he was ready to start attending them though.

“That sounds good. I can also let them know what you're going to be helping me as a keeper of the distrusted.”

“Huh? Hey now I haven't agreed yet!”

“Oh sure you did. Your body is telling me that.” A slight chuckle escaped Mirara as she helped Markus up. He seemed to realize the truth in what she said though he did give a rather frustrated sigh. “Now what one of your students would you trust to keep you safe around the distrusted?”

***********************************************************************************

Lidra couldn't even hold her mouth up as she looked at Flora. Her daughter was with her which made running pointless. It was still hard to resist the urge to run. “What do you mean I'm suppose to come with you?”

“We're currently gathering all the distrusted together so that we can give you some good news. Don't worry we're not going to kill you. If we were going to do that Sora would just be going around breaking your heads off so that the others wouldn't know to run. Well that or my Maria would be. I'm pretty sure she could kill one of you without you even seeing her coming.” As she spoke Flora kept her tone light but she wanted to be honest as well. This would hopefully help keep the distrusted from running in the future.

“All of us? So you have something planned for us.”

“Well yes. We had to after a bunch of you stole the life bloom from Joseph's home.”

“We saved it from burning up!”

“I'm sure that Joseph would have preferred to have that tree burned to ash rather then stolen by you. Isn't that right Maria?”

“Yes it is. He hasn't even mentioned the tree after finding out it had been secured.” Even as she was speaking it was clear to Maria that Lidra was seething with anger. There was fear there as well. Likely fear of the unknown. “We're not going to torture you or beat you Lidra. We're not going to torture any of the distrusted though you may not agree with us. Now come along.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“It'll be easier to explain it to all of you at once now come.”  As she spoke Flora knew that this type of behavior had to change. She was a keeper telling a sister of lower rank that she needed to come and speak with some of the other keepers. For nearly any other sister that would have been sufficient to get them moving unless they were very busy. It was a keepers responsibility to insure the community was functioning smoothly after all. Now one of the most disruptive elements in the community was being resistant. It was what she expected but she knew other keepers wouldn't be so tolerant of such behavior.

“So have those pets of yours decided to waste my time again?”

“Lidra. Get your tail moving before I have Maria grab you by the tail and run all the way to the meeting site dragging you along for the ride.” The fact that Lidra continued to scowl at her really didn't upset Flora. It reminded her of a young sister whenever she didn't get her way. This thought actually prompted a giggle from Flora despite her best attempts to keep it in check. She had just remembered the look Dremera had given Joseph whenever he was out of her reach. Flora could just imagine Lidra hissing like Dremera. It wouldn't have been nearly as cute or tolerable but the image was quite funny.

When she had first been confronted by Flora Lidra had been suspicious. She had been well beyond the towns boundaries and even moved to conceal herself. The fact that they came to her told her that they had been looking for her. At first she had thought that Joseph wanted to speak to her again. The thought of being brought in to speak to him again as if she was some servant he could call on a whim made her stomach churn. Then when Flora had mentioned the other distrusted were being gathered she had been concerned. They had been quiet about the theft of the tree for a long while. Had they finally decided on what they were going to do about it? Now Flora was laughing at her. “What's so funny you bitch!”

“Well you were a moment ago but now you're just being unpleasant.” Before Lidra could respond Flora quickly clapped her hands together then took hold of Lidra's shoulder with her right. She wasted no time giving her a good push in the direction she wanted her to go. “Enough of that thought! Let's get moving.” It didn't surprise Flora whenever Lidra tensed up. It was clear though that Lidra wasn't going to begin moving unless she was physically forced to do so. At least she wouldn't begin moving without delaying a bit longer. “You don't want to keep your friends waiting you know.”

It was too much. A sharp growl escaped from Lidra as she turned to face Flora again. “Who do you think you are to grab me like that! You.” Lidra once again went silent as Flora took hold of her.

“I am a keeper and I am well within my rights. You're being uncooperative and confrontational. Even if you weren't one of the less liked sisters I would be confident standing before my fellow keepers and having them evaluate my actions. Now it's time for us to be going.” It was clear to Flora that Lidra was now quite angry. This was rather disappointing as she would probably be even more troublesome during the meeting then she would have been while calm. Not that there was much for them to talk about. The decision had been made.

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As he looked at the various distrusted Nathan took in a deep breath. Currently he was perched atop Zarena's big toe looking down at the seated distrusted. Zarena for her part was keeping a very close eye on all of them. He had felt rather strange whenever she picked him up and set him atop her foot but didn't have time to talk to her about it. She had probably waited for the distrusted to be brought in for that very reason. He would have to have a word with her about such actions in private later. “Well here are a bunch of faces that I haven't seen in a long while. You're looking well Tatra.”

“What is this about? Why have you disturbed our lives?” As she spoke Tatra held an even tone. With Zarena looking down on them, Vera, Flora and Maria there being venomous didn't seem like a good idea. She could not bring herself to speak warmly though.

“Very well I'll get to the point. Recently some of you worked together to steal one of the life bloom trees to begin producing your own fruit. The tree and the seeds were retrieved but it has forced us to action. Before whenever you were a silent minority you were largely ignored. We realize now that we abandoned you and we aim to make up for that. So for our first step your authority over the claimed and anyone in this forest has been removed. If you are caught killing strangers that have entered into the forest it will be examined as if you had killed a ranked member of the community. The same goes for harm and any sexual interaction.”

Lidra, “What the hell are you saying! We can't even defend our home! You're stripping us the right to enjoy our property as well!” As she called out Lidra wasn't thinking of Zarena or the others in the room. Her focus was on Nathan and the anger in her voice was clear for everyone to hear. The fact that she heard a few roars of agreement made her feel bolder. “You have no right to take away our prey.”

“The claimed are not prey. This forest isn't yours but belongs to all of us and we're no longer going to allow you to use it as you have been. Further more you're all going to be provided with housing. We'll be making use of the lower levels of the laboratory which is being converted for your comfort. Now the exact time will be set by the steward of the laboratory but some of you are going to be given a curfew. Those of you involved in the theft of the life bloom won't be allowed to leave until your steward gives you permission.” As he spoke Nathan felt rather certain at least one of the distrusted would have attacked him by now if it wasn't for the other sisters in the room. The fact that Zarena seemed primed to swat them all like insects probably helped keep them seated.

“Meals will be served for you at the laboratory. As you will no longer be permitted to socialize with the brothers you won't be permitted to eat at the dining hall, go to the market or the library. You are still welcome to come visit in the citadel though. Now naturally you're still going to have to contribute to the community. In order to facilitate this the you'll be provided some garden space to work from. Now the yield from these gardens will be limited so rather then producing food we're going to have you growing some of the more valuable plants. We're also considering a pen.”

Lidra, “What the hell is this!” As she spoke Lidra found herself standing before she was thinking. The force of the keepers and sleeper's eyes kept her held in place but she couldn't just set. “You're imprisoning us! Even those of us that weren't involved! Because we won't be your servants you imprison us in these tiny starving bodies! Now you intend to take even more from us rather then let us grow to what is natural!”

Vera, “Nothing is natural about our bodies and we aren't servants. I should kill each and everyone of you that was involved in the theft of the life bloom. However, I was asked to wait and give this new plan an attempt. So be grateful that our brothers are trying to save your lives.” As she spoke Vera kept her voice calm though cold. Given how much pushing the brothers had to do just so they could begin training as spirit hunters again the notion the sisters were servants seemed laughable to Vera. At the worse they were servants who could determine what their master was allowed to do.

For a moment no one said anything. Though Nathan got the strange feeling that Zarena was very happy with Vera response. Something about the slight vibrations that were running throughout her foot and shaking his entire body seemed to just say she was excited. “What Vera said is the truth. Even for a sister with a more welcoming view of the community such actions would receive a stern punishment.”

Rather then waiting for Lidra to speak again Tetra chose to involve herself. “So we've proven to be more of a threat then you previously believed so you decided to do something about us.”

“That is part of the problem. The other problem is what's considered the appropriate size for a child is changing or beginning to. If you were to be kept at your current size you wouldn't even be the same size as children and left to suffer with your hunger. In case you're wondering. This new program includes the potential for you to be allowed to eat more depending on how you do. The idea is that once you've finally finished the program you should be what is considered the adult size for a sister.”

“Of course. You really want to get your hooks in us.”

A sigh escaped Nathan despite his regular composure. “It seems that it's necessary to pull you back from the cliff you're running full sprint towards. Let me say this again. Joseph pushed for this program because without it you were all going to be killed. If death is preferable to you then it is still very much a choice but I hope you don't go down that path.”

Zarena, “I do.” Even as the words left her mouth Zarena could hardly believe she'd just said that. The words had popped into her head and went out her mouth in an instant. She wasn't about to retract them though even as Nathan turned to glare at her. The fact that nearly all the distrusted seemed to shrink back into their seats was amusing though. It seemed like it had got the point across though as they began to look at one another.

Yet another thing Nathan would need to talk to Zarena about later. “Your keeper is going to be Markus, Mirara, Sora and two there will also be two guardians to serve as Markus's assistants. They will be handling your day to day activities and play a key roll in your evaluation.”

Lidra, “A recently released claimed! You would let one of those determine our fate.”

“He has a lot more friendly view towards you then some of us.”

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“I don't see why you weren't there.” As she spoke Maria leaned over Joseph allowing her breast to settle atop his head. She gave a slight giggle whenever he began to bind over as the weight began to press down a bit more firmly then he found comfortable. “It was your idea after all and you were the one that spoke with quite a few people. Why did you ask Nathan to tell them about the new plan for them?”

“I really don't like giving people orders like that Maria. Honestly I would make a terrible judge as I really have to find someone detestable to tell them there freedom is going to be taken away. I would feel awful locking someone up until their trial especially if I believed they hadn't committed the crime or wasn't very certain.”

“Trial?”

“A big meeting where people decide if someone has committed a crime or not.”

“Oh! I knew that. I guess I'm just not thinking clearly at the moment.” As she spoke Maria began to lightly shift her breast atop Joseph's head. Her hardening nipples soon made their presence known as they brushed through his hair. It was quite obvious to Maria whenever Joseph noticed them. His body froze for a moment and his heart rate seemed to increase. This brought an excited giggle from her as she settled her right breast atop his head. “Wow one of my breasts completely covers up your head.”

Why sexual teasing from Maria was quite common in their daily life even verging on the point of bullying at times this was different. Instead of leaning forward to take the wait of Maria's breast off his head he pushed upwards against the massive mound of flesh. Both his hands reached above his head and Joseph pressed them into Maria's massive right breast to truly feel the mass of flesh above him. As Maria had grown her fur had remained the same length. Yet the amount of flesh he had to found had increased. “We have been rather busy lately haven't we.”

Reaching down Maria slipped her right hand underneath Joseph. He shifted his weight as she did so in order to accommodate him. Standing over four meters tall now Maria's hand wasn't quite large enough to Joseph to set within but she could give him a decent squeeze with just the one hand. “I've barely had time to see to your health with our morning exercises.” As she spoke Maria began to slide her hand underneath Joseph under his legs and then his rear once again. The fact that this resulted in his head shifting against her breast made the situation even more fun as she looked towards his pants. As she stood up Maria placed her hand against Joseph's chest and held him against her body to insure that she didn't drop him. An amused giggle came from her as she looked between her breast.

Joseph had turned his head upwards to look towards Maria's face. What he found was his vision obscured by Maria's chest with only a tiny sliver between those massive mounds that he could see through. He actually felt his heart rate speed up whenever that gap closed. When he tried to shift to the side to see around Maria's breast though she held him in place once again allowed her breast to part.

“Peekaboob I see you.” Before Joseph could respond Maria once again flexed her chest so that her breast pressed together once again blocking her view of Joseph. She held this for a moment before relaxing them once again. “Peekaboob.” This time Maria got the response she wanted from Joseph as she heard him chuckle. Both his hands reached up and pressed against the underside of her breast and Maria once again flexed her chest muscles to push them together. This time she had some resistance to overcome as Joseph tried to part her breasts so that he could see between them.

Maria had more strength in her hands then Joseph did in his entire body. He knew that. Not only was she much larger then him but even if they were the same size she would have been far stronger. Her breast were far from the strongest part of her body though and even had quite a bit of give in them. He felt confident that he could part them at least enough to see Maria's face just given their natural give. As he worked to part them though their size actually proved an obstacle in his efforts. This was hardly troubling to him though as he felt Maria's softness even as his fingers moved through her fur. As if fondling the breast of a woman wearing a fine bra.

Even as Joseph was working her breast Maria was struggling. This wasn't something she had practiced before and while she kept herself fit she wouldn't have defined her body as finely trained. “Mm dang. I bet Mina would have a lot easier time of this.” Even as she was speaking Maria found herself shifting her upper body in an attempt to keep Joseph from parting her breast. Her chest muscles were far stronger then Joseph's entire body but the natural give of her breast meant she had to exert far more force then he did to keep his hands from parting them. The fact that he had a significant mechanical advantage due to using his arms wasn't helping the situation either.

Setting in Maria's hand was actually proving to be a problem for Joseph. She wasn't really giving him the anchorage he needed to really push her breast apart. What he would have liked to do is get his head and back against one of her breast and push with his hands on the other. The fact that she was squirming and even groaning with effort told him that she wasn't having an easy time though. “It looks like you're not big enough to keep me from peeking between your breast at least. Come on now. Hey keep that hand still!” Joseph had been certain he was about to part Maria's breast whenever her hand had dropped a few centimeters. This had cost him his grip and nearly lost his progress.

“Oh sure. Next time maybe I'll make you climb up here and try this.” Even as she was speaking Maria was trying to focus. She had considered using her tail to aid her pectoral muscles but felt that wouldn't be sporting. Joseph's heart rate had sped up and the feeling of his penis pushing against his pants bumping into her body was enough to keep her from putting too much in his way. He was really enjoying himself and she was as well. Keeping her muscles flexed was actually becoming painful though and she worried that she would have to relax before long. If Joseph's shoulders or arms didn't give out.

“I see you.” It had happened in an instant. Joseph had managed to work his fingers just a little higher and pushed outward. Maria's breast had parted slightly and he could see up towards her face though only a very small portion of it. He couldn't help but chuckle whenever Maria relaxed her muscles and moved him out from her body only to begin lifting him higher so that it would be easier for them to look at each other's face. As his head moved past her breast Joseph actually had trouble looking up at her face especially whenever he felt the tip of his penis brush with Maria's pert right nipple. Immediately he believed she had done that on purpose especially whenever he saw the grin on her face.

“Enjoy it while you can. If things work out with the glyph you may not be able to do that so easily. I was kind of hoping you wouldn't be able to though.”

“How come?”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she began to carry Joseph towards their room. “Mina told me how she likes to trap Dan's hand between her breast at times by flexing her muscles. It sounded like a lot of fun. Well there is plenty of other things we can do for fun.” As she spoke Maria was brought Joseph forward and leaned him against her body so that a good portion of his rested against her chest. The fact that he gave a slight thrust against her chest the moment he touched it served as a good sign of how excited he was even if he was becoming more skillful at retaining his composure. With Joseph leaned against her Maria began to use the hand that wrested against his back to pluck at his clothing.

The walk to their room wasn't a long one especially whenever Maria was the one taking the walk. The fact that his shirt hadn't been removed by the time they reached the bed told Joseph that Maria was walking very slowly. He was curious whenever Maria didn't lay him on the bed but proceeded to turn around and set down atop it. The fact that he could hear the mattress protest her weight reminded him of something. “What are you going to do when you're too large for such comforts?

“I'll just become your bed of course. Well that and your pillow.” I'm sure you could wrest quite comfortably on these.” As she spoke Maria pushed up against the underside of her breasts. This served to not only bring them closer to Joseph but even cause his penis to press more firmly into her flesh. She felt his body shiver and heard it in his breath.

“What about you though?”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she lifted Joseph closer to her face and pressed her lips against his for a moment. His lips were entirely engulfed by her own and Maria could even feel them just beginning to tickle Joseph's nose. How much larger would she have to be to no longer feel her hunger?  Would her lips cover his entire face at that point or more? As these thoughts ran through Maria's mind she felt herself becoming wetter much to her surprise. The thought of engulfing Joseph's entire body being able to shield him from harm excited her. “You seem to forget that I spent a lot of time living in the forest. A soft bed isn't really needed when your body is as strong and flexible as mine.”

“I. I guess that makes sense.” With the kiss ended Joseph found himself looking up into Maria's eyes. He was still a bit beneath her eye level. This prompted him to reach up and place a hand on either side of her face. Maria shifted her head to the right and pressed her cheek more firmly into his right hand for a moment while he felt of her face. At her current size the time he spent eye level with her was actually rather limited. With the size she had put on he couldn't even attend to her vagina and breast at the same time. He had began to spend more time playing with her thighs and stomach during their final moments of sex. Typically this left Maria using her own hands to stimulate her breast and using her tail to tease him. It worked but it wasn't the same experience as when they had first laid together as mates.

“Are you beginning to worry about how much larger your tests are going to make me.”

“Of course! Depending on how much you grow that will indicate how much the others are going to grow as well. You've already had to in large you living area and sacrifice more of the forest. If you were all to become matron size or larger it would be a logistics nightmare!” A slight chuckle escaped Joseph before he leaned forward and gave Maria another kiss. “That said I've come to really enjoy exploring your body. Each time you grow larger there is even more detail for me to explore. If you become too big though I might have to end up taking it one part at a time.”

Now it was Maria's turn to chuckle. “Oh? So what are you imagining? Perhaps you'd like to spend the entire day exploring my breast?

“Some mountain climbing could be fun.”

“Mountain huh? Wow you must really be thinking of me at a large size. Even Zarena only has large hills at the most.” As she spoke Maria lowered Joseph away from her face so that his eye level was slightly above her nipple level. Given their size difference and the obstructions on her chest this meant there was no way for Joseph to reach her face. Her cheeks actually seemed to miss his touch but her right breast welcomed it as he placed a hand on either side of her breasts and gave it a slight squeeze. She could see the muscles tense in his back and his arm as he pushed in on her breast and then relaxed. “Mm if I was that big you'd have to do some cave exploring as well.”

“Where would you live?”

“I imagine I'd have to do like Zarena and begin working on making myself a home on the shore. Oh wow if I was that large though can you imagine how far off I would have to live? I could cause title waves just by dropping my tits into the ocean. Mm that would be inconvenient.”

“So maybe a little too big?”

A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she nodded her head. “Yeah. I would love to become that powerful. I could protect you from so much then and it would be wonderful having you spend hours exploring my body but it just wouldn't be practical. Well unless I could adapt so that I could control my size. Wouldn't that be a wonderful adaptation to have Joseph? I would gladly trade in my speed to be able to sleep and then recover from my body's reduction in size fifty or so times faster.” As she was speaking Maria still held Joseph close to her body lightly swaying so that her breast bounced in his hand. The fact that he seemed to be trying to hold her breast steady made it into a fun game.

“Well that would make attempting for further mutations much easier. I imagine you'd prefer to be able to shrink and grow in size far more though.”

“Of course. I could enjoy dining in a nice kitchen with you, grow to matron size to travel through the forest and then when I had you away from the forest put a sleeper to shame so we could have some fun.” A slight giggle escaped Maria as she suddenly brought Joseph forward and pressed him more firmly against her chest sinking his head deep between her breast as she did so. “I would give you a true valley of cleavage to explore and let you glide on my breath alone.”

“Then soak me in your mouth?”

“Maybe.”  Maria gave a sigh as Joseph began to kiss her breast. She felt his hands press against her sides and travel upward as he did so. They didn't reach as far as they used to though. With her hands busy holding Joseph Maria brought her tail up and lightly drug the tip along his back. The soft fur of her tail tickling him as it went. She noticed him shiver but he didn't stop his kisses even as her tail came around to his front and began to move down over his stomach. His belly had long sense vanished and what was left was far more solid. “I guess at that size we still couldn't tongue wrestle anymore. You could go tongue riding though.”

Maria could no longer fit her tongue within his mouth without nearly breaking his jaw and Joseph's tongue couldn't extend far enough into her mouth. It was one of the things that had upset Maria about her growing size as they lost out on a bit of their play. As Joseph imagined a Maria so large that her breast would qualify as mountains he imagined being tossed about inside of her mouth. “If you ever do that I expect you to make sure your mouth is clean.”

“Naturally!” For a moment Maria moved Joseph away from her body as she once again lifted him higher. As she did so she brought him towards her face as if for a kiss but instead extended her tongue and pressed it solidly against the front of his face. He gave a surprised jerk but couldn't pull away as she drew her tongue over his chin and mouth. The feeling of his nose being pressed into her tongue came a moment later and caused Maria to swirl her tongue a bit insuring Joseph got a whiff before she drew it over his forehead. As she pulled him back Maria wasn't surprised to see Joseph looking a bit shocked. “I always make sure to keep myself nice and clean for you.”

“What was that?”

“My tongue silly.” For a moment Maria said nothing but the look Joseph gave her told her he wanted more details. That was the idea naturally. “It's something that Dan made for Mina. It perfumes even the saliva within our mouth. You might call it a breath meant for sisters only.”

“Oh?” Before questioning more Joseph leaned forward and pressed his tongue against Maria's face. Her entire body seemed to stiffen as he gave her a little lick. Unfortunately his comparatively tiny tongue couldn't even begin to cover as much of her face as hers did his especially with the way she was holding him. “Why is that?”

“It would take off a few layers of the inside of your mouth.” For a moment Maria considered mentioning to Joseph what she tended to eat and what was required to break that down. The words barely surfaced in her mind as she realized what a mood killer that would be. She knew Joseph wouldn't like hearing her talk about biting into a nice juicy raw tusker. This thought did make her giggle though. She would have to tell Joseph after she was done having her fun. Until then she brought him forward and gave him another kiss. As she pulled him back Maria brought her left hand higher to offer Joseph more support. “Try to stand up.”

Nodding his head Joseph placed his hands on Maria's shoulders. Fortunately when he tried to lift himself up her hand helped him by taking a good deal of his weight. This was extremely important when he began to lift his right leg and his balance began to fail him. The fact that her tail soon came to aid him caught his attention for a moment. “You're good with that tail.”

“It helps to have an extra limb of sorts.” With both of Joseph's feet in her hand Maria had to be careful to keep her arm steady. Her left hand left him though her tail remained with Joseph as she reached down and unbuttoned his pants. “Now lets loosen you up a bit.” As she was drawing Joseph's pants down his legs Maria brushed her fingers over his penis. Her right hand quickly moved to compensate for his motions as he pushed his penis against her fingers for a moment upsetting his balance. “How are the new clothes?”

“Honestly they're still pretty hit or miss.”

“Why am I not surprised? I don't believe those two will ever truly master what's comfortable for humans. Well unless Kiara has her way.” As she  finished speaking Maria brought Joseph forward and gave him a kiss on either side of his body. With each kiss Maria lightly ran her teeth against Joseph's body taking the tiniest bit of skin. Not enough to hurt but enough to give her a better taste of him then licking alone would have. “Yummy.”

“What does she want?” As Joseph spoke he wasn't sure if he was asking about Kiara or Maria. From his current position he was actually looking down into her eyes. His hands had taken hold of her tail to help him balance himself while he waited for Maria to finish removing his pants. As they came to wrest in her palm he was amazed by how steady Maria's hand was whenever he lifted his right leg.

“There is a claimed who's been mending and making clothes for other claimed. She noticed that his clothing was superior to what the sisters make in terms of comfort and durability. Now she wants and a few others want to have him begin working on just making clothes as Tera and Nora just don't seem to be able to get it. Oh you should have seen the look on their faces!” A slight chuckle escaped Maria as she placed Joseph's clothes to the side she then took hold of his underwear and began to carefully pull them down his legs. “Well hello there it's nice to see you again.” Puckering her lips Maria lightly blew across Joseph's penis.

As he looking down Joseph couldn't help but compare his penis to Maria's mouth. Put simply her mouth and entire body made his penis look positively tiny. Fortunately he had got some tips from Dan on how to handle a sister whenever she reached the four meter mark. First observe. No matter how small you might feel when with such a large being if she enjoys what you're doing keep it up. Secondly don't be afraid to get aggressive. Dan apparently followed a routine of first tending to Mina orally then making use of his fist to get her off.