“She’s a Tigermouse, don’t remove her blindfold.”

Mark blinked slowly up at Brye. “You’re joking, right?” He showed his tied wrists up at her.

“Hey, you behave, and I’ve got a nice reward for you later.”

With a sigh, he just sat back against the tree, glancing over at the mouse. Noah was hanging upside down, wriggling, ankles tied up to the branch and hands tied behind her back. She very much looked like some prized fish that was being left up. The maiden was quite lively, wriggling and moving about.

“Right, almost forgot.”

Brye took one of the purple berries out of the bundle of cloth they’d been using as an improvised backpack. Approaching the wriggling mouse, she squeezed it over her thighs, allowing the purple liquid to splash down and cover her groin, her stomach, her petite breasts, dribbling all the way to the top of her mousy ears. The purple juice sparkled against the deeply tanned skin, goosebumps chasing the fruity substance.

Noah groaned, wriggling harder against the ropes as Brye used her coated hand to properly spread the juices on the maiden’s front and back. The fox took more than a few liberties with the diminutive maiden, squeezing her breasts, caressing her lower lips. The upside down woman grunted and squeaked, thrashing against the rope.

“The fuck’s that for!?” Shery jumped, glancing over with a scowl. “That scent’s going to draw attention.”

“She’s a psychic now.” The fox shrugged nonchalantly, whipping her hand against Noah’s rope-like tail. “Can’t have her trying shit while I’m not around.” Pausing, she glanced at Mark, the young man having quickly looked away in an attempt to ignore the mildly erotic display. “Enjoy the show.”

With a sigh, he shook his head, curling against the tree and watching them leave. The sound of their footsteps eventually died out, and the only sound remaining was that of the squirming, wriggling mouse. Mark’s eyes turned towards her, hanging from her ankles, body naked and slick with the purple juices.

He’d seen plenty of feral mice, but Noah didn’t look like they did. She was far closer to human in looks. Smooth with tanned skin, tight nubile physique, she would’ve certainly passed for a gymnast. The changes she’d gone through since her ‘shift’ had been noticeable, her skin having gone from pale to darker, and the fur on her ears having turned white.

Brye kept insisting the mouse had gained psychic powers, but Mark hadn’t exactly witnessed any of it.

Sighing, he glanced down at the wire they’d put on his wrists. It wasn’t tight, and they’d certainly been sloppy about it. But what was the point? His mind turned to Veronica. The woman hadn’t been one to care about his life, and Noah had attempted to kill him the only way she’d been able to, that really only left…

Shaking his head, he didn’t want to think about that, how the fox was the only thing that had reliably gone out of its way to keep him alive. To hand him over to this “Boss” person. But…

Noah moaned, wriggling, shaking her head violently. Her head whipped about as she was trying to desperately remove the pieces of cloth binding her mouth and eyes.

“Stop.”

Mark’s word made her freeze in place. Noah was breathing fast, chest heaving for air through the cloth. “MMMFFF!” She tried to speak against the cloth that stuffed her mouth, the maiden breathing hard through her nose, the only part of her face that wasn’t covered up.

“I said STOP!” Mark raised his voice now, feeling the anger flare back out, his voice loud and clear.

The mouse froze in place, shivering slightly as she did. The young human took the chance to glare, even if he was sure she wouldn’t be able to tell. “And stay fucking still for a change.”

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His gaze turned back down to his tied wrists. The wire was still there, and it was annoying him. So he started working on removing them. It only took him a couple minutes, and by the time he’d been done, a new sound was coming out of the bound maiden. Sobbing. It… irked Mark. She’d tried to kill him, used him for her… what? Suicide wish?

He finished removing the wire and stood up, approaching her once, sure there wasn’t anything else in the surrounding area. The anger from the river came back, mild, muted. He was tired and hungry, annoyed, but the fury had washed out slightly.

Mark knew better than to trust her. Brye’s warning rang clearly, so he avoided touching the cloth covering her mouth and especially the one covering her eyes. Her breathing had caught in her chest, fast and short, very close to hyperventilating. Her belly-button was eye-level with him.

Slowly, he reached out, pressing a finger against her navel.

The maiden squirmed, squeaking through the cloth and trying to fight her way free. “Stop,” he commanded, and she bolted stiffly once more, his finger tracing from her navel to the side of her hip. Another slight sob escaped her. He could only frown further. “Just stop this stupid asinine game. Stop.” Mark pulled his finger away when the digit started to tingle, wiping it off against the tree-bark. “You did this on yourself. You fucked up big time, turned yourself into this, and then tried to kill the one person who didn’t hate your guts.”

Noah had become quiet, the sobbing started to grow louder, and Mark growled again.

“No, just… no. You don’t get a pity-party.” He stomped his foot, glaring at the bound mouse. “You wanted to die, you opted to throw your life away. Well, we’re putting that life to damn use. Once we’re done with it do whatever the fuck you want if you still want to off yourself.”

A long pause followed, Mark glaring at her, watching the mouse stop moving, only a long sniffle followed, shuddering as goosebumps coursed through her body. A slow whimper, and a nod. A quick nod, and then many more, the maiden desperately moving her head back and forth, talking into the cloth again.

Mark sighed, pausing just as he’d been about to pull on the gag to let her talk. He’d seen what those teeth could do first hand, how they’d pierced through maiden skin when he hadn’t been able to with a knife. It wasn’t worth the risk, he turned in the direction Shery and Brye had left towards, forcing himself to look away from the squirming maiden.

His mind turned towards the larger picture, the prospect of running away. Where? To whom? Not like there was safety. With one last look at Noah as she hung from the tree, his eyes coursing through her juice-covered body, he followed the direction the other two maidens had taken.

The edge of the forest was only a couple dozen meters away, and from it, he got front-row seats to the road. Things had not been calm, Mark saw traces of scorched dirt, and there was a corpse near the road, bleeding out. Maiden if her brightly lit hair was anything to go by.

There were two others. A human lay on the ground, Brye had a short-sword pressed against the back of his neck. A maiden knelt nearby, hands raised and head pressed into the ground. They were a bit too far away for Mark to hear what was being said, but there were clearly cries for mercy.

These were strangers, and they needed the food, but…

“Just stop this.”

He spoke under his breath, frowning and shaking his head.

He didn’t expect the fox’s head to snap in his direction. Her eyes widened before quickly turning back to her captive. Mark felt a sudden shiver. Her hearing was THAT good? His brows narrowed. “They’ve done nothing to us.”

The fox’s tails stopped their wag, raising and then lowering. She spoke to Shery, the fellow maiden appearing confused at first, until she caught sight of Mark in the tree-line. She too appeared surprised. Brye appeared to deflate slightly before grabbing a hold of the guy’s shirt and vanishing.

She reappeared near the tree-line at the side of the road opposite to Mark. A second jump and she popped into existence near the tree-top. There was screaming, there was shouting, and there was begging. But the fox didn’t drop him, instead taking rope and tying him up, leaving him to hang from the branch in much the same way she had Noah.

Except she didn’t tie the other end, tossing the rope down for Shery to grab and tie to the remaining maiden’s wrists. Behind her back. The situation looked simple enough. If she loosened the rope, the guy would fall, and if she didn’t catch him in time, that would be it for him.

The duo proceeded to leave them there, quickly moving towards the sacks and bags that were littered around the bloodied corpse. They picked up most everything there and rushed in Mark’s direction, the human having the sense of mind to dip back into the forest and avoid being spotted by the surviving duo.

“If this comes to bite our tails, it’s on you.” Brye declared dryly, moving past him without further regard, continuing in the direction of the mouse they’d left hanging.

Shery however, stopped next to him. She met his gaze with a slight frown. “Don’t meddle in things unless you know what you’re doing.”

“What?”

She didn’t respond, shoving one of the sacks onto his arms. “There're clothes there, see what fits, leave the rest.” A loud moan caught both their attentions, a squeaky sound that made it all too clear what was going on. Shery sighed and shook her head. “We’ll eat while we walk. Got to get some distance from here.”