The criminals that sought to extort her master had not been cultivators, or of a particularly high level. Their bones had broken laughably easy, crunching between her teeth like dry grass. It had felt good to punish those who tried to prey upon her pack. Daisy wondered if she might be allowed to hunt them for sport.

The Awakener had said they must be careful, and not draw attention to themselves lest powerful enemies come looking for them. But surely the city could spare a few petty criminals for her enjoyment. The men had made such delightful sounds as they became aware of their change in status from predator to prey. The looks of shock on their faces as Daisy tore through them had been almost as delicious as their marrow. She decided to seek out more of their kind the next time she made her nightly rounds.

Daisy wasted no time smashing open crates and devouring anything that contained even the slightest bit of light. There were dried herbs, bits of preserved spirit beasts in jars, even some jerky. She chewed the dried meat and swallowed it, thanking the Awakener for entrusting her with this mission.

The horse sniffed around for more treats. She followed a sweet, sticky scent until she came to a wall. With a powerful kick she sent a hoof through the wood, revealing a secret room. She wasn't sure if they had been trying to hide their contraband from the guards, or each other, but it was all hers now.

Daisy let out a chuckle as she raided the hidden stash. She smashed in the top of a barrel and gorged herself on golden peaches preserved in brandy. The plump fruits were sweet and syrupy, positively dripping with light. She didn't stop eating until the barrel was empty. There were also bunches of herbs that Daisy munched her way through. They made her lips tingle, but she would not dishonor the Awakener by refusing to consume their light.

For a brief moment, Daisy almost felt full. Or rather, not as hungry. The horse rocked side to side, enjoying the sensation of her body as it swayed. Daisy stumbled over to the last crate and bashed it open.

She recoiled in disgust as its foul contents began to spill out. It was full of cores, but their light was tarnished, inedible. Daisy's steps were unsteady as she went to find the Awakener and show him what she had found.

As her body processed the brandy and strange tasting herbs, It got increasingly hard to walk in a straight line. The horse did her best to avoid arousing suspicion, but as she passed through the market, one of the city guards started walking over to her as if he wanted to see what was wrong.

Instead of panicking, Daisy smiled at the man to let him know everything was fine. The guard must have been satisfied, because he abruptly turned around and started walking in the opposite direction.

Wow! I'm good at this! Nobody suspects a thing, Daisy thought as she stumbled the rest of the way home.

***

“What exactly am I looking at?” Zane asked. The horse had been adamant that he come to the warehouse as quicky as possible, but for some reason had asked him to lead the way. "What has you so shaken up?"

“Cores,” replied Daisy as she swayed side to side, “Hundreds of corrupted cores.”

The gray marbles didn't look corrupted or damaged to Zane. But his senses told him that each one was full of impurities, as well as an oily blackness that made the young man want to shudder. “Huh, weird.”

He tossed one to Daisy, but she made no move to consume it. “They are not of the quality I desire,” she explained, “These cores would make me sick and steal my light.”

“Good to know.” Zane tried to wrap his head around why someone would be creating corrupted cores. Or rather, refurbishing them. But he was drawing a blank. “Where are they even getting the cores in the first place?”

Daisy gave him the side eye as if to say, “Why are you asking me? I'm a horse.”

Zane decided not to hold the sass against her. It was obvious from how Daisy was acting that finding the corrupted cores had disturbed her. The young man grabbed a few of the cores for further testing and doused the rest with lamp oil. He piled up old trash and debris around the crate, setting anything of value aside.

There was some decent loot, but he would have to wait until later to sort through it all. As Zane was wrapping oily rags around a candle to function as a makeshift fuse, he heard a soft mewing noise.

The chef followed the source of the sound to a footlocker. Inside of which was a tiny black and white striped kitten and several dead mice. The juvenile feline was too young to eat solid food. Whoever was keeping it as a pet hadn't understood that.

Zane sighed and scooped up the kitten. He wasn't sure how it had survived the fog, but Pinky had been complaining that she was getting lonely at night. He figured a kitten would be just the thing to cheer her up.

***

The flames reached up into the sky like demonic fingers. Whatever had ignited inside the warehouse was burning with the heat of all seven hells. The fire brigade’s attempts to extinguish the blaze just seemed to make it angry.

Captain Cerdo watched as years of careful planning went up in smoke. Digging the tunnel and sourcing the cores had taken thousands of gold. Now, they were melting into slag before his very eyes.

A guard came up to him and saluted. “Sir, I'm honored you chose to come in person. It means the world to the boys to see the boss taking an interest.”

“The honor is mine,” Cerdo said wearily, “Do we have any idea what happened or who was involved?”

The guard shook his head. “No, sir. The fog makes it hard for most people to see six feet in front of their own noses, much less across the street. I don't suspect we'll get anyone stepping forward. That warehouse was run by the Midas gang.”

Cerdo waved dismissively. “Very well. You may return to your duties.”

The Captain stood there and watched as his carefully laid plan burned down to ashes. They wouldn't be able to get enough cores in time for the festival unless he took drastic measures. Cerdo sighed. It was time for Plan B.

***

“Are you absolutely insane?” Pinky looked at the kitten like it would leap from Zane's arms and tear her face off. “I'd rather sleep with a porcupine!”

“Oh come on, it's just a little kitten.” The young man's face clouded over. “I mean, it is just a kitten, right?”

Pinky shook her head.

“Oh?” Zane looked at the half dead feline. It certainly looked like a regular kitten. “Then what is it?”

“It's a void stalker cub. They’re vicious spirit beasts,” she explained.

The young man’s eyes lit up. “Neat! What do you think we should name her? I was thinking something like ‘noodles’ or ‘dumpling’. She kinda looks like a dumpling.” Zane looked at the cat and smiled. “Yeah, she's just a cute little dumpling.”

Pinky groaned. The cub was cute, but it would grow into a loathsome predator. Then again, she thought, Don't we have a carnivorous horse?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Zane had already started heating up some goat milk for the beast. He made sure the cub was warm before he started feeding it. “Kittens can't digest milk if they're too cold,” he said.

“Since when do you know so much about cats?” Pinky asked, wondering who this nurturing young man was.

“My sister raises ‘purebreds’ to sell to the rich folk. She makes papers for them and everything,” Zane said with a touch of pride.

Pinky sighed. “Is there anyone in your family that isn't some kind of petty criminal?”

The young man seemed to think about it. “I've got an uncle who works for the government. So, no. Not really.”

She watched as Zane delicately dipped his finger in some sugar water and rubbed it across the cub’s lips. It was amazing how something so small could grow to become one of the most terrifying creatures on the mountain.

Dumpling licked her lips. Zane smiled and dipped the corner of a clean rag into the warm milk. He had tossed a few sacred herbs in to fortify it with essence. Once the kitten had its fill the young man relaxed. He tucked it into a crate with a towel and a few of the uncorrupted spirit cores. “Sleep well and become strong, little Dumpling.”

Zane pulled Pinky aside as if he didn't want the sleeping cub to hear him. “I wasn't sure if she was too far gone to nurse. She's probably dehydrated, and definitely malnourished. If Dumpling is anything like Daisy, being close to the cores should help her through the worst of it.”

She looked at Zane with a critical eye. It was strange to see someone who had butchered people like they were nothing more than meat showing concern for a spirit beast. It felt unnatural. But it also gave her hope. If he could care for a void stalker, perhaps he would have a place in his heart for a kitsune?

He noticed her gaze. “I just like cats, ok? And I remembered how you were saying that you wanted someone to cuddle up with. So, I brought her home.”

Pinky was touched by his thoughtfulness, but very frustrated and confused by the mixed messages Zane was sending. She crawled into his bed half naked on a regular basis, yet nothing ever seemed to happen between them.

She knew he was interested in her. Pinky had seen how he looked at her body. Yet, he never made a single move. If she made a lewd suggestion, he ignored it.

“Zane, are you a virgin?” she asked.

The young man blushed. “Yes.”

“Oh. That explains so much,” Pinky said with visible relief, “You know, I can fix that for you.”

Zane thanked her for offering and went to go check on Dumpling. By the time his brain processed what Pinky had actually meant, she was already long gone.

“Ah, fuck,” Zane swore.

***

“Aaaah!” Pinky screamed in frustration as she ran down the street. She had heard stories of cultivators avoiding sex because it messed with their essence, but this was something else.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. She headed down to the seamstress and put in a special order. If Zane's brain was getting in the way of him relaxing enough for them to have a good time, she would have to find a way to turn it off.

The seamstress looked at Pinky's order with a mix of appreciation and amusement. “What exactly is your class, if you don't mind me asking?”

Pinky glared at her. “Do you have what I asked for, or not?”

“Oh, I've definitely got most of it on hand. Though, some things I may have to modify.” The seamstress looked Pinky up and down. “I'm not sure it will fit you. Some of these measurements seem… rather generous.”

The woman groaned. “Let me worry about that part. Just make sure it looks cute.”

“Fair enough. It's your silver,” the seamstress said as she went to work.

***

That night before they went up to the bedroom to sleep, Pinky and Zane had a very direct conversation. She had learned that direct was best when dealing with the young chef.

“Look, I am attracted to you. You seem attracted to me. Why haven't you made a move?” Pinky asked, being as blunt as possible.

Zane's answer surprised her. “Well, we work together. And I haven't had many regular jobs, but I was told to never sleep with your coworkers.”

“Wait, really? So, you're not ignoring me because of some random cultivator bullshit?”

“No, I think you're probably one of the most beautiful women I've met. And I really like being around you. Working here in the restaurant with you is the best job I've ever had, and I'm afraid to screw it up.”

Pinky couldn't help but laugh. Zane was so sweet, but he was also completely missing one major detail. “Ok, let me make a counterpoint. You are a cultivator on the run and I'm not actually a trader, I'm a courtesan. That’s my class.”

She let that sink in before continuing. “I'm also a kitsune. If people found out what I am, they would skin me alive. What I'm saying is, a little workplace romance is the least of our problems.”

Zane processed this, seeming to brighten up. “So, it's alright if we have sex, even though we're coworkers?”

“Yes. Some might even say it's expected, given our situation,” Pinky confirmed. She was happy they had finally gotten a chance to talk and clear things up.

“Awesome!” Zane said as he got up to go check on Dumpling again. Young kittens needed feeding every few hours.

When he got back, Pinky was looking at him with a bemused expression and an open robe. She was wearing nothing but black lingerie beneath it. Finally, something clicked in Zane's head. “Oh,” he said brightly, “You meant right now!”

***

The next morning, even the restaurant didn't dare trying to wake the two lovers. Things had come to their enthusiastic and natural conclusion several times that night.

Zane rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and decided to resolve a mystery that had been bothering him. The young man prodded one of Pinky's breasts. It was much more jiggly than he remembered.

“Excuse you,” the woman said as she raised her arms and stretched.

“Are these new?” Zane asked, he felt like he would have noticed them when they took that bath together.

“Nope, but they are bigger than normal.” Pinky laughed when she saw his look of confusion. “It's a weird synergy between being a kitsune and the courtesan class. Normally I don't bother. But I thought last night should be special.”

He frowned. “So, what do you actually look like?”

Pinky decided to show him. Besides the ears and the fox tail, she looked more or less the same. Her teeth were definitely sharper though.

“Huh,” Zane said as he processed this new information, “Well, I'm going to go make us some breakfast. I'm starving.”

Then the young man padded off to go cook. Pinky watched him go. It was a good thing for Zane that he was hot and made great food. Because if anyone else tried leaving after sex without even giving her a kiss, Pinky would have murdered them.

***

The young man felt a bit tired, but otherwise good. Zane had been surprised to find out that sex was both more, and less, than he had imagined. Nothing much seemed to have changed.

Cooking was satisfying as always. It still scratched that “numbers go up” itch. In a rare bout of insightfulness, he wondered if it was the same for Pinky. Her class was courtesan, she probably got experience points for having sex. Maybe she even leveled up.

When she came to join him he decided to just ask. Being direct seemed to work best for them. “Pinky, I've got a question. I'm not sure if it's rude to ask, but I'm curious. Did you?”

She cut him off. “Well, yes. Obviously. I'm not the kind of girl that fakes it.”

“Cool!” Zane said as he handed her a magically refreshing mimosa and an omelet. “High five!”

She accepted the food, and the high five. “Any other questions?”

“Nope,” Zane shook his head, “I'm just happy to hear you leveled up.”

Pinky almost choked on her mimosa. “I beg your pardon?”

Now it was his turn to look confused. “You told me that you leveled up last night.”

The courtesan sighed. She definitely had her work cut out for her. But on the other hand, it was a chance to teach him correctly from the start. There were no bad habits for him to unlearn. He was a blank slate, with perfect abs.

“Zane. I think it might be best if we started at the beginning,” she said.

***

Brunch barely got out on time that morning, but Pinky did manage to level up. Zane took the occasional break to care for Dumpling. The little spirit beast had stabilized and was slowly becoming more energetic.

Dumpling, as the Awakener called her, was too young to speak. She had barely come to awareness. But the spirit beast did know some things.

She knew that Zane was the Awakener. He had rescued her from the box that smelled of vermin and death. He had given her something that made her mind begin to clear. And with that clarity, came purpose.

“Become strong,” he had said. It was a command she would gladly follow until her last breath and beyond, if need be. The Awakener had even given her the cores of his slain enemies to consume.

Dumpling took a deep breath, drawing in the essence wafting from the cores. She would become strong enough to destroy all who dared to defy the will of her Master.

Zane watched the little spirit beast’s paws twitch as she slept. “I wonder what she's dreaming about,” he said.