My family’s visit to my new home goes on for quite a while. Soon it is dinner time and I go to the door to request that some food be brought over for them. Heading into the kitchen, I cook up some of meat that I had set aside to defrost for Sky. From the kitchen, I can hear as everyone is happily talking with Sky. They ask her questions and shower her with compliments. At first, she was rather shy. But the fact that they are family and not just strangers has helped her to quickly get used to everyone.
Thankfully, they don’t try asking her about our ‘relationship,’ blessedly respecting my desire to stay away from that kind of subject for now. Although they are asking Sky about me and what she thinks about me, which is getting me more and more embarrassed.
A particular question from my mother catches my attention as I cook.
“So, how did you two meet?”
Sky explains it to them, taking short breaks between sentences to think out her words.
“I was in a troop searching for treasures and weapons. We were led by…” She thinks of how to translate the name, “He who Ambushes from Trees… Searching a large hut on the side of a road.”
I pipe in from the kitchen, “They were in a truck stop near the border.”
Sky looks to me, “Truck Stop…”
Nodding to herself, she continues, “Searching a truck stop on side of the road. Lain found us and made a trade for sharing a roof for the night. She traded a whole bag of dried meat. It was delicious!”
Dad perks up, “Oh you liked my jerky huh?” He asks with a smile.
“Jerky is delicious! You make it!?” She asks getting excited.
“Yes, I do, I’ll have to bring you some when I start making it again.” He says with a big happy smile.
Sky looks ecstatic and her tail starts twitching. Mom cuts back in and asks her to continue her story. “So, you two met at a truck stop, but why were you traveling together?”
I smile to myself as I remember getting to pet her for the first time, catching a little thief and ‘punishing’ her. Although, that smile comes with a twinge of guilt.
“We wanted to steal Lain’s stuff.” She says looking a bit guilty. “Thought she had more meat, jerky, in her pack. We took turns trying, but she would catch us and laugh. The others were stupid, they held torches in the dark. Made them easy to find. But Lain honors tradition and let them go. Nothing but tricks for getting caught.”
She starts to blush to herself as she thinks about how to say the next part. This confuses me a bit. Is she embarrassed that she got caught…?
She eventually continues and I don’t interrupt, this is good practice for her. So, I focus on cooking her food.
“I thought I was smarter. Went without a torch, snuck around in the dark. Found Lain there, sleeping in the corner. I tried to take her pack, but it was heavy. I couldn’t lift it. Then she got me. Lain was pretending to sleep and jumped at me. I got scared and… I attacked her with my spear. I broke the rules…"
...
She pauses for a bit and look remorseful before continuing, “Lain was protected by rules, sharing a roof. Stealing is permitted, attacking is not. Attacking is unforgivable. Now I am no longer part of my tribe…”
Everyone looks at her sadly, realizing that Sky was banished for breaking rules that the Kobolds must hold dearly.
So, it isn’t because I caught her that she was left behind then. It’s because I scared her into attacking me… I'm sorry Sky...
Sky continues after she stops thinking of her tribe, of her home. But her blush seems to grow as she resumes her tale, “Lain captured me then. Pinned me to the floor. I thought she was going to eat me, tear me apart and kill me for stealing and attacking her.” She says, her blush growing as she gets a bit bashful.
She puts her hands on her cheeks and peeks back at me, “We had our first time right there. I woke in the morning with her petting my head!” She exclaims with a big smile full of embarrassment and pride.
Mom and dad choke and look as if they’ve been smacked with a brick, their faces snapping to me full of silent judgment. Anna squeals with delight from the edge of her seat while I trip in the kitchen, feeling like someone just stabbed me with an icicle in the back of the brain, nearly dropping the frying pan on the floor.
Stumbling a bit, I catch the pan by it hot surface and manage to keep the meat from falling to the floor. Slamming it back on top of the stove, I quickly move to defend my innocence.
“It! It wasn’t like that, I swear! I mean, ya I pinned her to the floor… but we didn’t have se… we didn’t do that!”
Mom, looking rightfully indignant. “You better start explaining young lady! And if you did have your way with this girl then you better take responsibility!”
Anna and Sky are still off in Lala Land as everyone else freaks out.
“I already am taking responsibility for her! Wait! Not like that. Ah! I swear we didn’t have sex! I just petted her and gave her belly rubs! Even played with her ears and her toes pads and her tail. I swear I didn’t do anything bad; I just wanted to pet a Kobold and punish a little thief. I was just having some fun!”
Mom, looking shocked. “Just having some fun…!?”
Sky snaps out of it and turns to me with a curious look, “Lain, what is Sex? Teach me, please?”
Dad burst out laughing louder than I have heard him laugh in years at this and I simply look at Sky like she just shot me. Not knowing how to respond to this. I know that she just wants me to teach her the word, but the way she said it…
Anna looks to be having a seizure as she fights to not laugh while also wants to gush over cuteness. Mom has switched from, ‘scolding mother interrogating her daughter about committing crimes,’ to covering her mouth and giggling like a child caught pulling a prank.
Dad manages to pull himself from his laughing fit long enough to send out a joke and finish off his wounded and defenseless daughter, “Yes, sweetie, she wants you to teach her. How about you take her in the other room and teach her all about it. We’ll be in here waiting and give you some privacy!” He burst out laughing again and I feel myself about to scream out in a way that only a daughter being picked on by her parents in front of her friends can ever scream.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Sky just continues to stare at me cutely and full of innocence. Not realizing just how deadly her words have become.
I am blessedly saved from further turmoil by someone knocking on the door. Everyone’s food is here.
Pulling myself together, I go over and let a soldier carrying some to-go boxes inside and thank him for the food. He brings them over and sets them on the coffee table for everyone as I finish cooking Sky’s food.
Bringing it over to her, I set up a fold out table for her and place the plate in front of her along with a knife and fork. She typically eats with her hands, which wasn’t an issue before, but is now considering that she is going to be living around humans. I pass out forks for everyone, and then quickly teach her how to use the utensils to eat. She seems confused at first, but after seeing everyone else using a fork, she picks up the idea quickly.
Considering that Sky is already sitting in my chair and the couch is already full, I go ahead and sit on the arm of the chair and lay my arm on the backrest behind Sky.
Anna looks at me as I sip at a fresh cup of coffee, “Thanks for the food. Aren’t you going to eat to?”
I shake my head, “No, I already ate today. Mutation or whatever made it so I only need to eat like once a day. I might snack here and there if I feel like it, but one meal a day is all I need.”
“Oh… That’s neat…” She says looking uncertain.
I just shrug, “Don’t worry about it, if anything it means that I can save on food better. Leave more for everyone else.”
They all seem a bit put off by that but don’t comment on it. So, I take a sip of coffee and decide to change the subject. I ask them about life at the base and what they’ve been up to. Anything to keep them from asking more questions about Sky and me.
We talk while they eat, and they tell me about their new jobs and new people that they have met. Dad is apparently going to be starting as a guard soon, which makes me worry for him, but he reassures me that he will be okay.
On Anna’s side, Sanders had apparently asked her out before their mission and meeting me, which has me laughing as she tells me about how she gave him raisins when he asked for a date.
The conversation eventually turns back to me as Anna asks about my journey. Cleaning up the dishes and trash, I tell them about my trip. Killing goblins, the giant fish stealing my shirt, going to the mall but skipping the part about my dog related trauma, meeting Sky and reiterating that we did not have sex. Sky is by this point sitting on my lap again and looking very curious, but I push on with the story.
I tell them about fighting the bear and how I have no idea how I killed it, they are shocked when they hear that I killed that thing and ask me a bunch of question while looking worried. Sky just pets my still regrowing horn.
After the bear, I tell them about the final stretch of my trip, living outside of the base with Sky, the Kobold village, and eventually how I met my new friends and saved them, eventually leading to me ending up on base.
Its already afternoon now as I finish my story for them. Deciding to finally break the news to them, I tell them the details of the deal I made to be permitted to stay on base. For most of it they are not fazed. Of course, the army would want to study me, they are just glad that they don’t want to dissect me. They even begrudgingly accept the reason for why I can’t live with them, not being permitted to live amongst civilians. We can’t guarantee that people won’t do something stupid or freak out and riot over having a little demon living amongst them.
No, the problem comes when I tell them that I have to work as a mercenary. As a Monster Hunter for the army, going out beyond the walls and helping the soldiers fight.
They don’t like this at all.
“They expect you to go out and risk your life? Just because your mutated!? Why did you accept this? You should have tried for other conditions!” Dad exclaims, clearly upset.
“What, like be locked up as a prisoner and get experimented on?”
“No! You know what I mean. Why would you agree to such dangerous terms?”
“To get back to you guys… Besides, it was non-negotiable. It was either that or be banned from the base with the threat of getting shot if I approached. Plus, while I didn’t think of this earlier, it will let me be able to go out and get food for Sky. She really loves her monster meat.” I say with a genuine smile as I pat her on the head.
I look down at her, “Oh, Sky. Make sure to sit with your legs together when you’re wearing a skirt or a dress. Don’t want to be flashing people.” I tell her as I close her legs.
I swear this girl doesn’t give a crap about being seen. Which is dangerous because I still haven’t managed to get her any underwear… I really need to make a list of stuff for the army to get me. Fresh underwear and some bigger clothes for Sky are definitely going at the top of the list… I think I’ll write it our tonight and give it to them tomorrow.
While I am losing myself in other thoughts, dad snaps at me. “Why don’t you seem concerned by this. They are using you as a weapon and throwing you out there to potentially die! Aren’t you worried about that!?”
This startles Sky a bit, so I wrap her up in a hug and rest my chin on top of her head. With how fast she is growing, I probably won’t be able to do this anymore. I wonder how tall she is going to get…?
“Mmmmm, I’m not concerned about it because they are being rather open with their intentions. If they had just let me live here rent free and didn’t ask anything of me, I would have been extremely suspicious. No, instead they are being open, ‘You can live here, but there are conditions because you are potentially dangerous’, basically… I’m not dumb.” I say with a shrug.
I continue after giving Sky a big squeeze of a hug, “The army sees me as a potential danger, a threat to everything they have going here but, they also see me as a useful tool, an opportunity, a weapon, and something very interesting and valuable. Hells… they know what I am capable of, and I have no intention of hiding it from them. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if they eventually try to make more people like me, if they can figure out how. And honestly? I might just be willing to help them do it… Be nice not being the only demon girl around.
“Not to mention, you haven’t even seen what I can do. You’ve only heard me talk about it. But I can kill beasts several times my size with my bare hands and nothing but a sledgehammer. And that with about a month of being in this new form. I don’t even know how to fight, hahaha! I just swing my hammer and hit heads. I can even be sent through trees and walls and not get hurt..." I stop and think back on some of my fights.
I continue and give dad a serious look. “Those in charge aren’t stupid and neither am I. They aren’t going to send me to my death, but they are going to want to get their money’s worth for keeping me here. They know they need to keep me happy. They also know that if I really wanted to, I could leave at any time, and they would have a hell of a fight on their hands to try and stop me. So no, I’m not worried. I’m not a soldier or even really a fighter, but I am going to do this job and give them every reason to want to keep me here nice and happy. That naturally applies to you guys to. Got a whole benefits package and everything…Now, I may be an idiot sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that I am stupid. I know my value and I fully intend to take advantage of it so we can live happy lives behind these walls. I’m not going to see us get separated ever again. Even if that means I have to go out and slay hordes of monsters or give them gallons of my blood to research!”
They seem surprised and stunned as I finish my little speech of a rant and it takes a bit for dad to find his words.
“If this is what you want to do… then I won’t argue. Just know that I’m not happy about it… We’ll be worried sick about you…” he says sadly.
“It’s not what I want to do. It’s what I have to do so we can all be together again.” I say with a sad smile. “And you don’t have to be happy or supportive about it. After all, I’m not happy that you are going to be working as a guard. I want you to be safe. Be a cook or something, I don’t know…”
A knock comes from the door and interrupts our discussion; I call for them to enter.
Private Lance enters the room and gives a small nod in greeting. “Ma’am, I am afraid that we are nearing curfew soon. Unless your family intends to stay the night, they will need to be heading back home shortly. Their escort will be arriving soon.”
“Thanks Lance.” I look around the room and consider how much space I have, “Hmm, you guys probably could stay the night… But I don’t really have the place prepared for guests yet, I’m still getting everything unpacked…”
Mom speaks up, “That’s alright sweetie. We can head back home for now; let you and Sky get used to your new place without your parents breathing down your back.” She turns to Private Lance, “We can come back, right?”
“Yes ma’am.” He says with a sharp nod, “Your family has unlimited visiting access, which includes access to this facility, the cafeteria, gym, pool, and to the park, while you are visiting Miss Dixon or Sky. You must simply come to the gate and request a visit.”
Soon enough, Sanders and Rookie show up. Giving my family a hug, I walk them out and they promise that they will be back to see me as often as they can. Sending them off, I am certain that I have given them lots to think about tonight.