"I CHALLENGE YOU TO SALVAGE!" 

Mr. Gabriel laughed while Kat rolled her eyes. 

"Check your fucking pokedex, twerp," the young woman hissed at the teenager. "You can't." 

No sooner had she said this that the youngster fumbled to pull out his pokedex and fiddle with the device's screen. Two seconds, and he let out a string of expletives that made you blink a bit in surprise before he motioned at the rather exasperated looking pokegirl to follow him as he rushed further down the road. 

"He would've lost his pokegirl anyway," Tomas rolled his eyes. 

You just rolled your eyes as you walked. 

Having a road was a heck of a lot better than going through some woods and wondering if you were going to survive or not. 

"I wonder when people will start to play with the salvage cooldown invulnerability," Kat whistled with a little chuckle. 

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's more people doing it," You shrugged.

A long quiet followed, with only the sound of steps as everyone kept heading down the road. The moment was peaceful, almost enjoyable. At least until you heard a whistling sound. Several heads turned upwards to watch Rachel floating down, wings spread, angling herself to fall onto Tomas' arms and wrapping her own around his shoulders. 

"Oh Master, it's time for lu~unch!" She proclaimed. 

Her words made the young man flinch. "Now?" Tomas had to ask, looking slightly exasperated. "We still got some hours to walk. Can't it wait?" 

"Well, I mean... I guess I could try to hold off." A pout. 

"You know you could keep her in her pokeball, she wouldn't go hungry," Kat pointed out. "You're already keeping Freya." 

"But feeding me costs nothing at all," Rachel pouted, her finger tracing the young man's chest. "If you're too tired... maybe I could ask someone else?" 

Why was she looking at you as she said this? 

"I can handle it," Tomas had proclaimed. "You guys walk ahead, ok?" 

"Sure," Came the chorus of responses. 

Not looking back, you heard the young man being dragged to the side of the road and behind the nearest bush. You glanced at Kat as she walked, her eyes sharp, her steps practically stomps, and her hands clenched into fists. It made you want to sigh as you just walked a little further ahead and put some extra distance. 

"Think we should stop for a lunch break?" 

"Fuck no," Kat hissed. 

"Ok then."

"Oh, you're eating already," Rachel's voice purred in your ear, and it made you jump. 

You'd not heard her approach; you'd not even felt her approach, and as you looked at her, floating right there, you realized she was currently floating. The Succubus smirked at your reaction, turning slightly and drifting to sit down on the grass, appearing greatly amused. 

"Where's Tomas?" You asked.

"On his way," she answered, looking at her hair before twirling it. 

"Why aren't you keeping him safe?" Kat hissed. 

"If there were ferals, I'd have felt their presence." The Succubus rolled her eyes before she looked over at you. "Why do you and the old man stick around these two? Are they kids from a friend of yours you owe a favour to or something?" 

The change of subject caught you slightly by surprise, your eyes narrowed. You knew that just flat out lying or blocking her question would not lead anywhere. "I was their teacher, we just happened to have a common destination." The statement was dry as you stopped eating the chunk of bread you'd been attacking. 

Rachel kept looking at you, no giggling bubbly happy fake smile but an expression of open curiosity. It didn't last, and she glanced over her shoulder just as you began to notice the panting noises. There was a certain young man running down the road in your direction. "Finally," Tomas groaned as he reached the group, pale, out of breath, collapsing onto the ground next to the group as you'd pulled out the food to eat. He was left gasping and groaning. 

You took a bite of the piece of bread, releasing Diane from the pokeball. The nurse took a moment to look around and confirm the situation before spotting the young man and moving to his side. A touch to his temple followed a touch to his chest, her hands glowing slightly. "Only exhaustion." 

"But nurse," Rachel pouted, tapping a finger against her lips. "He looks so pale, maybe he needs some rest?" 

"It's only exhaustion," Diane repeated, now looking less amused. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," the young man commented, heaving for air. 

"Then I'll make extra sure to give my good Master all the loving he needs," Rachel let out a giggle that almost sounded believable, a flap of her wings making her float and land on the young man's lap. She slowly wriggled her rump. 

Kat stood up abruptly. "I'm going ahead." 

You shared a look with Mr. Gabriel before he made a motion with his head. 

"Yeah, I'm going ahead, always stick in groups and all that," you said out loud. 

Diane was close behind as you gained some distance from Tomas' groans, again. You waited until you were well away before you glanced at your alpha. "Exhaustion?" 

"It's exactly precisely solely exhaustion, Master," she replied. "But it seems she's doing her best to completely wring him dry."

You breathed in, feeling the tension in your back. "How long until you could claim that me stepping in is an issue pertaining to the group's safety?" 

A pause as the nurse frowned a little. "Tonight." 

"Wait, what, so soon?" 

"Mister Tomas is in enough of a condition that if a feral were to attack, one could successfully argue he'd be entirely unable to react adequately to save his own life," she replied. "Though... Mr. Gabriel would still be the biggest risk... hm..." 

"We'll be in Cherry Grove tomorrow, he should get a chance to catch his breath, but if this keeps up by the time we start moving again, I'll bring up the matter." 

Your alpha nodded, keeping the pace as you reached the power-walking Kat and her huffy expression. "Slow down or you're going to leave your grandfather eating your dust." 

"Rick," she spoke before groaning, looking exasperated and nodding. "Yeah, sure, you're right." 

Quietly, you stood next to her, watching her working through a range of expressions before she glanced at Diane and then at you. 

"I've got a question." 

"Shoot." 

"I'm trying to get Coco and Liz to learn more words and to try and behave, it's not sticking very well." She made a face, though you were guessing all of this was just an attempt at distracting herself from the whole Tomas situation. "Coco just keeps harassing me whenever she can, and Liz doesn't stop her." 

"They are both feral born..." You muttered. "It seems you might need a helping hand." 

Diane nodded. "Yes, sir, having a domestic pokegirl to help lead the feral born ones is always best." 

"I guess that makes sense," Kat nodded slowly before her nose scrunched up. "Then again, we don't have the money for a new pokegirl, so maybe I'll have to consider the whole salvage thing..." 

"No need to rush this," came your reply. "We're currently a group, so if you need help, we can provide it." 

Kat grimaced. "Yeah, no, it's..." Her eyes glanced at Diane and then at you. "It feels weird." 

"Your choice." You just shrugged, watching Mr. Gabriel as he approached, with Tessa walking at his side.

Looking further back, Tomas was clearly still trying to handle the infernal pokegirl currently rubbing herself against him. 

"Let's just sit down and wait over here," you prompted, watching as a handful of people walked past your group and continued their way down the hill. 

"Ok, it's time for the salvage rounds," you declared as the group began settling for the night. "Kat, you'll be the one left vulnerable tonight." 

"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "Let's check the damn table."

"Ok, so... me first," you muttered, grabbing a pokeball from your belt as you raised the dex to scan Mr. Gabriel. "I challenge you to salvage for that feral titmouse, and I bet a pokegirl of equal value, a feral Doggirl." 

"I accept," he muttered with little energy. 

"And I surrender." You tossed the ball at him. "Now you do Tomas." 

He raised his dex, scanning Tomas. "I challenge you for that feral Doggirl you got, I bet my own feral Doggirl." "I accept." 

"I surrender." Mr. Gabriel tossed the pokeball. 

"I guess that leaves me with Kat." He glanced at her, holding the pokeball as he scanned her. "I challenge you to salvage for the boobisaur, in exchange, I bet this feral Doggirl." 

"I accept." 

"And I surrender." He tossed her the pokeball. 

"Everyone check your dexes?" You called out, glancing at your own. There was a twelve-hour timer under your name. "Confirmed."

"Confirmed," everyone replied. 

"Sucks to be me, I guess," Kat shrugged. "Cute feral Doggirl though." She tossed the pokeball once before clipping it onto her belt. 

"Well, that's done. How long until we reach the rest-stop?" 

"It's not too far, just around the bend," Diane piped up, then squirmed as you looked at her a little surprised. "We were sent to Cherry Grove once or twice a year to help them with the festivities, and a couple of times I'd convince the girl transporting us to let me ride her rather than stay stuck in the pokeball all day." 

That immediately made you grimace. "Sorry." 

"It's ok, Master, you need to keep me balled to save on food." 

A groan followed you. You really didn't like this whole 'it's to save food costs' thing. But whatever, you weren't going to keep them in their pokeballs during the night- too many people and too little desire to test your luck. 

It didn't take long to reach the rest-stop. The place was a piece of land that had been flattened: about two city blocks in size, it was surrounded by a series of metal pipes with a solar panel on top, that gave off a faint buzzing sound that was rather annoying if you got close to them. Pokegirls were patrolling the outer side of the perimeter. 

Within the area itself, you could count no less than twelve tents and a couple of tamers that were on the younger looking side just "roughing it out" with bundled sweaters and a pokegirl on either side. 

You had only one tent for the whole group, and tonight it'd be Kat's turn to use it since she was the one that was left "vulnerable" to salvage. 

"Let's just find a spot and go to sleep," you muttered. "We've got the guard rotations noted already." 

You'd been told repeatedly that the rest-stop was safe. It was closely monitored by more than just one or two of the people there and their pokegirls, but you definitely were not going to give up on making and keeping a habit of guard duty and a rotation. Last thing anyone needed was to end up back in the wilds without being used to it. 

Pulling Monica out of the pokeball, ignoring how some eyes (and pokedexes) aimed your way, you moved to one of the clear spots large enough to accommodate the group and immediately went to pull the backpack off of Monica's shoulders. Retrieving a towel and some balled up pieces of cloth, you laid down. The day had felt long and exhausting, and more than anything, it felt exhausting in not just the physical way. 

Your two pokegirls moved to cuddle against you on either side, Monica hugging you tightly, and Diane just looking at you with a little smile and kissing you.

The rough ground wasn't comfortable by any means, but you were too tired to really care.

You woke up to the sound of moaning. 

No, you woke up to someone poking you- the sound of moaning had been going on for hours now. 

Opening your eyes, you saw Tomas' face bathed in the low glow of the buzzing posts that surrounded the area. "Your turn," he commented. 

Nodding, you began to stir, only then realizing Monica wasn't there. 

"She said she smelled something weak going around," Diane yawned. 

"You didn't stop her?" 

"She said it wouldn't take long, promised," the Rapha spoke emphatically as you watched Tomas cuddling to Freya. 

Groaning and checking your dex, you confirmed it'd be a handful of hours until sunrise. With your alpha at your side, you moved closer to the perimeter and stretched, watching the pokegirls walking about. Some leaned against the trees quietly, while others spoke to one another in hushed whispers. As far as you could tell, the only tamers that were awake were the ones within the tents that had moaning noises going about. 

Bunch of horn-balls. 

"Your shoulders are stiff, Master." Diane's fingers caressed your back. "Would you want to sit down?" 

"...Sure," you sighed, sitting cross-legged on the ground, removing your shirt, and sighing in relief as her warm palms pressed against your skin. 

Slowly, her fingers kneaded against the muscles on your back, her touch moving gently, but the force of those fingers was digging and forcing those knots away one by one. "Does it feel good, Master?" 

"If I'd known you were this good, I'd have asked for more," you mumbled with closed eyes. The warmth was slowly spreading further and further into your body, suffusing into your core and spreading all over. 

"It would be my pleasure, Master," she whispered, leaning to kiss your shoulders as your arms began to slowly fall to the sides. 

And then, something twitched in the back of your mind and your eyes shot open. 

It was quiet.

The shrill scream that followed was Tessa, the mouse pokegirl clenching Gabriel and pulling at him as she was having a veritable panic attack. You couldn't see anything, nor hear anything, but the pokegirls all-around had shot awake and were moving, some taking to the air, others joining the ones in the perimeter. Within seconds there were several dozen flashes of red light and even more joined. 

"Below!" Someone shouted. 

The ground exploded right next to a tent not three meters away from you. You'd flinched, but Diane had placed herself between the explosion and you, arms wide as whatever piece of debris that might have gone your way had been blocked. The figure that came out of the hole was dark and wrapped in darkness, and it flung itself as soon as it had emerged. 

That was when something had come flying straight down and body-slammed the pokegirl into the dirt. A moan followed. 

"I've got her!" Someone called out, a familiar voice, followed by a louder moan. "I'm not feral!" Another voice shrieked. 

Your eyes widened as you saw the dust settle. The pokegirl in question was blushing, wriggling, moaning. Atop her, Rachel kept the other firmly pinned, the Succubus' hands glowing intensely as her target was entirely unable to break free. Whenever an attempt was made, her whole body would shudder and an orgasm would clearly ripple through her. 

"Not... feral!" She whined. 

"I'll believe that after someone gets his cock in you," Rachel purred. 

"Need... help... Master... attacked!" 

As she said this, you stood, moving closer. "Let her speak, Rachel." 

The Succubus appeared slightly surprised to see you there. She looked at you, the cogs in her head moving, before she clenched her hands more tightly on the pokegirl underneath her. "Are you going to make me?" 

"No," you answered. "I'm asking you to." 

A heartbeat. The glow of her hands began to die down, though she didn't let go of the pokegirl in question, waiting for her to recover her breath. 

"I'm... not feral," she repeated, groaning. "My Master is down there, he needs help," she added. "Let me go already, I'm not struggling."

Rachel waited before slowly letting go. 

"Whew, damn."

Panting, the pokegirl laid on her back before moving to sit up, looking annoyed. "Damn demonic bitch." 

"It was either her method or a set of claws through your gut," you spoke darkly, making the reptilian pokegirl wince. "What happened? Speak up," you commanded firmly and flatly. 

"Exploring caves, there was a cave-in, my Master is hurt, I can't move him because it might make things worse. I could sense people in this direction," she hastily spoke. "He really needs help, he's lost a lot of blood." 

Nodding, you stood, looking at the pokegirls around you. "Anyone here have any knowledge in how to handle medical cases?" There was a pause before several hands were raised. "Anyone with experience in caves?" Over half of them lowered, you turned to the new girl. "What's your name." 

"Ana." 

"Ana, great." You then turned to the ones who'd been left with their hands up. "Go ask your tamers for permission to help, then come back. Ana will guide you. Anyone with underground combat experience would be appreciated, in case there might be something else down there." 

Things began to move, and you felt yourself sigh and relax again, glancing at Diane. "Find Monica, ask for help if you have to." 

"But your safety..." 

"Rachel's here," you made a gesture with your head. "Now go." 

Diane hesitated, looking at you, then at the Succubus, and then meeting your eyes again. 

Pausing, you reached out to grab her shoulders, pulling her closer as your hands went to grab her own. "Diane, did you give permission for Monica to leave while I was asleep?" 

That made her freeze, and her eyes widened. "No, Master, I told her to stay and-"

"Then you can understand that, right now, I am very much angry about what Monica did," you spoke slowly, looking into her eyes. "Find her, and if you can't, come back right away. No wandering in the woods alone." 

"Yes Master!" She quickly nodded before hurrying to move towards the others. You guessed she was going to ask help from Freya, maybe even Kat. 

"She was worried I'd hurt you, you know," Rachel spoke with a surprisingly plain tone as she stood close to you. "I could do it, you don't have that cat to protect you this time." 

"You haven't hurt me to date, Rachel. I don't think you have much of a reason to break that record either." 

"And why's that?" 

"Nothing to gain," you shrugged your shoulders with little pause. 

"Maybe I'm a vengeful bitch who hasn't forgotten the things you said back in that restaurant." A quirk of the brow. "Here I thought you were a Succubus of your word." 

"What?" 

"Blank slate," you replied. "Remember? We shook on it." 

That startled her, and she shook her head. "Why would you think I'd keep my word about anything?" Good question. 

You weren't sure. 

Your brow furrowed as you scratched your chin. "I don't really know, I just figured you would since you don't trust anyone." 

"What?" 

"You joined Tomas by a deal, that will end once he gets you to someplace." 

"Kasul." 

"Whatever," you rolled your eyes. "You said the happy bubbly act was to fool others, but you keep using it on him even when the only ones present are the ones who know the deal you'd made. I figured it just meant you don't trust him." 

"Of course I d-" she froze just as her mouth opened, her lips clamped shut. "Of course I trust him."

"Sure," you replied without much care and a roll of your eyes. "It just looks to me that, if you can only trust yourself, then keeping your word is what makes the most sense." 

Rachel didn't have an answer to that. 

You walked towards your stuff, leaving the infernal and checking up on the others. Tomas had indeed lent Freya to help Diane look for the missing cat. Mr. Gabriel was busy helping Tessa calm down. And Kat... had not even set foot out of her tent. Was she still asleep? Didn't matter. 

Your eyes glanced at the hole and the tamers coordinating to send several pokegirls down  it, Ana urging haste, but some of the more experienced looking ones clearly not budging an inch. Good for them. 

Your mind was on Monica. 

You weren't going to like what you'd have to do once she got back. 

Somehow, you felt even more tired. 

And the wait would feel like an eternity. 

Question: How do you handle a pokegirl who is also your lover who is also your slave, who nearly accidentally killed you less than a month ago, and who has now opted to ignore your second in command merely because she wanted to amuse herself? 

It burned inside your chest and head as you stood before the two pokegirls. 

Diane looked pale, meek, even slightly panicked. She knelt and her head was bowed as her shoulders hunched. Next to her, Monica knelt as well, the feline looking confused and wary as she met your eyes. Both of them could kill you. 

Both of them could leave you to die at the least convenient moment for you. 

That little reptilian part of your brain told you that you should punish them, Monica for leaving, Diane for not telling you. You could practically read on the nurse's face that this was exactly what she was thinking about right now, that she was going to be punished too. But she didn't know you, and she didn't know how you'd act angry as you were right now. 

You were quiet, and thank fuck the rest of the camp was quiet now. Most people had opted to sleep what few hours were left until the morning once the buried tamer had been brought out safe and stable.

You hadn't cared. 

Two hours, two hours pacing and waiting. 

Waiting for Diane and Monica. 

And here they were now. 

"Rick?" 

Monica's ears were flat as she looked at you, wide-eyed and hesitant; her hand reached out to you but was stopped by Diane, who was just one harsh breath from being panicked. It was clear the feline could sense your anger and her fear, and she didn't know what to do. 

Yeah, well, neither did you. 

Eight years teaching rebellions teenagers and brats... Positive reinforcement? Physical punishment? You'd been taught of these, and yet it all felt useless here. How did you handle a relationship where they were your lovers but also your property? You wanted to curse under your breath, and you felt like you needed a smoke. 

You didn't even have the proper shared vocabulary to explain to her why you were like this. 

The fact that you could sense many people gazing at you didn't help. The pokegirls, all of them, the guards, and those just lazing about. They were like eyes boring into you, judging you quietly. Your hands clenched and relaxed as you stood still, stoic, thinking. What was the best way to approach this? What could you do to handle it? To make sure they learnt the lesson and regretted their actions? How much was too much? How much too little? Would going soft be taken as being weak? Kind? Dumb? 

Fuck. 

"Monica." You closed your eyes, think, think through the words she knew. "Bad." 

She blinked, now confused. "Monica no bad." 

Well, here goes nothing. "Monica no here," you said, pointing to the ground, then at the forest. "Monica hunt, no order, no obey Diane, Monica bad." 

That startled her, she frowned. "Monica hungry, Monica hunt, Monica good." 

"Bite here," you pointed at the backpack. 

"Bite here bad," she replied, sticking her tongue out.

Your jaw tightened- no, calm down. "New word," you said, breathing in. "Safe." You reached down her hand, waiting a moment for her to realize you needed her limb as a prop before grasping at it and placing her hand around your wrist. "Safe," you said, then, you grabbed her finger, the nail, and dragged it against your skin, wincing as it drew blood. "No safe." 

As you'd done this, the instant you'd let go of her hand, Monica had yanked it away, looking at the wound, leaning down, her tongue lapping at it in concern. Dammit, you pulled the hand away, pointing it to Diane, the nurse not needing prompting to heal it. You just sighed, looking at Monica. 

"Monica no here, Rick no safe, Monica bad," you said now. 

The feline opened her mouth, closed it, and now looked equal parts hurt and angry. "Rick safe." She pointed at Diane, she pointed at the tents, she pointed at the guards. "Rick safe, Rick Safe, Monica no Rick no safe." She'd risen to her feet, now looking at you with curled lips and watery eyes. "Monica no bad." 

Shit. 

Shit shit shit. 

Of course Monica was smarter than she let on, of course she'd felt you were safe when she left. Now what? Play the Master card and pretend you didn't believe you were safe? You almost began pacing. 

"Rick safe, Monica no bad," she repeated, emphatically. 

You took a very deep breath, holding it in, letting it out slowly. Were you really looking at the prospect of stubbornly avoiding admitting at least part of your argument had been badly put together? A deep sigh as your shoulders tensed. 

Fine. 

With a very deep breath, you plopped yourself down on the floor, crossing your legs. "Rick safe, Monica no bad." A moment of hesitation. "Sorry." As you said this, you raised your hand before she could fully react or say anything. "Monica no obey Diane, Monica bad." 

And then that nod froze, the frown now deep. "Monica hungry." 

"Diane order, Monica no obey," you replied. 

The look shifted into something that appeared defeated, and her ears dropped, her shoulders shrinking a little. She looked at Diane before looking at you. The feline opened her mouth but said nothing, closing it soon after. She grumbled, crossing her arms in dejection. "Monica no sorry." 

"Monica no obey, Monica bad," you told her again, your finger a warning. "Bad Monica no kiss."

That looked as if it physically hurt her, and she flinched. "Sex?" 

"Yes sex, no kiss." 

Now she appeared dejected but only slightly, taking a deep sigh before she pouted. "Monica sorry." 

It... felt like this didn't really tackle the issue, but at the same time it was pretty much as far as you could hope to achieve in this situation. You really needed to keep pushing the feline's vocabulary. This time you sighed, feeling the tension run out of your entire spine. You wanted to collapse now. 

"Hug?" Monica asked. 

You nodded. 

You needn't wait a second more as she wrapped you into her arms. 

"You too, Diane," you called out, letting out an 'oof' upon the nurse's addition to the pile. 

Both of them were in your embrace now, Diane looking to be the more teary one of the two even if she didn't say anything at all. They managed to topple you onto your back, their faces buried against your chest. s you laid there trying to figure out how to avoid these sorts of misunderstandings in the future, you couldn't help but notice that of all the eyes that were looking at you, one set looked more serious than anything else, analytically cold. 

Whatever Rachel was thinking, you couldn't guess, but your focus shifted entirely when Monica had begun to move her hands down to your pants. 

"Oh no you don't," you proclaimed, earning giggles from Diane as she began to help the feline.

Entry of the day: Tessa.

ravnicrasol

Cute factoid here (besides the fact that this whole chapter is another "new" one), but the players in the quest built that salvage challenge table as a way to skirt around the salvage battle rules I'd put down. Curse them.

Also, don't forget, Tessa MVP (that mouse needs some camomille tea, seriously).

Ah, looking forward to the AmA, depending on how things turn out I might do more of them.

PS: thanks to 514X0r, drazogon, and sharoncorsola, for helping me proofread this chapter!