Lone Adventurer

Her mistress took the food with an acknowledging nod, and Kronus was happy at her attentions. Giving her face a loving lick. Kira finished her food and set the plate down, having left a good bit of cooked meat for her slave.

"Gaia. You should eat too." She said gesturing to the plate now resting on the plate.

While that was being done she started donning her furs, not her armour yet, but now her loincloth and bra were on.

"Yes Mistress" she said softly as she was told to eat. She settled in her knees near the plate. Her mistress began getting dressed, distracting Gaia from eating and she stood to move to help her in getting dressed quietly.

Gaia saw her mistresses brush and went to grab it to help brush her hair without saying a word.

Her mistress hadn't expected her to help her get dressed and ready for the day, but nonetheless she was glad to have a slave who was dutiful and showed initiative. She was indeed onyx well spent.

"Thank you Gaia. Now eat, we both have a long day ahead of us and I can't have you at less than your best because you didn't have breakfast."

She smiled brightly and knelt again near the meat to eat quietly. As she ate she got bold and asked... " does mistress eat much berries and vegetation, I did not see any that I could prepare for you." She said softly as she nibbled on the meat quietly, savoring it with a smile as she watched her mistress. When she finished she stood, waiting for further instructions from her... though her attention span faltered and within a few minutes she wandered back to the tiger and nuzzled him again playfully.

"not often no." She said, observing her slave as she ate on all fours like all slaves did. "maybe you can collect some while we're out "

Her tiger was evidently happy to have a friend. And returned the playfulness in kind. Her mistress advised, "do be careful, if he starts to get too rough he could hurt you."

She giggled softly as a heavy paw thundering against her leg, nearly making her fall over. Even in her feline form this thundering beast was squash her with one swipe and she nodded.

"Yes Mistress " she said softly as she teasingly poked his tongue as he yawned. She ducked under his arm, cuddling against his massive chest gently.

"I will gather some fruits and such while we are out.... where are we going?!" She asked inquisitively as she slipped from the tigers grasp and skittered to her Mistress excited to go on an adventure.

<How you liking the extreme difference between my characters. Lol>

"The Cha'ak has asked me and a few others to retrieve something. You don't need to know the details. But we'll be gone a while, so I figured it best to bring what I own that's worth anything." She explained as she gathered a few other things. A simple leather bag for utensils and plates, a quiver of arrows and the accompanying bow. Along with her sword and an array of knives. All of these shaped from bone.

She donned her armour and pantherskin cloak, then strapped on her weapons. She then showed Gaia how to put the armour on the tiger.

(It's interesting. Her almost petlike behaviour is pretty adorable.)

Gaia put the armor on quietly as her mistress showed her how to. She nodded at the idea of being valued, smiling faintly as she turned a little this way and that to get a feel for the armor.

"I enjoy adventures" she said softly as she turned her blue eyes back to her mistress as she smiled.

"I hope so. Tell me, have you ever had to fight before?" She asked. "Where we're going isn't exactly friendly."

She grabbed also a long length of leather, which could only be a leash. And some extra leather for crafting or something.

Gaia shook her head slightly. "I play sparred with the children but never for real mistress, not in this form. I fought animals in my other forms but this form isn't really built for fighting."

She tilted her head at the leash, having not been leashed in many years. She didn't react however, not worried about it. She reached out to pet Kronus idly as she waited.

"Form?" She asked curiously.

She checked the armour straps on her tiger, making sure that they were tightened or loosened as necessary. Not many mistakes were made but they were optimised.

She smiled faintly "I am a shapeshifter Mistress" she said softly as she lightly touched the tiger. She knew how to saddle horses, she knew how to set horses and cattle for working or riding but she'd never saddled or armored a feline.

She glanced at the steel collar that Gaia wore. "That explains why they got such an expensive collar."

She approached Gaia and removed her collar. "Show me."

As the collar had held her magic from allowing her to shift, she hadn't held the faint line of control that was needed to keep her in human form, so when the collar was removed she shifted instantly into her pure snow leopard form, which was fine as her mistress had wanted her to shift.

Her please skin exploded into silvery fur and she seemed to drop to the ground, though she really just landed on her paws. Steely blue grey eyes looked up to her as her long tail lashing from side to side. After she'd gathered her senses enough she shifted to her anthro form, in which she could speak still through normal means.

"These are my forms..." she said softly, the sound escaping as a whisp of a purr.

Her mistress watched with great interest as Gaia shifted from human, to snow leopard to earthborn (IC word for anthro form). It was most intriguing. She hmmed, it didn't appear that her neck changed its thickness very much from form to form so a collar was still useful and she could shift while wearing one.

So she set about working, cutting leather into a strip, drilling holes into it and using a claw as it's fastener. "Probably very useful. So we'll sell the metal collar. And until I have time to sit down and make you a quality collar, you'll wear this."

Gaia let her mess with the collar, putting a new leather one around her throat. She smiled softly and nodded as her mistress advised she would wear this one, and they'd sell the other.

"Yes mistress..." she said softly "something about that metal collar stopped my shifting, a normal collar does not, so thank you... though... when I shift from human to either other forms, my clothes can be destroyed... especially from human to earthborn as this form is larger...."

Her tail lashed as she looked to her mistress. "Should I shift back human?" She asked lightly

"you don't need to worry about clothes, you won't be wearing any." She said simply. "And I don't much care what you shift to, earthborn, human or animal."

She grabbed a few other things before bringing her tiger out and mounting him. "It might be best if you go as an animal, you'll keep up more easily.

She nodded softly, shifting back to her feline form. She was far smaller than the tiger, almost looking like a cub in comparison. She walked up to him and bumped her head along the underside of his massive head as she purred slightly.

She followed them as they headed out of her home, her long tail lashed from side to side as they walked. Her short rounded ears twisted this was and that as she looked around through her steely blue eyes.

Her affection to the tiger made him curious. He put his nose between her legs and under her tail, sniffing at her womanly bits. She might just have found herself a mate.

So they joined a group of twenty others, some were slaves, all of them were women, and they were off, with a man in the same bone armour and clad in a Tigerskin cloak lead the way. They were off on an adventure.

The day was fairly uneventful, nothing really happening until dark. When they set up camp, with Kronus the tiger showing particular interest in Gaia. But her mistress had her start cooking after the group took down a rather large beast. She was to cook for everyone.

She let Kronus sniff her without fight, purring slightly before they headed off. They hunted for dinner, but outside of that there was not much of interest that happened. She ran alongside the group, easily keeping up with them all, though on occasion she weaved a little off the path to look at things though she always bound back to the group quickly.

When they stopped she shifted to her human form after another inspection of her by Kronus which got the large tiger a lick on the nose. She began cooking quietly after their kill was butchered... finding some things she could use as spices and such as she cooked the meat. It took many sessions to cook enough to feed the entire group, as the meat cooked, she took large chunks to groups placed in leaves to keep them warm and keep the meats juices inside, of course feeding her mistress first.

She was not the only one cooking luckily, all the other four slaves pitched in and helped the cooking go much quicker, and allowing more to be fed at once, then they themselves were allowed to eat. Their meat put on some of the plates that the group had brought with them and they are off the ground.

Kronus recoiled in surprise at the lick, and returned it with one of his own. Then went to go lay down near the edge of the camp, always watchful.

She was happy the others joined her in cooking and before long everyone was fed and she, and the other cooks were allowed to eat. Gaia moved to sit by her mistress as she ate slowly, her eyes wandering around everyone curiously, stopping on the man, the other apparent leader of this excursion, curiously.

Being in human form and fully nude was slightly chiling and she shivered slightly. Once everyone was done eating she helped clean up before looking to her Mistressbfor further instruction

"Rest well." She advised. "We have another long day of travel ahead of us. At least you aren't one of those who are 'entertaining' their owners. I have little taste for my fellow women."

Kronus was happy to snuggle up with her if she were willing. But tonight was done. And the following day was basically just the same, the third however brought action. They were traveling ong a mountain pass, and she and her mistress were at the rear when an avalanche split them from the group. They'd have to go around the mountain, alone.

Gaia shifted back to her feline form and cuddled with Kronus at night when she could. In her feline form she was very well equipped for the cold, so she did not need his warmth, but she enjoyed resting with the other feline. She slept on and off, awoken often by the sounds of "entertainment" and caught herself watching a time or two curiously. Where she'd grown up these activities were kept private so she was unfamiliar and curious, though she knew plenty about breeding animals as she did help a bit when needed by her previous owners.

The 3rd day, when the avalanche separated them from the group she looked to her mistress for Guidance. She felt tension, nervous being on the road just her, Kronus and her Mistress.... she remained alert and protective as they took the road around the mountain, alone.

Her mistress was a little less than happy about having to take a detour but didn't sound terribly worried, more annoyed than anything. But that detour added seven days to their journey, perfect.

The first two were fairly uneventful, Kronus was, again, getting familiar with Gaia's body in all her forms and Kira hunted them some food. But the third night they were woken by what could only be drums, joined later by some sort of chanting.