Young Writers Society

Lupita peaked over the small bush she was hiding behind, looking for a flicker of movement.

There! She could just make out the shape of her friend Nara as she made her way through the jungle foliage. It was a few hours before midnight, and she had been tracking the panther girl since she set out on her hunt at sunset.

Why?

She had asked herself the same question more than once on this journey. The answer was always the same. She was worried about Nara.

The two of them had been friends their whole lives. Growing up in the same village and learning how to hunt and track together. The fact that Nara was a panther girl and Lupita was a wolf girl never kept them apart. Sometimes though, she wished she had the panther girl’s short black fur instead of her fluffy grey coat. Her tail alone seemed to be as wide as she was when it was hot and dry. Nara had always said she had pretty ice blue eyes but the near golden yellow ones she had were just plain beautiful. Nara always tried to make her feel better when she was down, and she loved her for it.

They both loved to compete, and Nara had always won their hunting and fighting contests. That only made it all the more obvious that something was wrong. A few months ago, Lupita had noticed that Nara was taking a long time on her hunts. Often two or three days and coming home with much less prey than was expected after such a long hunt.

Some of the more tactless males had even made disparaging comments about her hunting ability but she just shrugged them off. That was what had caught Lupita’s attention. Nara was a proud hunter and Lupita knew her well enough to be confused as to why she didn’t rush out to prove them wrong. The only thing she could think of was that Nara was satisfied with how much prey she had collected, which meant that either she had eaten the rest of the prey she caught (unlikely), or she only hunted for less than half the time she was away from the village.

So, what was she doing for the rest of that time?

It had been a few years since Nara came of age to mate and had matured a lot. She was easily one of, if not the most beautiful panther girl in the whole village, yet she still hadn’t even tried mating with anyone. Lupita knew that there were other villages in the jungle with attractive males and it could be disastrous if she was mating with one of them. If their villages ever fought against each other Nara could be expelled or even killed. Lupita knew that Nara was aware of this, but that wouldn’t stop her. She was soft hearted, determined and believed she could do anything. In her eyes rules only mattered if you got caught, and Lupita planned to catch her before someone else did.

There were two half moons tonight and their light shone through the trees ahead. There seemed to be some kind of clearing. Lupita watched as Nara boldly walked out into the moonlight. She certainly wasn’t hunting if she cared so little about revealing herself. Lupita crept closer and began to make out a small lake on one side of the clearing, but Nara wasn’t going to get a drink. She instead walked towards a large tree near the lake shore. The tree seemed strange like it had been twisted and crafted on purpose.

Lupita reached the edge of the clearing and peaked out from behind a tree. Nara was had almost reached the tree’s base when Lupita’s ears twitched. She had heard something. A strange deep flapping sound. Nara turned and looked up. Lupita turned to follow her gaze when suddenly a massive creature with large black wings and scales landed right in front of Nara. Lupita was shocked for a moment. She had never seen anything like this creature before, and it was after Nara!

She was about to rush out to help her friend fight off this monster but the look on Nara’s face stopped her. She wasn’t scared or angry. She had a big smile on her face and greeted the creature though Lupita couldn’t quit hear what she said. She strained her ears as the creature smiled and responded. She couldn’t make out much of what it said but she did catch the last few words.

“…you too my pet.”

Now she was sure something was wrong. Nara was a fierce warrior and proud of it. She would never let anyone call her their pet.

She had to get her friend away from this creature. She peaked out again and saw the creature whispering something to her. She looked confused for a moment and whispered something back to the creature. It smiled deviously and looked directly at Lupita.

“Well, if you didn’t bring her along with you, she’s fair game for me.” It said as it crouched and sprang towards her hiding spot.

Lupita had no idea how the creature knew she was there, but she had to get away. The dense jungle trees and plants would make it hard for such a large creature to follow her. She took off as fast as she could. As she ran she heard the creature’s voice behind her.

“Just wait inside for a while. I plan to enjoy this, but it shouldn’t take too long.”

Ha! That’s what you think! Lupita thought as she raced through the jungle as only a wolf girl could.

After about ten minute she was certain the creature was far behind her and stopped to rest. She was exhausted and a little lost. She had to go get help from the village. There was no way she could rescue Nara from that creature on her own.

After taking a minute to catch her breath she stood and looked around to get her sense of direction. That’s when she noticed a small light that could have been a star, yet it seemed too low for that.

And too pretty.

Lupita didn’t know why she’d thought that. Just then the light changed colors from purple to pink to blue and back to purple as if to remind her why. She suddenly realised that she had started walking towards the light, but that didn’t really matter. She was looking for a direction to go in anyway. The light was slowly getting brighter, and the colors were nice. She was beginning to breath deeply and evenly. That was good. After a long run it was nice to rest for a bit. She hadn’t noticed until now that the light was swaying back and forth.

Back and forth.

That’s it. The colors are so pretty, so soothing. They will lead you to a safe place. Follow the colors back and forth. So warm and relaxing.

The soft whispers in her ears sounded so gentle, so soothing, so right. So soft they were easily mistaken for her own thoughts, which were getting hazier by the moment. She felt as if she was being wrapped in a warm comforting blanket.

Lupita smiled a bit as her eyelids drooped and her arms hung limp at her sides.

So soothing and warm. Wrapping your mind like a blanket. Smothering all those troublesome thoughts. Filling your furry little head with happiness and safety. Let everything else fade away as the colors wash over your mind. Freeing you from all your thoughts and worries. You don’t need them anymore.

Lupita gave a little nod as her fears and worries along with her thoughts, were washed away by happy relaxation. Her smile widening into a dopy grin. She had just about reached the light. It suddenly moved around her head. Lupita’s eyes following it as if pulled by a string.

“Good little wolf cub. Just keep those eyes on the pretty light. Eyes wide open for me now,” Nightshade commanded in a soft gentle voice as the tip of her tail touched Lupita’s forehead.

Her eyes widened and she went a bit cross eyed as she tried to keep looking at it. Her smile widening further as her mind teetered on the precipice of oblivion.

“This was fun little wolf girl. Sadly, I can’t play with you out here any longer. I promised my pet that I’d be home soon. You’re welcome to join us though. All you have to do is give me a nice… big… smile.” Nightshade said encouragingly as she tickled the wolf girl’s belly, causing her to laugh and breaking the last of her resistance.

Lupita stiffened, her fur standing on end, before collapsing into Nightshade’s waiting arms with a blissful sigh. Nightshade chuckled to herself and gently carried Lupita back to her home.

Nara was waiting in the doorway when Nightshade returned. She took one look at Lupita and gasped.

“I guess you do know her after all then?” Nightshade asked handing the girl’s sleeping form over to her.

“Yes. This is my friend Lupita. Though I have no idea why she would follow me.” Nara replied gently laying her friend on the floor.

“Would you like to find out?” Nightshade asked in a playfully evil voice sending a few rings through her eyes.

“No way. I told you that you don’t make people tell you things they don’t want to. I’ll just ask her when she wakes up,” Nara said, looking down at her peacefully sleeping face.

“Well, after all that work capturing her I’m tired.” Nightshade sighed, laying down and closing her eyes.

“Wait Nightshade before you do could you…” Nara trailed off as she saw Nightshade peaking at her with one eye. Nightshade chuckled.

“Fear not my wonderful pet. I’ll be sure to have some fun with you before I go to sleep.”

Nara pouted. She hated being fooled, but her eyes were quickly drawn back to her friend as Nightshade let her forget everything for a while and simply rest in a world of spirals and happy relaxed bliss.

Lupita groaned. Her mind slowly dredging itself up from the deep sleep she had fallen into. Her head felt a bit fuzzy and when she went to bring her hand up to rub her temples, she found that she couldn’t. She was wrapped in something warm and tight. She struggled a bit as she opened her heavy eyelids and blinked to clear the blurriness. It was still dark out and moonlight was shining in from somewhere behind her. She didn’t recognise the room she was in. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust and her mind to shake off the fog of sleep.

Then she noticed a pair of eyes in the dark. They were a bright violet purple and quite captivating. Then she saw who the eyes belonged to.

“Ah! What the heck?” Lupita cried as she struggled to move, now seeing that she was wrapped in this creature’s tail. How had it caught her? The last thing she remembered was seeing a strange light and walking towards it. Was that a trap?

So many questions ran through Lupita’s head as she struggled in vain to remove the creature’s tail. Eventually she gave up and slumped in defeat.

“Are you done struggling now?” A smooth feminine voice asked. Lupita jerked in surprise. She had forgotten this creature could talk.

“I, um… yes. I guess so.” She replied nervously. The creature smiled.

“Good. Now how about I introduce myself. My name is Nightshade and I’m a kind of dragon known as a tree wing. It’s so nice to meet you… Lupita,” she said in a friendly yet sly voice.

“How do you know my name?” Lupita asked nervously.

“Your friend told me.” Nightshade gestured to Nara who was curled up asleep nearby.

“Nara! Wake up! This creature is going to eat us!”

Nightshade chuckled as Nara continued to breath deeply and evenly.

“What have you done to my friend!” Lupita growled as she struggled against the coils holding her.

“Don’t worry. She’s simply deeply asleep. I haven’t hurt her in the slightest. I also promised I wouldn’t eat her either. You on the other talon…” Nightshade said in a thoughtful voice.

Lupita stopped struggling and Nightshade laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry little wolf I have no intentions of eating you either. Maybe playing with you for a bit…” She said, petting the top of Lupita’s head with the tip of her tail. “But not eating. You girls are far too adorable for that.”

Lupita breathed out a sigh of relief. Then she remembered why she came in the first place.

“So, it’s your fault then.” She said accusingly.

“What is my fault?”

“You’re the reason Nara has been hunting so poorly and not taking a mate despite being the most beautiful panther girl I’ve ever known.” Lupita growled. Nightshade rubbed her chin.

“Hmmm. The first part is my fault yes but the second? Well… probably. Though I must say it was unintentional on my part.”

“What do you mean unintentional? You’re saying you didn’t mean to mate with her?!” Lupita asked shaking with anger. Nightshade’s eyebrows raised as a smile of realisation came over her.

“No, no little wolf. I never mated with her. Not in the way a male would anyway. No. I simply made her feel even better than mating ever could that’s all.”

Now Lupita was confused. She had never mated before, but all the other girls said it was the best feeling in the whole jungle. How could this creature do something better than that?

“What did you do?” Lupita asked nervously. Nightshade smiled and leaned in closer.

“Why don’t I show you?” Nightshade asked slyly as her eyes began to spiral. Lupita didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that Nightshade was about to do something to her. She closed her eyes after the first few rings and kept them closed.

“I don’t know what you’re doing but I won’t let you trick me that easily.” Lupita said defiantly.

“Don’t worry Lupita I am not trying to trick you. I simply want to show you the reason why Nara keeps coming back to see me. You can too if you want. But since you seem so nervous, how about a little wager? If you win, I won’t try to stop you from leaving. You can even take Nara back to your village with you if you want. All you have to do is look deeply into my eyes for nine seconds. Then you can do whatever you want. But, if you can’t look away after nine seconds, you will be my pet.”

Lupita knew it was a bad idea. She knew this Nightshade person was probably lying and wouldn’t let them go even if she agreed, but she didn’t have much choice.

“I’ll even help you count down if you want.” Nightshade suggested but Lupita wasn’t about to agree to that.

“No. I’ll do it myself.”

“Well then. Simply open your eyes and start counting.” Nightshade said with a sly chuckle. Lupita opened her eyes and immediately her whole view was filled with Nightshade’s spirals.

“Nine…” Lupita recognised these colors from somewhere. The way they made her feel…

“Eight…” Was so familiar. Like coming home.

“Seven…” Yet so much better.

“Six…” The deeper she looked…

“Five…” The better she felt.

“Four…” She could just get lost in them. “Th-three…”

Let them wash away all her worries and thoughts.

“T-two…” Just relax into the spirals. The pretty colors washing everything away.

“Ooooone.”

There. She had finished counting. Now she could relax…

But she needed to get away right? Something told her she had to go somewhere. Do something. She tried to look away, but it was just too difficult. The spirals pulled her in deeper and deeper. It felt so good. What was she thinking about? It didn’t matter anymore. The spirals were making her feel good and that was all that mattered. Nightshade felt Lupita fully give in as her new pet sighed in pleasure.

“Now you know why your friend loves to come here. It just feels so good right?” Nightshade asked while petting Lupita’s head.

“Yessss.” Lupita sighed as she snuggled into Nightshade’s talon with a wide smile on her face.

“Good. Now I want you to wake up slowly and gently whenever you want. No need to hurry. Your body will tell you when it’s time to wake up.”

Lupita nodded and simply relaxed into Nightshade’s tail as she moved it to stroke her fur. It was completely different from Nara’s. So fluffy and thick, whereas Nara’s was short and velvety.

Nightshade sighed. She wanted to keep her here as a pet forever, but she knew it would make Nara upset and she hated it when she was all pouty like that. Speaking of Nara, it was about time she played with her some more. She only put her to sleep so she could have some alone time with Lupita anyways.

About an hour later Lupita began to wake. Nightshade had set her down in one corner of the room on a makeshift bed she’d made and was currently taking Nara deeper into trance as she pet her fur.

Lupita blinked her eyes. The spirals slowly fading as she got to her feet. She swayed a bit as her mind was still sparking with small rushes of euphoria and bliss, but her desire to protect her friend was strong. She stumbled towards them. Nightshade heard her wake and asked Nara to close her eyes for a moment. She blinked the spirals out of her own eyes and turned to Lupita with a slight chuckle. Lupita tried to growl menacingly but stumbled a bit.

“You will not touch my friend anymore. I… I won’t let you. You…” Lupita stumbled, and Nightshade quickly wrapped her up with her tail. Pinning her arms to her sides.

“I don’t think you understand your situation little wolf girl. I could hold you here as long as I want. I could even put you back under my control if I desired.” She said calmly as a few spirals flashed through her eyes. Lupita’s eyes reflected them, but she didn’t fall completely under.

“Just so you know PET I am graciously allowing you to leave and even take Nara with you if you want. You really should be thanking me. After all, I caught you, proving I am the superior predator and now have the right to you as my prey. Do you think any other predator would give you that free experience of bliss and just let you go? And that’s not even mentioning our little wager earlier.”

Lupita growled softly but stopped resisting.

“What do you want?”

Nightshade smiled.

“Just for you to come visit me again every once in a while, and to tell no one about me alright?”

Lupita nodded and Nightshade released her.

“You can go now if you want. Just make sure to take care of Nara on the way back.”

Lupita nodded quickly and hurriedly stumbled over to her friend who stood by the doorway with a big smile on her face.

“Come on Nara we have to go. Wake up!” She called, clapping her friend’s cheeks.

Nara’s eyes opened but they were still full of spirals going strong.

“Wh-what? Nara. Your eyessss. Whatssss with yourrrr eyesssss? Ohhhhh. Ohhhhh nooooo.”

Lupita’s voice slurred as her mind slowed. A few rings reappearing in her eyes.

Nightshade watched with fascination as Lupita’s jaw went slack and she stared deeply into the eyes of her friend. She tried to resist for a few more seconds before her arms dropped to her sides, and a few seconds after that her mind fell gently back into trance. She stood up strait with a big smile and stayed standing the same as Nara.

Nightshade laughed out loud.

She had never seen THAT happen before. Now she’d have to wake them both before sending them on their way.

Yet it would be a waste to simply wake them after Lupita had gone to the trouble of re-hypnotising herself. Now she could have some fun with both of them at the same time.

Nara and Lupita didn’t object in the slightest.

So here they were a few hours later walking back to their village. Limbs sore from squeezing and fur matted from being pet so much.

They had walked silently for the first half an hour just the two of them. Nara was fine but she didn’t know what to say to Lupita, so she kept silent. Lupita was still very confused about the whole thing and had just finished sorting everything out in her head when she softly placed a hand on Nara’s shoulder.

“I… I’m sorry for following you like that. I should have just asked you what was going on,” She said somberly looking at the ground. Nara stopped with a sigh and turned to her friend.

“Yes, you should have, you silly wolf. But at least now you know and maybe… you understand?” She asked hopefully.

Lupita raised her head as Nara questioned her with her eyes.

“Yes, I do. Though I wish I didn’t understand quite this well. That tree wing, dragon creature is amazing. When she took my mind… it didn’t hurt one bit. No. It felt amazing in fact. Even now I wish I could feel like that again. But at the same time, I hate it.” Lupita said in frustration. Nara laughed.

“I felt the same way. I was terrified by the idea that she could make me do whatever she wanted, and I could do nothing to stop her. That is why she is careful to never make me do something I don’t want to while I’m under her control. I mean, there are some things she does that would be far too embarrassing for me normally but there’s no real harm in it.”

“But how can you let her just control you like that? And she calls you her pet! Doesn’t that make you mad?”

Nara rubbed her chin. “Well, she’s just always referred to me that way and she doesn’t actually treat me like I’m less than her. We care for each other and treat each other like equals. Besides, just like you she hunted and caught me. If anyone has earned the right to call me their pet it’s her. All I care about is that she and I have fun together and she can help me forget all my worries for a while.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about. I don’t want to forget my worries. They’re a part of me and they help me take action.” Lupita argued. Nara nodded.

“Yes, but it’s still a good idea to take a break occasionally. I mean. It’s not like I spend every day out here.” She said with a wistful look back at Nightshade’s tree house. Lupita glanced back as well. She knew that her friend was right, and she was grown up enough to admit that she wanted to go back too, but they had to be careful. They couldn’t let themselves get caught up in that desire so much that they forgot their duties.

“Alright Nara. I guess it’s ok to go back there occasionally. We just have to make sure it doesn’t interfere with our duties in the village alright?” Lupita said as she started walking. Nara nodded happily as she skipped to join her.

“Sounds great!” She said with a big smile. Then Lupita smiled slyly.

“You know one of those ‘village duties’ is finding a mate, right?” She said giving Nara a nudge. Nara smiled back.

“Only if you find one first.” She said giving her friend a wink. The two laughed as the sun rose over the jungle.