Tales of a Tenderfoot: "The Vixen and the Hound" Part One (Adult Fantasy TK Story)
Apertura
“There is little more tantalizing in the land of the Realms than a fresh and recently awakened Tenderfoot.
They appear suddenly in the world without a single notion of where they are. They hope desperately to awaken in their world of cars and factories and technology. Their strange land of blue jeans, cell phones and computers is where they desperately want to return to.
They will click their heels together and mumble strange mantras such as: “There is no place like home.” They will pinch themselves and grimace in surprise as they feel the pain. They will close their eyes and wish when they open them again it will all have been a dream.
They have indeed awakened, but not to their world.
They are irresistible. Even the least competent of the Realmswalkers can use and manipulate them easily to their benefit. They are naive and gullible when they arrive. After all, they still think the world moves with money and clever talk.
Here, in the Realms, the world moves with one thing and one thing only: tickling.
And Tenderfoots are well known to be exquisitely ticklish.
Most Tenderfoots simply fall prey to the more predatory of the Realmswalkers. They are kept as pets or slaves leading out the rest of their sorry existences as playthings for the power brokers of the Realms.
A meager group survive the first months. Of those few, a handful learn how to survive in the Realms.
And a small admirable group, somehow, someway, usually under the tutelage of a master, learn to become Realmswalkers themselves as they dominate the art of tickling and being tickled as they leave their mark on the Realms for all to see.
No longer an inexperienced Tenderfoot, they are respected and feared among their peers.
They are few, these noble Tenderfoot turned Manling champions.
However they leave their mark on the Realms and they form an important part of the world alongside their fellow Realmswalkers.”
History of the Realms
Volume IV
* * * * *
Her name among other Realmswalkers was Vixen which was to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. It never hurt to have a little extra edge and a name really did make a difference.
It was really a sobriquet for business. Her real name was Vivian.
Vivian was one of the Animus. They were the Realmswalkers who were cursed to bear animal heads. Many times these heads were very allusive to their nature. Vivian was one of a rare breed of fox headed Animus. They were not meant to rule, nor meant to serve. They were sly and clever and swore allegiance only to themselves. They were usually loners and in all these respects and Vivian was not the exception.
When she spotted the Tenderfoot all alone, she licked her lips in anticipation.
It had been a long while since she had captured a Tenderfoot. She was strictly a nomad and she needed to have a reliable source of magic close so she could recover after her frequent bouts with the different authoritative figures of the different Realms. A fresh Tenderfoot would provide her with that source.
The Tenderfoot she was stalking was as fresh as they came. He was a handsome young Manling. He was athletic and very dark skinned with short black hair. His dark brown eyes seemed intelligent despite the fact that he walked confused and disorientated as most Tenderfoots do when they cross over. The Tenderfoot's denial and desperation to wake up and find this is all a dream, is what usually makes them such easy targets.
Vivian watched him trying to be inconspicuous as he traveled through the Realm of the Animus. But a Tenderfoot dressed in Manling clothes is a target; a prize to be won.
Vivian smiled. He would hardly be a challenge. It was almost unfair.
She tracked him for hours, careful to make sure they did not approach any other potential enemies. If they ran across a team of Enforcers or Avengers, she would not be able to fight them off. Despite that danger, she needed him to approach one of her lairs. This was a large Tenderfoot. He'd be too heavy to drag very far and she had not prepared for this or she would have brought a hovering platform with her.
Vivian waited still a long bit and when it seemed he would not get any closer to her lair, she finally decided it was the moment to strike. She carried a bola with three balls. Each ball was a different color; red, blue and pink. She pressed the blue ball and it glowed. She swung the bola skillfully in the air and let it go in the Tenderfoot's direction. It wrapped around his arms neatly pinning them to his sides. Once held in place a gas emitted from the blue ball.
Sleeping gas.
Vivian watched with satisfaction as the gas took effect and he fell to the ground sleeping peacefully.
She approached her victim and then tickled him through his clothes. No reaction.
Her sleeping gas could put down a rhino with a single whiff. Once under, nothing could wake its recipient until its effect wore off.
Vivian was not one to not take precautions however and she tied his ankles together. She then dragged him to a nearby tree. She grunted under his weight as she pulled him to the trunk. He weighed more than she thought and was quite a bit bigger than she had judged.
All the more to tickle, she thought to herself.
A word of magic and a portal in the tree opened and the two disappeared inside.
* * * * *
Nate did not know exactly what had happened to him.
He was in a dark warm place. The last thing he remembered was being on a sunny plain in a strange world. It seemed to him a dream. He had fallen asleep after a rough afternoon of training on the football field; when he opened his eyes he was someplace else all together.
Nate wasn't sure what was supposed to happen so he began to tentatively explore his surroundings. He had explored for several hours without seeing anyone when abruptly he felt a bola wrap around his arms and hold them tight to his sides. Before he could even try to escape, a thin misty gas entered his nostrils and it was the last thing he would remember.
He tried to move now but found himself unable. He was expertly tied to a chair. He had never seen so many knots so well tied. He struggled but he couldn't even make the chair move. His ankles and wrists were expertly fastened. He could not budge the chair a single inch, much less knock the chair off to one side.
"Sleeping beauty awakes," a woman's voice said. He turned to see who had spoken and his eyes went wide with amazement. She had a the head of a reddish fox with a rune etched on her forehead. She was not human.
"Yes, I am not human," she said seeming to read his mind. "Not the way you understand it anyway."
She wore a thin silk robe over her body. Her arms and legs were human and he admired her pretty bare feet.
"My head resembles an animal's,” she explained, “but my eyes are human eyes and my lips are human lips and every other part of me is decidedly human." She opened her robe to demonstrate and Nate's eyes went wide again as he gazed upon a perfect naked human female body.
"I trust that proves that I am if not human, I am at least very much like you,” she said closing the robe and fastening it tight.
"That is comforting," Nate finally said cautiously. "What isn't comforting or really comfortable now that I think about it, are these ropes."
"Those are for your own protection," she said. "I wouldn't want you hurting yourself."
"Hurting myself?" he asked confused.
"Yes," she said as she drew near. She looked at him straight in the eyes and he felt somewhat entranced.
She touched his sides gently and tickled his ribs between the ropes. He shook violently and the already tight ropes tensed still more instantly. But the chair remained fixed in place. He was not going anywhere.
He hated being tickled. His sisters always tickled him and he could never get back at them because none of them were ticklish. His girlfriends all learned of his particular weakness. All of them took full advantage of it. Even the ticklish ones who knew he would eventually get back at with a vengeance.
Even the cheerleader squad knew of his ticklishness. They would gang tickle him for fun in front of his teammates embarrassing him to no end.
“I hope you don't have in mind doing more of that. I would really appreciate it if you did not," Nate said gruffly.
"I and every person in every Realm on this world will try and tickle you out of your senses," Vivian stated simply.
"I don't see how that is different from my world," Nate grumbled.
"Oh, you will," she said. "There is a huge difference. By the way, my name is Vixen, my friends call me Vivian. What is yours, Tenderfoot?”
“Nathan,” he replied. “Friends call me Nate.”
“I'll call you Tenderfoot,” Vivian said. “You may call me what you wish. 'Mistress' will give you points in your favor.”
She knelt down and untied his shoes and pulled them off revealing some socked feet.
"Come on," he protested. "I don't get tickled there so often. It's--"
"Ticklish?" Vivian suggested as she drew her fingers up and down his socked foot.
Nate roared and his foot thrashed violently. But he could not move any other part of his body. He then started to laugh out loud.
"Quite ticklish," Vivian complimented. "You are quite a find, Tenderfoot."
"Nate, my name is Nate," he said defiantly.
"I told you, 'Tenderfoot' is your name," Vivian said. "Or can you say otherwise?" she removed his socks and caressed his bare soles gently before she continued to tickle his feet.
He reacted laughing as a little boy like he always did. Perhaps more because now he was helpless to escape and helpless to resist.
"Well no sense wasting any time," she said. "I need some magic for tonight. You will give it to me."
"Don't know any magic. Sorry," he said breathing heavily.
"There is magic in you. You just don't know it yet," she said. "I will initiate you."
She tickled his feet earnestly and he burst out in laughter with greater intensity. She kept the pace tickling his arches and his toes and even his heels. All was ticklish, all was vulnerable. He laughed and screamed and shouted and protested. He begged and he threatened. But it was all useless.
Vivian was not distracted from her task. She did it with full fascination enjoying touching his pale soles on his dark ticklish feet.
“You have large feet,” she mentioned as she tortured him. “More surface to work with. I like that very much.”
It might have been hours, but it was probably minutes. Finally he simply disconnected. He blacked out and a red gem appeared on his forehead. He was not conscious to see it. Vivian continued to tickle the soles but there was no reaction any more. She really enjoyed herself. A Tenderfoot so big and so ticklish. To see someone so strong as so stoic laughing involuntarily fully under her control was quite alluring.
She took the gem from his forehead. It was heavy and it took little effort to get it. Poor Tenderfoot. He'd have little hope of being more than a ticklish slave in this world. But if he be a slave, her slave, she would take care to treat him well.
She gave him a chaste kiss on his forehead.
* * * * *
Nate awoke and found himself unbound on a large bed.
"You're free to eat whatever you want," Vivian said while she finished dressing in her gear. She wore light brown leather meant for traveling and tall boots that were higher than her knees. Their colors blended well with the rusty brown color of her fur on her face.
"Of course you cannot leave. The exit only works for me."
"You're going to leave me untied?" Nate asked a bit surprised.
"You don't look like the type to hit a lady," she said. "And you'd starve to death here alone if I am not maintaining this safe house operational."
"What if something happens to you?" Nate asked.
"Pray it doesn't." she said before stepping through the portal.
* * * * *
Nate lost track of time.
He noticed a rune on his forehead were the magic was forced from his body. The place was certainly a safe house as far as Nate could tell. And a spartan one at that. A bed, a mirror, a bath, a table and a couple chairs. There were no windows. Light came from a couple of magical lamps that did not seem to use gas or oil or electricity. There was no door either. He could not understand how Vivian entered or exited the safe house.
Food was plentiful. There were trays that never seemed to empty. The food was delicious and nutritious as far as he could tell and he did not grow bored of it. There was a pitcher of wine and another of water. Neither seemed to ever be less than half full.
There was no sun to mark the passing of the days. He ate when he was hungry and slept when he was tired. He found himself terribly lonely and bored.
Vivian eventually returned as she promised. He continued to visit him, sometimes frequently and sometimes not so frequently. Sometimes she would stay only long enough to tickle him for magic, other times she would stay the night and keep him company, but one thing was always constant. She always tickled him silly.
She was an expert with knots. She tied him to the bed, to the table, hog tied, and even tied from the ceiling. There seemed to be no limit to her creativity. She explored his body like a map tickling every single part of his body with singular joy. She would sometimes just tickle one body part, other times she would explore his entire body.
Nate stopped resisting after several weeks. She was as strong as he was and much faster. She had weapons and magic words that would leave him flat on his back in a heartbeat wondering how he got there.
Even though he dreaded tickling, he dreaded more being alone. When Vivian left he always felt an ache at the idea of being alone again.
There was something that kept him busy while she was away. It was a gift or a knack he seemed to have.
He was good at finding things. He always had been. People always came to him when they needed to find something. Since it was a safe house he was pretty sure that there might be something hidden somewhere. It was just a hunch and it took probably days to search the lair in its entirety but his perseverance paid off eventually.
He found in a trunk hidden in a secret place behind a wall. Inside he found a series of books. The letters on the pages were not in English but they made perfect sense to him. One set of volumes was about the history of the Realms. He read about the Animus who were like Vivian and how there ancestors were human but later cursed. The Elflings, the Centaurs and the Demonus. The Fae and the Giantus. He absorbed all this fascinating information like a sponge. The books were very old but he noticed that they did not end. The last pages of the last volume were in blank and they filled as events apparently continued to happen in the Realms. It was history in the writing.
He read other books about the races in general and he reached one that interested him more than the others.
Manling.
The book described them as humans of another world whose spirit manifests itself in the Realms. Usually they are extremely ticklish. A recently crossed Manling is called a Tenderfoot. Usually disoriented. More times than not enslaved. Once enslaved the life expectancy of a Manling drops considerably.
He devoured the books. He had really nothing better to do, but by the time he finished he know knew more about this world than the average Realmswalker.
Vivian entered the lair one day covered with dust.
Nate was at the table reading one the books.
"A hard day?" Nate greeted looking up from the book.
"Hard as they come. Being chased by Enforcers and Avengers.” She took off her gear and her clothes and slipped into a tub of water. The water was never hot and never cold. It was always just right no matter how long the water was there.
Nate pretended not to watch, but he was enchanted by Vivian's beautiful body. She was never modest concerning her body and Nate's presence. He sometimes thought she did it on purpose to see if she'd attract a wandering eye.
It that was the intent, she succeed quite often.
She bathed and relaxed while Nate continued to read the book.
There was a silence between the and Nate decided to break it by referring to an excerpt from his book.
"Says here that many Tenderfoots learn the ropes and go on to live fruitful lives among the Realms usually as mercenaries but also favored subjects of the Lords and Ladies of the Realms."
"The one's who aren't as stupidly ticklish as you are," Vivian said offhandedly. “I see you found the chest of books. I knew they were here, but I never found out exactly where.”
"It says here that being extremely ticklish is an trait of high affinity to magic and the arts," Nathan read.
"You should not believe everything you read."
"I could help you, we could be a team," Nate suggested.
"I work better alone. All of my kind do. I prefer you as a part of this safe house. You are safe and there is always a source of magic when I need it."
"Maybe I don't want to be safe," Nate rebuked.
"Maybe you don't know what you want," Vivian said off handedly.
"I'm strong. I can bench press 300 pounds. I can take care of myself."
"Not relevant. The spoils don't always go to the strongest,” she explained. “If I wasn't so fond of you, I might be tempted. But it is a rough world out there if you are on your own like I am. If I train you and something happens to you..."
Her voice trailed off.
"What?" Nate asked.
Vivian bit her lip in thought and then shook her head.
"I'll make a deal with you,” she finally said. “If you can beat me in unarmed combat, I'll not only let you tickle me, but I'll train you as well."
Nathan stood up and went up to the end of the tub. He held out his hand and Vivian shook it firmly.
“We have a deal,” Nathan said.
* * * * *
Nate awaited Vivian's arrival eagerly. He trained as best he could in the small safe house. He tried tackling Vivian but she was just too fast. She had him on the ground and at her mercy in seconds. He needed to be as fast as she was but that was not going to happen easily. She was lightning fast.
He continued to try to get the drop on her but she was simply too quick. He tried to resort to trickery. He'd grab her from behind while she was eating, but even then she quickly neutralized his efforts. Her sleep was light no matter how much wine he tried to coax her to drink.
He tried strangling, hitting her over the head with a vase, throwing things. Just about anything you could imagine. He brainstormed and thought until he finally came up with an idea so crazy that he was convinced it just might work.
He stopped trying to attack her. He was extra complacent when it came to tickling, cooperating fully and suggesting ways to make it more comfortable for him and quicker for her if she wanted to finish fast.
She would still be totally on guard to an attack, but not to what he had in mind.
She had tickled him on the bed this time, spread eagle. He laughed loud and she finished him off quickly attacking him viciously.
She took his magic and let him rest. She prepared some other things and then as she prepared to leave she untied his ankles and then went to his wrists and as she reached over his torso to untie his wrist Nate planted a warm kiss on her unsuspecting lips.
He waited just an instant before kissing her again. The kiss was longer and harder and he parted her lips as he kissed her. Vivian returned the kiss. Nate felt the chemistry between them flow. He felt her warm body next to his and he knew that he could have her in an instant. He was so tempted that he almost abandoned his plan.
But he did not. He reached under his pillow for a pair of shackles he'd hidden there and then he pealed off her thin leather coat. He deftly placed the shackles on her wrists behind her back and with an ominous click he closed them. Her face went pale white and then it flushed dark red in an instant.
"You tricked me!" she exclaimed.
Nate did not answer, he held her down and grabbed some rope to tie her ankles together. She thrashed and she struggled but he was not about to let this opportunity get away. He pulled off her boots revealing her beautiful white feet he'd admired for so long. He did not let that distract him and he tied the ankles together emulating her technique with knots he had secretly practiced for weeks.
He pulled the ankles to her back and tied her in a neat hog tie.
She protested and cursed him and she struggled under bondage that was arguably as good as anything she had done before.
With Vivian successfully hogtied, he stepped back a second to watch her struggle and curse helplessly. He gagged her with a silk handkerchief which had been in his mouth countless times already.
He then focused his attention on her feet. They were beautiful and perfect. Not a single blemish on her soles. Each toe was proportional and round in comparison to the next. And now there were his, if only for a little while.
He touched them finally. He stroked them gently with his fingernails and it was like electricity coursing through her body. She thrashed harder and laughed a beautiful, albeit muffled laugh he had never heard before. He kissed her toes and worshiped her feet. She was his captor and his tormentor but he had come to love her just the same.
He sucked on her toes and kissed her soles. She obviously found this arousing and he even thought he could hear light moaning through the gag. He then went on tickling her with harder and more dedicated tickling on her soles. He switched to her sides taking her off guard and she jumped as she reacted to the tickling.
Nate toyed with her a while. He teased and tickled her while he kissed her toes. She was his if even for a while. He tickled her on and off until he decided to cut lose. He pulled off the gag.
“I'll kill you!” she swore. “I'll stick you like a pig!”
He tickled her sides and her anger instantly faded to the laughter he relished. How beautiful was her laughter now that it was not impeded by the silken gag.
“Any last words?” he asked as he positioned himself behind her at his feet.
“I'll make sure you feel hell hotter than the deepest corner of the Pit!” she vowed.
Nathan then cut loose. He tortured her now. No more teasing. He went after her worst spots and literally tortured her as he had done to him countless times already. She laughed and she screamed and it was music to his ears. She cursed him and he could only smile despite the venomous words. He drew a sweat himself after the bout of furious tickling and he wiped his forehead clean as he looked down on his handiwork.
Nate finished with her and a magic gem appeared above her forehead.
She was woozy from the tickling and he let her rest before untying her.
He released her legs from the hogtie and they fell to the bed limply. He untied her ankles and he opened the shackles. He half expected her to slap him or worse.
But she did not. She kissed him. Intensely. She shed her clothes off and tore his off while she pressed her beautiful body against his.
Nate kissed her back and he took her to the bed. He had wanted her for a long time. He needed to feel her body and run his hands over her skin. He crushed her body against his and cupped her soft round pale breasts in his dark large hands admiring the contrast. They were a perfect fit in his hands. He nibbled her ears and her neck and she laughed. "That tickles," she said playfully as she returned the playful tickling with tickling of her own.
"I don't know all your ticklish places," Nate said intoxicated by her warmth, her smell and her sheer sensuality.
"Every place is ticklish," she said. "You're welcome to explore."
Nate did, and he loved her squirming and laughter but she was not passive, she tickled him back.
Nate laughed and instead of bothering him as it had all his life he enjoyed the tickling. More than that he even felt excited being tickled under her knowing fingers. He was too excited to wait and he desperately plunged into her. She was hot and moist and she welcomed him in with equal enthusiasm.
After months of just watching her, desiring her, wanting her, he was deep inside of her.
Her laughter and her tickling of him made him climax much sooner than he would have wanted. He was spent, he was satisfied and he was happy. He was only sorry it was over so soon.
"I guess this means you will train me?" he asked.
She nodded. "But not tonight," she said stroking him provocatively.
"Going to be a while until I regroup for another round," he said regretfully.
"We'll see about that," she said.
She left for a moment and returned with a thin paint brush and a small bottle of ink.
"What are you going to do with that?" Nate asked.
"A true Spellcaster and Runemaster can draw a rune in the air with a finger," she explained. "I'm not a Spellcaster nor a Runemaster so I use ink so I see what I am doing. Mind you, I only know a few runes, but I make sure the few I know count."
"What is this rune for?" Nate asked curiously. He struggled with his ticklishness as she drew a rune on his chest.
"You'll see," she said. "You are so ridiculously ticklish. You're lucky this one goes on the chest. Some are placed on the sole of the foot. Those tickle like hell."
The rune was complex but once finished it glowed and it faded away.
Suddenly he felt his manhood swell again and his blood race again.
She pushed him on the bed onto his back and mounted him slipping neatly over his swollen member and gasping gently as it slid between her legs. A snug fit that both approved.
She reached over him and drew his arms over his head attaching them to the brass frame of the bed with the pair of shackles she had been in.
"What?" Nate asked surprised.
"I want you inside me while you thrash and writhe and twist," she said simply.
She tickled his torso and he went wild. But despite his thrashing she kept him inside enjoying how he struggled to keep inside. She quickly came and he followed once more shooting into her. Again, it was much too soon.
"Maybe someday, we can switch places on that one," Nate said totally spent and with no real expectations of getting hard again that night.
"You're up next," she says. "You have maybe a minute before you become aroused again. You become so aroused with that rune that I honestly don't think you could resist even if you wanted to."
She was right and Nate felt his libido return stronger yet. He could not have resisted Vivian's warm vibrant body, if his life depended on it. They continued to make love and play tickling games until the effect of the rune ran out. Each time it was more intense. Each time he did not believe he could gather strength again for another bout. Each time he found himself unable to resist Vivian's charms.
“Can't use that rune too often," she said finding herself exhausted after their long bout of lovemaking. "It will kill a man. Fae use it from time to time to kill a man in a unique fashion."
"If I could chose my way to die..." Nate suggested ruefully.
"Sleep now, my lover. When you awake your training will begin."
Nathan slept a deep and dreamless sleep.
* * * * *
Nathan awoke to tickling on his feet. He laughed and came awake suddenly.
Vivian was already dressed and geared up.
"Get up sleepy head," she said. "Today is your first day of training."
"What's the first lesson?" he asked.
"Staying alive, lover," she said. "It's the only real lesson."
“Where are we going then? Animus, Giantus, Fae, the Elfling realm?” he asked sleepily.
“No where until you are ready. Now, get on the ground and give me some push ups. Show me how much you want to be my partner.”
She put him through a grind like none he'd even seen during his days playing football. He'd seen his share of tough workouts. They were nothing compared to Vivian.
“You need to be fast, you need to be strong,” she said as they went from exercise to exercise. “But more than that you must be cunning. You must be silent. That is the real advantage. There is always someone stronger than you. Always someone faster than you. And there are people smarter than you. But cunning makes any victory always possible. It's the ace up the sleeve, it's the trump to all adversity.”
“Then why are you working me like this?” he said exhausted.
“Because when cunning fails, then you must resort to the best you have of strength and speed and smarts. I want to be chasing your heels and not you chasing mine when trouble pops up.”
The safe house was small but Vivian found ways to train his speed and coordination in ways that would fascinate any football coach.
She spent weeks on him. Exhausting him mentally and physically but never enough to keep him from making love to her every evening.
* * * * *
Vivian was gone one morning when he woke. It was strange for her to disappear since she had spent weeks with him without interruption. He cursed his deep sleep and wished he was more a light sleeper like Vivian.
Vivian returned with a package under her arm.
“I went shopping for you,” she said tossing him the package.
He opened it and found it contained clothing and a small wooden box not much bigger than his palm. The clothes were made of dark black leather similar to Vivian's. On his dark skin he would blend easily in the shadows. He liked that very much. To contrast, around his neck he wore a bright red scarf which seemed to fit him quite well.
“Do you like?” Vivian asked as he looked at himself in the mirror.
“Love it,” he said. “Could not have chosen better myself. What is in the little box.”
“Weapon,” Vivian said. “I don't know what though and I could not open the box. Magical weapons choose their owners. I can tell this one does not like me, but I have a gut feeling it will take a liking to you.”
It was a small box with a ring of wood on the cover. He touched the ring and it fell off the box and into the palm of his hand.
Xetden! he said without thinking and the ring grew instantly to become a long tube. It felt solid and strong despite being thin and he was certain he could use it hit without risk to damaging it.
“It likes you,” Vivian said smiling.
“Strange stick,” he said. He opened the box and found six darts inside. The darts' fletches were feathered in stiff yet soft feathers of different colors; white, red and pink. They were of fantastic craftsmanship.
“Blowgun,” she said admiring. “Three different types of darts, three types of effects.”
“I wonder what effects they have,” Nathan asked out loud admiring the weapon.
“Can't find out when you need them, mind as well try it out now.”
“And if they are poisonous?” Nathan asked.
“I don't think so,” Vivian said. “Give it a try.
Vivian stood on the other side of the room.
“Try for the neck,” she said exposing a small part of flesh as a target.
Nate removed one of the white fletched darts. He placed it in the blow gun and wondered how he was going to aim. As he drew a deep breath to blow, everything sort of became more clear. He aimed at is target and blew hard. The dart flew out with expert precision and landed exactly on the spot pricking Vivian's skin gently.
She yawned and instantly became sleepy. "Sleep dart," she mumbled as she keeled over and fell asleep to the ground. Nathan lifted her up and placed her on the bed.
She was out like a light. The normally light sleeper was even snoring. He tickled her on the ribs but go no reaction. He pulled off her boots and touched her soles and toes and got no reaction.
He sat next to her a few minutes admiring her as she slept. He then remembered the dart and he looked for it on Vivian's neck, but he could not find it. He frowned until he checked the small case and found that it had been replaced there.
Magic, he thought to himself.
Finally she work up a half hour later refreshed.
“Sleep dart," she said stretching. "Useful. But I still got a couple words in before it got me. Got to keep that in mind. Did you tickle me in my sleep?"
Nathan nodded.
“Any reaction?” she asked.
“None;” he said smiling. “You snored like a pig though.”
She punched him playful in the shoulder. Nate refrained from wincing in pain. She was smaller than he was but just as strong. She packed quite a bit of power in her blows.
“Next!” she said standing ready for the next dart. “This time I'm going to pace back and forth like a sentry.”
Vivian put on a serious face and paced back and forth in front of him like a guard on a tower.
Nathan tried another dart with a stiff red feather fletch. Again, he did not know how he could hit a moving target that was so small. But as soon as his lips touched the blowgun, he knew exactly how to hold the weapon and how hard to blow. The dart flew truly and pricked Vivian again in the neck. She became frozen in mid-pace and she could not move.
Nathan reached under her sole and tickled but there was no response. He tickled all the way up her body but got no reactions. He looked at her frozen stare and he swore that despite the fact here eyes could not move, she was conscious of what was happening around her.
Fifteen minutes later she recovered and she could move once more.
"Paralysis," she said with approval. "Useful as well. Felt the tickling though. Could see and hear everything. Useful for certain."
“Think it is possible to tickle to submission in that state?” Nate asked.
“We'll have to find out, won't we?” she said. “but first the last dart.”
The last dart was fletched with a pink feather. The color reminded him of a flamingo, but it was soft and it felt sure and lightweight.
“This time you're under pressure,” Vivian stated. I'm going to charge you and you have to make the mark before I catch you and tickle you silly.”
“That's quite an incentive,” Nate said.
“If you don't stop me, I'll tickle you out of your mind.”
“Okay,” Nathan said becoming confident with his new weapon. “Fair enough.”
Vivian charged him. Her target on her neck was barely visible and she moved in a zig zag motion.
But again, the weapon seemed to ask him for exactly what it needed and he blew hard at a spot where Vivian was not, but as the dart sailed through the air, Vivian approached the spot and the dart again struck true.
She fell to the ground like a rock. She stood up and dusted herself off.
A dud, thought Nathan. Then Vivian smiled widely and unnaturally. She began to giggle nervously and then she started laughing. Madly. She rolled on the ground in a fetal position trying to protect herself from fingers that were not there. She laughed wildly for five minutes straight until she blacked out and her magic was released. Nathan gently pushed it back into Vivian's forehead and she came to.
"Those are all ways to incapacitate an enemy,” she said admirably.
"Thanks for helping me figure that all out," Nathan said.
"That helps comes at a price," she said. "Your darts still have an extra function," she said.
"Which is?"
She took a rope and tied him tightly with it. He was wrapped up like a tight burrito, barefoot.
She took his feet and placed them in her lap.
"Be gentle," he said toughly.
He knew she liked him acting toughly. It seemed to turn her on when she turned him into a begging little boy.
She teased with her nails making him snort and smile against his will.
She took one of the sleep darts and threatened to prick his with it. He did not see any gain in him taking a nap until she turned the dart around and drew the soft yet stiff white fletching up and down the sole of his foot. It tickled exponentially worse than Vivian's nails. He shouted out loud as he struggled futilely in his bondage.
"That tickles terribly," he said protesting.
"I'm sure it does," Vivian said continuing. Nathan began to laugh uncontrollably and desperately.
“Okay, fair enough, now we know how it works. Let me loose,” Nathan pleaded.
“Not just yet. Now I must do something which you might not find fair," she in a serious tone. “But it is really for your own good.”
“What is that?” he asked.
“Your final test.”
“What?”
“I'm going to let myself be captured by a group of Elflings. It will be your task to rescue me. If you can, then you can consider yourself my partner. If not, then it is better you remain my tickle slave and not venture out. When we are out there I need to know you are 100%.”
“That's dumb. Letting yourself get captured? Then returning me to tickle slave status if all goes bad? Come on, let's talk about all this.”
“Time for talk is over,” she said solemnly. She turned from the feathered tip of the dart to the sharp tip and pricked his sole lightly.
“No, no, wait,” he said as sleep invaded his senses. “You can't do....”
“Good luck,” he heard her say as he fell helplessly asleep.
* * * * *
Vivian pulled his boots back on his feet and rolled his sleeping form onto a hover disk she had stored for such an occasion. She had planned this for some time and she was prepared to move him efficiently.
She admired his handsome form as his chest rose and fell in peaceful sleep.
She loved watching him sleep. She'd wake before him on a normal day and just watch him for long moments until he awoke to her tickling fingers or toes as she stroked his ticklish spots coaxing him awake.
She'd prepared all the wormholes they would need to reach their destination. She'd keep him asleep with a weak rune which would keep him sleeping long enough to do what she planned.
If he failed, she would escape herself and leave him to his own devices. He would never find her again. It was too much a risk to drag around and take care of someone who could not take care of himself.
Keeping him as a tickle slave to toy with would hurt him too much. She would not offer him that option.
She wondered for a moment if it was really that she was concerned for him or for herself.
It mattered not. He'd have to prove he could do it.
Prove he could take care of himself. Prove he could take care of her.
“Show me what you're made of,” she said giving him a kiss on his sleeping lips.
They passed together through the portal.
To be continued....
Next: A Test Worth Passing
Apertura
“There is little more tantalizing in the land of the Realms than a fresh and recently awakened Tenderfoot.
They appear suddenly in the world without a single notion of where they are. They hope desperately to awaken in their world of cars and factories and technology. Their strange land of blue jeans, cell phones and computers is where they desperately want to return to.
They will click their heels together and mumble strange mantras such as: “There is no place like home.” They will pinch themselves and grimace in surprise as they feel the pain. They will close their eyes and wish when they open them again it will all have been a dream.
They have indeed awakened, but not to their world.
They are irresistible. Even the least competent of the Realmswalkers can use and manipulate them easily to their benefit. They are naive and gullible when they arrive. After all, they still think the world moves with money and clever talk.
Here, in the Realms, the world moves with one thing and one thing only: tickling.
And Tenderfoots are well known to be exquisitely ticklish.
Most Tenderfoots simply fall prey to the more predatory of the Realmswalkers. They are kept as pets or slaves leading out the rest of their sorry existences as playthings for the power brokers of the Realms.
A meager group survive the first months. Of those few, a handful learn how to survive in the Realms.
And a small admirable group, somehow, someway, usually under the tutelage of a master, learn to become Realmswalkers themselves as they dominate the art of tickling and being tickled as they leave their mark on the Realms for all to see.
No longer an inexperienced Tenderfoot, they are respected and feared among their peers.
They are few, these noble Tenderfoot turned Manling champions.
However they leave their mark on the Realms and they form an important part of the world alongside their fellow Realmswalkers.”
History of the Realms
Volume IV
* * * * *
Her name among other Realmswalkers was Vixen which was to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. It never hurt to have a little extra edge and a name really did make a difference.
It was really a sobriquet for business. Her real name was Vivian.
Vivian was one of the Animus. They were the Realmswalkers who were cursed to bear animal heads. Many times these heads were very allusive to their nature. Vivian was one of a rare breed of fox headed Animus. They were not meant to rule, nor meant to serve. They were sly and clever and swore allegiance only to themselves. They were usually loners and in all these respects and Vivian was not the exception.
When she spotted the Tenderfoot all alone, she licked her lips in anticipation.
It had been a long while since she had captured a Tenderfoot. She was strictly a nomad and she needed to have a reliable source of magic close so she could recover after her frequent bouts with the different authoritative figures of the different Realms. A fresh Tenderfoot would provide her with that source.
The Tenderfoot she was stalking was as fresh as they came. He was a handsome young Manling. He was athletic and very dark skinned with short black hair. His dark brown eyes seemed intelligent despite the fact that he walked confused and disorientated as most Tenderfoots do when they cross over. The Tenderfoot's denial and desperation to wake up and find this is all a dream, is what usually makes them such easy targets.
Vivian watched him trying to be inconspicuous as he traveled through the Realm of the Animus. But a Tenderfoot dressed in Manling clothes is a target; a prize to be won.
Vivian smiled. He would hardly be a challenge. It was almost unfair.
She tracked him for hours, careful to make sure they did not approach any other potential enemies. If they ran across a team of Enforcers or Avengers, she would not be able to fight them off. Despite that danger, she needed him to approach one of her lairs. This was a large Tenderfoot. He'd be too heavy to drag very far and she had not prepared for this or she would have brought a hovering platform with her.
Vivian waited still a long bit and when it seemed he would not get any closer to her lair, she finally decided it was the moment to strike. She carried a bola with three balls. Each ball was a different color; red, blue and pink. She pressed the blue ball and it glowed. She swung the bola skillfully in the air and let it go in the Tenderfoot's direction. It wrapped around his arms neatly pinning them to his sides. Once held in place a gas emitted from the blue ball.
Sleeping gas.
Vivian watched with satisfaction as the gas took effect and he fell to the ground sleeping peacefully.
She approached her victim and then tickled him through his clothes. No reaction.
Her sleeping gas could put down a rhino with a single whiff. Once under, nothing could wake its recipient until its effect wore off.
Vivian was not one to not take precautions however and she tied his ankles together. She then dragged him to a nearby tree. She grunted under his weight as she pulled him to the trunk. He weighed more than she thought and was quite a bit bigger than she had judged.
All the more to tickle, she thought to herself.
A word of magic and a portal in the tree opened and the two disappeared inside.
* * * * *
Nate did not know exactly what had happened to him.
He was in a dark warm place. The last thing he remembered was being on a sunny plain in a strange world. It seemed to him a dream. He had fallen asleep after a rough afternoon of training on the football field; when he opened his eyes he was someplace else all together.
Nate wasn't sure what was supposed to happen so he began to tentatively explore his surroundings. He had explored for several hours without seeing anyone when abruptly he felt a bola wrap around his arms and hold them tight to his sides. Before he could even try to escape, a thin misty gas entered his nostrils and it was the last thing he would remember.
He tried to move now but found himself unable. He was expertly tied to a chair. He had never seen so many knots so well tied. He struggled but he couldn't even make the chair move. His ankles and wrists were expertly fastened. He could not budge the chair a single inch, much less knock the chair off to one side.
"Sleeping beauty awakes," a woman's voice said. He turned to see who had spoken and his eyes went wide with amazement. She had a the head of a reddish fox with a rune etched on her forehead. She was not human.
"Yes, I am not human," she said seeming to read his mind. "Not the way you understand it anyway."
She wore a thin silk robe over her body. Her arms and legs were human and he admired her pretty bare feet.
"My head resembles an animal's,” she explained, “but my eyes are human eyes and my lips are human lips and every other part of me is decidedly human." She opened her robe to demonstrate and Nate's eyes went wide again as he gazed upon a perfect naked human female body.
"I trust that proves that I am if not human, I am at least very much like you,” she said closing the robe and fastening it tight.
"That is comforting," Nate finally said cautiously. "What isn't comforting or really comfortable now that I think about it, are these ropes."
"Those are for your own protection," she said. "I wouldn't want you hurting yourself."
"Hurting myself?" he asked confused.
"Yes," she said as she drew near. She looked at him straight in the eyes and he felt somewhat entranced.
She touched his sides gently and tickled his ribs between the ropes. He shook violently and the already tight ropes tensed still more instantly. But the chair remained fixed in place. He was not going anywhere.
He hated being tickled. His sisters always tickled him and he could never get back at them because none of them were ticklish. His girlfriends all learned of his particular weakness. All of them took full advantage of it. Even the ticklish ones who knew he would eventually get back at with a vengeance.
Even the cheerleader squad knew of his ticklishness. They would gang tickle him for fun in front of his teammates embarrassing him to no end.
“I hope you don't have in mind doing more of that. I would really appreciate it if you did not," Nate said gruffly.
"I and every person in every Realm on this world will try and tickle you out of your senses," Vivian stated simply.
"I don't see how that is different from my world," Nate grumbled.
"Oh, you will," she said. "There is a huge difference. By the way, my name is Vixen, my friends call me Vivian. What is yours, Tenderfoot?”
“Nathan,” he replied. “Friends call me Nate.”
“I'll call you Tenderfoot,” Vivian said. “You may call me what you wish. 'Mistress' will give you points in your favor.”
She knelt down and untied his shoes and pulled them off revealing some socked feet.
"Come on," he protested. "I don't get tickled there so often. It's--"
"Ticklish?" Vivian suggested as she drew her fingers up and down his socked foot.
Nate roared and his foot thrashed violently. But he could not move any other part of his body. He then started to laugh out loud.
"Quite ticklish," Vivian complimented. "You are quite a find, Tenderfoot."
"Nate, my name is Nate," he said defiantly.
"I told you, 'Tenderfoot' is your name," Vivian said. "Or can you say otherwise?" she removed his socks and caressed his bare soles gently before she continued to tickle his feet.
He reacted laughing as a little boy like he always did. Perhaps more because now he was helpless to escape and helpless to resist.
"Well no sense wasting any time," she said. "I need some magic for tonight. You will give it to me."
"Don't know any magic. Sorry," he said breathing heavily.
"There is magic in you. You just don't know it yet," she said. "I will initiate you."
She tickled his feet earnestly and he burst out in laughter with greater intensity. She kept the pace tickling his arches and his toes and even his heels. All was ticklish, all was vulnerable. He laughed and screamed and shouted and protested. He begged and he threatened. But it was all useless.
Vivian was not distracted from her task. She did it with full fascination enjoying touching his pale soles on his dark ticklish feet.
“You have large feet,” she mentioned as she tortured him. “More surface to work with. I like that very much.”
It might have been hours, but it was probably minutes. Finally he simply disconnected. He blacked out and a red gem appeared on his forehead. He was not conscious to see it. Vivian continued to tickle the soles but there was no reaction any more. She really enjoyed herself. A Tenderfoot so big and so ticklish. To see someone so strong as so stoic laughing involuntarily fully under her control was quite alluring.
She took the gem from his forehead. It was heavy and it took little effort to get it. Poor Tenderfoot. He'd have little hope of being more than a ticklish slave in this world. But if he be a slave, her slave, she would take care to treat him well.
She gave him a chaste kiss on his forehead.
* * * * *
Nate awoke and found himself unbound on a large bed.
"You're free to eat whatever you want," Vivian said while she finished dressing in her gear. She wore light brown leather meant for traveling and tall boots that were higher than her knees. Their colors blended well with the rusty brown color of her fur on her face.
"Of course you cannot leave. The exit only works for me."
"You're going to leave me untied?" Nate asked a bit surprised.
"You don't look like the type to hit a lady," she said. "And you'd starve to death here alone if I am not maintaining this safe house operational."
"What if something happens to you?" Nate asked.
"Pray it doesn't." she said before stepping through the portal.
* * * * *
Nate lost track of time.
He noticed a rune on his forehead were the magic was forced from his body. The place was certainly a safe house as far as Nate could tell. And a spartan one at that. A bed, a mirror, a bath, a table and a couple chairs. There were no windows. Light came from a couple of magical lamps that did not seem to use gas or oil or electricity. There was no door either. He could not understand how Vivian entered or exited the safe house.
Food was plentiful. There were trays that never seemed to empty. The food was delicious and nutritious as far as he could tell and he did not grow bored of it. There was a pitcher of wine and another of water. Neither seemed to ever be less than half full.
There was no sun to mark the passing of the days. He ate when he was hungry and slept when he was tired. He found himself terribly lonely and bored.
Vivian eventually returned as she promised. He continued to visit him, sometimes frequently and sometimes not so frequently. Sometimes she would stay only long enough to tickle him for magic, other times she would stay the night and keep him company, but one thing was always constant. She always tickled him silly.
She was an expert with knots. She tied him to the bed, to the table, hog tied, and even tied from the ceiling. There seemed to be no limit to her creativity. She explored his body like a map tickling every single part of his body with singular joy. She would sometimes just tickle one body part, other times she would explore his entire body.
Nate stopped resisting after several weeks. She was as strong as he was and much faster. She had weapons and magic words that would leave him flat on his back in a heartbeat wondering how he got there.
Even though he dreaded tickling, he dreaded more being alone. When Vivian left he always felt an ache at the idea of being alone again.
There was something that kept him busy while she was away. It was a gift or a knack he seemed to have.
He was good at finding things. He always had been. People always came to him when they needed to find something. Since it was a safe house he was pretty sure that there might be something hidden somewhere. It was just a hunch and it took probably days to search the lair in its entirety but his perseverance paid off eventually.
He found in a trunk hidden in a secret place behind a wall. Inside he found a series of books. The letters on the pages were not in English but they made perfect sense to him. One set of volumes was about the history of the Realms. He read about the Animus who were like Vivian and how there ancestors were human but later cursed. The Elflings, the Centaurs and the Demonus. The Fae and the Giantus. He absorbed all this fascinating information like a sponge. The books were very old but he noticed that they did not end. The last pages of the last volume were in blank and they filled as events apparently continued to happen in the Realms. It was history in the writing.
He read other books about the races in general and he reached one that interested him more than the others.
Manling.
The book described them as humans of another world whose spirit manifests itself in the Realms. Usually they are extremely ticklish. A recently crossed Manling is called a Tenderfoot. Usually disoriented. More times than not enslaved. Once enslaved the life expectancy of a Manling drops considerably.
He devoured the books. He had really nothing better to do, but by the time he finished he know knew more about this world than the average Realmswalker.
Vivian entered the lair one day covered with dust.
Nate was at the table reading one the books.
"A hard day?" Nate greeted looking up from the book.
"Hard as they come. Being chased by Enforcers and Avengers.” She took off her gear and her clothes and slipped into a tub of water. The water was never hot and never cold. It was always just right no matter how long the water was there.
Nate pretended not to watch, but he was enchanted by Vivian's beautiful body. She was never modest concerning her body and Nate's presence. He sometimes thought she did it on purpose to see if she'd attract a wandering eye.
It that was the intent, she succeed quite often.
She bathed and relaxed while Nate continued to read the book.
There was a silence between the and Nate decided to break it by referring to an excerpt from his book.
"Says here that many Tenderfoots learn the ropes and go on to live fruitful lives among the Realms usually as mercenaries but also favored subjects of the Lords and Ladies of the Realms."
"The one's who aren't as stupidly ticklish as you are," Vivian said offhandedly. “I see you found the chest of books. I knew they were here, but I never found out exactly where.”
"It says here that being extremely ticklish is an trait of high affinity to magic and the arts," Nathan read.
"You should not believe everything you read."
"I could help you, we could be a team," Nate suggested.
"I work better alone. All of my kind do. I prefer you as a part of this safe house. You are safe and there is always a source of magic when I need it."
"Maybe I don't want to be safe," Nate rebuked.
"Maybe you don't know what you want," Vivian said off handedly.
"I'm strong. I can bench press 300 pounds. I can take care of myself."
"Not relevant. The spoils don't always go to the strongest,” she explained. “If I wasn't so fond of you, I might be tempted. But it is a rough world out there if you are on your own like I am. If I train you and something happens to you..."
Her voice trailed off.
"What?" Nate asked.
Vivian bit her lip in thought and then shook her head.
"I'll make a deal with you,” she finally said. “If you can beat me in unarmed combat, I'll not only let you tickle me, but I'll train you as well."
Nathan stood up and went up to the end of the tub. He held out his hand and Vivian shook it firmly.
“We have a deal,” Nathan said.
* * * * *
Nate awaited Vivian's arrival eagerly. He trained as best he could in the small safe house. He tried tackling Vivian but she was just too fast. She had him on the ground and at her mercy in seconds. He needed to be as fast as she was but that was not going to happen easily. She was lightning fast.
He continued to try to get the drop on her but she was simply too quick. He tried to resort to trickery. He'd grab her from behind while she was eating, but even then she quickly neutralized his efforts. Her sleep was light no matter how much wine he tried to coax her to drink.
He tried strangling, hitting her over the head with a vase, throwing things. Just about anything you could imagine. He brainstormed and thought until he finally came up with an idea so crazy that he was convinced it just might work.
He stopped trying to attack her. He was extra complacent when it came to tickling, cooperating fully and suggesting ways to make it more comfortable for him and quicker for her if she wanted to finish fast.
She would still be totally on guard to an attack, but not to what he had in mind.
She had tickled him on the bed this time, spread eagle. He laughed loud and she finished him off quickly attacking him viciously.
She took his magic and let him rest. She prepared some other things and then as she prepared to leave she untied his ankles and then went to his wrists and as she reached over his torso to untie his wrist Nate planted a warm kiss on her unsuspecting lips.
He waited just an instant before kissing her again. The kiss was longer and harder and he parted her lips as he kissed her. Vivian returned the kiss. Nate felt the chemistry between them flow. He felt her warm body next to his and he knew that he could have her in an instant. He was so tempted that he almost abandoned his plan.
But he did not. He reached under his pillow for a pair of shackles he'd hidden there and then he pealed off her thin leather coat. He deftly placed the shackles on her wrists behind her back and with an ominous click he closed them. Her face went pale white and then it flushed dark red in an instant.
"You tricked me!" she exclaimed.
Nate did not answer, he held her down and grabbed some rope to tie her ankles together. She thrashed and she struggled but he was not about to let this opportunity get away. He pulled off her boots revealing her beautiful white feet he'd admired for so long. He did not let that distract him and he tied the ankles together emulating her technique with knots he had secretly practiced for weeks.
He pulled the ankles to her back and tied her in a neat hog tie.
She protested and cursed him and she struggled under bondage that was arguably as good as anything she had done before.
With Vivian successfully hogtied, he stepped back a second to watch her struggle and curse helplessly. He gagged her with a silk handkerchief which had been in his mouth countless times already.
He then focused his attention on her feet. They were beautiful and perfect. Not a single blemish on her soles. Each toe was proportional and round in comparison to the next. And now there were his, if only for a little while.
He touched them finally. He stroked them gently with his fingernails and it was like electricity coursing through her body. She thrashed harder and laughed a beautiful, albeit muffled laugh he had never heard before. He kissed her toes and worshiped her feet. She was his captor and his tormentor but he had come to love her just the same.
He sucked on her toes and kissed her soles. She obviously found this arousing and he even thought he could hear light moaning through the gag. He then went on tickling her with harder and more dedicated tickling on her soles. He switched to her sides taking her off guard and she jumped as she reacted to the tickling.
Nate toyed with her a while. He teased and tickled her while he kissed her toes. She was his if even for a while. He tickled her on and off until he decided to cut lose. He pulled off the gag.
“I'll kill you!” she swore. “I'll stick you like a pig!”
He tickled her sides and her anger instantly faded to the laughter he relished. How beautiful was her laughter now that it was not impeded by the silken gag.
“Any last words?” he asked as he positioned himself behind her at his feet.
“I'll make sure you feel hell hotter than the deepest corner of the Pit!” she vowed.
Nathan then cut loose. He tortured her now. No more teasing. He went after her worst spots and literally tortured her as he had done to him countless times already. She laughed and she screamed and it was music to his ears. She cursed him and he could only smile despite the venomous words. He drew a sweat himself after the bout of furious tickling and he wiped his forehead clean as he looked down on his handiwork.
Nate finished with her and a magic gem appeared above her forehead.
She was woozy from the tickling and he let her rest before untying her.
He released her legs from the hogtie and they fell to the bed limply. He untied her ankles and he opened the shackles. He half expected her to slap him or worse.
But she did not. She kissed him. Intensely. She shed her clothes off and tore his off while she pressed her beautiful body against his.
Nate kissed her back and he took her to the bed. He had wanted her for a long time. He needed to feel her body and run his hands over her skin. He crushed her body against his and cupped her soft round pale breasts in his dark large hands admiring the contrast. They were a perfect fit in his hands. He nibbled her ears and her neck and she laughed. "That tickles," she said playfully as she returned the playful tickling with tickling of her own.
"I don't know all your ticklish places," Nate said intoxicated by her warmth, her smell and her sheer sensuality.
"Every place is ticklish," she said. "You're welcome to explore."
Nate did, and he loved her squirming and laughter but she was not passive, she tickled him back.
Nate laughed and instead of bothering him as it had all his life he enjoyed the tickling. More than that he even felt excited being tickled under her knowing fingers. He was too excited to wait and he desperately plunged into her. She was hot and moist and she welcomed him in with equal enthusiasm.
After months of just watching her, desiring her, wanting her, he was deep inside of her.
Her laughter and her tickling of him made him climax much sooner than he would have wanted. He was spent, he was satisfied and he was happy. He was only sorry it was over so soon.
"I guess this means you will train me?" he asked.
She nodded. "But not tonight," she said stroking him provocatively.
"Going to be a while until I regroup for another round," he said regretfully.
"We'll see about that," she said.
She left for a moment and returned with a thin paint brush and a small bottle of ink.
"What are you going to do with that?" Nate asked.
"A true Spellcaster and Runemaster can draw a rune in the air with a finger," she explained. "I'm not a Spellcaster nor a Runemaster so I use ink so I see what I am doing. Mind you, I only know a few runes, but I make sure the few I know count."
"What is this rune for?" Nate asked curiously. He struggled with his ticklishness as she drew a rune on his chest.
"You'll see," she said. "You are so ridiculously ticklish. You're lucky this one goes on the chest. Some are placed on the sole of the foot. Those tickle like hell."
The rune was complex but once finished it glowed and it faded away.
Suddenly he felt his manhood swell again and his blood race again.
She pushed him on the bed onto his back and mounted him slipping neatly over his swollen member and gasping gently as it slid between her legs. A snug fit that both approved.
She reached over him and drew his arms over his head attaching them to the brass frame of the bed with the pair of shackles she had been in.
"What?" Nate asked surprised.
"I want you inside me while you thrash and writhe and twist," she said simply.
She tickled his torso and he went wild. But despite his thrashing she kept him inside enjoying how he struggled to keep inside. She quickly came and he followed once more shooting into her. Again, it was much too soon.
"Maybe someday, we can switch places on that one," Nate said totally spent and with no real expectations of getting hard again that night.
"You're up next," she says. "You have maybe a minute before you become aroused again. You become so aroused with that rune that I honestly don't think you could resist even if you wanted to."
She was right and Nate felt his libido return stronger yet. He could not have resisted Vivian's warm vibrant body, if his life depended on it. They continued to make love and play tickling games until the effect of the rune ran out. Each time it was more intense. Each time he did not believe he could gather strength again for another bout. Each time he found himself unable to resist Vivian's charms.
“Can't use that rune too often," she said finding herself exhausted after their long bout of lovemaking. "It will kill a man. Fae use it from time to time to kill a man in a unique fashion."
"If I could chose my way to die..." Nate suggested ruefully.
"Sleep now, my lover. When you awake your training will begin."
Nathan slept a deep and dreamless sleep.
* * * * *
Nathan awoke to tickling on his feet. He laughed and came awake suddenly.
Vivian was already dressed and geared up.
"Get up sleepy head," she said. "Today is your first day of training."
"What's the first lesson?" he asked.
"Staying alive, lover," she said. "It's the only real lesson."
“Where are we going then? Animus, Giantus, Fae, the Elfling realm?” he asked sleepily.
“No where until you are ready. Now, get on the ground and give me some push ups. Show me how much you want to be my partner.”
She put him through a grind like none he'd even seen during his days playing football. He'd seen his share of tough workouts. They were nothing compared to Vivian.
“You need to be fast, you need to be strong,” she said as they went from exercise to exercise. “But more than that you must be cunning. You must be silent. That is the real advantage. There is always someone stronger than you. Always someone faster than you. And there are people smarter than you. But cunning makes any victory always possible. It's the ace up the sleeve, it's the trump to all adversity.”
“Then why are you working me like this?” he said exhausted.
“Because when cunning fails, then you must resort to the best you have of strength and speed and smarts. I want to be chasing your heels and not you chasing mine when trouble pops up.”
The safe house was small but Vivian found ways to train his speed and coordination in ways that would fascinate any football coach.
She spent weeks on him. Exhausting him mentally and physically but never enough to keep him from making love to her every evening.
* * * * *
Vivian was gone one morning when he woke. It was strange for her to disappear since she had spent weeks with him without interruption. He cursed his deep sleep and wished he was more a light sleeper like Vivian.
Vivian returned with a package under her arm.
“I went shopping for you,” she said tossing him the package.
He opened it and found it contained clothing and a small wooden box not much bigger than his palm. The clothes were made of dark black leather similar to Vivian's. On his dark skin he would blend easily in the shadows. He liked that very much. To contrast, around his neck he wore a bright red scarf which seemed to fit him quite well.
“Do you like?” Vivian asked as he looked at himself in the mirror.
“Love it,” he said. “Could not have chosen better myself. What is in the little box.”
“Weapon,” Vivian said. “I don't know what though and I could not open the box. Magical weapons choose their owners. I can tell this one does not like me, but I have a gut feeling it will take a liking to you.”
It was a small box with a ring of wood on the cover. He touched the ring and it fell off the box and into the palm of his hand.
Xetden! he said without thinking and the ring grew instantly to become a long tube. It felt solid and strong despite being thin and he was certain he could use it hit without risk to damaging it.
“It likes you,” Vivian said smiling.
“Strange stick,” he said. He opened the box and found six darts inside. The darts' fletches were feathered in stiff yet soft feathers of different colors; white, red and pink. They were of fantastic craftsmanship.
“Blowgun,” she said admiring. “Three different types of darts, three types of effects.”
“I wonder what effects they have,” Nathan asked out loud admiring the weapon.
“Can't find out when you need them, mind as well try it out now.”
“And if they are poisonous?” Nathan asked.
“I don't think so,” Vivian said. “Give it a try.
Vivian stood on the other side of the room.
“Try for the neck,” she said exposing a small part of flesh as a target.
Nate removed one of the white fletched darts. He placed it in the blow gun and wondered how he was going to aim. As he drew a deep breath to blow, everything sort of became more clear. He aimed at is target and blew hard. The dart flew out with expert precision and landed exactly on the spot pricking Vivian's skin gently.
She yawned and instantly became sleepy. "Sleep dart," she mumbled as she keeled over and fell asleep to the ground. Nathan lifted her up and placed her on the bed.
She was out like a light. The normally light sleeper was even snoring. He tickled her on the ribs but go no reaction. He pulled off her boots and touched her soles and toes and got no reaction.
He sat next to her a few minutes admiring her as she slept. He then remembered the dart and he looked for it on Vivian's neck, but he could not find it. He frowned until he checked the small case and found that it had been replaced there.
Magic, he thought to himself.
Finally she work up a half hour later refreshed.
“Sleep dart," she said stretching. "Useful. But I still got a couple words in before it got me. Got to keep that in mind. Did you tickle me in my sleep?"
Nathan nodded.
“Any reaction?” she asked.
“None;” he said smiling. “You snored like a pig though.”
She punched him playful in the shoulder. Nate refrained from wincing in pain. She was smaller than he was but just as strong. She packed quite a bit of power in her blows.
“Next!” she said standing ready for the next dart. “This time I'm going to pace back and forth like a sentry.”
Vivian put on a serious face and paced back and forth in front of him like a guard on a tower.
Nathan tried another dart with a stiff red feather fletch. Again, he did not know how he could hit a moving target that was so small. But as soon as his lips touched the blowgun, he knew exactly how to hold the weapon and how hard to blow. The dart flew truly and pricked Vivian again in the neck. She became frozen in mid-pace and she could not move.
Nathan reached under her sole and tickled but there was no response. He tickled all the way up her body but got no reactions. He looked at her frozen stare and he swore that despite the fact here eyes could not move, she was conscious of what was happening around her.
Fifteen minutes later she recovered and she could move once more.
"Paralysis," she said with approval. "Useful as well. Felt the tickling though. Could see and hear everything. Useful for certain."
“Think it is possible to tickle to submission in that state?” Nate asked.
“We'll have to find out, won't we?” she said. “but first the last dart.”
The last dart was fletched with a pink feather. The color reminded him of a flamingo, but it was soft and it felt sure and lightweight.
“This time you're under pressure,” Vivian stated. I'm going to charge you and you have to make the mark before I catch you and tickle you silly.”
“That's quite an incentive,” Nate said.
“If you don't stop me, I'll tickle you out of your mind.”
“Okay,” Nathan said becoming confident with his new weapon. “Fair enough.”
Vivian charged him. Her target on her neck was barely visible and she moved in a zig zag motion.
But again, the weapon seemed to ask him for exactly what it needed and he blew hard at a spot where Vivian was not, but as the dart sailed through the air, Vivian approached the spot and the dart again struck true.
She fell to the ground like a rock. She stood up and dusted herself off.
A dud, thought Nathan. Then Vivian smiled widely and unnaturally. She began to giggle nervously and then she started laughing. Madly. She rolled on the ground in a fetal position trying to protect herself from fingers that were not there. She laughed wildly for five minutes straight until she blacked out and her magic was released. Nathan gently pushed it back into Vivian's forehead and she came to.
"Those are all ways to incapacitate an enemy,” she said admirably.
"Thanks for helping me figure that all out," Nathan said.
"That helps comes at a price," she said. "Your darts still have an extra function," she said.
"Which is?"
She took a rope and tied him tightly with it. He was wrapped up like a tight burrito, barefoot.
She took his feet and placed them in her lap.
"Be gentle," he said toughly.
He knew she liked him acting toughly. It seemed to turn her on when she turned him into a begging little boy.
She teased with her nails making him snort and smile against his will.
She took one of the sleep darts and threatened to prick his with it. He did not see any gain in him taking a nap until she turned the dart around and drew the soft yet stiff white fletching up and down the sole of his foot. It tickled exponentially worse than Vivian's nails. He shouted out loud as he struggled futilely in his bondage.
"That tickles terribly," he said protesting.
"I'm sure it does," Vivian said continuing. Nathan began to laugh uncontrollably and desperately.
“Okay, fair enough, now we know how it works. Let me loose,” Nathan pleaded.
“Not just yet. Now I must do something which you might not find fair," she in a serious tone. “But it is really for your own good.”
“What is that?” he asked.
“Your final test.”
“What?”
“I'm going to let myself be captured by a group of Elflings. It will be your task to rescue me. If you can, then you can consider yourself my partner. If not, then it is better you remain my tickle slave and not venture out. When we are out there I need to know you are 100%.”
“That's dumb. Letting yourself get captured? Then returning me to tickle slave status if all goes bad? Come on, let's talk about all this.”
“Time for talk is over,” she said solemnly. She turned from the feathered tip of the dart to the sharp tip and pricked his sole lightly.
“No, no, wait,” he said as sleep invaded his senses. “You can't do....”
“Good luck,” he heard her say as he fell helplessly asleep.
* * * * *
Vivian pulled his boots back on his feet and rolled his sleeping form onto a hover disk she had stored for such an occasion. She had planned this for some time and she was prepared to move him efficiently.
She admired his handsome form as his chest rose and fell in peaceful sleep.
She loved watching him sleep. She'd wake before him on a normal day and just watch him for long moments until he awoke to her tickling fingers or toes as she stroked his ticklish spots coaxing him awake.
She'd prepared all the wormholes they would need to reach their destination. She'd keep him asleep with a weak rune which would keep him sleeping long enough to do what she planned.
If he failed, she would escape herself and leave him to his own devices. He would never find her again. It was too much a risk to drag around and take care of someone who could not take care of himself.
Keeping him as a tickle slave to toy with would hurt him too much. She would not offer him that option.
She wondered for a moment if it was really that she was concerned for him or for herself.
It mattered not. He'd have to prove he could do it.
Prove he could take care of himself. Prove he could take care of her.
“Show me what you're made of,” she said giving him a kiss on his sleeping lips.
They passed together through the portal.
To be continued....
Next: A Test Worth Passing
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