Here's the next chapter of The Breeding Grounds! Thanks to everyone who's been following the story thus far!
The Breeding Grounds
Chapter 3: Informant
“Sorry about your panties,” said Zoe.
In the distance, Kara could still see her panties in the center of the grass field: a tiny island of white rustling in the wind on the surface of a sea of green. There was no doubt that she could use every bit of protection she could get on this tickle-mad world, but wading back into the grass naked was the last thing in the universe she wanted to do.
“That’s OK,” said Kara, surprised at her own lack of anger. “I guess that makes us even, now.”
“Well, they’re gone now. Unless you want to go back in and get them.” Zoe chuckled and arched an eyebrow.
“No, I’ll consider them gone,” said Kara with a wary smile. “As well as our path back to the ship, for that matter.”
It was true: between them and the crash site was now a vast field of feather grass that both girls shuddered to think of entering again. Their path of retreat was closed off: all that remained now was to forge ahead.
“So where do we go?” asked Zoe.
Kara pointed to the valley below them: an enormous basin filled with a lush, verdant forest. At first glance, all that could be seen was treetops: a nearly unbroken sea of green that stretched off for miles and miles. But in the center, something was out of place. What looked at first like tall, spindly trees were not trees at all. They were metal antennae: the tops of huge steel towers poking out through the treetop cover into the open air above.
“See those?” asked Kara, pointing at the antennae. “I scanned this area before the crash, and those are the only artificial constructions as far as I can see. It looks like a communication array of some kind. And I’ll bet that beneath them, there’s some kind of base or facility. If we find that, I’ll bet we can find Calysta.”
“And hopefully a ship to get us off this planet,” added Zoe hopefully.
“Let’s hope so,” agreed Kara. She hated to admit it, but her old craft had probably seen its last takeoff.
The path downhill to the forest entrance was luckily a very gradual incline: getting down to it looked like about an hour’s walk. The real work would begin, they realized, once they entered the forest. By the best estimates it would be several days’ travel through thick foliage, and neither of them had a scrap of clothing remaining. But only a few steps down the grassy hill, and their progress immediately hit a wall.
“Eeeeeeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!” Both girls immediately burst out in giggles as their feet fell on a large patch of green moss. It looked harmless from a distance, but the moment their bare feet fell on it, it felt like walking on the softest fur carpet they had ever felt. Warmth radiated from the moss, making their soles even more sensitive to the touch of the soft, fuzzy surface. Kara and Zoe squealed and leapt up into the air, dancing across the moss carpet as every footfall tickled more than the last. Pure instinct drove them in different directions, and a moment later Zoe was off the moss and back onto the relative safety of the grass. Kara, however, was not so lucky.
As Kara made her final leap off the furry moss, she collided in midair with what looked like a short bush covered in large, bell-shaped pods. As soon as she touched it, however, several of the pods immediately opened up and expelled a burst of glittery pollen into the air. It sprayed all over Kara’s lower legs and feet, coating them in a bright layer of pollen. A second later, Kara fell to the ground and began screaming with laughter.
“WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT TICKLES!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Kara, lying on her back and kicking her legs into the air. The pollen acted like itching powder on her skin, setting her nerve endings aflame with a million tickling sensations at once. Worst of all, the bottoms of her feet had been exposed to the pollen blast, and her sensitive soles were now covered in the tickling pollen.
“GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!! WOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!!!” begged Kara, kicking with her pink, glittery soles in Zoe’s direction.
Zoe grabbed one of Kara’ ankles in midair, trying to help her companion. She tried her hardest to brush the pollen off Kara’s legs with her hands, but the brightly-colored dust stayed firmly in place.
“HURRY!!! HURRY!!! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” cried Kara. The tickling was becoming worse by the second; it felt as though the pollen was settling into her skin and tickling her in ways she did not even know about until now.
“I’m trying!” Zoe insisted. To try and keep Kara’s kicking legs under control, she forced them to the ground and sat on her ankles, pinning them with her thighs as a hysterical Kara tried her hardest to buck her off. After gentle brushing failed to work, Zoe tried to scratch it off with her fingernails, even running her nails over Kara’s hyper-ticklish soles to try and get the pollen off. But it stayed firmly in place: all she accomplished was to expose Kara’s feet to new forms of torture.
“OH NOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!! NOT THAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!!!” begged Kara. The combination of soft, feathery itching and the hard, rigid fingernails was too much for her to bear. Even though she knew Zoe was trying to help her, her ticklish body fought Zoe with all of her might.
Zoe was about to give up, and then she spotted something. The trickles of sweat running down Kara’s flushed feet were not clear. They were glittery. The moisture of the sweat was rinsing off the deadly pollen! But Kara could not sweat enough to cleanse her feet entirely. And that left only on option.
“You’re not going to like this,” Zoe cautioned, “but it’s the only way. Now brace yourself, because this is going to tickle like hell.”
With her warning delivered, Zoe reached down and ran her tongue all along the length of Kara’s massive, ticklish feet.
What followed could barely be described as laughter, and more a cry of pure ticklish agony that split the very sky. Zoe’s long, cooling tongue licked Kara’s flaming size fifteens with loving tenderness, leaving a long, moist trail in its wake. As much as the pollen tickled, however, having her sensitized soles licked was a hundred times worse. Kara’s body summoned up strength she did not even know she had to throw Zoe off, even though she knew Zoe was her only hope to escape the pollen. But Zoe clamped on to her ankles like a rider on a wild beast, slurping her soles from toe to heel, cleaning every square inch of pollen-covered flesh.
“STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!! STAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPPPP!!! I’LL DOOHOOHOOHOOHOO ANYTHING!!!” Kara promised, desperately bargaining for her sanity. But Zoe could not be deterred from her task. After carefully licking the tops of Kara’s feet, almost as sensitive as the soles, she turned to the last place that pollen could be hiding: between Kara’s long, shapely toes.
Kara screamed hysterically as Zoe plunged that first toe between her lips, sucking on it like candy with her eyes closed in the pleasure of her work. Babbling beyond speech, Kara could only howl and beat the grassy ground with her fists as this was repeated over and over: her ticklish toes licked and slurped by Zoe’s amorous tongue, cleaning the pollen from her skin and enjoying every last second of it. Just when Kara thought that her resistance was gone, and she would surely be tickled to death by her companion’s ministrations, suddenly there was relief. Zoe removed the last toe from her mouth, and the tickling was over. Kara’s feet and ankles were coated in Zoe’s saliva, but every last trace of the pollen was gone. The nightmare had passed.
“You…enjoyed that…didn’t you…you bitch…” panted Kara with a friendly but exhausted smile.
“That’s a strange way to show your gratitude,” answered Zoe, smiling back. “I should have left you to deal with that pollen by yourself.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t…pass up…a chance like that…” said Kara, chucking weakly. She collapsed on her back, gasping for breath for several minutes before either of them talked.
“But seriously, what kind of planet is this?” asked Zoe, looking around. “Everything we’ve encountered here has tried to tickle us insane! I’ve never even heard of any place like this!”
“I think I have a guess,” answered Kara. “I’ve heard of planets that have been terraformed not for mass colonization, but for a private audience. Designer planets, specially created for rich buyers to use as their own personal playground. When an entire world is crafted to suit the needs of one person, they can create it any way they want.”
“Who would create a world specifically designed to tickle people?” asked Zoe.
“I think we know the who,” answered Kara with a frown. “And as for the why, it could just be for entertainment. I knew Calysta, and tickle torture was her favorite method of persuasion. I guess it makes sense this is what she would buy when she struck it rich.”
“Why wasn’t I seeing any of this money?” Zoe grumbled, looking around. “Enough cash to buy a private planet, and she wouldn’t even reimburse me for fuel? You know, one time she told me she couldn’t afford to pay for a docking permit on one of my jobs? I had to land on a different planet and take a shuttle out of my own pocket!”
“Why did you put up with that?” asked Kara. “I mean, the kind of work you did, didn’t it bother you?”
Zoe shrugged. “Back when I was a bounty hunter, the people I caught went to jail. Working for Calysta, the people I catch get paid huge salaries to work for her on a private planet. I feel sorrier for the people I used to hunt.”
Kara shrugged back with ambivalent acceptance; she had generally found that not overthinking things was the best policy in her line of work. “Well, if you’re OK with the work, at least it sounds like you could use a change of employer,” she pointed out.
“I wouldn’t mind being my own boss, if this is what the rewards are like,” said Zoe, looking around. “Maybe we’ll find something in that facility down there that could get me on that track.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Kara with a smile.
The trip to the forest’s edge took longer than they had expected: the entire way, both of them were constantly on the lookout for any new ticklish surprises the planet had to offer. Painstakingly avoiding contact with everything possible, they ended up taking a twisting path to avoid suspicious-looking vegetation and other obstacles. But by mid-afternoon, both of them stood at the edge of the forest, still standing and with a slightly greater understanding of what was safe on this planet and what wasn’t.
“I’m not looking forward to going in there,” said Zoe, looking at the thick underbrush with concern.
Kara nodded. It was true: avoiding the tickling plant life out in the open air was one thing, but entering a thick forest of possibly sentient plants without any clothing to protect their vulnerable, naked bodies was almost foolhardy.
“And just when we were starting to learn what to avoid,” complained Kara.
“You mean, everything?” responded Zoe.
“Good point.” Kara walked over to the edge of the forest and examined the foliage. The trees hung heavy with deep green leaves which looked unremarkable from a distance, but upon getting closer, the leaves were shaped like green, wispy feathers. Kara reached up to touch one of them with the back of her hand. She shuddered: it was exactly like the touch of a feather.
Zoe saw her reaction and shuddered as well. “And we’re going to have to be brushing past those, like this?” she gestured at her own naked body.
“I don’t like it either,” said Kara, sighing. “But if we’re going to—“
Kara was cut off mid-sentence by a sound that they had not heard since they landed here: the sound of a motorized vehicle approaching. Instinctively both of them dove behind a large rock, hiding themselves from sight as the vehicle came closer. Peering out from around the corner, they could see it coming out of the forest: a massive hover-transport breaking through the trees, a strange mechanical anomaly on this pastoral planet. It was the first real confirmation they had gotten that they were not alone here.
The transport came to a stop just outside the forest, its repulsion system hissing gently as the vehicle lowered itself onto the ground for a landing. The doors opened, and three figures stepped out. One was a short, petite woman no more than five feet tall. She wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and kept her black hair tied back in a bun. She wore a long white lab coat that came down to her ankles, and a pair of black flats. Flanking her were two much larger, identically-dressed security guards, both of whom wore body armor and face-obscuring helmets. Clearly they were her protective escort.
“Are you going to be OK here, Dr. Kim?” asked one of the guards as they stepped out of the hovercraft. “We can stay if you want.”
“I’ll be fine,” said the Doctor with a wave of her hand. “Just unload the specimens from the back and you can pick me up later.”
The guard shrugged, and she and her partner opened the hatch at the back of the hovercraft. A moment later they removed two girls: stripped naked and round with white cloth strips from their shoulders down to their ankles, with their bare feet peeking out at the bottom. The girls struggled in the hands of the guards, but their protestations were in silence: each of them wore gags.
“Where do you want them?” asked one of the guards.
“Over there, right next to the vine pit,” answered Dr. Kim, shuffling through some papers on a clipboard. Kara and Zoe shuddered as they saw it: it was the same tickling foliage that their spacecraft had landed in. Those girls were in for a torturous ordeal.
“That’ll be all,” said Dr. Kim, as the guards got back into the hovercraft. “I think…four hours should be enough for observation.” She smiled sadistically. “Come back around to pick me up then.”
As the hovercraft’s engines started up again and the vehicle disappeared into the forest, Dr. Kim calmly opened up a briefcase full of equipment and began going through her tools of the trade.
“Now, first things first,” said Dr. Kim, speaking to the two bound and gagged girls. “Before we begin observing what an effective tickler this new species of vine is, we have to get its attention. You girls are a bit too far away for it to notice you, but luckily I have a pheromone here specially designed to get its attention.” She held up a spray bottle containing a dark blue liquid, obviously enjoying herself as the two girls struggled even harder in terror.
“Fight all you want, you won’t be able to break those strips,” said Dr. Kim to her mute companions. “Of course, the vines will have no difficulty untying the knots in back. Now, shall we?”
“I think it’s time for a change in plans, Doctor,” boomed Kara from directly behind Dr. Kim. The Doctor had been focusing so much on gloating over her victims, she had neglected to notice Kara and Zoe creeping up behind her. The Doctor started with alarm, dropping the bottle on the ground as she shrieked with surprise.
“Who are you?!” Dr. Kim demanded as she spun around to face these two massive, muscular, naked Amazons towering several feet above her. “N—no, it doesn’t matter! You shouldn’t be here! I’m calling—“
“—Nobody,” finished Zoe, as she grabbed the Doctor’s communicator out of her hands before she could activate it. “Now, what were you planning to do to these two defenseless girls, hmm?”
“Give me that back this instant!” demanded the Doctor, jumping up to grab it as Zoe dangled the communicator tauntingly above her head, laughing.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands,” said Zoe. “Now, why don’t you start by telling us what you’re doing here, and who you’re working for.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything!” protested the Doctor, and almost as soon as the words escaped her mouth she looked as though she regretted them. She clearly understood that she was in a very bad situation.
“Oh, I think we can get you to be helpful,” said Kara. Effortlessly, she held the short, willowy woman to the ground, straddling her waist and pinning her down. “Now I couldn’t help noticing that you were staying very far away from that vine pit. That wouldn’t be for a reason, would it?” And as though to answer her own question, Kara slipped off the doctor’s shoes and cast them aside.
“N—no! You can’t!” protested Dr. Kim, struggling hopelessly for freedom with her bare feet wiggling in the open air.
“Oh, I think we can,” said Kara with a wicked grin. She reached over to a nearby branch and plucked off one of the feather-shaped leaves, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. “Now, this is your last chance, doctor. Tell us what we want to know, or else—“
“—Koochie koo,” finished Zoe with an eager smile.
“No! Please! I can’t!” pleaded Dr. Kim, wide-eyed.
“You heard the lady,” said Zoe. And with a nod and a smile, Kara slid the feathery leaf across Dr. Kim’s bare soles.
“YEEEAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Both Kara and Zoe were delighted to see that the good doctor was every bit as ticklish as they were themselves. As the first touch of the feather on her bare soles, Dr. Kim burst into hysterics and began fighting with strength that was surprising for her thin frame. But still Kara had no difficulty holding her down as she feathered the doctor’s feet, sending her into paroxysms of girlish, high-pitched laughter.
“Tickle tickle, doctor,” taunted Kara, stroking the doctor’s smooth insteps with her soft leaf. It was every bit as devastating as a down feather, and the forest was full of these tickling tools. It was the perfect place for an interrogation.
“STAAHAHAHAHAPP!!! STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!! I CAAHAHAHAHAN”T TAKE IT!!!” pleaded Dr. Kim, as Kara used the stiff tip of the leaf to focus on the centers of her arches. Tears poured down her cheeks, and her thick-rimmed glasses began slipping off her face as she shook with laughter.
“I’m sure you can’t doctor,” agreed Kara. “I’m sure these pampered feet of yours aren’t used to getting the same treatment you give your test subjects, am I right?”
“It’s not quite the same until you know what it feels like, is it?” asked Zoe. “I say this bitch needs a good, old-fashioned tickling.” And no longer content to watch from the sidelines, she plucked her own feathery leaf and went to work feathering one of the doctor’s feet while Kara worked the other.
“OH NOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!!” howled the doctor, as both of her ticklish feet now fell under attack simultaneously. The soft leaves flicked over her hyper-sensitive soles, both of them held by women who knew from first-hand experience how truly effective feathers could be against ticklish feet. Their expert hands made the feathery leaves a hundred times more dangerous, tickling the doctor’s petite tootsies with the kind of satisfied sadism that only the outrage of a truly ticklish girl could bring to bear.
The Doctor, meanwhile, was clearly as ticklish as they come. The soft feathers dancing across her feet had her in the throes of hysteria, and her soles were as smooth and sensitive as if they had been freshly pedicured. She emitted high-pitched, staccato shrieks as the feathers quickly flicked across her insteps, which turned to prolonged howls when the feathers made long, slow slides across her arches, and finally maniacal cries for mercy when the girls bent back her toes and feathered the ticklish undersides. Kara and Zoe worked in tandem, their techniques always different enough to make the tickling feel random, but just enough in sync so that they hit the Doctor’s weak spots together.
“Ready to talk yet, Doctor?” asked Kara. “Or do these tickly feet need more feathering to convince you?”
“I CAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANN’T!!!” pleaded Dr. Kim. “SHE’LL KILL MEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEE!!!”
“Then perhaps we need to show you that the alternative can be worse,” answered Kara. And with that, both she and Zoe cast aside their feathers and launched a full assault on the Doctor’s ticklish feet with their sharp fingernails.
“BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!” After the soft, teasing touch of the feathers, the sudden change to long, rigid nails raking across her ticklish feet was too much for the Doctor to bear. Twenty sharp fingernails skittered across the tiny, ticklish surfaces, darting from one soft spot to the next, pressing into the soft, pliant flesh that offered no resistance against her expert torturers. The Doctor, fighting with the hysterical strength of the nearly-broken tickle victim, summoned up such desperate power that she almost managed to buck off the massive weight of the muscular Kara on top of her. But she stayed down: helpless, motionless, and unbearably ticklish with her feet at the mercy of two girls who would not take “no” for an answer. At last, she could hold out no longer, and through the gales of laughter, she cried out the only words that could save her.
“CALYSTA!!! I WORK FOR CALYSTA!!! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“Jackpot,” said Kara with a smile.
The Breeding Grounds
Chapter 3: Informant
“Sorry about your panties,” said Zoe.
In the distance, Kara could still see her panties in the center of the grass field: a tiny island of white rustling in the wind on the surface of a sea of green. There was no doubt that she could use every bit of protection she could get on this tickle-mad world, but wading back into the grass naked was the last thing in the universe she wanted to do.
“That’s OK,” said Kara, surprised at her own lack of anger. “I guess that makes us even, now.”
“Well, they’re gone now. Unless you want to go back in and get them.” Zoe chuckled and arched an eyebrow.
“No, I’ll consider them gone,” said Kara with a wary smile. “As well as our path back to the ship, for that matter.”
It was true: between them and the crash site was now a vast field of feather grass that both girls shuddered to think of entering again. Their path of retreat was closed off: all that remained now was to forge ahead.
“So where do we go?” asked Zoe.
Kara pointed to the valley below them: an enormous basin filled with a lush, verdant forest. At first glance, all that could be seen was treetops: a nearly unbroken sea of green that stretched off for miles and miles. But in the center, something was out of place. What looked at first like tall, spindly trees were not trees at all. They were metal antennae: the tops of huge steel towers poking out through the treetop cover into the open air above.
“See those?” asked Kara, pointing at the antennae. “I scanned this area before the crash, and those are the only artificial constructions as far as I can see. It looks like a communication array of some kind. And I’ll bet that beneath them, there’s some kind of base or facility. If we find that, I’ll bet we can find Calysta.”
“And hopefully a ship to get us off this planet,” added Zoe hopefully.
“Let’s hope so,” agreed Kara. She hated to admit it, but her old craft had probably seen its last takeoff.
The path downhill to the forest entrance was luckily a very gradual incline: getting down to it looked like about an hour’s walk. The real work would begin, they realized, once they entered the forest. By the best estimates it would be several days’ travel through thick foliage, and neither of them had a scrap of clothing remaining. But only a few steps down the grassy hill, and their progress immediately hit a wall.
“Eeeeeeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!” Both girls immediately burst out in giggles as their feet fell on a large patch of green moss. It looked harmless from a distance, but the moment their bare feet fell on it, it felt like walking on the softest fur carpet they had ever felt. Warmth radiated from the moss, making their soles even more sensitive to the touch of the soft, fuzzy surface. Kara and Zoe squealed and leapt up into the air, dancing across the moss carpet as every footfall tickled more than the last. Pure instinct drove them in different directions, and a moment later Zoe was off the moss and back onto the relative safety of the grass. Kara, however, was not so lucky.
As Kara made her final leap off the furry moss, she collided in midair with what looked like a short bush covered in large, bell-shaped pods. As soon as she touched it, however, several of the pods immediately opened up and expelled a burst of glittery pollen into the air. It sprayed all over Kara’s lower legs and feet, coating them in a bright layer of pollen. A second later, Kara fell to the ground and began screaming with laughter.
“WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! IT TICKLES!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” screamed Kara, lying on her back and kicking her legs into the air. The pollen acted like itching powder on her skin, setting her nerve endings aflame with a million tickling sensations at once. Worst of all, the bottoms of her feet had been exposed to the pollen blast, and her sensitive soles were now covered in the tickling pollen.
“GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!! WOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!!!” begged Kara, kicking with her pink, glittery soles in Zoe’s direction.
Zoe grabbed one of Kara’ ankles in midair, trying to help her companion. She tried her hardest to brush the pollen off Kara’s legs with her hands, but the brightly-colored dust stayed firmly in place.
“HURRY!!! HURRY!!! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” cried Kara. The tickling was becoming worse by the second; it felt as though the pollen was settling into her skin and tickling her in ways she did not even know about until now.
“I’m trying!” Zoe insisted. To try and keep Kara’s kicking legs under control, she forced them to the ground and sat on her ankles, pinning them with her thighs as a hysterical Kara tried her hardest to buck her off. After gentle brushing failed to work, Zoe tried to scratch it off with her fingernails, even running her nails over Kara’s hyper-ticklish soles to try and get the pollen off. But it stayed firmly in place: all she accomplished was to expose Kara’s feet to new forms of torture.
“OH NOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!! NOT THAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!!!” begged Kara. The combination of soft, feathery itching and the hard, rigid fingernails was too much for her to bear. Even though she knew Zoe was trying to help her, her ticklish body fought Zoe with all of her might.
Zoe was about to give up, and then she spotted something. The trickles of sweat running down Kara’s flushed feet were not clear. They were glittery. The moisture of the sweat was rinsing off the deadly pollen! But Kara could not sweat enough to cleanse her feet entirely. And that left only on option.
“You’re not going to like this,” Zoe cautioned, “but it’s the only way. Now brace yourself, because this is going to tickle like hell.”
With her warning delivered, Zoe reached down and ran her tongue all along the length of Kara’s massive, ticklish feet.
What followed could barely be described as laughter, and more a cry of pure ticklish agony that split the very sky. Zoe’s long, cooling tongue licked Kara’s flaming size fifteens with loving tenderness, leaving a long, moist trail in its wake. As much as the pollen tickled, however, having her sensitized soles licked was a hundred times worse. Kara’s body summoned up strength she did not even know she had to throw Zoe off, even though she knew Zoe was her only hope to escape the pollen. But Zoe clamped on to her ankles like a rider on a wild beast, slurping her soles from toe to heel, cleaning every square inch of pollen-covered flesh.
“STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!! STAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPPPP!!! I’LL DOOHOOHOOHOOHOO ANYTHING!!!” Kara promised, desperately bargaining for her sanity. But Zoe could not be deterred from her task. After carefully licking the tops of Kara’s feet, almost as sensitive as the soles, she turned to the last place that pollen could be hiding: between Kara’s long, shapely toes.
Kara screamed hysterically as Zoe plunged that first toe between her lips, sucking on it like candy with her eyes closed in the pleasure of her work. Babbling beyond speech, Kara could only howl and beat the grassy ground with her fists as this was repeated over and over: her ticklish toes licked and slurped by Zoe’s amorous tongue, cleaning the pollen from her skin and enjoying every last second of it. Just when Kara thought that her resistance was gone, and she would surely be tickled to death by her companion’s ministrations, suddenly there was relief. Zoe removed the last toe from her mouth, and the tickling was over. Kara’s feet and ankles were coated in Zoe’s saliva, but every last trace of the pollen was gone. The nightmare had passed.
“You…enjoyed that…didn’t you…you bitch…” panted Kara with a friendly but exhausted smile.
“That’s a strange way to show your gratitude,” answered Zoe, smiling back. “I should have left you to deal with that pollen by yourself.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t…pass up…a chance like that…” said Kara, chucking weakly. She collapsed on her back, gasping for breath for several minutes before either of them talked.
“But seriously, what kind of planet is this?” asked Zoe, looking around. “Everything we’ve encountered here has tried to tickle us insane! I’ve never even heard of any place like this!”
“I think I have a guess,” answered Kara. “I’ve heard of planets that have been terraformed not for mass colonization, but for a private audience. Designer planets, specially created for rich buyers to use as their own personal playground. When an entire world is crafted to suit the needs of one person, they can create it any way they want.”
“Who would create a world specifically designed to tickle people?” asked Zoe.
“I think we know the who,” answered Kara with a frown. “And as for the why, it could just be for entertainment. I knew Calysta, and tickle torture was her favorite method of persuasion. I guess it makes sense this is what she would buy when she struck it rich.”
“Why wasn’t I seeing any of this money?” Zoe grumbled, looking around. “Enough cash to buy a private planet, and she wouldn’t even reimburse me for fuel? You know, one time she told me she couldn’t afford to pay for a docking permit on one of my jobs? I had to land on a different planet and take a shuttle out of my own pocket!”
“Why did you put up with that?” asked Kara. “I mean, the kind of work you did, didn’t it bother you?”
Zoe shrugged. “Back when I was a bounty hunter, the people I caught went to jail. Working for Calysta, the people I catch get paid huge salaries to work for her on a private planet. I feel sorrier for the people I used to hunt.”
Kara shrugged back with ambivalent acceptance; she had generally found that not overthinking things was the best policy in her line of work. “Well, if you’re OK with the work, at least it sounds like you could use a change of employer,” she pointed out.
“I wouldn’t mind being my own boss, if this is what the rewards are like,” said Zoe, looking around. “Maybe we’ll find something in that facility down there that could get me on that track.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Kara with a smile.
The trip to the forest’s edge took longer than they had expected: the entire way, both of them were constantly on the lookout for any new ticklish surprises the planet had to offer. Painstakingly avoiding contact with everything possible, they ended up taking a twisting path to avoid suspicious-looking vegetation and other obstacles. But by mid-afternoon, both of them stood at the edge of the forest, still standing and with a slightly greater understanding of what was safe on this planet and what wasn’t.
“I’m not looking forward to going in there,” said Zoe, looking at the thick underbrush with concern.
Kara nodded. It was true: avoiding the tickling plant life out in the open air was one thing, but entering a thick forest of possibly sentient plants without any clothing to protect their vulnerable, naked bodies was almost foolhardy.
“And just when we were starting to learn what to avoid,” complained Kara.
“You mean, everything?” responded Zoe.
“Good point.” Kara walked over to the edge of the forest and examined the foliage. The trees hung heavy with deep green leaves which looked unremarkable from a distance, but upon getting closer, the leaves were shaped like green, wispy feathers. Kara reached up to touch one of them with the back of her hand. She shuddered: it was exactly like the touch of a feather.
Zoe saw her reaction and shuddered as well. “And we’re going to have to be brushing past those, like this?” she gestured at her own naked body.
“I don’t like it either,” said Kara, sighing. “But if we’re going to—“
Kara was cut off mid-sentence by a sound that they had not heard since they landed here: the sound of a motorized vehicle approaching. Instinctively both of them dove behind a large rock, hiding themselves from sight as the vehicle came closer. Peering out from around the corner, they could see it coming out of the forest: a massive hover-transport breaking through the trees, a strange mechanical anomaly on this pastoral planet. It was the first real confirmation they had gotten that they were not alone here.
The transport came to a stop just outside the forest, its repulsion system hissing gently as the vehicle lowered itself onto the ground for a landing. The doors opened, and three figures stepped out. One was a short, petite woman no more than five feet tall. She wore thick, black-rimmed glasses and kept her black hair tied back in a bun. She wore a long white lab coat that came down to her ankles, and a pair of black flats. Flanking her were two much larger, identically-dressed security guards, both of whom wore body armor and face-obscuring helmets. Clearly they were her protective escort.
“Are you going to be OK here, Dr. Kim?” asked one of the guards as they stepped out of the hovercraft. “We can stay if you want.”
“I’ll be fine,” said the Doctor with a wave of her hand. “Just unload the specimens from the back and you can pick me up later.”
The guard shrugged, and she and her partner opened the hatch at the back of the hovercraft. A moment later they removed two girls: stripped naked and round with white cloth strips from their shoulders down to their ankles, with their bare feet peeking out at the bottom. The girls struggled in the hands of the guards, but their protestations were in silence: each of them wore gags.
“Where do you want them?” asked one of the guards.
“Over there, right next to the vine pit,” answered Dr. Kim, shuffling through some papers on a clipboard. Kara and Zoe shuddered as they saw it: it was the same tickling foliage that their spacecraft had landed in. Those girls were in for a torturous ordeal.
“That’ll be all,” said Dr. Kim, as the guards got back into the hovercraft. “I think…four hours should be enough for observation.” She smiled sadistically. “Come back around to pick me up then.”
As the hovercraft’s engines started up again and the vehicle disappeared into the forest, Dr. Kim calmly opened up a briefcase full of equipment and began going through her tools of the trade.
“Now, first things first,” said Dr. Kim, speaking to the two bound and gagged girls. “Before we begin observing what an effective tickler this new species of vine is, we have to get its attention. You girls are a bit too far away for it to notice you, but luckily I have a pheromone here specially designed to get its attention.” She held up a spray bottle containing a dark blue liquid, obviously enjoying herself as the two girls struggled even harder in terror.
“Fight all you want, you won’t be able to break those strips,” said Dr. Kim to her mute companions. “Of course, the vines will have no difficulty untying the knots in back. Now, shall we?”
“I think it’s time for a change in plans, Doctor,” boomed Kara from directly behind Dr. Kim. The Doctor had been focusing so much on gloating over her victims, she had neglected to notice Kara and Zoe creeping up behind her. The Doctor started with alarm, dropping the bottle on the ground as she shrieked with surprise.
“Who are you?!” Dr. Kim demanded as she spun around to face these two massive, muscular, naked Amazons towering several feet above her. “N—no, it doesn’t matter! You shouldn’t be here! I’m calling—“
“—Nobody,” finished Zoe, as she grabbed the Doctor’s communicator out of her hands before she could activate it. “Now, what were you planning to do to these two defenseless girls, hmm?”
“Give me that back this instant!” demanded the Doctor, jumping up to grab it as Zoe dangled the communicator tauntingly above her head, laughing.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands,” said Zoe. “Now, why don’t you start by telling us what you’re doing here, and who you’re working for.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything!” protested the Doctor, and almost as soon as the words escaped her mouth she looked as though she regretted them. She clearly understood that she was in a very bad situation.
“Oh, I think we can get you to be helpful,” said Kara. Effortlessly, she held the short, willowy woman to the ground, straddling her waist and pinning her down. “Now I couldn’t help noticing that you were staying very far away from that vine pit. That wouldn’t be for a reason, would it?” And as though to answer her own question, Kara slipped off the doctor’s shoes and cast them aside.
“N—no! You can’t!” protested Dr. Kim, struggling hopelessly for freedom with her bare feet wiggling in the open air.
“Oh, I think we can,” said Kara with a wicked grin. She reached over to a nearby branch and plucked off one of the feather-shaped leaves, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. “Now, this is your last chance, doctor. Tell us what we want to know, or else—“
“—Koochie koo,” finished Zoe with an eager smile.
“No! Please! I can’t!” pleaded Dr. Kim, wide-eyed.
“You heard the lady,” said Zoe. And with a nod and a smile, Kara slid the feathery leaf across Dr. Kim’s bare soles.
“YEEEAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Both Kara and Zoe were delighted to see that the good doctor was every bit as ticklish as they were themselves. As the first touch of the feather on her bare soles, Dr. Kim burst into hysterics and began fighting with strength that was surprising for her thin frame. But still Kara had no difficulty holding her down as she feathered the doctor’s feet, sending her into paroxysms of girlish, high-pitched laughter.
“Tickle tickle, doctor,” taunted Kara, stroking the doctor’s smooth insteps with her soft leaf. It was every bit as devastating as a down feather, and the forest was full of these tickling tools. It was the perfect place for an interrogation.
“STAAHAHAHAHAPP!!! STAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPPP!!! I CAAHAHAHAHAN”T TAKE IT!!!” pleaded Dr. Kim, as Kara used the stiff tip of the leaf to focus on the centers of her arches. Tears poured down her cheeks, and her thick-rimmed glasses began slipping off her face as she shook with laughter.
“I’m sure you can’t doctor,” agreed Kara. “I’m sure these pampered feet of yours aren’t used to getting the same treatment you give your test subjects, am I right?”
“It’s not quite the same until you know what it feels like, is it?” asked Zoe. “I say this bitch needs a good, old-fashioned tickling.” And no longer content to watch from the sidelines, she plucked her own feathery leaf and went to work feathering one of the doctor’s feet while Kara worked the other.
“OH NOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO!!!” howled the doctor, as both of her ticklish feet now fell under attack simultaneously. The soft leaves flicked over her hyper-sensitive soles, both of them held by women who knew from first-hand experience how truly effective feathers could be against ticklish feet. Their expert hands made the feathery leaves a hundred times more dangerous, tickling the doctor’s petite tootsies with the kind of satisfied sadism that only the outrage of a truly ticklish girl could bring to bear.
The Doctor, meanwhile, was clearly as ticklish as they come. The soft feathers dancing across her feet had her in the throes of hysteria, and her soles were as smooth and sensitive as if they had been freshly pedicured. She emitted high-pitched, staccato shrieks as the feathers quickly flicked across her insteps, which turned to prolonged howls when the feathers made long, slow slides across her arches, and finally maniacal cries for mercy when the girls bent back her toes and feathered the ticklish undersides. Kara and Zoe worked in tandem, their techniques always different enough to make the tickling feel random, but just enough in sync so that they hit the Doctor’s weak spots together.
“Ready to talk yet, Doctor?” asked Kara. “Or do these tickly feet need more feathering to convince you?”
“I CAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANN’T!!!” pleaded Dr. Kim. “SHE’LL KILL MEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEE!!!”
“Then perhaps we need to show you that the alternative can be worse,” answered Kara. And with that, both she and Zoe cast aside their feathers and launched a full assault on the Doctor’s ticklish feet with their sharp fingernails.
“BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!” After the soft, teasing touch of the feathers, the sudden change to long, rigid nails raking across her ticklish feet was too much for the Doctor to bear. Twenty sharp fingernails skittered across the tiny, ticklish surfaces, darting from one soft spot to the next, pressing into the soft, pliant flesh that offered no resistance against her expert torturers. The Doctor, fighting with the hysterical strength of the nearly-broken tickle victim, summoned up such desperate power that she almost managed to buck off the massive weight of the muscular Kara on top of her. But she stayed down: helpless, motionless, and unbearably ticklish with her feet at the mercy of two girls who would not take “no” for an answer. At last, she could hold out no longer, and through the gales of laughter, she cried out the only words that could save her.
“CALYSTA!!! I WORK FOR CALYSTA!!! WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“Jackpot,” said Kara with a smile.
