"Yeah. Two mouthfuls maybe. Hard to believe. Little worm-like thing. Real different from the gristle he’d just about gutted me with. Sheesh. To look at that thing–" he held up his hands about fifty centimeters apart– "a meal in itself, you’d say. Well, guess again, chum. Once is enough."

I was shaking, I think. Anyway, I don’t even remember opening the flap of my sling and getting out a knife. I suppose it wasn’t real smart to give it to someone like that.

"Listen, mister", I said, holding the knife to help me be brave. "Was that an offer to share?"

"Sure. There’s plenty. Besides, you look like you could use something to eat. You must have been giving it all to the kits? They look fine and plump. That’s why I thought they might be–"

I cut him off. "I’m no good at making fire", I said. "I hope you know how."

"Oh, I can make fire", he said. The way he was looking at me made me very nervous. But I was worth more to him alive than dead. He had to know that, even if he was a–

He got to his feet. Awkwardly, I thought. He was a little shorter than me. But he probably weighed more, because he had a heavier body–big arms, wide chest.

He came toward me, slowly. I thought he was staggering. He was staring at me. I’d never seen a look like that. "I can make fire", he said, again. "Oh, yes. I’ll make us a fire. More than one kind of fire."

I started to back away.

"C’mere we have more important things to do, white-balls, than eat", he said, reaching out toward me.

Why I didn’t stab him I’ll never know. I was too afraid to move, perhaps. But the kits were sort of in the way, too.

The thug was actually after Mickey. He was reaching for Mickey. He took the kit out of my arms. The poor thing struggled and squeaked. Me, I was frozen with terror. I could just watch. But the rupellid held the kit to his chest very gently, and gave Mickey’s face a lick or two. Those big arms–Mickey looked so little. He muttered something in Mickey’s ear about taking it easy, everything being all right. He was purring. The rupellid, I mean. He licked the kit’s muzzle a couple more times, and to my astonishment–it had been a while since he’d heard anyone purr!–the boy put his arms around the brute’s neck and licked back. Turning, the brute lurched a few steps and put the kit down, back in the tall grass–we were standing right at the edge of the trampled down area. He turned back to me.

"C’mon", he said, indicating Tim with his eyes. I caught a fresh whiff of hkshihh and looked down. He wasn’t black, but I could see the syrup pooling up in the mouth of his penis-sheath. "C’mon kitten" he said. I had this weird idea that he was talking to me, not the boy. I felt like I was already a ghost, or something. And a normal man wouldn’t have done what I did: I took Tim off my shoulder and handed him to this horrible rupellid. Who once more startled me by, well, the tenderness he showed toward the little kit, licking him and smoothing his fur and purring reassuringly before he put him on the ground next to Mickey.

The little brothers scuttled back into the grass a half meter or so and held on to one another. I could see them watching us with big eyes.

The cat staggered back to me. He put his big arms around my shoulders and gave me a hug that made me gasp. He reeked of hot hkshihh.

"Lie down, white-belly", he said. His voice was husky, rasping. "Lie down and give me that wasted rump of yours. We’ve got important work to do."

I struggled and cried.

He held me tight. "Knock it off", he said. "Relax. You need me", he said. "And I want you. If that isn’t a good fit, tell me what is?"

I was surprised by his tone. As rough as his voice was, it sounded soft. Amorous even. Coming from such a total beast.

As he moved his body, I could feel something between our bellies which hadn’t been there before. And I could scent SkhtuS. Heavy, musky. Incredibly masculine. Pungent. It was like being downwind of a wlkatar.

Well, there we were, me on my back and this–rupellid!–lying on my chest. I was practically dizzy with the smell of his hkshihh, but the smell of his fur was wonderful too. And he was so strong. I figured it was because I’d never been cold so long, but I was so excited that for a second I thought I was showing black already. I raised my legs and wrapped my tail around his thigh. I was shaking. Shaking with the mere thought of this creature’s black driving my seed.

I could feel the pressure of his body between my thighs. He was moving around, sliding around in his hkshihh, like we were linking. But he didn’t drive my cock. Not right away. He just lay there, pressing his body to mine. Squirming between my legs. Butting me with his head a little. Muttering about how he was going to make me a man, a real man, too. He said my ass was so narrow he thought I was a boy. Me, I knew this guy on my chest was no boy. I kept thinking I was so excited because I was cold and so lonely. But his big arms and shoulders, no one–

I was feeling so beautiful I could almost swear we were already linked. But I could clearly scent his SkhtuS, in addition to the hkshihh, so he couldn’t be actually inside me. I remember being frightened at feeling so beautiful. I started to lick his cheeks.

He grabbed my muzzle in his paw and just yanked it away from his face. Very rough. I was shocked. And for a second I thought I was going to be the second corpse this thug would snap his nuts into.

"Cut that out", he said. "That’s girl stuff. You’re no girl. You’re a cunt-fucking man."

And as he said the words "man", with that odd emphasis, I felt something stretching my tail-hole. As he pulled his black into me, the sound in his throat–well–and as for me, I’ll never forget what a startling feeling it was. It was unbelievable. It was so beautiful. But painful at the same time. A funny kind of pain, an ache. I’d never felt–it was–well, once my twig was broken I’d linked with Drushka thousands of times. And with dozens and dozens of other wlkon at wlkatar. Nothing felt like this. It was almost like being opened. Maybe it was just because both experiences were a little scary. Maybe it was just because I’d been cold so long. But I doubted it. More likely it was just what it felt like: my "wasted rump", as this pirate had called it, was filled with the biggest black I’d ever–

But to be honest, I don’t know what I was thinking. It was too intense. He was the intense one, to begin with. But these things are catching. That’s what I told myself. I was still appalled even at the idea of being linked by such a savage. And a total stranger! Appalled and frightened. But looking back on it, I was helpless, paralyzed almost by the sheer force of his brutish intensity. I was shaking with fear, at least I thought it was fear. Later, when I had a chance to think about it, and torment myself over my own unspeakable behavior, I realized it was desire. I wanted our bodies to flow together even before his black found my tail-hole. Wanted it so badly I was trembling.

He took his time, too. Like he could read my mind. I was terrified by this criminal, and I was confused by the mixture of feelings–my ass hurt, but it was a beautiful pain–and then, the feeling of his black getting bigger was as alarming as feeling him going into me. I thought my belly would burst. I’d never felt my gut so full of a guy’s black. It was beautiful. So beautiful. So strange and uncouth and–crude. But it was more beautiful with every pull, for all the strange aches and sharp pains in my gut.

I wanted it never to stop. It was inevitable, I suppose, that his balls would snap. And there was no missing it when they did, oh no! I felt like the proverbial white-fur at a wlkatar–"SkhtuS coming out of my nose–"

The pain was pretty sharp, too. He’d found a couple additional centimeters to pull into me, or else maybe–I wondered–so much custard was gushing out of those balls of his that I was actually feeling it–? Not to mention that I was afraid he’d crack my ribs, he was holding me so tight.

And the bellow. I’d never heard that sound from a wlko. It was alarming, but sort of heart-breaking, too. Just the one long, rasping roar, and then it was purring. Loud, rumbling, so strong I literally couldn’t tell if I was purring, too, but I think I was.

And after he finished juicing he just lay there. When the bliss started it was so beautiful. I didn’t want it to end.

I noticed the oddest thing. He stayed big in my ass. There was this, well, hugeness inside my gut. His black was still filling my ass. And I mean filling it. An ache was spreading down my thighs. It was a strange feeling. He’d snapped all right, no doubt of that. It was a little like being shafted by a monux. Almost. And after anything so intense I expected him to slip right away. But he didn’t.

What an experience. I never expected to feel that way after being raped by a rupellid–or whatever had happened. I didn’t really know. The feeling was incredible. The feel of him inside my body was part of it, maybe, and I’d been cold so long I’d gone crazy. His body felt so hard lying on mine. I remember noticing it. And thinking that I liked it. Whatever, I felt so much bliss I thought my bones would melt.

"Well, cat", he growled, after a while, He didn’t move. And his black was still big! He was still purring, too, but it was more normal. Before, it sounded like his purr-box was about to disintegrate. "Did you feel that, cat? I bet you felt that. And I’ll tell you what I feel. I feel someone’s black wood against my belly." He licked my muzzle. Once. "So. It worked. Now you’re a man."

That’s right, rub it in. That’s what you say after you’ve opened a boy.

He raised his body from mine, and sort of sat on my legs, looking down at my belly. His black was still inside my butt!

"Yeah. That drove you, all right. Look at that peg. Now, try to tell me you didn’t like that!–you and your bliss." He snickered. "You can hardly talk! And me–listen, stud, that was one thunderclap of a snap. Your black’s in great shape, I see; I wonder if there’s anything left of mine but a smoldering stump."

He moved somehow and pulled himself out of my body. He looked down at his limber black as it slipped. Like he was checking to make sure it was real. He glanced at me with a lewd grin.

"Yup! Still there. Lucky for both of us, I’d say! Hey–hungry, cat? Let’s see about dinner."

I groggily raised my head and looked down my front. Hkshihh everywhere. Mine and his. I was hard and horny myself, but the guy was right, I was sort of weak or something; anyway, as hot as I thought I felt, I slipped my black when he leaned forward and kind of cuffed me on the side of the face before he stood up. Jerkily. He stood between my legs as he stretched and yawned and sort of shook. He stared down at his sheath again. He looked at me. Zotzed out on bliss, I marveled at his presence. A brute, but he sure had presence. And he’d made me a man. This rupellid had made me a man. A total stranger and a rupellid. I don’t know what jingled me more: the incredible bliss that had come out of that outsized black wood, or how I could have been so perverted as to even let myself be pegged–

"Good sharp knife", he said, as he left me lying there and sort of staggered back to the dead pony. He hunkered down at the monux’s haunches with what sounded like a groan and slit open his scrotum.

He popped out a testicle, and cut around it, freeing it. He turned, and walked toward the kits. As he walked he cut the nut in two, and knelt down with another sort of groan or sigh, and gave the pieces to the boys.

"Here, tadpoles", he said. "A treat. It’ll make you big and strong."

They seemed doubtful, and the rupellid threw an inquiring glance in my direction.

"Go ahead, boys", I mumbled. Groggy with bliss. "Try it. If you don’t like it you don’t have to finish it."

Tim bit into his first. It crunched. He looked startled, and then continued eating. Mickey followed his example. It didn’t last long. There was a lot of whisker-licking afterwards.

"Surprising, isn’t it?" said the brute, pleasantly, gesturing toward the pony’s groin. "Balls like that, you’d expect the eggs to be as big as your fist."

As he spoke he was slicing open the other side of the scrotum. He popped out the testicle. He stood up and walked over to where I was still lying on my back, cutting the nut in two as he came, and knelt down beside me. He winced and groaned as he sat town. I thought he was going to offer me the organ, but to my astonishment he held the slice up to my mouth with his own paw. Like a wlkwy on her wedding day.

"Here", he said, popping it in when I opened. "Do you good. Put some wood in your black". He put his hand on my neck, the way wlkwim sometimes do.

"But–"

"Don’t talk with your mouth full."

He was right, they weren’t very big. Monux eggs. They were about the size of SeShhu fruit. I could hear crunching noises as I chewed. It tasted strange, but he was right, it was kind of good. And the feel of it was nice. Crispy crunchy.

As I swallowed I couldn’t help thinking about the times I’d been hardly able to stand the pain of monux erections pounding my guts. The times I’d hardly been able to walk, because of a deep, twisting ache that lasted for days.

Being made a man by a smoldering masculine hunk of rupellid and snacking on raw monux balls afterwards was definitely the way to go. In my mood I might even have gone for a taste of monux cock, too, if only it hadn’t already been eaten.

He sat there, right next to me, looking at me, for a while. I couldn’t read his expression. But I was happy. I wasn’t sore with hunger any more, in fact mostly I was just feeling his bliss.

The rupellid got up and went to the monux. Using my knife he began slicing through the pony’s hide and peeling it off the flanks of the animal.

That was it, for my bliss. All I could think of was what I saw when I got back to the site. The headless–no, neckless–bodies of my family. Skinned. Mutilated. Rotting. I could figure out who was Drushka, because he was the biggest. Nothing else. None of them had balls. Kanyaa and Ranee–the morphologist who’d named them said it was the words for "queen" and "princess" in some language. I could never remember which was supposed to be which. No matter; they were both nothing but revolting things, now. Sweet ladies, pretty, such wonderful mothers, so warm. My–oh; no–

"What’s the matter, stud?" the brute asked. "You OK? You look awful–"

"I am awful."

I was totally, completely, confused. I felt terrible. I was frightened. This ruffian–no one had ever held me like that. No one’s black had ever made me think my bowels were going to explode. But mainly I was so disgusted I was starting to feel nauseous. I’d–well, I’d done something totally unthinkable. I’d walked up to some guy and got myself linked! Degenerate. Crude–lhuphh, that word Mr Roper talks about. About the most lhuphh thing I’d ever even thought of doing. And that made two of us: this animal, this animal had as much as knocked down a completely strange wlko and drilled him! It was appalling even to think about. And "thinking about" it wasn’t exactly the problem: he’d done it. I’d done it! In fact, my asshole was reminding me of what this–this monux had done to me.

There was one consolation, small as it was. As horribly lhuphh as the whole thing was, at least there was no possibility that this fiend was anywhere in my family tree. So I could spare myself qualms about kinship taboos.

"Why did you do that?"

"What?" He stopped skinning and looked over his shoulder at me. "Do what?"

I hesitated. I couldn’t even say it. "Drive my seed."

"You like having white balls?"

"No. But what good is being red?" I was almost whimpering. I couldn’t even say the words. Or maybe it was just the bliss messing up my head.

"I can’t imagine", he said, sarcastically I thought. "Now, c’mon, as soon as I finish this, let’s build us the other kind of fire and have a little hot grub."

Well, the brute was as good as his word. He made fire so quick I couldn’t quite believe it. Fire. Feared and craved. Craving was uppermost now, and we roasted some monux meat. It was very crude, nothing like K & R could make, but the boys and I had the first hot food we’d had since we left their folks’ family site.

We sleep a lot, us wlkos. Especially after eating. And this was a good meal, for once. The four of us curled up in a heap, the boys by my belly and Lop behind me. He had an arm over me. Not hugging me. Just there. Drushka and I slept together, of course. But this was different. For some reason it reminded me more of sleeping with Kanyaa or Ranee. Maybe it reminded me even more of a wlkatar, when the feel of someone else’s fur against your own meant only one thing: some wlko’s black was going to get warm and wet.

It wasn’t even dark yet but we were more asleep than awake. I surfaced fast when that thug of a rupellid started purring. Right in my ear. And sort of hugging me, while feeling some of my nipples. I could feel his ribs vibrating against my back.

"All you sissies from over here have tits like ladies?"

"No. My brother Drushka had just, well, two. Like you."

"This feel good?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. Me too. These things down here–" I felt his fingers on my belly. "You like this?"

"Yes."

"And this?"

He was between my legs now.

"Yes." I sort of shivered as he was doing something to the nipples down there, squeezing them or something.

"You like that? Is it beautiful?"

"Yes."

I did indeed like it. It was indeed beautiful. And I liked it when I felt him take my balls in his hand. No one, well, no wlko had ever done that. The women sometimes played with our nuts.

"You like that", he said. "You do, don’t you? Yeah. I can smell your hkshihh."

"And I can smell y–a-a-ah–"