Nobody's Servant 1.0

The Gift [vore]

"Strange thing, are you not?"

I recoil at the words, the frigid breath on which they ride permeating my fur and skin. I reach out to shove the speaker away, and my aura flares up like an invisible bubble of unrestrained panic as it comes into contact with them. Radiance has a certain way about it; one should be able to detect it in auras within a decent radius if they're actively looking for it, but I seem to only be able to sense my visitor when I'm in contact with them, like their own energy is bundled up inside of them.

Physically touching them seems to have done something, as it produces a ball of light in its hand. An odd decision, from my perspective, because they clearly could detect me without it, but as I behold them in that warm light, I learn that to be the least strange thing about them.

At first glance, it's a plush doll, at least as tall as I am. But its movements are too rigid for that; the soft exterior must be sewn on around a frame. The gray fur, decorated with ornate black markings, is expertly crafted; if it gave off any sort of heat I may have mistaken it for another morph like me, appearing as a kangaroo; a thick-tailed marsupial, an odd animal to see on Paliputra but I guess a doll can be made in the likeness of anything. It's difficult to discern whether muscle or servos drive their movement, falling perfectly into that uncanny valley.

I decide I'm having none of this, and I move to reach for my unfinished weapon, but find it missing. The kangaroo takes their hand out from behind their back, revealing the weapon is in their possession now. With a sort of quickness one might expect from a cockroach, they dash for me, brandishing the wooden thing in position for a stroke to the head. I stifle a scream as I try to dive out of the way, losing my footing and landing in a heap of myself on the floor.

The kangaroo tilts their head, and exhales five words again through their sewn-shut mouth in a deep register. "Scared thing, but for what?"

As I begin to pick myself up, my weapon clatters to the floor, and the doll steps back.

"Only a test, I promise."

I slowly move for the club again, and I am not stopped. Grasping it tightly, I stand up, a fair distance away from the doll. Not that it will help; there's not a chance that I'll forget what sort of reflexes they have.

"What do you want from me?" I manage, taking care not to stammer after a couple of rehearsals of that simple question in my head.

"We can help each other," the kangaroo says. There is a long pause, and the sound of a cassette being wound. "I came to this island." Another pause, and the sound of winding. "The storm brought you ruin." Pause. "The storm cast you adrift." Pause. "So I brought you here." Pause. "I want off the island." Pause. "You want off the island." Pause. "But I need someone strong." Pause. "You could be stronger, perhaps." Pause. "You would like that, perhaps." Pause. "I think we should collaborate."

"How did you bring me here?" I demand.

"I waited. I saw you." Pause. "Guided you on the waves." Pause. "I know you are compatible." Pause. "For the Gift. You have..." This pause is longer than the others. I almost speak, but then they resume. "...The right heart for it."

>>>>>>>>>

My captor pulls me from her mouth again, this time sitting me in the palm of her hand.

"He's awfully cryptic, isn't he?" she asks.

"Oh, unbearably so," I agree, maybe a little too quickly. But I think she can tell there's something I don't want to say. I already cut it close when I relayed the kangaroo's last set of five words.

"Do you have any idea what made you compatible with the 'Gift'?" she presses.

"Not a clue," I lie. "Maybe I just seemed determined?"