Ch24: Freed? More Like… Under New Management

It took Krvavy longer than she thought, but they are finally back in her cave. They have been for a while now, actually. It is a pretty big place. Beautiful, sure, but also a pain to traverse. That long, winding path... going uphill the entire way...

Even though Krvavy has absolutely no idea what time it is, she would be more than willing to bet that it is probably getting close to midnight. If it isn’t even later. This is the longest day that Krvavy has had so far, and she is really feeling it.

Of course, she is absolutely full of energy when compared to Thea. That girl is panting and gasping for air, hardly keeping on her feet. If Krvavy didn’t have a hand on her shoulder and a tail around her waist, Thea would probably collapse onto the ground in an instant.

The noble girl isn’t even carrying much at all. Despite how terrible her personality is, Krvavy didn’t load her up with loot as punishment. The only thing she is holding is the box of bandages. Which has been wrapped up in a blanket so that she doesn’t accidentally lose any of them. It is rather lightweight.

But they haven’t taken a single break, even though Thea really could have used one. And that is definitely the main issue for the girl. Well, Krvavy did have to stop more times than she bothered to count to drag Thea back up onto her feet, but those aren’t really breaks...

Thinking about it like that makes this whole situation feel a lot worse than it really is.

Thea wasn’t ever in any real danger. Not once did she even get close to falling off a cliff or stumbling into a ravine. On top of that, Krvavy kept using Inspect on the girl to see how well she was doing. A few points of health were lost here and there, but it was mostly her stamina that suffered. By quite a bit too.

Which had the extra benefit of providing Krvavy with some valuable information: now she knows for certain that being pushed past the point of exhaustion is what makes the numbers go red and tanks stamina so much.

Thea almost falls to the ground as Krvavy comes to a sudden stop. The hot springs are just up ahead. With Thea too tired to talk, Krvavy is starting to feel sympathetic to her. So she’ll oh so generously let the girl have a nice, relaxing bath.

Gently putting her axe on the ground, Krvavy takes the box of bandages from Thea and places it down as well. She then crouches to get more on Thea’s level and removes the crude blindfold from the noble girl’s face.

Thea’s tired eyes squint and blink in the sudden light of the lantern held in Krvavy’s tail. Though held isn’t quite the right word, as all Krvavy did was jam the tip of her tail through that things handle. It is a bit uncomfortable, but she really did need the light. The sky was cloudy and there wasn’t much moonlight to see by... Not to mention how much darker it got down here in this underground cave...

“We are almost at my home, but we’re close enough that you can finally have a break.” Krvavy reassures. She is almost jealous of this girl for getting to enjoy what she so desperately wants... “See all this glowing water? It is magical. So feel free to take a relaxing bath in any of these pools. They’re all clean and warm and will make you feel better after all that walking we did.”

The tired brat doesn’t respond, but a bit of energy does return to her eyes as she looks at the hot springs.

“My place is a bit further up the hill, past this wonderful cluster of hot springs, so I’ll carry everything there on my own. And you see those waterfalls up on the right? I’ll wash all this blood off there, that way it’ll go into the river and won’t contaminate any of the ponds. So don’t worry about that.”

Taking the lantern from her tail, Krvavy hands it to the exhausted blonde. “Now, I’ll leave this here with you so that you can see better, but don’t you go wandering off. We are in a massive cave and I don’t want you getting lost. Or hurt. There are a lot of sudden and steep drops in here, so it isn’t exactly safe. Just stay in this hot spring area and you’ll be fine. Got it?”

Thea tiredly nods at that, which brings a smile to Krvavy’s face. This girl seems so sweet when she isn’t talking.

Krvavy leans forwards to give a gentle kiss to Thea’s forehead, followed by a head pat. “Good girl.” She then picks up the box of bandages along with her axe before getting up and continuing along the path through the hot springs. Thea is left looking rather confused, holding the lantern in her hands while otherwise surrounded by darkness.

Steam hangs in the air, like a hot and comfortable blanket.

Krvavy carefully lowers an inhuman foot down into the water, stepping into the natural pool not that far away from where Thea is resting. The Orc – as unconscious and unresponsive as ever – is heavier than usual in her tired arms. But at least Krvavy feels a bit better now that her bandages have been removed. They did a wonderful job at healing her wounds.

If it wasn’t for her lingering scars, then it would almost be as if she was never even injured in the first place.

More and more of the Drakling’s body sinks down into the wonderfully hot water. The weight of her Orc comes to rest in her lap. It is so tempting to just close her eyes and relax... but... she turns her gaze to the nearby brat instead.

Thea appears to have fallen asleep down here, sitting back with her eyes closed while breathing softly. She looks really cute like this. A shame she’ll probably go right back to being a bitch when she wakes up...

There is no need for that to happen right away though. It might be a bit pervy, but this is the perfect chance for Krvavy to get a good look at this noble girl’s body. And she doesn’t even need to do anything but stare. Because Thea has already completely stripped herself naked, leaving her clothes strewn about messily on the ground.

Which Krvavy wasn’t expecting. But she isn’t going to complain either.

In the soft glow of this warm and magical water... Thea almost looks like a completely different person. At first Krvavy assumes that it is just because the girl is peacefully sleeping, not scowling or swearing, but that isn’t it. Not entirely.

Her hair looks different, and it isn’t just the lighting. Krvavy didn’t really pay much attention to it before, to be honest... She just saw some dirty blonde hair that was styled into a crown braid. The braids are still there, if a bit looser, but its colour is much lighter now, almost like a silvery blonde. Shiny and clean.

Just how much filth was this girl covered in...?

Krvavy eyes flit downwards.

Thea’s body is very soft looking. Not that she is plump or even fat, in fact she is quite far from that, but her skin is just so smooth and she doesn’t have any visibly defined muscles. Her body is fairly slim, with hips that are wide but not exaggeratedly so and breasts which look to be on the smaller side of a C-cup.

If Krvavy hadn’t chosen the almost pure white skin for herself then she’d say that Thea was pale, as the girl’s skin is light enough to give the impression that she has never been outside without a parasol above her head.

All in all, this noble girl is really quite good looking. Much more traditionally attractive than Krvavy’s Orc. The water blurs most of the details, but Krvavy can confidently say that she has found herself a real beauty here. Of course, that beauty is going to be tainted as soon as the girl wakes up and opens her mouth, but that can’t be helped.

Krvavy has to introduce her Orc to Thea. They’re going to be living together now, after all.

And so, Krvavy reluctantly reaches out to Thea’s peacefully sleeping form and gives that peacefully sleeping brat a bit of a shake. “Hey... You shouldn’t sleep in the water. Don’t want you to drown.”

“Bluh...? Wha...?” Thea tiredly mumble, sounding rather confused as she slowly opens her light blue eyes. She suddenly and abruptly bolts awake as soon as she sees the naked forms of Krvavy and the Orc, covering her breasts with an arm and scrambling back a bit. She nearly trips and falls fully into the water, catching herself at the last moment.

Resisting the urge to look at how Thea’s partially covered breasts are being squished, Krvavy keeps her attention locked onto the wide open panicked eyes of the bratty blonde in front of her. “Hello.”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Thea shouts, her voice shrill and demanding. “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”

“Good to see you are feeling better.” Krvavy dryly responds. She doesn’t have the energy to put up with this. “But this is my hot spring. I am free to use it as I please. So kindly shut the fuck up.”

Shaking with rage, Thea lowers herself further into the water in an attempt to cover more of her body. If this pond wasn’t quite as clear, then maybe that would help. But as is... it just makes her look rather pouty and hard to take seriously. “What do you want?!” she angrily asks, “And why do you have that... Orc...?”

“It’s time for bed. You can’t sleep here all night.” Krvavy plainly states, taking a long and deep breath. “As for the Orc, well, she is that pet I told you about. Isn’t she cute?”

Thea furrows her brow and narrows her eyes. “What? Are you crazy? And what is wrong with her? Is she even alive?”

“Hmm? She’s fine. Well, kind of. At least physically. She doesn’t really seem to have anything going on in her head anymore... Hopefully it is just a phase.” Krvavy does her best to hide her concern beneath that nonchalant mask. That she is pretty tired also helps.

Looking a little worried, Thea scoots back just a bit more. Her back presses into solid stone. “W-why is she like that...?”

“Oh, that’s a funny story, really.” Krvavy slowly shakes her head, glancing down at the Orc in her arms. Almost idly, she begins stroking the unconscious and mindbroken woman’s hair. “See, I was out and about the other day, just wandering around, and I came across a bunch of Orcs. They weren’t exactly friendly, so we fought. And I... Well, you saw what I did to that bandit, right? Turned his face into mush with my horns? I didn’t really want to do that, I just... lost control, and I lost control when fighting those Orcs too...”

Ignoring the increasingly worried look on Thea’s face, Krvavy continues. “This lil’ cutie...” the barbarian pauses. Being so flippant feels a bit... disrespectful. “Well, she was in the middle of being drugged and about to be assaulted by the other two Orcs she was with. I tried to save her, but... As I said, I lost control. Slaughtered her ‘friends’ before chasing her down. And when I got her I... tore her clothes off and took her right there.”

Krvavy tiredly meets the bratty girl’s gaze. “Oh, if you don’t get what I’m implying, then I’ll be blunt: I raped her. Not on purpose, but... Intent doesn’t really matter when this is the outcome.” She nods vaguely towards the unresponsive Orc. Without really thinking about it, one of her hands grabs at a large green-skinned tit. “I couldn’t just leave her out there in this state. I couldn’t leave her out there to die... So I took her home with me. She only really responds to sexual things now though. See?”

Right on cue, the Orc weakly moans as Krvavy tweaks one of her nipples.

“Y-you are not going to be bringing me back to Svaneti, are you...?” Thea hesitantly asks, her voice tinged with worry and fear. And dreadful realization.

“Of course not. Maybe I would have if you weren’t such a bitch to me, but you were. So I feel absolutely no guilt in keeping you as a pet. But don’t worry, you’ll be quite comfortable here. It is much better than being in that cage. You can try running, if you want. It won’t do you any good though. We are in the middle of nowhere, after all. Even more now then when we were in that camp. But it might be fun to hunt you down and catch you again...”

Thea audibly gulps at that, before seemingly focusing on the Orc in Krvavy’s arms. After a moment, her eyes go wide in shock. “J-just how strong are you...?”

“Oh? Did you use some ‘scrying magic’ on my Orc? Didn’t you say that it was rude to do that? An invasion of privacy?” Krvavy cruelly teases, eyes narrowing like a predator staring down at her helpless prey.

“Sh-she is level seventeen...! And you...!” The bratty blonde noble sputters out in panic.

“Levels aren’t everything, girl.” Krvavy playfully responds, taking some sadistic joy from making Thea squirm like this. It is so... cathartic... “Not against someone like me, someone made for fighting and killing.” Her stats and skills are a bit one dimensional at the moment. “This cute Orc here might have stood a chance if she if actually fought back. If she hadn’t just turned and tried to run away. Can’t really blame her for trying to flee, but still. You can see how that worked out for her.”

Thea seems to think for a moment, pushing down her fear as she speaks up. “You would have helped me if I was kinder to you? Then you must bring me back to Svaneti.”

Krvavy raises an eyebrow at that, curious about where the girl is going with this.

“My fiancé, the Duke of Volhynia, is a powerful man.” Thea carefully states, weighing her each and every word. “Truth be told, I do not want to marry him. He has a... dreadful reputation. But I have no choice in the matter. It was the only way to ensure peace.”

“Lets say that I believe you. Okay? Why the fuck do I care?” Krvavy crudely returns. And she doesn’t really need to put up much of an act for that. She doesn’t exactly like people. Individuals are alright, sure, but as a whole? They can go fuck themselves.

That response breaks Thea’s composure, causing her to sputter as her impotent anger flares up. “Y-you filthborne beast! Heartless bitch! People will die! It’ll be on your head!”

“No. Don’t you blame me for that. If it was so important, you shouldn’t have been such a bitch to the person who rescued you from that cage.” Krvavy coldly returns. Her emerald eyes stare down at this brat with disdain. “I don’t care about a bunch of people I have never met in a land I have never been. You do. Or at least you claim to.”

“Cur! Animal! Thousands will die! Monster! There will be untold suffering! Harlot!” Theadosia furiously cries out, hurling insults as if they were punctuation.

“Oh cut the crap.” Krvavy sternly replies, growing tired of dealing with this. “Stop pretending to care. You started crying earlier when you thought I was going to hurt you, so where are those tears now when ‘thousands’ of lives are at risk? You either made that shit up or you are just trying to guilt me into doing what you want. Stop it with all these masks.”

Thea quivers with rage on the far side of the hot spring. “You will be judged for this! The blood will be on your hands! Immodest churl! Doxy harlot! Disgusting beast bitch!”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Krvavy grumbles and grits her teeth, placing her Orc to the side safely out of the water as she rises to her feet.

Thea’s anger immediately shifts to panicked fear as Krvavy begins to approach her, frantically splashing water to try keeping the barbarian at bay. “No! Stay back! Foul beast! Begone! Ahh!”

Thea suddenly freezes in place just before Krvavy grabs onto her, all the fight leaving her in an instant. That confuses Krvavy, who looks down at the stunned blonde. Thea is staring wide eyed right at Krvavy’s crotch. “W-wha...? Why...?” She stumbles on her words, so overcome with shock.

Krvavy just shakes her head at that. “Really? Fucks sake, girl...” With an annoyed sigh Krvavy grabs onto Thea beneath her arms and lifts the bratty bitch out of the water.

That seems to snap the girl out of her shock, as she immediately starts thrashing about furiously, kicking at Krvavy’s chest. “P-put me down! Get your filthy hands off me! Y-you man-beast!” She doesn’t cause a single point of damage, flailing around too much to even get a proper hit in.

Rolling her eyes, Krvavy once again ignores Thea’s tantrum. The fact that this spoiled bitch is just so utterly harmless really helps. Other than her cumbersome size – despite not acting like it, this is a full grown woman – Thea is very easy to manhandle. It would be far, far more difficult to hold an uncooperative cat. A squirming ball of claws and teeth...

“Put me down! Man-thing! Cur! Hhh!” The air is very briefly forced out of Thea’s lungs as she is unceremoniously slung over Krvavy’s shoulder. “Immodest animal!” She very quickly returns to hurling insults. “Die! Release me!” Her flailing feet harmlessly kick into nothing at all as she pounds her fists into the barbarian’s back.

Being treated like a drum is a little annoying, but is hardly a bother otherwise. Krvavy softly shakes her head and climbs out of the hot spring pond. She pauses, staring down at her Orc’s prone body. The corner of her eye twitches. “Oh, fucking shut up already!”

2.1 Damage dealt to [Thea]

“AAAAH!” The brat yelps in pain and shock as the sound of a sharp slap rings out through the steamy air. Her surprisingly soft ass jiggles as the barbarian’s hand pulls away from it, leaving a very visible red mark on her otherwise unblemished skin. “Y-you! You DARE!? DISGUSTING DEGENERATE! DIE! UNHAND ME AND DIE!”

Seeing as Thea’s rear end is right there in front of Krvavy, jutting up into the air and everything, she decides to give the girl another spank. A harder one. On the same cheek as the first. It is simply closer.

4.71 Damage dealt to [Thea]

“HHHHHNH! HHHHaahhn!” This spoiled brat of a noble girl trembles and quivers, her knees bumping into the barbarian’s body as she tries to curl up despite still being slung over a shoulder. “S-stop! En...enough!” Her slightly hoarse voice cracks, sounding as if she is on the verge of tears. “B-bitch...!” Her whispered insult earns her another spank. A far, far more gentle one this time. It doesn’t even cause any damage. “Hhhnh!” Though it obviously still stings.

With that girl mostly pacified, Krvavy crouches down and very carefully picks up her Orc, doing her absolute best to sling the unresponsive Greenskin over her other shoulder.

It is time to go to bed.

Thea calms down a little during the short walk up the path to where the campsite is set up on that jutting platform. Kind of. She stops struggling, at least. Only because she is now sobbing instead. Rather heavily too. Her tears seem to be genuine this time. But Krvavy can’t be entirely sure. If there is one thing that this girl is good at, it is rapidly switching between moods.

Krvavy gently places her Orc on a spread out sheet before doing the same with the sobbing brat. Thea helplessly pulls herself up against the larger, and still unresponsive, Orc. Grabbing another sheet, Krvavy dries herself off before kneeling down and doing the same for both of the women before her.

Krvavy hadn’t noticed it before, but Thea has a bit of a bush above her slit. It is the same silver-blonde colour as the rest of her hair. The girl doesn’t have hair anywhere else on her body though. That had better be because she shaves and not the pervert developers striking again...

Once the three of them are dried off, for the most part, Krvavy moves them to the pile of furs and blankets that make up her bedding. She is still a bit annoyed that she couldn’t just turn her private cave into her bedroom, but this spot will do just fine. As long as they stay far from the edges, of course, as there is quite the drop... But at least the view will be great in the morning.

Wrapping Thea and her Orc in blankets, letting the bratty girl to cuddle up to that mindbroken woman, Krvavy settles down and joins them in what functions as their bed. It has been a very long and eventful day, for both Krvavy and her new property.

And now it is finally over...