In Over Your Heads [M]

[Thoth]

As they descended towards the mansion, Alice looked up at the huge building, but still continued to cry. Really, she just couldn't stop herself, and was just sobbing away, beside herself with the overwhelming guilt that she felt, blaming herself for what had happened to Shanodin. After all, Alice loved this woman, she had adopted her as her mother, even if it was only temporary until she could find her real family. Shanodin was truly one of the kindest, most loving, and honestly, most beautiful women that Alice had ever seen. She didn't deserve to suffer in agony like she had been forced to back there.

Her sobbing slowing down to a sniffle as her bare feet touched the ground, Alice listened to her mother speak to her, the woman comforting her and telling her that what had happened was not really her fault. It was when she said that she forgave her though that Alice finally stopped crying, although her eyes were still watery and quite red. Burying her head in Shanodin's dress, Alice hugged her tightly, "I love you Mommy. I love you so, so much. I don't ever want to see anything like that happen to you ever again..."

[SilmeriaElemred]

''I will make sure we wont.'' Shanodin replied. No lights had turned on yet which meant the staff was still sleeping. But they did have a time limit. Gradius' staff what was left of it were no bad people. But they would need supplies to last and they were scattered throughout the mansion.
''Alright Alice. We will enter through the kitchen but need to be quiet. We will get some bread, biscuits, apples, pears and a few jars of honey. Perhaps some jerky. Then, we need to get first aid materials such as bandages and some herbs. Last we will grab some money, clothes and my bow. We make as little sound possible. And not, move seperated.'' there were many corridors and it was easy to get lost. Entering one wrong room and the staff would be involved.

''If you see something you think we need, tell me or take it carefully. We will not stay longer then nessesary...'' she kissed Alice's forhead. ''You are mommy's big strong and brave girl. And mommy loves you very much'' she said and smiled.

[Thoth]

Listening intently as Shanodin told her she wouldn't have to see anything like that again, the girl just raised her head from Shanodin's dress and nodded, "Thank you Mommy." She then turned to look at the Mansion they were standing in front of, at which point Shanodin began to explain their purpose for being here. Shanodin explained all the different things that they were going to need on their journey, and Alice just nodded repeatedly to show that she understood, "Okay, I'll use the bag to take some of those things quickly. We can store as many of them as we need inside of it. And I won't leave you Mommy, at least not until I find my real family."

Shanodin then told her that she was strong and that she loved her, to which a single tear just trailed down the side of Alice's face. She turned and looked up at Shanodin with a smile, "I love you too Mommy." And with that she put her small hand in Shanodin's and nodded, ready for Shanodin to lead the way. Once they found wherever they were going to go in, Alice could simply phase them into the building silently. With her collar gone, she wouldn't have to worry about her powers being deactivated.

[SilmeriaElemred]

With the help of Alice's magic they quietly got in the kitchen. A fat cat looked at them lazily at first but hissed. But did not move from its sleeping spot. Shanidin pointed to Alice where the bread was kept and reached to the higher shelves. It was not easy with the wounds open like they were now but she could tend to those later. She found cheese too which she gave to Alice to put in the bag and cloth. It was not until they were in the room that held the clothes for the staff that there was a noise and candlelight.

'' who goes there. Leave petty thieves.'' The voice was old and the door opened revealing an old man holding a magic light in one hand and candleabra in the other.''oh. Shanodin its you I thought you wouldnt come ba..'' he stopped speaking once he noticed her wounds and Alice.''by the dearest of Gods what happened'' he asked.

''We escaped from Gradius... he wanted to rape her and could not let that happen. We needed supplies.'' Shanodin said.

''Yes. Yes of course.'' The man said and quickly as his old legs could carry him he helped with the clothes and retrieve a bow and some useful tools. Until it was time to go. Gradius's guards if they would have been sent would arrive soon. The man whom had introduced himself as Brian spoke about some happy times before gradius became lord of this mansion. Speaking to Alice mainly until they reached the kitchen where he took something out of the jar. A little bag of candy. ''and for the little missy..'' he said as he gave it to Alice.

''Go you both. As far away from that monster as you can.'' He said before patting them both

[Thoth]

After entering the kitchen using her magic, Alice took some food, the stuff that Shanodin pointed out, as well as looking in the icebox and finding some fish stored inside, which she discretely took and put into the bag. Then, hearing the hiss of a cat, Alice looked over and called out. "Kitty!" and walking over let out a low purr from her vocal cords, the front of her neck visibly vibrating. At first the cat seemed confused, but when she pet it, the animal calmed down almost immediately and began to purr shortly thereafter.

When they reached the other room and were about to put the clothes in the bag, then suddenly a man entered, and Alice froze, fearing that they would be attacked, looking over, but calmed down somewhat when she saw it was an old man. Apparently he and Shanodin knew each other on friendly terms, and as he helped them, Alice just continued to help in her own way, continuously giving the bag the "grab" command, which caused ropes to come out of it and grab clothes and other things which were then pulled into the bag's mouth.

After they had finished putting supplies into the bag, the old man told them they should leave, and Alice simply nodded. She liked this old man, he seemed nice. After giving them some candy, Alice looked at him, "Won't he hurt you for helping us? You should come with us Mister. We have plenty of room for more people." Alice said, holding out the bag to motion to it. She was right in fact, for inside the bag were held a great many secrets. It was far more than just a storage device. For the past few years, it had also been Alice's home, holding a very large and lavish estate inside of it, which had been built by the bag's original creator, an extremely powerful wizard.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''I'm to old to travel.'' Brian spoke with a smile. ''Also. An old man like me would provide more care the two of you could most likely give and my mind is not what it used me. Just like my eyes.'' and patted Alice. ''But thank you for your concern.''

''But he'll...'' Shanodin started.

''I served this mansion since my mid teenage years. Serving it for so long makes it right doesn't it.'' Brian assured and removed Shanodins tears before they'd reach one of the cuts that had been reopened by Gradius on her cheek.

''It is... not fair...'' she muttered. Actually she had secretly hoped they could bring him and see to it that he'd have a good time for the remainder of his life. But she knew they could not force him either.

''If there is something I had found out in those many years... is that life is not fair. It is no silver colored waterfall where moonlight makes its fairies awake. But. People together looking out for one another is what makes things, a little more beautiful.'' he could hear the sound of hooves in the distance. ''Go. Before they see you''

[Thoth]

Alice, looking on at the old man, was hesitant to accept his decision, "But..." This was wrong. This man was a good person who deserved to be happy, but should Gradius find out that he had helped them when he got back, he would likely be tortured and killed. Turning to Shanodin, Alice buried her head in the woman's by now quite soaked dress and once again began to cry. She wanted to save this man, but she couldn't force him to come with them if he didn't want to.

Sighing, the girl nodded when he told them they had to leave, "Transform Mommy. I'll get on your back and phase us so you can fly out of here. I don't ever want to see that evil man ever again." Alice was ready to do as she said, and as soon as Shanodin would oblige her and transform, Alice would get on her back as she had stated she would, at which point Shanodin would easily be able to fly the two of them out of the mansion and off to wherever it was Shanodin planned to take them.

They could stay inside the bag in the large estate that was kept inside of it, so they wouldn't have to worry about finding shelter, but if there were any other errands that Shanodin felt they had to do before settling in for the night to get some rest and allow Shanodin to finally have a chance to recover her strength, they had best do it soon.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''He wont kill me.'' Brian assured after Shanodin had morphed and seemed really happy to see her in that form again. Shanodin lowered herself so it was easier for Alice to get on her back.

'You better be right... farewell Brian.' she said telepathicly to the man.

After Alice had climbed on her back, Shanodin flew off. Despite the phase magic, she did stay low. Thatway, would the riders look in their direction they at the least would not spot her and immediatly put the blame on Brian. But Shanodin was crying silently. The rest of the mansion had not woken up during their scavengehunt but Brian had always been the one looking after her after Gradius had his go with her in whatever way.

A life of opportunity. Where would they go? Once it was safe to ascend higher, Shanodin did so. The cool air felt welcoming although she had to make sure Alice was not cold.

''Alice..'' Shanodin spoke once she was certain her voice did not crack to much. ''Do you remember what region or country you're from? If you like we can go there first and try to find out what happened to your family.''

[Thoth]

Alice was relieved somewhat to hear Brian say that, but still hoped that they would be able to get away without Gradius finding out, and so once they flew out of the house, Alice just laid down on Shanodin's back, nuzzling her head affectionately into the back of her beloved mother's neck, "I know you're worried about that man Mommy. I am too...I wish I could promise you that he'll be alright, but I can't. I honestly don't know what will happen to him, but it looks to me like we got away without them seeing us, so I guess the rest is just up to him. We'll have to trust him, okay?" Alice said, still leaning over her mother, and now reaching down and scratching the side of her face like one would do with a cat in an effort to comfort her. Being a Griffin, part of Shanodin was feline, so hopefully this would help to calm her down.

When they ascended, Alice found that she was getting colder, but knew that she had to be strong and so didn't complain about either it, or the wind that was blowing against her. Looking down at Shanodin when she at last spoke to her, the girl listened intently to Shanodin's question before giving her answer, "I was born in a village located in the Draconi forest, but it got raided when I was two so I don't remember it, and since all the nekomata who lived there got taken, even if we did manage to find it we probably wouldn't find anything there that would help us...

If we want to find my family the best place to start would be the master I had when I got sold off and separated from them. He kept them while I was sold to another master, and it was after being sold a few times in addition to that that I ended up with the bandits you saw me with today. If memory serves, that master of mine lived in a mansion located in a secluded town hidden in the Thunderblacks. We could try to find it but that was a long time ago and I might have trouble remembering where it is. Still, its probably our best bet of finding them."

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Then we shall make our way to the Thunderblacks. Not in one go though. I wish to put as much distance between us and Gradius before we make our first stop. Mommy after all should treat her wounds soon. If you find a clear lake or river can you let me know'' It had been fortunate she had bled since the bloid had washed away most of the scartissue Gradius rotted away. What she needed was a source of fresh water. She made a bit of a purring sound when Alice scratched the side if her face. ''Are you not cold Aluce?'' She asked. Also she wondered how to face the one who had sold Alice. If he sold slaves it could be possible they could be sold off too. She would have to think of a plan

[Thoth]

Alice nodded in response to Shanodin, "Okay Mommy, I'll help you. After all, I hate to see you suffering like this; you deserve to be happy and comfortable." Then, when Shanodin asked if she was cold, Alice tilted her head, "Yeah, a little, but its okay. I have to be strong for you, and we'll be flying a lot from now on, so I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

[SilmeriaElemred]

''I will make some warm travelclothes from what we took with us.'' Shanodin assured the girl. ''If you are hungry, thirsty, need a break or anything else, be sure to tell me alright?'' she said. ''It is good that you want to be strong but you have needs too.''

She did fly a little lower so Alice would not be so cold but flew high enough to still be out of arrowrange. A few hours after leaving the mansion was when she first descended. She had considered Sanctuary first but Gradius was still imprinted in her head. What would he do here if he found out she'd been here and was helped? No. She spotted a small stream in the woods and softly landed in the forest beside it. She was not sure how safe it was and figured it was best not to linger for to long. The forest felt natural to her as someone would expect from a woodelf. Shanodin inhaled and exhaled deeply. ''Alice, I will need your help with this. I need a cookingpot, a basin, flint and steel, white linnen, one of the pots of salt and one of the pots of honey. Also. I think we both want to get out of these dresses dont we.'' she said calmly with a smile.

[Thoth]

Alice nodded. Hearing Shanodin tell her she would make them some travel clothes. In honesty Alice could actually just transform into her nekomata form, which had fur, but then her clothing would probably fall off, as she was much smaller in that form. When Shanodin told her that she should tell her when she had needs, Alice just nodded, "Okay Mommy, I understand. I'll be sure to tell you."

As Shanodin then continued flying onward for a few hours, Alice actually quickly fell asleep, quietly resting on her mother's back as she flew, the girl having been quite drained from the day's events and wanting to regain her strength. Then, when Shanodin landed and spoke to her, Alice slowly woke up and began to rub her eyes. Yawning loudly, she said, "Oh, hello Mommy. What do you need?..." then listening to her, she nodded, "Alright." Getting down from Shanodin's back, Alice took the bag which she was still holding and gave it the command, "retrieve" and then, one by one the items Shanodin had requested were gradually brought out from inside it. It took a while for the bag to prepare and retrieve them all from within its confines, so while she waited, Alice played in the grass, and then, hearing Shanodin say that they should take off their dresses, the girl nodded with a wide smile.

Disrobing completely, Alice then stood there completely naked, her tiny childish nipples showing on her chest and her little slit of a vagina being visible between her legs. The girl wasn't ashamed of being naked to even the slightest degree. After all, Nekomata were shifters, and therefore were naturally wild and in tune with nature. Being naked just felt right to her, and so as the bag finished retrieving all of the items, little Alice just ran up to Shanodin and hugged her tightly, saying, "I love you Mommy...Will you cuddle with me? I would really like it."

[SilmeriaElemred]

Shanodin looked at Alice. How. How on earth could Gradius even as much as think raping this young child? The tight hug hurt one of the opened whiplash wounds on her back but she did not complain. ''We can cuddle if you like. Mommy does need to tend to her wounds first alright?'' she said and gently caressed the girls cheek. ''There should be a black dress your size in the bag as well. It was mommy's old dress when she was just as big as you but it should fit you now. She let go of the girl for a moment so she could take off her own dress. Regretting now that she had not done so at the mansion to put on something looser. The places where the wounds had been reopened were sticky or had been soaked with blood and had dried over the past few hours. It pulled a little at her wounds but she had no choice in this matter. She trembled of supressing the pain and quickly threw the dress aside once it was off.

Naked was not something Shanodin prefered right now. She never saw herself as ugly but the sight was for Alice something bad since it revealed the damage even more Gradius had caused. ''Mommy will be alright.'' she assured Alice with a smile and gathered some dry wood and rocks from the river to make a safe fireplace. While the fire would keep Alice warm she filled the kettle with water and placed it above the fire on a ring of stones so the water would warm up. The cleaning would hurt for sure, she knew. In the low basin she put in some herbs and quite the amount of salt. ''When the water is done Alice... mommy will need your help with her back. It will hurt a little to clean the wounds but you must not stop. Can you do that?'' she asked as she set aside the linnen for the cleaning and the linnen vor the bandages

[Thoth]

Alice just looked innocently up at Shanodin with a wide and purely genuine smile. She clearly wasn't ashamed in even the slightest degree about being seen naked in front of her. While she might have felt that way a bit around the bandits, she had absolute trust in Shanodin, and so had no shame at all in exposing herself to the woman. When Shanodin told her they could cuddle the little girl jumped up and down and clapped with glee, "Yay! Thank you Mommy! Oh, okay, I'll help." Alice said, smiling widely to the woman. Her mother was in pain and Alice felt it was her duty to help her.

Nodding when Shanodin told her about the black dress, the girl stuck her hand into the bag and gave it the command, "retrieve." After waiting a short while she felt the ropes hand her the dress in question, and she pulled it out. Taking the dress she raised it and then lowered it back down over herself, putting it on. Then, skipping through the grass, something she quite liked as she had always loved the feeling of grass against her bare feet, she looked into the stream to get a good look at the dress she was wearing, "Wow, its really pretty. Thank you Mommy! I love it!" but then as she turned and looked at the woman as she took off her dress, a horrified expression came over Alice's face, "MOMMY!!!!!" Alice began to cry, running up to Shanodin and reaching out towards her, while still being hesitant to actually touch her lest she hurt her more.

Then, seeing her make a camp, Alice shook her head, "No Mommy! We need to get you to the Estate." Alice grabbed Shanodin's hand and pulled her away from what she was doing towards the bag. Then, picking it up with one hand, she gave it the command, "retrieve" and a great many ropes shot out of it and grabbed all of the things that were strewn about the half-made camp, their two dresses, all of the things Shanodin had requested, the pot of water which it then poured on the fire, and then pulled them back into itself.

Turning to Shanodin, Alice nodded, "Don't worry, you won't have to sleep in some mangy camp. The bag has a nice big mansion inside it that we can sleep in every day from now on. Doesn't that sound nice? Here, see?" she then gave the bag one last command, "permit." And when she did, a number of ropes shot out of the bag and grabbed both her and Shanodin, pulling them inside the bag's inner space. Then, once inside Shanodin would find themselves floating in an environment completely devoid of gravity. The ropes that were the bag's limbs crisscrossed around everywhere forming a sort of giant web or network, and also floating around were all of the items stored inside the bag itself, ready to be retrieved from it at any time.

Alice then pointed down, and where she pointed, sure enough, off in the distance was an enormous estate, easily far bigger than the mansion that Gradius owned where Shanodin had grown up. The estate was set upon a hemisphere, and was covered by a bubble. Then, Alice called out, "Take us to the Estate please." And when she did, two ropes came over and coiled around their waists. Before they began to pull them down towards the estate, Alice turned around and put her hand on the bag's opening, and called out, "Lock." And with that the opening closed, and a sort of pulse was emitted from it that reverberated throughout the space. What that pulse meant Shanodin would have to guess.

The two of them were then pulled down towards the huge estate which as they got closer, it became evident was more like a palace, made out of stone, although there was something off about it. As they got closer and closer it became more and more apparent what it was. Across the estate there was garbage of various kinds strewn everywhere, and the floors and pillars were rather dirty. Apparently it hadn't been kept up very well, maybe that was something they could work on. In any case, they were both finally set down at the entrance to the estate itself, a huge building with tall stone columns surrounding the doorway. Turning to Shanodin, Alice smiled, "This is our new home, see? Well, your new home, I've lived here for a while, but at least now I won't be a slave...Wow, its kinda weird to say that for the first time. Anyway, don't you wanna go inside?"

[SilmeriaElemred]

Shanodin was amazed about the place. She now however just hoped that nobody would find the bag. Surely it would have protection of some sorts but what would happen if someone would tear it in pieces? But it was better then making camp.

''It looks like a fine home. I am sure we can make this place neat'' she said as she let her hand gently touch one of the pillars. She would have to need to make a new fire and gather new water however to heat up.

''And you may get used to the words of not being a slave. Me too for that matter.'' she said and laughed for a moment. She felt something warm over her back and realised it was blood. The wound had torn as she had taken off the dress.

''Ok honey, I will need some new clear water and a fire to heat it up with. When we clean the wounds they can heal and will not be an awfull sight to you ever again.''

[Thoth]

Little did Shanodin know it, but the "lock" command, which Alice had cast when they entered the bag, had activated the bag's security systems. First, it had sealed the bag's opening, preventing anyone from being able to open it. Second, anyone who tried to give the bag commands if they somehow figured out that they could would find that they wouldn't work for as long as the lock was active, and third, the bag was now incredibly heavy, so much so that even the strongest of beings wouldn't be able to lift it, so actually stealing it was virtually impossible. As for anyone attempting to tear it, the bag itself was made out of a special magical kind of thread, which had supposedly been spun by the Gods themselves, and was virtually unbreakable.

Turning to Shanodin as she held her hand, Alice simply nodded, still with a wide smile on her face, "Yes, supposedly it was created by the super powerful wizard who originally made the bag many years ago. No one knows his name but he was really strong. I know that much."

Then listening to Shanodin explain that she would have to get used to not being a slave, Alice looked down, "To be honest, I actually kind of liked it. I always felt a great deal safer knowing that someone would always be looking out for me and making my decisions. I didn't have to think for myself because they would always do it for me, in that way I thought that the life of a slave was really easy, you know? I don't know how I'll be able to handle not having that."

Hearing Shanodin's final request, Alice nodded, "Follow me, I know just the place." And with that, she reached out and opened the huge doors to the mansion, which despite their enormous size, were perfectly balanced on their hinges, and so were easy for even someone as small as Alice to open without difficulty. Once they were inside she closed the door behind her and led Alice through the halls, the two of them walking for quite a while until they stopped at one of the rooms. When they got there Alice turned and jokingly said to Shanodin, "This place is kinda big, so stay by me while you're here okay? At least until you get settled in, cause its really easy to get lost if you don't know your way around." With that she opened the door, and revealed that they had come into a very lavish bathroom. It had all the essentials, two sinks, a row of enclosed toilet stalls, and an enclosed shower, but Alice led Shanodin to the back of the room, where there was a door leading into another room, which upon opening, large amounts of steam would waft out and into Shanodin's face.

They had entered a full hot spring, which to all appearances looked completely natural, and in fact was. It had been magically transported into the mansion from its original location. There was a large pool of hot water, surrounded by grey stones. Taking off her black dress, Alice was once again naked, and slowly led Shanodin into the hot water. She then spoke, explaining, "This isn't just any spring. The water here has special healing properties that will heal and rejuvenate you Mommy." Swimming around her, Alice hugged Shanodin gently, not wanting to do it too tightly and risk injuring her, and then, looking up at her, with tears in her eyes and a very, very emotional voice, Alice said, "I love you Mommy. I love you so, so much. You did so much for me. You risked your life for me, someone you barely know. You endured all those horrible things that Gradius did to you while all I could do was watch as he tore you apart..."

Alice then buried her head in Shanodin's bosom and began to cry, "I wish I was strong like you. I wish I could be the one to protect you instead of having to rely on you for everything. Even after you were hurt so badly you still flew all this way to get us to safety, and I haven't been able to do anything to pay you back for it, and soon when we find my family I'm just going to leave you. I can't help but feel that I'm not worthy of everything you've done for me, that I don't deserve it. WAAAAAAAHHH!!!!" Alice simply sat there in her mother's arms and cried. Clearly the girl had some issues with hating herself for a number of reasons, beating herself up because she never felt good enough. This was something that Shanodin would have to work on with her.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''You my dear, deserve everything good the world has to offer. A lot has been taken from you already. And I could not allow Gradius to take away what you still had. A slavelife like you had, indeed is easy. And I wish mine had been even as much as half as simplistic as yours. But there are a lot of bad people out there. Some, even worse then Gradius.'' she whispered. ''Seeing you smile and happy... that is more then I could ever wish for. And just because we will part someday, does not mean we can not be friends when that time comes.'' as she held Alice she gently stroked the back of the girls head. ''Mommy... never had a lot of good people around her. She often disliked people before meeting them. Because mommy thought all people were bad. I am sure that being with you will heal mommy's soul as well. Even if it is just a bit.'' she placed a soft kiss on the girls cheek. ''Come. Lets get my wounds healed up and play a little. We can then still snuggle if you still want too.''

[Thoth]

Continuing to cry into Shanodin's bosom, it was clear that Alice really had grown to love her quite a lot in the short time they'd known each other. Sitting there in the water and listening to Shanodin, Alice just pressed herself against Shanodin and sighed, "I know, and I guess I'm happy now to be with you too. I don't know what I would have done if he had taken advantage of me like that, but really...it wasn't until I saw him torture you as he did that I actually got scared. He was going to kill you, and I was so afraid. There was nothing I could do."

Then, hearing Shanodin tell her that they would become friends, Alice nodded, "Okay, I would like that." And feeling Shanodin stroke her hair, Alice craned her neck out and smiled widely, "Hmm, that feels nice." Then, listening to Shanodin explain her life, Alice just nodded, and when she was done, after Shanodin had said they should get her wounds healed and that they could play and even snuggle afterward, Alice nodded with a wide smile, "Okay! I think just being in the water here long enough should heal you, so I guess we could just wait since it might take a while...Do you feel any better yet?

As for playing, why can't we do that here? My previous masters didn't allow me to have any toys when they owned me, but we can play here in the water if you want to. I know you're still probably tired from all that flying you did though, and really, even more than that, I really just want to cuddle with you...so here I come!" and with that Alice swam over and nuzzled into Shanodin again, pressing nearly her entire body against Shanodin's, interlocking her legs with hers, and resting her head against her bosom as if it were a pillow. Closing her eyes and wearing a soft smile on her face, Alice looked very peaceful and happy as she lay there with Shanodin, and truly content to the very core of her being.

[SilmeriaElemred]

Shanodin wrapped her arms around the girl. She would let the water do its work on its own pace. Anything that would not be healed or not healed enough could still be bandaged afterwards. ''The wounds hurt less.'' she said to Alice. ''But its ok. I still have energy to play so if you want to play here we can do that.'' she still found it hard to believe they were actually in a bag. A magic bag.

She then resomed gently stroking the back of the girls head. ''I can not say my bossem ever had been used as a pillow before'' she said with a calm smile. She did not mind. Actually these touches were the first positive ones in a very long time save from Brian attending to her after she'd been raped or hurt. That kind of a fate though. Would not be there for Alice. Shanodin would make sure of that. And hoped for the girls sake, that her parents were still alive. But Gradius his actions had traumatised the girl. Hopefully Alice would feel less guilty when the wounds were closed once more.