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  The stage curtain was open again, and Haru was performing the traditional harvest festival dance. As usual, he was stripped to the waist and decorated with colorful bands tied around his arms. He was the village's strongest and most handsome young man with his tanned skin, well-built muscles, and wildly cut and fashioned black hair. He was graceful and forceful in his motions, and something more besides.

  Yumi had seen this dance for a dozen years that she could remember, and probably more from before that, but now she found herself staring at Haru, feeling a strange excitement that she had never experienced before. It made her warm, and she had to look away and try tasting one of the sweetjellies to get it out of her mind. Across the table Taiko and Miyoshi were laughing and playing, Miyoshi trying to force her to try something while Taiko fought her off. Chiyo, though, was watching Haru, and had a look on her face that Yumi hoped she hadn't been sharing just a moment ago.

  "Knock that off," she commanded, tossing a creamroll at Miyoshi and hitting her square in the face. It was a needed distraction from thoughts that were making her feel weird.

  "Hey!" said Miyoshi, "Don't throw food! You shouldn't waste like that."

  "They've got plenty more. And you're wasting more than I am trying to stuff it in Taiko's mouth against her will."

  Miyoshi huffed.

  "See? I told you we should have kept her tied up. They we could have put whatever we wanted in her mouth."

  There was an evil in the way Miyoshi said that

  "Not on your best day," said Yumi, readying another creamroll.

  "Chiyo! Grab her," said Miyoshi, picking up a weapon of her own.

  Chiyo wasn't listening, still turned around and watching Haru dance.

  "Hey, Chiyo," said Yumi, shaking her arm. "The food is this way."

  "Huh?" she said, not turning around. "Oh, yeah, I was just watching the dance. He's doing it really well this year, don't you think?"

  Yumi didn't have time to respond before a bird landed on the table. She was about to shoo it away before she noticed that it was a whisper bird- one of Jiichan's pets.

  "Stop it!" shouted Miyoshi, breaking into laughter.

  Taiko was exploiting Miyoshi's ticklishness to drive her off. Both of them stopped when the bird hopped over to a surprised Taiko, and she leaned over curiously to listen to its tweeting.

  Taiko shot up and gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

  "What?" demanded Yumi, seeing by the look on Taiko's face that something was wrong. "What did it say?"

  "We... we need to get to Jiichan's. We need to hurry."

  Miyoshi was out of breath long before Jiichan's hut appeared over the low, rolling hills of his farmland. Jiichan liked the peace and quiet of living remotely, growing his honey melons a good run north of the village.

  "Come on!" shouted Yumi.

  Her tone was short, but Miyoshi didn't blame her for her agitation. There wasn't anything Miyoshi could do, though. She wasn't as fast as Yumi or Taiko, and even Chiyo was leaving her behind. Having to hold her dress while she ran didn't help. She did her best, as desperate as the rest of them to get to Jiichan's.

  The last hill was the hardest, and when she reached his open door she collapsed against the frame. Her friends were already inside, surrounding the cushioned tatami mat where Ikumi was laying. Miyoshi took in enough air to steady herself before joining them.

  Ikumi was resting on the mat, sleeping restlessly as if in the middle of a nightmare. Her mouth was covered with a strange black tar which wrapped her face beneath her nose. Miyoshi wondered why it hadn't been torn off yet, then saw that it was also on her wrists. Her hands were laying crossed on her stomach, fused together by the tar. Her clothes were gone, her body wrapped in a blanket from her chest down. She was sweating slightly, and every few seconds there as a quiet moan that couldn't escape her sealed lips.

  "What is this?" demanded Taiko, "What happened?"

  "We don't know," said Hiroji, one of the two men aside from Jiichan in the hut. He was the miner, making his living by digging into the earth for rare metals and gems.

  "Ikumi came by here earlier today," said Jiichan, rising from where he had been sitting. He was a short, elderly man with just a wisp of grey hair left to cover his head. His hard-worked hands gripped a walking stick to steady himself.

  "My ushimuttsu were ill, and she offered to go find some ingredients for a medicine to help them. I waited a few hours for her, but then I started to worry when she wasn't coming back. I was lucky that Hiroji and Isao here came by."

  "When he told us Ikumi might be in trouble we went out to look for her," said Hiroji. "We found the cave where the songshrooms grew, and we went inside and..."

  He turned to Isao, who couldn't seem to bring himself to speak. Hiroji continued, bearing the burden of telling his story.

  "Ikumi was like this, except... except she was glued to the wall. Her hand, and her feet too. We tried to peel this... this stuff off but nothing would budge it. We couldn't cut it either. I had to use my tools to chip away the rock to get her down."

  "Did she say anything?" asked Taiko.

  "No, she was like this when we found her, and she hasn't woken up since."

  "What the hell happened to her clothes?" asked Yumi.

  "They were destroyed," said Jiichan. "Ripped and cut up so much that they were barely covering her at all when Hiroji and Isao brought her in. It was embarrassing, but I had to get rid of them entirely to wrap a blanket around her."

  He picked up the shreds of Ikumi's yukata and handed them to Taiko.

  "Something must have attacked her, but I can't think of anything that would do this to someone. I didn't see any injuries on her, save for a few scratches and bruises, but she's clearly hurt."

  Taiko put her hand on Ikumi's stomach, and with the other made her healing sign. Miyoshi watched the magic come, but if made Ikumi feel any better she didn't show it.

  "I can't find anything to heal on her. Nothing except..."

  Taiko bit her lip, and Miyoshi wondered what she was holding back.

  "The black stuff... it wants to keep her like this. That's all I can feel in it. All my magic would do is make it grip her even harder. Chiyo? Have you ever read about this? In any of your books?"

  Chiyo's stare was fixed, and she was shaking. Taiko put her hand on her shoulder and asked her again.

  "Chiyo, have you read about anything like this before?"

  "No," she said, "This is terrible. This stuff isn't like anything I've seen. I could do some research, but- Taiko, how is Ikumi going to eat or drink anything? What if it takes days to figure anything out?"

  Chiyo was shaking. Taiko took her hands and held them, speaking softly to calm her down.

  "Don't worry. I won't let anything that horrible happen to Ikumi. I don't think I can do anything to the black stuff, but I can cast a spell that will make her sleep so deeply that she'll be able to spend a whole season without needing food or water. Just leave it to me- I'll protect her. And tomorrow we can start going through your books. We'll find a way."

  Taiko's words seemed to calm Chiyo. She was good at doing that. Miyoshi always felt a warmth in her chest when Taiko spoke. There was something strong and beautiful inside of her that could promise to set right anything that was wrong.

  "You should stay here for the night," said Jiichan. "I've got plenty of space, and if there really is a monster wandering around that can do this… well, I don't know if even you four should be traveling at night."

  "Thank you, Jiichan," said Taiko, bowing. "I'll start the spell for Ikumi right away. Long-term enchantments like this need a ritual in order to anchor them, so it will take a little time. Jiichan, could you get me some candles?"

  "Of course," he said, "I'll brew some tea for us all as well."

  While they worked Miyoshi took the opportunity to talk to Ikumi, hoping that she could hear her words even if she couldn't respond.

  "Ikumi? It's me, Miyoshi. We're all here. Taiko is going to save you,
so just relax and try to rest."

  Miyoshi remembered the lullaby that Ikumi used to love so much, and started singing it to her. She wasn't sure, but she thought that Ikumi was a little calmer while she sang.

  The girl with the cat ears was yowling into her gag. She was on the table, lying naked on her stomach. Her wrists were crossed and tied behind her back. Her legs were bent foot to ass and tied separately. Each of her knees had rope tied above and below it, creating a solid anchor point that wasn't inclined to slide up her leg. A wooden bar was fixed to those two points to keep her knees open and her pussy pleasantly available.

  Her elbows had been bound the same way, and a rope ran between each of them to the opposite knee. In the middle, where they crossed, was a knot that allowed Akio to pull them tighter. He'd pulled them very tight.

  She was flexible, as expected of a woman with such feline features. She was bowed so deeply that her breasts weren't even touching the table. Sweat dripped from them, and her whole body was hot and wet.

  Flexible or not, it was effective punishment. She'd made a glorious racket while being stripped and when the rope was put to her body. When Akio had first begun to pull the slack out it changed, losing the indignant fury and growing frantically pained. That was a half hour ago.

  Akio suspected that she was ready to cooperate, but he had no reason to stop just yet. Her smooth, healthy young skin and lithe figure begged to be abused, and her exotic nature fascinated him. Putting a woman's body in tight bondage had a way of emphasizing her sexuality and feminine traits, and pain had a way of making a woman show off how well she was bound.

  He pushed the candle deeper into her ass. She was obviously a virgin there, and even the relatively thin column of wax needed steady pressure to keep moving. She didn't seem to approve, but that was part of the fun. Her tail was held out of the way, tied at its base to her wrists. He lit the wick and let it heat the wax while he walked to the other side of the table. He took a fistful of her hair and lifted her head up, waiting patiently to see her face when the wax dripped down the rest of the exposed shaft and found her skin.

  He wasn't disappointed. She wailed and tried to shake her head as it slowly covered her taint. She jerked hopelessly against the strict limits the ropes set on her, her supple form showing off her grace and allure and unwillingly bringing him pleasure. The candle took a long time to burn down to the point where he had to extinguish it, her pussy now coated in the still-hot wax. He left the candle stub where it was while he untied her gag. She was trembling, her breath coming in sharp, short gasps.

  "Last time I asked you a question you thought too highly of yourself to answer. I'm going to try again. Who are you?"

  The woman had to struggle to gain enough control over her own lungs to speak.

  "I'm... my name is Miruku... I'm just a villager..."

  "A villager from where?"

  "From Umai!"

  "Umai? I've never heard of it. Is it in Queen Tomiko's lands?"

  "Queen... who? I've never heard of her, I swear."

  That was strange. How could she not have heard of Queen Tomiko? Akio would have thought it a lie, but the woman hardly struck him as hardened against torture.

  "Tell me about it. Where is it? Who lives there?"

  "I will, I'll tell you everything, please just untie me. This hurts too much."

  "It hurts as much as I want it to. Talk first, then I'll decide how much it's worth and loosen the ropes accordingly."

  Akio ran his fingers across her cheek. She was such a naive creature, imagining that her suffering would be over once she answered a few questions. He at least wanted to give her a few good lashes before he was finished for the night, and of course he'd also be taking that pussy of hers. Maybe she would enjoy that part. Didn't alley cats like it rough?

  Chapter 2

  The Land of New Sorrows

  Taiko, Miyoshi, and Yumi had been unusually quiet for the past hour. It was the early afternoon, and they were almost back to Umai village now. They were passing through the Tampopo Forest again. This time, Chiyo was paying close attention to her surroundings. She thought about what would have happened if her friends hadn't been with her when the tsurujin caught her with those vines. She might be lying next to Ikumi right now, or worse.

  The morning had been spent searching the cave where Ikumi was attacked. Taiko had exhausted every spell and trick she could think of looking for clues, and Chiyo was just as thorough with her efforts. Despite their best, they were still empty handed. A search of the area surrounding the cave did them no good either- not even magically enhancing her sense of smell could provide them any answers. She only described a strange musky smell that dominated the room where Ikumi was found, but disappeared outside of that chamber.

  The others were just as wrapped up in their own thoughts as Chiyo was now, marching in silence while they each tried privately to make sense of the whole thing.

  The cover of the Tampopo Forest ended, revealing the skyline to them and the outlying farms of the village that stood under it. Chiyo stopped and wondered at what she saw. Were there bonfires still burning from the festival? Columns of smoke rose into the air from the direction of Umai, thick and black. No, these couldn't be bonfires.

  She wasn't the only one to notice. Her friends were frozen, staring at the sky.

  "Dammit!" shouted Yumi as she broke into a run.

  "Wait!" said Taiko, taking off after her, "Wait for us! It could be trouble!"

  Chiyo did her best to follow them, but Yumi was hard to keep up with when she was this eager. The rest of the distance didn't take long to cover, and as Umai came into view Chiyo couldn't believe what she saw.

  The village was an awful scene of ruin and destruction. Half of the cottages were either burning or already burnt down. Even the homes untouched by fire were smashed, with broken windows and splintered doors. Gardens were trampled and market stalls were overturned. All around the village were the scattered remains of the harvest festival's decorations, ripped to pieces and stomped into the mud.

  Worst of all was that there was no sign of anyone. Aside from the crackle of burning wood Umai was dead silent, with nothing but embers stirring. Chiyo wanted to call out to see if anyone was there, perhaps hiding in fear, but the words caught in her chest and wouldn't come out.

  "Hey!" shouted Taiko, running into the middle of the village, "It's us! It's Taiko! Come out! Someone! Mayor Ryouta! Miki? Fumiko? Kajiyachan?"

  Not a soul came forward, not a voice spoke up in response. Taiko and Yumi looked into windows and through doors to find empty houses. Miyoshi stopped and stared at Miki's bakery as flames slowly consumed it.

  Chiyo nearly collapsed, catching herself with her staff as her knees weakened. What kind of nightmare was the word turning into? First the tsurujin, then Ikumi, and now this- for as long as Chiyo could remember, her and her friends had gone on adventure after adventure, battling monsters and helping people, but they'd never seen anything this wanton and brutal before.

  "What happened here?" she finally asked, "Who would have done this? Where is everyone?"

  "I don't know," said Yumi, "But when I find them..."

  "Yumi," said Taiko, "Don't say that so quickly. I'm worried. Really worried. Something's really going on here, something bad. Worse than anything I can remember. Something dangerous enough to hurt you if you aren't careful."

  "I don't care, I'll-"

  "Stop, Yumi."

  Taiko put her hands on Yumi's shoulders, looking her in the eyes.

  "We need to think. We need to use our heads. The first thing we need to do is find everyone. Maybe they ran away, or maybe something took them, but we need to focus on helping them before anything else."

  "We should have been here," said Miyoshi, "We should have come right away in the morning. If we'd been here to help-"

  "We didn't know," said Taiko. "How could we? The important thing is that we're here to help now."

  Taiko turned to Chiyo next, and a reassurin
g hand appeared on her shoulder.

  "Are you okay, Chiyo? It's okay if you need a minute to get your head straight. This is awful, and we wouldn't be us if it were easy to see our home like this."

  "No," said Chiyo, feeling better for hearing Taiko's words. She always could make Chiyo feel like things would be alright, even if they'd never been this bad before.

  "I'm okay," she said.

  "Then we need you to help us. You're the smartest here. What can you figure out?"

  Chiyo wiped the tears that she hadn't realized were in her eyes away, and started looking around, trying to ignore the horror to focus on the details.

  "The footprints- look at how many of them were made by boots. Most people here wear sandals. There's no sign of anything that looks like a monster."

  "Bandits?" said Yumi, "But bandits have never tried stealing the whole town before. They wouldn't have taken the people with them."

  Chiyo started picking through the houses, noting what was taken. They'd done a lot of looting, whoever they were. A thought struck her, and she made her way over to the mayor's house. The place had been ransacked, and it looked like a lot of journals and records were missing from his office.

  "Bandits wouldn't want anything with the mayor's books..." she said, absently. Books. What about her books? Chiyo thought about her house for the first time, and made dash to see what had become of it, and the tomes inside that might be Ikumi's only hope.

  Her door was smashed in, and a mess made of the inside. She climbed her stairs to the second floor, which was entire taken up by her library and magical items. To her relief, her books were still there, even if half of them had been dumped on the floor. Some of her magical items were gone, but not most of them. Taking a mental inventory, the ones that were missing were the ones that would have looked valuable to anyone who didn't know they were magical- the amulets were gone, but unassuming Mask of Kyojin was still hanging on the wall.

  "They didn't know much about us," said Chiyo, gathering her friends after her inspection of the ruins. "They took all sorts of journals and maps and letters, like they were gathering intelligence. But they didn't focus much on our houses."