Redux: Lineage

"What the hell do you mean he wants me there?" Luna demanded as we walked into the room, engaged in conversation with a spectral projection of her older sister.

The yellow projection of Celestia sighed, shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips.

"I've said that my word is good enough to put before a crowd. I've said that mine and Cadance's word is good enough," she said in an irritated manner. "But the man refuses to accept that and says he won't sign off on the trade contract unless all three of us are there with him for the announcement."

Luna put a hand to her face, massaging her temples with finger and thumb, before looking back up at Celestia.

"When does he say he wants to sign off on it?" she asked. "What's his deadline?"

"Tomorrow morning," Celestia said in a dry tone.

Luna gritted her teeth, her irritation clear as day to all those gathered, the lunar Alicorn sucking in a breath and muttering to herself.

"There was a time when our race would make a request and it would be delivered on," she growled. "None of this political bullshit."

"And now that we live in a time where we have to be diplomats and not dictators, we have to follow the same steps the rest of the dancers do," Celestia nodded. "Despite how much easier conquering and war would be. So, can you make it?"

"Yes. I'll just have to tell the kids they're on their own for a few days until I get back," Luna said.

"Speaking of which..." Celestia said, leaning to look over Luna's shoulder with a smile on her face. "Good afternoon, you two. Are you having fun?"

"Very much so," I nodded. "Thanks, Aunt Celestia."

"I'm doing great, Your Majesty," Annerose said, bowing her head respectfully.

"Good to hear," the ancient Alicorn said with a wide smile. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to preparations for the arrival of the ambassadors from the Arid Plains."

"That's gonna be a fun feast," Luna said with a sarcastic laugh.

"Yes, but their food and music is always a delight," Celestia said, her projection tapping something in front of her before she disappeared completely.

Luna stooped low and picked up and humming yellow crystal on the floor, tucking it into a pouch on her belt and turning to look at the both of us.

"Perfect timing, I wanted to talk to you about..." she said, trailing off as she saw the beaten and bloody state the two of us were in. "What the hell happened to you guys?"

"Fun," Annerose shrugged. "Would you mind patching us up? We've got a bet on with Karra and I really want to hit her in the face."

"Yeah... sure," Luna said. "Just gonna throw a couple of wards on the two of you while I'm at it."

"What for?" I asked as Luna began swishing and waving her now-glowing hands over my face and body.

"Svea's running around with a mind-control amulet around her neck," Luna answered, casting the wards as she spoke. "And taking into account this family's history with mind control, I don't wanna take any chances this time around. I was supposed to do it ages ago, but kept forgetting about it."

She moved onto Annerose, healing her up and casting the protection wards on her as well.

"What do these things do, exactly?" Annerose asked.

"They're high-tier mental manipulation protection wards mixed in with a few life force and soul protection wards," Luna answered. "In case you run into demons or wraiths any time soon."

"Neat," I said with a smirk. "Thanks, Aunt Luna."

"Don't mention it," she said, giving me a peck on the cheek and an affection clap on the face for Annerose. "Now, like you heard, I've gotta get going, political horseshit and all. I won't be gone longer than a few days, so try not to need me, okay?"

"No promises," I smirked.

"Great," Luna sighed. "I'm gonna give the protection wards to Zane and Grael on my way out, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Have fun," I said, getting an evil glower from the taller Alicorn before she headed out of the room.

Seconds passed before she poked her head back in, snapping her fingers and summoning a cloth-bound object.

"Shit, right," she said, chucking it over to Annerose. "I wanted to give that to you, just so you can have an actual weapon instead of that toothpick you keep swinging around."

Annerose caught the cloth-wrap in the palm of her hand whilst glowering at Luna, the dark-skinned woman giving her a wide smile before disappearing for good this time. Annerose turned back to me with a displeased expression on her face, opening her mouth to ask a question.

"Yes, everyone here thinks the katana is a shit weapon," I said before she even had the chance to ask. "Single-edged, no useful guard to speak of, can't be half-sworded, and is made of shitty pig-iron. Next question?"

She closed her mouth quickly and set about unwrapping the object, revealing the jet-black longsword that had once belonged to Arala. Annerose looked at the weapon with a surprised expression, sliding the blade out of the cloth and casting it aside on the war table.

"Luna kept it," she stated, gripping the leather-wrapped hilt and staring at the black blade.

"Yeah," I nodded. "It’s made out of Kairosteel, right? Bit stupid to leave that behind... you have been instructed on how to use a longsword, right?"

"Yeah. I only started training with a katana two or three years back," she nodded, running the back of her nail along the edge of the blade to test it sharpness. "I've been using western swords since I was seven years old."

"It's a little longer than mine is, I think," I said, looking over the blade myself. "You're gonna need to get a scabbard made for it, aren't you?"

"Fucking dammit!" came Luna's irritated yell mere seconds before a metal-and-leather object was thrown through the door and landed loudly on the ground. "I knew I forgot something!"

Annerose and I looked through the doorway as Luna trudged away. The blue-haired youth rolled her eyes, picking up the soft leather object and gently squeezing it.

"It uses a sheath," she commented, sliding the blade into the black leather before strapping it to her belt. "Nice and soft to carry."

"But less effective as a weapon," I shrugged. "Anyway, you ready to go and take on Karra?"

"Yeah, but one question first," Annerose said, looking at the hilt of the sword over my shoulder. "Why don't you wear it at the hip?"

"Keeps it out of the way of things," I answered.

"But it’s harder to draw," she said.

"It’s not fitted as much at the bottom of the blade," I said, pulling on the hilt of the sword to show that it was only fastened properly just below my shoulder.

I briefly slid it out of the scabbard for a few moments, showing that I was able to pull it straight out into a guard position due to the lack of fitting on the back.

"It flops around a little when running," I said, sheathing it over my shoulder once more. "But it beats knocking things over when turning around."

"You tried having it at an angle?" she asked.

"Several times," I nodded. "But the problem still persists. Anyway, enough chatter. I've got a catgirl to nail."

"Ugh..." Annerose sighed, turning and walking back towards the arena.

We returned to find Karra sitting with a wooden sword on her lap, drumming her fingers on the blade with an impatient look on her face.

"Ugh," she said as she got to her feet. "Finally. I thought you two would never get back."

"Just wanted to give you enough time to enjoy having clear skin and fixed bones," Annerose said, removing her sword from her belt and taking up one of the training swords. "Before we beat you black, blue, and broken."

"You've got such a mouth on you," Karra said, watching me pick up one of the wooden swords and ready myself. "I can't wait to set it wired shut to heal for months. Ready?"

"Ready," the two of us nodded.

"Gonna go for the usual strategy?" I asked Annerose as I brushed shoulders with her.

"Of course," she smirked, rushing towards Karra.

The catgirl prepared herself, managing to deflect a good number of Annerose's strikes before being put on the back foot as I came in from the left. I swung for under her right arm, forcing her to block with her sword and allowing Annerose to strike her in the hip. She hunched over slightly, allowing Annerose and I to get into position, spinning around one another before bringing our swords down in an X shape against both sides of Karra's neck. The Nekomata yelped in pain as the wood smacked into her bone, only to have the wind knocked out of her as Annerose and I booted her in the chest and sent her sprawling onto her back.

We broke formation briefly, returning to guard positions as Karra picked herself up. There were red marks on the sides of her neck, soon to bruise and sting, and a look of irritation in her eyes.

"You," she said as she pointed at Annerose. "I can understand being this dangerous... him?"

She then turned her finger to me, her eyes lining up with the point as she glared at me.

"He could barely hold a sword the last time we fought," she continued, rolling her shoulders and glaring. "What the hell happened?"

"He's useless on his own," Annerose smirked. "But he works well with others. For example-"

With that, she dashed towards Karra again, laying on vicious strikes aimed for her lower body, keeping Karra moving further and further backwards before I came in.

"Like I'm falling for that again!" Karra snapped, shoulder charging Annerose out of the way and ducking underneath a swing of my sword.

Annerose, however, managed to hook her legs around Karra's whilst on the ground, causing her to stumble and fall hard onto her hands and knees, leaving her wide open for a vicious boot to the side of the head. She took the hit hard and rolled several feet, getting back up onto hers with cat agility and dashed forward, slamming her knee into Annerose's raised leg and aiming a swing for my face. I managed to hook my arm around her elbow, catching the strike before it happened and used her badly-positioned weight and my strength to throw her straight back to the ground. Annerose took advantage of this, rolling forwards into a handspring before slamming her boots down onto the side of Karra's head.

Angered and in pain, the Nekomata shoved Annerose away and got back to her feet. She then tore away at the clasps on her breastplate, allowing the metal object to fall free onto the ground. She repeated this with several pieces of her armour until she wore nothing more than cotton undergarments designed to prevent chafing... and a small sapphire choker around her neck.

"Oh no," I said in a horrified manner.

"Why oh no?" Annerose asked as Karra placed a finger on the choker.

"You ever dealt with a Feral Nekomata before?"

"I don't even know what that is!"

"Then I am really sorry you had to find out this way," I said, dragging Annerose back several feet as an explosion of light covered Karra, her loud yell being morphed into the roar of a lion inside the light. The magic whipped up powerful winds, throwing her discarded armour around and kicking up a lot of dirt from the hard ground, chunks flying everywhere before it all finally settled down.

Where the once very-human Karra had stood was now an animalistic creature, leaning far more into the wilder side of the animal kingdom. Her once-human hands and feet had been replaced with large cat paws with claws extended and ready. Her human teeth had been replaced with large, sharp fangs that she ground excitedly as she stared at the two of us. Her cat ears had grown much larger and furrier as her ponytail had exploded out into an enormous, waving bush of thick hair. Her eyes had turned into the orbs of a panther and her semi-toned body had been replaced with shredded muscle.

"What the fuck is that?" Annerose asked as Karra's much-thicker tail lashed about on the ground hard enough to break it.

"This is a Nekomata's fighting form," I answered, readying my sword for a much harder fight. "This is where they throw aside all their training and just go on super-powered instinct."

"How do we beat her?"

"Hit her really hard a lot of times and hope she doesn't maul us to death," I said, steeling myself as Karra charged forwards.

Her speed was insane, clearing the entire arena in a few seconds and launching at me, paws and fangs extended. I managed to duck underneath the initial jump before straightening my legs again. My shoulders slammed into her stomach and flipped her over, but the agile Nekomata landed on her paws without effort. She rebounded and leapt forward once again, only this time at a much closer distance. I had no time to dodge and was tackled to the ground, my sword swatted aside easily before I was punched in the face with her enormous paw.

I was thankful that she wasn't trying to kill us, despite her transformation. She was still being honourable and holding to the bet... despite not telling either of us she had access to a Feral Form. I tried my best to throw her off, gripping her thick hair as hard as I could and heaving, but she knocked the wind out of me with a punch to the gut with her paws. Annerose rushed in, slamming the sword into Karra's face as hard as she could to get her attention, using her much nimbler fighting style to keep ahead of Karra's pounces.

I grabbed my sword and moved in again, grabbing hold of Karra's tail with my off-hand and pulling her backwards. I wrapped a hand around her torso, possibly accidentally copping a feel as I did so, before letting Annerose land a few strikes of sword, fist, and knee into Karra's shredded abdomen. The savage Neko rocketed her head backwards, slamming it into my face and causing me to stagger back. She whirled around, grabbing hold of me in her big paw before continuing to spin, knocking me into Annerose and sending us both flying.

Immediate pain sprung up in both of us in practically all of us. Heads had clashed, joints had impacted, and bones were sore and aching as we picked ourselves up from the ground. We stood still for a moment, watching Karra sit on her haunches and pick her fangs with her claws for a few seconds.

"What's wrong, kids?" she asked in a growling voice. "Where's that arrogance and bravado gone?"

"It's unconscious on the floor behind me," Annerose answered, standing up and grimacing as her back cracked in the process. "It has been thoroughly slapped out of me after that."

"That's good to hear," she chuckled. "You give up yet? Do I get my free sets now?"

"I'm not unconscious yet," I said, readying myself and patting Annerose on the back.

"Lemme fix that," Karra smirked, bounding towards us and pouncing yet again.

We tried our best to dodge, but the soreness was taking its toll at this point. We threw ourselves, but not far enough, as Karra still managed to catch the both of us in the charge. Her momentum knocked spinning, hitting the floor hard and leaving us groaning in pain. As she walked over to deliver a knock-out punch to myself and Annerose, a loud, bestial barked split through the air mere moments before Grael and his entire three-hundred pound weight slammed into Karra. The titantic Direwolf sent her sprawling across the ground, only to be pinned down by his immense weight and power.

"This is cheating!" Karra snapped.

"If you beat the three of us, you can get three custom sets for every soldier," Grael offered.

Karra grinned widely before nodding quickly, slamming her knee in the fork of Grael's leg before throwing him over to the two of us.

"Why did you do that?" I asked as I used him to pull myself up.

"It's my job to protect you," Grael answered, using his teeth to pick Annerose up by her collar. "At least this way, I can feel like I'm doing my duty, win or lose."

"Yes, but now the bet's gone from being an annoyance on the Treasury to being a serious drain on resources," I said, holding my sore ribs and groaning in pain.

"Then we better hurry up and win," Grael said, standing in front of the two of us and acting as our shield. "Shall we go for the Pin and Win strategy?"

"Anything to get this furry cunt to stop moving," Annerose nodded, picking up her weapon and preparing herself. "Go get her, Grael."

Grael nodded, snarling as he charged at the nimble Neko... who proved to be a little too nimble for the lumbering beast, as she was able to dodge, duck, and weave her way around nearly every attempt Grael made to pin her.

"Move up," I said, patting Annerose on the back and pointing at Karra. "Try to corral her in and let Grael get a shot."

"Right," she nodded, moving as fast as her injured body could carry her while I did the same.

"I can't fucking wait to have a healer on the team," I groaned as we ran towards the animal fight.

"Same," Annerose said, leaping at Karra and slamming her sword into her arm, just above her large paws.

The impact did naught more than distract her, same as the strike I landed on the back of her head, but it was the full-body tackle from Grael that really made an impact. He slammed into her again, this time with an audible cracking sound, before using his weight (this time keeping his junk well out of hitting range) and placed his fangs against Karra's throat. Annerose and I moved in as well, placing the tip of our swords on her cheeks, signaling that the fight had drawn to a close.

Karra remained panting on the floor for a long second, each and every one of us in pain and exhausted before she relented. She dropped her head to the floor and audibly conceded the bout. We moved away from her and allowed her to transform back into her normal form, losing the paws, fangs, and enormous ears before she sat up with a sigh.

"Alright, you fucks," she said. "You win... but just know that I would've creamed the lot of you if it wasn't for your dumb dog."

"He's a wolf, actually," I said, offering her a hand up.

Once she gripped it tightly, I heaved her up to her feet before wrapping and arm around her waist and squeezing her against my body, feeling her enormous Neko tits press into my chest in a satisfying manner.

"And speaking of getting creamed..." I chuckled, snaking my hand down to her rear and squeezing it.

"Alright," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm yours for today. Let's just hurry and get this over with."

"I thought you promised to keep the sex to a minimum?" Grael asked in an irritated tone.

"This is a minimum," I shrugged. "Minimum of three, I promise."

"Just... just be ready to fight the dragon when you need to," he said, ignoring the affectionate pat on the head I gave him.

"Thanks, buddy!" I called out.

"Get fucked, Richter!" he called back.

I chuckled quietly, turning back to Annerose and looking over her beaten and bruised state.

"Y'know... I feel kinda bad about screwing you over like this," I said, walking over to her. "I made a bet that only benefits me... kinda gave you the shaft this time around."

"I'm okay with it," she shrugged as she crossed her arms. "Nothing I wanted in that deal anyway."

"You sure?" I asked with a smirk. "I mean... if you wanna join in on the spoils, I could give you the shaft in another way-"

"Stop talking," she growled. "Right the fuck now."

"Hey, I'm just being civil," I said, backing away with a chuckle. "The offer's there if you want it."

"I'm done with you now," she said, storming away in anger.

"Thanks, buddy!"

"Get fucked, Richter!"

"Trust me," I laughed. "I'm going to."

"Ughhh..."