## Preface

Kiss the Beast and the Den
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at https://archiveofourown.org/works/66240892.

Rating:
  Mature
Archive Warnings:
  Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category:
  F/M
Fandom:
  Slay the Princess (Visual Novel)
Relationships:
  The Beast/The Long Quiet (Slay the Princess), The Beast/The Hero | The Slayer (Slay the Princess), The Long Quiet/The Princess (Slay the Princess), The Hero | The Slayer/The Princess (Slay the Princess), The Den/The Long Quiet (Slay the Princess), The Den/The Hero | The Slayer (Slay the Princess), The Den/Voice of the Hunted (Slay the Princess), The Beast/Voice of the Hunted (Slay the Princess), The Beast/Voice of the Hero (Slay the Princess), The Den/Voice of the Hero (Slay the Princess), The Den/Voice of the Cheated (Slay the Princess)
Characters:
  The Beast (Slay the Princess), The Den (Slay the Princess), The Long Quiet (Slay the Princess), The Princess (Slay the Princess), The Player | The Hero (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Hero (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Hunted (Slay the Princess), The Narrator (Slay the Princess), Voice of the Cheated (Slay the Princess)
Additional Tags:
  Feral Behavior, Kissing, Courtship Dance, Dom/sub, Biting, Claws, Scratching, Beast has a lion tongue, Fighting, Romance and Fighting, Misunderstandings, Mistrust, Light vorish themes but it doesn't fully go there, Monsterfucker, Beast and Den purr - yes I know lions can't do that, Somewhat Toxic Relationship, Size Difference, petting, Bit of edgeplay, Body Horror, Narrator is very dehumanising towards Den, rough lovemaking, Rough make-outs, Forgiveness, Den can sort of tell what the voices are saying the same way Quiet can see her thoughts in her eyes, body merging, Embrace instinct route but what if they made up and then made out about it, Bit of bloodplay, Enemies to Lovers
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 17 of Kiss the Princess
Stats:
  Published: 2025-06-06 Completed: 2025-08-15 Words: 11,885 Chapters: 2/2

# Kiss the Beast and the Den

by Vickysaurus

Summary

> When the Beast starts seeing the Slayer as a rival instead of prey, the Voice of the Hunted realises a rival can be persuaded to become a mate. Can he survive the Beast's onslaught while showing her his courtship dance?

> (What if you could kiss the Beast and the Den?)

Notes

> Content warning for graphic descriptions of violence.

> This one starts after you've dodged the Beast's attacks a few times and get wounded by her.

See the end of the work for more notes

## Chapter 1: Kiss the Beast

The Princess: “You’re bleeding now...”

The Narrator: "You have once again lost sight of the Princess in the thick underbrush of broad-leaved plants. All you can hear is the occasional rustle of vegetation, but whether it’s the wind or the Princess is impossible to say. Your side, scraped by her most recent attack, stings balefully."

Voice of the Hero: "We can't keep this up. Every time we dodge the misses get closer."

Voice of the Hunted: "There is no alternative to survival."

Hero: "We need to strike her back, show her we're deadly too!"

Hunted: "It's not enough to be deadly, not unless we can make her dead before she kills us. She is a mighty, perfect hunter; strong, clever, and determined. Pain will not stop her. Injury will not stop her. Only death itself will. Grandstanding will only get us killed."

The Narrator: "You're talking her up too much, she's just a perfectly normal Princess. You can slay her, I have faith in your ability to do so."

Hero: “That makes one of us. Still, we have to do something, even if the odds aren’t good.”

Hunted: “Staying alive is doing something.”

· "If you want to do this, then let's do this. Come out of hiding, show yourself!"

The Princess: "Don't be so foolish, prey. If you want to see me, get better at seeing."

Hunted: "The air is shifting. She's about to strike again, and she means this one to be the last."

Hero: "Then it's our last chance to make a stand."

Hunted: "Recklessness will get us devoured. It isn’t going to work. We’re in her domain. We just have to stay alive."

Hero: “We’re too tired, we’re going to slip up. We have to take a risk.”

· [Wait for her to strike, and hit her back.]

The Narrator: "With all you have left, you leap aside, swinging the blade through the space you just vacated. Your blade encounters a huge body as it lunges from the shadows. The Princess's hide is tough and yet the blade makes short work of it. You cut deep into her flesh and she loses her focus, crying out in pained surprise, but she's gone before you can finish the job. You catch a glimpse of her, clutching her bleeding side."

The Princess: "The prey strikes back. You're braver than before. Found your claws at last?"

· "Yeah, so don't you come any closer! You'll regret it if you do!"

The Princess: "I’m not scared of a little scratch, prey. If you're gonna try to intimidate your betters, you'd better be able to back it up."

Hunted: "Of course a slice from the steel claw isn't enough, she's so much more than us."

Hero: "We'll give her more than that when she tries again!"

Hunted: "She'll be ready for us. She won't be caught so easily again."

Hero: "Then we should surprise her. Strike at her before she can attack."

Hunted: "Bad idea…”

Hero: “You said yourself she knows her strength lies in shadows and secrets. So let’s strike first, keep her off-balance! Use your clever senses to find her and let’s take care of her.”

Hunted: “It is not for the prey to seek out its predator. But she is lurking behind the bushes there, getting ready to strike again.”

· [Pre-emptive strike.]

The Narrator: “In a sudden outburst of speed and muscle, you burst through the foliage, stabbing wildly at the already fleeing form you encounter. The pristine blade sinks deep, her momentum almost ripping it out of your hands. Something large and powerful strikes you, knocking you down into the loam, but your blade is dripping with the Princess’s blood, which leaves a dark trail through the vegetation.”

Hero: “We wounded her!”

Hunted: “And she wounded us. Bad trade.”

The Princess: “Not so pathetic and helpless any more... That hurt. Are you just the cornered prey you seem to be, or could you be... a rival?”

Hero: “Look, we’re changing her mind! Being her rival sounds much safer! A rival isn't someone you eat.”

Hunted: “But it is someone you fight, and she can easily kill us in a fight. What she does to us after we’re dead matters little.”

Hero: “Do you always have to be so pessimistic? Can't the glass be half-full for once?”

Hunted: “The fullness of the glass doesn't matter when she can so easily shatter ours. Being her rival is no good to us by itself when she is so much more powerful. But it may let us change her mind in a way that prey couldn’t.”

Hero: “Change her mind how?”

Hunted: “A rival’s encroachment on her territory will be met with swift and ruthless violence. Unless that rival becomes something else. Prey can only become a single thing, part of her. But a rival could become a mate.”

Hero: “Oh. Y-you mean-”

The Narrator: “Ew! Ewewewew, please never think about anything like that again. Some of us have your disgusting thoughts inflicted upon us, you know.”

Hero: “Okay, there's no need to be like that. She’s terrifying, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t, uh…”

Hunted: “Attractive? Sensual? Deeply alluring?”

Hero: “Uh, yeah, all of those. But still, it’s a bit of a, uh, daunting prospect. Do you think we can take her?”

Hunted: “We're more capable of taking her this way than the other.”

The Narrator: “Please no, the Princess is-”

Hunted: “It doesn't matter what she is. There is only survival. Do not let anything else distract us. She’s coming out of the shadows to seize us up, face her rival.”

The Narrator: “Yes, I was about to say that. Her form looms in the darkness as she approaches, easily twice your size even discounting the tail. Her back is arched, little vestigial wings spread to make her even more enormous. Wide, piercing eyes never leave you as you ready your blade.”

Hunted: “She may strike at any moment. Now is the time to change her mind. And there’s only one way to do so.”

Hero: “C-catch and kiss her when she strikes? Flirting and flattery? Submit to her? Have a romantically charged fight? ...The Look?”

Hunter: “The Look will not be enough. We need to hit her with our cou- Move, she’s attacking!”

· [Dodge.]

The Narrator: “She rears back, then leaps at you, more forceful, more ferocious, and more serious than before. You dive for safety behind a log, but this is not an animal’s wild pounce. She lands where you stood moments ago and lashes out with her claw, shattering the log and showering you in a spray of splinters that stick in your skin like so many pin feathers. A wicked grin bares her great fangs as she towers over you, ready to give your spine the same treatment.”

The Princess: “Oh? Cornered prey it is, then. How disappointing.”

Hunted: “Do not let this opportunity slip away. We need to impress her.”

Hero: “Thought you wanted to run away.”

Hunted: “I wanted to flee the deadly predator. Not a potential mate.”

· “Could a cornered animal do this?!” [Slide under the Princess and give her a cut to remember you by.]

The Narrator: “As she unhinges her jaw and lunges for you, you dive underneath her. You roll under her curved body, lash out at a tightly muscled, furry stomach and cut into her flesh, scrambling out the other side.”

Hunted: “Her tail! Dodge the tail, with hips like those it could strike us like a whip!”

· [Jump over her tail.]

The Narrator: “The Princess’s long, thin tail lashes with a loud crack as she turns around with a snarl of pain, sending yet more splinters flying. You don’t stop, but try to vanish into the dense underbrush, but the Princess is in hot pursuit.”

Hunted: “Be careful when trusting our ears. She is deceptively quiet for such a large creature and will be closer than we think. Climb a tree! At her size, she won’t be able to follow.”

Hero: “Hey, what about impressing her?”

Hunted: “Tree first.”

· [Scramble up a tree.]

The Narrator: “You hop and leap from branch to branch, up into the trees, using your momentum to your advantage to swing up, even flapping your wings to extend your jumps. Just in time. The Princess crashes against your tree with the force of a tidal wave, showering you in twigs and leaves as your claws dig into the bark so you don’t fall down.”

Hunted: “Keep climbing, she’s rearing up!”

· [Higher!]

The Narrator: “Braving gravity in the creaking and shaking tree, you climb as high as you can. The Princess’s mighty jaws pursue you closely as she rears up, dangerously bending the thick trunk. A terrible force grips your tail feathers and yanks you back, but you wrap your arms and legs around a thick branch before you can be picked out of the tree. You hold on in spite of the screeching pain of your feathers being plucked out of your body. And then, with a horrible final ripping, you are released and free to climb yet higher, out of reach of the Princess’s jaws. Now that it’s clearly futile, she stops biting at you, staring up from not so far below with intense, glowing eyes.”

The Princess: “Not bad, fledgling. But you’re still trapped in my domain and this is no more than temporary safety. What will you do when I dig up your tree’s roots and topple it with ease?”

Hunted: “We will not get a better stage. Unleash our courtship dance.”

Hero: “We have a courtship dance?”

Hunted: “Of course we do. Can you not feel it in our blood? This is our best chance to change how she sees us.”

· “Well, what will you do when I do this?” [Unleash your courtship dance.]

The Narrator: “On your perch above the Princess, you raise your crest and spread your wings. She blinks in surprise, but then you start tapping your feet and bobbing your head rhythmically, batting your eyelashes. You raise and lower your crest and wings in time, crooning softly, and the Princess gets a strange look in her eyes, pulling her lip up a bit.”

Hunted: “More! Give it all to her!”

The Narrator: “Your ridiculous display gets yet more ridiculous as you spin around and wave what’s left of your tail around, bucking your hips. Some of the splinters come loose with your motions and fall out. Your crooning builds up into cawing and screeching as you spin and spin, finishing with a great flourish of your wings and tail. A deep purr escapes the Princess before she catches herself, glowering and snarling at you.”

The Princess: “Awfully bold little fledgling, aren’t you? What gives you the audacity to think you could impress me with such a display?”

Hunted: “She is impressed. Her pupils dilate, her breathing and heartbeat sped up, her body radiates heat and pheromones of its own. But a this dance is still too subdued. We must unleash its full potential, not just stand on a single branch.”

Hero: “You mean like, hop around and stuff to really impress her? She’ll eat us in an instant if we fall. Shouldn’t we be a little more careful?”

Hunted: “There are things almost as important as survival. It’s more than just fear that makes our heart pound loudly in our ears. Don’t you feel it? We don’t need to fear her if we can make her desire us. We either impress her, or we die.”

Hero: “I-I mean, we could maybe just compliment her or something instead? We’re exhausted.”

Hunted: “That’s the point. We show her how great our stamina is. How worthy we are of her.”

· [There’s no need for words. There’s only dance.]

The Narrator: “You spring to action and restart your ridiculous dance with reckless abandon, flapping your wings wildly, the branch creaking. You hop nimbly from branch to branch as you go, putting all you have into it, the top of the tree creaking and swaying dangerously with your rhythm as the Princess leans her body weight against the trunk, twigs and leaves landing in her face. She watches you intensely, your dancing silhouette reflected in her wide eyes. You hop down, closer, nearly within her reach, teasing and challenging her, the tension in her long, wiry body palpable. You clack your beak repeatedly, and you can see the Princess’s lower jaw twitch along to the rhythm. And then you dare hop down yet lower, a huff of warm breath oozing over your feet. In your most foolish manoeuvre yet, you turn your back at the Princess and flick what’s left of your tail up and down, once, twice, before you change up the rhythm. Just in time, as the clap of a pair of powerful jaws shutting just behind you resounds a moment after you flick your tail up. With a coy croon, you hop back up a few spots and throw a glance back. The Princess below looks embarrassed at her loss of control, baring her teeth awkwardly.”

· “I’m not that kind of snack, Princess.”

The Narrator: “A deep rumble she tries to mask as a growl escapes the Princess. You hop higher, flapping exhausted wings and bobbing your head and tail with all you have left. And when you clack your beak rhythmically, the Princess, mesmerised, finally joins in, clacking her teeth to match you.”

Hero: “Okay, she’s into it. But she did also try and eat us there.”

Hunted: “I know. But if anything, that helps make sure we have her undivided attention. Whether her desire stems from hunger or arousal, she cannot take her eyes off us. So give it our all and finish it off with a grand finale.”

· [The Grand Finale.]

The Narrator: “You jump two branches down with an extravagant flip, landing with a loud caw, your wings spread wide. But when your feet impact the branch, you realise something is terribly wrong. The impact feels far less impactful than it should be, and although the crack of the branch breaking off is almost drowned out by your own racket, it’s obvious you’re plummeting. You flail for something to hold on to, which takes you a moment before you find something large and thick and wrap your arms around it for dear life. It’s warm and lightly furred, with long, pale hair draped over it. Your feet land on a large body, useless little wings awkwardly folded under your weight as the Princess roars in shock with you latched on to her neck.”

Hero: “Hold on tightly, she’s gonna panic and rampage!”

Hunted: “She won’t. She is a dangerously intelligent hunter. She will roll to crush us!”

The Narrator: “Instead of either of those, the Princess freezes, powerful muscles trembling with cramping tension. She barely breathes.”

The Princess: “...What are you waiting for? Do it, then, this is your best try yet.”

· “Do wha-”

The Narrator: “Realising you are in fact not about to do the smart thing and backstab her, the Princess leaps into action and rolls over, her weight crushing you into the ground. A branch digs sharply into your back as her heavy bulk grinds you like a tough, warm millstone. Your bones creak and your feathers are plucked by the rough sandpaper texture of tough fur and skin, splinters still stuck in you driven deeper into your flesh. Air is expelled forcibly from your lungs. When the weight finally lifts you lie there gasping and recovering. When your eyes regain the ability to focus, the Princess is already towering over you, cold bright eyes looking down with mild curiosity and disappointment.”

Hunted: “No time to recover, we need to-”

The Narrator: “She slams down a great scaly paw that looks much like your own down on your chest, once again flattening your lungs and pressing you into the dirt with her mighty weight.”

The Princess: “No, you’re not going anywhere, fledgling. You’ve led me a merry chase, but now you’re mine.”

Hero: “Oh fuck, do you think she’s gonna eat us? I don’t wanna be eaten!”

Hunted: “Maybe. We have one chance to save ourselves. Keep playing the defeated rival, the demure mate, not the struggling prey. Acknowledge her superiority and power over us and she may yet spare us.”

· [Bare your throat and croon softly.] “You win, Princess. I am yours. Please have mercy, I’m no threat to you.”

The Narrator: “What are you doing begging her for mercy? Isn’t it obvious the Princess is a merciless, inhuman, thoughtless monster?"

Hero: "I thought she was 'just a Princess'?"

The Narrator: "She is, that's exactly what I just said. You’re much better off using the pristine blade, it fell close enough to your left hand that you can still reach it.”

Hero: “…Maybe we could still turn this around?”

Hunted: “The steel claw cannot save us now. Only utter submission can.”

The Narrator: “Before you can ignore that little Voice and take the blade, the Princess slams another paw down on your arm with a mocking little glance at the blade as she drags her other paw over your body, its rough pads and great claws harshly brushing through your feathers and scratching your skin.”

The Princess: “Tsk. How pathetic. You try and try to backstab me, but in the end you really aren’t a threat. You dance and squawk and fly, only to be caught anyway.”

Hero: “We weren’t even trying to backstab her!”

Hunted: “We did try it once, before she revealed this form. She’s wise to be on guard. Which she is, despite her boasts. Try to put her at ease. Pet her.”

· [Pet the Princess.]

The Narrator: “With a fearful tremor, you slowly reach your free hand up for the Princess's neck scruff. She pulls up her lip, displaying deadly fangs, and yet she allows you to proceed. Her fur here is longer than elsewhere, and yet still fairly short, thick, and sturdy. You brush your fingers through it, gently letting loose skin roll between them. She stares down at you coldly, yet there is a small quiver you can feel in her claws.”

Hunted: “More.”

· [More pets for the Princess.] “It's alright, Princess, you can relax now. You've won. I'm not your enemy.”

The Narrator: “You dig your fingers deeper through short, yet thick neck scruff. The Princess’s pale, tangled hair is long enough to hang over the whole of her neck, even getting caught up in her much shorter fur. You brush it with your claws, working the tangles out of it, caressing split ends. Letting your hand move upward to her head, you encounter the short, stubby base of growing antlers, skin stretched tight over them. The Princess’s eyes half-close and a deep purr rumbles through your entire body, only for her eyes to shoot open as she stiffens.”

The Princess: “I can relax, can I? Exactly the thought a pathetic little creature who tried very poorly to kill me several times over would want to lull me into. Perhaps I need to teach you how it's done, fledgling…”

The Narrator: “Lifting her long claw off you, she allows you to stumble to your feet. The moment you do, she bats you hard in the back with the same claw. You’re knocked forward by the heavy impact, only to be stopped by thick, soft pads covered in rough, calloused skin catching you from the front. Her other claw, which before you can recover bats you right back. And then another impact knocks the wind out of you and pummels you, and another, batting you back and forth like a toy. Each hit bruises and disorients you not so much with its speed, but the sheer weight and force behind it.”

Hunted: “She’s toying with us like a cat with a mouse. Do not let her.”

The Narrator: “But you're already too winded, dizzy, and hurt to defend yourself properly. You wave your claws around ineffectively, trying to hit something. A warm huff of breath washes over you.”

The Princess: “So helpless… I can take my time with you, can’t I?”

The Narrator: “You’re barely conscious, unable to keep air in your lungs, the world spinning and disorienting you further with every pummel. The concussions probably don’t help either. Mercifully, the Princess suddenly ends it with a claw slamming you flat to the ground. You feel something break inside you, but the pain barely registers in your battered, concussed body. The Princess’s voice buzzes and pounds through the loud whistle in your ears as she speaks.”

The Princess: “Then again, perhaps I don’t want to. Perhaps it’s time for me to seize the moment.”

The Narrator: “Before you know what’s happening, a wide, rough tongue covered in small spines laps over you, dragging a path of needles from your thighs up to your face. You flop around a little in a vain attempt to get more comfortable, while the Princess makes delighted little noises.”

Hero: “Oof… Oww… Ugh…”

Hunted: “Oh… We need... stop her… don’t… don’t let her devour us.”

· “...Please don’t… eat me…”

The Princess: “Oh, but it would be so easy. I need you to leave this place, and I’m starting to enjoy your taste, snack. Why wouldn’t I eat you? What could you possibly do to make it worth it?”

· “Ki… kiss the pretty… Princess…”

The Narrator: “The Princess draws back in shock, as she rightfully should. Get your head out of the concussion and back into reality! ...Standing over you, the Princess steps on your upper chest, your ribs creaking under her weight, a long claw on each side of your throat, pinning down your head.”

The Princess: “You presume far too much, fledgling! The first thing I want from you is my freedom. Are you going to give it to me, or am I going to devour you and take it?”

Hero: “But… wouldn’t that be the end of the world?”

Hunted: “Maybe. But her world is small and lightless. No creature would be content in it, and we have no power to stop her.”

Hero: “You’re saying we have no choice but to free her?”

Hunted: “There is always a choice. But refusal would be a bad choice. We are in her power. There’s no point to throwing away our life in a pointless gesture, not when we have made so much progress with her. Is she not worth the world?”

· "I... I'll free you."

The Narrator: "Oh, you coward!"

The Princess: “You know what's good for you, chew toy. How fortunate. For both of us.”

The Narrator: “The Princess lies down and laps over your chest and body, but this time she applies less pressure, perhaps a different angle. Instead of piercing pain, the spines on her tongue brush your feathers, pleasantly scratch your skin. Finally, she pauses as she reaches your face, bright eyes piercing yours as she studies you closely.”

The Princess: "Of course, if this is another poor attempt at trickery, you will suffer the consequences."

Hero: “Ugh, we only tried to trick her once, and it didn’t work at all. Why does she have to hold it against us? Only being clear and honest with our intentions has ever worked, let’s just explain that to her.”

Hunted: “We talk too much. There are better ways to communicate.”

· [Continue your courtship dance.]

The Narrator: “Ugh, no, stop it! Stop clacking your beak and batting your eyelids like that!”

Hero: “The Princess seems into it.”

The Narrator: “I don’t want the Princess to be into it, I want her to be slain! But yes, as you clack your beak closer to her, she starts clacking her teeth, matching your rhythm. You wave your head from side to side, clacking, and she matches you perfectly. Then you bring your beak closer and closer to her throat, tension growing in her eyes. Just before you reach fur, you find her watching like a hawk, lose your nerve, and back off.”

· "Princess, do you really think any of this can be trickery? You are beautiful, ferocious, and alluring and I'm into you.”

The Princess: “Ugh, you talk too much! Why do you waste so much time telling me what your body language already said instead of taking action? Like this.”

The Narrator: “The Princess unleashes herself upon you ferociously, heavy claws digging wounds into your chest, her great tongue scraping roughly over your throat before finally finding your face. And you… Oh, yuck. You not only let it happen, but you reciprocate. You… allow it to slip into your beak, caressing its spines with your own tongue. She presses her hairy lips to yours, roughly and powerfully, your body pinned down with roots digging into your back. Her mouth is larger, her tongue easily filling you up as its spines run against your upper teeth with a rhythmic clicking sensation. Her fangs are big and sharp, pressing into you hard and leaving little wounds. You reach a hand up to one of her stubby antlers, gently pressing its stretched skin against its hard edges, eliciting a purr that vibrates your eyelids and makes them itchy. The Princess is strong, much stronger than you could have imagined, and you are powerless under her weight. You can barely breathe, and what you do manage to inhale is the hot, humid air her great body exhales upon you. With a final, scraping lick over your whole face, she parts from you.”

Hero: “W-woah. That was… a lot. Oof, we’re hurting a bit.”

Hunted: “She is a lot. It’s impossible to be intimate with a creature as great as she is and come away unscathed.”

The Narrator: “The vibrations of the Princess’s purrs vibrates through your shaken bones as she laps over your throat with her sandpaper tongue one more time for good measure.”

The Princess: “There, you got what you wanted. So, what do you do next?”

· “Oh, uh, th-thank you, Princess. Thank you so much. That was amazing. Would you, um, like some more?”

The Narrator: “She huffs a humid bark of laughter in your face.”

The Princess: “Mmm, good little fledgling. Seems I finally taught you some manners. But that’s not what I meant. I want my freedom.”

· “Yeah, I’ll get you out… Hehe, but what’s the rush? This is real cosy, don’t you think? Maybe we could spend a little more time together right here?”

The Princess: “Or maybe I could devour you right here. It was so easy the first time and right now you’re even more helpless than when you were dead.”

The Narrator: “She emphasises her words by digging her claws deeper into your chest, your feathers staining with blood.”

Hunted: “Do not mistake a moment of shared pleasure for a solid bond. That response was more than just teasing, she doesn’t trust us.”

Hero: “It was just a cute little joke, she could lighten up a bit.”

Hunted: “Do not forget what she is. Treating a predator without respect to her nature is to court disaster.”

· “Okay, but you’re gonna have to let me go first. Can’t move like this.”

The Princess: “Sounds like a problem. Go, then, but first, let me give you a reminder, snack.”

The Narrator: “She suddenly opens her massive jaw widely and surges forth. Before you can react, her maw is around your face and shoulders, her wide, hungry throat in full view. Her teeth press dangerously into your head and throat, shifting around, gnawing, as she… chews on you.”

Hunted: “Flee!”

Hero: “Where?!”

Hunted: “It doesn’t matter, anywhere that’s not inside her!”

Hero: “I… I don’t think she’s actually trying to eat us. She’s just… chomping on us. Yuck!”

The Narrator: “Although the Princess’s bites hurt, they do not break the skin, though it feels like it will be left with the imprints of her teeth. She uses blunt molars rather than sharp canines to apply pressure. Another deep rumble emerges from her, though in your current position you can’t tell if it comes from her throat or her stomach. Mighty jaw muscles contract just enough to tenderise you without wounding. Your neck cracks, releasing tension you didn’t even realise you had. At last, she pulls back, strands of saliva connecting you.”

The Princess: “You’re mine. I can do with you as I please, and you're extremely lucky to be given this much. Try anything, anything at all, and you’ll see how much sharper, how much deadlier, how much more than you I am. Now get up, chew toy!”

The Narrator: “She swipes you to your feet with her paw, its rough, sharp impact knocking the wind out of you even as you still cough and sputter from the time in her moist maw. You stumble through the jungle, gasping and tripping over your own feet, the Princess following you closely and staring down coldly.”

Hunted: “She’s on high alert, afraid we’ll make a run for it.”

Hero: “Hey, let’s just put her at ease a bit. Make a little joke of it.”

· “Don’t worry, I’d hold your hand to keep you close if you had one.”

The Narrator: “A small huff escapes the Princess, her stoic face difficult to read, but she doesn’t let up. She drives you onwards, any time you slow down you find her paws batting you forward, her large form hovering over you. Just walking is exhausting to your bruised, concussed body.”

Hero: “She doesn’t need to be so paranoid! Did that kiss mean nothing to her?”

Hunted: “As far as she’s concerned, we could still make a break for it and run out of the cabin ourself. Better to keep us too tired to get ahead of her.”

The Narrator: “You’ve already reached the stairs, on your last legs. You try to catch your breath before you start the climb, but the Princess bats at you, knees and shins impacting the dilapidated, splintery wood of the stairs. With every step you ascend in the narrow space, you are aware of her presence looming just behind you, the wood creaking and warping under her weight. Listen to me, you may be exhausted and battered, but that is no excuse to damn the entire world. Your last chance is coming up. There’s not much space for the Princess in the narrow staircase, she can’t manoeuvre, can’t dodge or hide. The moment she emerges into the cabin, it’s all over, but right now, she’s vulnerable.”

Hero: “And what are we supposed to do, fall down the stairs and crush her with our mighty weight?”

The Narrator: “Damn it, good point. Uh, ah, as you stumble up the final step, you brace yourself on the table, only for your hand to press on something cold and hard. The hilt of the pristine blade.”

Hero: “How’d this get here? We dropped it downstairs.”

Hunted: “No, don’t pick it up!”

The Narrator: “Staring sheepishly at the blade in your hands, you turn to glance back at the Princess. For a single, eternal moment, you stare into each other’s eyes. You see yourself reflected in them, a small, dark creature with a gleaming blade in its hand, silhouetted in the bright cabin. It has the high ground over her, free to move while she is stuck, trapped in a narrow staircase. Behind your reflection, you see more in her glowing eyes. Burning rage, stoked by a flash of terror.”

· “Uh-”

The Narrator: “And then everything happens faster than you could possibly conceive. A vicious maw bites down into your body, harder than ever, fangs ripping through skin, fat, and organs. Powerful neck muscles contract and tear your flesh, pulling you off your feet and sending you flying in a torrent of your own gore. There’s an impact splintering wood and bone alike. And then you slowly drip down the wall, a puddle of your organs leaking out from your lacerations onto the floor. The Princess steps out of the stairwell, her shoulders wide and fury in her eyes.”

The Princess: “Why?! Why did you do this to me?! Why would you take this from me? UGH, it doesn’t matter, I still need to consume you, and dead doesn’t count...”

The Narrator: “The Princess closes the distance, unhinging her jaw. But you’re bleeding your last upon the floor. Before you can see what happens next, everything goes dark, and you die.”

## Chapter 2: Kiss the Den

Chapter Summary

> Having died at Beast's hand, Quiet returns with a new, angry voice and a desire to give the Princess some payback. But the Den too feels betrayed by Quiet. Will their inevitable collision only lead to violence and anger, or can the sparks of romance they still carry bloom after all?

Chapter Notes

> Thanks for bearing with me, I know this one took a lot longer than usual for a second chapter.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The Narrator: "You're on a path in the-"

Voice of the Cheated: "That was total bullshit! Why the fuck did she do that to us?"

The Narrator: "Excuse me?"

Voice of the Hunted: "She thought we were tricking her. We weren't tricking her."

Voice of the Hero: "Well, she could've just talked to us instead of ripping our stuff out!"

Cheated: "Yeah! That's ours, how dare she? And she was gonna fucking eat us after death again!"

The Narrator: "She at e you? Again?!"

Hunted: "It's kinder to eat us dead than alive."

Cheated: "There he goes again! He's been defending her all the way, and what'd we get for it? Killed!"

Hunted: "I do not defend her. I merely explain her actions."

Cheated: "That's making excuses for her! You're just here coddling her and petting and kissing her and doing our mating dance and thinking she's sooo cute while she rips us apart!"

The Narrator: "Mating dance?"

Hunted: "I never said she's cute. She is a fierce, deadly predator with lethal claws and teeth and yet more lethal instincts."

Cheated: "See?! There he goes again!"

The Narrator: "I have no idea what you're talking about, but you must be thinking about someone else you met last time around. The Princess you’re supposed to slay is just a Princess. You already know you're here to slay her, but-"

Cheated: "Shut up, you're out of the loop!"

Hero: "Hey, speaking of loops... am I the only one who noticed He already knows about the looping?"

Cheated: "So He's fucking with us just as she's fucking with us and this whole place is fucking with us. Big whoop, no surprise there!"

Hunted: "He doesn't matter. Don't let Him distract us from what does matter."

Cheated: "Let me guess: the Princess?"

Hunted: "Our survival. And through it, yes, the Princess matters too."

Cheated: "Last time you had very different things than survival on your mind when it came to her!"

Hunted: "Our priorities shifted. Survival was still part of it. And it wasn't our courtship dance that got us killed."

· "No, it was the Princess jumping to conclusions. I only wanted what was best for her, and she ripped me apart because she just couldn't see that. Kindness is wasted on her, all she understands is violence!"

The Narrator: "Well, it seems you've been very foolish and allowed the Princess to doom a whole world, but at least you've got the right idea now."

Cheated: "Yeah, we do! So let's go get her!"

Hero: "I guess we misjudged her. There's no getting through to her if this is what she does to us. Even trying will just hurt us more."

Hunted: "There w as joy and companionship between us too. And she did have her reasons to suspect our motives. Don’t let anger guide us, it will dull our senses and guide our decisions along a single path, blinding us to all others."

· "Well, maybe I want to follow that path!" [Follow the path to the cabin]

The Narrator: "Good. What you’re listening to is not mere anger, but reason. You make your way up the path to the cabin. You'll find the Princess within."

Hero: "So, what's the plan?"

Cheated: "We don't need no stinking plan! We're gonna go in there, and we're gonna make her regret what she did to us."

The Narrator: "While I appreciate the enthusiasm, I must caution you that the Princess is not capable of regret."

Hunted: "She has far more emotional depth than you give her credit for. Do not discount her thoughts and feelings just because she has fur and a tail."

The Narrator: "Fur and a tail? Whatever you’re on about, don’t let this nonsense get in the way of slaying the perfectly normal Princess."

Cheated: “Oh, shut up! It’s your fault we’re stuck in this shit situation, and now we have to do the hard work of dragging us out.”

The Narrator: “And how do you intend to do that?”

Cheated: “We’re gonna fight her, and we’re gonna win! There’s a reason she resorts to bullshit like hiding in the shadows.”

The Narrator: “Well, no complaints here.”

· [Enter the cabin]

The Narrator: “The interior is dark and overgrown. Vines and brush obscure so much of the place that, had you not seen the exterior, you might not have noticed this was a cabin at all. The only ‘furniture’ of note, if you could call it that, is a knotted stump, a pristine blade embedded in its exposed rings. The blade is your implement. You’ll need it if you’re going to do this right.”

Cheated: “We’re taking that, and this time we’re not letting it out of our sight so He can make it re-appear at the worst moment and screw us over.”

Hunted: “Yes, take the steel claw. But do not use it unless we have to. And remember He did bring her reaction upon us.”

Hero: “So how are we supposed to get to her anyway? All that’s here is that mirror.”

The Narrator: “What mirror?”

Hunted: “The one you do not perceive. It isn’t part of this place. It’s seeped through from… somewhere else.”

Cheated: “Who cares? It’s in our way, let’s smash it!”

Hunted: “There may not be anything to smash. Can’t you feel the wind? It’s telling us there’s a hole in the wall. Our eyes deceive us.”

· [Smash the mirror]

The Narrator: “You take a swing through the open hole leading to the basement, losing your balance and tumbling headlong into the darkness, landing with your hands and face into the dirt.”

Hunted: “See? Nothing! Tricks of the eye. No one sense can be trusted on its own.”

Cheated: “Total bullshit! He’s just adding insult to insult now!”

The Narrator: “If there were once stairs leading into the basement, there is nothing left to attest to their existence now. There is only a long tunnel of packed earth, growing more narrow as you descend. It smells of mould and decay. The damp walls leave more streaks of dirt along your body as you’re forced to hunch, then finally squat down on all fours in order to continue. If the Princess lives here, slaying her is probably doing her a favour. As you crawl forward on hands and knees, you’re met only with the sounds of ambient earth. No voice slinks confidently up the stairs. No entity threatens violence or pleads for safety.”

Hunted: “Stay quiet. Don’t give her a sound.”

Cheated: “Oh fuck that, we’re letting her hear our opinions!”

· “Come out, you bitch! I’ll maul you!”

The Narrator: “The Princess answers your remark with a deafening roar that echoes heavily in the confined space, taking many seconds to fade away.”

Hero: “Guess we’re past words. At this point it’s gonna be our blade versus her claws and teeth.”

· [Enter the basement, looking for a fight.]

The Narrator: “The basement is dark and cavernous. A gaping maw, threatening to swallow you whole. There is no light here, save for what little starlight has managed to filter down the tunnel, and though you can’t see the vastness of the space, you can feel it. You’re exposed.”

Cheated: “Good, then she will be too! No bushes for her to hide in.”

Hunted: “I don’t like this. But I’ll do my best to keep us breathing.”

Hero: “Yeah, I’m all for giving her a taste of her own medicine, but maybe we could be a little more careful?”

Cheated: “Oh, pick a side already!”

Hunted: “There are no sides. Shared flesh can't turn against itself. You will remember that before the end.”

The Narrator: “You step into the shadows and are enveloped in total darkness. Your angry footsteps fill the inky blackness with their echoes. But the Princess’s approach is hardly silent either. With the loud bluster of an enraged beast, she erupts from the shadows, all limbs and claws and wings and snarling teeth. But her most striking feature are her eyes. Wide eyes that burn with rage, eyes that say

‘You betrayed me! You tried to take advantage of me. You left me all alone! You are the cause of all my pain. Now die!’”

Cheated: “Ugh, her eyes are spouting such bullshit! We’ll show her pain!”

The Narrator: “As her massive form barrels at you, you’re quick to react, swinging your blade, its tip intercepting her before she can draw first blood, edge drawing a long, bleeding gash. She recoils, stunned for a brief moment.”

Cheated: “See?! I told you we could take her if we tried! We showed her not to fuck with us!”

The Narrator: “Her blazing eyes watch you from the shadows, unblinking. There’s rage in them, but it’s a fury wreathed in fear. And beneath it all lurks something far more primal.”

Hunted: “Hunger. She knows our strength and wants to devour it. Make it her own.”

Cheated: “So what? She's wanted to eat us from the very beginning, it’s fucking disgusting! Even when she still wore a dress, she looked at us like a rotisserie chicken walking down the stairs, ‘cause she even ate us that time!”

The Narrator: “The Princess lunges with even more ferocity than before. But even within that brutish violence, there is the clumsiness of doubt: she instinctively recoils from your blade, from your reach. When you lunge, she dashes back, the ghost of a whimper tightening her breath.”

· “Yeah, that’s right! Be afraid of me!”

The Narrator: “The rage in her eyes turns cold and wicked as she paces around you, a predator stalking its prey.

‘I always have been. You were a threat to me from the moment I first smelled you. But I’m too alert, too strong, and in the end, you always lose!’

And with that steely look, she strikes. There’s no need for more words, they only get in the way. There is only you and the Princess, and the things you’ve done to each other. You silently exchange a flurry of violence fueled by rage and hatred. The dark, stony ground is splattered with blood, both yours and hers. Anger dulls your pain, makes you stronger, more capable of keeping up with the Princess. But you can see in her eyes, in her sharp, aggressive movements, in the way her fur stands on end, that the Princess’s bestial rage matches yours. Though she shows simple-minded, instinctual fear, she shrugs off the actual wounds you inflict, no matter how big and bloody. She is a monstrous sight, her eyes rolling, tongue sticking out, mouth foaming with mindless fury.”

Hunted: “You exaggerate. While angry and wounded, she remains graceful and poised. There is a deadly elegance to her motions and strikes.”

Cheated: “Ugh, why is this guy always ogling her?”

Hunted: “I am observing her. If we do not observe, she will certainly kill us.”

Cheated: “Then why do you have to sound so smitten?! Can’t you observe without admiring?”

The Narrator: "Yes, stop that. There is nothing admirable about the Princess."

Hero: "Okay look, in his defence, she is pretty uh… pretty.”

Cheated: “What?!”

The Narrator: “What?!”

Hero: “I-I meant, like, elegant and striking and the other stuff he talked about. I’m just saying he’s not wrong about that, even if he’s too forgiving.”

Cheated: “Ugh! All of you suck!”

Hunted: “Do you think he’s wrong, then?”

Cheated: “…”

Hero: “Welllllll?”

Cheated: “...No.”

The Narrator: “Ugh, I can’t believe I have to work with you. And while you’re drooling over the Princess’s horrific form, you and she have clawed and slashed yourselves into a bloody stalemate. Your numerous wounds weaken you to the point where neither of you can stand any more, leaving you trembling on your knees. And yet, you still use what lifeforce you have left to level strikes at each other. A great claw slams into you, and would have broken your spine if there was any more strength left in its exsanguinated muscles. As is, it just adds to your slashes and bruises.”

Cheated: “Stab her right back! Keep hitting her ‘till we spit our last breath at her!”

Hero: “Isn’t that a bit extreme? Maybe we should try backing off now?”

Hunted: “Don’t throw away our life in a reckless vendetta. If we die, we die. Then it doesn’t matter whether she does too, or how much we’ve hurt her.”

The Narrator: “Of course it ma-”

Cheated: “Of course it matters! She thinks we’re weak and scared of her! We’re not giving her the satisfaction of being right! We’ll make her bleed if it’s the last thing we do!”

The Narrator: “You sink your blade once more into the Princess’s flesh. She growls an unsteady growl at you.

‘Even on the edge of death you still hurt me,’ her unsteady eyes seem to say. ‘I should never have given you a chance. You’re nothing but a monster!’ Hmpf, she should talk. I mean, just look at her!”

Cheated: “We’re the ones who gave her a chance, and what did it get us? Fucking eaten!”

The Narrator: “Bleeding your last upon the floor, it seems this is the end, but at least you will have taken the Princess with you. In her cold, bestial eyes, a realisation of her own mortality takes root. Her burning rage abates as she faces the understanding that she is about to be slain. She sizes you up, the look in her eyes no longer showing fury, but… curiosity? The moment passes between you. And then she wildly bites down and rips a chunk of flesh out of your flank. It slips between her jaws and you watch a bulge slide down her throat as she doesn’t even bother chewing it. As she swallows what once was you, her flesh bubbles, her wounds knit themselves back together. The weakness starts to leave her body, her eyes focusing up and her pale, dripping tongue regaining its fleshy colour as she licks her chops.”

Cheated: “What?! She can devour our strength? That’s so unfair! Can we do something like that? Get back at her!”

Hero: “Uh, do we have to stoop to her level? That feels kind of demeaning.”

Hunted: “It’s eat or be eaten. It always has been. Participating in it is not demeaning, nor is it an act of hate. The Princess understands, don’t you see? We too need to embrace instinct.”

The Narrator: “She stirs to her feet, but even with her wounds healing, she’s still shaky. She stumbles, and you spy it: your opportunity.”

Cheated: “Tear into her, pay her back for yet more bullshit!”

Hunted: “It doesn’t have to be like that. Even in conflict, she can grow and heal from our presence. There would be a certain… harmony in drawing our own growth from her.”

· [Embrace instinct.]

Hunted: “Yes… yes! We can be more! We can be like her!”

The Narrator: “The Princess howls in fear and outrage as you tear out a chunk of her flesh. But as the bloody meat slides down your throat, you feel… invigorated. Your wounds burn less sharply. You feel faster, more responsive.”

Cheated: “Again! The more we take of her, the less she can take from us!”

Hunted: “Yes! She nurtures us, I feel… powerful! More!”

The Narrator: “When the Princess, startled, tries to swat you away with her claw, you don’t give her the chance. You rip her paw right off its joint and devour it as she stares at her stump in shock. But she recovers from the shock quickly and just as you take a moment to enjoy the taste and the nourishment she gave you, her gaping maw fills your entire vision. In a gory parody of a kiss, she comes in close and bites right at your face, ripping out a chunk of beak, lower jaw, and throat. And her body too recovers, your flesh letting her paw regrow, parts of her jaws elongating and hardening into keratinised beak edges.”

Cheated: ”Dammit, we need to be quicker than her!”

Hunted: “Yes… Quicker, stronger, smarter, fitter. It’s how we keep our place in this cycle.”

Hero: “So, uh… neither of you thinks this is kind of awful and dehumanising?”

Cheated: “So what if it is, as long as we win?!”

Hunted: “There is no winning, nor losing. There is only she and us. Feel how she nurtures us, makes us grow ever greater, ever closer to what she is! We couldn’t live without her.”

The Narrator: “You are losing yourself, pull yourself together! As the mad cycle of eating and being eaten intensifies, it’s becoming hard to tell where you end and she begins, the flesh you recover looking and feeling like hers, while her regrown flesh looks like yours. It grows in chaotic ways, and with your bodies so close together, it knits into each other. Stop this now, you can’t be this, understand? That little Voice was right, this is awful and dehumanising, and you’d better cut it out.”

Hero: “Yeah, what He said. It’s dehumanising both to us and to her.”

Cheated: “To her?!”

Hero: “Yeah. We’re treating her like a piece of meat, a prey to be feasted on. It’s not right.”

Cheated: “I… Well, I mean, she started i-”

The Narrator: “For heaven’s sake, how can anything possibly be dehumanising to her? There’s nothing remotely human about the Princess. She’s a mindless, bloodthirsty monster, and eating parts of you is making her even weirder. So stop getting lost in your feral nonsense and listen to me!”

Hero: “That’s not what she-”

Cheated: “She ain’t a mindless monster! Bloodthirsty, yeah, but she’s not stupid or beastly! All the fucked up shit she did was by choice.”

Hunted: “Beast, person, instinct, choice, there’s no real separation between them. Just like there’s no real separation between her and us.”

Cheated: “And one more thing! I heard the sauce you put on ‘eating parts of you’! You think we’re no better than her, and we all know how much you hate her!”

Hero: “And don’t forget how she attacked us in the first place because He put the blade back into our hands!”

Cheated: “I wasn’t forgetting that! Still fucking pissed at her for that, but yeah, that was His fault too!”

The Narrator: “If I armed you in a previous world, one I might remind you your failure has since destroyed, it was to give you the optimal chance to slay her, a task you clearly failed at, as she’s currently tearing at your ever-more mixed up flesh while you tear at hers. In as far as there is still a distinction between the two concepts.”

Hunted: “We become her and she becomes us. That’s how consuming another always works. There never was much difference between us.”

Cheated: “Except that she’s awful and wants to kill us just cause we hurt her once!”

Hunted: “Then that makes us exactly the same. Why else have you been so set on obeying Him?”

Cheated: “I’m not obeying Him, I just want to kill her cause she... hurt...”

Hunted: “...Yes?”

Cheated: “I… Uh… Well… Ah, fuck. Can’t believe the one that pisses in the woods got me. He’s right, isn’t he? She’s pissed off at us and we’re pissed off at her and all along we’re both in the same shit. It just isn’t fair!”

Hero: “This place keeps turning us against each other.”

Cheated: “No, He keeps turning us against each other! And it just digs us deeper into this shitpile. But no more, you understand? We’re gonna make peace with her and get us both out of here!”

Hunted: "The cycle we’re part of is a form of peace. A form of togetherness. A form of intimacy, even."

Cheated: "Fuck your cycle, just break it already."

· [Stop eating. Show the Princess you mean no harm.]

The Narrator: "As you foolishly stop doing the one thing that was letting you stay alive against the Princess-"

Hunted: "You wanted us to stop."

The Narrator: "Um, well yes, but I wanted you to stop and pick up the blade to slay her, not stand down and make soothing noises at her! It doesn't work anyway: the Princess, a mindless creature without conscience, keeps eating away at you, making more of her and less of you."

Cheated: "That's not fair, she's supposed to stop! Tell her to stop!"

Hunted: "We lost the ability to speak a while ago. It was never needed."

Hero: "Oh! Waaaait, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Hunted: “Of course I am. It’s not our thought, but our body’s deepest instinct, after all.”

· [Unleash your courtship dance to show her you care.]

The Narrator: "You open your beak, but rather than chow down on the Princess, you snap it shut with a clack that startles her and draws her attention. And once you’ve got it, you keep clacking rhythmically while tapping your feet. You spread your wings, err, limbs up and down dramatically as you croon and caw. And on the Princess's inhuman face, there's a flash of recognition.

'Again?!' She seems to ask, anger flashing in her eyes. 'You hurt with one hand and seduce with the other. How can I trust your feelings? How can I trust you?'”

Cheated: “But… we’re both going through the same shit. We quit it, she should too! Dammit, why is she always like this?”

Hero: “We were stabbing and eating away at her until just now. Gotta make sure we show her we’ve changed our mind.”

· [Expose your throat as a show of trust.]

Hero: “Uhh, are you sure?”

Hunted: “It… could work. But it’s risky, too risky!”

Cheated: “Yeah, I vote no. We can make cute crooning noises or some shit instead.”

The Narrator: “For once, these voices know a terrible idea when they see one.”

· It doesn’t matter what you lot think, the only way to earn her trust is to make a show of ours. [Expose your throat.]

The Narrator: “Flapping and hopping like a fool, you finish with a flourish lifting your chin and exposing your throat as you bat your eyelids at her. The Princess pulls up her lip, her growl vibrating through your body.

‘Stop that. Don’t challenge me. I will kill you.’

But you don’t back down. You just about thrust your neck at her, and with a snarl, she obliges, eyes flashing their sclera. Her massive maw, parts of it keratinised and tough, splits into a sea of bloodied white teeth that snaps around your exposed neck, though its size means she’s got most of your head between them too. And you don’t dodge, you just let those powerful jaws close around you. And that’s where they stop, for now. Though they don’t rip out your windpipe yet, there is a tremendous, febrile strength behind the teeth that exert sharp pressure on your throat and face. Their tips pierce your skin like it’s paper and you feel the gentle tickle of blood leaving streaks running down forehead and throat, yet she doesn’t press further for now. There is a question in her growl, one last chance.

‘Now what are you gonna do? Strike me back already!’”

Hero: “There’s no way she actually wanted to say that to us. Are you making this up to get us to slay her?”

Hunted: “He’s not. Our enmity is more comfortable, more familiar, and above all, more trustworthy to her than our kindness. She can rely on it. Yet we need to show her the kindness is more true.”

· [ Keep the dance going. Clack your beak seductively. Remind her of the good times.]

The Narrator: “You start clacking your beak nervously and quietly, but the motion, the sound, way your heart pounds, the joyful memories it stirs in you pick up your strength and courage. You clack louder, with more power and confidence. Faced with the Princess’s throat and teeth still covered in your blood and fibres of your devoured flesh, she could rip your head off at any moment, and you just… clack. You clack and she keeps her vicegrip on you, teeth pressing into your flesh painfully, every muscle you move digging them deeper, yet another way she slowly invades your body. But it’s not just your muscles that move. The Princess’s jaw twitches, worsening what her teeth do to your skin, and she does so following the rhythm you set. Though it is agony, there’s a strange intimacy to being in her maw, hot breath washing over you as ribbons of your own previously eaten flesh hang from the teeth all around you. A great, wet, spiny tongue gently explores you instinctively, gently lapping and wettening your face, until a little rivulet of blood flows onto it. She reacts to the salty liquid with an eager slurp. All is perfectly still as you’re caught a moment from your death, utterly in her power. And then, at last she lets out a deep sigh that hits you in the face like a gust and lets go. Conflicted eyes stare into yours.

‘You trust me. Why? What have either of us done to earn the other’s trust?’”

Cheated: “Nothing. But what choice do we have? We’re both in the same shit situation, and we got the same enemy, aside from each other. Dunno if I trust her fully, but… she did only lightly chew us when she could’ve bitten our head off.”

Hero: “Yeah. Would we have done the same if we were her?”

Hunted: “There’s more that pulls us together. Attraction. The desire for survival is absolute, but it can be surpassed by the desire for a mate. Trust is a dangerous gamble, but it may pay off formidably.”

The Narrator: “The Princess’s eyes soften as you think these bizarre thoughts. A soft purr builds into a questioning croon as you see a joyful challenge build in her eyes.

‘Are you a gamble worth taking? Show me, then.’

She bucks her head, thrusting her antlers defiantly. You wave your head back and forth, clacking your beak. And she matches your rhythm with her teeth, waving her huge head from side to side, cautious at first, and then with more enthusiasm, manes and feathers flying wild. She copies you with reckless abandon and joy. You dance wildly, yet in your rhythms there is an almost choreographed elegance. You are with her and she is with you, both of you an eclectic mix of parts and integuments, the scent of her large body and the blood that soaks her fur almost overwhelming so close to her. You get yet closer to each other, incidentally rubbing your bodies together regularly as you do so. And then you approach her throat with your beak and her eyes turn sharply on you, tension growing in them. Her wiggles turn more restrained, slower, as she watches you like a hawk.”

Hero: “Back off, she’s too watchful to let us anywhere near her throat.”

Cheated: “...No. Now it’s her turn to trust. It can’t all be on us.”

· [D on’t back off. Nibble at her neck.]

The Narrator: "Undaunted by the warning flash of her eyes and the way she pulls up her lips and shows her teeth with each synchronised clack, you bring your beak to her neck and gently nibble her fur and skin. She sighs and relents. The tension in her muscles dissipates, as does the fear in her half-closed eyes. She throws her head back, swaying and clacking to your rhythm as you caress her soft fur and feathers. And then you switch roles. You run your nibbles up, over her neck, her strong cheekbones, her fluffy sideburn, her long manes and antlers, while she lowers her great maw, until you're the one with your head in the air and her murderous teeth are softly nibbling at your neck."

Hunted: "A display of our unity, trust, and intimacy."

Cheated: "...She does trust us. She knows we're in this together."

The Narrator: "You look each other in the eyes, and hers are so very soft and gentle now.

'Together?' she seems to ask. 'You and I?'"

Hero: "Yeah. It's always been us, together. We just saw each other as a problem instead of a companion."

The Narrator: "Not another word needs to be said. You try to raise your arm to caress her, only to find out after all the horrible eating and growing together, it now grows into her shoulder, a bony tube connecting your bodies. And it’s not the only physical connection between you. In fact, now that you’re both still, you can faintly hear and feel the pulses of her heartbeat in your extremities, your blood flowing together inside you as it once did on the floor. Parts of you are pulled on by her muscles, her heat warms you, your bodies intricately linked."

Hunted: "Body. Not bodies. We are one."

Hero: "Oh! Uh, hmm, don't like that. Can we do something about it?"

Hunted: "Do we want to? Does it not feel right to you?"

Cheated: "Hehehe, I like it! Together, we're big and strong and no-one's gonna mess with us. We get her strength."

Hunted: "And she gets ours. It's the natural next step for us."

Hero: “A-are you sure?”

The Narrator: "The Princess looks over your body with guilt in her eyes as she too realises what you've done. The massive, confident beast you’ve known and fought suddenly looks very small and vulnerable.”

· [Reassure her.]

The Narrator: “You raise up your remaining hand with its eclectic mix of digits, fur sprouting between scales, and caress the side of her face to tell her it's alright."

Cheated: "It’s okay, it’s pretty cool. We forgive you. Will you forgive us?"

Hunted: "Will you remain with us?"

The Narrator: "She gives her assent with a deep, warm noise that you realise is a meow shifted down by several octaves. Her eyes are soft and relaxed. And then a great big spined tongue, covers your face like a warm, wet towel. She puts little pressure behind the lick so the tough spines that cover her tongue, capable of scraping your skin off, merely scratch you pleasantly. And you return her licks, to her fur, the sharp, keratinised bits of beak that firm up her lips and the downy feathers that sprout on there. Your tongues touch as you lap each other up, an electrifying taste somewhere between sour and salty as you feel the soft, wet pressure against your own, smaller tongue. You are pushed close together by her weight, affection, and your shared physiology. You press and nibble each other's faces in warm, unspoken intimacy. Her deep purrs rumble through your body, vibrating your bones and sending a soft, distant pleasure through you. When you finally part, if it can still be called that, you continue to hold each other's gaze, slowly blinking at each other."

Hero: "Wonderful… This is so romanti-”

The Narrator: “And then she slams you to the ground, lying on top of you with the full weight of her front section. You stare up at her scruffy chin in a daze, past the arm that connects you. Her jaws part, flashing her teeth as the big, fluffy paw on your stomach flexes rhythmically and kneads your whole body. An eye looks down at you with a reckless, wild hunger. It seems to say only one thing:

‘Mine.’

Then she throws herself onto you with her great big maw, kissing and licking and biting you. It is frenzied and wild, and though she is no longer ripping your flesh off, she does draw blood. You can barely breathe under her weight, her power, the famished intensity of her onslaught, pressure building on your lungs that makes every rare chance you get to draw a breath heavenly. She doesn’t restrict herself to your mouth and face; all of your body is chewed and tenderised, rubbed and kneaded and licked deeply, and yet you do not simply lie back and let it happen. You give her back everything you got with beak and limbs and the strength you have.”

Hunted: “Yes… YES! We are not prey! We are more!”

The Narrator: “It is truly a grisly scene. While any sane observer who chanced upon the scene might believe they are watching a wild beast tear apart its prey while still alive, the truth is that your screams contain at least as much pleasure as pain. And the observer would soon notice with horror that this is a beast tearing and licking at a strangely autonomous appendage of its own body, wiggling and ravishing the rest of her right back. It’s disgusting.”

Cheated: “Hehehe, yeah, bit weird, innit? Good, though.”

Hero: “Oh, y-yeah, she’s so strong and… so much… and I guess we’re part of that muchness now?”

Hunted: “Not only does her warm, thick blood pound through our veins powerfully, our nerves connect too! Taste the deliciousness of our own body, the power in hers, the power to end our life at any moment and yet she chooses to restrain herself to this!”

The Narrator: “Do not give yourself over to this! It’s disgusting, unnatural, and wrong!”

Hunted: “Your disgust has no place in a judgement of what is natural or wrong. Many things that are natural can easily arouse disgust. And this is the natural next step for us.”

Cheated: “What he means is: deal with it, loser, and describe more of our steamy romp with the Princess!”

The Narrator: “...Fine. It is… intense. Your original body could probably not have taken it, but you have gained many of the Princess’s features, including, it seems, strength and toughness and a flagrant disregard for pain. Your wild rumpus leaves you awash in sensations, some of them broadly normal, if very passionate, while others are perhaps new to the fabric of the universe due to you and your partner’s bizarre co-mingled bodies. You greedily partake in each other and all that you are and have become. Sometimes it is soft and shockingly gentle, the Princess controlling her wide, spiny tongue and every mighty muscle in her gargantuan body with precision to make you feel so very blissful and cared for. She rubs softly against you with much of her body, her long form curling around and cuddling you with many of her limbs. But then she will erupt into powerful, ravenous frenzies of teeth chewing on you like a toy, her tongue scraping your body and roughly filling up your beak for all the space there is, powerful claws nearly squeezing the life out of you. It brings pain and blood, but it too brings such pleasure that punctuates the softer moments sharply and ultimately builds your enjoyment of this… make-out? Mutual ravishing? Barbaric humpfest? I don’t know what to call it.”

Cheated: “Don’t care what you call it, it’s great! And more importantly: you hate it, don’t you? That’s good enough for me!”

The Narrator: “To think that you would doom the world just to spite me… but it’s not just that, is it? You genuinely like and are attracted to this horrid monster whose soft, fluffy stomach you’re raking with your claws. You’re bloodied and battered by the sheer force of her outsized body even before we talk about her using claws, teeth, and tongue. She has absolutely no restraint, and you’re no better yourself. I should have thought better of all this! Of course you two would turn out the exact same: two wild, inhuman creatures with no conscience, restraint, or sanity! How could I ever be so foolish to think you would turn out better than her?”

Cheated: “Knew He always hated us as much as He hates her. Judgy prick.”

Hero: “That was… a whole lot to unpack, but can you please continue describing what we’re doing first?”

Hunted: “Yes. Don’t get distracted from the sensations of the here and now.”

The Narrator: “Is that all you disgusting, lascivious animals think of? Ugh, what am I to describe? The way her tongue fills up your whole mouth and still has plenty to spare? The musky scent of another being, so large and so aroused and so close? The way your connective tissue stretches and flexes pleasantly as your partially merged bodies rub against each other? She is… so much, and perhaps it’s unsurprising that there can be little thought in your head while the sensations of being with her fill you so very much. But as you go, exhaustion creeps up and you end up slowing down. You can’t maintain this intensity for long, especially with the heavy wounds you inflicted on each other beforehand. So the softer, gentler behaviour wins out, and in the end you end up simply laying together, her long body curled up around you, petting and licking each other softly. Both of you are covered in wounds and scratches, but you lick them clean together. The Princess rests her head on your chest, her snout as wide as your whole body. Her face is relaxed, eyes half-lidded.”

Hero: “Hey, I think it’s time we got out of here. We've done what we had to."

The Narrator: "You did no such thing! Instead of slaying the Princess, you merged into a single monstrous... monster with her!"

Cheated: "Hell yeah, we did. Awesome work, boys!"

The Narrator: "The Princess blinks slowly at you and huffs her warm breath.

'Yes, we should leave,' she seems to say. 'You and I can finally roam the wilds outside. You won’t hurt me, and I won’t hurt you. Let there be no more suspicion between us. We are one."

Hunted: "We are. Now and forever."

Cheated: "No need to fear the Princess when we are the Princess!"

Hero: "Let's go. We've let Him stop us too often."

The Narrator: "And so you get up and together, you shamble to the tunnel on your bizarre mix of limbs, but-"

Hunted: "It's not a shamble. It's a wholly new form of locomotion, suited to the brand new creature we are. Something the world has never seen before."

The Narrator: "And your monstrous form would be the last thing the world sees, if it weren’t for the tunnel's narrowness. I'm afraid there will be no way for you to fit your combined body through there, so this will be the end of the line."

Cheated: "WHAT?! Bullshit!"

Hunted: "Do not let His words get to you. The tunnel will not hold us. We have paws for digging and strong shoulders to heave up boulders and weather collapses, a nose that can find hidden air streams. Nothing can stop us."

· [Offer the Princess your hand.]

The Narrator: "Pausing before the exit, you exchange a glance, and the Princess lays her big fluffy claw on your remaining hand. Her deep meow fills you with confidence.

'We will escape. We’ll make it. Hand in claw.'"

Chapter End Notes

> Thank you for reading this story! It was a tricky, but fun one to write. Let me know what you thought of it in the comments, they're what keeps me going!

## Afterword

End Notes

> Stay tuned for the next chapter, because Den is getting kisses too.

> In the mean time, let me know what you thought of this one in the comments! I couldn't write these without commenters.

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