The First Hellhound

“You think I’m on my period? But I don’t even feel any cramps” I protest weakly. But doubts settle in soon. I don’t think I would miss something like that. I still vividly remember excruciating pain I felt every month in my past life – and besides a bad mood and irritation…

I realise I actually might be feeling it. I look at my stomach. I do feel sick, but it does not hurt. And I do smell blood, now that I sniff. I’m positively bewildered. Slight discomfort – and that’s it? No pain? Difficulties in keeping concentration? That’s a massive change! I should even be able to do simple tasks, I think. I need to know for certain, so I put my hand under my loincloth, and sure enough – there’s a drop of blood on my finger.

“You are right!” I beam a radiant smile towards Pola; she looks confused as fuck but plays along anyway, since she can see my joy is genuine. “That’s it! The red menace! But it doesn’t hurt! It’s fantastic!” I pause, considering what I’ve just said. “I-I mean… compared with my previous life. Back then I would need painkillers to just lay down comfortably” I frown. “Well, as comfortably as possible in that situation” she chuckles a little.

“Glad to hear that” says Lisitha and hugs me. I reciprocate. “Still, if you need something to alleviate your pain – don’t be afraid to ask.“

“No, it’s okay. But I do have some questions” I break our hug and take a moment to think. “You asked if I had it on last New Moon. Is our cycle connected to it’s phases? Is it bad I have it now?”

“Yes to your first question – no to the other. I guess you want me to explain the details?” I nod. She is about to start, but is interrupted by Nugund, who suddenly rises to his feet; I nearly forgot he is here!

“I’ll scout the South. Truly, I should’ve done it sooner” he says and walks away. Quite quickly. Then he pauses, as abruptly as he started. “I’ll be back before the night. I’ll go straight to the cave” and without further ado, he leaves.

The three of us look at each other with incredulity. Then Lisitha chuckles. It’s contagious and I start too; even Olka cracks a smile. Judging by her body language, she is eager to learn – which is understandable, considering her age; still, I’m a bit surprised, since she seemed rather bored earlier. It looks like sex is less interesting for her than girl issues – quite relatable to be honest.

After her laughter dies down, Pola continues her improvised sex-ed class. “As you know, Beastkin women experience the First Heat at about 20 years of age. That’s when we become adults.”

“About 20?” I interject. “So there are differences? Are they personal or depend on Species? What if someone doesn’t have it? Is she considered a child for the rest of her life? And what with men?” I pelt Lisitha with a barrel of questions. And I’m not the only one.

“How it is for someone… for someone like me?” asks Olka meekly. That’s very surprising – she seems worried, afraid and confused; she seems vulnerable. I guess she is going through puberty…?

“How old are you exactly?” I ask before older woman can answer her question, as I am genuinely curious. The younger girl gets even more anxious.

“I’m already seventeen” wow! She’s younger than I thought! When does our puberty begin anyway? She does have some breasts already.

“Ehem!” Foxwoman brings our attention to herself; I feel myself blush – it seems my hormones make my mood swing quite wildly; can it be another reason for my earlier Aura outburst? I present my theory immediately.

“It might be true” says mildly irritated Pola; however, right after she pauses for a moment. “That actually is very plausible, now that I think about it; but let me answer your earlier questions first” I apologise shyly, which makes her crack a smile. “Eh! I can’t stay mad at you – and it’s not really your fault. So I’ll just say that: tonight will be the worst, but by morning you will be better; and by the evening you should be fine. I think – you’ve just became an adult, so the cycle might be irregular and more problematic. But it will stabilize and you will learn to live with it” she reassures me. There’s a lot of truth in what she says. It’s not like it’s my first rodeo – if anything, I feel like I came back from Hardcore mode to Story mode in this aspect.

“Going back to your questions” I let Lisitha speak. “While 20 years old is an average age for most, some Kin can experience it earlier or later. Primarily depending on Species, but also an individual. Elephantkin, for example, from what I've heard, need over 30 years to mature – but they can apparently live for centuries. Before you ask” I am indeed about to ask a question. “Most Beastkin can live to be over 100. It also seems to be the case for most other Species – the greatest outlier being Belungdian Dragons, for whom that age is just when their childhood ends and they have thousands of years before them” I am astounded. I definitely want to go to Belungdos. That place must be drowning in Dragon MILFs and DILFs.

…why am I so attracted to older, particularily parental figures? Pola is a mother – so de facto a young MILF, now that I think about it – and Nugund struck me as a Big Daddy since the beginning. I don’t think I had a particularly bad relations with my parents… even if our later years were marred by – mostly my mother’s, to be honest – descent into religious rabbit hole. I know they did it out of love and the feeling of powerlessness. And I cannot really blame them. I have no idea how I would feel about my own child dying before me – and not being able to do anything about it.

Then I take a look at Lisitha. I remember that she expressed a desire to have my babies during our night together; and children take after mother – so if we were to conceive, they all would be Lisithi, like her; their lifespan would be just about 100 years – while mine is about 20 times longer. All of that strikes me in one, dreadful realisation – I would be in the same situation as my parents! Why have I not thought about it yet? I can get others pregnant – it is still somewhat hard to come to terms with this fact, so it constantly slips my mind. Will I… Will I see them get born, grow and thrive – to then see them wither from old age, suffer and die? That perspective horrifies me.

“Kora!” I’m woken up from my stupor by worried-sounding Foxwoman. “Are you all right? I can make you a tea to soothe your mind and body” she offers, but I politely refuse. “Are you sure? Because you were spacing and are still crying” only then do I notice tears running down my cheeks and reluctantly agree to her proposal. “Watch carefully” she says and gets up to get her herbs. She soon returns and shows entire process to me and Olka. She also promises to teach me some other important recipes later – including contraceptives and… emergency medicines. Plural. It seems that medicine here in Yavea might be more advanced than I thought. Soon, the infusion is ready and I am told to drink all of it. It tastes better than I expected – primarily herbal, slightly sweet and with a sour aftertaste – but to be honest, I didn’t expect much. It’s a medicine, after all. And it seems to be working quickly.

“How are you feeling?” Asks Pola compassionately. And I smile at her; she smiles back as I thank her. I assure her I already feel better and we can continue with the lesson. “That’s great, but… how much do I have to repeat?” She asks with a mischievous grin – and it makes me blush while I answer. It appears that she likes to tease me. Or is it me ? Am I just so easy to tease she can’t help herself? In any way, we are back to the lecture.

“As you know, the First Heat – or, in case of boys, the First Rut – is experienced at about 20 years of age. That’s why Kin are generally considered adults when we turn that age – if not earlier” Lisitha frowns. “Well… for most Beastkin; Species that live longer mature slower, as I told earlier. But I don’t know how much of that is true, as there are none in our tribe. It might be just hearsay.”

I nod. “My Creator told me I would live 2000 years – and that – indeed – 25th birthday would be when we reach maturity. So it’s probably true” a moment of silence follows, as both Kin process the news. Did I forget to mention that earlier? It seems so. Ooops.

“Yeah. Right” Risitha is the first to recover. “It sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me” she looks at me sceptically. “How are you sure that your, so called, ‘creator’

didn’t just lie to you? How could they possibly predict your lifespan, if you are – apparently – the first of your Kin?”

I am about to answer, but Pola is quicker. “So that was what you were thinking about when you stopped listening earlier?” She asks with clear concern in her voice. “That truly is a horrible perspective – but there are people like this. Baba Yaga of clan Miren, the greatest witch of our tribe is one of them – so you should ask her how she deals with that” she frowns. “Just remember that she's a very… intense person” I look at her quizzically and she waves her hand in dismissal. “You’ll get it when you meet her. But returning to the question that Olka asked: are you sure that what the Goddess said is true? How?”

“I… you still think Alchemist is your deity, huh” I say and decide to give up that point; that’s beside the point after all. Instead, I return to memories of first few hours of my life in my new body. “I think that the main reason to believe them is how they dealt with questions they didn’t want to answer honestly” I pause for a moment, looking for correct words. “They always deflected, ignored, or just outright denied to answer. Even if it was easier – and more beneficial – to just make things up. Most importantly, they told me directly that their evaluation might be wrong – and that my lifespan can be even longer.”

They process the information for a few moments, finally shrugging it off. “Whatever. It’s not our concern” Lynxgirl shakes her head. “Just talk with some old folks, Kin and others, in our tribe. There are more interesting topics to talk about” she swallows, evidently very eager to know something and addresses Pola. “You told us about the First Heat and Rut, but” she throws a quick glance at me. “How is it for people like – you know – Kora and me?” She turns to me. “How was it for you?” Huh. So that was what was she interested in?

“Ummm…” Both of them listen carefully. “I don’t really know? I had them at the same time and it was very intense” I frown and cringe. “It wasn’t exactly natural, as it was somewhat strengthened by Alchemist” that makes them raise their eyebrows. “Look, I’m sure my experience wasn’t exactly normal, right? You should know it better, right Pola?” I deflect the question to Lisitha – not because I don’t want to answer, but because I genuinely feel my case isn’t the norm.

“Actually” she begins. “That’s not that different from what others described. But let's not dawdle – we can talk while processing Moon berries."