Kikata walked across the frozen white plain, idly following a the line that led along a small square map in the upper left hand portion of her visor. She had tried to search the marines name in a data base but got too many hits to sort through them all. She sighed, her legs growing a bit tired from all of the walking. She was a bit startled at the humans reaction to her techniques, she was trained early on in her search and rescue courses about how to handle smaller creatures in these sorts of environments. If done properly the stomach is the safest place for them to remain out of the cold, and out of harms way. Her pockets, which were more like capsules, would shake violently during movement and were often filled anyway. The only safer option would be a transport vehicle, which she did not have access too.
She eyed the blue ice beneath her feet, hoping that the frigid climate had formed a hard enough layer to prevent her from accidentally breaking through. She glanced down at her arm, admiring her new armor, this was her first day she got to wear it while on duty. She had been promoted to a fully fledged Guard, it was not high on the chain of command but she still felt it was an honor. She was considered responsible enough to take a ship out on solo missions, responding to distress signals without first having to report to any commanding officers.
She noted the blue section of the map giving way to a pure white, she was leaving the iced ocean. It would be another solid eight hours before she would reach her ship, she decided it was time to rest.
"Hello? Are you awake?" She called down.
"Was I supposed to sleep in here?!" She heard his muffled voice call back up.
"Oh, well, I am going to rest. I am sorry but I cannot let you out just yet. I have a pack of rations somewhere, would you like it?"
"Now you tell me?"
"Sorry, it slipped my mind"
"So, how long do I have to stay in here?"
"Another twelve hours I imagine" She said sifting through her pack which she had detached from her back. She finally found the square box and opened it, slipping out one of the thin plastic packets that contained some hard foods and water packets. She slipped it over her tongue and swallowed, sighing as she looked down at her own food, knowing that it would be unwise to eat while she had someone contained within her.
"Thanks" She heard his voice call back up again after a a minute.
Richard sighed, holding the large square plastic container in his hands, it seemed it held enough food and water for a larger group.
"Keep it away from any liquids inside of my stomach, the materials may break down before you are finished eating" He heard her voice boom around him, "I am laying down now" He heard her say before the stomach slowly tilted around him, he slid down the wall before it finally stopped moving.
"Thanks for the heads up" He called. He wasn't exactly happy, but it seemed her intentions were perhaps a little more pure than he expected. He was at least happy to get some water, and food. He ate ravenously until a large wet droplet fell directly inside of his food. He sighed, pushing the plastic container off his folded legs, watching as it slowly slid out into the darkness beyond the light of his flashlight. "Twelve hours..." He mused, how could he sit around inside of a stomach for twelve hours! He felt the stomach shift once again as the giant neko that surrounded him seemed to reposition herself. He flicked the light off, sighing as he tried to lean back, finally able to ignore the constant wetness that dripped around him. He too slowly drifted off to sleep.
Kikata awoke as a red light flashed in her eyes. She yawned, sitting up, thumbing the display with the controls that had been imbedded on her glove. The red light disappeared as she rose to her feet, giving a slight stretch. She had to flex her joints a bit which had frozen slightly during her four hour slumber. She found her bearings and started heading off towards her ship once again. She felt some squirming in her stomach, which seemed to groan and rumble as it was unable to digest the small load she carried.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just forgot where I was for a minute"
"Good, I am walking again now"
"Great" Richard sighed, he tried to get to his feet to stretch his aching joints but found the stomach a bit too saggy to stand for very long. He reluctantly leaned back into the wrinkled wall. He didn't see much use in turning the light back on, after all there wasn't very much to see.
The eight hours passed...slowly. Kikata was forced to endure seemingly endless white terrain, while Richard was still lost in the pitch black wetness within. Finally her blue and white craft came into view. Her ship looked similar to what many people would see as a sort of fighter jet, just on a much larger scale. Even to Kikata it was a large ship, it had enough space for the manual control cockpit, a relatively roomy living quarters that could sleep at least three or four neko comfortably, and a washroom. She nearly wanted to embrace her ship as she approached, syncing her personal hud display with the ships as she did. With a few flicks of her finger she opened the hatch, impatiently waiting for the ramp to descend to ground level.
"I am on board now" She called down as walked up the ramp, which began to rise automatically as she entered the larger living quarters.
"So...you are going to let me out?"
"Once we are outside the atmosphere I will work on that" She responded removing her helmet. She inserted it into its designated location on a tall case along one of the walls. She turned back towards the cockpit, leaving her armor on for now.
"Oh" Richard muttered...he had already been in here for what seemed like days, what was another fifteen minutes.
Kikata settled down into her seat, relaxing as a segmented chain wrapped itself down across her chest, clicking into the seat by her waist. Her hands flowed over the console without much thought, smiling as the engines started to hum lightly. She had been piloting for a few years now but it never really got old. Her dual joysticks flicked into her hands and with only a moments pause she was off, watching as the gray sky slowly darkened its way into the black of space. She sighed, setting the controls to automatic before climbing down from her seat and back into the wider living quarters. She set her pack down, rummaging through it for the small box again.
"So, am I coming out soon"
"Yes be patient"
"Alright, alright" Richard sighed.
Kikata pulled the box out, gathering from it a thin string, to a human it would be more like a rather thick rope. She let the rope unravel before grabbing one hand, chewing on her lip as she tried to piece it together in the knots she had been trained to tie for this situation.
"Hang on, I'm trying to prepare the rope"
"The rope?"
"Well you don't expect me to simply just throw you up? That would be disgusting, and dangerous"
"Well considering the situation" He laughed, not seeing how it could get worse...she swallowed him after all.
She continued to pinch the rope between her fingernails, she finally got the two knots that she was looking for. She walked into her small bathroom, positioning herself in front of the mirror as she now held the string over her mouth. She watched it dangle down over the surface of her tongue, sticking to the roof of her mouth when ever it got too close. She eventually got it down below her uvula, she closed her lips and swallowed. And swallowed again, and again.
She cursed in her native tongue and sighed, continuing her efforts.
"Something wrong?"
"I can't swallow it, hang on" She sighed, "Oh, got it" She said as she felt the rope suddenly tug in her fingers. She smiled slightly to herself as she swallowed repeatedly to keep it moving down towards her stomach. Her eyes widened as the rope slipped from her fingers. She dove her hand into her mouth, just able to pin the rope to the back of her tongue. She pulled it back out slightly, she didn't have much slack to work with.
"I got it" Richard called up, watching the rope suddenly emerge from the strange opening on the "ceiling" of her stomach. He took hold of the ropes slimy surface and hopped up onto the knot, "Alright, I'm on-" He was yanked upwards, he collided with the coiled flesh and fell back down with a groan. "Wait!" He yelled, "I fell..."
Kikata rolled her eyes, but stopped pulling, glad she didn't have to completely redo her work. She swallowed the rope back down and they tried again, this time she pulled very gently.
Richard ducked his head down, feeling the flesh engulf him.
Kikata felt the odd rising feeling in her chest, there was definitely something extra on the rope this time.
Richard saw daylight, well sort of. He looked up to see light illuminating the back of her throat, kind of strange to see it from below. He watched her uvula come closer, soon able to peer out over her tongue. He collided with the back of her throat casing it to flex a little but she quickly slid him up the soft surface of her tongue and back out into the world. They both sighed.
"Thanks" Richard said as she set him down on the counter by the sink.
"Your welcome" She said with a small smile, "I'm sorry but this ship is not equipped with smaller facilities, you will have to share with me. I can fill the sink up with warm water, and you can wash there?"
"That's fine"
"My resource package comes with some simple clothes, I will bring them in for you" She started the water, waiting until it was comfortably warm before stopping the drain. She let it rise until it would be around waist deep for him then shut the water off. She mixed in a little soap, twirling it around with her finger. "Do you need help getting in?" She asked.
"No I can manage" Richard said eyeing the warm soapy waters lustfully, he wasn't normally too overjoyed at bathing time but considering where he has been and how badly his body ached it was certainly a welcomed luxury.
"Alright, I will return in a while" She said with a nod, and left closing the door behind her.
Kikata walked back into the living quarters, finally removing the rest of her armor. Removing the chest and shoulder pieces felt so freeing, her chest finally released from the tight confines. She separated the leg plates and sat down as she pulled them down over her feet. She wriggled her toes, looking forward to a shower herself. She took a deep breath before climbing back towards her pilots chair, feeling nearly naked now only wearing her black jumpsuit that clung tightly around her thin figure.
She nestled into the chair, smiling as the warmth of the heating system started to blow through her hair. She brought up the display, and made the call. The screen flickered a moment before an older looking face appeared on screen, the man nodded, "Kikata, you call with news?" His rough voice spoke clearly through the intercom, in the native neko tongue.
"Yes Captain, I just took off from planet two forty six, sector one three eight seven nine" She responded mechanically.
"And what did you find there?"
"I was responding to the distress signal of an Earthen group, there was only one survivor, there was no trace of the attackers"
"What happened?"
"The man whom I rescued said he was unsure, but offered pirates as a possible explanation"
The older neko nodded, "We will have to talk more extensively, who is the man that you rescued?"
"He said his name was Richard Bromwell, I briefly tried to look him up in the databases but there were too many, he said he was a Marine"
"I will look into it"
Richard sighed, slipping down the smooth plastic like surface of the sink into the warm waters. He submerged himself, vigorously rubbing his hands through his brown hair, it had grown long during the many trips. He gathered up some of the suds and rinsed himself off many times over. He heard a creaking at the door.
"Are you ready? I have your clothes"
"Erm...yeah but I don't think I can climb out" He called back out, looking up the steep slope of the sink. Kikata's figure arrived over the opening, looking at him briefly before averting her gaze, she offered down a single finger to help pull him out. "Thanks" He said, gathering up a washcloth she had set out, wrapping a tiny portion of it around his waist, the rest lying flat on the countertop.
"Your welcome, the clothes are inside of here" She said setting down a white box next to him. She turned her back as he changed.
Richard opened up the box, finding a gray pair of sweatpants, some generic underwear shorts, socks and a plain white t-shirt. He slipped into the clothes, frowning at his uniform and jacket which still lied in a damp lump on the counter, "Okay" He called up, taking a moment to eye down the neko, her features just barely distinguishable through the black fabric of her jump suit.
Kikata turned, "Do they fit?"
"Well enough" He watched as she offered a hand for him to climb on, he obliged, resting down on the soft and warm surface of her palm.
"I will see if I can't find a way to wash up your old clothes, did you receive any discomforts during the trip?"
"Well other than the obvious no, the ride was rather peaceful"
"Good, I am sorry if I frightened you, I thought the practice was pretty well known"
Richard laughed, "Well, I sort of had a crash course in training, I'm sure the special ops guys know all about that stuff"
"I see" She responded before gently allowing him to slide down onto a round table located in one corner of the living quarters.
"My captain would like to discus some of the details"
"Certainly, though I have to admit I don't know much, I got a ricochet off the back of my head before I could catch a glimpse of who ever was attacking the camp, by the time I came too they were gone"
Her stomach suddenly growled loudly, "Sorry, I've not eaten in nearly a day now" She apologized rising to her feet, "Are you hungry?"
"Well, other than that odd meal you gave me earlier I've been pretty starved myself" He admitted.
"You can share with me, it is not that good but I can only take what I am given"
"I'm sure it's better than the stuff they served us" He laughed watching the giant women walk towards a row of cabinets, eyeing her dark black tail curiously as it swayed idly from side to side. He had encountered many of the larger furred creatures before, though the extra appendages still looked a little off on a creature that was otherwise very human in appearance.
"Strange universe" He mumbled quietly to himself...
Giantess World
Nova Force by Ginbug