The Creature Keeper

[adamzapple]

The Creature Keeper(closed for mouthwatering)

"Creature Keeper"​

Katashi sat cross-legged on the floor before the open fire and stared deeply into the flames.

Everything was in readiness. The village elders had chosen the name of the juvenile creature. It was to be called Souta. It was a well-chosen name and Katashi approved.

He was waiting now for the creature’s life-mate to be brought to him. It was Katashi’s responsibility to introduce the young woman to the creature, to complete her preparations and final training for the role that had been selected for her.

It was a responsibility that Katashi did not undertake lightly. By long tradition it was believed that the fortunes of the village, the health and wealth of the people, and the bounty of the harvest were inextricably linked with the successful union between each new, juvenile creature and its chosen life-mate.

From everything that he had heard the young woman, Miyaki, who had been selected had been raised in the old, traditional ways to be chaste, loyal and obedient. Her beauty was said to be beyond compare, her ripe, young figure, a gift from the gods. Soon, Katashi would see for himself if all the claims were true.

There remained just one more test, only then would Katashi decide if Miyaki was truly the chosen one, a worthy and fitting offering to Souta. Only then would her initiation begin.

 

[mouthwatering]

The smoke from the incense burner filled the room, so that the rays of sunlight that found their way through the chinks in the ancient wall made broad slashes through the air. Miyaki knelt with her hands folded in her lap, each breath making the air swirl, and the beams of light seemed to dance. It was her birthday today. She was eighteen, but unlike for other girls, this day was no cause for celebration.

Six years ago, she had been chosen as the most beautiful girl in the village, an honor that carried a heavy price. For she had been born in the same year that the creature had been, so she would be its wife. Since that day, she had been kept by the village's elder women, to protect her chastity, and prepare her for what was to come. Since none of the women had been chosen in their youth, their preparations mostly involved telling her how important her sacrifice was to the village, and cackling speculations about what the creature might do. Miyaki didn't quite understand these, but they left her shivering with dreadful anticipation. Far away, she could hear the sound of the waves breaking on the rocky shoreline.

The chain on the door rattled as the heavy lock was opened, and the elders entered, men and women. Smoke poured out and sunlight poured in, and Miyaki backed away from the brilliant golden light, until her toes were just inside the shadows. For six years, not even the sun had been allowed to touch her. As the elders watched, her clothes were taken away and burned. She blushed as the men leered appreciatively at her nubile flesh. She was a small girl, but lushly made, with ripe, round breasts and asscheeks, and a perfectly smooth slit between her legs.

Her hair was braided and then looped up in a high bun, and she was dressed in a simple cotton kimono, lacquered wooden sandals and plain white stockings. A shawl covered her head, with holes that she could see through, and her hands were tucked into her sleeves, so none in the village would see her as they led her down towards the shore.

As the sun set, she saw a fire in the distance, and she knew this was it. That would be the creature keeper. She tried to walk slowly, but the elders pushed her along relentlessly. At last, they stopped, bowing deeply to the keeper. Miyaki sank to her knees and bowed low, touching her forehead to the ground. She heard the elders returning, leaving her here, and she felt a tear slide down her cheek behind the veil.

 

[adamzapple]

The shadows grew long and the night air turned cold but the friendly warmth of the fire kept the chill at bay. Kitashi and Miyaki sat in the circle of light from the fire. Beyond them everything was dark and still and mysterious. The light from the fire seemed very small and lonely amid so much darkness.

Kitashi was a great teacher, a wise man. He sat with a dark blanket over his shoulders and he spoke softly as he looked into the dancing flames. He told Miyaki that the task she had been selected to perform was a great honour and would bring great esteem to her family.

It was her destiny to do this thing, her fate had been decided long ago. He told her that although she might feel young and afraid she was following a great tradition, beginning a journey that many had taken in the past. It was natural that she should feel some apprehension but he would be with her every step of the way, guiding, instructing and encouraging her.

His voice was kind and reassuring. As he spoke he slowly fed more wood into the fire. Miyaki knelt on the other side of the fire and he could feel her eyes on him. Sometimes he saw the reflection of the flames in her eyes through the holes in the shawl she wore over her head.

“The bounty of the earth, the blessings of the warm summers, the comfort of fire and family are gifts we are given but for every gift there is a price we must pay.

“Your body will be your gift to the creature called Souta. You must give yourself willingly and without reservation. In this way we give our thanks for our continued good fortune.

“The gift of your body is the price that we must pay to assure the future of the village and our families and friends. Do you understand?”

Kitashi smiled gently across the dancing flames. A light breeze stirred the fire and made the embers glow. A trail of dancing sparks lifted towards the night sky.

Soon, he told her, they would go to his home in the forest, but the night was still young and they had much to discuss.

“Now you will stand and take off your clothes and then come and sit with me under this blanket. We have many things to talk about. You have much to learn. And there is one more test...”

 

[mouthwatering]

Miyaki knelt and leaned closer to the fire as the night settled around them. Although it was a cool night, but she was warmly dressed, it was the dark that chilled her, the dark and the knowledge of what was to come. She listened to the keeper speak, his voice and the dancing orange and yellow flames soothing her and putting her almost into a trance. Then she would blink and remember what she was about to do, and all the flames in the world couldn't dispel the chill. It was her destiny, yes, but she was still a sacrifice.

"I understand," she whispered. She knew that she must go willingly to meet her fate, that the life of the village depended on it, and she was willing. She was afraid, though, and at that moment it seemed so terribly unfair. When he told her to undress, she began to sob, silently. Her shoulders shook and tears slid down her cheeks. No man had seen her body before today, it had remained pure and untouched for so long that it had become a part of her identity. Now she was asked to expose herself to this stranger.

But it was her fate, and she stood, carefully. She stepped out of her sandals and rolled her stockings off, and then unwrapped the shawl from around her head. She didn't know how beautiful she was, with her delicate lips and wide eyes, her silky black hair and ivory skin, and she looked away, ashamed as she undid the knot it the sash of her kimono, and let the garment fall, so she was naked. The firelight danced on her skin, warming her, while the cool night chilled her back, and she hesitated for a moment.

She knew she was meant to come to the creature pure. If any other man had told her to crawl under a blanket with him, she'd have refused without a thought, but this was the keeper. She was meant to obey him in all things. She bit her lip as she thought. It was another test, as he had said, but what was the right answer? The breeze blew across her naked body, and her nipples stiffened. Her face flushed, and she knew she couldn't stand there naked any longer. To get dressed would be to go back, which must be wrong, so there was only one choice. She crawled under the blanket, her naked flesh pressing against the older man, feeling a surprising solidity and strength.

"I am your student," she whispered. "I will obey and learn what you teach me."

She shivered again, though she wasn't cold.

 

[adamzapple]

“True wisdom cannot be taught,” Katashi said, softly. “There is only one right way but how do we know it when it is time to choose? The road ahead may be smooth and easily traveled or it may be long and difficult.”

He’d watched with approval and admiration as Miyaki undressed before him then he’d held the blanket open for her. Now he was acutely aware of her young, naked body close beside him.

He told Miyaki that the people one encountered on the journey through life might help or hinder a traveler’s progress. Who could be trusted? What were their true motives? Were they good or bad?

Pausing, he glanced at her to see that she was listening. Miyaki’s head rested lightly against his shoulder. Her face shone in the dancing light of the fire. Her eyes glistened and her expression was somber and watchful.

Satisfied, he began again. “Take me, Katashi,” he said. He told Miyaki that he too had made sacrifices. The life of a keeper was not the life of ordinary men. Keepers were not allowed to take a wife but still he had the physical needs of a man. He was susceptible to the temptations and desires that all men face. Did his sacrifices in the name of his duty make him a good person? Who could say?

He was silent for a while, deep in thought as the fire slowly began to die. The circle of light cast by the flames grew smaller and hundreds of tiny, sparkling stars were scattered over the enormous, cold black vault of the sky. Somewhere in the darkness a wolf howled. The breeze grew colder.

It was harder to see Miyaki’s face. The tips of her toes showed beneath the edge of the blanket where she sat beside him with her knees raised.

Katashi moved his hands furtively under the cover of the blanket and he opened his clothes and drew out his stiffening member.

“And now, chosen one, do you pity or admire Katashi for his sacrifices? We are met on the road. Can I help make your road smooth and easy to travel or am I the type of person with a motive of my own? Can I be trusted? Is it in your own interest to oblige me with a simple act of kindness that is no great thing in itself but still is a great pleasure to a man like me, or would that be a betrayal of your destiny?”

For a moment he held Miyaki’s gaze, then with a gentle smile he turned once more to study the dying embers of the fire and waited.

“It is for you to decide.”

 

[mouthwatering]

Sitting huddled under the blanket, Miyaki was at least warm, but she was uncomfortably aware of the presence of the keeper beside her. She hugged her knees to her chest, tucking her heels snug against her ass as she sat on the ground. She listened carefully as he rambled on, and though it seemed innocuous, she was keenly aware of her nakedness that she couldn't help thinking that he was speaking of her purity.

His questions seemed rhetorical, and he didn't even wait for answers, but like his philosophizing, they seemed to circle around his point until she was nearly dizzy. She stared into the fire, watching the flames dance, nearly hypnotized by the old man's droning voice and the endless dance of the flames in the dark night.

She wasn't sure when he stopped talking, but at some point she realized that there was silence. She looked at him, he was watching her carefully, and she scowled, trying to remember what he had been saying. A shiver went through her, and she pulled the blanket more closely around her. Then she remembered, though it was foggy.

"Of course I admire the keeper's sacrifices," she said, her voice was uncertain and uneven, almost as if she were drunk or in a kind of trance. Which, she supposed, she was. "But they are only admirable if he performs his function, which is to keep the creature alive and well and deliver a pure sacrifice at the appropriate time, is it not? If he turns away from his destiny, then he is not admirable. Nor is he then pitiable, for his sacrifices have been made meaningless by his own weakness."

She shrugged her shoulders as she turned to look at him again.

"If there is any chance that what whatever you would ask of me is a betrayal of our shared destiny, then it is better that you do not ask at all."

 

[adamzapple]

"If there is any chance that what whatever you would ask of me is a betrayal of our shared destiny, then it is better that you do not ask at all."

“Wisely spoken,” Katashi said, “but consider, who is to say what is a betrayal and what is meant to be?

“This thing we speak of, do I ask for it to satisfy my own motives and desires, or is it your true destiny?”

Gently, Katashi took Miyaki’s hand and held it between his own hands beneath the blanket. The fire had burned down to a few glowing embers that waxed and waned with the cool, passing breeze.

Miyaki’s hand was small and soft and warm between his own, strong, work-worn hands. The closeness of the young naked woman made his exposed cock throb with hot desire.

“Souta is a sexual creature. Now he is young but soon, when he reaches maturity, his sexual needs will be insatiable and he will take from you what he needs if you give yourself willingly or not. You will go to him naked as you have now come to me...”

As he looked into the dying embers Katashi moved the back of Miyaki’s hand slowly up and down the long, hard length of his cock.

“Your young, ripe body will respond to Souta’s caresses in ways in which you cannot yet imagine. You will tremble as you tremble now.”

Katashi paused and he opened Miyaki’s fingers and he held her hand against his straining cock and slowly and deliberately folded her fingers around it before taking his own hands away.

When he spoke again his voice was low and heavy with emotion.
“Now, once again, decide if this thing I desire of you is a betrayal of our shared destiny or is it in fact part of your one true destiny.

“If you are the chosen one you will know what to do.”

 

[mouthwatering]

Miyaki held her breath as Katashi took her hand. Other than the rough hands of the village's elder women, she hadn't been touched since she was a child, and it was exhilarating to feel a man's hands holding hers. She tried to focus on his words, and then found herself growing lightheaded. She took a deep breath, and looked at what her hand was holding. Her head seemed to spin and she gripped it tightly for a moment as she breathed hard, suddenly unable to catch her breath, and she knew her answer then.

"I ... I can't," she whispered, and slowly, slowly released his cock. It was the hardest thing she had ever done, and she stared at it for a long while after. Her body was trembling with want, wound tight as a lutestring, a need that had been so vague and undefined that she had hardly noticed it before was suddenly very real, burning between her thighs so that she had to dig her nails into her knees to keep from touching herself, or from touching him. She looked away, biting her lip until she tasted blood. At last she stood up, walking a few steps away from the fire and the warmth of the blanket and his body.

"You're trying to confuse me," she said, "You're trying to make it seem complicated, but it's not complicated at all. I am to go to the creature pure. I will not betray my destiny." The cold air blowing over her naked body dulled the sharp edge of her need, but she could feel it inside her, waiting to rise up again.

"I don't know what your role was meant to be," she said. "But I won't let you mislead me. Stay by your fire." She looked back along the path she had taken with the elders and for a moment, she thought of going back. They would surely know what to do when she explained what had happened, but the thought of walking back through the village, naked and freezing, to be told that she had failed was unbearable. There was another path leading away from the fire, the one the keeper must have taken. That must be where it was. She went that way, slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dim starlight as she followed the path.

 

[adamzapple]

Katashi shuddered with pleasure as he felt Miyaki's small, hot hand firmly grip his cock. Her grip briefly tightened and he held his breath in anticipation.

To take advantage of her innocence and trust would be a betrayal of his role as the creature keeper, it might jeopardise the fortunes of the entire village, but he was hungry for her touch, tormented by the closeness of her soft, inviting body. He too, had made many sacrifices, after all.

His cock throbbed expectantly as he felt the touch of her trembling hand and then to his disappointment and frustration he felt Miyaki slowly release him.

She was speaking but he barely heard her words above the sound of the heavy pounding of his heart. He stifled a groan of pure frustration, his cock strained with longing, but Miyaki was getting to her feet and moving away.

Katashi ached for release. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman, since he’d felt the pleasure of a woman’s intimate caress, that he saw a red mist descend before his eyes.

His one burning desire was to throw her to the ground and plunge his throbbing cock deep into her hot, virgin pussy, with or without her consent.

He started to get to his feet. Miyaki had moved away from the fire. Where did she think she was going? She was naked, a shapely female silhouette against the backdrop of the star-lit sky.

With his rigid cock thrusting arrogantly from his clothes Katashi had risen from the ground before he came to his senses. He glared hotly at Miyaki as she moved slowly away. He clenched his fists, breathing hard, and then, thinking quickly, he struggled to regain his composure.

Very well, he thought, very well chosen one. His fists unclenched and he took several deep breaths and finally he adjusted his clothing and put away his still, aching cock.

Miyaki’s initiation had barely begun. So? In the coming days there would be more opportunities. Many opportunities.

Now, more in control of himself, Katashi allowed himself to laugh softly. He quickly gathered their things by the last light of the dying fire.

“Excellent, Miyaki. Excellent,” he called to her. “You are wise beyond your years. You are indeed the chosen one, there is now no doubt in my mind.”

His footsteps whispered through the grass as he went to Miyaki and draped the blanket considerately about her shoulders.

“There. Take this to keep you warm. No more tests, you see? And now we go to my house. It’s not far. Everything is as it should be, as fate has decreed. In a day or two you will meet Souta. Come, walk with me."

 

[mouthwatering]

When he draped the blanket over her shoulders, she pulled it close around her, for modesty as much as warmth. She stole a quick glance at him, afraid now. She had never felt anything like this before, this wanting, but she had heard of it. She knew it was something that sluts felt, and she wondered how she could be a slut when she had only touched one man, and that had been so briefly, and against her will.

She had liked it, though. Maybe that was enough. She bit her lip as she walked along the path, following the old man to his house. The thought of a day with him was enough to make her feel sick, not because he was repulsive, but because she would have to wrestle with this impulse to ... to touch him and be touched by him. She would have to resist. If she didn't come pure to the creature, terrible things would happen, and it would be her fault.

Miyaki had been ready for many things, tonight, but this had taken her by surprise. She had known she would be tested, that her purity would have to be proven, but she had never imagined wanting to be dirty. Not with that old man. Not with anyone.

"Please," she whispered, to whatever spirit might hear, "Please give me the strength to come to my creature as intended."

If the old man heard, she didn't care. She was afraid of him, not trusting him any more than she trusted herself with him. She would not be able to let her guard down, she knew. There was much she needed him to teach her, but she would have to sift through it to know what was a lie and what was true. She sobbed softly. Wasn't it enough that she give herself to the creature without enduring this as well?