\n Disclaimers first, in snazzy italics!

\n The characters, locations, and events in this story are fictional creations of Reserved Rodent.  Certainly, there are names of locations and entities from the real world referenced in this work.  These are all used to grant realism to the setting and should in no way be considered accurate representations of these places, events, things, or people in real life.  Any other resemblances found within this work to other works are freak accidents, don't blame the author.  In whole and part, original characters in this work belong to Reserved Rodent, so please make your own characters.  This work was written with the intention of posting it and following chapters on SoFurry.com.  If you must take it and post it elsewhere, at least leave it fully intact, including these warnings and give credit (or blame) where it is due.

\n This chapter is mostly clean.  A dash of adult language and a hint of mentioning sex is sprinkled within, but the author still hasn't reached anything really juicy yet.  He wishes to reassure you that while future chapters are going to range from spotlessly clean to various levels of naughtiness, the fun stuff is still getting closer.  I do not foresee delving into extremes, but there will be various adult level activities, including M/F and M/M, before too many chapters roll by.  I will make sure to tag such adult segments correctly, so make sure you pay attention, because they will also have the following warnings (mentioned here so you don't get surprised (not that I expect you will be if you're browsing this site.))  

\n If this is something you are not old enough to legally view in your society, please obey the law and turn away.  If this kind of subject matter will offend you, I know you can find something else that will not, so keep browsing.  (Unless you want to be offended, then, read on, just don't complain if you get what you're looking for.)

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\n For Every Door that Closes

\n by Reserved Rodent

Eight

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\n I don't think I had been so awkward and embarrassed since early puberty.  Don't get me wrong, while I'm not going to claim I'm real suave and completely confidant at all times with the ladies, my body was acting like I had never seen a beautiful woman before.

\n Unsure what, if it was indeed one specific thing, held my gaze and rapt attention to her, there was no way to hide that I thought she was the most gorgeous being I had ever seen.  Just standing there, watching calmly and curiously as I was shamelessly ogling her, she made me react like I was seeing an incredibly erotic show in private.

\n I have always prided myself on treating the women around me as individuals, not potential sex objects.  What I was doing now sickened and embarrassed me, but I couldn't stop myself.  In my vision, I had seen her caressing her bare breasts.  Seeing them covered by a light swath of supporting fabric, I wanted so badly to reach out and touch her gently myself.  A loincloth covered her groin now, but I remembered the moist lips that were currently covered, and how she had teased them with her own fingers.  Oh how I wanted to do the same to her with my tongue.

\n But my tongue had dried up and gone numb from my combined excitement and embarrassment.  My ears felt like they were on fire as they bent back flat against my skull while my tail wrapped tightly around my right leg.  Finally, I managed to point my snout straight to the ground as I struggled to bring my body and hormones under control by avoiding looking at Mira.  I wanted to continue, oh how I wanted to, and kind of was glancing up and continuing, but I knew it was nothing but rude to keep staring at her firm, round breasts, the gentle curve of her hips, the...

\n I moved my left arm to cover the growing bulge in my underwear while my right came up to shield my eyes.  Not that it would help.  Her scent had reached my nose.  How could she smell warm, tight, and velvety?  Sweet, I could understand, that was something that had a scent, but -

\n "Are you feeling okay, Randy?" Mira's voice seemed honey filled.

\n There was a snort from Gran Lisa.

\n "Sorry," I started, planning on telling her I don't mean to have stared, but it came out as, "Not mean embarrassed staring."  Where's a pillar of light to shoot me to another world when I need it?

\n "Gran, has he been like this for long?  Why is he up and about if he's having this much trouble?  Did our ritual cause him brain damage?"

\n The gray furred elder snorted again, "Child, he's only this way because you showed up and he's attracted to you.  I'm surprised he's handling it so badly considering how well he sent Gria scurrying away with her tail between her legs."

\n "No... she walked... away proud," I managed to get out around my tongue.  Despite how she had threatened me, I did not want to have others think I was speaking poorly of her.

\n "Interesting, you'll have to tell me about that later, Randy, but first, are you feeling okay?  I am a little worried about the magic we used to heal you.  While your hyena spots are very cute, we were surprised when they appeared on you during the ritual."

\n Nodding my head yes quickly, I tried to remember how to use complete sentences and spit out a sincere as well as understandable apology.  "Feel healthy.  Surprised at strong reaction to you.  Normally able to act better.  I want, should, act better.  Don't understand why reaction is so extreme.  Not wanting to insult you."  Me cave rat, wait while me get club.  Stupid, stupid rat.

\n "Hmmm," She tilted her head slightly to the left as she stepped up and put her hands on either side of my muzzle.  Her thumbs rubbed the bridge behind my nose while her fingers gently brought my jaw up.  "Breathe deeply, please," she said as I met her eyes.

\n Her scent filled my sinuses, still sweet, like some flower I couldn't name.  The warmth, tightness and velvety components where still there, but not as confusing as they had been when first identified.  As her thumbs slowly rubbed my fur, it felt like she was examining each hair and pore, every inch of my skin, and then deeper.  By her feeling touch, I was able to sense each one as well.  The detail coming in was amazing.

\n "My scent is what is driving you wild," Mira said, and I could feel what she meant, where the scents my rat nose brought in were processed.  It seemed a vast surface.  "You can tell that I am beginning to come into heat, and your system is reacting like it has never encountered that before, so your reaction is as strong as our young teens."  The scents managed to organize themselves in my conscious better and I could see what she meant.  The stronger than should be expected reaction also became evident, and having been identified also became easier to control.

\n "Do the females of your species not come into heat?" Gran Lisa's voice seemed to interrupt the link I had been feeling with Mira.  I blinked as the younger woman stepped back, releasing her hold on me.

\n "I'm not sure how to answer that," I admitted.  A small part of me wanted to dance in glee over having spoken a complete sentence, but I kept my control.  It felt too fragile still.  

\n "This form, even before the added spots, is not the one I grew up in.  Around half a day before I met Gregr, there was some kind of incident on my world, with pillars of light appearing.  I was hit by one and was knocked unconscious.  When I woke up, I was changed into how you found me.  

\n "As a human, I did not have my current level of sensitivity in my sense of taste and smell.  There were a few others that appeared to have come through with me, and their forms had changed like mine, but they were all dead.  I'm not sure why, how or even what I've turned into.  It is like my original form, but with features of another animal from my world mixed in.  But then, I could say the same about your people, though the animal would be different.

\n "Are you sure it was a different world you came from?" the elder female asked, her gaze seeming much more intense than before.

\n "Yes," I nodded, "the moon is a different color here.  Where I come from it's silvery white, not red.  Ours is also either smaller or farther away, if doesn't look as large."

\n Mira looked over to Gran Lisa, "If his form was that recently changed, that might be why we had trouble locking onto how his body should be when it's healthy."

\n "Yes child, and why the digestive sparkyips that were with him were alien to ours.  Also why the local sparkyips were causing so much more damage.  Even without any protective spells, his body's reaction was extreme."

\n "Um, excuse me, sparkyips?  That word didn't translate.  What are they?"

\n Mira and Gran Lisa looked at each other briefly.  Eventually, Mira replied, "I think the best way I can define them is that they are spirits that are too small to visibly see.  They can be magically detected and there are many types.  Some, like the digestive ones, exist peacefully within a person and help do things like break down food for easier digestion.

\n "Others are hostile and can cause great damage to those whose protections have failed.  They can cause a wound to become infected or for people to get sick."

\n "Okay, I understand what you are talking about.  Thanks for explaining."  I wasn't sure why the translating magic had not used viruses or bacteria, but at least I now knew that's what they meant.

\n "Randy, were you going to do as Jagr requested today?" Gran Lisa asked suddenly, though she appeared to be thinking about other things.

\n "Absolutely, though I was hoping to get a tour of the village and a little bit more information on how things worked around here first.  I would hate to unintentionally do something that would have everyone wanting me dead,"  I managed to grin, "like pissing in the wrong place or bathing in the drinking water."  

\n My eyes kept drifting over to Mira and taking in her beauty.  I did a decent job of not lingering on anything other than her eyes for long, but I still felt guilty.

\n "Mira, can you give him his tour, please?  I'd start with showing him how we deal with relieving ourselves.  That seems top be on his mind all the time."  The elder smiled at me as she said this, so I grinned back.  "Randy, you should tell her what you told Jagr and me among your other questions, as well as what we are doing.  I will be working on my part of the investigations."


\n I gave an affirmative nod.  "Very good.  If Randy gives you too much trouble, Mira, Jagr found that he's easily distracted by grabbing his balls.  Which reminds me, the first hunter and I will both support your request.  But make sure Randy knows everything he would be getting into before he answers."

\n That sounded interesting, but before I could ask what it was all about, Mira replied, "Yes, Gran.  I will make sure the tour is completely informative as well."

\n With a curt nod and slight smile, the gray furred hyena turned and walked off, leaving me alone with Mira.

\n "Well, first things first, I suppose," the beautiful young hyena said, "The white clay pots outside almost every hut are used for collecting waste.  If you use one, make sure you put the lid back on; this not only keeps the odors down, but lets those villagers who have collection duty know better which ones need to be taken to the compost pile.  You can use any of the pots, so don't worry if the one outside your hut is being cleaned or you are elsewhere in the village."

\n The tour seemed to pass the time fairly quickly.  Mira was confident and knowledgeable in her descriptions and never paused to answer my occasional questions.  In a few hours, I had seen the layout of the village and learned quite a bit about the tribe's culture.

\n The females were the only ones who could wield magic, and since they were at least as strong as most males physically, they easily held the role of leadership in most aspects of the tribe's life.  They assigned the roles and jobs that were needed, yet anyone could perform, fairly and evenly throughout the village members.  This way no one would get burned out on something like potty pot collection or cleaning the items used for cooking meals, but the jobs would still be completed.

\n Sometimes, as with Gria, punishments would be handed out as longer runs on some of more grueling chores, but Mira said that such punishments were rarely needed.

\n The female's magic was, from how it was described, certainly connected to their life force, and at least somewhat powered sensually.  I can't say I understood everything she told me, but it seems that the dream vision I had of being carried back an placed in the hut to be healed was me tapping into the energy she was generating to keep me stable until the magic to heal me could be applied.  It had allowed me to sense what was going on as well as send emotional strength to those I had wanted to comfort.

\n In addition to healing injuries gained in accidents and creating protective spells for newborns to resist diseases, females used their magic for such things as keeping food from spoiling, cleaning and disinfecting the chamber pots and cooking utensils, as well as keeping pests away from bedding and crops.

\n My presence was strange to them not only for being the only humanoid rat they had seen, but also being the only male they knew that could at least somewhat touch magic.  Among all the species of local humanoid tribes they knew, all the magic users were females.

\n When it came to hunting, the females only occasionally advised the male hunters, trusting them to not only handle collecting enough food for the tribe, but preserving the balance of the land so that the prey animals were able to sustain their numbers.

\n The recent trouble with the porsect moving in had not only begun to decrease the level of prey animals to be hunted, but the hunting parties were beginning to ration their kills as well as range further from the village.  They were still doing these measures, and would likely have to continue with relying on less meat and more fruits and vegetables for several months, but the removal of the new and voracious predator meant that the tribe would not have to migrate elsewhere to survive.

\n Both the males and the females had separate ranking systems within the tribe.  There were fewer of the latter, fourteen adults in the tribe at this time.  Their ranking was partially based on magic strength and partially on age.  It was seldom that the women had a conflict to determine a change in rank, but the males were completely different.

\n With just over fifty adult men in the tribe, they ranked themselves through dueling strength.  These duels rarely drew blood, though it was not unheard of for two closely matched individuals to take a fight that far.  It sounded like most of it was just posturing; even more so when I heard that the victor of these fights would fuck the loser.

\n "Wait, what?  The loser gets his ass raped by the winner?" I asked incredulously when Mira described that last part to me.  

\n Her eyes widened and a snarl started to curl her lips, which was not the reaction I had expected my question to generate.  Perhaps I could have phrased it better?  "No, Randy.  It is not forced sex.  The males understand that when they issue or accept a challenge, the weaker will receive the seed of the winner to strengthen him.  The duels are not to weaken the tribe, but to strengthen it."

\n "Do these duels happen often?"

\n Mira shook her head, "I would say occasionally rather than often, at least here at the village.  The younger males usually go through the most duels as they find their ranking, but once they reach where they feel comfortable, the fights slow down.   Conflicts can arise over disagreements a lower ranked villager has with a higher rank's decision, but this is rare.  We females really don't know what the boys do during their hunts, so more may happen then, but you would have to ask them."

\n "Now, when you say that both sides in a duel know and agree to the end result of getting it in their rear end if they lose, does that mean the one challenged can decline the challenge?  You know, if they have a sore ass already or  just don't like that idea."

\n I got the cutest look of total confusion from Mira with that question.  Which, while beautiful, concerned me a little.  I didn't think it was such a strange, convoluted question.  "You might want to chat with Jagr or one of the boys about this.  I'm not sure I understand where you are coming from.  First, the winners seed does not have to enter through the anus, so a male with a sore ass could suck off the winner, drinking his seed.  As for not liking it, I just fail to understand what you mean.  The sharing of seed and pleasure strengthens both individuals as well as the tribe.  I have not heard of any member having issues with doing this.  The challenged could refuse to fight, but that would result in a loss of either rank or their side of the argument, so I have never seen it happen."

\n "You're explaining fine," I told her. "It's just very different from how the society I come from views things.  As a whole, my culture is publicly very critical and uptight about sex more often than not.  Privately, it can either be the same, or completely different.  A lot of folks have different feelings about sex than what they tell society, out of fear of ridicule or embarrassment or being targeted by those who hate their beliefs.

\n "Obviously, your system and culture works for all of your tribe.  I have no issues with what you've told me.  It's different, but I don't think I'll have trouble adapting.  I do wonder if individuals fall in love here though, or are all intimate relationships simply for improving strength, magic, or the tribe?"

\n "Now it is my turn to ask for clarification, Randy.  The magic was unable to find a meaning for your word love."

\n That caught me off guard.  No word for love?