"Pip!" Vuvi shrieked as she scrambled to her feet.
A pack of Glimmerpaws lined the branches, half-hidden behind leaf and shadow. Their gleaming, glowing eyes flicking between Vuvi and Pip as they hiss and sneer, translucent fur shimmering like echoes of moonlight.
"Oh, salivating shape-shifters! Pip! Do something!" Vuvi screamed as she struggled to load her Blunderboom.
Pip's body powered-up like a pumping piston. Joint's hissing and servos popping with overloading energy.
[Threat detected. Power-Level: C]
[Engaging Combat Protocols]
[Combat Objective: Defeat Glimmerpaws (x6)]
One of the beasts lunges at them. Pip catches it with one hand in mid-air, swings it around like a ragdoll then flings it through the trees. A devastating crack follows.
The rest of the pack screeches and roars.
Pip's eyes begin to glow a deep crimson.
[Disabling Non-Combat Systems]
[Rerouting Core Crystal Output]
[Recalibrating Thrust Protocols… Hammer-Fist Mode Activated.]
[Damage Output Increasing: 100%... 104%... 112%...]
He leapt at them like they were his prey. Fists like metal boulders slamming into furred bodies left and right. Bones cracked, blood spilt and fur flew.
Vuvi lay curled up on the floor, gripping her Blunderboom tightly to her chest as she watched Pip work martial magic.
The fight's shadows danced across the dark forest as the flickering camp-fire provided light to Pip's dance of death.
"He's beautiful." Vuvi whispers, her eyes wetting with tears of joy.
When the last creature fell, Pip turned back to her. Joint servos steaming, cooling systems screaming and his eyes lit up with relief as he sees Vuvi lifting to her feet with a playful grin.
"Bravo!" she proclaims with a slow clap. "That was brilliant, Pip! It's like you were built for combat… and I should know! I built you!" she laughs. "Mother's Mercy… am I a genius or what?! You truly are a divine masterpiece."
Pip gave a sheepish shrug and tilted his head.
"Just nod, Pip!" Vuvi chuckled as she walked over to him, pulling a sheet of cloth from her blouse and starting to wipe blood and sinew off Pip's armour while his HUD fizzled.
[Threat Neutralized]
[Restoring Pleasure Protocols]
"Thanks for saving me back there, Pip." Vuvi smiled, a face beaming with pride and admiration.
Pip gives a firm thumbs up.
She spends the rest of the evening badly imitating Pip's fighting moves around the fire as he watches on, slapping at his knees as he silently laughs at her playful performances.
They laugh, and dance and deeply discuss the various sexual positions Pip would need to perfect. Every beast has their burden… and favorite way to get pummeled into paradise.
Vuvi eventually ends up soundly asleep, tucked under a blanket, firmly latched onto Pip's arm and snoring like a milk-drunk kitten.
Pip didn't rest.
Not that he needed to, or could if he wanted to.
But even in his low-powered standby mode, his thoughts raced. Every whisper of wind, every rustling leaf, every snapping twig, everything alerted his sensors and heightened his awareness.
He didn't need to rest, but she did.
He stood guard all night, gleaming under moonlight, eyes glowing in the dark. He was a sensual sentinel covered in chrome watching over his genius creator.
When lavender light shone through the trees at dawn, Vuvi stretched, she yawned widely and rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes.
"Pip…" she mutters. "Were you up all night?"
He gives a thumbs up.
She tilted her head and smiled through puffy eyes.
"You're much too sweet to be made of metal."
--------------------
By mid-morning the duo had reached the northern brothers of the Green Sea. A vast expanse of rolling hills and fields of wildflowers that stretch beyond the horizon. The sky felt far too big and the grass just seemed to roll on forever, swaying gently like a waving ocean, undulating in the breeze, dotted and adorned with crimson blooms and daisies that look like miniature suns.
Pip's HUD pinged.
[New Territory Discovered: The Green Seas]
[Primary Sentient Species: Centaur]
They trekked through a narrow path, barely visible as they're flanked by tall, waving grass. Vuvi plucks flowers, noting down their compositions before slipping them into her backpack.
"Look at all this pollen. Definitely mating season." she muttered, tapping her chin. "That's why Mama sent us! Their fertility rates must be through the roof right now. No wonder they're probably frustrated beyond reason."
Pip was about to nod an agreement, until suddenly, the ground began to shake as a rumble echoed over the hills.
Like the God of Thunder approaching on a storm, the sounds of dozens of hooves roared toward them.
Pip's joints shuddered as a squad of gleaming figures crested the southern ridge.
A swirling wall of metal, muscle and long, flowing braids. Centaur warrior women, armoured, weapons drawn and faces carved in frustration. Intense, insufferable, sexual frustration.
They stormed toward the pair, fierce and beyond beautiful as they tore through the grasslands. Their upper bodies like sculpted statues and their lower halves a testimony of toned perfection built purely for speed and power.
Vuvi slapped Pip on the shoulder, a greedy grin splitting her face.
"Power-up those pistons, Pip! Here comes our next customers!"