Chapter 109

Chapter 109<~> Chapter 109

I smiled at our guide. "The Ruby Vixen huh? Are you the poster girl here?"

She huffed. "Of course not, this place has been open for ages. I just happen to be a red-headed vixen." She shrugged. "It's not my fault our species is known for its sensuality. Besides, the sign has three tails, I only have one!"

I laughed. "Okay okay, I was just teasing. It was cute how you posed like the sign though."

She giggled. "Yeah, I always thought it was funny." She pushed the doors open and led us in. Several girls were sitting around in the lobby but it didn't look like there were a lot of customers yet. The room was a large common room with a few small tables and chairs, large chases along most of the pillars and walls, and a giant desk by the back wall. The desk was something akin to an older-styled hotel reception desk with locking cabinets behind it, presumably hiding away the keys to all of the rooms that were used for customers.

"Raya! Are you okay? er, who are these folk?" A short rabbit beastfolk girl stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted us. She was stock still except for her twitchy rabbit nose. She had bright green eyes, which honestly looked a little weird on the white rabbit-headed woman. I suppose that means she isn't an albino rabbit then.

"Millie! I'm back! I... couldn't find any food but I found these nice people. They helped me out when I got in a little bit of trouble. This deerkin girl here is a healer!"

Most of the girls in the room were suddenly looking at Bella with interest.

My brow furrowed, "Did something happen? Is someone hurt?"

A tall naga woman slithered in from a separate room. She was white and blue, her silvery-white scales shined in the candlelight and the cerulean blue scales on her sides and back looked beautiful, like little jewels. She was tall, though it was hard to tell how much of that was because of her long snake lower half. Despite being a snake woman she had rather large breasts, making me think she must be a kind of beastfolk rather than a different species entirely. She didn't wear all that much, a dark blue shirt and a sash, presumably covering where her genitals were. She was an older woman, late fifties if I had to guess, though it was a bit harder to judge the features of a snake head. Despite her age, she still looked sensual and alluring with long eyelashes and bright blue eyes that matched her scales. Her neck had a hooded cowl like a cobra, giving her a seductive dangerous look.

Her eyes flicked to Raya for a moment before focusing on Bella. "We could use the services of a healer but... payment might be a bit difficult at the moment. How much are you charging for your healing?"

Bella looked hesitant, clearly a bit uncomfortable by the question. "I don't usually charge for my healing, if someone's hurt I want to heal them." Bella's eyes looked to me. "Is that okay? Do we need to charge?"

I shook my head. "It's your healing, if you want to heal them for free I'm not going to complain."

We turned back to the naga who looked suspicious. "Free? Is this some kind of joke? Are you even a healer?"

Raya stepped forward. "Madame Oceane, she healed me from a stab wound in my gut and didn't ask for anything. Look, it didn't even leave a scar," she said pointing at her uncovered midriff. "She's the real deal."

The tip of the naga's tail flicked in agitation and she squinted at Bella, maybe looking for something that would give away some scheme. When she didn't seem to find anything she glanced over each of us, assessing us one by one.

"Very well. If you're truly offering your services for free, I would appreciate it. Please follow me."

She began to slither back into the room she came from. The five of us followed her through another large common room before we reached a quiet hallway with many doors lining the walls.

"These are the girls' private rooms, there are several girls that were hurt in the chaos last month. I'll take you to one of the most severe ones first. Even if you can't fully heal her, it might help her survive long enough for someone who can."

Rather than be put off by the comment Bella just nodded. "I'll do what I can."

She gently knocked on the door before opening it. A thin-looking bobcat demi-beastfolk girl was panting with a fever. Her torso was covered in bloody rags and there was bruising in the parts that were uncovered, she looked like she had been hit by a truck.

Bella stepped inside and began examining her wounds.

The naga woman looked over at me, speaking quietly to not interrupt Bella's work. "What kind of healer is the deer girl?"

"Nature healer," I responded.

She shook her head. "No there are other people who need healing but no one else is as severe as Tisha was. Let me prepare a room for you to rest, it's the least I can do. If you are still happy to heal the others, they can wait until tomorrow."

The naga's attitude has changed, completely night and day. The stern, tense, and borderline angry woman now looked happy in a way that her features suggested didn't happen often. Bella also looked tired but happy, pleased with a job well done.

"Oh my god, what happened to me!" The bobcat girl suddenly blurted out. Her attention was on the giant scars across the front of her body. Her fingers ran over the scars, probably feeling the slight difference in texture between them and her normal skin. "I look like I was mauled by a monster!"

Oceane wiped something from her eyes before looking down at the bobcat girl. "Do you not remember what happened?"

The girl cutely squinted in thought before shaking her head. "The last thing I remember was shopping on my day off. I have no idea how I got here or what happened."

"There was a demon attack last month. Jade found you and brought you here after you'd been hurt."

The bobcat's ears flicked and she rubbed her face. "I've been out for a month? Jade saved me? I thought she hated my guts."

The naga laughed. "Perhaps not, she's been visiting you every day since she brought you here."

The girl started tearing up but wiped the tears away without saying anything.

I cleared my throat. "Perhaps it would be better if the five of us waited in the hallway."

Madame Oceane stood back up on her long tail. "I'll send someone over to fill you in on what happened and bring you some food. Unfortunately with the state of everything, we have to ration it. So don't complain about the portion."

The bobcat girl sniffled. "Yes Madame." She turned to Bella. "Thank you for healing me. With a scar like this, it must have been bad." She mumbled to herself. ...I hope this doesn't turn the men away..."

Bella smiled and placed her hand on the woman's leg. "I'll come back tomorrow and see if I can do anything to reduce the scarring." Her ears turned slightly red and she suddenly looked embarrassed. "If I were a guy, I would think the scars look exotic though. I doubt you have anything to worry about."

The girl smiled at Bella. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem." Bella returned the smile.

All of us filed out of the woman's room. As I turned the corner I bumped right into another demi-beastfolk girl, this time a girl with a cute snow leopard tail and matching ears. She looked like she was going to bite my head off but was quickly redirected when she saw the Madame with us. "Madame! I heard Raya found a healer for Tisha!"

The naga warmly smiled at the snow leopard demi. "Yes Jade, Bella here healed her up and she's awake now. Why don't you go bring her some food, ...a double portion, she needs the energy."

"Errr... are you sure she wants to see me?" the girl looked a bit wary.

"I told her you're the one who helped her, I'm sure there's a lot you should fill her in on."

"...alright. I'll go right away." She looked over at Bella. "I heard you're the healer. ...Thanks for saving my friend."

Bella smiled. "You're welcome."

Jade spun around and ran down the hallway, presumably towards the kitchen, her large fluffy tail trailing behind her.

I took Bella's hand and squeezed it. Proud of my pretty deer girl.