Disclaimer: Contains female pred in anthro oral fatal vore, quick digestion, belching, lots of weight gain, and some sad themes and subject matter.
 
Recommended: View a version with better readability here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nVUYkMm6qqLeUphPonUW6jkctyukfeJ5J93Cr-MFUrE/edit?usp=sharing
 
(Heaven's Ring is a bustling trade route connecting countless cities and villages, far cut off from the rest of the world. Its people survive by subsisting at high altitudes, thousands of feet above sea level; for the world below is blanketed with a deep ocean of opaque, toxic smog, a single whiff of which is enough to steal the air from your lungs and drag you, coughing and gasping, into oblivion. Fearing the many pirates and Heavenly Beasts that soar through the skies, most people rarely if ever venture from their hometowns; those who are brave enough to regularly travel along the Ring do so in powerful airships, and are commonly referred to as Voyagers…)
 
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The Redeemer
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Somewhere in the sleepy, dusklit city of Jadeite was a lonely little cat woman sorting through papers at her desk. The very same cat everyone in town called ‘the Redeemer.’
 
She always hated that nickname. She didn’t ‘redeem’ convicts, after all: she rehabilitated them. Gave them a second chance to become contributing members of society. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but at least it was better than handing out executions and life sentences like candy, like Jadeite used to do. Her rehabilitation ‘success stories’ have been the perfect storm, creating an entire ‘pacifist’ revolution in the city, with activists of all creeds coming out against the death penalty and in favor of rehabillitation.
 
There was one major downside: all of this was far more fame than she ever asked for. Everyone knows her as ‘the Redeemer’ now; she never hears anyone call her by her actual name anymore. Anyone, of course, except for her fiancé.
 
“Gabriel?” Speak of the devil, there he was. Those perfect golden eyes almost glowing in the darkened room as he leaned up against the doorway, the wolf’s handsome, fit figure backlit by the brightened hallway flanking him. Hearing her name from his lips thrilled her almost as much as hearing his own; Jack Brewer. Without his love and care, there was no way she’d have endured a career this stressful. “Rare to see you up this late. Is something wrong?”
 
“Mm, no, honey.” She sighed, taking another sip of her coffee as she glanced down at the old papers. Client profiles, old newspaper clippings, psychiatric analyses. It was all a mess. “Just… busy.”
 
Her eyes were stung a bit as he flicked on a lantern and filled the room with admittedly much-needed light. Looking at his messy fur, he must’ve just gotten up. Gabriel was a detective and psychiatrist; Jack was a city guard; needless to say, their schedules rarely aligned. Usually, Gabriel had already gone to sleep by the time Jack woke up. But not tonight. Tonight, the cat’s mind was racing too much for her to get an inkling of rest. “Oh, c’mon, hun. I’ve known u long enough to tell when something’s up,” Jack said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Is there anything you’d want to talk about? I’ve got time.”
 
She looked away from him, staring at a wall. She never could sneak anything past him. “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s just… sometimes I wonder whether I’m… really doing the right thing, you know?”
 
He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
 
She shook her head, looking down on all those papers with despair. “The whole… redemption thing. My rehabilitation work,” she explained. “It seems everything is just… falling apart. I don’t know why! So many convicts I thought I’d ‘saved’ have gone right back to their old ways recently. And every crime they commit… am I not partially responsible, when you think about it? After all, I was the one who advocated for their releas-”
 
Jack couldn’t help but interject. “Your only ‘crime’ is helping people. You help these convicts turn their lives around. You give them a whole new lease on life!” he insisted. “I mean, take Willy, for example. You turned him into a total sweetheart, didn’t you? He was the hardest dealer this side of Jadeite when you found him… and look where he is now!”
 
“He’s in prison,” she said, bitterly. “Got caught dealing Cintia again just a few weeks ago. Selling it to kids! Turns out, he never learned his lesson. Not really.” She leaned in, her voice reducing to a low whisper. “I’m starting to wonder if any of them do.”
 
He shrugged, defeated on that point. “Alright, maybe he’s a bad example,” he relented, “but listen, Gabriel. I know you set high standards for yourself… but nobody’s perfect. So instead of worrying about your mistakes, focus on your accomplishments! I mean, think about what a crime-ridden hellhole this city was before you came along. I’ve never seen one person turn things around the way you have!”
 
“Mhmm…” She nodded lightly, her expression blank. “I suppose.”
 
Jack frowned, realizing that she still wasn’t entirely convinced. “It’s normal to get a little anxious sometimes, hun. After all, you’re doing important work,” he said, leaning down to hug her close, giving her a loving little kiss. “Just know that everything is going to turn out okay in the end. Trust me.” With that, Jack trotted away to get ready, leaving Gabriel to her woe. Some time later, she heard him walk out the front door, on his way to work.
 
That was the last time Gabriel would ever see her fiancé.
 
——————————
 
Every morning, the first thing Gabriel did was go out and purchase that day’s newspaper. Partly to keep tabs on happenings in town, and partly to see just how outlets were reporting to her. She even kept newspaper clippings of some of the most flattering articles, with headlines like ɢᴀʙʀɪᴇʟ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛᴏɴ's ɴᴇᴡᴇsᴛ ʀᴇʜᴀʙɪʟɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴇᴄʜɴɪǫᴜᴇs ᴅᴇᴄɪᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴄʀɪᴍᴇ ʀᴀᴛᴇs, or ᴘᴀᴄɪꜰɪsᴛ ʀᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇs ᴊᴀᴅᴇɪᴛᴇ sᴀꜰᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀ. Today, however, the front page paper featured a headline she wished she never had to see;
 
ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀᴛ ᴊᴀᴅᴇɪᴛᴇ ᴘᴇɴɪᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴀʀʏ — ᴀʀʟɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ & ɢᴀɴɢ ᴋɪʟʟ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ
 
Of course, there were many reasons such a headline would be distressing to her. After all, Arlington had been one of her ‘success stories.’ For his crimes of piracy, that tiger was going to be put to death, but Gabriel successfully managed to talk it down to a life sentence in the hopes that he could one day be rehabilitated and paroled. Even the tabloids made mention of this, with some specifically blaming her for allowing all this to happen. But all of that wasn’t really what called her attention.
 
What really caught her eye was one name in particular, out of the list of city guards that had been declared KIA: ᴊᴀᴄᴋ ʙʀᴇᴡᴇʀ.
 
Such a simple thing it was, a name. Just a bit of text on a piece of paper. But just seeing that name there, knowing what it implied… it shook her to the very abscesses of her soul. She must have spent days locked away in her apartment, reading that name over and over again, as if hoping that just wishing hard enough would be enough to make that name fade away. Denial was her only coping method, for a time; accepting the reality of the situation was just impossible.
 
Every once in a while, there’d be a knock on the door, and she’d be filled with excitement, hoping it had all been a mistake and her beloved Jack had finally returned home to see her again. But no; it was always just one of her friends, or colleagues, or some journalist, or even some angry townsperson. No matter who they were, she never let them in. Her apartment was her safe space; she stayed locked within, in fear of facing the outside world, because doing so would force her to face the reality of what had happened.
 
It was only once things quieted down that she finally felt brave enough to walk out of her apartment. Sneakily, of course; in fact, she crawled out a back window in the dead of night, while cloaking herself in a thick hooded robe in the hopes that no one would recognize her. In a daze, she stumbled through the streets for a while, realizing that the entire city just felt different now, knowing that her beloved was no longer gracing it with his presence.
 
Of course, even this late at night, her robe couldn’t keep her hidden forever. “You! Hey, you!” Gabriel’s blood ran cold at hearing a yell, accompanied by angry footsteps stomping towards her! She turned to see the enraged face of the coyote woman accosting her. “You’re that chick they call the ‘Redeemer,’ right?”
 
Gabriel whimpered, backing away.“What? N-no, I-” She tried to deny it, only to gasp in shock as the coyote grabbed her tightly by the arm!
 
“Don’t you lie to me! You’re that bitch who got Arlington out of death row, right?” The coyote snarled. “My best friend was devoured because of him! Because of you! Don’t you care?”
 
Those words alone were like daggers through her heart. “O-of course I care! I’m trying to-“ She shivered at the way the coyote was squeezing her close, hardly able to speak through the tears she now realized were streaking down her cheeks. “P-please… let go of me!” With that, she pulled her robe open, revealing the magical gemstone amulet attached to her necklace… which instantly blinded and dazed the coyote with a flash of light! Immediately, Gabriel fled down a nearby alleyway, trying to soak her tears with her sleeve.
 
There, she curled up, still shivering, to ruminate on what she’d done. She couldn’t blame the coyote for being so angry. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she felt the exact same way. She was unfathomably angry at herself, for paving the way for all this to happen; she was irrationally angry at Jack, for leaving her alone in this tarred and black world; but most of all, her rage, blind and fiery and seething, settled on one man: that damnable Arlington.
 
But she had to stay calm. There was no point in letting herself be blinded by emotion now; not when she needed to think straight, now more than ever. After all, she was pretty sure she knew where their hideout was, but going all the way there would require her to kiss Jadeite goodbye.
 
Not that she minded. With her pacifist vision in tatters and her beloved gone, there was nothing keeping her here. Before she left, though, she left a little ‘gift’ for her department: her badge, and a letter reading…
 
If my suspicions are correct, Arlington and his gang should be on Dahlia Peak.
 
Consider this letter a ‘back-up plan,’ just in case my own methods of dealing with them don’t suffice.
 
Send troops to check it out if you wish, but know that, if all goes well on my end, there will be no pirates left alive for you to find.
 
——————————
 
“Seriously? I was almost hoping he wasn’t really so stupid,” Gabriel scoffed, rolling her eyes when she spotted Arlington’s ship docked right where she assumed it would be: Dahlia Peak.
 
He had mentioned hiding out here before during their psychiatric sessions, and something told her that he’d be dumb enough to go there again. Sure enough, there they all were, apparently throwing a party of some sort on the little ‘island’ peeking out from the smog below, leaving them all distracted as Gabriel flew her dingy Welkin pod up to the side of their ship, right where she had spotted an open window.
 
She crept quietly through the empty halls of Arlington’s vessel, prepared to use any means necessary to dispatch any pirates she might run into, though luckily her path was unhindered. She hoped to find the ship’s engine room but, lost and aimless, she eventually stumbled into somewhere even more intriguing; the brig.
 
Her heart skipped a beat when she looked behind the steel bars and realized that Arlington had actually taken live prisoners, though Jack was not among them. She frowned at the sight of those pitiful eyes staring back, which twinkled with a flicker of hope as the scant few prisoners recognized her. “Help us,” a raspy voice rung out. “Please, help us.”
 
Hearing that desperate plea was more than enough to drive her to action, Jack or not. Without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed the key, and unlocked the heavy, steel barred door...
 
A little while later, a pirate came trotting into the brig. A coyote, she was, and one who’d obviously dined handsomely during the Jadeite break-out; her curvy figure strained against her overly tight armor, her fat, heart-shaped cheeks poking out beneath the bottom of her tunic, wobbling ever so slightly as her hips swayed back and forth with every step. “Alright, listen up, fleabags. Since I have to waste my time watching over you, I feel like I should at least get to blow off some steam with ya before Arlington has you for lunch,” she snarled as she stepped in, slapping her ass for emphasis’ sake. “You know the drill. One of you is gonna be spending the next hour or so under this ass. So, who’s it gonna b-”
 
She turned to the cell, eager to blow off some steam by tormenting some prisoners… only to find it almost empty! Now, the only prisoner left in the entire cell was a naked cat lady, curled up in the fetal position in the far corner. “Hey! What the!?” The coyote stumbled forward, confused, gripping the bars as she barked out. “Where the hell are the other prisoners?”
 
“What?” The cat looked over at her sheepishly. “I-I’m the only prisoner here, remember? You all ate the rest!”
 
The coyote furrowed her brow. Was… was that true? She didn’t remember eating any prisoners, but then again, considering the countless number of people she has eaten, there was no doubt some would fade from her memory. “I… I could’ve sworn I remembered two or three were left, at least! Is my memory really that shit? Hell, I hope I’m not coming down with Grayrot…” She sighed, shaking her head and grabbing the cell keys. “Well, fuck it. You’re cute enough anyway, babe. You’ll do.”
 
She tried to unlock the door, but she was left waiting for a click that never came. Instead, the door just swung open on its own! “Wait… why’s this door unlocked?” she barked… but while she was distracted by that, the cat suddenly stood up before her, revealing the shiny yellow gemstone of what could only be a magical Soulkeeper! “What the fuck-!?” Before the coyote could mutter another syllable, the feline’s Soulkeeper flashed with a powerful burst of magical light!
 
As the light faded, the coyote was left stunned and dazed on the floor, her pupils spirals as she drooled there. With a huff, Gabriel slid her Soulkeeper necklace back around her neck; said quaint gemstone was the source of every bit of her magical power, after all, so she kept it close.“Vile excuse for a living thing,” she hissed, spitting on the unconscious jackal, disgusted by the pirate’s sadism. How had she ever been foolish enough to believe people like this could be redeemed?
 
Once the coyote was handled, the first order of business was stealing the pirate’s clothing. Her outfit was unwashed and grody, but at least it would let Gabriel disguise herself as one of them, especially with the hood pulled up. Unfortunately, the second order of business was less pleasant. “Ugh… do I really have to do this?” she huffed, glaring down at the coyote’s limp, naked figure. She had quite an alluring, impressive set of curves, Gabriel had to admit; if only they had met under better terms. As it was, those curves would only serve as an obstacle.
 
Gabriel had never eaten anyone before, and before now, she never had any intention to. She wished she could just chuck the coyote out of a window and let the smog take her, but the other pirates would no doubt notice that. Seemed letting her stomach handle the pirate was her only option. With that, Gabriel started fiddling with the limp coyote, trying to figure out the best way to go about this. “Come on, just… get in…!” she huffed in frustration, trying and failing for a while to fit the coyote’s feet into her throat.
 
She felt completely incompetent at this… but at last, her throat muscles expanded to allow the coyote’s feet into her gullet! She immediately gagged at this, so unused to the feeling… but she couldn’t give up now. With a determined groan, she grabbed the coyote by her doughy hips, slowly pressing her limp body into her throat bit by bit, her throat muscles clenching down with every little swallow to bring her prey deeper and deeper.
 
Luckily, like all anthros, her body was biologically adapted to swallow large prey like this, despite her lack of experience. Soon enough, her body figured out what she was doing, and her throat muscles started kicking into overdrive to help drag the coyote down deeper and deeper! Sweat dripped down Gabriel’s brow as she tried to concentrate relentlessly on claiming her prey, gagging occasionally as her throat stretched out wider and wider with her meal.
 
Before long, Gabriel made her way up to the true test; the coyote’s massive, heavyset hips. She squished and kneaded those malleable cheeks with her jaws, trying with every ounce of her might to fit them into her maw. At least she tastes alright, Gabriel thought to herself, pleasantly surprised to find the rumors of anthros’ unique flavor were true. She even started lapping over those yummy cheeks for a moment, before realizing she shouldn’t let herself get distracted. With that, she pressed the coyote against a wall, while simultaneously pushing forward, until…
 
With a wet shlick, those fat hips were finally squeezed between her lips! Gabriel let out a distressed groan as her jaws were stretched to the absolute limit, but kept swallowing all the same, determined to get this woman inside her. She only paused for a moment when she reached the coyote’s breasts, taking a little break to knead and lap over those mounds of doughy softness in her maw… but eventually, she just leaned her head back, letting gravity guide the coyote the rest of the way down her cavernous throat…
 
The moment her airways were finally clear, Gabriel drew in the deepest breath of her life, before kneeling over and coughing. “Huff… huff…” she panted, her throat still sore as can be. She let out another groan as the woman finally settled completely into her stomach, doubling over and grasping her bulging belly in her hands, gritting her teeth as that sensitive flesh was stretched and distended beyond reason! “Ooh, by the Dreamers… how can anybody do this?”
 
As if on cue, she felt some movement inside of her… and then a little more… and then, her heart dropped as the coyote started throwing a full-on tantrum in there! “Aaaugh, no! Please, stop… struggling!” Gabriel cried out, desperately trying to squish her belly with her hands, her gut bulging with hand and foot prints as the coyote tried to viciously fight her way free! She even felt the coyote try to press her way up her throat… but luckily, Gabriel swallowed her back down just in the nick of time. “Hey! S-stay down! You’re not coming out, okay? So just… quit your fussing!”
 
The thrashing within her stomach sent Gabriel stumbling dizzily all around the room, struggling to keep her balance with an entire person wriggling in her stomach! “C’moon… just digest already…” she groaned, sloshing her belly a bit with her hands to try and ensure her stomach acids soaked evenly across every inch of the coyote, hoping to accelerate the process of breaking her down. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do much good… this woman might take hours to digest! And that was the least of Gabriel’s problems…
 
Gabriel’s heart stopped when, right in the middle of trying to subdue her prey, heavy footsteps approached. She had no chance to react. Before she knew it, she was staring right into the eyes of… him.
 
Arlington. That bastard. She’d recognize him anywhere. Immediately upon seeing the massive, musclegut tiger man’s face, she didn’t know whether she wanted to run away, or tear his throat out. An awkward silence hung in the air as that… pathetic excuse for a man surveyed the scene. “Awww, fuck. I’d been hoping to nab myself a prisoner to eat. I haven’t had a proper meal since the breakout!” he complained, in his regular dimwitted tone. “You ate the last one? Didn’t I tell you lot to leave one over for me?”
 
Luckily, it seemed that he didn’t recognize her from their psychiatric meetings. He really hadn’t been paying any attention at all! “S-sorry, Arlington, sir!” Gabriel moaned, sitting up, trying to play the part of a humble pirate. “She, hnf… tried to escape!”
 
Arlington seemed upset… but the sight of a cute woman like Gabriel with a belly full of squirming, digesting prey seemed to cheer him up. “Well, I guess I can’t fault you on that,” he said with a chuckle, taking a knee in front of her. “Having trouble keeping her down? I suppose you must be one of the new hires they brought on while I was in the klink, huh?”
 
“Y-yes…” She flinched as that vile man laid a hand on her… but she had to admit, it was soothing to have him rub at her stomach as the coyote struggled within. She seemed to redouble her efforts once she realized Arlington was there, as if trying to get his attention; unfortunately for her, not even the slightest sound could be heard through all that thick belly flesh. “She’s… struggling…!”
 
“May I recommend ya something, then?” Arlington smiled, reaching into his satchel… and pulling out a small little wooden cylinder, with ornate red carvings in the sides. “Marsorrel Salts! In conjunction with some belly rubs, these really kick your system into high gear. Let that gut of yours subdue her nicely. May I?” She nodded, opening her maw, letting the tiger reach forward and gently pour the sparkling, red, dust-like salt onto her tongue. She waited, letting it melt on her tongue, until…
 
GGrrrrbbbBBLLLLllll! Suddenly, her stomach kicked into overdrive, sending an unbelievable shiver of sensation through her entire body! The entire room was filled with a deafening cacophony of gurgles and churns as the coyote struggled against the digestive onslaught, but nonetheless, Gabriel’s gut was soon left still and mushy. “Mm… huffff…!” Gabriel panted desperately as the digestion process was sped up a hundredfold, her belly losing its firmness and becoming round and squishy by the second!
 
Meanwhile, Arlington was just using this as an excuse to sit back and watch a cute woman grow thick and busty right before his eyes. Sure enough, the coyote was being instantly transformed into fat, doubling the width of the feline’s hips and leaving her breasts straining against the front of her uniform. “By the Dreamers, you got some nice curves to you, you know,” he complimented. “Feel free to stop by my cabin, if you ever feel like spending some quality time with the captain himself. Hah!”
 
“M-maybe…” She nodded, although she was filled with disgust at the idea of sleeping with this… creature. Still, she had one question that was burning in her mind. “You know… during that raid… among the guards you were all fighting, did you… spot a wolf man?”
 
Arlington thought it over. “Wolf? You mean that scrawny motherfucker?” He chuckled, having to raise his voice just to be heard over the digestive cacophony. “Oh, yeah, I chomped his dumb ass personally. Those guard uniforms always taste like trash, though. Why, had you been wanting dibs on him?” She was filled with fury at hearing him talk about Jack like that, but she bit her tongue.
 
“N-no, I just…” she tried to squeak out, but she was interrupted by a powerful bRRRUUUURrrrp of a belch as the digestion process was finally finished, sending strands of fur up her throat and out into the open air! The coyote was left as nothing but pudge and chyme, her soul being absorbed into Gabriel’s Soulkeeper and making her magic all the more powerful. It was a strange feeling, taking a life for the first time. Gabriel had plenty of time to think it over as she lay there, panting on the floor. “Huff…”
 
“Well, I gotta say, losing out on a prisoner snack myself is totally worth having another thick broad like you around,” Arlington grinned, licking his lips as he groped her now huge, doughy hips with his hands. “Welcome aboard, babe. And know that my offer is always on the table.”
 
With that, he left, leaving the salt shaker behind. “Fucking asshole…!” Gabriel hissed under her breath the moment he was out of earshot.
 
She took a ten minute break to get used to her new figure, grimacing as she squeezed and felt up her now much pudgier form with her hands… but it wasn’t long until she was back on task. With her new disguise, she could just stroll through the halls of the ship without issue, easily walking past any lazy guard she saw, all the way down into the engine room; where she paused at the sound of voices from within. “Man… breaking Arlington out was the most excitement I’ve gotten in years,” a male voice rang out. “Starting to doubt eating that mouse chick, though. She’s been real killer on my figure.”
 
She cautiously peeked inside to see two engineers standing around; one squirrel man, and one rabbit woman. Notably, the squirrel had the signature pudge of a recent predator, which the rabbit seemed to appreciate, reaching over and giving him a playful grope on his doughy, fluffy butt. “I dunno, I’ll never complain about some extra eye candy,” she flirted.
 
He laughed along, swaying his ass a little bit in response to her pleasant gropings. “Careful, Julie! Keep ogling that ass, and I’ll add you to it!” The rabbit walked off, leaving the squirrel to his work… work he was so wrapped up in, he didn’t even notice the hooded figure sneaking up behind him, until a hand was suddenly resting on his shoulder! “Hmm? Julie, what the- MPH!?” He let out a muffled scream as he was suddenly pulled backwards, and his head was shoved somewhere warm, wet, and dark…
 
Meanwhile, the rabbit was content to work on keeping the massive, technomagical engines running… at least, until her attuned ears suddenly picked up the familiar sounds of sloshing, gurgling, and churning. “Hey! What the...?” She turned around, only to balk in horror at the sight of Gabriel, standing there, the feline’s belly bulging to absurd lengths to contain her thick squirrel friend! “Intruder- ACK!” She tried to call for help, only to be knocked back and dazed by another flash from Gabriel’s Soulkeeper!
 
Unfortunately, this one wasn’t enough to knock her out… so the rabbit slowly came to, just as Gabriel’s lips were starting to pass over her hips! She looked down in horror at the sight of the enraged cat’s jaws stretching over her midriff, ready to press her entire body down into those swelteringly warm, squeezing depths. “Hey! W-what are you doing!? Let me go, you stupid- eep!” She squeaked as she was suddenly pulled deeper by another clench of Gabriel’s throat, the feline keeping her restrained as she was dragged, squirming and pleading, into that gullet.
 
For a moment, the rabbit lost hope. She knew full well the preternatural power of a hungry predator; it seemed inevitable she was going to be condemned to the same fate she’s condemned her own fair share of helpless prey to. A glimmer of hope flashed through her, though, as she suddenly realized… she recognized this cat! “W-wait… you! You’re that cat lady, right? The one that’s always in the papers… ‘the Redeemer,’ right?” she insisted, trying to talk her way out of getting eaten. “You can’t eat me! You’re always blabbing about… forgiveness and second chances and all that shit! A-aren’t you a pacifist?”
 
Unfortunately, the rabbit quickly realized that hearing the word ‘Redeemer’ only pissed Gabriel off even more! All of a sudden, the cat aggressively yanked her head up, leaving the rabbit’s head and shoulders dangling in the air! “Eek…!” The rabbit let out one last, frightening little squeak as gravity slid her down into that squeezing embrace of a throat, toward the gastric pit waiting below.
 
“Not. Anymore,” Gabriel finally replied to that ‘pacifist’ comment once her airways were clear, glad to finally put that old life behind her, once and for all. Of course, she was soon dealing with another problem; if she thought one person fighting against her digestive system was rough, having two people, united in their struggles against her stomach, was another level of unbearable! She grit her teeth and yowled as they started fighting, gripping her stomach with her hands. “Aaaugh! S-stop fighting in there, you two-”
 
If allowed to keep fighting like that, they probably would have genuinely escaped her stomach. Luckily, all she had to do was take another dose of the salts to kick her digestive system into high gear. “Fuuck…” she groaned, feeling their struggles double in intensity as that cacophony of gurgles rang out again. In the absence of Arlington, she had to start massaging her own gut, sloshing and kneading it to help it digest its hapless prisoners. “Therrre you go… quit all that damn squirming already…”
 
Eventually, with a couple more shuddering belches, her belly was still, and she slowly managed to bring herself to her feet. Looking in the mirror, though, she was left distressed at the fact she could hardly even recognize herself! In the course of an hour, she’d gone from skinny to genuinely fat, now sporting a big, round, squishy paunch poking out beneath her outfit, and hips so big she’d barely be able to fit through doors. “Ugh, I really hope I don’t have to eat too many more of these bastards. This is making me so fat,” she sighed, wondering if Jack would disapprove of her new look. “I can hardly recognize myself. I hope Jack doesn’t-”
 
Suddenly, though, she remembered… the incident. And her mood instantly soured. “... nevermind.” She grit her teeth. “Let me just show these assholes who they fucked with.”
 
With that, she placed a few strange, magical, glowing devices onto various vital points of the engine, before sneaking away to continue her plan, placing similar devices onto various parts of the ship. A few more pirates disappeared into her now big, fat, roomy gut as she explored, until finally, the scrawny fox lookout boy disappeared between her lips. With that, all she had to do was ring a big bell… which echoed with such intensity, it could be heard all around Dahlia peak! “What the?” The pirates celebrating there all froze in their tracks.
 
They all knew what it meant. If the lookout bell had been rung, the party was over. The Jadeite guards must’ve somehow found them! “Damn it. Looks like the lookout has spotted some guards heading our way,” Arlington muttered, before turning to command his foot soldiers. “Everyone, back to the ship! Get ready for a fight!” The pirates obediently let out their battle cries as they rushed back to the ship, pushing and bumping into one another in their fervor to make it onboard as quickly as possible!
 
Arlington stood back, rolling his eyes as he watched the stampede. Wanting to avoid the rat race, he stood back, and waited for his fellow pirates to board before he did… only to be stunned when, the second they were onboard, the boarding ramps suddenly pulled themselves closed, locking him out! “Hey!” He stumbled forward, gritting his teeth angrily as the boat drifted away from the ‘shore.’ “You… you morons forgot about me! You damn good-for-nothin-” Arlington realized something was truly amiss, though, the moment one of the ship’s cannons turned to face him.
 
By the time he realized this, it was already too late. With a deafening crack, a massive cannonball was sent flying right towards him, smashing into the ground right before his feet, hard enough to leave a crater! With a scream, he was sent flying backwards, landing a few meters away in a disheveled, stunned heap. The first thought on his mind was a mutiny… or, maybe some kind of a misunderstanding? A million possibilities flashed through his mind as he lay there, defeated; but the person who actually ended up strolling up to him was the last person he would’ve ever expected.
 
“Arlington,” Gabriel hissed, pulling back her hood as she walked up to the prone, dazed tiger’s side. “You recognize me now, you fiend?”
 
“You…” His eyes widened as he finally realized just who she was.
 
Of course, she was pudgy beyond recognition now, but her face was twisted into a truly terrifying snarl of pure rage and hatred. “That… ‘scrawny motherfucker’ you mentioned a while back? That was my fiancé,” she hissed, leaning up so close he could feel her warm, meaty breath on his face, thick with the smells of the crewmates she’s devoured. “The man you took from me. Just like all the other people you’ve devoured.”
 
Realizing that all this was over just a single little man… he couldn’t help but chuckle weakly. “Pffft… and instead of just moving on, you tracked me down, all the way here?” he rasped. “I don’t think you thought your plan out very well, tuts. Whatever you do to me, my crew will tear you to pieces. It’s you against two dozen people.”
 
In response, she merely leaned back and raised a hand… leaving Arlington stunned as it started to glow! “Then why don’t I…” she menaced, “... even the odds?” With that, she clenched her hands into a fist, and…
 
Kaa-BrrrOOOOOOsshhhh!
 
A sudden, deafening series of explosions tore through the most vital areas of his ship, as those devices she had planted finally exploded with multicolored light! Several holes were torn in the hull all at once, and, lacking its engines, gravity suddenly started kicking in for the massive, airborne vessel. Arlington could only watch with a deep sense of hopelessness as what was left of his ship, as well as all its crew, descended, cataclysmically, into the smoldering smog below...
 
“N-NO!” he cried out, now filled with rage! He used up the last of his strength to try to lash out at her… but his ankle was still busted from that cannon shot, resulting in him falling flat on his face. Still, he dragged himself towards her as she slowly backed away. “You… you crazy fucking-!”
 
“Now you know what it feels like, to lose people you care about. It’s the exact same feeling endured by the family and friends of every single person you and your crew have devoured over the years,” she lectured him, calmly, her expression revealing nothing but a cold, dispassionate sense of justice. “And now… you’ll learn what it was like for your innocent prey.”
 
His heart sank at those words. Sure, he didn’t really care about any of his crewmates… and his ship was replaceable… but eating him? Suddenly, the sadistic tiger was subject to the very same fear of mortality that he always enjoyed subjecting others to. “You… you…” he stuttered, as if in denial that this is going to be his fate. “You can’t… aren’t you supposed to just, I don’t know, arrest me?”
 
“Sure. That’s what ‘the Redeemer’ would’ve done, I suppose.” She shrugged, giving him a glimmer of hope just so she could snatch it away. “But ‘the Redeemer’ is dead. She died the moment my beloved was taken away. Now… you have to deal with me.”
 
With that, her jaws opened wide… and all Arlington saw from then on was darkness.
 
——————————
 
Gabriel had no idea what to do with herself, once it was all said and done. Vengeance felt like her last purpose in life. After this, she felt like she should just throw herself into the smog below. But first… she had those prisoners to take care of.
 
Returning to the ‘shore,’ the now panting, fat feline strained to pull the door of her little welkin pod open; inside, the emaciated prisoners were huddled together, their curious eyes peeking up at her now unrecognizably huge, fat figure. “You all. You’re-” she paused mid sentence, interrupted by a powerful brUUUuuuUURRRUUPP of a belch “-all free to go.”
 
They ignored the unsightly display, just glad to finally be freed. Gabriel helped the shaking prisoners stand up out of the welkin pod, one by one. Once they were all out, a nervous pig girl gently poked her side. “I-is there any way for us to… you know… go home?”
 
“I already told the Jadeite town guards that Arlington set up his base here, so they should be coming any minute now,” she explained. “In the meantime, just hang out around Dahlia’s. The pirates probably left plenty of food around, if any of you happen to be hungry.” With that, she watched the prisoners wander off… except for a cheerful-looking peacock, who instead ran up and hugged her!
 
“T-thank you so much, miss!” The bird smiled widely, trying her best to try and wrap her arms around Gabriel’s absolutely huge boulder of a gut (and failing). “We thought for sure we would be… you know…”
 
“Oooh, don’t bother to thank me.” Gabriel frowned, shaking her head. “I’m not worth it.”
 
“What? Without you, we would’ve been pirate food!” The peacock just giggled, looking up at her with all the admiration in the world. “Whether you believe it or not… you are a good person, you know.”
 
For some reason, that simple little sentence sent a shiver up Gabriel’s spine. “T-thanks, I suppose,” She gently pulled away from the peacock, patting her back. “You run along, now. Catch up with your friends.” With a happy nod, the peacock ran off to rejoin her other prisoners… leaving Gabriel all alone again.
 
Good person… could she really call herself a good person? After all, every single person who had been devoured in the Jadeite break-out… it had been all her fault. The government was going to have Arlington executed; she was the one who vouched for him to be sent to the penitentiary instead. It was hard not to feel directly responsible for every single loss, including the loss of the only man she’s ever truly loved…
 
But… throwing herself into the smog just felt like the coward’s way out. She knew psychology well enough to know she was transitioning through the stages of grief; and, as much as she tried to mask it using anger and denial, she knew that the sadness would soon set in.
 
But… maybe she needed a little sadness. Needed to really confront these emotions if she was going to truly process them. It was going to be difficult, but… she felt like she could make it out the other end of all this. Maybe go on to do some more good in this world.
 
After all… it’s what Jack would’ve wanted.
 
Her purpose here completed, she slowly managed to shove and squeak her huge, pudgy body back into the tiny little floating welkin pod, ready to take to the skies once again. She didn’t know where she would be going. All she knew was, she wanted to get as far away from Jadeite as possible. Far away from her old life. After all, ‘the Redeemer’ was dead… all that was left was her.
 
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Thanks for reading!