**Chapter 735: Claws and Currents**
**Scene 1: Royal Felacatian Palace – Rebuilt Courtyard**
Queen Miaria Prrt walked slowly through the palace grounds, her amber eyes wide with quiet wonder. It was strange. After the brutal coup attempt and the battle against the *Bogg Behemoth*, she had expected the Republic fleet to depart once the immediate threat was neutralized. Instead, they had stayed. Repair crews, engineers, and even medical teams worked alongside her people to rebuild everything the droids had destroyed.
What astonished her most was Dagon Marek himself. The Demon of the Shield had used his extraordinary armor to manipulate the Force on a scale she had never witnessed. Shattered crystal windows were restored to their original vibrant views. Collapsed walls reformed as if time itself had been reversed. Even food stores and defensive turrets were replenished, with extra weapons quietly gifted to bolster Felacat's defenses.
She had tried to thank him personally multiple times, but every approach ended the same way — his masked face would flush beneath the durasteel (somehow visible even through the metal), and he would abruptly claim important business elsewhere before retreating.
Miaria sighed, tail flicking with frustration, as she reached the central garden.
"Why so sad?" Countess Kitana asked, approaching with a confident stride. The warrior noble looked fully recovered, her fur gleaming under the sunlight. "The palace looks as good as new. Casualties were limited almost entirely to Ren's traitor forces. We should be celebrating."
"It's just… Dagon, the Demon of the Shield," Miaria admitted, ears flattening slightly. "Whenever I approach him, he makes the strangest faces and flees. I think he doesn't like non-humans like me. Or perhaps my people offend him somehow."
Kitana burst into loud, genuine laughter, doubling over and clutching her side. "Oh, my Queen. You sweet, oblivious hunter. He blushes because you are *hot*. He gets embarrassed and runs away every time he sees you."
Miaria's ears perked up. "Wait… how do you know that?"
"I spoke with one of the Republic Admirals — Piett, I believe. He let slip that there were several less… subtle modes Dagon could have used from his armor to end the coup. Instead, he chose the Titan mode — literally becoming a giant warrior god — just to impress you." Kitana grinned, showing sharp fangs. "The Demon has a weakness after all. And it's currently wearing a crown."
Miaria's tail swayed thoughtfully, a mix of surprise and intrigue crossing her feline features.
**Scene 2: Royal Palace Outer Perimeter**
Dagon Marek leaned against a restored obsidian wall on the palace's outer perimeter, trying to steady his breathing. The durasteel mask felt suffocating.
*Whoa, whoa — Dagon, calm yourself,* he thought furiously. *Yes, you didn't feel the soul bond activate, but of all the women… why her? You already have a harem. A chance it might grow even larger. Still… her smoking body, that tail, those legs, the long raven hair contrasting with her sleek yellow-gold fur…*
He muttered quietly to himself, "Just a few days longer, then back to war. Remember your trauma. You're already secured."
"Secured from what?" a playful voice asked from above.
Dagon's head snapped up. Queen Miaria hung upside down from the wall above him, tail curled gracefully for balance, amber eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Wrath Shield: Prime!" Dagon shouted instinctively, armor shifting into combat configuration as he prepared for a threat.
Miaria dropped lightly to the ground in front of him, landing on all fours before rising with elegant poise. Dagon quickly powered the armor back down to its default state, face burning beneath the mask.
"Princess— I mean, Your Majesty… I'm terribly sorry. Why were you in the tree?"
Miaria tilted her head, studying him with open curiosity. "You are very interesting. Rumors say you are the current Grand Master of the Jedi Order. I only ever saw Master Yoda once in person — he visited during my grandfather's time. I was just two years old then. Now I am twenty-nine and have been Queen since my father retired."
Dagon blinked, caught off guard by the shift in conversation. "Retire? Can kings and queens retire?"
"It is Felacat tradition," Miaria explained, walking alongside him as they moved through the gardens. "The old take care of the young, and the young take care of the old."
Dagon found himself nodding. "Master Yoda and I exchanged those same words when I became Grand Master."
They walked in surprisingly comfortable silence for a moment, the tension easing.
**Scene 3: Royal Palace Private Pool**
Later that evening, the royal pool complex glowed under soft crystalline lights. The water shimmered with bioluminescent minerals, creating a tranquil oasis away from the palace's bustle.
"Come and join me for a swim," Miaria called from the water's edge.
She unclasped her elegant royal dress, letting it fall away to reveal a revealing two-piece purple bikini that accentuated her athletic yet curvaceous feline form. Her tail swayed lazily as she dove gracefully into the pool.
Dagon stood frozen at the edge, mask still in place. "Uhmm… not that I'm supposed to say anything, but you are a Queen and I am—"
"For someone known as the Demon of the Shield, you are really odd around females," Miaria thought to herself, amused. *Perhaps that is a good thing.*
"You know," she said aloud, splashing water playfully toward him, "on Felacat, to deny the Queen's invitation is considered a grave disrespect."
Dagon exhaled slowly. "Fine."
The Wrath Shield receded dramatically — retracting into a compact shield mounted on his left gauntlet, the durasteel mask, and simple black combat pants. His upper body was exposed: powerfully muscled with defined twelve-pack abs, broad shoulders, and glowing lightning-blue veins tracing across his arms, back, and chest. Shoulder-length white hair framed the masked face.
Miaria's eyes widened appreciatively. *Whoa… he is well built.*
Dagon lowered himself into the pool, trying desperately to maintain composure. *Keep calm. Just because you're swimming next to her… and her E-cup breasts… and that tail…*
The water felt refreshingly cool against his skin. Miaria swam closer, her movements fluid and predatory.
"You carry many burdens, Grand Master," she said softly, floating beside him. "Yet you stayed to help rebuild instead of demanding allegiance immediately. Why?"
Dagon glanced at her, the mask hiding most of his expression but not the faint flush creeping up his neck. "Because the galaxy has seen enough destruction. If Felacat joins us, it should be because you choose to — not because I forced it."
Miaria's tail brushed lightly against his leg underwater. "And if I choose to get to know the man behind the Demon?"
Dagon swallowed hard. "Then… it's going to be a long swim, Your Majesty."
The two continued circling each other in the glowing pool, tension and attraction crackling between them like the blue veins across Dagon's skin. Outside, the Republic fleet maintained orbit, and war loomed on the horizon. But for tonight, in this private sanctuary, the Dragon allowed himself a rare moment of vulnerability — and possibility.
It was going to be a very long swim indeed.