Journey East

Fin was allowing the ladies to lead through the dense brush. Forest had turned to jungle. Kara implied it would happen, and that there was a difference, but he had no idea. It was so wet that it felt like they were swimming through the air and there was literally never a moment of silence without the creaking or growling of some bug or beast nearby. Kara convinced him that they were mostly harmless and there were just a few things that they would maybe wish to avoid if possible.

'I've done pretty well for myself. I avoided trouble for myself and others. I endeared myself to all of them. Kara was right. I don't have have to settle with just one person, I can share my affection with everyone here. Kara, Jeane, Heilan. Even Vura finds a way to join with the attention of the other three.' Fin inhaled contentedly and drew in the sweet scent of pollen

“What's that? It's strong.” He shouted ahead.

Kara looked back, sniffing. “I can't tell. There's tons of plants out here. I don't even know if most of them are named.” She sounded annoyed as she used her connection to part the brush. She had reason to be. Fin had, at the last second diverted course from her intended goal in response to Djir's advance. The prince's action convinced him against helping the kingdom and though you loved you sister and mother, they were not yours anymore. They were another man's. Fin hoped Sam would have the sense and the ability to keep them safe.

'The only thing keeping Kara on my side is that she feels like she has all the time in the world, I think... Plus the fact that we've been getting along a lot better in spite of this choice.' Fin found that as he became more and more involved with the other girls in the group, Kara's quirks and her will to push him away wore down since he was no longer pushing down on her so intensely with such drastic promises as 'wanting her exclusively.' Aside from her, Heilan and Fin had a brilliant relationship from the start due to his suppressing of her Dog urges. Jeane was surprisingly romantic once he got past how stuck up she behaved; she showed vulnerability that Kara could not fully show with an ethical framework that Kara did not have at all. Of all the girls, she was the least tolerant of the arrangement Fin had to 'share'. However, she tolerated it. Vura was a wild card. The warrior did not mind getting into a threesome or even an orgy so long as she could heavily dote on whatever other woman was participating.

“Watch the periphery.” Vura warned.

Jeane added quickly. “Watch your step as well... I remember trees as the Academy that would set traps on the ground. Nasty things.”

“Trees setting traps?” Fin looked down at the dirt. He noticed a pair of clawed tracks; mid-sized. Not odd, considering the density of life in the region. What was strange was that the prints stopped abruptly and did not seem to go off left, or right or back. It was like the animal was just picked up.

“Huh...” Fin looked up to see the lip of something purple and green, with a dark interior falling in a very controlled fashion towards him. It was like a small bell attached to a vine and by the time he saw it , it had already fallen neatly over his head. He curled his fingers under the slippery purple 'mouth' of whatever it was to pry it apart only to feel the incredible suction pull his hands tight around his neck as the purple lip closed and the bell of whatever it was sucked to the point that he could not get out. As quickly as all that happened he felt a tugging pulling him off the ground.

While the Hero had that bulb fall over his head, similar ones simultaneously fell over Jeane, Heilan, Vura and Kara in a coordinated fashion that left very little room for reaction. Kara attempted to form a connection with the plant to make it stop but found that it was not of the world. It was something else entirely that she could not reason with. She tried to pull at the vines connecting the bulb as it pulled her up but they were impossibly slipper on the outside. It was impossible to find purchase. Her ears buzzed with a strange vibrating sensation on the inside.

Vura attempted to Swipe up at it with her sword while the plant was already tightly closed around her head. She could not see, but each time her sword would be about to connect, the vine bent and bowed around it with some semblance of intelligence and precision. She thought about bringing the point to try and pry the lip from her nick, but realized she would sooner cut herself than the plant. She tried to prod the bulb itself but the point bounces and slid away from the round surface. She kicked her legs in a random direction as she was pulled up, catching Heilan in the stomach.

Heilan had managed to stop it from enveloping her head completely. Her claws dug around the lip and she was gaining ground even against the powerful suction, however the kick had her bent. She groaned and her grip loosened, allowing the bulb to fall over her and pull her up as well.

Jean could not see, so she could not cast large spells responsibly. However, she could touch the bulb as it lifted her and send electricity through it.

'Eat that.' She pumped more and more energy into it, but only felt it grow tighter and pull harder. She gasped, understanding that her Aura itself was being drained. First by her uselessly pumping electricity into it but later by her Aura itself being sheared off. She stopped utilizing it as it only seemed to be helping the thing drain her quicker.

'Damn, is this it?' Kara wondered.

'I haven't heard of this one... What is it? I thought this was a mouth but however easily it's keeping me sucked in, I'm not going in any further than my shoulders.' The lips was sucking around her shoulders but that seemed to be the extent. Within the bulb the thing was salivating over her. It was the smell of pollen. Kara dreaded the expected burning sensation but only found that the sap, or 'saliva' was not burning as some carnivorous plants did. Instead it was just sweet and sticky but also slippery. She was unfamiliar with the sensation of something being slippery and sticky, but it was like getting a substance on your boot that you could not get off no matter what, only to have it also slip on other surfaces. It was frustrating as it washed over her skin and mixed into her hair and down her ears.

'Disgusting...' She whined. As it pushed into her ears and her nose and her mouth she felt hot and dizzy and a bit numb. Her legs stopped kicking and however high up she was, Kara stopped swinging.

Whatever the sap was, it seeped out from the lip of the sucking bulb and over her body. It avoided her clothes and clung to her flesh, instead, wrapping around her like a sticky, wet suit. As it seeped around her hips to her sex she felt it slide inside. Less like a liquid and more like an intelligent membrane, as she thought about it. It pushed in as more spread down her thighs, then finally to her toes. She was closed into whatever the sap was completely. Marinating in it. Her whole body felt hot Her fingers curled in and her hands curled up as she felt her first involuntary orgasm. Her whole body shuddered.

'I can't... I'm gonna go crazy.' Her eyes rolled up within the pod as another intense orgasm rocked her.

'Wha- what's happening?' She felt another sucking sensation on her skin over her womb. It felt like lips giving her womb a hickey as whatever it was sucked, held a good grip of her flesh there, then pulled back and released with a pop that she could even hear from within the bulb around her head. With that, with her being utterly soaked between her legs and being practically unable to move, while being sticky and slick all over at the same time she was dropped.

She fell a few feet down to the forest floor. She tried to get up, but her legs gave out from beneath her and her arms were limp as well. Her eyes were wide and could move as she fell cheek-first into the dirt with her ass up. She looked and within view she saw Heilan on her back, twitching. She was still cumming.

'Odd... She's been released as well but I haven't felt-' Her tongue rolled from her lips as her mouth fell open and an intense feeling shook her. She came, squirting whatever had the misfortune of being behind her. The pleasure was centered around her womb, but not the inside, the outside. It was the spot that was 'kissed.' It was a difficult hour or so of cumming and being unable to move but gradually the spa seeped from her skin and her muscles began to work. She got up and rubbed her head woozily.

“Oh god...” Kara looked around and saw the other coming to as well.

“We weren't eaten?” Vura commented.

“A miracle?”

“Do not speak so soon.” Jeane warned, lifting her blouse.

Fin noticed on himself, then on Jean the marking. It was a vaguely 'ovular' shape that was familiar to the female anatomy. A long triangle with two stems curling off, just more stylized. The purple mark had thorns and curves and it was very obviously the same on all of them, however subtle differences showed in slight arcs of some lines and placements of thorns.

“Is this a 'seal' or something?” He looked to Jeane.

“I do not know! Can you not ask such stupid questions?” Jeane snapped back.

“Sorry...” Fin offered apologetically. He was not sure what he did.

Jeane took a deep breath. “No, I am sorry. I do not know what that was, Hero... I think that-” She cluted it and bent over.

“Oouh...” She groaned.

“What's wr-” Fin almost keeled over from the odd, sickly feeling. It was similar to the sensation of a needle entering the skin, however it was not straight. Originating from the marking, Fin and all of the party members for that matter felt a sensation of something winding deeper into their flesh.

“It's rooting...” Kara gasped, scratching at it like a rash. There was no hope of getting it off. It was like the mark was the skin itself.

“It's spreading out through our bodies. This is just the beginning.” She guessed.

Fin gulped. It did not hurt, it was just jarring. He imagined little roots growing their way through his whole body from the mark, growing and threatening... Something.

“What's going to happen?”

“Nothing good.” Vura commented.

“We should find someone nearby. A village. Anything. They might be aware of what this thing is and what we need to do.”

They all looked up. With all of them already infected with whatever it was, the bulbs were just swaying lazily above their heads in the boughs.

“You were supposed to be watching our back.” Kara scolded him.

“I-I was! I was watching your backs!”

“Our backsides?” Even Heilan was noticeably annoyed.

“You really didn't think to look up?” Vure asked, slightly more patient than the rest. Oddly, to her Fin was starting to look less off-putting, but still not outright attractive.

“None of you thought to look up.” He argued.

“Drop it! Vura's point is well spoken, no? We should find a settlement, an individual... Something.”

“Let's go.” Fin walked to the head.

“I'll lead the way and someone else can watch, I guess.”

“Don't sulk... We don't actually know if this is a big deal, yet.” Kara moved to walk beside Fin, but she felt odd in his presence. Normally she would have at least some desire and there would be some arousal from how close they were in the moment. But even as she rested a hand on his shoulder it felt wrong. It was like their skin itself was incompatible. He was literally a different species to her but now Fin actually seemed like a different species. She furrowed her brow and let off his shoulder.

'Strange.'

“When is anything like this NOT a big deal?” Heilan asked.

“We're all compromised!”

“Calm down. Panicking gets us nowhere.” Vura warned.

“True.” Jeane added from the center of the party.

“We waste time by doing anything other than seeking help on this matter. There is no point in wildly speculating as to our doom. Our pace is brisk and we are actively searching. This is all we can do.” She reasoned.

“That's a good point. Thank you.” Fin complimented. As he said that, Jean, who would normally feel somewhat warm instead clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth quietly in annoyance.

'I know it is not fair to blame him, but... I want to.'

-

They walked for hours and as they walked they could each feel the roots of the mark making progress within them. As they found, it was not a painful experience, but an odd ever-present tingle permeated the areas in which the mark took hold.

“It's like... A seed.” Kara whined, holding her mark under her hand.

“I don't wanna know what it grows into.”

“For once we are in agreement, Fox.” Jeane squinted.

“What's that?”

“Is that a wall?” Fin commented.

“It could be a settlement! Let's go!” The Hero began jogging towards it only to notice that the make of the wall was less civilized and more strewn together. It was overgrown with vines and roots. Still, it was tall but there was no guard in sight. He looked back.

“Walk until we find a gate or climb over?”

“Peek over.” Kara requested.

“Heilan?” Fin looked to the Dog.

“I'm on it.” The girl hopped up the strewn-together structure and peeked over.

“Nothing. Just more jungle.”

Jeane sighed. “If there is nothing on the other side, then it stands to reason that we should find a gate, as that could be guarded by 'something.'”

Vura nodded. “Stands to reason, but what if there's something behind it if we just walk a little further?”

Jeane looked unimpressed. “We do not know of anything like that or see a hint of it but walls have gates and gates have guards. If we are just taking guesses then my guess would air towards the side of seeking what we know, not what we guess may be.”

“Jeane's right.” Fin admitted. He began walking along the wall. She was proven right after about another mile of hiking. The party found an overgrown arch with a small hovel next to it. As they approached, from the hovel ducked an irregularly large creature. It's skin was blue and spotted with many colors of the forest; browns and grays and greens. He was hairy and messy and more than a little dull looking. He licked his cracked lips as he looked over the many ladies. His eyes rested on each one for a moment in appraisal. Fin had brought his party through stranger situations so he already knew that he did not like where this was going.

“This may be a bad-”

“Not so fast!” Kara shot him down quickly.

“We don't have many options here, Hero.”

He began to open his mouth again before noticing by the stares of the others that they were more in agreement with Kara than they were with him. It was an off flip of things, considering how they hung off his word just a day prior.

'So much has changed... Fuck.' He chose not to speak except to tacitly inquire with the figure.

“Uh... Hello?”

The figure straightened out his posture, rising up to an impressive seven feet in height. His dumpy dad body flexed. He was not overly built, just 'strong.' It was a natural strength and power that came from work, not training. It was a body built upon the life it lived and it told them that he was fairly comfortable.

“You gotta pay tha toll ta get in.”

“What?” Kara questioned.

“We could've climbed over at any point.”

He squinted at them. “Who's climbin' over?”

“N-not us!” Heilan promised waving her hands in front of her. She gave a quieting gaze to the others, who merely shrugged.

“What is he?” Vura whispered.

“I think...” Jeane began, wracking her brain.

“He is a Guarond.”

“What's that?”

Jeane pursed her lips. “I don't know everything... I am just guessing.”

“Hey!” Kara shouted.

“Are you a Guarond?”

He nodded. “I am. Proudly.”

Kara looked back. “Okay... What is a Guarond?”

Jeane seemed unsure. “They are... Beasts... Yes. They are not totally harmful except that they can be fairly violent and territorial... They are known for instinctively watching over areas. Once a Guarond claims an area they will protect it against 'everything' which can be annoying OR convenient?”

“You don't sound too sure.” Kara rolled her eyes shallowly.

“Yes, well I only know what I know!”

“Maybe he knows what the marks are?” Fin brought up. The others nodded in agreement and put forward the Question. He asked, stepping forward.

“Do you know what these are?” Fin lifted his shirt and showed the purple mark.

“Whoops. Got got, did ya?”

“Yes! Yes, what is it?”

“That's a mark, that is.”

Fin's eye twitched. He tried to maintain a polite smile. “What does it do?”

“Turns ya inta plants.”

“Fuck!” Fin held his head in his hands and turned around. The others seemed to be anxious as well.

“Unless...”

“Unless what?” Kara asked hurriedly, brushing fin out of the way.

The Guarond scratched his chin. “Pay the toll.”

“What?” Fin looked exasperated.

Jeane explained with a very notable amount of distaste. “They often go mad if their territory is infringed upon. After the fact or before they will seek recompense. Either in the form of payment or agreement for them to offer permission.” She spoke up.

“Uhm... We do not want to infringe upon your land, we just want to know about the marks, please.”

“The toll, then I tell ya what I know.”

“What's the toll, then?” Vura negotiated.

He waggled his eyebrows and pointed back at the hovel. “Sev'n minutes in Heaven.”

“Oh fuck.” Vura cringed. She looked back and was about to ask how they were going to decide when the Guarond pointed at her.

“With you. Specific.”

“But-”

“Nope.” He cut her off.

Vura looked back in disbelief, holding her arms out for the party to look to her with some semblance of solidarity.

“There is nothing we can do.” Kara said, blushing.

“You're the SLUT! You do it.”

The Fox did not even seem offended. She cocked her head to one side. “Yeah, see I WOULD but he said he wants you specifically.”

Jeane crossed her arms and tapped her heel in the dirt impatiently. “We could always take our chances with whatever is past that wall.”

“Gotta pay the toll.” The Guarond stated.

“Or we could leave...” She added.

“Gotta pay the toll.” He repeated.

“Guys!” Vura shouted.

Heilan cringed. “He's literally the only one we've seen for so many miles...”

“No no... Fine. I get it.” Vura took a deep breath and stepped forward.

***

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