A/N: Didn't intend for the gap between updates to be so long, apologies~ Took a week's break to focus on finishing off the last few requests, then meant to have it up on the 31st but wasn't able to finish it in time due to a sore wrist~

That aside, I do hope you enjoy this one~

The Haar

Chapter 19: Akatsuki and Kuroshio

Akatsuki was worried.

Not a new thing, admittedly; she wasn't good at keeping her fight-or-flight at bay for long. Being stuck in a jungle rife with monsters of alien and fantastical nature sure as hell didn't help with that fact. Every snap of a branch and distant hoot of some unseen creature sent her head whipping about looking for it, anxiety bubbling up within her and frequently bursting out in the form of a squeak or yelp.

Mercifully Kuroshio tagged along with her as they searched for Javelin. The two of them shared much in common, both being ninjas – well, Kuroshio leaned more towards kunoichi but Akatsuki considered them one in the same really – so it was only natural they worked together. While their comrades scoured the undergrowth for any signs of Javelin, she and Kuroshio went up into the trees, hopping between branches and trying to find Javelin with the benefit of a bird's eye view.

Alas, their search thus far had been fruitless. While the path forged by the main fleet was relatively clear, with the surrounding bushes the only issue, the further away they got the denser the foliage became. Bushes reached easily four to six feet high whilst smaller flora spanned out to up to twenty feet high, their numerous leaves spreading out to inhibit their view further. The only mercy was that the one group of monsters they had seen so far hadn't noticed them up in the treetops, instead scurry towards the main fleet. As tempting as it was to pre-emptively engage them, Akatsuki knew better than to reveal herself unnecessarily. The main fleet could mop them up easily; the pair of them could not.

'Javelin, where did you go...?' Akatsuki worriedly thought to herself, crouching down on a branch and looking about.

But like all other times before, there was no sign of the purple-haired girl. She wasn't very close to her, both being of different nations and lacking the time needed to get to know each other, but there was a certain camaraderie that came with both being Destroyers, often the front-line against the Sirens and now, against literal monsters. She'd heard murmurings from the main fleet about what the monsters actually did, but nothing conclusive, so she was left him with the haunting worry that Javelin had been torn apart by whatever grabbed her. Assuming she wasn't killed outright and instead left to be feasted upon.

Shaking her head vigorously Akatsuki banished such thoughts, standing up. Movement made her glance over further down the thick branch as Kuroshio landed upon it, grim-faced and looking at her with a smidgen of hope. One that soon died as Akatsuki shook her head no, earning a silent sigh from her fellow ninja before Kuroshio bent her knees and leapt to the next tree over – the only evidence of her landing being the rustling leaves and creak of the branch.

Following her Akatsuki leapt over the considerable distance before crouching on the branch, scanning the undergrowth below, but Javelin was still nowhere to be seen. It was like she'd been plucked out of the air, but they'd not encountered any tree-dwelling creatures thus far.

Just then Akatsuki felt something amiss. She tensed, looking about suddenly and silently gesturing for Kuroshio to stop before she left – the other ninja girl also now looking about cautiously.

There was no way to describe the sensation other than 'being watched', but it went far deeper than that. It was a primal, uncertain feeling, like she knew there was something near but couldn't pinpoint it. The feeling was a familiar one when it came to dealing with the Sirens, especially the models that used optical camouflage, and just like them it seemed like there was something around her, even if her eyes said there wasn't.

Focusing Akatsuki tapped into her radar, sending out a ping. It was mostly useless within the dense jungle, her radar bouncing off everything from the biggest of trees to the smallest of leaves, creating a scattershot of nonsense in her mind's eye. One that caused her a minor headache, her expression becoming pinched as she caressed her aching brow, but she tried again regardless – paying extra close attention to her surroundings...

...but still, nothing. If there was something hiding it was lost in the dense jungle.

''Hrn.'' Akatsuki frowned to herself, looking around. ''I don't like this. Hey, let's head-''

DANGER. Her instincts screamed at her and Akatsuki obeyed without hesitation, throwing herself off of the branch and feeling more than seeing the air displace where her back had been mere moments ago. She fell, gravity pulling her down until she threw her trusty grappling hook out – the metal end winding itself around a tree branch and cutting her momentum short, instead carrying her forth into a swing. Akatsuki leaned into her momentum, her extensive ninja training taking root as she put a foot on an incoming tree trunk and kicked off of it, swinging herself up – and then leapt up onto another branch.

She got no more than a second to feel proud of herself before she felt that same inexplicable sense of danger – when she dodged back, further along the branch towards the trunk. This time she saw what had swung for her, or rather the lack thereof. Just where she was standing there was nothing, but if she squinted her eyes she noticed how the very air seemed to warp and twist slightly, like there was a pane of glass there, only far less perceivable.

A pane of glass that shimmered and shifted, as if turning to face her. Camouflage.

''Found you!'' Akatsuki called out victoriously, raising her right arm and her cannon along with it.

A loud blast echoed through the forest as she fired, two shells lobbed over the short distance between them... and passed the creature, missing. Akatsuki's grin waned fast and she hurriedly cycled another salvo into her cannon, backing up a tiny bit further until her back was against the trunk, the glass-like camouflage twisting and warping as the thing beneath it moved – when she fired.

And missed. Again.

'Crap crap crap-!'

Danger flared her instincts and she obeyed them unquestioningly, jerking her body to the left and avoiding something sharp – part of the glass projection stabbing into the wood of the tree. The moment it did, however, the creature's camouflage shimmered once more and dissipated like it had been washed off with water.

Revealing the creature underneath. It was humanoid, standing at six feet easily and with its muscled body covered in dark green scales reminiscent of a snake's. A comparison further fuelled by the snake head upon it slender shoulders; beady red eyes peering down into her own as it hissed; forked tongue slipping past the two large fangs protruding from its upper lip, dripping with an ominous green venom. In contrast to its swampier cousins the creature stood before Akatsuki was much more lithe and lacked the thick armour of a Scorpio, whilst its tail was longer and more snake-like.

A Viper, Akatsuki dubbed it, given the tail.

Such observations though were pushed to the back of Akatsuki's mind as the Viper yanked its left arm out of the trunk above her; revealing its fingers were tapered to sharp points. A fact she learned acutely as it swiped at her again, forcing her to twist out of the way and leap over to the neighbouring branch, her heel twisting across the moss-covered bark as she spun, gun raised.

BOOM!

Two shells erupted from her wrist-mounted cannon but both missed; the Viper tilting its body to avoid them before lunging at her. Her heart leapt into her throat and she backed up, reloading her gun as quickly as she could but the Viper was as fast as its namesake; lunging at her with intent to spear her through her stomach. The ninja side-stepped it, yelling as she tried to stab it in the gut with one of her handheld torpedoes, but the monster caught her wrist – and twisted it.

SNAP!

Akatsuki's scream carried out through the jungle, pitch rising when the Viper pulled on her now-broken wrist. The pain left her feeling light-headed and faint, her knees weak and her weapon falling from her hand – when the Viper's other hand suddenly came up, slashing across her face. White-hot agony flared and Akatsuki stumbled back the moment she got the chance, clutching at the bloody claw marks gashed across her face, nearly taking her eye but only grazing it-

Until she remembered she was on a tree branch, and had left her grappling hook behind.

Gravity took its hold on her and the Destroyer barely had the time to comprehend her situation before she hit the ground – hard. An uneven root broke her fall and paralysed her lungs, the air knocked out of them and leaving her able to only suck in short, ragged breaths, every inhale shaking her whole body as she tried desperately to make her lungs function again. The shock of it steadily began to wear off but not nearly fast enough, her head light; fainting so very near.

And then the Viper landed on top of her. It grabbed her by the front of her shirt and threw her into the tree, a dazed grunt escaping Akatsuki as she banged her nose on the hard bark – and then cried out when the monster shoved her head up against it, its other hand raking down her lower back and cutting through her baggy blue pants. The black fabric of her leotard came apart with equal swiftness, exposing her bare ass to the creature as it pushed itself against her, a long cock pushing against her ass.

Before a mere moment later, it penetrated her.

''AH!'' Akatsuki shrieked out.

A shriek that tapered off into a choked grunt as the Viper shoved her against the tree, hissing. Frantically Akatsuki tried to aim her gun behind her but couldn't see enough to look – and that avenue was crushed both literally and metaphorically as the Viper grabbed her gun turret and crushed it. Rearing its lithe hips back she was treated to the sensation of its dick sliding all the way out of her deflowered pussy, the tip nearly escaping her parted folds.

Until it slammed back inside of her. Akatsuki screamed into the bark, cheek pressed hard into it as the monster held her down, its hips rearing back and jolting forth again, then again and again – each thrust harsh and slamming its tip up against her cervix, kissing her deepest parts. Though not monstrously huge its cock was long and Akatsuki felt that fact acutely, the breath knocked out of her lungs every time its tip rammed up against her innermost parts, like a ram battering down the gates of her womb.

''Nn- ghaah! Please just let go of me- EEE!'' Akatsuki's hurried stammer welled up into a wail as the Viper's long cock speared into her.

While its body was more lithe than some other monsters it was still as large as a tall human male – towering over her in both height and bulk. It pressed itself into her, forcing her face into the bark and trapping its body under her own as it continued roughly slamming itself into her sore, abused cunt, her narrow pussy entirely unused to handling such large cock and her insides rendered tender by the rough, plunging thrusts.

The sound of their forced union carried through the jungle easily, too. The harsh clap of its groin against her ass was joined by her pained gasps, the rough scales upon its body like she was being spanked with every thrust – but not a pleasurable, masochistic smack but a hard, abusive one; leaving her pert cheeks stinging red from the abuse. Such pain though was far from the forefront of Akatsuki's mind; the Destroyer too busy wailing as she was slamfucked by the humanoid snake behind her.

Pain overtook her mind, any option of escape rendered null in her mind as the Viper hammered her, its cock pulsating within her tenderised pussy – and then suddenly it came. Sheathing in up to the hilt she felt a splatter of warmth within her depths before countless little eggs pushed themselves inside of her; most entering her womb. It was a disorienting sensation, a shudder roiling through Akatsuki as the ninja felt her womb be filled, egged by the monster restraining her.

Alas though her defilement was complete, it was not done with her. But it didn't need her conscious for that.

A fact she learned as it pulled her head away from the tree – and then slammed it back into the bark.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

CRACK!

The bark finally splintered, prompting the Viper to stop, tilting its snake head and hissing down at the smaller female under it. Akatsuki hung limp, however; eyes barely open and a steady trickle of blood leaking from her forehead. Alive, but knocked out cold.

Content with that the creature pulled out of her abused pussy and began to drag her away, the undergrowth hiding its tracks...

X-x-X

Kuroshio saw the moment Akatsuki reacted and dutifully did the same, leaping away to the nearest branches.

For a moment it seemed as if the threat wasn't real, but when Akatsuki came under attack from a snake-headed monster she was quick to assist – or she would have, had one not materialised behind her and tried to grab her neck. She narrowly ducked under the grab and landed a salvo into its chest, drawing blood and damaging its scaly armour, but outside of that it just seemed more pissed than anything else.

Leaping from branch to branch Kuroshio evaded the numerous strikes the Viper made – but to her chagrin it was just as nimble as she was, leaping with equal swiftness and soon managing to disable her sole cannon with a lucky strike. Undeterred and with pursed lips Kuroshio didn't give in, rarely taking her eyes off of the fanged beast as she leapt across the treetops, not daring to go on the ground lest more be lurking there. At least on the treetops she had the benefit of there only being so many places to stand.

''Hnf...''

Grunting Kuroshio landed on the ground, glaring across at the Viper. It hissed at her, tongue vibrating between its teeth before retracting back into its maw. She waited for it to make its move, to continue this game of cat-and-mouse, but it didn't. That immediately made her suspicious but she didn't dare look around lest it take the chance to leap; her left arm jerking out and extending her built-in katana from her rigging, warning the beast.

It hissed again at that... and then camouflaged again.

'It didn't do that before.' Kuroshio noted with narrow eyes. 'Maybe it has a cooldown? Or was it because of the injury I dealt?'

No answers were forthcoming, unfortunately, and so Kuroshio was left standing in silence. Her ears, already well adapted to slight sounds due to her nature as a Destroyer, keenly listened for the slightest of sounds. Rustling bushes, snapping branches – but those were on ground level. Even as she heard Akatsuki's distant, almost faint cries, she didn't budge – knowing the moment she let her guard down was the moment it would strike.

'Patience.' Kuroshio drew in a slow breath, keeping it as quiet as possible. 'It's just an animal. It won't be able to resist forever.'

There! Motion, to her right. Her eyes followed – and locked onto a twig flying through the air.

'A distraction!'

Too late. Weight landed on the branch to her left, between her and the trunk, and she leapt back – but not fast enough. Sharp nails lashed through her side and Kuroshio gasped in pain as blood was drawn, the pain as sharp as it was intense, but with a hand over the wound she gritted her teeth and glared at the distorted point where the monster was. It was coming for her, the branch under them creaking from its weight, and so she used that to gauge its approach – a mere two second window before it hit her again.

She burst forth with her top speed – carefully concealed until now – letting her cross the distance in half the time. Her mounted katana blade dug into thinly-armoured flesh and she put her weight into it, charging as much as she did slash and feeling grim satisfaction as the Viper let out a shrill hiss of agony – one that spiked further in pitch as she tensed, then ripped her rigging out to the left, tearing a chunk of its body out. The camouflage covering its body shattered almost instantly, like a pane of glass that had been smashed as it flaked off in large chunks, leaving a bloodied and angry Viper screeching at her.

She pulled back. She wasn't fast enough this time.

Sharp fingers raked gouges across her neck, pulled her close – and Kuroshio cried out as two large fangs sunk into her collarbone. Each as wide as her finger they burrowed in deep and liquid agony poured into her veins. She flailed, slashing her arm wildly and cutting it across its chest, but the Viper just kept its fangs into her as its venom was forced into her body. Through the pain Kuroshio felt it; an insidious liquid fire that felt like it crept into every last nerve of her body, her veins full of pine needles and her brain soon squeezed by a thousand tiny nails.

The fangs receded but the pain didn't. Gasping Kuroshio flailed her arm, the world above her blurring horribly, but she kept swinging her left arm – until the Viper grabbed the joint of her rigging and tore it off, throwing her melee weapon away. Her torpedo launchers hissed as she fired a salvo but she heard them miss; gravity pulling them down off the edge of the branch, their explosions heard underneath but doing little to the both of them, with them so high up.

Then the next thing she knew the Viper was ripping her skirt off. Kuroshio flailed her limbs but it wasn't enough, her underwear was gone, it was between her legs – and then the air was fucked from her lungs as it penetrated her. Its inhumanly large girth stretched her virgin insides apart, her eyes bulging as she was unceremoniously deflowered in a single brutal thrust, her cry piercing the air nary a second later.

Not that that the Viper seemed to care. Hissing viciously it pinned her wrists down and jerked its hips forwards, slamming its cock into her narrow pussy and forcing another scream out of her, the sensation like she was being torn apart and sending stars flashing through her eyes. She gasped, trying in vain to wrench her arms free of its hold, her insides involuntarily strangling the Viper's dick and encouraging it to fuck her more, its tip slamming up into against her cervix.

''Hnngh...!'' Kuroshio cried out through gritted teeth. ''S-Stop you foul- hnf!''

Her pussy ached as the monster's large cock entered her, forcing itself into her tight hole, her insides smothering it. The creature's thrusts hastened and she shook her head, resisting her violation even as her world blurred worse and worse, her mind growing distant aside from the repeated hard thumps in her groin, the beast's thrusts slowing and slowing-

Until it fell atop her.

Kuroshio flinched... but no bite came. Nor did its thrusts. The grip on her wrists was slackened and so she cautiously slipped her wrists out of the Viper's loose grip, grabbing its shoulders and pushing it up.

She hated to look the thing in the face, but when she did she found it limp – tongue dangling, eyes lidded but unresponsive... it was dead. It was only when she looked down her front that she realised why; copious amounts of crimson ichor soaking into her clothes and legs. It'd bled out whilst raping her. The reminder sent a shudder roiling through her and she pushed the creature off of her, disgust welling within her as she felt its long cock slip out of her – and then she pushed it over the edge of the branch, sending its corpse down to the forest floor.

Kuroshio grimaced as she turned on her side – pain flaring in her body as she stumbled to her feet, especially in her groin, but she pushed past it and made her way over to the trunk. Not trusting herself to jump down she held onto the bark and made her way down slowly, sliding down where she couldn't grab onto anything and ending up on ground level within the minute.

''Aka... Akatsuki!'' Kuroshio called out, voice hoarse. ''Akatsuki!''

No response. No cries, either. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

She was leaning towards the latter.

''Akatsuki... Akats...''

Nausea overcame her then and Kuroshio stumbled, bending over. The world spun and she felt like she was going to be sick – the pain, the nausea, the shame, all of it bundled together to leave her feeling so terribly disoriented. When she raised her head the colours of the jungle blurred and blended together like runny paint; green and browns entangling into one another whilst hints of blue gleamed above, all of the colours outlined in a fuzzy glow.

She stumbled forwards, the blurring becoming even worse, and when a ray of light shone down through the canopy all she could see was white until she forced herself to look away, back into the disorienting mess of colour.

''...s-someone...'' Kuroshio called out as her vision degraded, her whole body on fire from the venom. ''...anyone...''

''Help me...''

No answers came, however, leaving Kuroshio to shamble through the dense jungle ahead of her.

Blind, disoriented, and in search of her friend.

[END]

A/N: Kuroshio is a darling, it's a shame I've not written anything of her before now. Maybe I should fix that.

See you next time in Chapter 20: Elbing and Lützow~