Chapter 49: Dancing Queen.
Ink looked up at the stage and the first thing she noticed was that Jack Mason wasn't wearing his trademark armour, he was dressed in a tight black tank top that really showed off his solid arms and his well-built torso, he was also wearing a pair of black jeans and heavy-duty boots.
"How we all doing tonight Clan?" Jack said his voice booming from the speaker's thanks to a microphone he was wearing as a headset.
There was a huge cheer from the crowd in answer and Ink noticed that Yemat had turned to look up at the Clan leader on stage, he also joined in on the cheer and was pumping his fist in the air.
"Glad to hear it, well myself and my beloved wife thought what with all the new arrivals we've had what with firstly the Serpentinus, then the Raptorians along with our new community of Scalathor boys and now we have ourselves a brand new hive queen in the form of Ink right there," Jack said pointing her out like anyone in the large crowd would have been able to miss her or any of the queens in the crowd.
"So I don't know about you but I feel all of this is not only a good cause but a good excuse to show all these good people what they mean to us but also a good excuse for celebration and what better way to celebrate than together as a Clan using something that always brings people together and show off the unity that makes this place and all you people great, music and dancing!" Jack said making the whole crowd cheer again.
"So we've got a whole host of acts who are going to perform for you today, there's a little bit of something for everyone but first I want everyone to raise their voices and show our wonderful Scalathor boys how much they mean to us so come one Clan Mason lets show these boys the love!" Jack yelled and the whole place went crazy cheering and clapping.
Ink could see the Scalathor boys looking around in amazement as even Jack Mason himself was clapping and cheering for them, he was doing exactly what he preached, he was showing them that every single member of this Clan was respected, celebrated, loved and most importantly protected.
"Well we got a little bit of everything for everyone tonight, from dancing Raptorians, to a Serpentinus dance pack right up to so good old fashioned rock music, so what do you say Clan shall we get this party started?" Jack said and there was a cheer, What was that I didn't hear you!?" Jack said louder and this time the whole place erupted with cheers and roars, "That's more like it's let's do this!' Jack yelled and with that, a strange human stringed instrument was thrown to him from offstage which he deftly caught one-handed before spinning on the spot and hooking the strap attached to it over his shoulder.
Jack grinned down at that crowd and then he began playing some chords that sounded through the speakers all around him, "Alright this is a song from my homeworld of Earth and it was one of my favourites as a kid growing up, its called Map of the Problematique and its by a band called Muse" Jack said sand he began to play and no sooner had he got a few chords in than what sounded like a piano sparked up from seemingly nowhere.
No sooner had the piano joined in then a drum set began beating out a rhythm, Ink could see the crowd looking on in both surprise and jubilation, that's when a bass kicked in and the whole place opened up, all the stage lights lit right up in brilliant colours like a pulsing rainbow that pulsed in time with the music and the back curtain shot up to reveal both Sela eleth and Tik eleth Mason.
Sela was on the keyboard and Tik was on the drums while from the right stage Ryan Mason came on to a huge cheer with his much longer bass guitar in full flow, that's when Jack began to sing and the whole place just went completely crazy.
The song was amazingly infectious and all around her Ink could see the whole crowd jumping in time with the beat of the music, she glanced up again and Jack began a riff on his guitar while placing one foot on the speaker, the spectacle was amazing.
But what came next managed to top it, as the song finished Jack grinned out at the crowd and began to play something else, "Now we've got a real treat for you, ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage to sing another song from my homeworld entitled Hellraiser, Remal Rainbowscale!' Jack yelled and the whole crowd went wild as the little Raptorian male Seeker bounded onto the stage dressed all in black with jewellery handed from him as well his feathers done up.
The little Raptorian took centre stage with Jack behind him on the left and Ryan on the right and while the two played guitar Remal and jack sang two parts of the song with Remal singing the part of someone called Ozzy Osbourne while Jack's much deeper voice was put to use to take the part of someone called Lemmy but boy did it work and it really got the crowd jumping.
Suddenly a presence at her side made Ink glance down and to her surprise, she saw Yemat had slithered up to her, "If this is is not too presumptuous of me good queen Ink may I have this dance?" Yemat said his incredibly soft voice somehow managing to cut right through the music and loud singing to reach her like he was coiled around her and whispering it right into her ear with that little forked tongue tickling the side of her head crest as he spoke.
The little mental image sent a very pleasant shiver right down Ink's spine making her long tail jink and jump, he held out his hand to her and there was a very distinct look of hope in his bright golden eyes, Ink had to resist a supremely powerful urge to just snatch this beautiful male up and run away with him into the forest to try and peel his armour off so she could ravish each and every single scale on his undoubtedly beautiful body but she resisted the powerful urge of her instincts, she knew she had to earn that right.
"Y-You wish to dance with me?" she asked in surprise and a large warm smile lit up Yemat's handsome face.
"What male in his right mind would not wish to dance with such a beautiful female?" he asked making her heart lurch and flutter in her chest.
"Y-Y-You think I am beautiful!?" she exclaimed and now Yemat looked suddenly very shy like she just caught him out in something illegal, but thankfully he didn't look ashamed.
He nodded, "I-I'm sorry good queen if my attentions or attraction has made you feel uncomfortable I-I will retract my offer, please accept my apologies" he stammered his voice dripping with embarrassment making Ink's heart lurch again though not in a good way and just he was retracting his hand and beginning to hang his head in both embarrassment and what took to be shame she shot out her hands and grabbed his hand in both of hers.
"No! Please! Don't do that!" she exclaimed in sheer panic which made his head snap up and his hood flared out in both surprise and alarm which stopped Ink dead in her tracks at the sight that presented itself before her which also made both of her mouths fall open.
Inside the folds of his hood were two large red and purple eye-like shapes that were obviously designed as a threat display to try and scare off predators by making him seem a lot larger than he was but instead they just made him look absolutely exquisite.
Ironically the two large faux eyes were perfect replicas of his real golden ones which were now locked onto her with a look of shock and surprise written in them, his super cute little tongue was flickering at her constantly and it was at this point she realised that Dream Warriors were not flawless beings, they were just as flawed and vulnerable when they had their heart on display as anyone else was, powers or not.
"I would absolutely love to dance with you Yemat" Ink said softly being sure to hold his gaze which seemed to melt and he looked down at the floor.
"Y-Y-You would!?" he exclaimed happily but also shyly which made Ink smile, he might be a big rough tough Seeker of Truth but under all of it he was still a gentle, beautiful and shy male Serpentinus and his instincts were in full swing now which was giving her a surprising boost in confidence.
"Who wouldn't want to dance with a beautiful creature such as you?" she said with a smile throwing his own words back at him making him chuckle softly and he looked down at his hand which was held in both of her much larger ones, for a moment she felt she should maybe let go of him but that's when she felt him tighten his grip on her hand.
"So may I have this dance fair lady?' Yemat said making Ink chuckle which full-on became a laugh when she noticed all of her sons and daughters out of the corner of her vision giving her a thumbs up and a go for it motion all in one.
"You may indeed good sir," she said and with that, she pulled him closer watching in fascination as he raised himself up on his tail so he was higher up her body though she knew if she raised herself up to her full height he would only come up to her chest which given that she had little arms right there that she could use to hug him tight against her given half the chance was fine with her.
The second song just finished then after the huge cheer quietened down Ink looked up and she saw Jack and he appeared to be looking right down at her with a smile, "Well this next number is a Remal original and is a love song for all the couples and the hopefully soon to couple among you, so just grab that special person and just let the music move you both, Remal take it away" he said gesturing to the little Raptorian male who nodded and stepped forwards as Jack and Ryan began to play very slow and gentle music as Remal began to strut his stuff all while singing the most beautiful love song.
Ink glanced over and to her surprise and delight she saw another Serpentinus interspecies couple or well a pack as they called them, there was a single human male whom she recognised as the Seeker Liam Dimondscale and he was in the centre of a pack of four of them, they were all wrapped in a circle around him and all dancing and swaying gently in time with the music all while holding one another, it was a truly wonderful sight to see.
This sight was not an uncommon one either as the was also another human male dancing in the centre of a group of Raptorian females and despite the fact he towered over them they found a way, they seemed to be taking it in turns to stand on each other's shoulders so they could sway dance with their man.
This made Ink smile even more as it showed that the one major thing that had been itching her brain this wonderful Clan had found a way around, size difference.
Ever since she'd found out her sisters and their human kings she'd wondered to herself how it could work between two completely different species but more so because of the massive difference in size between the two races, now she knew that certain body parts could be made to fit as Xeno queens are incredibly elastic in certain places due to the size and shapes of their males but it had still been worrying her but upon seeing this between the other species it filled her heart with hope.
She looked down at the truly radiant male in front of her and she decided that the hands-on his surprisingly broad shoulders which while not as broad as the females of his kind were still very solid well from what she could tell given that he was wearing armour anyway were not enough.
She reached out with her chest arms and to Yemat's obvious surprise pulled him closer to her revelling in the feeling of having this beautiful male close to her and to her absolute delight he looked both a little surprised but mainly shyly happy.
She glanced up at her and then away and then back again all while flickering that oh so cute little tongue at her suddenly she was overwhelmed by an urge to try and catch it with her own inner mouth to see not only if she could but also just to taste it, to taste him.
That's when it hit her like a hard slap, she wanted him, not just to mate with him but to own him, to possess his very being, to build a big beautiful hive around him and to use it to keep him safe, happy and most importantly loved, she was also feeling an odd mixture of emotions because he wasn't a Xeno like her, on one hand, she wanted to be impregnated by him but on the other, she wanted to impregnate him to further her line but that line of thinking also terrified her and disgusted her because that would lead to the death of this wonderful male.
Ink just couldn't believe that these feelings were just happening to her so incredibly fast, never in her life would she have imagined that such powerful emotions could simply just pop into existence out of seemingly thin air, she always believed that getting a king and making a hive required time patience and the slow cultivation of deep meaningful attachments and feelings, but there was just something about this place and these people that just overrode it, it was like that because they simply accepted that love was supposed to be they just let it be and it happened much faster because of the fact they simply didn't shy from it or question it.
That's when Ink felt compelled to speak to the beautiful male Serpentinus that she was dancing with which to her pure surprise the pair of them had simply flowed right into without even realizing it despite her never having danced in her life, it was like the music and the beautiful singing being forged on the stage by the Clan leaders and the pretty little Raptorian male who's wife was right in the front row jumping up and down celebrating her husband's beauty.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are Yemat?" Ink asked softly which caught him by surprise by the fact that his hood flared out and showed off those beautiful colours again.
"N-No" he stammered softly looking incredibly shy, oh if only he knew how hard she was fighting the urge to scoop him up roll him into a ball and run off screeching with him tucked under her arm to find a nice quiet spot to peel him out of that armour which ran from his shoulders to the very tip of his tail like she was peeling a sausage out of its skin just to get to all the succulent tasty male scales underneath.
She had never felt like this in her life but simply looking at him was stirring her brain into jelly while making her stomach squirm with both nervousness and what felt like little butterfly wings but it also made her loins burn with want and yearning.
"Well you are Yemat you truly are a radiant being, before coming to this place I never in my life imagined that such beauty could exist but being here and seeing all these wonderful people and species together as one has opened my eyes and my heart, then I saw you and I realised what beauty really is," Ink said softly reaching up with one of her large hands and very gently stroking it over the smooth scales of his domed head while also bringing it down and very gently rubbing the crease of his hood.
To her pure delight she felt a faint tremor run right through him as she did meaning that his hood was a very sensitive spot for him, one she was most definitely going to remember, "T-T-Thank you goo queen Ink, b-b-but I think you pay me too much credit, I'm just a simple Ghost Slitherer like any other, but you, you are a queen, a beautiful, powerful, radiant and strong queen, a being who rules her own hive through her own will" he said softly and shyly making Ink heart flutter all the more especially when he called her beautiful.
Ink lost the battle, all the reason in her mind was gone, this right here was her king and every little part of her heart knew it, it didn't care a single shit what her brain was trying to counter reason it, it had made up its mind and was set on this gorgeous Serpentinus male, she was going to make him hers, she was going to make him her king if it killed her.
While holding him with both of her chest arms she very gently used both of her main hands to stoke his face running her hands down both sides of his hood at once making him shiver again this time more powerfully than the last, "Yemat please don't think this too forwards of me but if there is one thing I have learned is that if something beautiful walks into your life or in your case slithers you grab on and hold on tight, I might not know a whole lot but I know beautiful when I see it and you are beautiful Yemat so if you give me the chance I am going to grab the hell on and hold on tight, so if you'll let me Yemat I'm grabbing on to you" she said making Yemat's eyes got huge as his pupils opened up showing his surprise.
"Y-Y-You want me?" he exclaimed and she nodded with a warm smile.
"And before you say it I know I've only just met you and trust me I don't understand it myself but somehow I just know Yemat, from the first moment I set eye on you when you slithered your way into my life you slithered that beautiful tail of yours into my heart also and wound it up in knots, I know this is completely out of the blue but I am compelled to have to take this chance because if I don't I know I will regret it for a lifetime and I'm done living with regrets," she said.
That's when all the power of the Ghost Slitherer in her hands seemed to leave him and he looked supremely lost and shy, "B-B-But what if I turn out to be your biggest regret, I-I-I'm not worthy of one such as you good queen, you deserve someone far superior to me" he said and before she could tell him just how wrong he was Yemat managed to break free of her grasp dropped to the ground and looked up at her, "B-B-But I thank you for your kind words good queen Ink your king will be a very happy male indeed" he said and then like a lightning bolt he shot out of there so fast she barely saw him move.
Ink barely had time to blink before Yemat vanished from view, boy those Dream Warriors or in his case Ghost Slitherers really could move but Ink was more preoccupied with her heart sinking right down into the tip of her tail, what had she done wrong? Was it something she said? Something she did?
She just couldn't tell, he seemed so interested so why would he run away like that?
Just as Ink was about to slink back to Zara's hive to wallow in her rapidly building despair she felt a tap on her tail and she turned to find a Scalathor girl stood behind her looking up at her, "Are you just going to let him slither away like that?" she asked.
Ink cocked her head curiously, "W-W-Well I err umm think I came on too strong and I might have umm frightened him off" she said feeling every bit of the forlornness that had permeated her voice.
The Scalathor girl shook her head, "Oh no good queen you miss understand, it's his way of seeing how strong your feelings for him truly are" she said and Ink frowned.
"What do you mean?" she asked trying to restrain the urge to grab the young woman and demand the answer from her.
"Serpentinus girls are the more dominant sex when it comes to this kind of thing, much like both my own race and the Raptorians, so the boys will often will try to make you chase them in order to prove to them that you aren't just playing with their heart, with Serpentinus girls they will corner their boy and then all the girls will kind of trap him in a circle and they will then do their heart dance for him, if their feelings for him are true it will shine through their dance and he will be unable to resist from dancing with them as their feelings will mirror his own and that's how he will know that you are truly for him and that he is truly for you, so if your feelings for him are real good queen then chase him, catch him and dance for him and only for him if he feels the same way he will dance back" she explained.
This shocked Ink to her core, but it also intrigued her, all these beautiful little differences between the species, "So I ask you, good queen, do you truly want him to be your king?" the young Scalathor woman asked her.
Even before the words left her Ink was already screaming in her heart, "Yes! Yes, I want him with everything I am! I want to build my hive for him, I want him to be the heart of my hive as every king is meant to be, we build our hives with our king at its core, at its heart" she said.
"Well then your course is clear then, isn't it? If you want him, truly want him, catch him and dance your fucking tail off, make him believe it and make him see it, make him see the real you and show him he's worthy of you" she said.
It clicked into place in Ink's mind like a puzzle, it suddenly made complete sense, he might be a Dream Warrior but he was still a Serpentinus male and all of those years of his instincts that were hard hard-wired him just like hers were into hers, if she wanted this beautiful man then she had to fight for him, she had to fight for the right to make him her king.
Before she even knew what she was doing Ink was moving, she hurdled the barricades that the Saviours had set up to create a boundary for the concert, she had no idea how she was going to find him given how fast Dream Warriors were supposed to be able to move, but she was going to find him if it was the last thing she did but what drove her on the most was the huge cheer she heard in the background, "Go get that boy Ink go get your man!" she heard Jack Mason yell into the mic followed by a huge cheer, how the hell had he known?
Ink had no idea where she was even going, she was burning up the ground as she ran, that's when she saw it, on the ground before her was a sparkling silver trail, she had no idea what the hell it was but something in her heart just told her to follow it, so she did she put the faith that she had in what her heart was telling her, so that's what she did she followed her heart.
Through the forest, she ran following the glittering silver trail of her heart, right up until it led her right to a large opening in the forest and what she saw took her breath away, there sat on the shore of a small lake that was fed by a large waterfall lit by a ray of pure silver moonlight was Yemat.
The beauty of this man was breathtaking, the moonlight was bouncing off the surface of the water and was sparkling all around him like a silver halo that glittered off his armour, but by far the thing that lit her heart aflame was the fact that a single ray of silver moonlight was framing him.
"Oh wow" Ink gasped loud enough to make Yemat look up and the smile lit his face made her heartburn with want.
"Y-Y-You came after me," he said softly and before she even knew it was happening Ink had moved and was right up in front of him and reached down and gently stroked the side of his face.
"Of course, I came for you, did you think I was going to let you get away from me beautiful one?" Ink said as he lifted his head to look up at her and that's when she heard it like a whisper in the back of her mind, a voice that felt like it was coming out of the very earth itself.
"Dance for him, earn him" it whispered and before she knew what was happening she realised she was already dancing.
It was like the music was coming from directly inside her heart, she had no idea what was happening given that before today she had never danced in her life but now it was as natural to her as breathing, it was like this music had been locked up inside her heart in a little secret place just waiting for its chance and opportunity to break free and to make itself known to the world and its chance and time was now right when it was needed.
Ink began to sway, rolling her hips turning on her spot while using her tail to create a lasso around Yemat circling around him, she lowered herself down circling her arms around him and began to sway back and forth in time with the music in her mind and the whole time she had no idea that her hive link was broadcasting it and thanks to his abilities he could hear it, this music had been heard nowhere else ever, it had been locked inside her heart ready for this moment and for this man and now he could hear it.
Her heart was bouncing in her chest in hope and to her sheer relief and joy Yemat began to sway with her, he raised up on his tail inside the loop of her arms and tail, he was dancing with her! He was dancing with her!
That's when he lifted his head and she felt her heart do a flip in her chest as she saw the tears in his eyes she never imagined that snakes or those descended from them would have tear ducts but this one did and right now tears were running down his glass-smooth scales and dripping off the tip of his snout.
"I-I-It's so beautiful, I can hear your music in my heart and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, it's wonderful" he sobbed softly.
"Oh please don't cry beautiful one, please don't cry" Ink hissed softly wiping the tears from his snout.
"Oh please beautiful queen please don't think you did anything wrong, I'm not upset I'm just so happy, not only did you dance for me but you made music, just for me, you made music that I can hear in my heart and my very soul, this isn't just a heart dance its a soul dance, I have never imagined something so beautiful in my life, I came to this place to better myself, to become who I was meant to be and to hopefully meet who my heart was meant for and here you are, another soul rescued by this family, this Clan of beautiful wonderful people and from the moment I laid eyes upon you I thought you were the most majestic and radiant being I had ever seen but I never could have hoped that you would dance for me, but here you are and now I am so happy my soul feels like it's on fire," he said between beautiful sobs.
Ink's heart swelled up and she slowly wrapped this truly radiant and sensitive male up in her long arms feeling his beautiful body press against her as she also wrapped her chest arms around him to hold him extra tight.
"Yemat I want you to be my king, the king of my heart and my hive, I want to build a hive with you at its centre, a place where we can make our love grow and bloom and raise children together that would stand in defence of this place and these people who welcomed both of us with open arms and gave us the chance as different as we are to be together, so please Yemat, will you be my king?" she said leaning her head down to very gently rubbing her snout against his and she loved the feeling of his glass-smooth scales rubbing against her hide they were so wonderfully cool and smooth.
The joy that was in Yemat's heart exploded forth through his eyes, "Yes! Oh by the Great Tree yes! A billion times yes! Oh thank you queen Ink! Thank you!" he exclaimed throwing his arms around her neck and hugging her tightly burying his snout into her neck.
"Oh my beautiful beautiful king you never ever have to thank me for falling for you, it's me who must thank you for agreeing to be my king, for trusting me with your heart and I swear to you I will guard it and you with my life from this day forwards I will guard you," she said softly pressing the tip of her snout to his that's when he reached up gripped her snout in both of his gloved hands and pressed his lips to hers melting her soul and her heart.
Oh his lips were so wonderfully soft and cool, she just couldn't pull away, nor did she want to, but when he ran out of breath he broke it and opened those golden eyes that were just dripping with joy and love, "I'm a proud Ghost Slitherer my beautiful queen so as you swear to guard me so I swear the very same to you, by the power that was given to me by the Great Tree as a Ghost Slither I swear that the hive we build together will forever be safe and every child that steps or slithers from our home will be loved and protected" he said and Ink lost it, she hoisted him up off his tail and scooped him into her arms.
"Oh you beautiful beautiful man where the hell have you been my whole life?" she said softly nuzzling him again before planting a whole series of kisses over every single scale she could find.
"Waiting for you to find me and to love me," he said making her laugh.
"Oh, you sweet talker I am going to love you so soft and so much, I am going to show you exactly what it means to be a hive king you beautiful man," she said.
"Kiss me, my queen," he said softly and shyly which made Ink's loins positively burn with want.
She leaned in pressed her lips to his and opened her mouth while his lips were pressed tightly to hers and no sooner had her inner mouth had been exposed than his beautiful little forked tongue shot out and wrapped itself around his inner mouth and stroked it all along the trunk of it and made her whole mouth sparkle with a truly wonderful taste before guiding it out of her mouth and into his where he began to gently suck on it making not just her mouth sparkle but her entire brain sparkle.
"Oh wow I-I-I just don't even know what to say, that felt incredible j-j-just wow" Yemat stammered looking totally blown away.
"That's just the beginning you beautiful male, I have waited a whole lifetime for this exact moment, the moment where I would hold the bearer of my heart in my arms and here you are with your arms around my neck and your tail wrapped around my waist and you have no idea how badly my whole body yearns for you right now," she said and that's when he blew her heart into orbit, he leaned forwards and gently kissed all the way along her snout and along her head crest.
"Then do something about it beautiful queen, your king offers you everything he is all you have to do is take it, to take me and I'll give you everything," he said punctuating every single word with kisses that sent explosive tingles throughout her head crest.
"Oh I'll do something about it alright beautiful male prepare to be loved to death" she purred softly.
"I'm looking forwards to it," he said and he kissed her right in the centre of her head making her growl, oh this was happening right now, this male was going to get all of the queen that he could handle.
Ink turned on her heel and began to run back towards Zara and Cortez's hive, she had thought about doing it right there and then in nature under the eyes of the great Tree but she did not want to have to worry about any risks in nature to her king, she was his queen and it was her duty to defend him and she would not have HER king at risk especially during the most beautiful moment of both of their lives, this moment was going to be the most beautiful night of both of their lives and she was going to make it everything this beautiful male deserved, she was going to make this beautiful male feel everything he deserved to feel and it was going to be as beautiful as he was and it was going to be in a warm comfortable bed so he could be completely at ease.
So Ink charged right the way across the forest and the city carrying Yemat in her arms which also took her right across in front of the still ongoing musical event and as they went past they heard this "It looks like our newest queen Ink has caught herself a king, put your hands together Clan Mason and show them the love, here's to queen Ink and king Yemat!" Jack Mason called followed by a huge cheer which made both of them blush but put a huge amount of pride and joy in every step she took, this place and these people were how the whole universe should be, they celebrate the love of two people who until recently they didn't even know, Ink looked at Yemat who was beaming at her and hugging her proudly showing every single person who could see them that he was proud to be her king.
"Now I see why you are proud to be Clan Mason and now I am too, now let's go make some love my king," she said.
"Sounds perfect to me my queen," he said nuzzling her, now she really had a spring in her step.