Yeah… maybe I'll stop making predictions about the chapter pacing for a while.
Proud with how this chapter turned out though, so who cares, right?
The greatest and most joyous change of all between master and student, between Alleyne and Yuuji, was when they embraced each other as man and woman.
Or, perhaps it was more accurate to say 'began embracing', since they by no means stopped after having sex just once.
Alleyne, newly having discovered the pleasures of the flesh, and being both passionate and highly active, was more than a little shocked by her own lust.
Somehow though, she wasn't shocked at all that her own rampant desires fell short of allowing her to keep pace with Yuuji.
And she did not mind in the least, for Yuuji's body was the most honest part of him.
… It was scarcely relevant that she had discovered within herself a desire to be at the mercy of her student that was by no means small.
And the knowledge that the blissful state of affairs between them could by no means last merely sweetened every moment.
For both of them.
Call him melodramatic, but Yuuji had always been wary of getting comfortable.
Every time he'd gotten comfortable with his everyday life, it was a sign of a drastic change to come, and he had the scars to prove it.
But something was different, this time, in a way he couldn't make sense of.
It felt like… even if everything changed, somehow it wouldn't be all that bad.
Probably helped that this time, the woman who had become the center of his new world wasn't wasting away, while hiding it from him so he wouldn't worry.
Sometimes he wondered if he hadn't 'switched' from Alleyne to Asako a little too quickly, but Asako would probably understand completely, and take it personally.
Her and Alleyne would probably fight daily, and get along splendidly.
JB would… probably have a few white hairs mingling in with the blonde by the end of the first week. That was okay though, since he was almost as good at 'relieving tension' as he was at causing it.
And to be fair, if he had asked Asako how to pay back Alleyne for taking care of him, sleeping with her would have been the first thing Asako suggested.
… And likely the second thing.
So it was fine.
More fine than anything had been in a while.
So fine that, against all odds, when it happened, both he and Alleyne got caught with their pants down.
… Both literally and figuratively.
Fingers splayed out against the soft bark of a tree, Alleyne was bent over double, her beautiful features in complete disarray as a thin line of drool trickled from the corner of her glossy lips.
"Kyaaa!? M-Master is g-getting attacked by a human!"
"I-is she though? She looks kinda happy!?"
Two girlish voices from seemingly nowhere shrieked out in fluster and fear.
Yuuji and Alleyne froze in their compromising position, and slowly turned their heads in the direction of the voices.
A pair of (assumedly) young elven women were staring in red-cheeked panic from a low tree-branch, bows held in shaking hands aimed their way.
"... Put those down before you shoot someone," Alleyne firmly instructed, with remarkable dignity for one mid-coitus.
Yuuji could see her ears reddening even from behind, though, and her cheeks matched as she turned her head back to look at him.
"And you, my student, don't you think there is something you should be doing, right about now?"
Having made no move to pull out, Yuuji carefully considered her words, and shook his head before offering a dry response.
"No matter how I look at it, Master, whipping my dick out in front of strangers is inappropriate."
"... If only there was no such thing as context, your logic would be without flaw."
"... So that's Master's type, huh?" One of the elves not-quite whispered.
Alleyne's blush turned vivid.
"Can you blame her?" The other hissed back, her eyes on Yuuji and not Alleyne. "You could break rocks on those abs!"
In spite of the situation, and in spite of how the compliment wasn't directed at her, Alleyne couldn't help but feel a little surge of pride.
Her student was rather incredible, wasn't he?
With a hint of reluctance that she'd rather not consider due to some wandering eyes, the girls had given herself and Yuuji some privacy as they fixed/found their clothing.
When they emerged from the brush, the rangers flinched almost immediately, and one of them began to blurt out her words in a panic.
"M-master, I'm sorry, but-"
"Hey, wait-"
"Stop." That simple word, and her outstretched hand, silenced both in an instant before an argument could begin.
"I have no intention of asking you girls to pick between the village and myself, and it is true my report to the Council is somewhat overdue," Alleyne briskly informed. "I will accompany the two of you shortly."
It pained her more than a little to see the evidence of the suffering she had already caused them, even as it lightened somewhat in the form of rigid shoulders loosening.
Of course they were confused and guilty.
Even putting the particulars aside, Alleyne had unintentionally placed them in a situation where they might have needed to choose between their duty, and their respect to the master who trained them to fulfill that duty in the first place.
Alleyne had no intention of allowing that dilemma to persist, not when she herself was the cause.
She had known from the moment she had first bid him to follow her, that taking Yuuji under her care would put her at odds with the elders. It was not strictly forbidden to allow humans into the forest, but allowing one to live among them?
… Falling in love with one of them?
The Council would never allow that.
Alleyne clicked her tongue as Yuuji subtly nudged her, chiding herself for getting wrapped up in her own head and ignoring the rangers.
The girl flinched as Alleyne's gaze fell upon her, and then her ears drooped as she poked her fingers together, sending furtive glances Yuuji's way.
"U-um… what about…?"
"Him?" Alleyne glanced Yuuji's way for but a moment, not trusting herself to do anything more.
The two girls began nodding rapidly.
"He is-"
"Leaving in the morning," the voice was deeper than her own, but carried not a hint of emotion.
It still made her heart stop when Yuuji said those words with such ease.
… This time, the elven rangers practically fled their presence to give them some privacy, and Alleyne ruthlessly stamped out the shameful little wish to follow suit.
Yuuji merely stood at her side as still as a stone, neither his posture nor expression offering the slightest insight into his thoughts.
"... Quick on the uptake as always, my student," Alleyne said softly without looking his way, rubbing her arm.
"I do not wish for you to misunderstand, it is not that… it was never that…"
"Master." The simple word brought her up short in an instant.
Alleyne whirled, the strange pressure bubbling within her chest threatening to burst forth-
Only to find that her student was smiling gently down at her.
He knew.
He had always known, perhaps-
"From the very start, yeah." Yuuji finished the thought as if she'd spoken it aloud.
"Didn't take all that long to figure out where the rest of the elves lived, and why you were keeping me away from them," Yuuji casually filled the silence that would have suffocated her. "Knew it couldn't last."
He had… known from the start that they were on borrowed time, known from the start that he could not be allowed to stay forever.
He had… all that time, without saying a word, he…
"Was never going to force you to choose between your duties and me." Yuuji softly finished her thoughts once more, smiling still.
Something within her snapped, like a bow string wound too tight.
Like striking snakes, her hands shot out to seize the collar she so often fussed with, and, as Alleyne pulled Yuuji towards her, she slammed their lips together with such force that she tasted blood.
Hers or his, she could not say.
Unable to endure that display of easy resignation, Alleyne kissed her student as if she could crush those emotions between their joined lips.
Furious and desperate, the kiss lasted for an untold eternity yet ended far too soon.
Equally unwilling and unable to release her grip on his collar, Alleyne pressed their foreheads together, panting hard and fighting off the current of dizziness that came from tasting their breath intermingling still.
"One year at the minimum, two at the most." She began without explanation. "If you are not at the edge of the forest within two years from this very day, I will leave the forest, take you by the ear, and drag you the rest of the way myself."
"By the ear?"
"It will depend on my mood after the search." Alleyne retorted immediately, a brief smirk flitting across her features before her expression turned grave once more.
"This is not a permanent farewell," Alleyne bulled on with fierce insistence. "I had always intended to send you out from the forest, to see what lies beyond. To see that the world is so much bigger than this one forest. To allow you a chance to see that there are so many other ways of living than what you and I have experienced. I had always intended to let you go, to content myself with the knowledge that I had done right by you, and make no further demands of your time."
'Say it, you coward. Tell him this instant, or forever lose the right to speak it aloud.'
"... But that was before I fell in love with you." Alleyne continued on in a rush, scarcely able to hear her own words past the hammering of her heart. "Now, my dear student, I'm afraid the choice is lost to you. I care not what or who you may find out there, beyond the forest. If, over the course of your journey, another woman steals your heart… then, my love…"
Alleyne pulled away just enough so that Yuuji could fully appreciate the seductive smirk she was wearing all too comfortably.
"… I will simply steal it back."
… Yuuji was not the type to blush. He simply wasn't put together in a way that let him show emotions like that on his face.
But in that moment, Alleyne came very, very close to changing that.
She had been 'remiss in her duties'.
'Threatened to undermine the sanctity of the forest'.
'Tarnished her station'...
Something something 'disgraceful', spirits, she missed Yuuji already and he hadn't even left-
Within the very heart of the Elven Forest, within a clearing of tall trees that formed an almost perfect circle, Alleyne stood proudly within the center. As the Council of Elders rained down chastisements and accusations upon her from their pointlessly high chairs, built into the trees that hemmed them in, the guardian of the forest restrained her urge to sigh.
Barely.
Choosing what may have been a suitable moment or merely the waning of her patience, Alleyne crossed her arms beneath her bust, and leveled a cold glare at the poor elder who happened to be in front of her.
"I have chosen compassion over custom, and my conscience is clear." Alleyne stated clearly, hardly needing to raise her voice when she could project it in her sleep. "Given that my student has bled to keep your homes safe, I intend to take any accusations of shirking my duty as personal insults, and act accordingly."
The clearing was silent.
Later, Alleyne would bemoan that perhaps her student had corrupted her with his audacity (among other, more pleasurable 'corruptions'), but for the moment…
"But I have no intention of denying that I allowed a human to reside within our sacred forest without consulting the council." She continued on.
"Now, what the hell are you going to do about it?"
There were several moments of shocked silence before all hell broke loose.
The final verdict of the counsel was the immediate banishment of one Kazami Yuuji (she forced them to speak his name and not simply refer to her beloved student as 'the human'), and stripping her of the honor to instruct the next generation in the fighting arts.
Since they would be mad to actually go through with barring their best warrior and instructor from teaching the precious next generation, she imagined that they would conveniently forget their verdict, sometime within the twenty years it took for that generation to be old enough to train.
It was the same reason that removing her from her post was never once even hinted upon.
Thus, as expected, her effective punishment was nonexistent.
With that in mind, Alleyne's final verdict for the pointless performance was zero points.
… When the true ramifications of that day caught up with her, Alleyne would never see it coming.
Feelings were a mysterious thing; never would Alleyne have imagined that the first words from her mouth, upon returning to their home, were almost a betrayal of them both.
'Please don't go.'
Alleyne bit her lip hard, practically choking the words back down.
… Yuuji said nothing, just opened his arms.
Ah… that is what it was.
Such a fool she was, to believe she could truly stand before the council without a care as they denied the best months of her life.
Such a fool she was, to truly believe she could ever truly be 'fine' with it all ending so soon.
But embracing one another in such a fashion meant that there was no possible way he could see her expression, and so…
Without a word spoken, Alleyne allowed herself to feel her own weakness for a while.
… In the end, Yuuji never did return those words to her.
But she knew it was a kindness, on his part. If he had told her the words 'I love you', Alleyne never would have been able to let him go.
It was foolish in a sense, for three words to carry such great weight when they had little need of words between them.
But Yuuji did not let her doubt.
In fact, Yuuji barely allowed her a chance to think.
Gasping breaths and slapping flesh among the only sounds between them, Yuuji overwhelmed both her body and her senses with feelings left unspoken, again and again until long into the night.
As she fussed over him in the morning like a grumpy mother hen, Yuuji began to wonder if he should feel guilty over how hard they'd gone the night before.
Then Alleyne made eye contact with him when she wasn't expecting it, and immediately flushed red.
Yuuji decided that his conduct the night before had been flawless, and that he had nothing at all to feel guilty for. Actually, hadn't he done a good thing, in a sense?
"Wipe that smug look off your face, my student," Alleyne grumbled at her student, who wasn't actually making any facial expressions at all, much less a smug one.
Scolding him made her feel a little better about sitting on the rug whilst being unable to sit comfortably on anything, and so Alleyne felt she had nothing to feel guilty for.
"Throwing knives?"
"Stashed."
"Map?"
"In the waterproof pouch, where you packed it. Twice."
"You can be flippant after we've finished going over your packing list, my student."
"For the second time?"
"For the second time."
Yuuji gave a brief chuckle as Alleyne turned up her nose in a playful display of feigned haughtiness.
Gently, Alleyne reached up and wrapped her arms around Yuuji's neck, lifting off her heels as she pressed her lips to his. Yuuji wrapped his arms around her thin waist, pulling her in a little closer.
It wasn't a deep kiss, but it was a long one, and served as a comfortable substitute for a verbal farewell.
Never once did Alleyne encourage Yuuji to stay out of trouble, mostly because she wasn't in a joking mood.
But the prospect of farewell stung less than it had the night before.
"See you soon, Alleyne."
"Don't be late, Yuuji."
And just like that, the pair went their separate ways, and were each alone once more.
She would never tell anyone how long she stood there alone, at the edge of the forest.
Well past the point where her first love was out of sight, at the very least.
Looking back over her shoulder, Alleyne was left to wonder why the forest had seemingly grown larger while she wasn't looking, the trees looming higher than ever.
The spaces between them, far emptier than she could recall.
No, she knew precisely why, and it was the same reason for the wetness trickling down one of her cheeks.
Some of the color had left her world, and would only grow further distant with each passing moment.
She was sad, and worried, and unaccustomed to feeling either.
And so Alleyne quietly knelt in the forest loam, and did something she had scarcely had any use for, in centuries past.
Prayed for her departed student, prayed that just some small measure of the world's kindness would seek him out.
If her prayer was heard, she could not say, but it settled her heart somewhat, and the clarity gave her a glimmer of purpose that she was sorely in need of at that moment.
A new reason to protect her home- to ensure that no matter what may become of him, Yuuji would always have a place to return to.
Judging by the position of the sun, it had taken him roughly three unsupervised hours to get into trouble.
Fortunately, he'd taken at least some of Alleyne's instructions to heart- never let a goblin flee a battle if you could help it.
Goblins that survived fights that went wrong often died in solitude, but sometimes, they learned and grew instead.
Those goblins were the most dangerous, but that goblin was merely an opportunity for a field test.
Unhurriedly keeping one eye on the goblin as it fled down the open road, Yuuji searched out a suitable stone while fishing a particular item out of his belt pouch.
Loading the stone into a different kind of 'pouch', Yuuji began to whirl his weapon above his head.
That weapon was one of the oldest projectile launchers known to man- the sling.
Nearly weightless, easy to find ammunition for, and effective at long ranges.
Not only that, it was a ranged weapon that increased in effectiveness to a degree based upon the wielder's physicality.
Being stronger didn't make a bow or a gun shoot farther, rather, it simply changed the draw-weight/caliber of weapon that you could handle comfortably.
It was not so with the sling, which relied on momentum generated to launch the projectile.
Which meant that the bodily enhancement granted by mana applied numerous benefits to the usage of a sling, whether in distance, power, or accuracy.
Thus, a sling in Yuuji's hands could compete on even grounds with a hunting rifle.
For a moment, Yuuji felt like a sniper once more as the fleeing goblin died in silence, to a projectile it was destined to neither see nor hear.
Content with the results, Yuuji turned his attention to doing something that Alleyne had recommended, but he honestly didn't entirely believe.
"... I guess Gainos has its own version of piggy banks."
As per instructions, he'd cut open the goblin's stomachs, and came away with a handful of silver and bronze coins, with one gold coin to be found in the gut of the runner.
Goblins shared the universal habit of swallowing valuable metals, a habit that had mystified even elven scholars for centuries, to hear Alleyne tell of it.
But it was a surprisingly good harvest all around- firstly, it confirmed that the older coins among those Alleyne had sent him off with weren't out of date since they matched his newest coins, which all seemed to be from Vance lands (whereas the currency from those bandits a few weeks back had been Gainos or 'Kingdom' mint), and, secondly.
The finger he'd found in the runner's stomach had a ring on it.
A ring that resembled a simplified version of the Vance heraldry on his map. Given the quality and the deliberate nature of the simplification, he was fairly confident it wasn't a fake, and so Yuuji's guess was that it was something like a messenger or courtier's signet ring.
Someone who officially represented Vance County, but wasn't a member of the Vance family themselves.
Returning the ring could be a worthwhile endeavor, then, and it's not like he had a plan, so it was as good an idea as any.
Feeling mysteriously refreshed by the act of choosing a goal of his own, Yuuji made up his mind almost immediately, and redirected his path to the southwest, towards Vance County.
He was attacked once more that day, but it was hardly worth mentioning- the piggy banks numbered three instead of five, and the deluxe sized piggy bank didn't even carry a deluxe size quantity of loot.
So then, it wasn't until his first night on the open road that things got complicated.
That the master he'd left behind was nearly too worried to sleep on the first night was completely and totally justified.
Dark eyes flickered open to find the full moon high in the sky, the owner of those eyes roused by sounds not natural to the much younger forest he'd sheltered in, earlier that evening.
Odds of being stumbled upon were probably low, but a group big enough to party in the woods at that time of night wasn't something he wanted to be surprised by later on.
Trickling moonlight illumination enough for his enhanced eyesight, Yuuji quietly rolled off the branch and dropped to the forest floor, the springy moss below muffling the landing.
As the night wind gently caressed the boughs and branches of the slumbering trees, one flickering shadow alone moved with clear intent.
'Assume a noisy encampment has the confidence to draw attention' was something Alleyne had taught him.
They certainly had the numbers for it, but Yuuji was beginning to suspect that said confidence might have been a little overblown.
The source of the disturbance had been easy to find, and it was from a group of about twenty men drinking around a roaring bonfire, all at the mercy of a gorgeous, dark-skinned elf.
The fourth elf Yuuji had ever laid eyes upon, the one whose hands were bound to the tree above her head.
Her clothes were skimpy, but intact, so it didn't look like the bandits had tried laying hands upon her, yet.
Which might have been because they couldn't figure out how to get past her… 'underwear', which seemed to be a snake made of polished stone, or maybe enamel (hard to tell in the firelight), coiled in such a way that it seemingly covered the things underwear was supposed to cover.
But only just.
Admittedly, that was confusing enough it could have occupied his attention for a good while (he was seeing a certain trend among elves), but mostly he'd noticed that the bandits weren't entirely blind, and there was a good chance they were trying to gain some liquid courage.
On some level, they'd probably figured out that the first man to try and get between the elf's legs that night was going to die between the elf's legs, and she wasn't going to lose that smirk of hers while it happened.
In conclusion, she probably didn't need any help, and he had a nagging feeling that he'd be spoiling something if he intervened.
And so it was by sheer coincidence that he caught it.
It was only for a moment, but one of the men said… something, that he didn't quite catch, and for less than a single beat of heart, the elf wore an expression more befitting a victim than a soon-to-be victor.
With a noiseless sigh, Yuuji loosened his knife in its sheath.
When he first appeared in her life, Echidna nearly gave that young man away by doing a double take.
One moment, he was just there.
He was no bandit, that was for sure, but the way he stood in their midst was so innocuous, so natural, that it seemed as if there was no other place in all the world it would have made sense for him to be.
That sense of naturalness continued when the young man kicked the leader of the bandits head first into the bonfire, and ended when he planted a foot on the man's back to keep him there.
The newcomers' blank expression unchanging as a man burned beneath his boot, the only motion was the reflected firelight, dancing in those murky dark eyes.
Bewildered by an act of brutality so casual it seemed almost coincidental, no one moved until the screaming died along with its owner.
And even then, it was the dark-eyed stranger that moved first, and Echidna barely caught the knife being drawn from his belt until it had opened the nearest throat.
Clicking her tongue at her own rookie mistake, Echidna slipped free of her binds as the young man stepped off the corpse, and so she circled low and swift, taking the back of the wiry thin man who had forgotten she'd existed.
Normally she'd take offense at being forgotten, but instead, Echidna 'thanked' the thug by breaking his neck.
The dull popping of bone caught the ear of the dead man's drinking buddy, but all that meant is that they were face to face when a small hidden dagger found a new home in his eye socket.
Diving over the falling body, Echidna came up in a low roll beside her pack, scooping up her sword in one smooth motion, just as the stranger kicked another bandit into the fire.
To the questioning hiss at the edge of her consciousness, Echidna murmured "Keep hidden in case I need you, dunno whose side this kid is on."
Killing her captors didn't make him an ally, it just meant she'd give him enough benefit of a doubt to not preempt hostilities.
The enemy of her enemy was not her friend.
But for now, she'd answer his stealing of her prey by stealing it first.
Unwittingly proving the stranger right, the first man to end up between Echidna's legs that night died between Echidna's legs as she leapt up onto his shoulders from behind. His neck between her thighs, Echidna twisted her hips hard, feeling the reverberation of snapping vertebrae against her bare skin.
Riding the corpse to the ground, Echidna rolled off of it and came bursting back up with blade awhirl, dancing into the chaos of the firelit melee.
Preventing your opponents from coordinating was vital when outnumbered in a fight.
Even if none could match you, there was still a marked difference between fighting fifteen individuals, and fighting a group of fifteen people.
The elven woman seemed to know that too, which was probably why she was a whirlwind of violence in constant motion, weaving in and out and through the drunken mess that was her supposed captors, smirking all the while.
Crazy woman even took the chance to wink at Yuuji when he happened to look her way, right as she neatly side-stepped the spear aiming for her lower back. Having missed its mark, the spear instead planted itself in the gut of the man she'd been locking blades with, not even a half second before.
Fighting in poor visibility while drunk was a predictably poor idea, and in the short burst of carnage, four of the deaths from the bandit's side were inflicted by the bandit's side.
In an unspoken agreement, Yuuji and Echidna didn't let a single one of them flee.
Her blood ablaze but her breathing still light from the aftermath of the party, Echidna let herself fully appraise the young man that had possibly come to her rescue.
Regarding him in his entirety, Echidna's honest first impression was that he looked good enough to eat.
Putting aside why he was dressed like that to begin with, the dark-eyed hottie filled out elven garb in a way most elven men couldn't, but there wasn't any extraneous muscle there, like the kind human men who lacked sense or skill tended to favor.
There had been no useless movements, no useless noises. Savagery made methodical, like a wild beast trained by expert hands.
If she didn't know any better, Echidna could have almost believed he was one of the Fang, but alas, good-looking though he was, he didn't have the tits for it.
On the plus side, him not being a Fang Assassin reduced the odds that the trained assassin on the other side of the fire had killed those bandits because she was her target, and they were in his way.
Sure would be nice if he didn't have any ulterior motives she'd have to kill him for.
Ooh~ that was a scary glare~
… And it was enough to bring Echidna up short.
Being glared at by someone dangerous was nothing new.
But it wasn't hostility, or disdain, or wariness, or even disgust.
No, he was glaring at her in annoyance, surprisingly mild annoyance as she took note of how glaring just seemed to come easily.
"Don't start games you're not ready to play, Echidna."
… Did she just get scolded by a guy a couple dozen times younger than her?
… The same guy who had already turned his back on her, and was busy frisking the corpses?
In the recesses of her mind, Keltan hissed his confusion, and that feeling was mutual.
Keeping a portion of his awareness on the sole person left standing out of habit, Yuuji went about availing himself of the bandit's supplies, dividing what made sense to divide into two piles.
He somewhat regretted kicking people into the fire, because the edibles roasting on it that had managed to survive the fight had still been rendered inedible by having been cooked with human fuel.
Luckily, dinner had been well underway, so more cooked food was off the fire than on.
Not the first time he'd had a dead man's leftovers, and he had worked up a bit of an appetite-
"I'm gonna get sad if you keep ignoring me like that, hot stuff~" a smooth voice purred, from the figure that had carefully entered his peripherals before speaking.
Straightening up and turning, Yuuji's eyes met a scarlet gaze glimmering with amusement, the woman's arms crossed leisurely beneath her considerable bust. Fastened in a high but loose ponytail, her snowy white hair seemed to reflect the firelight with an equal sense of mischief.
It probably wasn't fair to either of them, but Yuuji couldn't help but compare the woman before him to Alleyne. Taller, curvier, more toned, it wasn't that the woman was more attractive than Alleyne (comparable, his own bias aside), it just felt like she was built more for… visual impact?
If Alleyne's enchanting beauty called to mind high art, Echidna's beauty called to mind a wild carnivore, equally mesmerizing but somehow more visceral and dangerous.
As if letting your guard down around her was begging to be devoured.
As if gaining her attention was enough temptation to give her that chance.
Lush, bronzed curves supported by sleek muscle lent predatory grace to a figure on bold display, her attire enhancing the view, rather than obscuring it, as the white and steel of her garments made all that silky bare skin just that much more vivid.
A skimpy white top that resembled a skin-tight bolero jacket, a total mystery in how its open center kept her bust nominally concealed. Sleek but sturdy pauldrons and bracers, the pauldrons patterned like tortoise shells. No belt, no skirt, no pants, just that odd snake-shaped thong that didn't look like it was meant to be clothing at all, and armored white high heel boots, from which dull green thigh highs emerged.
A strap on her right thigh offered a place to clip her odd shortsword, the blade curved like the body of a slithering snake, and the strap on the left for her round metal buckler, the center boss shaped to look like the leering head of a gorgon.
Maybe he was just a little tired, but one of the things Yuuji was most impressed by was how she'd managed to hide numerous daggers in an outfit that didn't really hide anything.
Well, every woman had her secrets, and this one seemed interested in a few of his.
One of which, he had no way of knowing, was how his eyes roamed but never really lingered.
Echidna flaunted her sexuality for multiple reasons, and so far, he hadn't gone for any of the bait. Eyes were working just fine though, so she didn't really mind if it was interest and not distraction. Not like she hadn't made sure he could see it when she checked him out.
"So Hun, don't think I need to tell you, but you got my name right on the first try," Echidna revealed with a slow drawl, looking at him in subtly guarded curiosity. "Now what gave it away?"
"I was given a very specific description, and most elves I know prefer leaves instead of stone snakes."
"... Yeah, that's fair," Echidna admitted with a shrug. Her tribe didn't really wander, but even if they did, most wore their snakes elsewhere. "I recognize those clothes, so I guess one of those boring treefolk warned you about the big bad wild elf?"
"Wild elf?" Yuuji tilted his head. "Master didn't mention anything about a wild elf."
"'Master', huh?" Echidna drawled, concealing her surprise. "Well well, if Alleyne didn't call me a wild elf, what did she call me?"
"The specific description was 'a walking obscenity with a snake-motif'." Yuuji admitted without a trace of tact.
Echidna looked slowly down at herself, and then to Yuuji, before bursting into laughter.
Having the balls to say that to her face immediately tipped the teetering scale, and Echidna decided on the spot that she liked her new traveling companion.
To anyone else, a beautiful, blood-splattered woman laughing amid dancing flames and the bodies of the dead would have made for an eerie and unforgettable sight.
For Yuuji, it wasn't even something new.
"We're going to have to burn the bodies," Echidna said with her hands on her hips, after they'd gathered them up. "This many bodies would clog the river if we dumped them there, or draw every predator for miles if we just toss 'em in the bush."
"Little dark to be searching for a new campsite, anyways." Yuuji nodded.
"I can take care of this if you wanna move the usable stuff out of the way?"
Echidna had actually made the offer out of consideration, but to her surprise, Yuuji was already hoisting one of the bodies.
"My clothes have more blood on them anyways. Probably because I'm wearing twice as much." He'd ditched his cloak so it wouldn't get in the way, so currently, the only thing Yuuji's outfit was missing was sleeves. "And elves have better night vision so you might as well do the finicky bits."
Echidna watched him carefully for a moment or two, as one body after the other was tossed onto the bonfire without ceremony.
"... Alright then." He'd probably want a dip in the river regardless of which job he did, anyways.
… Not that she was any different, her body was awfully clean for how filthy it felt.
She must be getting old if trash like that managed to get under her skin.
"So, did you really get trained by the Thousand Year Old Virgin?" Echidna asked conversationally, slightly raising her voice to be heard over the pop and sizzle.
Yuuji blinked.
"Alleyne?"
"Who else?"
"Yeah, she trained me," trained him, and needed a new nickname, apparently.
"But only recently, right?"
Aware her eyes were on him, Yuuji conceded the point with a shrug. No harm confirming what they both already knew. The two elves seemed to have quite a bit of history, after all, the kind that Master seemed to look a lot more fondly upon than her grumblings suggested.
His name and his appearance both said Hinomoto, his gear and the clothing said forest elf, but the knife work didn't match either. Kid was a right old bundle of mysteries, and that was just another thing that promised to make him fun.
Hadn't decided how much she wanted to ask his body, but professional courtesy meant that if she was going to expose him, it would only be in a sexy way.
Odds of her needing to kill that bossy woman's student over a 'difference in opinion' were low, anyways.
"So I owe you one for the help, and I'd rather not go to bed in debt," Echidna began, getting his attention once the messy work was done.
Blankly, Yuuji regarded the woman who stood with hands on her hips, subtly presenting certain 'negotiation tools' for better appraisal.
"Take your pick then, Hun~" the wild elf smirked. "You're welcome to a bigger share of the loot during first pick," she was getting paid for the job anyways, "or if you'd rather keep traveling light, you can have a share of me, instead."
As she made the second offer, Echidna's hands traced their way up ripe curves in a way that only an expert could pull off without making it seem forced. Using her body to pay her tab wasn't exactly new, and it was even easier to offer when she'd taken a shine to him.
Yuuji raised one eyebrow, slowly looking her up and down.
That time at least, his stare lingered, but not in the usual places an interested party's gaze would linger, nor even in the less usual places.
It wasn't that he was holding himself back, or putting on a front, or even just being shy and hiding it well.
So why wasn't he interested?
"Both offers have their appeal," Yuuji said in a dry voice, eyes once more meeting hers. "But at least one of them shouldn't be made when you're wearing dead people."
Echidna looked down at herself once more, piecing together the parts where his gaze had lingered moments before.
The fire was hot enough to make her skin prickle, so she'd sorta forgotten about the blood since she couldn't really feel it drying against her body.
But Yuuji, who was more bloody than her (though none of it was his, either) certainly hadn't forgotten.
Echidna tipped her head back and laughed, but her eyes still followed Yuuji as he stripped his shirt off without ceremony…
And made a beeline for the river.
Fun indeed.
Caring little for modesty in the moonlight, the pair washed themselves in the waist deep water of the calm, shallow river, each silent and alone with their thoughts.
Yuuji's thoughts were centered on another- that was, Alleyne, and running a total of how many things she'd told him not to do that he'd ended up doing on the first day out on the road.
Echidna's thoughts were centered on another, as well- the one whose strange scars she could easily catch sight of with just a slight turn of her head.
She'd distracted herself somewhat, with what made him interesting, to avoid considering what made him confusing.
She couldn't figure out his angle.
Maybe he didn't have a very clear motive for helping her, but he must have had some reason. A professional murderer, former or current, didn't just help people without one, and Echidna was confident, at least, that Yuuji hadn't helped her on just a whim, even if he'd become involved by chance.
She'd have figured it out by now if it was some convoluted scheme to make her want to initiate 'repayment'- guys (and some girls) who did that were old news, and never even half as clever as they thought they were.
But Yuuji had treated the whole business as a genuine inconvenience, even as he looked at her as if to question what the hell was wrong with her head.
He'd somehow known from the beginning that the circumstances he found her in had been… engineered, and the knowledge had seemingly left him angered, both at her and for her.
Cheeky bastard, who did he think he was?
She wasn't someone who needed saving.
But whether she appreciated the effort was a whole 'nother story.
Yuuji stilled as a warm and soft body pressed against his back in a gentle embrace, slim arms encircling his chest and pressing deceptively dainty hands against his bare skin.
"You really… didn't expect anything out of this, did you?"
Her tone made it sound like the words bothered her more once spoken aloud.
Yuuji was silent for a moment, piecing together clues both verbal and nonverbal.
"Expect? No… Want? Yes."
The press of the wanton figure against his back became that much more insistent, and long nails began to lightly drag their way down his chest, moving lower with clear intent.
"Then I guess we want the same thing." He could feel each and every word against his damp skin.
As he twisted around to face her, her grip loosened lightly to allow the motion.
Eyes as dark as the forest shadows met eyes as red as the heart's blood.
"Seems that way."
Hands much bigger than her own came to rest comfortably against Echidna's wide hips, and the second time she leaned into him, he leaned into her.
It probably didn't say anything good about her that Echidna was much more comfortable now that she was about to have sex with a guy she'd met, not even an hour ago, but it definitely didn't say anything boring about her, either.
Kissing naked beneath the moonlight certainly set the right mood, for that matter, and gave one as experienced as her a decent sense of what she was working with.
Better for both of them that he wasn't a virgin, really- no worrying about being 'too intense' or 'ruining him for other women'.
She usually only did that to people she didn't like.
So instead, Echidna led him out of the water and over to the spread out bedroll, pulling his naked body down on top of hers. They didn't worry about drying off, the night was warm enough without the radial heat of the bonfire, and what they were about to do together.
According to Alleyne, elves didn't really do monogamy- long lives and low birth rates. Yuuji hadn't actually planned on taking her up on the (grudging) permission to 'experience other women', but he felt like himself and Echidna had reached a point where refusing her advances would have done more harm than good.
And so he didn't.
Echidna purred in approval as their lips met, tangling their legs as Yuuji pressed down onto her.
One of the best lessons for a man to learn, if he wanted to be good in bed, was that not just women needed to be good with their tongues.
And Yuuji had learned that lesson well.
Echidna let her hands roam his back, appreciating the sensation of corded muscle beneath her fingers, and approximating by feel where some of the larger scars were so that she could avoid them.
Some people didn't like their scars touched even when they were allowing everywhere else to be touched, and she respected that.
… But damn, kid was awfully fast on his feet for someone apparently made out of solid rock.
Echidna took a mental note to give his abs a good feel later, just as Yuuji took it upon himself to get a 'good feel' of his own.
A little moan was muffled by joined lips as a hand ghosted along her side, mapping her curves out by touch.
His hand lifted her thigh up as his fingers slid down, and Echidna followed the unspoken prompt to hook her leg in place around his hip.
It gave him better access to her butt, which she was more than happy to indulge.
Good with his tongue, good with his hands, and the stiff heat resting against her lower stomach felt impressive enough that she doubted that would disappoint, either.
It had been only women for her for a few years now, but she had a pretty good feeling about the change in pace.
Yuuji broke the kiss, and Echidna caught the hint of a smirk on lips still wet with her saliva, right before his face disappeared from view.
An open mouth latched onto the side of her neck with the very slightest brush of teeth, and a shudder rocked the shapely form beneath him as Yuuji sucked hard, becoming the first and only man to 'mark' Echidna that night.
He could taste the victory on his lips.
After an appreciative glance at the hickey he'd left behind, Yuuji began kissing his way down Echidna's beautiful tanned skin, giving a playful nip here or there to keep her guessing.
Grinding her hips lightly against his in a show of appreciation, Echidna cupped the back of his head with one hand, tangling her fingers carefully in his hair. Occasionally, that hand would press down, encouraging him to linger.
Yuuji took the 'lessons' to heart, noting the way a low gasp escaped when his teeth closed lightly around her collarbone.
When the tingling trail of kisses led to its destination, Yuuji e gave himself a moment to admire what now dominated his field of view.
Plump but firm, Echidna's large breasts proudly retained their shape even when she was flat on her back, and the smirking wild elf crossed an arm between her bust and pushed them up for closer inspection.
Plenty of guys went right for the tits, but she appreciated that he'd taken his time to see to her pleasure- no one liked a selfish lover.
Now, there was really only one more 'test' (besides stamina, obviously)...
As Yuuji's head dipped down towards her cleavage, Echidna planted a hand on his chest and applied pressure- not enough to push him away, but enough to halt his movement.
… Okay, so maybe she felt a little bad about the playful test when immediately, the only motion from Yuuji was reduced to the steady heartbeat against her palm.
After a moment, Yuuji lifted her head to look at her in silent question, with one eyebrow raised.
More touched than expected by him stopping as requested, and that niggling not-quite guilt growing just a little more poignant, Echidna flashed him a light smile, expression giving nothing away as she propped herself up on her elbow.
"Not that I'm against being pampered a little," Slowly, the hand on Yuuji's chest slid its way down his front, until it was wrapped gently around his erection, "but neither of us really need the foreplay right now, do we?" she asked, with a tiny squeeze for emphasis.
It was just a deepening of the darkness within those murky eyes, but it was enough.
Yeah… it was exactly what she'd expected.
Kid wasn't in the mood for holding back, but did it without fail anyways.
Meant a lot more than she had any plans to admit, but the current situation had already proven that she didn't need words to show her appreciation to begin with.
Slowly, Echidna laid back down, hands resting on either side of her head, as her long legs lifted themselves around Yuuji and spread open in the air.
"I'm far from frail, Hun," she husked with a taunting edge to her smirk. "And happy to oblige if you're in the mood to get a little rough~"
For a moment, his only reaction was a slowing of breathing, a subtle tensing of lean muscle.
Echidna's moan was forced back down as their lips mashed together, their fingers interlocking as her hands were pinned.
In the same motion, Yuuji shoved his hips forward, just enough to put an inch or so inside of her.
Long legs coiled around his waist, and heels pushed against his butt, easing him in deeper until his considerable length was hilted.
Despite her invitation, Yuuji kept his hips still and let her adjust, but he certainly didn't wait idly, instead choosing to make a damn good play at kissing her senseless.
And Echidna let him do it with glee, 'resisting' his tongue just enough to sweeten the victory.
Still filling her tight, Yuuji rocked his hips without showing even the slightest tell, her folds shivering a bit as they clung to his shaft.
Yuuji broke the kiss as he began thrusting in earnest, freeing her hands and letting her arms embrace him, using the press of her heels to aid his rhythm without interfering. Their faces still close enough to taste the breath of the other, Yuuji gazed down expressionlessly at her, just enough of that glimmering amusement in his eyes to reveal its presence.
So he knew that she had been 'leading' a bit the whole time, huh?
Knew, but didn't seem to mind, which only served to put a little extra shine on an already favorable impression.
Anyone who wanted to be a good lover should know to keep their ego off the bed.
… And how to work those hips, and the kid clearly knew how to do both.
Yeah, this was just what she needed to turn a bad day into a good night.
Satisfied already but far from finished, Echidna embraced the moment, and the man in her arms, with equal relish.
Echidna was as amazing in bed as he'd expected- adapting to him so smoothly that it felt natural, and hinting at the kind of experience he could never hope to match, even just by virtue of lifespan.
Not that he planned to use that as an excuse, not when she was letting him call the shots and using magical phrases like 'you can cum inside'.
He'd be annoyed if she was faking it, but it seemed she was naturally pretty vocal and responsive as a lover, enough for the first orgasm between them to be mutual, even if hers was more subdued than what he'd pumped into her.
Echidna grinned in anticipation as he pulled out of her just long enough for them to switch positions, and she rolled onto all fours as he settled between her legs.
When he took hold of her hips, the elf gave her head an odd little toss, ponytail swinging.
Carefully, he wrapped his hand around the snowy white tail, and felt as much as saw her muscles stiffen warily.
Suspicions confirmed, a flick of his wrist left her ponytail over one shoulder and out of the way.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said without elaborating, fingertips brushing silky brown skin as his hand retracted.
The appreciative smile she flashed over her shoulder turned saucy as Echidna wiggled her curvy hips in seductive invitation.
Her gracefully toned back arched as Yuuji thrust back into her pussy, forcing a blissful little cry from glossy lips. Pumping into her at a brisk pace, her big ass rippling every time his hips slammed against it, breasts bouncing wildly back and forth.
While it was easy to get lost in the sensations- Echidna wasn't entirely idle even when taken from behind- Yuuji's analytical mind was still partially at work.
It was tempting, and he definitely wanted to, but how would she respond?
He was fairly confident that she preferred to be more dominant than not, but she was still enjoying herself at present, and…
The more he thought about it, the more Yuuji concluded that Echidna had a bit of a soft spot for audacity.
She could probably run over just about anyone she felt like, so it was probably refreshing when someone stood up to her.
It was a serious train of thought that led to a not so serious result.
Yuuji spanked that ass, hitting just the right angle to make it louder than the mild force suggested.
Echidna's folds spasmed around his cock and the elf let out a short, orgasmic scream, a bit of clear fluid forcing its way out her tight slit to drip onto the bedding.
Echidna's head whipped back to stare at him open-mouthed, an equal mixture of shock and amusement written across her sharp and lovely features as a bit of drool escaped the corner of her lips.
"You cheeky, sneaky bastard!"
"No good?"
"Yes good! Do it again!"
Yuuji didn't need telling twice.
"Oh~!"
A nice man would have given her a moment after she'd had two little orgasms from being spanked.
Yuuji pressed down heavily against her back, wrapping his arms around her and crossing his hands to take big plush handfuls of boob as he pinned Echidna beneath him.
With one of 'them' practically brushing his lips, Yuuji flicked his tongue across Echidna's long pointed ear, prompting a quiver and a throaty moan.
Settling into the new position, Yuuji went right back to swinging his hips.
The next orgasm wasn't far off for either of them.
A sweet ache in her dripping pussy and a delighted grin plastered across her face, Echidna let out a sharp and joyful laugh.
She'd had about twice as many orgasms as she'd expected, and he was still good for one last round, impressive as all hell from a man who wasn't supposed to be able to orgasm as often as a woman could, warrior or not.
But it was her turn on top, and the desire to show Yuuji what he had to look forward to (from the traveling partner he didn't know he had) was welling up inside of her, so fiercely she almost couldn't control it.
Straddling his hips with her thick thighs as he laid on his back, Echidna put her hands on his chest, teasing his nipples just a little as she gazed down at him with a playful and hungry smirk, scarlet eyes shimmering fondly behind smoky gray lashes.
"Hah, damn kid, you gave me one hell of a ride, but I think it's my turn in the saddle, yeah?"
A playful challenge in murky eyes, Yuuji put his hands on her hips as if there was nowhere else they should be.
Her smirk widening, Echidna began to gyrate her hips in slow and rhythmic circles, clenching lightly at set intervals as if keeping to an imaginary beat. Then, she put strength into her legs, rising gradually up his shaft in a motion almost like a spiral, and then back down.
Looking to give a wonderful experience an even better ending, Echidna danced lewdly and skillfully on Yuuji's cock, her hips in constant, intoxicating motion.
Gradually, he began to thrust up into her, and Echidna flashed him a wink as she picked up the pace, sweat glistening on her sexy body and flying away in beads from each jiggling, energetic bounce of her tits.
And then, she ended the dance by clenching her pussy, almost hard enough to hurt.
Yuuji's strangled grunt was drowned out by Echidna's scream of elation as his cock pumped a shockingly thick load into her, his hips trembling wildly between her thighs.
When his orgasm was done, and it was not done quickly, Yuuji slumped back, breathing ragged. Bosom heaving from both ecstasy and exertion, Echidna stared up into the darkened sky with a slovenly and thoroughly satisfied smile.
… She was truly, genuinely impressed by how much, and for how long she'd gotten to enjoy that, so maybe she'd gone just a little too intense in showing her appreciation at the end, there.
Well, if she needed to make it up to him, she could start with the cleanup blowjob, then follow up when they made camp the following night.
She knew how to use her mouth and tongue to make sure it was all pleasure and no pain, even if he was feeling a little raw.
… Echidna was still thinking that as she followed Yuuji's nonverbal guidance, laying on her back and hooking those long and beautiful legs of hers over his shoulders.
Something she had recently become well-acquainted with was poking at her entrance when Echidna's lagging awareness caught up with the situation.
"... Eh?"
Long lashes fluttering as she gave a slow blink, Echidna gaped up Yuuji, who tilted his head to one side, giving her a confused look that came more from body language than expression.
"Oh, sorry, did you want to take a break?"
… Eh?
The sky was just beginning to lighten when the two lovers disentangled for real.
Yuuji was forced to admit that, as a lover, Echidna had a notable edge when it came to technique.
If he were to be honest, he didn't really mind, though.
Echidna was forced to admit that, as a lover, Yuuji had a notable edge when it came to stamina.
If she were to be honest, she was… still processing that one.
As sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tree above, Yuuji noted, without opening his eyes, that the weight upon his chest wasn't in the right place to be connected to the weight at his side.
Unhurriedly opening his eyes, Yuuji found himself gazing into the unblinking yellow orbs of the large, gray viper coiled up on his bare chest.
A black forked tongue flicked from narrow jaws as the serpent regarded him.
"Explains the only piece of clothing I couldn't find at the end of the night." Explained the snake too, since neither he nor Echidna had felt anything when it crawled up.
He had no idea how it worked, but apparently Echidna's snake-shaped thong could turn into a snake-shaped snake.
The snake said nothing in reply, as was usually the case with snakes.
Without taking his eyes off the viper, Yuuji moved his hand slowly to the side, and picked up a small rock.
The tense snake watched him with keen eyes, and so, keeping his motions blatant, Yuuji lifted the rock… and sent it flying into the underbrush with a flick of his wrist.
The whip of brush being parted ended in a brief and strangled squeak.
Yuuji looked at the snake and raised one eyebrow.
The snake looked at Yuuji, and flicked its tongue once before slithering off of him, in the direction of the noise.
Yuuji sat upright, careful not to disturb the naked beauty sleeping peacefully at his side, and got to work preparing breakfast for the rest of the group.
Echidna was woken by a pleasant and familiar sensation, and she smiled without opening her eyes as Keltan tickled the tip of her nose with his forked tongue.
Planting a brief kiss on the serpent's snout, she then opened her eyes to take in the other presence at her side.
… And was left blinking in surprise as she found Yuuji knelt beside her, the arm Keltan had coiled around outstretched in her direction.
Another point in his favor, huh?
"Sleep well?" Yuuji asked in his flat voice.
A reply was on the tip of her tongue when Yuuji suddenly tilted his head to one side, brow furrowing as a puzzled look appeared upon his face.
Curious, Echidna kept her silence with no small amount of interest, watching as the dark-haired young man looked to her, and then to Keltan, and then back to her.
"... This doesn't make me a panty thief, does it?"
For the Veteran Mercenary, laughing herself into wakefulness was a fine start to the morning.
As I began writing this chapter, it occurred to me that a long and drawn-out goodbye didn't really suit Yuuji and Alleyne. Hell, goodbyes in general barely fit the two.
So they plowed right through the mushy crap neither cared about, communicated what needed to be communicated in a way that satisfied both, and then parted ways.
… Temporarily.
Just gonna throw this out there for… reasons… but the timeline Alleyne set for Yuuji is not necessarily the timeline I set for Yuuji.
I'm sure no one expects it, but this isn't Alleyne's exit from the story by a long shot.
As for Echidna, well… we're gonna have plenty of fun there. Pretty different vibe with the lemons between the two elves, less romance and more experience involved here, for one.
In a way, she has correlating traits to Asako as well, just from a different side of things than Alleyne does. More mercenary than mentor, but playing a bit of both roles.
Also- Keltan. It kind of gets understated or outright, but he's actually a magical snake that transforms somehow? Kind of explains why Echidna wearing a snake for a thong doesn't get the inworld attention that it probably should.
I don't honestly know if thong is the right word, but… best I got? Not a lot of precedent there, has some visual and thematic similarities to a chastity belt, but Echidna wearing a chastity belt is pretty comical.
We'll get into more details with the cast next chapter, as Yuuji (and the traveling companions he doesn't know he has) head towards the home of some other important cast members.