Chapter 12 Peculiar Vocal Qualities
Datu
The conversation with Xiaoyu left me much to think. I will never change my feelings for the humans, but I loathe the thought of her going hungry. Starving herself because it’s what her mother wants.
From what little I know about them, mothers are caretakers. Nurturers, even fierce protectors. What Xiaoyu described was…abhorrent. I will never starve her, and yet it sheds light into my large-scale hypocrisy.
The sense of irony in it is a painful stab. The females left behind starve in my land. I cannot tell for how long now. In desperation, they resorted to cannibalizing the males who still thrived through sunlight and water. It is why the males went dormant.
Contrary to what Xiaoyu believes, the males were forced into dormancy because they were being eaten alive by females, not because of the drought.
I think it is me coping when I shove fruits into her satchel.
“Hey! You got my bag.” She smiles, digging her hands in and fishing out a bottle.
This one, I know. It’s the same bottle the human males used to drink from. She twists the cap off and drinks. I watch her throat bob up and down, her neck, her…
Embarrassingly, a cilia audibly snaps underneath my loin cloth. Her eyes widen, and her gasp does not make it any better. It is as if every sound she makes slices something open in me.
“I’m not sure if it’s polite to ask, but what is behind that?” She points at where my slit is.
Mirth fills me, the embarrassment an afterthought. “My stamen. My cock.” Why they insist on calling it a bird is beyond me.
Her eyes glow with interest. It is nothing carnal. It is more like professional curiosity than anything else.
“How fascinating. So it’s hidden behind like a snake’s?”
I am taken aback at her comparison. Snakes! Hah! “I have no knowledge about snake genitalia.” She does not have to know that I do have serpents. Much bigger than larger snakes.
Her cheeks turn rosy, her half-moon eyes reminding me of peaceful Esoterran nights. When everything was…untainted. “I’m sorry. It’s part of my job. Learning you.”
Instead of feeling revulsion at being studied by a human, something else stirs in me. A hot current sweeping against the coast. A rush of desire. This one, raw and unprovoked. It isn’t the pollen making us lustful. This one, though? Much more addictive.
“Study me however you please, Xiaoyu.” I feel the woods rub together in anticipation. I reach for her hand, pulling until she is flush against me.
She jumps to flick my nose. “Later. Now, we voyage this perilous land.”
Biting back a laugh, I pick her foot coverings up from where I’d left it.
“My boots!”
It is torn, but the soles are still sturdy. I should have one of the females sew it for me. I drop to one knee and insert it into one foot then another, her hand on my head keeping her balanced.
“Thank you, Datu.”
“You act like nobody has done a nice thing for you.”
She just blinks and doesn't respond. We are at the heart of my forest, I know this place like the back of my hand. Wordlessly, I take her hand and tug her.
“Nothing’s gonna eat or violate me there again, right?”
“Just me.”
Xiaoyu
I find out that Datu is very talkative. I learn a lot.
From invincible planaria worms to the “starflies” that follow him around, everything here serves a purpose.
His knowledge of Esoterra is profound. Given that it’s his land, it makes sense, but it hits different.
Teva had never talked about Esoterra with ownership and possessiveness.
Like everything and everyone in Esoterra is… his and his alone.
“I can guess how upset you were when my species invaded.”
His bright eyes darken to a shadowy purple, becoming distant. “I could have stopped them any time.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“There’s a vow we take. We are not allowed to interfere with what happens naturally.”
“An invasion isn’t natural,” I point out.
Nodding, he agrees with me. “I am ashamed to say I might have been far more lenient, lax back then.” His tone changes, and I know he regrets this. “I was indifferent, arrogant. I believed meddling with mortals below me.”
Mortals. “Golly gee, what are you, some kind of apathetic Lovecraftian monster?”
He gives me a strange look. “Lovecraftian?”
“H.P. Lovecraft. He used to write weird cosmic horror.” I shrug.
He tries to hide it, but I see his curiosity. “Cosmic horror—what is this?”
I wrack my brain for any information I remember about this. The monster had been obsessed with Eldritch, and Lovecraftian books, art, even relics.
“I had not read cosmic horror books in a while, but they’re so popular that it just sticks. Usually, it’s outer space gods who don’t really care about humanity. Well, life, in general. They look down on other god-monsters who associate with what they deem lesser species.”
“These monsters—what do they look like?” He has stopped walking now, his focus solely on getting answers.
“I don’t know! Cthulu looks like he has a tentacle beard. Insanely big, but the whole point of their existence is that you cannot fathom them. So describing them defeats the purpose.”
Datu’s chest expands, taking this in with unblinking concentration. “This is good to know. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Xiaoyu.”
“Hey, whatever this human can do to help.” I joke. Admittedly, I’ve been using the term “human” derogatorily. I should stop, but there’s validity in his contempt for us.
The tightness in his expression fades, replaced by a smile. “I find that this human is very useful to me.”
“Anyways, nothing you can do about the past. Today, we move on and see what we can do.” I’m surprised at how positive I sound.
I pat his arm as I skip over a fallen branch.
Esoterran branches? They are as thick as logs.
It’s not beautiful in this particular part—that much is clear—but as we sink deeper into the forest, I can peel back the layers.
There’s an odd charm to the superficial ugliness of it here. It’s as if it just wants to look ugly.
“There are constrictors here. Come climb up my back.” He kneels down so I can reach.
I’m not sure if I’m comfortable being in such close proximity to him after what had happened. But being eaten by a boa constrictor? I will take my chances and rather become a horny mess.
He stands as soon as my legs wrap around his waist, holding my weight on my butt. My pussy clenches, remembering our mindless sexual encounter.
“Just so you are informed, I can feel your cunt against my back.”
Blushing profusely, I do not respond to his bait. Instead, I adjust myself so I’m not so pressed up—only to make it so much worse. His fingertips dig into the curve between my thighs.
“If you grow slicker I’m going to slam you down in the middle of the forest and take care of it.”
It shouldn’t sound like a threat. Neither should it turn me on. I want to cover myself in shame, but what good am I if I can’t control my libido?
My hand sweeps down his pectoral. “Keep walking and ignore it.”
The man chuckles. “Why are you so afraid of me?”
My response is automatic, “I have a feeling you might eat me.”
He just laughs louder now. “You would like that, yes?”
“What? No!” I yelp. “If I can’t hold myself together, I may or may not stab someone to death.” It just leaves my mouth, uncalled for. I pinch the bridge of my nose.
Underneath the dark canopy of leaves, Datu sweeps me off him and pins me against a tree. Air leaves my lungs before I’m gasping him in. There’s no iridescent pollen right now, but something much more dangerous.
I recognize the look in his eyes. Hunger. Deep, dark, savage starvation. The moment is not incoherent and hypnotic like before. Right now, it’s an understanding. An agreement.
The smile he gives me is crooked, cocky, and self-assured. “Yesss, you will love it when I eat you. And I would not mind being stabbed by you.” He runs those sharp teeth over my cold neck. Nipping. Tasting.
My heart’s thundering in my chest. I can’t tell if I’m excited or scared. His fingers dance at the hem of the short toga he fashioned for me. He is unbelievably hard under his slit again. I feel him just as he feels me.
I want to say something, but my voice is stuck in my throat.
“Tell me, have you taken anyone inside you yet?” At the look of my confusion, he asks again, “Have you ever been fucked, Xiaoyu?”
Sweat drips between my breasts as I shake my head. “I—I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t remember.” Admitting it out loud feels freeing.
“Oh, my sweet girl…” The one hand that isn’t holding me trails between my legs. “Let me give you something to remember. You only have to say yes.”
“Sex? You mean sex, right?” Something in me flutters hard.
He chuckles and rubs his nose against mine. “Silly girl, not just that. Everything.”
God, I want to say yes, but I’m such a stickler for the rules, plans, schedules, spreadsheets, lists… My heart drops. I’m going to have to refuse him.
“Okay. Yes.” Fuck.
Datu is incredibly beautiful right now, it hurts my eyes. I have to look away.
“You are not afraid to be eaten.” He states this like it’s a fact. “You are afraid to have fun. I refuse to let you live on my island like you did back there.” He says before pulling me up, dusting my toga off. “Come, we must make haste. The sun rises in a few hours.”
Surprised we aren’t doing something frisky at all, I self-consciously straighten my toga. Somehow, this makes me all the more eager. His mood is infectious, my skin thrumming at the rush of dopamine.
He takes me up his back again and before I know it, he’s running.
It’s not an easy jog. The terrain here is rough and full of protruding roots, and yet, he glides through—quick-paced and steadily breathing.
Datu stops every now and then to point at a creature, telling me its name and what it does, including opalescent fungi growing from what looks like poop.
“These are very delicate, but they are only sproutlings. They are very special to Esoterra.”