Kal cautiously opened his eyes as he returned to the waking world, the heavy furs covering him instead of his normal wool comforter making him stop and think about where he was. Smiling he remembered he was not at home and turned to the side to see Ikuno peacefully sleeping next to him. Though not as striking as the changes when he first returned to the cave, as he continued to visit her skin color had deepened to a rich cobalt blue and the triangular marks on her cheeks had become almost imperceptible.

Her backswept horns had almost completely returned to their normal golden color, with only the very tips still being dark. He had been concerned yesterday when he had woken up from his nap and the top halves were completely black, Ikuno had waved it off as nothing to worry about then proceeded to make sure he was too distracted to worry about it for the rest of the day and well into the night. At least he assumed it was into the night, Ikuno seemed to be able to tell what time of day it was just by smelling the air from outside, unfortunately, his nose wasn’t nearly that sensitive.

His bladder, on the other hand, was absolutely certain it was morning, as was his rock-hard penis. Quickly and quietly he slipped out from under the covers and padded barefoot over to the cubby in the back of the cavern that acted as a bathroom. It was little more than a hole in the ground with a quickly flowing stream just a few inches below that quickly swept away anything that fell in. Wincing a bit as he bent his morning wood downward at the hole he was about to start his morning routine when he noticed there was no water down below.

Deciding to not take a chance on making the cave smell like a chamber pot, Kal scampered out into the main area of the cavern. Grabbing the glowing rock out of his pants pocket he then dashed for the cave entrance, his bladder complaining uncomfortably at the delay.

A few minutes later a much relieved, and somewhat chilly, Kal came walking back into Ikuno’s home, looking over at the bed he noticed that Ikuno had shifted in her sleep. Now laying on her side, the twin cheeks of her blue bottom had become partially uncovered. Kal smiled and quietly walked over to pick up the jar of salve, carefully kneeling behind Ikuno’s rear he forced himself to stay his normal size as he coated his prick with lube. In a single motion, he spread her cheeks and slowly began sliding his dick into Ikuno’s backside.

Ikuno came awake with a start and a moan, accidentally shredding a portion of one of her blankets with her claws at the unexpected pleasure coming from her rear. “Dammit, Kal,” she panted, “A little warninnnNNGG!”

Kal allowed his enchanted prick to grow from normal to oni-sized inside her rear as she spoke. “Good Morning, Ikuno! Thought this would be a nice way to wake you up.”

The oni couldn’t help but think that his tone was far too bright and cheery for someone who had his cock buried in her ass.

Ikuno ground her rear against him, “It was a very nice way to wake up. Unfortunately…” she squeezed his cock so tight it was almost painful then slid forward making him slip out, and nearly dragging him with, “I have other plans for you today and I’m going to need you to have a nice big load built up for later.”

“Ikuno…” Kal’s eyes pleaded with her as his member bounced lightly in time with his heartbeat.

Ikuno sat up and kissed him, “If it hasn’t gone away in a half an hour I’ll take care of it. Right now though, let’s get washed up and get something to eat, we have some traveling to do.”

Much to Kal’s annoyance, his erection had gone away before they reached the mouth of the cave, and well before Ikuno’s deadline. Carrying only some soaps and linen towels they headed up the same mountain trail Ikuno had made her breakneck run the day before. Thankfully, the sun had warmed and taken the chill out of the air since Kal had been outside earlier. He still wasn’t nearly as comfortable being naked outside as Ikuno but watching her rear sway in front of him with occasional flashes of her glistening sex as they walked towards her waterfall kept his mind off his nudity.

As they neared the ledge where her shower was found Ikuno said over her shoulder, “There have been some changes since the last time you were up here.”

Kal looked across the ledge and his jaw dropped, there was a huge basin in the ledge that was slowly filling with water from the waterfall’s runoff. “When did you do this?” asked Kal.

“Yesterday while you were sleeping,” she replied, noting that her new pool had only filled about a quarter of the way since she had left it, “I wanted to make sure we could enjoy ourselves without worrying about me getting drunk on magic again. Look here,” she said drawing his attention to her horns, “they’re almost back to normal again.” Taking him by the hand she pulled him towards the waterfall, “Come on we have places to be, let’s get washed up.”

Ikuno luckily remembered to warm the water from the waterfall before they stepped under it. There was almost as much touching and teasing going on as washing and more than once Ikuno seriously considered letting Kal have his way with her since he was giving as good as he got in the teasing department. Somewhere amidst all of this Ikuno managed to explain that once the pool was filled and the rest of the stream down the mountain was flowing normally her lavatory should start working again.

Soon enough they were on their way back down, Kal in front this time much to his dismay. Back in the cave, Ikuno made them breakfast as he put together a small lunch and some snacks for their trip, Ikuno staunchly refusing to tell him where they were going, though she did tell him why. Kind of.

“In order for you to practice you’re going to need more of those strips of leather which means I need more ink to make them. Since I used the last of one of my components we need to go and get more.”

“This component we are getting requires me to have my balls full?”

Ikuno’s face fell in the realization that this particular condition was a dead giveaway to her surprise she had planned, “Yes,” she said.

“I think I pretty much figured out why. Ignoring the conversation from yesterday with Perra. Are you okay with this?”

She nodded, “I meant what I told her, yes I’m okay with this. Are you?”

Kal looked thoughtful, “To be honest I don’t know. I think so, but I guess we won’t find out for sure until we get there.”

------

Packs ready and appetites sated they struck out. Their goal was a few hours to the north, so they had to make their way over Ikuno’s mountain as well as one other before they came upon the flatter forested land that held their destination. On the far side of the second mountain Kal called for a rest, he was fit from working on the farm but trudging up and down a couple of mountains was making him sore in muscles he didn’t know he had.

Kal kicked off his shoes and inspected the soles, “Time to go see the shoemaker again, these are nearly worn through.”

“Do my man’s feet hurt? Does he need to be carried the rest of the way?” Ikuno teased.

Kal glared at her, “Your butt flap ‘accidentally’ got flipped up and stuck in your belt so I’ve been getting teased by that sexy ass of yours for the last few hours. Do you really want to put me in a position where my mouth is that close to your ears and neck?”

Ikuno’s eyes widened, and her face flushed, “Okay, no piggy-back rides then.”

“Aside from that you are insistent that my balls be full when we get where we are going, and if I’m rubbing against your back for the next couple hours I don’t think that will happen”

Ikuno flushed deeper purple as the thought of Kal spraying across her…

“Definitely, no piggy-back rides,” she said breathing heavily, the boy was annoyingly good at teasing her back.

The path ahead was wide and looked to have been fairly well traveled at one time. Looking back Kal could see where it veered off to the east as it met the base of the mountain. It likely made it’s way to the main road east of here than on through the mountain pass and into Perra’s old village.

Since they were able to walk side by side Kal decided to ask Ikuno what she knew about the origins of monster girls.

“I have a couple books about them you could read back at home,” she offered.

“I will probably look through them,” said Kal, “however, by your estimation, I’m going to be having close relationships with some of them. I figure I should learn all I can, and you tend to know more than what the books can tell me.”

“You’re too perceptive sometimes Kal,” said Ikuno smiling, “Here’s the story you won’t find in the books: The original monster girls were created long ago by a powerful wizard named Prentas as a means of defense. Opposed to killing people, he created the monster girls to provide a more pleasant and non-lethal alternative to the normal spike traps and pitfalls, so he populated a large area of forest around his tower with them. It worked for a time. But eventually, more powerful people started putting together all-female adventurer groups. The monster girls had a driving need to have sex with men but would let a woman pass through the forest unscathed.

“What happened to the women?” asked Kal.

“If the stories were true, nothing bad. Most of them came back out with riches well beyond what their original employers intended to pay them. A few of them claimed to feel wonderfully well fucked, but not all of them, and none who leaned more towards other women than men. On the other hand, all of them did claim to have felt ‘very useful and appreciated’ but none could recollect exactly what had happened inside the tower.”

“He seems to have been a decent person.”

“By almost all accounts he was, just a bit of a recluse.”

“What happened then?”

“What do you think happened?” Ikuno asked.

“A forest full of monster girls more than willing to have sex with a man just for the fun of it, I imagine they showed up in droves.”

“And you would be correct, one of the edges of his forest bordered on a plain with a small river nearby, soon there was a town which turned into a small city, named Te’thalas after one of the wizard’s past lovers he was very fond of. Te’thalas quickly turned into a large city as supporting trades came in to keep up with demand. In less than a decade, it was the third largest city in the land, which was beginning to make the top two very nervous.”

“That doesn’t bode well.”

Ikuno shook her head, “No it didn’t, first they leaned on the King of the land where Te’thalas was located to do something, up till now he had been happily collecting the city’s taxes but when he marched his army to the city to ‘restore order’ he realized his mistake. Te’thalas was made up almost entirely of immigrants who had no loyalty to the kingdom but a great deal of loyalty towards the city that put food on the table, kept their people happy and the men’s dicks wet.

“The city had been growing too quickly to erect walls or battlements as its borders were pushed further outward each year, so the decision was made for every able-bodied man to step up and defend the city out on the field. Written accounts of that day say there were rows upon rows of men in armor, with at least two hundred magic users behind them and beyond that a sea of peasants and tradesmen. The men in armor alone outnumbered the king’s army three to one. According to those who were actually there most of those ‘men in armor’ had only barely managed to cobble something together that vaguely looked like armor and of the two hundred magic users less than a dozen had any real power, the rest barely having the skills to light a candle. Regardless, with such a show of solidarity, the king turned around and went back to his castle to mourn the loss of all those taxes since the city declared itself a sovereign state that day.

“Sadly, Te’thalas’s victory was short-lived, two weeks later the full military might of the largest city, Montar, marched into the area. With no time to build defenses, the response was the same, every able-bodied man and more than a few who weren’t so able-bodied, took the field. The result, however, was far different.”

“The army of Montar was an elite force that had many paladins and clerics wielding holy magics, they quickly took out the city’s few magic users and after that it just became a slaughter, the well-trained soldiers killed every defender to the man, ignoring those who surrendered, pleas of mercy, and running down all who tried to escape. Once the men were all dead they marched into Te’thalas and hunted down all of the ‘heathen’ women and children.”

“Holy hell…” Kal whispered, disgusted that another human could be so cruel as to kill defenseless women and children.

Ikuno hung her head as she remembered the tale as it had been told to her, “They didn’t stop there, from Te’thalas they marched straight into the forest ruthlessly slaughtering any and every monster girl they could find. When nearly all of the ones in the outer forest had been eradicated the began moving in on the tower, that’s when they tripped one of Prentas’s wards.”

“Those poor girls,” Kal looked up at Ikuno and asked, “Where was he during all of this?”

“In Montar. The Montaran king had sent a special envoy to get him away from the city so they could attack, on the pretense of welcoming and opening relations with the new kingdom. When he felt his wards tripped he used a very powerful form of magic he had developed called teleportation to instantly take him back to the castle. What he found broke his heart.”

“In a fit of grief and rage, Prentas killed every one of the attacking forces. Paladins, clerics, knights and even squires, anyone who had anything to do with the army died in less than a minute. Seeing his work there done he used his teleportation magic to go back to the Montar city.”

“Uh-oh…”

“Uh-oh is right, unfortunately, I can’t tell you what happened after that,” said Ikuno cryptically.

Kal was indignant, “What! Why not! That’s just cruel Ikuno!”

The oni smirked then laughed, “Sorry, Kal, but I can’t tell you because no one knows.”

“How can no one know?” he asked confused, “it was the largest city in the land!”

“You are correct it ‘was’ the largest city,” she said enjoying teasing the boy, “if you go there today all you will find is a lake that is an almost perfect circle known as Lake Montar.”

“Nooo… he destroyed the entire city?” Kal asked in barely above a whisper.

“He did, though no one knows quite how since there were no survivors. When he returned to his tower he locked himself inside and didn’t come out for a full year. When he finally emerged, he was a broken and frail man unable to forgive himself for the death of his city or his creations but mostly he couldn’t forgive himself for all of the innocent lives in Montar taken by his own hand.”

He spent a week preparing for his final spell, on the day of casting he said goodbye to the remaining monster girls that had survived the attack as well as a sprite named Kithala who was his most trusted friend and companion for many years. He stepped into the magic circle and used all the magic stored in the tower as well as his own lifeforce to cast his spell, burning his body to ash in the process. From what they were able to tell the spell raced across the earth transforming animals, plants, rocks, and various other things into monster girls seemingly at random. A decade or so later my shrine had soaked up enough of this magic that I was able to come to life.”

“Wow, so you are kind of a ‘first generation’ monster girl,” said Kal.

“I guess I’ve never thought of it that way but yes, I suppose I am,” Ikuno said standing up a bit straighter before laughing at her own silliness.

“Whatever happened to the tower?” asked Kal.

“Time took it and it eventually crumbled, but the original monster girls still guard where it used to stand,” seeing Kal’s confused look she continued, “the original ones were meant as defenses for the tower and were made to be immortal, but sterile. Kithala wrote that after the attacks he spent the year in solitude trying to change them into mortals and allow them to have children as his last gift. However, they refused, wanting him to give their gift to the world instead of just fixing them.”

“You’re lying,” stated Kal.

Ikuno was so taken aback she stopped, “What? I am not!”

“I can tell in your voice Ikuno, you didn’t read what Kithala said, she told you in person didn’t she?”

Ikuno huffed, “You are far too damn perceptive for a farmer boy.”

------

Ikuno noticed something on the trail ahead and stopped Kal.

“We’re almost there so I suppose it’s time I tell you a bit more about what we are doing here. Off in the woods, there is an alarune. Her name is Aradelle and he’s a good friend of mine, we’ve been lovers more than once and she’s always been kind enough to take the edge off times when I hadn’t been with a human in a while.”

“You’ve been with women too?” Kal couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“Maybe I spoke too soon on you being perceptive, I told you and Perra yesterday that I’ve given myself to women in the past.”

“You did, didn’t you. I suppose I just didn’t put much thought into what you meant by that. Are you wanting to be with her again?” asked Kal, surprised at himself that he felt more curious than hurt at the idea.

Ikuno seemed a bit flustered, “Well… yes, I do. But we aren’t here for me, we’re here for you and for her. I want you to do something very special for her.

“What’s that?”

“Give her a child.”

Kal was dumbstruck, “What?!” his voice came out as a wheeze.

“Let me explain before you freak out,” she said, “each alarune takes after a specific flower, Dell’s flower blooms very late in the season only a week or two before the leaves change color and fall. People hardly ever use this road anymore, but all traffic pretty much stops about the time it turns chilly in the morning. Because of that she has never managed to catch a man when she was in season, in the twenty years I’ve known her she has never had a child. So, what I’m suggesting is you get me what I need for your ink and in return, you give her a child.”

“What exactly is it you need from her for the ink?” Kal asked.

“Her nectar, it was the base for your ink on the shield rune and her magic is a big part of the reason it lasted so long.”

“I have to say I wasn’t expecting you to be asking me to become a father when we left this morning, but it’s plain you care a lot about this Aradelle. Having never met her I can’t say that I’m doing this for her,” he looked Ikuno square in the eyes, “but I will do it for you.”

Ikuno squealed in happiness and hugged Kal lifting him off the ground planting kisses all over his face punctuated by, “Thank you… thank you… thank you…”

She set him down and motioned for him to follow her, grinning she said, “Try to be quiet I have a plan that should make this fun.”

------

Kal could just make out Aradelle through the underbrush he and Ikuno were crouching in, he had to admit she was very pretty in an alien kind of way. Aradelle stood in the center of a large bulb a couple paces wide with five long thin petals coming from the top that were white in the center then changed to a brilliant blue about a third of the way out. Her body coloring matched this with her torso being almost pure white but changing to blue on her upper thighs and just past her shoulders making her look like she had on long blue gloves and stockings. Her body was fairly petite with two small blue nipples topping a pair of equally small breasts and just above her sex was a bright yellow marking on her mound where a human girl would have hair.

Aradelle’s hair was almost as blue as Ikuno’s skin but her most striking feature was her eyes, lacking any pupil or iris her iridescent blue eyes almost reminded him of an insect in the way they shimmered in the light filtering through the nearby trees. Kal had also noticed that even though she moved around the center of the flower she never took a step, just gliding from place to place

As Kal and Ikuno watched she appeared to be cleaning some wrist-thick vines that rose up into her hands where she would remove any dirt or twigs they had collected on their leaves.

Whispering so they didn’t alert Aradelle to their presence Ikuno turned to Kal, “I’m going to get her extremely worked up then when I have her distracted I’ll wave you over so you can sneak up and slip inside her. Try to make it fast so she doesn’t have time to react.”

“I’m still not sure about this Ikuno, I know she’s your friend and all, but this doesn’t feel right.”

Ikuno grinned evilly, “If you are concerned about her being willing, don’t be, by the time I give you the signal she will be a lot more than willing. Once she feels you inside her she will be ecstatic. Don’t worry Kal, if she didn’t want it then your enchanted dick would let you know, remember you couldn’t force her even if you wanted to.”

Kal held his hands up, “Okay, okay I get it. What do you need me to do?”

“Once I walk out to her move up to the edge of the clearing but stay hidden. I’ll get ‘Dell to turn away from you, then you come up behind her and slide in, we’ll see what happens from there,” she said almost shaking in anticipation.

“Damn, Ikuno. What’s got you so worked up?” asked Kal.

“I really do care about ‘Dell, Kal, and with your help, she’s about to have one of her dreams come true. I can’t help but be a little excited. Now for the last part, and you may hate me for this.” She reached for his trousers and started tugging them down.

“Ikuno?!” he was so surprised he almost forgot to whisper.

She got his pants down far enough to reveal his cock then wrapped a hand around it and began stroking him, quickly getting it hard, “Shhhh,” she shushed him glancing towards the alarune, “I need a little something from you to help make sure she’s distracted. Just make sure you don’t cum in my hand.”

Kal was quickly breathing heavy from the pleasure as Ikuno’s hand worked up and down his shaft. As he started to feel like he might cum soon he felt a bit of wetness on the head of his dick as a little bit of pre-cum leaked out.

“That’s what I needed,” whispered Ikuno as she tightened her grip and wrung out a few more droplets, bringing her other hand up to catch them.

Kal’s eyes widened in surprise as she brought her hands together smearing the clear liquid between them then began applying it like a lotion to her face, neck, and the tops of her breasts. Ikuno suppressed a chuckle at the look on Kal’s face, “Quickly now, over to where I showed you,” she said pointing at the side of the clearing opposite where she would be coming out.

Kal nodded and Ikuno gave him a kiss on the forehead before they separated, Kal’s hiding spot was closer and he arrived well before Ikuno was ready. Figuring it would make things easier he stripped his clothes off, taking his member in hand he got himself hard as he waited for the oni to make her appearance.

------

Aradelle was absent-mindedly inspecting and cleaning her vines when she caught the scent of something very pleasant. A moment later she heard heavy footfalls coming from the forest. With the scent of a human man getting stronger, she raised her vines in anticipation when a large blue figure stepped around a tree and into the clearing.

“Ikki!” squealed Aradelle, clapping her hands together and bouncing excitedly.

“Hello Beautiful,” said Ikuno, standing at the clearing edge.

Aradelle pouted, “That’s not nice Ikki,” her hands slipped down between her legs and started playing with her folds, “you know what man-scent does to me and you smell like you are positively covered in it.”

Ikuno smiled and stepped towards the alarune, “I’m sorry ‘Dell let me see if I can make it up to you.” Only a couple of strides and the oni was standing in front of Aradelle, taking the alarune’s face in her hands Ikuno kissed her hard on the lips their tongues slipping into each other’s mouths.

Aradelle broke the kiss panting with lust she looked at the oni, “Dammit Ikuno you ARE covered in man scent,” the alarune frowned, “and at this time of the year too.”

Ikuno gave Aradelle a mischievous smile, “As I said, let me see if I can make it up to you.” Ikuno kissed her again one hand going to her back to hold her tight and the other reaching down and pushing the alarune’s hands aside, so she could play with the folds of Aradelle’s pussy. Her hands denied access to her sex she threw her arms around the oni’s neck, the vines mimicked her arms and wrapped around Ikuno’s waist. The alarune never noticed the small wave Ikuno made towards the edge of the clearing.

Aradelle broke the kiss and moved her mouth to the oni’s neck, the taste of a human male’s juices sent shockwaves straight to her pussy, making her moan with desire. Ikuno had stopped playing with Aradelle’s sex and was just spreading her open as the alarune’s nectar ran down her hand. Aradelle was running her tongue over the dark spot on the oni’s neck when she felt another body step into her flower.

“What?!” she tried to lift her head up, but Ikuno’s hand was already on the back of her neck and she forced the alarune’s lips onto her own. Aradelle’s moan turned into a muffled shriek as the person behind her completely filled her pussy in one long thrust. She felt Ikuno nod to whoever was behind her and strong hands grabbed her waist as the cock inside her withdrew only to be forcefully shoved back inside drawing out another shriek of pleasure muffled by the mouth of the oni.

The person, the man, behind Aradelle wasted no time and began thrusting into her hard, nectar streamed down her legs as Ikuno’s fingers started making circles around her clit. The alarune went limp, Ikuno letting her head fall into the valley between her breasts, the scent was so much stronger there. Her senses already overloaded she opened her mouth, her tongue barely peeking out. As the man behind her thrust forward it pressed her tongue into the oni’s skin, the flavors of Ikuno’s sweat mixed with human male lit up her taste buds and pushed her over the edge. A moan turned into a wail then into a full-blown scream as the petite body of the alarune shook in the throes of her orgasm, vines that had been wrapped around Ikuno’s waist fell limp to the ground and shuddered as the petals of the alarune’s flower vibrated with her climax. Her mind unable to cope with the pleasure racing through her body, Aradelle passed out.

Kal stopped while buried inside the alarune. Even asleep Aradelle was still having aftershocks from her orgasm, the feeling was quite pleasant as she occasionally squeezed his prick. He looked up at Ikuno, “Is she alright?”

Ikuno took Aradelle’s face between her hands and kissed the unconscious girl’s forehead, “She will be amazing when she wakes up.” Kal pulled out as Ikuno sat on the side of the flower and laid the girl across her lap. She looked up at Kal, “have a seat, ‘Dell usually recovers quickly.”

Kal was certainly hoping so as his erection hadn’t wavered a bit since the girl passed out. Looking down he saw that his feet were partially covered in the alarune’s sticky nectar he also noticed that she didn’t have any feet, her legs turning into short thick vines where her ankles would be and those were attached to the center of the flower. The sides of the flower’s central bulb were surprisingly sturdy so Kal took Ikuno’s advice and sat down to wait for the girl to wake up.

A few minutes later Aradelle’s eyes fluttered open, she could feel Ikuno sitting on her lower body but there was someone else… gasping and sitting up as her memory returned she saw the man sitting on the other side of the bulb with his feet resting in a puddle of her nectar. Vines whipped up and pointed at his face, small openings in the ends puffing out purple clouds of aphrodisiac. A blue hand came around from behind Aradelle… and flicked her in the forehead.

“Owwwch!” the alarune complained rubbing the spot Ikuno’s finger had hit her, “what was that for Ikki?!”

Ikuno glared, “One: Because that was rude. Two: He’s not running away. Three: It didn’t work on him anyway.” Ikuno looked up at Kal, “Kal I’d like you to meet Aradelle, ‘Dell meet the man who claimed me, Kal.”

“Claimed you?” Aradelle’s iridescent eyes widened in surprise as with Ikuno lifted her chin and tapped the dark spot on her neck, those eyes then narrowed in anger as she stood up turning towards Kal, her vines rearing up menacingly, “What kind of monster are you to think you can own Ikki!”

A blue hand appeared in front of her face again, “Hey!” she squeaked, covering her forehead and ducking to the side.

Ikuno was now standing beside her bulb and calmly withdrew her hand, “I gave myself to him ‘Dell, and that’s no way to treat the man who agreed to be the father of your child.”

Aradelle looked between Ikuno and Kal, “Really?” she whispered barely believing what she’d heard.

“Really,” said Ikuno as Kal nodded.

“Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cried throwing herself into Ikuno’s arms.

Ikuno hugged the girl tight, “You’re welcome dear, but I’m not the only one you should be thanking.”

Aradelle turned to Kal, looking down and fidgeting she said quietly, “Thank you, Kal, this means a lot to me.” She fidgeted for a moment longer before turning to Ikuno and whispering, “Ikki! What do I do? I’ve never done this without my dust working on them!”

Ikuno couldn’t help but laugh at the alarune’s predicament, even Kal smiled since he was sitting right there and heard everything Aradelle said.

“It’s not funny Ikki! I really don’t know what to do!”

“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Kal gave her a questioning look and Aradelle looked confused. Walking over to Kal she kissed him on the cheek. “Kal is a wonderful lover, ‘Dell, he will take very good care of you.” Turning around, she began to walk towards the woods.

Kal and Aradelle looked at each other and a moment of understanding passed between them.

“Can you pick her up?” he asked.

“Yes,” Aradelle smiled.

“Get her.”

Ikuno screeched as twin vines wrapped around her torso and lifted her into the air bringing her back to the alarune.

“Oof, she’s heavy,” said Aradelle.

“Let me go!” Ikuno yelled.

“You brought this whole thing together, it doesn’t seem right to do this without you,” said Kal.

“Agreed,” chimed in Aradelle setting the oni down but not removing the vines.

“You don’t understand, I can’t,” Ikuno said dejectedly.

What do you mean you can’t, you told me out on the trail that you wanted to be with her again.”

“I gave myself to you Kal, I can’t be with anyone else without…” Ikuno stopped herself.

“Without what, Ikuno,” Kal pressed.

Ikuno sighed, “Without permission.”

Aradelle gasped tears coming to her eyes, “That means you can’t be with me anymore?”

Ikuno shook her head sadly.

Kal was glaring at the oni, “So by my understanding, you expected me to travel the world collecting supplies for my inks by sleeping with who knows how many women. Much of which, according to your own words, I will be doing alone. While you sit at home and wait for me to come back without even having the option of coming up here to ‘take the edge off’ as you put it earlier.”

Ikuno nodded slowly.

“This isn’t worth it if it will end up making you suffer, Ikuno”

Her face was stony, “Would you have me go chasing after any dick I can get when you aren’t around?”

Kal looked like he had bitten into something sour, no he didn’t like the idea of Ikuno being with another man, she belonged to him now and like hell would he let another man steal her away. His eyes flicked to Aradelle. On the other hand, he had gotten pretty excited when she had been warming up ‘Dell for him. He took a moment to imagine Ikuno bent over being fucked by one of Aradelle’s vines. He realized he didn’t get the same feeling. He knew they cared about each other, he just didn’t feel… threatened… that he might lose her to Aradelle the way he might to another man.

“You’re right, I don’t like that idea one bit,” Aradelle looked like she was about to burst into tears. “However, I don’t seem to have a problem with you being with other women, especially ones I trust.”

Ikuno looked skeptical, “And you trust Aradelle even though you only met her a few minutes ago?”

“No, I trust you Ikuno, and since you and Aradelle have known each other for longer than I’ve been alive, if you trust her then so do I.”

Kal stood up and drew himself up as tall as he could, standing in Aradelle’s flower he was almost the same height as Ikuno, attempting to look official and commanding he said, “Therefore! You have my permission to be with women I trust, I have claimed, or I am planning on claiming.” He smiled, “though I should always be the first option if I’m around.”

Kal felt more than saw a flicker in the magic around him and Ikuno, he would need to ask Ikuno about that later.

Ikuno stared at him, then shook her head “I love you, but you look like an idiot.”

Aradelle burst out laughing, her arms crossed over her belly she collapsed into the flower at Kal’s feet.

Kal visibly deflated, “It wasn’t that bad was it?”

Ikuno grinned and started to undo the buckles on her clothing, “No it wasn’t, in fact, it was a wonderful thing you did for me and her,” Aradelle was slowly catching her breath until she looked up at Kal and collapsed into a fresh bout of giggles, about the third one so far. Ikuno finished undressing and kicked her clothes to the side.

“But Kal, you simply cannot make such grandiose speeches like that while naked,” she glanced at his crotch, “and with a boner.”