The Dance of the Halflings Pt1
#140 of Exploration
One week before Central New Year, and one week after a gentle run through the forest pursued by bloodthirsty werewolves, the usual five of our own party were going to a new planet with Silverine and Kodey. I woke on Saturday morning, excited and enthralled. I won't say it wasn't fun being chased when they were incapable of harming you, but I will concede that they did look scary. Ryan came with me to the Great Hall, and after Silverine went through the motions, I volunteered to ping the planet.
After 42 seconds, I landed with a heavy gentle landing on the grass. I open my eyes, and looked around.
I was in the middle of a forest, again! But this was no frozen dead land, this was a rich and vibrant forest. Tall, thick trees, blooming in leaf and flower, made a wonderful canopy over head, and the sun shone through it golden rays. The grass was rich and green, although flattened in some places, as though someone had been walking over it. Bushes sprung up everywhere, with hundreds of berries.
I placed a scanner, and did a quick X-ray scan of the surrounding area. There were many birds and small lifeforms, but nothing that could have made the marks in the grass. I heard the bang in my headset as soon as I relayed this to my friends. Nothing in the trees save birds and insects, and nothing underground save for the occasional mole and worm. The sky was a blue more, intense, than the blue at home, but not so bad as to hurt. Also, I noticed that the shafts of light did not come from the same direction.
I ran a quick thermo, and saw that this planet had a twin sun system, both fairly high in the sky. My comrades arrived, and Kodey stooped down to look at a beautiful red flower, as everyone began looking around. Salbar began climbing a tree for a better view, Silverine followed suit, Draco wandered in the direction of the footprints, while Simba began running checks from his computer. Javid began observing the bushes with berries.
We only managed ten minutes before things began happening. Draco quickly hushed us, and we heard singing. It was sung by many tongues, and sung in a very happy manner, the tune catchy, and the words cheery.
"Through root and stream, bush and tree!
We are here, and happy we be!
A walk in the woods, a chance to enjoy!
Ancalima ammon! Ithilira valoi!" The translator had no idea about the last line of what who ever it was was singing, but I was humming the tune with them.
"O.K., let's get out of sight, they sound like they're coming this way." Draco sprung up a tree, while Javid hid behind the bushes. Kodey hid in another spinney, while Simba and myself vanished up trees. I picked a sturdy branch about three metres up, and facing away from the oncoming singers, but I peeked around the tree and tried to find them.
It didn't take long. Through the forest came a dancing group of small creatures. The elves on the dry planet we had visited with Casdey weren't like this. They were lithe and proud creatures, with a stare given through five hundred years of experience. These creatures only shared the height, maybe three foot tall, going on four. Whereas the elves were light, these were much more heavier for their size, but still not even slightly overweight. They did not seem as old as the elves, either, all of them seemed only as a twenty year old would.
A comparison came to me, and I breathed it through my interlink.
"They remind me of the Hobytla, halflings." I whispered, as they approached. All of them were merry, some were carrying storage jars, more were carrying food. They all had longish curly hair, and their eyes sparkled in delight. They wore simple clothes, and nothing at all on their feet. Their skin was fair, but their hair was all traditional colours.
They came to the small clearing, and began to set up shop, setting down what they were carrying at one end. Three of them were carrying instruments, a pair of rhythm sticks, a stringed instrument not unlike a mandolin, and a set of pan pipes. They were playing on the move, which I dare say is a difficult task as they were doing a kind of dancing step, skipping. They formed next to the bush Javid was hiding behind, and continued playing as the song continued. All of them not busying themselves with the placement of the food were dancing in pairs around the clearing. There was an equal number of females and males, although the band was slightly uneven, two females (strings and pipes) to the male on the sticks. I reckoned there were at least one hundred and fifty of these humanoids.
I watched, entranced by the beauty of the scene. The whirling dance was incredible, there just had to be a collision, it was impossible for there not to be, they crossed one another back and forth, I took off all my weapons, wrapped them together, and placed a material teleporter on it. On the next tap of the sticks, it was echoed by a very quiet tap from my position as all my weapons vanished and appeared at the Great Hall. No one down below noticed.
None of us really wanted to try and introduce ourselves to them, we were just so coarse and battle hardened compared to these innocents.
I could see Kodey's head and antlers in his spinney, they were not obvious from anywhere but above, and I spoke to him quietly.
"It's so beautiful, isn't it? These creatures have never known war, never known famine or tragic loss, they just live their lives."
"I know. They are so delicate and pure, and that's coming from me." he said, and this was indeed saying something coming from the reindeer. True they were not particularly thin for their size, and they looked strong, but their carefree nature suggested aeons had passed in much the same manner.
As the Hobytla danced, I noticed a male amongst them. He wore a necklace around him, and a small laurel of golden leaves. This I presumed to be the leader, or official. I was watching him when what I thought inevitable happened.
Two pairs of dancers got mixed signals, and the resultant dance meant running into one another. There was a gasp of surprise from all four as they realised, and crashed into one another, right next to the band. With a spectacular bounce, all four fell outwards, landing heavily on the piper and the bush. Javid yipped in surprise.
No one noticed the lupine's surprise, no one had noticed him at all yet. The dance came crashing to a halt, as the piper ended up on her back. Everyone looked around in the half amused half worried for expression, and there was a mass movement towards the fallen. There was a general laugh as the halflings helped those on the ground back up, and then there was a shout of surprise as they noticed Javid underneath one of them. He was on his back, half the bush in ruins around him, and looking very surprised and embarrassed.
Javid sat up, brushing himself down.
"Someone danced the wrong way." he commented, disentangling his arm from the bush, and there was a nervous giggle from one of the halflings. The leader stepped forwards, curiously.
"Er, who are you?" It was not fear, they knew no fear, because they had nothing to fear since, well, for ever. It was curiosity. Javid smiled, and inclined his head to the male.
"My name is Javid, I am an explorer from the stars. I heard your dance and wanted to watch."
"From the stars?" the leader looked up into the sky.
"Yes, somewhere up there is where I come from." the wolf replied.
"You came alone?"
My branch broke at this point, and the crack made everyone turn. I landed heavily on my back, and stood painfully, and with a rueful smile.
"He didn't, we were shy to introduce ourselves to you while you were enjoying yourselves." I said, blushing slightly at my undignified entrance.
I looked much more like them, and as I came forwards a couple of them felt bold enough to observe me closely.
The leader smiled." Our dance is for everyone to enjoy, you are welcome to come and watch, or dance. Are there more of you?"
I looked at Javid, and then spoke in Centralite.
"All those who want to reveal themselves come on in."
Kodey stepped out of his spinney gracefully, looking shy of the company. Salbar, swords sheathed, leapt gracefully down several branches. Simba appeared from behind a tree.
The halflings looked at the new arrivals, and looked up into the trees.
"There's another one up there." one of the halflings had spotted Draco.
"I'd rather not come down, I'm too big and frightening." Draco called down.
"Come on, Draco, we're all friends down here." Draco pushed himself out from the tree, dropped and glided to a landing next to Javid. A lot of the small humanoids were impressed by this, although they'd need two standing on each other's shoulders to get to his full height.
"We didn't want to interrupt, we arrived here a couple of minutes before you did, and hid in case you didn't take to us."
The leader smiled, and nodded at the dragon."Sit down, be at ease with yourself. Meanwhile, let the dance continue!" he rose his voice, and the piper blew out a single note, making it clear that those who wanted to dance had better get in position very quickly.
I quickly shuffled over towards the band, Kodey sat down at his end of the clearing, and a pair sat down by him. Salbar sat next to me and six elves, I could tell he wanted to join in the music. Draco sat next to Javid, who shuffled next to the band. I pulled out my melodica from my bag, and played a gentle C., getting a note from the band.
"You are a musician, master? What is your name?" the rhythm sticks male asked me.
"I am Alduin, what is yours?"
"I am Nicolas, Alduin."
I shook hands with the halfling, and he smiled.
"Our songs are simple but lively, so you need to play quickly, but it's fairly easy to learn. O.K., a one, two, three, go!"
It was fast. We are talking about 120 beats per minute, two beats a second. I worked out the melody, and began to play. I did not play all the notes, I'm not that good, but I was keeping with the piece, and it was heartening hearing all the hobbits cheer as they went past, hearing the three hobbit and one man band playing.
Each song was about five minutes long, and by the end of the current one, I was exhausted, short of breath, and dry mouthed. There was a huge round of applause from the hundreds here, and Nicolas smiled at me, along with the two females.
"You do learn fast." he said.
"Woah, you guys play fast. Oxygen." I mimed a heart attack, to general amusement among the band and Salbar.
Nicolas and the two females started the next piece after my fooling around, and I put the melodica on my legs, watching them play. Their stamina was phenomenal. I looked up, and saw with some amusement and awe that Kodey was dancing with one of the females. He drifted over our direction, and I clapped in time with the beat. He spotted me through the dance.
"This is not my fault." he called in Centralite," she asked, I said yes!"
"You're doing well!" I called back,still in the local lingo, a beaming grin on my countenance. Salbar was smiling widely.
"Really?" Kodey replied, while the female steered him through a gap in the dancers.
"Better than me." I called back, and Salbar laughed along with Draco.
"That's not saying much, I've seen you trying to dance." the dragon smiled.
"Exactly." I laughed. Nicolas burst out in hysterics, still banging his sticks together.
"He finds it funny too." I nodded, and noticed the entire band were trying desperately not to lose count of the song.
Simba was talking with a pair of the halflings in a corner, asking innocent questions about their life style. Silverine, I could see with my thermo, was lying on a tree branch about fifty feet in the air. Javid was talking with some more. Kodey was describing an arc through the dancers, which suggested his partner was some how psychic in picking the gaps. I was occasionally joining in with the music, Draco was talking with several halflings, most of which found his scales and golden chest amazing. Salbar decided he would make it five, and pulled out his flute. Like me, he had the ear, and before long the flautist had joined the melodica, the pan pipes, strings and sticks in a whirly burly dance.
The food and drink lay undisturbed for the mean time, and I noticed the suns were beginning to set, it must be getting towards twilight and evening. I looked at watch, it still read eight am in the morning, I had to be careful not to end up on the local pineal system, otherwise I would find work immensely difficult to get to.
Simba shuffled over, and sat next to me, telling everything he had learnt while I played.
"This is a festival of theirs, I think it's the blossom festival or something. At any rate, their village is about two miles along that path they came down, although for one night a year they spend the night here."
I nodded, as I brought my fingers down the melodica in a run,and, gave myself two bars rest while I replied.
"So is the land all like this?"
"Mostly, when it's not all sea. This apparently is a huge continent, which has nothing except the halflings and their townships. There are hundreds of them, and as this island is mostly all forest, they live among the trees in wooden huts, taking the wood from the clearing of paths."
Pause."This is the whole village?" Blow, tricky chord, major sixth.
"I presume so. Their technology is rather primitive. They have fire, and crude tools, but mostly everything they make is made out of wood and cord." Simba replied,"But it works, it all works very well."
I continued my lung racking harmony, and the song finished. Salbar lowered his flute, and everyone applauded the five of us.
Nicolas informed us quietly it was time for dinner, so there was a pause on the music. All the halflings began passing food around. I took a small handful of berries, and after surreptitiously running a couple of checks to make sure they were edible and compatible, began to eat each one. Nephredil, the golden haired mandolin player, and Loriea, the dark haired piper, joined Nicolas in a small circle with me and Salbar, and Nicolas asked me the first question.
"So how long have you been playing?"
"Me?" I thought on this,"Well, I'm twenty, but I've played, maybe, five instruments over a period of sixteen years. I sing too, but not while playing this." Nicolas laughed at the fairly obvious statement.
Loriea was 32, although she looked like a maiden of 19 to my eyes, and she had been playing the pipes since she was 8.Nephredil was slightly older, and had been learning the stringed instrument since the age of 6. Nicolas could play either of the other reasonably well, but he was also the one who had to keep the time, and thus the band leader of the three.
Draco, Javid, Kodey and Simba had joined the main cluster of halflings, and were partaking in the feast. The talk was boisterous and merry, and the light hearted laughter rang constantly. Kodey was possibly the biggest centre of attention, he had, after all, been dancing with reasonable success amidst them. Draco was the most impressive of us, thus the most attention of the rest, but still the halflings were keen to be around us, and converse.
Silverine refused all invitations to come down and join in from us, he considered himself too, well, imposing and coarse compared to the folk of the forest. I thought that a bit harsh of himself, they hadn't minded Draco, but Silverine was adamant.
"I will go find some of the other tribes, Alduin. You enjoy yourself, I dare say you need it."
Poor Lupogriff. Something about these creatures made him feel out of place, and untutored. Not his fault, of course, but I guess he felt, too alien to them.
Dinner went on til nine thirty by my watch, and it was getting somewhat dark. People were stacking up bonfires of wood, and I nodded at Draco.
"Hey, flame boy, I think they might appreciate your help." Draco rolled his eyes at me, and got up, walking towards the nearest stack. As the halflings watched, the dragon inhaled, and blew a small jet of flame at the base of the bonfire. There was a gasp of amazement, and a cheer from a couple of the halflings. Draco turned and let go with a full burst that struck one of the bonfires further away, and after fifteen seconds, all the bonfires were lit, and Draco sat back down next to me, to general applause and cheers.
"They are impressed." I said in Centralite. About a dozen halflings came over, and began to fawn on the dragon. As he sat with his back to the tree, they sat around and on him, asking questions about his fire ability. One female was sitting beside him, stroking his golden chest, and a couple of males were talking about the scales on his legs. Draco seemed not to mind being the subject of a scientific biology lesson, and happily answered the questions put to him.
Javid was lying with his back against another tree, he was talking with the leader of these halflings. I was yet to find out the name of him. Nicolas whispered in my ear.
"Your friends have some amazing abilities, Alduin. What are they all best known for?"
"Draco's the fighter, and being a dragon he has many ways of doing so. Simba is the most proficient medic, he can heal many ailments. Javid is the soldier, tactical and well trained. Salbar is fast and agile. Kodey is the best at getting on with other races. I think and do creative things. I write poetry, draw art, play music, and think."
"But you explore from the stars, there are more?"
"Yes. More than four times the size of your village. From Draco and Silverine, the tallest, to two foot tall G'zara, half as tall as you are. So many races, species and classes. We all do it."
"So who's the one who is here, but not joining in?"
I turned, surprised, and Nicolas nodded, his face impassive." I could see you look up frequently, and you talk into those devices. There is another here, I am right?"
I sighed."That is Silverine. He is our leader, and is large and menacing. He doesn't feel like revealing himself, because he thinks he would intimidate you."
"Does he?" Nicolas asked.
"He intimidates all of us. Take Javid's race, Draco's height, a bird's wings, and you get something that even some of the bravest fear."
"But what of his personality?"
"Much like Draco, although a bit more firm and suspicious. But he is kind and friendly, just, it's as I said."
Nicolas nodded, and the music began again.
There were less dancers now, a lot of them were watching in a large circle, and the sky darkened quite rapidly. The bonfires lit everything well, and I played one more song with the dancers. As the piece finished, I noticed several of the halflings were sidling out of the clearing in pairs. I spoke to Nicolas.
"Where are they going?" The hobbit looked at one pair, and blushed heavily.
"Errr, they're going to enjoy themselves."
"I see."I said firmly, and leaned back with an innocent smile. Nicolas looked at my expression, and then at where my unerect cock was.
"You enjoy it too?" he whispered at me. I smiled.
"All of us do, Draco would gladly have sex with any of you, and I wouldn't mind it either."
Nicolas gave the dragon's shorts a once over, and tried to conceal a nervous grin.
"How big?"
"His? Eighteen inches." I noticed Nephredil was trying not to show she was paying careful attention to this conversation.
"Good grief." Nicolas whistled in appreciation, and Nephredil gave the dragon the same once over. The dragon's hearing was sharp, and he turned to look at the three of us, and caught Nephredil's glance.
"You want to, then?" the dragon asked the halfling, and Nephredil blushed. All those around the dragon looked at him, then her. She looked away briefly.
"Yes, if you wanted to." Nephredil looked shyly at the dragon, and he smiled, and proffered an arm. She walked over, and sat directly on the dragon's chest.
Admittedly, she wasn't the first around the clearing. Many of the halflings were beginning to show a bit less decency and more passion, many of them had cast off most but not all of their clothing.
Loriea and Nicolas were sitting next to me, and at the sight of their band member going off to enjoy the dragon's company, all the others were harbouring the idea of having one of us have sex with them. Kodey was being asked politely by the female who had danced with him, and it was hard to tell which of them was the redder. Javid and Simba both were amongst a couple of halflings, Salbar was not one hundred percent sure of the prospect, but fair enough, and I had my attentions to the two still looking at Draco.
Draco was stripped, with the help of himself and a couple of halflings, and there was an intake of breath from several of the females nearby at Draco's naked body. Salbar was approached by a female, and he replied by allowing her on his back, and he sped up the trees with great haste. Javid was gently playing with a male halfling who, it be admitted, did look a tad worried, feeling the wolf caress his skin. Simba was not entirely keen on having sex here, it was too public for the lion, so he and his female halfling friend walked off into the forest.
I shifted form rapidly until I lay naked, and my clothes on the ground behind me. None of the elves had been watching,but Nicolas and Loriea looked upon me, and my own manhood. Eight inches slightly unerect was impressive to them, and both of them sat down next to me and began unclothing themselves.
Nephredil let out a cry as she was penetrated by Draco's cock, there was not one of their race ever that had seen one so large. The clearing had cleared of about half, and Nicolas and Loreia stood next to me.
There was a look of shyness in Nicolas' complexion, and I caught it.
"How should we three go about it?" I asked the male halfling.
"Errr. I wanted to have sex with Loreia, but if you want to..." he began. I looked at Loreia, and she blushed heavily.
"I would like to, Alduin."
I pulled Loreia onto me, and beckoned Nicolas to follow. He did not get my intention, but I gently pressed my cock against her ass.
She was a tad surprised.
"Alduin? That's not, that isn't," she let out a moan and then a sigh as I entered her. She leaned all the way back on me, her legs across mine, exposing her untouched vagina to Nicolas. Nicolas obviously hadn't heard of the way I was fucking her, but gently thrust into her vagina. Loreia was not used to the sensation I was giving her, but we two males were pleasuring her in a new and more intense way. She lay back on me, and Nicolas was pulled down by her to kiss her.
The male elf was thrusting deeply, and kissing passionately, holding her tightly. Over by Draco, Nephredil was having her vagina stretched by Draco's cock, he was holding her and slowly subjecting her to his full size by gently pushing down. Nephredil moaned consistently, as Draco began positioning some of the other elves. One he tail fucked, another he stroked off with his free hand, a third was on his back, rubbing his spines with his hands, and he was gently licking the entrance to a fourth's vagina. He even graciously used both feet in his dexterous way to stroke yet another, and two were basking in his warmth and making love next to him.
Kodey and the female halfling were in a sixty nine, licking one another's intimates, and Javid was now fucking the male with deep strokes. Salbar and Simba were out of sight, and as for the shady Lupogriff, who knows where he was by now. I was impressed by the others. Draco was currently, and expertly, bringing five halflings to pleasure. Within a minute, Nephredil orgasmed in delight, and soon the howls of the halflings echoed across the clearing as one by one they came to their own climax.
It was only when I saw the dragon's kit bag that I realised why Draco was so involved in getting as many off as possible. Next to his bag was a half empty clear bottle with a clear liquid inside. Once again the dragon had dosed himself with love potion. No one would fuck him tonight, but a lot would be fucked or treated by him. And because of the time change, this was still earlyish morning, he would be content to go through until midday by my watch.
The cries set everyone on edge, it was impossible not to feel sexually excited with the number of howls from everyone. Draco gave a muffled roar, and Nephredil was pulled down by the dragon, and her vagina was flooded by huge amounts of cum, which she couldn't hold. It flowed down Draco, across his chest and legs.
Nicolas and myself were busy fucking Loriea, and she cried in pleasure as she orgasmed. Nicolas also let go, and while I hadn't, I got them both off, and as they sprung into the chaos, began filling six glasses, and then topping them with a bit of love potion.
Draco hadn't seen this, but he, Nephredil and four around Draco were all to happy to accept a drink during a break in proceedings. All the elves had gotten off once, and Draco had tried to make them ejaculate on himself. I made sure the four who got glasses were male, and while Nephredil got off and another female took her place, waited for the love potion to hit the halflings.
It affected them quite quickly. None of them were keen enough to try and fuck the dragon, but two gently coaxed Draco to stroke them off with his hands, which the dragon was all to happy to do. The third sat at the end of Draco's tail, and received the tail in his ass and both the dragon's feet working his cock. The fourth sat down on the dragon's chest, and Draco obligingly gave head, sucking on the halfling's cock. As this happened, Nephredil came over to me, and jumped up, trying to sit on my hips and she spoke desirably.
"Fuck me Alduin!" she whispered urgently. I sat down back against a tree and had the female halfling mount me, riding my cock. She was quite loose from her experience with Draco, and she rode me with the same sort of stamina she showed as a musician. I was exceptionally impressed with these small creatures, they were like human children in the way that just could keep on going, and going.
After the moon had risen high into the sky, and the halflings had grown weary, we finished our sexual intercourse. Draco lay against the same tree, and slept with several of the halflings using his as a pillow. Salbar slept in the trees, Javid a black shape in a dark corner, and Simba I knew not where. I was one of the last to fall asleep, and slept alone, for Nicolas and Loreia slept together, embraced in each other's arms. The bonfires burned low, but did not go out throughout the night.
I was the first to wake the next morning, and looked around the clearing. The weather was sunny and warm, and all the halflings lay in slumber. I woke my fellow companions quietly, and we quickly decided to leave before the halflings woke. Draco prised himself from underneath all those who had kipped on him, and he picked me up and bore me into the trees. Silverine came down, and likewise bore Kodey away, and Javid, Simba and Salbar disappeared into the forest. Silverine, carrying Kodey, led the other three towards another tribe, not ten miles from our position, while we would watch this township from a distance.
Half an hour after we had woken, the first of the halflings had. There was a large amount of surprise and remorse from them, for their friends had vanished during the night. Soon the entirety of those in the woods were awake, and dismayed. Nicolas looked up and around, but me and Draco remained hidden.
The halflings packed up their gear, and walked back towards their village. Draco bore me aloft, and flew higher, flying towards the small village. There was a very large flat roofed building that our glasses confirmed was an inn, and many lesser houses. There was a larger one which I guessed was for the Mayor, and carefully cultivated areas of gardening and livestock. The village was still asleep, and Draco landed the pair of us on the thatched roof of the inn. It had wood underneath, and kept our weight without a creak. I could hear voices in the inn, and I spoke quietly into my mike.
"Apparently the village was not emptied, Simba, did you learn anything?"
"Well, I was told that many did not go into the forest, but not how many or why." the lion replied in my head set.
We lay on the roof, and waited for something to happen.