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In this chapter there are a few topics that some might consider uncomfortable, including violence and sex. The two are _not _in the same scene together, but they both do exist at similar times in the story. The hunt itself is woven into the main narrative, but starts at *Dusk. * The sexual content starts a little after that at *The Dark of Night. * Either way, I hope you enjoy this fourth part of Following The Heart. Also a shout out to Mythril Silver Myth for proof reading my story and putting up with way too many and, or, and buts!

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A Wild Heart

Monday, May 14th, 739 BSO; 3:54 PM

"This will work on me?" Ayo asked.

"It will," The Sightseer replied, looking upon Ayo and Kibwe as they exchanged looks and then tipped the contents of their bronze goblets into their maws. With the concoction drunk, the Sightseer nodded to a subordinate who moved closer to the pair, taking the goblets back and producing two purple-green feathers - feathers belonging to the Sightseer herself.

"When the hunt is completed and you return to your conscious minds, these will be yours. Good luck to both of you," with the last words of ceremony spoke and the prize revealed, Subira led her people away from the two drugged creatures and back to the safety of her temple.

She wasn't entirely sure if they're survive, but if they did, they'd no doubt emerge changed. She did have faith, however, and she wore a smile on her snout as she disappeared back into the bustle of the lower city.

That left Ayo and Kibwe side-by-side, the smaller female filled with unease and a multitude of swirling questions. There was one that was first and foremost, of course, "How long as does it take?"

"Usually? Five to ten minutes tops. The truly resistant can take up to fifteen, and... well," he frowned a bit, "any that take longer than that tend to die to the drug-addled ones if they aren't removed in time." Kibwe explained.

"Oh. Lovely."

The next several minutes were torture for the dilo, who could do little but pace, fidget, and watch the oddly serene Kibwe. As time passed, she replayed the last few moments in her head and kicked herself for not asking a more important question,would she survive?

The question that was even better than that one was: what would she have done if the Seer said no?

But she had no time for doubt despite having literally nothing to do but stand around and fidget. She understood now the saying 'stand around and wait', fully subjected to its unique brand of torture and being unable to do anything. She looked down at her body, expecting some physical sign of it, or perhaps to see something_other_than her blue-purple self. Instead, she was the same as she ever had been. And Kibwe, despite the fact his green eyes were closed, was the same black-feathered male he had always been. He hadn't suddenly grown a second head or grown to twice his size.

Not that she was expecting those results, but when one's mind wanders, it can wander far. To try and give herself a focus, she looked around for the pre-laid tracks and other markers. She could already smell a foreign stench upon the wind, something reptilian and yet definitely not one of the three species of the city.Raptors smell more like birds anyway, she mused.

The footprints, if they were accurate, were massive. Easily the size of an Allosaurus', and with enough of an impression to let her estimate that it weighed more, or perhaps walked upon all fours rather than two.

She was startled out of her revery by a growl to her side, making her nearly jump out of her hide and whip around to find that the noise had come from Kibwe. His eyes were open now, and within was a look that she had never seen before, but it was a look that seemed natural upon his face. His green eyes blazed with something fierce and he was slowly stepping toward her with his jaws parted and saliva running down his bottom lip. Hunger.

She took a step back, ready to run. To flee. To try and get as far away from the primal Kibwe as she could when she suddenly suffered a dizzy spell and blacked out.

She wasn't out for very long, though she couldn't be sure. It could have been minutes, hours, days even - but in truth, it was mere seconds. Her mind felt foggy and detached as if she were looking at herself through a dirty mirror. Kibwe was before her, double her size with fangs barred and yet she no longer felt fear or fright. She hissed back, even as the thinking part of her brain tried to yell - to fight instinct. It was a losing battle and any control she had over herself was lost to the endorphins the drug put on overdrive.

She and Kibwe circled one another, a classic standoff position. The raptor physically outclassed her in nearly every way, yet she didn't back down. She wasn't some hatchling to whimper away from a challenge, she was Ayo of the lower city. She was Ayo of the wilds. So she snarled right back at him and the male before her, Kibwe as much as he was not, was startled by the smaller creature hissing back rather than displaying itself in humility and submission.

He stood a step closer and nipped, his teeth missing her cheek by mere inches. She darted in and did the same toward his thigh, teeth grazing his feathers but not meeting the hide beneath. Eyes met once again and they continued the slow circling of one another. The massive beast and the small, stubborn female who refused to give up.

The posturing and positioning happened for several long moments before Kibwe, seemingly tired of it all, lunged at Ayo with the intention to harm. Ayo's smaller frame and quick reflexes kept her from harm, letting her bob to one side as the larger male's frame flew past. She bit down on his tail, hissing triumphantly as she saw blood leaking upon the black feathers. She stood taller and spat her challenge at the angered male.

Time wasn't a concept either of them understood and for the moment the hunt was forgotten, the two creatures locked in a battle of strength and wills. What light was provided to their underground home by the vents to the upper world was rapidly fading, replaced by the bioluminescent lighting of the jungle. Hazy blues and whites highlighted Kibwe's black feathers and bounced off Ayo's hide, showing red streaks covering both.

Kibwe sported claw marks on his cheek and Ayo had a bite upon her thigh, but it was all superficial; shallow wounds that would heal given time and scarcely leave a scar.

Kibwe lunged once more, that inner animal enraged that such a small creature defied its will when so many others rolled over and exposed their belly. But Ayo stood her ground, ducking toward the side and then lunging back upon the raptor. She found purchase, teeth biting deep into his neck as she grasped onto him with every ounce of muscle she had. Claws bit at his shoulders, talons at his hip, and her teeth at his neck. The twin, serpentine fangs she sported hadn't found purchase, just grazing the skin, but her lower jaw was biting deep and she tasted the iron tang of blood upon her tongue.

Kibwe fought and writhed, trying to knock loose the smaller creature latched firmly upon his back, but to no avail. Eventually, he tried to topple himself backward, to crush her under his weight even though he might harm himself, but Ayo freed herself in time from her grip, merely becoming winded and partially under him, rather than truly trapped. She squirmed free of his black-feathered body and stood before he had regained his balance, then she leaped.

Still half on the ground, Kibwe found Ayo standing over top of him, a taloned paw on his throat and somewhat cutting off his windpipe. He snarled and then that talon pushed in, drawing blood on his throat and the pressure of if denying him breath. He couldn't submit, not to this smaller creature. It was a disgrace, a travesty, something he couldn't accept.

She leaned down and nearly had her snout to him, within biting distance. Hardly able to breathe or not, he could get a good grasp on her snout, force her to relent. But something about her started to calm him. He was still angry that he lost, but he was starting to accept it. To learn that she was one of the few creatures he could show weakness to. It made him want to vomit, to lash out and rage, but he slowly curled his legs together and put his head back, exposing his throat.

He submitted.

The large, 7'04" Kibwe surrendered to the 4'8" Ayo. It would have been comical if there wasn't blood dripping down their bodies. But with the pecking order determined and his submission given, Ayo slowly withdrew her footpaw from his throat. She was wary, as any pack leader should be, but she let him stand on his own; to redeem himself, at least in that regard, rather than boss him upright.

Kibwe practically sprung upright, a rather impressive feat when one considers the thick tail that helped keep him balanced. Ayo had barely returned to being settled as he did so, and her first reaction was to hiss at the male, thinking he was ready to challenge her again.

Instead, his crest lowered and he bowed his head below her own, leaning rather far forward to accomplish such a feat. He was showing his position in the pecking order and she calmed for it. He knew she was above him, and she was satisfied with that knowledge.

She took a few moments to bask in her victory before her stomach rumbled, reminding her of other immediate concerns such as starvation. She doubted she would starve, as her body still had stored fat, but she decided she didn't want to go hungry tonight, either. She hissed a command toward Kibwe, and he responded in kind: hunger.

She lifted her head to sniff at the air, but Kibwe found the scent first. Higher on the pecking order as she may be, she was less familiar with hunting in the wild and she was willing to relent control to him.

For now, anyway.

Date Unknown, Dusk

Kibwe was surprisingly patient with Ayo as the hunt started, perhaps because she had won the fight, or maybe just because he realized the size of the beast they were hunting. Even he would be hard-pressed to kill whatever made those tracks without help. Though what help she could truly give was, perhaps, still up in the air.

Perhaps it was the fact that her kind had never undergone the instinctual trials, but after the initial pecking order phase she found herself unable to truly figure out what to do. There were tracks in the mud pointing in a certain direction, but without Kibwe nudging her hip to redirect her, she'd get turned around. At one point, when she took the point, she led them in a circle much to the exasperation of the male raptor.

So Kibwe started to teach her subtly, nudging her in the right direction or 'accidentally' separating away from her in a way that led her on the right path when she went to get him. Over time she started to learn patterns and those instincts, so long suppressed by her kind, were surging back to the surface with every passing moment. She learned to combine all of her senses, rather than just rely on one. To taste the air as well as examine footprints, or to listen carefully while judging scents.

Eventually, she started to cooperate with Kibwe, directing each other rather than being led. She would find the preplaced tracks leading her in the right direction and he'd sniff to confirm, combining their abilities as hunters to make it that much quicker.

The downside to the fact that her kind had, for generations, been looked over for the instinctual challenge was that their instincts were utterly buried. They were civilized. Domesticated. And it was only by learning from Kibwe that any of those instincts were resurfacing in Ayo. While she could never truly return to being a wild animal, she also knew she'd never be domesticated ever again. The experience woke something within her spirit that could never be returned to sleep.

By the time dim light the moon proved had illuminated the top of the trees the pair of them had at last found their quarry. The creature was resting alongside a pond, dipping its snout into the clear water to swallow great gallons down its throat. Ayo suffered from strange thoughts and memories. There was a hazy remembrance of her hatchling days and seeing odd leaves with drawings upon them. In her youth, they had been used by her parents to scare her away from the jungle and now as an adult, she learned that such creatures weren't always a pure myth.

The creature on the leaves was as large as any of the temple complexes, and it had been a dark, obsidian hue with glowing red eyes that were almost like a flame.

The actual creature before them was rather far from the myth, but no less impressive for that. It was a light blue, a shade that almost reminded Ayo of bioluminescent blues within the jungle; and while it wasn't as large as any of the pyramids within the city, it was easily larger than Kibwe was at the shoulder. It had already started to look like a daunting hunt when the wind shifted, a stale breeze sending their scents toward the very beast they were hunting.

As it shifted with a lumbering growl, Ayo noticed three things simultaneously. The first was that it had a partial spear buried within its hindleg, which would account for the blood they had followed near the end of the artificial trail. The second thing she noticed was that it had an awkward gait, one that she originally linked to the weapon embedded in its leg; but now that she saw it moving toward her she no longer thought as much. Instead, she figured that it was young, a juvenile that hadn't grown fully into its body. That was perhaps the only good news they had.

Since the third thing she noticed was that it was charging at them.

Any chance they had of surprising it went away during the shifting of the wind. Raptors were pack hunters just as much as dilos were, but both of them relied on ambush tactics or long-term bloodletting. Nipping, biting, or otherwise making the creature bleed while it ran until it collapsed of blood loss and exhaustion.

They weren't going to have either of those options, instead forced to take it head-on. Ayo's first, overwhelming instinct was to flee and leave the creature well enough alone. She didn't even know why she was hunting something so large and obviously eager for a direct fight; she would have been better off going after smaller jungle lizards. But while she was momentarily frozen by indecisiveness, Kibwe had no such issues.

He snarled his challenge at the four-legged reptile that was rapidly building up speed and dashed head-long to meet it. That settled Ayo's fight or flight instincts and she rushed in to assist her pack mate, regardless of him being of another species; they both needed a pack and together they were all they had.

Kibwe jumped up, aiming high with the intention to latch on and grasp with fang and claw, but the large reptile merely lowered itself to one side, causing Kibwe to sail harmlessly past him and crash into the muck behind, thrashing in the mud.

Ayo now found herself in the line of the reptile's charge, the thing snarling as_it_ leapt. Ayo used her much smaller size to her advantage, skidding to a quick stop and ducking down, letting the creature's frame sail overhead. Being in close proximity to it, Ayo scented male. It didn't change anything one iota, though it could potentially explain the aggression.

What did change was the way he landed. It wasn't graceful or fluid and, like Kibwe who had now returned to standing, he got caught in the muck alongside the pond. The angry male grunted as Ayo dashed forward, aiming for the male's inner thighs with depressingly little results. The creature's hide was durable, and she barely got in more than superficial slashes along one leg before it freed itself and reared up with a challenging roar.

He then proceeded to slam his body in Ayo's direction and she, too, joined them in the muck. She propelled herself to the side, barely getting herself clear of the male's bulk before it slammed down. While the male reptile was trying to right itself again, Kibwe jumped upon it, jaws aiming for the throat and scythe-like talons upon his feetpaws aiming for its tender belly. It was a classic killing pose but, like Ayo's attack, it did less than desired. Shallow cuts and nicks drooled crimson, but the large reptile that had been pinned in a prehistoric wrestling contest emerged the winner.

Kibwe ended up tossed sideways into the muck with a grunt and a gasp of air leaving his lungs. He kicked a leg, thrashing momentarily in the muck before he settled again with laboured breathing. The slam into the ground had taken quite a bit out of him, and the juvenile reptile took the opportunity, getting himself free of his muddy prison and making his way almost nonchalantly over toward Kibwe, fangs exposed and maw dripping drool.

Thankfully, however, the male creature was inexperienced. He was young and still thought he had something to prove, so he stopped mid-stride with a large paw lifted over the panting Kibwe's skull, all because of a sound that echoed from behind him.

Ayo had bent lower, paws in the muck as she hissed her challenge at the male. The male grunted, lowering his forepaw upon Kibwe with a resounding smack that made Ayo momentarily flinch, but his aim wasn't true and his attention was split between them. Kibwe received, at best, several tender ribs. But he also got a chance to slowly catch his breath and recuperate as Ayo started to keep the reptile's attention

She couldn't harm him. She knew that - her attack had proved utterly ineffective, but she had one thing over him even with the grasping muck around her legs: she was faster. And with the creature's attention fully upon her, she put that to full use in order to give Kibwe time to recover - she just hoped it was a swift recovery.

The male had learned not to broadcast himself quite as much, and Ayo almost dodged in the wrong direction from the get-go, correcting at the last second and feeling the well-muscled tail of the male brush her side as she swiveled around, darting under his belly to leave a bite on a leg. While the wound wasn't anything more than a scratch, the male roared out in agitated pain and attacked with less concentration. Every small cut that Ayo applied, dancing back and forth and slicing at the male's belly or thighs angered him further, leading him to more reckless attacks. No longer was he watching what Ayo was doing and rather he was just attacking blindly.

Ayo's main concern was outlasting the male's stamina. She already felt herself breathing harder and the male before her hardly seemed winded. Angry and annoyed, yes; but he wasn't even breathing quickly. It was also then that she learned that the strange leaf-images were quite true on one detail: the male's eyes did smolder like a fire.

The longer she danced and nipped, the more the exhaustion wore on her. And it cost her at several moments, a smack of a powerful paw catching her shoulder or the creature's thick tail slapping in against her leg. Every part of her was on fire and yet she hardly felt it. She'd never felt more alive than she did at that moment, heart thudding in her chest and tongue lolling partially with the strain of conflict.

Then she saw movement out of the corner of her eyes, from behind the male. The movement almost proved a fatal distraction and Ayo had to move backward, unbalancing herself and tripping into the mud. Her blue-purple hide was now more of that dark, goopy mud than anything else. But that mud also gave her an idea and, from her prone position, she hissed up at the male who responded with a challenging roar of his own, rearing up as he had before.

Ayo's muscular tail slung mud at his eyes. Wide open and rageful, they were suddenly filled with the foreign substance and the reptile roared out in pain while simultaneously losing his balance. He ended up flat on his back, fores clawing randomly at his snout to try and clear the mud and only applying more because of the mud clinging to his forepaws.

It was in that moment Kibwe that took advantage with a snarl of his own. He pounced upon that unprotected belly and where Ayo's teeth and claws had only left shallow divets, Kibwe's scythe-like talon left rending tears. A river of blood flowed from the gashes being left by those talons, all while the reptile started his death scream. The distraction allowed Kibwe not only to tear at the vulnerable belly but to get his jaws around the male's jugular and bite down hard.

Ayo recovered and assisted in finishing off their combined prey, snout diving for his belly. They moved rapidly from attacking the male to starting to open him up, all while the creature shallowly breathed his last.

However, as the reptile lay dying and a potential feast lay before them, Kibwe started to posture above 'his' kill, hissing a challenge once more at Ayo. She was exhausted, hungry, and injured. The last thing she wanted was another fight, and though Kibwe had been injured in the fight, he was still three-feet her greater and much stronger than she. Exhausted though she was, she postured and snarled right back, giving the raptor pause.

The posturing and challenge lasted for several heartbeats before Kibwe's crest lowered and he stepped off of the now-dead reptile, bowing his head lower than Ayo's (which took quite a lot of effort) and giving a submissive chirp. He understood his role in the pecking order for the moment and would not challenge her. As the leader of the hunt, she got the choicest bits - moving in toward the kill with her stomach rumbling...

Date Unknown, The Dark of Night

Kibwe and Ayo were both satisfied, licking the gore from their snouts and claws. Kibwe's pitch plumage was streaked with red, some of which no doubt was his - but he didn't show any pain or irritation. He, like her, seemed to be truly alive in this feral state. No complicated politics, no harem dancing, no brewing war - just two animals having completed a successful hunt, and now basking in the warmth of their victory and meal. Ayo leaned over and nipped at Kibwe's chin, making the perched, larger male growl deep in his chest.

He returned the gesture by way of thumping his head in against her shoulder, knocking her partially one way and eliciting a soft screech of surprise from Ayo, which led to a rasping laugh from Kibwe himself.

She felt hot and flustered far beyond what the sweltering heat of the jungle could ever provide, and she brushed herself against the male with a chirp. She licked along his snout afterward, cleaning it of that tangy taste of iron and before too long Kibwe returned the favor. She got her first surprise then, though she didn't register it at the time: Kibwe's tongue was an inky black rather than the traditional pink. She had been licked by it before, of course, but this was the first time she saw it.

Before long their mutual grooming led them along each other's bodies, exploring in tandem while giving appreciative cries or calls to one another. Kibwe eventually stepped partially behind her and with a shudder; Ayo lifted her tail high, revealing the space under her tail to Kibwe in full. Just like the raptor had said oh so many moons ago, the hunt-addled Kibwe indeed sniffed. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw the same thing as that raptor had.

Kibwe had slipped free of his slit, nose pushed flush with her cloaca and inhaling deeply of the rich, warm scent there. She trembled, lowering her paws into the muck and spreading her legs apart further while watching that monster emerge from between the raptor's legs. If she had any doubts about his heritage, the size of that one organ vanquished them all. His cock, much like his tongue, was inky black as well. If it weren't for the sheer size of it she might have missed it to the darkness and the black of his feathers. But as it was? It was very, very hard to miss.

He was still inhaling deeply for that duration, before, at last, he slowly pulled his snout away. Subconsciously, she was drawn back to that night again,_'He sniffed curiously, yes, but he left all the same.'_She started to have doubts and her tail started to droop.

Her fears, as it turned out, were utterly unfounded.

Less than a heartbeat later, Kibwe did more than just sniff. He pushed his snout back under her tail and that tongue shoved itself inside of her, stretching her wide around the squirming muscle. Ayo's back arched and she nearly lost her balance, chest almost pushing into the muck below as she hissed out her pleasure at being penetrated for the first time. By a tongue, certainly, but that alone was sending sparks of delight up and down her body.

Her feetpaws curled, digging talons into the muck to try and find what purchase they could as Kibwe's tongue squirmed one way then another, making such delightfully squelchy noises in the process. It made Ayo flush, even in her narcotically-addled state, and it just made her long to hear more. To_feel_ more.

She started to roll her hips back, and Kibwe placed a restraining paw upon one. It didn't stop her motions, but it kept her from bucking forcibly back and hitting him repeatedly upon his sensitive snout. Now, instead, she just hit him_occasionally_upon it. And he just seemed all the more eager for that desire, growling against her and causing his tongue to vibrate, which led to even more interesting and intense pleasures. One of her legs lifted for a moment, curling upward as she screeched her pleasure to the sky.

Then Kibwe pulled away. She wanted to hiss at him, to turn around and attack him for leaving her so close. Her whole body was tingling from nose to tail tip, but especially under her tail. Her fears of him leaving her unfulfilled were dashed as rapidly as the fear of him walking away when the large male raptor pounced upon her back. Thankfully, he braced plenty of his weight on the one leg he kept on the ground, even as the other grasped at her thigh with the talons of his footpaw.

Had she been thinking clearly, she might have had a slew of questions rush through her mind, the most prominent of which would be: when did I last lay? Virgin or not, she was an adult. And every female adult went through an egg cycle. She was at the apex of her cycle and her undertail showed as much: puffy, wet, and sensitive. She had every sign of mammalian heat and was effectively in the same stage.

Kibwe grabbed her tightly and her fate was sealed, the male rocking his hips with a possessive hiss against one of her green eye-crests. He traced his tongue over it even as his shaft tip finally kissed up against that swollen entrance. Then, with a snarl of victory and a powerful roll of his hips, he took her virginity and plunged deep into her warm body. She screeched in pleasured pain at his penetration, back arching and her body writhing in his grasp. He grabbed her all the tighter and pressed his weight down upon her frame.

His first thrust had crammed more than half of that impressive girth within her smaller frame, but still more rested outside. Each beat of his heart against her back was mirrored by the pulsing jumps of his shaft, squirting precum deep within her body. His talons bit into her thigh, reopening wounds from the fight against the reptile, but she didn't mind. She hissed her desire and shoved herself greedily back upon him as the discomfort of being stretched so wide started to fade. She wanted more. She wanted him.

He was more than happy to oblige, Kibwe's feathery crest rising atop of his head while his hips pulled back with a lewd slorp of too-tight a space being pulled out of. Then a mutual screech filled the sky as he shoved his hips forward once more, burying up to and beyond what he had before, stretching her deeper. And any reservations or moments of pause had been spent, Kibwe's hips pulling back just to shove forward again and again in their quest to wedge that massive cock entirely under her tail.

With Ayo's greedy plunges backward and her cloaca's giving nature, he might just accomplish that. Not without plenty of effort, however, and both Kibwe and Ayo worked plenty hard to accomplish that goal. With each firm roll of Kibwe's hips or shove of Ayo's back at him, it seemed more and more likely that she would be able to fit him entirely. When it finally did happen, the pair cried out together.

Kibwe's screech was one of pure pleasure, having himself engulfed utterly in something tight and wet, radiating heat around his flesh. Her own screech was one of pleasure, yes, but the sting of being filled so utterly was there as well, adding a delicious sort of counterbalance to the pleasure that made it all the better. Her cloaca and his met in an X, wedged firmly up against one another as Kibwe sat still and relished in the feeling of being fully hilted.

He stayed still for several heartbeats, basking in the fact he was hilted slit-deep in something so welcoming. Her inner walls gripped and squeezed, stroking like a velvety glove up and down his cock and making it just leak more of that messy precum in the process. By this point, Ayo could feel the mess leaking down one of her inner thighs and she merely relished in it, knowing that it was created purely by Kibwe's desire for her. His want.

Moments later and he showed that want in full, his body reasserting its hold on hers with his arms wrapping around her waist and taloned footpaw digging in tighter upon her thigh. The iron tang of blood joined the vast multitude of scents on the edge of the pond, but the overwhelming one filling her nose was of Kibwe. Kibwe who now started to grunt and hiss in pleasure as he pulled back and then sharply hilted into her. Again and again and again.

Even though his motions were short, hardly moving back, their size difference meant that she was feeling five-to-six inches sliding in and out of her, rather than just the two or three that a raptor might. It was enough to make her mind go numb, overwhelmed by pleasure. Even the strength of her legs started to give out under Kibwe's rapid rutting, her body starting to wobble underneath his and her legs buckling, toppling her into the muck with a screech.

Kibwe toppled with her, adjusting himself to take some of the force of impact as they both ended up in the mud. But he never stopped, hips rolling at an angle and now having to use that powerful tail of his to achieve momentum. Half in the mud and with Kibwe's weight above and all around her - and of course, his cock throbbing inside of her - Ayo had never felt more wanted. She felt she must be disgusting to look at, thoroughly saturated in mud and coated in streaks of copper, and yet Kibwe lapped at her cheek or bit possessive on her cheek.

He shifted after too much longer, standing partially back up and planting his foot firmly upon her back, pinning her in the mud as he ravished her body. Ayo lifted her head to look back over her shoulder and she could see the black flesh sliding underneath her tail, sending shivers of desire sparking down her spine as much as feeling it inside of her caused.

It was something about all of that that finally tipped her entirely over the edge, her head craning back and exposing her throat as she screeched her pleasure to the night sky, voice echoing out into the canopy of jungle overhead. Her inner walls clenched painfully hard around Kibwe and he hissed in painful delight, wedging himself deeper and proving that even he had limits to his stamina. Her release not only squeezed down on Kibwe, but it also parted wider the entrance to her oviduct - her equivalent to a mammalian womb. Her body was preparing itself for what he was about to give her.

And give her he did. He let out a screech of his own, his muscular tail pushed downward as his hips surged forward, giving him the momentum in that odd position to once more achieve that X crossing of their slits. Hilted fully in her and trembling above her, he climaxed. To her, it felt like a rushing river, a torrent of fluid spraying into her. Nearly instantly she felt a backwash of it squirting out and coating her undertail and his groin. But even more of it eagerly coated her oviduct, millions of sperm swimming their way toward unfertilized eggs.

Ayo had no idea how long they lay there for, Kibwe's tail twitching in an up-and-down motion with each new spurt of potential life he pumped into her body. For the entire duration she laid still and enjoyed the warmth flowing into her. It was almost a shame to her when his climax tapered off and he pulled out, the sound of it sending shivers of delight down her spine. It echoed with a wet, gooey slorp that ended with a splattering of fluids onto the mud and coated her inner thighs even further.

Thankfully, her addled mind thought,_I'm only inches from a river._Reduced to being a feral or not, reeking like sex would not be an optimal way to survive. As much as, for the moment, she nestled in against him and enjoyed that stench about herself. It was arousing, welcoming, and more importantly - reminded her as much as the ache under her tail did that it was all very real.

Too content, too tired, and too full to want to move very far, the two sought out the closest area to their kill that would still be remotely 'safe'. It wasn't much, just a dense section of canopy overhead that shielded them from prying eyes and the elements. It was enough, however, for the pair of them to relax while pressed close together, hide-against-feather, and drift off to sleep.

Thursday, May 17th, 739 BSO; 11:22 AM

Neither Ayo nor Kibwe seemed wanting to wake up from their persistent, feral dream. Any time the drug would start losing its hold on them, the other would chirp and trill and bump against them, and they'd forget_why_ they needed to be anything other than animals. In the timeframe of three days, Ayo had discovered a small opening in the jungle floor that could (barely) fit both of them and converted it into a crude den.

They hunted, they fucked, and they survived. For two and a half days they were animals and neither of them wanted to go back. But all good things eventually had to end, and it was just as Kibwe and Ayo finished eating a jungle monitor that their shared dream shattered apart. It was that morning that Subira Sightseer and several of her clan found the pair in the jungle, and laced a fresh carcass with the antidote for the narcotic. Specifically that of a jungle monitor.

Waking up from that state of mind was a lengthy, hazy process - and both Kibwe and Ayo were sick more than once. By the time they had come to, however, the Seers fully entered the picture.

Kibwe, perhaps more in touch with that feral side of himself than any other raptor, growled and postured at Subira, recognizing her faintly as a rival pack leader, but not understanding the true significance of her arrival. Ayo had recovered faster than Kibwe and while Kibwe had postured at her originally since her behavior had radically changed, the animal he was recognized that she was his mate. So he just rubbed up against her.

Now, as Subira stayed calm before the posturing, aggressive Kibwe, Ayo just stroked his side calmingly, speaking gentle words to him until he slowly calmed down, or at least relaxed enough that he wouldn't jump at the first small motion.

"Every hunt he is the same. The fastest to fall under the sway of the narcotic and the hardest to wake back up again," Subira spoke, waiting patiently while the guards behind her eyed Kibwe warily, keeping the tips of their throwing spears aimed toward him.

Ayo watched as Subira waved her paw toward one of her subordinates who, carefully and slowly, took a step forward. Kibwe tossed a sidelong glance at him and took a step in front of Ayo as if trying to keep himself between the intruders and the dilo. The Seer sent forward tossed a look back at Subira, as though requesting permission to step back, but he was just urged forward. Like every Seer he had a physical deformity, and now that Ayo was educated about such things she noticed that he was missing one arm, cut off at the elbow.

His other arm, however, was holding something. At first, Ayo thought it was his own feather of the hunt that had fallen low on his wrist, but upon looking again Ayo saw two feathers and two bands. One that was a mottled blue and wrapped securely around the Seer's wrist, and another that was now extended out in offering to Ayo - a single purple feather with green outlining. One that had belonged, no doubt, to Subira originally but now belonged to_her_ as a reward for surviving.

The first dilo to ever receive one.

Subira had another to offer Kibwe, but for the moment she knew better than to try and do anything of the sort. Kibwe was slowly coming out of that state of mind, but it was a slow process - his every fiber fighting against it. Subira knew, however, that she couldn't stay out here in the jungle until Kibwe fully got over it, "Ayo, do you think you can convince him to follow us?"

It was a simple question with a hard answer in theory, but as it turned out, when applied in practice it was a very simple thing - where Ayo walked, Kibwe followed almost like a lost lizard-pet. So Ayo kept her distance from Subira's group while still following their tracks, an ability she would never have had prior to the hunt, and Kibwe stayed by her side. She was glad to have him, now that she knew what dangers lurked in the jungle.

And it just made her want him all the more.

Thursday, May 17th, 739 BSO; 1:56 PM

Kibwe had one hell of a hangover. He was holding the side of his head while groaning, listening half-heartedly to an update of recent events from the council of his Clan. Ayo, who had recovered much faster, decided to attend the Council this time and - by and large- speak on behalf of Kibwe. She doubted he could do more than grunt at the moment with how miserable he looked.

Subira's quick retreat from the jungle and back to her own pyramid made perfect sense when Ayo learned that the war had broken out in earnest. The Feather Clan now backed the Tuk, and the Seers were on the backstep. Currently, the fighting was largely in the shared sections between the various temple complexes, but some had spilled into different Clan territories. Specifically the Claw's.

The Claw, surrounded as they were by Feather, Talon, and Tuk, had lost the lower two floors of their eight-step pyramid. They were holding on to the remaining six, but their distance from the Seer's and their smaller numbers ensured that they had a hard time truly breaking out of their siege. Not that the Tuk and their allies had taken those floors without bloodshed, oh no.

What the Claw lacked in numbers they made up for in specialists. If the Raptors had a type of 'assassin', then the Claw certainly fielded them. The Great Prophet's commanding general, Chike Tuk'Heart (literally, Sunheart) was assassinated during a victory feast held on the bottom of the Claw's complex.

Chike also happened to be the Prophet's eldest son and most likely heir.

As a result of all of these changes, Subira was once more trying to rally the Heart to her cause. While Kibwe was gone with Ayo, she had used that time to convert large portions of the Council to her whim. And now all of them rallied toward the cause of war.

By the time the Council let out, Ayo shared Kibwe's headache, if for a different reason. It was hard to silence the crowd when they were all demanding blood. But with Kibwe's explicit okay, the Clan stayed neutral and the war continued with just five of the six clans involved.

For the Tuk that was fantastic news, as the Heart was the largest and most well-respected Clan, regardless of what Kibwe's personal choices were.

For the Seers, that neutrality could mean destruction in the long-term.

Thursday, May 17th, 739 BSO; 8:56 PM

Ayo had spent the rest of the day catching up with her friend, Yeva, and discussing the details of her hunt. She wore the band with her singular feather proudly on her wrist, almost as a way to rub it in the raptor's faces. 'See?' it said to all of them, 'I can finish a hunt, too!'

Yeva, of course, wanted_all_of the details, and after an initial hesitation and some back peddling, Ayo finally caved and started telling her the more explicit details. When she told Yeva only of her first time, the gold-feathered raptor merely gave her an exasperated look, "You were alone with a sexually repressed male for three days. You did_not_ only fuck once. Spill it!"

So Ayo found herself describing the next morning on the shoreline. And in the grass of the jungles. And again in the den. And once more in a shallow river. Then...

By the end of it, Ayo was beet red and Yeva was clapping her paws together while laughing. "Wow! I knew Kibwe had physical stamina, but now_I'm_ jealous. My harem leader can barely go twice in one day before he is done!"

Ayo, still radiating heat, shoved her friend over and the two ended up getting into a mock fight. During one motion, Ayo saw a momentary look of desire on her friend's snout and it brought up a slew of questions that she didn't even want to try and figure out. Thankfully, she didn't have to as the beaded tapestry that served as a 'door' to her room was opened.

Kibwe stood within the arch with a quirked brow, "Well now, if I knew I was going to get to see two nice tails when I was visiting, I would have come sooner," he offered with a whistle. It was Yeva's time to flush and she crawled off of Ayo and bowed her head to her superior, apologizing before quickly darting out of the room to leave to the two alone.

Ayo, at least, had time to recover from her embarrassment and instead of being beet-red, she was instead only partially flushed, stepping off her bed and embracing her mate. And lover. Though there were questions there, too, that had never gone answered: did he truly see her as a lover?

Or was it just the animal within?

She got her answer, or at least a pseudo form of it as he leaned down and did something he never did while drugged: forced his lips upon hers in hunger. She found herself melting in against his frame and wrapping her arms around him before she was being guided backward. The sound of vials smashing to the ground as her tail hit one of the tables in the room brought them to pull apart, panting. She smelled his arousal on the air.

But he held back, at least for now, shaking his head and clearing that primal look of desire that had crossed his features. That had made his green eyes flare. "I didn't come here to bend you over your belongings," Kibwe spoke, "I promise."

"What I did come here for was to invite you to live with me-with me, not just in the same complex, but in my personal chambers. You have a feather now," he flicked hers with the tip of a claw, causing the purple-green feather to sway back and forth. "The Council no longer can have any complaints."

Aside from her race, of course.

But neither of them cared about that, and now that the Council had nothing_but_ her race to argue upon, Kibwe could care less; tradition was satisfied, even if he had grabbed it by the snout and rearranged it more into something he desired.

Ayo tossed her arms around Kibwe and answered by way of kissing him deeply, causing the male before her to growl out in desire. When they pulled away, that spark was back in his eyes and he brushed a taloned paw along her hip, "But I wouldn't be against bending you over something." Ayo merely replied by turning around and pushing her backside in against his groin, his body slowly leading hers forward, toward the now vial-cleared table...

Thursday, May 17th, 739 BSO; 9:42 PM

Ayo was walking slightly funny and she knew it, but she honestly couldn't care less. Kibwe was beside her and his feathers still held her scent. It was a reassuring thing as they walked up the spiral steps of the pyramid, toward the top floor. The tenth floor that held Kibwe's personal chamber.

They had paused just long enough to wash off before departing, though Ayo knew it wasn't a truly thorough bath, just a slight splashing of water. Even now she felt stickiness under her tail, but anyone on the way up that might have shown curiosity or disgust was quickly detoured by a glare from Kibwe.

When they finally reached the outside entrance to the tenth floor, Kibwe had to pause outside to withdraw a key from a flower pot beside the door. It was so cliche that it was comical, and Ayo couldn't help but laugh, much to Kibwe's chagrin. However, the moment he opened the door Ayo's laugh was cut off by stunned silence.

She had seen the blueprint, of course, but it hardly did the chamber justice. It was as big as her shop and her parent's house_and_ her current room all put together, with space to spare. It was dominated by a large, circular bed, one that Ayo assumed was meant to be shared by a large harem. Another corner of it was dominated by pillows and soft blankets, and that area looked more lived in than the bed.

A book, several burned out candles, and scraps of bone were scattered around that area, giving Ayo a clear impression that that was where Kibwe slept. He hadn't quite turned the large chamber into a bachelor pad, but Ayo certainly thought that he had to be inadvertently trying.

She also saw that a fix to all their problems was there, and she shoved Kibwe once her eyes roamed over it. He looked at her, momentarily confused, before giving a soft, chest-vibrating chuckle. He had a full, stone bath that was easily as large as her current bedroom. If the horny male had just waited another half hour, she could have been perfectly clean!

Oh well.

"This is a lot of space for just two people," Ayo commented after a moment, still soaking in all the details. A small library, aligned with more books than Ayo had ever seen. Trophies lined every wall, showing different creatures of the jungle that the Heart clan had hunted over long periods of time. She even saw a head that mirrored the one she hunted back on Monday, but larger.

Kibwe stepped up behind her again and she felt the weight of something thick and hot in against her hip, "Just gives us plenty of space to use..." Ayo was sorely tempted to give in again, feeling her body warm up at the heady scent of arousal in the air. But instead, she swatted his hip playfully and shook her head, "I can't. I promised a friend in the lower city that I'd meet him. Early."

She turned as Kibwe slowly, reluctantly let go, and for once she saw him aroused in full without him being behind her. The black flesh of it was thick, easily as wide as her wrist, and ended in a narrow taper. One that, even now, was leaking a steady stream of precum. She guessed he wasn't more than half-aroused, and yet she knew he was as large as any dilo was at full mast. She shivered, steeling herself against the wanton look in Kibwe's eyes.

"No. Bad raptor."

He blinked and then laughed, shaking his head slowly. "Only you can get away with saying 'no'... I think that is what I like most about you. The first time we met, do you remember?"

She did, faintly. She recalled more or less just staring at him. She wondered if she drooled any - the females around him certainly had, from both ends in some cases. "Faintly? It was a busy day."

"I remember it quite clearly. You had approached me to introduce yourself, only to be interrupted by a raptor. Any other dilo would have let that slide, bowed themselves submissively and waited patiently. Or even stepped away. Not you, you interrupted right back."

"So you like me for being stupid?"

"No. I love you for being stubborn and having a spine to stand up to others. Why do you think I submitted to you in the jungle? I recognized you as stronger in_will_, not in body."

"Calling me weak now?" she tossed back with an arch of a brow. If she didn't have to get up early to see Broth... she groaned. Stupid responsibilities. She wanted to show her mate just how 'weak' she was, but she decided that could wait until another day.

"Also, please don't have me followed by a guard tomorrow, Kibwe?" She hoped she wasn't giving it all away by saying that, but she knew any guard following her would report back that she was giving information to an Allosaurus. If she didn't love her brother, she would have ignored the whole silly meeting. She had, after all, already missed their first in all of the commotion. Hopefully, Broth didn't take it personally.

"Why?"

"Because he, um - she's not comfortable with raptors," she decided to change the gender, wondering if doing so might make Kibwe less suspicious. "You know how the lower city is."

He paused and then gave a slow, long sigh before nodding his head, "I do, sadly. Very well. I'll let the guard know in the morning. For now?" he made his way toward the rows of pillows and blankets before pausing with a frown, "I guess I should start sleeping in the bed, shouldn't I?" part of him, perhaps, felt as though he didn't deserve the bed. After all, he had no harem prior aside from Ayo. Or, perhaps, he just found it more comfortable.

Either way, Ayo gave him a playful shove toward the blankets, crawling her frame overtop of his after he mock-fell into them with a put-on grunt. Once overtop of him, she dragged her tongue slowly up the black feathers of his belly and chest until bumping her snout to his own. "Here looks comfortable enough.

Turns out - foreplay, when done right, could last a while, too.

Friday, May 18th, 739 BSO; 11:22 AM

Ayo hated herself. She said she needed to go to bed earlier and had told Kibwe no sex. That happened to stay true, but part of her wished they_had_ just fucked. Instead, they spent the better part of an hour or two licking, touching, fondling and getting each other utterly riled up before falling asleep - Kibwe hard as stone and her soaking wet.

So, needless to say, she was exhausted even as she approached the meeting with Broth an hour late. Kibwe had kept his word, though, and not a single guard followed her out of the complex. There were raptors going in and out of the lower city, of course, but none that looked to be following her. All the better, considering she was likely to blow up at them due to a combination of being unsatisfied last night and being completely exhausted this morning.

Broth, as it turned out, was sitting patiently for her. He even had a meal for her on the table, one she didn't know she wanted until her belly rumbled at the sight of it. If he was going to pay for food for a change, Ayo had no complaints and tucked into the meat soup that was there. It was slightly cold, a sign that she had indeed been late, but it was still there and that was all that mattered.

When she had slurped down the last of the meat, she started to talk rapidly. Broth, who hadn't said a word, continued to be silent - eyes roaming back and forth as Ayo described everything she had heard. The war, the Clan alliances, the loss of the lower floors of the Claw temple. She put a bit of information about herself, too, showing the feather on her wrist proudly.

That one got an answer, brief as it may be, "I'll be damned. Those featherbrains can change - when it suits them."

She was just finishing up what the hunt entailed, without going into real details about what_she_did, when Broth snarled at her. "You were followed."

Ayo had no idea how. There was no guard, and looking around she still saw no raptor sporting a spear nor cloak of the Heart house (or any of the others, for that matter). It was only after blindly looking around that Broth grabbed her snout and directed it toward the one raptor she seemingly missed. An oddity since she generally was the hardest to miss.

The gold feathers of her body had been dyed all brown, making her indeed quite invisible. But Ayo recognized her snout that was hanging open in mild shock. Kibwe had indeed told the guards not to follow her, but it seemed another had in their stead.

Yeva.