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My name is Xitoctli. I hatched on Secto Voris II-04 in a clutch of six. I’m an Avian, one of the most common races in the universe. We’re all a little different. I’m bright blue, similar to neon but without the glow. I have soft feathery hands, not talons. My eyes are a deep, twinkling black, and I’m perhaps a little large for an Avian; coming in at three and a quarter units tall and 28 units heavy.

My parents were proud Grounded settlers, my mother was a sweet beak that worked her tail-feathers off for us chicks. She was a soft pink beautiful bird, with feathery hands like me, and always kind to us kids. My father was a bit stern. He was large, imposing, and had sharp talons and a sharper beak. Both were traditionalists, raising us to be very formal. We were prim and proper little chicks, and I grew into a prim and proper hen. It might seem strange for Grounded like us to be so conservative in our speech and manners, but my father was the leader of the village Aerie so those rules applied to everyone.

We had our own unique traditions back home. Personal freedom was valued more than anything, but next was proper politeness and protocol. I haven’t found any Avian colonies regulated quite like ours was, but maybe that’s why it’s not around anymore. It was on a strange little planet where the rain was comfortably warm and the wind was wonderfully free. We had regular gravity storms during which you could easily jump three to four times as high as normal, if you were lucky. When we were chicks we would play in them and pretend to fly.

Once, I managed to jump high enough during one of those storms that I really did think I was flying. I just kept floating higher and higher, staring out to the horizon in amazement as I flapped my little arms. I thought that I could float right up and touch our pink sun. I’m sure little me looked hilarious, hope in my eyes while flailing about like some cuckoo. Somewhere deep down all Avians want to fly, but that specific memory haunted my dreams for years to come. I just knew that I specifically was meant to fly. It felt so natural, so wonderfully right.

Truth be told, my only real goal in life was to actually fly one day. It was such a cliché dream for an Avian, hardly befitting of the young hen that was going to lead the new Aerie. But that’s how it was. I always strutted about with my feathers puffed up, but really I was just another normal Avian pretending to be better than she was. I still am, but I hardly think that’s something to be ashamed of anymore. If I needed to feel shame, I have far better reasons than secretly being normal.

My parents were loving, each in their own way, and both were incredibly encouraging in my studies. I was the most driven chick from our clutch, and I quickly grew into a very capable young hen. I tried very hard to be the smartest, most well liked, and quickest young bird in the village; I daresay I succeeded. If I had been born a male, maybe I’d have been the strongest as well. I was full of myself, but rightfully so. To top it off, I am quite the pretty bird. At least that much hasn’t changed. I still have a small sweet beak like my mother, a tall firm build like my father, and strong clean white downy feathers over my front, neck and face. I’m not exotic or anything, my physical features fall well within the median ranges by every metric. In many ways that’s what beauty is.

My father and mother had been Pair-bound from a young age, and pushed me to do the same so they could have grand-chicks. If you’re not an Avian, that won’t make much sense. Pair-bonding is an Avian thing. We are monogamous race by nature, and it’s difficult to form a romantic attraction outside of your Pair-bond. Once you pair bond, you and your partner are more one creature than two. It’s complicated, there are lots of rules about proper procedure, but it’s quite normal for us to Pair-bond. Some begin bonding when they are only chicks, and simply know who they will grow old together with.

I was not so lucky.

Even though I had suitors, I never found one that met my unreasonable expectations. I was arrogant, and had impossible standards. I was the daughter of the village leaders, and I was cleanly more capable than any of my peers. I remember one suitor that would bring me detailed works of art, pictures he’d made of me out of oils and clay. Secretly I’d been impressed at his skill, I even fancied him for a while, but I’d refused his advances out of principle. I’d justify it by measuring his paintings in the value of their ingredients—paper, colorful ground rocks, oils, and fats—and then reasoning that his gift was worthless. He always took it in stride and tried to do better, coming back with a more intricate and detailed picture the next week. He kept trying right up until the day I left. I was, and still am, quite dumb. I just hadn’t realized that about myself yet.

If I could go back in time, I’d give him everything he wanted and more. I’d throw our protocol and traditions to the ground, drag his fluffy feathered tail into my room and dig my claws into him before he had the chance to even ask what was happening. I’d ride him until he passed our, and then do it again as soon as he woke up. We’d be bound forever and I would have lived a normal life with my mate, with lots of pretty little chicks.

I’m a little more honest with myself nowadays, and understand the value of what he was offering. It wasn’t really the paintings that he was offering to woo me. They were the only way he could communicate what he really had to give. It was his devotion. It was the hours he’d spent slaving over every minute detail on it. What he was offering me was, in many ways, love.

I’ve experienced love many times over my life, but I’d never receive love like that again. The folly and arrogance of youth is both admirable and its greatest flaw.

I’m definitely not young anymore and I’m not arrogant about my intellect either. If anything, I’ve realized that I’m usually the dumbest bird in the room.

I am, however, wiser. For instance, I have experienced what it means to be Starbound.

Maybe I should specify, just in case the translator isn’t working correctly, or you are finding this and you aren’t yet a Starbound race. Grounded is a political faction within my race, the Avians. It’s also a bit of a world-view on how we should treat ourselves and other races. The phrase “Starbound” is more of a destination. Starbound means that I have left my race’s home planet, Avis 1, and found my fate amongst the stars. Even if I ever decided to settle down on some rock somewhere, I’ll always be Starbound. It’s just who I am.

I have thought about going home to Secto Varis II, though. I’m sure my Captain would take me, but I doubt anyone there would remember me. It’s not the colony it was when I left, and that’s sure to be my fault. Just a long list in the horrors I’ve been party to in my past. I’ve done some good stuff too though. I try to balance it out here and there.

I’m staunch in my beliefs now, but I’ve wavered to the other side before. I think I’ve mentioned how I so desperately wanted to fly? The other faction in my race is more of a cult really, but they are led by the Stargazers. I joined up with them for a while to learn to fly. A Stargazer came to my planet, seeking converts to worship Kluex, the Avian god of Flight, Justice, and Law. As a Stargazer, he claimed to know the secret of flight.

When the Stargazer came, my parents simply refused to meet with him; all the elders did the same. But how could I not? His feathers were a creamy white with yellow fringes and his words carried with a mellifluous tune. He had talons like my father, but they were longer and more alien in a way. I was instantly smitten by this exotic stranger. Not only was he strangely beautiful, he was also incredibly intelligent. He knew all the ancient legends of our people and many that I’d never heard of before. He preached about Kluex, about our destiny, about how I could achieve flight. I’d never met someone like him before. I instantly knew that I wanted him as my Pair-bound. I signed on to the Cult of Kluex blinded by the hearts in my eyes.

I went to his lessons, only half listening to the words while drowning in his lilting song. Instead of memorizing our history, I dreamed of the life he and could I live together. His pale complexion and sweet words would compliment my beautiful cyan hued feathers and dulcet voice. He was easily the most confident and intelligent male I’d ever met, even more so than my foolish and indignant father. More importantly, he was rich as well!

His ship alone was impossibly valuable! He’d come across the stars on a ship made of Aetherstone and powered by four Avolite crystals, each the size of my room. I’d only seen the small Avolite torches my parents had kept as relics from their past and used to power the colony. They were little fist sized rocks that pulsed red in strange energy. His ship had more Avolite in one engine than most star systems had. The longer I listened to his lectures, the more I became determined to Pair-bond with him. To my delight, he had noticed me as well. I often found him finishing his prayers to Kluex with secretive glances in my direction.

If only I’d seen the odd wrinkles under his faded feathers, noticed the faint warbling in his voice, or the shivering in his stance. I’d never met an immortal before, so I simply hadn’t known to look for these things. He wasn’t young like me, or even old like my parents. He was ancient. Whatever color his feathers had once been, they were bleached white and yellow by the light of eons. The Stargazer’s Aetherstone ship was older than even our history as Starbound Avians, and he was likely just as old. He’d been to thousands of planets just like mine. He’d seen hundred of starstruck young hens, just like me. And just like me, he’d taken them with him on his journey.

I thought he would become my Pair-bound. I thought he was an Avian, like me. I was naive. I was young. I was wrong. I was dumb, and I didn’t know it. My naivety did earn me two very important things, though. It purchased me passage across the stars, and some very hard earned wisdom.

The first lesson I’d learn from him was the power of a leader. All my peers looked up to me, and when I joined the Cult of Kluex, so did they. Sadly, the first was my devoted suitor. I’m sure he was blinded by me in the same I was was blinded by the Stargazer. Our elders didn’t stop us, personal choice was one of our colonies core beliefs. It was one of the Grounded’s core beliefs as well. Personal choice was not a belief for the cult. Kluex demanded converts. Failing that, Kluex demanded sacrifices.

We all had grown up knowing of the Cult of Kluex, it’s ruled for most of Avian history. But knowing of something and finding something in your home are very different situations. I know of stars, for instance. However, if I found a star in my room then I would have innumerable problems.

The Stargazer had quickly identified me as an important figure for the youth, even if I hadn’t understood that. He’d used me to get to my friends, my brothers and my sisters. Quickly enough, we’d been turned against our parents, and it had been entirely my fault. I hadn’t understood ideological differences before, but once Kluex had taken hold on that colony it was only a matter of time before they started building shrines and demanding converts—or else.

I don’t know why the elders didn’t stop us. Perhaps they were testing the integrity of the colony against the tyranny they’d fled. If so, it failed and it was my fault. I honestly doubt my parents lived much longer after I left. They would have been excellent targets for the young seeds of the Cult that I helped spread. I like to think they left on some other starship soon after myself, and found a nice garden planet to settle down on. That’s one of many lies I tell myself before I can sleep at night. Speaking of things that keep me up at night, let me tell you about my first time traveling between the stars.

The Stargazer decided it was time to leave during one lesson, and the next day we were boarding. The young cult stayed, but I had been chosen to be his acolyte. I would accompany him on his journey, and travel with him to an established colony of the Cult of Kluex to continue my studies. My disappointed parents didn’t come to see me off, but my friends in the cult did. Even my suitor showed up, following me to the airlock and begging me to stay. He tried to give me one more picture, this time of me and him. I’d refused, leaving him standing numbly outside the door.

My first interstellar flight wasn’t one of glorious freedom like I’d dreamed, but one of strange and shameful captivity. I didn’t even have time to look out the window. The moment the airlocks had shut, The Stargazer taught me my first lesson as his acolyte. It was how to “spread my wings.” We were probably still on the ground when he’d removed my clothes, pressed me against the cold stone walls and filled me with himself as he screeched in triumph. It was my first time experiencing anything like that. I thought it was normal. It was a long time before I realized how clucked up everything about it had been.

I remember feeling the rumble in the ship as the engines turned on, the air-locks clicking as they de-pressurized and his pale eyes narrowing on me like a predator. His computer beeped aggressively as the autopilot engaged its pre-flight, and I’d felt a brief moment of panic as he approached. He was slightly larger than me, if scrawnier, and I’d never felt physically intimidated by another Avian like that before. I was used to being the one intimidating my peers. I was used to being in charge in my groups, or at least meeting challengers. I couldn’t tell why he was suddenly so aggressive, he wasn’t challenging me and I certainly wasn’t challenging him. There was no question between us who was in charge.

“Stargazer, what is it that you need of me?” I’d nervously asked him. I was always formal, even though I was suddenly fearful. His unblinking gaze froze me, leaving my arms dangling helplessly to my side while I couldn’t look from his pale yellow eyes as he confidently reached for my shoulders with both talons.

When he spoke, it was with a calm authority. “Until you ascend, your feathers will be unfettered by cloth.” He emanated an aggressive energy, one I’d never felt before. It made my heart flutter, and I had no immediate answer or response. When I failed to respond, he grabbed the neck of my shawl, using his talons to rip the top part of ceremonial robe in half with surprising ease before discarding what had been my nicest top thoughtlessly on the floor.

My fearful and fluttering heart suddenly began to heavily thump and threatened to come out my throat as I quickly covered my now exposed breasts. The engines shook as the autopilot tested them, the rumbling and shaking alarmed me further. I panicked, fear and confusion seeping into the formal speech that I desperately clung to. “Stargazer, only Pair-bound may be as this!”

He didn’t respond, only tilted his head slightly sideways as he leered at my now exposed breasts. I formally plead with him, still not realizing the nature of his assault. The engines died down again, so I naively tried to emphasize my displeasure. Perhaps he hadn’t heard me over their roar. “That action is unwelcome, please avert your gaze!”

I stepped nervously backward and he followed, his eyes still focused on my chest. I stepped back again, quicker, and froze when I slapped into the airlock. He followed, confidently taking a half-step to be right in front of me. I still couldn’t look away as he placed his claws down my now uncovered sides, and rested them at either side of my loincloth. His gaze lowered further, sliding down my body until it settled at my waist strap.

I wanted to slap his talons off me, to protect myself in some way. I still respected him and planned to be with him, so I dared not defy him so early in our trip; however I couldn’t leave my bare chest uncovered either. This experience was unheard of for me. On our colony, individual privacy and agency was an ingrained right. I couldn’t fathom a reason for his actions, nor an appropriate response. My rambling nervous thoughts and scheming ground to a halt when he spoke with icy surety.

“I shall teach you to how to fly.”

His normally melodic voice oozed with a craven hunger, and my loincloth ripped apart from either side with a snap and a long tear. The life support beeped to life, and a breezy air-current swirled around us. I refused to believe what had just happened and simply couldn’t look down as I felt the cool breeze on my inner thigh. The Stargazer had no such reservations, and I was dumbstruck by his eyes as they blatantly and greedily drank in my once sacred flesh. I gulped, terrified and completely unsure of what to do.

I’d been raised to be formal. He was the authority, one I must respect. He wasn’t just any authority either, he was a Stargazer—one who guided even the high priests of Kluex. But the conservative traditions that I’d zealously followed since being hatched were being aggressively disrespected. It wasn’t as if they were unknown to him either, he lived with us for a significant time before we left. I battled myself over the value of my morals, my devotion to authority, my own personal goals, and the reality of his strong, sharp talons.

He raised one talon to my face, gripping my beak gently as he leaned forward until we were beak to beak. The other talon lightly traced the air currents I now felt in between my legs, settling firmly on soft feathers I’d never shown let alone shared with another. “All hens must learn to spread their wings before they can fly.”

I couldn’t answer as he held my beak shut. I only watched his eyes, focusing on the black orbs as the ship rumbled once more around us. His talons were cool, sharp, and strong. Neither of us moved for a moment, and then he gently pulled my beak open. He kissed me. The ship rumbled again as the engines whined to life once more, preparing to climb through my tiny planet’s atmosphere. It tingled when he put his beak to mine. I felt a small warm shock spread from his hot, wet tongue into mine and then down my spine. It shook me to the core, and my arms fell softly back to my side as his lower talon softly stroked me down below, dipping beneath my downy feathers to gently part my flesh.

It was then that realized that I could not stop him. I was actually relieved when I realized it. All those options that had paralyzed me suddenly condensed down to one easy to understand script. I remembered one of his lessons, about the dangers of freedom and the soothing reality of knowing your place. At that moment, the airy philosophical sermon from days prior became my reality. I had no options.

I’d never felt anything like it. I was warm, he was electric, the stone was cold, my head buzzed and the ship thrummed as we began to slowly gain altitude. It was an ancient ship that had conquered the gravity of many planets. Mine would be no different, there was no worry and there was no rush. He pressed me harder against the wall, causing me to gasp in his breath and feel it creep throughout my lungs. His breath was thick and heavy, wet with sickening moisture.

I shuddered as I inhaled him, unable to protest or even struggle while my limbs stayed unresponsive, feeling unsure about the reality I’d been forced into. His tongue continued to explore my mouth, feeding my spine wild electric shocks that spread a strange tingling throughout my body. He let go of my beak, dropping his talon to gently squeeze one of my breasts. I’d never been touched like that before, and his talon felt like a cold fire. Even with my beak free I didn’t turn away from his kiss. I found myself pressing back into his mouth slightly, carefully nestling my tongue with his. I felt him click confidently as he squeezed my breast sharply, causing me to quietly chirp in surprise. It was all so new, strange, and confusing.

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind every second, but none of them could stick. It was as if my head was made of loose sand, and that sand was running out onto the floor. I blinked as a hazy smile started to form. I remember thinking that this was what I had wanted. I wanted to Pair-bond with him, and though he was being incredibly unconventional, this was certainly one way to start the process. Even though my mind was muddled, I could at least remember that much from the sexual education I’d received as a youth.

I was warming up, and I felt a twitch forming in my lower stomach. I semi-consciously squeezed something I’d never felt before and my insides slowly loosened and untangled. I felt something inside of me shift as a warm wet sensation spread between my legs. The change wasn’t just inside, either. My softest feathers pulled aside, and the normally tightly shut hidden flesh was now puffy and loose as it became more and more visible. Traditional or not, I had decided to accept his advances. Both the decision and my physical change had felt deeply satisfying, and I moaned slightly into him as I wrapped my arms around his body. He clucked in approval, pulling back to look at me with a cold smirk.

He stopped needlessly spreading my lower feathers to gently place his claws against my lower abdomen, acknowledging what I’d just done with a firm pressure. “What a devout little hen you are, Xitoctli. Always doing what you’re told. Remember this: You will spread for me when I ask.”

I nodded. Even though it was an accident, I knew I could make it happen again. For Avians to mate properly a hen had to physically accept a male. It’s a conscious decision, although it’s not something anyone teaches you. Even though I had just learned how to do it, I knew it would be a while before my body could relax back to normal. I shuddered as he dipped his talon back to my now wet and softened lower flesh, stroking it heavily. I thought his touch was magic; that a divine power was flowing from him into me. It certainly felt like it. I knew there was no going back. We were about to make love for the first time. I wanted him to continue.

The Stargazer laughed with a satisfied smile as I moaned and rubbed myself against his leathery talons. He toyed with me for a while, gently rolling and dipping into the very rim of my depths without truly entering me. To counter his strange teasing I kissed him as deeply as I could, drinking his flesh and suckling his tongue as he caressed my awakening needs. My feathered thighs matted in my own juices underneath his highly effective talons, coating both of us in a slick warmth as I desperately pressed into him like a freezing chick looking for warmth.

It was both the most excited and terrified I’d ever been, and those emotions fueled my focus. I was determined to prove my parents wrong back home. I had decided to make him mine and I’d use everything I had to accomplish it. Even letting him do this. I’m sure he knew exactly what I was thinking when he slid his slimy talon back up around my waist. He lowered the dry one next to it, and then reached with both talons to underneath my tail feathers, grasping each cheek of my flesh firmly and then lifting me up off the ground, putting our heads level.

My heart pounded loudly, drumming out the sound of the rumbling starship a we broke through another layer of the atmosphere. I continued to stare into his intense yellow eyes, admiring what I thought was his sparkling soul as I instinctively spread my legs around his body. I didn’t recognize the cruelty in his eyes yet, but the clothes he was wearing melted into his nano-storage as his eyes shone with a a light that I mistook for love. My feathers were now pressed against his, and I felt a tingle across my stomach where our flesh met. My breasts were pressed tightly by his chest as he forced me firmly against the wall, locking me into place well off the ground.

I couldn’t look down, we were pressed too tightly together, but I felt a fire run up my legs and across my naked feathers as something fat and soft pressed against the quivering lips of my ready depths. Something primal in my brain shuddered and tingled—I instinctively knew that we were about to become one.

I wanted to say something, but no words would come out. I made a fearful nervous chirp instead as his eyes aggressively narrowed, locking with mine. Hunger emanated from his gaze, and his cold look struck a strange and alien fear in my heart. In that moment, I saw something in his eyes and being. Something that wasn’t Avian. For the briefest of moments, I understood him. I was his prey to be consumed, he couldn’t care less about me. I could die from this creature. Something in me did die a little in that moment, the sheer terror causing a flash of insight. I briefly wondered, “What have I done?” And then the fear and worry was replaced by raw panic as the monster holding me painfully bit my neck.

I screamed in surprise and pain, feeling his beak dig into my downy skin and his tongue lash against my flesh. It stung in a way I was unprepared for. I screamed as he ground deeper into me, drawing blood from the sharp, curved tip of his beak. The panic consumed me as he did, and I thrashed, kicking my legs and beating my fists on his back. He was larger, stronger, and had put me in a position where I could do nothing. All my thoughts, planning, and worries distilled down to one simple incredibly primal thought.

Fight or die.

I had thought of mating as a loving thing. It was the most important step of bonding, the first unrecoverable act. It was something that was built on trust and acceptance. An act where you bared your soul. I had not been prepared, either physically or emotionally for violence. He bit me again, this time scraping across my neck, and his sharp beak ripped my soft feathers off my skin. I thrashed helplessly as my skin welt up in small bruises, the painfully plucked feathers leaving tiny red wells of blood in my flesh.

When he bit me a third time, I realized my flailing could do nothing. The primal fear washed over my body like a wave of icy water, and I froze. Instinctively, a creature knows when it’s done. A fly caught by a spider stops struggling eventually. He had me. My drive to fight was replaced by another survival strategy.

Surrender. Placate. Accept.

He was to be my bonded. I screeched as I relaxed into the violence. Into the pain that was his love. With that screech I accepted him once more, and willingly bared my gentle soul to his cruel lashing malice. I embraced him, wrapping my legs and arms around him to demonstrate my primal submission. When he pulled his head back to look at my neck, I craned so he could get a better view, giving him complete access to my throat. I saw blood on the tip of his beak, and closed my eyes to push a tear down my cheek. When I opened them, the the blood was gone but his tongue was sliding back into his beak. I was beyond thought, acting purely on an ancient survival strategy ingrained into the saurian proto-brain of my ancestor’s ancestors.

I was shaking in fear and pain, and I averted my eyes from instinct. I just remember a single simple desire. It was the singular understanding that I could not challenge him. I could not meet his eyes. I could not resist. To do so would mean death. The thought wasn’t in words, it was too primitive. His movements were my life or death. Suddenly he made an alien growling noise, and I reflexively glanced. Our eyes locked as my terror renewed. He was still hungry.

He kept his eyes locked on mine as long as he could manage while he slowly lowered his beak to my proffered neck, measuring the terror in my pupils. I closed my eyes, and drew a shaking breath as I felt his beak close softly around my throat. My heart throbbed, blood pulsing through my head in sickening waves as his tongue gently licked my bruised flesh, painfully tearing another few feathers off the swelling skin. I didn’t sob or call out, but twin rivers of tears ran from my eyes as his bite tightened. The sharp tip dug deep, cutting slightly and closing my windpipe.

The ship rumbled. I wheezed, sucking in one last breath and felt his cock pushing slowly up against my pussy; My senses were so heightened that it seemed like it would burn me.

Then it happened—he impaled me. Well, impaled is a kind word.

He devoured me.

His cock was fat and soft, but I was in no position to stop him or even resist as it wriggled past my lower lips. It filled me me like a worm, coiling and twisting as it found and claimed a space that wasn’t ready for it. I stretched around it, painfully so, and wheezed out a scream as it invaded my body. He pulled back from the bite, dragging his beak painfully across my bruised flesh before pressing forward with his hips again, filling even more of me with pain this time. I saw that glint in his eyes again, and I froze. I don’t know why, but even after all that I still thought it was love. I suddenly remembered that we were to be Pair-bound. He was to be my betrothed.

I acknowledged this consciously, the glint in his eye sparking thought in my mind again. I used all my self discipline to swallow my fear, my tears, and the pain. I even swallowed my ego. I was determined to be what he wanted.

I stared back at him and I forced myself to become his mate. I shook from the pain, the strange sensation of being completely full and somehow taking even more, as he wormed deeper into my body. My lower flesh ached as it stretched around his throbbing growing length. I made myself do it. I made my body accept all of him, wincing as I returned his hungry stare.

He breathed heavily, grunting as his cock twisted and coiled deeper into me. It undulated within me as we both paused for him to catch his breath. “Xitoctli…” His eyes sparkled, “I’ll take everything from you but your bones and feathers…” He grunted again, pulsing and quivering inside of me before showing a satisfied smirk, “I shall make you free to fly.”

Stargazer’s rarely lie. I knew that then, and I know that know. I’m simply wiser now.

I smiled bravely, locking my legs behind him as I pulled us all the way together. I felt my inner thighs fully meet his own, and he painfully burst through something deep inside of me, spreading and spearing a vital organ that radiated a near impossible pain. I chirped out a quiet victory after closing that final, tiny fraction of a unit that had been left, even as the sharp pain radiated through my body. I’d brought us through the last distance together. I’d made us one. It was much later when I’d learn that this act had permanently damaged me. In order to make room for him, I’d unknowingly given up my ability to have chicks.

I’m sure it was intentional on his part; it was coldly practical and needlessly cruel.

“Stargazer...” I sweetly called to him, ignoring the blossoming flower of pain that consumed my abdomen. I’d taken all of him and we were finally matched. “I will give you all that I am, so we may both find freedom.” I would do it so much different now. I could curse him, bite him, or even just resist him. But back then I couldn’t do any of that; all I could do was join him.

And so, in that way, we joined. We joined in body, and in religion. We joined in blood, in pain, and in pleasure. I didn’t know it then, but looking back on it, I’m sure that’s when he first tainted me with Ruin.

He locked eyes with me as he suddenly thrust me violently into the wall. I was surprised, but devout. I kept myself wrapped tightly around him, even as a new violence wracked my body. Fiery pain from my stomach, throbbing pain from my head, and cracking pain from my slamming back all fought with my brain for attention until my brain gave up on them. He screeched our shared victory loudly, drowning out the hum of the engines with his cry. The fear and confusion that had been hovering around my mind were replaced by sheer determination. He screeched again, this time pressing his wet talon into my asshole as he thrust into me.

Time moved strangely for me. I clung to him, shrieking from what he was doing, but helping him do it. He slammed me into the wall over and over, digging into my flesh with his talon, his cock, and occasionally his tongue. I was battered, my feathers whirled around us they loosened and fell out where bruises began to form. I’d gone numb to the pain, my blood stained the wall and his talons dug into my flesh.

As quickly as the violence started, it ended. He suddenly paused his assault, the violence disappearing as he began to slowly rock me back and forth.

I shuddered as I felt something warm and wet spreading deep inside of me, and his cock pulsed throughout my insides. We kept our eyes locked as his smile turned into what I’d now describe as lecherous, but at the time I thought was caring. He kept his talon pressed into my asshole, and his fat cock pressed deep inside me as we continued to gently rock, the hot fluid staining my insides in his slime as his cock continued to spurt and writhe in my flesh. The pain came back, and then faded as his thick and tingling cum flooded into me. It soothed my aches, seeped into my flesh and numbed my wounds. The flower of pain from deep inside dulled significantly, but didn’t die.

I remember feeling the vibrations from the engines transferring from my back, to my insides, and then through his cock as we finally cleared the atmosphere of my planet, leaving my home, my family, and everything I was behind.

Now that I think back on it, he was probably intentionally using the ship to turn me into a giant clucking vibrator for his cock. Clever bastard was taking advantage of the one time we’d leave an atmosphere. I’m sure he'd planned for us to be right over an engine. I know the wall he held me against supported one. He must have had that whole scene down to a science with how perfect his timing had been. He certainly had a script he was going off at least.

“Xitoctli… from now on you will not wear clothes. Understood?” He licked his lips and his eyes lingered on my swaying breasts as we talked and I heaved for breath.

“Yes, Stargazer...” I shuddered as he pressed his slick talon deeper into my asshole, invading and stretching me in a new way. His eyes stayed focused on my breasts as he brazenly stared. It was a quiet statement about my naked flesh, one that I understood completely. This new law was for his pleasure, and for his access. I would comply; due to fear or devotion was irrelevant.

“Hmm…” He hummed contentedly as he continued to gently rock us. Minutes passed like this, him gawking at my gently swaying breasts body while he lazily fingered my ass. The entire time his cock shifted about strangely, oozing and pulsing within me. Now that it wasn’t being slammed into me, I felt it wriggling within me, like a giant worm coiling and tunneling into my flesh. It was hot, slimy, and constantly spurting more gooey cum inside me. By the time he next spoke, my abdomen felt as though it was filled as much with his flesh and fluids as with my own.

“You will always accept me within you, Xitoctli.”

He licked my bruised neck, causing a warm tingle to spread across my body as I instinctively clenched down on the base of his cock and shuddered. The sudden wet squelch as I inadvertently forced our mixed juices out around his bloated cock root was an obscenity I hadn’t been prepared to hear, or feel, and gave me a strange thrill.

“No matter how or when I demand you.”

I moaned this time, unable to hold back my voice. The talon up my asshole and in my gut felt strange and wrong, but not bad. Much like his cock now felt. Much like how I now felt, as well. Once he’d stopped the violence; the licking, rocking, throbbing, and squeezing that he was doing felt nice. I shook again, taking a gasping breath before I answered him. “Yes… Stargazer...”

He kept his talon in my asshole, but pinned me against the wall again as he took his other talon off my butt cheek and brought it around to where our flesh was joined. Carefully, he pushed it in with his still pulsing cock. It stung at first, my already stretched pussy was at its limit, but he wormed it in somehow. “If you’re a devout little hen who does what she’s told...” He carefully started to bend it, pressing on a spot just inside of me, a little knot of muscle and nerves that had swollen after our mating.

I squealed and chirped in response, surprised at how much I enjoyed the new pressure. He clucked in amusement, ignoring my squirming as he kept a slow and rhythmic pulse against me. I felt my head grow warm and dizzy, and blinked as I was unable to focus. The thing inside of me was squishy, and made loud wet squelching noises.

He licked his beak again as he began to stretch the ring around my asshole out just slightly. His cock pulsed and he pressed the place inside of me tighter. “Then I’ll teach you to fly...”

I shuddered. It was too much. His throbbing cock, the warmth and slickness now flowing inside me, the strange pressing of his talon in my asshole, the way he pulled just beneath my tail as he dipped ever deeper. It was overwhelming my senses, and an alien pressure grew within me. My legs began to shake, and I looked up at him in wide eyed innocent confusion, silently asking him what was happening to me.

All I saw was that glint in his pale yellow eyes, and I knew that I was loved. I let whatever he was doing to me happen, and the alien feeling blew over me like a thunderstorm storm rolling over the plains. I cried out, chirping for him as he kept up the steady rhythm. He kissed me, and we twisted our tongues together as I became one with his being in a new way—a way I’d never expected.

I squeezed him with my insides, kicking my legs as wide as they could go to let him get deeper, to fill me more. He did, his fat cock slurping even further into my core as I bared my everything to him. I quivered around him, pressed against the wall as the euphoria racked me and the blood drained from my head. He chuckled, amused at my slack jawed face as I happily looked around the room in confusion. I hadn’t known what he did to me, I hadn’t understood the strange ecstasy he’d brought.

I only knew that the bonding had started.

It was hours before he allowed my bare feet to finally touch the ground. He kept me pinned against that wall as our journey together began, his flesh buried in mine in a strange mockery of freedom and confinement. I felt like I was flying, but I couldn’t even move a few units. I don’t know how many times I came for him before he finally finished, but it was probably about the same amount of times he got violent with me.

When he pulled his twisted cock out of me it, it slid and stretched like a long fat worm being pulled from a hole it didn’t want to leave. It actually tugged on my insides, slurping as is it tried to crawl back inside it’s warm wet haven. It looked like a giant slimy yellow coiling snake that undulated and bent at seemingly random. I’d never seen a penis in real life before, so I just assumed that massive alien thing was how males were. Later, I’d come to recognize The Ruin when I saw it.

When my feet hit the floor, I realized that I could barely stand, and walking was impossible after what he’d done to me. He at least pretended to be kind as he patiently lead me to his bed. I watched his organ dangle loosely down to his knees, fascinated by it’s prehensile movements. I remember thinking that if it could hold still, it could probably reach the floor.

After we were done, he introduced me to NanoWrap Bandages. I had to apply them myself, he had other things to attend to, but they instantly soothed the pain. They quickly healed my wounds, and then the nanobots disappeared into my system. I would become close friends with those bandages over the years. Sometimes I stay awake wondering how much of me is just re-constructed nanobots. Then I try not to think about it.

He let me rest for a while, attending some things in the ship as I lay in the bed. I fell asleep, and was woken up by him at some point for another long, violent, and confusing session. That time we mostly stayed in bed, and he taught me exactly how prehensile his cock was.

Life was like this for a while, certainly not what I’d envisioned when I set out, but pleasant enough. I thought I was loved. Loved strangely to be sure, but loved nonetheless. He kept me busy. I don’t think he ever shared the bed with me to sleep, but I hardly got a chance to leave it nonetheless. He’d wake me, violently mate with me for a few hours, take a short break while I applied bandages, and then come back to do it again. I learned much about my own pleasure under those cruel talons of his. Of course, that was just at the beginning.

Even though I didn’t know it at first, his ship was old—like him—and the Faster Than Light, or FTL, drive it used was just as archaic. It took almost three years to get to our next star system. The three years meant nothing to him, it was the same as an hour. It hadn’t even occurred to him to warn me about how long it would take before we left.

I’m sure he thought of me as a simple supply. One ration of young hen to get him to the next stop on his journey. I’ve met many different creatures over my travels. I’ve learned that they don’t have to be evil to want to hurt you. It’s simply what they are.

It took one full lunar cycle before he dropped his barely convincing nice act and moved me out of the crew cabin and into an ancient holding cell. At first I thought he was just being strangely possessive. I was partially bonded with him by then, and my body was high on hormones while my brain and biology tried to adjust. The Pair-bonding does weird things to your mind, and I assumed it was working its magic on both of us.

Usually, Avians find a mate and stay with them for life. If their mate dies, rarely they might be able to bond with one more in their lifetime, but only if they were lucky. Pair-bonding is a permanent biological change for an Avian, so each Avian only has a limited amount of the hormones that cause the change, maybe a little extra to account for a failed attempt or two. Failures were rare. It happened if one decided to call it off before the process had completed. It hadn’t occurred to me that I simply couldn’t bond with him, no matter how I, or my body, tried.

I was deep into the bonding process when he moved me. In my mind, he could do no wrong. I was in the early euphoric stages, where my hormones were raging and I saw everything he did as a display of affection, no matter how cruel or surreal. I’m sure he knew exactly what I was experiencing, and exactly how it would affect me when he locked me in that dimly lit stone room. I wasn’t even free within the room, I was kept chained with an ancient iron foot-cuff to an even older stone wall when he left.

I thought he was nesting, protecting me while the bonding happened. If I had been of a sound mind, I’d have noticed the other colored feathers sprinkling the corners of the cell. Not that it would have mattered at that point. There was a veritable rainbow of feathers that I’d notice many lunar cycles later, once my mind had cleared and my own feathers had been well mingled with the damning evidence. I thought to count the feathers littered through the different holding cells once, but stopped when I got to around 200 different Avians. I wasn’t even half through. Much later in the trip, I’d even find bones further down in unlit stone prison cells. I think he left them there as some sort of strange trophy. Aside from the prisons, he kept the rest of the ship meticulously clean.

I’ve learned that over time your tastes become more demanding. A simple beak seed cereal would have satisfied me when I was young, but now I find delight in pussplum pudding or even a slice of oculemen pie. What he was doing was simply an evolution in tastes for an ancient creature. I can actually forgive what happened on that ship from that fact alone. I am far from sinless. I’d even say that I’m really not a nice bird, so I have very little room to judge him in.

What I cannot forgive is how he saw me throughout. I was both his prey, and his child. He somehow thought he was saving me. Somewhere along the thousands of interstellar trips he’d taken, he’d lost his mind and thought he’d become a deity of some sort. He truly believed that he was going to give me ethereal wings by forcing me to suffer. That madness was hidden underneath his natural carnal hungers. I can understand or even forgive his evil and predation. Like I said, I’m not perfect either. What I can not abide was the madness he buried underneath. That madness leads to The Ruin, and that is something I can never allow.

For a long time following, I was a dripping half Pair-bonded mess that was kept in dim light and used for his pleasure. I always smiled and had a happy chirp for him when he came into my cell. Even when he came with his ritual dagger and I knew I’d soon be screaming in pain, I still smiled when I saw him.

He was my lover. My betrothed. My Bonded. The one sided mental longing I felt when he was gone was ultimately more torturous than any physical pain he could inflict. The iron ankle chain that bound me to the cell in his absence hurt more than any other implement he used on me. We had new activities now. Often, we’d spend hours together at a time, me writhing in agony while he coldly muttered his prayers to Kluex. If I was aware enough to form words, I’d pray with him while he tortured me. He was trying to free my ethereal wings, and release me to a higher plane of existence. It was for my eternal good, he promised.

Once he tired of prayer and torture, he’d fuck me. I’d fill my aching longing with his obscene dick, then I would savor his closeness for as long as he’d allow. While I tried to cuddle him, he’d stare at my naked body, drinking in every angle and feather with his eyes. I thought it was affection. And maybe it was, in a way. He chose me because I was beautiful. I was his pussplum pudding. He stole me from my home because he wanted me. He never lied, either. Stargazers usually don’t. They manipulate. I thought I was capturing him. I thought I’d captivated him. He used that to use me. He used my wickedness to bestow wickedness in kind. That’s how Stargazers work.

Looking back on it now, sometimes I wonder how many young hens he strapped down to the same alter over the centuries. I’m sure more than a few didn’t make it out alive, finding eternity under his cold knife and colder stare. The thought of him heartlessly murdering some poor captive hen makes me shiver, but I’m sure it happened. I could even see it happening on accident in his early days. Luckily for me, my ethereal wings were never truly released. He certainly wasn’t in his early days anymore so I’m not sure what would have made him take my life. Maybe I had to beg him to take it. That’s how most things go with Stargazers. They only do what you give them permission to. The problem is that they are disturbingly convincingly when they want to be.

This Stargazer convinced me to beg him to use ropes, chains, whips, metal, knives, and fire on my flesh and feathers. On occasion he’d even convince me to use them on myself,. I thought I was being devout to my lover and my god. I thought we would reach Kluex together through my suffering. Sometimes I wonder if Kluex is just a story Stargazers tell to control the rest of us, or if he’s a twisted shadow of the Ruin. Either one is terrifying, considering how pervasive Kluex is, but that’s reality for you. Some things are simply too horrifying to contemplate, but that doesn’t change the fact that they exist.

I found out much later that the dim light that constantly bathed my cell was a specific wavelength that extended the Pair-bonding process. He kept me as his toy, and biologically forced me to love it for as long as possible. Nature loves that sort of cruelty, any alien planet covered in blood and mind consuming parasites will demonstrate that viscerally. In a way, he was much less dangerous creature than many things I’d contend with later in life.

He was simply drawing out his favorite part of breaking in a new hen for as long as possible. And if I’d cracked and died, in his mind he’d have saved me. He’d have just released my soul on ethereal wings. What happened to me in that stone ship was a perfectly natural relationship between an Avian hen and a Stargazer. I don’t try to pretend otherwise. The Stargazers are monsters, and the Avian are their prey.

My blinding euphoria couldn’t last forever, though. Eventually my lifetime’s reservoir of bonding hormones ran dry, the strange lights having drained every last bit of it as they pushed me well past the natural limits for a failed bond. The veil over my mind had to lift eventually, and it happened quite suddenly for me. The Pair-bonding failed hard, and my brain finally snapped out of the confused haze I’d spent the last few lunar cycles rutting in.

When he came into my cell for his rituals, naked and with a knife, I couldn’t find a smile or a happy chirp to greet him with. I cried out in despair instead, tears rolling down my desperate face. He put the dagger down and sighed before walking over to me and gently grabbing my beak. He spoke without kindness or disgust. His voice was neutral and passionless, sounding as empty as I felt.

“You’ve failed. It seems you weren’t devout enough for Kluex after all.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was utterly defeated, but I had become enlightened. I’d failed. I’d failed him, I’d failed Kluex, and I’d failed myself. We weren’t Pair-bonded—we would never be. And it was my fault. I hadn’t been good enough. At the core of my being I hadn’t been enough. Worse still, I knew I’d been changed in mind and body by the experience. I had reached into myself and the aether itself to find absolutely nothing. I had spent my soul on the Stargazer, and it hadn’t been worth enough. I couldn’t reach far enough. Now I could never Pair-bond again.

I opened my beak, but nothing came out. My voice was as empty as my future was.

His eyes were full of wisdom when he spoke, and his brow furrowed in slight concern. “Your feathers are forever darkened now, Xitoctli. The only way left for you is the Sacrifice.”

I nodded, numb to the reality. The Sacrifice was a way for one with darkened feathers to escape to Kluex. I would walk to the top of a ceremonial altar, this time hundreds of units high. There I would throw myself off the top, and my spirit would grow wings leaving my empty shell of a body to fall to the ground and become one with the earth. My body would be discarded, but my soul would be free to fly.

It was an ancient tradition, well known throughout the Avian race, but had been outlawed on my colony as archaic and monstrous. I’m sure they now practice it regularly there.

He slid his talons across my cheek and around back of my head, roughly grabbing my crest feathers. “It’s a long time until we reach the next colony. Even though you’ve failed, I’ll allow you to serve me; but only to serve. Anything more would be against the will of Kluex.”

I blinked, tears still flowing down my face in streams and looked up to his cold face. There was no love. No affection. Only a cold hunger, and a silent demand. My eyes fell to his now familiar twisted and writhing penis as it began to undulate in excitement. Even if he didn’t love me, he still wanted me. Even though my soul was forever barred from him, I could give him my worthless body. I was still pretty on the outside. “Of course.”

He gently pushed my head into his crotch, and I opened my beak. Tears still ran down my eyes, but my beak and tongue knew what to do. He’d taught me, after all. My passion had died, but not the knowledge or experience I’d gained. His fat cock wriggled down my throat like a burrowing worm, and I choked it down, wrapping it with my tongue. I relished the pain it brought. I deserved it.

His thick, writhing member wriggled in front of me and within me as I began to message its exposed length with my soft feathered hands. He grunted, thrusting forward as his cock coiled around my head, rubbing through and on my feathers as I choked around it.

He came quickly this time, not bothering to take his time. At the time I didn’t think about it, but now I’m sure he was excited for my failure. Excited to finally have his pet.

His cock pulsed, filling my stomach with his sickening seed. When he pulled his long dick out of my mouth, it tasted foul for the first time. It would be disgusting every time after.

The real torture mostly stopped that night. I never saw his ritual dagger again. He’d still discipline me occasionally, but it was understood that it was purely for his pleasure, not for my salvation. He’d use ropes, whips, and chains, but nothing worse. There was no reason to. I’d failed to ascend. Instead of torture, he filled the time with sex. I’d spent the last several lunar cycles unwittingly being his pleasure slave. I spent the next two and a half years doing it wittingly, and with the mindful devotion of a zealot.

He used me less often once I became broken, usually only twice a day and for shorter times. With all the spare time I had, he had me study. I watched holo-vids. He had thousands of them. Each one showed a hen performing some sexual act, solo, with him, or even with another hen or three. That was when I started to realize how old he truly was. I learned much from the tapes. I really was devout.

I learned to dance for his pleasure, allowing him to view my the curves of my beautiful body solely for his pleasure. I learned the finer points of bringing him pleasure, how to pet and caress his writhing cock, exactly what holes he wanted my fingers in and when. One hen gave a lesson, requiring notes and all, on how to seduce him in a way that maximized his enjoyment. I studied these, and more things devoted solely to his pleasure. I rather quickly learned to take my own joy in the various acts, finding the best methods to bring myself pleasure while servicing him. He didn’t mind. He never assisted, but he also never interfered. My pleasure was beneath his concern entirely.

After a year or so, he even started recording holo-vids of me. Even now, some shell of a hen might be watching me straddle him, looking for the best way to squeeze him with her lower thighs or how to best handle his insane cock. I got very good at managing that snake of sticky flesh of his in particular.

As I’ve said, I still don’t fault him. He was not an Avian. He hadn’t been one for a very long time. He was something else—A Stargazer. I’ll stand by my statement that everything that happened in that ship was natural. My rape, my abuse, the draining of my bond, and even my conviction and dedication to him after it all. Admittedly, if I met him today, I’d kill him before he got a chance to speak.

I would be concerned, not afraid mind you, that if he opened his mouth I’d quickly find myself wrapped around his waist again, and I simply don’t have time for that. I’ve since learned how to kill immortals. It would be nothing against him personally, it would just be the natural order of things. I’m too busy to be a pleasure slave on his archaic ship as he hunts more of my kind. I have an additional job now.

I’m also a Protector.

Well, more specifically, my Captain is the official Protector. I’m just on her crew. There aren’t really any new Protectors ever since The Ruin destroyed the Terrene Protectorate Academy, but a few survived. Like my Captain. And I’ve been part of her crew long enough that she’s acknowledged me as a permanent fixture, so that’s as official as it’s ever going to get. A few hundred years back, one of the surviving Protectors fought the Ruin with their crew, and managed to destroy its heart. Ever since, the remaining Protectors have wandered the universe looking for blights to destroy and worlds to save. They never bothered to set up a new academy. The Ruin’s heart is destroyed and their mission is complete, but natural dangers still show up every now and then. Dangers like Stargazers. Protectors now do what they can to save the races of the universe.

Not just the Avian race, either. My Captain herself is a human, one of the rarest races in the galaxy. The Ruin destroyed their home world when it attacked the Protectorate, and they never really recovered. We Protectors work to save every sentient race that is Starbound. Not individuals, mind you. Individuals die every day. We protect races and worlds. Rarely do we bother to save individuals. Occasionally there are exceptions, though. Exceptions like myself.

Once the Stargazer and I arrived on Halcyon 6-A, I watched while the Stargazer refueled, resupplied, and took a few new loyal followers with him on his next journey. It was three young hens, staggered in age from 12 years to 18 years. I figured he was on a longer trip. By simple math, it was likely nine years. I reasoned at the time that the three hens were brighter colored than I. Maybe even more beautiful than me. My feathers had darkened in the time I had traveled with him. I didn’t deserve to travel with him anymore. I didn’t deserve to even serve a holy being like him, the last few years had simply been a matter of convenience for both of us in my mind. I had needed a purpose after my failure, and he had needed simple entertainment. Now that he had better options, I was discarded like my robes from so long ago.

I’ll admit, in my heart I am wicked. I found great satisfaction watching those three young hens fall for the same trap I did. I took a smug, quiet pleasure in knowing what would happen to them. How he and his writhing cock would gut their souls and their futures, all with his cold and uncaring stare. Still, it hurt to watch him leave me.

He didn’t even stay to watch my sacrifice.

The priests at the temple wordlessly took possession of me from the Stargazer. My fate was understood by all of us. I was to fly in the only way left to me.

That night, all twelve priests used me. I enjoyed myself and treated it as a celebration. I drank wine, I took their strangely smooth and rigid cocks, and I pleasured them like I had pleasured the Stargazer. Nothing was sinful to me anymore, my shame had been murdered somewhere between the stars. I did not care who I was naked with, or what flesh I touched. If I could find pleasure, even through the pain and exhaustion, I took it. I hadn’t worn clothes in over three years, there was no point in changing that now. Clothes would only get in the way from what the priests wanted from me, and I needed from them.

At the time, it didn’t even occur to me that they might be Pair-bonded with other hens, or worse in a different sickening way, drained like myself. I had left that naive innocence chained to a wall in a dimly lit cell on an Aetherstone ship trillions of units away by now. The Stargazer had taken my soul and left me as a careless monster like himself.

Come dawn, I was exhausted and filthy. Each of the dozen priests had me multiple times through the night. Of course, I had them as well. I even took pleasure in managing five of them at once. They didn’t clean me before the Ritual began, they simply covered my filthy body in paints and clay. Oils, rocks, and fats. They hardly spent a few minutes painting me. One let his talons wander deep within my abused flesh, so I squeezed him, riding his talons and drawing out one last string of pleasure while I moaned for him. I was watching his mask closely, unable to see his face, but I wasn’t thinking about him at all. Instead, I was darkly remembering the suitor I’d left back home.

He’d never so much as given me a peck on the cheek and he’d spent countless hours painting my likeness with oils, rocks and dirt trying to show his devotion. These priests had invaded every nook and cranny of mine while relentlessly sating both our lusts. Then they had spent mere minutes on my final ritual paint—the last thing I would ever wear. I wondered if their feathers had darkened as well underneath their masks, priestly robes, and body paints. I would never know what their feather looked like after that night, but mine were colored pitch black. I wondered what my old suitor would have thought had he seen my night of celebration, and felt sick.

That moment is when I completely understood my fate. I was not ascending the stairs in order to ascend to a higher plane. I understood my true fate. In that moment, all I believed was that they wanted to dispose of me. They wanted to get rid of my filthy dark feathers. I was sick inside and out, and it surely made others sick to look at me. I’d failed Kluex, I’d failed to Pair-bond, I’d failed to ascend, I’d failed the Stargazer, I’d failed my parents, and I’d failed myself.

I was revolting.

Just as my recent service to the Stargazer had been a cold practicality of fate, so too was my coming sacrifice. I slowly and deliberately walked up to the altar, empty of all emotion. I hadn’t realized it then, but the Stargazer had taken something from me that I didn’t want to live without. I’m tougher now; wiser even. Wisdom comes from making mistakes. As I stared off the height of the altar, I knew that I was about to make the worst mistake any being can.

The knowledge didn’t stop me though. Knowledge rarely does. It’s wisdom that does that, and you only get wisdom from making mistakes.

My body felt far away and I couldn’t hear the priests reciting the chant for the Ritual, even though they were right next to me. I didn’t let them finish. There was no need; we both knew it was all wasted breath. I would never ascend. I wasn’t worthy by any metric, and Kluex wasn’t real anyways. I didn’t wait for my body to be dedicated to Kluex. I just walked off that alter as calmly and naturally as one would preen their feathers.

The fall surprised me as much as it did the priests. I was weightless, and then my stomach tried to rise up my throat, threatening to leap out my beak. I didn’t look down. Instead, I looked forward and saw the horizon. I remembered being a chick and catching that gravity storm. I remembered the sun after being on a starship for three years. I twisted and spun as I fell, and I remembered freedom. In some primordial instinct, I remembered flying. Truly flying, not whatever sick thing the Stargazer had taught me.

I was alive, and I laughed for the first time in a long time. Just as suddenly, I regretted leaping off the alter. I understood the depth of my mistake. Death was all that was left for me. Kluex was a lie, and now Xitoctli would be over. I regretted that one action more than any other of the terrible failings or mistakes I’d made. This one act, unlike everything else, had truly and ultimately defined my life. Everything else was inconsequential, this was the only true failure I’d experienced.

Unfortunately, my regret didn’t slow my fall. I also, unsurprisingly, did not grow ethereal wings and fly away from my body. “Perhaps I didn’t believe enough,” I briefly mused. I knew it was more likely the whole thing was a bunch of rancid guano put in place so Stargazers could travel the universe and steal souls from Avians dumb enough to believe in them. Avians like me.

I didn’t have the time to come up with a good final thought. My life didn’t flash before my eyes as the ground rushed at me. All I had time to do was briefly curse myself for being a dumb bird before I screwed my eyes shut and hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much before I died.

Surprisingly, it did hurt when I landed. It hurt a lot—mostly on my tail bone. I’d landed gracelessly on something hard enough to seriously bruise my back end. It hurt like hell, but somehow I was alive.

A feminine voice sounding like a beetles wing mixed with honey called out to me mirthfully. “Hey there, Cutie. Fancy meeting a bird like you in a place like this.”

I kept my eyes shut in confusion, as I rubbed my bruised tail bone. I still felt the wind rushing by, and the air splaying my feathers. I briefly wondered if I had in fact sprouted wings and was flying. Had it been real? Was the Stargazer right the whole time? I didn’t believe it, but I was alive somehow. So I shouted to them. “Kluex? Am I flying?”

The voice laughed and shouted back. “Ha! Close. Call me Claire. And yup. Hold on!”

Almost, but not quite disappointed, I realized that I was still alive somehow. I opened my eyes as the metal ground rumbled and threw me forward. Unsure what to do, and now feeling the wind rushing through my feathers, I grabbed the nearest thing. This thing happened to be Claire.

She was slightly smaller than me, hunched over a driving mechanism for the over sized hover-bike we were on. She didn’t have any feathers at all, instead pale skin stood out where her clothes didn’t cover. On her head, instead of a crest, she had reddish fur on top. Instead of a beak she had two thin little muscles around her mouth. They looked somewhat similar to the lips around my sex organ, except were currently pinched tightly—like a sphincter—as she focused on driving.

The absurd sight made me smile.

While her skin was pale with occasional freckles, her eyes were surprisingly colorful instead of the usual black. They were a bright, healthy green from within the clear aviation goggles she wore. I glanced behind me and saw the altar reaching up into the sky with twelve very confused priests on it. The hover-bike whined loudly, and the altar began to fade into the distance as we sped up to a startlingly dangerous speed.

I couldn’t understand what was happening, so I simply accepted reality as I saw it. I was on a hover-bike with this being called Claire. I calmly gripped her tighter, seeking comfort in her presence as I asked the question burning in my mind. “What the cluck is happening, Claire?”

She kept focusing on the controls, and turned another knob as we picked up even more speed. I felt her body give a shrug as her shoulders softly lifted. “I thought I’d save you.”

“What?” I squeezed her tightly as the strange vehicle swerved around some obstacle that only looked like a blur to me.

Claire’s thin face-lip muscles relaxed as she flicked a switch causing the vehicle to hum louder. “You looked cute, so I nabbed you out of the sky.”

I was still just trying to understand how I was even alive, so of course Claire made no sense to my terrorized brain. “I… I don’t understand, Claire.” All I could understand was her name. This strange creature was Claire. We were on a hover-bike. I squeezed her again to ensure this was reality.

She laughed maniacally as the fur on her head started to rise straight up and electric sparks danced across her face. I felt a tingle along my feathers. “Yes! Haha! We made it! Mission successful! Take that crazy cultists!” She turned over her shoulder and extended her middle finger in a curiously lewd gesture towards the long distant temple.

She looked at my confused face and gleefully shouted. “I win! And I’m bird-napping you. You’re my bonus prize! Hang on!”

I didn’t understand, but when Claire suddenly stood up and wrapped me in her arms, I felt sparks fly between us.

Some of my feathers caught on fire as well as the sparks turned into full on electric arcs that ran up our bodies.

I screamed in a panic, clinging to her desperately as the world faded to black and I smelled burning feathers and ozone.

I remember thinking “What a strange way to die.”

I fell, and landed on a warm metal surface. I could still smell ozone and burnt feathers as I opened up my eyes to see a shining smooth gray floor. Claire’s laughter rung out from next to me, and looked over to see her splayed out on the floor as well.

“Haha! I love winning!” She stood up, dusting off her knees before smiling wide and reaching a hand down to me, offering it to help me stand up. “Isn’t winning great, cutie?”

I looked at her in confusion. “What?” The walls were at was covered in the same smooth metal the floor was, and there was a giant pulsing blue machine right next to us that we probably fell out of.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, but kept her hand out. “Is your translator working? Avian is a common language… hmmm…”

I didn’t want to offend the strange creature, as my newly recovered fate seemed to be in her hand. So I let her have mine, and stood up with her help. “It is working, Claire. I’m simply perplexed. This is all very confusing.”

Claire’s eyes relaxed as she pulled me up, relieved I could understand her. “What’s confusing about it? I grabbed the Avolite from that temple, a grand coffin for analysis, a Protectorate relic, and a cute bird from the sky before I was caught by those dumb cultists. Then I teleported everything up to my ship. Sorry about the burns. I hadn’t calibrated it for two travelers.”

I was dumbfounded, and she probably saw it on my face. I even briefly forgot my formalities. “A grand coffin? You stole… a coffin?”

Claire looked sheepishly to the the side as she rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah. I’m doing… Uhh… historical research…” She coughed, making a wet guttural noise, “for profit.”

“You’re a… tomb robbing alien?” Tomb robbing is not a noble profession in Avian culture, and I’m sure my dismay was plain on my face.

Her voice got quiet and she sheepishly answered, “Lots of profit?”

I stared at her in silent disbelief.

She shrugged, then rolled her eyes. “Look, it was a one time job. I needed a thing they had, and I grabbed a few other… things… But hey! It was just some dumb cultists, so no big deal, right?” She smiled, expectantly.

I didn’t have any words to answer her with, so I looked down at my ceremonially painted body, and then back to her meaningfully.

Claire’s eyes went wide. “But you’re a victim! I saved you! They threw you off that crazy building!”

It was my turn to sheepishly shrug. I also slipped back into formal language as I bared my shame. “Claire, I… intentionally walked off, to my despair.”

Clare crossed her arms and stepped back from me, looking me up and down appraisingly as she frowned. “So you’re a cultist then? Not a cute bird for me to save? You really believe all that boohicky?”

It was difficult to answer, but once I did a weight was lifted off my soul, “I… do not believe it, Claire.”

She narrowed her eyes even more at that answer. “But you said you walked off… they didn’t throw you.”

I felt giddy from denouncing my faith, so I bared my true shame to her. “Of course, Claire. I desired to die.” I stated it plainly as I looked her in the eyes.

Claire was silent for a moment and then deflated slightly. “Guess I didn’t get my bonus prize…” She bared her teeth and balled her hand into a fist aggressively before relaxing and looking at me with a cool demeanor. “Look, birdie not-cultist face, I’ve kinda got a small ship and don’t really have room on my crew for that kind of negative energy, so I’m gonna have to send you back to cult-land or maybe you can ride to the next stop, but you’re gonna have to go.”

I nodded. It made sense. Even if I wanted to live, I was still worthless. A creature like Claire that could do things like teleport had no need for me. I made sure to stay formal. “I… I would like to travel with you further, Claire. But I understand.” Of course she didn’t want me. I had no value beyond my looks and ability to perform service. She wasn’t male, or an Avian, so she would have no need of the little I could offer. “However, I am likely unwelcome at the planet we just left.”

She snorted. “Well, I’m definitely unwelcome, so you’re stuck with me for a day while we go to my next stop. If there’s a colony there, I’ll drop you off. If not, we’ll keep looking. I might be a tomb robbing Alien, but I’m not super evil. I’m not leaving you stranded on a monstrous planet or barren wasteland or something.”

I nodded politely once more before I realized what she’d said. “Claire, did you speak that it was one planetary revolution? Am I to understand your ship can transit cross system in a measure of hours?”

Claire shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, yeah. I can go from one end of the galaxy to the other in two days or so. That’s pretty normal.”

The news shook me. What exactly had been happening with the Stargazer? Why had our trip taken years? “Claire, this news is unsettling to me. The last starship I served on took three years to transit between systems.”

She looked incredulous and then pushed air from her teeth in disbelief. “Phsh. Was it made of stone or something? Even I haven’t heard of a FTL drive that slow.”

I nodded. “Yes. Aetherstone.” I decided to add “And it had four Avolite crystal engines, Claire. Each the size of a house.”

Claire didn’t say anything for a moment, clearly mulling over my words. “So… let me get this straight. You spent three years as a crew member on a starship made of magic stone that was powered by one of the most rare elements in the universe in quantities you can’t even describe to me in a useful metric, to make one FTL jump. ”

I nodded again. “Yes.”

Claire didn’t seem to believe me. She raised a questioning eyebrow. “And how big was the crew then? For engines that size, hundreds maybe?”

I frowned. “Not at all. It was myself and the Stargazer. Only two were present for our transit, Claire.”

Claire’s eyes lit up when I said that. “Stargazers! Now we’re getting somewhere. I have a codex entry on them, hang on.” She held out her hand and a data-pad materialized in it, similar to how the Stargazer's clothing could materialize. She ignored me as she started furiously scanning it. “Aha! Here we go…” She focused her eyes on it as she read. “Oh… huh.”

I nervously looked around her ship as she read to herself. The blue machine must be a teleporting device, since we seemed to have fallen out of it. We were in the back of a well lit metallic compartment. I saw a door further down, and some storage lockers on the way. Between the door and the lockers was a computer terminal. There was a hatch down a floor just past the terminal, right by the door.

Claire interrupted my thoughts as she exclaimed, “Wow! Aetherstone ships were a real thing. That ship must have been several thousands of years old. At least they had crew drives installed, so you didn’t age, right? No wonder it was slow though. That’s… ancient.”

I blinked, once again confused. “What is a crew drive, Claire?”

Claire looked up from her pad. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“I am not, Claire.” The look on her face made my heart drop.

“It was you and one other crew member, and they didn’t hook you into the crew drive for a three year jump? That is… kinda fucked up. Not to mention dangerous.”

Her concern for me was curious, but unwarranted. My life was of no value. “I do believe the Stargazer was not interested in my wellbeing, Claire.”

Claire sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, well… a crew drive is like a safety net. They are super expensive, and super hard to build, but every starship needs one because space is a freaking dangerous place. You never know when a micro meteor, or a radiation wave, or something else will penetrate the hull and kill everyone or someone on board.”

My eyes went wide.

“Basically every race that invented the FTL drive also invented a crew drive. It keeps a record of every crew member and can re-build them if something happens the moment they die, keeping the continuity of their conscience in place. Effectively it makes you impervious to death. The other thing is that it keeps you locked in at the age from when you registered in it. I myself am… well, much older than I look, for instance.” Claire gestured to herself.

This alien, Claire, was very old. Like the Stargazer. I realized that even treating her formally, I wasn’t giving her the proper amount of respect. “I understand, Claire. My time of existence is barely twenty and one years. Please forgive my ignorance.”

Claire kept frowning. “Age is just a number, birdie. How could that Stargazer be so irresponsible as to risk a crew member like that? I’m sure by now he’s upgraded his crew drive to support at least one more crew member.”

I just sighed and looked towards the ground as the reality of what had happened to me sunk in. I began to realize that the nature of the Stargazer may have been more sinister than he seemed. His strange behavior and detached attitude began to make more sense to me.

Claire looked at me. “What exactly did you do on the starship? Were you a mechanic, an engineer, or a medic or something?”

I couldn’t tell her the truth, that he had tricked me. That he had taken me and twisted me. That he had raped me. I didn’t want her to think I was a victim anymore. So I told her a half truth. “I was the Stargazer’s entertainment, Claire.”

Claire swallowed and blinked. “Excuse me?”

I clarified, in case she didn’t understand what I meant. “I performed all manner of sexual services for the Stargazer. I also danced and posed erotically for his pleasure, Claire.” My voice didn’t falter or crack, and I stayed formal while I explained.

Her eyes drifted down my body, and lingered a little longer than they had before at my breasts. Perhaps she was noticing how the paint in my feathers was smudged by hands, or the streaks left by the priests coming from my naked cleft. I waited as she looked me over. I wanted her to think that was all. I didn’t want her to know about the torture, the betrayal, or the failures. I didn’t know why, but I wanted her to think it was of my doing. Pride is a strange thing that makes you do dumb things, and I’ve learned that I’m a dumb bird.

Pretty, but dumb.

Claire began to blush. “I… uhh… you’re naked, aren’t you?”

I bowed to her, then posed on one foot as I slowly and gracefully spun in a small circle, ensuring I lifted my tail to allow her a full view. When I settled back and was facing her again, Claire was bright red and apparently flustered. “Yes, it appears that I am, Claire.”

“Uhh… Do you… uhh… want any clothes? I have clothes. Many clothes.” She tried very hard to keep her eyes focused on mine, refusing to glance downward again.

“I do not, Claire.” I smiled back at her. Suddenly, I realized that I still had a bargaining tool. I was still pretty, and this female alien found me attractive. If she found me attractive, then maybe I’d be able to put some of the hen on hen lessons I’d learned from the Stargazer’s holo-vids to use.

She nodded, awkwardly looking at my face as her limbs were stiff. It was clear to me that she was struggling.

“I am supposed to be entertainment, Claire. Please, look at me wherever if you desire.” I reassured her that it was okay, and I saw her eyes slip down again, quickly glancing up and down me one more time. I felt a surge of confidence as I realized that I could do this. I could use what the Stargazer taught me to get what I wanted from Claire.

Claire coughed again. “So… uhh… Now that I’ve gotten a better look at you, you look a little… uhh… dirty.”

I frowned, realizing that perhaps my usual beauty wasn’t shining through. This would be a problem. Still, if she found me even slightly alluring in my disheveled and disgusting state, then there was still hope. I sought to explain my situation. “Yes. My ritual paint is only part of the problem, Claire. Some of the ejaculate from the priests last night has hardened in my feathers and is quite uncomfortable.”

She took a breath and looked me in the eye. “Now… that… that… is a lot of information that I am not sure I needed.”

“Oh. My apologies, Claire. I was merely explaining my unkempt appearance. I usually am quite careful to be clean and sanitary, but due to the Ritual that was planned, I thought there would be no need nor time for preening. Last night I experienced the sexual attention of all twelve Priests, multiple times right up until the Ritual began. I wanted to live my last night to the fullest.”

Claire blinked at me. “Again… I am not sure that I needed to know you did twelve dudes last night. I also think you might be exaggerating, but I did see twelve priests… so I’m just going to not think about that.”

I frowned. “I perhaps exaggerated slightly, Claire. I suppose I did not enjoy all of the attention. During one encounter a priest displayed fondness of another, and had inserted his penis into the other’s…” I recounted an incident that might help clear up her confusion before she interrupted me.

“No. Stop. Stop talking. Too. Much. Information.” Clare glared at me.

I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong, so I stayed silent.

Claire sighed, still blushing. “Look. I have a bath downstairs, you can use it if you like. Then, well, you and I need to discuss some things. The Stargazer, where you want to be dropped off, what clothes you want to wear and such.”

I nodded, “Of course, Claire. I , however do not des...”

She pointed to the hatch and interrupted me. “Bath. There. Go. Clean. Up. Now..”

Getting the message, I quickly made my way to the hatch, and lowered myself down. As I dropped, I saw her watching me with a strange look and a bright red face. I’d hoped I hadn’t angered her too much.

Downstairs was just one chamber, but it was decorated. The floor was ornately carved wood, the walls were covered in soothing cream colored wallpaper, there was a comfy looking bed, a few foot chests for storage, an iron bathtub with a rubber ducky, a golden toilet, and a sink. Unsure of what to do, I climbed into the bathtub and it began to fill with comfortably warm water on its own. I noticed some soaps and scrubs, and got to work preening my feathers.

It had been a long time since I’d taken time to bathe like this. On the Stargazers ship, I just showered in-between sessions with him. I couldn’t fully enjoy it though, I needed this time to think.

I had acted strangely around Claire, but I wasn’t entirely sure who was at fault over that. She was odd, and I wasn’t sure the level of respect that she demanded. Clearly she was almost as important as the Stargazer, so formal speech was a must. But I couldn’t woo her with formal speech, and I needed to woo her. I decided to analyze my motives and my goals. I had realized that it wasn’t only pride speaking to Claire when I lied about my role on the Stargazers ship.

It was desire.

I didn’t want Claire sexually, but I did want on her ship and to be in her presence. She treated me almost like an Avian on my old colony might, something I’d just discovered that I dearly missed. I was more than willing to use my body to get what I wanted. Somehow, even though she said strange and scary things, I knew she was important. Just like the Stargazer, I could tell that I was in the presence of greatness. I just wasn’t sure how. Or even what she really did.

It sounded like the tomb raiding was a temporary thing, but honestly I didn’t care if that was her job. It was just surprising was all. I had to be with her. She had a ship far more advanced than the Stargazer’s, and the ability to fly with her hover bike. Not to mention the scary teleportation that happened. She was amazing. My heart was still wicked in its own way. It always will be. I knew I couldn’t pair bond with her for many reasons. She was a hen for one. But I could work for her, and she seemed to be interested in my body. I knew how to use my body and I’d happily do so if it meant I could fly.

The fall had reminded me of what life could be like, and her hover bike had given me a thrill unlike any other. I had been too scared and confused to realize it when it happened, but now that I was soaking my feathers in a warm bath, I remembered the sensation of the wind in my face and felt a shiver down my spine. I had been given a second chance at life. I needed to fly again. I decided that I would do anything make it happen.

I had to drain and refill the bathtub three times before I cleaned all the paint and dried muck off me. After the bath, I preened myself until I was satisfied; running my beak carefully through feathers and searching for any speck of dirt or grime I may have missed. After a what must have been an hour, I finally felt clean again. My feathers were a bright blue once more, and almost glowed in the bright clean light of Claire’s starship. I remembered the dim light in the Stargazers ship, and wondered what else it had been hiding besides my radiance.

Satisfied with my look, but still wet, I climbed upstairs. I was worried. I would have to convince Claire to make me a crew member. I’d tell her that I didn’t need the drive thing, that I just wanted to fly. I’d sell the only real skill I had. And hopefully, she’d buy it. If not, well…

I’d come up with something else. Maybe even lie.

When I got upstairs, I didn’t see her. The compartment looked different, there was a comfortable stone table, two stone chairs, some wall decorations that looked like they were stolen from a tomb, and a bowl of beak seed cereal on the table. Clearly she was trying to make me feel comfortable. As I was looking around, the door behind me whooshed open, and something collided roughly into me.

Surprised, I tumbled and fell as the something, or rather the somebody fell on top of me.

“Oh shit! Sorry! Not used to guests.” Claire shouted as she landed, planting her face squarely into my shoulders.

I felt her scramble to get off of me and decided that now was my chance. I tripped her as I rolled over to face her. She slipped down again, and between my machinations and the wet floor I managed to guide her face into my cleavage. Claire froze, probably realizing just how naked I still was as her face was buried in my bosom and her legs were straddling me.

This wasn’t at all how I’d expected to seduce her, but I wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity that literally fell into my chest. Unfortunately, she was wearing clothes, but I wasn’t about to let a little thing like that stop me. I took my arms and looped them under hers, pulling her out of my breasts and into my face, while also locking her close to me. I wasn’t sure if I should drop the formal speech or not, so I tried being informal with her.

I whispered into her ear. “I know I am a dirty birdie, Miss Clare. But I was really hoping that you would keep your prize.”

She was a deep shade of red that I didn’t know she could turn, and all she did was breathe heavily as I held her. “Please, Miss Claire. I’d love to…” I nibbled her ear slightly, hoping that preening was something she liked, “work underneath you.”

Claire actually shook in my arms as all the strength melted out of her. “Oh… Oh my...”

I continued to gently preen her, tracing my beak down her neck as I took one of her hands and guided it to my chest. She weakly gave a squeeze, and I moaned hotly into her neck. Everybody loves a good show, and I was a fan of warm up exercises.

I remembered what she said earlier, about how my “energy” would be a problem. So I decided to show her what kind of energy I had. I slipped my other hand under her shirt, and carefully onto the side of her torso. “I’ve never been with a hen before. But I’m very happy to do anything for you, Claire. And I do mean anything...” I traced my hand up and down her side as I felt her give another slow, unsure squeeze to my captive tit.

“Is there anything you’d like from me?” I preened underneath her chin, gently lapping at her skin as I slipped my hand underneath her belt line. “Anything at all?”

It’s funny. Dignity is still such a foreign concept to me that it makes me laugh. I remember being worried about silly things like that before I met the Stargazer, but it all seems so inconsequential now. Even then, the first day that I met Claire, I had long since given upon dignity. I wonder if that’s because of what the Stargazer did to me, or if it’s because of how he did it. Still, I don’t worry about it. Because, well…

I am not a good bird.

I am, however, a lot of fun.

I slipped my hand further past her belt line, and pressed my beak carefully next to her mouth. Her skin was hot to the touch, and very soft. It felt like my down feathers, but smoother. She gently squeezed my breast again, and I felt her shaking. “I know you said you wouldn’t keep me, Claire, but maybe I can give you a new perspective on the issue?”

Claire squealed in surprise as I flipped us both over. She found herself on her back, a hand up clutching my breast, the other held by mine above her head and pressed into the floor. I had my other hand well into her pants by now, underneath her undergarments and exploring what she had down below. I looked into her eyes, my face inches from her as I began to stroke her fuzzy pussy. She was soaking wet beneath her matted fur, which I assumed was a good sign. In my naivety I figured that she had accepted me as a male, so I pretended to be a male.

“You see, Claire, I wanted to fly. More than anything. And I did. Then you plucked me out of the sky.” Claire’s eyes softened as I grew more aggressive with my fingers, dipping into her flesh ever so slightly. “In one second you shattered my dreams, and then showed me something so much more amazing.” I glanced meaningfully down her body. Of course, I actually meant the hover bike and her Starship, but she didn’t need to know that.

I found a nub of flesh at the tip of her pussy and brushed it, watching her face closely. She was surprisingly similar to me down there, at least on the outside, which is something we discussed in detail later. At that moment, I was more excited by how my discovery would affect my efforts. I wet my fingers in the depths of her pussy, causing her to gasp, before I began to to rub slowly and forcefully over her clit.

She groaned loudly and thrust her hips upwards to meet my greedy fingers. I chuckled at how adorable she looked in that moment. Her face all red and silly, her green eyes pleading with mine, and heavy rolling breaths escaping her mouth as she squirmed underneath me. I was enjoying this much more than I expected to. “I was thinking, Claire, that after you saved me like that… After you won your prize…” I pressed hard on her clit, and she shuddered as her eyes opened wide. Claire gulped, looking at me almost fearfully as I slowed my assault, and lifted my fingers so I was barely touching her sensitive lower flesh.

“That maybe you should take responsibility, Claire. You did save my life, after all.” I kept my touch light, moving it even further away from her skin until I was almost touching her, but not quite. I still moved my fingers so that an occasional wet feather would tickle her outer lips, or briefly dance over her clit.

Claire’s eyes went desperately wide, and she arced her back to thrust into me. “Uhh… Ohh… “ She moaned, slightly confused and clearly hungry for more.

I glared at her like a predator. “Claire… will you take responsibility for what you’ve done?”

Claire pursed her lips and screwed her eyes shut as she turned her head to the side. I carefully dipped my finger, giving a single gentle but firm stroke in between her lower lips and tipping her clit. “Mmm” She thrust into me again, vying for more contact.

“All I want is to be part of your crew, Claire.” I tilted my head curiously as she grit her teeth and groaned.

I was surprised, and in no small amount worried. She was clearly fighting it. She didn’t want to let me be on her crew. I had been prepared to fight this, but I thought she’d be easier to convince. I decided that I had to fight harder.

“Is that too much to ask, Claire?” She opened her eyes and looked almost angry, but I pressed on. I couldn’t lose this. “One slot on your crew for me...” I took the hand from above her head that I had pinned and lead it to my pussy. “And any slot of mine for you. Whenever or however you want it…”

I resumed gently gliding across her pussy lips with my fingers as I pressed her hand firmly into my flesh. I forced myself to accept her, and my flesh seemed to grow wet under her inexpert touch. She fumbled around, pulling at my feathers and squishing into me. I was surprised at how bad she was, but I moaned anyways, pretending that I loved it. And in a way, it was endearing. She was trying to make me feel good, and something about that made my heart flutter.

I opened my eyes, and looked down at Claire, who had an unexpectedly serious look on her heavily flushed face. I was making progress. I pressed heavily into her clit again, this time rapidly swiping my finger up and down it. Her serious face crumbled, and her fumbling in my pussy paused as she closed her eyes and began to shake. I kept up what I was doing, not pausing when she sucked in a breath.

“Can I be on your crew, Claire?” She arched her back, and grit her teeth.

I smiled deviously as I pulled my hand quickly out of her pants. I grabbed both her hands with mine, and pinned them above her head as I held her legs down with my bodyweight. Claire was surprised at my sudden movement and shook her head side to side for a moment as she took deep gulping breaths.

“Claire… You need to take responsibility.”

Claire opened her eyes, looking hungrily at me, then down our bodies for a moment. She thrust her hips upward and whined a long desperate question. “Why?”

I knew that she was asking why I stopped when she was so close. But that’s not what I answered. “If I’m on your crew, we can fly together, Claire. You and I.”

I don’t know what I was thinking, or what happened, but I kept talking. I think I had just seen too much that day, and I slipped up a little. A little of me slipped out instead of my plan. “I know how to fly, but I want to fly with someone. I want to fly with you. I like you, Claire.” I began to tear up for some reason. I tried to ignore it. “I’m lonely, Claire. Fly with me. Please fly with me.”

I didn’t know if I looked sexy or not, but Claire’s eyes had softened in a strange way. A few tears dripped from my eyes onto her vest. She licked her lips, and mumbled out a word. “Fly...”

I grabbed her two hands with one of mine, ignoring the stray drops and focusing on her answer. I slipped my free hand back under her pants and over her dripping pussy. I gave it a warm, firm stroke. “That’s a good hen. Say it louder…”

“Fly… We’ll Fly….” Claire groaned, arching her back as I pressed into her hard. I smiled, my heart racing again.

“I’ll be your plaything, Claire. Just fly with me.” I kissed her then, putting my beak over her mouth and exploring her with my tongue. She tasted strange and alien. There weren’t any tingles or sparks, but I enjoyed it anyways. She was warm and wet, slick and squirmy in my mouth. I began to pump my hand into her pussy and stroke her clit as she moaned deeply back into me.

I had her. I had won. I pulled out of the kiss, and chirped gleefully as I pushed her even closer to the edge. “I can be on your crew, right, Claire?”

Claire shuddered and grit her teeth again, this time forcing out an answer. “Crew.”

We locked eyes one more time, this time I knew she was at the limit. Her green eyes were wild and desperate, her long head fur was matted and frizzled, My fingers were soaked in a fresh coating of lubrication from her pussy as she groaned again. I openly smirked as arrogantly as I could muster. “One last time my little hen. Tell me that I can be on your crew.”

Claire sucked up a breath to answer, but it got stuck inside of her. Her chest heaved and her back arched, and she shuddered as though she had hiccups. Her pussy clamped down on my fingers as I stroked her, quivering around my steady rhythm. I didn’t stop or pause, I knew better than that. I milked her like I milked the Stargazer’s fat quivering cock. Just because it was leaking, oozing, or spurting didn’t mean he was done. And I treated her the same.

She spurt around my hand, finally managing to scream out a word as her breath finally got out. “Yes!” She arched and shook again, continuing to shout. “Yes! Oh shit… Yes!”

I watched her, noting how she moved, where she seemed sensitive, cataloging everything about her in her moment of ecstasy. I may be a dumb bird, but I try very hard to be good at my job. And I had just gotten myself hired.

Claire relaxed slowly, and I carefully extracted my hand so as not to hurt her or cause her discomfort. She breathed deeply, sucking in air and I continued to watch her curiously. She was very pretty in a strange way, especially flushed and red like this. She lazily looked at me after a moment, and I took the opportunity to slowly lick my hand clean of her juices.

“What a fucking bonus prize. Holy shit…” She couldn’t take her eyes off my tongue, causing me to smirk confidently. Claire’s juices didn’t taste bad, but they also didn’t taste good by any means. Still, it was thrilling watching her watch me so intently. I’ve always loved attention. Inevitably, I ran out of juice while sucking on my fingers one last time. I visibly pouted when I took my hand out, then winked mischievously at Claire.

Now that the moment was over, I switched back to formal speech. She was my boss now, after all. “I would assert that we both have won, Claire. I am gleeful to also be your bonus prize.”

Clare looked at me with a furrowed brow for a moment, then laughed. “You are lucky you are fucking gorgeous. You are super weird.”

I winked at her one more time, then leaned over her ear to gently preen her.

Claire gulped as I pressed my naked body into her again, pulling her close. “Uhh… I have a bed. We can cuddle in a bed.”

Reluctantly, I got up and helped Claire off the ground. “I need to clean you, Claire. You are my superior now.”

Claire huffed in a mocking tone. “I am your Captain now, thank you very much. And you will address me a such!”

I knew she was joking, the translator worked well enough for that, but from then on she was my Captain. “Of course, my Captain.”

Claire looked at me and blushed as she paused awkwardly before I went down the floor hatch. “So… Uhh… It’s kind of weird now, but I… Uhh… Never caught your name…”

I paused to look at her curiously before leaving her behind as I jumped haphazardly down the hatch. “You never asked for it, my Captain.”