Black Pearls - Plancti

Slowly the pleasure built in her as she listened to Plancti sigh and moan. More would be better, Shella thought, and her hips shook faster. The lips slipped past each other, coming and going, the hard buttons digging into their flesh down there. The fire in her loins, hot and consuming, was overtaking Shella. She couldn't control her voice, and she made small groans of lust running along Plancti.

Shella leaned into Plancti. She knew she could make this better yet. Pressing harder, making the heat hotter, letting their waters let them lust into each other. Plancti's moans were faster yet, and Shella could feel her talons twitch in delight. Her own body was shaking, ignoring the soft bed to focus on the all-consuming sensation.

Shella's mind was nearing the consuming blank again. Her heat, the fires of pleasure crawling inside her, Plancti's own lust-driven twitches, were all building up inside her. Shella tried to hold on, making the round last longer, feeling more of Plancti against her.

She didn't. Crying out in a moan of lust Shella herself was barely aware of, she felt her lips clamour in sync with Plancti. Plancti's back was arching, and so was Shella's. Her eyes open a crack, she watched unthinkingly as Plancti twisted in orgasm, her own senses clouded by the climax.

As it faded, Shella gently disconnected from Plancti and leaned over her. Sweat was palpable in the air, and both hers and Planti's breathes were more labored. She felt the happiness of the afterglow inside her.

Plancti twisted over on to her side, letting Shella collapse next to her. "You know," Plancti said, "I just thought of something."

"Mmm?" Shella inquisitively hummed.

"You know how mad Lily got when I sang and wrecked her ship? Wouldn't Jason have gotten as mad if I sang and wrecked his ship instead?"

"Yeah, that's possible. But Jason's only human. I didn't hear your singin', it was only Lily, and she's the ship itself," Shella replied.

"Also, couldn't Jason have been in this world longer than I have, and I wouldn't know?" Plancti asked.

"Yeah, that's entirely possible. Didn't think about that. Not that it matters any more." Shella propped herself up on her elbows. "What are you going to do after we leave?"

"Well, if Jason is in this world, I can search for him."

"No tearful goodbyes?" Shella asked.

"There'll always be someone there. Lily's got you, I'll find somebody new," Plancti said.

"That's good," Shella said. She doubted that Plancti would settle down with someone, but she didn't want to crush any dreams.

"One final thing before anything else happens," Shella said, sliding up to Plancti. "There's been a pearl, growing in your body."

A look of confusion crossed Plancti's face. "No, that's ridiculous. My body feels fine."

"It's true. I used to be human, but got cursed long, long ago. Part of my curse causes pearls to grow in me or my partner during sex. I can remove it, and I'd like to remove it."

"Will removing it be uncomfortable?" Plancti asked, looking slightly frazzled.

"No, not at all. Trust me on what I am about to do." Shella's hand was over Plancti belly, and her other hand was around Plancti's back. Plancti was trembling slightly, but otherwise still.

Shella's fingers grazed Plancti's skin below her belly button, straightened out to form a wedge, and slid in. Around her fingers, Plancti's body rippled slightly, akin to water. Inside was wet, tight, and hot. Shella's fingers dug around blindly, swimming around for something solid and tough. Plancti looked down with morbid interest, trying to ascertain exactly what was going on in her.

Finally, Shella's fingers closed around a sphere, placed higher than she expected. She dragged her fingers out, her hand dry and Plancti's body now uninterrupted. She opened her hand up to reveal a shiny black orb, grown maybe an inch wide.

Plancti looked at the black pearl, and then exclaimed, "That was in me?"

"Yup," Shella confirmed.

"Is it going to happen to everyone I meet?" Plancti asked.

"Nope. Just me. Oh, and Lily has the same thing," Shella said, gesturing to Lily.

Shella looked deeper into the pearl. Its obsidian surface was flawless, perfectly formed, perfectly smooth. It was the fourth she and Lily had.

Plancti peered into the pearl. "I don't get the attraction of it," she said.

"Oh, it's just something me an' Lily do. It's interestin' seein' what kind of pearls grow," Shella said.

"Hmm, guess it would be. When do you want me to sing the ship off the rocks?" Plancti asked, struggling to sit up.

"You've still got the energy for that?" Shella asked.

Plancti stretched out her wings. The broad expanse of feathers shadowed Shella's body. "I'm wholly able to do it right now!" she chirped.

"Then by all means, do it!" Shella said, twisting herself upright.

Plancti hopped off the bed and folded her wings close to her body. Shella dug around for her clothes, slid into them quickly, and opened the door for Plancti. Knocking on the side of a wall, Shella said aloud, "Lily, Plancti's going to sing us off now! Get the sails ready!"

On the outside wall of the cabin, the greyed wood ripples and Lily stepped through. Ropes grew taut, sails unfurled, and the masts angled to catch the wind to pull Lily off the stone spires. Lily crossed her arms and looked at Plancti, who had taken off and perched on the tree-like rocks.

Plancti ruffled her feathers, hummed to herself, then started singing. Gentle rising from silent notes, Plancti's voice warbled into the air as fine as any songbird. It was the most wonderful song Shella had ever heard. It spoke of happy voyages, trades in far-off lands, the daring excitement of exploration. With the rise of chime-like notes, the wind rose. Each echoing note played the wind into a powerful breeze. Every drop of sound danced upon the currents of air filling the sails.

The ship groaned and turned to the right, off the rocks. Creaking as if it was aged beyond use, the ship slide off the dagger-like rocks. Shella could hear the rumble-like cracking as broken splintered boards reasserted themselves in the frame of the ship, crushed wood regrowing like a tree after a lightning strike and knitting itself back together.

The ship was free, drifting away on the ocean. The singing stopped, letting the wind subside.

"That was beautiful," Shella murmured to herself.

Plancti puffed out her chest proudly. "I'm not even the best voice in my family!" she proclaimed with pride. Plancti looked around at the island. It was drifting gently farther and farther away as the ship sailed away from it. "Whoops. I guess I'll be seeing you later," Plancti said.

"Much later. Good-bye." Shella said. A tint of faint sadness hid inside her voice. She had forgotten to mention to Plancti that it was impossible to meet the same person twice. Every encounter was a singular, unique event.

"Good-bye," Plancti said, before flapping off towards the island. Her voice was happy and optimistic.

"What, no good-byes?" Shella asked Lily, looking at her. She had remained impassive during the entire encounter, and she rolled her eyes at Shella's question.

Shella closed her fingers around the pearl tightly and journeyed through the ship, past her cabin, down the flight of stairs under the coral bed, through the bathing pool room, and to the double-doors opposite of the bathing pool. Lily followed behind her, and the door swung inwards at the slightest touch.

Yellow glowing coral illuminated the hall-like room. A long faded carpet stretched past two pairs of large wooden chests, placed on either side. Beyond them, on the end of the carpet, a stand held up a smaller, more ornate chest. Beyond that, the glowing coral illuminated an intricate organic circle of coral growing on the wall, where the bony structures had grown to form ten small cups on the circle. Three of them were occupied.

Shella ignored the copious amounts of white pearls almost spilling out of the wooden chests, and circled around the ornate chest and its cargo of rainbow pearls. She bent down and delicately placed the new black pearl in one of the cups. There were now four black pearls on the circle. "Six more to go," Shella said with a sigh, with Lily dwelling near her, almost touching her.