DD 301 Ch 11

"Please, by all means, come share our fire, you and your party. We can at least give you directions to Star City. Perhaps soon, more of the cities will be reunited." I offered to the very large man.

The Whalewyrn nodded, letting out a deep, low note before clicking several times. The sound seemed to carry forever before he turned back to me and the rest of my class. "By the way, I don't mean to be rude, Incubus, but what are those?" He pointed at the women behind me. 

"Ah, they are new since the latest dungeon shuffle," I said, playing my act as a demon. "They're called humans. I was separated from my party before coming to meet them." I kept the story up. "And sorry, my name is Ken.”

“I am Baloo. At least, that's what you can call me." He replied.

There was another noise that came from the dungeon. It was a long note followed by several clicks. The tone warbled high and low again. It had a fullness to it, like the sound would reach forever. 

"Ah, my party is coming." Baloo smiled and casually picked up the giant anchor and chain, carrying it closer to the fire before dropping it at his feet. "I hope you are not insulted by me keeping my anchor close. As one of the anchors of my party, it is my responsibility to have it with me at all times." 

The rest of my class had already begun to put their weapons away, given that Baloo seemed to be friendly so far and not wanting to raise any alarms.

"The anchor of your party?" Candice asked curiously. 

"Ah, right. If you are humans and only recently connected with the depths of the dungeon, then perhaps you've never seen a Whalewyrn fight. But rather than explain, it would likely be easier for me to show you. If you don't mind, tomorrow before we set off, my party and I would happily give you an example of what it means to be the anchor of our party.”

“I think they would love a demonstration. They have quickly learned how much deeper the dungeon can be." I offered.

Baloo chuckled. "There are stories from when our people first left the seas. They once searched for ways to explore the stars, but over time they began to look closer to home. They found the unimaginable depths of the dungeon. There we found answers to the diseases plaguing our kind and entertained ourselves with enough strength that we stopped reaching for the stars. What about your people?" He asked Candice. "Do they still reach for the stars as well?" 

"Yes, we do have a large space program," Candice shared. 

"Yes, space. The last great ocean." Baloo glanced off to the side. Apparently his hearing was far better than mine. The only other reaction around camp was Felin, and it was only to glance briefly away from her fish that was still sizzling by the fire. 

"Shoot!" I jumped forward to check on her fish. "I'm sorry, my mate." I rubbed her on the top of the head. As I pulled the fish out, I noted that the corners were already beginning to get a little burnt. But that was okay. Sometimes that's what made the best grilled fish.

"Welcome. We have been invited to their hearth," Baloo gestured towards the four other Whalewyrn that had now joined us. “Ken and company, please meet the rest of my party.”

I had expected them to resemble Baloo, but I was quickly relieved of that notion. They were all quite varied. While Baloo was a dusky slate blue color, they ranged from pale white to one that bore patterns similar to a killer whale. Baloo was certainly the largest of the group. There were two other men, both of whom were big, but not to the same extent.

Another also carried an anchor. He was ghostly pale with a bulbous lump on his forehead. Despite the lump, he shared similar whale-like features, with flipper ears and a whale tail dragging behind him.

The third male was perhaps only an inch or two taller than me and one of the women was even larger than him. Of the group, he looked the most dangerous, his body riddled with scars criss-crossed over most of his exposed skin to my surprise he was less blubber like the first two and very lean.

Finally, the two female Whalewyrn were surprisingly cute. The first was the larger of the two and appeared to be a female version of Baloo, only slimmer and with pronounced curves. The other one was the smallest of the group with markings that reminded me of a killer whale. She was actually pretty cute.

"What are these?" The killer whale female looked at the group, her eyes landing on Felin and I. "A Nekorian and a demon?" She stated the question as if it were the scandal of the century. 

Baloo just laughed. "It would seem our new friend is quite the charmer," he said. "I'm sorry, Ken. Misha is a curious and insensitive woman. But truthfully, it is just as shocking to me that I would see a Nekorian with a demon, let alone overhear you two calling each other mates. Your two people are so often like oil and water. We can't help being at least a little shocked."

"No harm done," I said with my best good-natured chuckle.

“It's good to see that even age-old grudges don't stop everyone.” Baloo nodded.

I smiled at that thought, but the concept of an age-old grudge was interesting information. When we had met the Leomatis, they had certainly disliked me. I realized there might be even more behind those initial feelings. It would be good to learn more about that when we got back to Star City perhaps there was a better way for me to approach the Nekorians. A part of me hated that I might have become a barrier for Felin to get to know her people.

"Well, love conquers all, does it not?" I said, not wanting to delve too deep into the conversation, especially when I didn't actually know the history of why demons and Nekorians got along so poorly.

Misha laughed boldly. "And the Incubus believes in love. That's the first time I've heard an Incubus care more about love than his cock." She continued to laugh, but Baloo winced.

"I sincerely apologize for her manners, or the lack thereof," he hesitated. 

"It's okay. It takes quite a lot to offend me," I said.

"Then we shall endeavor to never reach that limit. Come, Misha, perhaps if we feed you, you won't be so rude to our hosts. Perhaps we can keep your mouth busy." Baloo answered.

"I hope it's meat," Misha said, while looking directly at me.

A thought crossed my mind if a euphemism like that would transcend races. It wasn’t really a big leap for it to make sense regardless of the language.

"I was unaware you were so carnivorous, Misha," Baloo looked at her seriously.

I didn't have the heart to tell the innocent Whaleryn that she had been making a sexual suggestion. Despite his rather imposing size, he seemed to be quite innocent. Or at least, that was my impression of the man. I'd only known him for a few moments.

"Well, I certainly hope it's meat," Baloo echoed Misha as Felin held a slab of fish in her hand and began chewing on it in front of the Whaleryn. I watched as Misha's cute button nose wiggled and she sniffed the air.

"What kind of fish is that?" Misha sniffed again, as if trying to catch the whiff of something familiar.

"Mine," Felin answered without missing a beat.

"That is a strange name for a fish," Misha scowled. It seems the two of them were off to a rather interesting start. Felin wasn’t the best at sharing.

"She means it's her fish. She is claiming possession of it," one of the other Whaleryn looked at Misha as if she was an idiot, which perhaps she was, given everything I'd seen so far.

"I knew that," Misha stomped hard enough to make the ground quake underneath us. I suddenly realized that the five foot Whaleryn was far stronger than she looked, which made me curious about the others. “I just wanted to get an answer out of this cheeky Nekorian.”

Misha glared at Felin. "Besides, if you're hosting us, you should share."

"Don't wanna," Felin said around her fish as she bit into it. "My fish. My meat."

"Certainly with fellow travelers, you'll share," Baloo tried to keep the peace, which was going to be distinctly difficult, given the way that Felin was glaring at Misha.

"Let’s all calm down," I tried to smooth it all over. "Her meat."

Somehow those words only made Felin grin wider. "My meat." This time, when she said the words, her tail batted at my crotch, and there was no mistake in what she really meant.

"But Felin, we should be more polite to our guests.” I offered.

“Greedy meat thieves make poor guests," she said, glaring daggers at Misha once again.

At those words, the Whaleryn burst out laughing, and a few of the others joined in.

“The Nekorian is even possessive of the incubus. This had to be a dungeon first.” Baloo laughed, and his laughter was bold and uplifting.

"Perhaps we could swap stories as part of our thanks to the host." I offered and pulled out some of my own supplies to start cooking for them.

Felin shot me a scandalized look as if me providing the meat was a crime.

"A wonderful idea," Baloo picked up. "And since Misha has gone forward and requested a meal, I think it's only fair that she pay with a story of her own."

The smallest of the Whaleryn rolled her eyes. "Fine," she plopped down in the circle we had around the camp, tapping her lips. "What kind of story should I tell? Especially stories around an incubus," she glanced at me only for a brief moment before looking to the ladies around the fire. "Tell me, are all the stories around this campfire lurid and full of explicit detail?"

"Only the best ones," Des said, stepping forward towards the Whaleryn.

Misha turned, taking note of Des and her eyes widening immediately. A bright smile flashed across her face. "A temptress! I hadn't seen you hiding amongst the humans."

"That's okay. Sometimes I like to be the hidden weapon you only see once you make Ken mad enough." Des chuckled and joined the group.

"I can see why he keeps you around, even with all the other eye candy around him." Misha answered, for the first time being polite.

"Well, it's because he knows what's good for him," Des winkied, the two of them, almost sharing a silent language between them. Apparently, they had become fast friends over some concept.

"Women," Baloo said, quietly sitting down next to me. "The eternal mystery, even amongst races." Baloo spoke in a low tone that didn't travel very far at all. I was coming to understand that the Whaleryn had a fantastic control of their voice.

I laughed, nodding my head to his words. “Even surrounded by so many I find myself unable to keep up with them often. But I’ve just grown comfortable with it as long as they are enjoying themselves.”

Baloo hummed noncommittally, his eyes finding Misha. I wondered if there was something between the two of them.

She was cute, especially as she grew animated. Misha’s voice carried over the group and based on Des’ excitement, it was about to be wildly inappropriate. "For the humans that don't know, Whaleryn only mate one week a year. It's said that once upon a time our ancestors would swim vast distances out of some primal need to go mate on warmer shores. This would happen in the clear shallows, so we could of course see the other clearly before the deed was done." Misha rolled her eyes. “Personally, I think the cold caused poor performance for the men.”

I could tell that Baloo was distinctly uncomfortable with the start of this story.

"Do Whaleryn mate for life?" Felin asked.

"Nope," Misha said with a giant smile. "Truthfully, I think that they used to travel all the way south to where it was warm and have a giant orgy to knock each other up before they swam back over to the cool depths where all the tasty fish live. Realistically though, before the dungeon, the greatest problem for our people was food. It takes a lot of space to farm plankton and krill. Even once we were developing the land, most of that work was just benefiting the rich Whaleryn, who were snagging up as much space as they could buy."

"What about here in the dungeon?" Candice asked.

"Oh no, that's where we're going," Misha continued with a giant grin. "Unlike a prim and proper Whaleryn, I want it more than once a year, and I don't want to have to cross the dungeon in some asinine ritual to get my meat, if you catch my drift."

Baloo put his head in his hand. "I do apologize for her."

"Why? She seems spirited," I said offhandedly.

"This is our first encounter with your humans. They should not have to listen to such crude stories." Baloo answered with a shake of his head. “Sex and the talk of it should be reserved for the season.”

Misha began a tale of traveling through the dungeon by herself, essentially looking for another Whaleryn interested in more frequent affairs and her frequent rebuttal and their disinterest in anything outside the mating week.

While she was telling the story, Des would not stop looking back at me suggestively. It was clear what was on her mind and Misha joined her looking at me like an opportunity.

I turned away from the story. I was more interested in what my new friend Baloo might know.  "How deep did you wind up in the shuffle?" I asked. 

"Only the 45s, but we were with a strange, aggressive race." He shook his head. "They seemed to thrive in water, much like us. They were scaled and resembled the fish we often eat back home, though perhaps their swords were sharper than those our fish ever carried." 

I chuckled, knowing what he was describing. "They have big fins at the top of their heads, and perhaps some of them were extra large, with six arms." 

Baloo nodded at me in wonder. "You know them?”

“We refer to them as Naga. They've come from the same area of the dungeon as us, only they're known for being quite aggressive." I answered, feeling bad for them for once. Slytha had taught me that they could be reasoned with.

"That they are," Baloo chuckled, "though they seemed woefully ill-prepared to deal with my anchor.” He pat the giant weapon, who’s shaft rested against his side. “Besides the six-armed ones, all of the others rushed at us like simple ants in a melee." 

I raised an eyebrow. "Against an anchor, that would be a stupid tactic," I said, pretending to know more than I did and glancing at the anchor in the corner. 

He chuckled. "Indeed. A tactical folly of epic proportion. Needless to say, our anchors crushed them handily. I was quite shocked that none of them had learned Universal Language to even try and communicate with us. It was a shame we had to kill so many simply for the crime of being ignorant." Baloo shook his head. He seemed genuinely sorrowful at having to kill.

"When we're done here, my group is still going deeper. You're welcome to either tag along with us for a while, or I can give you some directions back to Star City." I offered. 

Baloo looked thoughtful, but only for a moment before he shook his head. "It would be nice to rest in the comfort of a city. Star City is not the Breach, but having the arbiters around will let me sleep peacefully. And I think me and the rest of my group could use that," he glanced knowingly at the ladies who were continuing their story. 

I caught a few tidbits of the conversation, realizing they were now pushing Penny to share 74 Wives with Misha, which then involved them talking about CIDs and the comparable Whaleryn interface.

"That makes sense to me, Baloo. If you've been separated since the dungeon shuffle, you have been looking for a way home for quite some time." It only took me a moment to do the math, and I was quietly horrified. He would have been stuck down in the dungeon for at least eight months. I shivered at the thought. 

"Do you grow cold?" Baloo asked, noticing the movement. 

"No, thank you for your concern. I briefly considered how long you've been down in the dungeon." I told him honestly.

"Not completely without respite," Baloo assured me. "I did come across a few civilized safe zones, but none of the seven cities. And certainly no spaces with amenities that could compare."

"Well then, let me give you directions, and perhaps we'll see each other when our group is back in Star City," I said.

Baloo grunted and nodded his head. "I look forward to seeing your safe return from your dive into the dungeon."

Then he looked over at Misha, who was continuing her story. "Is she yours?" I asked, rather poorly changing the subject.

"Misha? No. She is no one's. Her story does not have a happy ending. Despite her otherwise cheery attitude, I might suggest she is a bit of an... 'Outcast' is a harsh word for it. In our tongue, there is a much nicer way to put it."

"Nicer or just more polite?" I said with a chuckle, having gotten to know the Whaleryn and taking a guess.

"More polite," Baloo smiled. "You will find Whaleryn heavily prioritize politeness. Unless, of course, you are Misha. In our tongue, it would be more accurate to say that she swims without a pod. She charts her own path in a sense that she lives a harsher life than most, without the full comfort most get to experience effortlessly.”

“Then this hunt of hers goes unsuccessful." I stated.

"Very much so,” Baloo said. “While she is a fierce warrior and swims strongly through life, the unfortunate reality that most Whaleryn must accept after she explains herself is that she would never be satisfied with them. Perhaps she could lead a party with four other men, but even then her desires seem far too much for the Whaleryn to accommodate.”

“She can go and join another party, can't she? I've seen mixed parties with other groups, or those like my own." I tried to make sure I did not offend.

Baloo glanced at the ladies around the fire. "Truthfully, I have not seen quite so many mixed parties as of late. The tensions amongst the seven cities have been high even before the shuffle, which I fear will only make matters worse. The chaos caused by it will bring those who wish to find opportunity in it. Star City is certainly a nice place to be, the Arbiters are a force that would squash that chaos. Not to mention our differences in how we organize parties does make it fairly difficult for a Whaleryn to join another party. You see, we only have two positions, the pillar and the anchor. Tomorrow I'll give you an example, and you will understand far better."

I nodded to Baloo, trusting him and deciding to leave it for later. For now, my gaze returned to the very mixed group in front of me with a hint of pride.

Misha excitedly continued her story, and I decided to make myself useful, helping Charlotte. It seemed she had taken it upon herself to be hostess for our new guests and their whale-sized appetites.