After the Second Fall Pt. 03.2

"Good night, Pip," Rachel cooed as he tried to steady his breathing.

"You know," he said with a dry throated voice, "I think you might be just a little bit evil."

"I love you, too," she replied, her smile evident through her voice.

Pip woke with a start, confused, and reflexively slowed time. Rachel had slid to his left side so that she was pushed up against the tent; on his right, Jill was in the process of poking him in the ribs -- nothing else seemed amiss, so he relaxed and allowed the world to resume its normal course.

"Pih-ip," Jill said, probably not for the first time that morning, "Eh hev teh peh-eh."

After a couple beats, Pip processed her words, then nodded. Then giggled. Then laughed, waking Rachel up none too gently. "Ehs nah-at fun-neh!" shouted Jill with a slap to Pip's side, which only made him laugh harder. Rachel was completely disoriented and no help to Jill as she was bounced up and down on Pip's chest, so the younger woman slapped Pip again and started to crawl over top of him. A misplaced hand near his thigh caused her to slip forward and her face and shoulder smacked into his member, abruptly cutting off his guffawing. Seizing the opportunity, Jill pushed herself up onto her hip and looked back at Pip, who had raised up on an elbow. "Nah sah fun-neh nah-ow, ehs et?" she demanded, flicking him right on the tip.

Pip's eyes narrowed and he sat up quickly, catching Rachel and setting her aside before she tumbled off; seeing she may have overplayed her hand, Jill spun and scrambled out of the tent, then ran and hid behind the cart, her eyes wide with fright. The effect was ruined as Pip scooted out of the tent on his butt, unable to charge after his tormentor as he would have liked. As he finally emerged, Jill's fear had fled in the face of ridiculousness and she found herself also sitting on the ground, laughing and pointing.

Looking down, Pip saw that his penis had escaped its confines, which were themselves stained with evidence of the previous night's activities. Furthermore, his lower half was covered quite thoroughly in dirt as a result of his frantic effort to escape the tent. Giving up any attempt at grace, modesty, or class, Pip stood and looked down at his new acquaintance, who was just getting her breath back.

"I'm sorry I laughed," Pip said, his traitorous mouth once again turning up in a small grin. "Are we even then?"

"Feck nah," Jill replied, "yah mah-aad meh pess meh-sef." Sure enough, Jill was sitting in a small pool of her own making; Pip took a deep breath and waited for the explosion. There was a long moment before Jill's expression broke and she smiled. "Eh hanna lef-ed dah much en a lang tii-meh." She looked down. "Eh shud clen up dah."

Knowing he was in much the same state, Pip nodded and walked over to help Jill to her feet. "Friends?"

"Meh-beh," she responded looking up into his eyes. "Buh nehs tii-me jus let meh gah peh-eh."

"Deal," he responded with a grin.

Making do with canteen water and a rag apiece, Pip and Jill had themselves cleaned up and ready for the day in time for the the quick meal that Rachel prepared; they were moving again less than half a bell later.

As the morning wore on, the trail began to finally bend West, toward a group of outcroppings that broke the otherwise featureless plain. "I guess that's where we're going," Pip offered as he slowed to a stop. "Now that we're here, I'm not sure the best way to go about this. Rachel?"

"They probably have somebody watching," she offered, "so I don't think surprise is on our side."

"Agreed, and since we don't know how many of them there are, and what kind of weapons they have, charging up there doesn't make a lot of sense. Do you think we can get them to come to us?"

Once again reclining in the cart, Jill sat up in alarm. "Dah-nah do-ah dat," she stated emphatically.

"It's okay," Rachel said soothingly. "There's really nothing they can do to hurt Pip." Jill looked to the Adam disbelievingly, but when he nodded seriously, she relaxed, in spite of her misgivings.

"Actually, maybe I have an idea," Pip said, dismounting so that he could more easily speak with the women.

A short while later, after talking through his plan, the trio started making a large circuit of the outcropping, partially to reconnoiter for a place to make a stand and partially to verify that the tracks didn't continue off in another direction. Fortunately, there were two more smaller outcroppings behind the first, roughly two strong throws away and spaced fifteen body lengths apart: not ideal for the plan, but workable.

After the first loop, Pip started a second, this time much closer to the outcropping.

By the time he started a third, Pip could readily see movement among the rocks as unskilled people tried unsuccessfully to sneak from one hiding place to another.

After the circuit, Pip stopped on the same side from which they had originally approached. While he stepped forward, the girls moved behind the cart, just in case the gang had guns. In front, Pip slowly removed his jacket and then his shirt, spinning slowly to make sure anyone looking on could see he was not carrying weapons -- other than his stiletto, of course, which was now strapped to his right calf -- but they didn't need to know about that.

"They call me the Reaper," he yelled out, speaking slowly so that his words would be understood across the distance. "I want my women back." He could see more movement, but it was too far to make out details. After several hundred beats he started again. "You have until dawn tomorrow. If you don't send out my women, I will come in and get them."

Pip made a show of putting back on his shirt and jacket and remounting the bike while Rachel and Jill climbed back aboard. "Dawn tomorrow," he called again, then started pedaling, following the first half of the circuit one final time until they came to the first of the smaller rock formations.

"How'd I do?" he asked quietly. Rachel chuckled and nodded; Jill just bit her lip.

In a short while they had once again set up camp on the far side of the outcropping, out of sight of the gang. The rocks themselves wouldn't provide much cover, but it was better than nothing, and more importantly, key to his scheme.

As night fell, Rachel and Jill were once again trying to arrange themselves within the tent, struggling for space that just wasn't available.

Not nearly far enough away, half a dozen figures left the main outcropping and started to work their way toward the tent, led by a huge man that was nevertheless too small to ever fight in the Arena. The group was relatively successful in staying quiet as they moved outward, and split evenly at the leader's hand signal, half going toward each of the small escarpments. The leader himself took the direct route to the goal, pressing himself close to the rock on the side opposite from where the girls were still struggling to finalize their sleeping arrangements.

He and his two associates started around counter clockwise, only to find that the fire had been built on that side of the tent and would illuminate them before they could get within half a dozen strides. Backtracking carefully, they soon worked themselves around to the other side of the rock so that the tent would block the direct light from the fire. What's more, the light filtering through the fabric revealed that the women had given up fighting for space. One was writhing delightfully on top of that huge bastard that called himself "The Reaper," while the other seemed to be taking care of her own pleasure.

With a scowl and more hand gestures, the three men started forward slowly, stopping when they were a mere five paces from the tent. The leader held up three fingers and lowered them one at a time.

"Now!" the leader yelled as he surged forward.

With his long legs, the man should have been at the tent in a two beats, but instead he found himself face down in the dirt, his head ringing and generally unsure of what transpired. As he tried to collect himself, movement registered at the corner of his vision and his world exploded in a flash of white.

The leader awoke, disoriented and in more pain than he could remember. Ever. He found he couldn't open his eyes, so he focused instead on trying to move body parts. Unfortunately, he wasn't very successful in that endeavor either.

"Are you sure that's him?" a deep male voice asked.

"Yea-ah, das es im."

"Alright, Jill. Rachel, why don't you both try to get some rest -- it might be a little while until I get what we need." After a few beats, footsteps approached. "You know who I am?"

The injured man tried to speak and found that his mouth wasn't behaving properly, so he just nodded his head, which was incredibly disorienting and caused his bile to rise dangerously close to its escape point.

"Good, that will save some time," said the deep voice. "I want to know how many are in your gang."

The man slowly shook his head, only for his left thigh to scream in agony, the pain blooming in his mind like a terrible red rose.

"If you know who I am, then you know I've been trained since birth to kill people," Deep Voice said. "More importantly for our purposes, I also know how to hurt people. You can tell me what you know, or I can spend the entire night showing you what I know."

Pain exploded again and the man realized it was a blade of some kind wiggling around in his thigh. "Five," he croaked out. "Five."

"I already killed five, plus you will make six, so now I know you're lying to me."

More pain. More questions.

Eventually a neat stab through the temple.

Pip sighed and rose stiffly, glad for the first part of the ordeal to be over.

After retrieving a blanket, he made his way to the shallow hollow in the rocks that Rachel had found earlier where the two women were waiting for him. It wasn't great cover, but would allow him to shield them from anything dangerous while also keeping them out of the tent, just in case the remaining gang members tried something.

Dawn brought relief for the trio, but also a sickening scene. It was the first time that Jill really understood what Pip was capable of, and it shocked her into silence. As for Rachel, she just hugged her Adam. "Thank you, Pip."

Nodding, Pip began the next part of the plan, which consisted of dragging the corpses one by one into the open where they could be seen from the gang's outcropping. As he finished, Jill walked out to meet him with some salted meat and a canteen. "Thank yoo, Pipp," she said as she offered him his breakfast.

"You're welcome, Jill."

The young woman blushed and looked down, then smiled -- just a little -- before executing a controlled retreat back toward the camp. He followed after slowly, chewing as he walked, and arrived as Rachel finished packing the cart. They were soon situated in their traveling positions and pedaled back around to what Pip considered the front of the main outcropping.

Repeating the same process as the previous day, Pip stripped down and called out to anyone watching. "It's dawn and I don't see my women. I know there are still five of you in there. You have until I count to ten."

As Pip counted seven there was a shout from the rock as a man and woman picked their way down a path to the ground. "Is she one of yours?" Pip asked Jill without turning around.

"Nah. Eh nev-eh sehn er."

"Where are the rest?" Pip called out. The man pointed off to the South. "Where are the women?" He pointed up to the outcropping. After half a dozen beats, Pip nodded. "If you're lying, I'll track you down."

The man's eyes widened and he immediately began following his already departed companions, the woman close behind.

The remaining trio watched the disappearing couple slowly perform their trick. "Time to go see how bad it is," Pip finally offered after the last of the gang was no longer visible. With a deep breath he started forward; Jill would have as well, but Rachel's hand held her back.

"We don't know what happened in there. Let Pip look first." Nodding reluctantly, Jill stopped pulling, but the tension remained in her shoulders and neck; her hands formed tight balls.

Ahead of the women, Pip was moving in a quick shuffle, knife in hand. He hadn't seen movement aside from the fleeing couple, but he slowed time anyway. Unfortunately, the gash he'd received across his right thigh the night before from the first group of three was extremely unpleasant when he had so much opportunity to think about it, so he eased off a bit of his control, trying to balance caution and comfort.

He reached the rocks and picked his way up toward the opening, and after allowing his eyes to adjust briefly, stepped inside.

Back with the bikes, Rachel and Jill looked on; even Rachel was feeling trepidation, not necessarily for Pip's safety, but there was a significant possibility that the bandits had killed their hostages before fleeing. Fortunately, their wait was brief as Pip emerged and waved them forward; from the set of his shoulders, Rachel could tell that it wasn't as bad as they had feared.

Jill had the same thought and was moving immediately, running toward the rocks and showing a level of concern that Rachel did not think existed within the young woman. When Rachel stepped into the hideaway, the squalor turned her stomach and she quickly exited again, blinking her eyes rapidly and taking deep breaths, willing the bile to recede.

Pip placed a large hand on her shoulder.

"I'm alright, Pip, thanks," she managed. "The smell and the..."

"Filth."

Rachel nodded. "It caught me off guard for some reason. I probably should have expected it."

Rather than reply, Pip knelt down to look at Rachel closely, and when she eventually smiled back, he took her in his arms and walked her back toward their bikes.

Half a bell later he was carrying the potentially salvageable foodstuffs, clothing, and other miscellanea down to air out while Rachel set up their tent. The four locals didn't seem to mind the conditions so much and planned to spend the night inside rather than squeezing into a too small tent, even after Pip volunteered to sleep in the open, although he strongly suspected the three kidnappees were just terrified of him, much as Jill had been.

Rather than concern himself overly much, Pip enjoyed the evening with Rachel, making a simple dinner, talking and lounging beneath the stars, then slowly turning her inside out with deep thrusts that pushed firmly against her center until she melted.

He woke sometime in the night with Rachel asleep on his chest, snoring cutely, as a tongue traced tentatively trails along the length of his cock. Up and down, time and again, until a groan finally escaped from him, waking his lover. Blinking, Rachel pushed herself up, and seeing the concentration on his face, smiled placidly, then slid down his side to the ground where she proceeded to go back to sleep.

With his view unobstructed, Pip lifted his head and made eye contact with Jill, who smiled shyly, then took his head into her mouth, which pushed her cheeks wide. Unable to do more, she simply used her tongue and applied a steady suction, then added ministrations with her hand, along with an occasional scrape from her teeth. The sensations were too much together and Pip started to buck, clamping down on time to keep from thrusting his hips upward. "Jill--"

She stopped everything she had been doing and he groaned loudly, his penis twitching angrily at the sudden loss of sensation.

With a look that bordered on defiant, she stood above him, her legs spread wide to straddle his hips, then lowered herself until he nestled into her. Like her mouth, her petite frame wasn't capable of accepting much of him, so she bobbed up and down, slowly at first, then faster, the head of his penis disappearing repeatedly with a soft, wet popping sound. It was only a couple hundred beats before he was coming, growling his orgasm while Jill panted from a mixture of exertion, eroticism, and discomfort at being stretched too wide.

Morning brought the young woman soreness, then tenderness, then a second round with the huge Adam above her, controlling the pace and playing her pleasure like a master while Rachel hummed happily and rocked back and forth on her face.

Three very busy weeks later and standing just outside the town, Rachel was surprised to see the look on Pip's face. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head and grinned self consciously. "It's going to sound awful, but I feel like I'm losing my touch. First Alexis and now Jill. Seems like nobody wants to come with us."

"I thought you didn't like Jill."

"Well," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "she might have been growing on me." He sighed loudly. "You think she'll be okay?"

Rachel laughed. "She has a whole town to boss around now; she'll be fine." Grinning, she climbed on her bike. "Don't worry, Big Boy, I'm sure there will be plenty more damsels to save in the next place."

"Yeah, but it feels like we're leaving things unfinished." He looked back toward many long days' labor, where the burned out buildings had been demolished, their foundations rebuilt, and new structures started. A full half dozen had walls, and three more had been framed out. Even now, two young men were hanging a joist under Jill's close attention. As if knowing she was being watched, she turned and caught Pip's eye. She sent him a wave, with a wink toward Rachel, then spun back to resume her supervisory responsibilities.

Chuckling, Pip threw his leg over his bike and settled -- it only took a few hundred beats before he found a steady rhythm and his mind cleared.

As it happened, Rachel was both right and wrong. The next settlement did have plenty of women, but it wasn't a town. They travelled for four days after leaving Windameer through inhospitable semi-desert, reaching the point of rationing provisions when their surroundings finally began to change.

In place of the scrub came small patches of pines and similar conifers, eventually joined by stunted versions of their broad leafed cousins. Cracked dirt became infested with sandy patches, which eventually became dominant, just before a new smell heavy with salt rode to them upon the wind.

They could see the water from far off as the land sloped gently to meet the waves, but it wasn't until they had stopped on the beach that the enormity of the ocean made itself known. Unprepared for the sight, Pip watched the tide for some undetermined amount of time, only coming back from drifting amongst the waves when Rachel tucked herself under his arm.

"It's terrifying," he said quietly as his eyes continued to take in the unfamiliar oceanscape.

"It's actually a lot like you," Rachel replied, equally subdued. "It's so beautiful." Pip snorted and Rachel punched his hip. "I mean it, Pip, but it's more, too. Look far out into the water -- it's almost calm -- just little rolls and ripples, but when the water gets to the sand, it's... angry. Loud. Ferocious.

"And it provides for an entire city."

Pip responded with a harrumph as his eyes looked down the coast to Gracia, standing stoically while the ocean kicked its shins and blew spray in its face. "That last bit might be a bit too far."

"A little exaggeration, but not that much," Rachel allowed, her eyes joining his in looking at their destination. "It seems like getting here has been a long time coming. You still want to go?"

"Be a shame to turn back after all the effort," he answered with a grin. "Now or in the morning?"

"The morning, definitely." Disengaging from his arm, Rachel started walking down to the waves. Halfway there she pulled off her jacket, dropping it on the sand without a glance. Then came her shirt. Then a pause to remove her lower garments.

After giving her space for a couple hundred beats, Pip joined her where land and water fought for dominance. Rachel was shivering, skin covered in gooseflesh, nipples hard, hair tangled and blowing, stubbornly defying the wet breeze riding in on the crest of the waves. Pip gave her another half a hundred beats then gathered her into his arms as her shaking intensified.