The Man's Destiny

The Sheath really is at its most beautiful at night, Nessa mused to herself. As sentinel of the sisterhood, she was tasked with leading the warrior division who guarded the massive wall made of sturdy ancient wood that surrounded the sisterhood's secret base of operations and training grounds. But it had been decades since the last time an outside force had ventured deep enough into the Eastern jungle to find the outer limits of the Sheath. And considering there were no survivors among that group it seemed unlikely that many would be interested in trying again.

So, Nessa indulged herself a glace backwards, away from the endless green of the jungle's tangle and towards the place she'd called home her entire adult life. Three trees the size of mountains stood in the center of the Sheath. Numerous structures housing many of the sisterhood's warriors were built out of and into the mighty boughs of the trees and there were still many lighted windows emitting a glow from the branches like fireflies. The contrast between the soothing image of the Sheath wrapped in twilight, and the violent killers it was home to, brought a smile to Nessa's face.

Nessa's gaze wandered over the landscape of the Sheath's interior, noting the Coliseum where the sisterhood held their most important ceremonies in the western corner of the city, then over the training grounds where the warrior women taught each other the way of the ninja. And finally, to the eastern wall, where many members of the sisterhood's rank who preferred not to sleep high off the ground in the great trees had constructed their abodes. Nessa had spent the last seven years in a small house she had built for herself down there.

However, her new position as sentinel had come with it a glorious chambers located on the uppermost section of Gaia's Grace, the largest of the three trees. She could easily spot her treetop apartment from her place on the wall.

She had only been anointed sentinel few short months ago. Before that she had served as a hellcat, the sisterhoods legion of its most dangerous field agents. But truth be told, she always felt most comfortable in the Sheath, training new recruits to the sisterhood and patrolling its walls. When her predecessor retired Nessa was the obvious replacement. Being sentinel made her the sixth ranking member of the council of elder sisters and had required her to replace the purple ribbon she wore around her neck to mark her as a hellcat with the yellow that had been wrapped round her throat at her ascension ceremony.

Besides the canary choker Nessa wore little else this evening in protest of the sweltering jungle. Just two tiny pieces of dark cloth covered her small upright breasts and her pert rear end. She was a small woman, both short and thin, and she wore her brown hair in a tight bob which she believed matched her rueful spirit. A redneck, called that because of the red ribbons they wore signifying themselves as fledgling members of the sisterhood, had once described her as "spunky", only for Nessa to quickly wrestle the much larger woman to the ground and rub her nose in the dirt to remind her of whom she spoke to.

Nessa suddenly spun around fast as lightning, her flashdagger appearing in her hand as she dropped into a combat stance. A small four-inch blade, perfect for slicing open throats, with a colored gem placed in the hilt matched to the assassin's rank. The yellow encrusted jewel inside Nessa's twinkled in the starlight while the girl who had been sent to relieve her of her watch nearly toppled over as she frantically tried to strike a defensive pose.

"Gods and goddesses! You startled me lady sentinel!" Nessa grinned as the poor thing tried to catch her breath.

"Just testing your reflexes." Nessa said as she slid her flashdagger back to its place strapped to her thigh. "Stay vigilant. Our task is vital and our duty to protect the Sheath is sacred."

"Yes, lady sentinel." The young warrior replied demurely, still rattled

Nessa nodded curtly and sprung off the wall towards the Sheath's interior, falling almost twenty feet before turning into a somersault and landing nimbly on her feet. Nessa trotted off vaguely in the direction of training compound, trusting that her instincts knew the way as her mind again drifted.

There was something strange about the Sheath these past few days. Throughout her years of service to the sisterhood, Nessa had honed her senses to a razor-sharp edge. Her sight, smell and hearing were far superior to that of any normal human and now those same senses were telling her that something was...off.

Nessa inhaled through her nose and tried to figure out what it was that has been keeping her on edge. Nothing cried out that her or her kin were in danger. Instead, it seemed as if the entire city was on the verge of something. Sisterhood warriors went about their day with an undercurrent of excitement, each one seemingly cued into the same disturbance that Nessa detected, but no one able to articulate the reason why.

In any case, the unspoken disturbance meant that Nessa, who barely slept in the best of circumstances, would not rest easy this evening. So, she moved towards the training compound, knowing a brutal session sharpening her gymnastics and combat skills would exhaust her enough to close her eyes eventually.

After a few minutes of prowling through the only semi-tamed jungle floor that made up much of the Sheath's ground level, Nessa reached the spartan sandstone building that housed her favorite of the city's many war academies. Inside was completely empty, normal for this hour, although the lamps stayed lit to accommodate Nessa and others who shared her insomnia. There was little for them to illuminate besides several wooden posts with poles jutting out of them at angles meant to simulate the limbs of an opponent.

Nessa planted herself in front of one of the dummies, closed her hazel brown eyes and took a long slow breath, clearing her mind so her body could perform. Her eyes opened and her arm whipped out in the same instant, smacking the wood with significant force. The dummy spun in response to her blow and she effortlessly halted its movement with a solid elbow strike. She followed with two rapid punches, the sound of their impact echoed through the chamber as part of the wooden pillar splintered slightly under the hits. Nessa flicked the dummy into motion again and just as quickly stilled it with a kick.

Soon she fell into rhythm, hitting the dummy in a consistent pattern designed to allow her to flow through something approaching a realistic hand to hand fighting sequence. But she had barely finished the first leg of her routine when she realized she wasn't alone.

It wasn't a sound that tipped Nessa off. Rather it was just a disturbance in the air, a tiny change in the scent of the place. Nessa couldn't place it, it seemed both foreign and familiar all at once, but it was more than enough to let her know that she had company.

Nessa turned around to see one of her sisters had joined her in the compound. A beautiful slender woman with long flowing black hair. She wore the traditional black bodysuit that sisterhood assassins donned to complete assignments and the purple ribbon round her neck marked her as a hellcat.

"Good evening, Kat." Nessa called. "It's nice to see you returned from your first foray as a team leader in one piece."

"Well met lady sentinel." Kat called back. "It is good to know that the council made such a wise choice to guard my home while I was away."

Nessa smiled at the compliment. Kat was the newest and youngest sister to achieve the rank of hellcat, but she had risen so quickly for a reason. Kat was considered one of the finest fighters the sisterhood had ever produced, and Nessa recalled being blown away by the younger ninja's skill when she had the opportunity to lead her in exercises during her training period. Nessa remembered hearing that Kat had returned from her first series of outside missions as the hellcat leader of a sisterhood detail a few days ago, but this was the first time she had lain eyes on her in more than a season.

"Yes, it is a great honor to be named sentinel and to join our esteemed council." Nessa said, straddling the line between sincerity and sarcasm. "I trust that the great wide world has not changed much since the last time I had chance to visit it?"

"I would not be so sure Nessa." Kat replied evenly. "I believe I may have encountered some things on my journey that would surprise even a warrior of your stature."

The lovely warriors' words gave Nessa pause. There was something unusual about her tone and while her expression and stance revealed nothing, something in her eyes told Nessa that her mind was elsewhere. And that persistent smell that whispered to some part of the sentinel's memory still lingered.

"Perhaps." Nessa replied slowly, drawing out the word. "Though you would still do well to refer to me by my title now."

"Yes of course. Lady sentinel." Kat followed respectfully.

The girl's raven hair flowed behind her as she abruptly closed the distance between them with a few long strides.

"Would you do me the honor of a short sparring match? Since you already seem to be in the fighting spirit, lady sentinel?"

Nessa blinked at that. It was common for sisterhood warriors to engage in friendly and not so friendly sparring matches and competition was encouraged to keep warriors sharp. But she was a member of the council of elder sisters and Kat was several years her junior. Nessa looked over Kat's athletic body and recalled what she knew about her potency in combat. She was confident that on her best day the hellcat could at most hope to take her to a draw.

Of course, that didn't matter. Nessa could never back down from a formal challenge, both her pride and status wouldn't allow for it.

"Sure. I think that a short duel could be just what I need tonight." Nessa accepted icily.

The two women planted themselves a spears length apart and braced to fight. Nessa placed her right hand forward in a defensive stance and allowed her left to drop close to her torso, still tense with energy. She noted the violet shine from her opponent's flashdagger hitched to her waist. Kat did not reach for her weapon and so neither did she, but she was confident the other would not hesitate to bring her blade forth. Killing or gravely injuring your opponent in a sparring match was more so discouraged than disciplined among members of the sisterhood, so long as there was no evidence of foul play or unrequited aggression.

Following some unspoken agreement, the two sides moved at once, Nessa stepping forward, immediately abandoning her defensive posture to strike with a curled fist. Kat absorbed the impact with a block then tried to sweep Nessa's pivot foot with a kick. Nessa retreated a step and Kat pressed forward with a short series of openhand strikes that Nessa deflected away. Right before she would have overextended her position and fallen into Nessa's guard Kat spun away gracefully, so close that she felt the brush of her hair as it whipped past her face.

Nessa ducked aside and the two ninjas separated, both reestablishing their footing and stance. Neither had landed a blow but Nessa knew that Kat had gotten the best of her slightly, having taken the offensive after the first punch was thrown. She had to admit that the younger warrior was obviously incredibly strong and fast, and her fighting form was sharp. This would be a difficult opponent.

Kat initiated the second engagement, leaping forward with a flying kick. Nessa leapt as well, but instead flung herself away, flying through the air until she reached out a single hand and landed on top of one of the wooden fighting dummies. Legs out in a perfect split, she balanced on just her fingertips as Kat landed and immediately sprung at her again.

She waited until Kat neared the dummy to spring into action again. Her fingers flexed and she threw herself forward into a somersault, building momentum for a punch using all her might. But Kat blocked the blow, her forearm little more than flinching from its force as she stood her ground. Nessa immediately decided that she should try to get Kat to the ground where perhaps her superior wrestling would allow her to grapple the hellcat into submission.

With the force of a thunderclap the two women locked hands and struggled against the other's strength. Kat's grip was ironclad, and Nessa's arms shook with the effort. Though her hands remained locked with Kat's, she could feel the ground beneath her heel giving, first one inch, then another. How in the name of the gods and goddesses was she this strong?

Nessa looked up and her eyes locked onto Kat's. What she saw in them confused her. No longer elsewhere, Kat's focus seemed startlingly trained on the task at hand. But there was something else. Kat looked happy. She looked confident. She looked like someone who was going to get her way.

In a heartbeat the sentinel's entire viewpoint shifted violently as Kat suddenly leveraged her, pulling her upward and tossing her overhead. Nessa sailed through the air, but somersaulted herself around, hitting the far wall feet first and absorbing the impact as she folded into a perpendicular ball on the vertical surface. In another heartbeat, Nessa drew her flashdagger and pressed off the wall with a powerful kick, rocketing herself back towards Kat. Kat's own flashdagger appeared in her hand and the two blades collided, a slight spark flying as their wielder's strength was again tested against the others.

"I was wondering when you would get serious." Kat gritted out mockingly, her purple gem reflecting against Nessa's yellow as they strained.

Kat suddenly spun away and immediately slashed twice at Nessa, the sentinel narrowly dodging the cuts. She tried to parry as the hellcat pressed the attack but could barely move her blade in time to fend off a ferocious further series of swipes aimed at her torso and shoulders. Kat advanced, confident and disciplined, keeping her flashdagger dancing in front of her in a complex series of thrusts and ripostes.

They continued in this fashion for a minute, Kat slashing and Nessa deflecting the sharp steel as best she could, giving up ground bit by bit. Then a minute turned into two, then several, Kat refusing to let up the assault. It didn't take Nessa long to realize her opponent was trying to tire her out.

And it was working. Nessa could feel herself tiring, her focus slipping. And with every sharp intake of breath she took to fuel her movements, she was also inhaling that strange scent that still lingered on Kat's body which seemed to cloud her senses.

The crack in her defense was inevitable. Nessa's arm raised up in a familiar motion, expecting her blade to arrive just in time to parry a downward rip. But instead, Kat suddenly ducked down, her leg sweeping out in a semicircle as she knelt. Nessa's legs flew out from underneath her, and she hit the dirt solidly.

Instead of pressing her blade to Nessa's throat, Kat just smiled at her downed opponent. Nessa lay for a moment, trying to both catch her breath and defend herself, and in that moment, she couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful Kat looked. Her eyes were alive with excitement, eager for victory while hinting at something more.

Their stare down went on for several moments, Nessa wasn't sure if she couldn't break away from Kat's gaze, or if she just didn't want to. The dark-haired beauty suddenly reached out and brushed a short lock of auburn off her ear, her fingertips grazed her soft cheek.

"You know I really have always loved your hair." The younger ninja confessed.

Nessa sprung up but Kat reached her feet at the same time. She swung her flashdagger haphazardly. Kat blocked easily and twisted her wrist around in a classic technique taught to all warriors of the sisterhood meant as a surefire away to disarm both parties when used on the unsuspecting. Both the yellow and purple flashdaggers spun away from their wielders and clattered to the ground. Nessa barely had time to make a confused expression before Kat rushed forward and tackled her, dragging her to the ground.

The two women wrestled for a minute, but Kat had both the initiative and more stamina. Nessa's muscles burned and asked for relief, while hers were still like iron. It wasn't long before she found herself pressed face down into the floor. Kat wrapped her legs around Nessa's torso and pressed her heels into her shoulders, pinning her arms in place so she couldn't prop herself up. Nessa quickly realized that the secondary effect of this possession was that her loosely clothed bottom was front and center to Kat's gleeful grin of triumph.

"Submit." Kat purred.

Nessa strained once against the pin, then again, not making any progress. She breathed in again, deeply, trying to gather herself for one last effort. But it was on this breath that something in her mind clicked as to the fragrance that lingered on her sister's body. It was sex. And not just sex, the kind of sex she hadn't smelled since the last time she left the Sheath, Kat smelled like sex with a Man.

Nessa's brain didn't have time to come up with anything to do with this information before she spoke. "I give up."

"Good." Kat said pleasantly. "That'll make this next step much easier."

And with that she swiftly ripped Nessa's bottoms right off, exposing the veteran ninja's cute little pouting pussy lips to her view. Nessa gasped. She could feel Mika's breath on her womanhood. She struggled futilely for a moment but quickly came to grips with how helpless she was to Kat's ministrations in her current predicament.

"What are you doing?" She asked, trying to hide her tremble.

Well Nessa." Kat began. "And I think we can lose the formalities of rank and title at this point, can't we? Anyways I haven't been entirely honest with you."

Nessa heard a suckling sound and the instant it occurred to her that it must be Kat wetting her fingers those same digits began gliding over her vagina lips. The touch was patient and teasing but the pleasurable quivers that emanated from deep within her could not be ignored. She clenched her teeth to try to keep from making a sound but still some small whimpers escaped her lips as Kat masturbated her.

"You see I met someone while I was away."

"Who!" Nessa wailed, unable to keep the desire out of her voice and embarrassingly aware of how wet her pussy had become.

"The only two things you need to know about him is that he wants to know where the oracle is tonight, and that he has taught me some very effective ways of extracting that information from you."

Kat's middle finger pushed inside of her at that moment, not stopping until the entire slender digit was inside the lady sentinel's soft cunt. A loud moan ripped from Nessa's lips as her pussy clamped down tight around the invading flesh. The intrusion made it difficult for Nessa to try and work out why the hellcat wanted to know where Azul was hiding away.

"I won't tell you!" Nessa cried out.

"Of course not." Kat whispered back in a tone that was both caring and patronizing. "Just like you won't say 'I'm a silly little slut' for me in exchange for being allowed to cum, right?"

"What are you talking about." Nessa panted out before gasping as Kat started wiggling the finger inside her.

Nessa tried to organize her thoughts but the consistent pressure building within her as Kat slowly curled her finger against her g-spot made it impossible to focus on anything other than her body. Azul, the oracle of the Sheath, was sacred to the sisterhood. She was not a warrior, and yet her guidance was considered essential to the sisterhood's strength, so she secretly squirreled away in a different location within the Sheath each night. As sentinel, part of Nessa's duties involved memorizing the pattern of Azul's nightly location in case the council of elder sisters required her wisdom in an emergency.