9 A Heavy Taste

Fayette Blanchet had never suffered anything so painful in her whole life.

Hundreds of fire bullets, impacted her body and burned her to the crisp every second.

"AAAHHH!!! AHHHH!!!!"

Her painful groans were emitted, but heard by none, with the last of her strength she extended her hand to the place she had seen her partner last.

'V-Valentine…'

The pain muddled her thoughts, as if she was inside a carcass of scorching iron, frying herself all over.

It was hell…

She stumbled on the burning floor due to the high amount of pain her body experienced and didn't even have the chance to yell for help before the only thing she saw was Valentine's departing back.

She wanted to yell for help, but what came were her howling shouts of pain.

'Valentine… Is this… How I end?'

She didn't want to… after going through so much with him, to fall like this.

She didn't if she would die, but to handle this pain… For days? It's imposible.

She'd rather just… pluck her crystal out and destroy it or something! Anything to stop this pain!

No segregated adrenaline came to the rescue.

No mental fortitude was strong enough.

Negative feelings and numbness encroached her brain, that was until she felt her pained body get lifted up!

!!!

"HAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

With a beastly howl, Valentine picked up Fayette and stared to run!

Fayette's remaining eye stared at him, he couldn't be… recognised anymore and surely her face didn't resemble anything remotely human either…!

Tears ran down her remaining eye when she saw him, destroyed like this, running for their lives!

Valentine followed the same trail, exactly the same, hoping for the exact same result, his eyes shone with a white flame just like hers, but his was way brighter and pure, a brilliance he himself didn't recognise or was aware of!

"AHHHH!!!"

The two yelled, with hope as the only resource.

His pained groans served as a therapy, a therapy to relieve his despair!

Eventually, he reached the end… the same place where he left his bag.

*SHHHHHH!!!*

The noise of scorching flesh resonated for a while.

And the duo fell on the ground with the two bags of oven cooked meat and stones.

Totally unconscious and wasted, hopefully the fire storm wouldn't turn their way, but frankly, even if it did, they didn't care as long as they were together...

***

Valentine didn't know when he woke up, but when he did, he found Fayette sleeping on top of his body, the bright red sky shone in as a day seemingly began anew.

Her 'clothes' were burned and her skin looked bright like Jade, as if a viper peeled its skin to give way for an even prettier snake.

His gaze roamed the sky… No dark clouds.

He'd rather fight a hundred mutated wolves than a dark cloud.

If before seeing one caused him apprehension, now he was totally frightened by them.

Moving his sleeping partner from his body, he stood with a hiss, his body wasn't fully regenerated and Fayette's was even worse, but the den aged skin seemed to peel itself of to be replaced by a pristine one, slowly.

Moving his gaze to the side, there was still a clear border between the burned zone and the relatively 'healthy' zone of the forest.

His frowning gaze moved away from that horrifying border, towards the massive black cloud in the distance.

'The two times we have seen it… There are more living things… Is it a coincidence?'

…

Fayette's pretty eyelids opened gradually, covered in dirt, her burned eye now regenerated, and a phantom burning sensation still rocketed all across her skin.

An illusion made by the nigh infinite hell they went through.

She grasped around proving, and noticed she's laying on the hot ground, clearly she fainted, otherwise, there is no way she could sleep on such a hot soil!

The second thing she noticed…

!!!

"Valentine!"

***

She found him nearby, heating some meat with several patchy burned zones of his body, his legs were in the worst state and no doubt he was experiencing excessive pain with every movement.

But they had to eat.

The pair sat on the border with two pieces of frying flesh, thankfully the land hadn't yet cooled, otherwise they'd have to make a bonfire.

Fayette lay her head against her partner's shoulder and stared at the forest, silence permeated between them, there is nothing to say, nothing to insinuate.

Just the warmth of each other's presence in this accursed world.

They had once again managed to escape a crisis.

And frankly, the feelings couldn't increase any more.

Fayette stared at him with endless infatuation, it wasn't the gaze of a maiden in her first ever crush… It was the gaze of a woman that met her ideal partner, her other half.

Had their circumstances been different, passion would have already ensued, but even engaging in love was a waste of energy they didn't dare enjoy.

She gazed at the burning forest, many tries still on fire despite the cloud having already passed.

She frowned, the fire emanating from them was leaning strongly to the left side.

But she couldn't sense any wind currents here at all.

Maybe the wind current was there and not here?

She kept staring at it for a few minutes, but the fire eventually stopped in all of them, leaning to the left until the end.

"Valentine…"

"…?"

"Have you paid attention to the flames?" She inquired with furrowed brows.

Her inquire prompted him to lift his whilst he turned the meat around on the scalding rocks.

"No, is it important?"

"I believe… We will have to think out of the box to get out of here, I notice that the fire is moving towards one side even when there is no current, it's not fluttering or anything, just… Moving towards one side." She placed her assessment on the table and waited for his decision.

"… Wait here." After thinking for a while he muttered and stood up.

"Where are you going?" She tilted her head, intending to follow but he shook his head in denial.

"I'm just going to get some wood to make fire and confirm your theory, you finish grilling the meat."

"…" She cued an affirmation, indeed if they produce the fire in a place where there is no air current, then that means her theory is correct.

***

"A-Are you serious?" She smiled wryly at the ridiculousness before her.

Valentine sat beside her with an irritated expression, rolling the damned wood for who knows how long and not a single speck of flame had yet to come out!

This piece of wood couldn't be any more dry… Yet no flame formed from friction!

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" She wanted to add something at the end of that phrase, but… Didn't dare to, yet.

"Of course!" Valentine yelled and did it faster, but…

No result came out of that.

"I can't find an explanation." She shrugged her shoulders and lay on her back, giving up on making fire.

The two of them were not toddlers, making fire was one of the most basics of things.

Yet they couldn't.

Valentine lay beside her in resignation, feeling a weird feeling on his crotch that he recognised really well.

'Well, fuck me…' He thought with exasperation.

They had drunk water to their fill before, surely there is no need for that… Or at least that's what he thought.

"Isn't it about time for you to… I don't know, unload the tank?~" her sweet but mocking voice resounded.

"…" He refused to answer, 'God dammit, couldn't you ask at any other moment!?'

"Oh? Don't tell me you want to and you are concealing it from me!?" Fayette sat up with a head start and technically growled at the possibility!

"Listen, do you know how dirty I'm down there?! Is not worth it!" He yelled back, maybe before was one thing, but now!? Days without taking a proper shower or bath, sweating and getting dirty all the time… at least his crotch didn't burn to the crisp with the last incident… there is no way it will be pleasant!

Fayette considered his words, "I… I get you but I won't touch it directly, just aim in my mouth like I did, we can't waste any liquid!"

She needed something to eat that meat with anyway!

"…"

Valentine couldn't say anything, Fayette is surely the most perfect woman he has ever met, perfect body, perfect personality, perfect eyes.

But dammit she has a heavy taste!

***

Valentine stood in front of her, with his member aiming straight at a knelt Fayette.

The latter had her mouth opened wide and her eyes… were staring straight at his uncovered crotch that twitched slightly.

Clearly he was restraining himself.

"Isn't this the moment when you close your eyes out of courtesy!?" He grit his teeth at her shamelessness.

The mature woman kept her stoic behaviour, even going as far as to show a slight grim. But she was fooling no one, her face was a red as it could get!

His stench invaded her nostrils, surprisingly arousing despite the stink, she would never admit, that she's not thirsty…

"S-Stop wasting time… Or d-do you need my help?" She tried to sound as serious and less seductive as possible, but wasn't making it, a grin portrayed in her pretty but dirty countenance, one that made Valentine get the chills.

Her shaking hand grasped his member and she closed her mouth to the head.

'It's… Large.' She wasn't a prude little girl… This is not the biggest one she had seen or fucked… She's a whole ten years older than him, if they don't count the two centuries difference in the Earth

'This is his… if only we weren't in this predicament.'

A warm liquid entered her mouth, with a lot more volume than before as the two had really drank a lot of water before.

He stared at her gaze, who was firmly looking at him.

It is undeniable now, their thoughts matched.

'Once we take a proper shower and find a better place…'

But even then, Rose's image popped up in his mind, together with three more beautiful women.

Fayette noticed his restraint, and furrowed her brows in irritation.

'Stop thinking about others…' She didn't voice that out, they're nothing, yet.

When they finished she stood up after having swallowed several mouthfuls until only half was left.

"Come here…" Her cold voice resonated next and she didn't give him time to say what he was thinking!

'You can have it-!'

She sealed his mouth and quickly passed the primordial liquid to him!

!!!

'Dammit, I wonder if this even works!' He cursed inwardly, having been taught this method for survival, to this day, he still wondered if it's effective.

The dirty kiss continued for a while until he swallowed the whole liquid, but after that, when he tried to release, Fayette's arms wrapped around his neck and she practically rested her whole body against his, continuing the kiss.

!!!

Her tongue ran a rampage and she closed her eyes, enjoying a kiss like she never before had.

He didn't stop himself either, wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her to his heart's content, temporarily numbing the pictures in his head, and focusing solely on this person.

When their lips finally receded, she stared at him with a dreamy gaze before regaining her composure.

"I'm a very jealous and possessive lady… Just bear that in mind..." She felt truly awkward to some extent, for the first time she's the one proactively chasing someone, but that wouldn't stop her from going all or nothing…

Clearly he has his internal issues as to why he's not being proactive… So she considered she had to do it herself.

"Bear in mind? You and me both, besides… we're nothing yet~" he teased the mature lady and even pinched her waist.

The lady only rolled her eyes in annoyance and they kept embracing just like that, smelling each other's stink…

"We share each other's piss, we share each other's flesh and blood, we share saliva… Is there anything we are not!? I assure you, you didn't have such intimate relationship let alone with your girlfriends! Not even your mother that wiped your dirty ass when you were a little kid, knows how your piss or saliva tastes!" She yelled with outrage, as if wondering if there was any need to considerate anything anymore.

"…" He didn't say anything but a part of that statement was wrong.

'She's got a point.' He then cursed inwardly, regardless of saliva… Indeed, none knew how his piss tasted, and hopefully, that would be the last thing they shared.

"The only thing we have left to share is~"

"Oh for god's sake, if you dare finish that sentence Fayette!" He could only try to cover her mouth but the woman was relentless!

She grinned and opened her pretty mouth!

"What? You thought I was going to say 'shit'? Hmph! Even if you were the holy father of the world and I had not eaten for months, I'd still not eat your shit! This Commander is a lady with manners you know!? Do you know how many politicians and billionaires would have wished to taste my piss Huh!? You're lucky!"

The woman stood proudly, lucky that there weren't any flies to pose together with her, her gaze brightened when her partner released a joyful laughter and grabbed her hand, walking to where they had their stuff.

He took his fur and placed it around his crotch again.

"Yes Young Mistress of the Bullshit Sect… Let's go, you can joke all you want later." He said with a smile, now with a lighter mood and dragged her by her hand as they picked up their stuff.

"Where are we going now?" She grasped his hand tightly with one knife on her other hand, ready for any unexpected encounter.

"You said those flaming logs were pointing against where?"

"There… Do you want to follow the flames?" She pointed to the right direction, their three o'clock.

The position was inaccurate, but it was a rough estimation.

"It's better than going nowhere… I have a hunch that those clouds… They don't appear randomly, you said we have to think outside the box, maybe those flames point to the exit?" He sighed, hoping that there was an exit at all.

What if hell is just wandering in this never ending forest? For eternity, without being able to die?

He wouldn't want to dwell in that possibility and didn't want to lower her energy and enthusiasm by telling her either.

They were needed for them to keep going.

…

"They could also point towards more black clouds or any other danger, we're in hell…" She wondered with stern.

"I don't think so, the cloud departed towards the left… In any case, just be prepared."

***

"What are you going to do if we find more humans?" She inquired not long after they started walking hand in hand.

"I don't know…"

"We should either leave them or kill them if they get nonsensical." Her cold gaze manifested instantly.

"They could have been here longer than us and know information that we don't…"

"If they knew a lot, they wouldn't be here Valentine… I believe we can fend well enough by ourselves, having another mouth to feed is not practical." Fayette resumed.

'Specially if it's a woman…' She added in her mind with venom.

'A man is certainly imposible…' He continued in his.

"…"

"…"

***

The two kept walking, enjoying each other's presence mostly and once again days went by… following the border trail until it disappeared.

The forest seemed more lively at some point and less burned, they even made an incredible discovery, for the first time in weeks, they found a leaf!

The two haven't eaten anything in two days after they ran out of food once again.

No animal of cloud has been spotted, they didn't know how much they have walked in all those weeks, or at least what they perceived were weeks.

But one thing is sure.

This forest is gargantuan.

They kept walking, hungry but aware that they could feed on each other if necessary, not truly the best preference but they but they would live no matter what.

When they reached a open clearing where it looked like a small pool of water had been before, had it not been by the heat, Fayette's peace got abruptly interrupted.

She had been happily enjoying how Valentine's hands clenched hers every so often, too oblivious to even stare at his face.

*THUD*

"…" Fayette stepped forward once but Valentine's hand held hers tightly in place.

They had stopped.

She turned around and saw him lifting his clenched fist, clenching his hand.

!!!

Silence permeated, only the slight noise of fluttering around with the wind.

But… There were no wind currents!

Valentine took a knife, lifted it up and threw it against a leafless bush at amazing speeds!

"AHHH!!!"

A pained groan resonated through the woods and Fayette's combat instincts activated at that very moment!

*FIUSH!!*

*FIUSH!!*

…

Several projectiles shot through directed towards Valentine!

He managed to dodge one that was surpassingly directed towards his arm, his knife managed to cut another but the third one was going to hit!

*PUSH!*

He felt Fayette pushed him and the two fell, successfully evading the projectiles the ravenous woman didn't stop there, with the momentum of her force she pushed herself off the ground in a pirouette and ran towards the trees!

"I'm going for the archers!"