Star Ocean - At the crack of dawn

The Video Gamer's Sex Stories
Volume 1 - Star Ocean
Chapter 3 - The Venerable Forest [no sex]


Rena dressed quickly, finally deciding on a lacy azure bra to match
her blue panties. Slipping on her long-sleeved white blouse, she
scanned the room for her favorite blue overalls, which she discovered
draped over the back of a chair. She snapped the clasps in place with
her delicate fingers, grabbing a black miniskirt from the nearby
drawer and gingerly stepping into it. Next was her red sash, which she
tied loosely around her waist, and her long, white boots. Twirling
around towards the door, she lifted her gold-trimmed red cape from a
hook on the wall, stopping momentarily to check if she forgot anyway.

"Oh my!" she gasped out loud with a dash over to her bed, still
damp from the morning's frig-session. Feeling between the covers, she
soon located what she'd been looking for -- her prized gold hairpin.
The smooth metal surface glinted brightly in the morning sun, mostly
because it was still wet from her juices.

Suddenly feeling emboldened from her meeting with Claude in the
shower, she snuck a peek at the door to make sure she was alone.
Satisfied, she gave the small trinket a tentative lick, spreading her
musky flavor overover ins inside of her mouth. It didn't seem as
magical as when Claude kissed her earlier with her goo all over his
lips, but it wasn't unpleasant either. Undecided about how she felt,
she slipped it back home in her blue hair and headed for the door.

***

"Aren't you going to have some breakfast, Rena?" Westa's voice
callet jut just as Rena was buttoning her cape to go outside. The older
woman pointed lovingly to a loaf of bread and a basket of fresh eggs
sitting on the counter.

"Sorry mom!" Rena replied sweetly, swinging the door open. "I
promised Claude I'd meet him as soon I got up." She blew Westa a kiss,
feeling embarrassed about what her breath might smell like to give her
mom a real one, before slipping out the door without another word.

She felt bad about running out on such short notice, but her
palpitating heart was driving her now. Although she'd fibbed to the
blonde ensign about being totally ignorant when it came to sex, she
found it really turned her on the more she thought about it. Rena could
tell it probably had the same effect on her beau, remembering the
wide-eyed smile of amazement he had when he realized she would let him
teach her *everything.* "It's only a matter of time before I have to
say goodbye to you..." she thought to herself, giving herself a casual
pat down there as she walked.

Her mind wandered between sensual thoughts as she roamed Arlia,
looking for where Claude had disappeared to. She felt certain he
wouldn't have gone into any of the houses, since he had only been here
for a day, but she grew more and more confused as her visits to the
Mayor's mansion, shop, and church turned up no sign of her day-old
lover. Puzzled, she turned towards the stream that separated the town
from the Shingo forest, wondering if he had gone back to that other
world and left her.

Rena's stomach flip-flopped at the horrifying thought that he might
have used her, unable to refute keep the terrible possibility. She
quickened pace, anxious to reach the soothing eaves and settle her
worries. When she arrived at the edge of town, she slowed down again,
perking her long ears up to listen for any strange sounds. After all,
she couldn't risk running into another monster like yesterday.

Venturing deeper into the dark forest, she crept even lighter at
sounds of nearby rustling. Her deep blue eyes peered over a bend in the
road, finally spying the source of the noise. A dark figure was making
his way through the foliage, as if looking for something. Rena followed
behind him unashamedly, snooping on this strange sight. He made a wide
arc through the trees, coming around in a semi-circle from the Shingo's
entrance. "Why is he spying on Arlia?" she pondered, pushing a few
branches out of her way to get a closer look at the man, now standing
by the brook between the forest and town.

Just as she got close enough to eye the darkly-clad stranger, she
lost her concentration, and her delicate foot slammed down on a small
twig, snapping it in two with a shattering crack. The dark man leapt
into the air and spun around with blinding speed, sizing up the girl
menacingly. Rena froze, unable to think clearly as his form hurtled
toward her. He grabbed one of her arms hard, yanking her frightened
form towards his body.

"I look for you, and instead you find me!" he growled cryptically.
His voice seethed from his rough face, unshaven for quite some time and
covered in burns and scars. Leaning over, he pored over her delicate
face, searching her features as if confused.

"...Alen?" Rena mumbled, suddenly recognizing him. He lived in the
tof Saf Salva, the next town over. The two of them saw each other on
occasion, but it had been some time since they last met. "What's gotten
into you?" she demanded, pondering why he was acting so odd.

"THERE IS NO ALEN, ONLY TAX." his deep voice bellowed dramatically,
as if someone else had heard Rena's question and interrupted him. She
watched as his black eyes flashed a crimson red momentarily.

"Stop it..." she commanded weakly. "You'rarinaring me, Alen. Let me
go...." The dark man heeded not her protests, clenching her wrist in
his hand tighter, pinching the nerve with a strong jab. "Oww!" Rena
cried sharply, attempting to wrench her hand away from the pain.

"You come with me." Alen ordered flatly, vanquishing Rena's last
thoughts of resistance. With that, he trampled off back the way she had
come, winding around back to the village.

Rena didn't say anything as she walked furiously to keep pace with
her abductor, assured he would have to pass back through Arlia and
SOMEONE would do something to calm him down. He did exactly that,
striding boldly through the peaceful town leading his captive behind
him.

Finally she could keep silent no more. "Someone help me!" she
yelled out, struggling weakly against the stronger male. Alen simply
smiled, glancing at the townspeople who rushed over to see what was
going on.

"Stop right there." beckoned a proud voice. Allen turned to face
it, unnerved that they weren't going to let him abduct the girl without
a fight. "Let her go." the blonde man insisted, his extended arm
holding a small metal object motionless. It was pointed straight
between his eyes.

"Claude!" Rena shouted exuberantly. "Don't hurt him, he's not
himself!" Even with what he was doing to her, Rena couldn't bear the
thought of this being something other than a horrible misunderstanding.
She had known him longer than all but one of her friends.

The Ensign didn't bat an eye, keeping his weapon aimed at the
mysterious stranger. "I said let her go." he repeated, his voice hard
and cold. His eyes glared unflinchingly at the dark man, daring him to
give him an excuse to fire.

But Tax was as cautious as he was evil, he he would not let all
the effort wasted in controlling this human to go to waste by
underestimating an opponent. Before either Claude or the townspeople
could react, he dragged Rena back to his side, whisking a dagger from
his cloak and placing the tip her fragile body. "Don't try anything."
he growled, twisting slowly to flaunt his despicable action to the
shocked crowd.

Claude lowered his phaser in angry resignation. "I'll come looking
for you. he he warned. Alen just laughed as he made his way to the town
gate, the shocked townspeople parting the way as he neared them

"I'll be expecting you, human." the demon hissed before hastening
his retreat and leaving behind a dreadful silence in the town. Claude
turned away from figure shrinking away into the horizon, his anger at
failure building inside of him. When he finally regained himself, he
realized the crowd was looking to him for what to do, since he'd been
the only one to say anything during the standoff.

"Well, I guess it's up to me..." he said under his breath, his mind
working a mile a minute as his disconnected mouth began conversing with
the group, assuring them Rena was okay and he was going to do
everything he could to get her back.

A loud wailing in the distance broke his inner monologue as Westa
came running over, the Mayor trailing closely behind. "We need to talk
to you, Claude." she informed him with surprising composure. "Come,
let's get back to the house." Confused, he followed behind themutifutifully, gently pressing through the mob of worried citizens.

***

"We always knew something like this might happen." Westa started
solemnly once they were all seated at Mayor Regis' house.

"What do you mean?" Claude inquired, the wizened chieftain of the
village simply shaking his head sadly.

"Rena is... not one of us." Westa continued, he voice visibly
shaken as the secret poured out.

"Not one of you?" Claude pondered incredulously. "That what is
she?" He didn't quite understand, but something inside of him was
beginning to click.

"Like you, she is not of this world, Claude..."

Westa began the story of young Rena's life, not believing how she
was bringing herself to reveal this to a man she had just met, while
Rena was still in the dark. As she told it, she realized something
about this boy exuded a kindness and trust she felt helpless against.
She told him of finding the child wrapped in a blanket, deep in the
forest. Her only link to whoever had given birth to her was a glowing
golden amulet which none of the scholars on the planet had been able to
identify.

Regis broke in then, wishing to tell the rest himself. "I'll be
frank, young man." he began, changing the subject. "Our planet is on
the brink of being overrun by demons just like the one that has
possessed poor Alen." Claude's stolid face budged noticeably.

"A little under a year ago," he continued. "A large meteor fell
from the sky and landed on the continent of El, halfway across the
world. It struck the earth in one piece, a rather curious occurance, so
the people of Eluria used their great skills in engineering and
craftsmanship to move the giant rock into the town for further study."

"But it wasn't just a meteor..." Claude interrupted grimly, sensing
where the story was going and anxious to get back to Rena instead of
listening to the troubles of a continent thousands of miles away.

"No." Regis sighed, looking at Westa. What he was about to tell her
was top-secret information only the Mayors of Cross' towns had been
told. The King could not risk pt-wit-wide panic if his kingdom learned
the severity of what had happened on El. "Claude, Eluria has been
completely destroyed." Westa gasped in horror, and the Ensign's mouth
fell open.

"What kind of force could do that?" Claude asked in disbelief. Only
the Calnus had enough firepower to level something that large.

The mayor shrugged sadly. "We don't know. The Kings of Lacour and
Cross have restricted sea travel to El at the moment. All
reconnaissance teams sent to the continent have been lost. They called
it the Sorcery Globe... the few refugees who were able to make it out
in time."

"That's terrible..." Claude said, wickedly underestimating the
situation. "But what does this have to do with Rena?"

Westa spoke up again, eager to offer what she could. "The demons
that share the planet with us have always been... attracted to Rena. We
don't know why, but keeping her on Cross has helped a little. Their
presence is not as strong here. But we fear the monsters of El are
after her."

"You mean to tell me you knew something like this might happen?"
Claude blasted angrily. "And you didn't protect her?"

"We tried..." Regis offered.

"Not hard enough." Claude returned coldly, feeling a sense of duty
and importance welling in his being. "I'll protect her from now on."

"You would face the demons?" The mayor questioned hopefully,
wondering if he had been mistaken about this boy being the Hero.

"For Rena?" Claude replied, his heart skipping a beat at the name
of his new love. "Without hesitation." He stood up flatly, turning
towards the door without another word.

"Thank you..." was all Westa could utter before he was gone.

***

Rena stirred a little. Her vision was still so blurry. What time
was it? What day? Her head rolled so the side, and she surprisingly
found her view at waist-level. "What am I doing up here?" she wondered.
All she could remember was the harried journey to Salva, her thin legs
struggling to keep up with Alen as he raced across the countryside,
covering the day long journey in half that time.

When her tired body could no longer move another step, he stopped
momentarily, fishing into his pockets for a crystalline vial. "I was
saving this for the ceremony." he muttered. "But it shouldn't wear off
by then." He placed the purple-colored fluid to her lips, deftly
tipping the contents down her throat and covering her mouth with his
hand. With no choice but to swallow, she did, feeling the potion work
it's effects swiftly. By the time he cast the empty glass aside and
hoisted her woozy form on his shoulders, she was nearly unconscious.

And now here she was, tied helplessly to a rock slab in some
dungeon. "If I'd known he was going to do this, I would've tried harder
to escape..." she thought with regret. Rolling her head in the other
direction, she saw Alen was in the chamber with her, kneeling at a
golden statue at the end of the long room. Rena started to cry out to
him, but stopped before any words came out, straining to hear what he
was chanting.

"End of Expel... return to Nede... ten wise men... Indalecio..." it
all sounded so strange, and his horribly scarred voice distorted the
words. Discouraged, she looked straight up at the ceiling, gently
tugging her hands and legs to try and find a weakness on her bonds, but
to no avail. Her limbs were tied with strong rope, the knots wrapped
around through holes drilled into the stone altar. She would never be
able to get out of this unless Claude...

Suddenly, he lover's face appeared as if materializing from her
thoughts. His hair was disheveled and his face bloody and scratched,
his strange clothes ripped and torn. What had he been through ome ome
her to save here?

"Don't worry." he whispered softly, bending over to kiss her
forehead reassuringly. "You'll be safe soon." His girl taken care of,
he steeled himself for the coming fight, steppietweetween the altar and
the unsuspecting Alen to make sure he could settle the score this time.

While the dark figure knelt unaware, chanting his prayers, Claude
slowly drew his phaser, the same "Sword of Light" he had used to save
Rena from a monster yesterday. Somehow, he knew this wouldn't be as
easy. He aimed the pointed end at Alen, his arm shaking slightly in
indecision as Rena turned to watch the confrontation. For the second
time today, he lowered his weapon. For all his training, Claude
couldn't pull the trigger on a man with his back turned. Gesturing
carelessly away, he fired, causing a stream of sparks to fly off one of
the earthen walls.

"So, you've decided to arrive after all, Terran." Alen replied to
the sound, standing up and turning slowly as if he had been aware of
Claude's intrusion the whole time. "The Wise Men were surprised to
learn there was both an Earthling and a Nedian on this rock." He
droned, as if rehearsing a carefully prepared speech. "It's such a
shame to have to kill you both!" He stepped back, leaning on the golden
idol. "And it's time to shed this weak body!"

Alen shivered, his flesh rippling and swirling a mass of colors.
His muscles bulged out of their confines, ripping his black garb nearly
apart. His disfigured features emitted a low growl that frightened even
Claude, as he reached behind him for the knife.

But Claude's reflexes were superior, whipping his phaser in front
of him as Tax charged. The Ensign turned his gaze away slightly, unable
to watch as he prepared to take the life of even a monster. His aim
suffered, and the demon fell back in agony as the white beam grazed
flesh, burning into its bulging side. Claude's head snapped back just
in time to see his enemy rise again with a murderous look.
Instinctually, he gripped his weapon tighter, this time sending a shot
point-blank through Tax's torso.

The monster stood still for a moment, feeling the life drain from
him before he collapsed to the ground. With one last grunt, he gave up
his spirit, the corporeal remains spreading away into the air.


8/01/02 - VGSS
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