World Travelers

All participants in sexual activity have been on their respective planets for at least eighteen years.

World Travelers

Chapter 5

Melody Sundown

Nothing extremely exciting happened over the next several days. By my count, I had spent ten or eleven days on Panternia. I wasn't sure how many Earth or Mars days that was equivalent to but wasn't going to lose any sleep thinking about it. Although not every day was exactly the same, there was an annoying repetitiveness about my newfound lifestyle.

Being fucked and fed by a vine was certainly different. Getting my hair washed by eels, my pussy shaved by minnows, and a dress tailored by spiders were all eye-opening events, the first time. But, just like anything else, the novelty soon wore off.

I was a woman who needed a challenge. A mission to pursue. A mystery to solve. I volunteered for the Mars habitat with visions of literally saving the human race. Hard to do when trapped in the Garden of Eden, led by the hand from the beauty parlor, to the masseuse, to the spa.

I guess it all came to a head while I was receiving "the gift" one evening. I was laying on my back, my arms stretched above my head, my legs pulled up towards my shoulders, exposing my ass and pussy to their respective vines. My boobs, which had grown a good bit larger since I started lactating, were ensconced in the flowers' embrace and the feeding tube slowly gorged my belly with its unknown cocktail of nutrients.

I'm fairly sure I was ovulating at the time. Not that I could be certain, considering the circumstances. But I noticed a nearly imperceptible rise in my body temperature, my nipples were slightly more sensitive than normal, my libido was a tad more demanding than usual and, if my math was right, it was the right time of the month. In other words, I was intimately in tune with my body and my body told me something was amiss.

That evening was slightly different from my other numerous sessions with the Jungle. My tummy got filled, my boobs drained, my pussy pleasured, and my intestines washed and rinsed. All that was normal. It happened twice a day, every day. But that evening, there was an added step.

The cock vine, the one that filled my vaginal cavity and bumped its head against my cervix, the vine that routinely shot a load of "God only knows what" into my body, instead of retreating shortly after doing its assigned job, it pushed up against my cervix and stayed there. For a minute or two. Which was fine with me. If a man or plant wants to keep me filled for a while after sex, I'm not going to argue with them. Especially if I was pleased with the result, which I was.

But I'd never before had the sensation I had that night. It was nothing more than a tickle. A single blade of grass touching skin. A stray tendril. Not on the outside. Inside. In my uterus, or maybe even higher. It didn't last long, less than a minute. The odd feeling went away when the cock vine withdrew from my vagina ... replaced by a sense of loss. Like a small part of my being was taken from me. And although it was probably nothing more than a symptom of my deteriorating mental state, it sent me down a path I'd unsuccessfully tried to explore before.

Where do Panternian babies come from?

"How often do you menstruate?" I asked Lica as we bedded down for the night.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know the word menstruate?"

"How often do you get your period?"

"I don't know that word either. Maybe it is something you do in your jungle that isn't allowed here."

Or maybe Chris's translation app isn't as good as I originally thought.

Approaching the subject from a different direction, I rephrased the question. "In my world, women bleed for a few days every month. Do you do the same?"

"We do bleed," Lica said. "If I scrape my toe on a rock or cut my hand on a thorn, a small amount of blood comes out. But it stops almost immediately and certainly doesn't continue for an entire day."

"Do you ever bleed from down here?" I asked, pointing to my vagina.

"No," she said with a quizzical look. "I've never been injured down there."

A few more days passed and, despite my subtle and often times more direct inquiries about Panternian procreation, no matter which of the women I asked, I always got the same answer.

"The young ones come from the Jungle."

Thinking I'd never figure out how green skinned babies were made; I started an intensive study of the different plants found in the jungle. Mostly to keep my mind active. By that point, I was convinced I would never return to either Mars or Earth, meaning I wouldn't be able to transfer my mental catalog of newly discovered fauna into a digital document and it would never reach my peers.

All of which I blame on David Greene's stupidity. If he hadn't disappeared, we would certainly be on our way home by now.

By that time, I had sampled every meal available to me. There were dozens of fruits, berries, nuts, and other edibles in the Jungle that I had yet to try, but, according to Lica, we were only allowed to eat from the fruit presented to us while getting the gift. And even then, we didn't actually eat the fruit. We didn't pluck an orange from a tree, peel off the skin, and devour the contents. When we ate, the fruit stayed on the tree and fed us a portion of itself.

It made sense, I guessed. The Panternians didn't have teeth. They couldn't take a bite of a peach or chew the meat of a pear. But I could. And even though I was getting properly nourished (and pleasured) twice a day, I still missed the simple act of eating solid food.

I can't really tell you when it happened. I had lost track of how many days I had spent on the planet. It was a morning feeding. A breakfast gift. When the Jungle opened up the six private paths, I chose the one closest to me and followed it like the obedient sheep I had become.

As always, the path led me to a small clearing presenting me with the choice of three different fruits. If I chose the purple one, I knew I'd go through the fucked, reamed, milked, and fed routine while standing up. Choosing the orange-colored gourd hanging from a bush a couple of feet off the ground normally put me on my hands and knees, taking it doggy style. The green and yellow striped fruit, which resembled an overgrown banana, could put me on my back with my knees scrunched up close to my chest or, as had happened a couple of times, I might spend the next half hour upside down.

I was about to go for the tried-and-true purple specimen when I spied one additional choice. Hanging from a branch in the very corner of the clearing, I spied what looked like an apple. I wouldn't have seen it if a small shaft of sunlight hadn't pierced through the jungle canopy and lit up the apple like a spotlight on an opera singer.

I knew it was forbidden, but I was completely alone in the clearing. There was no way anybody could find out. And, if it really was an apple, I could take a couple of bites, throw the core in the bushes, and then let the Jungle have its way with me. So, I committed a cardinal sin, got up on my tippy toes, pulled the apple from the branch, and sunk my teeth into it.

It wasn't an apple.

It didn't have the texture, taste, or crunch of an apple. It was much better. Better than the best apple I had ever eaten. Superior to any fruit on Earth. That first bite reminded me of strawberry crepes, ahi tuna, and Beluga caviar, all wrapped up in one. It was an overpowering sensation which literally knocked me on my ass. The second bite gave me a completely different but equally pleasing experience. I didn't think it possible to encounter so much stimulus in such a short period of time. It was as if my once closed brain suddenly opened to accept the vast knowledge of the universe.

"What are you?"

The feeding vine, which was halfway down my throat, kept me from turning my head to look for the unseen questioner. The cock and anal vines secured my butt to the ground. The boob flowers remained firmly attached to my tits while other vines secured my arms over my head and splayed my legs wide apart. The streams of fluid leaking from my lower two openings, combined with my full belly and empty boobs confirmed that I'd already received my morning gift. Although I had absolutely no recollection of it.

"Do you not understand me? I asked you a question," the voice said.

'If you'd pull this damn vine out of my mouth, I'd be glad to answer'

, I thought, unable to speak.

"Answer my question and then I'll extract the vine," the voice said. "Now tell me what type of animal you are and where you came from."

Holy crap,

I thought

. Am I dreaming, hallucinating, or is somebody actually reading my mind?

'I'm a human. I come from a planet called Earth

.'

"Great. Just what I need. Another fucking biped species from some minor rock, circling an insignificant star, in a distant galaxy."

'How did you do that? How did you know what I was thinking?'

"You ate from the tree of knowledge. By doing so, you invited me into your brain. It is the accepted method in this part of the universe."

Son of a bitch. Does this guy know everything that comes to my mind, or do I have to 'think at him' to communicate?

'We use a different form of communication on Earth,'

I thought in his direction

, 'but if this is your preferred form of conversation, I am more than willing to continue. Since you know what I am, would you mind telling me about yourself?'

"What would you like to know?"

'Let's start with who you are and where you are.'

"I am the Jungle. I am all around you."

To emphasize the point, he poked the cock and anal vines a little deeper into my core, gave my tits a squeeze and each appendage a slight pull. The question of 'how he read my mind' was answered when, as he removed the feeding vine from my mouth, I realized that hundreds of hair thin tendrils surrounded the back of my neck, extending up the base of my skull and into my scalp. He heard by interpreting the electrical signals in my brain synapses and spoke by sending similar signals to me.

I spent the next hour, flat on my back, talking to the Jungle. Assuredly the most enjoyable hour I'd ever spent. Not because he continued to stroke my pussy, tease my tits, and tickle my clit as we conversed. It was the scholarly delight of interviewing an entire ecosystem that brought on a parade of successive mini orgasms.

'Tell me about the Panternians, the green skinned women who roam your home.'

"We started life as equals," the Jungle said. "I was a mere sapling and the species you call Panternian had just evolved from an incestual mixture of annoying mammals. We lived in harmony on this land for many thousands of circuits around our star but, as we both grew in numbers, we agreed it was best to separate. I obviously stayed here while they slowly took over the rest of the planet.

"At one time, they were the dominant force on Panternia. Their technology allowed them to turn other jungles into deserts. Their appetites decimated complete species of animals. They fouled our waters and darkened our skies. They were the masters of Panternia and yet they never joined together. That's the problem with intelligent life forms without roots. They think they don't need each other and don't realize their mistake until it is too late."

'What were you doing when this was going on?'

"Just the opposite. I grew into a large tree, and, over the circuits, my seedlings grew up around me. While the Panternians refused to associate with other species, I welcomed the ferns, vines, bushes, and moss into my family. Eventually, our root structure became one. The tall trees captured light while shading the bushes. The bushes protected us from outside intruders, the ferns produced nourishment, the moss insulated the soil, and the vines gave us reach. What once was many, slowly evolved into one. A single ecosystem with a collective intelligence."

'Are you saying there aren't any more Panternians outside of the Jungle?'

"I believe that is correct. I have very little knowledge of what happens on the rest of the planet, but I haven't been visited by an old style Panternian, those with teeth, for over ten thousand circuits."

'What about the Panternians who live here now? Why didn't they perish with the others and what happened to their teeth?'

"You must remember that the Panternians and I once lived together in peace. Despite all their faults, the Panternians never forgot our bond. Even though they destroyed a good portion of the rest of the planet, they never harmed me. This land, this Jungle, remained sacred to them. So, when the end came, I admitted a small remnant back into the fold and have been caring for them ever since."

'Okay, that makes sense. But what about their teeth?'

"I removed them. Not immediately. I am not a monster. I didn't hold them down and pull their teeth out of their mouths, even though they had been known to remove the claws from some of their pets. Instead, I bred the teeth out of them. It took three or four thousand circuits, but now they no longer grow teeth."

'But why? Without teeth, the Panternians can't eat solid food. It makes them completely dependent upon you.'

"Exactly. Without teeth, the new Panternians cannot leave my boundaries and will not make the mistakes of their ancient ancestors. I have restored the balance between us."

I had more questions. Thousands more. But the Jungle withdrew its vines and tendrils from my body before I could ask them. And since we could no longer communicate, I was reduced to what I was before. One of the Jungle's many pets. Doomed to follow the path laid out before me with absolutely no choice of where it would lead.

It took me half the day to wrap my mind around the concept of a self-aware, fully integrated, plant-based intelligence. Unless I hallucinated the entire conversation, the Jungle started as a single tree and slowly evolved into a complete ecosystem with a single-minded purpose. The concept contradicted everything I learned during the eight years I spent earning my PhD in botany and the subsequent decade as a professional in the field.

But why not? If humans, the (supposedly) most intelligent entity on earth, evolved from a freak chemical reaction in an ancient ocean millions of years ago, why can't the same thing happen to an acorn on Panternia? And if it happened on Panternia, can it eventually happen on Earth?

Considering what humankind is doing to its home planet, will the next phase of our evolution actually be a step backwards? Will we make so much of Earth inhospitable that another form of intelligence is forced to step in and wrest control away from us?

The Jungle said that it used to live in harmony with the Panternian people until the green skinned humanoids left for greener pastures. But is that what really happened? Or did the Jungle kick them out? Or, even more ominously, did the Jungle simply assimilate the Panternians and turn them into the lap dogs they appear to be today?

And what about the other animals in the Jungle?

This thought occurred while I lay in a warm pool of water while a thousand tiny minnows removed the body hair from my neck down.

The follicle eating fish, the hair washing eels, the dress making spiders, and all the other critters that reside in the Jungle ... are they part of the collective brain trust or just well-trained servants, bred to do the Jungle's bidding?

My evening path led me to a clearing without an apple tree. Not in the mood for anything kinky, I knelt under what looked like an oversized gourd and was soon spread eagled on my back with my arms stretched to the sides, my legs spread above me in a V, and all of my orifices filled with the usual collection of penetrating vines, sucking flowers, and tickling tendrils.

'Are you there?'

I asked, hoping to continue my conversation with the Jungle.

'I have more questions. Please answer me.'

Receiving no reply, I settled in and, despite my best intentions, shamefully enjoyed receiving the gift.

Once it was done. After the Jungle bloated my belly, drained my boobs, flushed my bowels, and invaded my reproductive system. As I lay on the soft moss-covered floor of the clearing, panting in exhaustion while I recovered from my third orgasm of the evening. I asked myself,

Is this what's in store for our distant descendants? Mindlessly following the commands of an allegedly higher intellect. Sacrificing our freewill in exchange for a pampered life of pleasure? Be it a Jungle, an AI, or an all-powerful central government, is this where we are headed?

My final path of the evening led me to a larger clearing where I met up with Lica and the other women. As much as I needed to discuss my day's revelations with another person, I knew it had to be somebody besides my green skinned BFF. I wanted to talk to a person with a shared set of experiences. Somebody from Earth. Any semi-intelligent human would do. Even David Greene. But that asshole had either got himself killed or was shacking up with a pink-haired girl somewhere else on this God forsaken planet.

So, instead of asking Lica about the meaning of life, I stripped off my somewhat useless dress, piled it in the corner with the rest of the inadequate, spider-made garments, and nestled up between Lica and Carn for the nightly pre-slumber ritual.

Even though all six of us had been recently fed, fucked, drained, and flushed by the Jungle, there was always a ten-to-fifteen-minute period of skin-on-skin intimacy before we fell off to sleep. Far from an expert on the matter, I chalked up these nightly episodes to an inherent desire for personal closeness.

A desire ingrained in all living things - humans, Panternians, and even Mars based PhDs.

A need to feel loved.

David Greene

"David, wake up. You've got to see this."

I damn near fell out of the tree as bright light from a rising sun assaulted my eyes. From the excitement in her voice and eyes, I could tell whatever Corin wanted me to see was a good thing. Saying a small prayer of thanks to whatever god guarded us in the night, I followed her gaze with my own eyes.

Yesterday's unending field of brown grass swaying in the breeze was now an undulating sea of black and gray fur. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of large horned beasts covered the valley floor. What popped into my mind was the ancient tales of the American prairie when huge herds of buffalo roamed free.

Corin and I watched in reverent silence as the seemingly endless herd of bison-like animals surrounded us in an unhurried migration towards what I assumed was west... towards the jungle. Our little knoll turned into an island of safety as the animals parted around us like floodwaters. They either didn't want to climb the small hill out of laziness or were giving two strange creatures a wide berth.

The longer we watched them, the less threatening they seemed. We inched our way down the hill until only a few yards from the nearest animal. I'd only seen a buffalo once in my life, and that was from a distance. The Panternian version was at least twice as big.

The larger males were nearly jet black, stood at least five feet at the shoulder, and had two-foot-long curved horns extruding from their sizeable heads. The hornless females stood about a foot shorter than their mates, tended towards a dark gray coloring and, unlike the Earth-bound bovine species, their utters sprang from their sides ... two on the left and two on the right. I had no idea if panternalos (for lack of a better name) only had calves in the spring or even if the planet had seasons. But there were several youngsters mixed in with the herd who, since they all were about the same size and slightly unsteady on their feet, I assumed were recently born.