A/N: Enjoy four more chaps in the next four hours and do vote and review the ff if you like what you read~
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"Hmm? I haven't seen Nik flaunting his energy around for hours now. Where the hell is he?" Hama commented as she conducted a basic waterbending exercise with Katara. The differences could be seen. While Hama and Katara pushed and pulled water calmly in a certain flow similar to how the moon causes tides to rise and fall, Nik's method looked reckless but it only spoke for his overbearing control over the element.
Clearing her throat as she had been explained in detail what Mai had gone through last night, Katara keeps it simple, "He's in that personal world of his, probably lazing around. We did want to try and build a house for ourselves, so, Suki and Yue are helping him with that."
Hama stared at the young disciple of hers and snickered, "You aren't all that great at lying. Anyway, I won't force you about it. Why didn't you just join the girls with him? Don't you feel left out?"
Blushing despite knowing nothing of the sort was going on there, Katara scoffed, "It's nothing like that... besides, I wanted to train."
Nik's improvement had become her drive to improve, too. Sure, she didn't want the same overbearing path for her but a finer control over her skills was still welcome.
"Girl, make sure you get your worth out of him," Hama chuckled, "And whip him to a good shape. Suki and the Princess coddle him too much."
This was something Katara didn't comment on. Even if she wanted to joke about it, she couldn't. Although she was envious of Nik's skills, she understood that he trained more than others. It could be argued that this was because of his greater reserves but then again, he wasn't the least bit satiated just yet. He may not have noticed it but Katara and others did. Each day, Nik would challenge his previous records and even if he didn't particularly surpass his previous self every day, just the idea of trying constantly and expending his all was admirable enough.
And she didn't mean this with his waterbending.
Now that Nik's legs were fine, he had gotten deep into Airbending and only now come to realize how much he lacked compared to Aang who could even fly with as much ease as he breathed.
Mai's target practice, too, tested his motor skills to their peak.
Thinking of Mai... Katara couldn't help but feel a little curious. Just what exactly could cause Mai to go to such lengths?
'Hopefully, Yue can find something to help her with...'
---
Within one of the chambers of the Battleship in Nik's personal space lay a tired Mai. Her hair was disheveled and a thin sheet covered her naked body. At the moment, she slept peacefully but the low groans occasionally leaking from her lips as she would squirm slightly with slight dampness around the crotch region on the sheets made the trio wonder about the dreams Mai was experiencing.
Yue sat beside Mai and brought her hands closer above the crotch tattoo as they were covered by a soft silver glow. Suki and Nik were behind Yue, waiting silently.
This is what Yue gained as a reward and compensation for what she was destined to be used if Nik wasn't present.
While Moon Spirit certainly was the first 'waterbender', its essence was nothing like that. Tui and La, through their dance, had conveyed that the spirits in ancient times did not bend the elements but the energy within them and around them. La's essence was tyrannical but gentle, as destructive as giving. She is the mother ocean and the tyrant Tsunami that could sweep civilizations away. And that's the essence Nik was rewarded alongside the peculiar bending technique— Dance of Moon and Sea.
Of course, gaining the essence of understanding didn't mean Nik was similar to La. Conversely, he was given an understanding, his horizons were broadened and he could choose to develop himself in a direction more suited to him.
Meanwhile, just like Nik, Yue also knew the Dance of Moon and Sea. However, she gained something entirely different from Tui. His essence was calming, gentle, and giving. Tui could revive Yue when she was stillborn and that is the essence of energybending bestowed on Yue.
While waterbenders have to extract the healing properties of the water to heal someone, Yue could do so directly with her energy. Of course, she was made a 'bender' more recently of this unnamed technique but Yue predicted that she could heal injuries similar to what Nik had faced against Koh easily. Heck, there was something even Yue didn't admit to anyone else but Nik.
Just as Tui could revive her, she could do the same. However, she would lose her life in the process!
Feeling a little weak, Yue exhaled softly and the glow around her palms flickered out of existence. Wiping the sweat collected over her forehead, she remarked thoughtfully, "The only indication of something wrong with her body is that mark... but whenever I try to interact with my chi, it just rejects me with a tremendous willpower."
Nik hummed thoughtfully in response as he sighed, "Her situation is turning much worse... like she'd been infected by a lust bug or something."
"I don't think lust bug is real," Suki looked at the man and informed.
"That's not the point," he shrugged and Yue's gaze turned slightly mischievous, "So? What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?" Nik frowned and sat down beside Mai, "Trust me, I would love to pay Mai back for all those eye rolls and snorts but... that doesn't seem appropriate. Not in the manner you think," he cut Yue off before she could speak, "If there is a chance that something between Michi and I could change for the worse because Mai felt she had been taken advantage of... I would feel like shit."
Suki could understand his concerns. She knew Michi for the generous woman she was and also felt how much of a waste it would be just because Mai couldn't cope with the sudden 'disease.'
Beaming with assurance, Yue held Nik's hands and replied, "Then I'm sure you'll try and think of some way to help her. After all, she did come to you last night and begged for help, right? I don't think someone like Mai would do so without certain... results in her mind."
"Still..." Nik had other hesitations, too, "What is Mai is contagious?"
Suki and Yue floundered. This was something they hadn't really given a thought to. What if Mai somehow infects Nik?
They knew too little about the situation and the dangers of committing anything sexual.
"Although..." Nik continued, "I can say from experience that anything spiritual can be found by meditating hard. So the best way is to try and keep Mai as calm as possible and help her meditate. Of course, if she suddenly goes into heat, it may affect the two of you so it's better only I'm here."
Yue and Suki would have been suspicious before but Nik was quite open about wanting to drive Mai into the ground if it wasn't for his own fears of getting infected and fully knowing things would be burdensome should they get affected by Mai's currently overwhelming burst of aroma, the girls decided to leave. But not the personal space itself.
With nothing better to do in the outside world, the girls truly wanted a 'home' to return to within Nik. It was an amusing idea at first but the more they contemplated it, the more sure they felt. After all, there would be times when they are either too tired or in an emergency to retreat. How amazing would it be if they have a ready bed to accommodate at a moment's notice?
Of course, without necessary muscle work, Suki and Yue decided to first explore his personal world and find a good location for their humble abode.
---
"Mmhh..."
"Hey, wake up," Nik sighed, gently patting Mai's cheek and shaking her shoulder but any and every contact only makes her breath moan.
She did wake up soon enough. Before she could snap up and take a quick look at her surroundings, Nik pressed her down firmly and calmed her, "It's me. It's alright, Mai. You're fine... Yue looked over you and said you just need to try and be calm."
His words may not be particularly soothing but his point did come across well enough. Mai collected herself and looked at him, "I'm naked. Why?"
"You were naked when we got here. Yue and Suki helped you onto the bed and covered you... do you remember anything about last night?"
Mai turned silent and stared at the metal ceiling until she eventually sighed, "A little... I remember cold water not working anymore... I also recall waking you up."
Uncharacteristically, Mai whispered, "Sorry for being a burden... I claimed you to be such but... in the end, I'm the one who cannot even control my body's reaction."
Knowing full well what he had said about Mai, Nik eventually sighed and shook his head, "Don't sweat it." He couldn't be angry with a defeated Mai. Usually, she is gloomy, sure. But there is a pep to her very attitude that gives off the vibe of something more sinister which Nik was attracted to, quite honestly.
Right now, Mai felt genuinely despondent. Well, it could happen after experiencing too many orgasms.
A sense of weakness and emptiness was bound to wreck her into two.
Hesitating for a second, not because of Mai's reaction but because of her REACTION, Nik decided to gently pet her head.
"Mai, I want you to do something for me... it may help," he whispered softly. His gentle touch caused Mai's lips to tremble as her body visibly began to react but he didn't stop, "Close your eyes, Mai. Concentrate..."
She did so without asking for any reason, well-aware that Nik could do anything to her without any need for dramatic flair so if he was going through so much trouble, it could only be to help her.
"Now, I want you to try and question it. Just imagine that someone is controlling your reactions and making you so sensitive... find that being. Question it... find out what it wants."
Though Mai's burrows folded into a frown, she tried to do as instructed. Her body unconsciously began to ooze the familiar aroma that made Nik's heart clench in equal parts excitement and fright.
A part of him really enjoyed the 'high' that this scent brought him, it encouraged him to let go of all his inhibitions and then find someone just like Mai to release all his pent up frustrations but another part of him didn't want to be swept by the aphrodisiac-like aroma wafting from her and at least, in the possibility of laying havoc on the woman, be in his mental faculties.
Gritting, his hand over Mai's head firmed ever so slightly as he stroked the top of her head. His other hand unintentionally held hers and intertwined with her thin fingers with a soft, muffled growl, "Hurry, Mai."
His hot breathing was right beside her, causing Mai to subconsciously shudder. None of this would have affected her before.
A man's primal pant over her shoulders, his firm hands stroking her head as if she was a gentle but indifferent rabbit kitty meat to be treated as such and another hand interlaced with her own, his warmth transferred to her through the touch...
"Mmmgh~!"
A wanton moan escaped from deep within Mai. It boomed in her mind but not through her lips as she was startled by it and instantly followed the sensation to find her view shifting and entering a world of hazy pink.
Cream-colored blades of grass spread as far as she could see and Mai finally saw a flower as high as herself and recalled that it was indeed this plant that she had seen yesterday.
"It's you!" Mai scowled. Her words caused the now-enlarged penis-shaped stamens to shudder as an ethereal and mature voice groaned, "Indeed, it is I— the Flower of Fertility. The only daughter of the Land of Fertility. Why do you seek me out?"
"Seek you out?" Allowing a crack in her usual indifferent self, Mai snapped, "Seek YOU out?" her tone now fuelled with murderous intent, "You... sullied me—"
"Right, right, before you misunderstand anything further," the voice echoed and the petals moved slightly as if shrugging, "I didn't bring anything to the table. I merely let loose that was already gifted to you by my parent— Desire for Fertility. What I can do, instead, is enhance someone's senses. But even then, I haven't touched your body at all.
Whatever you are feeling is merely what you have repressed all this time~
Or did you think that the water stopped working on you because of me? Hmm?
No, you wanted the cold water to stop working on you. Your mind may never admit it, but you are as whimsical as any other dame and you seek excitement in many forms, albeit with a certain bias."
Mai thinned her lips with displeasure and stared at the flower with a cold and disbelieving gaze.
"I'm not a harlot," Mai remarked this as a face but the flower countered, "Base instincts never make you less of who you are."
"It does," She countered sharply, "I'm no beast. I don't hunt a rabbit with all my might and I don't squirt like monsoon rainfall. Leave my body this instant."
"I'm afraid that you would have to do something for me... Now that you've come across me, your very being desires fertility~ to get bred in ways that you only dream of, to hope for happiness that can only be cultivated inside of you!"
The voice cooed was matched with Mai's sneer, "And you expect me to believe that you did nothing to my body?"
"Yes, I didn't. Every living being produces. Are you not a human? Did you not come from a human? However, you can say that my existence has merely, passively— mind you, ignited this desire.
Now, many, like Mokshi's vessel out there, would be thrilled to have me. But I believe in some twisted way, we have great compatibility.
Those around you are rewarded with the Essence of Tui and La... if you give me what I desire, I shall not only leave you be since your mind wishes to reject me, but I will also... hmm, let's say, award you for your efforts."
Mai felt like the devil was whispering right beside her but she didn't let up and frowned, "Leave my body." Her insistence only made the flower chuckle as it began to slowly close in upon itself, revealing the same womb-shaped red totem on the underside of the petals as it would beat with a life of its own.
Around the pattern was a curved mural of multiple stick figures that, in Mai's eyes, represented humans and beasts in various positions. With each thrum of the totem, the beings would move about, performing certain activities that made Mai blush moderately.
"The many Primordials who eye Mokshi have never revealed such anxiousness. This makes me believe that Mokshi's current vessel is, at the very least, competent." the voice blew, "So, it makes me wonder if this is the last time this Mokshi will remain here."
Mai wasn't even aware of what the Flower of Fertility was on about but she didn't interrupt. At least, she could ask about it later.
"Let me taste freedom, Mai. It's a task too spiritual... complete it and I will grant you my essence~ I'm sure you will love it!
He will, too~ Mokshi can resist curses and energy bending but can your man-to-be resist physical elation?"
Mai's head buzzed. The last part wasn't too hard to guess given the flower's lustful and languid tone.
Yet, when Mai was made to understand what she stood to gain from this experience... her expression couldn't help but turn complicated.
---
As Mai came to be, she also felt the similar list coursing through her veins return and understood what was going on within her. Her ears registered Nik's rough breathing. He was still stroking her head and held her hand warmly to the point sweat already collected between them. Her eyes fluttered open. Mai could feel that currently, she didn't look the best. Probably disheveled, her hair in disarray, and her body even smelling slightly aside from the aroma that hung on her thanks to the flower of fertility.
She looked towards Nik who had his eyes closed as she took deep, but inconsistent and shallow breaths. The erection in his pants was painfully obvious and the struggle in his face was something Mai hadn't seen even when he killed Zhao and to be fair, Nik has been vocal against the act of taking life.
Gulping at what she was about to do, Mai's lips parted and closed again constantly. She felt she knew what to say but now... despite the lust attempting to overcome her sanity, Mai suddenly found the image of her mother staring at her with a loving yet guilty smile.
Their relationship hadn't been the best but now Michi was making effort to shorten the gaps between them. Heck, just the emotions conveyed in her letter were extremely meaningful but...
"Is it this hard?" Mai finally whispered, causing Nik's gaze to snap open. He found Mai flushed with redness as her heated gaze regarded him with barely panting lips, "Nik... the spirit inside of me asked... asked me to tell you that it desires to taste freedom... t-through me but...
What about Mom...?"
Mai's eyes snapped wide as Nik instantly pulled her without a second's delay. It had been too rough already to stay close to Mai with such a scent lingering on her. The moment she was pulled close, Mai felt all her exhaustion disappearing with Nik's lips locking down on hers tightly. Greedily. He did not show any moment of gentleness as he was too riled on. His tongue found its way into Mai's to exchange culture of lust while his tight hug. around her back as he soon groped her incredibly toned and elastic butt making Mai melt into his embrace.
If she was feeling guilty or unwilling, right now, Mai decided to stop being a human not controlled by her logical and moral compass but allowed Nik to be as ravenous as he wanted.
As bestial and manly as he wanted.
Not that two beasts in lust would have it any other way, right? With their thoughts to breed and get bred stroked to the maximum.
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