Dance Until the World Ends

Chapter 1: Lina and Arabel

In the beginning there was the Great Tree, the Tree that existed long before the hands of time were set in motion, and longer still than even the most distant relations of humankind had crawled forth from the primordial ooze to stand upright and walk upon the land.

The Great Tree is, was, and forever shall be.

Throughout its existence, the Great Tree has been given many names by the tribes of men. To the west it had been dubbed Gaokerena. Those in the north would call it Yggdrasil. Still others would refer to it simply as the Tree of Life. For during the whole of man’s existence, it was this Great Tree, that by the protection of its branches and the gift of its fruit, allowed humanity to survive the eons.

—Selected passages from The Book of the Origin by Bella Aurelius Nobilis, Modern Language Translation

* * * *

A bomb blast rumbled in some distant tunnel—the third one this week. Lina could feel it reverberating all throughout Cave of the Winds. She exhaled a long and noisy sigh. The rebels were going to make her late for her date with Arabel. Damned rebels.

Lina looked over at the thick, translucent, amber resin that had automatically oozed forth to stand between the main tunnel and the critical facility where Lina toiled her days away. She turned her gaze to the pair of burly diploid women with their jack boots and truncheons, each sporting an almost identical buzz cut and frown, guarding the only other entrance. Damned rebels.

Lina turned her attention back to the school children and their teacher who were touring the facility today. Diploids, all of them, they were almost all able to look Lina in the eye, despite their younger age. None of them seemed terribly concerned about the recent explosion.

“Looks like we’re going to be here a while,” Lina said. “Does anyone have any more questions about Cave of the Winds and how we do our part to support the colony?”

She was met by a sea of blank faces, barely concealing their boredom.

“Any at all?”

“How come you’re so small?” offered one of the diploid children.

“Yeah, are you broken or something?” said another.

“That’s enough,” said the teacher, “haploids are smaller, that’s all. Remember your biology lesson. And your manners.”

“But you’re a girl, aren’t you?” said the first child, unhindered by her teacher’s admonishment. “Shouldn’t you be a diploid?”

“I am a girl,” said Lina. “But sometimes it happens that girls can be haploids. It’s not very common, but—”

“I told you she was broken,” announced the second child, much to the delight of her peers.

The teacher, however, was not amused. Lina could smell it in the air, by the alpha pheromones she released. The children sensed it too. They quickly settled into silence.

“Now, children,” the teacher said, “are there any questions about our tour today?”

Hearing none, and seeing that the blast curtain was still very much closed, Lina decided to fill the time by quizzing the class to see what, if anything, they retained from their visit.

Lina started with an easy one. “Who can tell me where this facility gets its name?”

Several of the diploid children thought they knew the answer, and after the teacher’s earlier admonishment—with the sprinkling of alpha pheromones still lingering in the air—each student politely raised her hand rather than blurting it out.

Lina chose a girl at random. “Yes, you have the answer?”

“Because the air is always rushing through here to supply the colony. And that makes it really windy all the time.”

“Very good. And does anyone know why the air is always rushing through?”

Several children’s hands shot up, but not as many as for the first question. Lina chose another random volunteer.

“Because, um…because the hot outside air cools in the vine tunnels above…um, and the moisture…”

Lina nodded, encouraging the young girl.

“And…and cool air is heavier, so it falls down.”

“That’s right,” said Lina. “Starting out cool up here in the cave, air is drawn down through the colony’s tunnels where we live, and heated naturally by our bodies along the way, until—”

“Until the warm air rises out the exhaust vents.” The young diploid smiled. “We toured that end of the colony last week. It was stinky.” The girl held her nose and scrunched up her face to illustrate.

A hushed wave of half-suppressed laughter swept through the group of children. Lina did her best to ignore it and forged on.

“Very good,” Lina said, and picked up a short piece of ropy brown vine that had been cast down by one of the other haploid workers in the myriad tunnels overhead. “Who can tell me what this is.”

“Dead,” someone tittered. Lina did not see who it was, and apparently neither did the teacher, though she craned her neck around, searching. Lina detected a little more alpha pheromone in the air and the laughter quickly died down.

“Quickvine,” another girl said. “When it’s alive, it eats up carbon-dioxide and gives off oxygen. Like, a lot of oxygen.”

“Yes,” said Lina. “About twice as much as other plants its size, and it grows very quickly, making it perfect for our job of keeping the colony’s air fresh and healthy for all of you.”

A few of the diploid students rolled their eyes at Lina’s obvious manufactured excitement over the quickvine. She was losing them, and rapidly. Even the teacher had grown tired of casting pheromones to keep them in line.

Lina glanced at the thick, amber blast curtain, still in place.

“But it dies really fast, too.” The girl who had answered the previous question puffed up her chest as she carried on. “Quickvine. Quick to grow, quick to die, but it makes the air for you and I. I’m going to be a botanist when I grow up.”

“The candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long, derp,” another student mocked in return, and a chuckle circulated.

The group had reached the end of their attention span. The teacher, too. She was staring at the blast curtain, as if by will alone she could make it dissolve away again.

Amazingly, it worked.

Lina shrugged. She didn’t believe that telekinesis was actually at play here, not even diploids possessed such power, but she did breathe a little easier as the barrier was shrinking, bubbling away, and the humorless guards blocking the side entrance had retreated. Cave workers swept the remaining bits of resin into reclamation portals in the floor.

“Thank you for visiting Cave of the Winds,” Lina called out, as cheerfully as she could muster. The children filed out without so much as another word. She did, however, get a wan smile from the future botanist of the group. Lina smiled and waved back.

* * * *

Lina was sprinting down the colony’s tunnels and ramps, now three levels down from where she started at Cave of the Winds. Using her small size to her advantage, she dodged between clusters of dawdlers who were out strolling or shopping in the wide and high-ceilinged business district.

Lina burst into another downward tunnel, narrower than those above. The air was heavy and moist, with condensation clinging to the walls, as she descended into the bowels of the colony. The tunnels at this level were devoid of the crowds that packed the commerce areas above. No one ventured this far down unless they worked here. Or, in Lina’s case, if they happened to be sleeping with someone who did.

Arabel had just come through the wide, door-less entrance of the reclamation plant as Lina rounded the last corner. Arabel smiled upon seeing Lina, and released a bit of mating pheromone as she puckered up for a kiss. Lina happily obliged, letting herself fall into the trance provided by Arabel’s heady scent.

“You naughty girl,” Lina chastised. “You ought not to be scenting in the tunnels. You never know when there might be children about.”

Arabel shrugged, and took turns rubbing the back of her ears—the place where her scent glands were located—against the side of Lina’s neck. Lina’s eyelids fluttered, and she nearly swooned until Arabel clamped her teeth on an earlobe and hauled her back to reality.

“You’re trouble,” Lina said.

“And that’s exactly why you love me,” Arabel proclaimed, wrapping her arms about Lina’s neck. “I save you from your dull hum-drum existence. And…And you’re going to love me even more when you see all the great stuff I rescued today.”

Arabel released Lina and proudly patted the satchel that she carried slung over her shoulder and across her chest. “I got some compostable material for my plants.” Arabel pulled some out, beaming while Lina wrinkled her nose.

“And some bio-luminescent dye.” Arabel reached in again to produce a small tube, barely a quarter full with glowing orange liquid, and shook it in front of Lina’s face. “For the rave tonight. Something one of the tattoo shops had tossed out. Six colors in total. It’s gonna be fun.”

“Still holding out hope that we’ll get into the rave tonight?” Lina tossed her head back and let out a brief chuckle. “We don’t even know where it is.”

Arabel reached into her satchel a third time, as a wry smile crossed her face. She pulled forth a dirty and partially torn piece of paper. It looked like it had been wadded up and then carefully pulled apart and pressed flat again.

“We do now,” Arabel beamed. “Behold. My best find of the day.”

“I could just kiss you.”

Arabel reached behind her ear with her index finger, rubbing her pheromone gland and grinning, before she ran that same finger down the length of Lina’s nose.

“What’s stopping you?”

Lina inhaled deeply of Arabel’s scent and fell upon her, trapping Arabel’s small body against the damp wall of the tunnel, going in with lips and tongue.

“You’re so much trouble,” Lina said, finally coming up to suck a breath.

“I’m telling you, that’s why you love me. I’m a walking good time.” Arabel kicked up her heel. “That, and I always know where the good parties are.”

Lina said nothing in response. She simply flared her nostrils and inhaled deeply again, losing herself in the dizziness brought on by Arabel’s lingering pheromones. Eyes fluttering, Lina pressed her thigh hard against between Arabel’s legs, and took two great handfuls of the girl’s backside to pull her in. “You smell so good, baby.”

“Oh, Lina,” Arabel teased. “But what about the children?”

Lina backed away by a step. “Think of the children,” she mocked. Lina stuck out her index finger to playfully poke Arabel in the shoulder before leaning in to steal a long and lingering kiss.

Sighing, Lina gave one final peck before putting on a mask of control and lacing her fingers in with Arabel’s. Together they set off, skipping down the tunnel to Arabel’s apartment.

* * * *

In the dim and dingy tunnel-way of the colony’s lowest level, Arabel opened the door of her apartment to a sight that always made Lina smile. She thought anyone entering Arabel’s humble abode might be tempted to classify it as a jungle biome. The humidity at this level of the colony was so high that the walls were constantly slick with condensation.

But, Arabel had used this to her advantage, to water the hundreds of varieties of plants and vines that she had crammed into every available space. Even a section of the carved stone floor had been covered in compost and seeded with a low, mossy ground cover, making what could have been a dank undesirable apartment into a living thing full of wonder.

What Lina found even more intriguing was that all of this beauty was created from things Arabel claimed she rescued as they passed through the reclamation area.

“Before you rip my clothes off,” Arabel said, as she closed the door, “we should eat.”

Lina rolled her eyes as she watched Arabel calmly shimmy out of her coverall, leaving it as a puddle on the floor. Arabel then sashayed, completely naked, the three steps it took her to reach the apartment’s tiny galley kitchen. There she washed her hands thoroughly and doused her bare body with water from the tap. Her damp skin glistened in the dim light of the three bio-globes that lit the one room space.

“And you’re worried about me ripping your clothes off?” Lina said, puckering up to place a kiss on the back of Arabel’s neck and catch another whiff of her still lingering pheromones. Despite their dilution by the quick sink bath, the scent still made Lina shiver.

“This is strictly sanitary, babe. I work in refuse and reclamation, in case you forgot, and I’m also making your dinner.”

Lina backed up a step, deftly shed her own clothing, and kicked it into a corner. She moved to brush the front of her slim, naked body lightly against the back of Arabel’s and shivered once again, n*****s crinkling as they passed over of her lover’s bare skin.

Arabel appeared unfazed by Lina’s advance, and was busying herself snipping leaves, fungus and berries from various pots crowding her counter top. Lina watched as she carefully arranged them onto two mismatched plates.

“You really should have been a botanist,” Lina said, pressing harder against Arabel and brushing her nose closer to Arabel’s scent gland. “You probably produce as much oxygen down here as we do up in Cave of the Winds.”

Arabel’s body vibrated slightly as she chuckled.

Lina placed several columns of delicate kisses up and down Arabel’s neck, as she watched her lover snipping, pruning and slicing the various leafy greens, fruits, and mushrooms arrayed all over her work surface. After placing a sprawling, thin-petaled, light-purple flower as a final bit of garnish atop each plate, Arabel pulled out a small pot that was hidden among several others—a miniature replica of a full-sized deciduous tree that currently bore three tiny, white flowers.

Arabel leaned in to carefully extract a small petal from one of its delicate flowers.

“Is that tree flower?” Lina asked, craning her neck to see. “That’s illegal, you know. Only the Royal Family—”

Arabel simply shrugged before bowing her head to lay the tree flower petal against the skin of the scent gland behind her right ear.

Lina shuddered at the bold display. But rather than fall upon Arabel right away, she extended her tongue and took a long, lingering route up the side of Arabel’s neck before inhaling deeply, circling the waiting tree flower twice before finally swiping at it and pulling it into her mouth with a single lick.

The effect came on quickly, and combined with the heady perfume of Arabel’s natural scent, Lina found herself tingling and wanting to press even closer against Arabel’s warm body. She also needed a point of reference, something fixed and not moving, lest she lose her balance completely. But, just as importantly, from the pheromones, she felt an overwhelming instinctual need to lose herself in her beautiful and intoxicating lover, Arabel.

As Lina closed the distance between them to zero, she could feel Arabel vibrating against her. Her own involuntary pheromones released and at the same time sent a sudden gush of moisture running in rivulets over her inner thighs.

“I’m ready for you, baby,” Arabel whispered.

Lina dropped her head, she began to explore the back of Arabel’s neck, all while plucking another bit of tree flower and lifting it to Arabel’s waiting mouth.

“And I for you, my love,” Lina husked.

Arabel wantonly sucked at the tree flower petal and Lina’s finger that had delivered it.

Lina moaned and moved her lips closer to Arabel’s ear. There she began lightly tracing the outline of her lover’s glistening scent gland with her tongue, as she waited the scant moments it took for the effects of Arabel’s tree flower to kick in.

Arabel shuddered as she discharged a snootful of scent in Lina’s direction.

Knowing the passion that was igniting to cause her lover’s release, Lina jammed her thigh hard between Arabel’s quaking legs, and with a warm, wet squish, began slowly moving against her.

Salads long forgotten on the kitchen counter, the two women held each other in a vice-like grip, each unwilling and unable to separate now that the dance had begun. They tripped clumsily into the tiny living area, where they writhed and pawed at each other, bodies vibrating, and the scent of mating heavy in the air.

Lina was first to engage, and moved around behind Arabel to sink her teeth into the tender skin of Arabel’s shoulder. Arabel quivered but held still. She pressed her buttocks firmly against Lina, offering herself, while Lina was raking her nails across Arabel’s abdomen, asserting her dominance further.

Arabel was eager to acquiesce, and allowed Lina to guide her down, pressing her face first onto the small patch of soft moss that was the floor’s sole covering. Arabel spread her thighs and arched her back, pushing her buttocks into the air and exposing her dripping s*x. She raised her head and shook it wildly back and forth, releasing a cloud of pheromones.

Lina inhaled deeply before dropping her full weight on Arabel, pinning her to the floor, while she pushed her knee hard against the woman’s swollen folds. Arabel responded by pressing back and grinding against Lina’s knee.

“You smell so good,” Lina hissed, as she removed her knee, trading it for her hand and fingers as she began enjoying all that her lover had to offer.

“Take me, Lina,” Arabel heaved. “Claim me as your mate.”

Lina leaned forward, pressing her nose to the gland behind Arabel’s ear, seeking out more of her scent, reveling in the intoxicant that was magnified ten-fold by the effects of tree flower they had both consumed. She focused her efforts on pleasing the woman she held trapped beneath her.

Lina found the place she wanted. She began pressing and rubbing.

The two women engaged in their passionate dance with Lina on top, probing, thrusting, inhaling scent, and Arabel pinned underneath, squeezing Lina’s fingers, shivering and moaning. Arabel’s occasional shivers soon turned to a constant quivering, and finally a great, uncontrolled shudder as Lina rode her from above.

At the end of their frenzy, Lina bit down hard on the back of Arabel’s neck with enough force to make her cry out. And that was sufficient to drag Arabel from her trance, to challenge Lina for dominance.

The two women continued rolling on the floor—a tangle of limbs—clawing, biting, and probing until finally it was Lina who lay still and arched her back, allowing Arabel to claim her this time. Lina offered no resistance as Arabel took charge, her fingers pressing and filling without mercy. Each foray of Arabel’s tongue circling Lina’s scent gland caused her to release a spray of pheromones in time with another sharp cry of ecstasy.

In a cloud of scent, Lina felt Arabel continue with increased enthusiasm, probing, licking, and clawing at her tender flesh. Lina lay as still as possible, though vibrating slightly throughout, while she reveled in the feeling of her lover’s claiming of her body. Finally, the two women shuddered as one, and Arabel laid her mouth on the back of Lina’s neck to sink her teeth in. Lina let out a final shriek before going limp.

The two women lay on the little patch of moss that had served as their lovers’ bed, sweat-soaked and chests still heaving. In the dim light of the bio-globes, Lina outlined the curve of Arabel’s lips with a fingertip and studied her face for a moment.

“What?” said Arabel.

“Thank you for not snapping my neck.”

“I’m sorry, I got carried away. Tree flower.” Arabel scrunched up her face for a second, as if stifling a sneeze, and then burst out into a raucous peal of laughter.

“You mated me like a drone.” Lina smirked. “I feel so dirty.”

“Mmm. You were so hot, baby.”

“You too.” Lina reached around to swipe a finger behind Arabel’s ear, but was stopped short by Arabel’s quick grasp and found her finger in trapped between Arabel’s teeth.

“Too sensitive, baby,” Arabel said, around the finger in her mouth.

Lina put on a pout, but her attempt at seriousness was quickly overridden by the tree flower still surging through her system, and the warm afterglow of their recent passion. She broke out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, instead.

“Can you imagine?” Lina said, as she began to get herself under control again, “The life of a drone. Always thinking about mating, and then when you finally get to do it, you die in the process?”

“Eww,” said Arabel.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t speak so casually about ending. It’s got to be this tree flower that’s—”

“Not ending, baby. That’s not what I’m ewwing over.” Arabel held her breath until her cheeks turned red and her eyes bulged. She then let loose a snorting fit of hysteria.

“Oh, no. Here I go again.” Arabel rocked back and forth, slapping her palm against the grass on the floor. She paused and held up a single finger. “Tree flower. Tickles my nose.”

Lina rolled her eyes.

Finally, under some semblance of control, Arabel started again. “It’s not the ending,” she said. “It’s the idea of mating with a drone. I mean…eww.” Arabel lost herself to another peal of laughter. “Poor dumb bastards.”

“We should eat,” Lina suggested. “Maybe it’ll help you metabolize the giggles out of your system.”

“It’s your fault. Your scent makes me lose my mind.”

Lina peeled herself up off the mossy carpet and extended a hand to Arabel. Together they made their way somewhat unsteadily to the kitchen. Lina deposited Arabel at the breakfast bar before stepping around to fetch their salads.

Lina picked up her pair of chop sticks and poked at the bed of fresh greens and mushrooms, lifting and uncovering a few leaves here and there. “You didn’t sneak any more tree flower in here did you? To take advantage of me?”

“No.” Arabel straightened up on her stool. “Honest. It’s just a sapling. I wouldn’t.”

Lina blew a kiss.

The two haploid women attacked their salads with a voracious appetite and vigor that had previously been reserved for mating.

“You grow the best greens,” Lina said, still chewing.

“And I’d never snap your neck,” Arabel said. “I hope you know that by now. It’s just such a strong instinct…and I—I feel like I at least have to bite you.” Arabel brought another load of greens to her lips. “Just not hard enough to…you know.”

Lina nodded.

“Enough of this morose crap,” Arabel said. “I hear the rebels tried to blow your ass up this afternoon. That’s got to be exciting, huh? Did you have any of those gorgeous security officers sprinting to your rescue?”

Lina tried and failed to suppress a grin. Damned tree flower. “There were only two guards, and neither ever spoke to me, much less sprinted in my direction. They were just there to protect the facility.”

“Mmm, too bad,” purred Arabel. “Can you just imagine mating with a diploid woman? I mean…wow.”

“Stop it.”

“Sorry, babe.” Arabel leaned over, shoulder to shoulder against Lina, and let her head drop until her cheek was resting against Lina’s skin. “You know I love you, right?”

Lina’s lips stretched into a genuine smile at Arabel’s comment. “I know,” she said, “and I love you too.”

“And, I promise I’d never snap your neck after I mated you. Even if you were a drone.”

Lina playfully pushed Arabel aside and stood to collect the now empty plates. “You should have quit while you were ahead.”

Arabel stuck her tongue out and Lina reached around to pull Arabel into her arms. Lina felt a low moaning from Arabel vibrating against her neck, where Arabel was currently engaging in explorations with her mouth and tongue. Lina used the last vestiges of her control to pull away before things got out of hand again.

“What are you wearing to the rave?” Lina asked.

“Oh, wait ‘til you see it.” Arabel puffed up her chest. “My best find of the day.” Arabel walked to where her satchel hung from a hook on the back of her front door. She pulled forth a half-used roll of wide, yellow and black-striped caution tape.

Lina c****d her head to the side, staring.

Arabel unrolled an arm’s length of the tape and wrapped it so that it covered her bare breasts. Her n*****s were still protruding rather obviously, but she was covered.

“That’s it?”

“I’ll do a couple passes down below, too.” Arabel beamed. “What? It says caution, doesn’t it?”

Lina set the dinner plates in the sink, gave them a quick rinse, and made her way back to Arabel’s side of the breakfast bar. “It’s perfect.”

Arabel glanced up at Lina. “Disco nap?” she said.

Lina nodded and let Arabel guide her to the couch and pull a light throw blanket over them. Lina curled her body around Arabel and enjoyed the soft warm feeling of Arabel’s skin, a full belly, and the still-smoldering, tree flower-enhanced post-orgasmic bliss of their mating.