NT Rangers - Lad 24 - Research the Hero (Patreon)

“Good job.” Lad smiled, helping Driana off of the transport. The girl stared at his hand for a moment before walking past with her nose up.
“What's wrong?” He asked in a concerned tone. Looking her over, she looked quite charming in Ranger  attire. She was tasked with filling in for Janna and Joseph as they performed research on the Hero and Jeane. It had been a week since Lad had cast the vote that decided they would not face Echo in a head-on confrontation. That was not to say that they would not fight as all. It was business as usual. They launched to defeat Core Beasts and other threats as they appeared. Driana was included in the team so Lad had no clue why she seemed upset.

“I assumed that I would I get to kill Mother soon if I joined you all on these. However, it is all small fry and they taste terrible...”

Lad chuckled nervously. “You... Know what your mother tastes like?”

“I've eaten quite a bit of Dryder. Tastes like lobster. It's good.”

“Haha, what? What's lobster? Is that another type of beast.”

Drianna rolled her eyes. “No. Lobster is about as big as my forearm. They look like sea bugs with shells and-”

Lad's eyes widened. “Are they like crabs?”

“How do you have crabs and not lobster!? Crab is... Fine. You eat both with butter. Cracking open a Dryder is alike cracking open a  crab.”

Lad looked at her sympathetically. “Do you remember anything about your world other than food?”

Dri glared at Lad. “So what if that's all I remember?”

“It's fine!” He held up his hands.
“I was just wondering.”

“Draw!” Yeong shouted, hopping in front of Drianna. Kai moved to join them and all three began playing rock-paper-scissors. After a few rounds Yeong naturally won, leaving just Kai and Dri. Lad noticed Kai constantly picking rock without switching things up, like she was allowing Dri to win. He smiled at her as she looked up and winked at him after her loss. As soon as it was settled both Dri and Yeong took one of Lad's hands in theirs and the three began walking from the hangar bay towards the quarters.

As they reached the quarters Lad noticed Leto approaching down the opposite hall. She waved and increased her pace. They all met just outside Kai's door.
“Lad, Dri, Kai, Yeong...” She greeted each person individually.
“Were you all about to go eat?”

“Yes” Dri claimed.
“No” Yeong claimed at the same time as Dri, looking at the door into the private space that she was hoping to reach.

Lad looked to Kai tactfully. Kai smiled and said. “I gotta do some tweaking on Lad's suit.”

“Ah!” Lad smiled, pretending it was a surprise.
“Dri, why don't you and Leto and Yeong go ahead and order ahead at the court and we'll be there in just a few minutes.”

“Right!” Dri nodded, salivating.

“Wait-” Yeong stared at Lad and Kai, then at the door. She pouted as Dri hooked her arm under Yeong's and dragged her away alongside Leto.

“We have...” Kai opened the door and stepped in.

“A small amount of time, I know. It's getting a bit crowded and you're too nice...” Lad commented, laying on her bed.

Kai climbed on top of him, straddling and grinding a bit against his waist. Lad became hard so easily. She reached into his pants and pulled it out, stroking it in front of her.

“It's just that Yeong would never lose on purpose and Dri is... Sensitive. So I'm the one that has to act like a real a adult.” She pulled her tight tanktop up over her perky breasts. Lad stared as they bounced free and he reached up to circle them with his hands, squeezing gently. He licked his lips at the sight and rolled his thumbs over her pink nipples, eliciting a small moan from Kai's lips. As his focus was drawn there, Kai lifted her rear up and guided his cock inside. She panted and whined as he entered and she began riding him.
“Mmmn..” Kai bit her lip.

“I love how much you care for everyone on this team.” Lad moaned, reaching up to guide her down. The two locked together and kissed. He ran his hand down her back. He smirked, finding her tail and running his hand up and down it, causing her to shudder deeply.

“Since you do that, someone has to care for you, too.”

She giggled faintly. “Glad we reached an understanding.” Her hips rose and fell over his cock with a few pronounced slaps from when their hips collided. She rand her hand through his hair and over his ears, staring down at him lovingly before going in to kiss him again.
“Because I definitely don't do all this for free.”

“Hey Kai?”

“Mhmm?” She was already panting and moaning.

He smirked at her mischievously and slid his hand below her tail, between her cheeks. She blinked as Lad's two slick fingers pushed deep into her rear as his cock was pushing in and out. He saw her reaction as he pushed down against the walls that separated both areas. As his fingers pushed and his cock pushed in Kai seemed to clench and cum immediately.
“W-who told you?”

“Yeong. Apparently you were a big butt slut in the other reality, so...”

Kai blushed deeply. “Y-you said it yourself. Not everything's the same as it was at that time!”

“Ah... So you don't want me to do anything with that in the future?”

“I wouldn't say that.” She shrugged tactfully. Lad laughed.

-

Lad and kai sat down at the table. Dri had already amassed a critical amount of food. Notably it was all foods that were served very much still alive. Orr was a seafaring nation where all manner of strange delicacies were on the menu and all manner of foods from around the world. Watching her eat was a sight to behold. Lad was simply glad that the food court could accommodate her. The others were eating their own food while trying not to look. As Lad and Kai sat down Dri shouted.
“Mu-mukbang!”

“What?” Lad looked at her curiously.

Dri lowered her head. “I- I just remembered something but I dunno what it is. I'll think more about it.”

“Okay, good.” Lad nodded.

Leto leaned over and hugged Lad. “We get to see each other so much more now.” After explaining to Dri how Leto's and Lad's relationship worked as brother and sister, she was able to see the two together without getting jealous or upset.
“I'm glad.”

“I'm happy about it as well. There isn't much to do, so it's going to be like this almost every day until we get a lead.”

Yeong nodded. “New day. New monster.”

“Uhm... Lad?” Leto asked, leaning in to whisper.

“Yes?” he took a sip of a drink that had been ordered for him.

She was trying to be quiet as she asked. “Which of them is your 'main girl?'

Lad spat out whatever was in his mouth. He knew she was earnestly attempting to be quiet but he panned a look around the table. Dri, superhuman senses. Kai, Beastfolk with huge ears. Yeong, Superhuman senses. They were all trying to look like they had not heard and were not staring.

Lad cracked an innocent smile. “Y-you are, Leto.” All three seemed faintly unsatisfied, but shrugged. It seemed an obvious answer. To all but Leto. The girl gasped, her face bright red.
“What? We're family. You're the main girl. You're the Heroin, if there is such a thing. Nothing that any anyone can do for me can compare to you taking care of me as my big sister for my whole life.”

“I see. Thanks Lad.” Leto smiled bashfully, hugging him tightly again.
“I'm happy those days are behind us.”

“Me too.”

She continued. “But I meant who among the three-” Before she could finish asking, the HanComm's all rang to signify that there was a meeting.

“D-dri, do you want to come or would you want to finish eating with Leto?” Lad asked.

She looked up and said with her mouth full of something alive and squirming. “Eat with 'eto...” Lad, Kai and Yeong quickly left.

-

Janna and Joseph were already in the conference room. The three that arrived after sat down together.  “As you all know, my brother and I are descendants of the Hero and Jeane. We are direct heirs to the last rulers of Demonkine... We have access to various texts that were smuggled out of the country before the disaster.” Janna began.

Joseph began speaking where she left off. “Unexpectedly, the answer came not in any hidden texts or riddles but in an innocuous little journal kept by Jeane.”

The two then went over a complicated string of clues that showed the Hero and Jeane suspected that souls were not being returned to the planets embrace after they died as intended. For much of the population it could be a small, random percentage, however almost disproportionately it was found that none of the people the Hero made significant contact with were returning to the planets embrace when they died.

“What does that mean?” Kai asked.

“It means...” Kara stood up and looked over the notes.
“That it is pretty likely that a third party has the Hero's soul and is keeping it from passing back into the 'embrace.' Not just that. So many souls... It's too much. It's WAY too much. This is bigger than Echo if it's real.”

“Wait, what? Bigger than Echo?” Lad remarked with surprise.

Kara nodded. “They're doing what the Dark Hero wishes he could be doing right now... They have the power of the Turais. They have the soul of the Hero in their hands. The power they are in command of right now is not quite enough to usurp the planet itself, but it's getting close.”

“Shit...” Yeong muttered.

“This... Isn't a brainstorming session.” Lacie chimed in.
“We have a way forward but neither are particularly... Safe.”

“Still, they need to be done, one way or another.” Kara explained.
“ChesAn has the Artificial world tree that grants the whole world connectivity. It's what our HanComm's use to communicate. But... It's just a copy of the 'web' of roots that the original tree cast over the whole world. If we use it, and allow Kai to fully tap into it we could potentially... Enter the space that is being used to hold the Hero's soul.”

“What's the other option?” Yeong asked.

“Go to the source as it exists in the world and fight the operators for control... We don't know who they are. We don't know if we can win or what they'll do to the souls they've captured if they're close to losing.” Kara sighed.
“But I'd say both are about even in terms of risk.”

“Well... A week has passed and we already have another tough choice. As per usual we vote.” Steph stated.

As per usual, the vote came down to Lad's sole input.