Refreshments for the Rookery
 
By Fallenfox
 
Fiala needed a vacation.
 
Despite her immense enjoyment of her job, she had been working a bit too hard lately. The cleanup after the festival was finally complete, the private feeding for reptilians the previous week had gone extremely well - and the birthing center was still packed full of voluptuous, heavily pregnant elf-femmes - remarkable, marveled Fiala, considering how many had emptied their wombs into the waiting gullets of paying customers just a few days prior - the majority of them following their offspring soon after. She had been managing spreadsheets and studying genetic write-ups for most of the day when Tanith caught her attempting to conceal a yawn.
"Ah, madam director. How goesss the day?"
"Exxxcellent, as usual, with you keeping the handlers on tasssk. I can see that you're tired, though. You should finish up for the day."
"Thank you, yesss; it has been a long one." Fiala closed the interface, filing away the data she had been studying.
"I see that you have some free time available coming up. Do you have any plansss?"
"No, ma'am. Selwan is on a business trip, otherwise I might have planned on doing something with him."
Tanith paused, lookng sidelong at the Zrin woman mischieviously. "Do you like the ocean?"
Fiala brightened. "I haven't been to the coast for ages! Are you going to Zetaph City?"
"No, actually it's more of a sightseeing trip. I'm going to one of the outer systems. Larus."
"I haven't heard of it. Iss it warm?"
"Well, partsss of it are... I've been there once before, and I'm primarily going back to do some birdwatching." Tanith smiled.
"Birdwatching? I didn't know you were into ornithology!"
"Only certain birds," Tanith said slyly. "Would you like to come along?"
 
Packing didn't take the Zrin women long, as they were traveling light and were only planning on being gone for a few rotations - the ship they were taking (a modified medium freight-class craft, though it seemed to Fiala to be surprisingly large for the trip) had all of the conveniences of home, and more. After they accellerated to superluminal speed, Tanith escorted Fiala through the ship, showing off the amenities.
"The sonic sssand-baths are particularly luxurious - feel free to try them out. Also, I wanted to show you this very useful piece of technology." Tanith tapped a panel on the wall of the corridor, opening a portal into a large chamber with a few Zrin technicians working at panels around an array of complicated-looking machinery.
"Iss this what I think it is?" gasped Fiala.
"Yes, one of our new site-to-sssite transporters." Tanith said proudly. She gestured toward the center of the chamber where a large round panel covered a portion of the floor. "This can transport any piece of matter from one place to another over consssiderable distance. Living things too, with no known side effects."
"How many of these does the company own?"
"Four, this being one of them. One of the benefits of being director of BNF is that I can borrow one of them on my own time - for the purpose of a field tessst."
"I assume this has something to do with our trip. What are you planning on doing?"
"I already told you. Bird-watching," laughed Tanith. "And... bird-feeding." She led Fiala over to a nearby holopanel. "Ssspecifically, these guys."
She loaded a holo-picture, showing a huge yet sleek-looking avian. He was white over most of his body, with dark colors on his wings, tail, and back.
"The local sentients call them something that translates to "Sea Cleaners". I've been referring to them as Giant Larus Gulls. They have quite an appetite, let me tell you - especially around their breeding ssseason."
"Whelping takes a lot of nourishment and energy. I imagine they will be happy with whatever we are able to provide."
"I hope so - there's nothing I enjoy more than seeing a well-fed, sssatisfied predator." Tanith skipped to holo-footage of one of the Gulls scooping up a large fishlike creature from a tide pool, and working it quickly past his beak despite its frantic wriggling.
"My, he made that look easy. I assume you brought a good amount of prey creatures with you today?"
"Why else do you think we took this ship rather than a smaller craft?" Tanith winked. "Don't worry - we have plenty for this trip to be a VERY entertaining time for us - and a very nourishing break for the Gulls. It's a hard life for them, scratching a living off of rocks and eating cold sea snakesss. Just wait until they fill their crops with hot kicking mammal flesh!"
"Stoppit! You're making me hungry," laughed Fiala.
"Well, then, let me show you to the dining area." Tanith gestured, and the two Zrin headed to the kitchen to enjoy their meal of insect larva and fishimanders. Fiala retired to her quarters soon after, letting the gentle feeling of soft prey moving in her stomach lull her to sleep.
 
The next few days were busier. Tanith was moving through the ship, getting things ready. Fiala was content to let the director work on the preliminaries, while she bathed and enjoyed the amenities of the ship, visited the observation deck and watching the stars go by, and caught up on her rest. After a few days of travel they approached their destination, and Tanith paged her to the bridge. Fiala found her discussing their orbital angle with the captain.
"I want our inclination to put usss directly over the crescent-shaped island chain. Move into geostationary as soon as you can decelerate. Ah, Fiala... glad you made it. You're in time to see the whole planet. Lovely, issssn't it?"
Fiala looked at the main viewscreen and beheld the small(ish) planet. It was indeed quite spectacular, almost sapphire-like in its brilliant blue. There was more water than there was land, but the oceans were dotted with islands nearly everywhere one looked. In no time the ship settled into position, and Tanith and Fiala headed for the excursion pad.
"We'll be in one of the sssphere-pods - camoflaged, of course. I don't want to upset the wildlife." Tanith pulled her communicator from her belt. "How's everything in the transportation room coming?" She inquired.
"Looking great, madam director! I have more than a dozen in here already, all looking healthy, happy, and ready to drop!"
"Soundsss great! Don't induce until I give you the word, though. And save the biggessst for lasst." The two Zrin women had reached their pod, and entered through the portal in the side of the glowing, reflective sphere.
"Was that Syara?" Asked Fiala, picking up on Tanith's mischievious grin.
"It was... I didn't want to spoil the surprise. I figured you'd know what wasss going on if you saw her."
"Oh. Oh! How did you know I..."
"I know plenty about you, my darling... and I also know you're "prey-aroused". It'sss not uncommon among our species - even I have been known to get overly exhuberant while watching a particularly impressive feeding."
"I have a feeling we're both about to witness quite a few of those." Fiala smiled shyly, a bit embarrassed now that her secret was out.
"That's the idea. Let'sss go!"
Tanith powered up the craft and piloted it expertly to the center of the launch bay, where a portal opened in the floor. The room decompressed and the pod shot downwards toward the planet. Tanith made the hull transparent, and Fiala gasped as the ocean below filled her vision.
"I haven't seen that much water in ages! So... do you have a place in mind?"
"I do - a general location, that is. I'm looking for the large craggy rocks that the Giant Larus Gulls breed and nessst on. They're called colonies, or "Rookeries"," Tanith explained, sounding more like a teacher and less like the director of a company. "I'd like to find one of the flatter onesss if possible."
"Look, there they are!" Tanith piped up excitedly. The pod had gotten low enough that a number of avians could be seen flying far below, a little distance above the water. Even at this distance she could see they were massive, powerful birds, their huge wings flapping slowly and gracefully as they made their way back to their nests.
"There - that larger rock. Let'sss check that out - let me cloak us." The transparent sphere around them took on a bluish tint as it copied the color of the sky and water, and the pod flashed silently past high above the avians. Soon, it became clear that they had picked a likely place - the island chain they had been traveling along was an avian breeding ground, and had a great deal of birds of a few types on it. The Gulls dominated the area though - to the point that they were the only avian megafauna present - all of the other avians were small enough that Fiala could hold them in her hand. Soon they reached a point near the rocky shore of the island where several dozen Gulls were nesting and mating, and Tanith finally stopped the pod suspended in midair some distance above the nesting site.
"Now we just need to decide how best to ring the dinner bell." Tanith winked, and began surveying the area for a likely spot. "I want to put the first one on display, so that as many as possible can see her."
"What about that rock?" Fiala had noticed a large, flat, slightly slanted stone that almost looked like a platform, surrounded by several nesting Gulls and one energetically mating pair.
"Perfect! All right, let'sss give this a try." Tanith hailed the ship. "Syara, were ready down here! Go ahead and induce, and let me know when you have one ready!" Almost immediately the speaker crackled a reply.
"It's hot and heavy up here, ma'am! I can give you one any time!"
"Acknowledged, I'm targeting now. Ssstanding by." Tanith activated a small handheld pointer and focused it on the rock.
"How many timesss have you transported live subjects?"
"Don't worry - I've configured this device perfectly!" Tanith motioned proudly to her pointing instrument. "It can detect the difference between flesh and rock and won't blend the two during rematerialization." Suddenly the device began to glow, and Fiala pulled herself to the edge of her seat in anticipation. "Here it comes... ready?" Tanith aimed the pointer at the flat stone - and pulled the trigger.
 
For a long moment nothing happened, and Fiala wondered if the transporter had malfunctioned. Then she noticed a slight shimmering in the air, like waves of heat on a hot desert day. Then, with a gentle hissing and a momentary flicker of light, the subject popped into existence as if from nothingness.
 
It was an elven femme of course. Fiala immediately noticed a few things about her - she was beautiful and voluptuous, she was unclothed and in a squatting position - and she was in the act of giving birth. Grunting and pushing, she had been transported in mid-contraction and as Fiala watched entranced, she saw the head of the young fae crown from the dripping dilated vagina - and at that moment the elf-femme realized she was no longer in an enclosed room full of attendants; she was in the open air on an unfamiliar planet - and she had an audience.
 
As the visitor to their world materialized, the seabirds watched inquisitively but did not startle away. There was a moment or two of confusion from them, but soon, as it became obvious that something interesting had just appeared, one or two of them hopped forward to take a closer look. The elf girl looked around, considering an escape attempt - but there was nowhere to go; nowhere that didn't contain jagged rocks, a sheer drop, or a giant nesting Gull. She had the attention of all of the avians around her now - even the mating pair, who had been going at it on and off for some time now, were staring at her - while continuing to mate. As another contraction seized her, she could do nothing but squat back down and push.
 
A young male gull was the first to approach her, hopping up slyly from behind to look sidelong at the birthing elf-femme with his golden, glassy eyes. He cocked his head quizically, putting his bill between her legs to examine her engorged sex and the strange thing being forced slowly from inside it. Perhaps it was the scent of her that drove him to make the move, but his bill opened and he nibbled tentatively at her crotch - and noticing him, she spun around on her heel and backpedaled higher up the rock slab. He followed. Another contraction gripped the elf-femme, and she involuntarily pushed, bearing down hard this time and forcing the shoulders of the baby elf past her vagina. The Gull was ready this time. He lunged forward, opening his bill wide and seizing the elf-woman between the legs, her still massive belly being held tightly in his hard beak. She tried to push him off, but only succeeded in provoking another contraction. Closing her eyes and trying to wish away the situation, she pushed hard one more time... And gave birth into his beak. As the newborn elf slid to the back of his gullet he released the elf-femme and tossed his head theatrically, giving her a good view of his throat as he began swallowing her offspring, washing the newborn elf down in its own birth fluids.
 
Both Tanith and Fiala were watching as if dumbstruck.
"Closer. Can we get closer?" Asked Fiala.
"Yeah, I'm on it. Amazing, did you see him go right for the prize? I thought they would be much slower to respond," said Tanith incredulously. "Let me get you audio."
Sound was suddenly piped into the pod, but it was mostly avian vocalizations. Tanith quickly narrowed the focus, in time to catch the last *CLMMMPH* as the young Gull swallowed his snack, snapped the umbilical cord, and hopped away happily leaving the horrified elf-femme on the rock clutching her belly and whimpering.
"That noise is bound to attract them," said Tanith, and sure enough, in just a few seconds two large male Gulls padded up at the same time, leaping into the air above the rock and started squabbling with each other. The elf, now a bit less encumbered, rose to her feet and tried briefly to make a break for it - but before she could jump from the rock her trajectory took her quite close to the larger of the two fighting male Gulls - and she was seized by the arm and shoulder in his powerful beak. He landed, and turning away from his rival he quickly shielded himself with his wings and forced her headfirst into his mouth before she could do much more than scream. Then with a mighty lunge, he got beneath her considerable weight and hoisted her up, jerking her up and down hard and fast, forcing her deeper and deeper, using her own heft to work her down. In no time he had her swallowed up to her waist, and kick as she might she made no progress except to slide deeper. The gull looked a bit comical with his mouth stuffed with pregnant elf, with two shapely legs kicking away on either side of his beak - but a moment later, he began another series of lunges that pushed her deep enough that the difficult part was over, and with a final kick and scream quite audible to Tanith and Fiala, she slid smoothly down the slick gullet and arrived alive and kicking in his crop. The Gull trotted off smugly, the bulge in his midsection bouncing about as the elf inside tried to find a comfortable position. The other Gull looked a bit dejected, watching his well-fed rival padding happily off with so much live flesh filling his crop - and went over to lick at the stone were the she-elf was giving birth a while earlier.
"I'm beginning to see why you're such an avid birdwatcher," quipped Fiala, still trying to catch her breath.
"Mmhmm..." agreed Tanith, with a knowing grin. "Ready for the next courssse?"
"Yess, please!"
Tanith keyed her communicator. "Great job, Syara, that'sss one down. I'll need two more ready as soon as you can."
"Already prepped, ma'am. Jussst point and click," came the immediate reply.
"Same rock. I want to get them usssed to being fed," said Tanith, targeting her designator and pressing the button.
 
The next elf - just as gravid and healthy-looking as the last one - arrived spread-eagled and panting, fully in labor, grunting and pushing and and doing her very best to give birth quickly. She gasped as she settled down onto the cool rock surface, looking around in shock as she got accustomed to her new surroundings. The Gull who had recently been deprived of a meal had not gone far, and quickly hopped back to the rock to take stock of the new arrival. No sooner had he gotten there than the air flickered again and the third elf arrived right in front of him! He leaped back surprised as the big elf-femme materialized on the rock, squatting and with her huge ass in the air, her labia dilated with the head of a fae infant fully crowning and in the process of being born. The first elf, finding herself between contractions, clambered the short distance to her fellow breeder and clung to her, while the Gull examined them both sidelong with a critical eye. He seemed to be considering what the strange creatures that had appeared out of nowhere in front of him might be - but they were edible, his fellow rookery denizen had proven that in epic fashion. And, as his keen eyes noticed, they were in the middle of a procreative act - an act which looked to him like a female laying an egg. He poked gently at the pair of elves, who recoiled at his touch - the larger one, still in a squatting position, seemed to be trying to hide herself in the embrace of the other female - and in doing so, presented her giant rump for his examination. Something was definitely emerging from the orifice there, and as he watched it was pushed into view - the head of her young, not in an egg, but fully formed. Next came the shoulders, and then with a final grunt and a hard push the baby fae was born - but when the mother reached back to catch her young she felt the underside of a hard smooth beak instead. A final push deposited the newborn fae (a femme, Fiala noticed) into the Gulls mouth along with a gush of birth fluids, and he tossed the meaty, wriggling prize to the back of his gullet. Then, as the two elf women watched in horror, he tossed his head back... and gently and appreciatively swallowed. Tanith and Fiala were transfixed, but the action was not nearly over - the commotion had been noticed by several young male gulls flying above the rookery, and they wheeled around to investigate, and shortly landed; making such a cacophony of noise that Fiala missed the squelching gulps she was waiting to hear from the throat of the larger feeding Gull.
"It's been polite dining ssso far," laughed Tanith. "I have a feeling it's about to get a bit more intenssse."
The director was obviously familiar with the feeding and social habits of these avians, Fiala thought, and in a moment she understood what Tanith meant by "intense" - the half-dozen young male gulls who had landed hoping for a free lunch were in a squabble with the adult males of the rookery who were nesting with their mates. The pregnant elves clung to each other surrounded by snapping beaks and flailing wings, until one of the young males seized the ankle of the smaller elf in his bill and tried to drag her off the rocky shore and into the water. She was saved by a huge adult male gull who flapped in and body-slammed the young upstart, who dropped his prospective snack and flailed into the air, squawking indignantly. The big avian was hardly a savior, however - immediately he turned his attention to the pair of elves, who were now cowering at the ground near his feet - and violently seized the smaller one about the upper torso. Pulling the elves from each other's grasp easily with a quick shake, he gave the prey a gentle toss to orient her facing headfirst down his throat, and with a quick lunge and a series of rapid, loud gulps *CLM-CLM-CLM-CLM-CLMMMPH* she was gone. The larger elf screamed in horror as she watched, and seconds later was set upon by another large male Gull from behind. This Gull, though almost as large in size as the one that had swallowed her friend so easily, had seized her by her large rear end, and though he was able to lift her off the ground and work her ass-first to the back of his beak, he was having a hard time progressing any further. Still being harassed by the younger Gulls who were now trying to swoop down and steal the meal from his jaws, he turned and padded further inland over the rocks, the gravid elf feebly kicking and protesting in vain from inside his maw. Finally given respite from his pursuers, he tilted his head back and began jacking his jaw straight up and down, forcing the elf inside deeper and deeper until she was bent double, with only her huge breasts, arms and head protruding from his maw just above her legs, which were visible from the knee down.
"He'll get her. Look at the determined look on his face." Said Tanith authoritatively.
Fiala did indeed notice something like resolve in the steely glare of the avians glassy eyes, and in just a few moments, the director was proven right - the big Gull spread his wings, and getting his whole body into the action he began lunging hard and fast against the bulky mass of the pregnant elf, using gravity to his advantage and succeeding in forcing her huge ass past the threshold of his gullet. After that, it was only a matter of gulping firmly as the elf-woman's huge butt dragged her downwards, her curling toes and flailing hands disappearing last of all as she slid down the bird's throat and came to a saliva-drenched stop in his crop.
"Beautiful!" gasped Fiala. "I can't believe he devoured her so fast - her belly was massive! Hey, do you think..."
"Of courssse she had more than one in there!" laughed Tanith. "And by the look of that wriggling throat, she's about to have her second whelp of the day - do you want to look inside?" Fiala nodded.
A scatter-spectrograph image was quickly brought up and overlaid over the visible image, and the two Zrin women got a good look at what was going on inside the nonplussed avian's engorged throat - the fae woman was in the fetal position, upright and facing outward - and in the throes of her second set of contractions. She flexed and wriggled her abdomen, trying her best to get into a position that would take the pressure off her dilated sex, and had just managed to crown her second offspring when - the Gull spread his powerful wings and leaped from the rookery into the air, flapping slowly away on business of his own as the elf in his sagging crop continued giving birth.
"Oh, well, I'm sssure everything will come out all right in the end," said Tanith with a smile. "Let'ss get the next group ready." She activated the communicator. "Syara, How many can we send down at once?"
The response came quickly "As many as eight at a time, ma'am. I've already delivered several young fae here, though - do you want me to keep inducing?"
"No, hold off on the new ones for a bit. Let's just finish this batch - but I have a requessst. The sudden change in surroundingsss seemsss to be causing the prey undue distressss. Could you bind their hands and blindfold them?"
"Of course, ma'am," came the reply. "Just give me one moment."
"That's very kind of you - the last one looked just horrified - especially when her baby was swallowed before her eyesss," said Fiala.
"A little fear is all right, but I don't like to see prey suffer too much," shrugged Tanith. "These avians are on the edge of what I like to watch recreationally - but you notice that they are not tearing the prey limb from limb? All three so far have been swallowed whole and very much alive."
"Yesss," said Fiala with a smile. "Do you think the first three are still conscious?"
"Mossst definitely, they are. This speciesss of Gullss has been known to keep live prey in their crops for hoursss. That's enough time for that large elf to give birth to her whole litter in there. That Gull got a MASSIVE meal - She was carrying at least quintupletsss."
"Oh, my..." Fiala caught her breath as the communicator crackled again.
"All bound and vision-deprived, ma'am. Ready to send at your command!"
"Transssport commencing!"
Tanith pointed the designator towards the now rather slick flat rock, and activated it. The flicker in the air was bigger this time, a large oval spheroid of heatwaves a few inches above the rock - which suddenly became opaque, then vanished leaving behind a great mass of heaving, panting, birthing female mammal flesh. Fiala tried to count them all, but it was difficult to make out where one gravid abdomen and quivering thigh ended and another began.
"Excellent! That is a regular buffet!" commented Tanith. "Aaand... here they come."
Several of the younger Gulls who had missed the previous course were still milling about the area waiting for another potential handout, and as soon as it presented itself they were quick to return to the scene. The elves seemed confused, feeling the cool rock surface under their posteriors and hearing the crashing of waves and the vocalizations of Gulls - their reptilian midwives having been replaced with a different group of onlookers. They could do very little but huddle together for safety, and with their hands now bound behind their backs could not even cradle their young as they were being born - and being born they were. Syara had induced all of the gravid elves, and at least three were grunting and pushing hard, a small head visible crowning from each of their stretching vaginas. Their avian audience approached and crowded around in rapt attention for a moment, curiously watching the small crowd of visitors - until as before, the adolescent male Gulls forced them into action. A fight for position quickly escalated into raucous squabbling and scuffling.
"Maybe I should have had them put earplugsss in too," sighed Tanith. "Oh well." The elf-women by now were huddling back against each other, the Gulls around them were sizing them up, and in a few moments it happened - a large, dark-haired she-elf cried out and pushed hard, and with a gush of birth fluids splashing onto the rocks brought her offspring into the world.
"It's a boy!" Said Tanith - and just as quickly as she had spoken the words, an attentive Gull snapped the newborn up and with a gentle *CLMMMPH* gulped him briskly down his throat.
"What great bird food they make!" exclaimed Fiala, watching the Gulls throat closely for signs of life from the elf-whelp within. "Oh, here comes another!"
A blonde elf-femme this time was working hard to deliver her young, and as her final contractions gripped her she spread her long legs fully open, exposing her dilated vaginal opening to several inquisitive Gulls who were eyeing the growing bulge there curiously. As it was pushed free of its slick confines, one of the hungrier gulls opened his bill and seized it - surprisingly gently.
"That's it, push! Push!" coaxed Tanith. "Feed that Gull!"
As if on cue, the blonde elf bore down, legs quivering, and yelled as she gave birth. The Gull chattered his beak gently, accepting more and more of the young elf - until with a squirt and a grunt, the she-elf offered him his prize. He turned away, light on his feet, snapping the umbilical cord and holding the newborn high as three other gulls lunged at it hungrily. It got out a squalling cry a few seconds before he bolted it softly down with a gentle *GLORK*. The other Gulls were getting restless now, watching the few lucky ones eat - and soon enough they made a move for the larger morsels - the elf-women themselves.
"Oh, here comes the feeding frenzy" said Tanith, amused at the situation she had created. A few of the elves were trying to hop off of the rocks, to get to a more sheltered area - buut blindfolded, they could not see which way to go, or that they were moving closer to a tightening circle of snapping beaks and greedy gullets. Finally one of the younger elves reached the edge of the rock and tried to slip down - dangling her foot to find purchase - but found only the firm grip of a Gull's beak as he seized her by the ankle and pulled her down from the rock to his feet. Then, he quickly grabbed her head and shoulders, forcing her as deep as he could before clamping down again. She briefly tried to rise to her feet, before the bird hoisted her kicking into the air and began jerking his upper body firmly, forcing her deeper and deeper into his gullet - until he had her swallowed up to the calves. She flailed a bit more, alternately moving one calf and then the other comically. The Gull took it all in stride, ignoring her struggles for a while as he slowly walked away from the throng around the rock, and then with a sudden and bestial *CLM-CLM-CLMPH* gulped her legs out of sight, following it up with a half dozen tosses and bobs of his head as he worked her fully into his crop.
Meanwhile at the rock, the birthing and feeding was continuing apace. One of the larger Gulls had hopped up onto the rock and forced one of the big gravid elves into his mouth to the depth of her upper torso - but her belly was truly massive, and he seemed to be having doubts as to whether he could manage it. As two other elves were seized by their feet, he made a second attempt - a crescent-shaped lunge that got him underneath her weight, and with some effort just managed to lift her skyward. Some stilted lunges later, he had her thick, heavily pregnant midsection squeezed between his widely parted cheeks - and as he worked his jaw, Fiala noticed the squeezing had sped up her labor.
"Yeah, she'sss going to drop," commented Tanith. "This might not be pretty - it's quite a way down to those rocksss."
At that moment, one of the younger male Gulls - little more than a nuisance to the process thus far, began harassing the bigger Gull, nipping at the heels of the elf in his beak and cavorting around him teasingly. He turned away, and Fiala gasped - the shoulders of the young elf popped free of her sex as she kicked helplessly, and in a moment the rest of the newborn squeezed out - but the young Gull was alert and ready. Opening his bill wide, he accepted the falling treat along with a splash of birth fluids, catching it right in his open mouth. Snapping his bill shut and gulping quickly and greedily, he scarfed the baby fae, working his beak up and down and then ruffling his feathers in avian pleasure as the newborn elf wriggled quickly down his gullet.
"Did you see that! What a catch!" exclaimed Fiala. "Now, we'll see if he can manage the female.."
"Oh, he'sss too far into it to give up now! Keep watching!" said Tanith with a wink.
Again, it took only moments to see that the director knew the voracious nature of the Gulls well - the bird soon had her hefty midsection forced past his bill; the hard part being over, he assumed a proud pose, looking skyward and jacking his jaws a bit to help the meal inside them move, and pinching down hard on the still exposed legs with his beak. Finally, perhaps to escape the painful biting as much as anything else, the sobbing elf pulled her knees to her chin in defeat and assumed the fetal position. The bird gratefully accepted her yield, quickly and happily swallowing the huge, curled-up elf-woman. His crop swelled massively as the gravid elf fully filled it, and he trotted off happily to get a sip of seawater to aid in forcing the hard-won, still-wriggling meal into his stomach.
"OK, the blindfoldsss worked well..." commented Tanith as she changed the focus to a younger elf-woman being gulped down in full labor, bearing down and pushing uncontrollably as she vanished out of sight into a squelching avian gullet. "but, only the male gulls are getting fed. I want to let a few nesting femalesss eat, too. They're dutifully incubating their young, it seemsss only fair."
"May we have a look inside that one's throat?" asked Fiala shyly, indicating the handsome Gull who had just eaten the young she-elf.
"Of courssse. Yeah, she did NOT want to be bird food, did she?" The crop of the Gull was gyrating furiously as the elf inside fought her inevitable fate, and just as Tanith switched to spectroscopic view, the bulging crop abruptly changed shape.
"That'sss the way - knees to your chin and PUSSSH" purred Tanith.
"That's beautiful," gasped Fiala. The she-elf was in the fetal position, arms still bound behind her back. Though young, she had wide birthing hips and a large rear end, and it fully filled the lower half of the avian's crop as it cradled her like a tight fleshy hammock. Presently she flexed and writhed, and Fiala leaned forward a bit unconsciously to catch the rare spectacle of a young elf-woman giving birth inside a bird's gullet.
"That'sss her first child, too" said Tanith matter-of-factly. "That'sss part of the reason she's having so much trouble. Of course, the lodgings might be making her nervous, also."
"Look how her sex is lined right up with the entrance to the gizzard. It almost looks like their anatomy was made for thisss."
The Zrin pair watched intently as the young elf bore down one more time - and pushed a healthy-looking newborn elf directly into the Gull's lower esophagus. The Gull ruffled his feathers appreciatively, and with a quick shake of the neck and a suckling squeeze of his proventriculus, the elfling was introduced to his stomach - which accepted the newborn meat eagerly, gently kneading the elfling and contracting around (him? him.) to immediately begin the digestion process.
"Amazing... I could watch that all day, but we need to give the femalesss a chance to get in on the action." said Tanith, switching off the spectroscope and powering up the pod. "Let'sss find a new spot."
 
The two rose quickly away from the first rookery, leaving a slightly stirred up - but a bit more well-fed - colony of gulls behind them.
"Which one looks good to you?" asked Tanith politely.
"How about that one?" Fiala indicated another large rocky island, slightly smaller than the one they had been hovering over earlier. It had a markedly smaller amount of avians wheeling above it, as many of the younger ones and males had been distracted by the commotion the Zrin had made previously.
"Let'ss see... perfect! I see a good number of females on nests. I think they could do with some lunch," grinned the director, diving the pod swiftly and coming to a hover above an area with dozens of nests, each containing a female gull - though it appeared not all of them were incubating eggs. Some of the females were even bigger than the large male birds that had just energetically devoured whole gravid elf femmes, and Tanith was eager to see whether they would attempt even larger prey.
"Syara, you've done great so far! How many are left?" Tanith asked into the communicator.
After a short pause, the response came. "Twenty-two femmes are left ma'am, all carrying triplets or more. These are the largest of the bunch."
"Good. Blindfold several of the largest and induce them. Let me know when you have one ready to go." Tanith grinned as she scanned for a suitable recipient of the free meal she was about to dole out.
How about that big white one?" Fiala pointed to a large female Larus on her nest.
"Ooh, she's lovely. Let'sss see if she's hungry!" Tanith steered the pod closer to the rocks, coming down as close to the birds as she dared, wary of disturbing them even with the cloaking device on the pod active. They came to a stop so close to the nest that Fiala felt like she could reach out and touch the birds feathers. She was the largest gull they had seen yet, dwarfing some of the young males that had previousy been fed. She was keeping a close watch on the water's edge but showed no signs of noticing the pod, and presently the communicator crackled with the response the two Zrin women had been waiting for.
"All right Ma'am, I have three in labor now and three more on deck. Whenever you're ready!"
"Thanks, Syara. Give usss one moment..." Tanith stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Now, how to present thissss meal... I don't want to frighten the bird off of her nest."
"Maybe behind her. By the time she turns to look, the transport will be complete."
"Good idea! We'll try it," nodded Tanith, and keyed the communicator again. "OK, Syara, ssstandby!"
She pointed the designator at a smooth patch of rock just behind the bird's left flank and pressed the trigger.
 
The brief flash of light startled the large gull a bit, and she turned with a ruffle of her feathers to observe the strange creature that had appeared behind her. Tanith and Fiala both leaned forward in their seats a bit. The elf-femme was indeed huge, a big buxom blonde fae blindfolded and restrained on all fours with her massive butt in the air, and her ponderous gravid belly touching the rock below. The femme was breathing hard and grunting, arching her back a bit as she did her best to push through her contractions, and presently the female gull got off her nest to have a close look at this visitor. It didn't look like something that posed any threat; in fact it looked quite helpless and - most importantly - it smelled like prey. With a shout and another hard push, the femme managed to crown the head of her first baby just as the bird approached her and looked sidelong at her heaving rump inquisitively. Fiala expected a repeat of the previous feedings, but what actually happened made her gasp in awe. Without warning, the huge gull gripped the fae woman by the thigh, tossed her skillfully in the air, caught her in her wide open beak - and bolted the massive birthing femme briskly down her throat.
Tanith was speechless for a moment.
"S - sspectrograph image?" Fiala managed, her eyes locked on the massive, undulating bulge in the gulping gull's throat. But before they could load the overlay the gull tilted her head skyward, made a firm, squelching swallow, and sent the still-kicking lump to her final destination. The entire feeding lasted less than seven seconds.
Tanith finally managed to load the x-ray like viewing device, and they both watched as the fae continued giving birth in the bird's stomach. As the first elfling was pushed free of the womb, Tanith giggled a bit.
"That elf-femme has a waysss to go yet. Look."
She zoomed in the spectrograph on the heaving fae woman's belly. Fiala gasped again.
"Quintuplets?"
"Yep. I really do spare no expense for these little picnicsss. And you know what? I think this gull has room for seconds."
"You're kidding!"
Tanith grinned mischiveiously, and refocused the designator, aiming again behind the bird who was ruffling her feathers in post-feeding avian pleasure. This time, the gull barely reacted with anything more than a curious turn of the head as her second course was laid out for her. A gorgeous young black-haired elf-femme, fully dilated and with legs spread, a bit smaller than the blonde in the gulls belly but still impressively gravid. The bird seemed to be in no rush, having just fed, but turned and shook out her wings and paced around her nest, keeping an eye on this intruder as she struggled and groaned on the dry rock slab. Instinct soon took over, however, and the opportunistic sea-bird was not one to let a meal go to waste.
"She's gonna do it!" said Fiala, eyes wide.
"They both are," said Tanith with a wink.
No sooner had she made this statement than the gull hopped the few steps necessary to close the distance between her and the birthing fae, grabbed her about the chest and shoulders, and paying little attention to the baby she was pushing out, lifted her off the ground just as a splash of fluids and a squalling cry marked her young's entry into this harsh world. The gull lifted her prize high into the air, tossing her head back and gulping powerfully, jacking her jaws up and down violently until only the two kicking legs of the fae woman were visible on either sides of her massive beak. A few more little gulps and lunges and these disappeared from sight, leaving a the gull with a distended, wriggling throat. Then the gull noticed the tiny morsel wriggling at her feet, and as if as an aside, gently pecked down, seized the newborn fae (a girl, Fiala noted) and with a well practiced motion made her disappear with a soft CLMMMPH. Mother and child were reuinted in the gull's crop, and moments later the bird began to swallow them. The fae felt the peristalsis beginning and fought hard, but the gull accepted her struggles as normal parts of the feeding process and even seemed to enjoy them, gulping her gently deeper with a shake of the neck and a toss of the head, and finally a tilt of the body to seal the deal, sending the black-haired fae and her daughter to join her blonde friend (and her growing family) in the dark, squelching stomach. The organ stretched to accomodate the pair, gently kneading them into a slimy ball of flesh as they pushed against one another and looked for air. There was just enough stale oxygen left at the top of the stomach for them to breathe occassionally, and when the stomach relaxed a bit they settled into a fetal position on their backs side by side, knees to their chins, and began pushing their babies out. The grateful gull ruffled her feathers again, returning to her nest with a slightly larger body, and sat back down on the soft surface to digest her large, unexpected meal.
"I knew she could fit two of them. I'd go for three, but there'sss no need to overeat," laughed Tanith, bringing up the spectrograph again. "Look how eager they seem to feed her with their young, too. The bigger one is on whelp number three.
Fiala looked closer, and indeed, the larged blonde fae was hard at work delivering another of her young, bearing down and pushing hard and finally forcing her third baby of the day from her poor beleaguered womb to plop wetly into the stomach acid of the gull. "Let's leave them to it. Come on, we have more gulls to feed."
 
Tanith and Fiala spent the rest of the afternoon feeding the remainder of the pregnant fae to the rookery, transporting one birthing elf woman to each nesting female Larus gull in turn. There were fourteen gulls on the island, and each one of them devoured their elf with relish. While many of them scarfed the proferred treat quickly, one of them insisted on allowing the elf-woman to deliver her entire litter of quadruplets, devouring each elfling off the rocks before finishing the main course of the exhausted elf herself. Tanith was just about to move to another area to continue the feeding when something in the water caught her eye.
"What's that creature? Isss it a fish?" Tanith turned the pod and moved it closer. The gull on the island noticed it too, and raised an alarm, squawking indignantly as the slithering thing came near the shoreline. As it neared the surface of the water, Tanith saw that it was not in fact fishlike, but avian.
"Ah, this is one of the other birdsss of this planet. I can't remember the name of it, but it preys on the young and eggs of the gulls - they don't seem to be too happy to see it here." None of the gulls had abandoned their nests, but they all had their eyes cocked at the interloper, who finally made his way out of the water and shook himself mostly dry. He had a slender, long neck and a streamlined form, with a body similar in size to the largest gulls that Fiala had seen. "I think I have an idea though that will make everyone happy." Tanith keyed her communicator again. ""Syara, change of plans - don't induce any more. We're going to have a swimming lesson instead. Just get them ready." She laughed. "This should be fun."
"Can our fae swim?" Fiala had never thought about it.
"Only one way to find out!" Tanith said cheerfully. "I've also never tesssted the designator over water before. In theory it should work, using the water surface tension as a frame of reference." She focused on the ocean's surface where the water bird was preening his feathers, and pressed the trigger.
The water began to bubble a bit, and the air reverberated with energy as the bird took a cautionary step back. Then with a burst of light the heavily pregnant young blonde elf-girl materialized - a few feet above the water. She instantly plunged in, splashing about in shock for a moment before beginning to tread water and swim for the nearby shoreline. The waterbird, staring in disbelief at this scene, finally realized that there was something worth investigating swimming for the shore, and trotted down the beach to meet the girl as she washed up on the rocks. As she pulled her large bulk to a standing position in the breakwater and spotted the giant bird approaching her, it took only seconds for both organisms to recognize their roles - his as predator, and hers as prey. She turned to run, making her first mistake, and then looking behind her as he gave chase, dove back into the waves - making her last mistake. The waterbird was much more at home in the sea than he was on land, and he was under the water and on top of her in just a few seconds. He came to the surface with her seized in his cruel-looking curved beak, and held her aloft as she squealed and kicked ineffectually. Then he began tossing her into the air and catching her - it looked like play behavior, but this bird knew his business - he was carefully orienting her for swallowing, and as she caught momentary dizzy glimpses of his squelching pink gullet, like a wet fleshy hammock waiting for her... she realized she was going down it and there was nothing she could do to change her lot, but she continued to struggle anyway. A couple of quick dunks in the salty water and a few tosses later, and the bird was ready. He angled her carefully, then made a skillful toss with his beak, and instead of seizing her again when she came down he opened his maw wide and made a perfect headfirst catch, letting her slide quickly past his beak which closed neatly after her, sealing her inside his supple, stretchy gullet.
"I've seen this type of avian eat before," said Tanith. "The more she wrigglesss in his gullet, the fassster she's going down it."
Tanith was right - the bird was holding his elongated neck at a high angle, relaxing and enjoying the feeding, and looking as content as an avian can look while he let gravity do most of the work. The fae began to kick fiercely, and he responded with a quick shake of the throat and a gentle swallow; the massive bulge moved lower. Every time she moved, he shook his throat; a quick left and right vibratory motion instinctually perfected to move even large scaled or horned prey, and it was more than sufficient to swallow a slick wriggling elf woman, despite her massive gravid belly. A final quick lunge finished the job, and the frantically undulating bulge slide out of sight into the birds midsection. He closed his eyes and licked his chops. That was GOOD! As he instinctively scanned for more prey items, Tanith was already on it.
Once again, the waves of energy and flash of light deposited an elf woman into the water. Another of the "massive pregnant blonde" variety, she barely had time to flail for a few seconds before the bird was on her. It was the previous feeding, only faster - the elf-girl was tossed 3 times into the air and on the fourth toss she disappeared headfirst down the water-bird's throat. Once this part was complete, he let her dictate the pace of the feeding, encouraging her struggles with gentle swallows and coaxing her inexorably downward to his belly. Still, he was looking for more.
"OK, let'sss give him the whole banquet. Syara, I want to transport all the rest at once!" Tanith looked down at the bird swimming around with a wicked grin.
"Just give me a moment, ma'am" came the reply.
"We're really putting the transporter through it's paces," Tanith said sidelong to Fiala, as she aimed the designator. "The bird, too. All right, here we go!"
A huge distortion wave appeared over the water's surface, and nothing else happened for quite a few moments. Fiala was sure something had gone wrong, when suddenly with a flash, FOUR pregnant fae appeared at once and hit the water together, making a large splash. The water bird who had drifted some distance away was back on the scene in seconds, and as the girls flailed in the water he selected one, swimming through the group to seize her in his jaws before any of them knew what was happening. He didn't even bother to toss her in the air this time - as soon as he broke the water's surface he stuffed her down his beak, bestially forcing her into his jaws butt-first and jacking his neck up and down to get her into his crop. This accomplished, he went back in for seconds.
"I see why he's in such a hurry. I think we've attracted sssome attention." Tanith motioned towards the island chains where several wheeling gulls were descending towards the commotion in the water. The long necked bird saw them too, and he hurriedly snapped up another heavily gravid fae - unluckily for him, the largest one of the entire lot. She was a collossally pregnant brunette with a massive ass, carrying sextuplets - and even this very capable predatory bird was having some trouble with her. As he worked on lifting his catch above the water, the gulls landed next to the scene and began harassing him. It was a couple of large males, and as he tried to body- and wing-block them from stealing his meal (though they were too small to swallow her) they noticed the other two fae in the water trying to swim to shore. Other gulls were wheeling in too, so the first two broke off their attack, letting the waterbird swim off with his treat while they pursued the other two girls. They were both heavily pregnant like the rest, but small enough that the gulls just might be able to manage them. As they paddled over to investigate, the waterbird managed to finally heave the huge fae from the water. Getting underneath her weight, he opened his mouth as wide as he could and jacked his jaws furiously, trying to turn her around for a headfirst swallow - and finally succeeding, getting past her flailing arms and massive breasts to work on her belly and thighs, which were giving him the most trouble. It took almost a minute of jockeying and positioning, but he finally get her where he wanted her - and forced her past his jaws into his gullet, which swelled out grotesquely with her rotund bulk inside. Finally satiated, with two in his belly and one in his crop, he retired away from the rookery toward his territory.
The last two elf women put up a brave fight against the two gulls, splashing and flailing, but each one was finally subdued, tossed around, and gulped down.
 
The planet's suns were setting on the rookery now, and Tanith and Fiala prepared for their departure. It had been quite a picnic, though the two Zrin women had not done too much eating themselves!
"Well, what do you think of my birdwatching hobby, Fiala? Is it as sssatisfying to you as it is to me?
"Very much so, Ma'am. In fact, I think we should capture a few specimenss from this planet - specifically the waterbirds. He was quite impresssive, wasn't he?"
"That feeding alone was worth the trip. Next time though, I'm bringing breeding couples too. Birds need a balanced diet." Tanith laughed a little at her own joke. As the pod broke orbit and headed back to their mothership, Fiala began plotting a return to the water planet on her own time, with a variety of prey to keep the birds well fed.
 
-End