Viridian Ninja - Part One

The sun rose over the ancient forest, its warm, dappled light revealing a small herd of deer gathered in a clearing. Quietly they grazed in the midst of the towering trees of their subtropical home.

Quiet they were, but not off guard. Their ears were ever raised, alert for the slightest abnormal sound, their eyes scanning, and their nostrils twitching.

Yet even they did not detect the predator approaching downwind from beyond the tree-line, her stealthy steps avoiding every twig and dry leaf. She crept ever forward, crouched low, making barely a sound. In the shadows her camouflage was near perfect.

She could only get so close though, once she got to the clearing she would be out of adequate cover. It would come down to a chase. With that in mind she leaped, covering a good thirty feet before landing and beginning to sprint.

The deer took notice at once, stampeding away from the flash of green that had leaped into the clearing. As the herd ran, in the confusion and panic, a buck found himself separated and thus singled out by the predator. The chase began.

The buck ran with all he had, his excellent peripheral vision keeping tabs on the predator as it pursued him into the forest, matching his every movement, every turn and leap, and gaining, only to vanish as it leaped into the canopy above. The buck panicked further and skidded to change direction.

Then, suddenly, the streak of green landed beside him, and the buck knew no more. In a near instant his neck had been sliced cleanly through, his body crashing to the forest floor, blood flowing freely from the neck and severed head that had moments before been a single live animal.

The creature that inflicted the fatal blow, its form clearly humanoid and feminine, stood up from where she had landed in a crouch and turned to her slain prey. Its meat would provide her with food to last her several days at least. She extended the blades attached to her hands, and prepared to carve up the carcass. A successful hunt gave her a sense of purpose and fulfillment, although not quite the same as the emotions other beings experienced.

Food meant survival, and obtaining food meant this was as good a day as any she had experienced before. Day in and day out, survival was what mattered most, and yet she knew there was more to life that she had yet to experience or comprehend. The proof was in the longing she at times felt inside, an ache of an emptiness that called to her to be filled. It was an ache that she could not truly comprehend as she was, but one she had been assured since childhood would one day turn into something wonderful.

Emotions, both pleasurable and painful, and once she had them she would not know how she did without them. Yet until then, she could only follow her instincts.

---

Run.

Run and don’t stop.

Run or you will be caught.

Those thoughts had been his constant companion for days now. Running, getting as far away from his former home as he could, was all he had. It was his only chance, even if it meant going into the unknown depths of the forest.

All things considered he had done surprisingly well so far. Stopping only long enough to eat and sleep, he had managed to escape oppressors and avoid the many monsters that inhabited the vast woods he had entered.

But it could not last. He was out of food, starving and utterly exhausted. He only just managed to stumble to the edge of a river, collapsing there. Throwing his face in the water he refreshed himself with what little energy he had left, then rolled over and lay upon the shore. His empty stomach cried out for sustenance he had no strength to provide.

A tree full of fruit on the other side of the river seemed to mock him, but he would never be able to swim there in his current state, even after resting. The water was too deep, the current too swift. All he could do was close his eyes, reflect on the events that led to this, and hope for a miracle.

He sighed to himself. “You should have expected things to turn out like this Carter…”

Carter. No last name. He’d never been given one, and the name he had was simply a mock title for his job, carting goods, illegal and otherwise, from one place to another.

That life of servitude was all he’d ever known. He’d been born into it, his mother (he’d never even been told her name) a prostitute working in a brothel run by the city’s organized crime boss, an imposing and charismatic man named Jiro Alva. Or at least that was what he had been told, he truly didn’t remember his mother. Addicted to drugs Jiro provided her, she spent all her time working in the brothel to pay him back. Carter had barely been weaned when she died of an overdose, having never even bothered to name him. According to Jiro he was only even kept alive to work off his mother’s debt, a debt that seemed to never go down.

In a situation like this most children would have grown up with stunted personalities, ignorant of how their lives were supposed to be. Yet Jiro had made a critical error in Carter, as he did not keep him ignorant. In order for him to tell packages apart and deliver them to the right places he had been taught to read, and this had opened up the world to Carter.

For Jiro could not keep him under his eye at all times, nor did he try to. Carter was utterly dependant on him after all for food and shelter. Thus in his time off Carter was able to exercise his childhood curiosity by spending time in the city’s library. Very quiet by nature, the brown haired, brown-eyed child was rarely noticed, and the library, despite being in a city run by a crime lord, was in fact one of the best around thanks to wealthy donors in its earlier history.

In this way Carter learned about the world, and the injustices of his own situation. It was not an easy or quick thing, indeed a whole book could be written about the trials he had growing up without proper guidance, love or role models. Well not completely without, some of the people in Jiro’s employ were decent enough and victims of circumstance like him, but they could only contribute so much to raising him. Regardless, somehow Carter reached his teens wise for his age and not utterly mentally damaged. He’d even avoided getting hooked on Jiro’s drugs. Carter figured it was the one way his life had not been completely unlucky.

By his late teens Carter had realized his mother’s debt was nothing but an excuse to keep him under Jiro’s thumb, and that he would be the crime boss’s errand boy for life if he didn’t do something. Yet going to the authorities was not an option, he didn’t know which ones were on Jiro’s payroll or simply too afraid to stand up to him.

Running away to a better life seemed like the only answer. It certainly seemed to be something characters in many books he read did when faced with problems. Yet it was not so simple. Jiro had a notorious reputation, regarding all those he employed as his possessions. Loyalty, at least to those who weren’t his slaves, was rewarded with power and wealth, but disloyalty resulted in humiliation, torture, or death. No one was exempt, from the highest to the lowest in rank. To simply leave his employ was met with dogged search parties by experienced mercenaries who seemed to never fail to eventually find their target and drag them back for punishment. It was said no one had ever left his employ without permission and gone uncaptured.

The open secret behind this were phylacteries, amulets containing a small amount of blood. Supposedly there was one for everyone in Jiro’s employ, having one’s blood taken and sealed in an amulet being part of the initiation. Yet Jiro was the only one who knew where the amulets were stored. Each amulet was enchanted so that the magical energies, mana, contained in the blood would not dissipate; and due to the nature of magic, the energy would react and resonate when it was anywhere near the soul the energy had been taken from. Anyone at all sensitive to magic could sense this reaction and use it to track down their target. Jiro himself was said to have a bit of sensitivity to magic, but he mainly employed specialized mercenaries for the job of tracking.

He had once read that the technique had been invented by wizards studying the senses of monster girls. It was said that once she had fed on a man’s energy a monster could track him to anywhere in the world. The phylacteries were not quite so infallible, having a range of fifty miles or so, but they still amounted to a very useful tracking device.

With all this in mind, escape seemed hopeless, until changes in the world around him revealed a potential opportunity. There had always been monsters in the great forests beyond the city, but in recent years their numbers had been increasing. Perhaps it was due to populations in other areas being displaced by distant wars, or perhaps it was preparation for an eventual invasion of the city. Perhaps it was simply the monsters breeding.

Regardless the result was that people rarely ventured into the forest anymore, and a number of those who did never returned. Their fate depended on who you asked and perhaps the monster involved: killed, eaten, kept as a breeding slave or, in the case of women, perhaps even transformed into one of the monster’s own kind. It was enough to make most fear the forest. Carter observed that even Jiro and his men were hesitant when it came to crossing monsters. Even average monsters were powerful, and did not care at all about the authority of the crime boss.

Thus Carter’s plan was formed, one that was reckless at best. Flee to the forest, and try to cross through it, hopefully finding one of cities on the other side where he could build a real life, far enough away to avoid being detected by Jiro’s tracking magic. Then hope that Jiro would either regard him as not worthwhile to pursue, or decide he was doomed to die in the forest.

This plan also hinged on not getting caught by monsters. He knew as a lone male he was a prime target, yet he also knew it would be easier to escape notice alone than in a group. Further, muscles toned running around the city delivering packages his whole life meant Carter’s lanky body had excellent endurance. He could run for miles without rest, and the faster he passed through any given area the less chance he would have of being noticed.

It was a few days after his twentieth birthday and, after weeks of planning and hoarding small amounts of food and supplies, Carter was ready. He fled under cover of night, a pack on his back and the stars overhead. He had packed light to increase his speed but this meant less food and water, and only a single changes of clothes (not that he had much more than that anyway). He had planned to supplement what he had packed with wild fruits, nuts and berries, perhaps even wild game. However, books on surviving in forests did not prove to be a substitute for actual experience, which he lacked entirely. He rapidly ran out of food.

It was now clear just how foolish the plan had been. The forest was far too immense for him to cross at speed. He had brought maps but his navigation skills outside the city were rudimentary at best, and the forest itself had never been fully mapped. He was utterly lost, even his compass had eventually stopped working.

“A pathetic ending to a pathetic life…” Carter whispered in self-loathing, resigned to dying. Sure it would take him a while yet to die of starvation or exposure, but unable to keep up his former pace there was no way a wandering monster wouldn’t pick him off. In his current weakened state they’d have no use for him as breeding material and would probably just eat him.

Really, a better life had been a long shot at best. He had tried, that counted for something, right? He’d still probably wake up and wander around for as long as he could, try to find a place to cross the river, but may as well mentally prepare for death now. He felt after all his effort he could allow himself some self-pity.

He gave a bitter laugh. “At least Jiro won’t ever order me around again,” he said to himself as sleep took him.

---

“Ouch!”

Carter was awoken by a sharp pain in his side. Had someone just kicked him? He opened his eyes to an alien, yet beautiful sight.

Attachment:
210_mantis.jpg
210_mantis.jpg [ 98.56 KiB | Viewed 127 times ]


Standing over him was what appeared at first glance to be a tall, curvy and toned woman, but there was much more to her than that. She was clad in strange, green armor plates over her back, shoulders and sides, long, creamy legs bare below. Extensions to the plates served to support her large, well-formed breasts, which along with her arms, hands and torso were covered in a dark green, skin-tight material. This material ended in a ragged skirt of sorts around her hips to leave her legs bare.

Each of her lower arms also had armor plates, which ended just before her knuckles and supported her most distinctive and frightening feature, a scythe, longer than the arm itself, double-edged and with large serrations on one side. The blades were currently retracted back and not pointed at him but were intimidating all the same.

Perhaps even more bizarre was what looked at first to be a tail projecting from the top of her rear end, except it was more similar to the abdomen of an insect than a true tail. It was a couple feet long, the same green as her armor plates, segmented, and bore what looked like wing cases on top.

As unusual as all this was, he couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, which observed him with a piercing, golden stare. They were beautiful but also cold, he couldn’t read any emotion in them. On the sides of her head emerging from spaces where hair would be in a human were a pair of golden yellow objects the same color as her eyes. Perhaps they were eyes, or rather extra eyes, the eyes of an insect, with a smaller pair on her forehead. From just behind the top of her head sprouted a pair of segmented antennae, twitching occasionally in his direction as if smelling or tasting him. Her hair itself was fairly short for a woman, not going down past her neck, and dark brown in color. She was nearly as tall as his own five foot ten inch height and an imposing sight regardless.

For a few seconds he simply stared at her and she at him, until the glint of her sharp scythes sent him into a panic. He back-peddled away from her, his body soon reminding him how tired he was as he failed to stand up and run, slumping back to the ground with a groan. He doubted he could even use the bag of pepper powder he had packed for defense against monsters, at least at this range. Breathing hard, he noted the woman’s feet had the same type of skin-tight covering as her main body, her lower legs bearing protective green armor plates that seemed to serve as shin guards.

He knew what she was. A mantis, one of the most feared of the forest monsters. Their killing prowess was legendary. A deep fear settled in his stomach, only to be interrupted by a loud growl of hunger from that stomach.

The mantis cocked her head at the sound and Carter couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed, which inadvertently cut the tension he felt. The tension was immediately renewed though as the mantis stepped toward him.

“Ple-please don’t hurt me…” he pleaded, vainly struggling as she grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder. He tried to grab the bag of pepper powder in his pocket.

“I’m sorry!” he continued to beg even as he pulled out the bag, “just let me go and I’ll leaVEEEEE!!”

His voice turned to a loud cry as the mantis tensed her legs briefly and in a single leap carried him over the river, a distance of some thirty feet. The bag of pepper powder ended up dropped in said river as he lost his grip on it, and sank out of sight. As she landed she glanced back at where it had splashed into the water, and gave him a look that communicated she was fully aware of what he had tried to do. She proceeded to lower him to the ground, not hard but not gently either.

He watched with wide eyes as she turned from him and with a bending of her knees leaped near-effortlessly a good forty feet into the canopy of the fruit tree he had spied earlier. At the same time the scythe on her right hand swung out until it was positioned straight out from her fingers. The slicing motion severed a branch full of green apples, and gravity took over.

Yet even as the branch began falling, the mantis woman reached the peak of her ascent, flipping over and pushing off a large branch above her with her legs before rocketing down after the fruit. The wing cases on her insectoid abdomen opened, revealing folded up membranous wings which proceeded to extend to a substantial span and beat with a loud buzz, slowing her fall as she landed next to him and presented the branch.

“Eat,” she ordered, her voice attractive yet eerily stoic.

For a moment he stared at her, incredulous. Was this a joke? Was she just fattening him up for breeding or eating? Why would a monster help him? For that matter why would anyone help a stranger? Growing up as he had, Carter had rarely been the recipient of selfless acts.

Further, he had researched monsters a good deal in preparation for this journey, and everything he read about them, in particular the mantis, made it seem unlikely that this was simple kindness.

Regardless, his hunger overcame his trepidation. Ravenous, he quickly devoured the three large apples on the branch. This immediate need met, he took stock of his benefactor, who had watched him silently the whole time he was eating. He braced himself to confront her, to demand to know what she planned to do with him, but, apparently satisfied that he had eaten enough, the mantis simply scooped him up and threw him over her shoulder again.

“Hey- wait a sec-ahhhh!!!”

His complaint was cut short as her sudden leap caused his recent meal to threaten to come back up. His mind swam, and he feared he would faint as she carried him with amazing speed through the forest, leaping from one tree’s branch to another, sometimes even rebounding horizontally off the trunks. On especially long leaps her wings would unfold, filling his ears with their rapid beats. Her feet seemed to somehow stick to even smooth bark, and her strength was such that carrying him seemed to hardly hinder her. Such was her speed that the forest soon became a blur. Carter ceased to struggle, fearing the fall if he did get free, as well as accidentally bumping the sharp scythes on her arms.

Then, before he knew it, she had deposited him in a truly huge tree, well over a hundred feet high. Or rather not in the tree itself but in a structure built mid-way up within the center of its widely spanning branches. It appeared to be a tree house of sorts, fairly simple in design but practical and effective. Various handmade tools and supplies from the forest were scattered about, with a bed of animal skins and soft blankets in one corner. A hung and dried animal skin served as a door while the doorway was simply a large opening on one side that led out to a wooden platform like a porch. Looking out the single window, he noted the drop to the ground appeared to be some fifty feet.

With nowhere to run, he turned back to face the mantis, trying not to tremble as he spoke. “Did you… bring me here to eat me?” he mentally kicked himself for asking, afraid he would remind her to devour him.

She gave him a perplexed, but still cold, look. “Monsters can’t eat human flesh, it’s been that way for centuries. The mere thought instinctively disgusts us. Humans seem to be slow to accept that.”

He’d certainly read of this aspect of monster girls before, but different books said different things and he wasn’t sure what to believe. So her words did relieve him a bit but still left him confused. “Then why did you bring me here?

“You need shelter, clearly you have none of your own. You may live here.”

Carter was even more confused now. “You want me to stay here? With you? Just like that? You don’t even know a thing about me.”

She blinked with disinterest. “I know enough. Your ragged clothing and desperation to flee to such a remote place alone indicates you are an escaped slave.”

He was stunned that she had been able to make such an accurate guess. “That’s… how did you-“ he decided against pursuing the question, not wanting to reveal too much about himself just yet, so he changed subjects. “I mean… why even bother with me? It’s not your breeding season…” indeed he had timed his departure to be outside of most monster breeding seasons. Not that that guaranteed safety from most, who were said to be horny all the time, just more so in season, but the mantis monsters in particular, unwed ones at least, were said to show no interest in men outside the breeding season.

“Did-” he began again when she failed to respond, “Did you just feel sorry for me?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. Until we have mated my kind have little understanding of such emotions.”

“Well I guess we have a bit in common. Figuring out emotions was tough for me growing up too,” he tried to empathize, thinking of how much various books on psychology, trauma and childhood emotional development had influenced him. Maybe he could use that commonality to get her to let him go?

She ignored his remark. “You are pitiable, even I can see that, and I was taught that I should help those in need, but that does not include having them live with me.”

He was a bit miffed at her reaction. Little understanding of emotions indeed. “Then why am I here?”

“Concentrate on regaining your strength. You will be safe here.”

With that she turned away and in a flash had leaped off into the neighboring trees.

“Wait!” he called after her to no avail. He sat down and frowned at the thought that next entered his mind.

‘How am I supposed to relieve myself up here?!’

---

It turned out she was not gone for long, returning with the remains of a slaughtered deer.

“What is this all about?!” he demanded.

She glanced at him. “I killed this buck earlier today, and was cleaning the carcass when you collapsed and fell asleep on the riverbank. I went back to finish cleaning it and now I am eating what I can before storing the rest.”

That wasn’t really what he meant but it did answer how she had found him. It also made him realize how delirious with hunger he must have been to have not noticed her.

Her explanation given, she proceeded to bite into the raw flesh of the skinned deer with her sharp teeth, tearing into it with single-minded purpose. The sight was enough to unnerve Carter into silence for a time while she ate a surprising amount for her size.

Building his courage, he finally spoke up. “I’ll ask you again, why did you help me and what do you want with me? Even the most heretical texts say unwed mantises aren’t supposed to have any interest in men outside the mating season.”

His words caught her attention, but her expression remained unchanged as she replied. “You’re knowledgeable to have read that, I did not think most humans knew much of my kind’s habits.”

“I would never have made it this far into the forest on my own if I hadn’t learned everything I could about monster girls first, even from sources that the Order denies are accurate.” Indeed the encyclopedia he had gotten most of the useful information out of was full of heretical things and would have likely been burned if it was in a more pious city.

She closed her eyes in thought, then laid the remains of the carcass at her feet. To Carter’s amazement her scythes, no longer needed to help her cut up her food, began to shrink, growing backwards until they retracted into the armor plates on her arms and became like a small extra segment of them. That was certainly a convenient ability.

She took no notice of his astonishment, only replying to his words. “True enough. As for your questions, I am not in the habit of speaking more than is necessary, but I suppose this situation merits it. Listen well, I would rather not repeat myself.”

She turned away and looked over the forest from the window of the tree house. “The fact is this land has all I could ever need, except an unclaimed man. I have already gone through several heat cycles without finding one. It has become increasingly…” she trailed off as if searching for the right word, “unpleasant.”

“So you decided to capture a man outside of your breeding season and wait?” He was pretty sure he could see where this was going.

“Yes, you are insurance to make certain there is a man available to me when my season comes in approximately six weeks.”

With his life not in danger Carter’s anger boiled over. “So I’m just insurance?! Not even your first choice?!”

She was unfazed. “Indeed, I had hoped for a warrior, not a runaway slave. If I locate a more suitable man before the time comes you may leave. Indeed you may try to leave regardless, but I would not recommend it. You made it this far, but all the unwed monsters in the surrounding woods are aware of you by now. If you leave my territory you will eventually be caught, and they are unlikely to be as diplomatic about this as I am.”

“You…” he trailed off, his anger evaporating at her lack of emotion.

“However I am willing to protect you from them, as well as from any humans who may be pursuing you. I take it the master you escaped from is the one called ‘Jiro’?”

Now he couldn’t help but ask. “How did you know that?!”

“You spoke his name before you fell unconscious, saying he would no longer order you around.”

“Oh…” Carter felt like blushing, but at least it was clearer how she had surmised he was an escaped slave. It didn’t make him feel all that good about being essentially imprisoned though, even if it kept him safe. Yet at the same time he had no idea of where to go if he could leave, so perhaps playing along for now was best. As he considered this she spoke again quite suddenly.

“Taki.”

“What?” he questioned.

“My name,” she replied. “It is Taki, Taki of the Viridian Mantis clan. Does knowing my name put you more at ease?”

It didn’t really, though his consternation at her lack of understanding of the emotions he was feeling did make it harder to focus on his anger. “Carter,” he sighed, “no last name, they never gave me one.”

“Then you may take my clan’s name if you wish.”

‘Is being forced into her family supposed to make me feel better?’ “Yeah, I guess that doesn’t sound so bad, Carter Viridian…” he remarked, trying to sound more accepting than he was of the whole situation.

“You don’t need to fake your sincerity,” she stated suddenly. “It is unimportant if you like this arrangement, so long as you see sense to abide by it.”

Carter flinched. How had she seen through him so easily? He figured he had gotten pretty good at lying over the years, given he was surrounded by criminals who lived on lies. “What makes you think I’m faking?”

“I don’t feel emotion, but detecting lies is a useful survival skill. The way your voice wavers, the way your jaw tenses, it is clear you don’t like my offer. So think logically if you can. I ask quite little of you.”

“Little?!” he snapped back, giving up on trying to keep calm. “You want me to stay here with you forever and raise a bunch of monster kids! How is that little?!”

“You need not involve yourself in raising my young. I doubt there is anything someone like you could teach them anyway.”

“Is that what you think of your own father?!” he shot back, not sure why he was offended by her words when he had no desire to be a father.

“My father desired to be a parent to me. He is a man of the forest, and taught my family many useful survival skills that were unknown to us. Unlike you he is an ideal mate for my kind.”

Despite her lack of emotion he still felt insulted at the comparison, and now he was pretty sure why. He’d been looked down on all his life, he’d be damned if he was going to take more now that he was away from Jiro. “If he’s so wonderful then why not go and make him your mate?! Isn’t it true you monsters don’t care about incest?!”

Unsurprisingly her expression showed no offense. “That is true, but even so, incest is rare among most monsters,” she stated plainly. “However, even if I desired my father, which I do not, he lives with my mother far from here. If I abandon my territory for long I will lose it, but I must pass on my genes. You can allow me to do that.”

He glowered and snapped at her again. “You’re asking me to give up my freedom for you!”

She folded her arms and sat down. “Freedom is a relative thing. We are all slaves to the needs of our bodies: food, water, shelter. If it is freedom from oppression you desire then I can provide that. You may move freely through my territory and do as you wish. All I ask of you is your sperm.”

Carter rolled his eyes but sat down in front of her, feeling emotionally drained. “Yeah, unless someone better comes along right?”

“If it helps, someone more suitable coming here is unlikely. If by chance one does, I am willing to still let you stay in my territory, so long as you don’t take too many resources.”

He sighed yet again. “Even if I did agree, you’re not telling me everything. It’s not like it will be one time, if that text is as accurate as its turning out to be then you’ll make me satisfy your lust time and again just like any other monster.”

“Indeed, that is what will happen, though I find my own lust difficult to imagine. Even so, it would be far from an oppressive life. I am offering you food, shelter, even the pleasure you men crave so much.”

“It’s not all we think about!” he yelled back. Indeed it could be said living as a slave and being exposed to the underground prostitution industry had given him a rather negative view toward sex in general, even stunting his own development of sexual desire. It had actually concerned him a bit, but no sense in thinking about that now…

“This is growing tiresome,” she stated, though she still betrayed no annoyance. “I do not desire to be your captor but your benefactor. What better option do you have?”

“You say that but I can’t even leave this tree!”

At this she paused. “You can’t?”

“No I can’t! That drop is like fifty feet and there is no way for me to climb down! Not everyone can just jump down like you!”

“I see… yes I suppose that is why father had built those stairs for himself up to my mother’s tree…” she remarked, apparently never having considered it before. “I had thought it was another of his unnecessary conveniences. I suppose you would like your meat cooked as well?”

Carter could only stare, slack-jawed at her naivety toward normal human ability.

“I will figure something out,” she then stated, and again leaped out of the tree.

---

“Something” ended up being a series of ropes made from tying vines and roots together. Taki assured him she would help him build stairs, using her memory of her father’s stairs as reference, but the ropes would have to do for now. They didn’t exactly seem safe, and weren’t easy to climb, but given Taki was usually around to simply carry him to and from the tree house, the ropes mainly served to give Carter a sense of freedom, the belief he could leave if he really wanted to.

All the same, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had gone from one captive life to another. For now Taki kept her word, asking nothing of him and providing for him, but it was still not the life he had imagined having after escaping Jiro. Conversely, he found it hard to hate her. It wasn’t as if she was obligated to house and protect him for free, and he had no way of paying her back conventionally, nor any hope of escaping the forest if he did try to leave her.

This assumed it was true though that there were many monster girls outside her territory seeking mates. Maybe she was making that up to keep him here? The thought had certainly crossed his mind more than once over the past few days. He had heard various roars, cries and howls in the distance at night but he couldn’t tell if they were monster girls or animals.

After all he’d been through, could he really be satisfied staying here for the rest of his life? Yes he found Taki attractive but to mate with her? She was so cold, so distant, she rarely spoke unless spoken to and even then was often brief. And when she did try halfheartedly to connect with him it inevitably was forced and awkward. Even after several days she was practically a stranger to him. He wasn’t sure his repressed sexuality would even be up to the task when the time came.

All in all he couldn’t imagine what being with the strange monster woman would be like. He wondered how all the men who were snatched up by mantises in heat managed it. Were the bodies of monster girls really so incredible that they could overcome the strangeness of the whole situation so easily?

He sighed for what seemed the hundredth time and glanced at the sun through the trees while he lay on the porch of the tree house. It was noon and Taki would likely be gone hunting and doing whatever else it was she did until evening. It couldn’t hurt to at least scout out the edges of her territory could it? Maybe figure out a possible escape route?

With that in mind he packed up what supplies he might need and slid down the vines from the tree house to the ground.

Little did he know what a turning point that day would be.

---

Taki was stoic as ever as she stood in the doorway of her home, a pair of dead rabbits she had planned on sharing with Carter held in her hands.

“Gone,” she stated, noting how many of the supplies he had gathered as well as that his pack was missing. A stupid move really, but one she had expected him to make at some point.

The thought crossed her mind to just let him go without confronting him. He was a runaway slave, cowardly, illogical and overly emotional. Indeed, what if his past had damaged him so badly that it would keep him from being even a passable mate? Was it truly in her own best interest to be with a man like that? Yet perhaps there was more to this man than she could see on the surface. A conversation she had had with her mother came to mind as she pondered what to do.

-Years ago-

Within a massive, multi-roomed tree house in an even more massive tree, a mantis, her long brown hair splayed about, delicately kissed the unshaven cheek of the chiseled man sleeping in their bed of furs. It had been a lovely night spent lovemaking, then cuddling as they slept, now it was time to go hunt for breakfast. She took a bit of string from beside the bed and did her hair up in a long but simple ponytail.

As she stood and stretched out her scythes she was well aware of the figure spying on them from just outside the room.

A young mantis, her scythes only half a foot long and her features like that of a six or seven year old human, stepped forward, already knowing she had been seen. They both spoke in eerily similar stoic tones.

“Taki.”

“Mother.”

“Were you curious?”

She nodded.

“You watched last night as well,” she stated knowingly.

Taki nodded again.

“Don’t tell your father, it would embarrass him.”

“Why?”

“He is surprisingly sensitive, though if you do desire him-”

She shook her head. “No, I mean why did you mate with him last night? You do it so often, do you wish to be pregnant again so badly? It is not even the best season for breeding.”

She patted her on the head, a tiny smile now gracing her lips, a bit of warmth showing in her voice, even if Taki could not appreciate those things. “Someday you will understand, Taki. Sex is more than reproduction. It is a gift, a pleasure that opens our eyes to give us more reason to live than simply survival.”

“Just now he was asleep. Did kissing his cheek bring sexual pleasure as well?”

“No,” a faint smile appeared on her lips again, “it simply felt… right. This you will understand as well one day.”

Taki did not look convinced, but nodded her head anyway. Her mother knelt down to look her in the eye, her voice and expression as serious as ever.

“But never forget Taki. Unlike many mamono, our kind do not have the luxury of sampling different men before choosing a husband. The first man you choose to mate with is the one you will fall in love with and desire for the rest of your life. You must be wise in choosing.”

“I will be,” Taki assured her.

“It is not a matter to worry over though,” her mother assured back, her expression softening slightly. “Unless you ignore them, your instincts will tell you who is suitable. But the voice of your instinct is quiet, as it is the voice of the emotions locked in your heart, feelings you cannot understand until you mate. So always listen to your instincts, even when they don’t make sense.”

-Present-

Now those instincts were pulling her to this man.

“Yes mother,” she said to herself softly. “I will always listen.”

She leaped away to search for him.

---

Several hours into his trek Carter had realized something important. Namely that for most areas he had no real idea where Taki’s territory ended and another began. He had hoped to see scythe marks on trees or some other visual signal to mark the boundaries but had yet to see any.

“I really should have planned this better…” he remarked. If an easy escape proved not to be an option he had wanted to reach the edge of at least one territorial boundary to get some sense of the scale of Taki’s territory, then trek back, but for all he knew he had already left her territory. Or perhaps he was walking in circles.

He might not have trusted her but simply asking Taki about her territory was seeming like a better and better option. A few more hours passed, and, noting the sun was beginning to set, he opted to try to find his way back. The first step to do that was to climb a tree. Taki’s tree was one of the larger ones in the forest and thus visible for miles above the canopy.

Yet no sooner had he spotted the distant forest giant then a mighty howl reverberated through the air and into his very bones. A firm believer in discretion being the better part of valor, Carter half climbed, half fell out of the tree and made a run for it.

‘I know which way to go now, I can make it,’ he assured himself, almost laughing at the fact he wanted to go back to Taki. He was unsure what had made that cry, but whether it was a wolf or a wolf type monster he wanted to avoid it. The sound had been primal, awe-inspiring, but also terrifying in the power it conveyed. Whatever had made it was not to be messed with.

It was then that another howl sounded through the forest, this one closer. Carter’s knees nearly buckled in reaction but he managed to recover and run with even more fervor. Still more howls came, even closer and from different directions, and while these were less powerful they still motivated him to increase the pace even further.

Then all was silent, save for the sound of his own heart beating wildly. The birds had even ceased singing in fear of the predators pursuing him, though an occasional alarm cry would ring out, signaling one had spotted something. Not that it helped him, he couldn’t fly away.

Minutes passed, and while he didn’t stop running Carter did start to feel more optimistic. Maybe he had lost the-

As if in answer his thought was interrupted by a brown, furry form tackling him from behind.

In utter shock, Carter didn’t resist as his assailant used his own momentum to send him tumbling to the ground, landing on top of him with a victorious grin.

“Got him boss!”

The woman on top of him looked to be in her early teens, with a very athletic form. Her furry hands held him down with ease as he tried to struggle free, her canine ears perked and alert. He might have found her girlish voice cute if she hadn’t just knocked the wind out of him.

‘Werewolves…’

“Good job Obol, you can get first helpings along with me. Go ahead and get up so I can get a good look at him though.”

She did, though not before giving him an affectionate lick and giggle. Carter sat up warily, finding himself surrounded by six werewolves. They all wore only ragged tops and loin cloths, many just barely covering up their privates.

The tallest and largest one, the one who had spoken to Obol, stood directly in front of him. He could tell from the strength in her voice alone that she was the one whose howls had so intimidated him. Her shapely breasts were of decent size, her fingers ended in wicked-looking claws, and he could see sharp teeth exposed by the grin she wore. Grey fur covered her arms and legs, and while still lithe her body was well-muscled. Clearly this was the alpha of the pack.

She wrinkled her nose, sniffing the air and gave an even wider smile. “Well girls, looks like our noses were right. He’s a bit skinny, but this is still a prime hunk of man, a virgin to boot.”

‘Virgins have a smell?’ he wondered on reflex. “Wha-what do you want with me?” he asked, although he was pretty sure already what the answer would be, he hoped to buy some time to think.

“Don’t be scared,” Obol said with a remarkably sweet expression, her tail wagging “we’re gonna have a lot of fun and make you feel really good too.”

“Haven’t you ever imagined screwing a whole group of women handsome?” the alpha asked, smacking her lips as she savored his scent. Carter cringed, confused by the conflicting feelings her words stirred in him. “We’re gonna make all your naughtiest dreams come true.”

“But this territory…” a white-furred werewolf to one side said timidly.

“I know it’s been claimed,” the alpha interrupted with an annoyed frown, “but this was too good a chance to pass up. Besides, I’ve had my eye on this land for a while. This is as good a time as any to make a grab for it.”

She turned her eye back to Carter. “Although, that can wait until after we’ve broken in this tasty morsel. None of us have had a man since those damned Order bastards drove us to these forests.”

Carter was filled with both fear and an odd sense of anticipation. His body refused to move as the alpha werewolf stepped forward and prepared to straddle him, her fierce gaze seeming to will all the fight from him.

“Wanna know my name, virgin?” she cooed in his ear, only to freeze, her seductive expression turning serious as her ears perked up.

In the next instant she brought her left elbow up, just managing to block the streak of green that had aimed a flying kick at her. The force was still enough to knock her off of Carter, her assailant rebounding from the blocked kick and flipping back to land a good ten feet away. Carter scrambled to get away from being between them, while the other werewolves, even Obol, growled and bared their teeth at the attacker.

Taki was, as usual, all business and no emotion. “Why are you here?”

The alpha werewolf stood up as if she hadn’t just been kicked and surveyed the area approvingly, hands on her hips. “This is a nice place, bug. Nicer than any of the woods for miles and miles. Plenty of food, water and shelter, it even comes with an unclaimed man,” she noted and licked her lips as she appeared to ogle him.

Carter gulped, it now fully hitting him how close he came to being played with by the whole group, and perhaps most unsettled by how the idea was not entirely unappealing to him. He could actually feel the bestial lust emanating from the women, enough to stir his own loins.

“He is mine,” Taki stated with finality.

Carter was taken aback at the claim of ownership but the alpha wolf just snorted. “He barely has any of your scent or mana on him, let alone inside him. As far as I’m concerned he’s fair game, along with this territory, unless you plan to do something about it.”

Taki didn’t flinch. “This land will one day provide for my progeny, I can’t let you endanger that. If you require food then I will allow you to stay and hunt here for a short time, but you must move on after that. Or we may fight for the land, one on one.”

“What’s to stop us from just driving you out?” the alpha replied. “You’re not a man seeking to master one of us. This is a matter of my pack needing a good territory, so why should we listen to you?”

Her words turned even icier. “Yes, but I am better than you in the trees and I know every inch of these woods. If you drive me out by force of numbers then I will become a forest assassin to you. I will harass and hunt you without mercy until all of you or I am dead. Do you truly want to risk that? I may not be a man, but your kind are partial to duels in general are you not? If you will not leave by request then I am willing to fight your strongest member for the right to this territory. If you win then you may have it all, including the man, and I will leave you in peace.”

Carter was surprised at how intimidating such a stoic voice could be. She had also just said a lot more at once than usual, something he realized must have meant she was taking this confrontation very seriously.

For a time they stared at each other, only for the silence to be broken by the alpha’s raucous laughter as she motioned for the rest of the pack to back away.

“You got some moxie bug girl. Just forcing you out wouldn’t feel right to me anyway. You got a deal. We fight, one on one until one of us gives up or can’t fight any longer. Don’t think it will be easy though.”

Taki was fully aware of that. Werewolves were strong in general but an alpha was on a whole other level. They still varied but Taki knew to expect bones too strong to cut through, strength that likely would break her own bones if she received an unblocked hit, and flesh that healed fast enough that it was almost impossible for a werewolf to bleed to death regardless of the severity of the wound.

The alpha flexed and stretched, “I’ll try not to kill ya, but I’m not exactly good at holding back.”

“That is fine. You may begin when ready.”

She bared her teeth in an excited smirk. “When it comes to fighting I was born ready! My name’s Adira, alpha of the Southern Timber pack!”

“Taki, of the Viridian Mantis clan.”

“Then let’s go!”

Adira crouched, her formerly yellow eyes lighting up with crimson mamono mana as she poured power into her muscles and jumped high above the mantis.

Taki leaped to the side, Adira crashing down a moment later with so much force that the earth beneath her fist cratered, sending dust and dirt everywhere in the resulting explosion of debris.

“Incredible…” Carter whispered as he watched nearby with the rest of the pack. He knew werewolves were powerful, but seeing that power in person was shocking to one who had grown up seeing little beyond regular human brawls.

“Adira is just warming up,” Obol said with obvious admiration.

Taki spread her membranous wings, blowing the debris away from her with rapid flaps to clear her vision and standing at the ready. Adira crouched where she had landed, eying the mantis with a feral smirk, then pushing off to attack again, flying at her claws first.

Now Taki leaped up, avoiding the slash as the werewolf’s claws tore straight through the tree trunk behind the mantis, splinters flying. Adira continued her forward leap, using her momentum to run up the trunk of the next tree even as the first began to fall. High above, Taki kicked off at the collapsing tree, pushing her away even as Adira reached the same height in the next tree and leaped off the trunk in the same direction.

While those on the ground scattered to get out of the way of the falling tree, Taki and Adira continued to rebound off of tree trunks and branches, Adira narrowly missing her again and again as they got higher and higher.

Having reached the tops of the trees, Taki went on the offensive, surprising Adira with her speed as she leaped at her, though the werewolf still managed to block her two simultaneous slashes with her arms, the sound of blades hitting bones resounding through the forest. The werewolf didn’t react to the minor cuts that resulted before her arm bones stopped the attack, proceeding to push the scythes away and grab the mantis’s hands in her own vice-like grip, leaving the two of them in a mid-air grapple. Her confident smirk vanished though as the mantis spread her wings again and beat them furiously, propelling her downward with the werewolf under her and picking up speed.

Adira was about to use her superior strength to switch positions, only to see stars as Taki slammed her into and through a huge tree branch on the way down. A moment before hitting the ground Taki pushed off with a kick to her opponent’s abdomen, leaving the stunned werewolf to take the full force of the impact, leading to another crash and another crater.

Carter’s jaw dropped. “This is unreal…”

“Wow, the boss is going to feel that in the morning,” Obol stated with a pained expression.

“She’s still alive?!” Carter exclaimed.

“Sure she is,” the teenage werewolf chimed. “It’ll take more than a little fall to stop Adira.”

Taki landed lightly a short distance away, never taking her eyes off where the werewolf had fallen, even with the huge branch they had broken through now crashing down above her. Instead she unfurled her right scythe and delivered a slash above her just in time to slice through the branch, each half landing harmlessly to either side of her. She was as stoic as ever, as far as Carter could tell her breathing had not even changed.

“Those blades are pretty sturdy, but so am I,” came Adira’s cocky voice from where she had crashed into the earth, her eyes glowing with fury. Now Taki visibly tensed.

Adira began to stand, only to cry out in pain. “Agh! What the hell? That fall dislocated my shoulder?!” the werewolf growled, her left arm hanging limply as testament.

The mantis wasn’t surprised when the werewolf proceeded to force the appendage back into its socket. Now both knew how serious the other was.

“Damn that hurts,” Adira groaned, stretching her sore arm and spitting some blood from her mouth. In the next instant Taki was in front of her, her right scythe delivering an upward slash at the werewolf’s midsection.

Only for it to be stopped in place as Adira blocked the blade with her left forearm. Sure enough blood flowed from the cut but her bone had not been penetrated.

“Sturdy, see?” her toothy grin returned, even as Taki swung her left scythe at her neck. The werewolf reacted in an instant, her right hand grabbing and blocking the blade. More blood pooled in her hand but she ignored it, instead twisting the scythe with all her strength while kicking Taki in the stomach, the combined forces snapping it with a terrible crack while Taki flew backwards to crash into a tree trunk.

While the werewolves cheered, Carter found himself fighting the urge to intervene, knowing he could do nothing to help. He reminded himself Taki wasn’t just doing this for him but to protect her territory. Still, seeing her take such an injury made him feel guilty.

Taki grimaced in pain as she struggled to stand up, blood dripping from the end of the severed scythe that was still attached to her arm. She slowly shrank it back into her wrist armor, though it continued to bleed. Meanwhile the werewolf held up the torn piece of scythe like a trophy.

“Give up?”

“Not yet.”

“Suit yourself.” Adira threw the torn blade at Taki, who simply knocked it aside with her remaining scythe, then rushed at the mantis, only to stop as Taki moved like a blur to leap over and kick the werewolf in the head. Adira stumbled, momentarily stunned, while Taki leaped up to a tree branch.

“Still able to move that fast huh,” Adira stated. “Here I figured my kick broke a few ribs.”

“Merely bruised,” Taki clarified.

“I get it,” she realized, “you jumped backwards when I kicked you so I’d do less damage, even if it meant losing your blade. You’re a pretty smart fighter, Taki.”

If Taki thought anything of being called by name for the first time by the werewolf she didn’t show it. Instead she rotated her remaining scythe forward. In the next instant she practically vanished, becoming a blur of green that raced round and round Adira, time and again streaking past her and leaving the werewolf with a new cut on some part of her body.

Adira tried to attack back, only to strike an after-image, the real Taki taking the opportunity to slash her in the back before flipping away. Adira turned toward her, both foes assessing each other again. “So this is your full speed,” she stated, licking the blood from a cut on her cheek. “Slashing like that you don’t even have to actually touch me to cut me.”

“It’s a useful technique, an air blade,” Taki clarified, hoping a description would encourage the werewolf to forfeit. “I cut with enough speed and precision to displace the air in front of my blade, releasing a burst of my own mana there at the same time so that the resulting condensed wind and energy cuts for me. By combining it with foot speed I attack without putting myself in range of your attacks.”

“Moving that fast and using your mana to attack at the same time must tire you out though,” Adira observed in a taunting tone, apparently not intimidated. “And the cuts you can hit me with that way are way too small to bring me down. You’ll wear out before I do.”

“That remains to be seen.” Taki once again became a blur of green.

‘Even at that speed I can react in time to block her from hitting anything I need like my eyes…’ Adira thought to herself. ‘I just have to outlast her.’

Taki had a similar realization. ‘Her attacks may appear wild but she is no simple beast. I need to end this now or she will win as soon as she has an opening. I have her on the defensive, now may be my only chance.’

With that, the mantis switched tactics, reappearing about ten feet in front of the werewolf, her scythe held high as she gathered her strength. Adira braced herself, not sure what to expect. ‘Just what is she up to? I can dodge an air blade easy if I see it coming like this.’

Taki swung down with all her might, and instead of an air blade her movement created a blast wave of air in front of her blade. The pressure wave struck Adira full-force, the werewolf not having the time to get out of the way once she realized the attack was far different from the air blade. It did not cut her but did send her flying despite her being on guard. She lost all sense of direction as she spun round and round through the air, landing in a heap across the clearing.

Adira was only dazed for a second, but it was a second too long, as she opened her eyes to find Taki standing over her, her scythe poised to stab into her throat.

“I can’t behead you in this position, and you would regenerate from a slit throat before you bled to death, but if I cut enough of your windpipe your lungs will fill with fluid. You will begin to drown in your own blood.” Taki’s exertions were finally showing as she panted quietly, but her voice was clear and firm as ever.

Adira snarled back at her, “and you think that will be enough to kill me?”

“No,” the mantis stated flatly. “However, it will impair you long enough for me to finish you for certain.”

Once more they stared at each other, only for the alpha’s laugh to break the silence again. She grinned, “I like your style!”

Taki cared not for the praise. “Do you concede?”

“Yeah, yeah… I give,” the werewolf admitted irritably. “Once my pack gets a good meal here we’ll be on our way.”

Carter sighed in relief, but Obol’s ears drooped in disappointment as she turned her eyes to the young man. “It’s too bad… I really wanted to play with you…”

Carter laughed nervously, “sorry…”

“Come on, no moping,” Adira stated she dusted herself off. “The sooner we get a move on the sooner we can find ourselves some mates.”

Obol and the rest of the pack perked up, “You got it boss!”

Adira stepped over to Carter and put an arm around his shoulder as if they were old pals. “Course if you change your mind about sticking with miss personality here we’d be happy to bring you along,” she whispered in his ear lustfully.

Carter cringed and shook his head.

“Your loss.” With that Adira and her pack ran off, disappearing through the trees in seconds and leaving the mantis and man alone.

For a time all was silent, until Carter voiced the first question on his mind. “That fight seemed so serious, and you had a chance to kill her there. Why didn’t you?” It seemed odd to see a being who admitted to not experiencing emotions show something like mercy to a rival.

“If I had I would have gained her whole pack as enemies,” Taki stated simply. “It was unnecessary in any event, and monsters do not kill other monsters if it can be avoided. Werewolves are honorable creatures, now that I proved myself against their alpha they will keep their word.”

“I see… I can’t say being used as a bargaining tool made me all that happy though,” he remarked with a frown.

“It was necessary to make the deal more appealing to them. Even if I hadn’t offered you up, if I had lost I wouldn’t have been in a state where I could have taken you from them anyway.” She extended what remained of her broken scythe, examining the damage.

Carter felt the guilt well up again as he watched a few more drops of blood drip from the torn blade. “I’m sorry about your scythe…”

“It matters not. It will regenerate within a week.”

“It will?” he exclaimed.

“Of course. Damage like this is common when fighting with a blade, our bodies are adapted to heal readily from such an injury. We are not like fighters with swords who can simply replace a broken blade, so instead it grows back.”

That made sense. Indeed, now that he looked closer it seemed it had already all but stopped bleeding. “Well, anyway…” he moved to an uncomfortable matter concerning this situation, namely gratitude. “I guess I really need to say… thanks… if you hadn’t shown up-“

“They would have raped you until you lost consciousness, and if they liked you enough they would have kept you forever as part of their pack. Your only hope of escape would have been to become strong enough to defeat one and become her master, which is doubtful given you have no fighting skills.”

Carter stood slack-jawed at the description.

“You would probably have come to enjoy it,” Taki added, apparently thinking it would make him feel better. “Werewolves are demanding but skilled lovers, and very caring toward their pack.”

Carter felt his irritation at her rise again. “That… look I’m just trying to say thank you!”

“There is no need for thanks. I said I would protect you did I not?”

His anger deflated just as fast as it had risen. “Yeah… but still…”

“You’re lucky that you didn’t make it out of my territory though,” she continued. “As we have not mated I would have lost much of any right to claim you from them.”

“Ok, but how am I even supposed to know where your territory ends anyway?” he questioned.

She blinked, apparently puzzled again. “Isn’t it obvious? I wouldn’t expect you to recognize all the landmarks I used to initially define my borders, but monster girls constantly emit traces of the energy in our bodies, mamono mana, wherever we go. It lingers in the air for some time and I reinforce it on my daily rounds through the forest. Where my energy ends, so does my territory.”

“And I should be able to notice this energy?” he asked with raised eyebrow.

“Father can.”

“Again with your father…” he sighed. “I’m not him, so I wish you would stop assuming I can do everything he can.”

“Fair enough,” she stated, “clearly we have much still to learn about each other. Perhaps it takes time for a human to learn to sense such energy…”

“Maybe so, and time we have…” he trailed off. “Let’s head back to the tree house, I’ll prepare dinner as thanks.”

“I told you no thanks are nece-“

“Well I’m thanking you anyway,” he cut her off. “I haven’t exactly had much to thank others for in my life so I’ll take whatever chance I can. I still don’t like this but that doesn’t change the fact you’ve done me a lot of favors. The least I can do is let you rest your blades.”

“Very well,” she conceded, starting to walk back beside him, her sore body compelling her to not use her usual acrobatics. “Just remember to undercook mine if you cook it at all.”

Carter shook his head in bewilderment. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand how you can prefer the taste of raw meat.”

“Nor will I ever comprehend your desire for cooked meat. The warmth is the only thing superior about it.”

“Yeah, well, raw meat can make you sick!” he shot back and suddenly felt rather childish.

“A human perhaps, but not my kind.”

Carter sighed. “You always have some kind of comeback don’t you?”

“Of course. Communicating is part of surviving, I simply don’t see the point in saying so many unnecessary things.”

“In other words, you won’t open up much on your own. What am I supposed to do then if I want to learn about you?”

She paused, then looked back at him. “Ask the right questions.”