Great [Monster] Journey 2

“Oh, what do we have here?”

Galen’s eyes shot open. Directly about his face, filling his vision, hovered a cute, mischievous smile. A woman, Galen could tell, with light amber hair and piercing eyes a deeper shade of red. Her smile showed off her teeth, clean and mostly square like normal, except her canines were especially sharp. Each of her breaths hit Galen’s face lightly, filling his nostrils with a scent of maple and meat. Galen allowed himself a breath, eyes locked with hers, unwilling to tear his gaze away lest she make a move. His body tensed, waiting for her to act.

“You’re cute.”

The tension rushed out of him all at once and his look twisted into one of confusion. “Huh?”

“I would’ve settled for just about any meal, but you’re cute on top of being a male. How lucky for me?”

Galen had confidence in many things, but his looks wasn’t one of them. He’d always been a scrawny lad, not exactly a magnet for the young women of his home village. The compliment, however, made his heart flutter a bit.

Until he registered the ‘meal’ statement. He grabbed blindly for his sword, glad to find it still attached to his hip, then rolled out and away from the woman. Once he was far enough away, he hopped to his feet, drawing his sword in one quick, albeit clumsy, motion. He then proceeded to almost drop the sword upon seeing the stranger’s entire body. She wasn’t human at all.

The first thing he noticed was the fur, covering her legs from the knees downward and her arms from the elbow downward. She didn’t have normal feet or hands, but instead paws. They were certainly larger than a human foot or hand, but not so much so. Galen swallowed when she waved a paw-hand at him, playfully reaching for him much like a cat would. His eyes then found her bat wings, folded mostly in but still visible. They looked a bit small to be functional for the size of her body, but certainly they would appear larger when spread. Despite the paws and wings, most of her body was human. Her thighs, firm and slick, attached to wide, curvy hips. Her stomach, as well as Galen could see, was slim and smooth. Just above that were her breasts, massive in Galen’s eyes. They rivaled the largest Galen had seen on the island… maybe larger. He couldn’t tell from his position, but the bra she wore certainly had a hard time holding them in. Circling her neck was a white tuft of fur, one much like those where her fur began at her legs and arms. The face she wore glowed of both mischievous and light-hearted fun. A bloom of untamed light amber hair covered her head, some even blocking her face from view. Buried in her hair were two ears, fluffy and twitching with alertness.

Galen steeled himself. This was a monster. A real monster! His first challenge, so soon. He was about to grin when he noticed something moving, a part of her body he hadn’t seen before. A tail.

It curled around from the monster’s back, segmented and dexterous with its movement. The tip of it dripped with something thick as syrup, a paralyzing poison, if Galen had to guess. Barbs sprouted from the bulb at the end, all looking dangerous and sharp. Galen wouldn’t be surprised if they were covered in the same sort of poison. He thought that was all until the tail opened. His breath caught; it was pulsing inside, more and more of that goop coming forth. From the looks of it, though, it wasn’t jagged or rigid, but soft. Meant for pleasure, not pain.

The monster pet her tail, delighted with Galen’s reaction.

“Do you like it? It’s very good at what it does.”

Galen straightened his back, grinning. He’d just have to avoid that tail. Besides, a little pleasure never hurt anyone. “I challenge you, monster! You will be my first victory!”

The monster stood up, putting her paws together and smirking at Galen. “Your first? You think as a novice you could beat a manticore? Your ignorance is so cute.”

“I have trained for this day! Here I come!” Galen burst forward, not wanting to let the manticore play her mind games.

Her knees bent, body tensing to burst into action. “Even telling me when you’re charging? Foolish.”

Galen’s first attack was a diagonal downward slash. He placed his feet just like his teacher told him, swinging from the hips as well as the arms. The sword gave a satisfying whistle as it came down, Galen already exhilarated with the thrill of combat.

The manticore’s monster body moved faster than any of the people he’d practiced with. The slash may have well have been in slow motion. He legs took her out of reach of the sword, and once the blow was safely past, she swiped at the flat of the blade. Her blow almost took the sword from his grip, but Galen had been using proper hand posture and was able to hold on. Her tactic, however, shocked him into pausing. He’d never fought an opponent who would just swat at a bare weapon. His hesitance almost cost him the fight right there.

Another swipe came at his head so quick it blurred. Galen barely had enough time to duck under it, dodging backward and re-gripping his sword before raising it into the default combat stance he’d been taught.

The manticore’s smirk widened. “Fast enough to avoid my attack and you know how to hold yourself. More than I expected. Maybe I can have a little fun.”

She took the offensive this time, her tail darting forward, waving those dangerous spines around, trying to catch Galen with their venom. He blocked a couple blows with his sword, but tried to keep to dodging for the most part. He didn’t know if cutting her tail would just cause more of that venom to leak out. When she pulled her tail back, Galen dove in, looking for an opening. His sword struck like a viper, jab after jab after jab. He aimed for her exposed skin, not knowing how thick that fur was. It probably didn’t make the best armor, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t at least weaken his blows. As fast as he thought he moved, though, the manticore moved faster, squirming and hopping away.

“Ha!” Galen cried out as he surged forward, this time with a horizontal strike. With a flourish of wings, the manticore jumped clear over the swing, coiling up her legs. Galen realized his mistake when that smirk returned to her face. With the momentum of the sword still dragging him along, he was helpless. The manticore struck Galen’s face with her feet, the padded paws making a surprisingly solid striking appendage when needed. Galen grunted as the blow connected, knocking him off his feet and the sword from his hands. He hit the ground hard, coughing as it pushed the air from his lungs. On instinct, he tried to get up, but the manticore was already atop him, paws securing his arms and legs.

Galen squirmed under her grip, but she was far too powerful for him. “I won’t lose so easily!”

“Mmm, are you sure? Human males aren’t that strong compared to manticores.” Her claws shot out and dug into the ground, securing Galen’s limbs further. “Should you really be so confident?”

Galen fought as hard as he could for almost a minute, grunting, writhing, his blood rushing to his face with effort. The manticore hardly moved at all, watching his face with amusement as he tried to shake her off. He couldn’t keep it up forever, though, and his strength soon depleted.

Oh well, he thought. “This is one of those rape things, isn’t it?”

The manticore’s face soured. “What?”

“I mean, I lost. You’re gonna rape me now, right?”

Raising an eyebrow, the manticore leaned back, her body loosening on Galen. “You sound far too indifferent to this.”

“First time rape-ee, I guess, but I’ve never gotten the whole rape thing. I was always told it was a terrible thing, but at the same time, it’s just forced sex, right? And sex is supposed to feel good.” He shrugged. “I guess I’ll know after this, right?”

The manticore poked Galen’s cheek with one of her claws several times, watching for a reaction.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to figure out if you’re for real or not.”

“Oh, I’m definitely real. Don’t need to test that.” He shifted under the manticore, trying to get comfortable. “But let’s get on with the rape time. I’m really curious now.”

The manticore leveled her eyes at Galen, hitting him with a deadpan stare. “You know what? I’ve lost my appetite.” She pushed up off the ground, stood up, then started walking away.

“Wh--hey! You beat me! You’re supposed to rape me now!” Galen stumbled to his feet, collecting his fallen sword and sheathing it.

“You’re just another guy looking to get off. Boring.”

“Come back!” Galen made to chase her, then remembered his backpack. He scrambled back to the wreckage of ‘Treasure’, lamenting a moment for his boat before scanning the area for his backpack. Every now and then, he’d steal a glance back at the manticore, making sure he could tell where she was heading. The forest line wasn’t far off. He’d have to get his backpack before he lost her in there.

Lucky for him, his backpack’s green stood out against the pale tan of the wreckage and he found it without much searching. He threw it on and ran after the manticore, hoping she hadn’t started running. With the speed she displayed in the fight, she’d outrun him for sure.

He ducked into the forest, spotting the manticore shortly after, and caught up with her.

He slapped a hand on her shoulder. “Hey! You’re supposed to rape me!”

She rolled her eyes, brushing his hand off. “Please. People like you kill my hunger. I thought you were really fighting me, but that wasn’t the case, was it?” That sweet, sultry tone from earlier had all but disappeared.

Galen gasped. “Are you insulting my fighting? I mean, I might be a little new, but that was definitely a real fight!”

“Uh huh. The way you dodged my first attack, that should’ve gone on a lot longer. You know, if you had played the rape part differently, I might’ve gone through with it and we both would’ve walked away satisfied.” She rubbed her stomach, frowning. “Now I just have a stomach ache.”

“A stomach ache? Do you eat semen?”

The manticore stopped to gape at Galen. “Seriously? You’re serious. You are seriously asking me that question. Did you grow up in a cave or something?”

Galen crossed his arms, looking away as he frowned. “Well sor-ry if I don’t know everything about manticores! And I did NOT grow up in a cave, I grew up on Nox!”

“Nox?” The manticore’s face softened. “The island Nox?”

“Yes, the island. Is there another place called Nox?”

Ignoring his question, the manticore turned back the way they came considering something that had just come to mind. “Hmm. With the wreckage and your ignorance, that would made sense.”

Galen stomped his foot. “Ignorance? I’ll have you know I went through plenty of schooling!”

She regarded him with incredulity. “Enough to know that monsters consume semen?”

“W-well…” He did a poor job of keeping from blushing.

“That’s what I thought. If you want my advice, get yourself another boat and go home. You’re not ready for this world.” The manticore continued on her way, content with leaving Galen where he was.

“That is exactly why I’m on my adventure! To learn all about the world, to become stronger and maybe even famous!” he said, but she kept walking away.

He wasn’t done with her yet. He started after her but she sped up. He went broke into a jog and she started running. Before long, they were both in full sprint, but just as Galen suspected, the manticore was a fair bit faster than him. Trees, foliage and dead braches all whizzed by in a blur of brown and green. His heart thudded in his chest so loud he could hear it ring in his ears. He put on a burst of speed, devoting everything he could too keeping her in sight, but it wasn’t enough. More and more brush got in the way. His legs grew heavy and arms weary. After what felt like minutes of sprinting, he gave up, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Not only was the manticore a good few inches taller than him, giving her longer legs, but her physique was impressive as well. Galen, as much as he hated to admit it, was cursed with a scrawny body, no matter how active he was or how hard he trained.

As he stood there, recovering, a stray thought wandered into his head. Why didn’t she just fly away? Those wings looked functional. Either she was confident she could outrun him without trouble, or something kept her from flying. Galen stood up straight, striking his fists together. If the former was true, there was nothing to be done. But if the latter were true, and she couldn’t escape by air, there was still hope. He’d show he what all he learned on Nox by tracking her down! His father had gone out with him on many occasions, teaching him how to spot tracks, broken brush, feces, and all the little marks fleeing animals left behind. The chase wasn’t over yet.

It took some time to find the first sign left by the manticore, but after that, things went easy for Galen. The manticore clearly either didn’t care if Galen tracked her, or didn’t think he had the ability to. As he followed the trail, for the first time it registered with him what time of day it was. He’d left Nox at sunset, but his encounter with the manticore happened with the sun risen beyond the horizon. He paused to check its current position. It must be around noon now, so he’d been unconscious, lying near the wreck for one night. Any longer and his stomach would’ve already started growling like crazy.

Briefly, he wondered what his mom and dad were doing. Mom had probably gotten back to life without much trouble, though Galen could see her stepping out the front door to look across the sea and wonder where her son had gotten to. His father might still be mad about his sudden departure, possibly even considering coming after him. In the end, though, he’d likely discount that as ‘rash’. That’s what Galen hoped. His father wasn’t one much for extreme decisions like leaving the island.

Galen continued on the manticore’s trail, keeping to a light jog. His stomach began to gnaw at him as did his throat. He stopped briefly to pull out the waterskin his mom had packed and filled for him, taking a long drink before putting it back. He didn’t want to stop to eat, however, as he had no idea how fast the manticore traveled on foot.

It turned out, not quickly at all. Not even an hour later, he caught sight of her a ways off, strolling through the forest, clearing in no rush. Galen didn’t want to give her a head start if she wanted to start running again, so he gained on her as quiet as possible. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning. He was actually stalking prey! On his own! This adventure had not failed to live up to expectations at all so far.

“Alright, come on out, you’re not the stealthy guy you think you are.”

Galen’s grin vanished. Drat. Hanging his head, he jogged up to the manticore. She waited for him with one paw tapping the ground and one on those impressively-wide hips of hers.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. Why do you insist on following me?”

“Because you haven’t raped me yet, and you’re supposed to! How am I going to learn anything if you’re messing with the way of things like this?”

“You make no sense. I’ve never had someone beg so hard to be raped. You know it stops being rape when you ask for it, right?”

Puffing his chest out, Galen crossed his arms. “So? I was always told monsters raped the men they defeated. Doesn’t matter whether they wanted it or not.”

“Oh, sweet goddess, what did I do to deserve this? On the one week my wing was damaged, too.” She brought her right wing forward to check it. Galen saw a rather unsightly gash in the middle of it, tearing all the way to the edge.

“I can help you with that. I think.”

For once, the manticore didn’t look like she’d bite his head off when she turned to him. “This isn’t some ploy to get me to rape you, is it? Because it’s not happening.”

“If you rape me, it’s going to be because you’re supposed to rape me and not because I trick you into it! I learned a little bit about healing herbs back home and there’s one that might help heal your wing faster or at least cut down on the pain. I’ll have to check for it in my bag, though.”

“Alright, check your stupid bag,” she grumbled.

After a moment of rummaging through his backpack, Galen found his mom had in fact packed a few herbs. Nothing for seasoning food, like he’d hoped, but he had exactly what he needed for the manticore’s wing. “Yup, got something right here. Just need to make a paste to apply to the wounded spot.”

“That’s not going to take forever, is it?”

“Nah, just a few minutes. I’ve got everything I need here.” He sat down cross-legged, pulling out a mortal a pestle, then got to work. The manticore crossed her arms, watching him. He even started a little hum to pass the time.

“I’m curious,” said Galen. “Why did you stop running? When I caught up, you could’ve just taken off again.”

She sighed. “Manticores don’t have the greatest endurance. While I could outrun you over a short distance, keeping that speed up takes serious effort. Yeah, I could’ve taken off again, but you just showed you could track me.” She took the injured wing between two claws, rubbing the leathery tissue in small circles. “Our escape tactic is supposed to be these wings, but as you can tell, mine are out of commission.”

“Oh, neat.” Galen hummed to himself, smiling as he put the paste together.

The manticore shifted in place, crossing her arms, then resting them at her sides, finally settling at putting them on her hips. “Just so you know, manticores usually aren’t like me.”

“Oh? How’s that?”

“We’re fearsome creatures that like to kidnap men and do all sorts of nasty things to them. Sometimes we even keep the men and make them mates. Had you run into any other manticore, she’d have raped you without a second thought.”

“Huh.” He paused, looking up to the manticore in thought. “I wonder if that makes me lucky I ran into you or not.” He grinned. “You’re certainly lucky you ran into me!”

“Hmph. Don’t get cocky just because I’m letting you do me a favor.”

Galen kept making the paste and the manticore continued to stand awkwardly, trying to amuse herself by looking around at the scenery. They said nothing to each other, letting the wind and rustling trees make all the noise for them. Galen hadn’t spent too much time in the forests of Nox. The peace out here was pleasantly calming. He took in a deep breath of the summer air, smiling to himself.

The manticore eventually got sick of standing around and took a seat next to Galen.

“You’re sitting down?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?”

“My mom always told me people only sit down next to people they feel comfortable around. So I guess you’re comfortable around me?”

She shot him an flat stare. “Moreso I have no expectation of you being capable of doing anything harmful to me. And my legs are tired. Your mom just looks into things too much.”

Galen growled. “I know how to use a sword.”

“We both know how that turned out. And besides, what’s the purpose of you healing my wing if you’re just going to pull out your sword?” She sighed. “I guess I wouldn’t put it past you to do something so random. I mean, you did chase me down in an attempt to get me to rape you.”

“That shouldn’t come as a surprise. You won the battle but didn’t rape me. Such weird behavior can’t happen without consequences.”

“And who are you to talk about what’s weird and what is not?”

“Ah! Done.” Galen dipped a leaf into the mush, holding it up for the manticore to see. “I don’t know how effective on wings, but it should help them to heal faster.”

She leaned in, taking a whiff of the paste, then shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt, I guess. Go ahead.” She extended her wing enough for him to access the cut.

“How did you get this?” he asked as he applied the paste.

“Fight. With a lamia.”

“Ooo, a lamia? I haven’t seen one of those yet. Do manticores and lamia usually fight?”

“No, just this particular manticore.” Her face dropped. Not much, but enough for Galen to notice. He didn’t dig into the fight any more, but couldn’t help his curiosity of other things.

“So, what’s this particular manticore’s name?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, considering the question before answering. “Seira.”

“Hi, Seira! I’m Galen.” He offered his hand and a grin. Seira took his hand, her paw enveloping it with ease. They shook, though her shake was much more vigorous than his.

He finished applying the paste in silence, sighing in satisfaction when it was done. “That should do it. Careful not to scrape it off.”

“Of course,” said Seira, inspecting the newly-applied paste and flexing her wing. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Galen said with a smile, packing everything back into his backpack. “But don’t think your injury gets you off the hook for the rape. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“You realize as soon as my wing--which you just helped patch up, by the way--heals, I’m going to fly off and there’s nothing you can do about it?”

“I’ve got strong arms. I’ll hold on.”

Seira pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. Galen brightened up; he was getting to her!

“But while you’re healing, why don’t you come with me? I’m on an adventure!”

“You did mention something about an adventure, didn’t you?”

“Yup. I’ve got two quests I need to complete already, and I’ve hardly started! I could use a companion.”

“Oh really?” Seira raised an eyebrow. “What sort of ‘quests’?”

“Welp, the first is for the Kraken. I need to talk to Poseidon and get her to allow ships to come through the channel between Nox and the mainland.”

“The Kraken? And you’re going to talk to Poseidon herself? Impressive,” Seira said behind her paw, hiding a smile.

“Yeah! And my second quest is to acquire Toneruth!”

The smile vanished. Her paw dropped to the ground, face frozen in shock.

“You’re kidding.”