Viridian Ninja

"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 going out of my way for them as I have for you."

He was a bit miffed at her reaction. Little understanding of emotions indeed. "Then why?"

"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 about?!" he demanded.

She glanced at him. "I killed this buck earlier today, and was cleaning the carcass in the river when you came and fell asleep on the bank. 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, 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 fused with the armor plates on her arms and vanished into them. That was certainly a convenient ability.

She took no notice of his astonishment, only replying to his words. "True. 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 one month."

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 that time 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 it 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. She truly had lived concerned only for her own survival.

"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. Still, 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 growls 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 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 appearance like that of an eight year old human, her scythes only half a foot long, 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 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, even when you know you can't get pregnant this time of year."

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. 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.

He might not have trusted her but simply asking her 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."