Viridian Ninja

'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 energy 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 are 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 live alongside 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 in general Taki knew to expect bones too strong to cut through, strength that would break her own bones if she received an unblocked hit, and flesh that healed fast enough that it was almost impossible for her 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 demonic energy 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'd never imagined a werewolf could be that powerful.

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

Taki spread her wings, blowing the debris away from her with rapid flaps 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. Adira continued to fly forward, 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, grabbing her hands in her own vice-like grip and leaving 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 second before hitting the ground Taki pushed off, 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, breathing heavily but 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.

"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. Taki visibly tensed.

Adira began to stand, only to cry out in pain. "Agh! 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 absorbed it back into her wrist armor. 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, so that the resulting wind cuts for me. By combining it with foot speed I attack without putting myself in range of your attacks."

"Moving that fast 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. 'I need to end this. I have her on the defensive, now is my 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 block 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 dizzy 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 like this, and you would regenerate from a cut before you bled out, but if I impale you here your airway will be severed, and you will suffocate without aid."

Once more they stared at each other, only for the alpha's laugh to break the silence again. She grinned, "I like your style! That was a great move!"

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 him..."

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. "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 and leaving the mantis and man alone.

For a time all was silent, until Carter voiced the first question on his mind. "Why didn't you kill her?" 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. 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 severed scythe, examining the damage.

Carter felt the guilt well up again as he watched the blood slowly 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. "Well, anyway..." he moved to an uncomfortable matter concerning this situation, gratitude. "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?"

"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."

"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 demonic energy in their bodies wherever they 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."

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To Be Continued

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Part 2: Getting to Know You

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It had been about five days since the encounter with the werewolf pack, and Carter was pleased that Taki's broken scythe had indeed grown back completely and apparently was good as new. He had used the time she had spent healing to get to know the forest more, memorizing landmarks while not straying too far from Taki's tree house. He had gotten good enough to figure out some of the paths Taki took on her daily rounds through her territory, and had decided today to see just what she spent her day doing when she wasn't patrolling or hunting. It had still taken him all morning to catch up with her, perhaps next time he'd let her know he'd be following her...

Regardless, he had caught up at this wide section of river, and now found himself transfixed by the beautiful and graceful sight that greeted him.

She stood in a barely ankle-deep section of the river, somehow not slipping on the smooth stone of the streambed as she moved about. He recalled how her feet seemed to naturally grip surfaces at will. He had previously seen her running straight up tree trunks or even walking upside down under a large branch.