Viridian Ninja

She appeared to be going through various stances and attack exercises, as if practicing her own brand of martial arts. Her large, well-formed breasts were stabilized on the sides by her armor but still bounced and swayed hypnotically with her movements, while not appearing to hinder her agility in the least. Realizing that he had once again ended up staring at that part of her body forced him to suppress a blush.

She threw her left hand forward in a punch, her scythe proceeding to grow rapidly out of her wrist in a stabbing motion before folding back against her arm as she pulled back. She did the same with her right hand. She then threw both hands forward, the folded scythe on each arm swinging forward with incredible speed, the wind whistling as they cut through it, the resulting air blades tearing into the water about ten feet in front of her. Drawing her right arm back, she tensed and focused all her strength as she extended the scythe and slashed forward, this time making a rush of air that sent a massive spray of water out in front of her. She then did the same with her left scythe. This exercise was followed by a series of less strenuous but still impressive kicks and slashes.

He knew she was aware of him, she seemed impossible to sneak up on even from behind thanks to her massive extra eyes. Yet she paid him no heed. Carter reminded himself that this indifference was her nature, which meant he would have to make an extra effort if he wanted to interact with her.

"Ask the right questions," he remarked to himself, repeating what she had told him before. He had meant to practice this earlier, but rarely had the opportunity. Apparently healing her scythe had cost Taki's body a lot of energy, which meant she had to spend more time hunting and eating than normal. She also slept more. As a result she got back to the tree house late in the evening and typically fell asleep soon after giving Carter a share of a kill she had already partly eaten. Then by the time Carter awoke in the morning she had left to start her rounds and hunts again. This equated to little time for talking, and also made him wish to do more to at least support himself so she didn't have to spend as much time hunting for him.

Well, regardless, he had found her now and hopefully she would be willing to talk. He'd start with some basic questions he had simply wondered about and then see where that led. He stood and stepped toward her, getting right to the point as he knew a casual wave or other greeting would be pointless with her.

"How do you do that?"

"Practice," she stated without looking at him or reacting in any other way, moving into another position with utter focus. "I come here daily to stretch and hone my body's reflexes. It is a matter of survival to stay in proper shape."

"I guessed that much. I mean everything else!" He found that while she counted his emotional outbursts as undesirable they did seem effective at getting her attention. "Your feet can stick to things, and your scythes can disappear, and you can jump crazy high and even fly! It's really been bugging me how all that works..."

She stared at him in silence for a moment. "You wish for me to teach you about my body?"

He felt uncomfortable at how she had worded that, but nodded regardless. He had always been prone to curiosity, and hoped it wasn't about to get him in trouble.

"I suppose if we are to be mated then it is reasonable for you to understand my body better." She took a twenty foot leap, high and long and landed right in front of him before moving to sit in front of him on the same large rock he was on. "Ask your questions."

Carter gave himself a mental pat on the back for not flinching back much when she had landed. Her piercing gaze was still intimidating, but he spoke his mind anyway. "Why didn't you use your wings to break your fall when you jumped just now like you did back when you got the fruit when we first met?"

"My legs and feet can handle landing from much greater heights and distances than that without injury. I used my wings for the fruit because if I had stopped too abruptly the apples could have been shaken from the branch and splattered on the ground. Usually I only use my wings to extend the length of my jumps or change direction in mid-air."

"Then you can't fly with them?"

"I can fly, but only for short distances, and it takes a great deal of energy. Even before we had these forms my kind was never good at flying. They are still very useful appendages."

"Okay, then what about how you can stick to tree trunks and smooth rocks?"

She raised her foot and held it in front of his face. "They are small and hard to see, but my feet are equipped with tiny projections that grip imperfections on surfaces. I cannot grip truly smooth surfaces."

He tried to see these projections, but could only note how pretty her foot looked, even encased in that odd skin-tight material. He assumed those projections must stick through that material.

"Next."

He blinked and blushed as he looked away, even knowing Taki wouldn't care that he had been staring. "Your scythes. How can they grow and shrink like that?"

"That ability was gained when my kind gained humanoid form," she answered smoothly. "It takes much practice to master, but the demonic energy within all monsters is capable of altering our bodies to varying degrees, just as the demon lord was able to use it to change our forms to female humanoids generations ago."

"I see... but why go to the trouble?"

"It is a matter of practicality. When we had full insectoid forms my kind were largely ambush hunters, we did not need to be maneuverable and our forms were suited to our lifestyle. However, as humanoids moving about with large blades attached to our hands limits us a great deal, especially as the rest of our bodies are highly suited to pursuit hunting. Moving about in human dwellings with our husbands would also be difficult if these blades were always swinging around. The ability to shrink them is something a mantis normally learns by the time her scythes fully grow in."

"Grow in? You're not born with your scythes?"

"We have scythes when we hatch but they are a good deal smaller, duller and more manageable."

He guessed that made sense. After all, an inexperienced child with a sharp knife permanently attached to each hand would be a dangerous thing. Wait a second... hatch? "Did you say 'hatch?'"

"Yes. Most insect monsters lay eggs. Is that surprising?"

"Well yeah, I mean, they must be some eggs."

"They are not actually that large. My father said I was a good deal smaller than a human baby when hatched, but grew quickly. My kind normally lays one to a few eggs, then for protection the mother covers them with a frothy material that hardens when dry. When we hatch the material softens and we squeeze our way out."

"All that is kind of hard to imagine..."

"You'll see it yourself one day, provided you aren't foolish enough to try to leave again."

He hung his head and sighed. "Yeah... I'm kind of past that. At least with you I won't be raped by a stranger..."

She cocked her head slightly. "Was that sarcasm? It is hard to tell. You did not appear to be serious, but did not appear to be lying either."

He groaned in renewed frustration. "I don't even know how to answer that."

She seemed to readily accept that, addressing him with an even more serious gaze. "Then answer a question of mine Carter. Do you despise me? Do you despise monsters? Is that why you are opposed to our deal?"

Carter took a moment to organize his thoughts. He hadn't expected Taki to turn the conversation to this matter on her own. "I don't despise you," he admitted, "or other monsters for that matter... not really. I owe you, and I'm thankful for what you've done for me, I even find you interesting, if strange. It's just that when I left Jiro I dreamed of being able to live my own life, a human life, in a city, with a septic system!"

"A what?"

"Never mind..."

"Then do you dislike the forest?"

"No... it's not that. I mean really it's a lot more comfortable than I expected, at least since I started living in your tree house." His expression grew puzzled, "somehow the mosquitoes don't even seem to bite me when I'm with you."

"That is because other creatures recognize monsters as superior beings," Taki explained, "they dare not feed on us or in our presence. Once you have mated with me a great deal you will become an incubus and be given the same protection."

Now there was a subject that brought him a renewed sense of negativity. "Yeah... an incubus... I've read about them. They're a being of lust as great as that of a monster. All I'll think about is sex. To me that doesn't sound like a fulfilling life."

"You dislike being compared to my father, but he became an incubus by the time I was grown and he certainly does not think only about sex. It is my understanding incubi are as varied as the monsters that create them. My kind are never consumed by constant lust and neither are our mates."

Carter gave her a skeptical look. "I'll still change though... and have no say in it."

"Your desire for sex will change certainly, to match my own desire. It is difficult for me to understand such desire, but awakening to it is part of my kind's life. We accept it, and my mother claims that it is something to enjoy," Taki reasoned back.

"Again, at least you're not a stranger... this whole situation is still crazy though."

She closed her eyes in thought before addressing him again. "I don't know what more I can say to put your mind at ease, except that when the time comes both our instincts will take over. All your concerns and insecurities will be washed away during it. Nature will take its course. We are male and female after all."

"And after that?" he asked.

"We will continue on together, I will never abandon you."

Somehow this assurance was comforting, even though her voice was stoic as ever. Still he smiled bitterly, "you talk like I'm someone special, but all I am is the guy you settled on for lack of other options. I've done nothing to earn your loyalty, and I'm not exactly worth it either."

"As you said once before, I am asking you to give up your future, and, in a sense, your freedom. My loyalty is certainly worthy of that exchange."

"So it's like a trade..." he gave a heavy sigh and stood up. "I don't know if any this has really helped how I feel... but still, I think I understand some things better now. Thanks for the talk."

Taki stood as well. "No thanks are needed. I believe I have come to understand you better as well."

"I think I'll gather some more materials for those stairs we're planning on," he stated, trying to lighten his mood.

"I will come assist you in a few hours, I still have the rest of my patrol to do."

Then, without so much as a goodbye, she leaped off into the trees. Carter truly felt no insult, this was just how she was after all.

---

The days passed, and the two found a comfortable routine developed between them. They would awake early in the morning to dine on leftovers of the previous day's meal, then Taki would depart for her daily rounds. Carter would spend his day exploring near Taki's tree, working on various forest-living skills he hoped to develop, and just relaxing, as well as doing what he could to continue the construction of the stairs to Taki's tree. Taki would return during the afternoon, usually with a kill for Carter to help prepare to eat, and/or materials for the stairs. Sometimes they would take a walk together in the evening to gather more materials or food, or just to talk. Taki was still not one to initiate conversations, but Carter had gotten pretty good at getting her going with questions about the forest, her past, and other monster girls.

All the while putting aside his worries about his situation, Carter tried to take things one day at a time. A part of him even now anticipated becoming Taki's mate. To have someone who he could trust to never betray him... to always be with and look after him... there was something very attractive about that. He after all had never known such security with Jiro.

Still... so much of this felt surreal, and for better or worse he knew it would not last. The question is what would change and how.

---

It was another typical evening. Carter's belly was full from the wild boar he had cooked over a fire earlier, caught courtesy of Taki. They had finished a good deal of the stairs up to Taki's tree, and Carter was impressed with their progress on and sturdiness of the structure. Taki's memory for detail was quite amazing, even if she wasn't sure as to the purpose of some aspects of the construction she could still reproduce them as they built.

Having refreshed and cleaned himself in a nearby creek, Carter now returned to Taki's tree. Not seeing Taki around, he opted to climb up the vine ropes to the tree himself. Living in the wilderness had strengthened his confidence and his body considerably in a short time, and he actually smiled to himself in pride as he reached the tree house in what he wagered was record time. The stairs would still make this much easier though.

He then spotted Taki squatting in a dark corner of the room. Odd, what was she doing there? He stepped toward her, trying to start up a friendly conversation.

"Hey, looks like we'll be finished with the stairs in less than a week."

She didn't respond.

"Uh, Taki? Are you okay?" he inquired as he stepped closer.

Carter noticed she appeared to be breathing heavily, more than she had even after fighting the alpha werewolf. Come to think of it, she had seemed distracted and even quieter than usual over dinner...

He then saw it. Her right hand was down between her legs, while her left was squeezing her breasts intermittently. She turned to him, and her eyes clearly looked different. Still cold and emotionless, there also seemed to be a different sort of intensity in them, one he had never seen before.

"I can't take it..." she said at last, her voice somewhat strained. "I wasn't sure at first, but there's no mistake. It's time. I'm in heat."

Carter stepped back. "Wh- b-but I thought your mating season didn't start for another week at least?!"

"Your proximity must have sped my body's processes." She stood and stepped toward him, revealing her inner thighs to be moist from the fluids that were dripping from between her legs. "I hunger for you now, burn for you now. I must fulfill this need."

"N-now?"

"Now."

Carter well and truly panicked. Up until this point he hadn't even touched Taki beyond holding onto her when she carried him. Now he was expected to have sex with her, to do the most intimate thing a human being could do? Yes he knew this was how it usually went with monster girls, but all the same...

"I-I don't know if I'm ready..." he tried to reason with her, "in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not."

Predictably his feelings did not faze her. "That doesn't matter. I will make you ready."

"W-wait! Let's talk about this!"

She paused right in front of him, fondling herself seemingly on reflex. "What is the problem? I believe I am more than aesthetically pleasing, the way you stare at my breasts is proof of that."

"Oh-" he stated nervously, feeling awkward, "you noticed that?"

"I have noticed my thighs draw your eye as well," she stated, her gaze boring into him and making him feel weak in the knees. She was speaking normally but he could still readily tell he was a target for her now more than simply the companion she had spent these past weeks with. The instinct to mate with the male she had chosen was truly overpowering.

As for her words, it was true he had sometimes pondered what it would be like to have those powerful, smooth and silky legs wrapped around him. Then there had been the various tantalizing dreams he had had featuring her. The feelings from these thoughts and dreams had been confused and unclear before this, but now... now the way she was eying him made him feel like all the sexual desire he had repressed growing up was coming to the surface, putting every past risqué thought about her into a newly heated light.

"Or is it a lack of experience that gives you pause?" she asked him, now close enough for Carter to feel her hot breath, as well as a scent that could only be from her arousal. "It matters not, for while I have never been with a man, all my kind are gifted instincts that provide us all the knowledge necessary for intercourse."

She kissed him long and hard, Carter closing his eyes on impulse, her body pressing against him. When it ended he opened them to see her eyes engaging him in that same intense stare. "And I always follow my instincts," she stated in a breathy whisper. Seductive it was, but Carter couldn't help but feel she was mimicking an aroused tone rather than truly expressing one.

"Do you approve of the feel of my lips and tongue?" she asked, cocking her head. "My techniques will get better with experience, but as you just saw, I am fully able to do this as I am.

"That was... something," he admitted, feeling breathless and aroused. "But still-"

"As I said, I know what I'm doing," she cut him off sternly, her intent gaze never deviating. "First I must remove what is keeping me from accomplishing my goal."

With that vague comment she proceeded to extend her right scythe and repeatedly slash at the horrified Carter, who instinctively raised his hands in defense. Only to feel nothing but a draft as his pants fell to the floor, small cuts now visible along the waist of the pants.

He pointed an accusing finger at her even as his blush deepened. "You could have made me a eunuch!"

"Nonsense," she said dismissively. "An experienced mantis only cuts what she intends to cut."

"Well you still could have warned me!"

She retracted her scythe, ignoring his complaint. "Now I must begin exciting you further to make you erect."

She grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him toward her and kissed him again, more fiercely and erotically than before, and Carter found himself relaxing into her soft, agile lips. How could something as simple as touching lips feel so good?

Her kissing skills were indeed amazing, but when he chanced a curious peek he found she kept her eyes partly open during them, giving a detached expression that was more than a little off-putting. He closed his eyes, trying to banish the image from his mind and simply enjoy the kissing, but couldn't help but look again. This time her eyes were shut, perhaps she was copying him? That thought was interrupted though, his whole body jumping at the sudden assault on his senses caused by the intrusion of one hand down his underwear, the other holding him in place by the shoulder. She began to deftly fondle his member without pause.

Shocked though he was, the kissing and surprisingly skilled way her fingers worked on him still had him hard as he'd ever been very soon. He couldn't help but moan a bit in her kiss. It all felt so good.

"Enough foreplay," she stated simply before cutting off his underwear with a smooth slice.

"I could have just taken it off-" he started but was silenced by her pushing him down to the blanket of furs below.

"Lay down," she commanded.

"Aren't you going to get undressed?" he asked even as he was forced to comply, "And shouldn't I take off my shirt?"

"That's unnecessary. As for me, I am wearing no true clothing save for this thread," she stated as she removed the red ribbon tied in a bow from her neck and placed it on the floor.

Wait, when did she put that ribbon on? He'd never seen it before this encounter. It must have been after dinner, and before her masturbation session. Confusion over the ribbon though became the furthest thing from his mind as she closed her eyes in concentration.