Viridian Ninja

She grabbed his hand, her grip the weakest he had ever felt from her.

"No..." she whispered, her voice suddenly lonely and forlorn, "don't go... don't leave me all alone again..."

He gently removed her hand from his and caressed her face, wanting to at least seem strong for her. "I have to. It's my turn to help you. I promise I'll be right back." He turned to leave the room, leaving Taki staring after him.

---

Opening the torture room's door, he glanced up to see that sure enough Taki had created a hole in the ceiling there to make her way to the roof. There was no time to be impressed with her plan though, he had to move.

Carter tried to ignore the grisly scenes that seemed to present around every corner. Body after motionless body lay where they had fallen, many in various states of dismemberment. In places the floor was slick with blood. He was glad he had not been fed since his capture, as the sights would have surely made him vomit otherwise. Even if they deserved it, the slaughter filled him with guilt.

He forced the feelings out of his mind. The fact remained he needed to save Taki, he had to at least have the guts to get through this and do that for her after all she had done for him.

Thankfully the medical supplies were where he had remembered, in a closet not that far from where he had been held. Bandages, ointments, stitches, he grabbed handfuls of everything he could think of, even though he had limited knowledge in how to use much of it, then hurried back to Taki.

He found her lying on her back, blood pooling around her. Swallowing back his panic, he tried to stem the flow of blood where he could and began making tourniquets, but the stitches were useless to him, his hands were shaking so much from stress that he couldn't have used them even if he knew how to.

Taki stirred as he worked. "The marriage thread..." she spoke in a daze, "I lost it during the fighting..."

"Don't worry about that, I'll make one just for you later okay? We'll go home to the tree house, everything will be okay," he tried to reassure himself as much as her, his eyes moistening as he finished bandaging what he could.

Her breath hitched. She gasped and he could practically see the life drain from her bloodied body.

No... This couldn't happen...

He stifled a sob. She was fading fast. "Taki I don't know what else to do! What can I do?!"

"Energy," she replied weakly.

"What?"

"Your spirit energy... it will feed the demonic energy within me... make my body stronger... it may be enough to stabilize me. You need to have sex with me... now." As if in emphasis the pseudo clothing around her privates began receding.

"I... I'll try Taki but... I-I-don't know if I can do it like this." Even as he said this he dropped his pants and underwear and began to desperately stroke himself, to no avail.

Taki smirked at the sight as she weakly extended her hand to grasp his shaft, her blood-slicked fingers still deft as ever. "Thankfully your body can ignore the situation provided the right stimulus is provided."

He gasped at the sudden arousal. "Taki! What if I just hurt you worse?" he cried even as her hand somehow managed to make him hard.

She returned his plea with a steely glare, desperate hunger visible in her eyes. "This is about survival. I've been bandaged and I can handle the pain. Now ignore my wounds and fuck me with everything you have!"

The exertion of her command was too much, and she began to cough blood. Carter threw caution to the wind and straddled her even as she continued to weakly hack. He entered her, hoping he could stay hard as he realized her pussy muscles were not reacting like usual. This was nothing like he normally felt from her, her pussy seemed as weak as her own body, grasping him so lightly he could barely feel it. Still, so long as he could cum, it might be enough... it had to be enough.

Further, the desperation he felt to save her provided a stimulation of its own. He held her tight and rammed into her with all his strength, ignoring the pain Jiro's beating had given his own body.

"Kiss me..." she gasped weakly, "I can absorb a bit of energy through your saliva as well."

He did so, trying to ignore the taste of her blood in his mouth. Somehow, within a minute he managed to cum, and was overjoyed as he felt her pussy come to life, gripping and pumping at him with renewed strength. His happiness clouded with fear though, as he realized the rest of Taki's body grew still weaker, as if what little life she had left was being diverted to absorb his energy. She was still on a razor's edge between life and death.

He could feel Taki flinch under him, the pain from her wounds clearly affecting her, but with time the pleasure of sex seemed to cloud both their senses, her body focusing on pumping out as many orgasms as it could from him, and he doing all he could to help them along.

He came and came again, straining with all he had to remain conscious until he finally couldn't anymore. "Taki..." he moaned as he fell unconscious beside her, hoping this would not be the last time he looked in her eyes in this life.

---

Carter awoke to an unfamiliar male face.

"Aryana, he's waking up!" the man called out happily, adding to himself "wow, this is kind of like one of those déjà vu things isn't it?"

"Who are y- Taki! Where's Taki?!"

The red-haired man put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy there friend, she's going to be fine. You need to take it easy too, her body squeezed every drop of spirit energy out of you. Looks like it was just enough to save her."

Carter closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness..."

"I'm Clark by the way, and that stately steed is my wife Aryana," he noted, pointing to the centaur. "We're your neighbors. When it was clear the fighting was over with and Taki hadn't come back out, we headed in to rescue you two before the rest of the city was alerted to what had happened."

"It's quite admirable what you did," Aryana noted in a vaguely complimentary tone, her arms folded in a posture that somehow accentuated her breasts and proud demeanor at the same time. "One can never die from having their spirit energy drained during sex, but you pushed yourself as close as one can to it."

"I see..." he certainly felt fatigued, even now it was a struggle to keep his eyes open. "Where are we and where is Taki?"

"We are quite a fair distance into the forest. Taki's safe and getting fixed up by some other friends of ours, come see."

"Other friends?" he questioned warily. It seemed he was meeting a lot of new people now, people he had no choice but to trust.

The man beamed. "Can't have too many, right?"

With his weary body supported by Clark, Carter was led into a nearby clearing where he immediately noticed Taki lying motionless on a bed of moss. In front of her stood what at first appeared to be another centaur, this one clad in a bright white gown. The single horn protruding from her forehead revealed she was in fact a unicorn, a rare and mysterious monster famed for its healing abilities.

Her hands were clasped in front of her, her eyes shut in concentration. Behind her a tall man in a white robe was in a similar pose.

She began to speak in a melodic tone. "Great Eros, we your humble servants ask thee to guide and strengthen my power that this woman may be restored to health and reunited with her mate, that their love will be allowed to bloom and flourish as ours has."

Slowly her horn began to glow a blazing white, stray arcs of energy passing over Taki's prone form until it began to glow as well. The manifested purity of the unicorn's demonic energy built up to a greater and greater degree, until Taki's body was lifted off the ground by the energy surrounding her.

One by one, the streaks of power from the unicorn's horn, now blindingly bright, entered into Taki's many wounds, the bandages falling off of her one by one. The mantis groaned slightly but otherwise did not react, while her cuts shrank and closed one after another. A minute later and the energy from the unicorn finally dimmed, Taki's body floating back to the ground softly.

Carter immediately ran up to check on her condition, amazed at how much improved she appeared. He looked back up to the clearly exhausted but brightly smiling unicorn.

"It is done," she proclaimed. "Her wounds were extensive, so I fear that some scars may remain, and she must rest for some time, but she will regain her former health."

Tears fell from Carter's face clearly now as he held Taki tightly in his arms. "Thank you... thank you so much... I..." he paused, realizing he didn't know either of their names.

"Fiona, devoted servant of Eros, Goddess of Love" the unicorn replied sweetly.

Her husband took her hand, "and I am Amadeus, fellow servant of Eros and proud spouse of Fiona."

They both seemed to radiate kindness. Carter had heard of adherents of Eros, but their ideals were not exactly in keeping with those of the criminals who controlled his home city and thus he had never met any before.

"Well done, both of you," Aryana noted as she stepped into the clearing, Clark following. "Though I expected no less from the best healer I know."

Fiona chuckled, "You flatter me. I'm just glad she was stable enough for you to get her here in time."

"So, shall we invite you over for supper?" Amadeus suggested.

Now Fiona took his hand. "Actually darling, that healing I just did drained me greatly. I require..." she blushed slightly as she pressed her substantial bust against his arm, "a special meal, in private."

He chuckled and gave the others an apologetic look. "Ah, well in that case my friends, you will need to excuse us. Forgive our rudeness, but I can't let my wife's needs go unmet now can I?"

"Course not," Clark agreed with a laugh, "I remember the last time I tried to make Aryana wait when she wanted some, my hips were sore for a week."

As Aryana proceeded to slap her mate upside the head, Carter felt Taki stirring in his arms.

"Carter?" she asked weakly, her eyes slightly opening.

"I'm here, everything's going to be okay now," he assured her, no doubt in his mind anymore. "Though I gotta say, we really lucked out with your choice in friends."

Fiona paused on the edge of the clearing, turning to look back at him. "It was not luck, Eros moves to protect and bless the lives of lovers who worship her, as well as those who befriend them. Evil may win some battles, but love will always win the war. Every trial and tribulation makes love stronger, and Eros takes special interest in helping those who struggle most."

"She assists and guides circumstances, but she won't do things for you," Aryana added. "I and Clark wouldn't follow a goddess who treated her servants like they were helpless."

Carter looked at them in confusion. "You're adherents of Eros as well?"

Aryana huffed. "Of course, after all, it takes divine protection to keep this buffoon's incessant generosity from getting him seduced left and right."

Clark rolled his eyes, "there are other reasons you know..."

Carter had never really considered devoting himself to any of the gods before, but if Eros had indeed influenced the various lucky coincidences he and Taki had experienced in what were otherwise horrible circumstances, well... he was certainly grateful if nothing else.

He looked down at the mantis in his arms, sleeping soundly again, and smiled.

"Let's go home."

---

To Be Concluded

---

Epilogue: Trust Dance

---

Unsurprisingly the reports of the massacre of Jiro and his enforcers soon spread far and wide. The few surviving enforcers, now on the run from vengeful townspeople who wanted to eradicate all traces of Jiro's organization, spread stories of having seen a woman in green with huge blades. They said she moved like the wind and cut through their forces in a bloody display that left even these hardened criminals shaking with fear when they recalled it.

Rumors as to what exactly had happened proceeded to spread like wildfire. Some Order propagandists, ignoring the criminal nature of Jiro's group, spoke of the incident as proof that monsters were still the evil killers spoken of in old stories. Others claimed the one who slew Jiro and his men had been an angel sent by the Chief God to punish Jiro's evil.

Some people of monster friendly states speculated that it had been one of the kunoichi, the legendary succubus ninjas of the distant land of Zipangu, hired to rid the world of Jiro. Their monster allies found this unlikely, reasoning that a fellow monster would not kill humans for money or even to gain a husband. No, either the killer was a human themselves or a monster acting in some form of self defense.

Humans studying monsters, the so-called monster scholars, found the descriptions to be likely of a mantis. Albeit they could not say precisely what had provoked the creature so much as to commit such a slaughter. Details were too sketchy.

Their views were still the closest to the truth regarding the culprit, but only a few, deep within the forest, knew the full story.

---

"Hold still," Taki stated as she expertly cut at the stubble on his face, giving a closer shave with her scythes than Carter could have hoped to give himself. "A mantis only cuts what she wants to cut, but this level of detail is not simple even for me."

Carter sighed contentedly, sitting back in the chair he had recently constructed on his and Taki's arboreal porch. "I didn't think you cared about this sort of thing."

Taki paused as she considered her answer. "I've developed a... liking for your face clean shaven. It shows off your emotional nature better. Rugged stubble doesn't suit you, and it doesn't appear you are capable of growing a full beard."

He smirked at her. "In other words you think I'm cuter clean shaven huh?"

To a casual observer Taki would have appeared unmoved, but Carter could see an affectionate sparkle in her eye. "You could put it that way. Also, you may like to know that once you are an incubus your appearance will be able to change slightly to suit your and my own tastes. Hair growth is one thing that you will be able to limit or stop if you desire to."

"Oh, I guess that's why that man in the alraune flower we saw on the way back here looked clean shaven?" Despite how happy the guy looked Carter couldn't help but wonder if he needed saving, but Taki remarked that the amount of energy being thrown out by the plant and human couple indicated he was an incubus and had likely been with the alraune for a good number of years, and indeed after so long on a nectar diet would not have been able to survive without access to her. The idea of living the rest of one's life inside a flower still didn't seem all that appealing to him personally.

"Yes, normal methods of grooming and hygiene are not all feasible for alraune and their mates, or indeed for the husbands of a number of different monster girl types. Instead their bodies adapt to not need it."

"Still, if I stopped growing facial hair then that would mean you'd stop shaving me, so maybe I won't stop. It's nice being pampered like this."

Taki stayed on task, but a minuscule blush tinted her skin. She lightly touched the new red marriage thread around her neck. "Idiot..."

"I'll be paying for that remark in bed won't I?" He asked as he finally held still for her, a bit of nervousness in his voice.

Now that caused a small smirk on Taki's face. Recovering from her injuries had meant her daily and nightly sex sessions with Carter, while nice and therapeutic, had been a good deal more brief and sedate than she preferred. Carter was simply too worried about hurting her, and she too weak to take the lead. Now that she was largely mended she was looking forward to riding him as hard as she could once she got him back in bed. Hopefully their neighbors wouldn't interrupt, much as she had appreciated them coming over to share meals while she recuperated.

Then again Aryana and Clark had their own problems. Namely upon arriving back at the tree house Taki and Carter had found a group of wererabbits living there. Aryana immediately recognized them as freeloaders with an awful sense of direction who had once, according to her at least, tried to seduce Clark. The wererabbits remembered her clearly too, given how quickly they were reduced to bawling apologies. The cute little rabbit girls had made such a fuss that Aryana, on Clark's urging, had actually been guilt-tripped into letting them stay in her own territory for the time being. Her generosity was tempered by how she was loathe to let Clark out of her sight now, worried her seemingly innocent guests would leap in and try to make themselves fellow wives. It was possible, but far as Taki could tell the wererabbits were more interested in finding a monster-friendly area to meet a boy for each of them and start breeding like rabbits.

Speaking of breeding, she wondered how long before she would be able to feel the stirrings of new life inside of her. Her insectoid abdomen had seemed a bit plumper lately, but that might have been simply from not being as active due to her injuries. Still, with the amount of sex they had had and how much she wanted to have, pregnancy was inevitable even if hard to achieve, a by-product of having a body that literally devoured cum. A monster girl had to fill up substantially for any sperm to have a chance of fertilizing her. She might have considered the succubus nature the great transformation caused by the demon lord had given her kind to be a impediment in this regard, were it not for all the pleasure involved.

Raising a family with Carter, the thought filled her with a type of joy that even sex didn't bring. It was enough to make her glow inside, even if only a sliver of the emotion showed on her face.

It was then a new thought occurred to her. It was a memory of something she had seen her mother do with her father a number of times. Now that they were so comfortable with each other it felt right to do it with Carter, plus it would be a good test to see how completely her body had recovered. It'd be a nice variation on bedroom sex as well.

"Tonight I'd like to try something different," she stated, offering no explanation as to what she spoke of. "Meet me in the nearest clearing once the sun sets."

Carter knew not to ask further, Taki had developed quite a liking for surprising him and sunset was only a hour or two away.

---

"Trust dance?" Carter repeated as he stood before Taki in the clearing.

"Yes, it is a dance my kind perform with our mates. Your actions will symbolize the faith you have in me."

It would also be quite arousing for both, but he would figure that out soon so she didn't bother mentioning it.

"Sounds pretty deep, and I'm not exactly a dancer, but I'm willing to follow your lead," he explained, trying to hide his nervousness over his doubtful ability to engage in this special dance.

"Oh you need not worry about moving, your task is to remain still while I dance. You must try not to even flinch as I dance around you and slice off your clothing piece by piece."

"Slice off? This is sounding more like an excuse to have sex," he noted wryly.

"It is," she confirmed matter-of-factly, "but it is still special. It will demonstrate our bond, and make our future bonding even more pleasurable.

With that said, she stepped back and extended her scythes.

"Let us begin."

Carter watched in awe as his mate began to smoothly and sensually dance around him, every leaping, twirling, sashaying movement showcasing the feminine charms of her body as well as the agility and minute physical control she prided herself on. He could feel the rush of air as her scythes moved closer and closer as she circled him, and suppressed the impulse to flinch. He found it surprisingly easy, his eyes too enthralled by the alluring sight before him to close or turn away.