This creature.

This awful creature.

He wanted to tear this terrible creature apart.

The annoying little furball, this aggravating little bird, this vile Vile VILE creature. She would not leave him alone. The poultry cat had long sense stopped yelling at him, but she refused to let him be. He would claw at the female lying atop his back with his wings, and she would simply fly up into the air and plop herself down once they passed. As if she were mocking him.

"This is my mountain! Dragon!", She would say, but he still didn't understand her.

What did he do to deserve this torment. She was durable enough to survive whenever he struck her, and would return after a short reprieve. In that short amount of time, he could comfortably nap the day away. Then again, he could always find another mountain, but that would mean letting her win. He could not let her have that, now could he.

He was an Elder, the humans revered him as a god. How could this insufferable creature treat him like some common fledgling wyvern. Her movement broke him from his thoughts.

The bird, cat, human hybrid stood before him once more. Claws on her hips and tail swinging in the wind. Her white and brown wings flapped one last time and then folded behind her back. She huffed and crossed her arms beneath her breast.

"Dragon!", She started, "I want to make a deal."

Dragon. That was one thing she said that he could recognize. His annoyance made itself apparent when he rose from his roost, and glared down at her. He sat there on his haunches, and unfolded his wings in preparation to tear her limb from limb.

He wasn't violent, he wasn't one to casually attack his fellow monster, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let this creature humiliate him any longer. He reared back his wings in a violent motion, and she brought her claws up in surrender.

"I don't want to spend all day up here 'failing' to get you to leave," she turned around and beckoned him to follow her, "if you can prove you don't care for my treasure, then I'll leave you be."

He didn't know what she said, but her gesture reminded him of how hunters would get other hunters to follow them. He reluctantly folded his wings back into their normal state, and gave a windy huff. This action seemed to appease the female. She even laughed when she saw wind huff from his vents.

She turned and leapt off the cliff, and he followed after her. His wings flared out his dragon flames, but he could tell even more of his afterburn gave off that same purple color he saw before. That was concerning, but he continued to carefully hover in the air. And between each thrust of dragon fire from his wing's exhaust he lowered himself into the clouds below.

They flew down into a cave that burrowed into the mountain side. The female watched his wings with amazement, "Your wings are truly incredible." He ignored her comment, assuming it was some kind of insult.

He landed in the cave with a slight tremor. The cave was darker than most, but his eyes were easily capable of seeing through the darkness. The female walked into the mountain, and called for him to follow. As they traveled further in, the cave would expand to the point that he could freely flex his body. In the center of the cave laid a mountain of gold and a massive, beautiful painting sitting at the center of it all. A single ray of sunlight shined down on the precious metal giving the cave a golden glow.

The Elder bored glare told her everything she wanted to know. She stared up at the odd being. His glistening silver scales had given her the idea that the dragon came to steal the treasure. She wasn't even sure if she… it… he… was even an actual dragon. She was going to assume the dragon was indeed a dragon, and that they were female. Male monsters don't exist only a fool would think otherwise, she smugly thought to herself, 'I can't believe that even crossed my mind.'

He glared down at her, and simply turned to leave. The female followed after him, but remained silent. Sunlight streamed from the cave's mouth, and he simply took in the world beneath the clouds. The female elbowed him, "You can stay."

He huffed and returned to the pinnacle, 'What an annoying creature.'

-0-

Shizuka had never learned to play an instrument. Music was never something she had much interest in, growing up on a farm and all. But the weapon in her hands gave her this strange feeling. Like she had found something that had belonged to her, something she was destined to have. Her body, her tail, her very being seemed to meld with it.

"Shizuka," Dawn's touch brought her out of her trance, "I know it's a nice weapon, but I need to teach you how it works first."

Back in reality, Shizuka let Dawn take the Hunting Horn from her. He had told her that it was made from the carapace of a monster called Najarala. Tidal Najarala to be specific. The weapon's main material had an ocean blue color with purple frills that stuck out of the horn's business end. She didn't know why she felt so attached to it, but for whatever reason she had to know more about this monster.

"Okay," Dawn brought her back again, "there are three notes."

He swung the weapon in an arc around his body, and the weapon let out a pleasant sound. He swung around himself again, but this time he continued the arc into a second swing. It had let out another sound, but it held a higher pitch. The last note required him to swing the horn in a diagonal coming from his lower right.

"These three notes make up the unique songs of the Hunting Horn," he drew the horn back and it let out a short but continuous toon, "each song will grant a benefit unique to the sequence each note is played."

She took notice of the fact that he seemed to sway back and forth to a silent rhythm, "What did that song do?"

Still swaying to a silent song Dawn placed the handle end of the Hunting Horn on his shoulder, "This is 'Self-Improvement'." He walked up to her, without a care for the weight of the weapon baring down on him.

"It doesn't make you stronger," he presented the weapon to her, "if that's what you're thinking."

Once she took hold of the Hunting Horn again. Dawn had completely lost whatever power the horn had granted him. He stood there, arms crossed and gesturing for her to try it for herself.

She repeated his motions. She didn't swing the horn with the same expertise, but the horn would sound in the same way it had before. With the final step, she felt a new power fill her being, and with no ounce of glee found her body resonating to the same rhythm Dawn had, mere moments ago. It was as if her body had another mind of its own.

She beamed at Dawn, and he gave her a small applause in congratulation. Unable to control her own excitement, her tail swung out and wrapped around him, forcefully bringing him into a full body hug. Startled and disorientated, Dawn found himself semi smothered in Shizuka's fluffy embrace. He thankfully did not have his Great Sword, so she was able to completely coil around him.

"Shizuka?", He couldn't free himself without hurting her.

Knocked from her trance once more, "Oh," she uncoiled herself, "I di-didn't mean to… to…"

"It's okay," He stopped her, "we can all lose ourselves when we're having fun."

Tatsuo didn't know what he just saw, but it was probably to Shizuka's benefit based on how her face went from a shade of dark gray to bright pink within seconds. His gaze fell on the Ace and Mia, the two of them were simply taking a catnap. Or more accurately Ace was napping, while Mia had snuck up to sleep beside him. He sighed to himself, "What am I going to do about her?"

"What's wrong?"

Tatsuo ears stood on edge. He turned to the minotaur leaning on the wagon beside him. How she snuck up on him was beyond him. She had been watching Shizuka's lesson in the Hunting Horn with interest. He even saw what looked like aggression in her eyes when Shizuka coiled around Dawn.

'I look away for a second, and I miss everything.', He turned to Estrid, "Oh, nothing."

"No, really?", She looked genuinely concerned, "What's the problem?"

Sighing again, the chef relented, "Mia doesn't understand personal space."

Her neutral glare landed on the two werecats sleeping in the hammock, "Doesn't seem to be much of a problem if you ask me."

"It is a problem," he pointed at the only female werecat, "if she wants to be happy, AND have Ace be happy with her. She needs to give him time for himself. I've seen too many hunting parties break up because at some point they just couldn't stand being around each other anymore."

Her glare softened, "Then how do we go about fixing it?"

"We?"

"Yes, we.", She smirked, "I want to help you."

"…Why?"

"The why doesn't matter," she turned back to Dawn and Shizuka, "but I would like a favor in return."

Following her gaze, Tatsuo quickly realized what she meant, "I know you and Dawn have an agreement and all, but…"

"I know," she leaned back and held her head in frustration, "I had to receive 'payment' from married men before. I just don't want to have any... bad blood between me and Shizuka."

"Dawn isn't married," Tatsuo tiled his head at the minotaur, "where did you get that idea?"

Estrid's eyes widened in shock, and she went silent. She stared at the hunter and bunyip in confusion, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

"You mean," she paused, "Dawn isn't married to her?"

"Nope," the chef shook his head, "but I am trying to help her with that."

"So," Estrid glanced up at the werecat, "you want them to be together."

"Eh."

"Eh?"

"I owe a debt to Shizuka," he started, "she saved my life. The least I could do is help her out."

Nodding, Estrid turned back to the hunter and bunyip. Dawn had started demonstrating this Hunting Horn's songs, and how to play them. How he, a human, could so easily wield such a cumbersome weapon was beyond her. Though, that strength had drew her to him in the first place.

"I saved Dawn's life back at Reinhold," Estrid cupped her chin in thought before turning back to Tatsuo, "does he own me a debt?"

Tatsuo was sweating, 'Shit…', no one had told him that she saved Dawn. He had just assumed that she helped out a bit, not that she prevented any casualties.

"…Yes.", He quietly answered.

"And how would he repay that?"

"Um… uh…"

"Estrid!"

The both of them turned to see Dawn waving her over, "I need to give you and Mia your guild cards too! Wake them up!"

-0-

Their pack of nine, now eight, watched the hunter's caravan from the riverbank. There was little to no cover out in the plains outside of Wicker so, they made do with watching from the slight decline the riverbed made.

"Bonnie," their eldest, and Alpha, scooted up the riverbed, "what are they doing now?"

The second eldest and second in charged turned to her sister, "The hunter's swinging around a really big instrument, and the others are just relaxing."

"Okay," she scooted up further, "you can join the others. I'll keep watch."

Bonnie nodded and made her way to the rest of their pack. Elizabeth, the second youngest, had returned to Ala to make their report. The rest of them sat around picking meat from the river fish. Bonnie sat down beside Chloe, as she seemed to be having the most trouble preparing her meal.

"You need to slice it down the middle.", She placed her index claw at the trout's gullet and slowly dragged in down.

"Oh!", Chloe smacked her head in realization, "That's how you do it?!"

Her exclamation was met with a paw to the back the head from Rachel, the third oldest. Chloe held her head in pain, but understood why it happened, "…sorry…"

"By the gods Chloe," the fourth oldest, Miranda added, "you're turning seventeen this winter. Start acting like it."

"Hush it Mir," Rachel stepped in, "you almost gave us away back at Wicker. Don't go acting like you're any better."

Miranda was about to challenge her, but held her tongue. She was a lower rank, and wasn't allowed to challenge her elder sister. They returned to their silence, though this time around it wasn't as comfortable.

Three more hellhounds returned to their makeshift rest stop. The sisters Cera, Blaire, and Ursula, often referred to as the triplets. They were the pack's fifth youngest, forth youngest, and third youngest, respectively. In their paws they carried a single massive catfish. They sat beside Miranda and began skinning their meal.

"So.", Cera started, turning the catfish onto its back.

"You said the werecats are male, right?", Blaire continued, slicing the fish down the middle.

"What are they like?", Ursula finished, and peeled off the skin.

"Yeah," Chloe pulled on her new cloak, "the orange and gray ones are boys, and the blonde's a girl."

Miranda smirked, "So, were dealing with a minotaur, a fluffy lamia, a big boy, and three werecats."

Rachel yanked the bone from her fish's ribcage, "Don't get cocky. That 'big boy' killed that big green monster back in Reinhold, the monster that swallows mamono like us whole."

"Oh please," Miranda waved away her elder's concern, "he's a human. Even if he is as 'strong' as that little werewolf said, he's still no match for us."

Bonnie sliced a piece off of Chloe's fish causing her younger sister to pout, "How many of them can fight?"

"From what I heard," Chloe brought her meal closer to herself, "all of them except the gray werecat can fight."

Rachel picked another piece from Chloe's fish much to her disdain, "So, we got five combatants," she turned to Bonnie, "are we going to strike now or are we waiting for Druella in Order territory?"

"Hen… I mean Alpha," Bonnie rolled her eyes, "wants to strike soon, but she's waiting for Elizabeth to come back with the okay."

-0-

"Alright," Dawn held up Estrid's new guild card, "full name?"

"Estrid Daniels."

Dawn had taken the opportunity to send the hunter, that came through the rift near Reinhold, with a request for supplies. Along with Dawn's personal Hunting Horn, the other supplies would have been considered negligible items for an expedition. Dawn made it his first priority to register the new members of the party.

"Okay… I can fill in that one," he began writing on her card, "and that one… and that one."

"Is there anything else?", Estrid tapped her foot in impatience.

"…Yes," Dawn took out another device from the new supply box, "I need to take your picture."

"I'm not going to stand here for an hour," she deadpanned, "I just pulled the wagon another five miles."

"No, no," Dawn waved the device around, "this will take a picture of you in an instant."

"Okay?", Estrid stood straight and gave her best smile. Which amounted to a soft glare and a grimace.

"You don't have to force a smile.", Dawn added.

Her face relaxed into a neutral expression, and he clicked a button on the device. It flashed and she yelped in surprise. Dawn waved the piece of paper that came out of it, and watched the black fade from the photo.

Rubbing her eyes, she asked, "Can I see it?"

"Sure.", Dawn held it up for her to see. It was a perfect image of her from her shoulders up. Though impressive she had to look away from the photo almost immediately after the black faded completely. Dawn came around her shoulder and realized why. Her red eyes had brightened to the point that the majority of her face was a bright red.

"Well," he shrugged and placed a hand on her shoulder, "at least you don't have to look at it, yourself."

She glared at him. A deep blush flooding her cheeks, and arousal in her eyes, "Prepare yourself."

"For what?"

Her face flush with an even deeper red than her eyes, "For payday."

Shizuka slithered up to Dawn after the minotaur stormed off. A confused expression on her face, "What was that about?"

"Payment."

The bunyip forced the hunter to sleep on her side of the bed that night. As far away from the minotaur as possible. Dawn tried his best to not suffocate beneath the mamono's fluff. He received no assistance, not even from Ace. His most faithful companion had chosen to laugh at his 'misfortune' instead.

-0-

Ace watched the road from the back of the wagon. A piece of felvine in his mouth, and his 'wife' curling into his chest from beneath him. Ever since he first met Mia; she would cling to him day in and day out. It had annoyed him in the beginning, but for it to go on this long. He didn't know whether to admire her determination, or to toss her from the moving wagon.

"Whatcha eaten?", Mia asked.

He ignored her, and continued to eat his felvine. Mia sat up to get herself closer to the palico. She grabbed the other end of the felvine in her mouth, which forced Ace to focus on her. She snapped off the backend and swallowed it. Her eye then dilated and she then collapsed in a heap as the felvine high took her.

Ace smirked, 'Serves her right.'

"Did you just give her felvine?"

Ace turned from his view to glance at Tatsuo. His smirk turned into a grimace, "…Well yes, but actually no."

As the chef strangled the palico, Dawn flipped through the pages of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia. Back in Wicker, he had seen fire in that girls eyes and he wanted to know more. She was a humanoid, with black skin, short black hair, and a spiked collar.

'The fire could just be my imagination,' he flipped to the next page.

There weren't many mamono with pitch black skin, but that could just be her normal skin color. The mamono he had seen so far had at least some variety when it came to their physical features. Shizuka and her mother for example, despite their relation, held distinct differences. Difference she had received from her human father.

The bunyip herself had coiled around him while he mused. Seemingly sensing his frustration, she wrapped herself around his waist to try and comfort him. The hunter had yet to notice the act.

"Are you okay?", She asked.

"Yes… I saw a mamono back in Wicker… burning eyes," he continued flipping through pages, "I'm looking for her species."

"Are you sure it was her eyes?", She leaned into his shoulder, "She could have been the blacksmith's daughter."

"Does she have black skin?", Dawn turned to face the bunyip currently nuzzled into his neck.

"Yeah," she blushed from the intimacy, "the blacksmith came from the Khepri-Incubus Kingdom, his wife is an Ignis."

"Red cloak?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "you just ran into Annette."

"…I see."

He relaxed, and finally took notice of the bunyip's tail that was currently coiled around him. After having to sleep in Shizuka's fluff he had grown used to the feeling. Dawn and Shizuka fell into a comfortable silence. The sweet sound of a palico being throttled by a chef was music to his ears. Shizuka, unlike Dawn, was rightfully disturbed by the sound of Ace's choking.

"Should we help him."

"Ace or Tatsuo?"

Her tail tightens around his waist.

-0-

Estrid was exceptional to say the least. Even after pulling a wagon for twenty miles and another five afterwards. She was still ready to pull the wagon a third of the way to Lescatie. Dawn carefully helped her drink another vial Dash Juice beside the wagon. Now revitalized, the minotaur let out a sigh of relief, and rested against the hunter. Shizuka could only growl in frustration.

"You know," Mia said, "you could join them."

Shizuka calmed herself, and turned to the werecat relaxing on her tail. Surprisingly enough, the girl had recovered from her felvine poisoning relatively quickly.

"Mia, get off my tail."

"But it's so comfy and sooooooft."

"Mia, get off her tail," Tatsuo walked up to them, "Ace needs you."

"DOES HE!", Mia leapt from the bunyip's tail in a flurry of motion, and based on the distant yelp, she had tackled the palico.

"Though," the chef sat next to her, "she does have a point."

Shizuka deflated as she saw Estrid lean into the hunter's shoulder. Tatsuo gave her a comforting pat on the tail. It didn't help much.

"Estrid doesn't want to get in your way," he reasoned, "I'm sure you could work something out with her."

"How do you know that?", She asked.

"Just trust me."

-0-

"GET OFF OF ME!", Ace threw the cat girl from his back. All he wanted to do was enjoy some quality bug collecting time, ALONE. How Dawn put up with two mamono was beyond him, while he, a clearly greater being, could barely handle one. Mia was too much, just too much. He took a look around himself, and decided to flee into the nearby trees. Mia followed soon after, neither noticing that Ace had dropped his halberd.

"What's wrong?!", She called out.

'Gog damnit!', He continued his sprint on all fours, "Leave! Me! Alone!"

Undeterred, Mia followed after the palico, though she found herself moving far slower than Ace. In fact, Ace traveled through the forest far easier than she could. He sprung from branch, to log, to the ground floor with relative ease. She could barely keep up as she was now.

'How am I supposed to keep up with him?', She thought to herself.

Ace came to halt when he noticed that she had stopped following him. Mia's breath was labored, and her legs ached. Neither of them noticed that sun was starting to set until now. Mia removed her blonde hair from her eyes, and steadied her breathing the way Ace had shown her. She got on all fours, and took off.

'Damnit,' his shock evident on his face, 'I made a monster.'

He returned to his sprint. Springing from tree to tree, beneath fallen logs, and bounding over hills and crevices. Mia followed after him, while actually keeping up with him for once. If he faltered, if he made a single misstep, she would catch him.

Mia felt the cold night wind overcome her. The chill refreshed her resolve, and she picked up the pace. Ace was only ten strides ahead of her, and she could smell the fear radiating from him. She didn't know why, but it made her heart skip a beat. Neither of them could afford a mistake. If Ace tripped, she would catch him for sure, but any mistake on her part would cost her precious ground.

Ace felt eyes on him. From the trees, to the werecat following him, and even from the sky above. He took a glance skyward, and saw what looked like the shape of a large bird. He glanced to his right, and saw the faint images of a human and sprites of fire. To his left, the shadow of another, yet he didn't hear anything; no footsteps, no flapping of wings, nothing. He ground to a halt, and Mia soon collided with him.

"Caught you!", She accidentally roared.

"Mia! Stop!", Ace pushed her off of him and whispered, "We're being followed."

"What are you talking about?", She whispered back and finally took in the ominous feeling of eyes baring down on them.

"Be quiet,", Ace took her paw in his, and dragged her behind him, "and keep a lookout for whatever's watching us."

Besides the fact that Ace was actually holding her paw. Mia felt a primal fear overcome her, like a beast to fire, and a child to the dark. She calmed herself, and scanned their surroundings. The feeling of being watched remained, but there were no signs of movement. Mia squeezed Ace's paw, and to her glee, he squeezed back.

Whoever followed them into the forest kept their distance. Ace reached for his halberd, but accidentally grabbed Mia's tail instead. Mia turned to him, with a lustful gaze, "I would love too, but..."

"I was going for my halberd.", Ace stopped her.

The feeling of being watched suddenly vanished, and the two werecats felt some ease return to them. Ace was about to let go of Mia's paw, but found himself in her vice grip. He turned to yell at her, but was silenced when Mia lovingly pecked him on the lips. Confused and disorientated, Ace fell with Mia falling on top of him.

Her blush and her lust overcoming her, and pressed herself into the palico once more. Grinding her privates against his, and purring into his ear. Ace tossed the girl off of him, and planted himself over her, "Stop that!"

Whatever trance that came over her faded, and a flash of embarrassment replaced her lust. She covered her face in shame and whispered back, "I'm sorry."

The feeling of being watched returned, and Ace felt the fur on his neck stand on end. He scooped Mia onto his back with a squeak, courtesy of the cat girl. Mia wrapped her legs and arms around Ace's waist and neck, respectively. As Ace piggybacked the poor girl back to camp, he took notice of the fact that not only did he and Mia not go that far, but that they had also ran past the same tree at least five times in their chase.

'Definitely not telling Dawn that part.', he thought to himself.

As he neared the tree line, he saw the fire of Tatsuo's canteen. He sprinted through the overgrowth, and fell into an exhausted heap, before the startled chef. Mia slid off of the palico's back, and quicky moved to help him up.

Tatsuo ran up to them, and helped Ace onto his feet, "What happened?"

"Things are following us," Mia answered, "but I think they're gone now."

"Where's Dawn?", Ace asked, "We need to tell him."

"He's um…", the chef hesitated, "preoccupied."

"What, where is he?", The werecats' said in unison.

"Well…"

-0-

The interaction between Demonic Energy and Spirit Energy is not strictly parasitic. Based on what he has learned so far, Dawn was slowly gaining an understanding of this strange world. Mamono produce Demonic Energy, but they fed on Spirit Energy which they obtained through intimacy. The problem was that he still did not understand how a mamono would consume the energy from a living being.

Due to the transformation; monsters around the world took the form of women. He scanned the page, 'This conversion allows mamono to feed on their partner without draining his lifeforce?'

'This process is not without requirement.', His eyes widened in realization, 'Genuine Affection?'

That actually explained quite a lot of what he had seen so far. Mamono are not just predators of another nature. They are also, in a sense, symbiotic. The 'feeding' process would fill the partner with Demonic Energy and the mamono with Spirit Energy. Thus, the term Demonic Corruption.

Humans afflicted with Demonic Energy will go through the monsterization process. Women will transform into a mamono. Typically, a succubus if it is the energy alone, however if the energy is sourced from a specific mamono they will usually become a part of said mamono's species. Men though, will always convert into an Incubus with very few exceptions.

"Then why are Ace and Tatsuo males?", Dawn leaned back and stared into the late-afternoon sky.

Lost in thought, Dawn did not notice the tail slowly coiling around his waist, and the minotaur standing in front of him. A pair of claws wrapped around his shoulders, and a pair of hands on his chest. His gaze fell to Estrid's red glare, but unlike before she did not look away. In fact, she staired deeper into his own eyes. Arousal and lust replaced her neutral gaze, and the claws and tail that secured him in place tightened.

Estrid leaned into him, pressing her breast against him, and said, "It's payday."

AN: And so the horny makes itself known. Behold its glory!

Memes aside I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And yes there will be a lemon at the start of the next chapter.