Chapter 4: Bare in the Woods
Well, this is turning into a big waste of time! I'm supposed to be tracking down a crazy Nekomata who has my stupid little brother and yet I find myself in the middle of a forest, (full of monster girls) I'm thirsty, tired and worst of all, I've lost the fucking trail! "Gahhhh! What the hell am I even doing her!?" I screamed out loud, falling to the ground with my hands over my head. I took a few deep breaths, forcing back the tears welling up in my eyes. "Just calm down Bain," I said to myself as I slowly rose to my feet again, "Just think, look at what's around you and think." I decided to have another look at the paw prints on the ground; hopefully they would give me a clue to how she miraculously disappeared.
Moving back to some of the older prints, I looked closely and noticed that they were moving further apart and setting deeper into the ground with each step she took, this means she was increasing her speed before she disappeared. The very last two paw prints on the ground sat next to one another and were at least a metre away from the main trail, it looked as though is she had skipped or jumped into the air and then landed flat on her feet after a run-up. This kind of reminded me of the game hopscotch, Tania and I used to play that game when we were kids, but why did she jump in the first place? The final clue was the toe marks; they were set deeper into the ground than the pads were, but why? Did she jump again? I looked at the path in front of the paw prints to figure out why she would jump, there were no rocks or logs blocking her path, a few bushes and plenty of trees were around me but that was it. "…..trees….."
I looked up and saw the branch of an old oak that hanged over the path ahead of me, too far and high for me to reach in a jump, but perhaps not for a Nekomana. I don't like heights, simple as that. But with this being my only chance of finding her trail again I didn't really have much choice. Fortunately the oak I was climbing had plenty of large, thick branches to grab onto as I slowly made my way up the tree. I kept a grip on any sticks I could reach to help me keep my balance I started to type rope along the branch, looking for any signs of disturbance, sure enough, I found it.
I was so excited when I saw the claw marks on the branch I gave out a victorious "woo hoo!" and almost immediately after a big "oh crap!" I realized that if I was going to follow Kat I would have to somehow move from tree to tree without falling or losing my sense of direction! That's impossible…..isn't it? Climbing up and down every tree looking for some scratch marks would be stupid and ridiculously slow paced. I suppose I could move through the branches like Kat did but I'm not a Nekomana, and a fall from this height could result in a broken leg and an easy husband for a passing monster girl. After considering my options I realized that there wasn't really any other way I could do this, and with Kat moving further away from me every passing second, I couldn't afford to waste any more time.
It felt awkward at first, moving from tree to tree, stepping onto one branch after another, looking over each one for any claw marks whilst keeping track of where I was going so I wouldn't end up getting lost. A lot of the trees were sticky and rough to the touch, infested with bugs that bit at my skin and the occasional nesting hawk or sparrow that swooped me when I got too close. At one point I found myself on top of a branch that hanged just above a sleeping Oni, her skin was a brilliant shade of red with leopard skin rags covering her privates and particularly large bosom, unsurprisingly she had bottles of sake next to her with a couple still containing their watery contents. I was thirsty, but I don't think sake was going to help, and I wasn't going to start trouble with someone that had the strength of a dozen men and a temper to match. Eventually I started to get a good idea which branch Kat would jump to next, as she seemed to move in a zig-zag pattern onto branches that were usually overhanging at roughly the same height as what she was standing on.
Over time the fear of falling slowly fading away, and after some practice I was beginning to pick up the pace, but with the sun beginning to set, thirst and exhaustion started taking its toll and eventually I had to stop and rest for the night. I didn't really want to sleep with monster girls all over the place but I hadn't slept for almost two days now and I needed to keep my energy up if I wanted to keep moving through the trees tomorrow. I know how to make a fire with sticks and everything, but that would probably attract every horny creature in this forest like moths to a light, I was just gonna have to spend another cold night in the woods. With a bed made from a pile of leaves it didn't take me very long to fall asleep, the singing in the distance gave me a strange sense of safety and peace as I began to dream. I was back home sitting by the fire place, the warm flames filling me with warmth that felt strangely like a heartbeat. I could feel someone holding me tightly from behind in a loving embrace, a woman was singing beautifully in my ears as the itching of my skin and the dryness of my mouth began to fade, it was as though if I had entered the heavens, my body and soul now cleansed and healed, all my troubles and doubts were left far behind me. I was at peace.
It was the light of the sun that made me stir, feeling and thoughts began returning to me and I began to feel as though something wasn't right, I felt strangely warm and comfortable despite spending a night on some leaves, the bites and thirst that pained me yesterday were miraculously gone, and I could feel something holding me….something warm….and…alive? I opened my eyes and found myself inches from a gentle face with bright emerald eyes, her head was covered in short brown hair that was messy and uneven with cute little bear ears sitting on top. "Well good morning!" She cooed gently, her voice was sweet but confident and proud. "Mmmpfff!" I tried to speak only to find that she was holding me tightly to her chest, and she was naked! "What? Oh! I'm sorry!" she cried out apologetically as she adjusted her grip, giving me enough room to speak.
"Who are you?" I asked as I nervously tried to break free of her powerful grip. "What are you doing? Please don't hurt me!" "It's ok sweetie, I'm not gonna hurt you" she said with a gentle smile. "I saw you sleeping on the ground and decided to keep you warm with my body heat" "Really? Why would you do that?" My tone may have sounded a little aggressive but I'm sure you would freak out if you woke up with a naked person cuddling up to you! "Well you just looked really cold sleeping there!" She replied calmly, though I noticed her expression saddening slightly. "You looked thirsty too so I gave you some water and put some lotion of those nasty bites on your body as well" I suddenly realized how harsh my words were and held my head low with shame. "Thank you for helping me, and I'm sorry for being so rude, the last two days have been kinda rough for me as you can tell." Her mood brightened almost immediately, pulling me into another tight embrace that made my face turn red. "Aww it's alright little fella I forgive you! But what are you doing out here anyways?"
"I'm trying to track down a nekomata, she has my little brother and I want to bring him back home." There was no point in lying to her, she didn't seem dangerous (at the moment) and asking locals around for help might not be a bad idea. "Oh that's horrible!" she cried out. "Is that why you were moving through all those trees yesterday?" "You saw me doing that?" I asked nervously, my cheeks turning red again. "I probably looked pretty ridiculous doing that considering I'm not that good a climber eh?" "You didn't do too badly for a human." She gave me a gently nudge in the ribs and winked, "But if you like I can help by following her scent with my nose!" "Oh, umm….well thanks, you sure you ok with helping me?" Even though she helped me last night she could easily lead me to a cave and keep me for herself if I wasn't careful. "It's fine sweetie I'm happy to give you a hand!" she announced, getting to her feet and putting her cloths (technically furs) back on and started climbing the tree above me before I could even begin to argue. "Now what exactly am I looking for?" "She leaves claw marks on the branches she jumps onto, they might have traces of her scent."
"Okie dokie!" She cried out from above, the sound of sticks breaking and leaves rustling helped me pinpoint her location as she began searching for the trail that I had been following. "Found it!" She called out excitedly, she began sniffing the mark on the branch and then turned her nose to the air for any trace of her. "Her scents faint but I can lead you in the direction she was moving in from the ground!" "Really? Terrific!" I shouted in return, if we can follow her on foot, catching up to her might now be possible. Jumping back to the ground, the grizzly began following Kat's scent as she moved along a seemingly invisible trail while I followed closely behind. Her nose seemed to be doing its job as we were now moving at a very good pace through the woods, I kept my bow at the ready, just to be safe, fortunately I didn't have to use it as we soon found her paw prints on the ground again, eventually leading us to a sight that caught me by surprise.
Buildings, hundreds of buildings sitting alongside one another in a massive valley sitting right in the middle of Moanwood! A massive wall made from timber and stone surrounded the area with armed soldiers patrolling the gates, from up on the hill we were standing on I could see hundreds of humans and monsters moving amongst the massive structures, some reaching four stories high! Many of the trees were likely cut down to make room for the settlers but it was still rather strange seeing so many houses and shops bunched together in a place that seemed wild and uninhabited at first glance. "So this is what a town looks like" I said aloud, the grizzly heard me and gave a hearty laugh. "You never been to a town or village before?" she asked. "No, I haven't actually" I admitted, scratching my head awkwardly. "Well from the look of those tracks, I'd say she might have entered through the main gate, she could still be there! I'd go down there with you and everything but sadly, I don't do so well in crowded areas, you'll have to find her on your own from here" "That's fine, thank you so much for helping me." I held out my hand for her to shake, only to find myself in another awkward embrace with the rather affectionate grizzly. "You never actually told me your name you know?" "Really?" she said as she thought back on it. "Yeah your right! The names Gaia." "Bain, it was meeting you Gaia, I'll see you around I guess." "Actually, before go I need to ask you something." I froze mid step, apprehensive to what her question was going to be.
"When you find that nekomana, what do you actually plan to do when you find her?" "I….well, you mean how I'm going to get him back?" I asked, my heart now beating properly. She bit down on her lip and began fiddling with her hair "Well not quite, I could tell from the injuries on your face that you two don't seem to be very close friends, what I meant was if you find her, are you gonna to try something dangerous that could get someone killed?" The question caught me off guard, was I going to fight her again? What would happen if I won? Would I kill her? Would she kill me if I lost? "I see what you're saying," I said as I subconsciously placed a hand over my left eye "I'd like to avoid a fight if I can, but if it comes to that….." I didn't really know how to finish that sentence; I never killed a person before, Kat might not be human but she was still technically a person. Gaia placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as I pondered these words. "I just ask that you don't put anyone's lives in danger for the sake of revenge, it'll only make things worse ya know?" Without another word Gaia turned and walked back the way she came, leaving me alone to my thoughts as I began making my way down to the town gates.