The Serpent and the Shoemaker

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As Van set out from the village the next morning he considered how foolish his actions seemed, wondering out into the wilderness because a voice in his sleep told him to. Yet again he pondered creatures he knew about and how they could be setting up a trap for him and yet again he concluded that these events didn't fit with any of them.

Not that this meant it couldn't be a trap by some other being, and as much as he wanted to believe in Serafina he had brought along a hunting knife just in case he ended up needing it, whether for defense along the way or to help him get more food if he got lost somehow. Further, a small belt of forest lined the Great Labyrinths and was known to be home to a number of types of mamono that were known to snatch men on occasion. So while he bore them no ill will, as an extra precaution he carried in his satchel a small bag of peppers that had been ground up into a fine powder. Throwing a fistful of it in the face of an attacker was as effective against most mamono as it was against humans, that is it was effective enough to make sex be the last thing on a mamono's mind for a while. It was certainly better than trying to fight them directly. For while even a seasoned warrior might fall before a mamono's seductive wiles while he attempted to fight her, a coughing and gasping, temporarily blind mamono would be easily resisted or escaped from, and that's assuming she didn't simply retreat on her own.

Of course its use also assumed you had enough time and ability to use it, so keeping yourself aware of your surroundings was of vital importance. Further a traveler needed to know to walk the opposite direction as soon as they got even a whiff of the sweet-smelling pheromones some mamono used to attract men, as if they didn't it wouldn't be long before their will to defend themselves would be gone. And of course the pepper powder didn't do much of anything to the more powerful and supernatural mamono types. Still, it was one of the cheapest defenses one could get against mamono and effective enough that most travelers swore by it.

During the hours-long walk on the largely deserted dirt road Van had ample time to think on a number of things. His own feelings about being with a mamono were among the forefront of them. He had been sincere with Serafina, but he only now began to consider how little actual experience he had with demihumans. His home city was unusual in being quite urbanized and far enough away from wilderness areas that many of the more nature-loving mamono steered clear of it. As for Van, he was quite sedentary growing up, rarely ever leaving the city, a fact which made Van's love of nature a bit surprising to some.

And while people there were more tolerant of those who had positive views toward mamono, this didn't mean they actively endorsed relationships or close interactions with them. It was far from the rare and distant semi-utopias where humans and demihumans were said to live in relative harmony, indeed to ease living together most of the mamono that did live in his city did so with a degree of secrecy, donning the guise of a human when in public and usually only revealing their true nature to close friends and lovers. There was at least one wealthy government official whose wife was rumored to be a fox woman of some kind from the land of Zipangu. Certainly her husband was one of the main forces behind the more tolerant mamono-related laws of the city.

Of course Van rarely saw, let alone spoke with such high society types. On the other hand he did come to hear gossip about a few cases of people who had gone missing over the years, their disappearances being blamed on succubi or dullahan as well as the more conventional causes of murder or simply running away from home. They were interesting stories, but mostly just hearsay.

Despite all this, one of his more memorable encounters occurred as a young teen when he was helping in his father's shoe shop, a mere year or so before lack of customers and his parent's untimely deaths forced the shop to close. On that day a traveling lizardman (to Van the common name was misleading, he thought of them as "lizardwomen") by the name of Luise came in, wanting to surprise her husband with a pair of well-made shoes, ones fit for a warrior she made sure to emphasize. She stated that since her kind did not wear shoes, (their scaly feet being more than tough enough), she knew little about what made a quality shoe, but surmised that like with weapons ones made individually by a practiced hand were superior to ones mass-produced with cheap material and assembly lines.

Her confidence and coolheaded demeanor were infectious, his father getting over the shock of having a mamono customer quite quickly and getting to work on her request. Van himself was so enthralled by the appearance of the exotic woman that he ended up staring longer than he should have, to the point that the until-then stoic reptile woman smirked at him and said she was taken but to keep staring if he wanted to spar with her. That and one glance at the imposing blade at her side was enough to convince him to hastily apologize, but she laughed it off remarking that she was used to being stared at and that looks like his were preferable to ones of disgust, fear or anger.

Emboldened, he began asking questions about her and her kind and soon Luise had him listening with rapt attention to tales of her adventures around the world, the people and mamono she had met (and often fought) in her quest to become a truly great warrior, at times acting out the events with fervent, yet dignified flair.

Beyond that dignity though she turned out to have some comedic quirks as well, namely going on a five minute diatribe about her views on her nickname "Lulu." It seemed she was okay with her husband or friends calling her that in casual conversation, but objected to it in any interaction that was serious, and simply calling her "Lu" was an offense that usually resulted in the offender bleeding and Luise excusing the slight injury as a "reflex reaction." She was adamant that it was truly a reflex, her pride acting out on its own, and Van had to restrain himself to keep from laughing at how serious she was about the whole thing.

He'd been a bit surprised by how her demeanor changed when she told him about how she had met her husband, blushing a bit and getting a dreamy look in her eyes as she recounted it. It started as a normal challenge to a young swordsman she had met on the road, but it had escalated to them fighting a grand battle that pushed them both to the very edge before ending in a utter stalemate, the pair coming to a mutual respect and admiration before, as she put it, "instinct" took them both over.

She refused to explain any further than that to Van's disappointment, and their talk ended abruptly as his father, a bit annoyed with him, let him know that his break time had ended quite a while ago. Luise had smiled and coolly took responsibility for detaining him, remarking that Van was a "fine young man" and giving him a kiss on the cheek goodbye that left the shocked Van stumbling about in a pleasant daze for a good ten minutes as he got back to work.

Luise had been one of the main reasons Van came to have such favorable views toward mamono. After meeting her he devoted most of his spare time to learning what reliable information he was able to get about the demihumans, while his adolescent fantasies began to include about as many mamono as they had human women. Yet in all that time he had never considered he would ever be in a position to actually wed a demihuman. He supposed it was natural though, to keep mamono to his fantasies and in reality go for what most men went for. And yet here he was, going to meet a demihuman he had pledged to be with forever.

As he left the road behind and approached the forest edge all such pondering ceased. His full attention was needed to his surroundings now. Experienced with mamono or not he needed to trust he was doing the right thing here.

He didn't expect to be attacked immediately upon reaching the forest, after all people traveled near this belt of trees on a regular basis without incident. Entering the forest was another matter entirely. Once beyond the safety of the road you were in mamono territory and few risked going in alone, even with the pepper powder. Yet Serafina had said she was going to keep anyone from bothering them, though he didn't understand how she could keep the various lustful denizens of the wilderness at bay. Indeed as he continued on it was as if the forest was devoid of mamono. He remained wary however, as sometimes travelers could move for hours through places where mamono were common before being attacked, and sometimes attacks simply didn't happen. Things were clearly more complex than just a bunch of monster girls constantly waiting in ambush for the next man to show up.

The forest was beautiful though, and Van stopped for a moment to gaze up into the dappled light of the canopy. He proceeded to gasp in shock upon spying a lithe figure hanging on the branch directly above him. She was lying on her belly, her legs and tail dangling from the branch, her eyes shut but her ears perked and alert to signal she was fully aware of her environment. The black fur covering portions of her body along with her tanned skin made her rather hard to spot if you didn't already know she was there.

The werecat seemed to have been resting, but opened one eye lazily to glance down at him before giving him a coy smile. As for Van he couldn't help but be awestruck at the sight of her golden yellow eye, her pupil slit like a cat's.

He stepped back a bit. "Uh, hi there miss... um, are you perhaps Serafina?" She had said she would meet him beyond the forest belt where the Great Labyrinths started but he wanted to be sure.

The cat woman propped herself up with one arm, giving him a view of her quite full breasts, which must have been quite firm for her to have been laying on them like that. "Afraid not cutie, my name's Takara, it means 'treasure'" she replied, the hint of a purr in her sweet yet sexy voice.

Takara gave him a teasing wink and licked the thin fur of her hand. "It's too bad too, you look like fun... I would have jumped you in a heartbeat if she hadn't spread the word this morning that bad things would happen to anyone who so much as touched you. Sera's been the strongest mamono in these woods ever since she moved in, and she knows magic to boot so she's taken pretty seriously. Although..." she gave him a rather predatory look and licked her lips, "looking at you now you might be worth the risk."

Van held up his hands, a nervous smile on his lips, "I'm flattered but no thank you, I'm taken so I'll just be continuing on to the labyrinth."

"Aww," the werecat drawled in disappointment. "Seeing you really got me in the mood too, been ages since I caught a man... I'd best go searching while I'm motivated though, maybe today's the day I find somebody willing to take me in." She got up on four legs and stretched like a cat before standing erect and again showing off her amazingly flexible spine with another erotic stretch, her long black hair flailing about.

Van tried to ignore how the sight of her stretching and licking herself all over, especially the way those actions made her breasts bounce about, were getting him quite hard in his pants. It didn't help that unlike the werecats he had seen in books or heard about living in towns this one wore no clothing, only patches of soft black fur in certain places forming a semblance of a covering. "Y-you want to be someone's pet?"

"Well, not just anyone," Takara replied, stopping in mid lick, her eyes brightening in enthusiasm as she recited the qualities of her ideal man, "he's gotta be cute, and nice, and fun, oh! and live somewhere safe away from nasty towns like the one you came from. It'd be great if he spoiled me with treats and lots of attention too. It's hard to find a man like that though... there are so many humans around here who seem to want nothing more than to try to skin my silky self on sight. I'll tell you, a lot of us out here would give up their right arm to find a guy like you, a man willing to let go of everything for her."

Van was a bit taken aback by the praise. "T-thank you, but I'm really not that great a catch, just a poor shoemaker."

"You think somebody who lounges nude in the trees all day cares about money?" she laughed. "You got a dick, a hot body and you don't run screaming or grab your knife at the sight of a mamono. Believe me, that makes you ideal."

Van felt flushed, "well... regardless I hope things work out. It's not like I'm sure or anything but maybe if you tried following a guy around for a while you could find out enough about him to slowly seduce him later instead of just 'jumping' him first chance you get? It'd help you avoid people who hate mamono."

"The subtle approach huh?" she replied, cocking her head. "Not an easy thing for someone who is going into heat soon. Still... I guess I can think about it."

"Please do," he continued, wanting to help and hoping he wouldn't regret what he was saying. "If you can find out its safe and you really like the guy you could even follow him home. I bet there aren't many lonely guys who would deny a sexy woman showing up in their bed and confessing to them, even if she wasn't human. Sort of what happened to me actually."

Takara gave him a bright smile. "Now that would be something to purr about. Thanks again Vanny!" And with that she took a flying leap from the branch into the next tree, swinging and jumping from one branch to the next so quickly that she was out of sight in seconds.

Van continued on, feeling quite positive and emboldened after the encounter, though he didn't like the nickname "Vanny" much. Relaxing with the knowledge he really was safe from being taken, his inner musings started again full strength. His head was positively buzzing with thoughts on his encounter with Takara, his analytical side siding with his hormones so that he went over in detail the features of the werecat he had just seen. The coloring of her skin and fur was a good deal darker than what he had seen in books, and figured it must have been part of living in a dense forest, or perhaps just a regional variation. Her hands and feet were also a good deal less paw-like than he'd seen and her fur shorter. That must have been more regional variation.

Her breasts were of course one of her more obvious attributes, but there was more to them of interest than their shape or size. That is while they did move in response to her own body's movements, they didn't "jiggle" as much as one would expect. He recalled he had once read that the breasts of mamono, especially athletic ones, were designed for specialized muscle linkage. These muscles were integrated with the base of the breast tissue quite deeply, the result being greater support for the breasts and slightly greater upper body strength than a similarly-proportioned human would have. This was part of what gave mamono their infamous gravity-defying breasts. The breast tissue itself was also firmer, often becoming soft and sensitive only when the mamono was aroused. He wondered what Serafina's would be like, but those thoughts halted as he realized he could have asked the werecat about what Serafina was and what she looked like. He sighed, what was done was done... Besides, why ruin the surprise?

Soon leaving the woods and standing before the rocky expanse that was the Great Labyrinth he sat down to quickly eat the lunch he had packed, and waited out in the open for Serafina to find him as she said she would. He had just finished relieving himself in some of the tall grass that grew through the rocky terrain when the distinct feeling of being watched came over him. Hastily putting his pants back on, he packed up his bag and stood, hoping to present a fairly dignified figure to whoever was out there. He felt refreshed and energized. This was it. He was ready!

"You're looking the wrong way silly boy," came an amused voice from behind him.

Van spun around, trying to hide his embarrassment. He recognized that voice instantly. "Serafina!"

But rather than being in front of him she was above him, a gray-cloaked figure standing atop a vertical rock face a short distance away. Her hood hid her face, though her cloak was held tight enough to show the clearly feminine body shape under it, and loose enough lower down to show that her bare legs ended in equally bare feet. He had to admit, he was a bit surprised at how human she appeared, although many mamono could be mistaken for normal humans at a distance.

"Oh Van, I'm so glad you came! I was starting to worry you might have changed your mind," she said excitedly. "Yet here you are, just as I asked."

Moving to get a better look at her, he found himself briefly blinded as the sun came out of the clouds behind her. In that instant Serafina took a flying leap from the rock face to land behind him. Van, still rubbing his eyes, had barely registered this impressive display when she grabbed him from behind, wrapping her arms around his chest and holding him tightly. He could feel her breath at his ear.

"Now please, sleep for me."

"Wha-?..." he could feel his eyelids getting heavy as soon as she said "sleep" and for no apparent reason he couldn't muster more than a few sputtered words of protest and confusion. In her arms he found himself barely able to even struggle, she was strong and her voice was so beautiful, it would feel so good to do as she asked, that was all he seemed able to think about.

No. He needed to focus on staying awake. Focus.

She clung tighter, one of her arms finding its way under his shirt and another down his pants.

Focus... focus on- ...

...damn that felt nice...

Both hands continued stroking him as all other sounds but her voice seemed to completely stop, along with all sensation save for that brought by her fingers and the soft mounds of her breasts pressing against his back.

Fo-

...yeah, right, like there was a chance of that with the way she was touching him...

"Just sleep now, I will explain everything soon... very soon, so sleep my pet... sleep..."

She continued to whisper into his ear and he continued to weaken, his eyes rolling back in pleasure and he finally falling into her arms in a blissful slumber.

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Van awoke to utter darkness and in a panic briefly struggled only to find that while he was not bound uncomfortably tight, he couldn't move much at all either. Indeed his bonds seemed to tighten just enough wherever he happened to move to keep him from getting anywhere. They were strange ropes, assuming they were ropes, indeed they felt nothing like ropes. Still in a panic he found he could move his mouth a bit at least and promptly bit at whatever was being used as a gag only to find it hard like chain mail armor. It gave under his bite but only somewhat and he couldn't hope to bite through it.

"I'm going to let you go, so please calm down" came a familiar voice near him, though she now sounded tentative and apologetic rather than forceful or enchanting.

Figuring it was worth a try he ceased struggling and was rewarded as he felt the odd gag slide away from his mouth, though otherwise he remained bound and blinded.

"Serafina? What's going on, what did you do to me?!" Van was understandably more than a bit angry.

"I'm sorry about earlier, and about this, but I needed to make sure you would hear me out," she explained in earnest. "I promise, I won't hurt you, but I can't let you go just yet either. Please don't be angry, I want- I need you to listen to me before you make any decisions."