{sighs]

I Richard Monroe exhaled as I walked behind the woman called Rhea. She looks so calm despite being on such a dangerous forest. my father was an avid camper and outdoor enthusiast since his younger days never said no to his buddies when it came to exploring the outdoors, even having been all the way the Alaskan wilderness on his twenties with his friends and seen Grizzly Bears up close but not even he would walk with the calmness this woman is displaying in front of us.

It's not like she is defenseless, she might be moving accurately but her hand never leaves the area around her sword and her pitch-black ears move around like radars sounding the area for detection, honestly, I am quite impressed.

I don't know if it's their race that makes these demi humans very brave or are they that proud of their strength to the point where they nonchalantly walk in a dense forest with the accuracy of a waiter navigating through a restaurant guiding his guest to their respective seats. Although as mentioned she isn't defenseless but feels too at easy at this dangerous forest, I can't ever begin to say the toll my nerves are taking just being on a state of hyper awareness walking through this forest expecting some other ferocious monster to jump at us from out of nowhere. that boar jumped at me from out of nowhere from my perspective so i won't like the way she moves with so much faith going forward when she is supposed to be escorting us to safety there herself.

No matter i suppose, what I am concerned about is what I did earlier. how did I take down that monstrous boar? don't take me the wrong way I do workout from time to time, but I took on that thing not out of confidence on my strength but desperation of survival against that monster thinking clearly on it now that it's over, that monster should have been able to shake me off it's back like confetti through the air of a party like a joke.

Am I actually stronger in this world or is it the world that's different? As I think this to myself lost in thought...

"Hey"

My thoughts are interrupted by the girl named Raksha. she is studying me with great interest. Looking at my pectorals for some unknown reason. Could it really be true that men are not existent on their tribe, no. even if something happened to the males of their tribe based on what I heard it wouldn't be unnatural for their village to establish friendship with other settlements to secure food and any form of primitive trade. I don't know if this place has a civilization but given the metaled debris, I used to kill that boar wasn't a natural occurrence it's obvious that the place that made it should at least be pre-Victorian era if compared to my world.

Not that I am some sort of expert on the subject mind you.

Then again Rhea did react to me being a man so that also means that she is aware of what a man is, but why doesn't Raksha know what a man is? furthermore, she spoke of multiple mothers as if was common sense. it couldn't be some polygamous arrangement because she'd know what a man is then as talk about a father, but she is looking at me like some other creature and i don't think it has anything to do with the race I belong to that is the human race.

"Hey, are you ignoring me?" said Raksha in a sullen tone, despite so she looks a little seriously angry. her ears might be twitching cutely but her tail tells me she is slightly agitated. I can't let my guard down here. she might be cute, but I don't know what acceptable means of violence common sense on the tribe are she belongs to,

[Nn] I look up and look straight to the eyes as I try to answer her.

"No, not at all lady Raksha" I said after I made a rude sound to a question Raksha asked, I had to use "Lady" since we're right behind her mother and she is too dangerous to get on her bad side, it's best to thread with caution. Call me a coward but you know what they say about cowards? they live longer.

"Huh" astonished Raksha made a sound that was kind of funny and she looks at me again with a straight look on her eyes.

"Lady Raksha? We were talking just fine a few minutes ago. Hey mother said to look after you so it would make sense to be friends, right? I always thought of having a human friend you know. I want to talk to other races too." said Raksha with some glimmer of hope on her eyes. Could it be she is the only child on the village that she is this alone?

"Eh? Could it be that you're an only child on your village? aren't there people your age there?" I asked for confirmation. Things might be dire fi she is the only child, that village might be facing extinction.

wait could their village be a sort of quarantine zone for some deadly disease? that could explain things onto why things are this bizarre. What if I have been exposed to it?

No calm down. There is no way that's the case.

"you're wrong!" said Raksha almost as if exasperated with me and my logical conclusion.

"I'm the village chief daughter so the others my age keep their distance from me, and our village is on the middle of nowhere so it's boring. I want outside information from the outside world, and I also want a human friend."

"Silence" said Rhea in a low tone. She hasn't slowed down her gait, but she is emitting some hostility around her.

"Raksha!" she continued.

"Yes! Mother!" said Raksha in a stiff tone while straightening her back.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you hear me? I told you to look after the human but don't get attached. We're consulting with Pam in regard to what to do with the human. he's a male no less and his very existence threatens the village," continued Rhea in a gruff voice.

This isn't good. I feel like I might be walking a tightrope of death right now. I got to find a way to make myself sound useful to the woman named Pam if I want to live to see tomorrow. As I think these things to myself in order to solve the situation, I find myself in right now.

"Threaten the village, what are you talking about Mother Rhea? Richard hasn't done anything to us to warrant that kind of treatment-"

"Silence" Rhea cut off Raksha as it seemed she was about to go on a tangent with her defense for me.

Rhea began to raise her right arm and list her reasons with her fingers.

"I haven't killed the human for three reasons Raksha. the first is that it's a male human and that in and out of itself it's a problem that is bigger than you think it is, you may not know about them since we live on a isolated village but it's a huge problem. the second reason it's the fact that you seem to think of me and your older sister as a couple of muscle brains who kill for no reason. Listen we don't kill for fun; we kill when it's necessary so in a sense the second reason he is still alive is the fact that he interacted with you without hostile intent and to respect your desire to branch out and talk to people outside our race. the third is that Pam, she takes on the tough intellectual decisions for the village. I just hunt" continued Rhea.

Raksha looked at her mother in shock and confusion not knowing what to ask first but she decided on what's been bothering her the most it seems.

"Mother Rhea" asked Raksha in a hushed tone

"What?" asked Rhea as if expecting the upcoming question.

"Richard and you mother, you've been saying the word man and male here but what's that?" Raksha tilted her head, hear cute wolf ears twitching a little while her silver tail swished a little behind her as if nervous and anxious about the existence her mother just claimed to be a problem.

"Sighs" exhaled Rhea

"I guess you'll find out about this eventually." said Rhea slowing down a little but still facing forward just slightly turned around and looked at me up and down before continuing to walk along the forest.

[Gulp]

Both Raksha and I gulped at the same time. While Raksha has nothing to lose, this story might reveal something that happened in the past and it could change everything. but how do I escape? Damn, I couldn't bring back that metallic fragment with me since i wanted to show sincerity.

"Let me tell you about something that happened long ago, the first time I came across a man" said Rhea as if to preface her tale.

"Raksha, about 20 years ago there was an incident on the very place you were on with the human here happily chatting about." said Rhea hiding her face, even so I could somehow tell her demeanor changed completely. it was solemn and also filled with some regret.

"You see Raksha, back then we were going through a food shortage in our village. both monsters and animals alike were not showing up in the usual numbers around our territory. nearby villages weren't doing that well either. we had nothing to trade for crops from the Pantherian kingdom to the west of the Nozfalt Kingdom nearby here." continued Rhea with an almost choked voice.

"Back then Pam and I were much younger than we are today but there was a kid about your age with us. She was an outgoing girl, big pain in the ass too" Rhea chuckled to herself as she spoke reminiscing.

"You see back then while scavenging to fill our bellies. Cobalt, that was her name... that kid found a man, he was lost you see. the carriage he was riding passed on our territory and it got surrounded fast by monsters. We didn't know what he was at first you see. Cobalt was an up-and-coming scout and huntress too."

"She went up against several of those boars that were ramming into the carriage over territorial dispute. she killed the boars to not only procure food but to perhaps foster a friendship with the humans. She wanted to make our village more outgoing with the outside world, with the human world." continued Rhea her mouth sounding a bit dry.

I could only listen in silence. I can almost guess what is going to happen next but i couldn't be sure since men don't seem to be plenty so far but i don't know the situation in the human side of things.

[glance]

Rhea looked at me again with a indescribable feeling. She faced forward and kept walking while continuing her tale.

"Cobalt killed the boars rather swiftly and rescued the man. He was much smaller than the human here. he was wearing some form of dress; the driver had died from a hit on the head and the guards were dead. the boars had trampled the guards like leaves of a dead tree." she continued.

"Cobalt was excited for she had never really interacted with a human before and the ones we always saw from afar were always women, so she was incredibly curious about the man she was seeing for the first time as well. I was there and I too had never seen a man so i was curious. we didn't know what a man was at the time, but we knew the being before us wasn't like us and I'm not talking about our race here either."

"The man was shivering in fear looking at us like we were demons who came from the depths of hell itself, despite having pulled him from a wrecked carriage saving his life in the process. you see Cobalt and I tried to assuage his fears, but he kept shivering and trembling like a small animal. he was remarkably small and slender wearing an orange like dress, it looked luxurious as well so there is no doubt, he was some sort of noble of importance."

"We didn't know... I didn't know that we were being tailed. Despite being an experienced scout and hunter, I was being tailed and I didn't realize until it was too late. we made a stop at the nearby stele river since the man was covered in dirt from the life and death struggle, he had gone through. Cobalt suggested getting him washed up because she wanted him to look nice when introduced to the village." said Rhea like a monologue that never left her head.

I hadn't reached the end of the story, but I was feeling dread for some reason, and I could tell Raksha was also feeling it too. her tail was stiff and her ears on full alert looking impatient.

Rhea too was showing similar signs despite being the one telling the story. she had her right hand planted tight on her sword as she told the story.

"Cobalt begun undressing the man and she saw his body was different from us women. She was curious and excited, so were the unit of seven that were with us. she was touching his chest and exploring the man's body completely transfixed on her discovery neglecting to see the look of fear the man had on his face the entire time. he's face was pale white; I don't know if he understood our tongue or not, but he felt threatened by us women for some reason."

Rhea grasped at her sword more strongly than ever as if overcome with fury at the memories. I couldn't help but stiffen with fear, this woman was terrifying sight to behold. I wasn't there but I can feel related the story even if just slightly. This tale was surely a way for my survival and perhaps my ticket home.

".... what happened next Mother Rhea?" asked Raksha in a quiet yet quivering voice.

I was unable to do anything other than look expectantly at Rhea with a silent gaze as if to tell her to keep going. she looked at me once more and kept walking after which she continued.

"The man's fear was unnatural. IT wasn't as if he was afraid of us for being wolfman's, but he was fearful of us for being women. Trembling like a leaf before us like prey before a predator looking at us like the biggest of monsters, he had ever seen despite having been pulled out of the wrecked carriage by us. we had saved his life after all. As cobalt lost herself undressing the man, our unit was rattled, we felt an intense killing intent oozing from all around us."

"We were surrounded."

Rhea further added with self-mockery.

"We beast men demi humans known for our sense of smell and tracking were ambushed by thirteen mages. It turns out that when the carriage had been attacked a scout had been sent to gather reinforcement. We've been tailed all the way to the river, as we stood stupefied at the sight an archer fired a single arrow at a speed so fast, we couldn't react to it and hit Cobalt right in the temple going through her skull as easily as a ripe fruit."

"The arrow had been enhanced by magic to the degree that it was specially made for Cobalt. It was personal for the humans" said Rhea as if chewing a bitter bug.

"Cobalt had beautiful blue eyes. And her fur was aquamarine. she was as well-endowed as you Raksha and she died in front of me. Almost like a tempest, all of our unit was set ablaze in a instant with spells. Screams and wails filled the air followed by the smell of burning flesh with iron like smell so strong it was overwhelming." said Rhea with regret on her voice.

"The women who had come to rescue the man looked at us like they were looking at filth clearly outraged with the fact that we had touched the man on the luxurious dress. there was clear indignation of their gaze and shouted at us in a language we didn't know, I lost myself in a rage the next instant and attacked with bloodlust dripping from my very core,"

"I properly made sure to shred the one who had killed Cobalt." said Rheas as if finding some solace on her memory of so long. ago.

"I slashed, beheaded and ripped their flesh like dead bark on a tree. As I did, I was lost in madness I was attacked with magic of some kind and blown away. I lost consciousness right away and when i woke up I was bandaged up back in the village under Pam's care. I was the sole survivor and I had Shima near me comforting me."

"I told Pam we should seek vengeance. I was hurt but my fury was such that I wanted to burn their kingdom down in flames just as they had to our comrades, I hadn't had my fill of revenge for their attack. they had denied a top hunter of her future after all."

"Pam with her silvery gray eyes looked at me dead in the eye and with a monotone voice as if she were holding down her very soul said a simple "NO". My outrage left me when I saw the look on my wife's face. It wasn't that she didn't feel my rage, but she knew that death awaited us all if we just waltz in the kingdom looking for a brawl like some drunkard."

"The humans had prioritized taking the man instead of seeking another fight with us, they never did come looking for our village no matter how long we waited and prepared to escape just in case. they did leave some things behind though, those books and novels you're attempting to read all the time but merely satisfied with looking at the drawings on those books."

[Gasp}

Raksha trembled slightly, her tail coming to a stop, her ear drooping down like a dog who had been scolded. the sight was both heart wrenching and cute at the same time. The inner dog lover in my very soul had to be bound as not to touch that girl. If i tried to console her, I would probably be disrespecting her. As loudmouth as she is, she is still due to be the next head of her village.

As I prepared to say something to her, we had stopped our march.

"Enough talking, we've arrived and you Richard. We are going to ask a lot of questions from you so if you value your life, you'd respond with the most sincerity you could muster. Otherwise, you'd be fertilizer for the trees no time flat you hear?" said Rhea in a firm tone."

"Yes Ma'am" I saluted immediately straightening out.

what came into view was quite a fantastical sight and ordinary at the same time. the village was hidden by a dense forest which sunlight could not come through. it was pitch black, yet the lower half of the trees had glowing moss that radiated a neon green that made the place feel magical but right across the trees you could see what could only be described as cabin hybrid with huts. the cabins were somehow rounded with lots of leaves on the top like a tropical roof on a forest house. one of them did stand out though, one of the houses was bigger than the rest and had white logs on certain sections of the house.

The village seemed desolate as if an order had been given for them to stay inside their houses and from the house of white logs a woman of similar stature to Raksha was present with a cunning smile on her face, her gray eyes transfixed in me more than anything. to her side a giant woman of silver fur right behind her looking at our direction with some sort of intent behind her gaze.

off to the side, the giant boar was resting outside the house hanging down from a pole they had prepared to dry its blood and begin preparing it. I felt a little at ease knowing that my offering had been accepted by the chief, so dialog was possible it seems.

"Mother Rhea, you never did tell me what a man was you know" said Raksha coming out of her trance like state thinking about the tale her mother has told to us on the way here. thinking about it, she's right, I wanted to know what these people understanding of a man is on this place. they don't look sex crazed like some stories of gender reversal prominent on fantasy and sci fi novels.

but to be honest that would make sense since they don't really know what I am, so it makes sense they don't lust for what they don't know.

"Yes, that's because there is no one better than the person himself to tell us rather than me or anyone else in our village. This is part of the information that your mother and sister should also hear after all." answered Rhea as a matter of fact like tone.

"Oh" said Raksha looking a bit disappointed but then recovered and looked at me expectantly like a puppy which would be quite cute if it weren't for the weapon of mass destruction like cleavage she has on her chest.

"Greetings Sir Richard" came a serene voice from a slim woman with gray eyes looking at me evaluating me from top to bottom with her gaze like a product placed for sale at some sort of farmer's market.

"I'm Pam and I am the leader of this village. Welcome! she said with a cunning grin. I take it you've met my wife and my two daughters. I take they haven't made your life hard so far have they" Pam teased.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--Pam's POV

"Take a seat wherever you'd like Sir Richard" I said with a smile on my face.

The human was very tall, rather from the information I had gathered regarding human society. Apparently, the being called male are much weaker than women and are always protected. They're few in number as their birth ratio is skewed 1:45, that's one outrageous number. from my merchant contacts it seems that Males are necessary for reproduction and although they can also use the blessing of the sacred tree to make babies like us, babies born from natural copulation are much stronger than with magic fertilization we demi humans use to keep our numbers afloat.

Not many if any non-humans are aware of the existence of the opposite sex. After what happened twenty years ago with my wife Rhea and the talented Cobalt, I can't let even the slightest bit of information escape my grasp. That tragedy must be avoided at all costs.

I'll do anything to protect my people.

Umm... where can i sit? I don't see any chairs Lady Pam." said the youth extremely vexed. It seems that our method of sitting is different from humans. We only prepare pillows for our posterior on the floor so he must be quite confused.

Given what happened years ago, I wonder why he isn't afraid of women. from my gathering the male to female ratio in human society is so skewed that males fear women and actively avoid going outside. He's fearful of us as a unknown not because of our race or gender. he also isn't ashamed of exposing his flesh to our gaze. My little Raksha and even Shima keep looking at his exposed torse like sweets left unattended by someone.

Yet he appears unfazed, interesting.

"I'm sorry Sir Richard, please use our pillows we use for our posteriors. We don't get much furniture out here in the forest and so we have few things of use that you humans use on your daily basis. Do please put up with it." I said with a coercive look at him. he's startled and sat right away.

having sat, Rhea came in alongside Shima and they block the exit like I asked them to. Raksha is a little surprised at our move, but we must extract information from this man and there won't be any getting away now.

"Can you tell me about yourself Sir Richard?" I said bluntly.

Losing the smile on my face, I looked straight at his violet eyes that make quite the contrast with his black hair. Sorry kid but I won't tolerate lies from you.

"... Job Interview?" Richard mumbled looking down.

"What was that? Tell me why you are here and who are you Sir Richard" I asked with a little more pressure. Shima and Rhea have placed their hands on their swords and are sternly looking at the man before us.

Raksha looks ready to pass out. I figured as much; she isn't very good with the physical approach all the much. I do worry about the village's future with her at the helm, she has to toughen up and let go of those human books with desire to join them. those people will always look at us like a group of savages. I can only be at the helm of the village for so long untul she is declared the new head of the village.

"Well?" I continued.

"No, well... umm I don't know where to start. I don't know if you'd believe me" he said looking perplexed and utterly vexed at my question.

[Whoosh]

A strong breeze passes in front of me, and Shima brings her sword to his neck or attempted to place it at the neck of the youth but...

[Gasp]

The man has caught the blade with his fingers. humans shouldn't be able to react at this speed. it should be impossible for them. Furthermore, isn't he a man, he should be weaker than their females, no?

"What did you just do" I asked with strong emotion in my voice while Rhea has unsheathed her sword as well and is ready to strike the man here.

"Eh" said Richard flabbergasted by his own actions. It looks like he himself don't know what he is doing.

"Let me explain!!" flustered by what's going on Richard attempts to explain, I give a look to both Rhea and Shima so that they relax and remove their blades from his space.

"Go on" I said sternly.

"I can sense lies" I told him. "So, tell me the truth" I continued.

"What happened and why are you here in our forest?"