Surviving the Beastworld

What To Do?

Hope you enjoy <3

A growl pierced through the air and when I turned my head away from the screen, a huge jaguar was pouncing at us. It took me a second to realize the beastman was attacking us.

My arms went over my head as a way to protect myself from the sudden attack, but it didn't matter. Ahi caught the crazy cat with his tail before he even got close ti us.

"Stop troubling Elisa." Ahi hissed as he squeezed the jaguar with his tail. "You cannot force a female into becoming your mate. She has said no, so move on."

The words were rich coming from a feral, but I knew Ahi wasn't the type to kidnap females and force them into being mates. He was actually the best beastmen I'd come across so far.

And that said a lot.

Granted, most beastmen I met were ferals, so things could be different in the villages. Maybe this jaguar was a feral too. He didn't seem like a rootless beastman, looking too young, but I could be wrong. Beastmen aged differently to humans back home.

The jaguar suddenly growled something, claws digging into Ahi's scales, but Ahi just tossed him. He flung the large cat into a nearby tree like it was nothing.

Crack!

I silently winced at the huge cracking noise and watched the jaguar slump to the ground, going completely still. If he wasn't dead, something had definitely broken and it wasn't the tree.

Well, except for the few splinters of wood that had fallen on top of the still jaguar...

Ahi hissed once more before turning to me. "We should get going before it gets late."

I nodded, speechless and a little shocked by the sudden display of power. It was easy to forget what a powerful beastman Ahi was when he was always acting gentle towards me. This was a great reminder though.

Soon, we were back on the road, well trail, Ahi moving faster to make up for the time lost. While we traveled, my brain began the slow process of trying to organize the raging emotions in me.

Eventually, the exhaustion of the day's events hit me and darkness consumed me.

***

Ahi quietly watched Elisa as she slept in her sleeping bag, unsure what to think of today. It had been horrible to say the least. There were many things Ahi had to reevaluate now that Elisa was considering him as a potential mate.

Her words calling him hers played in his mind, making him go red. He knew Elisa said it in the heat of the moment, but he couldn't help, but want to hear her say those words again. And in a way where she'd really mean it.

He truly wanted to be hers in every way possible.

His face went a darker shade of red and Ahi shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. He was lucky that Elisa was even interested and willing to give him the time of day. Most females wouldn't even allow Ahi near them, let alone give him a chance.

Deciding not to follow the path of his forefathers had been a good idea.

However, the luck he had so far wasn't going to get him any further. He needed to prove himself as a good mate and today's scare had shown how much he was lacking.

His instincts hated the idea of sharing Elisa with others, especially because he was not enough. But the thought of never seeing her again scared him even more.

And having nearly experienced that when she was kidnapped...

Ahi never wanted to feel that sense of dread and hopelessness again. It meant one thing for sure. Elisa was going to need more mates, whether he liked it or not. Powerful ones too.

The village they were heading to would be a good start to search for potential mates, but Ahi doubted there'd be many candidates worthy of Elisa. They were better off looking in the cities, since more powerful males lived there.

The only problem was his feral status. He might be able to get into the village if he had Elisa with him and paid the toll, but the cities would be much harder to get into.

He couldn't just pay the city guards with some crystals. They'd likely attack him to 'save' Elisa before they even got near the city gates. Willingly taking a feral as a mate was unheard of.

The guards would probably never believe them and think he brainwashed Elisa into thinking she was the one in control. He'd seen the crocodile beastmen use that move often on females they captured.

Speaking of which...

The crocodile beastmen were another problem he needed to take care of. They normally lived in clans of ten to twenty, mostly made up of brothers who shared the same female.

And once a clan laid their eyes on a female, they'd hunt her down until she became theirs. The attacks from the clan would never end until the clan was gone.

He had made a huge mistake leaving that crocodile beastman alive when he first met Elisa.

A mistake he was now going to have to fix. Wiping out the clan wasn't going to be too much of a problem for him. But it was going to take him time to do. He was going to have to search for their lair and make sure he killed every one of the clansmen.

However, he couldn't just go on a hunting mission like that. He had to also think about Elisa's safety and well-being. Because while he was hunting the crocodiles, they would hunt for Elisa.

That alone would put her in incredible danger if he left her alone. That wass if some other feral didn't get to her first or she starved to death. Maybe not starvation. Elisa seemed to be able to feed herself.

But wild animals and that creature she called bacteria were still a danger.

The best course of action was to leave Elisa in the village. At least there she'd be properly protected and cared for. He just didn't like the idea of owing the village a debt of caring for Elisa when he was meant to do that as her potential mate.

Perhaps he could strike a deal with the village chief...

Yes, that could work. Since he was hunting ferals, maybe he could help the village clear the area of a few more ferals. It would greatly help the village and he wouldn't feel like he owed the village for caring for Elisa.

Maybe hunt a few monsters for them while he was at it...

With a plan now in mind, Ahi decided to rest, transforming into his snake form and curling around Elisa like he did every night. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

***

A little slow chapter after a few chapters of action, but hopefully it's still good. Chapter 12 will come out next week Friday (16 August 2024), unless we hit 200 votes before then.

Cough

Anyway, I'm finishing up some character designs so I'll post a character chapter sometime in the week. For now I'll just do Elisa and potential mates, adding on as the story processes.

Let me know your thoughts and if you wanna see other characters too.