Kinverse: Volume One

PATH OF THE EMERALD MAIDEN

A naive young monster's tale by Moros, aka KinverseWriter

Legal Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise herein mentioned. No copyright infringement is intended. All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental. This work of fiction contains disturbing content.

Reader discretion is advised.

Description:

A young woman from a pre-neolithic society is accidentally whisked away to another world entirely during a raid on a research lab run by alien invaders. Stranded with no friends, badly injured, and no idea where home even is, she's forced to live off the land and learn how to survive in this strange and hostile world.

There's only one slight problem, though.

She's not trapped in this world with them. They're trapped in this world with her.

Categories:

Adventure, Coming-of-Age, Isekai, Erotica.

Disclaimers:

This story contains sexual elements and disturbing themes. The contents aren't purely intended to be pornographic, but some scenes objectively are. This is about a giant monster that eats people, so reader discretion is advised. This story contains vorarephilic themes.

This story will have a very slow and intermittent pace to begin with. True stakes don't really show up until halfway through, though the build-up is always there in the background. This is ultimately not a story of grand adventure and defeating one's enemies to rise to the top, it is the tale of a lost and naive young woman growing as a person and learning new things. It is a personal one concerning her, and thus this story will be told in present-tense first-person.

Chapter 20: Damsel

---

I take a deep breath of the crisp mountain air and then exhale.

It's good to be back.

No noisy traffic. No stressed-out hotel neighbors arguing all night. No worrying, just simple alone time in the forest.

The party was good--especially for Sam and hopefully Frank too--but this is the return to normal I was craving. Just me, the forest, and all that lives within it. Winter is going to be here in a few months so the birds aren't singing much any more, but I can still hear the occasional scamper of a small critter. Squirrels, rabbits, foxes--even a wolf howling in the distance. Only one other howl responds.

Walking along all of the hiking trails on the east half of the park is a bit of an endeavor but I'm prepared for it. Normally this should be done by two people, but a little cardio never hurt anyone. I can write my reports at home after dinner; I should be back in time for Sam to finish cooking.

Unfortunately, it's a bit too quiet. I wish I had someone else out with me on long hikes like this but Frank's got his half and I forgot my radio. I didn't even notice until I was two hours into the hike when I thought of a joke I could tell him.

Bang.

Huh?

At least a kilometer away from me in the next valley over, a gunshot rings out.

People shouldn't be out hunting right now... we haven't even opened the park yet.

Well. Time to actually do my job rather than enjoy the perks of it, then. I take out my hi-vis supplies from my bag and don them; I'd rather not get mistaken for a deer and shot. It's just a simple orange vest and hat, but it saves lives.

I leave the designated trail. This is really when I should be having my radio--if an accident happens it could be days before someone finds me.

Stopping for a moment, I look back. I could still go back and get it; I'm 'only' a few hours in, but... I'd be out here for four more hours and by then I have no idea if whoever's hunting is still around. I press on through the forest.

A tiny droplet of water splashes down on my face, making me blink. Looking up I take note of the darkening clouds and retrieve a small umbrella from my bag; one too small to get caught on everything but large enough to actually cover me.

If this is more than sprinkling I might have to take out my rain poncho.

---

One hour more and I've found evidence of human activity. I find myself on a slightly muddy game trail as the occasional fat droplet of water breaches the canopy.

Along the trail are two shallow trenches from a wheeled vehicle driving down it; an ATV most likely. The trail itself doesn't have much mud on it--being mainly composed of compacted dirt--but the tire tracks are obvious. The trail itself leads downhill towards the middle of the valley, and the lake is long out of sight beyond the ridgeline--I'm truly in the mountains now, though still within the park.

Finally, I stop. The sound of flowing water from the valley's drainage stream echoes through the trees. Off to the side is the ATV. Perhaps whoever I'm looking for is nearby? Sprouting from a crushed fern along the side of the path is a strange brown log almost reminiscent of a tropical palm tree thanks to scalloped bits of bark protruding off of it.

That's odd...

The island technically has palm trees, but they're in gardens down south and aren't like this one. What would a log from one be doing all the way out here? I advance to check it out, looking all around to see if I can spot anyone.

“Hello? I'm a B.C. Park Ranger, is anyone there?" I call out into the forest.

No one responds. Eyes focused on it, I notice the log subtly twitch. They must be trying to hide and they bumped it, startled by my voice.

“Hello? Is someone there? I need to speak with you," I questioningly state as I approach the bushes separating the trail from the river's shore. Pushing aside a branch I expect to see a guilty-looking face attached to a crouching body, but what I find instead is... a leg. A brown leg with scales and large plates of some sort coating it.

Pulling the branch back more reveals not a face, but the tail attached to a body; specifically, what appears to be a rock-esque haunch. The tail and leg twitch again and the foot's four vicious talons spasm. The mass travels further into the bushes so I enter beyond to the riverside, finding...

Huh. That's... huh.

---

Slowly I come to. Everything hurts.

The sounds of flowing water and soft steps in the grass prompt me to open my eyes. In my exhausted state, I had staggered towards the river, and now, my neck is bent over the edge, inches from the water below.

A spike of fear goes through me!

If I fell any closer... I could have drowned...

I could have died.

The pain in my abdomen has subdued as the wounds seal, but it will take some time for them to fully heal and I will need to be careful when eating. How did my prey do that?

A twig snaps. I whirl my head around to look behind me, disorientating myself as a massive headache sends stars through my vision.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Not a good time. I need to... need to defend myself!

As my vision clears I spot a local tall intruder, but the pain in my muscles subsides as I relax immediately. It isn't my prey. Garbed in tan and orange coverings, the most obvious difference is the scent--it's a female, for one. She has short brown hair, blue eyes, and carries a strange stick with a thin flat tarp atop it similar to the created-nests' material.

She is currently standing stock-still, frozen in place, where she had stepped on a twig at the treeline on approach right beside me. Her hands are out, and it is plain to see that she lacks created-claws or burning-sticks. Easy prey, then.

I unsteadily turn and rise back to all fours to face this newcomer, backing off just a little as I do. How long was I out? Perhaps she heard the bangs. She begins to speak.

“[Uh. Hi? Easy? Friend?]"

New words. Unfortunately, I don't know how to say 'The time for talking is over, I'm going to eat you,' in their language, so instead I shall declare my intentions in a way she will understand...

I rear up, and I roar.

---

A guttural shriek erupts from the monster as it rears up on its hind legs like a bear!

“Shit!" I yell in surprise as I take a step back!

Okay, time to go!

Turning tail I flee back down the animal path. Soon after, heavy loping stomps match my own sprint. I reach for my radio to call in whatever the hell this is, but my hand comes back empty!

Fuck! That's right! Damnit Carey, this was the worst time to get sloppy!

Judging by the rapidly approaching stomps it's faster than me on open ground so I juke into the trees. I might risk stepping wrong and breaking a leg but it beats whatever that thing is catching up!

Heavy pants follow over the sounds of crunching branches crudely barrelled through. I aim for the thickest undergrowth that I can, nimbly maneuvering through as my pursuer's size turns against it. Steadily, I gain ground, and eventually the only evidence of its pursuit is distant sounds of abused foliage. I don't become complacent and instead continue my jog through the trees. Thank you, endurance predator ancestry!

I need to get back to my truck as soon as possible, retrieve my radio, and call this in. The trails can be checked out another day, this takes precedent. I don't know what that thing was but it looked pissed! Occasionally a roar erupts from the valley behind me, confirming my lead on it as they become more distant over time.

After an hour of exhausting jogging I couldn't continue my pace any longer and had to slow down. I'd made good time, returning to the hiking trail and making my way down it, but jogging through the wilderness is not only potentially dangerous, it's extremely physically demanding. This would be one hell of a workout if my life wasn't potentially on the line.

Recognizing that I'm getting close, I sprint to the finish down the hiking trail to my truck, parked on a remote dirt access road. Hopping in, I breathe hard, finally able to truly rest. I've been in flow-state the whole time, though the adrenaline has long since run its course.

At least I didn't have to ditch my bag for speed...

From back the way I came, a roar breaks through the trees, echoing over the valley.

Crap, I thought I lost it!

Putting my keys in the ignition I start my truck and perform the fastest five-point turn in the least amount of space I've ever done in my life. I reach for my radio, abandoned on the passenger seat. Speeding down the dirt road faster than is safe, my truck drifts in the mud as I perform an equally swift u-turn on a hairpin turn downhill.

“FRANK! Frank, I'm sorry I f- ahk, that doesn't matter! There's a fucKING-"

Suddenly, a loud POP sounds out and my truck lurches to the side! I begin veering in that direction and with only one hand on the wheel I lose control in the mud!

CRASH!

Impacting a tree on the side of the road, the airbag deploys to save me. Before it can finish deflating I shift into reverse and stomp on the gas, but the only result is spinning in the mud for a few seconds before the engine stalls out.

My radio crackles as Frank responds. “Carey? Carey?! Hello? What's going on? Carey!"

As the bag finishes deflating, I realize I lost the radio somewhere, either when I crashed or perhaps dropped and forgotten so I could grab the wheel or shift gears. I waste time searching around for it. Found it, it got knocked under the passenger seat!

Keying the mic and coughing lightly, I respond.

“...Frank, I crashed, I-"

-catch a glimpse of a familiar brown shape in my rear-view mirror.

“Shit, fuck! Frank, help!"

---

I was in no state for a chase.

Bumbling through the trees, tripping in burrows, thoroughly exhausted with my muscles strained and screaming the whole time, there was no way I'd have caught her.

Thankfully, my muscles were quick to heal as the food not expelled with the hunter was sacrificed to fuel my recovery. This accursed thin-air absolutely doesn't help, though! I wanted to sprint after her and pounce on my prey, but I couldn't! I couldn't, and after only a few minutes of charging after them, I was forced to slow down, nabbing the occasional snack too dumb and slow to realize that it should avoid the lumbering beast breaking through the underbrush after its true prey.

I roared my frustrations out to the world, but grew tired of it eventually. Hours later, I had begun to catch up as her pace slowed, and upon spotting a mover through the trees, I roared once more! My prey is escaping!

With my insight into how these movers moved--which I'd gleaned from investigating the small mover--I hatch a plan as the open-back mover retreats into the distance.

The path doubles back ahead of it, so I simply charge down the intervening slope and beat it to where it must pass. I arrive in advance just in time, and sit hidden within the bushes.

And now... my plan.

Just as it passes I dart forward, neck held back and scythes extended, slicing at its wheels! With a loud POP and hiss the strange device is disabled, and the entire contraption lurches to the side into a tree with a colossal crash!

SUCCESS! Even their movers are no match for me! Knowledge is strength; cunning, my blade!

As I saunter over to its resting place, it lurches into action once more. However, its attempts to move are short-lived. My new prey remains within, perhaps thinking she is safe, perhaps stunned--but hopefully not dead. Dead prey is boring prey, and it would be a disappointment after my clever hunt. She has much that I want.

This mover is identical to the one I had seen weeks prior. The scent of sweetness still hangs in the air from a circular tube under its rear; a part for removing waste, perhaps? I can't imagine why it would smell sweet, but then again, it is a machine; a creation, not a living being.

Rounding the side, I'm finally able to get a closer look at this mover. I think it's the same one I saw but there could be multiple. Protruding from the opening-wall is a strange... something. It looks like extremely shiny sharp-rock, and it shows me things near it. Reflections being bent by it, much like when one stares into calm water. This surface shows me the inside of the mover, where my prey is... gone?

I reach the opening-door and glare inside. Ah, there she is. There is a very suspicious large and flat covering draped across the inside of the mover, where two could sit. Pfft, I was smart enough to ambush you, you really think I'd be dumb enough to fall for that?

The rest of the inside is very curious and even more complicated than the small mover's controls. In front of her seat within a divot are semi-circles with bright sticks, themselves behind more see-through material. All of this is behind another wheel, which seems a bit odd because the spinny bits are supposed to be outside I think. The wheel has larger sticks coming out from just behind it, and another strange covering that resembles a large bag has poured out from its center. There are two places in which to rest while the entire contraption is in motion--the seats--currently occupied by my prey.

Time to crack this shell wide open.

Rearing up, I put my full weight forward on the opening-wall's window and it shatters, shards and grains of the see-through material thankfully only slightly cutting up my claws' pads. My forelegs fall in, and I grab at the covering until I feel my prey's ankles!

A scream erupts from beneath!

“[GET AWAY! GET AWAY!]" she frantically screams!

I begin to back up and pull her from her hiding place, covering and all. The broken shards remaining in the window surely cut at her back, but hopefully it won't be too bad; I want her in one piece. Silly, flimsy, fragile prey.

She attempts to kick at me but can do nothing with her ankles held, her struggles accomplishing nothing. As her shoulders pass through she falls to the muddy ground, stunned as the rain and mud begin to soak the covering, which I swiftly tear from her form.

Quickly coming to her senses she picks herself up and takes a swing at me with an object in her hand! A created-claw!

I block with a foreleg and the stab sinks into its thinner chitin and dense muscle. She tries to yank it out but she has overextended and her mistake is my opportunity. With my other foreclaw I ball up my fingers in a punch and sock her across the side of the head, as lightly as I can while still actually having an effect--more of a tap than anything, if she were a Kin.

Whap!

She falls to the mud, stunned once more, and I'm upon her before she can attempt to flee! Growling in her face, she slowly opens her eyes to meet my own, though they are unfocused and dazed. Her breathing is heavy, confirming my earlier ponderings that they do so while scared--for she certainly is scared; her scent betrays her.

I taste it. Female, as I knew. Healthy, though obvious from her spirited flight. There are a few unknown smells from others she has been in close contact with, but I do not recognize the smell of sexuality upon her as I had on my previous female prey. While one of the scents is strong enough to potentially be a mate, it is that of another female and smells very similar--a sister, perhaps? She is covered in truly strange coverings; oddly, her torso by a vibrant orange vest which would make stealth in the woods impossible. The back of the vest is torn but lacks red to stain it.

She is a curious creature, and the second of her kind which I have actually been this close to the face of. Her eyes are small and blue with white sclera, and her short hair is brown, coating only her scalp, sides, and back. She will be invaluable in teaching me more about her kind; perhaps I can even get a name for what they are.

For now... I shall dub her the damsel, for like me, she is strong and yet lacks a mate.

Her eyes are wide and yet her breathing is only growing heavier. She seems still rather stunned from my tap. Am I overdoing my intimidation? I suppose I must be quite scary; my head is as wide as her torso!

I rear back to give her space, but it's too late. Her eyes roll back, and she falls limp. Her breathing continues, so she is not dead, but this is still concerning.

Hm.

I... suppose this will make the next part easier.

I tug the created-claw from my foreleg and toss it aside. Grabbing her in both, I walk off from the wreck with my prize.

---

After rolling the moss-covered boulder into place to block the cavern's entrance I step back and consider. She looked strong, but if this thing gave me trouble, there's no way she's slipping past it. She did not wake, which is slightly concerning for her future prospect as a tool, but a lack of wiggling as I carried her gained no complaints from me. If only the hunter was this easy... and fun. For now, this will be a suitable place to keep her stashed while I do other things.

I had stumbled across this cave while searching for a bath earlier today. The boulder was lucky--it must have settled outside the cave after falling from up the mountain, years ago.

With that out of the way my first stop was back at the site of my... altercation... with the hunter. The rains would have no doubt erased evidence of his passage but I vaguely recalled coughing up more than just melting flesh and ornery prey.

---

A/N:

Trivia time: Damsel is the Kin term for a fertile female who does not have a mate.

This chapter takes place concurrently to Chapter 14 and serves as the final bridge between the protagonist chapters and the Frank and Carey interludes. The rest of their PoVs will be taking place in the main chapters.