Monster One-Shots

Big, Ugly House Cat

Warning: Minor mention of death and squirrel blood.

Drip, drip, drip. The sound continued as she trudged through the cave. She would've moved with stealth if she didn't already know that he could smell her.

The dripping suddenly stopped.

"Bitch," she muttered bitterly underneath her breath.

As she took her next step forward, she felt something wet splattered onto her forehead.

"That's squirrel blood again, isn't it?" she asked the dark void of the cave.

"Oops~" a sauve, male voice hummed.

She stepped out of the line of dripping before poorly flinging the blood off of her forehead.

"Hello sweetheart, it was brave of you to invade my home. I'm quite hungry." the voice purred.

"Try to eat me. I dare you." She flashed the flashlight at the source of the voice. The creature instantly retreated into a darker hole in the ceiling. But she was able to catch a glimpse of his hindquarters. He held the concept of a centipede with the body of an anorexic human corpse. Long, pale, boney, yet powerful. Arm-like limbs supported an equally long, pale, and boney body.

She had already seen his whole body before, so she turned off the flashlight. Truly, she only carried it around because she knew he hated light. She doubted he would attack her, but she wanted to be careful since he was still a wild creature.

Despite his charming human voice, he was merely an animal. He could manipulate his voice to range from an old woman to a frog's mating call; anything to attract prey. Though he occasionally used his sophisticated ability to communicate with her.

She reached a reassuring hand upwards towards where he had crawled away. Long, cold, bony fingers intertwined their fingers with hers. A long tongue tickled her skin as it slid up the front of her face, lapping up the smeared blood. He released her hand.

"Thanks, asshole," she groaned.

"You're welcome, darling." He chirped smugly. She could feel him slink around her, gently brushing against her clothing.

"So...I came to see why you've been causing trouble," she finally announced. She was a monster slayer, but she also empathized with the creatures. If they didn't cause trouble, then they didn't deserve to be slayed.

The gentle brushing disappeared, and a moment later, she heard growling from above her head.

"Hey, don't growl at me now. I just came to hear why you killed those people." she challenged.

"They started it."

"Alright. Come down, and tell me about it then." She plopped down onto the cold floor and leaned against the cave wall.

Another low growl rumbled from above.

She realised she was still grasping the flashlight, and her other hand was unconsciously resting by her sword. She drew her sword.

He hissed furiously.

"Relax. These are yours until I leave." She threw her sword off to the side and rolled the flashlight beside it.

She could hear another clanking of the metal and assumed he was moving her stuff to where he wanted it.

"Hey, I do want that back eventually!" she snapped.

A hard, elongated snout placed itself on top of her lap. She gently stroked the bare skull that was his head. "What did the humans do?"

"They wouldn't leave me alone. I warned them, but they wouldn't listen. I bit one to make them stay away, but more came. They tried to kill me, so I killed them." he sneered.

"I'm not saying you're lying, but the humans claim that you've been hunting people and attacking nearby villages," she countered.

"I haven't hurt anybody outside of my home," he snarled defensively, jerking his head up.

"Alright. I believe you." She gently courted his head back down, "But do you know of anyone else that might be the attacker?"

"Knowing humans, they probably just lied to sound good," he grumbled.

"That's what I figured. But if something is attacking them, then they'll keep blaming it on you. So is there anything at all that might be attacking them?" she repeated.

He pondered for a moment. "They're similar to what you call bats, but they're much bigger. They migrate in the North and attempt to invade my cave and steal my food. They're probably trying to eat the humans if it is them." he informed her, "But they're stupid and quite delicious."

"Thank you~" She scratched the flesh of his backside.

He chirped in delight.

"I'll leave you be now, and I'll talk to the humans for you." She patted his back before beginning to rise.

A firm hand grabbed her thigh and forced her down. "No. I believe you'll be staying for a bit. I do not feel like moving, and you have not finished scratching."

"Look you big, ugly house cat." She let out a sigh but reluctantly began to scratch his back again.