You laid on the bed, recovering your breath, feeling like you'd been emptied out. Was this a nurse or a succubus?

"Thank you, sir." Dia declared after the short rest the both of you had shared, quickly moving to put her uniform back on and adjust everything in the room.

You were the one feeling like you should thank her, but refrained from the comment, instead switching to something else. "When will I be allowed to move around?" A pause, a look at yourself, a grimace. "I also need some clothes."

"The doctor's orders are to keep you under observation until tomorrow, but I can assure you your health is tip-top, sir." She spoke with a nod and a wink. "I will make sure to bring you some clothes, just..." Pausing, she looked at you with a very appreciative smile. "Briefs or boxers, sir?"

"Uh... boxers." You commented, watching her leave, noting the sway of her hips and the wink as she looked over her shoulder.

The door clicked shut, you felt like the world had practically crashed around you as what you'd just done came back to you in a rush. Numbly, you left the bed and moved to the bathroom, there was a shower. You just went into it, turning the hot water, letting it relax your body as you kept chewing over every second of the past hour.

This was... not earth.

Things were different here.

You kept repeating this to yourself, over and over, thinking about Monica, the other female creatures.

And now Dia.

Was she like Monica? You'd sensed she was strong a handful of times, but... you couldn't be sure. Maybe this world was just crazy. You drenched yourself in cold water, you shouldn't let your hormones lead the way, you needed to think more carefully. Monica... you'd gotten her to comply to things because she enjoyed it, and now...

The warm water was a balm to your soul, your cogs began to turn ever so slowly as you tried to piece things together.

In this world there were monstergirls, that was the name Dia had given to Monica. By the looks of things, monstergirls were human women with... something else, power, and some physical alterations but not always? Was Dia one also? You were half certain it was the case, now that you were looking back, the way your headache had just poofed with but a touch had been rather odd.

Things were... weird, to say the least, though you also figured that "ferals" had something to do with monstergirls, right now you were missing information. "This is a new world." You muttered again, washing your face and cleaning off as best you could before stepping out.

Dry, wearing the cheap hospital gown for a lack of anything better, you moved closer to the room door. It was locked. You moved towards the window to take a look outside. It seemed you were on the first floor, the sights before you those of being within a small village lost somewhere in the mountains.

Your gaze fell on to the street and those walking through. You saw no less than four women with "odd" things about them, such as wings, tails, and strangely shaped ears. There were four more that didn't seem that odd save for the outlandish hair-colours, and one teenager walking with a brunette who was stuck to his side like glue. Said brunette wearing only shoes and nothing else.

Your eyes moved towards the door that lead out of the room as the sound of knocking drew your attention.

It opened, someone stepped through. "Your clothes, sir." Someone who wasn't Dia had entered, her hair dark green, and the look in her eyes quite amused. It made you feel slightly self-conscious, but she left right after dropping the clothes on the small table next to the bed.

It was a simple thing, a pair of white socks and boxers, sneakers, a grey shirt, and some dark grey sweat-pants. They fit well if perhaps it was on the large size.

Now clothed, you realised you'd not heard the door lock, you moved to open it. And... found yourself face to face with a very tall tanned woman. She was seated across the corridor from your room, her legs crossed, she looked like someone who could out-punch Tyson. She was reading from a small blue book.

"Good day, sir." She stood up and approached, discreetly blocking your path. "Please remain within your room, my Master has been informed that you have woken up and should be here shortly."

You looked at the clothes she wore, a set of shorts and a ripped shirt, you looked at the muscles she had, and the way her body handled itself, and you suddenly had little doubt she could snap you like a twig if she wanted to. The sense of nervousness was pushed aside. "If you're going to keep me here, we might as well talk." You shrugged, leaning against the doorframe and forcing yourself to calm down. "My name is Rick, and you are?"

The woman looked at you for a moment, seeming unamused. "Leo."

"Your name is... Leo?" You asked.

"Do you have a problem with my name?" She asked, her tone a note colder than earlier.

"No, no, I'm just... nevermind, Leo, I'm sorry if I slighted you." As you said this, you gave her a respectful nod.

She seemed slightly weirded out by your response. "...don't mention it." Crossing her arms and just standing there, she watched.

"So... uh... do you know Monica? The... feline... wo-... monstergirl that had been with us." You correct yourself, feeling it was wrong but not knowing a better way to express your question.

Leo seemed to think for a moment. "The purrsian? She's in stasis right now."

Well... that was certainly a new word. "What's stasis?" You asked calmly.

The woman seemed mildly shocked for a moment. "Oh, right, outlander." She nodded before shrugging. "It just means she's... sort of frozen up? I don't really know the details, but she's in a capture-sphere and asleep."

That really didn't sound pleasant, at all. "When will I be able to fetch her?" You asked.

That made Leo shrug. "Not my call to make, nor was I told anything about it."

That left you feeling slightly deflated but equally worried, just what sort of laws were in this world? What would they do to Monica? "Will she be ok?"

"Sure, she's strong so I doubt they'd just scrape her." Another shrug, the look on her face tells you she couldn't care less about Monica's fate. "Worst case she'll get partnered up to some happy young tamer with a bloodgift that can keep up with her."

Though there is a small voice in the back of your head that told you she'd likely be better off with someone who wouldn't be under risk of dying from a crushed spine when fucking her... the rest of you seethed silently at the thought of... everything. The part that tickled your anger the most was how it appeared that Leo thought of Monica as no more than property, and that the powers that be could and would "give her away" like it was nothing.

But maybe you didn't have the whole picture, you couldn't let yourself show that feeling. Instead, you focused on... something else, answers. "What's a feral? I've heard the term a couple of times already, but I never did get much of an explanation."

Leo quirked a brow while looking at you amusedly. "Feral is a monstergirl who's not all up there in the head, curable by getting a bond." She rolled her eyes.

"Bond?"

She looked at you weirdly. "Just grow close to someone, maybe boink them a couple of times to make the process go faster. After the bond shapes up they start waking up properly."

"And you're a monstergirl?"

"Yeah." The look she gave you had a warning in it. "I have a Master, and I'll kill you if you try anything like you did with the Rapha."

"No, I don't..." Your eyes were wide in shock, something felt like it clicked. "What does going feral... imply?"

"Going feral means going insane." She now seemed irritated at the questions. "Brain goes cuckoo, only runs on instinct like..."

"...an animal." The words escaped your lips and they made your eyes to keep widening. "And the only way to stop being feral..."

"Is to make sure you have a bond even if a weak one, yes, congrats, you do seem to know something after all." Leo then cocked half a smirk. "You've got balls having caught a wild purrsian like that and not knowing about ferals."

There was a question in your mind you wanted to ask, but dared not speak out loud.

If these women, these... monstergirls... were as powerful as they seemed, and going feral meant going insane... then why wouldn't they just force themselves on humans? What sort of society had been built for them to just not straight up laugh at the concept of "masters" that were clearly squishier?

You were missing information. "I think I've got enough answers for now, Leo, thank you."

"Sure."

You went back into the room, closing the door and... thinking, trying to think to organise your thoughts, it quite suddenly felt overwhelming not knowing so many things. But the thoughts came to a halt as you heard Leo speaking outside. "The human tamed one of the Joys and has kept to his room."

There was a knock at your door right after.

"Erm... come in?" You spoke, watching carefully as the door opened and a man stepped through.

"Professor Rick? I am Major Huge." He spoke politely. "Mind if we took a seat so we can talk?"

"...sure." You nodded.

Huge pointed towards the only chair in the room. "Would you mind?" At the shake of your head, he took it. "Professor Rick, though I am certain you are already aware of this, this is not the world you originally lived in." Your silence is enough to prompt him to continue. "Now, I'm not sure how often such a thing may happen where you came from, but in this world, having outlanders pop in has happened often enough there are some laws and protocols in place for such events."

You gulped.

"They are, frankly speaking, vague, because though it's a rare event, the sort of outlander that can pop up can be anything from a fire-wielding demon, to... well, just your average human being." He smiled ruefully. "Protocol dictates that we are to assess the threat level of the outlander along with a psychological profile. If they are harmless and willing to cooperate, there would be no problem and they'd be allowed freedom just like any other citizen."

You notice he didn't point out the alternative. "And what would... cooperating imply?" You wondered.

"Not much, just don't murder people nor start a revolution, and follow the law like any other citizen." A calm shrug was his only response, followed by a small chuckle. "Past that, you would be requested to have a blood sample taken whenever you get to a medical center or once a month, also a sperm sample just as often, but that would be it."

That seemed... somewhat loosely reasonable. "Why the samples?"

Huge tensed, scratching the back of his head. "I'm afraid you don't have the clearance for that." He laughed slightly. "Actually, not even I have it, I'm just relaying what the people with fatter paychecks told me to say."

You muse those words carefully, not feeling quite trustful, but not finding much you can really say about it either. "There were others." You point out. "We were all on a bus before appearing here, we split up in the woods."

"I am aware, we talked to your companions." He nodded solemnly. "Several hunters have been dispatched yesterday, and though the information is still coming in, I've received confirmation several survivors have been found."

"What happened?"

He gave you a wry apologetic smile. "At best I can guess that the group you split up from split further when attacked by some ferals; but until they're brought here we can't really know the details for sure."

"No, I meant... how, how did we come here? This world?"

"That is a question the eggheads would love to know too. As far as I've read on the subject, dimensions touch, and when they do, sometimes some things slip through."

"Is there a way to go back?"

"Not as far as I know." He shook his head, then shrugged. "I'm not exactly the most well-informed person about this subject either way. Bark Town is a small place near the border."

Taking that in, you grimaced. "Is there... is there any way I can help?" You speak nervously. "We shouldn't have split from them, we had Monica and..."

Your words made him tense and frown. "Don't blame yourself." Huge spoke firmly. "Even with a monstergirl, out there in the wilds, such a large group of humans would undoubtedly be easy prey. Having come here was the option that most greatly increased their odds of living. Your survival allowed the professionals to find and rescue your companions."

You nod, feeling half pitiful but keeping the emotion away for the time being. A heavy sigh followed. "What happens now? You just walk away and I'm free to go?"

"Not quite." The major replied. "You'd be required to take some basic citizenship tests that are mostly a questionnaire and interview regarding what you can do and what you'd like to do. After that... you'd have a choice."

"Choice?" You wondered.

"Yes." The man became solemn again. "Right now you are, to put bluntly, creditless. There is nothing to your name other than the clothes you were wearing."

Ah... you grumbled. "And food costs money."

"That would be the gist of it, yes." He looked apologetic. "For now the test would come first, depending on the results you would have certain options available... or not."

There was something about the way he said this that caught your interest. You looked at him for a long second. "You're here to make an offer."

That made the man laugh. "Sharp, I like it." The look on his face became far friendlier, even relaxed. "You know what happens out there, you've lived it, unlike what many tamers think, monstergirls aren't just a pair of tits that spit fire to fuck at your leisure. They are powerful, and they are dangerous."

You could only nod, waiting for him to get to the point.

"You? You were out there with only your wits and some other humans, and yet you bagged yourself a purrsian without help and kept the rest of your team alive." He spoke with a growing smile. "We already asked the others and they attributed their survival to your actions and leadership. Judging by their retelling of events, though there were mishaps that could've been avoided had you better understood what a monstergirl is, your skills in keeping the feral from just up and slaughtering everyone... that's something that might be of use to the hunters. The fact that you made her relatively obedient being quite the bonus."

"Hunters?"

"Right now I can't give you the full tour, but think of them as a group of experts who're expected to go places and solve problems." He declared. "Most times they are dangerous problems."

That made you pause. "I... see..."

"Once you've done the tests and been properly briefed about... well, gosh, I guess everything? There's an introduction packet for off-worlders someone made... a decade ago?" He chuckled. "Just know that you'd have my letter of recommendation."

A long pause as you breathed things in calmly, chewing through what he was doing. "That was the carrot, where's the stick?"

The smirk broadened ever so slightly. "There is nothing I could or would doing to you, once the test is passed you would be a Johto citizen and you'd be allowed to choose your own path, be it find work as a baker, a teacher, or a professor."

"There's a 'but' in there." You declared.

He nodded, becoming serious. "The purrsian." He stated. "She is a breed too dangerous to be considered a Pet, as thus, ownership of one without at least a tamer license is illegal; following protocol, she was balled and put into stasis." There was a pause. "If you become a Johto citizen, then it would be considered she's yours, but if you don't acquire the appropriate licenses, the government would take her from you, give you an appropriate remuneration, and leave you on your way, leaving her to be sold to some tamer."

"..." You glared at him.

"Of course, were you to accept becoming a hunter, I am very certain the government wouldn't mind granting the uncommon-rarity monstergirl as your starter."

"..." Your glare kept deepening.

"The alternative would be becoming a tamer, and being forced to run the circuit along with the risk of the purrsian being taken from you due to salvage." He said.

"Salvage."

"It's a rather controversial law that was passed a decade ago." He said. "Tamers can be challenged by other tamers for their monstergirl, and said tamers generally don't have the option to turn down the challenge."

You frowned deeper.

"Trust me, a lot of people feel the same way over it, but tamers make up such a small portion of the population that addressing it has been slow." Huge shook his head. "Either way, those are your options if you wish to legally keep the purrsian: become a hunter, or a tamer."

"I think I will need some time to think about it." You replied dryly.

"Understandable." He nodded, moving to stand up but pausing a second as he looked at you. "Ah, yes, your exam was scheduled for tomorrow morning, if you have anything you'd like to know, I'm certain the nurses would be more than happy to clear out any of your doubts."

A chuckle, he offered a hand to shake, you took it though only out of the courtesy.

He left.

Your head churned our own churning through the possibilities of what you'd just been told.

There was little doubt he didn't have a need to lie to you, it certainly didn't feel like he had. Still, this was something that left you wondering, it was like having a government official flexing his bureaucratic muscles. A part of you was certain he didn't only have the needed backing to do this, but that the local law also supported him.

Or at least that was what he would like to make you think, as far as you knew there was some law that prevented him from doing this.

Still, you thought to Monica, and felt a slight growl creeping up your throat.

You weren't going to let her be taken away from you, that was for sure.