“mmm, fluffy”

Jake absentmindedly passed his hand through a warm, dark, bundle of fur completely unaware of who or what the fur represented. This would be the first mistake of the day in the early morning light. Slowly opening his lidded eyes, Jake came face-to-face, or more accurately face-to-whiskers with a snout as black as midnight, outlined by gleaming pearl teeth and two piercing yellow eyes that seared the soul.

> I’m fucked.

Was the single thought that Jake was allowed before shadow covered the majestic panther, rolling and condensing, shifting until the form of a young female stood in-front of him. Perched on the tree branch, wearing nothing more than a black sundress that had obviously seen better days.

“Nip slip”.

/ Smack!

A red, petit hand print blazed across Jake’s left cheek signifying to the world what a jackass he is. Mentally chiding himself for speaking aloud, Jake finally took in the look of this exotic creature called a female. Black shoulder length hair, pale skin white enough to make a snowman jealous, and piercing yellow eyes with slitted black pupils. All in all, the young attractive woman looked to be around 18 years old, even if she was just reaching 5’1” with small B cup assets.

> She curves in the right places. A little cute mixed in with sexy and a shit load of deadly means I need to get the fuck out of Dodge!

Slowly untying himself from his temporary purchase, Jake kneeled as demurely as possible, slowly coming to rest and almost eye level with the damsel of death.

“Um, hi?”

Once again proving the majesty with which Jake projected himself, the girl however still looked.. for lack of a better word, absolutely pissed!

“So, why are you here?”

> Maybe she’ll finally speak.. or at least look less likely to shove a stick in my face. knowing my luck, probably a blunt one too.

“I was wondering why someone would sleep in an easily accessible place, surrounded by monsters who are more than likely to eat you, only to actually be a pervert who I'm considering gift wrapping for them to indulge in myself.”

“So your looking for a pervert? WAIT! ... Please don’t slap me again, I was just kidding, I’m Jake and I wanted to get used to sleeping outside the gates if I actually want to do more than suck some Clan heads cock for credits.”

> Phewww, nearly had a matching set of tribal marks on my face. How the hell does something that small hit that hard. Note to self, don’t piss off women. Actually I’ve probably made that same note a million times. New note to self, don’t piss off a woman who can shape shift into a panther that has sadistic tendencies.

“Oh? Not a fan of Clans? So your a perverted idiot who no doubt finished one or two quests and now thinks that they can rough it out. You’ve got some balls I’ll give you that but ultimately your an idiot. Oh and I’m Sasha by the way.”

“Thanks?”

> How the hell did she compliment and insult me on a 3:1 ratio so easily..? What the hell does that extra X chromosome give them!

While Jake was being compared to a hairless monkey that learnt to speak, Sasha was trying and failing to determine if this slightly above normal looking idiot had any potential. She was sure of one thing though, if he was a part of the new batch and already was looking to learn how to survive on his own, outside the walls then he may be an investment her clan was interested in.

> Fuck it, lets see what this guy can do.

“Follow me and keep your mouth shut, I’m going to see if your worth my time. Survive and you pass, fail and you will also pass, as shit from a monsters asshole. Understood? Good, follow.”

> Why do I feel whipped without the fun part? I don't want to follow some angry panther chick, maybe I should run?

Looking back over her shoulder before she dropped from the branch Sasha sealed Jakes fate.

“By the way, run, and I’ll skewer you on a low hanging branch for the scavengers to pick at.”

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Sasha descended to the forest floor looking up at Jake like the prey he felt he was.

> Fuck it, she could have killed me in my sleep, what's the worst that’ll happen?

That thought was the second mistake Jake made that morning.